Today was the semi-final round; in another word, it was the second last day til the end of the Shinto's Cup and only ten people were able to participate in the race. The ten included were Sakura, Syaoran, Lei, Eriol, Meiling, and Tomoyo.
The race in this round was a grip-race. This race however, differed from any other races from previous rounds. Not only it started in a late afternoon but the contestants had to drive amid civilians' cars on the road. It was clear that the winning would not be easy. The drivers need to utilise their advance skills and experiences to win the race. They had to avoid hitting the civilians' cars while driving at a high speed, at the same time, maintaining their position in the race. In Sakura's opinion, this round proved to be stimulating and challenging, yet thrilling.
Currently it was near midday. Sakura had agreed to meet up with Lei for a lunch before they headed out to the starting point.
"Hey Cherry!" Lei jogged over to table.
"Hi!"
"Sorry I'm a late," he apologised and he sat down on the chair. Sakura shook her head and smiled.
"It's okay, I'm a little early. Excited about the race, you know."
Lei grinned.
The two conversed about different topics as they ate their lunch. When they done, Lei looked at Sakura with a serious expression on his face.
"Cherry, I want to ask you about something."
"Sure, what is it?" she asked.
"I—Well…this is hard," he scratched the back of his head and gave her a nervous smile. Sakura tilted her head in perplexity. Mustering his courage, Lei clear his throat. "I…like you, Cherry."
"I like you too, Lei," she smiled.
He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "That's not what I meant. That is…I like like you."
She blushed and gave him a silent 'O'. Lei continued on.
"The first time we've met, I thought you were cute and I, of course wanted to get to know you more, except you left before we could start a decent conversation. But then I meet you again at the tag-race comp., and I knew it then I have to talk to you more than just five minutes. I was glad that we were tag-partner, and you considered me as your friend.
"I first thought it was just a normal attraction but I couldn't get you out of my mind. It was my friend that made me understand that I like you more than just a friend. When my team-leader announced about the Shinto's Cup, my only thought was that I hope to see you again, and I'm glad that I did. You're such a great girl Cherry, and I was wondering…" he paused before looking at her with hope in his eyes. "Will you go out with me?"
Sakura gasped, her cheeks redden. "Umm—I…" She trailed off and then gave him a sad smile. "Thank you Lei, but I'm sorry I can't go out with you. I already have a boyfriend." Lei sigh dejectedly. Sakura reached out and grabbed his hand on the table.
"You're a wonderful person Lei," she assured him. "You're funny, charming, not to mention cute, many of girls will be thrill to go out with you."
"You know, a guy doesn't like to be call 'cute'," he smiled lightly.
"Okay fine. You're handsome, dazzling, hot, gorgeous…" Lei shuddered at the last word. "Pretty, beautiful?"
He grimaced. Sakura giggled. "What about—"
"Good-looking is enough, thanks."
She laughed.
"Thank you, for trying to make me feel better."
Sakura smiled and patted his hand softly. "I'm sorry that I can't return your feelings but I hope we're still friends?"
"Of course, you can't get rid of me that easily!" He grinned weakly.
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When Sakura and Lei reached the starting point, they found the place was already packed. They parked in the contestants' area and got out of the car and walked towards the starting area which was crowded with racers and judges.
"Now that everyone's here, I'll like to get started on the plan for today's race. I'm Ricky, one of your judges for the day," he paused and looked around, making sure he had everyone's attention. "As you may already know, you'll be participating in the grip-race, and only the first five who reaches the finish line will be able to go on to the final-round. You'll be driving among the civilians in this race, so please be careful out there, we don't want any….casualties," his co-judges chuckled slightly. Ricky sighed and shook his head, knowing exactly why they were laughing.
"Casualties?" one of the contestants said skeptically.
Ricky shrugged, "Yes, casualties. It happened before…and no, I'm not going to tell how," he said before someone asked 'what happened'. He unrolled a piece of cardboard and spread it out on the table, pinning each side with a rock. "This is a map which shows the routes where you'll be driving today."
