Every Hour, Every Minute, Every Second

“Chisato.” Takina turned to the park as they walked down the path to LycoReco and noticed a child standing in front of a tree.

“Oh? Let’s go?” Chisato smiled at Takina who nodded and followed her. “Hey, hey. What’s wrong?”

“Ah… My balloon…” The little girl looked up the tree.

The balloon was lodged at the higher parts of the tree, being held together by the branches.

“Whoa… That sure went up there… Well… It’s a good thing it didn’t fly away, right?” Chisato smiled at the child who only nodded at her. “Well… Don’t worry, and leave it to Chisato-Onee-chan!” She handed Takina her bag who took it as she slowly climbed up the tree.

Takina smiled at the child. “Was the balloon a gift from someone?”

The little girl looked at Takina with a big smile. “Mm! Even though my birthday is tomorrow, my mom said I could get this balloon as a bonus for my birthday!”

“Birthday… I see. It’s still a bit early but happy birthday.” Takina smiled at her and looked up the tree as Chisato climbed it. “Chisato’s birthday is near too…”

“Thank you, Onee-chan!” The little girl gave her a bright smile as the two of them watched Chisato up the tree.

“Yosh! All good! And safe!” Chisato smiled as she waved at Takina and the child, finally holding the string of the balloon in her hand. She started descending the tree… before slipping on a branch that suddenly broke as she stepped on it. “Gwah!”

Chisato landed on her butt, thankfully the balloon was safe as she handed it to the little girl.

“Chisato! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Takina looked over at Chisato.

“I’m fine~” Chisato smiled at her as she got up from the floor until suddenly something from the tree’s branches dropped just right next to her. She looked at her wrist then the item lying on the ground next to her. “Ahhh! My watch!”

“Eh?” Takina looked at it and picked up the watch from the ground. The glass was cracked and the strap was broken. “Chisato…”

“Uu… My watch…” Chisato frowned as she received the watch from Takina’s hands. Her gaze landed on the little girl who was now looking guilty. “Ah! No, no, it’s not your fault! This Onee-chan just slipped and fell, it’s fine! Don’t worry, okay?”

The little girl only nodded at her.

“It’s really fine~ Go on. It’s a birthday gift from your mom, right?” Chisato smiled. “Don’t ever let go of it, okay?”

Takina knelt next to the girl and gently tied the string of the balloon to the girl’s wrists. “There. Now you won’t have to worry about letting go of it until you get home. Get home safely, okay?”

“Mm! Thank you, Onee-chan!” The little girl waved at them and ran home.

Chisato looked at the broken watch in her hands and sighed. “I guess I’ll just ask Sensei for a new one.”

“Was it that important?” Takina asked as they walked side by side.

“Mm… It’s Sensei’s first birthday gift for me since we moved to the cafe.” Chisato looked at the watch with care. “It’s been a long time with this watch, too.”

Takina stared at Chisato’s sullen face.

“Well… Things get broken too… At least a watch, we could just easily replace.” Chisato smiled at Takina then pocketed the broken watch. “Ah~ What to eat for lunch~?”

Takina only watched her before following her back to the cafe.

Mika looked at the broken watch. “Hm… Yeah, I don’t think we can replace the parts for this any longer. I’ll just get you a knew one then.”

“Okay~” Chisato smiled as she went to the dressing room to change.

Takina walked up to Mika, staring him up the face for a while.

“Um… Manager-san.” Takina looked at the watch. “…I’ll come back later.”

Mika only stared at her puzzled, watching her go into the dressing room as well. The rest of the day continued as the usual.

“Sensei~ We’ll be leaving now~” Takina bowed as she and Chisato left the cafe.

After taking a few steps, Takina stopped and turned around. “Chisato, go on ahead, I forgot something.”

“Oh? Ohh… Okay~” Chisato smiled at her and continued on to the safe house.

“Manager-san.” Takina looked at Mika who was behind the counter. “The watch… Could you let me take care of it?”

“Oh? Sure.” Mika gave Takina the bag where the broken watch was in. “A gift for Chisato?”

“Yes…” Takina looked at the small bag in her hand. “Is it okay?”

