A/N: I can almost hear it...you guys fainting on your chair seeing this poor story finally updated after a gazillion years. Or maybe not, maybe NO one will read this because you're just got fed up waiting. In that case, it's my own fault for being stupidly slow with this chapter.

I do of course have my reasons, having a busy life being one of them, but it's mainly because I have been kidnapped by other fandoms. With Fifth Stage out and everyone back in business, I could not leave this story alone any longer and I can only apologise for the huge delay and hope you can forgive me.

I will try to keep it frequently updated while, at the same time, I will also write my new Star Trek story.

Hopefully I'll manage to get both finished, wish me luck!

Happy reading, Sanae.

Planetarium

Chapter Twenty One

Koichiro Iketani liked his job at Shibukawa's oldest petrol station. His boss, Yuuichi Tachibana was a very good man who had become somewhat of a father figure in the few months Koichiro had worked for him and the young man truly enjoyed the lengthy conversations he often had with the older man.

In spite of this, that evening Koichiro was extremely eager to get off work so that he could travel with one of his senpai to Momiji Line where there would be what his senpai had called an epic racer.

'Is there anywhere you need to be?' Yuuichi asked him with his usual kindness.

'Er…' Koichiro hesitated, 'well…'

'Oh,' Yuuichi gasped, 'you've got a date!'

'What? No…I…'

'No need to be shy about it,' Yuuichi said smiling proudly, he then checked his wristwatch and said, 'you better go and get changed then.'

'But my shift doesn't end until seven,' Koichiro pointed out, 'it's still quarter to.'

'Don't worry about it,' Yuuichi said, 'now, go and get changed: that's an order!'

Feeling a little embarrassed and quite a lot guilty, Koichiro was forced to comply and, setting down the ever present piece of cloth he used to clean the windscreens, he turned round and entered the small building that housed the changing rooms. Once there, he got out of his uniform and, less than ten minutes later, he got onboard his scooter and headed to home so he could grab a quick bite.

At exactly half past seven, Koichiro parked the scooter right outside the residence of the Shibata family. He was about to ring the bell when he saw Satoshi Shibata coming out of his house.

'Senpai,' Koichiro greeted him.

'Been waiting long?' the older man asked.

'No, just got here,' Koichiro replied.

'Alright,' Satoshi said, 'let's go then, I want to get there with enough time to see their practice runs.'

Koichiro just nodded and followed his senpai to the garage where he admired for the umpteenth time a beautiful, dark grey 1989 Mitsubishi Starion 2.6 Turbo wishing, also for the umpteenth time, that he could afford to buy a car of his own.

'Come on Iketani, hop on board,' Satoshi said taking him out of his reverie.

'Sorry,' the young man said.

Climbing into the Starion as quickly as he could, he barely had time to fasten his seatbelt before Satoshi took off at a neck breaking speed but Koichiro enjoyed going fast too much to complain.

'Should I slow down?' his senpai asked, almost as if he were daring him.

'No way,' Koichiro replied, 'this car was made to go fast!'

'Well said,' Satoshi approved.

'I only wish I could afford to buy a car,' Koichiro said.

'I thought you were saving for an S13?' Satoshi asked.

'I am,' Koichiro confirmed, 'but I still have a long way to go.'

'Don't worry,' Satoshi told him, 'it took me forever to get the money to buy this baby, but it was worth every day of the wait. It'll be the same for you, believe me.'

'Oh, I do!' Koichiro exclaimed. He proceeded to daydream about the moment he would be sitting behind the steering wheel of the beautiful two-tone Nissan Silvia he had seen only in pictures.

An hour and a half later, after they had driven via both the Kasuo Pass and Nikko, they drove past the toll gate at the Ryokyo entrance of the Momiji Line and, after driving for about ten more minutes, they spotted the first of the many cars that were parked along the narrow mountain pass.

Satoshi decided to leave his at a very small bay that was protected by a flimsy looking white guardrail. There, they saw a handful of people leaning against the metallic barrier, waiting to see the racers driving by. One of them, Koichiro noticed, was holding a camcorder.

