Ding Ding Ding

“Thank god!” A blonde haired boy shouted from the back of the classroom as he slammed his history textbook shut with diligence.

“You know Mister Kyo, if you showed as much enthusiasm coming into class as you did leaving, your grades would be better.” The teacher called out to the blonde as everyone gathered up their belongings.

“Yeah yeah, you’re not the first to preach to me Mister B and you won’t be the last.” The blonde called back as he got to his feet and shoved his textbook back into his bag. Letting out a large yawn he stretched his arms above his head and pulled out his gloves from his bag. Slipping the gloves onto his hands, he gave them a smirk. The leather felt good against his skin and he clenched his hands into fists. “Oh yeah…” He muttered to himself with a grin. Tossing his bag over his shoulder he strolled out of the classroom like he owned the place, only to pass his teacher who was rolling his eyes.

A quick stop at his messy locker left him grabbing only two things, a helmet and his keys. Kicking the locker shut with his foot, he spun the keys on his fingers and whistled an obnoxious tune as he strolled through the halls. His hazel-gold eyes scanned the people through the hallways but he showed little interest until he stepped outside. His brothers were climbing into Rayne’s car and he gave them a polite head nod as the two waved to him. Astuma was the eldest of the three Kyo brothers and probably the one most would consider a ‘rebel’ of some kind. He was rude, direct and sarcastic unlike his brothers and always showed a sign of superiority that no one could seem to talk down.

Atsuma arrived at his bike and gave it a grin, “Still looking gorgeous but no play today, we’ve got to help the old man.” He said to his motorcycle as he climbed onto it. Pulling his backpack onto his back, he slipped his helmet onto his head and stuck his key into the ignition. The bike roared to life before settling into a nice purr. Giving a soft sigh and finally feeling content after a pointless day of school he pulled the bike out of the parking spot and took off.

After a nice ten minute rid he pulled into the back of Pat’s garage, his dad, Patrick’s, pride and joy. He was the best mechanic in town and everyone knew it. Not only did everyone know it but everyone came to him for help with the cars. “Atsuma!” His dad called out from somewhere in the shop as the young man entered and removed his gloves and school stuff. “We got work today!” His father was happy and jolly plump man at 5’7 inches in height and round shaped; quite the opposite of his 6 foot toned lean son. “Alright!” Atsuma called back matching is father’s excitement. If there is one thing Atsuma loved outside of his family, it was mechanic work.

Ding Ding Ding

"That bell was late by 1 whole minute. Again" a girl with orange-gold hair murmured darkly from her seat at the front of the class as she snapped her fingers, causing the peon sitting on her right to begin packing away her things quickly and efficiently while the peon to her left pulled her chair back as she gracefully rose to her feet.

“You know Mister Kyo, if you showed as much enthusiasm coming into class as you did leaving, your grades would be better.” The teacher called out to a certain blonde boy at the back of the class.

“Yeah yeah, you’re not the first to preach to me Mister B and you won’t be the last.” The blonde called back as he got to his feet and shoved his textbook back into his bag.

The orange-gold haired girl silently fumed as she waited for the blonde to exit the classroom before taking her bag from the peon who had packed it. She hated every second she spent in the same room with that boy. Come to think of it, she hated everything about that boy. Once she was certain that he had put enough distance between them, she nodded to the peons on either side of her before taking her leave. The teacher watched her leave tensely. Were she not the daughter of his boss, he would have rolled his eyes at her as well.

Once again, she was forced to stop and wait for the blonde to leave his locker. Her locker was right next to his, and she didn't want to be anywhere near him for longer than she needed to. Once the blonde was out of sight, the orange-gold haired girl approached her locker and retrieved her keys. Once she had them, Chisana Dadakko walked out of the building. She found her car and began her usual drive home. 10 minutes in, however, the car began making some very unusual sounds. And on top of that, it was slowing down.

"What?!" Chisana exclaimed as she floored the gas in an unsuccessful attempt to gain speed "Why is my car slowing down?!". As the car continued to slow down, Chisana spotted a garage on the side of the row and breathed a sigh of relief. "At least I can get someone to fix it here" she said to herself as her car barely made it into the garage before its engine died.

A jolly plump man who had been arranging some tools looked up from his work. From the sounds he'd heard the car make on its way in and the desperate look on the driver's face, he knew what she wanted. "Atsuma!" Patrick called out "We got work today!"

Chisana groaned at the mention of Atsuma's name and then a 2nd time at Atsuma's response. 'Why me?' Chisana thought to himself as she listened to the sound of Atsuma's approaching footsteps.

