Ichirou was surprised at how much he ended up missing his and Masahiro’s Saturdays together. It’s true that they texted all the time still, but something about not having Masahiro beside him for just one day out of the week made him feel very lonely. He began to wonder if maybe he considered Masahiro more than just a friend… perhaps he thought of him as a good friend!

Ichirou’s first weekend was a drag without looking forward to going out with Masahiro, and by halfway through the next week, he decided that he desperately needed to go somewhere to get his mind off his friend. He tried inviting Yuuhei out, but Yuuhei’s free time was now being taken up by Takeru. It almost felt like when your friend got a partner, and then they stopped talking to you because they were so obsessed with him. Ichirou really didn’t like it.

He tried asking Ichika to hang out, but it seemed as though she needed to be studying for her finals as well. With that, all he had left was Yuri, who would certainly talk about Ichika the whole time, or his mother, who would ask him about Masahiro the whole time. He weighed the two options carefully, before giving in and choosing the lesser of two evils.

That second weekend that Ichirou didn’t have his “boyfriend” around, he and his mom got on a plane to Sapporo. His mom was absolutely in a tizzy over having her son ask to go on a mini vacation with him. She chatted his head off on the flight about some sort of drama she was having with another friend, and then, as they were driving out to a little city called Furano on a bus, she began telling him some gossip about a couple of other friends of her’s.

They made their way to a nice hotel that Ichirou had gotten reservations for a couple days prior, grateful they had one with a private onsen. As much as he liked to enjoy a good onsen, they were rife with guys who thought they owned the bodies of omegas. He was lucky to be rich enough to be able to get a private onsen almost whenever he wanted.

He and his mom decided to go out to get dinner, and settled on a ramen place. The local way to eat ramen included cheese on top, and although Ichirou was a bit apprehensive, it was surprisingly good. As they ate, his mom began to talk, although not about her friendship dramas now.

“So, Ichirou, my sweet boy, how are things going with Yamashita-san? Is he being good to you?” Iwa asked, her eyebrows drawn together.

Ichirou nodded, swallowing a bite of pork. “Y- yeah, Mom, he’s been really good to me. He’s a great boyfriend.”

“You know your father and I are anxious to meet him. We’re very protective of you, after all,” Iwa said, her voice dripping with concern.

“I know, Mom, I know, but we’ve only been dating for, like, three months. Can’t you give me a little bit of space?” Ichirou asked, his cheeks heating up.

“We want to, trust me, we do, but you are so very important to us. I’m not asking you to bring him over all the time, or even more than just once. I just want to know who is dating my precious, fragile, darling boy.” She reached out and cupped his cheek in her hand.

“I’m not fragile,” he grumbled, looking down at his ramen.

“I know, I know, my gentle son. But please try to understand mine and your father’s perspective; we are attempting to let go of our baby, our crown jewel. Because of your status as an omega, we’ve always had to protect you from the world. We couldn’t let any alphas get anywhere near you because they’ve always been so scary towards you. Now, however, you’re an adult. We want you to prosper with an alpha who you can trust, love, and get married to. But we also want to ensure your safety. We want to make sure our wonderful omega child is truly happy and safe. And how can we do that without meeting him?” Iwa asked, her eyebrows drawn together.

Ichirou struggled to respond, balling up and releasing his fist several times. “I’ll see if he can meet you before the next semester starts. Would that be okay?”

“Oh, darling, that would be perfect! Thank you for understanding, Ichirou! I’ll make sure we have only the best food. I promise we won’t embarrass you too much, sweetie,” Iwa said, clasping her hands together and a joyful smile beaming across her face.

After they went back to the hotel, Ichirou took a bath in the onsen. After his mother went in, he finally texted his “boyfriend” that he would be meeting his parents sooner rather than later. Masahiro sent back a sticker of someone sweating profusely, but he also agreed to it. Ichirou laid on his twin bed and closed his eyes, falling asleep to a feeling of worry about how that would go.

For the rest of the weekend, Ichirou and his mom spent time biking through flower fields, going to the hotel’s spa, and eating local foods. They went to a winery and a cheese factory, as well. Ichirou mentioned in an attempted passing manner that he would be staying the night with Masahiro during the first weekend of August. His mother did not let it pass however, and began openly weeping, claiming that her baby boy was truly becoming an adult man. It was incredibly embarrassing. 

