Callous though the season may seem, winter is not without mercy. As the calendar inches closer and closer to the new year, and the schools release their students for a well-earned break, the holiday spirit emerges from the ice and offers a reprieve to the weary folk of Hokkaido. The festive lights offer some welcome color to contrast the depressing grays; families far and wide await the chance to come together after a long, long year. Sapporo even has a German-themed Christmas market courtesy of its sister city, Munich. It all makes the snow just a little bit brighter, the wind a little bit warmer. The magic in the air is enough to melt even the coldest of hearts.
For a certain rising star from Obihiro, though, this winter break gives her pause...
(Where do I go from here...?)
Yuzu Tachikawa’s mind is a maelstrom. The winter break has her in limbo—an uncertain waiting room between past and future. She and her family are in town to visit family and hit the slopes—they’ve always enjoyed skiing together. But she finds it hard to relax... She’s caught in her own quandary: chase the future at any cost, or play the long game and let it all come to her?
“You’re still hung up on all that?” Her father wishes she’d stop worrying so much, but then, he has no room to talk. She is her father’s daughter.
“Sorry, just... Yeah.”
“Well, I know it’s easier said than done, but try to take your mind off of it, sweetie. It’s your vacation! You don’t have to be all business, all the time.”
“I know, I know.” She tries to reassure her parents, without much success. Her eyes eventually drift back toward the window, the Sapporo scenery rushing past them.
If she were to go to college, Hokkaido University would be the safe option—cheap, close to home and offering strong programs in the major of her choice. But is that the right call? Getting bogged down in university work may distract her from her budding racing career, especially come spring time. Her dominating performance over the past year has inked her a contract on the next step of the ladder; now, every decision becomes that much more important. If she hits her stride on the track, what need does she have for a degree?
But then, should she really be putting all her eggs in one basket like that? There’s just too much to consider...
(Hmmm...) She envies those people who have it all figured out—they’ve set their trajectory and they’re ready to shoot for the stars. Yuzu feels like every second she spends paralyzed by indecision is ground she loses in her endless pursuit of the cutting edge. She knows she has the ability to do what she wants to do; it’s just making up her mind.
Her thoughts wander back to that oddball track worker she met, actually... That Aikawa girl. For all the uncertainty about her company and her future, she sounded like she knew perfectly well what she wanted to do with her life. She had a legacy to inherit, and she wanted to make good on it... That’s an admirable thing. She disagrees with the Aikawa Auto way—feels a bit disillusioned with her childhood hero, even—but she wishes she had that kind of clarity herself. It’d make her a lot less anxious, for certain.
(...Come to think of it, isn’t she from around here?)
They say never meet your heroes. Visiting that shop is a risk...but she hasn’t been able to take her mind off that chance encounter as of late. Perhaps it’s just her nostalgia getting the better of her, but she wants to cross that off her bucket list now that she’s in town. Hell, maybe Sami can offer her a fresh perspective on her dilemma.
“Actually, um...”
“Yeah?”
“You know Reina? Sami Aikawa’s daughter? She drove me back from—”
“Ohhh, right! What about her?”
“I think they have their auto shop somewhere around here, so I was thinking maybe we could go visit? If that’s alright with you.”
A moment of initiative. Those don’t come by all that often; Yuzu’s parents are happy to indulge her.
“Well, I don’t see why not. Do you know where it is?”
“Lemme look it up...”
Yuzu whips out her phone and gets to typing. She remembers the “Speed Shop” part of their branding, so...
“Okay, I think this is it... Yeah. Aikawa Speed Shop. Looks like they’re all the way down in the Minami Ward.”
“That’s not too far.”
“We’ve got plenty of time anyway. Just tell me where to turn!”
Their spur-of-the-moment detour points them away from the downtown exchange, darting across the outskirts of the city as they approach from the east. They cross the river, cold and silent in winter’s grasp, and journey into the slumbering Minami Ward.
Already, the sun begins to set on Sapporo. The solstice brings yet more snow in its wake, coating Mount Moiwa and all its brethren in a tall layer of white. The slopes won’t be left wanting for powder, that much is certain.
Yuzu can’t really explain to herself why she made that choice. She isn’t sure why her heart is pounding in her chest either—could be excitement, could be nerves... Could be any number of things. A younger her would be ecstatic, but instead, trepidation lingers in her breaths. She feels like she’s about to lift the curtain on all her childhood memories for good, and find out who Sami...Aikawa really is.
