Nights Of Fire: Overhauled

CHAPTER 51 - It's Over.

After around 30 minutes, everyone dispersed from the HQ. Everyone except Ichika, Nino and me.

I broke the silence. "You still feel the need to confront him face to face huh?"

"Yeah. But I'm not sure if that'll be possible or not." Half of Nino's motives dropped.

"Let's face it, that guy is probably already far away out of the city somewhere. He probably has his accomplices." Ichika predicted.

She might be right. But it won't hurt to try a little more.

"Oh, you guys are still here?" Ms. Hanasato came into the room.

"Same goes for you, miss." I greeted as she approached the table.

"I forgot my car keys here. What are you guys still doing here anyway?"

"Discussing some... matters, concerning Makoto."

"Hmm... still can't let go of it yet, huh?"

"Why don't you guys come with me?" Ms. Hanasato raised an invitation.

"Come? Where?" Nino wondered.

"The police station. I wanted to ask the people and the press there if they saw any trace of Makoto around. Perfect chance. Oh, and invite Emika as well while you're at it."

We agreed to head to the police station and followed what Ms. Hanasato did. Ms. Hanasato is a good negotiator and information seeker. She has many psychological tricks up her sleeve to make people with valuable information spill the tea.

But so far, it seemed no one had seen any trace of Hayaashi Makoto's whereabouts. We were ready to give up, until...

"Hmm, I may have an idea." A lightbulb appeared above Emika's head.

She then walked up to the nearest officer and asked for the crew that cleaned up the incident site where the HSV crashed.

"Excuse me sir, may we see the evidence of the crash that happened on the 31st of March? The one where that one car crashed dead-on into a separator post."

"31st...? Oh, you mean that street racing accident. What business do you have with it?"

"We found information that shows that the value of that car is pretty high. We're here to see its condition." She made up an excuse.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but you can't buy this car. It's police evidence. Although, you're free to see it. It's not some super confidential piece of info. Although you need to be under supervision."

"That's fine by us."

We were then escorted to the back of the police station, where impounded cars are stored for later investigation. And there, we saw it. What remains of the "Divine Dragon."

A front end so concave that you can't even recognize what it is. All the body panels are gone, leaving only a frame and some yellow paint. The rear end was burnt due to the explosion, the rear spoiler broke off of the car and was almost split in two.

"This is the Divine Dragon. Or I suppose, what remains of it. I guess it's dead for good now." Nino inspected the horribly wrecked vehicle.

"So, is it over?"

Ichika took a last observation on the HSV to conclude, "He had crippled his own beloved car and himself, then we had spread his crimes to the public. He can't get away anymore. He won't have a chance to race anymore. He lost his opportunity to harm anybody who excels in racing and getting the accolade they deserve."

Her eyes leaked a lake of relief, flowing through two rivers that merged on her chin, "It's over."

Splash. Disembogued to the floor, drop by drop, faded to nothingness by time.

Nino's hand, trembled by a dissolving core of avengement that had been residing for years, connected with Ichika's, "Thank you very much..."

The eldest palm among all joined Ichika's, gathering peace, something she didn't experience since a blurry point in a timeline, "We're finally free..."

My heart pumped at a strange tempo. I froze my face, holding back this strong atmosphere that would cast sunshine and raindrops. I tapped Ichika's back twice, signaling her to have their private moment as long as she wished as I'm about to leave.

A train ride and a few kilometers of walk later, a two-story house shaded the setting sun. Home sweet home. Seeing it at that time gave me an abundance of gratitude. I didn't want to think about my Ma and Pa's wrath from heaven if I had to pay the debt with standard means. I searched my pocket, found a key, then inserted it right at a keyhole on the front door.

It greeted me with the same room layout, but grimier. Yeah, I rarely cleaned my house since I participated in Victory Road. I sampled from a dining table with my fingertip. It turned my skin gray, and the table gained a significant level of brightness.

But, let's clean it later. Time to visit him.

"Hey, how's your rest? Did you sleep well?" I caressed his metallic body who stayed stationary in the garage. RX-7 went back to its original form. Deep shiny red paint, "SI7" sticker intact on the right, with white Enkei rims, body kits, and spoiler that viewers associated with "Savannah Infinite 7".

Clack! Lock on his hood opened, giving me access to observe his machinery. His source of power reverted to his prior glory in YouTube days, the turbocharged two-rotor wankel engine, the 13B-T. Mr. Kocho apologized because his budget for Beyond Redline Project almost ran out, so he couldn't recover the three-rotor engine. Even screwing a loose part was more than everything to me. Thanks for your generosity, Mr. Kocho.

When I was about to lift the bar that holds RX-7's hood open, my body stuck itself in the same position. Three seconds later, Thump! I fell down until I hit my knees, and his front bumper saved my body.

My mood turned green. Blue wetted my face and pressed my throat, but joy sprayed in my heart. Joy from breaking myself from a chain of slavery forced by a financial burden that was debt.

Seeing my car overflowed my brain with memories and my eyes wept. The good ones, the bad ones, it didn't matter. Because at the end of the day,

gulp...

...

huff...

...

...

"It's over."