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Misaki threw the closet doors open.
Nothing.
She opened all her drawers. Nothing.
Her knees hit the floor. The only thing visible underneath her bed was a small amount of dust and a pair of socks.
When she was back on her feet, she sighed.
The culprit’s identity was absolutely no doubt. She slipped her phone from her back-pocket, tapped in Kokoro’s birthday, and dialed said person’s number. While the tone filled the room, she fell down on her mattress and kept the screen in front of her face.
“ Hi, hi! ” was heard through the phone, “ I love you! What’s the matter!”
“Hey, Kokoro. I hope you’re having fun at the mall. And I- I love you too but, I have to ask something.”
A questioning hmm came from Kokoro, and Misaki could vividly imagine the tilt of her head. In the background, she heard Hagumi asking if it was Misaki.
“I was just wondering…” Misaki’s finger tapped Hagumi’s profile picture on Instagram. “I’ve been looking absolutely everywhere for my grey sweater. You know, big pockets, FUN, fits you perfectly... ”
“ Yeah, I know the one !”
“Have you by any chance seen it?”
Kokoro fumbled on the other side, before, confidently, “ Not in a while, nope .”
“Huh…” Misaki tapped her screen, repeatedly liking and unliking the post covering the screen. “How come you’re wearing an identical sweater on the picture Hagumi posted of you two?”
In the image, Hagumi had sneaked up behind Kokoro and leaned against her back, reaching forward to snap a picture of them together. Interestingly enough, a familiar, grey fabric covered Kokoro’s frame.
“ Ah, that… ” Kokoro seemed to be at a loss for words. “... is not your sweater! I just found yours beautiful, so I had the suits buy me a bunch of them. Totally not a lie. ” Her voice muffled for a second. “ Hagumi I think I tricked her.”
Misaki exited the tab and put the phone against her ear. “Kokoro, give me my sweater back.”
“But Misakiiii!” she whined. “I like wearing your clothes! They smell nice.”
“Believe me, I wouldn’t mind you wearing my clothes… but I think a line was crossed when I couldn’t go get the mail because I literally had no pants. And where were my pants? In your house . ”
“ Isn’t it nice to go outside and feel the breeze against your legs? You’ll do fine! ”
“Kokoro, that was my last sweater—“
“ Oh, Hagumi found a plush store! I have to go, I’ll see you later.”
“ Wait—!”
“ Bye, babe! ”
Then, Misaki’s only friend was the roof above her. She stared at it for a bit longer, mourning the loss of her every piece of garment.
What she had instead was the dust collecting in her drawers.
It had begun early in their relationship, namely after the first night they spent together. Misaki had woken up to Kokoro sitting next to her in bed. Her hands were occupied with a piece of Misaki’s hair, making the braid that would later tell her just how long Kokoro had been awake.
After she turned her head and noticed the shirt Kokoro had on, she almost had to ask Kokoro to get the defibrillators to kickstart her heart again. Seeing the, uh, prettiest girl in the world wearing her clothes smacked her harder than she had pride to admit.
But now, the act had gone too far.
She just wanted clothes, goddamnit!
She sat up and unlocked her phone again. Hagumi’s profile popped up again, and… Okay, the Kokoro part of the image did give her a sudden urge to press a hand against her chest and maybe fall to the floor, but that was beside the point.
Kokoro had said she’d be back before dinner. The clock glared with the number 2, and Misaki’s eyes were back on the roof.
She just had to wait.
_________________________________
And while she waited, she sought company in the only sane one out of the four people surrounding her daily. Today, though, Misaki seemed to be the one who lost her mind.
“M-Misaki,” Kanon’s voice sounded genuinely concerned as she looked up at her from her seat. “Why are you wearing a raincoat and… shorts…? It’s sunny outside.”
“It’s all I have, do not mention it.”
“Oh, o- okay.” Kanon’s eyes scanned her outfit once more before looking to Misaki’s face. “Well, hello! I already ordered some coffee for you.”
“Ah, thank you, my lifesaver.” She grabbed the mug Kanon pushed across the table before sitting down. Hanazawa cafè was full of life this Saturday afternoon; Tsugumi and her co-workers could be seen running around, placing orders on everyone’s tables.
She took a sip of the coffee. “How are you, Kanon?”
An excited smile immediately appeared on Kanon. “I bought a jellyfish-shaped soap earlier! It smells so nice and—“
The two chatted for a bit. Kanon told Misaki all about her shopping adventure and yesterday’s date with Chisato. In return, Misaki mentioned how she was working late last night with their new song, and that Kokoro had really gone all out with her lyrics suggestions.
