"Arrggghh…" In the middle of the night, Hisao was so sleepy that he left his room and headed to the kitchen to find something to eat. With such a sleeping state, he suddenly stopped in front of Yuuma's room. He noticed the light was still on in Yuuma's room. He has wondered why Yuuma is still up late at night.
"Knock…"
"Knock…"
"Knock…"
Hisao knocked on Yuuma's door room.
"Yuuma… Are you still awake? Yuuma…" Hisao called Yuuma and opened his room's door. When he opened the door, he saw Yuuma in the middle of prayer, just as he had seen him at the Shimizu Restaurant before. He had been glancing at the clock, he noticed that it was almost 4 a.m. He felt suspicious and curious about what Yuuma was doing but decided to let it go and went to the kitchen to find food he could eat late at night. The next morning, Yuuma was busy preparing breakfast, and Hisao had just woken up when he smelled the food and went out of his room. While cooking he felt that someone had been staring and standing behind his back.
"Morning freak. Are you hungry?" Yuuma turned his back to see who was behind him. When he saw Hisao staring at him with a displeased face, he mocked him as a good morning greeting because he felt annoyed with his best friend's behavior.
"Oh, Ya… I guess so…" Hisao put his hand behind his head when felt awkward when Yuuma realized he was staring at him. He takes two plates and two glasses to help Yuuma prepare the table. He waited patiently for Yuuma at the dining table, waiting for the food to be ready to be served even though he was starving. A few seconds later, Yuuma came with the breakfast and they ate together.
"Yuuma… Were you praying in the middle of the night yesterday?" While they were eating, Hisao suddenly questioned Yuuma about what he was doing last night in the middle of the night.
"Oh, yes. Tahajjud. I heard you coming. What do you want last night? When I went out you were already gone." Yuuma replied shortly and then asked him why he had been looking for him last night.
"Tahajjud? What is that?" He did not answer Yuuma's question. He keeps questioning Yuuma about what he did last night while his mouth is full of food because he is so curious about it.
"It is late-night prayer" Yuuma smirked when he answered Hisao's question. He tried to answer the question shortly and concisely so his best friend could understand clearly while he also tried to eat his food.
"Are you must, do it?" He became more curious about it. He wondered if the prayer of late night is obligatory. He felt weird and wondered if the Muslims needed to pray all the time even late in the night.
"No, it is the circumcision prayer like the Solat Dhuha as I told you before. You can perform it as an extra prayer to feel more at ease and pleased when faced with challenges in life." Yuuma tries to explain to Hisao what was Tahajjud about.
"Your heart will feel calm when you make a prayer? I never thought about that. I always think the prayer is troublesome and why do you want to waste your time with it and do nothing." Hisao shared his opinion about people only praying and asking without trying to change their lives.
"So, do you think someone who prays and trusts God is lazy? Do I look like that to you? Prayer is a hope. A hope that we never give up in our life. Because once we give up, we'll destroy our life. When you have hope and contentment for everything in your life, you put the burden or problem behind you and allow Him to help you out of all the chaos. So, you can continue your life better than yesterday. Instead of feeling anxious and worried about everything in this world, you will feel relieved and calm, only go with the flow of your life and let destiny decide everything. Don't you want it in your life, Hisao? Feels peace and happiness." Yuuma feels irritated with Hisao's opinions and disagrees about what he said and he tries to explain more to him to get rid of that thought while he continues eating his food.
"Can I do that too?" Hisao wondered if someone like him who didn't believe in it could do the prayer too and started to feel interested if he tried to explore Islam.
"You mean the prayer?" Yuuma wondering about what his best friend has been thinking about now.
"Yes, the prayer. What else do you think? Do you think I also can feel relief and calm when I do the prayer?" Hisao wondered if he could feel calm and relieved when he made a prayer as Yuuma did.
"Of course, when you started to believe in god" Yuuma looked at Hisao and smiled when he answered Hisao's question. He felt he had gotten his attention when he saw him start showing interest in Islam.