Finishing up getting ready for work, Astuma slid himself into his work jumpsuit and dusted off his hands. He liked working in the shop with his father. It was great father-son bonding and was teaching him a skill he never thought he could have. His attention span in school wasn’t very long but he really enjoyed the freedom of doing things with his own hands. It would explain his lack of attention and his even more lack of willingness to pay attention during school.

When he walked out into the bay, however, he stopped. His arms fell to his side and he let out a sigh. “Hello princess. Did you chariot break down?” He asked with a sarcastic chuckle to his voice as she climbed out her car. With a skilled hand he reached down and popped the hood. Once the supporting was in place he leaned into the car. His expression changed to one of seriousness as he looked over the car. Unlike his many blank expressions in class, these were focused and examining the things within the car.

“Tell me what’s been happening? Describe the sounds. Any odd smells?” His golden hazel eyes never left the shut off car and the reached down, grabbing something from inside and began to feel it, deciding if it was tight or loose.

Chisana turned her nose up at Atsuma indignantly in response to his greeting as she climbed out of her car. She then walked over to a nearby chair and sat down as Atsuma got down to business. "I was driving home from school today and the car started making this weird spluttering sound" Chisana said when Atsuma asked about what happened "Soon after, the car began to slow down and refused to speed up even when I floored the gas pedal. I barely had enough time to get here before the engine died. That's all I know". Chisana then lapsed back into silence and resumed turning her nose up at Atsuma. Chisana hoped that she didn't have to stay for long. She detested every second she spent in that garage and wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Atsuma reached down into the car and felt something before jerking his hand out with a yipped. The transmission was on fire and compared to how one would normally feel. “Okay.” He said with a nod acknowledging what she had said before going around the car. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed her upturned nose and smirked slightly. Really? You’re going to turn your nose up to the guy who’s going to take care of your car, smart… opening the driver’s door he looked down, the seat was pulled up to the steering wheel. Was she really that short!? Eyebrow raised he glanced over his shoulder at her before sighing.

Reaching inside he started the engine only to hear the noise she was describing even more intensely. “Oh no…” He muttered before reaching over and attempting to put it into neutral. “Oh man…” Placing the car back in park and pulling her emergency break he turned back to her as he shut the door. “You have a big problem.” He said with a nod as he went back to the popped hood and called out, “Dad! We’ve got a tranny issue.”

It wasn’t long before the two men were looking at her car together. “Oh boy…” Patrick muttered as he came out from under the car and stood up, wiping his hands on a nearby rag. “Young lady,” He began with a nod to her. “Your transmission seems to be having some issues and it will require us to keep the car here for a few days. Best news would be it’s a small park that can easily be replaced. Worse news could be that we need to take apart your transmission completely. But there is always hope.”

A small sigh left the old man as he continued to explain, “However, because we’re a small shop we don’t have a loaner car for you but Atsuma can give you a ride home.” The look on the blonde’s face behind his father was one of shock and before he could protest his father continued, “You two go to the same school right? He could just pick you up before school and get you home safe and sound.” Without giving the kids much of a choice or a chance to protest, Patrick provided her with the papers she needed to sign and ushered Atsuma to change so he could take her home.

“Alright dad,” Atsuma said with a sigh in his voice before turning back to Chisana. “Wait outside, I’ll be right there.” With that he disappeared into the back room to change out of his work clothes and grab his spare helmet for her. Great… just great…

Chisana continued to hold her nose aloft as Atsuma looked over her car's engine. She paid no mind to his pained yip when his touched the transmission. After all, what reason did Chisana have to care about Atsuma's pain? She hated the guy. The only reason why Chisana didn't leave the garage when she found out that Atsuma would be working on her car was because she couldn't go anywhere else. Were she able to, she would have already taken her car elsewhere by now

When Atsuma announced the presence of a big problem, Chisana huffed in annoyance. A big problem usually meant that the car would be staying in the garage for quite a while. This was a problem, as Chisana didn't live within walking distance of the school, the garage didn't look like the kind of place that could afford loaner cars, and home was still quite a way to go. The problem was made worse by the fact that her parents were both away on business, meaning Chisana couldn't have them get their hands on a temporary replacement for her. 'Oh great' Chisana thought to herself 'Just great. Now what am I going to do?'.

It was then that Patrick presented a solution. Neither Atsuma or Chisana liked the idea, but they had no time to protest before Patrick served Chisana a bureaucracy sandwich and pulled Atsuma away to change. Reluctantly resigned to the only solution available to her, Chisana filled out the paperwork and went outside to wait for Atsuma. 'Why did this have to happen to me?' Chisana thought to herself as she waited for Atsuma by his motorcycle.