When Ren woke up the next morning, he somehow felt worse than he did last month. The moment he opened his eyes, the wave of heat crashed down on him and swallowed him whole.
He was constantly hot and uncomfortable, like a fever but he was constantly restless rather than feeling drained. He was so dizzy sometimes that trying to move an inch gave him vertigo so bad he'd find himself hitting the floor. His already sensitive skin felt twice so, while also being clammy and covered in pinpricks of sweat that dripped off so immensely that he wanted to rip off his own skin to make the sensation stop. And he didn't want to get started on his horniness, his member constantly erect and chafing against anything and everything and it constantly throbbed and ached like it was constantly begging him for a touch.
But Ren held onto his sanity. He wouldn't give into it! After all, this wasn't his body! What kind of person would he be touching himself while in someone else's body!?
So he held on, through the heat and waves of sweat and horniness. Feeling this way only increased his wariness of the pills and the heats only grew more intense.
'Stupid Masanori! Why the hell is he making me take these pills! It's clear they are the culprit! It must have set in while I was sleeping!!'
So that second afternoon he stopped taking them, not realizing his mistake as it wasn't long before he was out of his mind horny, lost in a cloud of a burning heat, his mind barely recalling anything but his sheets and fire.
He eventually came out of it when he woke up from sleep again the second evening of his heat in a daze, not remembering what happened that afternoon.
"What…what happened? When did the sun start to set?" He muttered out loud to himself.
"You got off your pills." A voice said on the other bed. Ren looked over to see that it was Hino Kanaseki, his kind roommate that let him borrow the laptop that one time. Normally he looked friendly and easy-going, but today he looked particularly annoyed.
"You're seriously reckless, you know that?" He scolded, "Two months in a row you activate your heat, and now this afternoon you didn't even bother suppressing it. This messes with us too, you know?"
"What do you mean?" Ren asked, wanting a genuine explanation, even though his brain only half-registered what he said. Something about being bothered by him? If he could see his face at the moment his eyes were glazing over every other second and his face was red and flushed from the end of his ears to the tip of his nose, his forehead glistening from a layer of sweat.
"Why aren't you on your inhibitors, Takeshita?" Kanaseki continued, "School's getting annoyed and wants me to keep watch of you, so just take your next dose please." Kanaseki hands him a glass of water, urging him to take the medication.
Ren felt he understood. Watch him? So the school didn't like him getting off of the medicine, and were using his fellow students to make him! Ren wasn't sure if Kanaseki was involved with the School, but Ren was sure, these pills were with the school, and did not want to take them. He violently shook his head with a defiant expression, lips pursed to a pout.
Kanaseki openly growled at him. "Are you seriously like this? You're just causing trouble for everyone, Takeshita."
Ren wanted to retort that the school was the real trouble, but he felt he couldn't get words out. He finally noticed just how much more intense the heat was burning, two-folds than this morning, and was getting worse by the second. He was hot, so hot, and he felt dizzy, and a feeling was churning in his stomach that was making his thoughts strange.
'What is this now?' Ren could only lay back down and wonder. 'Didn't I think last month that this was like being crazy? That the pills must be a cure for it? But why like this? Why did Masanori…'
Ren thoughts trailed off.
'Masanori…?'
Ren thought of Masanori's vague scent of flowers, the way that his heat was again him when he carried him off from the site, the sound of his voice…
"Masanori…" Ren murmured.
Kanaseki clicked his tongue. "You're… fine. When you're done with that, take the medicine please."
Ren didn't hear him. He didn't hear him leave either, his thoughts were suddenly consumed by thoughts of how Masanori looked, felt, smelled. The way he acted and was. The fact that he was a-
"Alpha." Ren whispered. The word became so prominent in his mind, and every thought sent ripples throughout Ren that made him shake and shiver.
"Mm… haaa…"
Ren didn't realize when he had started to touch himself either.
"Alpha… haaa, Masanori…" Ren began to sigh and moan with increased intensity, all centered on one face, one idea. Images blurring in his head of what it would be like if he was there, if he was touching him, that sheets he was lying on was his skin, an image that shot through the fog of heat and cleared it away like the sun breaking through clouds. And in his mind as it was realized, Ren felt a blissful release.
"Haa…haa…" He panted like he had just ran for miles. When his brain settled down, he finally felt the sticky substance on his hands.
"Wah…what?" He looked under his sheets.
'D-Did I….just jerk off? But, why-?'
Ren suddenly felt the heat some more, but more onto his face as his cheeks blushed hard, stricken with face burning embarrassment.
'No… no fucking way!'