“Of course.” Mika smiled at her. “I’m sure she’ll be happy with anything you choose.”

“Thank you very much.” Takina bowed and left the cafe after putting the watch inside her bag.

“You’ve changed a lot too, Takina.” Mika smiled as he saw her off. “Now, I wonder what kind of birthday will Chisato have this year.”

~*

September 22nd, Thursday.

“Weird… It’s really weird.” Chisato entered the LycoReco cafe as Mizuki and Kurumi only looked at her.

“What’s weird?” Mizuki sipped from her glass of probably sake.

“Takina!” Chisato lifted her head up as if having an epiphany. “She doesn’t come over to my house anymore! After we close the cafe, she suddenly disappears to somewhere… You think she found a boyfriend?”

“Takina? No way, no, no.” Kurumi scoffed. “Naaah.”

“Same.” Mizuki sipped from her glass again. “Maybe she just found a new mission or something. You think she’s going back to the DA?”

“Ehhh? No way! I won’t let them have Takina!” Chisato furrowed her eyebrows. “But it’s really weird…”

The door chimed behind her. “I’m back. What is weird?”

“Gwah! Takina!” Chisato jumped to the side as Takina appeared from behind her.

“I’m weird?” Takina looked at Chisato.

“N- N- N- N- No?” Chisato looked away, her eyes wandering. Takina only stared at her in judgement.

“Chisato. I’m staying over today.” Takina told her, as if it was a statement, and not a question nor invitation.

“O- Ohhh. Of course! Let’s pick out new movies!” Chisato smiled at her.

“I’ll watch anything you pick.” Takina smiled at her before silently heading towards the dressing room and closing the door behind her.

Chisato quickly walked towards Mizuki and Kurumi as they started whispering. “She’s definitely acting weird, right?”

Kurumi and Mizuki nodded continuously at her.

“Why don’t you ask her later?” Kurumi raised an eyebrow.

“Well, that’s the plan, I guess.” Chisato smiled at her wryly. “Officer Nishikigi Chisato will report tomorrow!”

“Yeah-yeah.” Mizuki shooed her away as Chisato saluted before heading into the dressing room as well.

Since arriving in the safehouse, Chisato decided to observe Takina. So far nothing has been out of place… compared to her behavior the last few days. She cooked for the two of them like always, when she stayed over. Chisato took the first bath, and Takina followed after.

They watched a movie, but one thing that Chisato noticed, was her being concerned about the time.

“Is she in a hurry? Waiting for something?” Chisato watched Takina from the corner of her eyes. Takina seemed into the film, but she would check her phone, or the wall clock often. “Takina.”

“Yes?” Takina turned to Chisato.

“Are you waiting for something?” Chisato asked as she grabbed the remote and paused the movie. It was at least fifteen minutes before twelve midnight.

“Eh? Um…” Takina looked at the clock of her phone, then the wall clock. “N- Not really…?”

“You can tell me, you know? If something bothers you, or there’s something you needed to know…?” Chisato scratched her cheek. “Am I not reliable enough?”

“No! It’s not like that! Um… Could we just wait, maybe a little bit more?” Takina looked at the clock.

“Okay…” Chisato agreed without thinking about it much. She grabbed the remote and pressed play on the movie again.

The two of them sat in silence as they quietly watched the film.

Takina looked at the clock again. “Chisato.”

“Hm?” Chisato turned to her and paused the movie.

“Um…” Takina looked to her left and right, then took out a small box from her side. “H- Happy Birthday.”

“Eh?” Chisato blinked at her, then looked at her own phone that read September 23rd, 00:00. “O- Oh… It’s my birthday, I completely forgot…”

Takina sat on the couch with both her hands still extended, the small box sitting on top of her palms. “Chisato?”

“Ah! Sorry, sorry.” Chisato turned to Takina and took the box. “Can I open it now?”

“Go ahead.” Takina gave her a small smile.

Chisato remove the wrapping and removed the cover of the box. Inside it sat a wristwatch. It had a small body, and red wings-like strap, like the one she always wore, but the color of the straps is of a brighter red. It looked similar, but Chisato knew that it was just made to look a bit similar. The actual clock’s wallpaper had small owl logo. Chisato flipped the wrist watch and the metal plate for the battery had a circular familiar dog sticker on it.

