"Is it true?"

"Yes."

     "What are the charges?"

"Unprovoked assault, multiple instances."

    "Doesn't it count as a valid defence against an alpha trying to rape someone?"

"Hōji is trying to say there was no attempted rape at all and Inori just beat up a bunch of people unprovoked."

    Ishiyo stares at him like he grew a second head. "You're joking? Who the fuck would believe that?"

        "Who the fuck even believes that a scrawny omega could beat a bunch of alphas up like that in the first place?" counters Naoko.

    "Well, I mean, that part is just true."

        "Yeah but anyone who knows that part is true also knows who Yamada is. You can either have no idea who he is and not believe he did it at all or you can believe he did it and know it was in self-defence or defence of others, so the line these people are trying to draw makes no sense."

The "miasma" (as Tōkan called it) of the previous day seems to have pretty promptly gotten inverted: everyone wants to know the hot goss and Yamada's boyfriend is the most likely source of an explanation. Subaru, Naoko, and Tamiki are helping Tōkan field the questions, and he's feeling loved again.

This is much more his vibe, now that the full picture makes sense in his head again he feels like he knows which strings he needs to pull to get what he wants. So here's how it'll go.

The miasma effect, as far as he's been able to piece together, came from an implicit threat that Hōji and her cronies were making which was sort of backed by their families. His father got Hōji and Karato to bring Inori to the attention of their parents last week, and pulled some strings to make lots of prominent families aware of him in a way they hadn't been before, and the combined pressures meant most people were terrified of what looked like something weird happening around Tōkan.

Inori being detained changes things, though, in that the braver kids are curious enough to ask, and Tōkan tells them just enough that it will pique others' curiosity in a sort of cascade effect, shifting the social consensus curves. And he doesn't tell anyone about Ōta & Ōta being on the case explicitly but he got the rumour to start circulating so that people are speculating madly about it.

Most importantly, the stakes become both more and less personal: on the one hand, Inori being detained makes it become Serious Business rather than just high school popularity stuff, it grounds the discourse; and on the other hand Tōkan now is an insider source on something that will absolutely make the news, which is exciting.

It's a bit more complicated than just that. He has to finesse things, discredit people in ways that won't make his audience just think he's butthurt about Hōji, play enough sympathy cards about how absurd the whole thing is while still being confident that it will blow over and the ones who will end up humiliated will not be Tōkan and Inori.

His father is trying to indirectly play the popularity game against him, make people not want to associate with him because he's embarrassing and involved in shady shit, but he's just... not sufficiently Slytherin to pull it off.

It's exhausting work, though, and after lunch Tōkan finds himself with Subaru on the rooftop again. He's not smoking this time, but Subaru is.

"And to think we used to hang out here with Hōji and Karato."

"I think they've been avoiding here like the plague. It's always been your spot, you're the cool kid who hangs out on the rooftop like some anime boy and everyone else is just hanging out with you."

"I had kinda hoped I'd have managed to go through high school without picking up any enemies. Leave that for when we're adults, you know."

"You did straddle the line alright, I guess."

"...but given the way I believe a large fraction of our peers are unrepentant rapists and that's bad it was inevitable?"

"Yeah. I told you, people didn't really believe you meant it."

"Fuck 'em."

"So... how did it go with Inori yesterday? And what's next?"

"Ōta Kaiyō-san was very reassuring about our prospects, really. Depending on how willing Hirune is to pour money down the drain this can drag out for nearly a month but he and his wife sounded pretty confident that there isn't a case here."

Subaru looks at him from the corner of his eyes and exhales a long puff of smoke. "But you know it's not Hirune behind this."

"I do," he agrees easily. "The thing with Dai was very heavy-handed."

"Dai?"

"Oh, did you not see? My father brought my cousin to the inauguration of his new hotel yesterday and had him cut the tape."

"...wow that is heavy-handed. I'd have thought he'd be more subtle than that."

"He doesn't have a single subtle bone in his body. Kinda banking on that to help with the investigation."

"How?"

"If I could catch him saying it was him, and record it, it would be over."

"...do you think he's that unsubtle?"

"Well, no, but I just need him to admit to enough that it will scare away all prosecutors rather than just ninety-nine percent of them. Or even just enough that if it gets out it will fuck with his image."

"Mm. You got a plan for that?"

"Half of one. Ōta Kaiyō-san is, I hear, very good at digging up connections, and if Father thought there was no point in denying it..."

"Sounds hard to arrange."

"I'm optimistic."

Subaru looks at Tōkan at that, then sighs, takes a puff from his cigarette, and exhales the smoke. "Spill. What are you holding back from asking about?" Though Subaru thinks he knows.

Tōkan grins. "So... Aoki-senpai, hmm?"

Subaru blushes.

"You never told me he was Ōta & Ōta's kid. And he didn't mention it at all either the time we met, which from my read of him at the time is more surprising."

"He doesn't trust most alphas and didn't trust you then. ...but he would've blabbed if we'd spent more than ten minutes together, you're not wrong."

"He's right to be proud of them. They're... the word that comes to mind is 'formidable'. My father is also that but the two of them looked like they could stare Kokonoe Tochima down until he cried."

