Archive of Our Own

Kenma is scentless.

Which, wasn’t really much of a problem - at least not to him. As a setter for their team, it made him able to hang out with the rest of his omega teammates without them feeling uncomfortable in any way.

Granted, Nekoma was a team mostly made up of alphas, but they were a team that didn’t discriminate against the other secondary genders, which was just fine for Kenma. It wasn’t that he didn’t care for the others, but without his scent he might as well be living like a Beta – which, in retrospect, wasn’t all that bad.

So why was this small tangerine suddenly claiming him to be his mate?

It was only 8 in the morning but Kenma was just about ready to kill a certain raven-haired alpha.

"Oh c'mon, Kenmaaaa," Kuroo whined in his ear. "It'll be fun!"

"No."

"But you'll never know unless you try!"

"No."

"Kenmaaaa."

"Kuroo," Kenma shot him a glare, effectively shutting him up. "For the last time, I am not going on a blind date with some omega."

"But it's not just some omega," Kuroo still insisted, tuning to ignore the narrowed glare sent his way as both alphas walked to school. "You remember the Fukurodani setter, don't you?"

Kenma furrowed his eyebrows. "Huh? Keiji?" he asked. "Isn't he paired with Koutarou-san?"

Kuroo mirrored his expression. "Huh?" he asked back, emitting an eye-roll from the other. "They're paired?"

"Idiot," Kenma sighed.

"Hey!"

"Besides," Kenma added, just as they passed the Nekoma school gate, "it's not like he's able to smell me, anyway."

Kuroo sighed. "Kenma..."

"Forget it Kuroo," the latter replied. "We got a whole day of training today, with other schools at that. Get your nose out of my business and lead us like the alpha you are."

He said it with a teasing smile, that Kuroo rolled his eyes, puffing out his chest at the praise. Of course he'd lead his team to victory today, doesn't matter which school they get paired up against. He was the Alpha of their pack, after all.

"Don't have to remind me, pup," Kuroo licked his lips, opening their gym doors. Kenma rolled his eyes. He was against the form of endearment from the alpha but 10 years into their friendship and he didn't have the heart to correct him anymore. "I wonder what schools are invited to training camp this year," he wondered aloud.

The volleyball gym was already filled with a lot of people; a few teams from other schools already warming up and helping with the equipment. The two trudged their way to their own little huddle by the center of the court, and the first thing Kenma saw was Yaku kicking Lev right in the shin.

"Ow!"

"Don't ow me," Yaku seethed, kicking his alpha again for good measure.

"What," Kuroo eyed the shorter, but angry omega, "is going on."

"Good morning captain!" Inuoka approached them, and nuzzled up to Kuroo's collar, which the latter indulged. "Nothing much, Lev just forgot to bring Yaku-senpai his coffee today."

"Also because Yaku's in post-heat so he's a little sensitive today," Kai added, passing them by.

"I'm not sensitive!" Yaku exclaimed, eyes clouded as he turned to glare at the taller alpha.

Yup, Kenma thought, this was Yaku post-heat alright.

"I'm sorry! I was running late!" Lev tried to reason. "Coach would absolutely murder me if I'm late for training again!"

Yaku's eyes swirled and leaned to punch his mate in the arm.

"OW!"

"And you didn't think you'd get murdered by your pair instead?" Kenma cackled. "Tough life."

The younger whirled on him. "Just you wait, Kenma-san!" he threatened, but there was a smile on his face. "One of these days you'll have it down bad for your own omega!"

Huh.

His own omega.

His omega.

That was such a. . . nice concept to have.

Kenma only shrugged at that, not finding the right words to reply. He plopped down right next to his duffel bag, taking out his PSP to kill time as they continued to wait for the rest of the schools that were invited to camp.

It was Shoyo's first time going to Tokyo, so to say he was excited was an understatement.

He was an absolute chaotic mess, and within the first thirty minutes of the bus ride after he'd already pissed Tsukishima off by "being too loud I can hear you even through my damn earphones," and engaging in yet another mock fistfight with Kageyama who sat beside him, Coach Ukai had had enough.

"Hinata I swear if you don't behave right this instant I will personally bench you the entire duration of camp."

Shoyo's eyes widened. "But Coach," he whined, "Kageyama started it!"

"Did not!"

He swiveled back. "Did too!"

"Did not!"

"You too, Kageyama," Coach added. 

At this, Kageyama only huffed and turned away, choosing to focus on the scenery as he sat on the window seat. "Whatever."

Shoyo merely huffed, already used to how Kageyama's behavior. After a while, a smile slowly creeped onto his face when he felt a nudge on his shoulder, followed by a milk candy being placed on his lap. He looked at it, before turning to Kageyama with a sparkle in his eyes.

"If you don't want it then just give it back, stupid," Kageyama narrowed his eyes, when Shoyo didn't say anything.

Before he could reach for the candy, Shoyo was already snatching it away, holding it close to his chest with a furrowed eyebrows and a pout on his lips. "You already gave it to me," he stuck his tongue out. "No takesies backsies!"

"Wha-"

"If you two are fighting again, I swear-"

"We're not!" The two said in unison, before looking at each other, then breaking into laughter.

The hard kick behind Shoyo's seat was enough to shut him up, though. "Ow! What was that for?" he whirled around, hand atop of his seat to glare at the taller blond sat behind him.

"You're being so fucking loud and Yamaguchi's sleeping, dumbass. If he wakes up and gets his nerves all jittery again after I just calmed him down, I'm shoving you into a meat grinder."

A sigh came from the front of the bus, followed by Sugawara's exasperated voice. "Language control."

Shoyo only hmphed at that, choosing to be the bigger person and letting it go, his voice now a little quieter when he whispers to no one in particular, "He's really got to pull that stick out his ass."

Another kick. "Ow!"

"I heard that. I'm killing you once we get out this damn bus."

"Well, seems like everyone's really going at it today," Takeda-sensei rose up from his seat, carefully holding on to the back of his seat so he wouldn't wobble. "A few announcements before we get there. Number one; we're one of the six schools selected to participate in this training program. Usually, they only ever send invites to schools in the Tokyo prefecture, so I'm having high hopes that everyone will be on their best behavior today."

Shoyo felt an elbow nudge him on the arm. "Hear that, orange idiot?"

"I will literally kick your knee caps."

Takeda-sensei sent them both reproachful glares.

"Number two," he continued, sighing. "Most of the players on the other teams are alphas, and everyone's aware that our team is mostly made up of omegas. That doesn't change anything related to the matches, but we're reminding everyone to take extra precaution, especially to those whose heats are coming. Coach and I have all the medicine and scent patches packed, so don't hesitate to approach us anytime, ya hear?"

A series of 'yes' and hushes of agreement echoed throughout the bus.

"Daichi, Tanaka, Ennoshita, Tsukishima," he called the alphas of the team, one by one. "I'm leaving you four in charge of your respective years. If anything happens, you report to me, Coach Ukai, or to any responsible adult you see. Understand?"

"Understood," all four of them chimed in unison.

"Alright, one last thing," Takeda-sensei nodded. "This training camp is a great deal, and we're thankful for Nekomata-sensei in organizing the entire event, even going as far as to invite us all the way from Miyagi. So, aside from rigorous training that is expected from each and every one of you," he paused, looking up to smile at the team, just as they'd arrived in Nekoma High School, "I hope you all have some fun and enjoy this experience."

The bus door opened, and for the first time in his life,

Shoyo felt his gut twist, and his omega reach out for something that isn't there.

Kenma should've known something was up the moment he opened his locker.

It was general knowledge among the team that even though Kenma was lacking in the scent department, he could still smell just fine, thank you very much. He could still smell the strong scent of his alpha teammates, the plain aura that surrounded some of his beta classmates, and even the sweet aroma of his omega friends - just not as much as the other alphas, though.

So why was his uniform smelling like omega today?

"Kuroo," he huffed, fixing his collar as he turned to the raven-haired alpha whose locker was just right next to him, "why does my jersey smell weird?"

