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Shouto wasn't raised to bloom into an omega. Or rather, his father didn't let him act like one at the very least.
He had been a semi-early bloomer, presenting as an omega at 10 years old. After being born from an alpha and a beta, it wasn't expected, and Enji had made sure he knew that. Touya had been an alpha, Fuyumi and Natsuo were both betas, and then there was Shouto. An omega despite being raised to be the next number one.
It wasn't like there weren't omegan heroes. Ms. Joke and Kamui Woods were both sought-after omegas, and even if there was some unkind words spoken from a small amount of the general public, they're still seen as some of the best heroes the modern age has ever seen before. The thing was, heroes who were widely known as alphas were usually given more out-right respect, an example being Shouto's own father.
Enji Todoroki had been fuming when his son presented as an omega, thoroughly disappointed and willing to make that known to the young boy. Shouto hated his secondary-gender ever since.
He had been taught to wear scent blockers on each and every gland present on his body, and the only time he ever really took them off was when he showered. His father complained about the house stinking of weakness whenever he would remove them to sleep, so he didn't take them off then either.
He had never nested, or gotten a heat besides the false one when he presented, or even really scented his family. Fuyumi had let them touch bare wrists once, and Enji had punished him with a back-handed slap across the face, rambling something about how none of his siblings should be smelling like his god-awful omega stench. Everyone started wearing blockers around after that except for Enji. Shouto had gone so long ignoring and hiding his own scent that he had honestly forgotten what he did smell like sometimes.
Things were... different when he moved in to the UA dorms.
His class had all come to the school with scent blockers and suppressants, but after several villain attacks and more than enough bonding time during the breaks they got to recover, they started to act more natural around each other.
Since it had already been a bit late into the year when they moved into the dorms, everyone was already growing comfortable in their new friendships, and everyone could at least tolerate and respect each other. Shouto's shock had started the first week after everyone settled into Height's Alliance.
Shouto had just finished doing his laundry, and was quickly realizing he was rather hungry. Cleaning his room hadn't been that hard of a job, but he hadn't eaten since lunch, and was craving a snack before dinner.
So, he had ventured out of his room and to the kitchen, but paused in the entry way to the living room before he could get there. His nose scrunched up slightly as he took a whiff of the air, and sure enough, he wasn't going crazy. Something smelled.
At first, he thought it might be one of Satou's treats, but that didn't really make sense. Nobody would be cooking dessert before dinner. The smell reminded Shouto of a bakery, like a fresh loaf of bread had just come out of the oven, but that wasn't exactly it. It also carried a slight floral hint, and he though he might have even picked up on a bit of apple too. What was that?
Shouto took a step into the living room and found Uraraka sitting in front of the couch, Asui behind her braiding her hair into some intricate style that he thought Fuyumi might have liked. His thoughts were became a bit more scrambled when another—this time less noticeable—smell hit him. Rain, something kind of salty, maybe mint as well. Had somebody lit candles or something? A quick glance around the living room had his theory disproven, and he was snapped out of his confusion when he heard Uraraka's voice call out to him.
"Todoroki! What's up? Me and Tsu were just catching up on this series we like. Want to join?"
He blinked at the girl a few times, eyes flickering over to the television that was playing a reality show, before his gaze landed back on the two who were now both looking at him.
"Oh, no thank you, I just came down to grab a snack. Do you smell that?"
Shouto asked, shifting in his spot when Uraraka sniffed the air for a second. She gave him an awkward smile, and a small furrow of her eyebrows.
"Uhm, I don't think so. Sorry! What are you smelling, exactly..?"
He sniffed the air again, and he thought the smell might have changed slightly, but it wasn't noticeable enough to fully pick up on.
"Bread, I think? But also some type of fruit or flower. And something minty I think. I'm not sure. I may just be starting to get sick since it's getting colder out now."
Shouto explained, instinctively swiping his nose with the back of his hand even though he didn't feel any different. He didn't feel ill at all, actually.