Subaru covers his lips to hide a smile. "In Aoki's words, Ōta Makino eats men like Kokonoe Tochima for breakfast."

"Wow, Kageyama Subaru, I don't think I've ever seen you speak ill of my father so openly."

"Maybe you and Aoki-senpai are rubbing off on me."

"—you're filthy."

"You walked into that one with your eyes wide open."

"So, are you back together?"

"...not exactly."

"'Not exactly' is not a no."

"I'm gay."

"Hmm, and so, the uncertainty comes from...?"

"...I don't wanna talk about it."

"Fair enough, I won't push. But I do wanna meet him sometime, he sounds like a fun guy."

"I guess that can be arranged. He said he wants to meet Inori, but..."

"After his parents get Inori out of detainment I'm sure it could happen. Though he might be suspicious of me, you know, being an alpha and all. His parents were."

"Nah, he's pretty convinced you're legit, actually."

"Really? How come?"

Shrug. "His mum said so, basically. Uh, from the whole way Inori... is... I got the feel that they were a bit like, well sometimes people talk big game but turn out to betray their own principles, and then his mum spent like five minutes with Inori and decided that actually it is impossible that you could suck because if you sucked you would have been found dead in a ditch and only recognisable via dental records."

Tōkan sporfles. "Oh my god."

"She's not wrong."

"She's not, that was just a very evocative image."

"Anyway. What are you going to do about your father, then?"

"Wait, mostly, to see which of Ōta-san's feelers pan out.

"But in the meantime I am going to go have a chat with Dai."

"...you're doing that thing."

"...what thing?"

"The thing where you say things as if they're the last bit of a scene in an anime, like a cliffhanger. You're not talking like people."

"Excuse you, I am people and I am talking ergo therefore q.e.d."

"'But I'm also gonna go talk to Dai and see what's up from his side of things, maybe prod him a bit.' Sounds much more natural, doesn't it? 'But in the meantime I am going to go have a chat with Dai' has such gravitas, such finality, you are absolutely an anime boy."

"...called out."

"Yeah, no shit." He flicks Tōkan's forehead then gets up. "Gonna go back downstairs, relieve Inoue and Tanaka from the burden of fielding all those questions on their own."

"You say, as if they're not having the time of their lives. You should've seen Tamiki's face when I told her she was allowed to be a bit liberal with the truth and maybe mix in some speculation there, it was like New Year had come early."

Snort. "Regardless."

He gets up, too. "Toughest nuts to crack are gonna be Hōji and Karato themselves, I need to figure out an ending to this story that lets them save face when it becomes obvious they're gonna lose. Will be easier for them to back out without my father using them as scapegoats."

"...you lie. That's how you save face in this kind of situation. You lie and then no one calls you on it."

"Yes, well, what lie are they telling that'll be face-saving when they're going all-in on this like that?"

"It was just an investigation. They wanted to make sure nothing untoward was happening. The kids got a bit too agitated in their ruts, you know how it is, they'll grow up and get over this. Everyone has an embarrassing story from high school."

"Those are face-saving for their families, not themselves."

"Oh, come on, they use their hormones to get out of shit all the time, not taking responsibility is a specialty of theirs."

"Ice cold, man."

"I tell it like it is."

Unfortunately Kokonoe Tochima is, actually, richer than God, which means that he can, actually, find a prosecutor who'll look at the case, and do so at the very end of the deadline so that Inori will 100% have to spend at minimum two days in detainment. The Ōtas try to get him out on bail but the judge refuses because Inori committed the alleged crime repeatedly and might commit it again if released; arguments that it's not yet been determined that what he did was a crime at all as opposed to self-defence and/or a misdemeanour fall flat, because in case it is a crime it's a pretty serious one.

("Bullshit," says Kaiyō in a rare moment of outward irritation. "If he were an alpha he'd have been released on bail, it's understood that alphas just get into fights and that's how it is, but because it's an omega it must be so serious. ...ah, my apologies for the outburst.")

    ("You have nothing to apologise for, Ōta-san," says Harutsugu. "I'm very aware of how rigged this system is in my favour and in my opinion it requires more rather than fewer colourful words to be properly appreciated.")

Which means that nothing stops Tōkan from having his chat with cousin Dai on Wednesday after school. Dai is already waiting for him there at the upscale tea house they're meeting, and Tōkan is directed to him when he mentions his name.

"Tōkan-kun! It's been so long," says Dai, genially. He looks like a Kokonoe alright, branch family or not, tall and black-haired and broad-shouldered but not too strongly built, in a suit that would make Kokonoe Tochima proud. "How have you been?"

"Well enough, all things considered. How are Taemi and Hikaru doing?" Those being his mother and sister, because of course Tōkan wouldn't be interested in Dai's father, who is not a Kokonoe and who married in.

"Good, good. Mother's restaurant is going swimmingly, it got covered on Monthly in May, can you believe? She was so proud. And Hikaru recently presented her first solo flute recital, it was beautiful, you should've come."

Well, he didn't get invited, did he.

