The sun lazily peeks out over the Sapporo skyline, the city below hesitant to wake up. On this Sunday, the hustle and bustle of the city center is a whisper of its usual self, and the weary workers relish in the chance to recharge over the weekend. Once this blissful interlude ends, of course, it’ll be back to the same old routine for the lot of them—another monotonous chapter in the book of their lives. Who can blame them for sleeping in?
“Good, I’m right on time. Everything’s set to go!”
Reina, on the other hand, awoke from her hibernation with a palpable hunger for more. This isn’t just any Sunday—it’s the next page of this new chapter, and she is eager to put pen to paper. The rest of the crew, understandably, won’t be arriving until a bit later in the day...but Reina affords herself no such leniency. She got herself up and out of her makeshift bed in the nick of time, and now she’s ready for work.
*DING!*
“Oh, that’s her!”
As luck would have it, her intern is itching to go as well. She makes for the door and welcomes her inside.
“Morning.”
“Good to see you! You ready to get to work?”
She smiles. “Am I ever.”
Yuzu had to force herself to sleep. Work doesn’t start until 9, but for want of closure, she tossed and turned in her hotel bed all night long. She just couldn’t shut her brain off—the anticipation, the excitement was too strong for her to contain.
Not to mention those impassioned words Reina spoke to her... Now she wants to see this through more than ever. The garage is calling their name, and while the day is still young, they don’t want to waste a minute.
Time to go to work.
“Okay! So I did do a bit of extra work after you left last night,” Reina concedes as they walk over to the Silvia. The engine transplant is just about ready, but there are a few more pieces of prep work to get done first.
And of course, you can’t forget the music. Reina turns the speakers on and gets the garage humming with their old-timey tunes. Deep Purple’s on the menu this morning—and their heavy metal sets the tone for another action-packed day.
“New radiator was the big one. The master cylinder had a leak too, but Uncle Naoto was able to get that squared away.”
“We also worked on the wiring, so the electrical stuff should be mostly ready. Just gotta lift the car and take care of one or two things, and then we can put the engine in!”
“Nice! Lead the way, then.”
“You got it.”
With a hydraulic hum, the Silvia ascends on the hoist—this time without a drip or leak to be found! Yuzu marvels at how much tidier the car looks from below now. Reina and the crew really did a good job cleaning everything up for the new install, and from how casually Reina is approaching the next round of parts, Yuzu’s more confident than ever in letting her take the reins. Now that it’s up on the hoist, Reina can begin work on a desperately-needed brake job...
“Right, so the previous owner did actually take the liberty of upgrading from factory drums to disc brakes all around, but as you can see, uh...” Reina uncovers the first disc brake. It’s not pretty.
“...They’re kinda dead.”
“Yeeeah, I thought they were when I was driving it over here. I’ve never been so scared of a car in my life.”
“So yeah, we’re gonna replace those, and then with the new engine and transmission, we’ve also got a new crossmember to put on.”
“Sounds good.”
One more time, Yuzu finds herself on flashlight duty as Reina leaps into action. It’s immediately apparent how routine this part is to her—engines are one thing, but she’s done plenty of brake rotations and replacements in her years at the shop. The Silvia and its brakes may be well-worn from all the abuse, but in short order, Reina has them looking spick and span once more.
Like yesterday, they can both feel the time flying by. Unlike yesterday, they know for a fact they’re in the home stretch. Once the new brakes are settled in, Reina swiftly puts the tires back on and whips out the crossmember, lifting the Silvia ever higher for its next big part.
“You know, I’m not sure what I was expecting the underside of the engine bay to look like, but I wasn’t expecting a giant hole.”
“Yeah, there’s no floor. You’ve got the crossmember for the engine and the transmission, then the oil pan for all the oil, and that’s it.” Reina demonstrates her point by sticking her hand up into the engine bay. Yuzu wants to follow suit, but she’s too short.
(How the hell did she end up so big...?)
The crossmember is another quick install for Reina; after taking care of that and a few other minor components on the underbelly of the engine, they’re done with the hoist for good. The Silvia descends back down to earth; bit by bit, it comes closer to completion.
