The sun hung low over Ritou, casting golden light across the waves that lapped gently against the pier. Sea breeze rolled in through the open windows of the seaside diner, carrying with it the thick, mouthwatering scent of miso broth, sizzling seafood, and ocean salt. Inside, the hum of casual conversation mixed with the distant calls of seagulls and the rhythmic clink of chopsticks and dishes.
At the long table by the window, Collei, Seele, Beidou, Pela, and March sat amid the relaxed atmosphere. Easy smiles. Lazy conversation. A lull that followed the storm from the previous night's race.
That is, until March 7th broke the calm with a grin sharp enough to slice clean through the quiet.
"Hey, Collei," she began, her voice playful, teasing. "Is it true you've been driving Yougou for the past five years?"
Collei didn't flinch. Chin resting on one hand, she blinked once, then gave a lopsided shrug.
"Yeah. Give or take."
March leaned in, eyes glinting. "But why all the secrecy? I mean, we're tight, right? You never told me you were out on Yougou in the dead of night!"
Collei hesitated—but only for a second. Her eyes flicked to March's before drifting toward the window.
"If I'd said anything, my father would've caught heat. You know how it was back then."
March's expression softened. She did know.
"Yeah… back then, it felt like we were always one bad day away from getting into trouble," she muttered.
Beidou chuckled across the table, her arms crossed, a lazy grin stretched across her face. "But you? You were driving everyday. Rain, snow, fog—didn't matter. You still did your runs."
Collei nodded, her voice even. "Yeah, before dawn. Empty road. Just me, the road and the car. Not a big deal."
Beidou raised an eyebrow. "Not a big deal, huh? Yougou's not exactly beginner-friendly. The corners alone would make half the locals piss themselves. You weren't scared?"
"At first, yeah." Collei tapped her fingers on the wood grain of the table. "But that fear wears out after a while. It becomes habit. Muscle memory. I remember noticing the tires breaking traction weirdly early on. Not full slides—just hints. The rear would squirm. But I got used to it. Took maybe six months before I could start pushing without worrying."
Seele's voice cut in, quiet but sharp. "So you had the downhill locked in within a year?"
Collei's smile crept in slow. "Let's say… it got boring after that. I started playing with my lines—seeing how close I could shave the guardrail."
March gawked. "Close? Like how close are we talking?"
Collei held up her thumb and index finger, barely an inch apart. "A centimeter, maybe less. At full tilt."
That hit like a dropped wrench. The table went silent. Even Seele blinked, caught off-guard. Pela's lips parted just enough to speak, but her words didn't come right away.
"…That's precision on another level," Pela finally said, voice low, thoughtful. "Control like that doesn't happen by accident."
Beidou wasn't done. "Okay, but there's one thing that doesn't add up. You were delivering tofu, right? You can't just throw the car down the hill like it's a toy. That shit falls apart if you drive too rough."
Collei's eyes twinkled as she leaned back in her chair. "I wasn't going fast uphill. I focused on control. My father had a trick. He'd place a full cup of water in the center console. The rule was simple—drive up Yougou without spilling a single drop."
The table froze again. Pela looked stunned. Seele sat upright. Beidou whistled low through her teeth.
March blinked. "That's crazy! One wrong shift, one hard brake—bam. Water everywhere."
Collei's voice was calm, almost amused. "Yeah. And I did mess it up. Dozens of times. You learn real fast where your weight's shifting when every corner threatens to splash that cup into the seat."
She lifted her hands, mimicking how she used to cradle the steering wheel. Her motions were slow, fluid—like the water itself. "It's about finesse. You don't throw the car around. You guide it. Roll the water, don't let it slap around the sides. It's all weight transfer. Balance."
March tilted her head, trying to grasp the idea. "Like… you're syncing the car's movement to the water's motion?"
"Exactly." Collei pointed to her palm, curling her fingers like she was gripping the shifter. "Your throttle input, your steering angle, even your downshifts—all of it has to line up. If anything's jerky, if you upset the balance, the water spills. You drive it like it's on a razor's edge."
Pela nodded, visibly impressed. "So what you've really mastered… isn't just speed. It's stability under dynamic load."
Beidou slapped a palm on the table, laughing. "Damn, kid. No wonder you hung with Keqing last night. That wasn't just guts—it was skill."
Collei's eyes flicked to the side, modest but unmistakably proud.
March, wide-eyed and fidgeting in her seat, suddenly slapped the table. "Okay, okay—this I gotta see for myself. Don't tell me you can drift and still not spill it!"
Collei raised an eyebrow. "I just did."
March lunged across the table, grabbing Collei by the collar like she was about to shake the answer loose. "I swear, if you're bullshitting me—!"
