You wander around the big campus looking for the right room. The tech lab was the room you had to get to and once you were there, you would have to meet someone called Spanner. After asking directions from Reborn, who purposely gave you wrong directions which led you to who-knows-where, you finally arrive at the tech lab. Slowly opening the door, you peer inside to see someone sitting on a cushion on floor-boarded ground in front of a small table.
"Ettou... Spanner-san?" Your voice is quiet but audible in the fairly silent room. You hear some typing and sounds of electric tools but no voice. "Ano..." Nothing. Your small form slips through the small ajar gap in the door. Shyly walking up to the man at the table, you tap his shoulder lightly. You hear a different sound and look down near your feet to see a mini mosca preparing to fire at you. Shocked, you look left and right, unsure of what to do.
"Wait mini mosca," a calm, monotonous voice breaks the silence and a hand in front of the mosca stops its movements. You turn your head to look at where the voice came from to see it was the same man who was so busy working, he didn't respond to you calling him.
"You must be [Name]... I'm Spanner." He holds out a hand to you and you shyly shake it.
"While you're standing, would you mind getting me that toolbox over there?" He points to a small toolbox sitting at the back of a shelf and opens a lollipop, popping it into his mouth. You nod and walk towards the shelf as Spanner resumes working.
You reach up for the box to find that you can only just reach it while on your toes. Not wanting to bother the hardworking man, you continue to shift the box forward, bit by bit. As the box reaches the front, a small wrench falls off the shelf, pushed by the toolbox inching closer to the edge. It bounces off your head before landing on the floor with a clang. Your hands instantly fly to your head, trying to soothe the throbbing pain.
Slightly startled by the noise, you hear Spanner turn around to check up on you. He places his hands on your shoulders and gently forces you to turn around to face him. He slowly removes your hands from your head and lifts your fringe.
"You're bleeding... You should've told me you couldn't reach it..." You hear the slightest bit of sorrow in his voice, like he feels responsible for your injury. He takes you arm and gently drags you towards his working table where he sits you down on a cushion.
You watch him rummage through a cupboard and pull out a first aid kit. He sits down next to you and pulls out an alcohol swab. He opens it and begins to dab your small wound while holding your fringe up. You flinch at the pain as Spanner continues to clean the wound. After a short while, he bins the alcohol swab and pulls out a small white bandaid. Slowly and gently, he sticks it onto your wound, smoothing out the wrinkles with his cold hands.
"Sorry..." You apologise for being a nuisance.
"What are you apologising for? It wasn't even your fault..." His toneless voice echoes ever so slightly in the small room.
"Mini mosca," the small robot rolls up to him, "bring me some green tea and a lollipop, will you." The mini mosca rolls away, returning not long after with a tray, a cup of green tea and a lollipop sitting on it. As the small robot rolls towards you, it somehow trips and spills the hot contents in the cup on you. You let out a small whimper of pain as the boiling liquid drenches your shirt and you feel it run down your stomach, like hot lava burning down a village. You clench your fists.
"Are you okay?" Spanner asks. He has a look of concern on his face and you can tell he wants to do something to help you, but doesn't know what that something is. You nod and try to smile even though your stomach burns.
A small scuffle averts both of you attentions to the small robot which still lies on the floor-boarded ground, struggling to get up. Spanner picks up the mini mosca, setting it the right way up before glancing at the ground.
"The floorboards are uneven… I should get that fixed…" You stare at the floor yourself, but don't see what he sees. You sit in astonishment, impressed that he picked up such a small detail. Spanner picks up the lollipop off the floor, pulling the wrapper off.
"Here," he holds out the lollipop to you. You stare at him blankly but his hand doesn't move. Tired of seeing his hand raised, you eventually take the offered sweet, popping it into your mouth. Spanner turns back to the first aid box, pulling out a small tube of ointment that treats all types of burns.
He squeezes some onto his finger, "Take your shirt off." Your eyes widen. Did you hear that right? Does he expect you to take your shirt off right in front of him?!
"Do you want me to do it for you?" He asks normally, like nothing he says is wrong. You panic and make a split-second decision. Slowly unbuttoning your shirt, you feel your face heat up. As you undo the last button, you feel Spanner move a small bit closer to you. Your face heats up even more and you take of your drenched shirt revealing your red stomach.
