Jun raised his eyebrows at the yellow note Nino flung across the table. It contained a person’s name, followed by the word therapist. “So you mean I have to visit this doctor? I don’t think I need it.”

Nino shook his head after shoving in a spoonful of soup and rice in his mouth. He chewed on it rather slowly, and finally spoke after swallowing the food. “He called earlier, while you were in still bed. He said you needed a check-up.”

“A check-up?” He questioned, “I don’t need it.”

“J,” Nino sighed while playing with the food on his plate, “If you plan on wanting to get better, visit him at least once, please?”

Jun wanted to refuse, or tried to, but he heard begging in Nino’s voice. If this person was really going to help him with his condition, then might as well visit him once since he actually needed it. He was just too lazy to get out of the apartment now that he had gotten Nino a piano, and so he could hear him play all day. As much as he wanted to stay besides Nino, instead he ate everything of what Nino cooked for breakfast and showered right after before getting ready to head out. However, he hung around the entrance looking towards Nino.

“Don’t worry,” His friend smiled, “I’ll practice.” After making sure Nino was tenacious with his words and seeing his friend sit on the piano chair, Jun left home with ease. At least Nino was able to play again.

As soon as Jun stepped out of the apartment building, he immediately felt lost. Unlike yesterday, Nino was with him the whole day, telling him where to go, where to turn, and which street to take. Looking behind him, he saw that his friend was nowhere to be seen. Jun wanted to run back, and ask Nino to help him get there but that would only make it look like he was a coward. Deciding it was best to head out on his own, he started walking straight towards wherever to find the address written on the note.

Just as he had thought, he was already lost for an hour since checking his wrist watch. He shouldn’t have left his phone at home either. Groaning angrily, Jun walked into what he figured was a cafe after realizing he had gone around in circles. Hopefully, someone in there would be kind enough to show him where this street was.

“Excuse me,” Jun tapped a man, wearing an ugly shirt of many different light colored and patterned flowers, while using his small notebook. “Where is this street?”

The man shrugged before turning around and typing away at his small notebook again. Jun clicked his tongue in annoyance. Everyone was so stingy while he was just trying to get some directions. It seemed like others didn’t want to get bothered so he turned around and was about to head for the door when someone stopped him.

“Jun-kun!” A voice so familiar called him, making his hands form into balls of fists. “Where’s Nino?”

“Not here,” he grinded his teeth. “Now if you excuse me, I have important business to go to.” Thinking that the man had left him alone, the note was rudely taken from his hand causing Jun to grow even angrier inside.

“Oh! I live near here, want me to bring you there?”

“No thank you,” he hissed, taking the note back from the man and headed back outside. He stood near the cafe for a while, wondering which turn he should take and deciding after a few seconds to take a right. However, as he was doing so, the cafe’s door chime sung a small melody and soon the man was walking besides him.

“I said I--”

“I needed to go home anyways,” the man shrugged sleepily, “And you’re going the wrong way.”

Jun grumbled before turning back around the opposite direction. “I knew that, Ohno-san. I was just looking at the flowers...”

“You clearly don’t have an idea where you’re going,” Ohno chuckled, “Are you sure you don’t want my help?”

Jun was about to shake his head, to refuse him and tell him he didn’t need any of his help. It would have been better if it was that man in an ugly shirt, but too bad he had to encounter this sleepy man. However, it wasn’t such a bad thing considering the fact that he had gone around in circles since he had seen the cafe about the 5th time that day. Quietly grumbling to himself, Jun nodded small before handing Ohno the note.

“Let’s see here,” Ohno mumbled, “So I guess we take a right turn...” The man stopped walking before turning to his right and walked on; Jun followed right after.

Although it seemed like they were finally going somewhere, Jun still didn’t like this man whether he helped him or not. Just seeing him, or hearing him, made him think of Nino smiling so huge that day. And as the images of that huge smile flashed in his mind, the anger inside of him was boiling up the the point where he could feel the tip of his ears burn.

Jun was tempted, so tempted enough that he just wanted to punch that man square on the back of his head but then he thought of Nino. What were he to do if he hated him to hurting another person? Especially if that person was who Nino was friends with? Jun shook his head of those questions and told him himself that he would just make an excuse later. Just as he was ready to lift his fist, the man swirled around and said, “We’re here” with a sheepish grin.

Jun forced a smile while using his other hand to bring his arm behind him. Grabbing the note out of anger from the man’s hand, he shoulder bumped him slightly before heading towards the front of the building. Without even thanking him, he just stepped inside of the building after the automatic doors flew open and was walking straight towards the elevator when he bumped into something bouncing towards him.

“Oof!” The person he bumped onto yelped as he fell to the ground along with him. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking-- Matsumoto-kun!”

Jun looked up at the mention of the name he was using and saw a man smiling ever so brightly before him. His short-brown hair was a mess and it looked like the shirt he had on was inside out. “Do I know you?” He asked him confused as he got up and helped the man right after.

“Oh that’s right,” the man pouted, “You don’t remember me...Are you here for Sho-chan?”

Jun shrugged. “I guess... that is what is written on there right?” Taking the note from his sweaty fisted hand, the hand he wanted to hit Ohno with, he showed the man the note since earlier he had read it as ‘Dr.Sakurai Sho’.

“Oh! He’s kind of out right now so...”

“Oh,” Jun sighed in defeat. So all those rounds of getting lost and bumping into Ohno was nothing but a misfortunate happening. Turning back around to head home, hoping that he won’t get lost this time, he was ready to leave when the man softly tapped his shoulder.

