Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The first time Atsumu stumbled upon the word, it was during the volleyball workshop he attended with Osamu when they were in 4th grade.

They were practicing passes between each other when they noticed a commotion in the back of the gym. Atsumu easily caught the ball and, ignoring his twin’s questioning gaze, walked towards the squabbling children to listen more intently to their argument. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that one of the boys accidentally smacked the other and a shouting match arose. Osamu joined him, and together they watched the whole scene from the sidelines.

“You did this on purpose!” screamed the kid sitting on the floor, rubbing his hand on the side of his head.

“I’m tellin’ ya, I did not! It’s not my fault ya can’t handle a little bump on the noggin!”

“Hey, don’t be a bully…” one of the girls mumbled, watching the whole scene unfold. More children peeked at the racket, temporarily forgetting about volleyball.

“If he paid more attention to what’s happenin’ around him, he wouldn’t get hit!” the kid shouted back. He turned his head towards the boy on the floor again. 

“I’m sure you’re gonna turn into a useless beta with reflexes like that!”

One of the coaches finally noticed the commotion. “Hey, what’s going on there?!”

The crowd quickly dispersed, leaving the two boys alone. Atsumu felt Osamu gripping his elbow, coaxing him to get back to their earlier spot.

“Come on ‘Tsumu, let’s not make Inuhata-sensei angry again.”

After starting another passing session, Atsumu’s mind went back to the thing one of the boys called the other, the words still ringing in his brain for some reason.

A useless beta.

“Hey, ‘Samu.”

“Yeah, ‘Tsumu?”

“What’s a beta?”

Osamu’s eyebrows scrunched in thought as he hummed. After passing the ball back to Atsumu, he shrugged. “Dunno. Let’s ask Pops when he picks us up.”

And so they did while walking back home, flanking their father’s sides. At first he seemed surprised by the question, eyes comically wide, making the boys snort at his expression.  

“Wha— Why are you suddenly askin’ ‘bout that?” he wondered, looking between the twins for the answer. 

“One of the kids at the clinic today called the other ‘a useless beta’,” Osamu explained with a shrug.

“Well, that’s a rude thing to say,” their father mentioned with a frown. “Betas ain’t useless.”

“But ya still haven’t answered the question, Pops!” Atsumu complained and tugged at his father’s sleeve. “What even is a beta?”

The older man hummed in thought. “Did you have any lessons concerning secondary genders at school?” 

“Not yet,” the twins answered simultaneously. 

“Well, guess you’ll have to wait for the answer until then,” he snickered, enjoying the undignified squawks of his sons.

“Oh come on, Pops! Just tell us!” Atsumu argued, now properly pulling on his father’s arm. Osamu just rolled his eyes at his brother’s atnics, although he too was curious.

Older Miya simply laughed. “Aight aight, but I’m sure your teacher will do a better job explainin’ all of that to you than me.” He noticed a conbini not so far from where they were going, an excited smile gracing his face at the sudden idea that appeared in his mind. “How about we get some snacks and sit at the park for the time?”

“Ma’s waitin’ with dinner though…” Osamu mumbled, already imagining the mouthwatering smell of curry their mother promised to make that day. Atsumu rolled his eyes at his brother’s dreamy expression.

Their father started leading the way towards the store eagerly, leaving them no choice but to follow. “Come on, indulge your old man for a bit. We’ll just say Inuhata-san made you stay a bit longer at the clinic.” 

“Lyin’ is bad, Pops.” 

“Yer the one to talk, ‘Tsumu.”

“Oi, shut it, ‘Samu!”

After spending almost 20 minutes at the conbini choosing ice-cream flavors, the family finally sat down on a bench at the nearby park. Situated at their father’s sides again, the twins looked at him with expectant eyes, cold treats shoved in their mouths. 

“So, as you know already, I’m an alpha and your Ma’s an omega,” their father began after finishing his ice sandwich in two bites. “However, alphas and omegas ain’t the only secondary genders out there. They are the most common, yes, but there’s a third one as well.”

“The beta one, right?” Osamu asked in an uncertain voice, biting through his popsicle. Atsumu shuddered at the thought of the ice numbing his teeth. 

“You guessed right, Osamu. You don’t hear a lot ‘bout betas because they ain’t as common as they used to be hundreds years ago,” their father continued, throwing the crumbs left in the package from his snack on the ground. A few seconds later a sparrow flew over and started picking at the biscuit pieces. “Back then, when humans weren’t as intelligent as they are now, betas were an important part of every pack. They were the mediators of sorts, either helpin’ protect omegas or calmin’ down aggravated alphas so they wouldn’t start any meaningless wars. You could say they were the most rational out of the bunch.”

While Osamu’s attention moved to the sparrow hopping around their legs, Atsumu couldn’t tear his eyes away from their father. Back then, he couldn’t explain why he listened so intently. Something in his mind just urged him to catch every sentence that left his father’s mouth.

“But with time, as humanity became smarter, I guess nature decided that with alphas and omegas having better control over their pheromones and behaviours, betas stopped bein’ that important. Less and less of them presented and, as far as I know, there’s not that many in the world right now. A pity really, I heard they are very pleasant folks. Did you know that apparently some betas have a nicer smell than omegas?”

“Even nicer than Ma’s?” Osamu wondered, still looking at the small bird.

“Nah, nothin’s better than your Ma’s scent,” their father laughed. “Anyways, I hope this satisfies you for now. I don’t know much else about betas, never met one personally. As I said, your teacher will probably tell you more.”

They had their answer, but Atsumu still felt unsatisfied. There was one more thing he had to know.

“Hey, Pops?” he asked carefully, finally lowering his eyes to stare at the sparrow.

“Yes, Atsumu?” 

“Are betas really useless then?” 

The smile on his father’s face fell, instead turning into a firm line. He too looked towards the small bird, which tried to find another little crumb of biscuit in the grass. 

“Listen to me, Atsumu, Osamu.” 

Both boys turned their gaze to their father, his pleasant expression no longer present. As he focused on the sparrow, the man looked like the prime example of an alpha - tall, broad, smelling of stones and earth. If they didn’t know him, they would think he looked terrifying. 

But it was their dad, who loved eating unhealthy food, got too excited over volleyball matches, and kicked their asses at card games, so it was alright.

“Even if their role among society ain’t essential anymore, betas are still people, like you, me and your Ma.”

The alpha raised his head towards the sky, as the sun started to set.

“Your gender doesn’t defy who you are as a person.”

Back then, Atsumu wasn’t aware how important these words would be for him in the future.

“If you think betas as a whole are useless, then wouldn’t alphas and omegas be useless too?” he wondered. His gaze softened and he stood up, turning back towards his sons, who were still sitting silently on the bench, holding the crinkly paper of their long gone popsicles. 

The sparrow flew away, startled.

The man cracked a lazy smile, the exact copy of the ones the twins sometimes wore on their faces.

“If you ever meet a beta, no matter if it’s a boy or a girl, promise me you won’t bully them, okay?” 

The brothers looked at each other then, gazes unsure. After a second they put on the same teasing look and turned back towards their father, ready to mess with him.

“Can we bully alphas and omegas then?” the twins asked simultaneously. The atmosphere around the three turned back to normal, no longer tense.

“What— No— You can’t bully anyone!” their father screeched, putting his hands on the twins’ heads and roughly messing up their hair. Both shared the same surprised squawk, trying to push them off, but the alpha was stronger. A big smile graced his face. “Promise your old man that you won’t bully others, or else I’m tellin’ your Ma it was you who broke the side mirror on her car!”

“No, Pops, please don’t, she’s gonna kill us—”

“Don’t blame it on me too, it was him—”

“Ya pushed me into it ‘Samu, it’s your fault it broke—”

Deciding he was done with the conversation, the alpha took hold of their heads and bonked them together. The twins yelped loudly, screaming "promise!" at the same time. Satisfied, he let them go.

“Great! Let’s get back home then. I’m pretty sure your Ma’s worryin’ someone abducted us or somethin’.”

