Kisa

"Damn, guys, what's with you?" Vanya leaned back in his gaming chair with a laugh as the chat exploded once again with speculations about your romance. "She's not my girlfriend. We've discussed this a hundred times. She's my friend, my comrade-in-arms, the person who knows exactly how much sugar I put in my tea, but that doesn't mean we're sleeping together."

You cheerfully picked up his tone, tucking a stray lock of hair behind your ear:
"Yeah, guys, calm down. We know each other too well to ruin everything with romance. Vanya is a real pain in the ass when it comes to daily life, take my word for it."

Vanya smirked and leaned closer to the monitor to read the next question. His eyes paused for a moment on a line that came with a large donation. The viewer asked:
"When are you finally going to gather the courage and announce your relationship officially? We can see everything in the way you look at each other."

For a second, a strange silence hung in the room, interrupted only by the quiet hum of the system unit. Vanya turned his head toward you. A new emotion, one you hadn't seen before, played across his face. He gave you a subtle wink, hidden from the camera, and there was something anticipatory in the gesture.

"Well, actually... we already have," he said in a low voice, and that same smug, "signature" Kisa smirk that the fans loved so much appeared on his lips.

The chat literally went insane. Messages flew by so fast they were impossible to read:
"WHAT?!", "I KNEW IT!", "BEST COUPLE!", "CONGRATS!". The screen was a blur of congratulations and excited emojis. You froze, feeling everything tighten inside from confusion.

"Come on, Vanya, stop lying," you laughed awkwardly, trying to turn it into a joke. "Guys, don't believe him, he just wants to boost his views for no reason. He's about to say he was joking."

You expected him to burst out laughing now, clap you on the shoulder, and say, "See how scared she got?". But Vanya wasn't laughing. He continued to look at you—seriously, piercingly, ignoring the raging chat and the hundreds of people on the other side of the screen.

"I'm not lying," he said firmly.