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Ever since Isagi rolled out of bed this morning, it felt like bugs were crawling beneath the surface of his skin. He didn’t know if it was his naturally oversensitive senses messing with him, but his heightened awareness was more intense than usual. The lights were too bright, the uniforms too itchy and tight, scents too potent, voices too loud– it all felt overwhelming and way too much to process. It was an overwhelm that was setting the omega increasingly on edge as the day wore on.
Kaiser and Ness’s unfriendly banter was wearing down on his mental state faster than usual, to the point that he actually snarled at the pair during drills, an urge he usually had the self control to refrain from acting upon. It was even affecting his performance playing football, causing him to flinch and stumble at sensations he should be used to but for some reason were disorienting, like being unable to recover quickly after being pushed off balance during a scrimmage.
But when Isagi snapped at Hiori of all people while reviewing footage of their past matches with him, Yukimiya, and Gagamaru right after dinner, the striker knew he needed to go to bed early. Immediately, actually.
With a deep breath to rein in this unusual ferocity that usually only presented itself on the field, the omega excused himself from the viewing room with an apology that was quickly accepted by the other concerned teens. A chorus of goodnights followed the omega as he hurried out of the room, doors closing behind him with a thunk that him cut off from the overwhelming scent of the alphas’ unblocked pheromones.
Isagi slumped forward as he grumpily trudged to the dorm-like room he ironically shared with two of the alphas he just fled from. He was just as frustrated with himself as he was with the world around him which seemed to be getting on his nerves to an extremity he hadn’t experienced since his last heat–
Ah.
That explained it.
Like finding the last missing piece of a puzzle, Isagi quickly pieced together his situation.
While all the Blue Lockers with the designation of alpha (most of them) or omega (just him, now that he was thinking about it) were on strong rut/heat blockers provided by Ego himself in order to prevent their biological cycles from getting in the way of playing soccer, the medication wasn’t perfect. Isagi had witnessed the change in demeanor of some alphas in Blue Lock that were going through their rut cycle with reduced effects, which mostly meant less horniness and more bi-polar tempers and territorial behavior.
While the omega hadn’t experienced a heat with these blockers yet, he naturally assumed, based on his increased sensitivity to his surroundings and unusual moodiness, that that’s what it was.
It frustrated the blue haired teen to no end that his biology was messing with him at such an important time. The final match of the NEL, Bastard v. PXG was rapidly approaching, yet he was so off his game. Based on his observations of his teammates, the weakened reproductive period should only last three to five days, but Isagi was praying that he’d get off with only three days of this unwanted biological nuisance.
Finally, after a few minutes of walking he had arrived at his shared room, which upon entering he found was occupied.
“Hey, Kurona.”
“Hi, hi,” The pink haired boy replied after a moment, looking up at the omega with a wave after pausing the video that Isagi assumed was a soccer match, if the sounds were anything to go by. Isagi felt a little more settled being in the presence of one of the few remaining betas in Blue Lock. Kurona’s scent was mild and didn’t give him a headache when he was in close quarters with him. In this moment he highly appreciated the boy's introverted nature because Isagi knew he wouldn’t be bothered or questioned for this odd behavior.
After that brief acknowledgement, the omega bee-lined straight to his bed, brainstorming solutions to ease the itch beneath his skin. He didn’t think he could go to sleep as is. No. No matter how tired he was, and how dulled the effects of his heat were, primal urges were still festering deep within that insisted he complied with their demands.
Isagi searched his memories for what usually soothed his omegan urges during his past heats and quickly developed a plan of action.
With a determined nod the omega began rearranging the sheets, blanket, and pillow on his bed before searching through his belongings for items that could be used to make a nest. Pre-worn clothes worked best, as they were already imbued with his scent, but if he had any extra blankets or maybe a dry towel he forgot to return to the lockerroom, those would work too.
As he worked, the low sounds of the soccer match playing on Kurona’s phone served as pleasant background noise that helped sooth Isagi’s nerves. He got into a rhythm of placing an item, manipulating it around in place before moving onto the next patch of his nest. During that time, the beta paid him little mind, seemingly tunnel visioned into the match he was watching besides the occasional intrigued glances he threw at his football partner. It took a little while to finish, maybe 15 minutes, but Isagi felt more at ease than he had all day.
