After a few rounds of questionings, Ren found out quickly that Akagi Naoto was the student body vice president, and head of something to do with student wellness.
Strong, athletic, and well liked around the school,
As his role in student wellness implied, he also seemed well versed in keeping to the needs of students, because whenever Ren found information that wasn't about how strong and likeable he was, it was about how he had helped someone or the school.
'That's just what they want you to think!' Ren would silently hiss. 'It's clearly all just a trick to get you comfortable with whatever they're planning!'
Ren also soon discovered that he had a temper, as he discovered by a few disgruntled omegas in his dorm's common room.
"He's kinda a dick actually. Everyone says he's a nice guy but he's such a prick!" A first year student scoffed. "Stay away from guys like that Takeshita-senpai, Alphas like that are bad news!"
"Doesn't like us doing anything that's fun!" Another student in his year growled. "Hates when we're in places we're not technically supposed to be, he's kinda a real stick in the mud. Gets really loud about it too, asshole."
"Ugh, Akagi Naoto? Don't listen to what anybody says, he's still a cold-hearted bastard."
And that was all the validation Ren needed. That guy acted nice but he was really an awful person, precisely the kind of behavior Ren expected of the kind of person that could turn his fellow students into science experiments!
And soon, Ren quickly found out what they were planning: some kind of construction on the other side of the school. He had yet to find his way around the entire campus due to his body's lower stamina, but he wouldn't have recognized the site a week ago anyway, as construction seemed to only increase recently, with the carts moving materials through the school being seen clearly on the eastern side of the main building.
Whatever this construction was it was kept top secret, as no one seemed to have a clue what it was or seemed interested all that interested in talking about it, and while there was mild chatter on the mystery of it most concluded that it was a new building for the school and left it at that.
Like hell it could be just that, this school had enough buildings!! Ren was certain it was related to the program, the experiments! This was the perfect chance to gather real evidence of suspicious activity!
'Once I get inside that site, I'll be sure to find some evidence of the school's misdeeds once and for all! I can show everyone, and get a real resistance on my side!'
"You've got that scheming grin on your face again Takeshita-kun." Shino said to him with a wry smile. Ren was sitting in the club room scribbling intensely over his notes while Shino was reading a book at the table next to some tea. Kokichi was also there, on his laptop in the corner loudly grumbling at some game he was on with a pair of giant gaming headphones with what Ren thought was ridiculously pink cat ears that he thought made his head look like cotton candy, a contrast to the slurs he was hissing loudly under his breath.
Ren gave the calm-mannered Shino a fierce smile. "Ha! I've gotten the perfect plan! This is just the first steps for me, but I'll let you know if I can find a proper weakness against the Alphas!"
Ren didn't relay the details of everything he knew, he was still hesitant to do so after what happened with telling Masanori. But maybe after he's gathered enough information, he could.
"Hey, you know where I can get something to… sharpen something?" Ren asked Shino slowly. Shino paused mid-page turn and looked up with a earnestly curious simper.
"That really sounds like something mischievous, hmm… Depends on what you want to sharpen? Oh, but this isn't to cause harm, correct? Don't take your mischief too far or you'll get study hall."
Ren shook his head. "Not to hurt anyone, just looking for a distraction."
"You stupid mother fucker!!" Kokichi suddenly screamed loudly at his laptop. "Retard!! Your mother must have confused adoption with abortion otherwise your bitch ass wouldn't have been born if you think that's a solid AOE build!!" Shino stood up from the table and, after placing his bookmark in the pages and slamming the book shut, whammed in on the side of Kokichi's head with a loud smack.
"OWW!! Fuck, Shino-kun you bastard!!" He growled as he clutched the back of his head. "Your volume rule is stupid as shit you know!!"
Shino went to sit back down before letting out a hum, "Well, have you tried the woodshoping club?" He suggested to Ren but added, "But please, ask them first before you use their equipment. You might hurt yourself."
Ren slammed his hands on the table with a giddy grin. "Great idea!! Shino-kun, thank you!"
