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Luluka sighed, pinching her throbbing temples as she begrudgingly grabbed the next document awaiting her attention from the daunting pile beside her. Her eyes had begun to haze over, and her furrowed brow gave an offhand twitch as she caught her thoughts wandering elsewhere yet again. Forgoing the maddening routine of re-reading the same mundane paragraph, she brought a grim gaze cradled by heavy eye-bags to the cotton candy sunset just outside her window, expertly twirling a pen around her fingers. After all, contrary to popular belief, Moria Luluka was not a mystery solving machine, but a living, breathing teenager.
Alas, the Legendary Meitantei Precure couldn’t possibly be awarded such humanity, right?
Just as that closely-kept, always bitterly brewing thought brushed past the forefront of her mind, two familiar arms wrapped around her tense brick-wall shoulders from behind; along with a subtle hint of lilies that never failed to pull her right back from the ledge.
Luluka didn’t say anything at first as Kurea rested her head against her shoulder, nuzzling slightly into her cheek. “… You should take a break, Luluka-chan. You’ve been at it all afternoon…”
Luluka relaxed into her touch as one skilled, precise hand took hold of and began to massage her bicep that she hadn’t realized was sore until that moment; with each tightly wound nerve and muscle in her body seeming to uncoil in rapid succession like a trail of dominoes under Kurea’s fingertips. “… I know. I will, I promise.”
In response, Kurea hugged Luluka closer, lifting one hand to bring a bite-sized cookie cube to her face, its alluring freshly baked aroma demanding Luluka’s full attention as her neck snapped forward with visible haste. Kurea’s grin widened in heightened amusement as she giggled against Luluka’s jawline, pushing the coveted confection closer to her mouth. “See? You’re starving! Come on, say ah!”
Luluka felt her cheeks scorch from the inside out. God, the state that Howa Kurea alone could bring her to…
But she’d be lying if she said she didn’t love every second of it. It was the most alive she’d ever felt, after all.
Luluka leaned forward and parted her lips slightly, allowing Kurea to slip the morsel between them and drop it onto her tongue. Luluka eagerly accepted with a vigorous chomp, and as the sugary, gooey goodness burst like fireworks against her taste buds, a reinvigorating rush shot right through her veins to resurrect her.
“How is it?” Kurea asked as she watched fondly, still holding Luluka’s arm with one hand while the other hovered near her grinding jaw. “Just a little something new I’ve been meaning to try making.”
Luluka swallowed hard in a big gulp, finally glancing over to meet Kurea’s eyes as the corner of her lips upturned in a grin. “Delicious, as always. Thank you, Kurea.”
Kurea beamed brightly, her sweet smile growing somehow wider. “Yay, I’m so glad! It was a real challenge to get the shape to hold, you know! First, I had to…”
As Kurea spiraled off into passionate ramblings, Luluka found herself struggling to keep her eyes from shifting down to her lips. She was close enough that Luluka could occasionally feel her breath brush against her cheek, and that if she were to turn her head fully they would surely find themselves nose-to-nose.
A mildly amused, playful glint shimmered in Kurea’s left iris once she finally took notice of where exactly Luluka had become transfixed. “… Luluka-chan? Were you listening?” she asked in faux innocence, batting her eyelashes expectantly as Luluka scrambled to snap back to attention.
“I… I was…” Luluka mumbled, feeling her face start to tingle again in embarrassment.
Kurea simply let out an airy giggle, moving her hand to Luluka’s chin. She gently coaxed Luluka to tilt towards her, who could all but melt under her beloved’s guiding touch with no chance for recovery before Kurea leaned forward to press their foreheads together; watching lovingly as Luluka visibly fought back a sheepish smile of defeat.
“What’s wrong? Is that sweet tooth of yours still not satisfied?” Kurea whispered, moving her hand to cup Luluka’s cheek.
Luluka’s smile swiftly morphed into a playful smirk of her own. “… What can I say? You make me greedy.”
In a burst of built-up tension, the narrow gap between them was bridged at last as they both lunged forward simultaneously. Their passionate embrace lingered still for a long moment, as though they were trying to permanently etch the shape and sensation of the other’s lips into their own. Slowly, Luluka brought her own hand up to Kurea’s face, her fingertips ghosting hesitantly until she leaned firmly into her palm.
Any of Luluka’s lingering inhibitions of self-doubt were dispelled through the simple, tender gesture, and she began to eagerly move her mouth against Kurea; who couldn’t help but smile into the kiss as she reciprocated with enthusiasm.
“… Wow, the cookies did come out really good,” Kurea giggled as they parted momentarily.
Luluka stayed pressed to Kurea’s lips as she spoke, as though her breath was oxygen to her. “… Would I ever lie to you?”
Then, just as they were about to become one again...
****
“… Luluka… Luluka!”
Luluka was forcibly tugged from the winding labyrinth of memories she’d stumbled into, and with a jolt she was jousted from her old office chair and dropped back onto the gaudy throne she’d made her temporary perch. An unsavory whirlwind of pointless banter circled the aimless yapping of the usurped doggy dictator just beneath her, and she rested her chin in her hand as she watched on unamusedly.
“… I’m fine, Mashutan. Sorry.” Luluka muttered, feeling her partner’s concerned gaze boring a hole through the side of her head.
As a thick, loaded silence befell the balcony, Luluka shifted so that her fingertips ghosted over her lips. She stared down the wooden ledge before her in pensive thought, tapping against her cupid’s bow.
Greedy…
There really was no better word she could devise for it. She just couldn’t get enough of Kurea, and kept letting her get closer and closer despite the dangers, until…
… She would have been better off if we’d never met at all.
It wasn’t until she tasted blood that Luluka realized how hard she’d been biting down on her bottom lip. It was far more bitter than she remembered. After all, it’s not so sweet when it’s drawn by yourself.
****
“Kurea-saaaaan? Are you alright?!”
With a few rapid blinks, Kurea zipped right through the snapshots of time and back to the present, glancing over to find Anna leaning towards her with oblivious inquisition and bulging cheeks from how many cookies she’d packed in.
Kurea pulled back slightly with a weak smile, feeling sweat start to bead at her forehead that most certainly wasn’t from the heat of the oven. “Ah, I just got lost in thought for a second! Sorry, Anna-chan!”
Anna quickly shook her head, completely unfazed. “Don’t apologize at all! There's been so much for you to take in, I’d definitely be zoning out too!” she adamantly reassured, thumping her chest with a fist for emphasis. Kurea couldn’t help but giggle fondly at Anna’s charmingly earnest nature; her and Mikuru were quite a bit alike in that regard, weren’t they?
“… It’s just…” Kurea started, leaning against the cabinet as she gazed off wistfully into the other room. In between blinks, she could have sworn she saw the Luluka from her memories patiently waiting for her by the windowsill, but it was simply the midsummer breeze rustling the curtains.
Kurea brought her hand up from where it hung limp at her side, trailing thoughtfully across her lips in a particular shape that her heart had refused to forget even when her mind had.
“… It’s hard not to feel like I’m lost in the space between now and then, is all.”
After a few lingering seconds, she finally pulled away, wondering how long it’d be until she’d feel the real Luluka’s kiss of life again.
… No matter what it took, Kurea would bring her back to her side. She refused to let their story end in the sad, shattered fragments that rained down on the lake with her on that fateful night.