Alice gets off the bus and heads towards the Akinabalu circuit. She makes her way to the garage area and notices Sugimoto who is also making his way to the Akinabalu Garage. Alice ran up to him and greeted him.

"Morning Senpai!" Alice cheerfully said.

"Morning kid, seems like somebody's excited." Sugimoto said.

"Yep! I can't wait to drive the cars, it's been a while." Alice told him.

"You sure love the adrenaline huh?" Sugimoto said to her.

As they reached the garage, Alice stopped for a bit. Sugimoto noticed her stopping and decided to ask her.

"Yo kid, you're not going in?" Sugimoto asked.

"Ah, yeah in a bit, you go ahead." Alice told him.

"Alright then." Sugimoto casually said.

Sugimoto went inside the Akinabalu garage whilst Alice stood outside. She felt like something was missing but she couldn't put a finger on what it was.

"What is this feeling? It feels like discontent but I still don't understand." Alice thought to herself.

Alice shrugs and gets it out of her head. She enters the garage and greets the crews there. Alice entered the break room and saw the usual Sugimoto lying on the sofa. Alice chuckles slightly seeing the sight of him.

"You really miss that thing huh?" Alice teased him.

"I couldn't live without it. This is probably the best thing the circuit has to offer." Sugimoto told her.

Alice placed her stuff on the table and noticed the break room door opened slightly, Alice didn't see anyone come in until she looked down and saw the orange tabby from the other day.

"Hey, it's the cat from before!" Alice pointed it out.

Sugimoto looked over to it and began clicking his tongue. The cat heard the clicking and ran towards him. The cat got on the sofa and got on top of him. Sugimoto began stroking it's body and it curled on his chest.

"Aww, she really likes you huh?" Alice said to her.

"Yep, I guess it really loves my pets." Sugimoto said to her.

Alice stood there and suddenly dropped her bag. She suddenly realized that was the thing she was missing. Alice began frailing as she began thinking of such a thing.

"S-Senpai's pets? Wait why the heck am I missing that? That's simply impossible, It's annoying!" Alice argued with herself in her thoughts.

Sugimoto looked at her with a confused look on his face.

"You okay kid? You seem distracted." Sugimoto asked her.

Alice notices that she is flailing around and decides to stop. Alice brought her stuff and took it to the changing room. Sugimoto looks on as she exits the break room without a word, he then continues playing with the cat.

Alice was in the changing room and began contemplating why she felt that way.

"Alright Alice, think. Why are you just having this feeling out of the blue? When was the last time he did that?" Alice muttered to herself.

Alice began reminiscing back to the day Sugimoto last petted her. She traced back to the day she got her paycheck. She scratches her head just remembering that day.

"Jeez, why am I even thinking about this? It's so cringy! But more importantly, why did he stop?" Alice muttered.

Alice began thinking if she ever wronged him anyway, fearing that he might secretly hate her. She remembers the time she pulled a Judoka move on him, making Raani run into him, and the most recent one where he almost smashed his skull with a dumbbell.

"Jeez, so much has happened that I can't pinpoint the main reason. Maybe I'm just overthinking things." Alice muttered.

After changing, Alice went back to the break room. Sugimoto was still on the couch and petting the cat's head. Alice stared at the cat and felt a bit jealous. As she was about to look away, she noticed that the cat smirked at her. Alice gave the cat a death glare. Sugimoto suddenly sat up from the sofa.

"I'll go change, take care of her when I'm gone." Sugimoto told her.

"Ah, okay then." Alice said to him.

Alice watched as Sugimoto approached her. She braced herself for a pat on the head, but instead, she felt only a gust of wind as he passed by her. In shock, Alice realized that Sugimoto had walked by without acknowledging her. She placed her hand on her head, feeling a bit disappointed. Glancing around, she noticed the cat on the table, clearly mocking her.

"W-Why you little!" Alice held a fist to it.

After a while, they went to the pits and began their training session. Alice and Sugimoto stood beside each other while listening to a small briefing for today's training session by Ghazali.

"Today I'd like you guys to give it your all since the track is clear and dry. We must take full advantage of today because the other drivers will use the track track for practice" Ghazali told them.

Alice was slightly daydreaming and Ghazali noticed this. He snaps his fingers to get Alice's attention.

"Yo Ally? Do I make myself clear?" Ghazali said to her.

Alice notices it immediately and snaps out of it.

"Ah sorry, yes!" Alice said to him.

Sugimoto and Ghazali looked concerned about her recent distracted behavior and decided to confront her.

"Hey Ally, you don't have to do this if you're sick." Ghazali told her.

