Chapter Text
*two years ago*
Kazuha sighed as he stood in front of one of those huge plazas that he had been going in and out of for an entire month.
“Dang it, why can’t the guild just assign me a proper job?” He mumbled to himself as he ran his slender fingers in his hair with a tired expression on his face. He looked up, done with the sight of people in suits going in and out of the offices. He took half-hearted steps towards the plaza before entering. He went to the front desk and got his employee card. He traced the hard edges of the plastic before inspecting the card.
“Teyvat Law Firm… Detective Kazuha Kardehara… And I’m assigned to… The omega rights team? As an alpha? Who would do something like that? I specifically told the guild that I wanted to avoid omegas. It always gets awkward in the end. Huh… At least I look good in that photo.” He sighed and put the card in its bag and hung it from his neck.
“This makes wearing a tie terribly uncomfortable…”
He passed from the security and went upstairs to the omega rights team. As soon as he passed the glass doors to the office, he was greeted with an airy, warm room that was full of bright faces, a sharp contrast to what he’d seen while working with other alphas before. The soft hint of flowery omega odor in the air helped him relax a little, the previous frown turning into a neutral, calmer expression.
“Maybe this is not so bad…” He mumbled to himself before being pulled right into the team director’s cubicle. She was also an omega like everyone else in the office. She had a sharp appearance with dark red hair and black cat eyes.
“Kazuha, right? Welcome.” She said in a sharp tone, almost like she was threatening him, which took Kazuha off guard.
“That would be me, yes.”
“Good. Now I will be showing your desk and everything and the guild already told you what you have to be doing for your work here. Your contract isn’t assigned a date yet, we will decide if you’ll be a full-time employee based on your performance. But before everything, you’ll be the only alpha in the team and we have to set some rules.” Kazuha winced a little at the cold tone, and was surprised by how she managed to keep a professional tone so cold. He rubbed the back of his neck, wanting to apologize without any proper reason.
“I’m willing to cooperate, haha… What are the rules?” He tried to put on a gentle expression. She nodded.
“First, no pheromones are allowed. Not at all. You’re free, and encouraged to take ruts off, and you’re obviously prohibited to inhale any of your team members’ pheromones. Those are quite obvious, you are in the omega rights team, you have to act accordingly.” She sat down, her tone losing its sharp edge as she noticed that Kazuha seemed to cooperate. He nodded before she kept going.
“Secondly, there’s one person with a bad past with alphas on the team. He’s not here yet, I won’t introduce the two of you since my day is packed with meetings. I need you to approach him with caution. You’ll be sent the details to his condition any minute now. Make sure to be careful, if he complains about you, without evidence directing for your direction, you’ll be held responsible and face consequences. Is it clear?”
“Yes ma’am.” He nodded.
“Great, let me take you to your desk.” They started walking around the office and Kazuha finally sat down on his own desk before the team director left. He met with some of his colleagues before finally receiving the document explaining that guy’s condition. He sat down and started reading it while he mentally spoke to himself.
“Abused… Used… PTSD, takes medicine… How can he even face those alphas in court? That’s lowkey impressive…” Then he heard an unfamiliar voice, he looked up to see everyone greeting the new person who just came. He got up, his eyes caught the unfamiliar indigo hair right away.
“It’s him…” He mumbled to himself, went up to one of the girls whom he’d met earlier.
“That’s Scaramouche, right?”
“Yeah, that’s him. You may want to be careful around him. He—“
“I know. They explained it to me. How do I approach him though?”
“Uhh… He’ll be fine as long as you’re away. I recommend getting one step closer every month.” Kazuha laughed nervously, not understanding if that was a joke or not. He looked back at the guy, that’s when their gazes met. Kazuha’s crimson eyes locked with Scaramouche’s own indigo ones for a second. Kazuha paused in his spot, his eyes widening. Something about that guy’s looks did things to him. Things he couldn’t really name. He was only pulled out of his daze when the guy looked at him with disgust and tore his gaze away. Kazuha felt hurt, for whatever reason. Kazuha looked down, processing the information. He felt his throat go dry right before he swallowed. He was determined to earn this guy’s sympathy. No matter what.