Early that morning, Yukihiro woke from a restless sleep. Holding his head he reached over to turn on the led light by his.
'A nightmare…'
He reached for his phone but stopped. He held his head in his hand.
'...that's odd, isn't it?'
———
Masanori thought his troubles couldn't get much worse, but was proven wrong by a multitude of factors he never considered, and today was no exception. The end of term reports were finally in, and the feedback he was receiving from the teachers didn't look great.
At the end of every term, the teachers collected and graded their performance of their leadership skills as members of the council and student body. Their use of budgets, allocations of funds and resources, and maintaining of the school's functions and core values.
Masanori finally finished up the last leg of paperwork to turn in, only to receive the terrible summation of the consequences of his efforts for the past few months
As he hoped, Takeshita Akira was barely mentioned, aside from a very public display of him announcing his desire for change at sports day, which he had learned of already and honestly expected, there was little to see. Because of this, he was far more focused on reports of other omega students. Specifically, there was a lot of mention of tensions between some students from the Omega dorm and a set of trouble makers Masanori already guessed were the delinquent dressed students from before, leading to worries of school safety.
And he only got reports of reported broken rules. Masanori imagined how the others might have fared.
He pulled out his phone to text Yukihiro. But after waiting a while, he didn't respond.
'Napping… didn't see him in class either, but that's usual.'
It was clear there were growing tensions all over these days. It hasn't been this bad. What could be causing this? This only confirmed to him that he needed to touch base with the relationships between the Alpha and Omegas. If it got any worse, the teachers would begin to intervene.
'But how when the omegas act openly hostile to the council? We need some sort of mediator… or things might get dicey.'
For now he needed to focus on just keeping things from escalating. Hopefully when their reports were released publicly for the entire school in a few weeks, all of Takeshita's activities wouldn't stir up any flames.
'Ryusei should have done a good job in handling his injury reports, but maybe a last minute check-up might show minimal-'
Masanori stopped. Masanori gripped the paper in his hands a bit too tightly. He didn't want him around him, and he knew the reason why. Whatever happened between him and Akira, he was dying to know. He knew it was an ordeal to deal with Ren, but Ryusei was put on the council because he could handle tasks that great, so there was little possibility anything actually happened. At best, Akira had a small crush and became a little awkward about it. It didn't mean Ryusei did anything about it. It didn't mean it meant anything if there was. It didn't-
The paper in his hand ripped.
Masanori stood up, his nails clawing against the desk.
Masanori did it out of an obligation to cover all grounds. Not out of any curiosity by a mysterious message. He went over the info Yuki gave him about what happened on sports day. It looked fine. But it wasn't much, maybe because Yuki had bailed halfway through.
He had already looked through his phone's trash but the file was gone. But thinking of it, he should have looked into it sooner. All Yuki mentioned of sports day was that Takeshita Akira looked a little tired and got into some altercation that solved itself. But he didn't know what Yuki thought was unimportant that might actually be important, he just found it easier to let him take the reins. Distance himself from his mistakes.
'...I just need a little more. It won't take that much.'
So, he took to asking.
He tried to Shino from his club, but when the door opened he found someone else instead.
"Ruota. Is this where you'd been hanging out recently? I'm looking for the club leader here."
Ruota's eyes rolled towards the ceiling. "Ah, he's busy running an errand for me… don't come back though, he'd rather not talk to the Alpha that attacked one of his club members, after all."
He then rudely slammed the door shut.
Masanori instead approached some of the other students he knew were in the club.
"I don't know much about him." they replied to his inquiry.
"Has he mentioned anything to you?" Masanori pressed.
"We're barely in the club room at the same time. If you're looking for info why don't you just ask his classmates?"
Masanori was trying to avoid that, he was cutting it close as is. But, he knew where to get the information. So he snuck inside the teacher's room during their lunch break and looked through his homeroom teacher's desk.
Someone cleared their throat behind him, and one of the teachers was right there, specifically one he knew to be Ruota's homeroom teacher.
"Do you need something? Permission, perhaps?"
He was busted. Masanori bowed a full 90 degrees to him.
"I'm deeply sorry! I was just looking for information on a student, b-but not Takeshita Akira! Since I know I can't go near his class I thought-!"