'Isn't that a bit much?' he dared to ask Satoshi.

'Not really,' the senpai replied, 'from what I heard, Akagi's White Comet is worth recording.'

'Akagi what?' Koichiro asked.

'Akagi's White Comet,' Satoshi repeated, 'it's the nickname he's known by,' he explained.

'Why do they call him that?' Koichiro asked.

'I have no idea,' Satoshi replied.

The answer presented itself almost immediately and, just as they found an empty space, a white FCS3 drifted so incredibly close to the guardrail and at such high speed that Koichiro found himself grabbing the cold metal in order not to fall on his butt.

'That's him,' Satoshi unnecessarily explained.

Koichiro found he had lost his ability to speak. All he could do was to stare in awe as the Mazda's taillights disappeared around one of the first corners of the pass executing yet another perfect drift.

Inside the FC, Ryosuke was very happy. He was pleased with the way he and Shuichi had set up the car and, as he pressed on the FC's shifter, he noticed that all the work they've put into rebuilding the gearbox was paying off and the transition from one gear to another was smoother than ever.

Another positive thing was that being mid June and just over nine o'clock in the evening, there was still just about enough light to do one final inspection of the course while he drove it uphill for the third time in a row.

The pass was heavily used during the day to connect the Shiobara and the Kinugawa Onsen as well as many tourists that came to enjoy the beautiful scenery the road offered, especially during the autumn when the leaves formed a natural painting with different shades of green, red and yellow.

But now, except the few bystanders who had come to watch the race, it was mostly empty. This allowed Ryosuke the peace of mind he needed to take note of the very solid looking wall found at the end and at a few other points of the road, the dry leaves that even at the end of spring still covered both sides of the pass and how it suddenly became slightly narrower as the gradient increased.

The tarmac's conditions were good enough throughout and while in the final sector one had to worry about the steep cliff at the left hand side, Ryosuke's main concern was the huge gutter on his right found at the beginning of the course and that run for about a third of the whole way. There were no grids whatsoever covering it and Ryosuke knew that it could become a deadly trap for the tyres of the FC.

He had to be very careful with it.

When Ryosuke arrived at the summit, he saw something that alarmed him a little: Ken Kitajima's dark blue Toyota Supra had its hood up and both Ken and his cousin Teru were busy examining something.

'Any problems?' he asked them both the instant he got out of the FC.

'Not really,' Teru hurried to reply.

'I just felt something and…well…' Ken explained, 'I just want to be sure everything's fine.'

'Do you need a hand?' Ryosuke asked.

'I've already asked them,' Hiroshi said stepping into the conversation, 'but they said no.'

'It's fine,' Teru insisted, 'don't worry about it.'

'Alright,' Ryosuke accepted, 'but just so you know, if you wish to postpone the race…'

'No way,' Ken interrupted him, 'I've been looking forward to this battle so much I couldn't concentrate on anything else. I'm sure the car's fine, I'm just being overly paranoid, that's all.'

Ryosuke studied his opponent's eager expression then moved to Teru who, for a fleeting moment showed some emotion on his face that was a mix of concern as well as something else the future doctor couldn't quite identify. At any rate, he was beginning to get worried too. Hiroshi probably sensed this because he grasped Ryosuke's arm gently leading him away back to the FC.

'If Kitajima says the car is fine then you shouldn't worry,' he told him lowering his tone of voice.

'I know,' Ryosuke replied, 'it's just that…'

'I know,' Hiroshi repeated, 'but you cannot worry like that about an opponent, surely you know that.'

'I do,' Ryosuke confirmed.

'Okay,' Hiroshi said, 'just drive as you usually do and let Kurebayashi worry about his cousin.'

Ryosuke just nodded once.

They both rejoined Teru and Ken just as the latter lowered the hood looking very much like he deemed his car race-worthy. Ryosuke took that as his cue to shake off the uneasiness that had temporarily clouded his concentration, checking his watch he saw it was nearly half past nine.

'Shall we start then?' he asked.

