#kacchakothread #kacchako #omegaverse

Midnight Terrain

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Tags: fantasy AU, soulmates

Warnings: society a lil messed up in this one, non-con elements (not in main pairing)

Ochako had never been quite so terrified in her life—she had grown up in a meager tribe, so secluded that she had hardly realized that other people lived outside it until she was in her mid-teens.

Her father was the chief of her tribe, and she had been preparing to take his place as her 25th birthday approached—she wanted nothing more for her parents to take it easy. She would relieve them of their burden, and help her people prosper.

They were grossly unprepared for an attack, and rather than fight and lose their lives needlessly, her father had surrendered to those dirty men.

Her father, kind as he was, was naive.

The men demanded they give up their omegas to them.

"We-we have no omegas here," her father said with a falter in his voice, yet keeping his stare forward in determination.

The leader of the group, a short and slimy man who disgusted Ochako simply by the way he carried himself, quirked his eyebrow at her father.

"You're lying," he stated. "Either give up your omegas, or watch as I kill every last member of your tribe."

Silence reigned over their clan, as Ochako's father kept his lips shut in a thin line.

The man nodded at one of his henchmen to pick a woman out of the crowd and bring her forward forcefully. They raised a knife to her neck, but before they could strike Ochako was stepping in.

"Stop," she cried, "I am the only omega of this clan. Take me and never lay a finger on this people again."

The man's eyes roved over her unpleasantly, causing disgust and discomfort to swirl around her stomach.

She realized belatedly what exactly would happen to her.

She'd be taken into their hands, reduced to their property, she'd be bartered and bartered until someone was willing to pay the right price—there was no telling when that would be or what kind of person would take her.

She was giving up her title as Princess, as the future chief, she was giving up her family and her friends. She was doing it for /their/ lives and freedom.

Even after thinking it through, even after the terror began to course through her, she still wouldn't change her decision.

She couldn't ignore the wails of her parents, the mourning of her people as she was taken away, and the sound of their cries and sorrow would forever harrow her bones.

She let her own tears spill freely as they bound her wrists behind her back and threw her into their caravan.

She cried for hours, remorse and anger sitting like a heavy block of ice in her chest. She was still crying, even when the cart stopped and the greasy man who stole her slid inside of her caravan.

Her eyes hardened at the sight of him.

"You a virgin?" the beta inquired quickly.

Ochako glared at him, her lips set in a thin line.

He sighed, "well, you don't smell like you've ever been touched. It's a shame. Virgin omegas make us a fortune, but you're just too irresistible."

Ochako's eyes widened as the man crawled towards her and over her, his hands settling on her hips as his eyes ate her up.

"You're a pretty little thing, aren't you?"

"Don't touch me," Ochako growled, headbutting him as her arms flexed uselessly against her bonds.

The man reeled back just enough for her to scoot away, and satisfaction coursed through her at the sight of a blossoming bruise on his forehead.

"You bitch," he growled, his hand cupping around the bruised area as he bared his canines at her.

"You do not get to touch me," she reiterated, glaring at him.

He chuckled darkly.

"You've got a thing or two to learn about how the world works, /savage/."

Ochako spit in his face, a cause for the man to reel back once again. And when his eyes opened and landed on her, Ochako

found nothing but icy fury.

Ochako felt a surge of fear, if only because she remembered that her hands were still bound behind her back.

It didn't matter. She wouldn't let this man touch her without putting up a grueling fight.

But as she was tensing her body to roll out of the way of his risen palm as it soared towards her face, there were several vicious roars sounded from outside of the cart. It surprised her enough that she couldn't react quickly to move away from the slap to her face.

She reeled back at the sharp sting, tears immediately pricking at her eyes. Her face burned from the force of the hit, and she grit her teeth so as not to let out any groan or whimper of pain.

She glared at the man through watery eyes, rage simmering in her bloodstream.

The man looked ready to strike her again, but she was faster.

The crack of his nose as her boot connected with his face could have been more satisfying if her hands were no longer bound, but she could settle for this.

