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Scents are the hot topic among teens. Everyone is dying to know what their individual fragrance is going to be once they have presented. Even more important is the question whether they are going to be compatible with their crush or not. Especially girls like to sniff each other and it's not uncommon to see them flock to a newly presented Alpha or Omega to nuzzle her hair, swooning over the combination of notes within the scent.
Eijiro remembers very well how excited everyone was when Mina was the first in class to present towards the end of their last year in middle school, as an Alpha on top of that! All their classmates agreed that grapefruit was the perfect mix of fruity and sour and pink, just like her. (Though Eijiro wouldn’t have been surprised if her scent was like gasoline spilled on asphalt.)
On the other hand, Betas are not very excited when the topic comes up. On top of being in the minority, Betas are basically scentless to Alphas and Omegas and their smell can only be picked up by their own kind. Alphas and Omegas may be able to tell if the odor is sweet or fresh or heavy at best, but the scent of a Beta will rarely be discussed and complimented within a group. When a student is scentless it's usually assumed that they haven't presented yet because everyone is very open about it and likes to speculate about secondary genders and scent notes. Some groups even place bets.
Eijiro honestly can’t wait for his turn to present. Currently he is one of the four students in class 2-A that haven’t presented yet. Out of Tokoyami, Tsuyu and Todoroki he is the oldest and his 17th birthday is in less than two months, so it shouldn’t take much longer. At least he hopes so, even though there are no signs of an upcoming rut or heat. But some people are hit by it out of the blue. Eijiro hopes he’s not one of them, but if he is, he will deal with it like a man.
However, he’s not the topic of the day this time. Instead the girls argue once again what Todoroki will present as. He's one of the youngest in the class and probably a late bloomer, so they aren't really surprised that he's still scentless. But that doesn’t stop their curiosity and speculations if he's gonna be an Alpha like his dad, the #1 hero Endeavor. They even got a few boys on board, including Deku who might help them in finding an answer through the thorough information in his notebooks. Most bets are set on Alpha prime even. After all, he was on top of the class and his big brother used to call him a masterpiece at any chance even if it was usually meant ironically and mockingly. The reasoning isn’t bulletproof though, as Bakugo had proven in their first year and literally everyone had lost the bet. Same with Momo half a year later. So now a few had placed their bets on Omega.
“Don’t you think Todoroki smells sweeter than usual today?” Hagakure asks the group. “Like a peppermint candy cane.”
“That would be too obvious if you are referring to his hair color,” Momo objects.
“He’s as scentless as every day,” Tsuyu says.
Eijiro hasn’t planned to join the discussion today, but when he passes by and hears Tsuyu’s words, he stops in his tracks. "Eh? But Todoroki smells like a campfire at the pebble shore of a mountain spring!"
The group looks at Eijiro, then at Todoroki and back. “Of course he smells like fire and water!” They laugh it off. “He burned Kaminari’s hair and his sports uniform just half an hour ago during quirk training and he’s fresh out of the shower. We all are.”
“Furthermore Todoroki will definitely smell like burned marshmallows and you can’t convince me otherwise,” Kaminari says, arms crossed over his chest and nodding.
“No, he has smelled like this for a few days already!” Eijiro insists. “Actually always has, but it got stronger lately…”
“But why would only you of all people smell him? Can’t it be just his quirk? We all notice that smoky smell every now and then...” Ochako says, tapping a finger to her chin.
“He has a very clear image in mind when it comes to Todoroki’s alleged scent though. That usually just happens with… mates, right?” Jiro points out.
Eijiro feels the tips of his ears getting flushed at the mention of mates and he wishes that he wasn’t the only person standing and sticking out of the group because the longer he thinks about it the more his face starts to heat up. He tries to shake the thoughts off. After all, neither of them knows into what category they will fall. They both might present as Alphas. Although for the perfect mate, Eijiro would ignore compatibility. Oh god, he had to stop thinking about being Todoroki’s mate.
“Do you have a secret, Ei-ji-ro?" Mina drawls.
Here we go…
“Wait!” Deku interrupts.
Thanks, Midoriya.
“There is a possibility. Scents often represent a person’s quirk, so it only makes sense that Todoroki-kun smells like fire. And if only you can pick it up while neither of us can… that means that he might be—”
“You are a Beta!” Mina chimes in.
“I am?” Eijiro asks, pointing at himself, surprised by suddenly being the center of attention.
It isn’t uncommon for young Betas to go unnoticed for a while as there are no symptoms of them presenting such as impending heats or ruts. They are usually dependent on other Betas suddenly picking up their scent, followed by a blood test to check their hormone levels. That’s why schools are very adamant about having a ‘Beta quote’ among their staff to accommodate all their students, including the minority. But Mr. Aizawa had to go to a health resort after his leg started to bother him again.
