The school nurse handed out sealed envelopes, checking each student’s ID and making them sign a sheet. The teacher kept talking.

“...and being a Beta hasn’t stopped me from doing anything I’ve ever wanted. Remember: your gender is only a part of who you are. I have met brilliant omegas and stupid Alphas. Don’t worry if you are one gender and your brother or sister is another. You didn’t do anything wrong and you aren’t better or worse. You are just different. Lastly, I want to remind you all that you need to bring the acknowledgement slip in on Monday, signed by your parent. Yes, that was the bell. You’re dismissed, you’re not listening anyway.”

Most of the class laughed. But they packed their book bags and headed out swiftly.

Katsuya stared at his envelope. Was there any point to even opening it? He so was so clearly an omega, he already wore a collar. He didn’t think being an omega was bad - unbonded. Bonding was bullshit. Fuck that noise.

But unbonded, being an omega just meant being built for sex. Not that Kat had done it yet - he was waiting for the right person for that. The first one had to be while he was in heat and with an Alpha boy in rut. Birth control yes, suppressant no. Kat was going to allow himself that once. Then, that shit gets locked down. Full suppression 24/7/365. Get a job at a club getting felt up all night and held on the regular, and enjoy life.

No mates, no spouses, and no kids.

“Hey, Kat-chan,” Honda-kun dropped into the seat next to him. “What’d you get? I’m Beta. So far, everybody is.”

Kat nodded. That was expected. 70% of the world was Beta. The whole grade level might have ten Alphas and maybe five omegas. He shrugged.

“Well, com’on! Open it!”

He sighed but opened the envelope.

Formal legalese bullshit. Yadda, yadda. In the middle of the page the word Alpha was written in large, bold lettering.

He read it again, then checked the name on the envelope and the top of the letter.

“What’s wrong, dude?” Honda-kun tried to look too, but Kat put the letter away. “Beta, right?”

“I-I- I gotta go!” Katsuya began shoving his things into his bag.

“Whoa - wait! Don’t tell me you’re seriously an omega?!”

“I don’t wanna talk about it!” He grabbed his jacket. “I gotta get home.”

“Dude, don’t worry!” Honda-kun laughed. “I’m not gonna bite!” Katsuya glared at him. “It’s a joke, dude!”

“Not. Funny.” He rushed out, ignoring everyone.

Alpha.

Alpha!

It’s a mistake. It had to be.

Mom, that bitch - she did this. She did something, or called somebody, or something! I am not a fucking Alpha!

I’m not!

Halfway home, he stopped in an alley and called her.

“Kawai.”

Kat ignored the smooth, polished tones. “What did you do, you bitch!” He sniffed, refusing to cry.

“Who is this?”

“Tsk! It’s your fucking son - you have one, remember?” The line went silent. “You don’t have to hit mute, ‘mom’; I know how much you love me.”

“Yes, darling. I actually do love you, but this is a bad time. What do you need?”

“What did you do?”

“More specific.”

“I got my gender determination today. It says fucking Alpha! So what the fuck did you do? Jesus! Haven’t you fucked with us enough?”

“Oh my God...Katsuya, you’re an Alpha?”

“Well that’s what you told them to put in, right?”

“No, Kat - sweetheart, no. Oh my God. Oh God! Your father! Does he know?”

“Did you tell him you were gonna -”

“Katsuya, I know you hate me, but I swear, truly, I would never, ever change that result! The only reason I didn’t take you when I left is because your uncles all found you too attractive. An omega child could never live in our house. Not normally. But if you’re an Alpha, you can come home!”

The Kawai line were all Alphas. Dad talked about going to dinner at the estate once. He’d been sexually accosted by the whole family. Omegas were used by their company as fashion models and by the family as sex toys. If Kat had lived with his mother, he would have been raped hourly, probably.

She was a bitch, but she wasn’t complete shit. She did not change this.

“Oh fuck…” he moaned, sinking to his knees.

“Katsuya, darling, you can’t stay with him. You are too much like me to -”

“I’m not like you!” Tears streamed freely.

“Charming, smart, and stubborn as a mule? Oh, sweetheart, you may look like your father, but inside that angel you pretend to be with everyone else, you are your mother’s child.”

“I can’t leave him,” Kat sobbed. “It will kill him.”

“Katsuya -”

“I WON’T!”

“Ok! Ok. Calm down. I’ll think of something. I’ll come over this weekend. Do not tell your father; I’ll handle him. But Katsuya, darling. You owe mother after this.”

He wasn’t sure how he made it home. Dinner was in the microwave. A smiley-face note was on the fridge.

I am not an Alpha. I’m not her.

He ate. Then he got dressed and went to his father’s club. They always let him in even though he was underage. Nouchi’s name was still on the door - even if he wasn’t the owner anymore - and he was Nouchi’s son ‘Jou’.

“Jou-chan!” One of the regular’s greeted him. The man waved him over and gave him a warm hug. It felt good. Omegas love skinship, right? “How’s my future wife?”

“I told you, Jiro-chan, you have to wait and buy my mizuage.”

