Chapter Text
Omegas were a rare prize and had Illumi been born to any other family, he would have been hailed as a blessing from the beyond.
Instead, he was born a Zoldyck, and the fact he wasn't an alpha Zoldyck meant he was immediately considered inadequate. Certainly no heir.
"At least he's not a beta," said Zeno, staring into Illumi's crib. "I don't suppose you and Kikyo would like to try again?"
Silva sighed. "Not right now, no."
The disappointment of his status followed Illumi until he was five years old, when his first brother was born.
Milluki was a beta. Illumi didn't understand the quiet, disappointed shock of his family, as they stood hovering over Milluki's infant form.
"Is he sick?" asked Illumi.
"No," said Silva. "He's just not..."
"Appropriate," Kikyo finished. "He's not appropriate."
Illumi stared at Milluki's round baby face, brows scrunched. He liked Milluki. He looked soft. And he was quiet.
And his arrival was a blessing, because suddenly Illumi's rare status of omega was less of a disappointment in his parents' eyes. Sure, he wasn't alpha, but.
Illumi was ten when Killua was born and his birth was nothing like before. The celebration carried on for weeks. His parents were overjoyed that they finally--finally--had an alpha in their line.
The heir.
It was a little ironic that their joy sent them off, to lavish parties abroad, with dignitaries and politicians hoping to curry favor.
It left the newborn Killua in Illumi's care. He did have the butlers, of course, but Illumi was his only real family around.
And perhaps it was because Illumi was an omega and Killua was an alpha, but those first few weeks that they spent together, Illumi felt a sort of mad, possessive love. He was going to protect Killua from anything. Everything.
At least he had a purpose in the family now.
For some time, Illumi was close to happy. And his parents had two more children after that--a girl, Alluka, and a boy, Kalluto.
They were both omegas, which would be astounding in any other family.
But they were the Zoldycks.
"At least we have Kill," sighed Kikyo.
Since Illumi wasn't able to run the family after his grandfather or father died, he was trained instead in the family business.
They killed people. Really, that's why the status of alpha was so highly valued. Alphas had abilities no others did--fear, strength, and will.
As an omega, Illumi had his own set of natural-born skills. He could use pheromones to trigger certain behaviors. It was a dangerous ability. If he went too far, alphas within the vicinity could be goaded into murderous rampages, sexual deviancy, or worse: they'd fall in love.
For betas, his powers were an almost perfect mind-control. Anything he told them to do, they did. He wasn't able to do that to alphas quite the same way--their own pheromones interfered. They had the power of will.
Illumi wished, at times, that he could access will, too.
He had perfect control over his abilities by the time he presented.
Illumi demonstrated so on a volunteer butler at his thirteenth birthday.
"Very good," said Zeno, clapping at Illumi's presentation party. Killua, a single year old, clapped as well. Milluki scoffed.
"It's not normal for him to be able to do that," said Milluki. "Most people don't even know they're omega until they present. He had an unfair advantage."
"That's the whole point," Kikyo's shrill voice cut in. "We're not normal. We're better."
Silva grinned.
It was perhaps the only time Illumi ever felt his parents were proud. He released the butler from his pheromone stasis. He'd used his omega compulsion to force the man to stay perfectly still--he couldn't even blink. Now free, the man stumbled away, dazed. Compulsion usually didn't work that way--Illumi treated his power to influence others like it was an alpha's will. It was nearly impossible to resist what he asked.
"Thank you," said Illumi to the butler, patting him companionably upon the shoulder.
"I think he's ready to work," said Zeno.
Silva, still smiling, said, "Yes. I think so too."
Illumi got very good at forcing others to kill themselves. It spared him the effort. He became so adept at the tasks he was given that he quickly became the most requested assassin in the family--which was notable, because Zeno had held the title for fifty-four years. But the suicide-killings were perfect for the family business, because they were hard to trace back to any one source. And suicide was not something most alphas could will into existence, either. Some probably could. Zeno probably could. But an omega's compulsion was seductive and dark. It whispered into the target's heart, found something dark, and pulled it free.
Illumi did that and did it well.
It was also notable because Zeno was an alpha. Silva and Kikyo were both alphas.
Illumi was the odd man out, and the way he was raised made him all the more strange. A household of alphas meant he behaved in a way that many would find alarming. Dangerous.
He did not have the natural omega inclination to cower at the feet of an alpha.
"I said 'sit down,' kid," grumbled the half-drunk alpha. They were aboard an airship and Illumi was on his way home from a kill. He was a little sleepy and wanted to grab a nightcap--that was all.
"Do I know you?" asked Illumi.
