#while akagi got that curve that hits it just right.

[therainroguefanfiction]

⁂ Push Your Limit (Initial D) Act 2

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Author’s Note: This is the author’s note I posted once upon a time when I posted this on Quizilla lol This chapter also has some terminology at the end.

“And here’s ACT 2~ What did you think? Did the end leave you drooling for more? Did it leave you on the edge of your seat? With that, I bid you goodnight (or day), ‘Zilla~”

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Bring. Bring.

“Hello? Fujiwara Tofu Shop.” Pause. “Hey, Tak! You plannin’ to sleep all day? Wake up! Phone’s for you!” Bunta called from downstairs.

You yawned as you sat at the table in the living room in front of the TV. Once you and Tak had come back from making the tofu deliveries, you hadn’t been able to go back to sleep, so you just decided to just stay up.

“Tell Iggy I’ll call back!” Tak called from upstairs.

“I’d pick up the phone, Tak,” Bunta responded. You looked over at him curiously, but you were too tired to ask who it was.

Tak pulled himself out of bed with a yawn and down the stairs, picking up the phone that his dad had left on hold. “Hey, Iggy. What’s goin’ on?” seconds later, his eyes widened slightly, a look of surprise on his face. Apparently, it wasn’t Iggy.

With a shrug, you laid your head down on the wooden table, a yawn passing your lips as your eyes fluttered closed.

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“What?! All this time Tak has an Eight-Six at his place?! Is this some kind of joke, Cole?” Iggy clung to Cole’s arm, face twisted in disbelief. Tak was standing off to the side, bored, as he waited for another customer to show up at the gas station where the three worked.

You were there, as well, sitting just inside the building, drinking a soda. You didn’t actually work there, but you tended to stop by and help out when you had nothing better to do.

“Nope. No joke.”

“Tak, you bonehead!” Iggy punched Tak’s cheek, just hard enough for him to feel it. “Why did you keep this secret from me?”

“I didn’t keep it a secret,” Tak let his hand cover the cheek that had just been hit by his overexcited monkey of a friend, “I didn’t even know what it was. It says Trueno on it, I figured it was a Trueno, you say it’s an eight-six, I just read the label.”

You grinned at how annoyed Iggy was getting, how smug Cole looked, and how clueless Tak seemed.

“Why you – I oughta…” Iggy clenched his fists in front of him, teeth clenched in annoyance.

Tak held his fists up as well until Iggy moved to stand behind him, one hand cupping his mouth while the other held onto Tak’s shoulder. “Listen, old buddy, I was thinking you could do us a favor. Ask your pops if you can bag the eight-six for a bit next Saturday night.”

“What for?”

Iggy turned slightly blue, “Are you an idiot?! So we can go watch the SpeedStars and the RedSuns battle it out on Akina! That’s what for. After we watched all that go down last night, I am so stoked on street racing.”

Cole, who was listening in, nodded in the background, happy that Iggy was taking such a liking to street racing.

“Come on~ Don’t you want to watch Akagi’s fastest drivers, the Takahashi brothers?”

Tak looked at you, pulling a face. “No, not really.”

Next thing, Iggy had a hold on Tak’s throat, choking him, “What?! You loser! How can you say that!? You know how clutch this is to me?!” He released his grip, and Tak breathed in much-needed air as his best friend got on his knees, hands held together as if he was praying, “Alright, I’m begging. Let me ride in your eight-xix on Saturday night. Please~?”

“Hey, Iggy. You can propose marriage later. There’s a customer waiting.” The boss appeared, a slightly annoyed look on his face. You nearly spit out your soda from laughter.

“Oh, right. Sorry.” Iggy murmured.

“Can we help you?” The pair chorused to the customer who had just pulled up. Boss let a smile come to his face at the pair, and you felt yourself doing the same. No matter how annoying they may be, it was impossible to hate them.

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“Wow. That’s the drift king. Check it out, he’s amazing!” Iggy and Cole were sitting inside the gas station during their brake, watching the drift king on TV. Both of them were only about a foot away from the TV screen, eyes glued to the king of drift. Tak was sitting farther away, reading a magazine. You were sitting on the same couch as Cole, close to Tak. You were listening to what was said but your eyes were closed, covered by your hat.

“Looks like he can control it with just the gas pedal,” Cole said in amazement.

“Hey, Tak. Don’t you wish we could go out there right now and drift just as easy as the drift king does?”

“Sure,” he answered absentmindedly.

“Check out this guy’s technique! Way cool!”