"You're dead," he spat through a gargle of blood, tipping his head back to stop the blood from running out of his nose. "I'm gonna find the most vile and wretched man to sell you off to," he promised.

"More vile and wretched than you?" she inquired in faux innocence, her

eyes burning wildly.

He growled, looking ready to strike yet again, but before he could make another move a tanned hand shot into the caravan and ripped him away from her.

Ochako blinked, her mind beginning to register the sound of brawling that was going on around her.

"You the leader of this group?" a new voice, one that sounded gruff and deadly, inquired.

"No," the man cried desperately, "I'm being held captive here too!"

"Like anyone would steal away a grimy beta like you," the man growled. "And you think to escape your sins? Where are you

keeping the omega?"

"You think we've actually found any!? Do you know how rare omegas are to come by!?"

"Liar." A pause. "They fucked up your nose pretty good, didn't they?"

There was a thud, the sound a body made when it

hit the ground, followed by two screeches of pain in quick succession.

And then the curtain to the caravan was being pushed back, and an Alpha with red eyes was baring his neck and offering her his hand.

Ochako bit the Alpha's hand, using his pain and surprise as her opportunity to push him backwards with her feet. He stumbled, and she was able to jump out of the caravan to assess the situation.

The grimy beta was crying on the ground, a throwing knife lodged solidly in each of his hands and in the ground beneath him. Whatever group that had attacked seemed to be on the verge of winning, but Ochako didn't want to stick around to see if they were good guys.

She needed to get back to her tribe.

"Shit—wait!" the blonde Alpha called after her as she sprinted into the forest. Ochako could hear his footsteps barreling after her, so she dodged to the left and picked up her speed.

"You can't go back!" he yelled. "You'll die!"

Ochako huffed, dodging to the right this time

and ducking underneath a tree branch.

"Fuck! Could you just listen to me!?"

"What didja expect, Katsuki?" a new voice called from behind her. "I don't blame her for running!"

Shit. Their attack must be more or less decided—having multiple people chasing after her was bad.

"Leave this to me!" the blonde growled, "you think having multiple Alpha's chasing her will make her feel more likely to trust us!?"

"I don't know," the other teased, "she's fast as hell. You got this?"

"Fuck you, shitty hair! I do fucking got this!"

“Mkay."

The one named 'Shitty Hair' verged off in another direction, and Ochako no longer had the advantage of them wasting their breath in useless conversation.

But it didn't matter. She wouldn't be caught.

She used the trees to hide herself from his view, slipping between them

lightning quick. When she was certain he lost sight of her completely, she stayed rooted behind a tree to catch her breath.

He rushed past her, but quickly realized that he was no longer following her.

"Listen," he offered up into the air as he slid to a stop, "those men

had business with a terrible group, and that beta lead them right to your tribe."

Ochako's eyes widened, and then quickly narrowed. He had to be lying.

"We've been following them for months—we were able to get your tribe to move before they were all murdered, but if you keep

heading this direction, you will die by their hands!"

Ochako may not know much of the world, but she would not be tricked so easily. Having caught her breath enough, she sprinted forward once again.

But the Alpha was waiting for her.

He tackled her midair, knocking the wind out of her. She groaned when her back hit the forest floor painfully, and the Alpha was quick to pin her down.

"Listen," he pleaded, his pupils eclipsing the red of his eyes as he stared down at her. He grit his teeth, reigning himself in, and turning his head away from her slightly as if to sniff at fresh air. It was then that Ochako realized the scent she was giving off.

There was fear within her scent, but it was vastly outweighed by the exhilaration she had felt running from this Alpha who's own scent she had apparently reacted to.

He smelt like fire lilies and burning pine. And with his head tilted away like this, it was all she could smell.

He squeezed her wrists where he had them pinned. "Stop scenting like that," he growled.

"You first," she spat back, snapping back to reality. She wiggled desperately to escape his hold, but he was too strong for her to shake off.

"I'm not going to fucking hurt you!"

