Mechanic Mindset

“A-ah…! Nooo! S-Souda-kun!”

She turned around, her tiny feet hitting the damp sand as hard as they could in an effort to get away from him. She eventually fled the water and continued running, hiding behind where they put their things.

“...Ferreal? ...Thought we were playin’.”

Souda grunted, taking a moment to stand up in the water and place his hands on his hips. 

Her eyes widened as she saw him approach her… it was weird. Just what the hell was he doing? It was just… weird! She began to wade backward in the water, her gaze focused on him, somewhat panicked, somewhat curious,

“W-what are you doing? Stop it!”

“Scared of sharks, huh?! Too bad!”

He continued to creep closer, putting a hand to the back of his head like a fin. Did sharks eat piranhas? They could try, probably. But he figured she probably knew as much about sea life as he did. He continued to hum the theme, starting to move towards her faster.

“Well, I’ve never seen you work- Seeing is believing, Jabberjaw!”

And then she caught onto the previous comment.

“W-weird piranha wife? Are you saying I look like a piranha? I’m not ugly!”

She pouted, raising her fist in the air to throw the shell at him. She realized what was in her hand, however, and lowered her grip, bringing the shell back to her chest.

“S-shut up! At least I don’t look like I belong to the sharks!”

“And ya’ won’t see me either. I don’t trust you around heavy things. Ya’ might get squished. ...Hey, hey. I didn’t even say ya’ were ugly! ...Piranhas aren’t all that ugly anyway. No more than any other fish. They just got big eyes and big teeth. Like you. ...Not literally, but ya’ know. You’re small and kinda vicious and stuff. I bet a whole buncha’ you could strip a candy store in seconds.”

After a sigh, he gave up, standing up and stretching out to loosen up his back. But as she related him to a shark again, he dropped back down. Narrowing his eyes, he began to hum the theme to Jaws and creep towards him.

“It’s, um, not bad. It’s prettier than you.”

She put the mask back on. He was quite charming when he wasn’t being a dolt. 

She cupped the shell tightly in her hands, rubbing it with her thumb. 

She waded a bit farther to catch up to him- she didn’t want to be left alone. Now the water was a bit above her stomach, but she tried her best to help look too. 

“So, are you glad you came out? This is probably way better than working; still surprised you know how to do that, by the way.”

“I’m a boy. I don’t hafta be pretty. ...Don’t you come followin’ me in too far. If you get sucked under by a tide and some merman tries to make ya’ his weird piranha wife, I won’t fight him.”

But of course, he’d grab her if she got sucked into the water.

He continued to busily search for shells, finding one that was pretty and spiraled, but broken and quite sharp. Too bad.

ew r u tryna get @ me souda

if u blonde

an u rich

and u foreign

“O-Okay.”

Saionji blushed furiously at the pat of her head; she wiped her eyes yet again as she nodded in agreement to her like of seashells.

She watched him dig around in search of a seashell; she had already been with Koizumi once, but they had no luck. All the seashells they stumbled upon were either broken or extremely fragile- so while Saionji took delight in breaking them, there were no sturdy contenders for their collection. They might as well find something to delight in at this island, right?

She felt sort of guilty for being a crybaby; she didn’t want to ruin his time. She was a lot softer than she let on, after all. Sometimes, the mask breaks. And she hoped it was okay.

“ ...’Okay’?” 

Souda kept his eyes trained on the sand. After all, he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to show off something cool. So far there were only little bits and pieces. So he waddled a little deeper into the water.

“All you have to say is ‘okay’? That’s pretty shady, Saionji. You better not be plannin’ to stuff a jellyfish down my pants or somethin’. That’ll be real weird for me, you, and the jellyfish.” 

He found something. It was tiny...but it was a little pink shell. Completely one piece, too! He promptly stuffed it into Saionji’s hands before beginning to look again.

She sniffled a bit, wiping her face with her arm. He didn’t quite understand why she was upset, but she’d take it. 

“O-Okay, Big Bro. I-If you say so.”

To be honest, she never really thought of Souda as much, but spending this time with him, she somehow managed to take a liking to him; sort of like Big Sis Koizumi, except… more stupid.

Of course, she wouldn’t stop calling him names completely, but it was something.

She looked up at him; this really must suck for him- the waist for her was just above his knees for him. 

“S--Still with the big brow stuff?! Jeez. That’s so-- that’s so creepy! I know it’s like...yer’ thing and all, but we’re the same age! ‘Souda-kun’ was way better than ‘big bro’!”

Hesitantly, after sitting her down, he leaned in, patting her head a little before kneeling down in the water. At least this way it felt like he was deeper in.

“You like seashells, spider-monkey? Bet I can find a good one.” 

Hiyoko began to shout and yell in protest as soon as he took a few steps backwards; she had changed her mind. What if she drowned?! She can’t swim, and of course he wouldn’t save her, not after how mean she had been to him! Oh no- Oh no-

Oh.

He didn’t even throw her.

She felt small drops of water hit her as Souda jumped into the water himself. As he set her down, she was still fairly clueless as to what had just happened.

“W-Wahhhh! S-Souda-kun! You idiot!”

“A--AAH-- What!? Why are you cryin’?! Are you like-- Are you fer’ real mad I didn’t throw you?! I’m not gonna throw you! You’re way too small! A wave might swallow you up if I throw you out there too far! Jeez--”

Completely missing the point, he scooped her up again and beg to step further into the water.

mechatem

» ღ « “H-Hm…” » ღ « There was a high contrast with the mechanic’s strong colors and the view. The mix of pink and yellow could be considered a fashion crime to many people, but Mikan didn’t really mind. Whatever people wanted to wear wasn’t her bussines. There was something more important to ask.

