Day 2: Frustration!
Summary: Souda is short of cash, when suddenly, he gets a big project which will pay big money- but he just can't seem to get it right. Some mechanic he is.
I felt really evil writing this...
Also I would have put the money in Yen but my keyboard doesn't have a button for that, and I don't understand the conversion rate ^^; so I put the money in Dollars, I hope that's okay!
Rating: T+
Word Count: 1,545
"Godammit!" Souda cried as, once again, the whole of his latest project had fallen to pieces.
He flopped down to the floor and hugged his knees to his chest, as he grumbled angrily at the blue prints which he had pinned to the wall.
Everything was going wrong for the mechanic these days.
He needed to get away from his home (mainly his dad) so he'd been trying to earn money by being a freelance mechanic in his spare time, when he wasn't forced to work in his dads shop.
But practically no one would hire him- apparently they 'didn't trust his appearance'. What was wrong with the way he looked? It's way better than his old boring look!
The pink haired mechanic was constantly bullied at school- but that didn't matter they were just dumb kids; he could take that no matter how hard it got. At least that's what he liked to think...
Besides he should be able to catch a break at home; home is where you're safe from getting the shit beat out of you, right? Wrong. At least not in Souda's case, with his asshole of a father at home.
Everything had been fine at the Souda household, wonderful in fact! Until some biker gang smashed up the front of the shop (they were called The Crazy... something, Souda couldn't remember). This incident left his family in a serious amount of debt with the cost of getting the shop fixed. Said debt also lead to the divorce of Souda's parents, and to Souda's father turning to alcohol.
The pink haired boy was only 4 at the time, when everything had started going rotten.
He sighed roughly, and leaned forward a bit, stretching his legs out in front of him. In all honesty he felt like crying right now- and ripping the blueprints he'd painstakingly created to shreds.
But he didn't.
He couldn't.
That would just waste more time he really didn't have to spare.
In a way, this project was a godsend. The lady who wanted it was going to pay him big money for it- enough for Souda to get his own flat! Away from at least half of his misery.
But it was just so frustrating! How was he supposed to make a baseball firing machine that shot 1,000 baseballs out at x100 miles per hour!? Actually a better question was why did he have to make this?
Alas it was not his job to ask questions, he just had to build the damnned thing and get paid.
Although it was seeming more and more like an impossible task with every passing second.
The bell at the front of the shop rang and pulled Souda out of his despairing thoughts, he couldn't afford to miss any kind of customer (plus an easy job might help him relax a bit).
He got to the front desk and quickly recognized the mop of gelled back red hair that was waiting for him.
"Leon! Thank god you're here man... I'm going crazy back there!"
"Oh? What's up? If your old man is giving you hell again I swear I'm gonna-!" Leon began angrily.
"No, no." Souda stopped him with a wave of his hand "Besides I'm used to all that." he sighed nonchalantly "It's this crazy huge project I've got going on out back, It's gonna pay well but I'm on the brink of scrapping it all turning down the job y'know?"
Leon lent on the desk in front of him and rested his head on his right hand "Man, am I glad all I've gotta do is play baseball..." he mumbled sympathetically "Look, take a break from it for a while maybe and tinker with something easy?" the red head suggested "I've got a little job for you actually, it shouldn't be too hard dude." he spoke with a reassuring smile.
"Seriously? That's just what I wanted, thanks!" Souda grinned "What is it?"
"Oh, it's one of those automatic pitchers that us baseball players use for practice! There's a spring loose or something... shouldn't be too hard for a mechanic like you!" Leon looked up at his pink haired friend, who looked like he was about to kill him "What?"
Souda brought his hands up to his head as he tried to rub away his growing headache "Not another pitcher..." he wailed, voice full of annoyance.
"What's wrong with pitchers?" Leon asked, sitting up.
"A pitcher is what I'm trying ta build out back! I can't do it!" he shouted the last part out of pure frustration.
"Whoa dude calm down! I can come back when you've finished the other one if you like?"
Souda thought for a while before saying "Nah, I'll do it now... I need the money." He concluded "besides, it could help me with the one I'm trying to make anyway."
"Whatever you say dude, maybe I could take a look at your blueprints too? I must have learnt something from playing the damn sport all my life!" Leon offered jokingly.
"Yeah that'd be cool; I need someone back there to stop me from destroying the whole work station anyway!" Souda laughed heartily as he opened the door to the work station and lead Leon in behind him.
With Leon there, all of Souda's frustrations left as quickly as they came. Their mindless chatter kept him calm, and it turns out Leon did know what he was doing wrong! Together, they got both pitchers up and running in full working order (although quite obviously Souda did all the work, Leon was good with a baseball bat, not a wrench).
"Man, would you look at those!" Leon grinned, admiring their work.
"They're done! Good riddance!" the pink haired boy roared happily as he boxed up the one he was being paid to make.
Leon folded up the pitcher his school needed fixed and held it under his arm "So, how much?"
"Huh?" Souda asked, confused.
"How much am I paying you for this?" Leon smiled "I'm not letting you do it for free."
"Oh right!" Souda said as he stood up off the floor and brushed himself off "I dunno, like... 20 bucks?"
The red head slapped money down on one of the work benches next to him "Done and done!" he grinned "look I had better go now anyway- can't keep my coach waiting, the guy is crazy I swear!"
Souda laughed "Alright dude! Hope the pitcher works well for you!"
"Yeah thanks bro!" Leon said as he left, but then stopped in the doorway momentarily "-and you make sure that chick pays you double for all the work you've put in to this!" then he was gone.
When Souda had gone to collect the money his friend had left, he was very surprised to find that Leon had left almost twice the amount he had asked for! There was a little note with it that said:
"Just take the extra man, I know you need it.
- Leon"
Souda smiled lightly to himself, he really was grateful for the few friends he had, he wasn't sure how he'd survive without them.
He just about finished boxing up the violent pitcher he'd been requested to make, when the front door rang again.
"Hello~" a girly voice rang throughout the shop, and Souda recognized it instantly. He picked up the boxed pitcher and brought it through to the front desk.
"Junko Enoshima, I have your pitcher." He put it down and patted the top, "It was hell to make I tell ya..."
"Upupupu~ how very despair inducing" she grinned wildly to herself "Mukuro. Pay him." She said in a much colder voice.
Suddenly another girl walked out from beside Junko, she was so quiet Souda didn't even notice her. She placed a cheque for $1,000 on the front counter then returned to her spot beside Junko.
"Well then, good bye Souda-kun~!" she practically sung as she left "I'll be back before you know it!"And then she did that strange laugh again as she exited.
Mukuro had taken the pitcher away without Souda even noticing, and the pink haired mechanic was now aloe again in the shop.
He took the cheque off the counter and kissed it happily then shoved it in one of his overalls pockets with a huge smile plastered across his face.
Souda finally had enough money to move out.
He was pretty much free and it felt good- no, amazing!
He had decided to celebrate, the only way he knew how, a litre bottle of Cola and a massive bag of chips all to himself! So he had taken some of the money Leon had left, locked up the shop and gone down the street to pick himself up a little treat.
But one thought kept plaguing his mind as he walked, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd done something awful as he thought about it...
"Just what was that pitcher going to be used for?"
-Fin-
