Chapter Text
The class door slid open and the homeroom teacher entered, holding his books and chalk box.
“Today, a new transfer student will join our class. Come in, Gojo-kun,” Yaga Masamichi informed his class.
The transfer student came in. He closed the door behind him and he went to the front of the class. He picked the chalk and wrote his name on the board. As he wrote his name, he could hear the girls’ whispers behind him.
“He’s so tall…”
“And his hair is white. Is that dyed?”
“Did you see his eyes? They are blue. Is he of foreign descent? Like Nanami-kun?”
He sighed. He knew it’d be like this. Not that he hated the attention. He had always liked girls’ attention and he was a popular boy in his previous school with many girls chasing after him. It was that he was pissed about having to switch schools in the middle of it. He was not enjoying this. He was not happy. He wished he wasn’t here. The class was already established. This was late June and he was in his second year of high school. He had to leave his old school. The friends he had there. His ex-girlfriend too. Not that she was a serious girlfriend, but still. He did NOT want to be here!
Who was that Nanami, by the way? Did that mean there was a guy that looked hotter than him in this school?! Tch! He was not happy with that either. He was supposed to be the only one looking different from others!
He turned to the class. “My name is Gojo Satoru. Thanks for having me in the class.”
Satoru introduced himself in front of the class with the most aloof and bored face ever.
“Tell us a little more about yourself, Gojo-kun,” Yaga prompted the new student to talk more.
“My parents got a new job. We moved here just last week.”
The classroom was quiet as they waited for more to spill out, but nothing came out.
“Just that?” Yaga questioned.
“My hair is not dyed. It’s natural. My eyes too. It’s against school policy to dye hair or wear coloured contacts,” he added in a more pleasant tone, pretending like he was having a little fun. The girls squealed as he smiled at them. Wow~ Handsome guy~! He expected some girls to fall for him on his first day, yes. It was natural for high school girls to be attracted to him. He was tall, handsome, and very unique.
Seriously, he wanted to go home already. In the first place, this was a public school. He had to be in here because there were no other schools nearby. He used to be in private school! Of all places, here?
Yaga faked a cough. “Alright. Sit down. Your seat will be the empty one beside Geto-kun. You’re tall, so it’s expected for you to sit at the back.”
Satoru looked at the empty seat Yaga pointed at. Damn, it was the second seat from the window on the right side. He wanted the window seat! That was the main character's seat! He barely looked at the people beside his seat.
He sat down on his chair and placed his bag at the desk. The other students were still looking at him. Oh, he knew they were curious about his hair and eye colour. Everyone was. He knew he was hot.
“Welcome, Gojo-kun. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”
Satoru turned to his left to the source of the voice.
……?
A guy?
A girl…? No… this smelled like a girl but different? It smelled more erotic. Stranger. He had long dark hair tied into a bun. A delicate face. Sharp eyes. Tall. Broad. Of course, since they were in the last row, they were tall. Backrows were for the tallest in the class. Satoru was more confused than before. No, this was a guy. No…. A girl…? Huh? What?
No—
His nose twitched when he sniffed the air. He was confused. Visually, he was seeing a guy. His nose was telling him otherwise. He examined his classmate. From his appearance, this person seemed like a guy, except, he wasn’t. His long hair tied into a bun and the collar around his neck answered Satoru’s confusion. Apparently, Gojo Satoru wasn’t the most unique person around.
What was his name again? The teacher just said it earlier. Oh, it was Geto. That was a weird name. He sounded like someone straight out from a manga. Normally, a male student wouldn’t be allowed to attend school with long hair. Geto had the exception since he technically wasn’t.
His collar was a reminder that he was different from everyone else in the room.
He was an omega.
It was Satoru’s first time actually seeing one. Well, actually, it was his nose who noticed first. So this was how an omega looked like. How one smelled like. It was a distinct smell. It was sweet, but not overwhelming. It was lightly lingering around the air, tingling his hair.
It was unpleasant. It made him feel like he had to put his guard up around this omega. Why the fuck was the homeroom teacher putting him beside an omega?!
“Thanks. I will keep that in mind, Geto-kun,” he replied with a friendly smile.
What a weirdo.
When lunch break came, he stayed in class. He brought a box of juice from the konbini on his way here and a bag of chips. This was his lunch for today.
