Chapter Text
Le Mans, France, Friday 22nd August 2014
Makoto stood outside the garage, gazing at the pit wall and the grandstands on the other side of the track. Both were empty, but the weekend hadn't begun yet. He let out a soft sigh as a breeze swept through. The fact that his idea had gone this far was still soaking in, it still felt unreal that he was in France, and a day away from getting his first taste of one of the world's most iconic tracks. “How on Earth did I get here?”, he thought to himself. It seemed all he'd done was watch the final race of the previous season with Nagisa and Rei back in Japan. A few days later, Rei had looked up all the forms and regulations, and said it could be done. Nagisa would never turn down the chance to do something new with his friends. New Year came along and Haru returned to Iwatobi. Of course, it would take a little more persuasion to get him on board.
“Where is Haru, by the way?” A glance over his shoulder showed Makoto the closed garage door, with the red banner marked “17 CHRYSLER” hanging over it. That was the next piece of the puzzle. Rei had contacted as many manufacturers as he could, and only the Americans answered straight away. They had been looking for a new team to run a second car in the top category, and, after a crash course to improve their English, the boys were invited to test in America. Haru seemed half-hearted about it, Rei was very interested in the scientific side of things, while Nagisa just couldn't keep at bay his excitement at trying out a fast car. The Mid-Ohio road course was where they'd sample the ME Four-Twelve. The plain white beast stood proudly next to its silver counterpart the works drivers would be running. Before they could get in, they'd need to try on some suits and helmets, and tell Haru he couldn't wear his swimsuit in the car. “Do you think I can find fireproof swimsuits somewhere?”, he asked, with his most serious face. Everyone else burst out laughing.
Makoto smiled recalling that moment. Finding a fireproof swimsuit was as likely as dying in a fire at a water park, and sure enough, Haru still hadn't found one. But he had become more involved in this new activity after he had tried it. It turned out he was a bit of a natural, instantly placing close to the more experienced racers they were testing with. That's what convinced the manufacturer to back them: the Iwatobi Racing Team was finally on the rails, and going for the big one, the annual 24-hour Toon Le Mans race. “Wouldn't it be fun to try endurance racing?” Yes, that's what Makoto had said a few months earlier. He didn't mean it seriously, he thought that world was out of reach, but it had become a reality. He wasn't the competitive type, but this wasn't really about competing. It was about trying something new that could reunite the four friends once again.
Haru arrived in front of the garage where Makoto had been waiting.
“Sorry for making you wait, I was, er... you know.” Haru's hair still dripping on the back of his neck told the story.
“Yeah, no problem”, replied Makoto. “I end up pulling you out of there one way or another!” he added with his distinctive smile. Makoto was very happy that Haru was along for the ride. It would have been very different without his childhood friend. Though he was faster and more competition-driven than Makoto, Haru's main focus was still on swimming. The three events his team had planned to enter were something on the side, and, like Makoto, he was just happy to get to do something with his high-school friends again. And the Iwatobi team was not the only one reuniting.
Makoto and Haru looked right. A dozen garages further up pit road, they could make out the familiar black suits of Samezuka, and the nose of their black car. Just as before they formed the swim team, Gou had gone and told Rin what his middle-school friends were up to. And he set up his own challenge. Makoto remembered the team's inauguration at the Academy in July very clearly. He was hardly surprised by Rin's move. Neither was Haru, but it still made him a little uneasy.
“Mazdas are really flammable, do they know that?”, said Nagisa on seeing the hoardings, quoting a comedy webseries he was into. Rei was baffled. He hadn't seen any Mazdas eligible for the race during his research. It had to be an effort to race in a slower category that theirs... But the shape under the red and gold sheet looked too low and racy for a slower car. The presentation was a sequence of shocking revelations. Seijuro Mikoshiba, Samezuka's swim team captain prior to Rin, was now in command of the racing team. Along came Rin and Ai Nitori... Ok, so far this made sense, but the four Iwatobi boys stared in disbelief as Sosuke Yamazaki was presented as the third driver.
