Chapter Text
It started out with the casual, accidental scent-markings.
Not by Nino to Ohno, or vice versa, because they had enough not-so-public displays of affection before and after work to give the rest of Arashi countless tooth cavities.
Yes, they were that sweet. And disgusting all at the same time.
It started out with Ohno dropping scent-marks around the other three members. What used to be typical head or shoulder pats would result in the ‘accidental’ passing over of the alpha’s inner wrist over their foreheads or temples. Usually, it was the norm when it came from Nino, because he was affectionate like that and everyone knew that Ohno didn’t care if Nino was touchy-feely with the other members.
The clause was, of course, other members. If Nino had to be affectionate with a guest or with anyone out of Arashi… Ohno wouldn’t say anything much, but his eyes would darken and the omega would come to work the following day either a) limping, b) thoroughly smelling of the alpha, c) very well marked (which would lead to Jun’s chiding) or d) all of the above.
Either ways, everyone was wary of Ohno being the one to offer a sign of affection and possession towards them, especially with how possessive Nino was of the alpha, despite often feigning disinterest towards Ohno’s affections towards him. The last time Ohno was overly excited on air with a Shukudai guest that also liked fishing, the other 3 members had to restrain the alpha’s bond-mate from strangling the guest as well as marking Ohno publicly. (It would have likely caused the entire Ohmiya fanbase to explode in happiness, though.)
Back to the topic of ‘accidental’ scent markings, the first time Ohno had done that to Jun, none of them batted an eyelash at the action, not after the discovery of Jun’s family background and his second gender. Everyone was feeling particularly overprotective of their youngest member, since his admission to the hospital and following his discharge. Therefore, on the following evening after Nino and Jun’s first nesting afternoon/night (which ended up as an Arashi gaming night, courtesy of the alpha himself), when Ohno reached over to pat exhausted Jun’s head (because the omega’s stamina was still recovering after his stint in the hospital) after a dance rehearsal for their new MV and his inner wrist brushed across Jun in a clear scent-marking action, no one shot Nino wary glances except for Jun, whose ears turned slightly red.
Nino had informed him of what such an action meant the day before, after all.
The next person who was ‘accidentally’ scent marked by the alpha was, curiously enough, Sho. The two alphas were having drinks together, Ohno having been kicked out the apartment by Nino to have a proper omega nesting night with Jun without, quote “your pesky alpha influence and Sakumoto shipping tendencies – Sho is going nowhere near my Junpon”.
Ohno protested the “pesky alpha influence” bit, but made no move to deny the “Sakumoto shipping tendencies”; he suspected Nino could see the chemistry between the two men as well, but was just vehemently denying it because of his overprotectiveness.
(Nino refused to leave Sho in the same room as Jun after finding Sho on Jun’s hospital bed with the younger man curled against the alpha’s hip. If Jun hadn’t been asleep in what had been his first proper rest since his admission, Nino would have bitten Sho’s head off.
“The minute Jun wakes up, I’m going to kill you, Sho.” Nino hissed at the wide-eyed alpha.
“I swear he made me do it!” Sho had whispered-cried out, careful to not jostle the sleeping omega next to him.
“Don’t pin this on Jun, you—“ “Now now, Ninochan, Sho wouldn’t do anything to Jun, you know that.” Aiba quickly placated, smiling brightly when he noticed Jun had looked considerably better, despite the light fever – he was deeply asleep. “He looks much better now, doesn’t he?”
Jun let out a soft snuffling sound, unaware of the light commotion going around him. When the omega snuggled even further into Sho’s side and unconsciously moved his arm across Sho’s hips, Ohno had to quickly restrain Nino by hugging the gamer from behind, biting his lip to stop himself from laughing.).
Which brought Ohno and Sho to one of their more frequented izakaya just outside of Kanda. They would have invited Aiba if not for the fact that the beta had his own filming for Tensai Dobtsuen. Suffice to say, Ohno was just on the brink of being utterly smashed, face red and giggly on the table, while Sho only had one drink because he was driving the older man back to his apartment once Nino gave him the OK signal.
“Hey, Leader, I’ve got a question.” Sho started eventually, face hesitant as he slowly put down his glass of water. Ohno hummed, tilting his head to look at the younger alpha. “How did you decide that you wanted to bond with Nino?”