She thrashed harder, tears springing up into her eyes.

"Dammit," he muttered much more softly. He squeezed her wrists again, urging her to look at him. When she did, she saw that his features had softened, except that his brow was

scrunched together in frustration. "I can understand why you don't trust me. But I am /begging/ you to."

Ochako blinked, visions of her own father kneeling at her mother's feet and kissing her hands as he begged her for forgiveness over even the most meaningless mistakes.

"You can't go back to your home. Your tribe isn't there anymore. You'll only be killed." His eyes softened, and he continued in an even softer tone, "I will help you find your tribe. But first we need to get far away from here."

Ochako stared up at him, reeling over what to do. Her eyes flitted back and forth between his until she finally nodded and relaxed beneath him.

He let out a sigh of relief, and immediately moved to get off of her and offer her a hand up.

"We need to hurry," he stated before running back towards the caravan and his other men.

Ochako took a moment to herself, glancing back into the forest towards where her home once was before following after the Alpha who's name she didn't even know.

- just to note: my Twitter threads are essentially me brainstorming and are therefore LITTERED with mistakes. I'm just saying that bc my last update for this had SO many lmao please ignore me being a hot mess.

Anyways: here's the next update

-

She followed after him in a daze, every instinct within her urging her to find her tribe, her family, her pack.

But something within those red eyes just /radiated/ honesty.

He had bared his neck to her... If she hadn't been so terrified, she might have seen how

significant that action was. And perhaps she wouldn't have run from him.

She wasn't sure how things worked outside of her tribe, but within her people...baring one's neck was the greatest form of respect. It meant 'I am putting my life in your hands' or 'I am yours'.

Ochako blushed and scowled at the thought.

It wasn't something to be done between complete strangers! It must have a different meaning amongst his people. There was no other explanation.

She broke through the trees to find the Alpha waiting for her with another man at his side.

"Keep up," he growled.

"Come on, Bakugou," the voice, 'Shitty Hair', urged, "don't be like that. She's coming, ain't she?" The other Alpha turned to her, his hand brought up to block his

whisper from the blonde. "I promise, his bark is worse than his bite."

"We're wasting time," 'Bakugou' urged, sniffing the air. "I can smell the ash and dust. He's close."

Ochako opened her mouth to ask who the hell he was even talking about, but Bakugou only grabbed her by the

wrist to drag her after him.

"Don't touch me," she growled, tugging at her arm but nonetheless following him.

He let go of her with a huff.

"'M trying to make sure you don't die, Round Face," he growled back, "at the risk of my own fucking life—"

"Hey, hey," the redheaded Alpha intervened, jogging inbetween them perhaps because Ochako was seconds away from biting at Bakugou. "Now's not really the time to fight." He sniffed at the air as they ran, and then scrunched up his nose. "You guys /reek/. Smells like you're going

into rut, man," he said towards Bakugou.

"Well, I'm not!" Bakugou snapped, jabbing a thumb furiously towards Ochako. "She's the one who won't stop fucking scenting."

'Shitty Hair' side-eyed her before bursting into laughter. Ochako almost bit /him/.

"You're a fiesty little thing, huh?"

Before Ochako could answer, his eyes caught on the caravan they had essentially ransacked, and they were grinding to a stop.

"Did you find the omega?" a pink skinned woman with matching pink hair inquired as she hogtied the grimy beta man

who had tried to touch her earlier.

"She's safe," Bakugou answered shortly, brushing past her and the other men in their company. "Leave those men to /him/. It'll buy us time. We're leaving. /Now/."

The pink woman stepped over the whimpering beta to bump shoulders with Ochako.

"Stick with me, hun," she said, grinning. "The name's Mina."

Ochako sniffed at the air, her eyes widening at Mina's scent—another Omega.

"Uraraka," she said dumbly, her muscles relaxing without her permission as she leaned into Mina's scent.

Mina giggled, bringing her fingers up to ruffle through her hair.

"Your scent is out of control," she said shrewdly, eyeing where Bakugou had disappeared to. "Those men didn't touch you, did they?"

