before knowing Ao is actually a girl when they reunited many years later. In Asteroid in Love, Mira and Ao had a chance meeting when they were kids, which had a lasting impression to both, to the point that Mira developed a long-standing crush on Ao.
Even Kei won't stop gushing on how 'beautiful' Chiyoko is. Chiyoko even carries a white lily (which symbolizes female romance) on one of them. She'll often refer to her time alone with Kei as 'dates', tell her friend Akira that she and Kei are in a 'burning love' note a joke on the expression used by the media when Kei and Akira were rumored to be in a relationship and several chapter covers feature them in intimate poses. It intensifies after the shooting of Death Island where they had to share several scenes, especially on Chiyoko's part.
