The sound of engines could still be heard as night falls on the Akinabalu circuit. There are a few teams left competing to get in the top 25 drivers for tomorrow's race. Sugimoto was talking with the other drivers while Alice stood in front of the television in the garage. Her eyes were glued to the screen as she saw each driver crossing the finish line, almost all of them failed to pass Sugimoto except one of Riverson Racing's drivers who got to the 15th position.

"Just a few drivers left, but Nadya and her teammate haven't set their qualifying lap yet. I hope the other driver isn't as talented as her." Alice muttered.

As she was still analyzing the grid, the manager suddenly stood beside her. Alice who wasn't aware of his presence jumped in shock.

"What the heck manager? Stop scaring people like that!" Alice said in an angered tone.

"Haha, sorry. So you're worried huh?" The manager chuckled before asking.

Alice looked to the ground slightly, knowing that the manager was right.

"If I'm being honest, I am. I can't imagine being alone out there." Alice told him.

"I understand. The thought of racing against fearsome opponents without a teammate would be hard. But everyone here believes you could do it." He told her.

"Thanks, Manager. But I wish he could still race, at least getting an extra point would be enough." Alice said.

"It would be difficult for Sugimoto to score a point. Remember, only drivers in the top 10s would score points." The manager told her.

"I know. But it would be a nice thought tho." Alice told him.

"Well, you can wish on a shooting star for that to happen. But it is a nice thought though. I'll get going, I need to check on the cars before the crew messes something up again." He chuckled slightly.

"Ah, alright. See you later." Alice said and gave a little wave.

Alice looked at the television for a few more minutes before growing a bit tired from watching all the races. She went out of the garage to get some fresh air. She looked around and saw the lights were still brightly lit at the Akinabalu circuit, and the garage area was still lively, with people still standing around. She roamed around the garage area and headed to a darker and more secluded area from the well-lit area. Then, she found a grassy field that overlooked the city and sat on it. She felt the cold air breeze hitting her face and blowing her hair.

"The air is so refreshing here. I feel so relaxed." Alice muttered to herself.

As she said that, the sound of the engines of a racing car filled the calmed atmosphere for a bit before fading away.

"Ah, I forgot there's a race here." She muttered.

She looked out to the city and looked up at the sky where she saw a few stars over her.

"I wish there was a shooting star right about now. I need a miracle to happen so Senpai can get through." Alice muttered.

She looked up and tried to search for the stars but there was light pollution so she barely see them. She slowly lay on the grass and began hoping for a shooting star to come by. After a moment, she suddenly heard a footstep behind her. She looked behind and saw Richard standing a bit far from her on the pavement. Alice flusteredly stood up and confronted him.

"R-Richard! W- What are you doing here?" She said to him.

Richard looked at her with a straight face.

"I just want to say my thanks for saving me the other day." He told her.

Alice was caught off guard when Richard was thanking her. She wasn't expecting to see this side of Richard.

"A-Ah, no problems! I was just there when you crashed." Alice told him.

Richard was still keeping a straight face and clenched his fist.

"But I still couldn't bring myself to respect you." He told her.

Alice was now a bit confused by his statement and decided to ask about it.

"What do you mean by that?" Alice asked.

Richard took a lighter stance and looked away.

"Your first win was because you had someone to help you towards victory. You even stole it from your teammate and celebrated with pride." Richard told her.

"I-I stole the win? What do you mean by that? I won that fair and square!" She told him.

"You won it fair and square huh? After making your teammate drop back to get you just for him to get betrayed by you on the final turn? That's what you call fair and square?" Richard told her.

Alice was taken aback by his statement. She realized that most of his words were true but she still stood her ground.

"W-Well, the reason why I was far behind was because of you! I nearly hit you when you exited the pits!" Alice argued.

"What do you mean? It was a clean move by me. You're the one who overreacted." Richard argued back.

"I did not overreact! You were genuinely going to hit me if I didn't put myself on the track." She told him.

"Then why didn't the marshalls punish me then? It would be a clear violation if I were to hit you right?" Richar argued back.

Alice thought for a while and tried to remember the incident from before. She knows that her emotions back then were quite irrational and felt that he might be right.

"I-I don't know, maybe I did overreacted back then." She told him.

"See? I did nothing wrong." Richard said with a smirk on his face.

Alice felt a bit ashamed of herself but suddenly remembered an incident she had before the pits.

"Hey, didn't you hit me from behind and almost cause me to spin out?" Alice said.

Richard stared blankly for a while, he looked a bit surprised when Alice called him out on that.

"That was an error on my part, you braked a bit earlier than I expected and bumped you." He admitted.

"See? Why didn't they call you out on that huh?" She said to him.

"I don't know about that. But all I want to say is that you don't deserve that victory. It should've been Asashi." Richard told her.

