Chapter Text
Societies shift in a multitude of ways.
When quirks appeared, society had to change in order to survive, now that humans were able to do more and more remarkable things. Secondary genders merely overcomplicated things, and between quirks and secondaries, the research was stronger behind the alpha/beta/omega genders.
Suppressors were created and institutionalized just like a vaccine for children to receive when they’re young, after their quirks appear. Secondaries would have no bearing on your daily behavior, on your stresses and worries. You wouldn’t have to bother with the sudden, annoying strike of a random heat, or struggle with your rutting emotions. It was easier. The suppressors worked, why would researchers bother with extensive double-checking?
There are some of course who refuse, who consider their secondary genders natural and normal, who don’t believe medical intervention is necessary, regardless of quirks. The Bakugou’s are one such family.
To them, the suppressors were clearly the fault for the increase of secondary related stressors. They effected the brain, their side effects were as long as your arm, and the longer you put yourself on them the more you felt disconnected to your secondary. Mitsuki lived with them for three long years in her later teens and realized she was more intense, more frustrated, and more volatile.
All the suppressors did were stifle her natural alpha tendencies, leaving her largely adrift. She vowed neither herself, her partner, nor her child would have to deal with that disconnect. Everyone under her roof would understand how to deal with their secondary impulses and the resultant behaviors.
Her boy, just like her. He has such a tough time of it, but he pulled through.
The Midoriyas, on the other hand, were the opposite. Inko made the decision early on, when Hisashi left, and when Izuku was diagnosed quirkless…well, it seemed like the best option for him. An omega male, without a quirk, he would be targeted even worse than he already was. She worried. She wanted him safe.
The odd thing was that the suppressor didn’t take. Doctors theorized it was due to his quirklessness, there wasn’t nearly enough research on the phenomenon, especially now that it was becoming rarer and rarer. Young Izuku would just have to live his life with his secondary gender. Inko thought maybe she had been wrong to try to take a second thing away from him, on top of his hero dream.
Izuku, when he was old enough to understand, thought the suppressor didn’t take because of Katsuki.
It’s a romantic idea, a bit of a flushed in the face hot idea, but it makes sense. At the time, Katsuki had already presented as alpha, his quirk was strong, his parents had rejected the suppressors with the personal beliefs clause – he was being taught every second day how to manage both his quirk and his instincts – and he had already claimed Izuku.
Not with a bond or anything of the sort, they were after all only five and six. But Katsuki had decided, in his tiny alpha mind, that Izuku was his omega, his pack’s omega, and that meant for life.
(He’d gone and bit Izuku’s left wrist gland and been utterly unrepentant for the two weeks of grounding he’d earned afterwards for the lifelong marking the boys didn’t quite understand the importance of yet).
As years passed, Izuku considered this theory well-proven given the evidence. He never told Inko, of course not, but Izuku knew Katsuki knew, and most likely his parents as well. They could scent it.
Izuku was Katsuki’s omega. For better or worse. For the rest of their lives. (There were options of mark removals, of course, technology has progressed wildly but still…it sort of felt like ripping off something essential to who they were).
During middle school, arguably the worst time in any teenager’s life, Katsuki didn’t know what to do with himself. His instincts said one thing, society said another. Izuku was small, and weak, and desperate to be a hero, desperate enough that he ran towards fights rather than away from them without even the most basic thing that would save himself and others: a quirk. He was a weakling, a crybaby, an omega, Katsuki’s omega and as much as Katsuki ran his mouth, vitriol and rage spewing out of the bubbling furnace within, he couldn’t help it. As much as Izuku smelling distressed, smelling hurt and sore and needy and crooning for help, Katsuki would still say such mean things and walk away from him. What else was he to do? He couldn’t admit to wanting to tuck him under his chin, couldn’t scent him, that would be so embarrassing in their middle school filled with suppressed teens and teachers who thought he very mention of a secondary was inappropriate and sexual.
Nobody ever laid a finger on Izuku.
Not Katsuki, and not anyone else either. The first bully that tried had his arm broken via enraged Katsuki dealing with the sudden understanding that people could hurt his omega. Could hurt Izuku and he’d do absolutely nothing to stop it out of some morally incomprehensible bullshit about hurting people, and Katsuki didn’t know how to handle it. The risk. The risk to his omega.
His omega.
Nobody targeted him physically, he was Katsuki’s, and that meant he belonged to him and he was the only one who could be cruel.
Quirkless, worthless, idiot, dumbass. Stop trying to be a hero. You’re not going to succeed. You’re just going to get killed. Let Katsuki do the heroic work. Stop trying to unseat him from his rightful place.
Katsuki’s the alpha. He’s supposed to protect his omega.
But he can’t, and won’t if his omega is a goddamn smug, arrogant, holier-than-thou piece of shit who looks down on Katsuki and his violent ways.
(Kacchan, you’re so dumb sometimes, Kacchan, are you listening? I don’t look down on you! I don’t, I could never, I love--)
As cruel as Katsuki was, he didn’t go too far. Izuku could tell where Katsuki’s rage flared and what he meant and what he didn’t. Some kind of omega instinct, perhaps. Sure, it still hurt and sucked and tore into his heart, but Katsuki was seeing a therapist now after that broken-arm incident. It was slow going, but things did change. He never resorted to physical violence, and every time he said something cruel, he’d get this puckered up look on his face that told Izuku he hadn’t meant to say that.
When something nearly slipped out, Katsuki would bite through his own tongue to stop it. Like that time with the roof and the diving.
Maybe one day Katsuki would even apologize.
As it was, U.A. changed everything in a very short period of time. Not only did Izuku have a quirk now, but it was also powerful, and made him a match to Katsuki. It was the alpha’s hidden dream come to life, that his omega was so strong, and so capable, and yet still happily his. Somehow, Katsuki lucked out with the most loyal, stubborn omega of them all.
After all the bullshit with the League and the whole kidnapping thing where Katsuki certainly had to face his fucking fears and his actual goals and dreams, and now? They’re in a good place. A great place. Katsuki could herd Izuku into his room and not let him leave for hours and his alpha would preen, Izuku’s omega would croon. Amazing. Like reliving themselves of a heavy weight, their secondaries could finally breathe freely.
