Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Hinata was ten when he discovered what being an Alpha meant. The other alphas on his street were runners, climbers, and liked to get their hands dirty. They made groups where 'No Omegas were allowed' and teased anyone that tried to enter regardless, and when he was finally included in their games he felt special.

His mother often told him to pay no mind to how the others played and spoke and to discover how to act himself but as a young alpha, following their lead and running around always seemed like the best idea.

He never joined in with any of the teasing though, always hating the mild bullying feel that it gave him even when the omegas insulted them back and went running off to create their own clubs with anyone that would want to, but the play-fighting and so on was the perfect way to pass the time through grade school until he finally came to middle school and met so many others.

Growing even older now, he changed how and who he played with, and settled with just having two very close friends that seemed to click with him with a few other friends to talk to in passing, as well.

Yukitaka was a beta too and becoming friends with him became something of a learning experience for Hinata as he learnt more about their genders and what they meant for everyday life, instead of just the regular textbook versions that they were shown during a single puberty class in school; something that he'd been too distracted over the condoms and information-leaflets to focus on anyway.

Something else that he also learned was that, though the teasing still happened during class with many of the alphas making comments to the few omegas and sneered insults about genders being passed around, betas either never seemed to be a part of it or seemed to the ones trying to stop it or gaining the teacher's attention.

Betas, Hinata learnt as he spent more time with his friends, were a lot milder than alphas and weren't as susceptive to any of the pheromones from either of the two other genders which allowed them to function above them and act far more mature than their age.

Koji called it Yuki's 'motherly' traits and was always curtly reminded that betas couldn't actually get pregnant.

As an alpha though, Hinata grew as well, and he learned a lot by listening to the other alphas in his class. Things like how omegas didn't like alphas that were shorter than them, or that alphas didn't like to date tall omegas in turn and so on.

These things would apparently help him in the future, when dating would be a real possibility, and he soaked it all up with the hope that he would one day grow taller than he was now, because otherwise he would have to just settle for a tinier omega instead.

Which was cute, but not cute enough to tempt him.

It was the day he discovered the 'little giant' and volleyball, however, that finally sparked something greater in him that overcame anything about gender and he lost the focus on trying to be more 'alpha-like' and instead became determined to fly as high as the ace that he'd seen on tv.

He tried to practice alone, working hard and ignoring the comments about him being on the 'omegas' team because he knew that there could be alpha volleyball teams too!

His friends helped, especially by tossing and staying with him as late as they were allowed some days, and he finally got his taste of a real court in the last year of his junior high.

That was when he first met Kageyama Tobio too, one of the rudest people that he'd ever met with an alpha's bark and the arrogance of someone that knew he was something special.

He'd never heard of his school before or even of him but the title 'King of the Court' rung everywhere as soon as he'd stepped inside and that was a hard thing to shake when he was already feeling as small and nervous as it was.

Playing against them was incredibly tough too but he was also a little distracted by the fact that there was an omega on their team; a boy their age but taller with bangs on either side of his face.

Koji commented that other schools were able to have mixed teams when there were enough players and that these teams often became packs, with a set omega (either the only one or the youngest one on the team) and a head alpha (usually the captain or the ace).

Kitagawa Daiichi was one of those schools and their players had been exactly what you'd expect for candidates for the nationals; a solid pack with that King of the Court probably the alpha in charge. Typical.

It was bitterly inevitable that they'd lost.

Vowing to beat the King one day and he will beat him, Hinata continued to train, studying desperately to get into Karasuno and to stand where the Little Giant himself had once practiced, and the last thing on his mind was what other alphas his age were thinking of, like it once had been almost all the time.

The only thing that he hadn't counted on, however, was seeing Kageyama Tobio again in Karasuno and practicing in the gym that Hinata had always dreamed of being in.

He just wasn't supposed to be here and their meeting hadn't ended well at all, what with them being kicked out and made to work together and so on.

And yet, the biggest shock of it all had actually been finding out that Kageyama wasn't even the alpha that Hinata had assumed him to be.

He'd voiced his shock, pointing at him with his eyes wide and shouting, "But you don't act like an Omega!"

And Kageyama had glared at him icily, holding a volleyball in both hands and looking ready to serve it into Hinata's face, "And what the hell does an omega have to act like, dumbass?"

That had stumped Hinata and he hadn't mentioned anything like that again while they practiced, making sure that he kept back any mentions of the 'king' nickname as much as he could as well to save himself from one of Kageyama's trademark glares.

They eventually learned to work together after winning the match against Tsukishima and Yamaguchi and despite their differences it was good to finally have someone as passionate as he was about volleyball to practice with.

Karasuno was a huge change for him gender-wise as well and he discovered how different things could be here. That same teasing was still present in classes but more and more betas stood up for the omegas and more omegas wouldn't stand for it either.

Even some of the alphas had matured as well, realising how ridiculous some of what they were saying was but there were also so many idiots around that still thought that it was funny.

Every sports team had a mixed team too, one for the male subgenders and another for the females. It was easier to feel accepted here, and there was less of the pressure to behave 'more like an alpha' than there had ever been before, with the younger alphas that he'd known in junior high, which he was glad to hear of because his height was still below an average alphas and he didn't want the old comments about how the omegas shouldn't be taller than him.

That wasn’t the only thing that he discovered either. He also noticed, while playing volleyball, that Kageyama was perhaps the most stubborn omega that he had ever met.

With the recent additions of Noya and Asahi, their team felt so much more solid and closer and Ennoshita had even started planning pack-outings for them. They were mostly bonding exercises like sleepovers or going out to eat together and they were so wonderfully cool because pack-outings meant making a pack, which meant that Hinata could be part of a pack! An actual pack!

