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Todoroki Shouto was raised to be an Alpha. His father, Todoroki Enji, was a powerful one. His two brothers, Touya and Natsu, were just as strong. They were trained harshly by his father to be strong both physically and mentally. They were encouraged to be assertive, to be bold and sure of themselves. All of the three brothers grew up with the knowledge that they as Alphas were born to be dominant, to provide and to protect, especially the frail and fragile Omegas, such as their mother and their only sister. Their household was traditional, upheld by beliefs that had lasted lifetimes, and would continue to be inherited. 

Maybe that was why Shouto felt the urge to burn the tree after his childhood friend tripped on its roots and fell face first onto the ground. The brown dirt smeared his pale skin and small rock pricked his soft knees and hands, mud mixing in with his tears as he bit back his whine. Ruby eyes swelled with water, glistening in the sun. That must hurt so bad. Shouto hurriedly reached out to the blond mess of hair, only to be swatted away by a still-bloodied hand, stifled voice dismissing him, telling him that he was fine. His friend, though a little smaller than he was, was also strong and fierce and independent and everything in between. Only the ones who he deemed worthy could hang out with him, and Shouto, with all the training and teaching he got, although he didn’t think that was relevant, only got the right to call him by his given name after trying for around a month. Shouto liked how the name sounded, and sometimes he would keep calling him for the sake of saying his name.

“Katsuki,” Shouto cooed, like how his mother spoke to him, telling him that Omegas liked to be spoken to softly. 

“What? I said I’m fine, didn’t I?” Katsuki scowled, his cheek still marred by wet dirt.  

Katsuki brushed his two hands together, then patted his clothes to get rid of the dirt. Shouto saw him wince when pressure was put on his wounds, but something in Katsuki made him hesitant to approach him. He was once more reminded that Katsuki was strong. The blonde handled it well, even dutifully went back to his home, instead of running around with his clothes dirty, to wash his mess. Shouto followed him home like a little tail, watched him scrub his clothes clean, listened to his angry mumbling about how the stains were so stubborn and only interrupted him when Katsuki hissed as the soap stung his wounded palms. 

“I can help with that. You can go clean up the bobos first.” 

“It's called ‘cuts’, you idiotic baby.” Katsuki pouted at him. “Do you even know how to wash clothes?”

“I think I’ve watched you enough.” He replied. “And I’m not even a full year younger than you.”

Katsuki counted the months from 20th April to 11th January on his fingers then scoffed as he left to attend to his wounds. Shouto copied what Katsuki did and the vague memories of watching his sister work on the laundry, scrubbing with the force he thought was appropriate and inspecting the stain from time to time. Luckily, the dirt didn’t have time to dry off on Katsuki’s shirt, so the stain came out rather quickly and cleanly. Shouto did the same to the pants, then laid them out to admire his work. Being a barely six-year-old kid, he had never been taught to do this before. Shouto was proud of himself. 

Shouto was still staring at his work by the time Katsuki went back to the laundry area with properly treated wounds. The boy scrunched his nose at the sight of the soggy clothes as if they had personally offended him then slapped Shouto’s head, quite lightly despite the look of it, telling him to rinse and wring the clothes so that they weren’t a bubbling and dripping mess. Shouto obeyed him and got a chuckle with a “It’s not bad” as a reward for his hard work. He was going to be so good at this “caring for his mate” stuff in the future. 

When he got home that evening, he told his family about it. The reaction was worse than he thought, mostly coming from his father. Father scolded him for letting Katsuki fall in the first place, for letting him clean himself and took so long to take the laundry work from him, then ended his lecturing with something he didn’t want to hear. 

“Still, the brat’s mom is an Alpha. There are high chances that he will present as one. You don’t need to take care of him.”

“But I want to.” Shouto replied, “He’s my friend. The prettiest one.”

Shouto thought it was a reasonable argument, although Katsuki being pretty wasn’t the reason he wanted to care for him in the first place. It was a bonus that Shouto had realized after some time being close to the blonde.

“There’s no point if he presents as an Alpha.” His father said and returned to his bowl of rice, signaling the end of the matter. 

Shouto was left deep in thoughts, conflicted about everything. He was taught that it was important to follow the instincts, the nature instincts that told the Alpha to claim, to provide and protect. Shouto was following exactly that. He felt the urge to help Katsuki, so he did without much thinking, although the blonde had stated that he didn’t need help. It just felt natural following Katsuki around while holding hands (the blonde had stopped protesting for a while now), hugging the soft and fluffy boy occasionally and just hanging out in general. 

They were in the first year of secondary school when Katsuki started to learn martial arts. He quickly got better and better at the sport, thanks to his natural flexibility and strength. But Shouto would argue that it was also thanks to his determination and hardwork, because he knew that Katsuki had made it a habit to wake up at 5 to train. Katsuki also watched and tried to imitate moves that fitted him, starting at the ones he felt comfortable trying out. Shouto was also getting trained on combating by his father and sometimes his coworkers. 

While Shouto admired the beauty of Katsuki’s swift and agile moves, particularly the ones where he flipped through the air, Shouto found himself fitting to a more grounded style with sturdy stances and more heavy training on the muscles. He wondered if he could ever fight alongside Katsuki, back to back like he had seen on TV. That would be cool, earning Katsuki’s trust and guarding his back. When he accidentally revealed this thought to his father, he was told that he would rather him thinking of protecting instead of leaving half of the work to the other one. His father didn’t say it, but Shouto was sure the other one should preferably be an Omega. However, his father did remind him about the high chances of Katsuki being an Alpha and how he should refrain from getting attached to him. 

Once again, Shouto was confused. Maybe it was because of the fact that he hadn’t known his secondary gender yet, so his instincts might be wrong, but Shouto’s instincts had always been adamant about being attached to Katsuki at the hip, and more specifically, protecting Katsuki. Although Katsuki put on a show of being strong and independent, acing both academically and physically, and had skill in literally everything, Shouto had been with him long enough to see through that bravado, or more correctly, the brash and aggressive front had never affected him. Meticulous and caring, passionate and sensitive, tough and emotional, Katsuki was everything combined into a small boy who was shorter and softer than him, who he wanted to protect and keep near all the time. 

Shouto had always had the urge to embrace Katsuki in his arms, both shielding and hiding him from the world and he had always done so, but the first time it felt special was during second year of secondary school. Katsuki was staying late after school, tucked away into a corner of an empty classroom, curling up as he tried to shove down his frustration. His team came out second in a contest because of a classmate’s careless mistake. Shouto was there when Katsuki berated the said classmate, not without trying whatever he could to save the results first. Katsuki was screaming, throwing both explicit and smart insults, and was more than ready to cuss out anyone who dared to interfere. Most of the students feared him, but Shouto knew that his eyes were stinging and he would soon cry. Being the only one who knew made him feel a sort of smugness, as he deemed himself the only one worthy of protecting and taking care of the blonde. When he found him, Shouto simply sat down beside him, breathing steadily so Katsuki remembered to breathe as he struggled to hold back tears. 

“Those asshats didn’t even try.” Katsuki said, his voice cracking. “They half assed the whole thing. And this was fucking important too. That’s the only reason I agree to work with those whinny shits.”

“I know, I saw how hard you worked. And you did amazing too.” Shouto said softly, although Katsuki almost always reacted poorly to cooing. 

Katsuki’s red puffy eyes were suddenly on him. He was searching for any sliver of dishonesty. When he found none, he let out a little “hmph” before leaning on Shouto’s shoulder. 

“Be my pillow for a while.”

“You are cute.” Shouto unconsciously said his thoughts out loud. 

“Pillows don’t fucking talk.” He grumbled. “And what the fuck did you just say?”

Before Katsuki could shuffle out of his touch, Shouto quickly threw an arm around him and pulled him into his embrace. He could feel Katsuki’s tear-soaked face and his hot shaky breaths through his thin uniform shirt. Katsuki, with his face still buried in Shouto’s chest, half-heartedly hit his arms, but Shouto was determined to hold him. 

“Stupid Shouto.”

It had been awhile since Katsuki called him by his first name and it did a magical thing to Shouto’s stomach, leaving him feeling like there were thousands of butterflies flying around inside. Then Katsuki hugged him back, which made him feel like exploding. It was pure and beautiful how Katsuki managed to make him feel so much. He was so ready to be a good Alpha for Katsuki. So ready to be Katsuki’s Alpha. 

His world went and flipped upside down one day when Katsuki presented as an Alpha. It didn’t make sense to him, even though his father was not surprised and even threw him the classic “I told you so”. All of his time knowing Katsuki, his instincts, his heart, or anything that was in charge, was telling him to dote on the blonde, to be as close to him as possible so he could always shield him and attend to his needs. And since Shouto was trained to be an Alpha, whatever told  him all that should be right, and Katsuki should be an Omega so they could be mated and live happily ever after. 

It wasn’t like Shouto didn’t see the signs like his father did. Katsuki was too strong, too stubborn, too loud and brash to be an Omega. As far as Shouto knew, Omegas were soft-spoken, gentle and… not Katsuki. As much as he hoped for Katsuki to be an Omega, he was aware that Katsuki didn’t fit into any description of Omega that he had heard of. It seemed like there wasn’t any exception after all, even after all the times Shouto applied his studies as an Alpha on him, if that mattered at all. 

Despite Katsuki being an Alpha, Shouto still heard his instincts, or whatever was making the decisions for him, telling him to be close to Katsuki. And the calling became worse and worse as time went by. Or maybe it had been obvious since the beginning. His stomach got giddier at the thought of Katsuki just doing anything. Just the other day, when Katsuki initiated them holding hands for the first time, everything in him did somersault. Or the fact that Katsuki dropped his defense around him, demanding attention in a very Katsuki way, also made blood rush to his cheeks. It was nowhere close to the old childish thought of  “Katsuki is my best friend and I want to be close to him”. It was more intimate, like wanting to touch him out of nowhere; or gaze lingering longer on his smile, his scowl, his pout, his everything; or suddenly wondering how his lips felt, how he wanted to kiss his face. 

At the same time, Katsuki was more assertive in their little friendship. He started to hold Shouto’s hand first before he could reach out his hand. He tended to look out for him more, alerting every bump in the road or every tripping hazard. And even though Katsuki had been protective of him since they were little, he became even more protective, defending him against insults and mocking regarding his stone-face, his slowness in social cue and basically anything. Katsuki even started to fuss over him, and Shouto secretly thought it was more like a mother hen than a leader wolf. 

They got into high school just shortly after Katsuki's presentation as an Alpha. There, their small circle of friends expanded. Being introverts, they had never had anyone beside themselves before, not like they needed more, but this was still a new kind of fun that they got to experience. Despite having their own new circles, they still make time for each other, and at the end of the day, they would still end up cuddling in Katsuki’s bed, the fluffy one which Katsuki called ‘den’. 

Since Shouto hadn’t presented, he couldn’t smell pheromones. Therefore, he secretly envied those who had, because they knew how Katsuki smelled before him. Shouto had always been familiar with Katsuki’s natural body scent. It was there in the little ‘puff’ when Shouto threw himself onto Katsuki’s blanket laden bed, it was there when Katsuki allowed Shouto to hug him and it was there when Shouto stood a little bit too close to Katsuki in PE. He was content, for a while, until he heard his peers talking about Katsuki’s scent. 

