Chapter Text
Reigen Arataka liked to project the idea that he’d survived this far in life on his wits, but in truth, precious little was ever thought out or planned before what would inevitably turn out to be life altering decisions. It took a few times before he noticed a pattern in himself. Dissatisfaction would fester in his mind, until something snapped, and outright fear would be the catalyst of a rather stupid decision. He liked to play off stupidity as bravery, as well. It was how he’d come to purchase illegal pheromone suppressants the day he’d presented, attempting to hide what he was even from his parents. It only worked for a few months, but by then he’d done so much macho posturing that he was used to faking it even with the unreliable drugs, (and really, it was incredible how much cigarette smoke and cheap aftershave could confuse the nose, adding another layer to his imperfect disguise. )
It was how he’d gotten his first company job, and he’d tried so hard at first to fit in, to vy with the other young alphas for a promotion and a crumb of respect. One year turned into two, which turned into four, and Reigan remained on the bottom rung of the ladder. And then, something quietly snapped inside of him, and he knew he couldn’t take a day more. It was time to run away (or, as he framed it, time to step out on his own, make his own fortune, prove all of them wrong.)
He’d hit on a good scam, a perfect one, once Mob was added to the equation. He was finally able to make his own way in the world, on his own terms. He was gaining local fame and respect in the process, and even when it became apparent that he’d lied about his psychic abilities, lied about being an alpha, lies on top of lies... Mob had always forgiven him, and never with a fuss. He never even confronted him on the worst of it, just accepted him with a kind smile.
He should have run the moment he’d smelled alpha on the kid.
But that was the problem, wasn’t it? He was too comfortable to run. For the first time in his life, things were going his way. That familiar spark of fear and dread that always spurred him to take action in the past simply wasn’t there. And where would he run to, anyway? He was too well known now to start over anywhere else. Reigen Arataka, the premier psychic of the twenty-first century! He’d been on television and in magazines. There were rumors. His own big mouth had gotten him into this fix, and now the only way out of it was up, up, up; to the pinnacle of success, where no harm could touch him. Besides, Mob was a skittish little thing who needed the support of someone who wasn’t afraid of him, who would listen to him and understand him, and of course he wasn’t frightened of Mob.
Unitil he was.
The trouble started when Mob was about fifteen, when it became apparent that he was, against all odds, an alpha. It seemed like something that could be dismissed, at first. Mob was still Mob, still quiet and frail despite all of his running and weight lifting. His strength would always be his power. Maybe he was a terrible alpha, but Reigan was a terrible omega; and Mob had never held that against him, so it seemed unfair to judge. Mob got taller and slightly broader, but he was still Mob, and really. It was just Mob. But then Mob graduated from high school, and instead of leaving for university and leaving Reigen to eke out a comfortable living as a fraud, insisted on coming to the office full time.
“I’m not like Ritsu.” he explained, with an awkward grin. “I’m not good at the sort of things that he is. I’d be awful at university. I’d be worse at a company. This is what I’m good at.” he explained, gesturing to the office. Reigen really couldn’t deny it. Mob struggled with exams and was too weird to fit in at a company, but his psychic power seemed to grow more and more every day, making the awe inspiring spectacles he was used to seem like child’s play- which, to Mob, he supposed they had been. The more powerful Mob became, the more spirits seemed to come their way, enough for them to make decent livings (even with Reigan finally sharing the pay fairly in acknowledgement that Mob was an adult with bills of his own, now.)
He could tell that Mob’s parents were mildly disappointed, but not entirely surprised. They were realistic enough to know that he wasn’t cut out for that sort of thing, and happy that their son at least had a marketable skill. Ritsu was furious, of course. He saw more potential in his brother than anyone, maybe projecting some of his own potential onto him, and no amount of explaining could convince him that Reigan hadn’t deliberately undermined his self confidence to keep his meal ticket around for the business.
Having Mob around all day instead of a few hours in the afternoon didn’t seem like much of a change at first. It took him several weeks to realize that Mob’s scent was slightly changing. It took even longer for him to realize that his own had, as well. It was subtle, but he no longer smelled entirely unmated. He was getting less confused and concerned looks from strangers when his suppressants failed him on occasion. It wasn’t as bad as it was when they had failed in the past, when people stared at him clearly wondering just what was so defective about him to be unbonded and unwanted at his age. He was unmarked, but there was enough of a hint in his scent that an alpha was beside him much of the time, and that his body was responding to that presence favorably. It was nice, even, to have that deterrent, a sort of emergency insurance against creeps. Still, part of his mind nagged him that this was yet another way he’d wound up using Mob, without meaning to.
