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Since Ren had joined the pack, Kyoko's perception of him had changed - that he knew for sure. But he wasn't sure if it was for the better. She was certainly more comfortable around him, and a lot more physically affectionate (that was a definite bonus). Plus she no longer seemed to put him on a pedestal. All of that was fantastic for him. However... She now seemed convinced that he was akin to a newborn fawn, needing help at every turn. He didn't mind the extra attention, but if she was ever going to see him as a potential mate, they would need to be on even footing. So the question was: How could he convince her that he was a capable member of the pack?
He started with asking google-sensei, but the answers were more geared towards either alphas leading their packs or how to handle a newly-polycule pack. As he was neither an alpha nor interested in two of his three other pack members, this was not helpful.
So he resorted to plan B, and started sniffing around. Not literally, because his scent blockers also deadened his own sense of smell, but figuratively. He started paying attention to leads on roles that might be good for his pack members, and passing them along via Kyoko. She then created a group chat of the four of them titled "(sparkly heart) PACK (sparkly heart)" so they could all communicate more easily. He also made sure to mention any idiosyncrasies he knew about the directors for the roles in question when passing along the information.
A nifty side effect of his new plan to Win Kyoko's Acknowledgement by Being a Good Pack Member was that his other pack members actually seemed to like him now. Or at least, tolerate him. Kanae would give him a sharp nod when passing in the hallways now, rather than her usual cool stare. He still hadn't properly met Chiori, but she was friendly over text.
Kyoko, for her part, was thrilled that her pack was getting along so well, and was effusive in her thanks. Both over text (he may have done a victory dance the first time she sent him some sparkly sticker messages in thanks) and - more excitingly - in person.
"Ren-san!" she called, bouncing up to him. "Thank you so much for letting us know about that commercial gig! Chiorin got the role!" Her hands were clasped together in front of her as she dipped a bow, then sprang right back up.
"Oh, it was no problem. I just happened to overhear the director talking about it, and thought it might fit one of you." I'm good at being in a pack, see?
She rewarded him with a brilliant smile that had him stuffing his hands in his pockets so he didn't reach for her. What he didn't know is that she'd had her hands clasped like that so she didn't hug him in the middle of the hallway, either.
LINE BREAK
"A pack hangout?" Ren echoed. He'd come down to the LoveMe section room to see if Kyoko could refresh the scent on one of the sheep she'd made him.
"Yes! I thought it'd be good for us all to spend some time together, and for you to finally meet Chiorin!" She had her hands clasped together in front of her again as she bounced on the balls of her feet. "So I was wondering where you'd like to meet - newest pack member gets to pick."
He opened and closed his mouth a few times, thinking hard. Where would be a good place that wouldn't risk them all getting caught by the paparazzi? Yashiro had warned him already about the ways this might affect his packmates' reputations - not least because he was the only male in the pack. Plus, his manager had said, it might make people look more closely into his own status. The public was, after all, crazy on account of being the public. Anyone who worked in customer service would agree.
Eventually, just as she was winding up for a truly dramatic apology rant, he said, "Would it be weird if we met at my place?"
Kyoko tilted her head for a moment, considering. "I don't think so, as long as you're comfortable with it. One condition, though."
"Yes?"
"I get to cook. I'm not letting you try to cook and wind up poisoning our pack."
He almost protested before he saw the glint in her eyes. Kyoko - Kyoko was teasing him. Being playful. If he'd had a tail, it would have been wagging a mile a minute. Instead, he grinned back. "Well, if you insist."
Scheduling the meetup was a bit of a nightmare, but they were able to make it happen one Saturday evening. Kyoko led the other two LoveMe girls up to the building confidently, while they exchanged glances behind her back.
"This place is swanky," Chiori said, glancing at the front security guard who had nodded as if he recognized Kyoko.
"Very swanky," Kanae echoed, meeting her gaze, not having missed that fact either. Something told them that Kyoko had been here far more often than she'd mentioned.
