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Daichi frowned, craning his neck down on the court, trying to get a better look at the Fukurodani omega. He bumped his knee against Suga’s and mused, “Akaashi isn’t looking too good.”
Suga lifted his head from his phone and followed Daichi’s line of sight. “Oh, yeah, he does look a little unsteady. He seemed fine when we talked in the halls before the game. Maybe he’s getting tired.”
“I don’t know… he has pretty good stamina,” Daichi mumbled. He shrugged and sat back, glancing over at Suga. “Can you pass me a protein bar?”
Suga bent over, digging through his bag for a protein bar. While his head was down, a sharp inhale of breath echoed throughout the arena and he immediately looked up. Fukurodani was gathered around someone on the floor and a whistle was blown. Suga looked at Daichi, who was tense, looking like he was seconds away from springing to his feet.
“He just dropped,” Daichi said seriously, grabbing Suga’s hand tightly. Despite the scent blockers, Daichi was so finely tuned to Suga’s pheromones that he could detect a dulled souring of his usual vanilla and lavender. “Bokuto’s there, he should be okay. Let’s just see what happens, alright? He’ll be okay.”
Suga shuddered and bit back a whine, his heart thundering in his chest. He craved for Daichi to remove his scent blocker and soothe him, but he knew the rules of the gymnasium. All alphas and omegas were required to wear scent blockers, not just the omegas.
The team was still surrounding Akaashi, blocking him from the view of the spectators. Their opponents had returned to their bench, giving the dropped omega some space.
Down on the court, Bokuto had peeled off his scent blockers, softly rubbing his wrists on Akaashi’s temples. Yukie was squatting near Akaashi’s head and brushing her fingers through his hair, murmuring and rumbling softly from her chest.
“What happened? He seemed fine,” Coach Yamiji’s gruff voice came from above his players. He handed Yukie a bottle of water and Akaashi’s team jacket.
“He was getting in his head this last set,” Konoha said. “I could tell he was getting anxious but I didn’t think he was going to drop .”
Bokuto grumbled something unintelligible to the others, releasing waves upon waves of soothing pheromones until Akaashi’s eyes started to flutter open and he stared blankly at the rafters of the gymnasium ceiling above him. His scent, no longer dulled by his own scent blockers, was bitter and sharp, putting the whole team on edge. It was pungent enough to draw the eyes of the other team. Everyone was shifting on their feet anxiously.
“Akaashi, do you think you can stand? We should get off the court so the others can finish the game,” Bokuto mumbled softly.
“No, you have to keep playing,” Akaashi said, pushing himself up abruptly, the colour from his face draining instantly at the sudden movement. “I’m fine. I’m okay, really. I can stand. Where- where are my blockers?”
“Keiji, you just dropped, you’re not okay,” Bokuto insisted. He gently grasped Akaashi’s forearms and pulled him to his feet. Konoha and Washio steadied Akaashi as he swayed. The spectators and other team clapped as Akaashi helped off the court. Kaori helped Bokuto walk Akaashi out of the gymnasium and to one of the couches in the lobby where they laid him down.
“I’ll go find something salty for you to eat,” Kaori said, smiling softly and giving Akaashi’s ankle a squeeze before disappearing down the hall.
Once they were alone, Bokuto scented his mate as much as he could, doing everything he could to erase the anxious scent from Akaashi’s skin. Once he finished, he laid his head down next to Akaashi’s, breathing deeply.
“What happened?” he asked quietly, absently rubbing the inside of Akaashi’s wrist against his jaw.
“I messed up,” Akaashi whispered. “I messed up and I started… I started overthinking. I was trying not to have a panic attack, but I think trying to avoid a panic attack made it worse. And then I just… dropped.”
Bokuto hummed. “You didn’t mess up. You were doing amazing.”
Akaashi closed his eyes and his scent immediately went bitter again, his body going limp. Bokuto sat up, cupping Akaashi’s face, trying to bring him back from a second drop. He gathered his mate into his arms, trying to keep his own anxiety from seeping into his scent.
Kaori, returning from the vending machine, ran over, swearing as she dropped down next to the two. “Shit, is he dropping again?” she asked. She brushed Akaashi’s hair off his forehead then said, “I’m going to go find another omega. I’ll be right back. I’ll be right back.”