'I thought you'd never ask,' Ken replied cheekily.

Repressing an eye-roll, Ryosuke opened the FC's door and nodding once to Hiroshi, he climbed behind its steering wheel. Around his car, the usual pre-race frenzy started and very soon, everyone was in their place: the public lined up behind the guardrails, Hiroshi crouched by the FC's rolled out and Teru keeping an eye on his radio, ready to announce the moment they could start the race.

'Have fun,' was Hiroshi's final piece of advice.

'I'll do my best,' Ryosuke replied gracing him with one of his rare smiles.

A few moments later, both drivers watched Teru walking in front of the two cars. He then lifted his arm up in the air and started shouting the countdown: 'FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE: GO!'

Eager to study his adversary, Ryosuke delayed his start by just an instant but that was more than enough for Ken's JZA70 to overtake him with relative ease. This, of course, caused an immediate cheer coming from the galleries. Ignoring that, Ryosuke concentrated his attention on staying behind the Toyota as well as keeping the FC as far away from the gutter as possible.

'He's done it again,' Hiroshi heard Teru comment, almost as if talking to himself.

'Yeah, he has,' the salesman replied nonetheless.

'I told my cousin not to play with fire,' Teru said, 'Takahashi is way out of his league.'

'Oh, you never know,' Hiroshi replied cryptically.

Before Teru could ask him to explain himself, Hiroshi made his way back to his car. He turned on the engine and, before anyone could stop him, he started driving down as fast as he dared. Not that he had any intention of catching up with the two racers, he just wanted to see how far he could push it.

Way ahead of him, Ryosuke was tailing Ken's Supra as both cars entered the first hairpin of the pass. The short distance they had covered had been enough for him to notice a few things about his opponent. First and foremost, Ken had plenty of talent. The younger man was fearless and tackled the corners with the sort of determination one would expect from a professional driver.

Ken also managed to keep a decent level of control over the beast he was driving, however, Ryosuke noted that there was something unpolished about the whole thing. Almost as if Ken wasn't entirely comfortable with his ride. It was difficult to judge, at least without taking a closer look at the Toyota but, the future doctor could only guess that the problem was with the JZA70's settings.

Or perhaps Ken just needed a different type of car.

Regardless, if Ken managed to find something that would suit his driving style, he could potentially become an exceptional street racer. Ryosuke decided then that he would make it his business to keep an eye on the man. But, right now, he had a race to win: it was time to focus on his own driving.

Adjusting his grasp on the FC's steering wheel, Ryosuke focused on the short straight that would lead to a sharp left-hand corner. He was glad the tarmac was in excellent state for he could feel the tyres fiercely gripping it, allowing him to achieve the perfect racing line.

Just ahead of him, he watched Ken braking just a little too early as he took his Supra into the left-hander. Ryosuke considered overtaking him there but, some sixth sense told him to wait till they had covered at least half of the length of the course.

Holding back, he entered the corner enjoying the way the FC's mechanics responded to his pedal work. He started feeling the usual rush of joy when, one turn after another, he felt the car becoming more and more in tune with him. Ryosuke had never been more in love with his machine.

Two thirds into the race, the two cars had almost left behind the most curvy part of the pass when Ryosuke saw Ken doing something that made him worry: the younger man had decided to get absurdly close to the uncovered gutter in what looked like an all-too desperate attempt at widening the gap between the two cars.

With increasing alarm, he saw that at the following corner, a ninety degree right hander, Ken placed his tyres right on the road's edge, with the Supra skirts brushing against the vegetation that grew over the gutter. If Ryosuke's calculations were correct, by the time the Toyota reached the corner's apex, it would run out of road. Ken seriously risked getting one of his car's tyres into the gutter.

'That's not good,' Ryosuke muttered to himself.

In a split-second, the future doctor made a decision: pressing the accelerator, he drove outwards, placing his car as close to the left hand side guardrail as he could. Ken obviously saw this because, just as Ryosuke had foreseen it, the younger man moved his car away from the gutter trying to close the space for the FC.

