Chapter Text
Niki wakes up to a loud rumble coming from his stomach, a perfectly normal occurrence since he’s nearly always hungry. He also feels hot, which has also become more normal as of late with both him and Rinne sharing a bed that wasn’t really meant for two people. There was no way Niki could afford another mattress and he wasn’t going to force his guest onto the floor so that was that. It was getting colder at night anyway and this helped save money on heating the place; money that needed to go towards feeding two mouths now so every bit counted. Maybe it was time for Niki to start looking for some part time work. Working in a kitchen would probably be ideal.
But he was getting off track.
The gnawing feeling in his stomach comes back at full force, and Niki struggles the escape the confines of his blankets as well as Rinne’s arms and legs. For some reason it’s proving to be difficult to get his limbs to properly cooperate. With a whine Niki gives up his pursuit and flops back down into the comforter. This is it. This is where he finally dies. Maybe taking Rinne in was a mistake after all. Even if he helped get him ingredients it wouldn’t mean much if Niki passed away because he couldn’t get up to cook it.
If they find Niki’s body in the apartment will Rinne be blamed for his murder?
Though no one really knows that he is living with Niki, and it isn’t like Rinne’s name was on the lease so maybe it would be fine. Rinne could just leave and no one would have any clue. That was good, Niki didn’t really want Rinne to be blamed for his death if he didn’t really mean to kill Niki. Besides the past few weeks of them sharing a living space had been tons of fun, so at least Niki had enjoyed himself before his untimely demise.
Ahhh he was losing focus again. Instead of fighting the blankets it might be easier to wake Rinne up and have him roll off of Niki, then Rinne wouldn’t have to go on the run in the first place. He pats on Rinne’s arm and calls out to him, “Onii-san move, I need breakfast.”
Instead of his desired outcome of being set free like he expected, Rinne pulls Niki tighter into his arms and breathes in deeply. It makes Niki feel even warmer than he thought possible, maybe he really was getting sick. He pushes weakly against Rinne and whines even louder, “Seriously, let go. I’m gunna starveee.”
Niki’s not quite sure what happens after that.
One moment Rinne is burying his face into Niki’s chest, sleepily grumbling in the way he always does in the mornings, then he is suddenly pulling away, eyes wide open with a look on his face that could only be described as panic. Before Niki can even blink Rinne is halfway across the room and out the door. It slams closed after him with no explanation provided leaving Niki alone and incredibly confused.
Did Rinne forget where he was? Or maybe he forgot who Niki was?
Ah, maybe Rinne realized he should make his escape before Niki actually dies, that’s probably a good plan. Well it’s fine, now Niki can get up and make his own food…
Or he would if he could move. Everything was taking much more effort than normal even without Rinne’s octopus-like grip holding him back.
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On the other side of the door Rinne’s heart is beating wildly from his sudden wake up call.
Rinne had been soundly asleep, already accustomed to Niki moving around and waking up early to feed his incessant hunger. He was enjoying a nice smelling scent and planned to drift back into dreamland when Niki had spoken up and suddenly it clicked in his brain. The scent was from an omega’s heat, and the only other person in there was Niki. An alpha like Rinne absolutely could not stay in there and risk taking advantage of his host like that. He panicked and fled before a less than convenient part body woke up to the smell.
He had been under the assumption that Niki was a beta this whole time. There wasn’t any sort of noticeable scent around the apartment in the time he had been staying with him, and he hadn’t seen Niki taking anything like the omega back at his village took either.
It was fairly obvious that Rinne was an alpha, and it’s not like Rinne hid his scent. He couldn’t imagine Niki would have let them share a bed if he knew his own dynamic?
Or maybe not. This kid he found himself living with didn’t seem to be the brightest, his head often preoccupied with food and otherwise easily distracted. It was entirely possible that it wasn’t something that would have even occurred to Niki to mention. No, even with Niki being as absent minded as he was he wouldn’t have forgotten something this important. This was probably his first then.
Even though it was a bit late for something like this it wasn’t unheard of to present at fourteen. Even if it was technically late it still felt way too young for an omega to give themselves up to an alpha. Biology sure was fucked, telling what was essentially a child that they were old enough to have their own children. How cruel. People should be able to make their own decisions without something stupid like hormones clouding their judgement.
Rinne squats down onto the floor and lays his head on folded arms, suddenly exhausted. This fucking sucked, he finally got a place to stay and now his host would probably be too scared to keep him around. Not that Rinne could really blame him. He can’t imagine alphas and omegas normally just live together, even in the city.
From the bedroom side of the door Rinne can hear rustling along with the loud and intimately familiar rumble of Niki’s stomach.
Shit.
Even with as much food as the kid consumed on a daily basis he always acted like he was minutes away from starvation. He probably wouldn’t be able to cook meals for him in the state he was in. So unless he wanted to let his savior die it was up to Rinne to take care of Niki until this whole ordeal was over.