The next look Uraraka gave him was confused, but then her eyes widened in time with Asui's and they both took a glance at each other before beginning to giggle. He felt his cheeks warm slightly from embarrassment. Had he said something weird? Something wrong? What—
Asui spoke up before he could mentally spiral much farther.
"I think you can just smell us, Todoroki. Most of the class decided to stop wearing scent blockers since we all found it a bit weird to be wearing them around the dorms, especially since we're all pretty comfortable with each other now. If you're uncomfortable with it then I wouldn't mind putting mine back on, but we thought it was about time we all familiarized each other with our scents now so any cycles that happen at the dorms won't be as stressful."
Uraraka perked up after.
"Yeah! I also wouldn't mind putting mine back on if you need, Todoroki."
Shouto stared at the two girls with a blank expression, but his mind was running fast. It made sense in reality, but the idea of being so normal about scents was such a foreign concept to him. He had learned to keep his emotions under control so his own pheromones wouldn't bleed through his blockers, and seeing two of his classmates being so open about their smell in such a public space like the living room made Todoroki almost confused. He wasn't sure why—even if his father hadn't taught him really anything about omegas, he had begun to learn things from friends in school over the years, so he had enough knowledge to understand what was happening, just not the experience to find it normal in his book.
"Oh. It's fine. Thank you, both of you."
He gave a small, quick bow, before turning back to the stairs and stiffly walking back to his room. He didn't think about the fact that he had completely forgotten the snack he had gone downstairs for. He had to process that his classmates—almost all of them, based on what Asui said—found this normal.
Shouto had decompressed in his room after that, staring down at his own scent blockers with burning eyes. He didn't have any problem with his friends sharing their scents, it was just—
Maybe he was upset that he felt the way he did about something like this. Upset about the fact that his father had convinced him omega's were unfit to be heroes, upset that he had made him ignore such a big part of himself all this time, upset about the fact that he couldn't just be a normal person like his classmates.
Shouto took a long shower after tearing off his blockers, trying to ignore how his scent was sour with distaste.
Over the next weeks, Shouto began to pick up on more of his friends scents, and it started to become a bit more normal to him.
Midoriya smelled stronger than both Uraraka and Asui together, a combination of honey and melon, and something that distantly reminded Todoroki of old books. It wasn't surprising: many said that omegas could smell alphas better and vice versa, which checked out since Midoriya had bloomed late as an alpha over summer break. Iida—also an alpha, but that fact had been known since Shouto first met him—was mainly coconut, but also an after thought of cedar wood. Jirou—being a beta, her scent was less strong than everyone else's—was basically all macadamia nuts and figs. Uraraka had been the source of the bread and fruit smell, and Asui had been the rainy mint.
Even if he was starting to get familiar with his classmates scents, he still never took off his blockers. Letting others smell him felt vulnerable in a way that he didn't feel often, if ever. Sure, he wanted to be a part of whatever his class had going on, but the idea of people being able to know how he was feeling from a single whiff scared him more than he would admit. The thought of letting himself relax enough to do anything like an omega—scenting, nesting, biting—was also a bit stressful, but he was becoming less opposed to the idea.
It was dinner time, and it was a Friday, which meant Mina had scheduled a movie night, and she was expecting the entire class to show up. It wasn't the first time they had all hung out together, it was usually just not in a small, indoor place. Shouto couldn't help but stress himself out for some reason. He was never really exposed to a lot of peoples scents when he was younger. The only scent in his house was usually his fathers, and the private middle school he went to required scent blockers on campus. He never brought friends home to hang out, and never visited other peoples house, so getting used to all of the new scents in the dorm was definitely making his brain go a bit haywire.
