The world had been turned upside down.

(Tenko Chabashira...has a girlfriend?)

Even thinking the words didn't make them feel true, despite the fact they ran through her head again and again after that first date.

They brought a confused flurry of emotions to her heart every time they passed through her mind: happiness, fear, and confusion. The happiness was obvious enough; she was dating the cutest mage in the entire world. The fear too; who wouldn't be scared of losing it?

The confusion though...

Tenko was sitting in the family's living room, in a loveseat, as Himiko sat in-between her moms on the full couch, a movie on the television. What kind of film? Tenko had no clue, her eyes rarely left her girlfriend.

Was it just Tenko's imagination? Or was Himiko...not looking at her back?

This was Tenko's damn problem. They were together now. But they didn't feel together.

When Tenko sat down, always choosing a loveseat or some other piece of furniture where there was clearly room for another person, Himiko would sit somewhere else.

When Tenko put a hand on Himiko's, she didn't shrug it off, but she didn't show any physical affection back either.

When Tenko told Himiko how much she cared for her, Himiko smiled, but she rarely said anything back. A grunt, if Tenko was lucky.

(Tenko knows that Himiko likes her. She told me! But...sometimes it doesn't feel like she does...)

In fact, most days, there wasn't any difference from how they'd been before they'd started dating. It almost made Tenko wonder if she'd dreamed the entire date up.

But then...

...once the movie was over, and the moms had kissed Himiko goodnight and left for bed, they were alone.

"Tenko, come here." Blushing, Tenko did exactly that, crossing the living room and sitting down where Yuu had just sat, the cushion still warm. "Nyeh..."

The little mage then proceeded to lean her entire weight onto Himiko, and they started to...cuddle.

This was the problem!

Somehow, Himiko kept doing things like this! One second, it wasn't like they were dating at all, and the next, she was being...

Himiko was blushing, but smiling too. "Kisses?" She asked it so innocently, but Tenko felt like there was nothing innocent about it.

Dutifully, Tenko leaned down and kissed her girlfriend...and for a few seconds all was right with the world.

But when the kiss ended, the situation crashed into her head once again.

Tenko didn't want to complain! She should be happy even existing around Himiko, if she was being honest. It just...felt strange.

Was Himiko ashamed of her? And that's why they didn't act like a couple most of the time? Or did her affection of Tenko come and go?

(Or...was there any affection there at all?)

Dark thoughts that Tenko knew she shouldn't entertain, but wouldn't leave her head.

"Tenko?"

Blinking, she realized that Himiko was looking at her, uncharacteristically worried. "Huh?"

Himiko bit her lip. "What am I doing wrong?"

(Nothing! You're doing nothing wrong, you perfect angel! Tenko is just an idiot! I don't deserve you! I-)

That wasn't what Himiko wanted. From the start, she'd told Tenko: no pedestal, no lies, no hiding. She'd have to be honest.

Tenko took a deep breath. "It...kind of feels like we're not together. Most of the time."

That made Himiko confused. "But...we spend most of the day together, every day."

"I know...but we did that before we started dating? I love it when you ask for kisses or hold my hand or hug me but...there's more to being a couple than that, Himiko."

"Like what?" She sounded lost.

Aaahhhhhhhhhhhh!

This was getting so awkward! How did...how would she explain it? Himiko was so wonderful, but also...this wasn't something Tenko ever thought she'd need to explain?

But apparently she did. So she would.

"Like earlier, when we sat down to watch the movie? I chose the love seat because it has room for two, and I made sure to sit on one end so you'd see the empty spot. But you sat with your moms instead. Which is okay! I just...would have liked to cuddle while watching the movie?"

This entire idea only seemed to make Himiko's confusion worse. "But...you didn't ask me to sit over there."

Thinking it over, Tenko realized that perhaps nonverbal communication was not the best idea. "I'd kind of wanted you to notice and choose to do it, without me asking? But from now on, I'll try letting you know when I want something like that."

The proposed solution seemed to work for Himiko, but this wasn't over. "What else?"

The torture would have to continue. "I'm usually the one who initiates stuff? Like, I'll hug you, or I'll rest my head on top of yours. I'm the one who...I tell you how much I care about you, all the time, but you never really say anything back?"

That actually made Himiko look indignant. "I did tell you I liked you, after the date."

"I..." Tenko thought about how to say what she wanted to express. "I know you did, and that made me happy. But...usually couples say that more than once."

"But I already said it."

It was hard, but Tenko resisted the urge to sigh. "Yes, but...I would like it if you said stuff like that to me, Himiko. It...makes me feel good? It makes me more confident that you really do care about me."

Nodding her head, Himiko looked...conflicted. "I don't...really get it? But I can try, nyeh."

"Thank you. I can tell this is hard for you." This was Tenko's first relationship too, but they just thought in very different ways. Communication really was going to be vital. Speaking of... "Kisses?"

Himiko smiled, and with a grunt of effort lifted herself up to kiss Tenko.

Maybe she really liked Tenko after all.

It was time to learn stuff, apparently.

When Maki had told Kaito to come to her room, he'd been excited to just hang out.

Instead, he found that Maki had notes on-hand, telling him, "It's time for the lecture I promised you."

He had just laughed. "Sounds good, Maki Roll!"

It was barely perceptible, but Kaito knew he saw a faint blush to her cheeks when he called her that. "We'll start with asexuality. Asexuals include a lot of different types, but generally speaking they're people who don't have an interest in sex or don't have a sex drive, as well as those who are repulsed by sex."