"So, I need to believe in God before I do it?" Hisao keeps wondering. He has been thinking if he can try to pray without believing it in the first place, to experience feeling ease and calm as Yuuma said.
"No. I think, you can do it without believing as a practice or trial or whatever people call it but if you want to feel relief, calm, and content in whatever you are through, you need to try to believe Him first. The concept is the same as our friendship, for you to trust me and depend your life on me you need to try to believe in me first. That was how we can put trust in each other and sit at the same table just like now." Yuuma saw a disappointed and curious look on Hisao's face. The situation becomes more interesting now when Hisao keeps looking for the answer. He tried to explain more about believing in God to make Hisao understand how things work.
"I see… I'll be looking forward to it. Hey, Yuuma… Do you think she will come today?" Hisao starts to understand what Yuuma tries to explain to him about the perspective of believing in someone in life. However, he changes the topic to the lady he saw last time. He hopes that he can meet her face to face today.
"Who? Ayumi?" Yuuma didn't have an idea who he was talking about. He thought he had been talking about his employees, Ayumi.
"No, you silly. Why do I want to talk about the grumpy cat? I've been talking about the lady… Jess beautiful Ms. Lady" While eating his food, Hisao made a weird face to respond to Yuuma's questions. He had been thinking why Yuuma thought he wanted to talk about a short-tempered Ayumi. He only wanted certainty about the beautiful lady who had been coming to the restaurant last week.
"Erm… maybe. I don't know. Let's not put full hope on it" Yuuma answered shortly. He didn't want his best friend to put full hope for the woman who would come today because he didn't want to see him upset if the situation became out of his expectations.
" Hhhmm… But I hope she comes." Hisao said with hope and suddenly prayed for it. However, a week had passed since the incident, and neither the lady nor her assistant had visited the Shimizu Restaurant. He waited for her day to night, day by day, and week by week with all of the hope in his heart to meet her. But none of her or her assistant glimpses appear at the restaurant. Despite this, Hisao continued to wait eagerly every day, but she never came. While he waited, he was engrossed in imagining that lady standing in front of the restaurant smiling and waving at him and it always happened every day when he waited for her. All those things make him so hopeless and wanted to give up looking for her. As he waited for the lady, suddenly, he received a phone call from someone.
"Hello! Eerrmm… Okay, I'll come next month… Eerrmm…" Hisao hung up the call with a sigh.
"Who is it?" Yuuma asked Hisao who called him as he brought Hisao a drink and sat across from him.
"My boss. It's been 2 weeks since he asked me to take a break for a while. Now he is asking me to go back to work. He said all my clients ask for me and wait for me to return. Hhhmmm…" Hisao replied to Yuuma's question and sighed once again.
"What's wrong with that sigh? Are you tired of your work?" Yuuma, wondering about Hisao sighed while he sipped his drink.
"No. I'm okay. I'm good with my work. It just… I still have not met with her until today. I… I want to see her. I… I have many questions to ask her… but she still has not come until today." As he looks out the restaurant window, Hisao feels disappointed that he has not yet met her. He hopes to see her outside of the restaurant.
"Errrmmm… Don't worry. I'll let you know if she or her assistant has come. Besides, she loves my food. I bet she or her assistant will come to buy food in this restaurant." Yuuma tells him not to worry about the lady since the lady loves to eat his food. He tries to cheer him up and support him as a best friend.
"Yaa…" Hisao feels so hopeless.
After staying at Yuuma's house for a month, today is the day that Hisao needs to return home because starting tomorrow he'll go to work like usual again.
"I'll miss you, Yuuma…" Hisao cried when hugging Yuuma and didn't want to let go of him. He doesn't want to be separated from him again. He wanted to be as they were before.
"Yaa… Just get out of my house now." Yuuma felt annoyed with Hisao's excessive behavior. He tried to push out Hisao from his side and tell him to leave his house quickly.