After everyone ate dinner—Bakugou had made hibachi, which was actually really good considering Shouto's diet mainly consisted of soba—people began to huddle in the living room, flopping onto couches and bringing blankets onto the floor to set up makeshift cots. He stared at the scene unfolding from the entry way, his nose catching on each and every person's scents. There were some that were more overpowering than others—Midoriya's, for example, who was currently muttering under his breath while shifting the blankets and pillows around on the floor—but the entire thing was such... pack behavior. Shouto nearly had a physical reaction at the thought. The "pack" he grew up in, if he could even call his family that, did nothing like this. No scenting, no rough-housing like younger pups usually did, no playful biting. None of it. His omega craved to be apart of a real, trusting pack, but his rational brain told him that he didn't need to bother people by acting all needy.
Shouto blinked himself out of his trance when he felt someone brush past him, the scent of a certain blonde hitting his nose like a missile.
Bakugou hadn't started removing his blockers in the dorms until recently, and every time Todoroki caught a whiff, his brain went blank.
Burnt caramel, smoke, a hint of orange in there somewhere. Shouto's shoulders visibly dropped their tension, and he wasn't exactly sure why.
He observed the group for another few seconds, watching Bakugou grumble something as he flopped down on to one of the piles of blankets. Shouto's feet were moving before he was really fully thinking about it.
He carefully stepped over a few of his classmates, ending up in the spot besides the fiery blonde as he sat down and pulled a blanket up to his chest. Everything smelt familiar, comforting even. His pa-classmates were with him, he was curled up in someone's blanket—one of Mina's, he assumed from the gingery bamboo smell—and he was fairly comfortable in the pile of sheets and pillows surrounding him.
"Why the hell are you sitting next to me, Icy-Hot?"
Shouto perked up at the voice beside him. Bakugou was facing him, his usual scowl sitting on his face. He gave a quick glance around the room before replying.
"There's nowhere else to sit."
He was monotone, but something had turned sour in his gut. He knew that this was just how Bakugou acted with everyone—usually quite harsh and blunt—but for some reason, something settled wrong with Todoroki. His normal calm expression was replaced by slightly furrowed eyebrows and a small frown, and he wasn't sure why he was getting upset in the first place.
Bakugou stared at him with a glare for a few more moments before grumbling and turning back to the tv, crossing his arms over his chest. Shouto could have sworn his scent shifted slightly, and while he wasn't sure what had changed or why it had in the first place, he somehow knew that the boy wasn't mad at him, and that clarity relaxed him back into his cozy state.
It wasn't like Shouto didn't know that scents changed with emotions. He knew that very well. He could smell the charred dark chocolate in his fathers scent increase by ten fold when he got angry. He knew Fuyumi's scent shifted completely from blackberry to something akin to rubber when she was scared. Natsuo's fresh ink smelt like iron when he was upset.
If Bakugou's scent had changed to calm him down, then he would know that. It wouldn't be just some random thing that went over Shouto's head. Sure, he didn't really know what a scent smelt like when it was used as a soothing technique, but he was sure it wasn't what the blonde boy next to him had just done. Maybe he had just released more pheromones on accident, something instinctive he did when he relaxed. Maybe. Probably.
The movie started, and Shouto couldn't really focus on what was happening. He saw Kaminari and Mina cuddling like the best friends they were, and just as he was about to look away, he saw it. Mina brought her wrist down and gently rubbed her scent gland over Kaminari's, to which the boy reciprocated by brushing their cheeks together with a little chuckle. He caught on to both of their scents growing a bit sweeter despite both being beta's, and suddenly felt like something was itching under his skin, on his wrist and neck, under his blockers.
Scenting had never been apart of Shouto's life. Not with family, not friends, and definitely not trusted adults since he didn't really have any of those for a large portion of his childhood. He had heard of people scenting, seen it in real life, and despite it being a common thing, he hadn't done it besides once with his sister when he was young, and maybe when he was a baby with his mother. His father hated his smell, so he never came close to his scent glands, and his siblings tried their best, but there was only so much they could try to do without being caught. Shouto had never bitten anybody—not in a friend way, and definitely not in a mating way—and he had also never been bitten himself. After suppressing his natural urges for so long, they didn't make much of an appearance nowadays, but after watching Mina and Kaminari do it so casually—
"Uhm, Todoroki, are you okay?"
