Chapter Text
Denki’s eyes opened.
His room was dark, except for the small bit of city lights peeking from around his curtain. A heavy arm, fragrant with lavender, was draped over him, and he realized he was being spooned.
Something was different, though.
He felt full; bloated, almost. Warm.
He didn’t like it.
When he tried to sneak out of the bed, he found he was still locked with the knot. The thought crossed his mind that maybe, it was being knotted was what made him feel bloated and full...but after a second thought, he remembered it didn’t feel this way the first time they’d locked.
“You still don’t get it, do you, Denki?” The deep, familiar voice somehow struck fear into his heart. “You can’t go anywhere in the condition you’re in.”
“Then just get hard; it worked last time.” His voice was raspy from sleep. “I want to get out of bed.”
“Don’t feel like it.”
Denki rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Shinsou.”
“I /am/ being serious.” That heavy arm strengthened around him, pulled him in closer.
Narrowing his eyes, Denki turned his head a bit. “What the hell’s gotten into you?”
“The real question should be,” Shinsou’s hand slid down to cover Denki’s lower stomach, “what’s gotten into you?”
Denki looked down; even with the other’s hand on him, he could tell his stomach was slightly protruding.
Panic struck him, and when he lurched forward, it was almost involuntary.
“You’re not going anywhere. Not anymore.”
“What the /fuck/, Shinsou?” he nearly screeched. “You promised me -- you swore, up and down, that I wouldn’t get pregnant!”
There was a laugh. “I lied.”
Eyes widening, Denki’s mouth opened. “OK: I am /not/ in the mood for this bullshit. I know we fuck around with each other, but saying shit like that is crossing the line. You’re beginning to seriously piss me off.”
“I’m not fucking around with you -- well...not /anymore/, that is.” Shinsou made a lazy sigh. “Omegas have a reputation for being dumb. You’re probably the smartest one I’ve ever met, but, in the end...not smart enough, huh?”
“Oh, FUCK /YOU/!” His heart raced in rage. “All of this -- us? It’s fucking /over/, asshole!”
“To the contrary: it’s all just beginning.” Again, Shinsou pulled him in close. “You’re going to quit your job and have our babies. I’m going to give you the life you /should/ have; you’ll finally be able to relax and be who you were intended to be now that you’re my omega.”
At this point, he was focused on tuning Shinsou out and finding an escape route; he yanked himself forward.
“Pull away all you want; you can’t escape it. You can’t escape who you are.”
“Watch me.” Denki pulled on the knot with full force and bore down at the same time. “I’ll rip your dick off to get away from you; you don’t deserve one you lying, deceitful /fuck/!”
“Again...you don’t understand, do you? Even if you get off of me,” Shinsou licked a spot on his neck, and it burned when he did, “you’ll never get away.”
A shaking hand raised, came up to the spot Shinsou had licked and fingered it; he could feel a pattern of multiple indentations along the skin. Wide eyes burned with tears as he felt his world collapse around him.
“You bastard...” The sentence was a whisper. “I can’t believe I trusted you.”
“You’ll realize in time that Denki. Denki?”
Denki /actually/ opened his eyes.
And gasped.
Loudly.
“Kitten?” Shinsou was behind him, petting his hair. “Are you OK?”
Denki’s hand flew up to his neck, then down to his stomach; he exhaled the breath he’d been holding once he felt nothing but smooth, unbroken skin, and a flat, muscular abdomen. “Oh thank God...” he whispered.
“I think you were having a nightmare.” Shinsou pet him a few more times before pushing a kiss into his hair. “Your heart was beating so fast, I could hear it.”
“Yeah,” he smiled, letting out a little breath of laughter, “it was /definitely/ a nightmare; a bad one.”
“Let me guess:” Shinsou moved a bit, and Denki realized they weren’t locked anymore, “I showed you my true colors, which were, of course, all weird and evil, and you were in an inexplicably advanced state of pregnancy with a mating mark.”
Denki rolled over to look at his leering partner. “How the /fuck/ did you know that?”
“Because you have trust issues.”
Denki grinned at him. “...Sorry?”
Shinsou blew a laugh from his nose.
“I think watching ‘They Live’ yesterday didn’t help, either.”
“I think you’re right.” Shinsou brushed Denki’s cheek with the backs of his fingers.