"How… How could you, Yuuma? We are the best housemates ever now. How could you kick out your housemates just like that?" As Hisao sobbed and sulked, he held Yuuma tightly, making it hard for him to breathe. Yuuma eventually feels irritated and forcefully pushes Hisao out of his house. Hisao still sobbing and begging his best friend to ask him to stay as he grabs Yuuma's shirt and doesn't want to let go. Finally, after all the drama and the neighbor starts having eyes on them, he gives up and ends all the drama by letting go of Yuuma's shirt. As he was about to leave, Yuuma unexpectedly said something that made him so moved.
"Hey, Hisao… You know you can come to my house anytime you want. You know the passcode, right? You know… You are not alone, you still have me as your best friend." Yuuma said it awkwardly as he put his hand behind his head.
"Yuu… Yuumaaaa…" When Hisao heard what Yuuma said, he felt so touched that he wanted to cry and hug him again. However, Yuuma quickly closed his door when he saw Hisao trying to hug him again and start being dramatic again.
Shinjuku, Tokyo - Hisao arrives at his house and notices the environment is quite different from Yuuma's house. Unlike Yuuma's house which was clean, and cheerful, Hisao's home was a mess. The sink is full of unclean dishes and piles of clothes scattered around the house, with clean and dirty clothes mixed. Additionally, Hisao's house is gloomy and dark, creating a different atmosphere from Yuuma's home.
"Uugghh… I started to miss Yuuma already" Upon seeing his quiet and gloomy house, Hisao sighed and began cleaning everything on the floor. He determined to change his lifestyle to make his life positive and healthy just like he left at Yuuma's house.
The next day, Hisao returned to his normal routine. He wakes up at 5 am and goes for a jog. After that, he prepares breakfast, takes a shower, and gets ready for work, before 7. However, there has been a change in his morning routine. Instead of leaving his house messy and dirty, he cleans everything before leaving the house for work. Then, he arrives at his office at 8 a.m. and begins his work as a lawyer. Hisao often deals with his clients' issues, finding solutions to their conflicts and disagreements. Because he was so busy with work, he forgot about his best friend, Yuuma, and the woman he wanted to meet. As a result, he missed Yuuma's call and didn't answer it. One day, Hisao receives a new client file from Mr. Hiroshi. While he looked at the file, he recognized a familiar face and name from his childhood friend, Yamada Youta, another old friend.
Chuo, Tokyo - At the coffee shop, he's waiting for his old best friend Youta to come. He patiently waits for Youta for half an hour, eager to see him again. However, Youta does not appear. While waiting, a man suddenly approaches and sits at the same table as him. Wear a black suit with sunglasses.
"Sorry, I'm late. I woke up late today. I need to tell you that you need to used to it because we are working on everything at night. I never work in daylight like this. I have to wake up early today to meet you." Youta feels sorry for Hisao for having to wait for such a long time and tells Hisao that he needs to used to his new work with him. He looks like he's stringy and unkempt. It may be because he is in a hurry. Furthermore, when he came to sit across the table Youta was unaware of whom he met today because he did not make eye contact with him. Youta sat down and scanned the area looking for a waiter to order from.
"Yamada Youta?" Hisao is shocked and stares at Youta for a few seconds before he calls out his name while Youta is still looking for the waiter. He didn't believe it when he saw him in front of him. He can't believe he met his other best friend.
"Waiter! Ermm… Yes, it is me." Youta is too busy to call a waiter but when he turns his face to that person, he realizes the person who calls his name is his old best friend. He was stunned when he saw Hisao in front of him.
"Wata… Watanabe Hisao??" In disbelief, he tried to check if the person in front of him was his best friend.
"Yes, it is me!! It's been a long time since our last day at university, Youta. You are still late like usual, haa?? I miss you, man." Hisao was so excited to meet his best friend. It's been a while since the last day they met each other. He teased him about his old habit.
"Ya, you know me. Hahaha." The two laughed and were happy to see each other again. They chattered and recalled their old memories together. It brings back the old time when they are kids.