The supporting cast, meanwhile, has picked an excellent time to join in. Sami and company clock into work for the day—and their eyes immediately alight at the progress they see. Not much left now!
“Morning, honey! You sleep okay?”
“I, uh... Heehee. Yeah.”
“Well, good. I didn’t want to wake you up when you were already out like a light. Guess the seats in there must be pretty comfy!”
(Huh...?)
“At any rate, I got the brakes and crossmember done. Just the mounts left and then the engine can go in!”
“Excellent!”
The crowd gathers to watch Reina put the finishing touches on the motor. The finished engine lies suspended on a crane, gleefully awaiting its transplant into the car. Reina works as quickly as she can—both to keep the audience from waiting too long, and to satisfy her own excitement.
It’s just now hitting her that this is really happening. It’s one thing to set a goal and steadily work toward it; it’s another to see the finish line on the horizon. With each mounting bracket, the smile on her face widens just that extra bit.
“Ooo-kay! Ladies and gentlemen, I think she’s ready!”
Reina wheels the crane over, the Pocket hovering over its new home. Conveniently, the guitar solo for Highway Star is about to begin—the timing couldn’t be any better. As the distant guitar shreds, the team watches Reina lower the engine into the Silvia, the anticipation building like watching a new year’s ball drop.
(Steady, steady...!) Reina focuses, making sure every little component fits neatly inside. In contrast to her earlier work, she feels like time has slowed to a crawl—that guitar solo draws out for eternity and a day. But, undaunted, she keeps her eye on the prize...
And with a satisfying bump, the Pocket touches down!
“There she is!”
The team celebrates with arms raised. The Pocket is finally home, in its natural habitat; now, once all the other components are hooked up to it, it will burst into action and live its high-octane life at Yuzu’s command.
Not bad at all for a shop years out of practice.
“Now, let’s wrap this up! Not much longer until we can send her on her way. We can get this done by the end of the day, no problem!”
It warms Sami’s heart to see Reina take charge. She looks and sounds so natural in the role, you’d think she’s been the head honcho for years. She will only continue to grow as she gains confidence, gains experience... It’s clear now to Sami that she made the right choice. Reina is the one.
“Roger that!”
With the engine assembled and appended, the team gets to work connecting parts and pieces aplenty to complete the puzzle. Uncle Naoto and Old Man Takashi make quick work of the connections in the car’s interior, cleaning up a mess or two while they’re at it; Sami takes the heat off the rest of the team by handling customers for the day. That leaves Reina and Yuzu to pore over the engine bay and work with the others to make sure everything’s hooked up right.
“I think this’ll actually be the biggest engine I’ve driven—by displacement, at least.”
“Yeah, they started you out with karts and then some smaller single-seaters, I take it?”
“Yup. It kinda makes me wonder how much different this will feel from them.”
“Well, I don’t have much hands-on experience with those cars myself, but I think I can safely say this car will be very different to drive.”
Reina can tell Yuzu’s curious—and Reina herself is raring to gush about engines as always. While the work is slow, Reina gives Yuzu a crash course.
“So, smaller engines, like the ones in the race cars you drive, they’re built for high revs to offset their smaller size and lower torque. More revs, more power.”
“Right, yeah.”
“Naturally, those high rev ranges are where they work best, so they’re built to shoot way up to the limiter as fast as possible.”
“Yup. You gotta be quick on the shifts so you’re not wasting that acceleration.”
“With this engine, though, you’re not gonna rev as hard—but you don’t need to, because you’ve got lots of torque at the low end instead.”
“For cruising along, I find it’s actually really comfy—you can keep the revs nice and low because you don’t need lots of revs to make your power. And then when you wanna accelerate, all that torque gives you a really sharp response.”
“And speaking of response: that’s probably gonna be different too.”
“Is it because of the no turbo?”
“Yup—that’s called naturally aspirated. Turbos are great for doing more with less, but I’ve never been a fan of the turbo lag you get when you hit the gas and you’re just waiting for the turbine to spin up.”
