t feels like a vast empty pit opens up beneath him. Everything is muted, from sounds to colors and he is alone, all alone...

The bad part is, this is not the first time Manjirou feels this sensation. It is the same when back then Shinichirou died. But Baji apologized. And later Kazutora did, too. It was easier to accept his brother's death when the cause was a tragic one. Also back then he still had Emma.

Now Emma, too, is....

It is like another part of his heart dies and shadows creep into the cracks of what is left of it, the heart barely functioning, barely warming him.

He can feel it, the lure to just give up, to let his heart bleed out to never heal.

Manjirou feels something shift inside him but he is too preoccupied with the pain of loss and the emptiness Shinichirou, Baji and Emma left him so he notices too late.

----

He surprises himself by being able to move out of the numb fog, even if just enough to focus on the matter at hand. Things are confusing. He does not have his brother, sister and childhood friend anymore. He feels deeply sad, deeply hurt, deeply spiraling downward, but Tachibana Hinata, who has become a dear friend to Emma, reminds him that there are more people waiting for him. They might not be able to fill the void but he cannot deny they, too, are important to him, from Takemichi, to Mitsuya, Chifuyu, Kenchin, even those waiting in juvenile detention.

Also, he is responsible for his gang, as much as he wants to just curl up and close his eyes, so he tries to gather the remaining pieces of his heart and takes a deep breath.

Things are even more confusing with what Hinata tells them - time-leaping, a Takemichi from the future, their bad future that holds death and pain. Manjirou wonders if he can feel any more pain than now, the pain is so strong he feels himself growing numb if it would be any stronger.

But then he recalls Takemichi, the weakling crybaby that tries his best, again and again, and if he is trying again and again all alone to change a sad future, how much pain must he be in?

Maybe that is what makes Manjirou move. Maybe the sliver of hope that maybe, maybe he can help in creating a better future for each of his friends.

A fleeting thought of his own future happiness appears and disappears as fast as it came and he lets it go immediately. Something twists in his stomach, he feels uneasy, unsettled in contrast to the emptiness he feels.

It is confusing, too much is happening at once and his young brain can barely keep up. The strong, invincible Mikey. Deep down he still is only a weak child, after all.

He tries shaking the odd feeling spreading in his body off when he settles on his beloved motorbike. Immediately, he feels a little calmer, relieved, he can pretend this time Shinichirou is there to comfort him through his grief of losing Emma and finding some purpose in continuing.

Even if his skin starts to prick in sensitivity and he can feel heat burning in the pit of his stomach, he ignores it for the sake of being the Tokyo Manji gang's president and to maybe save his only remaining sibling, even if he is currently the root of all problems.

----

He starts to suspect something is off about him when facing Izana in a crowd of Tenjiku and Toman members. Manjirou never has had much of a heightened sense of smell, since he was still unpresented and would not present for another year probably or longer.

Secondary gender talk would always occur with boys their age, since it is an exciting thing to look forward to but most of them all were unpresented and lived a life free of the pros and cons of the secondary gender until now. Of course everyone wants to be an alpha due to very old-fashioned views on that superior gender. Or betas, betas are unsuspecting but therefore mostly unaffected by either alpha's dominance or omega's charms, they could go either way they wanted or none at all and therefore are like a blank canvas with all advantages at hand if they wanted to. Omegans are a little at disadvantage in some biological things, but if done right could also be a terribly influencing, charming, powerful force, so he has never even cared much as to what gender he would present.

Kenchin would tell him he'd be a terrifying alpha most likely, since Shinichirou has also been an alpha. Although Shinichirou has been a very gentle, very untypical alpha, he led with kindness and charm much more than dominance and in a way, Manjirou wants to be like that, too.

Unusually strong impressions of scents register in Manjirou's stressed, grieving brain. The scent of smoke, alcohol, blood - a lot of it is probably coming from Takemichi -, of badly overused deodorants or aftershaves, of...young male pheromones. Also, faintly individual scents, like fresh grass or a river, some sort of tree or flower, fruits, mountains, weather conditions.

Manjirou has never really paid attention in biology classes since he usually slept in on them. He remembers what Shinichirou has told him about the secondary gender and how people typically would get more sensitive smelling abilities to discern other people's moods. Back then he had wrinkled his nose, unable to imagine how that would feel.

Shinichirou had laughed and ruffled his hair, saying Manjirou already smelled like a little storm.

It does not feel unpleasant, he thinks, just more like an extension of himself. But why is it developing now?

