The Phoenix and the Cat

Chapter 30

Note: I don't own Haikyuu and stuff. I was so disappointed with the new season I'd been dying for being put off that I started focusing on Naruto instead... Now Gaara's stuck on my brain.

Placing his clothes on the counter as he folds them, Fukunaga gingerly unclasps his pick bracelet and sets it in the middle to be protected from any condensation the steam may make. Pulling the Moltres necklace off, he runs his thumb over it before placing it there too as his ears jump happily. Yaku takes his hoodie with the keys and wallet inside, setting it on the back of the couch near where Fukunaga has deemed his spot to be during his visits. The oddly familiar scent on it has Yaku assuming it belongs to Fuku's alpha (he knows that he knows that smell which means he already knows Fuku's alpha if only he could think of it, but he can't quite place it in his mind as he sneaks a sniff) and he'll want it close while hormonal, Yaku knows firsthand and makes it a point to spoil Fukunaga where he can get away with it.

It's the only time the raven ever really lets him so Morisuke gets a bit carried away with it sometimes and has to reign it in, Shohei gets flustered any other time.

When he gets back with a fresh coffee to sit on the toilet to keep talking, the taller has completely stripped and is sitting on the stool in the shower area rinsing. "So, I take it you aren't ready to share heats with him if you wanted the wash?"

Shohei quickly cleans himself with regular soap, the fluffy loofa doing a good job of making it easy as he turns beet red at the sensitive topic questioned frankly. He knows sometimes people do it without knotting, but he doesn't believe that's how it should be. Heats should only be shared with the one you intend to stay with, the one who leaves their permanent mark. It's important, giving a piece of yourself away like that is no light matter. "No. I only want to share heats when mated."

"That's good." The worried tone is overtaken by massive relief and Fuku raises his small brows, glancing at the short omega sagging with a weight lifted from his shoulders as if he were fretting. "I feel that way about heats too so I'm glad, the last thing you need is to get pregnant on accident without someone to call a mate."

Shohei's fingers trail over his temporary mark, only breaking skin with just the fangs so it will stay for a month but won't scar. Not the full impression of teeth that comes with mating... again. So it can heal if they choose not to mate. It's said a claim mark gives part of the feelings of a mate mark, a preview of what it's really like to be marked by your chosen mate and the libero has said so himself before.

He envies Yaku, peeking to where the omega is sitting with a tumultuous heart. He can see Yaku's mark from all of Kuroo's teeth, the stark permanent scar of a mate.

It's romantic and sweet in Fuku's opinion, he craves it for himself. It's like getting married on an instinctual level, people don't usually mate or be romantically intimate with anyone else once mated unless theirs dies or if the partner approves of more adventurous times though there are exceptions to the rule like any other, but it's not easy and there're always special circumstances. It's rare. It's not like you can tell your instincts you changed your mind and want a divorce or whatever so it's important to really think it through before committing to it and tying for real.

That said, most people find their mates young around the high school/college area and courting is pretty short before making the lifetime commitment.

People claim to know when it's right, Fukunaga believes Tendou is right for him.

Omegas naturally crave the security of a mate and it gets worse while claimed. He never quite understood that fact before. He knew he wanted one and that his instincts called for him to find one, but it was a vague background thing. Only really noticed during heats when not having one made a big difference or when pointed out like being around others that flaunt it or watching a romance flick.