The moment Ren opened the door to the office though, he bumped right into a pole.
Ren winced against the pain of slamming his nose into something cold and hard and staggered back, cradling his nose. But before he could make a nose of protest he realized that pole wasn't a pole at all, but a student, one abnormally tall and lean with a thin and bony jawline, holding a large tablet close to his chest. They slide their hand across it and it took them a second to stop and look over it down at Ren. The student gave a brief and silent bow to apologize then slipped past him out the door.
Ren rubbed his nose again and silently furrowing his brow in agitation.'Fuck! What's that guy doing standing right in front of the door!? Ugh, why is this guy's body so small and fragile; I think it's gonna bruise…'
Ren grumbled to himself with a disdainful scowl, thinking about how much he's been tossed around like a weakling. Small enough to be carried, pulled around and unable to escape from Akagi, and he keeps running into people that easily overpower him. His mind circled back around to the person he bumped into that night at the library, the one who then injected him with something that knocked him out.
Ren had nearly forgotten that happened, generally because when he thought of that night more prominent things popped into his head first. All he's had to defend himself was being pretty speedy in short bursts, but even then, this guy's stamina was just too poor to go for more than a few seconds!
'Yeah, I gotta work on this guy's strength!' Ren clenched his fist with a burst of determination, 'So if that Akagi guy or whoever that wall of meat comes around again I can get out of his grip and escape!'
"Someone's come in."
Ren finally lifted his head up at the sound of someone speaking, taking his hand off from rubbing his aching nose to look at the rest of the room. The office for the school's Health management was a bit different than the office Masanori had taken Ren to. There were an increased amount of cabinets along the wall and rather than a large meeting table in the center of the room, there was a bed like you'd see in the infirmary or a hospital. It was also way smaller, feeling condensed from the clutter along the counters and the sharp smell of sawdust and antiseptic.
Before him, a second year student had turned around from a counter to look at him, wearing a white lab coat over his school uniform, his eyes darting off to his right towards the other sitting hunched over at an office desk who was wearing the same.
When they turned around in their chair, Ren could tell right away he was a large guy, with bulking shoulders and large torso, hunched slightly over hulking and menacing with a piercing pair of eyes below a thick brow line. That on top of the long and shaggy black hair, and Ren felt a little intimidated just looking at him. He took an instinctive step back. He remembered this guy from the student council meeting; It was safe to come here and talk to him, right…?
Nervously, Ren called out, "Ah, please excuse me."
The large student named Fujiwara Ryusei raised one of his large brows abnormally high, looking at Ren with an observant eye before he casually leaned back in his chair facing him. "Oh. It's the alpha baiter. In the flesh."
Ren's brows pressed together and his eyes widened, taken aback. "W-What??"
Ryusei then gripped the sides of his office chair and rose with a loud creak, and suddenly Ren was standing at the foothills below a mountain, its shadow stretching over him leering down, an opposing but tranquil mass of solid rock.
Ren's legs slightly trembled, his eyes widening. 'What the heck!? T-This guy bigger than I remember! Please tell me he's actually on our side, or I'm totally screwed right now!!'
"What's what? Yer suddenly pale as a sheet. Cat got yer tongue-tied up?" Ryusei asked down to him with a weak Kansai accent, "Hmm, you were a real talker before though…"
"Senpai," The other student anxiously called over to him in a hushed whisper, "I think he just finds you intimidating. I suggest maybe backing up?"
"Intimidating? Hm..." Ryusei's head tilted upwards, eyes still focused on Ren, before he did back up and leaned back against the desk behind him, saying in a short hum, "Funny fella. Yer more scared of me alone than a room of Alphas back in the council room." They raised an eyebrow with the tilt of the head, "Takeshita Akira, right? Masanori mentioned you might come by earlier today... so, need something fer your nose?"
Ren relaxed, letting out a deep sigh in relief before holding up his hands in refusal, "No, I'm fine. Actually, I came to talk… I-Imada-kun said I should ask you about the… what the… p-pills are about." Ren's face blushed, feeling suddenly nervous about asking. He's only ever told Masanori anything so far, after all.
Ryusei lightly cocked his head with a judging eye. "Pills… you need me to tell you?" They leaned back more and said, with ease, "I knew Masanori found himself an idiot, but to think yer missing a few lightbulbs up there too." He pointed at his head to press his point.