“Find Kenma if you can!” Bokuto called after her, rocking Akaashi against his body, kissing his face and quietly whispering to him.
Kaori returned two minutes later with Kenma and Sugawara in tow, their alphas following a few paces behind. The two omegas peeled off their scent blockers and crouched down beside Bokuto and Akaashi, letting their own soothing scents fill the area. Suga pressed his forehead to Akaashi’s temple and chirped and cooed comfortingly while Kenma massaged one of Akaashi’s hands, occasionally scenting him.
After a few minutes Akaashi came to consciousness again, his pupils wide and his vision unfocused. Unlike on the court, he didn’t immediately sit up or even recognize where he was. This time he stayed limp on Bokuto’s lap, staring in a daze.
“Akaashi~” Suga cooed, letting out another wave of soothing omega pheromones.
“Hey,” Kenma said softly, squeezing Akaashi’s hand lightly
Bokuto tapped his forehead to Akaashi’s, quietly saying, “You’re alright. You’re okay. I love you. You’re safe.”
“You should take him to the hospital,” Kuroo said, his voice low and withheld, trying not to startle Akaashi. “Just to make sure he’s okay.”
“No, no, no, no, no,” Akaashi choked, the scent of anxious and fearful omega permeating the air. The four alphas rumbled and Suga quickly released his scent again, shooting Daichi and Kuroo a sharp look.
Kaori stopped her own rumbling and picked up the bag of salted peanuts she had grabbed earlier, saying, “Akaashi, it’s okay, you need to relax or you’re going to drop again.”
“You just dropped twice within thirty minutes, ‘Kaashi, we have to go to the hospital just to be safe,” Bokuto said. “I’ll stay with you the entire time, but obviously… you’re not doing very well right now. But you’re going to be okay. We’ll take you to the hospital, get you set up with a drip and just make sure you’re okay, and then we can go back to the hotel and just take it easy for the night.”
“Don’t leave me,” Akaashi whimpered.
“I won’t. I’ll stay with you the whole time,” Bokuto promised.
Suga and Kenma got to their feet, giving Akaashi some space. Kaori handed him the bag of peanuts and Bokuto and her helped Akaashi back onto the couch.
Daichi and Suga were the first to say goodbye, Kenma saying he would stay with Akaashi just in case. As Daichi and Suga were walking back to the gymnasium, Daichi nuzzled his nose into Suga’s neck, inhaling his scent deeply.
“I love you so much,” Daichi mumbled, kissing Suga’s neck and making him hum happily.
“I hope that Akaashi will be okay,” Suga said, reapplying his scent blockers before they stepped back into the gymnasium. “I can’t imagine what his head is like right now. Even dropping just once is bad enough. I’m glad Kenma’s staying with him.”
Daichi hugged his mate to his side as they climbed back up to their seats with the rest of the team. “Don’t ever do that to me, alright?”
“I’ll try to avoid it,” Suga laughed lightly. “No promises though.”
Daichi gave him a withering look before shaking his head and squeezing his mate to his side lovingly.
“Sawamura!”
Daichi looked up from the table he was at, looking towards the alpha that had just burst through the doors. Asahi looked over as well, frowning.
“You’re Sugawara’s mate, right?” Iwaizumi asked breathlessly.
“Uh… yeah? Why?”
“You gotta come. He dropped in the bathhouse. Oikawa’s with him now, but we don’t know how long he’s been there,” Iwaizumi explained quickly.
Daichi was on his feet before Iwaizumi even finished talking, pushing past him and practically sprinting down the path to the bathhouse. He skidded through the door and found Suga on the floor in one of the showers.
The scent of another alpha, not Iwaizumi, immediately slammed into Daichi and his world reeled wildly. He dropped to his knees and cupped Suga’s face, leaning down and letting his scent wash over his mate until it erased the unknown scent.
“What happened?” Daichi growled.
Oikawa clenched his jaw, trying to stand his ground against the obviously angry alpha. “I don’t know. Iwaizumi found him here. We- We think maybe… another alpha forced themself on him.”
Daichi snarled, making Oikawa shrink back.
“Sawamura!” Iwaizumi barked, his voice echoing in the bathhouse. “Do not growl at him. He’s done nothing wrong, he was trying to help.”
Daichi sent an apologetic look at the other omega before returning his focus to his own omega. Suga was cold, unmoving, and every second that passed that his eyes didn’t open made Daichi’s chest clutch tighter and tighter.