The problems arose surrounding their mutual decision to not suppress and their classmate’s incomprehension of such a choice.
All their classmates had likely taken the suppressors, with the notable exception of Tokoyami, who had impeccable self-control due to obvious reasons. Their class didn’t quite know what to do with Katsuki and Izuku who behaved in ways that both baffled and alarmed them.
For instance, Katsuki would thoroughly scent Izuku in the mornings. It seemed a little shameful to them all, a bit embarrassing really, because it involved Katsuki physically forcing Izuku under his chin to rub their glands together, and it left Izuku stinking so heavily of Katsuki even the suppressed noses could smell it.
“Bakubro, why do you do that every morning?” Kirishima whispers, as Izuku trots off to his nerd group.
“Haah?” Katsuki grunts, irritated.
“The scenting thing, isn’t that super, like, old fashioned?”
“Not to mention, misogynistic.” Jirou, who lingered on the outskirts of their group chimed in with a raised eyebrow.
“You look at him and see a girl?” Katsuki throws back at her, “he’s an omega, not a woman. Omegas aren’t automatically chicks. That’s not very feminist of you. How dare you misgender him.” This stumps her, and the rest of them, because none of them expected sexual rights discourse to come from Bakugou of all people. He pulls down one of his lower eyelids and grimaces an ugly face, tongue out.
“But, dude, you do your whole alpha thing on him.” Kaminari attempts. “That’s not done anymore.”
“It’s not done because all of you and the sheep out there smother yourselves instead of working on self-control.” Katsuki grumbles, sneering.
Hearing Bakugou talk about self-control was enough for them all to exchange glances. It made Katsuki angrier.
“You think I’m dominating him? You don’t understand shit. Ask him, next time. Don’t just assume and go over his head to his alpha. That makes an ass out of you, not me.”
“That’s not how that saying goes.”
“Fuck you.”
Izuku stole people’s clothes now and then, or their bedding. When caught, he’d flush bright red and stammer, handing the item back and speeding away in a flash of green lightning.
Every now and then though, someone would get a peek into his bedroom and find a literal mountain of clothes on his bed shaped in a little cocoon, warm and heavily scented. It was weird, but harmless. Whatever he needed the clothes for, he would eventually return them washed and folded, so it wasn't too much of a bother. It wasn't in front of their eyes and they could all comfortably pretend it wasn't in his room at all, his weird room with all the All Might memorabilia. Just a thing Izuku did.
Katsuki yawns his way into the common room one weekend morning wearing an overly large overwhelmingly stinky hoodie.
“Dude.” Sero coughs, eyes watering. “What the fuck are you wearing?”
“Deku’s in preheat,” Katsuki answers blithely, eyes lidded and tired and perhaps the only reason he gave an answer at all. "Gotta boost his nest."
Someone nearby sputters, choking, and Sero flushes bright, bright red.
“Dude!” He hisses, ears burning. “Don’t just say shit like that!”
“What?”
“That Midoriya’s in, in…pre-heat.” Sero whispers it, glancing around. He finds Todoroki wiping his face of his breakfast cereal, eyes wide, obviously having heard.
“Fucking hell, you shitheads, it’s not like it’s pornographic.” Katsuki rolls his eyes, real irritation ticking his eyebrows down. “It’s just fucking pre, like a period but for Deku. Omegas have it, its normal.”
“Still!” Sero claps a hand over his eyes. “Not every omega does, I can’t believe you’re just, sharing this around! Don’t bring it up again, bro, like, man come on!”
Katsuki shakes his head and snarls at them, gathering a few water bottles and trudging back to Izuku’s room where he shuts the door with a loud snap. He doesn’t come out until school the next day, and Sero does his best to divert questions about both their whereabouts. He doesn’t want to know what they’re doing behind that closed door. He can only be thankful that Iida wasn’t in the know, the class prez would be going apeshit at the hint of something untoward going on behind the scenes.
So fucking embarrassing!
“Kacchan!” Izuku complains loudly, clutching his best stuffed All Might to his chest and knocking wildly on his alpha’s door.
Mina’s the one who answers, blinking her black eyeballs at him.
“Hi Mina!” He cheers, edging around her and finding most of the Bakusquad littered about Katsuki’s floor. That’s really progressive of him, letting them into his den. None were allowed on the bed, though, as they all sat in a circle on the floor. So, Izuku gleefully hops his way onto Katsuki’s mattress and flops face first into the sheets.
Making a noise that sounded like a car engine rumbling (purring, was he purring? They didn’t know omegas could do that), Izuku rubs himself around Katsuki’s bed and yanks at the pillows to make it more comfortable for himself. He even boldly wipes a hand over his glands and swipes it obnoxiously on every edge of the mattress, fortifying his new nest space.
“Err, what’s up Mido-bro?” Kirishima asks hesitantly, exchanging glances with the others behind his back.
“Deku, don’t pull the fitted sheet off again.” Katsuki says lowly, not even looking up from his open text on his desk.
“I had a very good day. I trained with All Might and then we went for ice cream.” Izuku announces to the room, words breaking his purrs into choppy sections. “Sorry, Kacchan, I didn’t think to bring you one.”
“S’okay, I wouldn’t want one this late.” Katsuki answers, rumbling something in return. Shit, that was a deep noise! He then holds his arm out and using his wrist gland, smears it directly over Izuku’s face in the most disgustingly bold move they’ve ever seen someone do in person. And all Izuku does is wrinkle his nose and giggle.
Giggle!
“Wha--! Bakugou!” Mina cries out, never one to stay silent when there was disrespect afoot, “Don’t do that!” She plants her fists on her hips and glares him down when he glances over, bored.
“Do what?” Katsuki answers, but then Izuku had snatched hold of that wrist of Katsuki’s and fucking, fucking…licked it! He licked the wrist gland!
Gaping, Mina doesn’t even know what to say.
