Chapter Text
Tomura breathes out heavily through his nostrils, leaning his head back against the cold concrete wall. Staring up at the bleak grey ceiling, Tomura wallows in his isolation of misery.
The pale yellow, fluorescent lights were starting to irritate his eyes, they had been on full blast the entirety of the night. Even when he tried to close his tired red eyes and shut them out, they left a residual stain in his eyelids.
It almost felt like they had burned themselves there.
When he goes to go rub his eyes, Tomura somehow managed to forget about the handcuffs keeping his hands securely tucked behind his back.
Huffing again, he decided the best course of action was to just angle himself forwards and use his long sky-blue hair as a shield.
He knew it was pointless to feel any kind of irritation, as it was his own fucking fault that he was here in the first place.
He couldn't really help it though, as no one had even bothered to check on him in the past twenty-four hours.
And that stupid little voice of worry was starting to worm up his spine.
Tomura paused in his aimless thoughts, trying to remember what had happened to him to deserve the criminal equivalent of the silent treatment.
He had been going about his day and just happened to get caught by a wealthy alpha when he slipped the change purse from his mate's bag.
Tomura's excited scent spiked just so slightly after passing the female omega that it immediately made the idiot alpha suspicious.
When said alpha immediately shoved Tomura into the nearest brick wall, he had dropped the floral-print purse.
He wants to argue that it was practically screaming his name, by the way.
The stupid little change wallet was practically falling out of her bag.
All of this over maybe ten dollars' worth of change.
For fuck's sake.
The older alpha was more furious over Tomura being near his mate than the pickpocketing. Some knot-headed, insecure idiot that thought Tomura's scent of excitement was relating to his fugly omega.
When in reality he was just excited to get that stupid new strawberry shake from McDonald's.
Stupid goddamned mcflurries.
Stupid elite alpha asshole.
Stupid society and its stupid bullshit rules.
Not everyone was just begging to be mated, and certainly not every alpha out there fit into society's so-called standards.
Tomura understood perfectly well how society viewed him. As a tall, lean, unmated alpha male essentially screamed trouble.
Although, Tomura didn't want trouble. He just wanted to be happy.
Just because he was an alpha did not mean that he didn't need, or dare he say it - want nice things occasionally.
It didn't mean that Tomura occasionally wanted sweet treats too, because those weren't owned exclusively by omegas. He didn't see a patent out there where all the cozy and cute things had to go to them.
And he also didn't need to be mated to qualify for these types of treats either. He shouldn't be expected to cater to what everyone else decided he ought to be.
Tomura did rely on his little sort-of pack of vigilante friends. Just mostly acceptable companions compared to everyone else.
They tended to help themselves and each other with their petty schemes, mostly credit card fraud or pirating movies. Maybe the occasional pickpocket, but Tomura honestly hadn't done that in over two god-damned years.
Usually, people would want him to use his hacking skills for whatever nefarious reason. At least it paid well, and he didn't have much to want besides the occasional sugary treat.
Like a stupid mcflurry.
To sum up, Tomura was a fucking moron. He didn't even need the money that this most recent incident landed him in jail for.
Bouncing the back of his skull against the wall, Tomura berated himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Tomura knew the moment he returned that his friends would rub it in his face that they got to try the new flavor before he did.
He chuckled to himself thinking of those idiots. However, it was stuff like that where he considered them more than just random NPCs.
Okay, maybe he could admit that he kinda missed their dumb faces.
A little bit.
Just barely.
Tomura frowned again, bringing himself back to reality.
Why was it taking so long for someone to come and speak to him?
He's been through this more times than he could count since he was a teen.
Tomura would inevitably get caught, taken in, and booked before tossed into a cold cell.
This room was oddly different, an isolated area away from the cells that had the barred walls.
He didn't think turning 25 was any indication of special treatment at your local sheriff's office, but this was starting to get a little weird.
He was cuffed behind his back, like normal, but he was also muzzled and couldn't speak.
Tomura could still smell, albeit a little muted due to the padding on the lining of said muzzle.
He thought perhaps they had transferred in a new chief of police or something, as normally his petty crimes didn't even warrant him to stay overnight. He'd get a fine, pay it, and be on his merry little way.
They couldn't really do much when you could just pay your own bail more often than not.
