"Are you okay?"
This is easily the fourth or fifth time Seijuro's asked him that, and Shuuzou is literally this close to snapping.
"I appreciate the concern," He says, through gritted teeth, "But why do you keep asking me?"
Seijuro pauses from where he's absent-mindedly dribbling the ball, a strange expression of uncertainty flickering over his face, before restoring into its calm.
"No reason." He says daintily, but his eyes widen fractionally when Shuuzou growls at him, and his eyes narrow fractionally.
"Did you just—"
"Yeah," Shuuzou snaps, "I did. Why do you keep asking me, damn it?"
"Because," Seijuro seems to deflate, "You smell kind of anxious."
The ball Shuuzou's holding drops to the court, the sound ringing loudly in his ears. He smells anxious? How…how can Seijuro smell him, when he's using suppressants and scent-blockers and everything?
Seemingly reading his mind, Seijuro gives a light shrug, and a tight-lipped smile.
"I myself am not aware of how I can smell you," Seijuro offers, readying himself to shoot, before the ball zooms through the air, "Especially considering your Beta status."
"Huh." Is all he settles for, before they're enveloped in silence temporarily, the comfortable kind, before, "Where are the rest of the brats?"
"On their way, I'm sure." Seijuro's eyes glint dangerously, and Shuuzou mentally thanks whoever it is out there that gave him such a dedicated vice-captain, "I will summon them, if need arises."
Ah, Sei and his incredibly formal language. Shuuzou doesn't know how he's doing it, but the redhead has managed to banish most of his earlier fear and, yes, anxiety. They're going to have their match soon. In half an hour, in fact.
He takes a deep breath, readying himself to shoot. He's fine. He has his teammates. The…He wouldn't be able to pull anything. He's safe.
oOoOo
They end up needing to call the rest of them anyway, since it's 15 minutes to their game, and the others still aren't here. Well, except Tetsuya, which they figured out when his phone rang from right next to them.
'I've been here all along.' He explained to the stupefied captain, who only sighed and ruffled his hair. Daiki and Ryouta eventually turn up, together, and it doesn't take long for Shuuzou to deduce that the two were playing street basketball before. They're bantering playfully, but it's enough to lighten Shuuzou's mood.
Until, of course, their opponents enter the gym and, from across the court, Shuuzou catches his eyes. He looks away just as quickly, but any concentration he might have had before has completely disappeared and he can't…he can't do it. But he still hangs on by his teeth.
"Captains!" The referee bellows, and Shuuzou's head automatically snaps up; he notes, with relief, that the others have arrived and are dutifully doing their layups, "Please shake hands!"
Each step towards the brunette makes Shuuzou feel as though the ground is pulling more and more from under him. The world spins dizzyingly, his heart rising to his throat, but he manages to lock eyes with the Alpha, and hold out a trembling hand.
Is it quiet? Shuuzou can't tell over the roar of his heartbeat over his ears when his hand is grasped in a tight grip and shook.
His eyes widen when the other pulls him a bit closer—too close—before whispering huskily into his ear.
"I told you I'd come back."
And Shuuzou can't move, shaking getting slightly worse, and the Alpha gets a satisfied smirk on his face at the sight. Shuuzou steps back, hating himself for feeling so overwhelmed, but he can't help it, can't help the fear thrumming through his veins.
Seijuro, the godsend, steps to his side almost immediately, a hand being set gently against his arm as he stares up impassively at the opposing captain.
"We need to decide our game play." Seijuro says, and Shuuzou doesn't bother pointing out the obvious lie (they've never had a game plan anyway), too preoccupied with getting away from the taller man.
"Hey, Natsu!" Someone called from the other team, someone with pointy hair, "Get back here!"
"Yeah, yeah!" The brunette calls, eyes never leaving him, smirk ever-present, "I hope for a good game, Captain."
Shuuzou bristles slightly, but says nothing, turning his back to the other captain and walking to their side of the court, Seijuro at his side. The redhead is looking at him inquisitively, and Shuuzou is too tired to play any of his games.
"What?" He bites out tiredly, "What is it?"
