IV

RYUICHI

After that incident, Shimada-senpai had stopped having sex with me. I was thinking that maybe he just had too much work and didn't have any time for our private sessions, but I had the feeling that he was avoiding me.

He made sure not to meet my gaze, not be left alone with me, and even talk to me only for business matters. I couldn't understand why he was acting that way.

Until now, he was still not giving his decision pertaining to our proposal from Mr. Ichi Fujiwara. If my memory serves me right, the client gave us at least a week to give our feedback on his offer.

Could it be that Shimada-senpai forgot?

"Excuse me, Shimada-san; you have a guest." It was Moriya-san who said that.

I automatically found myself looking at our boss to see what would his reaction be. He looked a bit confused.

It's not unusual to have visitors once in a while, but this was the first time that someone, who I didn't know, paid him a visit. It kinda made me… bothered.

"Who was it?" Shimada-senpai asked Moriya-san.

Moriya-san fixed his glasses before he answered. "He was called Acchan, boss."

'Acchan?! What the hell?!'

"What? But I just told him last night that I will be the one to visit." Shimada-senpai irritatedly uttered before deeply exhaling. "Nevermind. Tell him that I'll meet him in the lobby."

There was nothing that Moriya-san could do but to scratch his head in apprehension before gazing back to the door and at the same moment, it was pushed open and revealed a man wearing glasses.

He was tall with an average physique; his hair was a bit long that flowed until his shoulder. He looked well off. And lastly, he was a man.

"Kicchan!" The man called Shimada-senpai with too much intimate name-calling.

'Kicchan?!' I thought to myself while trying to grasp the situation.

Shimada-senpai reacted surprised and annoyed. "What the hell are you doing here, Izumi?!"

The man held his waist before acted dismayed. "Eh? Why are you calling me by my last name? It's 'Acchan'!" He dramatically said and pouted.

'What the fucking hell was that?!'

I saw Shimada-senpai gulping before he irkedly stood up and neared the man. "Geez. Let's talk outside, Izumi."

"Why?" The wart(1) asked curiously. That fucker…

[1. That means an extra or a love rival. Usually in romance novels, there are so many love rivals that suddenly appear that fight for the ML's love. So a funny word to call being a third-wheel]

The people inside the office wondered about the man's sudden arrival too. So, my co-workers didn't know the newcomer too.

I was about to ignore the two men when my eyes accidentally witnessed the man resting his arms on Shimada-senpai's shoulders and the latter wasn't even bothered by it.

They walked pass by me and just before I could speak, the guy looked at me curiously.

"Kicchan, who's he?" The weird four-eyed freak asked while staring at me intensely.

Shimada-senpai hesitated to answer, but he forced himself to speak. "He is Ryuichi Okuda. My new subordinate." He introduced.

The deranged man's eyes widened and his stare became more intense. "Heh…? By the way, I'm Aki Izumi. I am Kicchan's—"

"Izumi, let's go!" Shimada-senpai cut off while he pulled the man outside the office.

"Eh? Aren't you going to introduce me to him?" He turned his head to ask Shimada-senpai like he was crazy, but he was ignored.

"Just shut up and go already! I'm still at work, you know?!" Boss reprimanded and dragged the four-eyed weirdo out.

'What the… hell…?'

Who was that guy?!

"It looked like they knew each other for a long time already." Moriya-san suddenly said out loud.

"You think so?" I faced him.

"We don't know anything about Shimada-san's private life, but basing it from how he interacted with the man, it looked like they are friends. Well… For an Alpha like boss, it was kind of surprising that he still doesn't have a mate." Moriya-san added.

'That's because he's actually an Omega!' I shouted in my mind.

"Y-Yeah…" I hesitantly agreed.

"Aki Izumi. Aki… Izumi…" Moriya-san muttered to himself before bursting out. "Ah!"

"Fuck!" I shouted in surprise, making everyone in the office stare at us in annoyance.

"I think I've heard that name before…" Moriya-san continuously muttered to himself while he typed the guy's name on Google and searched for possible answers. "I knew it!" He exclaimed.

