Disclaimer: Initial D and all characters whose names you recognize from canon, belong to Shuichi Shigeno and Kodansha.

The fic follows an alternate timeline from the manga. At the time it starts, Emperor has already been subdued and Ryousuke is just beginning to form Project D. However, the fic is mostly from the perspective of Impact Blue.

Pairings: Ryousuke/Takumi, Sayuki/OMC, eventual Ryousuke/Takumi/Mako triangle. Drama/action/romance.

Rating: PG for now, may go up later.

Third Wheels

*~*~*~*

Takasaki City, late October

He was shaken out of his thoughts by Keisuke asking, "So have we finished with Gunma then?"

"No, not quite," said Ryousuke. "There's still one more course to run here-Usui Pass."

"But I've already run that course," said Takumi.

"No, Takumi, I want Keisuke to run this one."

"Against Impact Blue?" Keisuke was frowning.

"Yes."

"But they're girls."

"They also happen to be the best drivers on a course that's extremely treacherous-in many ways, one of the most treacherous in Gunma, maybe all of Kanto."

"Is this the first race for the new team?"

"No, this is different."

"Why do you want me to run it then?"

"Because I want your skills polished a bit more before we start this new team. Your technique still needs a little work. Usui's basically one continuous drift, back and forth. What better place to fine-tune your drifting skills-and really put them to work?"

"Aniki-"

"Just do it. It would be a good idea. You'd really show everybody just what you're made of. Have you ever even been to Usui?"

"Of course I've been to Usui."

"Yes, but I don't think you've actually raced on it. Not an official race."

Keisuke blinked. "Yeah… you are right…"

"I knew I could count on you," said his brother, smiling. "We'll make the challenge for one week from tomorrow. How's that sound?"

"Sounds good to me."

A few days later

"Oh!"

Only Mako's very suddenly outstretched hand kept the bundle of sunflowers, daffodils and hyacinths from tumbling off the passenger seat onto the floor.

Matsuida sure had the drivers that liked to cut in front of you and make you slam on the brakes. Every locale had their own bad drivers, it seemed-according to her uncle, Hiroshima drivers hated to signal. Yokohama drivers liked to sneak, at full speed ahead, into the spaces behind cars as they were backing out of parking spaces. And Tokyo drivers… well, Tokyo drivers just raged at everybody. But it being Matsuida, Mako was now trying to avoid a rear-ender, and using the back of her hand to scoot the bouquet back onto the seat.

Sighing in relief, she resumed normal speed and glanced at her watch. Five minutes for me to get there. I hope there'll be a parking space close to the restaurant.

Passing the Umeko Café on her left, she scanned the street for an empty space, and found one about a block farther on. As she parked the SilEighty and got out, she tried to ignore the kissing couple approaching her from ahead.

Mako suddenly had an idea. She opened her passenger door, lifted the bouquet off the seat, and brandished it like a shield. They weren't roses, but they were at least some kind of flower and nobody else had to know that they weren't a romantic gift. They'd just think she had a boyfriend with eclectic floral taste… Yes. That would do fine.

Besides, she had a challenge to tell Sayuki about, and she couldn't do it without the flowers.

She stepped through the doors of the café and asked the hostess if her friend had arrived yet. Giving a cheerful affirmative, the hostess pointed at the booth all the way at the end, next to the window.

"Mako!" called Sayuki, waving. Mako looked and saw that her friend was looking very pretty in a purple wraparound dress with large white flowers all over it. Next to her sat a guy in a black leather jacket.

And that must be the new boyfriend.

"Hello, Sayuki," said Mako, embracing her friend as soon as she got to the booth. "And you are?" she asked, turning to Sayuki's companion.

"Sugita Toshizo," said the guy, smiling and bowing. Mako returned the bow.

"How did you meet, Sayuki?"

"We were at this little shop up on the pass. I was looking at this beautiful pink fleece ski jacket, and he was looking at snowboards, and the rest, as they say, is history." She slipped an arm around Toshizo and beamed.

"How long ago was that?"

"Three weeks." Sayuki's grin grew even wider.

"So… you like to snowboard?" said Mako, giving Toshizo her best polite smile.

"Love it."

"Do you ski, too?"

"Sometimes."

"Do you ever drive? I mean… do you ever race, like us?"

"Oh no," Toshizo chuckled. "I can barely drive a golf cart."

"Doesn't he have the best sense of humor?" said Sayuki.

"Sure does."

Mako cocked her head to get a better look at Sayuki's new boyfriend. He had a squarish jaw, dark arched eyebrows, and hair cut very short, almost like a buzz cut. His teeth were slightly crooked, but pure white. She's got good taste.

And they had met on a chance encounter. It was a cinch they did, really. Sayuki had a gift for making friends. A gift I don't have, evidently…

"Hey! What's the matter?" said Sayuki out of the blue.

"What?"

"You just looked really unhappy all of a sudden."

"Oh! Nothing," said Mako, shaking her head in an attempt to shake off her sudden dark mood. "I almost rear-ended this guy when I came here. He cut in front of me." It was a lame thing to say, but if it would help her save face, so be it.

"That's Matsuida for you," said Toshizo, grinning. Sayuki giggled and bopped his shoulder with her nose.

Mako settled back in her booth, across from the other two, sighing deep inside. Damn her for reading my face. Why does she have to be so good at that?...

"Oh, by the way," said Sayuki indulgently, "Who sent you the flowers? Ryousuke?"

"What?!" Mako sat bolt up straight.

"Oooh, it is Ryousuke, isn't it?"

"Shut up. No, it's not," said Mako sternly. "Actually, it's Keisuke. This is a challenge," she said, producing the bouquet.

"A challenge? Sunflowers?"

