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No, this must be a mistake.
This can’t be happening.
It can’t be happening.
Hoshina blinked several times until his vision went blurry, but the result remained the same. He had to check a second time just to make sure it wasn’t his imagination, but no—the same result appeared again.
He didn’t even notice when he leaned against the wall and slowly slid down until the cold tiles touched the exposed skin of his thighs.
Being a bit dramatic, he hugged his knees to his chest, hid his face, and let out a scream. Thank goodness he was home alone—he didn’t want to worry Gen any more than he already was.
Oh God, Gen… what was he supposed to tell Gen?
All week he’d been unreasonable, and his partner was the one paying the price. He wouldn’t have suspected anything if it weren’t for Mina’s joke about his mood swings.
Now, the answer to his behavior was staring back at him in the form of two vertical lines, almost mocking him.
In his defense, there had been no morning sickness or any other symptoms—his scent hadn’t changed either, except for the hint of frustration and anger he’d been giving off lately. Of course, Gen, being his alpha, noticed and asked about it, but Hoshina had brushed it off as stress from organizing this year’s exams, given the overwhelming number of candidates. Ever since the disaster with Kaiju No. 9, more and more people seemed interested in joining the JAKDF every year.
Now that he finally had an answer for his behavior, he felt awful. These past few days, Gen had treated him with extra care because anything could set him off. He hadn’t even played video games—he focused solely on taking care of him, cooking his favorite meals or trying to help him relax, while Hoshina only seemed to lose his patience faster.
First, he needed to apologize. Then he’d have to break the news.
How was he supposed to tell him? How would Gen take it? Would he be happy… or disappointed?
They’d been careful for years. Hoshina was on treatment to prevent pregnancy, but everything went to hell last month when his heat coincided with Gen’s schedule. Caught up in the moment, Gen forgot protection—and Hoshina forgot his medication. Now the consequences were here. It was something that could have been expected, but still—there had been no reason to suspect it.
Both hands pressed against his head, the situation stressing him out even more. While they had never completely ruled out having children, they’d agreed it would be years down the line. For now, their priorities were their responsibilities as captain and vice-captain of their respective divisions.
Hoshina had never denied his nature, but being an omega had been a constant obstacle in his previous division before transferring to Tachikawa. He hadn’t just been harshly criticized for his choice of weapon, but also for his secondary gender. Many people—especially his family—expected him to settle down with a well-born alpha, give up his dream of joining the Defense Force, and stay home raising children as a fencing instructor or a house spouse.
Those expectations only pushed him to do the exact opposite. It had been difficult, but being under Captain Ashiro was the best thing that could have happened to him. Despite being an alpha, she never looked down on him for being an omega, and against all odds, she promoted him to vice-captain.
So yes—he didn’t want children. Not right now. Even though kaiju activity had decreased after defeating Kaiju No. 9, it hadn’t disappeared. You never knew when another daikaiju might appear.
And then there was the fact that his condition would prevent him from participating in subjugation missions. As much as he hated to admit his annoying suit was right, he enjoyed fighting—and Gen knew that too.
“There’s no need to rush. Maybe we’ll bring this up again in a few years, but for now, let’s focus on killing kaiju and not dying in the process.”
He’d agreed with Gen back then. And now this happened.
Standing up, he washed his hands and left the test on the sink. Leaving the bathroom, he headed to the living room where he’d left his phone. He checked the time—Gen wouldn’t be home until 8 p.m., which meant he still had some time alone. Then he noticed a notification from Gen from just ten minutes ago. He opened it.
Gen:
Hey, Hasegawa let me leave early.
I just need to check a few things with Shinonome and Tachibana, then I’m heading home.
I’ll be there in 30 minutes.
I love you.
Well—there went his hours to mentally prepare.
“Could you please stop stinking up your office?”
Narumi looked up from the document he was reading and shot a sharp glare at his vice-captain, who of course didn’t even flinch. Still, he tried to suppress his scent as much as possible, making Hasegawa stop frowning.
