The next morning...

Sakura woke up at five past nine. Sakura showered and brushed her teeth before having a sandwich. Sakura headed down to her car and drove to her parents' home which wasn't too far from the hospital.

Sakura's family was waiting for her at the porch of their house. Sakura parked her car and hugged her parents and younger brother who was two years younger than her. Sakura headed up to her old room and found it to be the same as it was when she moved out. Sakura still had some of her stuff at her parents' house, mostly a portion of her clothes and things that Shori had given her.

Sakura reached out for a photo frame on her old study table. Sakura's mother had made sure to clean her daughter's room every week even though she didn't live here anymore.

The photo frame held a photo of her and Shori holding their diplomas the day they graduated from high school. Both of them had smiles on their faces. But soon, both Sakura and Shori would be separated. Sakura would move to England to start her education at a medical university while Shori enrolled into Japan's largest medical university.

Sakura heard the doorbell rang and she concluded that Shori must be here. Within a minute, Sakura found Shori outside her room door.

"Please come in." Said Sakura, as she set the photo frame down.

Sakura sat on her old bed while Shori took the chair.

"It's been a really long time since we've met and hung out." Said Shori.

Sakura nodded, "We haven't met since my third year in university."

"I spoke with the principal of our old middle school and he agreed that we could visit the school on Tuesday." Said Shori.

"Thanks, I was so surprised when I heard that the students were from our old middle school." Said Sakura.

"How have you been lately? I know that you are always busy but how have you been lately and how were you when you studied overseas?" Asked Shori.

"It was hard, I couldn't speak English all that well and I had to take extra English classes. But thankfully I had my friends to help and support me." Said Sakura.

"But you survived and made it through." Smiled Shori.

"I never had the time to go out and have fun, I usually have only one to two patients per day but I have to write and submit their medical reports to the senior doctors so that they can be given clearance. So I usually spend my weekends finishing up their medical reports." Replied Sakura.

"I have my fellow doctors to help me but I'm usually the one who sends the students to the hospital for check-ups." Said Shori.

"No one said that being a doctor was easy." Said Sakura with a small smile.

Shori glanced at Sakura and he mentally noted her physical appearance. Sakura no longer had long black hair but rather shoulder length hair. Back in high school, Sakura liked wearing her hair in braids. But now she just let her hair down, letting them flow freely. Sakura wore a white shirt with a jean skirt. Back in high school, Sakura liked wearing dresses but she never wore skirts at all, except for her school uniform. But now as a doctor, Sakura usually wore pants and occasionally a skirt when she had to attend a talk. Shori noted that Sakura had grown from a young girl and into a beautiful and mature young lady.

Shori gave a smile as he admired his best friend's mature beauty.

"Do you want to hang out tomorrow? To catch up." Asked Shori.

"Sure." Replied Sakura.

Shori chuckled, "You want to go for a walk?"

"The weather's good for a walk." Nodded Sakura.

Sakura and Shori left house and walked along the pavement along the street. The gentle spring breeze gently lifted Sakura's hair off her shoulders.

Sakura realised that a lot has changed in the past few years. The playground which she and Shori used to play at when they were younger had been rebuilt. Their high school had been repainted in various shades of blue. Their elementary school had been demolished, but instead rebuilt and relocated to another part of their neighbourhood.

"Things haven't changed much but it's feels like it's a brand new city." Spoke Sakura.

"Yeah, the city hasn't changed much, it’s been upgraded in a sense." Nodded Shori.

"Shori-kun, do you remember the promise we made on the day we graduated from high school?" Asked Sakura, as a memory flashed through her mind.

Shori nodded, "I remember. We promised each other that we would always stay best friends and become doctors together."

"We're both doctors now except in different places. Did we break that promise?" Asked Sakura.

"Not exactly, we promised each other that we would become doctors together. But you had already been accepted into that medical university in England even before we graduated from high school. Sure, we fell out of touch for a while but we're still friends." Said Shori, after a while.

"Yeah." Nodded Sakura.

Sakura felt her heart drop slightly when Shori mentioned the word friend. It wasn't best friends or somewhere along that line, which Sakura had always considered them to be even though they had fallen out of contact for a few years. Sakura felt a little disappointed but she knew that they haven't met face to face for at least four years and Shori might have found someone else who he considers his best friend now.