Shouto looked over to the voice sitting a few feet away from him. Midoriya. The boy looked a bit worried, and the melon in his scent was more tart now, nearly sour.
"What?"
"Well, I was asking if you were okay, because..."
His voice trailed off, and one glance around the room made Shouto very aware of how many people were looking at him now. He blinked at Midoriya once, twice, before abruptly standing. He felt tired. It was also oddly warm in here. His clothes felt stuffy, and his glands felt itchy under their blockers.
Shouto left without another word, not really catching what Midoriya said as he walked away. He was back in his dorm before he knew it, and he felt something twisting deep in his heart, his eyes suddenly stinging. When he felt something warm trail down his cheek and brought his hand up to wipe it away, he found a clear liquid. Tears. He was crying. Why was he crying? Why did his room feel so incorrect all of a sudden?
He moved without thinking about it. He tore off his scent blockers and tossed them onto the floor, not even bothering to get them into the trash can. The dorms were all sound proof and sealed tight so no scent could escape, so he didn't have to worry about wearing his blockers unless he was going out. Next, he found himself digging through his laundry basket, practically nose deep into the dirty clothes. He ended up with a shirt that Midoriya had let him borrow when he forgot his before training, one of his own hoodies—it was light, but that felt like what he needed with how warm it suddenly was—and a pair of sweatpants Bakugou had begrudgingly given him on laundry day when he didn't have anything else to wear.
Shouto moved to his bed and deposited the three pieces of clothing, a sob trying to build in his chest for some reason. This didn't feel right. What was he even doing? Why was he crying? Why—
Three sharp knocks at his door made him flinch hard. He wiped his eyes off with the back of his hand, using his right side to cool his under-eyes so they didn't look puffy, and then walking over to the door on shaky legs. He didn't even thinking about the fact that he wasn't wearing his blockers anymore. His thoughts were so scrambled right now.
When he opened the door, he was greeted with spiky blonde hair and a familiar aroma that made him forget what he had just been doing, that made him lose his already wrecked train of thought. Burnt caramel. Smoke. Oranges. Bakugou.
"Yes, Bak—"
Shouto cut himself off when the boy brought a hand up to cover his nose and gripped onto the wooden frame of the doorway so hard it looked like the material might splinter under his grip. Why was he covering—
He suddenly became very aware of why Bakugou was covering his nose. He had become nose blind to his own scent for the most part—like many people do—but even he could smell it now. Vanilla, raspberry, a little bit of cherry. All of the scents that clearly distinguished him as an omega. He was releasing so much of his god-awful scent that he thought he might choke on it. He didn't even want to think of how strong it must have been to the blonde alpha in front of him.
"Sorry, Bakugou, I'm—"
"Are you about to go into heat? I need to fucking tell Aizawa if you are."
Shouto's world stopped.
On any other day, he would have said no. He hadn't ever had a heat besides the false one from presenting. He thought it was normal, that everyone's cycles were weirdly delayed when they were still a teenager, but when he had heard about nearly all of his friends having regular heats and ruts—once every three months was usually what people averaged at—he figured he was just behind because he presented early and his body didn't think he was ready for it yet. After almost six years without one though, he thought he may have just been defective or something after coming from an entire family of alphas and betas
Now that Bakugou was asking, and after all of the random behaviors and emotional out bursts that had just happened, he wasn't sure how to answer that question.
"I..."
Shouto stared at the male with slightly wider eyes than normal, and something in his scent must have shown his weariness and confusion, because Bakugou let out a long sigh after uncovering his nose.
"Have you taken suppressants?"
He gave a nod. He had been taking them since he was 11. He watched Bakugou sniff the air, and that same change happened in his scent again, the one that had Shouto nearly forgetting he had a brain at all and had his own scent pushing more towards the sweet vanilla undertone for some reason.
Bakugou stared at him for a few moments with a tight expression before glancing down the hallway, then back at Shouto, before letting out a small huff.
