『𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡』𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘪 𝘹 𝘳𝘦𝘰

¹⁶

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[  ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sɪxᴛᴇᴇɴ ]
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒

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"Wow, is it natural? 'Cause I have to dye mine after, like, bleaching it twice to get this color." Shidou went on to say, studying Reo's appearance without an ounce of subtlety. For someone Reo had never met before, he did a great job entertaining him at a place full of strangers. "It's annoying, 'cause your boyfriend over there has naturally white hair, and fucking Hiori's hair is cyan. I mean, where the fuck are y'all getting these weird anime character genes?"

Reo looked around for Nagi. Boyfriend, over there must mean he had arrived already, and although Shidou was friendly, Reo hadn't really come to see him.

Fortunately, Nagi came up behind his partner, resting his hand on the small of Reo's back. "Yep, I'll take it from here, Shidou," he nodded as a greeting. Then, he looked back to Reo. "How are you doing?"

"Better now that you found me," he gave a small smile.

Nagi moved his hand away, and Reo scrunched up his nose. They weren't affectionate in public at all, but that usually didn't bother him — they were still in a secret relationship of sorts. But finding Nagi's scent, contaminated by someone else's, was irritating.

He tried to ignore it, focusing on a certain redhead walking by. "Chigiri, hi."

Chigiri stopped to greet him, already slightly inebriated even if the afterparty had just started. Reo didn't judge him; the team had done an awesome job all season; they deserved the celebration.

His friend looked between Nagi and Reo, and a lazy small spread on his face. "Oh, this is like your public debut as a couple, isn't it?"

"We're not going public yet." Reo corrected.

"You're doing a shitty job at hiding, then," Chigiri said because maybe Nagi and Reo didn't notice. Still, they always gravitated towards one another. Like they were doing now with the back of their hands almost brushing together. He smirked. Anyone who stared at them for too long would notice. Which reminded him... "Sometimes paparazzi are outside. You know they are like vultures when it comes to us."

Shidou agreed, rolling his eyes. "More like leeches, making money from blurry pictures and other shots out of context." He was going to say something else, probably about his own clashes with the press, when someone caught his attention. "Yo, Isagi, come say hi to the happy couple!"

"Oh, so you two are finally together, together," was the first thing he said, guessing god-knows-how. To be honest, Reo thought Nagi would have told his roommate and teammate since he was, after all, also a very close friend of his.

"You didn't know?"

"Isagi would've said I told you so," Nagi explained. Besides, Isagi has always known, to some extent. So when Nagi came back smelling of Reo in a way that wouldn't get off unless a few more showers were involved, he had asked how it went. Nagi had said cool, which confirmed most hypotheses.

Chigiri puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. "No, I told you so; I knew of your complicated history right away." And he had, in fact, gotten the news straight from Reo himself. "I texted Reo the day of our scandal, too."

"You snitched on yourself after betraying a friend?" Shidou perked up, suddenly more interested in the story.

Chigiri hit him on the back of the head. "I didn't betray anyone, antennaed freak. You're getting it all wrong."

Soon enough, Isagi got between them. Shidou was already smirking, and that was never a good sign from someone like him, who loved taking any excuse to fight like a pup. "Ok, guys, c'mon, he's just joking."

"Come here," Reo pulled Nagi aside, taking advantage of the distraction. The change in Nagi's scent was driving him a little bit nuts. Reo's been very careful with his scenting since qualifiers started. If Nagi didn't allow him to scent for work-related issues, well, he should apply the same rule to everyone else. "You smell."

Nagi pulled at his own collar and tried to sniff at his body. "Really? I took a shower before coming."

"Not of sweat. It's someone's scent." Reo insisted.

"Maybe a fan at the press conference?"

"No, you smell of another alpha. It isn't new."

Reo's jealousy often turned him sad and mopey. He expected an explanation because he disliked getting in his head. But, at this point, he had learned to better wait for the entire story to unravel before wasting his time getting emotional.

Nagi thought it over, what or when had he been exposed to another's pheromones? He had showered before coming, washing away most of the musky scents from the players. Finally, he understood. Barou's car, stinking of the obvious celebratory sex he had before going back into the locker room. "Barou drove me here; that's probably why. He has a girlfriend, by the way."

Reo blinked at him. "What made you think I was jealous?"

"I know you too well," Nagi shrugged.

When Reo circled his waist and buried his face on Nagi's shoulder, the alpha craned his neck to put his chin on the omega's head. "You still smell," Reo whined.

"Once we're bonded, you won't have to worry about it anymore." Seishiro rubbed his back, right between both shoulder blades.

"About what? You dumping me?"

And perhaps he said it as a joke, but it didn't sound like one, his tone too sincere. It could happen, even if Reo grew less and less worried about the possibility as more weeks passed.

"Yeah," Nagi's fears were mostly fixed at the beginning of their relationship, so it was his turn to be supportive. He sighed and changed the topic. "You've thought about it before? Bonding."

Reo gave half a laugh against his skin. "Of course, my dad hasn't stopped pestering me about it since dinner last month."

But it wasn't what Nagi was referring to. He frowned, "I don't care about your dad. I'm asking if you've... fantasized about it or something."

Reo was quiet for a few seconds. Had he imagined it? Being bonded? Yeah, a million times before. It had been in his mind since before fully presenting as an omega, when he was writing Mikage Seishiro on the margins of his school's notebook. "I don't want to pressure you, though."

"Don't hide stuff from me either; that's where we went wrong for like ten years," Nagi said. The best part of having confessed to Reo was that he didn't need to hold back anymore about anything. He wished Reo would do the same. "Tell your dad we'll be mates soon. I'll bite you on your next heat."

"What? Are you serious?" Reo pulled back, eyes so wide Nagi could catch his reflection on them. "Nagi Seishiro, are you being serious?"

Obviously. "It would be a terrible joke if I wasn't, so yeah, I mean it."

"You have a horrible sense of humor," Reo pointed out, disbelief bleeding through his words. But Nagi kept his face neutral, even while Reo looked around as if waiting for everyone to laugh and for Nagi to yell, Got ya! "And you're also not romantic at all," he added, "Because you just brought that up in the middle of a party-"

"You agreed, anyway." Nagi reminded him.

But that was him oversimplifying things, so Reo arched his brow, "You didn't ask."

Then, with the lack of romance that characterized him, Seishiro stated his fantastic proposition. "Do you want my mark or not?"

And because Reo had fallen in love with that jerk just the way he was, he said yes, not having to move his lips or use his words since kissing was much more a direct answer. Plus, he was dying to kiss his mate-to-be.

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