Characters: Chrome, Haru, Kyouko
Rating: G
Word Count: 450
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. No own, no profit, no sue.
Prompt: II 50. Chrome/girls - friends; "never been like this" at khrfest
Notes: Written in January '10.
This was new. She could see no hidden motives, no sugarcoated lies. There were no whispers behind cupped hands, away from her ears, and even the laughter was authentic. These smiles were genuine, they confused her.
She had never heard of girls sharing secrets over slices of cake, opening up to one another, exposing so vulnerable a thing as their tiny hearts, beating, blue-veined and full of life. She had never been able to imagine herself in a situation like this, not even with her power of illusions, and yet, here she was, with two girls a little older than herself chattering away about topics she had never considered before.
"Mmh, there's nothing better than strawberry shortcake," Haru sighs around the fork in her mouth. She looked so carefree with her eyes closed and her shoulders relaxed, as though the smooth taste of fruit was all it took to release all the tension routine built up.
And it was catching, really, peaceful even, without talk of the mafia or schemes to take it down and she thought she could almost get used to this, to the slow, uneventful passing of every day, among loved ones who accepted her with all her flaws, without a hint of hesitation.
All she needed to offer in return were some slivers of her own secrets, sharing them around like pieces of cake, those hidden thoughts she didn't know she was supposed to have.
"Say, Chrome-san. Is there someone you like?" Haru's eyes were glowing as she leaned over the low table, mouth open and expectant, starving for a treat.
This was unexpected. A brief image of Mukuro-sama popped into her mind. Chrome flushed, cheeks heating to a shade deeper than the one that accented Kyouko's eyes. She peered into her tea cup and shook her head, this wasn't it – like was not an adequate description of her feelings. She couldn't think of anything that was. Words were ambiguous, they never told the whole story. There was too big a gap between them, too much left unsaid.
So she couldn't tell them; this wouldn't answer their question. She half expected them to yell at her, because that was what happened when her answers didn't satisfy.
But they never did. Instead, Haru enveloped Chrome's hand with both of hers, accepting what she offered with an honest smile. "You'll find someone."
On impulse, Chrome wrapped her arms around Haru, decorum and safe distances forgotten. She was thankful not so much for what she said, but what she did, letting Chrome be a part of their world that was so unlike her own, more difficult to understand and brighter somehow. Yet she enjoyed every second of it.
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