"You've been hanging out with that Touko girl quite often, ya know." Yuu's mother commented as the Koito family gathered together for dinner. This comment made Yuu sweatdrop as she nervously made eye contact with her mother who was raising an eyebrow at her. "I mean, I see you so often on your phone during work and I can only assume you're talking to her! Honestly Yuu, why don't you talk about her more with us?" Her mother asked.

"W-Well… uhh…" Yuu started but it was her big sister, Rei, who decided to take it from here. She grinned and wrapped an arm around Yuu's shoulder before chuckling.

"Oh cmon mom! Give our Yuu a little break!" Rei insisted. "She's got a best friend and she just doesn't feel like talking about everything she does in her life. Like, you don't see me constantly telling you everything I'm up to these days!"

"I suppose that is true…" the mother said, shrugging her shoulders as she looked back at Yuu. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you be so close with someone. Just be sure you don't get as distracted during your shift, okay?" She said as Yuu quickly nodded. "Plus… Spend so much time with your friend and you'll never find yourself a boyfriend!" The mother joked as Yuu got all flustered in response.

"Mooooooooooom!" Yuu said with a whine, prompting the mother and the rest of the family to chuckle. All except for Rei who gave a look of concern to her little sister instead.

Later in the night, Yuu and Rei were washing the dishes together. The rest of the family had already retired for the night, leaving the two alone. Yuu turned to look at her sister and smiled a bit.

"Hey uh… thanks for earlier." Yuu said as Rei turned to face Yuu and giggled with a wink.

"No problem! Gotta keep mom in the dark after all~" Rei said in a teasing manner, making Yuu suddenly feel nervous.

"What does she mean by that? I really don't like how Rei's looking at me… does she…? No no, impossible. There's no way she knows. You're just overthinking, Yuu…" While Yuu was lost in her thoughts, Rei leaned in and whispered.

"So how long have you and Touko been a thing, my dear little sister~?" Rei asked with a smirk, time feeling like it stopped for Yuu as her eyes widened.

"Crap crap crap! She knows?! How does she know?!" Yuu panicked within her thoughts, feeling herself sweat a bit. Rei noticed the reaction she was getting and started to feel bad since she wasn't expecting this from Yuu. She smiled and rested a hand on Yuu's shoulder.

"Hey relax! I'm not gonna tell anyone, okay? Why do you think I helped get mom off your back after all?" Rei pointed out as Yuu sighed.

"You promise?" Yuu asked as Rei nodded and gave a thumbs up.

"I promise! Soooooo~? Cmon, you gotta tell me!" Rei pleaded as Yuu rolled her eyes at her sister's enthusiasm.

"You're seriously that interested in well… this?" Yuu asked as she gave a perplexed look at her sister who nodded vigorously.

"Uhh, duh? How can I not be?! My little sister has a gir-" before Rei could finish, Yuu covered her sister's mouth with a hand and glared with her cheeks reddening.

"Could you, oh I dunno, use your inside voice better?! God, you're gonna get me caught so fast at this rate…" Yuu said with a groan as she uncovered her sister's mouth. Rei gave a bashful smile as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Hehe… sorry about that. But seriously, how long has this been going on?" Rei asked, trying harder to be more subtle.

"About a couple months." Yuu responded as she smiled a bit. "It feels pretty messed up that I have to hide this from our family but… it's for the best, right? Like, they would freak out."

"Oh totally." Rei said in agreement. "Mom would especially be weird about it. I think dad might actually be cool with it after awhile. Grandma? No idea! But maybe in time, we can warm mom up to the idea. Besides, not like anyone can do much about it once you turn eighteen. Until then, you just gotta be sneaky about it!"

"Easier said than done…" Yuu said with a sigh. "So… what do you think? About well… you finding out about this?" Yuu asked with genuine curiosity in her tone. Rei smiled and patted Yuu on the head, making the younger sister pout.

"I'm just glad you met someone. Ever since you've met Touko, you just seem more… full of life. You smile a lot more and you just seem so much happier. It's really nice to see. So yeah, I'm completely supportive and rooting for the both of you!" Rei said with a nod. "Plus, Touko is an attractive girl so you got good tastes."

"She is…" Yuu muttered in agreement. Unfortunately for her, Rei was barely able to hear that as she looked smugly at her little sister. Yuu blushed as she went back to cleaning as Rei could only laugh as she helped Yuu finish with the dishes.

Meanwhile at the Nanami residence, Touko had just gotten home from the theater troupe and to say she was exhausted would have been an understatement. Nowadays, she felt like she barely had any free time to herself. It frustrated her as she missed being able to spend time with Yuu badly. Sure, she could see her at school but that often just didn't feel like enough. She ached for Yuu and the moment she got home, she was going to call her. Collapsing onto her bed, she sighed as she looked over to her computer.