Ichirou and Iwa flew back to Tokyo on Monday evening, and the whole experience made Ichirou kind of wonder if going on vacation with Masahiro would be any better. He could definitely see Masahiro being calmer at the very least. It might also be nice to be able to get drunk without his mom worrying for his liver, because despite what she seemed to think, he did not drink that much.

Ichirou posted pictures from his time with his mom, and he noticed that a couple of the comments said things like, “With your mom and not your boyfriend, huh…” That bothered him for some reason that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He was allowed to spend time with his mother and not his “boyfriend!” It’s true, it would have been fun with Masahiro, too, and they had twin beds, so it wasn’t like he would have to share a bed with Masahiro. He had begun to seriously consider going somewhere with Masahiro.

Ichirou spent the next nearly two weeks being bored out of his mind. He attempted to talk to Yuuhei, but all Yuuhei seemed to be able to focus on was either his work, or how much he was enjoying being sexually tortured by Takeru. With Ichika in the midst of finals, this left Ichirou pretty much on his own, which meant that he would attempt to not spend a whole bunch of money on online shopping. It was just difficult when there were so many adorable independent shops! And now that he had gotten that boost of joy from buying the sweet lolita dress, it was becoming more and more difficult for him to not just buy all the cute things.

During this time, Ichirou also spent quite a bit of time considering whether or not he wanted to make this fake relationship last longer. Now that he was a little over halfway through the six month term limit he had set, he was feeling some regret about setting that limit. He really liked hanging out with Masahiro. Especially when they were alone together, it was a very comforting and nice feeling. He honestly didn’t want it to end. He wanted to keep going out with Masahiro every week. 

It was at this point that he decided that he would allow the fake relationship to last longer than six months. He was a bit embarrassed to bring it up via text message, so he decided that he would tell Masahiro when they hung out on the first weekend of August. He wasn’t sure how long he wanted to be in this false relationship for, but he definitely wanted it to last more than the previous time had allowed him.

Yuri had messaged him a fair bit during the three weeks as well. Although she spoke with a quiet politeness most of the time, her messaging was surprisingly cute. She used plenty of stickers and emoticons. She spent most of her time chatting about how she missed Ichika, since she was studying very dutifully, but, surprisingly, they did also chat about fashion a fair bit. Yuri seemed to enjoy the brand Lis Liza, although she usually had to buy Chinese knock offs due to her bust size. Either way, he did feel a bit closer to her, and earnestly hoped that Yuri and Ichika would end up together.

Finally, the long awaited Saturday in August arrived. It was raining heavily and they were just going to be hanging out at Masahiro’s place, so he decided to go with something comfy and simple. He wore some pink velvet joggers and a white crop top t-shirt that simply had a pink heart on it. He packed a casual outfit for tomorrow and some pajamas, as well as his face care routine and just a little bit of makeup. He pulled out his charger, and was ready to go.

Ichirou walked downstairs, and, just as he had expected, his mom was standing by the door, seeming to have tears in her eyes. Ichirou took a deep breath before walking over to her. She looked at him, with her mouth covered as she tried to hold back a sob.

“I’m heading out,” Ichirou said.

“I know, sweetheart. I just have to… make sure,” Iwa said.

Ichirou knew exactly what she was about to say, but he had no choice but to ask the question. “Make sure of what?”

“You have protection, right?”

“Oh my god, Mom!” Ichirou shouted, his face flaming up.

“You’re not ready to have a baby! Please tell me you have condoms,” Iwa cried, clasping her hands together in a pleading manner.

“We have stuff, okay! Please don’t ever ask me that again,” Ichirou squeaked out, looking away.

“I’m sorry, honey, you know I just want you to be safe. Please, go out and have a lot of fun, okay?” Iwa moved away from the door.

Ichirou grabbed his pink umbrella, practically throwing himself out of the door. It was absolutely mortifying to hear his mom ask about things like protection and safe sex. Especially knowing that absolutely nothing like that was going to happen! Ichirou and Masahiro were just going to have a movie night.

