Never Let It Be Said:
Chapter 1
Author's Note: Hey guys! Recently I found out about Omega!Verse, and was so interested in the concept that this is what came out. I have pretty big plans for this story, since I want to try and do all four years. :D
I really hope you enjoy it though! Any reviews are welcome to the point of begged for!
Of all the curious legends of Hetalia World Academy, few were as mysterious as that of the Student Council President of the Freshman class.
Not even half of the student body of HWA were even aware of the existence of such a person; they were much too focused on socializing, or dating, or sports, to really pay attention to who dictated their class activities. But for the few that were aware of the position there were still fewer who knew the person who filled it. And the ones who did know the person found it even more shocking how he ended up with the most powerful student government position of their class.
After all, the person had been and continued to be a complete nobody. A couple of people recognised his name from the rumors; the ones that said his affiliation with the equally mysterious Magic Club had something to due with the convenient rare illnesses that plagued all the other competitors to the title. But that was neither here nor there. What mattered was that the person who had a secret hand in most of his fellow classmate's livelihoods; and school events were the livelihoods of many, was so little known.
And it was that fact that Arthur Kirkland, the Student Council President, Founder of the Magic Club, and resident bastard of HWA (according to Lovino Vargas) was very much grateful.
Arthur Kirkland was not one to socialize. His parents told him it was from being an Omega. Francis, the annoying Beta, and worst of all French Vice President, and the man on the top of Arthur's "Most Hated" list would likely blame it on his very un-Omegaish attitude, foul mouth, and affinity for violence.
Of course, if you asked Arthur he would calmly explain that the world was too far gone to be appealing to him. As far as he was concerned, he hated other people and other people hated him and that's just the way the world spun.
As it was, on a late Friday evening Arthur sat in his personal study. (How he managed to have a personal study when half the staff did not, was another mystery that rumor said, had to due with bribery, violence, and Arthur's ties to the Illuminati.) He quirked a magnificent eyebrow at the piece of paper in his hand, his green eyes narrowing as the writing disagreed with him, before marking it harshly with a red pen and moving on.
"Who in their right mind would want to open a Tomato Club?" He exclaimed to the room.
"We can think of a few people, no?" Francis said lazily with a yawn. At the paper cluttered table in front of Arthur's desk, the VP and Michelle, Arthur's so called personal assistant were lounging around, as was usual when Arthur got busy. Secretly he thought they only stayed to annoy him.
"Hmm. It probably was that dolt Antonio." He muttered, the dislike for the Spanish soccer captain obvious. That man was second on the Most Hated List.
"Well, why not let them have their little fun? Just because you have no social life doesn't mean-"
"So just let him and any other idiot waste our hard earned funds on their silly little ideas? I suppose you'd think having a Zoo Club would be a good move as well?"
"I like Animals; I would totally join" Michelle added in cheerfully, earning a groan from the Brit. He pushed his blonde hair to massage his temples, a habit that started forming recently, he noted.
"Relax, cheri, we were only teasing."
Arthur muttered something about shoving his foot up the French boy's arse would only be teasing too, and Francis grinned as he stood to stretch.
From outside the noise from whatever sports game that had been going on that night, was drawing to a close, and already he could see the crowd filtering out of the stadium in the distance. They had a game most Friday nights, so Arthur hardly looked up from his paperwork as the hooping and hollering of his classmates floated through the glass.
"Ah well, as much fun as this was, I must be going to meet Gilbert. Come Michelle."
Cheerfully the girl bounced out her seat, skipping to the door to wait for her companion.
"Aren't you coming?" Francis asked, frowning.
"Of course not! I have far too much work to do, to be going home now."
"But then you won't have an escort, my dear Arthur."
A very fierce glare was sent the Frenchman's way.
"I don't need an escort! I can bloody bring myself home, thank you!"
Silently Francis waved for Michelle to wait outside for him, and she got out as quickly as possible. She was Beta and did not want to be in the room for another of Arthur's and Francis' showdowns.
"Arthur, just because you have not had your cycle yet does not mean you're safe to walk around unprotected, you are still an Omega. There could be all kinds of Alphas out there, waiting to pounce on a defenseless little thing like you."
