Set in AU without Symphogears. Kanade and Serena are classmates with Maria a teacher and Tsubasa a year younger. Pre-established relationship fluff. Also implied Maria x Tsubasa.
Serena blinked owlishly from the text she was studiously reading when her cellphone rang. The screen was bright in the near darkness of her room, the only illumination being the lamp she was using to read.
"Maria-neesan…" Serena murmured as she saw that it was her older sister's name flashing on the screen. She rubbed a tired eye using her left hand while the other was used to pick up her phone and answer the call.
"Hello?" Serena answered the call, her voice sounding a little tired.
"Ah, hello Serena?" The familiar voice of Maria greeted her. Despite Serena's apparent exhaustion, hearing the voice of her older sister made her smile a bit. However, it faded fast as worry lanced at her.
"Maria-neesan, why did you call? Is there something wrong at the conference?" Serena asked, worried that something has happened to Maria. Right now Maria was in a week-long teacher's conference in another city four hours away for work and she had just left yesterday, leaving Serena alone at their shared apartment.
"What? No, no! Everything's fine. Perhaps a bit busy but there's no problem here." Maria was quick to assure her and Serena breathed a sigh of relief. "I just called to check up on you. I've only found the time to call you now." Maria sounded quite apologetic.
"It's fine. I know you're busy there too." Serena immediately waved off Maria's apology.
"My days are fully packed and we're running around everywhere. I only get free time when I'm asleep." Maria complained but she was laughing a little. Serena knew without a doubt that even though she was swamped with work that Maria was enjoying herself. Serena knew that she made the right decision to insist that Maria go.
"But enough about me. How are you Serena? Have you been eating three meals a day? Have you been getting enough sleep? Don't study too hard!" Maria fretted as she was prone to do during the rare times the two of them had to be separated.
"I'm fine Maria-neesan. It's only been a day." Serena said to soothe her although she winced guiltily. She had been using all her free time studying for her college entrance exams and she's been studying non-stop ever since she got home from school. Serena glanced at the digital clock nearby and found that it was already fifteen minutes past eight. She hadn't had dinner yet, and she had only eaten a couple of sandwiches from the cafeteria during lunch since she didn't get up early enough to make her own. Of course, she woke up late because she had studied late into the night, totally ignoring Maria's warnings of not studying too late the night before.
"I've already eaten and I'm just doing some light reading." Serena lied, her conscience pricking at her. She felt bad for lying but she didn't want Maria to worry about her so. Serena didn't want to be a burden to her sister, and she wanted to prove that she's capable of taking care of herself.
"Ah, good. I just worry about you sometimes. You take good care of everyone else around you, including me, but when it comes to taking care of yourself…" Maria trailed off, not really needing to finish her words as Serena knew exactly what she was saying. She winced guiltily again, mouthing 'Sorry Maria-neesan.'
"There's nothing to worry about Maria-neesan." Serena said firmly. "So just focus on your work, okay?"
"I know, I know. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you right now but do take care alright? I have to go. Talk to you again tomorrow night! I love you. " Maria then said in farewell.
"Good night, and I love you too." And with that, the line went dead. With a sigh, Serena put down her phone and stood up from her seat to stretch. Her stomach was now protesting loudly as she had been neglecting it for the past few hours. Pondering on what to do about her dinner, Serena wandered off to the kitchen to look at what she could fix up for her dinner.
Unfortunately for her, she had totally neglected to restock the fridge earlier and there was hardly anything to eat except for some eggs and a cup of Maria's favorite pudding. Sighing glumly, Serena closed the door to the fridge and started thinking of what else she could do.
"Maybe I'll just get some takeout…" Serena sighed to herself in defeat. Grabbing her wallet and keys from her room, she was about to step out when her phone rang again. When she saw who it was, a smile lit up Serena's face and she quickly answered. "Hello?"
"Hey there sexy lady." A familiar breathy voice greeted her and Serena giggled.
"Hello, Kanade." She greeted warmly.
"So, I'm willing to bet you haven't eaten yet." Kanade drawled knowingly.
"How did you know that?" Serena blurted out in surprise.
"I didn't. I just made an intelligent guess based on how I know you." Kanade responded glibly and Serena realized that Kanade got her good.
"I… I'm just about to go out and get food." Serena sighed. Knowing Kanade, she would scold Serena for being neglectful.
"No need babe. I just need you to open the door." Kanade informed her cheerfully, not at all sounding mad as Serena expected her to.
Puzzled, Serena did as she was told, only to find a beaming Kanade burdened with several plastic bags in both hands, her Bluetooth headset blinking at her right ear.
"Hey." Kanade greeted her casually as Serena's mouth fell open a little.
"Why are you here?" Serena asked, totally caught off-guard at her girlfriend's sudden appearance, her hand falling down at her side limply with her phone.