A loud thump sounds off and Rinne has the sneaking suspicion that Niki rolled himself off the bed and would be shortly making his way for the door. Absolutely not on Rinne’s watch!
“S-stay right there.” God he was stuttering. He couldn’t be blamed though he was barely awake and already thrown into this mess. “I’ll grab you something to eat so just… just wait.”
Rinne practically runs into the kitchen to grab something that doesn’t need to be cooked. While granola bars might not be a breakfast food they would have to do until Rinne could figure out how to use the appliances in the kitchen.
He’s back to the bedroom in record time. Rinne flings the door open before he can think better of it. Now that he’s coming in from a different room it is incredibly obvious what this particular scent is.
As he expected, Niki is on the floor wrapped up in blankets and pathetically struggling to free his arms. Does the cocoon wrapped around him count as a nest? Rinne wasn’t sure and doesn’t want to risk it, so instead he hovers in the doorway not sure what to do with himself. He tosses the bars in Niki’s direction as if he’s some sort of dangerous animal inside of an enclosure. Get too close and he’ll lose a finger.
Niki looks up at the sound of the bars hitting the ground and does his best to wiggle his way along the floor and reach for them. Still all tangled up in the sheets he’s exactly like a hungry little caterpillar. If Rinne wasn’t so stressed about this whole affair he’d probably laugh at how pathetic both of them were acting. Niki is preoccupied with food and thankfully doesn’t pay his housemate’s strange behavior any mind. He scarfs down his food, quickly polishing off the remains of the box.
While he’s licking the crumbs off of his fingers he finally looks up and vaguely registers Rinne standing in the doorway. That makes sense he supposes, Rinne doesn’t want to get sick so he’s keeping his distance. Niki doesn’t think to question further.
Rinne clears his throat when he sees Niki looking at him and averts his gaze, “I’ll uhh, be staying in the living room for the time being. Ya need anything just shout I guess. Anything you need before I leave?”
Niki opens his mouth and Rinne interrupts to say, “Besides food, I know that wasn’t enough, I’ll try and make something more substantial for you, so just wait here. Got it?”
Hesitantly he glances back. Niki’s face still seems a bit unfocused, but the words about food reach him and he shoots Rinne a dopey little grin and simply replies, “Yer the best!”
Rinne flushes and practically slams the door shut as he leaves to get food started.
Niki had no right being that cute. This whole morning was bad for his heart.
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Rinne didn’t have the most cooking experience. For most of his life food had been prepared for him. But he had watched people cook before and Niki had shown him how to use the internet from his phone, so it was fairly simple to look up an easy recipe for beginners. He settles on a rice porridge since it doesn’t require many ingredients and it was a dish he’d had before. At the very least he knows what it is supposed to taste like.
Between familiarizing himself with the kitchen area (which was typically Niki’s domain) and fighting with the appliances, Rinne manages to produce something bland, but edible. The whole thing takes longer than he’d like to admit, but at least it’s not burned. Ladling a generous portion into a bowl he makes his way back to the bedroom once again.
He hesitates upon reaching this door. This time the food is in a ceramic dish so he can’t use his tried and true method of simply flinging the meal and retreating. Rinne’s not sure he should go in at all, but then hears Niki’s stomach grumble through the door along with Niki whining pitifully and it seems that Rinne no longer has a choice. He decides on knocking and coming in carefully.
Niki is still on the floor, exactly where he left him. He seems to have started dozing off, his eyes closed and brows furrowed, looking incredibly uncomfortable. His scent was getting even stronger than it had been before.
But still, Rinne can’t exactly throw the bowl no matter how much he wants to. So he does his best to breath shallowly and braves his way in and approaches the sleeping beast. Niki is already stirring at the smell of cooked rice.
Rinne nudges him into a seated position with his foot and wordlessly hands over the offering. Niki is suddenly much more alert, and like a man possessed starts shoveling porridge into his mouth. Rinne would be concerned with the speed if he hadn’t already been sharing meals with the younger teen for the past few weeks. If anything Niki’s movements were slower than usual.
He still manages to finish before Rinne can make his escape though. Looking up at him from his position on the floor he asks, “Onii-san, before you leave could you help me back onto the bed?”
Rinne wants to refuse.
He wants to refuse so so badly. But it seems like Niki really can’t move and he looks horribly uncomfortable laying on the floor. So he sucks it up and tries to not breathe in as he reaches down to pick Niki up. Even through the blankets he can feel Niki’s body heat. He sets Niki onto the mattress as carefully and as quickly as possible before he can linger too much on it.
Niki can’t even get out a thank you before Rinne is already out of the room, the door once again slammed shut behind him. All that remains is the empty bowl left on the floor. He’s not sure why but something twists in his stomach at that.
