Red velvet once warping deceived eyes, its skin has lost color now. Light may dazzle their senses, but there is no sight of salvation yet. 

Oliver woke up with a headache. It wasn't near as bad as his morning migraine these past days, but it served as a bitter reminder of reality nonetheless. He shifted his body but couldn't move much. Turning his head around confirmed his assumption that he must have fallen asleep, and so did Fukase. His head was resting on the blond's hip with his mind wandering in his dream world. Oliver smiled.

The warmth on his back was reassuring, despite yesterday's turmoil. They had not come to the mutual result Oliver hoped for, but at this point, he knew they were far from that anyway. Merely hearing of Fukase's pain this unfiltered challenged him more that he expected. While he had always known his partner's future outlooks weren't too promising either, he didn't see him worrying to that extent ever.

Oliver's smile faded and he rubbed his eyes once fatigue set back in. Fukase was not only sad—he was in agony, balancing and fearing to fall either into one misery or the other, and he had kept it to himself all this time. 

There was a pinch in Oliver's chest. He wanted to drown in self-pity of how horrible of a partner and guide he must have been to see Fukase take such lengths in order to not hurt anyone, but there was no time nor energy for it.

As much as Oliver yearned to mourn and pout longer, Fukase was clearly on the verge of giving up, and Oliver was not ready to let that happen. He freed himself out of their embrace, albeit reluctantly, and placed a faint kiss on Fukase's forehead before tip-toeing out and through the living room. 

Oliver wasn't a very proactive person, but there was a timer in his hands, and it was ticking and ringing furiously. He knew he had to do something before it was too late. Lumi's words popped in his head and he bit his lip. Maybe there was some truth to it, after all. 

He wanted to feel heroic a little longer and at least try and perhaps actually conquer everything by himself once again, but their relationship was beyond experimenting at this point. Oliver couldn't quite tell when exactly it happened, but now he finally understood.

He got his keys and walked to the car. In this chaos of not knowing what was right or wrong, he knew of one thing to do. He had to ask a friend for help.

Oliver was ringing the doorbell over and over again until he grew sick of the sound of it, but the door was left unanswered. A glance just when he had still been in the car had told him that it had barely reached morning hours, but Oliver couldn't wait any longer. He rang the bell a few more times until he heard it creaking open eventually.

Kazehiki first glared and then fell back in disbelief who was standing in front of his apartment. What he expected to be a too eager mailman or the neighbor kids mistaking his bell for theirs once again turned into no other than his coworker.

But there was more to it, and Kazehiki noticed so. He froze in place at the obscure sight. Oliver didn't say anything, and neither did Kazehiki. Instead, they let the silence among them speak for itself.

Oliver had always tried to act composed around him, but that facade was crumbling. Anger dwelled up, mixed with his anxiety to ever have to speak up why he was there in the first place, and he didn't know what to do with all that energy. He wanted to punch Kazehiki right into his empty and unbothered face, with his anger turning into frustration that there really was nothing he could do. Oliver loosened his hands.  

Still, his body was shaking and words were barely leaving his mouth as Oliver struggled to bundle up and divert the energy. His eyes shifted around, and then he gave a deep and hollow sigh.

"I know I messed up last time, but can I ask you for help only this one time?"

Kazehiki still wouldn't move, especially not after he had been tackled with another surprise he could barely fathom. Those words sounded too bizarre out of Oliver's mouth. Almost unreal.  Only as he slowly repeated them, first in his mind and then under his breath, they stared to defrost in the chilly morning breeze.

Kazehiki's body acted quicker than his mind, and while he usually would have turned down the request, seeing Oliver this helpless in front of his own home out of all places was a sight he couldn't just shake away. He pulled Oliver closer and shook his shoulder. There was no reaction but he also didn't expect one. The trembling body in his hand spoke for itself.

Oliver's breathing hitched and Kazehiki wasn't sure whether he was crying. He shifted around for a bit, unsure of how to react until he pushed the awkwardness off for now. There was a big sigh and another pause.

"I just can't keep on going like this. It's too much. You've won."

Oliver sounded tired and beyond exhausted. His voice wasn't exactly shaking, but it was clear that it took him great amounts of energy to speak up at all. Kazehiki frowned and freed the two of them from his attempt of reassurance. His friend was staring at him in defeat, as if he had given up and wasn't willing to resist any further. Even though this might have been Kazehiki's best chance to knock some sense into him, he couldn't seize it now.

"Oliver, this was never about winning. I'm genuinely trying to help you. Why can't you see that?"

Oliver regretted his words and didn't say anything else. Kazehiki was offended, once again. He never thought too much about what Kazehiki's true intentions were, however, when finding his friend obviously hurt and with this desperate look on his face, he couldn't shake it off as nothing anymore. Oliver's eyes shifted to the ground. He wasn't sure what he expected by coming here, but he felt more miserable than ever.

A sigh echoed in his ears and Oliver looked up hesitantly. Kazehiki was running his hands through his hair and then shook his head. 

"Let's just calm down for now."

Kazehiki stepped out the way and gestured Oliver to come in. He did so, despite knowing that he wouldn't be able to escape any longer if he cooperated now. There was no way around it, but the peculiar feeling tore in his chest nonetheless.

Oliver sat down on the nearest chair in the kitchen and pressed his mouth shut. He still struggled to speak up at all, but Kazehiki was focused on the coffee machine for now, and he was grateful for it.

His thoughts travelled back to Fukase and how peaceful he looked earlier when he was sleeping. Once he would wake up, there would be nothing left of the peace and quiet and he would be struggling with himself once more until he would fall unconscious again. Over and over. Day in and day out. Just like Fukase said. 