“Did you recognize the scent?” Daichi asked, trying to keep his blind rage at bay.
“It wasn’t anyone we knew. His clothes were still on, so it didn’t-- whoever it was didn’t--” Iwaizumi couldn’t finish his sentence, the idea too awful to even voice.
Daichi kissed Suga, releasing his pheromones until the entire bathhouse smelled like him, but Suga remained unmoving. Daichi couldn’t breathe.
“Go fucking get someone!” he shouted, a growl low in his voice.
Iwaizumi grabbed his mate and the two left the bathhouse to find someone. Find a teacher. A medic. Someone.
“Koushi, Koushi, please, god, please wake up,” Daichi pleaded, pressing his neck against Suga’s nose. He laid down next to his mate, bundling him into his arms and rumbling deep in his chest. The scent of the other alpha was still stuck in his nose, filling his head with fury. Daichi kissed Suga’s neck and mumbled, “Koushi, please, please. Please, I love you. Please, wake up. I love you so much, please. Just open your eyes.”
“Daichi?”
The mixed scents of the team, his pack, filled the bathhouse. Daichi growled protectively instinctively before quieting down and letting the younger omegas pile around Suga. Takeda kneeled down among the omegas and gently pulled Sugawara from Daichi’s arms, giving him a soothing rumble to let him know that Sugawara was safe with him.
Takeda cupped Sugawara’s face and smoothed his thumbs over the younger omega’s eyebrows, slowly moving down his face, releasing his matured omega scent as he moved down Suga’s face, pausing to massage behind his ears, stimulating his scent glands to release his own pheromones to hopefully bring back some sense.
“Here, I brought the weighted blanket,” Ukai said as he entered the bathhouse. He pulled it from its case, ordered Daichi to scent it, before he draped it over Sugawara’s unmoving body. Takeda continued to massage Suga’s face. The oldest omega’s scent filled the bathhouse now, the familiar, comforting smell of buttered rum easing everyone’s anxiety.
After another minute, Suga’s eyebrows pinched together and he let out a high pitched whine. Daichi fumbled for his mate, kissing his face and scenting him again. Finally, Suga opened his eyes, breaking into tears immediately, distress emanating from him.
“I don’t want them here,” Suga cried, gesturing weakly at the kids. “I’m sorry, I don’t- I can’t-” He sobbed.
Ennoshita guided the younger kids out of the bathhouse until it was just Daichi, Suga, Takeda, and Ukai.
“Sugawara, did someone hurt you?” Takeda asked softly, rubbing his hand over Suga’s hair.
Suga started to shake, his scent still distressed. “I don’t know his name. I don’t know- He slammed me against the wall and started-” He choked on his words. “He was- Daichi’s bite- he was biting me. He had his hands under my shirt- he was touching me. I was so scared. I was so scared. I thought he was going to-” He shuddered and wretched. “I thought he was going to knot me.”
Daichi and Ukai’s scents soured and Takeda continued hushing Suga.
“The good thing is it didn’t get that far,” Takeda hummed. “He must have left you as soon as you dropped. We’re going to take you to the hospital though just as a precaution, alright? We don’t know how long you were here before Oikawa and Iwaizumi found you. Ukai’ll take you out to the car. Daichi will stay with you. Do you want anyone else to come?”
Suga sniffled, still crying, still making Daichi’s heart shatter. He quietly whimpered, “Oikawa.” Takeda nodded, getting up to fetch the other omega, but Suga’s scent spiked with distress and he mewled anxiously, causing Takeda to pause.
“We’ll take him out to the car first,” Ukai suggested. He bent down and gathered Sugawara plus the twenty-pound weighted blanket into his arms.
Suga inhaled the scent of his coach. He smelled like the earth. The fresh scent of the earth in the early morning with dew on the grass and fog hanging low in the air. The scent was clarifying; a breath of fresh air.
“I’m sorry, Daichi,” Suga whimpered as Ukai laid him down in the back seat of his car.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Koushi,” Daichi said quietly, getting in beside him. “You don’t have to apologize for anything. I’m right here. I’m right here with you, okay? I love you so fucking much.”
