1 More Chance Ch.1ARC I: SIGNS OF LOVE1: The Call4 April 2017, Tuesday, Afternoon.It was right in the middle of the break between the winter and spring semesters, and she was enjoying an uncommonly leisurely day at the front desk, when Officer Satonaka Chie of the Yasoinaba Police Department got what she would later refer to as The Call on her cel phone."Hello, Chie-chan?"The sound of her best friend's voice on the other end of the line made Chie smile. "Yukiko-chan! What's up?" She turned away from staring at the clock – her usual afternoon duty – and glanced outside. It had been overcast all day, but at that moment a ray of sunlight poked
1 More Chance, Ch.33: Death and Love14 April 2017, Friday, Morning.It was a rare Friday that Chie had the day off, but she was not about to remind her superiors at the department that long weekends were not the norm. She took the welcome opportunity to meet up with Yukiko in the old shopping district, at Shimazawas' coffee shoppe. It was busy on the street (or at least as busy as the merchant district could get on an April morning in a small town), the shops along the walk brimming with customers. Junes had the market on most of the typical shopping options, but there were still specialty shops (like Taniguchi Flowers across the street) that catered to the
1 More Chance, Ch.44: Enjoy the Ride16 April 2017, Sunday, Late Morning.Chie grunted in dissatisfaction as she pulled off the fourth outfit that she'd tried on in the last half-hour. It seemed like everything she owned either made her look like a cop going to a deposition (terrible) or a schoolgirl who had been held back a few too many years (worse). It shouldn't have been so difficult just to find an appropriate outfit for going to the movies, and she didn't really know why she was obsessing over it so much anyway...but nothing that she had tried on so far had felt right."I thought I had more clothes than this," she muttered aloud to no one, as she poked
1 More Chance, Ch.55: Cherry on Top29 April 2017, Saturday, Afternoon.It was Showa Day, and the beginning of Golden Week. The students were already crowding the aisles in Junes, picking through clothes, electronics, food – anything that wasn't nailed to the floor. Chie was having trouble just trying to get a quick soda at the food court.She was supposed to meet up with Rise this afternoon, to get some new summer clothes, but now Chie was thinking that might have been a bad idea. She could barely move through the swarm of teenagers and children littering the mega-store like drifting dust bunnies. She also hadn't seen Rise yet...but for all she knew, R
1 More Chance, Ch.66: Kung Fu Queen14 May 2017, Sunday, Afternoon.Golden Week had come and gone. With the exception of a brief two-day vacation (during which she had helped her parents with spring cleaning, mostly by keeping the dog out of the house), Chie had had relatively little time to herself during that time. Not that she minded; on the contrary, it felt nice to be needed (and wanted) again.Yukiko had called her up, asking if Chie were interested in helping her look through some designs for wedding kimono. So for a few days Chie had spent her work-free evenings sitting in the front room of Tatsumi Textiles, going through book after book of fabric an
1 More Chance, Ch.77: Roller Coaster Emotions17 May 2017, Wednesday, Late Afternoon.For at least the twelfth time today, Chie looked up at the clock on the wall of the Inaba Police Station and sighed, trying to decide whether she was concerned or irritated.She had spent the last three days wondering just what kind of game Yousuke was playing with her. She understood him not calling on Monday – that would have been too soon after their little tete-a-tete, and might have appeared desperate or anxious. And maybe she could excuse no communication on Tuesday. After all, he probably was trying to work up the nerve to say just the right thing to her, to war
1 More Chance, Ch.99: Changing Tempo21 May 2017, Sunday, Afternoon.Sitting halfway back in the middle school auditorium, Chie straightened her skirt as she tried to get comfortable in her fold-down seat. She glanced around, seeing mostly families of the young performers, as well as several rows of what must have been the orchestra's classmates near the front.She had never been in orchestra or even band, so the concept of wanting to perform in front of an audience was a bit foreign to her. She had competed in a couple of prefecture Taekwon Do matches (before she decided to follow in her grandmother's footsteps and study Wing Tsun in earnest), but that had
1 More Chance, Ch.10ARC II: HEARTBEAT, HEARTBREAK10: Rendezvous, Take 122 May 2017, Monday, Late Morning.Yousuke had been right: it had been almost impossible to get to sleep the night before.Chie had gotten home shortly before nine, but she had spent the next six-or-so hours playing over and over in her head the moment of that last kiss. Each time she had put her head down on the pillow and tried to sleep, she was reminded of the taste of Yousuke's lips, and the smell of his anxious sweat, and the sensation of his warm body pressed up close to hers. And she would fight against the sudden whim to go rushing out into the street in her bare feet and night
1 More Chance, Ch.1515: The Very Word2 June 2017, Friday, Late Afternoon.The sun was still fairly high in the sky when Chie made it out to the shopping district after work; summer was definitely in full swing. She sat down at one of the tables for two at Shimazawas' kissa-ten and ordered an iced coffee (with cream and sugar and plenty of it) while she waited for Yousuke to arrive.After Rise's unexpected confession from the night before, she had wanted to talk to him, set things straight between them. She didn't want their relationship to suffer over something from their past, before it had really begun. So she had sent him a text message from her phone fir
1 More Chance, Ch.1616: Rendezvous, Take 23 June 2017: Saturday, Morning.Stifling a yawn, Chie slung her backpack of clothes over her shoulder, waved goodbye to Yukiko a final time, and jogged down the path from the ryokan to the lesser roads. She decided to skip her routine Saturday workout in favor of just meandering through the roads toward home, albeit at a brisk pace. Along the way, she passed a couple of early-morning regulars, among them Otani Takeshi, the older brother of one of her old classmates; Kibuishi Toyoshi, a fellow officer from the police department; and of course Nagase Daisuke, who was leading a handful of more dedicated students from his
1 More Chance, Ch.1717: A Different Kind of Love4 June 2017: Sunday, Early Morning.The first thing of which Chie became aware on this bright, warm Sunday morning was not being able to move. Both her arms and her legs felt secured in place, as if she were restrained by locks. She panicked for a short second, until she remembered what had happened the night before to put her in her current state.Since Kuma had gotten it into his head that she was lonely and needed his special brand of companionship, he had insisted on staying with her, despite the lack of extraneous space in her tiny apartment. Yousuke, in turn, had insisted that she not stay alone with the
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