I'll only say one word that summarizes the whole chapter; biology.
(If you're still reading this a/n, the drawing above was made by me FYI ;)
Third person POV
Something isn't right with Karma.
Nagisa notices in the past few days, Karma hadn't been talking to him as much as he did before. His usual lax posture had turned stiff and tense as if anticipating attacks when walking around their classmates and his nonchalant expression was faux.
Nagisa decided to mention the changes to Karma, worried that he was hiding some sort of secret but the other just flinched before turning away with...was that a tiny blush on his face?
It had already been three days since his attitude had changed and it was driving him crazy since he didn't know what was actually wrong with him.
"Karma, are you sure you're okay?" He questioned and the other stiffened before giving him a tight lipped smile that didn't look like him at all.
"Don't worry, I'm alright." Nagisa raised his brow at the answer, frowning at what Karma was hiding because they were friends (even though he had the tiniest bit of crush on him), he could lean on Nagisa if he wanted to.
"Really? I don't think so.." He trailed off before his eyes landed on the red head's face that was slightly pink and some beads of sweat on his forehead.
"Really, I am-" He couldn't finish his sentence as the blue head leaned near him, making him flustered and confused at the action before a hand landed on his forehead.
Nagisa gasped pulling his hand away from the other's forehead, he was burning up. Why did Karma come to school when he had such a high fever?
"Karma! Your forehead is burning up! You should really get some rest at the infirmary." Nagisa exclaimed while the red head just clicked his tongue, trying to shrug it off.
"I don't have to-"
"You need to go to the infirmary." Nagisa insisted while tugging the feverish red head by his hand. Karma sighed but didn't fight it, capitulating to the petite blue head.
What a sight it was to people who didn't know what was going on. A petite androgynous looking blue haired boy dragging a red haired boy whose height almost towered him, past the infirmary-
"We've already passed by the infirmary, Nagisa?" Karma informed, looking back at the room that they had just passed by.
"Actually, I think you need to get to the doctor. No one gets a fever so high for two whole days!" Karma winced at his tone. Nagisa rarely got mad at anyone, let alone him, so his health must matter a lot for him.
Karma exhaled deeply and regretfully, gazing at the frantic bluehead tugging him to the doctor, if this thing was actually just a minor case like fever.
It wasn't.
~
"You're in rut." Shizumi, the school doctor, explained and Karma could feel the lingering gaze that Nagisa had and he could almost sense the wave of disappointment coming off him.
Definitely not a nice thing.
"You aren't even supposed to come to school for god sake!" She exclaimed before taking out a couple of pills from the cabinet with exasperation laced in her expression.
"You're lucky that it's your first rut otherwise it would've been a total chaos." She placed a glass of water on the table and a pill on Karma's palm. "An alpha in rut in a school full of students and your omega friend next to you! Next time, take a leave for a week and think what might've happened if you were not in your first rut!"
Karma actually had the decency to look guilty. Nagisa couldn't help but sigh exhaustedly, finally identifying what the quintessence of the problem was, before turning towards Shizumi with a grateful look, "Thank you for the advice and I think that Karma understands now." He nudged the unmoving red head who suddenly jolted and nodded immediately.
Shizumi turned a pale shade of pink as she realized that she had spoken too much, "I just got too worked up because of his carelessness but.." Her chocolate brown gaze met mercury ones in the most stern way she could muster (which wasn't very stern, mind you), "Please don't come to school again when you're in a rut, alright?"
Karma nodded before finally taking the pill and drinking the glass of water. She turned towards a computer at the corner of her room before typing something on it and her furrowed eyebrows softened.
"Okay, then. I've informed the principal about your condition so you can take a leave for the next few days until your rut finishes completely. And you!" She pointed at the petite bluehead beside Karma, "You, especially, shouldn't be around him in his rut. Alphas turn very hormonal around this time and even if you are his lover or something, I won't allow you to be near him in his rut."
Nagisa turned scarlet at her implication, the hidden meaning behind the words not lost on him as he squeaked out an 'okay', not bothering to correct her by saying he wasn't his lover.
(Although that sounded really nice-)
"Well, off you go to your home and Shiota-san can go back to his regular classes."
They exited the room after the checkup and Nagisa sighed as soon as they stepped out of the room, "Hah, you should've said that you were in.." He paused before emphasizing, "that to me earlier."
Karma grinned, "Why, were you worried?"
Nagisa huffed, folding his arms maturely, "Of course I was."
"Well, at least I got a short holiday for myself out of it~"
"Of course." Cue the sweatdrop, "What was I even expecting from you?"
~
After the short incident, Nagisa made it his job to track Karma's rut as they came around thrice in a year, meaning they were to come around the next third or fourth month.
"You worry too much Nagisa~" Karma had said, and he was probably right. (But with a friend like him who wouldn't, honestly.)
And according to what he researched in web, which he would never reveal to Karma, an average alpha had their rut about 2 or 3 days and Karma had his for 3 days so the next one should be just around...