That being said, Ichirou’s mind wandered the tiniest bit for all of a moment to what if they did have sex. For the briefest of instances, as he sat in his chauffeured car, he pictured Masahiro without his shirt on, unzipping his pants as he licked his lips. As that thought hit him, he slammed his forehead against the window. His chauffeur asked him if he was all right, and Ichirou simply said that he had a bad thought. How could he think of something so lewd about his friend?! Yeah, from everything he had seen, Masahiro had a great body, but that didn’t mean it was okay for Ichirou to fantasize about him!

Ichirou spent the rest of the car ride chastising himself about that moment of weakness. Ichirou arrived at the apartments at around six, and went up to Masahiro’s apartment with no issues this time. He knocked on the door, and then quickly made sure none of his outfit was out of place. Masahiro speedily answered the door, a grin on his face.

Masahiro was wearing a pretty simple outfit today as well. A black t-shirt on black jeans that matched the plugs in his earlobes. He allowed Ichirou in, and as Ichirou put away his shoes, he found himself instantly getting more relaxed. The warm scent of trees that reminded him of childhood swirled around the apartment, and he felt himself slowing down automatically.

“So, I was thinking about making karaage for dinner, what do you think?” Masahiro asked, leaning against the door frame.

“I’d love some fried chicken,” Ichirou responded, putting away his shoes.

“I’ve also got more strawberry ice cream and a couple of beers, too. I figured we can just have a really comfortable night. You can even get into your pajamas, if you want.” Masahiro began walking from the shoe closet to the kitchen, with Ichirou trailing on after.

“I’ll get in my pajamas a little bit later. Where can I put my stuff?” Ichirou asked, holding up his bag.

“Oh, shoot, duh. Follow me,” Masahiro said, spinning out of the kitchen. He took a right and went down the hallway. He explained that the first door on the right led to the bathroom, which Ichirou was welcome to use. The second door on the right was Masahiro’s bedroom, but he didn’t open the door, so Ichirou wasn’t sure what it looked like. Then, across the hall from Masahiro’s bedroom was the guest room.

The guest room seemed to mostly be a study for Masahiro. The walls were almost entirely lined with bookshelves that had very few open spaces. A dark colored desk sat up against the wall, an expensive laptop, some notebooks, and a lamp sitting atop it. Beside the window sat the bed, a simple twin one, but it looked comfortable. Besides that, the scent of Masahiro was definitely the strongest in this room. It seemed that he spent a lot of time in this room.

Ichirou dropped off his bag by the floor, trying his best to keep his wits about him. Last time he had been here, he had been so comfortable that he wanted to roll up in a blanket and fall asleep to Masahiro’s scent. It seemed like that would be the case again, but this time he would actually get to do it. 

“It’s perfect! Thank you, Masahiro-san,” Ichirou said with a smile, giving an automatic bow of gratitude.

“Great, then, should we go make some karaage?” Masahiro asked, pointing over his shoulder.

“Okay, sure!”

Ichirou was not someone who really knew how to cook. He had chefs for all his life, so this was definitely a bit of a foreign concept to him. However, Masahiro showed him how to grind down some ginger and garlic without rubbing the tips of his fingers off. Ichirou watched as Masahiro cut up the pieces of chicken into bite sized pieces, and tossed them into the bowl with the ginger and garlic. After washing his hands, Masahiro showed him how to measure the sake, soy sauce, and sugar as well. Ichirou watched, entranced, as Masahiro mixed it all together super well, covered it, and set it in the fridge to marinate for twenty minutes.

“What do we do while we wait?” Ichirou asked, leaning against the counter.

“Well, I’m gonna slice up some cucumbers and make some rice, but you can grab a drink if you want,” Masahiro said, pulling open a cabinet and bringing down his rice cooker. “Or you can go hang out on the couch, or in the guest room… just treat this place like your own.”

“Can I… check out your room?” Ichirou asked somewhat coyly.

Masahiro paused for a second as opened the fridge. Ichirou couldn’t see his face, but he thought he saw his ears turn the slightest bit red. “Of course. Just, uh, don’t go looking through drawers or anything.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Ichirou responded, before turning and walking out of the kitchen. His curiosity was really burning him up. He was certain it wouldn’t be anything crazy, but just the fact that he hadn’t been inside made him more interested.

