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Swirls of steam rise from the mug of tea resting on a tattered crochet coaster. Rain patters against the window, yellow curtains pulled back to allow the gray light into the room. The kitchen light glows a yellow-orange in comparison, and Kyoko flips her index card over. With a sigh, she places it in the larger of the two piles, resigning herself to yet another reread of her textbook.
The soft sound of sock-covered feet against the hardwood floor comes from behind Kyoko. She leans forward over the coffee table, and Chrome slides onto the couch behind her. “Still at it, Kyoko?” she asks quietly as Kyoko leans back against Chrome’s legs.
Kyoko nods and reaches for her tea with her free hand. She scowls down at the next index card over the rim of the mug, drawing yet another blank on the answer. Thunder rumbles. The coaster muffles the sound of the mug settling back on the table. The index card bends with a whip-like sound when Kyoko turns it over and then slams it at the top of the pile.
Kyoko sets down the cards in her hand, leans forward on her elbows, and hides her face in her hands. “I can’t seem to remember any of it, Chrome-chan,” she says.
Chrome rubs Kyoko’s shoulders soothingly until Kyoko straightens again with a heavy sigh. “Would you like me to braid your hair?” she asks when Kyoko pushes her shoulder-length hair behind her ears.
“Please.”
Chrome stands and leaves the room in search of Kyoko’s hair brush and some hair ties. Kyoko gives up on the index cards and pulls her open textbook closer to herself, flipping back to the beginning of the chapter. “Do you think Tsuna-kun would trade classes with me?” she calls. Her voice loud in the muffled quiet of the apartment.
A flash of lightning at the window. The wind picks up and whips the trees in the yard around. The time on the oven ticks over to the next hour, and Chrome’s airy laugh carries from the hallway. Kyoko can’t help but smile.
“Ken’s been crowing about his and bossu’s test grades since they started studying together,” Chrome says as she returns and crawls back onto the couch. “I think you’re stuck with law classes.”
Gentle hands pull Kyoko’s hair back, and the brush bristles run soothingly against her scalp. Kyoko leans back into Chrome’s administrations, wincing when the brush gets stuck on a knot. Chrome whispers an apology and gently teases the knot loose. “I suppose I don’t particularly want to study biology anyway,” Kyoko muses. “Too many molecules and systems and organelles to memorize.” She leans her head all the way back into Chrome’s lap until she can grin up into Chrome’s purple eye. Chrome’s cheeks turn a dusty pink, and she leans down to kiss Kyoko’s brow before she pushes her head upright again.
“You’re making it hard to brush,” she says.
“Maybe you shouldn’t reward me for it then,” Kyoko smiles lazily and waggles her eyebrows.
The storm outside lightens up, but they’ve lived here long enough to know it’ll start pouring again soon. For now, the grass outside the window is a brilliant green, petals litter the ground beneath the rose bush, and the trees sway gently in the breeze. Kyoko turns back to her textbook.
Chrome sets the brush aside and pulls Kyoko’s hair into a low ponytail. Then, she nudges Kyoko’s shoulders forward and begins braiding her hair. A page scraps against its fellows as Kyoko turns it. She leans forward even more against the pull behind her. Once Chrome has tied off the braid, she wraps her arms around Kyoko’s shoulders and leans her chin on the top of Kyoko’s head.
“Teach me,” Chrome says. “Please, it might help more than index cards and cramming the chapter.”
Thunder rumbles again, louder this time. Kyoko can’t argue with Chrome’s logic, besides if she can teach the material, she obviously knows it right? She rolls her shoulders back, and Chrome pulls away. Turning to face her girlfriend, Kyoko thinks about where to start.
“Okay, so you know…”
The rain continues into the evening. The world outside darkens, and the light in the kitchen seems to glow even brighter. Occasionally lightning will flash, drawing their eyes, and sometimes one or the other will count off the seconds until the roll of thunder that follows. Tea is drunk, and mugs refilled. Kyoko’s voice fills the apartment as she lectures on about the legal system, interrupted only by Chrome’s questions and soft kisses. At some point, Kyoko braids a loose braid into Chrome’s hair, which immediately tries to escape her efforts.
The textbook closes and index cards are put away to the sound of quiet laughter. Kyoko sits on the couch with Chrome, fingers woven together, head against head, and throw blanket stretched over them as they watch the last of the rain patter against the window together.