Ren blinked, stunned at his comment, before his face twisted into a scowl and he angrily shouted out, "I am not stupid!! All you damn kids: how can you all be so disrespectful!?"
"Hm, weird too." Ryusei said in a huff then continued undeterred, "Not like I called you a retard. An Omega that can't take care of his own heats: you must be stupid somewhere. This is common knowledge, you know? I guess you grew up on a country estate in the middle of nowhere with no real education on modern social norms?"
Ren's nose flared and he grinded his teeth angrily, "No! I'm extremely educated, more than you! And I'm probably way more socially adjusted: I've actually been outside in the real world!! You! You're just a big stupid kid with a bad mouth!" He growled. He's been through way too much to be call dumb! What was this guy's deal!?
"And you're Takeshita Akira. Second year omega with, in counting, four medical calls so far this year and five separate known incidents." Ryusei replied unwaveringly, "You're lucky Masanori's put up with you at all, especially with his dad on his ass with everything. So a grip please, or throw yer whiny little temper tantrum somewhere else."
Ren felt a vein bulging in his forehead and he hollered out, "Bastard!! W-Well, I…!!" but his voice petered off, unable to come up with a retort. Still he was pissed, his face grew red and his cheeks puffed out, both at being called an idiot and because he knew he was right. He HAD been nothing but trouble for Masanori. But he didn't know his friend would be so disrespectful...! In Ren's anger he forgot to take a stable breath, and with his puffed red cheeks he also grew a little blue in the face.
The other student loudly cleared their throat and sent Ryusei a look with the inkling of a glare in his eye, "S-Senpai." They muttered, "I think that's enough."
Ryusei's hands went to his sides and his eyes squinted at Ren with mild concern. "Hm, yer right. He's not looking too good there: You won't pass out from overexerting yerself again will you?" He asked him.
'P-Pass out?' Ren's brow furrowed, 'Does he mean at the north wall before? Did Masanori-?' Ren's thoughts were cut off when without warning, Ryusei suddenly moved from his desk and grabbed Ren by his sides and lifted him up, placing him on the bed. Ren was left stunned, the held breath flew out of him and he gasped, colors returning to normal on his face. Ren then stared at him in shock, wide eyes.
'He did that so effortlessly! Is this body made of skin and bones!? And just picking me up without asking, it's really... pissing me off!' His nose flared again.
But before Ren could continue to get angry again, something cold suddenly landed in his lap and he flinched. That's when he realized that it was a ice pack. Ryusei had put him down the crouched down to open up a lower cabinet where a cooler was and tossed it over to him.
"Fer that swelling. I guess you don't like asking fer help," Ryusei said over his shoulder as he stood back up, returning back to leaning against it. "Trying not to like be seen as needy like that just makes you look more needy, you know? Save some time and be honest... Anyway," He then put a hand on his chin and loudly mused, "I was wondering if you'd ever drop by yerself. Course Murokawa's been getting your dorm's meds just fine; pretty nice guy, but it seems like you like making trouble for others as much as you like getting into trouble. Now then…" Ryusei then pulled out a pair of keys from his coat jacket then tossed it over Ren's head to the other student then gestured his hand to give him something. "Hideki. I need a bottle fer demonstration."
The other student grabbed the key but gave Ryusei an odd look. When Ryusei just continued to wait, they finally turned to unlock the upper cabinet, pulling out a bottle of pills before tossing it over to him. Ryusei held the pill bottle out it in front of Ren's face.
"Now see. This is standard medication for omegas, it moderates yer specifically crazy Omega hormonal spikes around the time yer heat arrives. You, are supposed to take them to subdue your hormones so your heat doesn't fully activate in full effect, put it on mute for a while. Modern medicine is incredible isn't it? Has less side effects than most suppressors even while in active heat, and especially better than inhibitors."
Ren had grumpily accepted the icepack and placed it against his nose as he listened to his explanation. As he continued on, Ren's head whirled as he stared at the bottle. It was exactly as he initially thought after all: the pills really were to stop something that was already present, not the cause, and it was a hormone thing that had to be controlled.
