Kazuichi simply wanted to hit his head repeatedly onto his desk. He couldn't, for his life, understand most of the things that were supposedly topics in his exams. Even Miss Sonia's tutoring didn't help him. His brain just didn't want to understand anything. It was hell. It was pure frustration filled with textbooks and worksheets.
And the worst of it was, the written exams didn't even take up much of his grades. Most of his grades were for his inventions, since this is what Hope's Peak Academy was about. Researching talent.
So why did they have to write exams then? Kazuichi just couldn't figure out why.
"Souda, you have to stay focused or you will fail your exams." Miss Sonia warned her classmate, who had his head on the table.
Ever so slowly the mechanic lifted his head again. "Yeah, sorry Miss Sonia."
Miss Sonia and Tanaka were both looking at Kazuichi. The group were sitting inside of one of the libraries to study together. At least that was the plan for the last few weeks. The Ultimate Princess encouraged her two friends to study everyday and it was beginning to take up all of their free time by now. The topics were way more advanced than anyone in the class anticipated, which led to all of the students studying without end in sight.
Kazuichi had the same procedure every day; go to class and study, work on his inventions and then study some more. Even the weekends were the same, only without the lessons at the beginning. The only time the mechanic had any real chance to speak about different topics with his friends, was either when they were eating or when they were taking brakes from studying together.
The only ones who didn't seem to have any problems were the twins. Hinata was always studying and knew nearly everything already thanks to that and his twin brother was plainly a genius. Those two could relax and do what they wanted – though Hinata tried to help everyone with studying, especially Komaeda – while Kazuichi was trapped in the library and had to endure this torture.
After sitting around for even more hours to study, Kazuichi couldn't even concentrate on what the princess was talking about any more. That was saying something, considering that Miss Sonia had been one of the people that was constantly on the mechanic's mind, at least in the past.
"Can we please stop for today?" the omega finally asked; his brain was just not functioning any more. "This has been going on for hours now." He was sure that his head was going to burst if he had to do just one more analysis in the near future. Or the next few years for that matter.
Miss Sonia turned her eyes towards her watch to check the time. "You are right, we have been studying for nearly the whole day now. I think a stop for today would be of need, so that we are able to continue tomorrow with newfound motivation."
While it was nice to see Miss Sonia with such a high spirit, there was no way that Kazuichi would find any motivation to study, even if he looked everywhere. However he was at least finally able to pack his stuff for today. It was already past dinnertime – which was the last brake that they took and only lasted 30 minutes – and night-time was going to start in a few mere hours. There was not enough time to really do something big, but it wasn't like the pink haired teen was in the mood to actually do anything. He just wanted to lie down and maybe watch some TV until he fell asleep. Everything was fine, as long as he didn't have to study any more for today.
Miss Sonia was the first to pack all of her things, which had been neatly organised on the table unlike Kazuichi's stuff, which were completely scattered. The princess bid the two males a farewell, as she wanted to return a few books that she had borrowed from the library.
When Kazuichi put his bag over his shoulder, he then noticed that Tanaka hadn't even began packing his stuff and was still looking at one of his textbooks.
"Aren't ya going to stop for today?"
Tanaka flinched barely noticeable, before crossing his arms in front of his chest and raising his head up to look at the omega. "Maybe I should cease with this endeavour for the night." This wasn't exactly an answer and more like if Tanaka was talking with himself in that moment. Now that Kazuichi took a good look at the alpha, he did seem strangely annoyed for some reason.
"Is something wrong?" Kazuichi's face was filled with confusion and he walked over to his friend, while Gundham's eyes followed him.
"Everything is fine Tamer of Automations, so please do not worry."
"Come on, even I can tell that something is bugging ya." One of these days, Tanaka had to finally learn to open up more, especially if it was so obvious that something was wrong. "So, what is wrong?"
Tanaka's brows furrowed, like he was trying to intimidate the male that was standing next to him. However it didn't work with Kazuichi, since he fought that 'frightening' was the least fitting description for the alpha, no matter how hard he tried to seem evil. In the end he just was a huge dork.
After noticing that the omega was not going to give in, the alpha then gave up. "The thing that is plaguing my mind is this hellish subject, which I can not master." Tanaka seemed positively angry at whatever subject he was pointing at in his textbook, he was even baring his teeth at it.
What was so hard for the self-proclaimed ruler of the world that made him reacted so strongly? Kazuichi leaned over the breeder's shoulder to look at the textbook and, to his surprise, saw some maths problems.
"Ya got problems with maths?" Kazuichi asked just to make sure. While the alpha was no genius like Kamukura, he was still well-educated, so to see him struggle with a subject at which Kazuichi, a mere mediocre student who normally never studied, excelled was a bit of a surprise for him.
"Why didn't ya say that ya were struggling with it, while Miss Sonia was still here? She would've gladly explained it to ya." Kazuichi scanned the tasks. They were fairly easy, at least for him.
"I did not mention it to the She-Cat, as there was no need." Gundham nearly retorted at the suggestion, making Kazuichi only roll his eyes at the idiotic behaviour of the Ultimate Breeder.
Giving a loud sigh, the omega took a seat again and put his bag down. "Ya know what, I will explain it to ya." So much for his plan to just relax and do nothing for the remaining evening. Well, it was for Tanaka so Kazuichi gladly stayed a bit longer to help his friend.
"You do not have to concern yourself with this Sharp Toothed One." While the breeder tried to decline the offer, he still seemed glad about the other student wanting to help him.
"Oh just be thankful, Hamster-chan." Kazuichi sighed again at his friend's fad of playing the lonely warrior. Leaning more towards the alpha, the omega began to read the first question. It was more advanced maths were many people would struggle, so the mechanic wasn't that highly surprised any more that the other had problems with it. If he remembered correctly quite a few of his classmates had been struggling when they were being taught the needed formulas, since there were fairly many of them. At least Kazuichi thought that many had been struggling, as he hadn't really kept his attention at this time, because he was distracted with his past problems about his behaviour towards Miss Sonia. It was a good thing that he already knew this stuff or he wouldn't be able to help Tanaka right now.
"Okay listen." Kazuichi began and took Gundham's pen and a piece of paper, and slowly wrote the calculating method down, while explaining everything and finally solving the problem. There were however two major problems with that.
Firstly was Kazuichi quite bad at explaining things and secondly was Tanaka bad at understanding maths.
In the end, Tanaka was only looking at the notes in confusion and Kazuichi was scratching the back of his head, trying to find a better way to explain the formulas to the breeder. This was going to be hard.
"I can not follow your explanation of this craft, Tamer of Automations." Tanaka was still looking at the written solution of the problem, his lack of understanding any of it present on his face.
"Let me think for a minute." What could Kazuichi do to make his friend understand it? For Kazuichi this came somewhat naturally and since he was a mechanic he was always calculating stuff. However this couldn't be said for the Ultimate Breeder. There was nearly no scenario that the omega could think of, that required Tanaka to do any maths; except maybe when he was preparing the food for his pets.
How was Miss Sonia able to explain everything over the last weeks? Whenever she explained something to her two friends, it was easy to understand. Though she was trained in giving speeches, so it wasn't a big surprise in the end that she could do something like this.
Maybe it would be a good idea to stop for the day and let Miss Sonia handle Tanaka's problem on the following day?
No, the omega shook his head at this thought. He wanted to teach it to Tanaka himself and not let someone else do it. Even if could be more counterproductive than anything else if he didn't manage it. Kazuichi had to admit to that. Maybe it was his pride that gave him this particular desire or something else, but the omega didn't exactly care at this given moment. He had other things on his mind, mainly how he could make his best friend understand how to work out these maths problems.
"Where exactly do you have a problem with understanding it?" Kazuichi then asked.
This question made Tanaka fall silent, his tension about talking about his weakness in this topic obvious.