"Eh? No, I'm not sick! I'm okay alright," Alice reassures them.

Sugimoto kneeled and got on par with her level. Alice looked at him with a growing concern. Suddenly Sugimoto's hand landed on her forehead, and Alice grew flustered by his action.

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"S-Senpai what are you doing?" Alice questions him.

"Hold up, I'm just checking your temperature." Sugimoto told her.

Alice lets him check her temperature as he roams from her forehead to her neck. Alice was she was on the edge the entire time he was doing it.

"Hmm, it feels like it's a bit warm, but I need to confirm. Hold still will ya?" Sugimoto told her.

Alice is confused by his command but follows it anyway. Then out of nowhere, Sugimoto places his foreheads on hers. Alice blushed hard as Sugimoto's face was close to hers. She felt as if she was steaming during the contact. Then Sugimoto breaks off from her and decides to hand out the verdict.

"Seems like you have a fever, kid. I think you should sit this one out." Sugimoto advised her.

Ghazali saw everything from behind them and saw what went down, he knew that it wasn't the fever that she felt, but rather the heat from Alice's blushing.

Alice sat on the sidelines as Sugimoto began training. A Crew made a cup of hot cocoa for Alice and she thanked them. Sugimoto's car could be heard with its six-cylinder engine roaring down the straights. Ghazali timed him and revealed that he was doing 2:04 seconds.

"This is some good lap times from Sugi, I guess we've solved the rear suspension issue." Ghazali muttered to himself.

Alice stared at his computers which displayed analytics, data, and graphs. All the information that Alice saw was confusing to her.

"Man Gaz, how you could process this type of information is beyond me." Alice said to him.

"I feel like I've heard this before but from a different person." Ghazali awkwardly muttered to her.

After a few minutes, Sugimoto came back to the pits. Alice greeted him as soon as he got out.

"Welcome back, seems like you did pretty good, Senpai." Alice told him.

"Thanks, kid. Unfortunately, I couldn't replicate what you did the other day. It seems like I am reaching a limit." Sugimoto told her.

"You are getting old after all. Must be tough being rusty huh?" Alice teased him

"Just wait until my car starts working properly, I'd crush your record kid." Sugimoto said with confidence.

Alice closes her eyes expecting Sugimoto to pet her but Sugimoto walks past her. Alice thought the mood was right but somehow it didn't resonate with him. Sugimoto approached Ghazali to share his findings.

"Hey Sugi, so how's the car holding up? Is it up to your standards now?" Ghazali asks him.

"Yep, I am glad to report that the car doesn't oversteer a lot anymore, but it is still there." Sugimoto told them.

"Noted, we'll do some micro-adjustments until you find your perfect layout." Ghazali told him.

Alice watched from afar and began speculating if this was one of his new ways of teasing her.

"Is Senpai doing this for one purpose? Because at this point it has to be intentional. Maybe I'll try harder now." Alice muttered to herself.

Sugimoto was talking to Ghazali and Alice went up to them. Alice stood beside Sugimoto, a perfect distance for getting pets. Alice casually joins the conversation.

"Hey Ally, are you sure you don't want to drive today? I'd understand if you couldn't drive today." Ghazali said to her.

Alice wanted to drive today but her priority has shifted drastically.

"I-I'm not feeling great after all, maybe I should sit this one out." Alice said to Ghazali.

"Ah, I see. No problem, we can do it again once you get better." Ghazali told her.

Unlike Ghazali, Sugimoto grew suspicious of Alice as she was not herself.

"Huh, that's very unlike you kid." Sugimoto said to her.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Alice asked him as she was a bit confused.

"Usually, you would strongly oppose this kind of behavior. Did something happen?" Sugimoto asked concernly.

Alice is surprised by Sugimoto's observation of her but she plays it off.

"Well, it's not every day that I get sick right? I just want to relax a bit." Alice told him.

Alice was brushing off Sugimoto, wanting him to pet her but he didn't lift his hand.

"Ah I see, go to the break room and get some rest then." Sugimoto told her.

Alice heard this and felt a bit heartbroken. She expects him to give her a gentle pet. Frustrated, she storms off to the break room and closes the door. Ghazali looked at Sugimoto as if he was confused, Sugimoto looked even more confused than him.

"What's wrong with her?" Ghazali asked Sugimoto.

"I don't know." Sugimoto replied.

Alice lay down on the sofa while holding the tabby cat on her.

"Jeez, he's such an idiot for this! Kitty, you'd understand me. Right?" Alice said to the cat.

The cat stared at Alice as it lay on her. Alice picked up the cat and held it up.