Kuroo, whose head just popped into his own jersey, sniffed hard. He leaned into Kenma's space, careful not to touch his scent gland, and sniffed some more. Kuroo's brows furrowed. "I don't smell anything at all, though? Except for that lavender fabric conditioner your mom always uses," he added.

"Huh? But doesn't it smell li-"

"Hurry up, ya rascals," Coach Naoi's voice boomed in the locker room, and Kenma looked to see him leaning on the doorway, clipboard in his hands. "The first match starts in five, and it's Fukurodani against Nohebi."

"Now that," Kuroo grinned, "I can't miss. C'mon, Kenma!"

Kenma rolled his eyes, letting his best friend practically manhandle him out to the gym. They make it out just in time for the coin toss, but Kenma paid more attention to the other teams that were sitting in the bleachers - taking in their possible opponents for the rest of the week in camp, and squinting his eyes at some teams that he hasn't watched play. . . yet. 

And then, he saw them.

"Who're those?" he asked, nodding towards the team that he hasn't seen play before. Scratch that, they looked like they weren't from Tokyo in the first place. He couldn't catch a whiff of their scent from where they were seated, but he'd already known from Coach's announcement earlier that there was a team which mostly consisted of omegas.

Kuroo followed his line of sight. "Oh," he said, eyes clouding with recognition as the scent probably sunk in, "that's Karasuno from Miyagi. That's so weird, I can only smell, like, five alphas on them."

"You didn't listen to Coach earlier, didn't you," Yaku teased from beside him as he sat on Lev's lap, already seemingly calm against his mate's hold. "They only got four alphas, ya goofball. The other one's their coach, probably." He said, nuzzling into Lev's scent gland. The latter indulged, but not as much, seeing as they would have to play numerous games within the day. Lev cooed, placed a kiss on Yaku's temple, before settling him down right beside him.

"Oh," Kuroo blinked at the sight before them, shaking his head at the public display of affection. "Well, some of their omegas are mated, though."

Kenma grunted, finally peeling his eyes away from Karasuno as he felt something settle in his gut. He squirmed in his seat. "You and your K9 snout."

"Hey!"

"Game's starting," Kai shushed them, but Kenma poked his tongue out to the taller alpha, snickering when Kuroo's eyes widened in disbelief.

Fukurodani won, no surprise there.

It also wasn't a surprise when, after the game, alpha Bokuto in all his 6'1" glory, scooped poor omega Akaashi into his arms and started twirling them both around, right in the middle of the gym. 

"I told you," Kenma snorted, Kuroo looking absolutely gobsmacked at the sight before them. "I can't believe you almost made me a freaking homewrecker."

"I said I was sorry!"

What did come as a surprise, however, was the fact that they were up next, against the same school that they'd been talking about earlier.

"Captains," Coach Naoi called out. "Coin toss, if you please." Kenma watched as Kuroo and Karasuno's #1 jogged up to their coach, discussing their calls. From the opposite side of the gym, he could see the orange team lining up, but they were missing two numbers, 9 and 10. Kenma shook his head, it wasn't something he was concerned with, anyway.

He couldn't help but overhear the conversation between the captain of Karasuno and their coach, though.

"-short of two players, will that be alright?"

#1 nodded. "Yes sir, we have our substitute setter ready to go."

"If you don't mind, may I ask what happened to players #9 and #10?"

"Kageyama had to accompany Hinata to the clinic, sir," #1 looked sheepish. "Something about a stomach ache."

Coach Naoi nodded. "So, nothing to do with alpha pheromones or anything of the sort?"

The player shook his head. "No, sir. So far there's been no discomfort on our omegas."

Our omegas, Kenma noted. For some reason, it was nice to hear that come out from this alpha. Nice to know their omegas were in good hands, despite the lack of alphas in their team. Kenma shook his head. What was he doing?

"That's good to hear. Don't hesitate to approach any of the coaches in case anything happens, ya hear?" #1 nodded in understanding. "Alright, the game will start in a bit. You may go now, Sawamura."

So the captain's name was Sawamura. He watched as the captain of the other team jogged over to their side, and he snapped out of his thoughts just as Kuroo came to theirs. The game was about to start, for now, he'd focus on the game. Kenma was too immersed in their pre-game team chant that he didn't notice the unsettling ache was back in his gut. His stomach, to be precise.  What he did notice, however, was the pair of eyes settled on him all the way from the entrance of the gym.

A pair of hazel eyes, wide and unwavering, staring at him as if he's finally found all the answers in the world.

Kuroo and his teammates' voices now lost in his ears, all he could focus on was how the tiny orange-haired crossed the gym in fast-paced strides, as if in a hurry. Kenma watched, entranced; a soft rumbling in his core shouting at him to do something, anything - but he didn't know what. He watched as the young omega approached him, as if afraid he would somehow disappear, and that itself was enough for Kenma to finally notice the feeling in his gut, twisting and scrunching something inside him. It wasn't painful, but it was uncomfortable enough that Kenma could actually feel the alpha inside him bristle.

Which made his eyes widen, because he's never felt his own alpha before - not unless it was something really important. Kenma frowned, his surroundings a blur to him now. He felt himself unwillingly focus on the younger running towards him, and in that moment it was as if nothing else mattered.

What in the world. . . ?

"Oh my God," the orange-haired boy finally caught up to him, and if Kenma's arm wasn't outstretched into the Nekoma circle, he was sure he'd have his arms open for this little omega. Kenma tried not to dwell on that thought. "It's you."

Kenma furrowed his eyebrows, but before he could answer, Kuroo had already beaten him to it.

"What the heck," Kuroo clipped, but his voice was laced with curiosity. "Beat it, kiddo. Hey! Aren't you from Karasuno? Our match's about to start."

The omega paid him no attention, whatsoever; those piercing hazel eyes still focused on none other than Kenma.

Kenma felt something churn in his stomach.

But for some reason, he couldn't find it in himself to look away.

Not even when the little tangerine leaned further into his personal space, eyes sparkling with something Kenma couldn't put a finger on.

No, Kenma couldn't look away. Especially not when the omega whispered the one word he thought he'd never hear spoken to him in his lifetime.

"Mate."

“Stop with the act, kid,” the taller alpha from beside his mate spoke up, instead. “Scram.”

Irritation flooded Shoyo's veins, and he felt his omega inwardly snarl at the commanding tone used by the alpha before him. He could feel his fangs threatening to emerge, but he fought to keep it in, after all he was still very much in charge, and he knew he didn't want to make a scene.

Not like this, not in front of his alpha.

Shoyo felt a lot of things in the span of a few seconds - he felt annoyed at the expense of this alpha that blocked his way from reaching his mate; he felt restless at the expense of why the hell wasn't his alpha holding him already; but when that sunk in, all he felt was pure confusion.

Because why the hell wasn't his alpha holding him already????

He didn't even have the time to realize that the taller alpha, the same one that had successfully butted in right between Shoyo and his mate, was actually sizing him up. As if that would intimidate Shoyo. The said omega literally has Daichi as his pack alpha. After that one incident involving Suga-senpai and another alpha at school, causing Daichi-san's alpha to emerge, Shoyo was 100% sure he would never be afraid of an alpha other than him.

Shoyo merely narrowed his eyes, not at all flinching under the stare of the older alpha. But his voice wavered, only a little bit. “S-stay out of this, Mr. Alpha sir!”

The alpha in front of him only blinked. Then, he burst out laughing, some of the Nekoma players laughing along. Shoyo felt small at that moment, and he glanced to see his mate staring at the ground. Not at him, but the ground, as if trying to ignore him.

Which didn't make sense, because what the fuck? They were mates. Shoyo was sure of it. The strong, yet gentle scent that emanated from the alpha in question continued to waft toward Shoyo, as if inviting him to come closer - the scent reminding him so much of-

“Oh man,” the taller alpha only leaned back with a smirk on his face, and Shoyo snapped up to meet his eyes, “this should be fun.” He licked his lips, putting his arm on his mate's shoulder, and then reaching out a hand towards him. Shoyo's omega bristled upon seeing the contact, but made no move to intervene.

"You can call me Kuroo, little dude. I'm the captain of this team," he grinned, the wolfish smile making Shoyo's hair stand on end, "so you better keep your little omega hands off of our setter."

