Masanori rose up from the security office chair, turning to face the door. He stood up and quickly pulled it open, peeking his head out into the halls shrouded in shadows, only dimly lit the blue light casting through the windows. As he stepped out he turned his head to the right and, sure enough, the quiet but swift steps of a shadowy figure was rushing down the hall. It was only a whiff, but he smelled someone walking past. And not just anyone…
Masanori took a step forward. "Yoshida Junichiro-san?"
He called the name across the dark hall. The figure froze and whirled back at him. Masanori approached, though he could see little in the low light.
"You shouldn't be here. Alpha Curfew has already passed you know, even if this is the east building. You should be going the other way towards the Alpha dorm."
Yoshida's head nodded and he replied with a tremor in his voice. "R-Right… I apologize, Imada-san. In t-the dark I must have turned the wrong way."
Masanori huffed, crossing his arms. 'Liar. It's not that dark to get this turned around.'
A flash of anger then surged through him. Who did he think he was lying to him? He should have known. Though he seemed meek he was trouble. If he's lying here, then did he lie earlier today?
"You're breaking school rules." Masanori stated more sternly, crossing his arms. "And I'm the rule enforcer. Is all you can muster is a weak apology? Explain what you're doing here so late."
"T-That's… I figured cutting through the school would be a good shortcut. I'm sorry - p-please, I accept a suitable punishment for my actions." He answered. He said this in a feeble way, which seemed usual, but Masanori's more critical eye at the moment noticed something else.
Though he apologized, he didn't move. He hadn't even bother to bow his head even a little, as you would to ask for forgiveness in this situation. Now that Masanori pondered it, he didn't seem to do it much either yesterday, hardly a real apology for how he treated him, was it?
This, and the lack of respect even from another Alpha that usually didn't concede easily, was enough to turn Masanori's stern stink eye darkened into a glare. A small laugh escaped from his throat.
"Suitable? You're making light of this a little too much, don't you think?"
Yoshida twitched. After a pause, he answered. "I, making light of it is a little extreme? This is the natural response, I-I wouldn't make a big deal out of something so small and cause trouble when curfew violation, is only-"
That's when Masanori grabbed Yoshida, gripping him by the collar. His voice that was previously stern had iced over completely.
"It's what? I should clarify. I'm asking: what exactly would you find suitable? Shouldn't you say that you'll accept whatever punishment that I find suitable? This is the second time I'm finding you causing trouble, the reasonable reaction is a poor excuse."
A closer look at his face, Masanori saw the way his eyes shrunk, a rush of fear and panic flooding them. "I-Imada-san. I, I didn't…!" He gasped, his voice strained.
"Is being dismissive really going to clear things up here!?" Masanori growled. His eyes cast a yellow glow, a light that cast over Yoshida and lit up the dark hallway.
"Do you think I have the energy for this tonight!? What are you doing here? What were you doing at the beta dorm on Thursday?"
"I-I was doing s-something for the other Alphas!" He cried. Yoshida trembled, his body folded in on itself, his breathing sounding choked. "S-Some of the Betas were in on it!! T-They told me they'd put a word in with Hayashi-san for more club funding! P-Please-!"
Masanori paused. "Alphas? Betas? What about Takeshita?"
"T-Takeshita-?! I-I really just found him like that! I-I didn't hurt him! I-I swear!! Please I'm sorry!!" They hollered, Masanori clearly hearing sobs breaking through in his voice. Finally, Masanori stopped. In the next moment he stopped his pheromones, cutting off the supply of the heavy air and letting it dissipate. Masanori let go of his shirt and Yoshida fell to the floor, on his hands and knees.
Masanori stopped. He nervously rubbed his hand against the side of his neck and took a step back, guilt and confusion lying laden on his face.
"I- I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." He lowered his head, wincing to himself. 'A bad temper at this time isn't a good look…'
He spoke again, asking much calmer. "Yoshida-san, what did you do for the Alphas at the beta dorm? Who asked you?" He demanded.
