Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Iwaizumi saw him every day.

Which sounded a bit suggestive, when put like that.

There was nothing suggestive about it, rest assured. It was simply a matter of fact.

Iwa saw him every day, climbing up the stairs to what Iwa guessed was apartment 3F.

Which now just sounded creepy. Especially when put like that.

But it was nothing of the sort. Simply another fact of the matter, because Iwa just happened to see it, every day at four in the afternoon, which he only knew because that was when he started his practice with the kids at the park. And standing in the park, he had the perfect view of the row of apartments that lined the opposite side of the street, but more importantly, of the incredibly attractive omega that would always return home at the same time.

At least, he was pretty sure the omega was attractive. Assuming it was an omega to begin with. But Iwa was always pretty sharp when it came to those sorts of things.

Still though, the distance was a little far, and Iwa only ever got the side of his face, but it was a really nice side of his face, in his very honest opinion. And aside from that, the omega had a very beautiful build.

Well, a beautiful back would be more accurate, since Iwa was granted a much longer view of that, when the omega was opening his door.

It was the kind of back Iwa already knew his fingers would never get enough of, trailing them up and down the omega’s spine until the omega was nothing but whimpering shivers.

Yeah. That’d be good.

Of course, all of this was hypothetical. More of a daydream, really, considering he didn’t even know the omega’s name let alone anything else. Sort of shallow, really. But it was harmless, Iwa reasoned, if his mind happened to wander every now and again.

Because it was better than what he had now. Which was equivalent to nothing. Not that helping kids with their volleyball wasn’t rewarding, it certainly could be, but gods he’d kill to have an adult conversation with someone that didn’t consist of how their son was doing.

Iwa sighed, trying to bring his attention back to the kids. But it was hard, that little voice in the back of his head tugging at his thoughts.

He’d never seen anyone other than the supposed omega enter that apartment. Did he leave alone?

Probably not.

And not just because Iwaizumi’s luck was shit. But with an omega who looked like that, it would be more likely to assume that he already had an alpha to come home to.

Or an alpha to wait on.

Iwaizumi shook his head, because it was most definitely inappropriate to have apron-wearing, what-would-you-like-for-dinner fantasies in the middle of coaching practices.

He really needed to get a grip.

…

“I’m home!” Oikawa kicked the door shut, struggling with his bag of groceries, tossing his keys into the little bowl on the table.

“Kitchen!”

There was a scurry of little feet rushing on the roof over his head, and then down the stairs, which manifested in the form of Eiji, hair and temperament just like his mother’s.

“Welcome home Mommy!" Oikawa had his legs tackled, which nearly made him drop the bag he was holding. Still, he managed to ruffle up his son’s hair.

“Hey there stud-muffin. Help me with the groceries?”

“I can!”

Tooru handed his son the loaf of bread, watching the almost four-year-old carry it proudly into the kitchen. He smiled to himself slightly as he followed, setting the bags down on the kitchen counter with a relieved sigh.

Bokuto waved a knife at him in greeting. “Hey hey hey~ Welcome back.”

Tooru sighed again, leaning against the counter, “Thank you for picking him up.”

“No big deal. Started on dinner.”

“Didn’t burn down the kitchen, I see,” Tooru said, swiping a bit of tomato sauce from the bubbling pot.

“Hey,” Bokuto pointed the knife at him, “I can cook just fine. It’s baking that gets me.”

“Ironic, truly.”

Bokuto made a mocking face, “Ha, ha. So funny.”

Oikawa licked his fingers, a questioning look on his face that made Bokuto think his sauce had turned out bad.

“What?”

Tooru pointed at him, “Is that my apron?”

“Mommy, Mommy!" His son ran up to him again, holding up a large sheet of paper, “Look what I drew!”

“He was working on that all afternoon.” Bokuto informed, as Oikawa took off his work jacket and let it hang on the back of the chair.

“Well let’s take a look shall we?” Oikawa took the paper and then picked up his son, sitting down on one of the stools by the counter and then placing his son on his lap so that he could scent mark him. Eiji seemed annoyed at that, wanting nothing more than to show his mother his picture. Eventually Tooru gave in, pressing his cheek against Eiji’s as he held up the crayon colored picture like it was a masterpiece.

“This one’s you,” the little boy pointed, “And that one’s Uncle Bokuto! And that’s me.”

“Mhmm,” Tooru admired the piece, “And who’s this?” He pointed to the unmistakable little dog in the corner.

“That’s Wan-chan!” Little Eiji’s eyes lit up excitedly, letting his legs dangle off his mother’s lap.

“You really want a dog don’t you?” Bokuto chuckled as he chopped up some green onions.

“It’s almost my birthday!” Eiji explained, turning awkwardly so he could face his mother, “And, I’d take good care of him—”

“Eiji,” Oikawa put on a very motherly tone, holding onto his son’s waist, “We talked about this, didn’t we? No Wan-chan yet. When you’re older I'll let you pick out a dog.”

“But I’m already four!”

Oikawa swiped his nose, smiling nice and big, “Almost, Ei-chan.”

Eiji pouted, but his expression quickly faded, when Bokuto announced that dinner was ready.

…

Bokuto always told incredibly elaborate bedtime stories while Oikawa washed the dishes. Sometimes, the omega worried his son’s head would be filled with utter nonsense, but he couldn’t help but give in when he heard the ecstatic laughter coming from his son’s room, or how lively Eiji always was the next morning, recounting his dreams that seemed to be a continuation of Uncle Bokuto’s tales.

It was just about 7:30, when Bokuto shut the door to Eiji’s room, letting Oikawa know that the little alpha had fallen asleep.

“Thank you. As always.”

Bokuto waved it away. “You know you guys are family. Were there any—”

Tooru lifted up the tupperware, shooting the alpha a knowing smile. “All packaged up and ready to go.”

Bokuto blushed, taking the tupperware and putting it into a bag. “Thanks.”

Oikawa glanced at the clock, patting his hands on his jeans, “Will you make it in time?”

“Yeah,” Bokuto shrugged without worry, “It’s not far. And I tend to half run…so…”

The omega snickered, waving his hands to push him along, “Well get moving, then.”

Bokuto tipped an imaginary cap, “Wish me luck.”

Oikawa crossed his arms and shook his head, “Always do.”

Bokuto let the omega shut the door for him, as he stepped out into a humid breeze. He breathed it in, feeling content regardless, because quarter to eight had quickly become his most favorite time of day.

He cut through the alley behind the apartment building that led to the busy street, crossing at the light and then turning left at the next signal.

Maybe it was childish, to say that he was bubbling, but it was true; he was bubbling. Because most days Bokuto found himself in a quiet little bakery, one that only held three employees, one of which included the owner.

A very young, very driven, very beautiful omega by the name of Akaashi Keiji.

Bokuto pushed the door open to a jangle of a bell, and he was greeted in the same monotone as always, with an ever present ghost of a smile by the owner himself.

“Evening,” he grinned, holding up the grocery bag, “I made dinner.” He walked up to the counter, before setting it down directly in front of the omega.

“You don’t have to keep doing this…” Akaashi began, as always.

And Bokuto brushed it away, as always. “You know I make way more than I have to! It’s no trouble! Besides I know you’re here till late!”

The omega smiled fondly at that, looking down at the plastic grocery bag and then putting it on the counter behind him. “Would you like to try what’s new?”

“I’d love to!”

Akaashi bent behind the display of sweets, pulling out a small tray and placing it over the glass case. “Sugar-roasted pears topped with a mascarpone cream.”

Greedy fingers picked at the biggest one, Bokuto popping the whole thing into his mouth easily. His eyes lit up, as the sugar touched his tongue. “Ish shweet!”

The omega hid a giggle behind his hand, smiling gently at the alpha, “You always eat my desserts so earnestly, Bokuto-san.”

Bokuto chewed quickly so that he could swallow and reply, nearly choking in the process. “Oh, I’ve told you you can drop the san! No need to be so formal.” He smiled widely, as if he were a dog wagging his tail before its owner.

Akaashi’s smile dimmed at that, putting the tray of pears back in their display. Maintaining formalities was an absolute necessity. As much as he was drawn to Bokuto, the alpha held a faint scent of omega, and until Akaashi was absolutely certain that it was just a cousin, or something of that nature, he wouldn’t allow himself to get too close.

He was failing most miserably, considering the alpha brought him dinner most nights, and Akaashi found himself offering the alpha samples of his pastries left and right. Because mostly, Bokuto just didn’t seem like that sort of person. So he was pretty sure it was probably just the scent of some relative or other.

But dammit Akaashi was going to keep the san if it killed him.

But formalities or not…no one had ever looked so happy before, tasting the things he’d made. That was really how they’d met in the first place. And with the alpha’s boisterous personality it didn’t take very long for them to start talking. And to keep talking, which was a wonder, truly, because Akaashi didn’t talk to very many people in the first place.

“A-Are you doing anything later?”

Akaashi looked at the alpha, his palms starting to itch. Was that supposed to be an invitation, or just more idle chatter?

“Cleaning up as usual…” he began carefully, ”and then just heading straight home. Early morning again tomorrow.”

Bokuto chuckled nervously, “Right of course. You guys still open on Saturdays.”

Akaashi nodded, before lowering his gaze slightly. “But…we’re closed on Sundays…” He wasn’t really sure what he was saying, since something like that was obvious enough. But part of him was hoping, maybe…

“Oh well that’s good! Most businesses are, right? Good thing you can get some rest.”

Bokuto’s smile was almost too innocent, and Akaashi’s perhaps a bit too pained.

Another alpha came to the counter just then, returning the tray and plate, and thanking Akaashi for the meal.

“Ah,” Bokuto ran an anxious hand through his hair, “I should get going too.”

“Of course.”

“Have a good night, Akaashi!”

Bokuto waved, so excited that he bumped into the other alpha that was leaving, just as they were going through the door.

“Oh crap! My bad!”

Iwaizumi knew he was going to get run into before it even happened. This other alpha had his head completely in the clouds. Really, it was part of the reason he finished his sandwich so fast, because watching him flirt with the owner was as painful as it was awkward.

“No worries,” Iwa replied smoothly, about to say something about how the alpha should just go for it, but he caught a foreign scent. It smelled good, too. But it screamed omega. And it definitely did not belong to the shop owner.

And either way the other alpha was too far gone now, skipping stupidly down the street, so Iwa was left to mutter to himself, shaking his head with a disapproving scoff, “No good alpha.”

…

Eiji always woke up at precisely 9:15pm, so that he could drink a warm glass of milk with his mother.

Of course, his mother’s had coffee added to it. But Eiji had tried it, and he was not a large fan of coffee himself, so at his own request he stuck to simple milk.

“And then we did shapes, but I already knew them all!” He said, swinging his legs back and forth on the couch, holding his sippy cup carefully between two hands.

Oikawa sat down next to his son, patting his head, “Of course you did. You’re my son after all.”

Eiji pursed his lips, trying to hide his smile, “Hiro didn’t know all of his.”

Oikawa grinned right back, tapping his mug against his son’s sippy cup. “Good. That’s what he gets.”

“That’s what I thought!” Eiji said excitedly, “But, I didn’t say it out loud.”

The omega couldn’t help but laugh, nuzzling the young alpha. “That’s very mature. We don’t say rude things out loud, right?”

Eiji shook his head, “Because then people will be rude right back!”

“Mhmm,” Tooru relaxed into the couch, drinking his coffee, “That’s exactly right.”

Eiji continued to swing his legs on the couch happily, nuzzling into his mother’s side and drinking his milk. 

Tooru stroked his son’s hair back, letting out soothing purrs to softly lull his child to sleep. It never fully worked, however, Eiji seeing his milk as his top priority, so he always made sure to finish it first.

“Done, Mommy.”

The omega took the cup, and set it down on the coffee table. “Ready for bed?”

Eiji responded by raising his arms, eyes heavy and lidded, Tooru picking up his son and cradling him close to his chest. “It’s the weekend tomorrow, do you know what that means?”

A sleepy cheer came from his son, murmuring happily into his mother’s neck, “Waffles…!”

“Exactly,” Tooru smiled, maneuvering his way into Eiji’s room, and tucking him into bed. The little alpha curled up, plopping down on one pillow, and pulling another one close to his chest.

“Goodnight, Mommy…”

It was a wonder the words managed to come out at all, the young child was so overcome with sleep, already drifting into dreams as the last syllable left his lips.

Oikawa couldn’t stop smiling, brushing the hair out of Eiji’s face so that he could kiss his son’s forehead.

“Goodnight, Eiji.”

Chapter Text

Iwaizumi was in a bad mood for a reason that really shouldn’t have been considered a reason to begin with.

But it had him all sorts of irked either way. Because this was the first time pretty omega didn’t show up at four.

Not that Iwaizumi cared or anything. But he was sort of wondering why, considering the omega was always there, right on the dot, every day without fail. And since Iwa didn’t coach on the weekends he had to wait two whole days for Monday to come. And now Monday was here and he was still waiting.

Which, again, was starting to sound creepy.

But Iwa didn’t have much to look forward to. Being a regular salaryman wasn’t exactly his ideal job. It was all early mornings and too much coffee and restricting suits that made him sweat because why was Japan so fucking humid—and don’t get him started on the overtime.

It’s why he’d started coaching in the first place. It let him blow off steam. He’d done sports through high school and college, so his body was just used to that kind of conditioning. His job didn’t exactly allow for a morning jog or anything like that.

It did, however, give him most afternoons off. Unless he had to work overtime. But most days he was finished by about 2pm, which allowed him enough time to eat and be at the park by 3:30 to set up. It had started off as just something he did for fun. He saw a kid struggling to hit a baseball and offered some help. Before Iwa knew it he had a whole team.

They did a little bit of everything. Soccer, baseball, badminton. Iwa’s personal favorite was volleyball. Really helped the little suckers with their hand-eye coordination.

Still, the day seemed to pass by extra slowly, because Iwa hadn’t gotten his daily dose of eye candy. Which was pretty freaking depressing, Iwa decided. Maybe he should finally start accepting some of those marriage interviews his mom was always pushing on him.

He nearly snorted at himself. It was starting to get kind of late, for that sort of thing. 

…

If necessary, Tooru could work from home, which was a blessing, since Eiji had managed to get himself sick. Amazing, the sort of thing that could manifest from a sneeze alone.

Though he was pretty confident he had this whole parenting thing down, colds were still something that still managed to shake him.

What if it was serious? What if Eiji had symptoms Oikawa hadn’t noticed? What if he should have taken him to the doctor instead? What was the real difference between a stuffy nose and full out congestion? How much Vick’s was too much Vick’s? Was it worse if he didn’t bathe Eiji because then he’d be swimming in his own germs or would he just get even sicker if his hair didn’t dry properly?

Luckily, this time around seemed relatively minor. There was no fever, as far as Oikawa knew, just a sore throat on Sunday and a bit of a stuffy nose today. But his mom had said to keep Eiji at home just in case, so Oikawa did exactly that, feeding his son nothing but soup and mashed potatoes with the obligatory soda so that he’d drink his medicine.

Even with all the distractions, Oikawa managed to finish his project proposal’s for this month’s new marketing strategies. Maybe it wasn’t his absolute best work, but it meant he’d be able to spend more time with Eiji after the little alpha woke up. Usually on sick days, they’d spend the day watching movies, and eating pudding, because Eiji loved pudding, and Oikawa loved spoiling his son.

Within limits, of course. Because if Oikawa had to sit through another showing of Cars he was going to shoot his own brains out. So he’d have to gather a couple other movies and not even include Cars as an option.

Hopefully he’d be saved.

He moved to the fridge, about to grab the pudding cups, before he realized they were all out.

Part of him died. Maybe he was more overwhelmed than he’d originally thought.

As if that weren’t enough, the doorbell rang, just then, and Oikawa found himself mumbling little curse-words under his breath that were not appropriate of an omega mother.

Still, he opened the door, and was surprised to see his own mother, holding up a small grocery bag and shoving it in his face.

“I came to make tea.”

“Mom—?”

She pushed her way past him, making herself right at home, “If my grandson is sick I won’t have you giving him that instant trash.”

“Mom,” Tooru tried, “You should’ve told me you were coming, I would’ve asked you to pick up some pudding—”

“I’m not a personal errand runner, Tooru,” she was already in the kitchen, rolling up her sleeves and opening cabinets as if it were her own home, “I only make tea for my baby.”

“I used to be your baby—”

The short woman smiled, patting her son sweetly on the cheek with a ringed hand, “Yes, sweetheart. But you’re not the one who’s sick. And,” she continued, reaching into her bag of herbs, “You can go grocery shopping all on your own.”

Tooru grumbled at that, before glancing toward’s Eiji’s room. “He’s asleep right now, but if he wakes up—”

“I raised you, Tooru, I’m pretty sure I know what I’m doing,” she said, waving her son off carelessly.

Oikawa pursed his lips at that, but grabbed his house keys anyway, saying he’d be right back. His usual grocery store was too far to go on foot, so he decided with just the smaller one under the station.

It had a decent amount of inventory so he figured he’d be fine. He just wanted to get in and get out as soon as possible before his mom gave Eiji one of those weird remedies she’d always try to give him as a kid. At the very least he wanted to spare his son the same tragedy.

Dodging traffic and ignoring the traffic guide yelling at him, Tooru crossed the streets quickly and practically ran down the stairs to get to the underground. Luckily, he was tall, so he could maneuver his way through the crowd easily enough.

His luck didn’t last very long, however, since when he finally made it to the Family Mart, there was only one more chocolate pudding cup left.

Well, that was fine. Eiji only needed one anyway. Tooru could always go pick up some more tomorrow.

He was just about to reach for it, when another pair of hands beat him to it, their shoulder’s bumping into one another, the pudding cup slipping from the other man’s fingers, and splattering open onto the floor.

Oikawa had to remind himself that committing murder over a pudding cup wouldn’t be worth the jail time.

…

“S-Sorry I didn’t see—” Iwa was so flustered, calling out to an employee to notify them of the spill, he didn’t even really notice who he’d run into, until the other male spoke up.

“It’s fine.”

It might as well have been a movie, the way Iwa’s mouth hung dumbly open, his blinking slow and dazed as he stared at the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen in his entire life, despite the irritation that lined the omega’s brow.

Fuck this guy was tall. But that didn’t matter. None of that mattered because gods he was even more beautiful up close and he smelled so fucking good and he was most definitely…definitely and omega.

Points to instincts.

“There’s uh,” Iwa struggled, trying to say something, “There’s still some vanilla left—” he reached for the cup, but the omega shook his head, sighing slightly, “No. I think I’ll settle for ice cream or something.”

Sweet tooth, maybe?

“Ice cream is good!” Iwa cursed himself in his head, because that had come out way too loud.

The omega didn’t seem to notice though, or even care really, because the employee had showed up with some paper towels and spray, and the omega had bent down to help pick up the mess.

Which was when Iwa saw it. The bond mark that claimed the omega’s neck.

He swallowed, trying to get a hold of himself, because he’d sort of known it all along. But he couldn’t bring himself to stop staring, because the mark looked rather…old, and though there was a faint sort of scent of alpha there was nothing that would really give the omega away as a bonded pair.

Separated? That was pretty common, in this day and age. Iwa wouldn’t mind. It’d be easy enough to reclaim—

Wait. That was jumping about a million miles ahead of himself.

The omega and employee had finished, and Iwa realized he hadn’t offered to help clean up at all.

Fuck he was already off to a really shitty start.

“Ah, um,” he reached out, but then pulled his hand back in, the omega looking at him curiously. “Sorry,” Iwa began, “I was in my own head so I didn’t see you—”

The omega held up his hand, “No harm done. But if it had gotten on my shoes I may have made you buy me new ones.” The omega smiled charmingly, in a way that made Iwa pretty certain that a smile like that had gotten him more than just a pair of free shoes in the past.

Still, Iwa managed to chuckle, “Actually, you look sort of familiar. I coach at the park a few blocks down so I see a lot of faces.”

The omega glanced at him curiously, “Yeah, I live in the area.”

“Ah,” Iwa nodded, trying to feign ignorance, “That’s probably why. Um,” he stuck his hand out awkwardly, “I’m Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi Hajime. Sorry again, about the pudding.”

The omega took it, shaking it lightly, “Oikawa Tooru. Don’t beat yourself up over it. It’s just pudding.”

Iwa gave a nervous chuckle, “Right.” He cleared his throat, wanting to talk a bit longer but not knowing what else to say. “So, uh, maybe I’ll see you around?”

Oikawa didn’t have time for this. Any longer and his mother would definitely give Eiji something weird and no-doubt garlic filled. So he smiled at the stranger, trying to make it as least awkward as possible before he walked away to go pick up some chocolate ice cream.

The line was short, and he didn’t run into the stranger again, so it was mostly smooth sailing all the way back to his apartment.

He walked in to find his mother doing the dishes, which Tooru cringed at, because he’d just have to do them all over again.

“He’s still asleep,” she informed, “When he wakes up give him a glass. It should stay hot for a while. And not too many sweets, Tooru, that boy is going to end up with cavities.”

Tooru inhaled, shoving the ice cream into the freezer, “Good thing they’re only baby teeth then, huh?”

His mother clicked her tongue disapprovingly, before setting down the last of the dishes and  then kissing Tooru on the cheek. “I have to get going,” she said, “Your father hasn’t had his dinner yet.”

“It’s not even six,” Tooru said, “He’ll be fine.”

Again, she patted her son sweetly on the cheek, “Give him a kiss for me when he wakes up.”

Oikawa smiled, “Will do.”

Once the door was officially closed, Oikawa finally seemed able to catch a breath. He glanced at the weird green drink his mother had made, and considered it for a moment, before dumping it down the drain.

With another heavy sigh, he made his way to Eiji’s room, calling out to him. The young alpha peeked under the covers, meeting his mother’s eyes.

“You know, it’s very rude to fake sleep when your grandma is worried about you.”

“But Mommy!” Eiji sat up, always quick to defend himself, “She would’ve made me drink that tea!”

“I know it doesn’t taste very good but neither does medicine. She’s just showing she cares, right?”

Eiji nodded somewhat solemnly.

Oikawa sat at the edge of the bed, pushing his son’s hair back to feel his forehead. “No fever.” He determined.

“I feel fine!” The child seemed anxious, squirming slightly as he sat.

Oikawa gave a knowing smile. “Fine enough to watch a movie?”

“With chocolate pudding?”

“We’re out of pudding. But we have ice cream~”

“Yes!” Eiji jumped off the bed, scurrying to the living room, “I wanna watch Cars!”

Oikawa didn’t let his son hear the groan that pushed past gritted teeth. He didn’t even have the chance to create a diversion. Maybe one of these days he’d just throw the damn movie away.

Still, though, he smiled as best he could, telling Eiji he’d get the ice cream ready, if he would start the movie. Eiji was way ahead of him, though, already popping the DVD open and playing with the remote.

“And you owe Grandma a big kiss next time she comes!”

“Yes Mommy!”

The omega shook his head with an incredulous sort of scoff, moving all of the dishes his mother had washed back into the sink so that he could wash them himself later. Then he grabbed two spoons, and pulled the ice cream from the fridge, struggling slightly with the safety wrap.

The doorbell rang again, and Eiji tossed his head over the couch in a questioning look, Oikawa returning the same look of surprise.

“Grandma probably forgot something,” he motioned to Eiji, “Go ahead and start it.”

Oikawa opened the door without looking, because he didn’t really think it could be anyone else.

Well. He’d been wrong before.

Standing there, panting, and holding up a grocery bag was the guy he’d met just moments before at the Family Mart. Which was sort of…

“What are you—”

“Hi,” he blurted, somewhat unceremoniously, pushing up the grocery bag, “I’m sorry, I know this probably seems really fucking creepy. To be honest I was sort of debating outside your door for a while but—I know this is a crazy long shot, seeing as you’ve been marked before and believe me I don’t usually do things like this but I just feel really drawn to you.”

Oikawa raised an eyebrow, keeping a solid hold of the door which he’d never fully opened. “How do you know where I live?”

Iwa faltered for a moment, rubbing the back of his head, “Well, the truth is I did recognize you. I really do coach, right over there,” he pointed towards the park, “So I see when you get home most days. N-Not in a creepy way!” He quickly added, “I just mean you’re in my line of vision—” He swallowed, bowing slightly and once more offering the grocery bag, “I know it’s completely crazy but if possible I’d like to properly ask you out—that is, if you’re not currently bonded—”

“Mommy?”

Iwa nearly choked on his own words, looking down to see the small child by Tooru’s feet.

“Oh…fu—”

“I would appreciate you not talking like that in front of my son.”

Iwa stood back up immediately. “Right. Shi—sorry. I’m. Aha. Jeez.” He stuttered over himself, running a hand anxiously through his hair, “I really—truly—so sorry. I always get ahead of myself. I’m sure you and your alpha are really happy—”

Oikawa leaned against the door. “I’m happily separated.”

“Oh.”

It was obvious the alpha was strange. But Tooru always had pretty strong instincts. And nothing about him seemed threatening in the least. Like one of those big dogs that were only good for receiving belly rubs. Plus it was sort of nice. It’d been a while since Oikawa had been approached like this. It happened quite a bit in University, but these days most people knew he was just a mom.

Opening the door just a tad, Oikawa took the grocery bag and examined the contents, before handing it to Eiji. “I’m flattered, truly. But I already have a man in my life,” he patted Eiji’s head, “And he’s my number one priority.”

“I…completely understand.” Iwa cleared his throat, not really knowing why he had pushed so hard to begin with.

Eiji ruffled through the bag, digging in and pulling out the package of pudding cups, analyzing them carefully before looking up at the alpha.

“Chocolate is my favorite.” He informed.

Iwa nodded, somewhat defeated. “Same.”

Eiji looked at his mom, before looking back at the alpha, “We’re watching Cars. Do you wanna watch with us?”

“Oh,” Iwa shook his hands, “I don’t think that’s a good—”

“Eiji,” Tooru chastised, “What did I tell you about strangers?”

The young alpha looked at his mother, cocking his head curiously, “But he’s not a stranger. He has a crush on Mommy.”

Oikawa opened his mouth before he shut it again, Iwa giving an amused scoff. “He’s sharp, isn’t he?”

Tooru glanced at the alpha. “Well,” he put his hand on Eiji’s head again, “He’s my son, after all.”

Iwa nodded.

“Mommy puts cheerios in the pudding,” Eiji continued, “They taste really good.”

Despite everything, Iwa couldn’t help but genuinely smile, “That sounds delicious, little man. You’re really lucky to have such a great mom.”

“Do you like Cars?”

Iwa glanced at Oikawa, as if silently asking permission to continue on this conversation. The omega didn’t seem too irritated, giving him a short nod, so Iwa answered.

“The first or the second one?”

“The first one, of course.”

“Yeah,” Iwa said, “That’s the good one. More Lightening McQueen in it.”

Eiji let out a terrifying sort of gasp, tugging at his mother’s pants, “He knows Lightening McQueen!”

Iwa didn’t know what was happening, but the energy had definitely shifted.

“Eiji—“

“Mommy never gets his name right! Have you seen the other ones? We saw the new one and it was super cool with all of the…”

Eiji continued bubbling, and Oikawa let out a tired sort of sigh, fully opening up the door, and motioning for Iwa to follow, “You may as well come in,” he said, “He’s never gonna stop, now.”

“Sorry,” Iwa managed, “I really didn’t mean to intrude—”

“That went out the window the moment you rang the doorbell,” Oikawa smiled pleasantly, shutting the door behind him. “Can I get you any tea?”

Eiji was still going on in excited childish banter about Lightening McQueen, even though he’d disappeared into one room or another, but Iwa could still hear him and Oikawa was giving him the kind of smile that made Iwa wonder if he’d be murdered before the night was over.

Maybe he should just excuse himself and leave. 

But he had a toy car shoved in his face just then, little Eiji beaming up at him, “I got this one last Christmas! Push the top!”

Iwa did as he was told, and a loud racing sound exploded from the toy, Eiji mimicking it with his own mouth.

The alpha laughed at that, and by now Tooru had returned with some tea, warning Iwa that they weren’t starting the movie from the beginning.

“That’s fine with me.”

“It’s ok,” Eiji said, “It hasn’t started yet.”

“Oh,” Oikawa sat down with fake enthusiasm, “Goodie.”

Eiji patted the couch, telling Iwa that he could sit right next to him. Oikawa tensed slightly at that, but allowed it to happen, because this guy was already in the apartment, after all. And if worst came to worst, Oikawa could throw a hell of a punch. He was slightly disturbed with himself on how easily he allowed some unknown alpha into his home. But there was something in his scent that made Oikawa feel at ease. Which was one of the few things he hated about his status. Instinct had never been something he was ever very good at fighting. And after how overwhelmed he’d been all weekend, the omega in him just wanted to curl up and relax.

Besides, it’s not like he ever planned on seeing this alpha ever again anyway. And the way Eiji looked right now was something Oikawa was incredibly weak to. He hadn’t seen his son this excited over something in a while, unless it included that puppy he wanted.

Maybe it was because they were both alphas. Tooru tensed slightly at the thought.

“What’s your name?” Eiji looked up at the alpha innocently, holding the remote to his chest.

“Iwaizumi,” he replied, “But you can just call me Iwa.”

Eiji nodded, before returning his attention to the television.

“Tell me your first name again.” Oikawa said, looking at Iwa.

Iwa swallowed, suddenly really intimidated, having to stare at the omega dead-on. There weren’t very many omegas who were capable of something like that. Maybe he should have given this more thought. But, he was here, so that counted for something, right?

“Hajime.”

Oikawa nodded, humming somewhat pensively, before returning his attention to the movie. “I’ll remember that.”

Chapter Text

They didn’t make it 45 minutes into the movie without Eiji falling asleep. He’d managed to tire himself out, what with the way he’d narrated everything, providing all of the sound effects the movie had to offer, excitedly explaining the obvious to their new guest, and going off about how he hoped Disneyland Tokyo would build their own version of Cars Land as well. And when all was said and done, his son fell right to sleep, curled up against the alpha.

“Sorry,” Oikawa pried his sleeping son off the alpha, cradling him close to his chest, “I just have to put him upstairs.”

“Sure—yeah, no problem. I’ll—”

“You’ll wait there.” Oikawa pointed to him, making sure he stayed on the couch.

“Yes.” Iwa gave a firm nod, feeling like he was back in school.

He sat somewhat anxiously on the couch, despite the fact that scent present in the apartment was a rather relaxing one. One that Hajime hadn’t come across in very many omegas. It was a tell-tale sign for compatibility, wasn’t it? If an omega smelled comforting, that is. But almost more than that, Oikawa smelled familiar. And Iwa couldn’t figure out where he’d caught his scent before.

Oikawa came back down the stairs, and Iwa sat up a bit straighter, trying his best to smile. “All good?”

Tooru cleared his throat rather unceremoniously, walking up to the couch and reaching for the empty pudding cups in order to clean up. “He’s all tucked in.”

Iwa nodded, holding his smile.

“So,” Oikawa began, moving into the kitchen, “Are you a stalker?”

Iwa got up, following him, “No. I know you probably don’t believe me but…”

“Do you always follow omegas to their front doors?”

“No—god no—not at all.”

Oikawa sort of smiled at that, throwing the pudding cups away and starting on the dishes. “Just so you know,” he said, “I have friends in the police. And not the Koban kind either.”

Iwa held his hands up, “I definitely believe you.” He said, watching the omega. It was silent for a bit, Iwa’s head rushing with possible things he could say.

“Listen, about what I said before—”

Oikawa looked up, halting slightly on the dishes, “I heard you the first time. I hope me allowing you to stay didn’t give you any sort of expectations. This,” he motioned around him, “Is my life. It’s full of runny noses and never going to the bathroom alone and always rushing to beat the clock because no two things are ever scheduled separately. And as crazy as that is that’s what I love.”

“I get that,” Iwa jumped in, “I really do—”

“Then why are you still here?”

Iwa was slightly taken aback by the question, but the omega continued, not giving him a chance to reply.

“Most alpha’s aren’t crazy about a marked omega with a kid. I really, really am flattered that you went this far. But you don’t have to keep this up for my sake. And dating isn’t really something I’m all that interested in myself.”

Iwa inhaled, “I get that Eiji is the most important thing to you. I’d never try to get in between that. Even if it’s just as friends…I’d be really happy. I can’t explain it, but it’s like I said. I’m just drawn to you.”

Tooru looked him up and down. “I’ve heard better pickup lines, you know.”

“That’s not a pickup line. I’m just trying to be honest with you, right now, the same way you are with me.”

Oikawa said nothing, seemingly thinking about it, returning his attentions to the dishes at hand.

The alpha swallowed, wondering if maybe he’d said too much. And Tooru still wasn’t replying. Iwa figured he should change the topic, before the omega made up his mind to kick him out or something like that.

“Do you, uh,” Iwa tried to move closer, motioning to the dishes, “Do you want help with that?”

Oikawa shook his head, setting them on the rack to dry, “I like it done a certain way.”

“So you’re particular about things like that?”

“Mmm,” the omega scrunched up his features, “I prefer the term persnickety.”

Iwa found himself leaning against the counter, relaxing slightly at the omega’s tone. “Yeah? How come?”

Tooru looked up with a grin, “It’s more fun to say.”

Iwa couldn’t help but chuckle, leaning in a bit more, “So what do you do?”

The water shut off, Oikawa patting his hands dry on his pants, reaching for a rag to dry the plates, “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you questions?”

The alpha nodded in agreement, “Ask away.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-seven.”

“Occupation?”

“Salaryman. Coaching is a side thing.”

Tooru hummed at that, “You’re obviously good with kids. Honestly thank god he fell asleep because if I had to listen to one more minute of Queen McLightening…”

The alpha laughed, and Oikawa looked at him curiously, because it wasn’t the kind of laugh that was in agreement, but rather, sounded like it was directed at Oikawa himself.

“What?”

“Lightening McQueen.”

Oikawa threw the rag down on the counter, before picking it back up. “Goddamnit! I hate English names! What kind of a name is Lightening McQueen?” He motioned with his hands, as if to get the alpha to agree with him, “It makes more sense to say Queen McLightening! And I always switch it in my head because it sounds wrong but the wrong sounding one is actually the right one—”

The alpha was laughing again, and Oikawa was starting to get annoyed.

“What.”

“Nothing,” Iwa said, curbing his laughter and bringing a hand up to his mouth, “That’s just…kind of endearing as hell. You really try for him, don’t you?”

“He’s my son.” Oikawa responded pointedly, picking up the next dish, “That much is obvious.”

Iwa felt his chest swell strangely. Maybe it was the omega’s scent. Or maybe it was something else entirely.

“I wanna adjust what I said. I do want to take you on a proper date. But—the both of you, if that'd be ok.”

Oikawa set the last of the dishes down, “You don't know when to give up, do you?”

“Never have,” Iwa grinned, “What does Eiji like to eat—“

Oikawa held his hand up to stop him, setting the rag to dry on the oven handle. “We prefer to eat in. We're all together on Fridays so you're free to stop by around 5. From here to Friday gives you enough time to seriously consider something like this. If you don't show up I'll just assume you came to your senses, and we can all move on with our lives.”

Iwa nodded, once again feeling that strange intimidation that came from the omega. But he wasn't sure if it was intimidation or just an overload of information.

“Ok. Friday, at five.”

Oikawa nodded, leaning against the counter.

“Can I ask you something now?”

Tooru waved his hand, as if saying by all means.

“I already know Eiji loves pudding, but, what do you like?”

The omegas eyes widened, before he shook his head, “I don't like sweets much.”

Iwa gave a questioning look, urging him to go on.

Oikawa looked him up and down, slowly standing up a bit straighter. “…Olives.”

“Olives?”

He nodded, “With cheese.”

Iwa nodded in reply, smiling to himself, “I'll remember that.”

“No need,” Oikawa managed on an exhale, walking towards the alpha, and then past him, “I'll show you out.”

Iwa didn't need a stronger cue than that, following the omega to the door and taking every opportunity to soak in the beautiful outline that was this omega’s back.

The alpha would be lying if he said he didn’t sneak a peak at just below the omega’s back, too.

“Until Friday, or never again.” The omega smiled pleasantly, leaning playfully against the door, once Hajime was outside.

“Friday.” Iwa affirmed.

The omega hummed. “Goodnight, Mr. Iwaizumi Hajime.”

“Goodnight,” Iwa swallowed, “Oikawa-san.”

The door was shut right in his face but Iwa couldn't bring himself to be mad.

How could he, after everything that'd just happened? Sure, most of it was a euphoric sort of blur but that didn't matter.

He'd finally met him. Spoken to him. Gone into his house.

It was sort of stupid, how much his blood was rushing, how it felt like he’d gotten a shot of adrenaline in his veins, feeling so giddy that he ran down the steps and jumped off the last set, chuckling softly to himself in complete and utter awe.

He did it. For once in his life he didn’t completely fuck up. He strutted down the relatively empty streets—as empty as Tokyo could get, anyway—making his way past the station, and the movie theater, and that little bakery he sometimes went to. Part of him wanted to go in, but at the same time, he couldn’t wait to get home and bask in the night’s events.

Inside the bakery, however, Akaashi was having one hell of a time.

“It’s fine, I’ll get the mop—”

“No, it was completely my fault—”

“You’re the customer—”

“But it was still my fault!”

It didn’t matter what Akaashi seemed to say, because Bokuto took the mop from his hands anyway, cleaning up the drink he’d spilled. Luckily it had been in a to-go cup, so there was no glass to pick up. Not to mention there weren’t very many customers at this hour, so Akaashi was freed from judge-filled stares.

“Well,” Akaashi stood by the counter awkwardly, the alpha wiping the ground by his feet, “Thank you. Should I ever need a busboy I’d know who to call.”

“It’s no problem,” Bokuto brushed it away, “I used to do this all the time at the club.”

Akaashi’s eyes widened, “Club?”

“Yeah, I own a bar! Sort of by accident really. Classy place though, you’d like it. Hey, you should stop by some time!”

Bokuto always spoke in such a flurry of words.

“Um—”

The alpha let the mop rest against the counter, reaching for his wallet and seemingly not finding what he was looking for. He patted his pockets, before looking up at the omega in defeat. “Damn it. Don’t have a card on me,” he picked up the mop again, “But it’s called The Port. It’s in Roppongi. You should be able to find it online.”

Akaashi nearly swooned. This man owned a club in Roppongi?

“I could make you a drink,” Bokuto continued, unaware, “There’s lots to choose from. I started off as a bartender so I can customize anything you want—”

“Oh,” Akaashi snapped back to his senses, shaking his hands, “I’m not very good with alcohol.”

“Oh that’s fine!” Bokuto beamed, “There’s lots of options with seltzer water and soda and stuff. I’m pretty good, you know!”

Akaashi couldn’t help but laugh at that, nodding his head in agreement. “I’d like that.”

“Yeah?” The alpha gave a shy sort of smile, looking at the omega with hopeful nervousness, “Then…if you’re free…when—whenever you’re free…you can drop by, if you want…”

Akaashi couldn’t help but glance away and stare at his shoes, feeling his cheeks start to burn. “I’d like that, Bokuto-san.”

“Really?” Bokuto nearly jumped, before immediately calming himself, “I mean, yeah. Cool. Whenever is fine. I’m there most nights so…well not tonight, obviously. But most nights…”

Akaashi bit his bottom lip to keep from smiling, “Definitely.”

Bokuto was left in a sort of daze, staring at the omega with a dopey kind of smile that perhaps gave too much away. But he caught sight of the clock, just then, and shook his head to bring himself back to reality.

“Crap, I’m late,” he handed the mop off to Akaashi, “Sorry, I hate to leave so suddenly—”

The omega shook his head, “It’s no problem.”

“I’ll see you later!” Bokuto shot him a large grin, nearly running into the door as he left because he was staring at Akaashi the whole way through.

It didn’t take him very long to get to Tooru’s apartment, especially considering his head was filled with nothing but Akaashi, and time always seemed to speed up, whenever he thought of the omega. They’d have their first date soon enough, he figured.

Hopefully.

He’d definitely make him something good to drink. Something that would make the omega smile.

Damn was Akaashi pretty when he smiled.

Such were Bokuto’s thoughts as he climbed up the last set of stairs and let himself into Tooru’s apartment. Humming to himself, he took off his shoes and made his way into the kitchen, only to find Oikawa sitting at the counter, flipping listlessly through a magazine, wine glass in hand.

And from the looks of it, it wasn’t his first glass, either. Which only meant one thing. Because Oikawa only drank when he was…

Bokuto sniffed around, glancing curiously at Oikawa. How had he not noticed it before?

“It smells like alpha in here.”

Oikawa let out a tired sigh, setting the now empty glass down. “Well that's probably because there was an alpha in here.”

“You let an alpha,” Bokuto scoffed, not believing it, “What for? Work?”

Tooru sucked on his spoon, Bokuto only just noticing the omega was also working on a pudding cup, Oikawa’s mouth still half full as he replied, “You wouldn't believe me if I told you.”

“Try me,” Bokuto made his way to the opposite side of the counter, pulling up one of the stools. 

Oikawa explained it all as best he could, watching Bokuto’s expressions change the more the story progressed.

Definitely not the most unbelievable thing Bokuto had ever heard. But still. It was up there.

“…he was just so good with him. Eiji basically fell asleep on his lap.”

“Well, that’s a good sign, isn’t it?”

Tooru’s bottom lip trembled. “I guess.”

Bokuto took a careful inhale, because he knew that look. And that look plus the wine…that wasn’t a good thing. “Tooru?”

The omega didn’t look at him, was simply focused on a spot on the counter. “Do you think…” he began, voice shaking, “Do you think he’s missing a father figure?”

“Tooru—”

“I know, I know,” he looked up, as if trying to keep from crying, “But I just, I know I can’t be everything he needs. And Eiji is an alpha too—gods, Kou, you should have seen it he was gentle with him—and he knew what that freaking Cars thing was so Eiji was super excited and I—”

Oikawa’s voice cracked, and the tears came silent and hot, the omega putting a hand over his mouth and sniffling, trying to keep it under control.

“Sorry, I’m all over the place.”

“This is exactly why,” Bokuto grabbed the wine bottle, corking it again and putting it on one of the top cabinets, “You shouldn’t drink when you’re anxious.”

“I only had one glass—”

“We both know you had two,” Bokuto sat back down, taking the pudding cup away too. “You’re a fucking mess.”

Oikawa nodded, “I know.”

“Eiji is like way happy. And it’s not like he’s short on alpha figures to look up to, if that’s what you’re worried about. I mean ya got me. And your mom. There’s that one dude at the daycare.”

“I know.”

“He’s seriously like the most loved kid ever. And how many other kids have single parents and they’re fine? Give me a break. You’re better than that.” He lightly punched the omega in the chest, giving a reassuring smile.

Oikawa inhaled, wiping his face, “You’re right.” He shook his head, letting out a sharp exhale, in what seemed to be a full recovery.

Bokuto nodded with satisfaction, folding his hands over the table. “Now on to the more important things,” Bokuto waggled his eyebrows, “You gonna hit that?”

Oikawa narrowed his eyes. “I’m not going to hit anything.”

“Tooru, come on it's been years—“

He clicked his tongue, “It hasn't been that long—“

“Ever since you got pregnant it's always been about Eiji—“

“That's how it should be—“

“I'm not saying it's not! But you deserve a little you time too.”

Oikawa fiddled with his fingers, trying to make himself look busy, “I have me time all the time.”

“The train ride to and from work does not count.”

Tooru made a face, “Ha, ha, very funny.”

“Oh come on Tooru this guy was totally into you! And you so obviously loved it!”

“No—“

“Dude. You let him into your house.“

Oikawa stiffened, “That was just…courtesy.”

“Courtesy.”

“Yes.”

Bokuto scoffed before he gave a knowing smile, leaning in, “How hot was he?”

Oikawa gave a loud groan, collapsing completely onto the counter and speaking into his arm, “Gods Kou he was so fucking hot—”

“I knew it!! But watch your language! There's a child upstairs—”

“Ok his arms,” Tooru shot his head up, motioning with his hands, “Like, you status, ok I've never seen arms so freaking—graaaaghhhh.” He let his head flop down on the counter again, grumbling to himself.

“Did he smell good?”

Oikawa popped his head out, pouting. “Yes. God. So fucking good. Not even in that way he just…he smelled nice.”

“Yeah?”

“I swear if Eiji hadn’t fallen asleep on him first I definitely would have.”

Bokuto whistled, and Oikawa made a face, sticking his tongue out at him.

“You know, scent is always a strong indicator—“

Tooru scoffed, getting up and heading towards the coffee pot. “Not like it matters.”

“Don't start with me. You still got mad game.”

“Bokuto,” he shoved the pot under the faucet, “No one wants a marked omega with a kid. Not seriously, anyway.”

“I don't believe that.”

“Well that's the reality.”

“Bullshit. You've always had alphas swooning over you. All that dick you got in college—“

Oikawa shushed him furiously, “Eiji is upstairs—!”

“And you're still tripping on dick now!” Bokuto whisper-shouted, “You deserve this!”

“I don't want to.” Tooru added indignantly.

Bokuto rolled his eyes. “Come on. Have you even had an alpha after Kaito?”

Oikawa stiffened, turning off the faucet, only now realizing he’d overfilled the coffee pot. Slowly, he drained out the excess water. “You know the answer to that.”

“All the more reason.” Bokuto determined, nodding his head, “This’ll be good for you.”

“It's not about what's good for me. I don't want to get involved with this guy and then suddenly have him decide a kid is too much work. You know how quickly Eiji gets attached to things.”

“And yet you still invited him to dinner.”

Bokuto seemed oblivious to the little growl that had formed at the base of Oikawas throat.

“That’s assuming he shows up in the first place. Besides, I need your judgement. This way we can all decide together. Eiji included.”

