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"This is simultaneously simple and complicated," Inupi couldn't tell how often Papa sighed for the last hours. "I don't know how to explain it to you, so I brought you to meet him yourself."
Inupi was not someone who could be so easily fascinated by something. In fact, sometimes, he thought he was bland for being unfazed by anything. Nothing had ever enticed an extreme reaction from him. He adapted to weird, or unexpected situations pretty well.
A close friend who suddenly kissed you when you were asleep? Nice, Inupi didn't mind giving him a kissing lesson (Koko always smelled nice to him, even before he got presented as Omega, while Inupi's second gender was still unknown, he didn't mind it).
People suddenly got interested in him and asked him to join their group of delinquents? Well, his Omega father might disapprove, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him (Some said, Taiju might be a jerk Alpha, but he was a generally cool person to be around, not to mention that he was okay with Koko's presence).
Today though, waking up with freaking horns on his head, enough to turn uncaring Inupi into 'what-the-hell-is-happening-to-me!?' and various stages of emotions Inupi didn't even know he had.
"Seishu?" A low baritone voice growled from the forest.
Inupi couldn't easily be scared either, but he did take a step back unconsciously when he saw what had emerged before him.
A magnificent beast, as big as their house, might be even bigger, walked forward gracefully—or as gracefully as he could—and presented himself.
The creature reminded him of the Kaiju version of Kafka Hibino, a character from one of Inupi's favorite manga. If Kafka's Kaiju had bigger horns, bigger body size, crawled on four legs, and possessed a long, pointed tail, he would look just like this creature.
"Oh, didn't I tell you, he got this cutesy nickname, Inupi. Sometimes I even forgot his name is Seishu," his Omega father chuckled.
"Inupi," the creature repeated, as if he was tasting the name. "Inupi. That's a good nickname."
"Sure it is," Papa opened his arm, smiling like Inupi had never seen before. "Inupi, this is your Alpha father."
Inupi gulped down.
It's all true.
His father had briefly explained over breakfast, that he was a son of an Alpha Dragon and Human Omega, which sounded a lot crazier when it got spoken out loud. Inupi lowkey didn't believe the story, but he went with it anyway. He just didn't know what awaited him.
He freaking blew fire when he accidentally sneezed in the—thank God if he ever existed, outdoor sports class. Successfully burning down an old ginkgo tree, shocked the entire school.
Papa had arranged for Inupi and his Alpha father to meet as soon as possible to resolve questions and problems that might arise.
Now, here they were.
In the highest mountain, in the secluded and abandoned shrine, surrounded by forest and nothing more.
Inupi knew he had his mouth hanging open, and he had to say something, but he genuinely didn't know what to say.
What did you say, when you found out you were apparently the son of a human and a dragon?
"Hello, Inupi." His Alpha father greeted, his head slightly bowed down. And to his Papa, he added with equally, if not softer voice, "Takashi."
Inupi watched Papa walking to the massive creature to pat his claw.
"I miss you, Ken."
It might be an attempted whisper, but since there was nobody but the three of them, Inupi could hear every word spoken.
"See, how big your son had grown up? He inherited something from you."
Papa pointed at him, and gestured with his hands.
Inupi had never felt more urge to cover up his horns.
"Growing horns already? My, he is truly my son," the dragon purred. His yellow snake-like eyes met Inupi's eyes, and Inupi didn't know if this made sense or not, but he swore he saw a slight pride reflected in those eyes. Their eye contact didn't last long because the creature redirected his gaze to Papa again. "You've done a stellar job at raising him, Taka. I wish I could be there."
Inupi couldn't agree more.
Papa had been a wonderful single parent. Juggling between his job at a fashion designing firm and taking care of him, it wasn't easy. Of course, Inupi was never a difficult child. But still, sometimes it tugged his heart to watch his father come home late but still managed to do house chores. Takashi Mitsuya was a model Omega father in Inupi's opinion, and he couldn't be more proud of that.
