Scene 1 - Coastal Sendai, Spring Night
A soft drizzle hung over the boardwalk.
Cherry petals clung to the streetlights like moths that refused to leave.
Farther down the coast, a transistor radio hummed faintly inside a ramen shop called Harbor Noodles.
A handwritten sign swayed above the door:
OPEN LATE. DRIVE SAFE.
Inside, the air smelled of soy, sea, and rain.
Steam rose from a single pot, drifting through the yellow light and pooling at the ceiling.
Behind the counter stood a tall man in a white apron. His sleeves were rolled to the elbow, his hands moving in a pattern too steady to notice.
Every slice of the knife, every turn of the ladle - clean, practiced, silent.
The locals called him Master Teo.
No one knew much else.
He spoke only to correct the angle of a bowl or the temperature of the broth. His eyes carried the kind of stillness that came from watching too many finish lines fade in the rearview.
In the corner, a small holo-screen played an old street-racing documentary.
A voiceover whispered from the static:
"Mount Kurage - the hill where legends burned rubber,
and ghosts still chase corners."
Teo glanced once at the screen, then turned the volume down.
Scene 2 - Behind the Shop
Outside, beneath a flickering streetlight, Kenta Yamaguchi loaded crates of noodle bowls into a beige van - the Bento Box.
The backseat smelled like broth and old cardboard.
Kenta: "Last delivery, old man!"
Teo: "Careful on the curves."
Kenta: "You say that like the curves care."
Teo didn't answer. He slid a steaming bowl across the counter.
"Respect the road, and the road respects you."
Kenta saluted weakly.
"Yes, sir. Ramen philosopher."
Then he climbed into the van.
The rain had stopped, but mist still clung to the cliffs.
Scene 3 - Mount Kurage, Midnight
The mountain road coiled above the sea like a silver ribbon.
Guardrails gleamed faintly in the fog.
Kenta's van climbed, headlights slicing through drifting blossoms.
A cassette player rattled in the dash, its music worn and distant - the kind that sounds like memory instead of melody.
He reached for a cup of noodles on the seat beside him. It rolled onto the floor.
"Great," he muttered. "Just great."
He slowed to grab it - and saw them.
A row of silhouettes under the mist.
Engines idling.
Underglow washing the fog in color.
A dozen cars lined along the guardrail - sleek, loud, exhaust pipe's rattling.
Someone pointed.
"That's him. The van. The Ghost of Kurage."
Kenta blinked.
"The what?"
A white coupe pulled up beside him - old lines, tofu shop decals.
The driver grinned through tinted glass.
"Didn't think you'd come back, old man. Let's see if you've still got it."
Kenta tried to protest.
"I'm just-"
The flag dropped.
Engines roared.
Scene 4 - The Downhill
The white car lunged forward.
Kenta's van jerked, tires squealing in panic.
The road curved sharply, fog swallowing both headlights and reason.
"No, no, no, no..."
He braked too late - the van slid, found traction, and somehow straightened itself.
Every turn became survival.
Every correction, an apology.
"Sorry-coming through-sorry again!"
Halfway down, wind tore a ramen billboard from its frame.
It swung loose, crashed across the curve - right in front of the rival's hood.
The white car swerved and spun out.
Kenta's van skidded past sideways, the world tilting, the noodles miraculously upright.
When the tires finally screamed to a stop, silence fell like a curtain.
Only the faint hiss of steam filled the air.
Scene 5 - The Birth of a Legend
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
Then a voice broke through.
"No way... it's him. The tofu ghost lives."
The crowd erupted.
Phones lit the fog.
The van sat still, engine ticking, as Kenta rolled down his window.
"Uh... sorry?"
That was all it took.
Someone yelled, "He apologized in character!"
And the myth began again.
Scene 6 - Back at Harbor Noodles
Hours later, the bell above the shop door chimed.
Teo looked up from the sink.
Kenta stepped in, soaked and pale, holding a cracked takeout box.
Teo: "You made the delivery?"
Kenta: "Yeah. And... maybe something else."
On the holo-screen, a news anchor read from a headline:
Mystery Van Conquers Kurage. The Tofu Ghost Returns.
Teo's hand paused over the dishwater. His eyes flicked to the screen, then back to the bowl.
He didn't speak.
Steam rose between them, carrying the quiet like a memory that refused to fade.
Narrator:
"In the coastal spring of Sendai,
the road remembered a name
it was never supposed to forget."
Title Card: SENDai LIGHTS - The Gentleman Drift