“You can stay until he gets back. And we cleaned this time too!”

Jun turned back around, bowing in thanks as he followed the man right after. As much as it seemed so weird to follow the man into his apartment not knowing what will happen in there, he felt comfortable as if he was someone he knew before. It only took two to three flight of stairs until they stopped in front of a door and was asked to go inside.

“Thank you,” Jun muttered gratefully that his journey to this place wasn’t a waste after all. The man smiled brightly again before bouncing away towards what he found out was a kitchen after he took a seat on one of the couches.

The place was indeed clean, though he doesn’t remember when he last came here to witness it as dirty. The place gave off a nice feeling, almost like it was those beach houses Jun fancied by encountering a beach themed magazine, and the sunlight from the sliding door gave off the right amount of light in the house. Even the furniture he was sitting on, and the others around him, seemed to modern that only rich people unlike him and Nino could ever afford. There were even picture frames containing only the man he had bumped into, and probably the doctor he was supposed to visit. Compared the the shared apartment with Nino, theirs was so empty.

“You like the place?” The man suddenly popped up causing Jun to jump up startled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s ok,” Jun said after calming down, “And I do like it. Are you and the doctor a couple?”

The man nodded while handing him a cup of steaming warm tea. “I’m Aiba Masaki, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Jun mumbled his eyes trailing back to the pictures. However as he stared at them, his eyes were starting to play tricks on him as if the ones in the photos were him and Nino. Jun rolled his eyes twice, blinked three times before facing Aiba and rubbing his eyes of these tricks. He looked at the pictures again before sighing in relief, glad that it really was pictures of Aiba and the doctor.

“What’s the matter, Matsumoto-kun,” Aiba asked so worriedly that worry lines were showing on his forehead. Not wanting a stranger, yet oddly he was comfortable with him, to worry over him, he shook his head before taking a sip of the warm tea. Jun relaxed back immediately into the couch after one sip. The tea tasted so good in his mouth that he assumed Aiba was a tea master.

“It’s good, right?” Aiba smiled after taking a sip too, “Sho-chan got for me as a present in China while he was there for work. And...” Aiba motioned for him to come closer until he was sure he could hear his breathing, “He even gave me a--”

“Masaki!”

Both males looked up and saw a man standing besides the entryway. He had a flustered look on his face and his cheeks were starting to turn a bright red. “You don’t have to tell him that,” He sighed, “He doesn’t need to know.”

Aiba pouted. “But he won’t even remember it. Besides, I’ve been wanting to tell someone all the birthday presents you ever gave me.” This time too, the doctor’s face turned so red he can pass as a tomato. He stormed off into the kitchen, making enough noises to echo in the entire room and came back with a satisfied grin.

“There,” he cleaned his hands of whatever he did in the kitchen, “I ruined the kitchen for you. Enough to make you go over there and clean it for 24 hours.”

“Sho-chan!” Aiba stomped his foot on the ground angrily as he got up, “You better get me something nice this year. Or else!”

The doctor rolled his eyes at him before grabbing his bag off the ground and sitting opposite of him where Aiba was sitting earlier. Once Aiba had left finally left to the kitchen, the doctor sighed in relief and took out a stethoscope from his bag and a pile worth of papers and papers.

“So.. doc--”

“You can call me Sho if you want.”

“So Sho-san,” Jun corrected himself, “Were you the ones who gave me those purple notebooks?”

Sho nodded his head. “Of course! I believe they will help you a lot, but did you get to read them all?”

“No,” Jun shook his head honestly, “I couldn’t read the recent one because I didn’t want to read on any further.”

“I see,” the doctor said, “But does Nino-kun remind you every night to write in it?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” Sho grinned, “Now turn around, I need to go on with the check-up.”

Doing as he was told, he turned around and his shirt was being lifted. He felt so insecure and shy, afraid that the doctor would see the huge scar he had on his stomach. But what was there too lose? The man was a doctor so he had probably seen worse.

“Now,” Sho put his shirt back down after roaming his stethoscope thoroughly around his body, “How many days have you woken up still remembering what happened the day before.”

“Hmmm... Five, I guess?”

“Five?!” The man gasped. “Is this your fifth?” Jun nodded his head.

“Well... I believe you are getting better, Jun-kun. Though I’m afraid that tomorrow you might or might not remember everything. However, already being in five days is the best record I’ve heard from you. Nino-kun tells me you usually last on three or four days.”

“Really?” Jun questioned in surprise. Nino had never mentioned to him how long his memories lasted, but after hearing the doctor say so, something good must be happening.

Jun spent half of the afternoon at their house, answering questions from the doctor, or laughing when Aiba yelled because of making the mess even worse. After finishing his session with the doctor, Jun mentioned that he should go before it gets dark out. He left, leaving the two alone while Aiba was screaming all over and Sho was apologizing to him, hoping that he doesn’t get lost along the way. Thankfully enough, Jun made it to the familiar street leading to their home and was about to head in when he stopped dead in his tracks. He hid behind the bushes, not wanting to be seen but not far enough to see what was going on.

At the front of their building was Nino bowing down to that annoying sleepy man, saying somethings Jun couldn’t recognize. It took forever for Nino to say what he had to say before the sleepy man turned around and left Nino standing on the front. Although he couldn’t see well, he saw a pained expression on Nino’s face before the man headed back to the building. Whatever caused that look on Nino’s face, he had to find out no matter what as he walked from the bushes, and followed the sleepy man silently.

TBC