Part 11

The next time Sasuke regained consciousness, he nearly screamed in embarrassment. Unlike his Aniki whose memories grew hazy when rut struck, Sasuke's mental clarity of the actions that transpired was stupidly vivid.

The things that came out of his mouth…. He had refused the condom and begged his Aniki to cum inside him and knot him.

Oh. My. God. He was insane!

Sasuke covered his face with his palms as heat rose to his cheeks. Not only that, but after the knot had subsided, he continued to ride Itachi like a sex-crazed maniac and demanded more and more and– good lord, how many days had they been in bed?

Somehow, he managed to find his phone. The date that glared back at him was two days after the initial incident. What. The. Holy. Fuck.

More like two-and-a-half days judging by the sunset he saw outside. His stomach, as if registering this fact, growled loudly.

That's how the boy found himself dragging his sore body away from his Aniki in bed with a shy, hesitant glance backward. The man was sleeping so quietly that, if it weren't for his warmth and scent, the boy would not have made his presence.

He looked away bashfully when he caught himself staring at Itachi's face. The things that that mouth did to him…. no– his mind protested, he didn't want to think about that. His Aniki was only trying to help him through his heat. There weren't any other intentions.

Much to his dismay, the fridge was quite bare and didn't have anything he found particularly yummy. His stomach was achy, his head was pounding up a storm, and his backside protested when he tried to stretch upright fully, but despite such, Sasuke pulled on some clothes and grabbed his keys.

There was a convenience store just a few blocks down, and he felt like he could eat a horse, so there was no doubt in his mind he had to make the trip. There were very few people there at this time in the night, and the boy loaded his basket with anything that looked remotely appetizing.

A box of takoyaki. A karaage bento box. Unagi don. Seaweed salad. Two custard-filled buns and one red bean one. A can of green iced tea. He also couldn't forget dessert. Two ice cream swirl cones: one vanilla and another strawberry.

He hadn't eaten much of anything in the two days he was kept in bed. Sue him.

When he had paid for everything and was presented with a large bag, he nearly regretted not driving over. He tossed the cone cap of the strawberry soft serve into the trash instead, licking generously at the sweet treat while using his other wrist to carry the bag, as he slowly and steadily walked home.

The nighttime ambiance and cool weather, followed by his sweet tooth being satiated, made Sasuke sigh happily. That is, until he was limping up his driveway, ice cream half gone, when he was startled by his name being hollered.

"SASUKE."

Ohhh boy, that didn't sound good. He looked up from his cone at his Aniki who had screamed his name so hysterically that he thought the man was hyperventilating. It reminded him of the time Itachi fed him his pill in the school's infirmary.

The man looked angry.

Sasuke paused, halfway up the driveway, and then looked to the curb. Maybe he should just sit there and eat instead. He was so hungry that he hardly had the energy to speak, and as much as he hated to admit it, looking at Itachi's face did weird things to his insides. In the middle of his contemplation, his Aniki had stomped his way up to him.

"Where were you?" the man hissed, hands clasping onto his shoulders. "I woke up and you were gone. I looked everywhere for you."

His entire body was sore. Everything ached all the way down to his bones. He couldn't even eat in the days he was in heat because he had no appetite; all he could obsess over was sex, sex, sex. His head was pounding because he was nutrient deficient. Opening his mouth was the last thing he wanted to do. He was beyond exhausted, his brain was in an absolute daze, and all he just wanted to eat was his food.

So he turned on his heels and trudged his way to the curb, ignoring the embarrassing moments that replayed themselves over the last few days and the man who followed closely on his heels, and gently maneuvered himself so that his bottom was on the soft grass and his feet hung off the curb. He grimaced when his bum made contact with the grass, a foreign soreness shooting up his spine only to spread throughout his lower back.

Sasuke set the bag down, took a final bite out of his strawberry cone and set it back down in the plastic container it came in, and took out the unagi don and chopsticks. He popped open the cap and began eating at a somewhat vigorous pace.

His Aniki came to sit by him, sifting through his bag to see what he had bought. Then, while he was shoveling another piece of unagi in his mouth, he felt a kiss being pressed onto his temple.

"Sorry for yelling," Itachi muttered. Sasuke made a small noise at the back of his throat in acknowledgement. Honestly, he had been too famished to care for being yelled at, so he had brushed it off easily. "Did you go to the conbini? You could have woken me up. I would have gone for you. You shouldn't be going out in this condition, Otouto."

Sasuke nearly snorted. Overprotective as always.