Ren lunged for the pill bottle on the headboard and gulped down a pill in one swallow. He groaned exasperatedly, face flopping into his pillow feeling empty.
'I get it now, crazy school,' He thought scornfully, 'Don't forget the pills. How did it put such erratic thoughts in my head like that? I mean it's Masanori-kun!! Was it Kanaseki? Why did it have to be about him?! Why Masanori…!?' He squeezed his pillow over his ears, trying to drown out the echo of his moans in his mind.
Ren now didn't trust Kanaseki, certainly a lot less than he didn't trust Masanori, who he was still on the fence of whenever he should trust him or not. Like how that red-headed Alpha mind controlled him, that must be it!! If Kanaseki did this, then…!
He lost his train of thought. His head felt so hot he felt like his head must be melting, the sweat on his forehead evaporating and turning into steam. He was still tired, and still in heat, and he could no longer contemplate it. Instead, he silently hoped.
'I'll know soon… he promised me he'd explain!' As the pills set in and Ren's thoughts and body fully returned to normal, he scowled bitterly now at the thought of his face. 'Let's hope I can face him after this. It's weird that he hasn't come by yet. I know I'm sick but how hard is it to just come by to chat? Well, there's no way he was involved with those intrusive thoughts at least, right?'
Ren drifted off back to sleep, pondering what Masanori would be able to say to him.
———
Masanori exhaled as he looked at the work beneath him. There was a lot to go over.
"What a mess." He muttered to himself.
He was in the disciplinary office at his desk, looking through a specific report, flipping through pages with a stiff expression, his back rigid and unmoving, his eyes sweeping the page with the occasional worried twitch of the brow.
"Never seen you look so troubled over a few papers," Yukihiro peered over the desk down at him as he sat in the office chair the wrong way, knees on the seat and head relaxing on his arms resting over the top.
Masanori shook his head at him. "It's nothing, Yuki. It's just…"
"That omega again, isn't it?" Yuki hummed. "Quite a troublemaker, isn't he? Surprised that he has been expelled yet."
"That's the issue," Masanori sighed. "This report on the pheromone breakout at the gym construction site… there's no action for the disciplinary about him. Or, anything really." He quickly flipped through the report just to reconfirm it to himself.
When an event occurs in the school it was practice to have the teachers give the verdict and to have the students run through their protocols to handle it accordingly. If a student is hurt a report goes to the health monitor to conduct appropriate check ups and to handle medical supplies to students, if a student is disrupted from their day to day life, student wellness goes to their aid to make proper arrangements to solve the issue. If a student breaks a school rule, disciplinary authorities are instructed to enact the proper punishment.
But despite everyone claiming the cause of the ruckus was because of a certain Omega, one that clearly was not supposed to be there and that that many could identify, Masanori included and earnestly gave his name in honesty, the report didn't ask for any reports about him. Nothing at all. The only reason he got the report at all was due to a student or two that got too reckless and wandered into the site due to the lingering pheromones.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Yuki said, eyes searching the page himself with an intrigued smile. "Your Omega pet gets to stay in the school."
Masanori tapped some papers in his hand over Yukihiro's head lightly, not looking up from the desk as he did. "Yuki. Don't call him a pet, he's a person." He scolded.
"A person would have more common sense to be doing what he does," Yuki replied with a scoff, "If he's nutso he might be better off being put on a leash."
"Do you have no filter, Yuki…" Masanori grumbled rhetorically. He ignored Yukihiro's little snicker and focused back on the report. He rapped his fingertips against the desk, feeling troubled. He had felt the same before, when Ren had collapsed behind the school from hunger.
'Why isn't the school looking more into Takeshita? All he's done is cause issues after issue, and any other student would have been expelled or even gotten a call home by now.'
Masanori sighed. It was no good, the situation was just too strange, wasn't it? Or did the school handle Ren in ways that went unheard from him?
"Aren't they a little hushed up about him? It's strange…" He muttered.
Yukihiro moved back and rested his elbows against his desk, thinking out loud, "Or maybe your father is just keeping info about him away from you? Maybe they've already dealt with him somehow, and it just didn't pass your way."
Masanori nodded. "Yeah, that's probably it, most likely. But to get this kind of special treatment because of me?" He rapped his fingers against the desk again with a furrowing brow, "If father wanted to keep me away from him then he's had plenty of reasons to just kick him out, so why?"
Masanori was not scott free of the incident either. As soon as he mentioned the name of the omega his father had called him to his office to give him another firm talking to. But while before there was some reason, this time Masanori's father was just upset he was involved with him again. Told him to stay away, no more warnings, the usual. Luckily, no one had seen him walk him to his dorm, or he might have had something more to say. Masanori now rubbed absentmindedly at a bothersome smudge on one of the pages, thoughts swirling on how he would actually manage to talk to Takeshita without his father finding out.