But Yoshida shook his head, remaining silent and keeping his head to the floor.
Masanori pinched his nose with a tired sigh. 'Of course. He knows he's in trouble anyway, so he won't talk. Does he not care he might get expelled for this?'
Either he was that confident, or that scared. But an interrogation, right now? Masanori sighed. 'I'm not…' He tensed up. 'I'm already pushing things. Why am I getting distracted thinking about Takeshita again when I should be focusing on the fire? He might be related to it: I should take him to lock up and find Sensei.'
"Get up and follow me." Masanori ordered, and walked along with the Yoshida, on their way to the front of the school. But his mind kept wandering to what Yoshida said. He mentioned something the betas were in on as well. What was he doing for them, exactly? If that was the reason he was at the beta dorm…
'Be reasonable. I can't go bursting in the beta dorm past curfew asking questions without a target,' He told himself. 'And it's fine. Since Yuki is already gathering camera footage from there anyway…'
Masanori paused. Something clicked in his head
'The cameras. Yoshida does tech and computer software, in his club. And Yuki mentioned he liked to ask him questions. The beta dorm… the security system there is disconnected from Yuki's system. Was the thing he was asked to do was hack the security cameras?
'Then, the security team, was the fire by the east wall a distraction so they aren't spotted by them? And if Betas are involved…' Masanori shook his head. 'No, but even if Alphas are avoiding the cameras, they can't leave the Alpha dorm without taking the path, and they'd risk meeting with patrols or security going to the fire. The only path they could take is…'
His head shot up and his eyes went to the window, where he could see the site of the gym construction, still incomplete.
"Yoshida, get back to the dorm." Masanori commanded sternly, and hurriedly left the bewildered student in the hall alone.
Masanori took off down the left hall heading out towards the beta dorm. The twisting feeling in his gut increased, growing more intense.
'If Akagi is involved in this… Takeshita…'
Masanori picked up speed.
———
'Wah-What…?'
Ren was stunned to his core at what he saw when he peeked around the corner. Though he didn't notice it though the music, the lounge was full of students, noisily snogging! Among other things, sounds Ren's heart couldn't bear to describe in detail. Hands caressing under shirts and hem lines, sounds of wet smacks and grunts and moans and-
Ren whipped his head away from the sight and his body sunk down to the floor, his face going blindingly red. 'W-What the fuck!? This was a make-out party?! Gah, of course it was - the school's been experimenting with these kid's hormones!!'
Ren stiffened when he heard the sound of footsteps. On all fours and sticking to the floor Ren raced away, heading down a different hall to hide around the corner.
He was safe for now, but Ren was in a pickle. He was hoping for a meeting involving people talking! But if they were just making out and smushing their bodies against each other. Ren hugged the wall and started moving down the hall, pondering what exactly he could do here.
'Well, technically I do already have evidence - those guys from the kitchen. Maybe it's better to just leave… But, why-'
Ren froze. He now stood right by a bedroom door, and right in his ear heard the sound of voices.
'Huh? Oh, this door is open... Could this be?' Ren braced. 'If they're taking in here, I gotta shoot my shot or I'll be leaving with next to nothing! H-Here goes...!'
Ren slowly pushed open the door. But, rather than finding a hushed room full of Alphas conversing, he found a mostly empty but spacious dorm common room that led into bedrooms. But he never got beyond the foyer.
"Haa... Agh...!!"
Ren stopped. 'Huh? Who's breathing heavy like that in there? Are they hurt-?'
That's when he heard a loud moan. Louder and more pronounced than anything he'd heard before.
"Aagh-! S-Slow down...!"
Then there was a loud thump, then an especially loud moan, and Ren squeaked in shock, but quickly covered his mouth. Yet, the noises continued.
"Ngh! Haa...!"
