Monday morning.

The phone played a little song to signify the start of a new day. Ippei Noda woke up from slumber with sad thoughts that the weekend had ended and the school awaited. The futon was very comfy, but responsibility pulled Ippei away from it.

In Ippei's small bedroom on the 2nd floor of the house, it's surprisingly neat and tidy for a teenage boy. There was very little clutter apart from a few typical hobbyist items. A few plushies, a few posters, a few models and figurines. There was also a computer which was built with many high end components and good enough for any games you could throw at it. Mizuho made sure there would be no cobbler's son situation here.

One, very large item that Ippei loved dearly was the Yamaha STAGEA ELS-01X. An Electone. Ippei actually knew how to play the keyboard and played it quite well. The electronic organ was actually a very complex instrument, much more than a typical electronic keyboard, but Ippei had been playing it since he was very young. Come to think of it, he couldn't quite remember when he first got to play it, only that this machine used to be his mom's and she had it before he was born.

Ippei walked downstairs to the living room which was actually a converted dining room, as the supposed living room of this house had already been turned into the PC Shop out front. It made the actual living area pretty damn tiny comparatively to the size of the house.

His father, Mizuho, was sitting there under the small table, watching morning TV which was currently playing a comedy program Ippei didn't find funny. It's old people's jokes in Ippei's opinion.

"Good morning." Ippei said to his dad.

"Ah, good morning." Mizuho replied.

"What's for breakfast?"

"Ehhh..." Mizuho seemed unsure. "...Look in the fridge yourself?"

If Ippei could choose, he'd rather cook the meal himself all the time, but having morning class means he cannot do that often. He's actually a decent cook, while his father was an absolute disaster who should never be left alone in a kitchen, as he could totally set it on fire. Ippei had actually been the one buying and choosing groceries in this house.

Ippei noticed not much leftovers in the fridge, but there was a box of natto he could have. It's unimaginative, but it'll give him nutrition.

Ippei then went into the bathroom to have his morning routine, before coming back to the living room to prepare his breakfast. As expected, his father did not cook new rice, only leftovers in the fridge. It will have to do. Ippei went to microwave his rice before picking up an egg to have with natto.

Sitting at the small table, Ippei just started eating his breakfast while not paying attention to the TV or his father. He sometimes looked at the phone to check social media for news both personal and national. It didn't take long at all, they both sat quietly for a few minutes with no words exchanged.

It had always been like this for a really long time.

After Ippei finished his breakfast, he went back up to his bedroom to dress for school, and organized everything he would be needing today. Before coming downstairs quite quickly while his father's still watching TV. This morning he managed his time well which means he didn't have to hurry much.

"I'm going now." Ippei said to his father, who didn't seem to care about what he's watching either.

"Uh huh." Mizuho just nodded, not turning to look at Ippei. "... Oh, don't lock the door, I'm going to open now."

"Sure."

Ippei did as his father told him as he left the house.

After a few minutes sitting on the floor cushion and under the small table, Mizuho got up to prepare to open the PC shop out front. He turned off the TV and just walked through the dividing door. He then went to change the sign at the front door to OPEN.

Noda PC never had many customers at all, maybe 2 or 3 a day would come to the front typically. So Mizuho just spent most of his time watching videos or livestreams on Youtube or playing games. It used to be that the shop had quite a bit more customers back in the day.

Occasionally, Mizuho would need to go out to do repairs on site. A lot of the customers went way back as well. Mizuho used to set up networks for small and medium businesses, along with a few non-profit organizations. But these days he didn't do that anymore as the customer base dried up from the shrinking economy and other circumstances. He now just kept them running for old customers.

Today was a bit more unusual though, as Mizuho noticed through the front door from his workstation which faced the front of the shop. There was a young man wearing glasses standing there trying to peek through the window. At around 9.30AM? Who'd be coming this early? Not someone Mizuho recognized either.

That person seemed reluctant to come in, Mizuho guessed that he didn't see him sitting there, which was kinda funny as he's covering his face from glass reflection with his hands. So Mizuho just stood up and walked to open the door for him.