“Sure.”

“Huh?” Iggy turned around to look at Tak, annoyed. “You listening to me?”

“Sure,” he paused before looking up, blinking dumbly. “Huh?”

“You don’t got a clue what we’re talking about. I’ll bet you don’t even know what a drift is.”

“O-Of course I know what a drift is.”

Cole turned to look at him, as well. Iggy crossed his arms over his chest, “Alright, Mr. Expert, ‘splain it to me. I’m all ears.”

The boss had also entered the room and stood behind the chair that Tak sat in, taking a drag from the cigarette he held in his hand. He was looking on with a hint of amusement.

“Uhh… well… see, in a curve – ” Tak started.

“Don’t use the word ‘curve’, it’s uncool. Street racers just say corner.” Iggy corrected.

“Oh… yeah, okay then. In a corner, all you have to do is make the front tires slide along,” he held his hands up like he was turning the steering wheel. “So that the car doesn’t face the inside.”

“Heh?” Iggy and Cole looked at each other before clutching their sides with laughter. “Tak, that’s hysterical! If the front tires are sliding, that’s called understeer, which is totally wack! It’s for people with zero skillage!”

“Skillage?” you parroted with a scoff. “but Tak is the uncool one.”

Iggy scowled, sticking his tongue out at you.

“A real racer knows that a true drift isn’t in the front, bro, it’s in the rear,” Cole told him, eyes wet from laughing so hard. “That was pretty funny, Tak.”

“Yeah, you should do stand up comedy.”

Boss shook his head. “Alright, let’s get to work! We got a customer!”

“Oh, right!” Tak stood up, heading outside to greet the customer, “Welcome!” he bowed, “Right this way!”

Cole put his hat back on, following after Tak. He was shocked to see the yellow FD pull up. You had followed them out and, upon seeing the car, stood behind them, observing. Tak walked over to the driver’s side, where the blonde had rolled down the window.

“High octane. And fill it up.”

“Right,” While the gas was being automatically pumped into the car, Cole and Tak took to washing the windows of the yellow FD.

“You’ve got quite the ride there.” Cole suddenly said, gaining the attention of the blonde, who seemed to be deep in thought until he spoke.

“Huh?” his eyes shifted towards the open window, where Cole stood; he was washing the front windshield. The blonde’s eyes shifted to Cole’s S13 that sat off to the side. “I get it. I thought I’d seen that S13 somewhere before. The SpeedStars, am I right?” his finger tapped against the gear shift, “Let me ask you a question. I figure if anyone knows the answer, you should.”

Cole looked over, cautious about what the blonde would ask. Your curiosity was heightened, as well, as you moved closer to Tak, listening intently to what he said.

“Is there a ghost racer on Mt. Akina? A ghost who drives a super fast eight-six?”

Your eyes narrowed at him through the back windshield. If he was asking about the eight-six, then that meant he was gonna try and go after Tak.

“That’s weird. This guy plannin’ to fly?” Tak muttered under his breath, inspecting the wing on the back of the blonde’s FD. He hadn’t heard a word that KT had uttered.

“Sorry, dude, but I don’t know anything about ghosts around here,” Cole responded as he folded the rag he had used on the windows.

“Hmm. Okay, the part about the ghost was a joke, but there’s a black and white panda Trueno. On the outside, it’s a normal eight-six, but on the inside, this thing’s an incredible beast. You live around here, you can’t tell me you never heard of it!”

Cole remained silent.

You scowled. What was it about this blonde that pissed you off so bad? His cocky attitude? His money? His tone? Or maybe it was more simple than that. Maybe it was just because he was one of the famous Takahashi brothers.

“Alright then. If that’s the secret weapon you’re planning for this Saturday’s meet, that’s cool with me. Tell the driver of the eight-six I’ve got a message for him: I’ve never lost to the same driver two times in a row.”

“Huh?” Cole was shocked.

You smirked, glancing at Tak who remained oblivious.

“I only dropped this last time because I didn’t know the course.” he continued.

“Didn’t know the course, my fucking ass.” You scoffed, not caring that the blonde had heard you.

He glared at you before continuing. “It won’t happen again, he’s going down.” With that, the blonde took off, his tires screeching.

‘He’s already taken out one of the famous Takahashi brothers. That’s my Tak~’ you smiled proudly.

“Thanks for coming!” Tak bowed as the FD took off down the street.

Suddenly, Cole’s eyes widened as he turned around to look at Tak who looked at him confused.