“Have you talked anything with her today?” Kanon asked at last.
Misaki felt a breeze against her bare legs despite being inside. “Yeah, I called her earlier. Actually, can I ask you something?”
“Of course! I- Is something wrong?”
“Sorry if this is a personal question, but… does Chisato ever steal your clothes?”
Kanon’s cheeks blossomed slightly and she blinked, putting her own cup of tea down on the table. “You mean, like, wearing my clothes?”
“Yeah!”
“Ohh, she does sometimes, but, actually...” Her index finger pressed against her jaw as she looked up. “I’m usually the one to steal her clothes.”
“Really?”
“A- Ah, but not all the time…! I mean— only once in a w- while! And only when we’re at home!” She crossed her arms and looked from side to side. “She just, I mean, h-her clothes just smell nice.”
Sometimes Misaki realized how Kanon and Kokoro could be two sides of the same coin. She leaned back in her seat. “Wow, Kokoro said the exact same thing.”
“She does the same thing?”
Misaki gestured at her raincoat. “Oh, i f she does.”
“That makes sense. And it annoys you?”
“Well…” She hesitated. An image of Kokoro in her hoodie appeared in her mind, despite how much she tried to wave it away. “N- Not exactly… But she does need to knock it off, a little.”
The way Kanon suddenly smiled terrified her. “You find it adorable, don’t you?”
“Yes, wait, no…! I mean, of course, but… no , shut up— “
A ding from her pocket saved her dignity, and she doubted she had ever scrambled for her phone as quickly in her life. She ignored Kanon’s giggles.
Kokoro: i’m home now!!!! do u wanna come over???? (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
The rest of the message was filled to the brim with heart emojis.
Misaki : I’m glad you made it home. i’m with kanon rn but i’ll be there in a bit
Misaki : …<3 <3
Kokoro : take ur time!!! i can’t wait!!!
“Is that Kokoro?”
“Yeah…”
“I could tell by the way you’re smiling.”
“ Stop doing that already! ”
Misaki put her phone down on the table and sighed, taking another sip of her coffee.
It was time to get her wardrobe back.
_________________________________
An hour later, she was standing outside of the Tsurumaki residence, sweets in her bag and vindictiveness in her chest. The gates that once loomed over her were now simply an obstacle between her and her girlfriend. She slipped right between them, closing the gates after her, and went up to the door.
She didn’t even get a chance to knock. Peeking through a window at floor-level was no other than Kokoro herself. Upon noticing Misaki, she bounced up in the air and quickly disappeared out of vision.
A few seconds later, the doors were thrown open. Misaki was already prepared, taking a step back.
“ Misakiiii! ”
Kokoro was soon secure in her spot, clinging to Misaki with arms and legs around her.
“Hi to you too, Kokoro.”
Not quite unused to this at all, Misaki accepted her faith and carried Kokoro into the building again. It was tricky closing the door while Kokoro was repeatedly smooching her cheek.
“Wait, I’m trying to grab the handle…!“
“But I can’t wait! I want to kiss you now!”
Misaki smiled as she tried ignoring the heat in her face—knowing Kokoro would notice immediately—and simply struggled until finally the door was shut.
“There, there.” Misaki didn’t mind taking her shoes off after having been told not to bother so many times. “Did you have fun with Hagumi?”
“So so so much fun!” Kokoro exclaimed while Misaki walked them to the living room. “We found a candy shop with, like, so much candy. So I asked if I could buy the entire shop, and they said no? I didn’t get why, but Hagumi explained they probably wanted to keep the candy for themselves, which I totally get, so I just bought ten bags instead!”
“Ah, so you already had a lot of sugar?” Misaki knew that much candy for Kokoro only spelled disaster. “I suppose you’ll have to eat the sweets I bought you from the cafè tomorrow.”
“Actually, I only got to keep one bag.” Having entered her room, Misaki dropped Kokoro in the couch, before slumping down against the armrest on the other side.
Discarding her raincoat on the floor, Misaki took note of the sweater Kokoro wore.
“What do you mean got to keep ?”
Kokoro pressed a finger to her mouth. “There were some girls who approached us and said they wanted our candy. I told them they should ask more nicely next time, and then gave them the candy to lighten the blow of being told off. They looked very confused, but I think I made them happy!”
Blinking, Misaki looked at her. “U- Uh, Kokoro, I think you got robbed.”