He should be used to people avoiding him, kids at school did it often. Whispering behind his back about his father like he couldn’t hear them. Rumors about him and his family that had no basis in reality spread like wildfire. Niki learned to expect it by now, never got too bothered by it, but for some reason it hurt coming from Rinne.
He wishes Rinne would have stayed with him, the bed feels much too large for one person now.
But then Rinne would get sick too…
Niki knows that but it still hurts.
He pulls the blankets tighter around himself. It’s too hot, but the sheets smell like Rinne. He had never really noticed it before, but now it's comforting. It's still not the same as Rinne’s arms though. He frowns. It’s funny how he’s become so used to another person’s presence so quickly and now it just feels wrong without him here.
It’s difficult to settle down again this time. He’s restless and hungry still. Even though Rinne had given him a generous portion of food he still felt empty. He was always so empty.
At least he wasn’t about to starve anymore, so more food could wait.
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Even through his shallow breaths Rinne could still smell Niki’s scent clinging to his clothing. He tries to will himself to not react, because Niki is a child and he was trusting Rinne to take care of him, but still the scent of an omega in heat would do something to any young alpha… He pointedly ignores it.
God he wanted to change clothes, but all of his things were in Niki’s room. Even the shower was in there and there was no way he was going back in and risking interrupting something Niki didn’t want him to see. He takes off his shirt and leaves it by the bedroom door to try and separate himself from the scent as much as possible.
Suddenly exhausted, Rinne resigns himself to the couch, grabbing a blanket on his way since he’s now sans shirt. But even the blanket smells like Niki. It doesn’t have the same heady heat scent, but it keeps Rinne from being able to relax. Instead he stares up at the ceiling and tries to figure out what food he’ll try and attempt next. He’ll have to figure out something for himself as well. How Niki did this all the time was beyond him.
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At some point he must have drifted off because Niki wakes up covered in sweat and still feeling feverish and sticky everywhere. Even the feeling of his pj’s on his skin is loud. He finds himself whining from discomfort in a way he was sure Rinne would find annoying, but he couldn’t really care.
His body aches and he is too hot and too cold all at once. Peeling off sticky layers of clothing provides some relief, but having the sheets directly on his skin doesn't provide the most comfortable feeling ever.
With disappointment he notes that Rinne’s scent isn’t as strong as it had been earlier. He’s not sure why that fact is making him feel lonely. His stomach once again feels like it is eating itself from the inside out, being sick was the absolute worst. In a moment of lucidity Niki hopes for it to end soon.
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But it ends up being nearly a week before he’s fully recovered. Rinne had taken care of him the entire time, patiently bringing in food, snacks, and drinks. Even dragging a weak-kneed Niki back and forth from the restroom. Niki had even caught him changing a wet towel on his feverish head more than once. Rinne was a much more patient person than he let on, but would still run out of the room every time Niki no longer needed him.
Finally feeling well enough to stand on shaky legs again Niki cooks up a feast. In part as thanks to Rinne and part to himself. As kind as it was for Rinne to feed him that whole time, his cooking skills were severely lacking and Niki missed the taste of seasoning. And judging by the relieved look on Rinne’s face at the sight of the spread he must have felt the same way.
Within a few days of Niki’s recovery he is back to normal activities, cooking meals, cleaning, attending classes, and homework if he can remember it. Another night, another dinner, another evening of board games and pleasant banter is behind them and Niki is getting ready for bed.
As he’s finishing brushing his teeth Niki notices Rinne making himself comfortable on the couch again and frowns. “It’s been colder out recently, will you have enough blankets? I’ll need to get more if we’re splitting them between two places.”
Rinne is confused, it almost seemed like Niki was inviting back to the bed. Hesitantly he responds, “Ah, no that’s alright, we can bring them all back to your room if you want? It just became a habit.”
Niki breaks out into a relieved grin, “Please, it’s been really chilly without you.” Niki normally ran cold, so without Rinne acting as a heater for him his body used up even more calories during the night to keep his temperature regulated.
Rinne nods and gathers up his thin blanket as Niki tugs him in the direction of the bedroom. As soon as they’re both under the covers Niki is snuggling up against Rinne and sighing contently.
Rinne freezes for a moment at the sudden contact, fully expecting Niki to stay as far away from him as possible given the circumstances. But Niki doesn’t do anything besides sigh contentedly so Rinne forces himself to relax as well.
As Rinne settles down he notes that apart from the faint remains on the blanket there wasn’t much of a smell. Niki’s omega scent was fairly faint and mostly overpowered but the smell of spices from his cooking which was a relief, he didn’t know if he’d be able to handle the arrangement otherwise.
Gathering Niki up in his arms he puts it out of his mind and drifts off.