Yukihiro rose from the desk, giving a nonchalant shrug. "Beats me. I'd say those rumors might be punishment enough..." his voice pitched in a whimsical leer.
"Rumors?" Masanori muttered, but didn't take Yukihiro's bait to ask. He didn't have energy to chat, and he could guess fairly well what people might be saying. An Omega foolish enough to release that many pheromones in this school without a doubt would stoke the fires of conversation.
Yukihiro let out a disappointed puff of air and continued, "But hey, maybe you can get some answers from him when it's over. Heats only lasts a few days, don't they?"
"They can go for up to a week." Masanori stiffly replied.
"You can be a little patient, Nori. Can't you?"
"Alphas aren't known for their patience, Yuki."
Yukihiro laughed, sounding far too entertained, "Sure sure."
———
5 days. Ren had missed five days because of his strange affliction. Ren was a bit pissed.
'I hope that Masanori has a good explanation for this!' Ren thought with a hiss after his dorn's health advisor finally announced that he was better. As soon as he was able Ren got the heck out of that room and down that path from his dorm and back towards the main school building. Classes wouldn't start for another hour, and Ren felt it was the perfect time for him to find to talk with Masanori.
He already knew exactly where he was. He didn't stalk a majority of the Alphas in the school to not know where they all resided. The Alpha's dorm.
He arrived in front of the dorm on the north west side of the school in the ebbing hours of the morning, the sky still dim and the streetlamps only just flickering off, other students leaving the building in bigger and bigger droves after having their fill of breakfast.
He knew from his stalking of the Alphas and Akagi Naoto, that most of them lived here, Imada Masanori included.
'This is fine.' Ren tried to calm his heart down. It felt like he was just casually walking into the Lion's den!
But he had to go. He had to find Masanori. Besides needing his explanation he promised, Ren was also worried. Why hadn't he come by to explain Five days and nothing? He was alright, wasn't he? This could be more than a confrontation of his whereabouts, this could become a rescue mission!
'Like they'll attack me in broad daylight in a crowded dorm. N-Not all the Alphas can be involved, right?' He tried to reassure himself, but heart rate only quickened when he drew closer to the building, hiding behind whatever trees or bushes littered the sides of the path. He waited until a group of loud students walked through the main door, swinging open right in front of Ren's face and he grabbed at its edges before it swung shut, and rushed inside.
Immediately he dived behind one of the lobby's large potted plants, for once thankful for his tiny body as he peeked out through the leaves, surveying the room.
'Good, there's not a lot of people here. If it's anything like the Omega dorm, the way to the kitchen and the common room should be that way, but if we want to find Masanori we need-'
"Um… you looking for something there?"
Rem froze and his head whipped up through the plant's leaves towards a student.
Ren shot up from the plant, a bit too quickly, one leaf smacking him in the face as he turned to face them. He smacked the lead away and looked towards the student in a cold panic.
'I've been caught! No, calm down… He asked me while I'm here, he must just be curious. Then, I just have to act casual!!'
Ren loudly cleared his throat then said shakily, "Y-Yeah, dropped s-something…"
"I see. But why are you in the Alpha's dorm right now?" The student asked. Ren broke into a cold sweat. He didn't have a cover story! Had he already been exposed!? Did he have to make a run for it!?
No! There was still a chance. Ren steeled his expression. He would be bold! He'd ask directly where he was!
"A-Actually!" He raised his voice, "I'm, I'm looking for someone! Have you seen Ma-"
Ren then froze. Quickly his cheeks turned a shade of pink. For a second that burned in memory returned. Suddenly saying his name out felt impossible!
"I-Imada!" Ren shouted in a quick course-correction, all his gusto drained in an instant. Luckily he still remembered his last name!
But then the student hummed in thought before telling him, "Imada? There are two here…"
"O-Oh…" Ren turned a shade paler and took a hard swallow, trying to stammer out his name. "I mean, it's Imada Ma…M-Mas-!" He croaked and couldn't finish.
The student cocked his head. The student looked Ren over, determining what they were there for. Seeing little reason why a beta would have ill intent even if they seemed flustered, he decided to help him out. It wasn't against school rules to visit even if it was just before class, after all.
"Um, well both Imadas live on the third floor. So maybe you can catch them leaving for class," The student said to him. "But they might already be gone though."
Ren's entire face was red as he nodded quickly before scurrying off.