The only downside was that despite them having already had three outings as a team, Kageyama had bailed out of all of them, giving some sort of excuse or just feigning illness. The third time Hinata had gotten suspicious and he'd then started to notice a lot of other stuff that led to him realise what stubborn and selfish omega Kageyama actually was.

For one, he never ever went home on his heat even when everyone else started to get restless from his scent and he just ignored the cramps that it gave him while practicing, glaring at anyone that told him to go to the nurse to get something to help.

He only ever accepting medicine from Kiyoko's purse and refused anything else.

As he was the only omega on the team, other than Kiyoko of course but she was their manager so it didn't really count, that made him the automatic set omega, but he didn't seem to want to accept that responsibility as well and if he were completely honest, Hinata couldn't really imagine seeing him as the carer for them all either.

Sugawara seemed to fill out that role far better than he did and he was a beta.

Kageyama also never ever let go of his pheromones like the rest of them did and he never discussed genderised topics with them all either. He really only seemed to be interested in all things volleyball, which was fine because Hinata was too, but he also really wanted this pack thing to work as well and it would make the team so much more stronger, but Kageyama seemed hell bent on dragging it all down for no good reason!

Daichi was a clear set alpha but even he let Kageyama stay behind as long as he wanted to when on his heat so long as it didn't affect their play, never really putting his foot down and only looking put-upon when practices went on for much longer than usual.

Kageyama also didn't help Ennoshita with the pack-outing plans, something the set omega was supposed to do anyway, which just made his refusal to do anything pack-like all the more worse.

So all in all, Kageyama was as stubborn as he was selfish but they needed him to make the pack work because he was already half in it as part of the team and some part of Hinata hoped that maybe he was just being shy and not coming along because of that.

Because if he just didn't want to, he didn't think he'd be able to hold back his temper.

"Isn't doing all this so cool?" He asked Kageyama on their way home together, after hearing about the fourth outing just before they'd left practice, "I've never been part of a pack before, have you?"

Kageyama just shrugged, his hands in his pockets and a woolen hat over his hair, "They aren't that special."

Hinata rolled his eyes, "I think they are."

"That's because you're a dumbass."

He glared at him, "If you call me dumbass again, I won't sit with you at the resturant."

"Well, as I'm not going, I doubt I'll notice," Kageyama muttered as he slowed to reach the end of the road, where they usually separated and went off on their own way, but Hinata had already stopped.

He'd stopped as soon as he'd heard Kageyama say that he wasn't going again, feeling like everything had been sucked out him.

They'd had such a good practice today too that he'd thought that maybe that would have changed Kageyama's mind about not going, because he hadn't pretended to be sick at all and he hadn't said anything to Ennoshita before they'd left either.

But no, he was still being selfish.

"What are you doing?" He looked up and blinked out of his thoughts to see Kageyama staring back at him, frowning, "Hurry it up, it's freezing."

He frowned back, "What do you mean you aren't going?"

Kageyama sighed, his breath a fog in the cold air, "It means what it means dumbass, I'm not going. I don't want to."

Alright, that was it! "What is your problem?"

Kageyama blinked at him, "Huh?"

"I said what is your PROBLEM?" Hinata stepped forward, shouting.

“What the hell are you angry about now?” Kageyama asked, looking bewildered and Hinata curled his hands into fists.

"I’m angry - ”He stopped, trying to calm down but Kageyama's confused face really didn't help, “I'm angry because everyone else is trying to become a closer team and trying to become a pack and you're the team omega but you aren’t helping us! It's your duty to help us so why won't you at least just turn up to at leas - !"

"My duty?" Kageyama's scariest glare suddenly fixed onto his face now and he stepped closer to Hinata as well, but this time, he refused to back down like he usually did when faced with his anger.

"Yeah your - your duty!" He lifted his chin and glared back, holding his fists up in case Kageyama actually did want to fight, "I know what a pack is supposed to be like and you're the set omega! You're supposed to let us take care of you and you're supposed to try to - !"

"Well, I don't need to be taken care of!" Kageyama shouted back at him, looking and sounding truly furious now and Hinata's jaw clacked shut in shock, "And I don't want to be taken care of either!"

He then turned and stormed off in the other direction without even a goodbye, jamming his hands into his pockets as he went and leaving Hinata to fume after him.

~

The next day he ended up sitting next to Suga at the restaurant but he just sullenly picked at his food, trying to ignore the anxious looks that he was given from the others because of his unusual attitude.

"Kageyama didn't come then?" Daichi asked the table, sounding sad, and Hinata gripped his chopsticks tighter from how that made him feel. Even Tsukishima came to these things! He complained sure, but he came. "Did he say why?"

"He didn't come because he's selfish." Hinata informed them all angrily before apologising for his tone and continuing to eat.

No one else mentioned Kageyama again from that point on and the conversation turned to a movie that Tanaka wanted to see that should be out soon. Hinata just shoved rice into his mouth with a scowl, trying to get interested in the topic but all he could really think about was Kageyama and his anger over him.

Did he not want to be their omega? There was nothing wrong with being theirs, what was his problem?

"Not hungry?" Suga asked him after a while, smiling down at him, "You're usually onto your second helping already."

"Sorry," He glanced down, feeling ashamed that he wasn't making the most of this pack-outing as he should be. This was all Kageyama's fault.

"That's alright, you don't need to apologise. Just tell me what's wrong," Suga nudged him when he sighed, "Is it because Kageyama isn't here?" He glanced up at him, eyes wide, "You said that he was selfish. Why?"

"Because he is."

"Why?" Suga repeated.