Shoyo couldn't help but frown at that. Who was this guy to tell him what he should and shouldn't do? And his alpha! His own alpha, his mate, what was he doing; looking like he didn't care at all about him? Why. . . why did he look like he wanted to be anywhere but here?

That shouldn't hurt Shoyo at all.

It shouldn't, so why could he feel something inside him break, even in the slightest?

"But-"

"O-oi!" he didn't need to look back, he could smell Kageyama a mile away. The said omega radiated his trademark blueberry aroma, and after a few seconds he felt a reassuring arm snake around his waist. When he saw even that didn't get anything out of his mate, Shoyo finally huffed, and looked down. "C'mon, idiot. Daichi-san and the others are waiting for us." Then, he leaned in, lowering his voice to a whisper. "You know better than this, Hinata. We're here for an entire week, let's not be brash right now, yeah?"

Shoyo could only nod, because even with his current inner turmoil, he realized the entirety of the situation. At this point, they were the intruders, and even though the pack before them that consisted of mostly alphas were simply amused by the whole situation instead of ganging up on them, Shoyo still knew that he had to back off.

His omega wasn't all too happy about that thought, but what else could he do?

"We're sorry for the intrusion," Kageyama bowed his head, one hand on Shoyo's nape, careful not to touch his scent gland, and forced him to bow down before the alphas. The distressing feeling was back in his gut - and only then did he realize what it meant. So it was a mate pull. He risked a fleeting glance towards his mate, but was disappointed once again, to see that the said alpha never once looked his way. 

So the two trudged their way back onto their side of the court, and as they walked, Shoyo could feel eyes boring into the back of his head - apparently he's had the attention of everyone in the entire gymnasium. Walking past his teammates, he was immediately enveloped in multiple comforting scents, and Sugawara reached out for his hand, squeezing it with a smile sent his way. Instead of joining the starting line-up, however, Shoyo made a bee-line for the bench, and he plopped down right beside Takeda-sensei.

No words were exchanged, but the older omega immediately wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder, nuzzling him towards his chest. "You alright, Hinata?"

A soft whimper finally escaped his lips, and Takeda-sensei only held him tighter. "I'm sorry, sensei," he whimpered, curling into the warmth, his voice cracking. "I can't-"

"It's okay," Takeda-sensei cut him off, enveloping the two of them in calming pheromones. "You're okay," he assured, one more time, before turning his head to look at his alpha seated right on the other side of the bench. "Keishin?"

Said alpha merely nodded, jaw clenched as he took in the sight of the two, the distressed pheromones emanating from the orange-haired omega not escaping him. His alpha didn't like it. Not one bit. He was sure he was going to have a meaningful discussion with Nekoma's coach, one of these days. "You're excused, Hinata," he said, voice gruff. He felt his omega's hand reach his back, rubbing in comfortable circles. Even in situations like this, he knew he could always count on Ittetsu. 

"Take a rest. I'll send Kageyama up later after practice, okay?"

Shoyo didn't know if he nodded, or if he said anything in response. He felt as if he was on auto-pilot, his omega still reeling from the fact that his alpha, their alpha, had blatantly ignored them in front of everyone.

That could only mean one thing. . . right?

He shook his head at the thought, trudging his way into the dorms.

Rejection.

The word wrapped around him like a straitjacket, and Shoyo wasn't sure how long it had been; but laying on a twin-sized bed with a thin blanket that smelled like cheap fabric soap covering him up, he could do nothing but stare at the ceiling and only see a pair of yellow eyes staring back at him, as if haunting his very existence.

As much as he'd hate to say it, Shoyo felt utterly useless, for the first time in his life. He wasn't the type of omega that simply bowed and presented to any alpha in plain sight, but he wouldn't deny the fact that he'd been waiting for his mate his entire life. Ever since he'd presented as a kid, he'd already romanticized how he'd meet his fated pair; falling asleep every night to the idea that someday, he'd fall in love with someone he was always destined to be with.

So what was wrong?

Was he the problem? Shoyo frowned, his lips wobbling. It was unmistakable - the pull from his gut and the irresistible aroma that wafted definitely led him to the blonde setter of Nekoma, so why wasn't his alpha recognizing him as his omega? Was he not worthy of being his omega? Was he not satisfied of the omega that was presented to him?

Was. . . was he already mated to someone else?

Shoyo shook his head. No, if his alpha was indeed mated to someone else, he would've smelled it on him. Shoyo was always known to have a sharp sense of smell.

But the mere thought of his alpha being devoted to another omega was enough to send Shoyo's omega into a frenzy, a series of pained whimpers escaping his throat. He rolled over to his side, clutching his stomach as the pain doubled - the mate pull urging him to go to his mate. Shoyo felt his eyes sting, and he closed them, unwilling to cry for something this stupid.

Shoyo isn't like most omegas.

He's tough, unwavering, and he's not afraid to call anyone on their shit - regardless of their secondary gender.

But also - he's a sucker for romance.

Natsu's always teased him saying he was such a hopeless romantic, but he couldn't help it at all - especially when he was always surrounded by lovable people. So despite the lack of fated partnership for the first 16 years of his life, he'd fantasize about it instead.

That his alpha might be the type of person to bring him flowers every single day, just like what Tanaka-senpai always does to Kiyoko-san, even though they've already been together for 2 years. Or maybe his alpha would be the type of person to dance with him in the middle of an empty gymnasium after practice hours when he thinks all of their kouhais have already gone home, just like what Daichi-san does to Suga-senpai.

Or maybe, his alpha would randomly reach out to hold his hand in public, even though he dislikes public displays of affection - just like what Tsukishima does to Yamaguchi whenever he can sense that he's nervous before a game.

Maybe, his alpha might not even be one of those things. But secretly, Shoyo hoped that his alpha would still love him, even after 10 years, 20 years, 50 years; and even beyond that - just like his father; who, 22 years in marriage, still looks at his mother like she's the most beautiful woman to walk the planet.

That's really all Shoyo could ever wish for.

Was it. . . maybe too much to ask?

Another wave of pain hit, and this time the discomfort is familiar that Shoyo immediately blinked his eyes open. Oh fuck. His eyes immediately caught sight of the small calendar plastered against the wall. It isn't supposed to be here for another 12 days, at least.

Was his heat triggered by meeting his mate?

Of course. If Shoyo was unlucky enough to be rejected by his one and only alpha, obviously he'd also luck out by having his heat the exact same fucking day.

Great.

Absolutely freaking fantastic.

Shoyo's movements were slow as he stretched out to grab his bag without having to leave the confinement of his bed. His eyesight was already blurry from the excruciating pain in his lower abdomen, grimacing from the slick that he can now definitely feel between his legs; but he has the inside of his bag memorized by now. He knows from muscle memory how his suppressants feel against his palm, and even without water he can swallow it down in one go.

Shoyo blinked. Slowly. Until he can finally feel his body starting to numb; the ache still there but feeling duller by the minute.

And as he felt himself finally slip into slumber, he could feel his omega whine and reach out for something that is so far away, and the last thing he remembers is how useless he is - and how no one will ever love him.

After all, his own mate had rejected him.

Shoyo was basically as good as gone.

For the first time in his life, Kenma didn't know what to do.

And he hated it. He hated the feeling of not knowing his next move; the feeling of being so thrown off that all he could do is stare at nothing, hoping he can still salvage whatever control he still had on the reigns.

There was one thing he did know, though.

Despite the fact he tried his hardest to not make eye-contact with the orange-haired omega, he can't deny that the mere image of the said omega turning back and walking away from him is drilled into his head; and how he had to physically stop himself from chasing after him and make him stay.

None of it made sense to him - how he felt annoyed at the fact that Kuroo had to step in before he could say anything at all (not that he could, now that he thought about it; he could barely take his eyes off of the omega that was in front of him, so what the fuck could he say in the first place anyway?); how he felt restless, his alpha clawing at the back of his mind and despite the fact that he'd never vividly felt his alpha before in his life, he could make out what he was trying to say loud and clear - which mostly consisted of curse words and shrill growls that mainly were all about, why the fuck aren't you going after our mate?!

