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There was another lingering question in the minds of the readers: why would having a boyfriend mean she couldn't be with her "papa" anymore? In a normal family, those two things don't conflict. Was there some hidden tension or connection between them?

Haruma was, by nature, a relatively innocent person. Like many, he was used to works that didn't necessarily mirror the harsh, gritty realities of life. From the very first chapter of the manga, he had firmly believed that Natsuki and the man in the Mercedes were biological father and daughter.

You couldn't really blame him. In the parallel world, a huge portion of the Initial D fanbase had been caught off guard by this twist, with many young fans originally viewing the scenes between Natsuki and "Papa" as nothing more than wholesome, domestic moments.

Haruto had anticipated this confusion. To ensure his audience didn't misunderstand the nature of the relationship, he had added a specific, clarifying frame to the manga.

In the original story, Natsuki decided to break up with her "Sugar Daddy" because her feelings for Takumi had deepened, and she felt a crushing sense of guilt. She wanted a fresh start. In Haruto's version, he added a scene at the end of their final meeting in the parking lot.

The man, her former benefactor, leaned in for one final, lingering kiss.

And that was the exact moment Takumi pulled into the lot.

From twenty meters away, Takumi watched the girl he loved kissing a wealthy, middle-aged man in a luxury Mercedes.

Haruma sat in his room, his brain feeling as though it had just been scrambled. His expression mirrored Takumi's own look of utter shock.

'What on earth is this?'

But the surprises didn't stop there. The manga's perspective shifted to a villa where Shiraishi, Natsuki's classmate, was studying. In the original anime adaptation of Initial D, the identity of the person who sent the anonymous note was never explicitly confirmed, but the manga made it crystal clear.

Natsuki and Shiraishi had been best friends since middle school. The wealthy man Natsuki was seeing was none other than Shiraishi's own father. Shiraishi had sent the note to Takumi not out of a sense of justice, but as an act of pure, cold-blooded revenge against the girl who had torn her family apart.

As the manga presented this revelation through Shiraishi's flashbacks, Haruma's jaw dropped to the floor. Haruma felt his entire worldview, his understanding of the characters and the story, shatter into pieces.

'This... this is brutal. Poor Takumi. This is psychological warfare!'

The thought of the girl he adored having this kind of secret relationship behind his back, only for him to witness it with his own eyes... it was more than any fan could handle.

The final pages of the chapter showed Takumi leaving the parking lot with eyes burning with a cold, silent fury. He slammed the car into gear and roared toward Mt. Akagi. Originally, he had been hesitant about the challenge from Kyoichi Sudo, but now he was possessed by rage.

The chapter ended with the silhouette of the AE86 disappearing into the night.

Haruma slowly put down the copy of Weekly Prime, feeling as though the life had been sucked out of him.

His memory was excellent. He could recall almost every scene involving Natsuki from the beginning. He remembered her surprise in chapter one when she found out how little Takumi made at the gas station... and how she would always head to see "Papa" immediately after her dates with Takumi.

"This is torture!" Haruma yelled at his empty room. He was fuming. He immediately opened the fan group on his phone and navigated to Haruto's account on the AniSphere forums.

"Takahashi-sensei, why would you do this?"

"Natsuki is ruined. My goddess is gone."

"I feel so bad for Takumi right now."

"This chapter is officially a nuclear explosion."

"I've been reading manga for twenty years, and I've never seen a creator have the guts to make the main heroine a 'sugar baby'."

"Actually, I don't mind it. I'm here for the racing and Takumi's god-tier driving. I never liked Natsuki anyway."

"Remember what Itsuki said early on? 'Racers don't need women.' From Itsuki to Iketani, to Mako, and now Takumi... every character in this manga who tries to find love ends up in a tragedy."

"I'm so conflicted! I want to scream, but I can't even hate the author properly because it's Takahashi-sensei. I'm worried that if I complain too much, he'll reveal some hidden plot point that makes me look like an idiot later."

"What hidden plot point could there be? She was literally kissing the Mercedes guy! It's over!"

"My goddess Mogi... why? I was really looking forward to them finally becoming an official couple and having some sweet moments."

"Forget the sweet moments. Takumi needs to cut ties immediately. If he forgives her, I'm dropping this series."

"Actually, haven't you guys realized what Initial D is really about? On the surface, it's about cars, but it's actually a coming-of-age story for Takumi. Sensei is focusing on his psychological growth through hardship."

"Honestly, only Haruto could get away with this. If it were any other mangaka, I'd be organizing a mob to burn down their comment section. But because it's the guy who gave us Madoka and Sword Art Online, I'm holding back."

"You guys might be patient, but I'm not. This is a massive blunder. It's the biggest mistake in the series. He just dragged a masterpiece off its pedestal."

"I agree. A manga where the protagonist gets cheated on? That's too much. I don't care how good the racing is; the NTR is unforgivable."

