I know I should be finishing chapter four of "You Either Die a Hero..." (and I do have half of it written), but this idea wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down. This came to me after reading so many good A/B/O dynamic fics in the Free! fandom, that I just couldn't help myself but write a fluffy little silly piece myself.

This was supposed to be a oneshot, but it started getting longer, so I decided to divide it up. If everything works out, the last part should be up later today.

Special shout-out/fic recommendation section (on ArchiveOfOurOwn):

If you ship RinTori, I would definitely hands down say that you have to go read WordsandJank's series, "This is Letting Go." The first story is complete and there's a sequel being updated right now, but there are other ficlets in the series that are amazing too. Also has MakoHaru, ReiGisa, and SouMomo for your reading pleasure.

For the MakoHaru fans, ghostly's "This part of us will never change" changed my life, and I've read it about five times and it still doesn't get out. This one's complete.

Disclaimer: I wish. That is all.

Rin narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the selection set out before him. It was absolutely critical that he make the right decision, yet he had never doubted his judgement more. The repercussions of the wrong choice could follow him for the rest of his high school career, and worse, brand him a laughing stock among alphas everywhere. No, he had to make-

"Just get him the strawberries with the white chocolate, maybe some sprinkles," Sousuke sighed. "The sweeter the better."

"I know that!" Rin snapped. "I'm just trying to make sure I pick the best ones!"

"Uh huh," Sousuke somehow managed to sound exactly like he was rolling his eyes without a single shift in his actual expression. "I don't think Aiichirou's suddenly going to hate you even if you give him something really lame," he shrugged. "He'll probably just be grateful you got him anything at all."

"That doesn't mean he doesn't deserve something great," Rin huffed. "Besides," he scratched at his cheek and glared at the dipped cherries, "I didn't get him anything last year, so..."

"So you feel guilty," Rin scowled at the knowing nod he got in return.

"Yeah, a little," he pointed sharply at the white chocolate dipped strawberries with sprinkles behind the glass, glaring at the beta behind the counter when he snickered. "But I also want to, you know, make him, uh, I mean, show him, or, actually-,"

"You want him to consider you as a mate," Sousuke finished dryly, chuckling when Rin sputtered. "It's not exactly a secret. There's a betting pool."

"What?" Rin snapped around to stare at him. "For what?"

"For when you'll finally snap and throw him over your shoulder," Sousuke actually rolled his eyes this time, dodging the balled up tissue paper Rin threw at him. "Iwatobi's blond terror started it."

"Figures," Rin shook his head, handing his card to the cashier with a wince. This boutique was tiny but well-known, and they toted only the best imported ingredients for their treats, so those strawberries were actually putting a sizable dent in his savings. "Makoto didn't try to stop him?"

"He tried, but ended up placing a few thousand yen for the beginning of February," Sousuke was eyeing the waves of gold-tinted tissue paper going into the packaging with the same wariness Rin was feeling. "You know, I was being serious when I said he'll be happy with anything you give him. He's only waiting for you to ask the question."

"You can't know that for sure," Rin shook his head resolutely, accepting the dainty little bag with a crinkled nose as the super-saturated scent of sugar hit him. "Besides, this," he shook the bag a little, "is traditional."

It had reportedly begun as a less savage way of competing for mates way back when people started moving out of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and into settlements, in order to keep the number of alphas in the tribes from dwindling too dramatically. Instead of challenging any competition to a bloody fight, all the interested alphas would present the omega in question with a series of gifts, each one meant to demonstrate how capable they would be at providing food, shelter, and happiness.

Nowadays, it had turned into a tradition of sorts for a pretending mate to present their intended with three symbolic gifts that still harkened back to those primitive times. They usually manifested as food, a housewarming gift, and a gift that reflected how much they knew the person they were courting. It had also been adapted outside of strict alpha-omega relationships and into the courting behavior of any intended pair, despite presentation.

It had become a little silly truth be told, as freshly presenting middle schoolers and even some primary students stumbled over giving classmates they thought were cute little tokens of candy, funny candles, and sloppily drawn favorite animals at a whim, but it was usually assumed that high schoolers who engaged in the behavior were a little more serious in their pursuits.

Sure, Rin and Ai had shared food before, but this gift was much more pointed in its presentation; there was no way Ai could mistake it for anything other than what it was. He hoped.

"I think you're putting too much thought into this," Sousuke interrupted Rin's musings. "It's not as complicated as you're making it out to be. You like him, he likes you, what's there to overthink?" He ended with a dismissive shrug, a grimace briefly painting his features before fading away just as quickly, but not nearly quick enough to escape Rin's eyes.

"Oi,-" he started before Sousuke interrupted him.

"Didn't you say you wanted to get Aiichirou a fitness tracker too?" He jerked his head to the left. "Let's go, I still need to buy him something too."

Rin frowned. Sousuke had good days and bad days with his shoulder, and although he was usually pretty good about letting them know when it hurt, Rin was sure that he severely underplayed the extent of his pain. There would be days when he would absolutely reek of the metallic, bitter scent of suffering, but would just grin and tell them it was just "acting up a little."

