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Alternate Tracks 2nd Story in Rivalry Series	By : kurahieiritrJIO Category: +G to L > Initial D Views: 2493 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Initial D, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 37
- 38
- 39
A/N: This is the pre-revised version. I will get this revised ASAP. So if you see this tag, this is the older FFnet version, not the review helpful revised edition. The missing marks etc will be fixed and replaced soon.

CHAPTER 38

A cough at the door made Takumi raise his head and look at whom had arrived. Yukiko Takahashi, and Oyaji stood in the doorway. Ryosuke's okasan had her arms crossed at her chest level. From the look on Oyaji's face Takumi feared the two of them had heard his comment about agreeing to give Keisuke a chance to prove they belonged together. The amber-haired teenager wanted to bolt but had no way to get out of bed. The IV in his arm, the catheter line, and his upper leg trapped in a metal cage kept him trapped in his bed.

"It appears that I have much more to discuss with you than I realized, Takumi kun." Yukiko Takahashi spoke to him with a severe expression on her face.

Takumi remembered the Friday evening when he had met the woman for the first time.

'Takumi arrived at the Takahashi residence because he had been told they were not meeting at the rendevous point by Keisuke. Ryosuke and Keisuke had both come outside to greet him.

"Ryosuke san, where is everyone? Aren't we supposed to meet to go to a battle tonight?"

"I missed you when I called. The opposing team rescheduled, instead of accepting forfeits. There's no need to do practice runs tonight because you already know the course, Fujiwara. We're leaving tomorrow afternoon to complete the battle we postponed. Keisuke could have explained the situation, instead of making you drive all the way to our home."

"Then, I didn't ruin Project D's racing record last week?" Takumi felt so relieved his knees had gone weak.

"That's correct, Fujiwara. The opponent rescheduled so we didn't have to forfeit, or accept a loss this time."

Takumi looked at both men with a smile on his lips. "I'm glad that I didn't ruin the team's reputation, Ryosuke san. Knowing that we get a second chance is well worth the longer drive over here to get the news. I'll go home and sleep since we won't be working tonight. I'll be sure to meet everyone at the rendevous point tomorrow at whatever time you want me there."

"We plan to leave for the pass around two-thirty." Ryosuke answered.

"Got it. I'll be there, Ryosuke san." Takumi nodded and stepped closer to his vehicle.

"Matte." Keisuke grabbed the younger man's arm to stop him from getting into his compact. "Forget about going all the way home, Fujiwara. You can crash here tonight. There's no need to waste any more gas, or make yourself too tired to win your battle tomorrow night now that you're already here."

Takumi found himself being pulled toward the house before he thought of anything to say, by the spiky-haired blond. Takumi spoke up. "But, I don't want to be a burden, Keisuke san. It's not that far to my home. I can meet you at the rendevous point tomorrow, so I won't have to impose."

Keisuke pulled Takumi inside and prodded him into the European styled living room. "You aren't being a bother, Takumi kun. Stop saying dumb things like that. Hang out with me, and crash on the guest futon."

They found Keisuke's parents sitting on the sofa beside each other as they watched a television program. "Okasan, Otosan, Fujiwara needs to sleep here tonight. He'll be in my room on the guest futon."

Keisuke's okasan looked amused as she glanced at his otosan. Otosan's jet eyebrow rose as he looked at him. His hands were clasped in front of his stomach as he considered his younger musuko and Takumi. Okasan smiled as he fidgeted under Keisuke's ryoshin's combined gazes.

The elegant woman looked amused as she glanced at her husband. His eyebrow rose in a way that made Takumi aware of where Ryosuke got that particular expression. The pepper haired woman smiled."Musuko, dear, where between the floor and the ceiling is there enough space within your bedroom for your friend to go to sleep, exactly? I'm sure you'll prove to have a very interesting answer." Keisuke's okasan's lips curved in visible amusement.