"Stand up." You stand up and shift your arms. The mechanic stands up with you and bends down instantly to apply the ointment. His cold fingers glide over your burnt stomach, lubricated by the ointment which soothes your burn.
Spanner's fingers leave your stomach and you watch him wipe his fingers clean with a tissue. Your hands move back to your head and you flinch when they touch your wound. As your hands drop back down, you see them covered in blood.
"Your shirt has blood on it too." Spanner says, like he knows what you're thinking and points at your shirt which is stained by your blood. You glance over at the wet material, crumpled on the floor. You panic, unsure of what to do, not wanting to walk back outside with a blood-stained shirt. You could deal with a wet shirt... but blood? If only you had another shirt...
Almost as if he read your mind, Spanner starts unbuttoning his shirt revealing his toned muscles. He slips his shirt off and holds it out to you.
"Here. Wear this." You stare at him with a look of disbelief... You then realise that you're standing in this man's presence, basically half naked. Your face flushes a deep red. Spanner hands you his shirt and you take it quickly and fling it on, doing up the buttons as fast as you can.
You feel a pair of eyes looking you up and down. You turn to see a shirtless Spanner staring at you weirdly. With his straight face, you can't tell what he's thinking. Your face flushes again and your eyes look down as well, taking in the fact that Spanner's shirt nearly reaches the end of your skirt. The mechanic clears his throat and turns around, the slightest shade of pink covering his face. You hear some rustling and clanging before the man turns back around to you, a fresh cup of green tea in his hand.
He offers it to you, "Here. Drink this." You hesitantly reach for the cup, the memories of before replaying in your mind.
"Don't worry. I'm not mini mosca. I won't spill it on you." You take the offered drink slowly, making sure it doesn't spill. You stand there drinking the hot fluids in the cup, feeling the liquid slide down your throat.
After finishing your tea, you bend down to pick up your shirt when a hand beats you to it. Your shirt is snatched away before you have a chance to touch it. You quickly stand back up to see Spanner holding your bloody, tea-drenched shirt.
"What are you-?"
"I'm washing your shirt since it's my fault it go dirty."
"But I can do it myself," you say, taking a small step forward.
"I'll wash it."
"But-" "And you should also go back to your dorm and rest."
"But I'm fine. I can still go to class..."
"Just go rest." His monotonous voice somewhat reassures you that he'll take care of everything. You lightly nod and return to your dorm.
The next morning, you head back to the tech lab, Spanner's shirt in hand. You knock on the door and wait. You hear someone stumble and some crashing inside. The door opens and you look downwards to see mini mosca.
You crouch down to its level, "Could you give this to-" You're cut off when the door opens fully and you look upwards to see a shirtless Spanner staring down at you, a lollipop in his mouth. You stare at him blankly for a while before realizing that you're still crouching on the floor. You quickly stand back up and he motions for you to go inside while opening the door wider for you.
You walk inside and hear the door close behind you. Spanner walks into your vision and you hand his shirt back to him. He takes his shirt and slips it on.
While you watch him button up his shirt, you can help but ask, "Why weren't you wearing a shirt Spanner-san?"
"Oh. I was working on something yesterday and lost track of time. Next thing I know it, you're knocking on the door." You sweatdrop. He was here the whole night?!
"I don't have another shirt anyways." You stare at him weirdly.
"Oh. I have you shirt by the way. Mini mosca, bring [Name]'s shirt here." The small robot rolls over. Its stomach compartment opens up and an arm sticks out, your cleaned shirt hanging off it. You take the shirt off the mosca and the arm disappears back in.
"A-arigatou Spanner-san..." You walk up to him. Standing on your toes, you kiss his cheek.
"It was the least I could do," he says. You see his cheeks turn the slightest bit red. You turn to leave when your foot catches something and you trip. A hand catches your fall stopping you from a painful landing, pulling you back into balance.
"Uneven floorboards…" You hear a voice mumble. As you turn your blushing face around, your lips touch someone else's. Your eyes widen as you stare at the mechanic.
He breaks off and blushes, "Visit me tomorrow... I enjoy your company..." He mumbles the last bit and your cheeks burn up.
"I-I will..."