Reflex.

Sayaka's sleep lightened in the middle of the night. She jumped out in hurry. "Ugh... my body reflex... I don't even have work today..." She looked at the clock, it was four o clock in the morning. "I always have such a tight schedule, it's taking a toll on my body..."

She positioned herself on her feet and twisted the doorknob, trying not to make a noise. The hallway outside looked deserted, but she could see the faint light reflecting off from somewhere. She carefully placed her feet on the high stairs carefully, half blind because of the lack of light, while her hands held onto the railing.

She found the living room lights turned on from a distance. Who could it be? She probably guessed it.

"Oh hey mom.", as she placed her feet inside she was blinded by the lights, though it was dim. Her eyes hurt a bit. She covered her eyes and let a bit of light in, trying to adjust with the surroundings as she found a place to sit. "What are you doing at this hour?"

She giggled. "Thought of going through you twos family photos. Aren't they cute?", she pointed to a picture where child Sayaka was holding newborn Kanako in her arms.

She picked up an album and started to go through it too. It was her Mom's and her Dad's album before they were born.

"Can't sleep?", Midori asked.

"Yeah. My body woke me up.", she flipped through the pages quickly till she was in the last page. The last photo was a big one. It was the day of their marriage. Her dad was wearing a white suit— a man with matte black hair who looked younger than his age— holding the hands of the bride. Them wearing matching rings and smiling happily, looking at the moon with a bouquet of roses on her mothers hand. She peeked at her moms hand. That ring was still there, at the same place, though the other ring was on the shelf behind where she sat.

She looked outside into the backyard. Rows of rose bushes were lined up at its periphery. Her mom planted them on that same day the photo was taken. She removed all the rose flowers from the bouquet that night and planted them. Because, "The roses are going to wither in a few days. It would be a waste of money to just let it be.", or so her mom said.

She closed that album. The words "Marriage" shone at the front of it. She had basically memorised all the pictures in all those albums. Sayaka doesn't know what makes her mom look through these again and again, knowing that she has seen these pictures a thousand times more than her.

"You know a fun face?", her mom asked her, her face buried to the album that read "Kanako" in front of the cover.

"At least put the album down and then say..."

"When kanako was young, he used to watch movies that Ayane-chan played over and over again..."

She remembers those times. When young Kanako stared at the screen with enthusiasm.

"Kanako-chan, don't sit so close to the TV.", she warned him as she was doing chores.

"But Ayane's acting is super cool! Don't you think? Don't you think?", his voice matched his enthusiasm.

"Yes yes she is very cool."