Seele sighed and tapped March's shoulder. "People are staring."
March blinked. Her eyes darted around to see several tables watching, amused. Her face flushed, and she let go with a nervous laugh.
"Sorry, sorry. But seriously, you can't just drop that on us and not back it up!"
Pela leaned forward, tone clinical. "Collei's right. Weight control is foundational. Most drivers only think about grip and speed. They ignore balance. If she's genuinely managing to drift and maintain a water cup upright, she's already past what most pro drivers even train for."
Beidou cracked her knuckles, eyes gleaming. "Then let me be the judge. Collei—one downhill run. Me in the passenger seat."
Collei blinked. "What? Now?"
"Now." Beidou grinned like she'd just been handed a ticket to heaven. "I've gotta see this weight-transfer wizardry for myself."
The sun had dipped even lower outside, painting the horizon in deep orange and purple streaks. They paid their bill, stepped out into the salt-kissed air, and walked toward the cars. March stayed behind for a second—ducking back into the restaurant with that all-too-familiar mischief in her step.
She returned with something in her hand.
A paper cup. Half full. No lid.
She slipped it into the Eight-Six's cupholder with a grin.
Collei narrowed her eyes. "March…"
March shrugged, grinning like a gremlin. "You said you could drift without spilling it. Time to prove it."
Collei sighed. "If I see even one drop on my seat, I'm leaving you on the mountain."
"I'll take the risk."
March climbed into the passenger side. Pela settled quietly into the back seat, eyes already scanning the interior, notebook-brain in full analysis mode. Outside, the S30Z's engine growled to life as Beidou and Seele got in, ready to follow.
Collei twisted the key. The Eight-Six roared awake, the idle steady, purring low and smooth. Her hand slid onto the shifter, and she felt it—that hum beneath her fingers. That silent pull of the road. She checked the cup, sitting quietly in the holder. No lid. No tape. Just her, the car, and a sloshing reminder of the razor's edge.
She pulled out of the lot slowly. The road stretched ahead, coiling up the mountains in the distance, a black ribbon framed in gold by the setting sun.
The real test hadn't even started yet.
But for Collei?
This was just her warm-up.
The Midnight Descent
Mt. Yougou – Summit
The air up top was thin and sharp, every breath a cold knife to the lungs. The horizon was little more than a sea of ink-black ridgelines and the faint glimmer of city light bleeding up from the valleys below. The trees stood still, leaves rustling in a whisper like nature holding its breath.
Collei's Eight-Six sat quietly at the summit, engine at idle, headlights casting harsh cones of white that sliced through the night. The rhythmic thrum of the 4A-GE engine pulsed through the silence—steady, alive, waiting. The cabin was warm compared to the chill outside, but inside the cockpit, the air was electric.
Beidou was jittery as hell.
Seatbelt cinched tight, one foot tapping against the floor, fingers drumming a rapid-fire rhythm against the bolster of the passenger seat. Her eyes were fixed on Collei's hands resting on the wheel—calm, loose, like they'd been born there. She couldn't sit still. The adrenaline already flooded her system, hot and fast.
Outside the car, Seele leaned in against the window, her smirk sharp and teasing. "Look at you—sweating bullets already."
March bounced on the balls of her feet behind her, giddy as hell, ponytail swinging. "I'd give anything to ride shotgun tonight. This is gonna be insane!"
Beidou barked a laugh and threw them a cocky thumbs-up. "Damn right it is! You better not blink—'cause I'm about to see what real speed feels like!"
Collei just exhaled, amused. Her fingers flexed slightly on the steering wheel. "It's just a downhill run," she said softly, almost like she was talking to herself. "We're not breaking the sound barrier."
But Beidou was already hyped beyond reason. "Let's fucking go!" she shouted, raising both fists in the air like she was already celebrating the win. Her energy was nuclear.
She twisted toward the group and grinned. "Back off, you losers! Try not to cry when we smoke your asses!"
And then—
No countdown. No signal. Just movement.
The Eight-Six launched.
The rear tires bit hard into the cold pavement, screeching as Collei dumped the clutch and hammered the throttle. The AE86 leapt forward like a predator off the leash, suspension squatting under the torque transfer. The whole chassis shivered, rear end stepping just slightly before Collei caught it with a micro-correction. The engine howled—deep, raw, climbing through the revs in second gear.
Inside the cabin, Beidou felt it in her bones.
Torque slammed into her chest like a goddamn battering ram. The wind roared past the frame, the rush of speed blurring the trees into streaks of shadow. She leaned forward instinctively, eyes wide, watching every twitch of Collei's fingers, every movement of her feet.
The road fell away in front of them, a winding black ribbon of danger and precision.
