Mars: Horse With No Name

Mars: Horse With No Name (MARS外伝 名前のない馬) is a manga written by Fuyumi Soryo, and the prequel to Mars. The manga is about Rei and Tatsuya's first meeting and how they became friends.

Synopsis
The manga starts on the first day of high school. Tatsuya is excited, thinking that for once he'll be the most popular student in class, but the minute he walks in, he meets Rei Kashino. Rei coldly asks Tatsuya who he's staring at, and Tatsuya apologizes to him. Only when he sits down he thinks that that was a dumb decision, as he wanted to seem cool. Rei sits in front of Tatsuya, and Tatsuya is instantly annoyed by him. Rei introduces himself to the class, saying he has amnesia so he doesn't remember much of his past. After class, the other students talk about Rei, calling him a wuss. Harumi Sugihara finds him cool however, saying that him keeping his past a secret is really mysterious. Tatsuya thinks Harumi is shallow and looks out the window. Outside, walking to the school is Kira Aso. Tatsuya and Kira attended the same middle school, and he has a crush on her but lacks the courage to tell her While at home listening to the radio, he hears a song that he really likes, but can't figure out what the name is. The next day, Tatsuya laments that high school so far hasn't been very different from middle school. He does take note of how attractive Rei is, but thinks he shouldn't get too cocky with the girls. Tatsuya notices Kira outside again, and sees her accidentally drop a key in the gutter. He says in his mind for her to call the janitor, but Rei walks by and picks up the sewer grate to fish it out. Rei only asks for some money in return, and for her name so he can pay her back later. Tatsuya gets angry at Rei for doing it instead of him, but gets more angry at himself for not acting when he saw she needed help. Tatsuya laments that he is a wuss. Later, Tatsuya is talking with some other boys at a cafe about Rei. Rumor has it Rei is with a third year girl (equivalent to junior year), and is even sleeping with her. The third year girl already has a boyfriend however, their friend Atsushi, so the other boys go off to teach him a lesson. Before they get very far however, they see Rei take on four guys at once and win. Realizing they don't have a chance against Rei, they call it off. Tatsuya notices a bracelet Rei had around his arm on the ground however, and picks it up. Tatsuya remembers the bracelet is very important to Rei, and thinks he might be able to gain leverage against him with it. The next day, Tatsuya wants to call Rei out, but the other boys, remembering what they saw last night, aren't so sure about it. Tatsuya tries to act like they'll be fine, but they notice his legs shaking. Rei walks up behind them, literally scaring Tatsuya off his feet. Nevertheless, Tatsuya calls Rei own for sleeping with someone else's girlfriend, but Rei does not seem to care. Tatsuya shows Rei the bracelet, but says he can't have it back unless he apologizes. Rei does not see the problem with sleeping with someone else's girlfriend; in his opinion, as long as the feeling's alright and you aren't forcing her, it's OK. Tatsuya tries to tell Rei that girl will sleep with anyone, but Atsushi runs up and tries to punch Rei for insulting him. The two start fighting, and Tatsuya tries to stop them, only to get hit in the struggle and drop the bracelet. The bracelet rolls away and is about to fall in the river when Rei jumps on a skateboard after it. Despite his best efforts, it falls in the river. Rei takes off his shoes and goes after it, with the other boys running behind. Tatsuya decides to jump in and try to help too, but neither of them are successful in finding it.

Tatsuya talks to Rei, who acts like he doesn't care about it. Luckily, a fisherman behind coincidentally fished it out, and Rei and Tatsuya manage to get it from him. Later that day, Tatsuya invites Rei over to the bathhouse his family runs. Rei tells Tatsuya he lived in Los Angeles until he was 13, and that the bracelet was a gift from one of his motorcycle friends over there who used it as a protection charm. Tatsuya asks if Rei still races motorcycles, but Rei had an accident the year prior so he stopped. Tatsuya admits that he misjudged Rei as being untrustworthy and uncaring, but he can't hate him for some reason. Later, the two are leaving a shopping mart when they run into three gang members. Coincidentally, they're the same gang members Rei beat up the day before. They try to attack Rei, but Rei smacks one of them with his bag and he and Tatsuya run off, with the gang members chasing them. He and Tatsuya climb a chain link fence, but just when they think they're safe, they notice they've just climbed into a park full of other gang members. As it turns out, the leader of this gang is the brother of another man whose girlfriend Rei made a pass at. Rei does not seem scared, calling them not real bikers and insulting their riding abilities. The bikers realize that Rei previously won the 4-hour Suzuka endurance race. The bikers are amazed, especially since he was just a middle schooler then, so decide not to beat up him and Tatsuya if he races the leader. The bikers give Rei a 250cc bike as opposed to his 750cc bike, giving him a big disadvantage. The race starts, and Rei immediately passes the leader. Rei drives right into traffic, and it looks like he's going to get hit by a truck. Rei swerves however, getting out of the way. Rei pulls back into where the race started, knocking some of the bikers into the water. Tatsuya is shocked Rei would return for him, and the two walk home. On the way, Tatsuya hears the same song from earlier, and Rei tells him that the song's called "A Horse With No Name". Rei tells Tatsuya the lyrics, since he can speak English, and Tatsuya thinks they relate to Rei.

Characters
__INDEX__
 * Rei Kashino (debut)
 * Tatsuya Kida (debut)
 * Kira Aso (debut)
 * Harumi Sugihara (debut)
 * Atsushi (debut)
 * Tatsuya's friends (debut)
 * Biker gang (debut)
 * Biker leader (debut)