Ichirou opened the door and stepped into the room. If he thought that the scent was a lot in the guest room, he wasn’t prepared for Masahiro’s bedroom. It was a lot heavier in here, and somehow the pheromones were a bit different. It smelled a bit more like cinnamon… and for some odd reason, Ichirou felt flushed and somewhat embarrassed to be smelling those pheromones. It almost felt like he had walked in on Masahiro mastur… oh. Oh.

Ichirou, without getting a good look around, closed the door. Those pheromones were sexual in nature. He had obviously… self stimulated somewhat recently. And maybe even a fair bit, based on how much of the scent there was. It made Ichirou feel restless and uncomfortable, almost like…

No, he wasn’t horny! He definitely wasn’t! Masahiro’s sexual pheromones were not enough to get him excited, they simply weren’t! With a deep breath in and out, he walked back over to the kitchen, determined to act like nothing had happened. There was no way he could be sexually stimulated by this. He just needed to act normal.

Ichirou stepped back into the kitchen, and, while chopping up a cucumber and a red onion, Masahiro remarked, “That was quick.”

“Um, yeah, I. I decided I didn’t want to look in there after all. It’s your private space, after all,” Ichirou lied.

Ichirou noted a look of relief flash across Masahiro’s face. “Yeah, it’s boring anyway, you don’t need to worry about that.”

They continued to chat as Masahiro cooked. They talked about the weather, how Masahiro did on his finals (he was the top of his class again), and talked about the cooking. Masahiro fried up the chicken and cooked the rice, seasoning both to perfection. He then piled their plates high with all three, and they sat down at his dining table, each with a beer as well. Ichirou bit into the deliciously crunchy fried chicken, chewing it slowly in order to savor it.

“Where did you learn to cook? You make such good food,” Ichirou said, swallowing.

“The internet,” Masahiro replied with a laugh. “I was super lost when I first started. I wanted to learn, though, just because I thought it sounded interesting. So I looked up a bunch of tutorials online, for everything from cooking rice to measuring things out. I slowly worked my way up to full dinners and lunches, but before that I bought a lot of ready made side dishes. I can only cook so well now because I’ve been cooking almost every meal for six whole years.”

Ichirou crunched on some refreshing cucumber, savoring the taste. “So, basically, it was a ton of work?”

“Basically,” Masahiro agreed, taking a swig of his beer.

“Maybe if I keep coming over, I can pick up a thing or two from you, and maybe someday I’ll be able to cook you a meal.” Ichirou smiled at the thought, and Masahiro beamed right back.

“That sounds great. Once you gain a bit more skill, I’d love to have you back over to cook me something,” Masahiro said.

Ichirou suddenly remembered that he had to talk to Masahiro about something important now that they were in person. He let out a soft cough before speaking. “Hey, uh, Masahiro-san… I have a question for you.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Well, let’s just, um, let’s say that maybe I’ve been thinking about it for a while… especially so recently because I spent nearly a month without you… and I was just thinking… um, maybe, if you were okay with it… I’d be okay if you wanted to extend how long this fake relationship lasts.” Ichirou stumbled his way through it, his cheeks growing more and more warm.

Masahiro blinked a couple of times, seeming to be somewhat surprised by that. “You want me to keep being your fake boyfriend? For longer than the six month mark?”

Ichirou wasn’t sure why he felt so embarrassed by this request, but he did. “Y- yeah. I just… things have been really nice since I started hanging with you. I feel a lot more socially fulfilled. And I feel like you understand me in a way that a lot of people don’t. So I just… It’s okay if you don’t want to. I understand. This is a selfish request.”

Masahiro’s expression stayed surprised for a moment more before he smiled that gentle smile of his, his eyes crinkling up. “I’m happy to be your fake boyfriend for a while longer, Ichirou-san. You’ve been so fun to hang out with, and I think you’re just such an interesting person. I’d love to continue this.”

With this, a huge wave of relief washed over Ichirou. It felt nice to have his feelings validated, that there was a good friendship going on between them. Not only that, but the feelings of nervousness about continuing this fake relationship untwisted in his stomach. It was a mutual feeling, the desire to have this pretend relationship last longer. 

“Um, there was something else I was wondering about as well,” Ichirou said, squirming in his seat.

“Oh?” Masahiro asked, eyebrows raising.