The rest of the evening went well, filled with laughter, their mother yelling at them for arriving late, and the spicy smell of curry. 

The thought of betas left Atsumu’s head for a while.

A year later, during special classes focusing on secondary genders, there was only one lesson on betas. The teacher basically told them the same thing as the twins’ father did during that fateful day at the park: they might have been important once, but with the number of betas presenting decreasing every year, difficulty in having children, and lack of powerful pheromones other genders possessed, they were basically on the road of disappearing completely. The only way a beta might present in a family during their 17th birthday was for said family to have a history of a beta successfully mating and having a child with one of the other secondary genders. The teacher didn’t even explain how the beta presentation looked like.

The same day after school, Atsumu asked his parents if one of their ancestors was a beta, out of curiosity.

According to them, there was none.

Life went on. The twins started going to tournaments. Atsumu received his first Best Server award in middle school after getting their team to the finals, despite his teammates being open about their distaste for the setter. Osamu, after months of begging, finally got their grandma to teach him how to cook most of their family recipes, passed only by word. 

Their father received a higher position at work. In exchange for better earnings, he often left Hyogo, either traveling across Japan or leaving the country altogether - sometimes for a week, sometimes for a month. His sudden disappearance from their lives left a hole in the twins’ hearts, which they tried to fill with volleyball, focusing on the sport even more than before. Their mother lost the spark in her eyes, leaving the twins to their own devices when they came back from school, either writing reports for her own job or sitting on a sofa, eyes glued to the tv screen. The only time all three talked was during breakfast.

By the time they entered Inarizaki High, the twins were already famous for their skills as players. With high school came changes, from their differently dyed hair to a team that, for the first time, didn’t hate Atsumu as much as the previous ones did. Atsumu became Inarizaki’s starting setter and, along with his twin, brought them to the national stage every Interhigh. Osamu found love in Suna and, despite not knowing which secondary gender they would become in the future, they started dating. Atsumu hadn't seen his brother this happy ever since their dad changed jobs. Everything seemed promising.

It all came crashing down during their second year of high school.

Ginjima had a crush on this girl in their class named Fujisaki Hana.

You could say she was perfect. Long black hair and big, bright eyes. Confident in her abilities, one of the best students in their year. Always smiling, more than happy to help with their homework in exchange for some sweets. One of the only people who didn’t squeal like a pig or point fingers at Atsumu; one of the only ones who treated him like a normal high-schooler instead of some kind of god or a menace. To keep it short, she was a pretty cool gal in Atsumu’s eyes. He enjoyed her company. Ginjima, on the other hand, was whipped. 

“Dude, I swear, if ya don’t make a move after she comes back to school I’m gonna lose my mind,” Atsumu grumbled around his tamagoyaki, pointently looking at Ginjima sitting in front of him. 

They were supposed to wait for Osamu and Suna to join them during lunch break, but when Atsumu mentioned they were "prolly smoochin’ somewhere in the toilet'' after waiting in front of class 2-1 for 10 minutes with the lovebirds nowhere in sight, they decided to go back and eat on their own. The topic of Ginjima’s pathetic love life came right after. The person they were talking about was currently away from school for a week, spending her coming of age at home.

“Leave me alone, Atsumu. It’s not that easy, y’know,” Ginjima mumbled, avoiding the setter's piercing gaze with a small blush on his face.

“You’ve had yer eyes on her since our first year, dontcha think it’s time to do somethin’ ‘bout it?”

“Wouldn’t it be better if I waited until I present though? What if she presents as an omega and I turn into one too, but she wants to be with alphas only?” Ginjima rambled on, clutching his head in distress with one hand, picking at his bento with the other. 

Atsumu looked at him with a bored face, not amused in the slightest. “Then she’ll tell ya she ain’t interested and ya find another chick ya want to bang.” 

Ginjima choked on his rice. The setter was ready to smack his friend in the back, but Ginjima quickly leaned back, grabbing a bottle of water from his bag and taking a big swig. 

Atsumu rolled his eyes. “Come on Gin, it’s Hana-chan we’re talkin’ about.”

“Easy for you to say,” Ginjima countered. “I ain’t the one with confession letters spillin’ out of my shoe locker!”

Ginjima went back to his bento, ignoring Atsumu’s annoyed expression at the mention of the letters the blonde had to throw out every few days after school. Even Osamu, despite having a boyfriend and being pretty open about it, still received tons of confessions and homemade snacks in the shape of hearts. To say both twins weren’t fans of the attention would be an understatement.

“But I don’t care about datin’, Gin!” Atsumu whined. “Ain’t my fault I have priorities in life, and findin’ someone is on the bottom of the list.”

Ginjima chuckled, swallowing his bite. “Yeah, I know. Ball is life, yadda yadda.”

“Oi, don’t think yer gettin’ out of this. When Hana-chan gets back either yer gonna confess or I’m gonna do it for ya,” Atsumu declared, pointing a finger right up Ginjima’s nose. “Yer birthday is still a few months away, no way am I gonna stand there and listen to ya pinin’ over her for that long!” 

“Deal with it then, I ain’t confessin’ until I know what my secondary gender is!” Ginjima countered, swatting Atsumu’s hand away from his face.

Atsumu was about to argue when the doors to their classroom slid open. The sight of Osamu and Suna holding their bento boxes welcomed them, the former sporting a fairly disheveled look, cheeks slightly red. Atsumu and Ginjima looked at each other, then back at the pair. Atsumu burst out laughing, while Ginjima covered his face with his hands, absolutely done.

“I toldja they were smoochin’, Gin! Oi, ‘Samu, ya sure look like ya had fun out there!” Atsumu hollered, momentarily forgetting about his friend’s love problems.

“Oh my god, couldn’t you guys wait after classes?” Ginjima groaned, internally grateful for the distraction. 

Suna snickered at his boyfriend along with Atsumu. Osamu, with a blush covering him from head to toe, picked up someone’s pencil case and promptly threw it at his twin’s face.

Hana finally returned to school on Monday.

Atsumu entered the classroom with Ginjima by his side and saw the black haired girl sitting at her desk, chatting up with one of her buddies. Atsumu nudged Ginjima in the side with a knowing smirk, his friend responding with a glare.

Atsumu waved at the girl in a greeting. "Hana-chan, good mornin'!"

“Oh! Atsumu-kun, Hitoshi-kun, long time no see!” she waved back, telling the other girl they would catch up later. The boys dropped their bags at their respective desks and joined her side. 

“How are ya doin’, Fujisaki-san?” Ginjima asked politely. 

“Pretty good! I’m glad to be back in school, sittin’ at home alone for a whole week was gettin’ borin’.”

“I hope everythin’ went well durin’ your presentation,” Ginjima mumbled with a light blush dusting his cheeks.

Hana grinned in response, shooting him a thumbs up. “Everythin’ went great! I really like how I smell right now.” 

Atsumu sniffed the air around the girl in a silly manner. “Now that ya mention it, ya do smell differently.” She snorted, swatting him away. “Are ya an omega, Hana-chan? Ya smell really nice!”

“Oh, I’m not an omega, hehe!” she exclaimed, smiling sheepishly. “I’m a beta!” 

Atsumu stared at her, amazed. Suddenly, an excited noise left his throat and he launched himself at her desk.

Few pairs of eyes behind them widened in shock.

“A beta?! That’s so cool, I never met one before! Arent’cha supposed to be, like, super rare?!”

“Ya talk like she’s some kinda gacha prize! Give her some space!” Ginjima reprimanded Atsumu, smacking him on the shoulder. Atsumu backed up, scowling at his friend, as Hana laughed at their antics.

“Aah, I missed ya guys, yer always so silly!” She smiled, not noticing the blush rising on Ginjima’s cheeks. “How’s your team doin’ by the way? Did I miss any cool matches?”

As the three chatted, on the other side of the classroom a few girls murmured among themselves, their gazes intently focused on the beta.

It started with whispers.

A few days passed since Hana revealed herself as a beta. She kept her cheerfulness, and was more than happy to help Atsumu and Ginjima with school work, despite being a bit behind herself. Sometimes she complained about others’ scents getting too strong for her liking, but she was nice about it anyways. 