You threw your arm around Tak’s shoulders, steering him back toward the station. ‘Looks like he finally figured it out.’

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The sound of Tak’s alarm clock beeping managed to wake up both Tak and yourself, despite you sleeping in the room next door. The clock read four-forty-five in the morning.

After washing your faces, both of you headed outside where Bunta was waiting. Tak got into the driver’s seat, starting up the car. You hopped into the passenger seat, letting a yawn slip past your lips. He revved up the car, turning the foglights on while Bunta grabbed a paper cup, using the water hose to fill it with water. He dumped a small amount out before heading to the driver’s side, handing the cup to Tak.

“Alright. This is the haul for today.”

“Hmm?” Tak stared at the water for a minute before looking at his father, a look of annoyance crossing his face. “You fill it a little higher every time.”

“That’s right. Just don’t spill any.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it.” Tak set the cup in the cup holder before taking off. He tackled the uphill, speed gradually increasing. As he came to the corner, he hit the brakes, shifting gears as he began to drift. His eyes moved to the water in the cup that rolled around the rim.

You smirked, pulling the hat down over your eyes. You loved it when Tak was driving because it gave you a chance to rest before you got to the hotel. As he exited the turn, the water returned to normal and his eyes returned to the road. The same happened with each turn until you both arrived at the hotel.

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“Eh? Tak! Hey, where’d ya go?!” He took off in search of his best friend, who was climbing the stairs inside the school building.

“Hey, hold up!” he hopped up to the same step Tak was on. You appeared behind them, having just turned the corner to go up the stairs. “What’s the matter with you? I know you’re a little jealous of my talent, but you don’t have to up and ditch me.”

“I’m not…”

Both of their attention trailed off as two girls came walking down the steps. From their current position, they were low enough on the stairs to get a panty shot just as the girls walked down from the top of the stairs. Being the hormonal teenagers that they were, the pair watched in amazement, as if that was the most amazing thing they had ever seen. You could see small lines of pink across Tak’s cheeks.

You rolled your eyes in annoyance at the perversion of the pair.

“You see that?” Iggy began, as the two girls disappeared around the corner.

“You some kind of a pervert or somethin’?” Tak asked, looking at Iggy.

“Huh? Of course not! What do you think I am, it should be against the law to let babes wear their skirts that short?”

You sweatdropped, “You were just doing the same thing, Tak.”

“I was not,” he muttered, looking away.

“I think the school should make a new rule that – ” he stopped mid-sentence, hitting Tak’s shoulder with his own. Both boys looked up with predatory eyes at the girl that stood at the top of the stairs. When she stopped walking, both boys looked up to see who it actually was.

“Hi, Tak, how’s it goin’?” Natalie waved her hand, a smile on her face.

“Uhhh… Natalie!” Both boys leaned back slightly, surprised to see her.

“Oh, perfect timing! I want to talk to you, come on, Tak, hurry!” She grabbed Tak’s wrist and pulled him away.

“Uhh, well, hey, I was just – !”

“That blows! Why doesn’t that kind of thing ever happen to me?!” Iggy complained.

You deadpanned at him. “Because you’re an obnoxious pervert.”

“Hey, that’s rude, Y/N!”

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“Hello? Anyone here?” Cole stepped inside the Fujiwara Tofu shop. “‘Scuse me? Anyone?”

Hearing the familiar voice, you stopped at the stairs. “Oi, Bunta! Customer,”

“Yeah, I heard ya. Gimme a minute.” Bunta responded from upstairs.

You stepped through the doorway, leaning against the wall. “‘Sup, Cole?”

“Hey, Y/N. What are you doing here?”

“I live here, fool.”

“You do?” His brow furrowed. “Are you and Tak -”

“What can I get ya?” Bunta questioned, walking in to stand a few feet in front of Cole, an unlit cigarette hanging from his lips, as it usually did.

Cole didn’t answer, looking Bunta up and down.

We exchanged a look before Bunta spoke up again. “What’re you gonna have? Hello?”

“Uhh, uhh, uhh..” Cole scanned over the items quickly before pointing to one at random. “Fried tofu, please.”

“You got it.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen. I uhh… My name is Cole and I’m with a street racing team called the Akina SpeedStars. I… The truth is, I heard a rumor that the fastest downhill driver on Akina is an eight-six driven by a guy who owns a tofu shop.”

“I don’t know where you heard that story, but it’s not me. ‘Fraid I can’t help ya.”

