Work Text:
On the outside, Rin Itoshi looked like the perfect, flawless alpha. The stereotypical alpha, first to come to anyone's mind at the mention of the secondary gender, especially in an excited, gossiping society such as his own.
He was tall. Muscled. With that cedarwood scent described in great detail in ancient tumblr scriptures. Cold, in the way that turned heads and drew little whispers. A bright professional football player with an international reputation, Blue Lock’s number one. Neat dark green hair and teal eyes looking on in a perpetual glare. An alpha through and through if that hadn't been mentioned yet. Did the narrator forget to mention that he's an alpha?
Also, did the narrator forget to mention that this was on the oblivious outside perspective?
Because in the confines of the Itoshi mansion walls, Rin was a different person.
Yoichi Isagi, on the other hand, also had an international reputation. It was more like the reputation of an unprecedented omega genius who made a name for himself in the unforgiving football world, alpha-driven as it was, the game maker of the team, the heart of the field. And, unapologetically, Rin Itoshi’s husband.
Rin Itoshi’s unfortunate husband either blind to red flags or drawn to traditional fanfiction, also the orbit of Rin Itoshi’s small, wife-defined world.
For his height, his size, his anything and possibly his everything, Yoichi was bossy.
It was mostly the way he expressed his love and the way he reacted to the world's attentive eyes glued to Rin’s every move. Yoichi was jealous. Extremely. A glimpse of another omega's presence around Rin kickstarted the apocalypse, and maybe Yoichi was too good at reading intentions, against Rin's un-alpha-like very late understanding of social cues, so Rin gave in to him. Like a good husband, he let Yoichi monitor his following list and read through his messages, even reply at times.
Truthfully Rin hadn't meant to entertain that bossiness especially owing to their… history, their gay stare-offs at the start, middle and end of every match, their constant shittalking that reached the point of invention (the internet was still unsure if Rin did actually invent a new curse word), whoever they were. Truthfully he hadn't meant to entertain it, however an alpha was but a servant to their wife's satisfaction, and Rin gradually became prouder of that fact.
The more he fell in love, the more he accepted it as a truth of the universe. He decided he could accept medieval torture for Yoichi’s smile, could move mountains for a nod of sweet acknowledgement. Could throw fists with Shidou and risk losing his entire aura if Yoichi asked for it. Why would Yoichi ask for it? Good question.
It was simply in Rin's DNA to seek approval in any shape or form. Sae Itoshi was the prime example. The theoretical study. Now Yoichi Isagi was the real life experience.
So long story short, Rin Itoshi was, rather, submissive.
Or as he preferred to call it, a family guy. The word had a positive connotation to it, not only socially acceptable but more so socially desired. And so their fans awed and cooed at Rin and Yoichi’s peaceful marriage, their adorable 2 year old daughter, Momoka, who looked every bit like Yoichi, starting from the sprout on the top of her head to her big blue eyes, because even Rin’s genes didn't dare to fight back.
That “family guy” image spread so widely that Sae had been let in on it, sparking the starts of an unamused doubt inside of him. When it came to his brother, Sae wasn't easily fooled. That was how he found himself sulking cross-armed in the passenger seat for the entirety of an eight hour car ride, glancing every so often at Bunny's easy smile as he drove, convincing himself that he was visiting only because he missed his niece, not because he had anything to say.
Sae had quite the inability to notice his and Yoichi's similarities in the matter of romantic relationships. Bunny doing whatever he asked with no protests or complaints had become the norm for him. Rin doing the same for Yoichi, however, was abnormal and unacceptable and a disgrace.
Yes, that was the thing. Sae was an omega. A bossy, jealous omega who found himself an alpha husband so in love with him he bowed his head to it. If it sounded familiar then that is the entire point.
Sae was an omega. A survivor of sibling issues that lasted a lifetime. Still bearing some guilt and some worry about Rin, both unvocalized. Sae was judgmental, too. Perhaps the perfect concoction a human being needed to side-eye Yoichi like he was a threat.