Hinata gripped his chopsticks again, frowning, "Because - because we're all trying so hard to make a pack but he won't let us. He should be helping and letting us take care of him but all he does is just say 'no' all the time and not even turn up to the outings."

Suga set his chopsticks down, looking at him fully now, "I see."

But Hinata wasn't done, "And he's selfish because packs are something special, really special, it's how you make teammates, but just because he doesn't think that, he has to go and spoil it for everyone else."

"Why do you think a pack is special?"

He paused, "Because I've never had one before," He mumbled, "But I've always wanted to."

Suga smiled, "So why do you think Kageyama might think they're not that special, like you do?"

"Because - "

'Because he's just like that' was on the tip of his tongue, but he stopped when he saw Suga's face and thought about it a little more and when he did, he realised that he knew the answer already.

"Because - because he's already been in one."

Suga nodded, looking a little as sad as Daichi had sounded before, "His old team had been a pack together, remember?"

Hinata nodded, a lump forming in his throat when he remembered shouting at Kageyama yesterday and the look that had been on Kageyama's face when he'd seen how close a pack AobaJohsai's team was now, with his old teammates joined into it as well.

"And you also remember what he told us happened with the team? That they abandoned him?" Suga rubbed at his forehead, "He feels responsible for that of course, for behaving the way he did, but a true pack should talk it's problems out and discuss them together. Not do what they did and cast a member out like that," Hinata bit his lip, glancing down at his plate, "Being cast out of a pack when it's still fully formed is a painful thing. Can you blame Kageyama for not wanting to join another so soon?"

Guilt prickled at his chest and he hunched his shoulders, "I guess not." Suga smiled down at him, "But we would never do that to him."

"Then maybe you should try to make him see that."

He immediately brightened. That sounded easy, "Yeah. Yeah, alright!" He then finished his meal quickly, moving onto seconds as well and joining in on the conversation when it slowly turned to planning another outing for next week.

At school the next monday, Hinata tried to do exactly as Suga had said, pretending that they had never argued at all before and practicing all hours with Kageyama, well into their lunch break and well after everyone else had already left. Daichi stayed behind with them occasionally but now that Coach Ukai was around they had someone else to lock up after them and he would then usually end up going home sometimes as well.

Eventually, as the days went by, Kageyama loosened up around him and they started to tease each other occasionally whilst their team's relationship grew with every other practice match and every other outing that they had.

Kageyama still didn't attend any of them, not even bothering to give excuses now, and it just became something accepted that wasn't even mentioned anymore.

That was, until Hinata came across Kageyama sitting on the floor outside of the gym one morning, just as he'd arrived. He was sitting with his knees drawn up and his head down, his shoulders by his ears and shaking and at first glance Hinata thought that he was crying and he panicked.

"Kageyama!" Running toward him, the panic in him almost made them collide but he managed to stop himself in time, "Kageyamaaa!"

"What, dumbass?" Looking up at him now, a little startled at first but now glaring, Kageyama's face was flushed and his eyes seemed a little darker than usual but he also seemed like his usual self at the same time, "You scared the hell out of me." He then mumbled, looking back down.

"Sorry," Hinata panted, sitting beside him, "I thought something was wrong."

Kageyama snorted softly into his arms, "So you thought screaming my name at me would help?"

Hinata grinned, pulling at a lock of his hair, glad knowing that if Kageyama could tease him then it meant that whatever was wrong wasn't too bad, "So what's wrong then?"

"Nothing," Kageyama snapped but there was no bite to it and he only paused for a bit before adding quietly, "My heat. It hurts more this week than usual."

"You have them a lot don't you." Hinata commented.

"Yeah I know, idiot, that's why it sucks," He sighed, leaning back now and groaning, "Most omegas have them every month, but mine are irregular. I get them every other week for about four days and they hurt."

This was the most that Kageyama had ever discussed about things like this before, "Don't all heats hurt?"

Kageyama gave him a look that clearly said 'you seriously don't know this?' which wasn't all that fair really because Kageyama wasn't exactly the brightest either, "Not all. We get cramps and stuff but most people don't have it as bad."

"And - and yours are? Bad?"

Kageyama nodded, gritting his teeth, "It's better with painkillers but the nurse's office isn't open yet. I was hoping to see Shimizu-san maybe, but even she's not here yet."

"Don't you have any at home?"

Kageyama gave him another long look, "If I did, don't you think I'd take them? I'm too young to get it on prescription for myself and doctor's never believe me when I say that they're this bad," He sounded like he was getting angrier by the second, was it really this bad? "Or they just tell me to get some birth-control to regulate it but I don't want to do that."

"Why not?" He was hit on the head for that, "What? It's not like you have an alpha or anything so no one will think anything about it, and it will help won't it?"

Kageyama's face was flushed again but this time, it was one of his embarrassed blushes rather than from the pain.

"I don't want them," He repeated, before glancing away and adding, softly, "My mum told me that they can cause problems with pregnancies and - and I wanna have children one day." He glared. "So I don't want to risk it, okay?" He somehow made it sound like an accusation, like Hinata would judge him for wanting to have kids.

But instead, once he got over the surprise, he thought that it was actually adorable; if you even could put Kageyama and 'adorable' in the same thought as each other.

"That's so cute!" He voiced what he was thinking which turned out to be a mistake.

Kageyama grabbed him by the hair with his face now completely red and they grappled for a bit until they eventually had to stop when he winced and clutched at his stomach. Right on time then, Kiyoko arrived with Daichi and she immediately reached into her bag for the painkillers that she always gave him when she saw the look on his face.

He bowed his head in thanks when he took them, running off to swallow them down with some water whilst Kiyoko just watched after him with concern.

