Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kou cradled his prized staff in his arms as he stood in front of the main hallway of his new school, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of the elegantly fancy black oak door before his eyes.

All at once, he got the feeling that coming here was a big mistake. It was much too high class for him. He ran a nervous hand through his messy blond hair as he looked around the hallway of his dorm. The bright strands stuck out in all directions but fell on his face with the back reaching to his neck. Teru had strongly suggested that he get a haircut to resemble the rich looking boys they had seen in the brochure but Kou had been completely opposed to the idea. He was now starting to regret his decision.

Even for a high class school, it really was too big. Kou was sure the entire building of his middle school could fit into the space of his dorm alone. He had been given a map of the school campus during the tour but he wasn't sure how to read it. Besides, he was certain it wouldn't tell him where to find his dorm room even if he could understand it.

The only thing he could do was ask for help. The main problem with that though was that all the students he had encountered so far were elite city kids who had pretended that they couldn't understand him (or maybe they actually couldn't understand. Who knew?) He had considered texting Teru for help but he didn’t want to rely on his brother so quickly; not when it had been a hassle just to convince Teru to let him come along in his mission.

Kou groaned, looking down at the cardboard box full of the few prize possessions he had and feeling more out of place than ever. This place really was too much for him, but the demonic activity found in the school had gotten to the point that something had to be done and Teru alone hadn’t been able to handle it so far.

Kou scanned the hallway once more, looking for someone to ask to help him find his room when he spotted a boy that looked around his own age, sitting next to one of the fancy school pillars and fiddling a camera.

"Hey!" Kou called out as he approached the boy, sticking his face near the camera to check what he was doing.

The boy looked up, startled, and Kou found himself looking into a pair of large rose-colored eyes that stared back at him in surprise.

"I'm Minamoto Kou," Kou grinned, scratching the back of his head.

The boy paused for a second before replying with a soft, "Mitsuba Sousuke."

"Mitsuba-kun? Nice to meet you," said Kou. Mitsuba blinked before he smiled back and Kou could instantly tell that from the almost shy attitude that Mitsuba wasn't an alpha. He didn't look like an alpha either. His soft-looking hair was pastel pink color and was slightly long for a guy, and covered half his face. Even though he was sitting, Kou guessed that Mitsuba couldn't be very tall. Plus he had a lean frame that was only emphasised by the baggy clothes he was wearing. If it wasn’t that he was a Kamome academy student, Kou would have pegged him for a fellow omega.

"Nice to meet you too." Mitsuba replied.

"I know this might sound stupid," Kou started, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "But I'm lost and I've got no idea where to find my dorm room. It's room 234. Could you help?"

He glanced up and for a second, Kou was nervous that he wouldn't reply, then he gave a small nod. He slung his camera across his neck and slowly stood up from the ground, stretching his arms as he did so.

“Room 234? I think I know where that is. Follow me.” Mitsuba started walking in the direction of the large central staircase  in the middle of the hallway, and Kou rushed to follow. Luckily for him, it didn't take much effort to match his strides.

"So how is life here?" Kou asked, eager to strike up conversation and learn as much about the academy as possible. Teru hadn’t been coming back for home visits much since he started attending the academy and Kou wanted to prove himself by stopping the being behind the supernatural activity at the school before his brother could. As much as he cared for his brother and knew his brother cared for him back, Teru had a bad habit of underestimating him just because he was younger and an omega.

"It's alright," Mitsuba still sounded friendly but there was a small change in his voice that gave Kou the impression that he had just brought up a subject Mitsuba wasn't really eager to talk about."I guess."

"Do you know anything about the the ghost rumours here?" Kou asked, finally getting to the question he had been dying to ask. “It sounds interesting.”

Mitsuba looked up at him, meeting his eyes for a second before looking away. "I don’t know what you mean.”

"Really?" Kou continued on, staring at Mitsuba. “I heard that-“

"I haven’t heard anything.”

Kou presses his lips together, knowing when it was hopeless to continue. “I see. What year are you by the way?”

“I’m a first year.”

“Me too.” Kou grinned. “We might be in the same class. I saw the picture on your camera. I think it’s amazing for someone my age. “

“Really?” Mitsuba looked taken aback.

