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When Takumi is defeated by the Impreza, he doesn’t even know it’s an Impreza, nor that his own father is behind the wheel. All he knows is he has lost. On Mount Akina.
He is strangely calm. He finishes the downhill, finds a place to park his ‘86 – then doesn’t move for two hours. In fact, he doesn’t even remember to breathe. He just – he just stares blankly at his windshield.
He stares, and he waits.
Only when the sun rises does he finally get out of his car to walk silently to the nearest phone booth. There, he slowly dials a number – one he shouldn’t know by heart.
"Takahashi Mansion, hello?"
He thanks fate for being on his side, as Keisuke is the one who answers.
Takumi inhales – damn his throat is so, so dry – and hears the words leave his mouth. "I was passed on Mount Akina."
There’s a long silence. And then, "Where are you now, Fujiwara?"
Keisuke arrives shortly after that. Takumi is sitting on a wooden fence, not far from where he parked his car. Keisuke gets out of his FD, and walks slowly towards him - Takumi absently notices his hair has a pretty color under the light of dawn. He stands in front of him, and for a moment none of them speak. Keisuke's bright eyes briefly bores into Takumi's, as if looking for something.
"You called me," he finally says, his voice a mixture of surprise and caution.
Takumi blinks - before he understands what he means.
You called me, and not him.
Not Ryousuke.
Uh, well. He guesses he must look closer to Keisuke's older brother. He did tell him about his recent doubts about the future, after all, and he won't deny that since then the older man has become a kind of confidant.
But then - "He's not the one to whom I made a promise."
Sure, Ryousuke has been indirectly involved in the oath. But it was Keisuke who, on an impulse, put his pride aside to ask Takumi not to lose as long as one of them wouldn't have defeated him, a long, long time ago.
Since that night he lost once, against Sudou Kyouichi - a fact Keisuke had simply rejected. "Don't be stupid Fujiwara, that doesn't count," the blond guy had exclaimed indignantly.
But this - this is plain defeat, on his home turf.
Takumi is shaken. Shaken, angry, and lost. And so, so very apprehensive of Keisuke's reaction to the news.
Yet Keisuke just stares at him for a long time with an indecipherable look, then sighs, sits beside him and asks in a very calm voice, "What happened?"
His reaction baffles Takumi a bit - and immediately he feels embarrassed, for it simply shouldn't have. As he's always in the shadow of his more thoughtful and collected brother, and as his teenage years seem to have been quite eventful, Keisuke is considered an explosive guy. But in truth - he doesn't really do that. Explode. Yes, Keisuke is constantly outraged by everything in life, and releases light steam of anger all the time - but that's exactly what allows him to never snap. Sure he sometimes raises his voice, hits a guardrail or two for good measure, but as soon as he has loudly expressed his displeasure, he's back to being this composed guy, attentive to his surroundings and to what his brother says. Not reckless - oh, certainly not reckless.
For all the glorious fury burning in his eyes, Takahashi Keisuke is not anymore someone easily controlled by his emotions.
While Takumi, Takumi is - he's not a flame like Keisuke, which burns continuously but also with steadiness. He's always calm because a damned lid prevents steam from escaping - he hides his feelings whereas Keisuke channels them, until the day his emotions boil and spill and burst and he totally panics.
Like the complete panic he's close to right now.
Keisuke must feel it, because he puts a hand on his shoulder without hesitation and presses lightly. Takumi is kind of grateful. Somehow, sitting next to his slightly more experienced teammate in the cold of the first hours of the day gives him a sense of comfort. Maybe that's what he was looking for by calling Keisuke, even if he has to face the guilt of having disappointed him: a quieter reaction than someone like his dear friend Itsuki might have had. He just lost. Noisy tears aren't really what he needs now.
So he recounts his encounter with the mysterious car - its speed, the knowledge the driver had of Akina even though he'd never seen him there, the moment the other car passed him and the one he decelerated because he knew it was over.
And Keisuke listens, very calmly and without a word, despite his likely desire to interrupt Takumi to ask him for technical details he won't be able to provide anyway. When he finishes his story, his voice is no longer so shaky, and Keisuke lights a cigarette - the smoke he blows mixes quite beautifully with the morning mist.
"You're going to train," Keisuke says decisively, because he knows this is why Takumi needs him - to be a rock in the middle of this new and terrifying situation of no longer being Akina's fastest, and to help him decide the best course of action from now on. "You're going train, find them, and challenge them in a real race."