“Bakugou’s pheromone smells so sweet! It’s mouthwatering sometimes.” Shouto overheard Kaminari, an Omega who was in Katsuki’s new pack, talking. 

“Somehow you make it weird, talking about our friend like that.” Sero, a Beta, chimed in. “And he’s an Alpha.”

“But his scent is unexpectedly sweet, right? I thought he would have some kind of spicy scent, like peppermint or cinnamon.” The other Alpha in their group, Kirishima spoke. 

“Shut the hell up, at least I don’t smell like I came fresh out of a primary forest. Or look like I did.” Shouto heard Katsuki groan. 

So he was there, listening to them talking about how sugary and alluring his scent was. That made Shouto feel more uneasy, if he was even aware of the feeling at first.

“Hey! Fresh wood is a manly scent!” Kirishima faked being offended mockingly. “And my hair is fine!”

“You fucking wish!” Katsuki spatted, and Shouto could already imagine his endearing smirk, hidden poorly behind his frown. “And Dune Face,”

“Oh my god it’s my turn now.” Shouto heard Kaminari laugh. “Caramel and bananas go great together.”

“If you’d like to have diarrhea and diabetes in the long run that is.”

“Meanie!”

“Get the hell away from me! Where are you fucking touching, you…!”

It sounded like Kaminari had unexpectedly clinged to Katsuki and muffled him somehow. Shouto could hear his hissing get smaller and smaller until there was none. 

“Tsk.”

“You know that a pack should scent their Omega.” He heard Kaminari say in a sing-song voice. 

Shouto didn’t really get the meaning until later that day, when Iida scolded them, it seemed like he misunderstood something. 

“Bakugou! Kaminari! What have you done!” Iida half whispered half bellowed. “That’s inappropriate! You’re still students! What about your studies?”

“The fuck do you mean, Four Eyes?” Katsuki bit back almost immediately. 

“Why do you guys smell like each other!” Iida inquired, voice hushed but still loud. “Have you guys been, you know,”

“Fuck no!” Katsuki shouted in disbelief. “What got in your fucking head? You also got shit for brain? 

“But…!” 

“Do you have a death wish? Is that it?” Katsuki had already gotten into a stance, fists winding up for a punch. 

“There there Bakugou, Iida is a little stiff and naïve, you know that!” Kirishima hooked, because Shouto refused to call that action ‘wrap’, his arm around Bakugou’s tensed shoulders, trying to defuse him. 

“That’s just scenting between pack members!” Kaminari patted Iida’s arm. 

“But no one in your pack smells like either one of you.”

“We haven’t had the chance.” Sero cut in, then quickly stuffed the blondes and the redhead into their respective desk, not without protesting from a certain explosive blonde. 

As the situation de-escalated, Shouto was left with swirling emotions and thoughts he couldn’t explain. It was always hard to think about his emotions on his own, mostly because they regarded Katsuki and he couldn’t talk to the boy about him. But the perk was that he had more friends now.

“Is pack-scenting a common thing?” He asked his group.

“As far as I know, it’s common in families.” Midoriya, an Alpha, spoke. “Parents often scent their kids. My mom always does it too, she goes overboard sometimes and I end up smelling like pine and honey.”

“I haven’t seen it in friend groups though.” Iida said, his voice laced with concern. He too, was an Alpha.

“My girls do though!” Uraraka joined in. “I have an all-girl friend group. I’m the only Alpha, so maybe that is why I feel the need to scent them all whenever we meet. But Bakugou agreeing to scent Kaminari is a bit odd, right?” 

“Yeah, I thought so too…” Shouto trailed off.

Shouto was taught that scenting was incredibly intimate, and it should only be done by family or lover. The idea of Katsuki doing it with another, and on top of that, he was from the opposite secondary sex, made Shouto uncomfortable. He thought about the lessons that he got. As far as he knew, doting on Omegas came as an instinct to Alphas. Was Katsuki doing it out of instinct? Just because Katsuki was an Alpha and Kaminari was his friend and conveniently an Omega? The thoughts gave him a sickening mix of elation and jealousy. Katsuki was just doing it out of pure instinct, Shouto convinced himself. But it was his instinct.

And instincts were important. 

As if Shouto wasn’t irritated enough, his brain had to remind him he was the only one in his class who hadn’t gotten to know Katsuki’s scent yet. It wasn’t fair, being the youngest and the latest to present, and unable to know the scent of Katsuki, even though he was the first to know him, the first to be friends with him, and the closest one to him. Shouto had never wished this desperately for his secondary gender presentation to come. He was so, so indescribably sick of people talking about Katsuki’s sweet scent being like caramel and burnt sugar when he didn’t have the slightest idea how it would be like on Katsuki. It wasn’t like Shouto hadn’t been secretly buying caramel puddings and then asking his sister to caramelize some sugar because those commercialized confections summarized in a plastic cup could never be how Katsuki smell like. Freshly caramelized sugar smelled warm and sweet, but so powerful and significant at the same time. It attacked all his senses, leaving his mouth water, but Shouto knew it was because he was thinking of Katsuki. 

However, he also knew that it could never be close to Katsuki’s scent. He just knew Katsuki’s natural scent was mixed in, making the scent more Katsuki and less sugar. But he didn’t know. He couldn’t imagine. He hadn’t presented yet. 

It had been several days ever since Katsuki started walking around carrying Kaminari’s scent, according to Iida’s sensitive nose. Midoriya countered his theory of them being early mates, Shouto cringed at the word, stating that Omega’s scent tended to cling longer onto Alpha specifically, due to natural reasons. Iida dropped the subject after sniffing Kirishima and found the same banana scent on him, but the fact that Katsuki was smelling like another person and would keep smelling like that almost enraged Shouto. 

“Katsuki,” Shouto started when they were having their lunch together, alone on the school’s roof. “Don’t scent Kaminari anymore.”

“Hah?” Katsuki frowned. “The idiot scented me! Dune Face keeps forcing his damn bananas on everyone he can reach! He’d better not touch you too!”

“I don’t like you smelling like another person.”

“What now? You can’t even smell pheromones!”

Katsuki didn’t know, but it gave Shouto a little pang in his heart. 

“I don’t, but Iida kept discussing it with us.”

“Is it about me and Dune Face allegedly fucking again? Four Eyes sure is dense for someone who looks at least decent.” Katsuki rolled his eyes while Shouto grimaced at the word. 

“I hate that you smell like someone else and I don’t even know about it.” Shouto muttered while pouting. 

“Can’t help that. Those idiots practically wrap themselves around me all day.” Katsuki shrugged. 

“Is that so…” 

Shouto quietly said, looking back to his lunch box that Katsuki made for him. At least he had something from Katsuki that they didn’t. 

“I can scent you if it makes you feel better.” Katsuki said it so quickly and quietly that Shouto almost missed it. “You won’t smell shit, but Four Eyes will definitely tell you.”

“Really?” 

“Really. Stop sulking as if I stopped being friends with you or something, damn it.” Katsuki lightly swatted at Shouto’s head, something he seemed to like doing. Like a cat.

Shouto looked at him expectantly with comically sparkling eyes, waiting for him as a silent agreement. 

“It won’t last as long as it does on Omega, or even Beta and Alpha. But it’ll be there for a while.”

“How long though?”

“I don’t know. Old hag said something about it lasting for typically two or three hours?”

“Then let’s do it again after class.”

“Your father won’t be happy about that.”

“Let him be.”

Shouto felt his cheeks get warmer as Katsuki scooted closer, his wrist reaching towards him. Katsuki held his hand in his left hand while he rubbed it with his right and repeated it on the other one. He looked focused, and Shouto felt like he was drawn to his meticulous eyes. Their wrists gradually heated up at the touch, then Katsuki shuffled closer, his wrist nearing the base of his neck. As Katsuki got closer and closer, Shouto unconsciously held his breath and froze. He was torn between keeping his eyes open to just watch Katsuki and closing his eyes to lean into Katsuki’s touch. 

“Oi, close your mouth.” Katsuki said, a scowl barely there. He was blushing, but maybe it was the sun. “Don’t make this weird.”

He placed his wrist on the base of Shouto’s neck, where he was taught a scent gland was, and rubbed gently. Katsuki kept his circular motions while avoiding his eyes. Despite his own shyness, Shouto thought Katsuki being flustered while scenting him was cute. His skin on him was soft. Not like Shouto had never touched his skin, but it felt like he was engulfed in clouds of cotton candy being like this. 

“You do this to Kaminari too?” He heard himself asking and immediately regretted it. Way to ruin a moment, Shouto.  

“You still hang up on it?” Katsuki raised a disapproving eyebrow and Shouto almost felt his stomach drop. “Dunce Face’s pheromones cling onto me ‘cause he’s an Omega. I’ve never scented him. The idiot was constantly clinging on us, and had half a mind to be aware of the scent he’s spreading.”

“So I’m the first one you’ve scented?” 

The answer wasn’t important but still significant at the same time. Shouto didn’t want to ask, didn’t even want to mind, but he still wanted Katsuki to give him an answer. 

“Who else? Idiot.” Katsuki muttered and switched hands to scent Shouto’s left scent gland on the base of his neck. 

Shouto could feel the corners of his mouth curving up, his eyelids heavy, and the contentment in his heart was too comfortable. 

“How long do we have left before lunch time ends?” Shouto asked, his voice laced with sleepiness.

“Thirty minutes.”

Shouto let out a hum and dropped himself onto Katsuki’s thighs, drowsiness washing over him out of nowhere. He curled himself up and noozled his face into Katsuki’s lower belly, not a single thought left inside his head except the thought that Katsuki would be kind enough to let him sleep on his thighs, although they had never done this throughout the whole history of their friendship. It seemed like Shouto’s assumption was right. The scenting on his neck didn’t stop, and Katsuki had started stroking his hair lightly to which he felt like eternal bliss. Katsuki was even purring, if he heard correctly. Shouto drifted off peacefully, his mind hadn’t been so quiet for a while. 

“Oh, you spent your lunch with Bakugou?” Iida asked, and Shouto almost missed his question, being freshly woken up and as light as a feather.

“Yes, I did.”

Shouto confirmed a beat later, a little smug that Iida could tell by Katsuki’s scent all over his body. Still, he felt weirdly dejected that Iida didn’t freak out like he usually did when he caught Kaminari or Katsuki smelling like the other one. Wasn’t that enough? Katsuki was properly scenting him, even more than his mom often did for him as a little kid, and he bathed in his pheromone for the whole lunch time. Logically, Shouto should be smelling like an extension of Katsuki himself. Being the straight-forward man he was, Shouto asked Iida directly after class. 

“Oh, the scent on you was quite faint, I believe it was because you haven’t presented yet, so it wasn’t as significant as it was on Kaminari. Did he scent you? Like pack-scenting?”

“Yeah…” Shouto sighed. 

