The moon rose over the skies of Gunma, and darkness enveloped the mountain pass of Akina. 11:45 PM. Behind Fujiwara Tofu Shop, the white-and-black Hachiroku and three kei cars were lined up. Their engines were already running. The breathing of the Hachiroku's old 4A-GEU engine echoed through the stillness of the late night. Takumi sat in the driver's seat, gripping the steering wheel. The night breeze stirred his unruly brown hair. His profile looked just a little sharper than usual. Kenta stood by the passenger side, about to say something, then stopped. The words wouldn't come. Ikegaya poked his head out from the bed of the light truck. His dark brown crew cut swayed, and the scar on his right eyebrow twitched slightly. "[serious]We're going, Takumi. Everyone's waiting at Lake Haruna." Takumi gave a small nod. Ikegaya clapped Kenta on the shoulder. Kenta felt that large hand tremble ever so slightly. "[serious]Kenta-kun, we'll watch from before the five consecutive hairpins. Burn Takumi's driving into your eyes." "...Yes." Kenta clenched his fist. The bruises from the beating Bloody Moon gave him three days ago still ached. But weren't those wounds for tonight? He decided to think of it that way. The Hachiroku's engine was quietly revved. Takumi looked at Kenta. His narrow eyes softened, just for a moment. "...I'm going." Just one word. That was all. But to Kenta, it sounded like "Don't worry." That was the kind of man Takumi was. He didn't say much. Instead, his driving said everything. The Hachiroku began to move. Its taillights dyed the narrow alley red as it passed beneath the white sign of Fujiwara Tofu Shop. Kenta climbed into Ikegaya's light truck. The passenger seat was cold, and the interior smelled of gasoline and mint air freshener. "Takumi-san, you absolutely have to win." He murmured the words without voicing them. On his lap, he clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. --- 11:55 PM. At the Lake Haruna parking lot, more than ten street racers had already gathered. Six members of the Akina SpeedStars. Plus, nearby racers who had caught wind of the rumor. The moonlight reflected on the lake's surface illuminated their tense faces. Kenta moved with Ikegaya and the others to a pull-off space on the cliff side just before the five consecutive hairpins. A road five meters wide, a steep slope with no guardrail. Through the trees, the mountain pass below was visible. It was the perfect spectator spot to watch the battle. Ikegaya placed a hand on Kenta's shoulder. That hand was slightly rough, just like the scar he'd gotten when he crashed his bicycle into the mountain pass back in middle school. "[serious]It's starting." Midnight exactly. From the direction of the starting line, two exhaust notes began to sing out loudly. Takumi's 4A-GEU and Ryou's SR20DET turbo. It was as if two beasts were howling at each other in the darkness. Kenta strained his ears. His heartbeat quickened. "They went." Someone murmured. The distant engine sounds instantly transformed into high-pitched screams that tore through the wind. Both cars had launched into the Akina downhill at the same time. The first thing he heard was Takumi's Hachiroku. The engine sound was smooth, without waste. There was a certain elegance to it. The Silvia, on the other hand, growled with a deep bass, its tires screeching wildly. Kenta closed his eyes and tracked them by sound alone. The knowledge from reading the *Initial D* tankoubon a hundred times traced the course in his head. "Takumi-san is pulling ahead in the first medium-speed corners." The engine sounds drew closer. Several dozen seconds later, two sets of headlights sliced through the darkness. In the lead. The Hachiroku. Behind. The black Silvia. In the first medium-speed section, Takumi had already seized a lead of half a car length. The white body flashed past Kenta's eyes in an instant. The gutter drop. The left rear tire dropped into the gutter, the car body tilting diagonally. Using centrifugal force, it shot through the corner at an impossible speed. "Whoooaaaa!" Kenta's shout echoed through the mountain pass. "[excited]Amazing! Takumi-san, he's seriously amazing!" Ikegaya clenched his teeth and nodded. "[serious]Not yet. That bastard's still coming." The Silvia chased the Hachiroku, plunging into the first hairpin. Ryou's late braking. Delaying the brakes until the absolute limit, then stabbing the inside line all at once. It was driving as if to kill the opponent. The second hairpin. Takumi executed the gutter drop even more perfectly. The Hachiroku's body slipped through the corner as gracefully as a living creature. The lead stretched to eight-tenths of a car length. "He can do this!" The moment Kenta shouted. The third hairpin. The Silvia's braking was abnormally late. No, he wasn't delaying it. He wasn't braking at all. "That bastard...!" Ikegaya's voice trembled. From the outside, the Silvia rammed into the Hachiroku's rear fender. Metal screamed. Sparks scattered into the darkness of the night. The Hachiroku's rear wheels lost grip for an instant. The body writhed like a snake, white smoke rising from the tires. "Takumi-san!" Kenta felt like his throat would tear apart. But Takumi recovered. He quickly applied counter-steer and stabilized the car without letting off the accelerator. As