But this time, Tomura was taken down the hall past where the other cells were.
He tried to think back, and he couldn't really remember smelling that many others in there, and it didn't seem likely they put him in this room simply because they were out of available spaces.
It just didn't really make sense.
He was an alpha, sure, but he wouldn't call himself an aggressive knot head that had to be kept from others.
Nor did the crime committed really fit the "time" spent in this cold little box.
The cold, quiet, solitude was starting to grate at him.
Tomura was permitted to keep his broken-in, faded red sneakers, his black jeans, and his black V-neck t-shirt.
He was stripped of his cozy blue and black striped hoodie though, something about getting it stuck on the cuffs.
The cool stagnant air was sending goosebumps up his pale exposed arms and made him shiver.
Hugging his arms closer to his body, he tried his best to keep the cool air at bay.
Tomura had been settled onto the small cot that was against the far wall of the room, with just the door on the opposite end.
He glanced around, taking in the sparse space again. There was a metal toilet/sink contraption, which is absolutely nasty, and he will hold it until he gets to leave this dump.
How's he supposed to relieve himself anyway with his hands tied behind his back?
There were also no windows, and about a million fucking fluorescent lights that mimicked the blinding light of the very sun.
It also had the least amount of smell that a room has ever had, which was no scent whatsoever. Adding up to yet another strange detail.
Tomura supposed that could be due to the highly volatile, aggressive alpha types they would likely put into a space like this.
But again, this is Tomura.
Yes, he could hold himself in a fight, but he was not the type to seek them out.
Nope, zero confrontation all day long baby. Just give him his laptop and leave him the fuck alone.
Tomura gritted his teeth as the seconds ticked by, annoyance prodding into his sides. That, and the strain of, y'know, not using the restroom in over 24 hours.
Stupid fucking toilet contraption thing. It didn't even make sense how someone was supposed to use it.
Plus, he was so incredibly bored.
All he could think about was that damn Mcflurry and how sugary and sweet it would be, made with chocolate and fresh strawberries.
Like a friggen' dream.
He loved strawberries, and even though he refused to voice those words aloud, he would gladly eat anything strawberry flavored for the rest of his damn life.
Time continued to torment him, but as his thoughts wandered, Tomura was finally able to doze off where he sat upright against the wall.
-*-
He awoke with a jolt, his inner alpha alerting him to the faint noise outside of the room.
Finally, Tomura thought, so ready to be out of this grey box and back to the real world.
The door clicked with both mechanical and electrical locks before slowly creaked open.
It felt as if he was starring in some sort of horror movie or something.
Instinctually, Tomura scented the air, trying to gain some type of reading for who was about to enter.
Presumably a beta guard, but the accompanying smell was different, muted yet faintly sweet.
Like whomever it was had heavily doused themselves in scent-neutralizing spray and patches. At least that's what he could make out through the limited access of the muzzle.
Yet, in walked the heavy-set guard that normally sat at the front desk.
"Come on through, we want to limit the amount of time this door stays open." Tomura heard the chubby beta grunt at whomever-it-was that had yet to make their way through the doorframe.
Tomura rolled his eyes like, 'yes, watch out, 'cause the big bad alpha might try to escape!'
Instead, Tomura tried to make himself look as non-imposing as possible.
Just a normal guy, in the wrong room.
He's not dumb enough to try anything like running out that door right now, as much as he really wanted to.
Set on keeping himself as relaxed as his alpha would allow him to be, with his head slightly tipped down and eyes looking at the guard's shoes.
"Oh right! Sorry about that!" Came some squeaky little thing that slipped through the partially opened door, still held open by the guard.
Tomura couldn't help but glance up at the voice.
Squinting a bit at the mess of green on the person's head, was that seaweed or something?
The green guy made his way further into the room, with the guard still standing, well, guard at the open doorway.
"Just put your arms up in an "X" if you need me to come back in here. We have cameras on each side of the room, so we'll be able to see if you signal for assistance." The guard mimed the signal then pointed to the cameras as he spoke.
"Do not uncuff him. He's a slimy alpha bastard." The beta guard continued, voice a gruff grumble at the little green guy.
The guard dog then sent Tomura a highly unnecessary glare before turning out the way they came.
And just like that the two of them were alone.