It drove Rin absolutely crazy; it was bad enough that they had to put up with St. Tachibana and his eternal martyrdom, getting the same responses from his best friend was just icing on the cake.

But Rin could pick his battles (sometimes) and right now Sousuke was holding himself with all the self-righteousness of an alpha preparing for a confrontation. No, he couldn't be reasoned with like this, no alpha could be when they were a mess of hormones, instincts, and the need to defend. And now, as if Rin needed more convincing, one specific, frankly terrifying memory from last month was itching to burst forward...

Nope, that would be a conversation -with a therapist- for another day.

Rin heaved a great shoulder-shaking sigh before grabbing Sousuke's sleeve and giving him a yank in the opposite direction. "The sports store is this way, you idiot."

"Ah," Sousuke nodded shortly, "Right," and then he started walking off like nothing had happened.

Rin snorted and rolled his eyes. Typical.

He jogged after Sousuke, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. That invasive memory, while traumatizing, did remind him of something that he had wanted to bring up to Sousuke for a while. "Oi, like you're one to talk about 'uncomplicated things,'" he half-heartedly made some air-quotes. "What exactly are you playing at?"

Sousuke arched an eyebrow at him. "What are you talking about?"

Rin rolled his eyes again, this time actually feeling some twinges of pain. He'd have to ask Rei about that later. "You and Momo. Where are you going with that?"

"Oh, that," Sousuke looked ahead again, and after a pause he continued. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Rin almost slammed into a woman with a baby carriage. "What the hell-? You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"No idea," Sousuke deadpanned, jerking his thumb to the side. "We're here."

"Don't try to change the subject!" Rin snapped, trailing him into the store. "Momo's been all over you the entire term and you haven't chased him off like all the others," He narrowed his eyes at the taller alpha over the rack of running shorts he'd put between them. "Hell, I'd even say you're encouraging him."

Rin could see people in the periphery giving them weird looks, and honestly, he couldn't blame them. Two alphas arguing about an unknown person could very well be the lead up to a full-out possessive brawl, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Momo had been flighty at the beginning, bouncing from cute girl to cute boy like a pinball, and for a while, it had seemed like that was all he wanted to do, and Rin could respect that. Sure, Momo was an omega and a pretty cute one if you were into firecrackers and mayhem, but that didn't mean he had to be hunting for a mate just because he was of age for it. He was a sixteen year old boy; there was nothing harmful about him flirting a little if he wanted to. It was the only reason Rin didn't actually kill him when he got all up in Gou's space every chance he could. That, and he knew his beta sister was a ferocious thing when she wanted to be and didn't actually need much saving, but it was the principle of the matter.

But then after a while he seemed to be focusing more and more of his time on Sousuke. He would start bringing Sousuke snacks after swim practice, treats that Rin was more than sure were homemade because they looked like a mess; lopsided onigiri and lumpy mochi alike. He would stand closer than usual to Sousuke and just stare as he chattered at him, a completely enthralled expression on his face the entire time. Rin had even seen him drop out in the middle of a conversation with somebody just to run across the campus to say "'hi' to Sousuke-senpai."

All that by itself wasn't any reason for Rin to concern himself. His best friend was a catch as far as alphas went, even he knew that, and an omega especially would be very aware of that. He was big and strong, he had a protective streak a mile long, he could cook damn well, and he wasn't irritated by anything anyone threw his way. Momo would have had to been dead not to notice and given how direct he was, Rin wasn't surprised that he would try to flirt with him. It was the way his best friend responded that threw the redheaded alpha for a loop.

Sousuke was no stranger to propositions. Just within the first month of enrolling at Samezuka, he had been stumbling into their room on a daily basis, grumbling about how "completely shameless the boys at a boarding school could be" after fending off omegas and betas alike just trying to get to the vending machines. Rin had just laughed at him and made himself responsible for the snack runs (he could remember what it was like being fresh meat at Samezuka after all).

It had petered off after a while, plateauing once people seemed to realize that he wasn't interested in pursuing house-making so much as an athletic career. People tended to steer clear of the athletes on campus; there was an impression that they couldn't be trusted to put any real effort into a relationship if all they were doing was focusing on bettering themselves, which Rin frankly thought was stupid as all hell, but hey, it got people off his own back the year prior, so who was he to complain.

The point was, that Sousuke had showed exactly zero interest in anyone in any manner that could have possibly been conceived as attraction, to the point that Rin had started suspecting that maybe he fell onto the weird hydrosexual spectrum that Haru seemed to have going for him. The only excitement that he ever smelt on him was when they were at practice, after all.

Then he had found out about his shoulder, and some things fell further into place. Sousuke didn't say it, but Rin could sense that he didn't think he would make a good mate because he was injured. He thought he was a defective alpha or some shit like that just because he had a torn rotator cuff, like possibly being unable to swim professionally suddenly cancelled out everything else he had going for him that made people care about him and let him care about people. It made Rin want to beat him up honestly, but it made sense. Him letting Momo dote on him was confusing, but could also be chalked up to a bad day or a concussion or something, if it only happened every once in a while. Him apparently reciprocating strictly fell under the category of things that made no sense at all.

