Fukase gritted his teeth in slightly upcoming anger. After all, his so-called friend was not better that the others. A person that couldn't be satisfied with a mystery on two legs by his side. He did really expect to have found somebody he actually needed - somebody who didn't need to ask questions. But he was wrong. All in all, his theory, people having the instinct to be curious, was correct. Otherwise they wouldn't live how they are now.

Still Fukase hoped for somebody who wasn't like this - at least a bit less. Oliver actually was that kind of person, but Fukase was afraid the blond one would turn like the others. He was still young - even younger than Fukase himself- barely had any work experience as his first job after university was at the company he is still working in, somehow Fukase was afraid Oliver would fall for others' statements.

"I don't think so," the harsh tone in Oliver's voice startled Fukase and he looked to the blonde one again, whose eyes narrowed and he pushed his cup of hot chocolate to the side.

"I always respected your distance but I still want to be recognized as a friend and I told you several times that you can talk with me about anything."

Fukase bit his tongue and looked away. He didn't expect this kind of reaction. The excitement coming from Oliver consisted of more than curiosity, but he didn't bother to find out. More likely, he avoided eye contact and watched his pet, which felt the uncomfortable tension and sat next beside him on the table, it bent its head.

Fukase felt a tight grip on his shoulder and flinched. Oliver bent to him, trying to get Fukase's attention again. His eyes sparkled full of seriousness, an emotion the ginger rarely saw from the younger one.

"You know I'm your friend, right?"

Fukase sighed and nodded. "Yeah."

He knew by himself that wasn't the answer Oliver wanted but he didn't know how to answer properly. The amount of attention was almost too much for him and he felt himself weakening - an emotion he tried to suppress all the time. He shook Oliver's hand away, who sat back and gave a defeated look. After some seconds Oliver nodded and packed his things, walked back to the front door without saying a single word.

Fukase watched him surprised but got up unconsciously as he heard his front door opening.

"Oliver!" The called one stopped his movement and looked over his shoulder. "What?"

Fukase stepped next to him and sunk his head. Such action wasn't usual for him, so he had trouble finding the correct words.

"Don't go just like that. It's just..."

Oliver rose an eyebrow. "It's just, what?"

Fukase looked up and breathed in deeply to calm himself down. Inside of him, he was trembling like a leave from nervousness. Running after somebody - for how long hasn't he done that? He didn't want to loose Oliver as a friend, he was sure about that. All this time he was happy how it was and didn't think about the one who actually was there for him. He couldn't fully understand what he was thinking, but he slowly noticed that it couldn't keep on like this. It took him years, but the recent weeks he got more thoughtful about his behavior towards others. This was the moment he didn't want to loose something he built up.

He gulped and looked into Oliver's eyes who were still full of anger and seriousness.

"It's a personal problem."

"And it's so bad that you cannot even tell me a bit of it?" Oliver kept on asking but Fukase grabbed the door knob and closed his door again, signaling his friend to wait a little more before he would actually talk.

Oliver waited for some time but he felt that Fukase had his trouble opening up. Slowly he noticed even more what was the actual problem. He put on a weak smile and pushed Fukase's arm a little.

"Or is the problem that you don't know how to talk about it?"

Fukase looked up surprised, even though a shimmer of help resembled as well. He played with the cloth of his hoodie and couldn't focus.

"From where did that come from?"

Oliver laughed a little and shook his head.

"Let's be honest. From the beginning on I noticed you had your problems communicating. You always sat far away from us and rarely spent time with our coworkers."

Fukase smiled weakly as he heard Oliver amusing himself so much. He nodded a little and sighed. This conversation wasn't what he had expected from this day but it felt kind of relieving. The redhead didn't want to let it drop just like that.

"So, do you want to give it a try?"

Fukase flinched as he heard those words. He never talked about his problem, did he really want to open up? He knew he would loose Oliver as a friend if he kept on being quiet but at the same time something inside of him still wanted to keep strong.

'What are you doing to me?' Fukase thought and sighed. It had no use. He realized he had to change something. Still he didn't want to reveal everything, he was too distrusting for such. But he agreed with himself to try at least. Within the years, he noticed when somebody's intention went against him, he would find out on time also now.

He nodded slowly and both went back to the kitchen and took their seats. Oliver smiled relieved and looked at his friend. He was happy that he could break at least some crumbles from the wall the redhead had built to protect himself. His intention wasn't to force him to tell the truth but he knew very well that Fukase suffered somehow and as a friend he wanted it to stop.

It took some time to eventually stutter out some words but Fukase tried his best to keep himself stable. It felt kind of strange to him but freeing at the same time. Did he ever felt like that when he talked to Point? He wasn't so sure anymore, at least it wasn't such a strong feeling that made his limbs shake and sweat formed on his forehead - though he thought it was because of the heat in his apartment.

"It's mostly because of my appearance."

Fukase looked to Oliver who bent his head and rose an eyebrow.

"How so?"

Fukase hesitated to continue. He was rather shocked about what he had heard right now. 'How so', something to ask in confusion. How could Oliver not notice the reason?

The redhead stuttered and gulped. This was the last chance to stop or to talk about his problem - for the first time.

"People keep starring at me and asking me all the time about my looks. I can never be somewhere, always are my looks destroying everything. There is no place it changes, people are all the same."