“Speaking of the little guy,” Bokuto glanced at the clock, noting it was already 9:30, “Isn't he usually up by now?”

Oikawa followed the alpha’s gaze. “He was sick. It's probably better he just sleep through the night.”

Bokuto nodded in agreement, until he heard little patters coming slowly down the stairs. “Heh, spoke too soon.”

Oikawa smiled, turning to the fridge to grab the milk.

Bokuto leaned against his chair, calling out to the young alpha, “You’re late, champ.”

Eiji rubbed his eyes, letting the world come into focus. “Uncle Bokuto?” He yawned, and the alpha nodded in the affirmative, opening up his arms so that Eiji could climb onto his lap. Bokuto settled him there, and Eiji looked past the counter at his mom.

“Can I have my milk, Mommy?”

“Of course, sweetheart.” Tooru said, already filling his cup.

Eiji looked up at his uncle, then had a glance around the room, finding it to be empty.

“Did Mr. Iwa leave?”

Oikawa closed the top on the sippy cup, handing it to his son, “He did. But he left all that pudding just for you.”

Eiji took his milk, drinking it quietly and thinking to himself. The adults didn't talk until he spoke up once more.

“Will he come visit again?”

Oikawa shot a worried glance at Bokuto, Bokuto returning it, before Oikawa smiled nice and big at Eiji. “Maybe! He's got a lot of work to do so he’s busy. But even if he can't, today was fun, right? With the movie and snacks?”

Eiji nodded, swinging his legs and then pulling on his uncle’s shirt, so that he could whisper something in secret.

“I think he’ll be back for sure.”

“Oh ho?” Bokuto pulled back, so that he could look at the young alpha, “And what makes you say that?” He leaned in again, so that Eiji could continue to whisper.

“Mr. Iwa was an alpha,” Eiji explained, “And he had a crush on Mommy.”

Bokuto made his eyes pop in exaggerated surprise, “You don't say—“

“Oy,” Tooru took a sip of his coffee, glaring at the pair, “What're you two gossiping about over there?”

Eiji giggled mischievously, looking up at Bokuto to give an excuse. The alpha did so without missing a beat.

“Sorry,” he said fakely, “Can't tell you. Top secret information.”

Eiji was really giggling now, practically bouncing on Bokutos lap in anticipation.

Tooru gave a long, extended sigh, setting his cup down with everlasting patience. “Top…secret…? So you won't tell me?”

Eiji shook his head and pursed his lips, trying his best to keep from laughing.

“Well!” Oikawa boomed, slamming his hands down on the counter, “I'm left with no choice! I'll have to force you!”

“No!” Bokuto screeched in his best maiden voice, turning to shield Eiji, “He's just a child!”

Eiji was squealing now, because there was nothing that was funnier than Uncle Bokuto’s high pitched voice, and so he jumped off the alpha’s lap, filling the apartment with giggles as his mother chased him around the couch, threatening to tickle the information out of him.

It could be described as nothing more, than just another night in the Oikawa household.

Chapter Text

Akaashi didn't know what he was doing, considering it was a Wednesday night of all things. He had to be up at four tomorrow, but this was what happened when he gave in to his curiosity.  Well, more so than the curiosity…

He just really wanted to see Bokuto working.

So he closed up shop, and took the train to Roppongi, desserts in hand. Part of him thought maybe he shouldn’t bring anything, but he figured since Bokuto was always bringing him dinner, the least he could do was return the favor with a few sweets.

Arriving in Roppongi was a sort of surreal experience. One that made him think he shouldn’t have come straight from work, because his work clothes were more of a function over fashion sort of thing. But that was all Bokuto ever saw him in, and he didn’t seem to mind, so Akaashi figured he’d be fine.

He didn’t plan on staying very long anyway.

Clutching his phone in his hand, he tried to pull up the directions from the station to The Port. It didn't take him very long to get there, however, since rather than the directions he just started following the crowd that had begun to gather. Which was an incredibly difficult sort of thing to grasp, considering it was a Wednesday night.

Did people not have jobs?

Still, he made his way to the shop, feeling hopelessly out of place, wishing he'd worn his patches to mask his scent. His anxiety had a way of seeping through anything.

So before stepping up to the front, he took a moment to compose himself, clutching tightly at the desserts and taking in deep inhales that would hopefully steady him.

One of the hosts welcomed him, and Akaashi nodded respectfully, noticing that nearly everything here held Bokuto’s platonic scent. He really was the owner, wasn’t he?

Clearing his throat, and trying to get a hold of himself, Akaashi reached out to the host, asking if the owner was in today.

"I'm looking for Bokuto-san. Bokuto Koutarou."

The host shook their head regrettably. “I’m sorry, he’s very busy at the moment."

Akaashi tugged at his fingers, "Could you tell him it's Akaashi Keiji? From the bakery—“

"I'm really sorry, but we're slightly understaffed today, and he's currently taking care of some issues. Would you prefer the bar or a table?"

Akaashi figured he should just call it quits right then and there. In fact, he very well wanted to, what with how crowded it was getting, and the omega had never done well with crowds, but before he really had a chance to think he’d responded that the bar would be fine.

Bokuto had said he was a bartender sometimes, right?

It was a long shot. But it was all he really had right now.

The host showed him to his seat, and offered him a menu, which Akaashi took gratefully, because he was pretty sure he wouldn't know what to order in the first place. Especially considering he hadn’t planned on ordering anything at all.

He wondered if it would be rude to just order a simple soda.

The Port had a decent arrangement of food, but he wasn't very hungry, courtesy of Bokuto-san and his left overs. Akaashi felt like the alpha had given him enough food to last him for the next three weeks.

Not that he'd ever ask him to stop, though. It was one of the few things that was tying them together.

And more than that, Bokuto was a pretty decent cook.

The bartender approached him, asking him if he wanted anything to drink.

"Just a coke," Akaashi said, "To start."

The bartender nodded, scooping up some ice and shooting the soda into the glass with what Akaashi assumed was a sort of soda-hose to increase efficiency.

Christ when was the last time he'd been to a bar?

This one was very nice, though. Bokuto wasn’t lying when he said it was classy. Though Akashi would have described it as more elegant than anything else. The back of the bar was lined with glasses and bottles of alcohol arranged by liquor and color, making it pleasing to the eye. On either side of the arrangement were two large swinging doors that Akaashi guessed led to the kitchen.

His eyes glazed over the menu again, but they didn’t stay there for very long, because the doors swung open, someone coming through carrying a large box.

It was heavy, from the looks of it, considering the man’s arms were strained and Akaashi wondered what on earth he might be carrying that could be that heavy. It was set down on the opposite counter, away from the guests, Akaashi taking a brief moment to admire the man’s back.

Akaashi didn’t need scent or for the man to turn around in order to know who he was. That spiked salt and pepper hair gave everything away.

Of course, that didn’t stop Akaashi from nearly swooning out of his stool when Bokuto did turn around.

Usually, Bokuto wore nothing but a t-shirt and some shorts. Jeans, on the rare occasion. But this…

Bokuto Koutarou should be forced to wear a button-down shirt every day for the rest of his life.

The sleeves were partially rolled up, probably since he had been carrying the boxes, but all that did was further accentuate the muscle that was underneath. The strain on the fabric made Akaashi never want to look away. In fact, part of him wanted to ask the alpha to turn around again, so Akaashi could better appreciate his shoulders.

"Just start replacing these new ones with the ones in the cabinet. We have to have them restocked by tomorrow for the party coming in."

The bartender gave a nod, ”Sure thing, boss."

Akaashi watched the interaction in a bit of a daze. He’d never heard Bokuto’s voice sound so commanding before, so dominant, so…alpha.

He could feel the shivers going down his spine.

He was so lost in his admiration, that by the time he snapped out of it, Bokuto was already walking away back into the kitchen.

"Um, excuse me," Akaashi called out, but wasn't heard over the chatter, and Bokuto disappeared behind the swinging doors. So Akaashi just quietly sipped his soda instead, hoping no one had heard him.

This was embarrassing. He should have just gone home when he had the chance.

While he drank his soda, Akaashi watched the bartender start to unpack the boxes, pulling out some expensive looking wine glasses, and setting them carefully in a row along the back of the bar.

It wasn’t long before Bokuto came out again, carrying another box, the strain making the muscles in his arms bulge, and Akaashi thought that this alone was enough reason to not go home just yet.

Maybe he should get the alpha to help around in the bakery. Akaashi would definitely enjoy watching the alpha carry around his stacks of baking trays.

“Make sure to wipe em before you set them in the display.”

“Understood.”

Taking another sip of the soda, and nearly choking on his straw, Akaashi inhaled, calling out to the alpha one more time. “Bokuto-sa—"

"Excuse me,"

Akaashi turned, so focused on Bokuto that he hadn't noticed another alpha claim the seat beside his.

Right beside his.

"I've never seen you around here before. Is it your first time?"

Akaashi glanced at the swinging doors, Bokuto no longer in sight. He didn’t really want to deal with another alpha right now. It was Wednesday, for god sakes.

Still, he tried his best to be courteous. "Yes..." He answered cautiously, though he immediately regretted it, because he should just nip this in the bud as soon as possible. 

The alpha gave a warm smile. "I recommend the fried dumplings. They come with a fantastic kimchi sauce. You'll love it."

Akaashi managed a chaste smile. He should just leave now, before things escalated any further. ”I'm sure they're very delicious. But I don't plan on staying very long."

"Oh? How come?"

"I have work." He said curtly, no longer wanting to continue the conversation

"What do you do?"

He was going to try to tell the alpha to leave him alone, because he was just about to leave anyway, but the doors swung open one more time, Bokuto carrying yet another box.

Maybe it was instinct, or stupidity, or just the sudden rush of adrenaline that made him want to get away from the fried dumpling alpha, but Akaashi stood up, calling to Bokuto in a voice that was perhaps embarrassingly loud.

Bokuto halted, setting the box down and then getting a proper look at the person who'd called his name.

"Akaashi! You came!"

The other alpha stiffened, though he tried to hold his smile, “You know the owner?”

“Yes,” Akaashi said simply, “Please excuse me.”

He didn’t need to say anything else, simply focus all his attention on Bokuto.

“I’m glad you made it!” The smile Bokuto had on his face somehow made all the embarrassment worth it. And Akaashi found himself lowering his head slightly, as omegas were prone to do, before looking at Bokuto again.

"I did," he smiled, "I'm afraid I can't stay very long—“

"Yeah no worries!" Bokuto leaned against the counter, "I'm just happy you’re here! Next time let Maki know up front. They'll come get me right away."

"Ah, I tried that. It's my fault for coming on such a busy day."

"Don't worry about that!" Bokuto was immediate in his reply, "It's just sorta crazy since we've got this thing booked for tomorrow. A bunch of wine people doing a tasting party or something, I don't know."

Akaashi couldn't help but laugh, taking the opportunity to tease the alpha slightly. "Aren't you the owner? That's probably something you should know, Bokuto-san."

There was a nervous twitch to Bokuto's lips. "Yeah! No, of course I do! I just meant it as an expression—I mean—of course I know—I mean, this business—I really do take it seriously."

The omega smiled fondly at that, nodding his head in agreement. Bokuto was always so earnest. It was more attractive a quality than it should have been. "That, I have no doubts of."

The goofy smile returned to the alpha's face.

Akaashi felt his heart pound, in a way that couldn’t be healthy in the least, so he used the sweets as a way to divert his attention.

“I brought you this,” he held the paper bag up, placing it on the counter, “It’s a tiramisu creme brûlée. I’m not sure how you feel about coffee, but—”

“If you made it then I’ll probably love it!” Bokuto beamed, taking the bag and looking into it, still talking all the while. “Your stuff is always the best—gwaah Akaashi! This one looks fancy!”

The omega managed a giggle, “It’s just topped with chocolate shavings is all.”

“I love it! I’ll eat it after closing.”

“Certainly.” Akaashi hoped the heat in his cheeks wasn’t translating into any sort of blush.

“By the way, feel free to order anything. On the house.” 

Akaashi shook his hands, thinking that the heat was now most certainly a blush "Oh, no. I just had a soda. I should be heading back—“

"Then don't worry about the soda," Bokuto grinned widely, waving to catch the attention of the bartender and telling him that he’d take care of whatever Akaashi ordered.

Now his stomach was fluttering, along with the unhealthy heart pounding. He tried to maintain a demure expression, hoping it wasn’t obvious that his scent glands were swelling slightly. “How very suave of you, Bokuto-san.” It was hardly loud enough to hear, Akaashi knew, but Bokuto managed to hear it regardless.

“Is…” he leaned in, licking his lips somewhat anxiously, “Is that a bad thing?”

“No,” Akaashi shook his head, biting his lip to hide his smile, “It’s rather gentlemanly.”

Bokuto gave a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head. “I mean, you’re always letting me eat your desserts so…I just figured…”

A stabbing feeling pierced Akaashi’s chest, because maybe all of this was just out of friendship, and not intended courtship.

He didn’t want to think about that though, not when Bokuto was standing right in front of him, so he brushed it all away, changing the topic as quickly as possible. “You will have to tell me how it is you accidentally ended up with this shop one day."

Bokuto laughed, was about to say something, but one of the waiters called out to him, and he had to excuse himself.

Akaashi nodded in understanding. “Of course, I’m sorry to have kept you this long.”

“Don’t worry,” Bokuto assured, “Next time I’ll treat you to some good food.”

Akaashi gave a gentle smile. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”

The edge of the alpha’s lips tugged upwards, but he was called out to again, and he excused himself for the second time.

“I’ll drop by the bakery again soon,” Bokuto promised, “Monday!”

It was such a dazzling sort of expression that Akaashi was nearly whisked away by its brilliance. He inhaled deeply, to get a hold of himself, but that ended up being a bit of a failure, considering all he managed to inhale was nothing more than Bokuto’s scent.

And it would have made him dizzy. 

But it smelled like Omega.

Chapter Text

His first thought was that this was the same alpha from the bakery who had miserably failed at flirting with the owner. His salt and pepper hair was hard to forget. But in the brief silence they held while the alpha looked him up and down, door still half closed, Iwa realized why Oikawa’s scent had been familiar, before.

The alpha crossed his arms. “So you’re Iwaizumi Hajime.” 

Iwa cleared his throat. The way he said that already sounded like an accusation. And it’s not like he was particularly intimidated, or anything. After all, Iwa was an alpha himself.

But this guy was huge.

“You must be the friend on the police force.”

Bokuto’s eyes widened, before crinkling into a smile, “Something like that,” he opened the door fully, telling Iwa to come in.

Iwa was just slipping off his shoes, when a hand was stuck in his face.

“Bokuto Koutarou. Pleasure to meet you.”

Iwa took his hand, shaking it with as much of a grip as he could manage, haphazardly kicking off his remaining shoe. “Iwaizumi Hajime. It smells good in here,” he complimented.

“I do most of the cooking,” Bokuto grinned, in a way that wasn’t really a grin at all, the two of them still shaking—really more like gripping—hands.

“Uncle Bokuto Uncle Bokuto!”

Immediately Bokuto let go, crouching down and opening him arms to catch Eiji. He picked him up with ease, resting him securely against his hip.

Eiji whispered into his uncle’s ear, “Mommy says to let him in already.”

“That’s what I’m doing,” Bokuto said aloud, bouncing Eiji on his arm, “Say hello.”

Eiji smiled nice and wide, clinging to Bokuto’s neck as he greeted the other alpha. “Hello Mr. Iwa!”

Iwa smiled back, “Hey there, Eiji. Thank you for having me for dinner.”

“Uncle Bokuto made curry!”

“No wonder it smells so good.”

Eiji nodded excitedly, “And Mommy made the salad. I helped!”

“Can’t wait to try it.”

Bokuto led him through the entryway and into the kitchen-dining area.

Oikawa was setting the plates down at the table when they all walked in, smiling and greeting their guest.

“I brought dessert,” Iwa said, holding up the small paper bag, “I hope that’s ok.”

“Sure,” Oikawa took the bag, looking inside, “Fridge?”

“Um, it’s some sort of cake or something. So I guess?”

Oikawa scoffed as he opened up the fridge and tucked the bag away. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Sounds good.”

Eiji popped up next to him, tugging at his pants. “You can sit next to me, Mr. Iwa.”

“Sure,” he said, taking the child’s hand, “Lead the way.”

The table was just big enough to seat four people, with Bokuto sitting directly across from Iwa. It was silent, but luckily it didn’t last too long, since Oikawa came out carrying three glasses and a kiddie cup.

“Pick your poison,” Oikawa smirked, setting them all down, “We have water, water, and water.”

“I’ll have a water, thank you.” Iwa couldn’t help but chuckle until he realized that Eiji hadn’t taken his eyes off of him for a moment. He gave him an awkward smile.

“Do you like juice Mr. Iwa?”

“Yeah, sure,” he glanced up, thanking Oikawa as the water was placed in front of him, “Juice is good.”

Eijji nodded excitedly in agreement, looking at his mom as Tooru while Bokuto went around serving the rice and curry. “Mommy—”

“Absolutely not—”

“But Mr. Iwa—”

“Iwaizumi-san is already an adult. You’re still growing, and juice has too much sugar.”

Eiji pouted, squirming in his seat. Bokuto laughed, “Tooru, you give the kid soda. How is juice any worse?”

Oikawa sat down with his own plate, “Because juice is advertised as being healthy when it’s actually not and I don’t support it.”

“Isn’t that just you being petty?”

Oikawa stretched his napkin out on his lap, pursing his lips, “Isn’t that just you being petty?” He repeated obnoxiously, with his nose all scrunched up so that his voice came out in a nasal tone. It was enough to make Eiji laugh, and Iwa thought he’d be safe if he let out a chuckle as well.

“So Tooru says you were a salaryman?” Bokuto’s sharp voice cut through the laughter, getting straight to business. Iwa cleared his throat.

“Just your average grunt,” Iwa replied, “I do accounting mostly. We’re a small branch owned by a larger company so I kind of just do whatever they need me to.”

Bokuto nodded, taking a bite of curry.

“I’m gonna be a race car driver!” Eiji said excitedly, holding up his spoon, before his mother shot him a glare, so he quickly put it back down. It wasn’t enough to curb his excitement though, turning to Iwa and rambling off excitedly, “I’m gonna be the fastest in all of Japan and then in the whole wide world!”

“That sounds pretty cool,” Iwa began, forgetting how passionate little kids could be. He usually dealt with older ones, so talking with Eiji was like a really bright breath of fresh air.

“So long as he finishes school first.” Oikawa added.

Eiji nodded, “Mommy says if I finish college I can do it!”

Iwa still didn’t know very much about them, but he knew enough to think that that was probably something typical of the omega. He smiled. “That’s good, school is really important.”

Eiji smiled, seemingly happy that the alpha agreed.

The silence was filled by the clinking of spoon against plates, and cups being picked up and then placed back down on the table.

“So,” Iwa started, directing his question to Bokuto, “How did you two meet?” He motioned between the alpha and Tooru.

Bokuto finished chewing, and wiped his mouth with the napkin before replying. “We’ve been together since middle school. We were both trying out for the volleyball team.”

“I got rejected.” Tooru smiled.

“That was unfair and you know it!”

Tooru laughed, shaking his head, “That was years ago.”

“What happened?” Iwa asked.

Oikawa shot him a glance, before shrugging nonchalantly, “I’m an omega.”

“Yeah things were pretty messed up back then,” Bokuto added, “Even though Tooru was one of the best players to try out.”

Oikawa waved it away, “That’s in the past. Things have gotten better now.”

Iwa nodded understandingly. It wasn’t ever something he really gave much thought. But looking back, he couldn’t really recall any omegas being on the teams back in high school either.

“That must have been difficult. I’m sorry.”

“Loss was on them,” Bokuto said, “This guy had the height and everything.”

“Well I still got to practice with you,” Oikawa said it almost fondly, “So it worked out ok.”

“Did you play, Iwaizumi?” Bokuto motioned with his spoon.

Iwa shrugged humbly, “A little bit of everything. High school and college.”

“No kidding,” Bokuto gave an aggressive sort of smile, “Me too.”

Iwa shot him a glance. “Yeah? Like what?”

“Oh, you know,” he leaned back, “Baseball, volleyball. The typical.”

“Right, same here,” Iwa nodded, straightening his posture, unconsciously attempting to appear larger, “Except I did basketball and soccer too.”

“Volleyball and basketball are the same season.” Bokuto didn’t bother to hide the way he’d narrowed his eyes.

“I dabbled.”

“No kidding.”

Eiji watched the exchange, his head flinging from Bokuto to Iwa as each alpha spoke. “I play soccer!” He said happily, finally finding some space to interject, “We have a ball for play time and so we get into teams and last time it was my turn to be captain so I got to pick all of the good players!”

The older alphas seemed to swallow their words, both of them turning their attention to Eiji. “Captain?” Iwa let himself grin, “That’s pretty exciting!”

“Yeah!” Eiji nearly jumped up from his seat, “I had to wait because they pick your name from these sticks and then if it’s your stick then you get to be the captain!”

“That sounds like it was a lot of fun,” Iwa laughed, “Do you like soccer?”

“Mhmm!!” Eiji was chewing quickly, trying to swallow as fast as possible so he could keep on talking. Oikawa had to remind him to slow down.

The young alpha continued to bubble about the game he’d played, and how he managed to scrape up his knee but he didn’t even cry.

“Mommy did though.”

Iwa raised his brow, Bokuto trying to hide his snort behind his hand, everyone turning to look at Oikawa.

“I’m not good with blood,” Tooru justified behind his glass of water. “There’s a reason I didn’t go to medical school.”

“What is it you do, Oikawa-san?” Iwa asked, taking another bite of curry.

“Mommy makes commercials!”

Tooru gave half a smile, shaking his head. “That was only one time. Mostly I handle overall marketing strategies. Sometimes I get sent to work on a specific magazine or billboard if it’s a high traffic area.”

“That’s amazing, being able to capture people’s attention,” Iwa added, “Having that kind of creativity—I don’t think I’d be very good at it.”

“Most people aren’t.” Oikawa said with a smile, looking directly at the alpha.

Iwa felt a strange instinctual pull. It wasn’t an overtly obvious thing. Nor was it intimidating, exactly. But that kind of sharp look that held him in place, it wasn’t one that generally came from omegas.

Bokuto scoffed, shaking his head. Eiji looked around at the adults, not seeming to understand. So instead he continued with his own agenda. “Mr. Iwa, what’s your favorite kind of juice?”

Iwa finally broke the eye contact, turning to Eiji. He thought for a moment, “If I had to pick I’d say apple.”

“Apple tastes good! But orange is the best!”

Iwa gave a chuckle, nodding his head, “You know you could make it yourself. Then maybe your mom would let you drink it.”

Eiji’s eyes widened, gasping softly while his head shot over to his mother. “Mommy! Can we?”

Oikawa laughed, in a way that was completely different from how Iwa had seen before, and it tugged at his chest a bit, because that was the kind of look only an omega mother could have.

“How about this weekend then?”

“Yay!” Eiji shoved more food into his face, as if to celebrate.

The rest of the dinner continued in similar fashion, dessert consisting of Bokuto telling some funny stories from high school while Oikawa cut up the cake Iwa had brought. At the end of it all, Iwa helped gather up the dishes, putting them in the sink for Oikawa to wash.

“Horrible habit but it works for me since I hate cleaning.” Bokuto laughed as he explained to Iwa, adding the cups to the pile of dirty dishes.

Oikawa brushed the comment away, “The way you wash dishes is atrocious.”

Iwa laughed at that, enjoying the exchanges that seemed to be the norm between Bokuto and Oikawa.

He was pulled from the conversation though, Eiji calling out to him.

“Mr. Iwa, did you like the salad?”

“Yeah it was good.”

“I helped make it!”

“Well no wonder it was so delicious.”

Oikawa smiled fondly, the way mothers usually do over their children. 

It wasn’t long until Eiji tugged at his mother’s pants, though, Oikawa’s hands soaked with soap, Eiji looking up at his mom with his best puppy eye stare. “Mommy, can I watch tv?”

“It’s almost time for bed,” Tooru said, squeezing more soap onto his sponge.

“But it’d only be one show!”

Tooru smiled, shaking his head and giving in, “Alright then, one episode and then you go get ready for bed.”

He ran off excitedly, telling Mr. Iwa to follow him, because this was his most favorite show in the whole world.

Hajime faltered slightly, trying to keep up with the young alpha, sitting down on the couch while Eiji fiddled with the remote. When Eiji turned around though, it was to glare at Iwa.

Not that there’d been any doubt before, but Eiji was most definitely Tooru’s son.

“Stand up! We have to do the dance!”

“The dance…?”

“It’s not hard,” Bokuto sat down on the armchair with a smug kind of smile on his face, “Eiji will teach you.”

The young alpha nodded with determination, telling Iwa to just follow along.

Oikawa watched from behind the sink as Iwa’s clumsy steps tried to keep up with Eiji’s memorized choreography. His chest clenched so much it almost hurt, but it wasn’t entirely unwelcome, because the look on Eiji’s face was sort of priceless. For a moment—and only a moment—he caught himself wondering what life might be like if things were always like this. Because this alpha, this Iwaizumi Hajime…

He wasn’t such a bad guy. And he’d shown up, after all, which had to count for something, even if Oikawa didn’t know what that something really was. But that’s probably what made him the most anxious of all. Because courtship was entirely out of the question. He’d been through all of that before. And an alpha like him wouldn’t be interested in the kind of static dating that was common between betas. If Iwaizumi was truly serious then the end goal of all of this would be to bond. And something like that felt so surreal that it made Oikawa want to get rid of the alpha as soon as possible.

Tooru was done with the dishes before the show ended, but he kept himself busy, choosing to dry them and then wipe down the table. He wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t really want to interrupt. Even if he didn’t really plan on seeing Iwa again, there was no denying that he and his son were bonding.

Which was probably why his chest hurt so much.

When the show was over, Oikawa finally came into the living room, telling Eiji to properly thank everyone for dinner and to say goodnight.

Eiji did exactly that, giving a polite thank you to Iwa and then hugging his uncle goodnight. Oikawa held out his hand, and Eiji took it, the two of them making their way up the stairs.

Iwa cleared his throat, feeling like he should probably say something to Bokuto, but not really knowing what. Especially with the way the other alpha was staring him down. It was starting to piss him off. He didn’t have to say anything, though, because Bokuto beat him to it.

“Nice dance moves you’ve got.”

“Thanks.”

“You do that in college too?”

Iwa managed to laugh at that, shaking his head. “Nah. A lot of things but…not dance.”

“It shows.”

“I’m sure it does.” He said, sitting on the couch, Bokuto still on the armchair.

Bokuto stared at him again, and Iwa held his gaze.

“Eiji is a good kid.” It was shortly stated, with purpose.

“Yeah,” Iwa replied with a conscious nod, “He is.”

Bokuto leaned forward, resting his forearms against his knees and loosely folding his hands together, “And Oikawa is a good man.”

Iwa swallowed, knowing enough to push aside his pride. He yielded to the other alpha, if only for a moment, lowering his head ever so slightly to give Bokuto the proper respect, “Yeah,” he said seriously, keeping his voice level, “I know.”

Bokuto leaned back, seemingly satisfied, “So long as you’re aware. I guess its fine for now.”

Feet on stairs announced Oikawa’s presence, the omega joining the two alphas in the living room. He scrunched up his nose, silently noticing the scent of light tension, before Bokuto stood up, cheery as ever. “He all tucked in and cozy?”

“Mhmm. Just like always.”

“That’s good,” Bokuto said, before Oikawa had the chance to sit down on the couch, “I gotta get going, but I’ll drop by tomorrow.”

“Definitely,” Oikawa said with a nod, “Thank you for dinner.”

“No problem,”  Bokuto leaned in for a hug, but rather than that, the two scented platonically, and Iwa felt his blood boil at the sight of it. He had to hold back the growl that started at the back of his throat, because that was definitely the absolute worst way to go about things.

Like it or not, he had no right to be feeling so territorial. He wasn’t even sure if this counted as an official date.

Either way, though, Iwa waited patiently while Oikawa showed Bokuto out, since he wanted to give the omega a proper thank you for inviting him over and giving him a chance.   

But when Oikawa came back into the living room, Iwa wasn’t even given the chance to speak.

“Do you like wine?” Oikawa gave a half smile, motioning for Iwa to follow him into the kitchen.

Iwa felt his heart clench, but only for a moment. He tilted his head to the side, “I thought you only had water.”

Oikawa let himself give a shrug that may or may not have been defined as flirtatious. “It’s after hours. Oh but you do have to leave by nine. That’s when Eiji gets up.”

“He always do that?” He asked, taking a seat by the counter while Oikawa grabbed a bottle.

“Mm,” Oikawa said, making his way over to sit next to him, “It’s our mother-son time.”

“That’s great.” Iwa smiled genuinely at the omega, finally feeling like he was able to get a proper look at him.

He watched as the omega poured them each a glass of wine, feeling somewhat entranced by how long Tooru’s fingers were, and the elegant way in which he curved his wrist to stop the wine from flowing.

“So,” Tooru began, setting the bottle down, “What do you like about me?”

Iwa was at a bit of a loss, upon hearing the sudden question, realizing he’d maybe been staring a bit too long, but he quickly recovered. “Well, like I said, you’re very—”

“Don’t tell me I’m beautiful. That’s something I know well enough on my own.”

Iwa could feel smile spread across his lips slowly, like waves rolling out over sand. Oikawa Tooru was truly something else entirely.

“I only know what I know.”

Oikawa narrowed his eyes at that, taking a sip of wine, “And what is it you know, Iwaizumi Hajime?”

“That I really like you.”

Tooru scoffed, “All of me, I suppose, is what you’re going to say.”

“No,” Iwa shook his head, “I don’t know all of you yet.”

The omega’s eyes widened. “That’s a rather mature statement,” he said, swirling his glass, “From the guy who showed up breathless on a stranger’s doorstep.”

Iwa cringed so hard he could feel it in his soul. “Sorry. That was pretty awkward, wasn’t it?”

“Awkward,” Tooru sighed, bringing the glass up to his lips, “Creepy…Take your pick.”

Iwa chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, “Well, if it got me this far, then I guess I did something right.”

Oikawa cleared his throat, setting the glass down carefully, playing with the stem between his long fingers. He didn’t look at Iwa. “Listen. This has been fun. And I appreciate you including Eiji. But I don’t think we should see each other again.”

Iwa leaned in slightly, “You don’t like me?”

Oikawa looked at him, if nothing else just because he’d moved in closer, “It’s not that. You’ve never been marked. You could still start your own family. Even if you had been marked…I know how territorial alphas can be. I’m not saying it’s wrong. But for anyone, especially an alpha…for someone to accept a child that isn’t theirs…that’s something that takes—”

“I don’t think you know me well enough to accurately judge.”

Tooru blinked, not expecting an answer like that. But to be honest, he wasn’t really sure what kind of answer he’d been expecting.

“You seem very kind,” he said, gathering himself, “And as I said before, dinner was really nice. But at this point in my life there’s just a lot going on.”

Iwa looked at him dead on, and Oikawa realized it’d been a long time since he’d last been caught under an alpha’s gaze.

“If that’s your decision then I’ll respect it. But if it’s just an excuse then I’m afraid I’m gonna have to refuse.”

Tooru felt his eyes brighten, a smile curling his lips, in a way he was surprised to find was not necessarily unpleasant. “I’m not a fan of pushy alphas.”

It was now Iwa’s turn to smile. “I don’t think that’s really true.”

Oikawa let his arm rest agains the counter, as he leaned into the alpha, an incredulous smile replacing his old one, the kind that tugged on his upper lip and crinkled his brow. “Get out of my house,” he said, but it was more of a challenge than anything else, his voice gave too much away. Especially when Iwa mimicked his actions, resting his arm and then leaning forward, so that their faces were now inches apart, “Go on a date with me.”

Oikawa pulled away, pursing his lips to keep from smiling any longer. “I’ve already told you—”

“Next Saturday. Meet me at Shinjuku station—”

“That station is it’s own world—”

“There’s a movie theater right by the Isetan exit. You can’t miss it. Next Saturday at four. If I don’t see you then we can both go on with our lives.”

Tooru looked him up and down, hesitance lining his features, “I won’t go.”

Iwa stood up, smiling, “We’ll find out then I guess, won’t we?” He paused, going so far as to bow in front of the omega, “Thank you for a lovely dinner, Oikawa Tooru.”

Tooru hummed at that, resting his chin in his palm. “You can’t be so reserved when you’re being this pushy. That’s too much of a contradiction don’t you think?” He reached for his wine, finishing off the drink.

Iwa straightened, “That’s just life, isn’t it? Contradictions?”

Oikawa stood up to join him, guiding him to the door. “Mm. Sometimes.”

“Next Saturday,” Iwa said, slipping on his shoes, “By the theater.”

Opening the door, Tooru cocked his head pensively, “The theater in Shibuya, right?”

“Shinju—”

“Goodnight, Iwaizumi.” He smiled while he practically pushed the alpha out of the apartment.

Tooru didn’t inhale until the door was closed, and he was able to slide down it, sinking all the way down to the floor. His heart just practically pounding out of his chest. This was bad. His heart hadn’t done that since…

He wasn't sure how long he just sat there, before his phone rang, Tooru’s entire body jumping before he had enough sense to reach into his pocket and pull out his phone. The name Koutarou lit up the screen, and so Oikawa answered it, taking in a long inhale.

“Hello?”

“Everything good?”

“Yeah. Yeah, he left already.”

“Good. So what’d you think?”

Oikawa laughed, “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

Bokuto chuckled on the other end, “Hey, did you tell him I was a fucking police officer?”

Tooru crinkled his features, before nodding his head though Bokuto couldn’t see, “Not you specifically,” he smiled, “I just said I had friends in the police.”

“Tooru who the hell do you know that’s in the police?”

“Well I had to tell him something when he first showed up! A mother omega isn’t very intimidating all on his own!”

Koutarou was cracking up on the other end, much to Tooru’s irritation. “Well whatever. Not like he’ll ever find out anyway.”

“You’re not gonna see him again?”

He let his head knock back against the door. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t think about Eiji. Think about you.”

“How am I supposed to not think about Eiji?”

“Because even if things with this guy don’t work out, Eiji still has all of us. And he’ll be fine.”

It was silent for a bit. Long enough for Bokuto to let out a hello, because he thought the call had dropped.

“Yeah,” Tooru breathed, “I know. I just…do you think…”

There was a small pause, the kind that Tooru knew how to read even without seeing Bokuto’s expression.

“You know the answer to that, Tooru.”

“I didn’t even say anything.”

“You didn’t have to.”

The omega exhaled.

“For what it’s worth,” Bokuto tried, “He seems like a good guy. Give him a shot. Not just for you. For Eiji too. It’s kinda crazy how well they get along, you know?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“You do that. I gotta go, Aki keeps fucking with the alcohol.”

“Mm,” Oikawa nodded, saying he understood, “Have a good night.”

“G’night.”

Tooru let out another exhale, staring at the wall before deciding it was time to get up. Slowly stretching out his long limbs, he got up and made his way out of the entry hall.

He had to go get the milk ready.

It was almost 9:15, after all.

Chapter Text

Akaashi wouldn’t define it as waiting for the alpha. It wasn’t that his mind was constantly spinning around Bokuto. He had a business to run, after all. But, on occassion, he did find himself, glancing at the door, the closer it got to 7pm.

Which was why it was completely unexpected, when the alpha walked in at around two in the afternoon, Akaashi having just finished restocking his shelves with some freshly baked croissants.

If that had been the only surprise of the day, it would have been fine. Because Akaashi’s heart just about stopped when he saw the young alpha at Bokuto’s side.

So that’s what it was.

He should have known. He should have followed his instincts. He knew there was a foreign scent on the alpha. Things like this were always too good to be true.

“Hey Akaashi,” Bokuto gave a wave and a smile, the young child clinging to his other hand. As two approached the counter, Akaashi felt his entire being fill with dread.

Why was he always so unlucky when it came to alphas?

“Hello, Bokuto-san,” he managed with a dry mouth.

The child let go of Bokuto’s hand, putting them up against the counter instead so that he could look up at the omega. Akaashi blinked down at him, not really knowing what to do. It was a very handsome child, that there was no doubt of. Goosebumps prickled at the omega’s skin when he thought of who this child’s mother might be.

“You’re pretty.”

Akaashi stood bewildered, locking eyes with the little alpha. Bold, like Bokuto. It made him smile in a way that was almost painful. But this wasn’t the child’s fault. It was Akaashi’s own, for getting his hopes up when Bokuto was simply being friendly. Alphas never smelled like omega without reason.

But even so, to have a child without forming a proper bond…it didn’t seem very much like him. Perhaps he’d simply been blind to what was staring him right in the face.

The smile on his lips was becoming more and more sour.

“Thank you,” he told the child, before looking up at Bokuto, “Your son is very charming.”

“Oh, thanks! He’s actually my nephew,” Bokuto gave a wide grin, “He gets the charm from his momma.”

Nephew.

Had he heard correctly?

“Oh. I see.”

That made sense. A lot more sense than Bokuto having a child outside of a bond. And that meant that the omega on Bokuto’s scent was…

Akaashi begged his heart to slow down. Why was he always jumping to conclusions? The sudden rise and fall of his emotions was currently too much for a Saturday afternoon.

Bokuto seemed oblivious to all of this though, much to Akaashi’s relief. Instead he pushed the conversation along, putting his hand over the young alpha’s head, “Introduce yourself, kiddo.”

The little alpha leaned forward, trying his best to be seen over the counter. “Nice to meet you! I’m Oikawa Eiji! Uncle Bokuto talks about you a lot!”

Bokuto gave a nervous chuckle as he brought Eiji into him to keep the child from talking. “Because your desserts are so good! Which is why we’re here—we’re looking for tarts!”

“Mommy likes those.” Eiji added, confirming the fact though his voice was somewhat muffled from being pressed so close to his uncle. 

Akaashi found himself smiling with the kind of relief that made his heart flutter all over again. It was like every last bit of him was buzzing, fingertips excited with electricity.

Did Bokuto really talk about him?

“Of course,” he bowed his head, keeping his composure. “We have two different kinds. What sort of fruit does your mom like?”

“We eat lots of strawberries! Mommy puts sugar on them sometimes!”

Akaashi laughed at that, feeling every last bit of anxiety wash away. “Both of them have strawberries,” he motioned for them to follow, “Take a look.”

Eiji pressed his face to the glass, as though examining the sweets were his most important assignment to date. Bokuto pried him away though, saying it was rude to do, and that the case was probably full of germs.

His head shot up immediately upon saying so. “Not that you don’t clean the glass or anything!” Bokuto practically shouted, looking at Akaashi, “I know you keep this place clean! I just mean—“

Akaashi laughed again, saying it was fine.

“There’s so many!” Eiji was in complete awe, making his way down the rows of sweets, taking care to analyze each and every one.

Bokuto let him look around, preferring to stay close to Akaashi now that the young alpha was out of earshot.

“I’m glad you stopped by, the other day.”

A pleasant warmth started in his fingers, making its way along his entire body. The omega felt completely at ease. It’d been a long time since an alpha had had such a calming effect on him. Biting the inside of his cheeks to keep from smiling, Akaashi attempted a quaint reply.

“You have a very lovely business. I honestly felt a bit underdressed—”

“Oh no, you were fine! I just wish I could have made you a drink.”

“It’s quite alright, I had work the next day—”

“Right, no, I understand—”

“I—”

“But—”

They said the last part in unison, stuttering over each other’s words, Bokuto’s face breaking into a goofy smile while he told Akaashi to go first.

Akaashi struggled, trying to find the proper wording. “I just wanted to say thank you, for the soda.”

“Yeah,” Bokuto  smiled sheepishly, “Yeah no problem. There’s lots more where that came from, if you ever wanna…stop by again, or something like that.”

Akaashi didn’t know what he was supposed to do to stop the blushing in his cheeks. But luckily Eiji was calling out to them, so he was spared having to stutter through his own words.

“This one this one!” He was jumping up and down slightly, pointing to an eclair that was drizzled in chocolate.

“You think Mom will like that one?”

“Iunno,” Eiji shrugged, “But it looks yummy!”

Bokuto chuckled, “I think we should stick with the tarts. That looks a bit too sweet for Mommy’s tastes.”

“Can’t we get both?”

“Your mom’s gonna yell at me.”

“But Uncle Bokuto—”

“How about next time? You wanted to get Mommy something nice to thank him for the juice, right?”

Eiji gave a reluctant sort of nod, before giving into his Uncle. He looked up at the baker, pointing at the tarts. “Can we have the one in the middle?”

Akaashi opened the case from the back, reaching over with wax paper in hand, “This one?”

Eiji shook his head, tapping on the glass, “That one. The strawberry is bigger.”

Akaashi grabbed the one the little alpha wanted, taking care to package it up neatly. They all walked towards the register, where Akaashi rang them up, and handed the box to Eiji for safekeeping.

“Thank you for your business.” He smiled fondly at the little alpha.

“Thank you for the tarts!” Eiji said excitedly.

Bokuto gave a wide smile, putting his hand on Eiji’s head, but the way he did it seemed strange. Akaashi couldn’t quite place it, but there was something in his expression, or perhaps it was in the way the alpha was standing…either way, it didn’t feel right. “Thanks. I can always count on you, Akaashi.” He gave a short nod of his head, before ruffling up the young alpha’s hair. “Let’s go, Eiji.”

Bokuto began to turn, but Eiji held his ground, tugging at his uncle’s pants.

“You have to say it!” He whisper shouted.

Bokuto gave a nervous laugh, shaking his head, “Maybe later—”

“But you said you’d do it today! You have to tell Akaashi-san!”

Akaashi’s eyes widened, glancing at the alpha. Tell him what, exactly?

“He’s busy, little man. Come on, we’ve got to go—”

“But you practiced!”

Akaashi watched with curiosity, the little alpha stomping his foot in protest, Bokuto crouching down to the ground with both a shocked and irritated look on his face. A few of the customers were looking, now, a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by the alpha.

“That was supposed to be top secret!” He whisper-shouted, chastising his nephew, “You’re breaking the code!”

Eiji puffed up his cheeks, glaring at his Uncle and crossing his arms angrily. Akaashi couldn’t help but think that it was almost cute.

Bokuto sighed, standing back up, before clearing his throat. He turned to Akaashi, smiling stupidly, rubbing the back of his neck in a way that could only be described as nervous. He cleared his throat again, lowering his hands to his sides, curling them up into fists.

“Sorry,” Bokuto began anxiously, “He um, he kind of takes after his mother.”

Akaashi shook his head, concern beginning to bubble in his chest. “It’s no trouble.”

Clearing his throat again, Bokuto nodded, the feel of the room shifting slightly, and Akaashi felt his heart start to beat with new nervousness that mirrored the alpha’s own.

“Um, well, you see, we’ve been talking for a while now,” Bokuto said, “And I really like when we’re able to see each other, even if it’s not for very long. I know you don’t work on Sundays, so I was hoping, I mean I’d like to invite—“ He noticeably swallowed, fists shaking at his sides, when the alpha suddenly bowed, a soft gasp coming from the customers in the shop.

“I would like to ask you on a date with the intention of courtship!”

The entire shop fell silent, all eyes on Akaashi and the alpha bowing in front of him.

Had this truly just happened, or was this all in his head?

Akaashi licked his lips, because his mouth had gone dry, and his hands had begun to sweat, so he wiped them on his apron. “I—”

“Say yes!” Eiji whispered from the other side of the counter, standing on his tippy toes to assure he’d be seen, looking at Akaashi with sharp, determined eyes.

For a moment Akaashi couldn’t help but think that this boy would grow into one hell of an alpha one day.

“Yes,” Akaashi said quickly, face passing the point of a blush, “Yes, please, if you’ll stop bowing,” he licked his lips again, “Everyone’s looking.”

“Right,” Bokuto straightened, “Sorry,” he cleared his throat for the third time, patting his hands against his pants, “Great. I’m happy. Sunday?” It was robotic, that much was obvious, and Akaashi wished the alpha would relax, because all it was doing was setting his own nerves on edge.

“I’m busy tomorrow,” he explained, “But next Sunday is more than fine.”

Did adding the ‘more than’ sound too desperate?

“Awesome,” Bokuto turned to the shop, waving at the other costumers in apology, “Sorry for all of the commotion.”

No one seemed to mind, though, all of their attention still pressed on the alpha and the shop’s owner.  With another exhale, Bokuto nodded to Akaashi again, “So, I’ll see you.”

“Definitely,” Akaashi bowed his head slightly.

He gave a sheepish smile, before nudging Eiji on the shoulder, “Come on, let’s go.”

Eiji still didn’t move though, glaring at his uncle just as before.

“Eiji, come on, seriously—”

“You have to kiss him! He said yes!”

There was a hushed giggle from a table in the back, but no one seemed to notice.

Bokuto’s eyes widened, before sharpening in a way Akaashi had never seen from the happy-go-lucky alpha. “That’s it. Where’d you learn to talk like that, huh? We’re going home. Don’t think I’m not telling your mom about this—”

The panic was evident in the young alpha’s eyes, tears threatening to form, “But Uncle Bokuto—”

The alpha bent down again, holding onto the child’s shoulders, “It’s not like the movies, Eiji. You can’t say things like that.”

Eiji sniffled, feeling more confused than anything else. “But you said he was your princess.”

Any less self control and Akaashi would have let his mouth drop. Princess?

The alpha flushed a deep red, head snapping immediately to Akaashi, “I didn’t really—I didn’t say anything like that—” he turned to Eiji again, “Eiji you—”

“In that case,” Akaashi interjected, clearing his own throat, “How about a heartfelt handshake?” He didn’t really know what he was doing, but he was starting to get dizzy from the way everyone was staring. “Would that be enough to satisfy the little alpha?”

Bokuto looked up in confusion, making a questioning sort of sound.