Oliver bit down hard on his tongue to distract himself from the wrench in his chest. It wasn't hard enough to taste any blood, and he was almost disappointed. He couldn't do it a second time. 

He had been ignorant to shake off Fukase's worries as barely non-existent. He knew that now. He was finally aware, so bitterly aware. And yet, this painful reminder pushed him. Much further than could grasp. He wondered whether he could make it back home before Fukase would wake up with no one in his arms.

Kazehiki joined Oliver on the other side of the table with two small cups in his hands. He put down one on Oliver's side and Oliver took a nip. It tasted more like espresso than coffee, and it was a welcome surprise.

"So, what's the problem?" Kazehiki asked right out and emptied his cup in one go. His voice was more relaxed, now that he was back in the comforts of his house, and Oliver didn't know what to think of it. His eyes shifted to Kazehiki, but he hesitated for a while.

"It's a long story, but I'll try to keep it short."

"I can tell you're not going to tell me everything anyways." 

Oliver nodded.

"It's Fukase," he sighed and rubbed his hands. There was a lump in his throat stopping him to talk about Fukase in front of someone else, and it grew and grew once again. "I don't know what to do anymore. I thought I could handle the situation and make things better, but I can't. Not alone at least."

Oliver's lips were trembling so hard he could barely speak. Speaking out and accepting his defeat numbed his limbs. Fukase popped up in his head again, but the image was so bizarre it startled him for a second. 

Fukase was smiling at him—a big and genuine smile. The longer Oliver looked at it, the less it was a mere imagination, but once their reality. They have gone a long way since then but Oliver has always been confident those good times would return again. Now, however, his hopes were stained grey and muddy.

Kazehiki's many attempts to have Oliver listen to him were the next thoughts to bundle up. They all had different outcome but a mutual intention. Oliver gulped. Even now, it was clear to him that he couldn't accept them just yet.

He looked up and locked eyes with his counterpart. Kazehiki was waiting patiently.

"And it's not that easy to just leave and forget about it. That's why I just couldn't take any advice. We're way past that point."

Kazehiki opened his mouth to speak up but Oliver interrupted him with another gasp for air. His arms were trembling hard enough for him to not be able to lean against them any longer. He put them off the table in his lap and focus his eyes on them instead of his friend.

"Fukase has just been doing so bad lately that I can't do anything about it anymore. He depends so much on me—and I do on him—but we can't keep moving out of the issue together."

Kazehiki waited in case Oliver was about to speak up again, but there was silence. He thawed out of his position and breathed in sharply. He already had a response in mind but wasn't sure how much Oliver was going to jump on it, especially if he didn't even dare to look up.

But Oliver continued to remain quiet and Kazehiki gave up on waiting any longer. He shook his head with a heavy sigh.

"It's not your responsibility to stay and help him though, even if you think he depends on you too much."

"No, it is my responsibility, it really is. I can't really say why but this all is not only his fault."

Oliver breathed out and looked out the window. The sun slowly fought its way up the sky to warm up the icy nature. The scenery glistered, as if it was still frozen, but he couldn't remember it to have been this cold earlier. Oliver brushed it off. It didn't matter. This was just another distraction.

His head turned back to Kazehiki and he found him to be leaning against the back of his seat now. His frown was stiff and made him look almost upset. Oliver couldn't quite tell what was going on in his friend's head except for the fact that he, indeed, said something against his liking once again.

"You know, we've also been through so much together. No matter how many and how horrible hardships we might have had, we never gave up on each other. I can't and don't want to give up now. But life is really pushing me right now."

Oliver's voice broke off towards the end and he rubbed the shakiness off his face. Not only his mind but now his thoughts were running useless circles, leaving him with incoherent things to say that did not help him at all. He turned up at Kazehiki's house with the intention to directly ask him for help, however, he just couldn't force himself to word it out. His prior plan turned into rambling, and even so, Oliver couldn't quite hate it. His chest felt lighter. It was strange.

There was silence for a while. Kazehiki hoped for Oliver to speak up again at this point, but he made it clear that he has reached the end of his limits.

Kazehiki forced a smile in a mere attempt to cheer up himself, and maybe also Oliver. He didn't receive the same reaction back as Oliver stared at him back in confusion.

"Since you don't look like you're going to give me any more details, I also can't give you a specific solution. All I can say is that I can see an end to it—and it doesn't look bad."

Oliver's frown didn't disappear. Those words didn't reach him just yet.

Kazehiki picked up on the reaction and huffed irritated. He could tell that his friend slowly drifted back into a state unwilling to listen to anything that spoke against his opinion, and Kazehiki couldn't have any of that. He leaned in forward, getting all the attention back that way. Oliver retorted the eye contact only reluctantly but gave in eventually.

"That's why I'm so eager to help you, Oliver. It's maybe not what you want to imagine now, but once you do, this is going to be for the better for the both of you."

"Why do you want us to break up so badly?" Oliver snapped back, his eyes back on the table. Raising his voice didn't retrieve any confidence nor energy but it made Kazehiki flinch and lean back again. With that bit of uneasiness off the way, Oliver found himself standing a bit more stable.

Despite the sudden annoyance in Oliver's tone, Kazehiki didn't let himself get upset any further. There was a desperate undertone in Oliver's voice he preferred to refer to, since he as well, touched up on a topic he was too familiar with. Memories dwelled up he tried to keep down all this time, but he grasped them to reach out to Oliver one last time. With a heavy sigh, Kazehiki was the one to look outside the window now.

"Because I've once been going through the same."