Chapter Text
Katsuki woke up at 7am. He quickly made his way out of his small, cramped childhood bed. The blankets were old and scratchy, but he hardly noticed anymore. As an omega, he preferred soft fabrics, but had rarely enjoyed such luxuries throughout his life. And despite being 18 now, he was still stuck with the tiny little single bed.
Stretching, he hurried about his morning routine. Washing his face, brushing his teeth, all that jazz. He had to be quick about it, or his mom would get mad. She liked to eat breakfast at 7:40am on the dot each morning before work and it was his job to make it. Her lunch bento too, of course.
Rushing downstairs, he started some coffee and then got to making a full breakfast. Some of it would end up in the bento, as would some of their leftovers from last night. He could hear his mother moving around upstairs. Taking a shower and getting dressed, like usual. He was on-pace for breakfast luckily, so he sipped some coffee and started on her lunch instead. She was his mother and his alpha guardian, so it had to be perfect.
While things had once been mostly equal between the three genders of alpha, beta, and omega, the last twenty years had seen massive changes in Japan. Alphas and omegas were becoming rarer, with almost 90% of the latest generation presenting as betas. As time went on, life was becoming more and more restrained for omegas, especially since the government had started pushing for pairings between alphas and omegas to try to boost the population.
Fifteen years ago, the Mandated Pairs Law was put into effect. Omegas became wardens of their alpha parents and guardians before being passed off unceremoniously to government-approved alphas to be mated and married. The goal was children. Lots of children.
Mitsuki was a classic alpha. And while female alphas were rarer, they were just as aggressive and domineering as males. She worked in the design industry in Sendai, making fairly decent money, but frequently working late and odd hours. She was in her early forties now, but had met her mate at work before Mandated Pairs were a thing. They had gotten married and mated after only a few months of courtship.
Masaru, Katsuki’s father, had been an omega. Kind-hearted and nurturing, he had been the perfect balance for Mitsuki’s temper and strong will. Unfortunately, Masaru never really recovered from his C-section when birthing Katsuki. An infection set in, eventually worsening enough to take his life when Katsuki was merely 14 months old. Katsuki only had a few fuzzy memories of his father, mostly his warm chocolatey scent and soft voice.
Masaru’s death left Mitsuki alone with a baby she didn’t know what to do with. She had hired a nanny and was only alone with Katsuki at night. He remembered her crying a lot in the early days. The older he got, the less she cried and the more she yelled. She blamed him for her mate’s death. By the time he presented as an omega at 11 years old, they hardly spoke to each other. Once she found out he was a ‘weak’ omega like his father, she shipped him off to an omega-only boarding school. He remained there until he graduated at 18.
The other omega students went home regularly or were visited by friends and family. Not Katsuki - he stayed in his room and attended classes year after year. The school provided standard middle and high school classes as well as traditional omega lessons, including cooking, childcare, household management, and etiquette. He excelled in everything because that was his only option. He loved to learn and even wanted to go to college. Omegas were allowed at some universities, with their alpha’s permission, of course. But he knew he wouldn’t get Mitsuki’s.
Soon though, she wouldn’t be his alpha guardian any longer. He was 18 now and the government had something else in mind for him.
Japan’s population was dwindling. The younger generations were smaller and not replacing the workforce and older generations as much as the country required to be self-sufficient. In an effort to boost their native population, the government instigated the Mandated Pairs Law for alphas and omegas. Unmated alphas and omegas of a certain age were required to participate in the program. The government took charge of finding matches and once a Pair’s paperwork was signed, they had 30 days to get mated and married. All Pairs were heavily encouraged to reproduce and there were several financial benefits for families across Japan - including tax breaks, reduced education and housing costs, and more. Mandated Pairs got additional benefits, like monthly stipends and better healthcare options.
An omega’s original alpha guardian also got financial benefits and kick-backs, which was the main reason Mitsuki was so gung-ho about the idea. She still complained about having to schlep him around to all the various meetings and doctor appointments, but at least she knew that she’d receive something good at the end. In addition to finally being rid of her weak omega son, that is.
Katsuki had only been in the program for a few months, but it felt like a lifetime. The moment unmated alphas and omegas came of the appropriate age - 30 and 18, respectively - they were automatically enrolled in the program. They filled out paperwork, did medical and personality testing, and were interviewed by government officials. Early in the process, the diameter of alpha’s knots were measured as well as that of omega’s holes. Incompatibility there, of course, was most important to avoid.
That doctor’s visit still haunted him. Being forced to take an artificial knot while a doctor, nurse, and his own damn mother stood around and watched. Not to mention all the shots, bloodwork, and other bullshit they put him through. At least it was free, or he never would have heard the end of it from his mother.