“Well, actually, wait, I remember you had one of those in the Road Runner, right?”
“Oh! Close, but nope. That’s a supercharger. That’s a turbine too, but it’s a bit different.”
They’ve got the Road Runner sitting pretty next to the Silvia, so Reina pops the hood to better explain the difference.
“Instead of using exhaust gas to spin the turbine and make your boost, the engine itself powers the turbine with this belt here—just like it powers the AC, or the power steering.”
“Huh... I didn’t realize there were different types—I’ve never seen a supercharger before. Turbos are more common, I take it?”
“Waaay more common. Turbos are everywhere nowadays because they’re a cheap and efficient way to add power—plus, small engines work better with them because the engine doesn’t have to spin it directly. It’s just more power for less work.”
“Superchargers, though? Way less efficient, but you still get a good boost and the instant throttle response. Call me old-fashioned, but that’s the kinda stuff I like.”
“Way simpler to install too, from my experience.”
Yuzu appreciates the fact that she can just pick Reina’s brain for any automotive topic that piques her interest. It’s like she’s talking to a walking encyclopedia.
“I’ve never really minded turbo lag, but then, I haven’t driven much of anything else, so I don’t really have a frame of reference. It’s gonna be interesting to get behind the wheel.”
“Well, you won’t have to wait long!”
The build progresses smoothly into its final phase: now that all the pieces are put together, it’s time to introduce the fluids. Reina adds oil and coolant to the mechanical mix—and she doesn’t skimp on that stuff. Only the best for her very first build.
“So is it ready to go now?”
“Almost! Gotta build oil pressure first. You never, ever wanna start an engine dry.”
“Fair point. How do you do that, then?”
“Just gonna crank it without the fuel pump for 30-ish seconds, and that should do the trick.”
Reina has the key to the ignition, which is now wired up and ready to go. She could hop in, give it a twist and let the engine do the rest...but that’s for posers. No, rather than shove herself back inside that normal-sized interior, Reina just takes a pair of screwdrivers and forces the starter into action anyway.
“Wha—“
“Yeah, don’t do this!”
For the first time, the new engine stirs. The starter turns over spiritedly, jostling the V6 in place while Reina waits for the pressure to mount. Eventually, the starter slows its roll, grunting a bit from the added resistance; Reina nods, knowing that’s a sign the pressure is coming up.
“She sounds good! Just a little longer and the pressure should be good.”
“Okay!”
After waiting just a bit longer for good measure, Reina lets the starter rest, its metallic groan spooling back down into silence. The whole team knows what’s coming next—the moment they’ve been waiting for is finally here.
“Yeah... That should do it. She’s ready.”
Reina gives the finished Silvia one last look. To most people, to the outside world, this is an impossibly complex labyrinth of metal and wires—a churning beast far beyond the layman’s understanding. To tame it might as well be wielding the dark arts.
But Reina counts herself no witch. This isn’t the product of natural-born talent nor any particular predisposition...only her sheer dedication and love for her craft. Her heart swells with pride at all her hard work, a wide smile blooming on her face.
It’ll only get wider when she hears that beast roar.
“Alright,” Reina announces, handing the key to Yuzu. “Go ahead and do the honors.”
“Huh...? Wait, me? I mean, I’d be glad to, but why not you?”
“Well, why not you?”
“I mean, you just built this whole thing from the ground up! This was all your hard work!”
“It was, yeah, but at the end of the day, it’s your car. Call me cheesy, but we’ve always done it this way—we like watching the client start it up for the first time and take it all in.”
“And besides: we already know what our engines feel like. For you, this’ll be all new.”
Reina’s grin turns ever so slightly capricious. “So take this car and make it yours.”
Something about this simple gesture speaks to Yuzu in a way she can’t really explain. Perhaps it’s just from watching the build from start to finish, or perhaps it’s the sentimental value of standing in her childhood hero’s garage and driving a car she worked on herself. In this moment, Yuzu starts to feel like the Aikawa-powered Silvia is more than just a car... It’s something a little more personal than that.