  » ღ « “A-Are you s-sure you don’t n-need h-help? I-I can be very useful!” » ღ «

“Haven’t ya’ asked that already?”

Slipping his hat off, Souda ran his hand through his bright hair in frustration. Mikan didn’t know a thing about engines. He knew that. Sure, the steady hand of someone with medical expertise could be useful for a smaller project. This was the kind of thing that required good old fashioned elbow grease. ...And maybe a bit of cursing and striking machinery with tools in frustration.

She was surprised that he volunteered to throw her. Hopefully he wouldn’t throw her too far- she was short after all and wouldn’t be able to stand past a certain point.

She couldn’t help but blush when he lifted her. She tried to keep her gaze averted, her face twisted into a pout. It didn’t help hide her embarrassment, but it did ease the awkward tension between them both- or at least she thought so.

Wow. For once she didn’t have anything snarky to say.

It seemed as though Souda had finally gotten the upper hand. She looked pretty distressed about being lifted, which caused him to laugh loudly.

“Whassa’ matter, Spider-monkey?! Gonna throw you, ‘kaaaay?! Oooooone....twoooooo....this is yer’ last chance to protest, ya’ know! Otherwise I’m dunkin’ you right in! Bet you’ll sink like a rock too!”

Again he gently began to swing her as if warming up for a loooong throw.

“On the count of three, yeah? Ooooone....twoooooo....”

Throwing her seemed a little too mean. So before he could say three, he took a few steps back and ran, leaping into the water, creating a big splash. Of course, the water was only a little above his knees at this point. So with her lifted up in his arms, it barely touched her until he set her down in it.

Saionji turned around the moment she realized he was longer behind her. It was no fun if she didn’t have someone to come with her. Really, was he just going to sit there? Kind of rude, was it not?

She jogged back up to him, tugging his arm in the direction of the water. She wasn’t going to let him get away that easy.

“You can’t be serious! Come on, we’re getting in the water right now! Aren’t you part shark? You need the water to live, dumbass!”

Upon feeling his hands touch her arm, he began to try and wriggle free of her grip. In defeat, he groaned, slowly getting up from his place in the sand. She seemed really needy. Couldn’t she entertain herself? 

“...You’re really gonna try an’ drown me, aren’t ya?”

Ruffling his pink hair, he shook the sand from his hair as he reluctantly followed her to the water. Suddenly...he got an idea.

“...I’m gonna throw you in the ocean, ‘kay?”

What was that supposed to mean? Dancing wouldn’t get them off this island? Who did he think he was, insulting the Saionji clan?

Her gaze directed itself up at him, her big eyes blinking in disbelief.

“Sorry; I guess not all of us can have class. Let’s face it, I just make up for the grace you lack, you boob! Besides, I can contribute in more ways than dancing! I just… haven’t thought of them yet…”

And over the horizon, there was the beach. The blue waters glistened under the sun, and the smell of salt intensified. 

“Look, Big Bro Souda! There it is- the beach!”

And with that, she took off ahead of him, her feet pounding in the sand.

“Yeah, well...just see how far that class gets you. Won’t do shit if there isn’t a working engine.”

Big Bro? Big Bro. Oh God no. This was turning into the plot of some incredibly messed up anime. His fingers curled together, clenching into fists as he stood stiffly in place, watching her run off. ...Maybe this would be a good time to turn around and try and run back to his cabin. ...But she’d probably only come after him. With a disgusted groan, he waddled after her, flopping down on the sand on his side in defeat. ...At least it was warm.

Hiyoko turned around to face him when he exited his room; he looked… cute. Not that she’d admit it.

She picked her inner tube off of the ground as he spoke, getting ready to go; she couldn’t go without it. Truth be told, she couldn’t swim, but fat chance he was finding that out! Hiyoko smirked to herself; how awful would it be if she gave him some ammo?

“You? Important work? Hah,” she let out a giggle or two, stifling her laughter with her hand, “You look like you don’t even know what work is, Jabberjaw!”

“....Urgh...”

As dangerous as it was to not keep an eye on her, she kept his glance as far away from her as possible. She was so tiny. And in that bikini she-- ...Souda stopped his thoughts in their tracks right away. She made a comment yesterday calling him a pedo. Saionji must’ve known she looked way too young for her age. If he stared at her at all and ended up blushing, the “pedo” thing would only start up again.

“...Yeah. No offense. Dancing is good and all, but I don’t see a way dancing could build us something with an engine to get us offa’ this island.”

“As if! But fine, whatever, I’ll wait outside, dorkface. Just don’t take all day! My time is is just as important, if not more!”

She slowly slithered her hand out of his door and turned away from the enterance, shielding her eyes with her hands. Why is he so stupid. We will never know.

“....Feh.”

Reluctantly, he took off his jumpsuit, sneakers, and underwear, but ensured that he kept his white undershirt on. No point in having her get a good view of his skinny torso. It’d only give her some more fuel for her never ending stream of insults. He picked a blue pair of trunks that fit snugly on his waist. ...He even made the effort of tying the strings super tight in case Saionji tried to yank off his shorts and leave him stranded on the beach.

With a dramatic frown, he opened the door and stepped out.

“W-What the hell?! I’M NOT NAKED!”

Saionji stuck her hand through the crack in the door, hoping to prevent him from shutting it again. If he shut her hand in the door, there would be hell to pay, no doubt.

“Come on! Get your disgusting swim trunks on! I bet someone as perverted as you wears a speedo; ab-sol-ute-ly GROSS!”

“AAAAAAAAA--”

For a moment, he seriously considered shutting the door on her hand. Maybe her hand would fall off and a new one would sprout in it’s place like a lizard’s tail. She was essentially a little pink house gecko. ...But with a lot of teeth.