Shouto didn’t even know what to feel. He quietly nodded to Iida to bid him goodbye then headed for the door, where Katsuki was probably waiting. Shouto saw Katsuki just in time to see Kaminari hang his arm around Katsuki’s shoulders, his wrist dangling dangerously close to the scent gland on his childhood friend’s neck. Shouto groaned inaudibly, and strided wide steps to them. He threw Kaminari a glance, hoping he could see and couldn’t see at the same time, then grabbed Katsuki’s hand, trying to make it feel natural. But maybe he couldn’t escape from Katsuki’s eyes after all. Katsuki squeezed his hand in assurance and pushed Kaminari away, berated him for touching him out of nowhere, then curtly nodded to his friends to part ways with them and to go with Shouto. 

“You’re probably smelling like bananas again.” Shouto commented sulkingly. 

“You still smell like me.”

“Iida said it’s only faintly.”

“Don’t listen to Four Eyes too much.”

“I wish I would present as an Omega.” Shouto finally said the thought that had been somewhere in the back of his mind ever since he knew that Katsuki smelled like Kaminari. Or maybe ever since Katsuki was an Alpha.

Katsuki looked at him as if he just said something insane. 

“But why the fuck? Didn’t you train your whole life to be an Alpha?”

“A bit of training can be forgone. I hate that you smell like other people. Or that other people carry more of your scent than me. I have been with you the longest, they don’t have such rights to take you like that.”

Along his sentence, Shouto had shifted so that he was facing Katsuki, his hands resting on his waist. He had half a mind to admire Katsuki’s slender waist, distracted by his incredulous stare. 

“Should have fucking let me know if you’re that possessive.” He rolled his eyes, which looked endearing to Shouto. “It’s not like I scent other people.”

“But they still smell like you! It would be torturous if I finally could smell pheromones and found you smelling like some random person instead of me, just because Alpha wasn’t meant to carry pheromones other than Omega’s. It’s bad enough when Iida thought you and Kaminari were together but knew we were just meeting up because I couldn’t carry much of your scent.”

“It’s just because you haven’t freaking presented…”

“If I was an Alpha, it would be the same! I can’t beat any Omega in that!”

“It’s not a goddamn competition! You know that you’re the only…!”

“I know! But I want others to know that too!” Shouto was raising his voice now, but he was too desperate to care. “Don’t fight me on this. Me being an Omega is the only way…”

“Why are you so fucking hang up on this?” Katsuki cut him short. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Meaning of what?”

“This!” Katsuki gestured to their close proximity and their lingering touches. 

“Isn’t this what we always do?” Shouto replied, too worked up to think straight. 

“Just because this is what we always do? Because it’s convenient? So much that you want to be a fucking Omega despite promising to be my Alpha and fucking protect me and dote on me and everything?” 

“You’re being unreasonable right now.”

“You’re the one who makes no fucking sense!” Katsuki shouted as he pushed Shouto away, untangling their limbs. 

Shouto didn’t know what face he was making, but it must be horrible for Katsuki to stare at him this way. He quickly softened whichever muscle was straining his face and reached for the blonde’s hand again just to be slapped away. 

“That’s cruel, Katsuki.”

“Unless you clear up whatever fucked up bullshit you have in your head, don’t even think about touching me! It makes my skin crawl.” Katsuki growled and turned away, ready to leave. 

His throat let out a choked sound. Shouto wished Katsuki didn’t mean it. He had to say something. He had to make it right. He must do anything in his power to keep Katsuki from leaving. Despite the swirl of thoughts and emotions inside his heart, he couldn’t. Shouto just couldn’t utter a word. He was hurt. Deeply so. The thought of Katsuki being disgusted by him shaken his brain, his soul and his whole being, because Katsuki was always so kind, so indulgent with him, with Shouto. He couldn’t ever have imagined what was going on if he tried to. Yet, he was watching it all unfold before his eyes, unable to take action.

Katsuki, ever so forgiving to him and only him, waited for Shouto to get his words out of the lump in his throat. And it suddenly became much easier to breathe. 

“Katsuki, please.” He pleaded. “Please. Please don’t leave. ”

The blonde didn’t reply, but didn’t leave either. He kept watching him with his beautiful ruby eyes, and it gave Shouto courage to press on.

“I can’t bear the fact that you smell as if you belong to others because I want you to be mine only, and I only want to be yours. Ever since we were children, I have always wanted to be your mate. Please, let me be yours.”

Shouto also wanted to tell him how his heart longed for him even before he could acknowledge it. And how his stomach fluttered weirdly every time Katsuki did something. And how Shouto’s mismatched eyes kept following him, how he wanted to meet Katsuki’s embered one. He also wanted Katsuki to know that he loved cuddling with Katsuki, loved holding his hand and he would love to be able to kiss him on his cheeks, his lips, his everything. 

“And what does that have to do with you becoming an Omega?”

“Isn’t it right? You’re an Alpha, we can only be mates if I turn out to be an Omega.”

“Can’t you just love me, Omega or not? Marks and pheromones and what's not don’t even matter.”

But they mattered to Shouto. They were everything he was taught, everything he had fantasied to do with Katsuki. He couldn’t bring himself to say it, to stir up another fight. So Shouto smiled softly and held his hand, happy that Katsuki didn’t pull away. This was the first time they had something close to a fight. However, he went to sleep that night wishing he would become an Omega. And the night after that. The whole week after. And then months after. After months of waiting, the time had finally come for Shouto to present. He couldn’t wait to bathe in Katsuki’s pheromones and lather him with his own. 

Two days of agony went by. He tried to ignore the memory somewhere in his head with someone saying something about it being more painful presenting as an Alpha, and soothed himself thinking this was barely hurting him. However, it hurt a lot, though Shouto was in no way fragile. The thoughts of Katsuki helped him immensely. So there Shouto was, in his sheets, humping desperately into his pillow that smelled suspiciously like caramel with images of a certain blonde splaying out under him, coming undone from his touches. After coming down from his high, Shouto realized that wasn’t very Omega-like of him, but the thought blurred as the vision of Katsuki in new positions stirred up his lower body. 

Shouto came back from the test. His father was patting his back, talking about how he had great potential and responsibilities ahead of him. His mother and sister smiled at him, saying that he would be the best one yet. His brothers ruffled his hair, congratulating him for turning out like them. Shouto presented as an Alpha. He couldn’t hear a single thing his family said to him. He didn’t want to. Shouto endured the whole way home then excused himself and ran to Katsuki’s, despite the earlier predicament about wanting to be an Omega and their little not-fight. 

“Katsuki.” He called, not minding the tears threatening to stream down his face. 

“Shou…” Katsuki replied as he opened the door but stopped half way when a nutmeg scent rushed to his nose, followed by a spicy hint of clove. “You presented.”

“Yeah. I’m an Alpha.” Shouto nodded and said quietly. He didn’t even look at Katsuki’s face. 

“… Come in.” Katsuki invited Shouto inside without asking further, because he always knew what Shouto wanted. 

Shouto got to sit on Katsuki’s bed for the first time in a while, drink the hot chocolate that he made and wrap himself in his blanket. There was a horde of emotions to process, so much that he almost missed how his heart clenched at the way their scent fit together. Shouto buried his nose into the soft fabric, seeking comfort in Katsuki’s scent while feeling his eyes moist. The fact that Katsuki willingly led him to his den settled in his stomach nicely, calming his nerves somehow. As soon as Katsuki joined him in the bed, he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him down so they could tangle up in each other. Everything became overwhelming all of the sudden, then tears started gushing out, dampening Katsuki’s shirt. 

Normally, Shouto would try his best to suppress his tears in front of Katsuki, because he was taught that Alphas should not showcase their weakness, especially in the presence of their potential mate, but Shouto couldn’t hold in anymore. A soft wrist came up to Shouto’s scent gland, rubbing a sweet scent into him. Blindly, he turned his head toward the gratifying scent, desperately inhaling it as if it was his drug. With hazy eyes, he could see that he had hid his face into the curve of Katsuki’s neck. 

“You can cry as loudly as you want. There’s no one but us.”

Something inside him bursted. Sobs, hiccups and Katsuki’s name in all forms of gibberish spilled out of his mouth. He felt the blonde flinch beneath him, but before he could react, he was grounded in a firm embrace which felt warm and safe and like a dream at the same time. Shouto moved up so his and Katsuki’s face was side by side, then pressed his wet cheek to Katsuki’s velvety one. He was half-pressing Katsuki down in his bed. In other circumstances, this would be a fantasy come true, but in this moment, he just wanted to hold on, like a drowning person who found a float. Katsuki hadn’t asked him what was wrong, and Shouto didn’t know how to tell him yet. But it seemed like Katsuki had already understood, without him having to say a thing. The thought made his heart ache, because of how Katsuki cared about him so much, and how he just couldn’t share his feelings with him right then. 

Shouto cried until he could no longer do so, and fell asleep in Katsuki’s arms. When he woke up, Katsuki was by his side, smelling like caramel and Shouto, and looking at him as if he lit up the sky with sleepy eyes. It was dark outside and the rumble in his stomach told him that he had missed dinner, probably Katsuki had, too. His mother and sister must be worried sick and his father definitely was furious, but Shouto didn’t have the energy to care.

“Asked the hag to tell your folks that you’re staying over. Your old man isn’t very happy but didn’t yap too much.” As if he read his mind, Katsuki told him in a hushed voice. He was still sleepy after all.

“When did you do that?”

“Old hag came by my room earlier.”

“I’ve been laying on top of you the whole time?” Shouto asked as he scrambled to get off of the smaller boy. “Sorry, you must be sore all over.”

“It’s nothing, stupid Shouto. I let you do that, not that you forced me to.”

“You’re always so strong.” Shouto said as he lay down again, absentmindedly reached a hand out to caress Katsuki’s cheek. 

“Damn right. So you can count on me with anything bothering that little pretty head of yours.”

“Thank you.” Shouto mumbled softly, he leaned in to press his face to Katsuki’s neck and stayed there. “I’m trying to be better for you, so count on me too.”

“Of course, idiot.”

A blissful night went by with Katsuki cooking them a late night meal, and laying wordlessly in the comfort of Katsuki’s bed. The blonde had been especially indulging today, letting Shouto restlessly rub his scent all over him and his pillows and his sheets, until both of Shouto’s wrists were red and raw. Mildly satisfied, Shouto laid down with Katsuki again, cradled his smaller frame against his chest and nuzzled into his fluffy hair. Both of them drifted off to dreamland again peacefully in the arms of the other. 

Chapter Text

The emotion storm came in the morning. The sun was up high when both of them were awake and aware enough for a serious conversation. They found themselves standing next to Katsuki’s den, not really wanting to go out of the comfort of the room but too worked up to lay down. Shouto knew this conversation had to come eventually. Even a social inept like him knew that he just couldn’t cry his heart out on someone’s shoulder without elaborating, even though he knew Katsuki wouldn’t press. But Katsuki would worry, and he didn’t want him to be. He hadn’t found the right words yet, but Katsuki was patient enough. He always was with him, even now, as he waited for Shouto to find his word while not shooing him out of his den. His head was still messy, but he figured he could talk to Katsuki about how his family made him feel first.

“I presented as an Alpha.”

“I fucking knew since yesterday.” Katsuki scoffed.

“Yeah. My parents were so happy. Touya, Fuyumi and Natsuo too.”

Katsuki nodded, seeming like he had already had an idea where this was going. 