Speaking of the devil, Mitsuki finally made her way downstairs and sat at the table. Katsuki had everything ready for her - a full breakfast laid out with coffee and a glass of juice. Her bento box was neatly wrapped up by her meal, ready to go.
She didn’t thank him, she never did. They didn’t talk much at all, really. Sometimes she would lecture him about what it took to be a good omega, and how he was terrible at it. Sometimes she would complain about having to go to Tokyo all the time for Mandated Pair meetings, blaming him of course. Like he had any damn say in the matter. In the eyes of the government, he was little more than a serf. His mother had full control over his life. The only thing that changed when he had turned 18 a few months ago was that he graduated school, returned home, and was immediately enrolled in the Mandated Pairs Program.
Mitsuki ate while watching the news on TV. Katsuki lingered in the kitchen, cleaning stuff up, but keeping an eye on the screen just in case something interesting came on. Apparently more financial incentives were being added to the Mandated Pairs Program this year. That would make his mother happy.
He didn’t understand why they kept sweetening the deal for the Mandated Pairs Program though. It was already the law. The only way to avoid a mandated marriage fate as an omega was to be married or mated before age 18. That was incredibly rare, since most omegas went to omega-only boarding or finishing schools after they presented and were rarely around alphas. Unmated alphas weren’t as rare as omegas, since they got to y’know, actually exist and live out in the real world. Going to college, starting careers, renting apartments and shit. Omegas pretty much went to school or stayed at home where it was safe.
So yeah, Katsuki never had the chance to choose his own alpha or avoid the Mandated Pairs process altogether. His mother had sent him away to an omega-only boarding school practically the second he’d presented at 11, and he’d only recently returned home.
Finishing up her breakfast, Mitsuki grabbed her bento and then put on her outerwear and left the house. Katsuki spent a few minutes cleaning up her dirty dishes and wiping down the table and countertops. He always wanted to look busy, just in case she forgot something or decided to come back inside for some reason.
Early afternoon found Katsuki doing some basic exercises in the living room. They didn’t own any equipment, so it was mostly just body weight stuff. Pushups, situps, crunches, and the like. He liked to do it in the living room since there was plenty of natural light and he’d be spending practically all night in his room. Sometimes Mitsuki let him watch TV with her or was out of the house for a work event or something, but he couldn’t rely on it. He never knew what mood she’d be in when she came home.
After his workout, he took a shower and ate a basic lunch while watching TV. There wasn’t much of interest on in the middle of the day, but he made it work. He was used to being alone most of the time anyway, even back at school. He’d never really been very good at making friends. He’d had a few in elementary school before presenting, but after that it was hard. The other omegas at his boarding school were cliquey and as one of only a few male omegas, he found it hard to fit in. He was too loud, too grumpy, too...different.
Unlike most omegas, Katsuki didn’t want to get married or have babies. At least not yet. He wanted to go to college. Wanted to study something interesting and get a job doing something meaningful. Too bad most omega jobs were rare and often super basic, thanks to their quarterly heats and the societal expectation that they should be at home caring for children. Even Katsuki’s father had only been a part-time secretary when the man had met Mitsuki. After they got married, he’d quit his job.
Katsuki wished his father was still around. At least then he’d have someone to talk to. And maybe his father would’ve written to him or come to visit him at school sometimes. Most of the other kids’ families came to visit. Even took them home during the holidays. Not Katsuki. He lived in various dorm rooms and milled around alone on campus for seven years.
And now he was home, but it wasn’t really the same. All his friends from elementary school were long gone. He wouldn’t be allowed to talk to them or go visit them anyway. His mother didn’t let him leave the house alone and she wouldn’t want to be bothered to drive or walk him to a playdate or something. Most of them were probably betas or alphas anyway, meaning they had school and college and jobs and life to do, while he just sat around and waited for one of his Mandated Pair Meetings to finally work out.
Turning off the TV, he picked out one of the last books he hadn’t read yet and settled down in the chair by the window. His mother mostly had fashion books and magazines that he found boring, but he’d only brought a few books home from school. He didn’t really own much stuff, so he had to make do with what he had access to. He sure missed the school library though. There was a library a few blocks away, but he wasn’t allowed to go by himself and Mitsuki didn’t want to take him since they’d have to return the books again in two weeks. She didn’t understand why he couldn’t just watch TV or read her magazines. Why he was always so damn needy. He tried to convince her to let him walk there by himself since he always wore a collar, but she refused. Too dangerous.
What she really meant was that if he got abducted or bitten by some random alpha, she wouldn’t get any money from the Mandated Pairs Program. That’s why she put a collar on him at 11 and never took it off. At school, they’d adjusted it a few times as he’d grown, but that was it. He was used to it by now, obviously, but wished it gave him the same freedom that other unmated omegas had with theirs. Going out shopping or to cafes or parks or libraries. He saw them on TV sometimes in the background of segments or on more omega-focused shows. Most had an alpha guardian around, but some just had a group of friends or even just another collared omega.
