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Hayakawa Mika rounded the spoon curve at Suzuka circuit, wrestling her Tyrrel-Ford car to maintain position.
Hayakawa Mika is a Formula 1 race car driver. For the Arrows team. Her second year had come and gone, and now she was racing at her home race, for the last time in an F1 car.
The 1998 season's been absolutely horrid for her. Starting the year off well, she finished 7th and 8th in the first two rounds. In the next 4 races, she finished 1, and was disqualified in France. It wasn't even her fault, the team put her teammate's tires on by accident!
Add an abysmal 16th place in Great Britain, her resolve shattered. She did not complete a single race afterwards. Let it be due to the car or to her own silly mistakes, she'd binned it this year.
Arrive at Japan. She's the first Japanese woman to step up to Formula one. She's an icon, and the crowd cheer her on still, despite not performing at all. It nearly brought a tear to her-
Clunk crash whirr…
Shit. No. No this… this can't be.
Hayakawa pressed the throttle. Nothing. She changed gears. Nothing.
…fuck.
Her car was gone. Done. Kaput.
And so was her career.
…this time she might actually- nope, nope there are already tears.
She tries to restart it, but to no avail. It's gone.
…bweh. Well that's it then, huh? she thought, pulling over to the side of the track.
There was only 10 laps left too. Figures. Just her fucking luck.
Her vision is blurry. Clouded with tears, or feeling faint, she can't tell. She can't feel anything. She can't hear anything.
As her car ground to a stop, the pathetic in house Arrows engine behind her sputtering to death.
And with one last 'fuck you' from the sport to her, the car jolts and hurts her back. Ow.
She mindlessly pulls out the steering wheel and places it outside of the car, allowing her to exit. She hops out and puts the steering wheel back in, a practice she was all too familiar with, and thanks God that the crowd can't see her cry.
She jumps over the pit wall and walks down the pits to get back to Arrows' pit box.
Then she hears it.
Applause.
Huh, odd. The race wasn't over yet. There was no winner yet. Did Schumi crash or something…?
Mika! Mika! Mika! Mika!
She heard her name. Was… was it for her? Impossible.
But it was. She looked to her left and saw the Japanese flags flying, as well as the others. But she definitely heard her name.
She then saw her friend running down the pit lane, wearing his usual orange and black attire that was the Arrows colours. His blond hair bounced as he ran up to her.
"Hayakawa! They're cheering for you!" he said. She blinked.
"R-Really…?" she said. Yikes her voice.
"I- woah. You good?"
"No… but that's for later. Are they really… cheering Mika?" she asked. He nodded. "…I see." she said. She pulled her helmet and undergarments off and shoved them into his hands. "Hold onto those for a moment, Fuji."
Without a second to spare, she ran up to the wall and faced the crowd. It seemed most of the field was on the other side of the track, so the track was quiet.
All the sounds around her became unmuffled — maybe because of the lack of helmet — and she heard the roar of the crowd.
It was for her. Hayakawa Mika. The Japanese lass that had grazed the top of the world and came crashing down.
And yet, here she was, being cheered on by a whole nation. She couldn't believe it.
She felt so incredibly happy in that moment. Understandably so; she was being cheered on. Even after DNF-ing. It was bittersweet. What a sweet crowd. If only she could have given them more.
She couldn't contain herself. Public image be damned.
"Thank you for your continued support!!!" she yells at the crowd. Her crying has all but subdued as she hears the crowd roar back. "I apologise for my lacklustre performance!!!" she adds. Well, the hints of crying in her voice, at least. Tears were still falling down her cheek. The crowd roars even louder, even some whistles and clapping were heard.
Mika-chan! You're our favourite! You won in our hearts! You made us proud!
Hayakawa smiles fondly, hearing them say such things about her. What a day this was.
She waves to the crowd one last time, before bowing to the crowd. She was applauded as she came off the wall. She walked back to Fujioka and grabbed her things.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For holding my stuff, dummy." she said. She laughed/sobbed, an odd combo. "And… for everything you've done for me this year." she added. Fujioka smiled.
"But of course." he said.
And for the first time that day, she sported a genuine smile.
"Hey," Reo began. "Mika-chan." He came over to her and sat on their bed. "You good yet?"
"…y-yes… sorry for being a little mean earlier." she apologised. Reo scoffed and waved her off as she looked up from her pillow.
"Oh it's fine, I get it. Damned media, am I right?" he said, lightly elbowing her. She lets out a soft chuckle. "I saw you crying though. Is everything good?" he said, a little more serious. Still hugging her pillow, Hayakawa sat up and faced Reo. She shook her head. "Wanna talk about it?"
"… it's just… I just wanted to give one last hurrah. One last finish. I couldn't even do that. But yet they still applaud me…" she said. A little quiver present in her voice. "It was out of pity, wasn't it?"
Reo shook his head, grabbing one of her hands. "I don't think so. Look, you may have not say… 'performed' in the past season, but still; you represented the people of Japan. You… you stood on one of the most prosperous platforms anyone from anywhere can achieve — the people are proud, Mika." he reassured.
"You remember last year when I didn't finish too?" he asked. She nodded.
"Of course. I had to comfort you even if I didn't finish either. Smh bro." she said, trying to bring the mood up. Reo rolled his eyes and lifted his legs up onto the bed.
"Well… now it's your turn. Fancy a comforting hug?" he asked, extending his arms. Hayakawa giggles. "D-Don't… this is already embarrassing for me."
Hayakawa rolls her eyes and hugs him anyway. "Of course you dummy. I love you too much to turn that down you know." she says, settling into his lap.
"And I you." he says, looking down at her. They lock eyes, and their lips move towards each other.
But as soon as they make contact, they are interrupted.
"Haya-chan, Reo!!! I need- shit. Shit! Sorryyyyyy!!!" Fujioka exclaims, walking in and then running out, slamming the door.
Hayakawa was so startled she accidentally bit Reo's lip. Reo also accidentally squeezed her waist a little hard.
They share a fond laugh.
Mika-chan's cheered up, its seems.
And the one to thank is Reo.
… and potentially Fujioka.