"Nagisaa..." Karma whined, drawing his name melodiously, distracting the other from his calculations. Nagisa turned towards Karma with an annoyed look on his face.
(And he had to hide the fact that he was secretly very pleased by the way that he had drawled his name.)
"What is it now?" Karma poked his cheek with a pencil as he said, "You looked like you were off to another world while writing something on your notepad."
Nagisa slipped his notepad inside his pocket, laughing it off, diverting the topic to another subject in order to hide the fact that he was writing and tracking Karma's next rut. God, when did he turn so creepy?
Thankfully, Karma had mercy on him and let the matter slip but he probably stored it away in a corner of his mind to mention it in the future as a reference or blackmail.
~
After a couple of weeks after that incident..
When Nagisa woke up today, he felt groggy and sore below his abdominal area, not outside but inside it felt somewhat uncomfortable. Even when he sat or walked, it hurt.
His scent had been fluctuating to a bitter scent of a distressed omega from his normal but more stronger, making him wonder if something was wrong with him. He didn't have a hint about what was happening after the pain had subsided enough to allow him to function properly.
Because of the equivocal fluctuation in his scent, he applied multiple patches on his scent glands and drank the vial of liquid that Shizumi-san had given him.
He cringed at the bitter taste but he could tell that it was working since the patches no longer tapered off by the influx of scent that attacked the patches like before, making its adhesiveness disappear in matter of seconds.
It seemed that Karma could sense his discomfort too since he asked, "Is everything ok?"
He blinked at the question, he hadn't suspected him to notice that was a bit of a shocker to him but he shook his head, "Yes, I'm fine-"
His words stopped when he saw Karma raising an eyebrow not believing his words, "Nagisa, I don't want the replay of our previous conversation." He was referring to the rut incident they had, "So, you'd better tell me honestly like the earnest guy you are."
Okay, that was expected from a guy like Karma so he ended up blurting out what happened in the morning and how the pain seemed to come and go, his voice cracked a bit while explaining because a wave of pain hit him out of nowhere again.
Throughout the explanation, Karma remained calm, nodding to his words before his eyes turned serious, "I think you are in your preheat." He had heard of the symptoms before.
He shook his head pushing the memories down before turning back at Nagisa, "And your heat can hit you any moment judging by how long the symptoms have been showing." He motioned to the door, "I think I might have to escort you to the doctor just in case your heat hits you."
Nagisa nodded, realizing he was probably right but then, he realized the gravity of situation as his eyes widened in horror, "B-but you're an alpha, I don't think it would be wise for you to escort me.." No matter how much he wanted Karma to help him reach Shizumi-san, they were from different dynamics that made a huge gap between them when biology actually decided to play its cards.
Karma nodded before looking around, his eyes landed on the meek beta girl who sat on her desk, writing something on her notebook. "I think I know a way to take you there."
Before Nagisa could question, Karma stood up and went near the spectacled girl, "Hey? Would you mind if I borrowed you for a sec?"
The girl was seemingly startled from her as she suddenly squealed in surprise before looking up with a pale flush on her face, "Um..uh..why?"
The red head gestured to the flushed blue head who had his head on his desk, squirming slightly, "You see, my friend over there is an omega and he's kinda in his preheat right now." The ravenette suddenly straightened out at his sentence, her eyes widening as she looked over the blue head.
"An omega in his preheat? Why is he here? Oh my..we should take away from here!" She whisper-yelled in a tone that wasn't really what Karma had ever heard from her but he appreciated her concern for the bluehead anyway.
"Exactly, that's why I need you to take him to the school doctor and since I'm an alpha, I'll probably just watch you from a good enough distance." Karma explained, smiling slightly now that the girl understood his dilemma.
Alphas wouldn't be able to control themselves if an Omega's scent drifted through the wind without any sort of blocker. Betas, however, were almost immune to the scent so they wouldn't have much trouble leading an Omega or Alpha in either a rut or heat state.
She nodded, heading towards the blue head before they started to exit the room. Karma followed them by a relative gap, just to make sure nothing wrong happened.
A wave of pain hit Nagisa, making him double over and clutch his stomach, wincing at the pain and Manami rubbed his back sympathetically, "It's okay. W-we'll get to the doctor in no time! Don't worry."
Before he could acknowledge her appreciable actions, his throat immediately made a sound close to a whimper, his verbal ability gone as if stolen away with the heat.
Karma stayed away as the scent started seeping through the patches, wafting a bitter scent of distress. He followed them, his heart sinking every time the blue head would let out a weak and pained whimper. Frustrated at his own helplessness of not being able to do anything.
They reached the doctor's room without trouble since not many students were in the hallway. Manami led the bluehead, her eyes widening in relief and joy when she saw the doctor, "Shizumi-san! Please help him, he's in heat."
Shizumi pursed her lips with a grim expression before she pulled on her drawer and took out a pill, breaking it in half. "I see, your first heat, I assume?" She said, attempting to distract the blue head from his pain.