Kirishima thinks he would be less embarrassed if Izuku had leaned over and blown Katsuki right there in front of them. He looks at Kaminari, who’s wide eyes are pinned to the two problematic friends of theirs, and frowning, Kirishima knocks his knuckles to the other’s knee. Startling and flushing red for being caught, Kaminari closes his eyes and slaps his palms over them.
“It’s okay Mina-chan,” Izuku says, muffled because Kirishima thinks he hasn’t yet let go of Katsuki’s wrist. Like a, like a harlot!
“Hey no stop that!”
“Alright, study time’s over, get the fuck out of my room!” Katsuki then roars, and they only have a few seconds to gather their books and such before he’s booted them right out. Kaminari shifts in place and beetles away towards his own room, walking with the bowed legs of the aroused and uncomfortable about it. Kirishima can’t believe that just happened.
“Do you think we should tell someone?” Kirishima whispers worriedly to Mina, who’s uncharacteristic silence was growing too uncomfortable to handle.
“I don’t know…” She answers, unsure, “It’s something that I’ve never seen before except when we were younger and some kids who weren’t suppressed were sent to the office. They were suspended, do you remember?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to suspend Mido-bro and Baku-bro!”
“We’ll talk to them.” Mina promises, and they part with the realization that this is going to have to need an intervention.
“But, Mido, he’s like, asserting his dominance over you.” Mina says frowning during lunch the next day. “I wouldn’t like it if he did it to me.”
“Did he do it to you?” Izuku turns and asks, tilting his head.
“What? No, of course not.”
“Then, you’re upset because he did it to me?”
“I’m not…not upset about it I just…” Mina glances around for support.
“We don’t like him using his secondary to control you.” Jirou offers.
“You think he controls me?” Izuku asks, almost amused but mostly concerned.
“Doesn’t he? He takes advantage.” This time it’s Todoroki who chimes in, and Izuku realizes he has half the class surrounding him looking for answers. Across the lunchroom, Katsuki is getting his plate of food with Kirishima chattering behind him, and Izuku sends the alpha a pleading glance.
Katsuki just snorts at him and flips him the bird.
“No, he doesn’t control me.” Izuku knuckles his forehead, trying to think of a way to explain it. The long-healed bite on his wrist catches his eye, and he thumbs it. “He’s an alpha, and I’m an omega. Or…rather, he’s my alpha, and I’m his omega. We’re pack.” He still blushes at saying this, despite all the distance they’ve overcome.
(They were together now. Literally. Actually together, Katsuki called him his boyfriend just yesterday, it’s amazing, Izuku is amazed. Sugoi, sugoi, sugoi!).
“That’s your secondaries though, it shouldn’t have any effect on your daily lives.”
“Suppressors don’t work on me, and Kacchan doesn’t believe in them. That means they do have effect on our daily lives. They have to, and we have to let them, otherwise…bad things. Bad things happen.” Something passes over his face, like a cloud over the sun and everyone exchanges glances.
“But, but, he’s dominating you without your consent!” Uraraka clenches her fist, hating how much Izuku seemed okay with this.
“Excuse me?!” Izuku’s head turns so fast his hair fluffs. “Without my consent, is that what you all think??”
“Well…yeah.” They nod, reluctantly in a few cases. “You’re an omega, he’s an alpha, it’s…nature.”
“Do you know anything about your secondaries? At all?” He’s shocked, and horrified. Possibly even appalled. “At how society lived with them before quirks? It’s history, it’s something everyone should know, it’s like…like…like puberty!” Izuku’s hands have started to gesture.
“Kacchan is dominating me. He is, in the natural order of things, more dominant than me.” Izuku puts his hands flat on the table and looks them all in the eye. “That does not mean I don’t give consent, nor that he takes anything that I don’t already offer. This is my choice.”
“Instincts make you submit, that doesn’t mean that you do, in truth, doesn’t it?” Iida exchanges a look with Todoroki, both frowning.
“Instincts don’t erase my consciousness! Alphas protect, they enable, they provide. Kacchan is dominant because he’s an alpha, which means I don’t challenge him and he provides for me. Omegas nurture, and comfort, and submit. It all acts the same way like it does when…when…when you hold a baby! Instinct makes you hold it close to you, right, holding up the neck?” Izuku mimes holding a child.
“Not everyone, some have no idea.” Tokoyami says lowly, slurping his noodles into his beak.
“Okay yes, true, but I’m talking the base instincts. The ones you don’t interact with, the ones that you just do, subconscious ones. But you still use choice, don’t you get it? Suppressors don’t take that away, so neither does not being suppressed.”
“No, not really, Mido.” Mina crosses her arms onto the table.
Izuku’s head works on a swivel, unsure who to look at. His scent has started to balloon around him, but most couldn’t tell what it meant. Sitting right beside him, Aoyama has a troubled frown.
“But, guys! I’m an omega, I am the protected, Kacchan is the alpha, which means he is the protector. Yes, basically that means he’s dominating and bigger and stronger than me, and I don’t generally feel the need to challenge him at all because he does all that for me. Does that mean the omegas are beaten, and, and, alphas refuse to provide? No! People still choose to do that!” He’s getting upset now, his eyes are misting over and the rest around him are looking more and more uncomfortable.
In fact, it’s particularly the omegas who look rather unhappy. Aoyama, Tsuyu, and Koda shift in their seats.
“You’re contradicting yourself, Midoriya, you say its unconscious, but also conscious choice?” Todoroki crosses his arms.
“Also then, are you taking advantage of his alpha instincts the same way he’s taking advantage of your omega instincts?” Mina says.
“I’m getting confused.” Kaminari mutters.
Staring between them all, Izuku opens and closes his mouth, at a loss. His mouth puckers and his eyes start to glisten. Shit. Shit, shit! They’ve made Izuku cry; now even the alphas of the group were shifting on their feet, back stiffening.
“The fuck are you all on about.” Katsuki appears like a bad dream, hovering at the end of their table with one hand full of a meal tray piled with two portions and the other in his pocket.