He heard more sounds, finally audible, the rough thwoping of wet skin, moaning and grunting in tune to the creaking of and thumping of the floorboards and bedframe, unmistakable sounds so overtly lewd and lustful that the moment Ren heard it there was little room for questions on what he was hearing.
A flushed heat rushed down Ren's neck like a spilled red paint. He lost the ability to breath, or even think, and just scrambled out the room like a scurrying mouse, backing away from the door rapidly until he slammed his back into the wall on the other side of the hall.
He immediately regretted it, when he heard more sounds coming from that door. Ren could only imagine, it was so loud because they weren't even in a bedroom-
Ren tossed the thought and smashed in into dust. 'Ahh! Don't think about that!!' He ducked down until he was curling in on himself, clutching his bag.
Ren's entire face had gone tomato red. 'T-They really are! In these rooms!? B-But that…!' Ren squeezed his bag and tried to control his breathing. 'T-This isn't right…!!'
Ren was not unfamiliar with the idea of intercourse between men, he wasn't born last century or something, but all of this was distressing for him. Because, the last time he encountered people who were doing anything close to this, he had his first heat. And then, his mind, his thoughts, twisted. He felt puppeted, controlled by a different force that rested within him. So the idea that what happened to him then, might be what was happening to these students, was horrifying. It was like… He had walked into- he had walked into…!!
'This party is a test run, an experiment! It h-has to be!! This must be what the stolen pills and soda must be used for, to control them for the experiments! But then th-the Betas, they can't just be the control group then! What if they're actually…'
Ren gasped. 'Wh-What if the Betas are the dormant test subjects! Is it possible, forcing these kids to be promiscuous is how they unlock their powers!?!'
Ren pulled open his bag and started figuring out what he should do. The hammer? He could use it to break down this door! Then he'd storm into the other room! But, what about the other door, and the ones in that lounge, and who knew who else in this section of the dorm…
Ren let go of the hammer. He couldn't help them. He didn't have the power to stop this, he couldn't save any of them. He had to just look for evidence. That was what he came here to do. Then, he could-
"Naoto, whaddya think? This was a great idea just like you said - everyone having a good time!"
"Psh, I see that. Surprised so many took a room… Anyone causing trouble?"
"Not that we've heard..."
Ren nearly choked on his tongue. 'Akagi Naoto is coming this way!' Ren, with all the speed he could muster, bolted down the opposite hall away from them. He couldn't get caught now! He could probably wrap around if he takes a right turn-!
But then, Ren tripped. His shoe tangled on the straps of his bag he forgot to pick up in his rush. He crashed to the floor. He quickly raised himself by his arms and, foolishly looked behind him.
Akagi stood in the center of the hall, staring at him. Briefly he looked shocked, before his expression warped into anger. "You…!"
Ren lost all the color left in his face. "Crap!!"
Ren leaped to his feet and kept running. Closer to the end of the hall he took the right turn he hoped to wrap around, only to discover a shocking miscalculation.
'A dead end! No, no no no no-!'
Ren was forced to turn around to face the red-headed Alpha, glaring at him with a dark look in his eye.
Akagi growled at him. "Takeshita Akira! This is a no Omega allowed shindig you know!"
The beta with him looked behind him. "Who's this guy? Who told an Omega about this? A vengeful lover maybe?"
Ren squeezed his eyes shut, too scared to think properly. He didn't know how the mind control worked, but it was all he could think of to do, he was caught, caught by the single worst person he could be! If he tried to run he'd just catch him again, and he was out of flour bombs because of Kokichi! Wait, that's it! The hammer-!
Ren started to reach into the bag for the tool suddenly impromptu weapon, but before he could find it the bag was suddenly ripped from his grip. Ren could feel the strap of the bag break as Akagi tore it away from him with little regard.
"Don't try it." His voice growled.
Ren, though his terror at the effortless show of strength, felt himself shed a single tear.
'M-My bag!'
"Naoto-san?" the Beta spoke, sounding confused.