"Come on, I can't help ya if you don't tell me were your difficulties lie." How could one male be so stubborn with upholding his weird image and refuse so much against receiving help from others? The alpha was frustrating sometimes.
Finally Tanaka explained what his problem was. Though Kazuichi had now to determine if it was good or not, because he now knew what was wrong, however it made the whole ordeal more taxing.
"I must admit that I do not understand these calculations that you used in the middle of this hellish ordeal."
So this was the problem. The breeder didn't manage to do the additional calculations that were needed. No wonder that he didn't understand the rest.
"Then lets go through everything again." Kazuichi took the paper again and began to explain every little step, including all of the needed auxiliary calculations. This seemed to do the trick. While it was still a slow process, partly because the mechanic still was bad at explaining, the breeder was starting to grasp how to work out these problems.
After a while the two students were able to solve all of the maths problems – sometimes having to retry, mind that – and Tanaka was able to understand what he had to do and, most importantly, why it had to be done.
The four Dark Devas of Destruction were lying on the table and had been sleeping for a while now. When Kazuichi was looking at them, he then mumbled to himself, "What time is it by the way?" Grabbing his mobile he was surprised that it was already past ten and thus night-time had began a while ago. He had somehow forgotten that there were no announcements inside of the library, so that the studying students could not be disturbed by it. No wonder that no one was there any more.
"It would be wise to retreat to our respective realms for the night." Tanaka suggested when he looked at the lit up screen displaying the time.
"Yeah, good idea."
The two students packed their stuff and, after the breeder picked his four hamsters carefully up, they went towards their dorm rooms. The school was mostly empty now and they only passed the security guard that was on night duty.
Stopping in front of Kazuichi's room door, as Tanaka's was one further down, the two males looked at each other. For some odd reason the omega had to think about those awful romance movies, where the overly handsome alpha would bring the extremely cute omega to their house and as soon as one of them tried to leave, the other would stop them and kiss them as a farewell.
This thought made Kazuichi's cheeks turn slightly red, so he quickly tried to forget this image in his head. He was glad that it wasn't that well lit in the hallway. "Well goodnight then, Tanaka."
"I also wish you a goodnight." Tanaka replied and gave a short nod.
Just as Kazuichi had opened his door and tried to leave, a voice sounded out and stopped him.
"Tamer of Automations," the alpha suddenly said, thus stopping the other and making the omega falter in his steps, "may I acquire your assistants in the near future again regarding this hellish topic?"
Kazuichi was looking at the other with wide eyes and simply nodded, "Yeah sure. I can do that."
"I must give you my thanks then, Sharp Toothed One. Again, I wish you a goodnight." Tanaka then said and went into his own room, while Kazuichi simply watched him leave, his brain not really working in the moment.
Slowly the omega made his way into his room and closed the door behind him, before he grabbed onto his chest. His heart was beating like crazy, he felt like it was going to burst in a few seconds.
The moment that the alpha had stopped the other, he had somehow awaited something that he didn't want to think about.
Kazuichi really shouldn't stay up so late all the time, it was making his head funny.
***
Since this night, Kazuichi was giving Tanaka private tutoring in maths nearly every day, when they found the time. The mechanic had noticed over this time period, when they were learning in a bigger group, that Tanaka had hardly ever asked questions about the stuff they were studying, not even towards Miss Sonia. While this was mostly due to him not technically needing the help, the alpha also didn't ask anything when maths came up and kept all his questions for then he was alone with the mechanic. Kazuichi reckoned that the other's reluctance was a little bit due to Tanaka's own huge ego.
Truth to be told, it fuelled Kazuichi's own ego that his friend trusted him so much now. Unlike before where he had to more or less squeeze the informations out of Tanaka, whenever said male had something on his mind. That he was better at a school subject than the other male was also a great bonus for him.
To be able to help Tanaka better, the omega had asked Miss Sonia for advice one day on how to properly explain things to other people. When she had asked him why he wanted to know, he was stammering a bit while coming up with a believable explanation, since he didn't want to expose Tanaka, who obviously didn't want other people to know that he had weaknesses like any other human being. Miss Sonia thankfully didn't comment on this and happily gave her friend a few tips. However she had a strange smile while doing it, as she had most likely had her suspicions with what was going on.
Over time Tanaka was beginning to improve with his maths skills and he began to explain things to Kazuichi that the mechanic didn't understand in other school subjects. It was quite different how Miss Sonia and Tanaka taught, yet both were good at it, which was surprising for Kazuichi in Tanaka's case. However when he had thought about it, Tanaka had mentioned quite a lot of times that he had apprentices for his work as a breeder, so Kazuichi could assume that they did in fact learn the needed skills from Tanaka.
All in all it was actually fun to study together with his friends, even if it was tiring for Kazuichi most of the time.
After ending their study session with Miss Sonia, Kazuichi and Tanaka made their way towards the omega's dorm room to study maths there without other people around. Both took a seat at the desk and began studying maths, Kazuichi trying his best to make his friend understand everything. It was again quite late already – like every time when they learned alone together, as over daytime they were together with their classmates – however since summer was nearing with immense speed now it was still light outside. Their exams were only days away now, followed by their summer vacation and thus the end of their first year at Hope's Peak Academy.
Kazuichi was looking at the worksheet from Tanaka and was looking over the answers that the other had written down, checking them for any mistakes, while said male was sitting next to him and waited.
"Except of one slight mistake, everything is correct." Kazuichi smiled and gave the worksheet back, "Ya seem to have finally understood this, Hamster-chan. Took ya long enough."
"While I am thankful for your help with this matter, you are aware that I know of your particular skills in many educational fields, Tamer of Automations?" Tanaka mocked his friend, making Kazuichi a little bit irritated and complain that the other should be more thankful for his help over the last weeks. While Kazuichi had been talking, the breeder placed something back onto the desk what he had been holding while waiting for the other to finish with correcting. The movement of the alpha's arm made Kazuichi's eyes follow and look at what Tanaka had been holding.
It was the mechanical toy rabbit that the mechanic had found and repaired at the beginning of the school year. "I didn't know ya like Wind Up toys." Kazuichi commented.
"In a sense I do like them, however it is hard to really determine." The eyes of Tanaka were still on the small rabbit now sitting in the corner of Kazuichi's desk again.
"What?" Now this answer was even weirder for Kazuichi than the rest that Tanaka normally said, "How can ya not know if ya like something?"
"The reason lies within the fact that I did not ever possess such a thing." Tanaka answered, making Kazuichi point at the toy with confusion.
"Ya mean Wind Up toys?"
At this question, Tanaka got silent and picked the toy up again, regarding it. After a while he then answered the question of Kazuichi. "While yes, I did not ever posses them, I did in fact mean toys in general. As I am out of the age to play with such contraptions, it is hard to determine what I should think of them."
Kazuichi stared at his friend in disbelieve, wondering if he did misunderstand Tanaka. "Did ya just say that ye never have possessed toys in your childhood?"
"This is correct." Tanaka nodded, taking a short pause to think about his words, "The angel that gave me the gift of life was very poor and could not provide things like toys for me, before her time in the realm of the living had ended."
This simply shocked Kazuichi. While the omega knew poverty all to well, it never was this bad for him and his family. "And what about your dad?" he then asked. The father of Tanaka wasn't even mentioned by the student, so Kazuichi wondered if they were also dead.
Tanaka became completely silent and placed the toy back onto the desk, his eyes turned away and his arms now crossed in front of his body. "I already had banished the demon out of my life, many years prior to this tragic day."
Kazuichi knew this tense way of talking all too well. Every time he had been asked more personal questions about his own father he had the same physical reaction. His eyes averting, his voice straining to stay normal and his body automatically going into a position to shield himself from the stares of other people, hoping they would not ask more. There was only one major key difference; the answer of Tanaka was cold and dismissing, while Kazuichi tended to laugh the questions off and make a light situation out of them. Still the message to drop the topic was the same, so Kazuichi didn't intend to keep on asking about it.