Alice felt a bit hurt by his statement, she knew that it was all because of Sugimoto's effort that led to her victory. She couldn't find a word to respond to him, but Richard got to her first.

"But I want you to prove that you could win without him or anyone else on the track. You're the leader for today's race so don't bottle it." Richard told her.

Alice felt that he had nothing to offer to Richard, she knew that she was better off not taking that deal.

"I don't need to prove anything to anyone. Especially someone like you." Alice told him.

Richard said to her with a serious tone.

"Jalil Shah, he was your father right?" Richard asked her.

Alice froze when he heard Richard say her father's name. She was too stunned to speak and she took some time before responding.

Y-Yeah, what about him?" She asked him.

"I know what happened to him." Richard told her.

"Everyone knows what happened to him, he died in a racing incident." Alice said to him.

Richard looked at her and took a deep breathe.

"That's not the entire story, it's deeper than you may think." Richard told her.

Alice was a bit skeptical when he said that. She didn't know if he was being serious or not.

"Even if that's true, why should I trust you?" Alice told him.

"It's up to you if you want to trust me. I don't want to destroy your perspective on the ROA." He said to her in a mocking tone.

"W-What about the ROA?" Alice asked in a concerned tone.

"The ROA isn't what you think they are. But I cannot prove it to you now. All I know right now is that we're playing their little game and they're winning. But it seems that you don't want to know more about it." He told her.

Alice felt that Richard might be on to something. She thought for a while before responding.

"N-No, I do want to know more about that!" Alice told him.

Richard smirked slightly upon hearing this.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Well then, you have one goal now. Beat me in this race and I'll tell you everything you need to know about the ROA. Well, I look forward to tomorrow's race, good luck." Richard boldly told.

Richard began walking away as Alice stood there. Suddenly Alice decided to tell him one more thing.

"Ah, Richard wait!" Alice shouted.

Richard turned around seeing Alice standing from where she previously stood.

"What is it?" Richard asked.

Alice took a deep breath before telling him.

"My grandpa told me to give his thanks to you for the food you paid the other day." Alice told him.

Richard was caught off guard by this and flustered slightly.

"O-Oh, I see. Tell that old man it's a pleasure." He told Alice with a slight stutter.

Richard walks away and leaves her all alone. She reverted her gaze back to the scenery and looked toward the city in the distance. Her views on Richard are conflicting but she's certain that he knows something that she didn't. As she stood there, she noticed a strip of light passed by in a glimpse of an eye. She suddenly felt a rush of joy when she saw a shooting star pass by her.

"A shooting star! W-Wait, I need to make a wish!" Alice muttered in joy.

She closed her eyes and began wishing upon the star for Sugimoto to be able to compete in the race tomorrow. After she did that, she opened her eyes and felt a bit assured that everything might be good. She soon returned to her team's garage where she saw everyone was standing by the television. As she entered, she heard cheering. She rushed in to see what all the commotion was about.

"Hey Senpai, what's happening right now?" She asked.

"Ah, they were cheering because the last 2 cars didn't pass me in their qualifying lap. Now there's only one team left for today." Sugimoto told her.

"Eh? You still in 24th place after all that time?" She asked in a surprised tone.

"Yeah, I'm surprised too. But sadly the last team is the Daggers." Sugimoto revealed.

"The Daggers? Who's that?" Alice asked in a curious tone.

"Ah, it's the nickname for the Kinzhal Odin Autosport team. They got that name because Kinzhal means dagger in Russian." Sugimoto told.

"I see, I guess that makes sense." Alice told him.

They watch on the television as a car finally finishes its warm-up lap and lines up on the grid. The camera pans closer and displays the driver with their name. Nadya Popova was the driver inside the purple Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo

"I guess this is almost the end. Two drivers left and they're probably the fastest drivers out there." Ghazali pointed out.

"Yeah, it was a good run but I guess this is where it ends." Sugimoto muttered.

Ghazali and Sugimoto seemed to have already accepted the fate but Alice remained optimistic.

"Hey, there's still a chance we'll make guys. I know we'll be okay." Alice told them.

"Thanks for your optimism Alice, but they're currently on track to have the fastest on track. Some estimates said that they could take pole position away from you." Ghazali told her,

"Oh, I see, but there's still a chance they're wrong?" Alice asked Ghazali.

"Well, there is a chance but the chances of that happening are small." Ghazali told her.

Alice wasn't discouraged by Ghazali's words. She was determined that Sugimoto would qualify for the race.

The red lights began appearing one by one as they watched the Huracan revving its engine. As soon as the lights turned green, the Huracan wheel spun, and the race for the top 25 was now on for the Kinzhal Odin Autosport team.

"There goes Nadya Popova, the Russian driver for Kinzhal Odin Autosport." One of the commenters said on the television.