“So, what’s got you so stressed?”
Setting the papers aside, Narumi clicked his tongue and crossed his arms, refusing to admit he was pouting. “It’s Sou.”
“Is Soushirou okay?” Hasegawa asked with concern.
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
Hasegawa placed the documents on his captain’s desk and sat in one of the chairs in front of it, giving Narumi the green light to explain what was going on. In short, Soushirou had been in a bad mood lately—anything could irritate him or make him explode out of nowhere, which was highly unusual for him. Narumi had been stressed all week trying to figure out what was wrong. Soushirou claimed it was probably stress from the upcoming entrance exams for his division, which was understandable given they were receiving almost as many applicants as the First Division.
“I don’t know what’s going on with him. He’s also more tired than usual. Ashiro told me she sent him home this morning—she doesn’t know what’s wrong either.”
“Why did she give him the day off?”
“She said he snapped at Okonogi from operations.”
That genuinely surprised Hasegawa, since he knew she and Soushirou were friends. When Narumi heard it, he hadn’t believed it either, but he doubted Ashiro would joke about something like that—they weren’t close enough for that.
“Did he really do that?”
On the other end of the call, Ashiro sighed tiredly. “Yes. I’m worried. I’ve never seen him act like this.”
“You’re not the only one.”
“I don’t know what’s going on or what you did, but fix it.”
Fix it? That was exactly what he’d been trying to do all week, but instead of opening up and telling him what was wrong, Soushirou had only shut down further.
All this time, the questions circling his mind were: Did I do something wrong? Did I forget an important date? Is he tired of me? Is he going to leave me? The insecurities from the beginning of their relationship had resurfaced, stressing him out so badly that his scent had gone out of control, making his fear, stress, and frustration impossible to hide.
“That’s not something Soushirou would do.”
“I know.” Narumi collapsed onto the desk, knocking a few things over, but this time Hasegawa didn’t comment. “I just want to know if I did something wrong.”
Hasegawa’s heart clenched. He knew how important Soushirou was to Narumi. Contrary to what many believed, Narumi was an incredibly understanding, romantic, and devoted partner. He loved Soushirou deeply, and this rough patch was probably something he never saw coming.
“Listen, Narumi. I don’t think you did anything wrong.” Narumi kept his face against the desk. “If Soushirou got the day off, why don’t you go home too?”
That finally made Narumi look up, staring at Hasegawa as if he’d grown two heads. He had never been sent home before—forced into meetings and paperwork, yes—but given the rest of the day off? Never.
Seeing his captain’s skeptical look, Hasegawa walked around the desk and forced him to stand. “Yes, you heard me right. Take the day off.”
Still hesitant, Narumi grabbed a couple of folders from his desk. “Alright.” He pulled out his phone and texted Sou to let him know. With a bit of hesitation, he added an I love you at the end. “I’ll just drop these off with Shinonome and leave some instructions.”
Hasegawa nodded. “I hope you bring me good news tomorrow.”
“So do I.”
Hasegawa watched Narumi leave, still slightly slumped. Even as a beta with a weaker sense of smell, the scent of anguish lingered in the room. Narumi’s usual hyacinth-and-pepper aroma had almost completely vanished, replaced by something heavier. He opened the window to air out the office, noticing Narumi had even cleaned the place to cope with his stress.
He sincerely hoped things would get better.
The ride home felt endless to Narumi, the knot in his stomach still there from not getting a response from Soushirou. When he arrived at the apartment complex, he parked his motorcycle and stayed there for a moment.
At this hour, the parking lot was empty except for Hoshina’s car, so no one saw him knock his head against his helmet once he took it off. He needed to calm down and suppress his scent so he wouldn’t stress or irritate Soushirou any further. Once he managed that, he headed home with heavy steps.
“I’m home,” he announced softly.
Taking off his shoes and hanging his jacket, he noticed Soushirou’s things were there—confirmation that he was home.
The second thing he noticed was that Soushirou’s wisteria-and-sandalwood scent seemed back to normal, no longer as heavy and suffocating as it had been in recent days.
