It was Sunday evening when the gauntlet was thrown, Towa Wakisaka put out a message to the Geo Timer Discord group.

'This is Towa Wakisaka, you know who I am. 10th of August, 9.30 PM, meet me at the starting point.'

It was a short and concise message to Sunao Morita, who was somehow quite nervous about the sudden challenge. It was not that he was not ready for it, he was, but somehow something felt weird. Towa did not reply back from the initial invite. So why now?

Despite people telling him 'Urasawa' was the main goal, the actual meet was disappointing for some reason that Mizuho would not tell him. Now, would Towa still be a problem? Sunao was not sure. Sunao had already beaten 'the guy', so would this 'another guy' be worth his time?

Then again, with such a message, it was hard to decline.

'I'll be there.'

—

Sumire was a bit suspicious of Towa for a week now, since last Wednesday, and truthfully, there were a lot of things she was wondering about.

Like why did he keep turning up to pick her from work in the evening, looking utterly exhausted?

Then after coming back home, Towa would work at night way more than usual. Before it was actually pretty rare for him to still be working when she's going to bed, but from this past week, it's been constant.

It also meant that once Towa stopped working, he nearly always passed out immediately, and oftentimes not in the bedroom.

In the morning, he then woke up still tired, but had to get her to work regardless, and Sumire had absolutely no idea what he's doing during the day either.

That wouldn't be an issue, it's not like it was something she had never seen him be like before, but it usually only lasted a few weeks, and not completely submerging him in this constant worried and determined look.

Towa's physical being was one thing, mentally it was another, way more concerning. Sumire could feel something was not normal, something was on Towa's mind constantly, but he would not tell her no matter what.

Then, a worrying thought cropped up in Sumire's mind, but she pushed it away... There's no point in being unnecessarily distrustful.

On Wednesday, immediately after Towa got Sumire to work, he drove to Mizuho's warehouse in Shimosakata, as he had done for the past week.

There, Motohiro Sasagawa was outside the garage, accepting a delivery which was actually for Towa, and paid for by Mizuho. Big packages. Towa was not sure about this supposed 'gift' from Mizuho either, and he'd rather pay them himself, but Mizuho insisted, saying that while Towa had better things to spend his money on, Mizuho didn't.

"Good Morning, Sasagawa-san." Towa greeted the tall man as he got out of the white Roadster.

"Oh, you're early, Wakisaka-san." Motohiro said with a kind smile.

Motohiro then turned to Osamu, the young apprentice of the shop, who'd just walked out of the office room in his work overall, ready to work for today.

"Hey, Osamu-kun, get this Roadster up on the hoist and do full fluid maintenance. Remove all the wheels." Motohiro ordered.

"Yes, Sasagawa-san!" Osamu answered enthusiastically.

It's always interesting seeing your own car being moved around by others, as Towa observed Osamu very quickly and professionally getting into the Roadster to get it up on the hoist. Taking care not to scratch or damage it.

"Is this really fine?" Towa was still doubtful about the stuff that would be done to the Roadster.

"It really is, don't worry about it." Motohiro reassured him.

"You know, Sasagawa-san, I never quite understand it, and that's why I'm so hesitant about it."

"What is it?" Motohiro looked curious to what Towa had to say.

"You've known him for a long time, right?"

"Yeah."

Towa couldn't decide if he should inquire further, as it's Mizuho's privacy, but what he had done was so far beyond the norm that he had to ask.

"What's really the source of Mizuho's wealth? I know his father is famous and all, but considering he kept a garage full of expensive cars, and gave me a lot of freebies that I would have thought so long and hard before purchasing, it's still pretty excessive, right?" Towa finally asked about the elephant in the room, and it made Motohiro chuckle.

"It's actually quite a story for anyone to hear, but you work in IT, right?" Motohiro started, seemingly happy to tell it.

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's grab a cup of coffee and I'll tell you."

The two walked inside the office, and Towa was very eager to hear this story Motohiro had to tell. They both went and prepared their own coffee as suggested and sat back at the table.

"I wasn't sure if I should tell you at first, but since Mizuho allowed you into that warehouse, I'd have thought he'd told you himself." Motohiro started, and Towa leaned forward to listen attentively.

