Work Text:
Developing a secondary gender at a very short age has lots of negative repercussions. The child will have problems managing their pheromones, causing them to be isolated from groups or in worst scenarios, being forced to study from home. The ruts are yet to appear; however, it has a low version of it that provokes high temperature and body aching in great pain. The medicine sometimes can be too strong for the children that make them dizzy or in a bad mood for several days. That’s only regarding possible ruts or pheromones uncontrolled; the most difficult aspect for them to get used to is their spiked tongue.
With no regulation, the child is forced to survive eating purees or soups, basically soft meals. No hard candys, no potato chips, nothing that involves a certain amount of chewing since there’s a possibility of the spikes in their tongue getting stuck in the food. Only when the child is used to the sensation of their spikes, can they eat solid foods if the doctor approves it. In Izana’s case, this was a living hell. Izana presented as an alpha at the age of seven years, and the peaceful life he was living turned into an awful twist when it happened.
He became very sensitive to other people’s pheromones; sometimes even his own family’s pheromones bugged him a lot and he spent most of the time locked in his room. One time Shinichiro took him to the hospital because he was bleeding from his mouth and couldn’t stop crying because of the pain and the fear of so much blood coming out. The whole incident was caused by the spikes in his tongue because he pierced his palate. That was the moment Izana hated being an alpha the most. His family told him that it wasn’t going to be forever like this, but he didn’t buy it. He hated it. He didn’t trust their words talking about a future where he had a partner that his spikes aren’t dangerous. He didn’t see himself having a normal life.
Many of his so-called friends ditched him because his pheromones were too unstable at times and he made them sick; only one kid remained. Kakucho was a silly, and kind kid. He always stuck to him no matter what. He hated it when the other children stopped talking to Izana; the scent of lime wasn’t as bad as they made it seem. Regardless of the complaints of other kids, Kakucho remained friends with Izana. That meant a lot for the little alpha. He didn’t want to admit it, but deep inside he felt somewhat lonely.
One afternoon he met Kakucho at their usual place in the park, this time he wasn’t alone. A boy with black hair and blue eyes was following him from behind. Izana panicked for a moment; it’s been a long time since the last time it wasn’t the two of them playing. He tried to keep it cool, but he knew the scent of his pheromones were betraying him. He was about to leave and pretended he wasn’t there when he heard Kakucho calling his name and running towards him with the blue-eyed boy next to him.
“Izana, he’s Takemichi. He’s new to school and he’s my friend now.”
“I-I see. Well, I’m busy with things at home, I just came to tell you that I couldn’t play today.”
“Really? We were supposed to be looking for beetles today, even Takemichi brought his net.”
“I know, we can do that another day though.”
“Okay…”
When Izana waves Kakucho goodbye on his way home he meets eyes with Takemichi, the boy’s glare makes him feel guilty. He knew right there that his lie didn’t fool the black-haired kid; he’ll apologize through Kakucho later. The next few weeks he subtly managed to tell his best friend to not bring Takemichi over, or to play around with him only. He was pushing Takemichi away, he almost was victorious. He forgot the little detail about his grandpa teaching children martial arts. The moment he saw the blue-eyed boy walking through the entrance of their dojo he felt his blood running cold. It got worse when Takemichi spotted him and seemed equally shocked.
Izana’s grandpa introduced the new kid to the rest of the class and gave them a few minutes to break the ice. Mikey quickly began to brag about how good he was with martial arts by shooting some kicks and punches making all the kids gasp. Izana was cool with that, as long as they kept this kid away, he was okay with that. Then, feeling confident enough of his skill, Mikey asked Takemichi to be his companion in a friendly encounter.
The black-haired kid agreed, he wasn’t nervous or anything. He wasn’t entirely new to this sport after all. They both got into position and started fighting. Takemichi’s face became very serious when they were at it, he was pretty good too. The other kids couldn’t keep their eyes off them; Izana was the same as them. It was obvious that Mikey was getting hyped up by how fiercely his movements grew. And Takemichi? Takemichi was keeping the pace just fine. Baji joined the battle, followed by Sanzu.
3 vs 1 and they couldn’t defeat Takemichi.
“Guess Mikey isn’t the only monster here.” Baji said grinning widely at the same time he rested his arm around Takemichi’s shoulder.
“Yeah, but I think Izana can defeat him.”
Upon hearing that, Izana’s heart dropped. The whole class was rooting for him and encouraging Takemichi to start their duel. He was perfectly fine watching from a safe distance; he wasn’t bothering anyone in his little corner in the room. Why did his little brother have to stick his nose in his business? He sighed. He was defeated even before their fight started anyways.
“I’m not going to hold back.” Izana said.
“I didn’t ask for it, go on. I’m waiting for you to make the first move.” Takemichi replied with a silly attempt at a smug face.
And so, their fight began.
What was a playful encounter grew to a more serious combat which neither of them wanted to lose. Izana’s kicks were deadly strong, but Takemichi was a quick learner. Hanagaki took mental notes of Izana’s pattern of fight and developed a few responses against him that were successful. As if it was pure instinct, Takemichi fought back with all his strength. Their competitiveness kept their audience fully immersed in their movements. Shocked gasps and supporting screams were heard in the distance. It became a real deal when their attacks weren’t as soft as before. They were sweating but refused to give up. They both wanted to win at all costs.
“Izana, no-!”
Mikey yelled at him to stop himself, but it was too late; Izana stuck his tongue out at Takemichi during a movement that allowed him to lick his cheek. The other kids didn’t think much of it, just a dumb provocation, but Mikey knew what it meant. Izana was ready to hurt Takemichi with the spikes in his tongue. Even though the black-haired boy froze almost immediately due to the confusion of being licked, he wasn’t crying or anything. He wasn’t even bleeding. Just to confirm that nothing was happening, and due to his short age of twelve years old, he thought it’d be a good idea to do it again.
The results were the same; Takemichi wasn’t hurt at all.
“Why are you licking my face? Do I have cookie crumbles?”
“What? Why aren’t you bleeding?”
“Why would I? It’s just drool.”
To Mikey and Izana that was a very shocking revelation, to the rest of the kids and Takemichi it was inoffensive yet slightly gross drool. Their combat ended just like that and moments later Mikey and Izana’s grandpa joined the class again. Takemichi had no clue of what was going on, but he did notice Kakucho’s friend staring at him a lot more than before, with curiosity filling his gaze. The class and days went by normally after that. Well, almost regular. Their previous match wasn’t forgotten, and Izana made several attempts to interact with Takemichi.
He managed to do it without complications because Takemichi was a very friendly kid. Kakucho was happier when he discovered Izana wasn’t pushing the black-haired boy away anymore; it was stressful having to hang out with them separately. The younger alpha continued licking Hanagaki everyday, carefully at first, later not so much. Each time the end was the same, a blue-eyed boy letting him be in peace. Sometimes, Hanagaki licks him back. This earned him exceptional memories of a flustered Izana red as a tomato and covering his face.
It was strange seeing Takemichi being unharmed by his spikes yet very pleasing at the same time. For the first time in years, Izana felt normal. He felt happy. He felt good with himself. Maybe Takemichi was the special person Shinichiro told him about. If that was the case, then the white-haired boy would be fine with it. Five years passed by and licking each other on their cheeks became their own thing to share. They teased one another by randomly doing it whether there were more people around or not. Takemichi made him feel unique; it made him feel human again.
“Takemichi… I think I’m in love with you.”
“Izana… I think the same. Are you going to hold back?”
“No. You aren’t asking for it, are you?”
“Nope, go on alpha. I’ve waited enough for your first move.”