There is not much time to think when he has to fight his only remaining sibling. The first thing he notices about Izana this time, however, is that he smells sharp, aggressive. Something that he cannot name, like hot metal left in the open on a very sunny day maybe? He somehow has to think of the abandoned, collapsing building in the Philippines that he always imagines when thinking back to his older brother's story about the engines of the beloved motorbike that today is his own.

Izana's kicks and punches are strong, he is fast, and Manjirou, Mikey, feels like he has to retaliate with all he has got. He has not felt pushed to the limit like that in a while. Izana is strong, if only he would forgive him and become his big brother like Shinichiro has wanted...

If only they had been family before this, then Emma wouldn't have to die.

No matter how prepared he is for standing and fighting, the thought makes his heart ache terribly and his chest constricts. He throws a punch that hurts him as much as his opponent, but the pain is distracting nicely.

"You're getting sloppy," Manjirou notes when Izana has to accept a rather hard and painful kick from him. There is blood running down the dark-skinned, white-haired barely taller but older young man's mouth and he just smiles, purple eyes wide, long light lashes framing those orbs that seem so full of hate and yet so empty at the same time. Manjirou feels his body respond oddly to the scent of spiked pheromones, exuded to demand dominance.

His knees start to shake and the blond boy sends a confused glance down while the uneasy feeling from before blooms in place of his barely held together heart. He wobbles, feeling unsteady and he grits his teeth.

"So are you, my dear brother," Izana has a pleasant voice, playful and carefree, yet it also sends a feeling of danger down his spine. Manjirou's body almost takes a step back in defense, which upsets him.

Why is his body not responding to him properly?

So, despite the multiple hits he has sustained, the blood running down his lips, the bruises he has received from Izana, the aching pulsing body of his protesting and wanting a break, he punches and kicks harder, faster, to end this, to defeat the leader of Tenjiku so Toman could declare victory.

It gets harder somehow and he only does not miss because Izana himself grows slower, having the strength but not the stamina Manjiro has.

Or usually has, right now he feels out of breath and his body is growing weirdly hot. Is he catching a stress fever? Considering the whole Tenjiku conflict and the cowardly attack on him through Emma, it could be that. Manjirou tries gathering his strength, his stamina, his legs tensing when he charges for one more attack.

Among the eighteen years old, everyone notices the change in scent immediately. Their gazes, focused on the fight in general before, zero in on the invincible Mikey as he swings his leg at Izana - but freezes up, his attack faltering and he crashes into the older boy in an uncoordinated heap, crumbling onto the ground with a fevered, pained groan, curling up into himself.

A strong scent of distress, wild, untamed. Even the younger ones with no heightened scent skills could see something is wrong, the invincible Mikey does not just suddenly break down like that so they look around frantically to find a reason.

Izana stares at the boy, his little brother, writhing in pain, clawing at his chest, pale skin flushed and scent in an utter disarray of distress, confusion and...a soft call for an alpha.

The white-haired young man smiles widely, eyes filled with crazed amusement when he realizes what this means, bending down merrily as if he hadn't been beaten up badly just now by the exact person he now grabs by the hair gleefully, forcing Manjirou to lift his head with a defensive growl.

"Mikey~" he singsongs into the blond's ear, watching as those dark, usually emotionless eyes are glazed over with fever and dizziness and pain that is so unlike being beaten up. "You're presenting. It must be all the stress on poor you that has you present at such an unfortunate moment."

Manjirou growls, hands flying up, with difficulties, to pry Izana's out of his hair but his muscles feel weak, he is trembling and waves upon waves of pain crashes over him. He has never felt so much pain before without a real source, it seems to come from the depths of his body and spreads through every cell, down to his fingertips, leaving his body tingling with painful sensitivity and trembling in exhaustion. His blond hair sticks to his sweaty skin and he doesn't feel very invincible right now.

But if what Izana says is true and he is presenting earlier due to stress, he wonders if the forced presentation makes it hurt so badly. Most people he heard talking about it when he bothered listening didn't talk about this much pain.

"You know what's better?" Izana continues as he tightens his grip on Manjirou's blond locks, pulling him even closer and the blond recoils instinctively from something about his biology and chemistry, even if he does not understand yet. Manjirou feels like he has to flee, a feeling he has not felt before at all due to his strength and skills. Yet his body strains to get away from Izana and he feels a deeply unsettling feeling unfurling in his chest that makes his breath come out short.

It seems Izana notices Manjirou's struggle to not show how his body recoils from him, chuckling as he leans closer. The alpha's scent clogs the blond's nose and he chokes and coughs, causing him to tremble in dizziness. Something about the scent makes his body want to submit and obey and it makes Manjirou feel sick to the stomach.

"You're an omega."

Manjirou struggles, heaving his breath with difficulties. The words seep into his mind but it should not matter, right? It should not matter what he is, the pain just needs to go away so he can fight again...