“It says...take a right just before the bridge, and it’s the first building on the left.”
“Gotcha.”
The sprawling wilderness reclaims the landscape before them. It seems almost illogical for the auto shop to be hidden away out here in suburbia... She was expecting the building to be right in the thick of it. The more she learns about this shop, the less it all makes sense.
But perhaps she’ll get a better grasp of the picture once she’s finally there.
“Here?”
“Yeah.”
At last, Aikawa Speed Shop comes into view. A sore thumb in suburbia; a holdover from a bygone era, trying to resist the river of time. Perhaps this is what she should’ve been expecting—it looks exactly like the Road Runner does. Proud, but faded.
“Well, this is a neat-lookin’ place...” Her father tries to look on the bright side of things: it’s not every day you see something old-school like this. It takes him back to when he lived in Sapporo himself.
Nostalgia’s a powerful thing.
The Tachikawas find a place to park—not a difficult endeavor in the big, empty lot—and step out into the December air. Yuzu shuffles her way out of the back seat, almost like she’s leaving her comfort zone. The front doors beckon to them like a gateway back through time...a door to another world. With nothing left to do but walk on in, Yuzu takes a deep breath and steps inside...
*DING!*
That tacky little chime always startles new customers.
“Just a minute!” A voice yells from the garage to tide them over. They don’t see nor hear anyone else in the building... It’s just the three of them in the lobby. This piece of motoring history lies before them, preserved in all its former glory.
“Huh... I tell you what, this is pretty neat.”
“It’s not what I was expecting at all...”
What strikes them off the bat is how...strange this place is. Like some kind of time capsule. As with the exterior, the lobby invokes an era lost to history—it looks like it hasn’t been renovated in decades. Whether it’s nostalgia that preserves this place or some other unseen force, Yuzu isn’t too sure...but whatever it is, she’s never seen anything like it before. It’s just not from her time.
Before Yuzu can take it all in, though, the side door flies open. The shop’s sole attendant makes her entrance.
“Sorry about that, I had to wrap up a job real quick. What can I do for you three?”
“O-Oh! Umm...”
Yuzu was not prepared for Sami herself to be the one working the shop today. Her calm smile and striking features leave the young racer starstruck—just like when she took her place atop the podium at Tokachi all those years ago. Whatever script she had in her head has gone completely off the rails, almost freezing her in place.
Luckily, her father is there to break the ice. As a fan of hers himself, he’s just as excited to meet his favorite endurance legend.
“Oh, are you Sami Aikawa?”
“Yup! That would be me!”
“Toru Tachikawa. Big fan of yours!” Mr. Tachikawa extends his hand.
“Tachi... Ohhhh!” Sami reciprocates. “You must be Yuzu, then! Nice to finally put a face to the name.”
“N-Nice to meet you!”
Yuzu is paralyzed in a state of limbo—too nervous to talk to her hero, but so bursting with excitement that she could talk ‘til the sun goes down. She knows she needs to break the ice herself, though... She takes a deep breath, trying to keep the nerves at bay, and looks up at Sami with a childlike whimsy in her eyes.
“I’m a really big fan... You’re the whole reason I got into racing. I’m really happy I get to meet you in person...!”
“Me too! I’ve heard a lot about you, and for good reason: you really tore up Tokachi this year. I can tell you’re going places!”
(AAAAAH!)
“Th-Thank you!”
“I’ve wanted a chance to talk to you for a while now myself. It’s always nice to see girls like you making waves in the racing scene—that’s the sorta stuff that really keeps me going.”
“No kidding! I remember when Yuzu was a little kid, she was just starting to get into racing. She saw you on the TV and thought you were just the coolest thing ever! Next thing I knew, she was asking for posters of you for her birthday.”
“D-Dad...!”
“Aww, haha! I’m flattered.”
“Incidentally, is that your trophy case over there?”
“Yup!”
Yuzu’s eyes wander behind Sami to the glass case beside the front desk. Trophies and plaques of every shape and size adorn those dusty shelves—from Sami’s racing wins to the company’s own accolades from days gone by.
“We’ve built up a nice collection over the years. The ones up top are from my Tokachi wins!”
“Oh wow...!”
It feels surreal to see these for herself. She only saw one of her Tokachi wins in person, and she was but a distant bystander, watching on from within the crowd. Now that trophy sits proudly in front of her...and though time has dulled its shine, it still speaks loud and clear to her.
