The ride back up the hill was spent in silence, Shigure not having anything to say to Shimakaze at this point in time.
The sweat was starting to drench her uniform, and she had to try to find a patch of cloth that she could use to wipe her forehead and face without looking indecent.
She was reconsidering her hypothesis as the motor and rollers underneath the escalator whirred monotonously.
But wait. Could it be that she's running from something?vIt'd still make sense. If someone sank because of her, her inexperience in dealing with such matters, along with the guilt weighing down on her and her love for speed would mean she'd likely run away from her problems and not face them.
Shigure thought, resting her cheek on her left fist and remembering Shimakaze looking exceptionally distraught when she saw the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers enjoying each other's company.
The fact that everyone wouldn't want to ask about your problems would also make sense, because they'd want to "tactfully" leave you alone.
The escalator ride ended there, the two destroyers got driving away from the escalator and maneuvering onto the car-park.
Shigure concluded,
I could be wrong, but I'm quite certain that I'm right. You've lost somebody close to you in the past, and that's why you don't form close bonds so that you'd never be hurt like that again. If the ship girl in question is a destroyer, there's also a possibility of Shimakaze seeing her as a pseudo-sister ship, making the loss even more devastating along with loneliness of being one-of-a-kind. I guess there's only one way to find out.
Shigure pulled up beside Shimakaze at the starting line, and held down her brake pedal.
The Shimakaze-Class destroyer asked Shigure, who hadn't yet put on her helmet.
"Aren't you going to put on your helmet?"
To which Shigure responded,
"It isn't your fault she sank. But no matter how fast you run, you can't run from your ghosts forever."
Causing Shimakaze to freeze up and her muscles to tense as her knuckles coiled around the steering wheel.
Shigure's ears picked up Shimakaze's breath stopping, as simply thought,
I see.
Shigure buckled her helmet, the audio system in the helmet now playing,
"Chris Stanton — A Perfect Hero"
As she saw Shimakaze come back to her senses, jabbing the "Talk" button to speak in her microphone, silently furious as she sneered,
"We talkin', or we racin'?"
Shigure simply stared at the road ahead of her, concentrating on going even faster than before and tuning everything else out.
The green light came on and the two destroyers started the race for the third time, their brake lights coming on as they approached the corner and left four brilliant red streaks as the two destroyers disappeared behind a corner.
K: "Akio, did you get a good look at those two destroyers, Shigure and Shimakaze?"
A: "..."
K: "Akio?"
A: "... One sec, I'm calling the police to report a pedophile in the area, HAH!"
K: "... This is serious, dude."
A: "..."
K: "Did you see their eyes, dude?"
A: "... Yeah."
K: "Like, I know they're ship girls, but, like, they're still kids, man. Not even teenagers, and they're capable of those ferocious and completely focused looks."
A: "..."
K: "..."
A: "... Kousuke?"
K: "Yeah?"
A: "Remember the good ol' days?"
K: "What good ol' days?"
A: "When Man made war with Man."
K: "... Those days are over, man."
A: "Yeah, but when did we become so comfortable with sending little girls out to fight wars?"
K: "Kid soldiers ain't new man."
A: " You get the point."
K: "Yeah, well, so did the rest of humanity, and you know what the terrifying thing is?"
A: "What?"
K: "How quickly almost everyone got used to it."
A: "Amen to that."
Shigure was struggling here.
Somehow, Shimakaze was now going even faster, reducing the braking distance and using the resistance of the moving parts in the go-kart, her heavy weight and the expert handling of the steering wheel to engine brake upon entering a corner and accelerating when exiting the corner.
This gave her the impression of blurring when exiting a high-speed corner and vanishing from Shigure's sight, even if for a moment before Shigure caught up with her.
Shigure thought to herself.
Alright, so it's pretty much confirmed that rather than dealing with her, she runs away from everything and hopes that it'll go away. Not a good idea, but then, seeing that I haven't been in her shoes and lost a sister of mine, who am I to judge?