"Is it something illegal? Why so much secrecy?" Towa wondered.

"Nope, it's just he's slightly apprehensive about, you know, money, to people he doesn't trust. It's normal, isn't it? I'm sure you'd be the same."

"Right." Towa nodded.

"So, back in I dunno, 2010? Definitely before the earthquake. He used to take in a lot of work as a software developer, right? I heard you're working in the same industry as he did."

"Yeah, that's right."

"I'm not gonna pretend I know a lot about it, but apparently one day, a guy he knew asked him to help with some sort of program. It was a really unusual and yet highly important work, but it wasn't an official thing, it was just a guy asking for help. That's how Mizuho described it to me."

Towa had a guess about what Mizuho worked on, but it was too vague to have a conclusive idea, so he kept listening.

"Mizuho did that fix, for much, much cheaper and much quicker than going through the normal channel. The guy was very grateful. Enough that he'd paid for the work with something valued more than the hours Mizuho spent on it, but not with cash." Motohiro continued, but Towa was still confused.

"Wait," Towa had an inkling, "2010?"

"Yeah, that's about right."

"And he was not paid with cash?"

"That's right, Mizuho was very pissed off about it. Saying what he was paid with was worth jack fucking shit, but the guy insisted it's actually was worth his time."

"Was he paid with cryptocurrency?"

"You're absolutely right!" Motohiro chuckled.

With that information, everything clicked into place for Towa, but he still didn't know how big of a scale it was for Mizuho's life to change that way, so much so that a couple of millions yen probably would be considered an easy purchase, and hundred thousands are a pocket change.

"Mizuho kept shitting on the guy for years, you know? He had no faith in it at all and sort of forgot about it for years. I don't know how it works because I'm not really into computers, yeah? But I know he sold all of it in late 2017, early 2018." Motohiro continued.

"Did he ever tell you how much he got?" Towa was intrigued and quite shocked, but he had to know.

"Not the amount of money, no, but he did tell me he got 500... Bitcoin? I think that is what it was, but I may only heard about it retroactively and associate with the story in my head. That number stuck with me because he kept repeating it for years that it was jack shit compared to what he did for the guy."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Towa nearly fell off his chair once he heard that.

Towa followed a bit of cryptocurrency price, not because he wanted to invest in it, but because it was unavoidable if you were in IT. If Motohiro was right that Mizuho sold out his 500 BTC in around late 2017, it meant that... There's no doubt about it. The guy's a fucking billionaire even after taxes.

"I'm grateful for him, actually, I never told anyone this, but this whole garage was bankrolled by him in order to have a trustworthy guy who could work on his car. And it's a dream of mine to build crazy stuff no one else would." Motohiro said, there's almost a tear coming out from gratitude.

It all made sense to Towa now, why the PC shop could operate at a great price without care. It was not even Mizuho's main income, he didn't need an income, with that amount of money he could literally keep it in the bank account and do nothing for the rest of his life, even with the teenage son that he had, it didn't matter one bit.

There's a sense of envy from hearing the story, but also a sense of understanding. As much as it was a miracle to anyone hearing it, Towa got why Mizuho kept quiet about it, and why he wouldn't really bother much for a few hundred thousand he's dropping on the Roadster for him even if it meant supporting someone he didn't know well.

"So, want to see what he bought?" Motohiro got up, ready to lead Towa back to the car.

"Sure, Sasagawa-san."

The two stepped out, and were now unboxing the packages that Mizuho ordered for the Roadster, it was not exactly out of the ordinary, just a bunch of lubricants and fluids, and a set of tires and brake pads, the same types that were on the Roadster before.

"I'll park it in front of the warehouse once it's done. Don't worry about it." Motohiro assured Towa.

Then, Towa got back to the warehouse, and did the same thing that he'd done for the past week. He trained.

In the morning, Towa mostly drove on the simulator. With the same course and car setup that Mizuho made him do the first time he came here. Although Towa felt that it didn't really improve much, and was questioning the whole time if it was actually helping, he trusted Mizuho's judgment enough.

