The only thing on Masanori's mind these days was how to apologize.
After enough time back in the school however… fixing his wrongs became the second thing on his mind.
Masanori expected that the school would surely turn against him. He, in his heat, took and assaulted an Omega student. Him, the President's son. The student in charge of keeping to and maintaining the rules and regulations for this exact reason.
But to his complete surprise, most people didn't even know, and those that did, the other Alphas, were far more sympathetic.
He soon understood why: the rumors had gotten out of control. He had hoped they would be curbed by now, but what he did to Takeshita had only amplified them to an uncontainable extreme. Takeshita Akira was a strange Omega that was known to ask strange questions and make odd statements: he was never going to stay under the radar forever.
Among the Alphas they had wild ideas that he had shown up in populated places on his heat and was actively seeking a mate bond. To them there was only one answer: He was an Alpha baiter, and manipulated the most diligent person in the school. And Masanori knew exactly who to blame for this.
But, Naoto had been avoiding him so he hadn't confronted him about it yet. Without that, he felt like he was unable to do anything. But if he couldn't fix this, what else was he supposed to do?
He should head to where Takeshita was and profusely apologize, on his hands and knees for forgiveness.
But whenever he got the urge an arm would grip his jacket, holding him back. Yukihiro wouldn't even look at him and just shook his head at him annoyed. "Your dad will kill you."
Masanori nodded but his eyes erratically flipped between his hand and the door. "I know, but…"
"I'm keeping things under control. I doubt he'd forgive you anyway. Maybe it's better to just let it go."
"I… can't." He whispered. He wasn't sure, but he felt that with how Takeshita Akira was in the past, if he didn't try to clear things up then things might just get worse.
Yukihiro was silent for a moment.
"....it can't be helped." He sighed. "Well, I have an idea, but give me a few days."
Masanori blinked. "You'll…" He nodded then sat back down. "So, you said his pheromones-"
"Zip it now or I'm leaving class." Yukihiro threatened.
"You're going to leave anyway in about two periods." Masanori said back to him, but didn't continue. Masanori did find Yukihiro's findings to be interesting, but they didn't help keep his mind off things. Even a beta would have reacted a little if Yukihiro was really trying, but the fact he didn't even react: it was like he was completely cut off from it.
But Masanori knew he had pheromones. He knew, but it was interesting that they were so absent. It was strange because he never normally thought too much about pheromones. He had long learned to zone them out, a must when everyone around you may be trying to attract your attention with them, as a S ranking Alpha. Any old Alpha eventually learned to do this, but while others would loosen up in casual settings or when they were looking for a hookup, Masanori had learned to keep it up all the time. His father forbade any kind of relationship that wasn't another Alpha, and used to scold him if he reacted to any one's pheromones whatsoever, so eventually it became normal to him. To a point, it was hard to let go.
Yukihiro was annoyed seeing Masanori zoning out again. He hadn't mentioned some things to him, but he preferred it that way if he got like this from so little.
'I'll help with his instincts alright.' He thought, coming up with a scheme, remembering what he saw at the dorm yesterday. He reacted to Akagi Naoto. There must be some connections between them, then, and he'd find it.
———
Masanori left the last class for the day and headed back to his dorm. As of right now, his duties as a rule and regulations student council members were suspended, so he no longer had much to do after school.
It didn't help his sour mood, especially since it gave his peers even more reason to sympathize with him when he felt that should be antagonizing him instead.
As Masanori descended the stairs, he heard footsteps approaching. He turned around.
"Akagi-san."
Naoto nodded, his expression hard to read.
Naoto spoke up first. "...Masa, about Takeshita."
Masanori crossed his arms tightly, his hands gripping his arms on both sides. "Is it possible you're here to scold me? Or, am I too good for that?"
"Good grief. Shut the hell up," scowled Naoto. "If I wanted to do that, I would have done it already. Should have known you'd take it so hard. I wanted to throw a surprise welcome back party, but it would have just turned into a pity party if I did."
"That… would have been a little too much," Masanori sighed, then leaned against the wall. "I should have known you would have done something. What's this rumor about me leaving out of shame for failing to stop the assault? I know why they don't know… but this was your doing, wasn't it?"
"The rumors were going to get out of control anyway! There's not much you could have done to stop it – I did you a favor."
"But it wasn't his fault, it was only mine."
Naoto crossed his arms. "That's what you're saying, then? He had nothing to do with it at all? It could have been any other omega? Or is there something about him that had you there when you weren't supposed to?"
