Ho Yay / A3!

Can I hope for something such as friendship? Can I be saved by something such as love?

• Banri and Tsumugi in the Valentine cross-backstage. Banri asks what kind of relationship he and Tsumugi have.
  Banri: What even are we, anyway? If we're not friends...
• In High Spirits at the Hot Spring, Azuma and Sakyo spend their time together in the hot spring at night, all while enjoying sake.
• Yuki was canonically Taichi's first love and even though Taichi doesn't realize that Yuki and the "girl" he loved are one and the same, he's still very eager to help Yuki out with sewing and clearly enjoys Yuki calling him a puppy dog in their chat, even cheerfully yelping "Arf!" in response.
• Ever since their first meeting, Tenma and Yuki have been at odds and bicker every chance they get, to the extent that others have compared them more than once to a bickering couple. And yet, despite all their differences, the two actually highly respect each other, but it takes a lot of work for them to admit it.
• Banri and Juza's Sitcom Archnemesis-turned-Vitriolic Best Buds relationship has more than a whiff of Belligerent Sexual Tension vibes to it, especially when Banri tells Juza at the end of the Autumn Troupe's first Main Story that Juza was the first person who made him feel alive and that he'll happily devote the rest of his life to competing with him.
  • In Azuma [Winter Is Coming] backstage, he got both Banri and Juza sleep together with him.
• Homare and Hisoka. In their cash-earning chat, Homare compares Hisoka to a spoiled lover.
  • Hisoka [Winter Is Coming]: When asked about Hisoka's whereabouts, Homare simply recites this: "The calm, sleeping breaths of the king are poetry. Under the briar rose, I bid you kiss me...!"
• In The Great Sardine Search, Yuki and Kazunari were mistaken for a couple due to them doing couple-like things such as taking selfies together and getting matching mugs.
• The play Romeo and Julius. At the end of the play, Romeo and Julius left their family and town and went on a journey together, after faking their deaths.
  • It also doesn't help that the play is based on Romeo and Juliet.
• Sakuya and Masumi when they're practicing the sword fight scene. Masumi who usually rude and cold, willing to help Sakuya and even teaching the moves to Sakuya patiently.
• The play Nocturnality, pictured above. Towards the end of the play, when Reo wanted to leave Kota, Kota pleaded with Reo to bring him along, saying that he'd even become a vampire just to follow him. At the end, Reo decided to suck Kota's blood and knock him out before leaving. When Kota woke up and found Reo gone, he broke down, but it is implied that he has not given up on being with Reo yet.
  • At one point, Kota questioned "where did a wife like you (Reo) come from."
  • Reo biting Kota in the theater version. He also bit Kota when Kota was on bed too.
    • In the stage version of the play, the scene immediately faded to black when Reo went to bite the sleeping Kota.
  • The theme song Shoutai isn't subtle at all about Reo's and Kota's relationship. The lyrics also talk about wanting to bite sweetly into the neck and play with the blood that flows forth...
  • As revealed in Azuma's [Banquet of Blooming] backstage, the poster (pictured above) is actually intended to be sexy. Kazunari told Tasuku to take off his tie for that reason.
  • The event story itself at one point, has the whole Winter Troupe asking what they are as a team. They are neither family like Spring Troupe, nor friends like Summer Troupe, nor teammates like Autumn Troupe. Homare immediately speaks up.
    Homare: In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, we shall share our laughter and our tears as those with an intertwined fate... How beautiful we are!
    Izumi: I can already hear wedding bells in the distance...
• One of Homare's birthday lines from Azuma is that Azuma wants to see Homare as a beautiful husband again, referring to his role as Tojiro in Die by the Sword.
• Dance with Butterfly also has its fair share of moments.
  • When performing a street act, Homare asked "Shall we dance?" and managed to get Tasuku to dance with him. Tasuku was annoyed, but Homare was quick to point out that Tasuku was actually having fun with it. Tasuku only went silent instead of denying that.
  • Tsumugi accidentally pressed the play button on Homare's camera. Tasuku tried to stop it but did not do so, as he was immediately captivated by Homare's lonely dance practice.
  • Homare bawling about his missing camera, saying that his memory with Tasuku has gone with the dew.
  • The play itself. In the end, although Takatsu and Arikawa walked separate path, they agreed to dance together again when their paths overlapped.
    Takatsu: And when our paths cross once again, I’ll take your hand.
  • The theme song STEP is pretty sensual especially with the way Arikawa sings the lyrics. The lyrics has a part in which Arikawa and Takatsu are entangled by threads, and Arikawa is asking to unravel them... But before the last chorus, Takatsu wants to get bound together with Arikawa and never be separated, and they refuse to let go of each other's hands.
• Itaru and Misumi: In hAve A greAt trip!, when the two are together on their free day off, Itaru remarks that hanging out with Misumi makes him feel like "all's right in the world". Later, when they encounter Tenma and Kazunari, the two say they're on a date together.
  Itaru: I was in the middle of a date with Misumi.
  Misumi: We're on a triangle date!
• In Operation: Campfire Bonds, Tsuzuru and Kazunari get lost in the woods together during the "Test of Courage" Citron planned because Misumi had accidentally knocked over the sign pointing towards the right direction. Due to his sickness from over-exposure, Kazunari keels over. He feels too weak to continue and tells Tsuzuru to continue on without him. Despite not being on the best terms with Kazunari at the time, Tsuzuru is adamant they go together and carries Kazunari on his back. The CG that follows features Tsuzuru carrying Kazunari on his back with a smile on his face, while Kazunari, blushing, looks down upon him and rests his head against Tsuzuru's shoulder.
• Citron and Itaru:
  • Citron's initial SSR [Style]: Before a Spring Troupe practice, Masumi found out Citron had bridal carried Izumi earlier in the dorms when she tripped down the stairs. Masumi retorts that he'll carry Izumi, and Citron should just carry Itaru instead. Itaru is 100% down.
    Itaru: You serious? Okay, Citron, I'm all yours
    Citron: No problem! As a master of the princess carry, you should be no problem!
    Tsuzuru: Where is this conversation going!?
  • Itaru's initial SSR [Gamer Life Goals]: Itaru has been working overtime at his office job. He leaves early in the morning and comes home at ungodly hours late in the night. Everyone starts to get worried, since they're starting to barely see him. Since they miss Itaru, Sakuya gets the idea to leave notes in front of his room. Citron's choice of words is...interesting to say the least.
    Sakuya: Oh, I have an idea! Why don't we leave a note for him in front of his room?
    Citron: Wonderful idea! I shall write one too! "Welcome home from work, Daddy!"
    Banri: [sighing] He is not your daddy.
  • Spring Troupe is often compared to a family unit, and Itaru and Citron are the father and mother, respectively. It originates from a skit Spring Troupe puts on to keep Itaru from leaving the company. Sakuya, Masumi, and Tsuzuru are children who beg their "father" Itaru to not leave their "mother". The mother, of course, is Citron. It makes its reprisal in Act 5 with the arrival of Chikage, who is regarded as the "grandpa" in their family.
    • The family dyanamic of Spring Troupe is also the inspiration for the play Citron and Itaru co-star in, SSR Family, where Citron and Itaru are v-tubers. Itaru and Citron's characters, Eito and Ritsu respectively, are part of family themed v-tuber unit where they are married to each other and even have children.
  • In Operation: Campfire Bonds, everyone plays a game of wink murder. Itaru wins another round, to which Muku replies that wink murder is harder than he thought. Citron follows up by saying that Itaru's winks are murder as well, and they make his heart "skip many beats".