Atsumu was strolling through the school yard with Osamu, both heading towards the vending machines standing to the side. As they passed a group of first years, Atsumu caught a bit of their conversation.

“—apparently it’s all a facade too? Can ya imagine it?”

“Unbelievable. And she seemed like such a nice senpai too!”

“Probably ‘cause she’s a beta. Can’t trust a scentless bitch like that.”

“Oh shit, was that Miya? Pisshead’s gonna snitch on us to her!”

“A bitch and an asshole, what a pair haha.”

Before Atsumu could walk towards the teens, he was stopped by Osamu’s hand on his elbow. 

“Ignore ‘em ‘Tsumu,” Osamu said while dragging Atsumu to the vending machines further back before letting go. 

“What was that?” Atsumu asked, still looking where the first years stood. Some of them were shooting glances towards him, as if afraid he was going to come back to scold them. 

“Didja mess with another club or somethin’?” Osamu asked back, picking a pack of coconut candy.

“Last time I checked nah, not really.” Atsumu turned towards the other vending machine, getting a sports drink. “Ya never know with these guys though.”

Once they were walking towards the gym for practice did Atsumu remember an alarming detail from the conversation the first years held. During stretches he sat on the floor next to Suna, the one person who was up-to-date with any gossip in the school.

“Hey Sunarin, I need some info.”

“No.”

“It’s important.”

Suna turned his head towards Atsumu after noticing his tone. Seeing the setter with a serious, even frightening expression, he narrowed his eyes.

“What do you want?”

“Are there any rumors concernin’ Fujisaki Hana?”

Suna turned his eyes back to the floor, thinking. He began stretching his legs and hummed, answering the blonde after a while with a deadpan look on his face.

“Mostly things about how she’s a liar. People talk about how she’s manipulating other students to fail exams for her sake so she can be in the top 3 again. Then there’s the whole deal with her presenting as a beta, but it’s not good gossip material if you ask me.” Suna stretched his shoulders and continued, “Some girls kept insisting that she’s ganging up on others with you.” He looked at Atsumu with curiosity. “Judging by your reaction, that's not the case.”

Atsumu was seething. 

“None of this is true, Sunarin.”

“Yeah.” Suna looked to the side, ignoring Atsumu’s furious gaze. “I thought so.”

Then came the letters.

The first one they knew about was discovered by Ginjima. As he was talking with one of the guys from their class, a neatly folded piece of paper fell out of Hana’s blazer as she passed them. 

“Hey, Fujisaki-san, ya lost somethin’—” he started right before accidentally reading what was inside the letter.

‘Have you ever thought how your existence is meaningless, beta-chan? you useless little girl—’

Before he could read more, the piece of paper was ripped from his hand by Hana.

“Fujisaki-san, what is…?”

She smiled at him sadly before ripping the paper in pieces, shoving the remains into a trash bin.

“Just a letter. Don’t worry about it, Hitoshi-kun.”

Ginjima did worry, and so did Atsumu after the spiker told him. They came up with a plan. They would arrive at the same time at school as Hana and go with her to the lockers, just in case there was more to it.

Ignoring Osamu’s and his mother's surprised gazes, Atsumu rushed to catch the early bus. Ginjima was already at the bus stop, tapping his foot in impatience. Their arrival at Inarizaki was perfectly timed, as they bumped into Hana a few meters before the gate. Together, they went towards the second year shoe lockers.

Ginjima’s suspicions were correct. When Hana opened her locker, laying on her shoes were a few folded letters. Before she could hide them away, Atsumu moved into her space and took every piece of paper, quickly jumping away. 

“Atsumu-kun, please give these back!”

“Nu-uh, no way, Hana-chan! Yer hidin’ somethin’ from us!” he yelled back as Ginjima joined his side.

“Fujisaki-san, we’re worried about you.” Ginjima looked at her with pleading eyes. Atsumu started opening the letters one by one, not yet reading the context.

“Somethin’ going on, Hana-chan. People are spreadin’ rumors about ya,” Atsumu continued. Ginjima took a few papers from him and began to read. “Yer acting differently too.”

Before Hana could say anything, Ginjima’s voice took everyone’s attention. 

“Fujisaki-san,” Ginjima looked at her with wide eyes. “What are these…?”

Atsumu glanced at what Ginjima was holding and did a double take. Immediately, he inspected the rest of the letters he was holding. 

They were written by different people, but their context was similar. They talked about Hana’s uselessness as a beta or how she should leave the school. Some letters insulted her, others straight up told her to die, but all of them circled around the same thing.

“There’s no beating around the bush with ya, huh.” Hana awkwardly scratched the back of her neck. “I got the first one last week. After that, they started coming in larger amounts I guess…”

Atsumu angrily ripped the letters into pieces. “That’s fucked up.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m tryin’ to ignore all of this,” she gestured towards the papers still in Ginjima’s hands. “It ain’t easy, but I’ll manage!”

“Fujisaki-san, can I ask for your number?” Ginjima suddenly asked with resolve.

“Gin, I don’t think now’s the good time—”

“I’m sorry, Hitoshi-kun, but considerin’ the whole situation at hand I’d rather not share my number with anybody right now.”

“I understand.” Hitoshi nodded in determination. “But please, if anythin’ happens, tell us, alright? We’ll help you any way we can, right, Atsumu?” 

Atsumu nodded. “Yeah. If anybody’s botherin’ ya, we’ll put them in their place.”

Hana glanced at them in surprise, and smiled.

“Thanks, guys.”

After a while pieces of paper weren’t satisfying anymore, so the bullies took a more direct approach.

‘GO DIE YOU BETA BITCH’  

Written with a black sharpie, the words stared at the three highschoolers standing next to the desk in classroom 2-2. The room was empty except for Atsumu, Ginjima and Hana - they arrived earlier than normal in order to try catching the ones messing with the beta. Coach Kurosu let the two boys leave morning practice, more surprised than offended at their unusual behaviour.

Ginjima ran his fingers through the ink. It smudged a bit, leaving marks on his fingertips.

“It’s still fresh,” he said quietly, rubbing his fingers together. “Someone came here before us.”

“What is goin’ on?!” Atsumu hissed in frustration, slamming his fist on the desk next to the defiled one.

“I don’t know,” Hana answered in a voice so quiet it was scary. For the first time Atsumu saw her face so empty, expressionless. She stood tense, staring at the words Ginjima tried to wipe with a wet tissue. 

Along with the letters began the words. Almost everyday in the morning someone came to the classroom and wrote obscenities on Hana’s desk, ranging from curses to death threats. The style of writing differed - it wasn’t one person only. Some were written in chalk, others with a marker. Ginjima tried talking to the teachers, but unsurprisingly, there was not enough proof of who bullied the beta for them to intervene. It was like the whole school decided to gang up on Hana and pretend nothing was happening once the staff tried to step in.

As days passed by Hana smiled even less, until she stopped completely, sitting through lessons like a ghost. 

Atsumu and Ginjima spent more time at the gym after practice, polishing their attacks for the Interhigh. They tried accompanying Hana as much as they could, even if these moments were short. They were the only people left who still spoke to her, unaffected by the rumors and glares they received. On the last day of school before the summer break, Hana arrived at the gym as Atsumu and Ginjima finished serving drills. Their teammates didn’t tease them for staying late anymore, after Atsumu almost socked one of the first years in the face for joking about them "hanging out with the crazy beta girl". 

“Yo, Hana-chan!” Atsumu waved at the beta cheerfully. 

“Give us a second to clean up and we’ll join you!” Ginjima added, already running towards the storage room to get the brooms. 

“It’s okay, take all the time ya need!” Hana yelled from the entrance, clutching her bag close to her chest. 

The clean up didn’t take long and soon all three walked towards the bus stop, talking about random things. Hana’s face brightened up significantly, contrasting with her attitude at school. Once they stopped to wait for their respective buses, Hana suddenly jumped in front of the boys and deeply bowed, holding out two packs of kit kats.