Masanori didn't answer, instead lowering his head and closing his eyes, disappointed.
"That's why the rumors about him haven't stopped either. You still don't believe me."
"How am I supposed to when he acts the way he does?" Naoto growled, bearing teeth.
Masanori shook his head. "No. No matter what happens, I'm certain of it now. I need you to back off about him. Keep him under control and let this mess die down. That's for his own good and the school."
Naoto just grunted, very clearly not fully accepting it.
Masanori lifted his head a little higher. "...How did the meeting go?"
Naoto scoffed. "I stormed out. Can you believe they tried to lecture me about student safety?"
"Actually yes, I can. You always prefer to make things fun instead of safe."
"I can follow rules," He grunted, a hostile glint in his eye. "More than you at least."
Masanori frowned and closed his eyes unfettered. "Well you're right. I'm the wrong person to ask about it now. If you don't mind, make sure he doesn't drag himself into another disaster."
Naoto rolled his eyes. "The old geezer, he's so old school. You've been too pent up your whole life, no wonder you acted out."
"... It's not like that." Masanori said tensely.
"Then what is it like? Maybe you'll admit he's got a hold over you. I don't know why this wasn't a wake up call to back off."
"I don't need your opinion on what is the best decision here," Masanori retorted, his words harsh. "I'm getting a hold on him, not the other way around."
"Believe what you want. But I'm done helping you cover for him. You can solve his issues on your damn own." Naoto said, turning and walking off.
"Have you talked to him?"
Naoto briefly slowed down. He grumbled. "I tried."
Masanori sighed. 'Well I talked to him now in any case. It's a good thing I went to Yuki for help.'
But, it looked like he was on his own. He frowned, heat bubbling up from his gut.
'Akira-kun… don't get into any trouble while I can't reach you.'
…
Yukihiro was making his way to a certain teacher's office, holding a certain box of sweets.
"Ah, Tomokiyo-Sensei will love these…"
Yukihiro had a plan. Tomokiyo-Sensei resided in the office that held school records, records that Yukihiro currently wanted to get into. He also had a sweet tooth, and he if he gave him a large enough batch, he would feel inclined to go and share it among his fellow teachers, giving him a small amount of time to do what he wanted, as guarding of the office often fell to Yukihiro in these scenarios.
And he wanted those files. To learn of the nature of the Omega named Takeshita Akira. He'd talked to Fujiwara Ryusei about his medical history but he hadn't gotten much more than what he told him. Ryusei got a little agitated when he tried to pester him and kicked him out of the office, but he did get a bit of info that he hadn't yet gotten a reaction from him about his scent either.
That was important, because next to him or Masanori, Ryusei was the Alpha Akira had spent the most time with, so it wasn't simply a proximity thing. It might be their grade, but Yukihiro was also an S grade and Ryusei was a high A, so for the moment he wanted to figure out what Akira's was.
At the door of the office, Tokokiyo-Sensei was just heading in when he turned to see Yukihiro. His eyes drifted to the box in his hands, and his eyes lit up.
"Ah! Hirabayashi Yukihiro-kun! What a pleasant surprise on this Friday!"
Yukihiro smiled. The teacher had already gauged the amount of sweets inside, and was already stepping away from the office door knowing he would not be entering just yet. Yukihiro opened his mouth, ready to tell him the usual.
"Yuki-senpai!"
Yukihiro stopped. He turned around, and Ren was there, smiling brightly as he ran over. Yukihiro looked to him awkwardly. 'Well this is unexpected.'
"Oh? Is this your friend Hirabayashi? Hm," Tomokiyo-sensei had already approached Yukihiro and glanced inside the box. "As I thought, there are far to many for me to eat myself again. I was going to ask you to watch the office, but with your friend here I won't trouble you. I will just finish locking the door."
Yukihiro's head whipped back around. "Wait! Please Sensei, it wouldn't be a bother."
"Nonsense, nonsense! I was barely in the door anyway. I do appreciate these treats Hirabayashi, I truly do. You have a nice day." And Yukihiro could only stare as he took the box of treats from his hands and walked away, the door of the records office barred from him.
Ren glanced at Yukihiro from the side. 'From his expression, I definitely did something wrong…'
"I'm sorry, Yuki-kun." Ren said sadly.
Yukihiro flinched and remembered himself. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It's not a big deal. What is it?"
Ren smiled confidently. Yukihiro's mild frustration shifted to interest in an instant as he looked down at Ren.
