Hikaru was sitting at the edge of the seat, her hands curled up into fists over the bottom hem of her dress. Her body was tense, and she couldn't help but to flick nervous glances at Aya every few seconds.

Aya was playing with a remote in her hand, trying to turn on the TV in the limousine.

Could Aya really...

Hikaru stared into Aya's face that was furrowed in concentration, her soft lips pursed, and her hazel eyes gazing down at the remote. Aya's charcoal black hair was tied up into a Japanese-styled bun, a cherry blossom hairpin striking through the middle of her hair.

An aura of beauty and elegance radiated from Aya, her features had no flaws, sculpted to perfection with a milky-white complexion. It was the sort of face that explained the phenomenon of 'love at first sight'.

Except for the fact that Hikaru was a girl.

How can two girls like each other?!

Hikaru glanced away from Aya's face, then stared down at her fists. Her face was still hot from what happened, and her heart was beating really quickly.

"Um." Aya was beginning to talk, and Hikaru jumped, feeling restless. "Sorry, Hikaru... seems like the remote is out of battery..."

"Th-that's okay..." Ah, is that what she wanted to say...

Aya placed the remote down with a sigh. "I'll get someone to fix that. I can't believe they didn't check for it..."

Hikaru nodded, still thinking about what just happened earlier.

Aya glanced over at Hikaru and noticed how stiff her body was.

"Are you okay, Hikaru?" Aya asked, then moved closer to Hikaru on the seat. "You don't look so well..."

"I-I'm fine!" Hikaru said with an unconvincing smile as she squished herself against the edge of the seat.

Aya stopped, seeing Hikaru's reaction, then her eyes turned downcast as she moved away.

"I'm sorry, Hikaru..." Aya said. "I shouldn't had touched you like that before..."

Hikaru's body relaxed, and she stared at Aya with a sober look.

"Aya..." She said in a quiet voice. "...I have a question..."

Aya glanced back up at Hikaru with her deep hazel eyes. "What is it?"

Hikaru paused, then slowly, "Do you... have feelings... for me...?"

"..."

Aya's face froze, then she laughed weakly. "Wh-what?! What do you mean, Hikaru... Feelings for you...? Please don't joke around like that... We're both girls..."

"I'm serious..." Hikaru said, staring suspiciously at Aya. "Just then... the way that you touched me..."

"Ahh! That was a mistake!" Aya's face was red, her hands gesturing wildly in the air. "I thought I told you already! I was just trying to tickle you!"

Hikaru stared into Aya's face, her cheeks blowing up. It was the most serious look Hikaru could conjure up, having been born with a baby face.

"Are you sure, Aya...?"

"..."

Aya stopped to think about Hikaru's question, while calming herself down, but she couldn't stop her face from blushing.

Did Hikaru realise...? Ah, I guess I should had known… I went too far just then! Should I just tell her the truth? But I’m not even sure about my feelings, myself! Ahh, this is so hard!!

“Aya… you’re not responding…”

“Um…” Aya waved her hand casually in front of her. “No way… That’s not possible, Hikaru… How could I like a girl, haha...”

For now, I will just keep my feelings to myself… Aya thought. I want to be sure about my feelings first, before letting Hikaru know…

Hikaru frowned at Aya, unable to decipher whether she was telling the truth or not. She had her doubts, but she also wanted to trust Aya. She was torn between the seemingly two contradicting thoughts.

"What would you do if I liked you... in that sort of way?" Aya asked, she paused, then in a quieter tone, "...could we still be friends?"

"Eh!" Hikaru's face flashed crimson.

"I mean! Just hypothetically!" Aya said hastily. "I mean, I don't actually like you... but what if I did...?"

"Um, well..." Hikaru averted her gaze downwards, her mind thinking. She hadn't thought that far ahead, but the answer to her was obvious. "...I always want to be your best friend, Aya... no matter what..."

Hikaru glanced up at Aya, her face wincing. "If you really did like me in that way... then I would still be your friend!"

The words coming from Hikaru's lips were so sweet that Aya felt the irresistable urge to hug her rising again. She pushed it down, trying to be serious.

"B-but, would you want to be with me...? In that sort of way...?"

"Um..." Hikaru didn't know what to say to Aya's question. "Y-you said you don't like me that way, right? So, I don't have to answer that..."

