Shiawase no Katachi 6.1
Haru proved himself to be a man of his words.
Well, not that I ever knew him breaking promises.
Anyway, during the whole three years of high school, he really helped me out in dealing with my natural instinct as an Alpha. Each time we chanced upon an Omega who suddenly came in Heat in the school grounds, he would stopped and dragged me away from the scene before I could lost myself to the pheromone's intoxicating effect. I remembered feeling a little frustrated at how Haru seems to have higher resistance against the pheromone. Later I would learn that it's because the difference of 'quality' between us, in the meaning that I, as a 'high quality' Alpha has higher sexual drive, and thus is easier to get affected by an Omega's pheromone.
As I thought, the 'Leader of the Alphas' thing doesn't mean anything good.
Haru's help isn't limited to that. Even as our relationship got slightly altered from simple best friends, without changing his attitude against me in the slightest, he remained by my side. He helped me stay connected with my surroundings by making me seem approachable, as usual. He helped me learned things that I've never been aware of before. He continued to help even after we graduated and moved onto the university, and started the life as part of an idol group.
It might sound quite abrupt, but, yeah, the two of us got scouted into a talent agency.
It all began because I, on one of the cold days in my last year as a high school student, found a rabbit collapsing in a park. I had Haru helped me taking it to a vet and it led us to meeting the rabbit's owner, a producer and president of a talent agency called Tsukino Production. I don't know what made him taken interest in us, but he offered us to become idols for his agency. He didn't pester or coax us as much as anyone would possibly think, telling us to take our time and consider about it carefully. Though, in the end I didn't take much time to decide that I'm taking him up on the offer.
It's not like the idea of wanting to be an idol or celebrities ever crossed me before. But precisely because it never crossed me that I became interested to know what it feels like. It seems like a world unknown to me and, honestly, to the me of that time, who feels lost as I've yet to know what I want to do in the future, the possibility of widening my view of the world and experiencing things that I'd never imagined before feels much more challenging than simply going to study in college for years, graduate, and help out with my family's business.
Haru accepted the offer as well, and we ended up being put together as part of a six person idol group. The other four members consist of one Omega and three Betas, and so at first they were a bit intimidated by me and Haru. But, just as usual, Haru easily made them open up to him and at the same time let them know that it's fine to approach me casually.
He continued to keep his words, helping me out on various things, to the point that fellow group members dubbed him as my adviser. Since we had to move into a dorm that the company prepared for their idols and the fact that they set us up as partners, the amount of time that I spent with Haru increased compared to when we were just normal students. His presence came to feel so natural to me, that I once ended up thinking that maybe, just maybe, it's okay if I don't end up with an Omega, as long as I can keep feeling the comfort his presence gave me.
The world seemed to be against that, though, as I was then lead to meet Shimotsuki Shun.
.
.
.
"How do you do? I'm the one appointed as the leader of Procellarum, Shimotsuki Shun."
I found myself unable to tear away my gaze from this white person standing before me, even though the other members who came together with him started introducing themselves.
Shortly after our unit debuted as an idol group named Six Gravity, the president called both Haru and I to meet him. Turned out that he wanted to inform us that he planned to give our group a rival unit that will also belong to the same agency, apparently so that we can raise each other's competitive spirit while aiming for higher goals. We were given short info about the members of said rival unit and was told to explain about it to our own members when the time comes.
Then months after, the rival unit is finally ready to debut. They were named Procellarum, and as our rival, they are going to start living in the same dorm. Today seemed to be the day they finally gathered together, so they came to visit us, who occupied the whole floor just one level beneath theirs, to greet us and introduce themselves formally.
From the initial introduction that the president had for us, I knew that their unit consists of one Beta, three Alphas, and two Omegas. Two of them had bonded with each other since the very beginning, so we don't need to worry about him. The other Omega, though...
I'd thought that I'll be fine as long as I can keep a safe distance with him, but that hopeful wish turned out to be a futile one.
Because said Omega, Shimotsuki Shun, revealed something after the last member of his unit had finished introducing himself:
"I'm so glad that I can finally meet you in person, Mutsuki Hajime. You see, I'm actually a big fan of yours! I even accepted the offer to be an idol of this agency because I heard that you're also going to start a career as an idol here! I've been looking forward to the day where I'll finally be able to live under the same roof as yours!"