Maybe he should have made more of an effort to make friends at school. He just couldn’t stand what most of the other omegas talked about. Alphas this, alphas that. How handsome they were. How smart. How successful. How rich. Babies, babies, babies. How many they wanted. What the names would be. It all just went in one ear and out the other.
It wasn’t like he was anti-social, though. He’d made a couple of almost-friends over the years. He got along with the other male omegas just fine, who could at least commiserate with him about all the girliness that sometimes overtook the school. And he got along with a dark-haired girl who dressed kinda punk outside of classes and liked good music. But she was shy, so even though they had stuff in common, they still rarely talked. She lived in a different wing of the dorms too, so it wasn’t common for them to bump into each other outside of classes or meals.
The sound of a horn stirred him from his thoughts and the dry book about French couture. Looking outside, he saw the little mail truck going by and hopped up. Getting the mail was the one time he was allowed to leave the house by himself. He couldn’t be long about it and he wasn’t permitted to leave their front porch, but he was still able to do this one little thing.
Rushing to the front door, he unlocked it and looked carefully to make sure that no one was around. The quiet residential street was as dead as ever. The mail truck was turning to go down the next lane, but that was it.
Reaching into their slim mailbox, he plucked out the contents and then flipped through them. There was a nice breeze today, so he wanted to stay out just a bit longer. Finally, he found the letter he was looking for from the Mandated Pairs Office in Tokyo. They got letters like this once or twice a week, but this week was especially exciting.
As part of the Mandated Pairs process, enrolled individuals had their scent glands swabbed regularly at clinics. Each session resulted in dozens of cotton balls saturated with their scent which were then individually sealed, organized with scent samples of other eligible omegas or alphas, and mailed off to potential mates by the government. Basic information was also included. Age, sex, blood type, hair color, etc. After you received a package, you smelled all the samples provided and filled out a form of which scents were acceptable to you and then sent it back. From there, the Tokyo headquarters would arrange meetings between potential Pairs based on scents and other factors such as personality tests, sexual preference, medical history, knot/hole size, and other compatibility measures.
Obviously, some scents were better than others. Most were neutral or even kinda okay, but some were bad and a handful even downright foul. In the beginning of the process back when he’d first come home, his mother allowed Katsuki to fill out his own scorecard. But as he remained unpaired month after month, she forced him to fill in positive scores for all the potential alphas, regardless of how incompatible they were. She only allowed him to reject the ones that smelled truly terrible - like the poor bastard who reeked of rotten eggs - because she didn’t want to sit in a meeting with the offending alpha.
The most recent package of potential alpha scents had contained the first and only sample that actually got a positive physical response from Katsuki. It was the third sample in the box. The attached information stated the bare minimum, like usual. Sex: Male. Age: 30. Blood type: O. Hair color: Green. Body type: Fit. Height: 6’5”. But as he opened the little packet, the warm and comforting smell of sandalwood and alpha filled his senses. It was unlike anything he’d experienced before, even from some of the better-smelling samples he’d received. The scent was familiar somehow and almost intimate. He wanted to shove his nose into the little container. He wanted to rub the cotton ball all over himself. His pupils were dilated and his own cinnamon scent was pumping out stronger.
Mitsuki, of course, noticed. And, of course, she still made him open the other samples and fill out the scorecard for them all. Thankfully, she let him rank the third sample as the highest score.
With any luck, the alpha receiving his sample would feel the same way and they’d get paired up for a meeting. He’d much rather get stuck with a good-smelling alpha than a neutral or shitty one. At this point, he’d smelled hundreds of samples. And only one had actually gotten a strong reaction from his body and inner omega.
It had been four days since he’d mailed in his latest scorecard and smelled that sandalwood scent. Ripping open the new letter, he saw that they had two meetings arranged for next Tuesday, back to back. The letter didn’t state which alphas he’d be meeting with, but he hoped one of them was Mr. Sandalwood.
Going back inside and locking the door, he left the letter and other unopened mail on the kitchen counter for his mother and returned upstairs to his room.
He’d had 56 unsuccessful pair meetings with alphas so far. And even though he didn’t exactly want to rush off and get married to some stranger, he knew that the longer it took, the less likely he would be chosen. The government had picked the ages for Pairs carefully. Omegas became fully developed and fertile at 18. And by 30, most alphas would have graduated from school and become established in their careers, building up the funds required to support a home, mate, and family.
Once he reached his room, he closed the door and flopped on his bed. Underneath his pillow was a single cotton ball. The scent was still fairly potent, meaning the alpha it came from was strong and virile. Katsuki gave it a hearty whiff and felt his head swim with the scent of sandalwood.
All he could do now was wait.