That does lead the group to the rather obvious elephant in the room, though: what is Aikawa Auto, really? Sami’s racing days only make up a small part of the greater whole... What is it that drives this company and family?
“I never even knew you had a shop like this until Reina told me about it...”
“Yeah, the family business never had much to do with my career at Tokachi. Just different market sectors, really.”
“I was wondering about that. You focus on classic stuff here...?”
“Well, not necessarily classics...” Sami lets slip a faint chuckle. “It’s more that we were around back when the ‘classics’ were new—and we jumped on that bandwagon like you wouldn’t believe.”
“You see all those pictures back there?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s our whole family history—our own little wall of fame.”
The pictures on the walls tell stories without words, weaving a tale between generations of maniacal motorheads. The tapestry of the Aikawa family, laid bare for her to see. Yuzu can tell how much the family legacy means to Sami... Like her daughter, it had a profound impact on who she grew up to be.
“That one photo up there...” Sami points Yuzu toward a forlorn photo on the corner of the wall, taken over 60 years ago. “Those were my parents. That’s where it all began.”
The colors are faded, the details fuzzy...but she can just make out two figures in the center: a well-built Japanese man, and a young woman beside her with a bold grin and a glint in her eye. She doesn’t look Japanese at all.
That would be Sami’s mother: Clara Jennings. Born in American Samoa, she had an insatiable appetite for anything and everything mechanical. Come World War II, she would take her skills to the United States Navy to serve as a Seabee—albeit as Clarence instead. Her gender wasn’t much of a secret—nor the fact that she wasn’t even an adult—but she earned her keep with irreplaceable skill and sharpness working on the many machines of the war effort.
“Clarence” could not escape her judgment, however: while on a post-war assignment in Okinawa, helping to rebuild the war-torn island, she was dishonorably discharged for forging her identity. Given the choice to return home, however, she stayed in Okinawa instead—she was so struck with guilt by the state of the island that she vowed to help rebuild in any way she could, even without the Navy’s blessing.
For years, she made a meager living on the fringes of the razed city, living out of a surplus Willys MB and scrounging together whatever food she could find. She was all on her own: to the Japanese, she was just another imperialistic Yankee, and to the Americans, she was a loon with stolen valor. But though she had lost her honor, her never-say-no spirit still burned within—and that caught the attention of a local contractor named Isamu Aikawa...
They didn’t understand each other at first—he had no idea how to pronounce her name when he got her application for work on a construction project. But when she rolled up in that jalopy with a palpable hunger for work, he knew he couldn’t turn her down.
As it turned out, they were a perfect match for each other with their open minds and can-do attitudes. One small picture on the wall depicts a crudely-drawn sketch of some sort of building—they would communicate to each other in pictures before they could speak each other’s language. Slowly but surely, Clara and Isamu pulled themselves up and staked out new lives for themselves...and in the process, a more profound relationship had grown between them.
“So your mom was...”
“Yup. She always stuck out like that—I think I owe a lot of my stubbornness to her.” She guffaws. “She always marched to the beat of her own drum. I really admired that.”
“I’m not the mechanic she was, but...I like to think I made her proud.”
The next big photo was taken at their wedding in 1950, right here in Sapporo. Clara and Isamu had to fight for the respect of each other’s families, but in the end, love won them over. Yuzu’s intrigued to see just how closely Sami resembles her mother... Looking at the photo, she can barely even tell the difference.
And then there’s the shop; it looks barely any different on its opening day in 1957 than it does now. Clara could have put herself to work at any of the emerging Japanese car companies, but she was never one to fit the mold—she only answered to herself and her husband. They returned to Hokkaido to be closer to Isamu’s family; shortly thereafter, they would buy a little plot of land on the river and lay the seeds of their legacy. He would build the company brick by brick, and she would put her engineering doctrine into practice. On May 7th, the Aikawa Auto Company was born.
The pictures roll on into the 60s, by which Aikawa Auto had carved out a niche as one of Japan’s premiere performance shops. Word of Clara’s unabashed charisma and mechanical mastery spread like wildfire, her cars faster than speeding bullets. Not even the birth of her daughter could slow her down. Gearheads, tuners and racers from all corners of the country flocked to the speed shop for their automotive needs—and though Americans and their cars may have been out of their element across the pond, Clara reveled in her audacity. Her engines spoke for her—and they were loud.