“And I don’t know if they meant it, but it just seemed like,” Shouto paused, finding the right word but found none, “like they wouldn’t be as happy if I presented as an Omega. Like they don’t,” he paused again, finding the word hard to say this time, “don’t love me or something. Like I have to be something so they can love me. But I have no way to know if it’s true since I’m an Alpha now.”

The blonde sighed, probably had already anticipated this conversation, like always. He reached out, had to tiptoe a bit and it was cute enough that Shouto briefly forgot he was hurting, and carded his fingers through Shouto’s hair gently. Shouto leaned into his touch, it felt natural and familiar. He was used to Katsuki’s way of comforting people. He had the right heart and mind, just not usually good at voicing it. Therefore, he tended to reach out clumsily first, before carefully speaking his thoughts, like what he was doing now, although his words still came out brash and unpolished. Katsuki seemed to be thinking deeply, because his hand had strayed from the top of Shouto’s head to his nape, intimately close to his scent gland without noticing. Or maybe he did notice, that was why Katsuki’s caramel scent was becoming so comforting. Shouto got to bathe in his scent for a while before Katsuki started mumbling-grumbling. 

“‘That’s why people have fucking conversations about this, Shouto. You told me, so I know about your feelings, but if you didn’t, I would just assume that you were tired from the presenting process. You have to tell your family the shits you’re thinking.”

“So they could lie to my face?” Shouto grimaced.

“Hey, you haven’t even known that yet! And I don’t think your old man is the type to sugar coat stuff. They birthed you, of course they would love you.” Katsuki frowned, “After asking, if you’re not satisfied with the answer, I can always ask the old hag to put pressure on them to let you stay here. At least for a while.”

“Will you come with me when I do?”

“Of course.” Katsuki’s hand trailed to his face, messaging his heated cheek, where tears dried up last night. It was sticky and the friction made it awkward, but it still felt good nonetheless. 

Shouto hummed and buried his head into Katsuki’s shoulder. The blonde was right. He should be more open about his feelings, at least to the people that were close to him. Moping around and second guessing himself wasn’t his style either, he had to be Shouto for this. Taking in another lung full of Katsuki’s pheromones, Shouto thought about his second dilemma. 

“I’m still sad that I became an Alpha. We can’t mate anymore.”

Shouto was still absentmindedly finding ways to be closer to Katsuki’s skin, preferably getting rid of his shirt, so he didn’t see the way his velvety cheeks turned dusk red at the word “mate”. For as long as he could remember, Shouto was training to be a proper Alpha with Katsuki in his mind. He trained so he could be the perfect mate for Omega Katsuki. But now that Katsuki was an Alpha, Shouto was a little lost. 

“You are talking as if you’re in love with me.” Katsuki didn’t let Shouto overthink for long. 

Shouto freezed and slowly turned to meet Katsuki’s eyes. Katsuki wasn’t teasing. Shouto wasn’t sure if what he said was true. If there was something he learnt from his family, it was that romantic feelings could only exist between opposite sexes. Touya only dated Omegas, Fuyumi was engaged to an Alpha, Natsu was taking interest in a certain Omega, and his own parents, though everything wasn’t always rosy and pinky, they were Alpha and Omega. Shouto couldn’t possibly be in love with Katsuki. They were both Alphas. There was no such thing as love between Alphas, at least he had heard of none. 

But again, if it wasn’t love, then what was he doing in Katsuki’s bed? Selfishly scenting him and burying himself in his scent? Why were his pheromones so enticing and comforting to Shouto at the same time, despite them being from an Alpha? Should he be concerned? Was it strange? Worse, was he making Katsuki uncomfortable? Katsuki was also an Alpha. A very prominent one, if the whispers of the Omegas and Betas at school meant anything. However, Katsuki let Shouto scent him and his den as if it was an Omega nest. Wasn’t that against Katsuki’s instincts? Was he enduring it by any chance?

“Stop thinking about unnecessary stuff. Answer the damn question how you see fit. Stop with the Alpha Omega shits. Does Shouto love Katsuki?”

Shouto thought back to the romance movies he used to watch with his mom or Fuyumi, to the love confession and their definition of love. The typical butterflies-in-stomach, the wanting-to-care for the other, the want-to-be-close, want-to-touch, the I-envisioned-us-together-forever-as-lovers, Shouto had had them all, or maybe even more than that. His feelings seemed to fit the description. And he wanted this to be love, so at least he had something to be worthy of being by Katsuki’s side like this while not being able to be his mate. 

“I think he does.” Shouto said, rubbing his cheek on Katsuki’s again. “Very much.”

“Then we are a couple.”

“I don’t think it works like that.” Shouto frowned, he pulled away just enough to look at Katsuki’s eyes. 

“It works like that.” Katsuki adamantly declared, “I’m fucking in love with you too, dumbass. That’s all it takes to be a damn couple. Two people in love. It doesn’t have to be an Alpha and an Omega. It doesn’t have to be a boy Beta and a girl Beta. Just you and me, as we fucking are. ”

Shouto was at a loss for words for a long while, trying to make sense of what Katsuki said and what he was taught. He stared at Katsuki, wide-eyed, as if he had just said something ground-breaking. And Katsuki, still patient with Shouto in his own way, clicked his tongue and turned away from the intense stare, blossom graced his cheeks. Even in a tumor of his own thoughts, Shouto still had the heart to take in his pretty face. He must be crazy.

“Stop overworking that tiny brain of yours.” Katsuki clicked his tongue again, and what he said next left even himself blushing furiously. “Do you want to hold me or not?”

“I do.” Shouto was torn between a lot of things, but this was something he was sure about. 

Shouto moved decisively towards Katsuki’s open arms and fitted himself in with ease. He rested his head against the fluffy blond hair, with Katsuki mushed his face onto Shouto’s neck. Katsuki was gripping his shirt tightly while Shouto absentmindedly traced his fingers up and down on Katsuki’s back, trying to untangle his thoughts. As if Katsuki could read what was going on in his head, he slowly rubbed his neck against Shouto’s, sharing his grounding scent with him. It helped a lot, so much that it sent Shouto into another dilemma regarding how much he loved Katsuki’s scent. 

Katsuki was an Alpha, and Shouto was too, so naturally, Shouto would have to hate his scent, because it was Alpha’s instinct to be territorial and wary of other Alphas. And Katsuki should have hated Shouto’s scent, too. His own thoughts hurt more than he could ever have expected. Waves and waves of pain surged from his heart through his chest, making him visibly shiver. Was hurting like this normal? Shouto hated feeling like this, so it must not be normal. But being an Alpha, it wasn’t normal to bask in another Alpha’s pheromones and wish to drown in them either, so Shouto was left confused. 

“Let’s go to your fucking house.” Katsuki said while untangling himself from Shouto’s hold. 

“Now?” But Shouto wanted to never leave this bliss, if possible.

“Yes, now . If you can’t figure out the whole mating-me-thing yet,” Shouto noticed Katsuki blushing and slightly stuttering when he said that, and it was cute, “at least solve the problem with your damned family.”

“I don’t know if I can ask them that.” Shouto honestly said. 

“We’ll figure something out.”

Shouto didn’t really know what to say, and he probably didn’t have to voice it out since it was just a feeling, and Katsuki knew his feelings like the back of his hand, most of the time. But he loved how “I” almost always became “we” with Katsuki. It was like they belonged together. It showed that he cared, he cared so much that it became his matter too. And Shouto supposed that was the same with him, because it was evident in every way. He wondered if it was how love worked, just like how Katsuki said. Two people in love, so they cared enough to be involved. Then Katsuki held his hand and squeezed it once, his red eyes looking into Shouto’s mismatched ones. Katsuki didn’t need to say a thing and neither did Shouto. It always worked when words didn’t suffice.

They finally, officially got out of bed and got dressed. Katsuki fixed Shouto’s bed hair before his own, then cooked brunch and fed them both. Shouto secretly felt like flying, because Katsuki had a routine where he made it his life mission to wake up early and never have anything as unscientific as “brunch”, and he broke it just for Shouto. Because Shouto was sad and he cared. And Shouto had decided that he loved it when Katsuki cared. He suddenly felt like he was taking Katsuki’s kindness for granted. There must be something he could do for Katsuki. His brain was running miles again, however, upon receiving one meaningful glance from Katsuki, he managed to put the problem in the back of his mind. One problem at a time, he reminded himself. Shouto would mull this over after talking to his family.

The two boys made it to the Todoroki’s household just as they were getting ready for their timely lunch. They always had lunch at around half past eleven like it was an unspoken rule. If they didn’t, Enji, as the Alpha of the house, would make sure they did as soon as possible. Shouto greeted his family first, then it was Katsuki’s turn. They had such a long history of being friends that Katsuki got scolded by Shouto’s dad for Shouto suddenly leaving his house and being out late right after his presentation. Still, dad begrudgingly agreed when mom thanked Katsuki for taking care of Shouto last night. Shouto’s family had probably noticed his puffy eyes, but no one had said anything yet. It was a good thing, Shouto didn’t know what he’d say if they pointed that out.

Katsuki nudged him, encouraging him to talk about his feelings. His hand found his back and patted softly, just like he did back at his house.While allowing himself to be calmed down by Katsuki’s presence, Shouto was digging through his vocabulary, finding a way to talk about it without hurting anyone. Or angering anyone, because the temperament in the Todoroki household had always been bad. While frantically searching for his words, Shouto smelled Katsuki’s pheromones wavering faintly, but it helped steel Shouto’s resolve all the same. 

“If I were to present as an Omega, would you still love me?” The question felt like it was directed to his dad, but it was for all of his family.

“But you’re an Alpha?” Natsu asked, not really understanding why the question mattered. 

“But if I were not,” Shouto frustratedly repeated, already regretting his wording. “Would you all still love me?”

“Secondary genders cannot be transitioned, just so you know.” Touya added, half jokingly, while still staring at him as if he had grown another head. 

“I’m not planning to!” Shouto was getting more and more impatient by the seconds, but he still couldn’t phrase it better. 

“You didn’t want to be an Alpha, Shouto?” Fuyumi asked. 

“Well, yes but no, ” Even Shouto found himself ridiculous now, “I mean, I was kind of hoping until…”

“Shouto meant to ask if you folks love him as Shouto, not Alpha Shouto.”  Katsuki intervened, right when Shouto thought he was going to combust. 

Shouto was feeling like a damsel in distress as Katsuki swooped in and saved the day. He secretly hoped that there were moments when he was like a knight in shining armor for the blonde too.

“Hell yeah! Man, if Shouto were to present as an Omega, I would have someone to turn to when I have problems with my boyfriend.” Touya stuck his tongue out teasingly. 

“I didn’t even think about it that much. I’m just glad that you came out intact after that insane presentation.” Natsu shrugged. 

“You’re still my baby brother, Alpha or not. It’s not like I’m going to stop calling you to help me around the house.” Fuyumi chuckled. 

“Shouto, I’d carried you for nearly ten months and raised you for 16 years. I’ve loved you before you even got your name.” Rei smiled sweetly. “What made you think that we would stop loving you just because you are not an Alpha? Of course we had our expectations and were glad when it came true, but it’s okay if it didn’t, and you don’t have to meet it either.”