“Kacchan!” Izuku cries out and escapes by slipping under the table and crawling by everyone’s legs. He emerges and crawls up Katsuki’s body until his nose is pressed tight to the underside of his chin.
“The fuck?!” Katsuki, to the surprise of many, doesn’t push him away but presses a hand to the top of his head, clutching him closer. His nose dips into green hair and he audibly inhales, red eyes darting up to glare accusingly. “The fuck have you assholes been telling him?”
“We’re just trying to understand.” Uraraka says, plaintive and concerned.
“In other words, you don’t know a damn thing about what you’re talking about, and you’re trying to convince him he’s wrong anyways?” Katsuki’s lip curls. “Way to gaslight an omega into fucking distress.”
A ripple runs through them all, and before they say another word, Katsuki has Izuku wrapped up under his arm.
“Oh, that made you think, huh? Well, your instincts are still working under all that shit, you just stopped listening years ago. Fuck off, all of you.” Katsuki turns and drags Izuku away with him.
“I’ll see you guys later.” Izuku sniffs tearfully, worrying his hands together like he does when he’s upset. They don’t see them until class restarts, and even then, they’re treated with the cold shoulder. In the dorms, usually Izuku wanders around with his nerd squad studying together, and Katsuki hovers about the kitchen that he considers mostly his domain. Instead, they retreat to Katsuki’s room and don’t come out till the morning.
Despite Iida’s reprimands, Izuku merely sidesteps him and scurries away while Katsuki herds the alpha away with snarls and explosions.
The next homeroom, it all coalesces.
“It has come to my attention that this class is in significant need of a review on basic health.” Aizawa flicks the projector on and a slideshow flicker into view with the damning words “Gender and Sexual Health” written in unforgiving pink.
Several start groaning, burying their heads in their arms. Aizawa merely smiles his awful grin, several coffees deep and having heart palpitations because of it.
“I would like nothing more than to ignore this entirely, but I had a distressed omega in my office for the majority of lunch yesterday. So, we’re going to handle this right now, in class, so that never happens again.”
Izuku flushes a mortified red and hides himself in his hands. Scoffing, Katsuki kicks his chair back to balance against his omega’s desk, one arm claiming it and its occupant as his territory. He reaches up and scratches at his scent patch (a requirement for heroics classes, particularly for Katsuki himself since his scent is at least three times stronger than the average alpha).
Aizawa clicks through to a slide labelled Alpha.
“Exhibit A.” A picture of Bakugou in mid-fight patter, screeching like a banshee and bludgeoning everything around him with explosives. “The alpha.”
Katsuki growls at Aizawa (playfully, with the noted deference for an authority figure of indeterminant gender) as some of the class laugh.
“In this room, there are around fourteen alphas. That is a lot. Statistics have shown the secondary gender disparity to have grown to two thirds alpha, one third omega, and with the odd beta in between. That means the rise of secondary related stress incidents increased, as did the resulting reliance on suppressor medications.” Aizawa leans on one hip, watching his students. “Most of you are suppressed, as were your parents, and likely, as were your grandparents. That’s okay, that’s accepted as the norm. But it does nothing to stop your instincts, and the more you ignore them, or impose society’s views on yourself and others, the more you’re going to struggle with the inconsistencies.”
Izuku has started a low mutter, mostly aware of this information but scribbling away in his notes anyways.
Yawning, Katsuki tunes out entirely and turns his attention to said omega. Reaching out, he works his fingers into Izuku’s hair and tugs, pushing his head around even while he continued to mutter. Lounging, Katsuki’s somehow half draped over both his desk and Izuku’s.
Some alphas bristled at the sight. Others turned their gazes away submissively.
“Exhibit B.” Aizawa actually brings out his laser pointer and pins the light to Katsuki’s forehead. “What exactly is Bakugou doing right now?”
Katsuki grunts but ignores the sudden wash of eyes on him. Stiffening when he looks up and finding most of the class looking at them, Izuku breaks his muttering with a muted whine. In response, Katsuki immediately starts tugging at green hair again, and Izuku obeys his silent order, ducking his head down to put his own behind Katsuki’s head on his desk. It hides Izuku from the class, and lets Katsuki grind his forehead into the desk with a firm push. Red eyes open to glare at the class.
“Um.” Uraraka fills the awkward silence Aizawa’s question left. “Bullying Deku-kun?”
Here Katsuki actually casts her a disbelieving look. Then it swings to Aizawa, who’s pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Scenting marking?” Jirou.
“No, no, he’s dominating, right?!” Kaminari.
“This is worse than I thought.” Aizawa mutters. “Bakugou, remove your scent patch. You too, Midoriya. This needs a practical example. Do not make me regret it, this is for educational purposes.” A flicker of red eyes to make his point.
“Fuck yeah,” Katsuki mutters, immediately stripping his patch off, flicking it at Kirishima who’s nose just wrinkles.
“Are, are you sure, Sensei?” Izuku slowly reaches for his own neck, but finds Katsuki’s fingers there first, ripping his patch off. Yelping, Izuku bites at his alpha’s fingers with cute little snaps of his teeth, rubbing at his raw gland.
“Act as you would privately, problem children. I’m going to reverse years worth of your classmate’s ignorance in a single homeroom. I’m not dealing with this more than once.”
“Hah!” Katsuki drops his chair to all fours and pushes back to grin wickedly at their classmates. “Fuckheads. Read ‘em and weep.” He pats at his lap demandingly, and Izuku immediately obeys (obeys! Like he’s a dog!), standing and rolling his eyes, rounding the desk to crawl into Katsuki’s lap and stick his nose in his shoulder.
“That’s not how that saying goes, Kacchan.” It’s mumble into his uniform.
“Fuck you too, now hold still.”
“S-Sir!” Iida calls, scandalized. Several others were pink-cheeked, some even shying away. “This is inappropriate!”
“No, it’s not. That’s an omega seeking comfort, and an alpha happily providing it.” Aizawa sighs. “There is nothing inappropriate, sexual, or wrong about their actions. Use your eyes. Use your noses. What are they doing?”