By now a small crowd had gathered, watching the scene from afar, curious to know what was going on. After a minute or two, Ukai returned to the vehicle with Oikawa, who climbed into the car and immediately went to nuzzle Suga, relief seeping from the Seijou setter.
As the car pulled away from the camp, Kenma felt Bokuto grab his head lightly and rock him from side to side, much to the omega’s annoyance.
“That didn’t look too good,” Bokuto commented.
Kenma stepped away from Bokuto’s hands, glowering at him. But he didn’t stay irritated for very long as he thought about Sugawara being carried to the vehicle. Even from where he stood he had been able to very distinctly smell the older setters panicked and fearful pheromones.
Bokuto slung his arms around Kenma.
“Don’t you have your own omega to bother?” Kenma asked hotly, squirming from Bokuto’s grasp. “Where is he anyways?”
“Napping. Besides, you’re too cute not to bother,” Bokuto chirped, giving a square smile of innocence to Kenma. “Also I want you to set for me while Akaashi’s sleeping.”
Kenma blinked at him then deadpanned, “Absolutely not.”
“Are you feeling okay?” Kuroo asked, studying his mate.
Kenma blinked rapidly, trying to focus his eyes. He looked over at Kuroo and nodded. “I think so.”
“Sit down if you feel like you’re going to drop. I don’t want a repeat of last time,” Kuroo said, wrapping an arm around Kenma for some extra stability.
Kenma grumbled. He didn’t think he was going to drop. He glanced down at his medical bracelet, indicating his condition. Submotus syncope, meaning he suffered from chronic drops as an omega. It didn’t take much emotional turmoil to cause him to collapse. Just in the last week alone he had dropped twice, once after getting jumpscared playing a video game, and the second time in the dining hall after smelling a sudden sour change in Akaashi’s scent from afar. He hadn’t known what caused the change in his friend's scent, but just the negative impact it immediately had on him made his knees buckle and he dropped like a sack of flour onto the hard floor.
The incident that Kuroo wanted to avoid a repeat of.
“Kenma.”
“What?” he snapped, struggling to focus on Kuroo.
And then it happened. Just like that, his eyes rolled back and his body folded. Kuroo grunted as he caught Kenma’s dead weight in his arms and carefully lowered him to the floor. Kuroo sighed and released a quick wave of pheromones while he dug into Kenma’s bag to find his scent spray. A fine mist of Kuroo’s scent with a small mix of fludrocortisone to jolt Kenma back to consciousness.
Kuroo sprayed it into the air above Kenma and massaged his scent glands while he waited.
Kenma was only out for 90 seconds before he blurrily opened his eyes, staring above him, and muttered, “Fuck.”
“Well, good morning, sleeping beauty,” Kuroo said. “Thought you said you weren’t going to drop.”
“Obviously I was fucking wrong,” Kenma retorted grumpily. His head felt like it had been filled with cotton balls. He pushed Kuroo’s hands away, feeling overstimulated. He stayed on his back on the floor for another minute, blinking slowly at the ceiling and trying to stop the world from spinning around him. He heard a familiar voice ask if everything was okay before Kuroo waved whoever it was off, saying they were fine. After clearing his vision for the most part, Kenma sat up carefully, holding his head.
“That’s the third time this week,” Kuroo commented. “What’s up?”
“I must be stressed, I guess,” Kenma shrugged. “And the first time doesn’t count. That was a jumpscare. It could have happened to anybody.”
Kuroo gave him a questionable look. “What’s worrying you?”
Kenma shrugged again. “How should I know? I’m just anxious. It’s nothing new.”
Kuroo hesitated and then sighed, helping Kenma back to his feet. He knew they wouldn’t get anywhere trying to figure out the exact cause of the drop. The same things didn’t always cause Kenma to drop. It just depended when his body decided it suddenly couldn’t handle something.
After double checking that Kenma wasn’t going to drop again, the pair continued walking back to the dormitories where they had planned to meet up with Akaashi and Bokuto. Akaashi was preparing for his upcoming heat and had to grab some things he needed to make it as comfortable as possible (his heats tended to be on the painful side and incapacitated him for three days), the rest of them just decided to tag along and maybe grab some dinner after.
Kuroo knocked on Koutarou and Keiji’s door before pushing in. Kenma hummed happily as he spotted Akaashi, sneaking under Kuroo’s arm to snuggle up next to the other omega, immediately scenting him. Akaashi sniffed and frowned, leaning back to get a look at Kenma’s face.