Pressing his lips together, Denki sighed through his nose. “I hope my dream didn’t upset you. I meant what I said: I /do/ trust you. I mean, there’s no way in hell I would’ve let you in here -- /especially/ while in heat, let alone allow you to knot me, unprotected, if I didn’t.”
“While it isn’t ideal, it’s to be expected. Like you’d said: you’ve become really cool with a lot of things really fast, and you’ve had barely any time to sit with it.”
“That’s true.” He sighed. “The one thing I don’t need to sit with is the fact that I love you.”
“I’m glad about that.” Shinsou leered. “I love you, too.”
“By the way? Thank you for not being all weird and evil in reality.”
“I may be weird, but I certainly put a concerted effort into not being evil, especially when it comes to you.” Shinsou gave his hand a squeeze. “I don’t /feel/ evil, but the fear is always there.”
“I don’t think you have an evil bone in your entire body, Hitoshi. And we’re both weird.” Denki grinned. “I like that about us.”
Shinsou nodded. “Much better than the alternative.”
“Hugs.” Denki scooted closer to him, wrapped his arms around his neck, then pushed him down onto his back.
Wrapping his arms around him, as well, Shinsou sighed. “Do you think your heat is over?”
Denki smiled. “Why? Feeling frisky again?”
He laughed. “I’m just curious. I don’t smell it on you anymore.”
Blink, blink. “Really?”
“Really.” Shinsou’s hand came up to play with Denki’s hair.
“I mean, I really do feel more normal today...but I /did/ have bouts of normalcy throughout it.”
“True. But I could smell it on you the entire time. It smelled stronger whenever you had a wave, but I could tell it wasn’t over.”
Terror hit him; he popped up and looked at Shinsou, who widened his eyes at him.
“What is it?”
Denki blinked at him. “You don’t think that my heat ended because I got knocked up, do you?”
Shinsou smiled at him. “No. You’re not knocked up.”
Narrowing his eyes at him, Denki pursed his lips. “I want to know why you keep saying that. Right now.”
“Because it’s true.”
“And you know this /because/...?”
“I had a vasectomy when I was eighteen years old.”
Denki got to his knees, grabbed a pillow, and beat him with it.
“Hey--” Shinsou tried to fend him off, “wait--”
“WHY WOULDN’T YOU JUST TELL ME THAT?” He smacked his partner with the pillow once more.
Holding his arms up to protect himself, Shinsou peeked at him. “Are you done hitting me?”
Denki threw the pillow to the side, then crossed his arms. “Talk.”
Lowering his arms, Shinsou sighed. “You told me that you hadn’t had a heat in five years, and that this one would be really intense, right?”
“Right.”
“So, after you proved yourself right...and we suddenly started having sex, I figured we could trick your body into thinking it could get what it wanted so your heat would ease up on you faster. Without any proof or explanation as to why I kept telling you you wouldn’t get pregnant, in the back of your mind, you were convinced there was still a possibility...and I know this because you kept bringing it up.”
“Of /course/, I did! I had no /clue/ you were sterile! I didn’t even think it was an option!” Denki made a frustrated sigh. “Do you know how many times I’ve tried to get doctors to sterilize me?”
A sympathetic look on his face, Shinsou shook his head. “No.”
“Every year since I was eighteen.” Denki looked away from him. “I tried again this year, too; every time, the answer is, ‘No; you might /change your mind/.’” He said the last three words in a mocking way. “I figured they did that with all young or unmarried people, but,” he shoved a hand at Shinsou, “I guess that’s, yet, /another/ privilege reserved only for alphas, huh?”
“I’m sorry, Kitten.” Shinsou rubbed Denki’s thigh. “If it makes any difference, I know vasectomies are more easily reversed, so they’re more willing to do them. And I had both of my dads come with me to back me up.”
“Yeah, /that/ would NEVER happen with my parents, so. I guess that could be part of it.” Denki gave him a little, annoyed shrug. “Still...I’m really jealous of you.”
“Again: I’m sorry. It’s honestly a disgusting and unfair practice to deny anybody the right to do that -- /especially/ an omega.”
Still not looking at him, Denki sighed. “We align, yet again.”
“Hey,” Shinsou brushed the hair out of Denki’s face, “as shitty as it sounds, let’s try to look at the bright side of this.”
