Chapter Text
January 7th. Teruko's birthday. Teruko didn't celebrate her birthday. When she was still with Kyo, he'd try to get her something every year- maybe a sweet treat or a stuffed animal.
Teruko didn't have any money to get herself a gift or even any kind of pick me up. After all, her cursed luck and string of unpaid medical bills made it impossible for her to keep any of the money she made, even when she could keep a job. She didn't tell her classmates this- after all, if they knew, they might try to throw her some kind of surprise party, and her terrible luck would ruin that too. So, Teruko was alone in her dorm room that day.
"Ugh... Why do I have such terrible luck? What god has it out for me, anyways...?" Teruko muttered.
Teruko sulked that morning. She didn't get out of bed and didn't go to class. She buried herself in blankets to try and fight off the winter chill. She was unsuccessful in this endeavor and eventually got out of bed. She turned and looked at her alarm clock. It was 10 AM. She got in the shower, quickly slipping and falling on the floor. After a few bruises, she got out and looked at herself in the mirror. She saw someone who was cursed with horrible luck, whose mere presence was enough to cause harm. She went back to bed.
She woke up once again, unable to sleep through the whole day, no matter how much she wanted to. She looked at the alarm clock again. It was now 12 PM. She got out of bed, slipping and falling once again. She made herself some eggs and toast. The eggs were okay, but the toast was burnt. Teruko looked down at her food and sighed.
"Happy birthday to me..."
As the unlucky girl was about to eat, she heard the doorbell ring. Who could possibly want to see her at half past noon, anyways? Teruko stood up and opened the door, expecting the mailman or maybe even a door-to-door salesman. Instead, she was faced with Eden Tobisa. The clockmaker was carrying two bags in her hands. One looked like a small present bag, and the other seemed to be from the donut place, Mimi's Donuts, just off campus.
"Hey, Teruko! Mind if I come in?"
Teruko was caught off guard. Eden normally never missed her classes. In fact, she was always on time, as opposed to Teruko constantly being late. Teruko, despite herself, let Eden in. Eden was talking quickly, but Teruko managed to catch most of it.
"I know that you said you didn't want anyone over on your birthday, and that you didn't celebrate your birthday, but I didn't just want to leave you alone! So, I grabbed some donuts from that little cafe down the street, and I got you a gift!"
Teruko sat down on her couch, her initial surprise morphing into annoyance.
"Yeah, Eden. I don't celebrate my birthday because if I do, something bad will end up happening. I'll get hurt, someone else will get hurt, I'll damage something, I'll destroy something!"
Teruko shook her head. She looked Eden in the eyes. Eden's expression had gone from excited to slightly melancholy.
"Please, Teruko? I really think it'll be okay if it's just the two of us..."
Teruko couldn't hold Eden's gaze. God, why did the smaller girl make her feel like this? She couldn't tell Eden no; the clockmaker was way too sweet.
"...Fine, you win. Just warning you, be careful."
Eden perked up, clearly excited once again.
"Thank you, Teruko! You're not gonna regret this, I promise!"
Within minutes, Eden had cleared off Teruko's coffee table and placed the contents of the larger bag on it. What normally held overdue bills and random half-empty energy drinks now had donuts, napkins, and two plates set out on it. Eden had gotten a dozen donuts. Six of them were strawberry frosted donuts with sprinkles, while the other six appeared to be some type of jelly donuts. Teruko took one of the jelly donuts and bit into it, only to find that it was a red bean paste donut instead of a jelly donut. Which was nice, considering Teruko loved red beans in all their forms, but Teruko wondered how Eden had gotten these. Teruko hadn't ever been able to find red bean pastries really anywhere (despite the fact that she was always looking).
"Hey, Eden, how'd you get red bean paste donuts? I can't seem to find these anywhere."
Eden chuckled a little and then responded.
"Well, Mimi's does donuts of the day. And today, their donut of the day just so happened to be red bean paste. Good luck, huh?"
Teruko blinked, clearly surprised.
"Yeah, that is pretty good luck..."
When they'd finished eating, Eden finally pulled out the gift bag she'd brought along with the donuts. She handed it to Teruko, her eyes shining with anticipation.
"No birthday is complete without a gift. Come on, Teruko, open it!"
Teruko reached into the bag and pulled out a pocket watch. Just from a single glance, Teruko could tell you three things about this pocket watch. One, it was way out of her price range. As in, the thing was gold plated with a sailboat carved on the back. Two, it was a very nice pocket watch, clearly handmade. The last thing she automatically assumed but didn't fully grasp. Eden had made this very nice pocket watch, gold chain included, for her. Teruko stared at the pocket watch for a few more seconds before looking back up at Eden.
"This is... It's really nice, Eden, but I don't think I can keep it."
Eden scrunched up her nose a little bit.
"Teruko, I made this for you. You're keeping it."
Teruko made a move to put the watch back in the bag.
"Eden, I really don't deserve something this nice. Save it for someone else."
Teruko looked at Eden again. Eden's lower lip quivered, and what little willpower Teruko had completely collapsed.
"Teruko..."
"No, I'm being rude. Thank you, Eden... Even if I don't deserve all of this, you being here means a lot to me."
Eden didn't say anything back. Instead, she pulled Teruko into a hug. Teruko stiffened for a second and then let Eden hold onto her. Eden finally spoke.
"Don't talk like that, Teruko. You deserve the world. Okay?"
Teruko shifted on the couch, suddenly feeling awkward.
"I'll take your word for it, Eden..."
They laid there for a long time. Eden, normally able to keep perfect track of time, didn't know how long. Time passed differently when she was with Teruko. Teruko just being in a room made time pass both very fast and very slow, like the world was moving fast but Eden wanted it to slow down. Eden knew what this feeling in her chest was, and as she listened to Teruko's heartbeat, she tried to figure out if Teruko felt that feeling too.