Katsuki flicks a middle finger at them and licks a broad strip over Izuku’s neck and neck gland. Their scents had slowly filled that classroom, but now Izuku’s has turned sweet and warm, like the way a home cooked meal fills an apartment with love and safety.
“Kacchan,” Izuku mumbles, rubbing his nose back and forth and eventually leaning his head on his shoulder trustingly.
Katsuki’s head falls to Izuku’s shoulder too, and the class is treated with the sight of all the tension seeping from both their shoulders, melting together like, well…like…
Like they’ve needed this all week and now they can finally relax.
Unbidden, the rest of them are beginning to relax too.
“Alphas and omegas have instincts. We communicate in more ways than just speaking. Body language, scents, sounds, all of it combines to make a conversation that if you ignore it, or consider it embarrassing, you’re missing key pieces of information.” Aizawa crosses his arms and tries not to sink to the floor and give up. “I understand you’ve all been raised in an environment where instincts are considered inappropriate for school. In my opinion, this mentality will only harm you when you’re out in the world working as a pro. You have to be able to understand this language, your own instincts, your own reactions. With villains, civilians, other heroes, yourself. You can’t continue blundering through these interactions or you might cause more problems than you seek to resolve.”
Katsuki pets up Izuku’s back and cups his head, leaning him back to nuzzle into his cheeks, nipping his chin, rubbing their neck glands together in a sweet, intimate display. Both of them appear to have either forgotten or stopped caring that their classmates are nearby. In fact, Izuku’s gaze is hazy and untroubled when Katsuki puts him back onto his opposite shoulder, handled with care. It’s… sweet.
“You have all been displaying your instincts this whole time.” The class shifts. “I’m not accusing you of anything. Just think about it. Pretending you don’t exhibit these behaviors is faulty logic and should be corrected. You are not special nor better to act as though your secondary’s have no impact on your daily life. Because they do, even when suppressed. Suppressors only mean your instincts and scents aren’t loud, but they’re still there. There’s a reason the suppressor isn’t mandated. They are a choice. Yes, an overwhelming number of people choose to use them out of convenience, but that does not mean those who don’t, or can’t, are somehow in the wrong. This has nothing to do with vaccines or herd immunity. This is gender.”
Aizawa waves a hand to the bonded pair, who seem to be drawing themselves out of their fugue, calmed and relaxed unlike they’ve seen before in class. The ever-anxious Izuku is smiling, shoulders loose, happily sitting in Katsuki’s lap as though he wasn’t embarrassed like he normally would be. Katsuki, in comparison, has his hands full of omega thigh and is remarkably smug about it.
“Some of your alphas look at Katsuki and want to growl. His scent is strong, overpowering, it permeates the air and clogs your own scent from working, which is historically, a bad thing.” Katsuki’s grin is mean, and he snaps his teeth at his classmates in a petty showboating display. “Some of you feel frustrated because you haven’t fought him directly, and so your mental hierarchy of the class is skewed. Others more, are jealous of Katsuki’s luck, to have an omega of his own who smells, apparently, rather sweet and savory, which is attractive to many alphas.”
Kirishima exchanges a glance with Sero. Behind the class, Todoroki puts his hands to his face, vainly trying to block his nose. Momo’s cheeks are bright pink.
Tokoyami is actually doodling in his notes, utterly uninterested in his classmate’s late sexual education.
“Sensei,” Shouji raises one of his arms. “Are you saying that we should be listening to our instincts? I ask not for myself, but because Bakugou-kun tends to challenge anyone and everything, and if we did answer it then he’d never stop fighting.”
“And, and, Sensei,” Mina also raises her hand. “Midoriya-kun has no choice in all this, does he? If his natural inclination is to submit, how can anyone be sure it’s genuine?”
“Nice, inclination.” Kaminari mutters to her and they knock fists.
“Bakugou is a special case,” Aizawa’s expression is dry, “but the fact of the matter is, he is at the top of the food chain in this classroom, second only to me.” Aizawa raises an amused eyebrow at the discontented muttering this spawns. “It’s nobody’s fault but yours. Bakugou established himself as the top alpha ages ago, and nobody has actually fought him properly since, save for the Sports Festival, where, incidentally, he won.”
“Shitty win.” Katsuki mutters, but Izuku slapped at his face to shut him up. They start whispering together, with Katsuki massaging large circles over Izuku’s thighs. They’re so close together their noses brush.
“Regarding the choice to submit as you put it, Ashido, think about why you’re asking that question as an alpha and not an omega. Do you really know their experiences? Are you speaking for him, because you yourself wouldn’t feel comfortable in that position? Of course, you wouldn’t, you’re an alpha and an extroverted one. Perhaps you should consider how you naturally dominate in your own life to others around you.” Aizawa lifts an eyebrow at her instant protest arising on her tongue. “don’t lie to yourself, I watched you peer pressure the other girls just the other day to all wear the same outfit to the mall. That counts.” Silenced, Mina shuts her mouth and her brows furrow, thinking.
That…that was true. She had spearheaded the dress up idea and been insistent. She’s always careful not to be forceful, but she often wants to get her own way. Was that really her doing alpha things, like Blasty?
Privately, many are making connections between their own feelings. Uraraka firmly looks at her own crush and realizes yeah, she had some lingering resentment over Bakugou being the one to have Izuku. She never even stood a chance and she’s been taking it out on him. Actually, she thinks ruefully and rather despondently, she’s been trying to undermine the other alpha through Izuku. That’s not cool of her.
She’s going to apologize as soon as she can. To both of them.
Iida Tenya has always been uncomfortable with public displays of affection. Even the primary kind. Secondary behaviors always struck him as shockingly intimate, not for his or anyone else’s eyes to see, so why would they behave in public in such a manner?
His parents weren’t the affectionate type, and even Tensei has a large personal bubble. Perhaps he has unconsciously ingrained that in his own mind, that everyone should be as private and formal as his own family is. He’s never once doubted his family’s love for him, and he doesn’t now, but comparatively to the way Bakugou and Midoriya were, were cuddling right now, innocent and affectionate and enjoying the contact for just being contact…
Iida has to contemplate this a bit more.