“Yep," Kou gushed. "I'm sure you must love photography."

"I just like to capture beautiful things," Mitsuba shrugged. He made a sharp turn right and Kou followed after him, keeping close to his heel.

“This entire place is really beautiful.” Kou said, his eyes wide as he stared at the chandeliers lacing the ceiling. "You must get a lot of inspiration from being here.”

“You’d be surprised.” Mitsuba’s comment was cryptic.

“I mean, as an ome-“

A nervous chuckle escaped from Kou's throat as he stared around the hallway, hoping that Mitsuba hadn’t caught his little slip of tongue. He couldn't believe how stupid he was. It was only his first day yet he had already managed to almost tell someone his true gender. How was he going to survive the next three years of high school?

Mitsuba merely nodded at Kou's words, looking like he was lost in his own thoughts. Kou decided it would be safer to limit the amount of talking he did, at least until he got into the habit of not revealing his class. In his middle school, everyone had known he was an omega, yet no one had actually cared. He was just plain old loud mouthed Kou to everyone, no different from anyone else. He knew that things were different everywhere else though. In other places, omegas were treated like rare fragile beings, forever being protected and coddled by alphas and betas alike. That was one of the reasons he didn't mind having to mask as a beta to attend the academy since it was one of the old school academies that still prohibited the enrollment omega students.

"This is your room," Mitsuba suddenly stopped in front one of the rooms, pointing at the wooden door.

Kou glanced at the door in wonder, taking in where he would be spending the next year of his life. The door was decorated with pictures of Osaka in summer, and Kou faintly recalled his tour guide saying something about them decorating the dorm rooms in accordance to some theme. He knew his mother would have loved to be here with him, taking pictures, but he had managed to convince her otherwise, knowing she would have a heart attack if she found out her omega son was masquerading as a beta and sharing a room with an alpha.

There were two names written on tiny sheets of paper on the door. One of them was his own name, and he guessed that the second was that of his roommate.

"So your roommate is Yugi-san," Mitsuba remarked quietly, playing with his fingers.

"You know him?"

"I think you should ask for a room change as soon as you can. Before it’s too late.” Mitsuba said, ignoring Kou’s question.

"What do you mean?"

Mitsuba shook his head. “Just trust me on this. You don’t want to stay in this room.” He lifted his eyes off the floor and giving Kou what appeared to be a small smile as he pointed at a room across the hallway. "I have to get to class now now but that's my room. You can come to me if you need anything. I'll be looking forward to seeing you, Minamoto-kun."

And just like that, he was gone. Kou stared after him for a moment, hoping that he had just made his first friend in school, even if he was somewhat odd.

Kou took a deep breath, picking out his bottle of heat suppressants from the cardboard box and slipping them into his schoolpants pockets for comfort. It didn't matter that his roommate was an alpha. He had marked out the predicted dates of his heats, resolving to use heat suppressants two days before the heat was expected and faking a sudden illness so he could go home and pass his heat there, where he could build a nest without giving himself away. As long as he played it safe, no one was going to find out his true nature. With that in mind, Kou slid the key into the lock of the door and twisted it before grabbing the handle and pulling the door open.

The room was scarcely furnished, no movie posters or family pictures or anything else to give the room some sort of personality. The only indication that someone lived there was a small pile of dirty clothes on the floor and the rumpled royal blue bedsheets and blanket on the top of the bunk bed that was pushed against the wall.  There was a switched off TV and a games console on the opposite side of the room, though he couldn't spot any games do or DVDs but all in all, he thought it was a pretty nice room.

Kou dumped his box of belongings on the ground and looked around the room, this time spotting a shelf full of old books. His eyes widened to the size of saucers as he moved closer, looking up at the various books. He longed to grab one to examine it properly but unfortunately for him, he was too short to reach.

That didn't stop him from attempting though. He stood on his tip toes, stretching his hand out to grab the nearest award when he heard an ice cold voice, making him abandon his idea hurriedly.

"What do you think you’re doing?"

Kou slowly turned around to be faced with who had to be both the strangest looking boy he had ever seen. He wore a smile on his face that didn’t reach quite his eyes and sent shivers down Kou's spine as he pressed himself against the wall, hoping it would magically disappear so that he could escape from this serial killer looking guy.