The first impression of a cool young man that he had earlier got completely destroyed as he continued talking with fiery passion reflected in his eyes. I'm not sure how to react. No one had ever so directly and passionately conveyed their admiration toward me like this. Even more, the more he talked, the more he shifted from his initial position to get closer to me. As a reflex, I tried to back away to keep a distance, but he quickly grabbed my hand and hold it tight.
"... Let's get along well, shall we? Ha~ji~me."
For a moment, I found myself unable to respond to him. It no longer has anything to do with my temporary bewilderment of having an enthusiastic fan openly explaining how much he liked me. Rather, it was because as our hands touched, something seemed to have clicked and a thought crossed my mind.
I'd like to claim him as mine.
I wasn't given much time to ponder about this weird phenomenon as his hand left mine. Looking up, turned out that Kai, Shun's partner and the apparent sub-leader of Procellarum, had grabbed Shun by the collar and pulled him away from me.
"Don't rush it, Shun. Look, you made Hajime felt so creeped out that he couldn't say anything to counter yours."
"Eeh~? But I didn't mean to creep him out. I just want to let him know how big of a fan I am!"
"I'm sure he can clearly tell how much you like him, judging by how he froze..."
"Ah, you're right. Hajime is freezing. How rare~"
The last comment managed to get me to loosen up.
Haru.
For a moment, I forgot that he was sitting beside me on the couch. When I gained enough composure to look at him, he was tilting his head while peering at my face, clearly looking amused. Though I feel mildly annoyed seeing that grin and as a result deliver a light jab to his side, at the same time I also feel relieved knowing that he's there. If, by any chance, that weird thought suddenly popped again and prompted me to do something unwanted, Haru will surely stop me, as usual.
Fortunately, this casual meeting between two rivaling groups came to an end without that though ever came up again. The night has grown late, thus we decided to call it a day. The oldest members of both groups ― me, Haru, Kai, and Shun ― watched the younger ones leaving the common room one by one as we exchanged words for the last time tonight.
Kai thanked me for agreeing to hold the get-together tonight, and apologized since he thought he had been acting imposing with his request. I told him not to mind it, because I wasn't all that busy anyway. He was about to end our conversation and excused both Shun and himself to return to their floor, but Shun interrupted his words.
"Kai, I still have something that I need to say to Hajime."
"You... have some mercy, won't you? Hajime must be tired too..."
"But it's important, since Hajime seems to mind about my nature as an Omega."
I stared at him in disbelief. Is he that sharp, or did I let it show on my expression too much?
Kai seemed to understand that Shun really meant his words, so he heaved a sigh and let his leader have his way. Now Shun put his whole attention to me. I wondered what is he going to say, can't really read the meaning behind the mysterious smile he had on him.
"Hajime, you see, I'm really, really happy to have finally be able to meet you. I've always thought of you as a great man, to be able to keep up with your studies and the workloads of an idol. To be able to see and talk to you directly like this brings me such a joy, especially... since I know that you are the Alpha that I'm supposed to bond with."
I felt that this time, I'm not the only one who froze up. Haru, who stood beside me, and Kai, who stayed at Shun's side, also reacted the same.
What is he talking about-
-no, actually. I think I have a vague idea of what he wanted to say now.
"... Oi, Shun," Kai recovered earlier than anyone else, putting his hand on Shun's shoulder as if ready to stop him if he's going to start approaching me again. "You... could you be talking about the rumored 'Fated Mate'?"
Kai's words made me shivered. Fated Mate. I've heard that phrase once.
Mate. That is the term applied to Alpha who bonds with an Omega.
Once an Omega bonded with an Alpha, their pheromone would no longer affect other Alphas. Even better, it's said that if the pair has a high rate of compatibility, their bonding may result in the complete disappearance of the pheromone and Heat period, which is a good thing for both parties. Thus it becomes a common sense for Alpha to end up with an Omega. We'll be able to tell when we found the person who has the highest compatibility with us, thanks to our instinct. Romanticists would say that it's because that person is the one destined for us, and thus they coined the phrase Fated Mate.