"You don't need to. You're an omega. You obey me," said the man. "And I want to talk to you."
"I will pass."
"Sit down," said the man again, but this time, he used his will, and Illumi felt the pressure of it wash through him.
"No."
"It wasn't a fucking request."
The man's will was nothing compared to Illumi's father's. But there was no denying the natural urge he had to supplant. His knees felt dangerously weak.
Illumi wondered if he should kill the man. It would certainly break his will.
But before he could make the decision, the man looked beyond Illumi's shoulder. "The fuck are you looking at?"
A deep, purring voice from another table replied. "You should be a little more thoughtful when spreading your stink around in public places. It's rather rude."
Illumi recognized the fear ability as the other man's eyes widened and his pulse rocketed in his throat. It was strange to witness, because alphas usually couldn't trigger fear in one another. The man stood out of his chair and took a stumbling step away. "Don't try that shit on me," he said, as if it hadn't already happened. As if it weren't already in effect.
"Try what?" said the voice. "I haven't done anything yet."
Illumi finally turned, to see if it were true. Alphas had glowing eyes when their powers were in effect.
The man seated at the table a few feet away was glowing, but not magically. He just looked--
Different.
The rude man stumbled his way out of the airship bar. He was lucky, even if he didn't know it. Illumi would have killed him if it weren't for...
"Hello," said the stranger. His hair was a warm purple, pulled off his face in a loose wave. He had a star painted beneath one eye.
"Hello." Illumi wasn't sure why he replied.
The man smiled, revealing fangish canines and straight white teeth. "My name is Hisoka. What's yours?"
Illumi didn't reply. He didn't like that he had even said hello to begin with--it was very out of character. Instead, Illumi turned away, and approached the bartender across the room. "Gin and tonic, please," he said. The bartender made the drink and pushed it his way.
Illumi pulled his wallet from his pocket, only to be suffused in a dizzyingly warm and metallic scent. Fire. Blood. A knife. And something...sweet. "You can put his drink on my tab," said Hisoka. Illumi prepared himself to fight his way out of the bar, but instead, Hisoka stood to one side, and waved goodbye. "Have a good night," he said. Illumi pretended not to hear, and took his drink back to his room to enjoy in peace.
After his drink, he thought about the smell.
One thing about the Zoldycks--they were on medication to diffuse their natural markers.
Illumi had been on blockers from the moment he was born. He couldn't smell anything beyond normal human scent, but in turn, it meant he didn't smell like much of anything either.
The only thing that tipped people off that he was an omega was that he was famous.
He shouldn't have been able to smell Hisoka like that. He hadn't smelled the rude stranger at all--Hisoka made a remark about him stinking, and Illumi wouldn't've known, otherwise.
Illumi double-checked the pill bottle he carried with him everywhere. Nothing out of place.
Between his compulsion to greet Hisoka and the weird--pleasant--smell...
Illumi went back to the bar. It was after midnight and he supposed Hisoka might have already gone off to bed, but he could investigate even if he were gone. Smells linger. But no, Hisoka was still there. He moved seats--now he was at the window, looking out, the stars twinkling by.
Illumi approached, but said nothing, because he didn't know what to say. He didn't really talk to strangers. And this was dangerous, so something in him held back.
Hisoka smiled--Illumi saw his reflection. "Would you like another drink?"
Illumi had an excuse to speak now, so he took it. "No. Thank you. You did not have to purchase one for me."
"It was my pleasure. I'm sure I'd usually be fighting a crowd of alphas to offer you one."
He wasn't wrong. In public, social spaces, Illumi was often and endlessly pursued. But his off-putting, anti-social nature usually left him alone by the end of the night--even though he was a prized omega. And a Zoldyck.
He liked being alone.
But he also liked Hisoka's smell.
He sniffed the air and Hisoka turned to look at him now. "You seem confused."
"I can smell you," said Illumi. "Why?"
Hisoka blinked owlishly. "I'm not sure what you mean. Is it bad?"
"No. It smells good," Illumi said, and he realized that was a little forward, and he frowned.
Hisoka leaned forward, a smirk on his face. "Come sit. I'll tell you a secret." Illumi hesitated before sitting in the chair across from Hisoka, near the window that radiated cool air. Hisoka leaned against one hand. "I can smell you too."
Illumi immediately fished for the pills in his pocket. Something dangerously close to humiliation caught in his throat. He must have forgotten to take his medicine after all. He should have no scent. He certainly shouldn't smell like an omega. The thought of it was--
"No, no," Hisoka interjected. "Not that. I can tell when someone is on those medicines." He gestured. "The medicines have a smell themselves."