To change the topic again, Kazuichi took his mechanical rabbit into his hand and winded it up, before letting it hop on the desk right in front of Tanaka, catching his attention.
"I don't know my mum." the omega told his friend, his eyes turned towards the rabbit, away from any possible gaze of the alpha. "They left while I was hardly born and my old man never talked about them. It always was only the two of us for my whole life, resulting in us also being very poor. Most of my toys were self-made by me and my dad."
When the rabbit then stopped, the spring inside of its body having unwound completely, Kazuichi placed it into Tanaka's hand. "So ya can have it. I can build myself as much things as I want and let me tell ya, people can actually play with toys as long as they like. Or do ya stop letting your pets play with balls and other stuff, only because they turn older?"
The alpha looked at the mechanical rabbit lying in his hand, before looking towards the omega next to him, his face turning red. "Of course I do not stop them from playing." he hid behind his scarf and mumbled, "Still, I must thank you for this offering, Souda. I appreciate it."
"Yeah, you're welcome, Tanaka." Kazuichi was just as embarrassed and hearing his name being said by Tanaka was making his reaction even worse.
To clear his head again, he took his beanie off and let his hand slide through the wild, pink hair. "We should stop for today and do something else."
"At this late hour?" Tanaka looked at his friend, "What do you want to do now, if I might ask? While we still have the fortune of light outside, we can only leave the grounds of this realm for only a short time, before night-time will emerge and forbid us from leaving."
"Don't know." Kazuichi really had no idea, this wish to stop for the day was spontaneous from him. "We can watch a movie on my laptop or something like that."
Since Tanaka also seemed to have lost all of his will to study any more on this day, after the topic of his family, he nodded at the suggestion. "This sounds like a enjoyable activity, after investing so much of our time and power in learning the needed subjects for the upcoming exams."
"Great!" Kazuichi grinned and stood up to get his laptop. "I have an account that I share with Leon on a streaming platform, so we have a huge selection." he let himself fall onto his bed. "Anything that ya wanna watch?"
Strangely there was no reaction, so Kazuichi looked up from his laptop to his friend, who was staring at him with big eyes. "What's wrong with ya now?"
The following question was asked so slow, that it seemed like Tanaka could not believe that he had to ask in the first place. "Pink Haired One, do you intend to watch a movie with me, on top of your bed?"
Jumping slightly, Kazuichi got flustered. "God, stop making everything weird! We aren't going to jump each other only because we are sitting on the same bed as an alpha and an omega!" He never found it weird before to lie in a bed with other people to watch movies. He did it with Leon all the time at home and nothing ever happened. It was normal for him. "Now just sit down and stop worrying over strange stuff!"
Tanaka looked at the other teen for a short while, before sitting down onto the bed next to Kazuichi.
"So, before ya start worrying again, what do ya wanna watch?" Kazuichi asked and placed the laptop onto Tanaka's lap, "Choose whatever ya want." The alpha then nodded and began to search through the provided movies until he found something that he found interesting and showed it to Kazuichi.
"As I have heard of our allies this movie should be quite entertaining. Though I do not have many informations about its content, except that it is supposedly good."
"Sure." Kazuichi shrugged and started the movie, not really checking what the movie was about. However he really should have done it.
The beginning of the movie was nice and heartfelt, however this state did not stay for long. When the first ghost literally jumped into the screen, Kazuichi jumped and latched himself onto Tanaka, screaming his lungs out of fright and hiding his face in the other's chest.
Quickly Tanaka closed the laptop and thus stopped the movie, which turned out to be a horror film.
"I am truly sorry, I did not realise that this movie was of this kind. If I knew, I would have never suggested it." Tanaka tried to calm the frightened male down again. Sadly this didn't really help against Kazuichi's immense fright and the omega just kept on shivering, hiding against the other like a scared child.
Realising that this tactic would not really help in this moment, Tanaka decided to gently pet the frightened teen's back, while talking with a calming voice. "Do not worry Souda, I will stay with you as long as you are feeling frightened."
Finally Kazuichi was able to mutter some words, though his voice was still shaking quite badly. "T-Thank ya."
Just as he had promised, Tanaka stayed the whole time until Kazuichi had calmed down again, the scent of the alpha helping a lot. Tanaka kept on talking to the omega, petting his back and hair like he was one of the breeder's beloved pets. It had took quite a while for Kazuichi to fully calm down and the sun had set outside. Still, even if the omega was calm again, the two did not move from their spot on the bed and stayed embraced until sleep gently overtook them both.
When Kazuichi's alarm clock rang the next morning and he opened his eyes, the first thing that he saw where the tired heterochromatic eyes from Tanaka. The two males were lying on top of Kazuichi's bed, Tanaka hugging the smaller male, who had been cuddling against the alpha's body. Their eyes widened and both jumped away from each other with red faces, Kazuichi nearly falling out of his bed in the process.
"Did we fall asleep?" Kazuichi asked bashfully, while carefully rubbing at his eyes. He still had his contact lenses in and now his eyes were burning a little bit.
"It does seem like it." Tanaka mumbled, doing the same with his right eye that carried the red contact lens.
"Oh." was all that Kazuichi managed to say to this situation.
Tanaka stood up from the bed and straightened out his clothes, while mumbling, "We should make ourselves ready for the day and then go to consume food, before we meet up with the Princess of Darkness."
Kazuichi only nodded at this and saw his friend leave the room towards his own, both trying to ignore the awkward atmosphere.
***
The whole of class 77 were looking at their teacher in anticipation. Miss Yukizome was silent, looking at her students with a strict facial expression. Everything was silent in the classroom and no one said a single word. When the teacher then took out a folder containing several documents, the air got even more tense.
"So my dear students." Miss Yukizome was regarding everyone, holding the folder up, "These are your exam results and all of your final marks for this year."
Kazuichi had to swallow. He was, for the first time for years, actually nervous before getting his final marks. The Ultimate Mechanic and all of his friends and classmates had studied for weeks without much pause in-between and now he really hoped that he didn't fail his classes. The last thing he wanted to do was to let the other's down, who had spend so much time helping him with all the subjects.
The exams had been pure hell to put it bluntly. The first subject in which they had been tested in was English, a language in which Kazuichi was kinda good at. At least he had thought so until he saw the worksheet. It had taken him longer then normally to decipher what even was asked from him and the tasks weren't easy. When he had finally finished the exam, he had been utterly exhausted mentally. He had been one of last few people to finish on that day and when he went to his classmates into the cafeteria, he had seen that most of them seemed just as exhausted as he was. The only exceptions had been Kamukura, Hinata and Miss Sonia; all students who were fluent in the language.
This torture had went on for day until to the last exam. Mathematics.
That time Kazuichi had been one of the firsts to finish, only shortly after the twins. When the three students had been sitting inside of the cafeteria, like every time to wait for the rest, Kazuichi had only listened with half of a brain to his friends talking and only had commented ever so often. His mind had been focused on how Tanaka was doing now. Maths was the breeder's weakest subject and when Kazuichi had left the classroom, he had seen that his friend had been deep in thought and worked through one of the many tasks. Kazuichi really hoped that Tanaka, and all of his other friends, succeeded.
Miss Yukizome regarded her students one last time before starting to hand out the documents containing the final marks. Kazuichi looked at his friends and classmates when they received their results, all who were reading their report cards. Since Souda was the third last name on the class-list, he was one of the last people to receive his report card.
"Here you go, Kazuichi." Miss Yukizome gave Kazuichi his report card, before going without giving away what it contained, just like she did with the rest of her students.