"Maybe Yuu would be down for a video call? That would mean I'd get to see her adorable face… I have to do it!" Touko said with resolve. Jumping off her bed, she was getting her computer booted up and ready to go as she invited Yuu to a video call. While she waited for Yuu to respond, she was quick to brush her hair to try and look as neat as possible. Before she could finish, Yuu had answered the call as her face appeared on the screen. She smirked seeing Touko in the middle of brushing her hair as Touko nervously giggled.

"H-Hey, I wasn't finished yet! My hair's a mess!" Touko said with a pouted.

"That so? Well, I suppose I could just go then…" Yuu teased, knowing exactly how Touko would respond. The older girl shook her head and just threw her brush over to the bed.

"N-No no! I'm good! Ah, Yuu… you're teasing me again, aren't you?"

"Maybe~" Yuu said as she giggled, making Touko's heart flutter.

"Meanie!" Touko said playfully as she stuck her tongue out at the younger girl. Both of them started laughing for a bit as Touko leaned closer to her computer screen and smiled in content.

"I can't say I expected a video call from you tonight. I'm so used to us talking over the phone or texting. Any particular reason for switching it up?" Yuu asked

"I just… really wanted to see your face… uh, that's not weird, is it?" Touko asked with a blush on her face. Yuu just chuckled as she couldn't help but think of how cute Touko looked when she got flustered.

"It's kinda weird but I also get what you mean. I might… also enjoy seeing your face too. Maybe we should do this more often? Video calls I mean?" Yuu offered.

"Yes! I mean… that sounds like a great idea." Touko said as she tried playing it cool. Yuu wasn't buying it though as she smirked.

"Considering how excited it just made you, I'm not surprised that you think it's a good idea." Yuu said as Touko stuck her tongue out once more.

"Meh!" Touko simply said with a smile

"Meh to you too, you dork!" Yuu teased as she then decided to change the subject. "By the way… there's something I need to tell you."

"Hrmm? Is something wrong?" Touko asked in a concerned tone.

"Weeeeell… my sister knows about our… uh… thing." Yuu said

"The thing?! She knows the thing?!" Touko clarified with a nervous tone.

"Yes Touko, she knows the thing!" Yuu confirmed.

"…Is that bad?" Touko asked as Yuu shook her head.

"Honestly? Nah, I don't think so. Rei can be a serious pain in the butt but she gave me her word that she'd keep it a secret. I trust her and besides, she weirdly seems to like us as a thing too." Yuu said as Touko let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good… your sister's really nice from the few times I've had the chance to talk to her. You know, she's the one who gave me that cheesecake recipe." Touko said as Yuu was taken aback from what she heard.

"What?! So THAT'S how you were able to make that cheesecake when I stayed at your place! I should have figured Rei had something to do with that… tch, no wonder she figured us out. You asked her how to make me cheesecake! That's not something friends do for each other!" Yuu said as Touko awkwardly giggled and gave a bashful smile.

"H-Hey, I didn't tell her I wanted to learn the recipe to make you cheesecake! I just… asked her for the recipe. Maybe she thought I was just some sort of umm… cheesecake fanatic…?" Touko said as Yuu gave her a deadpanned look.

"Yeeeeah… well, at least that helps explain how Rei had an idea what was going on between us. I don't think she'll tell the rest of my family so we should be good. I'm assuming your folks don't know either?" Yuu asked as Touko nodded.

"Yup, they're none the wiser. Hey, Yuu? I'm sorry we have to be all secretive about this with our families. I know it's a pain in the butt." Touko said with a frown as she felt guilty. Yuu shook her head and smiled warmly to Touko, making her heartbeat speed up.

"Don't be sorry. It's worth it to me because it means I get to be honest with you about my feelings. And being with you just… it means the world to me. I would never change that." Yuu said as Touko couldn't stop thinking how much she loved Yuu, especially right now.

"Y-Yuu… I love you." She whispered into her mic. Yuu's own heart was racing as she grinned.

"I love you too. Hey, why don't you come over to my place tomorrow night for a sleepover?" Yuu offered as Touko was quick to nod with a big, goofy smile.

"Yes please! Video calls are nice and I definitely want to do them more in the future but nothing beats being there with you physically…" Touko said with a blush.

"Just don't be a weirdo and try anything funny, missy. We still have to keep up the appearance of being best friends to my parents after all!" Yuu teasingly said.

"I-I can be good! Honest! I won't try anything!" Touko stammered out.

"Reeeeeally~?"

"Y-Yuu!"

"Hehe! Couldn't help myself~" Yuu admitted.

The two girls then chatted away the rest of night. Touko typically dominated the conversation as she talked about her day but Yuu was happy to listen. Moments like these that would seem so inconsequential to many meant the world to Yuu. Once the two finally decided to end the call, they both slept peacefully with each other in their thoughts.