Chapter Text
It was well known that Furin High housed a lot of fierce young men. With that came the belief that all of these men were strong and aggressive alphas. And well, they would be mostly correct. The majority of the kids going to Furin were in fact alphas. The ratio of alpha to beta would probably be split something like 80-20. Only the administration would know for certain. There were a few omegas too, but not a lot. Currently, only four omegas attended the school.
One of these omegas was Sakura.
When he first showed up at Furin, he didn't even hide the fact that he was an omega. He didn't care what others would think of him and he was prepared to beat it into them that he was better than them, whether they were alphas, betas or omegas.
To his utmost surprise, the people at Furin didn't give him crap for being the so-called "inferior" gender. His class even chose him as their grade captain, much to his irritation.
He didn't think he ever could after all he had been through, but Sakura was starting to gain trust in his classmates and other members of Furin. He noticed himself letting his guard down around them, something he expected to come bite him in the ass later. But.. it never did. Not only that, but not a single person at the school had tried to make a move on him, or use their alphan pheromones to try and manipulate him.
Because of this, Sakura decided it was time to be vulnerable.
"Stay back after class, I need to discuss something with you all."
It was the last hour of class on a Friday. The group of teenagers looked at their grade captain with questioning gazes, but agreed anyway. It wasn't often that Sakura addressed the class as a whole like this.
The lession continued as usual, but everyone could see that the dual-haired boy was nervous about something. He kept fidgeting with his pencil, eyes darting around the room at random moments like he expected something to happen. They decided not to comment on it, not wanting to make the boy more restless than he already seemed to be.
Finally, class was over and the teacher left the room. All the boys dutifully stayed behind as their captain had requested earlier. Sakura stayed seated for a moment longer, trying to regain his composure, before standing up to face the class. "Right, so.. uhm.." he began, face flushing a deep red as his eyes tried to avoid the piercing stares of his team. He swallowed hard before letting out an agitated huff.
"Okay, I'm just gonna cut the chase." he started again, straightening his back. His muscles visibly tensed underneath his clothes. "I'm going into heat soon. Probably sometime next week." he stated. He didn't look how the eyes of his classmates widened just a bit as they either looked at him or exchanged looks with their fellow classmates.
He shuffled in place. "Mine aren't that bad usually, so I'll still be at school. I'll still be active as the captain, but I might temporarily let one of the vice captains take over if needed." the two in question nodded at that. "That being said, I.." he hesitated. He really didn't like being this open with anyone, let alone a whole group of people, but..
he trusts them..
He nodded to himself, solidifying his decision to continue. "I might not really be myself, when my heat starts. I've never made advances towards anyone in that state, I'm not that kind of person, but I can't guarantee that it won't happen." he fiddled with one of his sleeved. God, this was so embarassing.
"If something does happen, please take anything I say with a grain of salt. A-and don't actually let me do something with anyone." if it could, his face would probably turn even redder at the thought of doing anything intimate with any of his classmates.
Taking a quick peek at the class, he noticed a few dejected faces. His eyes widened slightly. Shit, he didn't mean to insult them or something! "N-not that I'm disgusted of doing a-anything like that with any of you!" he quickly stuttered out. "I just- If it were to happen I want it to be my decision, not that of my hormones." he muttered, looking away. Even he couldn't deny that his class was full of attractive and desirable alphas. Maybe something might happen with one of them at some point later on, but it's just not something he is looking for at this moment.
"Don't worry captain, we understand!" one of his classmates yelled out. Sakura looked up from where he was staring at the ground and was met with supporting smiles and grins. "You're our friend, and we'll make sure you're as comfortable as possible during your heat!" it was Anzai that spoke. His other classmates were either nodded in agreement or yelled out something in support.
The bi-colored teen let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Despite his trust in these guys, he had been very worried about showing any kind of weakness.
A hand rose up from the crowd in front of him. He looked at Kiryu, who smiled back at him, and gave him a nod. The young alpha lowered his hand before speaking. "Do you need anything from us? Like someone who stays with you during patrol." Already sensing the agitation of his captain, the pink-haired boy raised his hands as a sign of peace. "I'm not saying you're in need or protection. All I'm saying is that I know how a heat can randomly flare up at times and interfere with your work."