Denki peeked at him. “Which is?”
“We can have all of the care-free sex we want.” Shinsou smiled at him.
Despite himself, Denki giggled. “Yeah; that’s true. I could help you through your ruts, and you could help me through my heats -- that is, if I didn’t scare you off with this one.”
Shinsou laughed, then shook his head. “Not at all.”
/“Put a baby in me. Knock me up, Hitoshi.”/
Feeling his face heat up, Denki dropped his eyes away from Shinsou’s, making an awkward smile.
“What’s wrong?”
Denki shook his head. “Just...got a bit of a flashback, is all.”
“Of what?”
Scratching the back of his head, Denki still wouldn’t look at him. “What we did before we went to bed.”
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Kitten.” Shinsou ran his hand up Denki’s thigh. “I thought it was perfect.”
Unable to stop it, Denki smiled. “I thought it was perfect, too, but,” he covered his face, “I can’t believe what I said to you.”
“But--”
“And how much it turned me on.”
“It turned me on, too.”
Separating his index and middle fingers on one hand, Denki peeked at him. “It did?”
Shinsou nodded. “I told you: my dick is in love with that concept.”
Denki giggled, then dropped his hands. “I’m sorry I was so crazy -- especially when we were in the shower.” He shook his head. “You really put up with a lot from me, and accommodated me every step of the way, and I don’t know how to thank you for taking care of me -- especially for the most recent one.”
“Denki...” Shinsou smiled at him. “Please don’t apologize to me /or/ thank me for that. No matter the situation, I want to be there for you; I want to help you. I want our relationship to be a place where we can be ourselves.” He took Denki’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “It may be us against them when it comes to the rest of the world, but when we’re together, there should never be a struggle. When we're with each other, we’re free.”
Giving him a smile, Denki nodded. “I want that, too. All of it. I want to fight by your side, not against you.”
“Me, too. I think we’re actually decent when it comes to fighting hormones together -- almost as good as we are with villains.”
Denki grinned wider. “Like you said: we make a good team.”
Shinsou nodded. “We do.”
“Although, I had nothing to do with my hormones being defeated. You gave me, like, five orgasms, then single-handedly put that strategy together with hiding your vasectomy and the ‘conception sex.’ /You/ were the one who ended their tyranny. You’re brilliant, Hitoshi.”
Getting up onto his elbows, Shinsou looked at him. “Can you still talk to them? Your hormones.”
“Hold on.” Denki closed his eyes. “Hey, hormones?”
//Yeah?//
Denki nodded. “Yup.”
Smiling, Shinsou managed to fold his hands across his stomach. “Can you ask them something for me?”
“Sure.”
“Ask them: who run Heat Town?”
A wide grin spread across Denki’s face, as he shook his head. “They’re not answering.”
Shinsou made a little shrug. “Who run Heat Town?”
“They say,” he narrowed his eyes, “‘You know who.’”
“Say,” Shinsou insisted.
“Master Shinsou.” Denki tried his best not to laugh.
“Say /loud/,” the purple haired man demanded.
“Master Shinsou.”
“‘Master Shinsou,’ what?”
Almost cracking, Denki smiled so widely his cheeks hurt. “Master Shinsou runs Heat Town.”
Looking smug, Shinsou nodded. “Louder.”
“Master Shinsou runs Heat Town.”
Lifting a hand into the air, Shinsou nodded once. “Lift embargo.”
Denki laughed so hard, he thought he’d fall onto his poor boyfriend’s legs, but-- “OH!” He scrambled to get up while clenching his butt cheeks. “Oh shit!”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to glorp!” Denki jumped off of the bed and sped toward the bathroom. “Ah!”
It was a warm evening.
Wearing a happy smile, Denki strolled down the street in his work outfit, listening to some music on his headphones. He had managed to get ready for work -- AND take his pill -- earlier than usual, so he was just taking his time and enjoying the early summer weather.
A song by The Cure came on.
Thoughts turning to Shinsou and their chill weekend of movies and snuggles after his heat was over, he smiled a bit wider.
//I have the best boyfriend in the entire world.//
It didn’t take too long for him to reach the main office of his agency. After he’d clocked in, though, he caught his boss waving at him out of the corner of his eye.