“Well, I went on that trip with my mom… and it was fun, it really was, but, like. My mom isn’t exactly the best travel companion. She gets really weepy when it comes to me, and every few hours she asked about you. So then I happened to think, um… who would I rather have come with? And obviously Yuuhei or Ichika were first to pop into my head, but then… I also thought… and I’m not saying we have to, but I was thinking maybe we could plan a trip sometime,” Ichirou said, playing with his chopsticks.

“You really want to go on a trip with me?”

“Y- yeah. I mean, maybe later, during your winter break or something would be good. So we definitely don’t have to plan it out now, it’s just a thought.”

“I think that could be really fun. Let’s definitely think about doing something like that, then, in like, five months, if we can.”

Ichirou nodded, another wave of unease untangling itself from within him. He hoped that Masahiro wasn’t just saying that because they were friends, but he was grateful nonetheless that he did say yes. He wasn’t sure how long this thing would last, but if push came to shove, they could always cancel the trip. He hated to think of something like that, though.

The two men finished up their meals and brought it to the sink, where Masahiro rinsed them off while Ichirou put them in the dishwasher. After doing that, they each got another beer. It was barely after seven, so they had plenty of time to watch something. After a little bit of bickering, they decided to watch one of Masahiro’s favorite giant robot anime. It was one so famous that even Ichirou had heard of it. Neo Exodus Angelion or something like that.

Either way, Masahiro turned off the majority of the lights, leaving only the dim kitchen light on. He then popped in a blu-ray disk to get it started. Ichirou cuddled into the soft couch as the opening theme began to play. The basic plot of the show was that this poor teenage boy was put into a giant robot to fight beings that could only be described as Biblically accurate angels. The show surprised him with the depth of character development, and confused him a fair bit with the apparent religious symbolism. There was also quite a bit of violence.

Ichirou had watched mecha shows when he was a little kid. They were not his favorite, but his childhood best friend’s favorite. That boy, Ichirou’s first love, only watched really happy and fun mecha shows, so Ichirou had to admit that he was a bit thrown off by the darkness that this show had. It kept him glued to his seat, up until the point where he proclaimed he needed a pee break.

He ran to the restroom and did his business, before coming out and deciding to grab another beer. He then ran back into the den and sat in his spot once more, ready for Masahiro to start the show back up. However, Masahiro did not do that. 

“Is this too dark for you?” Masahiro asked, looking concerned.

“Oh, um, it’s dark, but I wanna try to keep watching,” Ichirou said, a little surprised.

“You’re sure? I know you mostly watch dramas, and those are not nearly as dark as this. I should have started with something lighter, shouldn’t I?” He seemed to be chiding himself with that last comment.

“Maybe, but I’m already invested,” Ichirou said with a snort, snuggling into his blanket. “If you love it, then I want to see why you love it.”

“You’re certain I’m not forcing you?” Masahiro confirmed.

“Masahiro-san, I’m allowed to watch something you like that is out of my wheelhouse. Put in the next disk, please.”

Masahiro seemed to want to oppose that thought, but instead he quietly did as Ichirou said. It seemed as though he was really self conscious about this sort of thing. He was excellent at showing Ichirou love in everything that Ichirou happened to enjoy, but it appeared to be that it was much harder for him to accept the same for himself. Ichirou made note of this in the back of his mind, suddenly concerned that he might be forcing Masahiro into doing something he didn’t want just because he wanted to always say yes to Ichirou.

For the next two hours, they watched the anime together, with Ichirou occasionally requesting pauses so I could grab an ice cream bar or another beer. If Ichirou was being honest, he wasn’t fully certain he was understanding what was happening in this anime, but he was doing his best. He could see that, if nothing else, a whole lot of heart and soul was put into the making of this show.

A lot of it was very tragic. It was definitely more sad than Ichirou was used to watching. He liked drama, but specifically drama that was more rooted in reality. Occasionally having a character with superhero abilities was fine, but the mundane was more interesting to him. No, maybe it was simply because he was a romantic at heart that he enjoyed more normal, basic stories of love.

Character death occurred on occasion, or some form of violence. It was enough to make him bite down on his ice cream in his nervousness. It’s true that he was interested in the show, but he decided pretty close to the two hour mark that he would need to take this series in slowly. So, after they had watched eight episodes together in total, Ichirou decided to speak up.

