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Nesting is hard. Nesting in a dorm is impossible.
Haibara had already dragged his mattress off the bed frame and into the most protected corner of his room. Even dragged his small dresser to protect it from view.
Sweaters, blankets, and every pillow he could find were all piled together. Woven to create a warm, rounded spot for him to lay. Haibara stared at his makeshift nest with a pensive hand over his mouth. It was lacking something.
He was sure of that much. It was the ‘what’ that he couldn’t really guess. The entire room swirled with his milky vanilla scent. It was all the things that brought him comfort.
“It’s just not like home,” Haibara sighed to himself. This was his first heat cycle since moving onto campus at Jujutsu Tech High and to say he was nervous was an understatement. Normally he had his sister and parents to help him prepare.
This time he was completely alone and what made it worse? Multiple alphas were now living down the hall. There was an omega amongst the fourth years but she was a lower-grade sorcerer which made her scent even weaker than Haibara’s own as a first-year.
He wasn’t really worried about his senpais. He trusted them all but he was worried about how it would affect his own heat. Especially-
A knock at the door cut through Haibara’s thoughts. They were increasingly cloudy with his heat impending.
“It’s me. Are you ready?”
Haibara’s shoulders relaxed at the sound of Nanami’s voice. He didn’t even realize how tense he was until it was gone.
“Just a second!”
“Hurry up,” Nanami said impatiently but Haibara knew his classmate would wait for him. Nanami just likes to act more prickly than he is. A lot of betas were like that.
Not that Haibara could blame him. He couldn’t imagine how frustrated and defensive he would be if he knew he was missing a sixth sense majority of people had. Especially amongst sorcerers.
Haibara wondered if maybe that might be worth it if he didn’t have to apply these sticky, itchy blockers every day. He put a large one over the back of his neck and smaller ones on each of his wrists.
He smiled at his own reflection to make sure he still looked like himself. No unusual redness in his face.
“Sorry, sorry. I’m ready,” Haibara said as he opened the door for Nanami. His pheromones leaked into the hallway, mingling with the smell of alphas and betas alike in the hallway. Nanami was oblivious to all of it, shrugging before walking down the hallway with Haibara in tow.
They walked in silence for a while. Usually, Haibara liked to fill the silence that Nanami leaves open to him but all the mixed scents of the dorm were messing with his focus. His friend must have noticed, once they stepped into the open air of campus they both relaxed.
“So, when does it…start?” Nanami asked like he didn’t really care.
“‘it’?”
“You know. Your heat,” Nanami said and ducked a little more behind his bangs. Haibara couldn’t help but laugh. Nanami could be so cute when he was uncertain. Haibara often wished Nanami could be like him, an omega, but you can’t change people’s nature. When Nanami asked like this though, Haibara felt a little closer to him.
“It never really starts or stops. The beauty of a cycle,” Haibara said and drew a circle with his finger in the air. “If you mean the symptoms, then I’ll admit it’s already starting.”
Nanami stopped walking. Haibara paused to look back at Nanami’s concerned face.
“You should go to bed then. Until it subsides, anyway.”
“Ha! No, I’m fine! I’ll be good for another day at least. Besides! I can’t let you get ahead of me! I won’t lose,” Haibara decided and smiled. Nanami shook his head like he didn’t understand half the words Haibara had said. When he huffed and kept walking Haibara felt everything had become a little more normal.
It might be hard for a beta to understand, especially one like Nanami, but Haibara wasn’t gonna let his own nature get in the way of becoming a good sorcerer. He’d stand par with betas and alphas someday. To do that he’d have to deal with this heat first.
When they got down to the training field Haibara’s resolve took a nosedive along with his confidence. Sitting on the steps were the second years. Two of them were wearing their usual patches but that didn’t stop the tingly feeling Haibara got looking at the alphas.
He wasn’t a big fan of taking oral blockers but maybe he should have. Maybe then the urge to preen and present himself wouldn’t be itching up his spine.