“Look, this is really important. I scoped out the whole city and I know this is the only tofu shop around with an eight-six.”

“That’s some dedication, bud.” You commented.

“Here ya go,” Bunta held out the bag of fried tofu. “Buck twenty-five.”

“Uhh, oh yeah.” Cole reached into his pocket, taking out the money.

“Bye, bye.” Bunta waved him off, turning to go back into the store, but Cole wasn’t having it.

“Look, the thing is… I’m in a bit of a jam. Come on, man! Won’t you at least hear me out?”

“I’m a little busy right now.”

“What are you talking about? I’m the only one in the joint, It’s dead in here!”

“That’s fucking rude,” you scowled, narrowing your eyes at him.

Bunta stepped back, knowing that Cole had a point. He regained his composure a few seconds later. “I admit it’s a little slow, but the kid’s right, that’s pretty rude.”

“Not a kid, old man.”

“Sorry, it’s just that I’m a little desperate.” Cole rubbed the back of his head, “Okay, listen. A team called the Akagi RedSuns challenged us to a time attack battle. The RedSuns have some drivers on their team with some serious skills. Nobody on our team can even come close to competing with them but this is our turf, our mountain, and there’s no way we’re gonna lose on it!” His fists clenched at his sides in determination.

“Your mountain?” You scoffed. “You write your name on it in sharpie or somethin’?”

“That’s something a kid would say,” Bunta sent you a look before turning back to Cole.”Okay, but what do you expect me to do about it?”

“Mr. Fujiwara, I want you to show me what it takes to tackle Mt. Akina.”

Bunta lit the cigarette that was in his mouth, exhaling smoke before speaking. “I’m sorry, but that’s impossible.”

“Anything you could show me! Even if you could make me a tenth of a second faster. I’m begging you!”

“I know how you’re feeling, son, but driving technique is not something you study for a day or two like a math test. In order to get the car to do what you want, you have to live and breathe the course twenty-four-seven. You know, when I was actively racing I was running Akina even in my dreams. Technique is something that can be neither taught nor learned. You have to find it inside yourself.”

“Huh, the old man actually said something kinda cool.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Cole sighed.

“Sorry about that. I wish I could help ya out.”

“Don’t be sorry, I’ll be back.” Cole promised before getting into his S13 and taking off.

You and Bunta exchanged a look.

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* Terminology:

Camshaft SOHC vs DOHC

The camshaft is a metal shaft with lobes on it that actuates intake and exhaust valves.

Single refers to engines that have one camshaft per cylinder head (AE85 Levin).

Double refers to engines that have two camshafts per cylinder head (AE86 Trueno).

Overhead refers to the placement of the camshaft in the engine block. Overhead cam engines have the camshafts situated above the valves while many older pushrod engines have the camshafts placed below the valves.

Single Overhead Cam (S0HC) engines only have one camshaft per cylinder head that is responsible for actuating the intake and exhaust valves. Most camshafts can only operate a total of two valves per cylinder limiting the amount of intake and exhaust gases the engine can take in and expel, thereby limiting the power the engine can make. The AE85 has a SOHC 4-cylinder engine with a total of 8 valves.

Dual Overhead Cam (DOHC) engines have two camshafts per cylinder head. One cam operates the action of the intake valves while the other operates the exhaust valves. This allows for a total of 2 intake and exhaust valves per cylinder, allowing for a higher intake and exhaust flow resulting in a higher power engine. The AE86 has a DOHC 4-cylinder engine with a total of 16 valves.

Standard Differential

A standard differential will allow both drive wheels to spin at the same speed on straightaways. However, during cornering, the outside drive wheel will spin faster than the wheel on the inside, allowing for an uneven transfer of power to the wheel.

L.S.D. – Limited Slip Differential

A mechanism that allows both drive wheels to spin at the same speed during straightaways and more importantly, during cornering. An internal clutch mechanism forces both wheels to spin at the same speed during cornering allowing for an even power transfer to both drive wheels. This has the side effect of making it easier to get a car to go into oversteer – a key component of drifting.

Muffler – A device attached to the exhaust pipe meant to reduce engine noise by using specially designed internal baffles and resonators. Most stock mufflers put performance considerations aside, in the interest of reducing noise. While smaller engines do not need a certain amount of backpressure to operate properly, most stock mufflers create too much back pressure and therefore reduce the performance capability of the engine. Aftermarket mufflers reduce the amount of backpressure on the engine and as a result, allow more noise to escape.

