Untitled Part 49
Chapter Forty Nine: Equality
Hajime~
Hajime had pulled the empty mattress nearly the full length of the large living room when he finally decided to take a break. He dropped it to the hardwood with an audible thud and dusted his hands out in front of him. "Yo, what's it feel like?" He called over to Oikawa-- standing near the french doors to the back veranda.
The chestnut boy took the final bite of his granola bar, then bent over to toss a few stray pillows onto an ancient looking couch. "What, my heat?"
Hajime rolled his shoulder to work out an aching knot and nodded. "Yeah, what's it like?"
"Hmm," Oikawa mumbled and looked up to the ceiling in thought. "Like...my body is....like there's too much pleasure. So much that it's actually painful and I would do anything to make it stop."
"You don't like it?" Hajime asked as moved to grab at the heavy mattress once more.
"No, it's not that," Oikawa replied as he folded the last of the blankets in his slender hands. "Of course I like it..."
"Could have-" Hajime faltered, grunting as he flipped the mattress vertical to squeeze it inside the spare bedroom. He shoved it through the narrow doorway and it dropped down to the floor in a puff of heavy dust. "Could have fooled me," he repeated with a coy smirk as he walked back towards the fireplace to gather his things.
Oikawa cocked a manicured eyebrow his way and snorted. "What? You don't think I enjoyed myself this weekend?"
"No..." Hajime replied in a gruff tone and pulled his packed bag over a broad shoulder. "I think you thoroughly enjoyed yourself..."
"I did," the chesnut boy remarked as he pulled his own knapsack on. "I enjoyed myself a lot."
"I just know that you hate being out of control," Hajime put forth and pulled Oikawa's delicate hand into his own. "And being in heat seems pretty out of control to me..."
"Oh, I absolutely detest being out of control," his Omega agreed and flashed a sweet smile that had him internally squirming. "But I know that I'm in good hands with you~~"
His feral instincts liked the acknowledgement. They blasted through his chest and pulled a satisfied growl from his vibrating throat. "Very. Good. Hands," he stated in a near snarl and moved in to smell Oikawa's lightly quaffed hair.
"Okay, Alpha," Oikawa chirped as he tugged on the brass handle of the front door. "We talked about this. I need a twenty four hour hiatus from fucking. So hold it together please~~"
Oh, he was trying to. Oikawa's new scent, his mated scent, had Hajime's instincts riled up at every turn. He loved that he could now smell his own fragrance, laced in with his Omega's natural scent. Oikawa was intoxicating before...but now? Fuuuuuuuuuck, he didn't want to keep his hands off the boy. Not even for a second.
"Did you even hear what I just said?" Oikawa asked with a heavy sigh-- smelling Hajime's sudden burst of arousal. "Twenty. Four. Hours. Just one day! We have so many things to catch up on!"
"Like?" Hajime growled out as he fiddled with the keys in his hands to lock lake house door-- mind zeroed in on a mental image of his Omega, naked and begging.
"Like...our homework!" Oikawa remarked with a knowing nod-- trying to convince himself of its importance. "Oh...fuck. And we should probably check in on Daichi and Suga..."
Hajime's pleasant mental image immediately vanished-- replaced by a ball of tense upset in his gut at the thought of his poor captain. He knew that they had left at an inopportune moment, but Oikawa's heat had been more important to him than anything else at the time.
But that didn't stop him from feeling incredibly guilty. No one expected the two boys to end things. No one at all.
"Daichi's bunking with your coach..." Oikawa whispered, more to himself than to Hajime. "What are we going-"
"Do you think you can convince Suga to take him back?" Hajime interrupted as he turned the rusty key in the old lock.
"I...no. No, I don't think I can. Suga is...stubborn in his ways. Once he makes a decision, he'll double down on it. It doesn't matter if he thinks its wrong, he'll still do it. I don't know if it's pride or just stupidity..."
"Can Miyo shake some sense into him? She's pretty... persuasive."
"I honestly don't know. She might have more sway than me, Suga idolizes her. I don't know. I'll give her a call once we get on the road. I have a few texts from her, but they're from Saturday. I need a new update."
Hajime nodded as he shuffled out his car key and led them down the rickety porch steps. Yeah, he needed a new update, too.
Miyo~
(Four Days Earlier)
Miyo sped through the University streets in her small car, grinding her teeth to stay her rampant anxiety. She had been pulled over by a rather unfriendly Alpha cop who seemed adamant on giving her a distracted driving ticket for being on the phone. She didn't care about the stupid fine. What she did care about, was that she had been forced to hang up on Suga-- and now the silver boy wasn't answering any of her calls or texts.
As she neared the location they had planned to meet, her green eyes darted over each student that even remotely resembled him. She circled the General Store four times, mind devolving into a state of motherly panic when he was nowhere to be found.
"Fuck," she muttered under her breath, then flipped her signal to pull off next to the curb. "Stupid goddamn frustrating boy..."