"They do not," Illumi said, gripping the bottle. He cast a narrowed stare at Hisoka's thin, handsome face. "That is their point."
Hisoka simply shrugged. "My abilities have always been a little strange. I can smell them, I promise."
"What do they smell like, then?"
"Menthol and green tea," Hisoka said.
"Oh." That wasn't so bad.
"But you--" Hisoka's face turned strangely sincere, eyes sharp and arresting. "I can smell you, too." Illumi frowned again, but he kept going. "You smell like rain and well-worn stone. Blood and chocolate, too." Hisoka closed his eyes. "I've smelled many omegas, and alphas, and betas, too. I've never experienced anything like you."
"You are lying."
Hisoka's brows raised, his lips curling in a grin. "Oh?"
"You are an alpha seeking my attention," Illumi said. "It has happened before." It would happen again. "You are saying seductive things to make me believe that you have good intentions deep down. But you do not."
All Hisoka replied was, "Seductive?"
Illumi wanted to throttle him. "Excuse me," he said instead. "I am going to bed."
"I still haven't gotten your name."
"You know my name," Illumi said, barely biting back his rage at being tricked into having a conversation with an apparent con.
"I'm afraid I don't," said Hisoka.
Illumi turned to face him again. Hisoka had a blank, unassuming stare, brows slightly pinched. "You do not know who I am?"
Hisoka smiled more slowly now. "I do sincerely apologize for my ignorance. My work isolates me, sometimes, from the rest of the world. You're famous?"
Illumi had no ego when he said, "Yes, I am."
Hisoka looked back out the window and said, "Ah. That's how that rude man knew you were an omega. I was wondering how he could smell you too."
Illumi was beginning to believe Hisoka wasn't lying. He wasn't a con. It was true: Hisoka could smell him. "Yes."
"A famous omega with very nice long hair and milky white skin, who smells like a castle in the rain after a long bloody fight." Illumi could see Hisoka trying to put the pieces in place, but he gave up. "I'm clueless."
"My name is Illumi Zoldyck."
He knew the moment the name registered, because Hisoka's grin went from intrigued to...feral. Dark with the kind of lust that wasn't reserved for the battlefield. "I have heard of you," he said.
"Yes," Illumi said, his patience returned. "Many have."
"Are the rumors true?"
Illumi slowly lowered himself back to his seat. "Which rumors."
"Your family is all full of blood-thirsty assassins, with kill counts so high that they cannot be measured. Your parents are both alphas--unheard of--dangerous to be paired together. Are you the mind-bender?"
All of those rumors were true, so Illumi simply replied, "Yes."
Hisoka threw his head back and laughed and the smell came back to Illumi. He allowed himself to taste it on his tongue, measuring everything around himself.
It was unlike anything he'd experienced before.
"You smell like fire, death, and--" it took a moment for Illumi to identify it. "Bubblegum."
"You said it smells good, didn't you?"
"It is unusual," Illumi said. He pulled his pills from his pocket again--no longer embarrassed, but very intellectually intrigued.
The pill bottle said what it always had: he should not be able to smell the alpha scent before him.
"Don't worry," Hisoka eventually cut in. "I'm weird. Sometimes my abilities behave--weirdly."
Illumi tilted his head. "Has this happened before?"
Hisoka smiled--this time, it looked friendly. He showed his teeth again, and Illumi caught himself staring at the sharp, extended canines he had.
Hisoka said, "No. You have never happened before. This night...is very unique. Don't you think?"
Illumi agreed, but didn't say so.
They stayed awake throughout the night, for the remaining eight hours of flight time, and Illumi reluctantly admitted to himself that Hisoka was perhaps the closest thing he could call a friend.
Not because they were friends, but because Hisoka had some striking similarities.
Hisoka was famous, too, though in a more niche corner of the world than Illumi. He worked at a battle arena as one of the reigning champions. This event--Alpha Celestia--was gaining traction. Alphas fought one another in a ring, sometimes to the death, and the winners got cash.
Hisoka was undefeated.
Illumi wondered if he would do well in the ring. He was an omega, yes, but he was quite strong, and his skills as a Zoldyck could possibly give him an edge.
As if he could read Illumi's mind, Hisoka handed Illumi a card with a web address. "Come visit me. Any time you'd like."
Illumi turned the card over and the back had a joker emblazoned in shiny gold. "It's not safe for me to enter a place like that. If you could smell me, the other alphas there could, too. I would get mobbed."