"But!" Aya said, refusing to let the topic go. "What if I did? Could we be more than just friends?"

"Er..." Hikaru glanced sideways, feeling nervous. "I-if you did... then you would have to tell me... and then I would need some time to think..."

"R-right..."

"B-but, you don't actually have those kind of feelings for me, right?"

"Y-yeah!" Aya nodded. "I-I don't have those kind of feelings, haha."

"T-then, it's fine already! We don't have to think about those stuff..."

Aya nodded again, her face flushed.

For the rest of the ride, Aya and Hikaru remained silent, both of them thinking about the conversation they just had.

Hikaru's mother, Haruka, was sleeping soundly on the couch, the empty Chinese takeaway boxes laying on the table in front of her. She was dressed in her sleeping clothes, shorts and a black singlet. After eating such a delicious meal last night, Haruka had decided to go down to the convenience store to buy something to wash the food down. Somehow, she ended up buying two packs of beer and finishing the whole twelve cans while trying to drown her anxiety.

A soft rapping at the door caused Haruka to stir in her sleep, and she cracked open her eyes to see the empty beer cans and plastic boxes surrounding her.

She groaned, holding a hand to her throbbing head as she picked herself up from the couch.

Who the hell is knocking at this time—Ah, it must be Hikaru... I almost forgot about her after all the beer I drank... This doesn't really look too good that the living room is so messy, but I'll just tell her I had friends over—oh wait, I don't have any friends in Tokyo... Ah, oh well... she doesn't know that...

Haruka opened the door, her eyes half-closed, and one hand rubbing onto her flushed cheeks.

"Hikaru—" Haruka was about to say, but then was interrupted.

"Hello, Hikaru's mother!"

"Hi, Hikaru's mother!"

Polite voices called out to her, snapping her up from her half-asleep state, and she stared, stupefied at the three beautiful and expensively-dressed girls surrounding Hikaru who was smiling faintly.

But, most of all, the girl that was standing by Hikaru's side instantly drew her focus. She had charcoal-black hair, falling over the most outstanding hazel eyes that Haruka had ever laid eyes on, and a face that was stunningly perfect, causing her to double-take.

The girl smiled politely at Haruka, bowing in an elegant fashion.

"Good morning, Hikaru's mother."

"Wh-what..." Haruka had to pull her eyes away from the beautiful black-haired girl, turning to Hikaru. "You brought your friends over—"

Haruka stopped when she saw what Hikaru was wearing. A pink frilly lolita dress.

"Wh-what are you wearing?!" Haruka said, embarrassed for her own daughter.

"I-it's a gift from a friend!"

Haruka sighed, then turned back to Hikaru's friends. "Are these your friends...?" Haruka forced a polite smile.

She had thought that Hikaru's friend would be one single awkward outcast, as most of her other school 'friends' back at Takayama were, but she had never imagined that her daughter would have three friends, and not only that, two of the three girls standing with Hikaru looked like they could be models, and were definitely part of the popular crowd at school.

"Yes..." Hikaru's nose wrinkled at the smell of alcohol, and her face was starting to turn pale. Oh my god, is my mum drunk?! "These are my friends... Aya, Fumiko and Sana..." She turned to her friends. "This is my mum..."

Haruka laughed feebly, trying her best to act sober, but the hangover was making it difficult. "Oh, hello, you girls! It's very nice to meet you all! Thank you for taking care of my daughter!" She stepped aside, letting the group through. "Please come in!"

Hikaru trudged inside, hiding her face in her palm, while the others followed behind, politely. Despite how spoilt Aya and Fumiko were, they still had extremely polite mannerisms taught to them in their affluent upbringing.

However, Fumiko was having trouble keeping herself together. She glanced at everything in awe, astounded that people could actually live in such 'small' spaces.

"Wow... this is..." Fumiko trailed off.

"Ek!" Haruka closed the door behind the group, then quickly scrambled to the table on the living room, her hands shooting out like bullets as she collected all the beer cans and takeaway boxes. "Please make yourselves at home!"

Haruka grabbed everything in her hands, then darted to the bin in the kitchen, which was also in the same room as the living room, to chuck it away.

The girls sat down at their couch, looking at everything with great interest, while Hikaru went over to her mother to have a word.

"Mum..." Hikaru whispered at her, her eyes in disbelief. "Are you... drunk...?"