The boy rested his head on one of his hands. "My mom's an omega and I've seen her almost fall to her knees because of her heat plenty of times. I think it would be wise to have someone at your side at all times in case something like that happened to you." he explained.
Sakura considered his words. Kiryu did have a point, no matter how much he disliked it. "Fine, we'll keep someone at my side at all times until I'm back to my normal self." he answered, much to everyone's surprise. They really expected him to put up more of a fight about it.
This time Nirei raised his hand. "Sakura-san, would you be okay with us scenting you? I've heard that it helps keep unwanted attention away from omegas and helps them feel more at ease." he asked. Sakura raised his eyebrows at that. What was that again, scenting? He was pretty sure he's heard about it before.
He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll have to think about that. I've never been scented before.." he admitted nervously. The class startled at that. Never been scented before, what does he mean by that? Surely his parents would scent their son when he went out, especially since he's an omega?
Right??
The boy in question decided that that was enough embarrassment for one day. "That's all. See you Monday." Sakura said before grabbing his bag and exiting the room in a hurry. He had wanted to say more, but this was probably sufficient information for now. The classroom was silent for a few seconds before noise erupted from the boys still in the room.
"Isn't that's his first heat with us?"
"Why would his parents let him go out during heat?"
"Do we need to get, like, blankets and pillows for him or something? Omegas like to nest, right?"
"No! He has a nest at home, you idiot."
"Should we stock up on extra snacks in the classroom?"
"Who's gonna keep an eye on him? Do we do shifts?"
"How long does a heat last?"
"Quiet down please." Suo spoke up, effectively shutting up his peers. He sighed slightly at the chaos that had erupted after their captains exit. He was just as surprised at his friend's words just now, but he wouldn't dare show it. While the omega hadn't outright said it, it was clear that he wanted them to not only be aware of his heat, but also look out for him. Omega's, no matter how strong, were especially vulnerable during their heat.
The vice captain stood up from his chair. This wasn't the time to just let things play out like he usually did. "Sakura-kun has trusted us to keep an eye on him during his heat, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here." he told the others. "If we crowd him too much he'll just run off somewhere and possibly attract more trouble than necessary."
The others quieted at that. Suo had a point with that. The young alpha let out a breath. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. If Sakura-kun needs something, we'll help him when that moment arrives." he stated. Nirei, who stood next to him, nodded in agreement. "We should just let him be unless he needs our help. Meanwhile I'll do some research on heats during the weekend so we know what we can expect." the blond boy added. "Even if we end up not having to do anything for Sakura-san, it's best to be prepared anyway."
With that, the conversation came to a stop for today. Everyone, while still hyped up, decided that this was something that would only really be resolved once it actually happened. So, everyone grabbed their bags and headed out, still very curious about what interesting events next week would bring.
Monday morning came faster than any of them anticipated. The class hadn't seen Sakura during weekend patrolling, but they heard from Suo and Nirei that he had clearly entered pre-heat late Saturday afternoon (the two had gone to visit him to ease their own mind that he was alright).
Everyone turned their head as they heard the tell-tale sign of their captain entering the room.
Sakura.. looked like a mess.
He was very obviously in the beginning stages of his heat. Face slightly flushed, clothes more rumpled than usual and it looked like he made an attempt at doing his hair, but gave up halfway. He was clearly in a bad mood judging from the scowl on his face.
Not only that, but his pheromones. God, his pheromones. As soon as he entered, the whole classroom began to smell like him. Several of his classmates put their hand up to their nose to try to block out the intense smell. The dual-haired boy strode over to his seat near the window and sat himself down with a sigh.
"Well, don't you look like a ray of sunshine this morning." Suo greeted the grade captain from where he was standing at the window. The taller teen swiftly cracked said window open to give the pheromones another way to go instead of saturating the classroom even more with the distinct smell of irritated omega. Sakura only grumbled at his comment before laying his head down on his desk.