“His shoulder?!”, muttered Haru. Driving isn't exactly like butterfly swimming in respect to using one's arms, but sportscar racing is still a strain. Then the drivers took the covers off. The Mazda Furai was a graphite black, menacing car, with a red and white stripe going along the roof, and a large Samezuka logo on the front. It featured dive planes at the front and a massive rear wing. This was an ambitious, manufacturer-backed, three-year assault with one objective: to win the most prestigious race on the calendar.
But at the buffet after the presentation, Rin assured Haru that he wasn't giving up his dreams in the pool. In fact, Rin seemed very chirpy about the whole motor racing experience, more like his old self, smiling, laughing and attempting humour.
“Hey Haru, now I can use your catchphrase, 'I only drive Furai!'...” Haru didn't react. “Get it?... Furai, Furi...” Makoto let out a slight giggle and that was it, Rin moved on to other guests. Makoto didn't take the Samezuka team more seriously than his own. He knew that both squads were beginners, and wouldn't be aiming for a big result any time soon. He still wanted to concentrate on the experience of racing, going as far as he could and not worrying about where he'd end up. Haru thought the same. In front of their garage, the two, glad to be in this together, exchanged a quick, complicit glance and a smile, before returning to looking at the grandstands that, in a few weeks, would be packed to cheer on thirty-five cars in the season's biggest event.
“Is this a sight you've never seen before?”, enquired a voice from their left, with a fairly strong French accent. Haru and Makoto turned to face a grinning ginger-haired man wearing a red jacket and trousers. Makoto instantly recognised him, Haru was clueless but intrigued by his use of a phrase he'd heard countless times before. “This is a great place to race, one of my favourites” he continued, before holding out his right hand. “I'm Spirou, I race for Peugeot, the team in the box next to yours.”
Makoto shyly shook his hand, and bowed spluttering “er, I'm Tachibana Makoto... Very honoured... Er... yeah, I drive here, and... This is my team-mate, Nanase Haruk... I mean Haru.” Haru quickly raised one hand in acknowledgement.
“Straight to the deep end, huh?”, Spirou continued. “Quite a few teams have made the 24 their first race. It makes things difficult to have no preparation before, but I understand that with the new regs, some plans have taken longer to get ready. Still, the more the merrier, right?”
Makoto instinctively said “yeah”, but he was embarrassed by the fact that he hadn't quite grasped what was being said. He guessed it made sense to someone infinitely more experienced than him though.
“Well, nice to meet you. I just came out to get some air and say hi, I've got to go back and talk to the engineers”, Spirou concluded, and started walking away. Then he paused, and turned back around.
Late morning, outside the Iwatobi Racing Team motorhome.
“WHAT?!”, yelled Nagisa. “We're going to a party with a double TLM winner?! YATTA! We're really going places! Super job, Mako-chan!”
“Well, I didn't ask for anything”, replied Makoto, “he just came out, said his piece and asked us if we would join him for drinks this evening.”
“It's 'Belgian hospitality', apparently”, added Haru. "And I don't even know where Belgium is...”, he added, whispering to himself.
“Well it's sure nice of him, and it certainly can't hurt to talk to other racers”, Makoto continued.
“I've read that motor racers are a rather close community”, Rei intervened. “They talk to each other quite a lot, more so than swimmers. I don't remember spending time with any other swim teams, that is, apart from Samezuka.”
“Maybe we can get them to tell us how to win this race!”, plotted Nagisa, before picking up on Rei's comment: “also, we should hang out more with Rin-chan while we're here. It was a pity he wasn't with us when we visited Paris.”
“We'll see how we are tomorrow evening”, answered Makoto, “it's going to be a busy day tomorrow, starting with the presentation. Everything's ready, right, Rei?”
“Yep, the equipment's all here and totally new. We've even got our own new chassis.”
“And the helmets, and made-to-measure suits! I can't wait to see us in those!”, chirped Nagisa. “Are they here, Rei-chan?”
“Yes, Nagisa-kun, I've seen them.” Rei adjusted his glasses, before adding “And they're beautiful.”