Piqued Interest

Proposal Meeting

    The next day you begrudgingly dragged yourself to the cafeteria. Most lunches you spent doing work or studying in the library, occasionally sitting in the cafeteria with some who wanted the extra security. Otherwise, you avoided this mess of people and pheromones at all costs. The cafeteria could easily turn into a war zone at any given moment and you didn't want to be any part of that.

    However, with Tendou leaving his invitation last night, you weren't left with much of a choice. You had your lunch already packed as usual in your bag and set about trying to find him. It didn't take too long but you seemed to lose your nerve as soon as you spotted him. He was reaching across the table and was messing with one of his friends who didn't seem to be enjoying it. Doubt and panic filled you. With your foot still mid-air you quickly turned before he spotted you, only to run straight into a wall. The strangest part was when the wall steadied you after the collision. You craned your neck to look up at the most intimidating guy you had ever seen on campus. He had dark cropped hair, was wearing a sports jacket, and was staring down at you with a stare that left you several degrees cooler.

    You murmured an apology and quickly tried to escape but he stepped in your path before you could get around him. "Are you the one Tendou said was joining us today? You look just like he said." You were left gaping as any pretense of leaving without being seen had disappeared. You weakly nodded and were left at the mercy of the giant who was surely leading you straight to your doom.

    As soon as you began your (second) approach to the table, Tendou spotted you. He stopped accosting his friend and immediately shot up to greet you. "I see you've met Wakatoshi already! He's the one I thought you would get along with." Tendou dropped an arm around your shoulders and guided you to sit beside him at the table.

    None of the other people at the table seemed to pay you or Tendou any mind, he must be like this all of the time. Poor souls, you thought. The giant you ran into earlier sat across from you and stared at you for a few seconds without saying anything. Tendou chuckled at your side, "This is Y/N, Wakatoshi. I think you would get along really well with each other, you're like two peas in a pod!" You met his stare with a dumbfounded one. How could you two be anything alike? There were a few chuckles around the table but then everyone continued on. You suddenly felt extremely awkward as things went on like you weren't there. Except for Wakatoshi who quietly sat and mostly stared at you. You decided to get out of here as quickly as possible and brought out the sandwich you had made.

    As soon as you started to peel off the plastic you realized that Tendou was resting his chin on his hands and was staring at you. You did your best to ignore him and act like he wasn't there. Tendou made this more difficult than it should've been. Without even looking at him you could feel his eyes and crooked smile pointed toward you. As you finished your sandwich you couldn't take it and whipped your head around to meet his stare. He had gotten closer over the course of a few minutes, and you were forced to draw back a bit, but leveled him with a glare.

    He continued to stare, but reached up and placed his hand on your cheek. Not at all what you were expecting. Your face flushed and you were spluttering. Before you could process anything he slowly drew his hand back and showed you a bit of mustard, "You're a messy one, aren't you? You should be more careful."

You stared at him baffled, "What is it that you wanted me here for?"

He hummed in mock thought, "I suppose I wanted all my friends to enjoy lunch together."

    It was at this point you resigned yourself to your fate. It felt like everything was closing in on you and you had to leave. Now. If Tendou told everyone you were an Alpha, so be it. Tendou was too much trouble and being around him was not good for your nerves. You grabbed your bag and stood, "Thanks for letting me join," you called to the others and started speed walking away. You heard Tendou shouting something in surprise, but you continued for the library. Surely it would be better in your haven.

    As soon as you were past the crowds you stopped in an empty hallway to breathe. The noise and the heat from the cafeteria had taken a lot more out of you than it should have. You were having trouble regaining steady breath and you couldn't seem to cool back down. You leaned against a wall but the pressure on your chest only grew. You had gotten away, you shouldn't be having a panic attack right now, that hadn't happened in years. It could only – OH.

    The realization hit you like a truck. All of the stress you'd been putting on yourself lately had caused a hormone imbalance. You shakily dug through your bag for your pills and blockers but came up empty. Out of all the times for this to happen! You had to get somewhere you could sleep this off. You weren't in danger of going into a full rut, but this imbalance was definitely going to leave you helpless. It could even impact others around you if left unchecked.

    There was an office in the library you had used in the past for small episodes like this. It was tucked in the back where no one ever went and you had one of two keys. Just get there. With your goal in mind, you contemplated a plan of speed or caution. It was the lunch hour so you shouldn't run into many people and you didn't have a lot of time, but you should try to save as much energy as possible. You heard footsteps approaching and decided to bolt. There were a few people that gave you weird looks but you managed to avoid most people by taking the shortcuts you had gotten used to.

    By the time you made it to the library, your lungs were burning, you could feel a fever starting, and your legs were barely holding you up. You quickly rushed in and saw the head librarian. She had been in charge for over 20 years and had seen you in this state before. She quickly met you, grabbing your side to steady you and helped guide you to the back office. Once inside you locked the door and collapsed. You could feel a fog settling in as you made your way to a corner and curled in on yourself. You thought you could smell a faint hint of chocolate right before you passed out.