“Huh. So that’s why...”
“Talk about a blast from the past. I remember my pop had one of those big ol’ things!”
“They do leave an impression, don’t they?”
Muscle cars were always Clara’s favorite—those American beasts that solved every problem with more and more power. Though NASCAR Nippon died with a whimper, and Fuji Speedway failed in its quest to become Japan’s Daytona, muscle cars found their home in the underground street racing scene, where horsepower was king and its subjects lived a quarter-mile at a time. Aikawa powerplants became invaluable commodities, and Clara’s genius could turn any lumbering car into a highway star.
The heyday of the street racers, combined with Clara’s relentless drive for perfection, brought about Aikawa Auto’s golden age. In this photo, dated 1985, a tarp covers a conspicuous project car, with her miming a “Shhh” to the camera—the project was conducted in secret to avoid the prying eyes of environmental agencies. She called them “the killjoys.”
Her 1970 Plymouth Road Runner, once her brand-new daily driver, became her test bed. Among the upgrades: a supercharged 10-litre V8, the peak of her new engine platform; a fully reconfigured transmission; new brakes, suspension and steering; and a whole host of other tweaks and upgrades. The Road Runner ceased to be a cartoon caricature, and was reborn as a monster.
And with its reign of terror came the new queen of the streets: Sami Aikawa. Yuzu is stunned to see all these pictures of the young dynamo from her street racing days, well before she took to Tokachi. Sami in her prime was a forced to be reckoned with—the rumors went that she would tour the Aikawa Road Runner at closed circuits by day and street clubs at night. Those racers she met in her glory days made for some of the company’s most loyal customers; some of them still call her the Yankee, with her Ten-Litre Terror the enduring icon of the shop.
But street racing was not to last—and after she had her only child with playboy businessman Daigo Kageyama, she knew she couldn’t go risking life and limb on the highways anymore. Come the 90s, Sami would take her skills off the street and onto the circuit...and thus began her inspiring stint at Tokachi.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Yuzu’s eyes widen, taking in the memories she was too young to make; her father dons a nostalgic smile. Though she was already in her 30s, age had yet to slow Sami down—she was the class of the field throughout the 90s, cementing her legacy as the Queen of Tokachi. Curiously, she never moved on to higher leagues, despite her success; she was always a hot topic in the offseason news, but she never made the jump. She wanted to keep the time she had with her family—particularly to raise her own little rising star.
Speaking of Reina, Yuzu can see her in a couple of these photos—with cameras becoming more commonplace, Sami was eager to capture those moments. She’s in the paddock, she’s driving go-karts, she’s celebrating with her mom on the podium... Family always meant a lot to Sami, perhaps more than anything else in the world. There’s even a picture of Reina wearing a helmet entirely too big for her...because it’s meant for the smiling NASCAR driver next to her. That was from their exhibition race at Suzuka in 1997, where Sami would suit up and finish 10th among the league’s brightest stars.
Her final victory at Tokachi was the sweetest catharsis. The picture captures her on the podium, tired and haggard from the grueling race, letting out a visceral victory yell as the champagne and confetti shower her. She would go down as the ultimate track specialist; though she only ever attempted one full-time season in Super Endurance, she was synonymous with the Tokachi 24 Hours from its beginning to its end.
Yuzu’s eyes find the final photo: a family shot at Tokachi, the sun setting on her victory. Sami, Reina, Daigo, Clara and Isamu, all smiles in the evening light.
...That’s the final photo on the wall. It’s been just about a decade now. Sami lets a faint sigh slip from her nose—it really did feel like that was the turning point in all this. Clara and Isamu would pass on of old age a few years after that photo...
And then there was Daigo. A bold businessman, but a poor husband. It was Reina who unraveled his grand charade, in a cruel twist... She discovered that he was funneling company funds into startup investments across the marketplace...and, among other things, buying himself “nights out” at local hostess clubs. The 2008 recession brought his scheme crashing down, and the family with it—Sami was utterly inconsolable. The memories of the divorce still sting...to say nothing of how Reina felt. In the blink of an eye, her loving papa was gone.
Perhaps their decline was inevitable. Honshu was always the place to be, not Sapporo—and their following was never more than just a niche. She raced to further their name, to evolve the company in her own way...but circuit racing just never gave her what she wanted. It was too half-hearted a departure from the company’s DNA—if she wanted to commit to it, then Aikawa Auto should have followed her. But she tried to balance both worlds, and she paid the price in time. She could not be both Aikawa and Kageyama.