“Thank ya so much for takin’ care of me!”

They looked at her with wide eyes, surprised.

“Wha— No need to thank us Hana-chan!” Atsumu quickly shouted, raising his hands unsurely.

“Fujisaki-san, please raise your head!” Ginjima cried out, doing similar motions. Hana straightened up with a determination and shoved the candy towards their chests.

“Once we meet again I’m gonna be stronger! For your sake and mine!” she yelled. “Take these as a sign of my gratitude for stickin’ with me when no one else did!” 

Reluctantly, the boys took the sweets from her hands, speechless. At the same time, Hana’s bus took a turn towards their stop. She moved to stand next to the road, waving at the driver. Right before she stepped into the bus, she turned around and grinned for the first time in what felt like years.

“Good luck with your matches!”

Then, she disappeared. 

The summer break ended. The bitterness left from getting second place during Summer Interhigh already passed, replaced with the need to get better to defeat Itachiyama during the next one. Atsumu got over it quickly, having received the Best Server award and sticking it to Osamu’s face. Right before they returned to school, Ginjima presented as an alpha. Atsumu had to endure an onslaught of texts about how Ginjima was finally going to ask Hana out now that he knew their secondary genders weren’t the same, and the many ways he could go about the whole ordeal. After two hours of getting spammed, Atsumu promptly told Ginjima to ‘go to sleep or smth, i’m begging u’, left his phone on silent, and kicked Osamu in the shin for laughing at him.

The next day, when Atsumu entered the 2-2 classroom, Ginjima was already there, sitting at his desk with a small paper bag. Hana’s desk was spotless.

“Ohoho, what do I see here, ya went with the ‘woo her with expensive stuff’ route?” Atsumu asked with a shit eating grin, before plopping on the seat next to his friend. Ginjima blushed furiously, hiding the present around his arms on the desk. 

“Shut it, it’s nothin’ too fancy,” the spiker mumbled, getting redder with every second.

“Spill it, Gin, what didja get her?”

Ginjima opened the bag for Atsumu to peek into. Inside was an assortment of various chocolate pralines, decorated with nuts, dried fruit and colorful toppings, all wrapped in transparent foil with a golden ribbon. Atsumu noticed the logo on the side of the package right away.

“Holy shit. Dude, ya got her sweets from that french place downtown?!” Atsumu asked, staring wide eyed at Ginjima, who was hiding his face inside his elbow in embarrassment.

“Is that bad?” Ginjima squeaked, slightly terrified with the idea of the gift being unsuitable.

“Gin, if ya gave me somethin’ like this I’d marry your ass! ‘Samu would probably faint if he saw this!” Atsumu took hold of Ginjima’s shoulders and shook him. “Now I wish ya had a crush on me if it meant gettin’ gifts like this!”

“What, no, ew!”

“Wow, rude Gin, very rude,” Atsumu tooted at the spiker, feigning disappointment. “But trust me when I say this, once Hana-chan gets here and ya give her this? She’s yers, hundred percent. She’d be stupid to reject a guy who bought her french chocolates.”

“Don’t talk about her like that,” Ginjima grumbled with a pointed look.

“Ya know I don’t mean it, Gin,” Atsumu sighed, more serious. 

“But still—”

Suddenly, Ginjima’s eyes locked with someone standing behind Atsumu. The setter turned around and saw one of their classmates: a thin teen with thick glasses perched on his nose.

“Hey, umm, can I speak to ya for a sec? It’s about Fujisaki-san...” the boy asked, gesturing towards the corner of the class. Puzzled, both of them nodded and stood up, Ginjima hiding the bag of sweets away. Once they stopped, the guy looked around, noticed some people further back, and hid slightly behind Ginjima’s bigger frame. Atsumu was getting more confused.

“So, what didja want to tell us about Hana-chan?” Atsumu started, crossing his arms with a sour expression. Ginjima’s face wasn’t any different, as both of them expected this to be another attempt to get them to stop supporting Hana. Noticing their displeasure, the teen got even more stressed, gulping audibly. He framed his mouth with his hands to make sure other people in class wouldn’t hear his next words.

“Haven’t you heard she tried killin' herself?” 

Atsumu's arms dropped to his sides from shock. Ginjima froze next to him, pale as a ghost.

“...she what?”

“My uncle is her family's old friend. She tried to hang herself in the garden, but the rope snapped before she, you know...” The boy rubbed his forearm, clearly uncomfortable. “They moved out of Hyogo, like, a few days ago. Her parents told him she had problems with bullies, and since the start of summer break someone began stalkin’ her. It was awful, she kept gettin’ these weird letters and her phone number was leaked to the public... Since ya guys seemed close to her I thought ya knew, but then I heard ya talkin’ about meetin’ up with her and y’know...”

“She didn’t tell us anythin’,” Atsumu muttered, petrified.

“Then please, do not tell anyone I toldja. I just thought—”

“Shut up already. We get it,” Atsumu interrupted the boy, locking eyes with him in hostility. “We better be the first and last people ya tell this, or else ya will be dealin' with the whole volleyball team.” 

Hearing the threat, their classmate visibly paled. He nodded his head quickly and went back towards his desk after the setter waved him away. Atsumu could already feel the vicious glares thrown his way for scaring the guy. New rumors would arise, as they always did thanks to Inarizaki’s gossip tendencies, but Atsumu didn’t care.

Before the first lesson started, their homeroom teacher mentioned that Fujisaki Hana indeed left their school. He reminded them that if anybody was having any kind of problems, they were welcome to talk to the staff and help would be provided accordingly. Atsumu’s eyes moved in a haze. He saw Ginjima’s distraught face, lower lip trembling. Somewhere in the back a group of girls was giggling, the once friends of a beta girl with long black hair and big eyes. He didn’t say anything when Ginjima threw out the chocolates during lunch break before they left to get Osamu and Suna.

As they sat on the rooftop, Atsumu remembered his father’s stern gaze, the sharp scent of rocks and earth, and the talk that didn’t bear any importance to him all these years ago, on that particular bench now defiled from time and paint the local kids liked to spray everywhere.

‘If you ever meet a beta, no matter if it’s a boy or a girl, promise me you won’t bully them, okay?’

Only then did Atsumu finally realize the seriousness of the promise he and Osamu made to their father, back when secondary genders had yet to start ruling over their lives. 

And if he and Ginjima were more aggressive than normal with their serves during practice, it was nobody’s business but theirs.

On a Thursday morning, a day before their 17th birthday, as the twins entered the kitchen to eat breakfast, their mother noticed something was different about them. She immediately went on alert as they sat down, sniffing the air around the boys. The twins raised their eyebrows, confused.

“Ma, ya alright?” Atsumu asked before taking a bite of the onigiri she prepared for them beforehand. Osamu made a questioning noise, his mouth already full with rice, wondering the same.

Surprised, she narrowed her eyes on the calendar hanging on the wall beside her, the following days circled with a red pen.

“It was supposed to begin durin’ the weekend, not today...” 

The woman took a deeper whiff and slowly exhaled. Her gaze went back to her sons, something akin to anticipation hidden within her eyes.

“One of ya started presentin’!” She quickly wiped her hands with a rag and hastily threw it on the counter. She pointed a finger at the boys with a stern look. “Don’t leave the kitchen.”

Before either of them could say anything, the omega rushed out of the room. Atsumu raised his head and sniffed the air. Osamu did the same after swallowing a mouthful of onigiri. There wasn’t anything different in the air as far as Atsumu was concerned. The pleasant scent of cooked rice filled the kitchen, mixed with their mother’s sweet aroma associated with every omega. 

“I ain’t smellin’ shit, ‘Samu”

“Same.”

They ate their breakfast in silence, too weirded out by their mother to do anything else, occasionally sniffing the air. After what seemed like ages, she came back with a small suitcase and a duffel bag.

“Woah, Ma, where are ya goin’?” Atsumu asked, visibly confused with their mother's behaviour. Next to him Osamu shoved the last onigiri into his mouth, sharing a similar puzzled expression.