"They tried," Ochako muttered her eyes glaring back at the beta as Mina guided

her towards a different caravan. Mina chuckled in good nature, and Ochako wondered how it could be so easy to find comfort in someone she had only just met. Because she was leaning even more heavily into the other woman. Was it because Mina was a fellow omega?

"You're something tough, huh?"

Ochako bit her tongue.

"Mina!" Bakugou growled from the caravan, "in!"

Mina rolled her dark eyes, "we're coming, highness."

Ochako's eyes snapped towards Bakugou, her eyes flitting around his form for any sort of raiment that would reflect

such a title. But the Alpha was shirtless, and his cloak was tattered and torn. His necklaces held bones, not trinkets.

She was pulled from her musing by Mina pushing her into the extremely cramped caravan.

Mina collapsed into the redheaded Alpha's side, and Ochako wanted to keep her distance from the omega, she really did, but she found herself sitting down right next to her.

"Let's go," Bakugou growled through the curtain to whoever was guiding the horses, and a second later

they were moving.

"Ochako," Mina chirped from where she was nuzzling into her Alpha's arm, "this is Kirishima." She nodded towards the blonde, "that's Bakugou, that's Sero, and that's Kaminari." Ochako met their eyes briefly, taking note that both Sero and Kaminari were betas.

"Hi!" Kaminari greeted enthusiastically, "it's not every day you see an omega as kickass as you. I was worried Bakugou wouldn't catch you."

Ochako quirked her head to her side.

"I have always been faster than the Alphas of my tribe."

"That must be some tribe then," the one named Sero remarked. "Have you ever met anyone from /another/ tribe? Before today, I mean."

Ochako shook her head, "my people kept to themselves."

They all exchanged glances, and Ochako felt something nasty crawl up her throat.

"What?" she growled, "if you think to belittle my people for that, then—"

"It's not that," Bakugou growled, his glare settling on her.

Kirishima nodded, one of his large arms settling around Mina's waist.

"Your tribe's sense of selflessness is amazing," he said. "We only got

to speak with them for a few minutes, but we could tell just from that short interaction how kind and trusting they are. It's just—" his arm tightened around Mina as he cut himself off.

"The rest of this realm is not so kind," Mina finished for him, something dark

in her eyes. "/Especially/ towards omegas."

Ochako blinked, nodding as she curled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. Her eyes flashed towards Bakugou.

"When can we set off to find my tribe?"

"When this bastard stops following us," he answered back simply.

Ochako caught a wiff of his smoky scent again, and she looked away in hopes that he own pheromones wouldn't react.

"When will that be?"

"Don't fucking know."

"That's not a good enough answer," Ochako growled, her heart longing for her family.

"It's the only fucking answer I've got," Bakugou rumbled as fell against their supplies and let his eyelids drop.

Ochako wanted to claw at him.

Mina's hand found hers next to her.

"We made a promise to your family to bring you back to them," she said, her pheromones relaxing

her again, "and we'll make that same promise to you."

Night fell upon them quickly, but instead of stopping they kept going. At one point when the moon was high into the sky, Bakugou pushed his hand and head through the front curtains of the caravan. Ochako wasn't sure what exactly he was doing, but she didn't question it.

She didn't question why they didn't stop traveling either; their party all seemed to be on edge because of whatever great threat they were running from. Ochako didn't understand it, but as long as these people reunited her with her family she didn't care.

"Let's hope for sun tomorrow," Bakugou told them as he rubbed at his eyes with one hand, the other holding a flame he had conjured up with magic for light. There were a few murmurs of agreement, but Ochako quirked her head to the side in confusion.

"Why?" she inquired seriously, his red eyes immediately snapping over to her. Her scent spiked—not as much as when they first met, but it still irritated her how much her body responded to this man.

"The man we're running from—" Mina started sleepily from where she was still

leaning into Kirishima. "—he's been cursed. Can't handle the sun for too long. It'll kill him."

"Why is he following you?"

