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The EG6 paid no attention to the sounds of the cicadas and crickets that rang through the parking lot. Instead, her focus was on the sweat dripping from her neighbor’s AC condenser. She watched the puddle slowly grow larger and larger until it leaked fully around the front tires. All right, she thought. I gotta say something.
“Hey you!”
The GT-R shook slightly in surprise. She hadn’t expected to hear anything from the hatch parked on her driver’s side. “Me?” was all she squeaked out.
“Yeah, you. What’s going on? You’re sweating up a storm over there! It can’t be just from losing that race, right?”
The Nissan’s suspension relaxed as if she wanted to sink into the ground. “You know about that, huh?”
“My driver’s the NightKids’ number two. Of course I know about it. Shingo talks to himself all the time and the drive here was nothing but him going on and on about that race. Tough loss, by the way.” The Honda tilted slightly to the left in an attempt to show reassurance.
The gesture failed. Takeshi’s car sank even lower. “I guess that means he’ll be gunning for the number one spot now. As if Nakazato didn’t have enough to worry about…”
“I guarantee you, Shouji’s not thinking about that. There wasn’t a peep out of him regarding team ranks from the top of Myogi to here. And that’s never happened before. He’s really worried about Nakazato-san.”
There was a slight glimmer of hope in the GT-R’s next words. “Really? You’re not yanking my serpentine belt?”
“I wouldn’t do that to a fellow NightKids vehicle. Tsuchiya knows we got enough shit on our axles just being on this team.” The car paused, then added, “Name’s Akairo by the way. Glad to finally meet you.”
“Wani. Likewise. We’ve never gotten a chance to talk without our drivers around, huh?”
“Nope. First time they’ve parked us next to each other.” Akairo responded. “Getting back on track, if it wasn’t the race that’s got you so worked up, what is it? I’ve never seen another car sweat so much!”
“Feels kind of silly with what you told me, but it was Nakazato.” Wani finally returned to something resembling her normal ride height. “He was deathly quiet the entire trip over here, but I could feel how much his palms were sweating on my steering wheel. I guess I had convinced myself this was going to be a fight over who gets to run the team.”
The Honda’s radiator fan whirred in amusement. “Nah, there won’t be any fighting in there. Unless…”
“...Now you’ve got me worried again. Unless what?”
Another snicker. “Unless they’re fighting over who has to bottom.”
“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!” Wani’s engine nearly turned over in shock. “Why the fuck would you even think that?!”
“Heh. There’s another reason Nakazato-san’s hands might be sweating. And I’ll let you in on a secret.” Akairo winked her dome light conspiratorially. “Shingo was sweating just as much. I’d bet my subframe there’s something going on between them. Maybe they’re not quite at the physical stage, but it’s coming. Mark my words.”
“Fuck…” The GT-R turned her attention back to the apartment window where the lights were still blazing from behind the closed curtains. “Well, there’s something going on if they’re still up this late. Guess we’ll know in the morning.”
“Guess so. Think one of them will be walking funny? My money's on Nakazato-san.”
“The fuck is wrong with you?” The GT-R raised her suspension, bristling, but soon relaxed back to her normal clearance. “It's always the red ones…”
Akairo gave a final chuckle, then stretched her suspension one last time in preparation for waiting out the rest of the night. Wani followed suit moments later, and the parking lot was once again filled only with the peaceful sounds of nature.