Sonia: "Are you sure it is safe to be doing that?" Sonia asked Kazuichi as he was messing around with the pods, where the ones who didn't escape the killing school trip were resting. The Ultimate Mechanic's legs were crossed as he sat on the floor, a few different tools resting in his lap. He was sitting next to one of the pods that contained their comatose friends, the side of it was opened in order to examine the parts on the inside.
Kazuichi: "I know for sure that it's not, the life support systems went offline for a few of the pods. That is what keeps them all hydrated and stuff like that. Basically, it's what keeps them alive. If I can't fix the ones that are going haywire, well... they're going to die."
Sonia: "How long do we have?" Sonia asked with worry in her voice. Kazuichi had stopped his work, bringing one of his hands to his chin as he thought the question over.
Kazuichi: "Maybe a few hours. They'll be okay without it for a while, but I would still like to fix everything as soon as possible. Could you please go find Hajime? I think I'm going to need an extra pair of hands if I'm going to get this done quickly."
Sonia complied immediately, rushing out of the room. Now alone, Kazuichi tried to get back into focusing on the task at hand. Straightening his posture, he leaned forward to peek at the top of the pod in front of him. Inside, he could see the body of Mahiru Koizumi. He shuddered at the thought that his inability to fix something would be the death of someone, all he could do was believe in his talent.
As he started his work, his eyes darted back between some schematics and a box of spare parts he had, an all-new problem had just made itself known to him. The spare parts he had at his side were just enough for two of the pods, at best, and there were six in need of maintenance. Kazuichi felt like an idiot for saying that only a few of them were going under when in actuality, it was more than half.
He stood up quickly with the schematics in hand and ran for the nearby storage room, it was at about that time that the situation had gone from bad to worse. He grabbed one of the handles attached to the double doors of the storage room... and it was locked.
Kazuichi: "It's locked!?" He was pulling at both handles now, which was a futile effort. Frantically, he pats his body down, checking for the key that he usually kept inside his pocket. He went over his body once, it wasn't there. He checked again, it still wasn't there. "Where is it!?"
He brought his fist down on the door out of frustration, running back over to where he was previously sitting. He picked up the box of spare parts, inspecting it over and over. As he tried coming up with a solution, he could hear his friends approaching, the door to the building slamming open.
Hajime: "What's going on!?" He heard Hajime yell from across the large room. As he and Sonia drew closer, their sprints slowly came to a halt. Sonia was clearly exhausted as she leaned on Hajime's arm, panting heavily.
Kazuichi: "I need some help here." Kazuichi snatched the beanie off his head before ruffling his own hair. He explained the situation at hand and the problems he had on the side, receiving shocked looks from Hajime and Sonia. "You still got a bit of Izuru in you, right?"
Hajime: "We're one in the same, so... yeah, I guess so? Why?" Hajime cringed at the mention of Izuru Kamukura, his former personality.
Kazuichi: "As I said, I can't find my storage room key. I've got to get in there to get some extra things I need to fix these pods, I figured you can find some sort of way to get the door op- "
Hajime: "Is that your key over there?" Hajime pointed to the ground near one of the pods. Kazuichi almost screamed with glee when he saw the key on the floor. He ran over and picked it up, running back to the storage room while yelling about how lucky it was that Hajime spotted the key on the floor.
Kazuichi ran out of the storage room as fast as he ran in. He returned with a large box, pushing it so it slid across the floor. The sound of clanging metal sent a shiver down everyone's backs as the box stopped at Hajime's feet.
Kazuichi: "All right! Let us assume that everything is going to be okay and get to work!" With everything they needed to fix the pods, Kazuichi and Hajime got started with preventing their comatose friends' deaths. Having help in this moment really meant a lot to Kazuichi, it reminded him of how he and Hajime first met.
===========Flashback===========
Killing School Trip
Even though what just transpired really made everyone question the entire situation, it wouldn't kill everybody to look around. Sixteen students are suddenly brought to an uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean, at least that's what it looks like. Kazuichi was currently checking out the airport, a small one located a short distance from the beach where they first arrived. He had just finished searching the many planes located on the airfield, depressed that all the engines have been removed.
Kazuichi: 'Seriously? I can't believe this, did Usami remove the engines so we couldn't leave? Hmm... oh well, it's better that we're on a tropical island than a prison, I guess it could be worse.'