"Welcome." Mizuho opened the door for the man, quite a short man in casual clothing.

"Oh good morning."

Mizuho peeked out and noticed the gleaming white Roadster RF parked in front of his shop in the customer bay, as Towa Wakisaka greeted him awkwardly.

"What PC needs do you have today?" Mizuho asked in a cheerful, friendly voice. Towa was scratching his head.

"Ah..." Towa was unsure as to what he should say next. "...I have a computer with a slight issue."

"Bring it in then and I'll take a look for you."

After Mizuho said that, Towa went and opened the trunk of the Roadster, before picking up a small PC case which made Mizuho quite surprised it fit in there nicely, as the Roadster was a tiny car. Towa brought the PC case in, and Mizuho signaled him to put it on the workstation.

"It's quite old isn't it?..." Mizuho said, while peeking through the side glass. "...What's wrong with it?"

"It doesn't boot." Towa replied.

In Towa's mind he's still wondering if he should mention why he's really here. He peeked around the shop and noticed a lot of old electronic parts and machines scattered around. They're really old. A few of them were pre-2010's old and even some really old, obscure and niche stuff. It's almost an Aladdin's cave for electronically minded people.

One thing that really caught Towa's eyes was the old, black box with a CRT screen. He recognized it immediately as the Vectrex gaming machine. A really cool thing that didn't use pixels in its monitor. That's probably the rarest, and most valuable thing he noticed on the shelf, along with quite a lot of other old electronics that piled on. It must've been worth 350,000-400,000 yen? Crazy amount of money for a piece of outdated electronic. Granted, it was very unique and cool.

There were also quite a few modern parts, really expensive ones even. Towa thought it's actually a pretty decent PC shop if the owner was competent, and from a few reviews he found that seemed to be the case.

Towa also noticed quite a lot of anime merch, which surprised him a bit. Although it's not uncommon for such small businesses to have an otaku owner. One thing that he kept looking at was a small plushie. He didn't know the name of the character, but it's a girl in a yellow sports shirt and a hat. It's definitely the same character as the sticker on the back window of that Probox he saw.

Somehow, he couldn't get out of his mind how this small PC shop owner could be one of the fastest street racers in the Kanto region. The thing that confirmed it more for Towa is the fact that this person, who's clearly the owner of Noda PC, really did look like a younger Naoki Urasawa. Wide nose, messy hair. It's clear to him now why his username in Geo Timer was 'Urasawa'. That, and the battered white Toyota Probox with the anime girl sticker on the back window which was parked right out front, looking unassuming to any passerby not in the know.

Towa noticed that Mizuho was going through his old computer very methodically, from looking at it physically, before trying to boot it up and failing. In truth, this PC was really broken and Towa couldn't be bothered to fix it himself, so it was a good excuse for bringing it in.

"You might have to leave it here for a while." Mizuho said.

"If that's the case... Mister..." Towa stuttered a bit from nervousness.

"You can call me Noda-san."

"Right, Noda-san."

At that point, Mizuho was just staring at Towa Wakisaka, who's averting his eyes suspiciously, like an introverted person who isn't used to interaction with strangers.

Mizuho already knew from when he saw that Roadster with Mito number plate out front as to who this person was. Towa was not any random person who found this PC shop.

With all his courage, Towa tried to get to the actual point he's coming here for.

"Noda-san. You know why I am here today." Towa's voice was shaking as he's speaking. Mizuho just raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

"I know, your PC is broken." Mizuho said with a chuckle, almost joking tone.

"It's you who drives the Probox."

"I do drive a Probox, yes, as you may have noticed."

Towa was only thinking that this guy should stop being disingenuous. It's so obvious that this person knew who Towa really was, from the first step inside this place.

"Why?" Towa said.

"Why what?"

"You created Geo Timer, didn't you? What is it really for?"

"What does it matter to you?"