Silence spread between the two. As everything was said the atmosphere became with every passing second more uncomfortable. Oliver knew he had to say something but didn't know how to put it. Since his friend seemed to be more sensitive than he thought in the beginning, he didn't want to ruin it by some bad chosen words. He cleared his throat and noticed his cup of hot chocolate he had pushed away from him before. His gaze wandered further to Fukase's cup and he saw the redhead's hand shaking slightly. He didn't know it was that much of a pressure for him and he felt slightly guilty. Maybe he was really too greedy since he didn't want Fukase to loose even more trust towards others than he already had.

Still he wanted to be completely honest. Lies never did something good and the redhead simply didn't deserve it. Why should he lie to his friend?

After some passed minuted Oliver sank his head and looked inside his cup, the once steaming content got cold but he didn't feel like drinking it anyway.

"You shouldn't blame only your looks," Oliver started and looked up, checking if Fukase even noticed it and indeed also the ginger looked up halfway surprised.

"I'd say, rather your behavior scares the people away. If you'll be more open, many would be even pleased to see what's on the inside since you have a unique personality."

Oliver pushed the bangs, which covered Fukase's red eyeball, away and looked at the anomaly on his friend's face, smiling slightly.

"You shouldn't see it negative. I really like how you look and those questions of others are simply worries - at least most of them. That's how society works, you know."

Oliver winked laughing but Fukase froze after what he heard. He never got somebody to tell him that. The only conversations with others were business issues or questions regarding his appearance. He couldn't fully believe the part, that the others worried about him since Oliver was, next to extremely friendly, also kind of naive, but the rest of the sentences let a wave of emotions crash his mind. He didn't know how to feel. Any moment tears could stream down his face but at the same time a wide smile could find its way to Fukase's face.

His gaze wandered to his cup and he gritted his teeth. A person that came to his house because he was actually worried, a person that told him that it was fine how he was, just some imperfections. He knew he could trust Oliver's words, after all those months he spent time with him at the office, he could make out whether or not the blonde lied - and he didn't at the moment.

Fukase had someone he could trust, somebody he could tell anything. All the time he tried to tell himself that was unnecessary but the more time passed, the more he noticed how wrong he was with this statement. And now he came to a point he had the chance to do so. Fukase was never good at interacting with people and he didn't even try, so he behaved what he felt comfortable in, but with all this ignorance towards others he eventually found someone who accepted it.

And still that wasn't the only problem. Something deeper, more dangerous for the ginger was inside of him and digged ever further into his body, anchored in his chest. Not even Oliver could help him, that what the blonde managed to free was only a small percentage, nothing drastic.

Fukase reached for his cup to hold something tight. He wanted to try anyway. Oliver managed to make him open up, something he thought might never happen. He didn't see Oliver as some kind of god, but he was sure he was his savior. His savior to free him from despair he made all by himself.

"It's not just that. That's not the main problem," Fukase mumbled and pushed his bangs out of his view. Oliver nodded and smiled. "I'm listening."

Fukase flinched and sighed. "Please don't be so relaxed. It isn't something anybody could help me with. It's...," Fukase had to take a deep breath before continuing. "It's me! It's all my fault! Thinking I am a monster, I put myself down and eventually started to hate myself. If I'm honest with you now, I'm disgusted by my behavior as I really wanted to talk to you more open but I keep stopping myself from finding rescue out of this."

The words came out by themselves literally. Fukase knew this wasn't all, there were way more problems, way more conflicts, but he didn't want to confuse or even scare the only one who listened to him. Waiting for a response he looked up to the golden eye of his friend whose smile has faded. Somehow it hurt Fukase deep inside and he frowned. Embarrassment spread inside of him, maybe he was too open for the beginning. He felt his pet taking a seat on his shoulder and tried to calm his owner down by stroking his head against the ginger. Still a smile couldn't come up to his face.

"And that's all?"

Fukase gasped slightly and looked back to Oliver who rose an eyebrow, waiting for a response. Confused Fukase blinked and tried to say something but nothing more that stutter came out of his mouth. "E-excuse me?"

"You heard correctly. I asked if there is something to add."

"You aren't shocked?"

Oliver blinked and bent his head. "Why should I be shocked?"

Fukase chuckled and shook his head. "Anybody else would have sent me to a psychiatry."

As Oliver felt the mood cheering up a little he stretched himself and smiled.

"What you think about yourself, is your problem, indeed." He looked out of the window and rose his cup of hot chocolate. "But I can help you overcome it."

Fukase opened his eyes wide from amazement. All those words came actually through his hard shell and reached his mind, telling him to finally start to get better again. He couldn't continue like that. Locking himself up for days without any result. In the dark tunnel he was walking for all those years, he finally saw light at the end and adding to that a hand helping him to reach it. And eventually he tried to accept it, to welcome the care somebody showed him.

Oliver laughed a little and rose his cup once again and took a sip. Fukase did as well and an honest smile appeared in his face. "What kind of miracles hot chocolate can cause," he added and Oliver chuckled. "More like cold chocolate by now."

Both finished their drinks and watched Point jumping around and making faces, causing both to laugh. After an hour Oliver had to go again and packed his things, Fukase followed him to the front door.

"Thank you, Oliver. Sorry, if I was whiny."

"Don't mention it and talk to me anytime you need to," Oliver smiled and rose a eyebrow teasing, "And now try to solve your first problem by cleaning your apartment."

"Yeah, yeah," Fukase sighed and smiled. "See you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow at work. Early and in a good mood," Oliver waved and went out, slowly walking out of Fukase's sight who closed the door after some seconds.

He walked back to the kitchen to see his pet next to the empty cups. A weak smile crept on his face and he approached Point to stroke its forehead.

"Hot chocolate. Guess that'll be my favorite drink from now on."

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A/N: That's the end oft he story. I hope you enjoyed it and have a nice day~!