????: "Airplanes? Couldn't we use them to leave this island?" Kazuichi turned around and saw two people who just arrived at the airport, one of them being Nagito Komaeda, someone he already introduced himself to, and another person that he hasn't talk to yet.
Kazuichi: "Nah, that's impossible. If they were damaged, I could fix them. But it looks like these planes are just for show."
????: "Just for show?"
Kazuichi: "The engines have been completely removed, nothing I can do about that."
????: "Completely removed?"
Kazuichi: "Oh yeah... that reminds me, you and I haven't been introduced yet, right? Name's Kazuichi Soda, I'm the Ultimate Mechanic, nice to meet ya."
Hajime: "Hajime Hinata, nice to meet you too."
Nagito: "As expected from someone called the Ultimate Mechanic, Kazuichi is a savant when it comes to fixing machines. If he says it's impossible to fix these planes, it's truly beyond repair." Kazuichi felt a little weirded out that Nagito was going through his background with Hajime, but it might be important to know things about each other, especially since they're all expected to live on this island together.
Kazuichi: "Even so, to actually remove the engines, whoever's keeping us here must've planned this to a T."
Hajime: "You think so too, huh? Doesn't that seem pretty strange to you?"
Kazuichi: "Yeah, it's pretty strange, but I think it's an acceptable level of strange, you know?"
Hajime: "Huh?"
Kazuichi: "Well, think about it. It's not like we're being forced to do something dangerous or anything. That was mentioned in the safety precautions for this school trip. Remember? The school trip guidelines written in the e-Handbook?" Hearing Kazuichi say this made Hajime pull out his e-Handbook and begin looking over the rules, it did confuse Kazuichi as to why Hajime hasn't checked until now. "It looks like we're being kept safe, so why wouldn't this be like any other school trip?"
Nagito: "There's nothing dangerous on this island... spend these peaceful and relaxing days nourishing hope, just as Usami said earlier. It seems these rules are in place to help us do that..."
Hajime: "Are you saying you believe what that thing told us? She forced us to come here, you know!?"
Nagito: "Don't be such a pessimist, you should look at this situation with a bit more hope, you know? Optimism is essential for people to live satisfying lives."
Kazuichi: "Well, I guess it's okay if we just enjoy our vacation and see how this whole thing plays out, right? Hehe, if you stare closely at that strange-looking bunny girl, she might start looking pretty cute!" Being cheerful in a situation like this is helpful for keeping everyone's spirits up, even if they didn't know what to expect.
Little did Kazuichi know at the time, his first meeting with Hajime would start a very treasured friendship that would last to the day that he, Hajime, and three others would escape the killing school trip.
===========Timeskip===========
Present
Kazuichi: "Yeah, that can't be good." It was one thing after another today. With help from Hajime, Kazuichi was able to fix all the pods, as well as make future preparations in case something of a similar matter should happen later down the line. However, another problem had made itself present in the end. "Those two aren't looking so good..."
Hajime: "Who?"
Kazuichi: "My left and right eyes, just look. I've got bags!" Hajime rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but chuckle. Kazuichi did look exhausted, and this little incident couldn't've been good for him. It was a lot of pressure, and a single mistake might've killed someone. "I'm way too young to have bags under my eyes, I'll never get a girlfriend looking like this!"
Sonia: "I do not believe you have to worry about that." Sonia shot Hajime a look as she giggled at what she just said. Kazuichi took the insult with a grain of salt, laughing it off himself. But it still hurt to hear something like that come from her of all people.
Hajime: "So, everyone's okay?" Hajime wanted to be certain, a repeat of this situation wasn't welcome, at least until everyone is reunited again.
Kazuichi: "Some of them are starting to smell a little funny, but yeah, they're all okay. Oh, but before I forget, I've gotta tell you something." His demeaner had changed in an instant, Kazuichi held his chin with his hand, thinking of how to best explain the matter. He sighed, as if struggling to push the words out of his mouth. "While we were working on things down there... I swear..." He looked very uneasy, Hajime and Sonia waited patiently for him to speak. "I'm sure... I saw Nagito's eyes open."
Was he being serious? Did Nagito really show signs of waking up? How would that even be possible?