Chapter Text
Eraserhead and All Might did not get along. In the eyes of the students at UA, Aizawa hated All Might. It was one of those things that had gone around the school quickly, spreading like a wildfire and cropping up rumors and ridiculous stories on what had happened between the two Omegas, who avoided one another as much as possible because it wasn’t common Omega behavior, and they both seemed to get along with every other Omega they met. The teachers, who knew the story, often left it alone, letting the students think what they wanted because the rumors and stories didn’t bother the people they were about.
The reality of the situation was that they did like each other. They lived together, they worked together, and they went through their heats together so often that they had synced up. They each had their separate nests, for whenever that was necessary, but they often preferred the larger, shared one because it gave a sense of familiarity and comfort. It had started because of an accident and a slip up from when they had both been about ten years younger.
…
All Might, fool that he could be at times, had forgotten to take his medicine one morning, and it had kind of put him in a bad place. That is to say, the Omega part of him was in a bad place, which made the man himself miserable.
Shouta, for his part, had been confused when he smelled another Omega in distress, and he had made his way to where the blonde was curled up in a stairwell, arms wrapped around his belly as he whimpered softly. Shouta worked at a hospital for abused Omegas when school wasn’t in session, so the distress was something he was used to having to help with. He worked his way to the man, letting off the most calming scent he could the whole time. By the time the Omegas had made it back to the shorter male’s single-bedroom apartment, the blonde had been so distressed that Shouta had willingly stayed near the door while the other man pressed as tightly against the far wall as he could get, watching Shouta carefully despite his pain until his exhaustion won out and he finally curled up on the floor and passed out.
Shouta remembered being on edge for weeks because the Omega didn’t want to tell him where home is so he could help, and the constant fear from him kept Shouta from going to his own nest, a fact which would make any normal Omega anxious. He wondered why the other man didn’t seem a little bit bothered by it. It took weeks, but eventually, the blonde had opened up to the dark-haired Omega. Shouta had been squirming on the hard floor by the door, trying to find a position to sleep in, when a curious blonde head peeked around the counter, watching the dark-haired man warily. “Hi.” He said softly, flinching and hiding all but his eyes again when Shouta’s eyes opened to look at him directly.
He must not have looked too friendly with his bloodshot eyes because as he looked at the blonde, the man slowly shrunk further and further back. “Hi.” He finally responded, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “What do you need?”
The blonde looked startled that Shouta had responded at all, and he peeked out a little further. “I… you haven’t been sleeping well.”
“I don’t sleep well.” Had been his response, and the blonde had blinked, blushed, and turned away. “Have you been sleeping well?”
There was quiet, and then a soft answer, “no.”
“Are you scared of me?”
Another long pause and another soft, “no.”
Shouta smiled faintly, eyes slipping closed. He was exhausted and anxious because he hadn’t been able to nest in weeks because there was a sick Omega who had been hiding in his living room for weeks. “I was going to take you home, you know, but I was worried you’d panic if I tried to.”
“I probably would have.”
If he had to guess, he felt safer with Shouta not watching him move, and the dark-haired male jumped when a hand touched his leg. It snatched back when he did so, and he cracked his eyes, looking at the blonde, who curled into a tight, bony ball against the adjoining wall, leaving only a few scant inches between them. An uncertain, somewhat awkward smile greeted him, and Shouta huffed gently, kindly. His pheromones stirred, the gentle, soothing scent leaking from him for the blonde, who tensed for a moment at it and then relaxed, shifting to be closer, until he was resting against his savior. Still, the floor was decidedly not the most comfortable place to be, and it was obvious the blonde was having trouble settling.
“Hey, get up. We can sleep somewhere a little more comfortable.” The blonde hesitantly stood, watching Shouta as he also stood, stretching his arms high above his head until his spine popped. A yawn parted his jaws, and he shuffled into the bedroom, revealing the mass of comfortable blankets and pillows that made up his bed. A proper nest, that he’d been working on for a couple years now, constantly improving it. He made a noise filled with glee and couldn’t help himself from climbing into the pile of comfort items, nuzzling against them and re-familiarizing himself with the nest he hadn’t been near in weeks.
It was a long moment before he remembered the blonde was there, and when he looked up, the man hadn’t even entered his room. “Hey. You can come in.” The dark-haired man tilted his head, watching as the other slowly shuffled into his room, looking everywhere but at the bed. A soft, understanding sigh escaped the man on the bed, and he shuffled out of the nest reluctantly, coming up to the other Omega and gently reaching out to him. Omega nests were sacred, and they could get frighteningly defensive of them. The blonde jumped harshly when fingers brushed his skin, and he whirled, the harsh smell of distress meeting Shouta’s nose. A second later, there were apologies spilling from the blonde’s lips, and the smell of distress was getting worse.