"Go. I'll handle this." Akagi growled, presumably to the beta, and Ren heard his footsteps walk away. When they were gone Akagi spoke again.
"You're shameless coming here. Like I thought, you're a danger to the rest of the Alpha students."
'What? A danger?' Ren thought, his twisting with worry and confusion. That made little sense. Him, a useless omega? Able to be a worry to a bunch of Alphas?
This thought was quickly forgotten however. Because suddenly, Akagi's hand grabbed Ren's chin. It wrapped around it entirely, holding his entire mouth hostage. Ren felt his body quivering and tried to stop it. He swallowed shakily as he fought back his fear.
"I dunno why you won't look at me, but I don't care." Akagi continued. The grip on Ren's hand loosened but not enough to break free, and Ren felt his head being moved, rotated like he was being examined.
'W-What is he doing? Sizing me up f-for what?'
"Well, what do I do with you little omega…" Ren heard him grunt. "Knowing your type, you'll threaten to blab unless I give you something. How about someone leaves you so worn and sore out you won't be able to open your lips to speak in the morning?" Ren could hear a smack from his lips like he just licked them, and the image of Akagi flashed in his mind from yesterday outside the student wellness office, though he couldn't focus on it as Akagi kept going, Ren feeling him move in closer and made his breathing go so shallow he began to feel dizzy, still he tried not to show it.
"You're not in heat, but don't think you can pick up a target to flatter until it does happen." His breath was close enough to feel, and he could feel the vibration of the silent grunt that came from his throat. "Don't take it the wrong way - I take no pleasure in letting you have your way. I'd do it myself, but I'm busy tonight."
Ren took a moment from his terror to frown, confused again. Have HIS way? His way is wanting to leave! Was he doing? He was waiting for the moment he got this over with, a confusing feeling, as he definitely didn't want to know what would happen next but couldn't stand to remain here trapped much longer. Was he waiting for him to do something...?
Ren in his confusion forgot his initial fear and opened his eyes. He startled upon seeing how harshly he was glaring at him now. Though for a moment, Akagi pedaled back. Then his eyes deepened to a more husky shade, lined with darkness, along with a flash of red. He murmured as he leaned in, his voice calm and steady, but edged with tension, dand in Ren's mind, danger.
"That make you happy, omega? You finally opened your eyes."
Ren trembled and just squeezed his eyes shut again. 'Mistake! It was a mistake!!'
"You really are shameless," Akagi snickered. "I wonder what Masanori-san will think of you now, huh?"
Ren froze. 'Bringing up Masanori like this? I knew it, they know that he's been helping me… no, it might be a bluff! I gotta try to save him!'
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" Ren shouted. "I-Imada? He's just that guy in the student council, right? What's he got to do with what's going on here? I… I came here all on my own, I haven't even talked to Imada in ages! He's… he's not important!"
There was some silence, before Akagi let out a nasty scoff, along with a strange smile. "Knew it… you're an Alpha baiter through and through. Masa always gave people the benefit of the doubt. You're undeserving of his kind-hearted benevolence. All you omegas are scum."
'A-Alpha Baiter?' Ren wondered. He had heard this word before. Right, Ryusei called him it; he nearly forgot about it. If he wasn't in what felt like the grip of death himself, he would spare a thought to what it meant. Instead he got angry. Calling him scum!?
In that moment Akagi coldly scoffed. "Should have known you'd show up really - I knew someone was in the bushes by the court on Thursday, and I guess you're the flour tosser too, seeing it on your clothes. Guess you found someone else that equally likes to make trouble in that loud blue-headed beta."
Ren blanked for a moment. Past the reminder of that series of events, in being reminded of the beta students Ren suddenly felt an even bigger swelling of fury in his chest. He bit his lip in a grimace and felt a burst of confidence. He opened his eyes again and shouted at him in a rage. "You're… you're the shameless one! Doing this to the beta students! I make trouble because, y-you're-!"