“What? You think so? Hmm, then maybe they’ll learn next time that kindness goes further!” She was so incredibly stupid, and god, did Misaki love her. “Maybe I should give out free candy to teach people…”
“First of all, do not .” In her head, she considered Kokoro getting robbed as karma; just like how Kokoro was robbing Misaki of her clothes. “Secondly, I guess that means you can have the sweets I bought now.”
Misaki let her bag slip off her shoulder and dug in. The small bag of Sakuramochi was enthusiastically accepted by Kokoro, who scrambled across the couch to reach it. Misaki would say her face became the definition of sunshine, but that would imply Kokoro herself wasn’t the sun on vacation.
“Ahh! Thank you so much, Misaki! These are my favorites.”
Misaki smiled while Kokoro threw the box open and started munching on a mochi, holding it with both hands. She looked like a chipmunk, sitting there cross-legged in the middle of the couch.
“You say that about all the food I bring you.”
“That’s because you’re my favorite, so everything you bring me is automatically my favorite too.”
“Oh.” Misaki hugged Kokoro’s leg. “It’s not really special.”
Ignoring her, Kokoro placed the packaging on the table. She pulled Misaki back, caging her with her arms. Kokoro’s face landed against Misaki’s head, and she didn’t seem to mind one bit.
“Your hair smells nice and I love you a lot.”
“I washed it last night…” Misaki would never get used to Kokoro being so overly excited about mundane things about Misaki, but she couldn’t complain.
She grabbed Kokoro’s wrist.
There, against her fingers, was her sweater.
She squinted. What an opportunity.
“I’m happy you’re using the shampoo I bought you!”
“Mhm, it’s very nice to use.” Misaki used her elbows to lift herself up, facing Kokoro. “Especially since it’s something you bought that wouldn’t completely bankrupt any other person.”
“Next time I can buy you a lifetime stack of them and—“
“No. Kokoro. No. You ruined it. Do you want to kiss me instead?”
There was that expression again: sunshine. It was rather endearing.
“Yes!” Kokoro didn’t even hesitate to smash her hands on both sides of Misaki’s face. Misaki squeaked. “There is nothing I love more than kissing Misaki. It makes me all tingly!”
Misaki blushed. “Always blunt.”
Not wasting any more time, she pressed their lips together. As usual, Kokoro was smiling during the kiss, rather contagiously.
At first, Kokoro had been so enthusiastic about the act that someone always ended up hurt, whether by the nose or teeth. And although Misaki had always enjoyed it, she definitely preferred the more calmer version. The—in Kokoro’s words—tingling warmth against her lips, the soft skin of hands against her cheek, traveling up to her hair, the sighs escaping Kokoro’s nose as she sought for air, and… and she...
...Right. She almost forgot her plan. The reason she initiated the kiss to begin with, totally.
Kokoro was way too powerful.
While Kokoro seemed content finally receiving her smooches, Misaki reached to bunch her hands up in Kokoro’s (Misaki’s) sweater. She pulled on it slightly.
“Do you wanna take this off?” she asked innocently in-between a kiss. “This must be killing you with the double-layers.”
Kokoro blinked.
A sweat beaded on Misaki’s forehead.
“...Yeah! You’re right!”
Phew . How could she have doubted Kokoro’s lack of brain cells for even a second?
“Okay, here.” Leaning up to help Kokoro, she was full of hope at the concept of building her closet up again. Every exit of the mansion appeared in her mind while she planned her escape plan.
Then, Kokoro hugged her.
A seemingly innocent action has never dropped so much raw fear on Misaki.
“...Kokoro.”
“Misaki.”
“What are you doing?”
“I actually do have a few, as you always say, brain cells.” Misaki swore with her mouth unwillingly tucked in Kokoro’s neck. “You’re trying to take your shirt back.”
“Well, is that really so crazy?!”
“Yes!”
“ Why ?”
“Because you’re my girlfriend and you smell good!”
“What— no, just give me my shirt back …!” As her last word escaped her, Kokoro grabbed her and threw her off the sofa. The floor was not kind on her bum, and neither was Kokoro as she threw the closest blanket on Misaki before sprinting off to god knows where.
All in all, Misaki thought while literally fighting against a square of cloth, her mission did not go as planned.
“Get off ,” she snapped at the blanket, before finally untangling herself and hopping up on her feet. She took a few quick steps forward before looking back.
It’s what she deserves . Misaki’s hand found itself in the bag she’d gifted Kokoro, shoving two pink sweets into her mouth.
For a second she questioned whether she’d actually be able to find Kokoro with how quick she was on her legs, but as a direct answer from above, there was a loud crash of metal and Kokoro shouting an apology.
Misaki took off like the wind for the kitchen, determined to steal her shirt back.