Chapter 8:
Marii the Scientist
THEY SAY there’s no time like the present.
So, Yukari finished assembling all the models she’d been asked to build in the morning (I thought she ought to charge for her services, but maybe I have a greedy heart), and then she immediately dragged me off to the model shop and made me buy her recommendation. It used screws and stuff and was bigger and more expensive than I was expecting, but we’ll put that aside for now.
After we returned to my house to assemble it, Yukari showed me yet another talent. You see, the air conditioner in my room was broken. We called the repair shop but they said they couldn’t come until the evening. That was why I went to Yukari’s house in the first place that morning (though I ended up sweating in the yard anyway). However, back at my place, Yukari was all too happy to fix my air conditioner with her model tools alone. She blissfully ignored the “DANGER! DO NOT TOUCH” sticker, took the machine apart into a pile of little pieces, and put it back together in a flash just as if it was one of her models. Oh, and the problem turned out to be a clogged filter.
I was blown away. “Y-you fixed it so easily… Don’t you need a license for this or something?”
“Ah, it’s something I like to keep a secret from the kids so that they don’t try this at home, but I can totally handle home appliances! If I have the parts, I can fix a fridge or a microwave. I can even assemble a computer! Let me know if you ever need anything!”
This must be thanks to her special eyes too. I mean, they’re right when they say everyone has a calling. If she can do this as a junior high school student, then I bet she could make actual robots when she grows up! Well—
“My, my, Miss Yukari! You have quite the fine intellect indeed!”
“Oh, Gaku-chan, did you forget how to talk like a teenager?”
Wow, she was kinda obtuse. That actually came as a bit of a shock.