「時間はすばやく過ぎていますね？」
Time is passing quickly, isn't it?

***

After washing the dishes, I looked around the living room. It was about midnight then. There was a bunch of pictures in the room. Some were hanged, some were framed. I saw a picture of Masaomi and Ukyo-san. It looked like some sort of graduation ceremony. Speaking of Masaomi and Ukyo-san, they haven't arrived yet so I decided to sit on the couch and take a nap.

***

"I'm glad that we're home."

"Yeah. Work is not where I'd like to sleep."

I woke up to the sound of chatting and the bright lights blinding me. I rubbed my eyes then pushed away the blanket covering me. Wait. Blanket? I never had this before I slept. Someone must've put it on. I wonder who.

"Haruna? You're still awake at this hour?" Masaomi spoke as he and Ukyo-san came down to the living room.

"Oh, uh yeah. Welcome home." I greeted then stood up.

The two then sat down on the couch while I yawned then walked to the refrigerator and opened it.

"Can you bring out the blue apple?" Masaomi asked.

"Okay." I replied as I took out three cans of beer.

***

The three of us were chatting randomly about work. Talking about how back-breaking, hectic, and stressful our jobs were. Just then, I thought of the picture I saw earlier so I stood up and took it.

"Masaomi, Ukyo-san, this picture really grabbed my attention when I looked at it. You guys are like.. two years apart, right? So this picture... is it your graduation or his?" I asked as I placed the framed photo on of the coffee table.

The two exchanged glances then laughed a bit.

"This picture was my graduation and Ukyo's opening ceremony." Masaomi said with a smile.

"Surprisingly, we went to the same high school. This photo was taken by Masaomi-nii's colleague." Ukyo-san said.

"Really? Wow haha. That's so cool. I can't believe that it was possible." I said.

"For us to go to the same high school?" Masaomi asked.

"No, for you guys to have same day ceremonies." I replied.

"Well, that was a very surprising day, but I'm glad that we had an opportunity like that to come our way." Ukyo-san said.

I simply smiled at how we were all enjoying the conversation.

"Damn. Time flies." I said as I took a sip of my beer.

"It sure does." Masaomi seconded.

"It feels like it was just yesterday when we were university students." Ukyo-san laughed.

"Yeah. I wish time would just stop rushing. It's moving too soon for us to even remember every significant thing for each year." I said.

"We're adults. That's probably why we want that. Because we barely have time for leisure since all we do it work, work, work." Masaomi said.

"True." Ukyo-san and I seconded.

"You know... the things that we talked about made me realize something. I... was never happy with what I had." I said.

"My entire life, I just worked my heart out to make sure I could survive. I had no one to care for me, no one to support me, no one to help me. I strived for my future on my own. This is what I became, but... I'm not glad. I'm proud of my achievements, but I'm not happy. I wanted to make friends when I was in school, but I was so busy. I had morning shifts, night shifts, and even weekend jobs. I couldn't socialize with anyone no matter how much I wanted to because I had to make sure that I can live without a sweat everyday in the next few years to come. There was a point in my university life where I was mentally stressed out. I had to take depression pills which now, I don't even prescribe to my patients. As a doctor in general, I don't like to keep on giving medicine especially if it's not needed and since I am a psychologist, I prefer to simply use the means of communicating to relieve patients from stress." I explained.

"I don't know much about medicine and what doctors do, but I agree. I often try to assure and console the people whose cases I handle. It helps to remove the heavy weight that they hold when they're being accused or blamed for certain things. It's really hard to talk to them when all they think about is "It's not my fault." or "I just want to escape this.". It's never that easy in this world." Ukyo-san said.

"As I fellow doctor, I also agree. To be honest, medicine is just an alternative. There was never any of that to begin with that's why I really recommend patients to approach psychologists whenever they feel troubled. Talking is the best thing to solve problems in my opinion." Masaomi said.

"Exactly. I hated those depression pills. I questioned them everyday. I just wanted someone to talk to; someone to express all the feelings that I've been suppressing for so long. I don't want those petty prescriptions." I said.

"In my defense, laziness and fear is what caused the creation and prescription of those pills. Doctors are either too lazy or too afraid of helping others. They are lazy because they depend on technology and modern medicine. They are afraid because they don't want to go insane because of one or a few patients. They became doctors. It was their choice. Their job comes with that risk. In life, there's no easy way around. There's no shortcut to success and good health. You need to properly nurture that." Masaomi said.

"True." Ukyo-san seconded.

The room then stayed really silent.

"I'm sorry! Hahaha!! This is so awkward. We talked so seriously and now I'm laughing like an idiot! Hahaha!!" I said as I tried to hold back my boisterous laughter.

"Wow. I really can't believe that you've only been a doctor for two years. Haha!" Masaomi said as we all laughed.

"I'm sorry!! Haha!! I guess we all go crazy when we drink haha!!" I said as I laughed so hard.

"Indeed. We can get too serious or too hilarious." Ukyo-san said, trying to hold back his laughter.

"We should pipe down. The kids might hear us." Masaomi said in between stopping his laughs.

"Yeah. We might wake them up." I said as I tried to calm down from all that laughing.

The three of us soon calmed down and stayed silent once again until Masaomi stood up.

"I guess we should pack up. Ukyo and I have work tomorrow." He said as he grabbed the empty cans of beer.

"Don't you have work?" Ukyo-san asked me as I stood up.

"No, not on Tuesdays." I replied.

"I'll be going back then. Thanks for spending some time with me. Good night." I bid as I went upstairs.

"Good night!" They bid.

***

As I arrived at my room, I laid down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I was happy that I got to know more about Masaomi and Ukyo-san, but the time that we shared made me look back at how I first started my life.

How I fell and stood up, how I kept failing til I finally succeeded, how I was yesterday and how I am today, how I busy I was before and how empty my schedule is now, how I had so many chances before and how I have none now, my life has been... pretty crazy.

In life, no one can erase regrets. All we can do is hope for more opportunities and remember not to make the same mistakes. As an adult, I can say that no one doesn't have regrets. Everyone has done something wrong whether it is big or small.

KNOCK KNOCK

I walked over to the door. Who could it be at this hour? I opened the door to see Ukyo-san.

"Hi. I would just like to thank you for taking care of my siblings. That's usually my job, but I've gotten busier lately." Ukyo-san said as he scratched the back of his neck.

"It's fine. I'd do anything for you guys." I said.

"Thank you. I appreciate your gratitude. I'm the one who usually does everything for the family so I hope it wasn't a bother." He said.

"No, of course not. Besides, I think a guy who stands in the feet of a mother is pretty cool." I said with a smile.

"Thank you once again. Good night." Ukyo-san said.

"Good-.. night..." as I was about to reply, he kissed my cheek.

I furiously blushed as he walked away. I quickly entered my room and locked the door. My heart was pounding. I placed my hand on my forehead and slid down the door. I think I have a fever.. yeah.. that's probably it.

A/N:
She has the Asahina Fever 😏😏😏 HAHAHA just kidding 😂😂 or am I? 😉

Published: April 4, 2017; 1:17 pm