"Ha! Defenseless you say! You weren't saying that when I single handedly kick your ass, frog!" Arthur growled, shoving an obscene gesture towards the other blonde.
"Hmph! That was hardly a fair fight, mon ami. I could never hit such a frail little Omega like you!" But shaking his head Francis decided to let this one go. The two had this argument every other week, but Arthur was much too stubborn and willful to take his advice. Secretly however, Arthur's reasoning stemmed more from the fact Francis was just as bad as any perverted Alpha off the street.
"At least tell me your brother is coming to pick you up?"
Slowly Arthur moved his gaze to the stack of papers on his desk, and he sighed.
"Yeah. Dylan should be here. I'll ride with him."
Francis nodded, grabbing up his jacket and waving in a flourish of hands.
"Then Au Revoir, mon ami! Don't work too hard or those eyebrows will stick that way!" he ran laughing as Arthur chuffed a book in his direction, before he sunk back into his chair, rubbing the space between his eyes.
He really was tired. Maybe he would leave the work for tomorrow.
He looked around the hallways as he locked the door to his study, and ignored how dark and ominous they looked, burying his chin in the collar of his pea coat, and shame crept up his back at the natural Omega-driven flicker of nervousness.
He was being silly. It was just a hallway!
Slowly he walked down the abandoned halls, the heels of his loafers clicking against the tiled floors. Everything seemed much scarier when you were an Omega, he'd learned over the years, so he shrugged off the anxious feeling and grabbed his phone out his pocket to text his brother.
As he made it outside, a blast of cold air hit him in the face, and he shivered against it with a whine as he made his way to the sports field. There were still quite a number of students milling about happily, but he solidly ignored them, and they solidly ignored Arthur.
He dismissed the wave of loneliness. This was simply the way life worked for him.
Arthur was the only Omega in his mostly Beta family. His parents tried their best to bring him up correctly; as a child it had been easy because he was so compliant, preferring quiet reading and playing with his imaginary friends, compared to his brothers who were rowdier and as Alphas had little patience for the youngest of the family growing up. They resented how he was given special treatment, and how he always got what he wanted, and as children they constantly picked on and bullied him until the Kirkland's kind, sweet child turned into a grumpy, defensive, and violent pre teen.
Of course, his parents tried everything from Omega-only schools to counselling, and punishing the elder children as much as they could for their behavior, but years of damage could hardly be erased. In fact, it made it worse, since the brothers now had something else to resent him for when they should have learned to take care of and protect their brother. Then being around the other weaker children fed into Arthur's bossiness and need for control. That and it made him painfully aware of how different he was from other Omegas.
He grew up watching how his kind, soft spoken peers easily made friends and won over crushes, while he was easily shunned for his attitude. But the only good thing that Arthur could see with his upbringing was he at least knew how to adapt. While as a child it would have broken his fragile little heart, now he easily shrugged off the animosity and could even dish some of it out himself. That was what he took pride in. It was probably also that fact, he mused, that allowed his parents to trust him with living near campus by himself, mixed with their inability to cope with the teenage terror he'd become.
As he reached the entrance to the field, ignoring the rowdier part of the crowd (after all it was mostly the Alphas who really cared for these damned sports anyway,) looking around for his brother. He wasn't that hard to spot, with his wild red hair and his over enthusiastic congratulations to the team.
Cautiously he went around the group of idiots singing "one thousands bottles of beer on the wall" drunkenly, before coming up behind his brother and tapping him on the shoulder. He tried not to feel bad as Dylan turned to see him and that excited smile disappeared.
The tall redhead visibly glared as his teammates jostled around him.
"What do you want?" Arthur tried not to wince at the low growl there.
"I wanted to get a ride home."
Dylan groaned. "What?! No way man! Me and the guys are hanging out after the game;
get Allistor to get you!"
"Allistor isn't here, you git."
"Well, get one of your friends to drop you off. I'm busy."