But still, it was baffling: Why did whatever drugs they put in these kids need to be suppressed and subdued with things like suppressors and inhibitors!? What on earth was the benefit of putting kids through this kind of torture!? At least he could understand the concepts of the other two things he mentioned without asking, he even recalled using one of those suppressors during his first heat. They all seemed to do something similar.
Before Ren could sort his thoughts, Ryusei pulled the bottle away and shook it around in his hand with a loud rattling, continuing, "Now whether your family or religion believes in heat suppression it's bad to miss too many days of class or you'll get study hall, so notice the signs and be more diligent."
"Um… signs?" Ren asked. He didn't even know there were any.
"Hm... well I wouldn't know," Ryusei admitted with a shrug, "I guess when you feel funny, pheromones spiking... Actually, Hideki," He addressed the other student with a wave of his hand, "Head to the infirmary and get Sensei please? I need to ask him something."
The other student put down their work on the counter but didn't turn to leave, rather crossing their arms and looking towards Ryusei with a weak glare, "Senpai…."
Ryusei's eyebrow rose an inch and he sighed at him, "Oh? That chivalry is cute but, not really warranted is it?"
Ren squinted at them with confusion. Chivalry?
But then the other student shook their head, "N-No… Senpai, the pill bottle."
Ryusei clicked his tongue irritably before he tossed the rattling bottle back over to them. The other student promptly locked it back up and turned to leave the room. The moment the other student was gone, Ren turned to Ryusei and asked, "Are you bringing a doctor for me to ask…?"
"No, he's not fer you," Ryusei replied, "don't think he'd know what to make of yer health either." Ryusei then sat back down in his chair and rolled it forward, his eyes now level with Ren as he focused on him more intently, a more obvious look of intrigue.
"Hey. Be a little weirdo sum more and tell me what ya normally do. During yer heat I mean," He asked, leaning against his hand against the chair's arm, "Masanori thinks yer first heat was last month, but medical records show yer heat back in April wasn't. Among other things…" They trail off, looking lost in a thought, before continuing, "Now, not knowin' the proper meds fer your heat ain't that far-fetched, but Masanori said ya don't understand heats at all. So, what did you do durin' yer first heat?"
Ren felt a nervous prickle in his chest and he anxiously swallowed. 'Like I know! I've only been in this body since April! How am I supposed to explain that I'm in the wrong body? Should I just explain everything to him? I don't think I'm ready to accidentally upset this guy if he doesn't believe me…!'
But luckily, Ryusei shrugged and leaned back, looking more relaxed again, "Eh, guess that's a personal question? But anyway, yer a curious omega… Akagi Naoto made some fuss about you, couldn't sniff ya out."
"Yeah I remember that." Ren huffed then complained, "I'm starting to think maybe it's just because that Akagi guy is just weird. What about my smell lingers? It's his smell that's weird, he had some pretty strong cologne last week! Does he like fruit or whatever that much? And he was rambling about something I think was an insult or something. Even Imada Masa-" Ren turned a little pink around the ears then changed his words, "H-He seemed pretty confused too, and got all weird when I mentioned it." He stuttered out.
"Naoto's not the only weird one…" Ryusei hummed, then giving Ren a crooked curl of his lips that almost resembled a smile, "Hm, that's a question I don't think I can answer right now, especially when ya don't know yerself." He huffed then shifted in his seat, "Well fer now, you've come at a good time. I think I could use yer help."
"M… My help?" Ren stuttered.
Ryusei continued, "We can talk about the type of inhibitors you use later, fer now that little trick could be useful. I'm in charge of helping keep track of the student's medicine here, and its proper distribution." They sighed, sounding a little frustrated, "But lately, some of the orders have been goin' missing… orders of Heat suppression pills specifically."
"What?" Ren gawked in surprise. "Someone's been stealing the medicine?"
"Well there's a curious thing about the heat suppression pills," Ryusei began explaining, "When taken by Alphas or Betas, taking this specific kinda omega medicine gives a certain kinda… effect, dependin', especially when you combine it with any kinda carbonated drink. I'm thinkin' that someone's figured that out and stole it before it got delivered to the office. You seem to enjoy sneakin' around in places you shouldn't be, so I want ya ta help me figure out who the thief is."
Ren listened to his request, and after a moment he let out an excited grin. "You… need me to look into some Alphas?!"
