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It was on a Monday morning when Niragi got added to a group chat called “JCI Inspection”. He frowned, thinking it must have been by mistake, but curiously followed the conversation anyway.
Chota: ohhhh, is it that time again?
Karube: Took them a while actually
Karube: Would have expected it sooner
Chota: who’s it gonna be this time, @Usagi?
Karube: Dumbass, Niragi just got added
Karube: I bet it’s him
Arisu: Usagi still needs to ask him
Arisu: He’s probably confused right now
Arisu: Maybe Usagi should have talked to him before I added him
Arisu: Whoops
Chota: @Niragi just say yes
Chota: it’s hilarious
Chota: i promise.
Niragi: Well, if this came from you guys only, I really wouldn’t, but considering it’s got Usagi involved I’m inclined to say yes just for the hell of it.
Karube: Nice
Karube: And Chota’s right
Karube: Totally worth it
Niragi: I could use a laugh or two right now, the last three weeks I’ve been in coding hell.
Arisu: For King of Hearts? I bet it’s for King of Hearts!
Niragi: Still can’t tell you, smartass. But you’ll know soon enough. We can do another stream on Twitch then.
Arisu: Nice :D
Karube: Nerds
Arisu: You bet we are!
Usagi: Not to take away from your enthusiasm, Arisu, but let’s talk business, shall we?
Usagi: Also, hi @Niragi. Sorry for probably confusing you with this. Arisu was a little hasty.
Arisu: Sorry babe
Arisu: I’m just so excited
Niragi: No problem. I’m curious though. What do you want to ask me?
Usagi: Well, I need to go get a JCI Inspection. And I wanted to ask you if you’d like to accompany me there.
Niragi: Okay
Niragi: I’m not against it.
Niragi: But why exactly?
Usagi: Could be fun ;)
Niragi: I don’t know the first thing about cars.
Arisu: That’s kind of the point
Arisu: Just do it
Arisu: It’s fun, I promise
Chota: it’s hilarious
Karube: We’ve all been there… So worth it.
Niragi: I mean … sure, why the hell not? When’s the appointment?
♡
Niragi had figured that it was probably going to be some sort of test for the poor guy conducting the inspection. There was no other reason why Usagi, a former Chief Mechanic of a Formular One racing team, would ask him, a Software Engineer with No Knowledge About Cars Whatsoever, to accompany her to her JCI Inspection.
And as soon as they arrived there, it became increasingly clear to him that he had been right. Because the moment Usagi announced that she had an appointment, the young blond mechanic ignored her entirely and proceeded to talk solely to Niragi. Because Niragi was A Man, presumably.
Niragi decided to just roll with it. He kept his hands in the pockets of his jeans and answered most of the guy’s questions with “I don’t know, it’s her car.”
It didn’t seem to matter.
The guy kept asking Niragi all those questions about mileage, about insurance and modifications, even though Usagi kept answering them with what Niragi assumed was perfect accuracy. It got him pretty frustrated, and he had no idea how Usagi hadn’t been ripping the guy a new one already.
But he was sure she would pick her moment.
While they went over a few more things Niragi didn’t even pretend to understand, he let his gaze roam around the garage. There wasn’t a lot happening around them, and apparently not many appointments scheduled that early in the day, but he saw another man tinkering under the hood of a car a few steps away.
He was cute, Niragi decided, even in that hideous grey overall he was wearing. Most of his hair was hidden under a blue cap, but Niragi found that a few strands were curling around his ears. He had rather nice hands with long fingers that were gripping a small wrench and a torch. He was also very clearly not actually working on his car. Instead, it seemed that he was listening intently to everything that was being said and judging by the frown on his face and how the corners of his mouth turned down sporadically, he didn’t like what he heard.
Niragi had to suppress a grin. This wasn’t an appointment purely for Usagi’s amusement then. This was an actual test!
When he got asked yet another question that Usagi was very clearly equipped to answer herself, Niragi decided to play it up a little bit. He used his very limited knowledge about cars to make his answers more and more ridiculous and proceeded to ask questions so dumb that it earned him a playful glare by Usagi.
Niragi didn’t care. He had the time of his life; especially after he realized how it made the cute guy almost lose his composure more than once. When their eyes met over the roof of Usagi’s car, Niragi winked before asking yet another stupid question that had the man turn away and hide a snort behind a cough.
