A few weeks has gone by after Alice's first win for Akinabalu Motorsports and her fame at school gradually died down a bit. Alice got to school earlier than everyone and sat down at her desk beside the window. She looked out the window and saw Mount Akinabalu standing tall while the sun began rising. She smiled lightly as she stared at the magnificent mountain, but suddenly, someone grabbed her shoulder.

"Eek!" Alice jumps from the sudden contact.

"Good morning Alice!" Raani said feeling mischievous.

"Stop scaring me like that Raani!" Alice said angrily.

"Sorry about that." Raani chuckled as she sat down in front of Alice.

"Jeez, I swear one day I'll die of a heart attack because of you guys." Alice said calming herself down.

"So Alice, why are you here so early?" Raani asked her curiously.

"I was up earlier than usual and decided to go to school early." Alice answered her.

"Ah I see, I guess that's the perks of living close to school huh?" Raani said to her.

"Say Raani, now that I think about it, you live on the outskirts of town, right? But you always arrive early at school. Do you take the train here?" Alice asked her.

"I walk." Raani casually answered.

"W-walk? Isn't that a bit far from school?" Alice gasped surprised by her answer.

"Well I'm kinda used to it by this point, I used to take the train but I want to save my pocket money. I also like walking so I don't mind." Raani answered her.

"I see, you've always been the athletic kind of person, you've even won our school tons of awards as well." Alice told her.

"Hey, you're also athletic, even though your legs are short, you can still run pretty fast." Raani told her.

"What did you say?" Alice said to her, widening her eyes.

"N-nothing!" Raani reassures her.

After a while, more and more people came and class started as usual. After class, the gang gathered up as usual and started chatting.

"Hey guys, tomorrow is Valentine's right?" Airi asks them.

"Yep, I guess it's that time of year again, I'm guessing you're going to give your boyfriend some chocolate on Valentine's huh?" Raani smirks as she teases Airi.

"Hey, it's not official yet!" Airi blurted out feeling embarrassed.

"Ah is that so? Let me go ask him!" Raani told her and began sprinting out the door.

"Raani I'm going to kill you!" Airi screamed at her and chased after her.

Raani and Airi ran out of class while Alice and Aini watched and kept silent. While they were away, Aini struck up a conversation with Alice.

"Say Alice, don't you have someone you like?" Aini asked Alice.

"Huh me? I don't have anyone I like, plus I don't believe in Valentine and all." Alice told her while sipping on her apple juice.

"Is that so? I guess that makes it both of us. But still, you must have someone you like?" Aini asks her.

"I don't really like the boys here, they're all rowdy and hard to manage." Alice told her.

"Ah I see, so you like mature people then?" Aini told her.

"I guess you're right." Alice told her while sipping on her juice box.

"Like your Senpai?" Aini said casually.

Alice accidentally spits out her apple juice and coughs from Aini's response.

"M-my Senpai? Him? He's the most immature person I could think of!" Alice flusters while screaming at Aini.

"Did I strike a nerve?" Aini chuckles seeing Alice all flustered up.

"Why would you think that!? He's way too old for me anyways!" Alice told Aini still flustered.

"Well you did say you don't like immature people, so I assumed you liked older guys." Aini told her.

"Even if that's true, it doesn't mean I like him! Besides he's too old for me anyways." Alice told her.

"I mean it's only a 4-year age gap, right? I don't think Sugimoto would mind." Aini told her.

"What do you mean 4 yea- W-wait... how did you know my Senpai's age?" Alice instead of being mad starts feeling suspicious instead.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"I have my ways Alice, don't worry about it." Aini told her suspiciously.

Raani and Airi finally got back to class and there was a bump on Raani's head. They went and sat down with Alice and Aini where they began talking about their plans for today.

"Alright gang, tomorrow will be the big day! So after school, we'll go shopping for materials!" Raani told the group.

"Um, I don't think we agreed to this Raani." Alice told her.

"Nonsense! Look at Airi and Aini, they seem on board with the idea." Raani told her.

"Raani... Aini doesn't celebrate Valentine's day." Alice told Raani.

Raani was taken aback by the fact some of them couldn't participate, but then Aini spoke up.

"Tho it's true that I don't celebrate Valentine's Day, but it doesn't mean I can't make chocolate for everyone!" Aini told them.

Alice felt her heart drop upon hearing Aini's words, seemingly backstabbed by her betrayal.

"B-but you said..." Alice muttered in shock.

"Welp, it's three against one Alice, see you girls after school!" Raani told them.

Alice lays her head on the table in defeat throughout the school day. After school, they took the train to the capital city and began the quest to find their Valentine's gifts. They go from shop to shop to find their perfect gifts, Alice on the other hand is still reluctant to find any Valentine's gift and buys other things such as food and other things.

"Look at this store, they sell all kinds of chocolate here!" Raani told them.

"Yeah, look at all this chocolate, they even got a chocolate fondue!" Aini told them as she looked through the window.

"Let's check it out!" Raani told them excitedly.