Above all, Kenma was just confused.

He'd been scentless his entire life, so for an omega to bravely approach him and call him his mate felt like a punch to the gut. It rendered him speechless, because it could only mean one thing. . .

The omega had smelled him.

Kenma's already past his stage of denial now; because how the fuck can this omega smell him when he's fucking scentless in the first place, leaving him now sitting in the middle of an eerily quiet gymnasium, training hours already over.

"There you are," Kuroo huffed, leaning by the gym doors. Behind him, Kenma could see that it was already dark outside. "I got you an extra milk bread, heads up."

He gently tossed it towards Kenma, and the latter easily caught it in his hands. He stared at it for a few seconds, before deciding that he didn't have the appetite, so he only pocketed the snack as he stood up.

"You good?"

Kenma looked up, meeting Kuroo's worried gaze, which didn't surprise him. Kuroo had always taken in the role of the pack alpha, not just because he was a good leader. He knew how to handle every member in his pack, regardless of the secondary gender, and he always knew when to step in. They'd known each other ever since they were little pups, and Kenma knew that Kuroo knew to respect his privacy at all costs. But now, Kenma was almost relieved to see his friend, his fellow alpha, worrying about him.

In a way, it calmed him down, if only a little bit. 

Kenma sighed. "Yeah," he answered, then lowered his head. "Actually no, scratch that; I'm not."

Kuroo made no expression of surprise or shock at the sudden honesty. "I could tell," he snorted, still leaning on the doorway, eyes fixated on the shorter alpha. "Wanna talk about it?"

Kenma hated that. He hated talking in general; because aside from it being tiring, Kenma was just generally bad at voicing out what he really felt. 

But this time, he wanted to try, at least. If not for him, then maybe, just maybe, for the little orange-haired omega that was brave enough to claim him in front of a lot of people.

"Maybe," Kenma shrugged, instead. Kuroo visibly softened, and Kenma felt so vulnerable right now that all he can do is look down at the ground. "I don't- I don't know anymore. It hurts. I don't know why, but something inside me- it hurts. Not a physical kind of pain; I can't really describe it right now." Kenma fiddled with his fingers. "When he called me his mate, everything just blanked. I can't even remember what he said after that, all I remember is how he walked away and how I wanted to chase after him," he confessed, taking Kuroo by surprise. "Or at least, that's what the alpha in me wanted to do."

"How about you?" Kenma tore his gaze from the floor, only to meet Kuroo's gaze, as if staring right into his soul. "What do you want, Kenma?"

Kenma paused. What did he want?

"I-"

"Don't think about anyone else," Kuroo interrupted, sighing. "Be selfish, for once, and stop thinking about what others feel so you could adjust to them! Be honest with me, right here, right now. Kenma Kozume, what do you really want?"

A wave of silence, before Kenma finally spoke, in a hushed whisper.

"I. . . want to be happy."

Kenma stared back at his childhood best friend, the words on his lips leaving before he can fully understand their meaning. "I want to feel what it's like to be accepted - not just in a pack, because God knows how much I love you and every single person in that pack even if I don't admit to that sometimes," he said, sounding sheepish, "but by someone whom I can share the rest of my life with, knowing they're the one I've always been destined to."

Kuroo secretly smiled. Kenma was a hopeless romantic through and through; even if he tried his best to hide it every single day.

"I want. . ." Kenma stared at his hands, for what seemed like eternity, but Kuroo knew better than to prod. He patiently waited, knowing that Kenma would always come to, no matter what. "I want to love. I want to be loved."

By my mate, my fated pair.

The words were left unsaid, but both alphas knew anyway. Kenma looked like he had just run a marathon; eyes wide and breaths taken in quick pants, face flushed like he'd said something so embarrassing that shouldn't have been said out loud. But it felt good. It felt good to finally voice out his emotions; his chest feels lighter, his alpha feels at ease, and the sting in his gut was starting to dull.

Kuroo, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to cry.

Kenma blinked. "Uh," he started, seeing Kuroo rub his eyes with his palms in a distinct effort to hide his tears. Not like he could, anyway, with Kenma's sharp gaze that tore right into him. "Are- are you okay?" he stammered, nonetheless, because he wasn't used to Kuroo crying in front of him. "Do you need some tissue? I have a hankie in here that I- oof!"

Kenma was cut off by Kuroo squishing him into a bone-crushing hug, and he blinked some more, not sure when Kuroo had closed the distance between them. "Kuroo? No offense, but what the fuck?"

"Shut up and let me have this," Kuroo scoffed, hugging him tighter but making sure to avoid the scent glands on his neck. "This is our first heart-to-heart talk! I'm allowed to be emotional!"

Kenma snorted.

"Okay, you big baby," he teased. "Now let me go before someone walks in on us and finds us like this because I will not hesitate to kick you where it hurts."

Kuroo huffed, but let him go, his hands still on the shorter alpha's shoulders. "I'm so proud of you," he blurted out, eyes sparkling with pride and excitement. "I really am, Kenma."

"Okay, I get it, now get off-"

"And I know I say this a lot, but I'm really glad you're my best friend," Kuroo continued, ignoring him, the toothy smile on his face reminding Kenma of a younger version of him. "I know everything's that happened had taken a toll on you, but. . ." he pauses, ". . . I trust that omega, for some reason. He meant it, you know." Kenma tilted his head in confusion, and Kuroo smiled. "He meant it when he called you his mate."

Kenma felt the air being punched out of him. "How. . . how do you know?" He hated how his voice sounded so small, laced with so much uncertainty.

"Oh you know," the teasing smirk was back on his face. "Just me and my K9 snout."

Kenma chuckled, shaking his head.

"Nah, for real though," Kuroo said. "You know how I can smell lies, right? He didn't even reek of it, not one bit. And even without that, I could tell, just by looking into his eyes. The way he looked at you," Kuroo nodded to him. "Not that you would know, because you sure spent the entirety of it staring a hole into the damn floor."

Kenma growled at that, small rumbling noises escaping his throat. "Shut up."

Kuroo didn't smile, the sudden seriousness making Kenma shiver. "You should have seen the look on his face, Kenma."

"Was," Kenma gulped, "was it that bad?"

Kuroo pondered about it, in all seriousness. "Well, I could be biased," he admitted. "After all, the only omega I've really ever seen up close is Yaku. And that gremlin is only ever angry or shooting heart eyes towards Lev, so." He takes a minute to snort in laughter. "But, I don't know. There was something about the way that omega's face looked like whenever he'd glance at you. He didn't even pay me much attention and I was letting out pheromones!"

"I'll kick your shin if you ever do that again, by the way."

Kuroo's alpha grumbled at that. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," he rolled his eyes. "He was definitely hurt, though. He was good at hiding it but I could smell his distress back then."

Kenma felt guilty now. His alpha was back at it, a low rumble in the back of his head telling him to look for his omega, to give him comfort. To make sure his omega was safe.

"It's not your fault," Kuroo's soft, but firm voice assured him. "Even the doctors said you had a low chance of having a mate, you know that."

Kenma shook his head. "He doesn't know that," he whispered. "Oh my God I'm literally the worst alpha eve-"

"Stop that."

"But-"

"No buts. Stop self-deprecating because you and I both know if I were in your shoes I'd have handled that much worse."

"Still-"

"If you actually feel bad for Shoyo, then maybe you should try actually being there for him, and not crying about it like a big baby."

The two alphas whipped their head so fast they could've gotten whiplash, to the raven-haired omega standing by the gymnasium doors. Kenma stilled. Just how long had this omega been standing there? And how come neither of them could smell him? Kenma could understand why he couldn't smell him - he was way too far and caught up in his own emotions that even Kuroo's scent seemed faded to him. But Kuroo? He should've smelled him a mile away. 

Kuroo's brows were furrowed too, like he was also thinking the same thing.

"I'm not here to pick a fight," the omega's hands flew up in surrender, and only then did Kenma realize that he and Kuroo had been lowly growling at the intrusion of someone from another pack. "I'm just saying, Shoyo's in a pretty bad state right now."

Shoyo? Who was-

Kenma's face lit up in recognition. Was that the name of the omega from earlier?