He considered going to buy food but he doubted he could buy anything if people were going to ask him questions. Of course, as a transfer student that came in the middle of the term, he was novel. Other classes’ students even came to check him out. The new student with white hair and blue eyes. Everyone was intrigued. Students were peeking from the door. And this was his first day!
Well, as soon as it was lunch break, girls were the ones that hit him up as he had expected. Three girls, actually. These classmates came up to his desk while he slurped his apple juice. He was chatting with the girls. They just pulled their chair to his table and they began asking him questions.
“Hey, Gojo-kun, what are you? Are you half european?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you are.”
“Hahah, good guess. I think you are not far off.”
The girl smiled and blushed. “Really? Which european?”
“Dunno. Probably some lines in the family are mixed. Never asked.”
“Ehhh??? Why not ask? Aren’t you curious?”
“Not really. Ah, shouldn’t you go eat your lunch? Time’s ticking.”
“No need, Gojo-kun. I want to know more about you, heheh!”
Bitch!! Get the hint!!! Not hehe me! , he internally screamed. Could they please leave him alone now???? Sure, he liked attention but the questions were getting annoying and he wanted to finish his chips in peace? It got tiring when everyone kept showering him with attention. He was the only child of his family and it was already pretty annoying at home like that.
Zuungg—!! Suguru pushed his chair back loudly to interrupt the girls. It grabbed the new transfer student’s and the girls’ attention.
“Gojo-kun, let me show you around. You must be clueless where the cafeteria is. I bet you are hungry.”
Satoru raised his brows at first. Oh! He got it! This was his chance to escape the questions! He didn’t know if Geto knew he wanted to get out or if this was a mere coincidence, either way, he’d take the offer. He grabbed his bag of chips and the juice. He had already finished the juice, so it was just an empty box by now. “That’d be great, Geto-kun! I’d like to know where to buy a sandwich.”
“Oh, we got a good sandwich lady down there. Come with me.”
Satoru got up from his seat. “Well then, see you again later~”
“Gojo-kun! I don’t know if you noticed. But, that—” The girl wanted to tell him something, but she stopped when she saw the omega was gazing at her. His cold smile was scary. That shut her off. “No… it’s nothing.”
Satoru shrugged, not really caring about what she wanted to say, though he had the idea of what she wanted to tell him. This Geto guy was an omega. He could smell that. It made him wonder if Geto was interested in him as well. Else, why would he be so helpful? Who wouldn’t want a hottie like himself? Anyway, he didn’t want to engage with anyone right now. An omega like this was far from his taste. He would never date a weirdo like this. But he knew it would be unwise to cause a scene on his first day.
“Let’s go, Geto-kun,” he said as he shoved his crumpled juice box into his pocket, turning to the door.
They left the classroom and eyes were on him. He could hear the whispers. So many mention his white hair and blue eyes. He sighed. If he was in a good mood, perhaps he’d entertain them. But not now. He was not feeling great right now.
“Geto-kun, I don’t think I want to go to the cafeteria. Do you know any place where I can get some privacy? Well, other than the toilet stall.”
It was easy to see why the super cool, attention magnet new student would want some privacy. Geto heeded the request. He took him to the spot behind the gym building. It was quite a distance from school so mostly people wouldn’t be here unless they had a reason.
“Shit…” Satoru cursed under his breath.
It smelled like nicotine around here. He did not like it. He had always hated his father smoking. He certainly did not like girls who smoked. This girl was from his class. The one sitting in front of Geto. He noticed her right away because she didn’t try to get to know him. Normally, girls would be all over him.
“Uwahh… why are you bringing the new student here???” Shouko boorishly complained. She sucked her cigarette and sighed. She often came here to eat and smoke. She had her empty bento box beside.
“Gojo-kun says he wants some privacy.”
“And you think this is a good place?”
“Well… better than the toilet. It’s pitiful to hide in the stalls.”
“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes and continued smoking. “Just don’t tell the teachers or I’ll make your life hell, transfer student. Seriously… just because you’re a transfer student, doesn’t make you anything special.”
The hell was with this girl?
But Geto was right. This was way better than a toilet stall. He could imagine being so pitiful to sit on a toilet and eat chips. He could at least eat his chips here. He poured the chips into his mouth. He leaned his back on the wall, checking his phone out.
This was technically against the school rule to bring phones but so was smoking. One of them was more serious than the other. Definitely not his.
“Want one?” Shouko offered.
“Sure. Thanks,” Suguru took the offer. He pulled one cigarette and she lent him her lighter.