Gojo tilted his head back until he could see Nanami and Haibara coming down the hill.
“Oh, the kids are finally here,” he said loud enough for even Nanami to hear, who huffed and scowled. Haibara held back a chortle.
“Good morning!” Haibara called back and suddenly it wasn’t just Gojo’s eyes on him but dark ones. Obsidian gaze locked with his and Haibara smiled to keep himself from shivering. This was bad. This was not the day for him to be around his upperclassmen. Around Getou-senpai.
“Yo,” Getou finally greeted when the first years joined the others at the entrance to the field. “Did you get Yaga’s email?”
“No, I, uh, had some other things going on. I didn’t get to the computer.”
“Oh. Was anything wrong-” Gojo slammed into Getou’s shoulder with his own and threw an arm around his friend while interrupting them.
“Happy surprise then! Lucky you, we are in charge today!” Gojo smirked like a cat as he watched Nanami’s face drop.
“Actually, I’m in charge,” Shoko corrected without standing. She lit a new cigarette between her slender pale fingers. Haibara took a deep inhale of the fresh smoke. It flooded his nose and helped him to focus a little. “Partner up.”
“Nanami-kun! Dibs! I called him!” Gojo shouted and latched onto Nanami’s shoulders. He really did love torturing Nanami. If only Nanami could see what Haibara could.
But without Nanami as an option, panic set into Haibara’s gut. Any other time he’d relish the chance to spar with a first-grade alpha.
“Actually, I think you’ll kill me and I feel like living today so I’ll be with Haibara-kun,” Nanami shrugged off Gojo’s touch. Haibara’s relief was short-lived. Shoko shook the soot off the end of her cigarette after a long puff.
“Sorry, Nanami-kun, I’m afraid you’re gonna have to choose between Suguru and Satoru. Yaga’s orders. He wants you guys to work on protecting your cores. You and Haibara-kun are too similar right now to learn anything.”
“We can work together. How about it Haibara-kun?” Getou asked as he bumped his arm into Haibara’s. His limb was twice as dense as the kouhai’s and it made his brain short out. He looked to Nanami, whose eyes were pleading with him to trade senpais.
That’s what would be best for everyone. Save Nanami from Gojo and spare himself from looking like an omega disaster in front of the one alpha that mattered to him.
Haibara looked up into Getou’s dark eyes and all logic flew out the window.
“Yeah! Totally! Let’s both do our best!” Haibara chirped at Getou who smiled back. That was enough to block out the sound of Nanami’s groan next to him.
Educationally speaking this was actually a great pairing. Nanami working with Gojo meant he had to get better at hand-to-hand, giving up his blade and it forced Haibara to get more comfortable with cursed tools.
Haibara couldn’t wait for the actual sparing to start. If these warm-up stretches went on much longer he might actually lose his composure. Getou’s hands pressed on his back, pushing his nose closer to the grass and a whimper that much closer to leaving his mouth.
“You need to exhale when you stretch and inhale when you pull back up. It’ll deepen the feeling,” Getou advised as he guided Haibara’s torso back up.
“Ah, yeah. I’ll try to remember,” Haibara said when Getou’s hands finally moved off his waist.
He knew it was his stupid hormones. Nothing more. No matter how his submissive brain begged him to think the touches were lingering. They were classmates, not animals. Getou was being a good senpai. Haibara chanted these things back to himself silently hoping he would start to believe them.
It didn’t get much easier when it was Haibara’s turn to push on Getou’s back. Even through his shirt, Haibara could feel the line of muscles shifting against his hands. Getou’s exhale was long as he sunk low. Haibara’s knees almost buckled.
As Getou stretched he tipped his head down, exposing his patch-covered neck. Haibara’s eyes were huge as they zoned out on the area. Without thinking he leaned down his nose only a few centimeters from his senpai.
“OW! You absolute bastard!” Nanami’s cursing voice across the grass brought Haibara back to himself. He jerked back and cursed his lack of control. Getou sat up with a hearty chuckle.
