Akari wasn't entirely sure what had inspired Kyouko to invite the younger girl along on whatever errands the blonde had to complete, but she didn't feel a need to complain that much as she followed Kyouko through the crowded downtown streets as the blonde practically floated along with feather-light steps.
Shivering at the rapidly cooling temperatures as Summer waned and Fall began Akari was pouting as the thought briefly crossed her mind that she ought to have worn heavier clothing in the weather, as she was currently in a plaid knee-length skirt with black leggings, a button-up white shirt, as well as a somewhat light jacket that she had been under the impression would be thick enough to resist the cool breeze.
On the other hand Kyouko was dressed rather light for the weather in a pair of black shorts and matching shirt with the girl's manga character Mirakurun decorating the front. Akari felt almost jealous of the fact that it didn't seem like the cool breeze was bothering her friend, but quickly brushed those thoughts aside.
When Kyouko had shown up on Akari's doorstep that morning with one of her bright smiles claiming that she needed the younger girl to come with her so that the blonde could complete some errands, a few questions immediately came to Akari's mind, but she chose to remain silent for the time being and simply put up with Kyouko.
It was even more difficult for Akari to turn down Kyouko when the older girl reached out and grabbed Akari's hand, intertwining their fingers together, and sending a jolt of warmth up Akari's arm that made the red-haired girl blush, which she was thankful that Kyouko appeared to be oblivious to.
None of the girl's other friends were likely aware of the crush that Akari had on the free-spirited artist, though Akari had a feeling that Yui might have suspicions judging by the slightly longer than usual looks that the younger girl took in Kyouko's direction when the four girls were together. More then once Akari had finally broken her momentary enchantment of everything beautiful about Kyouko only to catch Yui looking at her inquisitively.
Some people might consider it odd for Akari to have any kinds of romantic feelings for the older blonde when she harassed and teased Akari constantly when they were together, but the truth was that Akari knew her feelings had begun to grow as far back as when she, Kyouko and Yui were still children, and the blonde was still prone to crying and requiring protection from people that sought to harass and make fun of Kyouko.
The teasing that Kyouko tended to aim in Akari's direction usually simply rolled off of the girl's shoulders, since she had known Kyouko long enough to be aware that the blonde really meant no harm, and Akari was able to admit that some of what the blonde said was true.
Secretly Akari treasured the memory of the short story that Kyouko had written about Akari going missing with help from a time machine to the past, and how everyone had become worried enough to start trying to put up posters asking for any information about the missing redhead.
Kyouko may not have intended it that way, but the fact that the story ended with the blonde tearfully embracing Akari caused Akari's heartbeat to quicken when she thought of it, and the redhead was sure that her cheeks were glowing the same color as her hair when the memory flashed back through her mind.
"Hurry up Akari, we have a whole bunch of places to go to and if we want any time to have fun afterwards we can't be dawdling!" Kyouko shouted out a few blocks away from the daydreaming redhead.
Squeaking as she snapped back to reality for the moment, Akari realized just how far ahead Kyouko had managed to get and quickened her pace to catch up to her friend with hurried apologies "I'm sorry Kyouko!"
Only because of how far away she was from the blonde did Akari miss the red staining Kyouko's cheeks as she watched the flustered redhead begin running to try and catch up with her friend.
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Maybe she was prone to moments of nonsense and caused no end of trouble for her friends with her flights of fancy, but Kyouko enjoyed every second that she spent together with her friends. It was likely a side-effect of spending so many years together with Akari and Yui that allowed them to roll with every one of the blonde's whimsical ideas.
Showing off one of her widest smiles filled with shining teeth as she sat across from the exhausted Akari at a small maid café that she had gone to before with Yui, Kyouko silently enjoyed the way that Akari's reddened cheeks matched the color of her hair as the two waited for their orders to arrive after Akari worked so hard to keep up with the blonde's pace.
"You did good being able to keep up with me all morning Akari" Kyouko offered a small amount of praise to her friend while Akari did her best to regain her energy after following Kyouko between different shops during the morning.
"Akari won't let you down by being weak or giving up when things become hard!" The redhead stated confidently as she sat up straighter and thumped her chest with a closed fist, making Kyouko giggle when she referred to herself in the third person.