Arthur held in the desire to explain that he had no friends; Dylan of all people would be able to understand that. But at that moment he was just too tired to argue with it. He glared at his older brother, who was turning to another friend to laugh, as another player who'd been listening nearby jumped in.
"Aww, come on man! We could give him a ride; or better yet you can get him to join us."
Arthur shivered as the large darkly tanned and bearded jock leered down at him, and abruptly turned and retreated before his git of a family member could protest further.
"Fine. I don't need you anyway. I'll just walk." He stomped away from the rowdy group, ignoring the shouts of protest from the drunken Alphas, ignoring that annoying pricking at the corners of his eyes.
'I hate them! I hate them! I hate them!' his mind looped around his head as he crossed over campus, back to the front of the main building, and out of the protective fences of Hetalia World Academy.
He'd show them! He could get home all by himself, without his so-called brother's help!
It wasn't as if any Alpha would be interested in him anyway; he wasn't attractive or anything, and his body had yet to start giving off the pheromones of a person ready for mating. His glare aimed at the sidewalk softened at that thought.
It was another thing that marked his failure to be a real Omega. Middle school had been when all his peers began to get their heat. It started off with the elders of his class and worked it's way down until he'd been the only one not on their cycle. His class had been so empty, since it had been an all Omega class, that it became less of a class and more of Arthur quietly sitting by himself in the library with the supervision of the teacher's aide.
His parents and teachers and counselors all tried to comfort him, telling him it was not impossible that his cycle would be late. They'd even done another blood test to reassure the family that he actually was an Omega. It wasn't until last year, two years after even the late bloomers got theirs, that the counselor came up with a theory.
It was very much possible that Arthur's body was dealing with post traumatic stress; when an Omega felt they were in danger, their body kept off their cycle since it weakened the immune system considerably, and did not start up again until they felt it was safe for mating. That way they could also prevent unhealthy offspring. Soon enough, she explained, Arthur would grow out of it.
Although that theory helped to give a reason, it hardly was a comfort to the Kirklands. His mother and father blamed themselves, but that added to make Arthur feel so much worse for being a disappointment to his entire family. He could have dealt with being a social outcast, but to be so completely broken hurt more than being friendless.
He slowed down to a stop and the wind picked up around him, underlining the rush of sadness now that his anger had subsided. His hand found it's way to his stomach, and he could almost feel the emptiness. A secret part of him had always hoped that when he was older, when he finally had a family, everything would be okay. But now that bubble of hope was slowly deflating.
He must have become lost in thought, as he never knew somebody else was there until Arthur was grabbed from behind, a hand coming up to his mouth to stop his panicked scream, another hand grabbing his arm to twist it behind him. For a confused moment he didn't know what was happening, then it came crashing down on him. He struggled against the hold, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Hello there, what's a little Omega doing out here by his lonesome? Are you lost?"
He fought against the man, his nose picking up sweat and alcohol only from the close proximity. If he'd been a real Omega he would have been able to sense the danger! If he'd been a real Omega then he would have let Francis walk him home. Or maybe if he had been anything but an Omega his brother would have cared enough to protect him. His sobs were muffled as he was pulled into the closest alleyway, being pushed against the brick wall none-too-gently, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the man fighting with his own zipper, pressing himself against Arthur's hip as he reached to undo the scared Omega's belt.
The man had just gotten the buckle off, when suddenly air pushed against Arthur's face where the man's mouth had been a second ago, and his eyes opened and widened as the man was forced away, almost in slow motion by a blur of brown and yellow.
"Get the fuck off him, you bastard!"
The punch to the man's head only knocked him to the ground, and drunkenly he moved his legs, unable to pull himself up to meet his attacker as the blur of brown ran over, kicking the man everywhere; in the stomach, the chest, on the head. The man's yelps and whimpers of pain filled the alley and slowly Arthur sank to his knees, his sobs shaking his whole frame, as he watched, unable to move.
