The story begins with our main protagonist, Alice Shah, slowly waking up from her nap as the sun shines upon the iconic mountain called Mount Akinabalu. The birds are singing and the people begin commuting to work. Alice rubbed her eyes and looked towards the window where she saw the magnificent mountain standing proudly. She looked back in her room and saw the clock, her eyes widened as she saw the time.
"Damnit I'm late!" Alice screamed.
Alice immediately jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom for a quick shower. After showering, she ran to her room to dry her hair and put on her tracksuit. She then ran down the stairs and saw her grandpa preparing a strawberry jam sandwich in the kitchen.
"Alice dear, don't forget your packed sandwich." Her grandpa told her.
Alice went out and slammed the door but quickly came back in. She grabbed the sandwich her grandpa had made for her and kissed his forehead.
"Thanks, gramps. I'll be going!" she said quickly.
Alice ran out of the house as quickly as she could to catch the bus. As she ran to the bus stop, she noticed the bus had already left her, she checked the bus schedule and knew the next bus would not arrive until 30 minutes later.
"Jeez, I'm going to be late on my first day! What should I do now? Wait the same bus stops a few streets from here, maybe I could catch it if I run there! " She uttered.
Alice abandoned the idea of waiting and decided to run to another bus stop a few streets away. She took a detour and began running across multiple streets through the ally.
"If I could catch this bus, I would arrive 10 minutes early. I guess that's better than being an hour late!" She muttered to herself while panting.
As she ran through an alleyway, a group of men stood in her way. One of the men notices her and decides to confront her.
"Hey there little girl, care to join us?" The men asked her with a mischievous grin
Alice slid and swiftly ran past them. The group was astonished by her agility and didn't pursue her. As she was running, she saw the bus about to depart and began sprinting towards it.
"H-hold up!" She shouted at the bus driver.
Alice jumped in front of the bus trying to stop it. The bus driver stomps on the brakes and stops completely. Alice sees the bus has stopped and breathes a sigh of relief. She got on the bus and the bus driver began yelling at her.
"Oi kid! That was dangerous you know that!?" The driver shouted at her angrily
"I-Im not a kid... And also sorry!" She pants as she tells the bus driver.
"Just be careful next time alright?"The bus driver said as he began to calm down.
Alice nods and pays the adult bus fee as she wants to be seen as an adult and not some little girl. The bus soon went from station to station until it stopped at the Akinabalu circuit.
"Thanks, bus driver, sorry for earlier!" She said apologetically
Alice walks off the bus and heads towards the National Circuit of Akinabalu. She walked inside the main building and pulled out her phone to check the time.
"Huh, I arrived 20 minutes earlier than expected!" She uttered to herself as she felt a wave of relief.
The national circuit has recently been renovated and everything looks quite new even though it's been the national circuit of Akinabalu for decades.
"Maybe a little detour wouldn't hurt." She muttered.
She explored the main building and stumbled upon the Hall of Fame where racing legends who raced at the Akinabalu circuit are honored by having their frame hung on the wall. The hall is filled with racing legends that she admires, she looks at each one of them until she sees the portrait of her father.
"Hey Dad, I made it." She uttered as she admired her dad's portrait.
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While she is reading the description of her father that was displayed below the portrait, a tall and bulky man dressed in racing attire approaches her. The man stands behind her and she decides to confront him.
"C-can I h-help you?" She said in a frightened tone.
"Hey little girl, what are you doing here? Did you get lost?" He said to her.
The man suddenly began petting her head and her face became red. Alice became embarrassed by the sudden gesture and pushed his hand off her head.
"What are you doing!" She almost yelled.
"Where are your parents, little girl?" He said while looking oblivious to the situation
She began getting mad at him for treating her like a child and became enraged by the man's sudden comments about her parents. She decides to confront him.
"L-Little girl!? I'm not a child!" She informed him with an angry tone.
As she was confronting the man, a sudden announcement from the speaker interrupted their conversation.
"Alright kid, hope you find your parents." He said to her in a calm tone.
The man pets her head again and walks away. Alice stares at him as he walks away, angered by his rude interaction.
"I'm going to make you pay for this, I will out-compete you with every fiber of my body!" She angrily uttered.