'C-Can't believe I almost flubbed that, because of his name! I must have looked so suspicious! It would have been better if I actually DID forget his name! Then I wouldn't have-!'
Ren's face blush somehow got worse.
'... Wouldn't have yelled his given name… that day.'
Ren's face felt hotter than his heat. 'Damn it… I-I can't see him like this!'
Ren stopped for a break around the second floor, leaning against the wall and taking steady breaths to calm himself down. This heat thing, he recently noted, also made him over exert himself over the smallest things. His heart rate would just skyrocket at every little thing! On his walk here he got spooked by a sudden breeze! Did this sickness make him more paranoid?
'Maybe it's the meds, trying to make the students more anxious so they'll stay in line!!'
Ren in fact, just couldn't accept the fact that all of the paranoia and tension was of his own doing.
Ren glanced out the window at the end of the hall, getting a fairly clear view of some school buildings beyond, as well as a glance of hills on the western side beyond the fence. He sighed and turned back down the hall, taking a little stroll to clear his head before heading up, the halls already emptied out so his nerves were at ease.
Hey while he was finally here, he could memorize the layout! A map of the Alpha's dorm was bound to be useful in the future!
But when Ren turned around a corner towards one of the dead-end halls, he froze. He had spotted Akagi appearing out from the southern stairwell. In that brief pause he turned his head and spotted him. Their eyes locked.
'Oh crud.' Ren cursed. He whirled around to start running from where he came from.
"Hey!!" Akagi shouted behind him.
Ren didn't get far. After only a few seconds Akagi pulled on the back of Ren's uniform jacket and yanked him back. Practically holding him by it he twisted him around to face him. Ren gulped.
Akagi didn't say anything at first. He just stared at him with narrowed eyes.
"...you really do have no scent." Akagi finally spoke, slightly tilting his head. "How strong are your inhibitors, junior?" He asked.
Ren tried to speak, specifically on what was being inhibited and why he mentioned his smell, but instead of words coming out he instead made a sound like a wheezing whistle, bringing an embarrassed flush on his face. Was his mouth so dry before?
Fuck, he had really gone and screwed up now! Why did it have to be Akagi Naoto that spotted him? This guy, he's definitely with the school!!
Akagi snickered at him with amusement. "You are an odd omega. Your inhibitors are so strong I doubt you could release your scent if you tried, huh?" He sneered a little, before leering down even more at Ren and giving him a darkening scowl. "All of that pent up, then you release it all at once when your heat comes, don't you? I got it all figured out, little omega."
Ren's eyebrows twisted with confusion. Pent up?
"W-What are you saying?" He genuinely asked in a hushed, wavering tone, finding just enough air to speak.
"You're the same omega from the library," Akagi stated, his tone harsh, "Your scent's hard to figure out, but I remember," His voice got lower, more ominous, "How much it lingers. If you want someone to claim you that badly, then there are better methods."
Ren felt a shiver down his spine at the way he said the word "claim", like it was something obscene and shouldn't be said lightly, something not even Ren could misconstrue.
Ren's fight or flight kicked in and he started trying to try to back away, but Akagi still had a grip on his jacket.
"Finally got bold enough to come into the Alpha's dorm, is that it?" Akagi growled, "Think no one would notice you being a stalker, Takeshita Akira? I got a dozen reports for a little nuisance that matches your exact description. It's all starting to make sense now." He growled.
Ren kept backing up, his feet dragging against the ground as he tried to get out of his jacket, but Akagi gripped his arm and leaned down more to glare at him, eyes dark and hostile.
"Who are you to come to this school to prey on innocent Alphas? Someone forcing you to take a mate?"
Ren was beginning to feel closed in, wanting to shrink in on himself; Akagi's presence was becoming overwhelming. His breath was getting shallow and his heart was starting to race again, his body starting to tremble as Akagi continued to rain down accusations.
"Is that why you're here, omega? To find yourself an Alpha before your heat wears off? Before the school kicks you out of here? Well…"
Akagi got right up to Ren's ears and whispered, "I'll gladly comply. But I will not be your mate."
Even if his heart wasn't pounding as loudly as it was and fogged up his hearing, Ren didn't understand anything he was rambling about. But Ren was certain of one thing: he was being threatened. The school was threatening him! They knew he was spying on the Alphas! And now they were going to, well, do something!!
'There must be a student nearby that can help me…!' Ren thought feebly in a desperate panic, and got ready to start yelling for help, though his voice was still not working like he wanted it to. He, had he failed? Damn it, he was a fool to think he could enter the Alpha's dorm so easily…!
"Akagi-san."
Masanori's voice echoed from across the hall, and Ren's heart soared skyhigh.