if nothing had happened, the Hachiroku was sucked into the fourth hairpin. "[angry]That bastard, he's seriously trying to wreck him...!" Ikegaya kicked the ground. Pebbles tumbled down the cliff. The blood drained from Kenta's entire body. This wasn't a battle. Ryou's goal from the very beginning was to kill Takumi. The words he'd heard in that parking lot three days ago were now unfolding as reality right before his eyes. Clearing the fifth hairpin, the two cars entered the high-speed corner section. The engine sounds grew distant. "The final stretch." Someone murmured. The last kilometer, a high-speed right corner. On the outside, a three-meter cliff with no guardrail. The most dangerous zone of the Akina downhill. Kenta started running. Before he knew it, his legs were moving. "Kenta-kun!" With Ikegaya's voice at his back, he sprinted down the mountain pass. His heart felt like it would burst. His lungs ached. Still, he couldn't stop his feet. In the distance, he heard the scream of brakes. Then. CRASHAAAAAAAAA!!! The sound of metal being torn apart and guardrails being shredded echoed through the mountain pass. Kenta stopped in his tracks. His breath stopped. A moment of silence. And then, from below the cliff, came the hellish sound of destruction as two cars tumbled down, mowing through trees. Thud. Finally, a heavy impact resonated, and everything fell silent. "...Ah." A voiceless sound leaked from Kenta's mouth. Ikegaya and the others caught up. Kenta started running again. Nearly falling, he still moved his legs frantically. Tears distorted his vision. He arrived at the scene. The first thing that leapt into his eyes was the guardrail, brutally twisted and torn. The cross-section gleamed silver in the moonlight. Tire marks scorched the asphalt black, and the smell of oil stung his nose. He looked down the cliff. The Hachiroku was on its side, wrecked. The front was completely crushed, the hood crumpled and bent. The driver's side door was deformed, the window glass shattered into countless pieces. The airbag had deployed, a white bag covering the driver's seat. Beneath it, he could see Takumi, motionless. Blood flowed from his face, matting his unruly brown hair. The area around his closed eyes was swollen purple. Only the old burn scar on the ring finger of his left hand was somehow clearly visible. "Takumi-san...!" Kenta scrambled down the cliff. He tripped on a rock, scraping his knee. Still, he ran. He rushed to the Hachiroku and grabbed the deformed door. "Takumi-san! Takumi-san!" The door wouldn't open. It was hot. The smell of oil grew stronger. Kenta pounded on the door. With his fists, over and over, again and again. "Open... please open...!" The tears wouldn't stop. His face was a mess of snot, tears, and dirt. Still, he just kept hitting the door. The iron, warped beyond its load limit, didn't budge an inch. At that moment, Takumi's eyelids moved faintly. Kenta held his breath. Takumi's mouth was trying to say something. But he couldn't hear a voice. Only his lips, slowly forming a shape. *'I'm... o... kay...'* That's what it looked like he was saying. "Takumi-san! Takumi-san...!" Kenta screamed. He screamed at the top of his lungs, until his throat felt like it would tear. He called Takumi's name, over and over and over. Ikegaya grabbed Kenta's shoulders and pulled him away. "[angry]Don't move him! Kenta-kun, you mustn't move him!" "But Takumi-san is...!" "[angry]Moving him now is dangerous! The ambulance has been called! All we can do is wait!" Ikegaya's voice trembled with tears. It was the first time he'd heard his reliable big brother figure cry. Kenta collapsed on the spot. His legs had no strength. He could do nothing but keep staring at the wrecked Hachiroku and Takumi, motionless inside. Frustration burned hot behind his eyes. Again. He couldn't do anything again. He'd sworn to protect Takumi, but in the end, all he could do was watch and scream. A short distance away, the sound of metal creaking. The Silvia's door was kicked open from the inside. Kurosaki Ryou crawled out. Blood streamed from his arm, and his shoulder was bent at an unnatural angle. Even so, he stood. The silver chain on his neck glinted in the moonlight. The emblems of the cars he'd wrecked jingled. Ryou glanced at the wreckage of the Hachiroku. And he smiled thinly. "[cold]I won't admit defeat." Saying only that, he vanished into the darkness. No one could chase him. No one could stop him. Holding Kenta, Ikegaya punched the ground. "[angry]Damn it... damn it...!" From the distance, the siren of an ambulance could be heard. Kenta couldn't move. He sat there, hugging his knees. The same words spun around and around in his head. His knowledge of *Initial D*, his admiration for Takumi, his feelings for his friends. Not a single one of them had been any help in protecting Takumi. That sense of powerlessness filled the depths of his chest with cold. Even his tears wouldn't come anymore. The siren drew closer. Crimson light illuminated the white body of the wrecked Hachiroku. Broken glass scattered across the road surface, glittering like rubies. Oil seeped slowly out, wetting the asphalt like blood. Kenta just kept staring at that scene. In the car heading to the hospital, Kenta hugged his knees the whole time and didn't say a single word.