A/N: Even nearly 2 years after chapter 44 was first released, and 2 years since I absolutely lost it, I still think about the chapter a lot. The gap between Yuu and Touko's doings from night to morning leaves me with a lot of questions, so I decided to write about how I feel like they would interact in this case. This was just made for fun, essentially. Hopefully my perception fits and makes sense.

Touko's moment of bliss and Yuu keeping all her focus on her kept them from acknowledging how much they were sweating.

The sheets were a bit messy, and the comforter was on the verge of falling onto the floor, though that was the least of their concerns. They shifted along with Touko's shaking and reaching to hug Yuu's head for some kind of support. The sweat started to make their skin stick together, as discomforting as that sounds, but none of that really mattered to the two. It didn't matter that Yuu's hand was giving out and quickly turning sore, or the pressure she felt on her head from Touko's grip either. Yuu's mind was filled with scribbles for thoughts, and Touko, well, she was somewhere else entirely.

Eventually, Touko's shaking eased, and the embrace she had on Yuu's head had begun to loosen. What remained was her desperate attempts to catch her breath and her closed eyes, now less clenched than they were just a couple of seconds ago.

"I got you, don't worry," Yuu whispered. Her airy words were the result of both trying to reassure her girlfriend among her own case of shortness of breath. She could feel Touko ease more into the mattress.

"Haah..."

Though, Touko could only breathe out in response.

Yuu removed her hand from Touko's lower region, now finally acknowledging the stickiness of not just her fingers, but of her entire naked body. She asked herself if she should be disturbed at this, but she didn't how that could even be an option at this point.

Her thoughts were completely thrown off the tracks as soon as she could see Touko start to open her eyes again.

It was a weird and shy feeling. Yuu felt as if she shouldn't make eye contact with her, it almost felt intimidating, in theory anyway. As soon as she made eye contact with her though, she noticed Touko's eyes no longer being dilated as a result of now being relaxed and tired. Those feelings Yuu felt for a moment were immediately washed away. It was almost magical, in a sense.

"Hey," said Touko, and Yuu could not suppress her chuckle.

"Hey~," Yuu said in a teasing tone, which made Touko chuckle weakly, obviously being out of energy, "You come back from your trip?"

"Trip?" Touko looked at Yuu with a puzzled look, still embracing Yuu, with her arms now around her neck very loosely compared to a minute or so ago. Yuu shot her a soft smile, and Touko's eyes immediately widened, "O-oh!"

Touko went silent for a couple of seconds, breaking the eye contact that she had with Yuu out of sheer embarrassment. Yuu could not tell if she was embarrassed because it took her a while to comprehend and process it or because of what she asked.

"I-it was nice...?"

Yuu snorted.

"Nice?" Yuu's grin was no longer soft, but rather one of mischief, "Senpai, you're really going to start being shy when I just made you—" Her words were instantly muffled out and stopped as soon as Touko placed a firm hand on top of her mouth.

"Don't say it, please—" Even without her asking, Yuu wasn't going to be able to say it either way nor would she try afterward.

Touko slowly took her hand off Yuu's mouth, revealing a small smile on her face. She breathed out of her nose before starting to laugh again.

"You really haven't changed, have you?"

"Huh?" Touko raised an eyebrow, "I thought I have?"

"Well you have, but also haven't at the same time. I think?"

Touko starts to chuckle at Yuu. She shifts her arms to where her hands were now lightly on both sides of Yuu's face, and though she didn't realize it, she stared tenderly into Yuu's eyes, as if nothing else mattered.

"Yeah, we'll run with that."

The arms around Yuu's neck were no longer there, as they have fallen on either side of Touko's body. She sighed out, the exhaustion from their first time together taking a huge toll on her, and honestly, more than she ever thought it would.

Their first time. It almost sounded like a lie. Like a really, really wonderful lie that one could sit and think about for a long moment and smile at. Touko wanted to laugh again, but Yuu no longer being on top of her and rolling over to the right prevented her from doing so. A comfortable period of silence fell upon them at that moment.

Coincidentally, Yuu's mind was filled with those thoughts, too. Their first time. To her, it seriously had become a reality. It had been a good amount of time since the thought of sharing this moment with Touko had crossed her mind at full force, as much as she hated to admit, and she was relieved that their love for each other had reached that point. That felt like a dream. It was easy to believe that they did such a thing, the proof was all here. If both of them naked still covered in sweat didn't mean anything, then Yuu sure as hell didn't know what did.

"How do you feel?"

Touko's sudden question among the silence made Yuu turn her head faster than she intended.

"Oh! Uh..." Yuu's eyebrows furrowed, trying to come up with a good answer, "Good—actually no, that's a lie, I feel amazing."

The smile that soon appeared on Touko's face after Yuu finished her response made Yuu's heart skip plenty of beats. It looked as if her smile was going to split her face into two.

"Likewise. I..." Touko paused, her smile softening, "I...really did enjoy it and it felt...better than I imagined."