He couldn't say anything because of the pain but acknowledged her question with a nod. "Take this pill and I'll reapply your patches." She said, handing over the medication which Nagisa accepted gratefully.
Shizumi noticed the red head standing at the door of the room with a concerned expression and she called him, "Ah, Akabane-san!" He turned to look at her with a puzzled expression and she went towards him, "Please give me some type of clothing you have with your scent in it."
Karma raised an eyebrow at the question and she explained, "You see, omegas crave comfort when they are in heat, especially in the first heats of male omegas since their eggs form in the first one."
"And forming eggs are a very painful experience so they need solace. Your scent might subdue his pain since you two are so familiar with each other." Shizumi finished and a whimper broke out in the room again as if emphasizing her point.
The red head nodded, taking his black blazer of, leaving himself in a white shirt as he handed her the article. Whatever to help Nagisa, he guessed. She took the clothing without questions before spinning on her heels and going towards the pained omega as quickly as possible.
"I've called my driver here and he's a beta too so don't worry." She assured before unbuttoning a part of his shirt and revealing the dark colored patches on his neck, dampened from the overload of scent.
Okuda and Karma looked away for privacy as she took out the patches, a strong scent of bitterness filling the room. Before she shortly stuck another patch on the open scent gland, suppressing the scent, even for just a little while.
"Alright, I'll take you to your home. Just hold onto this until we reach there." Her voice started to sound vague as if from another world to the perturbed blue head as he felt himself taking a piece of clothing, the scent was very familiar..and comforting.
The ride to home was a blur for Nagisa as he only remembered
Shizumi-san telling this 'Kaminari-san' to hurry up and go to some kind of location as fast as possible.
("I hope Shiota-san turns out okay." Okuda said worriedly while peering at the doctor supporting the blue head to go inside the car.
"Yeah," Karma agreed, the sound of the engine starting pervading his hearing as the worry in his eyes glimmered softly, "I hope so too.")
A hand grasped his body softly, leading him to the apartment that he was so familiar with, but now he couldn't even recognize where he was properly, his motor coordination was in a disarray.
"I've contacted your mother so don't worry about your parents, alright?" A tender voice said and just then, the sound of a door opening was heard too.
He felt himself being lowered to a soft, cushiony platform and through his bleary eyes, he could make out a hazy figure exit the room.
Why does it hurt so much? Where am I? He had lost all of his cohorent abilities to remember anything as a burning sensation made him curl up on a bed and judging by the scent, it had to be his bed.
It felt like he had broken glasses inside his stomach that were poking him at his stomach and pelvic region. It hurt so much that he was partly tempted to hit those pained regions to stop the agony.
An article of clothing was clutched on his chest and the collar was near his nose which caught the smell of the most alluring scent that he had ever smelled. A certain kind of scent of the foreign incense that often clung on Karma. It made the pain more bearable as the palliative scent relaxed him, inspite of the searing discomfort.
The scent didn't necessarily make the pain disappear wholly but it provided a sense of protection and comfort which was something that he craved dearly in this state.
After his senses were intelligible enough, Nagisa cursed his biology the first thing as he roll around the bed.
Amidst his heat, he had overheard Karma and Shizumi-san talking about biology and heats of male omega. And according to what he knew, female omegas had easier time in their first heat since they had eggs naturally.
But they had periods every month, male omegas didn't, so he guesses that it was a fair exchange after all.
Unrealized, he had started to gather soft and comfortable commodities near him and the clothing that Karma had given him (the eighth wonder of the world) into a ring-like formation.
Before he knew it, he was inside a comfortably packed nest with Karma's blazer as the center piece and his throat vibrated, producing a weird sound out of happiness as the pain subsided.
It just happened, okay!? He was a pubescent omega in his first heat so it was expected that he would have nesting habits. And judging by the state of the nest through his bleary eyes, he could tell that he was just in the first stage of nesting, the nest was made for comfort more than for pleasing anyone.
The next stages of nesting would come to him gradually but for now, he supposes that this jumbled up mess of a nest would suffice his needs.
There was a fluctuation in the incoming pain, sometimes subsiding too only to come back again with more pain. The article of clothing he had clutched near his chest, however, gave him comfort through the medium of its scent.
Qotd: Your favorite color? Blue, black and white ftw!
This chapter's a monster, I tell you. I normally write 1900-2200 so this is a bit too much compared to my normally written chapters. And aw..our cute little blueberry has a nest now and with Karma's blazer as his center piece, isn't that cute?
For those who are confused about heats, first heats are the one preparing omega for fertilization like other heats but without arousal. Ruts are the same too, they mark the checkpoint that an alpha is ready for sexual maturation so they don't exude any scent in their first one. (Omg, what did I just write (///_///)
Words: 3192 words (Monster chapter, I'll tell you.)
Bye~! (￣▽￣)ノ