His omega?

"What do you mean?" Just like earlier, Kuroo had once again taken a protective stance right in front of Kenma, speaking for him even when he didn't ask to. "Who's-"

"Shoyo," the omega interrupted, eyes never leaving Kenma's. An irritated growl bubbled from Kuroo, and it would've been funny if Kenma wasn't in a state of growing concern at the fact that his omega was apparently not doing okay. "It's his-"

"I-is he okay?" were the first words to leave Kenma's tongue, still wary of the omega. He took a step beside Kuroo. "What's going on?"

"He's in heat." Both alphas visibly paled, and the omega narrowed his eyes. "I don't know if you know this, but sometimes meeting our mates can trigger our heats," he carefully explained, then pointedly sent a reproachful glare towards the shorter alpha, "especially when under immense levels of stress."

Kenma's blood ran cold - with concern or guilt, he didn't know.

He was sure about one thing though, his alpha wanted to see the omega, his omega, and for the first he found himself giving into the command.

"What are you insinuating," Kuroo gritted out, eyes glaring.

"I'm not insinuating anything," the omega faced him with his own set of snarls. "I'm just saying, if you were going to reject my best friend, then maybe you shouldn't have been such a jerk about it. Now look at him, heartbroken and suffering from his early heat, and he's still stupid enough to even call for his alpha who didn't even want to claim him in the first place."

"Oi," Kuroo was now seething, his own alpha daring to intervene now that his pack member was being targeted. "You better choose your words a little more caref-"

"Kuroo."

The said alpha spared him a small glance, which he met with his own stubborn glower. "It's okay, I'll handle this," he assured the taller alpha, making sure to rub their arms together before taking careful steps towards the omega in front of him. The raven-haired omega only stared at him with dark blue eyes, didn't even flinch when the alpha was close enough to invade his personal space. "I-I'm sorry. For everything. I want to make things right. Please, let me see him."

Kenma met his eyes with his own scrutinizing gaze.

"I want to see my mate."

Kenma was expecting a lot of things, per se.

He wasn't as educated as the other alphas when it came to how to handle an omega in heat, because 1) he barely listened to any classes at all, and 2) why would he when he wasn't even supposed to have a "mate" in the first place. Obviously now it's come to bite him in the ass, because 1) he actually wanted to be an alpha worthy of taking care of his now very much existent omega, and 2) he didn't want to be an incompetent alpha at that.

One thing, he did not expect, however, was the abundance of angry omegas and a few alphas outside his omega's bedroom door.

Don't get him wrong, despite the fact that Kenma has never smelled another alpha or omega before, he definitely could still tell simply from their auras. He'd learn from an early age to be a lot more observant to make up for his lack of ability to smell pheromones on other people, and right now, all he could do was gulp as he took in the rigid postures and the protective atmosphere encircling the group.

Ah, so this was their pack.

Kenma had half a mind to push back his alpha itching for a fight, because he was surely treading on land mines right now. This was his omega's pack, after all. He'd want to at least make up for what had happened in the gym before and not mess anything up. He kept his eyes trained on the alphas before him, who were now looking at him with reproachful stares, and one even daring to flash him fangs. Kuroo had gone frigid from beside him, already rumbling from low growls, but Kenma reached out an arm to him as if to stop him.

"We're not here to pick a fight." If Kenma's voice wavered in the slightest bit, they did not comment on it.

A tall blonde alpha was quick to refute. "Right. You're only here to reject our omega." His tone was nowhere near friendly, and Kenma grimaced, although he probably did deserve that.

Beside him, Kuroo's chest rumbled, but he stayed silent.

"Kei, play nice," a green-haired shorter guy reprimanded, and Kenma could tell he was the alpha's mate, if the bite on his neck was anything to go by. He turned to Kenma, lips wobbling in a hesitant smile, eyes flitting for a short moment to their raven-haired omega who was beside him - Kageyama, his name was - before settling down on him again. One hand clutching his alpha's, he outstretched his other hand, wanting to shake Kenma's.

Kenma immediately obeyed, seeing as this was the first person in Karasuno to actually be nice to him, and for once in his life he found himself wanting to kiss ass. To get on their good side, at least, even if it was only a mere 2%.

He would work with that.

"I'm Tadashi Yamaguchi," he introduced himself, ignoring the way his other teammates including his mate were now staring at him like he just grew another head. "You must be Shoyo's mate."

Kenma felt the lump in his throat grow bigger, if that was even possible.

Thinking about it was one thing, but having to hear it from someone else out loud? That. . .

. . .felt nice.

Nice?

"You are," the omega, Tadashi, blinked. "Are you?"

Kenma found himself staring at the floor again, his fingers subconsciously fiddling against each other. Now this felt like deja vu. Dammit, say something, his alpha urged him. Tell him yes. Tell him that's our mate, in there.

No, Kenma bit back. We don't deserve to call him ours.

Not yet.

"See? I told you he'd never admit to it. He doesn't deserve the little sh-," a quick elbow to his gut, "I meant Shoyo."

"Tsukki!"

"What happened to Kei?"

"Killed him."

"That hurts, baby."

"Stop!"

A sigh interrupted the couple's squabble. "I swear, this team literally has the attention span of a fucking fish."

Kenma found himself looking up to a pair of silver eyes. He blinked, alpha instincts telling him to back away, to take a step back, when a friendly smile was shot his way. "I'm Koushi," he introduced himself. "You must've met my mate earlier already, the captain of our team," he smiled, a mixture of pride and fondness etched on his face. Kenma's chest tightened at that. "He's currently inside with Shoyo along with our coaches in an attempt to calm him down, but we all know he won't until you get in there."

"I-"

"Listen," Koushi interrupted him before he could say anything else, sighing but there was no hint of aggressiveness in his voice. "I don't know what happened and I don't want to jump to conclusions, so I'm going to make this short. I," he cleared his throat, "I don't trust you. At least, not yet. Shoyo's one of ours which is exactly why we want to protect him, and it's also by that reason that we don't want to hurt him."

"Which is exactly what's happening because he's an omega looking for his alpha, the very same who rejected him not even a few hours ago," Kei sighed, stepping up to stand beside Koushi. "Anyway, long story short, we don't trust you, but we trust that little shit in there," the tall blonde alpha grunted. "But if you make him cry again I swear I am going to-"

"Aaaaaand we're going to bed," Tadashi was quick to intercept, eyes wide as he tried to chuckle his way out of the awkward situation. He turned to his mate so fast that Kenma grimaced - how did he not have whiplash from that? - and pulled him away. "Goodnight! Oh, and good luck, Kozume-san!"

"Well, there's that," another alpha spoke up, the bald spiker from earlier in their match. "Still doesn't sit well with me that we're just letting this happen but okay."

Everyone suddenly paused, and Kenma couldn't smell it, but he could feel his stomach clench when the rest of the omegas flinched, and a loud cry came from the other side of the door. "Oh my God."

Koushi grimaced, sparing him a glance. "Yeah."

From beside him, he could see Kuroo blanch as well, no doubt from the pheromones that Kenma failed to smell. His own alpha whined. "It's bad, Kenma," Kuroo informed him. He turned to the omegas in front of them, and spoke with a gentle tone for an alpha. "Will it really be okay to send him in?"

"Like I said, I don't know what's going on between your alpha and Shoyo's omega," Koushi started, looking at Kenma. "But if this goes on without the comfort of his mate, it'll be much, much worse. Right now he probably thinks he's been rejected. I don't know about you guys, but as an omega myself, that hurts. There have been cases where omegas have died because of a broken heart, caused by rejection from their fated pairs."

Kenma felt all the air in his lungs dissipate.

"I-I'm not saying it's your fault, Kozume-kun!" the gray haired omega in front of them said, eyes wide and frantically shaking his head. "Shoyo isn't that type of person. He's determined, stubborn, and best of all he's always wearing his heart on his sleeve. But sometimes, we can't control how our omegas think, or feel. That's just how it is. Shoyo's omega saw the act as a rejection, and now he's drowning him in all those bad thoughts that not even us, his pack, can pull him out of."

