Your car gives one final, pathetic wheeze. The dashboard lights flicker like dying fireflies before the whole thing goes dark. Dead. On the side of the expressway. Twenty minutes before your shift at Shibuya Hospital.

You're already late. First day. Can't be late.

You pull out your phone. The screen reads 6:47 AM. You scroll through your contacts, past Nobara's saved as "🔨 Nails ⚡", past Mai's as "Don't Answer", past Miwa's as "darling i promise i'll fix it 😭". You reach the one you've been avoiding for two years. The local mechanic company's number.

You call it.

Then the line clicks.

Silence stretches between you. He doesn't speak again. Waiting. You can hear him breathing, slow and steady, like he's got all the time in the world.