(D2, EM) If we hear you coming....

[Yasuki Taraka]

.....no appointment necessary. At least that was the old mechanic joke for certain vehicular problems. And you could hear this vehicle coming. Well, not so much the vehicle but the groans of the people pushing it to the shop.

A small delivery truck coasted into the service area, powered by a few sweaty looking deliverymen, and a considerably less sweaty Yasuki Taraka...in no small part because she was steering the truck, not pushing the truck.

It was one of those models that was famous for being able to start regardless, so the fact that it was being pushed was already odd.

[Kaiu Nagisa]

Hearing the grunts of people getting closer and closer over time, the Kaiu mechanic pulls herself away from the scooter she was working on to meet whatever vehicle needed her attention. And people, too, of course.

Opening the garage, Nagisa steps out. She has a rag in hand, wiping off the mechanical lubricants from her fingers. “Welcome to Tetsuo Auto Repair. I take it the big girl here seems to have broken down?”

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka checked the urge to smart off. It was patently obvious that's why they were there, but it never paid to sass mechanics.

"Just so, Kaiu-san. It was running just fine yesterday, and this morning it won't even turn over." she admitted, while the pushers took some time to lay down on the truck bed.

[Kaiu Nagisa]

“Hmmm… Yasuki-sama, has there been any changes to how it was running? Like any odd sounds?” Nagisa leans over, looking under the truck to check for any fluid leaks. Meanwhile, a little drone buzzes by, scanning along the vehicle.

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka shook her head.

"Not that I'm aware. They've been good at making sure it makes the regular service checks and it had a clean bill of health at the last visit." she offered.

Meanwhile, both the eyes of the Kaiu and the sensors of the drone picked up on some abnormalities.

For the Kaiu there was something under the vehicle. It wasn't touching the ground, but it looked like it had been attached? But it was a little hard to make out while the truck was on the ground.

The drone's readings were even weirder <Unidentified objects detected in engine compartment.>>

[Kaiu Nagisa]

“Huh. Well that sure is strange.” Nagisa straightens herself as she rises up from checking under the truck. “I’m gonna need to grab my creeper and get under there. And also check the engine after.”

The Kaiu moves to grab said creeper, rolling it over to the truck before lying down on it. “So, if you heard the drone, there’s something foreign in the engine from the scans and there’s also something down here. Not sure what… Oh shoot… There’s a flash light on my desk. Can you hand it to me?”

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka raised an eyebrow at the diagnosis, but was happy enough to go and fetch the Kaiu's flashlight.

Flashlight enabled it looked like.....a shakuhachi. Someone had used a lot of duct tape .to affix it to the underside of the vehicle. It wouldn't stop the vehicle from starting or really alter the vehicle's performance. At worst, it might cause a faint whistling sound as the vehicle moved.

[Kaiu Nagisa]

“Thanks. I appreciate the help. It’s kind of hard to get out and back in.” Well, at least the object was only duct taped on. She takes a few minutes to carefully rip off the surrounding duct tape and takes the instrument out. Rolling herself and the instrument out from under the truck, she holds it up with a bit of a chuckle. “You got any pranksters on your payroll?”

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka studied the objects with a frown and a shake of the head.

"No, but then again, it was parked on the open street for the night, so there's no telling who thought they should have some fun. But....that's not what's keeping it from starting, right?" she asked.

[Kaiu Nagisa]

“Nah, it’s probably whatever is in the engine area.” Moving around to the front now that Nagisa is up and off her creeper, she pops the hood. Flashlight still being put to work so she can check odd angles easier.

[Yasuki Taraka]

Explosions! Confetti! Confetti?

Whomever the pranksters were had managed to rig up a bunch of party poppers tied to the hood. Probably with small hands, or with clever use of string and glue. Annoying, definitely messy, maybe a bit startling. But this engine wouldn't have been stopped by this. This was certainly meant for whomever was trying to fix whatever was stopping the truck from working.

