"Yeah, no prob!"

"Good work today," Towa repeats, in the same emotionless tone of voice.

Upon hearing that and seeing Towa, the other part-timer storms over to him. "Excuse you! You overslept again, didn't you? Poor Arimura-kun had to pick up your slack!"

"Just for a little bit..."

"A little bit my ass, late is late," he replies, hands on his hips. His bright-yellow Smoke isn't swaying, though, so clearly he's not actually angry.

"Hear, hear," Taku says, clicking his own can of coffee open. "But, where's Arimura-kun? Did he already leave?"

"Yeah, a while ago."

"Ah... Well, thank you for staying longer than your usual shift, Rei. You were a big help."

"You're very welcome! Thank me later by buying me something sweet."

"I'll get you a parfait at the diner."

"Excellent!"

As Towa watches the two of them without saying anything, his gaze snatches on Taku for some reason. He thinks that...

"You look tired."

"—hm?"

"Your face. You look tired."

"Oh." He touches his cheek and sighs.

"What's wrong? Not getting enough sleep?"

"Yeah, kind of, but mostly I'm just... mentally drained."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." He sighs. "You know how a lot of our patients work night shifts?"

"Yeah...?"

"And you know how a lot of them have... some baggage. Or a lot of it. And sometimes they ask me for advice during their checkup."

"Advice? ...you mean, mental health stuff?"

"Yeah. Heavy stuff, stuff they can't tell their friends. Family problems. That kind of thing." Another sigh. "I'm not a therapist, but... if they want advice, I try my best to hear 'em out. I can't just ignore 'em, y'know? And if talking makes 'em feel better, then why not?"

"Right..."

"And lately, for some reason, there's been... a lot. More than usual. I used to get maybe one or two a week, maybe, but now there's a ton of 'em. And it's not just numbers..." He shakes his head. "Feels like the stress has been getting to a lot of 'em. Some even start yelling or crying in the middle of the conversation."