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Chrome leads the way up the mountain with a picnic basket in hand. Her fingers lightly curl into Kyoko’s as the shadows lengthen, the setting sun painting the sky in pinks and oranges above them. The path from the trolley to their destination is clear, and Kyoko seems content to be led into the darkening forest despite questioning the reason for a picnic basket when Chrome met her at the trolley station - “It’s a bit late for a picnic, no?”
Glancing over her shoulder, Chrome slows to a stop, breath caught in her throat, completely enraptured by the way the sun reflects off Kyoko’s hair, turning it a glowing golden amber to match her shining eyes.
“Oh?” Kyoko looks around in scrunched nose confusion. “Are we there already?”
Heat rushes into Chrome’s cheeks. “Um, no. Not yet,” she says, turning forward again. She resists the urge to look back again and quadruple check Kyoko’s wearing good walking shows like she asked. She knows she is. It would be the same light pink pair of sneakers with the rainbow tie-dye laces that have been on her feet every time she’s checked. “There’s a clearing just ahead. I thought… I thought we could lay the blanket down there.”
“Oh! The one with the amazing view over town?” Kyoko’s voice bubbles with excitement, and she picks up speed, almost skipping ahead and dragging Chrome behind her.
“Uh-huh.” At least Chrome assumes it is. Tsuna seemed to think it was a good spot when she asked him for ideas, though he blushed and stammered through the entire conversation before earnestly looking her in the eye and wishing her the best date possible.
Kyoko’s excitement is infectious - she playfully tugs at Chrome’s hand, urging her faster with a grin -, and a shining smile spreads across Chrome’s face. Her heart beating fast and hard against her chest.
The sun almost finishes setting, and the tree roots sticking up from the dirt become that much harder to see in the twilight. Together they take turns stumbling over them, laughing as they push and pull into each other, neither willing to break her hold on the other’s hand. When they reach the clearing, the stars are only just starting to come out.
They take a moment to smile up at them. Kyoko wraps an arm around Chrome’s waist and nestles into her shoulder. In the grass around them, crickets begin their nightly chorus.
“Well,” Chrome says, reluctantly pulling out of Kyoko’s hold and laying the blanket down in a patch of moonlit wildflowers. She sets the basket open on one of the corners and stands back with a small flourish. “This is it! I…” Her gaze drops to Kyoko’s sneakers as she shuffles her feet and wrings her hands, ears burning pink. Kyoko will love this. She already does - just look at her smile! she tells herself. “There’s a meteor shower tonight, and I thought we could watch it together. I brought cake too!” Pulling out the cake from the picnic basket, she presents it to Kyoko with a shy smile. “From that bakery you like…”
Kyoko’s grin somehow grows bigger as she takes the cake box and sets it down. Taking Chrome’s hands in hers, she says, “I love it, Chrome-chan.” She stands up on her tiptoes and kisses Chrome, first on each corner of her mouth and then properly on her lips.
Chrome has never been so grateful for the dark hiding her blush before
The first streak of silver light shoots across the sky. “It’s starting!” Kyoko gasps. She pulls Chrome down onto the blanket next to her. Their shoulders press against each other, cheeks almost touching, as the heavens rain down above them.
The warmth of their body heat keeps the evening chill away. Forks tink against each other as the cake disappears. Sweet icing stains lips and turns sweet kisses even sweeter. Entire minutes disappear while Chrome stares at Kyoko, watching the stars fall in her eyes. Kyoko then catches her and pulls her in for another kiss before tucking her head in the crook of Chrome’s neck.
As the shower reaches its peak and the stars begin to slow, Chrome chooses one to wish on. Warmth in her chest and a smile on her face, she whispers, “I wish this night would never end.”
Kyoko laughingly snorts. “Well, I wish for many more nights like this.” She sits up and looks deep into Chrome’s eye. “After all, why stop at one beautiful and endless night when we can have so many more.” Her smile pushes her cheeks so high, they turn her eyes into half-moons.
A pondering hum. “I think I can get behind that,” Chrome breathes. She cradles the soft pillow of Kyoko’s cheek in her hand and pulls her into a deep kiss. A trio of stars arc over their heads toward the horizon.