What was once a happy memory for her, that final picture on the wall, now torments her with thoughts of what could have been.
“I had no idea about all this...”
“Well, haha... I never did a very good job advertising it back in the day. While I was out at Tokachi, the shop was just humming along like it always did, doing its own thing.”
“They wanted to stick with what they knew?”
(This girl asks good questions.)
“...Something like that, yeah.” A resigned smile creeps along her face.
“This has always been my home—my family. It just didn’t feel right to go changing it all on a whim.”
“I see...”
(That sounds kinda like me, actually...)
Now Yuzu is the one torn between two paths. Perhaps, more than any racing advice, that’s the insight she wants from Sami.
“I kinda had a question along those lines, if you don’t mind...”
“Sure!”
“So, I signed a contract to start racing in Formula 4 next year. I’m gonna be graduating from high school too...so I’ve been thinking about university.”
“Mhm... Kinda sounds like what Reina’s doing.”
“Yeah. I just don’t know which route to take.”
“I think I’ve got what it takes to make it in formula, or at least somewhere in racing. It’s just what I’m good at. I’ve never really been a bad student either, so I think I can handle university...but I don’t know which is the right move.”
“I don’t want to go to university just for formula to pass me by...or vice versa. If racing doesn’t work out, I don’t wanna have to catch up on university work for years and years. If I do both...well, I might be spreading myself too thin.”
“I just... I don’t want to get left behind, if that makes sense.”
Sami nods. It’s a lot for a young girl to consider. Racing’s a sink or swim enterprise—if you don’t hit the ground running, you’re already in the dust. Sami feels like Yuzu’s close to her answer, though...perhaps in the same way that Reina is.
“Well... I think your question is less about what the right choice is, and more about what you want.”
“How so?”
“With Reina...” Sami almost gets a little choked up thinking about how hard her daughter is working. “She’s doing what she’s doing because she’s working toward a goal. She’ll have the keys to this place one day, and she wants to do her best to prepare for that.”
“She could’ve skipped uni and gone straight into running the place, but she felt that uni would help her learn the skills she needed. Get her closer to that goal, y’know?”
(Maybe that was the right choice after all...)
“So my question to you is: where do you see yourself in the future, and what do you need to do between now and then to make that goal a reality?”
“Mmm...”
Perhaps it’s simpler than she was making it out to be in her head.
“The way I see it, racing is what you really wanna do. You’re dead-set on that.”
“Yeah...”
“So university shouldn’t be an alternative; it should be a supplement. How does it help your racing career?”
“I... Hmm... Yeah, when you phrase it like that, I don’t really know.”
“I think that’s your thing there.”
“They’re both good options, but if you only have your heart in one and not the other, then you’re bound to run into some snags.”
“Whatever choice you make, you need to commit yourself to it—whether that’s racing, university or even both. You need to be certain of yourself, and certain of your path forward. Does that make sense?”
“...Yeah.”
The thought of forgoing college outright still seems...wrong to her. It’s what she’s been told to do throughout her life as a student. That’s how this all works: you go to university, you get your degree, and you put that degree to use in the real world. To take a detour from the beaten path, to eschew that tried and true tradition... Is that really something she should be doing?
She just doesn’t know yet...though she doesn’t have to.
“You don’t have to have the answer right away. You’re still young, you’ve got time.”
“Mhm... I’ll think it over some more.”
Her mother interjects. “Well, whatever you decide to do, we’ll be behind you every step of the way.”
“Thanks...”
She’s never really gone her own way like that before. Even in the racing world, her junior career has been regimented to a fault—do this, do that, go here at this time. It’s what everybody else is doing. She’s happy to follow along, but whether she’s gotten too comfortable or too complacent in the routine, the idea of breaking from it unnerves her.
There’s a part of her that admires Sami and the auto shop, forlorn though they are, for having the audacity to buck the trend. She questioned Reina for her outlandish fixations, but when faced with the current of society pushing her down the river, she’s realized that it takes an awful lot of strength to stand up and swim against it.
And speaking of her...
*DING!*
“Phew! Finally... I thought I was never gonna make it back.”
The heiress apparent brushes off the snow clinging to her worn old jacket. She swore to herself that she’d never take the Road Runner out in the snow again, but all those walks to and from the train station in the biting cold are really making her reconsider. Oh, to have her daily-driver back...