He would accept Momo's food and actually eat it, chewing thoughtfully before thanking him and complimenting him, making the smaller boy beam so brightly that it actually hurt Rin's eyes. Rin had walked by once while Momo was chatting up a storm and actually caught Sousuke responding to him, proving that he was actually listening to him, not just humoring him. Hell, when Momo dashed after him, he would stop and let him catch up, not flinching when he threw his arms around him, but wrapping the omega up tightly in his own arms as well.

Rin had been completely thrown for a loop the day that he had walked into their room and smelt Momo's scent all over the place, only to find the self-proclaimed Sea of Japan's Otter himself napping on Sousuke's bed while Sousuke nonchalantly did his homework at his desk, only getting a "he was tired and Aiichirou kicked him out earlier" as a response to his flailing and sputtering. It had become such a regular thing that Rin actually found himself feeling unsettled when the spicy lingering smell began to fade; it had become that much a part of their room.

Sousuke didn't lead people on; he was straightforward with what he wanted and what he expected, to the point where he could come across as proud and even rude, so Rin knew that he wasn't just messing with Momo. Which meant that he was actually considering this, this, whatever he and Momo were doing.

Which led to him now, dogging his best friend's every step as he wandered around the admittedly large sports store.

"The fitness trackers are that way," Sousuke pointed behind him without taking his eyes off the rack of goggles he was standing in front of.

"No, actually they're that way," Rin pointed further ahead where he could see them on a shelf. "But I'm not moving until you answer my question, damn it!"

Sousuke sighed and spared him a glance over his shoulder. "What question?"

Rin felt his eye twitch. "What is going on between you and Momo, dumbass!"

"What are you, my mother?" Rin could hear Sousuke rolling his eyes again. "What do you think is going on?"

"I think he's courting you, and you're letting him." There, it was out in the open. Nothing beat the direct approach.

"Yeah, sounds about right." It took Rin a beat to realize what Sousuke had said, but once he did, he promptly choked on his own spit.

"What?!" That came out a little too high-pitched but he couldn't be damned to care. "What do you mean, 'that sounds about right,'?"

"It means what it sounds like," Sousuke was just staring at him coolly, like he hadn't just unleashed some of the most dramatic news Rin had received in maybe the last three months.

"You're telling me that this entire time, you've been letting Mikoshiba Momotarou court you because you actually want him to," Rin asked.

Sousuke shrugged. "Yeah."

"As in, you want him the same way he wants you," There was distinctly whiny pitch to Rin's voice by now.

"Yeah," Sousuke's brows were climbing up to his hairline, "That's generally what that means." Rin could see his lips starting to twitch; the fucker actually thought this was funny.

"Momo, as in, the little omega brother of Mikoshiba Seijurou."

"Do you know any other Momos?" Rin could smell the amusement now.

"Last question," Rin ignored the mutter of "I doubt it" and pushed forward, "Are you fucking insane?"

Sousuke was completely undeterred by the hysterical note in his voice. "Not as far as I know, no."

"Then do you have a death wish?!" People were steering clear of their aisle by now.

Sousuke scoffed. "I have to have a death wish to be attracted to Momo?" Rin could feel his skin crawling at actually hearing him say it aloud. "Or do I have to have a death wish to still want a mate?"

"Cut that shit out, you know that's not what I meant," Rin snapped, rubbing at his neck with his free hand, the little bag still swinging cheerfully from the other. The last thing he needed was Sousuke getting all alpha-defensive on him again. "I'm more hung up on the part where he's Mikoshiba Seijurou's brother. You know, the same guy that almost tossed a guy out a window just because he looked at his little brother's legs during a swim meet?"

Sousuke at least had the decency to look uncomfortable at the reminder, although his expression steeled over almost immediately. "He deserved it. He catcalled at a scent-marked omega." He continued over Rin's groan, "And don't act like you weren't getting ready to round up Makoto and Ryugazaki for a reign of terror on the guy either."

Rin crossed his arms, unimpressed. "Yeah, as if we would have been able to beat you there." Sousuke could only offer him a shrug in response. "So that's it, that's all you have to say: 'So what if Mikoshiba almost committed a murder because someone looked at his omega brother, he deserved it'?" When Sousuke didn't offer him any response he went on. "What do you even see in the squirt?" He was actually genuinely curious about that one. Again, Momo was cute and he could see how the boundless energy could be endearing or something, but he didn't think it was worth risking death for.

Sousuke's lips turned up in a small smile. "I'm not really sure myself. There's something about how happy and excitable he is that's pretty attractive." His smile grew larger. "And at the same time, he's a mess and a giant geek, trying so hard to be cool while spouting nonsense about stag beetles and the mating habits of stick insects. And he's always so invested in what's going on around him that he can't focus on what he's doing, so he ends up running into things all the time, but it's just because he doesn't want to miss out on anything," He paused to take a breathe. "And his red bean mochi is actually really good too."