And she can’t wait to drive it.
“Thank you...!”
With pleasure, Yuzu opens the door and takes her place behind the wheel. She quickly inserts the key into the ignition, and the old dashboard hums to life. After adjusting the seat to fit her petite frame, she grips the key again and prepares to twist. The anticipation shoots through her like a bolt of lightning.
“Okay...” Yuzu takes a deep breath. “Here goes.”
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Yuzu feels the starter kick into action, turning the engine briskly...but as the seconds tick by, and the dormant V6 continues to whinny, she starts to wonder why the big moment isn’t actually arriving. Is she missing something?
“...Umm.” Yuzu lets go, the starter spinning back down. Reina lets out a nervous chuckle and hastily explains.
“It takes a bit for the fuel to move through the lines. Just pump the gas and keep going!”
“O-Oh! Uh, sorry.”
Evidently she was missing something. Trying to stop the red from spreading across her face, Yuzu twists the key again, this time rhythmically pumping the throttle. Like last time, the engine doesn’t seem to be responding at all... The seconds pass without much to show for her efforts.
(Okay, I dunno what I’m doing wrong here. Are they playing a trick on me or—)
*VVVRRRRMMMMMM!*
“Jesus—!”
Yuzu feels her entire body rattle like a gong. Her heart’s never skipped that many beats before...nor have her eyes ever been quite this wide open. Even after the initial shock fades, she still feels a torrent of adrenaline coursing through her veins, amplified by the bestial V6 growling before her. The Silvia breathes again—and what a monster it’s become!
“It works...! It really works!”
The team outside celebrates with a round of cheers, congratulating Reina for a job well done. Reina herself delights in the sweet, sweet sound of that V6 engine—its roar is a confirmation that she did the job right.
And seeing Yuzu’s face? Priceless.
“H-Holy... That thing’s a monster!” Yuzu briefly exits the car and marvels at the running engine from outside.
“Yup! That’s Aikawa for you! It’ll get you where you want to go and outrun anything you want on the way there~”
Now that it’s finally up and running, Reina and company put the hood back on the car and shut it tight. With the snarling V6 locked in its cage, the reawakened Silvia is complete. On the outside, it looks virtually identical to how it was before—without the engine running, you couldn’t even tell it blew a motor and had a whole different one dropped into it.
But when you hear that engine growl, you’ll know for a fact it’s got something different under the hood. Something that turns heads wherever it goes.
Something from a world once thought long gone, but still alive and kicking.
“So! Once she warms up a bit, you can put her through her paces. I’d suggest taking her for a short drive around the block before you drive all the way back home, though.”
“Hmm... Yeah, that sounds fine. Would you mind coming along with me, though? This is my first time driving a car this...well, big. I wanna make sure I’m not doing it wrong.”
“Oh! Sure, I don’t mind. And I can give you directions while we’re at it.”
“Yeah. Sounds good.”
It’s settled, then. Reina and Yuzu meet inside the car, the open road beyond the garage calling their names. The Silvia is finally ready to begin its new lease on life, with both driver and designer in tow. Yuzu takes a moment to familiarize herself before pushing in the clutch and getting the revs up for the shift into first...
“Is this...?”
“Yeah, that’s a bit much. You’ll spin the tires with that much torque.”
“Really? If you say so...”
That’s the fun thing about these Pockets: on cars this light, they barely weigh you down at all, and that light weight combines with the ample torque to make...
*VRRRMMM...!*
“Oof—! Okay, yeah, that was still too much!”
“It does take some getting used to!”
With an authoritative growl, the Silvia propels its way out of the garage and onto the open road, leaving its makeshift medical bay behind. With the sun beaming overhead, they soon disappear into the distance, the V6 echoing off the hills and buildings.
Sami and the others can’t help but watch the two of them take off, wearing a warm smile on her face. It hasn’t been long since her one and only daughter had to step up and play with the bad hand she was dealt...but she’s really turned it around in a spectacular way. They’re not out of the woods yet—and they still won’t be for a while to come—but for the first time in a great while, Aikawa Auto is back on the up and up, and Reina is to thank.