"Is it really that weird that he has them so often?" Hinata asked her, his cheeks burning visibly hot when she turned to face him, but she was the only other omega that worked as closely to them all to know what he meant.

"Hm? Oh - no it's not weird," She murmured, smiling rarely at him, "I had a friend in middle school who was the same. It's just - Kageyama's seem to be very painful compared."

Hinata frowned, stepping onto the court afterward to start the early morning practice, but his worry stuck with him throughout it all, making Kageyama shout at him a bit for spacing out.

It wasn't until their after-school practice however, that everyone else seemed to notice what he had before, that even with the painkillers Kageyama's hands were shaking and he still looked a little too pale.

Daichi put a hand on his shoulder a few times, asking if he'd like to go home, but he just shook his head and ran toward the net to continue his tosses in the practice line-up. Even Yamaguchi said something, right after spiking his turn's toss, and Kageyama's glare became even darker with each passing comment of concern until he finally exploded out that he was 'fine!'.

He really wasn't though, his scent was all over the place and it was making Hinata feel itchy.

In the aftermath of his explosion, however, Asahi slowly pulled off his jacket and gently dropped it onto Kageyama from behind. With their bodily difference, the jacket practically swallowed his shoulders and he seemed to freeze up entirely as though that gesture had stolen his voice.

Coach Ukai had been frowning at them all during their practice, talking with Takeda privately, but after Kageyama's shout he stood and blew his whistle, "Okay that's enough for today! Stop playing! Captain!" Daichi jumped, turning to look at him, "Come here for a second, I need to have a word. The rest of you, pack it all up!"

They stared at each other as they stood around for a bit, feeling a little lost, until Suga clapped his hands and roused them all into cleaning up together.

Kageyama took Asahi's jacket off, folding it and handing it back to him with a bow and an apology. He then ran over to Takeda and asked to be excused, running out of the gym earlier to change and leave and probably go home.

Hinata watched him go, a volleyball in his hands and his palms nowhere near as stinging as they usually were by this time.

"Um. Asahi?" He approached him slowly, glancing down when Noya looked up as well from where he was untying the net, "Why ... why did you do that?"

Asahi bent over slightly as he usually did when talking to either Noya or Hinata, and he seemed to understand the question without really needing Hinata to clarify it.

"Kageyama's heat was getting too painful for him," He said, looking and sounding serious, "And he was getting upset. We could all smell it but that only made it worse because he didn't really like that."

Was that what that itchy feeling was, or was that something else? And Kageyama was upset? Really? Hinata frowned.

"I wouldn't like it." Noya added, straightening and pointing at himself.

Asahi smiled at him before bending to pick up a stray volleyball, looking a little embarrassed and yet still quite so serious as he continued, as though Noya hadn't said anything, "For an omega in heat, being covered in an alpha's scent can be comforting for them. I thought it might help."

"Ohh," Hinata's eyes grew wide, the new information flooding in, "So being near alphas is good for an omega in heat?"

Asahi laughed softly, "Not really, not all the time, but when they're distressed it can help. But only if it's a known scent."

"Yeah, random alphas only make it worse," Noya added, patting Hinata on the back, "So don't go hugging any crying omegas that you see on the street or something, Shouyou, you'll probably only get slapped."

"I won't!" He bat his hand away, pouting when his cheeks turned hot, before nodding at Asahi, "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Asahi smiled again, turning to head back to the gym’s cupboard but Daichi called them all over before he could and they gathered around him again while Coach Ukai stood by the door, arms folded and glaring.

"Alright. I know we don't have anything planned today for an outing, but I'm changing things over," Daichi informed them, his face hard, "I've let Kageyama take his own pace with being a pack because of the reasons he gave me at the start- "

Reasons? Hinata blinked, wondering if they were what Suga had said before, about not wanting to join another pack so soon after what had happened last time.

"But the Coach and I have been talking and it's starting to affect more than our play. Today could have created an incident if it weren't for Asahi's quick thinking."

"Huh? Ah no - I just - "

"Shut up Asahi," Suga interrupted his flustering, gesturing that Daichi continue. Noya pat Asahi on the back without even looking.

"So what? The King has to join in with the outings now?" Tsukishima said before he could, however, folding his arms, "Shouldn't you say this to him, what's it got to do with us?"

"A lot," Daichi said, pinning him with a smile that was not meant to be friendly at all, "Because we're having an outing right now, at Kageyama's house."

Hinata jerked upright, paying a lot more attention now. Kageyama's house? They'd be going to his house, having an outing at the omega's house? He felt excitement thrum through him and bounced a little as they discussed everything else.

Kiyoko had the address written down and once they all decided that walking would be easy enough as it wasn't that far from here, compared to Hinata's house, she left to go home for the day, just as Takeda and Ukai did as well.

Daichi then led them all down the street as a group but Hinata ran ahead, already knowing half the journey as he took it with Kageyama every day.

"Slow down Hinata!" Suga called after him, "It'll be dark soon and we don't want to look for you if you get lost again!"

"I won't!" Hinata called back, ignoring whatever comment that Tsukishima muttered afterward that meant the opposite.

He stopped at the end of the street, waiting for the others to catch up, and he couldn't help but bounce on the balls of his feet whilst he did. He'd never seen Kageyama's house before, or even seen Kageyama in anything besides his uniform, volleyball clothes or the occasional plain t-shirt just for the training camps, so this could be a whole new experience for him and he was undeniably excited about it.

"It should be this way," Daichi told him when they finally reached him together and Tanaka clocked Hinata on the head as he passed.

"We just had practice, you weird little ball of energy.”

Hinata just rubbed at his head where he'd been hit, smiling at him, before running ahead again anyway until they all eventually reached an average-looking house near the end of a street.