"Wha—no!" Haruka murmured back. "I drank those cans last night, I'm just hung over."

"..."

Hikaru stared at her mother, then sighed, palming herself in the face again. "This is so embarrassing...!"

"Re-relax, Hikaru!" Haruka laughed weakly. "They won't know! I'm good at acting sober!"

She glared at her mother with a doubtful look, before giving another sigh, and turning to walk to her friends at the couch.

Haruka followed after her daughter, putting on her best smile for Hikaru's friends.

"Wow, you're all so pretty!" Haruka said, approaching the couch. "I can't believe that my daughter has such goodlooking friends!"

"Thank you." Fumiko smiled, the sort of smile that said she already knew she was goodlooking.

"No way..." Sana laughed. "Hikaru's also very cute..."

"You're very pretty, yourself!" Aya said. Hehe, now's the time to get brownie points... If I can smooch up to Hikaru's mum, then it'll make it easier for me to do things with Hikaru... "You look very young, you've done a very good job at keeping healthy!"

"Oh, you..." Haruka blushed. In a way, Haruka was similar to her daughter in their naiveness, though she wasn't nearly as bad as her daughter in that manner due to her age.

Aya stared at Haruka's mother, studying her features. She had plain black hair like Hikaru, but her hair was tied up behind her head, showing a face that looked like an older version of Hikaru. Is this what Hikaru will look like when she's old? Gah! Her mother's still really cute!!

"Can I get you girls anything?" Haruka smiled. "Something to drink, perhaps?"

"Mineral water?" Fumiko asked. She knew that they probably didn't have much money, so Fumiko decided on something modest.

"Uh... we don't have mineral water." Haruka replied.

"Ju-just normal water!" Sana said. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem." Haruka smiled, walking over to the kitchen. Oh god, my head hurts so much... I hope I don't smell like alcohol...

"Let me help you!" Aya almost jumped out from the couch with her eagerness, scurrying up to Haruka's side.

"I-it's okay!" Haruka said, trying to keep her distance from Aya. She didn't want Aya to smell the alcohol on her. "You can sit down, I'll get it for you girls."

"No, I can't do that." Aya insisted. "Let me help, please."

"Ahh, sure." Haruka said, unable to fend off the persistent Aya.

Aya glanced down at the bin in the kitchen, seeing the many cans of beer, and her eyebrows raised.

"T-that was for a party." Haruka said, noticing where Aya was looking. "I don't drink alcohol alone, haha..."

"Oh, right." Aya laughed, then reached into the cupboards. "Where are the glasses—"

Inside the cupboard were dozens of bottles of wine and alcohol.

"T-those are for parties... you know how people are..."

"Those... are some wild parties you have..."

Aya closed the cupboard, and Haruka took out four glasses from another cupboard, while Aya helped out to pour the water.

"Oh, you're really beautiful." Haruka commented, taking a closer look at Aya as she poured the water. "Like really. I'm sure you must get a lot of guys chasing you."

"Thank you." Aya smiled politely. "There are a few guys I guess."

"I hope my daughter isn't giving you a hard time." Haruka said. "She's always been sort of a loner at school."

"Oh, no, not at all." Aya replied. "Hikaru's a lovely friend! She must get her good personality from her mother."

"No way." Haruka laughed, blushing again. "You're such a charmer!"

"I'm only saying the truth." Aya smiled. Keke, I have her dancing in the palm of my hands.

"Really..." Haruka was amazed by how polite and beautiful Aya was. This girl will surely be a great influence for my daughter. "I've always been worrying about Hikaru, but now that I know you're with her, Aya. I feel a lot better."

"I'm only doing what everyone else would do." Aya laughed modestly. "Hikaru has really been a great friend."

Haruka stared at Aya with a weary look. It felt like her nightmares would soon disappear. She wouldn't have to worry about any lecherous predator when this beautiful, polite girl was a friend of her daughter. She almost felt like crying, like a long-fought battle was finally ending.

"Aya, please take care of Hikaru." Haruka said. "She's always been sort of a naive girl... I've been worrying that she would be taken advantage of because of her personality, but I'm so happy that you're her friend. You have to really watch what type of guy hangs out with that girl."

"Of course!" Aya said. "I'll make sure that no guy ever touches Hikaru!"