Because that's exactly what he did when Takumi first passed him - he sulked, then chose to fight, and found him, and raced against him. And then he lost, and moved on, and learned to accept that at that time there was a faster racer than him who wasn't his brother.
Takumi is going to need that sort of closure too.
"We're going to have to tell my bro, though," Keisuke adds. "Maybe all of this will hinder his perfect driver's plan enough for him to let you take your revenge, but chances are he'll ask you to wait until the end of Project D to challenge racers here at Akina. I'm afraid you'll have to be a little patient, Fujiwara."
Takumi frowns, but nods nevertheless. Patience he can do. His mistake shouldn't jeopardize the future of Project D - besides, he already knows deep down defeating this mysterious driver will require more effort than a few weeks of training.
Keisuke abruptly turns to face him, looking serious.
"Alright Fujiwara, now that the shock is over, enough with the suspense! What freakin' kind of car managed to beat you in Akina's downhill?!"
Takumi looks at him with wide eyes.
"Erm - I don't know? It was a blue car."
Keisuke stares at him for a full minute before bursting out laughing - not a mocking sneer, but a real, earnest laugh only interrupted by words like "oh my god Fujiwara you're the best" or "a blue car, I can't believe you". All the tension suddenly leaves Takumi, and to his surprise he finds himself laughing too.
After their discussion, it seems weird to just get in their respective car and leave, so Keisuke suggests going for a breakfast together - something that Takumi gladly accepts. He doesn't work this morning and kinda wish to delay the moment he'll be alone with his post-defeat insecurities.
"I still have to bring the '86 back, my father might need it," he says.
"That's not a problem, I can follow you to your house then we can both take my car," Keisuke answers, causing Takumi to blush because getting into Keisuke's FD, even for a simple trip, is - it's something.
They drive to the tofu shop, and he's about to park the '86 -
- when he sees the exact same car as the one that passed him a few hours ago.
His brain stops.
His dad - his dad is the one who beat him.
"What took you so long, Fujiwara?" Keisuke asks when he suddenly opens the passenger door.
"I found the blue car," Takumi hisses - he'll freak out about being in Keisuke's FD later, because he's already freaking out about something else and his mind can do only one thing at a time.
"What?! Really?" Keisuke's eyes widen in astonishment. "Where is it?"
"It's my father's! My father bought a new car and beat me with it."
He's breathless and completely lost - how far must he be from his old man's level, if he can defeat him so easily with a new car while Takumi drives their precious '86.
"Oh wow," Keisuke manages to say. "Didn't expect that."
"Yeah, me neither."
They remain silent for a moment, then Takumi speaks again.
"From what I understood, he was rather famous at the time. And good, like, really good," he pauses. "It's - it's annoying, that he's still better than me without even driving so often, but at the same time I'm - I'm relieved it's him because -"
"- because you admire him, and even if you wanna surpass him, you think it's only fair he's the best. For if anyone has to be, it's him," Keisuke finishes for him.
"Yeah, something like that," Takumi murmurs, glancing back at him and wondering if he's talking about his own relationship with Ryousuke - but Keisuke's expression remains carefully neutral.
They stay like that for a few minutes, both lost in thought, breakfast temporarily forgotten. Takumi closes his eyes.
"Keisuke-san?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
And suddenly he finds himself pressed against Keisuke's chest - it's awkward and uncomfortable, they're bothered by the seats and the gear shift, and yet it feels more intimate than a mere brohug.
"Fuck, Fujiwara. The day you race against him, you better win," he says in a low tone, voice muffled by Takumi's hair. "Otherwise people will think your father is better than the Red Suns, and since Aniki has retired, it'll be up to me to what? Challenge your father? Don't do that to me, man."
Takumi laughs loudly. He knows what Keisuke's saying is complete bullshit. After the end of Project D, he'll never return to the Akagi's Red Suns. Pro world is waiting for him. That said, he's really grateful - he knows what Keisuke is offering him, he doesn't do it because they're old rivals who one night made a promise, but because of what they are now. Teammates. And just as Ryousuke once tried to avenge his little brother, the FD's driver would probably do the same for him - although Takumi hopes this will never happen, because Keisuke racing against his father is a pretty disturbing thought.
Still, it's nice, Takumi thinks, and tightens his grip on the other man, seeking comfort. After spending a considerable amount of time avoiding joining the Speed Stars, it feels good to be part of a team.
It's not only about his own pride anymore.