"Yes. Ryousuke, I've heard, sends roses for a challenge. And Keisuke, he apparently sends… sunflowers."

"For a challenge?"

"He likes yellow."

"Weird," said Sayuki, rolling her eyes.

"What challenge? Who are these guys? And why do they send flowers?" Toshizo piped up.

"Oh, it's the Takahashi brothers from Akagi," said Sayuki.

"The Takahashi brothers from Akagi? The drivers? I saw them in a magazine once."

"Yes. They've just challenged us to a race," said Mako. On Usui, our mountain pass, because they never race on Akagi. Something about being too familiar with it. And they always send flowers."

"That's a funny thing to send when you're challenging someone."

"Don't ask me why they do it. They just do," said Sayuki, throwing up her hands. "So, we get to race Keisuke. Does it say anything about when?"

"Here's the card," said Mako, holding it up:

*~*~*

Meet on Usui Pass,

29 October, 9.00 P.M.

Takahashi Keisuke.

*~*~*

"That's a week from yesterday," said Sayuki.

"We'd better get practicing. Keisuke's really improved in the last couple of months, from what I heard."

"Yeah, he just killed Nakazato! You know… Shingo's teammate." Sayuki gave a split-second grimace at her ex's name.

"Oh, that's right, you're Sayuki's driving partner!" said Toshizo, extending his hand for Mako to shake. "Nice to meet you at last."

"Yes. She's the driver, and I'm the navigator. And we're the fastest on Usui," Sayuki said, grandly. Then she mumbled, "I wish you'd introduce yourself a little more so I wouldn't have to, girl."

"No, that hachiroku kid beat us on our own mountain, remember? And if we don't mind our Ps and Qs well get beat by Keisuke as well."

"You'd better do the minding Ps and Qs," said Sayuki, pouting. "You're the driver."

"What's a hachiroku?" said Toshizo.

Mako and Sayuki looked knowingly at each other and smiled. Obviously this date was going to turn into a crash course in street racing, no pun intended. If Toshizo didn't know what a hachiroku was, well…

"Well," said Mako, taking a deep breath, "A hachiroku is…"

"And that's basically what we do," said Sayuki, fiddling with her chopsticks.

"Wow," said Toshizo. "I had no idea driving could be so exciting."

"Too bad you can barely drive a golf cart."

"Hey!" said Toshizo, tossing a wadded-up napkin at Sayuki's nose. She mussed up his buzz-cut hair… what she could muss up, anyway. The two broke out laughing.

Mako didn't know whether to feel wistful or soothed. True, Sayuki did have her boyfriend with her, and after only three weeks of dating they seemed so very comfortable with each other… but Mako didn't feel as bad as she'd thought she'd feel. That was a mysterious thing… no matter how much she felt that Sayuki outshined her, she still, usually, felt at ease in her presence.

Right before their strawberry sorbet arrived, Sayuki said, "Hey, guess what we're doing next month?"

"What?"

"We're going to Nagano on vacation!"

"Really?"

"Yep. Around Christmas time."

"Won't that cost you a lot?"

"We're saving up our money. We got a deal on the train fares for signing up in advance."

Mako felt the happy side of her mixed feelings evaporate. It was only October… and already Sayuki and her new boyfriend were planning a Christmas vacation together? And wasn't she saying "we" a little bit too much?

She forced herself to say, "That sounds great."

"It's going to be fantastic," said Toshizo. "We're going snowboarding. My favorite boarding resort is Shirakabako Royal Hill."

"Toshizo's gonna teach me how to carve," said Sayuki.

"And we'll go take a tour of that microbrewery on Kirehime." Toshizo broke into a wide grin.

"Of course. You can't miss that!" said Sayuki, playfully punching him in the side.

"Have a good time," said Mako, returning to her food. Her voice sounded dry and unenthusiastic. Fortunately, neither of her dinner companions seemed to notice. Not even Sayuki, much to Mako's surprise.

"Oh we will, we will." Sayuki flung an arm around Toshizo. "Won't we, honey?"

"Oh yes." He pecked her on the cheek.

Mako concentrated very hard on her miso soup, on the cube of tofu in her mouth. Come to think of it, she had never tried the tofu from that hachiroku kid's place. What was his name-Fujiwara? Yes, that was it. Hadn't Sayuki once had a thing for him, too? She must have given up on him quickly… she did find out he'd already had a girlfriend.

Sayuki didn't like tofu much-she thought it tasted the same wherever you went, but Mako could sense a difference from restaurant to restaurant; each place gave tofu its own distinct personality. She wondered if Fujiwara's tofu was mellow like his own personality, spicy like Keisuke's, or somewhere in the middle, like…

She couldn't keep a giggle from escaping her lips.

"What are you thinking of?" asked Sayuki.

"Nothing."

"Are you thinking of someone special? Like--"

"No," said Mako with finality. She glanced over and saw that Sayuki's hand was softly clasping her boyfriend's. "I just thought of something funny, okay? I need to use the bathroom." She slid off her seat and abruptly got up, not noticing the look of mild consternation on her friend's face.

Mako caught a glimpse of the occupants of the next booth-an older couple, also with their hands softly clasped. As she made her way across the room, she heard the hostess say on the phone, "I can't talk long, I've got customers coming. I love you too, sweetie. Bye." She turned in the other direction and saw a teenage boy and girl walking towards her, arms around each other, with beatific smiles.

She ducked into the bathroom, looked at herself in the mirror, and gave a deep sigh. What, is there something in the water? She turned on the faucet and cupped her hand underneath the water stream. With a weak smile, she brought her hand to her mouth, took a sip, and closed her eyes. After she swallowed, she waited a moment and then opened her eyes again. Nothing happened. Maybe even love potions wouldn't work on me. …Love potions? Now I'm being silly.