"An endurance race champion and one of the top 5 best current female drivers. She is currently setting her qualifying lap and we'll be expecting great results from her." The other commenter said.

Nadya entered the hairpins of sector 2 and navigated through the triple hairpins with ease. She continues onto the first straight of sector 3. The live broadcast showed her top speed on the straights.

"Look at that Lambo go, how do you feel about this Mick?"The commenter asked him.

"Currently, Nadya Popova is reaching her top speeds on the straights, according to incoming data, she has the highest top speed out of all the racers today. With Akinabalu having 3 sections dedicated to high speeds, it would be only a matter of seconds for her to lose her opponents. What do you think Hasaki?" Mick Hassel the commenter said.

"Nadya is truly an incredible driver that's for sure. But we have to talk about other contenders like our pole position driver, Alice Shah of Akinabalu Motorsports. She was the winner of the first ROA Cup race this year and it seems that she's still going with that momentum." Tairo Hasaki the commenter replied.

"Alice Shah is the rookie driver who just went pro this year. She has potential but I'm more intrigued with Richard Riverson of the Riverson Racing team. He was the person who was supposed to be on the pole but suffered a 5-grid place penalty and has currently dropped to 5th place. According to statistics, he was overall the better driver for today." Mick told him.

Sugimoto listened to their conversation and crossed his arms, seemingly dissatisfied with their comments.

"These commenters really like to run their mouths don't they." Sugimoto scoffed.

The Huracan's engine could be heard throughout the paddocks as it roared through the straights. Nadya finally finishes her first lap and sets a lap that got her to the top 30s.

"This is where her lap truly counts as she uses her maximum speed through the straights of Sector 1." Mick told the audience.

Nadya enters the hairpins and onto the second sector. Nadya drove smoothly through the hairpins without issue but Alice felt something was a bit off.

"Nadya seemed a bit slower before entering the apex, but she accelerates faster on the exit. Maybe I could use this to my advantage." Alice muttered.

As she exited the sector, the broadcast on the television showed each sector times of each driver. There, they saw Alice as the faster driver in Sector 2 with Richard coming in second. Alice was a bit happy to see but quickly changed as the Huracan went on the straights of Sector 3. After Nadya completed Sector 3, the broadcast showed that Nadya was the fastest driver on the straights while Richard came in second.

"Nadya is faster on the straights than me, it will be hard to catch up to her if I can't keep up." She muttered, feeling a bit worried for herself.

In Sector 4, Nadya was going through the sector and the commentators began talking on the broadcast.

"According to the computers, Nadya is on pace to beat Alice Shah and will take home pole position on her second lap!" Mick told the audience.

"She has put on a superb drive today, she truly deserves to be the person leading the race tomorrow." Hasaki replied.

Nadya came out of the Chicanes and dashed for the finish line. The crowd cheered for her as she crossed the finish line.

"There you have it, our new leader for tomorrow's race, Nadya Popova of Kindhal Odin Autosports." Hasaki told the audience.

A certain part of the paddock erupted into cheer while the Akinabalu Motorsport garage remained silent. Alice felt a bit sad knowing she couldn't maintain pole position.

"It's okay Alice, you did your best." Ghazali told her.

"Yeah, you've done great today. Top 5 in 2 races is already enough." The manager told her.

"Thanks guys." She said.

She watches Nadya move slowly through the track despite having another lap to complete. Nadya soon completed her lap and went off track to return to her garage. Now it's her other teammate's turn to qualify for the race.

"Final driver of the day, we'll see if he has what it takes to be in the top 25 drivers to race tomorrow." Hasaki said to the viewers.

The broadcast showed Sugimoto had dropped to 25th place after Nadya finished her qualifiers. Alice felt worried seeing Sugimoto was a single driver away from qualifying and a single driver away from being knocked out. Everyone in the Akinabalu Motorsport garage gathered together to watch the final driver makes his way onto the grid.

"Here we go, the last person. Let's all pray for the best okay?" The manager told them.

The lights turned green and the driver began setting their qualifying lap. They drove fantastically throughout the first lap of the race and it seemed that they could qualify for the race and knock Sugimoto out of the race. The minutes felt like hours as they watched the driver begin watching his second lap.

"It seems like it's almost over. After this lap, they knocked me out of the race. At least it was a good run." Sugimoto said, seemingly accepting his fate.

Alice watched as the car moved through lap 2 in high speeds, she felt that its truly over for Sugimoto but she held a small hope that something might happen. As soon as she thought of that, the car suddenly slowed down significantly on the straights. The commentators noticed this and began telling the viewers.

"It seems that the car is experiencing a malfunction. It has lost all its speed." Hasaki told them.

"It appears so, that's tough luck for the driver, Seems like it's heading to the pits the pits. We'll update you guys shortly." Hasell told the viewers.