Rin was openly gaping at Sousuke by the end of his little speech. Not only was that possibly the most he had ever heard Sousuke say in one breathe, but he had been speaking the entire time with a dazed, stupidly besotted look on his face that Rin was intimately familiar with after growing up looking at it on Makoto's face.

"You're gone for this kid, aren't you," it wasn't a real question, but Sousuke seemed to think it over before nodding anyway.

"Yeah, I guess I am," his grin matched the happy, calm smell that he was emitting as he wandered off again, leaving Rin to stare dumbly at the goggle stand he had been standing in front of.

Rin could understand attraction, hell, he was in the middle of trying to court Ai himself, but he just couldn't understand where the appeal for crazy omegas in this damn town came from. He obviously didn't suffer from it; Ai was a sound and sane omega, and while he was a little messy and disorganized and strangely passionate about weird things like morning glory flowers, he wasn't completely off the wall eccentric like what every alpha around him seemed to like.

Haru was an utter basket-case who hardly emoted and only got it up for water and mackerel, yet Makoto worshiped the ground he walked on and literally trailed after him like a lost puppy, speaking for him and taking care of him like he had been born to do nothing else. Rei was wrapped around Nagisa's little finger so tightly, that he was pretty sure he could hear the faint sound of a whip slashing through the air every time the manipulative little blond batted his eyelashes. And now Sousuke was apparently getting serious about Momo, the same Momo who liked to burst into their room at four in the morning to tell them about whatever "cool dream" he had just had and liked to hang upside down from his bunk because it helped him "mastermind."

Maybe it had less to do with the omega in question and more to do with the alpha though, since Mikoshiba flirted shamelessly with his sister and THAT was a death wish all by itself, since Gou could crush a man's self-worth and balls beneath her shoe just for the hell of it, all the while keeping a peaceful grin on her face.

It had to be something in the water in Iwatobi, Rin decided as he finally made it to the fitness trackers. There could be no other reason for the fact that perfectly reasonable, strong, and genuinely good alphas could look at batshit crazy omegas (and his sister) and think to themselves, "Yes, that's who I want to spend the rest of my life with. That weirdo trying to dive into a lobster tank is what I want for myself." Yeah, Makoto, Mikoshiba, and Sousuke were obviously suffering from some sort of brain damage brought on by whatever weird shit was in the water in this town. As for Rei, well, they all knew he had been doomed the very second Nagisa set his eyes on him. At this point, all he could do was keep him in his thoughts.

"Yeah," he muttered to himself, "Not drinking anything but bottled water from here on out."

Rin had just finished narrowing his choices down to a pretty silver and blue accented tracker and a much sleeker but less all-encompassing one when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle right before the scent hit him.

"Matsuoka!"

He managed to turn around just in time to receive the overly enthusiastic shoulder claps and the manic grin full in the face.

"Buchou!" Rin blinked rapidly, trying to get the far too up-close and personal view of his former captain into focus. "Too close," he huffed pushing him away. Unsurprisingly, Mikoshiba only laughed in response.

"What a surprise to see you here!" He roared happily, completely indifferent to the reproachful looks he was getting from the middle-aged mothers near the yoga mats.

For his part, Rin just arched a brow. "It's the sports store, not much of a surprise here…"

The bigger alpha just laughed again. "Sure, sure." He took a moment to size him up, eyes zeroing on the golden script on the little bag dangling from his wrist. "Didn't take you for a decadent desserts type, Matsuoka."

Rin looked away. "It's not for me," he muttered under his breathe, moving to rub his neck before stopping once he realized he was still holding the silver fitness tracker. Mikoshiba didn't miss a single thing, narrowing his eyes and scrunching his lips up in a manner that hysterically reminded Rin of Momo when he was doing his Japanese lit homework.

Rin could practically see the gears turning in his head before his expression brightened. "You're finally courting Nitori then? About time!" He gave him a healthy slap on the back that made Rin taste his breakfast again. "Congratulations!"

"Does everyone seriously know already?" Rin groused, trying to skirt around the older male. It wasn't that he was afraid or anything like that; he just liked to think that he had a healthy, functional survival instinct, and right now the memory of Mikoshiba flipping out at the last tournament was still way too fresh in his mind. The fact that the redhead in front of him with his bright yellow eyes and wide, proud grin looked nothing like the fire and brimstone demon that he remembered only made him that much more wary.

"Only anyone with functional eyes and noses," Mikoshiba ribbed good-humoredly, before clasping him on the shoulder again, to Rin's eternal irritation. "It's a good thing that I ran into you though, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." His expression settled into something closely resembling seriousness almost instantaneously.

Rin couldn't help but desperately try to think of anything that he could have done in the last month to piss off the former Samezuka captain. He knew he wasn't skimping on his captain responsibilities, especially with Ai and Sousuke helping him out, and Momo had still been in one overly cheerful piece the last time he had seen him, so it couldn't be that. Oh God, Momo. Did he know…?

"Uh, and what would that be?" Rin asked, hoping he could successfully pass off the harshness of his tone as irritation rather than a slow-mounting panic.