They smoked while sitting together. Made Satoru wonder if these two were dating. Somehow, he felt out of place. He was in a strange place with weirdos. These two clearly knew each other.
“You’re not eating lunch today?” Shouko asked.
Suguru blew off the smoke. “Well, I haven’t gotten my pay yet.”
“Wanna borrow some?”
“Nah. It’s okay. I don’t want to keep borrowing from Shouko.”
Why? Why were they talking like he wasn’t there? Why weren’t they asking questions to him? Hey, wasn’t he interesting? Sometimes, Satoru wasn’t used to not being the centre of attention. He sat there, playing some quiz on his phone, while waiting for the bell.
When break was over, he had to go back to class. It was a normal school life. If he must say, awfully normal. With people who were clueless about the bigger world and the smoking delinquents. What did he expect from a public school?
Boxes were still spread all around the house. His own room was filled with boxes. He hadn’t done the unpacking. Too lazy for it. He laid on his bed since he came home.
They just moved in three days ago. His father, last week, so the place was not ready yet. The furniture had been unpacked but most of the things were still in the boxes. The living room was full of boxes. At least, the kitchen was not. His mother unpacked for cooking. Aside from those four boxes in the corner, most kitchenware was unpacked.
His mother called him down for dinner. He sat down. Food had been served and his father had begun eating before him. After he seated himself, his mother joined them and they had a family dinner.
“How was school, Satoru?” his mother asked him.
“So-so.”
“Did you make new friends?”
“Nah,” Satoru replied with zero enthusiasm. At least his mother’s tamagoyaki was as sweet as he liked. His father was as usual, just a quiet businessman.
He hated this town.
He had to move here because of his father’s job.
His family ran a business. It was still a growing business. His grandfather was the chairman. It was decided that they were going to expand to other cities and start new branch offices. His father was sent here to take care of the newly opened branch in this town. A boring town with a middle class population, a generic town that could be found anywhere.
It was a town with a less than prosperous economy that had no private schools. Everyone was middle class, so elite schools and high facilities were not a thing. No fancy hotels. No amazing malls. It was far from the bustling metropolitan. It was a big downgrade from his previous lifestyle. The restaurants were mom and pop’s.
There was no business going on aside from small family owned businesses. Houses were awfully cheap here and thanks to that, he saw ‘for sale’ signs at every turn. Young people were leaving and the population kept going down every year. Of course, with the cheap properties and still a big chunk of population, if the Gojo group could open up hotels and stuff, they could earn a lot of money.
Why bother expanding here? If his father really had to be the one in charge, why couldn’t he just remain at their old home? It was their house. It wasn’t rented. He wasn’t five anymore either! If they were so worried, he could live with his grandparents! Although it sucked living with old people with a curfew of seven, still better than being nowhere!
Fuck! He was still so salty!
.
.
.
.
He began to get used to his new life.
The new school. New classroom. New teachers. New books. Lessons that proved to be easier for his standard as he went to prestigious private school before this. New girls who kept asking him to the backyard for confessions. New classmates who honestly, sucked at sports as he quickly became well known in the whole school. He was cool and he knew that. He instantly became the most popular guy in school and he was not proud of this.
If he was popular in his old school, which he was, yes, he would be proud. But here? This was like being the smartest in a group of monkeys. There was nothing cool about this. Even the sports were boring as fuck. Sports were only good when there was competition and this school was filled with NPCs left and right.
Large chunk of land had been purchased before they moved here. Construction began. A supermarket was set to open next year. A big department store, and a hotel as well. Some citizens were happy to know that cool stuff was coming, and some were pissed because supermarkets were no good as a competition with local small shops and inns. It would kill the smaller businesses, they feared.
He went to the local restaurants. Food was at least good around here and authentic. They were not photogenic though. These were not cafes. Also, it was hard to find a good cake shop. It was as if no one liked cakes around here. There were some that were sold, and those were not even good. It was just someone baking instant mix cake, slapped some cream on it and called it cake. His nights of cake carving were suffering. He almost cried thinking about the delicious brownies from the cafe he frequented in his old place. If he really, really, really, craved for the sweets from his old home, he’d take the shinkansen to go there to buy them.
He tried the restaurants one by one everyday as the experience of moving. Exploring the local food. He found good places, yes. Delicious food. The shops were so old school though. All shops looked the same with handwritten menus on the wall.