"Easy, easy Masa-kun… I won't tell. There are some things that can't be helped can it?" The teacher then just handed him the student list.
Masanori spent his time after school tracking down some of the students in Akira's class, but while they were mostly willing to talk none of what they said was any good. The only person that had anything nice to say was Chihei, in a manner of speaking.
"He's alright. I heard what they've been saying too, I think it's a little overblown because all he never wants to talk about Alphas. Except you though. He says you're friends."
"He… did?" Masanori asked, surprised.
"Yeah. He thinks really highly of you, for some reason. I guess you helped him when Akagi-senpai refused to help, right? Everyone knows by now that he's targeting him. I wouldn't be surprised that whoever attacked him did it because of him."
'That's not entirely wrong…' Masanori held back a grimace. "So he's been alright? I… haven't been able to talk to him myself lately."
Chihei shrugged. "Eh, maybe? He's hard to figure out. I would have asked what happened during the scavenger hunt but he doesn't like to talk about it. I hope it wasn't the bastard that attacked him before in the dorm. I mean, who else would go and do that after everything he's been through?"
Masanori gulped. He guessed the attack wasn't related to sports day at all, but rather himself.
Chihei rolled his eyes as he continued. "So is this about last night? He always seems to like trouble. Like staying late and missing curfew. Like it's not there for a reason…"
"Last night?" Masanori asked, his ears perked.
"There was a teacher this morning…"
Chihei explained that a teacher came to ask about any students that came in late, after he had found him huddled up shivering in a safe closet and ran off before he could get his name. When they asked around his roommate immediately ratted him out, but it was clear it wasn't his fault this time.
"Apparently he'd been trapped there by some construction equipment. For the renovations over there or something."
Masanori crossed his arm and sighed somewhat in relief. He thought it was something bad, but it was just a terrible inconvenience, one he could tell was swept under the rug by the teacher that found him since such negligence would be a litigious nightmare for the school.
'At least he didn't get into any mischief like that. Yuki must be dying to tell me what happened when he was texting me yesterday…'
Masanori thanked them then left, filling with more uncertainty.
'There isn't anything for sports day like Yuki said, but I should learn what happened this time with Akira. Yuki can tell me… Where is Yuki?'
Masanori checked his phone, but there was still no reply. Masanori's mouth pressed with a worried frown.
'Is he actually taking his duties seriously because of the report on something? Or is it something to do with Takeshita? No, he would have told me if Akira was in the middle of something. Or… Ren. He wants to be called Ren, right? ' He shook his head. 'No, I shouldn't keep giving into his delusion…'
Masanori stopped just past the exit pass between buildings. He looked up to the glass walkways above him.
Akagi Naoto glared at him. Then he nudged his head towards the school beckoning back inside.
Masanori met him in the hall as he leaned against the wall. This side of the school at this time of day was draped in low shadows, leaving the empty halls in shades of pale white and murky blues.
Masanori stood in front of him. "What is this about?" He asked, though he had a feeling he already knew, but he thought Naoto didn't want anything to do with Takeshita anymore.
Naoto, unwaveringly boring his purple eyes into him, explained.
"I'm here because Hirabayashi is off his gord if he thinks he can threaten me into doing what he wants. So I'm letting you know, I don't give a shit what you think or whatever special treatment you think he deserves, If he does anything like that again I'll damn do what I normally do with any omega."
"What are you talking about?" He asked, but pieced together an image in his mind. Yuki must have asked for his help in some emergency to get him out of trouble, and he likely ran himself into a safe closet and got trapped inside.
Naoto growled at the floor. "Nothing. I just thought you should know, they're both out of their minds. Him and that Hirabayashi. Whatever bullshit they say to you, don't believe it. Y'know you gravitate towards total nutcases for friends!"