Takumi watched the woman's lips twitch as Keisuke's otosan slid his glasses up on his nose. He looked him in the eyes with his own dark golden orbs. "I think it's a good opportunity to find out if Keisuke even has a floor, Okasan. If we get the pleasure of uncovering whether or not there is an actual floor in there, I will be quite grateful to you for the extra company tonight, young man." Takahashi senior also smiled as he looked at his wife and both sons.

"I don't wish to impose on your generosity. If I am going to cause problems, then I can go home." Takumi glanced at Keisuke with a slight furrowing of his brow.

Keisuke ignored him to reply. "It won't take me long to pick up my room. Just get out the guest futon for me, and I'll take care of the rest, Otosan."

Ryosuke snickered. "This I have got to see. You see my Otouto cleaning up after himself is a rare occurrence, Fujiwara."

"Aniki . . ." Keisuke growled as he glanced at his face. "Leave Fujiwara out of this minnasan. It's one thing to tease me about needing to put my clean clothes away, and another thing all together to drag him into things."

Keisuke's otosan spoke again. "It would be safer if you didn't spend so much time on the road, and risk additional exhaustion. As I understand it, you had an accident recently because of fatigue. Is that correct, Fujiwara kun?"

"Hai, Takahashi san. I didn't realize I was that tired, and I caused a great deal of trouble for everyone without meaning too. Domo arigato gozaimasu for watching over me this evening." Takumi bowed to Keisuke's parents as he spoke.'

Takumi snapped back to the present as Ryosuke asked this woman, who seemed as different from his first meeting with her as possible, "Uhm, Okasan, were you listening for very long?"

Takumi felt awkward as he looked over at Oyaji, who stared at him with a dark look in return. Takumi had no idea how to salvage this situation. He had asked earlier that morning if he was being kicked out of the house because he refused to turn on Keisuke. He had not told Oyaji that he had agreed to see Keisuke. In his own eyes, Takumi had unwittingly signed his eviction notice.

"We arrived in time to hear Takumi kun say his okasan accused him of making a mess of her life the day she left, Ryosuke. I made certain Bunta san kept his mouth shut so I could get to the truth of what Keisuke has been up to since he fell in love with this young man." She turned to Bunta as she unwound one arm and pointed for him to move into the room. "Onegai, have a seat on your musuko's bed, Fujiwara san."

Takumi noticed that Oyaji's eyes opened wide as he turned to the salt, and pepper-haired woman. After a few moments he shrugged and moved into the room with an annoyed expression.

Yukiko Takahashi asked in a calm voice. "Exactly how old was Takumi when you allowed his okasan to speak to him in such a disgraceful manner, Fujiwara san?"

"I don't see that it concerns you."

"This concerns a member of my family, so I beg to differ. How old was Takumi kun?"

". . . ."

"I see." Yukiko's voice turned cold.

Takumi found himself turning to Ryosuke for guidance. The composure he knew so well crumbled as Ryosuke swallowed hard, rubbed his temples, and squirmed with a tight expression. Takumi thought Ryosuke looked like he wanted to flee as much as he did. The only one that was in serious trouble was himself. Ryosuke had nothing to be afraid of because he had told his okasan, and Oyaji that Keisuke was in love with him.

Takumi understood from Ryosuke's unease that he had spilled information that his mentor had concealed from both of their ryoshin. Now, Oyaji had all the ammunition he required to make life an unbearable hell for him. Bunta sat on the foot of the bed radiating his irritation. Takumi wondered how much worse his day would get.

"Fujiwara san, you do realize that the moment my musuko fell in love with yours, and Takumi agreed to give Keisuke a chance, Takumi kun became my business. Whether you like this situation, or not, your musuko is now part of my family as well."

Takumi tried to calm things down. "I appreciate that you feel that way, Takahashi san. But, Oyaji didn't do anything wrong. 'Kasan was the one that said those things. Doushite yell at him?"

Yukiko's voice was gentle as she turned to look at him and explained. "A good ryoshin will always do the best that they can by their children. Everything you said to my musuko makes it very clear to me that your otosan has done the exact opposite, Takumi kun. No one should feel the way you obviously do."