"Wait, is it actually cheating? Natsuki knew the benefactor first. Technically, Takumi is the 'third wheel' who stepped into her life with the Mercedes guy. The Sugar Daddy is paying her bills while she's out having a secret romance with a young guy like Takumi. Isn't the Mercedes guy the one who's actually getting played?"

"Holy crap... when you put it like that, I actually feel bad for the Sugar Daddy. He spent the money and still lost the girl's heart."

"..."

"That's actually a valid point. Takumi is the 'younger man' in a complicated affair."

"And the timing of the cliffhanger is classic. Takumi sees the kiss and immediately has to go race at Mt. Akagi. I'm terrified for his mental state right now."

"Dammit, another legendary 'Takahashi Cut'."

The latest chapter of Initial D sent a shockwave through the manga community. No one who read it came away unscathed. However, because Haruto's fanbase was a complex mix of light novel, manga, and anime fans, the reaction was tempered.

While the manga purists were outraged.

Haruto spent the day at home, monitoring the feedback on his creator accounts. When he realized that the general sentiment was "frustrated but still engaged" rather than "hateful and quitting," he let out a long sigh of relief. The fans were complaining about the plot, but almost no one was threatening to drop the series. He had successfully pushed the boundaries of the readers' patience without breaking them.

"It seems... okay," Shizuru said that evening, nervously checking her own social media. Since she was only the illustrator, the fans were much kinder to her, mostly offering words of encouragement and telling her to keep up the hard work.

"I have to say, manga fans are surprisingly resilient," Haruto laughed. He knew this arc would be controversial. The Natsuki and "Papa" subplot was a vital catalyst for Takumi's evolution. It was the anger and betrayal that led to the engine blowout during the race with Kyoichi Sudo, a failure that finally forced Takumi to understand what racing meant to him.

Haruto could have sanitized the story, but he felt that would be a disservice to the work. If Initial D was to remain relevant in Japan for years to come, it needed these kinds of iconic, albeit painful moments.

However, Haruto didn't plan on a total carbon copy. In the original manga, Takumi eventually forgave Natsuki and they continued a strained relationship until she left Mt. Akina to pursue her own life. Haruto found that resolution unsatisfying. Instead, he planned to follow the logic of the live-action film adaptation: Takumi would find clarity through the pain and cut ties with Natsuki permanently, dedicating himself entirely to the world of racing.

The following morning, Manga Prime was met with complaints from fans.

They accused the editors of being lazy and failing to rein in Haruto's "wild" impulses. To the fans, Haruto was a genius who could do no wrong, so the blame for a "painful" chapter had to fall on the editorial staff.

The editorial and management departments were under immense pressure. However, when the weekly vote data was finalized, their headaches turned into smiles. Initial D remained in first place with 3 million votes.

Not only had the numbers not dropped, but they had actually increased by several tens of thousands compared to the previous week.

The data told the truth. Even if the fans were screaming on the forums, they were still voting. It was like a parent who gets angry at a child but could never actually disown them. The editors realized that this week's storm had passed, but they were already bracing for the next one. They knew what was coming in the next chapter.

The "Ghost of Akina" was about to suffer a catastrophic engine failure on the Mt. Akagi pass.

"These fans... they complain with their mouths but vote with their hearts," one editor noted.

"Takahashi-sensei is just too headstrong," another sighed. "We've tried to tell him that having the heroine be a 'sugar baby' and having the protagonist lose is a massive risk. We told him it wasn't necessary. But he didn't listen."

"That's the privilege of a genius. He knows he's the king. He's the reason our circulation jumped from 13 million to 14.5 million. He can whatever he wants, even if it risks a backlash."

"Besides, where is he going to go? If he stops drawing manga, he can just write novels. If he stops that, he has his own animation studio. He has so many safety nets that he's free to create exactly what he wants. Honestly, I'm jealous of the kid."

For a day, the

manga world was consumed by the Initial D twist. Meanwhile, as the news fermented, Haruto's novel and anime fans began to hear the rumors.

Takumi Fujiwara got cheated on.

This news was a source of great amusement for the Sword Art Online fans. They flooded the forums with playful, mocking comments.

"Thank God our Sword Art Online plot is stable and wholesome. Pure romance for the win! My condolences to the Initial D fans."

Haruto, seeing these comments, could only manage a strange, pitying expression.

You guys are celebrating way too early.

If nothing else, Initial D and Sword Art Online were brothers-in-arms when it came to "NTR" adjacent drama. While Haruto planned to heavily tone down or even delete the more depraved scenes involving Sugou Nobuyuki's obsession with Asuna during the ALO arc, the core of the conflict remained the same. The heroine's soul would be held captive by a creep for months. Even without the explicit details, the readers were going to suffer.

Right now, the Sword Art Online fans were mocking the Initial D fans. In a few months, the roles would likely be reversed.