Chapter 041

Girls and Cars Only Mix on the Covers of Magazines (イライラするぜ拓海の女ボケ, Iraira Suru ze Takumi no Onna Boke) is the forty-first chapter of Initial D.

Plot
At the gas station, Itsuki tells Iketani and Kenji about Takumi's aloofness. They suspect that Takumi might be nervous about the upcoming race, but Itsuki doubts it as he doesn't usually let it affect him. Kenji wonders if Takumi has a girlfriend, as he says that a friend had seen the Eight-Six with a girl in it at Lake Akina.

In Ikaho, Takumi and Natsuki talk about cars. Natsuki jokingly calls Takumi a pervert, catching him off guard. She asks him to promise not to get into an accident.

At night Itsuki and Takumi head to Mount Akina. Itsuki asks Takumi about the girl he's seeing, almost crashing when he hears Takumi had kissed her. They pull over, and Takumi tells him that he's been thinking about what happens after the battle.

Elsewhere on the mountain, Keisuke is practicing the downhill run. He sees a car in his rearview mirror, and decides he wants a race. The other driver reciprocates, and the two begin their battle.

Japan

 * May 13th 1996 (Weekly Young Magazine, 1996 Volume 21-22)
 * August 6th 1996 (Tankōbon, Volume 04)

Chinese

 * April 1st 1998 (Tankōbon, Volume 04, Sharp Point Press)

English

 * October 22nd 2002 (Tankōbon, Volume 04, Tokyopop)
 * April 17th 2019 (Digital re-release, Volume 04, Kodansha USA)

French

 * August 27th 2009 (Tankōbon, Volume 04, Kazé)

Italian

 * March 28th 2023 (Tankōbon 2-in-1, Volume 02, J-Pop)

Polish

 * April 2023 (Tankōbon 2-in-1, Volume 02, J. P. Fantastica)

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * Koichiro Iketani
 * Kenji
 * Itsuki Takeuchi
 * Natsuki Mogi
 * Takumi Fujiwara
 * Keisuke Takahashi
 * Takeshi Nakazato

Cars (in order of appearance)

 * Toyota Corolla Levin SR (AE85)
 * Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type R (FD3S)
 * Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (BNR32) (Interior only)

Tokyopop/Kodansha USA version

 * In the Kodansha USA release, several sound effect text bubbles have placeholder text.