It was three pm and he was looking for a mid-day meal after lunch. He was a growing boy. He had to eat all the time. Especially when he was this tall and big. He checked the maps and decided which place he was going today.
He entered and he was quickly met with a greeting from the worker.
“Oya? Gojo-kun, welcome.”
“You work here?”
“Yeah. For today. Sit down.”
He headed to the single seat at the counter table. “Alright. What’s good here?”
“For a sweet tooth like you, I think the curry will fit. It's sweet and not spicy. We got mochi too for dessert.”
“...okay. That’s fine,” Satoru muttered as he sat down.
He looked around the restaurant. It smelled old. He could hear the oil from the kitchen. The restaurant was small. It only had six tables inside and the kitchen was right there behind the counter. He could see the lady making his dish. She scooped rice from the rice cooker.
It took a few minutes.
Geto placed the curry rice dish at the table. “Here’s your curry. I’ll bring out the mochi later. Enjoy your meal.”
“Thanks.”
His eyes followed Geto’s back as he went back to the kitchen. The restaurant was owned by an old lady. She was cooking in the kitchen. Sure, she needed help. There were more old people here than youngsters. Most young people would leave for the metropolitan area for better wages and lifestyle. Sure, things were cheaper here, but the pay was also very low. It was stuck in the lower middle class income bracket.
He picked his spoon and began eating. The sauce was brown and sweet. It was delicious. He liked this. There were ten levels of spicy on the menu and he was the sweet curry.
He wondered where Geto knew he had a sweet tooth. Okay, maybe it was from his sweets snacking at school. But knowing he hated spicy food? Where did he get that from? He had never said anything about that.
Wait…
Could it be…
Geto like him?
Wait—!! That made sense. That was why Geto noticed the things he had never told anyone. Yes, that was an explanation. Could it be that Geto worked here on purpose…? Nah. That was too far-fetched. Geto working here was just a coincidence. But Geto liking him could be a real thing. Else why would Geto know so much about his tastes!? It was a little creepy… right?
He examined Geto’s working figure. He served the other guests and took the used dishes back to the kitchen. Mochi was served after he finished his meal.
.
.
.
.
Malls were old and if he wanted something, he had to get it online and get it delivered because no one sold the cool things he liked. Shops closed at eight, sometimes earlier, so once it hit night, it became quiet and dark.
It was a boring town.
Most of the people were faceless NPCs aside from a few. It was full of awfully ordinary people.
He learnt more about Ieiri Shouko, the smoking girl whom he had lost a bet to himself. He thought she’d be confessing to him after a month.
She didn’t.
He was in between impressed with her because it was rare to see a girl being so aloof around him, or pissed because she would straight up ignore him. Usually, girls would be all over him even if he was acting shit. Especially once it was well known he was rich. Handsome, tall, smart, rich. What was he lacking?
She was a weird girl. Heck, she barely felt like a girl. She acted like a guy. Especially with that amount of smoking. He couldn’t see her as a girl. Like, the ‘normal’ kind of girl. But he respected her. He valued her. Her act of pretending like she was a good student while smoking like crazy was cool. He liked rule breakers. Totally good NPCs were boring.
He asked about Nanami Kento. Yes, the first year student that the girls compared him to since his first day. A blonde guy. Aside from his blonde hair, he honestly looked like an average joe. He was Danish mixed apparently.
To be honest, Satoru would’ve thought this guy was just dying his hair blonde if he wasn’t told it was natural because this guy did not look foreign at all. Especially his eyes. Nanami Kento was a very normal guy. Nothing special.
He learnt about the monotonous boring lifestyle of a slow paced town. Time flows very slow here. It felt like forever to proceed. And he still had the third year.
“Gojo!” The teacher called his name loudly.
“Huh?” Satoru rubbed his eyes as he woke up from his nap. “What?”
“Don’t sleep in my class!” the teacher scolded.
“I didn’t sleep,” Satoru denied it and yawned. Totally low effort denial.
“Oh? Then you come out and solve this problem,” the teacher challenged him.
He sighed. “Fine—”
He stepped off his chair to the board. He glanced at the problem once. It was physics and it wasn’t something worth getting him up for. The teacher was expecting him to stumble and apologize, right? To make him look like a loser and so the class would laugh at him? Oh. He wouldn’t. This was easy peasy.
He grabbed the chalk. He didn’t even have to think much. This kind of problem was too easy. His previous school was way higher in quality than this. He wrote down the answer under the problem. The teacher stared at the board and then to him.
