Edited by: Waning_Crescents

After an hour of investigating and questioning the people available, the results left them quite unsatisfied.

“This seems like a dead-end at this time of the day, there are barely people in these pubs, not to mention that some didn’t even open yet,” Sigal remarked with a hint of annoyance in the tone of his voice, “If this continues like that then we have no other choice but to come back later.”

Most Public houses opened their doors in the afternoon or evening, even though some opened in the morning because of special traits they offered, not many customers visited these places that early.

Nero nodded. “Let’s hope the others have more luck...”

“Still nothing...” Claire let out a puff of air. “This is not going well at all.”

Cal nodded. “Yeah, mornings aren’t the busy hours which was to be expected.” Then he glanced at the map. “But there are still some we haven’t checked out yet. There are usually more people around K-Lane as this is the busier district around here.”

“Yes, you are right, let’s stay positive and continue.”

K-Lane was popular for their trades and their many establishments. Almost the whole street consisted of all kinds of varieties of open markets. Alongside them existed public houses and bars, more than you would find at any other streets in West-Colst. People who wanted to go out and have fun or just sit together at ease preferred places like this.

As the two of them entered K-Lane, it was exactly what they had expected. People hustled and bustled around the markets, each of them trying to be the first to rake in the best deal. Not only the markets had an increase of population, but also the public houses.

“Looks definitely more promising!” Claire stated as she glanced around. “Let’s get this started then, right?” She whipped her head around with a smile, but it quickly vanished from her lips at the sight of Cal propping his left hand against a wall by supporting himself.

“Cal! What’s wrong?” she asked and walked over to him.

“N-nothing…I just needed a short break after we ran around for so long.” He forced a smile while beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Why does my head suddenly hurt? This headache came out of nowhere…

Claire, however, detected this slight change in the tone of his voice and narrowed her eyes.

“Everything is fine, let’s continue.” He let go of the wall and straighten himself.

“You are lying!” she exclaimed and glanced at him with a stern expression. Then she took a closer look at his face. “You are even sweating.”

“We did run around a lot; it is not so unusual to sweat a little.” Cal remarked.

“Are you mocking me?” Claire raised an eyebrow. “I know about your arrangement with the chief, do you want him to take you off the case completely? Keep lying and I will inform him.”

“No…no...I…I am sorry Claire. It’s just a headache I swear.” Cal explained in a hurry.

“Even if it’s just a headache, it could be a side effect of the drug. You need to get it checked out.” Claire declared. “I’ll bring you to the hospital.”

Cal wanted to protest, but he knew if he pushed this even further, she might inform Vince that he refused to comply and then this could take a bad turn for him. After all, he promised him that he would stop the moment he felt any kind of discomfort, therefore, he had no other choice but to go along with Claire’s request. “Fine…”

Satisfied, she took out her phone and called her partner to inform him of the situation. “Nero! It’s me Claire, we had to call off the investigation. Please take over for us and check the public houses at K-Lane. I must bring Cal to the hospital. There is a chance that the drug had some side effects after all.”

“Understood.” Nero uttered and hung up afterwards.

“Was that Claire?” Sigal, who walked beside Nero, asked while scanning their surroundings.

“Yeah.” Nero nodded.

“Did they find something?”

“We have to take over for them. K-Lane is left,” Nero answered, “Might be a side effect of the drug.”

Sigal furrowed his brows. Even through Nero’s way of cryptic talking, Sigal understood the implication: Cal felt not well.

He clicked his tongue. “I see...then let’s go!”

It took them another few hours until they finished checking the remaining public houses, but the outcome left them frustrated. Exhausted and empty-handed they returned to Headquarters to report to the chief.

“That’s troublesome, but I guess we have no other choice but to resume this in the evening. For now, rest up. Asher and Nowe should return this afternoon too, then we can send them out as well,” Vince stated.

Nero nodded and left the office right after. Sigal on the other hand stayed a little while longer. He just stood there in silence with his arms crossed in front of his chest and with a frown on his face.

“Anything else?” Vince asked in confusion.

“How bad is it?” Sigal squeezed out the words in a low tone.

The chief, who understood the meaning behind those words, blinked at Sigal in surprise.

“It’s not too serious, they ran some tests and sent him home to rest.” Vince reassured him. “You should get some rest yourself. I will call you when we move out again.”

Sigal nodded and left the office. It didn’t take him long until he reached the Conciliator’s apartment complex. However, before he made his way to his own home, he stopped at his partners and knocked at the door.

As Cal answered, his eyes widened in bewilderment. “Sigal…what—”

However, Sigal cut him straight off. “How many times do you want to act recklessly? Coming to work without having fully recovered, do you have a death wish?”

Although he chose his words poorly, in truth Sigal intended to say that Cal should take better care of himself, heal up and then come back instead of putting himself into danger and worrying people. Unfortunately, this fella didn’t come with a manual. His clumsy way of expressing himself and his lack of sensitivity ended in yelling instead.

“Did you just come here to shout at me?” Cal frowned. “Since our last case you just straight up ignored me and now you come to my door to shout at me. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Your behavior is the problem! You act reckless all the time and hinder every investigation. Not to mention that you almost got both of us killed last time!” Sigal remarked enraged.