"Why, I'm here to the rescue for my starving yet still hot girlfriend." Kanade winked. Serena was both touched and guilty at Kanade's gesture. If there was one thing that Serena didn't like, it was burdening other people with her own problems.
"And no, you're not a burden. I did this because I wanted to." Kanade seemed to have read Serena's face perfectly, anticipating what was in her mind. Serena had to take a moment to marvel at how easily Kanade could read her. Maria had been the only one who could read her so well. "I promise I got good stuff so can I come in?" Kanade continued, lifting the plastic bags for emphasis.
"Oh! Of course." Serena internally berated herself for not even inviting Kanade in. She helped Kanade in carrying some of the plastic bags and allowed her to come in first. Serena then noticed that Kanade had a large backpack with her and it was the first that she deposited on the couch. The plastic bags were then placed at the top of the kitchen counter.
"I'll be borrowing your freezer, okay?" Kanade then said as she pulled out three tubs of ice cream from one of the bags.
"Ice cream?" Serena tilted her head questioningly.
"For dessert of course." Kanade grinned proudly as she closed the freezer door. "And that there is our dinner. I should've been here earlier but your favorite place had a lot of customers in. I had to wait for a bit." Kanade then pointed to the bag beside Serena before she washed her hands.
Serena went to check out the indicated bag, only to see that it was indeed from her favorite Italian restaurant. Serena's mouth watered when she found her all-time favorite dish along with Kanade's own order. This wasn't the first time that Kanade had done something kind for her but strangely, Serena felt a sudden rush of affection and emotion for her girlfriend. Automatically, Serena approached Kanade and hugged her from behind, burying her face at her wild mane of red hair and her broad back.
"Oh? Something wrong, Serena?" Kanade asked mildly as she wiped her hands on a towel, otherwise staying perfectly still as she basked in Serena's warmth.
"…Thank you." Serena murmured, her voice muffled. Kanade only laughed softly in response and turned around in Serena's embrace to kiss her forehead.
"Well, I think your stomach waited long enough. It's time for us to eat." Kanade said and Serena gave a nod in reply, stepping away.
Serena practically inhaled her pasta, her hunger now apparent as they settled down to eat at the dining table. She pouted a little when Kanade laughed.
"What?" Serena asked, perhaps a little miffed, not at all noticing the sauce that made itself appear at the corner of her mouth.
"I just enjoy seeing you eat so happily. I think I've been an influence on you." Kanade smirked, reaching across the table to swipe her thumb at the stray sauce, brushing against the corner of Serena's bottom lip. Serena immediately blushed, turning pink as she looked at Kanade with wide eyes.
"Aww. You're so cute when you blush. You should do it more often." Kanade cooed as she licked off the sauce off her thumb. Serena's face burned at the jab and at the gesture. She could only avert her eyes, shyly lowering them down to look at her mostly empty plate. Usually, Serena wasn't all that flustered whenever Kanade would flirt with her even before they were together. Now though… Kanade was certainly getting even bolder now!
Serena was unable to come up with a comeback and she remained silent with that adorable blush on her cheeks. Kanade seemed really happy of her victory at making Serena blush as she stared at Serena with a goofy smile, putting her chin on top of her hand. Serena can even hear her hum a happy tune. Serena didn't even notice that Kanade was already finished with her meal and she was content at just watching Serena.
"Are you done?" Kanade asked as soon as Serena polished off the last of her pasta. When she nodded, Kanade immediately stood up and gathered the dishes.
"K-Kanade! That's my job!" Serena exclaimed as she shot to her feet, the chair she was on scraping the floor noisily but she ignored it as best she could. Kanade was her guest after all, and having her clear the table was rude.
"Uh-uh. You just sit back and relax honey." Kanade snatched away the dishes that Serena was reaching out to. "You've been studying so hard lately. You deserve a break." With great reluctance, Serena sat back down. Kanade was right. She had been studying almost non-stop for days now, made even worse when she didn't have Maria fussing over her.
"Besides, we still have the awesome dessert I'm about to make." Kanade grinned as she put the dishes down in the sink before pulling out the tubs of ice cream from the freezer. She then took the other plastic bag still left in the counter and brought out a can of whip cream, a jar of cherries, a pack of nuts, some sprinkles, a bottle of chocolate sauce and a banana. Lastly, a huge bowl was placed in front of Serena and Kanade held a knife in one hand and an ice cream scoop in the other.
"Now feast your eyes on Chef Kanade's very special Banana Split Surprise!" Kanade exclaimed grandly. First, Kanade took a scoop each of the three ice cream tubs, which revealed themselves to be strawberry, chocolate and vanilla flavors and placed them in the large bowl. Next, she cut the banana in half and then chopping them into smaller bite-sized pieces and arranging them around the trio of ice cream. She pulled out the whipped cream next, generously topping the ice cream. Kanade then sprinkled on the nuts and sprinkles, and she put on the whipped cream three stemmed maraschino cherries. For the finale, she drizzled the chocolate sauce all over the sweet concoction.
