After walking through school for an hour, Rin decided to climb the fire escape of the science building.

It was far too late to check himself out of campus without lying about an emergency, so Rin settled for the roof top garden.

He laid there in the grass for another two hours—all with Rei on the other side of the phone.

He was right; Orion was really easy to find.

The weather was decent and the night was quiet. Flowers, vegetables, shrubs, and very small trees were alive in all corners of the roof.

There was even a modest lawn area, where Rin decided to park himself.

This would be a nice place to take a date.
He thought.

Rin tried to put into words what exactly he felt for his roommate, but he couldn't.

There—in that long moment of silence—Rin realized that he either really didn't understand his own feelings or he was too ashamed to bring them to light.

He had spent most of his post adolescence rebelling against the intimacies of wolf-culture.

He looked down on alphas and pitied omegas.

He wondered what it would have been like if Ai really was a beta—and if he was a beta, too.

Soon, his thoughts found their way into words.

"…if we weren't like this, me and Ai." Rin spoke to his phone, "Maybe things would have been easier."

"Maybe we would have, like, dated. Hah, wow. That would be something… Maybe I would have taken him here?

"These feelings shouldn't have been forced on me…on both of us. Instead, one minute we're just watching a movie and the next—I'm a belt buckle away from raping my best friend."

"And I'm not even sure these feelings are real." Rin sighed, "Maybe we really don't want to be together. It's probably just biology—telling us we want to fuck each other.

"And I'm pretty sure I wasn't gay before all of this. I'm sure Ai wasn't either, I mean the porn that he kept had girls on them. Some of them only had girls on them.

"I mean, I knew I'd have to pair up with an omega…eventually. I always thought it'd be some chick I'd meet five, ten years from now. I never thought about Ai like that before.

"I mean, yeah, I look at his body in that way a lot—but it's only 'cus he looks so much like a fucking girl! It was only just about his legs, and his ass, and his face—I never thought I'd feel something for him.

"Him: as a person. Wanting to be with him, or take care of him. Wanting to take him to Thai food because I like Thai food and I want him to like Thai food.

"Or let him pick the fucking movie even though he always picks the fucking movie—just…just because I want to see him happy.

"And that's the fucked up part, Rei. I get the biology: when omegas smell like they want to fuck then alphas will want to fuck, too. But I don't think it's just that, anymore.

"God damn it; I don't know what I'm doing, Megane! And Ai hasn't been socialized with wolves, so he's even more fucking lost. You're so luck you and Nagisa are betas. You got to take things slow; you got to decide for yourselves that you're together."

Rin ended his rant, sighing to himself as he shifted his prone body further into the cold grass.

"Your projection is incorrect, Rin san." Rei said. It was the first time he had spoken in a long time.

The sound of his steady breath being the only indicator that he was still on the line. For all Rin knew, he could have fallen asleep.

"Nagisa pursued me. He decided he wanted me as his companion before I even knew him, personally. When we did make contact, I told him I wasn't interested. But he continued to accost me." He said

"After a few days of consistent rejection, he began stalking me—literally following me through my commute to school, in between classes, and back home again—he showed up at my home and introduced himself to my parents as my mate." Rei continued.

"That sounds just like the little shit." Rin chuckled and closed his eyes.

"That's exactly the point I'm trying to explicate, Rin-san." Rei's voice was soft and certain.

"Being a beta doesn't change the fact that Nagisa's personality is bold and strong. Our relationship was engendered by his strength and persistence. Those actions and sentiments are not dictated by his rank in wolf hierarchy.

"It is commonplace for alphas to pursue omegas in this fashion, yes. However, we are omegas. Biology would dictated that a beta would want for nothing with such fervency and pursue it with such dominance.

"Nagisa's standing as a beta wolf is in no way causal to his feelings for me, his personality, and his behavior.

"In my most honest opinion, Rin-san, very little in the expanse of human action and emotion—even wolfborn—can be excused through biology.

