Initial D Fan Fiction ❯ Third Wheels ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Mako's alarm clock meowed repeatedly before she finally reached out from under the bedcovers and turned it off. She just plain did not feel like getting up today-there seemed to be a chill in the air and in bed she would stay warm. If only she didn't have to work, or go to class this evening.

She opened her eyes slowly. The orange cat-shaped alarm clock smiled at her, determined to be cheerful anyway. At first she liked the sight of it-right now it was annoying. Her birthday was tomorrow, and her parents still liked to celebrate it, even though she was about to turn twenty-one; they had given her the clock as an early present. They had always been very fascinated with American customs, or maybe they did it because she was their only child… Mako didn't know. She sighed. It didn't feel like she was turning a year older tomorrow. She didn't feel as if she'd grown much wiser in the past year. And there wouldn't be time for a special outing, probably just a movie with Sayuki or something. If she didn't have plans with her boyfriend already.

Mako then felt something jump on the bed right next to her feet, and stroll all the way up the length of her back, then climb over her. A long, brown tabby body rubbed against her chest, purring madly, and two large amber eyes looked into hers. Her real cat was likewise determined to cheer her up. Mako, obliging, managed a small smile, and reached out to scratch Sakura under the chin. Then reluctantly, she pulled herself out of bed. She wished she could have had more time to lick her wounds.

She had almost beaten Takahashi Keisuke. Almost. At times on the course they had been neck and neck-she had been amazed at how much his drifting had improved. But most of the time, she did manage to stay one or two car lengths ahead. Until that last bend, and her miscalculation. It was slight, but it somehow left a wide gaping hole for the Red Sun's FD to slip through, and if she knew anything about Keisuke's reputation, she knew that he was not going to pass up a golden opportunity like that.

So she finished the race actually two car lengths behind him, and the crowds of fangirls roared with adoration and delight. Her opponent's face wore a grand, prideful smile. The look on Sayuki's face- She hadn't stuck around to see the look on Sayuki's face. Because she knew she couldn't face her. After all, she had lost in the exact same set of circumstances that Sayuki had warned her against. She had gotten worried.

And so, Mako had driven off in a haste, after giving Keisuke a very perfunctory handshake. She'd turned tail away from Usui and just took off-heading for Nagano or Saitama or wherever, anywhere but her own mountain.

Her mountain. She had lost on her mountain, the course it had taken her years to master. The Fujiwara kid had bested its treacherous curves in a matter of minutes without even having been there before-but as she'd found out later, Fujiwara was a fluke, an exception. Takahashi Keisuke, however, was not. In fact, she thought control was supposed to be his weak spot, same as for her. His beating her meant that he was growing in skill, and she wasn't.

Her mountain. The reason for her pride in life, her racing, Usui had been a good, long-time friend. She felt as if she had let down that friend. It weighed on her mind like cold lead.

She had ended up in Karuizawa, of all places, and immediately turned around and went back. Karuizawa was no place for an unhappily single woman-and definitely not one in a sorrowful mood to begin with.

She had found a gas station about ten kilometers farther on, topped off her tank-and got a call from her mother asking where and why she was out so late. Looking at the digital clock on the dashboard, she had felt her mouth drop open when she saw that it was nearly midnight. Then, she had hurried home and had some explaining to do-how could she have forgotten that she had promised to be home by eleven?

"It was awful last night, Sakura. Just awful," she said to the cat, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "I'll be lucky if Sayuki speaks to me. And he saw me screw up, Sakura. He saw me."

The cat meowed, as if in sympathy.

"I made myself look like an idiot in front of him. He'll never think I'm good enough now."

Sakura cocked her head, as if questioning her.

"You see, he's one of the best drivers in Gunma," Mako said as she reached out to stroke the cat. "And he knows good drivers when he sees them. And now that he's seen me make that mistake… and not only that, it's the same mistake. I start out great, then I choke. It happens every time. I'm turning out to be as bad a choker as Nakazato."

