The only thing that Yuuri could smell was vanilla. It overpowered the scents of all the other competitors and, for some reason, Yuuri's senses had focused in on it the moment he walked into the room.

But he wasn't there to find a mate, Yuuri was there to compete in the Hunt and he couldn't allow himself to be distracted by the mouthwatering scent that had hit him as soon as he had entered the sponsor room. Even if it was accompanied by a flash of silver hair and a dazzling, heart shaped smile.

Yuuri had a reputation to uphold as Japan's top omega runner, Japan's Ace the papers called him (though he wasn't sure about that one), and couldn't lose himself to the current World Champion, and his long time crush, Viktor Nikiforov. Especially not before the Hunt had even started. He had dignity. Kind've. He couldn't exactly stop his mouth from watering when the scent washed over him or from imagining what could happen if Viktor caught him the next day. Even though the Hunt itself was PG, with the omega runners having a flag attached to their belts and with the alpha objective to retrieve that flag, it wasn't exactly uncommon for the alphas to claim the omegas they chased behind closed doors after the Hunt was over.

A shiver ran through him at the thought of being so thoroughly claimed by Viktor Nikiforov, not that Yuuri would ever allow himself to be caught. If Viktor wanted him, he'd have to catch him - like any other alpha. If he could.

Yuuri took a sip of his water and eyed the other competitors around the room. The time, officially, was allotted for meeting sponsors. Unofficially, however, the alphas and omegas competing in the Hunt used the time for eyeing each other up. Alphas were notorious for choosing the omega they wanted to Hunt beforehand, picking up their scent and memorizing it so that it would be easier to track in the arena. Omegas tended to do something similar - noting the alphas' scents so that they could later avoid the alphas hunting them. For example, Yuuri now knew that Viktor Nikiforov's scent was a delicate and dominating vanilla, invoking a warm and comforting feeling that felt like a deep drink of hot chocolate on a cold day or the security of a blanket wrapped around him. On the other hand, and completely unbeknownst to Yuuri, Viktor had picked out the sharp, kaleidoscope of spice-like pheromones belonging to Katsuki Yuuri.

"Hey, Chris," the alpha stage whispered, tugging at the other alpha's arm without taking his eyes off of the Japanese omega. "Who is that?"

Christophe Giacometti, another alpha competitor, pulled his attention away from a Thai reporter he was flirting with and directed it towards Yuuri, who stood on the other side of the room. Viktor knew he was in trouble when Chris eyes sparkled with mischief. He could've sworn he heard the reporter chuckle too.

"Yuuri Katsuki," the reporter answered immediately, following the alphas gazed to the omega and watching as he fiddled with the glass of water in his hands. "He's an up-and-coming omega from Japan. Shy in person, but fast as hell in the arena. He's never been caught before."

Now that sounded like a challenge Viktor wanted to take up.

As the rest of the night past, each of the twenty-four competitors spent time talking to sponsors and reporters and other competitors. Viktor, however, made sure to stay on the opposite side of the room, taking care to not spook the omega. If anything the reporter, Phichit Chulanont, had said was true than he wanted to make sure that Yuuri wasn't off put by him. If he was going to catch Yuuri, he wanted him to be at the top of his game.

By the end of the night, Viktor was positive he'd fallen for Yuuri Katsuki. Docile as he might've seemed at first, Viktor had seen small peeks of fire throughout the night. Like in the way his eyes glinted in the low light of the lamps hanging on the walls or the way his lips quirked up in a teasing smile as he talked to other people or how he swayed his hips when he prowled around the room like someone who knew exactly what he was doing to those who paid close enough attention. They were small flickers, tiny glimpses of what the omega was capable of.

So it shouldn't have been any surprise to Viktor when another alpha competitor approached Yuuri and threw an arm of his shoulder. Yuuri was, in every sense of the word, desirable and, because of that, the move shouldn't have bothered Viktor. But it did.

Seeing the other alpha with Yuuri made his blood boil and Viktor could swear he saw red. It didn't help that Yuuri stiffened underneath the touch, which was clearly unwanted. Before he could even think about what he was doing, Viktor was moving towards the two men, vision narrowing and blood pumping loudly in his veins. A low growl built in his throat as he practically began shoving people out of the way because he had to get to Yuuri.

But it was all over in a mere instant.

The alpha, a competitor that Viktor had never seen before, leaned in close to Yuuri and whispered something. As the man spoke, Yuuri face curled into a look of absolute disgust and, with strength Viktor hadn't expected, the omega shoved the other man away.

Viktor couldn't help but feel pride swell in his chest.

Fire indeed , he thought with a small smile, watching as Yuuri straightened his jacket and walked out of the sponsor room to retire for the night.