The buzzing of the locks seemed to resonate out into the quiet concrete walls, and Tomura was able to get a better look at this random.
He had a mop of messy dark green curls, and now that he was closer, Tomura could tell it was actually the guy's hair.
Which is weird, right?
Seems like a pretty odd choice if he dyed it that way.
Then again, my hair is robin's egg blue and it's completely natural, Tomura hummed quietly to himself.
Taking in all of the kid in front of him, Tomura looked on curiously with his head still slightly tipped down. The seaweed creature wore tan khaki pants, and a simple yellow polo long-sleeved shirt.
If it was red Tomura might have thought for a second that he was actually in purgatory, and it was sponsored by Target.
He had red sneakers too, which Tomura thought was kinda neat. They almost had the exact same pair of shoes.
However, the young guy was just standing there chewing on his bottom lip, looking nervous as all hell.
They stared at each other for a few minutes, the green guy worrying his bottom lip and tugging down his long sleeves over his hands.
Irritated, Tomura attempted to make an "ah-hem" sound at him, which came out a bit gruffer than he wanted.
Wincing at the sound, Tomura tilts his head to the side as if to say, 'I can't talk you know.'
Stupid motherfucking muzzle.
The movement seemed to snap the smaller guy back into reality, causing him to let out a little embarrassed squeak.
"Oh right, yes, sorry! I forgot that you can't speak with that on." Rubbing the back of his neck, the strange guy meandered a little closer to where Tomura still sat on his cot, tentatively approaching him.
Tomura still couldn't really smell anything with this stupid thing on his face, but he thought he could make out the slightest whiff of something sunny. Reminiscent to blossoming flowers in a field during a lazy summer afternoon.
It wasn't a bad smell at all, and it fit this green person's whole thing he had going on.
Tomura knew his own scent was similar to roasted cinnamon apples and whiskey. It exuded a heavily alpha smell with only a hint of sweetness to it, just like Tomura.
"My name is Izuku Midoriya and I'm a social worker. I'm part of a new organization that aims to help Alphas, Betas, and Omegas in times of need." The man beamed, blinding Tomura with the world's biggest grin in existence.
Tomura had to blink quickly against it, Izuku's smile was somehow brighter than these goddamned fluorescent lights slowly cooking him like a Thanksgiving turkey.
Tomura noticed that even this guy's eyes were green, shimmering like emeralds and fully expressing how excited he was to talk about this.
Izuku then gave Tomura a thumbs up and continued to explain.
"We're a new group founded by the All Might foundation, and I'm one of the head case workers." Izuku continued to gush at Tomura.
Tomura could only really look up at Izuku and nodded like, 'okay, that's cool.'
So, what's that got to do with me? Tomura thought, furrowing his brows in his confusion.
He'd heard of All Might, but the Alpha was historically an advocate for omega civil rights. As alphas were taught from a young age that they were naturally born leaders and were supposed to take what they wanted in life.
Which Tomura always thought was total bullshit, it doesn't matter what your secondary sex is.
You're still human, and nothing about an alpha was special nor should be considered better than anyone else.
Not to mention betas were practically tossed to the side, even with the more recent changes for omegas favoring calmer beta partners over an alpha.
Tomura grits his teeth at the thought of All Might, just another wind bag alpha pushing an agenda.
Izuku cocked his head a little to the side, his left hand settled on his chin and just looking down at Tomura for a moment.
Tomura really didn't know what this green guy expected from him, but Tomura honestly tried to be patient.
Focused solely on keeping his demeaner calm, and his scent as placative as possible.
I just need to pass his inspection, or whatever the hell is going on right now. Then I can be outta here, Tomura thought dryly and lowered his eyes again in a show of submission.
Alphas weren't normally ones to do these types of behaviors, but Tomura was an expert at avoiding confrontation and he really, really, wanted to be out of this stupid room already.
Izuku dropped his fist from his chin and popped it on his other palm.
"Okay! You seem to be understanding and calm enough. I'm going to take your muzzle off now, alright?" Izuku offered, approaching Tomura quickly now.
All Tomura could do was nod again, eager to have his senses and ability to speak granted back.
He moved himself so his upper body was turned to the side, giving full access to the muzzle's clip on the back of his head.