Akagi rose up from Ren's face and looked to his right. Ren glanced to his left as well to Masanori, staring Akagi down with a threatening gaze. "What are you doing? You know better than to harass another student like this." Masanori said coldly.
Akagi growled at him. "Can't you see I'm busy? This Omega's here to cause problems-"
"And I'm the leading council member on rule and safety regulation, Akagi-san. If anyone is qualified to convict a troublemaker, it's me." Masanori replied coldly.
Akagi huffed, but released Ren and backed away. He shot Ren one more threatening glare and a sharp snarl, "Have fun with our thorny rose, omega. But if I see you around again, we'll have our own private chat." He let out one more huff before he sauntered off down the hall.
Masanori approached Ren. "You alright, Takeshita-san? I'm sorry." He said. He was referring to the rumor that Ren had just heard. He hadn't expected Akagi Naoto of all people to find and accuse him directly.
Ren let go of his held breath, feeling relieved but also a little gloomy. He sort of came to save Masanori, but it looked like he was the one that had to be saved, again. That did seem to happen a lot, didn't it?
Ren sighed somberly and scratched his head before turning to Masanori, about to thank him. "Masa-" Ren froze again, speaking his first name without thinking, and he turned red again.
Masanori frowned at him, looking especially disappointed. "Takeshita-san, why are you here? Your body still isn't in a good state, is it? You're all red…"
Ren violently shook his head. "I'm… fine now!" He huffed out. He then furrowed his eyes, shouting, "And, you know why I'm here! You, promised an explanation for all of this!"
Masanori took a deep breath. He could see it from the look in his eye. If he told Ren anything except what he wanted to hear, then he had a feeling things wouldn't end well.
'I was kinda hoping this would calm down after his heat… I still plan on keeping my promise, but I'm not sure how I can do this.'
"Takeshita, can we discuss this later?" Masanori quietly asked. "We have class-"
"Absolutely not!" Ren shouted, cutting him off. "I've been waiting 5 days for a response from you, so Imada-kun: you're gonna keep your promise! Why did you leave me hanging for so long, huh? Just because I was sick?"
Masanori blinked. 'Was he waiting for me to come to him? But I couldn't have possibly visited while he was in his heat…' Masanori frowned.
"Well, anything really quick I can answer now…?" Masanori's voice drawled anxiously, "Don't worry um, no one is around to listen..." he added. Masanori took a hard swallow and braced.
Ren's frown lifted, but he still looked grumpy when he grouched, "Well first off: why did that thing last for five days straight? You know, the heat? It makes you go completely crazy! Was it the school's way of punishing me or something?"
Masanori just stared at Ren, completely speechless. He then pinched his nose irritably, letting out a long sigh. 'Oh course… he wants me to explain the one thing I can't explain. Like I know why it lasted five days! How do I explain that the school wasn't responsible for that?'
"Something wrong?" Ren asked him with his arms crossed, his anger crawling down to a more sheepish look. To be honest he'd like to avoid the subject right now, if he asked what kind of crazy he was referring to...!
"I-I guess, if that's too complex for you to explain, then I've got a dozen more!" Ren stuttered out.
Masanori shook his head. "No, I... Look, I have to head back to my room to do something: why don't we talk in the afternoon?" He suggested calmly.
Ren outright scoffed at him. "Nuh uh! If you're trying to hold off on telling me again you can forget it! Just take me with you to your room with you and tell me there!"
Masanori paused, blinking in surprise before he held back a smile, needing to resist an eye roll.
'I see, so now he's trying bluffs? Now I know he's just acting. Trying to look all confident just because he's angry at me, it's pretty cute…' He then sadly sighed, 'If only he'd just be cute and not crazy.'
"Sure, follow me." Masanori said to him, motioning him to follow. Fine, he'd see how he fared. He led Ren down the hall and up the stairs, all the way to his dorn room.
Masanori opened the door slightly, giving him a moment before offering, "We don't have to go in. If you want to talk someplace else then we should-" Masanori stopped when Ren entered the room, completely undeterred.
Masanori's eyebrows rose, surprised. 'What…?'
He had expected, for an omega, to be overwhelmed by the scent of a room where multiple Alphas slept, an oppressive air of pheromones that he expected even Ren would shy away from. He thought he was bluffing to get him to pay attention to him now and that if he actually brought him to the room he would get cold feet. After all, even if he's odd, an omega is still an omega. But, Ren just walked in like it was nothing at all.
His bluff being out bluffed and attempt to ward him off for a bit having failed, Masanori's eyes only slightly furrowed in confusion before entering inside himself.