“Kurona,” The blue haired boy addressed the beta, “Do you mind if I turn off the lights?”
The shark toothed teen shook his head, “Nope, nope.”
“Okay cool, goodnight.”
“Night, night.”
The dim light from Kurona’s phone along with the light that sneaked through the cracks of the door were the only sources of illumination as Isagi shuffled back over to his bed, careful not to destroy his hard work as he flopped onto the middle of the mattress.
Closing his eyes, Isagi focused on his breathing and senses while he found a comfortable position to fall asleep in. No more bright lights, no more loud noises, no more sudden sensations assaulting his senses, only sleep awaited him. Peace settled over his body and mind, and his muscles relaxed into the blankets as he absorbed the scent of himself in his nest.
But the dreamworld evaded him.
He tried to hold out, imagining random scenarios and images in his mind to try to lull himself to sleep, but no matter how many sheep Isagi counted he couldn’t get tired enough to fully leave the waking world. The itch that he had just gotten rid of began to creep back under his flesh and his impatience grew.
The next few moments were less committed to sleep and more to trying to solve this new puzzle of why he still felt restless. Of course, during a normal heat he would need to perform other acts to satisfy his omega, but the pill was definitely blocking those primal urges. So what was bothering him so much?
A frustrated growl was creeping up Isagi’s throat, and he huffed in annoyance and he turned to shove his face into the pillow under his head. As the omega took a deep breath of his scent, a realization struck him.
During a normal heat, while his nest was mostly made with his own articles of clothing and bedding, he also would have an item or two from his parents to help sooth his omegas nerves and make him feel less lonely. He heard it was because of some kind of “pack” urge that remained from their ancestors, but he didn’t pay enough attention in health class to really understand the whole reason behind the biological urge.
Now in Blue Lock, he could borrow one of Hiori or Yukimiya’s shirts or other clothing items, but that felt like stealing when they weren’t here. Kurona was though, and Isagi peeked at his pink haired roommate across the dark room where he was still watching a soccer match.
With a press of his lips, grounding himself for the embarrassing request he was about to make, Isagi sat up slowly before speaking.
“Kurona?”
The beta perked up at his name, putting his phone down and squinting to meet Isagi’s gaze, “Yes, yes?”
He was a man of little words, and also incredibly honest, so Isagi trusted that if the other was uncomfortable he would definitely deny his request. “Um, could I have one of your shirts or something? Preferably with uh, with your scent on it? … Please.”
Even in the dark, Isagi could see the beta’s surprised expression, and without an immediate response, the omega began to backtrack.
“Sorry, I know it’s a weird thing to ask and I understand if you don’t want to,” He hurried out, not wanting his friend to feel pressured or uncomfortable. After all, it wasn’t like Isagi desperately needed it. It was just his stupid omega acting up.
But Kurona rapidly shook his head at his words, snapping out of whatever daze he was in to reply quickly.
“Ah, no, no! Of course, you can have my training shirt. I don’t mind,” The beta sat up from his reclined position to slip off his bed and rummage through his things. When he found what he was looking for, Kurona used the light from his phone to locate Isagi in the dark before tossing him the jersey he wore at practice today. “Sorry Isagi, I misunderstood. I thought you’d want something from the alphas instead, instead.”
Holding the newly acquired jersey to his chest, Isagi tilted his head to one side in thought.
“Thank you for the shirt– but I mean, yeah maybe it’d be better or something to have an alphas things but it doesn’t feel right taking their stuff when they’re not here, you know? Besides,” The blue haired boy paused for a moment, unsure if he should continue, but he felt unusually bold at that moment. “Your– your scent is more mild than their’s and I– I like it better. It doesn’t bother my nose as much as most of the alphas’.”
Kurona’s eyes were owlishly wide, and it took a few beats of awkward silence for the beta to reply.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
The silence that followed seemed to carry on that awkward atmosphere, as both players settled back into their previous positions. The sounds of the soccer match resumed, and Isagi settled back into position on his bed, this time with Kurona's jersey pressed to his nose.