Yuu's eyes widen, mostly due to the second half of Touko's sentence.

"...Imagined?"

The smile on Touko's face dropped faster than Yuu had ever seen before, if she didn't know better it would have made her laugh in response.

"Wait! N-no, that's not w-what I—" Touko quickly shoots up and reaches for the blanket at the bottom of her bed, and covers her entire self at an alarming speed. Yuu could hear Touko say "Oh god" with an obvious tone of embarrassment underneath the comforter.

Though Touko could not see for obvious reasons, Yuu smiled at the lump that was Touko underneath the bedsheets.

Yuu then rests her body on Touko's, hugging her even if she was currently in hiding. She could feel her twitch a little bit.

"You know, Touko," Yuu said, almost in a whisper, "As much as I don't like admitting, I..." she paused, swallowing the ball in her throat that almost prevented her from speaking, "I also had those thoughts beforehand, so, you don't need to feel embarrassed."

"You did...?" Touko immediately gets out from under the comforter, making Yuu have to sit up and look at her in the eye.

"Um..." She looks away, for obvious reasons. Touko couldn't see Yuu all too well, but the little nightlight plugged in beside her bed helped her see the growing shade of crimson that overtook Yuu's face. It wasn't too major, but it was definitely noticeable, "Yes. Yes, I did. Many times, after we...started going out."

"That's..." Touko's eyes slowly begin to widen.

"That's really cute."

"Oh, shut up," Yuu loudly whispers, trying to push her away but failing, "It's completely normal to have thoughts like that."

"Is that so?"

"I'm pretty sure?"

"Woah," Touko's eyes then start to glow, it seemed almost scary, "That's...really cool."

"I think your final orgasm did something to your head."

"D-don't say it like that!"

"Aaand, we're back to square one," Yuu says, pointing out Touko's shyness coming back with a stupid grin.

"Yuuuu," Touko then throws herself onto Yuu, and they both fall and begin to sink into the mattress, "Don't be meannn."

"Okayy," Yuu then gave up at that moment, but not because she admitted being mean, but because her and Touko's current position in the bed proved to be more comfortable than she initially thought. Touko seemed to think the same, as she quickly sighed out with a smile.

The two would remain in that position for quite some time. The flow of time seemed to be kinder to the two that night.

Touko begins to curl up next to Yuu, and in response, Yuu herself moves in closer with her and puts an arm around her. She begins to tap random beats on Touko's back before moving on to her hair. Her fingers ran through it, and not long after starting, Yuu could tell that Touko had untangled it after she showered. She doesn't laugh, but only smiles in response.

This girl—

"Thank you."

Touko's voice was weaker now, to the point where it almost sounded like a choked whisper. Yuu looked down, eyeing the top of her head and not being able to see her face. She was slightly disappointed at the fact, but, it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Hm?" Yuu only hummed in response.

"For...tonight," Her sentences became straightforward and simple as she was starting to pass out.

"You don't need to say thank you," Yuu whispers, now starting to feel the toll of losing her energy weigh upon her. Looking at Touko starting to close her eyes almost made Yuu do the same, "You're falling asleep, you should probably rest. It's getting late."

"You too."

Yuu laughs at Touko's small pout.

"I know."

Yuu then finally lets her eyes close, and she has never felt this much relief and relaxation in all of her life. Perhaps there was a time that she did feel like this, in a timeframe that she had completely forgotten about. But that didn't matter all too much.

After all, Touko was...honestly all she needed right now.

And the blanket. It was starting to get pretty cold.

Yuu pulled the blanket higher to cover all the way to her shoulder. She also made sure that Touko was properly covered, raising the comforter to her shoulders as well. The airy feeling from being in a bed naked didn't help with both Touko and Yuu's growing tiredness. If they could, they would talk for hours, maybe talking about casual things like the student council or Touko's apparent hatred for bell peppers, or just complement each other continuously until one of them mentally combusted from overload.

If Touko wasn't passed out already, then she was definitely close to being, as she had stopped talking and her breathing was becoming quieter. Yuu made sure to embrace her, not just to make her girlfriend feel loved, but also to make sure they had plenty of warmth. The winter weather was not going to be less harsh on them just because they were both in bed without any clothes on.

They were no longer sweating or actively breathing heavily. Yuu didn't know the aftermath of something like this could be this peaceful.

"I love you."

Yuu almost chokes.

Those words. Yuu finally understood why Touko saw them in the way that she did. They were scary, almost intimidating. Yuu's heart almost stopped upon hearing them, and she could feel her blood pulsing throughout her veins.

But, despite her circulation almost taking a deadly toll, a gentle smile had appeared on her face as a result of hearing those words coming from Touko's mouth.

"I love you, too," She said them back with as much energy as she could muster at that moment.

Neither of them could really see each other's faces. Touko comfortably remained under Yuu's neck, her face resting close to her bare chest, and Yuu did nothing to change her positioning.

A small smile was present on both of their lips as they finally fell asleep together that night.