To his dismay, the boy, who he could only guess was his roommate Yugi, moved closer and Kou instantly tried to slink himself further into the door, cursing his omega instincts as he did so. Both of them were the same height but had to be the most intimidating alpha he had ever met, and coming from an all beta family, Kou wasn't sure exactly how he was going to handle living with him.

Yugi slunk closer to Kou, closing the gap between them. There was no more space for Kou to retreat to; his back was pressed up against the wall. A pair of hands found their way to either side of Kou's head, locking him in place.

"Who are you?"

"I-I'm Minamoto Kou," Kou paused, trying to keep his voice steady but it was too difficult as the boy was so close that Kou could see his surprisingly pretty honey-colored eyes. "Your new roommate."

Instead of responding, the dark-haired boy just let out a small purr as he removed his hands, allowing Kou the chance to fall onto the floor in relief. Being in such close proximity to an alpha was normally nerve wrecking on its own, but an alpha like that was worse. Kou gave a small shiver that he hoped wasn't that noticeable.

"So you’re Amane’s new roommate? You’re on the bottom bunk."

"I'm fine with that," Kou replied, his voice cheery as he recovered from his previous scare. Now that he wasn't being scared out of his mind, he could see that his roommate was what his mother would call a ‘pretty boy’. With his fair skin, pitch black hair and large amber eyes, he looked more like a model from a magazine than a normal high school student. Kou couldn't help glancing down at himself and feeling inferior.

He sat down on his bunk, fiddling with his box of possessions when the door to the bathroom is opened and an exact copy of the other boy walked out.

“Tsukasa, I told you-“ the copy stopped suddenly when he noticed Kou.

“Amane, this is your new roommate.” Tsukasa smiled as suddenly slid into the bed as well and draped an arm around Kou’s shoulder. Kou shivered at the action, wanting to leave but not knowing how. “Isn’t he cute?”

“What are you doing here, Tsukasa?” Amane groaned.

“Mean,” Tsukasa let out an exaggerated sigh as he pouted. He finally dropped his arm from Kou’s shoulder and hopped to his feet, rushing over to Amane’s side just to take his hand. “Let’s go to class together.”

Kou watched from his bed as Amane ran a hand through his dark fringed hair, an unreadable expression clouding his face. Even for twins, the physical resemblance between them was remarkable. He finally sighed and nodded, letting Tsukasa take his arm and wordlessly pull him out of the room.

Kou grimaced the moment they left, finally understanding Mitsuba’s warning to change rooms. Just a few minutes with those twins had been unbearable. He made up his mind to see the residential director once the school day was over. With that in mind, he grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and rushing out of the door without looking back.

.

Chapter Text

Kou arrived in the classroom just as the teacher was about to shut the main door. The teacher shook his head and sent a dark glare in his direction but didn’t say anything as Kou bowed, apologizing profusely before finally rushing to the first empty seat in the classroom without slowing down to look at his surroundings.

It was when he looked up a second later that he realized he had just made a huge mistake. Sitting to the right of him were none other than his roommates, the twins from before, who were somehow sharing a chair. Kou didn’t even know that was allowed but no one was saying anything about it for some reason.

One of them -from the dangerous gleam in his eye he assumed it was Tsukasa-, turned around to meet his gaze. Kou lowered his head, averting his eyes but it was too late. Tsukasa grinned and tugged at his brother’s shirt, saying, “Amane look, Kou-kun rushed here because he wanted to see us so badly.”

“That’s completely wrong,” Kou protested, slamming his hands against his desk in his hurry to deny the accusation.

“Volume!” snapped the teacher.

“Sorry,” Kou bowed his head once more as Tsukasa giggled. Amane didn’t seem to be paying attention to either of them. Instead the dark-haired boy was staring out of the window at something Kou couldn’t quite make out. Kou shook his head as he scanned the rest of the classroom. Judging from scents and appearances, it was full of mostly alphas with some betas. Even back home, Kou had always fit in better with betas than with other omegas. He was too tall, too lanky, never pretty enough. While other omegas talked about things like crushes, Kou was more interesed in food than in alphas. And his goal with becoming a strong exorcist was just another degree of separation between  him and his peers.