Hisoka sighed, but in a way that seemed almost affectionate. "No one can smell you but me." Well, it was true that this hadn't happened before now, but Illumi was feeling cautious over it. Omegas had been killed--were killed daily--if they were in the wrong place, at the wrong time, while defenseless. Compulsion could lead to disaster, and in many places, alphas weren't even charged with murder if they killed an omega--they couldn't control themselves, if their basest desires were unlocked.
"That does not make sense. It does not make sense that you could tell what I am," Illumi said.
"It does if you frame it in a very specific way."
"What way?"
Hisoka glanced out the window and crossed his legs. The sun was starting to peek over distant mountains and it cast his skin in a gold glow.
Illumi truly couldn't fill in the gap. He leaned forward, curious. "What way?"
Hisoka covered his mouth with a hand, still not looking Illumi in the face. "I don't want to say."
"Why?"
Finally, Hisoka's vivid yellow eyes slid over, and met Illumi's solid black. "It's too much," said Hisoka. He dropped his hand and smiled--leered, even. "Even for me."
"I do not understand."
They stared at one another for a short time. The smell filled Illumi in a way that made him feel both comforted and--something else. Something he couldn't name.
"It's possible we're fated mates," said Hisoka, finally.
The silence between them lingered for some time, as they thought about it. Illumi broke the quiet with a simple, "Oh." It truly hadn't occurred to him. "I did not think that was a real phenomenon."
"It's not." Hisoka looked back out the window. "At least, I didn't think it was real. It's something they talk about in movies, sometimes. Like an ancient magic."
"Yes," said Illumi, though he didn't watch movies. "It is fictional."
But now that Hisoka said it, something seemed... Right.
'Fated mating' was this deep, soul-level connection between alphas and omegas. There was supposedly only one mate for every person born. And this relationship transcended normal alpha-omega abilities. It was said that magical mated pairs could live forever.
They were stronger. Faster. Omegas had powers like alphas--fear, strength, and...will.
"How do we know if it's true?" asked Illumi.
Hisoka shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't think 'fated mates' was a real thing until..." He trailed off.
Illumi's brow pinched. "You're unhappy." It was the first time in the eight hours they were seated together that Hisoka wasn't smiling, flirting, or goading. With his arms and legs crossed, he was very closed away. Something pulsed deep in Illumi's chest, unpleasant.
"I don't like being told what to do," said Hisoka.
Ah. That was the other thing with fated mates--you didn't get a choice. Fate, as it were, got to choose. "If fate chose me, you would be unhappy," said Illumi. He wasn't hurt by the fact--not yet, anyway. "You do not find me attractive."
Hisoka blinked a few times.
He looked at Illumi. Blinked a few more times. And then laughed.
"No. I've never felt more attracted to anyone in my life. And I have a voracious appetite--" Illumi knew he didn't mean with food. "I've been intimate with a great many people. Alpha, omega, and beta alike." Hisoka wasn't smirking or flirty as he said, "I've never felt like this for one of them. I'm half-unhinged. Every time I look at your mouth, I hear roaring in my mind."
And then he shrugged, looking as casual--unaffected--as ever.
"I think I'll do well at my next fight."
"Because you feel unhinged."
Hisoka's smirk curled his mouth again. "Unhinged and strong." Illumi watched Hisoka's lips and that strange feeling, the one he couldn't name, flooded him again.
He realized what it was. Hisoka had said it.
Appetite.
It wasn't that Illumi had never experienced sexual attraction before. It was that this sexual attraction was elevated beyond the normal scope; he couldn't even see it for what it was--until now. It was with a start that Illumi realized his medication was, in fact, working. Because if it weren't, he would be overwhelmed with need. Now that he knew, though--he could feel it. A whisper in the back of his mind.
It was the nature of things for omegas to submit--sexually or otherwise--to the alphas that demand it. Illumi had always resisted that call. Both because he was very strong and he had his blockers. He lived like a normal man; certain hormones were suppressed within him.
If he weren't suppressed, Illumi had a feeling he would have soaked through the seat hours ago. Omegas, when in heat, or at the side of an alpha they adored, produced a natural lubrication. Illumi had never experienced it--never wanted to. But here, in the bar, he felt a sudden, erotic pulse between his legs.
The smallest exhale of air fell from his lips, but it was enough to have Hisoka turn to him, eyes wide.
"I have to go," Illumi said. He stood up and Hisoka followed suit, but that put them closer together, and the smell overwhelmed Illumi now, and he felt himself growing hot.
Hisoka took a step forward.
Illumi looked up to him.
He was tall--most alphas were. Maybe six and a half feet tall. Illumi wasn't short, but still, he had to look up. Hisoka's shoulders were broad--wider than Illumi's by several inches, and his arm muscles were--big.
Hisoka was big.