"I know!" Kyoko added once they were in the elevator. "You're going to faint when you see his apartment. It's the entire floor. I have no idea what he does with all that room." She pressed the button for Ren's floor.
"The entire. Floor," Kanae repeated.
"Seems kinda wasteful, that much space," Chiori mused.
"Hey, he's hosting for us, so be nice!" She adjusted the grocery bag she was carrying.
"He's hosting, but you're cooking." Kanae rolled her eyes. "But fine, I'll play nice."
"His cooking is inedible," she said matter-of-factly and led the way out of the elevator.
Chiori looked between Kanae and Kyoko's back. "Wh- how does she know that he's a bad cook?"
She furrowed her brow. "Maybe he tried to make her something when she went over there last. C'mon, we're falling behind."
Another glance - and some stifled laughter - was exchanged when Ren opened the door before Kyoko could even knock. "D'you think he was standing behind the door, staring out the peephole?" Chiori muttered, getting an elbow to the ribs for her trouble.
"Thank you for having us!" Kyoko said, exchanging her shoes for house slippers. The other two echoed the sentiments. "Oh, right! Ren-san, this is Amamiya Chiori. Chiorin, this is Tsuruga Ren."
"It's nice to meet you properly. I've heard good things," Ren said, bowing slightly.
"Likewise!" Chiori mirrored the bow. "Thanks again for letting us know about that commercial gig. The director was exactly the way you described her."
"Ah, yeah. She's brilliant, but can be hard to work with unless you know her quirks."
Kyoko smiled as she slipped away into the kitchen to whip up a quick dinner for her pack. She was glad they were getting along so well - having acting as a common interest made it a lot easier, for sure. Hearing the three of them chat really warmed her heart, almost as much as seeing Ren enjoy that first nest had. She giggled to herself, remembering how he'd practically purred. Focus, Kyoko! She turned her attention back to the omurice. She'd certainly felt cheeky lately with Ren - it must be because they were becoming proper friends, as packmates. That must be it. After all, she teased Kanae and Chiori plenty, and they gave as good as they got. So he'd forgive her for making omurice.
Ren, for his part, was having the fairly novel experience of hanging out with two women who did not, in any way, want in his pants. They wanted to pick his brain about the acting world, which he was fine with - along with Kyoko, it was one of his two favorite topics. Frankly, it was refreshing to not have to worry about them trying to make a move on him- even if he wished that Kyoko would. Pack perks, he thought to himself again, as he realized he was genuinely having a nice time, even with his beloved in the other room.
Then she made it even better by emerging from said room. Unfortunately, she was carrying a tray of food (he hadn't even known that he owned a tray), which meant it was time to eat. She set the food out in front of each of them, quirking a small smile at Ren when she gave him his. She'd written "Welcome to the Pack!" on his in ketchup. He ignored the way his heart fluttered in favor of being wildly impressed that she'd managed to fit that on a single plate of omurice.
That flutter turned into a full-on stutter when she ran her wrist over the back of his and teased, "Are you going to make me command you again, or are you going to eat?"
Kanae wondered idly as she bit into her omurice if Kyoko knew she was flirting. Then the girl's words sank in. "Wait, you commanded him?"
She looked away, blushing. "He wouldn't eat his lunch."
Chiori let out a guffaw. "Oh my god." The thought of polite, demure little Kyoko pulling out a move that was usually reserved for seduction, just to get someone to eat lunch - and using it on one of the top actors, at that - was hysterical.
"Food is no laughing matter," Kyoko pouted, while her packmates (including Ren, who had just realized what Chiori had) laughed around her. "Lunch is a vitally important meal when it comes to combating the mid-afternoon slump."
"I promise you we're not laughing at that," Kanae choked out.
"Then what?"
She exchanged a glance with Chiori, who dissolved into further giggles. "I'll tell you when you're older."
"Moko, you're only a year older than I am."
"It's fine, it's fine," she replied, sending soothing lavender to wrap around Kyoko. "Don't worry about it."
