Initial D Fan Fiction ❯ Surprised ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Surprised

By MonteLukast

Disclaimer: All characters except Iketani's parents, who are mine, are property of Shuichi Shigeno and Kodansha.

MANY thanks go out to Krysana, who has gone above and beyond the call of duty with her comprehensive beta-reading. Thanks also to Jason W. for the initial once-over.

This story takes place shortly after the Mako fiasco, about mid-September.

*~*~*~*

"Are you all right, Iketani?" said Kenji out of the blue.

Iketani gave a start, shaken from being lost in thought. "What? Of course I'm all right."

"I haven't seen you like this since you crashed your Silvia," said Kenji, shaking his head. "Or when you had that fiasco with Ma-"

"Don't say it," moaned Iketani. "Please."

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry. It's just that you look pretty bad, and I'm curious what's going on."

The Silvia driver grimaced. "Oh, all right. You're right, something's bothering me. But you don't want to know."

"Why not?"

"You really don't want to know."

"It wouldn't have anything to do with a certain Red Sun, would it?"

"No," said Iketani, lighting up a cigarette. "It's worse."

"You know what's even worse than that? An exploding gas station. Please put out that cigarette," said Kenji. The Silvia driver, rolling his eyes, stubbed out his smoke and turned conspiratorially to his friend.

"Okay, I'll tell you while Takumi and Itsuki are over there helping those customers. I don't want them to find out. Especially not Itsuki."

"All right," said Kenji. "Tell me."

Iketani took a deep breath and spoke in a low voice. "You'll never believe this…"

*~*~*~*

Iketani had thought the day was just going to be an ordinary day, as he bounded down the stairs, taking in the beautiful sunrise and the faint scent of citrus in the air. On the kitchen table next to the bowls of misoshiro sat glasses of pale pink liquid. His mother was making fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice again?

"Good morning!" called his mother, hovering over the electric juicer.

"Mom? What are you doing up so early? It's Sunday. You don't have to work today."

"And after two weeks, I'm not going back to work at all," said his mother matter-of-factly.

"You're quitting your job?"

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"A few years."

"What?!" Iketani stood frozen. "But you have such a good job!"

"Yes, but now I have an even more important job," said his mother, throwing the last grapefruit peel in the garbage. "Sit down and I'll tell you."

Her son did just that, completely bewildered. There was something so strange about his mother lately. Not in a big way, just something subtle. It wasn't just the fresh grapefruit juice nearly every morning for the past month, either. She seemed overall quieter, more thoughtful. And she was going to bed a lot earlier than she used to.

Iketani's father then came in from the garage. "Is Kouichirou downstairs yet?"

"Yes, Jun, he is. Now everybody, Jun, Kouichirou, please sit down."

Once everybody was seated, Iketani's father cleared his throat. "Your mother and I have something to tell you."

"I know about Mom quitting her job. Why is she?"

"It's not just that, Kouichirou. And if you'll be patient, I'll get to that."

"Are you going on a long vacation, maybe outside the country? You did always want to."

"Oh, no," said his father, chuckling. "Not at all. That will come later."

Then Iketani had a terrible thought occur to him. His mother was keeping to herself a lot lately, and she did seem much more tired… "Mom?" he said, his voice quavering a little. "You don't have… you don't have cancer, do you?"

Now it was his mother's turn to chuckle. "No, dear, not at all! What we're going to tell you is something good, not bad." She took a sip of grapefruit juice and settled back in her seat, just as serene as ever.

Poor Iketani was totally confused (as well as relieved that his mother did not have a serious illness). "Well… then… what is it?"

His father took a deep breath and paused a long time-and when he finally did speak, there was a twinkle in his eye. "Kouichirou, you are going to be an older brother."

"Oh, if that's all-What?!"

"Yes, dear," said his mother. "I'm pregnant."

Iketani nearly fell over backwards. "But Mom!" he cried. "You're too old to have a baby!" Then, in horror, he clamped his hand over his mouth. "Oh, Mom, I'm sorry… so sorry… I didn't mean to say it like that…" he mumbled, cheeks reddening.

"I couldn't believe it myself," said his mother. "But it's true. I'm almost five months along."

"Mom… when did you find out?"

"A little over a month ago."

"Why didn't you tell me then?!"

"Because the doctor was concerned that it might not last. Now that it's more of a sure thing, I feel all right with telling you."