“Which one do you think will end up in the infirmary today?” Getou snickered about their friends arguing a few meters away. Haibara shook the fog from his head.
“What? Oh, I’m not sure. Depends how short Nanami-Kun's fuse is today,” Haibara tried to giggle it off but Getou was watching him. His slanted eyes always reminded Haibara of something fiercely intelligent and now that sharp gaze was pointed up at him.
“Are you alright? You seem… off,” Getou pinched his brows together.
His eyes might have been sharp but his voice was soft and warm. Everything Haibara’s failed nest wasn’t.
“Me? Yeah! Just a little worried about my knuckles! Haven’t used a long staff in forever,” Haibara confessed. He was being honest. Mostly.
Today he and Getou were only using staffs but Haibara already felt like it was harder than it would have been if he was feeling normal. Twenty minutes in and his knuckles were the least of Haibara’s concerns.
He was sweating. It was bad. Haibara always thought it was ironic it was called a ‘heat’ when normally he was wracked by cold sweats and shivering. Right now he understood the term; he was burning up.
That normally wouldn’t matter. The sparing was intense, the sun was high, and they were teenage boys. It wouldn’t matter except that every drop of sweat made him hyper-aware of his blocking patches. They were hot and itchy and his body was begging him to rip them off, Getou’s too while he was at it.
Getou’s staff came down on Haibara’s block with a solid thwack the younger boy felt all the way up to his shoulders. Haibara tried to move fast enough to match the next attack. They had been running almost the same sequence over and over increasing the speed and intensity each time.
Getou’s staff hooked the back of Haibara’s knee and he felt his weight drop out. He tried to shift his weight but his limbs were heavy and more clumsy with every minute. He fell onto his ass and let his momentum flatten his back to the ground.
“Damn!” Haibara cursed with a light sigh. He covered his eyes against the blinding sun and panted out his frustration.
“Hey, let me help-”
“You’re going easy on me!” Haibara snapped without opening his eyes. His frustration and itchy skin had killed his usual filter.
Getou squatted down over Haibara, blocking the sun for his kouhai.
“I’m sorry,” Haibara whispered and lowered his arm. He looked up into Getou’s patient face.
“Why would you apologize?”
“I snapped at you. I didn’t mean to,” Haibara confessed. He sat up as an embarrassed heat rose to mix with the red already on his face.
“You’re right,” Getou sighed as he sat back on his heels. “I am going easy on you. You’re a second grade and my lowerclassmen.”
“It’s more than that. You’re treating me like-” Haibara cut himself off. ‘Like an omega’ he wanted to say. What did it matter? He was an omega and today it was absolutely holding him back. “Like I can’t keep up.”
He was embarrassed, hot, and tired, and all this stress and stimulation was making his pre-heat symptoms worse. He could feel it.
“Then shouldn’t I be the one who apologizes?” Getou asked, smirking.
Haibara finally looked up at his senpai. He watched a small droplet of sweat run from Getou’s brow down his cheek and to his sharp jaw. That satisfied Haibara a little. He wasn’t the only one getting a workout.
He could still put up a little fight even on his worst days.
Haibara smiled at Getou, probably his first very genuine smile of the day. His hot cheeks ached with it. Getou mirrored with his own softer smile.
“Can you keep going?”
“I want to try if you promise to not be so gentle with me. I’m not made of glass, Senpai,” Haibara requested. Getou stood up with a head shake and offered his hand down to help Haibara. That seemed exactly like gentle treatment but Haibara couldn’t resist. Getou’s grip was just as firm and addictive as Haibara had guessed.
In an attempt to be less gentle, Getou tugged Haibara to his feet in one harsh motion. It caught Haibara a little off balance. He took one step to catch himself but knocked chests with the alpha in doing so.
Another hand came up to Haibara’s back to stabilize him. The touch, the warmth coming off Getou’s chest was overwhelming. Haibara squeezed his eyes closed and took a deep inhale through his nose. It was a mistake.