It had a plain white door and Suga pulled Hinata back by the hood of his jacket when he immediately went to knock on it first.

Daichi knocked instead, stepping back to join the rest of them whilst they waited for the door to open.

There was a rattle of keys and key-chains hitting each other and a lock turning, before the door was sliding open to the left. Two posted and unopened letters fell out of the letterbox to pool on the floor which was why the first thing that Hinata noticed was that Kageyama was barefoot.

He looked up then to see him stood there, in a baggy white-shirt and black shorts, looking utterly bewildered to see them all outside his house.

"Who is it, Tobio?" Someone called from inside and he looked over his shoulder before turning back to them and frowning.

"Hi Kageyama," Daichi offered and Noya waved at him awkwardly, from where he was standing, "Is it alright if we come in? We need to talk."

Kageyama chewed on his bottom lip, stepping back as though to let them in but before he could, a woman walked in from behind him, wiping her hands on a dishcloth.

"Tobio?"

He turned to her, glancing down, "My volleyball team needs to have a meeting," He explained and the woman, his mother, smiled at them all, "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, of course it is!" She assured him, stepping back as well and gesturing, "Come in. I hope you're all hungry, we just cooked some dinner for tonight and there's plenty to share."

"Ah thank you!" Tanaka and Noya both exclaimed together, just as their stomachs grumbled in unison and Daichi smiled, thanking her as well and bowing his head as they entered the house.

"Sorry for the intrusion," They all announced together, toeing their shoes off and leaving them in the porch while they followed Kageyama and his mother inside. The house felt both spacious and small at the same time but that was probably only because everything was all so compact and tidy.

There was a large dining table in the kitchen, laid out so that half of it protruded into the neighbouring living space and as the kitchen was large enough, there was still room to cook and to move around if they wanted to.

They each took a seat and Kageyama's mother unlocked a catch on the other end to open the table up further for them all to fit.

Hinata stared in awe as he took everything in. It was all so simple and clean, with only a few decorations and appliances scattered around. On a window-sill were a few framed photos that were propped up, and there was even one that looked like it could have been Kageyama as a baby that he really wanted to have a look at properly, but as soon as he was caught looking Kageyama placed it face-down and glared at him.

A volleyball sat in the corner of the living space too, by a Television set, and there was a black leather sofa in the middle of the room. It was nice and he could imagine Kageyama coming home to relax here, wearing something much like what he was wearing now and watching a volleyball match on the television whilst curled up on the sofa.

It was a nice image to think of and he felt warm for imagining it.

"We're sorry to come here so uninvited," Suga apologised, just as Kageyama's mother placed a sealed dish down on the middle of the table. Kageyama helped her, setting out plates and glasses and pairs of chopsticks for them all to use, and he glanced up when Suga spoke.

"Oh that's alright, I don't take any offence to it," She said, "Sports are very important to you all, I know that by now," Kageyama moved past her to place a jug of milk on the table and she placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's against our principles to not let it take over everything."

Kageyama scowled at her for that, ducking his head when Tanaka and Hinata laughed, and he placed the next drink (some juice) further away from them in revenge.

When all the food was set, Kageyama and his mother joined them at the table as well and they were thanked for the food and hospitality, using the chopsticks that Kageyama had given them to tuck in.

"Your food is so lovely, Kagayama-san," Asahi complimented politely, smiling, and the rest of them murmured their agreements quickly. It really was too.

"Oh thank you," She smiled back at him, "But I didn't make this." Kageyama wound his shoulders up at that, his face turning red as he glared down at his bowl, and Tanaka choked on his food when he realised what that meant.

Tsukishima glanced down at his food as well, as though seriously considering the possibility of there being poison in it.

"You can cook?" Hinata shouted and Suga winced at his loud voice, "How come's you never said anything?"

"Why would I?" Kageyama asked, giving him a look, "It's not like I ever needed to."

Hinata opened his mouth to say that it still would have been nice to have known, because if he could cook and cook well then they could have had so many other meals together and it was also what a set-omega should typically do for them as well.

As soon as that train of thought came into his mind, however, he remembered their argument and what Suga had said at the restaurant, and that succeeded in keeping his words back.

"Well ... your cooking is very good, then" Asahi redirected his compliment to the actual chef now and Kageyama nodded his thanks at him, trying and failing to not look as pleased as he obviously was.

Once they were all done eating, Kageyama and his mother cleared up after them, refusing to allow Daichi to help when he offered and instead being told to go upstairs and wait.

They trudged up together then, finding Kageyama's room easily as there were only three and while one was a bathroom, another had only a large bed for two and a wardrobe inside which couldn't be his. The third room was painfully tidy with a volleyball resting on the bed, and that made it clear that it was Kageyama's and allowed them all to enter and to take a seat wherever they could find one.

Noya grabbed the chair by the desk quickly and Hinata took the bed with Tanaka and Yamaguchi jumping on after him. There wasn't quite enough room for Tsukishima to join in as well but when he gave Yamaguchi a look, there suddenly was, and the four of them sat together; avoiding the pillows and leaving their feet on the ground.

Daichi, Suga and Asahi sat on the floor, leaning either against the chest of drawers or the plain-coloured wall, and it only took a few more minutes for Kageyama to come upstairs and join them as well.

He glanced at the bed, giving Hinata a dark look when he saw the volleyball in his hands, before sitting down on the floor as well with his back to the door and facing them all. Hinata quickly put the volleyball over the pillows again and put his hands in his lap, afraid that he'd somehow tainted it with his scent or something and that Kageyama would never forgive him if he had.

