The sun is yet to come out but the alarm clock rings as our young driver gets up and begins getting ready for her day. She put on her tracksuit, tied her hair, put on earphones, and walked to her bus stop before getting on the earliest bus to the circuit. After arriving, she got off the bus walked into the Akinabalu Motorsport's garage, and clocked in. She placed her belongings in her locker and began jogging near the parking lot. She looked into the horizon and saw Mount Akinabalu standing tall as light from the sunrise gave it a pink shade.
"Mount Akinabalu sure is magnificent today." she told herself admiring the mountain.
She continued jogging around the circuit until she saw a Subaru pass her while blasting Eurobeat so early in the morning.
"Why is that guy playing that kind of music so early in the morning?" She said feeling a bit annoyed but carried on.
The car parks close by where she was jogging and she saw the driver get out and turns out it was Sugimoto who was driving the Subaru. Alice walked up to him and greeted him.
"Morning Senpai." Alice said while walking towards him.
"Morning kid, you're here quite early." Sugimoto said to her as he closed the car's door.
"I want to try jogging here every morning, is this your car senpai?" She asked curiously.
"Yep, this old beauty is my beloved car, an old 2000s Subaru." He answered.
"What model of Subaru is this? A WRX STI?" She asked.
"So you do know your cars huh? It's the 2004 model." Sugimoto revealed to her.
Alice looked around and admired the car from the outside until she saw the inside of it. The inside of the car was messy with trash lying on the carpet.
"Why don't you clean your car Senpai? It looks like a dump in there." She asked after him feeling a bit disgusted.
"Well I was planning to clean the car later, so I guess sooner or later." He told her while chuckling.
Alice began wondering why he would drive a car normally considered a weekend car.
"Say Senpai, why do you daily drive this kind of car? You do know that a city car is more efficient, right?" She asked.
"City cars are much more fuel efficient, but I guess I'm just attached to this car. This car used to rot in the back of the circuit until I got it for dirt cheap. I bought it home and began restoring it to its former glory. Now she runs like a beauty!" He replied.
"I see, I guess that car is part of your history huh? But still isn't it expensive to restore such an old car?" She asked him.
"Well back then it was hard to maintain, but now I could afford it so I guess that's another reason why I drive it." Sugimoto told her.
Alice nodded understandingly after hearing his reasonings. Sugimoto went to the trunk and grabbed his bag. As he got his stuff out, Alice decided to ask him something.
"Hey, how about we go jogging before we begin practicing?" She asked him.
As soon as she said that, she heard no response and looked back at his car, she was surprised to see that he had seemingly vanished into thin air.
"S-Senpai?" She muttered as she looked around and saw him already at the entrance, escaping from her.
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"Jeez, he really doesn't like doing this kind of activity huh? But he does good physique." Alice thought to herself
"Eh, what am I talking about!" She said while blushing and getting the image out of her head.
Alice continued her jogging session for another 20 minutes until she eventually returned to the break room and saw him lazing around on the sofa.
"Oi Senpai, why did you run away!" She scolded him.
"Nah I didn't run away, I just strategically got out of the conversation." He said chuckling while lying on the sofa and scrolling on his phone.
"You really are a lazy bum, but whatever floats your boat." She said reluctantly.
Alice went out and inspected her car, she got in the car and began feeling the steering wheel reminiscing about the race with Sugimoto yesterday. As she was turning the wheel, she felt a presence from outside her window
"Eek!" She screamed seeing the manager suddenly appear beside her.
The manager was standing by her window and smiled at her. Alice rolled down her window with a puffed face.
"Manager you scared me!" She scolded the manager.
"Haha sorry, I didn't mean to again. I came here to give you this." The manager told her.
The manager handed her a sticker and It was a racing number. Written on it was Alice Shah, Number 430. Alice was surprised by the sticker's number.
"Number 430...? This was my dad's number!" She looks in awe.
"I was supposed to get the number 32 sticker for the upcoming race but the Racing Organization of Akinabalu (ROA) said that the number is unavailable, so I got you this number instead. I hope you don't mind it." The manager told her.
Alice smiled and began tearing up. She wiped the tears off her face and held it to her heart.
"N-no, I'm glad you chose this for me." She told the manager.
She felt the pressure to bear such responsibility and decided to vow to protect its legacy.
"Manager, I won't let you down!" She told the manager.
The manager smiles and nods leaving her alone with the car. Alice quickly exited the and began looking for a spot to place her number. While she was sticking the sticker all over the car's body, Sugimoto appeared beside her.
"Number 430 huh?" Sugimoto asked her.
Alice jumped in shock at Sugimoto's sudden appearance.
"What is wrong with both of you? Stop appearing out of nowhere like that!" She scowls at him.
"Haha sorry, you just seemed keen on putting that sticker on." He chuckled.
"Next time please give me a heads up!" She said while pouting at him.
"I'll try not to." He said while he gave her a soft pet on the head.
"Not that either!" She angrily told him and pushed his hand off her.
They both look at the car trying to find a perfect place to add the sticker.
"So where should we put this up" She asked Sugimoto for opinions.
"Maybe somewhere that doesn't interrupt the airflow of the vehicle." Sugimoto told her.
"Stickers can cause drag?" She asked curiously.
As she muttered that phase, the manager pulled a random whiteboard out of nowhere and began writing on it showing something about airflow.
"Racing stickers unlike liveries have a rougher texture and disrupt airflow if placed in the wrong areas such as the edges of a race car. Although the effect of the drag is quite small, it doesn't mean it would not affect the car in any way, especially in this kind of sport where aerodynamics is a key factor in going fast. Hence why many race cars such as Formula A started using liveries more." The manager answers Alice while Sugimoto nods.
Alice was a bit confused when he bought the whiteboard out of nowhere but she seemed to understand what the manager said. She then decides to ask another question.
"I see. So if stickers can cause drag, why don't we use liveries?" She asked the manager curiously.
The manager choked when she heard Alice ask about using liveries. He began feeling a bit nervous and told her.
"W-well they're quite expensive and it's not in our budget yet hehe" The manager answered her looking quite nervous.
The manager quickly ran out and brought the whiteboard with him.
"That was a bit weird but I guess it was a bit helpful too I guess" Alice muttered to herself.
"Well, I guess I should just put it here then." She said to herself.
Alice placed the sticker right below the left and right mirror of the M6.
"It looks nice." Sugimoto told her while smiling.
"Y-yeah, it does look nice." She looks at the sticker and then turns to him.
"Senpai how about your number? What number do you usually use?" She asked curious about his number.
"Well, I'm usually number 23 since it's my lucky number and I couldn't imagine driving any other number other than that!" He boldly told her.
As Sugimoto told her that information, the manager returned and handed him his racing number.
"Number 431? Why are you giving me this number chief?" Sugimoto muttered in confusion.
"I tried requesting the number 23 from the ROA but it wasn't available, so I grabbed that number since it's closer to 430, sorry about that Sugimoto." The manager told him.
The manager left them both and Sugimoto stood there in shock as Alice smirked at him.
"Hey number 431, want me to help apply your number?" Alice said while teasing him.
"Shut up kid." He said as he looked in defeat.