Quickly he opened the folder and looked at his results, making his eyes widen. He actually had good results in nearly all of his subjects! This was the first time in years that he had something better than a C on his report card and now it only was the worst mark he had! The best part was the points he'd gotten for the project he and Tanaka had worked on for the school fair. This alone pulled his overall mark up and all of his smaller projects were also listed, giving him even more points.
Kazuichi looked at all of his friends; Miss Sonia, Fuyuhiko, Hinata, Komaeda, Kamukura and Tanaka, who all seemed just as pleased about themselves.
When all of the report cards were handed out, Miss Yukizome went back towards her desk and smiled at her students. "I'm so proud of you all. The last weeks you all worked together as a team, all helping each other and improving together. I was immensely happy when I noticed that you all began to study together every day for the exams and it motivated me to do even better when the next school year starts in only a few weeks." Miss Yukizome's eyes began tearing up, so she wiped them quickly. "I am so glad to have spent the last whole year with you all and I can't await the following two years, where I'm able to teach you all even more and see you grow up into the new hopes of the future."
Class 77 began applauding when their teacher finished talking and everyone was in a highly good mood. All of them had passed the year and would begin their second year together as one class right after the summer holidays.
Miss Yukizome had prepared some self-made sweets to celebrate this and handed them out to all of her students and wished everyone of them fun over the summer, before dismissing the class for the last time this school year.
As soon as the class was officially dismissed, they all got together and talked about their results. It was no surprise that Kamukura ended up to be the best in the class and easily had gotten straight As in all of the subjects, getting a full score at everything with ease, his older twin brother being second in the ranking.
"Well, at least I'm still older than you, Izzy." Hinata laughed and put an arm around his younger brother's shoulders.
Slowly the group dissolved so that everyone was able to pack the rest up for going home over the summer holidays. Kazuichi had waited for his chance to talk with Tanaka, until he saw that the alpha was alone. "So, how did ya do in maths, Hamster-chan?"
"I was able to pass this hellish subject with a high mark." Tanaka smiled at the smaller male, "For this I must give you my deepest thanks, Tamer of Automations. I must admit that I would not have been able to succeed with such pleasing results, if it were not for your help. So thank you very much."
Seeing Tanaka smile so genuine at the omega, made his chest feel strange. It must have been the euphoria at him and his best friend succeeding after working so hard together.
"No problem, Tanaka." Kazuichi grinned proudly, "Truth to be told, I would've also sucked if it weren't for your and Miss Sonia's help, so thank ya too."
"As you are my most trusted ally, this was the least that I could do for you. So you are welcome, Tamer of Automations." Tanaka smiled again and even his four hamsters were looking at Kazuichi, like they were also proud of the two for their huge accomplishment.
It was so strange for Kazuichi. One school year had went past now and he was now best friends with Gundham Tanaka, the one person who he had found the most annoying at the very beginning, ever since he noticed his scent. The one scent that was more attractive to the omega then everything that he ever smelled in his life, which was still overwhelming for him. Yet it was completely different now. It wasn't this irritatingly good smell that made Kazuichi's head spin and made him loose his senses. Instead it was this lovely smell which could instantly made the omega feel calm and safe only when he smelled it.
The way that Tanaka had talked was utterly confusing for the mechanic from the moment he heard him speak for the first time, creeping him out to no end. Now it was of Kazuichi's greatest pleasures to talk with Tanaka and to listen to the alpha talk with his well-educated tongue. Even the breeder's fad of calling himself with demonic titles wasn't irritating to him any more, it was one of the things that Kazuichi actually liked about his friend.
One year ago he saw Tanaka as a rival for the affection of Miss Sonia, who the student only could see as a picture book princess. The two males were constantly at each other's throats and in the end they actually became friends with each other and with Miss Sonia. Tanaka had helped his rival with overcoming his superficial thinking and becoming best friends with the beta female.
If Kazuichi's past self from the beginning of the school year could see him now, he would never believe that he and Tanaka were inseparable now.
Tanaka was one of the greatest friends Kazuichi could ask for. There was no wonder that he liked the other so much and wanted to stay together with Tanaka as long as possible.
Later that day most of class 77 had left to go home and only a few stayed behind. One of them being Miss Sonia, because her flight didn't leave until the next day.
Kazuichi and Miss Sonia had been standing at the fence surrounding the farms and they were waiting for Tanaka to finish his work in there for the day, to eat dinner together before the princess was to leave and go back to her own country for the summer holidays.
Waiting, Miss Sonia looked at her friend. "Do say Souda, when are you leaving?"
"I wanted to stay here over the holidays." Kazuichi cut his answer short, not really wanting to answer why and thus hoping that the princess didn't ask why he wanted to stay in the school yet again instead of going home. To his horror however did Miss Sonia seem confused.
Oh please did she not ask why he stayed, Kazuichi was bad at lying. To his luck she did not ask why he stayed in the end, however was her reaction even worse to some degree.
"What do you mean? The school will close for a while, while the summer holidays are taking place, so that they can prepare everything for when the new students arrive."
This made Kazuichi's eyes widen. Oh no, he had a problem now.
***
Kazuichi was in a huge dilemma, as he couldn't stay inside of the academy over the summer holidays. He had no idea where he should go over those weeks, since he didn't want to go home, now that he knew how life was away from that hellhole. He couldn't go to Leon's place, since he and his family had planned to go on a vacation. As soon as Kazuichi had heard that he couldn't stay inside of the school, he had contacted his childhood friend as fast as he could, hoping that he could stay the two weeks at Leon's place, only to have his hopes crushed.
This was bad, there was no place he could go now except of his home where his old man waited. Even if it only was two weeks of the summer holidays were all of the students and teachers were required to leave, it was way too much time for Kazuichi. The thought of having to go back home made Kazuichi sick deep into his stomach. The whole night he had been tossing and turning inside of his bed and running around the room to get himself to calm down again. When he did manage to fall asleep in the end his dreams were plagued by images of his aggressive father, who didn't let Kazuichi leave any more; cutting his contact with all of his friends to ensure that the omega could never leave again. When Kazuichi awoke from his dreams, his heart beating like crazy and cold sweat covering his shivering body, he didn't go back to sleep again and simply pulled his legs against his chest, waiting for the rest of the night to finally end.
When the sun arose itself up into the sky, he was exhausted. Still Kazuichi didn't go back to bed and tried to sleep some more. Instead he decided that a shower would be good enough. After washing all the leftover sweat from his body, he left the shower cabin and immediately turned his face away from the mirror facing him. Even the blurry reflection of his brown eyes were too much for him in this moment. Grabbing blindly for his contact lenses he quickly put them in, clearing his vision and hiding his natural eye-colour from himself.
After brushing his teeth and then his hair, Kazuichi then put on some clothes and left his room. It was no surprise that the omega's mood was dampened today, all of his happiness and excitement from the day before drained from his body. It was then that his nose picked of the one scent that he craved to have beside him since he began feeling this way. Instead of going to the cafeteria like he had planned, Kazuichi turned around and followed the scent, all the way outside of the school until he saw Tanaka, who was walking towards the farms. Quickening his pace, Kazuichi caught up with the alpha.
"Tanaka!" he called out, making said male stop and turn around.
"Good morning, Tamer of Automations." Tanaka turned towards his friend and then looked slightly alarmed, "Are you not feeling well? You look like hell itself today."
Since Kazuichi hadn't seen his own face yet, he could only guess how he looked. The way his eyes burned, made him imagine that they were slightly red now and that he had quite the dark circles underneath them, all due to his lack off sleep.
Waving it off, Kazuichi grinned happily. "Ah, its nothing. I just couldn't sleep that well last night." However Tanaka seemed sceptic at the explanation, so Kazuichi simply cut him off and kept on talking. "What are ya doing out here? Aren't ya hungry?" There was no way that Tanaka had already eaten, because breakfast was only served about five minutes ago.