"We didn't want to set you up for being disappointed," added his father. "What did the doctor say last time, Michiyo?"

"Everything's normal," said his mother, laying a hand on her stomach. "And it is just one baby. I'm not having twins."

"Has it started to kick yet?"

His mother giggled. "Oh, no, Jun, that won't happen for at least another month."

"But Mom… you don't look pregnant…" said Iketani, putting a hand on each side of his head, in an attempt to calm himself down.

"It's just starting to show now," said his mother, spreading her arms. Iketani leaned over for a closer look. He still couldn't tell, not through his mother's thin cotton pajama top.

"I didn't 'look pregnant' when I was carrying you either, Kouichirou. Not until the last couple of months."

Iketani shifted on his spot on the chair. "Are you going to be all right, Mom?"

"Sure I'm going to be all right. That's why I'm quitting my job, so I can be with the baby. I've still got a few good years left in me."

"I think your mother's made the right decision," said his father, smiling.

Iketani didn't say anything, preferring to concentrate on his breakfast. He had let enough of his opinion be known now. He did not want to be any more disrespectful to his parents. If they really knew what he was thinking, they would smack him, and worse…

"Are you okay, dear?" said his mother.

All the Silvia driver could do was give a fake smile and quickly shove another spoonful of soup into his mouth. "I'm fine."

*~*~*~*

"Whoa," said Kenji, eyes wide. "Your mom's having a baby…"

"Yes," said Iketani, looking down. "I just turned twenty-two. I'm at the age when I could be having a baby."

"Do you want a baby?"

Iketani flinched, totally caught off-guard by his friend's question. "Yes! I mean, no! I mean… hey, you know what I mean, I want to get laid." He paused before adding, "Isn't it pathetic? My parents are getting some, and I'm not."

"Well," said Kenji, "As a person who has trouble getting laid himself, I'd say look at it this way. You'll have a baby without going to the trouble of having to make one."

Iketani blinked. "I'm sorry… I didn't quite catch that?"

"Honestly, do you really think your mom's going to care for that baby all by herself? She's a lot older than she was when she had you, genius."

The Silvia driver said nothing.

"Yep, you'll be a 'daddy'," said Kenji.

Two cars then pulled into the station, and Iketani, seeing that Itsuki was nowhere in sight, approached the smaller of the two, a Mitsubishi compact, leaving Takumi to assist a Toyota sedan. The compact just needed a topping-off, though, while Takumi's charge apparently needed a complete fill-up, so the Silvia driver finished very quickly and was glad to hurry back and continue the conversation with Kenji.

"Now wait a minute," he said. "Tell me that again?"

"I said you're going to be spending quite a lot of time caring for that baby. So much that it'll think of you as another daddy." said Kenji. Then he sighed and looked quite sad, as he said, "I don't know how much longer you'll be spending with us."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is… what about the SpeedStars? You're always so concerned about polishing your racing skills, but that takes time… lots of time… and money! Didn't you say your mom was quitting her job?"

"Yes," said Iketani. "She is. Kenji… are you saying what I think you're…"

"Yes. What if you have to spend your extra money on the baby and not the Silvia?" Kenji really looked sad now. "Iketani… I'm afraid you may not be with the SpeedStars much longer."

Iketani gave a start. He'd never thought of it this way before. Especially about the money. It was possible that his mother would never go back to work again, and babies were expensive… Plus, he already gave his parents a bit of his paycheck out of respect. Would he need to give them even more after the baby was born?

"I don't know about the money or anything," he finally said, after much deliberation. "But you know, moms are moms. She'll probably still want to spend most of the time with the baby by herself. Hell, she loves it already so much, she sleeps in a weird way so as to make it comfortable. At least, that's what I think she's doing. How much does it cost to keep a baby anyway? It needs what? Baby food and diapers? Those don't cost too much."

"I just hope she doesn't ask you to change the diapers," said Kenji.

"I hope not either." He reached for a cigarette before remembering and stopping himself. "And when the baby's old enough, maybe she could work part-time… and what about Dad? He's around on nights and weekends. He gets up at five-thirty in the morning; he could help with the feedings. I just hope the baby doesn't wake up at midnight or something."

"Midnight?"

"That's the time Mom always said I wanted food."