"Don't choke up again now." Shino called out in a light tone with a sip of his tea as Ren gathered his papers and rushed out the door, thinking of Takeshita as an Omega with a lot of bark but not much bite to have much planned.
Ren realized that getting into the site would prove to be a challenge in and of itself. If Ren so much as looked at the site of construction, there would be security and strong, volunteering students in his way. It was tough but, after a week of planning and work, Ren found his way in.
The trucks that carried the material to build weren't allowed inside the school, but were instead rolled through it in those smaller carts. Ren was sure, if he could get inside one of these carts then he could gain access to the inside of the site.
Ren set his trap that Saturday evening, the perfect time when many most students were busy with their clubs, student duties, or had yet to return from outside the school gates.
When the cart came along, and Ren tensed in the bushes, fanning himself with his uniform jacket, both from the tension and not expecting the inside of a bush to get so hot.
The cart finally came up on the right spot, and as it rolled across Ren's line of sight it hit the sharp stone Ren had sharpened and placed there, and a loud popping sound was heard as the wheel's tire was blown.
The cart stopped with a loud clatter. "Aw what? What the heck?' The man wheeling the cart went around to the front to see. With this opening, Ren elegantly (well, almost elegantly) slid out of the bushes and slipped under the tarp into the inside of the cart, as silently as he could, slipping under the mats he knew would be there.
"Damn it. Again?" The cart hauler said. Ren smiled wickedly. He was talking about his test run, to make sure if he had done anything to the cart, it wouldn't just be sent back to the truck instead of where he needed it to go. He had picked the perfect location, employee, and material cart for the job, now all Ren needed to do wait for him to say the right words, and he waited with bated breath for it.
"Tch. I can still push it there like this, we're almost there. I'm too close to my break for this shit…"
Ren breathed a silent sigh of relief. He was in the clear. Tonight, he was going to finally gain access to the best kept secret in the school, and whatever laid within!
It was only for five more minutes, but by the time Ren and the cart made it inside the construction site for the building Ren practically gasped for air on his way off the cart. He didn't know how being under a tart surrounded by tatami mats could be so suffocating.
He felt relief at the cool air of the night. He glanced around. There wasn't quite enough built for any space free of the open sky, but beneath the piles of materials and beams, Ren could see two trailers and some kind of tent. Ren thought if any secrets were being kept here, they would be in there.
Ren hid behind some beams as two workers walked by. The place was still crawling with people, so Ren had to be careful. Eventually he made it to the trailers, and glanced inside through the window. He quickly ducked his head. Inside, the place was crawling with students and teachers. Specifically, Alpha students and teachers, from what Ren had memorized about the student body.
'Ha! A secret meeting! This is a great time to eavesdrop.' he thought with excitement. But then he glanced over at the nearby tent.
'But if they're busy in there… I might find more evidence this way. If I can gather physical evidence… proving it to others later is more important than confirming my own suspicion right now!'
So rather than getting any closer to the trailer, Ren crept past it and onwards into the tent. Inside the trailer, through a crack in the window a certain red-headed Alpha vice president's senses perked up at a sudden particular smell, turning his head towards the window.
'...huh?'
Soon, Ren made it inside the tent. He spotted a table, and quickly rushed right over to it, eyes wide with delight. Scattered all over the table, were blueprints!
'Excellent!' Ren beamed. 'Now I can finally figure out what they're building here!'
Ren began unrolling the blueprints, looking through them quickly and eagerly. But slowly, Ren's enthusiasm deflated, and his smile sunk into a frown.
'....a new gym? New courtyard? That seems to be what all of these are. But no, there's gotta be more…'
Ren was certain that underneath the normal, there was some secret construction that would prove to him that this school was part of something sinister, that the school was testing drugs on the students or gave them powers or something.
But as Ren looked through the last blueprint and found nothing unusual, he was at a lost.
"It's all just… normal?" Ren whispered to himself, a shroud of confusion. "The big secret is that they're upgrading the school a little. Was it all… a waste of time?" Was Masanori telling the truth that it was all nothing…?