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It becomes a regular thing where every few months Niki will get sick for a while and Rinne will take care of him. He brings food, cool compresses and really anything that Niki asked of him, but never really staying in the room with him. Instead choosing to camp out in the living room until Niki has recovered. Rinne’s cooking abilities even manage to improve with all the times he has to take up the task.
Even as time goes on and their relationship progresses, with Rinne acting more brash and teasing him more or stealing his wallet, whenever Niki got sick like this Rinne will be back to that kid he was when Niki first picked him up off the streets, quiet, considerate, less willing to intrude upon Niki’s personal space.
Part of him ached when Rinne would treat him this way. Not that he likes the headlocks and bullying, but Rinne always seems so far away from him and when he’s sick he desires the comfort of a familiar presence. However, he understands that both of them being sick would be no good so he never mentions it to Rinne. He doesn’t want to be ungrateful for what he does get, even if he doesn’t deserve it.
It’s strange, while he never had the best bill of health he never got sick like this as a child. Niki would sometimes briefly wonder why he seems to come down with it so bad so often, but ultimately marks it up to the stress of taking care of both himself and Rinne. Not that he would trade that up. He was paid back in Rinne taking care of him so nicely when he was under the weather so it was worth it in the end.
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Becoming an idol was a unique experience in a lot of ways. Niki had never been so exhausted before in his life. It felt pointless to waste so much energy if it was only going to make him hungry faster. Not to mention that being in the public eye like this again brought about a sense of unease. He almost felt as if he didn’t deserve to show his face again after he had already been discarded from the spotlight once before.
Cooking would always be his greatest passion, but despite his many complaints Niki found himself enjoying his idol activities. Ever since he left school he never really had the chance to interact with people his own age aside from Rinne. It was nice to have a group of people he belonged to. People who didn’t gossip about his past. People who he could cook for and share regular meals with. Having company always made the food taste even more divine. It was like when he used to have meals with his family.
Sure, the singing and dancing was hard, tedious work that left him sweaty and sore. He didn’t see the point in it at first, but being on stage with his unit he felt like he could be himself. He could explore his identity outside of the kitchen. What the things were that made up Niki aside from his stomach.
And speaking of his stomach, the way Rinne’s face lit up on stage did funny things to it. Not a hunger per se, but a fluttering. It was scary and exciting just how much he was feeling, how he felt like his heart was about to beat itself right out of his chest and fall onto the stage for everyone to see.
When the show ended and Niki was about to collapse, Rinne would catch Niki and practically carry him backstage. Still high from the adrenaline he’d use all his extra energy to tend to Niki, get him fed and changed into casual wear for the trip home. There was none of his usual teasing, instead he’d tell Niki how great he had done, how much fun he had, and how he couldn’t wait to be on stage with him again.
The soft look Rinne had when he talked to him like this almost had Niki believing it. Even if Niki still felt subpar compared to his unitmates it felt nice to be praised so openly.
So for as much as he complained about their idol activities Niki never missed a practice. He’d occasionally be late, snacks in hand when he was busy with work, but he was there every day. It was unusual for a practice session to actually get started without him. Which is what made this particular day stand out to the other members of Crazy.B. All members with the exception of their resident hungry bee were present, even Rinne had shown up on time for once.
The rest of the group is still doing warm ups when there is a collective buzz from their phones signaling a message to their group chat. HiMERU being the closest to their bags checks and announces, “It appears that Shiina-san is feeling ill and won’t be able to make it to practice today.”
Rinne groans loudly at the message. “That bastard shoulda told me sooner, he never warns me,” he complains loudly, but he’s already started packing up to leave. “You guys can practice on yer own, I’m heading out.”
Kohaku makes a face once he catches on. If it’s something Niki needed to warn Rinne about, there was pretty much only one possibility.
All the members of Crazy:B were aware of Niki’s presentation simply from the amount of time they spent sweating together in close proximity. Niki never talks about it, so it doesn’t feel appropriate to bring up, but it is essentially a well known secret to anyone who spends any significant amount of time with the chef.
Unlike Kohaku, HiMERU is able to train his face into something more neutral and diplomatically calls after, “Use protection, HiMERU doesn’t want any sort of scandal.”
The result is delicious as Niki would put it. Rinne’s face turns a deep red, he sputters a bit before yelping out, “It’s not like that.” Rinne isn’t usually one to shy away from crude topics, but he is sometimes surprisingly sensitive when it comes to his relationship with Niki.
Kohaku scoffs, “What sort of alpha and omega just live together and nothing else. The two of you could be a little more subtle about your relationship honestly.”
Rinne places a hand over his chest in mock shock, “How disgusting, you think I would defile Niki like that before we’re even married? What kind of man do you take me for?”
Kohaku doesn’t bother with a response, merely rolling his eyes and getting back to work. Rinne slinks out of the practice room without any additional protest. Close observation would reveal a pink still dusting his cheeks, but if the other bees notice they don’t comment.