Edited by: ASaltedFish
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Traveling through space was novel to Aster at first, but after a few days, he got bored with the scenery and decided to explore the First Fleet's main spacecraft with Ellery.
They were a day away from Hezyria, so Ellery was pacing around the First Fleet, feeling a bit nervous.
Everyone could see he was nervous, but no one came up to him to ask what was wrong.
It would be his first time meeting Akimitsu's family, so he wanted to leave a good first impression.
In his past life, when he met Leonard's parents for the first time, they hated him because they preferred Darian over him.
No matter what he did, they always took Darian's side. They made his life a living hell because he didn't want to lose to Darian. They looked down on him for being an orphan, showing they were not good people from the start.
Now, Ellery was worried about Akimitsu's family. What would happen if they didn't like him? Would they treat him badly, like Leonard's parents? Well, Akimitsu was a good person, so his parents and siblings should be good people, right?
It was the first time Aster had seen Ellery doubting himself, but he wasn't surprised. He had a lot of trauma from his past life, especially when it came to Leonard and his family…
[Ellery, you are a wonderful person, so if they do not like you, then they aren't good people in my book.] Aster was a very simple person. If he liked someone, he liked them a lot. If he didn't like someone, he would let everyone know. [But since it's Akimitsu's family, I am sure they are good people.]
'Thank you, Aster… I really hope they like me.'
Ellery knew if Akimitsu's family were like Leonard's family, he would nip their relationship in the bud and remain as friends. He could not go through another relationship with a family that hated him.
Even though Akimitsu kept reassuring him that his family would like him, he could only hope that he was right and his worries were for nothing.
*****
A day later, the First Fleet landed at Hezyria's main spacecraft dock. It was large enough to hold hundreds of spacecrafts. Even so, Edros had the First Fleet's spacecraft land in a private area for important individuals.
There, Akimitsu's family waited for them to land.
Akimitsu's family consisted of his parents, his older brother and his wife, as well as their three kids. He also had two younger twin sisters. Akimitsu had two dads, but he looked similar to his taller father. As for his shorter dad, he had tan skin and wavy brown hair. It was on the longer side and put up into a bun.
Coincidentally, all the men in the Ito family, except for those who married into the family, had some type of bear quantum beast.
"Why is everyone here to greet us?" Akimitsu ran up to his family and hugged everyone. "I thought only Big Brother was going to meet us here, and then we would meet everyone at the house."
"We were all excited to see you since you never come to visit us!" Akimitsu's dad said, quickly turning to Edros and Ellery. "Hello, Marshal Caecius. It's a pleasure to see you again. Tell your parents to come visit us when they have the time."
Edros' parents, the former Emperor and King Consort, were good friends with Akimitsu's parents, especially because Akimitsu's dad and Edros' mother were childhood friends. His mother, the former Emperor, was also Akimitsu's godmother. Likewise, Akimitsu's dad was Edros' godparent.
"It is good to see that you are healthy and well, Naoyuki. I will let them know." Edros felt Naoyuki was similar to his sister, so he had a hard time dealing with him.
Naoyuki wanted to keep teasing him but stopped himself because Ellery was more important.
"You must be Ellery. I am Akimitsu's dad. You can call me Naoyuki. It's an honor to finally meet you."
Ellery, who was observing all the members of the Ito family, quickly greeted Naoyuki back. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Naoyuki. You can call me Ellery. Akimitsu has taken great care of me and has said many good things about his family."
"He has? Even though he hasn't come back?"
"Dad… You know I have just been busy, but I call every night!"
"I know. I'm just teasing you."
Ellery felt that Naoyuki was similar to Emperor Eliane… Maybe that was why Akimitsu couldn't handle Eliane every time they met.
"My love, we can talk more when we get back. Let us introduce ourselves to Ellery and then let them eat and rest." Akimitsu's father, Takahiro, cut in and greeted Ellery. "I am Akimitsu's father, Takahiro. Akimitsu has told us a lot about you, and we are excited to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Takahiro. I hope Akimitsu has only said good things about me."
