“I still don’t get it.” Yugi shook his head. “You tell everyone to be happy the way they are. Why hide being Alpha?” The annual lower school book festival was busy, so no one really noticed them, or their conversation.

Ever since Yugi came back to school after his heat, he’d pressed Kat on the subject. He didn’t even seem upset about the deception.

“And why be omega? I mean, isn’t that kind of, well, honestly, kind of stupid.”

“Look, I’m not Alpha. Not really.”

“Do you have a knot?”

Katsuya groaned. He hated that question. The one physical trait that damned him.

“Only Alphas have a knot,” Yugi went on. “And believe me - having one is a good thing. Atemu does things when he holds me that make me -”

“YUG!” Kat shouted, causing people to glance at them. “Dude! TMI!”

Yugi giggled. “Sorry. It’s been awhile since he’s been here this long. Oh! It’s almost time!”

“What, that smart-people thing? Have fun.”

“No, you’re coming, too. Hiro-kun said to bring you. They want everybody who was in the top five in every class, and that includes you.”

“Last semester. But there’s no way -” His friend began pulling him down the hall. “- I’m gonna do it twice in a row.”

“Even if you’re not top five you’re always in the top part of the class, because you’re a you-know-what, and you’re smart even if you don’t want to be, and oh my God that’s Kaiba Seto, isn’t it?!”

Katsuya stopped resisting and looked around them. He was supposed to be at one of the booths.

“In the classroom.” Yugi turned Kat’s head toward their destination.

The elite students for both the upper and lower school were surrounding him. Behind him was a banner that read 'Gender-Neutral Internship Program.'

Kaiba wore corporate casual and radiated I’m-a-fucking-Alpha just standing there talking and smiling. Other people were there, too, but Kaiba was the only one worth seeing.

“OMG,” Yugi breathed. “Drip.”

“Drip, hell. Sploosh!” Kat answered.

“Sploosh or spurt?”

“YUG!?”

He snickered. “Just checking. Come on.” He pulled Katsuya into the classroom. “Please forgive us being late.” They both bowed.

“You’re not…,” Kaiba’s voice seemed to fade, “...Jou.”

“Jounouchi.” Katsuya thought his heart was going to pound out of his chest. “At school. Or Katsuya. You could call me Katsuya.”

If Kaiba calls me by my first name, Kat thought, I will totally cum-bust.

“Jounouchi,” the executive said. “And you?”

“Mutou Yugi, sir.”

“Mutou. Sit. Brother. Start.” Kaiba stepped aside and began typing on his phone.

One of the lower school students moved to the front. He wore an Alpha tie and a student council pin. “Ok, so if you don’t already know, I’m Kaiba Mokuba, Seto’s my brother, and no, we don’t look alike.” He flipped off a couple of his snickering classmates, but went on with his presentation. “You guys are gonna be the interns for this new program we’re starting. We’re giving you jobs at the executive level.”

“For the Alphas,” someone said.

“For everybody,” Mokuba corrected. “As of last Monday, KaibaCorp does not ask for gender on job applications.”

Katsuya and Yugi looked at each other, stunned.

“I know, right?” Mokuba grinned. “It’s like this. We have this omega executive secretary, Roland, and he is like, crazy smart and super efficient and everybody just assumes he’s Alpha, but he’s not. So we figured, if he can do it, he can’t be the only one.”

“A job surrounded by Alphas?” Katsuya muttered to Yugi. “Nice perks.”

“That attitude, Jounouchi,” Kaiba chided, “is exactly what we intend to eliminate. You of all people should understand that there are no significant differences between the genders.”

“I can think of a couple,” Kat retorted. “If you’re not sure, we could go somewhere and check.”

That blue fire flashed. From halfway across the room, Katsuya could see those eyes burning.

“We will be enforcing one policy.” Kaiba turned his attention away from Kat abruptly. “All students must suppress their heat or rut cycles while participating in the internship. We have an emergency injection if one is required, Jounouchi.”

That blue fire turned on him again and Katsuya felt it roll through his veins. This must be what ‘heat’ feels like, he thought. “No thanks,” he said. “I don’t wanna control my heat. I’d rather let it burn the place down.”

Kaiba stared at him. “I am sure you would,” the man said finally. “Brother. I trust you are capable of finishing this?”

“Huh? Yeah, sure, but I thought -”

“We have another issue I must resolve.”

Mokuba rolled his eyes. “Jackasses.”

Kaiba smiled. A real smile. “That is not the language of an executive.” Then he gave his younger brother a brief hug.

Holy fuck, Katsuya thought. Nosebleed. So that’s what happened to the polar ice caps. He must have smiled and hugged them. No wonder Alphas don’t really smile that often; that’s fucking lethal.

“Roland.” Kaiba was out the door before either of the two men with him could respond. They both followed him out.

“Wait!” Honda-kun nearly jumped out of his seat. “That guy, that just left - he’s an omega!?”

Mokuba just smirked and let the group be agog. “So,” Mokuba asked after everyone seemed suitably impressed. “Who’s in?”

“You should sign up,” Yugi prodded Kat.

“Me? Hell, no! I got a job. I got two. Besides, I’ll never be that kind of Alpha. You got a better shot than me! You sign up.”

“I can’t. Well, I shouldn’t at least.”

“Why not?”

“Didn’t I tell you? After graduation, I’m going back to Egypt with Atemu.” He smiled wistfully. “Hopefully, I’ll be pregnant by then.”

“Are you serious?”

“Uh-huh! His father wanted me to stay when we got married, but I wanted to finish school here. Now my grandfather wants to sell the shop and retire to Egypt anyway, so -”

“So you are trying to have a kid now? You know how dumb that is, right?”

“Quit hitting on my brother!” Mokuba dropped the signup sheet on the desk in front of Katsuya, startling both high schoolers. “He’s not into omegas.”

“Jeez, dude!” Kat took a moment to recover and noticed everyone had left. “Sorry, we’re not interested in the program.”

“Yeah, I figured Jou-face-of-Kawai would bow out.” Mokuba sat on the desk behind him. “But then I thought, if he does it, how many other people will sign up?”

“How many will be set up to fail?”

Mokuba shrugged. “So, I figure you can work with the VP of Marketing. Y’know, see how the other side of advertising works. But stay away from Seto, ok? He’s just not into you.”

“I said not interested.” Kat looked at Yugi. “I’m talking out loud, right?”

“I heard you. I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer. I need all the smart guys for this to work. You, too. What was it, Muto?”

“Mutou. But I can’t. I’m moving to Egypt with my husband, and -”

“And since it’s not possible that someone would think ‘if he can do it with that wacked out hair, I can probably do it, too’, there’s no reason for you to sign up until you leave, right?”

“Oh.” Yugi looked thoughtful. “I guess, when you put it that way, we really should sign up.” Mokuba gave him the form. “When does it start?”

“Tomorrow.” Mokuba grinned. “I’m having everyone come in as soon as possible. Most of the management who are involved don’t know that Betas and omegas are in the program. I want it started before they find out. The plan is by this time next year all KaibaCorp staff will be one gender.”

“Yeah?” Katsuya chuckled. “trying to make everyone in the world Alpha.”

“Nah. We’re trying to make everyone ‘Kaiba’.” Mokuba stood up and picked the form. He put two business cards on the desk. “Both of you. Tomorrow. My office. As soon as school lets out.”