[Kaiu Nagisa]

“Ugh… This might take a bit. I gotta clear all this out.” Nagisa didn’t want to leave anything in there that could start a fire, obviously. So she starts clearing out all the crap from the party poppers, groaning in annoyance every now and then. “Probably shouldn’t keep the truck out. There’s some very bored kids out there.”

[Yasuki Taraka]

"Ugh, seriously?" Taraka said, annoyed that bored kids were doing this sort of thing.

"You'd think parents would keep a better watch on their kids, teach them more about how to respect other's property." she commented.

She made herself as comfortable in the truck seat as she could, this was apparently going to take awhile.

"Maybe I'll ask Genta-kun to keep an eye out for them. Granted, he's not much of a sprinter, but if he does catch them, he'll be sure to give them a very long lecture about behaving." she mused.

[Kaiu Nagisa]

“Eh, a lot of prankster types are just really smart but have no good outlet for their mental energy. Lots of parents can’t handle that kind of kid, sadly.” Nagisa is honestly impressed how calculated this mess they made was.

“Honestly, find that kid that did it and keep an eye out for them. They might become a cunning business owner in ten or so years.”

[Yasuki Taraka]

"Or at least find them and give their parents a bill for your services, Kaiu-san." she huffed a bit.

She looked thoughtfully through the windshield.

"Or maybe just send them your way entirely, Kaiu-san. Not that your business isn't well cared for, but surely you can find a broom to push or some oily tools to clean, ne?" she pondered.

[Kaiu Nagisa]

A chore person wouldn’t be bad, but Nagisa shakes her head as she continues to pull out all the party popper paper she can. “Eh, depends on how old the kid is. Too young and I wouldn’t want them to get too close to any machinery for their own safety, y’know?”

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka checked her makeup in the truck's mirror.

"I'm sure I could find you some oldsters who'd claim that's just the sort of lesson they need." Taraka mused.

'Back in my day, losing an arm built character.'"

Taraka shook her head.

"But I get you, Kaiu-san. An accident with a kid would be especially bad for your business. Ah, but speaking of kids, you helping out with First Market today?" she asked.

[Kaiu Nagisa]

Finally getting the last bit of the popper strings out, Nagisa kicks the materials into a pile of sorts so they don’t get in the way. “Ah, yeah. I plan on going. I usually do go.”

Now to inspect the engine for real now that all the crap is gone! “Plus, gotta be a good example especially with all the out of Clan people hanging around.”

[Yasuki Taraka]

The last bit of issue, the one that was actually at the heart of the problem was much closer to sabotage than pranking. (But it was still just a prank bro!) lay within a fuse box. A couple dozen fuses regulated the spiritual flows of the truck's engine system. And at first glance, they all seemed to be in order. But what the culprit had done was taken one of the fuses out, sheared off one of the prongs with metal clippers, and then put it back into place. So it looked like there was a connection, unless you took them all out to inspect, but none was being formed.

Unaware of these problems, Taraka continued her conversation.

"Yeah, if you hadn't heard, the karo's rounding up volunteers from the out of clan types. We'll see how that goes. I mean, it could go well, with the out of clan types really connecting with the community, and the kiddos earning valuable intel on people who are not Crab. Or it could go poorly with the visitors thinking our ways are strange and parents upset about their kids being exposed to weird ideas." she wondered.

[Kaiu Nagisa]

“Yeah, I worry about some of the guests putting weird ideas into the heads of those poor kids sometimes.” The Kaiu sighs, pulling out the sabotaged fuse. She holds it up, pointing her flashlight to it. “Whoever your little prankster was knew how engines work. Maybe a teen? Or a very well-informed pre-teen. Hmmmm.”

Nagisa takes the faulty piece over to her work desk, shoving aside pieces of paper into haphazard stack and pulls out her tool box. One by one, she takes out various types of pliers to find the correct one for the size of this fuse. “Hmmmm… Gonna need a replacement connector. They did some work on this fuse.”