Koushi took a bold step, and reached out for Kenma's hand. Kenma felt like his feet were stuck, and he couldn't find it himself to step away from the omega.

"If you're really his mate, his alpha, then I trust that you can save him from himself," the omega squeezed his hand. 

Kenma gulped. "You have too much trust for an alpha who had just hurt one of your own."

Koushi smiled.

"I trust any alpha our omegas choose."

Everything hurt.

It was like Shoyo couldn't even feel his own body, but he definitely felt the waves of continuous pain rushing through every pulse. There was a small familiarity that came with it; he noted how he felt so hot like he usually did when he went into heat. Heat. That's right, he was in heat. Did he even take a pill for it? Probably. Probably not. Kageyama would absolutely rip him a new one if he found out he didn't. Speaking of Kageyama, where was he? Didn't Coach Ukai tell him he'd send Kageyama to check up on him?

Shoyo wasn't sure of his current position, but he tried to take a whiff of his surroundings, unable to catch the familiar blueberry scent. But, there was something else. Shoyo took another whiff, unsure. Was that lavender? Ah, but then again, he remembered the sheets he was laying on smelled of faint lavender detergent. Lavender. It smelled nice, and Shoyo found himself gravitating towards the smell. Against his will, he found himself whimpering. 

The pain was starting to become bearable, but then again, he'd been in pain for so long it felt like hours, so he wasn't sure if it was truly dissipating, or that he was just getting used to it somehow. That irked his omega even more. We're not supposed to be getting used to something painful like this, his omega whines. Shoyo finds himself remembering a pair of yellow eyes and the pain doubled.

Someone, please make it stop.

Shoyo tried to bring his focus back, if no one was going to help him out of this, he would do it himself. It was hard, trying to focus on something else other than the excruciating pain travelling through his entire body, so the first thing he tries to focus on is scent.

Which shouldn't be too hard, it was one of his senses that he could do without straining himself too much, so he could at least try to distract himself by getting a grip on his surroundings. After all, he was an omega in heat, and if none of his pack had found him yet, then he could be in serious trouble. 

He decided the lavender scent was a great start, if anything it was the closest thing he could smell of. As Shoyo focused more on the scent, he found that it was around him, as if it surrounded him from all directions. Maybe it really was the sheets, maybe in his heat-induced breakdown he subconsciously wrapped it around himself. Kageyama always told him that he was a blanket hogger, even when he was fast asleep, so this shouldn't faze him in the slightest.

Right.

If anything, the scent helped him relax, even if it was only a little bit. It smelled familiar, so his omega had no qualms about it. Instead, he actually found himself purring, the scent making him feel so relaxed that Shoyo was slowly starting to get distracted. He didn't realize that his body no longer felt like it was on fire, but instead felt warm. 

What. . .?

The next sense he could now focus on was hearing. At first, everything sounded like a bass drum inside his ears, like hard thumping that came from the back of his head. Now, everything around him sounded blurred, almost. Like he was underwater and someone was talking to him from above the surface. It was hard to hear what the person was saying, or who the voice even belonged to, but Shoyo could make out some of the words, spoken to him so gently as if he were made of glass.

". . .slowly. . .-ou're okay. . .shh. . .breathe. . .-hing's fine. . .hey. . .I'm here. . .shh. . ."

Shoyo wanted to just open his eyes, melt against the stupidly gentle sounding voice, but he couldn't even if he tried. He had to focus slowly, otherwise he'd strain himself again. He could still feel his heat ongoing, but the pain was for the most part gone.

The remaining senses were harder than the first two, seeing as his body coordination seemingly just flew out the window, so Shoyo simply concentrated on hearing and smelling for now, hoping he'd have any idea as to who was in the room with him, who could easily relax him as so.

And then, the scent hit him.

No.

It couldn't be.

How. . .

No.

"Shh. . ." the voice said, once more, and he felt his omega actually easing towards the sound. "Breathe. . . please breathe. You're doing a great job."

Go away, Shoyo wanted to say, but at the same time, he wanted to bury himself into the chest of the person holding him.

Please. . . why are you here? Shoyo wanted to ask, but at the same time, he wanted to make him stay.

"Can you hear me now?"

Yes.

"I hope I'm not hurting you, but Coach Ukai said this would be a faster way to calm you down."

You're. . . you're not hurting me. Shoyo wanted to cry. 

"I. . ."

Shoyo listened.

"I want us to talk."

His omega whimpered.

"But not like this. I'll wait until you're all better, and then we'll talk," a pause, "about everything."

Shoyo could faintly feel something brush against his face.

"I promise. So get better, okay? I'll. . . I'll be here."

You won't run away?

"I won't run away. I won't ignore you this time, so please," the voice broke, "please come home. To us. To me."

Shoyo shuddered.

"It's already past bedtime, but Coach already allowed for me to stay the night. Well, on the agreement that I leave the door open, if that's okay with you. I'll- I'll be here anyways. Beside you, I mean, not just in the room." A chuckle. "So you don't have to worry about that." A pause. "Uhh. . . unless you want me to leave. . ? Is it- do you want me to leave?"

Shoyo wanted to shake his head, or say no, or hug him tighter so he wouldn't go anywhere, or all of the above, but he still couldn't move without crying in pain. 

Oh no- what if he leaves- what if he takes my silence as wanting him to leave- I don't- I don't want him to-

"Shh. . . it's okay, I'm not leaving. Sorry for worrying you." Shoyo felt himself getting cradled, and what he wouldn't give to be able to feel his alpha's arms around him every single day. "I'm here, you're okay, shh. . ."

Stay, Shoyo wanted to say, not just for tonight. Stay with me.

"You should get some rest." Another brush against his face, and Shoyo could feel as if he was trying to change their position on the bed to make them comfortable. Oh God, they were going to sleep on one bed. Together. If Shoyo was capable of blushing, he'd already have, although maybe he already was. "C'mon, let's get some sleep. Let me take care of you, is that okay?"

Shoyo made a small chirping sound at the back of his throat, thankful he could at least do so. The response was taken positively, as he then felt himself being cuddled, his head being cradled close to his chest that he could actually hear his heartbeat.

That night, his alpha lulled him to sleep to the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat, and Shoyo finally drifted off, feeling happy for the first time that day, surrounded by his favorite scents in the world.

When Kenma woke up, his first initial reaction was confusion, that it was so quiet instead of hearing Kuroo's obnoxious voice early in the morning telling him to wake his ass up.

His second reaction was surprise, at the warmth of the body that was currently laid down on his chest, arm lightly draped over his waist.

And then came his most surprising reaction of the day - fondness. His alpha felt the most relaxed he'd been all his life at the sight of the omega currently sleeping peacefully beside him, and his hand moved on its own, brushing away stray strands of the beautiful shade of orange around the omega's face. Kenma wondered if this was what Lev always felt with Yaku, how his heart wanted to burst from his chest. 

All these years, Kenma had never once even thought about the idea of having a fated pair. Of course, his condition had something to do with it, but then growing up it's just always been him on his own. He was an only child, and his family tended to move a lot when he was younger, so he couldn't really make any long-term friends. So when Kuroo came in his life and basically took the reigns, he let him. When Kuroo introduced him to volleyball, he let him. Albeit it was hard - making friends with people once he finally figured out they'd be in it for the long run, but everyone had been so understanding and patient with him. They didn't treat him as if he was an outcast, instead they always made sure that they were within arms length of Kenma's comfort zone, which he was so thankful for.

But even then, they were always careful not to meddle with Kenma's personal life. Kenma always kept them at arms length, and that was where they stayed. After all, after highschool, they'd surely be going their own ways. Nothing was permanent, Kenma noted. 

The idea of having a mate, someone you actually spend the rest of your life with - that scared Kenma to no ends. Because that meant he had to indulge, that meant he had to share his comfort zone, and that wasn't something Kenma was ready for. He was always content in being alone, that the line between that and being lonely seemed to gray.

"Mmh," the omega's whimpers were quick to pull him from his thoughts, and the first thing found himself doing was to cradle the omega closer, inspecting him for any clear signs of distress. Kenma frowned at not being able to smell pheromones, maybe then he'd actually have an idea on what was hurting the omega, but this wasn't the time to stress on his problems.