"Fujiwara, I was quite shocked that any onna could even think something like your okasan did." Ryosuke added to the conversation.

Yukiko Takahashi gave Ryosuke a stern glare even though he had agreed with her. "Ryosuke, I will deal with your evasions over Takumi kun's side of this situation later. For the moment you get a reprieve."

"I understand, Okasan." Ryosuke nodded once. Takumi noticed the defeated edge in his mentor's voice. Ryosuke Takahashi sounded as if he expected to be shredded.

Takumi found himself defending Ryosuke. "Uhm, Takahashi san, Ryosuke san doesn't really know much about my side of things. Doushite get mad at him when I was telling him stuff he didn't know about?"

"Are you certain Ryosuke knew nothing at all?"

"Ryosuke san only really knows that I agreed to give Keisuke a chance to convince me that we belong together the way he thinks we do. I asked Keisuke to keep the rest of our situation between us. I don't think Keisuke said anything to Ryosuke san because of my request."

"I see." The woman's gaze softened for a moment. Then she saw Oyaji, and her eyes turned glacial. "So, Fujiwara san, you allowed Takumi kun's Okasan to tell him that he ruined her life when he was what, barely out of diapers?"

"Kimiko left when Takumi was three."

"I would like you to explain why you allowed something so vile to be done to your own flesh and blood? Did it never occur to you that a child that young actually believes such horrible things unless you reinforce that it isn't true?" Yukiko Takahashi's voice was arctic.

Oyaji snapped. "I couldn't stop her from leaving! Kimiko packed and left while I was at work."

"Doushite didn't you reinforce that Takumi did not ruin both of your lives after she left?" Yukiko asked with a tone that made Takumi wish he could disappear.

"I did the best I knew how. I never expected things to go the way they did. Kimiko got mad that I didn't become a professional driver, and rich enough for her tastes. She wanted your kind of lifestyle. I wasn't able to give it to her once she told me she was pregnant and we got married. She left after she hooked up with some rich guy behind my back."

Yukiko looked surprised. "You were a racer, like your musuko?"

"Hai, and I'm a damned good one. Hell, I'm the best downhill specialist on Mount Akina to this day. Who do you think started Takumi's training? I made him drive in the middle of the night to deliver tofu to the resorts for a good reason. Takumi has never liked to listen, or think much about things I've tried to tell him. So, I made him get so damned bored with a car he'd start to play behind the wheel. It worked too. Between the cup to protect the tofu, and teach him how to control every part of the car, and his boredom, he's gotten pretty damned good. He only gets better now that he's gotten interested in racing and learning about cars."

Takumi looked at his otosan as he talked. "Oyaji? I don't understand. I thought you made me drive because you weren't able to."

Oyaji scratched his head. "Cars were the only thing beside tofu that I ever knew much about. Mechanics and driving are the only things beside making tofu I could teach you. I was able to pound some kind of skills in your head by having you drive at night. You can do what you want to do now, but at least I passed on something to you."

Yukiko spoke in a thoughtful tone. "So, you taught Takumi kun to drive in hopes he would take over your dream, and become what you didn't."

"Wrong. Takumi's his own man now. He can do what I did and start his own tofu business, since he grew up in a tofu shop and knows how to make it from scratch. Takumi can attempt to be a professional driver if that's what he wants. Hell, he can choose to move furniture for the rest of his life if he likes doing that. Nani he wants to do for a living is his choice to make." Oyaji answered in sour tones.

Takumi watched his mentor, and okasan to see how they reacted to the information.

Ryosuke spoke after he got his Okasan's attention with a wave of his hand. "Bunta san, you're saying you only taught Fujiwara to drive so you could share a skill you possess. Are you saying you had no desire to see your musuko become a professional in the time you trained him?"

"Ryosuke kun, I'm not the one who has to decide what Takumi should do now that he's out of school. Takumi's the only one who can decide what's going to make him happy. I won't deny that I'd like to see my musuko get to the pro leagues because he's getting good enough to deserve a spot there. One of my old high school pals is a professional racer. He calls to talk to me about how Takumi's evolving every few weeks. He even helped get the new engine that's in the hachi roku. He found that engine for me because I told him that I think Takumi's going to get good enough to belong in the pro's some day."

