On quiet nights in the city Mako liked to leave the windows open while he slept. Some nights were crazy, police sirens going off, or a storm, or music playing loudly from a nearby apartment. But then there were some nights when it seemed like the city was as tired as he was after his day on the beat, and it was so silent you could hear a leaf blowing down the street from all the way up in his room.
He was thankful for those nights. The wind blew gently in, stirring his hair and making his eyelids flutter as he felt the breeze in his dream. He turned his head towards the open window. Light from the city filtered in, catching dust motes in the air before finally reaching him where he slept, creating a hazy pattern of colour and shadow across his face.
Whatever he was dreaming about must have been good, because the corner of his mouth pulled upwards in a smile, and he stirred in his sleep. The smile did not fade when he stopped moving. He slept peacefully that night, moving every so often, blissfully content. So relaxed and at peace, it would have been difficult to imagine this man intimidating criminals, fierce and determined in his quest to defend his city. But it was precisely because he got to do what he loved, day after day, that he smiled so much in his sleep. He was happy.
He woke at sunrise when the quiet of the night was finally broken by a police siren. He sat up, startled, his body tensed for a fight. After taking stock of the room, realizing that the noise wasn't a threat, he lay back down. He closed his eyes, trying to remember who was on night duty – who was out right now, behind those sirens.
The noise faded, but he didn't go back to sleep. The pink light of dawn poured invitingly from the window, calling him to watch the sunrise. He rubbed his eyes, got up, and shuffled over to the open window. Through the glass, the sun was coming up behind the buildings of his city; silhouetting them and making him squint. The light breeze from the night before still gusted every now and then through the windows, so he leaned his elbows on the sill and let it wash over his face, tickling in his eyelashes and cooling his sleep-flushed cheeks. The smell of dew still hung in the air, and everything was quiet again save for a few Sato-mobiles humming over the roads.
He smiled again, and decided to go for a walk.
He didn't go far, just down to the harbor a few blocks from his apartment. Last night's fog was still drifting over the sea when he got there, and he stayed to watch the rising sun dissipate it. He stood with his hands in his pockets for a long time, until the sun had fully risen and the sky was blue. Then he felt ridiculous, wandering the streets at the crack of dawn. It was strange to him, but he felt as at home here as he did in his apartment. It wasn't until he turned away from the sea that he realized how tired he still was. He thought of his empty bed and was thankful, for once, it was his day off. A few more hours of sleep were definitely in order.
So he made his way back to his building, back to his room. He chucked off his clothes as he stumbled back towards his bed, promising himself he'd pick them up when he wasn't so dead tired. He was half asleep as he wormed his way back under the covers, still inexplicably grinning. Today, he decided, was going to be a good day when he was finally ready to wake up.