Ren then heard a sudden harsh snarl and his pulse leaped from his skin. The deep rumbling trailed after, though still recognizably coming from a human, or else Ren might have thought a wild animal had appeared behind him.
Akagi's glare somehow got more icy, but his words were anything but. "You think you can lecture me!? All we asked was for some space that was already free and a little word of silence! Don't think you can criticize me when you're the one that broke into OUR party! If there's any wrongdoing here, you're just as guilty for being out past curfew and showing up here!"
Ren was scared but his anger won out this time. He glared up at Akagi and tried to push him back, fighting past his grip on his chin to shout.
"So!? Same goes for you, you're the real scum here! You're the one taking away the omega student's pills and using it to manipulate the betas with Ryusei's assistant! That's right - I know about it, and the soda proves it! Ryus- someone told me if you mix omega pills and soda it does something! It must be some kind of drug! You're a monster! This is criminal!"
Akagi's face changed, and he squinted at Ren. "What are you talking about? Omega pills? Why do you think- hold on, Ryusei's…?" Akagi's eyes furrowed. "Damn it, I knew that bastard was suspicious. If that's what he meant-!" His eyes sharply focused on him again. "You, what did– GCKH!"
Ren had enough. He lifted a knee and struck Akagi as close to the crotch as he could with their height difference. He hit something hard enough, because he loosened his grip on his chin. Ren ducked and moved around him.
"Y-You-!" Akagi growled, hand near his crotch. "You little b-bastard-!! STOP WHERE YOU ARE!"
Ren froze. A chill went up his spine and goosebumps rose from his neck to his arms, a tingling crawling along his skin. His eyes widened. 'T-The mind control!?'
Ren turned his head back to the scowling Akagi. "Look what you made me do." He angrily grimaced. "You're despicable if that's your game. Is that why you're so aggressive? Commanding you until you break into an early heat? You must be really desperate to- Wh- huh?!"
Ren had started running. He got over his shock but realizing he didn't feel as restricted he stuck around to hear him talk, that is until he uttered the words "Early heat" and sent him into a panic.
'I dunno what Alpha Baiter is, but I know a 'early' heat, is bad, BAD! I gotta get out of here!! If my cover is blown I'll hide in some garden until morning…!''
Ren didn't stop running, and flew down the stairs. He kept going past any Alpha or Beta student. Time to escape! But as Ren rushed back to the first floor and more familiar sections of the beta dorm, he heard a loud commotion.
He turned his head over towards it, and stopped looking where he was going, and rammed into someone.
"Ugh…" Ren looked up, and gasped.
"Ryusei-kun!?"
Ryusei's large frame took up the majority of the hall. His eyes flicked down at him in equal surprise. He caught Ren by his shoulder, stopping him from falling over from the sudden impact.
He glanced him over then bent down, reaching his eye level.
"Hm. Sorry for being late. Think I let you bite more than you could chew."
Huh? Ren could only gape at him and stutter. "W-What…"
Ren then saw Fumio standing next to Ryusei and jumped. He jabbed a finger at him.
"A-Ah! Ryusei, I should have told you yesterday, but I think the traitor is Fumio! I-I!" Ren choked but then blurted it out. "I-I came here to find more proof!" Ren looked to the ground feeling guilty. He had messed up by thinking he could do this himself, now he accidentally blurted Ryusei's name to Akagi. He braced for his disappointment or anger.
Ryusei placed his hand on his chin with another intrigued glint in his eye. "Really? Hmm, well good thing you held off, because it's not Okano Fumio."
Huh!? Ran waved his arms around and shouted. "Wait, It-Its not??!"
At that moment a crowd of students poured into the hall, and at the head was Shouta. Ryusei stood back up and took a step forward past Ren.
Shouta's body flinched and he went a shade paler. "S-Senpai… what are you doing here this late?"
Ryusei shook his head. "Hideki. Looks like the gig is up dontcha think? But you slipped up and over-corrected, just like I thought when I put the trail on you. Didn't expect you to pull Okano into this, yer more ruthless than I expected."
