Ivan arrived at the therapist's office. The therapist's office was a rented space located on the second floor of a three-storey building.
"Good morning, I'm Ivan," Ivan introduced himself as he entered the room.
The therapist stretched out her right hand for a handshake with him. He shook hands with her. She directed Ivan to sit on the single-seater sofa opposite her, and he did.
"Please call me Ella," the therapist said.
"Okay."
"How are you doing?" Ella asked, with a professional soothing smile.
Ivan chuckled and said, "I wanted to say that I'm fine, but if I was really fine, I would not need to visit you."
Ella nodded, saying, "Self-awareness, that's good. Most people who visit me struggle with being self-aware. So that is a plus on your side.
"So what is it that you need counselling on?"
Ella had checked her list. She knew that Ivan came here to resolve trauma, but she didn't know the specific event because he didn't specify in the online form.
Ivan narrated what happened during the flood yesterday: how he saved a child that their parent abandoned in a car to drown, and then the child was no more because of the sudden attack from the aliens.
"That's very sad to hear. It's a grave thing to witness. I feel sorry for you. How does this trauma affect you?"
Ivan exhaled through his mouth, adjusting in his seat. He said,
"I feel that I'm not doing enough. I went to the gym and spent time with my friends yesterday. While doing these things, I felt that I wasn't doing enough in the gym despite pushing my physicality to the max, and I felt that I was wasting time spending time with my friends."
He sighed, "Yesterday night, after hanging out with my friends, one of my friends decided to walk me home, and her phone got snatched out of her hands. I chased the thief and walked into the thief's trap. I had the option to flee, but I decided to risk my life."
Ivan became silent, not continuing the story to its end.
Ella was curious to know the ending of the story, but she was a professional, so she had to rein in her curiosity. She understood that Ivan was trying to convey that the trauma had upset him, making him chase the thief and also enter the thief's trap. Her experience taught her that sometimes, it was ok to let the patient not completely narrate a story. It didn't mean that she couldn't ask questions concerning the story.
Ella asked, "So what happened? Were you successful in retrieving the phone?"
Ivan nodded. "I was successful, and the police intervened."
"What do you think the counselling you will receive from me will help you achieve?" Ella questioned.
Ivan shook his head and said, "I just want to get rid of this guilt."
Ella said, "What you feel is survivor's guilt, which can be said to be a form of PTSD. If we look at everything that happened in that event, it was not your fault at all. You were just unfortunate to be at that place at that time.
"The parent of the child should be held responsible for the death of that child. Paramountly, the Aliens are to blame for everything. Your life in this world, the flooding, the death of the child and the irresponsible parent – it's all the alien's fault.
"I think that you should only see positives from that unfortunate situation. You are a good person. You are what humanity needs at the moment that we seem to be losing ourselves."
Ella guided Ivan to explore trigger words that would make him recall trauma. They explored grounding techniques and other treatments that would help Ivan resolve the trauma.
Ivan returned to his apartment building. He got on his residence floor and headed for his door. Someone clumsily bumped into him. He was supposed to fall from the contact, but he used his innate balancing ability to evade falling.
He looked at the culprit. The culprit had full wavy black hair, wore thick-rimmed black glasses, wore a white shirt and black trousers with a pair of wingtip shoes.
"Forgive me, I didn't see you. I was busy with my phone." The culprit apologised, raising up their phone that suffered a fresh crack on the screen.
"Try to buy a screen guard for your phone," Ivan advised the man before him.
"I am Valentine. I just moved into this building. My apartment is over there." The man pointed to the apartment next to Ivan's apartment on the left.
Valentine was Ivan's new neighbour. Ivan wondered why his previous neighbour vacated her space without informing him. It was a habit he and his previous neighbour formed: if any of them had something to do that would make them spend some time outside their apartment, they would inform each other about being absent for a while before they left.
"Wow. My door is the next to yours on the right. You are welcome to this place. I hope you won't be troubling your neighbours." Ivan casually welcomed Valentine.
Valentine laughed and assured Ivan that he was no trouble. Ivan bid his neighbour goodbye and went into his apartment. Valentine watched Ivan go into his apartment. The smile of Valentine's face vanished, dissolving into a cold demeanour. He walked towards the elevator while texting.
Valentine texted to an unknown number: I have made first contact. He acted normal, like a regular person, and didn't seem to have anything special on him.
Valentine was a spy-class special character that Brainboss_7 assigned to keep close watch on Ivan. While Ivan was away, he had snuck into Ivan's apartment and searched it, guided by his perception. He found the area under Ivan's bed where the switchaxe was hidden. His perception confirmed that the weapon was indeed a C-rank weapon.
Fortunately for Ivan, Valentine's perception couldn't sniff out that there was an S-rank weapon hidden in the room. Valentine reported his findings to the unknown number at that time.
Ivan changed his clothes, which were formal attire. He put on joggers and a plain shirt. He changed from a pair of loafers to a pair of grey sneakers. He then settled down to have lunch: he reheated the leftover from the meal that Daiyu prepared earlier.
After eating, he washed the dishes. He proceeded to leave his apartment to visit a martial arts centre.