Izuku slowly reached up and gently unclasped the muzzle, holding onto it so it fell to the side and wouldn't tangle into Tomura's loose hair.
Izuku quickly snatched it away from Tomura and retreated a few steps again, waiting to see what Tomura would do.
Air-mouthing to stretch out his sore jaw, Tomura sighs in relief.
"Ahh, that's much better. Thank you." Tomura croaked out as he turned to face Izuku again, clearing his throat at the sound of his unused voice.
Tomura gazed up at the green guy again.
"So... why are you here?" Tomura deadpans, cutting right to the point.
Izuku gave him another award-winning smile, his palms up in the air in a surrendering type of pose.
"Like I said, I'm here from the All Might foundation to help Alphas, Betas, and Omegas in-" Izuku started, with Tomura huffing in his impatience.
"No, no, I got all that. Why are you here for me?" Tomura leaned forward, interrupting Izuku from going off on another little tangent again.
"Um, sorry? Did no one speak with you?" Izuku asked in visible confusion, his cheesy grin faltered for a moment.
When Tomura just continued to stare at him in blatant confusion, Izuku eventually supplied, "I'm here to help you, you are Tomura Shigaraki, correct?"
Tomura inhaled deeply and signed.
"Yes. I am Tomura Shigaraki." Another purposely calming breath.
"I just don't understand why your organization would assign you to me. I don't need help. I just want to go home." Tomura supplied calmy and was trying very hard to keep himself from getting frustrated.
Izuku just continued to softly smile at him though, "Ah I see, I'm sorry that they didn't clue you into what was going on sooner."
Izuku lightly shook his head lightly, sending his green curls bouncing.
"It's come to my understand that you've been documented for multiple minor crimes. Most of them are essentially harmless. But, uhm, do you remember stealing from an alpha and his mate the other day?" Izuku asked, concern washing over his features.
As Izuku was explaining the situation at hand, he was letting out the slightest scent of distress.
Omega in distress. Well, barely.
More like sort-of stressed-out or anxious omega, and faint but still there enough for Tomura to pick up on.
This caused his inner alpha to scold Tomura, to 'stop upsetting the omega.'
Tomura inwardly hushed it, he barely knew this little green guy. There's honestly no need to get all stirred up.
Tomura groaned and leaned back again until his head met the wall, closing his eyes.
"Yeah, I recall. Did that knot head do something stupid?" Tomura responds, keeping his eyes closed as he curses the gods of this reality.
He was a little surprised to hear the quiet chuckle exhibited from Izuku, "Unfortunately yes, he placed a pretty serious report against you. Now, with everything else and this, it's made the law view you as a potentially dangerous alpha male."
Izuku was still putting out some very slightly anxious scent, but otherwise his demeanor remained pretty calm.
Calmer than Tomura felt about this whole fucking situation.
Jolting forward again, Tomura clenches his teeth in an almost sneer at Izuku's words.
"But I'm not dangerous! All I did was pickpocket her change purse!" Tomura tries, slumping his shoulders in his hope for a pity vote.
Tomura's abrupt movement caused Izuku to jump back a bit. Tomura then tried to give his best pleading face, eyebrows squished and an almost pout forming on his face.
"Please, I just want to go home. I swear that I did not do anything to deserve this." Pleading seemed like a reasonable option right now.
Even though what he was being told made sense, once an alpha was stamped as "dangerous" it was a steep uphill battle even back to normal.
Izuku finally sighed, frowning a little upon taking in the state of the man in front of him.
"Unfortunately, that alpha holds an elite stature. What I was able to do for you was get you enrolled into our program. It's uh, it's sort of like a rehabilitation program." Izuku offers, his voice coming out calm and soothing.
Izuku reverted back to fidgeting with his sleeves, "I know this isn't ideal, but it's better than getting locked up in an alpha high-security institution. Instead, we get to work in a safe house together and I'll be there to help you through the program."
Izuku was trying desperately to exhibit a positive outlook to this, but Tomura could not believe what he was hearing.
"Wait, wait, wait. Lemme get this straight," Tomura shakes his head, chuckling at the ridiculousness of this situation, "So a timid little omega is going to "help me" by living crammed in a safe house together with a big 'ole alpha criminal?"
