Work Text:
It all felt so terribly restricting… this... godawful world he was born into.
Rules and guidelines… determined by factors far out of his control…. What would determine if he was a good human… a good partner or member of society… determined by genetic markers that scientists still struggled to fully understand and comprehend…
There was some air of predictability, of course, but even predictability didn’t determine 100% which way a person would present their secondary traits… it was all just a guess. A toss up. A hope.
Michael Kaiser had hoped for most of his young life that he would be a Beta. That nothing would change about his life when he hit that god awful time in his youth that was starting to become known as a “second puberty”. When Omegas had their first heat, and Alphas their first rut… and Michael just hoped, nay prayed to a god he never really believed in (but he guessed that any attempts at preventing the inevitable wouldn’t hurt), that he would never, ever become an Alpha.
He hated them. With every fiber of his young being, and every ounce of his mental energy.
He hated Alphas.
Mostly, he hated them because he hated his father.
Which really… should’ve been expected from the get go. When other boys his age were talking about growing up to be a strong, dependable Alpha like their fathers, all Michael could think was “I want to be nothing like him.” He never had. Never would.
Michael attributed his father’s status as an Alpha… an incredibly weak one at that… to the years of abuse and torment he received at his hands. When Michael’s mother left… breaking the mating bond they had made with each other before Michael was born… his father went insane. Heartbroken. Depressed. Angry. All side-effects of a normal breakup of course, but their status as a mated pair only intensified the emotional sensitivity of his “father”.
The blinding rage that caused his father to go insane, coupled with alcohol and hatred for the Omega that abandoned him….
Michael never wanted to repeat that in his own life.
He didn’t want to be the one to ruin his own child’s psyche the way his own was ground into dust and left in the cracks of their home.
He didn’t want to let his genetics overrule his mind… telling him that he needed to do something… be something… do things that he never wanted.
Michael did not want to be an alpha.
But he was, and now he had to live with the consequences of his genetics.
The genetics that told him he would be sad and unfulfilled if he didn’t find an omega… a mate… someone he didn’t even have to love, but would probably fall in love with as time passed because they were the only one he was allowed to be around in close quarters.
Michael did not want an omega.
He did not want a mate.
He did not want anyone in his life that would twist his mind into having thoughts that weren’t his own… Who would influence him with their sweet scents and delicate nature and… who was he kidding? His own concept of what omegas were and were not were also dictated by genetics and it felt completely unfair and judgemental to determine that he did not want anyone out of an entire group of people… people who made up at least one third of the world’s population… simply because of traits assigned to them by the scientists of the world.
It really wasn’t that he didn’t want an omega because of these traits… those traits sounded nice… in theory.
He didn’t want an omega because he didn’t want one that would break his heart.
He didn’t want an omega that was as cruel and calculating as his mother… who knew his father could get her where she needed to go in her career… who knew that she would be less affected by the breaking of their mating bond and she could carry on with her life and move on from the alpha that made her who she was.
She was allowed to forget.
But Michael?
He never would.
For the longest time, he was able to ignore it. The biological urge to find an omega and mark them. Luckily, in his chosen profession, there were not many, if any omegas to distract him. There were more omegas in the stands on gameday, which was a nuisance but not unbearable. The worst part was when those pretty little reporters, the ones who always wanted an interview with him as they flipped their hair around, trying to get him to notice them as the scent on their skin wafted into his face.
He kept the interviews short and tried not to snarl, trying so hard to not get distracted by the sickly sweetness that wafted off their bodies, meant to entrap Alphas like him.
Highly desirable. A “prize”. Like he was just some object… a slab of meat… It all contributed to the idea that he was barely human to start. That no one would want him if he was just a normal man…
He hated it all.
What he hated most of all though was Isagi Yoichi.
He hated Yoichi because he was different.
An Omega? Making it in the pro-leagues where normal Omegas made it for maybe a season, sometimes two, before they were snatched up and mated by one of the Alphas on their team, either by their own choice or by some cruel twist of fate. Pregnant by the end of the next season, and spirits broken by the fourth, and they knew that they would never get to live out their dreams as the Alphas would, even if they were just as talented, and sometimes more-so, than their counterparts.
Yoichi beat those statistics. He was on his fourth season with his team, and no rumors of dating nor mating had surfaced regarding him. It was common knowledge that he was an Omega, and yet, no one seemed to approach him.
He was intriguing. Strong. Interesting. He kept Michael’s attention when their teams played each other.
And Michael hated him for that.
The last thing he wanted was to be involved with an Omega.
But really, it was only a matter of time, wasn’t it?
That an omega would spark his interest.
That he would find someone like him… someone who would consume his mind and make him feel weak and stupid and out of control of his own mind.