“There is only one way to know for sure,” Deku says and turns around on his chair. “Todoroki-kun? Can you come over and tell us what Kirishima-kun smells like?”
“Petrichor.” Todoroki doesn’t even have to leave his place and nor does he look up from the manga he’s reading during their break. Apparently Eijiro’s scent is strong enough to be picked up from the distance between them.
“Ohhhh,” the girls hum in unison. They all crane their necks and inhale deeply. Hagakure's sniffing is audible to the whole group. But they all slump back into their chairs a moment later.
“Petri— what?” Eijiro blinks.
“Petrichor,” Todoroki repeats, gracing the group with a brief glance before continuing his reading.
“Congrats dude, you smell like a wet lawn,” Sero chuckles.
“Oh. Ok…” Eijiro can’t quite hide the disappointment in his voice. He has always seen himself as a potential Alpha, crossing his fingers for it, but wouldn’t have minded turning out to be an Omega since he always prides himself in being reliable and caring. Being a Beta has never crossed his mind actually. He doesn’t have much time to dwell on this thought when Ochako’s voice drags him out of his sulking.
“So Todoroki is a Beta?”
They can hear him sigh as he closes his manga and puts it under the desk.
“Why did you never tell us?!”
“You were always whispering about it behind my back, but never actually asked me ,” he replies honestly. It was true. Not even Midoriya has dared to ask him despite his curious nature.
“But when did you—”
“Shortly before I turned fourteen. But my brother Natsuo didn’t break the news to my dad until after my birthday to not ruin it for me as he was the only one who could tell I presented.”
So he was actually precocious.
“So did anyone bet Beta for Todoroki?”
Hagakure pulls out a small notebook, quickly flipping through the pages. “On it!” Ochako and Mina pop up next to her, peeking over her shoulders barely able to contain their excitement and curiosity.
“Alpha prime, Alpha, Omega, Alpha prime, Omega, Alpha prime, Alpha… No bets on Beta. We all lose.”
“Who would have guessed?” Mina whines.
“What a bummer… ouch! Why are you kicking me, Jiro?”
The first answer Kaminari gets is a glare and a nod towards Todoroki’s seat. “He can hear you.”
“Don’t bother, I’m used to the disappointment. You haven’t seen my father’s reaction. Anything other than an Alpha was unacceptable. Omegas are weak, Betas are useless, the usual prejudices. He drilled me to close the gap in physical strength to Alphas and his genes do the rest.” Todoroki scrunches his nose at the last comment. “I honestly don’t know what he expected when I’m literally an equal mix of him and Mom.”
“Waaaah Todoroki-kun!” Before the girls can gather around Todoroki for a comforting group hug, they hear Ectoplasm announce the start of math class and everyone hurries to take their seat.
Eijiro is barely able to listen to today’s class, feeling a little defeated by the news. Todoroki’s father’s words surely are too harsh and very untrue, but the reaction of his classmates has been undeniably not so positive either. Betas are uninteresting, unremarkable, easy to forget.
What a bummer indeed.
After class Eijiro stays longer than necessary in the bathroom while everyone else rushes into the canteen like a hungry pack of wolves. Usually lunch is his favorite time of the day because it means he gets to catch up with what his friends have been up to or what plans they have for the weekend while stuffing his face with Lunch Rush’s delicious gyūdon. But today he doesn’t feel like joining any conversation because he already knows what they are all going to be about. So when he gets out of the queue with his meal he heads for one of the smaller tables close to the exit to the patio. Sneaking away from your friends’ table to sulk isn’t very manly, but neither is being a grouch while everyone is chatting cheerfully. So he starts digging in his lunch alone.
“Is that seat taken?”
“No, you can take that chair with you.”
“I actually wanted to sit down here.”
Eijiro almost stabs his cheek when he looks up at Todoroki standing in front of the table waiting for permission to join him. “Oh yeah! Sure, bro!”
Without another word Todoroki takes the seat next to Eijiro and starts eating. He only speaks up again once Eijiro has finished his plate while he still has half a serving of his own lunch left. It seems like Eijiro has eaten even faster than usual as if he was trying to have an excuse to get up.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m good!”
“Sure?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. Your food is going cold.”
“My soba is always cold.”
Oof, yeah.
Todoroki takes another mouthful of noodles anyway. When he tries again he’s not looking up from his plate, dipping another batch of soba into his cup of sauce. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dropped the bomb in front of the whole class. I didn’t think about my words properly." He lets the excess sauce drip off his soba before he continues. "I should have just kept quiet. A teacher can break the news to you much more gently. But your scent has been on my mind for the past few days.” The last sentence almost gets drowned by a loud slurp.