"W-Wha… what's going on?" Ren said, staring open mouthed at Ryusei in complete bewilderment. Did he figure out it was Shouta without him somehow?
Ryusei went on, crossing his arms. "So I hope you had your fun… Because you're likely getting expelled for this."
Shouta's shoulders shook, his expression seething with erupting fury. "You're… this is unbelievable! You think you have the right to punish me when you're not innocent here either! At least I used them for the benefit of the students, while you hoard them for yourself!"
'Hoarding? Does he mean Ryusei's in charge of the medicine? But that's his job! Does he think the Alphas are more deserving of stuff that's not theirs or something? Like I figured - they think they're better than omegas, even some betas too!' Ren silently fumed.
Ryusei waved a hand in front of him dismissively. "And I gave my hopes up you'd have a better explanation for betraying me. Who's the one that stole medicine that wasn't theirs? Giving it to the Alphas doesn't exactly absolve you of that, y'know. Just seems to me you wanted someone to shoulder the blame and use them to fake a stronger defense. I suspect you likely planned to put one of 'em on the council after you got me kicked."
Shouta's expression twisted into something pained and he shouted. "No! Senpai, I never-! You don't understand, I was doing it-"
"I heard enough I think." Ryusei cut him off. "Security is comin' by the way, so ya party's gettin' cut short."
"T-They're what?!" One of the students behind Shouta shouted, and the rest of them began to panic.
'He knew about the party too?' Ren wondered to himself, watching as the students behind Shouta began to run off and push past him while he stood there enraged with balled up fists. Some of them ran up to them but stopped a certain distance. Seeing they were all Alphas a jolt of fear ran through Ren so he scurried to hide behind Ryusei, immediately feeling cowardly for doing so.
One of them snarled. "Fujiwara! If you know what's good for you'll move it!"
'Huh? Is he-?' Ren noticed the students that didn't run off were Alphas, and were glaring at Ryusei. He quickly realized why: Ryusei was blocking the hallway, not letting the anxious group of students leave.
Ren looked up and saw a straining look growing on his face, something he mistaken for fear. Ren closed his eyes and gave a nod of consolidation and gratitude. Though he was big it wasn't like they couldn't move past him, so it must be Ryusei's strength he was threatening them with. But even then, Ryusei was human! Facing all of them like this was incredible!
A thought entered Ren's mind, spurred by his admiration.
'Did he come here to stop the Alphas? Or maybe, to save me? Wow, that makes him like an action hero doesn't it?' Ren mused in glowing admiration. Being distracted, it was the angular pigeon-faced Fumio that spoke up, urgently shouting.
"Fujiwara-san, please stop! You can't hold them all back! If you continue like this…!"
"...Tch. Worth a shot, huh?" Ryusei said with a sigh. He stepped aside with a disappointed roll of his eyes while pulling Ren out the way, letting the crowd of Alphas flee past.
"P-Please Senpai…!" Shouta begged but Ryusei nodded towards Fumio and he threateningly held up some kind of white cylindrical device. Whatever it was, it made Shouta pipe down in a hurry, leaving him quaking in tears.
Ryusei then tapped Ren's shoulder lightly and gave a pleased hum, lowering his voice. "You alright?" He asked. Ren silently nodded, in a trance.
"Hm. Well this went well. I should thank you again, but not now. Think you should go before you end up in trouble."
Ren snapped out his thoughts. "Ah… But, I-I…" Ren held up a shaking finger and stuttered, his head spinning too much to ask his nervous question. After everything, could he even go back to his dorm when he was caught here? What about Ryusei?
Ryusei paused. He looked at him for a moment then gave him a wink, along with a gentle smile.
"Don't worry about here. I'll cover fer ya, long as ya don't get caught."
Ren's wide eyes looked into Ryusei's and felt a pouring of relief wash over him. He smiled back feeling a rising heat from his neck to his ears, and proudly nodded. 'Right! I can do that!' Ren stepped back from Ryusei and quickly ran off.
