A new year had begun. January 10th marked Collei's first shift back at the gas station, and the lot was already alive with chatter. Beidou leaned against a pump, arms crossed, barking out a laugh. March darted from one person to another, her energy refusing to dim even in the freezing air. Seele stood nearby with Pela, both bundled up, snow still dusting their jackets. Amber and Clorinde had joined the mix too, the former bouncing on her heels to stay warm, the latter calm and observant, as usual.
The crisp morning air stung a little sharper than usual, but the warmth among the group was unmistakable.
Collei pulled in with her Eight-Six and stepped out, her breath forming clouds in the chill. "Hello, guys! Happy New Year!"
A chorus of greetings met her, everyone turning with genuine smiles.
Lyney poked his head out from inside the convenience store, sleeves rolled up and hands still smudged with dust from rearranging stock. "Hey, Collei!" he called. "Happy New Year!"
Collei grinned, tugging her beanie down tighter. "Happy New Year to you too, Lyney!"
March put her hands on her hips, a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Hey, Collei, how about this—why don't you take us all for a downhill run? See who passes out first!"
Beidou scoffed with a mock glare. "You still haven't let that go? That was one time!"
The group broke into laughter, the sound echoing out into the snow-covered lot. Their warmth stood in stark contrast to the cold world around them.
But not far off, parked inconspicuously across the road in a nondescript white Toyota Celica, a man sat quietly behind the wheel. Sunglasses on. Engine idling. Watching.
His gaze lingered. First on Collei. Then Amber.
He didn't move.
By the time Collei's shift wound down and the sun dipped into late afternoon, Amber was wandering downtown alone, snowflakes caught in her hair. The streets were dressed in frost and holiday remnants, twinkling lights still strung up in storefronts. She had no destination—just a quiet walk to clear her head.
Then the sound of tires crunching snow drew her attention.
A white Toyota Celica pulled alongside the curb. Her breath caught.
The driver's door opened. Out stepped a familiar figure in a long coat, scarf trailing slightly in the wind.
"Hey, Amber!" he called with a cocky grin, like they were old friends catching up.
Her stomach turned. "…Oh. Hey, Albert."
Albert's smirk widened as he approached, his eyes roving in a way that made her skin crawl. "Didn't expect to see you out here. Heading home?"
Amber folded her arms tightly. "Yeah. I am."
"You want a lift?" he offered smoothly, stepping around the Celica and popping the passenger door open like it was some chivalrous gesture. "Just like old times."
She paused. Everything inside her told her to walk away—but something else, a flicker of pride or maybe unfinished business, rooted her in place.
"…Fine," she said coldly. "But don't try anything."
Albert grinned wider, almost triumphant. "Wouldn't dream of it."
The Celica's cabin was uncomfortably warm, filled with stale cologne and the low hum of a classic cassette playing faintly from the dash. Outside, the trees of Yougou Pass blurred by, branches bare and road slick with ice in the shaded corners.
They drove in silence for several minutes. Then, without turning to face her, Albert spoke.
"I came back for winter break," he said casually. "Wanted to see what's changed around here. Guess fate brought me back to you."
Amber stared straight ahead. "Yeah, fate's a real asshole sometimes."
He laughed—dry, self-amused. "You're different now. Mature. Beautiful, even. Like, really grown into yourself."
Her fists clenched. "I shouldn't have agreed to this," she muttered. "Pull over. Now."
Albert's expression shifted into a mocking pout. "What? What did I say?"
"You know exactly what you said," she snapped, smacking the dashboard. "You're the same creepy bastard you've always been. You think a few years change that?"
Albert's grip tightened on the wheel—but instead of slowing down, he floored it.
The Celica surged forward, tires kicking up slush as they rocketed up the mountain.
"Just fucking talk to me!" he shouted, his voice unhinged. "We used to talk, remember? You used to laugh with me!"
Amber recoiled, one hand white-knuckling the armrest, the other scrambling in her jacket pocket. She pulled out her phone and, through trembling fingers, tapped out a message.
"Collei, please help! An old classmate took me for a ride, and he won't let me out! We're at Yougou Pass! He drives a white Celica!"
She hit send as the car careened around a blind corner, the rear end fishtailing slightly. Her heart hammered in her chest.
