The garage lights were already on when the support van pulled in. Dim yellow beams spilled out from under the main roller door, flickering faintly through the misty night air like a lighthouse guiding a ship back from a storm. Rin downshifted the van and rolled it gently over the curb. The rear tires groaned as they passed the gutter lip, suspension rocking slightly from the weight in the back.
Inside, the familiar faces were already gathered. Haruka stood near the back of the EK9, the Civic's hatch still open and the laptop unplugged from its ECU port. His expression was calm, but there was a tautness in his jaw that only Takamori and Rin could read. He hadn't spoken much since the Hanzomon run, but there was something in his eyes. A look of calculation, or maybe consequence.
Ayaka sat on a crate near the toolbox, hair tied back and arms resting over her knees. Hana leaned against the workbench behind her, idly spinning a socket wrench in one hand. The twins, predictably, had found snacks, stuffing their faces with convenience store sandwiches while watching something dumb on one of their phones as soon as they get off the van.
All eyes turned to the door as soon as Rin, Takamori and The twins walked in from the side door.
"Finally," Ayaka muttered. "Took you two long enough."
"Traffic," Rin said as he stepped into the workshop, stretching his arms above his head. "And, you know… the RX-7 that decided to remodel a tunnel with its rear bumper."
Haruka raised an eyebrow. "It's totaled?"
"Crushed like tofu," Takamori replied. "Debris all over the lane. Looked bad. We thought it was you for a second."
"Wasn't me." Haruka's voice was even. "I was out before the police even got close."
"And the driver?" Hana asked.
"No clue." Haruka shook his head. "Didn't stick around."
Rin whistled, low. "That's cold."
"That's street racing."
The words hung in the air a little longer than anyone expected. No one was proud of it, but they all understood the unspoken rule. You get in, you get out. No heroes. No witnesses.
Haruka turned back to the Civic, placing the laptop down on the workbench. "Data's solid. ECU's behaving under load. B18C didn't hiccup once, not even after long tunnel pulls. Cooling's on point, suspension's stable, balance needs tweaking on corner entry, but that's down to tire pressure."
Nikolai, still holding his own laptop, nodded from behind him. "The anti-lag mapping is viable, but throttle cut may need reprogramming. Too much spark retard and we're risking heat soak on longer runs."
Ayaka stood up from her crate. "So… what now?"
"We rest," Haruka said, unplugging a USB cable. "Tomorrow, we start working on actual test runs. Track prep. Maybe even baseline telemetry."
Meanwhile, inside the break room, the mood was significantly more relaxed. A deck of cards slapped the table as Daichi dealt two fresh hands, his expression unreadable under the fluorescent kitchen light. Sitting across from him, William leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, the corner of a cigarette trailing lazy smoke from an ashtray nearby. They weren't just passing the time, they were plotting.
"Hit me," William said casually in his heavy German accent.
Daichi flicked a card across the table. "You're gonna bust."
"Life's about the risk," William said, grinning.
"Not when it's about scheduling logistics."
William glanced at his cards, tapped the table, then laid them down. "Nineteen."
Daichi raised an eyebrow and turned his own. "Twenty."
"Scheiße," William muttered. "That's three rounds in a row."
"Keep going," Daichi smirked. "Maybe you'll earn back your pride."
Scattered around them were open folders, hand-drawn circuit maps, and a portable whiteboard with track names scribbled in marker.
"I still think starting at Fuji makes the most sense," William said, stacking cards neatly. "Long straights, technical back half. Great place to push the engine limits and test under pressure."
Daichi nodded. "Yeah, that's set in stone. Round one: Fuji Speedway. But after that, we need rhythm."
He tapped the edge of the track calendar with a pen. "Round two: Sugo. It's compact, elevation changes, narrow lines. Forces discipline."
"Then Tsukuba," William added. "Classic tuner battleground. Real test of driver finesse and brake balance."
Daichi leaned back in his chair. "Then stretch their legs again at Autopolis."
William whistled. "Long way down south."
"Logistics nightmare," Daichi admitted. "But worth it. High-speed sections, elevation, and mid-speed corners. A true technical circuit."
The next card landed on the table. "Then we come back west. Okayama."
William nodded again. "Flat, flowing, but tricky. Teaches consistency."
"Then Motegi," Daichi said. "Heaviest braking zones in the country. We'll see who's brave, and who's just loud."
William smiled. "And they're saving Suzuka for last, aren't they?"
Daichi didn't answer at first. Just looked down at his cards and grinned faintly. "I don't know.. But i do know that I owe that track a lot."
The last card was dealt. "Blackjack," Daichi muttered. "Twenty-one."
William raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Again?."
Just then, the door creaked open and Haruka entered, Nikolai right behind him.
"We're back," Haruka announced.
"Alive, I see," William replied without looking up. "What took you so long? was that a test or an audition for a midnight racing film?"
"Little of both," Haruka said, dropping onto the couch. "EK9 held up."
Nikolai sat down next to him, setting his laptop on the coffee table. "Telemetry's solid. ECU handled the adjustments well. But I think we'll need to recheck throttle maps. Maybe tweak ignition timing under 6000 RPM."
