Fists And Lipstick by hiro0911

Chapter 49

Chapter 49

REMINISCENCE

(Part 4)

-#- Continuation of Reminiscence of Yoshida Ayane -#-

I perceived the familiar vibrations coming from the motorcycle as I grasped its handlebar as tight as I could with my leather-gloved hands. Soon, I found myself rushing against the furious wind as I sped across the seemingly endless oval trail.

Racing was not a new thing to me. I knew the rules, I knew techniques, and I knew what to do. Part of my knowledge came from my father, who was very adept when it comes to engines; the rest came from my own experiences in the track, granted that I, too, have been given the opportunity to compete professionally despite being young – just the same age as Miyazawa Aya.

This happened last year, when I 'almost' won first place in the tourney if not for the disqualification motion filed by the other participants. I finished 'FIRST' in the race, but since they found out that I secretly signed in with a different name and the fact that I am Yoshida Aya – the daughter of the head engineer of the world's leading motorcycle manufacturing company, they all voted for my disqualification to 'dissolve any bias' and 'to preserve the integrity of the race', or so they say. But God knows I won the tourney fair and square.

Weren't they the one being biased?

I did not file a counter complaint. For one, it would just make the whole issue bigger. Second, I did not really care about winning because all I wanted was to go there and race - -

To be watched by Crosse Williams…

Crosse and I have known each other since that time my father started working for the Williams Motors Corporation. We went to the same school too; but then, we were on different classes since he was a year older than I was. I was the top of my class, while he, on the other hand, was the best in the Arts. His sketches and designs were so superb that no one would think that they were made by someone so young. At the age of eight, he could design cars, houses, and motorcycles. At twelve, his sketches were already in three-dimension. At sixteen, he already designed motorcycles for their motorcycle company, each release reaching up to a net gain of thousands of US dollars.

Crosse-kun was a person driven by purpose and overflowing with skills. But then, despite knowing him for a long time, it felt as if everything between us was always kept within 'professional' bounds. Perhaps it has something to do with his upbringing too. His father was a very busy man, his brother was always away, preoccupied with helping the CEO and the company in its ascend to the sumptuous state it is now. In spite of the help he was contributing to the company by making the designs, his father never showed satisfaction but rather dismay. This was because Dmitri Williams, his father and CEO of the Williams Motors Corporation, wanted him to be involved more on 'executive tasks' rather than 'designing'.

Crosse was always compared to his older brother, Silas Williams, whom I have never seen before, by the way. Silas, Crosse's brother, was always out of the country or busy with several things. Whenever he arrived in the US, fate kept it in such a way that our paths did not cross even once through out those years.

And so, Crosse-kun rarely smiles. He was always busy with his 'responsibilities' to the company too early in his life. In fact, he never really acted his age. The only thing that I could see from him was his passion of being able to contribute well to the company in hopes of making his father proud, which he did pretty well, in my opinion – except for the 'making his father proud' part.

Despite this, however, being with Crosse always brought me joy as each day passed. We would ride home together from school with our rather 'flashy' motorbikes that never failed to grab the attention of the other students. He would join dad and me during Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. He held me that time when my mother passed away when I was twelve. During the funeral, he held my hand tight. He did not let go of it all throughout as I cried until I was out of tears.