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Auto racing…
...a thrilling form of sport that pits both man and machine to the absolute limits. Staring danger at the face while moving past speeds exceeding a hundred miles per hour, they seek glory and fame while attempting to leave their rivals in the dust. And so, it became personal to a few of them.
Fans, young and old alike, feel the ecstasy of seeing their favorite brands, models and drivers swing past corners and straights effortlessly and emit a wonderous symphony of engine noises via their specially-engineered exhaust systems. All of this keep the crowd wanting for more.
Since its inception, motorsport influenced not just everything within it, but also daily life. This paved the way for things such as affordable performance, safety systems, and jobs in the auto industry. And it will continue to do so for the forseeable future.
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In one white-painted house within Tokyo's suburbs, a potential racing fan was about to sprout… Staring at the television in curiosity was a petit pink-haired girl in her late teens and dressed in a lovely yellow dress.
That girl in question was the third daughter of a noble family from a magical land known as Halkeginia - Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière.
Once ridiculed for her supposed lack of magic abilities, thus giving her the nickname "Louise the Zero", it was later revealed that she was one of the only few people to wield the power of Void, an elemet unlike the usual water, air, fire, and earth magic. This made her one of the most powerful mages to have ever lived.
For the past minutes, she felt shocked as she witnessed some of the cars heading into retirement due to numerous incidents such as hard contact with a solid object or part failures, and she felt awed when she saw the drivers' daring overtaking maneuvers. It just showed to her how much was at stake for any racing team.
Just then, a doorbell uttered a light "ding-dong", signalling someone was waiting outside the perimeter of the house. Hoping to return to the action as soon as possible, she rushed outside to the entrance. Her indoor uwabaki slippers were set aside, and she donned her outdoor footwear.
"Coming…" She loudly sent out her presence to the person outside.
"Oh, Louise?" A familiar male voice caught her attention.
"Hold on…" Louise opened the gate, fully revealing a young man dressed with his trademark blue-and-white jacket and dark blue pants. His blue eyes quickly turned towards the girl.
"Welcome back, Saito." She greeted him before remembering the race on television. "Saito, please come quick!" She grabbed his right arm which was holding a bag containing small groceries.
"Louise, what is it?" Saito felt worried. "Is something wrong?"
"No, but I found something on the TV."
And so, Louise brought the young man to the living room. There, the television just resumed with its live broadcast of the race, held at the famous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. On the screen, a German BMW Z4 GT3 race car was making high-speed turns on the Radillon and Eau Rogue corners as it was followed by a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, a Japanese entry which started to see success.
"Looks like Suirenji is feeling the pressure from Rivera as he makes the turn on the Eau Rogue…" The announcer described the situation on the leading car. The sound of two engines echoed, but they were more pronounced if Saito and Louise were to be at the race themselves. "She may not have enough distance to deny the attack…"
"I was looking at some channels until I stumbled upon this…" Louise described what she did prior to finding the race. "I can't help but watch those cars move fast and compete against each other."
"Oh, that's auto racing." Saito gave out the sport she was seeing.
"Auto… racing?" She felt confused.
"Does Halkeginia have horse racing?"
"Well, yes, we do have them."
"This is similar… only that the laps are more numerous."
"How many?"
"About fifty on average." Saito gave out his estimate.
"F-f-f-f-f-fifty!?" The girl cannot comprehend what she just heard. "That's insane…!"
"I've heard that even some races can go on for a whole day."
This next answer made Louise as stiff as a rock, and her mouth stuttered. If a horse were to accept that challenge, it would have been worn out or, for worse, dead after all the galloping. Cars would have less problems since they were made of metal and carbon fiber. Their only issues are metal fatigue, the elements, and sometimes, the actions of the pit crew, enough to affect the performance of cars and the stamina of the drivers.
"But the drivers do not stay in the cars for that long." A silver lining came out from the boy's mouth.
"Really?" Beginning to calm down, Louise slowly regained control of her body.
"Yeah. They take breaks, and someone else will take over for them until their time comes."
"Oh, whew…!" A cute sigh came out of Louise's mouth.
At the same time, a daring overtake was performed at the Campus corner.
"...looks like Beckett is about to make a pass, he's about to make a…" The announcer paused when he noticed the Audi R8 LMS race car performing a overtake on a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. The couple turned to the screen to see the result. "...Oh, he got him real good!"
The girl's eyes were suspended in awe once again. Saito, for his part, gave out a mirth.
Ever since her arrival on his world, Louise could only ask as she witnessed things not found on Halkeginia. The way people live, their status, their inventions - they fascinated her even more once the questions regarding to each of these topics were answered. She wished that her friends back home can see it in their full glory, and thankfully, the spell World Door could do just that. The only obstacles with that were the language barrier and a budget specifically useful within Japan.
An idea sprouted from her head.
"Oh, Saito… can we watch it for ourselves?" Louise asked. "Can we?"
"Ummm… let me see." Saito broke away to find an answer. "Wait here, Louise."
With energy, he made a run for the door to his room. Upon opening, he set his sights on his big tablet laid on his desk. He took it and made a quick trip back to Louise. As he was getting near her, he started searcheing for the schedule of races arranged for the GT3 World Cup, the series in which the race in Spa was part of.
Finally, there was a race closer to home.
It was scheduled to be held at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture from August 28 to 31. Even more exciting was the addition of the Race Track Backyard Tour, allowing guests to see how race-related activites were performed from behind the scenes. There was plenty of time to reserve tickets for them.
"Found it." Saito declared. Louise rushed to his side.
"Really?" She cannot contain the excitement.
"Yep." He gave out a nod. The only thing left to do was to ask his parents since the track was far from home. "I better ask mom and dad about this."
Her wish was granted. She will witness motorsport for the first time.
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A/N: The fanfic bore out of an idea while reading ZERO PEACE'S 'Zero no Tsukaima: Life In Tokyo'. Give it a good read, it's quite hilarious. After showing Louise the wonders of our modern world, how about showing them in actual competition?