"Matsuda!" It seemed as if that was all Touta Matsuda ever heard. This time he was being chastised for dozing off and drooling on his paperwork.
"But Chief, the only reason I fell asleep is because I was up all night filling out your paperwork!"
"Don't talk to your superior like that!" Soichiro Yagami shot back.
"You're right sir. I'm sorry, I'm just a bit tired, that's all."
"Matsuda! You should come over sometime, have a beer or something. You never seem to have time to relax lately." His friend and co-worker Aizawa said over the phone.
"Thanks, really, but I have plans this week." He didn't really but he didn't want to intrude. He wasn't much of a drinker anyway.
"Matsuda," Aizawa said with a sigh. "You and I both know that's not true. You don't have to come but you should make time to unwind."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. See you at work." After hanging up Matsuda wasn't sure what to do. He walked around his apartment for a while but finally turned on the radio and laid on his futon.
"Guess I nodded off." Looking at the clock he saw that it was six-thirteen A.M. Then he noticed the light on his answering machine blinking. He played the message.
"Hey Matsuda-san! It's Sayu. I just wanted to be the first one to say happy birthday so… happy birthday! My dad had mentioned it the other day. Anyway, a few of my friends and I are going out tonight and we were wondering if you wanted to come with. Catch you later?"
Matsuda stood there long after the message had ended. "That's right. My birthday… I should probably call her back and say thanks."
He had already hit the call button when he started to regret it. He bit his bottom lip hoping to get her answering machine. Thankfully he did. "Hi Sayu, it's Matsuda. I just called to say thanks for the message." A long silence followed since he couldn't think of what else to say. Finally he just hung up.