The thing was ... he just didn't understand why someone as amazing as Papa, could just stay single. They never talked about his Alpha father, only a short conversation that led Papa to say, "he had to go when you were really small, honey." that almost had him believing his Alpha father was dead somehow.
Inupi didn't like the sad expression that Papa sported or the way Papa always went quiet when Inupi's curiosity got the best of him.
So, he never asked more.
"Inupi," Papa called, giving him an encouraging smile, the kind of smile he gave when Inupi was purposefully denied his schoolwork, and Papa didn't want to scold him so he smiled instead, hoping for the best result. "do you want to say something to your father?"
Inupi did have something to say.
Something he had been keeping for himself.
Something that had been bothering him for years.
Something that could justify why Papa had to raise him alone.
"Why are you leaving?"
The moment the question passed his mouth, Inupi knew it wasn't what both of his parents had expected him to say.
"What?" Papa shrieked.
And once he spoke, Inupi just couldn't stop. "If you are truly my Alpha father, why did you leave Papa? Why don't you, I don't know, find a way to stay? What did you do when you find out about me? Bailing out? Runaway? Or—"
"Seishu—" His Omega father only used his birthname when he was in trouble.
"No, Papa," Inupi stepped forward. The sight of the magnificent creature didn't deter him. "I want to know. Why?"
The dragon stared incredulously at him before he let out what Inupi assumed, was a burst of thunderous laughter.
And by thunderous, he meant, a really loud, tree-shaking, scaring-the-birds kind of laugh.
"He was just like you, Taka. Full of determination and bravery."
Inupi didn't know that a dragon could be so expressive. It was sure an amused grin he saw on his Alpha father's face.
Papa grabbed his shoulders softly, leading him to sit on the shrine's stairs. "Come sit, honey."
Inupi let himself be hauled.
His Alpha father folded his claws. It was kinda like watching a massive loaf of cat try to sit.
"His name is Draken, your Alpha father," Papa smiled. "We met when I went hiking this mountain years ago. I didn't know he was a dragon. He didn't look like one, back then."
Papa and the dragon shared identical meaningful glances, and the memory of Koko complaining about how his parents always looked so lovey-dovey with each other, flashed in Inupi's mind.
Is it what you called 'lovey-dovey'?
"How do you end up like—" Inupi stopped as if he was looking for a suitable word.
Draken suggested. "Like an actual monster?"
Inupi nodded.
"Well, there's a cycle in my life where I can appear human-like once in a while. Takashi met me during that time. But, I couldn't stay in that form for long. This is my true form."
Papa reached for Inupi's hand. "The moment I met your father, Inupi, we both know we are true mates. He is the best mate I could ever ask for. He was with me when I got pregnant. Unfortunately, his numbered human days ended right before you were born. He had to go back to hide. But, even after he couldn't transform into a human, I always managed to visit him."
"Taka always brought you with him," Draken's head bobbed down. "From when you were a baby. I have to be careful to not scare you, but I guess, you aren't scared easily."
Inupi scrunched his forehead, trying to recall the memories of those times. He couldn't remember anything, but he did remember a vague recollection of forest and sunlight, warmness all around.
"I stopped bringing you, once you were big enough, Inupi," Papa let out that sigh, the sad sigh that Inupi really hated. "I couldn't risk you getting spooked and probably ending up hating your father. And I can't risk your father getting discovered."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Papa and the dragon shared those meaningful glances again.
"Would you believe me if I told you, your father is a dragon, Inupi?"
Inupi shrugged, he probably would think his father was just hella tired and was so done with everything, he started making up a story.
Oh, yes. Inupi saw it now.
"Probably not."
He examined his Alpha father. And his Alpha father seemed to know he was being observed, so he surreptitiously stayed still.
Inupi had heard stories about dragons. He had read books about them. But never once in his life, he would have thought to meet one.