If there’s anyone who can recapture the magic this company once had, anyone who can really understand what it takes to put them back on the map...it has to be her. She’s done more than just inherit the Aikawa name—she’s earned it.
And that makes Sami a mighty proud mom.
(Yeah... It’s only right to tell her now. She’s got what it takes.)
(I know in my heart that girl’s going places.)
***
The lazy Sunday streets seem to part way when the intruder comes rolling in. Passersby can’t help but stare—in the sea of quiet drones and electric hums, this new car on the block sounds wholly out of place. It doesn’t bear the refined rumble of a straight-six, nor the energetic whine of a turbo... No, this is a different manner of beast entirely.
The Silvia is on the prowl.
“Just take a left here and it’ll get you on the main road. You can do a circle around the neighborhood and you’ll be back at the shop in a few minutes, traffic permitting.”
“Gotcha.”
Yuzu isn’t really sure what to make of the engine yet. She does have an ample amount of power at her disposal, especially relative to the car’s weight—and being used to smaller, more rev-happy engines, she finds her muscle memory is betraying her somewhat. There’s a steep learning curve to these engines: whereas her single-seaters are all about keeping the revs up, this car demands her to be as smooth as possible, lest she press a mold of herself into the seat behind her.
...Not to say she doesn’t like it.
“Okay, easy on the gas this time...” There’s something she respects about how effortlessly the car gets up to cruising speed—like she’s hardly working the engine at all. The tach needle barely budges from its idling position, but with all its low-end torque, the Silvia works up to the speed limit without breaking a sweat. She barely even needs to press down on the throttle; too much, in fact, and she’ll inadvertently draw the attention of half the city.
It is, as Reina mentioned earlier, the exact opposite of what she’s used to. But it’s more than just the head-to-head power, or even the tangibles altogether. She knows the single-seaters she drives are plenty quick on the draw, but there’s something about this car that just feels powerful—and the more she gains control of it, the more satisfying that power becomes.
A convenient stop light gives Reina an opportunity to poll her customer.
“So? Initial thoughts?”
“Well, if you asked me five minutes ago, I would’ve said this thing is an absolute handful.” She’s rapidly acclimating, though—the car isn’t quite as scary as it was when she first started it up.
“When I first started driving it, I felt like it’d fly into a wall if I looked at it funny. I think I’m getting used to it, though... For just driving around the city like this, you really don’t need to drive it much at all. Just a tiny bit of throttle and it does all the work for you.”
“Yeah, you don’t need to shift much at all.”
“But the fact that I still can is throwing me off. Like, I drive my dad’s car sometimes, and that’s just a little kei car. It can get up to highway speeds and not much else... This, though? This has so much power left to use.”
“Mmm-hm. Some people argue that power goes to waste on city roads with speed limits, but power isn’t just about the very top. It’s also about making the rev range you actually use more comfortable on the road.”
“That’s a fair point...”
“And besides: there’s nothing stopping you from launching a little at stop lights if you wanna lay down some rubber.”
“Oh, please, I’m not like that.”
“Aww~”
“...Okay, maybe a little.”
Yuzu indulges Reina just a tiny bit, using this stop light as a launch pad. She loads up the engine and smoothly shifts into first, the sheer power pressing them into the seats. They’re up to the speed limit faster than she can blink—and the engine did it all in one gear. Just as soon as it rocketed up to speed, it settles back down into its low-rev rhythm like nothing even happened at all.
“Does nothing faze this thing? I was JUST pushing it and now it’s back down to normal.”
“It just likes revving low. It’s a simple little engine.”
“Yeah, ‘little.’ Heh. And this is your smallest engine, right?”
“Yup! Usually we do V8s, like the one in the Road Runner. That one has about three times the displacement...and a supercharger.”
“This one’s enough of a handful as is. How do you even control something like that?”
“Very, very carefully.”
(This girl’s something else...)
