Chapter 8: Up Close and Personal

Joey gave Seto a final wave before turning back to the GranTurismo—a car so beautiful, even with the busted windshield, he had to take a moment before picking up the first tool. Joey grabbed a metal device that looked like box cutter that was bent sideways and began sliding the blade along the side of the windshield. The blade cut along the mold that kept the windshield in place, and Joey kept a steady hand as he moved it along the edge of the frame. He pondered why such a device was called a cold knife if it was never cold, which led him to ponder how he didn't know the history behind a tool he regularly used as a mechanic.

Pop!

The moment the mold was stripped, the glass fell into the car and shattered on the front seats of the car. Joey grumbled to himself that he should've anticipated that it would fall inward, considering the way the glass had been broken in. He threw down the cold knife and took off his gloves before grabbing a dust pan and a small hand vacuum. Joey silently hoped his manager, Fumiya, was busy with other customers—the old man would have a field day making fun of him for such a rookie mistake.

Joey began with carefully picking up the large pieces of glass first before using the dust pan. His mind wandered with the gathering of each piece, thinking back on every windshield he had ever replaced and not one had collapsed in like this. Joey tried to remember exactly how many windshields he had replaced, but instead all he could think about was the fact that he had been working at the same shop for the past six years.

It started out as an after school gig when he was 16; Joey wanted something to do that helped him avoid going home while also making him some cash. He wanted to move out as soon as possible and spend as little time as possible at home with his dad. By the time Joey's friends were getting ready to go to college, Joey had made enough money to move into a small efficiency apartment on the outskirts of town. He knew there was no way he could afford to go to college, despite his friends' encouragement that he should go. He recalled the last time he had seriously talked to his friends about his plans after high school all those years ago.

"You know there's financial aid, right? The government can give you grants and let you take out loans based on your income. You would totally qualify!" Yugi said after Joey admitted to not having applied to any colleges due to his financial situation. Joey could maintain appearances with the rest of his friends, but Yugi was his best friend and could always see right through the facade.

Joey shrugged, turning away to look out the window of the quiet coffee shop they were sitting in. The sun was already beginning to set in the early afternoon and the sunlight made the frost on the window look like tiny crystals. It was December which meant acceptance letters were starting to come in the mail and none were coming for Joey. Yugi had already gotten early acceptance into many of the schools he applied for and while Joey was happy for him, Joey didn't know how to tell him the truth. Or rather, Joey didn't know how to tell Yugi the truth without causing Yugi to feel sorry for him.

"I dunno, man. I just don't think I'm meant to go to college, you know? Not everyone is… and honestly, I feel like I've got a good thing going at Fumiya's shop. He says I won't have to work the front desk anymore—pretty soon he's gonna train me to be a mechanic!" Joey exclaimed, putting on a more hopeful tone. Yugi didn't seem the least bit hopeful or optimistic… if anything, he looked more concerned for Joey.

"But… do you really want to be a mechanic? Is that what you wanna do for the rest of your life? You have to start thinking about the long-term now and how things will look on your resume later on." Joey took a long swig of his coffee; buying time to think of a way to say that the path he would probably go down wouldn't require a resume. Yugi was so smart—it made sense that he would go to college. For Joey, it was a different story and a different situation. Yugi was too optimistic to see that.

"I don't know what I want to do, but does anyone, really? I think I'm gonna take a gap year—I've heard of other people doing that. I'll take the year to learn how to be a mechanic and use it as an opportunity to learn more about the ins and outs of the car business," Joey said, "At the very least, I'll learn enough to be able to fix my friends' cars for them. What do you think about free oil changes for life?"

Joey chuckled to himself when he remembered saying that to his best friend; Yugi never took him up on the free oil changes after he moved. His car never went with him and he especially didn't take his car when he moved to America to be an archeologist. Joey's chuckles ceased when he realized that gap year turned out to be more than a year and he never did figure out what he wanted to do instead of being a mechanic.

"Wheeler! Are you daydreaming again? Stop drooling over your friend's fancy car and get to work! I have customers left and right and let it be known that I'm not happy that you aren't charging this guy for the windshield." Joey's head snapped up upon hearing Fuyima's angry shouts from the garage doorway. His skull crashing right into the empty frame of the windshield and Joey yelped from the pain.