An awkward silence enveloped them all and they each looked to Daichi, waiting for him to reveal the reason for why they were here, but Kageyama beat him to it.

"I'm sorry," He said, both looking and sounding ashamed, "I know I should have gone home when my heat came and I shouldn't have disrupted practice because of it. I won't do it again."

Hinata frowned, his skin becoming slightly itchy all over again and he wondered if that was because of distress, like last time. If it was, he didn't like it, and the majority of him wanted to stop it by distracting Kageyama but the rest of him said to stay quiet and wait.

He listened to that part for once, rocking back on forth on the bed and looking back at Daichi, who looked just as surprised as he felt.

"You don't need to apologise for that Kageyama," He said, "And that isn't why we're here." Kageyama just nodded, looking awkward, "Coach Ukai has some concerns about our team and about the pack that we're trying to form. He said it's becoming unstable and that that could affect our play."

Kageyama's head jerked up, "I'm not - !"

"I know," Daichi continued over him, "But we came here to have a pack gathering, not a team meeting. We're here to get closer."

"We do that anyway," Tsukishima added, pointedly, "We eat meat buns together after practice and we've had training camps."

"That's different," Suga said, "Those are still sports-related things and they made us become closer as a team, but not as a pack," He turned to Kageyama then, "We need our omega to join fully, or it won't exactly work right when you're only half in. It's up to you if you want to, of course, that's why we're here. To ask, as a team."

Kageyama frowned, looking confused, "If I don't join, you can't be a pack?"

"Not a stable one, no."

"And it'll affect our play?"

Daichi sighed, knowing where this was going now, and Hinata dug his nails into his legs as he waited for an answer, "Yes, it can do."

"Okay." Kageyama straightened his back, folding his feet under him and nodding, "Then I'll join."

"Well that was easy," Tsukishima said, "Guess there really is only volleyball in your brain." Yamaguchi smiled behind his hand at that and Kageyama glared at him before turning back to Daichi.

"What do I have to do?"

Daichi smiled, looking relieved as though he'd expected an argument or a falling out, "Nothing much, besides join in with the pack-outings, and try to help us all become closer. If you're joining, you'll be the set-omega, but it's alright if you don't want to accept that full responsibility."

"I - " Kageyama glanced at Suga and then back again, looking conflicted, "I'll do my best, if I do," He looked at Suga a second time, ignoring the rest of them, "I - didn't do a good job of it with my other pack, though."

He'd been the set omega then, too? Of course, Kageyama had been born in December, which made him younger than a lot of the first years, but he wasn't sure if that had applied in Kitagawa Daiichi as well. Only he and his other teammate, the one with the bangs, must have been omegas on the team then.

"You were younger then," Suga assured him, "And I've taken that responsibility as a beta before as well. I'll help you."

"So what do we do now?" Noya asked, spinning in Kageyama's desk chair.

"Well, I was planning on us just talking to each other, opening up a little, but the meal we had downstairs seemed better for an outing anyway," Daichi said, "Especially as Kageyama was the one who cooked it."

Kageyama face became pinched at that and Daichi raised his hands, smiling sheepishly, "I don't mean just because you're an omega," He added, "That sort of sexism doesn't belong in our pack. I can't change the world but I can traffic who I know."

Kageyama looked like he wanted to object, that he hadn't thought that, but Noya spoke before he could.

"Yeah, I once dated an alpha that could cook once," He piped up, "She got all embarrassed when I mentioned it like she wasn't supposed to and that kinda thing pisses me off too - "

"Are you talking about Ike?" Tanaka interrupted, "You never dated her."

"Shut up Ryuu," Noya jabbed a finger at him, "She was going to ask."

"Yeah right."

"Anyway," Rolling his eyes, Noya turned back to Kageyama with a grin, "What I mean is that it's just a skill. You don't have to be a certain subgender to learn it. Ignore those asses that say otherwise."

"But aren't set-omegas supposed to cook for a pack?" Hinata asked, confused, "I thought that was their duty?"

"Stop saying 'duty' all the time, dumbass," Kageyama snapped, "Where do you even get that from?"

"Uh Textbooks, you turd," Hinata snapped back.

"You mean you've actually read a textbook before?" Tsukishima raised a hand to his chest in a mocking play of shock and Hinata glared at him.

"Yes! Well - no, my friend told me about it, but it's still from a textbook so it counts!"

"Of course."

"Shut up Tsukishima!"

"Textbooks are wrong," Kageyama called over them, "They're old-fashioned and sexist. I have a duty as much as you have a duty to be an alpha."

Hinata paused, raising an eyebrow, "Well, yeah. I do." They all looked at him and he shrunk back, "Don't I?" A prolonged silence followed and he started to feel like the butt of a joke, "What?"

"And this is why we need to have pack-meetings." Daichi said, rubbing his forehead with two fingers.

"Who told you that stuff, Hinata?" Suga asked him, frowning.

He shrugged, "I don't know, just alphas from grade school and stuff. My teacher said it once too, I think? Why?" He brightened, "Do I know stuff that you guys don't know yet?"

"No you dumbass, you know everything wrong." Kageyama said angrily.

Hinata bristled, "You're not exactly the smartest person here either!"

"That's got nothing to do with this!"

"Hey, enough!" Daichi shouted and they snapped their mouths shut, "We all have our own ways of thinking about things, Kagayama."

"He thinks I - !"

"We can't all just rail on Hinata for not knowing something, calm down." His tone seemed to hit this time and Kageyama quietened.

"Basically Hinata, what you've been told before is a load of crap and you should just ignore it."

"Nishinoya!"

Noya ignores him at first, pointing to himself, "Trust me, I know."

"What part’s wrong?" Hinata asked, looking at them all.