"I have to oversee that all of the hellish beasts residing here are properly moved to their temporary homes from the servants of this realm, before I leave in a few weeks for when this realm requires it from us." Tanaka explained, making Kazuichi tense up again at the reminder of his misery.
"Ah yeah." Kazuichi began to absent-mindedly play with his favourite spanner, "And, where are ya going?" It was the first time that Tanaka was also leaving for the holidays.
"One of my many apprentices, the one who had taken over the custody of Grizner, has invited me over for this time period to visit this hellish beast in her new home and check up on her well-being." the Ultimate Breeder answered, gaining Kazuichi's full attention.
"Ya are going to visit Grizner?" Kazuichi looked up towards his friend while grinning, "Now I'm kinda jealous. I would love to visit her." Especially if it would spare him having to go home.
Tanaka was thinking deeply about something and was regarding Kazuichi. The way at which the alpha was staring at the already highly tense male, made Kazuichi even more nervous. However before he could ask what was wrong, Tanaka finally spoke up.
"If you wish for it and have the time to do so, I could request to obtain a second pass to the home of the hellish beast and take you with me, Pink Haired One."
Kazuichi's eyes widened at this. Tanaka wanted to take the omega with him and thus, was giving Kazuichi the opportunity to stay away from his home. "Yes! That would be awesome!" This was the best news ever and it made Kazuichi feel way better at once.
"I will then immediately contact my apprentices and try to obtain the needed ticket for you." Tanaka said, "However I must warn you, Tamer of Automations. I will be travelling in the air, so do you believe that you will be able to handle it?"
Grinning excitedly, Kazuichi intertwined his fingers behind his head „Don't worry, I can handle it."
He couldn't handle it. Ever since the plane took flight days later, he was feeling like hell. Kazuichi was feeling sick, his ears were ringing and his head was spinning. And the worst of it, there was still hours to go until they would arrive at the airport. Bending forward in his seat, the omega was struggling to keep his breakfast in, while the bigger male was gently patting his back in an awkward attempt to comfort him.
"Do you want some water, Tamer of Automations?" Tanaka asked concerned. While the breeder knew everything what one could ever know about how to take care of an animal, he always was a bit overwhelmed when he had to take care of another human being.
"No thanks..." Kazuichi didn't believe that he even could keep water in right now; or anything for the rest of his life for that matter. How did he ever think that he could handle being in a fucking plane, if he could only just sit inside of a car for a short while without getting sick? He must have lost his mind and the thought that he had to also use a plane to get back to japan made his nauseousness even worse. It didn't even help that Tanaka had let the omega sit at the window, meaning that the extremely shy breeder had to sit in the middle of the row of seats and thus was now sitting next to an old lady they didn't know.
Said lady was regarding Kazuichi with concerned eyes ever since he started feeling sick. In the end she decided to carefully tap Tanaka on his shoulder. "Excuse me sweety, is your little boyfriend not feeling well? Should I maybe call one of the flight attendants for him?"
At hearing the description 'Your boyfriend' for Kazuichi, the two males immediately got flustered and Tanaka didn't manage to really form an answer to this. Kazuichi on the other hand was feeling way too badly to really care if a stranger though of them as a couple or not and slowly sat up again. "No thank ya, it's okay."
"If you say so. However please tell me if you need anything." the old lady smiled, "For the time being, I would recommend that you try to sleep, dear. It always helped my kids in the past when they started feeling sick when we travelled."
"This mortal is right." Tanaka agreed and looked at the omega, "You should try to rest for the remainder of our travel."
The two did have a point, sleep always helped when Kazuichi's motion sickness started showing itself. Though he never travelled by plane before, so there was no guarantee that he even managed to fall asleep now. Still it was worth a try at least.
"Good idea." Kazuichi leaned back into his seat, however he then looked at Tanaka, "But won't ya be bored if I sleep now?"
"Do not worry about me, as your well-being is of a higher importance to me, Tamer of Automations." the alpha reassured him, "Now you should try to sleep. I will wake you from your slumber when this contraption will land."
Nodding at this, Kazuichi tried to get into a more comfortable position, before closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep.
Kazuichi hadn't noticed that he had indeed fallen asleep, until the person sitting in the seat behind him moved from his seat and accidentally bumped slightly into the backrest of the mechanic's seat and thus waking him up. For a second, he had been slightly disoriented, his head trying to process everything after being awoken so abruptly. The first thing he was able to register was the wonderful scent of Tanaka which was surrounding his whole body. The omega's head had been lying on top of Tanaka's shoulder and when Kazuichi sat up, he saw that the alpha had also fallen asleep, his arms crossed and his head leaning a bit forward. What caught Kazuichi's attention was the absence of Tanaka's long, black coat that he always wore. Now the breeder was only in his shirt. It was then that Kazuichi noticed the slight extra weight on top of his own body. Looking down he saw that the alpha's coat was lying on top of the omega like a blanket, meaning that Tanaka had taken it off and placed it over Kazuichi's body while he had been sleeping.
So this was why everything was smelling so calming now.
Lifting the coat slightly, the omega held it in front of his face, letting the calming scent fill him. With a tired smile on his lips, he then leaned back against Tanaka and closed his eyes, immediately falling asleep again.
When Kazuichi awoke the next time it was because Tanaka had woken him up, mere moments before the plane began to land. Getting out of this hellish plane was the best feeling that Kazuichi ever experienced, even if his legs didn't really work and Tanaka had to help him stand for a few minutes. As long as he was standing on something that didn't move he didn't care.
After gathering their bags and getting out of the checkout, the two students were greeted by a young beta woman, who was talking in English to them. "Mister Tanaka, it's a pleasure of having you here." she smiled at the Ultimate Breeder, before turning towards Kazuichi, "And you must be Mister Souda I presume? My name is May Bennet, but you two can call me May if you want. It's nice meeting you."
"Hello, it's also nice meeting you May and you can call me Souda." Kazuichi took the woman's hand in greeting, his English carrying an accent while talking. It was a while since he really had to talk in English, except of in class.
"Thank you for picking us up." Tanaka added and only nodded at her, not wanting to be touched. He was also talking with a bit of an accent, however it wasn't quite as much as Kazuichi did.
"That's no problem." May smiled, "If you would follow me to my car, I will bring you to the house were you will be staying."
The group made their way towards the car park and put their luggage into May's car, before getting in themselves and driving off. The drive wasn't long, to Kazuichi's immense relieve. After the plane ride he wasn't sure if he could've managed a long car drive. When they arrived at a small holiday home right next to a forest, Kazuichi was completely exhausted from the long travel.
May let the two students into the house, which only had one floor. However since it were only Kazuichi and Tanaka who were staying inside of it, it was easily big enough for them. After giving the two males a quick tour of the house, she then bid her farewell and promised to pick them up the next day and bring them to the rescue station, in which Grizner and all the other forest animals lived.
As soon as the female had left the house, Kazuichi let himself fall onto the sofa. "Finally, no more travelling."
Tanaka, who was holding his luggage, looked at the omega. "Do you not wish to unpack, Tamer of Automations?"
"In a few minutes." Kazuichi waved him off. Right now he just wanted to sit for a couple of minutes without moving while doing so.
"Then I will bring your luggage into your room for you, while you rest for a while longer." Tanaka offered, before taking the other's bags and going towards the two bedrooms.
"Thank ya, Tanaka." Kazuichi saw his friend leave the room, before he relaxed again. His eyes wandered throughout the living room. It was quite nice and fully furnished. The best part was that neither Tanaka nor he had to pay anything, except of their own food. The house was provided by the rescue station and the travel costs for both of them was also paid by them. This was the first time that Kazuichi had actually travelled to a foreign country – or anywhere really – since his family couldn't afford it and now he didn't have to pay anything only because of the title 'Ultimate' that he and Tanaka possessed. Kazuichi wondered if Miss Sonia also felt like this when people paid everything for her because of her royal title.
