Maruki blinked, genuinely caught off guard by Drake’s words. For a moment, he wondered if this was some elaborate setup—perhaps a rehearsed line delivered under duress, or maybe someone had a gun trained on him from the shadows. "You’re...concerned for my well-being?" he asked, his tone teetering between genuine surprise and something else.

“This isn’t some kind of hostage situation, is it? You didn’t practice that in front of a mirror?” The faintest smirk tugged at his lips as he leaned back slightly, his disbelief tempered by a flicker of reluctant amusement.