There's a moment of silence once the doctor says that. Aki blinks slowly before asking Chiaki to repeat himself. Did he hear that right? There was no way Aki could be pregnant. His body was far too underdeveloped to have been able to handle pregnancy.
"You're pregnant," Chiaki obliges before turning the monitor to show them. A strange image of Aki's insides and he doesn't really know where he's supposed to focus "I suspected it at first when you said your stomach hurt when you were far away from your friend, so I confirmed my suspicions."
Aki clears his throat nervously and steals a glance at Haruki, who was staring at the screen in complete shock. He didn't want Haruki to get mad. Whenever Haruki got angry at Aki he would always avert his eyes from him when talking, or sometimes he wouldn't even bother replying to Aki. Other times he would shout at him and the omega inside Aki would get terrified of the alpha in Haruki.
"That doesn't make any sense," Haruki starts, shaking his head. "Aki's body had yet to develop. He was practically infertile, so how the hell did he get pregnant?"
Haruki wasn't wrong. Without any pheromones and the irregularity of his heat, Aki was practically infertile. The last appointment Aki had gone to had informed him that his body wouldn't be able to ever carry a child, and yet here he was being told he was pregnant.
The doctor pulls up Aki's previous records. "He missed out not only one appointment but two weekly check-ups, during that time his body probably went through major developments and became as it is now. To me, a beta who has just seen Aki for the first time today, his pheromones are strong enough for even me to detect. However, it's still a very early stage of his pregnancy, so he'll have to come back to make sure the baby is still healthy. Seeing his records, it may not last long."
Haruki turns to Aki in worry and grabs his face. He didn't look angry, which was surprising in itself. "What are we going to tell father?" He asks, concern etched all over his face. Aki places his hand over Haruki's and frowns. He was more worried about what their dad would think rather than how Aki's body was supposed to handle such changes?
"That's your biggest concern?" Aki sounds hurt, after all, Haruki was thinking about something else when he wasn't supposed to.
"You don't understand." Haruki closes his eyes and shakes his leg uncontrollably. "I promised to take responsibility for you and make sure nothing was to happen to you, only then did father allow us to move out. If he finds out that I failed to care for you and let you go and get pregnant with some stranger's kid, who knows what he'll do to us."
"What father thinks about this isn't what's most important right now," Aki slaps away Haruki's hand and turns back to Chiaki. "But then that doesn't explain why my stomach hurts."
"Let me get there," the doctor points at Hiroto. "Even with this distance, I can tell that your friend is not only an alpha and the father to your kid but in fact—"
"Wait," Hiroto interrupts the doctor. "How can you be sure I'm the father? We used protection, so how is it possible that it's my child."
Hiroto's tone is stern and Aki finds himself cowering away from him. Why was he so mad? It felt as though his anger was directed at Aki, but how was Aki at fault. He didn't ask for his body to undergo changes nor did he choose to become pregnant. The doctor remains silent for a moment, thinking as Hiroto's question strikes a thought in his mind. "It isn't entirely certain that you're the one, however, Aki seems to be reacting to you the most. We can only assume you're the one, especially since you're a dominant alpha."
"You're a dominant alpha?" Haruki questions, abruptly standing up from his seat. Hiroto nods slowly. Haruki reaches out and grabs his collar, pulling him up. "What the hell? If you're a dominant alpha then shouldn't you make sure to be careful with omegas? Were you not taught basic regulations?"
"Hey, calm down," Hiroto says, resting his hand over Haruki's. "I'm telling you again, we made sure to use protection. There's no way I'm the father."
As they all spoke among themselves, Aki thought back to the night he spent with Hiroto. He remembers pulling out a condom each time they decided to go for another round, so just when did they mess up? Aki holds a hand to his head and thinks seriously. Nothing came to mind as Aki recalls his memories. Maybe the doctor was mistaken, or perhaps it was someone else and not Hiroto?
"Another reason as to why I'm assuming you're the father," the doctor's voice snaps Aki back into reality. The other two quieten down as they wait. "Is simply because Aki's scent is barely detectable and yours is overpowering his."
Hiroto turns to Aki and takes a deep breath, his eyes narrowing as a familiar scent fills his senses.
"So," Aki breaks the silence that had followed shortly. "What can we do to stop the pain from affecting me whenever Hiroto isn't nearby."
"The easiest way to prevent the pain is by bonding with him," the doctor says, his words causing Aki to freeze. "You could create a temporary bond by biting on his scent gland or create a permanent bond by biting on his neck during heat."