Masanori held his head with one hand and sighed, already settling what was happening in his head. "Yuki's just like that, and what does that make you? And treat Akira well even if he seems illogical. Questioning his logic seems to only make things worse, trust me. Be gentle. "
"Maybe that's the problem…"
Masanori stopped and looked back. "Huh? What did you…"
Naoto looked straight at Masanori with deadlocked eyes. "I gotta ask: What the hell are you doing with him? I know you're all about looking good for the old man, but you must have noticed his behavior is less like a crazy person and more like a puppy begging for attention. I'm starting to think his "delusions" are just him looking for someone to take him already. That makes more sense for an omega than whatever story he's been feeding you, don't you think? I'm getting fed up with getting involved with this-"
"Then don't get involved. Or is that so hard for an omega hating Alpha like you? What do you want?" Masanori coldly cut him off. But then he angrily turned his back. "No, forget it. I already figured there was a reason he ended up trapped in there, but you're just wasting my time. You must have just scared him into hiding…"
Naoto darkened and his tone became sharper. "I don't hate omegas. I treat them like the beast they are. Weak, manipulating beasts that only act of their own interest and hunger. And we aren't friends, Masa. You can fuck off with that attitude. I know you like him but can't you see he's spinning your head! If you knew the whole story, you would have come to me instead of me having to track you down. And I just know when you see him again he'll spin it again to make me look bad! But isn't it your omega that can't keep his hands to himself?"
'His hands? What is this, is he trying to imply something? Like I can believe that, it's either gotta be another misunderstanding or Naoto's lost it trying to make me hate omegas too. Akira's crazy but he's not like that…'
Masanori didn't reply and just stood there in silence, and Naoto noticed.
"What's with that attitude? Don't make it such a big deal," Naoto shrugged with a coy smirk. "He's so easy to get a reaction out of, huh? No wonder you caved-"
Naoto got grabbed by Masanori, his eyes already begun to emanate a yellow glow.
"That's it. Whatever it is you're trying to do, stop it. Don't you touch him again, he's not a toy you can use. You'll break him."
Naoto laughed, his grin burning with anger, incredulously enraged.
"This?! This is what gets you riled up?" His voice suddenly dropped to a hiss. "That little thing? You could have anyone. I could hook you up with a real omega, find you a beta stand-in, but you always refused! But now, you bend for an omega whose a total joke, who's scent isn't even that special!? Get a grip!"
Masanori's anger dropped from his expression, his glare turning to one of confusion. "You're... Not being truthful about that, are you?"
Naoto pushed away, ignoring Masanori's piercing eye. "Who gives a shit! Whatever, I want nothing to do with him anyway! Just try not to destroy what little you've got left, Masa. Just do something already, before someone goes and does something for you."
Masanori watched him stomp off, his eyes darkening. An irrational, hungering thought beginning to form.
He didn't know what happened between them, but that only turned one possibility into a thousand. But what hit him more was Naoto's implication that
Ren made moves first. That sounded impossible to him. He was terrified of Alphas, wasn't he? Wouldn't be be?
'He wouldn't…'
But Ren had reacted easily when he attacked him. He really did seem to end up in situations that involved Alphas.
He felt betrayed, like someone had taken what was his.
He shook his head. No, not his. But it wasn't Naoto's either. He really did need to get a grip.
'It's a misunderstanding. Still, why would Yuki do this? This could have ended in disaster if he actually did find him.'
As Masanori walked off with his tumultuous thoughts, Naoto stomped away feeling a heavy cloud rest on his shoulders.
There wasn't anything special about his scent. There wasn't, was there?
…
Ren knew he had a habit of jumping to conclusions too quickly, even if he simply interpreted this as a fast analysis of his given situation through his own unbiased perspective of the strange place he found himself in.
But when Naoto left the closet after his attempt to inflict his inhumane torture with sexual conduct, Ren felt like his mind was conflicted in the aftermath.
On one side of the conflict, his utter relief that things were interrupted before Naoto's mind control could fully take over. Of course Naoto would take advantage of the situation to mind control him! Being so cold he could barely think, that MUST be a tactic he intentionally used to make him easier to control.
But on the other side… He still felt those fingers down his skin. The warmth felt imbued into his own body heat, and he couldn't stop the radiating fire creeping to his face whenever he let it creep back in his thoughts. It was like a part of him wished it hadn't been interrupted. But that couldn't be him, that must be the mind control's lingering effect. But it had never lasted for so long.
He thought his mind was clear after his heat, after getting away from the source of the mind control, but somehow it seemed to linger in the back of his mind.
'Maybe it's just because we were in the same space for so long. So the more time you spend with them the longer the control lasts. That makes sense.'
Ren had already justified it in his head, lying on his bed on the peaceful sunday where he found no peace.