...

..........

Augh, if Dai is doing this on purpose he is doing it masterfully, Tōkan is having a lot of trouble holding on to his anger and contempt here when Dai insists on, on, on being so human. How can he possibly blame Dai? Tōkan's tried to escape his father's clutches all his life but his own future has never been in doubt, even a disowned Kokonoe heir is still a Kokonoe, in some cases being disowned would even be a plus, and meanwhile Dai is... Dai just wants to have what Tōkan has always taken for granted.

Goddamnit, Kokonoe.

Goddamnit, Father.

"What about Ichigo-san, his company doing alright?"

Dai looks—surprised, genuinely surprised, and it takes him a second or two to recover his composure and cheer. "Father is doing good, too, yes. His company's most recent evaluation put it at seven hundred and eighty million American dollars in their stock market."

"...that's very impressive. Do you think he'll get to that so-called unicorn status by next year? He's been growing very quickly, hasn't he?"

"He has! And, well, I don't know, I wouldn't want to jinx it, but it looks very promising. He got a few new investors willing to bet on him after this latest valuation and—" He stops himself and settles back down, having noticed midsentence he was almost halfway to standing up. "Anyway, have you been here before? If not I have many recommendations, this is one of my favourite places."

"I haven't, no! Please, just tell me what I should order to have the best experience, here, I am but your humble kōhai."

These teas here are his favourite and depending on which Tōkan chooses Dai has different suggestions for what to have with it, like these rice crackers here or those cakes. He can go on at length about what he likes about each option and combination.

Truly the son of a professional restaurateur.

"And what are you doing next year?" he asks after they've ordered.

"—as in, university, you mean? I got accepted into Yale Management and Stanford Business and I'm not sure which I should pick, and also I've been rethinking leaving the country..."

Tōkan hates his father so much, this is fucking heartbreaking. This boy is trying so hard, has tried so hard all his life, and then Kokonoe Tochima dangles this conditional offer in front of him with the full understanding that Tōkan himself could just snatch this from him, and does Dai even want to be the Kokonoe heir or is this just his parents?

"Getting to pick between Yale and Stanford is also very impressive, being an overachiever must run in the family."

"Oh, it's not all that, you know, family connections help a lot, too."

"That I know. And are any universities here in Japan also vying for your brains, then?"

"...well, uh, a couple, but I'm not sure exactly which I'll pick if I stay..."

Sigh. "Fine, elephant in the room: I'd love it if you became my father's heir."

"—what?"

"I do not want to be his heir, I've never wanted to be his heir, and I know what it looks like from your perspective, but just—you'd be a much better pick. Stanford Business and Yale Management? Seriously? And Father is still even remotely considering me? This is extremely stupid, I've done nothing to deserve this except being a result of his not so happy accident, you deserve it more."

"I, I mean, you're his son—"

"Fuck that."

Dai winces at the outburst and looks away.

"No, look, Dai, this is shitty. My father is doing a shitty thing to you, because he is a shitty person—"

Dai actually gasps and looks around to make sure no one's heard this. They're in a booth behind closed doors so of course no one did, but still.

"No, look, he really is. He goes, 'hey, you can be my heir if my unruly son doesn't shape up but if he does then bye bye I guess, by the way put your plans to go to the States on hold while I play this game'. That's shitty. That's a shitty thing to do. I think you should go to Yale, or Stanford, or wherever you want to go to, and then come back and be his heir instead of me."

Wow uh Dai was not prepared to get a faceful of Kokonoe Tōkan like this and he's not sure what to... do... or say. "H-have you, um. Told him. You feel this way?"

"Only my entire life."

"Isn't it a bit early to, uh. I mean, you. You're young, are you sure this wouldn't be a mistake, you can't really reown someone you disowned..."

"Legally he can do whatever he wants, but yeah I'm very sure. There is one thing I want, and it's the school, but...

"...Dai, I presume you know about my boyfriend."

"...the demon," he says, and then covers his mouth with both hands, widening his eyes in belated realisation of what he just said. To a man who does in fact control his future, right here.

...he actually cracks up. "Yes, the Shikiri Demon," he says, grinning.

Uh. Uh. Uh? Okay, Tōkan is... not mad.

He's not, no.

"Well, my father is hoping my reputation will go down the toilet with these legal proceedings against him—and they're bullshit, by the way, and I have Ōta & Ōta in my corner—"

Dai gasps again. Apparently that had not yet made its way to the public grapevine.

"—or that I will shape up, leave Inori, and become a proper heir. Or something. Well, fuck that. I'm gonna stick with Inori."

"Why, uh, did you even want to talk, then?"

"I wanted to figure out what exactly was going on here between you two and clearly what's going on is that my father has the price of your soul and is loudly and conspicuously debating whether he'll buy it while giving me furtive glances to see if I'll stop him. Have I mentioned that's a shitty thing to do to someone? You're not a thing, Dai, and your soul shouldn't be for sale, and he shouldn't be the one with the power to buy it.

"So here's the deal. I want him to make you his heir, but I want the school—"

"Ah, there's the catch."

"—do you want the school?"