“Eh…?” Chisato looked at it, then to Takina. “Takina…”

“…I’ve been going around the town looking for the parts, just as the manager said, finding parts for it was really difficult, so I could only find ones that looked like it.” Takina smiled wryly. “I hope you like i–“

Chisato wrapped her arms around Takina’s body. “Thank you. I’m reeeeeeeally happy. Takina, thank you.”

Takina smiled as she wrapped her arms around Chisato’s body as well. “Chisato. Do you know the meaning of giving someone a wristwatch?”

“I know that there are meanings to different presents, but I’m not sure.” Chisato parted from the hug and looked at the watch. “What does it mean?”

“According to what I searched for, the meaning changes depending if it was given by a man to a woman, and vice versa.” Takina looked at the watch. “But for me, I’m giving this watch to you with the intention to… spend our time together.”

Chisato gently looked at the wristwatch, then to Takina as tears filled her eyes. “Takina…”

“That’s why… Please keep on living. I want the two of us to have more time together, spend more time together. Grow old together.” Takina touched Chisato’s hands that were holding the watch. “I want us to have more time.”

Chisato held onto Takina’s hand. “Mm! Let’s spend a lot of our time together… I’ll treasure this… a lot… Takina, thank you.” She wiped her eyes with her hand, then held onto Takina’s hand again. “Thank you for remembering.”

“I’m glad.” Takina smiled at her.

“The truth is… I also have something to give to you.” Chisato settled the watch onto the couch and got up towards the drawer near the TV. She rummaged around for something below the piles of DVDs and blurays, and took out a small paper bag. “…I wanted to give this to you during your last birthday but I thought that I shouldn’t because you know… I didn’t know if I’ll even make it to today…”

Takina only watched her as Chisato returned to the couch with the small paper bag.

“So I thought, maybe, I’d still give it as a good bye present… but you know, now I didn’t have to anymore, but I still want you to have it.” Chisato fished out a silver bracelet from the paper bag. She then tipped the paper bag and a pendant dropped to her palm. “Giving someone a bracelet meant ‘I want you to stay by my side’. I know that I didn’t have much time, but I still wanted you to be by my side… That’s selfish of me, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think…”

“I asked for a carnation flower silver pendant, in blue, and pink.” Chisato held it in front of Takina. “Because I wanted you to have eternal happiness… and I didn’t want you to forget me.” Chisato then removed a tape from the paper bag, where one more small pendant was in.

Takina watched as Chisato lined up the three small carnation flower pendants.

“And a white one, to let you know, that even if I’m gone, my love for you is still alive.” Chisato smiled at her wryly. “But now that we’re going to spend our time together, I didn’t think I have to give these to you anymore…”

“I’d like to have them, if it’s okay.” Takina smiled at her. “Even if these were your thoughts before… These were still your earnest feelings for me, and I’d like to receive them, Chisato.”

“Eheh, that makes me happy.” Chisato handled the bracelet carefully as she hooked in the pendants. “Takina. We have plenty of time before us… I’ll do my best so that we could have more so… Let’s be happy.”

“Yes.” Takina smiled. “Happy Birthday, Chisato. I love you.”

“It’s a late birthday present so, Happy Birthday, Takina. I love you too.” Chisato grinned at her.

They placed each other’s love (wristwatch and bracelet) on each other’s wrists, as they swore to move forward together.

(Every Hour, Every Minute, Every Second/END)

Giving a Watch:

Man to Woman: I want to spend our time together.

Woman to Man: I want to monopolize your time.

A parent to their child: Good luck!

Giving a Bracelet:

• I want to monopolize you.
• I want you to always be by my side.
• I want us to always be together.

Flower Language: Carnations

• Fascination, Love, Distinction, Innocent and Deep Love
• White Carnation: Pure Love, My love is alive, Sweet and Lovely, Innocence, Pure Love
• Pink Carnation: A Woman’s Love, Devotion, Beautiful Gestures, I’ll never forget you
• Blue Carnation: Eternal Happiness