The ten contestants gathered around the table, with Ricky stood in the middle. Sakura noted that it was a map of the city of Shinto. There was a long red line going around the street routes, which she assumed to be the racing routes.
"Yes, the red line is the routes which you'll be taking. Here", he pointed. "The circle is where the starting line is, which is where we are now, and the cross is where you'll be finished. You'll start by driving through Argyle Street and then you need to turn into the West Kowloon high-way. You'll exit at the Tsing Yi Road, following along the path," Ricky traced the red line that twisted left and right.
"In which you'll end up on Ting Kau Bridge. Here, I want you to take the down route to Tai Lam Tunnel. Remember, down and not up. The tunnel will lead you back to Kwai Chung Road; take the second round-about and turn left where it'll direct you back here, to the finish line. Any question?"
"How the hell are we suppose to remember all of that? There're too many turns and streets."
"Ah that," Ricky smiled. "This year you'll be issued with a GPS. The routes have already been programmed into those GPS."
"This year?"
"Yes, the thing is—", he paused. "How should I—you guys are the lab-rats," he said it bluntly, grinning at the reactions of the racers. "The R&D team of the SRC has been working on the GPS quietly, and it's only finished earlier this year. The Directors wanted to test out those GPS, so…that's where you guys come in."
"You mean, it hasn't been tested?" someone called out incredulously.
"Well, I can't say for certain. I'm sure it has been but who knows…the SRC are not known to be sane."
"Are you saying that the GPS might break down or have a glitch during the race?"
"Sure, if you're unlucky enough," Ricky shrugged.
Sakura gaped.
First, they were lab-rats for the SRC! Then the GPS could break down in the middle of the race, and she could be lost in gods know where! She wasn't 100 percent sure about the streets and roads around the city; she hadn't been exploring that much!
Good lord, I have to memorise this map by heart.
With that thought in mind, she concentrated on the red line on the map with street and road names surrounding it.
"I don't like this at all. Can't you give us a map with the marked routes or something?" Meiling complained.
"Ah, great minds think alike," he winked at her. "But according to the them, 'that'll defeat the purpose of GPS testing'."
"You have gotto be kidding me! We could lose because of that damnable thing?"
"Like I said earlier, 'if you're unlucky enough'. So, I advice you all to start praying for the good GPS," he grinned. "That reminds me, in another 5 minutes, our tech staffs will start installing the GPS into your car."
"How do you know people won't cheat and take different routes to win the race?" someone asked.
"We have people around the areas, if you didn't turn up then we'll know."
About 15 minutes later, ten cars were split equally, lining up in two rows, waiting for the signal to start the race. Tomoyo and Lei were lucky; their numbers were picked and ended up at the front. Sakura and Syaoran were in the middle, and Meiling and Eriol were behind them.
Sakura glanced over at her GPS which she asked them to install on the headboard, in front of her.
I can't believe I have to rely on this little thing that could be breaking in any minute. What were the SRC people thinking?
She sighed, watching the green dot flashing non-stop. Shaking her head slightly, she looked straight to the front.
A girl with long black hair, wearing a silver tank top and a black miniskirt walked up to the starting line. She stopped and stood in the empty space where it separated the cars into two rows. She held a green flag above her head and then she started counting down using a mic. Once she said the word 'GO', she dropped her flagged hand, and all ten cars zoomed pass her.
Sakura was following closely behind Syaoran's car. She kept her middle position but once she had reached the high-way, she and all of the other cars accelerated. The cars behind her sped past her and took the front position. With both the civilians' and the contestants' cars, the four lane high-way look filled up.
Sakura increased her speed and changed into the right lane. She swerved right into the opposite lane and back again, she did it once more and sped up, overtaking the car in front of her. Keeping the current speed she overtook more cars in front of her. She glanced at the GPS and saw that the red lines kept going straight for several metres.
She drove following the road leisurely, overtaking cars when she could, and not paying much attention to the GPS. Once she thought it was time to leave the highway, she checked the GPS for confirmation. She cursed. The red line on the GPS showed she only had a few metres to go before she had to get ready to exit the high-way.