'Were those rooms actually cold or was it a mind control thing? I think that some hypnotists can make people believe they're swimming in the ocean or standing on top of a mountain even if they've never been, so why not?'
He rose out of bed. He had to get going with something. He went to put on his jacket he had flung to the edge of his bed when he came back.
'Huh? This doesn't fit…'
Ren startled. 'Don't tell me I've shrunk even more?! I'm small enough as it is!'
He shook his head. 'Can't be. This is real life, not some kind of fantasy world.'
Ren ditched the school uniform entirely and left his dorm hoping to make any progress.
As expected the school was quiet despite usually being open for club activities. Everyone was somewhere studying, and Ren was aware he should be too.
'But screw that. There's no perfect time to find the location of that mysterious hall!'
But he needed somewhere to start. But much as he asked Chihei or Shino or any of the omegas that still talked to him around, he had no real luck. Who would know the school more than anyone?
'... There's no way I can ask them. They hate me…'
But if he couldn't find it, then they were his only hope. He had to talk to the omega guard.
And so, Ren knocked on the door to the office of the guard.
'This is a bad idea. Last time I talked to them properly I got kicked out… huh?'
Or that was what he planned to do, but the guards by the door didn't even let him get within five feet before they dragged him away.
Masaru waved and gave him an apologetic nice smile. "Sorry Takeshita-kun, but we're having anyone here today. Come back tomorrow."
'Tomorrow? But why not today?' Ren thought picking himself up.
"You ok?" Hajime asked him, as he happened to pass by.
"I dunno... I need to ask a question to the guard leader, but they hate me so much they kicked me out before I even got in the door!"
"I'm not so sure they hate you persay. See, Hinaguchi-kun is just not taking appointments right now."
"Teru-kun is out? Then, that means..."
Ren gasped. If he was out he could get in his room! He felt like he would never actually tell him anything, so this was his chance to get in his room and look for his maps himself!
Ren put both hands on Haijime's shoulders. "Hajme-chan! What's Teru-kun's room number!?"
Hajime blinked in surprise. "Oh? It's 10-B I think… are you going to visit? Then, can you-?"
But Ren was already gone. When he got there he already had in mind ways to try to unlock it, but he noticed it was already open.
Inside it was dark, smell thick with incenses and rather cold, the air conditoner blasting the room.
Ren saw nothing wrong with this and ventured further inside. Right away the door slammed on him. Ren whipped hack around and anxiously pulled on it until he opened it again.
'Whew. For a second I thought I was going to be in real trouble-"
That's when arm wrapped around his throat and yanked him back. Ren hit the floor and looked up in alarm at Teru's glowering face.
"This better be good."
"What... You're here?" Ren said out loud, before it dawned on him that he just assumed he was gone, since why would he just be in his room?
Ren jumped up. Teru had picked up a metal mallet and held it close to Ren's face.
"Speak. I'm too tired for this."
"Wh... Why do you have that?"
"Contraband. Now speak, or die."
Ren started to shake with fear. 'He's LOST it! I don't want to die here!!!'
Having his one moment of brief attention Ren took to begging, forgetting his plans to bypass him entirely.
"I need your help! But your guards wouldn't let me in earlier and I know you don't like me but this is really important please just tell me-!"
Bang!
The sound made Ren flinch, squeezing his eyes shut, but hearing it clatter more and away from his left ear he opened them again. Teru had simply dropped the mallet. He stumbled and flopped suddenly to his bed, holding his head.
'Huh?' Ren crawled over closer to the bed, and finally paid attention to how Teru looked. He was wearing skimpy thin clothing and looked to be breaking a sweat, red like he was burning hot.
"What's… are you sick right now, Teru-kun?"
Teru rolled his eyes. "Tch. Some people have the decency to avoid going out when they're on their heat. What do you want?"
But Ren recoiled back, hitting the wall in shock. "Y-Y-Your heat!?! GASP! It was him, wasn't it?! Akagi Naoto used his powers on you!!"
"NO! What is your problem!?" Teru knitted his brow and grit his teeth. "Let me guess: you still haven't learned a damn thing."
"But, you're in heat when you were just fine yesterday!" Ren cried.
"Why do you think I confronted him yesterday?! Tch! I knew this would happen already because I keep up with my meds, unlike you! That's why I'm not groaning and moaning on my bed like a wild dog!"