"That's our curse," Kaminari said.

"Tch," came from Bakugou.

Ochako's brows pulled together, but she shrugged off her confusion and frustration.

Whatever burden they were carrying was obviously under control, and if they wanted to be vague about it then that was none of her concern.

"Rest up, cheeks," Bakugou rumbled, tossing her a rolled up blanket. "We'll watch over you."

Ochako blinked at him, nodded, and the

scent of burning wood swiftly filled the small space.

"Jeesh," Sero complained, pointing a finger at Bakugou. "Can you get your scent under control, man?"

Bakugou bristled, but Mina intervened before he could snap back at the beta.

"Is it so bad to have our pack Alpha's scent surrounding us?" she inquired lazily, her fingers scratching through Kirishima's hair. "I kinda like it. S'comforting."

"It wouldn't be bad if it didn't smell like he's about to go into rut," Sero replied, plugging his nose.

"Shut the fuck up," Bakugou barked, his scent shifting into something more subdued even as his appearance shifted into something more aggressive. Ochako couldn't help but sniff at the air, the roaring bonfire turning to something more rich and sugary. "I'm /not/ going into

rut."

Sero sniffed at the air again, his muscles visibly relaxing. "Okay, fine," he allowed as he melted to the floor. Everyone seemed to be much more relaxed with this new scent of comfort the Alpha was giving off—Ochako may not know much of the world, but she knew these people

must have trusted Bakugou with their entire souls to react so effectively to his scent.

She elected to use the blanket as a pillow for now, and sunk into the cushion just as easily as the others seemed to be doing.

Her eyes drooped, heavy with the day's events.

In her sleepy thoughts she could admit that it was a nice scent, something that she could trust easily, a scent of pure comfort and concern.

She could allow herself to drift off with the sweet scent surrounding her.

-

She woke up, burning from the inside out. She was sweating and panting, and it was nearly unbearable.

Someone was shaking at her shoulders, and she couldn't help but lean into the touch.

"She's going into heat," she heard Mina say from above her, worry dripping

in her tone.

"Shit," another voice swore nearby—Ochako couldn't tell who because her eyes were blurry with tears.

Someone whimpered, pitiful and long, and it took Ochako a second to realize that it came from /her/.

"We can't stop, Mina," someone else chimed in, "the sun hasn't

risen yet."

"I /know/," Mina insisted, "I /know/ that, Ei. Just. Give her some space."

Ochako reached up for Mina, not really knowing what she was looking for. But Mina wove their fingers together, and brought her other hand down to the scent gland on her neck, massaging it

soothingly and it /helped/. Ochako was grateful Mina seemed to know what she needed.

"How the hell are we supposed to give her fucking space right now, Mina?" someone asked nasally, like they were plugging their nose.

Mina rounded on them in an instant.

"You could start by turning down your fucking scent, Katsuki," she snarled. Ochako imagined her baring her teeth.

"Oh so first my scent is comforting, and now it's got to go—?!"

"Don't take it as a personal attack, man," Kirishima's voice interjected, "I think your scent is

what sent her into heat."

"That's ridiculous," Bakugou growled more clearly, "that's—" he cut himself off with a huff. A moment passed, the only sound Ochako groaning in discomfort as her nose seemed to seek out that smokey scent. Her unoccupied fingers reached out for it.

"Tend to the horses, Bakugou," Sero suggested. "Get some fresh air."

"Yeah," Kaminari piped in, "you feeling okay? You look tense as hell."

"'M fucking—fine," Bakugou grunted out. With a harumph, a growl, and the rustling of curtains, his scent was dampened as he left their

traveling shelter.

Ochako whimpered more at that, her body acting completely on instinct as she wanted nothing more than to get deeply lost in Bakugou's scent.

Strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back.

"Down, omega," Mina chided as she guided Ochako's

nose to her own scent gland. Ochako sunk into it, the comforting scent of another Omega relaxing her somewhat. "You're okay, you're okay. Shh. You're fine." She pet her hair and let her scent free in waves until Ochako was melting into her warmth completely.

