That night wasn't fruity as well. By sunrise when windows gained back their reflective ability, Shuichi headed back to his room. Despite his attempt to be quiet, he woke Jodie up while walking his way to the bathroom on tiptoes.

"Sorry." He winced.

She threw her head back on the pillow when she made sure it was just him. Jodie groaned. "You came now?"

"Yes. Are you going back to sleep?"

"Nah, I don't think I can… So, what happened?"

"Nothing."

Jodie sighed, getting up to a sitting position. "I was on Twitter before going to bed, it's a total chaos out there. How long are we keeping this? It's been five days, they must run out of food so what is their plan exactly? The fact that they are refusing contact tells it's something bad… Maybe they want the order broken, to spread more chaos till their revolution gets to take over."

"I think you're right. They're planning something big and bad. Knowing them, if we don't attack first, I think it will end up bad for us."

"They'd hurt the hostages if we do."

"I don't think so. They want the people on their side, if they hurt civilians it'd contradict their cause. So we are better off going in. The only problem is securing the secretary."

"That's the thing." Jodie turned to the side, planting her feet on the floor.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'm heading back."

Shuichi nodded. He proceeded to use the bathroom first, then Jodie went in. When she came out of her shower she found him sitting by the edge of his bed, smoking a cigarette.

"It's one tiny room, you know you cannot smoke in here. There's the sign."

"I've been through a tough day, spare me this one." Shuichi blew off the smoke as he spoke, to which Jodie pulled her head back.

"How are you awake anyway, I'd be dead in your stead."

"Who said I'm not?"

"Oh." Her face twisted with sympathy. It's rarely that he admits he's tired. Saying it must mean he'd reached his limit.

"I was waiting for you actually." Shuichi got to his feet. "You said you're going back to work."

"Oh, but it's just early morning. Really Shu you could just sleep, you're obviously exhausted."

"Nah, c'mon. A fast walk." He insisted with a nod towards the door, opening the latter and waiting for Jodie to join, eyes fixed on hers with assurance.

She knew that no matter how much she'd argue, it'd only make him more tired but he'd still do it regardless. Jodie agreed unwilling and silent.

On the way, Shuichi stumbled on a thrown rock from the protestors of last night. Jodie laughed at him and for once was able to witness a shade of pink in his cheeks. She didn't know if it was the exhaustion, or him feeling embarrassed for once in his life.

"You're so tired you can't see straight. I'm not sure I can let you walk this path back alone. You should've listened to me."

"I'll manage."

Jodie didn't rest though, not until she called him and he assured her he just got into the hotel. Shuichi almost fell into a coma, barely one minute after the call. He didn't even get to get under the duvet, just straight up threw his body on his bed —which luckily was the closest to the door.

(-)

Shuichi didn't get the luxury of a long sleep when he woke up by 1 p.m. He called Jodie as he put on his jacket, she told him nothing new happened. He reached his position and his coworker who was leaving in his stead reported the same. Everyone was getting demoralized. The only thing that kept on changing, was the number of attacked officers outside the perimeter. It seemed like the state was breaking down, and it wouldn't stop until they got their hands on the masterminds behind this.

Positioned in place, it seemed like the beginning of yet another calm shift for Shuichi. The same was down where Jodie stood too, they had absolutely no lead as to who these people were. She called Shuichi to whine about it. She told him she'd come to visit him on the roof, hoping to shorten the day a little and discover what different things the SWAT did. Shuichi hung up feeling a tug of excitement. It was always better when Jodie was around.

One minute after her call, loud successive bangs shook him up from his phone. A hail of bullets hit the team in the yard in front of the building, where many of the agents and police stood. It was a random hit, and it hit many. Everyone was kept safe for so long that they let their guard down, till this sudden attack occurred, surprising them all.

Shuichi ran to his scope and aimed at the area from which people seemed to get hit. He caught a sniper on the roof of a far, high building to their right who didn't seem to see the FBI snipers from his position. Merely a second from catching him the voice of one of his SWAT coworkers raised. "He's over there at ten o'clock."

Shuichi kept his eyes on the scope in a steady position. He was worried sick, he tried to focus on his view but all he could think of was Jodie being down there. He saw the massacre that was occurring. For all he could know she could be one of the victims.

"SP 6 you have permission to fire." It was all occurring so fast when he heard that voice through his earpiece. That was his code on this job. The matter was in his hand now. He was chosen.

All it would take is one shot to end this misery. Shuichi stared at the guy, trying to calm his breath to remain steady when his heart bumped fast and prevented him.

He heard on his earpiece that people on the field had almost all found shelter, only the dead corpses remained, putting him at more ease to take his time. Shuichi felt his heart thump. He settled on his target, finger on the trigger. It'd be an instant kill. He pressed. To everyone's surprise. It was a miss.

The sniper from the Equalizers immediately ducked. He instantly escaped, having gained the knowledge of their team location in case they decided to attack back. And it was all on Shuichi!

"Fuck." The word escaped his lips fiercely. He turned around and ducked, sitting on the floor with the meter long wall behind him supporting his heavied back.

"Tch, Mr Thompson was going all day about you being the fucking best. You shooed him fucking away." Said a cop sniper.

"Hey." Warned a guy who frequently joined Shuichi on FBI SWAT missions. "It's okay, Shuichi. He's gone, the bullets have stopped now."

