It was another Saturday afternoon and our protagonist was seen at a mall with her grandfather. She was picking up some clothes for herself while her grandpa stood beside her. They've been there for a few hours and her grandpa is feeling a bit tired.

"Alice dear, how much longer are we going to find your things already?" Her grandpa asked her.

"Just a bit gramps, I still need to find a few more t-shirts." Alice told her.

"Girls really like to take their sweet time huh?" Her grandpa told her.

"There's a sit right over there, go rest for a bit 'cause I still got more things after my clothes." Alice said and pointed in the direction of a bench outside the store.

"Alright then, once you're done just come to me." He said.

Her grandpa made his way to the bench and Alice continued shopping. Alice searched many clothing items and picked the ones that suited her best. She paid for her stuff and began walking out of the store. Looking towards her Grandpa, she noticed a man sitting beside him, talking to him. Alice was about to walk towards them until she realized it was Richard Riverson, the person she despised throughout round 1 of the ROA Cup. Alice peered around the door and observed them.

"W-What the heck is he doing with my grandpa!?" Alice muttered, in confusion.

Alice continued peeking at them until, eventually, Richard smiled at him and waved goodbye. Alice, seeing that the coast was clear, decided to go up to her grandpa and confront him.

"Hey, darling. Have you already bought the clothes? Her grandpa asked.

"Yeah, I did. Who were you talking to?" Alice asked although she already knew who it was.

"I was just talking to a young fellow, he seems quite charming." He told Alice.

"C-Charming huh? So what did you guys talk about?" Alice asked him.

"He said that he recognized me from the old days. I was surprised that young people like him would recognize a dinosaur like me." Her grandpa told her.

Alice was a bit surprised when he told her that Richard somehow knew her grandfather.

"Well, you were a bit famous in your old days. But I didn't expect him to know you." Alice said to him.

"Why? Do you know him?" Her grandpa said in suspicion.

"What? No, I haven't seen that guy in my life!" Alice lied.

"Oh well. Let's go get something to eat." Her grandpa said.

"Alright then." Alice agreed.

They went to a family diner located at the bottom of the mall. The restaurant was packed with people but they managed to get a seat by the corner. The waitress came to them and started taking their order. Alice ordered stir-fried noodles while her grandpa ordered fried rice with shrimp. They also ordered Teh Tarik as their beverage. After taking their orders, the waitress left them and they started a conversation.

"Hey gramps, I need a refresher. Can you tell me about the old days?" Alice curiously asked.

"How far do you want to go?" Her grandpa asked.

"As far as you can remember!" Alice said to him.

"Alright then, it all started in the year 1980. Akinabalu was yet to gain independence and I was participating in an international rally race against the best drivers of that time. Do you remember my old Ford I had in the garage?" Her grandpa Ask.

"Yeah? The Escort S1800 right?" Alice said.

"That one. I was driving one of those puppies and won multiple titles. I dominated the competition for 2 years in Akinabalu until an Audi Quattro from Audi joined the competition. It was a beast of a car and dominated the later years of the competition. After a year of losing, I had enough and decided to give circuit racing a chance. I went to many countries and tracks like Italy at Monza and Germany at the Nurburgring." Her grandpa told her.

Alice was amused as she listened to his stories. As he was about to continue, the waitress came to them and handed them their beverages. Alice thanked the waitress and her grandpa continued the story.

"Then in 1984, I met a fair lady at the stands. She was cheering on another team but I wanted her to root for me instead. I shot my shots and the next thing you know, I managed to capture her heart" He told her.

Alice chuckled as she listened to her grandpa managing to capsulate her grandma's heart.

"You must be a smooth talker then gramps." Alice teased him.

"Yeah, but it didn't start that way. When I first introduced myself, I got smacked in the head by her purse. But she gradually opens up. After we got married, she bore your father. I was the happiest man on earth that day." He told Alice.

Alice was in awe as she heard the day that her father was born. She listens more intently now.

"We settled in and raised him together. Then after a few years, Akinabalu decided to gain independence from the Japanese. Your grandmother was of Japanese origin and had to choose between staying in Akinabalu or returning to Japan." He told her.

Alice was on the edge of her seat and then asked him what she had chosen. She knew that her grandmother must have gone back as she had never seen her grandmother before.

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"So, what did grandma choose?" Alice asked her.

"She chose to stay in Akinabalu." He told her.

Alice's eyes brightened when she heard that her grandma chose to stay, but she was confused about her whereabouts.

"So where did grandma go? I've never seen her portrait or anything." Alice asked him.

"Your grandma said she chose Akinabalu but had to return to Japan as she had unfinished business. She only said it would take a few days, but I waited for weeks, and the weeks turned into months. I tried to contact her through the old telegram, posting postcards to the place she said she was staying but I didn't receive any reply. There I decided that she was gone for good, I decided to raise your father alone." He told.

Her grandpa rubbed his eyes and continued telling the story. Alice was listening while taking a small sip of her drink.

"The reason you haven't seen any pictures of your grandmother is that my old house burned down. The only thing I managed to save was your father, the rest such as her pictures, clothes, and memories burned. I watched the fire with your father in my arms as the blaze consumed everything. After that incident, we moved to our current home and lived there ever since." Her grandfather said.

Alice was about to get emotional but suddenly the waitress came and brought the food and placed them on the table. Alice thanked them again and her grandfather rubbed her eyes again.

"That's enough story time from the past. Today's the present so let's focus on that." Her grandfather told her.

Alice nodded and they grabbed the utensils. They began eating their food. Alice began thinking about her grandpa's story and how tragic it was. She got it out of her head and continued eating. She began drinking her Teh Tarik and suddenly saw Richard enter the restaurant.

"Crap, why is that guy here?" Alice said.