"I'm going to tell Aizawa and get some shit from the others. You just—"
He vaguely gestured to the inside of his room before hurriedly walking away. Shouto stood there staring at the blonde as he walked, away something deep within him telling him to ask for him to stay, but a much larger part of him saying that was stupid since he would be right back.
He closed his door before looking back at his bed, his heart twisting again at seeing the sparse items there. He wanted to go to bed, but he also felt like he had to keep moving, but he also just wanted his mind to stop running in circles. Shouto travelled over to his closet without much thought, dumping a mound of sheets and blankets onto his bed that he wasn't even really sure why he grabbed in the first place. His brain was so scrambled, and the added foggy effect that was making itself known was not helping.
Shouto began rearranging the items onto his bed, feeling a few tears slip down his face and a new round of sobs trying to build in his chest again. Why was he crying again? What was happening to him? He wanted to curl up in a ball. He also wanted to cool down. It was so damn hot in here.
He tugged off his pants and threw them in his hamper, grabbing a pair of loose gym shorts from his dresser and putting those on instead. In all reality he wanted to stay in just his boxers to cool off better, but he knew Bakugou had said he was going to go do something and then come back. What was he going to do? Why did he leave? Why didn't Bakugou stay with him? Was his scent that repelling—
A series of knocks broke him out of his hundredth trance of the day, but they were softer this time, more controlled compared to the near pounding from earlier. Shouto wiped away his tears before cracking the door open slightly, being met with the face of his tired teacher and Bakugou standing behind him with a pile of various clothing items, as well as what he assumed was a blanket or two. At least Bakugou was back now.
"From what Bakugou told me, you're about to go into heat."
Aizawa didn't phrase it as a question. Shouto blinked at his teacher a few times before shrugging, his mind suddenly too crowded with fog to process words correctly. The older man sighed deeply as he rubbed his temples, but the faint scent of charcoal he produced even through his blockers didn't change to one of annoyance or anger.
"Is this your first heat, kid?"
He stared at Aizawa with raised eyebrows. Shouto racked his scattered brain for signs of heat in an omega. Excessive warmth was something he saw online. Nesting out of comforting materials, but he hadn't really—
He took a small glance back at his bed that was sparsely covered in various types of bedding, as well as the two things with scents besides his own that he could find. Scents of people he trusted. Oh. Oh. Shouto hadn't thought about it that way, but technically he was creating a textbook nest, even if he didn't exactly have all of the materials for it.
His gaze landed back on Bakugou, and he was quickly realizing what the items from his classmates were for. Mina's sweater, Hagakure's shirt, one of Sero's ridiculous shark stuffed animals that he kept at the head of his bed. As his eyes racked the pile of things, he saw something from each and every one of his classmates, even Shinsou. And was that one of Aizawa's spare scarfs—
"Kid. Did you hear me?"
Shouto's attention shot back up to Aizawa, and he paused for a moment, trying to recall what he had been asked. Oh. Right. Was this his first heat? Maybe. Yeah. Okay, yeah, this was his first heat.
He gave a small nod, and watched his teacher take a long breath. Panic shot through Shouto so quickly that his scent must have turned sour, because Aizawa's eyes widened slightly before he reached out and placed a grounding hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, I'm not upset, okay? I need you to listen to me though."
Shouto took a deep breath before giving another nod. He could listen.
"I need to know who you want with you. I'll still be here to check up on you, or if you need me, but someone will have to stay with you the entire time so they can call me if anything happens."
Aizawa explained carefully, talking a bit slower than normal as if he was speaking to a child. Normally, that would have really irked Shouto, but right now, he didn't mind as much since his brain was so clouded with fog it was hard to process his own thoughts.
He managed to fully understand what he was being asked a few moments after his teacher finished speaking, and he didn't even think before pointing behind him towards the boy that was still holding all of the things for his nest. Bakugou's scent made him feel so safe that he couldn't imagine being with somebody else for such a stressful time. Even if the blonde came off harsh sometimes, he had seen his true character peek out enough times that he was sure in his decision. If he was anywhere in his right mind, he would have been absolutely mortified at seeing how honest he was being, but he was slipping into a part of himself that he hadn't been allowed to express ever since he had presented.