The smell that his brain latched onto was like toasted spices; charred and complex. Dark and rich all at once. Haibara’s vision was blurry as he opened his eyes. Through the haze, he could see the back of Geto’s neck from the side.
He was fully leaning against his senpai now, boneless and unbalanced. From his position against Getou’s shoulder, he could see just the smallest corner of Getou’s scent blocker patch lifted up, probably from all their motion and sweat.
“Senpai…” Haibara heard his own voice but it sounded far away. It sounded limp and needy. Getou tensed against Hairbara.
“You aren’t alright at all,” Getou gritted out. He easily took on more of Haibara’s weight to support the younger boy. It embarrassed Haibara but he couldn’t resist.
“Can we… can you take me to my room? Please?” Haibara tried to pull away enough to look into Getou’s face. He never expected a scent that could affect him like this. Even if Getou was a semi-special grade.
“Is he okay?” Shoko’s voice was even further away even though Haibara’s instincts told him she was reaching out to touch his shoulder. The only person that Haibara could properly register was Getou.
“He’s fine,” Getou said with too much force, practically growling. It was an unfamiliar tone to Haibara but he found he liked it. Shoko retracted her hand before she even made contact.
Haibara reached up and around Getou’s shoulder as if it were a hug but then he flattened Getou's patch again. He carefully resecured the seal against the skin. Getou loosened up a little, realizing his own error. Haibara could think infinitely clearer without Getou’s scent lulling him into submission.
“Oi,” she warned him.
“He just… needs to go back to his room. I’ll take him,” Getou decided and dropped the aggression from his voice. Haibara pushed a little against Getou’s chest. Getou relaxed easily for him but didn’t take his hands off Haibara’s back and arm.
“I’ll go with you,” Shoko said carefully.
“Please, I’m okay! I’d like to lay down, but I’m okay,” Haibara whispered and gave his senpais a reassuring smile.
“Are you sure?” Shoko had that look on her face whenever someone was hurt. But Haibara wasn’t hurt. In fact, being in the grip of an alpha he trusted was probably the most natural place he could be.
“Yeah! Honestly, you should stay with those two. They’ll need you more than me,” Haibara said and prayed it came off as nonchalant. The way Shoko rolled her eyes in agreement after looking at Gojo and Nanami trying to kill each other seemed to be an agreement.
With another smile, Haibara waved goodbye to his senpai and sent a silent apology to Nanami for abandoning him. He summoned up self-control enough to walk on his own.
They walked at Haibara’s pace, Getou always a step behind him. He kept a hand on Haibara’s back to guide him gently toward the dorms. Stepping into the building brought relief from the sun but then Haibara became even more aware of the heat coming from behind him.
He left like every micromovement was being watched.
Haibara was so relieved to have reached his own dorm that he didn’t stop to think before opening the door. The smell of himself, a scent similar to his mother but all his own, was a relief like rain in a drought. It was all things soft and familiar.
There was a sharp inhale of breath from behind him.
“Oh… oh no! I’m sorry, I didn’t- Here let me-” Haibara rushed to close the door. He pulled on the handle but a hand slammed into the wood above Haibara’s head.
Getou was holding the door open, letting Haibara’s scent out into the hallway and into his head. The seconds stretched on forever as Haibara tensed. Getou’s breaths against the back of his neck were hot and heavy but they sent light chills across his skin.
“You’re in heat,” Getou whispered. Haibara swallowed the spit in his mouth. He turned his head to meet Getou’s eyes.
There were that pristine black as usual but there was something so much darker about them.
“Not yet. I’ll still be myself until tomorrow I think,” Haibara whispered back even though they were alone. “I’m so sorry, senpai-”
“Please don’t apologize to me,” Getou said sharply and Haibara clamped his mouth shut. Getou let go of the door and leaned back. As mortified as Haibara was he didn’t want Getou to leave.
“Getou-senpai?”
“I can’t go in. I shouldn’t stay. Can I get you anything?” Getou’s words were clipped and tense. Was Haibara’s scent so unpleasant?