Masanori jogged up to the gate of the beta dorm just as he saw a scattered group of students rushing out and hopping the fence. He was quick to begin chasing after. "Stop!"
Masanori caught up with and pinned a student on the ground. Masanori seethed as he watched the others run away.
'So there was something going on, but why are they leaving now…?' As he looked out at the Alphas trying to flee and memorizing faces, Ren was out the front door, running off and disappearing into the darkness of the night.
As he approached the Omega dorm is was strangely quiet compared to what he had left, and it was in the cooler night air that he noticed how hot his skin felt, seeing the red flush across his arms even in the low moonlight, and the state of his skin, soaked a small layer of sweat. Ren didn't focus on it and stealthily crawled through his dorm room's window. He sat down on the floor hugging his knees and breathed out.
He wanted to go over everything that happened, but frankly he was too tired to even think of working at his desk and crawled into his bed. He could just go over it in the morning, trusting Ryusei to keep his word.
'Yeah, tomorrow I can go over everything…'
It was only then that something horrific occurred to him, and he shot up from the bed.
'Shit! My… My bag! My… My recordings…!!'
Ren flopped into his pillow and muffled his despairing cries. 'There's no way… I did all of that for nothing…!?!?'
"Hey."
Ren jolted. He lifted his head and saw who spoke, his roommate Kakeru, up from his sheets across the room. They grimaced at him, holding their nose.
"Takeshita... Go shower or leave the window open if you're gonna come in smelling like that."
Ren wrinkled his own nose at his comment, but immediately felt embarrassed, and quickly grabbed a change of clothes and rushed out the room. 'Does this body smell that bad when I sweat? My body never smelled that bad over this little. But, at least Kakeru is keeping my secret.' Ren smiled a little at that, happy that Kanaseki was gone on that trip, and thinking of his current allies, with the future ones he hoped to gain.
———
Within the Beta dorm first floor lobby, Masanori watched the scene feeling like an Outsider. Security was combing the entire dorm and locking any captured Alpha students in the common room. Masanori stood quietly in the corner tapping his foot impatiently, his expression growing increasingly exasperated. As a security guard walked past he grabbed their attention.
"Sir, have you seen any Omegas in the dorm tonight? Or any sign of one?"
They shook their head. "Ah I'm sorry, I can't give you that information."
"Then, have you seen Aruki Sensei around? Or Director Imada?"
"I'm sorry. The situation is complicated. Please just wait here until we sort this out." They just replied, and Masanori watched the guard hurry away. He groaned, pulling at a rugged loose strand of hair on his head. "Is someone going to tell me what's going on…?!"
"Oh, finally noticed ya. Not surprising you'd show up, good timing." At the sound of Ryusei's voice Masanori swiveled his head towards him, him sitting on among the students on a two seated bench alone.
"F-Fujiwara Ryusei-san? What are you doing here?"
"Getting caught up in this, same as you it's lookin' like." He replied. "Don't worry 'bout me though, I was just escorting Fumio back to the dorm.
"That's a relief," Masanori sighed. "I thought for a second-"
"That I was part of the party?" Ryusei cracked his neck and sighed himself. "Naw. I have better things to do than go to illegal dorm sex parties. Like wrapping up the missing shipment mystery."
"Huh? You've solved who stole the medicine?" Masanori asked, sitting down next to him.
"Why'ddya think I'm here? Turns out, it was my assistant, Hideki Shouta. Got system access from Oshima Sensei and learned the time of the shipment. But he was just after the omega pills."
"Omega pills? I see… so, how did you catch him?"
"He was sloppy," Ryusei began explaining. "And prone to paranoia, kept making mistakes. This afternoon he tried to frame Okano by trashing discarded evidence with his dna, but even when he erased the security footage and tried to erase Okano's alibi we kept a backup."