"It's about Gou-kun," Mikoshiba took back his hand in order to run it through his hair, and was he actually blushing?

"What about Gou?" Rin narrowed his eyes as Mikoshiba actually scuffed his sneakered foot against the floor, a sheepish smile on his face.

"I've been meaning to ask for your formal permission to court her."

Rin choked on his saliva for the second time in the same day. "What?"

"I want to court Gou-kun," Mikoshiba seemed to gain more conviction the more he said it, his eyes blazing with determination the likes of which Rin had only seen before in tournaments.

"Why?" He couldn't help but blurt out. "You know she's not an omega, right? You don't need my permission." It was another tradition leftover from older times -this time the Victorian era, - that a pretending alpha would need the approval of the eldest alpha in the household of his intended before he could proceed with the courting. Since Rin and Gou's mother was a beta, that meant it fell to Rin to be the officiator, but Gou was a beta too; she didn't need his seal of approval to do anything, not since she came of age. "She'll rip you to shreds," he couldn't help but add.

"I know," Mikoshiba flashed him a wide, white grin. "It's why I like her so much."

There was definitely something in the water in Iwatobi.

Rin managed to get his bearings back into some semblance of order to answer. "So why are you bothering to ask me? Just go for it," he shrugged. "It's your funeral." He managed to dodge the next shoulder clasp successfully, but Mikoshiba's cheeriness was undeterred.

"I know I don't need your permission," he started. "But I would like it. I think it's only right to let you know what my intentions are with regards to your sister."

"Oi, what's all this talk about 'intentions,'" Rin grumbled. "You're going to try to court my sister, not propose to her. She's the one who decides if you're worth her time or not."

"I know it sounds a little outdated," Mikoshiba shrugged, "But I think it's a matter of respect between fellow alphas." He paused. "After all, I know that I would like to know if some alpha was making moves on Momotarou."

Shit. Shit. SHIT. He knew. Rin didn't know how he had found out, but he knew. That was way too pointed to mean anything than what it did.

"Oh?" Rin hoped he sounded much more casual than he felt. Thankfully, the older redhead didn't need much encouragement.

"You know how it can be, Matsuoka," his mouth settled into an unsettling flat line. "When alphas think that just because they're at the top of the food chain they can say or do whatever they want to others. Especially to omegas. Momo is young and impulsive," -pot calling the kettle black much? Rin couldn't help but think- "He won't always think twice before giving someone a chance," He huffed a bark of laughter. "He doesn't act like an omega, but that doesn't mean alphas won't notice that he is one."

He straightened up to his full height, eyes grim. "I wouldn't want anyone to think that they can get to my brother without going through me first."

Rin had entered the sort of headspace that he had only read about, but never experienced personally. He was present and he could still hear Mikoshiba and see him, but his mind was running a hundred kilometers an hour, in the opposite direction, screaming to the tune of every single self-preservation alarm blaring in his head.

He believed it was called a posttraumatic stress episode.

Unbidden, he was hit full-force with the memory of the last tournament. It had been a non-classifying tournament, a friendly scrimmage more than anything else, in a neighboring school district, and Rin had entered Samezuka more so as a means of keeping the team on their toes than any other pressing need. He had even let Gou know with plenty of time so she could whip the Iwatobi guys into shape in time for it.

Everyone had been enthusiastic about it, and with good reason. Ai's times had been at the top of the charts, so he was a shoe-in for his preferred event against Nagisa, and Momo couldn't stop going on and on about how he was finally going to "leave Tachibana-san eating his bubbles." Sousuke had even agreed to tag along, so it had been shaping up to be an even better outing than Rin had expected.

And it had been, at the beginning. Mikoshiba had showed up, but Rin had long stopped asking questions about his university schedule and had accepted his presence as a given. His first mistake had apparently been not locking Mikoshiba in the bus and tossing away the key. His second, he would later realize, had been not explicitly scent-marking everyone before letting them loose into the pool area.

It had been an annoying habit of Mikoshiba's as captain to scent-mark all the swimmers before even letting them onto the bus for their competitions. It helped, Rin knew, to distinguish them as pack and to warn wayward hands that every single one of them was accounted for and had an alpha looking out for them. As a fellow alpha though, it had seen redundant and frankly pretty embarrassing to have to put up with his captain chinning him like a pup and rubbing necks with him every single time, especially when they all spent so much time around each other already, that they all carried the lingering scent anyway. So he didn't do it with as much frequency as his predecessor, and for this late year non-compulsory event it had completely slipped his mind.

He hadn't considered that the faint scents they all carried would be overpowered by the scents of all the other bodies present and the chlorine. Thus, second mistake.

He and Rei had gone first in the butterfly event, and he remembered noting with pride that while he had come in first, Rei had come in third, barely missing the second place spot by milliseconds.

"Oi, Rei!" He had slapped him on the back hard enough to almost launch him back into the pool. "You've been keeping up with practice, haven't you?"

"Ah, of course, Rin-san," Rei had made the aborted motion to push up his glasses before remembering that he had just been wearing goggles. "I've gotten a membership at the Iwatobi Swim Club," He had smiled wryly. "We all did. Haruka-senpai would have insisted on using the school pool otherwise."