He tenderly hushed the omega, his other hand rubbing comforting circles on his back. "H-hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

The omega still had his eyes closed, still seeming to be asleep, but he was still letting out concerning whines that sent Kenma to a frenzy. What was wrong with his omega? Did he perhaps subconsciously touched him where it hurts? Was he in discomfort? Was he in pain? Was he hungry? Kenma's eyes flitted to the clock as it read out 6:21AM. Still early, but he knew the omega hadn't eaten anything from yesterday when he had gotten his heat. Kenma cursed. He should've brought food, at least. His eyes widened when he remembered the milk bread Kuroo had given him last night in the gym, but it was in the pocket of his jersey jacket, which was hung all the way across the room, meaning he had to actually get up and separate himself from the whimpering omega to go get it. 

Kenma tried to slowly shuffle out from the embrace, when he felt his shoulder go wet.

Wet?

He glanced at the omega whose head was now on his shoulder, still asleep, tears trickling down his face, and Kenma's chest tightened. He decided to ignore the milk bread for now, and scooted closer to the omega, wiping his tears one-by-one. "Shh. . . why are you crying?" Kenma whispered, his face dangerously close to the omega's. "Please don't cry. I'm here. . . I'm not going anywhere."

Kenma found himself staring at the omega's face, not finding it in him to look away, even when the omega started blinking awake. The hazel eyes glossy from the tears, unfocused as he tried to understand what was going on. "A-" his small voice croaked, and Kenma hugged him even closer. "Alpha?"

Kenma felt like he was drowning. The omega tried to shuffle on the bed, wincing whenever he tried to move in the slightest, when Kenma spoke. "Say it again."

The omega looked at him, with those beautiful hazel eyes. "Wha-?"

"Say it again," Kenma breathed, his hand on the omega's back to pull him closer, and he reveled at how the omega's face flushed at the contact. Oh, he could do that forever, if it meant him looking like that again. "Say it again. . . please."

The omega's lips parted, and Kenma held in a breath so he could hear it better.

"Alpha."

Kenma could cry.

"Thank you," he said, instead, trying to calm his thundering heart. "Are you hungry? Do you want to eat?"

The omega blinked at him. "Uhm," he started, rubbing at his throat that probably felt too sore from crying so much last night. "What. . . what happened last night?"

Kenma opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a low growling sound from the omega's stomach, and when he looked back up he found the omega blushing in embarrassment, to which he only chuckled. "Let me get you something to eat first," he said. "Will you be okay if I go get us breakfast?"

The omega hesitated, as if he wanted to prevent him from leaving, but also wanting the idea of eating. "I'll be back," Kenma assured him. "I promised I wouldn't leave, didn't I? We still have a lot to talk about, after all."

The younger only nodded, the grip around his waist loosening. Kenma slowly moved away from the omega, slow enough as to not make him panic, all the while whispering words of assurance that he'd be back. When the omega seemed relaxed away from his hold, he moved to grab his jacket so he could give him the milk bread while he went to grab them some food.

"Here," he gently offered the snack. "I wasn't in the mood to eat that last night, so I just stuffed it in my jacket. You can have it, please wait for me while I get us some food, okay?" Kenma reached out to help the omega sit up and lean on the bedframe, and then placed the packet on his hands, where his own lingered for a bit, before he backed away.

Seemed like he wouldn't have to take much long, seeing as he bumped into a frazzled looking Kageyama in the hallway holding two trays full of food and water. "Thought you guys would like something to eat," he grunted, as he passed the trays onto Kenma. "How is he?"

"He stopped crying after a while last night, although he seemed pretty out of it when I told him to go to sleep," Kenma sighed. "He just woke up. Do you wanna come and see him?"

The raven-haired omega shook his head. "Training starts at 7, and you guys are the only ones exempted, so I actually have to go," he said. "We'll come see him in the evening, if he's up for it. Tell him I said hi."

"Will do." Kenma nodded, then turned back to return to his omega, when he heard Kageyama call for him again. Kenma glanced at him.

"Take care of him," Kageyama murmured, eyes never leaving his. "He- he's my best friend."

Kenma smiled, nodding. "I will," he promised. "I. . . we still have a lot to talk about, but," he paused, "I'm not letting him go. Not again."

When Kenma got back to his omega's room, he literally had to kick the door in, wincing at the idea of possibly scaring his omega, so he was quick to talk, letting him know that he had returned. "Hey, it's me," he said, trying to close the door and not drop the trays in the process. 

The omega had his eyes on him as he approached, and Kenma set one tray on the top of the drawer, the other tray gently placed on the omega's lap. "Eat up. Drink lots of water, too," he added.

"You smell of Kageyama," the younger replied, brows slightly furrowed as he tried to take a whiff.

Kenma hummed, pouring maple syrup on the pancakes. "Bumped into him in the hallways, he was the one who brought these," he nodded towards the food.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

An hour and a happy omega on a full stomach later, Kenma got up to tidy their trays and throw away any garbage. He knows now would be a good time to talk about everything that happened between the two of them, but he still didn't know how to start. Where to start. He might not even believe him, he might think it was all some lousy excuse for the extreme pain he'd make him go through the entire day yesterday. But he'd promised they'd talk, and Kenma didn't want to break that, especially if it concerned his omega, not that he was playing favorites or anything.

"So."

The omega leaned back onto the headboard. "So."

"What do I smell like to you?"

That definitely wasn't what the omega was expecting to come out of his mouth, if the confused look on his face was anything to go by, but Kenma was adamant on knowing the answer. No one had ever been able to smell him ever since he was a kid, so sue him if he genuinely wanted to know how he smelled like to the only person who could actually smell him.

The omega's brows furrowed, then opened his mouth to answer. "Like lavender."

Kenma frowned. Well, that wasn't a surprise. His mother used lavender scented detergents on their clothes, so everyone always told him that's how he smelled like. But. . . didn't this omega smell him enough to claim him as his mate? That should mean he had a different scent. . . right?

"Sunflower."

"What?" Kenma wasn't listening.

The omega repeated. "Like sunflowers. . ." he looked up to meet Kenma's gaze. "You smell like sunflowers."

Kenma tilted his head. "But sunflowers don't have a smell?"

The omega laughed, actually laughed, tilting his head back slightly. "When my mom took me for a picnic when I was younger, we went to a sunflower field," he explained. "They do have a smell, you know," he giggled. "Sunflowers smell sweet. . . almost like honey."

Kenma opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, because what was he going to respond to that? The only person who could smell him just told him he'd smelled like sunflowers. Kenma wasn't a sweet person, he was far from that. He was an outcast, he was always reserved to himself - he didn't even know how to maintain relationships with other people. Most of all, he'd hurt his mate. His omega. He couldn't possibly smell sweet after putting him through that, so why was his omega looking at him as if he had hung the moon and stars?

"You're. . ." the omega frowned, reaching for Kenma's hand, who flinched. He retracted his hand back, and hung his head low. "You're shutting me off again."

A beat of silence.

"I'm scentless."

The omega snapped his head back up to look at him, this time with wide eyes and parted lips.

"I've been scentless ever since I was born, it's a condition I've been diagnosed with ever since I presented as an alpha," Kenma gritted out. "Until you came along, claiming me as your mate, when all this time I've been led to believe I wouldn't have one because of the fact that no one can smell me."

"That's-"

"That's why I didn't believe you at first," Kenma sighed, his fingers fiddling with each other, as he stared down, knowing the omega was still staring at him. "But my alpha wouldn't leave me alone, growling at me every chance he got to run after you, to claim you back." He explained, voice almost quiet. "But I was afraid. That maybe it was all some stupid joke, or another stupid dream. And then your friend came and told me you went into heat because of me, and that your omega thought we had rejected you, so I felt bad. I wanted to know the truth."

"When I came into the room, you were trashing around, and you weren't even letting your pack alpha hold you. You were crying and screaming so much that you were in pain that it. . . also hurt me," he murmured. "But when I approached you, Coach was encouraging me to hold you, so I did. You immediately relaxed against my touch that everyone in the room was shocked, including me. I. . . I didn't know what to do. My alpha was screaming at me to hold you tight, to kiss the pain away, to comfort our omega," Kenma grimaced at the words. 