It was then that he locked eyes with Mitsuba who was sending him a worried look from the front of the class. Kou waved back and Mitsuba sucked hurriedly.

The teacher shook his head one more time before starting the lesson, leaving Kou frowning as most of what was said through the lecture was going straight over his head. He had to skip a year to enter Kamome academy and he hadnt been the top of his grade as a first year and even when he was in the correct class, he had always struggled with getting good grades in school. By the time the first lesson ends and it’s lunch break, he already felt exhausted.

“Hey,” Kou glanced up when he heard the voice to find Mitsuba smiling at him. “How was your first class?”

“It’s so hard,” admitted Kou. He ran his fingers through his already messy blond hair. “I’m gonna completely fail.”

“Don’t give up so easily. Why don’t we study together? I understood the concepts pretty well since I’m good at math.”

“Really?” Kou perked up instantly and grabbed Mitsuba’s hands in excitement, grinning as he laced their fingers. “That’s great.”

“What’s great?”

Kou felt a chill run though him as he realized Tsukasa had managed to approach them without either of them noticing. He glanced from Kou to Mitsuba, his gaze finally settling on their intertwined hands and a split second later, Mitsuba wrenched his hands free from Kou’s grasp, hiding them behind his body.

“Mitsuba-kun, come with me.” Tsukasa broke into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Kou watched as a terrified-looking Mitsuba trailed after Tsukasa and they left the classroom before he could say anything. He stood up, ready to follow them when their homeroom teacher dumped a pile of papers in front of him.

“Here’s the leftover paperwork you haven’t done yet. I’ll need you to fill these out before the end of the day.”

Kou groaned at the bundle of papers in front of him. He started to fill out the paper and watched as his classmates slowly left the room for lunch until there was no one left. At least that was what he assumed until he realized that Amane was still there, still staring outside the window while sitting on top of his desk.

“What are you looking at?” The words slipped from his mouth before he could stop them. Amane glanced back at him, seemingly taken aback, before he smirked.

“Why are you asking? Are you flirting with me?”

“What? No!” Kou felt himself flush all the way to his ears at the unexpected words as Amane straightened up, resting his index finger against his soft-looking lips. Kou couldn’t help but watch the gesture.

Amane hopped off the desk, walking over to Kou until the were so close their faces were only inches apart. Kou felt like prey,  paralyzed as Amane stepped forward bringing his lips close to the his face before breathily whispering. “No offense but you’re really not my type.”

“You’re not mine either!” Kou spluttered as Amane grinned. He ignored the small twinge of disappointment that nibbled at the inside his stomach. “You-You, stupid face.”

“Me? Stupid face?” Amane blinked. “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Have you ever looked in a mirror?”

“How-“

“Whatever,” Amane hopped off the desk, crossing the room boundaries. “I’ll be taking my leave now. See you later, stupid face .”

With those words, he breezed past Kou and was gone, leaving nothing behind by a faint flowery scent. Most alphas Kou knew didn’t exactly smell bad but they always had a heavy scent. They smelt of things like coal or soil. Amane smelled like wisteria. Kou growled to himself as he made a resolution to head down to the residence hall and change rooms the instant class was over.  There was no way he could get through the entire year living with those awful twins. He headed back to his seat to continue working on the remaining forks and soon the class started to fill up again until the bell rang and the English lesson started.

Kou had already zoned out, starting to daydream when he heard his hometown teacher call out his name.

“Minamoto-San, please read the paragraph on page 86.”

He instantly straightened up and nodded as he flipped to the page and stood up and started to recite, guessing the pronunciation for the various words he didn’t know. He hadn’t been good at English even in middle school but the language classes there were objectively easy. They never had to read out long paragraphs with complicated words like this. The sound of giggling repeated with every mispronounced word Kou read out and by the end of the paragraph, he was ready to jump out of the window.

He glanced at the teacher expectantly, waiting to get permission to sit back down again but instead he got another question. “Explain the word abnegation that’s on line 15.”

“Um,” Kou looked at the word, trying hard to decipher why meaning. “Ab- like stomach?”

The background giggling evolved to full blown laughter and Kou shrank in place.

“Abnegation, doesn’t that mean the rejection of a doctrine.”

The laughing in the class faded as the class realixed  that none other than Tsukasa had spoken.