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[obliviouskind]

Prelude

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Nestled against the vast mountain of which separate the region in two, Celestic town rests. Serene and quiet – so different from the busting city of Eterna, with paths laid with wood being your only means towards it. Of course, at a later date – when the mine facility established within the aforementioned town would break through the mountain range – a separate path would be created. A shorter path, yes, but one that in the grand scheme of things would be much more of an inconvenience for the general public to properly utilize than was first perhaps imagined. Thus, not much would come to change. --Fauve grew up with her father living on the other side of Mt. Coronet, close enough to feel, but not see. A family separated for the sake of a stable income.

The only daughter of a family that wished (and prayed) for more.

On the southern coast within the city named after the sun itself, a boy gets to be raised by both mother and father; yet perhaps would’ve, at one point, wished for something less. Noboru Akagi was born to be great, and never was told otherwise. The opportunities within his life were as vast and extensive as the shores of their metropolis, and perhaps even beyond that should he be brave enough to venture into the unknown. But with such great opportunities – expectations naturally followed. --Still, like any good toy, he would come to follow the tracks laid before him with only some resistance as he grew older.

Two people who could not have begun life any more differently, yet came together through a chance meeting that came to cause the ripple effect of infatuation.

(But eventually ripples disappear and fade – leaving behind nothing but cold, quiet water.)

---

Sinnoh, Spring – 19xx

---

They met one late spring afternoon, just a few days after Fauve had turned seventeen. Within the Cherkasova family, events such as aging had come to mean very little. No party was thrown, nothing of the sort – just a breakfast made with love and a small gift from those that mattered most. --In Fauve’s case, from her mother and father – sent via the mail days prior to arrive just in time for her ‘special’ day. However, that was where the celebratory traditions ended, and the rest of the day was just like any other.

For her to do with as she pleased.

Celestic was, and is, a town that is modest in both population and general size – and most people reside within the town hub. Farmland stretches into the mountains with homes littered about for those that tend them. However, what it lacked in mass, it made up for in culture. Mimicking that of their neighboring regions, the faith carried out stood out as pathetically old-fashioned, yet no less prevalent or important. At least not if you asked the people who preferred it over the form Hearthome had come to develop.

Instead of masses held within churches carved out of stone and stained glass, shrines take center stage. Small such structures that look far less grandiose, yet felt more ethereal and divine than a church ever could. Before them, offerings of flowers and fruits settled within handwoven baskets. All for the pleasure of Arceus’s favored children.

Fauve had been sat before one of these shrines upon their first meeting, the handle of her umbrella cradled against the juncture between her shoulder and neck to keep the rain away; as well as her hands free. For they fingered upon the gift she had been given for her not-so-special day. A chain of gold around her left wrist, crafted from ‘scrap ore’ (what his letter to her had referred to it as) her father had stored within his coat to use for his own means. Something that certainly wasn’t allowed, and Fauve had felt in her heart the need to scold him for potentially jeopardizing his station within his work – but even if she wanted to, she couldn’t.

For he wasn’t with her.

Still, delicate fingernails tapped against the metal – a rhythmic such tune that came to be followed by a hum within her throat. Though not a songstress by any means, and hardly one capable of staying on perfect pitch, Fauve often found it in herself to hum. Hum songs from her childhood as she walked the trail back to her home. Hum jingles she heard on the radio past boutiques glass doors. --Hum the tune of church bells of a metropolis far, far away.

For was it not a shame that Arceus’s favored children couldn’t hear their song where in the region they visited? Was it not a disgrace to take away their right for peace and calm?

Fauve, in her short visits to these shrines between her part-time job and home, often could not bring an offering worth presenting – be it a few spare coins to toss, or a meal in the form of a fruits or vegetables. What she could bring, however?

“… Is it Oración?”

Fauve’s eyes diverted to her right, catching sight of unstained cap-toe oxfords and fitted pants that reminded her of the many business men that lingered within her town for short bursts of time. However, underneath the dome of her umbrella, not much else could be made out.

Her song quieted, until it disappeared into the continuous sounds of the wispy downpour around them.

… What Fauve could bring Dialga and Palkia, was the song of Oración. In the hope that, should they ever fight, she will bring them solitude. However little.

“How do you know?”

There was a change to his feet, and Fauve imagined he gave a nonchalant roll of his shoulders. “I have traveled to Hearthome a fair amount of times… I have heard the bells once or twice before.”

She chose to amend her question. “It’s not common for city folk to know it by name.”