"What was his Alibi?" Masanori asked
"His work tablet. He's been keeping tabs on the student's affected by the lost medicine. By rushing into a forced frame job due to his paranoia, he destroyed his own plausible deniability. Okano was already a suspect, but by trying to rush things he let himself be caught in a lie and removed all doubt."
"T-That sounds a little intense." Masanori just said. From the way he put it, it sounded like he expected this to happen, like he knew Hideki Shouta would attempt to frame Okano Fumio.
Masanori sighed. "Well I'm sorry you had to go through that, Fujiwara-san. It's your first semester on the council and something like this happened. I don't get how they could do this."
Ryusei scratched his head. "Doesn't seem that complicated to me though. It's expected with my weaker scent. Being on a higher rung in the council makes other Alphas feel insecure so they like to undermine me. But even my beta assistant doing it - bit of a stinger. Even gave the pills out so openly, like candy - something I'm in charge of. There's no greater disrespect 'n that."
"It's disgusting," Masanori shook his head in a grimace. "Taking medicine that isn't yours for a high? How does something like this even get past medical testing?"
"This kinda stuff is still in its early stages," Ryusei answered. "And its not singular. It needs a secondary trigger of a specific sugar substitute that most resembles the body's blood glucose. Omegas on average have more glucose so the effect is weakened but with lower counts in Betas and Alphas…"
"It clashes with Alpha hormones and makes a false detection of Omega pheromones, I know. At the end of the day the effect is a mimicry and it's unhealthy. Maybe it's good that this mess was caught...You should stop too. An Alpha's body can handle a lot but it's still unprescribed meds that's triggering signals unnaturally - you'll mess up your system eventually..."
"Hm, you worry too much. It's not hard drugs like the powder or a needle, and I'm not a fool." Ryusei calmly replied, though Masanori noted his harsher tone. "If it were a bigger deal, you woulda said something sooner. I'm not the one that smells like an omega for some reason. Still haven't it out yet, but if it was something like this you'd tell me and keep lecturing me."
Masanori sighed and furrowed his brow, but didn't answer. So, they sat in silence.
"...Anyway, it's been a busy night, heard there was a fire?" Ryusei continued.
Masanori held his head and groaned. "Ugh. I was looking into it… ended up here. I thought… well, I should be glad they didn't find him. If he really showed up here."
"Oh, Akira-kun? You don't have to worry about anything happening to him." said Ryusei casually.
Masanori bolted upright. "What?! Then, he really was here tonight!?"
Ryusei's leaned over a little bit, just enough to reach Masanori's eye level.
"Hm, I might know the answer to that…"
Masanori shot him a harsher look. "Stingy. How much?"
"Hm, only five - not even a quarter of a bottle." Ryusei lightly smiled. "My info's cheap all things considered."
"Deal. But you also owe me, because I have a feeling you're partially to blame here." He sighed.
"Heh. Fine. Well, one thing I know about the party: I didn't smell any triggered omega pheromones. It was no omegas allowed - would mess with the drug's effect. If Takeshita was here, he didn't have sex."
Masanori twitched and felt his face flushing. "You're a little too straightforward." He sighed. Even Yuki would refrain from speaking of that kind of subject in public.
"Yeah, don't worry about him," Ryusei hummed. "Strange, but I can see what yer fussing about. Ya already know, but… you should really watch out fer him. He's pretty dangerous..."
"Dangerous?" Masanori muttered. "To himself maybe..."
Ryusei leaned his head on his hand with a mysterious smile.
"Well, you noticed? When he blushes, he's pretty cute."
Masanori paused. Then, he huffed out an amused breath, along with a brief lopsided smile.
'Sure, cute… 'till you see how crazy he is. What's he trying to say exactly?'
"Imada-san? Your father wants to see you." A security guard called him, and Masanori stood up. "Then, have a good night Fujiwara-san."
It was only just as Masanori passed through the doorway did he spot Ryusei out of the corner of his eye, popping himself open a soda.