Yeah, saying yes to Usagi had been a very good decision indeed.
♡
“So, what’s the verdict?”, the cute guy said after the mechanic had disappeared with the car to do the undercarriage inspection.
“You haven’t picked someone this terrible in a long time. Honestly, Tatta, this has to be the worst one yet”, Usagi said. “Where did you even find this guy?”
She still hadn’t revealed herself or her previous occupation to the mechanic and Niragi wondered if she was waiting to do it until the inspection was finished.
The guy – Tatta, Niragi reminded himself, and hadn’t he heard that name somewhere before? – shrugged apologetically. “We’re very short-staffed at the moment and I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.” He threw Niragi a quick glance before asking: “Did you tell him about it?”
Usagi smiled. “No, he figured it out all on his own. He’s smart like that.”
Niragi raised an eyebrow. “Thanks, I guess. But it wasn’t all that hard to realize, honestly.”
Usagi clapped him on his shoulder. “Just take the compliment. Out of all the other guys I’ve done this with, only Karube was smart enough to figure it out during the appointment. The others all thought I was just doing it to have a laugh.”
Niragi shrugged, his face uncomfortably warm. “Whatever”, he grumbled before asking: “So do you do this every time you hire somebody new?”
Tatta nodded. “It’s very effective, honestly. Some people might call it unfair to arrange something like that, but she could be any customer that comes in, so I couldn’t care less. Usagi’s not only able to ask the right questions to test the person’s ability, but also a really close friend and I wouldn’t want to employ anyone who disrespects her or anyone like that.”
“So people who fail this test are off the team? Even if you’re short-staffed?”
Tatta smiled. “It takes a little to actually fail this test. I’ve got a few guys here still working for me who got a stern talking to by Usagi, but they usually realized at some point that she’s fully capable of doing the whole inspection on her own.” He turned and looked at the back of the garage where the blond mechanic was still lying underneath Usagi’s car. “I don’t think I will keep him, however. Not only was he incredibly sexist and incapable of realizing that somebody had extensive knowledge about cars, but he also didn’t answer a single of the questions you had.”
Niragi snorted. “To be fair, those were probably incredibly stupid questions. I don’t know the first thing about cars, I’m afraid. And I also never intended for them to be answered.”
Tatta grinned. “Well, yes, I did realize that. But all jokes aside: That’s what we’re here for, isn’t it? If we don’t answer your questions, then who will? And if he doesn’t see that, then I’m afraid there’s no place for him in my garage or on my team.”
He needed to smile more, Niragi thought. He needed to smile all the time. Preferably at him, if in any way possible.
Usagi was watching Niragi, a small grin on her face, before turning to Tatta. “I’m gonna say hi to a few of the guys. They’re in the back, right? Waiting for the results?”
Tatta nodded. “You know where to find them.”
“Sure do. And how about you answer all those really obnoxious questions Niragi had? You know you want to”, Usagi said before winking at them both and turning to make her way to the back of the garage.
Niragi watched her leave, his eyebrows raised. Then he looked at Tatta, who’s cheeks had turned a charming red. “Is she trying to set us up?”
“Probably”, Tatta said, and he looked a little embarrassed. “I might have let it slip that I like the streams Arisu does with you the most, and I think that’s why they made you come here today.”
“Oh, now I know why your name seemed so familiar!”, Niragi exclaimed. “I saw it in the chat a few times.”
Tatta rubbed at his neck sheepishly. “Yep, that’s me. I bet my questions weren’t that much smarter than yours were today. I actually tried, though.”
Niragi huffed, amused. “No, they were fine, I promise.”
Tatta blinked at him, his smile small and hesitant. “Okay.” Then he added: “I hope this doesn’t make you uncomfortable. And I hope we didn’t waste your time today. I know you have a lot to do, working on all these games you’re not allowed to talk about. The ones Arisu goes positively crazy over.”
Niragi grinned. “I’m glad Usagi asked. I haven’t had that much fun in ages, honestly.” He stepped a little closer and leaned in. “Also, I wouldn’t mind asking you all those burning questions I have about all things cars in a more private setting. If you’re interested in answering them, that is. Do you happen to be free on Saturday?”
♡
They never got to the questions.
But ultimately, they were both completely fine with that.