At Arlecchino's house, Collei was lying sideways across her bed, idly scrolling. Her phone buzzed. She glanced down—and her blood froze.
"Collei, please help! An old classmate took me for a ride, and he won't let me out! We're at Yougou Pass! He drives a white Celica!"
She bolted upright, nearly dropping the phone as she fired back:
"I'll be there. Hang tight!"
In one fluid motion, she yanked on her coat, slipped into her flats, and snatched her AE86 keys off the dresser. Within seconds, the Trueno roared to life, tires screeching as she backed out and rocketed onto the icy road.
At the peak of Yougou Pass, the Celica rolled to a stop in a snowbanked clearing.
Albert killed the engine.
He turned to Amber with a slimy smile. "Let's just forget the past, okay? We used to have real conversations. You and me."
He reached out, his fingers inching toward her leg.
Amber's instincts kicked in.
With no warning, she turned and slugged him—her fist connecting hard with his cheek. Albert reeled back with a pained grunt, blood rising under the skin.
Amber yanked the door handle and shoved it open, stumbling out into the snow.
Phone in hand, she hit dial on Collei's number.
Six rings.
"Come on, pick up…"
"Amber?!" Collei's voice came through, sharp and focused. "Where are you?!"
"I'm at the top of Yougou Pass! He stopped the car—he tried to touch me! He's fucking insane, Collei!"
"I'm coming up fast," Collei said, breathless but resolute. "Hold on!"
Behind her, Albert staggered from the Celica, one hand cradling his jaw.
"Wait, Amber! I didn't mean—fuck, I'm sorry, okay?! Let's just talk, like we used to!"
Amber didn't flinch. She stood her ground, glaring. "Back off, Albert!"
But he didn't stop.
He lunged—and tackled her.
Amber hit the snow hard, the wind knocked from her lungs. He pinned her with one arm and grabbed at her phone with the other.
Then, through gritted teeth, he sneered, "You're with Collei now? Seriously?"
Amber coughed, teeth clenched. "Yeah. I am. And when she gets here…"
She spat in his face.
"…She's going to wreck you."
Albert froze, the color draining from his face as fragments of the past came crashing into the present like shards of broken glass.
Two years earlier—
A drab winter afternoon. The fluorescent lights inside Inazuma High flickered faintly overhead, humming with dull monotony. After Chemistry class, Albert leaned smugly against a row of lockers, posture cocky, voice loud enough to be heard two hallways down.
"Gotta say," he bragged, his mouth curling into a greasy smirk, "that Sileighty chick? She's fucking unreal behind the wheel. Fastest on Yougou's uphill for sure."
His friend laughed, elbowing him. "No one even dares to touch her time, man. She's a total beast."
Albert licked his lips like a jackal sizing up a carcass. "And she's so goddamn sexy when she drives, too. Like—every time I see her tearing up the mountain, I just start picturing—"
BANG!
A locker door slammed shut with the force of a gunshot. Both boys flinched. Albert's sentence died mid-thought.
Standing there, her expression carved from stone, was Collei.
Her eyes radiated ice-cold fury.
"I am fucking sick of your mouth, Albert," she snarled, her voice low and sharp like a razor. "Keep that garbage talk to yourself—or I'll shut it for you."
Albert scoffed, straightening up and puffing out his chest. "Hey! You don't get to talk to me like that! I'm a senior—"
CRACK!
Collei's fist met his nose with the weight and fury of a piston at redline. The crunch of cartilage echoed through the hallway. Blood sprayed onto the lockers and speckled her knuckles as Albert dropped like a sack of concrete, moaning and clutching his face.
Her hand throbbed from the impact—skin split over her knuckles, already bruising—but she didn't flinch.
"You open your mouth like that again," she said coldly, standing over him, "you'll be pissing blood through a tube. No one talks about us like we're some kind of goddamn fantasy."
—
Back in the present—
Albert blinked hard, shaking the memory out of his skull like a spider clinging to the back of his brain. His expression darkened, twisted by humiliation and rage.
"I hate remembering that..." he muttered.
Amber, bruised and panting but still sharp as flint, glared at him from the roadside. Her voice cut like steel wire. "She's coming, Albert. And she's not going to go easy on you."