It took a few more rounds of hits before the other person stopped his attack to stare down at the beaten man for any sign of movement, before the man, more a boy really, turned his back and strode over to the sunken Omega. He was tall and blonde, with blue eyes that shone in the glow of the streetlights as he squatted in front of Arthur, silently pulling the weaker boy into his arms. At the sudden warmth Arthur's mind and body caught up with each other, and he sobbed, shaking harder in the aftermath.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. It's okay now; he can't hurt you any more." The voice was comforting and soft, a far cry from the raged tone he'd used before, and Arthur pressed himself harder against the other body, for warmth, comfort, the safety.
He was held there for a long while before his gasps abated into silent sobbing.
"Do you have a phone or something? Where do you live?"
Arthur couldn't answer; he was too shaken up to do it, but the Alpha holding him checked his pocket and was already looking through his contacts.
On the street a car pulled up, the driver calling out a window.
"Everything alright over there?"
"Ah-I guess so. Poor guy just got attacked."
"You need me to wait here?"
The boy glanced back at the beaten drunk, but shook his head.
"Thanks, but I got it."
"Alright."
The car sped off after that, and the taller Alpha finally got through to the contact of the frightened Omega's mom.
"Arthur? Do you know what time it is?" a female voice said, and the boy blinked down at the boy he was holding. His name was Arthur then? And apparently his family was British.
"I'm sorry ma'am, this isn't Arthur, um. Your son, I'm guessing he's your son was just attacked; he's okay now, sorta shaken up. Managed to get the guy off him, but uh, I don't know where I should bring him?"
At the explanation that her son had been attacked, the woman on the phone nearly screamed. She called for a man named Henry, he guessed he was her husband, as the man was put on the phone.
"Yeah, hello. You're Arthur's dad right? Yeah, he's not hurt it doesn't look like. No not at all; my name is Alfred Jones. We're on Tunningham Ct now; I can get a taxi if I knew where to bring him. Alright, yeah, I got it. I'm bringing him now."
Throughout the exchange the Omega had stayed firmly sobbing into Alfred's arm. Now Alfred grabbed the lighter boy up, marveling at those things on his forehead as he waved down the nearest taxi.
On the ride there, Alfred examined the smaller boy, lifting Arthur's wrists gently and he made small circles against his back. A couple of blocks away Arthur started to break out of his shock, although there was still a panicked look in his eyes that made Alfred's heart clench.
"Thank you; you saved me." Arthur had croaked out, his eyes watering up again.
Mentally Alfred damned the man he'd left in the alleyway to the hottest area of hell. What kind of person would go and inflict such damage to another human being? He could understand mating and the need to mate; but his own mother was an Omega and the act of hurting a type of person so weak and vulnerable was enough to make him sick!
But then he thought, looking down at the smaller frame beside him, that this was also why Omega should be under somebody's care at all times. Just what was his family thinking; letting their young boy roam the streets at night? He obviously had a father who'd talked to on the phone, and what sounded like at least one other voice in the background had been male's. What the hell were they doing at home if one of their own was unprotected?
Darkly he glared towards the house they were pulling up too; there were lights on all over, and he could see people standing on the porch. As the taxi stopped and Alfred paid the fare he could see a woman running out to meet them as he pulled Arthur into his arms and carried him over to his family.
"Oh my goodness, Arthur!" The woman had reached the two boys and was now trying to look at her son anxiously, although Alfred kept the Brit in his tight grip, being led inside the home of the Omega's family. Curiously Alfred sniffed the air. The woman was a Beta, he gathered from her sent. And so was the father! As he set Arthur down on the sofa he's been led to, he resisted the urge to shake his head.
That only explained a little of the situation. If Arthur was an Omega, and his parents were Betas, it would be very hard for them to truly protect their young. But then, any parent should be aware of the situation for. Any good parent at least.
He quietly watched as the woman peered into Arthur's face, trying to get him to talk but also talking over him herself. The other stood by with a look that spelled anger, and something else that Alfred could not pin point. But then Alfred sniffed the air again, trying to place that feeling when from an adjoining room a red hair man strode in, and Alfred's eyes widened as he realized that this was unacceptable; this guy was an Alpha.
The redhead easily caught Alfred's concentrated anger, despite the smile on the Alpha's face, and he jumped at the glare sent his way cowing before the taller blonde youth.