"I bet," Rin had snorted, taking the moment to look for the black-haired omega in the sea of faces around them. Once he spotted him trailing after Makoto with Nagisa, he had taken his leave to wander back to his own team, mostly to make sure Sousuke hadn't managed to lose anyone or himself yet.

He had been pleasantly surprised to find Sousuke right where he had left him, underneath the stands and to the left with their scattering of team members all accounted for. The surprise must have shown on his face because he had been greeted with an eye roll and a "Shut up" before he even got to open his mouth.

"What, I can't bask in the presence of a miracle?" Rin had snickered at Sousuke's irritated grumbling, taking further joy when Ai's tinkling laugh joined in. It was always a good day when he was the one who managed to put that expression of mirth on Ai's face.

After getting himself somewhat under control he had realized that it sounded like Momo's own laughter was coming from Sousuke's jacket because the omega was practically inside it too, curled into Sousuke's side with one of the open ends between his hands. Sousuke had met his questioning look with an impassive stare right back, until Rin had ultimately cut his losses and shrugged it off as another weird Momo flirting thing.

"Momo," he jerked his thumb behind him towards the pool. "You're up. Go kick Makoto's ass."

"Yes sir, senpai sir!" Momo had surprised him when he didn't immediately run off, but instead bumped his head gently -for him anyway- under Sousuke's chin before saluting Rin with an over the top manic grin. "Tachibana-san won't know what hit him!"

"Good," Rin had shaken his head with a grin. "Get to it, then." Rin had noticed that Momo did smell moderately more strongly of Sousuke than he did anyone else, but that disappeared pretty quickly once he was out of arm's reach. That had been around the point when he realized he hadn't scent-marked the team recently.

Too little, too late, because it was at that exact moment that he heard a low whistle followed by, "Damn baby, look at those legs. You doing anything tonight?"

Realistically, Rin knew that the arena hadn't actually fallen quiet and that honestly, while loud, probably not that many people had actually overheard the comment, but it sure had felt that way. The team had immediately fallen silent, and Ai's quiet gasp had rang like a shotgun to his ears. Up ahead, Momo had frozen in mid-stride with his back still to them, but gauging by Makoto's scandalized expression, he probably didn't have a very flattered expression on his face.

In the split seconds before everything had truly gone to hell, Rin had physically felt his body flood with adrenaline, testosterone, and the need to defend his pack. He had immediately narrowed in on the culprit, a pretty-faced slim brunet with one of the lesser-known schools, probably a second year judging by his height and build, definitely not a real threat to Momo, but reason had no space in his mind at the time. Right now, he just needed to show him his place, and that place was far, FAR away from any member of HIS pack.

He had noticed Makoto practically launching himself out of the pool, an actually scary expression on his face -it would go on to get pretty high on the list of "Reasons why I need therapy after this day"- and Rei tossing his towel onto the ground before marching forward as well, an alarmingly cold expression on his face as he peeled Nagisa's fingers off his bicep. Nagisa had looked horrified, while even Haru looked on with wide eyes and a pretty ashen face.

In hindsight, he shouldn't have felt so indignant about Nagisa and Haru's reluctance. As much as Haru liked to go on about "only swimming free" and not "tying himself to a pack" and Nagisa liked to flit around between people and groups, The Iwatobi Swim Team was a pack, albeit, a very small one. They were a pack of about five or seven, if Coach Sasabe and Amakata-sensei could be counted, but they only had two alphas, and right in that moment, Haru and Nagisa had been watching them run off to fight a territorial battle on the behalf of another omega, for another pack. Rin had felt suitably guilty for his less than charitable thoughts later, but at the moment he had only felt a rush of vindictive pleasure that he had managed to accrue the loyalty of another pack's alphas to the point where they would abandon their own omegas to fight with him.

Before he could even take another step though, Sousuke had flown ahead of him, only leaving behind an absolutely overwhelming scent of palpable rage. The smell of it had immediately filled the back of Rin's throat, flooding his mouth with the taste of steel and ozone. Rin had had the soundness of mind to pity the poor fucker for a beat before the shit actually hit the fan.

If Sousuke had flown, then Mikoshiba must have fucking teleported, because Rin knew he had been in the stands roaring good-naturedly during his own match, but now he was hauling the hapless catcaller up by the goggles around his neck.

"What did you say to my brother?" The scent of his anger had flooded the arena almost instantaneously, and it had caused sweat to break out on the back of Rin's neck. If Sousuke's rage had been a thunderstorm, then Mikoshiba's was a raging inferno. It had been overbearing, hot, and oppressive, bearing down on Rin to the point that he wanted to bare his neck just on instinct. Up ahead, Makoto and Rei had stopped in their tracks and behind him, he could hear the team shifting uncomfortably as well. The only one who had been somewhat undeterred had been Sousuke, who had only faltered in his steps for a beat before continuing to Momo's side, pulling him behind him in one yank. Rin had been slightly impressed that he could stand to be that close to Mikoshiba, because at that moment, just being at the same floor level felt too close for comfort.