As I'm not a romantic one, I didn't really believe in that sort of thing. But I was proven wrong.
Destiny leads me to meet Shimotsuki Shun. That sudden desire that appeared within me the moment Shun held my hand must be the sign.
"That's not mere rumor, Kai," Shun calmly replied. "It's true. Maybe you find it hard to believe, because you've yet to experience it yourself. But I can tell. And I'm sure Hajime knows, too. Our natural instinct told us: 'we want to claim each other'."
From the corner of my eyes, I can tell that Haru turned his head to look at me. "... Hajime? Is it true?"
"... Yeah, I think it is."
The smile on Shun's face grew bigger as he glanced at Kai, as if he's going to say "See~?" so proudly for having his words proven. Kai looked as if he was thinking hard about something before he finally said, "So... what's next? Should Haru and I leave both of you together now so you can perform the bonding?"
"No? I wasn't saying that because I want us to bond right away, it's just that I'd like to let Hajime know," glancing back at me, his eyes seemed to twinkle mischievously, "you shouldn't let it bother you. Both of us had just started walking on this path, and, just like you, Hajime, I'd like to enjoy it until the time comes for us to decide. That is all."
Ending his sentence with a wink, he then let out a chuckle before saying that he's done saying everything he wanted to say. He excused himself then, taking Kai with him to climb up the stairs that connected Six Gravity's common room with Procellarum's. Even after their figures had completely gone from my sight, I still found myself staring at the spiral staircase until Haru called out for me.
"... Hajime? Shall we return to our rooms? You must've been tired."
"... Aa. Let's."
Quietly, we left the room and headed down the hallways to our respective rooms. No words were shared between us, until I stopped in front of my room's entrance, and Haru, who had opened the door to his, spoke up again.
"... Hajime, remember that I'm always ready to be your discussion partner whenever you need. Okay?"
Averting my gaze from my own door to where Haru is, I saw him smiling as he ended his speech with a soft "Oyasumi". He didn't bother to listen to my response and immediately entered his room, closing the door quietly.
Well, not that I ever knew him breaking promises.
Anyway, during the whole three years of high school, he really helped me out in dealing with my natural instinct as an Alpha. Each time we chanced upon an Omega who suddenly came in Heat in the school grounds, he would stopped and dragged me away from the scene before I could lost myself to the pheromone's intoxicating effect. I remembered feeling a little frustrated at how Haru seems to have higher resistance against the pheromone. Later I would learn that it's because the difference of 'quality' between us, in the meaning that I, as a 'high quality' Alpha has higher sexual drive, and thus is easier to get affected by an Omega's pheromone.
As I thought, the 'Leader of the Alphas' thing doesn't mean anything good.
Haru's help isn't limited to that. Even as our relationship got slightly altered from simple best friends, without changing his attitude against me in the slightest, he remained by my side. He helped me stay connected with my surroundings by making me seem approachable, as usual. He helped me learned things that I've never been aware of before. He continued to help even after we graduated and moved onto the university, and started the life as part of an idol group.
It might sound quite abrupt, but, yeah, the two of us got scouted into a talent agency.
It all began because I, on one of the cold days in my last year as a high school student, found a rabbit collapsing in a park. I had Haru helped me taking it to a vet and it led us to meeting the rabbit's owner, a producer and president of a talent agency called Tsukino Production. I don't know what made him taken interest in us, but he offered us to become idols for his agency. He didn't pester or coax us as much as anyone would possibly think, telling us to take our time and consider about it carefully. Though, in the end I didn't take much time to decide that I'm taking him up on the offer.
It's not like the idea of wanting to be an idol or celebrities ever crossed me before. But precisely because it never crossed me that I became interested to know what it feels like. It seems like a world unknown to me and, honestly, to the me of that time, who feels lost as I've yet to know what I want to do in the future, the possibility of widening my view of the world and experiencing things that I'd never imagined before feels much more challenging than simply going to study in college for years, graduate, and help out with my family's business.