“What?” When Todoroki looks him straight in the eye, still slurping up noodles, Eijiro clears his throat. “I mean you pretty much outed yourself too. And you wouldn’t have said a single word if it wasn’t for me talking about your smell, so I guess we are even.”
Todoroki chews and swallows. “But all the talk was just about me then when it should have been about you. I don’t even like being the center of attention and you are the new Beta in class…”
Well, to us you are the new Beta in class too.
“Yes, you are the new Beta and no one guessed that either!”
Eijiro gets interrupted before he can continue arguing back and forth with Todoroki on who’s going to take the blame for their situation.
Mina flops down on the other chair next to Eijiro followed by Ochako, Hagakure, Midoriya and the Baku-Squad.
“I did,” Todoroki says.
“Shh that’s cheating, you can smell him!” Mina objects.
“No, I mean—”
“Oh right! Tell us what he smells like, Todoroki-kun! We are dying to know!” Ochako cuts him off, clapping her hands.
“Wet lawn, I’m telling you,” Sero repeats.
“I said petrichor.”
“I don’t know what that is,” Eijiro admits sheepishly.
“Oh. It’s that unique scent when it rains and you can smell the earth, the grass and trees. It’s even stronger in summer when the air is warm and humid.”
“Wet l—” Before Sero can finish, Mina slaps her hand over his mouth.
“And what about Todoroki’s scent?”
Eijiro remains silent for a moment, taking a deep breath. “He reminds me of a hiking trip. He smells like embers and ashes and burned blocks of wood. But also fresh like a spring high up in the mountains where the air is chilly and the grass is green, small patches still covered by snow that is melting in the winter sun.” The longer he talks the closer he leans into Todoroki’s space and everyone seems to follow suit in order to try to pick up this very unique smell.
Todoroki hasn’t broken eye contact all the time, not even when he drags his chair closer to Eijiro trying to escape all the noses sniffing him and suddenly it’s him doing the sniffing albeit much more subtle. “Your scent makes me feel like I’m deep inside a forest. There are pine trees everywhere and pine needles on the ground, silencing any footsteps. There is a big rock in the middle of the trees, overgrown with wet moss, proof of how long it has been lying there, strong, sturdy and persistent.”
Eijiro can feel Todoroki’s eyes on his neck, can feel his breath on his skin (or maybe he just makes that up, but Todoroki’s nose is really close ), can feel the gravity of his presence and it’s like they are poles attracting each other, having long forgotten their surroundings. This time it’s Eijiro’s chair scratching over the tiles. “It’s autumn. The sun is still strong enough to heat your skin up, but the air is chilly so you don’t start sweating. It’s just comfortable…”
“Oh my god, Jiro was right ,” a voice next to them whispers in a high pitch.
“Oi! Raccoon eyes! Pikachu! Didn’t you say you need help with Chemistry homework? You’ve got fifteen minutes until class starts.”
“Oh shit, you’re right!”
“Actually I wanted to copy your homework…”
“No copying! Use your own brain as long as you haven’t fried it completely.”
“I can help you too if Kacchan doesn’t mind.”
“Can you read over my homework, Deku-kun?”
“Are you coming, soy sauce face?”
Eijiro and Todoroki stay close even after their friends have left, breathing in each other’s scent. It takes them a while until they come to their senses again.
“You are disappointed.”
“In your scent? You gotta be kidding me?!”
“In being a Beta.”
“Oh.”
Spot-on.
“Being a Beta isn’t so bad actually. Even my father started to see the perks of a Beta son. After all there are no distracting heats or ruts. I never have to skip class or remember to take my meds. I can just lean back and watch the chaos in our class unfold. All I’m missing is popcorn.”
Eijiro chuckles, even more so when he sees the surprise on Todoroki’s face change into happiness over making him laugh. “Did you really guess that I’m going to be a Beta?”
“I don’t do bets. But I did think that Beta suits you best. Maybe it’s as plain as Hagakure thinking I smell like a candy cane, but you are a spear and a shield. You can protect and you care. And you string the whole class together. There is a reason why Betas are the balance in a pack and best suited as a mediator. Those are all your strong suits.”
Now it’s Eijiro’s time to be surprised. Todoroki’s sincerity has changed his whole view within seconds. The way he phrases it, being a Beta must be amazing. While he tries to come up with a reply, Todoroki finishes his soba and gets up. “If you ever feel down about being a Beta or just feeling lonely and excluded, come and find me. We two Betas must stick together.”
“Beta buddies! I like that very much! Thank you, Todoroki.”
Two months later the whole class has finally presented. Tokoyami and Tsuyu turned out to be Betas as well.