The more meaningful activity was the treadmill, which was situated not far away in the room.

Mizuho taught Towa how to pace himself in order not to wear the body out, but it was important that he improved his stamina as much as possible. It was hard work at first, even if Towa was not really out of shape before, because Mizuho insisted that he should do it enough that it'd help by the time of the challenge.

If there's something that forces Towa to go to the gym, he's not really going to be against it.

It never was too long, one hour or so session everyday, but the speed kept increasing to the level Towa was comfortable with. That and the simulator training in between.

That's the reason why by the end of the day, Towa was always exhausted.

By late afternoon, Towa got out of the warehouse to pick Sumire up from work, before he went home with her.

Towa thought all of these activities actually made him more proactive and worked better than the time he mostly stayed on the chair in the room, which was a surprisingly pleasant feeling. Still, it meant he had to do overtime in the evenings and nights, because he couldn't keep time and come back to work in the afternoon.

Towa was determined, once the goal was set, he was willing to throw everything at it, until he achieved it.

Towa was told by Mizuho to run the Roadster on the Fruits Line a few days before the battle, and to run in both the new tires and brakes beforehand. It's especially as the tires would still have a protective layer on it that made the tires more slippery, a casual runaround should be enough to wear that off. The brakes should be good after a few stabs on the pedal.

Many people believe that racing on the simulator was a great way to satiate the desire to drive a car hard in real life, but Towa found that it made him more eager to run, to be honest. It might help him learn how to react in a certain situation, and it's definitely great fun, but for whatever reason Towa wanted to drive the car in real life more and more.

The trouble was, Towa was way too tired by the end of the day that he couldn't really do that. So he waited until the next day.

—

Towa didn't do the training at the warehouse on Thursday, after getting Sumire to work, he went home and continued to sleep. He got up again nearly at noon, and was pretty hungry, so he went out and ate at a nearby restaurant. Then he came home and worked.

The day went on as usual, he picked up Sumire from work, and spent some time in the evening with her.

"You don't look tired today." Sumire commented while they were eating dinner.

"Eh? Do I usually look that tired?" Towa wondered.

"The past week, yes. You looked exhausted."

Towa was a little confused by that observation, as he didn't think it'd be that obvious.

"Oh well, I'm just overworked." Towa made an excuse, but Sumire didn't really believe that.

"Are you working that much, or are you doing something else during the day?" Sumire inquired with suspicion.

"What? No, Sumire-chan. I'm not doing anything unusual."

The way Towa said it made Sumire more suspicious, as he sounded defensive from her concerned comments.

"It's not like I'd scold you for having a hobby... if it's not interfering with life..."

Sumire mused, as she picked up her plates, leaving Towa alone at the table. Even Towa could sense there's something going on in her mind, but he genuinely didn't know what he should do.

At around 11 PM, Sumire already went to bed, Towa observed her and thought that it'd be fine to go out right now, as he'd been instructed to do.

Towa didn't think about it too much, his mind was occupied by the battle.

A casual drive down to Tsukuba, heading up the Fruits Line, Towa didn't feel anything unusual at all. The car was still the same, the road was still exactly the same. He was the same person.

That was, until he tried to do the first time attack of the day. Mizuho told Towa that he could either run or not run the application, as it's not mean anything more than making sure the car works fine, and that he had a practice and a reminder of the course.

The practice and training beforehand? It made a difference. Not that it reduced Towa's time on the course by much, because by this point the limit was his reaction time. It allowed him to experiment and learn how to get some better lines, and it helped him be more confident in charging down the course, but that's about it.

There's still this niggly little doubt about the fact that Towa will be running the course in a lightly modified Roadster RF, while his rival would be running a GR Yaris that was way more modified. Towa wondered how could Mizuho be this confident in his ability to challenge that sort of guy?

From what he heard, Towa knew that Sunao was not an average level driver. He had rally training, and he dominated the Akagi mountain course, which was considered one of the most highly contested in all of Kanto. At least that's what Seiki told him, and he'd be inclined to believe his friend.

