𝙾𝚃𝙸𝙾𝚂𝙴 ♡⸝⸝ hxh x oc! reader

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ

The funny thing about how Katzo caught Mato's interest was with a series of unfortunate events that happened to befall the man. Katzo was carrying a box of crates to and fro the ship but ended up disregarding a small puddle that was in his path, the man ended up slipping and dropping all the contents in the crates. 

Mato saw the whole ordeal and how the man was chastised, she would've helped him but she was too far away and only noticed the affair when she heard a loud yell from the man. The girl considered helping the man get out of trouble but reached the decision that she shouldn't coddle a person for their own mistake and decided that it would be best if Katzo would get the proper scolding for not paying attention to his surroundings.

Mato recognized the flaws of her ideology and her only defense for having such a fallacious belief would be that she didn't want to use her energy on something that wouldn't grow into something fruitful. She believed that Katzo needed the scolding since it would let him get into shape, if he wanted to survive the sea life then he would need to learn how important being vigilant is. Katzo needed to become more aware of his environment... something the man still needed to study on. 

But the real reason Mato didn't help was that she was too lazy and still had mountains of sweet sweet candies to gorge on. Although, she did take note that the person scolding Katzo was taking it a bit too far... but who was she to point that out? She was sure the Captain knew of the bad treatment the rest of the crew members had to their colleague. And based on her observation of him, the Captain wasn't a person who'd take such heavy-handed attitudes lightly. 'He probably has something planned,' Mato deduced. 

But then again, who was she to care? As long as she reached her destination safely then all would be well... that is if she even survived the torturous experience of being bored and jaded. 

"Creator, help me—if I have to count one more time, I would forcibly make myself cease to exist. " Mato complained. 

She had tried to count the number of passengers on board—keyword, she tried. Unfortunately for Mato, she kept getting distracted and had to start from the very beginning again. This would be her fifth attempt and at this point, she wasn't that bored anymore, not at all. Mato was now frustrated and outraged at her inability to keep count of the many passengers. 

You could say that the tactic of 'counting passengers' worked but instead of Mato having fun doing it, she became more and more competitive, trying to prove to herself that she can count properly. Instead of a game, it became more of a mission to Mato. A mission where she had to prove (to absolutely nobody) that she could excel in mathematics. 

"Okay... one... two... three... four... Wait, who's that girlish-looking boy?"

Mato's attention span was nothing but short, her eyes immediately glazed over the blonde boy leaning against the wooden railing. 'I like his outfit,' the girl commented, 'It's better than mine.' The unnamed blonde boy's outfit consisted of a white full-body training suit and a blue tabard with red hems. Perhaps because Mato was currently friendless, she felt compelled to befriend the doleful lone blonde boy. 

'Ah yes, boredom has now driven me insane. How brilliant.'

Although she did yearn for a bit of company in her travels, she felt it to be unnecessary to befriend a person just because he looked near her age. Plus, she was a couple of meters away from the boy and she had already become comfortable with the floor she was currently wasting her time away on (you could say she had already become one with it). 

Mato wasn't one to shy from conversations but there are times when her social battery just wouldn't charge up, leaving her with an empty shell that would just quietly observe everyone with her penetrating gaze.