✓ The Regulars (BakuDeku, Omegaverse)

✴Chapter 14✴

"We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will"

--Chuck Palahniuk

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     "Mommy!" Katsuki whined, feeling his stomach churn from the poison. "It hurts!"

     Mitsuki stood over, watching with a wry smile. "I know, baby, but you need some immunity to poison. You are royalty."

    "Do you have immunity?" little Katsuki asked through gritted teeth. 

     Mitsuki smiled. "Yes, almost. Your grandparents made me almost one hundred percent immune... Except for one."

     Katsuki tilted his head. "Why did they leave one out?"

     Mitsuki sighed as she whispered her next words. "This poison is rare, very rare. And it is so dangerous, you cannot be immune to it."

     Katsuki frowned. "But what happens if you eat that one?"

     "Then, I suppose we'll have to figure it out from there," Mitsuki said, giving a tight smile. "Now, get to bed, you little prince!" she shouted, playfully wrapping her son with the blankets. 

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     Katsuki sat in his own bed, deflated. He knew Izuku was waiting for him in his room, but he couldn't see him...At least, not now. What his mother said shook him up. He loved Izuku--used or not used, it didn't matter...But his mother...his mother asked him to marry Ochaco. 

     He took a shaky breath in. What was he supposed to do? If she were alive, then Katsuki would just deny her, fight her, or argue...but she was gone. And her last requests were for him to find out who poisoned her and to marry that woman.

     He heard the door to his chambers open, and Ochaco walked in, wearing a skimpy black dress. 

     She sat beside him on the bed. 

     "I know you hate me, but... Katsuki," Ochaco purred, lying her head onto his shoulder, taking in his scent. "I love you, and you can learn how to love me. I can help you."

     Katsuki didn't push her away as she leaned in for a kiss. But before she could make contact with his lips, he stopped her. 

     "Don't," Katsuki warned, knowing that she was trying to take advantage of the situation, but the warning sounded weak, even to him. She wanted misuse his strained feelings at the moment--his contradiction. He knew that now he was going to become king; Ochaco wanted to be queen.

     His mother's dying face, and his father's teared words suddenly appeared, imprinted onto his mind. 

     "You two will be married, and hopefully mated, by the end of this week."

     Katsuki grit his teeth. Why had it been like this? Izuku and him had been dating for what?--a few years now? And his mother had never had a single complaint about it. But now, she was insistent about getting married to somebody else. Sure, Izuku was unsure about marriage, mating, intercourse--but those didn't matter to Katsuki as much as long as they were happy and loved each other. 

     Ochaco moved her leg to lay her thigh on top of his, trying to advance onto him. "Katsuki, I can help you. I can help you love me...Just trust me, please."

     She released her awfully sweet scent, giving away her want. 

     "Let me help you," she breathed next to his ear. She moved her thin hands onto his chest, and Katsuki turned his head away.

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     Izuku waited patiently in his room. He sighed. It was once one of the many guest rooms in the palace for his heats because Katsuki had insisted upon it. Now, it felt more like his. 

     Izuku waited and waited and waited until the sun went down and the air became cold. He waited until his neck was aching because he was sitting. He waited.

     He didn't mind it much, other than the pain in his neck. Though, that didn't matter much to him either. Because he found that this pain was little compared to being in the Jotai Kingdom. He perked up suddenly when he heard a knock on the door.

     Izuku perked up immediately, walking to the door and happily opening it. His smile faltered as he saw a servant, howsoever. 

     Still, he greeted him with a tight smile, rubbing his eyes. "What is it that you need?"

     "I am here to bring you the news that the Queen of Ichiban has passed away sadly a few hours ago," he stated, bowing his head. "I have been sent to inform you and everyone else in the castle of this most devastating news."

     Queen of Ichiban? Mitsuki had died? Izuku's green eyes widened.

     He froze as he pushed passed the servant, who didn't seem to mind, and ran down the many halls, trying to find Katsuki. No wonder he had not come. He must be suffering all on his own, Izuku thought, hating himself for not trying to find him sooner. 

     Izuku stopped by Katsuki's room, seeing that the door was closed. He knocked gently and when he received no answer, he peeked through.

     Izuku had to keep himself from gasping as he saw Ochaco laying down, no clothes adorned on her body, and the blanket hastily thrown on top of her on Katsuki's grand bed. Katsuki sitting on the edge of his bed, shirt off. The smell of lust pheromones still waning in the air, thick and heavy.

     Izuku tried to reason with himself, despite feeling a sudden sadness wash over him. Katsuki had every right to...to do this with Ochaco. He knew he had been too stubborn, denying Katsuki anything more than kissing, especially since they had been dating for so long. And Katsuki had been suffering on his own. It was his fault for not helping him sooner. Ochaco beat him...and he was just waiting around. 

     Izuku closed the door back as quietly as he could, wrapping his arms around himself, suddenly feeling self conscious. He had waited too long. And now, with him looking and acting and feeling like he was, he knew that Katsuki wouldn't want him as a mate anymore. He was a used omega with no royal blood. He...he wasn't what he used to be, and it was perfectly understandable for Katsuki to let out his sadness when Izuku wasn't able to be with him... Izuku tried to justify what he saw to the point where he denied it ever happened. But he couldn't. 

     Izuku rushed to out of the palace, walking somewhere, anywhere but where he was now.

     Because he couldn't stay here.