She threw the car in park, gathered up her leather purse from the passenger seat, and sent another, where the fuck are you, text to Suga. Her eyes lingered on the bright screen for a few moments, waiting for a reply. When none came, she pushed out of her vehicle and slammed the black door behind her in an angry bang . Immediately, she smelled the autumn air for Suga's familiar scent, but the area was too heavily concentrated with students for her to ascertain anything. Her nose was utterly useless. After whispering out a bunch of hot curses, she put two hands up to the glass windows of the General Store and searched for a silver head of hair within. Again, she found nothing.
Christ, the boy was going to be the death of her.
She turned away from the store and walked briskly to the adjoining brick building-- the Cat's Meow Cafe and Bookstore. A gated patio was built out front of the quaint business and it housed six tables, each with their own pastel-coloured umbrella. Several Alphas, and a few mated Omegas, were seated in the metal chairs with various drinks, chatting furiously in the afternoon sun.
As Miyo neared the entrance to the cafe, the heavy door swung open and a set of brass bells chimed out. A very tall, and very fit, Alpha bumped into her, nearly spilling a freshly bought cappuccino over them both.
"Jesus," the woman cursed as she fought to regain her balance on the cobblestone. Her blue eyes snapped down to Miyo and the anger behind them quickly vanished. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you. You're so fucking tiny!"
Miyo grit her teeth, gaze flickering from the woman's angular face to the plastic bags in her large hand-- bags with the General Store logo.
"Excuse me," she started, ignoring the Alpha's coy chirp at her small frame. "When you were shopping next door, did you happen to see a male Omega wandering around? He has silver hair, it's pretty distinct, you can't miss it. I know he was here at least fifteen minutes ago but I can't seem to find him now..."
The brunette woman licked at the edges of her paper cup, tongue curling over the drops of her spilled cappuccino. Miyo tapped her foot anxiously, then stiffened when the Alpha's scent coiled around her in a soft layer of protection. Protection was rarely given by Alphas-- especially to Omegas that were already mated. Her brows furrowed at the strange occurrence and she opened her mouth to vocalize her curiosity, but was quickly cut short.
"You should reign in your scent a bit," the Alpha asserted, then happily slurped at her warm drink. "And don't give me that, I'm mated, crap. An anxious Omega scent is still an anxious Omega scent. It's reckless to release it around so many Alphas...doesn't matter whether or not you're mated."
Miyo found herself, once again, cursing under her breath. The woman was absolutely correct. Alpha instincts were easily roused by Omega fragrances, especially bad ones. Her mated scent wouldn't draw any attention from the Alphas around her, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't affect them. Her upset could easily cause an unwanted brawl, and the bodily damage that came with it.
"Shit," she swore at her own idiocy, then hurried to pull back her tense fragrance to a more acceptable level. "Thank you. I'm just a bit stressed at the moment. I'm not normally so careless, I swear on my life."
The female Alpha cocked a perfectly manicured eyebrow. "I can believe that. Sooooo, this silver haired kid...I think I saw him. Was he really upset about something? I assume that's why you're so desperate to find him..."
Miyo stiffened. "Yes."
Suga wasn't just upset-- she had never seen the kid so disconnected from reality before. He always kept himself poised and together, no matter how bad things got for him or his flock. After hearing his wavering voice on the phone, she was more than a little concerned for his welfare-- particularly his mental health. It had seemed so close to snapping, if it hadn't already.
"Okay," the Alpha acknowledged with a slight nod. "Then yeah, he was here a little while ago, but I think he was smart enough to bugger off. His scent was riling up the nearby Alphas...including me."
"Do you happen to know which way he went?!" Miyo quickly replied through clenched teeth. "I'm desperate, really desperate to find him."
The Alpha sighed, shaking her head at the ground. Then, she met Miyo's worried gaze and flashed a sweet smile that somehow calmed her frantic nerves.
"If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say he went towards the campus fields. Lots of wind there. Good for dispersing scents," the woman rattled off, her angular features thoughtful. 'And," she continued, grabbing Miyo's shoulder with a firm hand. "Before you run off on your own, I'd rather it if you'd let me come with you. Your scent is still off. I don't like it."
Miyo shrugged off the Alpha and let out of a puff of new anxious air-- she didn't have time to argue with the woman. "Fine, do what you want. Let's go."
She turned on her heels and marched down the sidewalk with the female Alpha in tow. At first, she held her focus on Suga, but her thoughts began to swirl around in her curiosity. What was the Alpha's motive? The woman was being overly generous in accompanying her-- she would get absolutely nothing in return for aiding an already mated Omega. Her brows furrowed at the perplexing situation, then her mind quickly jumped to Binky.
The flower shop owner had helped her without question as well...
Ukai and his Alphas had helped her flock and didn't expect anything in return...
Perhaps, there were more decent Alphas out in the world than she had initially thought.
"You're that Omega professor," the brunette woman called out in a sing-song voice from behind. "Right?"
"I am," Miyo replied without turning around. The green expanse of fields were less than a block away and her emerald eyes were already scanning the small figures from afar.
"I've never had the pleasure of taking one of your courses. Oh, I'm Nala, by the way," the Alpha put forth in a lazy tone. "I've always tried to sign up, but there are barely any spots for Alpha students in your classes...they fill up fast."