"Your hormones and Aiichirou-san's pheromones caused you to become sexually excited. Your true feelings for Aiichirou-san prevented you from hurting him. It is also the reason you are so remorseful." Rei finished

A long moment went by, both boys knowing the depth of Rei's words and reality of Rin's newly unearthed feelings.

"I—I think I get that." Rin said softly.

"I know…" he started, "that I'm sure that what I feel for Ai isn't just 'cus he's a beta. I know it's bigger than that, at least on my end. But, what's really freaking me out is…"

Rin found himself unable to finish, so Rei did it for him.

"Weather your sentiment is shared by Aiichirou-san."

"Yeah." Rin sighed.

"There are few ways to elucidate the true feelings and intentions of Aiichirou-san…without asking him directly." Rei spoke slowly, carefully, not wanting to push Rin into doing anything rash without proper forethought.

"I don't know what I'm going to do." Rin said, honestly.

"As of right now, it matters less on what route of action you will take." Rei started, with his voice warm and proud.

"You have accomplished the process of cleansing yourself of stress, guilt, and negative thoughts while successfully deducing your true feelings for Aiichirou! I find this conversation to have been both productive and—WHA!"

Rei was interrupted with what sounded like white noise and another voice.

"Who are you talking to Rei-chan? Why'd you leave me all alone? Are you cheating on me?!" Nagisa sounded far from the phone, but Rin knew that pitchy voice at an instant.

"Hah, well you should clear that up before the Devil Child castrates you. Thanks for everything, Rei. You really helped. Really." Rin said.

It sounded like Rei was about to say goodbye as well before the call dropped.

Nagisa probably jumped on Rei, Rin inferred. Megane probably let go the phone.

Rin sighed, realizing he was still on the roof of the science building—four hours past midnight curfew.

It would be morning soon, but Rin really needed to head back to the dorm.

He figured that if Ai had taken his medication when Rin ordered him to, before leaving, it would be in full effect now.

Contemplating what to do, he typed out a text message to Haruka.

Rin was incredibly surprised when his phone blinked a minute later, as he had accepted that his message would either be ignored or answered in the morning by Makoto.

He read the text, smiled, and pocketed his phone before walking back to Ai.


Rin tried to enter the room as quietly as possible. After a few breaths, Rin new that Ai had indeed taken his medication.

No indication of heat.

He changed out of his shoes and jacket and crept slowly to his bed. The motionless Nitori-sized lump under the covers indicated that his roommate was still sleeping.

He leaned over the bed, placing his palm on what he thought was Ai's shoulder and gently shook.

"Mmmf. Senpai? Are, mnf. Are you okay? I'm so sorry about earlier, I should have—" Ai's sleep-filled rambling was cut off.

"Do you mind if I sleep here tonight? With you? Just sleep?" Rin asked, mentally prepared for however his kouhai would react.

Aiichirou looked at Rin with a stare that was half sleep and half questions. Slowly, a small smile appeared on his face.

Rin took this, as well as Ai's motion to scoot closer to the wall as to make room, to mean that he didn't mind sharing the bed tonight.

He got into bed next to his roommate.

Warm. Rin thought.

He hadn't realized home cold it was outside until he got into bed.

After a moment of peace, Ai turned his body onto his left side, towards the wall with his back to Rin—while scooting closer to the older boy.

As in by instinct, Rin also turned to fold with Ai. Their bodies laid flush against eachothers, with Rin's left arm under scooped under Ai's neck and his right arm on Ai's hip.

"I don't know if this is what all alphas are suppose to do…but I'm happy it's you, Senpai." Ai said in a voice softer than the sound of Rin's breath.

No other words were spoken while they both succumbed to the heaviness in their eyes.

There were still ten thousand things they needed to talk about in the morning. However, tonight, they were both happy to push that aside.


Extra Scene:

SENT COPY: MatsuokaRin22
TEXT: I want to be Ai's alpha.
I just don't know where to start.

SENDER: FreeFreestyleFree
TEXT: Do what makes you feel free.