Shuichi created a fist and punched the floor lightly. His hands shook. "Call Jodie, please," he asked his coworker, fearing his hand would betray him.

The agent nodded. He grabbed his phone and searched for her name on his list before calling.

"She's not picking up." he told Shuichi, whose face reflected pure terror. The man could swear he saw his lips whiten immediately.

He got to his feet fast, headed down running. The scene was horrifying, many bodies laid everywhere. As many as five agents were dead, more were injured. It was an immense loss to the FBI.

"Jodie." Shuichi yelled, panting. "Jodie," he yelled again, searching around. When he couldn't find her in the roofed area he walked to the exposed center where only the bodies of the dead remained. Too much blood, too much gruesomeness, one person he knew well and greeted every morning was penetrated in the skull, disfigured, Shuichi's face distorted in response to seeing him. Along with the awful smell, Shuichi felt sick. When a hand grabbed him by his shirt, he immediately punched it away in reflex, turning around to find Jodie, safe and sound.

"It's me. We need to stay away from here."

Wide eyed, distorted face, panting lungs, Shuichi didn't seem to follow what she said. Jodie grabbed him by the arm, leading him away from the horrifying scene. Shuichi still felt sick regardless. She took him to the safe zone under the roof where everyone stayed. Many people were there. Many were injured, and many crying over the loss of their dead friends. It was all so horrible for Shuichi to see over his friend's shoulder.

"-ichi... Shuu-i-chi ." Shuichi finally noticed she was talking to him. As though snapped back to reality then, he immediately ran his eyes all over her. Then placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Are you okay?"

"I am. I was on my way to come up to you when it started. I was safe in the building till the bullets ended and only went out to help when the attack had stopped."

"Oh good." He closed her to him for a hug. He might've thought Jodie needed it but she felt that he needed it way more than she did.

"Are you?" She asked him when he let go. Shuichi looked at her questionably. "Okay...?" she added.

Shuichi turned to the corpses from the corner of his eye. It was always easy for him to say he was. This time, it was the hardest. He just nodded, unable to say the words.

"I'm heading back to the hotel." His voice was choked, and it took him some effort to say the words while hiding it.

"I don't think this is the right time to–"

"I need to." He stressed.

This was weird. Something must've happened, Jodie knew. And he's not telling her. "Alright… I'm gonna stay here and help."

As soon as he reached the room, Shuichi ran to the bathroom and threw up. What he saw was horrifying, and above that, he was the reason it could repeat all over, seeing he was the one who lost them the sniper. For all he knows that sniper could get a different set up and target his team, or retarget the center again. He was a sharp one, and he goddamn lost him.

When it was time for Jodie to come home, she texted him as promised and he went back to escort her. Their walk home was unusually silent. Jodie felt the temperature dropping compared to usual, she felt like there was a thin ice surrounding him that she better not step onto.

Once they got in, Shuichi laid on his bed immediately, not bothering to get under the duvet. He laid on his side facing the wall with her bed on his back.

For an extra closed-off person, Jodie had a few tricks up her sleeve to get him to talk. What she knew though, was that when he gets like this, it means it's still too early.

After she finished taking a shower, she walked out to find him laying in that same position.

"Shuu," she whispered. "Shuichi," she whispered again and got no response.

She walked around to the other side of his bed to face him.

"The wrinkles on your pillow have changed. I know you're awake." she wasn't really sure, just took a guess. Even kept whispering, not to wake him up in case she was wrong.

Shuichi opened an eye, followed by the other.

"Great job, Sherlock."

"Grumpy!" She called him off.

"You woke me up from sleep!"

"I did not. You were faking sleeping because you didn't want to talk."

"Well, if you know that much.."

"I know it's wrong." Jodie sat at the edge of his bed. "I know what happened earlier had impacted you deeply. It did everyone who was present. I was lucky I was away but being in the middle of the battle, whether up or on the field must've been awful. And you got to look at all of the bodies.."

Just the mention of them made Shuichi's gut churn. He turned to lay on his back, making him face her worried face.

"I messed up, Jod... I–I was to shoot at the sniper first. I missed... He became aware of our team and ran away intact after what he'd done. And now a good sniper exists, who is potentially going to attack again, and cause more deaths, all of which would be on me."

"Fuck." She softly said. "It must've been a hard target, anyone could've missed. So don't put much blame on yourself."

Shuichi's hand lightly created a fist around the bed sheet. It wasn't a hard hit at all, not for a man with his skills. Only because his brain was not fully on the job and was worried about Jodie's safety, that his finger twitched and shook slightly, it did.

He sat up suddenly. He only came to the room needing some time away from other people. He got it. Now he needed to go back and keep his eyes peeled, he needed to work to reverse his mess up, he needed to prevent the sniper's next attack before people got hurt, because he wouldn't forgive himself if they did.

"I'm going back to the boys."

"What now? You barely have slept!"

"I'm fine."

"God, Shuichi. You really need some rest."

He looked determined to go regardless, despite being wrecked.

Except for the one coworker Shuichi previously knew, the greeting of the others wasn't so warm. They were all snipers after all, and Shuichi was named the best above them by their boss. It was no wonder that some jealousy leaked inside them, especially realizing he sucked and that his special place was more deserving to some other one of them.

Shuichi didn't seem to care. He liked working alone, talking little anyway. He kept on scoping the entire surrounding area. They were on a new building now, not to let the Equalizers know their location. Still had a direct view of the Finance Bureau...