Shouto couldn’t be more grateful and he wanted nothing but to run to their arms right now, but the head of the house, his Alpha dad, hadn’t said anything yet. He was sitting there, arms crossed, staring at the table, seemingly deep in thought. Shouto, and the rest of the family, including Katsuki, held their breath while they waited for him to speak. Despite the situation, Shouto was happy that Katsuki fit into his family so well that he didn't even feel awkward. He knew that Katsuki thought the traditional dynamic in his household was “bullshit” , still, Katsuki was sharing his emotions, as if their souls were connected. Enji was still deep in thought, but he looked up from the table to meet his youngest son’s eyes, especially the one mirroring his own. 

“I’ll talk to you later.” And Enji ended the topic at that. 

However, his blue eyes followed his son and his son’s childhood friend, lingering on how their hands discreetly touch each other. He let out a sigh, it wasn’t like he hadn’t told his son before. 

Shouto led Katsuki to the outer gate of his house, not really wanting to let him go. His hand unconsciously found Katsuki’s, making the boy linger more than he’d like. Out of impulse, Shouto started scrubbing their wrists together, mixing their scent. Katsuki smelled calm though a bit worried, Shouto saw him looking into his eyes before his scent got sweeter and warmer. Katsuki was calming his nerves, and it worked magically. The two of them stood at the gate, wordlessly looking at each other, sharing their scents as if it wasn’t the most intimate thing. Shouto wanted nothing more than to run back to Katsuki’s den and spend the night, but maybe not tonight. Running his hand on Katsuki’s milky skin once more, Shouto wondered if the boy liked this as much as him, them being close and intimate, even though both of them were Alphas. Shouto guessed Katsuki must like it though, since he let him do it and even told Shouto that he was in love with him too. Too. The feelings were mutual, despite his inner tumor. Katsuki saw right through him and took his heart, giving him Katsuki’s. 

“We need to talk again. About us.” Shouto said while holding his hand, not planning to let go before he had an answer. 

“Solve your problem first, you multitasker.” Katsuki scoffed. 

With one last squeeze of his hand, Katsuki pried himself out of Shouto's grip and scolded him, urging him to get back into the house and talk with his dad. Shouto found himself steadier and braver as he breathed in the scent lingering on his wrist. The power Katsuki had over him was unmatched. When Shouto got in, Enji signaled for him to follow him to the garden. Shouto didn’t really understand what their talk had to do with the garden, but since Enji was always there when he had time, he thought that this was Enji’s favorite place to talk. His father led him to a snow pine in the middle of his garden. This snow pine belongs in a little group of an arborvitae, a dwarf nandina, a water jasmine bonsai, an old plum blossom and a Japanese Yew Podocarpus which was towering over them all, its foliage spreading above them. Shouto had always thought this arrangement was a little strange, although he knew nothing about bonsai, he could see that they were all different kinds of plant, there was no uniformity. 

“Recently, I thought that I should trim the Japanese Yew Podocarpus’s foliage. It was getting too big and taking up sunlight from the other.” Enji started. 

Shouto didn’t know how to reply to that. Enji had always had gardening as a hobby for all of Shouto’s life, but he had never once understood the hype behind it. Secretly, he thought that his father was too busy and impatient for something like gardening. He even thought that it was uncharacteristic. 

“But the foliage is protecting these from rain and storms too. It has been like that since forever.” Enji explained, but Shouto was still confused. “What do you think, Shouto?”

Shouto thought about it seriously. Although the arrangement still looked strange to him, he could see what his dad was talking about. 

“I think the, uh, three trees without flowers look strong and sturdy enough, so they must be able to withstand the storm. I think them getting more sunlight is more necessary. The one with little white flowers looks strong too, and the other three are surrounding it, so they should help protect it from storms that are too strong. The one with larger white flowers looks bigger but it’s kind of old, still the big tree, uh, the Japanese, Japanese Yew Podocarpus’s trunk is covering its left while the other ones are crowding its right, so I think it would be okay. You can trim the foliage a bit.”

“Is that so?” Enji replied, seeming to be deep in thought. “It has always been big like that.”

“Maybe it was good when the other plants were young, but they are strong enough now.”

“I see.” Enji nodded. 

Shouto didn’t really think Enji would actually agree with him. Maybe he had been torn about this for a while. He must really care about his garden. 

“Why did you arrange this group like that?”

“Every arrangement in the garden has a meaning, Shouto. For example, that snow pine was planted when you were born. And that Japanese Yew Podocarpus was the first one to be here.”

Shouto thought he might understand what Enji was saying, just a little bit. 

“Do you mean that the snow pine is me? And the Yew is you?”

“Japanese Yew Podocarpus, Shouto.”

“The one with big flowers must be mom. And the one with small flowers must be Fuyumi.”

“How about the last two?”

“Must be Touya and Natsu. The bamboo-looking one is shorter, so that must be Touya.”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Enji smiled as he looked at his garden. 

There was a weird warmth in Shouto’s chest when he figured the little family of trees out. His dad was handling a little family of trees. Their little family of trees. How cute was that. 

“Shouto, although I’d like you to be an Alpha, it doesn’t mean that I love you as one. I love you as Shouto, and I thought being an Alpha is the best route to go. The society is easier on Alphas. If it could be helped, I’d want Fuyumi to be Alpha too.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“So it would be okay if I were an Omega?” Shouto pressed. 

“I’d be worried, but it’s okay. I have means to protect you, just like how I’m trying to protect Fuyumi.”

Oh. He was worried, because Shouto was his son, and he loved him. That was something Shouto didn’t know. For all he knew, his dad had been strict and somewhat over controlling all his life. It was a pity, since Shouto liked being loved. But he guessed he could somewhat feel it now. Shouto was satisfied with his father’s answers to his question, however, it still felt like there was something more he needed to ask. 

“What was that about? The cutting-the-foliage?”

Enji scoffed. His youngest son was always a little dense, even denser than the loud, energetic first born and the reserved, stubborn third born combined. 

“Go talk to your mother. She’s been wanting to talk to you.”

Shouto didn’t really understand, but it wasn’t like his dad was acting strange. It was indeed strange compared to Shouto’s early years, since he was so strict and even distant sometimes. But in recent years, he was home more, whatever business at the corporate was brushed aside when he was home. Dad joined mom in the kitchen, in the laundry room, and Shouto had never seen his mom more radiant. He used to do the dishes only when he had time, but he was frequently in the kitchen now, learning how to cook while mom taught both him and Natsu. He changed, gradually, so Shouto didn’t really notice until this very moment. People could change, and he could only see it right then. 

He went to his mom as he was told. She was knitting something, it had become her hobby recently, as the sewing machine was occupied by Fuyumi and her new costume project for the kids she was teaching. She smiled softly when he came in. Her smile didn’t used to be so bright, Shouto noted. So she changed, too. Maybe it was because his dad had changed. 

“You want to talk to me?”

“Yeah, sit down next to me, Shouto.” She patted the space next to her. It was really close to her. 

Shouto did what she told him and sat close by. She smiled again, seeing him willing to sit so close. Touya and Natsu refused to sit close to their parents, now that they were “grownups”. It was great to see her baby boy still wanting to be close to his mother. 

“I was wanting to talk to you about love.” 

“Love? Why so suddenly?” Shouto asked, but deep down, he had a clue. 

“Because I could see that you have found one.” She said, setting her knitting tools down. “What do you think of Katsuki?”

“I…” Shouto hesitated. Should he tell her the conversation he had with Katsuki earlier?

“I think Katsuki is a sweet boy, behind all those brash exterior.” She chuckled. “He might be grumpy, but he cares about the people close to him. I can see that very clearly.”

Shouto nodded. His mom was completely right. 

“He is a determined one, too. He has ambitions and dreams that he readily follows and has plans to work towards them. I think he is very disciplined. People like him are rare.”

Shouto nodded again. Those were things that he liked about Katsuki, but they weren’t everything. 

“What do you think about him?”

“I think… I think that I like him.” Shouto said. 

“I can see that. We like him too.” His mom said, urging him to say more. 

“No, I mean, I love him.” Shouto elaborated. “As like, I want to be with him all the time.” And also kiss him, touch him and mate with him forever, but Shouto didn’t need to say that much. 

“What’s stopping you? From what I see, he loves you just the same.”

“I don’t know… Dad will be angry?”

“He won’t, I’m sure of it.” She smiled. “He changed. You don’t see him nagging you about not hanging out with Katsuki anymore do you? Even though you would still do it without his permission.”

Shouto thought back and realized the last time Enji talked about distancing him from Katsuki was a long time ago. He remembered finally lashing out at him. They had a big argument and he ran to Katsuki’s house, staying there for two whole days before he really had to go back. Katsuki had been understanding like yesterday, too. And he hadn’t left Shouto’s side. 

“I bet he won’t like it if he knows that I love love Katsuki though.” Shouto said, out of spite. His dad’s words were harsh that night. 

“He knows, Shouto. He also saw it, like I did. And he had to admit it, love is love. ” 

Shouto looked at his mother with wide eyes, not knowing what to say. 

“And even if he was still against it, you should still go for your love anyway. It’s your happiness. It’s someone you will be with for life.” Rei looked at Shouto as she caressed her son’s burn scar. “Katsuki is someone who loves you for who you are, so I don’t have anything against you loving him.”

“Even if he was an Alpha?”

“Even if he was Alpha, Beta or Omega. He is still Katsuki, the one you love.”

Shouto looked deep in thought. It was sad to say, but he was unfamiliar with this kind of support from his family. 

“Have you talked about this with Katsuki?” 

“I did, last night.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he loved me too.” Shouto said as he unconsciously smiled fondly. The memory still gave him butterflies. 

“Then you have our full support. Go and court the boy. Sweep him off his feet.” His mom gave him an uncharacteristic thumb-up and Shouto found it in himself to laugh so hard that he was rolling on the floor. 

Although Shouto didn’t care about his family’s approval at all, his ever-lasting friendship with Katsuki despite whatever his dad used to say proved that much, it was a relief to see how supportive they were about his feelings and perhaps decisions. However, Shouto was not very good with handling his emotions and carrying out actions accordingly, so he found himself at Fuyumi’s room, stretching out his long limbs on her wool carpet that she had crochet herself. Shouto often turned to Fuyumi for some of his problems in the past, the problems that he shared with Katsuki first, then the blonde knocked on his head as he told him to “tell your damn family” . He found sharing his woes with his family members harder than with Katsuki. Being with Katsuki was just easy like that . However, if he wanted to do this right, he had to consult someone first for what to finally tell Katsuki.

“Sister, can an Alpha love another Alpha?”

“Well, for instance, I know a case that is very familiar with us.” Fuyumi replied with a raised brow.

“Who?”

“Todoroki Shouto.” She shrugged, a smile spread wide on her face.

Shouto pouted as he looked at his sister. He went to her because he thought she wouldn’t tease him, and because she was the one with the most emotional maturity out of the four of the Todoroki children. However, it seemed like Fuyumi had picked up teasing when he wasn’t looking. He flipped himself on his stomach and pushed himself onto his elbows, waiting for her to get his signal and be serious. Fuyumi looked at her brother before chuckling lightly as she said.