While Alice was standing there, she felt someone tapping her shoulder and lashes out at that person.
"WHAT?" She snapped.
Alice turned around to see an older man with gray hair, a mustache, and wearing a pair of glasses. He seemed to be in his late 50s or early 60s.
"Y-you must be Alice, Alice Shah?" The man asked her in a frightened tone.
" Yes, I'm Alice Shah. Who are you exactly?" Alice asked.
"Ah, good to hear that. Coughs I'm Kei Teoh. The owner and manager of the Akinabalu Motorsports team." The man said to her.
Alice immediately became embarrassed that she just yelled at her manager and started bowing her head to him. She immediately apologized for her sudden outburst.
"I-I'm so sorry manager! It won't happen again!" She said feeling quite embarrassed.
"Ah don't worry about that, we're happy to have you on our team Alice." The manager said to her.
The manager seemed forgiving and accepted the apology. He extends his hand towards her for a handshake. Alice saw this and shook hands with the manager feeling a bit relieved.
"Same here manager!" She said smiling while shaking his hands.
The manager showed her around the Akinabalu Circuit main building where the headquarters of the racing association is located. Then he showed her the facilities and the garages where they work on their cars. While she walked around the garage, she saw the team's crew members who were standing by and started to greet her.
"You must be Alice, glad to have such a young person driving for our team!" One of the crewmen praised her.
"It's an honor! I'm looking forward to working with you guys!" Alice told them.
The crew also known as the pit crew is a group of a mix of experts and rookies that worked for the Akinabalu Motorsport racing team. They usually work on the team's racing cars but also work on other things as well. The crew becomes the pit crew on race days and assists the drivers.
Alice had a lovely time chatting with them. While chatting, the manager calls Alice over and asks a few more questions about her. As they were talking, the man from before suddenly approached them.
"Hey chief, is this your daughter right here?" The man asked curiously.
The manager seems confused by his sudden assumption, but suddenly Alice bursts at him.
"I AM NOT A KID, I AM A RACER JUST LIKE YOU!" Alice snaps.
"A racer, you?" He asked her still a bit confused by her comment.
"Well duh, what does it look like?" She said to him as she crossed her arms.
"Take your child to work day?" He said teasingly.
"I'm going to kill you!" She yelled.
Alice rolled up her sleeves and was ready to give a piece of her mind while the man stood his ground. The manager noticed the tension between them and tried to de-escalate the situation.
"Sugimoto, please be respectful towards your racing partner." The manager told him calmly.
"R-Racing partner? Her?" Sugimoto said in disbelief.
"What!? He's my racing partner!?" Alice said, who also was in disbelief.
They both stood there in disbelief as they must work together on the same team. The atmosphere becomes more tense as both drivers seem uncooperative with each other.
"There's no way I'm going to partner up with him! He looks incompetent" Alice said.
"Says the little girl! How do you even reach the pedals, huh?" Sugimoto mockingly asks.
"Say that again, punk!" Alice challenges him.
"Little girl." Sugimoto said teasingly.
Alice raises her fist to his face while Sugimoto looks down on her. They were ready to fight it out but the manager had enough with their behaviour.
"Enough! Sugimoto starting from now you will be a guide for Alice since you've been here the longest. Alice, starting from now on, Sugimoto will be your guide, and he will help you throughout your racing career here. I want both of you to maintain a Senpai and Kouhai relationship from now on, got it?" The manager snaps and makes a statement for both of them.
"B-but." they both uttered to the manager.
"Got it?" The manager repeated with a stern look.
They reluctantly nod their heads, forced to agree with the manager.
"Good, I'm off to my office, ciao!" The manager said seemingly pleased and walked back to his office.
"Huh, well this was the first time I saw him that mad, I guess we really ruffled his feathers" Sugimoto chuckled as he told Alice.
"Don't try to get all buddy up with me, Senpai." Alice sternly told him.
"Hey now, we're partners, right? Let's forget about this entire ordeal?" Sugimoto said to her.
"I'm here to race and I don't want to be stopped by some old dog that couldn't learn new tricks." she said to him, mocking him.
"Woah kid, I'm not that old, but if we were to race, this old dawg would show you who's the fastest on the track." He said in a confident tone.
"We'll see about that, Senpai." She said to him.