Happy to see his tactic had worked, Ryosuke let Ken stay ahead.

At least for now.

The two cars then entered a parabolic corner that would lead to a flatter part of the pass. He saw that, once again Ken repeated the experiment getting too close to the gutter but, this time, Ryosuke noticed with pleasure had become aware that leaving so much space on the outside wasn't such a brilliant idea. Once again, Ryosuke was impressed: Ken was also a quick learner.

It was for this reason that he decided to overtake Ken.

If the kid wanted to learn, Ryosuke would gladly show him a bit of his driving.

Two corners after the parabolic, the two cars entered an S shaped chicane, it was the perfect spot for a technique Ryosuke had perfected on the racing tracks: on the first left-hand turn, he drove the FC to the outside, forcing Ken to close the way by staying away from the gutter. Both cars existed the corner almost levelled and, just then, Ryosuke briefly braked to slow down just enough for him to drift inwards. Then, releasing the brake, he almost floored the accelerator as the FC and the JZA70 entered the following right-hander.

With a slight advantage in terms of speed, the Mazda managed to get into the corner just ahead of the Toyota and, using the extra inertia it had, it was easy for Ryosuke to overtake Ken.

He could physically feel the frustration coming from the other car's driver.

Allowing himself a tiny smile, Ryosuke decided to start the "lesson".

For the following three kilometres, he made his car dance through the turns. He made extra sure his FC kept the tidiest racing line, breaking and shifting gears at the most appropriate places, increasing the pace as the road became almost entirely flat.

By the time they reached the final two hairpins, he realised Ken's Supra was no longer visible on his rear view mirror. He felt his lips curve into a smile and, speaking to the FC's steering wheel, he said:

'Perhaps we've overdone it a little.'

He crossed the finish line a few moments later and, after two more minutes, he saw the headlights of Ken's car clearing the final corner. Ryosuke got out of his car and waited for him to stop the Supra.

'That was awesome!' the kid shouted happily while he climbed out of the JZA70.

Trying not to laugh, Ryosuke walked towards him and, offering him his card, he said:

'Here's my phone number, I hope we can stay in touch.'

'Really?' Ken asked him looking flabbergasted.

'Yes,' Ryosuke insisted, 'I see a lot of potential in your driving and I would like us to meet again.'

'I'd love that,' Ken said, 'but you're the one who's amazing. Just now, you got serious, didn't you?'

'Yes, I did,' Ryosuke admitted.

'Somehow, I feel privileged to have seen it,' Ken said.

Ryosuke didn't know what to say to that but he was saved by the arrival of another car. He was happy to see it was Hiroshi's AW11. The salesman stopped right next to the FC and, rolling down the window, he asked him:

'Did you just get here?'

'Yes, we did,' Ryosuke replied.

'Wow, I'm impressed with my own driving,' Hiroshi sounding genuinely surprised.

This time, Ryosuke did let out a soft chuckle.

'Well, if you want us to race, just say the word.'

'No way!' Hiroshi exclaimed, 'I'm not that crazy, no offence,' he added glancing at an amused Ken.

'None taken,' he said, 'after what I've seen him doing, I think one has to be crazy to challenge him.'

This last bit was clearly overheard by everyone from the public, including Koichiro Iketani who, along with many people, had been left speechless at the FC's overwhelming victory over the Supra.

'Let's go,' Ryosuke said suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the attention, he looked at Ken and added, 'please send my regards to your cousin and, like I said, I hope to see you soon.'

'You will,' Ken promised.

'Where are we going?' Hiroshi asked Ryosuke.

'Akagi,' was all the future doctor replied.

An instant later, the FC and the AW11 drove out of the Momiji Line pass, leaving Ken's JZA70 behind.

The following weekend a well-rested Ryosuke arrived at the location of the fourth round of the Fuji Freshman Series. The Tsukuba circuit's layout was fairly simple but with its four parabolic corners, one of which massive, and the two long straights, it provided plenty of spots in which one could overtake and be overtaken. This was good news for the public because it allowed them to see a very exciting race, however, for the racers it meant the race was a high tension one from the get go all the way to the finish line.