Looking from Akaashi to his uncle, Eiji nodded his head furiously in agreement.

The omega licked his lips again, more anxious than he would’ve liked to admit, hesitantly holding his hand out. 

Bokuto took it immediately, with such sudden force that Akaashi felt as though he’d had the air knocked out of his lungs. It was just like that moment at the bar. Everything about his presence, from the way he gripped Akaashi’s hand, to the way he was standing, to that bold expression on his face…it was simply alpha. And Akaashi could feel that warmth again, starting in his toes and slowly spreading to the rest of him, melting away any previous anxiety.

Bokuto made him calm.

“Is it ok if I keep dropping by before Sunday?” He gave half a chuckle, in which Akaashi joined him.

“Of course.”

Bokuto squeezed his hand before letting go, but Akaashi felt as though the alpha had squeezed his heart instead. “I’ll see you.”

“Come on Eiji,” he patted the young alpha on the back, Eiji scurrying next to his uncle, trying to whisper things that weren’t necessarily secret.

Akaashi watched them leave, suddenly hyper aware of how everyone in the shop was still staring at him. He cleared his throat, apologizing for the scene and thanking them all for being understanding. With that, he turned to rearrange some displays that didn’t really need to be rearranged at all.

Bokuto had bowed. Who formally requested courtship in this day and age?

It made his chest tighten. Finally, for once in his life he was being approached by a proper alpha. One that wanted more than just a night of fun. So much more than that because Bokuto wanted to court him. The last time someone had asked Akaashi that had been in high school, when courting was seen as the “adult” way to date someone.

Except now, Akaashi was a legitimate adult.

His nerves buzzed, his stomach fluttering up into his chest with excited anxiousness. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been on a date that didn’t end in complete disaster. But it was going to be different this time, he was confident in that. Because Bokuto was different from other alphas Akaashi had met. Was different from anyone Akaashi had ever met. So he was  going to make damn sure that he did his best.

Which meant no alcohol, until he knew Bokuto a bit better. Because the omega’s weak tolerance was something other alphas hadn’t hesitated to take advantage of.

But Bokuto was different. And Akaashi was different from how he’d been back then. He’d long since passed his experimenting phase. He understood his limits now. Was an adult, after all. He knew what he wanted.

And what he wanted, more than anything else, was this boisterous alpha known as Bokuto Koutarou.

Chapter Text

Oikawa sat down on the couch tiredly, having finally finished the dishes. He looked over at Bokuto with a curl of his lip, before letting his head fall back against the cushions.

“Someone looks happy.”

Bokuto said nothing, instead continued to fiddle with his phone, and Oikawa tried once more to poke fun at the alpha. But once again, he was ignored. So, naturally, he threw a pillow at him.

It was enough to knock the phone out of Bokuto’s hand and into his lap, startling the alpha. He turned his attention to Tooru, “Wha—”

“Let me guess. You got his number.”

Bokuto grinned stupidly, before looking down at his phone again. “Mm.”

Tooru sighed, giving a warm smile, “I’m happy for you.”

“I’m trying to figure out where to take him. Somewhere nice, you know? But not like too fancy, I don’t want to feel out of place or anything like that. Maybe the aquarium? But isn’t that sort of overdone?”

“I’m sure you guys will enjoy yourselves no matter where you take him.”

“I know but,” Bokuto grinned, rubbing his face with his hands, “Fuck I’m so nervous.”

Oikawa hummed, “I always wondered why alphas were considered superior, when all it takes is a scrawny omega to have them all fall to their knees.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bokuto threw the pillow back, “Tell that to Mr. Arms-I’d-Like-To-Lick.”

Oikawa nearly screeched, but held himself back, since his son was sleeping upstairs, and managed to throw two pillows at the alpha.

“I already told you it’s not happening!”

“The arm licking or the date—”

“Neither!” Oikawa was trying to stay mad, to yell at his friend seriously, but it wasn’t very convincing between his stuttered giggles. “And I don’t want to lick his arms.”

Bokuto glanced at him, before waggling his eyebrows, “What do you wanna lick then Tooru?”

“Shut up! Jesus why am I still your friend you’re the complete worst—”

“Ok ok seriously though. You’re going on Saturday.”

“No I’m not.”

“Tooru—”

“Koutarou.”

The alpha glared at him. “Tooru. Dude. You have a date on Saturday, and I have one on Sunday. Literally our lives could not get any better. We could potentially double date. We’ve been planning that shit since college.”

Oikawa made a face, “I’m not going to date this guy just because you want a double date.”

“Ok but,” Bokuto reasoned, “How awesome would that be.”

Pursing his lips, Tooru shook his head while giving the alpha an eyeroll. Bokuto went back to his phone, while Tooru worried his lip.

“…say…I do go…”

“I knew it—”

“Hypothetically—”

“Realistically—”

“Kou, if what happened with Kaito happens again I—”

“Last I checked,” Bokuto said, putting the phone down, and staring at the omega head on, “This guy isn’t Kaito.”

Tooru sucked in his teeth, tapping his foot, “I know. But I mean I never thought—”

“No one could have thought. But it’s over. Been there done that. You’re smarter now, yeah? Ask this guy all the right questions,” he tapped on his nose, “Scent doesn’t lie.”

“But—”

“Oikawa. The difference is you already have a kid. I’m pretty sure this guy knows what he’s getting into. If it freaked him out that much he’d be long gone by now.”

After a small pause, and upon seeing the look on his friend’s face, Bokuto continued, “Look, it doesn't even have to be that serious. Think of it as mommy’s day off. Let the guy buy you dinner, enjoy a movie, whatever. And if that's not enough then end it right then and there.”

Tooru looked at him, giving a small sort of smile. “Thank you, Kou.”

“But if I were you,” Bokuto leaned into the couch, reaching for his phone again, “I’d try and get a good fucking out of it.”

It was enough to earn him another pillow to the face.

Oikawa Tooru hated Shinjuku station. It was crowded, humid, and had about a million different exits. Having lived in Tokyo for some time now however, he managed to find the correct one, walking through the aisles of sweets and bento boxes before finally entering the men’s section of the Isetan. It took him right through a tie display he'd helped arrange. Unable to help himself, he praised himself in his head about how nice it looked. The air conditioning was a nice change to the humid underground, but he knew the moment he chose to open the doors he'd be hit with the kind of humidity that felt like it was choking you.

Maybe he could use that as an excuse to not show up.

With trembling hands, and taking a large gulp of air for courage, Tooru pushed on the glass doors, feeling the wind blast him with a whirl of heat.

It was dizzying.

The sun wasn't quite setting, but there was a certain kind of light to the city that seemed to envelop a summer afternoon.

And standing there, with his back pressed to the wall, watching the people pass by, was Iwaizumi Hajime.

He looked…different. In a way that was very surreal, since at that moment he really could have been anyone. A complete stranger Oikawa happened to pass by, and never see again.

He could stay that way, if Oikawa decided to turn around.

The alpha had his hands in his pockets, leaning against the cold stone, tapping his foot to some sort of rhythm that probably only existed in his head, since Tooru didn’t see him wearing any headphones.

Tooru sucked in his lips, before letting out a large exhale, and finally heading up towards the alpha.

It’d been a long time. A really long time, since Oikawa had seen that sort of expression on anyone. The kind that screamed you’re beautiful, as if the alpha had had his breath taken away, stopping just a moment too long to look at the omega. And it was enough to make Oikawa feel the heat rise in his cheeks.

Perhaps he could blame it on the humidity.

Instead, he left it up to a sarcastic remark. “So let me guess,” he said, pointing at the posters that lined the walls, “We’re gonna watch a movie?”

Iwa faltered slightly, his gaze following Tooru’s finger, “Uh, we can if you want. But actually I was thinking we could do karaoke?”

Oikawa blinked, wondering if he’d heard that correctly. “Are you asking me or telling me?”

The alpha grinned, giving him a shrug, “Up to you.”

Unable to help the eyeroll that escaped him, Oikawa gave a quick chuckle, “Where’s that commanding presence you alphas are supposed to have?”

“Do you want to or not?”

It was now Tooru’s turn to give a sly smile. “Sure,” he said carelessly, “So long as you’re not tone deaf.”

Iwaizumi Hajime was hopelessly tone deaf. Oikawa had never laughed so much in his life.

“You’re so off key! Give me the mic—”

“No way! This is my song you cheat—”

“Iwaizumi. You are murdering this song and not in the good way—” He tried to reach for the microphone, but the alpha held it out of his reach, putting a hand over his own chest.

“Hey. I’m freaking awesome at karaoke.”

“Whoever told you that,” Oikawa struggled, trying for the mike again, slightly frustrated since he was supposed to be taller anyway, “Is a liar. And not your friend.”

“And you are?” Iwa looked at him, eyes shining, and Tooru pulled his hand back, clearing his throat softly. “Just finish your song,” he said, sitting back down, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. Iwa tossed the microphone around in his hands, before bringing it up to his lips, trying to follow along to the remaining lyrics.

“My friends call me Iwa,” he said during a pause, “That’d be a good start.”

Tooru hummed at that. “Then how about I call you Iwa-chan?”

The alpha made a face, the song continuing, but Iwa no longer paying attention. “I’m not a kid.”

“Mmmm no. But you’re short like one~”

The alpha’s stare locked him, in a way that wiped the smile clear off the omega’s face. His heart pounded rapidly against his chest, instinct tugging at him to submit. He’d almost forgotten what that felt like. The little shivers it sent down his spine, the idiotic little burst of adrenaline that promised reward if he did submit, because that was what he was meant to do. Maybe he’d hit a nerve.

“It’s only two inches,” the alpha said, “I make up for it in other ways.”

Tooru took a deep inhale, feeling his face start to brighten with pink. That definitely passed the level of appropriate conversation—

The microphone was right between his eyes, suddenly, Iwa holding it out to him, “Like in my amazing singing skills.”

Oikawa blinked, shaking his head before letting out a laugh, “Somehow that’s not very impressive!”

Iwa laughed in response, sitting down next to him, since the song was long past over.  “Wanna go one more round?”

“Mmm,” Tooru uncrossed his legs, “I’m getting kind of hungry.”

“Same here. I know an amazing ramen place that’s not too far.”

Tooru made a face, “I’ve heard that before.”

“No, seriously. Best ramen of your life.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Oikawa threatened, standing up and putting the microphones away.

“Trust me,” the alpha said confidently, “You’ll love it.”

It was about a ten minute walk to the shop, where Tooru noticed a line had already formed in front of a large sign that read “Tatsunoya.” Lines were always a relatively good indicator on the quality of food, so he figured he’d give the alpha the benefit of the doubt for now.

“Hopefully we don’t have to wait too long.”

“If not there was a KFC down the street.” The omega joked.

The alpha made a face, before shoving his hands in his pockets. “Definitely not.”

The wait was only about 15 minutes or so, Iwa grabbing two bowls of the original ramen and a coke for each of them, sitting down in one of the far corners of the small restaurant.

Oikawa piled beansprouts onto his, while Iwa added ginger. Both offered some to each other, but both kindly rejected.

“Don’t like ginger?” Iwa asked.

“It overpowers the broth. Bean sprouts…?”

“Weird crunch.”

Oikawa smiled, “I see.” He mixed his ramen around, before looking up at the alpha. “So how often do you coach at the park?”

“I’m there most days,” Iwa said, pouring some coke in his glass, “Just not on weekends. It’s pretty informal. Anyone who wants to join or learn is welcome. One of my coworkers—his son needed help with baseball and some other kids wanted to play when they saw us practicing. The rest is history, as they say.”

“That’s really sweet of you to help out,” Oikawa smiled.

Iwa shrugged, “It’s fun. A nice break from the office.”

“I bet. It’s such a nice park too, especially after all of the replanting they did. I try to take Eiji sometimes on Sundays. But in this heat it’s unbearable.”

The alpha nodded, “Yeah gotta be careful with the little ones. They don’t know when to stop.”

“Especially Eiji. And he hates sunscreen. How am I supposed to let him out if he doesn’t wear any? He’s so pale.”

“Maybe the spray on kind? Kids tend to like those.”

Oikawa shook his head, “He says that one is too sticky. Honestly I see so much of myself in him and it’s just,” he scoffed incredulously, “Well not all traits are the best, are they?”

Iwa smiled, “He’s just a kid being picky. He’s only four right?”

“He will be at the end of next month,” Oikawa smiled brightly, the way only mothers can, “I know that’s still really young but it just goes by so fast.”

“Maybe get him some Lightening McQueen sunscreen for his birthday then.”

Oikawa laughed out loud at that, putting his hand over his mouth so that he didn’t come off as rude. “Oh my god,” he adjusted the napkin on his lap, “Would you believe me if I said I’ve already tried looking for some? It just doesn’t exist.”

“Well damn there goes that idea,” Iwa joined in with his own chuckle, “I’m sure he’ll grow out of it. He’s a smart enough kid.”

“Gosh I hope so,” the omega said, bringing his coke glass to his lips. “So,” he cleared his throat, “I know you don’t have any kids of your own…brothers or sisters maybe?”

Iwa shook his head, holding his finger up to show he was still chewing, “Only child.”

“So you’re used to having your own way.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“I have an older sister,” Tooru said, “But she eloped at eighteen.”

The alpha tensed, not knowing in the slightest how to properly reply. “Oh. Wow.”

“Oh, no,” Oikawa shook his hands, laughing, “It wasn’t overly dramatic or anything like that! She’s always been sort of carefree. So she ran off with her husband to travel. She still visits. And sends us candy from wherever it is she’s staying. Last I think it was taffy from San Francisco.”

“Oh,” Iwa eased up a bit, his posture relaxing, “That’s great you’re still in contact with her.”

“Mm,” Tooru smiled, “Eiji loves opening up her care packages.”

The alpha smiled back, “I bet. A box you know has candy in it? No one can resist that.”

Oikawa smiled shyly, lowering his head a bit, “Sorry if I talk about him so much.”

“He’s your kid,” Iwa said immediately, with a warm smile that felt almost encouraging, “It’s more than ok. I like hearing about it.”

The omega bit his lip, to keep from smiling, “You’re strange.”

“How so?”

“Well for one the whole pudding incident, but we’ve been over that already. You also don’t care that I have a kid. And you haven’t asked me about my mark.”

Iwa pressed his hands together in prayer, “I humbly and most deeply apologize for the pudding incident,” he managed with a chuckle, before bringing his hands down and looking at the omega, making sure they locked eyes, “But Eiji, he’s a great kid. I hope we can get to know each other more. The three of us, I mean.”

Oikawa nodded to show he understood.

“And,” the alpha continued, “As for your bond mark…the only thing I really need to know about it, I already know.”

Eyes widening, Tooru cocked his head to the side, “And what would that be?”

The alpha lowered his gaze, picking at his bowl and taking a piece of egg between his chopsticks. It didn’t escape Oikawa how his eyes sharpened, darkening to nearly black before he spoke.

“It’s not mine.”

Tooru felt shivers run down his spine he never approved of. He cleared his throat to straighten himself, begging his heart to stop pounding so much, because with his blood rushing so fast he was pretty sure it’d unsettle his stomach.

Dinner continued with less intense topics, Oikawa finding himself laughing at almost every other thing the alpha said.

He didn’t really want to. In fact, he wished he could stop, because it was almost embarrassing, how much he couldn’t seem to hold back. He felt…giddy, almost, especially stepping out into the warm breeze that was a Tokyo evening, walking with the alpha side by side.

“Have you ever done VR?”

Oikawa glanced at him, before shaking his head, “Not really.”

“It’s pretty fun,” Iwa said, “There’s a place around here we could try.”

“Are your gaming skills better than your singing?”

“Is that a challenge, Oikawa Tooru?”

“Maybe it is,” Oikawa put his hands on his hips, shaking his head obnoxiously, “Iwa-chan Hajime.”

The alpha’s mouth opened in shock to let out laughter, “Iwa-chan Hajime.”

The omega held his head up proudly, “It’s…yes.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!”

Oikawa laughed, “Well at least I don’t suck at singing or video games!”

“Oh,” Iwa grabbed him by his hand, leading the way through the crowded streets, “We’ll see about that.”

Oikawa Tooru was absolutely horrible at virtual reality games. He didn’t even know what was really happening, but he did mange to consecutively  and continuously shoot at the ground, if that counted for anything.

It didn’t.

He couldn’t even say anything about the alpha laughing at him, because Tooru had done just the same at the karaoke bar.

“Oikawa, we’re losing so bad—”

“Like I need you to tell me that—”

“Go up!”

“I am!”

“That’s not up!!”

In the end he accidentally sabotaged their mission by shooting the alpha in the thigh, and the other team overtook their territory. He’d never failed so miserably at anything in his whole life. Iwa kept poking at him for it, even after they’d left the arcade, and Oikawa didn’t even mind that he was giggling around so many strangers, heading back out onto the open street.

He laughed behind his hand, shaking it at the alpha and then putting it back over his mouth, “Oh my god I’m so sorry that was so bad—I take full responsibility—”

“We lost thirty-seven men because of you. Thirty-seven.”

“I’m sure…” Oikawa opened his mouth, still partially laughing, trying to find an excuse, “They will be honored? Even in death?”

“What’re you gonna tell their families?”

“What am I—why do I have to do it??”

“You said you’d take responsibility!”

Oikawa kept on laughing, practically holding on to his stomach. “Oh my god!” He shook his head, trying his hardest to stop, “This is insane. I haven’t had this much fun since—” his speech halted suddenly, his smile cracking to match. Unconsciously he raised his hand to his bond mark, covering it up. He smiled at the alpha, “Thank you,” he said softly, “I’ve been enjoying myself. Which apparently I don’t do all that often.”

Iwa smiled back tenderly, “No problem.”

The omega licked his lips, finally dropping his hand and feeling his face heat up, because he hadn’t quite realized he’d covered his glands to begin with. He hoped he hadn’t killed the mood.

“Do you mind if we stop by Godzilla?”

“Huh?” Oikawa looked back up, the alpha still smiling.

“We could take a picture,” he offered.

“Sure,” the omega nodded, “It’s nearby isn’t it?”

“Mhm, right by the Don Quijote.”

They only took one wrong turn, before arriving at Godzilla Road.

“There’s always so many people here,” Oikawa said, pulling out his phone to take a picture.

“Yeah, well, tourists and shit,” Iwa’s eyes widened, catching himself, “Stuff. Tourists and stuff.”

Tooru shook his head, smiling, “It’s fine. Eiji’s not here.”

“So cussing and wine are fine so long as the Cars lover isn’t around, huh?”

“I have to have some loopholes don’t I?”

Iwa chuckled, holding up his phone, “Fair enough,” he adjusted the angle, “Now smile.”

They took their selfie, Oikawa peering over the alpha to see how it’d turned out. He could hardly take notice, though, when he realized what time it was.

“Something wrong?”

“I’m sorry—I have to get home. Bokuto’s taking care of Eiji and he still has to get to work—”

“No worries. I understand.”

Oikawa smiled, “Thanks.”

“Can I walk you to the station?”

The omega nodded, head slightly downcast, “If you want.”

He did a lot more than that, though, entering the station and getting on the train with Oikawa, since they were headed in the same direction. Somewhere in between they even exchanged contacts, Oikawa figuring the real damage had already been done anyway, since he wasn’t nearly as reserved as he’d originally planned to be before arriving. And the alpha seemed content enough about it, so Tooru didn’t really give it much thought.

When they arrived at his stop he thought he’d say his goodbyes, but Iwa followed him out, going so far as to walk him all the way home, engaging in polite conversation and making the omega giggle just a few times more.

“You really didn’t have to walk me all the way to the door.”

“I wanted to.”

“Thank you again,” Oikawa said, holding onto his own wrist, “For today.”

“I think that’s my line. I had a lot of fun.”

“Me too,” the omega agreed, lips curling up into another smile.

“Maybe…we could do it again? If you want to bring Eiji, I’m completely ok with that.”

“Maybe,” Tooru said with a nod, “Things are going to be busy at work for a bit.”

“I understand.”

Oikawa inhaled, feeling slightly awkward. When was the last time he’d gone through something like this? “Well,” he managed, reaching out for the door, “Have a good night.”

“Oikawa.”

Immediately his hand jerked back, as if reaching out for the door had been the wrong thing to do. Tooru swallowed, thinking his omega instincts had popped up a bit too much in this outing.

Iwa leaned in, pecking his lips against Tooru’s, in a way so chaste the omega hardly even registered it as a real kiss.

“I’ll call you.”

There was nothing about the way he stood, or the way he spoke, or the tone of his voice that gave Oikawa any inkling of a doubt. And that in itself was perhaps more alluring than it should have been. But Oikawa couldn’t determine if he thought that because it was a sign of a strong alpha, or because it was just Iwaizumi in general.

He didn’t want to know.

By the time he came to his thoughts, though, the alpha was gone, and so he cleared his throat and grabbed his keys again, opening his front door.

It was a slight surprise when Eiji ran up to him, feet pounding against the floor, but he should have expected it. Tooru crouched down so that he could catch his son in his arms.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed by n—”

Eiji smooshed his mother’s cheek’s together, examining them closely.

“Whatreyoudoing—”

“I’m checking your lips!”

“Eiji—“

“Uncle Bokuto said—”

In a moment he was pried off, Koutarou resting the little alpha on his hip, “Hey now. That’s twice you rat me out.” He looked at Tooru, welcoming him back home. “Sorry he’s not in bed. He wouldn’t sleep.”

“I wanted to have milk with Mommy!”

“Eiji,” Tooru chastised, taking him from Bokuto, “You’re a growing boy. You need to sleep properly don’t you?”

“But Mommy—”

“No buts. Just this once, ok?”

Eiji nodded, and Oikawa took the opportunity to nuzzle his son, and coat him with his scent.

“I’m gonna head out then,” Bokuto said, reaching for his jacket, “Everything good, though?”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. You’re good on time right?”

“We’re fine,” Bokuto grinned, “Seeing as you weren’t home at 4:30 like you said you’d be I guess it went really well.” He waggled his eyebrows, and Oikawa pursed his lips, putting Eiji down on the ground.

Once he’d shown Bokuto out, and Oikawa had changed into ever more comfortable pjs, he started on the milk, Eiji clinging to his leg while Oikawa recounted his date to his son.

“Can we eat ramen there one day too, Mommy?”

“Absolutely,” he said, handing him the sippy cup, so that they could head on over to the couch.  Eiji settled in comfortably, leaning against his mother’s chest, happily drinking his milk.

“Does Mr. Iwa want kids?”

Tooru stiffened, taking a sip of his coffee so that he could think of how to properly reply. He knew this question would come sooner or later.

“I haven’t asked him yet sweetheart.” Tooru let his hand rest on the back of his son’s neck, playing with the little curls that rested there, “But he likes you,” he nuzzled him with his nose.

Eiji giggled at that, shaking his leg happily. “Because you said when Mommy finds an alpha that is ready to be a Dad then we can be a family.”

Oikawa didn’t know what it was that stopped him from crying. But he managed to hold it together. “I did say that, didn’t I?” He held his son close, “But it takes a lot more than that, right? We have to love Iwa first, and he has to love us.”

Eiji looked up at his mom, “Do you love Mr. Iwa, Mommy?”

“I don’t know yet,” he smiled, “But maybe I could. If Eiji-chan likes him too.” He nuzzled his son, and Eiji giggled again.

“And then, if Iwa loves us back, then we can be a family?”

Tooru licked his lips. “Maybe,” he brushed his son’s hair back, “But love takes a long time, Eiji. So we have to be patient. Do you think you can be patient?”

Eiji nodded enthusiastically, shaking his leg again and drinking more milk. “Can Mr. Iwa come to dinner again Mommy?”

“I don’t see why not.”

The little alpha gave an excited cheer, upon which Oikawa sucked in his teeth, trying to hold his smile.

As wonderful as today had been there was no way of knowing what would happen from here. And Eiji already had laid out what he was expecting to happen. Perhaps he should have gone about it differently.

“Mommy’s mate wasn’t ready to be a Papa. So I got to keep Eiji all to myself. And then, one day, if we find an alpha who’s ready to be a Papa, he can join our family.”

He didn’t want to lie to his son. That only led to confusion and identity issues later on. So when his son had asked, Oikawa just told him. Kaito didn’t want to be a father. And there was no shame in Eiji not having one. He’d added the last part to soften the blow, really as an afterthought. Oikawa had never planned on dating, or courting, or finding another alpha again.

But that was just it, wasn’t it? He’d never planned to come across someone like Iwaizumi Hajime.

It had just happened.

Chapter Text

Akaashi walked away laughing, pushing the doors that led them back out onto the street.

Bokuto was laughing too, shaking his head and shoving his hands into his pockets. “I don’t know if hedgehogs just like pooping, or if they just like pooping on me.”

Akaashi shook his head, still letting out a few stray laughs, and finally meeting Bokuto’s gaze, “They must have felt really comfortable around you, like the guide said.”

“Yeah well I’m glad my insanely high body temperature is good for something.”

The omega’s eyes crinkled at the edges, biting the edge of his lip to keep from smiling any longer. “Well it was quite the experience regardless.”

“I liked the chinchillas! I’ve never felt anything that soft!”

It was enough to make Akaashi burst out laughing again, throwing his hand over his mouth in an attempt to remain polite, “You entire finger disappeared into its fur—”

“I know! I wish I could’ve taken a picture—”

Akaashi held up his hand, taking out his phone and swiping through the numerous pictures he’d taken at the critter cafe.

Bokuto gasped, admiring the photo. “When’d you take this!”

“You were so enthralled—I hope you don’t mind—”

“Not at all! This is awesome! Can you send them to me?”

“Of course, Bokuto-san.”

The alpha smiled, “Still holding on to the honorifics?”

Akaashi inhaled, “It’s just habit.”

“Well maybe I can convince you to start a new habit.”

“Maybe,” the omega smiled.

The continued walking down the closed off streets of Ikebukuro, arcades and claw machines seeming to line every corner. Akaashi caught himself staring at the one with a giant shiba plush, advertising six tries for the price of five.

“Those are amazing,” he said, striking up a conversation and pointing to the arcade, “They manage to keep people for hours and no one ever wins anything.”

Bokuto cocked his head, giving him a questioning look. “The claw one?”

Akaashi nodded.

The alpha hummed. “Well, the keyhole ones are harder I think. But there’s a trick to the claw one. You can do it in two tries.”

Eyes widening, Akaashi grabbed Bokuto by the arm, dragging him towards the machine, and feeling grateful to the blast of air that the enclosed space provided.

“Prove it,” he said, motioning to the plush, “I’ve never seen anyone walk away with one of these before.”

“Two tries,” Bokuto grinned, holding up his fingers, “If I mess up, then three at the most.”

Akaashi watched intently, as the alpha pulled out 200 yen and put them into the slot confidently. The first time he hooked the round plush it was by the little bandana that served as a collar. It was enough to lift it up, and Akaashi thought that maybe the alpha would manage it in a single try. The hook released, however, dropping the plush just next to the deposit bin. The game reset and began again, Bokuto aiming further up now, grabbing the plush by the head, and when it fell, Akaashi thought the alpha had won. But it fell again, resting against the wall of the drop bin.

Bokuto clicked his tongue, digging into his pocket for another 100 yen coin. “Dang it. One more,” he looked at Akaashi as if it were a promise, before turning his focus back on the plush. This time he aimed for the butt, lifting it up just enough so that when the claw released, it tipped the prize right into the collection bin.

Akaashi stood dumbfounded, staring at the alpha with a non-blinking stare. Bokuto merely smiled through it proudly, collecting his prize and then holding it out for Akaashi.

“Um,” he gave a nervous smile, and Akaashi wasn’t sure if the flush in his cheeks came from the heat or embarrassment, “For you. If you want it.”

Akaashi took it gladly, squeezing it to his chest and commenting on how soft it was. “I don’t believe it.”

Bokuto chuckled, “Yeah, it’s not so bad once you figure out how to work it. There’s a rhythm to it. Like a timed attack!”

Akaashi giggled, before putting the plush in the bag the employee offered, congratulating them on their win.

“How did you learn to do that?” Akaashi asked, once the shiba was safely tucked away.

The alpha gave a lopsided kind of smile, following Akaashi as they scouted the rest of the small arcade.

“Throughout all of elementary, my mom gave me enough coins for two bottles of juice. One for the morning commute and one for the way home. I just…never used them on juice.”

Akaashi could feel his lips breaking into another smile, his eyes crinkling up around the edges. “You were determined I see.”

“Yeah that was pretty rough. I get frustrated easily.”

“You don’t seem like you would.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised.” Bokuto cleared his throat, shoving his hands into his pockets again, “Are you hungry? I know we already ate but—”

“How about some ice cream? It’ll be a nice break from all of this humidity.”

“Ice cream sounds great Akaashi!”

They walked into one of the first shops they came across, since all of them were equally good, Bokuto getting pistachio and Akaashi sticking with vanilla.

“I thought you’d get some weird combination.” Bokuto said, once they’d found some seats.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, since you must have a refined palate or whatever. Knowledge of flavor profiles? Whatever the correct term is,” he gave a chuckle.

“Sometimes simple is best,” Akaashi replied easily, “Vanilla is always more than satisfying.”

“I feel you. I’ve never tried pistachio before. It’s not too bad!”

Light conversation continued, a few jokes sprinkled in between, Akaashi letting his spoon rest on his tongue before answering Bokuto’s questions, allowing himself more time to think. Finally, he got enough courage to ask about the alpha’s business.

“How does one accidentally take ownership of a bar? In Roppongi no less.”

Bokuto stuck his spoon into his ice cream, giving a scoff, “Now that’s an interesting story.”

“Do tell,” Akaashi said calmly, taking another spoonful of ice cream.

“Ok so you know how you’re not really supposed to work as a high school student? But, well, I needed new kneepads for volleyball, and my mom wasn’t having it.”

“Perhaps if you’d saved those coins instead of using them for claw machines you’d have had enough.”

The alpha laughed, “Ok, fair enough,” he paused, reaching for more ice cream, “But so there was this old Oji-san in my neighborhood, everyone knew him. Nice to all the kids and stuff. I stole his tomatoes when I was younger.”

“What?” Akaashi felt his eyes widen.

“Anyway,” Bokuto ignored the subject entirely, “I knew if I begged him he’d at least let me take out the trash for his bar or something like that. And he did. Did a lot more than that, actually. I started at the bottom of course. But I ended up going to college nearby, so there was no real reason to quit. And as soon as it was legal he started teaching me all about drinks and the business and things like that. Most days we walked home together, since we lived so close.”

Bokuto gave a fond smile, fingers tugging at a napkin. He paused, looking up at the omega, before clearing his throat. “He passed away a few years ago.”

Akaashi’s expression sobered. “I’m so sorry—”

He shook his head, “It’s fine. That guy always lived life to the fullest. I think it was the cigarettes that finally caught up to him. He never had any kids or anything, so he left half to me, and half to the guy he’d started it with. Really respectable guy. Didn’t have any interest in it anymore though, since his wife was pregnant and all. So I told him I’d take care of the bar if he’d let me buy him out. Finally got to at the beginning of last year.”

“That’s an incredible story, Bokuto-san.”

“Yeah no kidding. You can’t dream about being this lucky,” he chuckled, finishing his last bite of ice cream, “So I’m trying to do my best for the shop. Take it even further than Oji-san did. I think he’d like that.”

“I’m sure he’s very proud.”

The alpha flashed a smile, “Thanks.”

There was a small smudge of pistachio-colored ice cream on the corner of Bokuto’s lip as he said so, and Akaashi found himself staring at it, realizing that if it weren’t for his fake sense of self-control he would have long since leaned in to lick the alpha clean.

He blinked hard, as if to straighten his thoughts. That was completely inappropriate. Especially with the kind of heartfelt story Bokuto had just given. This was precisely why all of Akaashi’s previous relationships had crumbled. Because he was always in a particular…mindset about things.

If nothing else he was going to do everything in his power to keep Bokuto from that side of him. He wanted to get to know the alpha honestly. And for the alpha to get to know him.

“So tell me about your bakery! What made you want to be a baker?”

Akaashi nearly choked on his ice cream, coughing slightly and patting on his chest, wondering if he should tell the alpha the true story. With hesitant eyes, he looked up, swallowing down the melted ice cream that’d gotten caught in his throat.

“Well…I wasn’t very good in the kitchen in the beginning. I burned toast.”

Bokuto laughed, “Somehow I don’t believe you.”

Akaashi raised an eyebrow while cocking his head to the side, shaking his head to refute the fact. “No, truly. In any case,” he tucked a hair behind his ear that didn’t need tucking, “When I was a second year in high school I began to take an interest in it.”

There was a pause, as if Bokuto was waiting to hear the rest. Except Akaashi didn’t continue.

The alpha blinked. “That’s it?”

Akaashi stared blankly. When in doubt, his expressionless facade always seemed to work.

“Huh,” Bokuto leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms, “Well I guess inspiration can come from anywhere. I’m glad you found your passion Akaashi!”

He cracked a smile at that, lowering his head slightly, “It keeps things interesting, that’s for sure.”

Like hell he was going to tell the alpha that he’d begun an entire business out of pure spite.

“But,” Bokuto said, in a way that caught the omega’s attention, what with the way his arms were still crossed, a wild smirk claiming his lips as he leaned forward, “I still don’t believe you.”

Akaashi flushed at that, locking eyes with the alpha, in a way that almost seemed to compel him to tell the story.

His blood rushed. It seemed his body never failed to remind him that he was an omega. One who was currently in the presence of an alpha, no less. The word tumbled out of his mouth before he had a chance to say otherwise.

“On Valentine’s Day, you are supposed to confess to the one you love with chocolate.”

The alpha’s eyes widened, as he slowly uncrossed his arms, wondering what had warranted the sudden jump in topic. “Yeah…at least, that’s how it’s supposed to go.”

Akaashi sighed, before nodding in agreement. “I didn’t know how to make chocolate, back then.”

Bokuto nodded, urging him to go on.

“So I decided to bake a cake instead. Nothing fancy. It was very small.” He glanced up at the alpha behind shy lashes, to check if he was still paying attention. He seemed to be, so the omega continued. “It didn’t end well,” Akaashi smiled beautifully, looking at Bokuto with a certain sparkle in his eyes, “He called my cake dry. Among other things.”

“And so, after that—”

“He works part-time now for some no-name company,” Akaashi provided happily, “And I run my own business full of cakes that melt on your tongue.”

Bokuto gave an incredulous sort of scoff, staring at Akaashi as if he were seeing him for the first time all over again. “That’s amazing. You’re amazing.”

He didn’t really have a chance to reply, since his phone began to go off. Akaashi reached into his pocket to pull it out, shutting off his alarm.

“Speaking of cakes,” he sighed, “I’m sorry. If I don’t pull some product from the fridge tonight they won’t be ready by tomorrow morning.”

“Oh no worries!” Bokuto beamed, “I understand.”

Akaashi’s fist circled around his phone, his mind rushing with about a million and one ways on how to properly phrase his question.

“Would you…would you perhaps want to come with me? We could have a taste test.”

Bad word choice, very bad word choice.

“Sure! Your desserts are always the best Akaashi!”

The omega exhaled. Luckily for him, Bokuto seemed to have no concept of an innuendo.

They made their way to station, Bokuto letting Akaashi have the seat on the train. It was a simple gesture, and yet, it was enough to send little prickles of excitement all throughout the omega’s body.

When they finally made it to the bakery, and Akaashi was able to turn on all the lights, he calmed slightly, inhaling the familiar scent of the place where he spent most of his time.

He set the shiba plush down by the register, before turning to smile at the alpha, and motioning for him to follow. “You’ve never seen the back, have you?”

Akaashi gave the alpha a small tour of his work station, reveling in how intrigued Bokuto seemed to be about everything, taking a genuine interest in everything Akaashi had to say. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d spoken so much. Eventually, though, he couldn’t put off the frozen treats any longer, tugging on the giant freezer doors to pull out one of his best-selling sweets.

“You need help with that?”

“Oh, no, it’s—”

Maybe it was just the cold of the freezer, that made Bokuto’s body heat all the more obvious. But Akaashi went red regardless, the alpha’s chest almost up against his back as he reached over Akaashi’s head, and took the tray from him.

“Where do you want it?” The alpha grinned proudly.

Weakly, Akaashi pointed to the counter, “Just there is fine. I’ll cover them properly.”

Bokuto nodded, doing as was instructed.

Akaashi bit his lip, and took in a deep breath, apologizing in advance to fate for pushing his own luck. But damnit he couldn’t help himself.

“Oh…no…”

“What happened?”

Akaashi brought pensive fingers to his lips, “Kiko, she always…those baking sheets on the rack there. They should actually be over here, so that I can get the bread started tomorrow. But Kiko isn’t strong enough to move them on her own…”

“I can do it—”

“Oh, no, I couldn’t ask you to—”

Bokuto chuckled, “It’s fine, I do this all the time at the bar too. Besides I wouldn’t want you hurting your back or anything.”

“That’s very kind of you, Bokuto-san.”

The alpha nodded, getting to work on the trays.

As a baker, Akaashi Keiji had the upper body strength of a bear. But it was fine if Bokuto didn’t realize that quite yet. Because ever since that day at the Port, Akaashi had realized he had a rather sick obsession with watching the alpha move around heavy objects. And watching him move his baking sheets all over the place, as if they were some sort of married couple, was not dissatisfying in the least.

In fact, the omega probably enjoyed it just a tad too much.

When he’d finished, Bokuto turned to Akaashi for approval. The omega granted it, thanking him humbly.

There was a certain shift in the quiet of the room. One that begged to be filled. It was the kind of awkwardness that could only be held in a moment like this, with alpha and omega far enough away to not touch, but their scents heavily filling the gaps for them, as if drawing them together like a winding thread.

Akaashi cleared his throat, needing to say something, anything to fill the pause, “Again, thank you. For everything else as well, Bokuto. The dinners, and your patronage…and for today…” He swallowed, hoping the alpha had noticed the drop of the honorific.

He certainly seemed to, because the alpha took his hand just then, snapping Akaashi into the ever-real present.

“Akaashi.”

Eyes like that, the omega thought, with their sharp gaze and kind outline, could only belong to an alpha.

He hadn’t realized how close they’d gotten. With his back pressed against the counter, and Bokuto holding his hand ever so tenderly, then that could only mean…

“Is it ok?” The alpha dipped his head, but stopped just before, locking eyes with the omega again, in a way that seemed to capture Akaashi entirely under his gaze, his body racing with adrenaline that had nowhere to go.

Perhaps that was what was causing his legs to shake.

He lashes fluttered closed, and he leaned in, allowing the action to speak for him, Bokuto’s lips meeting his own in pleasant warmth.

It was, in a word, a kiss. But it was Bokuto’s kiss, which somehow made it better than anything Akaashi had ever experienced.

Both pulled away rather shyly, giggling softly to themselves, the alpha admitting he hadn’t felt this nervous since middle school.

Akaashi looked at the alpha, knowing his cheeks were bright pink as he took Bokuto’s hands into his own, his turn to take the initiative. “Then, until you are no longer nervous,” he licked his lips anxiously, rolling his thumbs into the alpha’s palm. “Please continue to kiss me.”

Large hands caught the omega’s cheeks, in a kiss so tender Akaashi thought he might just melt in the alpha’s hold.

The omega had noticed it before, but with the alpha so close to him, his scent assaulting the omega’s senses, there could be no doubt.

Bokuto Koutarou smelled like french vanilla.

Oikawa Tooru woke up, for the first time in nearly six years, to a good morning text that did not come from Koutarou.

Which was an odd thing in and of itself, because he wasn’t sure how to reply to something that wasn’t business related anymore. He wasn’t sure what to reply. Could he ignore it? Should he ignore it? The date was about as successful as he could have hoped, but…

He held the phone under the covers, as if it were some kind of secret, reading the short message over and over again.

Gathering his nerve, he managed to send a good morning message of his own. Feeling stupidly giddy, he left his phone on the nightstand, deciding to shower and start his day, since Eiji would be up soon, after all, and he always made him pancakes on the weekends.

As much as he tried to distract himself, however, it wasn’t enough to stop Tooru from taking one of the fastest showers on record, and bolting back out to his bedroom to check his phone.

How’d you sleep?

He quickly typed out his reply but then stopped. Blinked at the screen. Nearly dropped his phone.

Putting a hand over his mouth, the omega inhaled and exhaling deeply. This was it, wasn’t it? If he replied to this, if he kept this going, there’d be no turning back, would there? Not that he necessarily wanted to turn back, but with each positive thought of Hajime came a negative one of Kaito, and then of Eiji, and if Oikawa—

“Mommy!!!”

The jolt it caused in his body made him push send, though if it was an accident or done on purpose Oikawa would never tell, and as quickly as he could he threw on a shirt before calling out to his son. He tossed his phone onto his unmade bed, thinking that he had more important things to do.

But even so, the omega could tell, that phone would no doubt be back in his pocket before he’d even get the chance to start the batter for Eiji’s breakfast.

Well.

He’d never said he was patient.

Chapter Text

“Wait,” Oikawa couldn’t hear what Bokuto was saying at all, “Say that one more—EIJI! I’M ON THE PHONE!”

Bokuto bit his lip to keep from laughing, listening to Tooru discipline his son. 

“No I don’t care—who do you think bought you the race track?”

He could hear a small voice trembling, “But Mommy didn’t buy it! Santa brought it for Christmas!”

Oikawa let out a small curse word under his breath, groaning into the phone, “Kou, I can’t—I’m about to have a crisis over here—”

The alpha laughed, “You just focus on holding down the fort. I’ll drop by later—”

“If you keep this up you can kiss your birthday party goodbye—”

“But Mommy! I’m only playing—!”

“Oikawa Tooru Eiji! How many times have I told you not to play by the—! Kou, I’ll call you back.”

“Don’t worry.”

The line went dead, and Bokuto assumed Eiji was in for the scolding of his life, if Tooru’s tone was any indication. He figured that since he had some time to kill, he might as well stop by Akaashi’s apartment for a bit, before going to see Tooru and Eiji.

And he was so glad he did.

Spending time with Akaashi just made him happy. They’d had a decent amount of development, which Bokuto was more than grateful for, since it’d been a long time since he was in a relationship like this. And the omega was a lot more affectionate than their first few meetings let on. Not that Bokuto minded, since he was rather affectionate himself. If it were up to him, he’d be nuzzling the omega every moment of every day.

Especially when it was just the two of them, sitting on the omega’s couch, scenting away to their heart’s content.

Sometimes, Akaashi even purred.

Which, naturally, always made Bokuto’s chest swell up with pride. But best of all was when his nose was right up against the omega’s scent glands, that delicious scent clouding his senses, that exact moment when Bokuto thought he might stop and pull away, and the omega would shiver, letting out a soft whine at the loss of contact.

It was enough to send any sane man into delirium.

Only, this time around, Akaashi pushed him away first, settling on his own side of the couch, holding Bokuto’s large hands in his own. The sudden shift in scent was one Bokuto didn’t like. And there was also the fact that Akaashi was choosing to look at their hands, rather than at the alpha himself.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

Bokuto swallowed. They’d only been going out for a few weeks. How badly had he managed to fuck up already?

“Yeah, sure,” he squeezed the omega’s hands, “Anything.”

Hesitantly, Akaashi looked up, and Bokuto noticed the omega’s hands begin to sweat. He held onto them all the tighter.

“I don’t know how else to say it, so I will be blunt,” he began, his face as unreadable as ever, “I am, and have always been, easily prone to touch starvation.”

Bokuto blinked, not really sure what that was supposed to mean or how he was supposed to react. Was he not giving him enough attention?

“It’s caused me trouble in the past, so I just wanted you to know.”

Bokuto reached up, touching the omega’s cheek. He knew touch starvation could lead to depressive episodes in omegas. Sometimes it even sent them into states of shock or worse. He didn’t want Akaashi to go through that.

“I—“ he stopped himself, trying to figure out what to say, “I haven’t been ignoring you on purpose or anything. We’ve both got kind of rough schedules sometimes—”

Akaashi shook his head, “It’s nothing like that. I know perfectly well how busy we both are. And I assure you, I haven’t been touched starved in a while. But,” he looked at the alpha dead on, his gaze set, “I will do what I need to in order to keep it that way.”

Bokuto smiled softly, rubbing his thumb against the omega’s cheek, “Hey,” he said, “Don’t feel like you have to explain yourself to me. We’re in this together, so…whatever I can do to help, just let me know.”

Akaashi nodded, his calm demeanor as cold and as beautiful as ever. “I just want it understood that I will scent others platonically. Other alphas have had issues with this in the past. But this is for my own health and I won’t apologize for it. There are pills available, but they’re still relatively new, so the side effects are ones I’d rather not risk. It’s my body so I’ll choose what sort of pharmaceuticals I subject myself to.”

From the tone of his voice Bokuto could tell this wasn’t the first time Akaashi had had this conversation with someone. He didn’t know what he hated more— the fact that the omega had this speech down, or the fact that he’d been wronged by enough alphas to need a speech in the first place.

“That’s fine,” Bokuto encouraged, “Whatever you need to do.”

“My family is not in Tokyo,” Akaashi continued, “Which is why I often rely on my friends—”

Bokuto pulled him in, smothering the omega into his chest, because the way Akaashi said it all with such a straight face was sort of painful.

“Don’t worry. I’m not that kind of alpha.”

Akaashi squirmed out of his hold, so that they were looking at each other properly once more. “I just need you to understand, that when I scent others I am doing so platonically, and in no way is it with the intention of being unfaithful. I know we’ve only just started seeing each other, but I wanted you to know.” Akaashi swallowed, and there was a small pause, as if he were allowing Bokuto to take it all in.

