The next morning my alarm goes off and I'm very happy to see my adorable girlfriend still cuddling with me. She starts to stir.

I kiss her on her forehead and say, "Time to wake up sleepyhead. She sleepily opens her eyes and smiles at me before giving me a soft kiss on the lips that I return.

She smiles wide. "S-so it wasn't a dream, huh?"

I laugh, "Nope. Seems real to me. Do you need me to pinch you?"

"No. That's okay. B-but…another kiss would do." She puts her arms around my neck, and I give her a soft kiss. She sighs happily after.

We begrudgingly get out of bed and go about getting ready for class. As we do, I notice my mom called me several times. She probably desperately wants to know what happened. This happened with Hideki too. Apparently, I am bad at remembering I have a phone when I enter a new relationship with someone. I type out a text to her, "Good news: we're a couple. Late for class, we can talk later."

My mom responds with a million smiley emojis.

As we leave our rooms, Akari asks, "Do you want m-me to push you?"

I smile at her, "Sure."

As she pushes me towards the elevator, I find myself even more frustrated about the wheelchair than usual.

"I'm kind of sad that we can't go into class holding hands. That would be nice. And funny to see reactions."

Akari frowns a little, "You want this to be…p-public?"

Shit. I do, but she might not agree. This kind of relationship is different to some people. I should have thought about that.

"Yeah. It's okay if you're not, though. It doesn't have to be. I just want to be with you, I don't need everyone to know."

We get in the elevator, and she thinks about it for a moment. "I'm a little worried about my parents…" She pauses. "B-but they won't do anything other than be a little w-weird maybe. So, I'm good with it."

I grab her hand, "Okay. Only if you're sure."

She squeezes my hand. "I am. I w-want everyone to know." She giggles.

The elevator opens and we head to class.

—-

As predicted, my wheelchair situation didn't allow us to make a grand entrance as a couple, and we were running late so even Carsten and Ai don't know by lunch.

When we get out to the quad for lunch, I am reminded of how crappy lunch on the grass is when I'm in a wheelchair, and I'm pretty sure Akari can't lift me like Carsten does Ai. But my disappointment with my wheelchair is tempered by the fact that we get to share exciting news with our friends.

When we get there, Carsten and Ai are already out on the grass. Akari stands next to me, and we hold hands. Apparently, Ai doesn't notice though, because first she says,

"Kayoko, what have I told you about using a wheelchair!? You need to clear it with me firs-" Her eyes drift to me and Akari's hands and she freezes mid-word.

Carsten looks a little concerned about his girlfriend's sudden silence. "Babe?"

She waves off Carsten and looks absolutely overjoyed.

"Are…are…are… you two!?"

I nod, "Yes. We're together since last night."

Ai squeals so loud that I think every pair of eyes in the vicinity is now pointed in our direction. This relationship is more public now than we had planned. But it's cute. I guess she really wanted this for Akari since she's known about it for so long. I'm sure she's happy for me too.

Carsten looks surprised, which means Ai kept this a secret from him. Which I must admit, is kind of shocking. "You're together…as a couple?"

Akari says, "Y-yes. She's my girlfriend. And I'm hers."

Carsten raises his eyebrows for a moment but then nods and smiles, "That's really great. I knew you two really cared about each other…more than most friends. So, congratulations!"

Ai says, "That now means our group is two couples. We can double date!"

Me and Akari both giggle. I say, "That does sound really nice," and Akari nods.

—-

My mom demanded that me and Akari come to her place for dinner tonight. She is very excited about this whole thing. About as excited as me and Akari. I suppose it makes sense. She loves us both and wants us to be happy, and she knows we really love each other. It's a two birds with one stone kind of thing, I guess.

When she comes to pick us up, she has as big of a smile on her face that I can ever remember seeing. She greets us both with big hugs and is very happy to have Akari to help with the wheelchair.

We mostly make small talk on the way down the hill, and it feels like any other day. The only difference so far is the size of her ever-present smile.

Only after dinner does she really broach the elephant in the room.

She says, "It's really great that you two are in love. I'm biased of course…and it's the only romantic love I've ever known…but I think starting out as friends is a great way to go."

I translate for Akari, "She and my dad were best friends before they got together."

Akari smiles at my mom, "Th-that's really nice."

"You know, there is another…funnier way that you two are like me and Kayoko's dad."

Akari asks, "What's that?"

My mom smiles, "We met when we ran into each other."

My jaw drops, "Wow. I hadn't even thought of that." I look at Akari and take her hand. "That's…really cute, actually."