“Wake me up when there’s something better than this.” He walked back to his desk and sat down.
The teacher shut up afterwards because that was the right answer and continued the class.
The teacher wanted to embarrass him and it made him look cool instead. The classmates were so impressed with how cocky he was. Cocky, but with the flavour to back it up. His aloof, cocky personality and his intellect made girls go crazy for him.
And he went back to sleep and the teacher did not bother waking him up again.
He woke up only when he heard the bell ring.
He learnt more about the omega who sat beside him.
“Here, Gojo-kun. You can copy my notes since you slept through the whole class,” Suguru handed him his notebook.
“Oh… thanks…” he muttered as he took the note.
He checked the notes. The writings were clean and neat. Suguru was an excellent straight A student. His notes were easily understandable. Satoru was too lazy to write this down so he just pulled out his phone and took pictures of it. He really didn’t need this. He could do the exams without studying.
In short, Geto Suguru was a goodie shoes. He was the type to pretend he was a good guy and helping others. Sometimes, without being asked. ‘Pretend’ because he seemed pretentious as fuck. Someone who smiled could never be real good.
The lunch break bell rang.
Ieiri was the fastest to leave the class. She was going for her usual smoking.
He headed down to the cafeteria to buy some bread.
When he was heading back to class with his breads, a girl called him and asked to speak to him.
Ieiri might be the rare type of girl that wasn’t interested in him, but other girls were still into him. On average, he got one confession per week from girls he didn’t know. He didn’t bother remembering all his classmates if they were insignificant, and somehow other classes’ girls also confessed to him. It was funny at first, but after the eleventh, it got boring and annoying to have to reject them one by one.
“Sorry. I can’t date someone I don’t have feelings for,” he rejected the girl.
He rejected the girl at the stairs and headed back to the class.
He dropped his bag of sandwiches on his desk. He pulled his chair and dropped himself on it. He slumped over his desk.
“Oya? Mr. Popular, did you break another heart?”
Satoru’s eyes glanced over the classmate on his left. Geto Suguru was sitting facing him, at his desk. Leaning his side on his table, with his trademarked sly fox smile.
“Yeah.”
“Hanamura-san is a cutie, isn’t she? What a shame.”
“Huh? You were watching?”
“I was passing by. You’re getting confessions every few days, so what’s the matter.”
“I don’t even know her name.”
“What? She spoke to you three times in the library. How do you not even remember her name?”
“I don’t bother remembering every NPCs’ names and faces. It’s getting annoying.”
“What an arrogant guy—” Geto shook his head lightly, sarcastically. He turned back to his table and took out his lunch box.
He peeked into the lunch box. It was just plain white rice. Literally, a whole box filled with rice and nothing else. “White rice again?”
“Mah, kinda?”
“This is the fourth day in a row.”
“Well, it does the job of filling my stomach.”
He took out one of his six sandwiches. He always bought multiple of these. Sweet and savoury ones. Meal and dessert all in a go. He opened the plastic and ate the katsu sando. “Why not get a sandwich? One sandwich won’t break your bank.”
“I can’t get full on a single sandwich. I have to eat a lot. White rice is delicious too. Better than nothing.”
He understood that. He wouldn’t be full with one sandwich either. They were big so they had to eat a lot. He could eat six sandwiches in one sitting and drink a whole box of milk and still had space for ice creams. One sandwich might be cheap but six sandwiches per day would add up pretty quickly. Made him wonder why Geto was this broke when he worked part time. What about his allowance?
He grabbed one of the sweet sandwiches. The one with cream and strawberries in it. He put it at Geto’s desk. “I’ll give you that.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Don’t need it.”
“Alright. Thanks, Gojo.”
“You work all the time. Where did your money go? You can buy lunch. Why do you choose to eat just rice everyday?”
“Ah… I’m saving money,” Suguru replied as he ate his white rice. He swallowed his rice quickly to have another mouthful of rice.
“For?”
“I want to move out as soon as I graduate. I don’t want to stay here. So, I want to save as much as I can. I don’t want to burden my parent any further.”
“Oh. I bet so. There’s nothing to do here.”
That was a normal plan for teens at this age. He wouldn’t want to stay here either. And, he admitted not everyone was as lucky as he was. He was privileged with rich parents. Geto seemed like he was born in a poor family. The things he used, his clothes, all were quite shabby. The collar he wore everyday? It was the same collar and it was getting old. Judging from how the holes were used up, Geto must have worn this for years. Being poor must have sucked.