At this point, Towa was a bit scared. Mizuho seemed really calm despite being asked about all of this. Towa could only wonder what if the police was the one asking this question, instead of him.

"Did you know a Supra crashed last Friday night? It was following you." Towa asked, and didn't know what to expect from Mizuho, but again, he seemed to not care too much about what Towa was saying at all.

"I know."

This reply from Mizuho made Towa even more curious.

"Why?" Towa asked again.

"Well, you should never drive beyond your abilities, right? Public road safety is the first priority isn't it?"

Mizuho's reply seems almost jovial, which disoriented Towa completely. He's right though, and he agreed that Takeshi probably wasn't as great a driver as he thinks he was.

"How about I'll get back to you with what's needed with this PC?" Mizuho went back immediately to the PC on his workstation. But Towa wasn't satisfied yet.

"You know it's not that difficult to find you, right?"

"I know. You wouldn't be here otherwise."

Mizuho's reply was dry as hell, and it only gave Towa more questions than answers.

"Wakisaka-san. Sometimes things don't always have to make sense. People do stuff just because, okay?"

How the hell did Noda-san know his name? Towa never told him that. But considering Towa also found this place via the internet, he thought it's very likely that Noda-san did the same.

Mizuho then walked around his workstation and patted Towa on his back.

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

"I'll call you with what this thing needs, alright? Don't worry about it."

Towa couldn't say anything else as Mizuho escorted him to the front of the shop. He's even more confused than before and it's clear that he'll not be getting any more information out of Mizuho.

"A Roadster RF is pretty nice..." Mizuho noted, as he's looking at Towa's car. "...I would buy one exactly the same as you did, but I don't need one."

Towa could only stare back at Mizuho, who's saying all that with a kind smile of an elderly shop owner. The sort who'd have a sweet shop in the community.

"Is he at least okay though?" Mizuho asked about Takeshi so suddenly, it made Towa a bit confused.

"He'll be fine, mostly." Towa replied.

"That's good to hear..." Mizuho said with a smile. "...Thank you for coming, Wakisaka-san. I'll call you when it's done."

—

12AM

It's lunch time for all at Tsuchiura First High School. Ippei Noda was also having his lunch quietly in the classroom. He got some convenience store rice balls and some tea. It's not much, but it's nutrition which will keep him going long enough until he got home and will be able to have a proper meal.

Other students would have already brought some bento from home, some would buy from the school cafeteria, and some other would go out to get some from a shop across the school. Ippei liked the convenience so he'd rather just sit with something he already prepared for.

There were quite a few other students in his class doing the same as well. They usually would sit in groups of 3 to 5 to chat. Ippei's usual suspects, however, were missing, as he guesses they were out shopping for some lunch elsewhere.

It turned out to be correct, Ippei's two closest friends, Akira and Ryoji, were now back at their seats, as Ippei was finishing his food. They brought some bentos with them which seemed to be from the store across the street.

As soon as Akira sat down on his chair, he looked at Ippei with suspicious eyes and smirking face, which Ippei kind of predicted would happen.

"I thought you'd be having lunch with someone." Akira said, the snide was very clear.

"Cut the elementary school shit, Akira." Ippei was having none of it.

"He didn't deny..." Akira turned to Ryoji. "...See? I was right."

"You're being very annoying." Ippei said.

"And you're being insincere with your feelings." Akira continued.

"Who is she anyway? This girl? She's not in our class?" Ryoji asked.

"Nope, from class 3-C," Akira answered. Before turning back to Ippei. "...a real cutie as well."

Ippei could only sighed from his friends' shenanigans.

"Oh, by the way, can your dad get me some cheap 3080? I need an upgrade." Akira suddenly changed subject which kind of makes Ippei even more annoyed.

"Like hell!"

At the same time in the English subject teacher's room, most staff were also having lunch, either by themselves or in groups in the breakroom. One of the teachers enjoying lunch by themselves was a young female with wavy, longer than usual bob hair. She dressed quite stylishly, more suitable for Tokyo than in this out of nowhere town.