"What?"

"He's a licensed Alpha doctor. He specializes in giving check-ups and medicinal prescriptions to Omegas that have irregular heats. He has nice reviews. And did you know? There are suppressants that can be bought in local drugstores, but there are some Omegas that are compelled to ask for a check-up from a doctor as to why ordinary suppressants don't work on them."

'Irregular heats? Come to think of it, Shimada-senpai's been experiencing his heat too often. From what I know, an Omega's heat can only re-occur once or twice a month…"

"Wait. He's an Alpha?" I suddenly asked.

"Huh? Shimada-san? Yeah."

"No! I mean the other guy!"

"Yes…?" He answered with a questioning voice.

If that guy was really an Alpha, what would happen if Shimada-senpai suddenly goes into heat while being with him?!

"Moriya-san, give me Izumi's details." I suddenly asked him and he looked at me in wonder.

"W-Why?"

"Just do it." I stressed out and looked at the schedules of the weird doctor.

~~~~~

During my day off, I decided to visit the clinic of the said doctor. It seemed that he's open anytime.

It's not that I was worried about Shimada-senpai, but if the guy ever took an interest in him…

'Why am I so worked up over something like this?'

I managed to reach his clinic without any trouble. It wasn't that huge and it looked decent for a doctor like him with a nice name.

First, I went to see his secretary who happened to be a guy. Talk about an unusual secretary.

"What's your name, sir?" Asked the secretary while glancing up at me.

He was a huge, scary-looking guy who was almost as tall as me. He had a great build too. His hair was shaggy and a bit messy. He wore a stupid look on his face, it was as if his mind was wandering off somewhere despite looking at me directly. I couldn't comprehend why he was here, but I guess, you couldn't really judge a person by their appearances.

"Ryuichi Okuda." I answered and I saw him listing my name and momentarily checked the log book he was holding before turning his look to me once more.

"Is it your first time having a check-up here? I can't find a record with your name." He asked.

"Well… I am not here for a check-up. I need to have a word with Izumi." I informed him.

"You mean 'Izumi-sensei'?? The guy exclaimed happily.

Okay, that was unexpected. His expression suddenly changed after hearing the doctor's name.

"Are you in a rut?" He suddenly asked.

"Rut? No!" I hastily objected.

"Besides Omega suppressants, Izumi-sensei also prescribes medicine for Alpha ruts." He explained.

Oh, I see.

"Okay, but is he in today? I really have to talk to him." I asked to change the topic.

"Oh. Okay, please wait here for a while. I will ask first if he's fine with visitors for today." He offered me a seat and I silently waited.

~~~~~

After I was given permission to talk with the said doctor, I knocked on the door of his clinic and prepared myself to calm down.

Somehow, I've been so restless with a reason I have no idea of.

"Enter." The doctor said the inside and I opened the door.

The first thing that I saw was a man sitting carelessly with his legs wide open on a swivel chair as he let it spin round and round inside the clinic. He gave me an irritated look that was kinda asking what the hell I was doing here.

"Will you stop doing that?" I softly rebuked, referring to what he was doing just a while ago.

"Huh? The what?" He stupidly looked around like he didn't have any idea that his actions were very inappropriate considering his profession.

"Tsk. Nevermind." I ignored his actions and cleared my throat. "I am here to confirm something."

"About what?" He wore a more serious expression, but he still kept on playing with his swivel chair.

"Are you really an Alpha?" I bluntly asked.

His eyes widened as he stopped what he was doing. He fixed his glasses before he answered. "Yes."

"Don't you think that your job is way too risky?" I asked further.

"You sound like a jealous beast." He suddenly commented.

My brows furrowed in response. "What?"

"Are you worried about Kicchan?"

"Ki—! How did you—?!"

When earlier, he looked like an idiot, the air surrounding him suddenly changed. He looked at me while smirking. I felt a shiver ran down my spine. It was an occurrence that Alphas feel when another Alpha releases strong pheromones when they see them as a threat. This usually happens when two Alphas were both interested in the same Omega and they tended to scare off the other by creating a heavy atmosphere around them. It was a great way to tell the enemy to back off.

