Young Writers Society

"See?" Kellach said, gesturing to Kaito and Aquarius. "That stuff isn't my fault!"

Aegeas pinched his nose and sighed. "It's even more your fault than the Lunis thing," he mumbled.

Kellach rubbed the back of his neck. "I might've made some jokes about it?"

Burying his head in his paws, Aegeas groaned.

Aquarius normally wasn't good with attention, but he kept his arms wrapped around Kaito. He was far shorter than him - his arms only reached up to the bottom of his chest - but Kaito melted in the embrace, gently leaning against Aquarius without pushing too hard.

Kellach's cheeks stung as he saw the hug in front of him. They looked completely comfortable about being that affectionate in front of other people - he couldn't help but be jealous. He always turned into a mess when Aegeas or Fyrsil did something like that. And he couldn't even joke about it without making himself look like more of an idiot (besides, it was just a little mean, which was why he'd only done it to Lunis).

"Um, should we stop for a second?" he said, trying to stammer. "That doesn't look all that comfortable."

The question took both of them by surprise. Kaito, who had been precariously balanced earlier, pushed back a little bit too much. Both him and Aquarius fell to the ground with startled cries and a loud crash. The noise caused heads to turn up ahead. When the two sat up a second later, both of them had red faces. Kaito looked absolutely mortified, and Aquarius was using Kaito to hid his blushing and equally horrified face.

That was what Kellach was used to.

The otter tried to stifle a laugh as he walked around Kaito and Aquarius. He stopped, looked down, and extended a paw. "Need some help?" he said, grinning. No wonder Fyrsil said Kellach was cute when he was embarrassed; these two were adorable.

Kaito eagerly took the extended hand, partially pulling himself to his feet. He turned back to Aquarius when he was done, helping his god up as he rose with a still blushing face. Kaito, his own face still bright red, pulled Aquarius a little too hard - the god went stumbling into him, face now right up against Kaito's coat.

Aaand of course these two couldn't lift themselves up - Kellach now found himself pressed between the wall and Kaito's coat.

Kellach groaned, catching a smiling Aegeas out of the corner of his eye.

Kaito pulled Aquarius close to his chest and awkwardly tried to maneuver into a position that would let Kellach slip out from behind him, but he stumbled and nearly fell once again - a burst of water from Aquarius steadied him.

Kaito puffed out his cheeks after taking a big gulp of air.

"I've been like this for three years," he muttered. "I should be more comfortable with it."

"And I have two boyfriends," Kellach said, squeezing out from behind Kaito. "So you'd think I'd also be used to this stuff."

Kaito froze.

Aquarius froze, too.

He hadn't expected anyone but maybe Aquarius to hear what he had uttered. It had been stupid to even mention it, but it was a slip of the tongue - he couldn't help himself. Most of the people they interacted with knew just who Kaito Shion really was, but these weren't most people. And Kaito didn't even know how to begin to explain the crazy mess his life had become three years ago.

Staring over at the lovebirds, Kellach also froze. "Did I say something wrong? You were just talking about how you've been a couple for the last three years, right?"

"Umm...." Aquarius murmured, his voice quiet and uncertain. He looked over at Kaito, but his chosen was still frozen in his place. It was only when he opened his mouth to say something - maybe to confirm, maybe to deny, he didn't know - that Kaito suddenly blurted out a response.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "That's definitely, totally it. Aquarius and I have definitely been dating for the past three years."

"You don't sound very happy about that?" Kellach said, glancing between the two of them. "If I was in a relationship for that long, I think I'd do more than stare and gape at anyone asking about it."

Aegeas sighed and crossed his arms. "They're lying," Aegeas said, walking up to Kellach and glaring at Kaito. "Three years means sometime else."

Technically, it was only Kaito who had lied about the three years - though Aquarius had helped with keeping the lie going for the entirety of their time here. But he couldn’t argue for his boyfriend being innocent without admitting to lying, so Kaito just bit his tongue and returned the glare with a stare.

“No it doesn’t,” he finally said. “I’m telling the truth! We’ve been dating for the past three years-”

I agree with Aegeas, Zion suddenly said from in front of them.

Kaito gave a startled yelp and instinctively clung to Aquarius, the water god awkwardly trying to get a look at what had scared Kaito through the arms covering his face. When had Zion even gotten there? He had been sure that they were with Ari! But Ari didn’t look remotely surprised when he glanced over at her. She only looked worried - Kaito couldn’t tell if it was because of how tightly he was hugging Aquarius, or because she was worried about the apparent lie.

But I understand that you might have a good reason for keeping whatever it is a secret, Zion continued. If you don’t want to talk about it, I’ll respect that decision.

Kaito let out a sigh of relief, and his grip on Aquarius loosened.

Pride joined the quickly growing group. “I won’t,” the homunculus said, looking up at him with crossed arms. “Is it a dangerous secret?”

“What?” Kaito blurted, only to gulp when Pride continued to stare at him. “No! It’s not - I mean, that’s assuming I even have a secret, which I, uh, don’t…”

“I think the general consensus is that you do,” Apophis pointed out.

Ari nodded in agreement. “You don’t seem like the best liar.”

Kaito wasn’t sure if that statement was supposed to be relieving or insulting.

“...I think you have to tell them,” Aquarius quietly said, wiggling free from Kaito’s grasp. He looked up at his chosen. Kaito started to shake his head in denial, but Aquarius kept giving him the same pleading look. His puppy dog eyes might have been good, but Aquarius had mastered the look far better than he ever would.

Kaito hurriedly glanced away, his gaze landing on Ari.

“Ari, how old are you?” he blurted.

“Eighteen,” she replied. She hesitated. “...Why do you need to-”

“See!” Kaito interrupted, turning back to Aquarius and wildly gesturing in Ari’s direction. “I can’t if she’s eighteen! And no one here would get it. I don’t think Aegeas or Kellach or Lunis or Mal or Pride even have Minecraft, and I don’t even know how to begin explaining it! No one would take me seriously if they found the truth out!”

Aquarius’s expression softened.

“...They’re taking me seriously,” he said.

“You’re seventeen,” Kaito said, “and a god. That’s a big difference.”

"What does age have to do with it?" Aegeas said. "I'm definitely not eighteen, and neither is Kellach. And I've had to deal with this whole other worlds thing for so long that I'd be really impressed if you could come up with something I didn't believe in. You're also bad enough of a liar that I think I can pick up on the truth."