Asteroid in Love's premise lies on The Promise between Mira and Ao, which in itself is already a source of homoerotic interpretation of how they act. In addition to them, there are subtexts abound for other pairings. This won't come as surprising, given Quro was a big name in Hidamari Sketch doujinshi.
Note on convention used: Pairings with a slash means there are no obvious seme/uke designations in their relationships, in which case the characters are ordered by their position on the cast sheet.
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Mira / Ao
Due to their childhood promise, and a clear intent for Mira to go full romantic if Ao was not a girl in the first place, this pairing is as Official Couple as it gets, but still subtextual.
- In general, they hold hands very frequently in different contexts, and their closeness is well-known to other members of the cast. Whether they see it as platonic or romantic is a different question entirely.
- In the first episode:
- When asked about why she is joining the Earth Sciences Club, Mira tells the story between her and a boy called Ao years ago while holding the hands of the girl sitting next to her for minutes. That's before The Reveal that that girl she holds hands with is that Ao.
- In the third episode:
- The result of Misa's "experiment" on Ao is that Mira is the only person Ao is comfortable being close to.
- Mira asks Misa to stop saying weird things to Ao because Ao is her "precious/special partner." This is not a case of Dub Text, since the exact Japanese phrase she used ("daiji na paatonaa"), while tilted more towards the professional meaning of the word "partner," is on record to also mean "significant other."
- Mira and Ao two went out shopping to celebrate having passed their make-up exams. Mira calls it a date.
- The image Quro draws for the May 2020 issue
of Kirara Carat features Mira and Ao... which is fine, but Quro gave Ao some rather masculine clothing—dress shirt, cardigan, necktie, and trousers—making the two looking more like a heterosexual couple. As a related matter, the author also gives Ao attributes that are usually seen as masculine (poor housework skills and preference towards black coffee), despite otherwise being quite feminine. - Funimation's choice for Ao's dub voice actor may have unintentionally created Dub Text. Megumi Yamaguchi, Ao's Japanese voice actor, tends to play Shrinking Violets, but her English voice actor Morgan Berry usually plays young boys or tomboys. While Berry plays Ao rather softly—Ao is relatively shy, after all—her deep voice sounds masculine enough to make Ao and Mira sound like a Tomboy and Girly Girl pair.
Mikage X Ino
Ino harbours a one-side admiration on Mikage to the point of Living Emotional Crutch, but never appears to be reciprocated.
- When Ino recalls her first encounter with Mikage outside the latter's clubroom, in Ino-vision Mikage is radiating with light and sparkles (compare the trope of Bishie Sparkle) and Ino gets completely floored by her.
- After she was appointed club president at Chapter 21 / Episode 6, for a few days Ino spends her time in the clubroom doing nothing but going Ocular Gushers while holding Mikage's belongings in a way not unlike Cradle of Loneliness.
Mikage / Mari
They started out unfriendly towards each other, but towards the end of their twelfth grade, they suddenly became close each other, culminating at them rooming together during college.
- The first time they hold hands in Chapter 30 / Episode 9, Mari suggested she will invite Mikage to mixers, just to see the latter blustered.
Suzu X Ao
While Suzu Ships Mira / Ao, for more than once Suzu doesn't act that innocent towards Ao.
- In Episode 8 / Chapter 27, when the cast is brainstorming how to help Ao, Suzu barges in a declares she's eloping with Ao.
- The dub's translation to Mira's response to the "elopement" seems to imply dub-Mira knows what Moe thinks about Ao.Mira, in the sub: Wait! What about our dream?!Mira, in the dub: Wait! I had a dream with her before you!
- The dub's translation to Mira's response to the "elopement" seems to imply dub-Mira knows what Moe thinks about Ao.
- In Chapter 28 and 29, she mentions an advantage of Ao moving into Misa's room is that she can get both Ao and Misa's scents. The Misa part is understandable since Suzu has confessed to her, but the comment about Ao falls on this side.
- This comes up again in Chapter 41, when Moe was given a chance to be alone at Ao's room (long story). The rest of the cast overhears Moe's reaction through the thin walls.
Moe: Mmmmm~! Ao's bed and Ao's pillow! ::heart::(Ao goes Blue with Shock)
Other pairings
- In Chapter 17/ Episode 5, Mai mentioned Eve's been has been slightly shorter than the previous trimester...because she was "always watching". This caused Eve to blush a little, and Usami commented Eve's heart may have missed a beat.
