Cherish

“Oi, what time do you think it is to be coming home?”

Hearing Takeo’s voice upon his entrance into the house, Tsuyoshi finally slipped out of his love-filled daze. It wasn’t often that Takeo saw his friend so out of it. He had to take this rare opportunity to turn all of Tsuyoshi’s teasing back on him, a mischievous grin forming on his face.

“Ah, so that’s it! Your date with Azuma-kun went well. Did you kiss him? Huh? Sen-chan, why are you so red? Are you blushing?! How cute, Sen-chan!” The two friends only added -chan to each other’s names when they were making fun of the other.

“Don’t call me Sen-chan!”

“Sorry, are you angry Sen-chan?” At that Tsuyoshi glared at him and playfully punched a widely grinning Takeo as he walked past him and went to his room to finally sleep after all of the night’s heart-racing events. His thoughts and dreams that night comprised entirely of Azuma Seimei.

Two weeks after their first date, at the aquarium.

Azuma is staring mesmerized at a tank of multi-colored koi fish and Tsuyoshi is staring at Azuma, his heart taken by the sight. Anyone who looks at them can easily tell that they are dating by their closeness and stolen glances at each other’s visage, except for one particularly daft Omega who does not seem to get the obviously clear message.

He seems to have fallen in love with Tsuyoshi when Tsuyoshi caught him before he fell down from the stairs but walked away before the Omega could thank him.

As an extremely possessive Omega, Azuma couldn’t stop his emotions from flaring to the surface every time he witnesses this lovestruck Omega steal glances at Tsuyoshi with his cheeks tinted pink from across the showroom of fish and aquatic mammals.

Azuma wrapped his hand around Tsuyoshi’s wrist and dragged him away as the Omega creeped closer. Tsuyoshi also noticed this Omega who was very clearly interested in him, but he paid him no mind as it has been two weeks since he has seen Azuma. Only Azuma mattered in his eyes.

He doesn’t mind Azuma’s possessiveness or jealousy, instead he welcomes it. If Azuma is possessive over him, it means that Azuma cares for him and shows the depth of Azuma’s affection toward him.

Maybe possessive Omegas are my type , he muses. Probably , he concludes.

The Omega comes closer and closer to them, and Azuma in response becomes more irked and bold, holding Tsuyoshi’s hand in such a public place. But that doesn’t seem to deter the Omega who must either be really resilient or bad at taking hints. The Omega is now standing in front of Tsuyoshi, Azuma standing beside him firmly grasping his hand.

His eyes look up quickly to meet Tsuyoshi’s then look down obediently, he starts to speak. Looking at him up close, Azuma can see that he is very attractive and small and meek, just like an Omega ought to be. Not like himself, who was tall, outspoken, and fearless.

If Tsuyoshi falls in love with him there’s no way I can compete, he thinks.

“E-Excuse me, I just wanted to thank-” his lilting voice began, when suddenly Tsuyoshi was grabbed by the collar and pulled down, a kiss forced on his lips by Azuma who slipped his tongue in right in front of the pretty Omega.

He didn’t finish his sentence and left the remainder of his words in the air as he ran off, his “I-I’m so sorry” following behind him, blushing up to his ears at Azuma’s audacious act. Tsuyoshi, out of surprise, didn’t even have time to close his eyes during the duration of the 1 and a ½ minute kiss and certainly was not prepared to be ravaged in front of an audience of one Omega and several couples on a date in the aquarium.

Nonetheless, that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy his lips being taken.

Yep, possessive Omegas are definitely my type, he learned about himself.

Azuma was emanating a scent that screamed “Don’t touch him! He is mine!” and dragged him out of the aquarium. “A-Azuma? He wasn’t my type. I’m only interested in you, so don’t worry. Should we go to my house?” Azuma nodded.

At Tsuyoshi and Takeo’s apartment.

Tsuyoshi knew that Takeo would be out all day with Sora and only returning at night. They had a few hours to themselves. Well, Tsuyoshi knew what lovers did when they were alone and he confesses that he is experienced in that aspect, but Azuma to him was not just another lay or notch in his belt. Neither made a move as they sat stiff and motionless on Tsuyoshi’s bed.

Azuma breaks the silence with, “Tsuyoshi-san, y-you can call me Seimei if you want since...we are dating. I want us to be closer.” He nervously fidgets and plays with his fingers.

“Seimei,” Tsuyoshi repeated as if the name itself was the most precious thing in the world. Azuma blushed.

“Then how about calling me Sen?” he offered slightly embarrassed at the prospect of being called by his first name by someone who was not family or Takeo, but a lover. “Sen…-san.”

The words that escaped his lips filled with love were enough to push Tsuyoshi’s Alpha instincts into overdrive. In a split second, Azuma was underneath him on his bed, enveloped by his scent.

Ah, I can’t stop.

He expertly slides his tongue in and removes Azuma’s shirt entirely, revealing supple tan skin with perking pink nipples. He travels down, leaving a trail of saliva where his tongue has traced on Azuma’s body.

Suddenly it hits the air! A waft of the scent of an Omega’s heat approaching!

“S-Sen-san, I’m going to go into heat!”

The small room only emphasized the smell and made it more concentrated. He has to leave! If he doesn’t... Azuma has his suppressant collar on but still, he has to leave! If he stays here he doesn’t know what he’ll do.

I have to get myself under control! What am I doing?! If I go through with this, I’ll just be like my father!

At that, Tsuyoshi regains his senses and bites down on his lower lip hard enough to break skin as he lifts himself off Azuma. He takes off his jacket and covers Azuma’s shuddering and trembling body with it before he steps outside his bedroom and closes the door behind him.

He seats himself in front of the door and waits for Azuma’s heat to recede before he reenters. Azuma looks at him with glassy eyes as the last remnants of the heat leave his body before he speaks.

“My Alpha father raped my Omega dad. And in the midst of it, while he wasn’t thinking clearly, he marked him,” Tsuyoshi began solemnly. Azuma was listening intently, not missing a single word his lover was saying as he poured out the painful details of how he came to be.

“They were just strangers. An Omega in heat who just happened to misfortunately forget his suppressants on that day and an Alpha who accidentally stumbled in on him. They became a bond even though they did not love each other and were suddenly responsible for raising an unplanned for baby created out of lust when he got pregnant. Their relationship was strained, neither of them were happy with their lives. I could tell that they both regretted creating me.“

Azuma can’t help but to cry for his lover's sad childhood. He pulls Tsuyoshi to his chest as he lays on the bed, holding him to his chest to cry out the painful memories, Tsuyoshi’s head under his chin.

“I’m sorry, Sen-san,” Azuma says quietly as Tsuyoshi hugs his body from underneath and crys on his chest, all the pain and bad memories erased by the warm tears he sheds and his love for Azuma whom he feels he can no longer live without.

“Let’s only have sex when we are really ready for the responsibilities that follow,” says Azuma as he rubs Tsuyoshi’s hair and drowses, marveling at the silkiness of his hair.

Tsuyoshi nods his head and a smile forms on his face as more tepid tears fall and he begins to imagine he and Azuma starting a loving family in the future.

Ah, that would be bliss , he thinks, as he drifts off to sleep with his head on top of Azuma’s rising and falling chest as they both lay on his narrow single-person bed asleep.