"Fuck off!"

And now he's running away again.

Oh he's in so much trouble.

    "So it was the two of you in the storeroom last week," confirms Subaru.

"Yep."

    "And he dragged you over to meet his parents."

"Mmhm."

    "So that whole thing about not fucking omegas..."

He looks away. "I don't have an excuse."

    Sigh. "You're not superhuman, Tōkan. He wasn't using suppressants and you were locked in a room with him. And he clearly wanted it."

"Doesn't this sound like bullshit to you? I couldn't help myself? He wanted it? Like I'm some base animal, like we didn't evolve a goddamn frontal lobe just for shit like this."

    "Very enlightened of you, and also in complete denial of reality."

"I hate it."

    "But you like him."

"What?"

    "Maybe it started with pheromones but it's not just that anymore, is it? So you fall right into his trap."

"Subaru."

    "I'm just saying, it's very convenient that this public school omega with pheromone levels off the charts can't take suppressants and then runs into the heir of the Kokonoe family—"

"We were the ones who came after him."

    "So he's opportunistic. He's got a kink, he's waiting for an alpha strong enough to take him and impregnate him—"

"Subaru!"

    "Just look out for yourself, okay? I don't want to see you hurt."

"...maybe I should take you to meet him."

    "What?"

"Look, you're making a bunch of assumptions. And don't pretend to me there isn't sexism right there, you think an omega wouldn't be good enough for me. Well, whatever, I'm not monogamous anyway. But you should meet him before projecting all those prejudices onto him."

    "...maybe."

"No maybe. I'm making you do it."

    "Now you're flirting."

"I'm always flirting."

Dumb, shitty alpha. Why is he going and doing dumb stuff like that? Why did he kiss Inori? He said he fucked Inori because he lost to pheromones but then here he is just doing that when Inori isn't even in heat.

...and why didn't Inori hate it? Why didn't he hate the sex either? He... meant it... when he said he'd have killed that dumbass alpha if he hadn't liked it. Which means he liked it. Is that just how it goes, you get so lost in heat that when an alpha dicks you down you love every second of it, even the pain?

That doesn't explain the kiss, though.

The kiss was... nice.

Shit! Why is he getting in heat again! Come on why does this keep happening he hates being an omega so fucking much—an image flashes in his mind and he was on his way to Kokonoe High anyway so maybe—he reaches down for the pipe he just dropped—

    "Thought I smelled something nice. There's an omega here," says an alpha with a smirk on his face.

        "You okay, luv?" asks his friend. "This your first heat?"

        "Oh, that's a sharp glare!" he adds when Inori looks up at him.

"I'm going to fucking k—"

But that image appears in his head again, of that night with Tōkan, when he was in heat and—and Tōkan said his name—

    "It's dangerous to carry stuff like this around," says the first one, kicking the pipe away.

"A-asshole!"

        "Can you stand?" asks the second one in mock concern, lifting Inori up by the arms and keeping him in a headlock.

I want an alpha. The thought comes unbidden and his whole body flushes with desire. I want one. ...but not these two.

    "My place is nearby. How about I take you home?"

But the next second Tōkan is punching that one hard enough to knock him off his feet.

"Thought I smelled you." He looks at the one still holding Inori up. "What have we here, then?"

        "Who the fuck are you! We'll kick your ass!"

Tōkan casually reaches down for the pipe and starts twirling it in his hand with some ease. "You wanna go?"

"Then let's fucking go."

...

That one. I want that one.

    "N-no, we just—"

        "He seemed sick and—"

But both of them decide at the same time that finishing their sentences is not the best idea and they take off faster than you can say "alpha".

Tōkan watches them run then relaxes for a moment and walks up to Inori. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you? Damn you Inori, I thought—what happened to your fighting spirit?"

...no.

He passes out, slumping right into Tōkan's arms.

"—wh—Inori? Are you okay? Inori?!"

Tōkan's place is closer than Inori's, and his father won't be home tonight anyway so whatever. He pulls Inori's mask down to make sure he's going to be breathing properly, then...

...well, first, he stabs himself with a tolerant as soon as he manages to gently place Inori on the couch, but then he goes to the kitchen to grab some water for him. "Why were you even in that park," Tōkan grumbles. "It's nowhere near your house or school..."

"...was headed to your school," he mumbles without opening his eyes.

"—you're awake. Here," and he offers Inori a glass of water, but it's just like offering a wall one for all the reaction it gets. "...why were you coming to Kokonoe High today?" He hadn't even been there, he and Subaru skipped class today and just fucked around most of the day.

"I don't... understand why... you kissed me..." He opens his eyes, notices the glass of water, then carefully takes it. "It was confusing and pissing me off. I wanted to hit you until you explained."

He shivers, then, and nearly drops the water, so he decides to drink the whole glass all at once and put it down before he does that.

"—hey, Inori. It's okay. They're gone. You're safe."

Inori pulls his feet onto the sofa and hugs his legs then shoots Tōkan a glare. "It's all your fault."

"...what?"

Also holy shit it was a great idea to open the windows and turn the ceiling fan on, even now the pheromones are already making him sweat. He is not sitting next to Inori, he'll lock himself in the bathroom if he needs to.

"It's your..." Shiver. "Fucking fault."