As Ren's heart sunk deeper into a requiem of doubt and confusion, the tent's flap suddenly threw back. Ren yelped in surprise. It was that Akagi guy!
"What are you doing in here? Wait, aren't you-" Akagi stepped back as Ren suddenly flung multiple blueprints at his face, then sprinting under the flaps of the tent to get away.
Ren ran, and behind him he could hear not just Akagi screaming, but also multiple other people coming from the trailer. Ren grabbed a pipe as he turned a corner, then started to go up a ramp into the building's main site, finding himself on a large beam several meters off the ground.
"HEY!! Get back from there!!" Akagi yelled up to him angrily. Ren turned and held up the pipe aggressively. "Back off!! I have a pipe!"
Akagi stopped in his rage, but after a moment he just chuckled at Ren. "You think I'm scared of that thing? I can beat you even if there were five of you. Now get down." He ordered.
"No!" Ren shouted below, "I may not beat you, but… but I know your schedule! I'll make your life miserable!" Ren hoped that a bit of psychological pressure would make him fall back enough for him to escape. If anything, it made Akagi move closer. He laughed with amusement. "You know my what? You're not just a spy, you're a stalker? And you're…" Ren then saw Akagi take a pause, and he heard him take in a breath.
"…Definitely. How did I not notice that you're an omega, junior?"
Ren froze. He didn't like the way his voice shifted, and his stomach dropped.
Suddenly, a power scent hit Ren. Something fresh, tangy, like tropical fruit on a summer's beach. He could tell it was coming from Akagi below. He thought in his mind it oddly fit, with his vibrant red hair and dark purple eyes that Ren hadn't bothered to pay attention to until now, it was like gazing at the deepest hue of twilight.
Ren suddenly felt dizzy, felt hot. Really, really hot. He struggled to keep his feet steady on the platform. His mind started feeling murky again, so quickly once he realized it he hadn't the capacity to even contemplate it.
"Come on down, junior. I know you want to."
And Ren wanted to. Really badly. Suddenly the idea of jumping into Akagi's arms seemed really tempting, and his mind warped towards the desire to do just that, breathe in more of his scent.
And that thought, terrified Ren immensely. Because this, it only had one explanation.
'Mind control? Seriously?!' Ren internally screamed against the fog in his mind. 'W-What other kinds of powers do these Alphas have?'
He was so busy trying to juggle and sort his own conflicting thoughts and his intense heat, he didn't even notice that Akagi had appeared right in front of him until his scent hit him like a truck, and all his previous thoughts ceased like they were washed away by a strong wave.
"Come on junior, promise I'll treat you nicely." Akagi whispered in a seductive tone, as he bent down to get closer to Ren's face, looking at him with a amorously wicked grin.
Ren couldn't stand it anymore. At this moment, it was either Akagi or whatever was behind him, and despite his fear of the unknown darkness beneath him and the intoxicating aura in front of him that made him feel like his mind was lost in a thick fog, Ren's resolve and determination was blinding: he was not going to let the school get him like this!!!
Ren held his breath and closed his eyes tightly, before taking a step back and letting himself fall.
"J-Junior!?" Akagi cried out, but he was too late to catch him.
Ren didn't fall for long. He had only gone up the equivalent of one or two flights of stairs, at most. But still, the fall would have certainly hurt a little, if not for the boy who caught him below.
"M… Masanori-kun?" Ren's vision had started to fade, but he had recognized the flowery scent before he could even open his eyes from fright.
Masanori sighed in relief. It was a close call. If he hasn't heard the commotion at the sight and assumed trouble, then Takeshita could have gotten seriously injured.
Akagi also sighed in relief on the platform above. He looked down to Masanori below, and instintually let out a grow. "What are you doing here, Masanori?"
Masanori knew he didn't mean it. His Alpha senses were just being aggravated by the fact the omega he was with was near in heat was now near another Alpha, especially right into the arms. And Takeshita WAS in heat. That thought was very perimently clear in Masanori's mind.
Masanori looked up at Akagi but didn't say anything. He didn't meant to show hostility, but he wasn't apologizing either. He glanced ahead, to the group of students finally making their way over to the site. Then, Masanori started to run away, Ren still in his arms.