Tomura wished he could decay these stupid handcuffs off like in that dream he had. That way, his air quotes would come across better.
Or he could finally use the goddamned bathroom.
Either would be acceptable options.
"It's a little ridiculous to think that situation is a good idea whatsoever." Tomura smirked, as there was no way that was his only option.
It'd be too easy for him to finagle his way out of this.
Izuku just laughed back at him, open mouth laughed.
"Oh, I assure you, I can handle myself. I'm the head of this division for a reason." Izuku's grin turned into something almost wicked as he waved off Tomura's comments.
Placing his hands on his hips, Izuku continues, "I'm trained in an array of combat techniques, weapons, and psychological practicalities." Izuku counts on his fingers as he goes.
"Besides," Izuku continues, grinning, "I would never place myself in a situation where I couldn't handle myself or those around me."
Crossing his arms, Izuku then proceeded to puff his chest out a bit.
Alpha posturing?
What the fuck is with this guy?
This caused Tomura's jaw to drop slightly. It was one thing for an alpha to be slightly submissive in a situation, but for an omega to posture was just unheard of.
Tomura's inner alpha had some other things to say about it, but he squashed that down quickly. This conversation was starting to put a foreign feeling in his chest, and Tomura was surprised his alpha wasn't getting defensive from Izuku's actions.
"Is this my only choice?" Tomura grumbled.
Afraid to hear the bad news, he closed his eyes again.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Unless you want to go to federal prison?" Izuku supplied, shrugging off Tomura's question.
Signing in defeat, Tomura accepted his fate for however long this ordeal was going to last.
"No, I really don't." Tomura grumbled, meeting those bright green eyes again.
"Since I don't have much of a choice in this, what do I need to do?" Tomura sighed, for like the umpteenth time in this stupid room.
Fine.
He'll do it, since he apparently had zero other options in this stupid fucking situation from hell.
But he was going to grumble about it the entire time.
Tomura had his little group of compatriots, but he didn't particularly like being around other people. In fact, he avoided people like the plague.
Call him an introvert, but people were mostly annoying or stupid, or both.
Alpha prison was so far removed from anywhere he wanted to go. He'd do anything to get out of being sent to that shit stain sandwich.
Besides, maybe it wouldn't be quite as terrible if this blinding ray of green sunshine was there.
The only omega he knew was Himiko, and she was sorta... batshit crazy most of the time, so she definitely wasn't what you'd call a typical omega.
Then again, Tomura mused, taking in the green guy again.
What was with that posturing? Is he even an omega?
This whole situation seemed like it was going to be exhausting for him regardless, Tomura just knew it.
"Well first, I have everything all set up for you at the home, but we need to get you escorted over to the facility. Are you ready to go now?" Izuku asked, turning to tilt his head at the door in invitation.
Izuku was still holding onto Tomura's muzzle and was fiddling with the straps while they spoke.
Tomura really needed to use the bathroom, and the faster he's out of this room and onto the next, the possibility significantly decreased that he would have to humiliate himself and have to ask for help to do so.
Hoisting himself up from his cot, Tomura winces as his joints pop loudly.
"Yeap, I'm all packed and ready to go." Tomura very dryly retorted, which actually made Izuku chuckle at him again.
Tomura always knew he was hilarious.
"Alright, I'll call for the guard." Izuku beamed.
Remembering the signal, Izuku put his arms up in the "X" form, turning himself left and right where the cameras could clearly see him.
Looking up at Tomura now that he was standing, Izuku continued to blind Tomura with his sunny disposition.
"I know this isn't exactly what you would call a great situation, but I am looking forward to working with you. It's very nice to meet you, Tomura Shigaraki!" Izuku beamed up at him with so much kindness radiating off of him.
Tomura couldn't help the slight blush that crept across his cheeks, no one had ever said they were happy to meet him.
Tomura's alpha was practically wagging his tail at Izuku's kind words.
"Thanks. Uh, yeah. Me too." Tomura grumbled embarrassingly, trying to hide his pink face by turning to the side.
There was a bit of a commotion caused by Izuku removing Tomura's muzzle. The guards apparently weren't having it, and it found a home again on his face.
Izuku was pretty unhappy with them, much to Tomura's curiosity. But the guards just retorted that it's "policy" or "necessary for travel", so Tomura ultimately lost that battle.