She can’t deny the appeal of it all, though. As she gets a better feel for the car, she unlocks more of the potential slumbering inside it. Getting past that initial hurdle of the precise throttle control raises her confidence and puts a smile on her face. Bit by bit, she’s taming the beast...and boy, does it ever feel good.
(Yeah... This feels nice. Really nice.)
With that, their cruise comes to a close. Yuzu can see the auto shop just around the corner; another turn or two, and they’re back in front of the lot, where the team is waiting for them. She has to admit, Reina and company did a fantastic job with the build overall—the engine lives up to its reputation in spades, and all the other new parts are perfectly dialed in. She even got to see it all happen behind the scenes... This was worth it and then some. Aikawa Auto gave her everything she could possibly have asked for.
To say nothing of Reina and how she feels. She’s riding in a car with an engine she built, and it passed its shakedown with flying colors. She saw, heard, felt all that hard work pay off in the most satisfying way possible...and she couldn’t be prouder for it.
“And there we are!” The Silvia pulls back up to the front of the building, where the team is eager to hear what Yuzu thinks of her revamped Silvia.
“So, how’d it go?” Sami’s plenty curious to hear how the up-and-coming racer handled a car outside her comfort zone. The smile on Yuzu’s face give her a hint.
“Heh heh... That’s a really good engine you’ve built. I’m not used to cars this torque-y, but I can see the appeal. It handles city cruising like it’s nothing.”
“It still hasn’t really hit me that this is my car... Who knows how long it’ll take me to get used to that. Once I get over that hump, though...I think I’m gonna have a lot of fun with this thing.”
“You guys did an awesome job.”
“Why, thank you!”
“You put your foot down at all?”
“I did...once.” Yuzu sheepishly glances to the side. “She’s got plenty of power alright. It’s almost a waste I don’t get to put the whole rev range to use, though, y’know?”
Her childhood hero flashes her a knowing grin. “Hah! Weeell, I can call in a favor or two with the guys at Tokachi, if you ever want your own little track day.”
Yuzu’s face alights. She’s always down to race hard—and now she has her very own car purpose-built for tearing up the tarmac. She’d love to do a proper time-trial in this thing...and thanks to Sami herself, she can make that a reality.
What a wonderful day.
“I might have to take you up on that.”
Satisfied far more than her stoic face shows, Yuzu thanks the whole team once again for their work. She walks up to Reina and shakes her hand in the evening glow—from one starry-eyed girl to another, they’ve both taken big steps on the road to their dreams.
“I really, really can’t thank you enough, Reina... You took this silly little idea of mine and made it work better than I ever thought it would. I mean... I still can’t really believe it. This is mine now!”
“I should be the one thanking you! You took the chance on us, and I’m really glad we delivered. Without you, we’d still be coasting along without anything new to keep us busy...” Reina reflects for a brief moment. They came pretty close to being stuck in the past for good...but now those worries themselves are in the past. She’s left them behind, and she’s looking toward the future now—as well she should.
“So thank you, Yuzu, from the bottom of my heart. You’ve made all of us here really happy.”
With that, Yuzu finally bids Sapporo and the shop farewell. After shaking hands with Sami and the rest of the team, she’s ready to return home after a long, action-packed weekend. The only thing left for her to do is make the long trek home...in her own car, at her own pace. And she can’t wait.
“Take care, you guys!”
“You too! Good luck with your formula season!”
“You knock ‘em dead down at Motegi, got it?”
“Oh, you can be sure of that!”
The Aikawa Silvia triumphantly roars to life again, its driver waving out the window as she pulls out onto the open road. Reina, Sami and the rest of the team watch on...
“Man... That was really, really great.”
“You bet it was, sweetie... You knocked it out of the park.”
Reina knows there’s a long way to go from here—and that this was but one step on the road. She knows she can’t get complacent with this one project. She knows especially well that the weight she bears isn’t truly lifted...that the company and all its faults haven’t simply disappeared overnight. Someone still has to carry that on their shoulders.