He finished his katsu sando and grabbed the second one. It was yakisoba bread. Carbs extra. It was good though. He burnt calories very quickly with his metabolism. He could eat anything and still be thin. In fact, he wanted to gain weight and be bulkier but he couldn’t, no matter how much he ate. He bit the tip of the bread first because he was at least normal when it came to food.
“What do you want to do after graduation? A year is just a bat of an eye. I suppose Gojo-kun will go to university?”
“That’s the plan. You?”
“I’ll look for a job.”
“Wow. Spoken like a true peasant.”
“Shut up. Asshole,” Geto cussed at him. It was in a pleasant and playful tone, however.
Once Geto finished his rice, he opened the sandwich and ate it. He had a good appetite. Geto ate a lot. He wrapped his box back into the cloth and put it away.
“Geto!” A classmate came over to his desk.
“What’s wrong, Fujii-san?”
“What was your quiz score last time?” Asked the girl frantically. She was not from their class. She was from the class next door! And she came over just to ask for Geto.
“It was A.”
“Great!!! Can you teach me? I understand no shit about this!! The exam is later!!!”
Geto smiled at her. “Hahah— fine. Show me? What do you not understand?”
Fujii pulled Ieiri’s chair and sat facing Geto. She asked Geto questions. He peeked at her notes and it was fucking simple problems. How stupid was this girl??? He swore to the heavens, even in terms of education and basic IQ, it just seemed like people were smarter in the big cities. Geto was able to patiently explain to her. His explanation was so simple that a monkey could grasp it.
Geto Suguru was a goodie shoes. He liked to help others. He was very popular. Especially with the girls. Satoru had noticed how Geto’s friends were mostly girls. They often came to him for help. The boys were probably a little weirded and they didn’t interact as much. The girls probably saw Geto as part of the girls, except with perks, because they sometimes also ask him to carry things and grab something from the top of the cupboard. It wasn’t for the sake of helping others. Geto simply got off from the sensation of helping others. He was a shitty person inside. It was all written on his face.
Of course, there were people who saw him as a freak. The reputation an omega carry. Being called a bitch and stuff like that. Overall, Geto wasn't bullied or anything. He had friends and was well liked by those who he interacted with and Yaga-sensei was mindful of him. He was simply not accepted by everyone.
The next class was P.E.
Basketball. They had a gym, but no official basketball club. They played only for fun. That meant the quality of players was bad. He missed his old team. Of all things, having to lose his basketball team was the most painful. That irritated him when he had to play because it was boring.
“Over here, Gojo!”
Satoru didn’t turn his head. He glanced just slightly before passing his ball to his left to his teammate. Before his teammate could get the ball, someone else slipped, stole the ball.
It was Geto. He took the ball, did a very high jump, and aimed for the ring. This was two metres away. Geto shot the ball.
No! He wasn’t letting that happen! He jumped and tapped the bottom of the ball, causing it to miss the ring just by an inch. This was why he didn’t like playing with the team. They were slow and weak. But since basketball was a team sport, he had to be nice or the teacher would scold him!
“Wow. That was close, wasn't it? Gojo?”
He hated that smirk. Geto Suguru’s sly and arrogant smirk. Despite being an omega, Geto was overflowing with confidence. Tall. Smart. Good with sports. Satoru had been bothered by this omega since day one. It was just so strange. Like, no matter what, when Geto was here, he wasn’t the number one anymore.
“Don’t think you can steal from me that easily again,” Satoru cockily told the omega.
“I am not. Gojo-kun is strong. I know it won’t be easy. I won’t go easy as well.”
Before he realized it, he was grinning. He was tall so he was the star player. His height advantage crushed other students. This had been the thing since his old school. No one could win against him. But Geto was almost as tall as him. As athletic as him.
If there was a challenge, it was Geto. The only thing that could at least excite him in this monotone world. A one kind of fun. To think that he’d meet his first challenger here. He couldn’t care less about his teammates anymore. If he relied on the team, Geto would crush them. He had to fight on his own. Dribbling the ball on his right hand, he avoided the opponents. Small fry wouldn’t make much difference. It was Geto whom he must be careful of.
It was actually fun.
One opponent came to his tracks and he simply made a 180 turn and ran past him, switching the ball to his left.