"Technically," Ryusei honestly replied, "But really I just want you to spy on the people that work with me. The only way an Alpha student would have gotten their hands on it is if one of my team members told them when it was being delivered. I want you to look into my two main members: Hideki Shouta and Okano Fumio. Tell me if they talk with any Alpha students or do anything suspicious. Think you can do that?"
Ren hopped off of the bed and gave Ryusei an enthusiastic salute. "Ha! You'll see, I'll have the most detailed note on the Alphas and betas involved in this! I know the names of every Alpha student in the school at this point!!"
Ren's eyes glistened with excitement. 'This must be a test! These pills seem to be just to deal with side effects, but they're clearly powerful beyond that to be valuable enough to get stolen, and if I help Ryusei I bet he'll help me better understand everything, the kind of powers these kids are developing! Finally, my first real mission!!' He widely grinned. And it was something he could do easily! This was what he's been basically training for!
"Hm. I guess that'll be useful too," Ryusei calmly replied, then his eyes darted around the room a little before continuing, "And, don't tell Masanori fer now. He's… well he's got enough on his plate," He explained, "I think it'll be better to wait 'til we have more evidence."
Ren's face changed and he cocked his head a little with confusion, but eventually nodded. "Right. I don't want to trouble him too much." He clenched his fist then turned his heels to rush out the door, waving Ryusei goodbye on his way, "Right! Then, thanks for the mission! I'll be- ah, hold on!"
Ren stopped halfway to the door to turn back. He pulled out the note. "This is from Nishida Shino! He's my club leader."
Ryusei straightened in his seat, "Oh, Somethin' from Shino?" He then stood up from the chair and suddenly walked over to take the note from his hand. Suddenly standing again, his towering form still sending a quiver down Ren's spine. Ren quickly left the office with a drop of sweating going down his neck. 'He's really like a bear! I think he could crush me if he wanted to. I gotta build up a little more muscle myself! Ah, and I never asked what he called me earlier! Eh, guess it's probably not important. I gotta focus on the mission right now! Maybe I can focus on some muscle building in the meantime...'
———
Masanori found Akagi Naoto walking away from the construction site.
"Akagi-san." Masanori called for him. "Do you have a moment?"
When seeing him, Naoto loudly scoffed, hissing through his teeth. "What do you want, Masa? I don't want to speak to someone who's defending an Alpha baiter."
"Calm down, It's not like that." Masanori insisted. "This Omega is a lot of things, but he's not trying to prey on the Alpha students..."
Naoto loudly grunted. "Sure. And you got a better explanation for his behavior then? My duty is to care for the well being of the students, and no one is happy if an Omega decides to have their heat in a place where Alphas are trying to work; it's distracting. This is a violation of both school rules and safety, so why are you defending them for their actions?"
Masanori took a deep breath and tried to explain. "It's… well, he's a little turned around in his head?"
Naoto narrowed his eyes at him, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know much either," Masanori sighed, "For some reason he seems really confused about heats and medication; he hasn't figured out how to deal with it all yet and keeps saying things that don't make much sense. And he doesn't seem to understand alphas either. I think maybe he grew up in a place where they're might not have been many around. I think, maybe he's a late bloomer?"
"Might explain why he has such a weak scent…" Naoto considered it, lowering his head in contemplation, "When his heat started no one except me there could sniff him out, and I have a strong ass nose." He then grit his teeth, "And, you think? What proof do you have that he's not just lying to you? This isn't some accident in the classroom. I don't trust his type. Omegas like him, they're rotten to their core. Conniving, scheming and needy, they're worthless wastes of energy to even look at."
Masanori frowned, but said, "I know, he could be. But he seems earnest with his… delusions. I'm trying to get him to understand slowly, so he doesn't keep getting into any more trouble and takes his medicine. I think he was there that night looking for proof."
"Delusion?" Naoto scoffed. "Think what he's done is some game to him?"
Masanori shook his head. "Something… Well, it was a misunderstanding about the school experiments, but I cleared up what that meant. And I told him to talk to Ryusei-san, he should explain things to him. I promise you, he won't give you any more trouble. Just, no more threatening him, alright?" Masanori calmly asked, sighing a little more, "And try to help me deal with the rumors. He thinks the school's working against him enough as is."