Instead, she herself is the one who’s changed. She’s stronger than before—taking the reins and seeing this project through has given her a tremendous boost in confidence. It gives her the strength she needs to stand up against all the inertia, all the weight bearing down on her, and find a way to keep on moving.
She’s found her answer. Soon, the time will come to see it through.
***
Sapporo and the sun quietly bid Yuzu farewell. The concrete jungle will shortly give way to rolling hills and distant peaks—scenery she’s all too familiar with, but now, she sees it all from a different perspective. She’s not looking out the window of a train this time, nor the cramped back seat of her parents’ kei car. She’s not bound to any of those things anymore. With her own car, at her own command, she can drive anywhere and any time she wants.
She feels like she’s finally figuring things out.
“Man... This thing really is a monster.” She’s used to driving high-octane speed demons, but never in the company of more normal cars. She and the bestial V6 stand out—and without Reina beside her to complement the car’s audacious nature, she feels a touch more conspicuous as a result.
...She thought she would care more about that, but the more she drives, the less it registers to her. She even feels like indulging her new ride a little...within reason, of course.
“I dunno what it is, but this car just feels really satisfying.”
A traffic light dares to interrupt her; she dutifully obeys, bringing the engine back down to a low rumble and waiting for the light to flip. There’s only one other car here—a humble, boxy little thing like so many other kei cars out on the street. Aside from him, there’s no one else around...
“...Ah, what the hell.”
That one car beside her is treated to an unexpected solo concert. The driver, a local high school student with a very young driver’s license, nearly jumps out of his skin, his eyes bugging out as his neck cranes to his left.
*VRRRMMM...!* *VRRRRRMMM...!*
“Wha—?!”
He was just heading to the store to pick up some supplies for his uncle—and rack up some experience with city driving while he was at it. Instead, he’s come mirror to mirror with a snarling tiger threatening to pounce. He can feel the power from inside his own car, shaking the air itself and jittering his glasses on his face.
“I think she’s corrupted me a bit. This is kinda fun... Heh heh.”
She brings her performance to a head, a crescendo of power as the light finally turns green. With fanfare, she rockets through the intersection and up to the speed limit, streaking off into the distance.
All said and done, the other driver is left to wonder what on earth just happened.
“Why did that car sound...familiar? I can’t quite place it...”
Nonetheless, she’s gone just as soon as she arrived. There’s nothing left of her car in the distance, already well on its way out of the city. He has no idea what to make of either the car or his unexplained déjà vu...
But whatever the case, he’ll have quite the odd story to tell his uncle when he gets back. He’s gonna remember that one.
***
The light finally fades from the sky, the faint blues and purples on the horizon retreating to the west. No longer does the concrete jungle reach her—she sees it stretch thinner and thinner, until the gray fades and the green begins. Now, only the moon and stars are left to keep her company, casting their light down on the hinterland of Hokkaido. She’s got the road all to herself on the three-hour drive back to Obihiro; it’s just her and the car, carving a path through the night.
Her tired eyes soften in the calm of the night. It’s been a long, long weekend—satisfying, beyond a doubt, but nonetheless draining. She’s ready to get some well-earned rest...and in an interesting twist, the car seems to settle down with her. Rowdy though that V6 engine may be, it’s perfectly content to lay down the kilometers, unbothered by the wind around it. Contrary to Yuzu’s expectations, the drive is relaxing... Therapeutic, even. The wide open road and the serene landscape surrounding let her absorb the experience of driving her new car.
“Something about this just feels...”
Yuzu can’t quite put her finger on it. Her father’s kei car, the long, winding train... They’re both utilitarian tools, built for function above all else. She understands well the need for that efficiency—it’s what drives the modern world.
But for some reason she can’t fully explain, the Pocket makes her feel so much different than sitting in the backseat of that kei car, or letting the train whisk her away. Something about the way this car isn’t ashamed to be loud and bombastic. It expresses itself... It celebrates itself. It’s indulgent unlike anything else she’s ever driven—not even the race cars she drives are so boisterous in their design.