Daichi folded his arms. "As long as it didn't explode, that's a win."
"It almost did," Rin muttered as he walked in. "If you count dodging a crashed RX-7."
Daichi raised an eyebrow. "You serious?"
Haruka nodded. "They pushed too hard into Hanzomon. Slid out. Rear smacked the wall."
"Anyone hurt?" William asked calmly, shuffling the cards.
"Didn't stick around to find out," Haruka said bluntly. "Didn't want to be mistaken for the cause."
The room fell quiet for a moment. Then Daichi stood up and clapped his hands. "Alright. We've got the test done. The car held. The engine's singing. And we've got our first race in two weeks at Fuji."
He looked around at the team. "Hana, Ayaka, you're doing logistics and base prep. Rin, Takamori, you're on van support and tire management. The twins... you're staying here and not burning down the workshop."
One of the twins poked their head in from the hall. "Define burn."
"Exactly why you're staying here," Haruka replied dryly.
Daichi smirked. "And Izamuri?"
Haruka nodded. "Still at the house. I told him the shop's closed today. Let him rest."
Daichi glanced at the calendar again. Seven races. One shot at proving the world that he's still got what it takes.
"Alright," he said, pushing up from the chair and cracking his back with a sigh. "Fun's over. Let's call a quick meeting."
He stepped into the hallway and called out toward the garage. "Everybody. break room. Five minutes."
Grumbles answered from across the workshop. Takamori emerged from under the EK9, wiping his hands on a towel, and the twins trailed behind, still arguing about whether they should turbocharge the break room coffee machine. Hana and Ayaka entered last, both still half in logistics mode.
As everyone gathered around the small table, Daichi leaned against the fridge and folded his arms.
"So," he began, "as much as I enjoyed being called Zero Hour Engineering… that was a placeholder name."
"Placeholder?" Hojo asked. "I already ordered vinyls with that."
"No you didn't," Ayaka snapped.
"Emotionally, I did."
Daichi ignored them. "We need a real name. Something we can put on entry lists, banners, uniforms. Something that fits us. and more importantly, something Izamuri can wear without dying of secondhand embarrassment."
"Yeah, that would be bad," Rin murmured. "We want his first race to be about pressure, not shame."
Daichi turned to the whiteboard behind him and uncapped a marker. "Alright, shout 'em out."
Takamori leaned back in his chair. "We could just name it after Haruka. 'Haruka Motorsports.'"
"Too basic," Ayaka shot back.
"Haruka Special Works?" Rin offered, almost sarcastically.
Haruka shook his head. "That sounds like a sandwich."
Nikolai looked up from his laptop. "In Russia, we name teams after vodka or steel mills."
The room chuckled.
One of the twins raised their hand. "What about 'OverRev'?"
"Taken," Daichi replied instantly. "Two teams in GT300 already tried it. Trademark issues."
"Project D?" Takamori said instantly.
"Some professionals from Gunma already claimed it" Daichi replied.
"Redline Syndicate?" Tojo said.
"No, we are not a mafia organization," William said.
"Okay, okay…" Takamori tapped his chin. "How about something simple? Like… 'Team Eighty-Six.' You know, for the spirit of old school?"
"We're running an EK9," Rin cut in dryly. "You want Honda fans to start a riot?"
Daichi chuckled. "Keep going. Something sharp. Something fast. But not cringe."
There was a long pause. Then Ayaka leaned forward. "What about… G-Force?"
The room turned.
"Think about it," she continued. "It's clean. Punchy. Relates to racing physics. It's what we feel when we corner, brake, and accelerate. It's technical, and have a meaning."
William slowly nodded. "That's actually… solid."
"It's universal too," Haruka added. "You hear it in F1, in Le Mans, even in space programs. G-Force equals pressure. Push."
Hana crossed her arms thoughtfully. "No trademarks I've heard of. Easy to remember."
Nikolai gave a thumbs up. "I like it. In Soviet karting, we measure success by broken ribs and Gs. G-Force sounds very real."
Rin raised a finger. "I don't hate it."
Takamori grinned. "Better than Haruka's Sandwich Works."
The twins looked at each other, disappointed. "We still liked 'Redline Syndicate'…"
Daichi stepped forward, arms crossed and proud. "Then it's settled."
He picked up a nearby dry erase marker and turned to the whiteboard. With one smooth motion, he wrote: G-FORCE
Official Team Name
The entire room gave a little nod, like a silent contract had just been signed.
William walked over, adding the name just below the team's schedule. "One-make EK9 Cup," he read aloud. "Seven circuits. G-Force is going full throttle."
"We've got two weeks to final prep the car," Daichi added. "Fuji is round one. After that, it's a war zone. Every round's a different battlefield."
Nikolai looked at the schedule again. "We'll need full setup data for each track. Altitude, temperature, gearing, camber settings."
"We'll sort that tomorrow," Haruka said. "Tonight was the last of the test runs."
Daichi looked around the room, nodding slowly. "We've got the car. The brains. The guts. Now we've got a name."
Takamori leaned back and smirked. "So what now, boss?"
Daichi looked at them all, eyes calm but with a fire building beneath the surface. "Now…" he said, voice low and clear, "we make sure the world remembers it."