“Ehhhh?” Ohno scratched his head. “I just wanted him to be mine. To protect him and love him. He’s pretty.” He gave a dazed smile, giggling lightly, before his expression turned serious. “Kazu may seem very headstrong and fierce, but he has his own insecurities as well. He may sound very harsh, but he cares a lot. So much at times that he needs someone to take care of him too. I wanted to be that someone. My alpha wanted him to be mine. It’s hard to explain.”
Sho looked pensive, swirling his glass, forehead furrowed.
“What are you thinking about, Sho?” the older man prodded, despite having an inkling of why Sho had brought up the topic.
“I was just wondering… You wanted to protect him?” Sho sounded mildly amused, probably recalling how ferocious Nino could be.
Ohno let out a small giggle, probably thinking the same thing as he nodded rapidly. “Everyone needs a little protection, even the most stubborn and headstrong of omegas. And the stronger they appear to be, the more care they need, because they think they don’t need it. Just like Aibachan - he denies our attention, but sometimes he needs it too, right?” He smiled goofily. “Everyone in our group is so precious, aren’t they?”
Sho let out a small sound of agreement. “…I’ve been feeling,” he paused, pursing his lips as he searched for the appropriate words. “strange, recently.”
“Ah.” Ohno wisely chose to not mention Jun’s name. “Possessive? Protective? Want to hide them in your home and never let them out? Shower them with gifts and care? Mark them with your scent?” The alpha was aware that he was rambling in his drunken state, but couldn’t help but smirk when Sho blushed hotly at his words.
Bingo.
“Some advice: don’t think too hard, Sho-kun. And be careful with the over possessiveness, especially if they’re not used to it. Unless you like having your head bitten off. Our omegas are still ferocious.” Ohno’s phone lit up with a text. “Ahh, speaking of ferocious omegas… Kazu’s done.”
--
Sho knew that Nino was having a nesting night with Jun, but he was not expecting Jun to open the door as he supported the very drunk Ohno. He had thought the man would have gone home by now, given the late hour.
Jun raised a hand at him in greeting, before smiling exasperatedly at the drunk alpha, who immediately tried to hug him. “Junnnnnnn. You’re still hereee.”
The omega patted his head affectionately, before gesturing for Sho to come into the apartment and away from any prying eyes outside.
Once the door was closed behind them, Jun called over his shoulder, with the older alpha still embracing him, “Nino, your beloved Ohchan is home!” His tone was coloured with great amusement.
“Eh? That was fa—oh.” Said gamer entered their line of sight, taking in the scene of his clearly very drunk alpha hugging Jun, with an awkward Sho behind them. Nino rolled his eyes, sighing in a feigned annoyance.
Ohno perked up immediately, but made no move to move from Jun. “Kazuuuuu. ‘m home!”
“And you’re very drunk.” Nino moved forward to flick at the alpha’s forehead, earning a sharp yelp and a pout. “I guess I’ll take care of this idiot from here now, then, Jun.” He pried Ohno’s arm away from Jun, which immediately earned him an octopus of a bond-mate. He looked at Sho, wryly. “Thank you for accompanying him and driving him home. This idiot doesn’t know when to stop drinking, really.”
“No problem.”
Right as he said this, Ohno retracted himself from Nino and stumbled his way to hug the younger alpha in thanks too. When Ohno finally moved away, he drunkenly ran his inner wrist against Sho’s temple. “Don’t overthink, okay?” Sho stiffened, eyes nervously flickering over to Nino, who amazingly was just standing there, looking at his alpha with a fond exasperation.
He nodded in reply, before looking over at Jun. “Do you need a ride home?” Sho offered.
“It’s fine. I can probably catch the last train back to my place.”
The thought Jun having to take the often crowded last train home and getting the scent of other passengers over him made Sho want to snarl. “No, I insist, really. It’s on the way, isn’t it?”
“You should just take up on his offer, J. It’ll be crowded in the last train.” Nino helpfully added, as though reading Sho’s mind. However, his eyes were locked onto Sho’s and was clearly threatening for Sho to try to do something stupid.