She dozed into something comfortable and more coherent, content to soak up Mina's scent and the more dampened scent of bonfire and fire lilies.

"Where'd you learn to do that, Mina?" Kirishima whispered, like he was afraid of riling Ochako up again.

"No clue," Mina murmured back, "I'm acting on instinct just as much as Uraraka here." She paused for a moment. "But I once heard that the omegas in omega houses were

extremely protective of each other. That omegas bond easily. And deeply. And that when they are ultimately ripped apart, sold off, or killed, they mourn for /months/."

"That's fucking messed up," Sero said sadly.

"I'm glad we could save her," Kaminari said softly, as Ochako

began to purr in Mina's hold.

"Yeah," they each agreed, all eyes on Ochako as she fell back asleep despite her heat.

-

Bakugou listened from outside, his hands tensed around the reigns. Her scent was overbearing in a /good/ way, and it took all of his concentration to focus

elsewhere, to keep leading them away from the destruction that was always following them.

Her scent was perfect. He'd never smelt anything like it. He'd never /wanted/ anything like he wants her scent.

His knuckles turned white around the reigns.

"Keep going," he murmured

to the horses, their pace picking up immediately.

Through the trees and from behind the mountains in front of them, he could see the sun beginning to light up the sky.

Ochako's heat was grueling, aided somewhat only by Mina's comforting scent. But everytime Bakugou's scent spiked enough for it to slip through the curtains of the caravan, she'd whine sadly, struggling in Mina's hold to get to the source of that scent.

Each time Mina would pet through her hair and scent her thoroughly until she calmed down enough to fall asleep.

At one point the caravan stopped, and Bakugou pulled back the curtain, his scent rushing forward like a tidal wave.

Ochako growled, surging forward so suddenly and with enough force that she managed to break free from Mina's firm grip on her.

"Shit," Mina exclaimed, scrambling forward in a hurry.

But Ochako was already on Bakugou, her teeth bared as she aimed for the scent gland on his neck.

A strong arm pushed her back, but Bakugou was showing off his canines too, visibly struggling to be keeping the omega at arms length.

"Get out, stupid alpha!" Mina growled, grabbing Ochako again and rearing her back.

Her shout seemed to shake Bakugou out of his trance enough for him to rumble out a gravelly, "we're heading into town. Kaminari will stay with you two."

Kirishima and Sero stretched before climbing out of the caravan. As soon as the curtains shut, Ochako was calm again.

A moment later Kirishima was peeking his head back inside with a sheepish expression, his hand holding out something to Mina.

Mina shook her head, "it'll block my scent from Uraraka."

"But if you're found—"

Kaminari place a hand on Kirishima's arm.

"If we hear someone coming, she'll put it on. She'll be okay. And besides, I can hear Bakugou casting a camouflage spell the likes of which none of us have ever seen."

"Hopefully it's enough to disguise her heat," Mina muttered.

"We won't be long, raccoon eyes!!" Bakugou yelled

between grunts as he continued to cast his magic. Once he finished, magic surrounded their caravan like a warm blanket and soon the three men were off.

-

Bakugou hadn't lied. They were hardly gone for more than an hour. But when they returned, they returned with food and extra raiment which had been promptly draped over Uraraka.

No matter how nice Mina's scent was, she nearly bit her hand off when the other omega

began to wrap something smooth and sturdy around her neck.

"Knock it off, Uraraka!" she growled, nipping at Ochako's fingers. "You need to put this on!"

Ochako thrashed against it, pulling a sigh from Mina's lips.

"Sero?" Mina asked.

"Right," the Beta said, crawling forward

to hold Ochako's arms back so that Mina could secure the collar around her neck. They immediately let go of her once it was on, but Ochako went to a corner to pout for a few hours because of it.

They stayed in that spot for several hours before they were traveling again.

They followed this pattern for the next couple of days, Bakugou remaining with the horses through sunshine and rain. It wasn't until Ochako's heat began to waver that he was finally able to return to the inside.