Ryosuke remembered all too well what had happened to Sudo only a few days ago and he knew that if he wasn't careful, he too could end up being pushed out of the way and onto a wall of tyres.

'We're all set,' Shuichi announced closing his tool box for effect.

'Okay,' the future doctor said.

'Are you alright?' Hiroshi asked him.

'Never better,' Ryosuke replied.

'Good,' Hiroshi said, 'because I've seen Kikushi earlier and he looks like he's ready to kick some ass.'

Both Ryosuke and Shuichi gave him a funny look.

'What?' Hiroshi said defensively, 'your brother taught me that phrase,' he added looking at Ryosuke.

Ryosuke shook his head and, placing his hand on top of the older man, he said:

'No offence but, that kind of gangster speech does not suit you at all.'

'Oh, okay then,' Hiroshi said looking a little downcast.

'Let's just get on with this,' Shuichi said clearly taking pity of his friend, 'we've got to get a good place in the qualifying session, I have heard that Tsukuba is Kikuchi's favourite track so he'll probably do very well.'

'Got it,' Ryosuke said.

He then proceeded to finish suiting up and, pulling the fireproof balaclava over his head, he grabbed his helmet and made his way to the FC. Then, following what was quickly becoming a habit, he took the time to put his helmet on to focus. With the protective device secured, he opened the Mazda's door and climbed onto driver's seat proceeding to strap himself.

'Ready?' Shuichi asked him.

'Yes,' was Ryosuke's curt reply.

A few moments later, he drove out of the pitbox, following another of the racers. He saw Yasushi's white and green Nissan Pulsar a couple of cars ahead. The sight made Ryosuke feel anxious for the race director to open the pitlane. Startled by this thought, Ryosuke forced himself to calm down.

By the time the semaphore became green, he was ready.

With the first of the parabolic corners right ahead of him, he had a good visual of the inner sector of the trak, from there, he saw that Yasushi's GTI-R was already clearing the corner number three and was ready to attack the car in front of him to enter the second parabolic ahead of it.

Shuichi wasn't kidding, Ryosuke thought, Yasushi really liked this circuit.

Concentrating once again on his own driving, Ryosuke continued driving at his own pace, making sure he took note of the state of the tarmac and paying extra attention to the way the car behaved.

It was only during the second lap that he started pushing it.

Once again, the FC felt really good and Ryosuke did everything the best possible way. His driving had never been more precise and he was confident he was doing a good job at negotiating the corners and cruising down the straights as fast as he could. After a few laps out, Shuichi's voice broke the radio silence:

'Come back in.'

'Already?' Ryosuke asked.

'Yeah,' the chief mechanic confirmed, 'you've done a great job, as usual.'

'What about Kikuchi?' Ryosuke asked.

'He's ahead,' Shuichi said, 'his times are absurdly good.'

'How much better?' Ryosuke asked.

'He's five seconds ahead everyone else, including you,' Hiroshi supplied.

'You're second though so,' Shuichi added, 'let's be conservative about it, we still have tomorrow.'

'Okay,' Ryosuke finally surrendered.

He ought to feel frustrated but, oddly enough, he wasn't. For some reason, he felt something warm inside. Only once he got back into the pitbox he managed to find the right word to describe the emotion: happiness. He was actually ecstatic to see that his rival was doing much better than him.

'I'm so weird,' he muttered while smiling to himself.

The following day was overcast and the miserable weather lasted all the way to the start of the race when, as Shuichi had accurately predicted, the first drops of water started falling onto the tarmac. This made every team get very anxious but Ryosuke noticed how Yasushi was sitting inside his car looking as cool as ever. Copying him, he too slid onto his seat and calmly started fastening his racing seatbelt.

'I've done all I can for the settings,' he heard Shuichi say through the open window, 'but this rain…'

'It'll be fine,' Ryosuke assured him.

'Okay,' Shuichi replied sounding like he was humouring him.

Rolling the window back up, Ryosuke adjusted his racing gloves and prepared for the start of the race.