“Your scent-” he said, leaning closer to Kenma, inhaling deeply. “Did you drop again?”
Kenma groaned and rolled his eyes. “On the way here, but I’m fine. It wasn’t serious. Where’s Bokuto?”
“Bathroom,” Akaashi answered shortly before nuzzling Kenma’s neck, purring softly.
Kuroo flopped down onto the desk chair and swiveled back and forth while the omegas cuddled and scented each other. Kuroo tried to ignore the buttery change in Akaashi’s usual scent that indicated his heat was approaching quickly.
“Will you be okay going out tonight?” Akaashi asked.
“I think I’ve hit my weekly quota of drops, I’ll be fine , I promise,” Kenma insisted. “And besides, it isn’t like I can just put everything on hold. I’ve been dealing with it since I presented, so I’m used to it anyway.”
The bathroom door banged open and Bokuto practically flew onto the bed, grabbing a hold of both of the omegas and kissing them lovingly until Kenma wriggled out from beneath him and flicked him in the side of the head.
Akaashi sat up and grabbed his things, comforting himself before the group headed out to the mall. The group was compliant and gentle as Akaashi made erratic work of getting things for his heat. He didn’t have a list or a route planned to make for easy work of getting the things he needed and the other three were careful not to bring up how frazzled the dark haired omega clearly was.
Then, out of nowhere, the buttery scent of Akaashi’s pre-heat pheromones spiked with a charred scent and the two alphas heads whipped towards him. Kenma felt his brain roll over in his skull and he dropped his eyes to the floor to stabilize himself.
“What’s wrong?” Bokuto asked protectively, scanning his mate intensely.
“Nothing,” Akaashi said, shaking his head. “I just got scared for a second.”
The charred smell increased and Kenma looked up at Akaashi, wanting desperately to soothe him, but he could feel all the blood in his body begin to pool in his legs and turn his vision black.
“Kuro,” Kenma swallowed. He squeezed his eyes shut.
Don’t drop. Don’t drop. Get a grip.
The air went dead in his ears and he grappled blindly for Kuroo. He selfishly wished that Akaashi had better control of his own scent; selfishly wished that Akaashi could consider him and what changes in his scent could do to him.
His knees gave out and he felt large hands lower him smoothly to the ground. He didn’t entirely drop, consciousness still clinging to him, but his vision was black and his muscles trembled as if he’d been electrocuted. The charred scent seemed to get worse and Kenma mentally apologized to Akaashi for causing him even more distress.
“‘M’fine,” Kenma slurred. “‘M’fine. ‘Kaashi, I’m fine.”
And then Akaashi’s charred scent was overpowered by Kuroo’s scent as he sprayed the fludrocortisone on Kenma’s neck. Kenma inhaled sharply, groaning as blood rushed back to his head.
“Sorry,” Kenma mumbled. “Akaashi got scared.”
“I know, I didn’t mean to-” Akaashi started. “I didn’t mean to let it slip into my scent. I’m sorry, I should have been more careful.”
“No, no, no, not your fault,” Bokuto assured.
Kenma shook his head in agreement, letting Kuroo pull him up to his feet. When Kenma focused his eyes on Akaashi, he could see that Akaashi’s cheeks were flushed and his pupils dilated. Kenma shifted his eyes to Bokuto quickly before looking into the empty distance, wondering if he should mention it. Eventually he decided against it, figuring that he couldn’t smell Akaashi’s actual heat so he would be okay until they at least got home.
“Two drops in one day. You must be pretty tired, huh?” Bokuto said, giving Kenma a worried look.
“I’ve had worse,” Kenma shrugged awkwardly, sneaking looks at the people around them, watching them. “I didn’t fully drop. I was still conscious.”
Kuroo thumbed his cheek and said, “Still, why don’t we head home and rest for the night? I’m sure Akaashi wants to start nesting anyway, hm?”
Akaashi flushed, perpetually embarrassed when normal, omega instincts are mentioned in public. Bokuto nuzzled him and Kenma sighed, caving in and agreeing that it was probably best for everyone to just wind down for the evening. So the four made their way home and not for the first time, self loathing gnawed at Kenma’s stomach as he thought about how once again, his uncontrollable drops had interfered with what should have been a fun time.