One Year Later

6 | Greased Lightning

Mondo paced the floor of his kitchen, his foot occasionally catching on the loose bit of laminate that stuck up from one corner. He'd have to learn how to glue it back down later. Or maybe he should really get around to fixing the place up, he thought, and try replacing it with some proper tiles. Either way, that wasn't important right now.

Several of his friends were supposed to stop by. Naegi had already managed to get the money from Togami, and he'd given it to Leon, who was supposed to give it to his "mystery" mechanic. He was waiting on the three of them and the equipment they'd need, and they'd probably bring Hagakure along.

He wasn't sure why he was so anxious about it. It may simply have been that he'd never had people over at his house before— not anyone that wasn't in his gang, anyway. Takemichi had camped out on his couch a few times out of necessity, but more often than not, the house was empty, especially now that Mondo spent most of his time at Hope's Peak.

Mondo had called Kiyotaka to ask for advice, but had told him it was for a study session. And the prefect, as oblivious as ever, had suggested leaving out snacks. He'd followed the advice, though, and so there was now a huge assortment of snacks on the counter. It wasn't a very pretty display. He was a biker, not fuckin' Martha Stewart.

Mondo had to hold in his sigh of relief when he heard the doorbell ring— ten more minutes of nervous pacing and he might have lost his mind. As he'd expected, Naegi was the first to arrive. He hadn't, however, expected Naegi to be the one to bring Hagakure along.

"Hey, Makoto. Hiro. Since when do you two travel together?"

"Hi, Oowada-kun! I'm babysitting him for Kuwata-kun," Naegi admitted. "He's checking in with his mystery mechanic. So he dumped Hagakure-kun on me."

How long will it take this guy to drop the honorifics? Aren't we past that by now? Mondo wondered. But then again, his own boyfriend addressed everyone with honorifics with the exception of himself and Chihiro. Mondo stepped aside and made space in the doorframe for his visitors to pass through. Naegi gave a polite little bow before he did so.

"I didn't think you had a house," Naegi observed as he looked around. "Especially since it's... You know. Just you."

"Yeah, well, my brother bought it for us. It's a crash pad for the whole gang, really. It's the cheapest place in town, and that's saying a lot for this neighborhood. He worked on bikes and cars, saved up some cash, got the place after it was foreclosed on..." Mondo looked fondly at the crooked light fixture above the island. "I could always just get some apartment somewhere or live in one of the men's shelters, but I haven't had the heart to let this place go."

Naegi gave him a sad smile as he took a seat. There wasn't a kitchen table— just a couple of barstools pulled up to the island.

"That's pretty admirable. Or at least, I think it is. Do you pay the mortgage with just your stipend?"

"More or less. But I do basic mechanic shit and odd jobs, too, just for extra cash. Nobody in this town seems to know how to fix their cars, so I've always got plenty of customers. ...Mostly people's grandmas."

Naegi suppressed a laugh. The image of a little old lady knocking on Mondo's door at eight in the morning because her check engine light was on again, and then giving him twenty dollars and a cornbread muffin when he was finished with it, was strangely adorable. Maybe he even mowed lawns and helped people move from time to time.

"I think your house is... charming!" Hagakure blurted out. Mondo scoffed.

"Yeah, charming is just a code word for ugly... But thanks, I guess. I've been meaning to fix the place up, but I never get around to it... between school and managin' the gang and all."