Jun cocked his head, his hand reaching to push his glasses back up. He smiled warmly at Sho. “Alright then. Thank you, Sho.” He grabbed onto Sho’s elbow, before waving at the other pair. “We’ll see you two tomorrow then! Good night!”
Sho did not miss the half-hearted glare/threat that was directed at him by Nino as the door closed behind them.
--
Once Ohno scent-marked Aiba, it should have pretty much signalled what their band/group had become, or was to become eventually. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case.
In general, when Aiba shows the inklings of a cold, everyone panics. Or gets nervous. Or both. It’s an almost instinctual overprotectiveness that has grown over the years since the beta’s first hospitalization that scared everyone immensely. So, when Aiba came to work wearing a mask, sniffing, with bloodshot eyes, everyone panicked.
“Guys, I’m okay, really. Please stop making such a big deal out of it.” The beta whined when Jun tried to force feed him his special herbal ‘tea’ (“That tastes terrible, MatsuJun, Don’t make me drink it!” “It’s good for you!”) and Nino insisted in wrapping him up in numerous blankets (which Aiba honestly doesn’t know where he keeps them. He always has them.)
“Stop squirming.” Jun hissed, feeling the beta’s forehead. Ever since they found about him being an omega, Jun had been more open about his mothering tendencies, which was nice on some occasions, such as when the man was being affectionate and open to hugs, but also endearingly annoying when anyone was feeling just even a bit unwell – like what was happening with Aiba, right then.
(If people thought Nino was an overprotective omega with a motherhenning streak, they’ve never met the Jun that was allowed to freely express his omega tendencies.)
”It’s just a cold, I swear.” Aiba looked pleadingly over to the other 2 alphas, who were smartly not involving themselves with the other two omegas, although they were looking over him with concern. “Leader, Shochan, help? Please?”
“Sorry, Aiba.” Sho grimaced, especially when the two omegas flickered at the two alphas threateningly. “We’re just concerned, you know this.”
The beta visibly wilted. If Sho wouldn’t help him, then there was no way Ohno would defy his own omega. “I really don’t want to give you guys any trouble.” The beta felt extremely uncomfortable when he was showered with this much attention from any member of the group. The last thing he wanted was to disrupt any of the group activities – he had enough guilt from the last two times he had been hospitalized but…
“Don’t be an idiot.” Nino snapped, poking the beta’s cheek with his finger. “There’s no trouble. There will be trouble if you continue to be stubborn.”
“But…” Aiba faltered, sneezing and then sniffing. He really couldn’t deal with the attention, his hands rapidly clenching and unclenching on his lap. He hated it – of the miniscule list of things Aiba hated (the first one being people/things that hurt his family friends, the second was unnecessary attention. Especially if it were directed to him. And giving trouble to others.)
Sensing the beta’s discomfort, Ohno finally decided to cut in, prying Nino and Jun away from Aiba, much to the displeasure of the two omegas. Lowering himself to his knees, he reached over to pat the sniffing beta’s head. “Let them baby you just a bit, until the filming starts, Aibachan. We’re just worried about you.” He brushed his wrist against Aiba’s temple, in a sign of reassurance. “We’ll feel better if you let us take care of you. Don’t you think by now, we’re more than just bandmates?”
Aiba’s eyes closed automatically with the scent-marking action, heart soaring with what the alpha might have been implying, but then he bit his lip when he realized the man might have just been implying them being friends. He had to bite down the small whimper of disappointment.
Sensing the change in the beta’s mood, Jun shifted closer to him to drape his arm over the beta’s shoulder. “Aibachan?”
When the beta reopened his eyes, it was glassy. “I-I guess we are all good friends, aren’t we?” He knew his voice sounded strange, but if any of them were curious, he’d just attribute it to him not feeling well.
Ohno frowned – that wasn’t what he meant at all. Glancing a bit to the side, he caught Nino’s questioning gaze, and then at Sho, who was looking intensely at the alpha, as though reading his thoughts. Next to the beta, Jun seemed slightly confused at the variation in responses but chose to ignore it, gently embracing Aiba and squeezing the man comfortingly. “What’s important is that we care a lot, Aibachan. We don’t want anything to happen to you again.” Jun assured, running his fingers through the beta’s hair.
Meanwhile, their band leader stared at the scene pensively, biting his lip. It seems as though he’ll have to be more obvious then.