And to think that he was a son of one too ...
"May I ask you a question?"
The dragon's head bobbed up. "Of course."
"How does it work, between a dragon and a human?" Both of his parents stared at him blankly. Inupi rolled his eyes. "Like, I get it between Alpha and Omega, yadda-yadda. But how about you two? How did you create me?"
His Omega father spluttered. "What—"
And Inupi didn't know that dragon could blush.
"Anything but that question, Son—"
"Is it because I haven't been presented yet?" Inupi pouted, putting on his best puppy eyes. "I'm gonna be real sad if you don't answer my question."
Papa shrieked. "Seishu, I can't believe—"
The dragon interjected, "To be fair, it was pretty normal. Most of the time. I mean, I was in human form, so—"
"Ken!"
"What—"
Papa shook his head warningly.
"But he asked!"
Inupi watched his parents squabbling, and he couldn't help to snicker.
Is this what people called, a lovers' quarrel?
Papa always seemed to be a calm and collected person, he enjoyed jokes and playful remarks. But Inupi was not a crack-up, and it was very rare to see Papa being so expressive at home.
Inupi himself didn't know that the interaction between his parents could be this delightful to watch.
"Okay, guys, stop," Inupi clapped his hands, as he laughed. "I'm just joking. I don't really wanna know."
Papa and the dragon turned their attention to him.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Dad."
Inupi was pretty sure he had gotten the hang of reading non-human expressions because he just saw his Alpha father look like he was about to cry.
"It's really nice to finally meet you in person too, Son." Draken rose, stretching his claws. "Do you want to take a spin to see around? I can carry you on my back. You're not scared of heights, aren't you?"
Inupi sprung out in excitement. "You can fly?"
"Yes." His Alpha father revealed his massive wings, it was almost like watching a picture come to life. The way he was so breathtaking under the sunlight, the way his scaly skin reflected the light and made him glow, the way he was both majestic and glorious.
No wonder his Omega father fell in love with him.
He glanced at Papa and he was right, Papa was looking at Dad like he just saw him for the first time.
"Do you wanna try riding on me too, Taka?"
There had to be some inside jokes Inupi didn't understand because his Omega father blushed.
"You can carry two people? We are not too heavy or—"
Draken chuckled. "Your weights combined mean nothing to me. Of course, I can. Hop on. It's a very rare family trip, I would be glad to see you around."
It was a wild ride, but a joyous one.
Inupi would never dream of riding a dragon, across an endless forest and up to the clouds. He would never dream to have hugged scaly skins, which were as hard as he expected.
Inupi could tell how happy this meeting made Papa and Dad. Papa kept talking with his mate about things he had missed when he didn't do his visit. And in return, Dad did a lot of catching up with Papa's life.
Inupi was fine being the third wheel, giving an answer when Dad asked something.
But, mostly he just enjoyed the view and breeze.
Inupi hadn't heard Papa being this excited before.
Then again, he had never thought he would have Papa and Dad at the same time either.
"Will I be able to fly too, Dad?" Inupi asked as he got off his father's back.
"I honestly have no idea," Draken admitted. "I don't know which trait of mine you will get. You have horns and breathe fire, so it would make sense you will grow wings. But even dragons couldn't fly until a certain age. You seemed pretty advanced from a dragon's perspective."
"He hadn't presented yet, Ken," Papa added.
The dragon smiled delightfully. "Does it mean, you are more like me, than your Papa? You are truly my son."
Papa rolled his eyes.
Inupi strangely felt the same excitement over that. He never said anything about being unpresented but it actually bothered him a bit, that Koko had already known his second-gender while he was still floating around in an unlabeled box.
He just turned 15, but most of his classmates already got presented at the same age if not earlier.
Being half-dragon surely made him extra special. And if getting presented late was the price, he didn't mind it.
You are truly my son, the sentence rang in his head.
"I think, I'm okay with that," Inupi grinned.