This four-eyed freak was seeing me as a threat!

He once more fixed his glasses before speaking. "For a young Alpha like you, you sure are one feisty predator."

"Ugh…"

"Releasing such a plentiful amount of semen while he was in heat, have you ever considered the consequences that Kicchan may face if he ever got pregnant? And worse, you're not even mates." He said in a stern voice.

"You…! How did you know?!" I asked in a fit of panic.

I was quite sure that our little secret was only between the two of us. Or was it not?

"Okuda-kun, I'm a doctor. It's my job to know the factors that cause an Omega to suddenly go into heat, that is, for example, if that Omega used to have normal heat periods." He clarified.

'Okuda-kun? He's older than me, then?'

"Did he tell you himself?" During this time, I was starting to get irritated at the way this man spoke to me like he knew everything that had happened between Shimada-senpai and I.

"Hmm? Who knows? Haha!" He mockingly replied and even had the gall to laugh!

He went to his desk, took a history record from his drawer and turned its pages until he found the right page.

"Are you his friend?" I asked out of nowhere.

'Fuck! Why did I fucking ask that?!'

He looked at me, he blinked a few times before snickering like a crazy man. "Are you jealous?"

"No fucking way!" I quickly exclaimed my repudiation.

He burst into laughter and smacked the record he was holding onto his table. What a really weird guy. I feel that I might go crazy if I stay here any longer. He's way too… weird.

"I'm sure that you know that there were some Omegas with irregular heats, right?" He asked to change the topic and fixed his sitting posture. "Have a seat first." He suddenly told me when he noticed that I was standing by the door for too long.

I sat down on a vacant plastic chair beside his desk, crossed my arms and gave off an intimidating vibe.

"Are you telling me that Shimada-senpai's heat is irregular?" I guessed.

"Yup. But did it ever pass your mind that there might be other reasons as to why their heat becomes irregular?"

"Yeah. It could be that their body is not compatible with the suppressants that they are taking."

"That's true." He agreed. "Meeting their Fated Pair can also trigger sudden changes both in their body and heat periods."

"I thought Fated Pairs and Soul Bonds ended years ago?"

"It still exists." He stressed out. "Omegas react differently to their Fated Pair. They're lucky if they've known each other for a long time or love each other, but being total strangers to each other is a different story. Alphas can't resist an Omega in heat and the rut will be twice as strong if they're with their Fated Pair. But recently, I realized that there are some Alphas that can't smell the scent of their Fated Pair even if they are facing each other. But there are also instances wherein they are attracted to an Omega with no valid reason at all."

"Is he pregnant?" I asked to redirect the conversation.

"Who?" The crazy doctor confusedly asked.

"Shimada-senpai."

"Oh, don't worry. He's fine. It was great that his heat wasn't that bad during the last time you did him." He reassured and felt myself being relieved.

It was true. Shimada-senpai's scent that time was faint, but it was still so sweet, so I wasn't able to resist and hold myself back. A part of my mind knew the risk of getting him pregnant, but I was so frustrated that I took it out on him.

Despite telling myself over and over again that I would not be bewitched by his charms, I kept finding myself being drawn to him by my own will.

And I hated it!

"You sure know a lot about him." I said in an irritated tone.

"Sort of." He calmly replied. "But there's another factor as to why Omegas experience irregular heat."

"What is it?"

"I bet you know that we Alphas have the ability to retract the bond with our mates. You see, what that happens, Omegas are left with two choices; find a new Alpha or suffer a long-term irregular, intense, and painful heats." He said in a very serious tone.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked in confusion.

"Ah. You didn't know?" He asked while looking at me doubtfully.

"Know what?" I asked impatiently.

The crazy doctor combed his hair using his fingers before hoarsely laughing. "So, despite you guys being sex friends for a while, Kicchan is still afraid, huh?"

"What the fuck are you trying to say?" I angrily questioned.

"Kicchan had a mate once."