“Can we watch something a little bit more lighthearted now?” Ichirou asked, his words slurring together a little bit.

“Sure, I’d be happy to, but, uh… are you good?” Masahiro looked at Ichirou, who was wobbling back and forth. He had at least two more beers than he probably should have.

“I’m great,” Ichirou said drunkenly. “Super, super good.”

“That wasn’t too much for you, right?”

“Nope, not yet… I just need a little break, ‘cause it was gettin’ a little bit much,” Ichirou said, wiggling on the couch.

“Okay. Let’s put on a couple episodes of that drama I was talking to you about last time. It seemed pretty cute to me,” Masahiro said, pulling up one of his streaming services.

“Okie dokie,” Ichirou said, his eyes slightly droopy.

Masahiro laughed softly. “You are definitely drunk.”

“I’m not!” Ichirou complained, pouting at his friend.

“Really? Then walk in a straight line for me while I find the series,” Masahiro said.

Ichirou, still pulling a face, stood up and carefully placed his beer on the coffee table. He took a couple of steps, heel to toe, before oh so gracefully losing his balance and almost falling on his butt. Masahiro, having just pulled up the drama, Beloved, burst out laughing at the sight of drunk Ichirou.

“Shut uuup,” Ichirou complained, hopping back onto the couch.”

“Yeah, sorry, you’re just really cute when you’re drunk. You get all sullen like a little kid,” Maasahiro said.

“I’m not a little kid,” Ichirou grumbled.

“Yeah, I know,” Masahiro replied.

“But do you? Do you think I’m just a little boy? Because I’m an adult man,” Ichirou said grouchily, folding his arms.

“I’m very aware, don’t worry. Otherwise I wouldn’t have given you any beer.”

Ichirou finally relaxed, and Masahiro turned on the show. The plot was really basic, with that omega idol, Haru, playing the lead nerdy kid. Another up and coming actor, a guy named Shou, Ichirou was pretty sure, played the part of the romantic interest, an edgy kid who fell for Haru’s character at first sight. It wasn’t particularly explosive in terms of drama, but it was really cute, and that’s what Ichirou needed at the moment.

Ichirou’s eyes began to close at some point part way through the first episode, and he began nodding off. The combination of good food, the warmth from the alcohol, the rain, and Masahiro’s scent was making him exceptionally sleepy. Slowly, slowly, he began to drift off, leaning over and ending up with his face against Masahiro’s bicep. 

Masahiro froze up at that and looked down to Ichirou slowly. He was totally out. The warmth of Ichirou’s body made his arm feel almost like it was burning. Ichirou’s soft breaths against his arm, and the sweet, fruity scent of Ichirou’s pheromones made Masahiro feel goosebumps prickle up and down his neck. He attempted to calm down his heart, which had begun to beat out of his chest.

Masahiro grabbed the remote and paused the show. With that, the only things he could hear were the sounds of his own heartbeat and Ichirou’s breath. He had to wake Ichirou up. It wasn’t right for him to just sit here and enjoy this. Ichirou wouldn’t want to cuddle like this. He had to move.

It was in these moments, these moments that Ichirou couldn’t see Masahiro’s face, that he knew his expression was one full of absolute fondness and love. He had worried for so long that Ichirou would change when they grew up, but he was the exact same. A perfect, adorable, sweet princess that he desperately wanted to protect and honor. Falling for Ichirou all over again had only taken that first date.

Finally, he got up the courage to gently shake Ichirou. “Ichirou-san? Are you awake? We need to get you to bed.”

“Huh…?” Ichirou mumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he sat up.

“You fell asleep. I think it’s time for you to go to bed,” Masahiro said softly, holding back from stroking Ichirou’s cheek.

“Oh… I gotta pee first,” Ichirou mumbled, stumbling to his feet. 

“That’s fine, go ahead,” Masahiro said.

“And I gotta do my skincare routine… or I’ll become ugly and everyone will hate me…”

Masahiro snorted at that as Ichirou walked down the hallway. Masahiro would definitely never hate Ichirou. If he ended up gaining a ton of weight, his hair became black, he gained a lot of acne, and even if he lost a couple limbs on top of the rest of that, Masahiro would do everything in his power to stay beside him. He only really had two goals in life: he needed to make the hotel business boom once more, and he wanted to remain near Ichirou. Being romantically involved wasn’t something that Masahiro needed; he just needed to be close to Ichirou.