Someone just like Yoichi, who shook his hand as the striker from the opposite team, grip strong and self-assured. He stared up at Michael with fire in his eyes, defiance and confidence all mixed together into a concoction that had Michael distracted for the rest of the game.
His skin was warm. Soft. He felt the touch on his hands for the rest of the game, and had to wipe his palms on his shorts constantly to get rid of the feeling of Yoichi by the end of the second half.
He wore a patch on the side of his neck, muting the scent that came along with being an Omega, and all Michael wanted was to lean in, peel that damn thing off with his teeth and inhale, deeply, until his mind was fuzzy and his legs were weak. Michael could still smell him, even now, when their teams were exiting the field, covered in grass and sweat. Yoichi still permeated his nose, even though he had tried to mute it, and he couldn’t help himself.
He approached Yoichi again, unsure of what to say. He was sure he looked completely foolish, standing near the opposite team’s bench, hands hanging at his sides because what else was he meant to do with them?
What was he doing here?
What was the point?
All he wanted… no all he needed to remain sane was to live a normal life. To never mate nor marry, never have children, never live the life that was prescribed to him as “ideal” and what every Alpha in the world wanted or craved. He didn’t see himself as the nurturing, caring, loving Alpha that he was supposed to be, and so why, after all of this time, and all of his life lived, did he finally approach an Omega? The one thing he swore he would never do.
But he did.
And now he was completely, royally fucked.
Yoichi accepted his offer of dinner with a smile on his face, amused, surely, that the Alpha notorious for never showing interest in Omegas and avoiding them like they carried the plague was approaching him of all people.
He also showed up to dinner without a patch to cover his neck, letting that manipulative honeyed scent to trick him into falling in love.
His scent was hard to place. The best way he could describe it was …. Floral? Like a spring time park where flowers bloomed in abundance… Early in the morning, when the sun had barely risen, dew still coated the grass, and the scent of the morning had not yet been ruined by cars and food stands dotting the streets.
Michael always missed that time of day… He slept in too late, and by the time he awoke, the sun had cooked away the early morning smells, leaving behind nothing more than the smell of asphalt and dirt, baking in the early morning sun. So being near Yoichi, the scent of the morning leaking out of his skin even in the early evening, made it feel like he was just waking up from a long nap filled with bad dreams.
He felt calm, which was never the first word that entered his mind when he thought about spending time with an Omega.
He felt at ease, which he rarely felt with anybody.
He felt… so very different than he had ever felt before, that he didn’t even question Yoichi when he asked if this was a one time thing, or if Michael would want to see him again.
Of course he wanted to see him again.
He barely even wanted to see his own friends most days, but yes, he wanted to see Yoichi again.
Michael had heard of things like this before… the things that made it so hard for an Alpha to refuse an Omega’s advances. The sense of peace, calm washing over them as if the Omega had cast a spell over them.
He had been told when he first presented that he should never let his wants overshadow his biological cues… that his body would know when he had found an omega that was compatible with him enough to be a mate… and yet…
What if those two things overlapped?
What if he wanted Yoichi only because his body wanted him? Though how was that any different from attraction betas had for each other? How could he tell the difference between want, desire, and compatibility?
God, it was all too confusing and Michael hated it. Just as he hated the fact that Yoichi never left his mind on a bad day, and certainly never on a good.
Their relationship grew. A steady pace that didn’t make Michael retreat into himself and turn the whole situation to ash as he self-destructed.
He thought of Yoichi in the morning… wondering if he was already awake, or if he had taken this opportunity to sleep in for once in his life. Probably not, and Michael was sure the moment he rolled over and grabbed his phone, he would have no less than 5 texts from Yoichi, wishing him a good morning and asking what he was doing with his day.
If he had a chance for a phone call or video call or any time at all to devote to Yoichi and Yoichi alone.
Of course he did, because when he wasn’t sleeping, he was thinking of Yoichi, and when he was asleep, he was dreaming of him.
Yoichi teased him often, called him his Alpha , and never once did Michael deny that because yes. He was. And for once in his life, being an Alpha didn’t feel like such an incredible burden.
Maybe, it was because he actually got a chance to know Yoichi, and being around him wasn’t as terrible as he thought. Living in different areas and playing for different teams meant that beyond their first date, the first few months of their relationship were had in the virtual space and from a distance. The biology of their relationship brought them together, sure, but before he had a stupid decision that was also pressed on him by his body, he was able to learn Yoichi. His personality, playful and sharp, captivated him, and while Yoichi made him want to pull his hairs out by the roots on some days, he enjoyed it the others.
He actually got a chance to love him, before his body decided that he must love him.
And gosh did he love him…
It was so strange… a love he didn’t have to fight to resist because it felt so right.