"What was that, Wheeler?"

"Nothing, Sir! I'll be done soon. Just gotta finish cleaning up the glass before I put in the new windshield."

Joey heard the slam of the door and he relaxed. He was alone again and there were only the small shards of glass left to clean up. Joey grabbed the small hand vacuum and used it to get into the crevices of the front seats, picking up any stray shards that manage to sneak away from him. He wiped the sweat from his brow when he was finished before walking over to the new windshield.

Joey grabbed a spray can full of adhesive primer and then sprayed it along the outer edge of the windshield. After laying down a coat of primer, he took a pen-like tool and ran the edge of it along the windshield to further set in the primer. He took a deep breath, making sure that he was precise with the second coat of primer. This would help set the windshield into place.

'This isn't a bad field to be in—everyone needs help with their cars! I get to help people every day,' Joey thought to himself, getting lost in his own thoughts. What was so wrong with being a mechanic? He had fixed Serenity's car plenty of times and saved her hundreds of dollars as a result. He was always honest with the customers that came in with their car troubles and never overcharged them for the work that he did. Being a mechanic wasn't a terrible field to be in.

What was terrible was the way people looked at him. It was the same look Seto had given him the night that they ran into each other at the bar and it's the look every customer gave him when they first entered the garage. It was a look of disdain… a look that made it seem like Joey was less than. The best way Joey could summarize it after six years of working at a car mechanic shop was a mixture of disgust and pity. He despised the way people looked at him and perhaps the worst part was when, every morning that was the way he saw himself.

After setting the mold on the frame of the windshield, Joey turned to grab the windshield glass itself and install it. He slowly slid the glass into place, letting the mold form around the edges of the glass. This was probably Joey's favorite part about replacing a windshield… letting the mold set was really relaxing. Joey took a step back, letting the mold harden, and thought to himself that it didn't matter what other people thought or the way they looked at him. He was good at his job and he enjoyed it. He could find peaceful moments like these that centered him. Joey closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Why was there so much pressure for him to live a different life than he was living now? Wasn't happiness subjective and whatever Joey deemed it to be?

"Do you really want to be a mechanic for the rest of your life?" Yugi's question echoed in Joey's mind and caused his eyes to suddenly open. Joey looked back at the car and cursed at himself when he realized he put in the wrong windshield—the glass was entirely too long at the top and stuck out way past where the sides of the frame ended. He had pulled the wrong windshield model for Seto's car and would have to go through the replacement process all over again. Joey slammed his hand on his forehead, continuing to curse at himself as he heard the garage door open.

"I'm taking off, you good to close up shop tonight?" Fumiya asked from the doorway.

"Yeah… sure," Joey said, sounding defeated. His mood wasn't helped when he heard Fumiya begin to laugh. Joey didn't bother asking what Fumiya found funny—he had a feeling that he knew what it was.

"All that time you spent drooling over this car and you couldn't even spend a second to make sure you had the right windshield? Have fun with that!" Fumiya proclaimed before leaving and shutting the door behind him. Joey felt he deserved Fumiya's mocking so he didn't protest it. He looked at his watch and realized it was getting late and that Seto would probably be showing up soon to pick up his car. He wouldn't be able to finish it until the following morning.

"Kaiba is gonna give me crap about this…" Joey stated, beginning to pack away his tools so he could close up shop for the night. He was better able to bury his embarrassment about the mistake he made once he turned off the lights in the shed and exited the shop. Joey was locking the door when he heard shouting from across the parking lot.

"Wheeler, where's my car?" Seto shouted over to Joey after he and Mokuba got out of the car. Joey took a moment before turning around; preparing himself for whatever onslaught of insults that would be coming his way once Seto found out the car wasn't ready.

"I'm sorry, Kaiba. I made a mistake while putting in the windshield so it took longer than expected. I'll have your car ready bright and early tomorrow morning," Joey said as he turned around. A big smile, and a bit of disbelief, appeared on Joey's face when he saw Mokuba. "Would ya look at that? A big man we've got here! I remember when you used to be so small and kidnap-able."

Joey walked over and gave Mokuba playful nudge when greeting him. Joey was astonished to find that Mokuba was at eye level with him. He searched his mind, trying to remember the last time he saw Mokuba… it had to have been when the kid was still Yugi's height, at the very least. Joey was surprised by how alike the two brothers looked—despite grave differences in appearance, their facial structure was practically the same.