“You should raise your hand before answering a question for someone else.” The teacher sighed but gestured for Kou to sit down which he instantly did with a sigh of relief.  He stole a glance at Tsukasa who had gone back to staring at Amane and toying with his twin’s hair, paying no attention to the rest of the class.

It came as a relief once the class finally ended. Kou spotted Mitsuba picking up his school bag to leave, and eagerly approached the other boy.

“Mitsuba, when do you want to get toget-“

“If you’re going to ask me about when we can meet, I’ve realized I can’t study with you.” Mitsuba avoided his gaze as he spoke. “My bad.”

“Huh, but earlier-“

“Sorry. I misunderstood how much free time I have.”

“That’s fine.” Kou deflated but did his best to keep the disappointment out of his voice. “Do you still want to hang out sometime?”

“I’m busy, sorry.” said Mitsuba. Without looking back, he slung his bag over his shoulder as he brushed past Kou. He turned and they locked eyes for a second as he said in a low voice. “Take care Minamoto-San.”

Kou had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he watched Mitsuba walk away. He dejectedly went back to his own seat to get his cellphone and send a quick text to Teru, updating him with details about his room and class assignment that he hadn’t gotten to send earlier.

With that he packed up his things and instantly headed to the center for student affairs, a small room in the main school building. It was abandoned except for an adult woman who gave him a sharp glare as she watched him approach.

“What can I do for you?”

“I need to change rooms.” replied Kou.

“I’m sorry. It’s impossible to switch until halfway into the semester.”

“But-“

“You have the option to fill out one of our request forms from over there and we’ll get back to you by midsemster. Goodbye.”

With that, the woman turned away to flip through a magazine, leaving Kou to grab the form and shove it into his backpack before he reluctantly headed back to his room.

When he opened the door, he was met with a sight he didn’t expect. The twins were cuddled together in bed like kittens. Tsukasa’s head was resting against Amane’s shoulder as Amane flipped through a book. They’re awfully close, thought Kou.  He couldn’t remember being that close with Teru, even when they were children. He shook off the thought, chalking it up to just a weird twin thing.

Crossing the room quickly, Kou grabbed his wash things and clothes before heading to the bathroom to clean off after the long day he had just had. He turned on the bath water as he cleaned himself off before getting into the bath with a sigh as he submerged himself into the relieving water.

He didn’t know how long had  passed when he heard the footsteps outside his door and froze when he suddenly recalled that he hadn’t locked the door before entering the bath. The sound of the doorknob starting to turn echoed through the room before stopping suddenly as Kou heard a loud voice.

“I want to go in.”

“You can’t. He’s bathing.”

“So what? We’re both guys.”

Kou wasn’t sure if the heat in his cheeks was from the bath or his embarrassment. He submerged himself deeper in the water, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them just in case he needed to cover himself if anyone came in but no one did. Instead he heard some indecipherable whispering then the tell tale sounds of footsteps shuffling away. Kou released a sigh of relief as he continued bathing.

He brushed his teeth, changing into the new pajamas he had bought just for the academy before finally walking out of the bathroom.

He stretched, feeling tired already as his shirt shifted up with the gesture to reveal an expanse of golden skin. His eyes met with both twins as they looked over at him and Kou quickly looked away as he dove into his bed, checking his cell phone to see a text from Teru.

Teru

Kou, are you there?

Teru

Text me back as soon as possible

Teru

This is urgent .

Chapter Text

It was nearly midnight by the time Kou finally slipped out of his room. He had tried to text Teru back but the older boy had insisted on meeting in person to discuss whatever he had mentioned. So Kou had to wait until his roommates were asleep in bed before he grabbed a flashlight, bathrobe and slippers and made his way through the hallways and up to the dorm library where they had promised to meet.

When he got there, Teru was already curled up in an armchair by the window, his face illuminated only by the soft candlelight in front of him. He glanced up when he noticed Kou and the furrows of his face dissolved into a smile.

“Teru-nii,” Kou started but was soon interrupted by Teru holding a finger to his lips in a shushing motion. Teru stood up and wordlessly walked down the library hallway as Kou trailed after him until they arrived at a small room where he proceeded to lock and bolt the door.