Knowing that winning wasn’t guaranteed. That he might lose if he put his guard down. He always had to watch his opponent or else his ball might get stolen. It was a taste of thrill he had been missing. He had to put in an effort to win.
It was fun. One class he always looked forward to was P.E. That was because sometimes he got to have some competition. This place was boring him to death. At least there was still some fun in it.
Instead of two teams playing basketball, it became just two of them playing while the rest could only watch because they couldn’t match them. It killed the mood but they barely felt anything except for thrill.
Mid- game, the P.E teacher blew his whistle to pause the game. They stopped moving and Geto was holding the ball.
“Alright. Geto, you can go back to your own class now!”
“Oh…” Geto mumbled his disappointment. “I understand.” His time was up. Geto passed the ball to him. “It was fun, Gojo. See you in class.”
Geto left the gym. The teacher had to kick him off the gym or else no one else would play. Geto was not supposed to play in the boys’ class. The game was over when time was up.
Satoru passed the ball to another player and stepped aside. There was no more point in continuing the game when Geto was already sent away. Satoru grabbed his water bottle and gulped down it. Oh, he was so thirsty. That was a good sport. First time moving his body that much since a while.
“Sensei, please don’t let Geto come over anymore. He doesn’t belong here. He kills all the fun. It’s unfair,” one student complained.
What? How about him? It was okay for him but not for Geto?
“Well, it’s not Geto’s fault you all suck, isn’t it?” He loudly mocked that classmate.
He touched a sore spot apparently. They all looked at him with dirty eyes. They disliked him. Initially, everyone liked him but once the novelty ran out, the male classmates just got disinterested with him because he was so cocky and annoying. Only the girls would still be a fan of his.
Who cares? It wasn’t his fault that he’s better than everyone else. They couldn’t complain because they couldn’t kick him off the class despite him being way ahead of everyone in all aspects. But he was an alpha, so they could justify it. For an omega to be better than them must be embarrassing. Pathetic weaklings. He wasn’t interested in making friends with them either. It wasn’t his responsibility to take care of others’ feelings.
He spent the rest of the P.E watching the mediocre players play. It was such a pain to watch how bad they were.
After changing and going back to the class, he sat down at his desk. Geto was already at his desk, studying. He was probably not with the girls’ class either so he must be alone in class the whole time. He just used the time to study.
“That was a good game, Gojo. You’re amazing.”
“Geto, shouldn’t you be in the girls’ P.E class? You’re an omega, right?” He finally asked the elephant in the room. He had been bothered about this.
This was the first time he saw Geto in P.E. Usually, Geto was not present. He assumed since Geto was an omega, he would be with the girls’ class. Geto wasn’t in the boys' bathroom and locker either. It would be crazy to let an omega be in the boy’s locker room. To be honest, it was such a waste for this level of skill to be put in the girls’ class. He could have played for the school in tournaments! When he said someone was good, it meant it was that good! But even in the Olympics, the rule still stands. Geto wouldn’t be allowed to compete.
“Oh— you noticed? …I guess it’s obvious…” There was a tone of disappointment in Geto’s voice. His expression too. Mentioning his sex was a sore spot for him. Though, it was quickly taken over by a friendly smile. “Well, yeah. But the girls protested that it’s unfair to the teacher so he made me sit out all the time.”
“What??? But you played with us just now?”
“Yeah. I am still not graded so I get B by default in all physical exams. It’s the rules. I am actually not allowed to compete with the boys. Officially. But Yaga-sensei talked to the P.E teacher to let me play for fun sometimes. So I get to play with the guys once in a while.”
“Wow. That’s boring. You’re good. It’s such a waste. You could’ve carried the team to nationals.”
“Pfft—!! You jest. I am not that good.”
“I used to be the captain in my previous school. I know when I see good skills,” he told Geto.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Must be boring to play with these guys.”
“Mah—“ Geto didn’t deny it. He smirked, instead. His sly fox-like smile.
Oh, this omega was arrogant. And Satoru liked that. People with some flavours were allowed to be arrogant. Geto was interesting. He was a goodie shoes, but he also looked down at others despite being an omega. He must have felt proud that he was better than others. He knew his own capabilities and was proud of that. He certainly was proud of himself being physically stronger and smarter than the classmates. Despite knowing their names and faces, he thought of them as beneath him.
From everyone, the person who gave him the most impression was Geto Suguru. Perhaps, it was due to him being an omega. That made him weird in the first place. But it was more than that. It was the combination of being an omega, and his strange personality and his skills that made him an interesting person.