She's just enjoying her lunch, when another, older female teacher comes into the room and walks straight to her desk.

"Yamada-san." That older teacher called for the young teacher.

"What is it, Misaki-san?"

"The guy from ◯ University is going to come here tomorrow right? To give a presentation to the third year students?"

Iori Yamada had been a teacher here at Tsuchiura First High School since before the pandemic, ever since she graduated from Tokyo U and passed the teaching examination. The main reason really was because of her then fiancé, Masayoshi. Although truthfully, she did find living here in Ibaraki, where it's not exactly crowded, quite appealing. Yet if she ever wished to go back to Tokyo it's only an hour's drive so it's hardly an inconvenience.

"That's right." Iori replied, while pretty sure, she also picked up her phone to look at the schedule to make absolutely sure.

"I heard they'll be sending Hattori-san this time."

Iori noticed a bit of a disappointed tone from her colleague Misaki.

"Who's Hattori-san?" Iori asked as she didn't really know this person.

"He's from student affairs of course. It's not like they'll be sending professors here to do student guidance." Misaki said.

"One period presentation for each class right?" Iori asked.

"Right. Same as before."

This made Iori try to recall the same period of the year as last time. It's pretty typical that various universities would come and give presentations to the students of Tsuchiura First High School. It was the school with one of the highest number of students going to further education in all of Kanto.

Iori believed last year it was a different person who came to give the presentation from the ◯ University. The year before that it was done online.

"Is this Hattori-san nice?" Iori asked with curiosity.

"He's alright I guess." Misaki sighed. "...If I'm going to be completely honest, he's just dull."

Iori could only try not to chuckle at that. What exactly did Misaki mean by that? She didn't understand at all. A guy coming here to try to encourage students to seek further education at their workplace was dull?

"I mean, our students will enroll there a lot anyway so I guess they just send the dullest person so as to not waste their valuable time." Misaki explained further, which to be fair, only made Iori more curious.

"At least this person is not a creep, right?"

This question did make Misaki chuckled quietly. Iori had always been a very straightforward person, which Misaki actually liked a lot about, but thought did hinder her from being adored by higher management. But come to think of it, this Norio Hattori guy from ◯ University was indeed kind of weird.

"I don't think so." Misaki replied.

Misaki continued to chat with Iori for a bit, but then left to finish lunch. Iori then stood up to stretch a bit, before preparing the materials for her next class. Which was actually one of her favorites.

As an English teacher, like many other social studies teachers, not all students are interested in learning what they deemed to be pointless or difficult. While this being a pretty high standard school, there's less students who are openly bad and more of general, not obvious, disinterest.

So when a class had been actually paying attention, and participated in the class with great enthusiasm, it did make a teacher's job less tiring and more worthwhile.

Quite a few students come to her to ask for guidance despite not being their homeroom teacher. Iori guessed that's mainly because she's relatively young, and partly because she's a graduate from Tokyo U, which is the goal of so many students here.

One of the girls in this class, especially, took Iori's attention a bit. Sachiko Kinoshita was her name, she's probably the student that asked Iori the most for advice about university entrance. Iori wondered if she'd come to ask her something again today...

—

10 PM

"Are you going out somewhere tonight, Darling?"

Towa was still in his day to day clothing, and not pajamas, and he's picking his stuff up including the car key, which made Sumire a bit curious as to where he's going at this time. Towa didn't realize that Sumire was not sleeping yet, and was peeking from the bedroom door.

"I'm just going to get some air. I've been in this square room too long now."

Sumire wasn't going to stop him, as this was totally normal for Towa and she trusts him enough to know he's not going to do anything bad even at this time. So she just nodded and went back to the bedroom.

The truth was, Towa would not be able to sleep anyway, as the whole day he's only been having questions about the guy from the PC shop. Noda-san.

Who the hell exactly was he? Towa could not find out his first name and a Noda-san working in IT was far too numerous. This mysterious person is surely going to keep Towa up at nights for a while yet.