Illumi's mouth flooded with saliva as another nearly orgasmic pulse racketed through him. He'd never been so turned on--and they had never even touched. Ever.
Illumi wondered what that would be like. Hisoka smelled like fire. Would he be warm?
"What are you doing?" Hisoka asked.
"Nothing," said Illumi. "I am going to my room." Though--he didn't move. He stood there, less than a foot away from Hisoka, need building inside his gut.
"You want me to touch you," said Hisoka.
Illumi's brows pinched.
"You're compelling me." Hisoka gestured with a finger. "You're using omega compulsion. To have me touch you. Do you want to be touched, Illumi?"
"No," Illumi lied, and the word felt like ash in his throat. Yes, he thought. Yes, yes. Yes--
"Hey," called the bartender.
Hisoka and Illumi looked over, surprised. For a moment, the world had fallen away. Illumi forgot they weren't alone.
"We have private rooms for that pheromone stuff. Come on," the bartender groaned.
"I apologize," said Illumi, taking the chance to rush away. "Goodbye, Hisoka."
Illumi went back and forth on whether or not to report the events of the airship to his father. He gave Silva a debriefing after every assassination, and technically what happened on the journey home wasn't part of the job, but it felt significant somehow. He decided, seated on his knees inside his father's room, to let him know.
Silva turned to his computer and immediately began typing information into a database. After a moment, Hisoka's image appeared on the screen, though his hair was pink, and he had a star and teardrop painted onto his face. "Is this the man?" asked Silva.
"Yes," said Illumi. Even as a pixellated photo on a screen across the room, Illumi thought Hisoka looked compelling. Strong. Strange.
Silva made a noise of disgust, which brought Illumi out of his head. "Do you want me to have him killed?"
It took a moment for Illumi to register the question. Slowly, he said, "If I wanted him dead, I would do it myself."
Silva frowned, deepening the lines around his face. "The way he treated you was absolutely abhorrent. An unmated alpha drinking all night with an unguarded omega? He has no manners. No decorum. And he lied to your face."
"Did he."
"If you believe for a moment that this boxing ring fake hadn't seen our family reported around Yorknew, then you're stupider than I believed possible, Illumi."
He didn't want to argue with his father. Certainly not for something like this. But Illumi knew, with full confidence, that Hisoka hadn't lied. He didn't know Illumi.
"He made it up," Silva said. "So, do you want him killed?"
Illumi stood up and approached the screen, looking at Hisoka's stoic face. His long sloped nose and the perfect peaks of his lips. And his eyes, which were so yellow that they glowed, even in a photo. "No," said Illumi. "I can do it myself if I ever need to."
"Alright." Silva sighed. "I trust you." After a moment, Silva closed the window, and Hisoka vanished from the screen. Silva sat his chin upon his fist for a minute, examining his son. "Fated mates aren't real," he said.
"Of course not." It seemed more likely that Hisoka's powers were just that powerful. Somehow.
"But alphas can love omegas. They're meant to. It's the nature of things."
Illumi wasn't sure where Silva was going, so he didn't reply.
Silva cleared his throat and went back to his computer. "I've had it on my mind for a while. An alpha. For you."
"Oh?"
He pulled open a different profile and a handsome man appeared on-screen. He was hairless, with a slight smile. "His name is Hanzo. He's from Jappon--like your mom. You have a great number of things in common, but most notably--his family--well, his clan--have long sought our favor. He's a ninja; he does assassinations much like you."
Illumi's brow pinched. "What are you asking of me?" He wasn't used to seeing information like this outside of assassination orders. Why was his father showing him this random foreign alpha from his mother's home country?
"They've offered us a handsome sum just for a meeting. It's not a bad match."
"A meeting?"
"For marriage, Illumi."
"I'm only twenty-four."
"I was married to Kikyo by age twenty. We had you at age twenty-two." Silva closed the profile, which was unfortunate, because Illumi was so stunned that he hadn't properly snooped on this Hanzo's stats. Could he kill him if he needed to?
Would he need to?
"We'll arrange the meeting this week. Might as well get the bad taste out of your mouth." Silva grumbled, "Hisoka."
He didn't want to talk about how good the smell was upon his tongue; it seemed wrong. Instead, Illumi remained silent.
Silva clapped him upon the shoulder as he stood up. "This'll be a great match, I'm sure. I'll let everyone know."
He left Illumi staring dumbly at the blank screen. Maybe this was alright. Maybe Illumi needed to meet an alpha that wasn't a stranger or family or Hisoka. Maybe he needed to smell someone new.
Maybe this would confirm the reality--or fairy-tale--of fated mates.