“Wait...” Before she can get down to business, though, she cocks her head at the guests in the lobby.
“Wha— Yuzu!”
“Reina?”
A serendipitous meeting. Reina was wondering who that car parked outside was, and now she has her answer—though had she known they were coming, she would’ve gotten started on the Road Runner earlier. Now she has to explain this box she’s brought with her.
“So you gave them a little tour, huh, Mom?”
“Yup! Pretty good segue, actually—I just finished giving them the whole spiel about the front desk and the wall of fame.”
“Are you working today too?”
(After school, at that? Man, she’s a workaholic.)
“Well, I’m working on our Road Runner. I’ve got a new part for it here—just need to get in and install it.”
“Ah.”
Maybe Reina can give her a little insight too... There are worse ways she could spend her time—and she doesn’t have anywhere to be anyway.
“...Mind if I watch?”
“Oh, uh...well, normally we don’t allow people coming into the garage while we’re working. What do you think though, Mom?”
“O-Oh, no, it’s okay, you don’t have to break the rules for me!”
“Mmmm...” Sami puts on her thinking cap.
“...Well, she hasn’t killed herself out on the track yet, so meh! She can handle herself.”
Sami turns to her parents. “You two won’t sue us if she stubs her toe, will you?”
“Well, I wasn’t thinking about it until you mentioned it...”
“Oh, you!” She playfully ribs him.
“We’ll treat her right, don’t worry!” For safety’s sake, though, Yuzu’s parents oblige Reina’s request to keep clear of the garage. Part two of the Aikawa Auto tour is for Yuzu’s eyes only.
The door slowly opens, and the garage sprawls out before her. This was where all the magic happened—where cars new and old, big and small were transformed into speed demons under Clara’s watchful eye. It’s been years since any project car came rolling in, though... One of Daigo’s best business decisions was having them take on general mechanic work for the neighborhood cars. It’s kept them afloat, at the cost of their soul.
So, the only remnant from the olden days sits right in the middle of the garage: the Road Runner, patiently awaiting a transplant. It’s been out of action for two weeks now...but that ends today.
“Okay, put that over there...” Reina swiftly goes to work, getting all her parts and tools in order before she dives into the engine bay. There’s another car on the lift that Sami’s working on right now, so Reina will have to make do on the ground. She prefers to use that lift, whenever she gets the chance—fitting underneath a car with her...speed bumps is easier said than done.
“So what’s going on with the car?”
“I’m replacing the radiator hose. It got pretty worn out, so I’m gonna put the new one in, flush the coolant system, and that should be all I need.”
She watches with a curious tilt to her head. Yuzu doesn’t know all that much about how cars and engines actually work—she just drives them. All those parts, seals, bearings, wires, all smashed under the hood and forced to work together... She admits it’s pretty daunting to her. Just this little glimpse into Reina’s world is enough to make her head spin.
“Okay, there’s the old pipe out.” It nearly crumples in her hand. Now that she gets a closer look at it, it’s somewhat of a miracle it lasted as long as it did—and that her emergency fix held up long enough to get her home.
“Poor thing was hanging on by a thread.”
“You really know the car inside and out...”
“Heehee. Yeah, this was pretty much the first car I ever worked on. My grandma taught me most of what I know, just combing over the car when I was a kid.”
It’s evident to Yuzu just from watching that Reina knows her stuff. Years of studying under her family at the shop have conditioned her well—and though Reina calls herself a pale imitation of her grandmother, Yuzu feels like she’s not telling the full story. It takes a lot of practice to get where she is...and she’s putting that training to use in her own stubborn way. She has a goal on her mind... She doesn’t know how she’ll reach that goal, but she’s doing what she can anyway.
Is she still stuck in the past, then? Now Yuzu’s not so sure...
“Rngh... Almost...got it. There.” Working in tight quarters does Reina no favors, but with effort, she gets the coolant release unscrewed so her hasty helping of antifreeze can finally drain. She’s relieved to have that suboptimal mix outta there at last—her baby deserves only the best.
“Phew.”
“So is it just draining for now?”
“Mhm. Once the old coolant is out, you add distilled water and a chemical flush to remove any traces that might still be in the pipes.”
“Ah...” Reina makes it all sound like a walk in the park—which makes sense, given her upbringing. She could probably do this in her sleep.
“Wow. I...blinked and you were done.”