Kenji chuckled. "You were a weird baby…"

Iketani ignored him. "I guess all I'm saying is, don't worry about me, Kenji. I'm not giving up my Silvia. And I'm not giving up the SpeedStars. I can't… not with Takumi out there putting himself on the line for us!"

"Oh… that's right… I almost forgot about Takumi…"

"Yes. We can't neglect our best driver. Our proven Redsuns beater." Iketani paused to assist another customer before he came back to ask Kenji, "But what's all this you're saying about me being another daddy? My dad is the only daddy. He made the baby… I don't want to think about it, my parents still getting some and me getting nothing…"

Kenji then sighed-and to Iketani's chagrin, he looked sad and quite reproachful. "Is that all you ever think about, getting laid?"

"Well, don't you?"

"Iketani… if you come off as desperate to the girls as you did to me just now, no wonder they aren't exactly breaking down your door."

The Silvia driver glared at him.

"I'm not talking about getting laid. I'm talking about you growing up with a baby. You'll get to be there, watching him-or her-grow. I'm jealous-I'm really jealous of you."

Iketani was taken aback. He had never heard his friend say he was jealous-jealous of him-before. Usually, he was the jealous one: jealous of Takumi's driving skills, of the Takahashis' riches and good looks, of just about everybody else's success with girls.

He made up his mind that he was going to have Kenji be as much a part of the baby's life as possible.

"And you get another benefit to caring for a baby," said Kenji. "Girls love a guy who's good with kids. Especially as they get older." He paused before saying, "Besides, Takumi may have a girlfriend, but can you see him having kids?!"

Iketani chuckled. "No… I can't."

"That guy needs to start small," said Kenji. "Start with rocks, and then move on to house plants…"

Both drivers laughed. Iketani composed himself and said, "But wouldn't it be just my luck if he the baby grew up to be a real ladies' man?"

"Or she, growing up to be a major babe?" said Kenji.

"Either way, I don't think I could deal with a popular brother or sister."

"But what if you get something even worse-a driver who makes the Redsuns look like kiddy-cart pushers?"

"Now, that I wouldn't mind so much, actually!" said Iketani, brightening up. "We'd really be able to stick it to the Redsuns then, and who knows, maybe we could be the best team in Gunma. With Takumi and another great driver, man…" He skipped over to get a can of soda, came back and said, "Even if it is a 'she'. So what if she's a major babe… she'll just need more protection from me. And more training, definitely, so she can be the fastest new SpeedStar. She might even be better than Ma-" He quickly stopped himself and shook his head to be rid of the memory.

"Now I'm even more jealous," said Kenji. "Thanks a lot, Iketani."

Iketani glanced at his friend… who was smiling happily, despite the sarcasm in his words. It made him feel more relaxed.
"Don't sweat it. You want to help out? You can help out as much as you like. You could be its godfather. You can teach him or her some driving stuff too. And I'll teach them to love Silvias too, just like me. I want them to have good taste, ne?" Iketani grinned.

*~*~*~*

Over the next few weeks, Iketani's mother changed little in her day-to-day behavior aside from quitting her job, except that she got tired of making fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice and moved on to juicing every combination of fruit-and a few vegetables-that she could think of. One Friday morning she'd made a weird mixture of carrot, lime, strawberry and melon juice that actually went quite nicely with the udon, Iketani thought.

That evening, after she'd come back from another appointment with the doctor, Iketani's mother asked to speak to him in private. "I don't want to tell your father until the due date, or at least close to the due date, but I found out what it's going to be today. It's going to be a boy."

Iketani's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really. Your-very little brother. And it's extra special because at my age, it's a lot more common to have girls. It's rarer to have a boy."

"Wow," said Iketani with awe and anticipation. He'd take his little brother for a drive in his Silvia as soon as he thought he was old enough-that was the first thing. He'd then introduce him to Kenji, Takumi, Itsuki and everybody else… and Yuuichi would be a terrific "uncle". If nothing else, the boss would be pleased at having a future Esso employee…

"When will he arrive?"

"If everything goes as planned, around February first." His mother touched her belly. Iketani leaned toward her for a closer look. Now she was starting to show-it really wouldn't be all that long now.

"Is he kicking yet?"

"Not really, it's more like a jiggling than a kicking. You can hear his heartbeat, though. Oh-now where did I put that stethoscope?"