There were two larger guards that Tomura had never seen before, one a tall beefy alpha with silver hair and his face cut up with a gnarly scar. The other was lankier but was littered with tattoos, and they flanked him on both sides.
Tomura was muzzled, cuffed, and for a second, he thought he was meeting the president or something with the stupid amount of security involved in this whole ordeal.
That damn elite alpha must have caused a pretty big stink for them to consider Tomura such a high-level "threat" like this.
Eventually, after a strenuous car ride, they had arrived at their final destination.
A brick, rundown, 3-story home, in one of the worst parts of town.
Complete with a tall, chain-link fence that was outfitted with barbed wire surrounding the property. There were also thick, metal bars on each of the windows.
Home sweet friggen' home, Tomura thought.
Glad to have his smell muted, he was sure this area wouldn't smell like fucking peaches and cream.
Getting out of the car, Izuku led the way and unlocked the gate going onto the property.
He was chatting with one of the guards as they escorted Tomura up the concrete steps, and there was the faint smell of something burning and someone screaming coming from inside.
Izuku did not seem fazed in the slightest, talking amicably about something while he fiddled with the lock on the front door.
Tomura wasn't really what you'd call an anxious guy, but the time spent holding his bladder was teetering towards a point of no return.
He cast wide eyes, silently pleading with Izuku to hurry the fuck up already.
Suddenly, the door burst open from the other side and revealed a very angry blonde Pomeranian.
"Get in here already! You know I keep telling you to get new locks, these ones are busted to shit." The blonde guy hollered at Izuku, not even glancing at Tomura as he just stood there awkwardly.
"Oops, right. Sorry about that Kacchan!" Izuku just beamed at this blonde demon, which was apparently an acceptable response.
Blonde guy had this cutesy pink apron on and oven mitts, the ensemble complete with intricate dragon tattoos running up and down the man's exposed arms.
It was a contradiction which confused Tomura's very soul.
As the way was granted for them, the blonde zipped off again back into the home.
Mumbling something about the locks, Izuku led Tomura and company inside the homely home.
Inside wasn't much better than outside. There were creaky floorboards, a motley of decorations that looked like a yard sale threw up all over the place, and some parts of the off-white and floral wallpaper were starting to peel from the walls.
"Welcome to your home for the time being Shigaraki! As you can see, this space is shared with others, so we will need to go over the rules for the home and have a meeting for everyone to get acquainted with you." Izuku happily turned in a circle, his arms spread wide to encompass the front entryway.
Izuku turned to Tomura then and pointed to a quaint bedroom to the very left of the front door.
"This will be your new room. Sorry, newbies are restricted to the ground floor." Izuku opened the plain, wooden door and led the way inside.
Izuku showcased the surprisingly larger space than what Tomura was used to.
Huh.
Tomura was shuffled in and sat on the stripped bed while the guards removed his muzzle and handcuffs.
Glancing around, there was an absolutely ancient desk, and a practically empty bookshelf in the far corner.
He even had his own window, complete with bars and everything.
The smell wasn't actually as bad as he thought, the room was pretty aired out for what he could tell.
Except there was something still burning, but he wasn't really sure if that was coming from inside the house or not.
Rubbing at his wrists, Tomura watched as the guards handed Izuku some paperwork and said their farewells.
Tomura noticed that they left the muzzle and handcuffs with Izuku too, with a strange sense of foreboding creeping up his spine at the sight of it.
"Alright, any questions so far?" Izuku gently smiled at Tomura, straightening the paperwork in his hands.
"Just one. Where is the bathroom?" Tomura asked, grimacing.
Tomura stood slowly, still working out the soreness in his wrists and forearms from being cuffed like that for so long.
Although, Tomura seemed to have said the magic fucking words.
"Oooh, that means I can give you the tour! I'm afraid you aren't permitted to enter any of the other alpha's rooms, but I can show you the common areas?" Izuku hugged his paperwork to his chest as he practically jogged back into the hallway.
Tomura nodded silently in response, following Izuku out of his newly acquired room.
Izuku led them down a short hallway, housing a staircase going up on the left-hand side, and on the right was an open area that looked to be a living room.
On the left past the stairwell was the restroom, and Tomura had never been so happy to see a normal toilet in his life.