“Of course,” Akaashi paused again, and it was here that his facade finally seemed to crack, his voice shaking slightly, “I understand if this is not something you are comfortable with. In which case…” the omega’s hands began to tremble, ever so softly, and Bokuto really couldn’t take it anymore. He took those trembling hands, and placed soft kisses to the backs of his palms.

“I’ve told you already,” he said, “But I like all of you. So even if it means you have to scent others sometimes…that’s ok. Honestly it bites into my instincts a bit, but so long as we understand and trust each other, it’s ok, right?”

Akaashi nodded silently, blinking back his emotions. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“If it’s ok with you, though,” he squeezed the omega’s hands again, “As much as is humanly possible, can I be the one to help you?” He finished off the request with a rather goofy smile, looking at the omega hopefully.

Akaashi gave a chortle of a laugh in response, nodding his head eagerly. “I’m sorry if what I said caught you off-guard. Or if it came off as overtly serious. But I needed you to know, before we got too involved with each other.”

The alpha nodded, smiling at the omega. “Thank you for telling me.”

Akaashi scoffed, lowering his head and pulling his hands away, crossing them and unfolding them, as if he were at a loss for what to do, “I’m sorry I—it seems I completely ruined the moment.”

Bokuto leaned in, granting him a soft peck on the nose, “Not at all,” he said, before moving to his lips, “Communication is important.”

Akaashi’s hands found their way around Bokuto’s neck, “I’m glad you think so…”

Everything else was left unsaid, because it didn’t have to be, not when the way they felt was exchanged effortlessly, across lips that had no need to speak. 

Eiji didn’t come running to greet him the way he usually did. Instead he was just wandering listlessly around the kitchen, ignoring his mother’s pudding offer. Bokuto sat down at the kitchen counter. “What’s wrong with him?”

With an eyeroll Oikawa didn’t bother to hide, he gave a short sigh, and dug into the pudding that Eiji didn’t want.

“He’s being grumpy today.”

“Grumpy?” Bokuto took the opportunity to reach out and catch Eiji, picking him up and placing the young alpha on his knee. It didn’t come without a small struggle, but he managed. “How come?”

Tooru responded with the spoon still in his mouth, “He got in trouble.”

Eiji stayed silent.

“Did you, now?” Bokuto looked at his nephew, “You’ve got to listen to your mom, don’t you?”

At this, the young alpha immediately jumped in to defend himself, “I did—”

“Don’t think you’ll get any sympathy from your uncle, Ei-chan,” Tooru pointed at him with the spoon, “I only yell at you because I care.”

Bokuto bounced him on his knee, “He knows that,” he turned his head to look at the little alpha, “Don’t you Eiji?”

Eiji continued to pout, staring at his mother stubbornly. Oikawa licked the spoon, before waving it around, “You sure you don’t want some? This pudding is de~li~cious~”

Eiji made a weird face, as if he were trying to hold back a smile. So instead, he quickly shook his head.

“I don’t think he wants the pudding, Tooru.”

The omega hummed, “I guess not. Guess we’ll have to eat it all ourselves.”

“No point in buying them anymore either. Since Eiji isn’t going to eat any.”

“True. Once these are gone I won’t buy pudding anymore.”

“W-Wait!” Eiji blushed, lowering his head and shifting in his spot, “You don’t have to…never buy them…”

“Oh ho ho?” Bokuto brought his hand up, tickling the child’s stomach, “What’s this? Quickly Tooru! The pudding!”

Eiji was laughing, kicking his legs though it didn’t do much, Bokuto holding him down while his mom popped the spoonful of chocolate pudding in his son’s mouth.

“He’s been revived!” Bokuto didn’t waste a moment, holding Eiji up simba style, pudding dripping down his chin as the child continued to roll over in laughter. When he was finally put back down, he wasn’t allowed to escape, his mom catching him in a warm hug, nuzzling his scent glands, enveloping his son in his scent.

To Eiji, Mommy always smelled like warm milk.

“Better?” Oikawa rubbed noses with his son, crinkling his features to make a funny face.

The young alpha nodded, mimicking his mother’s silly face, as if it were a silent pact of sorts.

“Good,” Tooru gave him a kiss on the cheek, followed by a ruffling of his hair.

“Mommy?” Eiji wasted no time, following behind his mother, “Can I go play now?”

Tooru nodded with a knowing smile, bending down again with a napkin to clear Eiji’s face of the excess pudding. “As long as you play carefully.”

Eiji promised he would.

He and Bokuto were left alone, Tooru taking the stool beside the alpha’s. The omega let out another sigh.

“I’m tired.”

“It shows.”

Oikawa made a face, nudging his friend deeply with his elbow, “No you’re not, Tooru. You’re a glowing beacon of youth and energy, Tooru.”

“I gotta be honest,” Bokuto defended with a chuckle.

The omega lowered his voice, “If he would’ve thrown a tantrum today I might’ve killed him.”

Bokuto laughed again, “Was it that bad?”

“Honestly I just—” Oikawa’s phone buzzed against the counter, and the omega reached over to check it, flipping it over and unlocking his screen.

There was a look on his face that Bokuto found all too familiar.

“Uh oh,” he teased knowingly, “Smiling at your phone? Someone’s a goner.”

Oikawa immediately locked his phone. “Shut up.”

“Still smiling~”

“I'm not—“

“You totally are!”

“Well—“ Tooru reddened, palming his phone, “Is there something wrong with that?”

“No,” Bokuto grinned, leaning back, “Not at all.”

Oikawa but his lip, “I'm nervous.”

“That's understandable.”

“He waves, Kou. When I'm getting home. He waves from the park.”

“That's kinda cute.”

The omega hid behind his hands, “I know.”

“Have you seen him again since?”

“He dropped by for a bit the other day. And last week too.”

Bokuto made some kissing noises with his mouth, puckering his lips right in front of his friend’s face. If Oikawa had anything to throw he would have thrown it.

“It's not…” He cleared his throat, “Like that yet.”

“Ooooh yet? What’s that supposed to mean—“

“Oh just shut up. Tell me about Akaashi. What was his first name again?”

“Keiji.” Bokuto beamed proudly, “Akaashi Keiji.”

“Based on that smile I take it it already is that way for you guys.”

The alpha practically hooted. “We haven’t gone all the way. We wanna take it slow. But he’s surprisingly cuddly!”

Tooru made a face, “Really?”

“Yeah! He's really into snuggling and scenting. Which is obviously awesome.”

“Hm.”

Bokuto crinkled his features, “What?”

“No,” Tooru shrugged nonchalantly, “It just seems weird that's all.”

“How so?”

“Didn't you say he was all…stoic? Isn't that why you liked him in the first place?”

“Yeah, that's why it's such a big surprise!”

“Mhmm.”

Bokuto rolled his eyes, “Just say it Tooru.”

“Well don't you think it's weird that he suddenly becomes affectionate after you tell him the kind of business you run?”

“It's not like I was flashing money in his face—“

“Kou. This is the exact same thing that happened last time—“

“No, no she was different. I should've listened to you on that one. But Akaashi is—“

“I'm just saying to be careful, that's all.”

The alpha frowned. “You don't believe me.”

“I'm just being cautious.”

“Well then why don't you meet him,” he suggested, “Then you can see for yourself.”

The omega shrugged, “Fine. We can grab a cup of coffee—“

“No. We're doing our double date.”

Oikawa paled. “No. We don't know each other—“

“What better way to get to know someone!”

“Koutarou—“

“Tooru—“

He pursed his lips, “This is a bad idea.”

“It's a great idea. You always think you’re right about everything—”

“I usually am—”

“You’ll see. This time I got it.”  Bokuto smiled proudly.

Oikawa gave a groan, “Well tell me when. I’d have to get my mom to babysit.”

“Is that a yes!?!”

“A grudge-filled one.”

“Trust me. Akaashi is solid. Besides, I wanna see this Iwa guy again. If you ask me, he’s moving too slow.”

“We’re moving along just fine, thank you.”

“What’re you scared of?” Bokuto asked, “That he’ll see how thirsty you are? Trust me, alphas love that—”

Tooru found that he didn’t need to throw anything, because smacking his hand against the back of Bokuto’s head worked just as well.

“He’s being respectful of the pace I’ve set.” Tooru smiled.

Bokuto shook his head, “Just make some sort of progress before we all shrivel up and die—”

“Give me a break! I’ve got enough to worry about trying to explain this all to Eiji.”

“He’s a smart kid,” Bokuto encouraged, “I think, no matter what happens, he’ll understand. He’ll be fine, and so will you.”

Tooru inhaled deeply, “We don’t know that for sure.”

Bokuto rubbed his back, smacking it with brute strength, “You’re Oikawa Tooru. And that kid you got? He’s basically a you 2.0. So yeah, I think you guys will be just fine.”

Tooru tried to bite back his smile, letting out the breath he’d seemed to be holding. “I guess you’re right.”

Chapter Text

When the doorbell rang, Tooru was still in the bathroom. With the sudden sound came a decision, so he pulled at a tissue, and wiped off the lip gloss he’d been debating whether or not to wear. It felt like too much.

He fluffed up his hair, stealing one last glance at the mirror before heading down the stairs. The doorbell rang a second time, and he yelled out that he was going, tugging the door open to reveal a cleanly dressed Iwa.

His chest didn’t tighten. And his stomach most definitely didn’t flop.

“Hey,” Iwa smiled the kind of smile that showed off his teeth, “Ready?”

Oikawa nodded, reaching for his large black wallet and then shutting off the lights before closing the door behind him.

“You look really good.”

Oikawa’s eyes widened, but only slightly, the omega tucking some hair behind his ear. “Thank you,” he said, “You look good too.”

Iwa smiled, putting his hands in his pockets. “I’m excited to try the food.”

“If it’s bad, don’t blame me,” Oikawa teased, “Bokuto did all the planning.”

Iwa chuckled in response, “I’m sure it’ll be fine. How’s Eiji? He gonna be okay for the night?”

Oikawa smiled at the alpha’s genuine concern over his son. “Yeah,” he told him, “He’s with my parents and they love spoiling him so…hopefully my mom won’t give him anything weird…”

“Weird?”

The omega nodded, “She’s really into home remedies and natural things. I was unfortunately subject to all her whims.”

“Sound somewhat unfortunate,”

“Sometimes,” Oikawa admitted, “They never tasted very good.”

They laughed a bit more at that, making their way towards the station. There was a pleasant breeze flowing, one that made the humidity not seem as bad. Oikawa liked nights like these the most. 

“Would it be too bold if I hold your hand?” Iwa said suddenly.

It was enough to get Oikawa to look at him, because there was something about the way Iwa said things like that, his voice heavy with sincerity and eyes soft around the edges.

“Bold?” He tried to sound nonchalant, “Isn’t that just normal?”

His hand was taken easily, into a large, warm palm that somehow managed to calm him while simultaneously sending his nerves into a frenzy.

It wasn’t really until then, that Tooru realized, the only hands he’d held for the last five years were Eiji’s. And he was always the one doing the holding.

It’d been a really long time, he thought, since his hand had last felt this small.

…

Akaashi wasn’t ignorant to his looks. It was something he had always been relatively confident about.

Which was why he did a double take, when he finally saw what Oikawa Tooru looked like.

It shouldn’t have come as any surprise, considering what his son had looked like, but it still managed to throw Akaashi for a loop, especially when they got up close, and the omega’s height became all the more apparent. He wore high waisted capris that only made his legs look all the longer, paired with a flowy blouse that complimented his shoulders nicely, all topped off with pointed, black flats. Simple, yet elegant.

What this really the omega that was constantly around the alpha Akaashi was supposed to be dating?

Akaashi hesitated slightly, wondering if the black skinny jeans he’d worn were perhaps too casual.

“This is Oikawa! Oikawa Tooru!” Bokuto guided them together, Oikawa being the first to extend his hand.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Akaashi took it, shaking it amiably, “The same goes for you,” he said politely.

The omega hummed, “This is Iwaizumi Hajime.”

The alpha came forward, shaking Akaashi’s hand with a solid nod, “Pleasure.”

“Good to see you again, Iwaizumi.” Bokuto gave a chaste smile.

Iwa nodded in response, “Same.”

“Ok,” Bokuto clapped his hands together, “Now that we’ve all been introduced, let’s go. I’m freaking starving.”

Akaashi let Bokuto take him by the hand, his heart racing slightly as the alpha led them towards the elevators. They’d be dining on the top floor, which apparently wasn’t accessible to the public. It made him all the more nervous.

Once at the top, they were guided and seated after Bokuto gave his name, the host leading them to a private room and telling them to please enjoy their stay.

As they were led down the hall, Oikawa commented on the fact that the alpha wanted to show off.

“This is amazing,” Iwa said, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Oikawa was towards the front, right behind the host, and when he halted, so did everyone else. “Nothing like it indeed,” he turned to face the group, “What’re you planning here, Kou?”

Akaashi ignored the small sting the nickname gave to his chest, because everyone else finally saw what Oikawa had seen, and Akaashi’s heart began to race.

Smack in the middle of the room, was a pole.

“I—“ the alpha stuttered, “I didn’t ask for that—”

Iwa burst out laughing, making his way to the table, “So this is why private rooms are so expensive—”

“If entertainment shows up, I’m leaving—”

“Oh, shut up Tooru—”

Akaashi silently took his seat, Bokuto rushing behind him to pull out his chair, stopping his argument with the other omega halfway.

“Well so long as I don’t have to look at it.” Oikawa waved his hand carelessly, thanking Iwa as the alpha pulled out his chair as well.

“You don’t,” Bokuto snapped, “So stop complaining.”

Iwa chuckled, taking his seat next to Oikawa, “My guess is the stripper pole has no effect on the food so, I’m good.”

“Thank you,” Bokuto motioned to the fellow alpha, “Someone with sense.”

Akaashi shifted in his seat. They all seemed really friendly with one another.

“You probably don’t recognize me,” Iwa said, and it took a bit for Akaashi to realize the alpha was speaking to him, “But I’ve definitely been to your shop before. Your coffee saves me.”

“Ah, yes,” Akaashi nodded respectfully, “I thought you looked familiar. Thank you for your patronage.”

“He makes good tarts, too.” Oikawa added sweetly. But it was the kind of tone Akaashi recognized as being perhaps too sweet.

Their waiter came out, asking if they’d like to start with any drinks. They all gave their respective orders, Akaashi politely declining and asking for a simple glass of water.

“Sparkling?”

Akaashi blushed, “No, just regular is fine. Thank you.”

The waiter nodded politely.

“No one’s driving,” Oikawa teased, “You’d be fine with a drink.”

“Akaashi’s not good with alcohol,” Bokuto answered for him, with a bit of a bite that made the omega’s heart swell, and the alpha across from them stiffen.

“Oh,” Oikawa’s eyes widened, “Is it a medical condition?”

Bokuto tensed beside him, so Akaashi acted quickly, motioning to the waiter, “On second thought, I’ll have a mint julep.”

“Akaashi—”

Oikawa clapped, “There we go! Let’s all have some fun!”

Akaashi swallowed, calmly fighting his way through with logic. His absolute limit was two drinks. So with just one, and when paired with food, he’d definitely be fine. He wasn’t quite sure what the omega was playing at, but if it meant sucking it up and ordering a drink, then Akaashi could do at least that much.

“Don’t let Tooru bully you into anything,” Bokuto warned out loud, “Same goes for you, Iwa.”

Akaashi chuckled politely, “Not at all. I can handle at least one drink.”

“I tease~” Oikawa smiled, and nudged the alpha.

Polite chatter ensued, the couples getting to know each other. It wasn’t long before the drinks were brought out, and the conversations began to get livelier. While it wasn’t overtly obvious, Oikawa seemed to be the giggly kind, when he got tipsy.

Akaashi tried to pace himself, to sip his drink slowly, but with his nerves he seemed to be going a lot faster than he really intended. Bokuto had leaned in to him, whispering in his ear, “Don’t feel like you have to finish it.”

The omega smiled politely, saying he felt more than fine.

Which wasn’t necessarily true. Especially after he ordered a second drink. He definitely shouldn’t have done that. The food hadn’t even arrived yet.

Eventually, though, dinner was ordered, some sort of fancy fish that was going to take half an hour to prepare. Which prompted another round of drinks, which Akaashi politely refused.

No matter what the conversation, Oikawa always managed to circle it back to a joke about the stripper pole. It was starting to set Akaashi’s teeth on edge.

What was so bad about stripper poles anyway?

When dinner came, Akaashi couldn’t be more relieved. He needed something to fill his stomach. He already felt far too hot. He could feel himself leaning into the alpha while he poked at his food, trying to soothe the sudden burning of his skin.

This was bad. He should try and throw up now before it got any worse.

But something kept him at the table, be it the conversation, or his own fear of falling over, should he choose to stand.

He felt like it was probably the latter. But it was already getting hard to breathe, and if he didn’t do something soon then definitely…

Slick pooled between his thighs, and Akaashi had to shift in his seat to adjust to the sudden sensation. It was very hard to breathe.

“I still can’t believe you booked this place without knowing there’d be a stripper pole right in the middle of—”

“Well it’s not like I’ve ever eaten here before—”

“Sure, sure—”

“I think you just really wanna try it out, Tooru.”

Akaashi perked up, chopsticks still in his hand as he looked at Oikawa. He wouldn’t, would he? Maybe, if nothing else, to impress the alpha sitting beside him. Because even Akaashi, in his hazed state, noticed the way Iwa glanced over, hope dancing wistfully in those dark eyes at the suggestion.

The omega clicked his tongue with disdain, “Not a chance.”

Relief washed over Akaashi. He wasn’t quite sure why. But that was probably the most comforting thing he’d heard all evening. He picked at his fish some more, heat knotting and twisting in his stomach. He tapped his foot anxiously.

Well. If Oikawa wasn’t going to…

Akaashi’s chair scraped against the floor, the omega using the table as an anchor so that he could get up. He made it to the pole easily enough, even if he didn’t necessarily remember the walk there, but the moment his palms pressed against the cold metal, he felt at ease.

“Akaashi?”

Bokuto sounded really far away, for some reason. Akaashi spun around the pole once, as a sort of test drive, the music starting to hum in his head.

The routine came easily. It was the one he’d been working on for the past few weeks. His muscles were familiar with the movement. He glided effortlessly, finding this to be easier than the entire dinner had been, because this, at least, was most definitely his comfort zone.

This was something he knew.

He came to a shaky sort of stop, tripping over his own feet in a way that seemed to ruin the rest of the seamless performance, Akaashi’s grip on the pole the only thing that really stopped him from falling over.

Fuck, he was going to throw up.

Someone was clapping, though he didn’t really know who, and he was pretty sure someone was yelling too, but none of that really registered, because when he blinked again, taking in a sharp inhale, the room was silent.

“Where’d you learn how to do that?” The question had come from Bokuto. That much was obvious. It was a tone he recognized. One he’d heard a million times before. That ‘surprised alpha’ sound. It almost stung. Still, he knew he had to answer, because they were all looking at him now. So he shrugged, legs starting to shake. “I don’t like yoga…” He stumbled forward, his head melting into a mess.

He should have thrown up when he had  the chance.

Bokuto was out of his chair in a moment, there to catch Akaashi as he fell, yelling something or other about how he told Oikawa not to force the alcohol. But Akaashi didn’t really care about any of that right now. Because right now, his body was hot.

He clawed at the alpha, taking a fistful of his nice dress shirt hostage. “Bokuto…” he didn’t recognize his own voice, the desperate whimper that pushed through chattering teeth, “Knot…please…”

He was pulled away, upon which he whined, falling into who he recognized to be Oikawa, who was screaming again, or maybe it wasn’t screaming, exactly, but it just felt that way.

“Kassandra—exchange student—had the same—needs to throw up—”

Akaashi tried to shake his head. It was too late to throw up now. Right now the only thing to do was—

“I’ll take him home.”

His body shivered in pleasure. It was such a commanding presence, such a strong voice, that it cut through everything, Akaashi submitting eagerly before the alpha.

There was a bit more banter he didn’t quite register, because soon enough he was pressed against Bokuto again, covered in a jacket of sorts, being guided down through the restaurant and into what Akaashi guessed was a taxi.

Finally.

He clambered over the seats, settling comfortably in the alpha’s lap and suckling on his glands.

“Akaashi—”

The omega moaned, whimpering happily as he continued to suck, grinding softly against the alpha to find some relief.

“Just—” the alpha groaned, those large hands and thick fingers digging into Akaashi’s waist in a way that made him mewl.

“We’re headed to your apartment, ok? Do you have medicine there—”

Akaashi didn’t want medicine. He wanted Koutarou.

Bokuto was at a complete loss for what to do. He’d dealt with omegas in heat before, but this was completely different. It wasn’t nearly as strong. No doubt what Akaashi meant when he said he was bad with alcohol.

Still, it was enough to leave him slightly woozy.

But this was his fault. Because he’d selfishly let Tooru talk Akaashi into drinking. Because part of him…kind of wanted to see…

But this was painful. Because Akaashi was obviously in pain. And from what Bokuto remembered of Tooru shouting at him, it definitely had to do with his touch starvation. Where the hell did Tooru get off yelling at him anyway?

Akaashi whined again, and Bokuto was pulled to the present, hyper-aware of his ever present problem. Of course, he couldn’t really do much when Akaashi crashed his lips against his own, giving off those small whimpers that caused the omega’s entire body to shake.

Bokuto’s grip tightened, forcing the omega to grind just a little harder. He couldn’t help it. Not with the way Akaashi purred above him, kissing him generously, thankfully, as if Bokuto was everything.

And this wasn’t even the omega’s real heat.

Fuck. No. He had to stay focused. This was definitely not the time to give into his primal urges. He had an omega to take care of.

When they finally made it to Akaashi’s apartment building, Bokuto didn’t bother to see if the omega could stand or not, simply decided to carry him instead, all the way to the door. He’d already searched the omega for keys while they were in the car, so opening the door was easy enough, even if he had to support Akaashi with just one arm.

The excitement seemed to rise, once they were inside the actual apartment, Bokuto trying to get the omega to calm down, but Akaashi having none of it, clawing at the alpha’s shirt, and smothering him with kisses.

There was a small struggle, upon which they both fell to the ground, Bokuto apologizing profusely, but Akaashi just laughing through it, wrapping his legs and arms around the alpha, and looking up at him with glazed eyes. “Bokuto~” he hummed, practically purring as his eyes fluttered closed, “Kn…ot…”

His arms slid from Bokuto’s shoulders, and the omega curled in on himself, falling into an easy sleep.

Shaking limbs no longer able to support him, Bokuto found himself collapsing right next to him. “You’re gonna fucking kill me,” he muttered, “You know that?”

He stayed on the floor for a while, feeling kind of like an idiot, but more than anything else he needed to steady his breathing.

Akaashi was out like a light.

Bokuto sighed, running a hand through his hair. Was this sort of thing supposed to happen, within two months of dating? And everything else aside, where the hell had Akaashi learned to pole dance?

Silently, the alpha cursed under his breath.

Bokuto. Knot.

His body jolted. He should not be remembering that right now. His teeth clenched, wondering how many different names had replaced his own in the past. But he tried not to think about that, instead focused on the fact that they were still on the floor, and gathered the strength to pick the omega up, and carry him to bed.

The apartment was relatively small, so it didn’t take too much to finally get Akaashi into his own room. Putting him down as gently as he could manage, Bokuto wondered if maybe he should try putting the omega in his pajamas. But somehow that felt a bit intrusive, so he decided against it.

Instead he stood up, patting his hands on his pants, as if he’d accomplished something. Tonight had pretty much been a complete disaster.

Feeling exhausted, he lied down next to Akaashi, taking the moment to soak in the omega’s features.

Fuck he was so pretty.

Bokuto groaned, turning over flat on his back, and running his fingers through gelled hair. He didn’t get very far, though, his fingers getting stuck halfway.

He wondered if he should just leave. But that felt…weird. Staying also felt weird, though. He turned his head, looking at Akaashi again. The omega was resting soundly, perfectly calm with his body curled ever so slightly. Bokuto edged closer, resting his head on his arm as he admired  the omega’s features.

It wouldn’t be such a bad thing, he thought, waking up to a face like that every morning. He sighed, reaching up to shift some of Akaashi’s bangs away from his forehead. He’d probably fucked up all chances of that, though. He should’ve explained to Oikawa properly…shouldn’t have let him put so much pressure on Akaashi…

But Tooru went complete Momma Bear in situations like these.

Bokuto let out a soft groan, rubbing his temple. Maybe that was just an excuse.

With a pained face, he leaned towards Akaashi, nuzzling the omega’s nose with his own. A happy hum came from the omega’s chest, soft and steady. So Bokuto did it again, moving over to the omega’s cheek, and then, his neck.

Akaashi purring was something Bokuto would never get tired of hearing.

In the end, he stayed. Mostly because he couldn’t find the strength to leave.

When Akaashi woke up that morning, it was to low snores, and the scent of vanilla making his head spin.

No, it wasn’t the vanilla. Vanilla was a pleasant scent. Soothing and—

He sat up in one single, breathless movement, his head pounding and screaming at him in protest.

How many drinks had he had?

Looking down, he saw he was still in the same clothes from last night. And when he looked over at Bokuto, he saw that the alpha was as well.

The bed was still made. Had they just…?

It was a situation that was all too familiar and yet incredibly foreign. It wasn’t the first time Akaashi woke up with a hangover and an alpha sleeping next to him in bed. Usually, however, the room was in disarray, and their clothes would be…

He flushed, covering his hand with his mouth before he ran to the bathroom to throw up. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. He said he wouldn’t drink. He didn’t want Bokuto to see that side of him. So why…why…

It’s fine since you don’t wanna be touch starved right?

Oh, you’re that kind of omega—

I should get you drunk more often—

He threw up again, hurling into his toilet bowl, tears streaming down his face from the strain and unwanted memories.

He’d ruined everything.

After cleaning himself up, he took a quick shower, and finally put on a fresh pair of clothes. Bokuto was still sleeping, so he thought the least he could do was prepare breakfast for the alpha, seeing as he’d gone through the trouble of carrying him home.

And more than that, he hadn’t even…

Akaashi cooked with anxiety in his fingers. He didn’t know what it meant. Had the alpha not touched him out of respect, or had he found Akaashi’s drunken state disgusting? Someone pure-hearted like Bokuto…

The omega wasn’t ignorant. Alcohol triggered a fake sort of heat in him, which made his tolerance almost nothing. But even if the effects were fake, it was usually still enough for an alpha to—

His stomach lurched, his chest squeezing painfully. For now, he wouldn’t think about that. Right now, his only focus would be to properly thank Bokuto.

After finishing his own quick breakfast to buy himself time, Akaashi placed Bokuto’s share on a tray, trying to convince himself he was ready to face the consequences of last night’s actions. When he entered the room, he swallowed, encouraging himself, setting the tray down on the nightstand, before softly nudging the alpha awake.

Bokuto’s eyes shot open, and he sat up far too quickly, Akaashi trying to calm him down.

“I’ve made breakfast.”

Bokuto looked from Akaashi to the tray, and then back to Akaashi again, the omega sitting on his knees at the edge of the bed. He had both his hands flat on his thighs, and he licked his lips before bowing his head. “I’m so sorry for the trouble I caused last night.”

Akaashi was too scared to look up. Because the alpha wasn’t saying anything, and Akaashi was pretty sure that this was the end of it. He took a deep inhale, collecting himself before finally looking up, and letting out a long exhale.

“Please take your time enjoying the meal. My only request is that if you wish to end our courtship that you not drag it out longer than necessary.”

Panic rose in the alpha, in a way that came through with more than just his voice, “What?! There’s no way—why would you even say that!”

Akaashi stared at him blankly, unsure of how to respond. “I—”

“I’m just glad you’re ok! I should apologize for Tooru. He usually isn’t like that. But even so I can’t blame him. It was totally on me for not stopping him when he was teasing you about the alcohol. An alpha’s job is to make sure their omega’s safe and secure. And you clearly didn’t feel that way. So, if anything, I’m the one who’s sorry for failing you.” He, too, bowed his head as he said so, apologizing as formally as possible.

The omega’s shoulders began to shake. “You…” he whispered, his voice hardly able to be heard, “You don’t think I’m disgusting?”

Bokuto’s head shot up, and in a moment he was right in front of Akaashi, hand cupping his face.

“Why would I ever think that?”

Because you’re a slut.

Akaashi swallowed, trying to stop the trembling, trying to come up with something intelligible to say, to repress the sudden memory, but unable to manifest a single word.

“Akaashi,” Bokuto held him tighter, forcing the omega to look at him, “Whoever it was that called you disgusting—they’re wrong. Look at me—dead wrong.”

Perhaps Bokuto was more aware than Akaashi could have hoped.

The omega inhaled sharply, giving a short sort of nod, before letting himself collapse entirely into the alpha’s chest, more than anything just wanting the shaking to stop. “I’m—so sorry—“

Bokuto held him tight, the calm scent of vanilla seeming to wrap around Akaashi as well, and he breathed it in, willing his breaths to even out.

“Please stop apologizing. You don’t have anything to be sorry for. Last night was completely my fault, ok? So whatever it is you’re thinking, just blame me instead.”

Silently the omega nodded, adjusting his position so that his nose was right on the alpha’s scent glands. He inhaled deeply, and finally seemed to relax, his body no longer stiff in Bokuto’s arms.

“Yesterday…” Bokuto began, his voice low and even, “Tooru said alcohol has that effect on you…is it due to the touch starvation?”

Akaashi didn’t say anything for a while, simply stayed in the alpha’s hold. But eventually, he gained the courage to speak.

“Yes. Because of my condition, rather than get drunk, alcohol triggers a false heat. Just a different form of intoxication, I suppose.”

Bokuto squeezed him slightly, and Akaashi could feel the man’s arms tense around him.

“This might sound overbearing,” Bokuto began, “And I’m sorry if it is but—“ He stopped himself, unsure if he should continue. Akaashi stayed quiet, wondering if Bokuto was going to tell him to forget it.

“Could you not drink with anyone except me?”

Akaashi smiled.

“Not—“ Bokuto quickly corrected himself, “Not that I want you really drinking in the first place—I just mean, if you’re going to—I want to make sure—“

“It’s not overbearing,” Akaashi said simply, “It’s as expected of an alpha.” 

Bokuto nuzzled Akaashi’s hair, inhaling the sweet scent, “I get this overwhelming need to want to help you. Is that weird?”

Akaashi flushed, feeling his entire body heat up. It wasn’t until now, that he realized his headache had completely passed.

“No,” he breathed, hardly recognizing his own voice, “Not at all.” 

The alpha held him like that for a long while, making sure the omega was completely calm before pulling apart, but it didn’t come without a kiss to Akaashi’s forehead.

Bokuto smiled, “Better?”

Akaashi avoided his gaze, feeling somewhat embarrassed. He wasn’t quite sure how to show his gratitude. It had been a very long time, since anyone had comforted him. So instead, he reached for the tray, offering it up to the alpha. “You must be hungry. It’s not much but—it’s probably cold by now—“

The tray was taken from him, Bokuto eager for a taste. “Let’s eat!”

“Oh, I already—”

It didn’t seem to matter, because as soon as Bokuto got his own mouthful, he took some more egg onto the fork, holding it up to offer some to Akaashi.

With his heart flopping ever so slightly in his chest, Akaashi leaned forward, taking the bite with warmed cheeks.

Bokuto was truly unlike any alpha Akaashi had been with.

It was comforting. In about a million different ways. How easily Bokuto spoke, how at ease his voice alone managed to make him, how it made Akaashi want nothing more than to hug him, and thank him a million more times, because after everything that had happened last night, this was probably the last thing he expected to happen.

“…but I guess I should explain about Tooru.”

Akaashi blinked, not caring much in particular. Though he was curious how an omega like that could be such close friends with someone like Bokuto.

“You don’t need to justify—”

“No, I do,” Bokuto said, and Akaashi knew he was serious, because he only rarely interrupted, “I’ve…well the truth is, I was engaged a while back.”

The omega’s eyes grew wide, for a moment thinking that Oikawa and Bokuto were in some sort of relationship in the past.

“The omega, she…well I mean I didn’t really see it at first. We met at a party. It wasn’t too long after I’d inherited the bar. I didn’t know what I was doing. But basically she knew how to get what she wanted. And I was an idiot. If it weren’t for Tooru I’m pretty sure I would’ve lost the bar along with everything else.”

Akaashi leaned in hesitantly, “She was after your money.”

“Yup!” Bokuto smiled bitterly, “It was a mess, honestly. Tooru and I got into a huge fight over it, since obviously I thought I was defending my future mate or whatever. He saw right through her, though.”

The omega held his breath, “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

Bokuto shrugged, brushing it off, “Good learning experience I guess. But anyway, that guy’s my oldest friend. I mean we’ve been together since we were like eleven. And I know yesterday’s first impressions were completely fucked up but—”

“He’s very dear to you,” Akaashi smiled, “I can understand at least that much.”

Bokuto smiled back, “He’s a mom. And after everything that’s happened in his own relationships, being overprotective is just his first instinct I guess.”

Akaashi laughed softly at that, nodding his head. “I’m at fault too, for taking more than one drink in the first place. It seems we could all use a do-over.”

Bokuto nodded, “That sounds like a plan.”

The atmosphere completely relaxed after that, Akaashi moving over so that they could sit side by side, and he could pick the fruit off of Bokuto’s plate. The silence was filled by easy conversation, and soft giggles that Akaashi tried to hide behind his hand.

“You’re a really good cook Akaashi.”

With a hesitant smile on his face, Akaashi thanked him. This was usually the part where the alpha went on to comment on what a good little housewife the omega would make. He held his breath, hoping Bokuto wouldn’t—

“I’d like to cook something with you next time. I bet we could make something really yummy!”

Akaashi smiled brightly, thinking that he should have known Bokuto would exceed his expectations as usual. For the first time in a long time, someone was seeing him as an actual partner, instead of just as omega.

“I’d like that very much, Bokuto.”

Bokuto nodded, continuing to chew, finding a spot on the bed to zone out on, before he looked at Akaashi again, swallowing carefully before deciding to speak.

“Can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

The omega cocked his head to the side, blinking curiously, “Yes?”

Bokuto wiped his face with a napkin. “The pole dancing. That’s not something you pull out out of nowhere.”

Akaashi smiled, eyes crinkling as he looked at the alpha, “I was wondering when you’d ask…”

Chapter Text

Oikawa had seen it before. Back when they'd been in university, there'd been an exchange student who was prone to touch starvation. She and Oikawa had gotten along really well. He'd helped her out quite a bit as a result. So for him to have not recognized the signs in Akaashi…

But if Bokuto had just told him then none of this would've happened in the first place. And he wouldn't be looking like the biggest asshole ever, especially not in front of Iwaizumi, who had been somewhat shocked, by the way, and Oikawa was pretty sure that by the end of today his life was going to go back to what it was before Iwa.

He wouldn't admit it. Not ever, especially over an alpha he barely even knew, had hardly started a connection with, he wouldn't dare say the reason why, but the bottom line was, he was doing all he could to defend himself. Because for one dumb reason or another…

He was scared.

“If I had known I mean obviously I wouldn’t have—”

“Oikawa, it’s ok—”

“This is not ok! I’m an omega too! We have to go through enough shit without—”

He stopped, the waiter coming back to return his credit card. Oikawa sighed, taking it and then signing the receipt.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to chip in? This couldn’t have been cheap—”

Oikawa waved it away, shaking his head, “I can cover at least this much. Kou’s gonna have my head in the morning.”

“I don’t think it was really your fault,” Iwa encouraged, standing up after Tooru, gathering their things, “I get that you were looking out for Bokuto.”

The omega looked at him doubtfully, leading the way out of the restaurant. “It’s just that…Kou has no concept of subtlety. I mean for god sakes look where we are. And Akaashi—pretty omegas just have a tendency to use their looks to their advantage.”

“Speaking from experience?”

Iwa received a glare that was enough to make him reconsider the joke. Perhaps it was bad timing. He tried to fix it, “Ok,” he began, “So a suspiciously good-looking omega with surprisingly good pole dancing skills suddenly starts dating your friend. It makes sense. You were being cautious.”

“Ok the pole dancing even threw me for a loop.”

Iwa chuckled at that, giving off a low hum in his throat. “I think Bokuto knows you didn’t have bad intentions. I’m sure you guys’ll clear this up in the morning.” 

Tooru thought about that. Iwa was probably right. Maybe tomorrow he’d go and offer Akaashi an apology. That’d probably be the best thing to do. He glanced over at Iwa again, noting how the alpha was smiling at him, in a way that only made Oikawa press his lips together tightly. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re too understanding?”

The alpha chuckled again, sticking a hand into one of his pockets. A soft breeze tugged at their shirts as they made it outside, and somehow or another, Oikawa found that his hand was being taken hostage once more. Even still, he didn’t pull away.

“I think I’m average,” Iwa said, “When it comes to understanding, at least.”

Oikawa made a face at that, shaking his head, “Isn’t this the part where you tell me to be a better person, or to apologize, or something—”

A small smirk spread across the alpha’s face, as he squeezed Oikawa’s hand, “Ok, if that’s what you want. I can treat you like a little kid.”

Oikawa pursed his lips, “That’s not what I meant—”

“You sure? Cuz that’s what it sounded like—”

“Oh, look who’s getting all confident all of a sudden—”

“Is that ok?” Iwa smiled at him, tugging gently at his arm, so that Oikawa would walk closer to him, “Me being confident? About us, I mean.” 

Oikawa blushed brightly, deciding to look on ahead, because staring at that honest face was definitely bad for his heart. He’d always liked blunt alphas the most. Even if they were the most annoying kind. But at the very least, Iwa seemed to have a slight touch of delicacy, so Oikawa couldn’t really find any reason to complain. Choosing not to answer, he cleared his throat instead. “Walk me home?”

The alpha nodded, still not dropping his smile, “I can do that.”

The entire way back Tooru wondered if his palm had gotten too sweaty. If it had, Iwa didn’t seem to care, because he didn’t let go for a single moment, not when they made their way through the station or got onto the train. And the closer they got to Oikawa’s house, the more his heart began to pound, regardless of the fact that the alpha was keeping the conversation light and easy.

Up until now, it had been very small things. A quick kiss here, a light touch there. Nothing that was overly bold.

They hadn’t even scented yet.

Oikawa wanted to. But he also didn’t. Which was an insane sort of thing to think about, considering he hadn’t been scented in—

Gods, how long had it been, now?

More than anything else Oikawa was pretty sure he’d just forgotten how to do the whole dating thing. He’d been single since having Eiji, and had been in a committed relationship for nearly five years before that, so to suddenly be thrown back into it, with an alpha like Iwaizumi of all things…

He had no idea what he was doing. And that, in itself was more rare of a thing than Oikawa realized. The last time he’d felt this helpless was when he’d first become a mom, and Eiji wouldn’t stop crying at night, and he was left sleepless, wondering if he’d made the right decision in the first place.

But this was different. Because Iwaizumi wasn’t a child. He was an alpha. A potential mate. A potential father, really, and the thought of it made Oikawa’s breath hitch. Because after Kaito, he hadn’t taken any interest in being courted by another alpha.

He didn’t want to go through that again.

Even still, Iwaizumi had managed to bulldoze through all of that, taking his hand and not letting go, as if he intended to stay by Tooru’s side no matter what.

And that really made his blood rush.

When they finally made it to the apartments, Iwa walked him all the way up the three flights of stairs, stopping just in front of Oikawa’s door, just like he promised he’d do. Finally, Oikawa’s hand was let go of, and he nearly had to stop himself from reaching out for it again.

“Thank you for dinner,” Iwa smiled, “I know it didn’t go exactly as planned, but I enjoyed it.”

Oikawa gave a light laugh, “I’m glad you did.”

There was a soft pause, upon which Oikawa tucked some loose hairs behind his ear, in an attempt to look busy. “Do you, um…” Oikawa hesitated, holding his fingers behind his ear, “Do you want to come in for a coffee…or…?”

Shit, he sucked at this. Worst of all he couldn’t bring himself to even look at Iwa. What was he so scared of?

“Oh,” Iwa blinked, too much too quickly to really be normal, bringing a hand up to the back of his neck, “I uh, I wouldn’t wanna wake up Eiji or anything…”

Oikawa let his hand drop, inhaling and finally lifting his head to look at the alpha. With a quick lick of his lips he let in a sharp inhale. “Eiji is staying at my mom’s tonight…so…”

“Oh.”  Iwa’s eyes widened, and Oikawa hoped he hadn’t gotten the wrong idea or anything like that, because although it wasn’t an innocent coffee invitation, it wasn’t a sinful one either.

“Yeah.” The omega swallowed, wanting to make a point, but not really finding the words to do so.

Iwa cleared his throat, “Yeah,” he said, nodding his head, “Yeah, a coffee sounds great.”

Oikawa nodded, reaching for his keys and struggling slightly as he unlocked the door, but eventually he made do, inviting Iwa inside and flipping the lights on.

His heart raced.

“I know we just ate,” Oikawa said, slipping out of his shoes, “But if you’re hungry…”

“Just a coffee is good I think.”

Oikawa nodded, telling Iwa to go ahead and sit on the couch, since he’d go and get the coffee ready. Iwa offered to help but Oikawa insisted against it, because more than anything else he needed to get a hold of himself.

He needed to make his intentions clear. Because if he didn’t then this could seriously ruin things. Not that he thought Hajime would try anything without permission, but even still, Oikawa was already starting to freak the fuck out.

It’d been too long, and he was too old, and he had a kid goddamnit how the hell was this supposed to work? Mothers didn’t just sleazily jump onto an alpha and start making out on the living room couch. Those had been his high school days. Granted, they’d been his college days as well, except college had more of an X-rating to it, as much as Oikawa didn’t want to admit—

The coffee pot beeped at him, since it was instant stuff it was done faster than Oikawa really had a chance to think about anything, so functioning on autopilot, he poured the coffee into two mugs and headed towards the living room.

Iwa smiled as he walked in, and it sort of took Oikawa’s breath away, but he managed to hide it with a clear of his throat.

“I just want to make it very clear that I have no intentions of having sex tonight.”

Iwa stiffened on the couch, looking at him with more fear in his eyes than Oikawa really intended to give him.

Shit.

Immediately, he cleared his throat again, setting the cups on the table and sitting down next to the alpha. “Kissing is fine…though…” he didn’t look at him when he said it, feeling the adrenaline start to rush in his veins. He hoped Iwa wouldn’t notice him shaking.

It’d been way too long since he’d done this.

“Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Oikawa nodded, thanking him quietly. Of course, this probably meant that he’d have to be the one to initiate. And after saying something like that, he wasn’t sure how the fuck he was supposed to initiate anything.

Not knowing what else to do, he reached for his coffee, and Iwa followed suit, the two of them taking slow, silent sips.

Really silent.

Tooru thought he might as well just dig a hole and stick his head in it. This was god awful.

“Ah, um—“ he cursed himself in his head, “How’s your coffee?” He swallowed, the atmosphere in the room seeming incredibly thick, as if his own apartment were trying to suffocate him and finally put him out of his misery.

“It’s good,” Iwa said, smiling politely, “I’m more of a tea guy, but this is really refreshing.”

“Oh,” Tooru began, somewhat anxiously, “I could have made tea—”

“It’s fine,” Iwa said, setting it down, “I like it.”

“It would’ve taken the same amount of time—”

“Oikawa—”

“Yeah?”

It took a moment, to realize that the sudden heat on his face was coming from Iwa’s lips, that the alpha was kissing him, and that Oikawa was just pressing his lips together like some sort of virgin, letting out a hiccup of a sound to reveal his surprise.

Kiss him back kiss him back kiss him back—

The alpha pulled away, scoffing softly to himself, and Oikawa thought he might as well just die.

“Okay,” Iwa said, taking Oikawa’s mug and putting it down, before he leaned in again, “But this time open your mouth.”

“What—”

That was pushy. Very pushy and very overbearing and Oikawa was half in his right mind to tell him that no he was not going to do that because the alpha had no right, none whatsoever, and considering the pacing and nature of everything they’d done up until now—

His mouth opened obediently, the moment the alpha had a hand around his chin, squeezing Oikawa’s jaw as if to pop it open, and Oikawa didn’t even have the chance to breathe, before the alpha’s tongue was pressed into his mouth, Iwa’s fingers still squeezing, and Tooru felt his head start to go strange, because the pheromones were suddenly really strong, and it was sort of cheeky, this alpha bastard—

He stopped resisting. Let the alpha lick the inside of his mouth, coaxing out his own tongue, sexy and sloppy and everything Oikawa didn’t know he needed. But he did know one thing: Iwa’s tongue felt good. Warm and pleasant and when paired with this scent that just sent shivers down his spine, it made him want to submit like he was some sort of teenager, like this was the first time he was doing this sort of thing—

Iwa’s tongue pressed up against the roof of his mouth, and Oikawa let out a whine that was much louder than he would have ever wanted it to be.

Satisfied with that, Iwa finally let him breathe, dropping his hand from the omega’s face and giving a smirking sort of smile. “Thought so.”

Oikawa tensed, somewhat pissed with that reaction. “Thought what?”

Iwa pointed to his mouth, motioning with his finger, “Most omegas have a soft spot up top, don’t they?”

Oikawa made a face, crossing his arms and legs, “Kissed a lot of omegas, have you?”

Iwa laughed at that, leaning in for another kiss, and Oikawa didn’t really stop him, but he did keep his arms crossed, as if he were trying to prove a point.

“That’s just a known fact, isn’t it?”

The omega hummed, Iwa’s lips caught between his teeth. “Like how alpha’s have sensitive ears?”

“That one’s not true.”

“It’s not?”

“Try it, if you want.”

Tooru hesitated, pulling back ever so slightly to scan Iwa’s face, before his eyes finally landed on the alpha’s neck. This felt strange. Natural. As if they’d been kissing for a long time, when in reality this was probably the longest they’d ever gone. And suddenly Iwa was telling him to tease his ears.

His blood rushed with excitement.

Without really thinking it through, Oikawa leaned in, nibbling softly at Iwa’s neck, tugging playfully at the skin and working his way up to the alpha’s ears.

Iwa stiffened when Oikawa suckled on his earlobe, the alpha feeling pleasant shivers run down his spine.

Oikawa giggled boyishly at the reaction, pressing his lips against Iwa’s neck. “I think you were lying.”

His lips cracked into a smile, “Caught me red handed, I guess.”

The gleam in the omega’s eyes weren’t lost on the alpha, and for a moment, he almost felt inclined to whine.

“Can I try it again?”

Iwa nodded, “Anything you want.”

Greed had gotten Oikawa in trouble numerous times in the past. The problem was he never really seemed to learn from it, because he was equally as stupid as he had been back in high school. So rather than lean in again, and tease the alpha like any other normal, flirtatious omega would, Oikawa straddled him instead, dipping his head and sucking just behind the alpha’s ear, and Iwa seemed to like that, because those large hands squeezed Tooru’s hips, the alpha’s jaw clenching, and if that wasn’t getting Tooru’s blood pumping then he didn’t know what was.

It was impulsive, and probably really stupid, considering what he’d told Iwa when they first started, but he couldn’t really help himself, once he’d gotten his fill of teasing the alpha, pulling away with a soft purr on his lips, brushing just over the shell of Iwa’s ear.

That seemed to be enough for the alpha to give a soft growl in response, primal reflex urging them forward, but even still Iwa’s touch was a soft one, as he guided Oikawa’s lips back onto his own, letting them brush over again and again with want.

“You taste good.”

Oikawa gave a giggle that was more of a softly whispered moan in response. “You do too.”

His cheeks were flushed. He knew at least that much. It was ridiculous, how giddy he felt, considering how old he was, considering he was a mom for god sakes but right now, more than anything…

He just felt like Tooru.

“Can we scent?” His lips were swollen as he licked them, probably bright pink and a mess, but right now, he just couldn’t seem to care.

Iwa stiffened, his expression something Oikawa didn’t really recognize, and he could feel his own smile dropping off his face.

“That’s not too fast?”

Oikawa licked his lips again, sliding off the alpha’s lap, and sitting properly on the couch once more. Hell if he knew. Wasn’t what they were doing before too slow? He thought that maybe, tonight, they’d be able to make up for that a bit, considering…

Gods this was humiliating.

“You’re probably right! I got ahead of myself,” he flashed a smile at Iwa, reaching over for the coffee mugs, “I’ll go get us some more.”

Both the cups were nearly full, but it didn’t really matter, because Oikawa just needed to run away.

It didn’t work though, because Iwa followed him into the kitchen, and Oikawa made himself look busy by throwing the mugs into the microwave.

“Cold coffee is honestly disgusting. Even when it’s tepid—I don’t know anyone who likes it.”

Iwa cleared his throat, standing awkwardly off to the side. “Sorry,” he said, “I killed the mood, didn’t I?”

Oikawa waved his hand at him, as if all the world was dandy, the microwave beeping to get his attention, “It’s good timing anyway. Wouldn’t want to miss the last train, right?”

“Oikawa?”

“Hm?”

The alpha stepped forward, and Oikawa unconsciously took a step back, hitting his back against the kitchen counter.

Iwa cursed under his breath. “Shit, I’m sorry—I just—I didn’t want to—”

Oikawa shook his head, smiling painfully, “It’s fine, so—”

“It’s not fine.” Iwa’s voice was hard, cutting through the anxious pheromones Oikawa could tell he was emitting. “We can scent. I don’t have any issues with that. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t getting caught up in my pace—I know you wanted to take things slow—my pheromones tend to be kind of strong—“

“They are strong.” Oikawa blinked, only just realizing it as he said it out loud.

Iwa swallowed somewhat painfully, features contorted slightly. “I don’t want to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

Oikawa blinked, the microwave beeping again, but he ignored it, walking up to Iwa, and putting his nose to the alpha’s scent glands, inhaling deeply.

His mind hazed for a moment, and he swallowed thickly, resting against the alpha’s chest. It was a really strong scent, actually.

How he hadn’t noticed it before…he wasn’t really sure.

In reality, it wasn’t very easy to make an omega submit. If the omega was unwilling, it’d take an incredibly strong alpha, or a pack leader to do so. It became even more difficult, after an omega has been claimed. And regardless of Oikawa’s lack of a mate, the instinct still held true. Bonds existed to ensure loyalty.

But, this wasn’t the first time Oikawa had been inclined to submit in front of Iwa before. Even back when the alpha had first stepped into his apartment, there’d been a slight pull in his chest, and…

Hadn’t Koutarou been able to smell it as well?

Oikawa took a hesitant breath, taking in another inhale of the alpha’s scent, trying to confirm his suspicions. “This…” he began slowly, carefully, “Has gotten you in trouble…hasn’t it?”

The alpha hesitated for a moment, before giving his answer. “Middle school was rough,” he chuckled dryly, in a way that wasn’t really like a chuckle at all, “But I’ve got a hold on it. It’s just when I’m like this…um…”

“Woe is you,” Oikawa teased, a real smile finally playing upon his lips, “Omegas can’t help but submit when you’re turned on.”

The alpha struggled, “It’s not really like that—”

Oikawa bit back a smirk, “Platonically, then. If we’re dating we should at least smell like each other.”

Iwa smiled, “So we’re officially dating?”

The omega crossed his arms, frowning, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The smile didn’t drop from the alpha’s lips, as he pulled the omega in, rubbing against his scent glands, “A suspiciously good-looking omega falling for me?” He teased, his voice low, “Surely you’re only after my money.”

Oikawa snorted, rubbing against Iwa’s scent glands in return, “I make more than you.”

“There’s no way,” Iwa laughed softly, “You can’t actually care about an idiot like me.”

Tooru hummed, brushing Iwa’s hair back with his fingers, “Well, you are an idiot.”

Iwa leaned into his touch, allowing the omega to run his fingers through his hair again and again.

“Iwaizumi?” Oikawa inhaled, dropping his hands, and struggling to find his courage, “Would you spend the night? Just to sleep.”

The alpha linked his arms around Oikawa’s back, letting them rest comfortably on his waist, “Is that what you want?”

Shyly, Tooru nodded, “I want to spend more time with you. But I also want to include Eiji, so that you guys can get to know each other better.”

“Yeah,” Iwa agreed, “I do too.”

“You could come pick him up with me tomorrow.”

“I’d like that.”

Tooru smiled, giving him a quick peck on the lips. “I’ve got some spare pajamas you can change into. And feel free to use the bath if you need.”

“That might be a problem.”

He lifted his brow, “How come?”

“I don’t think I’ll fit into Eiji’s pajamas.”

Oikawa made a face, smacking the alpha’s chest. “Come on,” he said, “I’ll show you the bathroom.”

“What about the coffee?”

The omega’s eyes widened at that, before remembering that their drinks had been left abandoned in the microwave. “Oh. I’ll wash them. You can go ahead and—”

Iwa insisted on staying, because he said he liked watching the way Oikawa washed dishes.

“That’s kind of weird.”

“I just like watching you in general.”

Tooru flushed at that, but only just, “Makes sense, since you were a stalker to begin with.”

“Never gonna let that one go, huh?”

The omega smirked, “Nope.” 

Once he was finished with the mugs, he led Iwa upstairs, showing him the bathroom, and bringing him a spare change of clothes. 

“We’re about the same height but I’m a bit slimmer, so sorry if it’ll be too tight.”

“I think it’ll be ok.”

“Ok,” Oikawa smiled, “I’ll take mine after you.”

Oikawa’s heart couldn’t seem to calm down, though, not while he was waiting for Iwa to shower, or while he was taking his own shower, or even the extra ten minutes he spent after his shower, staring at himself in the mirror and trying to psyche himself up.

They were just going to sleep. It would be fine. He could handle that. It was like a sleepover. It’d be fine.

God he hoped they’d kiss again.

When he stepped back into his room, Iwa was sitting on the bed, playing with his phone and trying to keep busy. It was weird to see Iwa in his pajamas. They were a bit tight around his arms, and it only made Oikawa’s heart race all the more.

Oikawa turned off the lights, before heading over to the bed, his own room feeling foreign to him, the sheets suddenly drenched with Hajime’s scent.

He tossed the sheets back, climbing in, and suggesting Iwa do the same. The alpha nodded, putting his phone on the nightstand, and sliding under the sheets.

The scent was overwhelming.

“Are you horny?” Oikawa blurted out bluntly, licking his lips with anxiousness.

Even in the dark of the room, he could see how the alpha paled. “No—I mean—it doesn’t just happen when I’m turned on. Right now I’m just really nervous.”

“Mm,” Oikawa nodded, “Me too.”

Iwa scooched in a little closer, resting his arm under his pillow, “Really?”

“The only alpha I’ve had in my bed has been Eiji.” Tooru admitted, breath hitching in his chest.

Iwa smiled, “I won’t pee the bed. Promise.”

Tooru wasn’t expecting that at all, so he burst out laughing, hiding his face in his pillow while he shook his head, “God please don’t.”

“I’ll do my best,” Iwa promised with a chuckle, and took the opportunity to inch just a tad bit closer.

Oikawa was biting his lip to keep from smiling, but it wasn’t really working. They stared at each other for a bit, both of their breaths sharp and short.

“Can I kiss you again?”

The omega scanned his face, before nodding, licking his lips again, and moving a bit closer himself. “You don’t really have to ask…”

Iwa put his hand up to Tooru’s cheek, leaning in slowly, “Just in case.”

It bled into more than just a kiss, though, their tongues soon meeting, and Tooru’s fingers finding the alpha’s hair a bit too easily.

His head felt light, and his chest tight. The scent was unlike anything he’d ever experienced with an alpha before, and for a brief moment he thought that if Iwa decided to bite and claim, he wouldn’t even mind.

“Is the smell too much?”

“It’s overwhelming,” Oikawa admitted—

“We should stop—”

The omega smirked, pulling him in again, “I like it though,” he brushed his lips over Iwa’s as he said so, taking the alpha’s breath for his own.

Even still, he gasped, when Iwa’s hands found their way to his sides, his shirt riding up ever so slightly.

It’d been a long time, since Oikawa had last felt the delicious rush that could only come from calloused hands on bare skin. But the alpha kept it chaste, limiting his hands to just the waist, rolling patterns into Oikawa’s skin with his thumbs.

The omega didn’t really remember falling asleep, but regardless of when or how it happened, there could be no doubt that the alpha held him through the night, cradling him safely in his arms.

…

Light came in through the window, so Iwa knew it was morning. He groaned softly, eyes squeezing shut, before the scent hit him, and the realization of where he was washed over him like a wave.

Lying there, sleeping soundly, was Oikawa. He still couldn’t really believe it.

Unable to stop himself, Iwa nuzzled him, wanting to see if the omega would purr.

Oikawa didn’t, but that didn’t even matter, because he gave a whisper of a laugh instead, lips breaking into a smile before he fell back into slumber. So Iwa did it again, because he wanted to see it again, that adorable expression that seemed as if someone were holding his heart, and squeezing it with irregular beats.

Oikawa giggled again, moving away ever so slightly, lips forming into smile again, “Mm…no…”

It still wasn’t enough to wake him up, his features relaxing again as he continued to sleep.

So Iwa tried it just one more time, nibbling lightly at the omega’s scent glands. Oikawa openly giggled in response, shifting slightly, and Iwa thought he might just kiss him.

“…Kai…to…”

Oikawa shifted again, before his expression fell flat, completely lost to sleep.

Iwa sat dumbfounded. It didn’t take very much to figure out what the omega had said, or who the name belonged to.

And even though Iwa knew it was nothing, it was still enough to make his blood boil.

But, he realized, he actually didn’t know very much at all.

Oikawa stirred next to him, and for a moment Iwa panicked, but it subsided just as fast, watching the omega stretch his hands out towards the headboard and then give a long, satisfied sigh. He looked over at Iwa with heavy eyes, slurring his words.

“G’morning…”

Oh.

Fuck.

That was fucking adorable.

“Did you sleep well?” The omega yawned, before burying his face in his pillow.

Iwa swallowed, trying to curb his excitement upon seeing such a different side to Oikawa. It was enough to make him forget about whatever might have been said before. “Yeah," he said, "I slept great.”

“Mmmm,” Oikawa hummed, “That’s good. I hate waking up.”

“Seems like it.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” he yawned again, “I’m a morning person.”

Iwa nodded in agreement, “It’s just the morning part that gets to you, right?”

The omega giggled into his pillow, and Iwa wondered if it’d be too bold to ask for marriage right then and there.

“Mm,” Oikawa admitted, “Something like that.”

“Should we get ready? What time do we have to pick up Eiji?”

Oikawa nodded, flipping over onto his stomach and giving off a few more murmurs.

It wasn’t really fair, Iwa thought, how noticeable the omega’s curves were, even under the sheets. And when he said curves, he definitely meant—

“Around 9. Do you wanna stop by your place for new clothes?”

Iwa swallowed, the question snapping his focus back. “Yeah, that’d be great. Thank you.”

Oikawa smiled, before nodding again and then giving his body a final stretch. “Then in that case,” he cocked his head at the alpha, “I’ll get started on breakfast.”

Chapter Text

It was different. Once they got up to the front door of his parent’s house, Oikawa had reverted back to what Iwa was realizing was his mom mode. Which, up until recently, he thought had just been the way Oikawa was. But that morning, and all of last night, really, had proved him to be quite different.

Oikawa had made them breakfast, talking and laughing all the while, the omega even suggesting for the two of them to do this again, in the future. Iwa couldn’t really ask for anything more.

But it was different now, since they were standing in front of Oikawa’s parent’s apartment, ringing the doorbell and waiting to be let inside. Oikawa was all posture and strong appearances, much in the same way he’d been when he and Iwa had first met.

It wasn’t very long before Iwa heard voices behind the door, one of which he was almost sure belonged to Eiji.

When the door finally opened, it was to reveal a short, alpha woman smiling brightly, inviting her son inside. “Come on in, he’s just finishing his breakfast—”

“Um, mom,” Oikawa began quickly, holding her back, “I brought Iwaizumi with me.”

His mom’s eyes widened, and Iwaizumi stepped forward, smiling warmly. “Iwaizumi Hajime,” he said, giving a small bow, “Pleasure to meet you.”

Oikawa’s mom nodded her head in acknowledgement, saying the pleasure was all hers. “Oikawa Fumi. I’d have my husband introduce himself but he’s lost in his morning programs.” She laughed a bit, inviting the pair in, and watching as they slid out of their shoes. She kept staring at Iwa all the while, and Oikawa made a comment, warning her to not scare the alpha off.

Oikawa’s mom gave a knowing smile, looking Iwa up and down one more time. “I hope you’ll forgive me,” she began, “It’s just been quite a while since I’ve come across a scent like yours. It’s a bit rare these days, isn’t it?” 

Iwa gave a shy nod, which Oikawa found curious, looking from Iwa to his mom. “What?”

His mom motioned to Iwa, “He’s a pack leader.”

She said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Oikawa’s eyes widened in momentary disbelief, his thoughts interrupted by a screaming Eiji, who ran right into his leg.

“Mr. Iwa is here too!!!”

For a moment, Oikawa ignored his son, simply put his hand on his head to keep him quiet, and turned to look directly at Iwa. “Is that why your scent is so strong?”

Fumi laughed, responding for him, “Goodness Tooru. Didn’t you notice? Omegas should be even more aware of these things,” she turned to Iwa, shaking her head, “He was always bad at that sort of thing.”

“Mom!”

Fumi simply laughed, and finally Eiji’s whines became something Tooru couldn’t ignore for much more. He turned somewhat mechanically, looking down at his son “Yes Eiji?”

“How was the food!”

Oikawa smiled, “We had some really yummy fish.”

“I wanna eat yummy fish!”

“Maybe next time you can come with us.”

“And Mr. Iwa too?”

Oikawa smiled, nodding softly, “If you’d like.”

“Why don’t you all come in,” Fumi motioned them further inside, “I just put some water to boil—”

“Thanks, Mom, but we have to get going—”

“Nonsense, it’s your day off,” she hooked her arm around Iwa’s, leading him inside, “I want to hear all about the young man dating my son.”

“Mom—”

“Mommy Mommy!” Eiji was tugging at Oikawa’s pants, making grabbing motions with his hands. With a short sigh Oikawa bent down and picked him up, hooking him around his waist. “Were you good for grandma and grandpa?”

Eiji nodded, “Grandpa let me watch tv!”

“That’s good,” Tooru nuzzled his son, taking the quick moment to scent mark him.

“Is Mr. Iwa gonna stay for a bit?”

Oikawa nodded, giving his son a flat smile, “I think he’s gonna talk with grandma for a bit.”

“Mamoru!” Fumi called from the short hallway, “Turn off the television!”

They were led into the living room, upon which Oikawa’s mom told them to get comfortable, saying she’d be back with tea. Tooru sat down next to Iwa, pulling Eiji onto his lap, Eiji asking all sorts of questions about the night before.

Oikawa’s dad came in, giving a loud yawn and throwing up a hand to his son in greeting. He took a seat on the large chair by the couch, yawning again and rubbing the back of his head, as if he had only woken up two minutes ago.

“So you’re Iwaizumi Hajime.” He said finally.

“Yes, sir.” Iwa sat up a little straighter, clearing his throat respectfully.

“You’ve got a strong scent on you.” Mamoru observed, straightening his glasses.

“That’s because he’s a pack leader,” Fumi smiled proudly, bringing in a tray of tea. Her husband happily took a cup, bringing it up to his lips with both hands.

“Oh my,” Mamoru brought the cup down once he’d taken a sip, eyes widening behind large glasses, “Isn’t that something,” he smiled kindly, looking at his wife.

“How is it everyone was able to tell except me?” Oikawa made a face, bouncing Eiji anxiously on his knee.

“Mommy,” Eiji craned his neck, looking up at Oikawa, “What’s a pack leader?”

“It’s a strong alpha, sweetheart.”

Eiji looked from his mom to Iwa. “So Mr. Iwa is super strong?”

“It’s a bit hard to explain,” Fumi jumped in, “But you can think about it like that.”

Eiji’s eyes widened impossibly large. “Whoa!!” He leaned forward on his mom’s lap, “That’s awesome! Mr. Iwa! Will you teach me to be super strong too!”

Oikawa rubbed his son’s hair back, kissing his forehead, “Pack leaders are born that way, Eiji.”

The light in his eyes dimmed slightly.

“But you can still be really strong Eiji,” Iwa jumped in, “There’s lots of strong alphas out there that aren’t pack leaders.”

“So you’ll still teach me?”

“Sure, if you want.” Iwa smiled.

The excitement returned to Eiji’s face, as he turned to look at his mother, as if to say did you hear that Mom??

Oikawa couldn’t help but smile.

“So!” Fumi slammed her teacup down a bit too sharply, throwing Iwa a smile that was a bit too polite. “I’m assuming your parents are pack leaders as well.”

Iwa nodded, “Yes, ma’am. We come from a long line of pack leaders, actually. Otherwise I’m not so sure I would’ve gotten the genes.”

“I’m also assuming that by now you’re aware Tooru is an omega. It would take an idiot after all—”

“Mom—”

“My family’s not prejudiced,” Iwa said, in a rather straightforward fashion, “We’re not trying to continue the line or anything like that.”

Tooru shifted uncomfortably in his chair. These were all things he’d never considered before because he’d never gotten the chance, and here was his mom bulldozing through an entire relationship he’d barely even gotten the chance to set a solid foundation for.

“My mom and dad found each other on accident, actually,” Iwa continued, “Pack leader or not though doesn’t matter. How we feel about a potential mate takes priority.”

Shivers ran down Oikawa’s spine, causing him to sit up straighter, and bow his head. The way Iwa had said the last bit was enough to even get his mom to tilt her head ever so slightly, yielding though it was obvious it wasn’t her intention.

Now that was really something. The only person he’d ever really seen able to handle his mother was his dad. But that was a rather unique situation, considering Oikawa’s father was a beta to begin with.

Eiji looked up curiously, “Mommy?”

Oikawa smiled sweetly, “How about we save this kind of talk for later?”

Fumi hummed at that, pursing her lips. “Will you be at Eiji’s birthday party?” She said, changing the topic effortlessly.

“Um,” Iwa looked over to Oikawa somewhat anxiously, but Eiji jumped in before anyone else could.

“You should come Mr. Iwa! I’m turning four! Mommy is gonna get tuna!”

“No way,” Iwa replied happily, “Four whole years old?”

Eiji nodded excitedly, “And we’re having tuna!”

“Well that sounds amazing,” Iwa gave a bright smile, “But I’d have to check to make sure it’s ok.”

“Mommy,” Eiji tugged on his mother’s sleeve, “Can we invite Mr. Iwa to the party?”

“I think you’ve already taken care of that, Eiji.” Tooru replied calmly.

“We’d love to have you,” Fumi replied politely, “Wouldn’t we Mamoru?”

The older gentleman gave an easy smile, “Any friend of Eiji's is a friend of ours.”

“I think you have that backwards, dear.”

“I don’t believe I do, love.” He picked up his tea again, drinking it happily.

Oikawa found a space to interject, so he started an entirely new conversation, something light, that everyone could agree on, hoping his mom would get off of Iwaizumi’s back for now. The adults were allowed to chat for a bit, but it wasn’t long before Eiji started feeling left out, and began including his own commentary into the conversation.

“…so we’re doing baseball next week!”

“He sure does love sports,” Oikawa’s father commented.

“And after all that you still have so much energy,” Oikawa ruffled up his son’s hair.

“Mr. Iwa!” Eiji said, covering his head with his hands to try and evade his mother, “Do you play baseball?!”

“Yeah,” Iwa chuckled, “I do.”

“Team captain, no doubt,” Fumi hummed, letting her chin rest in her hand.

Iwa gave a small scoff, “Not for baseball, no.”

She clicked her tongue at that, “Shame.”

“Mr. Iwa!” Eiji said again, completely oblivious to the talk around him, “Will you teach me!”

He nearly jumped off the couch as he said so, so Oikawa had to hold him back, settling him down on the couch. “I could teach you Eiji,” he told his son, “We could go to the park later today and—”

“But I want Mr. Iwa to teach me!” Eiji pouted, looking at his mother with sharp eyes.

“Eiji,” Tooru lifted an eyebrow, “People are busy. You can’t just—”

“I don’t really mind,” Iwa tried, smiling encouragingly.

“Really??”

Oikawa looked at him, disbelief marking his face. “You must be tired. This weekend was—”

“It’s ok,” Iwa shrugged, “I do it all the time. Plus I can’t say no to someone so eager to learn.”

Eiji agreed enthusiastically, and, while Oikawa was still hesitant, practicing baseball would provid the necessary leverage to finally get the fuck out of his parent’s house.

So he agreed.

The goodbyes were short, Oikawa telling Eiji to kiss everyone goodbye, Oikawa giving his own parents a little nuzzle to bump scents.

Fumi walked them to the door, while Mamoru stayed in the living room, wishing them all a safe trip home.

Eiji was walking up front with Iwa, talking at about a mile a minute, and Oikawa was about to scold him a bit, but he was pulled aside by his mother, her lips up against his ear.

“I like this one.”

Tooru made a face, “Really? Cuz you grilled him half to death—”

“He’s a keeper Tooru,” she wagged her finger at him, “And a pack leader at that. Don’t mess this one up like you did the last one.”

“Oh because that was me messing it up—”

He was smacked upside the head, which was a wonder, considering how short his mother was.

“I told you from the start you were too young.”

“Yeah well,” Oikawa took three long strides, trying to get away, “Maybe now I’m too old.” Either his mother didn’t reply or he just walked away fast enough not to hear it, joining Iwa and his son at the entryway to put his shoes on.

“Ready to go?”

“Mommy Mommy! Mr. Iwa is gonna show me how to hit a home run!”

Instantly, Oikawa’s demeanor changed, and he put a palm to Eiji’s back, “Isn’t that exciting?”

“Yeah! It’s super cool…” he kept talking, but Oikawa tuned it out, giving a final goodbye to his mother, with Iwa doing the same.

She repeated what a pleasure it was to meet him, saying that she looked forward to seeing him at Eiji’s birthday party.

“Wouldn’t miss it.” Iwa ensured.

…

It was a beautiful day to spend at the park. They’d grabbed some lunch beforehand, so by the time they got to the park it was already late afternoon, with the sun low enough in the sky to not be bothersome. It was sort of a nice thing to watch. Oikawa was sitting on a nearby bench while Iwa tossed a ball to Eiji, Eiji missing almost all of the tosses. Still, Oikawa was relaxed. He wasn’t sure how long they’d been out there for—a little under two hours, maybe?— but this was the first time in a while he’d been able to sit back and enjoy the scenery. There were a few birds chirping, the humidity was tolerable, and Eiji—

“I hate this!!”

Oikawa paled, watching as his son threw the bat down onto the ground, practically screeching. God he hoped people weren’t looking. He uncrossed his legs, standing up and walking towards his son, “E-Eiji—”

“Hey now,” Iwa was all calm and slow movements as he picked up the bat, offering it to Eiji, “No one gets things on the first try. But no matter what, we gotta respect the stuff we use. Do you know what respect means?”

Eiji pouted, looking away and refusing the bat. “No.”

“You know what respect means,” Oikawa filled in for him, “Don’t be stubborn when Iwaizumi is going out of his way to teach you.”

“I don’t know!” Eiji nearly screamed, tears welling in his eyes, “And I hate baseball!”

Oikawa was about to kneel down and grab his kid and get the fuck out of the park. He understood that kids got frustrated easily, and Eiji had given it a strong enough try, but no matter how long he’d been a parent, he didn’t have the patience for tantrums. He didn’t believe in time outs, but he sure as hell wasn’t opposed to yelling some sense into his child behind closed doors.

But he never got the chance.

“I hated baseball too,” Iwa said, giving a solemn nod.

That seemed to be enough to capture Eiji’s attention, the young alpha sniffling back the tears that would have otherwise spilled over his cheeks. “You did?”

“Oh yeah,” the exaggeration in his voice was obvious, but it seemed to be just what Eiji needed, “I couldn’t hit a single ball! I didn’t even make the team.”

“But Mr. Iwa is really good!”

“I am now. But that was only after a long time. Do you know why?”

Eiji was completely entranced in the story, and he shook his head, asking Iwa to answer.

“Because I practiced. But practicing is really hard, Eiji. Only strong alphas and omegas can practice.”

“I can practice!”

“Are you sure?” Iwa leaned in, “Do you know the secret about practice? About what makes it so hard?”

Quickly, Eiji shook his head, wanting to know what Iwa would say.

“You have to do it every day. And there’s going to be a lot of days where you don’t hit the ball, just like how you did today. But if you keep practicing, then one day, you’ll hit it.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Eiji looked at him with a determined expression. He seemed to be thinking for himself, his gaze going from the bat, to Iwa, and back again, before he finally settled on what it was he wanted to say.

“How many days of not hitting will it take, Mr. Iwa?”

“Um,” the alpha faltered slightly, “A few days. It depends on how much you practice.”

“But how many?” Eiji’s eyes were wide, as if he intended to do the calculation in his head.

“I know!” Oikawa jumped in, before it got really bad, because Eiji was sometimes too smart for his own good, “How about McDonald’s for dinner today? Since you’ve been working so hard.”

Eiji gasped happily, all memory of baseball seemingly erased from his mind, “Can I get a calpico shake?!”

“Yup!” Oikawa said, “Anything you want!”

Iwa straightened, so that he was standing at his normal height, and not kneeling to match Eiji. “McDonald’s sounds great,” he said, “Assuming you’re inviting me.”

Oikawa smirked, “You’re not tired of us yet?”

Iwa gave a soft smile that Oikawa would never admit made his heart skip a beat. “Not at all.”

“If you want to go home, I can…”

Iwa shook his head, “Nah. Besides, a calpico shake would be heaven right now.”

“Yay!” Eiji took Iwa’s hand, guiding him in one general direction or another, “We’re gonna have dinner with Mr. Iwa!”

It was a rather short walk to McDonald’s, and an even shorter one back home, the three of them sharing stories while they ate their burgers, and sipped on their shakes. Oikawa was very glad to know that his mother hadn’t tried to give Eiji any strange potions last night, but he was slightly disturbed by the fact that his father had allowed the young alpha to join him in his Law and Order marathon.

He’d have to call him about that later.

By the time they finished dinner, it was already nearing Eiji’s bedtime. Tooru was so exhausted that when Eiji outright rejected a bath, Tooru just went with it, deciding that he could just do it tomorrow morning. Forcing him and risking another tantrum right now was definitely not something he was really confident he could handle.

“Alright then, no bath,” he said, clearing the table of trash, “But we gotta get those teeth brushed and into bed.”

Eiji begrudgingly agreed to those terms, before his head shot up, eyes bright with a sudden idea.

“Can Mr. Iwa tuck me in?”

Oikawa stiffened, feeling all of his instincts flare up at once.

“No.”

He hadn’t expected the answer to come out as sharply as it had. But there was no taking it back now, and stealing a quick glance at the alpha, Oikawa knew well enough that Iwa could smell the scent he was emitting. Either he didn’t want to comment on it, or he was smart enough to ignore it, silently cleaning up the rest of the table.

“But I want Mr. Iwa—”

“Come on,” Oikawa grabbed his son by the hand, more roughly than he really wanted, but he couldn’t really help it, considering…

“But I didn’t say goodnight—”

“Then say goodnight.”

“Goodnight Mr. Iwa!” Eiji called, tossing his hand back and waving.

Tooru kept pulling, not really able to calm down until Eiji’s pajamas were on, his teeth were brushed, and he was safely tucked into bed. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint what about it had been so unnerving. But regardless, it scared him.

“Mommy…” the young alpha murmured.

“Yes, Eiji?”

“I had lots of fun today.”

Oikawa smiled, kissing his forehead, “I did too. I’m happy you had fun.”

“Mr. Iwa is really nice,” he whispered.

Oikawa nodded, “Yes, he is.”

“Are you gonna marry him Mommy?”

Breath hitched in his lungs, and Oikawa brought a shaky hand to brush Eiji’s bangs back. “It’s still too soon to know.”

Eiji nodded, though Oikawa recognized the impatience that lined his son’s expression.

“You don’t have to think about that,” he told him, kissing his forehead again, “You just focus on sleep, and I’ll have your milk ready when you get up. Just for the two of us.”

Eiji nodded, hugging his mom goodnight and giving a kiss on the cheek, before turning over and hugging the sheets to his body. Oikawa scented his neck gently, before finally getting up to turn off the lights and head back down the stairs.

At least Eiji was happy.

Iwa was in the kitchen waiting for him, having put all the trash in the takeaway bags. “I wasn’t sure where the trash can was, so…”

“Thank you,” Oikawa said, inhaling. “Not just for the trash,” he motioned with his hands, “But for all of today. And yesterday. You must be exhausted.”

“I’m holding up ok.”

Oikawa nodded. But then he cleared his throat, gathering the takeaway bags off the counter. “I’m sorry my parents—well my mom really—”

“She’s a tough lady.”

Oikawa grimaced, “That’s one way to put it,” he opened the doors under the sink and threw the trash away, not looking at Iwa, “You know you could have just said you were a pack leader. Instead of pulling the whole I’m so mysterious with my strong scent thing.”

“Sorry,” Iwa said immediately, “It’s just, when people find out, they start looking at me differently—honestly I was really glad you hadn’t noticed…”

Oikawa didn’t know if it was just the tension of the weekend finally washing over him, or if he was just tired, or if Iwa was maybe just too much. But for one reason or another, he burst out laughing.

“Jeez,” he shook his head, running a hand through his hair, “How traumatic was middle school for you?”

Iwa opened his mouth, but Oikawa held his hand up, shaking his head again, “Actually no. I don’t wanna know. Please don’t tell me.”

Iwa swallowed, noticeably uncomfortable. Oikawa cleared his  throat, wondering if maybe he’d pushed it a bit too far.

“I’m—”

They both said it at the same time, and immediately fell to silence. Oikawa motioned for Iwa to go first.

“I’m sorry if…” Iwa began, somewhat unsure, “I feel like I kinda overstayed my welcome. But I really enjoy spending time with you and Eiji.”

Oikawa shook his head, smiling softly. “It was a nice change. And you handle him so well. I mean you single-handedly stopped a tantrum dead in its tracks,” he gave a weak kind of laugh that betrayed his tone. “Usually it’s just me. And Kou. But lately he’s with Akaashi—which is how it should be, of course…”

“Oikawa?”

“Yeah?”

He didn’t know when, exactly, Iwa got close enough to slide his hands along his jaw, thumbs hooking just beneath Tooru’s ears, those large palms on his neck.

It was a sweet kiss. Soft and slow, Iwa doing it with the kind of comfort that made it seem as though they’d been dating for years, and the scent that was enveloping Oikawa right now made it almost impossible for him to stand on his own, leaning against the alpha for support, submitting and melting into his tender hold.

“I-Iwa…” he trembled, pulling away, but Iwa kept his palms on Tooru’s face.

“Don’t make such a sad face,” Iwa whispered, “I can’t stand it.”

“I didn’t…”

He was kissed again, in that meltingly slow way, the kind that was more comforting than it was arousing, and, Oikawa thought, just for a moment…

He pulled away, their lips making a light sound of protest as they came apart.

“Can we do this again?” Iwa’s voice was low, gentle, his thumbs brushing over Oikawa’s cheeks.

The omega smiled, laughing softly, “The kiss?”

Iwa dipped his head, giving him a chaste peck, “That, dinner, baseball. All of today.”

Oikawa nodded, putting his hand over Iwa’s, “I think Eiji would like that.”

“Do you think,” the alpha’s eyes were dark, capturing Tooru in a way he’d forgotten was possible, “You think Eiji’s mom would like that too?”

Again Oikawa nodded, inhaling in a way that made his chest puff out, “He would. Definitely.”

It was now Iwa’s turn to nod, the alpha dipping his head again, and for a moment, Tooru thought their lips would meet in another kiss. But instead, Iwa dropped his nose to Tooru’s neck, and the omega felt such a strong jolt that his entire body stiffened in response.

“Oh…”

He held onto Iwa’s arms for support, whimpering softly while his entire body trembled. Iwa’s scent surrounded him, invading his senses and wrapping around his skin like vines, Oikawa feeling as if the alpha were seeping into every last one of his pores.

This was nothing like how he remembered. But maybe it was because Iwa wasn’t an ordinary alpha.

The thought only caused more shivers to course through his body, Iwa finally pulling away with a sweet kiss to Tooru’s cheeks.

“I hope that wasn’t too much.” His expression was kind. Hopeful, even, looking at the omega with such a tender smile that Oikawa felt his chest swell and compress all at the same time.

But Oikawa managed a shake of his head, reaching up to wrap his hand around Iwa’s neck. “My turn,” he said, licking his lips for encouragement as he brought Iwa in close, wanting to scent him in the same way but knowing it to be impossible.

Something like that could only come from a pack leader.

Still, he reveled in the way the alpha tightened his grip around his waist, when Tooru finally released his scent, allowing it to mingle with Iwa’s own, alpha and omega marking each other properly, in a way that far surpassed anything platonic scenting could ever hope to accomplish.

And through the scenting, and the chaste kisses Iwa sneaked in between, Oikawa couldn’t help but think, that something like this, was something he could most definitely get used to.

Chapter Text

Bokuto’s grip tightened around Akaashi’s hand, once they were inside the elevator.

“I hope this won’t put you off.”

Bokuto shot him a quick glance, before nuzzling his cheek. “Nothing you do puts me off.”

Akaashi hummed at the contact, feeling pleasant goosebumps line his arms. “Yes,” he said, “But something like this—”

“It’s for fun, right!” Bokuto beamed, “And you enjoy it so it’s fine.”

A hesitant smile spread across the omega’s lips, “I hope…you won’t think of me too differently…”

Bokuto nuzzled him again for reassurance, telling him there was no way that could happen.

Of course, once they got in, and nearly walked right into an upside-down omega fanning his legs wide open in front of Bokuto’s face— even the alpha was thrown for a loop.

Everyone in the room seemed to pause, turning over to look at Akaashi, and the scent of alpha that he brought with him.

The omega with his legs split open let out sharp Akaashi! letting his legs flip around over his head so that he was right side up. He brushed himself off rather carelessly, before running up to them, and that seemed to be everyone else’s cue to go back to whatever it was they were doing.

“Is this him?”

Akaashi nodded, introducing his friend and boyfriend. “Bokuto,” he said, “This is Terushima. Terushima, Bokuto.”

Each gave a respectable little bow, saying it was nice to meet the other. It was a bit of a shock. And even though Bokuto was definitely willing to accept any and all of Akaashi, he still never would’ve thought that the omega might have a friend like this. What with the bleached hair, and the blunt boldness, and…

Was that a tongue piercing?

“So what do you think of my place,” Terushima said proudly, crossing his arms over his shoulders as he looked around.

The alpha’s eyes widened, “You’re the owner?”

“Terushima takes lesson but sometimes the instructors ask him to help with the beginning sections.” Akaashi provided.

The omega waved his hands, “Technicalities. It’s all in good fun. Maybe one day I’ll be able to take over. But!” He clapped his hands, laughing, almost, before sharpening his gaze at the alpha, “Have you ever been to a strip club?”

Bokuto stiffened, not knowing where the hell that had come from.

“Teru—“

“No, no,” Terushima waved his friend off, “Let him answer.”

Bokuto swallowed awkwardly, before clearing his throat, “Um…not particularly a strip club. But I have been to bars where…entertainment…”

“And what did you think of the entertainment?”

Bokuto thought a moment, not really sure if there was even a right answer to that kind of question. “They’re…uh…good at what they do?”

“Do you think that’s all they’re good at?”

At this, Akaashi yanked at his friend, murmuring something along the lines of that’s enough.

Almost immediately, there was a complete turn-around. “Sorry, sorry,” he feigned friendliness once again, “It’s just that this guy’s last alpha was a complete asshole,” he smiled the kind of smile that was more scary than anything else, “And I haven’t really seen anything that disqualifies you from that same category.”

Akaashi opened his mouth to protest, but Bokuto stepped up, his voice dropping and his overall presence seeming to spread out over the two omegas.

“I would never disrespect Akaashi.”

The tension didn’t even have the time to fully form, from the way Terushima clapped his hands, his eyes lighting up all the while. “Ahh, you were right Akaashi!”

“I—”

“Mmm he’s a lot like Ushi. I like him.”

“He’s nothing like—”

“Ok, Mr. Alpha-sama,” Terushima guided Bokuto towards the door, “We’d love to have you stay, but our session is about to start, and it’s omegas only.”

“That’s fine but—“

“Have a safe trip home now—”

Terushima was yanked away, Akaashi giving a low kind of snarl that turned Bokuto on probably more than it should have. But any and all previous thoughts were wiped away when the omega stood on his tip-toes to nuzzle the alpha. “Thank you for coming,” he said quickly, scanning Bokuto’s face with a certain amount of anxiety that Bokuto didn’t want him to have. So he nuzzled him right back, reassuring him as best he could, making sure to leave the omega heavy with his scent. “Have fun today.”

Akaashi nodded, “I will.”

“You sure you don’t want me to pick you up?”

Akaashi smiled shyly, shaking his head, “Thank you. But Terushima said he wanted to take me home.”

Bokuto nodded understandingly, even if he would have preferred to pick the omega up. But he knew he had to be careful with first time meetings like these, because things had a horrible tendency of not going the way he ever expected them to. Which reminded him.

“Oh, Tooru said he’d stop by around three or four.”

Akaashi nodded, smiling pleasantly, and with that, Bokuto was kicked out of the studio.

On his way to the way to the elevator, Bokuto pulled out his phone, sending a quick message to Tooru. He was supposed to go apologize to Akaashi today. Properly, that is. And he didn’t want Tooru to accidentally “forget.”

He got a rather nasty reply as a result, Tooru saying that he was a full-grown adult and he could handle things on his own without Bokuto reminding him.

Back inside studio, Terushima was bubbling, talking Akaashi’s ear off while Akaashi would have much preferred to just focus on the music, and how to polish his movements so that they’d be received as close to as graceful as he could manage.

“But he’s pretty built, you know? I pictured him more gangly.”

“When did I ever say he was gangly?”

“You didn’t. But the way you described him was so sweet I thought there’s no way this guy isn’t some holed up otaku who’s never seen the sun.”

“I appreciate you having so much faith in me, Yuuji.”

They were yelled at by the instructor, so the conversation was put on a temporary hold, at least until the lesson was over, and Akaashi couldn’t have been more grateful. Because these lessons were the only real time he had to let everything go. To not think of anything except the movement of his body, to focus on one single thing that made him feel like he was in control.

Granted, baking had that effect too. But ever since opening his own little shop, the stress that came with the work simply overpowered the freedom he used to feel.

And dancing like this did something that baking could never give him. It was his heart racing in time to the music. It was the sweat down his back, and the strain in his arms and the burning in his legs and the rush in his blood every time he pushed himself just a little more, trying to make it just a bit better, until he got his spins down to absolute perfection.

Of course, the omega would be lying if he said his mind didn’t wander towards a particular salt-and-pepper-haired alpha. The more times they ran the routine, the more Akaashi couldn’t help but think that he wanted Bokuto to watch.

But that was a dangerous sort of thing to think about. And not conducive to the proper breathing needed for a routine like this. So as best he could, Akaashi tried to focus on his movements, rather than the alpha.

At least until the lesson was over, that is.

There was a small locker room in the far corner of the space, where they could change and make use of the showers provided. Terushima was always one of the first to claim the few showers that were available, but Akaashi never found himself so lucky, always stuck at third or fourth in line. By the time he was done with his shower, Terushima was sitting crossed legged against the mirrored wall, playing around with his phone.

Akaashi thanked him for waiting.

“Ready to go?”

“Mm,” he nodded, helping Terushima up and then walking down to the elevator together, talking idly about the lesson as they made their way out onto the street. No sooner had they done so, that a black car with tinted windows pulling up beside them.

A man with a suit walked around the car, holding the door open and nodding respectfully to both Terushima and Akaashi.

“How was your lesson, Sir?”

“Very good Hanzo,” Teru beamed, stepping into the car, “You can report back that I’m quite content.”

“Boss will be happy to hear that, Sir.”

Terushima hummed, sliding over in the backseat so that Akaashi had room to come in.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this,” Akaashi said, Hanzo closing the door behind him.

Terushima shrugged, “It’s just a thing.”

“Still,” Akaashi said, “Calling you sir, being driving around in a car like this—“

“Well the sir thing will change once we’re officially married.”

Akaashi scoffed, “It’ll be Onee-san then, won’t it?”

Teru clicked his tongue, scrunching up his nose. “You’re so annoying. Just indulge in the fact that you are the best friend of the future husband of Ushijima Wakatoshi and you get to ride around in fancy cars with me.”

“Indulging has never been something you’ve had issues with.”

The omega laughed at that, agreeing that it was true. “It’s been a while since we’ve been able to talk! We definitely have to meet up for tea or shopping or something.”

“Well we’ve both been busy,” Akaashi added, “All of your wedding preparations—”

Terushima gave an eyeroll that said everything for him, “I’m so over it. And this fucking tattoo hurts like a bitch. It’s already been two weeks and I swear it still stings.”

Akaashi’s eyes widened, “Have they finished it yet?”

Terushima shook his head, “I have one more session. Thank god I was able to do it in pieces. I’m pretty sure the old-fashioned way would’ve killed me.” He looked out the window, seemingly lost in thought from the way he cupped his chin, leaning against the glass. “But if it’s for Ushi…then it’s fine I guess.”

“You’ve been saying that a lot, lately.” Akaashi teased.

“Oh please,” Terushima took on the challenge, “Like everything to come out of your mouth hasn’t been Bokuto-san this, and Bokuto-san that. And oh, his friend calls him ‘Kou’ do you think I could too— Teru I just want to suck his dick—”

Akaashi let out a little screech of a sound, smacking his friend on the arm, “I did not say that—”

“You did,” Terushima stuck his tongue out rather vulgarly, making motions with his hands, “You want those big alpha balls in your mouth—”

Akaashi covered the omega’s mouth with his hands, stopping him from saying anything more. “Stop talking—”

“Er wernt—”

“And while we’re on the subject I don’t appreciate the way you talked to him today.”

Terushima pulled Akaashi’s hands away, “I don’t appreciate you dating pieces of shit of all the time.”

“Bokuto is different—”

“He seems like it. But you need to be more careful—”

“I am—”

“Because getting drunk and letting him take you home is careful—”

“Nothing happened—”

“Nothing did happen Keij. But that doesn’t make him some sort of saint—”

“I don’t wanna hear that from the one about to marry into—”

“We’re not talking about me though~” he wagged his finger, “And all things considered, your track record is way worse than mine.”

Akaashi rolled his eyes and shook his head, looking out the window, “I think we’re just about even with that.”

Terushima sighed, not letting Akaashi pout. Because even though his face was as deadpanned as ever, Teru could tell that the omega was pouting. “Ok. Tell me all the good things about him.”

Akaashi acted somewhat reluctant, but gave in anyway, telling Terushima all about their most recent date.

It didn’t take very long to get to Akaashi’s house, at least in the sense that the conversation was engagingly exciting. It’d been a long time since Akaashi had been able to brag about an alpha. Still, they were forced to part, Akaashi stepping out of the car, Hanzo both opening and closing the door for him.

Before leaving though, Terushima popped his head out the window, and made Akaashi promise that they’d meet up later to go shopping, because he needed new shoes anyway. Akaashi told him to just send a message, because things were starting to pick up at the bakery.

“Don’t go acting all high and mighty just cuz you got a new alpha!” Terushima called, but before Akaashi could give any sort of reply, he’d already ordered Hanzo to go, rolling the window up and driving away.

