Sunday evening settled in slowly, like it didn’t want to end.

  By the time the sky deepened into that dark blue just before full night, Eri was already in her room, sprawled across her bed with her phone resting on her stomach. The house was quiet—Mira was downstairs watching something dramatic and overly loud, her mom was finishing dishes, and the hallway lights were dimmed, and Yui was luckily asleep.

  It was just past ten.

  Her ears twitched zily against her pillow.

  Her tails were loosely wrapped around her waist like a bnket of their own.

  She stared at the ceiling.

  Then rolled onto her side.

  Then onto her back again.

  Then—

  Her phone buzzed.

  Her heart jumped.

  She grabbed it too fast and nearly dropped it on her face.

  Alex:You alive?

  Her lips curved immediately.

  Eri:Barely. I think I ran out of energy at 8:37pm.

  There was a pause.

  Three dots.

  Alex:That’s suspiciously specific.

  She smiled wider.

  Eri:That’s when I stopped pretending I wasn’t tired.

  Another pause.

  Then—

  Alex:Today was fun.

  Her ears softened.

  She stared at that message longer than necessary.

  Then typed carefully.

  Eri:Yeah. It was.

  Across town, Alex was lying on his own bed, staring at his ceiling too.

  His room was darker than usual. Just the faint glow of his desk mp and the light from his phone screen. His parents had gone to bed already. The house felt bigger when it was quiet.

  He repyed the arcade.

  The photo booth.

  The park.

  The kiss.

  He touched his cheek unconsciously.

  Then his phone buzzed again.

  Eri:You’re not weirded out, right?

  His brow furrowed immediately.

  Alex:Weirded out by what?

  A longer pause this time.

  He could almost imagine her staring at the screen, overthinking.

  Eri:By me.

  His expression softened instantly.

  He sat up slightly in his bed.

  Alex:Eri.

  Three dots.

  Stopped.

  Started again.

  Alex:No.

  He hesitated, then added—

  Alex:I like you.

  He hit send before he could rethink it.

  He immediately dropped his phone onto his chest like it had burned him.

  “What did I just—” he muttered to himself.

  Across town—

  Eri’s ears went rigid.

  Her tails puffed so dramatically she almost knocked over her water bottle.

  She reread the message.

  Once.

  Twice.

  Three times.

  I like you.

  Her face burned so hot she buried it in her pillow instinctively.

  Her voice came out muffled.

  “He said it.”

  Her tails filed against her mattress.

  Her phone buzzed again.

  She forced herself to look.

  Alex:I mean— not like— I mean like—

  Alex:You know what I mean.

  She started ughing quietly.

  He was spiraling.

  Good.

  She lifted her head, hair slightly messy now.

  Eri:I know what you mean.

  Pause.

  Her heart pounded.

  She swallowed.

  Then typed—

  Eri:I like you too.

  She hit send and immediately threw her phone across the bed like it might explode.

  It nded safely near her pillow.

  Silence.

  Five seconds.

  Ten.

  Her ears tilted toward the phone like they could hear incoming messages before they arrived.

  Buzz.

  She snatched it.

  Alex:Oh.

  She narrowed her eyes.

  Eri:Oh?

  Three dots.

  Alex:I was preparing for rejection. I did not prepare for success.

  She burst out ughing again.

  Downstairs, Mira paused her show and gnced toward the ceiling.

  “…What is she doing up there?”

  Upstairs, Eri kicked her feet against the bed like she physically could not contain herself.

  Eri:You’re so dramatic.

  Alex:You kissed me on the cheek at a park today. I think I’m allowed to be dramatic.

  Her face flushed again.

  She rolled onto her side, hugging her pillow.

  Eri:You kissed my cheek back.

  Alex:Different time.

  Eri:Still counts.

  He stared at that message.

  Smiling like an idiot.

  He y back fully now, one arm behind his head.

  Alex:So what does this mean?

  That question lingered.

  Eri stared at it.

  Her tails slowed.

  Her ears tilted slightly backward in thought.

  What did it mean?

  They hadn’t beled anything.

  They hadn’t officially said anything.

  It had just… happened.

  Slowly.

  Naturally.

  She typed carefully.

  Eri:It means…

  She stopped.

  Deleted.

  Retyped.

  Eri:It means I don’t want today to be the st time we do something like that.

  His chest tightened.

  Alex:Good.

  A beat.

  Alex:Because I was already pnning next weekend.

  She blinked.

  Eri:You were?

  Alex:Maybe.

  Eri:You’re bold tonight.

  Alex:Bme you.

  She smiled softly at that.

  The conversation drifted after that—easier now. Less tense. They talked about school tomorrow. About science css. About how he still couldn’t believe the teacher fainted earlier this week. About how Mira is still teasing her about that day.

  Alex:Can I ask something?

  Her ears twitched.

  Eri:Depends.

  Alex:When you kissed me… were you nervous?

  She froze.

  Her tails curled tighter around her waist.

  She considered lying.

  She didn’t.

  Eri:Terrified.

  He smiled at that.

  Alex:You didn’t look terrified.

  Eri:I was internally combusting.

  He ughed quietly in his room.

  Alex:I couldn’t think for like ten full seconds.

  She grinned at her screen.

  Eri:Good.

  A small comfortable silence followed in the form of no messages for about thirty seconds.

  Then—

  Her phone rang.

  Not a text.

  A call.

  Her eyes widened.

  She hesitated only a second before answering and pressing it to her ear.

  “…Hi.”

  On the other end, Alex’s voice was softer without the digital filter.

  “Hi.”

  There was a pause where neither knew what to say now that it wasn’t typed.

  “I just,” he started, “wanted to hear your voice.”

  Her entire body melted.

  Her tails thumped once against the mattress.

  “You’re unfair,” she whispered.

  “How?”

  “You can’t just say things like that.”

  He huffed a quiet ugh.

  “You kissed me.”

  “Stop bringing that up!”

  He grinned audibly. “Never.”

  She shifted onto her back, staring at the ceiling again.

  The world felt smaller through a phone call at night.

  More private.

  “Are you happy?” he asked suddenly.

  She didn’t answer immediately.

  She thought about school.

  About stares.

  About adjusting to everything she’d become.

  About today.

  “…Yeah,” she said softly. “I think I am.”

  “Good.”

  A beat.

  “I am too.”

  They stayed on the phone longer than either pnned. Talking about nothing. About everything. About a movie they both wanted to see. About how weird it would be if their parents figured it out before they officially said anything.

  Eventually, her mom knocked lightly on her door.

  “Eri? It’s getting te.”

  “Okay!” she called back.

  She lowered her voice again.

  “I have to go.”

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  Neither hung up.

  “…Goodnight,” she said.

  “Goodnight, Eri.”

  A pause.

  Then—

  “Hey.”

  “Yeah?”

  “…I really do like you.”

  Her heart squeezed.

  “I know,” she whispered.

  “…I really like you too.”

  Silence.

  Warm.

  Comfortable.

  Then the call ended.

  Eri y there in the dark for a long moment, phone resting over her heart.

  Her ears rexed fully.

  Her tails slowly uncurled.

  Across town, Alex stared at his ceiling again.

  But this time—

  He wasn’t repying the kiss.

  He was repying her voice.