The two stared at each, bonding over their mutual misunderstandings. Meanwhile, HIkaru was staring at them from the couch anxiously. I hope Aya's not saying anything embarrassing to my mum... I also hope my mum isn't saying anything embarrassing to Aya...

Aya and Haruka returned to the couch, placing glasses down on the table.

"Thank you!" Sana said, taking a glass of water. She was so sick of drinking all the random drinks that Fumiko ordered for her when the two are together. It was like Fumiko never drank normal water at all.

Fumiko picked up the water, staring at it hesitantly.

"Fumiko, right?" Haruka said, and Fumiko glanced up at Haruka. "I would also like to thank you for taking care of my daughter."

"I-it's nothing..." Fumiko said. Oh god, she thinks that I'm Hikaru's friend. I'm just here because of Aya. I don't really like Hikaru, but I don't want to make her mum upset...

"How is Hikaru at school?" Haruka asked. "I've been so worried that she's getting bullied at school."

"Ah, um, that's..."

While Haruka was talking to Fumiko, Aya grabbed onto Hikaru, dragging her away from the couch.

"Wh-what is it, Aya?" Hikaru asked.

"Let's go to your room!" Aya said. "I've never been to your room before."

"...Okay..."

Hikaru walked off with Aya, leaving Fumiko and Sana with Haruka. They entered a door in the living room, closing it behind them.

Aya glanced around at Hikaru's room. It was small as expected, but was neat and tidy, a table was placed in the side of the room, her school books and notes on the desk. Her bed was small, and placed on the other side of the room, seemingly able to fit only one person.

"This is my room..." Hikaru announced, glancing around. There really wasn't much to look at.

"Uh-huh..."

Aya locked the door behind them.

Hikaru didn't notice. She walked over to the table, glancing down at her notes. "The teacher said there was going to be another exam at the end of this week, right? I've been trying to study, but I don't really understand the material..."

Aya glanced at Hikaru's strawberry lips, they stuck out from the rest of her face in an enticing manner.

Now that I thought about it, I kind of jumped straight to second base... Aya was thinking. I haven't even managed to kiss Hikaru yet, but I've almost felt her whole body... I wonder what her lips are like... They look so soft—Hang on, won't I be an actual lesbian if I kiss her on the lips? I mean girls can sort of explain touching each other playfully for fun, but kissing is...

Hikaru sat down on her bed with a sigh. "Hibiya High is so much different to my old school. We didn't have exams every week at Takayama..."

A thought was coming up in Aya's mind.

"Do you want me to help you?" Aya asked.

"Huh?" Hikaru blinked at Aya.

"I can help you with your schoolwork." Aya said, her face was blushing, staring at Hikaru's pouting lips.

"Really? That would be so great, Aya!" Hikaru beamed.

"But..." Aya walked over to Hikaru on the bed, then sat down next to her. "You have to let me do one thing to you, which can be anything."

"One thing... anything...? What do you want...?"

"It's a secret!" Aya said. "Do you agree or not?"

"Um... you haven't told me what you were going to do."

"Yes, but it won't be fun if I tell you! You have to just say yes or no."

That didn't really sound right in Hikaru's mind. And judging from all the previous things that Aya had done to Hikaru, she had a suspicion that Aya was going to do something similar.

"You're not... going to grope me, are you...?"

"What?! No! It's not groping!"

"Ah..." Hikaru relaxed. "Okay then, it's fine."

"Re-really?"

"Yep." Hikaru nodded. "Are you going to do it now?"

"I-I can do it now?!"

Hikaru gave Aya a confused look. "When else are you going to do it?"

"O-okay, then..."

Aya braced herself, taking a deep breath, then stared into Hikaru's face with her cheeks burning at her side.

S-she said I can do it now! Can I really...? I mean, she's given me permission, right...? So, there should be nothing wrong...

Hikaru's lips looked so soft, so alluring. Aya really wanted to kiss her badly.

"I-I'm going to do it..." Aya breathed.

Hikaru stared into Aya's blushing face, not sure what she was going to do. Well, if it's not groping then it can't be that bad...

Aya moved closer to Hikaru, her face furrowed in concentration, and her cheeks crimson.

Ek! Why is she coming so close?! Is she going to...

Aya leaned forward into Hikaru, and Hikaru lost her breath.