By the time the yellow Dazen RTM-300 pulled over in front of the rear gate of Shimana Shrine, Araka, Jinhui, Huashin, and Yon were already waiting outside.

As soon as the car came to a stop. Huashin raised an eyebrow. She looked again, and then her eyes widened, with one hand immediately covering her mouth.

“…No way,” she gasped.

Araka noticed. 

“Instructor Huashin?”

Before Huashin responded, the driver’s door opened.

Kai, with his dyed silver-coloured hair, stepped out first, while Hakasa began retrieving her belongings from the passenger side.

“Captain Yon.” Kai raised a hand in greeting. “Hakasa asked me to drop her off here. I’ve still got the Shard sample in the containment case, so I’ll take that straight to the Ninju complex lab.”

Yon nodded. “Thanks, Kai.”

Then Kai noticed Huashin staring at his car. “…What?” He said.

Araka followed his gaze.

“Yeah, Instructor Huashin. Why are you suddenly so excited?”

Huashin pointed at the vehicle as though the answer should have been obvious, eyes sparkling with curiosity. 

“Don’t you see that?”

Everyone looked.

“…A sportscar?” Jinhui ventured.

“A real RTM-300!” Huashin stepped closer, “and it’s still on the road!”

Yon looked from the car to Huashin. “So?”

Huashin stared at him. “So?”

Yon raised an eyebrow. “…You’re interested in these?”

“Of course!”

Then, a smirk gradually appeared on Yon’s face: “Then what if I told you I have an RTM-350?”

Huashin opened her eyes even wider. “…What?”

“White. The Year 3495 model,” Yon said while gesturing vaguely with his hand, “the one with a more aerodynamic body than this one.”

Huashin immediately moved closer. “For real?”

Yon nodded.

“That’s so cute!”

Araka stared at her instructor.

Huashin seemed to have completely forgotten why they were standing outside.

“I can’t believe everyone in Division 2 has these rare sports cars!”

“Not everyone,” Yon laughed and corrected, “but enough of us — a practical need for high speed pursuit.”

Araka looked between Yon, Kai, and the yellow RTM-300. Even though she had heard talks about rare sports cars through playing car-/racing video games, none of the talks seemed to make sense for her. 

“…What’s so special about it?”

Three heads turned toward her.

Huashin looked almost offended. “Araka, We’ll discuss this later.”

“…Okay?”

Meanwhile, Kai had begun walking around the small parking lot. Then, his attention had landed on the Donlin X3 hatchback parked nearby.

“…Wait,” he walked closer, examining the body, “Whose car is this?”

Yon glanced over. “The X3?”

“Yeah “ Kai examined the rear wing and said, “Since when did Master Kinekama replace that little red thing she drives with one of these?”

Then his eyes landed on the license plate, “…And why does it have a Bakju license plate?”

Yon pointed toward Huashin.“That’s actually our guest’s.”

Kai turned and gestured toward Huashin: “You mean Huashin’s?”

Yon nodded.

“Right. I don’t think you’ve properly met.” He gestured between them, “Huashin, this is Wong Kai (黃凱). SAIR North Division 2. Kai specializes in high-speed pursuit. It’s very important in the northeast as there are many federal expressways and cross border traffic intersecting here.”

Huashin raised one hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Kai returned the greeting, and then immediately looked back at the X3. He rubbed his chin and said: “How is this thing still passing emission tests?”

Huashin raised her eyebrows. 

Kai crouched slightly to inspect it. “SAIR helped design half the newer emissions tests, and nowadays Donlin barely makes anything except minivans nowadays.”

He stood again: “Yet somehow this is still registered.”

Huashin smiled while scratching her head. “Well… this came from a friend of mine in the shrine — I thought it was too old. Though, apparently she didn’t realize how good the engine still was.”

Kai stared at her, then at the car, then back at her.

“…Wait.” His expression changed: “You were a street racer?”

Huashin gave a small nod. “Kind of…for a while — there were many street racers active near the shrine I was in, so I sometimes had to outrun them in the middle of a race to make sure I was not caught in one.”

Araka’s eyebrows moved upward.

Huashin quickly added, “I can’t exactly do that freely anymore.”

“Instructor Huashin, you literally did that yesterday — you literally went through the Wuyun mountain pass.”

“There weren’t many cars!”

“That’s not making it better,” Araka sighed.

Kai slowly turned toward Huashin: “You drifted an X3 through Wuyun?”

Huashin hesitated.

“…A little.”

For the first time since arriving, Kai looked genuinely impressed.

“…Okay,” he nodded toward the hatchback, “Guess you really are someone doing it.”

Hakasa, who had been quietly watching the entire exchange beside the RTM-300, finally sighed: “Kai, Yon, could you guys hold back a bit… I don’t think Araka and Jinhui are interested in this.”

“Hakasa?” Araka raised her eyebrows.

Hakasa turned to Araka, while putting her hands on Kai’s shoulder and said: “Araka, maybe I need to apologize first — this Kai here is just an ‘auto maniac’ — his mind went frenzy as soon as he spotted another fellow street racer.”

“You know I’m not a street racer, right, Hakasa?” Kai said, “I’m the one chasing them down.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Hakasa said deadpan.

“Anyway,” Yon said, “Hakasa, do you remember bringing your changing clothes?”

“Of course,” Hakasa said, “You told me to stay overnight with Araka earlier.”

Yon nodded and then turned to Huashin and said, “I’m still getting my car under inspection, and that’s why I don't have my car here. If you really want to see it, I’ll bring it later this summer to the upcoming SAIR Entrance Exam.”

Meanwhile, Jinhui, standing beside Araka, whispered to Araka: “Sara-cha, are you not really into cars or whatever?”

Araka, seeing the attention moved away from her, sighed: “Actually, it’s not the case — I played a lot of car racing video games, and I do have my favourite car. But …” she then pointed to Huashin, “Instructor Huashin failed me multiple times when I tried to get a driver’s license while training in the SAIR — said I’m too slow and cautious when driving.”

“I thought you would be the aggressive type,” Jinhui smiled and said, “no one would believe someone who is known for speed and precision somehow couldn’t figure out driving while everything is pretty much automated.”

“Well, I really hope so,” Araka said.