“There are proper channels for these things. Obviously don’t go around fighting your classmates in the hallways, don’t bite people without permission, etcetera, etcetera. Use your common sense. There are official avenues for establishing the pecking order, especially since you are now all living together.” Aizawa continues, drawing unconscious circles on the ground with his laser pointer.
Aizawa clicks, sliding to a new image labelled ‘Omega’. Midoriya’s face takes up half the slide, a frozen still from the sports festival where he actually looked…rather feral.
Ah, this was when he exploded the third stage of the race challenge, leaving the top two students in his dust.
“Now, opposites. Omegas are pack creatures, so those of you who want to go over and cuddle Midoriya at all times aren’t in the wrong. You’re not crazy, or needy, or clingy or anything you may have been told as a child.” Tsuyu’s shoulders relax. “His scent is unsuppressed, so he’s naturally the most dominant omega of the group, the pack leader if you will, the same as Bakugou. Most think omegas have to be submissive and answer to an alpha’s every whim. Think they have to be sweet and caring and soft, unable to fight. Tell me, does Midoriya look like he’s going to obey Bakugou, even when he thinks he’s in the wrong?”
They look over just to see Izuku bare his teeth at his alpha in defiance. In contrast, the alpha wasn’t exploding with slighted rage the way they would expect (has he ever though? Out of the norm?). He leans away with an ugly pout but lets his omega quietly lecture him over something they’ve all clearly missed.
“Has he ever obeyed an authority figure’s explicit instructions?” Aizawa’s expression turns a mite sour, and several people snicker into their hands.
“Thinking like this isn’t your fault, you have been indoctrinated by a culture of omega-weak, alpha-strong all your lives. What you do need to do, is train yourself out of these stereotypes. You’re concern mainly lies under the assumption that Bakugou, as an alpha, is dominating Midoriya simply because he’s an omega. That as an omega, Midoriya has no agency over himself and needs to be protected and can’t choose who dominates him.” Several people shift in their seats, seeing the discrepancy but Aizawa needs to spell it out. “You thinking the latter means you are doing the former.”
“…what?” Mina asks baldly.
Okay, too concise.
“Thinking that Midoriya is a slave to his omega instincts is you believing he is weaker because he’s an omega. It is you as alphas, or betas, or omegas, looking at him and thinking he needs to be protected from himself, because he can’t or won’t resist his own base instincts.” Aizawa looks at them, making eye contact with the braver ones and watching the shy ones duck their gazes in respect. “It is not up to you to assign people what behaviors they should be allowed. Particularly not omegas. Or women, for that matter. You are not miraculously the only person who can think without their alpha, or omega, or whatever interfering. Disabuse yourself of that thought, allow people their own agency, and suddenly your instincts and theirs are doing their jobs. It’s communicating, like adults, like every person around you is a capable, thinking human being, regardless of their secondaries. Listen to your instincts, ignore what society has trained you to think, and listen.”
“Fuckhead, don’t laugh—” Katsuki hisses at Izuku, who’s giggling and leaning away from snapping alpha teeth. He’s got handfuls of Izuku’s ass now, and his mouth drops to seal over Izuku’s collarbones, the omega’s hands working into the alpha’s hair and massaging at his scalp. It must feel good, because Katsuki’s groan is dirty, his alpha scent turning heavy.
“Alright, wrap it up before you scar your classmates for life.” Aizawa breaks into their little moment and Izuku startles, blinking in horror at the class who unabashedly stares back.
“Wha-what-what, oh no, oh no, I forgot we were--” He scrambles up from Katsuki’s lap, who grumbles in displeasure, trying to snatch him back. “Kacchan, we’re in sex-ed!” Izuku sidles into his desk chair again and clears his throat, rubbing at his face and his neck where, they realize, he’s got alpha spit trailed all around his skin.
Katsuki scoffs, crossing his arms.
“Anything to add, you two?” Aizawa asks them.
“Fuck all of you who think just ‘cause you’ve got those suppressors in your blood you’re better than me. I’ll fucking destroy you.” Katsuki’s sneer is curdling, and of course with this class they don’t quail. He’s sent a few thumbs up by his friends, his classmates merely shrug at him or nod.
“Less language next time please but yes, fine. Midoriya?”
Izuku chews on his lip for a second.
“I know you guys only wanted to look out for me, so I’m not…mad. I can choose for myself, though, and I think…well my personal thought is that everyone should be more in-tune with themselves. It makes things so much easier when you accept who you are.” He laughs sheepishly. “I like being an omega, and Kacchan is my alpha. We may have had some rough times before, but we’ve figured them out. We’re figuring them out.” He corrects, reaching forward and lightly drawing his fingertip over Katsuki’s nape. The alpha shivers, then whirls to smack his hand away. Izuku just grins, and they’re all suddenly awash with the realization that yeah, Izuku did like Katsuki and all of Katsuki’s alpha tendencies.
And what he liked and wanted had nothing to do with them.
Aizawa’s losing steam here, he’s gonna wrap this up.
“Lastly, not to let them be forgotten as they often are, Betas. We are fortunate in that we have two in our class alone.” The slide clicks again.
“Represent!” Hagakure hops up to cheer, and Ojiro shakes his head, hiding from the curious gazes of his alpha and omega classmates.
“Betas do not lack these instincts that an alpha or omega has, they have the understanding of both but without the instinctual drive to either mate or be mated.” This causes an intense blush to crawl up many people’s faces. “Betas are the cornerstone of society, because they’re in the perfect position to act as mediators and hold onto leadership with the ability to not just understand but anticipate others’ behaviors. You’ll note that Mashirao and Hagakure are both in the top levels of class and rarely need to be disciplined. I’d say you were my favorites, but I don’t have favorites.”
“That is a filthy lie.” Katsuki mutters under his breath and earns a flash of red eyes.
Aizawa clicks off the projector and gives off an exhausted sounding sigh. Then he pulls a stack of paper from his sleeping bag and slaps it down on the desk.