"We should really name you tho. It's honestly astonishing that I haven't named you yet." She talked to the cat.

Alice sat up and placed the cat on her lap. The cat was on her lap and Alice pets it to its heart's content. As she was petting the cat, Sugimoto entered the room and noticed her playing with the cat.

"Seems like Tabby really likes you too." Sugimoto said to her.

Alice was surprised to learn that Sugimoto had picked a name for it, but she didn't like it.

"Tabby? You really picked such a boring name for it huh?" Alice told him.

"What's wrong with Tabby? At least it now has a name." Sugimoto told her.

"Yeah no, I'm going to find another name for it." Alice told him.

"Suit yourself, I'm still calling her Tabby." Sugimoto told.

Sugimoto bends down and pets the cat's head. The cat meows at Sugimoto and wants to be picked up by him. Sugimoto picked it up from Alice's lap and held it in his arms while petting it. Alice looked at the cat being handled by Sugimoto.

"M-Meow..." Alice blurts out.

The cat and Sugimoto stared at Alice blankly. Alice noticed that she unknowingly blurted meow began feeling embarrassed and hid her face on the armrest.

"KILL ME!" She screams into the armrest.

After a while, it was time to go home. Sugimoto and Alice exited the garage and waved goodbye to Ghazali and Tabby. As they walked out of the paddocks, Alice tucked Sugimoto's shirt. Sugimoto looked behind him and decided to ask.

"Hey, what's up?" Sugimoto asked.

"I hope you don't mind but can you take me home? I think the bus already left." Alice told him.

"Sure, I don't mind. Let's go." Sugimoto said with a smile.

They got in the car and drove out of the circuit. Alice fidgets with her fingers while Sugimoto drives. As they stopped at a red light, Sugimoto noticed Alice was fidgeting.

"Hey, what's wrong? Scared I might kidnap ya or something?" Sugimoto chuckled.

"Eh? No way! I was just thinking about something." Alice told him.

"What are you thinking about kid?" Sugimoto asked him.

Alice didn't know how to respond but decided to ask him a question.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Alice asked him.

Sugimoto grew suspicious of her and Alice realized how weird of a question it was.

"What makes you say that?" Sugimoto asked.

"W-Well I was just wondering since you are the type girls would be fond of, but not me!" Alice said as she clarified herself."

"Hmm, I haven't had a girlfriend in my life but I do have someone in my eyes." Sugimoto told her.

Alice was shocked to hear that Sugimoto had eyes for somebody. She grew curious about who this person was.

"Who is it?" Alice asked in a curious tone.

"Ghazali." Sugimoto sarcastically told.

Alice's eyes widened when she heard that. She couldn't believe what she had heard, then suddenly she heard Sugimoto laugh.

"I'm just kidding kid. It's a girl from a racing team from the lower brackets." Sugimoto chuckled.

"Bro you almost gave me a heart attack! So what's the girl like?" Alice asked curiously.

Sugimoto began thinking for a moment before answering.

"Well, she has a 'big' personality'." Sugimoto discreetly said.

Alice immediately catches on and punches Sugimoto on his arm as he drives.

"What the heck is wrong with you? I can't believe you would think of something like that!" Alice said to Sugimoto.

"What can you say? I'm a man after all?" Sugimoto joked.

They soon arrived in front of Alice's house. Sugimoto parked on the side of the road and unlocked the door.

"Alright kid, we're here." Sugimoto told her.

"Ah, thanks for the ride." Alice said.

Alice hesitates for a bit and decides to ask him another question.

"Uhm, Senpai. Can I ask you a question?" Alice asked him.

"Sure. Go ahead." Sugimoto told her.

Alice took a deep breath and asked her question.

"If you ever get a girlfriend, will you leave me?" Alice asked.

Sugimoto was surprised by the unexpected question from her. He thought for a while before answering her.

"You're my Kouhai, right? Why would I leave you? I'm the one who should be worrying that you'd leave me." Sugimoto told her.

Alice smiles slightly at Sugimoto's answer. She accepts his answer wholeheartedly.

"T-Thanks Senpai, it really means a lot to me." Alice said to him.

After she said that, she felt a warm sensation on her head, a familiar feeling. Alice looked up and saw Sugimoto finally petting her. Instead of pushing his hand away, she embraced it.

Alice waved goodbye and Sugimoto drove off. She looked on as his car disappeared into a corner. Alice was happy but felt a small pain in her heart, knowing she had no chance with him.

"I'm not well suited for Senpai anyways, I hope whoever ends up with him will always take care of him." Alice muttered to herself.

Alice enters her home and closes the door. She went straight to her room and dozed off until tomorrow.