"I think I did it." Ren smiled. "I totally used it, I think, and Akagi Naoto totally reacted!"
Yukihiro's smile tightened. 'He certainly did.'
"What happened?" He asked with fake curiosity.
Ren's smile faltered. "Well, it wasn't completely effective… but I think I just did it wrong? And with the look on his face, I bet I definitely at least spooked him!" Ren's confident smile returned.
"That so? Well then he should make a good target to keep trying… until you have it figured out. Tell me when you think you have it handled then you can move onto others to try." Yukihiro nodded, meaning a little more than he knew he realized.
A hookup between them would be convenient. No matter the state of his condition or by most scientific metrics, medical trials and academic research, simply just having sex would fix his pheromone problem, and perhaps fix whatever pent up omega psychosis he was experiencing as well. Naoto was already getting too close with him anyway, and would get whatever pent up sexual desire he had going on had out of his system. But really, anyone would do.
"So how did it go, exactly?" Yukihiro continued. "Spare me no details."
"O-Oh. I don't know, it was just like I said…" Ren trailed off, blushing red. "It's nothing! He's just a lackey, didn't I tell you?" Ren smiled, playing it off.
Yukihiro kept his face neutral, but his eyebrows twitched in interest. 'He's holding off on a little necking - how quaint. Nori really does like likes the pure ones, huh?'
Pure and innocent: a precious, sheltered little omega prince. Defiling that innocent image would do Nori some good.
"So now you know how to use it… Mind showing me now?" Yukihiro asked.
Ren froze. "....like, right here? To you?"
"Sure, why not?" He smiled, deceptively so.
Ren wasn't sure, but he figured Yukihiro knew what he was doing. 'He taught me about this stuff, after all…'
Ren closed his eyes and focused. 'Visualise….intent….to….impress?'
His face twisted in concentration, but Yukihiro couldn't detect any pheromones, any scent.
"Alright, you can stop now. I think I understand."
Ren opened his eyes and looked at Yukihiro blankly. "What? What did you get?"
"Akagi Naoto. I think he has an effect on your pheromones somehow. Would you say you two have something in common?"
Ren thought about it. 'Me and Naoto, me and Naoto….oh! We both have the mind control ability? That must be it. Then, somehow, our connected ability is what lets me use the mate bond somehow. It's a kind of mind link! So that's why it only worked on him... But, wouldn't this mean that it's completely useless? No no, didn't I use it on Masanori once maybe?'
"What are you thinking about so heavily?" Yukihiro asked.
"Oh, I'm wondering if Masanori-kun also has any… oh!" Ren had started to speak out loud without realizing and quickly covered his mouth. He shouldn't talk about Masanori.
"Hm. Imada Masanori…" Yukihiro smiled. "Well he's in a bind right now but, would you like to see him?"
"S-See him?" Ren's mouth opened wide. "You can help with that?"
"Sure. Avoiding security is kinda my whole thing…He'll be happy to see you."
"M-Me? But I'm just- well I mean…" Ren cleared his throat. "I'm not so special. He would have tried to see my by now if he cared that much, right?"
"Impressive. You're unintentionally the most and least susceptible person I've ever met." Yukihiro said.
"Subsceptible to what? I guess? Well anyway," Ren stuttered back to the topic. "So how do I get out of this link with Naoto? What use are these pheromones if they only work on one person?"
Yukihiro put a hand on his hip. "All I can say is more practice. If you aren't used to your own pheromones, then it could be hard to produce. Spend more time with Naoto to get used to your own pheromones, then maybe you'll see results."
Ren's nervous smile drooped. "Ah…"
'Shit, but I ran out on Naoto and declared him my enemy! Like hell I can go back to him asking for help!'
He considered trying to get him on his side like he did with Masanori, but he was just a bit too terrifying to attempt it. If he did, he couldn't imagine what he would try to do next time. Since he now knew their main punishment was perverted in nature, if there really was some connection between him and releasing his scent, he'd rather try to find someone else. Like, Masanori.
'If it could be Masanori… what do those two have in common between them? Both Alphas? And...'
A intrusive memory suddenly infiltrated his mind, rushing in from all sides. Masanori, and his kisses on him, his running his hands over his body.
Ren turned to hide a blush from Yukihiro. "Well! I think I'll uh, get back to you on that! Thank you for your help Yukihiro-Senpai!" Ren began running away, dismissing the idea.
'Like it could be something like that!'
Yukihiro let him go. Lunch break was nearly over, they both had to get back to classes soon. He also had a date to prepare.