Shaking his head, Akaashi made the climb up to his own apartment, thinking it wouldn’t be long before Oikawa arrived. So to keep himself busy, he rearranged a few things in the kitchen, and made his bed, since he’d neglected doing it that morning. Rather pointless, considering it would only be a few hours until he had to undo it again, but Akaashi felt better knowing everything was in its place.

He’d just finished putting the pillows on the bed when the doorbell rang. Making his way to the front of the apartment, he opened the door, entirely unsurprised to find Tooru staring back at him. What did surprise him though, was the fact that he’d decided to bring Eiji along as well.

“Sorry,” Tooru spoke first, “I didn’t have anyone to watch him—but he’ll be quiet.” He gave a warm smile, placing his hand on top of his son’s head.

“Hello, Mr. Akaashi!” Eiji said loudly, looking up at him with wide eyes.

Akaashi smiled at them both, welcoming them inside. He watched as the fellow omega bent down, helping his son out of his shoes.

Once that was done, Oikawa presented Akaashi with a small box of sweets from some big name bakery that was famous for its cookies.

“I hope you like chocolate chip,” Oikawa said with a smile, “Kou said—”

“We made them!”

Oikawa let out a small, frustrated sigh, “No, Eiji, we bought these. I thought I told you it was rude to interrupt.”

“But Mr. Akaashi will like them better if we made them.”

“But we didn’t make them sweetheart.”

“We went under the station!” Eiji began excitedly, speaking directly to Akaashi, “And there were so many stuff but we bought the cookies and Mommy even—”

“Eiji.”

The young alpha bit his lip, hushing up and apologizing under his breath rather reluctantly. Oikawa bent down to nuzzle him— to avoid future pouting, Akaashi guessed— and then handed him a phone, upon which the little alpha’s eyes lit up immediately, unlocking it expertly and finding his way to his favorite app.

“He can sit on the couch,” Akaashi told Oikawa, “Please make yourselves comfortable.”

“I just wanted to clear any bad air between us,” Oikawa said, “And not just because Bokuto told me to. Trust me, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be.”

Akaashi nodded, “I believe you.”

“At the same time, though,” Oikawa continued, “Part of that night was my fault. As a fellow omega I’m honestly a bit ashamed. And I apologize for pushing you into a corner, but I will admit that it was my exact intention to do so.”

Akaashi let that all sink in, nodding his head calmly. “I think I understood well enough what you were trying to do.”

Oikawa’s eyes widened, “Then why’d you order alcohol?”

A sideways smirk rested easily on Akaashi’s lips, “I think I’d like to know that myself. Would you like any tea?”

“Just water would be good, thank you.”

“And for your son?”

Oikawa looked over, noting that his son was lost in his game, and shook his head at Akaashi. “I think he’ll be fine. Thank you.”

When he came back with the drinks, Oikawa thanked him one more time, saying that he had a lovely home and began trying to make light conversation. Naturally, the conversation shifted its way towards Bokuto, seeing as he was what the two omegas had in common.

“Originally I thought you two were brothers. He refers to Eiji as his nephew, and he’s quite protective—”

“Bokuto’s fiercely loyal,” Oikawa explained, “It’s actually gotten him in trouble before…”

“Mm,” the omega nodded in understanding, “He was telling me about his ex-fiance.”

Oikawa’s head jerked up, shock very much apparent in his eyes, “He told you about that?”

Oikawa’s shock made Akaashi somewhat shocked in result, “Is that strange?” He asked.

Smiling, Oikawa shook his head, and took another sip of water, “No. It’s just one more thing that proves how much he likes you.”

His cheeks brightened upon Oikawa saying so, Akaashi saying it wasn’t really all that, and tok a somewhat shy sip of his own water. “I want to cherish him too, in my own way.”

Oikawa gave a warm smile. That was something he could tell even without Akaashi saying so. “Well, not that you needed it, but you have my blessing.”

“I know you’re both very dear to each other. I’d like to start over, if possible. What happened at the restaurant was under the worst of circumstances. I won’t hold it against you if you don’t against me.”

Oikawa nodded, smiling again, “I think starting over sounds like a good idea.”

Akaashi gave a firm nod in return, before Oikawa set his cup down, letting the glass sound against the table.

“I do have one question though.”

“I’m sure I can guess what it is.”

Oikawa laughed, “Is it fun? I mean it looks hard—I’m not judging you for it, trust me— but like for pole dancing your upper body strength must be insane—”

“It takes a bit. I’m rather light so it’s easier to hold up my own weight.”

“That makes sense. And you get a real workout too, right?”

Akaashi smiled slyly. “Would you like to join me next week?”

Oikawa waved his hand, chuckling nervously, “No, no. I’m way too busy.”

“It’s good stress relief.”

“The most exercise I do is carry Eiji up the stairs when he falls asleep on the couch. And  that’s not even on a daily basis. I’ve fallen far too deep into the mom zone for that kind of exertion.”

“I think you could do it,” Akaashi put his chin in his palm pensively, “With your shape it’d be rather beautiful to watch.”

Oikawa openly laughed at that, “Someone tall like me? That’d be gross.”

“Quite the opposite. Long legs like yours would be completely mesmerizing.”

Again, Oikawa shook his hands, “No, no. Thank you, but I’ll have to pass.”

“Mommy?”

Both omegas turned to face the little alpha, who had curled himself up against the corner of the couch.

“Yes, Ei-chan?”

“I’m hungry.”

“Ok sweetheart, we’re leaving soon.”

“Oh,” Akaashi began, “Don’t let me keep you—”

“Sorry,” Oikawa breathed, lowering his voice, “He gets fussy—”

Nodding in understanding, Akaashi hummed. “It’s fine. I believe we said what needed to be said anyway.”

Oikawa grinned, happy the other omega agreed. “I think so too.”

Akaashi walked them to the door, upon which Oikawa had to help Eiji into his shoes again, despite the fact that they were only velcro. Still kneeling to help his son, Oikawa gave a little smirk, before calling out Eiji’s name.

“Wasn’t there something you wanted to ask Mr. Akaashi?”

The little alpha gave a large gasp, as if only having remembered just then, turning to Akaashi like they were on some sort of time limit. “Mr. Akaashi!!”

The omega couldn’t help the small giggle that managed its way past his lips. “Yes, Eiji?”

“Um,” he seemed shy, suddenly, shifting from one foot to another, running the sentence through in his head before saying out loud, “I wanted to please ask you, if you would like to come to my birthday party next weekend?” Immediately after saying so he looked to his mother, seeking approval and praise for his long-worded sentence.

Akaashi’s smile only widened, “I would love to, Eiji.”

The young alpha tugged excitedly on his mother’s pants, as if the purpose of this visit had now been accomplished, and it was enough for Oikawa to laugh too, before thanking Akaashi again for allowing him to visit.

Goodbyes were said, and Akaashi closed the door with a warm feeling spreading in his chest. He could see why Bokuto was so fond of his friend. And that little alpha son he had was truly something else. It almost made Akaashi want to birth his own pups.

Which was an interesting sort of thought, since children had never been something Akaashi had ever really considered in the past. Pups were something tied to bonds, and Akaashi hadn’t ever been given the chance to consider a bond with his previous alphas, let alone discuss the future possibility of pups.

But, Bokuto seemed like the kind to want to bond, and to form a family. And as early on as they were in their relationship, there was something strangely comforting about it. More and more, the alpha was becoming someone the omega could rely on.

And without even really realizing, that was something that made Akaashi smile in the best of ways. 

Chapter Text

“I think he’ll like it,” Akaashi said encouragingly, as they came out of the underground, squinting a bit when the light hit his eyes.

“It’s not Eiji I’m worried about,” Bokuto gave a weak sort of laugh, leading Akaashi through the crowd.

Akaashi’s eyes widened, “Oikawa?”

“He kinda sorta specifically told me not to do this.”

The omega laughed, hooking his arm around Bokuto’s, “You’re that one uncle that’s always ready to spoil.”

“Oh, like Oikawa doesn’t spoil him—”

“Still, tickets to Disney—”

“I think it’ll be good for them!”

Akaashi hummed, stopping at the corner, waiting for the light to change. “Yes, I suppose a whole day at Disneyland would be good mother-son bonding.”

Bokuto made a strange sort of face that was a cross between a pained smile and a guilty knitting of his brows.

Akaashi deadpanned. “What did you do?”

“Nothing! It’s just I kinda figured…Iwaizumi would wanna go too…”

“Bokuto—”

“I know he’s gonna kill me—”

Akaashi openly laughed, leaning into the alpha. “I think those two get along rather well.”

“Right?? Iwaizumi was kinda weird at first but he’s a good guy I think.”

“Weird?”

Bokuto shook his head, “I’ll tell you about it later.” By now they’d made it to the rows of apartments, and he motioned for Akaashi to head up the stairs first, despite the fact that there was enough room for them to walk side by side.

When they got to the third floor, Bokuto took Akaashi’s hand again, rubbing his thumb over the top of the omega’s, stepping forward to ring the doorbell to Tooru’s apartment.

Eiji was the one to open the door, much to Bokuto’s surprise.

Immediately, his face broke into a grin. “Hey there, Birthday Boy!”

Eiji gasped, ignoring Bokuto entirely, “Mr. Akaashi! You came!”

Akaashi giggled at that, bending down slightly to be closer to eye level, “Happy birthday, Eiji.”

At that the young alpha finally seemed to notice his uncle, looking him up and down, as if he were inspecting him. Seemingly unsatisfied, Eiji cocked his head to the side, “Where’s my present?”

“Eiji!!” Oikawa finally came out from the kitchen, a scolding expression on his face, “You don’t—“

Bokuto just laughed it off, waving his hand, “It’s fine—”

“We did bring doughnuts,” Akaashi smiled, holding up his box, “Hand made by yours truly.”

Oikawa took the box gratefully, smiling, “We’re going to have food for the next year—”

“Mommy! I want a doughnut!”

“Once everyone gets here—“

“But it’s my birthday—”

“Eiji.”

He pouted, but scurried off regardless, Oikawa showing Bokuto and Akaashi into the kitchen, where his parents were cooking.

“He gets really entitled when his birthday rolls around.” Oikawa explained to the fellow omega.

“As he should be! Birthday only comes once a year you know,” Fumi was in the kitchen, shaping rice into triangles.

Tooru sighed, setting the box of doughnuts down on the counter, “It’s just a bunch of kids from the daycare mom, you don’t have to make this much—”

“Nonsense. Children eat like gremlins,” she finished wrapping an onigiri, adding it to her growing pile, before turning her attention to her husband. “Sweetheart, make sure you stir the rice—“

“I know how to make fried rice, love.” Mamoru smiled kindly, but stirred fried rice regardless, just like his wife said. “Are those doughnuts?”

“Yes,” Oikawa said, “Akaashi made them—ah, Akaashi, these are my parents,” he took a moment to introduce everyone, the couples getting acquainted with one another. Tooru’s father took the opportunity to sneak a doughnut.

“Aren’t you a skinny little thing?” Fumi praised, beaming at Akaashi, “I used to look just like that when I was your age. Didn’t I Mamoru?”

“Even skinnier, love,” he replied almost automatically, taking a bite of his doughnut. 

“Mamoru! Those were for after—”

“I doubt anyone will notice,” he said with a soft smile, taking another bite.

“Mom, it’s fine—“

“If grandpa gets a doughnut how come I can’t have a doughnut—”

“You won’t eat the food Eiji—”

“I will—”

The doorbell rang, adding further to the commotion.

Fumi’s head perked up, “Isn’t it still early?”

“The invitations said two…” Oikawa began walking to the door, an excited Eiji at his heels, “Who shows up thirty minutes early…” he mumbled the rest, not wanting his son to hear anything too foul.

Of course it was the parent/child combo he disliked the most.

The door opened to a blonde woman with fake lips, her young alpha daughter at her side. “Sorry we’re a bit early! Amber couldn’t wait to get here!”

Oikawa flashed the best fake smile he had to offer, “We’re glad to have you. Please, come in.”

“I wanted my husband to come as well, but he’s so dreadfully busy. You Japanese are always so dedicated to your work!”

Oikawa kept his smile, “Yes, I imagine the work ethic is different in America.” He didn’t really want to say anything more, and so, he turned his attention to Eiji instead, who was asking if he could open the present Amber had gotten him.

“No,” he said tenderly, “But we can set up a pile and then open them all together once everyone gets here.”

Eiji seemed to like that idea, because he went around the house trying to figure out where best to start the pile. Amber followed him around all the while, sticking to his heels like a suction cup. With blonde hair and a loud voice that matched her mother’s, it was hard to believe this girl was half Japanese.

One by one the kids kept piling in, each one accompanied by a parent that joined the party as well. The more people that rang his doorbell, the more Oikawa regretted not providing any sort of alcohol for the adults. Because more than anything else, right now, he needed a glass of wine.

There was one mom, however, that Tooru got along with rather easily. She went by Sakura— beautiful like the name implied— a short, female omega with an alpha son, who Eiji often had playdates with. Oikawa always enjoyed talking to her, because as mothers to rambunctious little alphas, they usually experienced the same sort of things.

“Kento is in his climbing stage,” Sakura explained, sipping on soda.

Oikawa looked at her with a bit of terror in his eyes, “Do I even want to know what that is?”

She shook her head, giving out a tired sigh, “Just watch out for it, because I get the feeling Eiji won’t be too far behind.”

“But what does he do? Climb the furniture?”

“Furniture, walls, trees, ladders. Anything he can find. Worst was yesterday. He climbed halfway up a tree, and then tried to jump off.”

Oikawa gave a sharp gasp, “Oh god…”

“I thought he’d broken his arm!” The anxiety in her voice was apparent, but she let out another sigh, “Thank god for this party. I told him if he didn’t stop climbing, I wouldn’t bring him.”

Oikawa poured his own soda, clinking his plastic cup against hers, “Amen to that.”

“Boys will be boys,” an alpha father came into the kitchen, refilling his juice, “Especially since the both of you are unlucky enough to have alphas.”

“Thank you, Rei,” Sakura said, “For pointing out our already obvious misfortune.”

Rei chuckled at that, taking a swig of apple juice, “Stop holing yourselves up in the kitchen you cowards. Go out onto the battlefield like the rest of us.”

“We’re just taking the opportunity to talk.”

“It’s a war zone out there,” Sakura added, giggling to herself, “I’d much rather stay in here.”

“Anything that involves that blonde woman is a war zone,” Rei murmured, but quickly moved on, “Bokuto is as entertaining as always.”

Oikawa nodded, showing off a proud smile, “He’s really good with kids.”

“Maybe he’ll have a few of his own soon? Glad to see he found himself a good omega.”

“Akaashi’s really nice,” Oikawa added, “But I think it’s too soon to be thinking about that sort of thing—”

Sakura shook her head, “Rei is always on it with the baby fever—”

There was a happy scream that came from the living room, from whatever game the kids were playing, and the company gathered in the kitchen figured it’d be best to head out and join the rest of the party.

It wasn’t long before Oikawa was sequestered into a corner though, Amber’s mom talking his ear off.

“Won’t he be coming? I find it so strange that the alpha you’re dating won’t show up to Eiji’s party. He does realize the responsibility of taking care of a child, doesn’t he?”

It took everything he had for Oikawa’s eye to not twitch. “He’s just running a little late. It happens to everyone.”

“Oh gosh,” she puckered her fake lips, “That’s not very reliable, is it?”

As if on cue, the doorbell rang again, and Oikawa muttered a silent thank you for the distraction, heading over to the door and getting away from the crowd.

When he opened the door, Iwa was standing there, present in hand, wearing full on work attire. Oikawa swallowed. If he hadn’t noticed Iwa’s scent before, he certainly did now. If anything, his glands were begging for attention, simply by having the alpha in his presence. But that may have just been because Iwa was wearing a suit.

Iwa looked good in a suit.

“Sorry I’m a bit late,” the alpha said, “Work—”

Oikawa shook his head, trying to focus “Don’t worry about it. Come in,” he held the door open, motioning Iwa inside.

The moment he did, all attention turned to them. Oikawa didn’t even have time to give Iwa a basic run-through.

First were Oikawa’s parents, who said it was nice to see him again. Then a bunch of the other parents tried to introduce themselves to the alpha, and Akaashi was there too, saying that Bokuto would come greet him soon, but he was currently occupied with the kids who were trying to climb on his back.

It was, in a word, overwhelming.

But everything was interrupted rather quickly, because Eiji came barging through, breaking up the adults, so that he could give his greetings to Mr. Iwa.

Iwa wished him a happy birthday, and handed him his present, upon which Eiji screeched with excitement and ran back out, putting it on the pile before rejoining his friends. Oikawa yelled at him to keep it down, but that just didn’t seem to be working today.

“Let me get you a drink,” Oikawa offered politely with a fake smile, practically dragging Iwa into the kitchen, and by the grace of god no one followed.

“Rough day?” Iwa said, once they were out of earshot of everyone else.

“I need wine.”

He burst out laughing at that, and Oikawa’s own expression softened, because there was just something really nice about that.

“Ok so real quick,” he pulled the alpha to the corner of the kitchen, where they could look into the living room without being seen themselves, “Brown, medium length hair. That’s Sakura. She’s cool. Has a son Eiji’s age. Those two over there have an omega daughter. Super overprotective. That one’s Rei. He’s chill. Makes good salmon but it’s the only thing he knows how to cook. Blonde one over there—”

“I don’t like her—”

“I didn’t even say anything,” Oikawa smirked.

Iwa smirked right back, “You didn’t really have to.”

The omega licked his lips, trying to hide his smile, “Ok, and that guy—blue shirt—I don’t really know much about that guy but he’s eaten like half the fried rice already and I don’t appreciate it.”

Iwa laughed again, shaking his head, “Sounds like you’ve had a hell of a day.”

“You wouldn’t believe,” he sighed, rolling his eyes and leaning against the counter, “And Kou’s gift is an envelope. I don’t even want to know what’s in it.”

“I’m gonna guess tickets to a baseball game?”

Oikawa shrugged, “I have no idea. If he spent more than 10000yen though he’s gonna get a whooping.”

They weren’t allowed to hide out in the kitchen for much longer, everyone wanting to meet the new alpha.

“This guy always said dating wasn’t for him—”

“We were all pretty surprised—”

“Most eligible omega at the daycare!”

They were the sort of phrases Oikawa hated the most, but he gave it a pass since everyone seemed to be laughing and chatting and just having a good time. Eventually, the kids gave Bokuto enough freedom to join in on the adult conversations as well. Oikawa didn’t miss the way he hooked his arm around Akaashi’s waist, always holding the omega close to his side.

It was sweet.

The party continued on with lots of conversations from the adults, half of which Oikawa didn’t care for, and the kids engaged in all sorts of make-believe things the way children usually do. They even managed to fit in a few rounds of dancing thanks to the video-game system Oikawa says he installed for Eiji but really just bought for himself. And it was all fine and well, until the kids began to complain about hunger.

And a bunch of hungry four year olds was not something he wanted to deal with.

Luckily, Oikawa’s mom helped bring out the food, serving the kids first and then moving on to the adults. Any and everything was used as a table and chairs. Most of the kids chose to sit on the ground picnic style, while the parents made use of the dinner table. Eiji wanted to sit next to Akaashi, so he settled himself right between the omega and his uncle, who were sitting on the couch.

Eiji nuzzled in happily, much to Bokuto’s irritation, but the alpha let it slide, because Eiji was only four, after all.

How ridiculous would it be to be jealous of a four year old?

Eiji was bragging about one thing or another while they ate, Bokuto teasing him a bit for it, the two alphas getting into a small argument that ended in laughter. Akaashi laughed at them both, saying he might just confuse Bokuto for being a four-year-old as well. Bokuto didn’t mind so much, though, because if it meant Akaashi was smiling then anything was fine, as far as he was concerned.

Eiji was giggling happily, swinging his legs and taking proper bites of his food after Oikawa yelled at him to chew with his mouth closed. For a moment, Eiji thought that his mom was really embarrassing.

But he didn’t dwell on it much, because Eiji was always moving on to new things rather quickly.

“Mr. Akaashi,” he said suddenly, excitedly, “Say ahhh!!” The young alpha offered a spoonful of rice to the omega, holding his own mouth open as if to show Akaashi what to do.

“Thank you, Eiji. But that food is all yours. Please enjoy it to the fullest,” Akaashi declined him politely, in a soothing tone.

Eiji considered that for a moment, before shrugging and shoving the spoon into his own mouth.  It continued like that for a bit, Bokuto thinking that he was being purposely ignored, especially when Eiji made a big show of showing how tired he was, saying he wanted to sleep on Akaashi.

The young alpha yawned, stretching out his arms in exaggeration, and leaned into the omega.

It was definitely ridiculous to be jealous of a four-year-old…

Right?

“Oy,” Bokuto barked, “Don’t lean on people so casually—”

Akaashi chuckled, holding his hand up to Bokuto, “It’s quite alright. He’s the birthday boy, after all.” The omega went so far as to rub Eiji’s arm.

Eiji looked at his uncle, making a face and sticking tongue out. Bokuto nearly cracked.

Little devil.

He excused himself, because Bokuto thought he might just say something he’d regret, so with the excuse to get more rice, he headed into the kitchen, where Tooru was cutting the cake.

“Need some help?”

“I think I’ve got it for now—uh, plates—”

Bokuto reached for them, handing Oikawa a spare to put the slice he’d just cut.

“So,” Bokuto cleared his throat, which caused Oikawa to look at him, lifting an eyebrow.

“What?”

“I’ll challenge your son, if need be.”

Oikawa snorted, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Your kid is making a move on my mate,” Bokuto stole a piece of cake, “I won’t stand for it.”

Oikawa raised his brow again, looking at Bokuto smugly, “Your mate, huh?”

Bokuto reddened, realizing what he’d said, “Not—! Not like that! We haven’t—I just meant—”

“Relax. There’s children around.”

“You relax,” Bokuto shot back, rather weakly.

Oikawa rolled his eyes, “Eiji is four. And besides, Akaashi is just his type.”

“Eiji has a type? What’s that supposed to mean?” Bokuto garbled, his face full of cake.

Oikawa smacked his hands, chastising him for eating before they even brought it out, “Would you quit it??”

“Aren’t they supposed to sing happy birthday before you cut the cake?”

Oikawa stopped his motions, knife in midair.

“Fuck.”

“Language!”

Oikawa scrambled around the kitchen, rummaging through the drawers for some candles, “I’ll just put it on his slice—”

“Now you’re the one who needs to relax,” Bokuto teased.

“How the absolute heck did I forget to—”

“Hey, come on,” Bokuto encouraged, helping him with the candles, “It’s ok, you know Eiji won’t mind. If you just put the candles on his slice he won’t even notice.”

Oikawa groaned, looking for a lighter and asking Bokuto to help him carry the slices out.

“Mom! Iwa!” The omega scurried, not wanting to ruin the most important part of his son’s birthday.

They helped passed out the slices of cake, Oikawa calling everyone to the table so that they could sing happy birthday. He placed the biggest slice with the four candles on it in front of Eiji taking the moment to make a big show of lighting the candles. Bokuto was the one to start off the song, and soon enough everyone else chirped in, until Eiji took a big breath and blew out his candles. Everyone cheered, a few bits of clapping sprinkled in, Oikawa leaning in and nuzzling his son, squeezing him and offering a very sweet happy birthday.

Soon enough everyone was digging in, and Oikawa went back to the kitchen to bring out more juice and refreshments.

Finally, for the first time all evening, Oikawa found himself sitting next to Iwa. But by the time he actually sat down, what with making sure everyone got a slice of cake, and the refilling of drinks, and insisting that yes after cake they’d open presents, almost everyone had already finished their dessert. Without really meaning to, he let out a long sigh, leaning into the alpha.

“Have some cake,” Iwa said between chews, offering his fork up to Oikawa, “You’ll feel better.”

Oikawa shook his head, scrunching up his features, “I don’t like sweet things.”

Iwa looked at him blankly, waving the fork around in front of his face.

Oikawa gave a short little growl, before biting down on the plastic fork and taking the piece of cake Iwa was offering.

The alpha gave a satisfied sort of smile at that, and Oikawa sucked in his lips to hide his smile, shaking his head.

“How sweet,” Mamoru’s voice cut through the moment, Oikawa turning his head to see his father smiling at them. “You two make a fine couple indeed.”

“Dad,” Oikawa groaned, but he didn’t get to finish, because the doorbell rang again, and Tooru had to get up to answer it.

With tired feet he shuffled to the door, opening it up to reveal a young male omega with tired eyes hidden behind glasses, his omega son by his side.

“I’m sorry we’re so late. His piano lessons—”

“It’s ok. We just cut the cake, I think there’s still a bit left if you or your son would like—”

“Oh, that sounds lovely,” the omega was soft spoken, touching his son lightly, “Doesn’t cake sound good, Shinji?”

Shinji was a small boy, a mop of curly black hair claiming the top of his head, graced with sharp eyes that were softened by the magnification of round glasses far too large for his face.

If a comparison had to be made, one might say he looked like a young Akaashi Keiji.

The boy’s mother was rather similar, a timid omega who continued to adjust his eyeglasses out of nervous habit. They weren’t allowed to talk for very long however, because Eiji soon joined them in the entryway.

“Shinji!! You made it!! We’re gonna open presents!”

The little boy blushed, lowering his head, and clutching the wrapped present to his chest, “Happy Birthday, Eiji.” He looked at the young alpha, before offering the gift shyly.

“Thanks! You can come sit next to me while I open ‘em!” He grabbed the omega by the hand, dragging him into the party, where everyone else was waiting.

“Eiji!” Oikawa called, “Not so rough!”

He turned to the mother, “I’m sorry, Eiji gets excited—”

The man shook his hands, “It’s quite alright. He’s as boisterous as you’d expect a young alpha to be,” he smiled kindly.

Oikawa nodded in appreciation, “I don’t think I ever got your name,”

“Shou. Yamamoto Shou.”

They shook hands, the parents making it quick so that they could join everyone else for presents.

Eiji plopped them down right smack in the middle of the living room, putting Shinji’s present down carefully by his side. “I’ll open yours last, ok?”

“It’s not very special…”

“Shinji,” Amber came in, sitting opposite them with a bit of a bite in her tone, “I was sitting next to Eiji.”

“Oh. Sor—”

“Yeah, but Shinji’s sitting here now.” Eiji bit back just as sharply, throwing his arm in front of Shinji protectively, as if to block Amber from getting any closer.

“But I—”

“Mommy! Can I open them??”

Oikawa gave his approval, and Eiji greedily grabbed for the pile of presents, Amber left mumbling to herself as she sat with the rest of the kids, opposite Eiji and Shinji.

The very first present Eiji grabbed happened to be Iwa’s, which upon opening, was revealed to be the Cars 3 Blu-Ray.

“Wha—SUGEEEEEEE!! How did you know Mr. Iwa??”

Iwa chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest, “I took a wild guess.”

The other parents joined in on the laughter, because everyone was aware of Eiji’s love of cars.

Eiji tore his way through the rest of the presents, until his mom handed him Bokuto’s envelope, a card with tickets inside that Eiji couldn’t read. So he handed it back to his mom for help.

Oikawa didn’t even get to read what the inside of the card said, because the tickets that fell into his lap nearly gave him an aneurism.

“DISNEYLAND???”

Bokuto held his hands up innocently, “It’ll be fun—“

“Bokuto Koutarou how much did this cost you—”

“Yes!!!” Eiji screamed, “Finally! Disneyland!” He jumped up, running over to hug his uncle, “You’re the best Uncle Bokuto!!”

Bokuto chuckled, hugging his nephew back, “It cost me the smile on this kid’s face right here.”

While Oikawa pursed his lips, the rest of the adults awwwed, the kids agreeing that it was indeed a very good present, a few of them going so far as to voice their jealousy.

“That sounds like you’ll have a lot of fun, Eiji,” Shinji added quietly, giving an honest smile.

Eiji gave a smile of his own, thanking him earnestly. But suddenly his eyes widened, and he gasped a bit, “I gotta open yours! It’s the last one!”

This caused the young omega to curl into himself slightly, “It’s not that cool. Nothing beats Disneyland…”

“I bet it’s awesome!” Eiji said confidently, tearing at the wrapping.

All of his life, since the moment Eiji had been born, Oikawa had tried to read to the alpha, in an effort to create the whole ‘love of reading’ thing every guide to raising kids had ever mentioned. But no matter how much he tried, Eiji just had this horribly strong aversion to books that Oikawa couldn’t shake.

So when Eiji finished unwrapping Shinji’s present, all he could do was suck in his teeth, and pray that Eiji’s disappointment wouldn’t show on his face.

Eiji looked at the picture book, staring at it for a moment, and Oikawa wondered if he should step in to cause a distraction.

“This!” Eiji held the book up, grinning from ear to ear, “This is the best present I’ve ever gotten!!”

Oikawa nearly choked on his own spit. This was the same kid who not two moments before had received tickets to Disneyland.

Part of Oikawa’s soul groaned, because if this was what Eiji was like now…

Heaven forbid the boy should ever reach high school.

Little Shinji was blushing from ear to ear, shaking his head and saying it wasn’t all that much. Eiji shoved the book into Shinji’s lap, scooting over so that they were sitting even closer to each other, “Will ya read it to me?”

Shinji nodded, still giving that embarrassed sort of smile as he opened the book, “It’s called If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.”

“I can read it if you want, Eiji—”

“Shh, Amber! Can’t you see Shinji’s already reading it?”

Over on the parents side of the room, Oikawa giggled to himself, leaning into Shinji’s mom, “I think my son has a crush on yours.”

The man’s eye’s widened, “On Shinji? Eiji does?”

“The boy doesn’t even notice,” Amber’s mother tittered, “I think Eiji and Amber would make a stronger pair, don’t you think Oikawa? Since they’re both alphas.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean anything serious by it. They’re just kids,” Oikawa flashed another fake smile, “But I do think Eiji mentioned something about Amber being noisy the other day.”

Maybe it wasn’t the most upstanding thing in the world, but Oikawa reveled in satisfaction from the way the woman’s face soured when he said so.

…

Cleanup had been a rather swift process, considering his mother had insisted on doing half of it, and then Bokuto jumping in, and Iwa refusing to be beaten, because the alphas all had a strange sort of competition going on, so once everyone was gone Oikawa sat down on the couch with Akaashi and his dad, the three of them sharing a glass of wine while Cars 3 blared on the television.

“Did you let him buy these?” Oikawa shook the Disneyland tickets in Akaashi’s face, “Because there’s three of them.”

Akaashi laughed, shaking his head, “I can assure you I had no part in any of it.”

“I’m going to kill him—”

“Just enjoy it, Tooru. I don’t know why you’re so against people’s good intentions.”

“Because they’re not good intentions, Dad. This is top level spoiling!”

“Then be spoiled,” his Dad yawned, “You’re too much like your mother—”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,”

The beta gave a wicked smile, taking a sip of his wine, “Isn’t it?”

“Mamoru! Don’t think I can’t hear you!” Fumi yelled at them from the kitchen.

“I love you, dear!” Mamoru shouted back, in perhaps the loudest voice anyone had heard from him so far.

Tooru cackled, raising his own glass to his lips, “You’re so whipped, Dad.”

“Is that what the kids call consideration these days?”

Oikawa rolled his eyes, turning his attention to Akaashi once again, “I wanted to thank you for the doughnuts, they looked absolutely amazing.”

“I’m glad you liked them,” Akaashi smiled, “Everyone seemed to enjoy the food in general, though. I believe we have your mom to thank for that.”

“Yeah,” Oikawa explained, “She’s always loved cooking. My bentos were beyond ridiculous in elementary—”

“You liked those bentos—” Fumi said, joining the company on the couch.

“Oooh are we talking about school days?” Bokuto jumped over the couch, to which he received a scolding from Fumi.

“I wanna hear about this too,” Iwa said, sliding in next to Oikawa, resting his arm casually on the back of the couch, but it was enough to tickle the hairs on Oikawa’s neck.

“Elementary school?” Oikawa scoffed, “That’s a boring story.”

“A boring story perhaps, but it was full of beautiful bentos,” Fumi said, sitting on the arm of the chair her husband was sitting on, “That was some of my best work. Until you went and grew up.”

“What middle schooler wants bentos shaped like little panda bears!”

“One that loves his mother!” 

Everyone chuckled at that, though Oikawa didn’t find it particularly funny, and Iwa folded his left leg over his right, leaning in a bit closer to him.

Part of Oikawa wished they hadn’t scented. Because he was all too aware of that smell now. And any time he caught a whiff, he could feel himself start to heat up.

And maybe it was counterproductive, since leaning into Iwa would only logically cause more warmth, especially to his cheeks, all things considered, but he found himself doing it anyway, and it was a weird sort of thing, how his posture hardly changed at all, but it was all Iwa needed, it seemed, to confidently put his arm around Oikawa’s shoulder, rather than to leave it resting on the couch.

It was nice, the way it felt being held like that, the lively conversation led by Akaashi’s uncontrollable laughter, because Bokuto was telling the story about how he’d shoved pop rocks up his nose in middle school. And soon enough, Eiji was climbing into Oikawa’s lap, the movie forgotten, serving as nothing more than background noise to the chatter, Eiji letting everyone know that now he too wanted to put pop rocks in his nose.

Oikawa told him absolutely not, because he was not going to go to the hospital for something stupid like that, and Bokuto backed him up on it, saying it really hurt and he couldn’t even sneeze the candy out to save himself. But Eiji was insisting that if Uncle Bokuto could do it, then so could he, and by this point everyone was laughing so much that Oikawa found it hard to believe he’d spent the whole day practically slaving away. He felt so rejuvenated he hardly had a word for it. But, if he did have to put a name to it…

Oikawa would have called it family.

Chapter Text

“No I’m just saying there’s no point in me going if Iwaizumi—”

“Maybe I don’t want him to go—”

“Tooru—“

“Koutarou. You paid too much for these to not come with us.”

“Well I’m not going. And I’m about to pick up Akaashi, so I’m gonna hang up now.”

“Kou—”

He hung up his phone, and turned it off, because as much as he loved him, Tooru was hard-headed as fuck sometimes.

But all tension completely melted off his shoulders, the moment Akaashi opened the door. A smile broke out on his face. Bokuto had been doing that a lot, lately. Smiling, that is. Especially when it involved Akaashi.

Because it involved Akaashi.

“Ready to go?”

Akaashi smiled and nodded in response, closing the door behind him and then nuzzling the alpha in greeting.

The omega exhaled, the kind of sigh that sounded like relief, and Bokuto understood that well enough, because whenever he scented Akaashi, he felt the exact same way.

“I feel like we haven’t been able to meet in a while.” Akaashi said, finally taking a step back and creating some distance.

“Work got pretty crazy for the both of us,” Bokuto agreed, pulling the omega in again for one last quick scenting, which the omega seemed to fully appreciate, because Bokuto could feel the soft vibration of purrs against his neck.

Part of him had to hold back the instinct to bite.

“What did you have planned today?”

Bokuto shrugged, finally letting go, “I’m down for anything.”

It was a bit too hot to do anything that required too much energy, so they settled for window shopping, since walking the shops under Tokyo Station was a sure fire way to reap the benefits of air conditioning. And without the heat to bother them, Bokuto was able to slip touches to the omega’s neck and cheeks as much as he wanted. It was a bit cringey, considering that kind of affection was only openly shown between teenagers, but Akaashi didn’t seem to mind, because every so often he’d lean in, and return the gesture to the alpha.

After lunch that consisted of omurice and three coca-colas (Akaashi liked sweet drinks) they decided to take the green line to Shinjuku, since there was a bookstore there Akaashi said he wanted to check out.

Bokuto had always liked train rides— there was just something soothing about the way the train rocked against the tracks— but he liked them even more with Akaashi, because when they sat down next to each other, he was always able to take hold of the omega’s hand.

And Akaashi had really soft hands.

Not to mention that despite the seats being sectioned off, Akaashi’s thighs were touching Bokuto’s own, the omega leaning into him slightly, smelling so goddamn sweet Bokuto wondered how he’d manage the rest of today.

Still, though, he kept the conversations going, trying to make sure his own honest scent didn’t leak out too much, because up until now, they had yet to go that far. And he didn’t want to do anything until Akaashi was ready.

“I still can’t believe you guys only met—a year ago you said?”

Akaashi nodded, “That’s when I started with my lessons.”

“That’s crazy. You guys seem so close.”

“We’re both rather peculiar…I suppose that’s why we get along.”

Bokuto’s voice dropped, “Is Terushima also…with touch starvation?”

Akaashi shook his head, “No, nothing like that. But he does have certain habits that tend to…alienate him…”

“He’s pretty bold,” Bokuto laughed, “He doesn’t really seem like the type to care.”

The omega smiled genuinely, “You’re right about that.”

“You guys should come to the bar sometime! I’ll treat you.”

“Oh,” Akaashi blushed, “We couldn’t—“

“No, it’d be fun!”

“Terushima is really busy…” Akaashi began awkwardly, “He’ll be getting married in the spring…”

“Oh that’s awesome!” Bokuto hooted, “You can totally invite his fiancé too! We could all get to know one another.”

Akaashi laughed, though the hesitance in it wasn’t something Bokuto missed, “I don’t know the fiancé too well, honestly. He is a man of few words, it seems.”

“All the more reason,” Bokuto insisted, grinning a smile that showed off all his teeth, “If you don’t want to though, it’s fine. Just throwing it out there.” He brushed his nose over the top of Akaashi’s hair, reassuring the omega and getting rid of the small twinge of anxiety that had been present in his voice.

Akaashi had to stop himself from purring. Ever since he’d confessed about his condition, Bokuto had become very attentive to Akaashi’s scent glands, making sure they were properly scented and nuzzled, to the point where Akaashi rarely had to seek out his friend’s assistance to do so platonically.

He’d never been with an alpha that was so dedicated to making him feel at ease.

And they hadn’t even been intimate yet.

The thought made his skin burn. Because if Bokuto was like this in the general sense, then surely…once they crossed that line…

He leaned in ever so slightly, resting against the alpha while the train rocked back and forth. He couldn’t help but hope for more. Because more than this sweltering heat, Akaashi was sure that the cause for his sudden rise in body temperature came from the way his heart raced whenever he was this close to Bokuto. Because part of him—no, all of him—

He wanted to be even closer. Even without the heat that was a summer afternoon in Tokyo, Akaashi’s body was, well, hot.

When they got to Shinjuku, they got lost for a bit, wandering around the humid streets and stopping inside a shopping mall while they looked up directions to the bookstore. Akaashi was fanning himself with his hand, scrolling down his phone, and Bokuto took the opportunity to buy them both some Pocari from the vending machines that were just outside the store.   

Once Akaashi finally procured the location, they set off again, trudging through the thick wave of muggy heat until they reached the bookstore.

“We should buy a fan while we’re at it,” Bokuto chuckled, letting out a huge sigh of relief when they finally entered the air-conditioned store.

“They were selling some at the train station,” Akaashi smiled, glancing at Bokuto before taking his fill of the books.

Bokuto fell into step behind him, “Yeah, but those break so easily—what’re you looking for, by the way?”

Akaashi headed straight to a large display, where a blue book with golden lettering was being advertised. He picked up a copy, smiling to himself. “This one. It’s the third in the series, but I haven’t had time to pick it up yet.”

“What’s it about?”

The omega flipped the book over in his hands, “Lots of things. Love, mostly.”

“You like love stories?”

“Mm,” Akaashi nodded, affirming the fact. “Is it ok if we look around?”

“Sure!” Bokuto beamed, letting Akaashi lead the way, “Besides bookstores always smell nice.”

Akaashi couldn’t help but giggle, “They do have a certain smell to them don’t they?”

They went through the numerous rows of books, Bokuto making fun of a few of the covers, which Akaashi laughed openly at, and at one point there were waddling down the rows, because Bokuto had taken to hugging Akaashi from behind, resting his chin on the omega’s shoulders and purposely making it difficult for him to walk. It was childish, probably, definitely not something two men nearing their thirties should have been doing, but it was far too fun for Akaashi to really be bothered by it. And besides, having Bokuto this close made his heart flutter pleasantly, giving him a sort of adrenaline he was very quickly getting addicted to.

Bokuto didn’t let go until they arrived at the cooking section, where nearly half the shelves were taken up by cookbooks written by a very highly renowned chef.

“I don’t like this guy so much,” Bokuto said, pointing at a magazine that boasted his picture.

“He’s rather strict,” Akaashi agreed.

Bokuto scrunched up his nose, mimicking the celebrity chef’s voice, “I am a coolasically trained, Foo-renchoo chef!”

Akaashi practically snorted, trying to curb his laughter with his hand, but Bokuto continued in that voice, making jokes at the chef’s expense.

No one could make Akaashi laugh the way Bokuto did.

But just as they were reaching the end of the aisle, Akaashi’s laughter stopped with a choked kind of gasp, his body tensing and the hairs on his arms standing on end. His scent had notably sunk into something that made Bokuto’s own senses sharpen in alarm.

It was instinct; alpha wanting to protect omega.

“Akaashi—?”

The book they’d come here for fell onto the stack of magazines beneath them, in a way that was kind of muffled, and Akaashi ducked his head, trying his best to appear small, the way omegas did when they were frightened. He gripped at Bokuto’s sleeve, the fabric crinkling beneath Akaashi’s shaking palm, “Can we leave?”

Bokuto didn’t ask why. Didn’t really have to, because he followed Akaashi’s line of sight, and while he didn’t know who the man was, Bokuto could take a sure enough guess.

So he wrapped his arm over Akaashi’s shoulder, in a very shielding kind of way, in a way Akaashi was a bit unfamiliar with, but appreciated nonetheless, clinging to Bokuto so much it that was probably embarrassing to look at, but at that moment Akaashi didn’t really care.

There really was no way to get out of the bookstore without passing by the other alpha, so Bokuto just tightened his grip, rubbing reassuring little circles into Akaashi’s shoulder, and tried to block him from view as best he could.

But it wasn’t enough.

They were called out to— well, Akaashi was— and though Bokuto had no intention of stopping, a hand was placed on his shoulder, and that was something he couldn’t ignore.

“Oy—”

“Akaashi!” The man gave a sly smile, “Long time no see~”

Akaashi said nothing, simply looked on ahead, his face deadpan.

The man snorted, “What, you a mute now?”

Bokuto gave a warning growl, telling the other alpha to watch how he spoke, while tightening his hold on Akaashi. Certain alphas had a kind of scent around them. One that was more aggressive than others. And it didn’t take very much for Bokuto to put two and two together.

“I don’t know you my friend, but as a fellow alpha, I feel like I should warn you—”

Bokuto noticed Akaashi’s scent strengthen into something that was almost like a panic, and all he really wanted was to get him out of there, so that he could calm the omega down.

“—this one will sleep with anyone. Has he told you of his condition yet? Don’t believe it—that’s just his excuse to cheat.”

Shaking, Akaashi tried to interject, to defend himself, “Bokuto-san, I—”

Again, the man placed his hand on Bokuto’s shoulder, shaking his head as if everything were a lost cause, “No good omegas, am I right? Us alphas gotta look out for each other.” He held out his hand as if waiting for a fist bump or a hand slap for some sort of confirmation.

Akaashi didn’t think Bokuto would do anything. Because he trusted him. But that was exactly why his heart sank as sharp and fast as it did, when the arm that had been so tightly wrapped around his shoulder fell, and Bokuto gave the alpha exactly what he was looking for, the two of them bumping fists in a friendly manner.

He was so dizzy he thought he might throw up.

“Can’t let a guy like you get dragged around by a slut like him, know what I mean?”

Bokuto nodded in understanding, “Thanks for the heads up,” he motioned with his hand, “I feel like I should return the favor.”

The other alpha smiled, “For sure—”

It happened so fast that Akaashi didn’t even really see it. But one moment they were just talking, the next there was such a loud crack that Akaashi thought Bokuto had broken his hand, and in a moment that the omega didn’t even register, Bokuto had him by the arm and was yelling back at him to run because—because Akaashi didn’t know why—but they were running, probably because Bokuto had just punched his ex— in the middle of a bookstore, mind you—and they were being chased—were they being chased? Akaashi didn’t know, didn’t really care, because Bokuto was holding onto him again, laughing and out of breath, but so was Akaashi, and they just kept running, which probably looked ridiculous, through the crowded streets of Shinjuku, in this sweltering summer heat that seemed to be melting them with each step, and they just didn’t stop, kept going, until they were drenched in sweat, and Bokuto finally pulled him into an alley, bringing Akaashi up against him, panting and heart racing out of his chest.

“Sorry—”

“N-No that was—”

The alpha was laughing, adrenaline rushing in his veins.

“I’ve never hit anyone before—”

“It’s fine—”

“I hope you don’t think it was cowardly to run—”

“It wasn’t—”

“Akaashi?”

“Yes—?”

He was taken, lips captured and held hostage, face cupped between large palms that promised to never let go, Akaashi feeling so much that he was physically shaking, the tremors in his body leaking out in forms of laughter, gripping at the alpha to keep his balance, his lungs scraped from the run and desperate for air, but he was more desperate for the alpha’s kiss, finding it to be more than enough and yet not nearly enough, and when Bokuto wrapped his arms around his back, pressing their chests together, Akaashi’s thigh brushed up against the alpha’s, and he couldn’t help the trembling moan that parted his lips, and spilled into Bokuto’s mouth.

Bokuto gave a low growl, finally pulling away, but only to rest his nose against Akaashi’s scent glands, nuzzling him in a way that was more of a claim than anything else, his teeth tugging slightly at the skin. “I don’t know who the fuck that guy was—” Bokuto practically spat it out, in a tone Akaashi had never heard from him before, his voice leaking so much venom that it was almost arousing, the omega feeling a rush of shivers go down his back.