"You… you knew?" Ren uttered in disbelief, imagining some mysterious threat delivered to him via mail that must have spurred him into action, when in fact Teru simply did what most omegas do and tracked their cycles.
"What a world…If you keep up with your meds then you'd be less of a nuisance. How much do you understand about your body? Did you blank on sex ed that badly in junior high? If we didn't contain our heats we'd miss school for days for no reason, and I actually care about my education."
Ren scratched his neck awkwardly. "I know how the human body works just fine! I don't know what kind stuff the school taught you, but this isn't normal!"
Teru grunted. "Just tell me you're here to cry to me about Akagi's abusive behavior from yesterday so I can add it to my written appeal. That's all I want from you."
"Um… no?" Ren gulped, expecting to be immediately kicked out.
But Teru just rubbed his nose and sighed, leaning back against his bed frame sluggishly. "Really? You're saying I lost you and Akagi yesterday and you couldn't even get any evidence that he's a rotten bastard abusing his power? Or is cat and mouse your kind of foreplay and you're more rotten than I realized?"
Ren wanted to snap back, but he didn't. Even he could sense that Teru was tired. He was after all fighting a hest, and Ren knew perfectly well how hellish those things could be.
So instead he gently asked the question he came for.
"I'm looking for a place in the school… I looked everywhere, but it's like none of the main halls lead to it. Its-"
"The drama club's closet," Teru interrupted, giving a long string of mumbled swears between his breaths. "I know it. This school, it gets plenty of renovations, you know? It gives the town below work they've been doing for ages, but some places lose their function over the years…... I'm absolutely not telling you how to get inside."
"But you gotta! There's something weird going on there. I think it's connected to everything weird about this school!"
"You might be right there. But for your own good, I suggest you stay away. No good can come from incurring the wrath of the student council president."
"The… student council president has something to do with it?" repeated Ren.
Teru's brow furrowed. "Why else are you interested?"
"I... saw a funny room? Among, other things…" Ren blushed, remembering colorful things he wished he could forget.
"You've BEEN there!?" Teru screeched, suddenly full of anger. "Are you nuts!? How did you even-! Don't tell me you-!"
Teru stood up, his face turning redder than before. "Are you that stupid? Stupider than stupid! Can't you see that I'm trying to HELP you?! Can't ANYONE SEE THAT!? I JUST…! UGH!"
Teru suddenly stopped speaking and collapsed again, this time onto the beanbag chair in the center of the room. He also looked more visibly out of it, like this was taking all of the energy out of him.
Ren slowly inched back. Teru he knew was a little odd, but he could tell something was more off than usual.
Ren began to look around. If he's sick...
Finding a water basin by his bed like he had during his heats, Ren rung a rag out before slapping it over Teru's head.
"You know, sick people shouldn't start screaming like that. You'll really hurt yourself like that. You, seem kinda stressed…"
"You think?!" Teru punched the bean bag while he waved his hand out angrily. "It's not just you, it's… everyone! The dorm thinks we're loons, for trying to protect everyone!"
Ren rubbed his neck. "I mean you kinda are a little nuts…"
"Oh don't you start! I have a million problems, you're just a needle in my side! Now someone's been sabotaging us from the inside and I've had deserters left and right!"
Ren sat down on the floor next to Teru. "What's that about sabotage?"
"Reports going missing, camera issues, covert conversations in the dead of night… it's obvious someone's been seeing doubt," Teru muttered, clearly to him but he didn't seem entirely like he was talking to him at all. "I had my suspicions of Akagi Naoto, but after yesterday when the damn map table was vandalized while he was obviously busy with you, I have to reassess all my evidence."
'...That's it? Sounds like you're just sloppy at running your operation,' Ren skeptically thought. 'And your members having private conversations from their scary boss makes sense doesn't it?'
He then paused. 'Wait… the cool map was vandalized? THAT cool map?!'
"I'm pretty sure now after yesterday, but who the hell would be trying to stop us when we're only trying to help? It makes no sense…" Teru mumbled on.
Ren stood up holding up a righteous fist. "Who would destroy such a cool thing!? That's crazy! You have a traitor alright! Ha!" Ren smiled and rubbed his nose. "Well lucky thing I'm here because I have a track record for helping sniff those out! Let me help!!"