Without being able to do anything else, Towa decided the only thing he could do was to run the Tsukuba Fruits Line again.

The same 45 minutes drive on the expressway, up to the peak of the course. Towa got to the starting line which was the Ibaraki Prefecture Flower Park sign and was ready to go.

The clock ticked down, the engine revved up, and the runs commenced.

Towa ran the course again and again, but could not improve on his time much at all. It's still in the 2:40 range which was really slow on the leaderboard.

It didn't help that even in this darkness of the night, the clear sign of the accident that happened to Takeshi was not fixed yet. The guardrail on the outside of the high speed left turn was completely mullered and likely won't be fixed for a while yet. If an accident were to happen again in the same place, the car surely would tumble down the embankment which would likely not be painless.

The tumultuous mind could not focus either. Towa's driving was really disordered, there's no rhythm to it, and no logic either. One corner he might go in way too slow, another he might brake too late. He could not maintain speed as he feared the wrath of the mountain roads.

After 5 runs, Towa came back to the start line again, the car ready to try once more, but Towa wasn't. He's tired and battered. The g-forces might not be too harsh as the Roadster was on standard Bridgestone tires, but with how twisty the course was, it did take its toll. Just turning the steering wheel was hard work even with power steering due to how many times he had to do it.

Towa parked before the intersection, in the diverging lane for turning left to Omote Tsukuba Skyline. He's stepped out of the Roadster to stretch a little bit.

The standard Roadster exhaust was humming quietly away, the only thing apart from insects that's disturbing the complete quietness of the mountain.

The air was getting a bit cold as the night went on. Towa's not going to be crazy enough to drive down there with an open roof.

Despite the fear, both of the danger of the mountain roads, and the unknown surrounding everything. Towa realized that he's now completely engulfed by the desire to run.

Was this the way of the street racers? Was this the reason many others do the same run?

The completely pointless and highly illegal acts that could lead to death or injuries?

If that's the case, why did it feel absolutely great? Why did this place feel just right?

It was at this point that Towa noticed a car coming up from behind. The exhaust sounded rorty and the headlamps shone brightly in this complete darkness. He's preparing to step back in the car as an instinct, but was also curious if it's another Geo Timer user.

Turns out that not only that it was a user, but also who Towa is pretty sure was the creator of the app itself. The white Toyota Probox, driven by the unassuming PC shop owner, Noda-san.

It may be a typical van that most people joke about being equipped with 'Twin Turbo of delivery and customer complaints. Powered by pressure from deadlines and management.' It's stupid jokes about a stupid looking car.

A stupid looking car that no one can deny was damn fast down this mountain road.

Noda-san didn't stop, only slowed down to look at Towa who seemed bewildered. The white Probox rolled towards under the Flower Park sign slowly, almost inviting Towa to try and follow it again.

Towa didn't hesitate one bit. He got in the Roadster again, and parked right behind the Probox. Whatever may come next, Towa didn't mind much. It's almost like he's being lured in by the devil itself.

Towa expected the notification for the Geo Timer app asking for a challenge to come up again, but that didn't happen. The Probox's hazard lights flashed quickly two times, which Towa was confused as to the meaning of. But instinctively he flashed his hazard lights as well in reply.

The low beam shone towards the Probox, which although Towa barely able to see, he noticed the arm of Noda-san poking out from the window, giving him a thumbs up, almost as if asking for approval for something. Towa just flashed his main beam to answer that whatever Noda-san's planning, he's alright with it.

With that, the Probox started rolling away briskly, but slow enough for the Roadster to follow.

After which, the Probox accelerated up a notch. Going quicker than before but still clearly not going at full speed as it did before, and Towa was following carefully.

The first corner, Towa noticed that the Probox was braking way earlier than before. At the point that Towa could follow easily. He also noticed that the car was going to the absolute left possible, nearly into the hedge.

Towa drove the Roadster closely to the back of that Probox, following its route exactly as if it's a small wolf pup being led by its mother.