Michael was beyond ecstatic to finally somehow receive this kind of love, but even so, the dread and the fear remained.
What if he ended up just like his father?
A drunken old slob that took his heartbreak out on those who had nothing to do with it.
He didn’t want to hate Yoichi for the rest of his life.
He wanted to get out before it was too late… before the hands of time could no longer be forced back to a time where he did not love Yoichi, and did not resent him.
So he began to push him away. Keeping him at an arms distance.
I can’t fall in love with someone like you.
Why? Yoichi asked, the weight of his sadness crushing Michael’s heart into a million different pieces. Yoichi sounded like he knew this was going to happen… that Michael would fight it until there was nothing left to fight for. And that broke his heart even more…
Did he want Yoichi to fight for him?
To tell him to stay?
In some ways he did, but in others he was glad that Yoichi just accepted this… that he let Michael give him up, understanding that it was Michael’s choice to let him go, and it would be Michael’s choice to take him back once again.
If such a time ever came.
But Yoichi was different.
Michael knew that from the start.
He was different, which was why he loved him.
A rare omega… able to resist the Alphas who tried so hard to get him into bed. Strong and self-assured, Michael should’ve known he would be no match for him if he ever showed up on his door one day.
That Yoichi would be able to convince him, with his eyes and his heart, to take him back and give him a second chance.
He deserved one, after all, because it wasn’t Yoichi’s fault that Michael came to him damaged and afraid, like a stray puppy who was distrustful of humans because of how many times its previous owner had kicked it.
Michael had been kicked, and beaten, and damaged beyond repair, and yet, that little bit of his heart that still wanted to live felt so light the evening Yoichi showed up on his doorstep.
“I was in the neighborhood,” he explained with a crooked smile, as if Michael believed that. He knew Yoichi’s team’s schedule like the back of his hand, and he knew that there was nothing that would have brought him this way except for Michael.
An Omega looking for his Alpha, unmarked and unclaimed, yet so lost without him.
Michael let him inside, noticing that Yoichi was wearing one of those patches again. Right over the side of his neck, where his scent was the strongest. Yoichi saw his stare and touched his neck lightly, checking to see if the seal was still secure.
“I wanted to make sure we could talk without the influence of… well, you know,” Yoichi explained, pressing on his patch one last time before dropping his hand. “I want to try again. I want to know why you are so afraid of me.”
But he wasn’t afraid of Yoichi. He wasn’t afraid of Omegas . He never had been.
What he was afraid of was himself… of the inevitable me that became we that became nothing.
Michael really wasn’t interested in talking…
All he was interested in was Yoichi.
Closing the door behind him, he followed Yoichi into the living room, as if it was his house instead of Michael’s. He chattered away in words that weren’t reaching his mind at that moment, but was sure there was talk of why he should take Yoichi back and give him another chance.
God… Michael missed him so much…
Interrupting Yoichi’s persuasions, he wrapped his arms around him tightly, pulling him so close that his toes barely touched the floor. If it was uncomfortable, Yoichi didn’t say a word, simply allowing Michael to have his way as he pressed his nose against the patch, those sweet smells of an early spring morning reaching his nose with a tickle that made him half sneeze.
He had heard once that scent blockers and patches didn’t work well when the pair was meant to be. And while the scent was muted, it still was so strong, making Michael light headed once again, floating on a cloud so high that he never ever wanted to come down again.
He was still afraid.
More afraid than he had ever been.
But that was only because he knew… he would never be able to quit Yoichi. Not easily, and not cleanly.
Yoichi’s essence was ingrained in his mind… filling in the missing half that he now believed more than ever was real.
Yoichi was his… his omega and his partner, perfectly crafted to compliment him and make him happy.
Now maybe… he understood a bit better.
He too would have gone insane had this love ever been ripped away from him.
But Yoichi wasn’t using him.
Yoichi had everything he needed, with or without Michael.
No… the only thing Yoichi didn’t have on his own was Michael himself, and as such, he came to claim his Alpha, much like an Alpha would claim an Omega.
Michael felt Yoichi’s teeth on his neck, scraping ever so lightly, but not fully biting down. Not like it would have mattered, had Yoichi chosen to bite him. It only worked when the Alpha bit the Omega, marking him and claiming him as his own.
Yoichi was so satisfied with himself though, pulling his head back with a grin that spread from ear to ear.
“There. Now you’re mine forever.”
That wasn’t how it worked… but Michael didn’t care.
All he did was nod, dipping his head back to Yoichi’s shoulder so he could inhale him again, wanting to peel the patch away, but knowing that for now, this was for the best.
But yes.
Yoichi’s forever.
That concept had a nice ring to it.
And one day, maybe Yoichi would be his forever too.