Haru accepted the offer as well, and we ended up being put together as part of a six person idol group. The other four members consist of one Omega and three Betas, and so at first they were a bit intimidated by me and Haru. But, just as usual, Haru easily made them open up to him and at the same time let them know that it's fine to approach me casually.
He continued to keep his words, helping me out on various things, to the point that fellow group members dubbed him as my adviser. Since we had to move into a dorm that the company prepared for their idols and the fact that they set us up as partners, the amount of time that I spent with Haru increased compared to when we were just normal students. His presence came to feel so natural to me, that I once ended up thinking that maybe, just maybe, it's okay if I don't end up with an Omega, as long as I can keep feeling the comfort his presence gave me.
The world seemed to be against that, though, as I was then lead to meet Shimotsuki Shun.
.
.
.
"How do you do? I'm the one appointed as the leader of Procellarum, Shimotsuki Shun."
I found myself unable to tear away my gaze from this white person standing before me, even though the other members who came together with him started introducing themselves.
Shortly after our unit debuted as an idol group named Six Gravity, the president called both Haru and I to meet him. Turned out that he wanted to inform us that he planned to give our group a rival unit that will also belong to the same agency, apparently so that we can raise each other's competitive spirit while aiming for higher goals. We were given short info about the members of said rival unit and was told to explain about it to our own members when the time comes.
Then months after, the rival unit is finally ready to debut. They were named Procellarum, and as our rival, they are going to start living in the same dorm. Today seemed to be the day they finally gathered together, so they came to visit us, who occupied the whole floor just one level beneath theirs, to greet us and introduce themselves formally.
From the initial introduction that the president had for us, I knew that their unit consists of one Beta, three Alphas, and two Omegas. Two of them had bonded with each other since the very beginning, so we don't need to worry about him. The other Omega, though...
I'd thought that I'll be fine as long as I can keep a safe distance with him, but that hopeful wish turned out to be a futile one.
Because said Omega, Shimotsuki Shun, revealed something after the last member of his unit had finished introducing himself:
"I'm so glad that I can finally meet you in person, Mutsuki Hajime. You see, I'm actually a big fan of yours! I even accepted the offer to be an idol of this agency because I heard that you're also going to start a career as an idol here! I've been looking forward to the day where I'll finally be able to live under the same roof as yours!"
The first impression of a cool young man that he had earlier got completely destroyed as he continued talking with fiery passion reflected in his eyes. I'm not sure how to react. No one had ever so directly and passionately conveyed their admiration toward me like this. Even more, the more he talked, the more he shifted from his initial position to get closer to me. As a reflex, I tried to back away to keep a distance, but he quickly grabbed my hand and hold it tight.
"... Let's get along well, shall we? Ha~ji~me."
For a moment, I found myself unable to respond to him. It no longer has anything to do with my temporary bewilderment of having an enthusiastic fan openly explaining how much he liked me. Rather, it was because as our hands touched, something seemed to have clicked and a thought crossed my mind.
I'd like to claim him as mine.
I wasn't given much time to ponder about this weird phenomenon as his hand left mine. Looking up, turned out that Kai, Shun's partner and the apparent sub-leader of Procellarum, had grabbed Shun by the collar and pulled him away from me.
"Don't rush it, Shun. Look, you made Hajime felt so creeped out that he couldn't say anything to counter yours."
"Eeh~? But I didn't mean to creep him out. I just want to let him know how big of a fan I am!"
"I'm sure he can clearly tell how much you like him, judging by how he froze..."
"Ah, you're right. Hajime is freezing. How rare~"
The last comment managed to get me to loosen up.
Haru.
For a moment, I forgot that he was sitting beside me on the couch. When I gained enough composure to look at him, he was tilting his head while peering at my face, clearly looking amused. Though I feel mildly annoyed seeing that grin and as a result deliver a light jab to his side, at the same time I also feel relieved knowing that he's there. If, by any chance, that weird thought suddenly popped again and prompted me to do something unwanted, Haru will surely stop me, as usual.
Fortunately, this casual meeting between two rivaling groups came to an end without that though ever came up again. The night has grown late, thus we decided to call it a day. The oldest members of both groups ― me, Haru, Kai, and Shun ― watched the younger ones leaving the common room one by one as we exchanged words for the last time tonight.