This was going to be a close call. Looking into the review mirror, she saw the back car was getting closer but she had to risk it. Without further thought, she swiftly swung her car to the left lane and then proceeded to exit the highway, barely missing from colliding with the back car.
Sakura let out a relieve sigh, she had nearly missed the exit. She decided she should pay more attention from now on. The last time was too close for comfort. She drove following the red line from the GPS, twisting and turning left and right, avoiding running into other cars. She sharply turned into the marked street, after some car, which led to the Bridge. She looked at the other lane and blinked in confusion. The car that went passed her was familiar looking. And then she remembered that it belonged to one of the contestant, and it was going the opposite way.
Oh…I guess that means 8 more cars left to beat.
She was, finally on the Bridge. She remembered distinctly that Ricky told everyone to go down the road and not up, so clearly she was puzzled when her opponent's car in front of her went up the road. She shook her head, and wondered how long that person would realise that he went the wrong way.
She drove into the tunnel, seeing it was empty and the path was straight, she accelerated. Some time later, she caught up with another car. She smiled in delight, and sped up even more and then overtook that car.
Knowing the road would be straight for a while, Sakura accelerated even more. A few minutes later, she was out of the tunnel and into the empty road. She swerved left and let the car drifted a little, following the curve of the road. She picked up more speed and raced down the straight path. She drove straight passed the first round about, and once she reached the second one, she did a left sharp turn without slowing down.
At the moment she was on Kwai Chung Road and from the GPS, she knew the finish line was close. Sakura estimated that right now, she was in the sixth position. She needed to find the fifth car and overtake it soon. Sakura grinned when she saw two red round lights in front of her. She shifted into a higher gear, the red lights were getting closer and closer, and then she was directly behind it.
The driver in front of her saw her, and sped up. Sakura matched its speed without missing a beat. Looking at the GPS again, she saw a red cross-marking the end, within 500 metres. She knew that she had to act now or she'd lose the race.
Sakura swerved right in the two lane road but the front car blocked her way. She went back to the left lane, and again the car in front of followed her back, blocking her in the process. Sakura did it over and over, but she was blocked every single time. She was getting frustrated as the finish line looming closer and closer. She had at least 200 metres left to overtake the damnable car in front of her.
Sakura stayed in her position, thinking of a way to beat the one in front her. She looked left and right but there was nothing she could use for her advantage. The finished line was at least 50 metres away when she thought of something, however she only one chance. She slowed down a little, leaving at least 3 metres between her car and the one in front.
30
20
10
The crowd was cheering wildly as she got close to the finish line, but Sakura ignore it and concentrate on only in one thing. She waited until it was around 5 metres until the finish line when she took a sharp right swerve, pressing hard on the gas pedal. She thanked Touya in her mind for insisting her to install this engine for her baby. Though it was costly but now, it was worth all the money she spent. The engine enabled her to increase the speed in a short time.
By now it was too late for that car to do anything. Sakura overtook the car easily and finished the race a few seconds before the other car.
She stopped her car and parked next to other cars. She leaned onto the steering wheel and let out a huge relieve. The race was too close. She had just made the top five with only seconds to spare. Sakura stepped out of the car, just as the crowd went crazy. She joined the other winners at the seat around Ricky. Lei stood up and congratulated her on her winning. He teased her on her close-call. Sakura smacked his arm playfully. They laughed and talked until all the contestants had made to the finish line.
Sakura glanced over at Syaoran's direction and saw him talking with his friends. She smiled at him and at the Meiling's antics. Syaoran felt someone was looking at him, he looked over at her direction and their eyes met. She gasped in surprise before turning away. His eyes continued to roam her over her before he looked away.
"Ah-hem. Testing, testing. Does this thing wo—" Ricky tapped the microphone, making a loud screech causing everyone to flinched. "Ah, I guess it does," he laughed, while his mates rolled their eyes. He ignored them and stepped onto the hand-made stage. "Thank you, lads and lasses for coming! But most importantly, thank you, racers for tonight's entertainment." The audiences broke into a loud applause with some wolf whistling.
