Chapter 24: New Dawn Chapter: 024
The following days passed in a blur. Tysone got in contact with the owner of that abandoned store and managed to strike a fairly good deal, overall. Considering the condition of the building, it didn't take much haggling on his part. With a down payment and an official-looking purchase agreement signed between the two of them, Tysone had taken control of the small venue.
He'd have let Saya do the negotiations, but he figured that with him cutting quite an imposing figure, he'd be more successful. Saya nagged him all day saying she could've done much better.
Predictably, her yapping fell on deaf ears.
The rest of the money they managed to save promptly went into fixing all the issues with the building. A deep cleaning. Disinfestation. A bit of reconstruction. Plumping. Soundproofing. The costs weren't overwhelming to the point that it left them desperate, but their funds were draining at a fast pace.
A piece of good news was that all the smashable furniture would be provided by Saya's family. It turns out they had a lot of old stuff they didn't want anymore and were willing to provide it to her.
"I can't believe I've chipped in all my money for this." Saya said, looking at their half-finished Rage Room. The outside looked perfect and pristine. Rage Room was written both in English and in Japanese Kanji above the main entrance. The font was aggressive. A bit splattering at the edges, and a neon crimson color. It'd look eye-catching at night. "I can't believe this is it..."
"Have more faith, Saya-chan. This is us. Ours. It belongs to us. And it'll make us lots of money." Tysone said, excitedly. And it was contagious enough for her to crack a smile. "Now, all that's left is marketing the shit out of our beautiful baby."
The business wouldn't start at full throttle until a week or so later. Placing ads on the internet wouldn't ensure him full visibility. Besides, marketing could also be done with pamphlets and flyers being passed out and given by employees once people actually started coming. Or maybe he could pay someone to hand them out at schools and bars.
So, that was another expense Tysone had to keep in check. Mai's proposal started to smell really good. Perhaps he should sell more lyrics and re-invest everything in his business. Every single cent.
Even though the shop wasn't going to be at 100 percent efficiency until another week or so, he went ahead and posted some pictures of the finished rooms online in a hidden subreddit. People would notice.
Word of mouth would spread around. That was always a valuable thing in situations like these. Tysone stared at the posts he made and used alt accounts to like and boost.
Unleash the Beast: Welcome to the Rage Room!
Because throwing things at walls is way more fun than punching pillows.
Because there's nothing like hearing glass shatter and feeling totally in control.
Because we all need a place to let it out without holding back.
He wrote more information below it. Location. Estimated time of aperture. And a couple of pictures to go along with it. In fact, he also wanted to shoot a promotional video for it, but he lacked the equipment and editing skills to do it.
"You're surprisingly good at coming up with these." Saya said.
"Hey. Hey, look at you giving praise where praise is due. Aren't you quite the lovely princess?" He chuckled, resting his elbow on the desk and holding his chin.
"There's an eighty percent chance I'm being insulted whenever I talk with you." She said, matter-of-factly.
"Not with that attitude." His smile widened slightly.
"Is there a specific reason you chose to say those exact lines and in that particular tone?" Saya pointed at him, trying her best to intimidate him, even when his looming mass of muscle and his six feet four inches dwarfed her. "Never mind. Please let me get back to working with my mental block and I'll forget you exist."
Sitting close, staring at the old, thicc computer in front of them, they continued to work silently.
They had been at it for hours. Saya had to lean back and stretch for a bit. As she did so, she caught sight of Tysone's profile. His eyes were a bit red—he had been pulling many all-nighters lately. And that was not taking into account the many tutoring sessions they had.
In all of this, he seemingly soldiered on without a break. She could only imagine how tired he was, but he barely let anything show. It was like he was obsessed. A glutton for hard work. It was both admirable and annoying.
"Ah..." She turned, only to meet with an uncomfortable situation. His eyelids drooped a little as his breathing calmed. However, he immediately picked himself up and snapped his eyes open. His finger spun the scrolling wheel on the mouse furiously. "Hey, if you want to rest a little..."
"I'm fine." He said, sighing and rubbing his face. "I just need some sugary and caffeinated concoction to keep my brain firing on all cylinders."
"You've got to sleep better." Saya nagged. It was so strange having to say something so thoughtful to him of all people.
He only groaned and replied with an uninspired. "Thanks, mom."
She rolled her eyes at his callousness but refrained from kicking his shin. Saya felt him stare.
"W-What?"
"Nothing." He turned to stare at the screen. "It's kind of weird hearing you being so concerned for me. Are you this naturally friendly or are you dropping hints?"
"What are you on about all of a sudden!" Saya was immensely taken aback. He was so shameless!
"Don't give me that. You look down when you're flustered. It's easy to see."
"Shut up, idiot!"
Saya didn't have a snarky quip ready to counter.
He smirked. "Wow. Such maturity."
She knew she'd lost if she let him take control, so she just glared in a cute way.
"Ugh. Whatever!" Saya waved a hand dismissively. He always won all their conversations, and she was sick of it. Why did he always manage to get under her skin without making her mad?
Why couldn't she stop looking at him?
Their bickering and exchanging of witticisms didn't stop her eyes from drifting. He was getting in shape. No, scratch that. He was already in shape; he was merely improving upon perfection. Every guy she knew was sort of tall, but had limbs as thin and droopy as noodles. The physique of your typical teenager with the aptitude of a scrawny shut-in.
Tysone didn't look anything like those pansies. The firm curve of his shoulders were easily three times the breadth and width of the narrowest portion of her waist. That made sense, too, since he was muscular. Broad in the chest. Big in the arms. His clothes weren't the most comfortable in the world, but it was almost criminal how poorly they seemed to fit him now. His once somewhat baggy hoodie had lost all its room to breath. If he stretched just a little more, it was like he'd split the sleeves apart. It'd look good, maybe, but for him, she didn't doubt it could easily lead to him becoming half-naked on a random afternoon.
"Saya, you're zoning out again. You've been doing that a lot lately." Tysone began, humming. "Is there something you wish to tell me? You know, if we're going to be business partners, then the least you can do is act more cordial and at ease around me. It makes you lose that edge of yours, you know. Would likely make you cuter as well." He breathed out. "Not that you need it."
Saya stood, whirling away. She couldn't believe she was blushing! "Whatever. Let's stop with this foolishness and concentrate on our task at hand."
"Well said."
With her face still heating up, she began rummaging through her notes. She had jotted down many promotion ideas earlier, but with Tysone's backing they could offer discounts or the occasional free session for the first group of customers to try. It could attract more visitors than if they were simply selling it normally, at least to the more tight-fisted crowd, and word of mouth would do the rest.
"Do you have many female friends, Saya?" Tysone spoke up, drumming his fingers on the desk.
She was immediately on guard. "N-Not really... why?"
Tysone looked at her, stopping his fingers. "Well, think about it. If we have a bunch of pretty girls going out in costumes and promoting our Rage Room, guys would swarm around it in record time, especially if a cutie like you was distributing free stickers, flyers or whatever with your 'fake' number or something scrawled on. Am I right, or am I right?"
She turned towards him incredulously, staring with widening eyes and a slight frown. His logic was sound, but she still didn't know why he said such nonsense. She gave an affirmative nod, "Perhaps..."
"We could pay Maid Cafes to hang out flyers in their establishments, then. Might attract customers like crazy. Or do we put you in some really adorable costume and get you walking around in public? That's also a possibility."
"Y-You…"
Saya never, in her life, ever, felt the urge to yank her hair so hard.
Author Note: More chapters on P@treon.com/LordCampione.
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