Akari looks confused, and we realize she doesn't know the story, so my mom tells it.

Afterwards, Akari giggles and grabs my hand, "R-running into people at Yamaku is a good way to f-find love, I guess."

My mom smiles, "So it would seem. Well girls, it's gotten late. Do you just want to stay here, or should I take you back up?"

Akari and I look at each other. We hadn't really planned on staying because we really wanted to sleep together again. It would be convenient if we could do that her, though.

I say, "You're…really okay with us sleeping together here?"

"Of course. You have many times before, haven't you?"

"Well…yeah, but…"

She shrugs, "You're basically adults. I'm not worried about it." She stops for a moment and winks. "Just try and keep it down, you know?" Me and Akari turn similar shades of red and my mom smiles at what she's done to us.

Surprisingly, Akari pulls herself together before I do, although she is clearly more anxious talking to my mom than she has been in quite some time.

"W-we…wouldn't d-do anything…l-like that here. So, d-don't w-worry."

I nod in agreement.

She giggles. "That's what I figured. Oh, just relax you two. I'm just teasing. Mostly. Anyway, you two sleep well." She winks again.

"Mom! Enough with the…winking and weird…encouragement or whatever it is."

She giggles, "Fine, but it's so easy to tease you two." She gets more serious and comes and hugs each of us before saying. "I'm really very happy for you both. You each got yourselves a really great girl."

I smile, "Thanks, mom."

My mom goes to bed, and we stay up a little longer.

I sigh once she's out of ear shot. "Sorry about that…I should have warned you my mom will probably get sillier with you not that we're together."

"She did that with Hideki?"

"Yeah, apparently making my significant other blush is fun for her."

Akari shrugs and smiles, "That's okay. It's funny, I guess. I'm glad I know her so well. If I had just met her and she did that, it p-probably would have given me a panic attack."

"Yeah. I guess it is nice we already know each other's parents." I have a brief vision of the time Akari's mom verbally tore me a new one in the medical building, and it gives me pause. I look down and wring my hands. "I…hope your mom likes me."

Akari giggles, "She does, actually. She just doesn't show it with hugs and nice words l-like yours."

"Yeah? Well…that's good to know."

Not sure I believe it though.

After that we both get ready for bed. Akari helps me change clothes again, and the sexual tension is once again very present.

After that, we get into bed together. We've slept together in this bed a lot, but tonight we kiss each other goodnight and snuggle much more intimately as we fall asleep, and just like last night, it feels like something we should have been doing all along.

It's been a week since me and Akari became a couple, and it's been great. In some ways our lives haven't changed that much. We still spend all our time together, but now there's this even deeper connection than we used to have. There's a wonderful energy whenever we're together. We sleep together every night too. We're snuggling in bed now, but I have something important that I need to mention. Something I've been dreading bringing up. Hopefully it doesn't bring an end to these blissful snuggles.

"I have chess tomorrow evening."

She nuzzles her forehead into my side, "That's cool, have fun."

"Um…to be clear. It would be chess with Koji. Are you…okay with that? I would understand if you weren't."

She sits up and smiles at me before kissing me. Then she says.

"I think it's fine. I trust you. I know you love me and would never cheat on m-me. And I know you need your chess. I certainly don't want to play." She giggles.

"Okay. Yeah. I'm going to tell him about us, obviously…and the flirty part of our interactions will stop." I sigh, "I think he's still hoping we end up together, though."

Akari puts her arms around my waist and holds me tight with her head against my shoulder. "Yep…too bad for him, huh?"

I laugh, "You're normally a very empathetic person. Not in this case, huh?"

She shrugs, "I f-feel a little bad for him, I guess. Just hard to feel right now underneath all the happy."

—-

When I arrive in the usual place at the usual time for chess, Koji looks really concerned. It confuses me for a moment, and then I remember he doesn't know about my wheelchair. Or…my condition at all. Yeah, I guess that would be really concerning. We really don't know a whole lot about each other, come to think of it.

He moves the chair out of the way that I normally sit in, and I thank him and park my wheelchair in the now-vacant spot. He sits down across from me and asks, "What happened?"

"I hurt my leg. I have joints that dislocate really easily, so I'll be in this for a little bit. Don't go easy on me, though."

He laughs, "If I did, you'd just beat me even faster."

We get the board set up and play a game.

…

"Wow, you really challenged me that time. There were a couple spots where I thought you had me."

Koji is beaming with pride.