"Yeah. I mostly teach Omegas," Miyo absentmindedly agreed with a wave of her slender hand.
Nala caught up to her side two long strides and glanced down at her with knowing eyes. "Oh, I am well aware. It's kind of unfortunate, don't you think? It's such a waste...talk about perpetuating the same stereotypes!"
"Mmm. Yes," Miyo murmured back, already tuned out to the conversation-- she had more important matters to focus on.
"I mean, why bother having both genders in one University if you're just going to keep their classes separate? What's the point in that?"
"Mhm..."
Wait, what did the Alpha just say?
"You should really push to have more Alpha spots in your classes...I think you'd be pleasantly surprised with those of us that show up. I'm not the only keener that wants to check out your lectures..."
That successfully caught Miyo's attention. "Pleasantly surprised, how?" She asked as they stepped onto the edges of the green pitch.
Nala snorted and crossed her lean arms over her ample bust. "All I'm saying is, some of us are actually interested in what you, an Omega, has to say about things," she asserted with an easy shrug and took another sip of her cappuccino.
Miyo stalled in place for a moment and turned to face Nala. She glanced up through narrowed lids-- still suspicious and skeptical of the tall woman's intentions. "Really. You're interested in hearing my perspective."
A heavy sigh escaped the Alpha's plump lips and she shuffled on her feet as she gathered her thoughts. "You want to hear my honest opinion, Professor? Because you might not like what I have to say..."
"Oh, don't be so coy," Miyo challenged, granting the woman her full attention for a few moments. "Hit me with it."
Nala cocked her eyebrow and laughed at the plain challenge before speaking. "Well, we're not all monsters. Some of us are, yes. I can't deny that, but we're not all like that. And when you guys lump us together in one, horrific category, you're doing the exact same thing that we've been doing to you. You're marginalizing us...you're using a blanket perspective on us and it sucks."
Miyo opened her mouth to protest, but Nala dismissed her with a wave of her paper cup. "Listen. Let me finish before you respond," she said with a subtle tone of command that was not lost on Miyo. "I can only imagine the shit that you've gone through, personally, to get to where you are now. And I dislike that you've had to claw your way through an Alpha dominated world. It shouldn't be like that. But I also hold a lot of respect for you because of it. You're a victim. And I can accept that all Omegas are victims because of us Alphas and our uneven society, but you don't take pity on yourself or wallow in that fact. You accept it, and push past it at full force."
"Thank you..." Miyo replied after a few moments of silence. She was still on guard-- wary of what the chatty Alpha still had left to say on the difficult topic. "I...appreciate the acknowledgement, especially from a young Alpha such as yourself."
The woman nodded her thanks, then narrowed her blue eyes and her mouth set in a hard line. "However, I don't think it's right for Omegas, including you, to assume the worst of all of us. I understand why you guys feel that way. It's wise to have caution with Alphas, but it doesn't help things. I want things to change, just like you do. I want more equality between us. But I can't help make that happen if Omegas treat me with the same disdain that I feel for my own kind. When you guys lump me in with the classic Alpha stereotypes, it make me feel hostile towards you. I want to work alongside you guys, but that can't happen if nobody had the balls to throw caution to the wind and accept people for what they are...as people. Not Omegas, not Alphas, just people."
The Alpha's honest words hit Miyo like a heavy sack of bricks. Fuck...maybe she wasn't any better than the Alphas she so despised. She had openly hated most of them-- lumped them together in the same way that they did to her. "I..." She attempted, biting her lip with renewed anxiety, but she took a deep breath, accepting Nala's wise notion as honest and true. Then, she grinned and gave the woman a motherly smack on the bicep. "You know what? I like you. You're a smartie. I want you in one of my classes...it would shake things up in a good way, I think."
Nala's bright eyes shone with a combination of admiration and pride and she smiled in turn. "Oh god, I'm so happy that you didn't bite my head off just now for what I said!" She exclaimed with a dramatic sigh of relief. "I would love that. Seriously. You're the only Omega professor in the entire country...I don't want to miss an opportunity to share a few ideas with you!"
Miyo cocked her head to the side as a familiar scent snaked into her nostrils. It was mild, almost completely devoid of life, but she knew that it belonged to Suga. "Listen, Nala," she started, green eyes following the fragrance along the edge of the field in front of them. "I'd like to hear more of what you have to say, really. I think it could be good, for me and for all Omegas. We need to stop making enemies of each other because of old wounds..."
"I couldn't have said it better myself!" Nala replied with a wag of her finger. "If there's anything I can do to-"
"Actually," Miyo interjected in a hurry and grinned. "Could you stick around for a bit longer? The Omega...the one that I've been looking for...I think he would do well to hear some of the stuff that you have to say. He's a bit...lost in his ambitions right now."
"Well that sounds...obscure...but okay! I'll certainly do my best to lend an Alpha hand, then. If you think it would do the kid some good," Nala remarked with excited eyes and, before Miyo could get another word in edgewise, the woman pulled her forward by the hand. "Now, let's go round up this missing Omega of yours."
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