Chapter Text
“It’s inevitable; if one meets their fated pair, they’ll be intensely attracted to each other.”
— Kiraide Isasete, Hijiki
Two pairs of eyes met once the sentence echoed in the dressing room, came from the television they didn’t pay attention to before. One of them snatched the remote to switch it off. Her face went sour.
It wasn’t new. In their world, where the second gender was considered more crucial than the first one, the discussion regarding how the lesser one should be attached to the stronger one was everywhere. Male and female; the segregation between them had already been a polemic for centuries and then came its derivative: alpha, beta and omega. The betas, held the most majority in ninety-two per cent of the whole population, lived an ordinary and peaceful life. They went to school and got a job, married their loved ones, had children, and raised them together. But things were – different, if not extremely difficult for other sub-genders. Alphas, which held approximately five per cent, were the ones with blessed characteristics and were considered the strongest bloodline. On the contrary, the omegas, the least kind of human beings, had to endure a lot of hardships due to their existence which only held the purpose of breeding and their low status in the society.
Recently, the arguments about how every omega had to be bound with one designated alpha spreading all over the media. One of the most popular ‘beliefs’ was the theory of ‘fated pair’ – when an alpha and an omega were ‘destined’ to be together. The research found a specific substance in their hormone which attracted one another through the body odour; commonly labelled as the ‘scent’ by the nonexperts.
Now, the concept of the ‘fated pair’ was very much illusory for him—
“It’s not real, ain’t it,” said the high-pitched voice as the owner slammed himself onto the single sofa, “well, even though it is, even if I find them or they find me, I don’t think I’ll need one to survive.”
The green-haired lady glanced at her companion, “How many times do you think I had to save your ass because you couldn’t control your pheromone,” she might be small; like, small, to the point she had to show her ID in every visit to the convenient store, “—you’re just lucky for having those muscles.”
“Told ya I can save my own ass, you’re just being way too dramatic,” the tall man snickered while dodging a flying make-up brush skilfully, “oh, c’mon, Shinobu-chan, you’ll grow more lines on your pretty face if ya keep on sulkin’ like that,” he stood up and lazily dragged his gigantic figure to face the full-body mirror.
“Really, you,” Shinobu-chan – Kuki Shinobu – sighed heavily while approaching her colleague. She tiptoed to reach the back of his collar to fix the untied hook, “be very aware when you do this job, Arataki Itto.”
Again, the muscular guy smirked, “Seducing people is a natural job for an ‘oni’ like me.”
Shinobu didn’t reply; instead, she tightened Itto’s choker intentionally hard, which resulted in a restrained scream from the bigger party. Itto glared at her through the mirror, but Shinobu didn’t flinch at all – unlike most women (and even men) who were intimidated by his ridiculously tall posture, aggressive expression, and strong Kansai-ben. In her eyes, Itto was and would always be a kid, no matter how big he had grown. She huffed while glancing at the clock nervously, agitated by the fact that her ex-kouhai would perform as an erotic dancer for the first time. It was hard for a drop-out like Itto to have a decent job, but they had to survive for whatever it took – this kind of job offered a nasty amount of money in a short time. The bar owner didn’t even bother to do the cross-background check as long as the worker had a pretty face.
Arataki Itto was given a persona of a ‘red oni’ with eccentric clothing, fake red horns, spiky accessories, and artificial sharp fangs. His natural, white-long hair was styled as messy but steady as it could be. A pair of golden lenses concealed his black eyes while his thick eyebrows were shaped resembling deer’s antlers. The most peculiar feature of his appearance was the red makeup which extended from his upper eyelids down to his jawlines, his chest, and his abs, disappearing in mystery underneath his leather belt. Such a suggestive costume, Shinobu thought – to think that many women fantasized to be devoured by a demon.
Her lips twitched under her black mask, but she said nothing, nevertheless.
“Don’t forget to take your suppressant,” Shinobu remind him after taking a final look at Itto’s new image.
“Already did,” he responded while fixing his long coat. Again, Itto stared at Shinobu’s reflection and tilted his head, both eyes thinned, “—did ya change the dosage? I feel a bit funny around here and here.”
Shinobu nodded lightly when Itto patted his chest and lower abdomen, “I have to make sure you won’t affect your guests since you’ll be sweating a lot,” she shrugged, “I mean, you will affect them with your dance and all, but we can’t make any of them do more crazy things,” Shinobu shivered – women could go to a rampage mode too when they were excited, and she hadn’t even talked about their second gender.
The knocking on the door put an end to their casual conversation,
“Arataki Itto-san, you’re ready?” the male voice behind was a bit muffled, but still hearable.
“I am!” the ‘oni’ grinned as he shouted, “—okay, Shinobu-chan, the time has come.”
“Thoma will be somewhere around the front row, but he can’t stand out too much, so he probably wears some kind of stupid disguise,” Shinobu alerted him, “and I’ll be right beside the platform entrance; if you feel the show is too much or any of the guests grope you, you know where to run,” she giggled mockingly.
Itto rolled his eyes, “I know how to defend myself.”
Shinobu chuckled, “Not on the stage – you can’t do your judo throws here.”
“One more doubt from ya and I’ll change career into a waiter,” his large arms surrounded Shinobu’s neck playfully and laughed when his smaller friend tried to escape his ‘hug’. Itto released him with an ‘ouch’ – did Shinobu just bite him? What a female wolf – “have some faith in me, miss Manager,” he grinned.
“Just – be very careful,” she slapped Itto’s back hard and ignored his death scowl, “and remember,”
The seriousness in Shinobu’s tone stopped Itto’s step, his palm froze encircling the doorknob. She folded her arms on her chest and deliberately ordered him a silent command through her piercing eyes.
“Starting from now, you’re a beta.”