The Probox turned in very smoothly, the speed was quick, but not excessively so. Although the tires of the Roadster following were already squealing which signifies the limit of its grip.

After the first left turn, the Probox then veered to the absolute right. There was a road shoulder bit there which it was also using. And exactly the same as the previous corner, it braked very early and smoothly, almost to the level of normal driving.

Then the Probox turned into the left corner, again, not to its full potential, but the Roadster was.

It turned in quite late, and hugged the left side of the road after the turn to prepare for the next right hairpin turn, which led immediately to another left turn so it stayed as much to the right as possible, but more to the middle.

The next turn the Probox was turning in very late, much later than what Towa did before. This meant that it managed to stay on the right side to prepare for the next left turn. After that it's the right turn again before a sharp left. This next sharp radius left turn, the car almost touched the guardrail which extended from the right side as the radius of the turn narrowed. But the car still managed to keep its speed up as the next turn was wider. A very fiddly bit of the course that made Towa anxious every time.

After which, it was the left high speed corner that Takeshi crashed at. This made Towa's anxiety pushed through the roof. But that Probox was not slowing down, but not going excessively fast either.

The Probox hugged the outside right the most, and its trajectory is completely different to the clear tire mark still left on the road from the accident. It turns in much later than Towa anticipated, and maintains speed that he hadn't been able to do before, ever.

Towa wasn't sure if he could trust the car not to spin, but realized quickly that this sighting run was not dangerous. It's abundantly clear as to what Noda-san was doing, and Towa trusted him. Even if he's mysterious, you can't deny the way he's driving was both safe and fast.

The Roadster tires were squealing louder than ever before with this fast left turn. Towa noticed the speed was nearly in the range of 90 km/h, which made him almost instinctively lift the throttle a little. His mind was shouting 'It's dangerous!', yet he couldn't actually lift, he just had to trust that the car would turn in and it did.

Then it was a right turn after a short break from constant cornering. A hairpin that led to the longest acceleration zone of the course. A breathing room for any run.

It's not a perfect straight line though, this acceleration zone was a snaking one although it could be done almost flat out. After the hairpin leading to it making the car's situated on the left side, the Probox ran as straight as it possibly can which led it to being on the right side of the road after the first slight corner. Noda-san then clearly tapped the brake a few times to tell Towa to slow down, despite Towa thinking that it didn't need to. Then turned left on the highest speed corner of the course itself.

The Probox then lifted fully to allow the Roadster to follow into the big braking zone. Which was marked by an old road sign on the right hand side. Because the Probox lifted way earlier, it didn't have to brake as hard, but it still started braking there. Towa followed closely every single move it did.

Despite the clear higher speed, Towa felt in control all this time. It's completely different from when he had to run the course all by himself.

Hairpin left, following immediately by a right, tightening radius acute corner. Another short burst of acceleration before turning right 90 degrees into a left hairpin.

The line was clear, that's what Noda-san was doing. He's showing the line of this course to Towa.

It's the last section, another quick right turn that leads to a left, long hairpin, which the Probox hugged the inside all the time in anticipation of the next, tighter, hairpin right. Then a slight left curve that leads to another hairpin right.

The last corner was coming up, a reverse sickle shape corner which the radius widened at the end. A never ending corner which can be make or break for any time attack runs. An annoying corner that made you guess when to brake, turn in, and accelerate.

At the end of the annoying corner, the flower park sign signaled the end, and Towa was relieved. It's over.

The Probox of Noda-san continued on, turning left to the way back to the start of the course through Asahi Tunnel, Towa followed in the Roadster in anticipation. Another sighting run would be amazing to catch up with everything he missed the first time.

Alas, when the Probox reached the 4-way intersection, which turning left would lead up the Fruits Line once again, the Probox continued straight on and disappeared from sight.

To say Towa was confused and disappointed would be an understatement.

Is that it? Towa thought.

The rest of the night, Towa had to run the Fruits Line alone.

Although, with that one help from Noda-san, his runs were getting way quicker than before. There's no way he would be able to achieve this much improvement without guidance.