Aizawa took a glance back at Bakugou, and Shouto swore he saw the blondes ears turn red. He knew he smelt his scent sweeten slightly though, so that had to be a good sign. After a brief conversation between Bakugou and Aizawa that he didn't really have the brain power to process in his current state, his teacher turned back to him with a slightly more awake expression.
"I'll be back to check in on you both before you go to sleep, and in the morning before classes. You're both excused until your heat passes."
Aizawa stared at him for a second or two before reaching down for his wrist and removing the scent blocker there. He brought his now bare wrist up and gently rubbed it against the scent gland on Shouto's neck, ruffling his hair as he pulled his hand away.
"Both of you get rest, and you make sure you keep him energized and fed, Bakugou."
And with that, his teacher walked away, leaving Shouto standing there in a state of momentary confusion. His entire class had begun to see Aizawa as a parental figure after about the second villain attack—Shouto included—he just hadn't been expecting him to be willing to scent him, to claim him as part of whatever type of pack their class had going on. He wasn't upset—he couldn't be upset after being scented by an adult he trusted for the first time in nearly a decade—but tears still welled up in his eyes somehow. He was grateful. His omega was happy to be claimed as part of a real, true pack by the leader himself.
He was snapped out of his hazy state for just a moment when Bakugou walked past him to set the mound of items down on the bed, stretching his arms out with a small huff. Shouto pressed the door behind him closed when he took a step back inside, staring at the mountain of various clothes, bedding, and other miscellaneous items. His omega was absolutely joyous at the sight, but he still itched to make it all into a proper nest so he could rest, and not just flop down and fall asleep right then and there.
Shouto scurried over to the pile and began carefully picking and choosing items, setting them up into an oval shape around the edge of his bed. The only reason he remembered Bakugou was there was because of his scent, but even that became a background hum as he made his nest.
It had been about ten or fifteen minutes by the time he decided the place of every item, and he ended up with a sight that nearly made him jump with joy. Each blanket had been laid down to create a sort of base for the entire thing, but Kirishima's and Mina's bedding that they had offered had ended up being used as a frame for the tall edges. It was nice, and in Shouto's heat and instinct ridden brain, he decided that it was the best thing he had ever made.
The pang of orange that caught his nose made him turn his head to find Bakugou sitting at his desk, scrolling on his phone as if Shouto wasn't about to go through his first heat. Realistically, Shouto knew it was out of respect for his privacy since he hadn't really outwardly expressed his feelings about any of this type of stuff, but his omega screamed that he was being ignored.
The raspberry smell in his scent shifted to something more sour, causing Bakugou to look up from his phone, to which he promptly stood up and walked over. The vanilla overtook his pheromones again, but the sharp tang of the fruit still peeked through when silence filled the space instead of immediate praise for his nest, for his amazing creation. Did Bakugou not like it? Should he change something?—
"It looks good, Icy-Hot."
The blonde reassured in a gruff tone, as if he knew what he had been thinking, which instantly had Shouto's scent peaking with that same vanilla scent, this time having a twinge of cherry lacing through it. Bakugou liked it. That was good.
Shouto hummed in content before crawling into the nest, nearly melting into the comforting surfaces around him. He had one of Ojiro's shirts to his left, and on top of it was a blazer from Fumikage. To his right there was one of Mina's blankets, as well as a sweater of hers, and a hoodie from Kaminari. The top of the oval—where his head laid—was mainly things from Bakugou. A shirt, the sweatpants that had already been in his laundry, and a hoodie to top it off. He was surrounded by the scents of people he trusted, his friends, his pack.
He pulled himself out of his little haze, turning his attention back to Bakugou and looking at him expectantly. He wanted him in his nest. He wanted to get that calming scent right from the source. He wanted... he wanted to scent him.