"Hey Joey, thanks for taking care of my brother while I was away. Nii-sama sure knows how to get himself into trouble, doesn't he?" Joey laughed and Seto placed his hand on Mokuba's shoulder.

"Yes, that's very funny Mokuba. We'll need to get going now. Here are your keys, Wheeler," Seto declared, tossing the keys over to Joey before pulling out his phone, "I'll call us a cab. I'm sure you're starving." Seto, although annoyed that his car wasn't fixed yet, wouldn't let anything get in the way of him finally spending some quality time with his younger brother… and getting as far away from Joey as possible.

Mokuba looked up at his brother and then turned to Joey.

"You should come to dinner with us, Joey. I mean, if you don't have any other plans," Mokuba stated. Seto's head twisted so fast, it could've fallen off were it not attached to his body.

"What?! Why?"

"Don't be rude! Joey is fixing your car… the least you could do is take him to dinner."

"He's getting my business! I don't owe him anything."

"Hey now, let's remember that I'm fixing your car for free. You're not giving me any business," Joey interjected.

"Oh please, Wheeler. The fact that people see Seto Kaiba getting his car fixed here is going to bring plenty of business to this dump," Seto remarked. Joey shook his head, as if trying to keep himself from getting too upset. All he had to do was walk away and go home, Joey kept telling himself. He didn't need to get into a dumb argument with Seto, not tonight…

That part of him, however, wasn't stronger than his desire to have any sort of justification to punch Seto square in the face.

"Let me guess, you think I work at a dump because my truck isn't a Maserati?" Joey asked, taking a step forward.

"No, you work at a dump because your car can't go over 60 miles per hour and you, the mechanic, can't even fix that." Mokuba moved to stand in between Joey and Seto who were standing a little too close to one another at that point. Both of them had their fists at their sides, both their stances insinuated that they were about to get into a brawl.

"Whoa, guys! Cut it out! Can't we all just get along?"

"No!" Seto and Joey barked at the same time. Mokuba furrowed his brow—now he was starting to get annoyed.

"Well, you're going to have to because you're both coming to dinner with me now."

Joey shook his head and said, "No way am I going to dinner with Kaiba. I'm sorry, Mokuba. I'm glad to see you're all grown up and everything but I'd rather finish the windshield tomorrow and never have to see your brother again."

"But Joey, don't you want to hear about your sister? I ran into her at a party a couple weeks ago."

The anger suddenly disappeared from Joey's face and was replaced with concern.

"A party? Where? Was she with someone?!" Joey asked, taking hold of Mokuba's shoulders.

Seto looked equally as concerned when he replied, "You promised me you would let me know if you were going to a party. What if something had happened to you?! Was there alcohol at this party?"

Mokuba took a step back, feeling overwhelmed by Joey and Seto's sudden attention on him. He immediately regretted trying to find common ground as an attempt to get Joey to come to dinner with them. Mokuba didn't know how to respond so he put his hands behind his back and forced a smile.

"Oh man, would you look at the time? We should probably head to dinner now…"

Seto and Joey looked at one another, internally deciding whether information was worth more than dealing with the other's presence. Mokuba slipped out his phone to call a cab but Joey took out his keys first. He motioned for the Kaiba brothers to follow him to his car.

"Come on, we can take my car. Just tell me where to go," Joey grumbled with a slight tone of annoyance.

"I thought you didn't want to come to dinner with us," Mokuba asked, instantly regretting his decision to try and force Seto and Joey to spend an evening together. Mokuba turned to Seto to see if his older brother would object but he put a hand on Mokuba's back and guided him towards the car.

"I'll let Joey ask you all of his questions in the car, but you better be prepared to answer my questions when we get there," Seto said, giving Mokuba a stern look before the three of them got into the truck. Mokuba sighed, upset that he had set himself up for a rough evening.

-YGO-

A/N: Happy first day of spring! It's funny to be saying that, though, considering I'm staying home from work due to the snow today. So I suppose you could say this update was brought to you by snow! In other news, I'm pretty proud of how this chapter came out and I have to thank Rena Redhead for the suggestion in direction. I hope you guys have been enjoying this story so far and enjoyed this chapter even more. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next month!