Shouta put his hands out flat, and there was a long moment where they were just like that, with Shouta holding his hands out, and the blonde apologizing and panicking about something. Shouta just didn’t know what there was for him to be panicking about. Finally, moving slowly so the taller Omega could move if necessary, he reached out, gently resting a hand against the other’s shoulder. The touch was lingering as Shouta then shifted closer, wrapping the other Omega in a hug and smiling tiredly when he tensed and then leaned heavily against the smaller form. “Come here.” He said softly, gently guiding the other Omega into the nest. It was a hesitant moment, where the taller blonde was made mildly uncomfortable by being in a stranger’s nest, but then he realized that this was a safe space. A sacred space, and Shouta found the speed at which the other male relaxed humorous. He was nestled into the nest, his entire body laying sideways across the head of the bed, unconsciously scenting the nest like he and Shouta were family.
The dark-haired Omega didn’t care to correct the behavior. It wasn’t the first time he’d had an Omega like this do something like that. It was, however, the first time this had been done to his personal nest and not one that he had made for the purpose of giving up. He’d been working on this nest for years, and he wouldn’t give it up, though. They would have to share. When he slid in, head resting below the taller Omega’s chest, he hummed thoughtfully at how his scent of rainfall mingled with the new, interesting scent of lavender and honey. It was a heady mixture, and Shouta’s Omega trilled softly as they settled. That seemed to be the thing that brought the blonde to his senses, and the apologies immediately started again as the blonde sat upright.
Shouta grumbled softly, wordlessly, and adjusted, wrapping his arms around his fellow Omega. “You’re okay.”
“I’ve just never had one of these before… it’s nice.”
Shouta didn’t respond, but he stored the information because it was important to understand the personality of the man he had taken in.
…
The time Shouta had found out about Toshinori’s life before Shouta took him in was a less pleasant memory, and the one thing that had truly solidified their bond. Toshinori had been trying to find a suitable Alpha to nest down with in those years, and the one that he had been wooing had been so nice, and Toshinori could see himself mating him and settling down. But then it had all gone south so quickly, leaving Toshinori broken and worse for wear and not trusting Alphas, to go with his lack of trust for most Omegas because his experience with them had been brutal.
It happened because Shouta got home early, and he opened the door just about the same time that Toshinori, who had been living with him for a few months by then, was coming out of the shower, a simple towel about his waist. The scar that covered most of his side was plainly on display, and the blonde froze to see the apartment’s owner in the living room, giving him the same wide-eyed stare. “Toshi—”
He didn’t get to finish the first word before the blonde spun, hiding his side as he ducked back into the bathroom. Honey and lavender turned sour, into something more akin to fruits going bad. It was offensively bitter to smell. He was distressed again. It had been months since Toshinori had felt stressed around him, and Shouta couldn’t help trilling softly for his friend. His own rainfall and earth scent had turned darker, taking on the smoky scent of a fire. Not necessarily distress, but something not far from it. The same scent he had been known to have when he had to talk an Omega down. A sort of false Alpha scent, if one wanted to call it that. He fretted with the things he had brought home from the store he had stopped at on the way home, but he wanted to help his friend. His instincts screamed for him to do so, but he didn’t know how. He realized he was breathing hard and stopped moving, focusing on his breathing. He had never been attached to anyone like he was the tall, blonde Omega he had helped just a few short months ago.
Finally, it became unbearable, and he found himself by the bathroom door, where a low, keening cry could be heard. To say he was surprised when the door opened would be an understatement. “Toshi!” He cried, sliding up next the blonde and hugging him tightly. In the short time they’d known one another, they had gotten used to sharing a nest, so instinct had them behaving as pack members. Toshinori was like family now, and Shouta felt his scent clearing up at the contact. He found himself nuzzling the taller male. He checked for injuries he knew weren’t there out of pure instinct, and the smell of sour lemons slowly eased as Toshinori’s own instincts whispered safety over him. Pack meant safety, after all.
It was a few hours before Toshinori approached a quiet Shouta, who was watching TV, looking rather studiously at the ground by his feet. “Shouta?” He asked, hesitantly. “Um… I wanted to talk about what had happened.” His arms were wrapped tight around his waist, one hand clutching where Shouta now knew the scar was. It made him wonder about the other times he had taken up the same position.
The dark-haired man paused the movie and lifted a hand when Toshinori went to speak. “If it bothers you, you don’t have to talk about it.”
“I know. I know I don’t… but I want to. It’ll save us from things like today happening.” It was clear that the blonde was still bothered by the whole experience. Even remembering it made each of them anxious, and Shouta found himself smiling to ease the blonde’s nerves.
“In that case, come tell me about it.” He patted the seat next to him.