"We should be getting back, our parents would probably wonder where we are." Spoke Sakura.

Shori chuckled, they weren't kids anymore, they were adults now but Sakura had a point. Their parents would always worry about them even as adults. And besides they were supposed to have dinner with their families at the Sato household in a while. Sakura and Shori walked back to Shori's house. Sakura hugged Shori's mother and shook hands with Shori's father. Shori also had an older sister, Sato Amina, who was three years older than him and she was currently living in France to persue her dream of being a fashion designer. Amina was also married to a Japanese man who was born in France and they had a one-year-old daughter together. Sakura's parents and younger brother were still not over yet and Sakura decided to wait for them. Shori's mother served Sakura a glass of water as they sat at the dining table chatting.

"You've grown into a beautiful young lady, Sakura! I still remember seeing you in your school uniforms. So many years have passed since then." Said Shori's mother.

"Whoever marries you in the future is sure to be very lucky!" Said Shori's father.

For some strange reason, Shori felt his heart twinge in jealousy when his father mentioned about whoever marries Sakura in the future would be very lucky. Shori knew that Sakura was rather popular during their middle and high school days. She always received a lot of confession letters on white day. Sakura gave every guy she knew homemade chocolate on valentine’s day, but Shori always knew that his chocolates were a little bit more special than the others. Sakura always had his chocolates wrapped with special gold ribbon in contrast to the red or silver ribbon she used for other boys. And his chocolates were always a lot larger than the others but no one except him and Sakura knew and noticed. Likewise, Shori would always return Sakura's homemade valentine chocolates with special homemade white day chocolates. Sakura's white day presents from Shori were always wrapped with pink and white ribbons to represent her name, Sakura. This continued even when Shori was currently crushing on someone, and this often led to many misunderstandings with their fellow schoolmates who thought Sakura and Shori were dating. Sakura has always been very special to Shori, she never complained about anything to him even when people thought that they were dating and she was teased for it. She never argued back and always respected his opinions and privacy but she didn't always give in to him. Likewise, Shori respected her privacy and opinions. It was this mutual understanding between the two of them that caused the dating rumours to appear. Everyone knew that Shori and Sakura were best friends but it was that mutual respect and understanding between the two of them that made their schoolmates assume that they were a couple. It didn't help that Shori and Sakura gave each other their second buttons, during their middle and high school graduations. After graduating from high school, Sakura and Shori spent most of their time together as Sakura was due to leave for England five weeks after graduating from high school. Sakura and Shori wrote emails to each other often but that soon stopped when they both reached their third year in university. They still exchanged mail occasionally but they rarely replied to each other as they were so busy. When Sakura returned to Japan, her parents told Shori and he was at the airport to welcome her home. Sakura started working at the hospital soon after while he was still finishing his last year in university. They soon lost contact again after Sakura adjusted to her new working life while Shori started working at their former high school as a doctor. Both of them were too caught up in their lives that they didn't have time to exchange mail, much less date other people.

Shori realised that he missed Sakura a lot over the past few years as he watched his parents converse with Sakura. Shori's gaze landed on a photograph on the wall above the television. The photo had been taken by their classmate, Kodama Haruka, during their graduation dance. Sakura and Shori went together as best friends but many of their schoolmates weren't convinced. The photo showed Sakura dressed in a strapless cream coloured dress, with the edges of the dress being pink and a gold ribbon belt, which stopped at her mid-thigh and the skirt was a flowing one and the skirt of the dress stopped at her mid-calf. Sakura also had silver butterfly hair clip to clip her hair in place. Shori was dressed in a neat black suit. Sakura had a yellow rose corsage on her right wrist while Shori had his boutonnière on his suit jacket. The two had posed for a photo for remembrance since Sakura would soon leave the country.

Shori saw another photo from the same event but it was with the rest of their class. Their classmates were all dressed in neat suits or formal dresses for the occasion. Shori remembered the very day he suggested to Sakura that they go as best friends since their class had made a pact to all attend the graduation dance.

Flashback

Eighteen-year-old Sato Shori sat opposite of his best friend eighteen-year-old Miyawaki Sakura as they did their homework at his house.

"Has anyone asked you to the dance yet?" Asked Shori.

Sakura shook her head, "Not really."

"How about we go together?" Asked Shori

"As best friends." Added Shori.

