Chapter 168 - 166

Words : 1158 Updated : Oct 10th, 2025

Sunday, at Airi's apartment. Haruka showed up at Airi's place early in the morning. As soon as she stepped inside, she found Airi at her desk in pajamas, tangled hair barely brushed, eyes locked on the screen as she played League of Legends with intense focus. Her usual cute, sleepy expression was replaced by rare determination. But this time, Haruka didn't say a word about her gaming. After all, just yesterday Saturday something almost unbelievable had happened: Airi had actually finished this week's Dream World chapter ahead of the Sunday deadline. Haruka had been planning to visit and remind her about the manuscript, but her assistant beat her to it. She'd told Haruka that after reading the latest Initial D chapter on Friday, Airi had stayed up through the night and completed the entire draft in one go. At first, she thought it was a joke. Airi? Staying up to finish a manuscript on her own? Usually, if Haruka didn't keep a close eye on her, she'd be in bed or buried in other manga by mid-afternoon. Haruka had worked with plenty of laid-back creators, but Airi's legendary procrastination still stood out. Curious, she'd even asked the assistant what had motivated her so suddenly. And the response she got left her speechless: Airi had powered through the night just to finish early enough so Haruka wouldn't ban her from going to driving school this weekend—like she did last time. All that... just to go to driving school? Haruka had tried for three years to get Airi to take deadlines seriously, and all it took was one manga series to turn things around? The feeling was a strange mix of defeat and relief. But thinking back to Initial D's episode seven the one that dropped on Friday it made some sense. The racing scenes had a visceral, emotional punch. For someone like Airi, it could've hit deep. Still, it was kind of sad. She'd finished the draft, gotten all excited... and then spent Saturday waiting for a Line message from Haruki that never came. He was apparently swamped and hadn't planned to go to driving school that day after all. She'd been sulking ever since. Haruka and Haruki had agreed that if he did decide to go practice driving, he'd let both of them know. If the schedules lined up, he'd accompany Airi to keep an eye on her just in case she got into trouble. But if Haruki didn't go, Haruka wasn't about to send Airi alone. Now, watching her half-distractedly gaming, pulling out her phone every now and then to check for new messages from Haruki... Haruka sighed. Does she want to drive that badly? It seemed Initial D had really gotten to her. Her expression softened slightly. "Airi." She was still in-game, playing a support character camped under the turret while her team's AD carry fended for themselves. She clearly wasn't focused she'd stopped healing entirely just to furiously type a reply to her teammate, probably mid argument. Still, at the sound of Haruka's voice, she flinched. "Haruka, this isn't what it looks like I'm not just playing games. I'm studying character design, you know? For inspiration! I'm full of ideas lately, really, I was just about to start thumbnailing for the next chapter—" She paused mid-sentence, suddenly remembering that she'd already turned in this week's manuscript. Her expression shifted to confusion. Then horror. "Wait... you're not here for next week's chapter, are you? But it's only Sunday—" "No, no," Haruka cut her off. "You're in the clear. I'm just used to being here on weekends, and I was bored, so I figured I'd stop by. As promised, since you actually hit your deadline for once, I won't nag you unless you try something reckless." Airi exhaled in relief and turned back to her screen, still bickering with her teammates using phrases like idiot, donkey, and worst ADC ever. Haruka winced. Yeah, maybe getting her out of the house more often wasn't such a bad idea. "Airi, seriously, you're too free these days," she said, watching the game unfold. "You should try finding a boyfriend or something might take your attention off flaming strangers online." Airi glanced up just long enough to catch her gaze and immediately shrank back into her seat under Haruka's glare. Quietly, she moved her character and resumed healing with forced focus. Haruka chuckled. She wasn't actually mad. "You really do want to go to driving school, huh?" "Mm!" Airi nodded quickly, far too enthusiastically. "Well... since Haruki's probably busy again today he's got two serializations and who knows what else how about this: I take you to driving school this afternoon, and afterward, we grab dinner and go shopping downtown? It's been a while since we went out for fun." Airi froze. She turned to look at her, face scrunched in instant horror. "No thanks!" she said immediately, recoiling like Haruka had offered her rotten sushi. "If Haruki doesn't message me, I'm just staying home and playing games!" Haruka felt like she'd just taken a direct hit. She turned me down... that fast? Ding-dong! Airi's phone lit up with a notification. She snatched it up and opened Line her face instantly brightened. It was a message from Haruki: I'm heading to driving school this afternoon. If you've got things to do or haven't finished your manuscript, don't worry about it. She typed her reply immediately, fingers flying: No worries! I'll be there on time! Haruka, watching the whole thing from her side, stared at her in disbelief. What the hell? She'd flat out rejected going with Haruka, but the second Haruki messaged, she lit up like it was Christmas. Is it just because he's the author of Initial D? Does she really trust him that much? Haruka didn't say anything, but the confusion was clear on her face. Of course, what she didn't know was Airi's real reason for being so enthusiastic about driving school lately. Learning to drift? Sure, that was part of it. But more importantly it was about playing LoL as a trio afterward. Solo queue was miserable. Duo queue was tolerable. But trio queue? That was where the fun really started. If she went with Haruka, She'd ruin everything. They couldn't form a full team. Worse what if Haruka suddenly decided to ban her from driving school again? That would be a disaster. No she couldn't risk it. Airi nodded to herself, steeling her resolve. Haruki or nothing. (TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon.com/Alioth23 for 55+ advanced chapters)

Chapter 168 - 166

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