Chapter Text
Prologue
The human body is a machine. Much like a car. The engine is the heart. The brain, the driver at the steering wheel. Every single organ is part of that machine. Parts can get old, damaged, broken, and need to be replaced or repaired. But there is one difference between a car and a human in terms of parts. In a car, you can blow out your engine but still be able to replace it and it’ll work just fine. A broken heart, however, isn’t that easy to fix, and the it is for that reason that love is so dangerous...
It was close to closing time at a small, privately owned auto-repair shop. Or, at least it looked small. Some would call its paint job a bit bizarre, bright yellow exterior walls with bright pink awnings, but to it’s owner, it was perfect. It stood out to everyone, which was important for a borderline famous shop such as this.
This shop was owned by a legend in the world of technology and mechanics, Kazuichi Souda. Having graduated Hopes Peak Academy, his skills he’d developed as a Super High-School Level Mechanic had flourished and his career took off. The small look of his shop was an illusion hiding the large garage in the back. He was known far and wide as a mechanic that could fix nearly anything given the tools. He’d occasionally have to take off site jobs around the world to repair things varying from the high quality collector’s cars of wealthy businessmen and celebrities, to commercial jets, to even military projects such as tanks and drones. Even with this high paying job, however, does he still appreciate the life of his own body shop, serving the people of his community locally with their car troubles, and occasional repair of random mechanical items like watches and clocks and DVD players when he could for a lot less than most commercial places.
He sighed as he rolled out on the dolly he used to help him move from under the cars and stood up. He looked into the window that lead to the front desk where he handled “business” such as money transactions and discussing the problems the cars had. He wiped a bit of grease from his face with a rag before opening the door and flopping down in his swivel chair. A routine oil leak and axel realignment. Nothing he hadn’t seen before... He’d have to admit, for someone in his position, handling all these jobs in a timely manor... it was starting to get lonely.
He had friends, sure, but that wasn’t the loneliness he was thinking about. He went out with friends every so often, helped them with their mechanical and electronic problems, and so on, but he also spent almost all day at work alone, and then, after closing most nights, he’d return to his single bedroom apartment and just watch a little tv and go to sleep. He’d considered getting some animals, but always worried he wouldn’t know how to properly take care of them.
At this moment, he looked out the window and noticed the owner of the pet shop across the street closing shop for the night and walking off into the night. That Tanaka.... Souda found himself staring out at the man with the purple scarf randomly when he was in his office. He’d always be making sure each of the animals got special attention and helping his customers find the perfect pet... or perhaps he was making sure the pets got the right owner. He always seemed a little eccentric. Souda was in school with him. Super High-School Level Animal Breeder Gundam Tanaka, said to be able to speak to the animals. Occasionally, a hamster or 4 would pop out from under his scarf while he was at school and he’d even seen that still happening while he was at work recently. He apparently had bred all the animals himself that he had in the shop, so they were the highest quality. Rumors were that he even felt a bit guilty selling animals for money at all, and Souda had to admit that he found that a little sweet. A lot of things about Gundam were sweet.
It was then that it hit him. He longed for companionship this entire time! He never did have much luck when he was in school talking to girls. A lot of them were frightened by his abnormal dental situation, since apparently shark teeth are actually a turn off for a lot of people, and if they could get past his teeth, he’d typically stumble over his words, or himself, trying to express his feelings. This thought brought him to looking at his desk. Him and Gundam had never really talked that much in school, and hadn’t talked at all since they graduated. The fact that their shops were across from each other was completely coincidental. He was sure that if he tried to go out to talk to the man, he would just end up messing up anyway. This man didn’t know him very well and vice versa. It wouldn’t end well trying to talk to him. Or at least he thought so. Maybe if he just got in early and visited him on lunch he cou-
His thoughts were cut short by the sound of the bell on the door ringing. He heard a familiar voice when he looked up. “Kazuichi-chan! Ibuki is here for to see her best friend~!”
“Oh, Ibuki.” He smiled a bit to see her. She had been his friend since his time in Hopes Peak. It’s always good to have strong friendships. Ibuki was something. Her personality was as bright as the streaks in her hair. Thinking about that just made him realize he really wasn’t that good with words. Never the less, the “Super High-School Level Light Music Club Member” owned a karaoke club a few streets down, she was still trying to figure out exactly what to use her skills for. Whether she would attempt a solo singing career or form a group was still up in the air. “Why’d you stop by? I was actually about to close shop for the night.”
“Ibuki didn’t think she needed a reason to come see her friends at their work on a Thursday night. Ibuki just hadn’t really talked to you in about a week!” She tilted her head. “You seem a little... off. Tell Ibuki what’s wrong?”
Souda sighed a little. “Oh... just... I’ve been thinking... You know... it does kind of get a bit lonely around here. I was... considering trying dating. Getting myself out there, you know? If only I knew where to start...” He stood up and pushed his chair under the desk, wiping some sweat from his forehead.
It was then that he was taken by surprise as his friend had an idea. She pulled him close, an arm around his waist. “You know, Ibuki has a lot of single friends...” She thought for a second. “Ibuki will help! She knows the best dates~”
Souda gulped slightly. “No, really... that’s okay.” He didn’t really want to hook up with some random person he may not know anything about. If they were Ibuki’s friends, though, they couldn’t be that bad... could they?
“No, she insists. Ibuki will ask around and see who is up for a date. Ibuki PROMISES that she will help!”
“Okay then...” He gulped again. ‘This isn’t gonna be good...’
Ibuki let go of him. “Great. Ibuki will call you when she finds Kazuichi-chan a date~” She walked to the door. “Byyeeeeee~”
Souda smiled and waved back as she left the store. He had a slight smile on his face, although it was needless to say he was still nervous. This did seem a little promising. At least he’d have plans for the weekend if this panned out.
He closed up shop and walked to his nearby apartment. He was hungry; he hadn’t eaten since lunch since he’d stayed to work a bit late since he worked alone. He checked the fridge, there was some leftover pizza from last night and about half of a 2-litre bottle of cola. Good enough for a quick little meal before bed.
He flopped down on the couch with his reheated pizza and watched a little tv while he ate before he went to bed.
Has he changed into his bright yellow pj’s with wrench print, he contemplated the day. He’d soon be on a date with someone. The thought actually made him rather excited and happy. He’d just have to wait for a call or visit from Ibuki.
‘What could possibly go wrong?’ he thought as he got under the covers, slowly drifting off into his own personal dream land.