Aki feels Haruki's hand slip into his before Haruki nods at the doctor. "Thank you for your time. We'll manage from here."
Before Aki or Hiroto say anything else, Haruki rushes out of the room dragging Aki along with him. They make their way down the corridor and right past the reception, ignoring the calls they made telling him to book Aki's follow up appointment. Only once they reach Hiroto's car does he stop.
"What was that, Haruki?" Aki asks, pulling his hand away. Hiroto's standing behind him as Haruki spins on his heels to face them. "The doctor was still explaining things to us, why'd you-"
"Bite his scent gland," Haruki orders Hiroto, who raises his eyebrow at him. "Bite him and then leave Aki alone."
"Haruki, calm down," Aki says, trying to stop his brother from glaring at Hiroto. "We need to talk this through properly, we can't just create a bond out of nowhere. You know exactly what happens when a bond is made and you want us to make one here, in the middle of a parking lot?"
Haruki opens his mouth to say something when Hiroto's arm comes around Aki's shoulder and he pulls him backwards. "Alright, listen here, Older Brother," Hiroto starts, leaning in close to Aki. "Firstly, you need to go and cool yourself off. Your brother isn't a child and can handle himself. Secondly, this is a matter between Aki and I, not you so stay out of it. And last but not least, he's going to stay the night with me."
Aki blushes at the final comment before getting spun around by Hiroto. Haruki calls out to him from behind, but Hiroto is quick to slip him into the passenger seat and take a seat himself. They reverse out of the parking space and drive past Haruki. Aki feels guilty leaving Haruki all alone, but he was acting strange and was saying nonsensical things.
"Sorry for taking you away from your brother so randomly," Hiroto speaks up first, turning the corner as they arrive on the main road. His eyes are facing straight ahead and he looks tired. "But I couldn't handle listening to your brother ramble on any longer."
Aki sighs. "It's fine, I agree with you. Haruki isn't normally like this, whenever the topic of our father comes up, he's always quick to become panicked? But then again he's the oldest son of the family and an alpha. My parents are still very conservative in that matter."
"The same goes for my family, especially after they found out I was a dominant alpha, my older brother, who's an omega, was cast aside just so that I would be the next head of the house." Hiroto's voice gets quieter and softer as he speaks. "Family politics really are the worst, aren't they?"
"Yeah," Aki lowers his head, sighing to himself once again. "It really is the worst."
The lights coming in from the window get dimmer as they go through the roads. The radio's playing softly in the background but all Aki can focus on is Hiroto's light breathing. The car comes to a stop after a while and Aki feels Hiroto's hand come round his neck.
"You okay?" He asks, massaging the back of his neck. Hiroto was a lot kinder than he had expected him to be. The way he was acting at Levi's bar was completely different to now. Maybe he was just having a bad day?
"I'm good," Aki says, smiling up at him. Hiroto smiles back before leaning forwards and placing a chaste kiss on his lips. It's short, sweet and makes Aki want more. But at the same time, he was exhausted from the long day he had had and was looking for nothing other than a soft bed.
"Let's go in?" Hiroto suggests, unbuckling his seatbelt before opening the door. "Just to warn you, this is my family house. I normally stay in the university dorm, but can't exactly take you there."
"It's fine, Hiroto. Don't worry," Aki reassures him by patting his arm. They begin to make their way towards the entrance when Aki finally looks around. There were large gates guarding the house, or well better said to be a mansion. It looked quite similar to Aki's family house, his parents were fans of traditional housing and ended up customising the house to suit their tastes when they took over. The garden itself looks large and Aki has to hold back his gasp of surprise. But then as they near the door, Aki's eyes catch the sign hanging by the wall and his heart skips a beat.
"Hiroto?" He stammers, his eyes not leaving the sign. Hiroto stops in his tracks and turns out, confused to see Aki standing a few feet away from him.
"What is it?" Hiroto asks. Aki peels his eyes off the sign and looks at him in shock and concern.
"I had to ask, what's your surname?" Hiroto tilts his head in confusion, wondering why Aki was asking him something so random.
"It says it right here," Hiroto says as he points to the sign on the wall. "My name's Tsukumo Hiroto."
Aki feels dread wash over him as he takes an alarming step back. Oh no, he thinks as he holds his head in his hands, not only did I just get pregnant by a stranger, it happened to be the son of our clan's rival.