---
He should have run away, years ago. That was his only coherent thought as Mob presented him with a potted cactus one afternoon, when the rest of the office had already left for the day.
“What’s this?” Reigen asked, knowing full well that a present for no reason wasn’t something that he was prepared for. If Mob had been anyone else, he’d have taken the hint, maybe said something like, it’s a cactus, stupid, but Mob was never one to read the mood correctly, which made escaping awkward conversations difficult.
“Er. It’s a courting gift.” Mob replied, touching a finger to the plant. A large red flower unfurled from the top, flashy and beautiful, and Reigen knew that he must have practiced this, gone over the motions again and again in his mind so that he could give the gift with that little flourish that would display his most valuable characteristic, as alphas were supposed to do with such presents, while still being a romantic gesture. It was sweet. And no one had ever given Reigen a courting gift before. He’d always deliberately run before anything progressed to that point. But here was Mob, so thoughtful, so certain, that it made something in his chest twinge and ache in a way that wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
“For God’s sake, why?” he choked out, for once at a loss for words.
“Because I want to ask you to be my omega.” Mob replied, raising his serious black eyes to meet his gaze.
“Yeah, that’s the point I don’t get.” Reigen grumbled. “Mob. It’s not that I’m not flattered. It’s just that I’m not exactly a great catch. You know that. For one thing, I don’t want kids. And I live like... like this. I’m not anything an omega is supposed to be. You should be asking some young thing who’s cut out for the role. I’m...” Reigen gestured, hopelessly. “You just feel comfortable with me because we’ve always been together.” he finished, weakly.
“Well, yes. That’s part of it.” Mob conceded. “You’ve always been there for me-”
“And do you know what happens to omegas?” he asked, frantically changing from defense to attack, seeing that he wasn’t getting anywhere with him with his protests. Mob was too kind. It wasn’t that he’d deny Reigen’s shortcomings. He’d just be okay with them, because he was too kind to not be. “I’ve spent my whole life running from it. The minute an alpha marks you, you don’t belong to yourself anymore, not legally, not in the eyes of anyone who knows. No one takes you seriously. You’re just... a nobody... “ shit, he hadn’t had time to plan this out, and his emotions were clouding his ability to talk circles around Mob, Mob for God’s sake.
“I wouldn’t ask you to do that, if you didn’t want to.”
“What?”
“The marking. Any of it, really. I just want to spend my life with you.”
“Mob... what exactly do you think that alphas and omegas do?” he asked, incredulously.
“An alpha protects his omega.” Mob said, simply. “And you’re the one I dream about.” he added, shyly, a blush coming to his pale cheeks, coloring the tips of his ears.
“It’s not that simple.” Reigen sighed, trying to dismiss that he’d been the subject of any dreams, trying to squash down the stupid omega want surging in his blood. “It’s biology. You’ll go into rut and it will make you crazy to not... not go through with it.” he finished, lamely. “It’s not your fault. But it’d be my fault if I let you stay with me and didn’t give you that."
“I can control it, Shisou. Like my powers. It’s the same, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know. But no one is that strong, okay?”
“It’s not strength. It’s practice. And you taught me, Shisou...”
I didn't. You were the one who did all the work, Reigen's thoughts protested, but the words didn't make it to his lips. “I can’t ask that of you.” he finished, out of words. He knew that he wouldn't, either. Once you were bonded, you wanted that, even if it was terrifying.
“And... I don’t mind, really. Because I love you.”
“Why?” Reigen’s voice cracked, and he realized that he was hugging himself, clutching at his arms in an attempt to keep his emotions in check.
“Because I’ve seen the shape of your mind.” Mob smiled serenely.
“Mob...”
“Would you... think about it, at least? Please.” Mob sounded worried now, worried that he’d blundered something more important than usual, something that he really, really wanted. Something life changing.
“Okay.” Reigen relented. A maybe wasn’t a yes, but he wasn’t strong enough for a no right now. “Go on ahead, Mob. I need to think.”
Mob nodded, and gathered his things, leaving Reigen to gaze ruefully at the flower. This is your last chance. No one wants expired goods, a nasty voice in his mind whispered. And there’s no one else in the world that you love more... you don’t want to die alone, do you? Sullenly, Reigen tried to convince himself that it was a bad idea. It’s just that it suddenly seemed to be less of one than he’d thought. He should have run, he should have run away years ago. He stared numbly at the flower, guarded by the thick walls of flesh and spiny needles. Mob. He was the real reason he’d never run. God, he was so stupid. He should have run, before things got complicated.