“Homework.”
Kaminari groans despairingly, and Kirishima tugs at his own hair.
“Pop quiz tomorrow morning about this in backet. Focus on the terms and definitions, mostly, this will walk you through blooming, rutting, heat, pregnancy, contraceptives, and historical behavior signals that cross into modern day.” Aizawa holds up one finger even as the class-change bell rings. Class 1-A has long since learned not to move when the bell rings, lest Aizawa keep them back for an hour out of sheer teacherly spite.
“Bottom line: if I ever have to deal with omega-alpha affairs again from a pack of hormonal teenagers, I’m shedding my mortal body and haunting this classroom as an evil spirit. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Sensei.”
Back at the dorms, Iida sends himself into a stiff 90-degree bow.
“I apologize Bakugou-kun! Midoriya-kun!” he yells to the floor. “It was not my intention to cause distress, merely my own ignorance and discomfort with personal relations.”
“Err, Iida-kun…” Izuku reaches out for his shoulder, but Katsuki smacks his hand down.
“Don’t do it again, Glasses!” the alpha barks and herding his omega away. “And don’t be creepy, who the fuck says relations anymore. What are you an eighty-year-old grandmother?!”
“I’m sorry too,” Uraraka says, standing in Katsuki’s way defiantly. “I’ve been a bad friend to both of you, and I will try to be better. Aizawa’s quiz packet has a lot of references, so I’m gonna look it up on my own time.” She then leans forward, struggling to drop her shoulders, and hugs Izuku and Katsuki. Clearly, it’s odd to her, listening to what her inner alpha is trying to say (Katsuki=pack alpha, Izuku=pack omega, but also Katsuki’s, apology and submission) but she tries.
“Me too!” Mina chimes in. Beside her, Kaminari is already leafing through the information packet and pointing at something with pink cheeks. Sero snickers, elbowing him.
Considering their places in hierarchy are clear (she’d fought well, but he’d won in the end), Katsuki allows Uraraka this for a mere second before shivering his way out of the gross hug and dumping Izuku’s ass on the couch. He storms off to the kitchen like a thundercloud, leaving Izuku to deal with the extras and their soft, emotional gushy feelings.
“Guys, guys, it’s okay,” Izuku rubs the back of his head. “It’s been a stressful week for us all.”
Never mind that it’s just Wednesday.
“Mido-chan, I’m sorry for not interfering, before. I know you were uncomfortable and getting upset with the line of questioning, but I am not really in tune with my omega.” Tsuyu says, reaching for his hand. “My suppressors didn’t work one hundred percent on me, either.” Indulging their omegas, Izuku rubs their wrists together for a quick pack-scent, and his friends crowd around to share in it.
“Nobody touches my omega!” Katsuki hollers from the kitchen, and Izuku laughs quietly, even as his classmates take a healthy step back.
Look at those listening skills in practice.
“It’s okay, he’s just on edge a bit. He’s tried really hard to leave behind some of those unhealthy belief systems that we were all talking about, so whenever it seems like he’s failing he over-commits with the alpha stuff.” Izuku scratches at his re-applied scent patch. “It…just trust us, okay? We know ourselves.”
“It will take time to unlearn a lot of this. My father is a very traditional person, perhaps I’ve been influenced more than I thought.” Todoroki replies, his expression tightening.
“Fuck your old man.” Katsuki grunts, appearing like a specter behind Izuku and shoving a full bowl of food at him. Leftovers, from yesterday, but Izuku takes it with a pleased chirp like it’s been made new. Katsuki rumbles something alpha-like and sticks his nose in green hair for one long moment.
Then he’s fleeing the common room, Kirishima, Mina, Kaminari, and Sero on his heels hollering about study help.
Left with his own friends, Izuku laughs, shaking his head.
“So, Bakugou-kun just simultaneously provided a meal and verbal comfort, is that right? Does it impact your omega to be fed directly by your alpha, or would any do?” Iida asks, his leaflet held open in front of his nose.
“Er,” Izuku coughs on a mouthful. “Mostly it’s just my alpha providing to keep me fed and safe.”
Awkwardly, Todoroki clears his throat and tries to find the same frequency Katsuki had used. He tries a few times, rumbling noises that ended squeakily, or in a questioning tone.
Taking pity, because Todoroki was just so serious-faced, Izuku cooed a noise that would be appropriate for pack. Beside him, Tsuyu quietly mimicked it, and Iida, Uraraka, and Todoroki all crowded in close in unconscious response. The looks of bafflement on their faces is almost hilarious, but after a few tries and back and forths with Izuku’s patient cooing, Todoroki finds a comfortable mix of contentment and alpha-like protectiveness in his voice.
He rumbles it, proud of his achievement.
“How did you do that?!” Uraraka hisses, poking at her own throat.
Izuku realizes he’s just basically volunteered to help teach his friends how to be alphas.
When he climbs the stairs to Katsuki’s room, Izuku runs into Kirishima and Sero on their way out.
“Hey man!” Kirishima almost throws his arm around Izuku’s shoulders like he normally would, but awkwardly stiffens to stop himself.
“It’s okay, Kirishima,” Izuku smiles, waving a hand into Kacchan’s open door where he sulks on the bed. “You can still hug me and stuff, Kacchan knows he has to deal with it, and I don’t mind.”
“Okay, good,” Kirishima puffs out and wraps him up in his strong arms. Sero reaches over head and ruffles his hair with an uncommonly serious expression on his face. He even apologizes.
“Hey man, sorry about all that yesterday. I didn’t say anything but I’ve thought the whole alpha-omega bond thing was weird this whole time, my parents aren’t bonded pair so I’ve never seen it anywhere except on TV.”
“Yeah, I know, and movies and stuff make it seem like this big sexual thing, but it’s not.” Izuku answers and indulges himself with a quick hug to Sero’s thin middle.
“Alright, alright!” Katsuki complains from inside the room, and both Kirishima and Sero snicker as they leave.
“Kacchan,” Izuku sighs, entering and closing the door behind himself.