Wordlessly, he dropped the empty bowl on the other side of the grass. He pulled out the takoyaki and red bean bun and handed it to his Aniki with another pair of chopsticks, and the man took it with a small smile and another peck to his cheek. Then, he grabbed the karaage bowl and began munching.

Did food always taste this good? Sasuke felt like he was on Cloud Nine, and hardly stopped to breathe as he ate a whole day's worth of meals in one sitting.

Sasuke could feel his Aniki's eyes on him, but he refused to look at the man, opting instead to stare at the twinkling stars in the sky as he finished everything he bought.

He dared say he ate everything, saved for what he had given Itachi (plus the vanilla soft serve), in fifteen minutes. His Aniki looked mildly impressed, his sour mood replaced by amusement as his gaze darted between the boy and the pile of empty boxes and wrappers that had accumulated next to Sasuke.

"Do you have the energy to talk to me now?" Itachi teased.

"I was hungry," Sasuke mumbled, his voice hoarse. "And there wasn't any food at home."

The man's face turned solemn. "That's my fault. I should have been prepared for this scenario. I'm sorry, Otouto."

Sasuke groaned at that. That man had a penchant for taking responsibility when there was none to take. "Stop it, Aniki. It's no one's fault. There was no food, so I went to the store to get food. End of story, okay?"

H.J.

There was something that was bugging Itachi as he sat there next to his Otouto. No more than two feet apart, there was absolutely no indication that Sasuke was going to face him anytime soon. In fact, it seemed the boy was going out of his way to avoid eye contact.

"Why aren't you looking at me?" Itachi finally asked. He tried to keep his tone casual and light, but it came out borderline interrogatory.

Itachi noticed the faint jerking of the boy's body as if he wasn't expecting such a question, and the bobbing Adam's apple that followed. But no eye contact.

"What do you mean?" the boy muttered, acting dumb. His body began to lean away from Itachi as if he stunk of rotten eggs and five-day-old expired milk.

He didn't know if his eyes were deceiving him, but he could have sworn his Otouto covered his nose with the palm resting on his drawn up knees. Itachi's eyes narrowed, almost offended. The night breeze picked up around him, but he wouldn't have noticed if the boy did not shiver along with it.

The beast inside raised its head immediately, but Itachi flexed his fingers to draw himself back. Sasuke had somehow found his way into a curled up ball with his chin resting on his knees as he stared straight ahead at the pavement. It didn't look like he wanted to be in Itachi's vicinity, much less receive his touch.

"Look at me," Itachi commanded. His voice was far from loud or angry, but he could tell the underlying warning tone made the boy seize up before he slowly turned his head in Itachi's direction.

The man leaned forward, vaguely aware that he had used an alpha tone on his skittish omega so Sasuke couldn't help but obey, but he hated being ignored. His dear Otouto didn't flinch when he closed the distance between them, which was a positive sign. However, it appeared as though he was holding his breath and freaking out in his mind.

Itachi's eyes softened considerably once he caught a glimpse of those wide, frightened orbs, and instead of demanding answers like he initially thought he would, his entire frustrated and angry aura dropped, only to be replaced by concern. Had he been releasing angry pheromones just now? Itachi wondered. He didn't think he had, but even if they accidentally leaked, it wasn't like they had any effect on his Otouto. The boy had said so himself.

Slowly, as if tending to a baby rabbit, Itachi extended his hand out to pat the boy's hair, the gesture delivering soft, gentle strokes to those unruly spikes. Owlish black eyes blinked up at him, but otherwise did not protest.

"Why weren't you looking at me?" the man asked softly, head cocked slightly in question.

"I hate it when you do that," Sasuke responded irritably. If it wasn't the people around him constantly worrying about his condition, then it was Itachi's alpha commands that reminded Sasuke that he was, inherently, an omega.

"Don't change the subject. Answer my question."

"Why's it so important that I look at you?" the boy retorted.

Itachi bit his lip, masking his smile. There's the boy he knew and loved.

"I simply want your attention, Otouto. Is that too much to ask for?" he responded.

Sasuke seemed taken aback by his words, and even in the dark of the night, Itachi could see the faint, pink blush coloring his cheeks before he turned his face away. "I'm embarrassed! Okay?!" he hissed, stuffing his face into his arms while groaning. "Ugh, how can you always say things like that without batting an eye!"