There was a pause, before the man spoke again. “Maybe not… I would admit to having interest in the useless, though perhaps the miss wouldn’t consider such knowledge that?” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him shift – to turn more fully towards her. --She imagined he was staring down at her, there from where he stood.

(Like Arceus watching her from above, questioning when her song would start anew.)

“It depends,” Fauve admitted, for she certainly didn’t see fault in such things disappearing into nothingness. However sad it may be. “Are you a faithful man?”

“I wouldn’t say so, no. Not in that regard, though I find myself in prayer now and again.”

“… Then I think the knowledge isn’t all that useless.”

“Perhaps not.”

Quiet fell between them once more, only disturbed by the now dwindling rain – as well as the familiar, quite tune of Kricketot’s and their mature counterparts. Before her, gated by parallel lines cast in iron, the pitter-patter of droplets hitting coins tossed by believers echoed within the shrines depths – and Fauve found it in herself to shift her feet where she currently knelt. To test the limits of said gate, slightly raised yet level enough to not cause her to topple over onto her bottom. --Falling between them was an impossibility, yet the thought had crossed her mind once or twice before.

To be trapped within its hold forever, in the town hidden away up in the mountains.

(How tragic wouldn’t it be?)

Startled from her thoughts, she was, however – for the clatter of silver coins smattered against the shrines gated passage just before the tips of her shoes. Only then did Fauve take notice of the stranger’s proximity to herself, standing but a few centimeters away from her crouched form. --From his palms, change he seemingly had no use for fell like the raindrops around them.

A quiet clap of his hands, the only sound that followed.

Then, she felt the weight of her umbrella shift. His finger came to bend at the curved arches of her dome, forcing it upwards so that she no longer had the means to hide herself. Fauve felt, rather than realized, herself be captivated by his hands – so different from the boys and men within Celestic that worked tirelessly within fields and woodwork shops. By no means tender and soft, nor feminine, yet they didn’t hold the same rough quality.

Just as she saw his face (his hair, shy blue and slicked back yet messy by his lack of preparation for the sudden downfall) the thought of grasping his hand crossed her mind. To be lead away into the dark depths that gave the color to his eyes.

His voice sounded milder than before, and unless she had imagined it – there was a quirk to his lips. A show of pearl white teeth. “If I may ask, what is the name of Arceus’s personal songbird?”

“Songbird?” She laughed quietly, her fingers pushing stray strands of her hair back behind her ear for the simple sake of doing something with them. “Hardly so.”

A brow that almost carried no pigment rose ever so slightly. “Well?”

Momentarily, she caught her lip between her teeth. Eyes diverting to somewhere that wasn’t him. Then, seemingly having come to a conclusion; she let herself smile. --However little.

“Fauve.”

“Fauve?” He asked, a foreign tilt to his speech. As though her name was a language unknown to him.

As though it was anything special.

“Yes.”

He released his hold of her umbrella, yet lingered with his hand. Then, he turned its palm skyward and held it out towards her. An invitation.

“… May I walk you home before the sun sets, Fauve?”

Before her mind was fully in it, her heart spoke for her.

“You may.”

---

On their quiet walk home Fauve got to learn that his name was Noboru Akagi, while during their next meeting the day after she got to learn much more. That she had previously likened him to the many business men that came to fester within Celestic turned out to not be that bad of a guess – for when asked about his profession, Noboru didn’t hesitate to announce his station within an up-and-coming corporation.

“My father began laying the foundation for it when he was just shy of forty-eight, having worked the mines up until that point. Previously stationed just off of ‘triple two*’. He and his coworker had always had something like it in sight, they just needed partners to attach themselves to.” Noboru had explained as she, like the teenage girl that she still was, clung to his arm. The laid paths of the town center had quickly shifted to that of gravel and dirt, and the settlements got sparser the further along they went. “… We might have interest within Celestic, which is why I’m currently here.”

“Can I ask what this business is all about?”

A roll of his shoulders, and Noboru seemingly settled into his role of guide more comfortably. Talking of himself – or rather, his father – seemed to open up his otherwise preserved persona. Coal eyes glanced her way.

“The specifics are, unfortunately, not something I can openly relay to you… but what I can say is that my father has developed the model for something this place desperately needs. And he won’t let it enter the public unless it’s on his own terms, for his own benefit.”

Her brows knit at this information. “That seems rather… Selfish.”

Noboru, however, simply laughed. Heartily within his chest, and the slight vibration filtered into her bones where they laid tucked against his arm.

“Oh, he never has been anything but.”

