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The city outside was unusually quiet, the kind of quiet that made the morning feel quieter than usual. Zai stretched lazily on the couch sunlight spilling from the blinds on her_ tracing her features. For once , neither of them had any missions or paperwork_ just a day off. Just the 2 of them with nothing to do…nothing.
Chuuya was sitting on the arm chair across from her , one leg draped over the other, flipping through some papers. He caught her watching and smirked you look bored”
Zai rolled her eyes dramatically “yea well there’s nothing to do and my cruel husband won’t entertain me”
Chuuya chuckled “yeah well mackerel, u aint entertaining me either and im bored so consider us even”
Zai dramatically leaned back on the couch unsatisfied with his response. Then, her eyes fell on a thick folder by the bookshelf
“Hey what’s that?”
Chuuya followed her gaze “oh I found this photo album a few days ago , didn’t have time to check it though, so I just put it up there”
Zai hummed in response, already heading to grab it “oh wow…” this is actually heavy I don’t remember taking this much photos” her eyes narrowed as she peaked inside
Chuuya shrugged and sat next to her on the couch. For the next hour, the flipped through pages passing by ridiculous, stupid, and some nice photos. However_what caught her eyes was a neat black envelope with red stripes at the edge glued at the end of the album.
Chuuya immediately recognized it and tried to act casual “oh hey whats that doing there , I’ve been searching for it” he laughed awkwardly and tried to grab it but unfortunately zai stopped him.
“Chuuya.”
“Yes…?”
“Whats that?”
“Nothing”
“That’s suspicious”
“You’re always suspicious of me”
They both paused and tried to grab the envelope which ofcourse zai had taken now and id sprinting away with it. “HEY GET BACK HERE!” he lunged after her
Zai smirked “not a chance chibi~” then she opened the envelope in a painfully slow way.
There were 2 photos inside that made her pause- they were some photos chuuya secretly took of them together when they were younger
“Wait…”
“What” chuuya said clearly mad about this secret being exposed
Her eyes softened a bit as she slowly lifted the first photo up. It was worn at the edges “… chuuya ” her voice was quiet now
He immediately stiffened at her tone
The photo.
It was them. Younger. About 15-16 still in their pm attires, standing in some half destroyed alley after a mission. Zai looked exhausted, hair messy , and more bandaged than usual (like more than her usual bandages that she had during the pm). Meanwhile chuuya had one arm slung around her shoulders, scowling at the camera as if he wanted to punch whoever was holding it.
But zai - zai was smiling .Not her usual masked smiled, a really one. Her head was tilted towards him.
“……”
“You kept this?”.she asked her tone holding a hint of surprise. Chuuya scratched the back of his neck,looking away “well yea, its not everyday I get to see you genuinely smiling like that,u always have that stupid hard assed smile idiot”
She studied the photo a bit, “ that was during the dock mission wasn’t it?”
He nodded slowly “ yea you almost passed out and refused to admit it, tch reckless idiot”
She smirked “sounds like me~”
“You also fell asleep on my shoulder in the car”he paused then added with a smirk “and you also drooled-“
“HEY I DID NOT”
“You did”
“DID NOT”
“DID TOO”
She huffed,then looked again “I look happy”
He was caught of guard by her sincerity
“you were “
By that they let the calm settle around them.it was moments like these they treasured the most, and these photos were a reminder of the hardships and times they spent together , a reminder that no matter what happens- they would face it together