A genuine smile lit up Itachi's face, causing his eyes to twinkle and his entire being to feel giddy. In an instant, he pulled the boy into his lap, ignoring the yelp he received, and pried Sasuke's hands away from his face. "You're so goddamn adorable," he mumbled, his face inches from Sasuke's, only to receive a half-hearted shove against his shoulder in protest.

Itachi grinned, wrapping both arms securely around Sasuke's waist and brought the boy closer to his body. "Are you cold?" he asked, one large palm stroking down the boy's back.

"... Not anymore," Sasuke muttered begrudgingly, resting his chin on Itachi's shoulder.

Much to the man's surprise, once the boy made contact with Itachi's body, he began nuzzling his neck and sniffing nonstop. "Why…" he muttered to himself, as if in absolute befuddlement, "why do you smell so good?"

"Hmm… do I smell good to you, Otouto?" Itachi asked, cocking an eyebrow. So… it wasn't that he had stunk. That was good to know. The boy had gone out of his way to physically distance himself, and now that he was in Itachi's lap, he turned into a sloth again.

The boy nuzzled deeper into the juncture between Itachi's neck and collarbone, a tongue darting out to taste the flesh before him as if his nose wasn't enough to take in the scent. As if instinct had beckoned him to have a taste. Itachi, caught off guard, groaned at such an innocent gesture, but did not stop his Otouto.

"You smell really good, Aniki," Sasuke mumbled. "This scent was never that strong before."

His scent had gotten stronger? Itachi's brows drew together in confusion. It wasn't like he had used cologne or a different brand of shampoo. In fact, he hadn't showered since yesterday and that had been with Sasuke. "What do I smell like, Otouto?"

"Like vanilla and spice" came the instance answer. As if finally satisfied with how much he had inhaled, he rested his cheek back on the man's shoulders, but that was very short-lived.

"What did you say?" Itachi almost yelled, hands gripping onto Sasuke's shoulders to push him back to meet his gaze. His eyes were enlarged in massive astonishment while his hands trembled along the boy's shoulders. "Say it again," he demanded.

"Huh?" Sasuke tilted his head. "Say what?"

"What did you say I smelled like?" Itachi asked, the words rushing out of his lips. His pupils were blown wide and he must have looked like a loon, because Sasuke stared at him oddly.

"Oh. I said you smelled like vanilla and spice, Aniki. Why? What's wrong?"

Itachi's hands fell from Sasuke's shoulders, a stunned expression painted all over his face, as his brain tried to process what the boy had said.

Vanilla and spice.

Sasuke had said Itachi smelled like vanilla and spice. No way.

"Otouto," he queried absent-mindedly, "when did I start smelling like vanilla and spice to you?"

His Otouto's face scrunched up adorably in thought. "I'm not sure… didn't your room always smell like vanilla and spice?"

"Always?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"What do you mean 'always'? Since when?" Itachi pressed on.

"Huh? I don't know," Sasuke responded, an eyebrow arched in mild irritation. "Why is that so important?"

"... Do you know what you smell like to me?" the man asked, the quietness of his voice completely contrasting his previous tone.

"Hmm? What do I smell like?" The boy pulled at his shirt to take a whiff of himself, but it was probably difficult since he was so used to his own scent that he dismissed it.

"Vanilla and spice," Itachi breathed.

Sasuke's brows furrowed in confusion, as if he had a hard time grasping what Itachi was hinting. As if he suddenly considered something embarrassing, a furious blush colored his cheeks. "Well… that's not odd, is it? Don't I just smell like you because… you know… that?"

You mean when I buried my cum deep inside you and knotted you multiple times over the course of nearly three days? Itachi bit his lip and felt his nether regions twitch. If he wasn't sinking deeper into his own current thoughts, he would have smiled at that adorable statement and let his own teasing question slip.

"Yes, Otouto. That would have been the case, but you've smelled like vanilla and spice to me since the day you were born."

Itachi expected the boy to attack him with a plethora of questions. Namely, what was so important about smelling the same or why was it that Itachi never spoke of scents before?

Instead, Sasuke's head was lulled to the side, the redness in his cheeks showed no signs of diminishing, and his eyes were glazed over. "You smell good," his Otouto mumbled as if in a trance. He proceeded to dig his nose into Itachi's chest, grab a generous handful of his T-shirt, and inhale deeply.

And then his body began moving. He rubbed his face into Itachi's broad chest with a low moan and tried to dig his body into the man's as if he wanted to crawl inside Itachi. An absurd wave of pheromones filtered into the air next, incredibly potent and thick despite them being in an open space, and Itachi heard a painful groan echo into his chest.