The woman left the baggage next to the genkan and went back to the kitchen. “I already called your father and told him what’s happenin’. We’ll stay with your grandparents for the next few days. Trust me, the last thing ya want to have during your presentin’ is the two of us stumblin’ around the house and leavin’ our scent everywhere.” 

“Wouldn’t it be better for one of us to leave too then?” Osamu wondered, while they followed their mother’s figure with their eyes. 

“It’s always better for siblings to stay together durin’ first ruts and heats. Since yer twins, when one of ya presents, the other’s body will react automatically and trigger it’s own comin’ of age. It’ll be easier to survive if ya both stay at the house, trust me.” She threw them a cheeky grin, a rare expression on her face. “And maybe it’ll make ya not fight as much in the future, family bondin’ and all that.” 

The twins looked at each other in disgust. 

“There’s enough food to last ya a few days. Ya won’t have the strength to cook anything too complicated, so these will do,” she continued while tapping the boxes full of protein bars, instant ramen and snacks their father consumed in unhealthy amounts. Atsumu noticed the glint in Osamu’s eyes as their mother basically gave them permission to touch the untouchable cabinet, knowing very well it was going to be empty by the time they were finished presenting.

After searching for other things in the kitchen and calling the school to inform them about the twins' absence, the omega finally sat down at the table. The atmosphere around her changed instantly and both twins sat straighter, focusing on their mother’s serious face.

“Guessin’ from the smell, one of ya is gonna be an alpha,” she started, carefully moving her eyes from Atsumu to Osamu. “Now, this can end up in a few ways. Either both of ya turn out to be alphas, posture a bit and take camp at different parts of the house until your ruts finish, or one of ya presents as an omega and ya scent each other for the first few days until separatin’ to different rooms. That’ll help ya deal with any cramps.”

She paused, assessing the twins' reaction. 

They were aware of how important the first presentation was. It was the time of rapid changes, when one was the most vulnerable during the following days. Everything would get overbearing at some point. This wasn't the time to make fun of each other - that could wait after they finished whatever awaited them.

Satisfied, she continued. “Since yer brothers I’m not worried ‘bout either of ya gettin’ seriously hurt, since your hormones will become too overwhelmin’ soon. But if ya do fight please try to keep the damage at minimum. I don’t want to come back and see anythin’ broken or shattered, understood?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure ‘Tsumu doesn’t destroy another family memorabilia,” Osamu nonchalantly mentioned, ignoring his brother's offended squawk.

“That was one time ‘Samu, ya ass, and that was your—“

“Understood?”  

The boys immediately stopped, turning back to their mother. 

“Yes…” they muttered, lowering their gazes to the table. Their mother might have been an omega, but she was not one to be messed with. Not even their alpha father wanted to be on the receiving end of her anger.

Her serious expression disappeared and she gave them a gentle smile, standing up from her seat to get ready to leave. 

“Now, if there’s an emergency, don’t hesitate to call me. Your father will be back in Hyogo in two days and will probably be too tired to do much, even more so dealin’ with ya two, so don’t bother him with calls.” 

They helped her get the baggage in the car and after brief goodbyes, she drove away, leaving the twins standing awkwardly in front of the house.

“...well, that was weird.”

“Uhuh.”

“So…” 

“...Pro Evolution Soccer and instant ramen?”

“Hell yeah.” 

Next few hours passed uneventfully. The twins played games, bickered, and started going through their father’s snacks supply. Atsumu didn’t understand what their mother went about with the whole presenting deal. He felt great. Osamu behaved like always, roasting him and nudging him with his foot to distract him from their current race in Mario Kart, so Atsumu assumed there was nothing wrong with his brother either. At least they didn’t have to go to school for the whole week.

They already informed the team about their absence through their group chat. Ginjima promised to make a copy of his notes for Atsumu since they shared classes. Osamu spent 15 minutes bribing Suna, with the promise of two bags of chuupet, to get him to not fall asleep in their English class for once and write down any information regarding the pop quiz he would be missing. Kita sent them a simple ‘Good luck and stay healthy’ with a link to an article on care and eating habits of secondary genders during presentation. Their theory that the captain sent the exact same message to every presenting second year was slowly getting confirmed, as Ginjima and Kosaku received something similar during their own coming of age.

When Atsumu went to get something to drink after losing another match and promptly throwing the controller at Osamu, he wondered which of them was the alpha. Their mother couldn’t pinpoint the brother that was the owner of the mysterious scent, despite her having the best nose in the house. It was a known fact that twins always shared the same scent, the only noticeable change being the unique musk associated with their secondary genders if they didn’t match. 

Out of curiosity, while pouring himself some tea from the fridge, Atsumu took a deep breath through his nose. He could sense their mother’s gentle, sweet aroma, the remains of rice from the morning, the smell of wood in their kitchen, their dad’s musky tones…

Wait. Dad’s?

Confused, Atsumu walked deeper into the kitchen. Surely enough, the earthy smell he associated with their father was right there, the strongest at his snack cupboard. 

Their father left for a business trip 8 days ago. There was no way the smell would stick to the surface for that long. Besides, even if it did, Atsumu and Osamu were there an hour ago and smelled nothing of the kind.

Suddenly, Atsumu’s nose started to itch. He rubbed it with his finger and sniffed, trying to get rid of whatever caused the prickling feeling. It didn’t go away, instead getting stronger. He almost spilled his drink when a powerful sneeze left him. 

“The hell…?”

Atsumu sneezed again. With shaky movements, he put the glass on the counter to avoid spilling everything on the floor, as his nose continued itching horribly. 

“If yer gettin’ sick again I’m not lettin’ ya back into the room, ‘Tsumu!” Osamu yelled from upstairs.

Atsumu was about to yell back when another sneeze shut him up, followed by a nasty cough. 

From what he could remember from their special classes, presenting as an alpha or omega didn’t start with feeling like someone shoved cotton up your sinuses. He felt no pain, no cramps, no need to punch something or hide in a pile of blankets. There was only weird itching that was getting stronger, now accompanied by a similar feeling on the roof of his mouth.

Just as he started rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers, hoping the sensation would magically leave, Atsumu heard the door opening upstairs. 

“Hey, ‘Tsumu, ya good back there?” 

Any normal person would think that the nonchalant tone of Osamu’s voice didn’t carry even an ounce of worry, but Atsumu noticed the slight edge it had without a problem. 

“My nose feels like it’s ‘bout to explode,” Atsumu mumbled, not even sure if he was loud enough for Osamu to hear. 

The sound of footsteps descending the stairs filled his ears. Atsumu gripped the edge of the counter with his hand, the other still on his face, massaging his nose. He was getting dizzy. He tried breathing through his mouth, but the effect was the same - he felt like his windpipe was getting filled with anything other than air. The scents around him were mixing, creating something heavy and unpleasant, making his head pound. He could feel goosebumps forming on his skin. Atsumu tightly closed his eyes, silently praying for whatever was happening to end already. Just as he contemplated sliding down to the floor, he heard his brother enter the kitchen.

“‘Tsumu, are ya still—”

Suddenly, Osamu went silent. 

Atsumu heard his brother take a deep, shaky breath, as if tasting the air. Confused, the blonde opened his eyes, looking where his twin was standing. 

When their gazes met, something in Osamu changed, and a sudden scent of an alpha bursted through the room. Atsumu felt his legs give out, hitting his knees on the hard floor, never leaving his eyes from Osamu’s. He almost didn’t notice the accompanying pain, too focused on the pheromones entering his nose with every breath he took.

It was strong. Very strong. It broke through the last lingering remnants of their parents’ scents, overpowering everything. He thought of a forest after the rain, wet earth and damp bark overgrown with moss. Similar to their father’s, yet slightly different. In a split second, Atsumu remembered a small detail he ignored in order to investigate their father’s scent.

The smell of wood in their kitchen. It wasn’t the room itself that smelled like that. It was Osamu.

Osamu was the alpha.