It was then that Teru pulled him into a hug before he realized what was happening, resting his head on top of Kou’s.

“Stop, that’s embarrassing,” Kou squirmed in Teru’s grasp but the older boy just laughed in response, still nuzzling the top of his head.

“Don’t worry, this room has been enchanted so no one can hear or see us here.”

“Why did you text me?”

“I need to talk to you about your roommates.”

“The Yugi twins?”

Teru nodded. “I’ve been looking into them and all I can say is that they’re highly suspicious. I’m yet to find anything concrete but I’m certain they’re connected to whatever is going on here.”

“So what do we do?”

“What I’ll do is continue to investigate. What you have to do is change rooms as fast as possible.”

“Wait, why?” Kou frowned. “If my roommates really are involved in the haunting of the school then it’s a good opportunity to find out the truth.”

“No it isn’t,” Teru cupped his cheeks as Kou found himself looking into the familiar blue eyes that were so like his own. “I’m not letting you put yourself in danger. Request a room switch first thing tomorrow.”

“I already did and I can’t switch until the middle of the semester.”

“I’ll go talk to the housing committee myself if I have to.” Teru sighed, drumming his fingers across his temple. “Just try to stay out of trouble until then.”

“How much trouble can I get into?” Kou complained as Teru ran his fingers through his blond locks, folding his arms.

“Knowing you, I don't even want to think about it,” said Teru. “But there’s something I need you to do for me.”

“What?”

“I’ve narrowed down most of the suspicious activity to be connected with a club called the occult club. I tried to join myself but they only take members who start as first years. The first year initiation is coming up in a few days.”

“You want me to join the club.”

“Yes but you have to be smart about it.”

“I’m always smart.”

“I’m being serious. I’ll need you to be my spy but don’t try to do anything dangerous. Just report all suspicious activity to me.” 

Kou nodded and Teru sighed but it was one of relief. That was when he grabbed Kou, pulling him into a hug as he rested his head on top of Kou’s head once more. This time Kou lean:; into the hug.

When Kou got back to his room there was no indication that either of the twins had woken up while he was out. He heaved a sigh of relief as he slid back into his warm bed, closing his eyes as he dozed into sleep without noticing the two pairs of red eyes watching him in the dark.

-

Kou found himself standing outside an unsuspecting classroom the next day once his homeroom class had ended. It had taken a lot of prompting strangers for directions as well as a back and forth text conversation with Teru but he finally found himself by where he was sure was the occult club room. He knocked on the door briefly before flinging it open. 

“Is this the occult clu-?” Kou started, then paused as he took in the sigh in front of him. The room itself wasn’t anything special. It was a classroom similar to his homeroom but decorated with black lace windows and other gothic memorabilia throughout the room. What caught his attention were the people in the room. There was a green-haired girl who seemed to be the leader from her demeanor and a redhead boy next to her. By the back of the classroom were two girls who seemed to be deep in conversation. Kou blushed at how pretty the cream-haired one was. Then there was the source of his current headache, those twins sitting right there in the middle of the class sitting next to Mitsuba and their classmate Lemon.

Tsukasa was the first to notice him. For a second Kou was tempted to turn away and flee but it was too late. Tsukasa opened his mouth and yelled, waving at Kou excitedly from where he was sitting. Amane looked up and sent Kou an infuriating smirk that made him want to strangle his roommate.

“Sit here,” Tsukasa demanded, standing up and pulling Kou to where the twins were seated.

Kou managed a fake smile at Tsukasa before pulling a face at Amane. 

“I see you’re following me,” Amane said sarcastically. “I told you not to fall for me. It wouldn’t work out between us.”

“Don’t say that even as a joke,” Kou shivered. “I would never ever fall for you.”

“Never?” Amane teased.

“Not in this lifetime or the next.”

“So you don’t want to kiss me right now?”

Kou folded his arms and glared. “Of course not.”

“You should have said that a minute ago,” Amane responded immediately.

“Why?” Kou asked.

“Because I’d already made up my mind to do this.”

Amane leaned forward and brushed his lips against Kou’s in a light kiss. The room went so silent that the only thing Kou could hear was the quickened beat of his own heart as he realized that everyone was staring at them. Then the room exploded into pandemonium.