She averted her eyes when he climbed in, face red and ashamed

at the behavior she had displayed during her heat. Especially towards him. If only she could find a hole to crawl inside of until her embarrassment subsided.

Her embarrassment was momentarily forgotten, however, as it came to her attention how /itchy/ the collar was around her

neck.

"What's with this thing?" she grumbled to everyone as she tried in vain to scratch underneath the leather.

"It was for your protection," Mina explained—Mina had also put on one similar as soon Ochako had become coherent. "If you're caught with out one by someone other

than us, it could get you in trouble. Especially if you happen to run into Alpha."

"What would happen?" Ochako grumbled, "I would break an Alpha's arm before letting them touch me."

The others shared a meaningful glance with one another.

"Has an Alpha never used a command on you?" Sero asked.

"A what?" Ochako inquired, her eyes flicking to Bakugou stupidly. He was staring at her with intensity and she was immediately reminded of her embarrassing behavior over the past few days and quickly looked away.

Kirishima chuckled shakily, "she doesn't even know what a command is."

"Her people are sensible," Mina pointed out. "Are we really surprised?"

"Not all all," Bakugou grumbled.

"Hah?" Kaminari said with a sly grin, "but your people practically worship omegas, don't they?"

Bakugou bristled and blushed down to his neck.

"We /respect/ omegas, Dunce Face," he growled, "fuckin' smart ass."

"In your culture that's not too far off from worship though," Sero said quietly, like he couldn't resist saying it but still didn't want the Alpha to hear.

But Bakugou heard anyway and promptly wrestled the beta into a choke hold.

Despite her anxious feelings, their rowdy behavior was cause for a smile to bloom across her face.

Once they had settled down, Ochako reached for her collar again.

"How long must I wear this?" she inquired.

"Give it a few days," Mina said, "omegas are easily tracked during their heats. We should wait a bit to make sure any trace of your heat scent is gone."

"It's an archaic practice to collar omegas," she grumbled.

"I'm with you on that one," Mina huffed, scratching at her own collar. "Unfortunately, it's necessary."

"I still don't understand why."

"To protect your ass," Bakugou growled. "It's fucking messed up, but it's just the way it is."

Ochako huffed, hugging her knees.

They continued to travel as the sun went down, Ochako staring at the curtains of the caravan and longing for her family, /her/ culture, for safety.

She wondered how long these kind people who had saved would keep running before they could guide her home.

It had been well over a week from the end of her heat, and Ochako was getting restless.

On sunny days, when their food was beginning to wane, a few of the boys would stop at a town to restock.

Someone always stayed with her, and so far she had kept her mouth shut about it,

even though it was driving her crazy how useless she felt.

At the least, she was allowed to remove the collar a few days ago.

But when she saw Mina putting her collar back on, and preparing to head into town, she only barely held back a whine of protest.

"Ochako," Mina crooned as soon as she noticed Ochako's distress, pulling her into a hug. "I'll be right back, okay?"

Ochako pouted, not understanding why her instincts seemed to find so much comfort from Mina's presence but also not really caring it was the case.

She had finally gotten her scent under control, and Bakugou's scent also seemed to have calmed down enough for her to loosen up some. She was sure Mina had helped with that. Her scent helped to balance her out when she felt like she was going to crack.

Plus, if Mina was going into town that meant they hadn't been keeping her back because of her status as omega. So they couldn't use the same excuse for Ochako.

...not that they had. They were all extremely respectful of her presentation, on the contrary.

But the way they had been acting about how society outside of her tribe worked, she had simply assumed that omegas were too at risk for any sort of operation.

She had even asked Mina about it once.

"Mina," she had said when it had been just her and Sero, the other boys gone into town. "You and Kirishima are... Mates?"

Mina had nodded, smiling softly.

"How did you meet him?"

Mina had stiffened at that, and Ochako had glanced over at Sero in alarm, afraid she had said

something wrong. Sero had kept his eyes fixed on Mina's gaze, offering her a shrug as if to say 'it's your story to tell, tell it if you want'.