"I will not pry," Seijuro pauses in his speech, before his brow furrows, "But I do ask that you allow me to choose our team today."
"What?" Shuuzou's surprised, not expecting the conversation to go down that line, "Why?"
Seijuro…he doesn't want to replace him, does he? No, that's dumb. He's being irrational.
"I simply have something I need to take care of." Seijuro's eyes look dark, and Shuuzou can't help the brief thrill that rushes through him at the sight, "If you do not mind, Captain."
Somehow, the title doesn't sound as mocking, coming from Seijuro's mouth.
"Alright," Shuuzou concedes tiredly, "You have my permission to do what you think you need to. But, if anything happens that I don't approve of, we're changing plans immediately."
Seijuro's mouth twists unpleasantly before it's gone in a flash, as though extinguished, and Shuuzou's frown tugs at his lips insistently.
"Fine." He relaxes at the concession, and nods cursorily to the redheaded Alpha, before turning to face the assembled team.
"Seijuro will be assigning all of you today," Shuuzou states, noting the surprise flickering in their eyes, "Go ahead."
Seijuro's eyes glint almost darkly when he begins speaking, and Shuuzou is hardly paying any attention as he recites names from the top of his head…until he realizes he hasn't mentioned Shuuzou's name.
He wants, no, needs to protest the unfairness of it all—Shuuzou didn't give him the opportunity to bench him—but something in him forces him to stay silent and just close his eyes in acceptance. His ankle is dead anyway, so it's not like he can play very long but still.
When he opens his eyes, Seijuro is staring at him appraisingly, but even he turns away when their eyes lock. Shuuzou looks out toward the court, seeing that Ryouta and Shintaro are out first. Close range and far range, not a bad choice, but not the best either.
"You're okay with sitting out?" Daiki demands, drawing his attention away from the game, "You're the captain and you're better than some of these losers, so why the hell are you being benched?!"
"Daiki." Seijuro's cold tone makes Shuuzou pause in his answer and, for some reason, a sort of cold ice starts to creep over his heart when he realizes the Alpha's angry.
The tanned boy immediately falls silent, mouth pressing into a testy line, before dropping next to Shuuzou. He sees Atsushi eating something and wants to smack it out of his hands, like always, but something in him hesitates. He pulls back his hand.
Ryouta and Shintaro easily win them the first quarter, so that they're ahead by easily 10 points. Shuuzou feels slightly proud when he sees the frustration shown clear on Natsu's face, but says nothing, looking away instead. By the second quarter, they're up to a 20-point lead, and Shuuzou can't help the slow trickle of satisfaction filling his lungs.
"So…thirsty…" He looks to the side, seeing their resident golden retriever sniffling pathetically, head in his hands, "Need…water."
"Stop overreacting," Shougo complains from where he's warming up, "Just go get a fucking water bottle."
Shuuzou looks around him, sees there are none, and sighs, making his decision.
"I'll go get you the goddamn water bottle," He tells the blond Omega, who looks happily up at him with shining eyes, "But you're going to have to owe me a favor that I can call on at any time."
"Yes! Anything!" Ryouta blabbers happily, and Shuuzou just shakes his head, getting up as Shintaro criticizes him for making such a bad deal.
"You could have gotten it yourself, you idiot! Now you owe him something!"
"Wha~? No, Nijimuracchi would never cheat me!"
His hands curl into fists at the nickname.
oOoOo
The corridors are silent, once again, as Shuuzou walks unsteadily toward the locker room. His team is filled with a bunch of idiots, of course they'd all forget their water bottles. Well, he's an even bigger idiot for volunteering to go get them in the first place.
An apprehension fills him, a sudden anxiousness that makes it difficult to see straight. He's all alone, but why doesn't he feel that way?
He quickly steps inside, noting in disgust the stench wafting through the air—probably from either Daiki or Shougo. Despite getting worked up around each other, the two were uncannily similar.
He's pulling out the fourth water bottle—Shintaro's, to be more specific—when he feels the heavy set of hands against his waist and freezes up.
"Didn't tell your teammates about me yet?"
He's hyperaware of the breath ghosting across his neck, making goosebumps rise from his pale flesh. The world begins to spin, faster than ever before, and Shuuzou can't process what's happening.
"How are you here?" He breathes out shakily, twisting out of His grasp, and backing up, "No, you're not real, you can't be real."
"Oh, I'm very much real," He flinches when a thumb is brushed across his cheekbone and hates himself for it, "Did you miss me?"
"N-no, you sick bastard—" He cuts himself off with a gasp when cool fingers rub at the mark near his shoulder, eyes rolling to the back of his head at the sheer pleasure charging through him, "F-fuck."
"Maybe we should let them know," He doesn't resist the lips crashing against him—can't—and only closes his eyes to block everything out, "You're mine, after all."
"Shut up, I'm not." He denies, despite the sinking feeling in his gut, "Get away from me."
Brief fragments of memory returns, running by his mind's eye startlingly fast. It's getting harder to breathe, harder and harder and—
He whimpers when he's pinned roughly against the lockers, thighs parted by a strong knee. Natsu's staring at him darkly, a real anger in his eyes that something in Shuuzou needs to submit to…but he doesn't want to.
"You're mine." The Alpha reiterates, growling, "From the day I marked you, you've always been mine!"
"No, you're w-wrong!" He's shaking again, eyes welling up with those dreadful tears again, "Please…p-please don't—"
"Please don't what?" There's a tongue dragging over the mark, and it feels disgusting but also so good, "Use my Omega? You were born to be stuffed with cock, so just accept it. You're lucky I found you and not some other Alpha, or you'd be far worse off."
He tries to bite back the sob rising in his throat but fails, and it only worsens when the grip on his wrists grows tighter and tighter, almost to the point that he can't feel them anymore. His head aches from being slammed into the locker, aches from the thoughts running through his head, and Shuuzou doesn't know what to do.
The other Alpha's saying something, but Shuuzou can't discern what, not that it matters, but when the other begins leaning back down, his eyes slip close and he waits, starting to give up. Nothing can save him anymore.
He doesn't resist, doesn't fight back, so is rewarded with a pleased hum.
"You're finally learning, aren't you?" Shuuzou doesn't look at him, doesn't look at that hard gaze, eyes glassily staring at the ground, but can feel the hands sliding up his waist from underneath his jersey, pulling him closer, "Just stay still for me."
Right as he's hooking his hands on the waistband of Shuuzou's shorts, Natsu freezes, brown eyes wide with shock, before he's falling down, onto Shuuzou. He doesn't understand what's happening, doesn't know he was supposed to expect that, so ends up being crushed beneath the taller player's weight like a limp rag. It's heavy, the weight on his body, and he shifts around trying to get it off, but he doesn't need to, not for long.
Angry crimson eyes are staring down at him, making him flinch back. He's not sure, but he thinks one of them is slightly different, not that it matters because he's being pulled up by a strong grip.
"Did he hurt you?" Seijuro demands icily.
Shuuzou thinks of his bruised wrists, purpled waist, and shakes his head. He doesn't trust his voice, now that one of them has found out, and of course it needs to be Seijuro.
"Don't…don't tell the others." He tries anyway, gingerly backing away from the unresponsive body on the floor, "Please."
"He's ruined you," The Alpha spits out, looking at his through a furious gaze, "He's doing this to you and you want me to not get the others?"
"Sei, please," He asks again, mouth bitter from saying the word so many times, "No one can know I'm—"
"Not a Beta?" Seijuro asks rhetorically, mouth pressed into a thin line, "Fine. But I'm not going to spare this vile filth."
"Y-you heard?" He's so shaken that he's stammering now, fear filling him at the thought of having his most closely guarded secret overheard by Akashi Seijuro of all people.
"Yes, but I will not speak of it." Seijuro inclines his head, "Even if I don't approve."
Shuuzou doesn't say anything in response, doesn't protest when Seijuro noses along his scent gland like it's normal and lets himself be led out the double doors.
"Thank you." It's sounds small, and receives no acknowledgment, but Shuuzou whispers it again in his head, just to stop feeling so empty.
oOoOo
They end up winning that match, 201-74.