Deciding he'd seen enough for the night, Viktor also retired for the night, thinking of how he was going to catch Yuuri Katsuki. And how he was going to ask him out afterward.

Viktor hated Hunting in the rain. He could do it, but he didn't like it. The air became humid and messed up his senses, the rain obscured his view, and the ground was slippery. More importantly, his hair got all messy.

Now, looking up at the darkening gray clouds churning above them, it was looking very much like it was going to rain. The omegas had entered the arena several minutes before, with the sound of a cannon and a flash of green, and all that was left was for the alphas to wait. Soon, they'd be released into the same arena and the Hunt would officially begin. Viktor planned on making a beeline for Yuuri, but all he could do for now was watch the other alpha from the night before warily.

When the second cannon sounded, Viktor took off, immediately searching for Yuuri's scent. Soon enough, the twelve alphas had spread out, losing sight of each other through the thick trees and dense foliage. Viktor has seen this type of landscape before - rainforest, or something that closely resembled it - and the humidity certainly wasn't helping. The Hunt has barely started and Viktor was already sweating bullets.

Then the rain started.

It was a drizzle at first, then a light sprinkle. Not enough of a hindrance to him, but just enough to make picking up a scent difficult.

Yuuri's scent was faded. He'd been where Viktor was recently, but not long enough for him to have left any significant trace behind. If Viktor hadn't gotten a whiff of Yuuri the night before, he wouldn't have even noticed the scent lingering in the air.

He followed quickly, jogging his was along the trial and through the brush, taking note of the lack of physical trail. Viktor's admiration for Yuuri only grew. The omega was extremely clever and light on his feet, evident by the way he travelled in the arena.

As Viktor travelled through the forest, the rain increased, soaking through his clothing and causing the ground beneath him to become muddy and unstable. The further the alpha went, the more sure his footing had to become in order to avoid falling on his butt. And he almost did when he came across a scene that caused his blood to go cold.

The untouched foliage that he'd been trekking through had come to a stop with a rather disturbing scene. Broken branches and crushed leaves littered the ground, while the air was thick with a panicked omega scent. Distress ran itself through Viktor's veins like blood itself and he couldn't stop from looking around frantically. Yuuri's sharp, scent, mingled with some other disgusting odor immediately set him on edge and all he could think about was that he needed to find Yuuri right now.

The rain increased into an utter downpour.

Viktor sprinted after the trail, following it like a man possessed and uncaring about how the ground shifted beneath his feet.

All Viktor could hear was his heartbeat roaring in his ears and all he could focus on was Yuuri.

And find Yuuri he did.

The omega was sitting at the base of a large tree, gripping at his ankle while his face contorted in pain. His composed demeanor from the night before was completely gone, replaced by a muddy, frazzled omega who, right now, was pumping distressed pheromones into the air and nursing what looked like a broken ankle.

"Yuuri!" Viktor said breathlessly, approaching the omega cautiously. "Yuuri, what happened?"

Yuuri startled, flinching away from Viktor as the rain poured down on both of them. He retreated as soon as he saw Yuuri flinch.

"V-Viktor?"

Viktor crouched down and held his hands up, trying to look as unthreatening as possible.

"That's right, Yuuri. Can you tell me what happened?"

"He attacked me," the omega growled, wincing when he jostled his ankle, "An alpha that hit on me in the sponsor room last night. I tried to run, but we fell down the slope."

He pointed towards the wall of greenery behind him. Viktor could see where the two had tumbled through the plants. Fury began to boil itself its way into Viktor blood.

"He ran off," Yuuri continued through gritted teeth, "and I tried to walk but...but I think my leg might be broken."

Viktor swallowed the heat that threatened to force him to hunt down the knotless alpha that had done this to Yuuri. He knew what he looked like and even, unfortunately, what he smelled like. But he wasn't going to leave Yuuri at the tree alone in the rain.

"Okay," Viktor whispered underneath his breath, "okay. I can carry you to the medics."

"But-"

"No 'but's. You're hurt and I'm not leaving you."

"You have to finish! You can't give up because I got hurt, I'm not worth it."

If Viktor hadn't been in the process of scooping the omega into his arms, he would've laughed.

"Don't be silly," the alpha said as he started making his way through the forest again. The rain had receded into a light drizzle and Viktor could've almost sworn he saw a glimpse of sunlight, "I found the omega I was looking for."

This fic was for Day 2 of the YOI Omegaverse Week! The prompt was Mating Run/Hunting with a keyword prompt of scenting/marking. I really didn't want to dip into dubious consent territory, so I decided to make the Hunt a really complex 'capture-the-flag' sort of game.