"Mookooo, that's not fair," she sighed. "I know all the omega tricks…."
"Doesn't make them less effective," she smirked back. Her scent had diffused the situation very nicely, in her opinion.
Kyoko rolled her eyes and let it drop, instead focusing on poking Ren's leg with her foot until he caught the hint and started eating. Ren let her poke him for maybe a touch too long before conceding.
Chiori, who had seen this when grabbing the napkin she'd dropped, rolled her eyes. What a dork. I can't believe I ever thought that he was hot. I guess he still technically is, but he's way off-limits. She caught Kanae's eye as she sat back up and grinned. Eh, this is more fun anyway.
LINE BREAK
After they'd finished eating, they settled into a makeshift pack nest - really, just some blankets and a few cushions arranged on the living room floor. It was comfy enough. But as they tried to figure out where to sit, something both old and new began.
"Kyoko, come here, I'll comb your hair," Kanae beckoned to her, leaning back against the couch.
Ren bit back a whimper. He'd been hoping to get at least a little bit of a cuddle in, or maybe some scenting. He tried not to let it show, but Kyoko's astute nose picked up on it. She looked between the two, tilting her head in confusion, but did as Kanae bid.
Ren sat, swirling in cornflower jealousy. Chiori and Kanae exchanged amused looks over Kyoko's head. Kyoko, for her part, was trying to enjoy Moko playing with her hair, but kept getting distracted by… well, by the literal stink Ren was causing.
"Ren-san, is something wrong?" she eventually asked, trying to keep her eyelids from fluttering as her packmate groomed her.
He bit back a yelp, not having expected to get caught. "Nothing."
"Dude, we can smell the jealousy," Chiori said, leaning back on her hands with a grin.
"You can what?" This time, he did yelp.
"Smell the jealousy?" she repeated. "What, do you not smell emotions or something?"
"No?" When they all - including Kyoko, he noted with a horribly sinking feeling - stared at him, he managed to ask, "Was that not - was that not over-exaggerated for film?"
"Oh, boy." Kanae shook her head. "No. No, it's not. I thought the same thing about sexual attraction for a long time. But no. We can literally smell your jealousy."
"We can comb your hair next, if you like!" Kyoko offered, completely missing the point.
Even Ren laughed at that, and they settled more comfortably into a pack hangout from there. At the end of the night, he waved goodbye to them, wishing he had the courage to ask Kyoko to stay.
And then, of course, he had a proper freak-out over the fact that everyone, including Kyoko, could apparently smell his goddamn emotions.
LINE BREAK
Kyoko: mokooo what did you meaaaaaan when u were laughing about lunch
Moko-san: i told u, i'll tell u when ur older
Chiorin: (winky face) or Ren-san will. someday.
Kyoko: what does THAT mean?
Kanae: lol
Kyoko: (crying emoji) (sobbing emoji) (ocean wave emoji)
Chiori: what's with the wave
Kyoko: my ocean of tears
Chiori: (laughing emoji)
LINE BREAK
Ren stepped into the LoveMe room one day - as he found himself doing more and more often since joining the pack - after a long day of filming. He'd had to be in close proximity with one of his co-stars today, and her scent was still on him. It just felt… gross. Thick, heavy rose clung to him no matter what he did. So when he stepped into that luridly pink room, it was with the hopes that he could have Kyoko scent him and override it.
So he stepped through the door, and was met with Kyoko.
Her head snapped up.
Her nostrils flared and she shot to her feet. Before he could so much as say hello, she struck.
She yanked him down by the shoulder and started scenting him, rubbing until the only thing he could smell was pine. Ren almost whined in relief - until someone spoke behind him.
"You guys are so lucky it was just me," Chiori deadpanned, coming in and shutting the door behind her. "Girl. I get it," she said to Kyoko, who had finally released a dazed-looking Ren. "But you can't do that with the door open. What if a reporter had snuck in?"