Kiryu settled down beside him and smiled at him in sympathy. "Rough morning?" he asked, resulting in another wave of upset pheromones. The two-toned boy raised his head to rest it on his crossed arms instead. "The people in town have been hounding me about my heat all morning. I tried keeping to alleys to avoid attention, but it isn't exactly easy to hide this." he replied, waving one of his hands around.
Nirei, who just entered the room a moment ago, was quick to open his notebook to look at the information he'd gather over the weekend. "Have you tried suppressants or scent patches? The lady at the corner shop said they work wonders at keeping pheromones in check." he supplied helpfully. He knew they could be expensive, probably why Sakura never used them, but he was fully willing to pay for them if his friend wanted to try them.
The omega just sighed. "Those things never work for me. The pheromones just bleed through in a matter of minutes. I'd have to keep getting new ones and that isn't really an option." The blond beta frowned at that. Sakura always has had quite an intense smell, but he didn't know it was that intense.
"Sakura-kun," the teen tilted his head towards Suo. "Have you thought about the suggestion of us scenting you? I think it would be a good idea seeing as your pheromones are causing our classmates issues." the one-eyed boy told the other. Sakura frowned. He straightened from his slouched position and looked behind him. To his dismay, half of the class was either hiding their nose in their shirt or had moved to the furthest corner of the room to avoid the strong omegan pheromones.
The boy jumped up from his chair. "Shit!" he blurted out while trying (and failing) to control his scent. Suo placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's fine, Sakura-kun. It's not your fault. But that's why I think it would be best to start scenting you." he said.
Sakura looked around the room before sitting down again, hunching his shoulders a little. He shyly looked over to his vice captain. "W-what-" he hesitated. "What exactly is scenting, anyway..?" he asked. He had tried to look it up during the weekend, but that didn't really work out (phones and internet are still a bit of an issue for Sakura), and he had been too embarrassed to ask Kotoha that morning.
The class stilled at that. "Wait-" Nirei spoke up with a frown on his face. "You've actually never been scented before? How?! That's like one of the most common things families and packs do!" he rattled out as threw his hands up. The omega flinch slightly at that. The blond beta opened his mouth to say more, but was quickly shut down by Suo. The alpha quickly gave a reassuring smile to the two-toned boy before them.
"Scenting is often done to mark someone, either as a member of a pack or as a mate. It's mostly done by alphas to omegas to stop other unwanted alphas from trying to get with them. It masks your scent with that of an alpha." Sakura's face flushed more at how intimate this all sounded.
Suo tried to hide his smile. "It's also used to alleviate the intensity of an omega's heat pheromones and provide a sense of safety to the omega. It's better for both the omega and the people around them." As Suo finished his explanation, he could see Sakura deep in thought contemplating the information he'd just gotten. Any other day the grade captain wouldn't even consider letting anyone mark him like he was some kind of property. But right now, he knew Suo had a point.
As much as he hated it, he knew he couldn't keep affecting his classmates like this for a whole week, or however long his heat would last. I didn't actually remember how long his last one was as it was quite a while ago.
Decision made, Sakura looked up at Suo and gave him a curt nod. "Let's do it." he said. The one-eyed boy hummed in agreement.
"Wise decision," he commented, before looking around at the rest of the class. Everyone had been listening on the conversation, of course, and were now watching their captain with increased interest. He already knew what they were thinking and decided to voice their burning question to the omega.
"So Sakura-kun, who do you want to scent you?"
Sakura froze at that. He hadn't thought that far ahead yet. The boy looked around the room, his eyes scanning all the alphas and betas. Deep down he wanted to ask who would even want to scent someone like him, but after multiple conversations (fights) he knew better than to doubt his classmates willingness to help him out.
Still, he felt really awkward asking this of them, especially since he wasn't all that well-acquainted with most of the teens here. He was friends with most of them, sure, but they mostly hang out at school or on patrol, not outside of school. There were only a few he was a bit more comfortable with, and he decided choosing one of them would be the safest option for now.