"That's a big smile for someone who still lost."

He scoffs at me, "Hey, I am happy with my progress. Turns out you're pretty cute when you're challenged too."

I sigh, "I need to tell you something."

"Did you just go easy on me?"

I laugh, "No. This is about me and…relationships."

He brightens up.

I should NOT have worded it that way. Why didn't I think this out better ahead of time? Now he probably thinks I'm about to tell him we can be together or something. Better get to the point.

"I'm not single anymore."

He deflates, "Oh. That's…cool..."

"I'm really sorry. I know…I told you I would consider your confession when I was ready, and I feel terrible about that."

He shrugs and still looks very dejected.

"It didn't happen by design. I wasn't hanging out with a bunch of other potential romantic partners or anything. I…fell in love with my best friend…it snuck up on me the day I got hurt. And then it turned out she felt the same so…we're together now. I would still really like to be friends and play chess with you. I think it would be cool if you hung out with me and my friends too. But I get it…if you'd rather not."

He smiles softly, "I am a little disappointed. I had this tiny hope we might end up together. But if you found love, who am I to argue with that? I am happy to be your friend."

I exhale and smile, "That makes me really happy. Thank you for taking this so well."

"Well, I am used to losing when it comes to you."

I giggle, very happy he's already joking about this. "I know you usually work at lunch, but if you're ever free you should have lunch with me and my friends on the main quad. I think you'd get along with all of them."

He nods, "Yeah. I don't really work in the library at lunch, it's just where I like to go. It's kind of my safe space. But I'll definitely come to lunch." He shifts in his seat a little. "I…haven't made a lot of friends here. I guess you probably know that by now. So…thanks for being one to me."

"Yep. I'm happy to do it. Although if you keep getting better at chess and start beating me, I don't think we can be friends anymore."

It's the next day at lunch. I'm still stuck in a wheelchair, but Akari has found a nice way to sit next to me despite that. She is sitting on some textbooks she stacked on the ground, it gives her enough height that she can lean against the side, and we can hold hands without it being too awkward of a position for her.

I see Koji and his distinctive hoody heading our way. I'm glad he's coming.

I tell everyone about him, and when he arrives, I say, "Hey everyone, this is my friend Koji. You would probably recognize him if any of you heathens ever went to the library."

This does an effective job as an icebreaker as everyone laughs before introducing themselves. After that he seems a little torn about where to sit. He looks like he wants to sit next to me, but isn't sure if that's something he should do. Out of everyone here he only really knows me, so it makes sense he would be most comfortable sitting near me. I think about saying it's fine, especially because Akari seems so relaxed about him, but I probably shouldn't be the one to say it.

Luckily, Akari smiles at him and says, "You c-can sit on her other side, K-Koji. I'm n-not the crazy jealous type, promise." I squeeze her hand and smile at her. He's a stranger to her, and one that probably still has some feelings for me. She's clearly a little bit anxious about his presence, but she was still able to talk to him and be welcoming.

He nods thankfully to her and sits down before getting out his lunch.

One thing I did not think about is that he probably feels like a fifth wheel. We need to make sure we aren't shutting him out.

Again, Akari seems to read my mind when she says, "S-so, when do you think you'll beat her at chess? I'm t-tired of her always coming b-back and bragging. You n-need to knock her down a peg."

Koji laughs, and I say, "Hey! I don't brag."

Ai rolls her eyes, "I've even heard you brag about it." Carsten nods.

Koji laughs and says, "Well…I'm glad I'm helping her self-esteem, I guess. I think I might beat her…once before I graduate. I guess we'll see."

Akari laughs, "I b-believe in you!"

I cross my arms and pout. "You all just made it sound like all I talk about is beating Koji at chess. Makes me sound like a great person. Thanks for that."

Ai giggles, "What was that Kayoko? I tuned out when I heard you say something about beating Koji at chess. It is all you talk about, after all."

I stick my tongue out at her.

Well, they are making him feel included. That's good, even if it's at my expense.

—-

Akari and I are going on our first date tonight. We would have gone sooner than two and a half weeks into our relationship, but I only just graduated from wheelchair to cane, and our options were limited before that happened. Staying in and cuddling was nice anyway.

We're not doing anything too fancy. Just going to the Shanghai. And my mom is chauffeuring us, which is a little dorky. But we needed transportation, and my mom is very excited about our first date. Maybe more excited than we are. I just hope she can keep her lewd comments to herself.