Albert's laugh came out thin, nervy. "Yeah, right. What's she gonna do? Doesn't even have a car!"
Amber grinned despite the cold. "She's got a car, alright. The car. That AE86. She's the fastest racer on all of Yougou Pass."
The words hit Albert like a blow to the gut. His face twitched.
"Collei… races?"
But he didn't wait for an answer. Panic broke through the last of his confidence. He grabbed Amber by the wrist and dragged her roughly back into the Celica. She kicked and fought, but he shoved her into the seat and slammed the door shut.
The engine barked to life.
Albert floored it.
Tires spun violently over snow-packed asphalt before catching with a jolt, and the Celica surged forward, eating up the narrow road with reckless hunger. The headlights speared into the dark forest, the white snow a blur beyond the windows.
—
Halfway up Yougou Pass—
The AE86 was a phantom in the dusk. Its headlights punched twin tunnels through the swirling flakes, engine howling near redline as Collei kept the tach needle pinned just under the fuel cut. Snow hissed under the tires. Every muscle in her body was wired, her grip on the wheel steady but coiled with tension.
"Piece of shit thinks he can mess with Amber?" she muttered through gritted teeth. "Not on my fucking mountain."
A right-hander approached—a tight one. She slammed the brakes, heel-toed down from fourth to second in a clean snap, then yanked the handbrake just enough to loosen the rear. The AE86 pitched sideways into a perfect four-wheel drift, rear end gliding over the icy tarmac with surgical control.
The tires bit in at exit. She released the steering lock smoothly and poured on the throttle. The car rocketed down the short straight, tires barely breaking traction as she crested the rise.
Headlights. Two of them.
A white blur screamed past her on the other side of the road.
Amber's voice cut through the howl of the wind—raw, terrified:
"COLLEI! PLEASE!"
Instinct overrode thought. Collei slammed the brakes, yanked the e-brake, and kicked the clutch—all in a heartbeat. The rear snapped out. She rotated the car into a flawless 180-degree spin. A single flick of countersteer and she was back on the throttle, the AE86 howling in second as it launched into pursuit.
Her jaw clenched, knuckles white on the wheel.
"I've got you, Amber."
—
Inside the Celica, Albert's foot was mashed to the floor, the engine redlining as the all-wheel-drive powertrain clawed for grip. He stole a glance into the rearview mirror—and nearly choked.
She was already there.
"What the fuck!?" he barked. "That's not possible!"
Amber grinned tightly, her eyes still full of fire. "Told you. Now maybe try looking at the fucking road, moron!"
Albert jerked the wheel to correct a slide, the rear starting to break loose under pressure.
"That piece of junk shouldn't be able to keep up in this weather!" he snarled, fury blooming in his chest.
Amber looked smug as hell. "That 'piece of junk' is going to bury you. You wanted to relive old times, Albert? Well, here's your goddamn flashback—Collei's fist, heading straight for your fucking teeth."
Behind them, the AE86's high-beam glare filled the rear window, closing the gap like a predator sizing up its kill. Its front bumper twitched left, then right—taunting.
Collei's eyes narrowed behind the wheel.
"I'm coming for you."
Albert saw the corner too late.
The Celica's headlights splashed across the looming right-hand hairpin, cutting through the snow-flecked darkness like a spotlight on his failure. He slammed the brakes with everything he had—ABS kicking in with a staccato rattle—but momentum was already against him. The car's tires broke loose on the icy surface, squealing as they skated helplessly toward the outer edge.
"Shit—shit—SHIT!"
The front right corner hit the steel guardrail with a sickening metallic crunch, the entire chassis jolting violently. The impact twisted the front end like paper, the bumper folding in, hood buckling up as the Celica pirouetted and came to a jarring halt, nose-down in a shallow snowbank. Steam hissed from the cracked radiator. The right headlight flickered and died.
For a moment, there was only the sound of the wind and the ticking of the engine cooling in the night air.
Then—
The screech of tires. Collei's AE86 came sliding to a controlled stop nearby, the back end slipping out elegantly before she corrected it with a flick of the wheel. She was out of the driver's seat in an instant, boots crunching against the snow, sprinting toward the wreck.
"Amber!" she shouted.