Bakugou looked from Shouto, to the nest, then back to him, raising an eyebrow as he took a small step forward. Shouto didn't make any moves to stop him, instead pushing himself back a bit against the top of the nest so the blonde would have room.
A sound rumbled in his chest, something close to a purr, but unpracticed enough that it could have been mistaken for a low growl if it wasn't for the steady stream of vanilla leaking from his scent glands.
Shouto sniffed the air around the boy sitting next to him once he crawled beside him, his instincts screaming at him to scent him, to get that burnt caramel smell all over his nest, but the little part of his normal brain that he could access was still weary, scared that Bakugou didn't want to be here at all. He felt his body warm a bit more before a sharp pain cut through his gut, making some of the fog in his mind disperse as he curled in on himself and whined. He had heard that heats were painful, that it was easier with the scent of others that you trusted, but the first person Shouto had scented in years had been Aizawa a few minutes ago, so he didn't exactly have the help of close bonds with his friends to help him.
He paused when he felt a hand lift his chin up, and fully froze when at the feeling of another gland rubbing over the one on the right side of his neck. The one on Bakugou's wrist to be exact. Oh.
His scent turned sweeter than it had all night as he let out another purr-like sound, leaning into the blondes touch. He didn't even have to ask. Bakugou knew. He knew and Shouto felt so understood, so safe. His instincts were taking over more now, clouding his brain in fog in a much more pleasant way than previously. He was letting his body be natural, letting himself finally calm down and stop trying to ignore the omegan part of him. He was safe. He was cared for.
The next few days passed by in a blur. By the time he had come to his senses, it was Monday night, which meant three entire days had passed.
Small bits and pieces of his memory came back, but they were all in quick flashes. He knew that he had scented Bakugou for so long that he couldn't even tell where the boy's smell hadn't been in the first place, and he knew that the same blonde had their classmates drop off meals for him since apparently Shouto wouldn't let him leave the nest for more than 5 minutes. Aizawa came to check on them every few hours, and Shouto had scented him each time before he left if he wasn't asleep. He had done the same thing to all of his classmates each time they came by, but he had spent the majority of his heat eating, sleeping, and taking more pain and fever medications.
He felt more awake than he had in weeks when he woke up after the three days. Shouto was a bit disoriented at first—reasonably so since he had gotten such a high fever he could hardly will his body to move during the peak of his heat—but things became more clear when he felt a grounding arm wrapped around his waist, the other under him and around his chest. He had just had his first heat. Wow.
Shouto blinked himself awake when he remembered that somebody was holding him, not even having to turn around to know who it was. Burnt caramel. Oranges. The smokey smell had drifted away mainly, and Shouto's omega was more than pleased to sniff out his own scent mingling with Bakugou's.
The pleasant hum still radiating under his skin was quickly replaced by a sharp pang of nervousness when he actually took a moment to clear his mind and think. Nothing bad happened during his heat—in fact, he felt more safe and cared for than he ever had before, it was just—
He had scented almost all of his friends for the first time. He had gotten his first heat. His father was going to be absolutely disgusted if the school told—
A sweeter drift of a familiar orange smell drifted towards him, and before he knew it, Bakugou's head was over his shoulder, their necks pressing together in a more gentle way of scenting. A wave of calm racked over him, a small sigh escaping him as he relaxed into the firm body behind him. He was still scared of what his old man would think when he heard about this, but that thought was slipping away as he inhaled more of that delicious scent, the one that made him feel boneless. He was okay. He was safe. It was all fine, because Bakugou was there to help him, to take care of him.
It wasn't until Aizawa came to check on them next that they both finally crawled out of the nest. Shouto had gone to taken a shower, but not before Bakugou and Aizawa scented him one last time before they both left for a bit. He needed to rinse off the awful feeling of three days of dried sweat and tears, because apparently he had also cried several times at some point.
After his long, hot shower, he dried off and pulled on one of Bakugou's hoodies that had been in the nest, his omega brain still feeling the need to be surrounded by his scent despite his heat mainly being over with. He paused as he slid on his house slippers, bringing a hand up to the side of his neck to feel his scent gland, and instead finding small indents in the skin around it. Shouto rushed back into the bathroom, flicking on the light and leaning over to look in the mirror closely.