All this time, she understood a car to be nothing more than a tool, engineered for an express purpose—be it commuting, racing, transporting goods or whatever other role they need to fill. What purpose, then, does this Aikawa-powered Silvia serve? It’s not remotely a born-and-bred commuter; as a race car, it’s outdated and inefficient. If it doesn’t fit in at all, then what is it for...?
“...It’s just different.”
This car isn’t trying to fit in, she realizes. It speaks for itself—quite literally. It exists not as a tool, but as a celebration of everything Aikawa Auto loves about cars and engines. The point of this car is not to use it for any specific task... The point of this car is to drive it.
And drive, she does. The car feels satisfying in a way few others do; the learning curve is steep, but the reward is a machine that makes her feel in complete, total control. When all the pretense of sensibility is thrown to the wayside, Yuzu is left with a car that demands her attention and rewards her ability. Yet she doesn’t feel the least bit pressured, like she might in a race; instead, she savors every sharp turn and every long straight, letting the sweet, sweet sound serenade her through the night.
...When was the last time she had this much fun just driving for driving’s sake?
“Oh, right, the tunnel’s coming up.” As Yuzu drives further and further into the mountains, she happens upon a familiar stretch of road. She’s been through this tunnel countless times, but never has she thought to take in all the sights...and sounds. Perhaps it’s that aforementioned corruption talking, whispering sweet nothings into her ear, but she wants to indulge in the Aikawa engine’s power, just a little...
“Man, I’m insane for even thinking this...” A pang of guilt briefly strikes her...but, perhaps out of sheer anticipation, she reasons with herself in her head. There’s no one else around; the tunnel is hers and hers alone, if only for one brief minute. Nobody else has to know.
“...Well, what’s the harm in having a little fun?”
Yuzu never understood the appeal of street racing. As far as she was concerned, it was a backward, dangerous pastime that rightfully deserved to be consigned to history.
...But there’s a tiny little part of her now that pictures them and their cars bombing through a lonely tunnel, engines echoing off the walls, and thinks:
(I get it now.)
*VRRRRRRRMMMMMMMM!!*
For one fleeting moment, she opens up the throttle and lets the Silvia sing. The Aikawa V6 eagerly casts off its chains and propels the car forward, the tach struggling to keep up. Yuzu lets the windows down, and above the whipping wind, she hears what she can only describe as a symphony of speed blasting all around her. She reaches a self-imposed speed limit, not willing to risk it any further...but she can feel there’s still so much power left for the engine to give. It’s goading her, daring her to floor it harder.
(This is...!)
She remembers how Sami got her start in street racing, before Tokachi, before Super Endurance. Was she doing this too? Is this all part of Aikawa Auto’s DNA? This sound, this energy, this feeling she can’t explain...
(This is incredible!)
Eyes wide, heart pounding, Yuzu savors every last second she can. For a brief moment, she feels something truly magical—something that breaks the bounds of just driving. This is more than controlling a machine... It’s celebrating the very sensation of driving a car. This is what it means... She’s taken this car and made it hers.
Finally, Yuzu settles the car back down as the end of the tunnel beckons. The Silvia emerges out the other side as calm and collected as it entered, the echoes long gone from her episode within the walls. Yuzu’s eyes still surge with adrenaline, looking back in the mirror as it all fades away. The sound of the engine in the tunnel still echoes in her ears; she wishes it didn’t have to become a memory.
But she’s beyond glad she made that memory to begin with. It helps her understand, bit by bit, just what this car really is.
“...Yeah. I really, really get it now.”
Very soon, she’ll be behind the wheel of a cutting-edge, purpose-built race car at Motegi. She will drive faster, corner harder, push the limits of her driving ability far beyond this little display tonight...but that does nothing to diminish the experience she’s had. This has served as a reminder of what cars can really be—more than just tools, more than just measures of skill and self-worth.
No...cars can be truly magical things. And driving them is always what she’s enjoyed most.
“Heh heh... I’m gonna have to ask Sami about that track day. I can’t wait for it now.”
And so, the seasons continue to change...