He slid his headphones back. “Hey, Boss; what’s up?”
“You damn kids and your headphones.” His boss rolled his eyes, and it made Denki smile. “I /said/: get your ass in my office before going on the beat.”
Denki nodded. “Be right there.” Once he removed his headphones and put them away, he jogged into the office, closing the door behind him.
“Feeling better?” His boss sat behind his big, wooden desk; he didn’t bother to look up at Denki as he flipped through some papers.
“Mm.” The blond nodded. “I just had a little bug for a few days, but I’m fine now. Thanks for asking.”
“Must’ve been bad for /your/ ass to take off of work. You haven’t missed a day yet.”
Knowing his boss’s eyes were still fixed on the documents on top of his desk, Denki grinned a bit. “The fever kind of knocked me out. I’d be useless, trying to fight villains with the chills, you know?”
“And I wouldn’t want you here with that shit, either.” His boss sighed, then finally looked up at him. “So, what’s the deal with this Shinsou guy?”
Blink, blink. “...OH. You want a progress report?”
“No, I want to know how big his dick is. YES, I want a progress report!”
//...I /could/ tell you that, though.//
Holding in a laugh, Denki crossed his arms, then leaned back against the door. “He’s good. /Really/ good. Hand-to-hand combat skills could use a bit of practice, but he makes up for it with how good he is at his binding ropes. His quirk’s not only extremely unique, but it’s quite useful, and he makes the most of that voice changer he has. He has a great personality; he’s dry and sarcastic, but he knows how to inhibit his bullshit to harmonize with others. And he’s the most ethical person I’ve ever worked with; very down-to-earth, rational, and highly empathetic. No ego at /all/; always receptive to learning.”
“Gee, Kaminari. Sounds like you’re in love.”
Denki snorted.
“You think I picked a good one, then?” His boss turned his head a bit.
Raising his eyebrows, Denki nodded. “You struck gold. You’d better hold onto this one.”
“Well, thank fuck for that.” His boss leaned back in his chair. “You think he’s ready, then?”
Again, Denki nodded. “I think he’s /more/ than ready.”
“Then /you’d/ better get ready...for a new one.” His boss grabbed a sheet of paper off of his desk, and offered it to him. “Two days from now.”
Smiling at him, Denki grabbed the paper, then looked it over. “Cool, cool.”
“Now, get the hell out of here and go enjoy your second to last shift with ‘lover boy.’” Giving Denki a dismissive wave, his boss’s gaze returned to his desk.
Denki laughed. “Have a good night, Boss.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Leaned up against the wall of the agency, Denki let out a sigh.
//What’s taking him so long? I passed him on the way out.//
As though the thought had summoned him, Shinsou came out of the office, looked around, then stormed over to him.
“How could you do this to me?” Shinsou had his mask on, but his eyes were all the blond needed to see to know the purple haired man was as hurt as he was pissed off.
Denki cocked his head. “Do what to you?”
Gesturing toward the office, Shinsou’s eyes narrowed. “They’re reassigning me to another partner in two days; you and I won’t be working together anymore.”
After looking from side to side, Denki jutted his face forward and raised his brow. “Yah. No shit.”
Shaking his head, Shinsou let out a sigh. “What, did you tell him I wasn’t good enough to work with you -- that you wanted somebody to replace me?”
“Shinsou...what the /hell/ are you talking about?” Denki laughed. “I’m a /trainer/. I told him you’ve completed your training, and to make you a non-provisional, full-time employee. And I sang your praises so much that I got made fun of for it.”
Shock followed by understanding fell over Shinsou’s eyes. “O-oh.”
Denki nodded. “YEAH. But keep on giving a guilt trip to the guy who just got you promoted, dip shit.”
Shinsou looked down for a moment, then back up at him. “I’m sorry. I guess I kind of freaked out when I found out we weren’t going to be working together anymore.”
“Well,” Denki shook his head, “I could’ve told him that you were an incompetent dumb ass and weren’t ready yet -- that’d keep us together longer, but it’d also destroy your reputation with him. Hell, he might even can your ass, for all I know. Anybody who stays with me after a progress report usually doesn’t stick around for very long.”
Those purple eyes were smiling at him. “You really think I’m ready? No cowboy?”