Getting up from his seat and stretching a bit, he then went towards the two bedrooms and found his bags in the first one that he opened. The room was a bit smaller than his dorm room inside of Hope's Peak Academy, but it was still good enough and it wasn't like he would spend that much time in his room, while he was on vacation together with Tanaka. After Kazuichi unpacked his things, he left the room again and went into the living room, where Tanaka was already in and was telephoning. When he saw that the mechanic had entered the room, the alpha pointed towards a menu lying on the coffee-table. Kazuichi took a seat and began scanning the menu for something that he wanted to eat today. Since the two had planned to go shopping on the following day, they had decided that they would just order some pizza for today. Choosing a pizza that he fancied, Kazuichi waited for the breeder to end his phone call.
"So, how are your kids?" Kazuichi asked and looked towards his friend.
Sadly the idiot didn't get the joke. "I fail to understand what you mean, Tamer of Automations. I never did sire any children."
Kazuichi could only slap himself in the face because of the stupid alpha. "I was talking about the Devas, Hamster-chan. Ya really need to learn to tell when people are joking."
"Then do say so in future." Tanaka was slightly embarrassed that he didn't make the connection from his phone call with his apprentice, that was tasked with taking care of the four hamsters while he was away, thus him mentioning them often, and the comment from Kazuichi. "To your question. I was informed that they are feeling well and are resting right now. It seems that they are fully aware that it was sadly impossible for me to take them onto a plane."
"That's good to hear then and don't worry, ya will see them again soon enough. Two weeks are surprisingly short." Kazuichi grinned, before taking the phone out of Tanaka's hand. "Anyway, I'm hungry, so let's finally order our food."
The pizza was surprisingly good. The woman that had picked the two students up had been right to suggest this delivery service. After having eaten and cleaned everything up, they were lazing on the sofa.
"Hey, Miss Sonia just sent me a text. She wishes us a nice vacation." Kazuichi looked up from his mobile phone and turned his face towards Tanaka.
Placing his book onto his lab, Tanaka replied "Please send my regards to the Princess of Darkness."
"Sure." Kazuichi began typing. However he stopped in the middle and erased everything again, before scooting over to Tanaka, putting his arm around the other and taking a photo of them. "Say cheese!"
Tanaka was mildly surprised at this, however he did manage to look up towards the phone before Kazuichi took the photo. When Kazuichi looked at the photo he had to grin, "Looks good." He then sent the photo to their friend with a short text as a greeting.
"This is not exactly what I had in mind with regards." Tanaka looked at his friend, who was still leaning against him while typing.
"Tough. We're on holiday together, so I'm taking photos of us while we're here." Kazuichi locked the screen of his phone and got up, "But now I'm going to bed. I still feel the effects of the flight, so goodnight."
"Rest well, Tamer of Automations." the alpha answered and watched his friend leave.
After getting changed Kazuichi was lying in his bed, his eyes scanning the dark room. He was, for the first time of his life, on a real vacation. And this with Tanaka, one of his best friends.
Only a short while ago he had been sitting on his bed, having a panic attack at the thought of having to go home today and stay there for at least two weeks. Instead he was now staying inside of this awesome house, together with Tanaka, right next to a huge forest. Kazuichi couldn't believe his luck that all of this actually worked out. He didn't have to see his father and could spend time with his friend.
Kazuichi was woken up the next morning by Tanaka, who was knocking on his door, so that both could go shopping as planned. He could never understand how the breeder was able to wake up this early every morning. It had taken Kazuichi way longer to even get himself out of his bed, even longer if it weren't for the fact that he was hungry. After he got ready, he went to Tanaka.
"Shall we leave then?" the alpha asked the tired looking omega.
"Yeah." he nodded and both males left the house.
The woman who had picked them up, told them that the nearest shop was only down one road and after walking a short while, they were able to locate it. Taking a shopping cart the two students began walking through the aisles.
"Is there something specific that you wish to eat today, Tamer of Automations?" Tanaka asked, while starting to fill the cart with the most basic things that they needed.
"Not really, ya can decide if ya want." Kazuichi shrugged and help gathering everything. He never was really picky with his food, as long as he was able to drink coke he didn't care in the end. There was also the fact to consider that the breeder was vegetarian, so it was easier to just let him decide what to cook, instead of having to prepare two different meals every time.
Stopping in front of one of the shelves, the two began to scan the items offered. There was a wide selection of things they could cook, all in a price range they were able to afford with their limited money.
"Would you fancy this meal?" Tanaka held up a packet for preparing a rice dish with vegetables.
Looking at it, Kazuichi nodded, "Sure. Looks good." Gathering up all the needed ingredients, they then paid for everything and made their way back towards their holiday home.
Later that day the doorbell rang and when Kazuichi answered, he was greeted by May, who was there to pick them up. The women then drove the two students into the forest, where the rescue station was located. As soon as they arrived, they were greeted by many of the staff. As Kazuichi understood they were all either apprentices from Tanaka or followers of some blog that we writes about breeding and caring for animals. Tanaka was a little reluctant at having to meet so many people, who all wanted to talk to him at once, so the alpha decided to stick to Kazuichi and simply demand to be shown to where Grizner was residing.
An young alpha male named Jean then led them outside towards a gate. "If we follow this path, we will walk right through our property, where all of the animals live. I can't however promise that we will be able to find Grizner, because this property is quite large." He then unlocked the gate and led the students through and then following them, locking the gate again. "Then again, if we don't find her, it only means that you will visit again." The male smiled at Kazuichi, making him slightly awkward.
"Yeah... Sure." Kazuichi had no idea how to really react to this, so he simply wanted to ignore it.
"Shall we go then?" Jean asked the two, his eyes still on Kazuichi, "Don't worry, you will be safe with me."
At this, Tanaka held out his hand and was starring the male down, "Your assistants is not needed any more, mortal. So leave us be." He then turned towards the omega. "Shall we go then, Sharp Toothed One?"
When Kazuichi nodded, the two made their way into the forest and left the baffled man behind.
"Where do ya think that we should look first?" Kazuichi asked and roamed the forest with his eyes. All he could see was trees everywhere, so he had no idea how they were supposed to find one single bear in the middle of it. The two had yet to see any animals, except maybe a few squirrels that had run passed them.
"The safest way to locate a hellish beast, would be to determine where it would spend the most of its time." Tanaka was in thought, his eyes also roaming the forest in concentration. "I believe it would be a wise decision to find her source of food and water."
"I think we passed a map a little while ago. We could look there if there is anything near us." Kazuichi pointed into the direction they came from.
Suddenly something big and heavy grabbed Kazuichi from behind, making him scream loudly. As fast as he could, he turned around. "What the hell? Are ya trying to kill me now or what, ya stupid bear?!"
While the two males have been talking with each other on how to find Grizner, they hadn't noticed that Grizner had instead found them and decided to hug her human friend as a greeting.
"It seems as this hellish beast has used her powers to forestall us." Tanaka smiled, now that he was able to see his pet bear again after months of being apart. "I see that you have grown." He then began to pamper the huge animal and pet her fur. Grizner seemed just as thrilled at seeing the breeder again, lifting him up into the air in an attempt to return the cuddles given to her.
Kazuichi was glad to see the bear again, however it made him way happier to see Tanaka being so overjoyed right now. Having to let the animal leave to live here inside of her natural habitat, had been hard for the Ultimate Breeder, even if it was the best for the animal. It took weeks for Tanaka to be back in a good mood and Kazuichi suspected that even now, he was still sad about it.
For a while, Kazuichi simply watched Tanaka and Grizner cuddle and play together. In the end they were all sitting on a patch of grass, Grizner lying down, while both humans leaned against her body. They were eating the food which they taken with them and Tanaka fed the bear some nuts and berries that he picked for her.