"But - we're pack," she replied.
"And? You think the drama-mongers would care? Tabloids would twist that to look like you were giving him a mating bite." When she saw Ren glaring at her over their alpha's head, she added, "Look, I'm not saying stop. I'm saying be more careful before you start scenting that hard."
Kyoko just blinked at her, still clearly confused. "O…kay?"
"Just don't wind up in the tabloids." She rolled her eyes and headed over to her locker. "Can you scent me, too, before you go, though? There's an alpha on my next shoot who's been really persistent and doesn't get that the only fuck he'll get from me is a fuck off."
She nodded and did so, covering Chiori with protective pine. She reciprocated with a touch of mint before heading off.
Ren watched this reciprocal scenting, wishing he understood the rules of it all. He wanted to scent Kyoko, too.
LINE BREAK
"Okay," he mumbled to himself, pacing in his apartment. "Helping them with jobs is working. Kyoko seems to like when I do that. And it made the others tolerate me. Which means they're less likely to get me kicked out of the pack. But what else can I do? I need her to see me as a good pack member, because if she doesn't, she'll never consider me as a mate." He ran a hand through his hair, making it stick out at fun angles, and then immediately ran over to a mirror to fix it. Kyoko would be here any minute for nest time.
Because he now had semi-regular cuddle dates with Kyoko. His heart still hadn't adapted to that.
Then the doorbell rang, and he ran out of time to mentally prepare. He hurried to let her in. She smiled as she greeted him, and he had to fight not to lean down and kiss her. "Come on in."
She switched her shoes out for the house slippers he'd begun to think of as hers and then raised an eyebrow. "You said I didn't need to bring any ingredients. Do you actually have food in your apartment for once?"
"See for yourself." He swept an arm grandly in the direction of the kitchen.
She giggled at his dramatics and padded towards the fridge. After perusing the contents, she checked the once-barren pantry. Upon finding them both properly stocked, she turned to Ren, who was waiting in the entrance to the kitchen. Praise me was written clearly all over his face; if he'd had a tail, it would have been wagging in anticipation. And who was she to deny him? "I have to say, Ren-san, I'm impressed."
"And I got down all your favorite pans."
She did laugh, then, and beckoned him over to her. She scented him when he leaned down, pleased pine flooding his nose. "Good work, Ren-san."
He could have died then and been happy, but there was cooking to be done. He'd started making the effort to properly learn from Kyoko when she cooked for them - after all, food was so important to Kyoko that anyone she'd take for her mate would need to know how to cook. Plus, the thought of making something for her and having her enjoy it - that was something he needed to do. He needed to be able to give her that joy. So he was an eager, attentive student.
Which Kyoko rewarded with little treats. "So you'll cut the carrots about this big. Here, say 'ahh.'"
The treat in question, in Ren's opinion, was not the piece of carrot, but the fact that she fed it to him. That, and the faint hint of a blush when his lips touched her fingertips. He tried and failed not to read into that.
"Ah, where's your mortar and pestle?" she asked, trying to distract herself from how soft his lips were.
"My what?"
"The really heavy bowl that's a little raised and the heavy stick that you mash stuff in it with."
"I have one of those?"
She bit her lip as she nodded so she wouldn't laugh. "Yes, I used it last time I was here."
"Oh." He blinked, then stared around the kitchen, trying to picture such an object.
While he was willing it to appear, she started searching cupboards. Of course, it wound up being on a very high shelf. "Found it. Give me a boost?"
Ren, not understanding that she had intended for him to boost her like a cheerleader, instead picked her up like he was Rafiki and she was Simba in the beginning of The Lion King. The realization of what he'd done hit him as she was grabbing the heavy tools, and he started singing the opening song.
Kyoko took only a moment to realize what he was doing, and almost dropped the mortar and pestle from laughter. She was laughing so hard, in fact, that he had to pull her closer to his body so he wouldn't drop her. She leaned against him as he adjusted his grip, her laughter slowly winding down, eventually leaving her smiling at him. She bonked her head against his lightly, then bent her neck a bit and scented him.
