choices → f&f: tokyo drift

Chapter 8

Kairi sat with the crew playing on her phone while Sean was practicing his drifting again. She sat cross-legged on the couch, a box of Oreos on one side of her and a bottle of coke on the other. Sean pulled up in front of the garage and angrily got out of the car.

"Hey, Twink, I'm gonna grab another set."

"Whoa! Whoa! Another set? No. Look, that was your third set today! I mean, them tyres ain't cheap."

The distinct rev of engines and screeching of tyres came around the corner and DK and his boys pulled up.

"Han, we have company." Kairi mumbled, looking back at her phone and plopping another Oreo in her mouth. DK came bounding out of the car and Han took off his sunglasses and rose from his seat.

"DK, grab a chair! We're about to roast some marshmallows." Han said sarcastically. DK pushed passed him and Twinkie and went straight for Sean. In a matter of seconds, DK was beating up Sean.

"Aren't you gonna do something?" Kai whispered to Han as he watched on intently. Han didn't respond to the girl and instead watched the scene unfold.

"Stay away from her, or the only thing you'll be driving is a wheelchair." DK spat in Sean's face before muttering Japanese under his breath. DK got up and barging over to Han and Kairi.

"Find yourself a new driver." DK hissed as he returned to his car. Morimoto shot daggers at each of us before following suit. Reiko went over to comfort Sean and check if he was okay.

"I'm alright." Sean grumbled, spitting blood out of his mouth.

"What'd you expect? You can't just play with fire and soak the matches in gasoline." Han stated coldly. Twinkie looked at Sean with disappointing eyes and shook his head.

Kairi sighed and pushed past Han and Twinkie and helped Sean off the ground. "Come on, let's get you all cleaned up." Kai mumbled as Sean shifted his weight on her. Kairi led him into the garage and assisted him to sit down on the lounge. She could hear the team bickering outside and often glancing into the garage.

"I'm fine, really." Sean said lowly, adjusting into the couch.

"You're bleeding."

The young Japanese girl hastily went into the kitchen and returned with a moist cloth and some sort of antiseptic cream. "We don't have bandages here, so this will have to do."

Sean stayed silent and let Kairi treat his wounds. He knew that what he had done was wrong, but he really did like Neela.

"Kai, Neela can do so much better than that piece of shit. She's suffering!" Sean blurted out suddenly. Kairi only nodded in response and continued to attend to his bleeding head. "Kai, seriously, I'm trying to do the right thing here."

"You should have stayed out of it. You knew from the first night that you met DK that this was none of your business." Kairi responded sternly. Sean didn't say anything. "There. The bleeding has slowed down tremendously and this cream should help the swelling go down within the next couple of hours. There is a great chance of bruising tomorrow, though."

"Thanks, Kai. I really appreciated." Sean nodded. Kairi gave him a sad smile. "Do you think Han and Twinkie are really that upset?"

"Yes. You're messing with Han's business and you're ruining Twinkie's 'hard earned rep'. They'll come around though. Especially Han. He always looks for the best in people." Kairi smiled as she went back into the kitchen.

-

The following morning, Sean arrived to school with two large bruises on the side of his face. Rumours spread around the school incredibly quickly. Some say that Sean and DK got into a punch up, others believed that Morimoto got the best of him on the way home from school. No one knew the truth though.

Neela immediately asked Sean what had happened, and much to her disappointment, it was all because of Takashi. That afternoon she went and confronted her boyfriend, to which he threatened her and reminded her of why she was still here in the first place. Neela knew that she had to get out of this relationship. She knew that Kairi had been right all along.

Angry and afraid, Neela went to the one place she knew that she would always be accepted and welcomed. Han's garage. Sean, Kairi, Earl and Reiko were busy working on the Evo and Han was in the loft sorting out some paperwork for Takashi. Neela found the garage doors wide open and the oddly familiar scent of stale oil filled her senses. It almost felt like a second home. Sean turned at the sound of soft footsteps entering the building. Neela had clearly been crying and Sean hurried over to see what had happened. It was clear, just by the melancholic expression on her face, that DK had been involved.

"Hey. Come on." Sean soothed and took her hand before leading her up to the loft. Kairi, Earl and Reiko followed them upstairs. Kairi went into the kitchen and came back with a cup of tea and some biscuits for Neela. No one was really sure what to do.

It was clear, however, that the events that were soon to take place would be disastrous.