I'm getting ready in my room. It is sort of funny to think that my girlfriend is doing the exact same thing just across the hall. I'm wearing the hair clip she got me, which I do almost every day anyway. But I'm putting it in the low ponytail, which I know is her favorite.

We have taken things really slow in most ways. I guess most new couples don't sleep together every night like we do. But in terms of what we've done physically we haven't done more than kiss and our tongues have never even been involved. I'm hoping that can change tonight. I know we need to move slowly. We're best friends and neither of us has been with another girl, so that adds a complicated dimension. But I'm definitely ready to kiss her more deeply. That much I know.

Last time I went on a date, and I wanted to make something happen with what I wore, it worked out pretty well. So hopefully the same is true tonight. I had my mom bring me an outfit that Akari's never seen me in, so this would feel extra special. I'm wearing a pink tulip skirt with a white camisole blouse. The skirt stops just above my knee, and the camisole leaves my shoulders exposed and shows just a hint of cleavage. Now that we're together, I've caught Akari staring at my chest several times, so I think that will work well with her. Overall, it's a very summery outfit that I really think she'll like. I even went with pink for her. I wish my knee didn't still have an ugly bruise on it, and my ugly cane doesn't exactly go with my outfit. But whatever. She won't care about that.

My mom is going to pick us up in about five minutes. I go to knock on Akari's door and get a "J-just a minute!" in response. After about a minute she opens the door and comes out and when I see her, I am speechless for a moment. She's also wearing something I've never seen her in before and she looks beautiful. She's wearing a pink and white off the shoulder sun dress that really draws my eyes to her neck and collarbone, features of hers I didn't realize I was immensely attracted to until this moment. She's wearing the headband I got her to top it all off. When I break out of my daze she giggles, "You like it, huh?"

"Yeah. A lot. You look…wow."

She pulls me down for a kiss. "You look amazing too."

"Thanks, shall we?" I offer her my arm and she loops hers around mine.

When we get down to the gate my mom is waiting. She's already got the back door of the car open. She's standing next to the door gesturing for us to get in.

I laugh, "Wow…you're taking this chauffeur thing seriously, huh? I'm surprised you don't have a special hat or something."

She laughs, "You two look beautiful. I'm happy to help."

Akari gets in first when she realizes I won't really be able to scoot in all the way with my knee right now. Then I get in and we sit close and hold hands. When my mom gets in, she is all smiles. I can't help but smile at how happy she is about us. It's the happiest I've seen her in a very long time. I'm mostly happy about that, but there's definitely a bittersweet element to it, because that means she hasn't been really happy in a while.

When we get down to the Shanghai, she insists on getting out of the car and opening the door for us. She's over the top, but I guess it's nice. She gives me a hand to help me out before doing the same for Akari.

"Let me know when you're ready to be picked up and I'll be here in a flash. I am known for my speed, you know."

We thank my mom and then hold hands as we walk into the Shanghai. When we go in, we recognize a couple of other Yamaku couples who are here on a date. It's really the only restaurant in town. I bet it always looks like this on Saturdays.

We get seated at our table and sit across from each other. I accidentally nudge her with my foot when we sit down, but then I decide to leave it there, resting it on her calf. It makes her smile. She has such a great smile.

After we place our orders, we start talking.

"Summer vacation is almost here. D-do you and your mom have plans?"

"We will probably go to Sendai for a week at some point, but nothing other than that. What about you?"

"W-well I should probably go home…I haven't since winter."

I smile, "Yeah because you took care of me all spring vacation. You should definitely go, at least for some of it."

"D-do you want to come with me?"

I rub my foot slightly against her calf and smile at her, "Yeah, that would be really nice. I'd like to see your home. You know mine so well."

She wrings her hands together and looks down, "I sh-should t-tell you…I haven't told them about us yet. I w-will! I just haven't yet."

"That's okay. Should probably tell them before we show up holding hands though."

She giggles.

"You said before they might be weird about it…what did you mean?"

"Well…they…my mom especially, is a very rigid person."

I feign surprise, "You don't say?"

"They will be fine with it in every way that m-matters. They aren't against it or a-anything. But I know it will take some time f-for her to adjust. This is…k-kind of out of the b-box for her, I think."

I nod, "Well, adjusting is understandable. We're even adjusting. It's fine as long as she accepts us after she adjusts."

"She w-will. I'm sure of it."

I rub her calf with my foot again. It gets a little reaction out of her every time. It's adorable.

"You could come to Sendai with us too. I mean, I will have to ask my mom, but I can't imagine she'll say no. I know you already met Sho and my grandma, but you could see where my mom grew up and stuff."