"...uh... not... specifically..."

"I want the school. He's doing a shit job with the school, and I want to make it not shit, and also, you know, shape the next generation of elite alphas who'll rule the country and all that shit."

"Well that's not concerning or anything."

"Are you one of those alphas who think omegas are sex toys?"

"Not... as such?"

"Good job on escaping that place's brainwashing, then! I want to make that shit stop. That's all.

"...and also, you know, maybe make the place not be a den of vipers vying for status and prestige and maybe make it a place where people can have a normal fucking time but we'll see how that goes."

Dai hasn't managed to come up with something to say to that when the waitress shows back up with their order, and then after having some calming tea he finally has something to say. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing in particular. I mean, if you have strong objections to me having the school then you know by all means tell me them but right now I just kind of, I don't know, want to right some of this world's wrongs. I don't want you to be in constant anxiety about this or pressured by your parents or whatever.

"What, uh, I will need though is for you not to mention this to Father. He might want to take it from you to spite me if he learns that I like you."

"What?"

"My father is a bad person! If you want I can go into his psychology here for you and why he thinks this is an okay way to be but I've known him all my life and trust me, the way for you to get what you want is to make it seem like I don't want it."

Dai runs a nervous hand through his hair. "What do you plan to do?"

"I'm going to figure out what strings he's pulling to make this farcical case not have been dropped within five minutes of being brought up and then I'm going to use that to get him to name you heir and let you go to America and also to give me the school."

Dai's face has gone through some very interesting motions during that little speech. "I'm not sure I'm prepared for that much politicking. —you were implying blackmail there, right, I'm not imagining it?"

"Oh yes, I was." Tōkan lifts the tea to his lips now that it's finally cool enough to drink and makes a delighted noise when he sips it. "This is very good tea."

"Moshi moshi."

"Meet me at the café right now, I wanna brag."

"The café."

"You know which one I mean." And he hangs up.

Are they subverting relationship tropes here, with Aoki whipping him?

Anyway.

Aoki has gotten them one of those individual booths for privacy and as soon as they have said privacy he says, "We got that cockroach."

"Wanna back a few steps up for me?"

"Kokonoe, keep up. Dad got some tasty dirt on him."

"—exciting. Can you share?"

"Not out loud in public. Loses a lot of its use if other people might catch wind of it. But if Tōkan is at all on the ball here Yamada should be out tomorrow. Maybe tonight, even, the seventy-two hour deadline is tomorrow morning."

"Very impressive. And very fast."

"It's best to be this fast. Best for the prosecutor's career, too, which my parents aren't exactly trying to help or anything but which means she'll be extra happy to drop the case and then if Kokonoe wants to try this again it'll be that much harder."

"Just how... did your father do it?"

"He has made many connections over the years, in many places, that's the best way I can put it. He can usually find decent proof of money going from place A to place B, at least for sufficiently high amounts of money, and for something like this that's pretty much exactly what we needed."

"Still terrifying."

"I know and I cannot wait to inherit all of that."

"...so uh did you just call me here to tell me that?"

"Oh it was just an excuse, I wanted to see you and have another date with you."

"You really are something else, Aoki."

"You like it."

"Never said I didn't."

So that evening, while Kokonoe Tochima is having dinner with his wife, Tōkan shows up at their dining room and leans against the doorframe. "Good evening, Father."

"...boy. What are you doing here?"

"Can we talk in your study? It's related to... the whole situation with Inori-kun."

    "Boy, can't you see we're eating?" says Hana in the curt tone she usually uses for Tōkan.

"You can wait for me there if you want. Or join us, but you will need to find some table manners somewhere if you want to do that."

"...I'll join you, sure," he says, pushing himself back up and fetching a plate and chopsticks.

...neither of them seem to have been expecting this. And Tochima in particular is starting to connect some dots in his head that are making him very suspicious.

"Is Ren-san doing alright? I don't think I've run into her in a while," he says, as he takes his seat.

"...I presume she must be."

"I'll be honest, I miss her sashimi. Her skill is unparalleled."

Hana is looking more baffled and bewildered by every word Tōkan says. That's almost... nice? Respectful? Polite? She's never seen Tōkan do that.

"It is your own choice to not be here when she cooks, boy," grunts Tochima.

"You're right. Maybe... I should make more of an effort to be around.

"Anyway, my apologies, I must have interrupted you."

    "...yes. You did."

Tochima turns to Hana. "You were saying, about Danbō-san?"

    "I think he's dragging his feet because he knows the best he can do here is limit his losses and the prospect of facing me is too hard on his ego."

"Does he need some encouragement?"

    "It's fine, dear, I'll handle it."

"I know you will. I trust you to."

Oh god yeah he remembers part of the reason why he hates having dinner with these two is that their idea for table conversation is work. And they're insufferable.

Still, Tōkan can play along, for now, and Ren-san's food is actually delicious, so even as he plays the role of a dutiful remorseful prodigal son he can take solace in that.

They can almost forget Tōkan is there, which if he's not going to say useful things about the topics that come up is the next best thing. But after they're done with their food Tochima will, in fact, go to his study with Tōkan to talk about whatever it is.

