“H.....Hisao?” She woke me up with a gentle shake. “I can't sleep. Again”
        Groaning, I roll over to check the clock. 03:00. Great. Wrapping my arm around her lightly, I roll over and look into her eyes. “What's wrong?” All I get in response is a nuzzle and a whine. She runs her hand over my scar, and I wince. Never quite got used to that. It's been a few months now, but it's still strange. I guess that's what scars are; strange. Smiling to hide my discomfort, I mess with her hair, trying to force her attention away from herself. That was always her problem. “Hey, you. You know I love you.”
        She smiles, whispering “T...thank you. I just...” She trails off. Making for my cheek, she kisses it lightly. “...don't want to be alone right n-now.” The tone in her voice is playful. I know what time of year it is, I can tell her bluff. She's gotten a lot better in the last year, but I doubted this would be a place of the same improvement.
        I know I should try to comfort her. “Alright. Do you want me to call Lilly? I'm sure she'd like to catch up with you. It's been a long time. It shouldn't be too late over there in Scotland.”
        She shakes her head no.
        “Then what do you want to do?”
        She goes quiet, her hands play with mine, massaging them. There must be something bugging her. My hand absentmindedly brushes hers off, and rubs her arm. Her hands move to my chest again. However, she sits up suddenly. I sit up too, confused, my body groaning with protest. “No, stay.”
        She gets out of bed, and goes searching throughout her room. I'm not sure what's she's looking for, and it the darkness of her room I can barely make the lightness of her pajamas out, but it must be important to her. She's hidden it well. Soon enough though, she finds it, though my only confirmation is a wooden sound. As she comes back, I realize it’s the chessboard I bought her last year.
        “We never got a chance to b..break this in. Do y-you want to p...lay?”
        She walks closer, chessboard close to her chest. As she sits down, I wonder how we’re going to fit both of us AND the chessboard. We stumble around this, dropping pieces and shuffling the board around until she gives up and pulls up a chair. She sets the chessboard on the bed, in front of me. While a bit awkward, We quickly get all the pieces set up, turn on a light, and begin to play.
        The lamp hurts my eyes, and I’m so fucking tired, but honestly, words can’t describe how much I missed this. It seems a bit silly, it’s just chess, but I don’t care. It was how we got together, all those months ago. Me, her, and Lilly, in the room on the 2nd floor. I don’t think either of them truly realized how much it helped me, as much as it helped them.
I can tell Hanako’s lightening up too, she’s smiling in the way I fell in love with. “H-Hisao? It’s your turn...”
I jolt back to attention, I guess that’s what I get for being awake at 03:15. The mind tends to wander. I quickly make a move, hoping I didn’t just fuck myself over.
Hanako looks at me, “Tired?”
        “Yeah. You’re used to being up late and not sleeping. I’m a man. We sleep and eat.” I pout, trying to look cute.
        She takes my final rook. “W-well perhaps you should come over more often.... And get used to it.”
        “You know I’d like to. You’ve been getting out recently though, and I wouldn’t want to intrude.”
        She smiles again. “Check.”
        I can’t tell if she’s happy because of me or the game. Deciding to drop it, I quickly counter her advance, feeling proud of myself for finding the hole. I yawn though, quickly replacing my pride with embarrassment.
        Soon enough though, she counters me again, taking my queen and keeping her trademark smile. “Check.”
        “I... think that’s mate.” I sigh. Losing sucks.
 
        She carefully puts the chessboard away, hiding it again.
        “You know.... No one’s gonna find it, Hanako.”
        She jumps a little, surprised. “H-huh?”
        “You don’t have to hide things in your own room, silly.”
        “I-I know... It just... helps me. It’s like I’m showing them how much I care for them. Es-especially with all the people who c-cared enough to give me them... H-here, hang on.” She goes to the other side of her room. She stretches as far as she can, but she can’t seem to get up high enough.
        Watching her struggle, I ask “Need help?”
        She pauses. Thinking about it for a second, she nods.
        “That a yes?”
        “Y-yeah.”
        I get up, and take a look at the shelf that she was. “What am I looking for?”
        She grabs my arm from behind and comes close. “L-lift the bear...”
        There’s an oversized teddy bear on the shelf. It’s pretty girly, I imagine Lilly gave it to her before she left. I lift it, handing it to her and asking “Did Lilly give this to you?”
        “Y-yeah... but that’s not w-what I’m after.”
        Taking a look back on the shelf, there’s an ornately decorated box. I don’t know why, but it looks very familiar. Being careful, I grab it. “What’s this?”
        “J-just open it... please.”
        With her and the box in tow, I go back over to the bed and sit down. Hanako sits down with me and puts her head on my shoulder. I kiss her, out of reflex. Taking a better look at the cover now that it’s under the light, I still can’t quite place it. It’s so familiar though. Deciding to open it, I’m astonished when I hear it plink out the first ditty notes. It plays out a tune I had thought I had forgotten, but I know every note.
        I use this opportunity, now that she’s close, to kiss her. “Happy birthday.”