"Try all of it," Kageyama muttered, shuffling toward Suga and resting his head on his shoulder. His hands were at his stomach again and Hinata remembered that he was still on his heat and that it hurt. Suga pat his head, running his fingers through Kageyama's thin hair to relax him.

"The whole duty thing is pretty sexist, Hinata," Yamaguchi said, "That's all."

"Sexist how?"

Tanaka sat a little forward to frown at him but it was Asahi that answered, "Sexism as in, putting an entire subgender down because of the sex they were born with. Telling an omega that they have a duty to be a carer and a mother is sexist because they shouldn't have to if they don't want to."

"But Kageyama says he wants to have kids one day." Kageyama ears went red and he grabbed a manga book from nearby, hurtling it at Hinata's head, "Ow! Well you do!"

"He wants to," Asahi continued calmly, "But he doesn't have to just because he's an omega. Kids aren't the - "

"Think of it this way," Noya added, "Would you like it if people said you can't do things because you're an alpha, and that you have to do other stuff instead?"

"Well alphas do get told stuff like that too, don't confuse him," Tanaka said, "We get told that we have to be providers and that we have to be tall and strong and stuff."

"Yeah!" Hinata said, pointing at him.

"We're not talking about that right now," Yamaguchi countered, "Alphas do have stereotypes too, just like betas do, but the omegas get a lot more. And it isn't fair."

"Well then why does everyone in the - "

"We all play volleyball." Tsukishima suddenly said, sounding bored, "Don't we. Beta, alpha, or omega, we all play on the same team and we all have our strengths and weaknesses but none of them have to do with our sub-genders do they?"

Hinata deflated, "No."

"They have to do with us individually, right? Well that applies to life too. Understand now?"

He sounded frustrated but his words seemed to ring something that hadn't quite settled in Hinata's head. He thought about it all a little more, especially with what he'd said to Kageyama before when they'd argued, and if he thought about it in terms of volleyball (for instance, telling someone that it was their duty to play libero just because they were short), he sort of understood why Kageyama had gotten as angry as he had before.

"Oh." He sat back, thinking about it a little more, whilst everyone else stared at Tsukishima in shock. He shrugged at them, cleaning his glasses with the hem of his shirt.

"What?" He asked the room, "Volleyball is the only thing he understands, you didn't expect the other volleyball nut to explain it to him did you?"

It took Kageyama a second to realise that he was being insulted but he didn't rise to the bait and just lifted his head from Suga's shoulder as colour returned to his skin from where it had left from the pain.

"Sorry," Hinata apologised, "I guess I never thought of it like that before."

He remembered a teacher in his grade school mentioning stuff like this as well though, commenting that she needed some strong alphas to help carry the tables around for group work, or that she was surprised to see an omega in the sports class. But then, another teacher had once told him that he would be too short to play volleyball and that he should work at playing another sport where height wouldn't matter as much and he'd ignored that because he didn't agree with it. Wasn't this the same?

"It's not your fault, Hinata," Suga assured him.

"Yeah, it's society," Noya added before finally picking up the signals that Asahi had been sending him and noticing the glare that Daichi had fixed on his face. He ducked his head down, spinning away in the chair again instead.

Hinata laughed a little at that before just sitting back and mulling this all over, and soon the conversation turned to something else and everyone else relaxed all over again. Daichi suggested that they sit in a circle, sharing anecdotes and sub-gender discussions, especially as Kageyama hadn't joined in any of the others before, so they didn't know the first thing about taking care of him.

He said that too, asking how they'd take care of Kageyama's heats together, and the looks that he'd gotten told him that that was apparently sexist too, which he didn't really understand because it wasn't a horrible thing. Being taken care of sounded nice.

"Why are your heats so painful though, Kageyama?" Tanaka asked when their discussion moved from today's practice to an omega that Daichi had once known in middle school that had had heats every six months instead of every month, because of an irregularity, and Kageyama had added that his were irregular as well but they happened closer together instead of further away instead.

"Yeah, you drain Kiyoko of her meds all the time," Noya said, sitting on the chair backwards now and leaning over it in a precarious way that had both Asahi and Suga tensing in fear of him falling.

"I don't mean to," Kageyama defended himself, his voice gruff, "The Doctor's won't give me my own."

"Kiyoko's said that she doesn't mind," Daichi assured him, "She knows it's hard to get them on your own, if you're under 16."

"Why?" Yamaguchi asked, sounding curious, "What's age got to do with it?"

"I don't know," Kageyama muttered, rolling his eyes, "That's just what it says on the box and none of the Doctor's will give it to me because they don't believe me when I say it hurts this much."

"Yeah, but why are they so painful?" Tanaka asked again, "Unless it's personal. If it's personal don't worry."

"I've already told you before," Kageyama scoffed, softly, sounding a little amused at Tanaka's worrying, "My old pack."

"Oh yeah," Tanaka winced, rubbing at the back of his head, "You were fully formed?" Kageyama nodded.

"What?" Hinata asked, leaning forward, "What does that mean again?" He vaguely remembered Suga saying that it was painful to be cast out of a pack but wasn't that just an emotional thing?

Kageyama pulled his knees up and rest his chin over them, "We used to bond and scent during heats to help me and Kunimi - um - the one with the bangs, through them. My mum said that my body must have gotten used to their scents calming me and making the cramps hurt less, so when there suddenly wasn't anything ... "

"But why is it still like that? You've been away from them for ages now."

"My body had a year to get used to it, dumbass. It doesn't just take a few months for it to go."

"Is that why you were lying on Suga just now? Because his scent would help but he's not an alpha so you wouldn't get embarrassed?"