"So?"

"You know... the whole thing. With Inori. That's been happening."

"...your omega. Yes, he's been detained by the police, hasn't he? I knew he wasn't good for you."

"He's not 'my omega'. We haven't paired or anything."

"A modicum of sensibility, I'm impressed."

"...Father, can you not be like that, I'm trying to..."

"You're right. Apologies, son. You were saying?"

He has this guy eating from the palm of his hand, it's great.

"Anyway, yeah, uh... I didn't really... I mean, it was a surprise."

"I don't know how. We've conversed twice over less than five mintues and I could have seen this coming, especially given the other rumours I've heard about him."

"Rumours?"

"You cannot be seriously unaware of them."

"No, I mean, I know about lots of them, I just... was wondering which you were referring to, is all."

"Isn't that a problem, itself?"

"I guess..."

"He goes after alphas and betas and attacks them like a rabid dog, just for being themselves, and he dares to call it justice."

"Well, I mean, um... I, I mean, I guess it's hard, and he..."

"So maybe this will teach him a lesson. This is what justice looks like."

"Father, I...

"...can you check your email?"

"What?"

"Just, there's something I sent you that I think you should see."

That's a misstep in their dance and he's suspicious again. He grabs his phone and goes into his email app...

...reads...

................reads..............

..............................looks up at Tōkan. "What. Is the meaning of this."

"Well, you see... this is what justice looks like. You go after people weaker than you, just for defending themselves, because you're a bully. You hide behind other people, so they'll take the fall for you, and you stand on your pedestal thinking you're untouchable.

"You're not untouchable, father, and Ōta Makino eats men like you for breakfast."

Kokonoe Tochima is, quite literally, speechless.

"I'm not here to gloat, Father. I'm here to make sure you understand that that's going public if you don't get your prosecutor off my boyfriend's case before tomorrow morning."

"My prosecutor?"

"Are you saying you didn't scour heaven and earth to find her, someone who'd take your money despite the obvious hit to her career this would be?"

"Boy."

"The proof is right there. You really need to do better than that at hiding your fingers if you want to one-up Ōta Kaiyō, you know, six layers deep is not enough indirection.

"Are you going to call your prosecutor off?"

"Yes."

"Good! And now that we have this effective admission on record," he says, grabbing his phone from his pocket and showing the voice recording app he's been using, "and with the understanding that all of this is being synchronously backed up into cloud storage so you cannot actually do anything about it, let's talk about the rest of what I want.

"One, I want cousin Dai to be your heir."

"—what?"

"I don't want it. Any of it. Any of you. Give it to him, that boy deserves it, he's so much better than me, he's going to be a boon to the Kokonoe empire.

"Two: you let him go to America first, get his education. Seriously, Father, Yale and Stanford, and you wanted to keep him here? You are out of your goddamn fucking mind.

"Three: the school. It's mine. Everything else, Dai's, but the school you give to me."

"You're seventeen."

"Obviously not now, any more than you're giving Dai everything right now. But the school will go to me later, got it? That's it, that's what I want. You get your perfect heir, and Dai is perfect, and you get rid of me, which you've wanted for so long. The only real cost to you is the school, which I know you hate anyway. So really, Father, you should take this. It'll be much better than the hit to your reputation you'll take from all of this coming out.

"Does it feel nice to be condescended to like this by someone who has power over you? Bet it doesn't. But since you lack a shred of empathy in your body you will obviously not take this opportunity to reflect on the kinds of things you inflict on others and maybe become a better person. So, if you won't become a better person, at least have the decency to put a better person in your place when you leave. Maybe with Dai there this family will stop being the pit of backstabbing snakes it is and we can work towards more than just the fucking natural order of things. Like, say, the flourishing of humans.

"Any questions, Father?"

"...do not. Call me Father."

"Deal! It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Kokonoe-san."

"Yamada Inori-san."

...what. Why are they waking him up in the middle of the night, ugh.

He gets up, irritated, and looks at the person who's calling his name.

"The charges against you have been dropped," she says, opening the door to his cell and stepping out of the way.

"...took their sweet time," he says, swinging his feet around the bed and putting his mask back on. "Any idea where my pipe is?"

"...I'm sorry?"

"Never mind I'll find a new one."

"INORI-KUN!!!! 😭" cries Harutsugu before flinging himself directly at his son for a bear hug. Kuroji, Tōkan, and both Ōtas are also there, hanging back and letting the local anime dad have his moment.

"Ghh," is what Inori can say because his alpha dad is squeezing him too hard for him to properly breathe. Eventually he manages to shake himself free and say, "Haru you're being clingy again."

    "😭😭😭 My darling son how are you are you okay did anyone mistreat you I will hurt them if they did 😡—"

    "He's clearly fine, Haru, let the boy breathe," says Kuroji fondly.

        "Oh, no, I'm so sorry, am I hurting you?"

"He's the strongest, no one can hurt him."

Inori punches him.

"Ow! What was that for!!"

"You know exactly what it was for. You're being sappy in public."