"Hey! Masa, wait!" Akagi called after Masanori.
As they ran, Ren breathed in the scent of Masanori. It smelled… good, and he almost said so out loud, a deep longing to do so, when his senses finally jolted came back. With a quick whip of his left arm Ren gave Masanori a quick wallow to his lower jaw and slipped out of his briefly loose grip. He held up the pipe, because despite falling nearly two floors, he kept onto his only weapon.
Masanori cradled his jaw slightly, but all of his attention was on Ren. He nervously glanced behind him. "Takeshita-san, you need- woah!" Masanori suddenly jumped back when Ren swung the pipe.
Ren was panting and sweating profusely from his own heat, his face twisted in a raging grimace. "Y-You too?!" He hollered. "D-Do you all have this mind control!?"
Masanori stared at Ren, completely flabbergasted. "What?! Takeshita-san-!!"
"Enough! You can't keep the truth from me!" Ren screamed at him. "You've hidden enough from me!! Tell me right now about the school's experiments, tell me everything you've been hiding from me, or I'll go down swinging!!!"
Masanori sucked in a breath and resisted resting his head in his hands. They did not have time for this. His scent was getting stronger by the minute, and a whole group of Alphas were going to approach soon. Even Masanori's will, which was well cultivated and maintained from years of practice, was starting to slip…
"Takeshita, please," he unintentionally dropped the honorific, his voice croaking from panicked desperation, "Let's talk about this, later!"
"No! Tell me right now you- you- you stupid Alpha! Tell me! The school's experiments: what about them is true? You haven't told me, have you!? Admit it to me now!! I don't care if the school hears!"
Masanori didn't have the time, patience, or willpower to explain to Ren whatever confusion was going on in his head. Technically, there were experiments going on in the school, even though Masanori was sure that he had all the wrong ideas of what they actually meant, based from what he had said that day when he pulled him into the classroom.
Masanori knew he needed to explain the difference right now, and knew he shouldn't feed anymore ideas in his head, but he also knew was that a group of Alphas coming this way and he had to get the Omega out of there now. He didn't care if he had to lie, or feed his delusion! And so, he did.
"Yes. Yes there are experiments going on in the school." He panted out, half in a gasp. "It's what you said, okay!? And if you don't get out of here with me, they'll tear you apart! So let's go!!"
Ren let go of his held breath, out coming a relieved sigh of elevation. Finally, some validation on his claims. He was so happy he didn't resist as Masanori grabbed onto his arm and dragged him across the school to the first safe room Masanori could find.
At that point Masanori was completely out of it, and made no attempt to be polite as he roughly shoved Ren inside. Outside, Masanori slid against the wall until he was sitting on the ground, grabbing his hair and trying to calm himself down. He was too close to him for too long, his scene was all over him. He had to calm down, had to think straight…
"Takeshita-san… take the medicine inside." He called out breathlessly. "There should be-" He paused to pant, "-A-A bottle in there."
But Ren didn't respond. Inside, there was only silence. Masanori's heart thudded against his chest and his chest tightened, and worry spread through his mind like a plague.
"Takeshita? Damn it, c-can you please respond? I can't… I can't go in there." Masanori's breathing had become heavy, and he knew he should be the last one to be sitting outside that door. But he couldn't leave him there, and he was in no state to get anyone else. The school's main ground was mostly empty since most kids would be in their dorms by now. If he left and some other Alpha came around… Masanori couldn't go.
"Takeshita," Masanori got up to lean on the door. "Just confirm for me you've taken the medicine, then I'll go alright?"
No response again. Masanori's nerves were pinched and he held back a snarl. He banged his fist down on the door like a mallet and shouted with fury,
"Takeshita!! For god's sake, answer me!!" Masanori was filled with enough adrenaline he felt that he could knock down the door, if door's like this weren reinforced for that exact reason.
Masanori didn't need to, as his nerves relaxed when Ren finally responded. A faint voice almost like a whisper through the walls, weak and feeble.
"....why? Why, Masanori? Why do I… feel like this? Why are you doing this to me?"
