Initial R: Night Sky GT-R (Initial D Fanfiction)

Act 3: Changing Winds

Graduation ended.

For Riku, his mother and aunt had shown up. And for Sora, her adopted father Kozo Hoshino had come to show his support.

"Hey, I'll see you later, Riku." Sora said. She waved goodbye to him and followed Hoshino outside the school gates.

"I'm proud of you, kid!" He roared with laughter. "You're officially an adult from now on!"

Sora laughed with him. "Hey, thanks, gramps!"

They both stopped as they made it to the sidewalk. Parked on the side of the road was the white Supra of Shomaru. Emi Hayashi rested against the side of her car, sunglasses covering her eyes. Her hair was cut shorter than the last time Sora had seen her, but there was no denying that was her sister.

"Emi!" Sora cried. "You came!"

Emi took off her sunglasses, smiling warmly at her. "Hello, little sister. You've finally graduated." She looked over at Hoshino. "It's good to see you as well, sir."

"Hello, Emi. I hope you've been takin' care of that car." He said.

"I have been. And if it's alright with you, I'd like to take Sora for dinner." Emi said.

Sora looked back at him, her eyes pleading.

"No problem!" Hoshino laughed. "After that, we'll go for seconds!"

"Right..." Emi kept up her smile. "Sora?"

"Coming!" Sora waved at Hoshino, then hopped in the passenger seat of the Supra. The familiar cloth welcomed her as she sat down.

She looked over at her sister and smiled. Today was going to be a good day.

Emi took Sora to a noodle shop, Sora's favorite.

"Get whatever you want. It's my treat." Emi said.

After getting their food, they took a table. Sora looked at her sister, just noticing how different they were from each other.

Physically, Emi had the same blue eyes as their mother. Her hair was darker than her's, though, not like the light brown of Sora and their mother.

"Mother..." Sora looked down at her bowl. This place was their favorite before Emi had left. Before mom had died.

"Are you okay, Sora?" Emi asked.

Sora blinked away her tears. "Yeah, I'm fine. The noodles are good."

Emi hadn't seen her take a bite. "I wanted to tell you something. Now that you've graduated, I want you to move in with me."

"What!? But-"

"Just for a little while." Emi said quickly. "I think the experience will help you. Especially since you've been having trouble with your driving."

"You can tell?" Sora asked.

Emi nodded. "You're an emotional driver, Sora. More than that, you're my sister, and I can recognize when something is bothering you."

Sora inclined her head. "Okay. If you think it'll help me, I'll do it, then."

Takumi Fujiwara had just gotten back from work. A car pulled up in front of the shop. "Hey, that's..."

Riku parked the car and got out. "Hey Takumi, mind if I grab some tofu?"

After preparing some tofu for him, Takumi asked his question. "The MR2 is back?"

"Yeah. I have a new engine in it. And since you've gone through this before, I figured I'd come over to ask you for some advice."

"Oh, so that's why you're here." Takumi said.

Riku laughed softly. "Actually, my aunt and my mom wanted some tofu, so..."

Takumi sighed. "All the way from Ibaraki...? That's hours away."

Riku winced. "Well, I wanted to talk to you, so it kind of worked out."

"Oh. Well, what do you need help with?" Takumi asked.

Riky looked at the car. "It has a turbocharger. So now... it feels like a whole different car."

"I understand that a little. A friend of mine put a turbo kit in his car and it was completely different from before." 

"Well, the turbo in mine came with the engine. A friend of mine called it a GTE, I think."

Takumi nodded. "That's the type that comes with a turbo, factory-ready. See, there's the GE, which is the NA, and the GTE, the turbocharged version. The GTE comes off the line with it already attached. If you want to know why it feels different, I can really only tell you one thing."

"And what's that?" Riku asked.

"A turbocharger is more efficient than a naturally aspirated engine. Not with fuel, but with power. The boost from a turbo is the pressure you get from spooling, or generating power from the air the turbo forces into the engine. A lot of excess pressure goes to waste in an NA, which is why the turbo is more powerful."

Riku looked down. "So that's why everything feels different. The speed must be messing up my rhythm."

Emi and Ayaka of the Shomaru Bullets waited on Ibaraki pass. There was a light fog out this morning and they were keeping their eyes peeled.

Ayaka hummed along as Susan Bell's "My Only Star" played on her radio. Emi waited outside of the car.

The window rolled down and Ayaka poked her head out. "Is he here yet?"

"I can hear his car." Emi said. "He's coming."

The headlights of the MR2 appeared in the fog and it came through the straight.

Ayaka watched the car wiggle into the turn, skidding around the corner. She laughed. "Ah, seems she was right, Emi. That SW20, it's come back to life as the living dead."

Emi watched the fog light up red as the car's taillights glowed. "It would seem so..."

The car vanished into the fog.