There is one truth in every lie. None other than the spectator would notice, and so, the act continues. Walking. Talking. 

Oliver froze in shock. The sudden confession crashed into the room like a missile, and left him him scrambling for both words and actions. Kazehiki didn't avert his eyes off the window and sighed. It was a heavy, sad sigh that sent chills down their spines. Oliver has been waving off Kazehiki dozens off times, assuming that he was nothing more than a clueless observer, but those assumptions got crushed all at once.

"What—you were..." Oliver's voice trailed off at his loss for words. Kazehiki didn't react, visibly lost in thoughts.

"I almost lost an important person just because of it."

Kazehiki looked back at Oliver and his eyes said more than words could ever encompass. Oliver pressed his lips together at the sudden shift in atmosphere. He could barely recognize the person sitting in front of him. Kazehiki always had a—more or less subtle—cocky attitude embedded in his way of talking, but there was no sight of it now.

"My sister once was in the same situation," Kazehiki sighed, "We—well, family and her friends—kept trying to tell her that her husband is a horrible person but she never listened. She always took his side, no matter how sad and stressed out she was."

A weak smile crept up on Kazehiki's face, as if he was reliving the moment but it wore off quickly, and left place for a pained frown.

Oliver stayed silent. Not only was he curios enough to want to hear the end of the story, but he also wasn't sure how to react otherwise. There was a faint urge to return his friend's gesture by giving him a short hug, but the thought fled quicker than he could fully grasp it. He wasn't quite comfortable with any kind of reassurance, and he felt bad that he was not guilty for having a friend that was comforting him but not feeling the need to do the same.

His attention curved back to the present. Kazehiki stood up and put their empty cups in the sink. His hands swept over the cupboard above and suddenly he returned with a glass of water. Oliver wanted to light up the mood with the sudden lack of hospitality when Kazehiki stumbled and missed the chair, causing a loud crash to ring through their ears. However, his eyes wouldn't look up and Oliver couldn't even blame him—he himself felt miserable when he had opened up about Fukase.

"It took so much for her to notice that she could no longer stay. And it took even longer for her to recover from what she's been through."

Oliver was facing Kazehiki's back but the words invaded and nestled in his mind as if they were whispered right into his ear. There was no solid picture that came to mind when imagining the situation. In fact, Oliver couldn't even make out how his Kazehiki's sister would look like. Siblings usually look alike, but there wasn't a specific feature he could orientate himself on; Kazehiki just had a face that wasn't to replicate.

Either way, Oliver wasn't quite convinced yet, and he didn't bother to conceal it. Whether it was the lack of information Kazehiki clearly wasn't ready to give or the vague wording, something about the situation made it harder for him to sympathize in any way. 

He was about to interrupt as Kazehiki sat back down. His expression has not changed but his motions were less stiff. He beamed a quick apologetic smile and continued where he left off.

"It's been a horrible time for her and everyone around her. All of that could have been avoided if only we would have done something sooner or she wouldn't have been so stubborn."

Oliver wasn't sure what exactly happened, but there was a shift in Kazehiki's eyes. Once so vulnerable, they were now beaming with determination—just the way he was used to seeing them. 

Oliver had mixed emotions. He wasn't exactly taking any sort of message from the story, but seeing his friend outside his usual range of emotions made him feel somewhat comforted. Now that Kazehiki returned back to normal, Oliver knew he was to be confronted once again with the current problem.

Kazehiki kept up the eye contact and casted a weak smirk. He didn't expect any sort of reaction back, and as usual, there wasn't one either. Oliver solely watched for now.

"I want to spare you from all that as long as it's still possible. You're in deep, but there's still hope. And even if the path might be harder than it is now, you will be doing so much better once everything is over. I can guarantee you that."

Oliver hummed, although not sure out of content or irritation, and cocked his head to the side. He thought he was going through a déjà vu, but that feeling didn't last longer than for a split second and then vanished. His intuition told him to lead the conversation back to where it was supposed to go.

"I didn't know you were confronted with this before. I'm sorry I've been pushing you away so much."

Oliver has been feeling trapped and helpless up until now. The shift off from his own issue helped him to regain the energy and confidence he needed for Fukase. He was a bit relieved, however, he could feel his attention wavering. As much as he had been clinging onto Kazehiki's words earlier, they ricocheted now.

He almost felt bad that most of his friend's words were once more in vain, but he tried to not make it too obvious. He was going to be blunt enough with his wording already. Oliver cleared his throat as his heartbeat picked up. This didn't feel right.

"But I doubt that's going to change anything. Fukase and I aren't the same like your story. It's not like one is stuck with the other and there's no escape out of it. We want to be together, but just not like this anymore."

"Sometimes things are beyond repair," Kazehiki cut Oliver off from talking any further, receiving a glare in return. He didn't care much for it and kept his stern expression. Oliver felt like he was looking at a brick wall—solid and indestructible with his bare hands. For a moment he was furios.

However, that feeling didn't last long. Oliver couldn't exactly be furious at someone who he had asked for help and now was offering it in his best attempt, despite it to be the same sort of answer Oliver has been dreading to hear these past months. He hesitated but then took them rather with a hunch of gratitude. Time passed by and his composure returned back to normal—in fact, he almost felt good.

Kazehiki caught up on the small smile that crept up his friend's face and answered it with a warm one in response.

"Other than that, I'd suggest you find some sort of relationship counselor or so. Start off small. This won't settle it, but maybe it will help you open your eyes more to what you could have rather than to what you have at the moment."

Oliver beamed a smile and nodded. He regained enough strength to stem himself off the chair and stood up; Kazehiki did so as well.

"Thank you, Kaze...I should probably go now."

Oliver didn't wait for a response and walked the way back to the front door alone, then Kazehiki followed quickly. He stopped at the kitchen door and yelled out Oliver's name one last time. 

"I'm serious. Call me a pest or whatever, but I won't let loose until I can see that you are safe. You are important to me too."

Oliver turned around and chuckled lightly; it was the first genuine feeling rushing through his body this morning.

"I know you're being serious. A little bit too much, I'd have to say," Oliver laughed a little further, infecting his counterpart with the sudden good mood, "I don't think I've ever had someone care this much for me...besides Fukase, of course."

Kazehiki sighed out loud, a clearly surprised tone in his voice. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and shook his head.

"Then it was time to have better friends." A smirk grew on his face as he noticed Oliver's amused grin. "Call me whenever you need me. I'll be there."

Oliver looked at his friend for a while, and just for a split moment, everything seemed fine. There was no fear and worry in this world, as all words have been told now. 

However, reality clashed onto the two soon enough and Oliver tilted his head to the side. Kazehiki looked just like any other day, and he had forgotten that there was an initial stiffness in their morning meetup.

"So we're good?" Oliver said eventually, considerate of not making it sound like a question, and he received a low hum in return. Kazehiki pushed himself off the door frame, but didn't come any closer.

"As long as you won't try to punch me again, yeah, I guess so." Kazehiki rubbed his neck with a low hum, but then quickly beamed a cocky smile back at his friend. Oliver smirked, somewhat amused to have things settle back to normal and reached for the door handle in front of him.

"Goodbye, Kaze."

With those words left outspoken, Oliver walked out the door and back to his car. He wasn't so sure yet how much of a farewell that was to him, but there was no need to be so sure either. There were more crucial plans lying ahead of him, that maybe announced the end of another life stage. In any case, it would only be the entrance for possibly better times to come. 

However, it wasn't yet written in their fate what was going to happen.