Mina had nodded, and had shuffled around to nuzzle underneath Ochako's chin like she needed the comfort from her for once.

She had explained her unique situation: that she had been held in a rare omega ring. They kept her isolated, never provided her any help during her heats, the only contact she ever had were when she was thrown into the ring to fight, so neglected that she did so running on

instincts alone. She had brutally beaten other omegas she had thought were encroaching on her territory, had even killed some on especially rough days, had been commanded never to turn her fury on her alpha captors. She had nearly killed Kirishima too when he saved her.

"There's that word again," she murmured, running her fingers through Mina's hair as she interrupted her story. "What's a command?"

Mina sighed, "it's Alpha voice. Works against omegas like clockwork. It's /impossible/ for omegas to disobey an alpha command."

"Nothing is impossible," Ochako insisted.

Mina shook her head.

"You dont know what's it's like, Ochako," she insisted, "never take alphas lightly."

"Even Kirishima and Bakugou?"

Mina had winced, pulling back from her slightly. Ochako immediately regretted her tone.

"Sorry," Ochako had murmured, "I have only known the alphas of my tribe. This is all hard to imagine for me. I know Kirishima and Bakugou wouldn't ever—"

"They might," Mina interrupted, avoiding Sero's eyes.

Ochako blinked, shifting uneasily.

"If they're driven to nothing but pure instinct, they might," she continued.

"What—what happened to make you say that?"

"It was my fault," Mina insisted, tears in her eyes and doing little to explain. "Kirishima has dedicated his life to making it up to me, too. Bakugou nearly

killed him for it, but it was /my/ fault."

"What was?" Ochako asked desperately.

But Mina only shook her head, the tears spilling down her pink cheeks as she bit her lip to keep her emotions in.

Ochako wondered how long she had been keeping these emotions in.

She hadn't pressed the issue further since then, and she hadn't asked to travel far from the cart. Had only gotten out to pet the horses guiding it, the horses who didn't appear to ever need a human to guide them.

She bit her lip, looking up at Mina forlornly.

"Can I come too?" she asked pitifully, glancing from her to the other men.

Mina held a pained look in her eyes as she glanced back to Bakugou.

"Bakugou?" she implored, staring him down with soft pleading eyes.

He grunted, "she doesn't know what that will entail."

"Then we explain it, Majesty," Mina insisted with a fond roll of her eyes.

"I think he's embarrassed, Mina," Kirishima whispered too loudly to actually disguise his words.

"Shut the fuck up, Eijirou," Bakugou growled, a blush on his cheeks.

Mina giggled "Don't worry, Beast King," she said, throwing her arm around Ochako's shoulders. "I'll explain. You just go and get her collar."

Bakugou harrumphed but did as she said.

"Okay," Mina started, turning to Ochako with a smile, "after I'm done explaining you can

decide if you still wanna come." She winked.

Ochako huffed in amused irritation, unable to disguise her own smile. If she were being honest, she's not sure what could hold her back from finally getting out of the travel cart.

"Lay it on me," she said in confidence.

Mina grinned.

"Well, in these towns and cities, unmated omegas are immediately taken away to omega houses, you know."

"Yeah," she nodded. They had certainly made that clear over the weeks she had been with them.

"So we have to trick 'em into thinking you /are/ mated. To an"

/alpha/."

"A-and?" Ochako demanded a little less confidently as the pieces were all beginning to fit together.

"Well, Kirishima is taken already," Mina explained easily, probably enjoying the way she was torturing her, "so that just leaves our Bakugou."

Kirishima sighed from next to them and intervened, to which Ochako was thankful.

"Bakugou has to scent you," he explained, pushing a grinning Mina away, "thoroughly. And while we're in town he'll have to parade you around like you're his."

Mina wiggled her eyebrows from behind Kirishima, and Ochako could do nothing but blush.

But she quickly shook her stupor away.

"Alright," she agreed, meeting Bakugou's eyes as he returned with the collar.