She smiles, "That would be n-nice. I'd like to spend most of the b-break together…if we can." She blushes. "Is that clingy?"

I giggle, "I don't think so. If it is, I'm clingy too."

Our food comes and we enjoy it, but we were both really waiting for the strawberry cake which we both devour as if we hadn't also eaten an entire main course.

When it comes time for the bill, we both try to pay.

"H-how are we supposed to do this?"

I laugh, "I think we can alternate. I don't think one of us has to always pay. It's kind of silly that the guy always does anyway, isn't it? You can pay today."

She nods and goes about paying while I text my mom. By the time we leave the Shanghai, my mom is ready with the door open.

In a very formal voice she says, "Good evening ladies, I trust your meal was satisfactory?"

This makes both me and Akari giggle uncontrollably, which makes getting into the car harder, but we manage.

On the drive home my mom looks in her rearview mirror and says, "I don't have one of those privacy screens like a real chauffeur. I bet you both wish I had one right now." She winks at us, and we both turn red.

She's not wrong, but does she have to say it out loud?

When we get back to campus, she opens the door and helps us get out again. I hug my mom, "Thanks chauffeur-mom. You did a good job. I'll give you a five-star review."

Akari giggles and hugs my mom after I do.

"Well ladies…you two have a good night, okay?" She winks at us again.

We both roll our eyes this time before heading to the dorms.

We're staying in Akari's room tonight. Somehow, I have adjusted to the pink, and I only barely notice it now. Alhough, waking up in there can still be a bit of a shock. I don't really feel like I need caffeine on those mornings.

Once we get back to her room, we sit down on the bed next to each other and hold hands while we softly kiss. After several minutes of this, I feel bold enough to ask about going a little farther today.

I pull away from our kiss and put my hand on her cheek. "Hey…I know we're going slow, and I'm good with that. But I have a suggestion. You can say no of course."

She looks a little nervous, but smiles and says, "What do you w-want to do?"

I smile back at her and says, "Do you…want to make out?"

Akari blushes and smiles wider, "I wanted to do that too but wasn't sure you did yet." She starts to move, but then stops. "Um…c-can I get in your lap, or would that hurt you?"

I smile broadly because I like where this is going. "It won't hurt me."

Akari climbs into my lap. She's straddling me with her legs on either side of my waist. This is one of the advantages of our size difference, I would say. She puts her hands on my cheeks.

"I love you so much Kayoko. You're really beautiful. You look so good always…but I really like this outfit. I've b-been thinking of doing this all n-night. Especially w-with your footsie all dinner."

Success!

She holds either side of my face and puts her lips on mine. I put my arms around her, pressing her body more firmly against mine. Her tongue gently enters my mouth and our tongues become intertwined.

After a bit, I break our kiss because I want to tell her something too.

I look her in her eyes and stroke her hair. "I love you too, Akari. And I've always thought you were beautiful." She nods bashfully, probably remembering that I had to convince her of that once.

I laugh, "Basically we're a really attractive couple." She giggles before we go back to kissing for quite some time. We get more and more passionate. I can feel her breasts pushed up against mine as we hug each other tighter. It feels good. She's starting to move her hips against me too. I'm really getting turned on. We should probably stop soon if we don't want things to escalate. And I don't think we do just yet. If we do this much longer though, I might forget.

As if reading my mind, Akari pulls away from me and lays down on the bed, I do the same and snuggle up to her. She's a little out of breath and her face and chest are flushed, I'm sure that's true of me too.

"Th-that was…w-wow."

I giggle, "My thoughts exactly."

"I th-thought maybe it would take some work to find that…kind of chemistry because we were friends and hadn't made out with another girl before. But…nope!" She sighs contentedly.

I laugh, "Agreed. It was really easy. Kind of automatic even. And it was amazing."

She laces her fingers with mine and turns a shade redder. "I b-bet the other stuff will be too."

I'm probably redder now too. "Yeah, I think you're right. Near the end there I was starting to think about…that other stuff."

Akari giggles, "Me too. That's why I stopped for now. B-but…I don't think we are too far away from that. Do you?"

I smile, "Nope. But we better stop talking about it tonight. I don't know how much self-control I have about this."

Akari giggles, "Yeah, you're right. Let's take a cold shower."

I laugh, "Together?"

She hits me with a pillow and laughs.

"A metaphorical c-cold shower. Jeez you get your knack for witty lewd jokes from your m-mom."