"Of course, he has. He fawns over you and talks about wanting to get married all of the time."
"Father!" Akimitsu stopped him from continuing.
Akimitsu's brother coughed to get their attention. "My name is Kazumi, and this is my wife, Rose; these are my three kids." He introduced his children, who were 15, 10, and 7 years old. The kids looked similar to their parents and had not differentiated into a guide or sentinel yet.
As for Akimitsu's twin sisters, Manami and Natsuko, they were both guides and were 10 years younger than Akimitsu.
After greeting all of Akimitsu's family members, Ellery was no longer anxious about the meeting. Everyone was kind and welcomed him with open arms, a completely different experience from when he met Leonard's family for the first time.
Aster felt Ellery's emotions relax, so he was no longer worried for him. Slipping his soul to the back of their consciousness, Aster was ready to switch with him if needed. Still, he decided to rest his soul for the upcoming journey to pick up Orin and find the Beast God.
******
Since Ellery, Akimitsu, and Edros were only going to stay for two days, the Ito family kept this meeting only for their immediate family.
By the time they all arrived at the Ito family's estate, the servants had just finished plating their food, so it was still warm. Since the Ito family was large, the table was covered in their favorite foods.
Ellery wasn't too picky about his food, so he happily ate a small portion of everything on the table.
After dinner, Takahiro and Naoyuki wanted to ask Ellery some questions about his relationship with Akimitsu, so the other members of the family left, leaving Akimitsu and Edros with Ellery.
At first, Takahiro and Naoyuki wanted to talk with Ellery alone; however, they realized it was their first meeting, so it was better to have someone he knew to help him feel more comfortable.
The five of them sat in Takahiro's study with tea and cookies as refreshments.
"Thank you for accepting this impromptu meeting even though you all just landed today," Takahiro started the conversation when everyone got settled in his study. "Akimitsu has been telling us every day how much he loves you and can't wait to spend his life with you. We want to know if you feel the same way so that my son is not strung along."
Naoyuki seriously said, "I hope you can understand us. We do not want to see him hurt."
Ellery knew where they were coming from. As parents, they loved Akimitsu and did not want to see him depressed over an unrequited love. Luckily for them, he did like Akimitsu a lot. At the moment, he couldn't bring himself to love him yet because of his and Aster's circumstances, but once this was over, he was sure that he could put his all into his relationship with Akimitsu.
Still, how was he going to explain that he liked Akimitsu but couldn't love him until he and Aster could separate from one another…
"I like Akimitsu a lot, but at the moment, there are some difficult circumstances that make it very difficult for me to give him my love and accept his love. I…"
He looked over at Akimitsu. He trusted Akimitsu, but did Akimitsu trust his family enough to tell them his secret?
"Father, Dad, I understand that you care about me, but right now, I do not expect to be with Ellery right now because of the difficult circumstances he is currently going through."
"You two… What sort of circumstances are so difficult you can't explain it to us? Still, if you can't tell us, we will respect that. As long as Ellery likes you and intends to be with you, then for us, that is all that matters." Takahiro sighed because he knew that Akimitsu was stubborn if he wanted to keep his mouth shut.
"How about Edros? What is your relationship with Edros? I've heard from Emperor Eliane that Ellery and Edros are very close." Naoyuki unknowingly threw Eliane under the bus.
Ellery, Akimitsu, and Edros had the same thought. It was Eliane causing trouble for them! Eliane was probably so giddy telling Naoyuki about Edros and Ellery being close, even though Akimitsu was also in the picture.
To the outside world, it really did seem like Ellery was stringing them along. At this point, it was best to tell Takehiro and Naoyuki about Ellery's situation…
Akimitsu and Edros looked at Ellery, wanting to see if he was comfortable with telling them.
"Are they trustworthy?" Ellery whispered into Akimitsu's ear. "Will they be able to keep what we talked about today a secret?"
Akimitsu looked at his parents and nodded. "They are trustworthy. I bet my life on it."
Since Akimitsu said so, Ellery thought it was fine to tell them, too. Even though the number of people who knew about him and Aster increased, it was better to have people on their side than no one at all.