Alice's eyes widened as she saw the car pulling into the pits, she felt like she wanted to celebrate but decided not to. They all remained silent for a while, they didn't know if the driver would return to complete the final lap. They all waited patiently for an update. After a few minutes of waiting, the commentators returned.

"We have received news from the marshalls and they've told us that the driver has retired from the race because of an issue with the car. Hence he has been eliminated from tomorrow's race." Hasaki told the viewers.

After seeing Sugimoto qualify for tomorrow's race, the Akinabalu Motorsport team cheerfully erupted. Alice couldn't believe it and jumped in joy, then she looked at Sugimoto who was just smiling throughout their celebration. He was speechless.

"Senpai you qualified! We're racing tomorrow!" Alice said in an overjoyed mood.

"It's going to be hard starting from P25, but I'm going to climb the ranks and make it to the points!" Sugimoto told her.

After celebrating, they ventured outside the paddock to see the other drivers. There they saw Nadya being interviewed. They stumbled upon Kara who is currently in P3 for tomorrow's race.

"Hey Alice, sorry to hear that you've dropped to P2." Kara said to her.

"Ah, no worries. It was fun when it lasted." Alice told her.

Kara looked towards Sugimoto and noticed that he was in a cheery mood, Kara smirked slightly and decided to tease her.

"Seems like somebody managed to clutch their way into the race. It's funny seeing you celebrate last place." Kara jokingly said.

"Hey, it's not like I want to be last. I'm just glad I'll be here." Sugimoto told her.

"Well, it's honestly surprising seeing you qualified. I was sure you would get eliminated in that last race but it was hella lucky." Kara told him.

"Yeah, I got pretty lucky there." Sugimoto said.

"Yeah it's as if somebody wished upon a shooting star, don't you think." Kara teased him.

Alice was surprised when Kara brought it up since unbeknownst to them, she had actually wished upon a shooting star. She felt a bit embarrassed and looked away from them.

"Y-Yeah, it's crazy if somebody actually did that." Alice told them.

As they stood there, a few people went over to them with cameras and microphones in hand.

"Alice Shah, can we have a few moments with you for an interview?" The reporter asked.

Alice was a bit intimidated by the camera being at her face, but she decided to put on a straight face.

"Ah sure thing!" Alice said calmly.

"Great! Let's get the shot. Here take this microphone!" The reporter said.

Alice was handed the microphone and they began rolling. Kara and Sugimoto stepped away from the shot and they stood there watching Alice doing an interview. There, Kara decides to strike up a conversation.

"Hey Asashi, aren't you worried your Kouhai will overshine you one day?" Kara asked him.

"Why would I worry about that? I want her to be better than me." Sugimoto told her.

"Is that so? That's so unlike you Asashi. I wonder what happened to the old you." Kara told him.

"I've buried him a long time ago. I don't need to be like that anymore." Sugimoto told her.

"I understand, but you're still a monster within. Don't you want to unleash it just to show Alice who you really are?" Kara told him.

Sugimoto crossed his arm and thought for a while, the idea seemed intriguing to him.

"It would be interesting if I did that, Since I'm starting last, I might actually do it." Sugimoto told her.

"Well then, I can't wait to see you in the race." Kara told him.

After Alice finished her interview, Kara was suddenly dragged away. They watched her finish her interview and they said their goodbyes before returning back to their garages. After Alice and Sugimoto entered the garage, the manager and Ghazali grouped everyone for a team meeting.

"Alright everyone, we've reached P2 and P25 for today's race. We did not expect a large gap between the drivers but we will do our best to support them. We have 25 laps and a minimum of 1 mandatory pit stop. I want everyone to be well rested so that is all for today. Meet you all tomorrow at 7 AM, the race starts at 12 PM." The manager told them.

They all clapped and began packing up some of their belongings. After packing their stuff, they went back to their homes. Alice entered her home a bit tired. There she saw her grandpa sitting at the table.

"Alice dear, how were qualifiers?" Her grandfather asked.

"Ah, I got P2 today." Alice told him.

"P2 huh? That's quite impressive. You must be thrilled to fight for tomorrow." Her grandpa said.

"Yeah, but I'm a bit tired, I need to get some rest. Goodnight gramps." Alice told him as she began going upstairs.

"Ah, I was about to invite you for dinner. I made your favorite curry." Her grandpa told her.

Alice stopped midway and smelled the aromas of curry. She suddenly felt her stomach rumbling.

"Y-Yeah, maybe I could eat." Alice said to her grandpa,

Alice and her grandpa sat down and had dinner that night. She took a bite of curry and enjoyed every bite. She enjoyed her time with her grandpa and she almost forgot that tomorrow was the day she had to race. After eating, she went to bed and slept, dreaming of tomorrow's race.