“Thank you,” Akaashi blurted, bringing his own hands to Bokuto’s face, and lifting his head up, so that he could kiss him flat and hard, “I—never—”

And they were kissing again, in that desperate way, the kind of kiss that had hands gripping at shirts and teeth tugging on lips with breaths stolen and exchanged and taken back again, until Akaashi couldn’t take it anymore, being so closely pressed to the alpha, in this godforsaken heat that made it impossible to tell if it was the weather itself or just the fact that Bokuto was a furnace, his scent spreading out and over the way cookies might when Akaashi baked, that vanilla catching on everything, spilling out into every last bit of him, and he—

Bokuto held Akaashi’s wrists, separating the omega from himself, taking in large breaths with swollen lips that made Akaashi blush.

“We should,” he tried between breaths, “We should probably calm down…”

Akaashi followed Bokuto’s glance, realizing the outline that had formed against his own pants, and his cheeks flushed an even darker shade of red. He was so flustered, and so lost in his own head, that he didn’t realize Bokuto looked very much the same.

“I’m—“ Akaashi cleared his throat, trying to straighten his thoughts, “Sorry—that was probably—I’m sorry—”

“That—that should be my line. Considering…um, where we are and everything.”

At first, Akaashi thought he meant the alley. But then his vision cleared from the haze of heat, and despite the afternoon sun, there was no denying the neon signage.

So they were in that part of Shinjuku.

Maybe it was the adrenaline catching up to him, or everything crashing around him, or maybe it was the fact that Akaashi really hadn’t gotten a solid breath in since the bookstore, but whatever the reason was, the omega burst out laughing, shaking his head and snuggling into the alpha, despite the fact that they were both sweating, and that it was far too hot to be pressed up against anyone at the moment, but regardless, it was just what he needed.

“Do you…” he began shyly, but then squeezed the alpha, and looked up at him, letting down the last of his walls, “Do you want to make use of one of them?”

It was terrifying, almost, the way Bokuto said nothing, how he simply grabbed Akaashi by the hand, and led them out of the alley, stopping in front of the very first love hotel they came across, pulling out his wallet to slide his card and get a room.

Just before doing so though, he stopped, turning to the omega with an expression Akaashi was much more familiar with, as if the alpha had suddenly come to his senses.

“Wait, are you sure? I mean this—it’s not that I don’t want to but—are you ok if it’s in a place like this?”

Akaashi put his hand over the alpha’s, kissing his cheek as he helped Bokuto slide the card down, upon which a hotel keycard was dispensed out at them almost instantaneously. “If it’s with you…” Akaashi took the keycard, blushing so much he was afraid to show his face, “Anywhere…is fine…”

The omega’s scent glands were held hostage the entire elevator ride—which was relatively short—but it was a nice feeling regardless, Bokuto nuzzling him so much Akaashi thought his vocal chords might break from the amount of purring the alpha was coaxing out of him.

They stumbled into their room, which was a miracle, considering how much they’d been fumbling with the keycard, lost between sloppy kisses that weren’t suitable for a pair their age, but were completely necessary just the same.

Akaashi could feel his blood rushing, Bokuto still attached to his glands, hugging him from behind and sucking on them, enough to make the omega’s legs tremble in anticipation.

“I don’t…have a condom…” the alpha admitted, shyly glazing his tongue over the quickly swelling glands, Akaashi starting to feel his head spin.

“Cabinet…” he managed, drowsy with the scent of vanilla, wanting to taste it for himself.

The alpha pulled away, opening up the cabinet that held any and everything someone might need—for a price of course—and while Bokuto looked for condoms, Akaashi was granted the view of that large back, and those muscles that tensed and moved beneath his shirt.

He was finding himself short of breath.

And it was probably for that very reason—that and the vanilla in his head—that he went up to the alpha, sliding his hands up underneath his shirt, hooking them around the front of the alpha’s chest while he nuzzled against Bokuto’s back.

The alpha stiffened under his touch.

“If you do that…I won’t be able to hold back, you know.”

Akaashi didn’t really want him to. Which was probably why he stubbornly kept his hands in place, continuously rubbing his cheeks against the alpha’s shoulder blades.

It backfired though—or maybe it went exactly as planned—because Bokuto didn’t let him continue for long, pushing his hands away and then scooping the omega up in his arms, the condom held between his teeth.

“Okehy,” he managed with clenched teeth, “To deh behd.”

Akaashi snorted—actually snorted—wriggling in the alpha’s arms from pure excitement, Bokuto tossing the comforter aside but still managing to hold the omega, before placing him gently down against the sheets.

He hovered over the omega, bending down and kissing his forehead.

“Hi.”

Akaashi giggled, jitters coursing through his entire body. “Hello.”

“My name is Bokuto Koutarou and I’ll be your host this evening.”

Akaashi turned his head away as he laughed, shaking it in reprimand, “Don’t say it like that—”

“I believe your file said you require excessive scenting.”

“N-No!” His glands were attacked, in a way that made Akaashi’s legs kick out, unable to curb his laughter, “Bokuto—“

“And kisses—” he kissed Akaashi’s neck as he said so, giving him every bit of attention, “Lots of those…”

It was ticklish, almost, but soon enough his shirt was gone, and so was Bokuto’s, and his laughter had died down, replaced with a breathless sort of gasp as the slick pooled between his thighs. Especially when Bokuto let his hands drag down his chest, kissing him all the while, his fingers soaking in every bit of Akaashi’s skin, making sure not a single part went untouched.

And everything just fell into place.

The way Bokuto’s warmth melted into his own, how much their lips seemed to fold over each other, again and again, fingers getting lost in hair and Akaashi’s short whines drowned out by Bokuto’s low groans, the omega wrapping his legs around the alpha, wanting to feel even closer.

It was sweet. Soft and gentle, Bokuto nuzzling him all the way through, easing his way in and continuously asking to make sure the omega wasn’t in any pain.

It was full of kisses. Of loving whispers and sweet words. Of hand holding and hushed laughter. It was full of dumb smiles and noses against cheeks and panting into one another’s ear. It was Akaashi’s nails down Bokuto’s back and Bokuto’s teeth latched onto Akaashi’s neck. It was gold eyes staring into brown, and Akaashi didn’t want to look away, didn’t want to let go.

He could drown, in eyes like that.

The omega had never trembled so much before. Had never been held like this before, in this way that was so caring and so loving, full of kisses and thrusts that kept their chests close, that allowed every bit of his skin to touch every bit of Bokuto’s, Akaashi falling into bliss again and again, to the point where when he felt the alpha’s knot catch, it didn’t hurt the way it usually did, just filled him with warmth instead, filled him all the way up, Bokuto so wonderfully close and Akaashi so completely overwhelmed that he couldn’t stop the tears that started streaming down his face.

“Akaashi?” Bokuto hovered over him in a panic, “Does it hurt? Sorry I—I didn’t ask if you wanted to be knotted—”

The omega shook his head, wrapping his arms around Bokuto’s neck and bringing him back down, burying his face in the alpha’s chest, wrapping his legs around Bokuto’s as he felt another pulse from the alpha’s knot.

“I didn’t know…” he murmured, his voice cracking at only just at a whisper, “I didn’t know it could feel like that…”

Bokuto relaxed in his hold, nuzzling him gently, “It doesn’t hurt then?”

Akaashi shook his head, and Bokuto held him, rolling to his side, so that they’d both be more comfortable until his knot went down. He kissed the top of Akaashi’s head, because the omega still refused to show his face, “That’s good.” He rubbed his hand up and down Akaashi’s back, letting out low, rumbling purrs that soothed Akaashi more than he could ever describe, and for a moment, he almost thought he’d fall asleep, resting in Bokuto’s arms like that, soaking in the alpha’s warmth and letting himself be lulled by those deep purrs.

Never.

Never in his whole life had he ever experienced anything like it. It was the first time Akaashi could say he actually understood the difference between sex, and making love.

And he and Bokuto had most definitely just made love.

“Wanna get cleaned up?” It was a soft whisper, Bokuto nuzzling him gently, and it was only then that Akaashi realized Bokuto’s knot had gone down enough for them to separate.

It was quite the mess when they did, Akaashi’s slick coating his thighs and then staining the sheets.

Red painted his cheeks, Akaashi feeling a sudden need to hide under the covers and never come out. But Bokuto didn’t allow it, and between coaxing kisses and gentle nudges from his nose, they were up, walking to the bathroom without a shred of clothing, and covered in Akaashi’s cum.

It was sort of mortifying.

But Bokuto didn’t allow for that either, playing around with the water hose and washing Akaashi’s back, Akaashi soon forgetting the fact that they’d never seen this much of each other before, embarrassment washing away, because Bokuto made it easy like that. And somehow or another, Akaashi was left to wash the alpha’s hair, the soap allowing him to put it into strange shapes that made the omega laugh, and Bokuto was only too happy to be the cause of such a sound.

Once they were done cleaning up, they jumped into the bath, Akaashi settling himself between Bokuto’s thighs, resting his head on the alpha’s shoulder and inhaling deeply.

It was more than anything he ever could have asked for.

Bokuto was attentive, brushing his fingers over Akaashi’s arms while they relaxed in the hot water, not saying much of anything but just murmuring against each other, exchanging emotion through scent and touch rather than words, the way only alphas and omegas could.

“Thank you,” Akaashi said finally, “For everything you did today.”

Bokuto kissed his cheek in response, so Akaashi thought it ok to continue. “The alpha today—I’m sure you already guessed—”

“I only care about one thing.”

Akaashi stiffened, craning his neck slightly, so he could look at Bokuto properly. Somehow, he looked all the more serious when his hair was flat against his head.

“Yes?”

“That guy. Did he hit you?”

Akaashi’s eyes widened, before they softened around the edges. He shook his head.

“No. I left before that could happen.”

Bokuto noticeably relaxed against the tub, letting his head rest against the edge. He rubbed Akaashi’s arm, pulling the omega into him, “Thank god.”

And suddenly Akaashi was overwhelmed again. Because this was the first time in a long time—no, the first time ever?—that someone had ever cared this much, that someone had ever actually given a damn—

Bokuto’s stomach growled, the sound echoing in the empty bathroom. The alpha let out an embarrassed chuckle, running his fingers through his hair.

“Um…so…food?”

Akaashi laughed when he leaned in to him, telling him that food sounded like a wonderful way to end the day.

They got dried off, deciding it’d be better to get some food closer to home, and managed to agree on ramen. It was the obvious choice, given that it was both fast and filling. It took about half an hour to get back by train, and then another forty minutes for food, which by then the sun was already dipping into the horizon.

Bokuto insisted on walking Akaashi home, arm hooked around the omega’s waist for the entirety of the walk.

Akaashi’s blood rushed in his ears, the closer they got to his apartment. Because once they got there, they’d have to say goodbye. And Akaashi didn’t want the alpha to leave. Not after the day they’d had together.

But eventually they got to his door, and Bokuto dropped his hand from Akaashi’s waist.

They kissed goodbye.

And then they kissed goodbye again. And then a third time, for good measure. But it was on the fifth goodbye that Bokuto cracked, letting his head fall onto Akaashi’s shoulder.

“Can I come inside?”

Akaashi staggered slightly, since the alpha had dropped all of his dead weight onto him. “…Of the apartment, you mean?”

Bokuto stiffened, and for a brief moment Akaashi thought he should quickly take it back while he still had the chance, but then Bokuto whined, right into his neck, his breath sending shivers down to the omega’s toes.

“You’re gonna kill me.”

It was too sudden, how quickly he became wrapped in that sinfully sweet vanilla, Bokuto’s scent not providing any sort of subtlety as to what the alpha’s intentions truly were.

And that had Akaashi’s heart racing all over again.

He opened his door quickly, giggling while Bokuto kept nuzzling him, kept telling Akaashi how good he smelled, and Akaashi thought that that was his line, because the way Bokuto smelled right now…

“This way,” he took the alpha by the hand, red up to his ears but jittery just the same. His nerves were more out of excitement, because they’d just done this after all, except it felt a bit different this time, because this time—

“Ah!” Akaashi yelped, when Bokuto literally swept him off his feet, cradling the omega in his arms the way one would a bride.

“Which way?” he grinned, waggling his eyebrows.

Akaashi licked his lips, pointing down the small hallway, “Second door,”

They basically ran in, which was a testament to the alpha’s strength, going full speed until they crashed onto Akaashi’s bed, laughing and tangling up into each other.

Giddy didn’t even begin to describe it.

“Everything smells like you,” Bokuto muttered against Akaashi’s mouth, their lips pressed together in a way that was more longing for touch than it was an intention of a kiss.

“It’s my room,”

“I know but—fuck Akaashi—”

There came more giggles, and more desperate kisses into opened mouths, their clothes coming off much faster this time around, lost to the floor.

But this time, before Bokuto had the chance to push him down, Akaashi dropped down right between the alpha’s thighs, looking up at him with longing eyes.

“I want to…can I…?”

“You don’t have to—”

Akaashi ignored him, the scent the alpha was giving off urging him to continue, and so he drew his tongue out, sampling a taste of the alpha’s length.

“Bokuto,” he began, continuing with his not-so-chaste licks, “Did you know most omegas have a soft spot in their mouths?”

Bokuto did know that, but he didn’t think—

The omega took him, Bokuto feeling his tip brush against the roof of the omega’s mouth, the omega moaning in response and Bokuto hardening all the more, blood rushing down so fast he could feel himself starting to go dizzy.

It was probably one of the best thing Bokuto had ever had the pleasure of seeing. The way Akaashi’s eyes rolled to the back of his head every time he bobbed his head forward, how the spit was sliding down his jaw, and his ass—the way it was all up in the air like that, wriggling like it wanted something, bouncing every time Akaashi sucked. And every time Akaashi just seemed to take him deeper, as if the omega were begging for more, and fuck if he kept moaning around his cock like that, Bokuto wasn’t sure how long he was going to last.

“Akaashi—” he tugged at the omega’s hair, “Akaashi I’m—”

He tried to pull away, but wasn’t fast enough, his cum catching the bottom of Akaashi’s jaw, the rest sliding down the omega’s chest.

Bokuto reddened.

“Ah— sorry—sorry—”

Akaashi looked down at his chest, and it was only then that Bokuto realized Akaashi had cum too. They both watched Bokuto’s semen drip down Akaashi’s chest, their seed mixing together. The alpha thought he might lose all reason.

Akaashi looked up at Bokuto, eyes drunk with pleasure. “More,” his voice was hoarse, “Give me more…”

Bokuto definitely lost all reason.

His hands dug in, pushing the omega flat on his back, smearing Akaashi’s chest with white. “Did you really cum? Are you that sensitive Akaashi?”

“I-I—” the omega trembled, moaning under Bokuto’s touch.

“What about your nipples,” his fingers found the pink buds, tugging and pinching with virgin-like excitement, Akaashi’s back arching and a sharp moan popping his mouth open, answering the question Bokuto didn’t even have the chance to finish.

“Are those sensitive too?”

“The-They’re—” Akaashi wasn’t really given the chance to reply, what with the way Bokuto just dug right in, sucking on Akaashi’s chest, his tongue dragging across the sensitive skin.

The alpha reveled in the reactions he got, especially when he noticed the way Akaashi’s cock was leaking, dripping onto the omega’s abdomen and crying for attention.

He could fix that.

He kissed him, cupping Akaashi’s cheek with his palm, making sure the omega felt at ease before asking if he could turn onto his stomach.

“I’m gonna mount you, is that ok?”

Akaashi flipped over all too eagerly upon hearing that, shamelessly spreading his legs, craning his head with those glazed-over eyes, telling Bokuto that it was fine.

“I want you,”

“I want you too,” Bokuto assured, positioning himself over the omega, rubbing against him and kissing at his shoulders, “So, so much—”

“Bokuto,” his name came out as a sort of whine, and Bokuto couldn’t help but think that he really was going to lose it, if Akaashi kept on saying his name like that.

He peppered kisses all along Akaashi’s shoulders and neck, and rather than sliding in gently, the way he wanted to, he was sucked in, Akaashi’s walls pulsing and squeezing, the omega pushing back his own hips so that he was filled to the hilt in a single thrust.

The omega’s mouth dropped open in pleasure when that happened, sound failing to manifest, but his legs trembling just the same.

It was beautiful. Akaashi’s back bowed and glistening with sweat, those wide hips shaking all on their own, desperate to meet Bokuto’s equally desperate thrusts.

Bokuto reached around Akaashi’s thighs, trembling as he felt the amount of slick that coated them, fighting the urge to pull out and lick it all up, because as good as that would be the alpha was pretty much convinced nothing could be better than being inside of Akaashi, the omega’s walls slippery and pulsing and tight, and the alpha in him wanted nothing more than to shape Akaashi, to mold him around his cock and mark the swelling scent glands that were letting out the sweetest of scents.

But those kinds of thoughts were dangerous—definitely dangerous—so he tried to focus on making Akaashi feel good instead, stroking the omega’s cock with his hand, and sucking on the back of his neck, Akaashi fueling his actions with the little mewls he kept letting out, repeating Bokuto’s name in broken syllables that had the alpha teetering over the edge.

Akaashi came all over Bokuto’s hand, but he didn’t stop, not yet, because it felt too good, far too good, and everything was just so wet, either from the slick or the sweat or something, and all Bokuto could manage was a short apology, before he pulled out, flipping the omega over again easily.

Akaashi whined in surprise, but it was choked, his breath catching when Bokuto grabbed the back of his knee and lifted it up, Akaashi having enough sense left to hook his ankle around the alpha’s shoulder, and soon enough he was filled again, Bokuto pumping into him with short growls that alphas were prone to give.

Even through the blur of pleasure, Akaashi could see it all perfectly. The way Bokuto’s muscles tensed with each thrust, the way his arms were strained, one hand digging into his thigh and the other right by his head, gripping at the pillows while he pushed Akaashi over the edge again and again.

But suddenly, the thrusts sped up, Akaashi feeling him all the way up in his stomach, and he hadn’t really noticed before, but Bokuto only really started talking once he was close to going over himself. It only added to the haze in Akaashi’s head, because when it was like this, he realized, Bokuto’s voice got gruff and somewhat hoarse in his ears, like calloused hands on soft skin.

“Fuck, it’s so good, ‘Kaashi—“ he was panting, “So so good—you’re pulling me in—”

Panic swelled in the omega, his walls tightening as a result, and it was so sudden that Bokuto nearly doubled over.

“Bokuto—you can’t—condom—“

“I’ll pull out,” he kept with his thrusts, tightening his grip on Akaashi’s thigh, “I’ll put out— tell me where you want it,”

Akaashi could only whine in response, because he was seeing white again, his vision blurring as he was brought over for the third or forth or fifth—he’d lost count—time that night, and really, if Akaashi were being honest, he’d have said he wanted it inside to begin with—

“Fuck!” Bokuto’s head tossed, back, sweat dripping down his forehead and his hair sticking to his face, “So good—so good—”

Suddenly Akaashi felt empty, and warmth was splattered all over his stomach, but he wasn’t even given enough time to register it, because Bokuto collapsed next to him, his arm claiming the top part of Akaashi’s chest, making him jolt against the bed.

They were both panting, but Bokuto’s pants were heavier, somehow, and while the alpha caught his breath Akaashi palmed his stomach, rolling the sticky substance over in his fingers.

He sighed against the pillows, deliciously exhausted.

His bed smelled like Bokuto, now.

“…mazing…” Bokuto murmured.

“What?”

He lifted his head, wearing a dumb smile on his face as he drunkedly crashed his lips onto Akaashi’s cheek, “You’re amazing…”

Akaashi’s chest swelled, feeling a small tinge of blush spread over the top of his cheeks. “You’re the one…” he struggled to catch his breath, “Who’s amazing…”

Bokuto laughed. A stupid kind of laugh, dorky at its core, the kind that Akaashi guessed only really happened at times like these.

“We should…probably shower again.”

The omega hummed, thinking that over, not really wanting to move yet. Instead, he cocked his head over to the side, and looked at the time, before rolling back over, and tiredly snuggled into Bokuto’s side, purring contentedly.

With bold shyness, he looked up at Bokuto and they kissed again, exchanging soft moans and tired exhales. When they pulled away Bokuto saw Akaashi looking at him with wide eyes, the kind only omegas could have, and in that single look Bokuto knew he was done for.

“W-What is it?”

A smile that was far too demure for the situation spread across Akaashi’s lips, the omega replying in a voice like velvet.

“Again?”

…

Akaashi woke up to a pleasant ache that throbbed throughout his entire body, and a dumb sort of smile he couldn’t seem to shake off his lips.

Bokuto lay snoring softly next to him, and so Akaashi reached over, turning off his alarm so that it wouldn’t go off and wake the alpha.

But in reaching over to get the clock, Akaashi ended up waking him up regardless. Bokuto stirred, letting out a soft groan.

“‘Kaashi? -Time is it?”

“It’s four in the morning,” Akaashi whispered, kissing his cheek, “I have to open up the bakery—”

“Oh—“ Bokuto tried to move, “Shit, I’ll—”

Akaashi kissed his cheek again, hushing him gently, “Go back to sleep. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”

That seemed to be enough to have the alpha fall into deep sleep again, and Akaashi couldn’t help but smile at the image, before heading over to his closet so he could grab his clothes and take a quick shower.

It was probably one of the longest showers Akaashi had ever taken. To be fair, nearly all of him was sore, and although they’d showered before going to sleep, they’d also added another round before going to bed, so Akaashi had a bit to clean up. But it was all done with a sleepy smile on his face, Akaashi playing the memories back in his mind to the sound of rushing water.

When he stepped back out into the room, Bokuto was gone. Which was particularly strange, because the alpha’s clothes were still splayed out on the floor, where they’d been forgotten the night before.

With a knitted brow, Akaashi made his way to the kitchen, where he found Bokuto in nothing but his boxers, yawning as he shook a pan filled with what Akaashi guessed were sausages, if the scent was any indication.

He thought he’d gotten used to seeing the alpha with his hair down, considering everything that had happened yesterday. But apparently it was still enough to make Akaashi’s heart clench.

Of course, Akaashi couldn’t say for sure if it was the alpha’s hair, or the outline of that muscled back, that held Akaashi’s own scratch marks.

Or maybe it was the simple fact that it was 4am, and yet the alpha had gotten up in order to make breakfast.

He licked his lips, taking in a sharp inhale, “You should have gone back to sleep,” Akaashi went up to him, nuzzling his shoulder, “I don’t usually eat breakfast anyway.”

Bokuto nuzzled him back, albeit a bit sleepily, “But breakfast is the most important meal of the day, ‘Kaashi!”

It was adorable, absolutely adorable, to hear Bokuto’s usually passionate tone filtered through such a tired tongue. Especially when he was asking Akaashi for something to put the food in, saying that he’d just package it up if Akaashi had to get going right away. So Akaashi handed him a small container, and Bokuto transferred everything from the pan to the tupperware.

Without really thinking, Akaashi kissed the alpha’s cheek, and took the opportunity to run his fingers through his hair while Bokuto continued to fiddle with the tupperware. “You’re always so good to me, Bokuto.”

“Well sure,” Bokuto yawned again, finally getting the lid to close, “I love you.”

Akaashi’s eyes widened—completely awake. Had he heard that correctly?

Bokuto gave another yawn, shuffling over to him and nuzzling the omega’s neck. “Have a good day at work.”

Akaashi nodded, his breath hitching, heart pounding from the words that had come far too easily from the alpha. Not knowing what else to do, Akaashi just shook his head, and nuzzled Bokuto back.

“Please, stay as long as you want. You must be really tired…”

“Mmm…” Bokuto nodded, “I’ll walk you out, then I’ll probably pass out again.”

“Ok,” the omega nodded, chest swelling and cheeks heavy with blush.

The goodbye was a short one, Bokuto giving him a quick kiss and a nuzzle to his nose, but the action filled Akaashi with so much warmth that even after he’d closed and locked his door, he was trembling with such an overload of emotion that he didn’t really know what to do with himself.

Which is why he did the only thing he really could do, and that was head to work.

So with obnoxious giddiness and a stupidly large love-drunk smile on his face, Akaashi began his Monday morning, walking over to his bakery with what could only be described as a spring in his ever-happy steps.

Chapter Text

Overwhelming, was the only real word Oikawa could come up with. Just completely overwhelming. And even without that absolutely ridiculous smile the alpha had on his face, Tooru could take a sure enough guess.

“Ok,” he began with a sly smirk, “I forgive you for turning your phone off.”

Dumb laughter was the only reply he got, Bokuto sliding into the seats by the kitchen counter. “God Tooru it was—amazing. He’s amazing…” He continued on, in a weird mumbly string of praise that not even Tooru could make out, to the point where Bokuto was squealing happily like a girl, covering his reddened cheeks with his hands.

Tooru managed a roll of his eyes. “Did you even shower before coming here? You’re dripping his scent—”

Bokuto held up two fingers, grinning wildly. “It was two days ago.”

Oikawa made a face, “What was two days ago?”

“Our first time!” Bokuto whispered excitedly, conscious of the fact that Eiji was upstairs, “But his scent hasn’t faded at all! Isn’t that awesome!”

The omega let out a nervous chuckle, “I don’t know about that…”

The alpha sighed romantically, letting his head fall to the counter, “I love him.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“I’m serious! Tooru, this is—he’s the one.”

A hopeless kind of smile fell on the omega’s face, because this definitely wasn’t the first time he’d heard this sort of thing from the alpha before. “Ok, well, you’ve been dating all of three months so how about you wait a bit more before running off into the sunset together.”

Bokuto chuckled, “I know what I’m doing this time. And I don’t mind waiting. Besides, you’re one to talk—”

“That was a long time ago—”

“Bonding in—was it two weeks? Did you even know his full name—”

“It was a month thank you very much,” Oikawa provided, “And for your information…” his voice trailed off, Oikawa losing his train of thought. He was going to say that his relationship with Kaito had lasted well over five years.

But it had ended, hadn’t it?

“Well we all know how that worked out,” he cleared his throat, “So better if you take things slow with Akaashi and see if this is what you both really want.”

“Is that what you’re doing with Iwaizumi?” 

Oikawa reddened, all the way up to the tip of his ears, rummaging through the fridge to try and look busy, “That’s—completely unrelated to the subject at hand—”

“Uh oh,” Bokuto teased, “You, nervous? You must really like this guy—”

“Well maybe I do!” He yelled (not intentionally), slamming lettuce—did he need lettuce?—onto the counter, “What’s wrong with that!”

Bokuto sat back, a satisfied smile on his face, “Not a damn thing.” Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything after that, but the words found themselves tumbling out of his mouth regardless. “You don’t think about him anymore do you? Kaito, I mean.”

It definitely caught Oikawa off guard, but he answered anyway, giving a soft smile and shaking his head. “You of all people know how hard it was. Especially that first year. But…no. Not anymore. Besides I wouldn’t have let Iwa—”

“I know,” Bokuto smiled, “I think that’s what surprised me the most.”

“Anyway,” Oikawa tried smoothly, deciding he could make use of the lettuce, “You should probably figure out how to tone the scent down.”

“Why the hell would I wanna do that?”

“Because you smell like a prostitute, Koutarou.”

“Ok, see now. Now you’re just being mean.”

“I could’ve called you a whore,” he shrugged

“Hey now—”

They both ended up laughing, but quickly bit their tongues, when they heard scurrying feet run down the stairs. Eiji sped all the way into the kitchen, but came to a sudden halt, looking up at his uncle, and then up at his mom.

“Hey there, kiddo.” Bokuto reached out to ruffle the young alpha’s hair, and Eiji accepted it, staring at him all the while with wide, curious eyes. Finally, he looked over at his mother.

“Why does Uncle Bokuto smell like Mr. Akaashi?”

Part of him wondered why his son didn’t just ask the alpha directly, but he didn’t really want to think about it, because he didn’t trust whatever Bokuto might come up with, so before the alpha could say anything, Oikawa managed to scream at his own kid.

“They scented!” He smiled widely, a fake kind of smile that almost hurt his cheeks, “When people scent they smell like each other, you know that, Eiji.”

Eiji blinked, looking at Bokuto and then making a face, “But it smells different! Uncle Bokuto really smells like Mr. Akaashi—”

Bokuto gave an obnoxiously loud yawn, which was enough to break the flow of the conversation. “What’s for dinner?”

The young alpha ignored it, leaning into the counter to ask his mother another question. “Will you scent Mr. Iwa, Mommy? Are you gonna smell like him too?”

Oikawa stiffened, laughing softly, “Um, well, we’ve scented a bit, haven’t we? I think Mr. Akaashi just has a stronger scent.”

“But Mr. Iwa has a strong scent too!”

Oikawa wanted to die.

“Alright,” Bokuto grabbed Eiji, putting him on his lap, “That’s enough questions for today. You’ll figure all that out when you’re older.” 

“But when Mommy scents me it never smells that strong.”

“That’s because we’re family, Eiji,” Oikawa said kindly, “We already smell a lot like each other. And since we’re always together, our scents are always mixing. Does that make sense?”

He seemed to consider that for a bit, while his uncle bounced him on his leg, and his mom washed the lettuce.

Looking up at Bokuto, Eiji pouted his lips ever so slightly, the way he always did whenever he was hesitating to ask something.

Bokuto nodded at him, “What is it?”

Eiji hummed hesitantly, turning all his attention to Oikawa. “Mommy, if I scent Shinji, will I smell like him?”

“Whoa, slow down there Lightening McQueen,” Bokuto wagged a finger, “You’re wayyy to young to be talking about scenting an omega—”

“Your scent glands aren’t mature enough for that sort of thing, Eiji,” Oikawa replied calmly, much more calmly than Bokuto had expected, “You have to wait until you’re older.”

Eiji seemed to think about that for a bit, before looking up at his uncle and asking him to help him onto his own high stool. Bokuto did just that, so the little alpha could contemplate it all on his own. “Shinji smells really nice,” he said finally, absently.

“Is that why you like him?” Bokuto teased.

Eiji looked at him, crossing his brows with a rather serious expression on his face, “He’s my best friend.”

Bokuto smirked, “I thought Kento was your best friend.”

Eiji shifted, “Kento is my best alpha friend. And Shinji is my best omega friend.”

“Can you have both?”

“I can!”

“Okay you two,” Oikawa sighed, finding this all rather adorable but pointless just the same, “No fighting before dinner.”

“What’re we eating Mommy?”

Oikawa shrugged, not really knowing himself, “Japanese tacos.”

“The heck is a Japanese taco?”

“Oh, like you won’t eat it,” Oikawa accused jokingly, pointing the spatula in his direction, but his eyes widened, as if coming to sudden realization, “Oh! That reminds me! Can you watch Eiji this Friday? I’ve got that welcome party—”

“I wish I could. But we’re having that beer event—”

Oikawa’s face filled with dread, “But my parents can’t. They’re gonna be out—”

Bokuto gave a wicked smile, “You could ask Iwaizumi.”

The omega deadpanned, “Absolutely not.”

“I want Mr. Iwa to babysit!”

“Hush, Eiji—”

“Tooru if you don’t trust him with Eiji by now then—”

“It’s not that,” Oikawa managed, shaking his head, “I do trust him. It’s just…”

Bokuto lifted his brow, “What?”

“Mommy can Mr. Iwa babysit?”

“Shh, Eiji, Mommy and Uncle are talking, can’t you see?”

“But I want Mr. Iwa to babysit!”

“Ok, sweetheart, we’ll figure something out.” He walked around, picking Eiji up off the stool and putting him on the ground, “We have to check and see if he’s busy first.”

“And if he’s not then he can babysit?”

Oikawa bent down, tapping his son on the nose, “Then he can babysit. Why don’t you run upstairs so Mommy can talk to your Uncle before dinner?”

Eiji rocked back on his heels, holding his hands behind his back, “Is it adult stuff?”

“It sure is,” Oikawa smiled kindly, motherly.

“But, I’m already four, Mommy!”

Oikawa laughed, before straightening and giving his son a kiss on the head, “That you are, Ei-chan. Come on, if you let us talk for a bit I’ll let you watch two shows before bed.”

That seemed to be all the incentive Eiji needed, because he dashed up the stairs faster than he managed to come down them in the first place.

Oikawa let out a sigh, sitting down next to his friend.

“Must be pretty serious, if Eiji can’t be in the room.”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on,” Bokuto patted him on the back, “I’m sure he’ll do fine.”

Oikawa shook his head, “It’s not that. Sometimes he’s better with Eiji than I am. But…” His voice trailed off, his sentence rendered incomplete.

“Tooru?” Bokuto leaned in, “What is it?”

Oikawa inhaled, sucking in his lips, “You know how hard it is to watch him…if Iwa gets put off…”

“I think he can handle it.”

Oikawa looked at him with hesitant eyes, not meeting the alpha’s gaze.

“It’s more than that?” Bokuto tried.

The omega gave a scoff of a smile, his voice trembling slightly, “I’m scared,” he admitted.

Bokuto stiffened, crinkling his features, resting his arm on the counter, “…of something happening to Eiji?”

Oikawa shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest, “I just—have this horrible feeling—once he’s alone with Eiji he won’t want to…like he’ll realize…”

“Tooru,” Bokuto said gently, “For the millionth time, this guy knows what he’s getting into.”

Oikawa looked at him, but said nothing, which only made Bokuto sigh. “If he decides to break it off after babysitting for one night, then he’s not the guy we thought he was, and the sooner we’re rid of him the better, right?”

Oikawa nodded.

He punched the omega lightly on the arm, “You’re really falling for this guy, you know?”

Oikawa stood up with a lifeless sigh, patting his hands on his pants and getting to work on the tacos again, “Yeah.”

The alpha’s ears perked up, blinking and wondering if he’d heard that correctly. Still, he couldn’t help but smile.

At least Tooru was admitting it now.

Akaashi was curled up on his couch, settled in with the book he’d failed to buy on Sunday, but miraculously had shown up on his bedside table when he got back from work that Monday.

This was bad. If it continued like this, then surely he’d get used to getting spoiled by the alpha. But for now, he figured it was ok.

His doorbell rang, and his heart skipped a beat, thinking that maybe it was the alpha himself, even though he knew Bokuto was working this evening. Still, that didn’t stop him from rushing to his door, and practically throwing it open.

“Geez, where’s the fire?”

“Teru!”

The omega pushed his way inside, kicking off his shoes and trudging until he got to the couch.

“Ho-ly shit. You fucked him, didn’t you?”

“I—“ Akaashi didn’t really know what to say, just sat down on the couch next to him, trying to get a better look at his friend’s face, “Teru, were you crying?”

He was waved away, Terushima shrugging nonchalantly, “I got in a fight with Ushi.”

“Was it serious? Did you let him know you were coming—”

Terushima scoffed, “Please. He knows exactly where I am. He always does,” he rolled his eyes, “But enough about me! It smells like alpha in here,” he sniffed the air, as if to make a point, “And it smells good~”

Akaashi reddened, biting his lip to hide his smile. “Yeah, he…we did—”

Yuuji squealed, “Did you suck his dick?!”

“Teru—!”

“Did you?” He sat up eagerly, awaiting an answer.

Akaashi groaned, grabbing a pillow and shoving his face into it, “I did!”

“Ahh!!!” Terushima smacked Akaashi’s thighs, “How was it—how was he? Was he gentle? I swear to god Akaashi if he wasn’t—”

“No, no,” Akaashi hugged the pillow to his chest, “He was really…sweet.”

Terushima gave a knowing smirk, cupping his chin in his palm, “Sweet, huh?”

“He made me breakfast, the next morning—”

“No kidding—”

“And the book I wanted, he bought it—”

“Did he now—”

“I didn’t know alphas could be like that—”

“Keiji. I’m so happy you’re happy but can we please get to the dirty and then we can talk about the sweet stuff?”

“You’re so crude—”

“I wanna know! You deserve to have good sex, you know!”

Blush lined the tops of Akaashi’s cheeks. “It didn’t hurt…when…he…” he murmured, his voice trailing off.

“You took his knot!?”

He nodded excitedly.

“Holy shit!” Terushima laughed, slapping Akaashi’s thigh again, “You slut ohmygod! Get it!”

“It was just—it was the heat of the moment—”

“It was the heat of a lot of things I’m sure—“

“Yuuji, I’m serious. This is the first time…he was very kind to me.”

The couch sunk slightly as Terushima put all his weight against the back of it, smiling as he looked up at Akaashi. “I’m happy for you.”

Akaashi tugged at his fingers. “He kissed me a lot. I think he just likes kissing, though. And we scented all the way through,” he cleared his throat, “Even after we left the hotel—”

Terushima dropped his dreamy stare, sitting up and nearly grabbing Akaashi by the shoulders. “A hotel?? You didn’t say anything about that!”

“It was—well it’s a long story—”

Akaashi was forced to tell it, in full detail, Terushima sitting and listening happily all the while, throwing in a few snide remarks here and there. But for the most part, it was a lot of excited squealing and blubbering blushes. Terushima got hungry halfway through, so Akaashi made some snacks, going on and on about Bokuto and the absolute rush he got when the alpha punched his ex-boyfriend in the face.

“I seriously can’t believe it. That guy doesn’t seem like the violent type.”

The omega shook his head, “He’s not. But I think it was just because—well you know how anxious I get.”

“This is great,” Teru acknowledged, “And you know I support you a million percent. But I still think it wouldn’t hurt to get him fully checked out.”

Akaashi’s face hardened, “I trust him.”

“You said that about the past two guys—”

“I don’t want you or Ushijima getting involved. I’ve said it before—”

“I know I know but that’s not really getting involved. It’s just using the resources you have at hand to your advantage!” Terushima smiled brightly, cocking his head eagerly at his friend.

“Thank you,” Akaashi plucked at the pillow in his lap, “But I’ll have to refuse.”

Teru hummed at that, before glancing at the clock and sighing. “Well, ok. Can’t say I didn’t try. Anyway,” he flopped down on the couch, “Can I stay here tonight?”

“Won’t Ushijima be worried?”

He avoided Akaashi’s gaze, “No.”

“I’m sure he worries even if you say he doesn’t.”

“There’s no room for him to worry. He knows where I am, so it’s fine.”

“What did you two fight about?”

He shrugged, “Same thing as always. Can I stay here or not?”

Akaashi nodded, standing up and stretching, “I’ll lay out the futon. But you really should try and speak to him—”

“You speak to him! It’s like talking to a rock—”

The doorbell rang, and both omegas locked eyes, Terushima’s filled with more panic than Akaashi’s were.

“Don’t open it—”

“I have to—”

“Akaashi, please—I really don’t want to see him—”

“Well I don’t want him breaking the door down like last time—”

“I had it fixed—!”

“That’s not the point!”

The bell rang again, and Akaashi went over to answer it, upon which Terushima made a run for the bathroom.

Akaashi didn’t know why, but whenever he was met with Ushijima Wakatoshi, he felt the need to bow in greeting.

“Good evening,” he began, but wasn’t allowed much more than that.

“My fiance has caused you trouble.”

It wasn’t a question.

“Not at all,” Akaashi countered, “We were just chatting and catching up—”

“I will be taking Yuuji back now.” That tone didn’t allow for objections.

The omega cleared his throat, “He’s in the bathroom—”

Ushijima didn’t ask, which was sort of rude, especially considering the alpha didn’t even bother to take off his shoes before entering. He gave Akaashi’s bathroom door two heavy pounds.

“Yuuji.”

“I’m taking a piss!”

“Yuuji.”

“I’ll be back tomorrow—so just—”

Two more pounds, “You will come home tonight.”

“I’m not your property!” Came the shout through the door, “You don’t own me Your Royal Highness—”

“I think it would be best,” Akaashi interjected, “If you gave him his space—”

He was stared down at, sharp brown eyes nearly cutting through him, “Do not meddle in affairs that do not concern you.”

“Leave Keiji alone he didn’t do anything!” Terushima opened the door, allowing the alpha in, “You’re such a brute—“ he looked down, noticing the alpha’s stance, “You didn’t even take off your shoes! What the hell kind of respect—”

A hand was placed over the omega’s mouth, and Ushijima stepped in, before the door was closed once more.

From the other side, Akaashi could hear Terushima’s complaints of you didn’t even notice, and something about how he’d gone through all that pain for nothing and what’s the point of a wedding if you’re like this, all of which Ushijima seemed to take silently, as far as Akaashi could tell, and all of which was followed by Terushima’s heavy sobbing. But that was immediately followed by the scent of an alpha’s soothing pheromones.

It was heavy, and it wafted through the apartment, but it was to be expected, considering the kind of man—the kind of alpha—Ushijima was. Even Akaashi felt at ease, and he had no connections to the alpha whatsoever.

Eventually, they both came out of the bathroom, and Ushijima bowed formally in front of Akaashi, apologizing much in the same way he’d done when he’d broken down his door. Akaashi waved his hands, saying it was fine, so long as Terushima was ok.

Terushima nodded shyly, leaning into his alpha with red, swollen eyes. “Yeah,” he said, sounding small and vulnerable, in a way that was completely unlike him, “We’re fine. Sorry you had to hear all that.”

Ushijima apologized again, saying he was sorry for disturbing Akaashi’s night, his hand protectively wrapped around Teru’s waist as he spoke.

At the very least, Yuuji looked calmer, now.

Akaashi showed them out, and found himself sighing once they were out of the apartment. The only thing he really knew about Ushijima was that he was the only person capable of making Terushima cry. But he was also the only person who was able to calm him down. So Akaashi figured that was a good enough balance. Especially when one considered how fast Yuuji was to run away.

Maybe because he knew Ushijima would always find him.

“Thank you, you saved me,”

Iwa chuckled into the phone. Oikawa would be lying if he said that sound didn’t make his breath catch in his throat.

“It’s no problem. I love spending time with Eiji.”

“Yeah,” Oikawa played with the hem of his shirt, “Yeah, he really likes spending time with you too…a-and this’ll be good I think for you guys…you know…”

Was it weird to say he could hear Iwaizumi’s smile? “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Oh um, actually I was also wondering—well Eiji was wondering—I mean I’d want you there too of course—”

God why was he so bad at this—

“There’s a um extra ticket. For Disney. If you want to come.”

There was a fraction of a pause, and Oikawa panicked, “You don’t have to. I was just throwing it out there. Theme parks are always really crowded and—”

“I’d love to.”

Oikawa couldn’t breathe, “Really?”

“Yeah. So long as I’m not working. I think it’d be fun.”

“Ok,” Oikawa nodded, which was stupid, because there was no one there to see him nodding, “Great! So we can work out the dates and stuff later. I have to see when I’m off work too…”

“Sounds good. Wanna have dinner sometime this week?”

“Um—”

“Thursdays work, right? I can bring the food.”

The omega smiled, relaxing into the alpha’s pace. “Yeah,” he said quietly, “Thursday sounds great.”

Chapter Text

“Can I have the blue one?”

The young alpha had said nothing so Yuuji took it upon himself to swap their popsicles.

Blue definitely tasted much better than red. And it’s not like Ushijima seemed to care either way. Had just stood there looking stupid with a popsicle in his hand, melting slowly in the summer heat.

“Yuuji!!” His mom came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on an apron, “That one belongs to Wakatoshi-kun! He asked for the blue one!”

“But he doesn’t mind!”

“Did he say he didn’t mind?” His mom was already taking the popsicles hostage, rewarding the young alpha with both the red and blue one.

“Well how am I supposed to know!” Teru had stomped his feet, crossed his arms in a tantrum like way that only children did, “He’s too quiet for an alpha!”

Terushima’s head fell forward and then shot back, waking him up with a sudden jolt.

His arm was squeezed, Ushijima’s nose nuzzling his hair, “I told him to drive carefully…”

“It’s fine,” Terushima replied before becoming fully aware of where he was, leaning into Ushijima again and letting his eyes flutter close. It’d been a long time since he’d had a dream like that.

Ushijima’s hands were warm against his arm. Strong and sure, in a way that made the omega feel completely at ease. Teru yawned.

“If you keep doing that I’ll fall asleep again.”

Ushijima nuzzled him further, affirming that having him fall asleep would indeed be a good thing.

Terushima shook his head, linking his fingers around the alpha’s. This felt nice. He exhaled, thinking he should finally say his piece about it.

“I don’t wanna fight anymore,” he said quietly.

“That is impossible.” Ushijima returned it almost immediately.

Terushima took in a very large inhale, because he didn’t want to have to explain yet again that not everything was as literal as Ushijima interpreted it to be.

“Yes,” he breathed through his nose, “I know—”

“So long as I continue to make mistakes you will continue to make me aware of them.”

It caught him off guard, but only just, and he turned to look at Ushi, the alpha’s eyes as serious as ever. Finally Ushi turned, to meeting Teru’s gaze, “That, you’ve never failed to do. But I will request again that you stop running away when we disagree.”

“You know I need my space—”

“And you know how dangerous distance can be.”

“Hanzo was tailing me like always. I’m telling you you worry too much. Besides, Akaashi isn’t dangerous.”

“It’s not Akaashi I’m worried about—”

“And I told you to be nice! He’s one of my only friends. At least take off your shoes—”

“You were my only priority—”

“Toshi—”

“Yuuji.”

That was the end of that. Terushima sighed, leaning into his alpha again, and nuzzling his shoulder. Some things were left better off as they were. When it came to Terushima’s safety, there wasn’t much that would be enough to sway the alpha. So instead, Teru decided it’d be best to change the topic altogether, rather than get into a mother fight.

“I had a nostalgic dream,” he told him.

Ushijima’s hands had taken to stroking the omega’s hair again, “What of?”

“Do you remember the first summer we met? When my mom gave us popsicles?”

“Yes.”

“When my mom yelled at me. Because I stole your popsicle.”

Ushijima gave a low chuckle, a deep rumble of a sound that matched the heavy rolling of the car’s engine. “Too silent for an alpha, is that what it was?”

