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"uh, five - two my ass," kaiyo teased, half way hopping off the bus and walking over. before they even got the chance to speak again, zoe hopped onto them in a huge hug, giggling maniacally.
"dude! i'm so excited you're here! it's gonna be so much fun you have no clue, also it's the shoes, also ignore my brother and his friends, it shouldn't be too big and crazy, also I got sushi for us if you're hungry, it isn't super - oh sorry, i forgot you don't like sudden hugs -" zoe practically hummed with the amount of speed her mouth was moving with, before promptly letting kaiyo go. it was kind of scary, honestly, to see how quickly she went from the embrace to hands folded in front of her and standing a couple feet away.
somewhat dazzled and out of it from the ride, kaiyo let out a scoff sounding laugh and a small, lopsided smile. "hey."
the walk back to the freckle faced girl's house was filled mostly with zoe's own voice, with kaiyo mostly soaking everything in and making small comments when they wanted. the stopped on the way back to get smoothies. luck be against them - almost as if it was meant to be and the overseer of the universe forgot, and suddenly let it happen - it started raining.
"jesus! hurry up, get under a tree!"
okay, maybe raining isn't the correct term - more like pouring.
zoe was trying to shield her face with her arms, refusing to take off her sweater with how cold it now was, and kaiyo was split between trying to help zoe cover, and covering themselves with their bag. a voice crack or two later, they were hidden under the branches of a tree, now only slightly getting soaked.
wide eyed, kaiyo watched some of the lights in the city go out from the storm. it was so much different than their smaller town. there, a huge chunk of the place wouldn't have electricity about now, and kaiyo would be making a pillow fort and shutting windows. meanwhile, zoe was undoing her buns and squeezing water out of them, muttering under her breath crankily about when the rain would stop and how she would be able to get back home. both sat, dumbfounded at the storm.
"that was so weird. it literally came out of nowhere - like, it was clear skies just now!" zoe proclaimed, taking a sip of her now too cold for taste smoothie. kaiyo only nodded.
"no kidding, do you think -" they started, and then got distracted by a thick strike of lightning.
except, the lightning made no noise, even after so long, and was a bright, like green.
after the silence, zoe turned around to try and figure out what kaiyo was staring at. "you okay? was there a bird or something?"
they just shook their head, before zoe continued to go off on the conversation. kai still looking past her, into the cloudy, heavy sky.
~
it was near dark by the time the rain had settled enough for the two to continue their journey. drenched in rain, and freezing their asses off. zoe held kaiyo's hand, mostly to feel safe. and even though her fingers were numb and she wouldn't be able to tell, kaiyo held hands back.