The humor in the situation may be lost on her (perhaps there was no reason for her to believe that she should be able to understand it), though it did prompt a different question to come forth. An assumption. “Your father must trust you very much, giving you a task like this.”

That proposition caused a moment of silence, and Noboru seemingly lost the focus within his gaze for but a second. When he returned, it was with a smile tugging at his lips. --That he carried a single dimple upon his left cheek, was something Fauve hadn’t taken notice of until just then.

“He has no real choice but to trust me. A busted knee and back from work makes long trips hard for him to manage,” his hand came to cup her own against the length of his forearm, “… your community isn’t all that close to Sunyshore, after all.”

Her gaze diverted. “Ah, I suppose you’re right on that…”

Fauve had always found it hard to believe that two places within the same continent could differ so greatly from each other – yet the south was a place she never had had the chance to truly experience on her own two feet. What she knew of it came from the radio and the few glimpses she caught of television screens. Many times, it sounded more like a vacation haven that more likened itself to Hoenn, than the forested cold north she had grown up to best know. --Blue eyes glanced towards Noboru’s hands, and she took note of the fact that they sat tanner than her own.

Quietly, she voiced her thoughts. “Celestic must be very unassuming and dreary, compared to your home town. I can’t imagine there being much interest for someone like you here.”

“Well,” he began, their pace slowing down to that of slugs. “Though the travel here wasn’t the most pleasant one, and the meetings with my contact even less so… one thing has made it all quite bearable.”

The pad of his thumb brushed against her knuckles, and Fauve felt her heart flutter within her chest. Rose, dusting her cheeks in a manner she simply couldn’t control.

Noboru continued, his voice lowered to travel between no one but them. “Meeting you has admittedly made my days here just a little bit brighter. Despite the lacking glamour of the town itself, you have brought me something to look forward to.”

“You flatter,” she laughed, awkwardness tilting her tone to that of breaking. “All I have done is bring you on walks.”

“And I am ever thankful for it.”

---

---

When Noboru’s stay within Celestic would come to an end, Fauve didn’t know… But she also never asked. To know was almost worse than not. What would come to be their last day together, however, had been as magical as it had been heartbreaking.

---

With the faint sound of a radio broadcast filtering past the heavy curtains of the staff room, the day began. A promise of good weather suggested a great day for doing laundry, something Fauves own mother certainly would find delighted within. Fauve herself, however, did not find it in herself to much care – rather settled within her station of shop attendee with indifferent ease. --Working the family owned business that created clockwork, as well as other trinkets, the days spent were as unremarkable and dull as one would imagine them to be. More often than not customers came by for repairs, rather than purchases – something that Fauve didn’t actually hold any qualification to attend to. What she had to do was to simply take a note with the clienteles contact info, and then move their given item to the backroom for the owners to busy themselves with at a later date.

Slow, quiet days with little excitement. Yet Fauve found something tranquil in the mundane life she led.

Upon the broadcast off a fire – down south, within a small community of residential housing settled nearby Oreburgh City – the bell that accompanied the shops front made itself known. Fauve did little else than glance away from the morning paper laid before herself, while idly fingering at the coarse pages stained with ink, and almost went back to her pastime before something within her clicked.

“… Noboru?”

Past tall shelving units, the distinct shade of baby blue her recent acquaintance carried peeked out – quickly moving towards her at the sound of her voice. Before she knew it, he was there before her. His usual, put together self looking disheveled and wrong. As though he hadn’t changed after having fallen sleep in yesterday’s attire. The arms of his white shirt sat pushed past his elbows, and a few too many buttons were undone – his tie, lose around his throat and useless. Fauve found the sight as amusing, as she found it concerning.

Quietly, carefully, she got down from her seat and rounded the counter to stand before him. Once she was within his reach, however, Noboru no longer showed the reserved, proper manners he so often displayed in her company. No, for his arms came around her waist and under her bum to lift her off her feet, settling her against himself in a tight embrace. Fauve helplessly palmed at his shoulders and kicked her feet in the air as laughter that sounded more like a display of relief, rather than mirth, escaped Noboru’s throat. --Before she could ask what he thought he was doing, she got answered in the shape of a kiss against her throat.

His voice sat muffled against her bare skin. “Fauve, we sealed the deal. It took us the whole damn night but- It’s done!”

“The deal?” She asked, bewildered and flustered all at the same time. Her vision swam and the desire for another feel of his lips against her skin bubbled into her mind. “The… You got the partnership?”