"And voila!" Kanade said as dramatically as possible, even bowing as she gestured to the bowl. "For you mademoiselle." Her pronunciation was awful and she thoroughly exaggerated the French accent but Serena couldn't help but giggle, her eyes shining at the dessert that Kanade made for her.
"Thank you, Kanade!" Serena was thrilled as Kanade presented a spoon to her so she can dig in. Ice cream had always been a favorite of Serena's. She took a spoonful of it and took it all in. The cold and sweet flavor burst in her mouth, making her smile and nod in satisfaction.
"How is it?" Kanade asked rather anxiously.
"It tastes perfect." Serena told her sincerely and took another spoonful before offering it to Kanade. "See for yourself." For a moment, Kanade looked surprised at the bold offer before she obediently opened her mouth and allowed Serena to feed her.
"See?" Serena smiled sweetly and Kanade nodded dumbly. Seeing Kanade being the one caught off-guard this time was sweet indeed. "I can't finish all of this though. So you better help me." Serena then said and Kanade seemed to have recovered as she took another spoon and sat back down to share the dessert with Serena. It didn't take all that long for the banana split to dwindle to a shallow pool of melted ice cream.
"Thank you for the meal. I really enjoyed that." Serena sighed happily as she put her spoon down. It was certainly a big change from her earlier exhaustion. A good meal and good company along with beloved ice cream greatly improved Serena's overall mood and made her feel relaxed instead of stressed.
"I'm glad that you liked it." Kanade chuckled as she placed her spoon down too. "You've been really stressed lately with all the studying you've been doing. I know it's important but you have to relax and take care of yourself." Kanade sounded reprimanding now and Serena winced guiltily. "Besides, I promised Maria, so I'm crashing here until she gets back."
"You will?" Serena asked, shocked. This was the first she heard of it. No wonder Kanade had brought a bag with her. "I'm surprised Maria-neesan let you." It was certainly no secret that Maria was rather protective of Serena, and even though she approved of Serena and Kanade's relationship, she was a bit strict with regards to staying over unless she was personally there.
"Well, I've convinced her of my trustworthiness. That, and Tsubasa also backed me up." Kanade winked.
"Oh, would Tsubasa-san be alright with you staying here for a week?" Serena asked, worried for Kanade's roommate and best friend.
"Of course she is. She's worried for you too after all. I actually asked her if she wanted to stay over too but with your big sister gone, she said that she'll just be the third wheel and didn't want to disturb us." Kanade grinned at that and Serena chuckled. Well, she did understand Tsubasa's gripes of being a third wheel and besides, with Maria out, she didn't have a compelling reason to come. It was almost funny at times with how utterly smitten Tsubasa was with Maria, and Tsubasa herself didn't actually realize it.
"But in any case, big sis Kanade is here to take care of you so you don't need to worry!" Kanade puffed up her chest proudly. The image was marred with some stray ice cream near Kanade's lips and Serena couldn't help but giggle.
"Big Sis? We're the same age and I'm older than you by a few months." Serena reminded her, affection welling up in her chest as she looked at Kanade. Sometimes Serena feels that Kanade is too good for her. Kanade seems boisterous and playful at first glance but Serena came to know that she has a caring and strong heart.
"Details. Who needs them." Kanade snorted, waving a hand for emphasis. Serena then stood up and approached Kanade with an innocent smile.
"I don't think I want you as my big sister though. Maria-neesan would be upset." Serena said lightly. "I'd rather have you as my girlfriend." With that announcement, Serena stopped right beside Kanade and leaned down. If Kanade can boldly flirt with her, Serena can certainly do the same. Kanade had seemingly frozen, waiting with baited breath. Serena smirked as she licked away the ice cream from the corner of Kanade's lips and stood up straight again.
Kanade looked up at Serena with a multitude of emotions. At first surprise, then disbelief and then indignation. Kanade's hand then shot forward and firmly latched on Serena's wrist, preventing her from moving away. Serena merely looked questioningly at her, an innocent expression on her face.
"You are such a tease." Kanade proclaimed flatly before yanking Serena down for their lips to meet in a proper kiss. Serena's heart skipped a beat when their lips met and she melted under Kanade's incessant lips. She didn't even realize that Kanade had stood up and had her arms wrapped around Serena's waist.
When Kanade pulled away, Serena was completely breathless and flushed. Kanade grinned lazily down at her before nuzzling Serena's cheek, prompting Serena to giggle at the ticklish and warm feeling.
"I love you." Kanade breathed out and Serena's heart swelled. She breathed in Kanade's scent that reminded Serena of a sunny day and cinnamon.
"I love you too." Serena murmured back with all the sincerity she can muster, hugging Kanade tightly.