This was a normal interaction, she rationalized, not knowing that Ren was dying inside in approximately six different ways. After all, it was normal for her, as the pack's leader, to find a member of her pack so adorable. This was definitely exactly the same way that she found Moko and Chiorin adorable, and not the slightest bit different. She did not have the desire to sink her teeth into his neck and mark him - that would be ridiculous beyond belief, because they were simply packmates. Nothing more, nothing less.
He set her down, and they resumed cooking as if nothing had happened, aside from a pink-cheeked Kyoko humming "The Circle of Life."
After all, they were excellent actors.
LINE BREAK
After they'd eaten and tidied up, it was time for what Kyoko had deemed Ren-san's Mental Health Snuggles for Omega Safety. "So, do you want to build a nest?"
"Oh, I was wondering if you wanted to… maybe use the one I have?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, if you don't mind? It's - it's on my bed, but we can make another one if you'd prefer."
"No, that's fine! Mine's on my futon, too." She gestured for him to lead the way, very determinedly not thinking about the fact that they were going to go cuddle on his bed. Except it wasn't properly his bed, it was his nest, and since they were packmates, that was fine. And normal. And -
And he had all the sheep she'd made him, plus the one she'd bought for him, waiting for them in a very cozy-looking nest. She also noticed but did not comment on the fact that he had a bunch of what used to be her hair ties in a fancy bowl on his night stand. She was too focused on the fact that he liked the sheep so much he'd put them in his nest. That had been her hope when she'd given them to him, but to see it in person - the room was awash with happy pine.
Having already been invited, she flopped into the nest, enjoying the scent of cornflowers and the high-thread-count sheets. She resolved that when she had her big break, she'd splurge on some fancy sheets like this.
Ren was doing his level best to be very normal and blase about Kyoko, the love of his life, lying on his bed. Especially since she was expecting him to crawl in next to her for cuddles. He could be cool about this. He was fine. He was lying down next to her and she was curling up against his side and he was being so normal. Pine wrapped around him, and that became a little closer to true.
Kyoko let out a contented sigh. Her omega - her pack's new omega, she corrected herself - had certainly been a quick study about how to build nests. She was incredibly comfy. The fact that Ren was an excellent cuddler didn't hurt, either. Not to mention eager - he was more willing to cuddle with her than the rest of the pack. In fact, he was the only one who wanted to cuddle as often as she did. While Chiorin and Moko preferred running lines or doing each others' hair, Ren always seemed down for a snuggle session during nest time. Frankly, it was a relief. She had years of cuddles to catch up on.
Plus, cuddles with Ren were just so nice. Not that they weren't with her other pack members! These were just… different, somehow. She reasoned that it was because he was much bigger than Moko or Chiorin. Plus he was much more muscular, and made her feel so safe - focus, Kyoko. Maybe it was different because he was new to the pack, and she wasn't used to his scent yet. But that didn't explain why his cuddles left her feeling calmer than even Moko's… and her scent was lavender.
But then she picked up one of the sheep to scent, and was firmly distracted by the fact that it smelled like both of them, meaning that he'd been cuddling the flock so much that his scent had rubbed off on them. This realization had her burying her face in his side to avoid kissing his cheek, because that would be too far, Kyoko.
Ren, for his part, was trying to not let Kyoko know that the way she was lying on his arm was putting it to sleep. He was doing a fairly good job of it, too, until his discomfort reached a point that she could smell it, leading to:
"Why didn't you tell me your arm was falling asleep? I would've moved!"
"You just looked comfortable." And adorable.
"But if you're not, then that defeats the whole point of this." She crossed her arms, pouting.
"Sorry," he said, more to convince her to cuddle again than out of regret. "I'll tell you next time." Maybe.
She squinted suspiciously, but laid back down to resume snuggles. After all, they were for the good of her pack member. That's all. Right?