"Dude, just one more minute. I need to sleep."

"Hmph." Okada’s eyes stayed on me a little too long, like he was trying to decide whether to drag me out of bed himself. Instead, he sighed and turned away, already busy tightening his tie in front of the half cracked window on his right.

I shifted under the covers, rubbing the sleep out of my face as I slowly forced myself awake. It was something I couldn’t look away from and I noticed it.

Okada, standing there in a properly knotted tie. For a second, my brain refused to process it. Then it clicked, and I lost it. I burst into laughter and trust me when I say it was not a small one either.

Full-on, uncontrollable laughter that made my stomach hurt as I pointed at him. He stood still, looking at me through the mirror like I had just insulted his entire bloodline.

"Why are you like that?" I managed between laughs, wiping tears from my eyes. "You? In a tie? This is not your calling in life, bro."

Okada clicked his tongue but didn’t stop adjusting it. In fact, he made it worse by acting like he was completely serious about it, turning his head slightly left, then right, inspecting himself like a businessman about to close a billion-dollar deal.

That only made me laugh harder.

"Stop that," I said, still laughing. "You are taking this so serious bruh. Isn’t it just to meet with the owner of that abandoned building? A normal plain T-shirt will do."

Finally, he exhaled and looked at me properly this time, expression calm but slightly irritated. "If you’re done laughing at my existence, we should leave soon. This meeting means a lot to me. Look around, my workshop is a mini club arcade vibing shit. The whole money we’ve gotten from just this game, of course I have to treat this with my life. If we get that place, I could sell this old junkie shop, get married and start a better life."

I stopped laughing, slowly lowering my hand as I looked at him properly this time. "Dude lighten up. I didn’t have a rosy life also." He was serious in that quiet way he always got when something mattered.

He adjusted his tie one last time, like the conversation wasn’t something new to him. "Yeah. Married. Normal life. Less chaos. Maybe even sleep like a human being for once."

I scoffed lightly, shaking my head. "You say that like chaos isn’t your second name." Okada picked up his jacket and slung it over his arm.

"We don’t have time to joke around today," he said, voice steady again. "That building isn’t just any building. We need it to go higher. For revenge of Roku"

I swung my legs off the bed, finally giving in to the fact that sleep had officially lost the battle. "Yeah, yeah," I muttered, standing up and stretching. "Your future mansion, your future wife, your future peaceful life... all waiting inside some abandoned structure."

He didn’t respond immediately.

Instead, he just walked toward the door.

But right before stepping out, he paused.

"You coming or not?"

I grabbed my shirt from the chair, still half-smiling. "Relax, old man. I’m coming. Someone has to make sure you don’t propose to a building instead of a woman. Give me five minutes and I will be with you"

Okada chuckled under his breath, already heading toward the door. Then he stopped, turning slightly as Takumi stepped into view.

"My boy, today you are in charge," Okada said, grinning as he gave Takumi a firm pat on the shoulder. "I’ve written some things down there for you on the cabinet. You’d be fine."

I stood just behind Takumi, finally getting the last button of my shirt in place while watching the exchange. Takumi stiffened slightly under the pat, his eyes flicking between Okada and me like he wasn’t sure if this was a promotion or a punishment.

"Sensei..." he said softly, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice as he faced me.

I gave him a calm nod, sliding my bag strap over my shoulder. "It will be chill, I bet. You’ve handled a cyber café before—what’s a semi arcade you can’t handle?"

That was supposed to reassure him.

Instead, Takumi looked even more concerned. Okada, on the other hand, looked way too satisfied with himself.

"Exactly," he added, already halfway out the door. "You’ll survive."

Takumi exhaled slowly, as if mentally preparing for chaos disguised as business.

I stepped closer to him, lowering my voice a bit. "Don’t worry too much. He makes everything sound harder than it is."

Takumi nodded once, still tense but trying to compose himself.

"Understood."

"Oh and one more thing, no sex! Don’t allow these youngsters fuck themselves and if they must do such, let them use the bathroom. If they jerk off on my floors, you’d clean them up!" Okada looked at himself one more time and breathed out.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "No, Takumi. Not that deep. Okada is just whining, you know him. No one is jerking on the ground. We are late alread, take care Takumi!"

********

The car ride had already gone on longer than it should have.I leaned forward slightly from the passenger seat, squinting at my phone again. "Dude... are you sure we’ve not passed central Tokyo already?"

Okada didn’t even glance at me. One hand was on the steering wheel, the other resting casually near the gear like he had absolute confidence in every turn he was making.

"I haven’t missed anything," he said calmly. "We’re on the right route."

I looked out again, watching a sign flash past that definitely didn’t look familiar. "Map definitely said this direction. Like, I’m pretty sure we should’ve seen the turnoff five minutes ago."

He scoffed lightly, finally sparing me a quick sideways glance. "You and that map. I’m the driver today, there’s no way I could have missed it."

I raised a brow. "That’s exactly what people say right before they’re completely lost."

Okada clicked his tongue, turning the wheel slightly as we passed another junction. "I know this place like the back of my hands."

I leaned back into my seat slowly, staring at him. "That sentence is never reassuring when you’re clearly guessing."

He ignored that completely and instead, nodded toward the road ahead like everything was under control. "Just relax. We’ll get there."

I blinked.

Then slowly turned my head toward Okada.

"...You’ve got to be kidding me."

Okada didn’t move at first. He just stared straight ahead at the dashboard like it had personally betrayed him. The fuel gauge sat there smug and empty, basically confirming what neither of us wanted to say out loud.

I leaned back, exhaling hard.

"Great. You didn’t know you were supposed to fill the truck’s fuel tank, and now it’s empty."