The whole table laughed. Jiro-chan pretended to be hurt. “I thought you loved me most!”

Kat looked around. “Hmm… I love you - uh - second most.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute, you cheeky monkey!”

“I know!” He pulled away from the customer. “I gotta go find my dad. You better buy an extra expensive bottle for Yuki-chan to make up for flirting with me!”

The Host at the table waved him off. “We all live in fear of him turning twenty. Once he comes in, no one will talk to the rest of us!”

“I still love you, Yuki-chan!” the woman beside him said. “Where’s the waiter? I want one of those pink drinks!”

Most of the club’s patrons were Alphas. All of the Hosts were omegas. It was supposed to be a respectable club, but that was only in the main room. If you paid the right fee, you could buy a key for upstairs. Hosts worked downstairs normally and upstairs when they were in heat….

“Hey, Kat-chan,” Sonoma, the real owner and only Beta in the place, put his hand on Kat’s shoulder and stopped him from going up the staircase. “Your father’s with a VIP now. Why don’t you go open the karaoke? Get some people over there, huh?”

A VIP. In other words, a sex call. Dad did them in heat or out. He made more money that way. And since the VIP bought the drinks beforehand, it didn’t cost him too much to get drunk afterwards.

Katsuya sang karaoke until his father and a handsome older man appeared at one of the exclusive tables. Then he sat with them, laughing at ‘Uncle Yoshi's’ jokes, and generally enjoying the benefits of being cute.

What was wrong with being an omega? Alpha were hot and rich. Kat hadn’t had ‘real’ sex yet, but handjobs and blowjobs were great, so sex was probably awesome.

“Be careful with Yoshi,” Dad said on their way home. It wasn’t quite sunrise yet. “He’s rough on a good day, and he won’t care if you’re a virgin.”

“Ok, Dad. I’ll play harder-to-get with him.”

They walked in silence for a while.

“When are you getting your determination? You took the test last week, right?”

Kat shrugged. “Soon, I guess. Why?”

“You’re getting impatient,” his father chuckled. “Like I was. Your heat is gonna make you crazy.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah! That’s how I got in trouble. I’m just lucky your mother had some self-control.”

“Bitch.”

“Yeah.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “But we were good at first.”

“...huh. If you say so.”

* - * - * - * - *

Katsuya woke up to the sounds of sex coming from his father’s bedroom.

“...oh...fuck...Ren!...”

“Sogood...sogood...Ayu-chan...harder!”

Fuck.

He got up, yanked on some clothes, and went out for coffee.

Dad couldn’t help it. And mom was an evil bitch.

He stayed out for a couple hours, wandering around and wasting time. Finally he went home.

“Katsuya, darling?” his mother called out. “We’re in the bedroom.”

“No shit!” he yelled back.

“We’re decent,” his father added, “com’ere.”

Dad, Mom, and Mikail-tousan - mom’s husband. All mostly dressed.

“Really?” Katsuya sneered. “You really don’t give a fuck about him, do you?”

“It’s ok, Kat,” his father tempered. “It was fun. Let it go. More important. You determination came in the mail today.”

“It did?”

“To my address,” Mom clarified. “All of your medical records come to me; I share them with your father.”

“You’re omega, son. I was hoping for Alpha, like your mom, but… well… sorry.”

“Don’t be. I wanna be like you.”

“Well, according to this,” she held out a letter that looked official, “you are.”

It looked just like the real one except ‘omega’ was in the middle.

“We both signed it, so you can turn it in on Monday.” She got up. “Now, I have one more thing. You two stay here, and don’t start any new games until I come back.”

She grabbed her purse, pulled Kat into his bedroom, and closed the door.

“Here.” She handed him a kit. “This is new. It’s still in trials, so it’s not on the market yet.”

“So why -”

“The standard suppressant doesn’t work on me. Do you really think I wanted to have a kid in high school? I never meant to bite your father, Kat, I didn’t. I never wanted things to work out like this. This is supposed to kill the endorphins that respond to omegas. But it’s daily, not just when you’re in rut. There is an omega version, so if your father asks, you can tell him about it. Take the pill every morning, keep the syringe for emergencies.”

“...fine.”

“Now, your part.”

“What?”

“I told you - you owe me for this. I’ve never lied to Ren before.”

“Bullshit.”

She smirked, but let it pass. “You spend your father’s heat week every month with me from now on.”

“Hell no!”

“Hell yes. You hardly know your sister. And frankly, I need you. Like your father, you’re versatile. I dress you up, you look Alpha; I dress you down, you play omega. I don’t want you working in the washed-up hag club of your father’s.”

“Too late.”

“Ok. Fine. I’ll just take these. You have your health card. Go get the standard prescription. Hope you don’t have any omega friends. Good luck if some stranger goes into heat on the subway. Or at school. Or -”

“Ok! Fine! One week. I’ll do your stupid modeling.”

“Good boy. Now here.” She gave him a credit card. It had his name on it. “Go see a movie, or something. Mikail and I want to chat a bit with your father.”