How Secrets Are Told - Shota/Yuriko

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How Secrets Are Told
Matsuda Shota/Yoshitaka Yuriko
tinyangl, 594 words
Prompt: shota/yuriko, "what people don't know is that i went willingly." from sinonymity. Written here originally.


She whispers her secrets to him.

"Once Becky and I were fighting over this hamster—I wanted to keep him but she insisted that she had found him first. So in order to make sure that she never got him, I buried him where she'd never find."

Shota chuckles lightly, forehead pressed against hers, legs tangled underneath dark red silk sheets. It sounded like something she'd do.

"I didn't think that would kill him." Yuriko's sigh is soft but the air tickles his cheeks. Shota resists the urge to open his eyes; that would break their promise. "Becky was devastated when she found out. But she never yelled, was just disappointed. I think that made it worse."

"It's okay," he murmurs. Even without looking, he knows where to reach to stroke a hand against her soft cheeks. The motion makes Yuriko shift, pressing herself against Shota.


"I once stole Nino's shoes. He still has no idea."

Shota laughs because the idea of Nino having to search for his winged shoes is hilarious, and also because he's always wanted to steal those monstrosities himself.

"I think I still have them too," Yuriko giggles. "But he has like so many pairs it almost doesn't matter."

"I'm sure it aggravated him. That's good enough."

"Hmm," Yuriko says lightly.


"Meisa blamed Sho for ruining her favorite bow and arrow, but really I just wanted to try and see if I was as good with it as she was."

"Were you?"

"Not even close."


"I once hid Maki's books."

"Doesn't she have a lot?"

"It took a lot of work."

"Worth it?"

"Yes and no. Her reaction was more subdued for a goddess of warfare."

"Ah, that just means she was thinking of how to get back at you."

The curve of Yuriko's lips shifts under his palm.

"Except she never figured out it was me. Nino sure was surprised when she managed to ground him for two hours."

Their laughter mingles in the air.


It's on her last night when their bodies are intertwined underneath sheets and the warmth of Yuriko against him makes Shota dread the future tomorrow that she whispers "I knew about the pomegranate seeds" against his chest.

Shota's throat closes up. He had known what he was doing when he fed her that last night—his insurance policy to make sure she would come back. It was wrong, the worst thing to do to trap her, but... the Underworld was lonely and it'd been so long since he could remember smiling. "I'm sorry," he whispers back.

Even against the pillow, Yuriko tries to shake her head. "I could've declined. I knew full well what eating food from here meant. But I didn't."

He feels his eyes open without him meaning to, and he almost curses himself because he'd promised this; she felt more capable of telling him these things if their eyes were closed. As though it was really darkness she was murmuring her secrets too. Except Yuriko's eyes are wide-open, gentle as always. Shota swallows. "You did?" He really wants to ask, "So why?"

She must hear it because she tugs him closer, skin pressed against skin, and lightly touches his face with her fingers. "I loved you," she says. And even though she's said it before this moment, it still makes Shota freeze up.

He rests a hand against her cheek and pulls her against him, lips finding lips in a gentle kiss. "And I you."

She laughs against his lips and nods lightly. "I know."


Late that night, when Yuriko's asleep in his arms, Shota whispers his secret. "I've loved you long before you knew I existed."


She whispers when she comes back half a year later. "I knew that too."