Masanori didn't understand exactly what he was talking about, though he had more than one idea. But he'd say anything to get Ren to listen now, so he responded.
"I'll explain after. Just take the medicine, ok? Please."
Ren was silent another beat, before he spoke again.
"...ok."
Masanori sighed with relief. Everything should be fine now. He could breathe again, it was time to go.
"I'll go get security to take you back to your dorm, alright? So just stay-"
"No!" Ren suddenly yelled against the door, making Masanori move back.
"You take me." Ren said.
"What!?" Masanori yelped. "Why do you want me to? No, Takeshita, I'm a-"
"I know! But… you're the only one I trust right now."
Masanori swallowed. He sat on the request in silence, before he sighed and gave an unseen nod.
"...ok. Just, give it another minute or two, alright?"
'Until the medicine kicks in.' Masanori thought to himself.
After 5 minutes, Masanori asked Ren to open the door. He did so obediently, and together they walked back to Ren's dorm.
Masanori sighed. He didn't know how one guy could be such a headache. "You uh… get better, alright? We need to talk."
Ren nods, and goes inside.
Masanori has a feeling, that whatever he said to Ren to make him listen, it wouldn't end up well in the future. How could he just let him believe it like that? Masanori had some things to reiterate on, and after Ren got over his heat, Masanori was going to set the record straight himself.
In his dorm, Ren was feeling much better with the medicine, and went right over to his desk to start writing right away.
'This night wasn't as fruitful as I thought, but this confirms a few things for me.' For one: there is something going on, the desperate Masanori finally admitted it to him. And second: Masanori was definitely with the school after all.
There was no denying that fact. Though he was trying to act on his side, Masanori was behavior was simply too suspicious. Why he kept telling him to lay low and not giving him the details, him being in the student council, it was obvious Masanori was doing more than just trying to keep him safe, he was trying to keep him from disturbing the school.
But, Masanori didn't think that he was a bad guy. Though he was definitely with them, but it seemed that when trying to save Ren those times, his intentions have only been good. The time behind the school showed he knew what was going on, and the time in the clinic showed that he was willing to cooperate, but he's also likely beholden to the school itself, making it difficult for him to communicate.
The school is covered in cameras and security after all, it would be impossible for him to pledge his allegiance to him without facing the consequences. Maybe Masanori's extreme reaction in the classroom then and his previous dismissal of Ren's claims was to deter the people watching them at that time, and Ren had been misinterpreting things this entire time.
'I'm a fool! How could I have misled myself into thinking thinking things would be as easy as gathering information? I've confused myself so much I nearly attacked my only ally!'
Ren pondered. 'Or this could all be a trick. Now that I know for certain he's still with the school, I have to be more careful. But if this is all some hypothetical attempt to to gain my trust… why Masanori? Because he was the one that first helped me? Wouldn't they try to gain my trust with someone else instead, like someone in this dorm?'
Ren concluded: for now, Masanori seemed to be on his side. Ren glanced at the bottle near him. 'He said he'd explain why I need to take these… both the school and him seem to think I should.'
Ren rubbed his forehead. 'It just doesn't make sense. Are these pills bad or good?'
"And I thought these… symptoms were just a one time thing! But I'm having them again! What is going on?" Ren loudly muttered.
"Keep it down Takeshita..." His roomate Kakeru mumbled from his bed.
"Ha. Sorry." Ren awkwardly smiled, and continued in his thoughts.'But still, even if Masanori is ok about what happened at that closet earlier…'
Masanori may have admitted the truth and seemed to have good intentions, but why did he lock him in the closet and make him take these pills? Why did he look so panicked when trying to get him out of the construction site? Would they have kidnapped him and disposed of him for getting too close to something? The pills, were they an order given to him to make him do, or were they really just to help him? Ren's mind was so focused and filled with his conspiracies, he couldn't find room to logically realize and make the connection between the two.
But it was at least was clear to Ren that Masanori had a lot of explaining to do, and Masanori had promised they would talk! Ren couldn't wait until he finally gave him the full story.