Her helmet was playing,
'"M.o.v.e. — Dogfight'"
Shigure was secretly pleased about the choice of music stirring her fighting spirit, excitedly shifting up as she exited another corner as the gap between her and Shimakaze only gradually widened.
I'm already hitting 100 km/h and I'm getting scared! How is she going even faster than I am and not breaking a sweat? Alright, alright, she's going to dominate the high-speed corners with her engine braking. But at the second section of the course, I can catch up with her before the large corner, and then hope that I can somehow maintain the lead throughout the final section.
A small funnel of flames burst out from Shimakaze's exhaust pipe before she disappeared behind another corner, Shigure desperately trying to keep up with the go-kart before her, who was almost three go-kart lengths before her.
Throughout the second section of the course, Shigure concentrated on hugging every corner whenever possible, looking at Shimakaze and thinking,
I want to help her, but if things go on like this race, she'll distance herself from me, and I'll have lost my chance. I can't let that happen! I'll do ANYTHING in my power to prevent that from happening!
Shigure's eyes never wavered from the tail lights of Shimakaze's go-kart.
And that's when Shimakaze decided enough was enough.
About two-thirds into the second section, when Shigure was about half a go-kart's length from Shimakaze, she suddenly saw Shimakaze's brake lights flash.
Shigure's fear of crashing instantly kicked in and she released the accelerator out of self-preservation instincts.
But as Shigure slowed down, Shimakaze's brake lights instantly turned off, being turned on for barely a tenth of a second with a gentle press of the brake pedal to psyche her pursuer out.
Shigure cursed herself mentally and shifted gears to compensate for her lower speed, noting that the second section of the map was coming to an end, and she mentally sighed as she prepared herself for a second loss.
Shimakaze left Shigure in the dust as the distance between them now equaled three and a half car lengths, the song,
"Manuel — Gas Gas Gas"
Playing in her ears.
She estimated that Shimakaze was going about 120 km/h, and Shigure could only watch in despair as Shimakaze pulled ahead of her with no hints of even pressing down on her brakes as she disappeared behind another corner in a flash of blue, white and silver, blonde trails following the blitzing comet down its unstoppable downhill descent.
Shigure was speechless at Shimakaze's timing, the destroyer already leaving her in the dust and was still hadn't broken her fastest record?
It boggled her mind how fast Shimakaze could go when she got serious.
And she was lost on how to approach the final lap as she rode the escalator, sitting in her go-kart and looking at the scenery while appreciating the break as she calmed her heart down.
Shimakaze sat before her and didn't look back, already writing the final lap off as a win. Her three sisters would be waiting at the top of the hill when the destroyer duo finished the fourth lap.
Her sisters didn't feel the need to waste their hard-earned money on a fourth lap, and Kousuke agreed to refund them the appropriate amount when they regrouped after the third run.
And Shimakaze…
Honestly, she got really lucky by getting this chance to race with Shimakaze on more or less equal ground, where the natural advantage of Shimakaze's speed and their stats were irrelevant here.
But Shimakaze had her extraordinary racing skills which Shigure saw as a significant factor in the downhill battle.
Now what did Shigure have?
Shigure was undoubtedly lighter than the Shimakaze-Class destroyer despite both of them being destroyers.
Of course.
Shigure came to a conclusion after brainstorming.
Shigure was fighting a battle which Shimakaze was undoubtedly familiar with, but just how far had she been pushed while in her comfort zone?
If she always won, then Shigure wondered how would she hold up mentally should she face the possibility of losing while being pushed to the brink.
Well, Shigure thought, It isn't as if my chances of winning and taking it to a round five is absolutely zero. I just need a way to beat her…
And looking at Shimakaze, she tried to think like Shimakaze.
To leave everything behind in pursuit of speed.
Fear.
Pain.
Sadness.
To leave these burdens behind, and go faster.