“No, thank you. I’ll be okay,” Haibara finally found the voice to say. Getou nodded without really looking at his kouhai. He left without saying anything else. He left Haibara with his unfulfilling nest feeling that usual cold creeping in.
Haibara took his exhaustion and frustrations and tucked them with his body under one of the many blankets he had accumulated. When reflecting on the day proved to be a fruitless effort he ripped off the stupid, itchy patches and let his needy body slip into sleep.
When the knocking roused him his room had become dark. He had no idea when the sun had begun to set or how long he had slept through it.
“Yo, I- I get it if you can’t open the door but I’m gonna leave some stuff outside,” Getou’s voice was muffled through the door but was undoubtedly his.
Haibara stumbled out of his nest with only minor stumbling as he tried to straighten his hair. When he opened the door Geto almost seemed surprised. Then he steeled himself against Haibara’s unfiltered scent.
Haibara would be lying if that knot of insecurity didn’t tighten in his gut. The one thing he didn’t want from this day was to be a disaster in front of Getou and he had screwed up that from the very beginning.
“I should be the one to apologize to you,” Getou said suddenly. Haibara’s eyebrows shot up. “Earlier, I mean. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were in pre-heat. I thought I caused you to be struggling during practice and then I felt even worse that I kept you around me when you’re in heat.”
“Senpai, you helped me today and got me home! I’m sorry-”
“No, you don’t understand. I never wanted to make things harder for you. I wasn’t being easy on you because I think you can’t take it. I… don’t want to risk hurting or frightening you but I also couldn’t turn down working with you. You not being fragile doesn’t mean I’m not dangerous.”
Haibara had to really think about that. The words made sense but the thinking behind them made Haibara’s head hurt. Those were Getou’s thoughts but Haibara was more concerned with his feelings.
“I’m not sure I understand but I’ve never been frightened of you. You’re the opposite of scary to me,” Haibara said earnestly. Getou’s eyes grew for a second, shocked to hear something like that from someone like Haibara.
Haibara took a chance and stepped halfway into the doorway. Getou didn’t step back.
“No?”
“Not at all. So, you said you had ‘stuff’?” Haibara smiled up into Getou’s face and the tension in the older boy seemed to finally ebb away.
“I brought food. Fried rice. I, uh, asked Nanami what you’d like and then… then there is this. If you want it.”
Getou held up the take-out that made Haibara’s stomach grumble in one hand and then a large ziplock bag in the other. The idea of food finally woke up Haibara’s internal clock. He was starving but his curiosity was a stronger feeling.
“What is it?” Haibara asked and gently took the ziplock bag from Getou.
“It’s mine. You don’t have to use it, of course, but I thought it might help,” Getou explained and scratched his neck around his patch, clearly embarrassed. A flustered alpha, how cute.
“Yours…oh,” Haibara murmured, turning the bag over in his hands in affectionate realization.
“Sorry if it smells like smoke. The rooftop when I smoke is the only time I can get to be without my blockers outside my room.”
Haibara smiled.
“I actually like the smell. It’s warm and easy to focus on,” Haibara confessed and Getou chuckled at his earnest expression.
Getou reached up with one finger. His knuckle dragged across the length of Haibara’s high cheekbone all the way to his ear, grazing the ends of his hair. The touch was soft and fleeting but it burned against Haibara’s skin even after Getou’s hand dropped.
“That’s good. Me too. Tell me if you need anything, okay?”
“Okay. Thank you, senpai.”
This time when Haibara returned to his nest alone he was considerably less lonely. He sat down amongst all his comforts and immediately opened the ziplock bag. The smell of spices and charcoal burst out. It mixed with Haibara’s own vanilla scent to smell like fresh baked goods, filled with clove and cinnamon.
Haibara pulled the hoodie free and brought it up to his nose. A deep inhale revealed that smokey undertone Getou had promised. ‘
Maybe Haibara didn’t have to worry about his first heat at school as much as he thought.