“Heehee! That’s the nice thing about these old cars. They’re so dead simple, you’re in and out in minutes.”
Yuzu shoots a quick glance at the other car in a lot: an unassuming sedan Sami is working on. She’s been at it for a while over there...
(Guess that’s the future for you.)
“Now to fill it up...” Reina retrieves the spent coolant from underneath the car, and plugs the coolant release back in. In go the water and the chemical flush next, and once those work their way through the system, it’ll be ready for the antifreeze at last.
“Oooo-kay! That’s that.”
“So what’s next?”
“Next, we start her up and let her swish it for a bit.”
The garage door opens, flakes gently falling just beyond the shop floor. The cold is scary for the old Road Runner, but the shop is well-heated; winter’s grasp can’t reach it here during the day.
Reina feels a faint knot in her stomach as she reaches for the Road Runner’s key. It’s been just about two weeks since the car last ran—and though the shop has it at a comfortable temperature, it may nonetheless be grumpy. Reina takes a deep breath and hopes the car can pull through in front of the crowd. She really can’t afford any further embarrassment.
“Alright...” Reina slides her way in, the bench seat creaking beneath her. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say—and two weeks away from her car has only made her want to drive it more. She gives it plenty of pumps to get the gas moving through the carb, and pulls out the choke just a bit for good measure.
“You should be feeling better now. Let’s get you started, okay?”
The Road Runner shudders, as if awakening from a long, long dream. The starter turns over spiritedly, the battery shaking off its cobwebs. She can feel the engine trying—it wants to start for her. After a few seconds of labored whinnying, the titanic V8 starts to kick and surge, hinting at signs of life.
“That’s it, come onnnn...!”
She has the mixture just right this time; now the engine just needs to work up enough strength to ignite it. One little sputter rocks the car, then a second...and finally, with a roar, the engine growls to life. The Road Runner lives!
“There we go!”
Hearing that V8 hum right along borders on therapeutic. Even Sami pauses her work on the other car in the shop and takes a minute to watch along. Now that the car’s running (and thirstily gulping down the water,) Reina tops off the reservoir and shuts the hood at last.
“Now that it’s running, I’m gonna take it for a quick little drive so that the flush can work its way through the system.”
“Where are you gonna drive?”
(Good question.)
“Hmmm... Usually I just take it around the neighborhood. You don’t need to drive all that long for the chemical flush to do its job.”
“...Actually, you said you were in town visiting family, right?”
“Yeah. We’re at a hotel by the university.” A 20-minute drive, given the traffic and weather conditions. That’s more than enough time for the system to clean itself out.
“I could just drive you up there then, if you want. I don’t have anywhere else to be!”
“Oh, um... Well, sure, that sounds okay. Thank you!”
(Maybe I can talk to her a little longer on the way...)
Her parents are happy to excuse themselves after Yuzu fills them in—they exit the lobby and retreat to their own set of wheels. It’s slightly less efficient this way, but they feel it’s more than worth it to let Yuzu grow her new friendship like this.
And perhaps a little heart-to-heart with Reina will bring her closer to her answer.
“You heading out?”
“Yup! Gonna take Yuzu over to the hotel they’re staying at.”
“Thank you for the tour, you two.” Yuzu bows with respect. “I’m glad I came here...and I’m so happy I got to meet you in person!”
“Don’t sweat it! I’m always happy to talk to a fan... Oh, that reminds me, before you go.”
Sami scurries back into the lobby, returning moments later with a hat in her hand. She’s still got some of those lying around from her Tokachi days—and this one has her signature proudly plastered on the brim.
“O-Oh...!”
“Better late than never, yeah?”
“Th-Thank you! Thank you so much!”
For just a moment, the stress and indecision fade from Yuzu’s mind, and in its place blooms an excitement she hasn’t felt in years—like being a kid at Tokachi again. The shop may be faded, her hero retired...but she’s still got a little bit of magic left to share with her, in the form of a priceless little hat. It’s going straight in her room when she gets back home.
Never meet your heroes, they say...but she’s relieved to know this was worth it after all.
***
With the roads plowed and the cold tempered, the Road Runner manages to hold its own this time against the scourge of the elements. The temperature gauge sits right where it’s supposed to, the chemical flush doing its job and the water keeping the engine at bay in the meantime. Reina’s relieved beyond words that the car is finally back in business... Those two weeks of hopping trains and buses were more of a test than she let on.
“It’s right off the main road.”
“Gotcha.”