Osamu started slowly making his way towards Atsumu, taking careful steps as if not to frighten his brother. Atsumu finally sat down on the floor, gently putting his hands on his throbbing knees, and leaned his back on the cabinet. Osamu’s scent was all around him, filling his lungs, clearing his sinuses from the suffocating feeling. Everything still itched, but not as badly as earlier. He could finally breathe. It was comforting, in its own way.

The freshly presented alpha sat next to him, bumping their legs together. Only then did Atsumu notice the state his brother was in.

The hands on Osamu's lap were shaking, one of them worrying the fabric of his sweatpants. Parts of his leg that stuck to Atsumu felt too hot. He was breathing as hard as Atsumu, gaze unfocused, pupils so wide his gray irises were almost invisible. Atsumu could see how tense he was, shoulders stiff.

They sat there, silent. In the stillness of the room, Atsumu remembered their mother’s words.

‘When one of ya presents, the other’s body will react automatically and trigger its own comin’ of age too.’

Which one triggered the other in that case?

Now that he thought about it, Atsumu didn’t remember much from their classes on alphas other than facts concerning scent-marking and knotting jokes he made with other kids. A sudden idea flashed in his mind, like a lightbulb. Atsumu took his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through the memes Akagi and Suna dumped on their group chat, until he finally found the message Kita sent a few hours ago. He quickly clicked on the link. Atsumu could smooch their omega capitan right on the lips for his thoughtfulness.

The website about secondary genders welcomed him. Atsumu quickly examined the page, finding the alpha section and clicking on the icon leading to the information he needed. Just as he was about to start reading, he felt his brother lean on him, dropping his face on Atsumu’s shoulder, close to his neck. Atsumu felt no need to shove his twin away, which he would have done already if the circumstances were different. Seeing no protest for their closeness, Osamu instantly relaxed, muscles less tense, bathing in his brother’s calming scent.

“I’m checkin’ out the website Kita-san sent us earlier,” Atsumu began softly. Osamu simply hummed, letting his brother know he was listening. “It says right here that it’ll be the best if ya stayed in our room for the whole presentation, since it’s where yer scent’s the strongest.”

“Mhm.”

“Also don’t go to Ma’s and Pops’ room, their scents might rile ya up and make ya all growly.”

Osamu moved his face deeper into Atsumu’s shoulder, breathing deeply.

“Ya should eat more than normally too, somethin’ about your metabolism adjustin’ to your new body? I dunno. Ya eat like a horse anyways, leave some for me or else I’ll starve—”

“What ‘bout ya?” Osamu interrupted, finally looking up at Atsumu’s face. 

Atsumu blinked at his brother, confused.

“Well, as I was sayin’, ya should leave some food for me too—”

“I wasn’t talkin’ about that and ya know it,” Osamu snapped back, voice unusually scratchy.

Atsumu lowered his phone, looking anywhere but at his twin's piercing gaze. Now that the guy turned out to be an alpha it felt different, being under the scrutiny of those intense eyes. Something in Atsumu’s mind tempted him to spill everything that was troubling him to the owner of the sharp scent that wrapped them in its embrace. Atsumu promptly told it to fuck off.

“I don’t know what yer talkin’ about,” Atsumu mumbled, turning his face away.

“I went to check on ya after hearin’ ya coughin’ up a storm,” Osamu started, not taking his face away from Atsumu’s shoulder. “When I saw ya lookin’ like ya couldn’t breathe, somethin’ in me snapped I guess. Not to mention the way ya smell.” 

“Oh, fuck off, ‘Samu, we smell the same.”

“We don’t anymore.” Osamu fell silent for a few seconds, scrunching his eyebrows. “Okay, maybe a bit, but it’s different now.”

“...what do ya mean?” Atsumu asked, afraid of the answer. It wasn’t possible for Osamu to know that. After all, he still hasn't felt the same punch in the gut his brother felt as an alpha, or even the harsh fever typical for freshly presented omegas. 

There was only the itchiness in his nose.

“Ya don’t have the thing Pops and me have, this… sharpness.” Osamu sniffed Atsumu’s shoulder again, sighing in content. “And ya don’t smell like Ma does. It’s weaker, not that hit-ya-in-the-face scent she leaves everywhere in the house.”

“Yer stupid ‘Samu. I ain’t feelin’ anythin’ different about myself and if my scent did change I would have sensed it already!”

Osamu was definitely wrong. Atsumu was probably going to present later. Their mother could have been wrong about the twin thing. She wasn’t the smartest person in the world, maybe she heard wrong or read it in one of these silly paperbacks for omegas.

Osamu’s eyes widened slightly, the gears in his mind finally clicking together in understanding. Instead of arguing back, he quickly took hold of Atsumu’s phone. 

“Oi, give that back!” 

Shoving his twin away with his leg, Osamu tapped through the page for a while and stopped after finding what he wanted. Then, he started reading. 

“The beta presentation, although rare, differs greatly from the other secondary genders.”

“‘Samu, what—”

“The freshly presented beta—” Osamu cut off his brother immediately, shooting him an intense look. “—won’t have to endure rapid body changes in their reproductive organs like alphas and omegas. Instead, the most noticeable shift for this dynamic happens in their vomeronasal organ, located at the base of the nasal cavity, which is responsible for pheromone reception. Although alphas and omegas go through similar changes, they are more significant in a beta's case.”

Atsumu saw the smiling face of Hana, holding a plastic bag full of matcha kitkats he bought with Ginjima as thanks for helping them with their literature homework.

“The first signs to watch out for are scratchiness in the area around the organ, the feelin’ of stuffiness in the respiratory system, and frequent sneezin’. All throughout the presentation, a beta might expect additional headaches and nausea caused by the sudden onslaught of pheromones.” 

Atsumu saw all the disgusting notes, and death threats written on her desk.

“It is recommended for freshly presented betas to stay away from rooms filled with multiple scents as it might cause dizziness and shortness of breath, especially durin’ the first three days. After that period, the organ should be accustomed to the change, but people with sharper scents should still be careful around new betas, as it may cause excessive sneezin’ and nosebleeds.”

Atsumu saw the once confident girl, destroyed by society and people she once called best friends.

“Dryness of scent glands located around the neck and wrists is also common for young betas, due to their bodies adjustin’ to the smaller quantity of oils responsible for scent emission. It is recommended to put unscented moisturizer around the areas to avoid crackin’ of skin and bleedin’.”

The black haired beauty with the prettiest eyes who tried to take her own life. All because she was a beta.

“Do I need to read the rest for ya—”

Before Osamu could finish, Atsumu roughly shoved his brother away, stood up, jumped towards the sink and threw up. 

The sight of Hana’s emotionless face was engraved into Atsumu’s brain, his imagination running wild. He gripped the edge of the sink so hard his knuckles turned white. Another wave of nausea hit him, but his stomach was too empty to comply, leaving him heaving into the dirty basin.

‘A useless beta.’

Was he supposed to become someone like that? 

Atsumu could hear his brother shouting at him with his scratchy alphan voice. His nose filled with the unpleasant scent of rotten wood and his own vomit. There were hands on his shoulders, on his face, turning him around.

“Breathe, ya idiot!”

As if awakened from a dream, Atsumu took a big gulp of air and started coughing, choking on his sobs. He didn’t even notice he was crying, fat tears and snot dripping down his face. Osamu held his shoulders and gently lowered him down, sitting them both on the floor again. 

“Look at me, ‘Tsumu.” 

Atsumu complied, locking his eyes with silver ones. Osamu looked at him as tenderly as a freshly presented alpha could. His hands were shaking worse than before, still holding his face. 

“There ya go, now breathe along. Come on, in and out. In and out.” Atsumu followed his brother's quiet instructions, taking deep breaths at the same time as Osamu. “Just like that, good job. Again. Good.”

Slowly, the air around them became less panicked. Atsumu came to the conclusion that the rotten smell from a few minutes ago was either his or Osamu’s, maybe both, since they technically still smelled the same. 

An alpha and a beta.

Atsumu wasn't one to get scared easily. He didn't care when his teammates in middle school openly told him he was an asshole. He ignored any nasty comments sent his way by jealous scrubs. But when he remembered the sweet, confident girl bullied so hard she almost took her life, all because of her secondary gender, he tried convincing himself that the feeling clutching his heart wasn't fear.