"So I did. Everyone left when you started to calm down, but Coach would peek in every hour or so to see if we were doing fine," Kenma continued to explain. "And after a while you fell asleep, in my arms. I promised you I wouldn't leave, and even if I did I know I would genuinely hate myself for doing something I didn't want to do. But. . . I'm still confused. I- I don't know anymore."

The omega listened intently, waiting for the moment Kenma stopped talking.

"Are you just here because you felt bad for me?" the omega asked. Kenma looked up at him to see his eyes void of emotion, lips trembling. "Do you not really want me as your omega?" he started sobbing, leaving Kenma completely flabbergasted on what to do. "I remember bits and pieces of last night, you know. Was all of that just for show because you felt bad for me?"

"No! No, I swear-"

"Then what?"

Kenma was tired. Tired of having to make excuses for everything, tired of having to run away all the time. He was tired, and he hated that his omega, his mate, was crying in front of him, hurting again because of him, and he was too afraid to do anything about it.

Fuck it.

Because even if he didn't want to admit it, sometimes, being alone felt so lonely. Sometimes, Kenma wanted to have someone there. Someone to lean on. Someone to cry with in the middle of the night when things felt too heavy. Someone to laugh with in the middle of the afternoon when life was amazing and someone was there to share that with him. 

Someone to love. For the rest of his life.

Kenma crossed the distance between the two of them, pulling the omega, his omega, into a bone-crushing hug, and he found himself wanting to stay here forever. The omega, no, Shoyo, trembled in his grasp, but he buried his face into the crook of his neck, not even knowing what he was supposed to be smelling.

"Mate," he whispered, and Shoyo froze. "Mate. Shoyo Hinata. My mate."

"No," Shoyo whimpered, trying to pull away from Kenma's hold. "You don't mean that-"

Kenma released him, his hands reaching out to gently cup Shoyo's face instead. The younger's hands immediately held his as a form of reflex, wanting to get away from Kenma. But Kenma kept a firm grasp. Firm, but gentle. "I do mean it," Kenma promised. "And I'll say it again. Always. Forever. Until you get tired of hearing it from me. But even then, I'll probably never stop."

Shoyo was a sobbing mess now, hands releasing his grip from Kenma's. Kenma breathed out a sigh, pulling Shoyo's face to his and placing a kiss on his forehead. "I mean it."

Kenma waited for Shoyo to calm down, before scooping the younger into his lap as he leaned by the headboard of the bed. His hand was placed over Shoyo's trembling hands, and his other was placed behind Shoyo's neck, leaning him down against his chest.

A few minutes passed, and Kenma was sure that Shoyo had already fallen asleep, when he nearly jumped out of his skin when his omega spoke up again, his voice laced with broken cries and hiccups. "D-does it mean you can't smell either?"

"Huh?"

Shoyo meekly turned his head, ear placed by Kenma's heart, not looking at Kenma. "You said you were scentless. Does that mean we're scentless to you too?"

Kenma closed his eyes shut, already knowing what was about to happen. Of course Shoyo wouldn't want an alpha who was scentless, much less an alpha who couldn't smell him. It made sense. "Yeah. . ."

Shoyo hummed. "Orange zest."

Kenma blinked. He was sure he heard wrong. "What?"

"That what Kageyama says I smell like," the younger omega continued. "My mom says I smell like lemon and honey mixed, though," he scrunched his nose.

Kenma was at a loss for words. "What?" he repeated.

"You said you can't smell other people," Shoyo breathed out, as if he was exasperated he had to explain this. "So I'm telling you how I smell like."

But Kenma still didn't get the memo, apparently. "You're not mad?"

"What?" It was Shoyo's turn to ask, and he snorted. "Why would I be mad?"

"Uh, because I can't smell you?"

"Why would I be mad?" he asked again, as if failing to see Kenma's point.

"Shoyo I am literally scentless," he deadpanned. "And I can't smell you. Why would you ever want to be with an alpha like me?"

Shoyo made a pleased sound, and Kenma looked down at his omega to see him smiling contently. "Say it again."

"Wha-?"

"My name, alpha," he purred, curling up to Kenma's chest even more. "Say it again."

Kenma would go into cardiac arrest one of these days if his omega kept up this cute persona every time. "Shoyo," he indulged, nonetheless, because this was his omega, and he would spoil the absolute shit out of this sunshine anyday. The least he could do, really. "Shoyo Hinata. My sunshine."

Shoyo purred, pleased, which ofcourse made Kenma's alpha rumble in pride and happiness at the sight of his omega happy and content.

"You're getting sidetracked, sunshine," Kenma chuckled at how his omega preened at the endearment. "I'm still awfully baffled on why you'd ever willingly want to be with an alpha like me?"

"Hm? I thought it was obvious already, though."

"Mm," Kenma hummed, breathing against Shoyo's hair, imagining the scent of orange zest as he inhaled. "Color me clueless."

His omega only giggled, looking up to meet his gaze, their faces dangerously close, breaths getting intertwined. "I want to be with you," he murmured, eyes sparkling with so much love, "because you're the only one made for me, alpha."

Kenma shuddered.

"That means I want to be with all of you," the younger smiled. "Scentless or not, you're still perfect in my eyes. Because you're Kenma Kozume, my alpha, my mate, my fated pair. Besides," he tilted his head, "I can smell you just fine. So you're not scentless. At least not to me. And honestly? Who gives a fuck what other people think? If anything," he licked his lips, "I'm quite glad I get to keep your scent all to myself."

Yup, Kenma was going to cardiac arrest.

"I understand that we have so much to work on," he continued, like he didn't just send Kenma into a horny mess. "And we'll take it one step at a time. But for now," he giggled, "maybe you'd like to kiss me?"

Kenma raised an eyebrow, amused. "Are you trying to distract me so I finally fall in love with you?" Shoyo giggled, again, and it was a sound Kenma wanted to hear for the rest of his life. Kenma tilted Shoyo's chin with his hand, leaning in. "You don't have to. I've already fallen."

Their lips meet, and it was as if everything finally clicked in place, like pieces of a puzzle finally being completed. Nothing else mattered - it was as if they were in their own little bubble; Kenma's comfort zone enlarging to scoot in another person, as if Shoyo was an extension of Kenma himself. His hand cupped Shoyo's cheek, thumb rubbing circles on the omega's cheekbone as he deepened the kiss. 

When they pulled apart, Kenma continued. "As for love, we'll explore it, together. We'll build it from scratch if we have to. That is, if you're okay with that," he murmured, hands still holding Shoyo's face as if he was afraid he'd crumble apart.

Shoyo boldly leaned in, placing a chaste kiss on Kenma's lips that took the latter by surprise. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

And so they spent the rest of the day cuddled against each other, limbs entwining as they shared stories to each other. They only ever left the bed to shower and get dressed - Shoyo wearing Kenma's extra clothes with pride, loving the way it smelled if his happy purrs were anything to go by. As for Kenma, he found himself gravitating towards his omega as the day went on, and he found that he disliked being away from his omega even if it was only for a while (he went to grab a towel literally 10 steps away from the bathroom and he already felt uncomfortable at the lack of warmth surrounding him) - which scared him but one look at his omega prancing around in his clothes had all the worries in his mind going away, replaced with the unfamiliar feeling of love and contentment.

And if Kageyama found them a few hours later fast asleep under the covers, Shoyo's face buried in Kenma's chest, and Kenma's arms wrapped securely around Shoyo as if to shield him from the world, no one makes a move to wake them up for dinner. If anything, they pull the blankets up to cover them even more, and Tadashi even snaps a few pictures to send to everyone he knows, cooing at the sight.

The next morning, Shoyo wakes up first, and the sight of his alpha peacefully sleeping beside him warms his heart. The clock reads out 7:42AM, but Shoyo knows they have all the time in the world, so he cuddles himself closer, closing his eyes and smiling as he inhales the scent of lavender and sunflowers - 

- a scent he can now call his home.