It had become a somewhat cute quirk for Akari to begin speaking in the third person infrequently as the girls got older, and Kyouko was always amused when her friend unconsciously performed it, though she was never able to perfectly pinpoint when exactly Akari had begun doing it.
"That's the spirit Akari! I know that by now Chinatsu would be complaining about losing out on her entire day or not being able to spend time together with Yui if I had brought her along, and Yui is just too stoic sometimes for this kind of thing!" Kyouko offered as a comparison to the red-haired girl, who only nodded in understanding and agreement of Kyouko's point.
"Akari is happy to help you out with whatever you need her for!" Akari told her friend cheerfully, almost making Kyouko start laughing at the girl's dedication to her friends. It was a charming feature of the red-haired girl that Kyouko knew she sometimes took advantage of, and felt a little bad about.
Stretching her body across the table so that she could reach the younger girl all of a sudden, Kyouko placed her hand atop Akari's head and began to pet her friend with a smile as she offered more praise "I really appreciate you coming along with me, I never would have been able to carry all of this stuff by myself" she explained, referring to the several shopping bags that were tucked under the table between the two girls.
It was an amusing sight to see Akari practically melt under the praise and head pats, and a small dopey smile grew on the redhead's face as Kyouko continued to run her fingers through her friend's hair.
Unfortunately the moment had to be interrupted as a black-haired maid approached the table dressed demurely in the establishments uniform and balancing their orders on her tray. If Kyouko had to judge she would say that this maid was a few years older then the two girls, and the small smile on her face as she made her presence known to the pair by clearing her throat allowed Kyouko to guess that she was amused by the scene that she had interrupted.
Akari immediately jumped and released an adorable squeak as she pulled away from Kyouko's hand while her cheeks glowed bright red from the embarrassing moment. Kyouko wasn't nearly as bothered as she simply sat back and smiled up at the older woman.
"Oh don't stop on my account girls" the maid teased the pair as she set down the girls orders on the table, a large sundae for Kyouko and a soda float for Akari, before she brushed down her skirt and offered a bow to the pair "please let us know if there is anything else you would like mistresses" and took the chance to depart.
Kyouko watched the woman leave with amusement twinkling in her eyes, and grinned as she turned back to Akari with a great idea on her mind "hey, wouldn't an Akari-maid be a great idea?" She inquired with excellent timing, as Akari had just been taking a sip of her soda. She probably shouldn't have taken as much enjoyment out of watching Akari momentarily choke on her soda due to the question as she did, but the redhead regained her composure before Kyouko could become worried.
Akari reached up to scratch her cheek at the embarrassing thought, but Kyouko did note a small smile on the younger girl's face forming as she replied "maids are cute, and it could help with my lack of presence" she muttered under her breath, though Kyouko was able to overhear her.
"I could take pictures of it and post them all over the internet! You would have tons of fans in just days!" Kyouko announced with a bright grin as she jumped to her feet, taking the chance to tease Akari a bit more.
Kyouko was barely able to hold in her laughter when Akari's face lit up like a stop sign at the thought, and she quickly leaned in with tears in her eyes "please don't start posting weird pictures of Akari online Kyouko!" She practically begged her friend.
Though she took a large amount of amusement out of Akari's reaction, Kyouko kept the secret that she would never post pictures like that online to herself. Any pictures of Akari in cute outfits like that which were designed by Kyouko that she had managed to talk the redhead into putting on were for Kyouko's eyes only, not that Akari needed to know that.
The redheads reactions when Kyouko said things like that were always too cute for her to resist teasing her crush.
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A/N: Kyouko turned out to be more difficult to write for then I expected considering our personalities could be seen as pretty similar.
Draw your own conclusions about Kyouko's possessiveness of Akari, but she's not going to lose the battle for Akari's heart to Akane.
Oh, and since there may be people that ask about it, this story DOES NOT have any relation to my Akari X Yui stories.
I may write a follow-up piece to this story as well, but I'm not sure yet since right now I'm kind of working through a case of writer's block and discarding more stories than I'm finishing.