“Yes!” Another spin – one that almost had her feet knock over a few supplies upon an adjacent shelf. With that, Noboru decided that he rather not have property damage on his image and settled her back down upon her own two feet. --Though his arms stayed around her all the same.

He continued. “Our contact saw it fit to lay unreasonable claim to the gains of my father’s model, thinking it fair given that he sent his ‘spoiled brat of a son’ to negotiate the deal instead of coming himself…” mockery sat clear in his tone, and his hands gripped around her waist tighter for but a moment. “I… I could’ve left there with nothing.”

Gently, Fauve raised her hands to lay against his cheeks. The pads of her thumbs, smoothed across the height of his cheekbones just below his eyes.

“But you didn’t.”

“… But I didn’t,” he agreed within a whisper, breath coming to mingle with her own.

When their lips met, it was in the most innocent manner imaginable. Softly, tenderly – chaste and unreasonably light like a feathers touch, yet with enough heat to cause a pooling of molten gold to form within their guts at the thought of more. --More, however, did not come. For he parted them to stare down into her eyes of ocean blue.

Something between them changed, the air shifting from that of emotional high to a stifled low.

“I have to leave this evening,” came his confession – and had Fauve not already been pressed against his chest, then she would’ve fallen against him all the same. A weakness to her knees not previously known.

Their fairytale together would come to end, and her heart ached at the thought of the tragedy within helpless love.

---

Sinnoh, Winter – 19xx

---

--“Dearest Fauve,

Sunyshore appears so lifeless and pale these days, compared to the bright moments you brought me within Celestic. I may not miss its cold mornings, nor its bad weather – but I do miss you. With every beat of my heart, I miss you all the more. Have the tears dried up since my last letter? I sincerely do hope so, despite me not having been there to wipe them off your rosy cheeks. Someone like you should not weep or experience sorrow, and I do hope that in your next moment of doubt and worry, that you will find it in your heart to sing Oración for us again. Their grace shall be with you, as well as I.”

The promise of continued contact the evening that Noboru left was all that Fauve had to carry with her on her walk home. No longer having had an arm to cling to as she treaded the familiar roads, her hands had sat reserved and high on her chest as a shield to the outside world. --Upon arrival, without a word to her mother, she had entered her bedroom and wept into her plush pillows as though it was the most normal reacted to heartache.

(Just as she had done the day her father left for Eterna.)

What followed, was but three days of silence. Then his first, out of many, letters arrived, and Fauve found it easier to breathe with every day that passed.

Her routines before she met him returned to what it had been, a mundane life with little excitement… but the moments she spared to hum the gods their song of harmony brought her solidarity in a way nothing else could. When she sang, she imagined he could hear her – there across the region that separate one beating heart in two.

--“Life as gotten busy these past months, and many things are changing quickly. Almost too quickly, if I can be honest with you… It’s hard to work towards the future when it’s so uncertain in its promises. Though I feel pride in my accomplishment of having brought my father’s work to the world, I also worry that we won’t be able to keep up with the demand and strain it puts on us. Least not my father.

I worry that his health is declining, and rapidly. He’s reaching the age of when his own father, my grandfather, lost his life due to health complications. The worst that could happen, now, would be for his body to give out just as his dreams come true. What sort of son would I be if I let that happen? Nothing in the future feels definite. Not my father, not his work. --Nor us.

Fauve, I have one question for you that could bring me great peace within this tumultuous time.”

. . . Until the day that it didn’t.

--“Come to Sunyshore and let me take your hand in marriage.”

---

His request got answered by a ringing yes, and there truly wasn’t more to it than that. With the blessing of her own father (his excitement for her fortune, passed in a letter of his own), a date was set. A travel by flight towards the south – and soon enough, Fauve was in the arms of Noboru once more. --Just as it had always been meant to be.

(… But eventually ripples disappear and fade – leaving behind nothing but cold, quiet water…)

A year after Fauve settled down with her new husband, Noboru’s father passed. With this, the fairytale she thought herself to have entered slowly, but surely, dwindled into nothingness…

Still, she hummed Oración at any given moment. For Dialga, and for Palkia. … As well as for the child she carried for the sake of her husband.

---

(-*’triple two’ – Route 222)

#(Guest - Mother) #(Guest - Father) #Prelude #-drabble- #important #family #honestly at this point i dont even know if its good or not but #gently presents it in my cupped hands: this bitch long #guess who can finally start writing a proper timeline for cyrus's childhood #sweats