Because if there was one thing that satisfied people sick with envy, it was the opportunity to destroy those who were more successful than them.

Those like Hana. Those like Atsumu.

As he was tightly clutching his brother’s arms, his messy face shoved into Osamu’s neck to inhale the now comforting smell of wood, Atsumu promised himself he wouldn't crumble. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. He would do anything to make sure they wouldn’t get to him, his secondary gender be damned. 

But for now, surrounded by his and Osamu’s pheromones, so similar and yet so different, he cried. 

Once Atsumu calmed down and washed himself, Osamu cleaned the sink and made them dinner. They went back to their bedroom, plugged off the console and sat next to each other on the lower bunk, still too shaken from what happened in the kitchen earlier. Despite the air around them being less tense, their bodies were still in overdrive. Atsumu cursed internally while rubbing his overly sensitive nose. The sneezes were sudden and painful - his face felt like it was on fire. Osamu didn’t fare any better. He tried massaging his hands, flicking them through the air, but no matter what they couldn’t stop shaking. 

It was clear both of them were losing patience with their bodies. Osamu snapped first, slapping his hands in defeat on his lap, growling deep in his throat. The sound startled Atsumu, but after a second he put his hand on Osamu’s neck, feeling the vibrations through his skin. His eyes sparkled in awe. Osamu stopped immediately, even more annoyed.

“‘Samu, that was so cool! How didja do it?”

“What are ya, a toddler? Never heard of this thing called vocal cords?”

“Oh, shut it, ‘Samu, I wanna growl like that too! Is this like an alpha thing?” Atsumu wondered, taking his hand away. “I only heard somethin’ like that comin’ out of Pops or Akagi when someone targets him durin’ matches.”

Osamu scrunched his eyebrows in thought, intrigued with the question. “Huh. Maybe? I dunno.”

“Do it again.”

And Osamu did. He took a deep breath, focused on his voice and let out a rumble. It was different from the one he made a minute ago, located deep in his chest. It was rusty, Osamu’s organs still getting used to the alphan parts of his body. Both twins looked at each other with sparkles in their eyes, previous worries replaced with child-like excitement.

“‘Samu, this is so cool—”

“I sound so badass—”

“Ya sound like a wolf, or a dragon—”

“‘Tsumu!” Osamu suddenly exclaimed. “Maybe ya can do it too!”

Atsumu sat up straighter, took a deep breath and with focus akin to the one during a very important serve, he tried.

“Grr.”

Osamu barked so loud it was a miracle his head didn’t detach from his neck.

“What was that?!” Osamu laughed, falling on the bed, holding his stomach. Atsumu flushed furiously in embarrassment.

“Oi, stop laughin’ ya asshole!” Atsumu shouted, taking a pillow and smashing it into Osamu’s face. The other was unfazed, still howling at the ridiculous sound Atsumu made.

A sudden thought entered Atsumu’s mind, souring his mood. He stopped trying to suffocate his brother and slumped on the mattress next to him.

“Maybe betas can’t growl.”

Hearing the dejected tone, Osamu shoved the pillow off his face to stare at his twin. Concern washed through his scent immediately.

“Jeez, chill ‘Samu, yer stinkin’ up the place,” Atsumu muttered with forced harshness.

Osamu said nothing for a while, focusing on his twin. When he finally voiced his thoughts, it was with a hint of worry. 

“Ya had a panic attack.”

Atsumu tensed up at the words. “Could ya not remind me of that, thanks.”

“Do ya hate betas that much?” Osamu asked suddenly. Atsumu looked at him with a bewildered expression, which quickly warped into fury. 

“Of course I don’t hate betas, I have nothin’ against ‘em! It’s just—”

“Just what? Why did ya react like that in the kitchen then?” Osamu snapped, annoyance back in full swing.

Atsumu felt his will to fight leave as fast as it came. He was tired. His face hurt. His nose burned from Osamu’s angry pheromones. The scent glands on his neck started itching uncomfortably. So instead of arguing back, Atsumu curled up further into the soft material of the comforter and began speaking.

He told Osamu how he still remembered the argument between two boys from the volleyball clinic they attended when they were children. He reminded him how their teacher completely rushed through the topic of betas during their special classes in junior high, as if their existence was meaningless.

He told Osamu about Hana. About Ginjima crushing on her since they stepped foot in Inarizaki. About her black hair and pretty eyes. How good of a buddy she was, helping them with homework and treating Atsumu like a teenager he was, not some volleyball idol. How she said in a cheerful voice that she presented as a beta.

He told Osamu about the whispers he heard in the halls. About the disgusting letters Hana found in her shoe locker. About words Ginjima tried wiping off as fast as he could from Hana’s desk before she saw them. About the girls she once called friends, who started looking at her with sneers. How she assured the two of them everything would get better after the summer break. How she apparently tried to commit suicide in her family's garden and left Hyogo because someone decided it would be fun to stalk and mentally destroy a 17 old beta who just wanted to have fun and eat chocolate for breakfast, all because someone from school leaked her phone number. 

Throughout Atsumu’s monologue, Osamu listened. He didn’t butt in at random moments or tried to laugh something off. He just laid there, occasionally massaging his still trembling hands. When Atsumu finished they stayed silent. He had no more tears to shed, but the topic of Hana’s fate still stung.

“We won’t let anybody do the same thing to ya, ‘Tsumu.”

Atsumu blinked, turning to his brother. “We?”

Osamu counted on his fingers. “Me and Suna. Gin. The rest of the team. Pops.” He hummed in thought for a second. “If Ma discovered someone tried to bully ya she’d probably claw their eyes out, so I think it’d be the best if she didn’t know.”

Atsumu snorted at the image of their mother marching into school to mutilate kids with her long nails and small stature.

“Yer right, ‘Samu. I’d feel sorry for the guards havin’ to watch over her in prison.”

“She’d scare the warden into submission.”

Atsumu fully laughed at that. In the middle of gasping for air, he sneezed and laughed even harder, Osamu joining in. They spent the next few minutes like this, laying on the bed, side to side, laughing so hard their lungs were starting to hurt. When they finally calmed down, the room was filled with their mixed scents, pleasant and gentle.

“Hey, ‘Samu.”

“Yeah, ‘Tsumu?”

Atsumu stood up and stretched his back until a satisfying pop sounded through his bones. “Boot up Dark Souls on my laptop, I’m gonna go ahead and bring somethin’ from the kitchen. I think I saw a pack of calbee chips in Pops’ drawer.”

“Oh? Why so suddenly?”

Atsumu grinned at him with a toothy smile, one of the honest ones. “I wanna see ya kick Gwyndolin’s ass.”

Osamu grinned back and went to grab the laptop from Atsumu’s desk. Getting permission to play his brother’s favorite computer game was the closest thing to ‘thanks’ Osamu would ever get, and he was more than happy to take it. 

The next day started with Atsumu rushing to the bathroom trying to contain a nasty nosebleed, while Osamu almost fell off the top bunk with a snarl upon hearing his brother’s horrified scream. When his alphan instincts stopped clouding his brain with protective urges, he went to check on his twin.

“Jeez, ‘Samu, ya sounded like some kind of kaiju back there!” Atsumu exclaimed with toilet paper stuffed up his nostrils upon noticing Osamu entering the bathroom. The blonde was standing next to the sink with his head down, rubbing the bridge of his nose. The front of his shirt was stained with blood.

“Well, for the record ya look like one right now.” Ignoring his brother’s offended squawk, Osamu started washing his face. While getting water in between his palms, he noticed they were still shaking, although not as much as yesterday.

“I’m gonna assume ya just complimented me.” Atsumu took out the bloody tissues and replaced them with fresh ones.

“Radioactive fat lizards are definitely hotter than ya.”

“Nice pun, comedy master. Ya should tell this one to Kita-san, maybe that’ll make him laugh.” In response, Atsumu received a smack to the back of the head. “Ouch, ‘Samu, I’m bleedin’ out here!”