After grabbing his skin routine, Ichirou opened the door to the bathroom and turned towards the mirror. Ichirou turned the water on and wetted his face. He then put on a cleanser, washing his face thoroughly. He was trying not to think about how he had fallen asleep and ended up snuggled up against Masahiro. Masahiro had been very kind about it, as he often was, but it had to be irritating for him to keep dealing with Ichirou’s awkward self. Masahiro was so calm and cool about this sort of thing, Ichirou wondered where he got the confidence.

After putting on a couple of creams and oils, Ichirou turned to leave the bathroom and nearly jumped out of his skin. “Shit-! How long were you there, Masahiro-san?!”

Masahiro stifled a laugh. “Sorry, just for a couple minutes, I promise. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and didn’t need anything else.”

“I’m fine,” Ichirou grumbled, embarrassed about being scared and pulling his hair out of his ponytail. “I’m just gonna get in my pajamas and go to bed, now.”

“Okay, but if you need anything, knock on my door and I’ll be there in an instant, okay?” Masahiro said as he watched Ichirou walk out of the bathroom and go in front of the guest room.

Ichirou leaned out of the doorway, a slightly embarrassed look on his face. “I- I will. Um… and thanks for letting me stay over.”

Ichirou quickly closed the door before Masahiro could respond. He quickly pulled his clothes off and pulled on the shorts and t-shirt that qualified as pajamas to him. Somehow, it was embarrassing being nude in Masahiro’s apartment. Just the idea made him blush for reasons unknown to him.

Ichirou turned off the light, plugged in his phone, and wrapped himself in the blanket on the soft, warm bed. He listened as the rain poured outside, and allowed himself to breathe in those nice pheromones that just felt so comforting to him. It almost felt like he was in a warm, tight embrace… like maybe Masahiro’s…

No, no! Ichirou shook himself awake, heat rising in his cheeks. Just because he really liked the pheromones did not mean that he wanted to be hugged by Masahiro. Being hugged by him would probably feel really nice, yeah, but hugging… In Japan, that was something that only significant others really did together. He couldn’t be hugged by Masahiro! That was too much.

With some deep breaths, Ichirou felt himself calming back down. The atmosphere was too comfortable, and it was much too late. With a sigh, Ichirou began drifting off into sleep. The warm comfort of the blanket and the pheromones lulled him into a pleasant, deep sleep.

Ichirou did not have any dreams, and actually woke up earlier than he expected. It was eight in the morning, earlier than he usually got up. He felt great, like this was the best night of sleep he had gotten in a while. He sat up, his hair a mess. Outside, the rain had cleared up, and it was quite sunny outside. He stretched, his tummy showing ever so slightly.

Ichirou grabbed onto his comb and quickly ran it through his hair. He considered keeping it down for a moment, but he ended up pulling it into a ponytail. He pulled out his next outfit, a pale yellow button-down top with poofy sleeves and a pleated pink skirt. He walked out of the bedroom, and went to the restroom to both use it, and to put on a little bit of makeup.

Ichirou walked out into the dining room, and upon seeing that Masahiro wasn’t there, he checked up in the kitchen and the den. Masahiro wasn’t anywhere, except… maybe he was in his bedroom. After the faintly sexual smell from yesterday, Ichirou was quite certain that he couldn’t go in there. It was an invasion of privacy.

So, Ichirou sat in the den and noodled on his phone. He knew that Masahiro said to make himself completely at home, but Ichirou couldn’t bring himself to hang out much of anywhere else. This was, after all, someone else’s apartment. However, luckily, Ichirou would not have to wait long, as fairly quickly, he heard the door open. Ichirou jumped out of the den to greet Masahiro, but was not expecting what he saw.

Masahiro was wiping away some sweat on his face with the bottom of his tank top, revealing his glistening, rippling abs. A long V shape drew Ichirou’s eyes downward, but they quickly snapped back up to those damn arms. Sweat was dripping down Masahiro’s muscular arms, with some veins popping out. Well placed curves accentuated his body, his toned, brawny legs almost seeming to want to pop out of his pants. His body was like that of a Greek statue, but based on the bulge in Masahiro’s too-small sweatpants, he didn’t have a cock like them.