“People can fall in love, Shouto. Gender doesn’t even matter. That's what I’ve learned over the years. The feelings of attraction might take genders into consider, but real love? Love doesn’t. Love sees past genders.”

“But you only dated Alphas.” Shouto retorted.

“They courted me first, and I went out with the ones that I thought were decent.” Fuyumi shrugged. “It might be my sexuality. I’m straight.”

“Touya and Natsuo only dated Omegas.”

“That’s their preference. They are straight, too.” Fuyumi breathed in, trying to find her reason.

“So I’m strange?”

“No, your case is unique. I don’t even know if you are straight or not, since you had never taken interest in anyone other than him.” She stressed. “I mean, very few people have what you have with Katsuki. The rest of us don’t, for instance. It is a special bond.”

Shouto nodded. His sister provided not much needed information, but it wasn’t like he knew how to press for more. He was actually aware that what they had were special; not because people usually didn’t have that, he couldn’t careless; but because he didn't feel the same with anyone. Be it Alpha, Beta or even Omega, be it the friends he had other than Katsuki, no one had ever given him the feeling of comfort and security and love and everything like Katsuki had. Saying it seemed whimsical, but it felt like fate, like they were meant to be. And Shouto wouldn’t trade it for anything. No, he wouldn’t accept anyone else in the place he had reserved for Katsuki in his heart. It felt like love. Maybe it was really love, even though it went against everything he had learned, everything he had known. But Shouto was ready to tear it all down and learn how to love all over again, for Katsuki and just Katsuki. He could change too.

Chapter Text

After talking with his family, Shouto went back to his room and spent his time alone to think about everything he had learned from when he was a kid until then. The change was drastic, really. From his dad trying to stop him from hanging out with Katsuki because both of them would become Alphas to his mom and sister, and probably his dad, encouraging him to court Katsuki, the said Alpha, while being an Alpha himself. And while he had to stress again that Shouto didn’t care what his family thought or what anyone else beside Katsuki thought, he knew Katsuki would appreciate the approval, because Katsuki, behind all that bravado, still obeyed his own parents and took what they say to heart. If they decided to be together, Katsuki would care a lot about what Shouto’s family had to say. They watched him grow up too, after all. Moreover, approval meant one less thing to deal with on top of everything they had to navigate through.

But then again, were they going to be together? Could Alphas be together as a couple? Shouto had heard of examples where Alpha lovers would find an Omega mate for their activities and eventually add the Omega to the mix, but that wasn't what Shouto wanted. He wanted them together and only the two of them, no more, no less. Katsuki was the only one he wanted as his mate. He couldn’t even imagine being with anyone else. He might just fight the other person constantly for Katsuki’s love and attention, and that would be exhausting for all three of them. Could they work it out with just Shouto and Katsuki? Could they work around the instincts or somehow win against the instincts? Shouto felt like he was making no progress sitting here alone and wrecking his brain over this, but he had to think about it, because he desperately wanted to be with Katsuki. He needed this to work. 

“Katsuki!” 

Shouto found himself at Katsuki’s doorstep again later that day. It was way past Katsuki’s bedtime, and usually he would respect that, but he couldn’t wait any longer. He was in such a rush that he forgot to change his slippers, and he called out the blonde’s name loudly even before reaching his house. Out of habit, he looked up to Katsuki’s window and saw that the grumpy boy had peeked out of his curtains to glare at Shouto, the effects dulled since he was sleepy. Cute . When he reached the porch, Mitsuki, Katsuki’s mom, opened the door for him with a surprised expression. Shouto hurriedly bowed to her and explained himself, apologizing for the odd hour and for the night before when he crashed at the house without properly informing her. Before Mitsuki could dismiss him with her “you are always welcomed here any hour”, Katsuki had yelled from upstairs for him to come. So he bowed to her again and rushed upstairs to Katsuki’s room, where he was waiting. 

“Took you long enough.” Katsuki grumbled as he let Shouto in his room then immediately dropped himself onto his bed. 

Shouto chuckled as Katsuki wrapped himself in his blanket, turning into a lump of pillows and drapes with little blond tufts peaking out. Although Katsuki had his back to him, he left enough space for Shouto to know that he was actually inviting him into his den. Carefully, Shouto lifted the blanket and snuggled in, tucked himself in firmly and checked Katsuki’s side if he had accidentally pulled the blanket too hard. He didn’t. Nonetheless, Shouto scooted closer. As he buried his face in the crook of Katsuki’s neck, a sweet scent leaked out. It was caramel, but happier. It was just a feeling, since Shouto was so new to pheromones and didn’t really know how to pick up emotions in scents. However, he thought that he knew Katsuki enough to not have to rely on pheromones. That was a perk he had over everyone, even the Omegas with the best noses. He hoped he was emitting happy scents too, since he also wanted Katsuki to know. 

“What did you folks say?” Katsuki asked, voice muffled by layers of blankets. 

“They said they loved me.” Shouto answered with a smile on his face. 

He hid nothing from Katsuki, so he relayed the little family of bonsai trees that his dad was keeping to Katsuki, to which the blond boy laughed out loud, told him about the cutting-the-foliage part that he still hadn’t understand, the talk with his mom and the talk with his sister, and the things he had been thinking about all evening. Katsuki was mostly quiet, save for the laughter and the little chuckle here and there. Shouto thought he was really a good listener, but maybe that was just Shouto being both dense and in love. When he finished, Katsuki asked, or rather, scoffed.

“I bet you haven’t figured out what the metaphor behind cutting-the-foliage was.”

“Yeah, I haven't,” Shouto truthfully admitted. “Have you?”

“Of course, dumbass.” Katsuki said and Shouto was glad there was only one dumbass in this relationship. “It means your dad is trying to be less controlling. No more strict rules and bullshit.”

“Oh. So that’s why he let mom and sister encourage me to court you.” said Shouto, while Katsuki clicked his tongue in response.

“I’ve already known that you’d confess to me in some weird Shouto way. Just didn’t know it would be this dumb, you dumbass.” Katsuki said as he turned around to face Shouto. His nose was a breath away from Shouto’s, but both of them didn’t mind. 

“Confess?” Shouto repeated, dumbfounded. He pouted, Katsuki sure liked to call him ‘dumbass’.

“Yeah, you have just confessed your love to me, by telling me your parents and sister figured out that you love me and they were now encouraging you to court me.” Katsuki messed up Shouto’s hair as he talked. “How lame is that.”

“Oh. I was actually thinking hard about how to tell you. I will make it up to you then. Will you let me court you?”

“Typical Half-n-Half.” Katsuki playfully clicked his tongue. “Of course.”

“Really? Even though we’re both Alphas?” Shouto smiled. He didn’t know he would miss this nickname. 

“Why are you still so hung up about that? Damn.” The blonde knocked him on his head. 

“Because I want to properly mate with you.” Shouto said in all seriousness. “Scenting and marking and sex, I want to do them all.” Then, as he moved even closer to hold the other boy’s tiny waist, he whispered. “I have been fantasizing about it.”

He heard Katsuki gasping and felt his small frame freeze under his arm. He heard heartbeats pick up pace, but he didn’t know if it was Katsuki’s or his. Maybe both. Shouto drew even closer, taking in the heat from the other boy’s body. He was heating up. With their chests flushed against each other, Shouto could finally feel both of their hearts. They were both beating fast. It was sudden, but he felt like something inside of him jumped in happiness. 

“Shut up.” Katsuki muttered, almost inaudible because of how strained his voice was. “Sleep, damn it. I’m tired.”

“Okay.” Shouto easily agreed. “Let’s have this talk some other day.”

They had all the time in the world together. 

When they were preparing to leave for school the next morning, Katsuki stopped Shouto as he was halfway through putting on his uniform. With their shirts unbuttoned and their belts unclosed, Katsuki took daring steps closer. Shouto could hear his heartbeat amplified with each of Katsuki’s soft footsteps. It wasn’t like they hadn’t changed together, they had even bathed together, not only as kids but recently. However, there was something special in Katsuki’s eyes. Something possessive. Something instinctual. It made Shouto shiver, in a good way. In a way that Shouto wanted the waves to keep coming. 

“I’ll scent you.” Katsuki didn’t ask, he announced.

Shouto let him. He leaned to the side as Katsuki pulled open his collar, his wrist came in contact with his scent gland, rubbing softly in circles, spreading caramel onto him. Because of the recent events, Shouto hadn’t really had the time to think about his own scent, but as the sweet smell intertwined with his, Shouto thought nutmeg and clove was the best thing he could smell like. The scent merged with Katsuki’s so well, it was like they were meant to be. It was like they were a fated pair. It seemed like Katsuki thought so too, as he leaned in and took a deep breath of their mingled scents. His sharp ruby red eyes turned hazy, his lips parted as if he wanted to taste the air. Shouto moved automatically, his hands found Katsuki’s hips like they belonged there, while Katsuki moved both of his hands to rest his wrists on both of Shouto’s neck scent glands, longing for the alluring fragrance. It was like the both of them were in a trance, doing whatever felt right. 

“This is fucking bad.” Katsuki murmured, his breath tickling Shouto’s neck. “I have never felt like this.”

“I have.” Shouto breathed. 

Yes, he had. In all of his dreams and fantasies, he had shamelessly envisioned himself holding Katsuki and them coming undone together, then shamelessly touched himself to the thought. Shouto was almost glad that he wasn’t so good at expressing his emotions, or else those innocent cuddle sessions with Katsuki would have been disastrous. It wasn’t like Shouto didn’t like it when they were just cuddling and being close in general, but he couldn’t help his mind supplying lewd images of Katsuki whenever they were too close. Shouto moved his hands up from Katsuki’s hips, caging his waist and squeezed lightly. Katsuki jumped at the sensation and let out a little gasp, his arms tightening around Shouto’s neck. Suddenly craving for the blonde’s reaction, Shouto kept moving his hands up slowly under Katsuki’s shirt. 

“Hey, stop. We have to go to school.” Katsuki said between what Shouto could only interpret as moans. 

Although he didn’t really want to stop, he listened to the blonde. “I’d like to continue this when we get home.” He whispered.

“Bastard.” Katsuki grunted as he swiped at Shouto’s head like a cat might do. His whole face was flushed.

It wasn’t a no.

“I want to scent you too.”

“You have left enough scent on me already. Let’s go, I don’t wanna be late.”

Shouto reluctantly let go. To compensate for their missed opportunity, Katsuki held his hand all the way to their class, making Shouto feel like he was floating and Katsuki was just pulling him along. They were greeted by over-enthusiastic classmates who congratulated Shouto on presenting and teased them for being inseparable. Shouto was content. All he needed now was to arrange a proper confession that Katsuki deserved, and then they could be boyfriends, then date for a few years before Shouto got on one knee and ask Katsuki for them to be mates. He had this progress memorized from Fuyumi’s romance movies, so it must be perfect. He was on cloud nine almost all day, to which Katsuki would probably disapprove, but he couldn’t help it until they were finally a couple. Even then, Shouto didn’t think he could stop dreaming about the blond. Maybe he was a bit drunk on the pheromones. Maybe it wasn’t just a bit.

