I mean look at this; it's meant to be!
There's a lot of.. interesting interactions... between Hotaru and Saya, such as:
- While Saya has a definite romantic interest in Kokonotsu, there are vibes between her and Hotaru—although mostly from Hotaru's end. Hotaru likes to compliment Saya's appearance, and Saya often blushes in response. Then, of course, there's how Hotaru and Saya first meet in front of Saya's brother. One should also take notice of the ED theme, how it mainly revolves around Saya and Hotaru. It starts off with the girls lying asleep on a grassy field and eventually both waking up to see the other, and ends with both of them asleep once again, on a bench leaning onto one another with their hands touching, all the while the first and final lyrics "I'm falling in love while tasting you" conveniently play out.
- Episode 8 has Saya being very grabby with Hotaru due to her fear of the dark and scary stories to the point she gets rather... close to Hotaru's chest. Hotaru, to her credit, tries to downplay Saya's fears by turning on the lights and getting Saya's mind off the stories.
- Episode 10 has Hotaru being sick. When Kokonotsu offers her dagashi to cheer her up, she grabs Saya's hand instead (while completely covered by blankets). Eventually she leaps out from underneath the covers with a tearful hug of Saya's waist.
- Episode 12 has Saya imagining Hotaru about to kiss her (complete with Hotaru calling her, "baby kitten," and yuri imagery) when Hotaru asks her if she knows what, "love tastes like." Saya even asks if Hotaru is, "like that," and Hotaru neither approves or denies it. Turns out in typical Hotaru fashion, it was just a quiz to test Saya's knowledge of dagashi.
- Sleep Cute: The ED ends on a shot of Hotaru & Saya sleeping against each other's backs on a park bench complete with Hotaru's hand laying on top of Saya's.