The story was a very unhappy one. Toshinori confessed that he was All Might, to start it off, and Shouta had been so surprised that the blonde had started apologizing. It was a habit he was slowly getting over, but there was still a way to go. When he had recovered, Shouta got the full story. Starting with how he inherited his power and then continuing with how one day, he got into a fight that had injured him. Badly. It was the first thing to limit his use of One for All. And then, one day, he had been kidnapped. He still looked normal, not as fit as his hero form, but not the scrawny sack of bones he was today. Lithe, he remembered the word for it after the description, and Shouta had smiled fondly. He had been kidnapped for being a good-looking Omega, and he was put in a mansion full of Omega just like him: fit and capable. Their quirks were widely varied, as were their appearances, but they were all strong. Toshinori had to keep his hero form a secret because All Might was a figure to everyone, and if they knew that he could be weakened and his power was limited, it would be bad. Even worse would be that people would then be able to find him, no matter where he went or what he did.
His first few days there had been relatively peaceful, but then… the Alpha came in. He had heard of it before: Stockholm Syndrome. You grow to love your captor. He had never seen the effects of it before, though, and it was a harsh lesson he had experienced. The Alpha ignored them all and came to Toshinori, whispering of power and beauty, saying that Toshinori had both. Saying he was, in a word, perfect. Jealousy was an ugly beast, and when he left, the Omegas had fallen onto him, tearing into him savagely.
There was a pause in the story then, where the man was panicking, and Shouta had to hold him, whisper soft words to him. Sour fruit had permeated the air, and Shouta had cooed gently at the other Omega until the smell abated into honey and lavender. He held Toshinori through the rest of the story.
The Omegas had torn him apart to the point where he had to have surgery. Their savagery took away one lung and most of his stomach and other internal organs. His ribs had been shattered in multiple places, so they had repaired him as best they could. The hospital asked what had happened, but the people who brought him wouldn’t offer the information, and he had been unconscious most of the time and told not to speak until he was done healing. He was released without having been allowed to utter even a single word.
Rescue came months later, and Toshinori had had to explain why he looked the way he did. He couldn’t eat most foods anymore, so he was eating the bare minimum to survive because his body rejected it when he tried to eat the fancier things they were brought. As a result, he was skin and bones, but in a way that couldn’t really be fixed for the simple fact that his body couldn’t handle heavier foods, and it didn’t really accept a lot of the foods it could handle. He’s looked the same ever since. The repercussions of the assault hadn’t been fully known until later, though, when All Might had been doing work. Luckily, he had been out of sight of everyone when his strong form had fled him much sooner than it ever had. It had been a strain on him to force it to come back and finish the job he had been on, and then he had to hide away, coughing up the one lung he had. Then he had fallen into despair. But he wanted a good Alpha, so he sought one. He wanted one who would protect him and wouldn’t hate him for his disability. He wasn’t getting any younger, and he wanted a mate. Every Alpha he tried to date ended up turning him down because he was, in their words, an ugly, worthless Omega. Just before Shouta had found him, he’d been living with an Alpha who would use him to get through their ruts and then leave him in agony for his heats. Why? Because it’s not like it was worth anything anyway. Most of his organs were gone, and those that remained were working at half rate. He still had his heats, but he had become infertile from his injuries. He didn’t leave sooner because he had nowhere else to go.
The blonde cried quietly as he finished telling the story, and the black-haired man simply pet his hair, quietly letting him do what he needed after sharing what was, quite obviously, a hard story. Shouta had noted previously that Toshinori did tend to make foods consisting of similar flavors and ingredients, but it seemed to soothe the other Omega to cook, so he never mentioned it. He had suddenly found himself glad he had never brought it up. Toshinori might have panicked and never opened up to him. He had also wondered about the man’s state that first day, but it was another one of those things that felt too personal to ask about.
“I was born infertile.” It had been the only thing Shouta could say, a few minutes later, after the silence had gotten fat. “When I presented, they put me down as a Beta. My scent, it’s neutral like that, but later, they discovered I was an Omega.” Shouta cleared his throat. “I had my first heat in the middle of class.” He remembered that Toshinori gasped softly and was looking up at him, eyes wide. Shouta had busied himself wiping off the tear tracks on the older man’s cheeks. “One of the students noticed it. Told the teacher. The teacher had gotten so mad, too. Said that if I was having a heat, I should have stayed home, but it didn’t feel like what I’d been told they feel like. I felt warm, and my libido might have been up, but I wasn’t really desperate.” He had smiled at the blonde in his lap. “They changed my classification and put me on regulator pills. I’m not on them anymore, but it fixed it. Now, every three months…” He didn’t have to elaborate. Toshinori was a more experienced Omega, after all, so it worked. His scent didn’t get sweeter, though, instead staying the nice, neutral rainfall that it was. “I still have most of the traits of a Beta, but my heats are… more intense, and occur regularly.”
…
Nemuri sighed softly and snapped her fingers, startling Shouta from his memories. “You have class in five minutes, Shou. You may want to go.”
The dark-haired man had sighed, pushing himself out of his seat. “Yeah.” He said, making his way out to get to his class.