Kai thanked me for agreeing to hold the get-together tonight, and apologized since he thought he had been acting imposing with his request. I told him not to mind it, because I wasn't all that busy anyway. He was about to end our conversation and excused both Shun and himself to return to their floor, but Shun interrupted his words.
"Kai, I still have something that I need to say to Hajime."
"You... have some mercy, won't you? Hajime must be tired too..."
"But it's important, since Hajime seems to mind about my nature as an Omega."
I stared at him in disbelief. Is he that sharp, or did I let it show on my expression too much?
Kai seemed to understand that Shun really meant his words, so he heaved a sigh and let his leader have his way. Now Shun put his whole attention to me. I wondered what is he going to say, can't really read the meaning behind the mysterious smile he had on him.
"Hajime, you see, I'm really, really happy to have finally be able to meet you. I've always thought of you as a great man, to be able to keep up with your studies and the workloads of an idol. To be able to see and talk to you directly like this brings me such a joy, especially... since I know that you are the Alpha that I'm supposed to bond with."
I felt that this time, I'm not the only one who froze up. Haru, who stood beside me, and Kai, who stayed at Shun's side, also reacted the same.
What is he talking about-
-no, actually. I think I have a vague idea of what he wanted to say now.
"... Oi, Shun," Kai recovered earlier than anyone else, putting his hand on Shun's shoulder as if ready to stop him if he's going to start approaching me again. "You... could you be talking about the rumored 'Fated Mate'?"
Kai's words made me shivered. Fated Mate. I've heard that phrase once.
Mate. That is the term applied to Alpha who bonds with an Omega.
Once an Omega bonded with an Alpha, their pheromone would no longer affect other Alphas. Even better, it's said that if the pair has a high rate of compatibility, their bonding may result in the complete disappearance of the pheromone and Heat period, which is a good thing for both parties. Thus it becomes a common sense for Alpha to end up with an Omega. We'll be able to tell when we found the person who has the highest compatibility with us, thanks to our instinct. Romanticists would say that it's because that person is the one destined for us, and thus they coined the phrase Fated Mate.
As I'm not a romantic one, I didn't really believe in that sort of thing. But I was proven wrong.
Destiny leads me to meet Shimotsuki Shun. That sudden desire that appeared within me the moment Shun held my hand must be the sign.
"That's not mere rumor, Kai," Shun calmly replied. "It's true. Maybe you find it hard to believe, because you've yet to experience it yourself. But I can tell. And I'm sure Hajime knows, too. Our natural instinct told us: 'we want to claim each other'."
From the corner of my eyes, I can tell that Haru turned his head to look at me. "... Hajime? Is it true?"
"... Yeah, I think it is."
The smile on Shun's face grew bigger as he glanced at Kai, as if he's going to say "See~?" so proudly for having his words proven. Kai looked as if he was thinking hard about something before he finally said, "So... what's next? Should Haru and I leave both of you together now so you can perform the bonding?"
"No? I wasn't saying that because I want us to bond right away, it's just that I'd like to let Hajime know," glancing back at me, his eyes seemed to twinkle mischievously, "you shouldn't let it bother you. Both of us had just started walking on this path, and, just like you, Hajime, I'd like to enjoy it until the time comes for us to decide. That is all."
Ending his sentence with a wink, he then let out a chuckle before saying that he's done saying everything he wanted to say. He excused himself then, taking Kai with him to climb up the stairs that connected Six Gravity's common room with Procellarum's. Even after their figures had completely gone from my sight, I still found myself staring at the spiral staircase until Haru called out for me.
"... Hajime? Shall we return to our rooms? You must've been tired."
"... Aa. Let's."
Quietly, we left the room and headed down the hallways to our respective rooms. No words were shared between us, until I stopped in front of my room's entrance, and Haru, who had opened the door to his, spoke up again.
"... Hajime, remember that I'm always ready to be your discussion partner whenever you need. Okay?"
Averting my gaze from my own door to where Haru is, I saw him smiling as he ended his speech with a soft "Oyasumi". He didn't bother to listen to my response and immediately entered his room, closing the door quietly.
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