"Mum, please calm down." Arthur was saying quietly between his mother's sobs.
For a moment Alfred found it strange that he could not sense the other boy's scent in the air. When he'd held him closely he hadn't been able to tell; but in the big space of the living room the absence of the was alerting. He looked old enough, so the other's sent should have been overwhelming, especially to an Alpha's nose. It would have drove him mad with desire, and it would have been from Alfred that Arthur would need protecting. If he was fertile.
And Alfred's eyes widened at that.
Oh. He wasn't fertile.
"I knew this would happen. I knew that he couldn't be left to live alone. Why did I let you convince me!" Arthur's mother was rocking back and forth in tears and his father's face what white as a sheet.
"But Arthur why were you alone? You know you can't go around without an escort! Where… where is your brother?"
At the mention of his brother Arthur started, his gaze looking at everything but his father and his mother.
"I…"
From the edge of the room Alfred was equally curious about the answer to this question.
"He…that is to say"
"Arthur, where is your brother!
The shout must have shocked some sense into Arthur because in a rush he explained that he was at a party.
"I did ask him, I did, but he said he was busy and that other guy was ogling me and it was either walk home or go to their party and I thought this would be safer!"
As Arthur let out his sobbed confession, his father's reaction took a complete U-turn and suddenly he was out the door, exclaiming he was not only going to flog his son, oh no, he was going to cudgel him, maim him, then murder him all in that order.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry!"
Arthur was crying again, and Alfred, having learned enough, took the seat beside him, rubbing his back in comforting strokes again, a comforting smile breaking out. His mother couldn't protest, although Alfred was surprised she didn't. An Alpha mother would have torn someone's neck out, while an Omega would have tried to hide their child from them. But she was a Beta of course. She wasn't protective enough to think Alfred as a danger, or feel the need to hide Arthur.
Suddenly his own father's lessons came to his mind. It wasn't good for families to have mixed types.
"Please tell us, what happened to him?" She instead asked him waterlily.
He stroked his fingers through his hair as he explained what that man had tried to do to their son. "Gladly the guy was too drunk to get Arthur's pants down." Alfred said with a growl that made the quiet redhead shiver in the corner.
"And the guy, where is he? What happened to him?"
Alfred raised a slender brow as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I took care of him. He won't be picking on any Omegas ever again."
After that, maybe because Alfred was so tired from the day, the night past in a blur. He remembered explaining that he was also a student at World Academy; he'd just been on his way home when he saw Arthur. It was slightly interesting how the two had never met on campus before. They were in the same year, and based on their last names, (Kirkland, Alfred learned was their family's name) they should actually be in several classes together. Privately he wondered if it was Arthur's lack of scent that led him not to notice.
After an hour Mr. Kirkland and Arthur's older brother Dylan finally arrived back home, and he looked like Mr. Kirkland had made good on his promise.
His lip and nose were bleeding, there were angry purple patches of skin all over his face, and as Mr. Kirkland shoved him to the living room floor to see the brother he should have been protecting, but had neglected for a night of thrills in an act that could have cost Arthur his life, the boy held on to his arm and side.
He was then sent up to his room with the promise that every single stinking activity that Dylan had thought of doing, planned on joining, or already a part of was non-existent. He would have nothing until he paid for the danger he put his own flesh and blood into.
And with that Alfred felt that it was best for him to go; the mixture of satisfaction from the redhead's punishment, and the guilt he felt for the Omega who was now being led upstairs, was draining his energy as he showed himself out. Mrs. Kirkland tried her best to find some way to pay him back, but the Alpha refused any offers, saying he was glad he helped.
He almost got to the door when Arthur himself gave him a final thank you, gripping his hands and trying to ignore his own trembling. Vaguely Alfred noted his eye being very green.
"Thank you for saving me."
But somehow as Alfred walked away from the house, although a part of him felt awesome for being a hero, he couldn't help but feel he hadn't saved Arthur at all.
Notes: Sorry if this ending is in any way depressing. But don't worry too much; It shouldn't always be so dark.
-Animegirl300