Just as the sun started to break the morning, birds chirped awaz nighttime and the last breezes fought with the first sun rays. Oliver can't remember the last time he paid attention to it. He was sitting on the balcony, his legs pulled up to his chest due to the cold he was not willing to cover with a blanket.

This was the first time he had gotten up right away once he couldn't fall asleep anymore, and he didn't regret it. The occasionally broken silence was almost therapeutic. The cold breeze sweeping across his face shook off the tiredness and he could feel his body soak in the boost of energy. He needed that.

Particularly the last days have been straining, but he could not tell until now. He was kept busy enough between work and visiting Fukase in the hospital that there was barely any time to focus on himself. Merely his sleep-deprived mind and its consequences set as a reminder to listen to his body more.

Oliver watched a sparrow landing on the railing and jumping up and down on it. He froze in his movement, trying not to chase away the avid creature but it flew off by itself soon enough. The sudden urge to hold the bird in his hands, petting across the soft feathers and worry about the fragile light-weight made him sigh. Maybe he should get a pet bird once times were shining brightly—if they were ever again.

He took the day off today to pick up Fukase from the hospital, and as much as he waited for this day, he dreaded it both at the same time. Being in the apartment all by himself has torn on his nerves but he has also had enough time to think in peace. Once the melancholic nighttime reached out for him he hated the silence, but he longed for it whenever the sun was forcing its ways through the heavy clouds. Oliver huffed, annoyed at himself to feel this wistful.

After his limbs have seemingly frozen down to ice, he went back into the apartment. He passed by Fukase's room and checked whether he had forgotten anything in there. The stench has worn off by now and there were new sheets on the bed; that was probably more than enough for his partner to notice. 

Overall, he has used the remaining bits of his energy to clean back up the apartment the past days. Not only did it keep him busy but it eased his mind. Now that there wasn't anything to do anymore, time was flying by quicker than needed. Oliver put on a jacket and took all the necessities with him, while making his way outside. It was still a bit too early to pick up Fukase, but he could just wait in the car.

Even so, Oliver's movements were stiff and unwilling. His worry about what was expecting him in the hospital wrapped around his legs and weighted down every step. During the past visits, Fukase has been acting fairly passive with barely reacting nor speaking up by himself. Oliver waited it out patiently, but he wasn't sure how this was going to change once Fukase would be back to his familiar surroundings.

Oliver also couldn't come up with a solution on how to continue with their path to a better life. His ideas had proven wrong, and now there were at a halt. All of it unsettled him more the longer he thought about it. As much as he managed to push these thoughts aside with work the past days, he knew he couldn't ignore them any longer once his partner was back and served as a constant reminder.

A short shudder crawled down his spine but Oliver ignored it. He knew he couldn't run away and hide form the problem once again—especially not now when he was expected to pick up Fukase. He held his breath, looked at the door handle and sighed internally. The final step to a new page in their life was the hardest.

Just as Oliver was about to open a door, he startled at the sudden ringing of the doorbell. He stepped back, surprised by who could be showing up, and opened the door only reluctantly. Oliver jerked back once he spotted two officers on his door. Shock has dazzled him but he made sure to open the door wide, not giving the men room for suspicions.

"Good morning, Mr. Lynch. We received a complaint for disturbance. Can we come in to talk?"

"Do you have a warrant?" Oliver pressed the door against his chest, suspicious of the sudden request.

"No, but it might be unpleasant for you to talk in the hallway."

Oliver hesitated and eyed their uniform up and down. Only reluctantly, he loosened his grip on the door handle. He still couldn't process the situation and had trouble believing any of what was going on. He nodded.

"If I can see your licenses first, sure."

They showed him and Oliver stepped aside. He persisted to stay in the hallway of his apartment, unable to think straight. His heart was pounding against his chest, not knowing what the sudden issue was. Thousands of questions ran through his head but he couldn't answer one of it.

"So we've been informed that you were too loud quite often. We would like to see how true that is."

"Um, well," Oliver stuttered, flustered to have to come up with a quick response. He wasn't sure whether he should deny it and hope for the officers to drop the case again. Their eyes pierced through his as his mind was running blank.

"I guess I'm pretty loud sometimes. But no one talked to me about it. No need to call the police right away, no?" Oliver laughed awkwardly but didn't get the same response back. Instead, the officers exchanged a glance and then turned back to him.

"There's been reports of loud arguing along with other noises."

The stern tone unsettled Oliver as his face heated up. There was no point in denying anything in order to not make it any worse, but he didn't know how far to go either. Speaking the truth obviously would get both him and Fukase in great trouble, and issues with the police was the least time they needed right now.

"Me and my partner can be quite hot-headed, so we do yell at each other every now and then. It's nothing to worry about though, there's not much to it." Oliver gulped down the lump in his throat. "We'll try to keep it down from now on."

Oliver was biting his tongue, still too shaken up to react appropriately. His shakiness was obvious to every eye in the room but no one commented on it. Instead, the officers nodded and backed away towards the exit again. Oliver followed them reluctantly, unsure of what they were doing.

"All we're asking is for you to keep it down in the future. And we'd like to talk to your partner about it as well." Oliver nodded almost too quickly. "Tell them to come to the police station by tomorrow. Have a nice day."

Oliver muttered a goodbye and closed the door once the officers walked out of the hallway again. Leaning his back against the door, he sighed and tried to calm down again. His heart continued to beat painfully against his chest.

Oliver pushed himself off the door eventually and staggered into the living room. His knees sunk into themselves as he sat down to catch his breath. The shock vanished eventually but the nervousness lasted.

He didn't expect the police to show up at his home ever. He and Fukase have been acting the same for the past years they lived in this apartment without any complaints. The noise might have picked up the past months occasionally but Oliver still had a rough time believing that his neighbors suddenly called the police on him without talking about it first.

However, the more Oliver did not accept this option the more nervous he got. There was only one more person who could have done that, and it was Kazehiki. Oliver hasn't seen nor talked to his coworker ever since their last argument. In fact, he had pushed him out of his mind completely and didn't bother much with fixing their misunderstanding, but that strategy was of no use anymore.

It didn't take him long to understand that this was a tactic from Kazehiki, either threatening or intimidating Oliver with the power he held in this game. Oliver regretted to not have bothered with his friend anymore. He couldn't leave things as they were but had to find him to talk things out.

Bringing Fukase to the police station by tomorrow was an issue he already wasn't sure how to solve, especially with his partner drugged up and troubled to talk to strangers from the beginning on. Oliver shuddered when thinking about what else his coworker might plan to get things his way.

He picked out his phone and tapped on his and Kazehiki's chat. He wanted to throw insults and questions at him how he could do something extreme like that, but his fingers froze. There wasn't much nearly as much anger inside him than there was fear. Realizing that there was more to Kazehiki than initially anticipated, Oliver wasn't sure how to approach him anymore. Any further provocation could lead to a horrible outcome.

Oliver let go of his phone and rubbed his face. He needed time to think. This was nothing he could solve within a few minutes, but he didn't have more time than that at the moment. A glance at the time scolded him that he was already running late to pick up Fukase. He sighed irritated and got up. Undoubtedly, he needed to react soon but now wasn't the time; another problem already made its way to his life.