"First, I'd like to congratulate our top five winners. In fifth place, a very close one at that, we have Cherry! Fourth place, from The Emperor – Eriol; third place, from our neighbouring city – Tien; another from our neighbouring city in second place – Lei! Last but not least, our first winner, Xiao Lang, from the Emperor!" The crowd erupted into a loud cheer.
"As for those who didn't make it; thank you for your participation and see you next year! Ah before anyone goes anywhere, I'd like to talk to our ten contestants. That's all for tonight, please check SRC site for more info regarding the final rounds. Good night all!" He switched the microphone off as he stepped down from the stage. The crowd started to disperse.
"Ah, congrats again to those who make it to the final round!" He grinned, motioning them to gather around him. "I'd like to explain some rules for the final round. The race will be on Sunday morning, starting at 10 however, you five need to get here an hour earlier. It's going to be a drag-race, and the names will be randomly picked just before the race. The venue is at the Shinto's race-course no. 0."
"Zero? You sure? I only heard from 1 onwards."
"It's a special race-course, specifically design for this. It's much larger than the other with better course structure. Anything else?"
Seeing no one reply, he nodded and then smirked. "Sooo…how's the GPS people?"
Upon hearing that, two people let out an angry scream.
"That bloodything led me to the next city!"
"It made me return to the starting line!"
Ricky bit his cheeks from laughing. "Ah too bad huh—I mean sorry dudes, better luck next time eh." Without waiting for replies, he turned to the others. "So this means, the other 8 is okay? No problem?" They shook their heads in negative. Ricky clapped his hands and grinned. "Excellent. Well, thank you all for testing those devices. Our tech staff will uninstall it now. Good luck in the finals and good night." He waved and left, leaving people gaping after him.
Sakura sigh and shook her head. She felt…used.
The ten contestants started towards their cars where team of tech staffs were waiting at their cars. Sakura and Lei walked behind Syaoran, Eriol, Meiling, and Tomoyo.
"It's too bad I didn't make it." Meiling sighed.
"There's always next year." Tomoyo said optimistically.
"That's the spirit!" Eriol grinned, kissing his girlfriend on the cheek. Sakura who was behind them smiled in amusement.
"What are you smiling about now?" Lei teased.
"Oh nothing, really." He looked at her in disbelieve but let it go. They had reached their cars and had unlocked their cars for the tech team.
"Well in any case," Meiling clapped her hands together. "Let's celebrate for two victories tonight!"
Tomoyo and Eriol nodded while Syaoran sigh but didn't refuse. Sakura was now standing next to her open driver-side door, with Lei standing next to her, and Syaoran's car parked on her left.
Syaoran flipped out his phone and pressed on a button.
"Who are you calling at this time?" Meiling asked but before he could answer, a ring tone was heard.
"Hey Cherry, I think it's your phone." Lei said.
"Oh, thanks." She took out her phone and let out a loud 'eep'. Syaoran looked at her and then at her phone curiously.
"Its erm…m-my brother. I err…I need to go, well errm…bye!" She clutched her phone tightly in her hand and quickly slipped into the car. She did a reverse and drove away.
She pressed the green button. "H-hello?"
"Sakura, is that you?"
Cursing silently, she cleared her throat. "Syaoran?"
"Yeah,"
"What's up? I thought you have a race tonight?"
"Yeah, we've finished."
"Oh, how did it go? I bet you came first!"
He chuckled. "Yes, but it wasn't that hard."
"Aww, how modest," she giggled. "What about the others?"
"Well…Mei wants to celebrate tonight, do you want to come? You can ask the others then."
"Ooh sounds good! Can you pick me up?"
"Of course, I'll be there in half an hour okay?"
"'Kay. Love you!"
Syaoran grinned. "Love you too." And they both hung up.
Sakura let out a huge sigh of relief and tossed the phone onto the passenger seat.
"Note to self: Must turn the phone off before the race at all times!"
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