Thankfully, the material was soft, so as the omega nosed along at it in search of the most potent area of the beta’s scent, it didn’t scratch or upset his skin. When he found what he was looking for, Isagi inhaled the aroma greedily.
He was being truthful when he complimented the betas scent. It was light and pleasant. Isagi thought the beta smelled like the ocean, salty and fresh, with a floral undertone. As he closed his eyes, the omega could picture an ideal day at the beach with the sun warming his skin, waves crashing against the shore, and the smell of the local flora colliding with the sea. And when he glanced to the side, the beta was right there with him, showing a rare smile that made Isagi’s chest swell with warmth.
When he clocked back into reality, a growl escaped the omega when he found his beta wasn’t at his side. His beta shouldn’t–
“Isagi?”
Ah.
Isagi felt his face flush red and hot as the animalistic noise in his throat came to an abrupt halt. Ugh– he was so far gone. His mind wasn’t clouded, but he felt his omega as a prickling right beneath his skin and at the edges of his vision, threatening to escape. So embarrassing.
“Are you okay, okay? Isagi?” Kurona prompted into the dark again.
“Yeah I’m fine. I… Kurona– I’m sorry I just, I…” He trailed off, weighing his options of brushing off the incident or admitting what had been bothering him all day. But the beta remained quiet, patiently waiting for the omega to respond in his own time.
After a minute Isagi sighed, “I’m not feeling like my usual self. I’ve felt on edge all day and I think I’m in heat. B– but not like, y’know full heat just like, whatever effects the blockers Ego has us take aren’t able to suppress. So I’m sorry for acting all weird on you.” When he finished his confession, he felt like a little bit of weight had been lifted off his shoulders now that someone knew what he was experiencing.
“It’s okay, Isagi,” Kurona frowned with a concerned tone, “I can’t relate because I’m a beta, beta. But I understand it must be hard, especially if it’s affecting football. Is there anything else I can do? To make you feel… better, better?”
The pink haired player was speaking so sincerely, always so kind to him, that it had Isagi’s instincts screaming at him to have the sweet beta in his nest where he could reach him. It was such an unusual feeling to have for his teammate that Isagi hadn’t quite reconciled with the implications, but what harm was there if Kurona agreed? It’s not like the omega was forcing him, a fact Isagi had to mentally remind himself of as he hesitantly voiced this desire.
Again, the omega could see the beta’s wide eyes blinking owlishly at him from across the room like he hadn’t expected that request at all. But despite that, he agreed to the offer almost immediately.
“Sure, sure.” Kurona complied, not seeming bothered by the idea of sleeping with Isagi despite his hesitance. “Do you want me to bring my pillow and blanket too?”
Always so considerate, it had Isagi’s omega whining in impatience to have him in his arms.
“Yeah that’d be great,” Isagi forced out instead.
He moved to one side of his bed and watched as the beta piled his comforter and pillow into his arms and made his way over to him, using the light from his phone to guide himself. Isagi was pleased when Kurona was careful not to disrupt the outside of the nest as he climbed in, clearly aware of how sacred the structure was to an omega.
“Thanks again,” He spoke sincerely as he took the bedding and pillow from Kurona and implemented it into his nest.
When he was finished, it was just the two of them kneeling on the bed and looking at each other in the dim lighting of a phone screen. Isagi began to feel heat creeping up his neck again.
“I know I just said this but seriously thank you, Kurona. I really hope you don’t feel uncomfortable or anything–”
“I don’t, Isagi. Trust me, me,” The beta interrupted with another rare smile. “You’re my teammate and friend, I’m just looking out for you because I care. I’m just… nervous.” He finished bashfully, ducking his head. Isagi could even see the barely visible redness that was tinting the pink haired boy's face, turning them into a similar shade.
It made the omega feel better that he wasn’t the only one whose nerves were getting to him, making his heart beat a little faster and body feel a little warmer.
“Well, even so, if you want to keep doing what you were before I interrupted you, watching a match or whatever, I don’t mind. I just wanted to, um, my… instincts really want me to be near and scent you so long as you don’t mind that…?” The nervousness and uncertainty that Isagi was desperately trying to ignore was seeping into his scent, and it had him fiddling with the beta’s jersey still clutched in his hands.
