Ours

IV

I've always had mixed feelings about the sensation of warm sand between your toes. In a sense, it was refreshing, one of the many feelings you think of when your mind drifts towards the beach. On the other hand, it was annoying. Small pieces of rock sticking to your feet and the torture of walking on sand that is too warm.

Why go to the beach with such ambiguous feelings, you ask?

That's simple, it's because it's the place where my dog, Ares, loves to walk.

It was a hassle to get here, thirty minutes away from my apartment by car, but it was worth it to see Ares sniff the sand happily while guiding me to who knows where. We've come to this beach so often that the buildings surrounding it have become familiar.

"Ares, I'll never understand why you love it here so much," I mumble, looking at the ocean that was only a couple of feet away from hitting my ankles. Ares responds by looking at me for a moment, letting out one bark, and going back to the pile of sand he was smelling.

It was more crowded today than the usual, most likely because it was so nice out. The only downside was that there were so many children coming up to pet Ares that I noticed he was getting annoyed resulting in me having to tie a yellow ribbon on his leash. Thankfully many of the parents knew what that indicated which decreased the disturbance of Ares' sniffing.

Sure, I could have just slipped on his service dog vest, but I didn't like the way people stared when I did. It was like they were trying to figure out what was wrong with me based on my looks.

Aside from all those inconveniences, the beach was relatively a nice place. Interesting people to observe meant more characters to incorporate into my stories. From that elderly woman who was sunbathing to those two girls hitting on the same guy.

My feet halt as I look over at the two girls I almost glossed over. The boy that they were hitting on had curled up in a ball and was lightly pushing their hands away from his face, shyly telling them to leave him alone. I knew that purple beach shirt from anywhere...

What was Shun doing at the beach? He doesn't even know how to swim.

I let a sigh escape from my lips as I dusted myself off. Plastering a wide (fake) smile on my lips, I looked down at Ares who had ceased his activities to look at me.

Approaching the two females, I made a point to hug Shun from the back, startling the girls so much that they took three steps back. Wrapping my arms around Shun's stomach and laying my chin on his shoulder I looked at the girls before tilted my head.

"Sorry girls! He's with me." I say, waving them off and watching them go until I was sure they wouldn't come back. Once they were out of sight, I let go of Shun, who was still stunned by my sudden appearance and took my seat next to him.

"(Nickname)! What are you doing here?" He asked astonished, his eyes drifting to Ares who had laid himself down on the beach blanket.

"I take Ares on walks here all the time. What are you doing here? You can't even swim-" Just as I was about to finish my sentence, Shun let out a loud shout as he covered my mouth. I rolled my eyes, though everyone knew about it he still wanted to keep it a secret.

"I-I came here with Nendou and Saiki." He answered, lowering his hands when he was sure that I wouldn't say anything about his swimming deficiency.

My head turns to scan the beach when I hear this, hoping to catch a glimpse of a certain someone. It didn't take long to find Nendou, wearing shades while talking to a girl who didn't look interested whatsoever.

"Looking for someone?" I heard Saiki's voice ask as I turn my head to face him. The hardest part about keeping a relationship secret is the fact that you have to hide your smile in public. Breaking out in a grin just by looking at him is definitely suspicious.

I pinch myself on the thigh before giving him a small smile you would give an acquaintance. "Hello Saiki, it's been a while."

This, obviously, was a lie. I was at his house a couple of days ago doing homework.

He nodded in response and sat down on the blanket next to me. It was quiet for a while, the conversation mostly consisting of Shun talking about Dark Reunion.

"How did you get here? It's a bit far off from where you live, don't you think?" Saiki asked only to me using his telepathy. Though he's done this on more than one occasion, I never get used to it and always flinch in surprise.

"It is. I drove here." I thought back, watching his expression shift ever so slightly to a look of surprise.

"I didn't know you could drive."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," I said smugly, causing him to roll his eyes.

Another thing I like about Saiki: How I could say the littlest things and watch how he reacts to it.

Ares let out a bark before getting up from his laying position and going on his hind legs, using my shoulders as his support. Smiling, I let my forehead rest on his before getting up.

"Well that's my cue, I shouldn't let Ares out for this long in such hot weather. I'll see you guys at school." I declared, going down and hugging Shun before shooting a smile at Saiki and walking away.

Another disadvantage to keeping our relationship a secret: I couldn't hug Saiki like I hug Shun. It would be weird and an obvious hint that we were more than acquaintances.

Letting out another sigh, I kept a smile on my face, talking in a low voice so only Ares could hear me.

"Ares, did you see the boy in the pink hair?" I asked as he stopped and looked at me. A smile spread across my face at the thought of what I was going to say.

"He's my boyfriend."