The alpha in his hold could only gape unattractively, face rapidly paling. "I, uh, uh-,"

"Do you do this to every omega you see?" Mikoshiba's voice had been like lava, flowing and unstoppable, demolishing everything in its wake. "Do you think you can get away with this shit just because you're an alpha?" When the other boy had only continued to tremble in his hold, Mikoshiba had lifted him clear off the ground, bringing him nose to nose with him. Behind him, Rin had heard a faint "holy shit" that he was sure had come from Kazuki. "Well? Answer me!" He had continued to glare down at the sweaty face in his hold before snarling, eyes wild. "People like you make me sick. You don't deserve to be called an alpha."

Rin had just begun to wonder if the second-year was actually going to piss himself when Momo had poked his head around Sousuke's bulk. "Geez, Nii-chan, stop being so dramatic. You're embarrassing me." Rin couldn't help but gape at Momo's whiny tone.

"Scum like this deserves to be taught a lesson, Momotarou," Mikoshiba hadn't budged a single muscle, the smaller alpha dangling helpless from his meaty grasp. "Maybe out a window."

"Yeah, maybe," Momo had shrugged nonchalantly, as if security personnel hadn't begun to edge around them, obviously looking for an opening to tackle Mikoshiba to the ground if he made any sudden movements. "But not during a meet; you're going to get us disqualified! Besides," he had huffed, hands finding their way up Sousuke's arm, "I'm fine. Sousuke-senpai and Rin-senpai won't let anything happen to me. You do this all the time."

Rin had had a rare lucid thought that if he didn't get over there right in that second, then there was a very real possibility that Sousuke's neck was going to be on the line just because he was the sole overwhelming alpha scent all over Momo at the moment. He had hurried over, making sure to rub his hand wrist first into Momo's hair, letting his own scent mix with Sousuke's. "He's okay, Buchou," he had managed through gritted teeth. He really didn't know how Sousuke had been managing this, being this close felt like trying to breathe through molasses. "You can check for yourself, just let the damn kid down."

There was a beat where he had been sure Mikoshiba was actually going to carry through with his threat to find a window to toss him out of before he opened his fists, letting the brunet crumble into a sweaty, trembling pile at his feet. "Tch, pathetic," he had growled before turning on his heel and marching to where Rin and Sousuke were flanking Momo. He had yanked Momo into his arms, rubbing his chin roughly onto this head, not giving any indication that he noticed Sousuke's prevailing scent or the weakness of Rin's. "You okay, Momo?"

"I told you, I'm fine, Nii-chan," For all of his grousing, Momo had just happily head-butted his brother right back on the chin. "You better not have gotten my match cancelled; I was going to beat Tachibana-san!"

"Well, let's go see then," he had slung his arm around Momo's shoulders, pausing just long enough to toss a nod in Rin and Sousuke's direction. "Thanks, Yamazaki, Matsuoka," and then he had ambled off towards the pool, the lingering scent of his anger dissipating like smoke in his wake.

Up ahead, Rin could see that Makoto and Rei had made their way back to their team's side as well, Nagisa crawling up Rei, practically slamming into his chin and rubbing his own chin all over his shoulder. Haru had just burrowed himself under Makoto's chin, rubbing his face firmly into his scent glands, scent-marking himself. Possessive little shit.

He had heard a deep sigh coming from his side, and had turned his attention back to Sousuke. Up close, he could see the tightness around his eyes and the sweat running down his temples. Seemed that Sousuke hadn't been as unaffected as he had thought. Sousuke caught his eye and offered him a grin. "That was something, wasn't it?"

Rin could only glare at him, running a hand down his face aggressively. "I'm going to need therapy after this."

"Not as much as that guy, though," Ai had piped up suddenly from next to his elbow, jerking his chin at the where the fallen alpha was being helped to his shaky feet by his teammates. "Mikoshiba-buchou is scarier than I remember."

Rin had snorted, bringing Ai closer so he could calm himself down with the omega's soothing scent. "Yeah, I'd hate to see what will happen the day some poor sucker actually tries to court Momo."

Sousuke had been silent at that, suspiciously silent, his mind reminded him hysterically in the present as he stared back at Mikoshiba in all his six foot two glory. He managed a nonchalant snort, casting his eyes stealthily around the store. "I don't think anyone would ever entertain the thought, Buchou," he said as dryly as he could.

Mikoshiba just looked at him earnestly. "But you understand where I'm coming from don't you, Matsuoka?" He pushed. "I want to keep Momo safe, but it's hard when he's at Samezuka all the time." He shrugged a little helplessly. "My scent doesn't stick to him for long anymore, not like when he was a little kid."

Under different circumstances Rin was sure he would have found Mikoshiba's brotherly angst adorable and endearing, but right at that moment he was still reeling from reliving the trauma of the last tournament and to add to his mounting horror, he could see Sousuke approaching over Mikoshiba's shoulder. Sousuke who was not only an alpha, but an alpha who positively reeked of Momo twenty-four hours, seven days a week nowadays. He sent a quick prayer of thanks to God that the air in the store was stagnant and that there was no breeze to blow Sousuke's scent their way, and then proceeded to try to tap into his thereunto unknown telepathic powers to try to make Sousuke aware of The Situation.