The day went on uneventfully until something happened in the afternoon during their PE class. They were separated into two teams to play dodgeball. The competitiveness and the abundance of Alphas in their class had sent Kaminari, who was an Omega, into heat early. The omega collapsed right beside Katsuki, sweating profusely while his scent blockers threatened to fall off. Katsuki, being the sweet friend who pretended to be cold he was, was contemplating between protecting the helpless Omega from the Alphas or distancing himself because he was also a threat to Kaminari. In a daze, the Omega in Kaminari found the familiar Alpha scent on Katsuki, so he clinged onto him and refused to let go. Katsuki, who looked like he had jumped out of his own skin, turned red almost immediately while trying his best to shrug off Kaminari without setting him off even more. 

Shouto covered his own nose and backed off from Kaminari, but the scent was so strong that he could still smell the scent of ripe bananas very clearly. It was concerning, he felt his body heating up by the seconds. The Alpha in him was reacting to the calling of Omega. But he didn’t want to be attracted to Kaminari, or any Omega and Alpha. He only wanted Katsuki. Controlling his own breath, he backed off a few more steps and felt his body gradually cooling down. Maybe the pheromones were not that strong. Katsuki must be doing a good job helping Kaminari, by whatever means he was using. It seemed like the other Alphas in the class couldn’t agree with Shouto. They were crouching, standing in stances, getting ready to fight even Katsuki to take the Omega. 

“Back off, fuckers! Don’t touch him!” Katsuki growled while shielding Kaminari from those hungry Alphas. Shouto wondered why Katsuki didn’t feel bothered either. Maybe he wanted Shouto as much as Shouto wanted him?

The scent of burnt sugar was spreading fast in the gym, daring any Alpha to get closer. Shouto could see some of them visibly hesitated, but the stronger ones still pressed on with their challenge in a trance-like state controlled by their instincts. Shouto must do something. Katsuki and him were the only ones not affected by the commotion. The other Omegas and the Betas had retreated to a corner of the gym, submitting to the aggressive Alpha pheromones. He was about to run out to find Mister Aizawa when he heard Kaminari moaning. 

“Alpha… Please…” Kaminari instinctually begged as he clawed at Katsuki’s pants. “Need… your knot. Please… I’ll be good!”

“Dunce Face, keep your hands to yourself.” Katsuki warned sternly. “You’ll regret this.”

Or so he said, but Katsuki, ever the soft-hearted one, released a comforting pheromone for Kaminari, who purred loudly and temporarily stopped trying to get into his pants. As soon as a whiff of sweet caramel reached his nose, Shouto’s Alpha went off alarmingly. Our Alpha! Our mate is being stolen! That Omega is no good! Take back our Alpha! Claim him before that bad Omega can! Shouto couldn’t calm himself before the spicy scent of clove flared. Angry and possessive, it bombarded the gym, making some of the Alphas visibly shiver and all of them freeze. Shouto took stride after stride towards Katsuki, his Alpha, and Kaminari, the Omega who was trying to mate with his Alpha . A sense of reason in him was trying to convince him that Kaminari was in a vulnerable state and couldn’t control his instincts, but it was drowned out by his own growling Alpha. Shouto wrapped his arms around Katsuki and forcefully yanked him out of the Omega’s grip. 

“ Back off, Omega. ” Shouto roared without knowing the impact of what he did. “He’s mine.”

All blood drained from Kaminari’s face as he let out a whimper and backed off unwillingly. The rest of the class looked like they saw a ghost, but it wasn’t like Shouto cared. He encaged Katsuki with one of his arms around his neck to block off his scent glands from potential threats, like the Omega, and the other arm around his waist so that his body was kept flushed against him. He heard Katsuki click his tongue. He must be annoyed that Shouto interfered. However, Shouto was just protecting his mate from the Omega that wanted to do bad things to him. Shouto was a good mate. A good potential mate. 

“Shouto, behave .” Katsuki had to use his own command to get Shouto off him and out of the primal state his Alpha led him in. “Go get Mister Aizawa.”

“But the O—I mean Kaminari, he…”

“I’ll be fine. I’m strong, you know that better than anyone.”

“Yeah.” Shouto replied. And getting more confident, he repeated. “Yeah I do.”

“Good boy.” Katsuki patted his hair as a reward. “Now go get that damned lacker here. He needs to do his fucking job better.”

As Shouto ran away to get Mister Aizawa, Katsuki supplied the space with his oppressive burnt sugar scent while letting Kaminari sniff the scent gland on his wrist to calm him down. Kaminari was so scared by Shouto that he was almost sent into the Omega withdrawal state, the risk was even higher when he was in heat, being hormonal and emotional. When Shouto finally came back with Aizawa, Katsuki detached himself from the Omega before Shouto could freeze up the whole gym with his raging scent again. But it didn’t stop Shouto from noticing the prominent smell of bananas on him and grimacing. Shouto made a mental note to scent Katsuki thoroughly after this. 

Luckily, they were not as affected as the others, so Mister Aizawa let them leave early. They went home together, to Katsuki’s den. Katsuki informed him that his parents were on another work trip again, to which Shouto was brazenly excited, for reasons he hadn’t known yet, or hadn’t dared to admit, even to himself. But his Alpha seemed to be confident, and Shouto just needed to go with the flow. When they finally got home to the private sanctuary which was Katsuki’s room, Shouto’s hands were on him almost immediately. Rid him of that foul scent, his Alpha urged, get rid of that Omega scent on our Alpha. And as he was taught to do, he acted on his instinct.

“Let me scent you.” Shouto said as he held out his hand for Katsuki, which the blonde placed his hand in.

Shouto worked diligently, starting at the wrist. He had seen Kaminari clinged onto Katsuki’s wrist as if it was his life line, so he made sure to take extra time rubbing the banana scent off him. While Shouto was busy with one of his wrist, Katsuki started rubbing the other onto Shouto’s neck scent gland, both soothing him and dispelling any Omega scent left on him. Shouto kept caressing and sniffing from time to time to check, he was so devoted that he unknowingly ended up on his knees, cupping both of Katsuki’s hands in his. He held both of his arms and took a deep breath in.

“It’s not working.” Shouto sulkily said as he looked up at Katsuki. “I can’t scrub it off you. It’s driving me insane.”

Katsuki looked so good, even from this angle, his mind uselessly supplied. Nevertheless, Shouto thought he could let himself enjoy this kind of scene from time to time. 

“Let’s take a shower together and change out of these clothes.” Katsuki traced his fingers along Shouto’s jawline, the pads on his fingertips petting him lightly like kisses.

“Together?” Shouto asked, his eyes dreamy as he leaned into Katsuki’s touch. “Are you sure?”

It wasn’t like they hadn’t showered together. They had been doing it for most of their lives actually, as kids and as teenagers. But this time, it wasn’t like anything that they were used to. This was the first time they showered together knowing the weight of each other’s gaze and the feelings behind them. Katsuki was incredibly shy for someone who had just initiated their shared shower. He kept scolding Shouto to “fucking turn away” and urging him to “hurry the fuck up”, but Shouto saw Katsuki sneeking glances at him when he turned his back. However, Shouto wouldn’t be pleased with just sharing a space. He wanted to make sure Katsuki no longer smelled like bananas.

“Katsuki, can I touch you?”

“W-wa-what?!” Katsuki stuttered, nearly tripping in surprise. “Wanna rephrase that?!”

“I mean, can I clean you? Help you shower?”

“I can perfectly do that myself, you pervert. I’m not a fucking child.” Katsuki swiped at Shouto again, making his wet hair stand up in a funny way.

“But I want to make sure.” Shouto insisted.

“Of what the fuck?” Katsuki exasperated.

“That you won’t smell like bananas anymore.” Shouto seriously answered, still donning that ridiculous hairstyle.

Katsuki still looked at him as if Shouto had asked him to grow another head, but he made no move as Shouto’s hand slowly approached him. Shouto carefully lathered Katsuki in his favorite shower gel, massaged his shoulders, arms and hands, then his back and his hips, down to his thighs and heels. Katsuki was breathing deeply, his eyes closed as he let Shouto take control. He used his thumbs to press circles into Katsuki’s soft skin, like how he used to see Fuyumi do for their parents when they overworked themselves. His hands slid easily, and he occasionally got distracted, tracing along Katsuki’s muscles instead of massaging them, but it seemed like the blonde didn’t mind. If anything, the groans deep in his throat told Shouto that he was enjoying it. As Shouto was kneeling in front of him to massage his thighs, he tried hard to not stare at the thing laying between his legs. His Katsuki was pretty, even down here. We had such a pretty Alpha. 

“Hurry up.” Katsuki said as he nudged Shouto with his feet. “I want to wash your hair.” 

Shouto blushed at the reminder and hurriedly stood up to face him. He bowed his head and held on to Katsuki’s hips for leverage, giving the blonde, who was a few centimeters shorter than him, full access to his hair. Slender fingers threaded his hair, slowly kneading his scalp. Katsuki was brilliant in everything, and of course, somehow he had to be good at giving head massages too. Although Shouto was bowing in a very awkward angle, he could still feel like all of his worries and problems were slipping away as Katsuki washed his hair. They should do this more often. 

“I like it when you wash my hair. Can we do this more often?” Shouto peeked up to look at Katsuki. 

“You’ve already known that I can’t say no to you, damn it.”

Katsuki finished washing Shouto’s hair, then washed his hair himself while Shouto held his waist, drumming his fingers against the wet skin, smiling dumbly at him like an overexcited puppy. When Katsuki’s done conditioning his hair, he washed them both with water. Shouto stood still as Katsuki rinsed his body, closing his eyes to fully enjoy the sensation of Katsuki’s hands traveling along his naked skin. The shower was running cold, due to Katsuki’s habit of cleaning himself with scalding water when they had forgotten to turn on the water heater, but the heat from Katsuki’s hand and the proximity of their bodies made Shouto feel steaming hot all the same. When the sound of falling water was turned off, Shouto realized his heart was beating loudly in his ears. His face was probably flushed, but not because of the shower. They dried themselves, except that Shouto just shook his head to dry his hair, to which Katsuki scolded him and snatched the towel to do it for him. Katsuki was about to put on his own clothes before Shouto, still very naked, stopped him. 

“Don’t put them on yet. We’ll have them off anyway.”

“W-why the fuck?” Katsuki stuttered again, deep blush on his cheeks. 

“You agreed that we would continue what we left off this morning.”

“Yeah, didn’t say nothin’ about having our clothes off though!”

“I want more of you. Keep them off.” 

Katsuki really had to be better at keeping his clothes on, especially around Shouto with his puppy eyes. Shouto hugged him, pressing their now dry and warm skin together and felt a tingling sensation along his body, making him unconsciously grinding for more. Curious of this new feeling, Shouto let his hands roam Katsuki’s velvety skin and encouraged the other boy to do so too, by holding his smaller hands and placing them both onto his shoulders. They were always cuddling, but touching Katsuki like this felt new. Shouto kept pressing on, traveling along his meticulously sculpted body, discovering new ways to achieve that tickling feeling in his chest. Soon enough, Shouto found himself looming over Katsuki on his bed, both naked, blushing furiously as they panted softly. 

