Nina saw the confused look on my face, like I didn't understand a word she was saying, and imdiately realised how bizarre she sounded without knowing any of the context as to why she was acting so weirdly.
"Oh, sorry about that, Kafka...I got a little worked up there for a second when I saw that you could do sothing that I could never do, at such a young age, and got a little excited." Nina apologised with an embarrassed smile on her face, like she was asking to forget about how she was fangirling over a second ago.
She then coughed to compose herself and then looked at to explain, saying, "It's just that ever since I was a child, I've had a fascination for anyone who could create or fix sothing with their very own hands, because I look up to my father, who's actually a carpenter himself who did woodworking for a living...In fact, the reason my father and mother t each other was because he ca to my mother's hot spring when they were young to renovate the place, and over a couple of weeks of visiting, they both fell in love with one another."
Nina had a tender look in her eyes as she fondly recalled her parents's love story, which was rather wholeso to hear.
"Then, does that an all the intricate woodworking done in this lobby is by your father?" I asked as I looked around the building that was covered in absolutely stunning woodwork; from the polished planks that rested below my feet to the walls that were covered in sheets of marbled wood that had beautiful carvings on them.
"Yes, Kafka. They were all made by my father after both he and my mother got married." Nina said with a proud look on her face as she looked around the room in its glory.
She then continued saying, "And after watching my father constantly make sothing so complicated or pretty out of a stub of wood in his workshop, which always blew my mind away when I looked at it, I grew up to appreciate anyone who could turn sothing so simple into sothing so wonderful just like my father did."
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"...And not just creating as well, since making trinkets, furniture, or ornants out of wood was simply my father's hobby...His main job was going to other people's places to fix so sort of problem they had with their house's woodworking, like broken floors or cracked stairs, so being able to so easily fix sothing like it was nothing at all, just like my father always did, was so cool to ." Nina gave a gentle smile as she carressed the small table next to her that also seed to have been made by her talented father, whom she was so proud of and looked up to.
"But unfortunately..." Nina showed a wry smile on her face, like it was a pity. "...even though I was his daughter and his flesh and blood, I didn't inherit his talent to make art from scratch or fix sothing without even leaving a mark in place."
"Rather, I resembled my mother, who I was told in the past was as simpleminded as and would always think with her fists first if a problem were to occur, unlike my father, who was much more level-headed and tried to figure out the solution in a much more thorough manner." Nina chuckled at how different her parents were and wondered how such a violent woman and a gentle man got together in the first place.
She then continued as she looked at her hands in a thoughtful manner, "Every ti I tried to imitate my father and try to craft even the most simplest item out of wood, I would always sohow break it because of my clumsy hands...And every ti I tried to figure out a solution to a problem just like my father would, the first thought that would co to my mind was to fix it in the most brash way possible, unlike my father, who would surely figure out the most simple and effective solution in a matter of seconds, which ended up with realising that I could never be like him."
Nina let out a sigh as she closed her hands, closing her dreams of resembling her father along with them.
"...But even though I knew that I could never be like him, it didn't stop from admiring anyone like him who could create and restore sothing with their own two hands." Nina looked at , who was carefully listening to her story, and smiled, wondering how she ended up admiring a brat like .
"That's why I couldn't help but be deeply impressed when I heard you knew how to fix this machine, unlike , who's first thought of action was to beat it until it starts working again, which is probably what my mother would have done as well."
Nina let out a chuckle, like she could imagine the scene of her mother trying to break the machine in frustration while her father weakly held her back with all the strength he had since his wife was much stronger than him.
"I see...It makes so much sense now as to why you got so excited over sothing as easy as fixing this electrical fault after hearing your story, Nina." I said, which made Nina rember how she was gushing over earlier and blush in response.
I then said while smiling, "You got so worked up in that mont that you looked like a cute little monkey who had discovered fire for the first ti, Nina...And, honestly, you looked so adorable with your big eyes wide open that it actually makes want to fix all the other broken appliances you own in your house to see get all excited again."
"B-Be quiet, Kafka!...I got caught off guard at that mont, which ended up with acting in such a foolish manner. And I'll have you know that it won't ever happen again, even if you were to do sothing as amazing as disassemble the vending machine and put it back together again."
Nina flicked my forehead with a harumph for teasing her so blatantly.
She then glanced at from the corner of her eyes and said, in protest,
"I also don't like how you acted as if fixing a vending machine is the easiest thing in the world that even a baby could do, since it makes feel like I'm the dumb one here for not being able to do so."
"...I an, I already know that I'm not as smart as you, but so aren't 99% of the population who also don't know how to fix a vending machine, like it's no big deal at all." Nina folded her hands and looked at in an indignant manner, like she was waiting for to apologise for what I said.
She wasn't genuinely offended by what I said and simply wanted to see say sorry to her for her own amusent and see herself win at least once after constantly losing to in every argunt.
But I didn't apologise like she thought I would, as I stood by my statent and said,
"But Nina, I'm really not trying to call you any nas...I just genuinely think that anyone out there could fix this vending machine with so little guidance because of how easy it actually is." Nina opened her mouth to say sothing, seeing that I wasn't willing to back down.
But before that, I continued saying, "...In fact, it's so easy to fix that I could probably teach you how to do it and have you fix the vending machine yourself."
"Actually...You know what?...Why don't we do exactly that?"
I asked myself, like I thought it was a really good idea that shouldn't be left as a thought and should actually be done, which made Nina's face freeze for a second.
"You said that you always wanted to be able to fix sothing just like your father did for a living his whole life, so wouldn't reparing this vending machine be great for you?...You'd be able to have a fully functioning machine that doesn't cause any problems and you'd have the joy of knowing that you fixed it yourself, like you've always wanted to...Isn't that for the best?!"
Nina wasn't as enthusiastic about this as I was and had wavering feelings about the matter, even though it was right up her alley. She really doubted if soone like her, who always ended up breaking sothing that she was trying to make or fix, would be able to fix sothing as complex as a vending machine.
The idea seed really good in her head, but when she realised how bad she was at anything that required problem solving and nimbleness, which weren't her strongest points, she accepted the reality of the matter and knew that it was impossible for her to accomplish such a feat.
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