.
.
.
.
He put on his coat. The air was getting chilly with autumn coming. One thing he noticed right away was autumn being colder here. It wasn’t this cold in the metropolitan area. It was sunday and he was thinking about going to meet his old friends from his old school to play. So, to the train station he was heading.
On his way there, he stopped in a convenience store. There was one nearby the train station. He supposed it was the place where people came and go? The bell rang as he entered.
“Welcome… Oh, Gojo-kun…”
The cashier behind the register? It was Geto Suguru.
“Seriously… Why are you everywhere?”
“Excuse you. I’m just doing my morning shift.”
“And then it is the old hag’s restaurant at day time?”
“Yes. And the family-res at night.”
He raised his brows. “Is this legal for you to work this much as a student?”
“I don’t work beyond eight pm. It’s all good. And, what can I get you today? I can’t sell you cigarettes and alcohol. If you want candy, it’s over there,” Geto pointed to the snack section.
“...why are you treating me like a brat?”
He grabbed his snacks and drinks and paid.
“Well then, Gojo-kun, have a nice trip~”
Geto even waved to him when he exited the store. Seriously, he was kinda creeped out by how this person just popped up at places to get some job. It was also rather pitiful that he was working this much. Youth should be the time of fun, not working this much. Though, he couldn’t comment on someone else’s financial situation. He knew that not everyone was so fortunate like him to be born in an upper class family. Geto might just be that poor.
After work, Suguru hung out at the town park. He sat there, alone, with a can of warm tea. He didn’t want to go home yet. There was nothing good at home. At least, until nine.
Because that was when the homeless people showed up. No matter what, homelessness was an epidemic. When he saw the homeless people showed up, he decided it was time to go. He disposed of his empty can and walked home. It was a thirty minute walk of silence. He lived quite far away. Every morning, he had to wake up early because of the time he had to spend walking.
Suguru unlocked the door to the apartment he shared with his mother. He lost all energy when he turned on the light, and looked at how messed up the place was. Trash was scattered around the floor. He did not make this mess.
His mother was at the dining table, drinking a whole bottle of alcohol.
“If you’re awake, at least turn on the lights,” he told her.
He went to the fridge and he checked the stack of bills stuck on the freezer door. He sighed at the amount of bills he had to pay. His mother wasn’t paying for stuff. She was unemployed. Hair was messy, patchy, weeks unwashed and uncombed. She smelled, for having not bathed for who knows how long. Her clothes were stained with sauce from last week.
“You should really try to get a job, kaa-san. We’re behind so much.”
She threw the cup at him, which she missed and it hit the fridge and broke apart into many pieces. “Whose fault do you think this is?!” she yelled at him, clearly drunk from drinking the whole day.
“You’re drunk. Please get some rest.” He crouched down to pick up the broken pieces of the cup.
He threw the broken cup into the bin. “Being divorced doesn’t mean your bills get magically paid. You need to get a job.”
“Because of you… it’s all because of you… you… Why can’t you be just like your brother!?” she screamed at him.
She was right. This was because of him.
His father divorced his mother when he was five years old because of his sex. His father’s family kept pushing for divorce and he eventually fell to the pressure. He resented his mother and him, for being an omega. It was a shame so unbearable, he couldn’t live with it. His father’s family was so ashamed of him. They didn’t consider him their grandchild and accused his mother of cheating.
His father took his elder brother who was an alpha and left. Obviously, his brother was wanted and in the divorce process, they both wanted his brother while trying to push him away. His older brother was ten years older than him and was the family's proud son. Everyone loved him. Smart. Amazing. Sweet. An alpha. The perfect son. His brother was what they wanted. He was just an accident that turned out to be a curse.
If he was born normal, his father wouldn’t have left. They wouldn’t have divorced. They wouldn’t be in this financial pit with debt collectors ringing their phone and door every day. They were behind everything.
They would’ve been a happy normal family.
But he had to be born a freak. He hated this too. He didn't ask to be born an omega. Why must he be born as one? Why couldn't it be someone else? Why couldn't he be normal?
He didn’t engage with her and went to his own room and locked his door. He was sick living like this. For that, he needed money. He had to work harder. Save more. Studied harder. Get better grades so he could hopefully land a good job in the cities. He wanted to be independent soon.
He’d leave this place once he graduated.