At the green light, he gave it all he got to keep up with the Nissan Pulsar ahead but, having to watch out for the other cars behind him, it was not surprising to see that Yasushi still managed to keep his pole position after the first parabolic corner.

Ryosuke refused to give up and for the following ten laps, he did his best to stay glued to the GTI-R.

He was about to start the eleventh lap when he felt an odd vibration coming from the gearbox.

'Dammit,' he said.

'What's wrong?' he heard Shuichi asking him with badly concealed angst.

'I think we're done,' Ryosuke said.

Without elaborating, he started slowing down. He was at the fourth corner when he noticed he could not shift beyond third gear. He then tried lowering to second but, to his profound dismay, the FC's gearbox was stuck in third. Somehow, he did his best to complete the rest of the lap hoping that he could make it to the pitbox. His race was over but at the very least, he would not have to suffer the humiliation of having his car towed to the garage.

'What happened?' Hiroshi asked him immediately after he climbed out of the FC.

'The gearbox is gone,' Ryosuke announced.

'I knew it,' Shuichi said, 'it's my fault, I pushed it too much.'

'What are you talking about?' Ryosuke asked him, 'I was the one driving.'

'Yes, but I shouldn't have…'

'It's not your fault,' Ryosuke insisted, 'come one, don't look so sad.'

'But…'

'Matsumoto,' he insisted, 'it had to happen sooner or later. It's fine, it's not the end of the world.'

Both Shuichi and Hiroshi glanced at each other for a moment then, looking at Ryosuke, Hiroshi said:

'Okay, let's pack up.'

With his main rival out of the race, Yasushi got an impressive victory, destroying the track's previous record by nearly seven seconds. The future doctor was graceful enough to offer his congratulations.

'It wouldn't have been so easy if your car hadn't broken down,' Yasushi had told him then.

Ryosuke however knew better: Yasushi was just being modest.

Like Hiroshi had said, the guy could kick his ass anytime he wanted.

And this made Ryosuke very happy indeed.

On Monday evening, due to the fact that the FC was being thoroughly repaired by Shuichi and his team of mechanics, and no, they did not need his help, thank you very much, Ryosuke was forced to borrow his father's silver Mercedes sedan to go and pick Erika up. The two had planned to visit the planetarium where the programme advertised the presence of a real astronaut from the Japanese Space Agency.

Ryosuke had been looking forward to this date, not only because of the special guest and the fact that Erika had sounded very impressed when he had told her about it but, also, because he was eager to see if he could start taking their friendship beyond the platonic phase.

In spite of what he'd told her at the hippodrome, he found himself more and more attracted to her as they spent more time together and he really thought that, given a chance, they could make a romantic relationship work. He, for one, definitely saw himself having a future with Erika.

If only he managed to persuade her to see things this way.

Not wanting to think about it too much, Ryosuke decided to focus back on the Mercedes:

The car itself wasn't bad, the future doctor tried to assess objectively. However, being automatic made the driving a bit too dull, it didn't help that the car's engine, probably due to the way his father drove the poor thing, seemed to have lost its edge, almost as if it were half asleep.

He tried to bear with it the best way he could and soon enough, he was parked right in front of the Irie residence where he turned off the engine while he waited for his friend. As usual, the girl was perfectly on time and Ryosuke saw her stepping out of her home a minute before seven.

'Hi!' she greeted him.

'Hello,' he said back getting out of the car so he could open the door for her.

'What happened to your car?' she asked pointing at the sedan.

'It's a long story,' he replied smiling at her, 'I'll tell you on the way.'

'Okay,' she agreed returning the smile.

Erika was about to climb into the Mercedes when they both heard someone's voice call her name.

Ryosuke looked up and saw a man in his twenties wearing sporty clothes. The guy seemed to have been running there and, just as the future doctor started wondering who he was, he got the answer:

'Kazuma-kun…' Erika said with a strained sounding voice.

For some bizarre reason, Ryosuke felt like the entire world had just collapsed on top of him.

To be continued…