The omega made a face, crossing his arms, “Well you were,” he defended, letting his voice trail off into a murmur, “I just didn’t know silent meant deadly.”

“I’d yet to kill anyone back then.”

Terushima’s lips flattened to a thin line, “The fact that you say it so easily should be disturbing.”

“Is it?”

Terushima hummed, avoiding the question all together. “Remember after you came back? When we were in high school—”

The alpha’s eyes widened at the memory, low purrs starting to vibrate against his chest, “That was quite the summer—”

It took all Teru had to not start to purr himself, because being sixteen with hormones still-not-under-control had been a marvelous thing to experience with the alpha. He pecked Ushijima’s lips, “To think it started off by you almost killing my boyfriend—”

“He touched you—”

“He was my boyfriend—”

The alpha pulled his omega in closer, murmuring deeply, “It was only a warning.”

Terushima couldn’t stop the curl of his lips, “Still. He could’ve died, you know.”

The alpha relaxed, leaning back against his seat, “He didn’t.”

“Ushi.”

“Yuuji,” there was a smirk tugging at the alpha’s lips, when he looked over at his omega, taking his lips hostage. It caused a purr to swell in the omega’s chest, happy hums filling the back of the car.

“You know you’re kind of over-protective.”

“I have to be.”

“I’m not a kid, you know,” he wanted to say more, but the way Ushi trickled his fingers along Terushima’s scent glands had his words cutting off in an awkward inhale.

“Until my bite claims your neck I can’t be certain.”

Shivers ran down all the way to Terushima’s toes. The thought of Ushijima marking him always gave him a strange kind of pleasure, one that started and itch at the pit of his stomach and formed whines at the base of his throat.

But until they formed an official union, the alpha wasn’t allowed.

“Hey,” Teru cupped the alpha’s cheeks, forcing him to look at him, “I know I run a lot but that’s only cuz I know you’ll follow,” he swallowed, “Actually I think most of the time it’s just to make sure—”

He tensed up, feeling the tears start to swell up again. 

Ushijima pulled him in, nuzzling his cheek with closed eyes, “My father has no say. He’s no longer the alpha.”

“But your family still—and everyone under you—”

“An alpha-omega bond is the strongest kind. Only a fool would say otherwise—”

“It’s got nothing to do with the bond—if I don’t—if my genes—”

“It has never been a requirement,” Ushijima affirmed, “To have an alpha take over the group.”

Terushima closed his eyes, letting himself be eased by his alpha’s touch.

“I know,” he inhaled, “but—”

“My mate will be who I decide. And I’ve long since decided on you.”

Terushima let his head fall into the alpha, murmuring against his chest. It wasn’t the first time Ushi had said something along those lines. But Terushima needed to hear it nonetheless.

“You’re too blunt about things, you know.”

“Is that a complaint?”

He lifted his head, “Merely an observation.” He said flatly, mimicking the alpha’s usual monotone.

Ushijima smirked at that.

The car rolled to a stop, and moments after the door was opened for them, Ushijima stepping out first, and then holding out his hand to help Terushima out.

They walked—were escorted— to the front of the house, where the usual greeting was given, all eyes on the alpha-omega pair until they were in their own room.

Ushijima dismissed Hanzo, shrugging off his coat and saying he could take care of it himself, and it wasn’t until the door closed that Terushima decided to speak up again.

“So, something a bit off topic…” he began, somewhat aimlessly.

“Yes?”

“I know you’re really busy—”

“But?” Ushijima replied flatly, unbuttoning the cuff of his sleeve.

Terushima smiled, “I was wondering if you could look into someone for me.”

He stopped his motions, looking at Teru, before beginning to work on the other cuff, “The new boyfriend?”

“Astute, as always.”

“Give me a name.”

“Bokuto Koutarou. He owns a bar in—”

“Roppongi.” Ushijima finished the sentence before the omega had a chance. Teru stared at him with half an open mouth that curled into a confused sort of smile.

“You’re scary, you know that?”

“You say that but you don’t sound surprised.” The alpha finished taking off his shirt, revealing the two columns of ink that claimed the front of his chest, snaking over his shoulders and down to the middle of his forearms.

It always made Teru’s heart skip a beat.

“Be conspicuous though, babe.”

“That’s a given even without you saying so.”

“Still—”

“What is it you want to know?”

“Just...what kind of man he is, that’s all. I wanna make sure Keiji doesn’t fall into the same shit again.”

“That won’t be difficult to do.”

Terushima stood on his tiptoes to kiss the alpha’s cheek. “Thank you.”

Only, Ushijima didn’t let him go. Wrapped his arm around his waist so that he was stuck on his tiptoes, their kiss deepening with every given moment.

It was said that soul bonds didn’t exist. But if someone were to ask Terushima, he’d say that that sort of thing didn’t apply to them. Because bonded or not, there was nothing that could ever compete with the way he felt, when Ushi pressed his lips against his own.

Chapter Text

Iwa was sort of surprised, when the one who opened the door was Bokuto, and not Oikawa.

He’d been looking forward to seeing Oikawa.

“Hey man,” Bokuto nodded his head in greeting, “Dinner’s almost done, so you can just give it to him once the rice is ready.”

Eiji was right there at Bokuto’s heels, happily greeting Mr. Iwa and informing him that they were having hamburger steak for dinner.

“Sounds delicious.”

“If you need anything just call me or Oikawa. Eiji pretty much knows where everything is though. Bedtime is 7:30,” the alpha looked at his nephew, “Right, Eiji?”

Eiji nodded dismissively, giving off a mischievous kind of smile.

Bokuto turned to Iwa, keeping his voice low, “You probably won’t get him in bed at that time. Whenever Oikawa is late he tends to stay up, so don’t worry about it.”

Iwa nodded.

“Oh, but regardless, he’ll need his milk at around 9. That’ll be your saving grace cuz it makes him sleepy.”

“Got it.”

“But yeah, remote for the tv is on the table, bedroom is upstairs,” Bokuto patted his pockets, as if they would remind him of something, “And spare key,” he pulled it out of his shirt pocket and offered it to him, but pulled back at the last moment, “Oikawa will ask for it back though.”

Iwa smirked, “Sounds good.”

“Ok,” Bokuto nodded, “That should be it. Any questions?”

“I think I’m good,” Iwa smiled.

“Awesome. Then I gotta get to work,” he turned his head, calling out to Eiji again, “I’m heading out little man!”

Eiji came running into his uncle’s arms in a bit of a tackle, throwing in a bit of a nuzzle.

“Be good for Mr. Iwa, ok?”

“Yes, Uncle Bokuto.”

Bokuto smiled, straightening and gesturing to Iwa, reminding him that it was fine for him to call if he needed help.

Iwa assured him it’d be fine, and closed the door once he left.

He took in a deep breath, clapping his hands together and turning around to greet Eiji again.

“Ok!” He said, “Ready to—”

Shit, where’d he go?

“Mr. Iwa!” The sudden tugging on his pants nearly gave him a heart attack, “Do you wanna see my room?”

“Sure,” he smiled, thankful he hadn’t lost Eiji in all of two seconds, “Show me your room—” He was hardly able to finish off the last syllable, Eiji tugging at his hand and pulling him up the stairs. This was the second time Iwa had ever been upstairs, and the first time he’d ever really been in Eiji’s room.

The amount of toys was almost picture worthy.

At the same time though, he’d never seen a kids room that was so…organized.

“This one’s all my car stuff!” Eiji dragged him over to a drawer with four different cubbies, and he pulled them all out, revealing an abhorrent amount of Lightening McQueen products, a sprinkling of hot wheels, and some sort of orange tracks that Iwa figured belonged to the race track that was half-built on the other side of the room.

“I also have this!” Eiji ran to the last cubby, that was apparently filled with dinosaurs. “He doesn’t talk but he’s still awesome! It’s called a T-Rex!” He offered it up to Iwa, shaking the doll, “Did you know that T-Rex ate other dinosaurs?!”

Iwa crouched down, taking the toy, “No way! He ate them?”

“Yeah!” Eiji began excitedly, “He was the bestest biggest dinosaur so he could do whatever he wanted!”

“That’s crazy!” Iwa added enthusiastically, “No wonder his teeth are so big,”

“His teeth were huge!! And—did you know—sharks lose all their teeth?”

“Sharks do?”

Eiji nodded, “But they grow back! So they can keep biting through really hard stuff! They lose their teeth like every—like every two weeks!”

Iwa was pretty sure that was wrong, but it’s not like he knew any better, so he just commented on how cool that all was, and on how Eiji was so smart for knowing so many fun facts.

“—And then over here,” he opened a drawer Iwa originally thought was meant for clothes, but was just another compartment for toys, “This is where we keep the food! Mommy plays grocery with me sometimes. And we cook and play restaurant!”

“That sounds like a lot of fun,” Iwa chuckled, picking up a plastic version of a lemon, “What kind of stuff do you like to cook?”

A small ding! came from downstairs, and Iwa had a small moment of panic, because he didn’t even bother to check on the food at all. 

“—and this is actually my dinosaur book but Mommy and I use it as our menu so you can just pick the stuff from here when you order—”

“Eiji, that’s super awesome,” Iwa put his hands on his knees, “How about you tell me all about it while we eat for real? I think the rice is done now.”

“Yeah!” Eiji ran out of the room excitedly, going so quickly down the stairs Iwa thought he might just fall, “I can help!”

Iwa caught up to him, wondering how someone with such short little legs could go so fast.

“Alright,” he said, following Eiji’s lead into the kitchen, “Where are the plates?”

“The adult ones are in that one,” Eiji pointed to the far left, “And mine are in the middle.”

Iwa pulled out an “adult” plate, and an “Eiji” sized one as well, putting them down on the counter. He then grabbed an adult cup, and a smaller, brightly colored plastic one for Eiji.

“Not that one!”

Iwa practically froze in his spot.

“That one’s for milk!” Eiji took the cup from his hands, “It has the top. I need a regular cup.”

“Oh,” Iwa took the cup back, “Right. My bad.”

He put it back in the cabinet, thinking that all the kiddie stuff looked exactly the same. “So, uh…” he looked over at Eiji, “Which one?”

Eiji pointed up, “Purple!”

“Got it,” the alpha exhaled, thanking the gods there weren’t multiple purple colored cups.

“Mr. Iwa, can I have juice?”

“I don’t think you guys even have juice. Your mom doesn’t like it, remember?”

“Then, let’s have soda! It’s in the fridge—”

“I think water would be better,” Iwa said, already filling up their cups, “That way we can taste more of the meat, right?”

Eiji seemed somewhat reluctant, but he seemed to agree either way, which allowed Iwa another exhale of relief.

He served them both, Eiji already settling himself in his spot at the dinner table. Iwa was going to sit across from him, but he figured it’d be better to sit next to him instead, in case anything happened.

Iwa dug in first, murmuring his thanks, but stopped when he noticed how Eiji was looking at him. “What?”

Eiji pointed at his plate, “You have to cut my hamburger.”

“Oh,” he swallowed, picking up Eiji’s knife and fork, “Right. Sorry.”

Eiji waited patiently, swinging his legs back and forth while Iwa cut the meat. “Do you like fish Mr. Iwa?”

“I do,” he nodded.

“I like tuna the most!”

Iwa chuckled, “I think I remember you telling me.”

There was a lot to Eiji Iwa hadn’t really noticed before. There was no denying Eiji looked a lot like Oikawa. Most of it was definitely the hair. But there were also parts to him that weren’t Oikawa. The curve of his nose, for example, was different. His hair was also darker, even if they were matched in terms of curls. And even though the young alpha was only four, Iwa could already tell he wouldn’t grow to be as tall as his mother. Not only that, but Eiji’s lips were a bit rougher than Oikawa’s, in a way that only really happened in alphas, be it male or female.

Did he get that from his father, Iwa wondered.

The thought had him more irked than he really wanted to be, so he pushed it away for now, instead focused on how delicately Eiji was eating his food. When he complimented him on it, Eiji explained that Mommy was very picky about that sort of thing, because they couldn’t be barbarians.

The vocabulary this kid whipped out sometimes.

“Mommy says manners are important.”

“He’s right about that.”

Surprisingly, Eiji was mostly quiet after that, eating his food rather silently, using both his hands whenever he reached for a drink from the purple cup.

It was kind of adorable.

Eventually though, Eiji started looking around, swinging his legs again, only just picking at his food, and focusing more on his water. “I’m done,” he said, looking up at Iwa.

Half of his food was still left, but Iwa attributed part of that to his own failure of giving him a kid-sized portion.

“You sure you don’t want anymore?”

Eiji shook his head.

“Ok,” Iwa said, wiping his own mouth with a napkin, having finished his plate, “I’ll put it in the fridge.”

“Mr. Iwa,” Eiji asked, while Iwa was gathering up the plates, “Can we go to the park?”

The alpha looked at him, hesitating slightly while he moved to put the plates in the sink. “I’m not sure about that…”

“If I put on my shoes it’s fine!”

“You don’t wanna watch a movie instead? Or we could play with your dinosaurs—”

“We can bring the T-Rex to the park!”

“Ah—”

It was too late, because Eiji was already running up the stairs. Iwa figured he’d only have time to quickly put the hamburger steak into some tupperware before Eiji came back down. He could always do the dishes later. And the rice could stay in the cooker for now, so long as he unplugged it.

But he barely even had time for that, before Eiji was at his heels again, tugging at his pants and showing off the toys in his arms. “I have T-Rex and Lightening McQueen! They can have a battle at the sandbox!”

Iwa inhaled, admitting defeat to himself, quickly tossing all the food into the first piece of tupperware he found, and throwing that in the fridge.

“Ok but we can only play outside for a little. Then we gotta get you back and brush your teeth—”

“It’ll be fine!” Eiji ran to the front of the house, making Iwa’s heart beat fast, because he didn’t want Eiji to open the front door, but the little alpha had just tossed his toys down in the entryway, trying to shove his sockless feet into some sneakers.

“Whoa, hey hey,” Iwa crouched down, taking the shoe from him gently, “Slow down there, tough guy. You gotta put on your socks first.”

“I don’t like socks.” He answered bluntly.

Iwa had no idea what the fuck to say to that.

“You don’t like socks?”

Eiji shook his head, grabbing his other shoe and putting it on, “They’re annoying.”

For now, Iwa figured he’d just let it go, because at least he was putting his shoes on, so that was something. They were velcro, which meant Eiji could do it all on his own, which of course meant that the young alpha took the opportunity to show off how competent he was.

Once that was settled they were off, climbing down the stairs, Iwa holding the T-Rex, per Eiji’s request. He stared at it, wondering when kid’s toys had gotten so detailed.

“Say,” he waved the toy around, “You know who’s even cooler than T-Rex?”

Eiji looked up at him with wide, shining eyes, as if Iwa were about to tell him the biggest of best-kept secrets. “Who!”

Iwa smirked, tossing the toy up and down in his hand, “Godzilla.”

Eiji blinked absently, looking at Iwa with a cock to his head, “What’s godzilla?”

Nearly choking on his own spit, Iwa had to collect himself. “You don’t know who Godzilla is??”

Eiji shook his head, a strange expression on his face, half caught between wanting to know more, and half disappointed for not knowing in the first place. “What is it?”

“He’s like a—he’s a lizard.”

Immediately, Eiji’s face contorted into one of disgust, “There’s no way a lizard would beat T-Rex.”

Iwa shook his head, “No, no. He’s like a giant lizard. And he’s super strong and awesome and—you’ve really never seen the movies?”

Again Eiji shook his head.

Iwa inhaled, nodding his head, “Ok. I’m gonna talk to your mom about that—”

He doubted Eiji heard, because he ran off, just then, towards the sandbox, carefully placing the Lightning McQueen car on the edge, so that it wasn’t quite touching the sand.

“Mr. Iwa!” He called, waving, “Bring the T-Rex! They can have the battle here!”

While Iwa made his way over, Eiji was drawing shapes in the sand that mimicked streets— or at least Iwa guessed they were streets— piling up random hills and a few other things, all of which Eiji quickly began to explain as one building or another, the largest lump of sand apparently Tokyo station.

Thus began the game of Save Tokyo Station from The Dinosaur. Starring Lightning McQueen as Hero No. 1.

The more the game escalated, the surer Iwa became.

Yup. Eiji would definitely appreciate Godzilla. He’d have to bring the movies sometime.

If it was ok with Oikawa, of course.

Playtime lasted a lot longer than Iwa really thought it would, considering kids tend to jump from one thing to another relatively quickly, but it seemed that Eiji really got a kick out of knocking down the sand hills he made.

But the sun was already starting to set.

It took a bit of convincing, to pull Eiji away from his own imagination, but he managed, finally dragging the young alpha to the apartment.

Just as Iwa turned the key to open the door, though, he stopped.

“Wait.”

Eiji looked at him curiously, clutching his toys to his chest.

Iwa crouched down, “Here, give me those. Take off your shoes and shake out the sand.”

“I don’t have sand in my shoes.” Eiji informed.

“I seriously doubt that,” Iwa said with a smile, offering his palm to hold the toys.

Reluctantly, with a bit of a pout, Eiji kicked off his shoes, shaking them and watching as a string of sand came out.

“Alright,” Iwa motioned with his hands, “Hold onto my shoulder, let’s get the sand off your feet.”

He patted at the skin, shaking off as much sand as he could from both feet. If Eiji had just worn socks it would’ve been a lot easier.

“Can we go in now Mr. Iwa?”

He nodded, pushing himself up with his knees, opening the door. Eiji ran in, since he was already shoe-less, and Iwa was starting to wonder how the hell this kid still had so much energy left in him.

“Ok, remember what Uncle Bokuto said!” He called out, hoping his voice would carry in the apartment, “Bedtime at 7:30!”

“But I’m not tired!” Eiji insisted, “And we haven’t even watched tv!”

“Well, it’s already,” Iwa glanced at his watch, “7:17. I don’t think we’ll have time for—“

“But I always watch tv before bed!”

Iwa inhaled, thinking quickly. “Ok, I’ll make you a deal. Let’s get you in pajamas, and brush your teeth. Then we can watch some tv, but only if you’ll go to sleep after.”

“Deal!” Eiji was running up the stairs again, and Iwa had to run after him, desperately trying to keep up.

“These are my pajamas!” Eiji yelled out in explanation, before Iwa was even in the room. That wasn’t a problem though, because the clothes were held up to Iwa’s face regardless, “They have cars on them!”

“I’m sure those are your favorite,” Iwa smiled, “Do you need help putting them on—?”

“I can do it!” Eiji was already pushing past him, making his way into the bathroom and slamming the door shut. Iwa wasn’t really sure what to do, so he just stood outside the bathroom door awkwardly, praying he wouldn’t hear any strange sounds coming from the other side of the door. When Eiji took just a bit longer than what could be considered normal, he knocked on the door, asking if everything was alright.

“I’m okay!”

There was a flush of the toilet, and the door opened, Eiji saying he was ready to watch tv.

“Did you wash your hands?”

Eiji stopped for a moment, gasping like he’d forgotten a pie in the oven. He ran back into the bathroom, stepping onto his little stool to reach the sink and wash his hands. He didn’t bother with drying them, instead just ran past Iwa again, saying that now he was ready for tv.

They watched an episode of some sort of alien that traveled through space telling different stories with morals about sharing and being a good person or something. All Iwa could really focus on was the fact that the alien had a weird little glob of green as a pet that morphed into different things depending on the story that was being told.

Weird as fuck.

But Eiji seemed to like it so whatever.

The end of the program, of course, didn’t come without Eiji trying to negotiate just one more episode.

“No, come on. We had a deal.”

“But it’d only be one more Mr. Iwa!”

“It’s already 7:50—”

The young alpha began to pout, clutching the remote to his chest. Iwa couldn’t help but chuckle, “Alright alright. Come on. We gotta get you in bed. That way you can have your milk later, right? Growing alphas need as much rest as they can get.”

His grip on the remote loosened, “They do?”

Iwa nodded, “Mhm. The more you sleep, the stronger you get.”

Eiji kept his pout, thinking this new piece of information over in his head. Slowly, he put the remote down on the couch cushion, before jumping off the couch. “Ok!” He grabbed Iwa’s hand, dragging him upstairs again and into his room.

“You don’t have to tuck me in until after my milk.”

“Is that how your mom usually does it?”

Eiji nodded, “Mommy says this is like a nap.”

Iwa smiled. “Sounds just about right.”

The young alpha climbed into bed, tossing the covers around and shimmying in, flopping over on his stomach. “Don’t close the door.”

“Ok,” Iwa said, “I’ll leave it wide open. And I’ll be right downstairs when you wake up.”

Eiji nodded, closing his eyes.

Iwa slipped out as quietly as he could manage, thinking this was the first time he’d gotten in a solid breath all afternoon. Taking care of a kid was no joke. He had no idea how Oikawa did it every day.

By himself, no less.

He made his way downstairs, remembering he still had dishes to wash, so he set his sight on that.

While he washed dishes, he couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander, letting them land mostly on how much this house smelled like Bokuto. It just made him want to scent Oikawa. Really, it shouldn’t have bothered him that much. But it was instinct; the smell of another alpha in his mate’s house—

Well. Oikawa wasn’t his mate. Not yet, anyway. But Iwa could wait. As long as Oikawa needed. Even if it did make his fangs ache. Besides, their current pace was something he kind of enjoyed. It let him get to know Oikawa better. And Oikawa him.

Once he’d finished with the dishes and set them on the drying rack, he wondered if Oikawa would just wash them again anyway.

Probably.

The thought alone was enough to put a smile to his face.

He did a bit more tidying up around the kitchen and dinner table, anything to really keep himself busy while not being too invasive. Mostly he just admired the various photos Oikawa had put up around the house, only a select few of which included the omega. It was always really nice to see Oikawa smiling. Most were Eiji as a baby, though, a few of them more recent, a couple from some event where the whole family was present.

No sign of a potential father figure.

Iwa had a few theories. There was the classic asshole scenario. Dating and then leaving once they find out the omega is pregnant. There was the possibility that it could’ve been a one night stand gone horribly wrong.

Or, the alpha could be dead.

Which seemed about as likely as it was unlikely.

But what the hell did Iwa know? It wasn’t like he could just go ahead and ask, especially after saying he wouldn’t ask. But the only thing that kept tugging at him was the fact that Oikawa had muttered a name when he first spent the night. Because you wouldn’t murmur the name of the asshole who got you pregnant and then left you in the dirt, right?

Maybe it wasn’t his old alpha, though. Maybe it had just been the name of some character on tv. Maybe it hadn’t been anything at all other than a slur of syllables from a sleepy omega. Iwa didn’t even really remember what Oikawa had even said.

But fuck Iwa wanted to know. To be sure.

He was kinda hoping the alpha was dead though.

Kinda.

Time flew by kind of fast, with thoughts like that, and so before he knew it, Eiji was awake again, rubbing his eyes and asking for milk.

“One cup of milk coming right up.”

He reached for the cup he’d gotten the first time, pouring milk about thee-quarters of the way, pausing only just to put the cap back on the milk. Opening the cabinet again, he grabbed for a top part of the sippy cup,  wondering if they were a one-size fits all kind of thing. But Eiji was already reaching for it, and before Iwa really had the chance to stop it from happening, the cup had slipped from his hands, splattering the kitchen floor in a flood of milk.

Fuck.

“Uh oh.” Eiji stared at the mess, eyes locked on the floor. Iwa swallowed, trying to maintain his composure. “Ok,” he picked Eiji up, sitting him down on the counter, “Did you get wet?”

Eiji shook his head, looking rather guilty.

“What about your feet? Did you get milk on those?” Iwa lifted the alpha’s legs up, making a show of inspecting his toes, making jokes about stinky-milk feet.

Little kids’ laughter had a way of warming hearts.

Once Eiji’s mood was brightened, Iwa put his hands on his hips, “Ok. Where are the paper towels?”

Eiji pointed to the opposite counter, where the paper towel rack was in plain view. Thirty-seven paper towels, twenty-eight sprays of kitchen cleaner, and a loss of motivation later, the floor was clean.

“You could have used a mop,” Eiji said, feet dangling from the counter.

The thought hadn’t even really crossed Iwa’s mind. “Well why didn’t you say that before?” He grinned widely, picking Eiji off the counter and putting him safely back on the ground, “Ok, wait until I have the cap on this time.”

Eiji nodded, saying he would. “Are you gonna drink milk too, Mr. Iwa?”

Really, he would’ve preferred the secret stash of wine Oikawa seemed to keep somewhere in the house, but he figured milk would have to do.

“Sure,” he said, pulling out an adult glass, “I’ll have some too.”

Once it was all settled, and the milk was back in the fridge, they headed over to the couch to drink their milk. Eiji kept scooting in closer and closer, until his head rested against Iwa’s arm. He drank his milk silently, obviously fighting heavy lashes. Iwa couldn’t help but smile, finding that kind of cute, wondering if it’d be weird to pat Eiji’s head, or rub the young alpha’s arm. He settled for pats on his arm.

“Mr. Iwa…?” Sleepy murmurs were all he seemed able to manage.

“What’s up?”

Eiji took his time, drinking more milk, staring at his cup, before looking up at the older alpha. “Do you wanna marry Mommy?”

Well. He should’ve seen that one coming.

He rubbed Eiji’s arm again. “Maybe. In the future. Those kinds of things take lots of time, Eiji. But your mom is a great person, and so are you.”

“Mommy says,” he fought a yawn, “If we all love each other, then we can be a family.”

Iwa nodded, unable to help the smile on his face, “Yeah. That’s exactly what a family is.”

A small laugh came from the young alpha, before he nuzzled into Iwa’s shoulder again, and taking a few more sips of milk.

It wasn’t long before Iwa heard soft little snores, though, the young alpha having fallen into an easy sleep.

Something about that broke Iwa’s heart and healed it all at the same time.

With measured patience, he carefully took the sippy cup from Eiji’s hands, putting it down on the coffee table. Trying his best not to move him too much, he picked up the four-year old, carrying him to his room as slowly and as quietly as possible.

When he put him back in bed, Eiji stirred a bit, rolling over and grabbing at the blankets Iwa had covered him with.

Resisting the urge to kiss him on the forehead—because it wasn’t his kid after all— Iwa just brushed his hair back gently, and whispered a soft goodnight, before leaving the room as quietly as he’d come in, remembering to keep the door open.

It was 9:42. Oikawa said he’d be back at around 10 or so, which meant the only thing to really do now, was wait.

“I’m home!” Oikawa yelled into his apartment, slamming the door shut, “I’m sorry I’m so la—”

“Hey, hey—” Iwa whisper-shouted, holding a finger up to his lips, “He’s sleeping!”

Eyes wide, Oikawa kicked off his shoes, looking around for Eiji, as if to confirm the fact, “He’s…sleeping?”

Iwa nodded, “It’s already 11, you know.”

“Yeah but even with my mom he never—you got him to sleep?”

Iwa blinked, “Yes? He had his milk at nine and everything. Was that not ok?”

“No,” Oikawa shook his head, “No, no that’s great. I’m glad he’s asleep! No one’s ever really been able to…” his voice drifted, and so he cleared his throat, “I hope he wasn’t too much trouble.”

Iwa chuckled, “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

A weak smile spread over Oikawa’s lips, “I’m glad to hear it. Um, sorry again, for being so late—“

“It’s fine. Once he fell asleep I just started watching tv anyway.”

Oikawa nodded, “Did you eat? Are you hungry? I could make us something real quick—”

“Thanks, I’m good though. You must be tired.”

“Oh no—I mean yes but—it’d be no trouble—”

Somehow they’d moved in towards the center of the apartment, already in the living room.

“How was the welcome party?”

The omega shook his head, exhaling and taking a seat down on the couch, “Horrible. The chief can’t handle his alcohol at all. And somehow I’m always the one who has to take him home.”

“Sounds like a rough gig,” Iwa said with a smile, sitting down next to him.

Oikawa rolled his eyes, letting out another tired sigh, and bending down to rub his feet, “Drunkards I can handle. Shoes, on the other hand, are murder.”

Silently, Iwa grabbed him by the ankles, pulling his legs onto the couch and settling them on his lap. Oikawa tried to pull away,  but Iwa had a pretty solid hold on him, even after he began rubbing the omega’s feet.

“That’s—”

“I want to. Tell me about your drunk boss.”

Oikawa shifted somewhat uncomfortably, but soon found it in him to relax. “Well he has a limit of one beer. After one he gets sleepy. But if he has more than that then he slips into this weird giggly drunk kind of thing where he starts moaning about how he didn’t make it as far as he did in his high school’s archery club. Which makes no sense because we’ve asked him when sober and the man’s never done archery in his life.”

The low chuckle of a sound that was Iwa’s laughter made Oikawa’s face flush, which triggered the omega to scan his mind to see if he had any more funny stories he could provide to keep the sound going.

“You know, you get kinda giggly when you’re drunk too.”

Surprised eyes looked at the alpha, “Me?”

Iwa nodded, a smile very much apparent on his face.

“No I don’t!”

“You really do. Even now you’re still kinda…happy.”

Oikawa gave a scoff of a laugh, “I only had a few beers.”

Iwa scoffed in return, “Only?”

“And…a couple mixed drinks.”

“Just a couple, huh?”

“I’m tall!” Oikawa defended, “And a man!”

“Your cheeks are still kinda flushed there,” Iwa said, waving his fingers around in his face.

Oikawa shook his head, laughing all the while, “That’s just because you’re here—”

He caught himself, nearly choking on his own spit. “That is—” he looked up at the alpha in panic, “I mean—”

His voice cut in a sharp kind of howl, Iwa pressing his thumb hard into the bottom of Oikawa’s foot.

“Sorry—” Iwa stuttered immediately, “That—” he looked away, “You caught me off guard with that one.”

Oikawa swallowed, licking his lips and tucking a bit of hair behind his ear, “You and me both.”

A silly kind of smile fell on the alpha’s lips, as he kept massaging Oikawa’s feet, “It’s been a while since we’ve been able to talk like this.”

The omega nodded, smiling in response, “Yeah. It’s kind of nice.”

An awkward-ish kind of silence fell on them, so Oikawa blurted out the first thing that came to mind to fill it.

“Thank you. I really do appreciate you looking after Eiji. If I knew babysitting came with complimentary foot rubs I’d have asked you a long time ago.”

“No problem,” Iwa gave a silent smile, working his way up Oikawa’s leg, “You’re really tense you know.”

He nodded, “It’s been that way for like four years now.”

“That’s ridiculous,”

“That’s having a kid.”

It came out a lot harsher than Oikawa had intended, the words somewhat bitter in his mouth.

Iwa kept on with his soothing strokes, “Well if you ask me, you’re doing an amazing job. Small price to pay for having such an amazing kid.”

Oikawa looked at him, nodding appreciatively, “Thank you.”

“I had a lot of fun with him today.”

“I’m glad.”

“Oh and I washed the dishes. They’re all on the drying rack though, so you can re-wash them at your leisure.”

Oikawa cackled at that, nodding his head, “Thank you."

“Oh, but honestly I’m not sure if Eiji brushed his teeth or not. He was in the bathroom for a while and—”

“That’s ok,” Oikawa waved his hand, “One night won’t kill him. He’s going through this I can do everything myself stage.”

“You know your kid doesn’t like socks?”

Oikawa rolled his eyes, letting out a low groan, “God I know! He was wearing them two weeks ago! I don’t know what the hell changed.”

Iwa chuckled, “He’ll grow out of it, I’m sure.”

“I freaking hope so,” Oikawa sunk back into the couch, “He’s always going off in new tangents.”

“That’s not so bad,” Iwa encouraged, “He’s a kid. Smart too.”

“Too smart,” Oikawa laughed.

“I think…” Iwa said, sounding lost in thought, “It just shows how amazing his mom is.”

If Oikawa’s cheeks weren’t red before, they certainly were now. “Thanks,” he murmured, in a way that was more shy than he really intended it to be. And either in an effort to hide his face, or something else all together, Oikawa leaned in to kiss him.

It was a soft kiss. Easy, but sure. It was always kisses like this that reminded Oikawa just how comfortable he felt around the alpha.

They pulled away, both with a bit of a flush, Oikawa sitting back against the couch, and Iwa clearing his throat, starting up the massage again.

And again, the silence fell.

That is, until Iwa lifted up Tooru’s leg, pressing his lips to the top of the omega’s foot. Immediately the omega pulled away, brining his knees up to his chest, “Don’t do that—that’s weird—”

“Is it?”

The innocence in Iwa’s eyes was captivating, almost, the way his gaze held Oikawa’s, in something that the omega had long since forgotten.

He swallowed. What kind of face was he making, he wondered, for Iwa to suddenly be looking at him like that?

He was captured— pounced on, really— as if he were prey, as if Iwa had been waiting for some kind of sign of permission, as if he’d taken the last expression as permission, because the alpha’s lips were on him now, tongue forcing it’s way through, a deep groan vibrating against Iwa’s throat when he deepened their kiss.

Oikawa would be lying, if he said he didn’t moan in response. His hands snaked to the back of Iwa’s neck easily, not thinking and trying to roll over, which only succeeded in the both of them falling to the floor in a heavy thump.

Oikawa laughed. And Iwa did too.

“Ok, maybe we shouldn’t—I think you’re drunk—”

“I’m not drunk,” Oikawa giggled in a way that wasn’t really convincing, nuzzling the alpha’s cheek tenderly, “I’m just…happy.”

“Tipsy, then,” Iwa compromised, sliding his hand over Oikawa’s cheek, pulling him in for another kiss.

“A little tipsy,” Oikawa agreed, words whispered over the alpha’s lips.

Maybe it was just the leftover alcohol buzzing in his head, or maybe he just wanted it to be the alcohol in his head, but the fact of the matter was, Oikawa’s fingers started at Iwa’s jeans, unbuttoning them with the kind of skill a drunkard couldn’t have.

“Oikawa…”

“Not all the way,” he murmured between kisses, “Just a little…”

“Eiji’s upstairs…”

Oikawa pulled away, pouting. “Do you want to or not?”

Iwa grabbed him, pulling him back in, “Of course I want to—”

“Then don’t fucking complain,” Oikawa didn’t look at him, face fully red now as he tugged on Iwa’s pants, revealing the growing bulge that threatened to pop out of his boxers.

His blood started to swim with adrenaline.

He kissed him through his boxers, briefly wondering if he even remembered how to do this properly. But feeling that burning heat against his lips, the only thing that really registered was how much he wanted this.

Maybe he should’ve taken a few more precautions, considering they were on the floor, and considering his son was upstairs, but Eiji was a pretty deep sleeper, and the moment Oikawa saw the alpha’s dick twitch against the fabric of his boxers Oikawa knew it was a lost cause.

He pulled the fabric down as far as he could manage, taking in Iwa’s heat just enough so that it hit the roof of his mouth.

The omega shuddered, his entire body rolling slightly.

“Hold on—” Iwa struggled, trying to kick off his pants a big more, positioning himself against the couch and then finally sitting on it, Oikawa deciding it’d be best if he stayed on the floor.

“This is better,” he murmured, licking Iwa from base to tip—because that sort of thing was supposed to be sensual, or something— before swallowing him down again, the alpha’s girth making his eyes water.

Gods this was amazing.

Iwa blamed his lack of self control on the fact that looking after Eiji all afternoon had just drained him of energy. But most of it was probably due to the fact that Oikawa looked absolutely incredible with his dick in his mouth.

Forget how good it felt—if the omega kept making eye contact Iwa was pretty sure he’d come from that alone. His hand was twisted up in Oikawa’s hair, practically pulling at the scalp and trying to keep his composure. This was the same omega he’d been admiring for forever, an omega’s who’s name he didn’t even have to go by, and now…now…

This development was too much. He didn’t have the strength for this.

Especially when Oikawa pulled away, a string of spit connecting his lips to the tip of Iwa’s dick, the omega giggling stupidly to himself.

“Fuck,” he breathed, kissing Iwa’s leaking cock, “You’re big.”

Iwa could literally hear what little mental sanity he had left shattering into a million itty-bitty pieces.

With both hands he grabbed the back of Oikawa’s head, fingers sliding against the silk of his hair, forcing his cock to the back of the omega’s throat again and again, Oikawa making these beautiful little garbled sounds that Iwa might have thought to be in protest, except his eyes kept rolling back in pleasure, moans vibrating from the edge of his throat all the way through Iwa’s cock.

There was something wrong with him. Seeing Oikawa crying really shouldn’t have been turning him on as much as it did, but fuck he was getting closer and closer.

Especially from watching the way the tears fell over Oikawa’s perfectly porcelain cheeks, from feeling the omega’s tongue curl and play with his skin, sucking and teasing as if he’d done this a million times before. It was almost enough to piss him off, but Iwa felt so good he couldn’t really bring himself to care.

And then there was the deliciously wet and warm feel of his mouth, of those soft lips and the threat of teeth, that made it all just a little bit rough but not at the same time, and before Iwa could try and gather himself, his thrusts were already getting away from him, resulting in nothing more than desperate, jerking movements, aching and searching for release.

“Shi—” he couldn’t even get in a solid breath, “Oikawa I’m—don’t—” he tried to pull Oikawa’s face away, but Oikawa resisted, locking his lips around the alpha’s length, and taking him in as far as he could go.

Gushing was kind of a gross word, but it was also strangely thrilling, Oikawa decided, having the alpha’s seed gush down his throat, sticky and hot and making it hard to swallow, hard to breathe, and he choked a bit, but Iwa pulled away rather quickly, leaving the omega’s mouth stained sticky and white.

Oikawa ran his tongue over his lips, tugging at them with his teeth, and wiped the corner of his  mouth with his thumb. He giggled stupidly. “That was a lot…”

“Fuck…” Iwa breathed, collapsing a bit against the couch, trying to catch his breath.

“Is it gross if I kiss you?”

Iwa chuckled, throwing his arm over his face and shaking his head, “No,”

Oikawa leaned in, his own clothed heat rubbing against Iwa’s—which was still hard by the way—but just as their lips seemed to meet, Oikawa stiffened, shivering goosebumps lining his arms.

“Oikawa?”

He slapped his hand over his mouth and ran, Iwa not really sure what that meant or what he was supposed to do, but when he heard the bathroom door slam, and the sound of puking that followed, Iwa felt his everything sink with dread.

Well. They’d almost made progress.

He tried to offer some help, but the door was locked, and Oikawa wasn’t replying. The toilet flushed a few times, and the sink was on for what felt like forever, but eventually, the omega came out of the bathroom, eyes puffy and red.

Iwa offered a kind smile, but Oikawa spoke up before he could.

“I guess alcohol and cum don’t mix,” he gave a fake kind of laugh, his eyes holding back tears, “Sorry that was—that was probably really disgusting—” he inhaled quickly, breath trembling, looking up to keep the tears from falling, “I—um—”

Arms were draped around him, strong and reassuring, Iwa pressing his lips to Oikawa’s cheek. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have pushed you that far.”

Oikawa shook his head, allowing himself to be hugged, “You didn’t push me.”

Iwa kissed his cheek again, guiding them back to the couch, where Oikawa let his legs drape over Iwa’s, nuzzling into the alpha with his head resting on his shoulder. “Sorry, again. I’m ok though, I don’t want you to miss the last train—”

“There’s lots of time left before the last train,” Iwa kissed his forehead, upon which Oikawa closed his eyes, accepting the affection. His stomach still felt a bit weird, but being held by Iwa like this made him calm. Especially with the way Iwa rubbed his back, the action slow and repetitive, but it provided the kind of assurance Oikawa needed. It was an easy silence, the kind that was comfortable, alpha and omega just enjoying each other’s warmth.

“Can I scent you?” Iwa said after a long while, finally breaking the silence.

Oikawa’s head perked up, looking at the alpha with wide, hopeful eyes. “You…want to?”

“Of course I want to,” Iwa tucked a loose curl behind the omega’s ear, “What alpha doesn’t want to scent their omega?”

Tooru’s face flushed again, looking down and hiding behind his lashes, “When did I become your omega?”

Iwa stiffened, which made Tooru smile a bit. “Sorry. Maybe that was—”

Oikawa shook his head, bumping his nose against the alpha’s scent glands. “I don’t mind. And you don’t really have to ask…anymore…”

Iwa cupped his cheeks, kissing him again, though Oikawa resisted a bit, because he’d just thrown up after all, and he didn’t really want Iwa to get grossed out or anything like that. But Iwa held him in place, giving him soft kiss after soft kiss.

“Let me know if it gets overwhelming.”

“It never does, you know,” Oikawa said, shaking his head, “I’ve already told you that.”

Iwa gave him one more kiss, before moving down to Oikawa’s scent glands. “All right then,” he cradled Oikawa’s head between his hands, holding him gently, “But if it does—”

“Iwa,” Oikawa hummed, letting out soft little purrs, “It’s fine.”

It didn’t take very long, after that, for Oikawa to melt in that scent again, feeling Iwa in his skin, breathing him in, allowing the alpha’s pheromones to mix with his own.

It was a strange feeling. Like drowning, and like coming up for air after a really long time, the satisfaction of the gasp after having your lungs scraped of air, all mixed into one.

It was the racing of his heart, and his shortness of breath, and it was the way his eyes fluttered closed in complete contentment, that soft sigh that relaxed his shoulders whenever Iwa claimed him through scent.

But more than any of those things, and better than any of those things, was the simple fact that it was Iwa, silent and strong and there, holding Oikawa in big arms that seemed to wash away any and everything.

And it was wonderful.

Chapter Text

The care packages his sister sent were always torn right open, because Eiji was impatient, and so was Bokuto, and with two alphas going ham on one package it was no surprise that the box everything came in could never be of any use afterward.

Which was a waste of a box, if you asked Oikawa Tooru.

She’d been to Mexico, apparently, always providing small flags of wherever she’d been last, the box filled with a sombrero for Eiji (which Bokuto was currently wearing) various sweets and snacks, a hand-written letter for Tooru (where did she find the time to write letters?) and a small wooden game that went click-clack-click-clack which Eiji found far too amusing.

Tooru might just have to say it “broke.”

But for now, things were quiet—quieter, at least, since Oikawa had cut everyone up some honeydew as a post-lunch snack, and now Eiji was in the living room, singing and dancing in front of the television to one of his favorite shows.

Meanwhile, Oikawa was in the kitchen, cleaning up the remnants of the box, Bokuto watching while he ate. And now that Eiji was out of earshot, Oikawa could finish his story.

“I mean I almost—I didn’t but I could have—”

“But you didn’t—”

Tooru groaned, dropping his head into his hands.

“Ok but,” Bokuto took another bite of honeydew, “Aside from almost throwing up on his—“ he made a rolling motion with his hand to fill in the word, “No regrets, right?”

Oikawa murmured slightly, peeking his head out, “Obviously not.”

Bokuto punched him lightly in the arm, “I knew you had some of the old you left—”

“There is no old me,” Tooru snapped, “There’s just me—and we’ve done at least that…before…”

“Does that mean,” Bokuto leaned in close—dangerously close, “Mr. Iwa is gonna get lucky soon?”

Oikawa pushed his friend’s face away, clicking his tongue, “You’re disgusting.”

“I still can’t believe he got Eiji to fall asleep. You sure he didn’t tranquilize your kid?”

“Don’t even joke—”

“Still. That’s awesome.”

Groaning, Oikawa rolled his eyes, “No, it’s not awesome. Ever since it’s been Mr. Iwa this and Mr. Iwa that, and it doesn’t stop Kou. It doesn’t stop. I mean what the hell is that anyway? Not even my mom can get him to fall asleep when I’m out. I mean don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that he was able to put Eiji to bed but it kinda hurts that Eiji didn’t stay up—he always stays up—”

Bokuto took another obnoxious bite of his honeydew, “Relax. That’s a good sign isn’t it? Besides, half of it was probably his scent.”

“Sure, sure.”

“You know,” Bokuto grinned, waggling his eyebrows, “Cuz he’s a pack leader and all that.”

“Shut up.”

“What? Everyone knows pack leaders are super great with kids—”

“I know but—”

“So? There’s no more doubts right? You like him. Your kid likes him. And he likes you! So go for it before your balls shrivel up—”

“Timing, Koutarou. Not everyone can go around prancing and smelling like their omegas for weeks on end—”

“It was like four days and yes they can if they’d just learn to live a little—”

“Kou—”

“Hey,” he said, mouth still half full, juice practically sliding down his chin like a child, “Why don’t you call him?” He reached for the box and pulled out some snacks with Iwaizumi written on them, “Since these are for him anyway.”

Oikawa snatched them, putting them back in the box, “I’ll give them to him tomorrow,” he said, taking in a deep breath, “Right now I just want—”

“Oooor,” Bokuto tried again, “You could just do it today—”

“Today is—”

“Come on,” Bokuto’s voice was nudging, “I could take Eiji. You guys could relax here, eat some candy, maybe pop open a bottle of wine—one thing leads to the next~”

“No. And take that hat off, you look ridiculous.”

“Aw come on Tooru! If you don’t initiate then who the hell is going to—”

As if on cue, Oikawa’s cell began to ring, cutting the conversation. Even without looking at his screen, Oikawa knew it was Iwa.

“Hello?”

Bokuto made a face at him, and some very inappropriate gestures. Oikawa smacked his hands.

“Yeah Bokuto’s here. No he’s just dripping melon all over the counter I just cleaned.”

There was a pause, to which Iwa must have said something, because Oikawa laughed.

“There’s stuff for you too Iwa!” Bokuto shouted, “You should come grab it!”

Oikawa stuttered a bit into the phone, turning around in an attempt to keep Bokuto from bothering him, “Ah, yes—well I told my sister about you so—you know how she sends packages—it’s just some candy, so if you’re busy—”

“If it’s ok with you I don’t mind dropping by.”

It shouldn’t have, but the sentence made the omega’s heart race a bit. 

“We’re not busy,” he smiled without realizing, “We’re just relaxing and eating honeydew. There’s still some left…if you want?”