As he walked further in, he spotted his partner on the balcony, sitting in the rocking chair with a cup of coffee and a book. He looked calm. So Narumi went to the bedroom to change before approaching him.
The third thing he noticed was that the nest had been rebuilt on their bed. That surprised him, since Soushirou had dismantled it and moved to the study, where he’d been sleeping lately, leaving Narumi alone in the bed.
He quickly changed out of his uniform into something more comfortable and returned to the living room.
Soushirou hadn’t moved, but he had set his book down on the table. Without saying anything, he gestured for Narumi to sit with him. Narumi, of course, complied.
“Hey,” Soushirou greeted him.
“Hey,” Narumi replied, sitting beside him and cautiously wrapping an arm around his shoulders. If Soushirou noticed, he didn’t say anything—he just intertwined their fingers.
Narumi was a little confused. After days of walking on eggshells, seeing Soushirou this calm was not what he’d expected.
Hoshina noticed Gen’s hesitation, but he couldn’t blame him, so he said nothing. He could feel Gen’s confusion, which only deepened his guilt. He really needed to apologize. Giving their intertwined hands a squeeze before letting go, he repositioned himself so they were facing each other.
“There’s something I need to tell you.” Gen tensed but nodded, swallowing nervously.
In a voice heavy with regret, Hoshina whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“Huh?” was the eloquent response.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been acting like an idiot these past few days and only made things hard for you.”
Gen tried to deny it, but Hoshina interrupted by cupping his cheek and stroking his cheekbone with his thumb. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.
Narumi took that hand and gently kissed the inside of his wrist. “It’s okay, Sou. Really.”
Hoshina knew it wasn’t, but Gen was so considerate that he’d probably forgiven him from day one.
Now came the hardest part—dropping the bomb.
“That’s not the only thing you want to say, is it?”
Gen was always so perceptive. He noticed the hesitation—and his scent was probably betraying his nerves too.
His palms were sweating, his heart racing. He tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come, so he took the test he’d hidden behind him and handed it to Gen, who accepted it with confusion.
Narumi had waited patiently for Soushirou to speak, but cautiously took the object in his hands and realized what it was—a pregnancy test. His breath caught in his lungs when he turned it over and saw the two vertical lines staring back at him.
Gen stared at the test, frozen like a statue, not moving or blinking for almost a full minute, making Hoshina fidget anxiously, his mind racing.
Why isn’t he saying anything? Is he surprised? Is he upset? Does he even know what this means?
He couldn’t take the silence any longer. “Gen?”
That snapped the other man out of it. “This… is this for real?”
Soushirou lowered his gaze and nodded. It didn’t last long—Gen took his face in both hands and lifted it, allowing Hoshina to see the tenderness in his eyes and the smile on his face.
“Is this why you’ve been acting like this all week?”
Soushirou shook his head. “Not really. I only found out recently.”
“Do you want it?”
The question caught him off guard. Do you want it? He wasn’t entirely sure. It was an unexpected surprise, and if he was honest, pregnancy scared him. But he knew he could handle it—especially with Gen by his side. So he answered confidently, “Yes. I want it.”
That made Gen grin widely. “That’s all that matters.” He pulled Soushirou into a kiss, which he gladly returned. “This is wonderful news, love.”
“I was afraid your reaction would be bad.”
Gen snorted. “Who do you take me for? I was more scared that you were going to leave me.”
Soushirou laughed. “Leave you? You’re stuck with me, Captain.”
Gen laughed too. “God, all week you had me on the verge of a breakdown because I didn’t know what was going on with you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it now. Looks like it’ll be a bit dramatic.”
With a mischievous smile, Soushirou replied, “Then it’ll take after its father.” Gen poked his ribs, making him burst into loud laughter.
They stayed outside a while longer, wrapped in each other’s arms, enjoying each other’s warmth, hands intertwined over Soushirou’s stomach—right where their little one was growing.
A beautiful, unexpected surprise.