He greeted his brother, then Yoichi, then scooped Momo into his arms, the toddler immediately starting to blabber something at him and reaching her cute, chubby hand to pull at Bunny's white hair from beside him. No one in that house seemed to like human interaction minus Yoichi, so for the most part, they were just staring at each other, waiting for divine revelations of topics to discuss that weren't the weather. (We get it Bunny, it's cold.)
“Momo has been chewing on some weird things,” Yoichi tried to stir the cursed conversation, looking fondly at his daughter. “She loves my skincare headband. I think it has a nice texture.”
“That's not healthy for a child.” Sae found the chance to direct a side-eye. From the corner, he could see Rin walk around the kitchen with something white and starchy on his hand. Flour? Rice? Someone's ashes? He hoped to God it was someone's ashes.
“Yeah well, it's not like I'm boiling it and feeding it to her.” Yoichi’s brow twitched, his face still stuck on a smile.
“I wouldn't be surprised if you were.” Sae gave a light shrug of his shoulders, going back to following Rin with his eyes. A set of kitchen knives lined on the counter, right beside the chopping board, the scent of a veggie stir-fry, the rice cooker beginning to sing…
Suddenly it all made sense. Fuck. Rin was making dinner.
The guest bed – hotel-tucked, cloudy comforter and fluffed pillows – that Sae inspected earlier clicked into the picture. Fuck. Rin also made the bed. Cleaned the guest room until it shone, not a single particle of dust daring to float in the air even against Sae’s inspection, gawking for the littlest flaw.
“I see Yoichi is starting to force you to cook,” he said flatly, hoping it sounded more neutral.
“I don't force him.” Yoichi's left eye twitched this time. “Right, Rin?”
Rin nodded from the kitchen and meat began to sizzle against the grill. Seeming to understand the situation to some extent, Momo flopped into her uncle's chest. “Daddy cook.”
“Yes, my little warrior,” Sae pecked her forehead and handed her back to his own husband, stifling a fond smile at her little giggle. Momo seemed to really love Bunny’s hair. That, or she was being a paid distraction from his main line of thoughts, surely Yoichi was evil enough to do these things. “Rin, can you show me where the bathroom is?”
“You already know.” Rin didn't look up from the fragrant meat skewers, determined to grill them to perfection. Yoichi's evil doing too for sure.
Whatever, Sae was going to find an opening somewhere in there. “I said show me where the bathroom is.”
If there had been a most nosy brother-in-law medal, Sae would have won gold.
If there hadn't been such a thing, Yoichi would have invented one and dumped it over Sae’s shoulders himself.
But Yoichi had no idea that Sae dragged his husband outside, only stopping at the front porch, teal eyes so thoroughly filled with disappointment and unimpressed disbelief that a certain flashback kicked Rin into action and he lowered his head like a scolded puppy before hearing anything at all.
“It seems even I am more deserving of being an alpha than you.” His voice cracked, grace of every serious moment ever, so he let his resting bitch face do the rest. “You're just going to let Yoichi walk all over you?”
“He's not,” Rin fought back. Sae raised an eyebrow at his hands, forever stained in the radioactive orange meat marinade, and Rin hid them behind his back, defeated. “He's not walking all over me. I discovered I love cooking.”
“And the housework?”
“I love that too.” A pause. “I swear.”
Sae pinched the crease between his eyebrows and forced out an exasperated sigh. “Seriously? For an omega? Not any omega. Isagi fucking Yoichi?”
Rin tilted his head, the flashbacks Sae wanted to manifest into his mind taking so fucking long to load. “Yes?”
“Rin,” Sae had gone full circle and back to being utter deadpan. “Do you have any authority in your own house? Be honest.”
“Yes, of course.” Rin pursed his lips. “Yoichi allows me to go out when I'm done with chores. He bought me the rice cooker when I told him my hands are sore from scrubbing saucepans. He extended my curfew to midnight, but that's mostly because Momo prefers to sleep in his arms than mine. What else…”
Huh, Sae thought. Bunny’s curfew was still at 11 pm. No way he stays out until midnight.