“My behavior?” Cal raised an eyebrow. “What about your behavior? You are impossible to work with! If you wouldn’t have refused to work with me back then, maybe this wouldn’t have even happened!”

“Then just fucking quit already!” Sigal roared.

“I won’t!” Cal curled his lip. “And if you want to get rid of me so badly, wouldn’t it have been easier to just let me die back then and call it collateral damage? That must be not so unusual in that line of work, right?”

“You…” the older investigator gritted his teeth.

Cal swayed a bit to the right and rested his shoulder against the wall. “You coming here and making all kinds of remarks about how useless I am is just selfish and pathetic. Please leave now...I need to get some rest…”

The young investigator pushed himself off the wall and reached for the doorknob to close the door while his hands trembled, which didn’t escape Sigal’s attentive gaze. Thus, he put one hand on the door to keep it open and walked straight in. Without saying a word, he put one arm around Cal’s back, the other beneath his knees, and lifted him up.

“W-what are you doing? Put me down! It’s just the medication that makes me slightly dizzy and drowsy. Hey!” Cal protested while he pressed his hands against his partner’s chest and tried to wriggle out of his grip. “Let me go!!”

As Sigal held this slender, yet fragile body in his arms with the strength it exerted barely perceptible, he frowned. “Just shut up.”

“Why do you even care?” Cal stopped resisting and let his hands drop down in exhaustion.

Not giving a response, Sigal carried him to the bedroom where he put him down on the bed. Then he turned around to leave as a tug at his sleeve stopped him. He whipped his head around where he met his partner's droopy eyes.

“Wh-what I actually wanted to say was…thank you for saving me…no one has ever done that for me.” Cal said in a low voice and released his grip from Sigal’s sleeve.

Sigal’s eyes widened for a brief second. “Don’t worry about it, sleep now.” He put the blanket over Cal, who fell asleep right after.

‘No one has ever done that for me…’ These words echoed through his mind as he gazed at the young man’s sleeping face. Was it just an expression or did it imply something else, something with a deeper meaning?

Not being able to deduct this right now, Sigal left the bedroom and closed the door behind him. Then he sat down on the couch in the living room, propped his elbows on his knees and put his hands together. Though if I really had saved you, then you wouldn’t be in this condition…

After Cal had slept half of the day before, plus through the whole night, he finally woke up early in the morning. He got out of bed and walked yawning into the kitchen to brew some coffee before he sat down on his couch.

This medicine really knocked me out. I haven’t slept that much in a long time.

He took a sip out of the cup as the events from the day before dawned on him. Beside the heated argument with Sigal, he also recalled something else that happened.

“Wait, wait, wait…” Cal froze. “That did happen, right?” His face flushed red in embarrassment as he remembered how his partner carried him into the bedroom.

He put the cup down while the heat spread through his whole body. “He…he…”

Cal frantically ruffled his hair. “Aaaaahhhh!! Why must this guy drive me so crazy? He makes no sense at all!”

As he put his hands down again with his mind still in disarray, a piece of paper on the table caught his attention. “What’s this?”

He picked it up and read the message written on it: ‘Stay home and rest up! Don’t do anything stupid!!’

With a complicated expression he put the note down again and shook his head. “He really makes no sense at all…”

After he contemplated the contradictory behavior of his partner for a while, he still couldn’t come to any logical conclusion and, therefore, he decided to set that thought aside for now. There was still a case that needed to be solved after all and even though his condition prohibited him from actively helping for the moment, he came up with another way to assist instead. Thus, he grabbed his phone and called Kristian.

“Hey Cal! whassup? Yar feeling better?” Kristian asked as he picked up the phone.

“Hi! Yeah, yeah, thanks,” Cal replied, “Since I am not allowed to go to work for the next few days, I was wondering if there is any news regarding the case!?”

“Unfortunately, not a whole lot. The Police finally found the bar where the victims were regulars. However, no one has seen them leaving with someone, so that’s that. We’re going in tonight and check it out ourselves.” Kristian answered.

“I see…hmm…” Cal put one hand on his chin as he tried to think of a way to phrase his request.

“What yar thinking about?”

After they had worked together for a short while in Section 1, Kristian learned Cal’s pattern. He could tell when something bothered him or stirred his curiosity.

“I actually want to ask you for a favor,” Cal replied, “I was wondering if you could send me the files of this case. If I am stuck here, I want to at least try to help where I can.”

“Yar sure about that?” Even though Kristian understood the young investigator's intention, he still expressed his concerns. “Isn’t it better to concentrate on healing up instead of worrying about the case?”

“It won’t harm me if I just look through the files. It’s not like I am going to sneak out and do something I shouldn’t.” Cal glanced at the note Sigal left him. Especially, because he would kill me if I did.

“Fine.” Kristian gave in. “You will have the files in a few minutes.”

“Thank you! I really appreciate it.” Cal let out a sigh of relief.

“No problem, but make sure to get enough rest. We need ya back.”

“Of course. See you later!” Cal said and then hung up.

A few minutes later he received an email from Kristian with the requested files in it. Cal sat down at his computer, opened the documents and viewed them.