A great relief later, they made their way into the living room first.
The open archway leading into the space was almost directly across from Tomura's own bedroom, with another smaller archway at the far end of the living room itself that seemed to lead into a laundry area.
Tomura cringed upon taking in the absolutely old as fuck technology. There was a TV that was the box kind - he didn't even think they still made those, and a large L-Shaped sofa that looked very broken-in.
There were also some houseplants, an actual working fireplace, and a wide assortment of cozy items like crocheted blankets and fluffy-looking pillows scattered around.
Izuku ran his hand along some of the soft things as they walked through the room, "You could probably guess, but this is the living room. The main rule is to not hoard all of the soft materials, as I've found that everyone needs comfort items from time to time."
That actually made Tomura's alpha curious, and he tentatively reached out to run his fingers across a teal faux fur pillow.
It was actually pretty nice, and hearing Izuku say it was for everyone made him feel like Izuku might be more open-minded than he might have initially given him credit for.
"Is it just alphas that live here then?" Tomura asked, shoving his hands in his pockets, still chilly from earlier.
"No, we have a few betas as well, but I'm the only omega here at the moment." Izuku turned to look at Tomura.
Upon noticing Tomura's hands in his pockets, Izuku gasped, "Oh that's right! The guards at the sheriff's office wanted me to give you back this."
He ran out of the room for a moment before magically returning with Tomura's striped sweater.
Tomura hadn't even seen when the little omega got the item back, but he was pretty happy it wasn't lost forever.
Tomura immediately put it on, crossing his arms in the soft, warm confines of the striped garment.
"Ahh, much better." Tomura gifted Izuku a slight smirk, full attention back to the omega now that he wasn't about to freeze his friggin' fingertips off.
Then in walked, or rather stormed, the loud blonde from before.
This time the man full-on glared at Tomura, as if Tomura was responsible for ripping him off and at some point, called his mother a whore.
"Well, you just gonna fuckin' stare at me all day?" The blonde practically snarled at Tomura.
Tomura just narrowed his eyes at him and remained steadfast in his silent approach, baiting the blonde into spontaneous human combustion.
"Who the fuck is this Nightmare Before Christmas lookin' mothafucker, Izuku?" With the harsh nickname snapping his jaws at the end, the blonde turned his face angled towards Izuku, all while keeping his eyes trained on Tomura.
Even his scent was spicy, Tomura wasn't exactly sure what to call it, but he smelled like what he would imagine those super-hot peppers smelled like, or harsh spices ground up with gunpowder.
Maybe that was just his harsh, sharp scent of protective anger wafting from him in waves, since there was an undercurrent of oranges there too.
The blonde wasn't as tall as Tomura, but this guy was stacked.
Tomura caught himself eyeing the man's tattoos again, but the one that caught Tomura's eye was the red and black dragon that wound itself from the man's right wrist all the way up to where it disappeared under his red t-shirt.
Classic yakuza trademark tattoo right there, if Tomura had ever seen one.
He wasn't an expert by any means, but it felt like the sort of thing a Yakuza individual would display proudly.
Guess they take all kinds here, Tomura hummed in amusement.
"Oh Kacchan, this is Shigaraki! He'll be staying in the home for the time being." Izuku cheerfully informed the very grumpy man.
Izuku then much quieter leaned in so he could hiss in his ear, "Please don't be too mean on his first day! You know we need to work on your anger issues."
Izuku was leaned in close to softly speak the last part of his sentence, placing his hand on the blonde's forearm. Something about his proximity made Tomura's alpha bristle, and he had to gargle down a little growl.
Stop that. I don't want to cause any problems on my first day either, Tomura scolded his inner alpha.
Upon hearing Izuku's words, the angry blonde, Kacchan continued to stare at Tomura for a moment before shrugging him off.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, nerd. New guy, if you're hungry there's stuff around." Kacchan supplied, grinning as he briskly turned on his heel to go back the way he came.
"Don't mind Kacchan, he's more bark than bite, believe me." Izuku waved his hand flippantly.
"If you're hungry we could see the kitchen next?" Izuku said as he wandered closer to Tomura's side again.
He's so short, he really has to crane his head up just to look at me, Tomura thought, feeling a little bad for the height difference for a second.
