The breakfast shop waiter set tamagoyaki, rice, grilled fish, and miso soup on the table.
Yet none of the three touched their chopsticks. Ameko's unwavering gaze made Takeda Tetsuya sigh.
The seafood shop owner lit a cigarette. "Why bother? In a little over two months, you'll be going to China. Why get involved in this matter?"
"I want to know the truth about what happened back then. Somewhere deep down, you still love Mom, don't you?"
"At our age, feelings and all that aren't really so important anymore." Takeda Tetsuya neither confirmed nor denied it. Taking a drag from his cigarette, he said, "When I was young, I once thought I would always love a certain woman deeply. But after all these years, I've nearly forgotten what she looked like."
The seafood shop owner paused. "Still, no matter what, I owe you two. How is Nanako doing?"
"Mom is doing well now. She still can't quite let go of what happened back then, but she told me herself that she no longer hates you. You just... still owe us the truth."
Takeda Tetsuya fell silent at that. It was obvious he did not want to revisit the past, but at this point, he knew he could no longer hide it.
After an unknown amount of time, when the cigarette had nearly burned down to his fingers, the seafood shop owner finally spoke again. "It all began with one mistake—the biggest regret of my life."
The seafood shop owner finally began recounting the story he had kept buried for years.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Japan's economy entered its final frenzy. Tsuchiya Yosuke was born in that era, into a happy family. Like most ordinary people at the time, Tsuchiya Yosuke was young, hot-blooded, and proud. Then, after the Plaza Accord was signed, the dollar began to plunge wildly against the Japanese Yen. The Japanese Yen's purchasing power reached its peak, but this was followed by a devastating blow to export industries. Japan went from prosperity to decline and entered the Lost Decade. The enormous contrast sent that generation down different paths.
Crushed under massive debt, Tsuchiya Yosuke's parents could no longer bear it. After the bank repossessed their only home, they chose to commit suicide by burning charcoal in despair. His grandparents also died of illness one after another amid the unending stream of bad news. Yet the upheaval in his life did not drag Tsuchiya Yosuke down. Instead, it forged his fearless character. In the words of the team manager who discovered him later—
—That kid was a born fighter.
It was as though the word "fear" did not exist in his dictionary.
Whatever does not kill me makes me stronger.
Tsuchiya Yosuke reached the peak of his life in his twenties. He achieved outstanding results time and again on European circuits and even took second place at the New York round of the FIA GT Grand Prix. After falling out with his team, he returned to Japan. Before long, he won the tandem battle at the Tokyo round of D1 GRAND PRIX. In Japan's drifting world, he was a legendary figure.
By then, he had already reached the summit, yet he still could not be satisfied. Desperate for a new challenge, he decided to challenge for the DK title. In less than a year, he defeated the top underground racers from twenty-two wards one after another, leaving only Nerima Ward.
"The strongest racer in Nerima Ward was called Asano Naoto. He was a lunatic who invented a style of racing called the death race. At an agreed time, they would pick a stretch of highway, destroy the guardrails, and set up entrances and exits. The race cars would drive against traffic on the highway, and whoever reached the finish line alive first would be the final winner. Sometimes, to make it more exciting, he would even deliberately lure the police into the game."
"Th-This is basically suicide, isn't it?" Ameko was completely dumbfounded after hearing the rules.
"Asano Naoto believed that only the bravest racers deserved victory, and anyone who wanted to challenge him had to accept the rules of his game. It seems stupid now, but with only one final race left before I could win the DK title, there was no way the young me could have given up."
Takeda Tetsuya lit a second cigarette with his lighter, took a deep breath, and continued. "We agreed on a time for the race. Besides the two of us, my best friend, Kobayashi Ryo, the strongest racer in Shinjuku Ward, was also competing. We chose the course together. It was forty kilometers long, with three lanes and normally moderate traffic, but no one expected fog to suddenly roll in when we got there that day.
"Kobayashi suggested we cancel the race and reschedule it. I could tell Asano Naoto had actually agreed in his heart. After all, he was just a bastard who enjoyed the thrill of walking along death's edge, not someone who genuinely wanted to die. Under those road conditions, the danger had already exceeded what even he could handle. But that bastard clearly did not want to miss the chance to mock us. He knew I would vote in favor too, so he voted against it himself and called us cowards.
"I was young and hot-blooded then, so in a fit of anger, I voted against it as well. The final result was two to one, and the race proceeded as planned. Only then did Asano Naoto's expression finally change, but I felt no satisfaction from getting back at him, because all three of us were already trapped with no way out."
"What happened afterward only proved how foolish my decision had been. Visibility on the highway that day was only four or five meters. We had no choice but to slow down, yet even so, we remained shrouded in death's shadow. This was no longer a contest of skill. Luck had become the most important factor instead."
"We drove on in constant fear for ten minutes. Normally, that would have been enough time to complete the entire course, but this time we had covered less than a third of it. I kept blasting my horn. Thankfully, the highway had been closed by then, so there were far fewer oncoming vehicles. Even so, several times I suddenly saw headlights and had to wrench the wheel sharply to barely avoid a collision. It felt like brushing shoulders with the Grim Reaper."
Even now, recalling that perilous situation still left the seafood shop owner shaken.
"Under those conditions, no matter how tough your nerves were, you could not hold out for long. So Kobayashi and I took turns leading, giving each other time to recover. As for Asano Naoto, he had already been eliminated from the race. That so-called bravest racer in all of Tokyo had his will shattered. He only dared to huddle behind us, trembling. But then, something happened that none of us expected.
"As we neared the halfway point, I heard a large truck honking ahead. I was about to change lanes when Asano Naoto's GT-R suddenly pulled up, pinning me tightly in the left lane. I tried accelerating and slowing down, but he kept blocking my right side. I could roughly guess what he was thinking. His performance that day had been utterly pathetic. If he lost and word got out, all the prestige he had built up over so long would be ruined. So he let evil take hold...
"Asano Naoto was determined to kill me. I had less and less time left, and despair rose in my heart. I thought this was where I would die, but at that moment, Kobayashi Ryo drove his LEXUS into Asano Naoto's GT-R without hesitation.
"The next instant, both their cars spun out of control. Asano Naoto's GT-R rolled under the oncoming truck's chassis first. Then the truck toppled over and crushed Kobayashi Ryo's LEXUS. The scene was too bloody. I did not even dare look. The entire roof of his car had caved in, and thick smoke poured from the front."
National Day is coming up, so everyone, please stay safe when traveling. Don't change lanes recklessly on the highway~(*?ω?)