"Pardon me, the love of my life has been in detainment for nearly three days, of course I'm being sappy in public."

He knows his boyfriend is slightly masochistic and yet he cannot bring himself to not punch him again.

Loooooooove~

"Everything should be in order, Yamada-san," says Ōta Makino, not trying very hard to hide her amusement. "Technically the charges never went through, you're being released before the investigation could start, so Hirune or someone else could in theory sue you again, though you wouldn't be detained again if that happened, but..."

    "We have good reason to expect that will not be an issue," finishes Ōta Kaiyō, doing a much better job at looking composed than his wife.

"...Hirune? Thought it had been Tōkan's shitstain dad."

    "We have no evidence of Kokonoe Tochima's involvement, of course," says Kaiyō primly. "But if we did, that would certainly be a reason to be confident he wouldn't do it again."

"Hm. Bullshit politicking."

    He sighs. "Much of this job is, yes."

"Also I'm disowned now so I'm allowed to say he's not my father anymore."

"...don't think that's how anything works."

"He is certainly not going to refer to me as his son anymore," shrugs Tōkan. "So as far as I'm concerned I'm no longer a Kokonoe."

"Your family is weird. You're weird."

"Granted."

"In any case, should anything come up again you all have our contact information," says Makino. "Very little of this leaked to the press but it still might, and it will certainly travel the grapevine, so people might come bother you about it. Feel free to give us a call if you need to. But for now, we'll leave you be. Good night, Yamada-santachi, Kokonoe-s—ah..."

"Just Tōkan is fine."

    "You could always call yourself a Yamada," says Kuroji with some amusement.

"Leeeet's have that discussion later."

"...huh? We're not married."

This seems like a good point for them to leave so the Ōtas bow slightly and go while the Yamadas make their way to their car.

"We've offered to somewhat extra-officially adopt Tōkan-kun," explains Kuroji. "It'll make finances a little bit tighter but we can do it."

"...you won't have the fancy apartment anymore?" he asks Tōkan.

"Kokonoe-san can't really completely stop supporting me, legally, until next year, plus the face-saving thing to do here is for me to still have some claim to the Kokonoe estate, even if it's not as much as before, plus I did get him to promise to give me the school. But I wouldn't want to live there, anymore, too many memories and far too much risk of running into him again."

"So... you'll live with us?"

Inori is starting to blush a little bit.

"Yeah, guess I will."

"Not in my bed, though, it was bad enough that one time, you're too big."

Kuroji grins. "About that..."

"I have a new bed?" he says, blinking at the double that's replaced his single in his bedroom.

"Pretty sure we should say that we have a new bed. I don't think Kuroharu are going to make me sleep in the guest bedroom."

"Does that mean we get to fuck?"

    "Inori-kun!" gasps Harutsugu.

"Haru will you please get over that, we've been together like half a year."

"I, heh, um, uh..."

He had not actually thought that bit through. Too many other things on his mind.

"So long as you don't make too much noise and wake Suzume up we are certainly not going to be investigating what you choose to do in your bedroom."

    "Kuroji!"

"Haru, he's right, you really need to get over this, you must certainly remember what we were like at their age."

    "Not at our parents' houses!"

Kuroji lifts an eyebrow.

    "W-well, I mean, there was that time... and those couple of other times... and, um..."

"Now I do believe Inori-kun will probably want a bath, I cannot imagine being in detainment that long would've left him feeling great, and you and I should go sleep since we both work in the morning." To Inori and Tōkan: "Good night, and please let us know if you need anything."

    Harutsugu recognises when he's been defeated so he just follows his husband, forlornly.

"...your parents are really cool, Inori."

"They're a pain in my ass," he sighs, and then yeah he does actually want a bath because he feels very very grimy.

"You know what else could be a pain in your ass?"

"Weak. That was a weak joke."

"Aw, come on, it was a good segue!"

"It was a shit segue. ...I'm still letting you fuck me in the ass but it was a very shit segue."

"Whatever you say, my love."

Off with his clothes, then, and to start filling the bath.

Is he just going to watch it fill without going in again? He is. That's adorable.

Well, Tōkan wants a quick shower to get rid of most of the grime before the bath, is Inori joining him?

...he's not a monster, of course he is.

He thought so but it's polite to ask!

"Whatever. Come here and kiss me."

"Yes, sir." The shower stall isn't that spacious but Inori is small and when you're making out with someone you don't occupy that much space.

And Inori is actually really damn horny because he immediately starts guiding Tōkan's dick into his entrance and he's already hard.

"Oh Inori-kun I've missed you so much..."

"Stop saying words and kiss me, shitty alpha."

Can do.

And then Inori can pull himself up, holding onto Tōkan's shoulders and wrapping his legs around Tōkan's torso so he can properly guide Tōkan's cock in.

...giving Tōkan no choice but to use both arms to hold Inori's weight while he does that. He does have to stop kissing though because otherwise he would not have been able to bite back on the moan.

Yeah yeah they're not supposed to wake anyone up. It'll be worse when Tōkan takes him from behind but honestly that just makes it hotter. He hopes Tōkan knots, though, the knot presses right against both his prostate in the back and the base of his cock in the front when he's fucked in the vagina and it just feels fucking amazing.

