Weak sunlight fought its way through the heavy curtains and lit the room up a bit. The stuffy air inside warmed up even more since no window was open. The sunlight tickled the person's skin who still slept until noon. With grumbling he turned away from the light but threw his blanket to the ground not much later. With a sigh he sat up and rubbed his still sleepy eyelids, trying to wake himself up. He looked at his pale hands and lowered his head in dejection.

'It's no use, I have to get up,' he thought and got up to his feet. A yawn escaped his mouth as he opened the curtains - though he closed them right after the bright light dazzled him. Slightly cursing he left without letting fresh air into his room and entered his living room, which was still a mess. But he didn't feel like cleaning up and pet his already awoken companion, Point. It let out joyful sounds and climbed up his shoulder as Fukase went through his hair with his scarred hand.

A weak smile appeared on his face. "Let's breakfast something, Point."

Both went to the kitchen. He ignored the pile of pans and opened the fridge to feed his loyal pet. It's outward appearance might seem somehow strange but it was one of the most friendly living things in this world. Without Point he didn't know what would've already happened to him. Furthermore it didn't need too much care and ate nearly everything for what reason he gave Point a bowl of warmed up rice. The pet yelped joyful and gave his attention to his food.

Fukase let out a relieved sigh that at least his pet - for which he cared the most about - felt comfortable in such conditions. He sat down and drank a glass of water, he didn't feel like eating. With a heavy sigh he rubbed his forehead. It has already been a week since he left the house even for once. The trash piled up in the corner of his kitchen and the rest of the apartment didn't look much better. Everywhere lay things he left and dust decorated his furniture. He simply couldn't do anything, really nothing. All day long he lay in his bed or stared outside the window, no certain thought crossing his mind.

He already knew about his problem, about his anxiety towards himself and others. His appearance followed him step by step through his life and didn't leave good marks. He used to move often to avoid too much questions from others burdening him. He couldn't even understand why people who didn't talk with him even once were nosy enough to ask him how he got the look he had. He knew by himself that it was something rather unique.

He looked at his hands, especially the pale, nearly snow white skin, that attracted too much glances. The fact that half of his body was scarred as well didn't make it better. But what he hated and feared the most was his blood red eyeball, at least that's what he called it. He couldn't see with it, it was only there to fill the empty space in his face. But instead of reducing the questioning faces they changed into worried or even frightened ones.

He was used to it, so he didn't mind too much if a curious kid, who had no idea of privacy, asked him about it but he expected from his coworkers a bit more of respect. Still he could hear them from time to time talking behind his back. No nasty things, they were mature enough for such at least, but all those questions which won't be answered anyway.

After university he broke up his contact to his family more or less to move around without them worrying. The more distant he was with people, the less they had the courage to ask him. Summed up, he didn't really had anybody to talk to, which worried him from time to time. A little chat with friends was fine but sometimes not enough. All of this led to phases, when he felt helpless the most and locked himself up in his apartment. It didn't last too long and after some time he was the old Fukase everyone knew, sometimes he simply needed that.

A ring coming from his doorbell interrupted his thoughts and he looked up surprised. He expected his neighbor to show up and bring him his newspaper angrily, scolding him for being such an unreliable young man - nothing he wasn't fond of. At least he could keep his pet alive. He was about to ignore it as it rang again and he cursed under his breath. Usually his neighbor would knock only once and then put it in front of his door, if the redhead was too unmotivated to open. With heavy steps he walked along the hallway and opened the door, not even caring a little about what he looked like. He just woke up, he didn't expect himself to be in a good condition.

His eyes opened wide for a second in surprise as he saw somebody else in front of him. A friendly smile showed up on the other's face and he waved a little. His coworker Oliver greeted him friendly, which caught Fukase even more off guard. He couldn't remember he did ever give him his address, but he only ran his fingers through his hair. Not only was he working with him in the same company, but he was also somebody he would call a friend. He usually didn't meet him in his free time but they got along quite well and the enthusiastic behavior of the younger one cheered him up at times.

"Good morning, Oliver. I'm...quite surprised to see you here."

"Rather 'Good noon', don't you think? But you seem to be still sleepy," Oliver smirked and expected to be invited into the house, which Fukase answered some seconds later. He wasn't used to somebody visiting him and suddenly he felt a bit embarrassed in what kind of state he left his apartment.

Oliver looked around and shook his head, heading into the kitchen and sat down on one of the chairs. He sighed and waited for Fukase to take a seat next to him.

"You know, I was wondering if you feel that bad that you didn't come to work for an entire week, but now I can understand. Your apartment doesn't seem too well off either."

Fukase nodded weak and stared out of the window. He didn't know what he should say. He didn't feel too disturbed by Oliver's presence but he knew that it would lead to questions he actually wanted to avoid - especially now.

He looked back at Oliver as he heard some rustling and remembered the brown package in Oliver's hand as he entered his house. The blond one opened it quickly and revealed two cups. Fukase rose an eyebrow questioning and laid his head against his hand.

"Hot chocolate," Oliver answered as he noticed Fukase's glare and handed him a cup. The warm content sent some chills down Fukase's spine but he didn't let go of it. Somehow it flattered him to get such attention.

He looked to Oliver who watched his pet eating the last bites of his food. A smile appeared on his face.

"Is that your pet?" Oliver's gaze wandered to Fukase and the redhead nodded. He pointed at the bowl his pet was eating from, white letters formed the name of his pet and Oliver nodded.

"Point, an interesting name."

Silence fell between them and Fukase sipped from his cup, somehow he didn't have the feeling Oliver was here to get him back to work as his chef lost patience but for what reason he would visit him - especially when they did never meet apart from work before?

"Why are you even here?" Fukase couldn't wait anymore and wanted an answer right away. His voice was rather harsh, causing Oliver to jump a little in surprise. The younger one looked at him and laughed a little.

"What do you expect? Of course, because I have to take a look if everything is okay when you're absent for so long," he smiled and Oliver took a sip. "Anyway, how are you?"

Fukase shrugged and looked out of the window, a breeze shook the leaves of the trees. It was spring and the cold temperature was still present, even though the sun had been quite strong the recent days.

Oliver sighed quietly and looked down to his cup. The content was still hot and wavering to the shaking hands he had. He knew something was wrong with his friend. He never asked why but he still wanted to help him. Even though he was a friend of the ginger, he was surprised that actually he barely knew anything from him. Curiosity was a killer for the redhead, Oliver was sure about that but that was all. He had patience with introverted people but Fukase's distance verged on social problems.

"I know, you're usually not very talkative, but I guess it would be good for you to open up a little."

Fukase glared at Oliver who was scared for a moment how Fukase looked at him. He couldn't even describe it clearly. A mixture out of hatred and distrust covered his face and he noticed the grip on the cup tightening.

"How come?" Oliver noticed how hard Fukase tried to sound normal but suppressed too many emotions. He didn't want to ruin the moment for which he fought for months. He smiled a little and shook his head.

"I mean, you are ill a whole week and your apartment - excuse me - looks terrible. And you don't seem to be physically weakened. There is something bothering you, isn't there?"

Fukase closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. He noticed the curiosity of his friend but he hoped it would go away any second.

"It's none of your business."

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A/N: This story was actually planned as a One-shot but since it got longer that I thought, I decided to split it into two chapters. I hope you enjoyed it and have a nice day!