Alice watched with concern until suddenly her grandpa called him over.

"Hey kid, over here!" Her grandpa said out loud.

Alice was panicking and leaned towards her grandfather.

"G-Grandpa! W-What are you doing?" Alice asked her in a panicked tone.

"Ah, I invited him to have lunch with us. Is that bad?" He told Alice.

Richard notices her grandpa and begins panicking. She grabbed the menu and hid behind it. Richard arrives at the table and greets him.

"Mr Johan, thanks for inviting me for lunch!" Richard told her grandpa.

"Ah no worries, here take a seat." Her grandpa said.

Her grandpa scoots over and lets Richard sit. Richard sat across Alice. Richard looks towards her and decides to strike up a conversation.

"Is this your granddaughter? She looks cute. How are you?" Richard asked Alice.

Alice kept the menu up and didn't know how to react. He began thinking about revealing herself but she couldn't so her grandpa decided to answer for her instead.

"She's a bit shy. So what do you want to talk about?" Her grandpa asked.

"Ah, I want to talk about the incident." Richard said to her grandpa discreetly.

"The incident? Which incident are you referring to?" Her grandpa asked him.

"The 2020 incident. I want to ask if you have any info about the incident."

Alice overheard Richard on the 2020 incident. She felt shivers down her spine as she heard him.

"T-The 2020 incident? Does he mean the day my dad..." Alice thought to herself.

"Why do you want to know?" Her grandpa asked.

"I want to know if you have more info about the case. I know it wasn't merely a racing incident, and you know that." Richard told him.

Alice was shocked when they began digging deeper into the case. Alice listened with intent.

"I'm aware of the incident. But how did you know about the case?" Her grandpa asked.

Richard became quiet for a bit before he started speaking again.

"My father was also involved in this case, I need to know more. Please can you tell me more about it!" Richard told him.

Alice was shocked when he heard that Richard's father played a role in the case. Alice was now more interested in listening and lowered her guard. Suddenly the waitress came towards them and asked to hand back the menu. Alice panicked and began making an excuse to keep the menu.

"U-Uhm I still need to order something off the menu." Alice said in a slightly high-pitched voice to hide her real voice.

The waitress doesn't seem convinced by her excuse and her grandfather buds in.

"Alice sweetie, give the young waitress your menu." Her grandpa told her.

"A-Alice?" Richard muttered.

The waitress grabs the menu off her hand and reveals herself. Richard froze when he saw Alice sitting right across from him. A disgusted expression soon formed on his face.

"Uhm... Hey?" Alice muttered.

Richard was left speechless, he didn't know what to say. Alice's grandpa watched with a suspicious look on his face. Richard snaps out of his thoughts and decides to confront her.

"Y-You're the Granddaughter of Johan Shah? T-That means..." Richard stuttered before cutting himself off.

Alice nodded slightly and Richard couldn't believe it. He stood up slightly and looked towards Alice's grandfather.

"I'm sorry but I need to leave. I hope we can get in contact again." Richard said to him.

"Oh, it's alright. We can talk again sometime." Alice's grandfather said.

Richard slid a business card and glared at Alice before he stood up and left. Alice sat down awkwardly not knowing what to do. Then Alice's grandpa decides to ask her.

"What was that about? Do you guys know each other?" Her grandpa asked.

"Y-Yeah, he was the driver for the Riverson Racing team." Alice told him.

"The Riversons? Why does that name ring a bell?" Her grandpa said.

"Well, he placed third recently in the ROA Cup." Alice told her.

"I see. Maybe I'll look into it. Let's finish our food and pay for the meal okay? I bet you still have more shopping to do." Her grandpa said.

"Nah I'm good, I think I have enough of today." Alice told her.

"Alright then. Let's hurry up and get home."

Alice nodded and began slurping on her noodles while her grandpa took a spoonful of rice. As they finished their meal, Alice suddenly stood up from her chair.

"I'll cover the bill for today Gramps." Alice said to him.

"Eh? You don't have to do that darling, how about you save that money instead?" Her grandpa said.

"Don't worry, I'ts the least I could do." Alice told him.

"Alright then, go ahead and pay for the meal." Her grandpa said to her.

Alice went up to the cashier and pulled out her card.

"Check for table 18 please." Alice told the cashier.

The waiter nodded and began checking the receipt, the waiter noticed that they'd already paid and decided to tell her.

"It seems like you've already paid for your meals." The waitress said.

Alice was confused by her statement and believed it was probably an error.

"I-It must be a mistake, we haven't paid for anything yet." Alice told her.

The cashier reviews the receipt again and confirms the payment has already been made.

"No, your check has been paid. Maybe a friend paid for you guys?" The worker asked.

Alice wondered for a bit before she realized that Richard likely paid for them.

"Eh? Did he pay for us? I-I guess that's okay then." Alice muttered.

"Would you like the receipt, ma'am?" The waitress asked.

"N-No thanks." Alice replied.

Alice made her way back to the table.

"Did you already pay? If so then let's go home." Her grandpa said.

Alice stayed silent for a bit before telling the truth.

"I-I didn't pay." Alice told him.

"Did your card decline? "If that's the case, then I'll pay for both of us." her grandpa told her.

"No, Richard already paid for us when he left the restaurant." Alice told him.

"Ah, that's good of him to pay for our meals. I hope we can pay it forward next time. Say my thanks to him when you meet him at the circuit will ya?" Her grandpa said.

Alice nodded and they walked out of the restaurant. They took the bus and Alice began pondering.

"Maybe he's not the villain that I make him to be. What was he on to when he mentioned the 2020 incident? Maybe I should try talking to him if we ever meet." Alice thought to herself.

Alice gazed out the bus window as it passed the coastal lines of Kota City. They returned home after an exhausting day at the mall.