Naoto laughed. "Working against him?! With all the measures the school's put in to protect him, the school's protecting him far more than anything!" Naoto snickered, "What's wrong with a few rumors? Puts him in his place for being reckless-"
"He wasn't being intentionally reckless." Masanori suddenly cut him off, now with a more chilling look, "I know he wasn't. To pin a label on him he doesn't deserve Akagi, that's unfair."
"You wanna know what's unfair?" Naoto seethed, his tone turning bitter as he huffed. "I want you to tell me Masanori, as the school's leading rule enforcer, why you haven't given him any kind of punishment at all. I looked at that report, and he wasn't on there."
"There wasn't anything that came in from the teacher's." Masanori replied, causing Naoto to step closer towards him with a growling snarl.
"Don't give me that shit about the teacher's final decision. Did you even suggest something to Aruki Sensei? You're supposed to punish students that break the rules. More Alpha students in trouble and that bastard is getting off scot-free! How about you do your fucking job right, and give some more peace of mind this won't happen again by punishing the rule breakers, Imada Masanori."
Masanori's frown dipped down, and his voice went down to a whisper, "I… can't. Not at this point." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Punishing him would put more attention on him, and I don't think most people know it was him right now. I think he's not doing this maliciously, so I'm asking you to just let me handle it."
"Let that bastard reap some punishment for his stupidity then!" Naoto shot back harshly, "He's an Omega. He probably knows enough about how to handle it. If he was inexperienced around Alphas he wouldn't be able to handle being in the Alphas dorm in the first place."
"No, I'm not so sure about that." Masanori replied, "I think he also might have a weak nose himself: He didn't react at all to a room of condensed alphas scents. It was odd."
Naoto paused, he lifted his head, narrowing his eyes with suspicion, "Condensed?" He asked, "Where'd you take him exactly?"
"Forget it, that's not important," Masanori quickly replied, then redirecting the topic, "The construction progress itself wasn't interrupted by him, was it? It even got Yuki to come out to help. I think it's better to not continue arguing this, without proof he's fully guilty, I won't force anything on him. I'm only requesting your help here."
Naoto loudly clicked his tongue at Masanori with a glare. "Yuki should just do his job properly in the first place and stop missing meetings. Be great if you did yours too."
"I'm… just looking out for the safety of the students…" Masanori replied slowly. His tone then grew icier, "Something that wouldn't need to be done, if you did your job and paid attention to the needs of the omegas yourself. Now forget your bias for once and see I'm right, Akagi."
Naoto let out a rougher, more antagonistic growl at Masanori, baring teeth. Masanori's eyes grew more fierce and began to emanate with a yellow glow. Naoto's eyes in turn flashed briefly a sharp shade of red, driving down his growl to a deeper register. His pheromones crept outwards and exploded into the air around them, a pungent force that overwhelmed, the sweetness of the scent overrun by a sharply sour and acrid smell, stinging and sticking to the skin and eyes. His normally light citrus scent became husiker, like it was set ablaze and the air was filled with smoke.
But Masanori didn't release his pheromones, but held his ground, his mouth only slightly curving into a scowl like a growl was on the verge of coming out, his expression only a cold, stiff glare.
Naoto's growling stopped. He closed his eyes with a frustrated scowl then, he took a step back. "You're something else, Masa." He sighed bitterly, and his pheromones gradually settled down again.
"I'm sure you understand then, Akagi-san." Masanori replied, still stiffly. "So let's be more civilised about this and decide things without the flagrant display of pheromones."
Naoto scowled but replied in a more restrained voice, "Yeah… Fine. I'll keep away and get rid of the rumors… But you better be right about that Omega." Naoto shoved past Masanori and stomped away, glaring furiously ahead of him. His eyes narrowed.
"Tch. Think I wouldn't notice that, Masa?" He grumbled to himself, "Don't trust that fucking omega… I've got bigger things to do anyway, forget him…"
Masanori sighed and eased up his shoulders. He almost lost his temper there, getting in a fight would have been the worst thing to do there... and, he accomplished his goal.
'This should be good.' He thought to himself. His eyes looked up to the sky with a worried frown, 'I hope Takeshita's meeting with Ryusei went well… this time, I should try to check in on him better.'