The evening rush has finally calmed down for the day—and with it, the sun has taken its leave. The festive downtown lights are more than happy to take its place as Sapporo lies in wait for the coming holiday. Yuzu and Reina both appreciate the break...but all the same, they both have questions aplenty on their minds.
“I wasn’t expecting to learn about all the history when I visited... I had no idea what kind of place your shop actually is.”
“Yeah... It really doesn’t have much to do with Mom’s racing career. It’s just...always been that way, really.”
“Mmm...”
Reina hearkens back to the conversation they had last month. The question she couldn’t answer. She still doesn’t know how to negotiate the rocky road ahead of her...but she at least has a better understanding of why she walks in the first place. For now, maybe that’ll be enough.
“...I can’t deny what you said back then. It’d be a lot easier to just get with the times.”
“We could go all-in on general mechanic work...or maybe we could be a parts supplier for an automaker. And we’d probably be better off than we are now.”
“But there’s something stopping you?”
“I mean, well...look at me.”
Yuzu sees a storm of emotions in Reina’s violet eyes. She sees a woman who’s had to grapple with her identity from the day she was born... She sees a rebel by nature.
“I will always stick out, wherever I go. Just like my mom, and just like my grandma. But they chose to embrace that part of themselves... They did things their own way, no matter what anyone said. The company sticks out because they stuck out.”
“I think that’s why I look up to them so much—why I care so much about their legacy. The shop helps me feel more comfortable in my own skin... It’s my element, I guess.”
Yuzu nods—it’s an angle she’s never had to consider. She’s never had any reason to break this mold she’s grown into... But Reina is different. She’s always been different. Whether she swims against the current or lets it carry her on its path, Reina will always be defined by her past and her heritage.
It gives Yuzu pause. She’s always chasing the future because she has no past to fall upon. She has the luxury to choose her own legacy.
“So that’s why you’re holding on to all this?”
“Yeah... It’s who I am.”
“If I throw that all away... Not only would that be disrespectful to all the work my mom and grandma did, but...what is that saying about myself?”
“Ah...”
She wondered why Reina refused to let go...and now she has her answer.
“I want to be able to stand up on my own two feet one day... I want to be like my mom and my grandma. If I’m always going to stick out, then I want to stick out on my own terms.”
“And I think taking over the shop, and bringing their legacy into the future, is the best way for me to do that.”
When Reina puts it that way, Yuzu feels like her own path in life has been easy by comparison. All she’s had to do is follow the line and climb the ladder... Reina, by contrast, walks alone on an uncertain path, working toward a goal she doesn’t yet understand.
But all the same, just walking that path takes a conviction she admires. She knows what she wants to do...even if doing it may be a very difficult thing.
“So...what do you plan to do with the shop, then?”
“...I don’t know yet.” Reina’s eyes droop. “But somehow, some way, I’ve gotta make it work.”
“All I can do for now is just keep on walking. I don’t know if I’m getting any closer to my answer or not, but I have to at least try.”
“There’s gotta be some way... I just have to find it.”
“...I hope you do.”
Alas, that’s all the time the streets will allow them. The hotel creeps into view on the left, where the Tachikawas’ car is already parked and waiting for them. In addition to visiting family, they’ll be taking in the sights and sounds of Sapporo—they’ve got a ski trip planned for Christmas Day tomorrow, and they already know which shrine they’ll be visiting for the new year’s hatsumode. Perhaps that will help Yuzu finally relax a little bit... Perhaps once she has some time to think and some time to decompress, she can take the reins with a renewed confidence next year.
And call it naive, but she hopes Reina can too.
“Thanks for dropping me off. And...thanks for the talk.”
“Oh, not a problem. Hope you have a good vacation and a happy new year!”
“Yeah... You too.”
Yuzu returns to the real world at last. She waves Reina goodbye as the Road Runner thunders off into the night, echoing off the buildings before finally fading from her ears. Her parents are waiting for her inside...but she takes a brief moment to stand out in the cold and share the night with her thoughts.
The crossroad has come and gone. Reina has chosen her path, rocky though it may be; whether or not she’ll find what she seeks at the end of it, only time will tell. Now, it’s Yuzu’s turn to make her decision—to find the conviction her friend showed to her. Whether her future lies in racing, in university or in both, Yuzu will need to put her best foot forward and start walking. The new year is coming... May it bear fruit for them both.
“Good luck out there, Reina.”