The gang went inside the bakery and was mesmerized by the store filled with all sorts of pastries and chocolate ranging from common chocolate brands to handmade chocolate. As they looked around, the door behind the counter suddenly opened and the shopkeeper came out.

"A-Alice?" The shopkeeper said to her.

"M-Manager!?" Alice said in a shocked tone.

Alice stood in shock seeing the shopkeeper of the bakery was none other than her manager. The girls on the other hand were stoked to see him.

"Hey, you're that old man from that race from before!" Raani calls him out.

"Ah yes, that was me. I believe you three are Alice's friends. Thanks for supporting her." The manager told them.

"It's a pleasure to support our little girl here." Raani told him.

Alice snaps out of it and decides to ask the manager a question.

"M-manager, what are you doing here?" Alice asked him.

"Why this is my wife's bakery. I usually help her around when it's not racing season." The manager told her.

"Ah, I see. I thought you'd be at a retirement home when it's not racing season." Alice teased the manager.

"Alice I'm not that old..." The manager sighed.

The gang seems confused about Alice's relationship with the manager and decides to ask her.

"Say Alice, you seem to know him well, is he your grandpa or something?" Airi asked her.

"What? No! He's my racing manager for the team I'm racing on." Alice told them.

"Ah, that's why he joined us at the stands. You still got your glow sticks old man?" Airi asked him.

The manager pulls out a glow stick from his pocket seemingly out of nowhere.

"Never leave without them." The manager said while waving his glow stick.

The girls chuckled a bit and proceeded to look around the store. Aini and Airi went to look at the chocolate Fondue where the manager assisted them and gave them complimentary churros. Aini and Airi's eyes sparkled as they ate the chocolate-covered churros. Raani was walking around the store until she saw Alice looking for something.

"Hey Alice, whatchu doing?" Raani asked her.

"I'm just looking for some chocolate for myself and my grandpa." Alice told Raani.

"Ah, I see, I guess that's considerate of you. Are you sure you're not going to buy any chocolate for a Valentine?" Raani asked her.

"Nope, I'm just going to buy it for me and my grandpa only." Alice casually told her.

"Not even for your Senpai?" Raani asked her.

"Nope." Alice replied casually again.

After a while, the gang finally got what they needed and went to the cash register to check out. Alice showed off her wealth to her friends by pulling out her debit card.

"Don't worry girls, let Mama pay." Alice said confidently.

"Wait you're going to pay for us, Alice?" Aini asked her.

"Yep, I'm feeling a bit generous today." Alice told them.

The girls were so surprised by Alice's sudden generosity that they let her pay for them. The manager scanned all the items and the total was 250 dollars. The girls' eyes widened as they saw the total but Alice remained calm.

"A-Alice are you sure this is okay?" Airi told her.

"Pfft, it's just 250 dollars." Alice told them casually.

Alice places her card over the "wave machine" to pay for their items but suddenly the card declines. Alice's eyes widened as she saw the card declined.

"Uhm, Alice is something wrong?" Raani asked her.

"W-weird, for some reason my card is declining the purchase." Alice told them.

"You must have already reached today's limit. What did you buy before this?" Airi asked Alice.

Alice thought for a bit and remembered that she used her card on everything from buying a train ticket to food and other accessories for herself. Alice realizes that her debit has reached the limits for the day, she crouches in defeat and begins feeling embarrassed.

"Let me see that card, Alice." The manager asked Alice.

Alice stood back up and handed him the card knowing fully well that it won't work. The manager inspects the card and accidentally drops it on the floor. The manager bends over to pick it back up and blows on it. The manager waved again and suddenly the transaction was successful.

"Ah, it does work after all. Here you go, Alice." The manager said to her.

The manager handed her the card back and Alice was surprised to see her card work but noticed that the card was quite different from hers. Alice's friends were quite happy that the payment was successful. After that, they said their goodbyes to the manager and left. Alice while walking with her friends back to the train station breathes a sigh of relief knowing she won't get teased.

"Thank God the manager saved me back there, I guess I owe him one. I also need to give him back his debit card later." Alice muttered to herself feeling thankful.

Alice looks at her phone and notices a text message from the manager.

"Training will start tomorrow, see you there! Also, bring back my card please." The manager texted and sent a random cat sticker.

Alice chuckled seeing the message and replied with a thumbs-up emoji. As they got to the station, Alice swiped the manager's card but was declined. Alice's friends looked over at her while Alice stood there.

"T-the manager's card has also reached its limit." Alice muttered to herself.

"Seems like your card has finally reached the limit. Guess you have to buy a token just like the rest of us." Airi teases her.

Alice reluctantly bought a train ticket from a token machine and they all got on the train. Aini and Airi dozed off on the train after a long day. Raani who was awake noticed that Alice had a few extra chocolates in her plastic bag.

"Huh, it seems like you bought more chocolate than just for you and your grandpa. Eh?" Raani teases her.

"I-I just bought it because I want to eat more okay! It's not like I have anyone to give to anyway!" Alice told her.

"I see, not even for your beloved Sen-Pai?" Raani whispered as she teased her again.

"SHUT UP!" Alice said flusteredly.