"I'll find it, "said Iketani, jumping up and walking around the room. After ducking into the spare room for a few minutes, he came back with it and knelt in front of his mother.

"Just lay it right there," she said, hiking up her shirt and pointing to a spot a few inches from her navel. Iketani placed the bell of the stethoscope on her skin and moved it around a bit, his ears pricking up. For a minute he heard nothing but faint echoes of his mother's slow, steady heartbeat… but then he heard a rapid, fluttering beat as well.

"I think that's it," he said, feeling a rush of excitement. His mother smiled. Iketani stood up and took off the stethoscope before saying, "What are you going to name him?"

"Shinjirou," said his mother, smiling again. "Don't tell your father that either… I want it to be a surprise."

"Oh, he'll be surprised, he'll be very surprised," said Iketani. "I sure am. Though I don't really know what I'll do if he turns out to be a better racer than I-"

"I think you'll cheer him on anyway if he is."

Suddenly Iketani seized upon the implication in what she just said. "You mean… you don't mind if he races, too?"

"No," said his mother. "I know how much you love it-even though your father was never sure, and I had my worries, especially after your accident-and it makes me happy at least that you've found something outside of school that you like. Keeps you grounded, so you don't go vandalizing buildings or shoplifting or things like that."

"Oh…" Then Iketani wondered, did his mother mean what he thought she meant? Tentatively, he asked, "Mom, you're not saying that because you wish I were having the baby, are you?"

"What?"

"Well-I mean-are you worried that I don't have a girlfriend? Kenji's folks are with him, and I'm… not very good with the ladies. And you know I can't compete with guys who are rich or handsome." Especially guys who are rich and handsome, he thought ruefully. How about rich, handsome and intelligent like somebody I know.

"Kouichirou, you are handsome."

"What? No, I'm not."

"Stop saying that because yes, you are. You've got a nice build… you're not too skinny and not too chunky. You've got a good head of hair and a nice sensitive face. Plus you've got your father's beautiful eyes. So what if you don't look like a movie star… hardly anybody does."

I know a guy who does, thought Iketani. And he happens to live right here in Gunma…I just didn't stand a chance with her, did I? Iketani quickly steeled himself, however, and murmured, "Thank you."

"Besides, Kouichirou, movie-star looks and lots of money may matter to some girls, but at the end of the day what really matters is what's in your heart."

"Are you sure? Everybody says that… and I don't see a reason to believe it."

"It worked with me and your father." His mother smiled grandly. Iketani couldn't help smiling back. "Kouichirou, as a lady myself I have this advice for you on how to be good with the ladies. Just find out what makes them happy, and do that for them."

"What makes them happy anyway? I don't know… they're always talking about how they want guys to buy things for them," said Iketani, frowning.

"Believe me, it's not that simple," said his mother. "You don't have to buy as much for her as you think. Really, the thing that most makes a woman happy is for you to listen to her."

"What do you mean, listen to her?"

"You'll understand more as you become involved with more girls."

"Huh?" Iketani was bewildered. Listening to the girls would make them happy? Even if it actually did, what was there to listen to? Most likely, a lot of 'look at how cool these clothes are, where did you get your makeup, oooh Plastic Tree is so hot', and other twaddle like that. In other words, what he'd suspected he'd hear from them all along.

But, he admonished himself, She is your mother. Hell… didn't you say earlier that she was getting laid, even as you weren't? It's crude, but that fact is, she wouldn't be pregnant if she weren't. She must know what she's talking about.

"I don't really understand."

"You will. Trust me. It'll get easier for you as you get older." His mother touched her belly again as she said, "And I think this little one will help you a lot down that road. Call me strange, but I really believe so."

"That's funny…" said Iketani. "Kenji said the same thing."

"He sounds wise beyond his years. You say you're no good with women, Kouichirou, but to me it seems you have good judgment when it comes to friends."

"Why… why, thank you."

"And I must admit, dear," she added, "I have seen you drive before. You're better than you think you are. From what I could see, I think your biggest problem is tension. It kind of looks as if your car is wound up in a spring. I think if you loosened up a bit, you'd be a lot better. But you are a good driver."

Iketani glowed. "That's probably the nicest compliment anyone's ever given me."

"Of course I'm supposed to give you the best compliments. I'm your mother. Now let's get supper ready."

Her son set the table a minute later with a distinct spring in his step.

THE END