"Uh-huh, whatever you say, kid. If that's where that angry Pomeranian has gone off to, I'd rather go anywhere else." Tomura rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at Izuku who chuckled at him again.
Apparently endlessly inflating his ego, but Tomura wasn't about to complain.
This situation was absolutely ridiculous, so he was glad that at least one person he was forced to now interact with found him moderately tolerable.
"I am not a kid I'm 25 years old, y'know!" Izuku huffed up to Tomura.
Izuku made it seem like he got told that a lot.
"Come on, let's go see the upstairs then." Izuku continued as he turned, waving his hand over his shoulder to beckon Tomura to follow.
What, just what?
Tomura absolutely refused to believe that this could be fact.
There's no way, he looked like he was only 18 for crying out loud!
Tomura pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing as he followed behind Izuku like a lost puppy.
He definitely did not want to be left behind, as this house was larger than it seemed.
And Tomura especially didn't want to run into the explosive blonde again if he could help it.
Crossing the threshhold of where the living room met the front hallway, Tomura glanced to the right and spotted the kitchen or dining room area at the back of the house. His right was the front door again, with his own bedroom door directly in front.
The stairs hugged the wall just to the right of Tomura's bedroom door, ascending upwards to the second floor of the house.
Upstairs on the second floor, Izuku showed him there were three more bedrooms, with one of them doubling as Izuku's own office. Technically four bedrooms then if you squinted.
Izuku explained how he remodeled the space, with his office door immediately to the left of the staircase on the second floor. Izuku's bedroom was attached to the office and was only accessible through a door in the office space itself.
The other two bedrooms were more evenly spaced to the right-hand-side of the floor. There was a smaller, metal spiral staircase that appeared to ascend to the last floor, one that Izuku explained was previously a larger attic and converted into a handful of bedrooms.
There were some excess spaces on this floor too, a little alcove that housed some bookshelves like a quant reading nook. There was also a bathroom that the second and third floor residents would share, as the third floor lacked the capacities for one.
The third floor had four more bedrooms, ultimately not a massive place, but large enough.
Even though there wasn't a restroom on each floor, apparently Tomura's bedroom was one of two on the ground floor. Meaning he would have to share the one behind the stairwell with some other person.
There was also the kitchen, laundry room, and a secret game room somewhere on the ground floor as well.
Izuku gestured about the space, allowing Tomura to poke around and explore if he wanted to. Tomura simply shrugged in ambivalence, with Izuku then ushering them into the office space.
Apparently Izuku was a licensed therapist and held office hours that they would need to sit down and schedule timeslots for.
Great, that sounds like it'll be so much fun, Tomura groaned internally, not looking forward to this whole ordeal.
His alpha was pretty content with spending time around Izuku though, and he was sort-of court-ordered into participating anyways.
Tomura might as well just rip the Band-Aid off, so to speak.
The sooner he gets things sorted out, the sooner he's out of this dump and back to his normal life.
As Izuku started excitedly telling Tomura of his plans to remodel the greenhouse and backyard, an alarm on his phone was going off.
"Oh, shoot! Look at the time, it's passed pretty quickly already." Tomura just looked on in confusion as Izuku pocketed his phone.
"Today is Thursday and we always have a house meeting at 6pm sharp! This will be a perfect opportunity for you to meet the other residents and introduce yourself!" Izuku excitedly chirped at him.
Tomura wished to any of the gods that he could just get swallowed up into the ground already.
He didn't mind the cute little omega, but meeting other alphas and betas like that blonde?
Yeah, no thanks.
"I'm fine Izuku. That's not really necessary." Tomura tries, glancing around for a potential escape route.
But Izuku wasn't having it, "Aww c'mon. It'll be fun, I promise."
Izuku then grabbed Tomura by the sleeve and sent him a no-nonsense glare that caused Tomura's resolve to falter.
Tomura just knew those words would jinx him.
This was not going to be fun, and he did not want to meet these other random NPCs.
Stupid alpha forcing him to go into this stupid program.
Stupid nice Izuku with his kind words.
"Ugh, fine. Let's go already." Tomura slumped in defeat, allowing Izuku to drag him back downstairs to, presumably, cease to exist because he hated it so much and was trying his best to will it to happen.