The passenger door slammed open. Amber burst out, her face pale and streaked with wind-tears. She ran straight into Collei's arms, clinging to her like a lifeline.
"You saved me..." Amber's voice cracked, barely above a whisper.
Collei wrapped her arms around her, tight and warm, grounding her. "You're alright. That's all that matters."
The moment held for a second more.
Then Collei's gaze snapped toward the wreck, her expression hardening like ice under pressure.
She stepped toward Albert with the grim precision of a blade being drawn from its sheath. He was slumped in the driver's seat, dazed, blood running from a gash above his brow.
She yanked the door open, grabbed his collar, and hauled him out like dead weight. The metal shrieked as she shoved him back against the crumpled front fender.
Her voice was low, but every syllable struck like a hammer.
"What the fuck is your problem?"
Albert coughed, blood staining his teeth.
Collei didn't let go.
"You were disgusting back in high school—talking about us like we were toys. I broke your fucking nose, remember?"
Albert's breath hitched, panicked. "I—I didn't know she was your—"
THUMP.
Her fist sank into his stomach like a piston through an engine block. He doubled over with a strangled gasp, eyes wide with pain.
Collei stepped forward and drove her knee into his face.
CRACK.
He dropped like a bag of concrete, blood pouring from his nose and mouth as he writhed in the snow.
She loomed over him, chest heaving, her voice like steel dragged over gravel.
"Nobody fucks with my friends. Especially Amber."
She didn't spare him another glance.
Collei turned back, grabbed Amber's hand gently, and guided her to the AE86. The passenger door shut with a click. The engine barked to life again, and the Trueno pulled away, its taillights glowing red against the snow-slicked asphalt, leaving Albert groaning behind in the wreckage of his pride and car.
—
Later—
The AE86 idled quietly in the lot of a roadside convenience store, its engine ticking as it cooled. Neon lights buzzed overhead, casting a soft glow onto the pavement.
Amber leaned against the fender, arms wrapped tightly around Collei, her voice finally steady but still full of emotion.
"Thank you, Collei. You… really saved me back there."
Collei gave her a small smile, brushing snow out of her hair. "It's okay. You're safe now. That's all I care about."
Amber chuckled softly, her face still buried in Collei's jacket. "You know, Albert was running his mouth about you when you broke his nose."
Collei quirked an eyebrow. "Why am I not surprised?"
She looked off into the dark hills with a grim edge to her voice. "But he won't try anything again. Not if he wants to keep his teeth in his skull."
Amber pulled back and grinned. "You know it."
Their hands came together in a sharp, satisfying clap of a high-five. Nothing flashy. Just solid. Real. A pact made and reaffirmed—friendship forged in fire and asphalt.
—
Months later—Spring—
The sun hung low on the horizon, bleeding orange across the sky as Collei's AE86 ascended the winding roads of Araumi Pass. The mountain was still waking from winter, trees blooming pink and white, the breeze crisp and clean. Her engine hummed like a songbird with a turbo whistle, the upgraded 4A-GE purring beneath the hood, the chassis dancing up the switchbacks with surgical precision.
She crested the final corner and eased off the throttle. At the summit turnout, parked casually beneath the cherry blossoms, waited a white Mazda RX-7 FC—sleek, immaculate, proud.
Leaning against it with arms crossed, dressed in white, was Ningguang.
Collei pulled in beside her, the AE86's engine winding down into a soft idle. She stepped out, slinging the door shut and offering a casual smile.
"Collei," Ningguang greeted, her eyes sharp but warm. "Good to see you again."
"Nice to see you too, Ningguang," Collei replied.
Ningguang's brow lifted just slightly. "So? What's the verdict?"
Collei tilted her head, arms folded. Then she smirked.
"I'll join your team. But I have a request first."
A faint flicker of amusement passed over Ningguang's face. "What kind of request?"
"An exhibition run." Collei's voice had the rhythm of anticipation. "Just for fun. You and me."
Ningguang laughed quietly, pushing off from her car.
"Tonight, then. Let's see what you've really got."
Collei's heart kicked in her chest. The thrill—the itch—rising in her blood.
"Sounds perfect," she said, stepping forward.
Two racers. Two machines. A spring night just beginning.
The mountain would sing.