“Katsuki…” Shouto called, but he didn’t know how to turn the feelings inside him into words. He realized that he liked the way that name rolled off his tongue, so he called again, just for the sake of tasting his name on his lips. “Katsuki. Katsuki. Katsuki. ”

“What?” Katsuki faked annoyance, but it was too obvious with him still blushing from his cheeks down to his shoulders. 

“About earlier…” Shouto thought back to the incident in the gym. “I wasn’t affected. You weren’t either. We are both Alphas, aren’t we? And we are not mated.” Was it because of love?

“Why are you asking about that shit now of all time?”

“I… don’t know. I just panicked when I saw you like this.” Shouto said as his eyes trailed down Katsuki’s beautiful body, tracing each curve with his eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Eyes up here.” Katsuki shivered as Shouto’s gaze caressed him, but still found the voice to nag him. 

“Yeah. Sorry.” Shouto’s eyes went back to Katsuki’s, looking like he was drunk on something. “But why though? Do you know?”

Deep down, Shouto thought he also knew the answer himself, but he wanted to hear it from Katsuki. He wanted him to confirm that the feelings were mutual. 

“You look like you’ve already known.” Katsuki scoffed. 

“But I want to hear your view.”

Shouto lowered himself down, pressing their chests together and leaned forward to bury his face into Katsuki’s vulnerable nape. It smelled warm and clean and Katsuki. The thought made Shouto feel a strange need to blabber sweet nothings into the blonde’s ear, although he was not at all a talker, much less a sweet talker. So he just kept whispering Katsuki’s name and littered his neck with kisses and pecks, because it felt right. The boy squirmed under his touch, his arms reaching up to circle around his torso. 

“We were just following our instincts. What felt right.” Katsuki shrugged. 

“But Alpha instinct is to breed Omega, no? For reproduction and stuff.”

“Instincts aren’t just something the damn crazy animals do. It takes the person’s feelings into consideration too. If you love someone, your instinct’s gonna act on it. Gender doesn’t mean shit.” Katsuki said. “You love me, so your Alpha isn’t gonna react with anything else. And… I love you too, so… that was the case.”

“You say that so confidently. Like you know I love you.” Shouto smiled dreamily at Katsuki.

“As if you haven’t made it obvious enough…” Katsuki grumbled, hiding his face.

“But I think what you said is true. I really didn’t want to hold anyone that is not you.”

“Yeah, no shit. Your Alpha was even ready to beat Kaminari’s weak ass. Acting like he was gonna snatch me away from you or something.”

“He was !” Shouto exclaimed. “Pulling on your pants and saying inappropriate stuff like that…”

“He was in heat.”

“That makes him a bigger threat! And he is your close friend too…”

“Nobody is closer to me than you.” Katsuki rolled his eyes jokingly. “What are you acting jealous for?”

“I have the right to. I’m your boyfriend. Your Alpha. Your potential mate.” Shouto punctured each sentence with a kiss along Katsuki’s jaw. 

“That’s a lot of titles for someone who couldn’t even confess their love to me properly.” Katsuki pinched Shouto’s cheek and pulled lightly. He giggled at the sight and it was music to Shouto’s ears. 

“Can I get the boyfriend benefits first though? I was planning a grand confession before you went and spoiled yourself, you know.” Shouto said as he hugged Katsuki and grinded down on his body, reminding him of their current state. 

“Greedy motherfucker.” The boy under him muttered as he turned impossibly redder.

“I’d like to be a Katsukifucker.” Shouto replied with what Katsuki would call a shit-eating grin, whatever it was.

Shouto moved his blond bangs away to kiss his forehead, his brows, his eyes, the tips of his nose, both of his cheek, his lips and his chin, then along his jaw again, savouring each huff of breath and barely concealed hums coming from the boy under him. After showering Katsuki with kisses, Shouto went back to his lips to press a deep kiss against it. Shouto was still inexperienced at this. His lips moved sloppily and often fell out of sync with Katsuki’s, and it wasn’t like the Katsuki was any more experienced than him. Still, it was breath-taking all the same. It was probably the magic of the first kiss, like how it always went in fairytales and fictions, where the couple loved each other so much that just being close felt like exploding in happiness. Shouto sighed into the kiss as he heard Katsuki quiet purr. He was so happy, so content but so hungry for more at the same time, he didn’t even know what to do. 

“Can I keep going?” Shouto asked, his lips a breath away from Katsuki. 

“Do it properly this time.” Katsuki pouted as he held both sides of Shouto’s face and pulled him down, his tongue licking his lips, suggesting that they go further. 

And who was Shouto to not give in to him. He opened his lips so Katsuki could slide his tongue in. A bit timidly, Katsuki’s wet tongue traced the line of Shouto’s lips like a meek kitten, to which Shouto had already shivering, then pushed past his teeth to meet with his tongue. They ineptly slid against each other while adjusting to be closer, to feel more. Their noses grazed each other’s cheek, their teeth clashed one too many times and their saliva was seeping out at the corners of Katsuki’s lips. Shouto didn’t know how this was supposed to feel, but he felt hot. Burning hot was Katsuki’s mouth and somewhere in his lower stomach. When they broke away to catch their breaths, Shouto pressed his tongue flat against the streak of liquid beside the blonde’s lips and licked it clean. It tasted sweet . It tasted them. 

“Katsuki,” he called, breathlessly. “this is crazy. You’re driving me crazy.”

“Crazy? How?” Katsuki cockily asked. “Because of the sloppy kiss? Because of my face? Or my body?”

Shouto thought it was unfair for Katsuki to still have the power of speech in him while he had lost half of his vocabulary. He looked at Katsuki. He stared , starstruck. His ash blond hair was disheveled, slicked back because of sweat. His face was  graced with roses. His eyes dark, with his pupils blown wide, black crowding red. His body was squirming, seeking intimacy and friction. Shouto just had to have a taste. He had to. He leaned down and nibbled on Katsuki’s neck, where he could feel his artery pounding against the fine skin with his tongue. Shouto didn’t really know what he was doing, but he kept sucking and licking the same spot, until he left a wet, glaring red mark on Katsuki's neck. The place was highly visible.

“Sorry, I accidentally left a mark on you.” Shouto said as he caressed the mark, thinking red definitely fit Katsuki’s pearly skin.

“You don’t seem sorry to me.” Katsuki smirked, his eyes half lidded.

“Does that mean I can leave more?”

Instead of answering, Katsuki fully tilted his head back with a provocative smile on his face, a sign for Shouto to immediately slip his arm under his nape and layer his neck with pink and crimson marks. Each time Shouto’s lips touched his skin, he was rewarded with a delicious hum. Just a few kisses in, Katsuki was already arching off the bed and into his hold. Shouto made sure to wrap his other arm around his snatched waist as he started kissing his collarbone, almost lifting him off the bed. His teeth slowly pressed into the skin, not enough to draw blood, but enough to bruise for several days. Katsuki winced at the bite, his hand muffling his voice. 

“Are you hurt? Let me hear your voice.”

“I don’t want you idiot to hear my voice for this reason.” Katsuki frowned, but too flushed to be serious. “I’m fucking fine. Leave more marks. Show them that I’m yours .”

Mine.

He’s mine.

Shouto’s elongated Alpha fangs sinked into the soft skin. The scent of blood prickling his sense of smell, then quickly blended in with the high of their pheromones. The taste of blood on his tongue was surprisingly exquisite, but of course it was because it was Katsuki’s, and he loved everything about Katsuki. In one swift motion, he pulled Katsuki into his lap, half sitting with their faces buried into each other's scent glands. He trembled as he sensed Katsuki’s hot tongue on his gland, so he did the same. It tasted sweet and salty and heavenly. He sucked on the spot, licked and bit and abused the gland into giving him the extract of Katsuki’s Alpha. The boy in his lap let out a moan that went straight along his spine to his lower abdomen. 

“My turn.” Katsuki said as he easily pinned him down the mattress from where he was sitting, hands around his neck, thick thighs straddling his hips. 

Katsuki did the same–licking, biting, and sucking, and it felt incredible to be on the receiving end of a possessive Katsuki, hearing him groaning “mine, mine, mine ” into his skin, letting him grip his arms until bruises form in the shape of his fingers. Katsuki was going lower, licking the dips between his abs and savouring the saltiness of his sweat that was trapped in the lines of his body. When Katsuki lifted his head up from his meal to look at Shouto, his eyes were hazy, rolling back like he was enjoying it a bit too much for Shouto to handle. It was starting to get unbearable down there , and he knew better than to be discreet about his very apparent lust.

“Katsuki,” He breathed out, his breath so hot he thought he could see steam. 

“I know. Hard to not when your dick is poking my ass.” He didn't even need to continue as Katsuki cut in. 

Shouto didn’t know what to respond to that cocky-but-obviously-sexy statement, however, whatever was brewing on his tongue was swallowed by a groan as Katsuki grinded his hips down, pressing their already leaking shafts against each other. Shouto’s eyes rolled back as Katsuki took the initiative. He rubbed the pads of his thumbs on both of the slits, making more pre-cum leak out and pooled on Shouto’s belly button. Unconsciously, Shouto rutted into the touch. Katsuki was holding them with both of his hands, struggling to jerk them off. 

“Let me help you.” Shouto said, trying to appear calm by kissing his temple, but wrapped his hand around their cocks and Katsuki’s hand too eagerly to be anything otherwise.

He sat up, the smaller boy still in his lap, started moving his hand and thrusting his hips, dragging his length along Katsuki’s. Katsuki had one arm hooked around Shouto’s neck, resting his forehead on his shoulder as his other hand tried to match Shouto’s relentless pace. Soon enough, he gave up and wrapped both arms around Shouto’s neck, bringing his lips dangerously close to Shouto’s ear to grace it with his hot puff of air and slutty moans and begs while his hips found the right pace with Shouto’s. All too soon, they came spilling into his large hand, some of it dripped onto the white sheet, some of it painted their abs. The scene looked overwhelmingly obscene for virgins like both of them. 

“Just looking at this makes me hard.” Shouto said between pants. 

“What are you waiting for then?”

And they were tangled up in each other again, seeking pleasure and chasing heat. At the dead of night, when both horny teenagers were satisfied, Shouto was going to clean both of them before a sleepy Katsuki draped over him, saying that they were going to sleep in the soiled sheets anyway, so there was no point. Therefore, here Shouto was, laying with Katsuki in his arms, smelling like sweat, sex and pheromones, with a mess of body fluids under them, feeling more fulfilled than ever. This felt even better than his fantasies. He was able to put his scent all over Katsuki and get Katsuki’s scent all over him, mark Katsuki to his heart’s content and as a bonus, get Katsuki to mark him. They didn’t get to the sex part, but Shouto knew they would be great together. Because it must be. Because it felt instinctual . It was fate . 

“I love you.” The words spilled out, although he promised Katsuki and himself that he would confess properly. It just seemed right at the moment. 

“I know.” Was all Katsuki muttered before he started breathing softly into the crook of his neck again. 

Shouto felt his heart squeeze and jump in delight, because he also knew. He knew that Katsuki loved him too. They were in love, deeply so, enough that their Alphas accommodate and yearn for each other. They could do this. They would be the most loving pair there was, and live happily ever after. At least that was what Shouto believed, and he knew Katsuki probably agree.