How did Maki do it? Even Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, stumbled a little talking about...that. But the fearless assassin had no problems with the topic.

"That sounds like me, alright!" He gave her a grin and a thumbs up. "Cool! Good to know there's a word for it!"

He wasn't just saying that. It did feel good, knowing he wasn't just some weirdo, that there were other people who felt the same way.

Maki nodded, then flipped from one paper to another. "There's a whole spectrum of orientations similar to asexuality, called the ace spectrum. One of those is demisexuality. Demisexuals are effectively asexual most of the time, but can develop sexual feelings towards specific people."

It took Kaito longer than he was proud to admit to realize what she was saying. "Oh! That's you?"

"Yes."

"Sweet!"

"There's more."

"Okay!"

"You know how you're a guy? And I'm a girl?" Kaito nodded. Good so far. "Well, some people don't feel like either of those things. The idea that you have to be one of those or the other is the Gender Binary, so a lot of people call themselves nonbinary, making it clear their gender isn't one of those two options."

That...

...okay, it took a moment, but Kaito thought he understood. It was like if you asked someone if they liked chocolate or vanilla, but they really liked strawberry!

But that left a new question in Kaito's mind. "Wait, Maki are you...?"

"I literally just told you that I'm a girl." Her face looked like she was annoyed, but Kaito could see a smile in her eyes, which was always a win in his book. "No, but Shuichi is nonbinary, and would prefer it if you used they and them instead of he and him." She paused for a second, then added, "Also, Kaede's a nonbinary woman, but she's currently good with she/her."

That...had not been something Kaito was expecting. Shuichi wasn't a guy?

But then, the more he thought about it...that made sense. Was that why Shuichi had looked so uncomfortable whenever Kaito had talked about manliness, and how Shuichi should be more like a guy?

Shit. He was gonna have to apologize next time he saw hi-them! Them! Them them them them them!

Using the study method he used to help pass the astronaut tests, Kaito closed his eyes and tried to memorize this new stuff about Shuichi. It didn't take a long time.

"Got it!"

Maki blinked, which made him wonder...had she not expected him to get this as quickly?

"Okay, last one: lesbians. You know-"

Oh come on, he wasn't that dumb. "I know Tenko's a lesbian, Maki. How dumb do you think I am?"

"-two of them. Himiko's gay too. They just started dating."

"What?!"

Maki looked absolutely mystified. "How...you're in the message group! Tenko has been sending us pictures of Himiko and gushing about them dating since before they even went on a date!"

Rubbing the back of his messy hair with one hand, Kaito told her the truth. "Huh, I must have missed that. I never really read that crap, there's just too much of it. I look at the pictures, but I just thought that was Tenko being Tenko."

Closing her eyes and possibly silently praying, Maki put the papers away and came up to Kaito, putting her forehead to his. "You're an idiot." She said it fondly.

"So long as I'm your idiot, that's fine with me."

It was hard to know ahead of time just what kind of couple two people are going to be.

Before, even back during the Killing Game, when Kaede had let herself dream of what Shuichi and her would be like together, she'd pictured them as that super wholesome kind of couple.

Just majorly in love, making everyone around them sick.

Which...was true? In a way?

Just not in the way she'd been expecting.

As it turned out, Shuichi's studies had begun to fall by the wayside, and Kaede's work with the music program had faltered.

Because any time they were both awake, they were together. Not just, like, in the same room. They were together.

At the very least, they were cuddling or she was straddling them or they were sitting on her lap or...hell, even just a hand on a thigh. Some sort of tactile connection.

But that wasn't all they were doing. That was just the bare minimum.

Kissing. So much kissing. Frequently to the point of making out. In the kitchen, in Ran's room, in Shuichi's room...

It would usually start innocently. Kaede would see how freaking cute her partner looked, and go to sneak a kiss. But what was often meant to just be a peck on the lips would linger, and Shuichi would kiss back.

From there, it just felt like time stopped.

That was the big problem, if she thought about it. There was this deep, primal urge that the kissing helped sate, and while their lips were pressed together, the relief was intoxicating. It became impossible to discern just how long they lasted, and they didn't want them to stop. After all, when the kiss stopped...they just wanted to get back to it.

"For the love of Christ, will you too take a break?!"

The comment from Ran knocked them out of their state of bliss, returning them to the world of the apartment kitchen, where Kaede was standing behind Shuichi's chair, kissing them with their head tilted back to meet hers.

Ran was also sitting at the table, and had clearly been trying to read something on her phone and ignore her kid and their girlfriend making out right in front of her.

Judging by the scarlet blooming on Shuichi's cheeks, they felt as embarrassed for the chastisement as Kaede did.

"Sorry," they both told her, in unison.

Ran pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, I get it, you two are happy to be together, that's great. Really. But it's getting to be a bit much. Can we agree to limit your make-outs to the bedrooms?"

"Yes, that's fine!" Shuichi rushed to say, and Kaede didn't verbally disagree.

She was a bit sad, though. Being public with her affection was...nice.

Still, if that was off the table...

Kaede grabbed Shuichi by one wrist, hoisting them up and asking, "You're done with your food, right?"

In point of fact, they were only halfway through the leftover ramen, but it would still be good later, and they didn't resist as Kaede strolled into their bedroom, pulling them behind her.

They weren't just kissing to satisfy their cravings, after all.

It was a good thing that Ran's position at the hospital had led to free condoms.

The door locked behind them.