“I can see that,” Osamu grumbled with a glare.

Both brothers fell silent for a moment. Osamu kept splashing water on his face, while Atsumu wiped the last bits of blood from his nose. He was about to join Osamu’s side when he noticed the alpha’s state.

“Yer hands are still tremblin’.”

“I think it’s because of the whole presentin’ thing. It’s not as bad as yesterday, so I ain’t complainin’. Ya still got that article saved on yer phone?” Osamu wondered while patting his face dry.

Atsumu nodded with a hum. “Yeah, I left it in the kitchen. Wanna check it out durin’ breakfast?”

“Yep.”

Clean and dressed up, they went downstairs. Osamu immediately checked out the contents of the fridge. Atsumu prepared the rice cooker, while his brother already started beating eggs for omelettes. After putting the water to boil for tea, Atsumu grabbed his phone. Ignoring messages and countless notifications about his birthday, he opened the website from Kita and clicked on the alpha section.

“It says right here that tremblin’ and muscle spasms are a normal occurrence ‘cause of the pheromones messin’ with yer adrenaline levels,” Atsumu read to Osamu, who was still busy at the kitchenette. “Good thing Ma’s not here, her scent could trigger your rut earlier.”

Osamu briefly gazed at his brother before returning his attention to the food. “It should start soon, right?”

“Between the third and fourth day.”

“Hmm.”

After setting everything at the table, they sat to eat their breakfast. If not for the lack of their mother, it was just like any other day - they bickered, laughed at each other and stole food from their bowls. 

After Osamu lost paper rock scissors and went to wash the dishes, Atsumu finally went through his notifications. He ignored most of them, only responding to family members and his teammates. After cleaning his phone from the messages, he got to the very first one, sent exactly at 1AM. His eyes widened in surprise, seeing who sent it.

“Oi ‘Samu, come here!”

“‘Tsumu, what—”

“We got an email from Pops!”

Forgetting what he was about to say, Osamu immediately joined his brother’s side, looking over his shoulder at the message while wiping his hands with a rag.

‘Heya boys! Happy birthday!

I can’t believe you’re already 17 and probably sporting another gender! Exciting!!! Can’t wait to see both of you when I get back home, I know it’s been only a few days, but I missed you and your Ma a lot.

I asked her to buy you two a little something from us since we can’t join you today for obvious reasons! Check the last shelf in the freezer, your Ma told me it should be somewhere in the back, but just in case look for a red box!!

Again, happy birthday, don’t kill each other while we’re away!

Your old man.’

Osamu immediately went towards the freezer, ignoring the rest of the dishes left in the sink. The box was indeed there, in all its frozen glory. Osamu took it out and put it on the counter after closing the freezer. 

“Hey, ‘Samu, is that frozen mochi ice cream?” Atsumu asked upon noticing the familiar picture on the box. Osamu nodded while opening the package. Inside were multiple little blobs of mochi in three different colors. Osamu took one out and put it in his mouth. He groaned in pleasure at the sweet taste of the gummy treat. Atsumu joined his side and ate one as well.

“Damn, these are good,” Atsumu mumbled with his mouth full. They stood there and feasted on the delicacies, quickly emptying the box.

Once Osamu finished doing the dishes they returned to their bedroom, silence once again overtaking them. Osamu sat on the bunk bed with crossed arms while Atsumu lounged on the swivel chair at his desk.

“So, now what?” Atsumu asked, idly scratching his wrist. The skin around his scent glands began to itch.

“Dunno. What did the website say?”

“Nothin’ much other than what we already know.” 

“Mhm.” 

Silence again.

“...wanna play Pro Evolution Soccer?”

“...yeah.”

Nothing much happened after that and their birthday passed uneventfully.

By the time the third day rolled around, Osamu’s rut started. Atsumu decided to save himself from his horny brother and took camp downstairs on the couch. He spent the whole day watching volleyball matches on his laptop, headphones turned up to the highest volume to muffle any noises coming from their bedroom. The last thing Atsumu wanted to hear was Osamu's snarls while jacking off. Once in a while Osamu left the room clad only in sweatpants to make himself something quick to eat, before going back upstairs, the spicy scent of rutting alpha following his every step. Seeing his brother tired, sweating buckets and having only a few minutes of rest before another wave hit him, Atsumu was glad he didn’t present as an alpha. He changed his mind immediately after getting a second nosebleed that day, cursing Osamu’s strong scent and his too sensitive nose.

On the fourth day, Atsumu woke up on the couch covered with his comforter, which he was pretty sure he left in their bedroom before leaving Osamu alone. It smelled like his brother too; a bit like his rut, but mostly like his normal, comforting scent. He briefly remembered the article Kita sent them saying that freshly presented alphas felt less anxious after scenting their family members. Atsumu’s nose didn’t bother him as much, perhaps thanks to the smell enveloping his frame. Osamu went downstairs to get breakfast, and if he noticed Atsumu wrapped tightly around the duvet he specifically rubbed on his neck in between waves of unattainable fulfillment and frustrated growls to give peace to his instincts, he said nothing. 

On the fifth day Osamu’s rut ended as fast as it began. They aired out their bedroom and the rest of the house where Osamu stepped foot to avoid their mother shouting at them for stinking up the place. Atsumu’s nose finally stopped itching; he could breathe with ease. His scent glands still bothered him, but it wasn’t something moisturizer couldn’t fix. Osamu went back to his calm self, no longer snapping at random things or growling at any inconvenience. They acted like nothing happened, bickered and fought over little things. Only now a scent of forest and bark followed their steps, slightly overpowered by a dash of alphan musk.

On the sixth day, their parents came back home after getting a call from Osamu that they both finished presenting. When their mother entered the house she sniffed the air like crazy, immediately taking off her shoes and marching deeper into the house. Their father came right after her, carrying his suitcase from the trip and the luggage the omega took with her a few days before. The twins welcomed their father with big hugs and warm smiles, the older Miya squeezing them back. His nose twitched and he backed up to properly look at his sons.

“You both kinda smell like me!” he exclaimed in excitement, sniffing the air again. “Toldja they take more after me than you, darlin’!” the man yelled towards the direction their mother went. She came back shortly after, confusion marking her face. The alpha cocked his head at her expression. 

“Somethin’ wrong?”

Atsumu shuffled slightly to stand behind his twin. Osamu pretended he didn’t notice.

She came nearer, shoving her face towards them as close as she could considering the height difference.

“One of ya doesn’t smell right.”

Their father tilted his head in confusion. “They smell completely fine to me.” He was about to say more when he was promptly shut down by his wife. 

“Hush.”

Both twins stayed silent, observing their mother. Her eyes narrowed at Atsumu.

“...I’ll call the clinic. We need to update yer medical papers.” 

She went into the kitchen to make the call. All three exhaled in relief at evading the omega’s anger. While their father wondered why she was so ticked off, the twins looked at each other in concern. They knew exactly what was the reason for her irritation.

They rode to the clinic a few hours later. The visit wasn’t supposed to take long. Since their data was already taken at school after the summer break, only blood samples were taken to confirm their secondary genders and put the update on slips of paper to be given to the school nurse on Monday.

While they waited for the results to come back, Atsumu tried to hide the anxiety rolling off him like waves. Osamu’s presence in the chair next to him slightly helped. He could feel their mother’s gaze drilling into his skull. 

The doctor returned with two sheets of paper.

“Osamu-kun is an alpha and Atsumu-kun is a beta,” he said, shooting Atsumu a look full of pity.

‘Fuck you too,’ thought Atsumu with the most deadpan expression he could muster while taking the paper into his hands.

“Thank you doctor. Have a nice day,” their mother said, with one of the fakest smiles Atsumu ever saw before they left.

“This changes nothin’, you know that right?” their father mentioned back at home, looking at the twins with eyes full of affection despite the slightly grim atmosphere they brought back.

For the rest of the week, the most comforting scent out of the three always stood next to the newly presented beta, reminding him of forests, damp earth and fresh rain, saying nothing.