His palms slithered behind the boy, and Itachi hooked each underneath the backs of Sasuke's thighs, hefting the boy up and into his arms before quickly making his way back into the house.

The sickly sweet scent hit Itachi tenfold by the time had placed Sasuke on his bed, grabbed his phone off the nightstand, and locked the boy inside his room by bolting the outer lock. The thick, sweet scent invaded his nostrils, their home already thoroughly engulfed in his Otouto's pheromones.

Itachi slammed his back against the locked door and doubled over with harsh breathing.

Shit. This was bad.

He hadn't refilled his last suppressor yet.

He would go into rut at this rate.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

He hit speed dial on his phone with a jab with a huge grunt. He had placed that man on speed dial for years now because he was afraid of things like this occurring.

"Shisui!" he growled into his phone after waiting what felt like an eon for the man to answer his phone. "I need you over here! Now. Bring suppressors. Lots of them. Fuck." Itachi threw his phone aside, and it slammed into an adjacent wall before it slid down to the ground with a thud.

Their parents weren't home because they had given them their space. They wouldn't return anytime soon, and, even if they were here, they wouldn't have been able to help anyway.

Itachi drew his knees to his chest and shoved his face into them, fingers subconsciously coming up to hold onto his head. Sweat began to accumulate at his hairline and his hands felt clammy as if they were sweaty profusely. He could literally hear the blood roaring through his veins from how hard his heart was pounding against his ribcage.

He could smell Sasuke from a block away, much less ten feet. But he couldn't move from his spot. If his Otouto managed to get out of the room, who knew where he would wander off to in that state?

Fuck. Fuck. Fucking hell.

Itachi fisted his sweats, teeth gritting in agony as his mouth began to salivate and his body trembled dangerously. He couldn't go into rut. He refused to. With how he handled his last rut, if his body succumbed now, then he would go insane.

He'd fuck his Otouto into submission whether he wanted it or not, and he wouldn't think twice to bite his neck for a permanent bond. The mess that he would make would be incomparable to anything he'd ever done to Sasuke. He'd hold the boy down with his bare hands and plunge into Sasuke's wet hole until it gaped and stuck to his cock like a greedy little sleeve. The noises that a hole full of his seed would make while he pressed deep inside and fucked the boy silly made him growl aloud. He'd ruin the boy from the inside.

God, he could feel his teeth aching just thinking about it.

The rattling from the other side had stopped now. His precious Otouto's attempts to get out of the room quelled by his weakened body. Instead, Itachi could hear whimpering coming from the other side of the door. The sounds were so close that the man was convinced his precious mate was right there on the other side, the door acting as a barrier between them.

"A-Aniki…"

Good fucking lord. Itachi exhaled harshly and shut his eyes, fists pounding into the floorboards.

"Why did you leave?" Irregular breathing. Pitiful whines. "Aniki… h-help me, please. It hurts. D-Don't leave m-me… ahh. Come back…."

"Just… stay there for a bit, Otouto," Itachi grounded out. "Shisui is coming."

The whimpers grew louder as if the boy was actually crying on the other side. "But I don't want him… I want Aniki," his Otouto cried as he banged against the door. It thudded and rattled against Itachi's back, but he forced his bottom to remain rooted to the ground. "Aniki, I want Aniki. It h-hurts. It's empty inside. Come make babies with me, Aniki. Please…."

Fuck. Fuck. Fuckingshitpieceofalmightlyfuckery.

The barrier did absolutely nothing to block the pungent, candied pheromones that swarmed around Itachi. His erection spasmed against his thigh, swollen and dripping to the point of pain.

"A-Aniki, dont l-leave m-me alone." The cries grew louder, need and heavyset emotions dripping with each uttered word. His fists were wounded so tightly that the insides of his palms bled from his nails. He couldn't take much more. His shaking had gone from barely controlled to noticeable from down the hall, and, at this rate, he wasn't confident he could last.

Where the fuck was Shisui?

"Why are you doing this to me?" Sasuke cried. "'Tachi… Aniki… don't you love me anymore? I want you to hold me, please. Don't leave me alone. I'll be a good boy. Don't lock me up."

"Ugh." Blood splattered on the floorboards.

Splat. Splat. Splat.

Itachi's teeth, fangs and all, were now embedded into his forearm, the act delivering pain throughout his entire system to offset his need to claim.

Guilt flooded him like a manic high, sudden and heavy, when he realized that his Otouto, his lovely, beautiful mate, was crying and pleading for him because he felt abandoned. And every fiber of his body screamed at him to protect. To console. To give. To do anything possible in his power to attend to Sasuke's needs.