“Don’t Kacchan me!” Katsuki lays flat on his back glaring at the ceiling. “That was the worst thing to ever happen. Now I’m gonna have to deal with all the dominance fights.”
“What, are you worried?” Izuku asks, kicking off his house shoes and crawling up beside his alpha.
“No!” He blusters. A quiet moment passes, he lifts his arm so Izuku can cuddle underneath and he does with the same breathless wonder he’s had since they started this whole thing. “A little. Maybe. Just a bit.”
Izuku hums, letting him talk it through.
“It’s not something to be worried about, fuck, I’m not the top in grades or battle, so this shouldn’t be a huge deal.” He starts to mutter darkly and all Izuku catches is ‘--fuckin Icyhot--‘.
“But you’ve always held up the slack in class for pack behavior, Kacchan. You make sure discipline gets done, you give people their responsibilities, you provide for us all.”
“Shut up.” Katsuki mutters with pink ears. “Glasses is prez.”
“That’s different, that’s academics. You’re my alpha, and now I’m going to have to share you and your touches with everyone. They’re all learning. I just had to teach my friends how to vocalize. They didn’t even know how to use their vocal cords, Kacchan!” Izuku whines into Katsuki’s shoulder and armpit.
“You’re not sharing me.” Katsuki grumbles, rolling so they’re all wrapped up and Izuku’s nose is dug tight between his pecs. “I’m not sharing you, motherfucker, so don’t even think it.”
“I think it’ll be good.” Izuku tries to remain confident. “We’re all a pack anyways, and you and I can den together in here. Unless my room is better?”
“Not with your fucking Dad staring us down from every angle. We’ll move your nest in here.”
“He-he’s not my dad!”
“He’s your fucking dad.” Red eyes glint with humor. “Remember last parent teacher conference? Your mum and All Might were in the office for quite some time.”
“Wha—no--absolutely not!” Izuku cries, wriggling to try to escape and show his displeasure. Katsuki cackles out a laugh and rolls him underneath himself, and naturally, Izuku lets himself be moved face down, hips propped up. Katsuki lays overtop, mouth finding and suckling the gland contentedly, hips finding a quiet, gentle pace that just pushes them together. It’s comforting, a quiet confirmation that they’re each other’s, that they want what the other wants.
“Not everything’s sexual, huh? We certainly are.” Katsuki breathes into his neck.
“We, we haven’t even had sex,” Izuku whispers, trying not to moan. The walls were thin. “And you, you can’t get me turned on so quickly after talking about my mom and All Might.”
“No?” Katsuki teases, running a palm down Izuku’s side to find his belt. He doesn’t try to undo it, but he does pull on it so they’re flushed entirely together. “Not even a little bit?”
Izuku muffles himself with a palm and groans into it, shivering when Katsuki’s teeth scrap down against his gland. Oh, that’s teasing a mating bite, that’s not fair.
“Three hundred years ago, I would have been within my rights to fuck you in front of the entire class.” Katsuki whispers hotly into his ear, and Izuku’s eyes nearly roll straight back. “That would really show them you’re mine, wouldn’t it? Making you come on my knot, filling you up so plugged you get fat with my jizz?”
Izuku whines, panting, hips moving to try and spread his legs further, to arch and give Katsuki what he wants.
“You are—haah—the worst!” Izuku says to him, quivering but unable to deny the shot of arousal that fills him, makes him wet. “Three hundred years ago, I wouldn’t even be allowed to go to school. I’d be at home with like, three children by now and you’d be out working a nine to five!”
“Pity. I’d like to come home to find you waddling around pregnant, brats underfoot, a young one sucking on your tit.” Katsuki says it so nonchalantly, like it wasn’t rocking Izuku’s world. Red eyes do widen, however, when Izuku’s scent blooms free and wild, swelling with such haste that he’s overcome for a few minutes, utterly slaved to the omega’s sweet, sticky smell.
“Fuck.” Katsuki slurs, swimming back to consciousness and finding Izuku half undressed and whining, his own hand stuck into those stupid cargo shorts and touching, finding slick and something hot and puffy that flutters under his fingers.
“You, you can’t say things like that without…without…” Izuku pants, eyes nearly black.
“Without?” Katsuki grins, gathering up all his alpha strength to take his hands out of his omega’s pants and smear his own lips with the collected slick. The taste, the smell of it right under his nose, it nearly turns him feral, but he slams his mouth over Izuku’s the instant he thinks he might succumb. They share it between them and come down from that near high.
“Without?” He breathes heavily in Izuku’s air space.
“Without what?” Izuku mumbles in return, eyes half lidded and legs shifting unconsciously around Katsuki’s hips.
Having thoroughly kissed his omega into submission, Katsuki rolls to the side and puts his arms behind his head to grin smugly up at his ceiling. He ignores his rock-hard erection stifled in his pants and luxuriates in their combined scents. After a few moments of whining and pleading and catching his breath, Izuku rolls over and lays his head over Katsuki’s chest, cuddling in close.
“Why did we decide to wait to have sex?”
“Cause when I fuck you, I’m gonna knot you for hours.” Katsuki answers, allowing himself to drift into a small doze. They have time. “And I’m not gonna have your fuckhead friends interrupt me.”
He drops his closest arm around Izuku’s shoulders, burying his hand in green hair.
“I liked today, Kacchan. It was nice to sit with you with our friends around.” Izuku mumbles, half asleep. “Felt like we were part of a pack again.”
Their pack had never been large. Just them, their parents, the odd toddler friend who they couldn’t remember the names, let alone the scent anymore. Having to hide this part of themselves from the rest of the class had been so difficult, particularly after fighting tooth and nail to have it in the first place. Now their fellow alphas and omegas, their two crucial betas, would try to be on the same page. Katsuki would likely have much less need to bluster and fight his friends, Izuku would be able to indulge his scenting and nesting habits. Katsuki could cover him in his scent without having to deal with an over-protective, overly snide extra casting judgement on his treatment of his omega.
Class 1-A, pack.
“Yeah. I liked it too.”