There is in fact no way Tōkan won't knot, especially because he does agree that having to be quiet while fucking makes the whole thing hotter. He presses Inori against the wall and pounds into him, trying not to bite too hard but failing to not bite at all. He's an alpha, after all. He's bitey.

It's good that Inori likes being bitten, then, as shown by how much of a harder time he has choking back his moans when Tōkan does that.

"Bath's gonna run over," he says into Inori's shoulder.

"Nnnnh."

"I'll carry you there."

"Mh."

So then they can go into the bath and he can turn the water off before it runs over and then find somewhere to sit.

The motion of being carried around like that with a knot inside him is very stimulating, and he's leaking precum kind of a lot.

"Inori you're so hot, it's ridiculous how much you turn me on—"

"Stop talking," he says, pulling Tōkan's face closer to his to kiss him now that he no longer needs to hold onto Tōkan's shoulders for balance. He moves up and down a little bit but with the knot inside him he can't move that much. Not, that is, unless he wants to get the knot all the way out.

Well, Tōkan's made a masochist out of him, hasn't he? And Inori is going to do just that.

This boy is absolutely insane and when he manages to put the knot back in he's coming and coming and coming—

—until they're just breathing taggedly and bonelessly on top of each other.

"...your knot's going down," Inori says after a minute of that.

"Huh? Oh.

"You're not in heat and I'm not in rut, so..."

"Are you gonna knot again in my ass?"

"...probably?"

"Good."

"I've turned you into such a slut."

"Not news. Make me scream."

"...I can't, we have to be quiet, Inori-kun."

"Make me want to scream, then."

His knot starts growing again. "You really know how to drive me crazy."

"...you should do something else."

"...hm?"

Inori pulls himself off Tōkan's lap then sits on the edge of the bathtub, spreading his legs and reaching down with both hands, one around his cock and one below it with his index and middle fingers to either side of his vagina, pulling it slightly open.

...and at that, finally, he looks away in embarrassment. "I want you to eat me out, and finger me, and stretch me."

"...Inori-kun it's so fucking hot when you tell me what to do like that. Yes, yes, I love you, your wish is my command, I'm going to make you come so much."

"Nnh, okay, too many words, go."

He can't help himself. When he's close enough his breath is tickling Inori's skin he says, "Itadakimasu!"

Which makes Inori go even redder even as he starts giggling. He hits the side of Tōkan's ribcage with one heel, hard, but he's ridiculously wet and precoming again.

Tōkan starts by licking some of his own cum that's still dripping there clean but after that he gets three fingers in while he starts licking the part of the base of Inori's shaft where it opens into his labia. Omega males don't have a clitoris but that area is still very sensitive and he knows how much Inori likes to be licked there. Then once his fingers are sufficiently slick he changes hands so he can start fingering Inori's asshole at the same time as his pussy.

fuck

It's almost too much, he stops jerking himself off because he's getting oversensitive from all the stimulation. They don't do all that much anal, comparatively speaking, so Tōkan's fingers starting to help stretch him and press against his prostate still hurts in just the right way. He wonders if there's something to do with being an omega that makes him really enjoy being stretched open like that or if he just accidentally acquired a kink from Tōkan but he doesn't much care, the pain and pleasure at the same time are too much, far too much.

Well if Inori isn't gonna jerk himself off that means Tōkan can suck his cock. He has to focus pretty hard on all three things he's doing right now to not let any of them slip but the body shudders and occasional whimpers Inori can't bite back are incredibly motivating.

Eventually Inori gets a sufficient hold of himself to say, "I th-thought I s-said you should e-eat me out fuck—"

Tōkan pulls away from Inori's dick with a wet pop and says, "Want me to stop this? I can go back to that."

"...n-no. Keep, ah, fuck," because Tōkan never stopped fingering his ass and he chose right then to get a fourth finger in, the bastard. "Keep doing that. Bastard."

"Your wish is my command, my prince."

And he pulls Tōkan even closer with his legs and starts running his fingers through Tōkan's hair while he works on Inori's cock. He shuts his eyes and bites on his lip almost hard enough to draw blood because he doesn't trust himself to not cry out otherwise. His breath is ragged and he knows the bastard could make him come like this and he's not doing that, he's just, just edging Inori and making sure he's simmering in pleasure.

God he really wants to make Inori come like this, wants to drink all of him up, but he shouldn't, not yet, because he knows Inori will be so sensitive when he puts his cock in Inori's ass. He'll make that gorgeous face of his and try so hard not to moan. Tōkan's erection itself is staying up but he's not knotting anymore, not without the direct physical stimulation, so he knows he'll be able to go in without much trouble, even though part of him doesn't want to because going in already knotted always gets Inori to make the sexiest noises.

He loves Inori. Loves him so much it hurts, he needs to make this happen, he needs to cause Inori to feel these things. Knowing that this beautiful boy is being driven out of his mind because of Tōkan just... is the best fucking feeling in the world.