"Oh, fuck! What are you doing, Itachi?!" someone yelled from the other end of the hallway. It was Shisui.

About damn time.

His jaw was nudged away from his arm, and he saw rather than felt the needle that was plunged into the meatiest part of his thigh, followed by the suppressor being injected. Twice. One on each thigh. His pheromones must have been overwhelming if Shisui felt the need to double down.

He didn't receive any instant relief from it though. The downsides of dominant alpha genes. However, within a few minutes, it felt like he could finally breathe a little easier, his front canines withdrew, and he finally stopped trembling like he was partaking in an earthquake.

Shisui examined his eyes before he nodded to himself, satisfied, and turned his attention to the bedroom. "Sasuke, it's me. Shisui. I'm going to come and check your condition, okay?"

"I don't need it! Where's Aniki? I only want Aniki."

The man frowned, casting a glance at Itachi, who had finally managed to heave himself off the floor. "I'll go in first," Itachi said. "Give me a few minutes, and I'll let you know when to come in."

He received a look of disapproval, followed by a sigh and a nod, before he unbolted the door.

"Otouto," Itachi called to the boy gently, "do Aniki a favor and go sit on my bed, okay? Then, I'll come in."

Instantly, he heard shuffling as if the boy had rushed to do as he was told. Slowly, the man opened the door, slipped inside, and gently shut it behind.

"Aniki! Aniki! Aniki!" his beloved cried, nearly jumping for joy. He was seated at the center of the bed, and when Itachi had headed to the edge of the bed, he lunged for the man and had him under him in two seconds flat.

The boy had eagerly climbed on top of him, one arm around the man in an embrace while the other hurriedly pushed Itachi's sweats off his lower half. A warm, soft hand gripped at the base of the man's cock and shoved it between the boy's cheeks.

Itachi only had enough time to grit his teeth and wrap his arms around the nude body before he was balls deep inside Sasuke.

It was so wet inside that he could immediately feel the boy's slick dripping down the base of his erection to pool at his groin.

"Fuck, Otouto," Itachi groaned, pulling him down to crash their lips together, siphoning off the scream he received in return.

Sasuke began riding him like he was a nymphomaniac who had been deprived of sex for ages. His moans grew loud and lustful with each passing second, and Itachi knew, unequivocally, Shisui could hear them.

Shit. He needed to refocus. He didn't come in here to do this. He sat up, lifting his baby with him in his lap until they sat against the headboard, and threw the covers over both of their bodies.

"So g-good," Sasuke whimpered in his lap as he continued to bounce himself on Itachi's cock. With his palms firmly pressed into Itachi's shoulders, Sasuke's head lulled back slightly as if he was daydreaming. "You're so big inside, Aniki," he gasped, his entire small body shuddering in delight.

"Sasuke, my love, look at me," Itachi growled softly. The boy continued to ride Itachi while staring at the location they were joined as if he didn't hear the man. So it took everything in Itachi's power to wrap his arms around the boy's waist over the blanket and push him down to the base of his cock, holding him still there. The boy tried to shake his grip, but Itachi held firm, keeping himself deeply rooted inside while simultaneously making it appear as though the boy was merely sitting in his lap. "I'm going to have Shisui come in to take a look at you, okay? Your heat should have been gone by now, but it came back so he's going to make sure you're healthy, okay?"

"A-Aniki…" Sasuke sniffled and looked disheartened.

"Be good, Otouto," Itachi said warmly, placing a kiss on his temple. "Stay still for Aniki."

The hole around Itachi's cock twitched incessantly throughout Shisui's examination, and thank goodness, that was around the time the suppressant began working its magic or else Itachi would have gone into rut, killed the other alpha in the room, and got his Otouto pregnant.

"Don't take the blanket off," Itachi muttered. His Otouto's flushed face was resting on his chest and his arms were tightly wounded around his bigger body.

"I wouldn't dare," Shisui deadpanned. "Has he taken the pill yet?"

Itachi shook his head. "No, not yet."

A sigh. "This isn't like you," the doctor in the family replied as he retrieved a packet from the side pocket of his bag and tore it open. He popped the pill into his hand and handed it over to Itachi. "Let's not delay, or there will really be a chance he'll end up pregnant."

He was right. Itachi knew that, so there was nothing he could say. He nudged the boy with his shoulder, coaxing him to look up at him. "Open up, Otouto," he murmured, pressing the little blue pill against the boy's lips.