"This is all that I have to offer for you." the breeder gave one last berry to the bear, before cleaning his hands.
"She is big enough anyway." Kazuichi commented at this and petted Grizner's stomach. "However she does deserve to get spoiled. As long as she doesn't try to eat me again, that is."
"As this hellish beast sees you as its kin, this should not happen, so worry not." Tanaka looked at his friend, "And should something arise, then I would protect you, Tamer of Automations."
"Ya know, this is actually reassuring." Kazuichi laughed, which then turned a bit more awkward, "Unlike what ever this Jean guy was trying to accomplish earlier." He knew that he could trust Tanaka blindly. The alpha wouldn't let any harm come to him, if he could stop it, a thing he had proven often by now. Not like the other guy, who Kazuichi only just met.
At the mention of the alpha that had tried to flirt with Kazuichi, Tanaka's brows furrowed and his scent changed ever so slightly. Laughing, the omega put his arm around his friend, "Aw, don't tell me that the great Overlord of Ice is jealous that another alpha was flirting with a mere mortal like me."
To the omega's surprise did this statement, which was only meant out of fun, make the alpha blush heavily. "I... ehm..." Tanaka stammered, his words failing him fully.
"Wait..." Kazuichi was staring at Tanaka, his face now also turning a red colour, "Were ya?"
"No! I do not feel jealousy over something like that." Tanaka found his ability to talk again, his eyes turning away. "We should leave now for the day, as it is getting late."
Getting dismissed like this, made Kazuichi feel a sting in his chest. Shrugging it off, since this whole topic was making him awkward, he nodded, "Good Idea." and got up.
After saying goodbye to Grizner and promising to visit her the next day, the two males made their way back. It was silent between them and it fitted Kazuichi quite fine right now, because his head was filled with other things.
Had Tanaka really been jealous about Jean flirting with Kazuichi?
Regarding the alpha walking next to him, he didn't seem any different from his normal, weird self. When they arrived at the holiday home where they stayed, everything was back to normal, like this conversation never happened. In the end it must have been that Tanaka was simply surprised at the joke and not something like him being jealous.
Still, why did it bother Kazuichi that Tanaka wasn't jealous about it?
***
The days flew by fast. Kazuichi and Tanaka visited Grizner every day and they got to know all of the staff of the rescue station. When the two weren't playing with the bear, they were spending time together; going to town and sightseeing, going hiking along the mountains, or simply staying inside of the home where they were staying at. It didn't take long for the two males to fall into a relaxed daily rhythm of them living together. Since both males were used to do all the chores on their own – though for different reasons – they were easily able to split up all of the work that they had to do and take over some chores if needed. Kazuichi could easily get used to living together with Tanaka, a person who actually helped with the housework and didn't leave everything for the dam to do.
"Hey Tanaka." Kazuichi came into the kitchen and leaned against the alpha's back, who was busy cooking their food, "When is dinner ready? I'm hungry."
"It will not take long any more. However having you lean against my back does not help with me preparing it." Tanaka looked over his shoulder to the whining omega. Still he didn't stop him or even sound like he disliked it.
"I don't care, I'm still hungry." Kazuichi stayed where he was and went to stand on his toes to look over the other's shoulder, so that he was able to see the food.
"One day you will learn that my body is poisonous." Tanaka simply replied and kept on stirring the food.
"Ya always say that, yet I'm still alive." Kazuichi grinned, "And I know that ya like it."
"You do really posses a vast imagination, Pink Haired One." Even if Tanaka said it, Kazuichi could clearly see the smile that the other tried to suppress.
The ringing of the telephone cut their conversation off and Kazuichi went to answer it. "Hello?" he asked confused, since neither male had given this number to any of their friends. They all had their mobile numbers, so they never bothered.
"Hello Souda. It's me, May." came the voice of the female out of the telephone. He should have known; this house did belong to the rescue station, so it was logical that they had the number.
"Oh, hello May. How can I help ya?" Kazuichi asked. What did the woman want this late?
"I hope that I don't disturb you right now. I just wanted to ask you and Tanaka something." May began to talk. At this Kazuichi turned the speakers on, so that Tanaka was also able to hear what the woman wanted to ask them both. "Since you two are leaving in two days, the others and I thought that we could throw you a farewell party before you leave. Would you two be interested?"
"That sounds awesome." Kazuichi grinned and turned towards Tanaka, "What do ya think?"
Tanaka thought about the offer, before nodding, "It would be rude to decline such an offer, so we should attend this celebration in our honour."
Kazuichi turned back towards the phone in his hand, "We would love to come, thank ya."
"That's great." came the happy voice of the female, "I will pick you up tomorrow evening then."
After discussing some small details, they all wished a goodnight to each other, before Kazuichi hung up again. The staff from the rescue station were really nice people. Kazuichi could hardly await the next evening.
The next day, May had picked the two up, just as agreed on, and drove them to the rescue station where the staff would host the party. All of the staff was there – some of them still in their work clothes, as they were technically still in service at the moment – to bid the two students a farewell. Music was playing and the staff even went out of their way to prepare Japanese dishes for their two guests.
A little while into the party, Tanaka was talking with the one apprentice of his, that had invited the two students in the first place and was now the caretaker of Grizner, while Kazuichi was in a conversation with May. The mechanic was then offered a drink by her, which he gladly accepted. All the talking did make him thirsty.
Taking a sip, he then raised an eyebrow however. "Say May, what is this?"
"Oh, this is a cocktail which I favour. Do you like it?" the female smiled.
"A cocktail?" Kazuichi was highly surprised, "So there is alcohol in there?" he looked at the colourful drink in his hand. It did taste slightly like alcohol.
"Yes." she nodded, "Don't you drink? If you want I can get you something else."
"No, it's okay." Kazuichi got a bit bashful at this, "I was just surprised to be handed alcohol. In Japan the legal drinking age is at 20 years."
"Oh, I didn't knew. I'm sorry." May got embarrassed at her slight mistake, "Here it's allowed to drink alcohol with 16, as long as the percentage isn't too high."
"It's really okay." Kazuichi reassured May again, "To be truly honest, while I'm still not allowed to drink at home, I already did it a few times."
This made the female giggle, "Didn't we all do some forbidden stuff as teenagers? Still please don't try to drink too much, you and Tanaka still have to fly back home tomorrow."
"Don't worry, I wont." Kazuichi smiled and took another sip of his drink.
May was later called over by one of her co-workers to help with something that Kazuichi wasn't able to quite make out, since the staff talked way too fast for him to be able to translate it. Shrugging he began to scan the room for Tanaka, wondering where the weirdo went.
"Hey there." came a voice from the side and Kazuichi saw that Jean was now standing next to him. Oh great, the last person with whom Kazuichi wanted to talk to.
"Hi." he simply greeted the alpha. He still had no idea what to do with the guy, who seemed to have found a liking for the foreign omega. At least as long Tanaka wasn't near him, because Jean then always got a dark glare from the alpha. It wasn't like the male was being creepy or anything with his flirting, it just made Kazuichi uncomfortable.
"So, how do you like the party?" Jean asked and gave a flirty smile. However it didn't help in any way, as Kazuichi didn't find the alpha interesting in the slightest, no matter how nice he seemed to be. He was just dull in Kazuichi's eyes; his appearance, his way of talking, his scent, just everything was dull. Unlike with Tanaka, where everything was just interesting, charming and even attractive for the omega.
"It's great. Thank ya all again for throwing this party for us." Kazuichi returned the smile, though more in a polite way than anything else.
"You're more then welcome." Jean leaned a bit more towards Kazuichi, "Say, would you like to dance. I really like this song that is playing right now."
"I can't really dance." Kazuichi declined the offer and held his hand up in an apologetic way.
"That's a bummer." Jean seemed a bit discouraged. "Maybe we could do something else?"