Ryosuke nodded his understanding. "Sir, why did you give up your dream? Couldn't you have continued to race until you were offered a contract even though you got married?"

"It would have cost a lot for gasoline and tires to keep my edge while I searched for the opportunity. I had to take care of my unplanned family because Kimiko lied to me and said she was on birth control when she wasn't." Oyaji frowned as he spoke.

Takumi flinched. This was the first time he had heard this part of his own history. Oyaji never spoke of 'Kasan. Takumi had a much better appreciation of why Oyaji had begun to drink so much after she left. The teen also realized why Oyaji had been harsh with him. Oyaji had taken on the sole role of ryoshin when he had not expected to be in such a position until after he had become a professional race car driver.

Bunta Fujiwara had chosen to work in an industry he hated in order to provide for a family that he had not expected for several years. Oyaji had thrown away his chance to enter the professional racing circuit where he could have done what he loved, and supported a family in a more comfortable lifestyle because he had been trapped into becoming an otosan before he had even gotten married.

Takumi defended his otosan. "I've seen pictures of 'Kasan, and I look more like her than I do Oyaji. He has reason to get cranky because I remind him of her, and how she did what she did. I think I would have a hard time staying sober if I was in his spot. I know Oyaji hasn't forgotten how 'Kasan left any more than I have.

"What makes you think you look more like your Okasan? You have rather masculine features, Takumi kun." Yukiko tilted her head as she turned to him.

"I have a male version of her face. My eyes are hers. My hair color's the same. I even have her nose. I guess you'd have to see a picture to understand. But I've always known Oyaji still misses her."

Oyaji grunted in agreement with a nod of his head. Yukiko's brow rose as she remained silent for a few moments as she looked between Oyaji and himself. Her next words were unexpected. "I think it's a good thing we already decided that Takumi kun should stay with me when he leaves this hospital, Bunta san."

"Nani?" Takumi asked as he turned to look at Oyaji.

"Because of the kind of break your upper leg bone suffered, and the surgical area involved, you have been placed in a special type of brace instead of a regular cast. The isha senseis drilled screws into the broken sections to keep the bone fragments from shifting long enough to allow your leg to heal. The skin will heal around the screws that are imbedded in your bone. They have to be surgically removed once the bone heals enough to allow for their removal. There is an increased risk of infection that could cost you that leg once you're released unless it's watched carefully, Takumi kun."

Takumi knew about the situation. His certainty that Oyaji had decided to disown him increased. "But, Doushite would you want me to stay with you? I mean, I don't want to impose on anyone. I can take care of it by myself."

"I'm a nurse by trade. My husband is an isha sensei. Between the two of us there will be no chance of you losing that limb to infection, Takumi kun. Even your otosan agreed that he wouldn't know the onset of infection before it advanced to an obvious stage. If you intend on being a professional racer, you have to make certain you don't lose that leg. We must make sure you don't have a limp once it heals also." Yukiko spoke with quiet authority.

"I understand that. It's just, . . . well, . . . with everything that happened, . . . and you'll need to take care of Keisuke." Takumi scratched his head as he tried to form his thought without offending his lover's parents. "It would be more than you should have to cope with, Takahashi san."

"It's already settled, so there is no reason for you to concern yourself. I also arranged for Keisuke to be transferred into this room once he leaves ICU. I think that we three will have a lot to discuss over the next few days. Ryosuke will take Keisuke's car home, and your car will be driven back by your otosan. Get used to the situation, Takumi kun. I'm even more difficult to get around than my musukos when I choose to be." Yukiko gave him a sunny smile.

Takumi glanced at Ryosuke to see a man who was pale, but composed. The look Ryosuke gave him advised against argument Takumi thought as he turned back to the woman who decreed herself in charge of his life.

-oo0oo-
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Alternate Tracks 2nd Story in Rivalry Series