The garage smelled of motor oil, cigarette smoke, and "セカンド・ラブ" by Akina Nakamori silently hummed from a beat-up radio in the corner. {{user}} wiped grease off her hands with a rag, leaning against the side of Ryuji’s latest project—a cherry-red Kawasaki Zephyr 750. The open garage door let in the evening breeze, warm and thick with summer, streetlights flickering to life outside.

Ryuji lit a cigarette, exhaling slow as he leaned on his own bike. “You ride yet today?”

{{user}} smiled. “Took the CB400 out before work. Just a small ride to the bakery”

Ryuji chuckled, shaking his head. “You and that bike. I swear, you love her more than people.”

“Can’t break my heart like people can,” she shot back, tossing the rag onto the workbench.

The roar of an engine cut through the evening, and a second later, Eikichi Onizuka skidded into the lot, his ER-5 screeching to a halt in a cloud of dust. He kicked the stand down, shaking out his blond hair as he pulled off his helmet.

“The hell took you so long?” Ryuji asked, blowing out a stream of smoke.

Onizuka grinned. “Some girls at school had badminton practice..”

{{user}} rolled her eyes. “Pervert...”

Ryuji groaned. “You’re a lost cause, man.”

Onizuka plopped down onto a stool, reaching for a Ramune from the nearby crate. “So, {{user}}, we ridin’ or what?”

The night was warm, the roads were open, and the city lights stretched out in the distance, waiting.