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Air blasts out of the white box unit above the door as Chrome pushes it open with a hand. The sound fades quickly as the door closes behind her and Kyoko, replaced by the sounds of running water, quail calls, and rustling leaves. Green plants tower along the winding sidewalk, reaching for the fine netting situated at least a story above their heads, dotted with bright tropical flowers.
Chrome breathes in the fresh, clean air and smiles back at Kyoko. “Thank you,” she says, already fiddling with the camera around her neck. She exchanges the short lens for long, spins the dial to close-up mode.
Kyoko bounces on the balls of her feets, clapping her hands together. “Of course, Chrome-chan! I haven’t come here since I was little, and this was the perfect excuse anyway.” She wraps an arm around Chrome’s shoulders and holds her phone out for a selfie. Chrome looks up from her camera to smile at the Kyoko on the phone screen. One click later, and the moment is captured forever: Kyoko on the right, cheeks flushed the same soft pink as her shirt, and Chrome on the left, bangs pushed forward by Chikusa’s spare beanie, almost covering her eye-patch and drawing the eye to her soft smile.
Forget any pictures she takes today, Chrome wants that one in a frame on her bedside table so it can be the first thing she sees every morning.
Her phone chimes as she tucks the short lens back into her camera bag, and she catches Kyoko’s eyes knowingly. Kyoko giggles and clutches her phone to her chest in that particular way that means not only has she sent Chrome a copy of the picture, she has already set it as her new phone background. A warm affection fills Chrome’s chest so much she thinks she might burst from it.
Ducking her head, Chrome takes a moment to run a finger along her patch, making sure the straps are straight under the beanie. Then she spins the camera bag to rest against her hip, freeing Ken’s jacket from being bunched under the strap and tugging at the collar of Mukuro’s band shirt so that it doesn’t press up against her neck so much. Each of the boys had taken offense to her outfit when she laid it out last night and had insisted on styling her themselves. She’s decided to take it as a token of their blessings on her relationship and as something like a lucky rabbit’s foot for the date to go well.
Of course nothing comes free with them, that would be admitting a weakness, a fondness for her, so she had a short list of things to bring them back in return from the gift shop- fun socks and a book for Chikusa, some kind of game or puzzle for Ken.
A picture of a Blue Morpho butterfly for Mukuro.
Checking her camera settings one more time and taking a test shot of a flower near the entrance, she turns to Kyoko and asks, “Ready?”
“Ready!”
They move along the sidewalk, pausing to take pictures of the butterflies gliding through the air and drinking nectar from the flowers. A white-and-cream butterfly with black stripes and dots similar to a monarch kindly opens it’s wings while sitting on a leaf, and Chrome snaps a couple pictures. Another picture of a small black one with a red and cream spot in the center of it’s lower wings drinking from an orange flower. Switch to her phone to take a picture of Kyoko grinning and pointing to five brown-gray-blue, perfectly orb-shaped quail amongst the foliage in a corner.
The Blue Morphos they see are clustered on banana halves, drinking the rotting juice. Their wings folded up so the brown undersides and large eyespots are visible rather than the brilliant metallic blue they’re known for. Chrome takes several pictures of the butterflies, but they keep twisting around in the hopes of seeing one flapping it’s wings on a leaf or something similar.
“Over there!” Kyoko whisper-shouts, pointing across the water feature beside them. Chrome follows her finger and sees it: A Blue Morpho flittering along over the water feature. She pulls her camera up and frantically tries to get it to focus on the moving butterfly. Kyoko’s phone camera clicks once, twice, three times. By the time, Chrome’s brought her camera into focus, the butterfly is gone.
Kyoko shakes her head as she flips through the pictures she took. “I didn’t get it either, Chrome-chan,” she says.
Chrome shrugs. “We’ll just have to keep trying. If we don’t get it, Mukuro-sama will understand.” But he’ll be disappointed, and Chrome doesn’t want to disappoint him when he’s done so much for her.
They keep following the path in a dance of whirling steps and whipping turns as they chased the Morphos flying from one plate of bananas to the next. Chrome manages to get a blurry half a wing at the edge of a picture; Kyoko manages to get a picture of one closing it’s wings, the smallest sliver of blue visible.
They pause and take selfie together while sitting on a bench. An emerald swallowtail sitting in Kyoko’s hair while another white-and-cream settles on Chrome’s outstretched finger.
They sit on that bench for a while, watching people pass by and just enjoying each other’s company. Kyoko rests her head on Chrome’s shoulder and weaves her fingers between Chrome’s. “This is a good day, neh?”
Chrome hums in agreement. “Any day with you is a good day,” she whispers. “The butterflies and photography practice is just a bonus.”
“If only the Morphos would cooperate.”
Chrome hums. “We did get lots of pictures of them though,” she says with a laugh. She looks at Kyoko, who lifts her head to smile up at her so brightly her eyes almost close. Before she has a chance to overthink it, Chrome darts forward and presses a kiss to the corner of Kyoko’s mouth.
Kyoko giggles. “Don’t forget the other side,” she says, and Chrome kisses the other corner of her mouth. She then presses a kiss to the tip of Kyoko’s nose for good measure.
Then, Kyoko wraps both arms around Chrome’s neck, hands locked together, and she pulls Chrome into a gentle kiss. Their lips curve upwards in shared smiles, even as they press their lips together. It’s only the ticklish feeling of butterfly legs settling on Chrome’s hands that pulls her away from the moment. She looks down and laughs.
A Blue Morpho flutters its wings as it almost dances in place on her hand. Kyoko oh so slowly pulls a hand down from around Chrome’s neck and reaches for her phone. As her fingers graze the phone case, the Morpho flutters away.
The phone camera shutter clicks seconds too late.
“Oh,” Chrome sighs. “We were so close.”
“Or maybe just close enough?” Kyoko holds up her phone, showing off a picture of a blurry, almost streak of moving blue. The Morpho is just in focus enough to be identifiable as a butterfly.
Chrome stares at the picture just a moment longer. Then she grins like a loon and pulls Kyoko into another breathtaking kiss.