She shivered as a terrible thought occurred to her. "Sakura, everybody says that girls can't race. What if it's true? …"

The kitchen clock then chimed, and Mako glanced up at the wall. Eight-thirty. She'd have to stop moping, and move a bit faster if she was to get to work on time. She finished her cup of coffee, took a bowl of leftover miso soup from the refrigerator, and placed it in the microwave. Then she opened the cupboard and took out two bananas, two granola bars, and a half-liter of soymilk, and stuck them in her lunch pail. It was a larger lunch than she normally ate, but she would need all the strength she could muster today.

*~*~*~*

"Your change is 140 yen. Thank you, ma'am, and have a good day."

After the customer left and Mako closed the cash drawer, she sighed and let her head sink downward. It had been a nice steady pace at the gift shop today-not too busy, not too dull. However, it was doing no good at distracting her from more unwelcome thoughts.

"You're looking awfully glum today, Mako," said her co-worker Akiko with concern. "What's been going on with you?"

"Nothing…" Then Mako decided on the truth. "I lost my race yesterday."

"Your race?"

"My race with Takahashi Keisuke."

"You raced Takahashi Keisuke?!"

"Yes, I did."

"Oooh!" Akiko tried unsuccessfully to stifle her squeal. "He's such a good racer, and he's sooooo good-looking. Mako… it's not all that bad losing to a driver that good!"

"I still lost."

"We've got those new items in the back!" called Yukari, another one of her co-workers. She walked out from the back room carrying several pieces of paper. "Here's the inventory form, and an order form the manager needs to sign-"

"Where is Toita-san?"

"In another meeting. Where else?" The other girl rolled her eyes. "I'll just leave this on her desk for when she comes back." She then turned to Mako. "You look like you need some cheering up."

"She lost her race yesterday," piped up Akiko.

"Oh, is that about cars?" Yukari rolled her eyes again. "That's all the guys around here ever talk or think about. It's boring, and stupid."

"Hey!" Mako said, offended. "Not to me, it isn't."

"I'm sorry, I meant didn't mean cars were stupid, I meant the guys were. For only talking about cars. Sheesh."

Akiko leaned to whisper in Mako's ear. "Never mind her, she's just mad that the guys she's dated paid more attention to their cars than they did to her."

Mako bit down on her tongue to stifle a laugh. She may not know anything about cars-heck, she thought I was talking about drugs when I mentioned L.S.D.-but she is at least okay to commiserate with. Yukari, though…

"Hey, Mako," Yukari said, trying to get Mako's attention. Yukari's mainly good at knowing where the hip night spots are, and where the shopping is… the more expensive, the better… "Here's something for you," she said, handing Mako a white envelope.

"What is it?"

"You won the monthly prize drawing. Oh, and by the way, you're off tomorrow."

"What? How'd you do that?"

"I talked to Toita-san, and she said we could switch shifts, so you're off tomorrow and you work Tuesday instead of me. Just don't forget."

"Yukari…" Mako stared at the other girl. "I don't know what to say. That's really sweet of you."

"Well, go ahead."

"Go ahead?"

"See what's inside the envelope, already!"

Inside was a thick white index card. Probably a coupon for some nightclub. I'd really rather go somewhere else-after all, it's my prize… Mako turned over the card and gasped when she saw what it was.

"A 2000 yen gift certificate to the English Roasterie? That new coffee house?"

"Yes. I just went there a few days ago, and it's fabulous, Mako. You'll love it. And it's not a 2000 yen gift certificate, it's a 3000 yen gift certificate."

Mako took a closer look and gasped. With this, she could take Sayuki and they could both have not just cappuccino, but a proper lunch… and almond fruit tart for dessert. They might even have enough left over for tea.

"Wow," she said, her eyes shining. "This is lovely. Thank you."

"Don't forget to thank Toita-san," said Akiko.

"And don't forget, it expires on November 30th," said Yukari. "And please tell me what you think."

*~*~*

That evening, Mako was just finishing up washing the dishes while her parents watched television, when the doorbell rang.

"Who is it?" called her father.

She walked to the door, looked out the peephole, and felt her heart sink. "It's Sayuki."

"Well, let her in already. It's cold out. You can give her some of that new sencha tea, if you like."

Oh no. Here comes the lecture at last, thought Mako as she slowly opened the door and let her friend in. "Come in."