The way that Kageyama's eyes go wide and the way that his cheeks blossom would never stop being so fun to watch but he could have done without the shoe being thrown at him in revenge.

"Ah ha, that's right!" Tanaka added, laughing "An alpha would have made you feel a lot better.” He clapped his hands together, “Come on, come give me a hug." Kageyama jerked backwards, making Hinata laugh along as well, "Aw come on, why so timid Kageyama?"

"It's got nothing to do with being timid!" Kageyama glared but that only made the rest of them laugh as well.

"He's right, your sweat's the real issue," Noya said, cutting Tanaka's laughter off completely.

They continued to talk then and it was late by the time they decided to leave but Kageyama's mother was a force to be reckoned with and she refused to let them walk home in the dark.

They were made to call their parents and say that they were staying over somewhere. Tanaka, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi's parents came to pick him up anyway as they had nothing to wear and needed to get home, and Natsu almost convinced Hinata's mother to do the same because he'd promised to play with her today.

He'd quickly said that he'd brought her some sweets to appease her and hoped that he'd remember to buy some on the way home tomorrow.

Kageyama helped his mother lay down some sheets for the rest of them to sleep on but she was stern in making Kageyama sleep upstairs as he was an omega. He'd protested, saying that they'd been in the same room for a training camp before but that had evidently been the wrong thing to say as she'd then wanted to talk to Takeda about that to make sure it didn't happen again.

That whole conversation had been a little awkward to listen to and Kageyama had literally stomped his way upstairs to sleep in his room.

Daichi, Suga, Hinata and Asahi climbed into the makeshift beds that Kageyama had made, wearing their underclothes instead of pyjamas, though Suga had asked to at least borrow a shirt from Kageyama instead, and he felt the same excitement that came from having sleepovers overcome him.

He wriggled around in the sheets, restless and tired all at once, but sleep came surprisingly easy once he latched onto a single thought; scenting.

He woke the next morning, drooling, and he quickly wiped it away when Kageyama's mother walked past him with a basket of laundry. Daichi and the others were already awake and dressed, sitting at the table while Kageyama put a jug of juice down on the table for them. He jerked upright, wondering if he'd overslept, and hid behind the sheets when they all looked at him; remembering that he was in nothing but his boxers and a vest.

"Uh - "

"Go get changed in the bathroom," Kageyama told him, sitting down at the table as well, with his back to Hinata.

Kageyama usually changed with Kiyoko in the clubroom which meant that he'd never seen Hinata shirtless before. He wondered if he'd seen anything whilst Hinata had been asleep but he shoved that thought down, along with anything else that was far too awake this early in the morning as well, before grabbing his folded clothes from beside him and the sheets and running upstairs to the bathroom.

They didn't have any toothbrushes to use so he used his finger as best he could instead, and some mouthwash, before borrowing a stick of deodorant from the cupboard under the sink and dressing for the day. When he came down, the rest of them were still eating, and they still had about half an hour to go as it was before their usual early morning practice.

That was when he realised that Kageyama was in shorts and a t-shirt again, not his school uniform.

"You aren't coming in?" He asked him, sitting down and thanking Kageyama's mother for the food, seeing as she was the one cooking this time now, "Because of your heat?"

"I thought it was best, considering yesterday," Daichi answered for him while Kageyama just smeared some cheese on a slice of bread and bit into it grumpily.

They said their goodbyes after breakfast and headed out to leave. Kageyama had his hands on his stomach again, looking a little queasy as he held the door open for them so Hinata pulled his volleyball jacket out of his sports bag and draped it over him as he passed. It was short on him, obviously, and almost slipped right off of his shoulders but Kageyama latched onto it and held it there, looking a little stunned for a moment before giving him a look.

He then opened his mouth to comment, frowning, but Hinata raced off down the street before he could and he only turned back when he was safe enough away to not be chased after.

Suga had his jacket in his hands and was walking behind him with the others but Kageyama had gone inside and locked the door again without even wearing it.

He tried not to show his disappointment but when Suga handed his jacket back, he glanced down at it and said forlornly, "Is it because I'm a short alpha?"

Suga laughed, "He said you'd need it today more than him and that he's got a hot water bottle to help instead," He said, patting Hinata on the head, "Height and sub-genders aren't related, don't worry about that. Look at Daichi."

Daichi stopped, looking at them both, "What about me?"

But he was ignored as Suga continued over him, "He's not exactly very tall is he," Daichi slumped, "But that doesn't change his sex. People are people, ignore what others have told you about these kinds of things, they aren't - "

"Is that the same for tall omegas too?"

Suga looked a little startled at first with Hinata suddenly pressing into his space but he recovered and smiled again, "Yes."

"I thought it sounded dumb when Yoshi said it." Suga didn't ask who that was, probably assuming correctly that it was either someone from middle school or in Hinata's class in Karasuno, and he just nodded and continued to walk.

Looking back over his shoulder, he glanced at Kageyama's house again and he remembered his agreement to become their set-omega. Maybe it wasn't a duty, maybe it didn't mean anything hugely special, but it did mean that they'd become a pack with an omega now within it that was fully formed. He felt buzzed with how that made him feel and he let that excitement out in their practice.

And in class, right afterwards, when Tohru told Kaito to 'get back in the kitchen' when he'd argued about their work, he immediately recognised the situation and leapt to his defense.

Tsukishima looked disinterested when he told him about it afterwards, praising him for helping him to understand, but all he was told was that he 'didn't fully understand it all yet' and that he shouldn't get too full of himself.

Yamaguchi, however, assured him that Tsukishima was secretly pleased that he was the only one that had managed to explain it to him properly, and that was enough for him.

.