“That’s okay with me. It sounds good, good,” Kurona hurriedly replied, because despite the stereotypes, betas did have pretty good noses and he didn’t want the omega getting upset.
With a nod, and another round of affirmation to make sure Kurona was 100% comfortable with the situation, Isagi rearranged the two pillows so that they were propped up, one on top of the other, to allow Kurona to sit at an incline and watch the football match. Once the beta was settled in, Isagi implemented the jersey into the outer ring of the nest. After all, who needs a shirt when you have the source of the pheromones at your fingertips?
The omega crawled over to the beta after he was done fiddling with his nest and carefully slotted himself against Kurona’s side. His head rested on the other’s chest, with his arms and legs tucked between them. When he was settled, the beta slung his arm over Isagi's shoulders to make both of them more comfortable. When he glanced down the beta’s torso at the video Kurona had just started up again on his phone, it seemed to be a game between two South American teams.
But after that brief peek he ignored the dim blue light that lit them both. It was hard to resist scent marking the beta this close. He initially didn’t want to jump right in, afraid of scaring his friend, but his patience was already worn thin from the long day he had. It was silly for Isagi to think he could hold himself off for more than a few minutes.
And so with slow, careful movements, just in case Kurona decided to back out, Isagi tilted his head to nose at the scent glands at the base of the beta’s neck. One of his arms wriggled its way out from between them so that the omega could mutually scent the beta by rubbing the gland on the inside of his wrist against the betas glands on the far side of his neck in order to transfer their pheromones.
God. The euphoria and rightness that settled into Isagi’s core was almost mind-numbing. His omega was mentally slumped in satisfaction, and it had him purring aloud. The blue haired teen couldn’t find it in himself to care this time that he was making those animal-like noises, especially since Kurona wasn’t bringing it up.
Snuggled up against a wonderful smelling beta who was scent marked by him and in his nest was apparently the remedy Isagi was looking for because he fell asleep so fast that when he later woke up, he couldn’t remember when he had slipped unconscious.
~~~~
“Don't ya think Isagi was acting a lil' strange today?” Hiori posed the question that had been plaguing his mind all day to Yukimiya as they walked towards their shared room.
All of Blue Lock was quiet. The two of them had spent extra time reviewing all of the NEL matches that had taken place so far and gotten a little carried away in the process. They both knew they’d regret missing out on the extra hour of sleep, but that was a problem for their future selves.
The brunette hummed as he thought about the question. “I definitely think he was more reactive and angry than usual. I really only see that kind of attitude from him in the middle of our matches.”
Hiori nodded in agreement, his long stray strand of hair bouncing with the movement, “Yup, I totally agree. Like with Kaiser and Ness today? I was real worried I’d have to pry Isagi off of their corpses.”
That had Yukimiya burst into a fit of laughter, “Ah– no way, me too. He was giving them the death stare for the rest of practice too but it was so hard to see him as intimidating since he’s so short and baby-faced.”
“I know right? I also know Kaiser was definitely preening at all the attention Isagi was giving 'im, deadly or otherwise.”
The two alphas continued their teasing banter about their omega friend, but quieted once they reached their room in case their roommates were already asleep.
And they were right.
What they weren’t right about was the places in the room they assumed the two strikers would be.
The scene of the pair snuggled up on Isagi’s bed, at the center of a nest of all things, had Hiori gasping loudly before Yukimiya quickly shushed him. He was surprised too, but he had the sense not to wake the duo who looked to be sleeping soundly. Isagi was practically on top of the beta whose phone rested at his side, abandoned in favor of wrapping his arms around the omega.
It was cute, seeing the two shorter players wrapped around each other. Hiori thought the same, and with quiet, hurried steps, retrieved his phone from his dresser to snap a few photos from different angles.
When Yukimiya questioned him, Hiori just sent him a smile that screamed mischief and pressed his pointer finger to his lips.
He felt pity for the hell that the sadistic alpha was going to put the omega through when he woke up.