He flinches when he feels long, warm fingers trailing over his sweaty neck, over something he has not paid much attention to in his life due to their useless function until now. His scent glands at his neck usually are just there but now he jumps from the touch, his neck overly sensitive and hot, his heart thumping loudly in his chest and his instincts telling him to run or to stay and give in to the stronger alpha. He tilts his head to the side instinctively to his own horror and no matter how much Manjirou tries to defy his biology, his body preens at the alpha pheromones surrounding him in a strong, possessive hold.

He is both scared and allured, something he never has felt before but it's both an urge to run and an urge to give in and it confuses him so much, he hates it with all his being. His hand tries to swat Izana's away when the older young man digs his nails into his swollen, pulsing, unclaimed scent glands, causing Manjirou to flinch and whine in distress.

He freezes. He has never whined like this before. It sounds weak and pathetic and he cannot believe that sound came from him. All the more he wants to get away from Izana.

"You said you want to save me, brother? You want to be family even though we are in fact not blood related?" Izana savours Manjirou's shaking, heated body that is in the final stages of an early presentation while his eyes try to hold up the image of the invincible, strong Mikey.

He can see his little brother is losing the fight against biology. It is no wonder, he has never had to fight his biology before, everything is new and confusing.

Manjirou thinks the pain is slowly subsiding, or he is getting used to it he cannot tell. He slowly tries pushing away from Izana, moving his legs to get back on them. His mind is a mess but he has a fight to win, otherwise that means the end of Toman and then...Emma's death would be even more pointless and painful-

In the moment of distraction by his own feverish, crumbling mind, Manjirou barely suppresses a gasp when Izana invades his space again, lips moving against his ear, white hair brushing against his blond ones, a dangerously delighted twinkle in his purple eyes. "So let's become family~" He slides his face down to nose against his neck, breathing hotly against his scent glands and the younger one freezes.

"No..." His voice is cracking from the strain of trying to suppress voicing his pain. He feels fear and distress spreading through his body like ice water through his veins - also a reaction he usually would not have. Usually he would struggle, he would punch, kick, fight. But his body is locked in place, frozen, obeying some chemical reaction to Izana's that makes him unable to be the master over his own body.

It is so despairing and frustrating, tears spring into his eyes and all he can do while watching Izana's alpha fangs elongate upon feeling an upcoming possible bonding, is to whisper another horrified "N-no, stop it...! Izana, I don't want-".

The piercing, sharp fangs come down on his neck's scent gland and break through the skin, drawing blood. Unimaginably blinding pain zips through Manjirou's body like high voltage electricity, fraying his nerves except for the highly sensitive feeling of a hot mouth on his neck, fangs lodged into his skin and blood running down from the bonding wound.

At the same time his mind warps. Connections seem to be created freshly in his brain, in his biology, rewiring his senses to make him hyper-aware of the alpha at the other end of the bond that slowly comes into existence.

Someone is screaming. It could be him but he feels weirdly detached, like the process of a forced bond barely after he has presented is not happening to him.

His body goes limp, the screaming dies when the bond finishes the initial connection. Manjirou feels silent tears run down his face, feels his neck burning and pulsing, feels like his body is on fire but he also feels like all wires on his limbs are cut, like he is a marionette lying on the ground. He can see the dark uniforms of Touman, of his gang but it is like they are fogged up, he cannot see clearly anymore. He wants to see Takemichi, or Draken, or anyone else of his beloved Touman one more time, but his eyes refuse to refocus. Heavy sadness settles in his chest.

They slip out of his grasp like Emma did. Like Shinichirou, then Baji, then Emma.

White hair and purple eyes appear in his vision and it is the sharpest view he has on anything. His alpha. The automatic thought that Manjirou does not know where it comes from twists like a hot, sharp knife in his stomach, which is churning in discomfort and dread, painful and unbearable.

No, this...cannot be happening. He is losing...

"Sleep now, my mate," Izana coos and his scent wraps around Manjirou in a protective, soothing manner. The blond hates how his body reacts when his mind wants to defy, he wants to claw at his scent glands to rip the bond away, but his eyelids grow heavy and his already limp body numbs until he feels like he is falling into a deep, dark pit.

Ah, so he is back here. He has no choice but to let it happen. He can't fight it, after all. There is nothing to fight here. There's nothing to expect or to look forward to, either. There won't be an Emma or a Shinichirou or a Baji at the bottom waiting for him, but at least the pain stopped.

Manjirou loses consciousness, lost to the world around him erupting in chaos at the strong, invincible Mikey defeated, claimed, mated.

Notes: