Chapter Text
The truth was, Reki barely remembered that Langa was an alpha most days. With some people, you could just tell that they were an alpha (Joe, for example). On the other hand, there were some people that Reki was sure, even certain, of their secondary gender, but still turned out to be very wrong (Shadow, for one. Reki never would have guessed in a million years that the loud, flashy, and cocky skater was a beta. And Cherry too. If Cherry wasn’t the very definition of smashing gender stereotypes, then Reki didn’t know what was. He had never met such a formidable omega before.)
But Langa? Reki had no idea what to think of the new transfer student when they first met. At the time, Langa could have been anything, really. He could have been an alpha due to his height and build. Even with the extra height his untamable hair granted him, the other boy stood a few inches taller. Reki could even believe that he was an omega. Not just because of his rare beauty, one that a lot of male omegas seem to possess (Was it weird to call another man beautiful? Yet, he couldn’t deny that there was something captivating about Langa’s aqua blue eyes), but because of his cool, quiet demeanor. However, if Reki had to put a label on Langa, he would’ve put his money on him being a beta. For some reason, both the alpha and omega traits cancelled themselves out in his head, leaving the impression that Langa was “just Langa.” He couldn’t explain why—it just made sense.
In the first few weeks after Langa arrived, there were all sorts of rumors flying around the school. His cool, foreign beauty was alluring, which made him attractive to all three genders alike. But Reki couldn’t care less. He had a new buddy to skate with. Secondary genders didn’t matter in the skating world. True, the majority of skaters at S were alphas, with there being a smattering of betas and omegas. Reki would have been a fool to ignore that, but again, gender didn’t matter. All that mattered was how well you skated. And man, Langa was an incredible skater.
The only reason why Reki found out that Langa was an alpha was because a few weeks into their budding friendship, Langa told him as much. They were in Reki’s workshop, a dingy little shed that his parents had given him after they got tired of Reki leaving his skateboard parts and tools around the house. Actually, they didn’t give it to him so much as kicked him out, but Reki had welcomed this banishment as a reprieve from his three younger sisters and the space and time to dedicate himself to his passion.
They were sitting side by side on Reki’s makeshift skateboard stools, a seating arrangement that was quickly becoming their routine, when Langa mentioned, offhandedly, that he wouldn’t be at school for a few days due to his rut. At the time, Reki was preoccupied with replacing the bearings on Langa’s skateboard. He had noticed that they were making strange noises during the most recent “S” meetup. Reki, preoccupied with his thoughts, just “hmm”ed in response, and that was that. It didn’t even occur to him that Langa basically outed himself as an alpha until well after they parted for the evening.
Still, it came as a small shock. The entire time Reki had known him, not once had Langa ever done anything remotely “alpha-y”. He barely acknowledged any of the other omegas in their grade, never once batting an eye at the way they flung their pheromones all over the place. Sometimes a girl, almost always an omega, would cling onto Langa’s arm, coyly asking him for help with their English assignment. Reki assumed that they were using their pheromones on him, judging by the way the other alphas in their class would flinch, but Langa was indifferent. All he would do was shrug off the girl’s arm and direct her to the relevant page in their textbook. Not to mention, he never got into tussles with other alphas and their raging teenage hormones.
But at the same time, the more he thought about it, the more time he spent with Langa, Reki found it hard to imagine him as anything but. True, Langa wasn’t your stereotypical alpha. He was calm and laid-back, even a little air-headed at times. His mind was always either on skating or food. Yet, the more he observed the other boy, Reki started seeing Langa’s alpha traits. He was tall and strong (and he seemed to be getting taller, much to Reki’s chagrin). He wasn’t particularly aggressive, but he was certainly stubborn, never one to back down from a beef or a challenge. And he had his protective side, too. Whenever people at “S,” usually the drunk ones, got a little too rowdy and started pushing each other around, Langa would subtly step in between them and Reki, acting as a shield.
It would have been sweet, except that Reki wasn’t an omega.
They were on the rooftop, eating lunch together as usual. Reki was shoving fried chicken into his mouth, idly wondering how Langa could down an entire carton of milk with every meal, when Langa suddenly said, “I won’t be in school next week.”
“Why not?” Reki asked, his mouth full of chicken.
“My rut’s coming up.”
“Ohhh, right. Damn, I forget you’re an alpha sometimes.”
“Is it that surprising?” Langa asked.
“Well, yeah, because…” Reki trailed off.
Reki didn’t want to admit how often he thought about Langa over the past few days. How alpha-like he was, how alpha-like he wasn’t, how none of that should matter because skating was fun with him, and how he’d like to skate with Langa for a really, really long time. He fidgeted with the lid of his bento box when the thought occurred to him. If Langa was an alpha, did that mean there was an omega out there for him? And if they ever met, would that mean Langa would… stop skating with Reki?