God must have been taking pity on him today because Sousuke paused at Rin's frantic eye darting, looked at the back of Mikoshiba's head, put two and two together, and smoothly turned on his heel and walked right out of the store, the oldest alpha nonethewiser. Rin took a moment to mourn how long it was going to take to find him once he got out of this mess before focusing back on his former captain's distressed face. "I hear you, Buchou," he pushed his bangs back with the back of his hand, suddenly feeling exhausted. "I worry about Gou when she's at Iwatobi too, but I trust the guys to look out for her."

Mikoshiba was nodding. "I knew you'd understand me," He blindsided him with a sudden one-armed hug. "That's why I trusted you with the team. And with my little brother." He pulled back to look him dead in the eyes again. Rin started sweating. After a beat of very uncomfortable staring where Rin was sure Mikoshiba was somehow reading his mind and seeing every single dirty little secret he had, he finally got a blinding smile for his efforts.

"Good talk, Matsuoka!" Mikoshiba laughed and slapped him on the back one more time, dislodging a lung in the process. "We should do this more often!" He started walking off, casting a wave over his shoulder. "See you later!"

Once he was out of sight, Rin collapsed against the rack behind him. He didn't deserve this; he was a goo-, well, an okay person. Most of the time. He really didn't deserve this. He made to run his hand through his hair when he noticed the tracker still clenched tightly in his hand. Well, silver and blue were Ai's colors; this one would complement his hair and eyes beautifully.

He made his way to the cashier. That, and getting out of there as soon as possible wouldn't hurt either.

He actually found Sousuke in the cute little outlet store across from the sports store, so he sent another prayer of thanks to the heavens for that one. He was briefly tempted to take a picture of his giant best friend among all the fluffy stuffed animals and suffocating frilliness, but he was honestly too wound up to bother.

Sousuke for his part just looked up from his perusal of animal-shaped hats and blinked at his sweaty and wide-eyed form. "Yo."

"Yo?" Rin echoed back. "I hope you're happy. That," he jerked his thumb roughly over his shoulder, "Was traumatizing on so many levels."

Sousuke cast his gaze lazily up and down. "You look fine to me. What did he want?"

Rin wrinkled his nose. "He wanted to ask for my permission to court Gou, actually."

Sousuke's eyebrows went up. "Did you give it to him?"

He doesn't need my permission, Gou's a beta," Rin rolled his eyes. "But then he started going on about 'honor between alphas' and wanting to know when any alpha was going to move in on Momo so he could stare him down."

"Oh."

"Yes, 'oh,'" Rin snapped, taking sadistic glee in Sousuke's mounting discomfort.

Sousuke shifted on his feet. "So, what did you tell him?"

"What do you think I told him, dumbass," Rin growled. "Nothing, obviously."

Sousuke had the gall to visibly relax again, gathering up his items and walking away. "So what's the problem then?"

"'What's the problem?'" Rin trailed after him. "The problem is that you're a dead man walking, and you don't care!"

"You're being dramatic. Mikoshiba wouldn't actually kill me," Sousuke sounded so sure of himself, bless his soul.

"Were you actually there when he went all alpha on that kid last month?" Rin glared. "Of course he'd kill you. He'd probably mount your head on his mantelpiece as a warning to others."

Sousuke and the cashier both grimaced at him, like he was being the unreasonable one. "That's disgusting, Rin."

"You're missing the point!" Rin groaned. "The point is-, what the hell is that?" He had just caught sight of the plushy mass underneath Sousuke's arm and he couldn't help but be a little surprised he hadn't noticed it earlier; it was pretty big.

"Whale shark," Sousuke offered helpfully, holding it out to the cashier.

"A whale shark," Rin repeated, glancing around. "How the hell did you manage to find one of those?"

"We have a whole line of obscure marine animal toys," the cashier piped in, pointing to the far corner of the store. "It helps expose kids to animals other than seals and dolphins," she added cheerfully.

"Right, of course," Rin nodded indulgently, before turning back to Sousuke with a dry look. "Is that for Ai then?"

"No, the shark hat is for Aiichirou," he pointed helpfully at the admittedly very cute blue-grey hat sitting on the counter. "And the organizer," he pointed at the patterned box sitting next to it.

"God knows he could use it," Rin couldn't help but mutter, "But so who the hell is that for-, are you serious." He stared incredulously as Sousuke scratched his cheek nonchalantly, giving the cashier his card. "Really, Sousuke, really?"

"He would have gotten upset if we didn't bring him back anything," He said lightly as he gathered his bags and tucked the whale shark back under his arm, sauntering out of the store as Rin valiantly fought down an aneurysm.

"Do you hear nothing when I speak to you?!" Rin roared after him.

"We're going to miss the train!" Sousuke called back at him.

It was the water, he was sure of it now.