Shortly afterward, Futako settled down and was now sitting on her bed while gripping Chiisana's hand. They stayed like this for a few minutes, silent like none knew how to start a conversation. In the end, it was Chiisana that broke the standstill.
"...Somehow, I'm sorry."
"Chi?" Futako was taken aback by the sudden apology. She turned toward the girl next to her and tightened her grip on the small hand.
"If I have to be honest, out of every confession that I got, this is the first time I'm happy that the other party loves me. Knowing that you have those feelings for me reassures me, Futako. It's like I know you desire to stay by my side and the possibility of us drifting apart because of one of us going out with someone else is low."
While she was talking, Chiisana leaned her head on Futako's shoulder. With her thumb, she playfully rubbed the back of Futako's hand.
"But I'm unsure about how I feel about you. I don't know if it is just just deep friendship or love. In the end, I'm just a self-centered girl who doesn't want to lose what she has and needs to use your suffering to determine her feelings."
"That's..." not true or at least this was what Futako wanted to say, but she could not finish her sentence. From an outsider's point of view, Chiisana's words were the truth. She did not want to lose what she considered precious to her while still not fully committing in exchange. Even more, she had offered a messed-up kind of deal just because she could not reach a conclusion.
Yes, from a complete stranger's standards, it was cowardice.
However, Futako was not just some complete stranger in this context. She was the girl that liked that other girl.
"Chi." Thin yet reassuring arms slowly wrapped around Chiisana, surprising the one being held. Soon enough, she found herself being hugged by Futako from the side. Her head was carefully placed against the ample chest.
"Futako?" Her eyes ever so slightly shifted upward.
"When I woke up this morning, I was completely lost with what happened to my body. I was terrified even. It was your usual gentleness to me that helped me calm down. You comforted me and even took the lead in trying to find out what happened to me. I really don't know what I would have done without you."
Chiisana could not mutter a word, so she just decided to listen and not interrupt Futako.
"You even accepted the fact that I liked girls so easily, making all my worries seem pointless."
"This..."
"...Also the fact that I tended, or rather still tend to look at you with... more than impure thoughts"
"..."
Now that Futako had brought up this topic, both of them felt embarrassed about the various things they had done up to that point in time. Futako, because she basically confessed about using her as fap material and Chiisana in regard to her questionable choices of clothes to attract her friend's eyes.
Futako cleared her throat, trying to dispel the strange mood. It was quite useless, but at least there was an effort.
"Anyway, what I trying to say is I'm glad that you were here for me today. So please, don't talk so badly of the girl I like." After uttering such cheesy lines, Futako clamped her lips while still trying to pull on a cool front.
Chiisana froze before finally giggling to herself. "How romantic. In other circumstances, I would have cringed so hard."
"Guh."
"It's a good thing you are the one who says this kind of thing." Chiisana let herself go in Futako's embrace, fully nestled in her clear feelings for her.
Futako smiled and proceeded to caress Chiisana's hair. The two of them stayed like this for a moment, enjoying the presence of the other.
Then, a subject returned to Futako's mind. Something that she clearly needed to set straight with Chiisana. "So, regarding this whole temporary girlfriend thing."
"Oh yeah, right."
Chiisana turned toward Futako and sat up cross-legged. Futako continued her query. "If I understand correctly, you will act as my girlfriend until some kind of cure is found for what happened to my body. Is that correct?"
"Basically, yeah." Chiisana simply nodded. The decision had been abrupt, so the exact details had also ended up being vague.
"As my girlfriend, you will help me whenever I get those urges like what happened this morning?"
"..." Chiisana diverted her eyes with an evasive expression.
"Eh? Is there something wrong?" Futako panicked. If she had thought about it a tiny bit more before expressing her uncovered desires she would have reached the conclusion that there were steps in a relationship. Usually, a pair does not jump straight to the 'let's bang' part after less than a day.
Thankfully, the other party was also not really clear of mind at the moment.
"No, it's just...We don't really have to limit it to when you can't control it anymore, you know? I mean..."
Futako took a second to register what Chiisana was trying to say, but when it did she audibly gasped. "You mean, like, whenever?"
Chiisana scratched her cheek and muttered. "Yeah. If I'm acting as your girlfriend I got to do it properly. For a normal couple, they don't generally wait until one of them is no longer able to endure it, right?"
Futako leaned toward Chiisana with a serious expression. Chiisana could not help but look at her, but her eyes were attracted by the glimpses of cleavage in front of her. She looked up when Futako began to ask her a follow-up question. "How far can we go?"
"H-How far, you ask."
Chiisana pondered for a bit. Upon reaching a response she answered this important question. "To not have regret I would prefer to not cross the last line. Just in case I can't return your feelings."