A seriousness came over Denki’s face as he nodded. “Yes. I do.”
“Thank you, De--Kaminari.”
Denki smiled at him. “No need to thank me. It’s just the truth. You’re wonderful, and any agency would be lucky to have you. I think you’re going to go places.” He pushed himself off of the wall with a sigh. “And you certainly don’t need /me/ anymore.”
“To the contrary.” Shinsou winked at him.
“You know what I mean.” Denki laughed.
“Maybe it’s for the better. With the recent developments, I think it’d be difficult to focus properly at work, had we stayed partners.”
“Yup!” Denki gave him a pat on the arm, then started down the street with him. “Besides: it’d be good for us to get some time apart, every now and then -- to miss each other a little.”
Shinsou wobbled his head from side to side, then nodded. “I suppose you’re right. But it kind of makes the other thing I wanted to talk to you about seem a bit contradictory.”
“The other thing?”
Letting out a sigh, Shinsou grabbed the back of his neck. “There was a problem with the pipes in my apartment building while I.../was gone/ over the last few days, and apparently, it’s not going to be fixed for a while.”
Denki blinked at him. “That sounds bad.”
Dropping his arm, Shinsou nodded. “It is. The landlord offered to let people out of their leases early, as we’re not going to have access to running water on a consistent basis, so I took him up on it.”
“So...you’re moving?”
Again, Shinsou nodded.
Denki raised an eyebrow. “Well, don’t keep me in suspense: where are you moving to?”
“On my way out yesterday, I saw that there were some apartments up for lease in your building.”
“Oh /God/!” Denki cackled.
“And when I made the call to inquire about one before work this evening, he said I could move in immediately if I took the one sitting vacant...which just so happens to be directly across the hall from you.”
“The door right in front of mine?”
Shinsou nodded.
A thrill of elation went through him, and he grinned. “Good God. I’ll never get rid of you, now!”
Shinsou laughed.
“So, you’re going to take it?”
Nodding, Shinsou’s eyes smiled at him. “We’ll be going from ‘Howdy, partner’ to ‘Howdy, neighbor.’”
“Well--” Giving him a cutesy look, Denki peeked up at him.
“Ah. Good point.”
“You want me to help you move?”
Shinsou nodded. “I’d like that. Thanks.”
They walked in silence for a few moments, as Denki just smiled to himself.
There was a quiet laugh.
“What?” Denki smiled wider.
“I was just thinking of my first memory of you.”
“Yeah? Did I have something hanging out of my nose?”
Shinsou laughed. “Not that time, you didn’t.”
The blond cackled.
“You gave me this big, phony smile.”
Denki looked at him. “How did you know it was phony?”
Shinsou shrugged. “I didn’t at the time. But compared to the genuine one you’re wearing now, it’s not so hard to tell.” His eyes were smiling again. “You changed your tune pretty fast there, all things considered.”
Averting his gaze to directly in front of him, Denki shook his head. “What can I say? Your eyes tend to do that to me.”
After going quiet for a bit, Shinsou sighed, causing Denki to look up at him. “I was right about being partners with you making it difficult to focus at work.”
“Right?” Denki wedged a thumb under his choker and flicked it.
Looking away from him, Shinsou blew a breath out of his mouth. “You’re cruel.”
Denki laughed. “Oh, I’m not /that/ bad. As a matter of fact, I was planning to ask you if you wanted to go out after work.”
“Oh?” Shinsou looked at him. “Why is that?”
“To celebrate your promotion.” Denki grinned at him. “Or just...have a night in. Maybe some Cronenberg?” He shrugged. “But if I’m cruel, you probably aren’t interested.”
“My place or yours?” Blink, blink. “Fuck: it has to be yours. I don’t have water.”
“Mine, it is, then. What kind of sandwich do you want?”
Shinsou laughed. “You and those fucking sandwiches.”
Denki elbow checked him. “Oh, shut it: you love my sandwiches -- so much, in fact, that you probably want to eat them every day for the rest of our lives.”
“You’ve taken the words right out of my mouth.”
"That's a long time, but," trying not to grin too widely, Denki shrugged, “I’ll keep making them if you keep eating them.”
“Then, I look forward to all of our time together.” Shinsou's eyes grinned at him. “Please take care of me.”
Denki smiled up at him. “Same!”