“Reki?” Langa’s voice sounded distant in Reki’s ears.
Reki snapped out of his thoughts. “Oh, sorry. You know what, I totally blanked out on what I was going to say.” In an effort to change the subject, he added, “We’re still good for meeting at Sia la luce next Friday, right?”
“Yeah, I should be good to go by then,” Langa replied. Thank god, Reki thought. He’d have to get used to the fact that Langa was an alpha soon.
Reki kicked back his bento box and stretched. “Man, it must be tough being an alpha. Or an omega, for that matter. I can’t imagine losing a week like that every few months or so. Like, no skating?! How do you live?!
Langa turned to Reki, his eyes widening with surprise. “You’re a beta?”
Reki blinked. “Uh, yeah? Obviously. What did you think I was?”
“I dunno. I just assumed you were…” Langa suddenly blushed. “… An omega,” he finished.
Reki choked on his soda. He coughed for a minute as Langa sat next to him, awkwardly patting his back. Eventually, Reki managed to speak. “Wait, what!? Dude, what made you think that?”
Langa averted his eyes. “Your scent.”
Reki shook his head. “Nah, that can’t be right. Alphas have scents. Omegas have scents. Betas don’t have scents. That’s kind of why we’re betas. I’m pretty sure we learned this in health class. Or were you too busy watching skate vids on your phone again?”
Langa shook his own head in response. “No, they do,” he asserted. “Most betas think they don’t have scents because they can’t always smell them. They’re just not as strong as alphas or omegas, though.”
“Oh…” What was Reki supposed to say to that? He wasn’t a beta. He couldn’t gaslight Langa, a real alpha, into believing that beta pheromones weren’t real.
Both boys sat in silence for a few moments, Langa fiddling with his carton of milk, Reki tugging at the strands of his hoodie. It never occurred to him that Langa didn’t know that he was a beta. He thought it was pretty obvious. There was nothing remarkable about Reki. He wasn’t as talented or charismatic as most alphas. He didn’t have the allure or slight build that most omegas had. He was just… Reki. Painfully average at school, skating, at everything really. So... what the hell was Langa talking about?
Reki leaned back, his head gently crashing into the chain-link fence. He gazed at the sky. It was a gorgeous blue today, not a cloud in the sky. Reki couldn’t help but notice that it was the same shade as Langa’s hair. Langa… He had to say something, anything… but what?
“Do I really have a scent?” Reki blurted out. No! Not that! He berated himself. Why would you ask that?!
“You do,” Langa nodded, not meeting Reki’s eyes. “Trust me.”
Well, now Reki had to know. He turned to Langa. “What do I smell like?”
Langa tilted his head. It seemed to take him a while to find the right words. After a moment, he said, “It’s hard to describe. It’s more like a feeling, like being outdoors? Like feeling the sun and fresh air when you’re walking through the woods, with a hint of… citrus? It’s a bright scent. Strong.”
“The hell? You make me sound like I’m a candle or something.”
They both laughed as the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. The conversation turned into a different topic as they cleaned up their lunch (“Wait, what do we have for next period?” “Japanese history, I think.” “Damn, did we have homework for that? If we did, then I’m pretty sure I forgot to do it.” “Same.”) and for a while, Reki forgot about what Langa had said.
However, during class, when the drone of his history teacher’s voice sent his mind wandering, Reki couldn’t help but wonder. He idly doodled in his notebook as he thought. Did he really have a scent? What were the chances that Langa was just messing with him? He wasn’t the type to make jokes like that, especially not ones about secondary genders. Also, how did Langa not know that he was a beta? Wasn’t it obvious, given how unremarkable he was? He was average in looks, height, personality, and grades. Even his skateboarding skills weren’t anywhere near as good as— Snap. Reki blinked. The tip of his pencil had broken off. Had he been gripping his pencil that hard? Reki blinked again as he stared down at his notebook. What started as a potential design for a new skateboard turned into little chibi drawings of Langa and Reki, little waftaroms coming off of Reki’s figure. Reki glanced out of the corner of his eye to see if Langa had noticed this little incident. Thankfully, Langa seemed to be taking a nap, his textbook in hopes of warding off their Japanese history teacher’s penetrating stare.
Reki stared down at the doodles of him and Langa. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to bring up the topic with Langa again. That would be weird, wouldn’t it? Langa didn’t even know Reki was a beta up until now! Besides, Langa wouldn’t be in school for some time. He probably wouldn’t see Langa until next Friday, when they were going to meet with Miya and the others at Sia la luce… If only he had another alpha to ask…
And that was when Reki realized there was another alpha he could ask—someone who was familiar, and most likely experienced, with genders of all types. The very owner of the establishment he was going to next week.
Joe.