"Suo," he looked up at his vice-captain. "Can you.. will you scent me?" he muttered. The one-eyed alpha didn't let the excitement show on his face as he nodded. "It would be my pleasure." Suo stepped towards his friend and crouched down next to him, getting to eye level with the sitting omega.
Sakura blushed and unconsciously rubbed at the scent gland on his neck. "S-so how do we do this?" he stuttered out. Suo smiled and rolled up is sleeve just enough to uncover one of his own scent glands on his wrist. "I'll be rubbing our scent glands together to cover up your scent. It would be best to do both wrists and throat glands, but if you're not comfortable with that we can just start with one at a time until you get used to it." the alpha explained.
"Just tell me to stop if you get uncomfortable at any point." The two-toned boy swallowed down the last of his apprehension before uncovering one of his own scent glands and offering his wrist to his friend.
The brunet took the omegas wrist and pressed his own against it, their scent glands touching. He made quick work of the act of rubbing them together before releasing his friend again. Sakura pulled his hand back and stared at his wrist. He frowned and gave his wrist a quick sniff. The distinct scent of Suo combined with his own flooded his senses, making him flinch and stare at the offending appendage with a flustered face.
He looked back up at the other boy. "Did.. did it work?" he asked, this being his first time being scented. Suo looked up at the other alphas in the room and raised an eyebrow in question.
Some of the students retracted their noses from their shirts to get a whiff of the omegas pheromones. "Well, it's definitely less intense. Still pretty potent, though." Tsugeura said from his place at the back of the classroom. The other alphas nodded in agreement.
The grade captain noticed the relief on his classmates faces and let out a sigh. His pheromones may be strong, but apparently not strong enough to overpower an alpha's scent. "Do the other wrist too." he blurted out. Suo's eyes widened slightly, before giving him a nod. He held out his hand, asking for the omega's other wrist. Sakura gave it to him without hesitation this time. The eye patch-wearing teen repeated the actions on his friend's other scent glad before retracting his hand again.
More people in the classroom uncovered their noses this time, the pheromones lifting even more after having the second gland dealt with. Sakura noticed and instantly felt more relieved. He would never outright say it, but he always felt upset and frustrated that his pheromones affected other people so much, especially since suppressants or scent patches didn't work for him. He was glad that this actually works, though with that came other bad thoughts.
Why hadn't anyone told him this issue was seemingly so easily fixed with something as simple as rubbing scent glands together? Well, he supposed this was just another one of those things that the people in his life had deprived him off all his life..
"Will this be enough, or should we do the one on my throat too? Isn't that like one of the more potent ones?" he asked his friend. Suo tilted his head. "That's true, most of the pheromones come from the gland on the neck, but it's also considered one of the more intimate scent glands. It would be best to do that one too, but if you don't want to we can leave it with just these two for now." he offered.
The omega let out a breath. "Let's just get it over with." he replied. He didn't want to be more of a bother than he already was right now. The alpha in front of him held out his hand again. "If you're sure." he said, giving Sakura time to change his mind as he slowly approached the boy's scent gland. The captain pointedly looked anywhere but at his friend as said friend rubbed his wrist against his throat.
Once done, Sakura suddenly noticed how he could barely smell himself anymore. Taking a quick peek at his classmates, he concluded that getting this last gland dealt with had been the right choice.
"There," Suo breathed out as he retracted his hand. "This should hold for a little while. We'll take today as a trail day to see how long it takes for your pheromones to take over again. Most people won't lose the scent until they take a shower, but with how strong your pheromones are we might have to redo it later today."
The grade captain's face went from relieved to annoyed in a matter of seconds. Great, like getting Suo to do this once wasn't embarrassing enough. He hoped his stupid body would give him a break for once and let this 'scenting' actually work long-term.
His vice captain looked at the door. "We'll go into more detail later. It seems it's almost time for class." he mentioned as he noticed the dissipating crowd in the hallway outside. Sakura let out a breath before nodding, straightening up in his chair.
They'll have all day to discuss everything, no need to rush.