To his surprise, Sasuke jerked his head away with a disapproving growl. "I don't want it."

"Why don't you want it?" Itachi asked gently.

"Because… I want to have your baby," the boy mumbled almost inaudibly, looking down as if guilty.

Itachi's poor heart nearly stuttered to a complete stop. Did he just hear correctly? A glance at Shisui's slightly widened eyes confirmed it.

"We can talk about that in the future, okay?" he cooed. When it didn't seem like the boy cared to receive his statement, Itachi popped the pill into his own mouth and diverted his Otouto's attention to him.

A kiss, so similar to that moment in the infirmary, replayed itself then as if they were caught in a moment of deja vu. The boy accepted the kiss so eagerly that when Itachi shoved the pill into his mouth, he had swallowed instinctively.

When the man pulled back amidst Sasuke's cough, he rubbed soothing circles on his back, keeping him tucked into his lap. "Good boy, Otouto," he praised, receiving a whine in return.

Just like that, Shisui continued, pulling two syringes out of his bag.

"Sasuke, I'm going to give you a heat suppressant shot, okay? I'm going to inject it into your gland so it'll have a higher success rate of knocking out your heat. It should also hit your system faster, so the effects should be instantaneous. I'm also going to give you some light medicine so you can get some sleep, okay?"

Shisui caught Itachi's gaze, and Itachi nodded. "Stay still for Aniki, Otouto," he murmured into the boy's ears. His Otouto merely dug his face deeper into Itachi's body with a soft moan.

The needles came and went, and when Shisui was finished, Itachi noticed the pheromones in the air were beginning to disperse. This was followed by the light breathing that came from the boy.

Sasuke had knocked out almost instantly, and his body visibly grew lax against Itachi's.

"Thank you." Itachi hitched the blanket, which had dropped lower during the man's inspection, over the small of the boy's back.

"You weren't thinking of voluntarily forgetting to give him the pill, were you?"

His hand paused its downward stroking motions. "What are you trying to imply?" he growled. The accusation cut deep.

"I'm only looking out for the both of you," Shisui replied, almost apologetic after seeing the defense mechanisms arise in Itachi's body. He blew a breath as he began putting away his tools. "You said his heat had subsided, then came back full force, right? Any idea why?"

Itachi remained silent as his brain tried to allocate all corresponding memories together to paint a picture. "When I found him a few days ago when his heat started, he was in my closet nesting in a pile of my clothes."

The man stopped stroking and cradled the boy's head against his chest while the other was left around his waist.

"Hmm, that's not odd behavior for an omega though," Shisui said, lowering his voice in order to not disturb the snoozing boy. "Whether he realized it or not, he was seeking out alpha pheromones to help ease the onset of symptoms."

Nesting was a well-known phenomenon in their world because it was an act guided by pure instinct. In the absence of an alpha, an omega would seek out belongings that retained said alpha's scent and bathe in it in order to calm themselves. It was definitely not a cure-all, but it was capable of preventing some of the atrocities that came with heat.

"He had been acting clingier the week leading up to it, but I… I didn't recognize it, and I wasn't even beside him when it started."

Shisui's gaze softened slightly. "It's not your fault. It's not something you should feel guilty about. I'm just glad nothing bad happened."

"Earlier, he said… I smelled like vanilla and spice. He said I smelled good. And then, just like that, it was like we went back in time to that moment I found him huddled up in my closet. The scent was so thick. I couldn't even swallow my own saliva."

"I could smell him from down the block," Shisui muttered, rubbing his forehead. "So he's your fated pair then?"

Itachi's shoulders twitched at that. He mentioned that so casually that he didn't realize the man had picked up on it.

"And so it shall be, two linked souls entwined herein, shall forever possess a matching fragrance like no other," Shisui recited. "Isn't that the opening line in the books?"

"Yeah. Those are the words," he whispered. Itachi looked down at the boy in his lap, and his heart swelled.

"Well, you told me once Sasuke smelled like vanilla and spice to you, and if the opposite is true, then it was meant to be. Does he know?"

Itachi shook his head.

"Does he even know that that's a thing?" Shisui grinned. "I mean it is the opening line in all the books he has studied over the years."

Another head shake.

"Ooh, boy. Are you going to tell him?"

That was a question he had yet to consider. Actually, instead of asking himself if he would, he was more concerned about when and how to break the news.

After all, his precious Otouto was in his arms.

Itachi's fated pair was so close, yet so far away.