Lining the column of his throat was overlapping bite marks, some surface level, but one or two digging hard enough that they were scabbing over. Oh. Bakugou had bitten him. An flashback pushed into his mind as he tried to remember when this had even happened, and he distantly remembered biting the blonde first, and then barring his neck in return.
Biting wasn't inherently a romantic or sexual thing. Scent bites were different from mating bites in many ways. For pack mates, scent biting was seen as a stronger form of scenting, something meant to last longer, to show a deeper bond than just a temporary scent mark. Pack leaders—and head alphas—often bit their omega's, and even other alphas to prove that they were in charge, that they could be trusted, but omega's also bit their pack to show closeness, especially during heats. His omega sung at the sight, and he suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to go hunt Bakugou down to see if his were still visible.
Shouto stepped out of his dorm after a few more seconds of staring at the bite marks, not even thinking about putting his scent blockers on. Even if his heat was mainly over, his instincts were still clouding his mind a bit, plus he knew all of his classmates had already smelt him when they came to drop off things.
He smelt something cooking in the kitchen as he walked down the stairs, but he also picked up on that same scent he had grown to chase after. It was less sweet than before, less sugary than what was left on the hoodie than he was wearing, but it was still so thoroughly Bakugou that Shouto didn't think twice about it.
He peaked his head into the kitchen and found the blonde stirring a pot of noodles, Shouto's stomach growling as he realized what it was. Soba. There was also beef simmering in the pan beside it, but he was mainly drawn to the fact that Bakugou was cooking his favorite meal for him, taking care of him even after his heat. Vanilla permeated the air at the thought.
Bakugou's head turned when he sniffed the air for a moment, and his usual scowl softened ever so slightly when he saw Shouto walking up to him. The blondes eyes flickered down to the hoodie he was wearing, but he turned back to the noodles after a moment to make sure they weren't sticking together.
"Bakug—"
"You can use my damn first name, Icy-Hot."
Shouto stared at him in a state of momentary shock before his eyes travelled down to the boy's neck, finding smaller bite marks than the ones that he himself was currently adorning. They were still there. Bak—Katsuki smelled like him. Everyone was going to know, was going to see that Shouto was well taken care of, that he was safe and cared for by an alpha. His chest rumbled with a quiet purr as he stepped closer and placed his head on Katsuki's shoulder, his cheek brushing up against the blondes' from behind. Shouto was more than content. He was happy. He felt safe to let his omega naturally come out for the first time in years—really more like ever.
"You can use mine as well."
He hummed, a little smile coming up to his lips when he smelt Katsuki's scent turn a bit sweeter.
Shouto spent the next 20 minutes or so sitting on the island counter after Katsuki said that he needed space to cook—which realistically shouldn't have hurt his feelings at all, but his instinct ridden brain was still a bit hurt—and once dinner was ready, he sat down in the living room with everyone else to eat. Midoriya had asked if he was feeling better now, to which he had nodded, mouth too full with food to properly answer. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until he started eating, and he cleared nearly two large bowls of noodles and beef before finally feeling full. His heat had really drained a lot of energy out of him, especially since he hadn't been able to eat all of his food during it when his stomach cramps got too bad to the point where he was nauseas.
He promptly scented each of his classmates once he put his bowl in the sink, his omega more than pleased, causing a steady purr to emit from him when he finally plopped down onto the end of the couch, leaning on the arm rest. Katsuki came to sit beside him after he did the dishes, and Shouto was rubbing their cheeks together before he even had a second to get comfortable.
Shouto may not have been raised to be an omega, but he was learning now that this wasn't so bad, in fact, this was everything he didn't even know he craved. He understood why people scented each other, and why his classmates had all started taking off their blockers in the first place. For the first time since he had become conscious, Shouto felt like he belonged to a true, trusting, caring pack, and he was more than delighted.