And then—
First corner. Tight right. Full-commitment entry.
"Wait—wait—Collei?! Aren't we going too fast?!" Beidou's hand slammed against the door, white-knuckling the armrest.
No answer. Just motion.
Collei downshifted with a quick double-clutch—fourth to third—rev-matched so perfectly it barely made a sound. Then, with zero warning, she jerked the wheel to the right.
The rear of the car snapped loose.
Not a gentle slide. Not a feathered drift. It snapped—hard—like a whip cracking in the dark.
The AE86 pitched sideways, the tail end swinging wide toward the cliff's edge, tires screaming murder against the tarmac. The passenger-side rear tire grazed the gravel at the edge—inches from the rail.
But Collei wasn't fazed.
Her hands worked the wheel like she was playing an instrument—quick, efficient countersteer, smooth throttle feathering, keeping the car right on the ragged edge of traction. No wasted movement. No panic. Just rhythm. Control.
The car snapped back into line, dead center in the lane.
Beidou's heart damn near exploded.
"HOLY SHIT." Her voice cracked as she slammed back into the seat, adrenaline surging like a tidal wave.
Turn Two approached fast. Hairpin. Guardrail on the left. No margin for error.
A high-pitched ding cut through the cabin—sharp, repetitive.
The speed chime.
Over 100 km/h and climbing.
"We're gonna fucking die—!" Beidou shouted.
Collei didn't even blink.
She slammed the brakes with the ball of her foot—weight transfer pitched the car forward violently. Then, almost in the same breath, she heel-toed into second gear. The tach needle snapped upward. Clutch out. Tires locked.
The rear broke free again—but this time, it was intentional.
Controlled.
A braking drift.
The AE86 rotated beautifully through the hairpin, nose angled into the apex while the rear swung wide with surgical precision. The car slid so close to the inner guardrail that Beidou swore she could hear it whispering threats through the steel.
And then—
SCRAAAAPE.
Metal kissed metal.
Just a whisper of contact. Not enough to dent. Not enough to damage.
Just enough to say, "I was here."
Beidou's jaw dropped. "She did that on purpose."
Her eyes darted to Collei—still calm, breathing steady, one hand casually guiding the wheel back into position as the AE86 straightened out and tore into the next downhill section.
"She's not driving," Beidou realized. "She's painting. With tire marks and G-forces."
But her body was losing the fight.
The Gs stacked up. Turn after turn. Compression through the suspension like punches to the spine. The seatbelt dug in. Her vision tunneled. Pulse too fast. Breaths too shallow. Everything spun.
The next corner came, and she couldn't track it.
She felt herself slip.
And then—
Darkness.
Return to the Summit
Mt. Yougou – Summit
The silence was unsettling.
The wind whispered through the treetops, swaying branches creaking overhead. Seele, March, and Pela stood by the edge of the overlook, tension thick in the air like a thunderstorm about to break.
Then—
A low growl.
Familiar. Rising.
The AE86.
March's brows drew together. "That's way too fast," she said, voice sharp with concern. "They left like two minutes ago."
Pela's gaze snapped to the oncoming headlights. "Impossible," she whispered.
The Eight-Six emerged from the dark—perfectly stable, tires hugging the road, engine purring like a cat on the hunt. No damage. No smoke. No drama. Just dominance.
The car rolled to a stop, hazards clicking on with a faint tick-tick-tick.
But something was off.
March rushed the passenger side, yanked the door open—and froze.
Beidou was slumped in her seat, head tilted, mouth slack in a ridiculous grin. A drool line ran down her chin. Her breath came slow and steady. Passed out cold.
March reeled back like she'd seen a ghost. "WHAT THE HELL?!"
She spun on Collei. "What turn did she pass out on?!"
Collei held up three fingers, cool as ice.
March's jaw hit the pavement. "THREE?! SHE DIDN'T EVEN MAKE IT TO THE MIDPOINT?!"
Pela leaned in, expression grim. She spotted the cup of water in the center console. Untouched. Not a ripple.
The cabin had barely trembled.
"This is inhuman," she muttered.
Collei just sighed, cracking her neck. "So… what now?"
Seele clapped her hands once, grinning. "She's riding with me. Collei, you follow. Pela in the back."
Collei blinked. "How are we getting her out?"
Seele shrugged, full of chaotic confidence. "She's Beidou. She'll bounce."
They loaded her in—awkward, dead weight and all.
The convoy rolled off the mountain, taillights vanishing into the night.
The summit fell quiet again. Wind whistled low between the trees, like the mountain itself exhaling.
But one thing was certain:
The Downhill Ace of Yougou had made her entrance.
And she wasn't done yet.
Not even the slightest bit.