Teru lifted his head up to glare at him, his eyes seeming sharp once more.
"Not a chance. Get the hell out."
"Huh? No, wait…!"
Ren tried to stay but Teru with a shocking burst of energy grabbed his wheeled desk chair, forced Ren into it and rolled him out the door before he could do anything.
'That was a bust… hm, but the student council president? Yeah, I think I should keep investigating the rest of the student council. If only I knew how to track them down besides those meetings once a week. Even if I still have my old notebook, the council members were impossible to track in the first place…'
But Ren suddenly had something occur to him. Something that he didn't feel great about recalling.
So he had one more trick up his sleeve.
———
Naoto slammed his dorm room's front door and strided past his less than impressed roommate.
"Hey why don't you put all that energy into somebody instead of on our doors, eh?!" They shouted after him, tossing a bag of ships at the door just as Naoto slammed his room door behind him.
Naoto fell back on his futon and laid there, tired and sweaty from his failed attempt to run off his anger. No amount of sweat and aching doused his frustrations. It wasn't tuning out the other kind of aching that sprung on him whenever he had his thoughts idle for long. And for all he knew, he couldn't work out why he was so affected.
They weren't special, but they were unusual. Probably because he was holding them back so much. Maybe he was holding back on purpose. Holding back for his heat, or specifically for Masanori. He pent himself up, rejected him, was that why he was holding back? Why not him?
Why did he want Masanori so much? Maybe this was how he was going to get him, again. He was just too stiff. So stiff, that for a moment when he loosened up, Naoto's throat ached from the secondhand relief. It still ached thinking about it.
Naoto's gaze drifted over to the ceiling, a thought suddenly hitting him. If he could have just relaxed on his own he wouldn't have been so cold. Maybe it was because he couldn't. And if he didn't choose to, then his heats couldn't be his own choice.
He really might not know what he was doing. That was always assuming he wasn't a liar, but it would be crazy to think there wasn't some truth at the edges of this. If he really didn't understand, Naoto thought, then Naoto started to feel like a fool.
Naoto slapped his hands to his face and growled, nails digging in and wanting to rip it off if he could. Then he sat up. Why was he moping around when, there was someone he had yet to confront. Standing up he went for his jacket he had tossed aside the night before to go.
He paused as he put his first arm in. He realized the jacket felt smaller than usual, and realized what it was, as the memory of pulling it off in a blur of emotions recalled to the surface of his memory. He had grabbed the wrong jacket. As he tried to pull it off, something sharped poked him from within, and he pulled out the object.
It was a rose pin.
Naoto's face twisted with anger. For a moment something else twisted in his mind. Is this what Masanori's words were meant for?
'If he's so obsessed with the omega why hasn't he done anything!? Fuck!'
He was about to smash it, but stopped himself.
'... Fuck. I have to return this.'
———
Yukihiro made himself quite comfortable in his seat as the mountainous student fixated himself to the contents of some vials along the counter. Ryusei eventually glanced over again at him with a calm but growing irritation. "D'ya say what you were here for or do you mean to observe me the entire hour?"
"I'm thinking of how to phrase it. I'm dealing with something…" he smiled big and wide. "I had a dream last night see…!"
"I'm not yer therapist, go 'an talk to them. Or Imada Masanori. That's what friends are for, yeah?"
"Masanori's good for a lot of things, but this isn't one of them. C'mon, you always like to give unsolicited advice with that honest nature, so throw me a bone and give me a little of that kansai humor!"
Ryusei just kept doing his work, making Yukihiro frown. His head cocked suspiciously. "What's wrong with you these days? Is your Supply runnin' low? Or are you becoming immune and need a higher dose, hm?"
"Tell me yer dream or I'm kickin' you out."
"Hmm~! That's the spirit! Well, I was going to sleep after a successful experiment when I had an odd dream. A certain person kept appearing holding a bouquet of flowers they kept dropping. It started to look pretty bad from being dropped so much so I tried to take it and place it in a vase but then a friend of mine came by and yelled at me. They left with the bouquet, and I remember I couldn't move. The thing was, I wasn't chasing him, I wanted the flowers. I just couldn't smell any of the flowers, and it was driving me crazy… now I just freeze up when I try to text them, and I've been avoiding them all day… so, what's the cure, doc?"