Sayuki walked in, a curiously mild expression on her face. "Hi, Mako."

"Hi, Sayuki. I'll make you some tea. Would you like to sit in the kitchen, or the living room?"

"The kitchen's okay. Hi there, Sakura," she said, leaning down to pet Mako's cat.

Mako's head swam with questions as she turned on the water to boiling and spooned some loose green tea into a red-and-white teapot. Where was the pout and the stern expression, the tapping foot and the short, clipped 'We need to talk'? Where was the impatience? Sayuki had to be softening her up for the blow. She could give 'stroke and slap' critique as well as anyone.

"Hey… I'm sorry," said Mako, pre-emptorily, almost mumbling.

To her utter surprise, Sayuki didn't jump right on the end of her statement. Instead, she waited a moment before saying, "It's okay."

Can I believe what I'm hearing? Mako took two mugs out of the cabinet and set one down on the kitchen table at each of their places.

"It's okay," repeated Sayuki, "It was a good race. You stayed ahead of him for the most part, and you clung to him like a leech when you did drop behind. If it hadn't been for that last corner you would've sealed it."

"But we still lost."

"Yeah, I know…" Sayuki sighed. "But I kept track of your time. You improved a full seven seconds over the last practice run we did."

Mako's jaw dropped.

"Granted, that was a lousy practice run, but seven seconds, Mako. Takahashi just got a lucky break. That brother of his taught him something, I know it."

"Seven seconds, wow…"

"Yes. So even if we lost, we still had a good time. Though I could tell, you did get a little worried." Sayuki's eyes got a little sterner, and Mako took a deep breath, bracing herself.

"That's your biggest problem, Mako, you get worried and then you choke… the same thing Nakazato does." Then, as she saw the look of consternation on her friend's face, Sayuki followed up with, "Only you're not stupid enough to crash your car the way he did his."

"Well… I would hope so," stammered Mako, feeling relief surge through her. The tea kettle then whistled, and she got up first to turn it off, then to fill the teapot and bring it to the kitchen table. "We ought to get in contact with that team from Saitama and set up a date for a match."

"That's one thing I came over to tell you about, Mako," said Sayuki. "They've already taken an offer from the Red Suns."

Mako's heart sank anew. "The Red Suns?"

Her friend nodded. "Yep. They got to them yesterday. I'm sorry, Mako, I know how much it meant to you."

Mako buried her face in her hands. "Oh no… now how are we going to boost our record?"

"We're just going to have to ask everybody around. Though we're going to have to get cracking, before the Red Suns get them all."

"Oh, why did I lose? Now nobody's going to want to race us. And soon the roads will be too icy…"

"Don't worry. We'll think of something. We'll practice on more low-lying straightaways. We'll try other mountains. You know, the Red Suns have a point. Practicing only on Usui has limited us. We need to get better at other mountains. Hey, if nobody else takes our offers, we can always go to Myougi and whup the Night Kids' asses," Sayuki said, grinning.

Mako grinned right along with her-but then her grin faded as she remembered what else had been bothering her. "Ryousuke saw me lose."

"He could see you?"

"Of course he could see me. He won't want to be anywhere but front and center when it's his brother racing. Even though he's seen it many times before."

"Well… so what?"

"So what? That's all you can say? He'll never think I'm a good driver now."

"Mako, he only thinks himself, his brother and that hachiroku kid are good drivers. He's got awfully high standards. You can't expect to measure up to them."

"But you don't understand. I want to measure up to them. Otherwise, I won't be one of the best. And… now that he's seen me lose he'll never talk to me, no matter how brave I feel."

"Not necessarily. He might've noticed your good time. Maybe you're not of his caliber, but you don't suck."

"What's the difference? I sure sucked the other night."

Sayuki took a sip of tea. "I would still introduce yourself properly to him, and try to talk to him. Just… get to know him."

"Will he even think I'm worth knowing?" said Mako. "Kouichirou didn't."

For the first time in their exchange tonight, her friend took on a look of real anger and irritation. "That Kouichirou was not worth your time."