Reigen raised his head from the desk as the office door creaked open. He wasn’t sure just how long he’d been brooding, but it was too late for a client. “Mob?”
“No.” Ritsu answered, closing the door behind him and approaching the desk. Every time Ritsu came home from university, he’d seemed to grow more. He stood tall, broad, handsome, and every inch an alpha, just like he’s always expected him to turn out. Ritsu eyed the cactus in the center of the desk. “Reigen-san...my brother confessed to you, didn’t he.”
It wasn’t a question. “He told you.”
“Yeah. I knew he was going to. And... and I want you to turn him down. Please.”
“I didn’t say yes.”
“But you didn’t say no, did you?” Ritsu’s eyes flashed in annoyance. “God, you’re such a coward.”
“I don’t see how it’s your business.” Reigen snapped, almost flinching to hear his own thoughts thrown back at him from Ritsu’s mouth.
“What did you just say? You conniving old fraud. It’s my business because he’s my family , because I’m not going to just stand by like usual and watch you use him like you always do!” Ritsu leaned over the desk in his anger, and Reigen stood, still shorter but at least not seated, the desk a barrier between them.
“He’s not an idiot, you know. He’s an adult who can make his own decisions now.” Reigan huffed, hating that Ritsu was right.
“And the decisions he’s been making are holding him back in life. You don’t object because they benefit you. And turning down university was bad enough, but I’m not going to let him make mistake upon mistake without saying a damn thing.” Ritsu fumed. “If you really cared about him like you pretend to, you’d tell him to do what’s best for him. He deserves more. He’s better than... than this.”
Ritsu threw out his arm, and Reigen eyed the office, as it must look from Ritsu’s point of view. The cheap, threadbare furniture that he’d always meant to replace but never did, the bland color scheme of the walls and floor, the hamburger wrappers and stale ashtray cluttering the surface of his desk after a typical day, how small and suffocating it all suddenly seemed when looked at with fresh eyes.
Still.
“He’s happy here.” Reigen objected. “He’s good at what he does-” Reigen barely had time to realize that the wind had been knocked out of him from the front before his back collided with the wall, sending a shock of pain through his body. Arms and legs pinned helplessly, he watched as Ritsu stalked around the desk, pushing aside the still spinning chair to stand face to face with him, eyes glowing, and Reigen was... afraid.
“You think you have the upper hand, but you’re just an omega, and a sorry one at that. You can’t give him what he deserves, you know. God only knows if that pathetic old body of yours could even survive being bred. Maybe I’ll mark you myself, and take you out of the equation.” Ritsu’s eyes narrowed as he spoke, his tone gravelly, unlike his usual voice. The pressure on Reigan’s throat increased, pressing against his scent glands, which he was ashamed to know were pumping out the scent of fear, of an omega in distress. Just as pathetic as Ritsu said.
“You wouldn’t want me.” Reigen hissed, gasping for breath.
“You think I’d keep you?” Ritsu asked, with a bark of laughter. “I’d ruin you and throw you away like the garbage you are, you shriveled up, slimy old conman. But you’d suffer, first.” Ritsu’s scent rolled off of him in waves, ordering the omega into submission.
Reigen was about to resign himself to the inevitable when he heard the tremble in Ritsu’s voice, and risked cracking open an eye. He’s bluffing. It’s all alpha posturing... he doesn’t mean any of it, he just wants to scare me. He’s never been a bad kid, not really. He’s just worried. Of course he’s worried. Reigen half wished he’d do it, too; take the choice away from him so that he wouldn’t have to live with his own guilt.
As quickly as his body had been pinned, it was released, and Reigan slumped to the floor.
“For once in your useless life... do the right thing. For my brother. Please.” Ritsu’s voice shook, and his retreating footsteps were quick and light.
Reigen pressed his cheek against the cool tile, catching his breath. The room was spinning, and the walls were closing in, the alpha stench nearly choking him. It was too late to run, now. He’d become well known enough to make that impossible. He’d be easy prey for spirits and alphas alike anywhere else, without Mob’s power backing him up and protecting him. Maybe he could run by ending his life, but he knew for a fact that he was too much of a coward to actually go through with it, not even the familiar spark of fear and dread was powerful enough to push him to step off a train platform or swallow a fatal dose of pills. After all, self preservation was what had always caused him to run in the first place. Only now, there was no place to run, only the four walls of this office and the truth of what he was, of all the things he'd failed to be. His bleary eyes focused on the flower, the splash of red the only bright spot in the drab office, and he knew what he wanted. Even if it was the most selfish thing he’d ever decided to do.
Forgive me, Mob. You deserve so much more than me.