"No." came the answer. Strangely it didn't come from Kazuichi, but from Tanaka who was suddenly standing behind the omega. "He won't dance with you." Tanaka added and, to Kazuichi immense shock, pulled the omega against his body, hugging him tightly and glaring at Jean, "Now get lost."
The glare alone that Tanaka gave the other, was enough for Jean to give in and leave them alone.
Kazuichi was still in shock at being literally pressed against Tanaka's body, by said man. Did Kazuichi miss something or what had gotten into the alpha so suddenly?
"Ehm, Tanaka? Are ya feeling alright?"
"Now that this nuisance it gone, yes." Tanaka answered, however his grip didn't really loosen on the smaller male, keeping him against his body.
"Then why are ya hugging me?" Kazuichi wasn't sure what was happening right now, his own arms hanging loosely to the side. Should he also hug the other?
"Because I didn't like that this guy was pestering you, Souda." Tanaka leaned his face against Kazuichi's neck, nuzzling him right at his scent glands.
Kazuichi completely froze over at this highly intimate move by Tanaka, the shyest guy that the omega ever met. Kazuichi's heart was beating like crazy.
It was then that Kazuichi noticed the smell from Tanaka. He smelled like alcohol! "Tanaka, how much of the cocktail did ya drink?" Kazuichi was trying to peel the other's hands off his body.
This made Tanaka raise his head at least, while he was thinking. "Only a few glasses, why?"
"Oh god." Kazuichi couldn't believe this. "Please don't tell me that ya are drunk." There was no mistaking it, there was no other explanation for the refined alpha to behave in such a way; hugging Kazuichi, smelling him in such an intimate way, especially where people could see, and talk like this.
"Ya know what, ya should sit down while I get ya something to eat." Kazuichi suggested, however the alpha was highly against it.
"No." Tanaka kept on hugging the omega, "I don't want you to leave."
In Kazuichi's eyes, Tanaka was behaving like an love deprived puppy, which made the omega laugh. It was actually cute to see him in such a state, even if it made Kazuichi blush like mad and he just couldn't stop the loud beating of his heart. When Tanaka began nuzzling the omega's neck again and mumbled into the skin "I like you Kazuichi. You smell so good." Kazuichi was at a complete loss of words.
With wide eyes Kazuichi was staring at his friend, who was hugging him tightly and drunkly mumbling onto the other's skin. His heart was beating so loudly, that he couldn't even concentrate any more, so he did the first that came to his mind. "Come Tanaka, we should go home. You need sleep. Don't worry, I'm also coming." This seemed to do the trick, because Tanaka then let go of the embarrassed omega.
After talking with May and explaining what is going on, the two students said their goodbyes to the staff and left the party earlier than initially planned.
After May dropped them off, promising to pick them up on time the next day, she then drove off, while Kazuichi brought Tanaka into the house.
"Now come Hamster-chan. Ya are going to bed." Kazuichi escorted the over affectionate alpha into his bedroom. Making him sit on the bed, the omega fetched something for him to wear and putting it next to Tanaka onto the bed. "Now get changed and sleep. If ya feel sick, I'm just next door."
Just as Kazuichi planned to leave the room, a set of arms found their way around his waist and held him in place. Tanaka was again hugging the omega, this time from a sitting position. "I don't like it when other people flirt with you."
"I noticed." Kazuichi looked at his friend, "Still, ya are drunk. Most stuff ya are saying right now is only the alcohol speaking. So sleep."
"Only if you stay." Tanaka looked up at the omega, his arms still wound around the other.
With a slight blush on his face, Kazuichi sighed. "God, ya are taxing when drunk, Hamster-chan. But fine I guess, as long as ya sleep then. It's not like we didn't share a bed before. But I have to go to my room first to get some clothes, so get changed while I'm gone." Finally the alpha let go of the omega, so Kazuichi was able to leave the room. While getting changed in his own room, his heart was still fluttering slightly, even if it wasn't the first time that the two had been so close to each other.
After he had gotten changed, Kazuichi returned to Tanaka's room just as he promised. The alpha was already lying inside of the bed and was looking at Kazuichi, while he lied down right next to him. "Now sleep, Hamster-chan. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Souda." Tanaka smiled and Kazuichi turned the small light on the bedside-table off. It didn't take long for Tanaka to fall asleep, giving the drunken state he was in. It also didn't take long for him to hug Kazuichi again. Good thing that Kazuichi always tended to cuddle up against everything that gave warmth while he slept, so he didn't mind it. Closing his eyes he tried to ignore the still fluttering feeling inside of his chest until sleep also befell him.
Kazuichi woke up the next morning, before Tanaka's alarm clock went off, so he got up and began preparing breakfast and checked everything one last time, before they would leave this place. When he heard the alarm clock ring in the distance, the omega then took a glass of water and some painkillers and went into Tanaka's room. To put it bluntly, the alpha looked like shit.
"Morning, Hamster-chan. Did ya sleep well?" Kazuichi held out the water and painkillers, "Here, for your headache."
Tanaka was rubbing his temples in an futile attempt to ease the pain, before taking the painkillers offered by Kazuichi. "Thank you, Tamer of Automations."
"So, now that ya are back to your senses, will ya tell me why ya drank so much yesterday?" Kazuichi looked at the suffering male.
"I was not aware that those drinks had alcohol in them." Tanaka explained, "I did not even drink much off them, so I can not explain how this happened."
"Really?" Kazuichi raised an eyebrow. "Man, ya really have to be a lightweight if ya managed to get this drunk then." Now this wasn't a thing that Kazuichi had expected. Normally it were the omegas who got drunk easily, not alphas. However not everything fitted into statistics in the end. "Anyway, I made breakfast. Ya should eat something to get rid of the remaining alcohol."
Just as Kazuichi turned around, a hand gently grabbed him at his wrist, stopping him.
"Before you go, I wanted to apologise for my behaviour yesterday." Tanaka's voice was a bit strained, due to his embarrassment, "As an effect of the alcohol that I unknowingly consumed, I have lost the control over my behaviour and brought you into an unpleasant situation. At the same time I have to thank you for taking care of me."
"It's okay." Kazuichi grinned, "Everybody does things they don't mean when drunk and of course I helped ya. Ya are my friend in the end."
Tanaka returned the smile and both males made their way into the kitchen to eat.
Unlike their first plane ride, it was Kazuichi this time who had to take care of Tanaka. The alpha had been feeling just as miserable as Kazuichi did, while they were on the plane. The only difference was that Kazuichi was suffering from his motion sickness and that Tanaka's hangover was making him suffer even with painkillers. In the end the two males simply cuddled against each other and slept through the whole flight.
When they finally had returned to Hope's Peak Academy, the two males were utterly exhausted and could hardly keep standing upright. They had to drag themselves to their dorm rooms, their luggage aggravating their movements even more.
Stopping in front of his dorm room, Kazuichi felt like he could instantly fall asleep. However he turned towards Tanaka. "Thank ya again for taking me with ya. It was fun."
"I must admit that I am also glad to have taken you with me. I did have a great time with you Souda, so I must also thank you." Tanaka gave the one genuine smile, that Kazuichi loved so much, making him blush and his heart beat loudly in his chest.
Since both males were tired they said their goodbyes after that, before going into their respective rooms.
Kazuichi closed the door behind him and simply let his bags fall to the floor, not caring to unpack them today. Going to his bed, he let himself fall onto it and kicked his shoes off in a lazy way.
Starring at his ceiling, the omega began to think about the vacation he had together with Tanaka. The fun they had together, the way that he had taken care of Kazuichi, how he had gotten jealous because of someone flirting with the omega and had mumbled onto the other's skin that he liked him.
Whenever he thought about Tanaka, his heart started beating faster and a pleasant, warm feeling traversed through his body. But this couldn't be, it must have been his imagination, because he liked Miss Sonia.
Right?