"But he was the first guy who ever even thought of me in that way. I promised him a night together. He said yes-"

"And then he bailed on you," interrupted Sayuki. "And he didn't even have the decency to call and say he was going to be late. You don't need that, Mako."

"He probably decided not to because I'm a racer," said Mako, feeling truly despondent now. "Maybe everybody's right, girls shouldn't race… guys don't like it…"

"To hell with that," said Sayuki, letting her self-control slip. "You know what that guy is, then? He's the type who will push you down to make himself feel better. He'll try to keep you from outshining him, no matter what, just to make himself look good. That makes him no better than Shingo. That makes him a rotten bastard, Mako, and you have no use for that. I have no use for that." Sayuki folded her arms. "Hell if I'm going to stick around for some guy whose feelings get hurt if I just happen to be better at something."

Mako's eyes widened. So that's why Sayuki had seemed so miserable, when she was still dating Shingo… "Does Toshizo make you feel that way?"

"No. So far, he's pretty cool. But if I end up better at snowboarding than he is, and he gets all pissy about it, out the door he goes, too."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. Life's too short." Sayuki blew on her tea and took another sip. Mako marveled at her friend's courage of convictions. How she wished she had the same strength. How she wished she didn't worry so much about whether guys liked her…

How she wished she didn't worry about what Ryousuke thought of her.

"So," said Sayuki, "Do you have plans for your birthday? You have to work, right?"

"Actually, no."

"You don't?"

"No. One of my co-workers switched with me, so I get the day off."

"You've got tomorrow off!" Sayuki whooped and sang, "Nagashima Spaland! You're going on a roller coaster, you're going on a roller coaster…"

"No, I'm not."

"Oh yes you are. The birthday girl has to ride the Steel Dragon."

"I'll get you for that…" Mako's eyes narrowed dangerously as she stood up.

"If you can catch me first!" Sayuki slid off the chair and ran across the kitchen, Mako close on her heels.

"Girls! What are you doing in there?" called Mako's mother from the family room.

"Nothing!" said both girls at once. Mako calmed down and said, "Hey, maybe tomorrow night we could go to that new coffee house."

"What new coffee house?"

"The English Roasterie. I've got a gift certificate from a prize drawing today."

"Ugh," said Sayuki. Then, at seeing the puzzled look on Mako's face, she said, "Don't even bother, Mako. I went there last week and I ordered a latte and an orange scone, and I got a cup of sludge with milk and a cheap convenience store sweet roll."

"Really? … Okay, we'll skip the coffee house," said Mako, completely bewildered. "But we'll have to get up early if we're going to the Spaland."

"Yes!" Sayuki yelled.

==End of Chapter 3==

Author's notes:

The reference to the Spaland and the Steel Dragon come from a conversation between Iketani and Kenji in the manga.

Krysana brought to my attention that they don't celebrate birthdays in Japan, but Mako having her birthday be the next day served as an important plot point in this chapter, so I made her parents celebrate it… hey, they very likely wanted more children and she turned out to be their only one, so they dote on her quite a bit. I'd also think that Sayuki, being her best friend, would keep it in mind, even if she doesn't actually get what we think of as a birthday "party", etc. I did make other modifications accordingly (i.e., having the gift certificate be a door prize instead of a birthday present).

I had Mako's birthday be on Halloween. On the Initial D Yahoo mailing list, I'm posting "personology" profiles of all the Initial D characters. Basically, I'm using their personalities to guess at what their birthdays might be according to "The Secret Language of Birthdays" by Gary Goldschneider and Joost Elffers. I thought the profile for October 31st fit Mako the best, even though I haven't posted her profile yet. So far, you must be a member of the mailing list to view these profiles; but if you're not, just e-mail me and I will send you some.

(An aside: I read somewhere that someone as freewheeling as Sayuki frequently would be a late-in-life child, with a much older sibling; the rationale being that the parents think of him/her as an unexpected blessing in a time when they believe their child-bearing years are over, so that child would be really doted on as well, and encouraged more than usually to express him/herself. Sayuki's brash personality also makes me think she has an older brother rather than a sister, likely one who encouraged her to be a tomboy, and he's probably old enough by now to have children of his own. This idea, I think, I'll use in a future story.)

--MonteLukast