“My point is.” He gripped Rin's shoulders. “That's not fucking normal. You're an alpha. Show some fucking backbone. Impose your decisions.”
If the rest of the world functioned via optical fiber, Rin was still on 2G. It took two full minutes for his neurons to reroute, for that competitive gleam that died years, years ago to finally shine again, to finally turn into the scowl Sae recognized most. “Okay.”
Okay.
Obviously, it was not okay. It was not going to be okay.
Like a keyword to disaster, Rin decided to keep that scowl on his face for maximum effect, inspired by Sae’s words. An alpha. A stereotypical alpha, who knew how to impose himself, who did not bend to anyone, not even his beloved wife.
The scent of warm broth and freshly grilled skewers slapped his nostrils first thing, the table already plated and organized, Yoichi moving around the kitchen to get extra utensils and scoop seconds. In any other situation, Rin would've immediately rushed in to help. Even a pot was too heavy for Yoichi to carry alone, that was what alphas were for– just unfortunately not to Sae, whose own was willing to go through pregnancy to spare him the pain.
Yoichi noticed it from the corner of his eye. At first, he didn't say anything, only prepared Momo’s meal and milk though that was usually Rin's responsibility. Then, he gently asked, ladle in hand, lightly pushing the plates forward. “Love, can you put these on the table for me?”
With surprising ease, Rin didn't instantly get on his feet.
“No.”
Bunny nearly choked on his rice, coughing into his fist as Momo blinked at him in confusion. Wordlessly Sae unfroze just to hand him a glass of water, avoiding Yoichi’s eyes like they were Medusa’s.
Yoichi looked at him.
He asked, in a scary calm. Loving enough to give Rin a chance to back down. “Are you talking back to me?”
Rin didn't stop there. He either imagined Yoichi as a potato or took himself back to the good old blue lock days by force, because there was absolutely no other way for him to say something in response to that. “I'm fed up with you controlling me. I'm the alpha in this hou–”
Yoichi had already walked towards them. He slammed his fist into the table, hard, cutting Rin off into a tingling silence, tension so thick Sae could slice it with a knife. Sae lowered his head and took a shaky bite from his stir-fry. Bunny rocked an unfrightened Momo in his lap, if anything to stop his own self from crying.
“Shut up,” Yoichi gritted out. “And eat your dinner.”
An omega would've shut up and ate their dinner. An alpha would've shut up and ate their dinner too. A human with a decent survival instinct would've shut up and ate their dinner. Even Sae would've. He thought, for a moment, that he understood why some dogs were said to be all bark no bite.
Rin, whatsoever, seemed really dead set on getting his big brother’s approval this time too, even at the price of his own life. He stood up straight.
“No, I won't.”
In an almost dramatic slow mo Yoichi raised his hand, the one that had the ladle clutched at the pit of its palm. The metallic ladle, the scary metallic ladle. The murder weapon of a metallic ladle. He raised it, and threw it squarely at Rin’s face, the utensil tearing through the fabric of time like a space rocket.
In the millisecond Rin dodged, he saw his own funeral. He imagined himself without a face or maybe without a head, neat ladle execution. He kinda had it coming. He caught sight of Yoichi’s furious expression, his frustrated yet heavenly scent scattering through the dining room, and everything paused in place.
Fuck…
He's so hot.
“I said…”
Fuck.
Yoichi’s previously wrathful eyes fell upon the growing bulge in his husband's pants. Straining against the fabric, imposing itself more than Rin ever did. Rin looked down at it, then up at Yoichi. Down then up. Down then up, then at Sae whose chopsticks thunked against the plate, his mouth falling open.
“Don't…” Rin grumbled weakly, face red against Yoichi’s increasingly more amused stare. “Don't look at my boner while we're fighting, shitty Isagi.”