"Sometimes you meet someone, and it's so clear that the two of you, on some level, belong together. As lovers, or as friends, or as family, or as something entirely different. You just work, whether you understand one another or you're in love or you're partners in crime. You meet these people throughout your life, out of nowhere, under the strangest circumstances, and they help you feel alive. I don't know if that makes me believe in coincidence, or fate, or sheer blind luck, but it definitely makes me believe in something."
— Unknown
5 April 2021
Suzuka, Japan
"Good morning!" Kotoko greeted Oscar and his trainer, who was in the front seats. "I'm Kotoko. Sorry for the trouble." She stuck her hand out to Kim for him to shake.
"It's fine we stay in the same hotel anyway. I'm Kim, his trainer." Kim greeted back with a smile that reached his eyes. "You have 3 more guests, right?"
"2 for today. They had to pay for some last-minute thing. Emiko won't be coming today. She has something." She directed her last sentence mainly at Oscar.
"Something?" Oscar turned in his seat to face Kotoko and passed her the 3 Mclaren guest's pass.
"Yea, some meeting, it was last minute. She has to discuss some urgent matters with a project." Kotoko switched to Japanese, not knowing how to phrase the sentence in English.
"Oh... Okay." Oscar nodded and turned away. At this, the welcoming atmosphere suddenly turned tense.
"Oh yea, Oscar, I'm sorry about last night... I didn't know she gave you my phone number instead. I thought she put hers." Kotoko apologised.
"Yea, I thought so, too." He unintentionally bit out his words with frustration and confusion.
Kim turned his head toward Oscar, taken aback. In the past year and a few months, he had never heard Oscar sound this frustrated. Unsure of the context and whether he should say anything, Kim decided to turn back and mind his own business, focusing on his upcoming wedding in a few months.
"You should probably text her. I'll give you her number." Kotoko offered, sensing Oscar's confusion and need for an answer.
"It's fine, it seems like she doesn't want to talk to me either. Thanks, though." Oscar mumbled, resting his arm on the door.
Kotoko let out a soft, frustrated groan. "The two of you are always so stubborn when it comes to this. Just pass me your phone and you can think about texting her later."
Oscar let out a breath and handed his phone over to Kotoko, who typed in a number and saved it to his contact.
A face suddenly appeared at the back door's left window accompanied by a knock.
Kotoko opened the door and slid to the right side of the car.
"Hello, Os, Welcome back to Japan." The guy with a familiar bright and charismatic smile waved when he got into the middle seat.
"Xander?" Oscar raised his eyebrows, then his eyes shifted to the boy next to Xander. "Kenji?"
"Missed us, Piastri?" Kenji teased with his usual straight face.
"Stop being annoying. He's the reason why the two of you can be successful fanboys in this race." Kotoko warned.
Oscar scoffed and rolled his eyes with a smile. "Yeah, real badly." He replied sarcastically to Kenji.
The four, excluding Kim, talked, joked, and bickered all the way to the track.
Nothing much had changed from the last time he had seen the three. Kotoko was still the most considerate and reasonable one, Xander was still the joker he was 7 years ago, and Kenji was still the serious, competitive guy who joked in a monotonous voice.
YOU ARE READING
Daarin | ダーリン | Oscar Piastri
Fanfiction|ON GOING| 7 years ago, an exchange programme brought them together, with a documentary on the side. And here they were again, 7 years later. Just like when they were 16, but... it was different this time. Start: 15 July 2024 End: Book 1 of the stri...
