The soft hum of my phone pierced the silence, dragging me from the fog of exhaustion that had settled over me.

I had barely collapsed onto the bed after the chaos at the warehouse, and my body was still buzzing with leftover adrenaline.

Every muscle ached, and my brain felt like it had run a marathon.

My eyes fluttered open reluctantly, the faint glow from my phone screen drawing my attention.

I squinted at the screen.

It was a message from Aiko, my sister.

The sight of her name pulled me from the haze of fatigue, bringing with it a wave of mixed emotions—guilt, nostalgia, and a hint of sadness.

I wasn't sure she would have texted again after i was discharged from the hospital.

I hadn’t been the best brother, not even close, and the thought of having to face her now felt like facing another battle

. But there was something about her timing that struck a chord.

I opened the message, hesitating for a moment before reading it.

"Hey, Keisuke. Sorry I didn’t reply to your last message. I had to stay behind the baby and I didn’t have time for it. I’m glad you’re okay."

Was she apologizing?

Was she?

The proud Aiko apologizing?

She had nothing to apologize to garbage like me.

Yet she did.

She is an exemplary person.

Wait. Ba-Baby?

Now she kidnaps children?

I doubt it.

Then whose child is it?

Is it hers?

Why wouldn’t she tell me?

Wait. She had every right not to do it.

I hadn’t realized how much I needed to hear from her, how much I had missed her.

My chest tightened with a familiar sense of guilt.

I sighed and typed a quick reply, my fingers hovering over the screen.

"Hey, Aiko. No need to apologize. I’m sorry for the way I treated you, I hope we can meet soon. The accident changed me. I'm not a stalker like you see in movies, so please don't misunderstand me. Apart from jokes, I would be very happy if we could. With affection, your big brother."

I stared at the message for a second before pressing send.

There was so much I wasn’t saying—so much I couldn’t say.

How could I tell her that I had gotten mixed up with one of the most dangerous crime syndicates in the city?

That I had nearly been killed tonight, or that the only reason I was still breathing was because of a last-minute police raid?

No, there's no need to worry her more than i did.

Her response came quickly.

"Ahah, yeah... I think it would be fine."

I felt a small smile tug at my lips, a warmth spreading through me despite the exhaustion.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Aiko had always been like that—offering comfort without judgment.

Even after everything I’d done, all the times I’d let her down, she was still reaching out to me.

I didn’t deserve her kindness, but I wasn’t about to push her away again.

I tossed the phone onto the nightstand and i fell asleep with a smile on my face.

It's morning.

When I woke up, I stretched fully to release the remaining tension from the night before.

I got up and looked around my apartment.

The place was a wreck, a reflection of my life over the past years.

Empty takeout containers littered the floor, stacks of unopened mail piled up on the counter, and a mountain of dirty laundry threatened to swallow my bed.

It was chaos, pure and simple.

For a while, I had stopped caring about the mess.

It was easier to let things fall apart than to try to hold them together.

But today... today I felt different.

Maybe it was surviving the warehouse, or maybe it was hearing from Aiko, but something inside me shifted.

It was subtle, like a faint voice urging me to do something—anything—to get my life back on track.

My apartment wasn’t going to clean itself, and it felt like if I could at least start putting things in order here, maybe I could start fixing the other parts of my life too.

As the old latin man says: Sic parvis magna.

That basically means: from the little things come great things.

I grabbed a garbage bag and began tossing in the empty containers and trash that had accumulated over the weeks—no, months.

As I worked, there was something oddly therapeutic about it.

Each discarded item was a reminder of how far I had fallen, but also a small step toward something better.

The mess had become a symbol of everything I had let slide, and cleaning it was like reclaiming a part of myself.

I had barely made a dent in the clutter when a sudden knock at the door made me freeze.

My heart leaped into my throat.

After everything that had happened tonight, the idea of someone showing up unannounced didn’t sit well with me.

I set the garbage bag down and cautiously made my way to the door, peering through the peephole.

It was Takawa-san, the landlord.

I hadn’t seen him in person from two days ago, and my stomach twisted with dread. I had been behind on rent for months now, and when he visited was covered in wrath. Although Sasaki had promised to handle it, I wasn’t sure if that had actually happened yet.

For all I knew, Tanaka was here to kick me out.

With a deep breath, I opened the door.

“Takawa-san?”

I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

The man in his early sixty's gave me a quick nod.

He was dressed in his usual cardigan, his graying hair neatly combed, and his eyes, while sharp, seemed a little softer than usual.

“Mori-san”

He said, his voice gruff but not unkind.

“I came by to check on you.”

I blinked, caught off guard. When he started to call me by my surname?

“Check on me?”

He shifted slightly, glancing down the hall before looking back at me.

“Yes. I received the rent payment today—six months in advance.”

He paused, eyeing me with a hint of suspicion.

“I wasn’t expecting that, considering... well, the state of things.”

The weight of his words hit me.

So Sasaki had come through, just like he promised.

A wave of relief swept over me, but I wasn’t sure how to explain the sudden windfall without raising more questions.

“Yeah”

I said, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly.

“I got some help. It should cover everything for now.”

Takawa-san’s expression softened slightly.

He gave a small nod, seeming to accept the explanation without prying.

“Good. I was beginning to think you’d disappear on me, like some of the others. But it’s good to see you’re still here.”

His words carried more weight than I expected.

For a while, I had been on the verge of disappearing, of letting everything collapse around me.

But now, standing here, I realized that I was still in the game, still fighting to stay afloat.

“I appreciate your patience, Takawa-san”

I said, feeling a genuine sense of gratitude.

“I know I haven’t been the best tenant, but I’m working on it. Things are... getting better.”

Takawa-san regarded me for a moment longer, then gave another nod.

“That’s good to hear. Just make sure you keep up with things, Mori-san. Life’s tough, I know, but it doesn’t mean you can let it get the better of you.”

There was an odd wisdom in his words, and I couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

“I’ll do my best.”

I replied.

Before he turned to leave, he glanced over my shoulder at the mess inside.

“And try to clean up in there, will you? It smells like a dumpster.”

I chuckled, feeling a bit lighter.

“I’m working on it.”

With a final nod, he turned and shuffled down the hallway, leaving me standing at the door.

I watched him go, feeling a strange sense of relief.

It wasn’t just about the rent payment—it was the fact that for the first time in months, something was being taken care of.

It was a small victory, but it was a victory nonetheless.

I turned back to the mess inside my apartment, feeling a newfound sense of determination.

The clutter, the chaos—it was all part of the mess I had let my life become. But now, I was ready to start cleaning it up, one piece at a time.

As I picked up where I left off, sorting through the trash and organizing the scattered papers, I thought about Sasaki and what happened last night.

The man at the meeting, he said i'll be dead soon. A shiver ran down my spine.

I had no need to worry right? No, Sasaki told me that they would end up in prison and stay there for at least 30 years.

I'm good.

Thinking at it... Wasn’t I supposed to be arrested too in the original plan? It was supposed to look like a blitz.

Shit.

All well is what ends well I suppose.

There is no need to worry after all.

The members of the Shima-Kai were all there.

They should be behind bars by now.

I sighed in relief.

I kept cleaning for all the morning and then i got out running.