But there's only so much he can take of this, this maddening teasing, he feels like he might've precome himself dry, he's not sure he has anything left, he, he, "Please fuck me. Please Tōkan, I need—"

He pulls away again. "I don't think you're stretched enough—"

"I don't care," he says, a bit too loudly, then he clamps his mouth shut with a hand. "Rip me open, I need."

"I love it when you beg. Love it so much. Love you so much."

And to the extent his erection had been flagging it is right back up at this. Inori uses that face like a weapon.

When Tōkan has stood up to start angling his cock in Inori reaches for him and pulls him in to kiss him, lick him, bite him. "Please, please, I need, please, fuck me, please fuck me, ruin me, please—"

You know what he'll do, what he'll do is push his cock into Inori's pussy to the hilt—

—so that it's slick enough that he can start pushing it into Inori's asshole (never the order around, for obvious reasons). He was right, Inori isn't sufficiently stretched, but given the way Inori digs his fingernails into Tōkan's back hard enough to break skin Tōkan feels like he must be doing something right. He keeps his knot in as long as he can but as soon as he's fully in he lets go and it goes.

Inori is not sure how he managed not to scream. Is not sure how he ever manages not to scream whenever Tōkan knots inside him, really, he feels full to the absolute brim, he's not sure he has any internal organs anymore, it's just Tōkan.

And Tōkan leans back forward to kiss him again and start pounding.

The knot doesn't let him do it that much but by the same token even a little bit of movement there is insanely stimulating. There is no Inori anymore, there's just pure need, his mind is clear of thought and he's not even sure if his eyes are open or shut, he can't see anything anymore, can't process any senses other than touch.

Tōkan has more presence of mind so he stops kissing to cover Inori's lips with a hand. "Shh, little lamb, you wouldn't want to wake anyone else up."

...he lied, he can absolutely perceive other things, such as Tōkan's deep voice saying those things to him, and he does manage to not make any sounds as that drives him over the edge and he comes.

"What a beautiful lamb you are, I could eat you up, take you whole and make you mine," he rumbles, squeezing Inori's body close to his and pushing, pulling, pushing, pulling. "My Inori. Mine."

The part of his mind that hasn't been driven incoherent by the orgasm after all that teasing is dimly aware that he's gonna be bruised and have visible bite marks again in the morning.

That doesn't help at all with the orgasm.

A little voice inside him tells him Tōkan could bite elsewhere and really make him Tōkan's.

He wants that. He wants that so much. Wants that right now. Wants to be Tōkan's, wants to belong to him, wants other alphas and omegas to be able to tell that he's taken, that Inori is his his his forever—

(He's not in heat. He won't remember this until later but he's not in heat, biting wouldn't do anything, they can't pair while he's not in heat. But in the moment, he can dream, and wish.)

And afterwards Tōkan can gently carry Inori back into the bathtub, caress him and pepper him with gentle kisses, soap him up and massage him, hold him and pet him while he cries.

(He gets embarrassed whenever he remembers, afterwards, that he cried. Embarrassed and a little bit traitorously happy. He shouldn't be happy that he gets reduced to tears like that, but if anyone should be able to reduce him to tears it's Tōkan.)

(Especially when the way he does that is by dicking Inori into oblivion.)

"Sshhhh, I love you, you're okay, take as long as you need, I'll be here with you forever, shhh, my Inori, my beautiful Inori..."

Forever.

They can figure anything out in forever. They can deal with whatever life throws at them, because they have forever.

"Love you too," he mumbles into Tōkan's skin, not quite fully aware of what he's doing... but not exactly unaware, either.

He's so in love he's so in love he's so in love this is absurd how did he luck out this much he loves Inori so muuuuuuuuuch—

"Mrr?"

"—oh, Inori-kun, hi. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

He blinks a few times, slowly, and tries to process what's happening.

He's... in bed. The new bed, which he now shares with Tōkan. Naked. But Tōkan is dressed—or getting dressed, rather. The blinds are shut but there's some light seeping through the edges that suggests it must be morning.

Morning.

Why does he feel so exhausted—

Oh, right, he got let out of detainment in the middle of the night and then fucked Tōkan well into the morning. It's... has it even been three hours since they got to bed? Honestly everything that happened after Tōkan started fucking him is kind of a blur.

"Wha."

"I'm getting ready for school. Kuroji agreed to give me a ride this morning."

School.

...school?

"Why."

"...it's a Wednesday."

"Fuck school. 'N me. Fuck me too." Yaaaawn.

"Love I think you'd pass out on my cock if we fucked right now."

He yawns again and rolls over to Tōkan's side of the bed so he can grab Tōkan's pillow and hug it. "Why school. Tired. Sleep."

"...damage control, honestly. I need to find out what my fa–Kokonoe-san is saying and manage that."

"Dumb. 'S dumb. You're dumb. Come back to bed."

He sits on the bed and places a hand on Inori's head, running his fingers around his scalp in lazy circles. "Sleep, love. I'll be back after school. I love you. We'll be together forever."

"...mm. F'rever. Promise?"

He leans down to kiss the side of Inori's head. "Promise."

"Mmk."