Ryusei shook a beaker around. "Can't imagine what experiments you were conductin' as the head of security. Aren't you fixing up some moldy study rooms?"
Yuki's gleeful smile dropped a little. "Did you listen to anything I just said?"
Ryusei moved his beakers around in some order Yukihiro wasn't keeping track of.
"If you want to have sex with Akira then it'll be better to just tell Masanori."
Yukihiro made a choking sound and sat upright in complete disbelief. "What, you figured it out?! I was being vague for a reason!"
"Fer a supposed genius, you're very stupid if you think that was vague," Ryusei said bluntly. "And I know you're actually here because you know I rejected him during sports day and think I know how to fix your problems. Well I say, just get started and handle his rage later. His fault for hesitatin'."
Yukihiro leaned back and scoffed. "I don't want to date the little twerp! I want to just remove this feeling so I can go back to texting him and focus on my duties. And you REALLY don't understand Masanori if you think all of his hesitation is just because he's nervous."
Ryusei shrugged. "I really don't. I can't figure out if he's plainly ignorant, or aggressively complicit. Then there's hidin' his pheromones all the time. If ya want an accurate response from me, then maybe tell me the real reason why he won't date him."
He shrugged. "His dad doesn't like omegas. Wants him to go down the path he wants."
"Sayin' that like no guy his age never rebelled and dated in secret. Haven't been here long but I know he's no goody two shoes and the school director's no authoratiave monster parent. So is there something else, something he's scared of?"
"Hm, got it all figured out you think? Well... Yeah, he's a coward," Yukihiro shrugged dismissviely. "That's all you need to know, you're not a real therapist so I don't have to tell you anything."
"Then don't come in here..."
Yukihiro leaned forward. "Oh. And there's something else. It's trouble with something in the matter of your expertise. I'm curious… what do you know about the effects of an odorless omega to an alpha?"
"Always Akira. We have a school nurse fer a reason…. The health deficits of a lack of a scent are obvious, but yer describin' some kind of psychological side effect from someone else's condition. Clinical studies are inconclusive… but yer chasing unfounded data. You can just run off to some tabloid site. That or talk to the school counselor."
"I could… but those things are just for teasing people. I'm looking for something serious and, you're the next best medical expert here as the student doctor. I mean what do you do with those vials all day except experiments on the student body?"
"Lazy as ever. Don't call a doctor either unless you want us to get sued. Will ya get out on yer own now?"
"Hold on, this really is important! I need an answer. My own behavior went against my own motives. Understanding that will prevent any more… potential issues." For a moment his voice almost wavered.
Ryusei pulled off a book from a high shelf and dropped it on the bed.
"You want to know. Then read."
Yukihiro pushed it back. "I read enough in school. I came here for you to tell me."
"You're still in school, and yer not as smart than they say ya are in that case. Sorry to break the news, but I don't have free time to deliver a lecture that you can read instead. Read this or I'll kick you out again with nothing."
Yukihiro took the book and opened it a long overdrawn sigh. "Fiine…"
Yukihiro read it fast and left more or less enlightened about some things.
'Scents convey many things in pack relations. When a pack member is perceived as weak or troubled, Alphas keep a closer eye on them as potential threats to the pack's stability. That doesn't seem to explain things well enough, does it?'
The dream then was an extension of instincts. It was a relief, because even he could forgive himself for kissing an omega while said omega was in heat in front of him, even if he could accept that he found him cute, he couldn't forgive having any actually attachment to the mysterious omega. Knowing it was a side effect, he could feel the urge to act on his desires melting away.
Feeling assured, he finally texted Masanori that day, a weight lifting from his shoulders. In fact this bit of info might be good to tell Masanori. If his feelings were related to his condition, then his plan might go more smoothly than he thought.
- Come by Ryusei's office. I've learned something interesting about your conundrum ;)
Yukihiro grinned and turned to go back into the office to bug Ryusei some more.
He startled back.
"Ren-kun?"
Ren stopped just before knocking on Ryusei's door. "Huh? Oh! Yuki-kun!" Ren smiled brightly in seeing him.
Yukihiro forced a smile, but one of his eye started to twitch uncontrollably.
'Ah fuck.'