Sakura looked up from her worksheet before nodding.

"It's fine with me." Said Sakura.

Although Sakura was a little disappointed that they were only going as friends but it was better than nothing right? Sakura was going with Shori after all, her best friend and crush, even if they were just going as best friends.

End of Flashback
 

"What's this feeling?" Wondered Shori.

Shori heard the doorbell ring and he went to open the door. He welcomed Sakura's parents and younger brother in. The food had already been laid out on the dining table and Shori seated himself beside Sakura just like old times.

"It's been a while since our two families had a meal together." Said Shori's mother.

"We'll have dinner at our place next time." Said Sakura's mother.

"How's Amina nee-san and her baby?" Asked Sakura's brother.

"The baby is healthy and she's growing well. She just sent us photos of her a couple of days ago. We'll show them to you after dinner." Said Shori's father.

Sakura and Shori chose to sit opposite from their parents. Shori knew that there was a rather awkward tension between him and Sakura but their families were oblivious to this fact. Sakura quietly sipped her water as their families chatted with one another.

The dinner in Sakura's opinion was awkward. The atmosphere between her and Shori was awkward, but the thing was that none of their families noticed it. Sakura and Shori excused themselves into the garden after dinner. Sakura and Shori sat on the porch together with a rather awkward silence between them.

"Are we still best friends?" Asked Shori, breaking the silence.

"I suppose so, unless you have a new best friend." Replied Sakura.

"No, you will always be my best friend." Said Shori firmly.

Sakura smiled slightly, "Thanks, even though we've lost contact for a couple of years."

Shori paused for a moment before dragging Sakura to his room. Sakura was shocked by Shori's sudden action. Sakura realised that Shori's room hadn't changed much other than the colour and the things that he owned. Shori pulled out an envelope from his drawer and handed it to Sakura. Sakura noticed that the envelope had the name of the hospital she worked for printed on it.

"Read it." Said Shori simply.

Sakura nodded unsurely and opened up the letter. Sakura read the contents of the letter before she smiled slightly.

"I guess we'll be colleagues from now on." Said Sakura.

"Actually I was also at the hospital to collect my medical report the other day and I got this letter yesterday." Said Shori.

"Will you be moving into the hostel? You are working at the children's A&E ward." Said Sakura.

Shori nodded, "I haven't told my parents though."

Sakura paused as she knew what Shori meant. The hostel was a lot closer to the hospital which meant that Shori would save on the travelling time and cost especially when he worked the nightshift but his parents would be left alone without anyone to keep them company.

"You'll have to tell them eventually, you are starting work in a few weeks after all." Said Sakura.

Shori nodded, "I know but I don't know how to break the news to them."

"I can help you if you like." Offered Sakura.

Shori paused before nodding, "I wanted to tell them tonight but I'm afraid that it will be a big shock for them."

Sakura paused before agreeing with Shori, just then Shori's mother called them down for dessert. Sakura squeezed Shori's hand out of habit to calm him down which made Shori surprised at her sudden touch. Sakura and Shori made their way downstairs and ate the red bean jelly that Shori's mother has prepared.

"Oka-san. Oto-san. I have an announcement to make." Said Shori, nervously.

Shori's parents stared at their son in confusion.

"What is it son?" Asked Shori's father.

Shori bit his lower lip and Sakura squeezed his hand again to calm him down.

"I got my transfer letter to Tokyo National Hospital, I got accepted into the children's A&E department." Spoke Shori.

Shori's mother smiled, "That's wonderful news."

"But why do you look so nervous, Shori-nii?" Asked Sakura's younger brother.

"The hospital has also offered me an apartment in their hostel and I accepted the offer. Which means I'll be staying at the hostel when I start work." Said Shori.

Shori waited for his parents to started scolding him but to his surprise, they didn't.

"We knew that you would move out one day, but I guess it's time now." Said Shori's father.

"Do you know who your roommates are yet?" Asked Sakura's father.

Shori shook his head, "I still don't know who they are yet."

"You will come home during the weekends right?" Asked Shori's mother.

"If I can, I will." Nodded Shori.

Sakura gave Shori a small nod, and squeezed his hand under the table. Shori squeezed it back but the two quickly pulled their hands away when they realised what they were doing. Sakura sipped her hot tea while Shori ate his red bean jelly.