He knows that when he was younger, much younger, that no one really cared about class yet and everyone was fine with even teaching an Omega to swim.
Nagisa'd known what he was even then, long before his first heat; he'd grown used to the way he began to reluctantly admire feminine clothes and how they adorned his body, not like he'd admit it to his sisters.
He'd also begun to look at the other kids in his class, usually boys, that appeared so much stronger than he was; he wondered if they were Alphas or would become Alphas.
Now that he was older, it was a lot harder to manage to get on a swim team; he'd been allowed to join the one from when they were younger that was open to all kids their age before anyone realized what class they were.
He'd known back then that things would be difficult yet even after all of that time, he'd struggled with keeping up his grades at a private school like his parents wanted before the pressure faded at least a little when they found out what class he was.
They'd deliberately sought out a tough middle school that was open to any class and did not switch classrooms for Alphas, Betas, or Omegas when they discovered what they were.
Nagisa had struggled there and lost a part of himself to studying and working hard and yet had still missed the water and his old friends.
Joining the team in high school that was just beginning to sprout took a lot of effort and thankfully Gou, a young Alpha female, was willing to make sure that he was allowed on their swim team, insisting that they were just a new club and that it would only happen this once.
He owed her more than he could voice now that he was on the team and spending hour by hour in the water and even playing with his friends.
Nagisa owed so much to her and yet the words often failed to express themselves, only came out as little excited bursts that probably seemed normal.
Today though, he was half stretched out against her side as Haru swam and the others got ready to head home; he'd been the first one out and consequently the first one to get changed.
"You're still wet, Nagisa." Gou chided him with a smile; her own face lighting up as if she realized yet again how thankful he was to be on the team.
"Yeah." Nagisa hummed, loving the way that somehow made it feel as if they were pressed closer and as if he was never going to lose this kind of joy.
Rei shook his head as he left the locker room, "Many people would think that you're a couple." It was a casual statement and had slowly been being hinted at for quite a while.
Nagisa's face bloomed in light pink splotches under his steadying blush and yet it wasn't nearly enough to be all that obvious. Gou sputtered.
"We're not though." She finally admitted, fingers carefully intertwining around Nagisa's fingers, soft and insistent.
Rei shrugged though Nagisa smiled at him almost shyly and yet not at all so; he carefully pressed closer to Gou, not admitting in the least that he adored this proximity. It undoubtedly filled his stomach with warmth and butterflies.
Makoto was naturally the next one to leave the locker room or rather the last one to as Haru still hadn't left the water; Nagisa wondered idly how Makoto always managed to convince the other boy to leave the pool.
"So," Gou smiled, "What are you thinking about?"
Nagisa dimly wondered if she felt a sort of maternal or perhaps paternal concern with him, being the only Omega that she seemed to hang around other than her mom, and how her Alpha status might have some effect.
He blames his own Omega nature sometimes for the way that it feels to press against her side or the way it feels when her fingers intertwine with his.
Nagisa can't ever seem to find the words to tease her or call her by her birth given name whenever he found them in a moment like this.
"Just everything." Nagisa shrugged, not explaining a single thought of his and yet knowing that his mind tended to wander anyway, and it had stretched past many very different thoughts already.
She smiled though it was faintly mischievous, "Nagi-chan, please won't you tell me?"
He hated how cute it sounded and the way it felt like a gentle volcano was erupting in his stomach, non-explosive, but all encompassing and many layers of warmth within its flow.
"Just about who we are." Nagisa admitted rather relunctantly, knowing that it stretched far past any identities and possibly beyond just class.
"What about us?" She asked, ignoring the way that Makoto and Rei crowded by the pool as if to give them privacy and secretly listen in anyway even though Nagisa half felt like they wouldn't be quite the type for that.
"Just how we feel around each other," About was too much even for Nagisa, "And how we tend to treat each other too."
Gou glanced at him, "Like sparks or tidal waves or something of that sort?"
"Tidal waves?" Nagisa understood sparks, felt them often enough when they touched to truly realize that that's probably what the young Alpha meant.
"Like crushing I'm not going to say desire, but rather like being forced to acknowledge your presence. It weighs down on me sometimes." Gou answered.
While the description wasn't fancy or romantic, Nagisa loved the sound of it; he had a feeling that tidal waves were going to be more than enough to bring a smile to his face soon enough.
"I like that." Nagisa smiled, couldn't help himself really.
"It's a fact. You can't like it or not like it." Gou insisted; her stubborn streak was becoming more and more vocal.
Nagisa was just as stubborn however, "Yeah, so? I like it. In fact, I love it. I like the way it sounds whenever I say it and the way that I can see it."
"It doesn't feel that way to you?" Gou seemed confused by that thought.
"Well, it's like home in a way to me." He smiled, "Your scent washes over me and cocoons me in a homey feeling like I could be home, easy enough to forget about, and yet never faint enough to forget."
"Is that so?" It was gentle, almost teasing, but definitely curious. He felt her scent pressed down on him or may be it was more of her essence. it pressed down and rocked him slowly in its gentle embrace.
It almost made him want to jump in front of a train if she asked him to.
"Y-Yeah," Even though it didn't feel like it so much anymore though she'd never used her Alpha energy on him before. His knees felt a little weak; Nagisa couldn't stand if he wanted to.
"Really?" Her eyes sparkled playfully, and she pressed closer, letting her lips soothe over his temple for a quick second.
The sparks danced where she touched, and Nagisa closed his eyes, already smiling at just the gesture.
"Mmm-hmm, other than now when I can't focus on anything else. It's kind of like a tidal wave, I g-guess, suffocating in the best kind of way." Nagisa smiled, eyes still tightly closed.
"Okay, then." Gou smiled as she pulled away, the pressure receding finally, and Nagisa barely restrained a groan of disappointment that she wasn't staying just as pressed close.
"Can we may be meet up later on?" Nagisa asked, wondering if that sounded too much like a date, and why Rei was pressing back laughter as if Nagisa couldn't tell at all that he was doing so.
"Sure," Gou's eyes twinkled in a way that Nagisa didn't feel prepared for; she was going to do something to startle his heart later on. He just knew it.
For a moment though, his love for her eased whatever nervousness that may peek through, and he barely acknowledged the fact that he'd fallen for her some time ago when every moment together began to mean the world and build a strong foundation for growing closer.
Nagisa was breathless and happy at the thought, nervousness aside, that she was certainly going to make him feel breathless later on, because she was Gou and knew a challenge when she saw one.
He just hoped that she didn't startle his heat back on; he didn't want to miss an opportunity to spend more time with her.
Nagisa kind of hoped that they both thought of it as a date as he tried to ignore the fact that he can now hear Rei's snickers.