Masahiro dropped the bottom of his tank top and looked surprised by Ichirou. “Oh, hey. Sorry, I didn’t think you’d be up yet, so I went for a work out. Lemme shower and I’ll make us some breakfast.”

Ichirou gulped. Loudly. “Um, yeah. Okay. I’m gonna. Go sit. In the den.”

“Sure thing. Be right back,” Masahiro said with a friendly smile, walking past Ichirou. Ichirou smelled not only the sweat, but his pheromones… and these pheromones were somehow more energetic. They were closer to the sexual ones had smelled last night.

Ichirou sat on the couch in the den and opened his phone, scrolling while not really consuming any of the content that he was supposedly looking at. What the hell was that?! Why was Masahiro so jacked?! Why did he look so good after working out?! Where the hell did he get those gorgeous muscles?! And the smell… it was so enticing. It was like a nuttier cinnamon, and it really drew him in.

Ichirou refused. He simply refused to be attracted to Masahiro. Masahiro was not only his friend, but his partner in a slightly villainous job. He was his pretend boyfriend! He couldn’t be attracted to his pretend boyfriend! That was, like, defeating the whole point. So, despite the fact that he had been slack jawed just a few moments ago, Ichirou pulled himself together. He was not about to fall for a friend just because that friend happened to have a great body.

Masahiro came out fairly quickly, and they ended up having a normal, basic breakfast. Ichirou learned from Masahiro how to properly hold a knife, and he mixed up the eggs himself. They were having a more western style breakfast today, as it was easier to make. Toast, omelets, and some broccoli were what they had. Ichirou couldn’t quite finish the food, but he was grateful to his friend for making it anyway.

After breakfast, they rewatched the first episode of that drama, and went on to watch the four other episodes that had come out. It was a surprisingly funny show, but it also had some real moments in it. Ichirou enjoyed having an omega actually be in the filming process, and thought that this had a bit more of a realistic take on what it meant to be an omega. Perhaps that idol, Haru, had some say in how his character acted and reacted.

Near the end of the last episode, Ichirou’s mom sent him a text that she was sending over the chauffeur, and she wanted to know if he needed to bring any medication for any aches and pains. Ichirou didn’t understand for a moment, before turning bright red and claiming that no, he did not need anything of the sort. 

Ichirou cleaned up his things from the guest room and prepared to go back downstairs. Masahiro seemed to be a bit sad to see Ichirou go, but he understood. Masahiro walked him downstairs, and the two men chatted about nothing in particular for a bit outside while they waited for the chauffeur to arrive. When the chauffeur did arrive, Ichirou gave his friend a quick goodbye, and got into the car, driving away before Masahiro’s very eyes.

Masahiro sighed and went back upstairs, into his apartment. There was still the faintest scent of Ichirou around, and he savored it. The little devil in the back of his mind told him to go into the guest room. That’s where his scent would be. Masahiro, almost feeling guilty, did walk into the room he used as a place of study. He closed the door behind him, breathing in the sweet scent of Ichirou.

The majority of the scent was coming from the bed. Slowly, he made his way over there. He finally fell to his knees before the bed, burrowing his face into the comforter that smelled so strongly of Ichirou. He felt like a disgusting pervert, and a wave of shame came over him. He pushed it back, though, telling himself that Ichirou would just never know.

However, as he continued smelling the sheets, he felt his cock beginning to harden up. The shame he felt was immense. He couldn’t do this. He could jack off to Ichirou’s scent. That would be a stepping stone to doing something he would really regret, like telling Ichirou how he felt. But still, even so, as he continued to smell that sugary, fruity scent that belonged to Ichirou, he felt himself getting even harder.

Just this once, he decided. He would jerk off to Ichirou’s scent just this once. If Ichirou ever stayed the night in here again, he would simply open the window and then leave the room. That way he could keep being friends with Ichirou. Like this, however, he was too far gone in his alpha instincts to make a rational decision. True, he could have broken himself out of it by biting his arm or hitting himself hard, but what Ichirou didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

Masahiro reached into his joggers, into his underwear, and pulled out his erection. He began slowly stroking it as he continued to smell Ichirou’s pheromones, full of absolute self loathing.