Yet, there's also this feeling that's brewing inside Towa. The feeling that he could not disappoint the community of Ibaraki Fruits Line Runner. He was their representative, the best of the best who's willing to take on the challenge of an out of prefecture runner.

Also, Towa couldn't let down Mizuho, the person he now considered to be his mentor.

As the Roadster ran through the course, Towa found that he could be braver than before, because he knew the limit of what he himself and the Roadster can or cannot do, better than he ever before.

The course in the simulation might not be perfect, the car physics might not be exact, but it was definitely a close enough approximation. The only difference was, if he messed up, it's game over, there's no reset button.

Yet, if Towa looked over that, he knew that this feeling of how and where to place the car, the moment the rear rotates and the front loses grip, all of it translated well into real life.

Driving a car hard and fast, was not only about the reaction, if one were to only react to the car's behavior, they'd crash, it's too late. It's also about a prediction, knowing what a car may do before it actually does.

Who knows what's going to happen next. Towa would try to run the best of his abilities, but who knows if it's going to be enough, right?

—

Saturday arrived.

During the day, Towa drove Sumire to a nearby supermarket, as they needed to shop for groceries.

Towa was absent minded since the morning, the only thing on his mind right now was tonight's battle. He was nervous as hell about it, and more nervous as the time got closer and closer.

Sumire noticed that Towa was quiet, even compared to his usual self he wasn't a yapper by any means, but today he was just frowning, looking like he's worried about something, but he wouldn't say anything even if she asked him.

They both walked around the supermarket, and Towa only pushed the shopping cart, following wherever Sumire was walking, letting her put stuff in.

"This one, or this one?" Sumire asked as she held out two bottles of soap, different brands.

"Huh?" Towa only noticed after Sumire nearly shoved it up his face.

"This one, or this one?" Sumire repeated, only in a harsher, louder voice.

"Oh, whatever's fine."

Sumire was more annoyed by the minute, Towa had been very distant for a long while, and it's infuriating, because no matter what she asked, he would say it's not important. Yet, his face was like whatever's on his mind was going to break the universe apart or something.

Sumire gave up a while ago trying to find out the answer, because if that's how Towa wanted to act, then he can shove whatever the matter was up his ass.

They later got home, and afterward Towa didn't really do much other than pacing around to and from the computer desk. Sumire could see that clearly from the sofa, and she wondered when he's going to stop.

It kept on until around 8.45 PM, after dinner.

Sumire couldn't take it anymore, the way Towa was acting frustrated her just as much as he was. She had to do something.

Towa was dreading the approaching time that he'd have to go up the mountain and meet with Sunao. He sat there at the computer desk, but didn't do anything. Sumire walked in and hugged him from behind.

"Hey, Towa-chan, why are you so tense today?" Sumire whispered into his ear, and it gave him quite a fright.

Towa jolted quite a bit, which startled Sumire also.

"Sheesh, you nearly gave me a heart attack." Towa turned around, and saw Sumire who stepped back.

"Calm down, Towa-chan." Sumire approached him again, slowly, "You know... sometimes you need to vent your frustration..."

Towa knew from Sumire's glance and body expression as to what she wanted tonight, even if she was not saying it directly, but it was the wrong night for that.

"I'll be going out in a few minutes." Towa quickly said to Sumire, who looked miffed.

"Ehh?" Sumire was surprised as well, because Towa hadn't told her this, "Going out somewhere? On a weekend when you have no plans?"

Sumire moved closer and closer, until she was pressing her body against Towa's, and her hand went places. The intention was clear enough, but still, Towa was not playing along. He dismissed her by pushing her away gently.

"I'll be back very quickly. I promise." Towa said, and he stood up from that chair.

"What time?" Sumire asked, looking very pissed off.

"Eh... 11 PM?"

"11 PM?"

Sumire turned to look at the clock in the room, it was 9 PM.

"11 PM." Sumire repeated, the voice was cold and flat, and her expression changed.

Towa nodded, in his head he was adamant that this promise would be met, no matter what. The matter that was bugging him right now would be over in less than an hour. Definitely.

"I'll be going now."

Towa picked up the Roadster key, and went out of the house, leaving Sumire to sit there, alone.