[ABO BL Anthology] Time Cross Academy

Snake x Fox (3)

Soubi looked at his school handbook that was distributed after the afternoon speech. Time Cross Academy had very strict rules that everyone had to abide by and anybody who breaks the rules will be punished by torture or death depending on the severity. While it sounded like a scary place, the rules that Amanda Lucifer implemented made him feel safe instead.

As an omega, Soubi was always afraid of what alphas would do to the weaker second genders like him. The collar he wore was bought by his father who was worried about him getting marked by a stranger that he didn't want as a mate. Kenma was also sent to protect the snow fox demon but nothing assured Soubi more than the ten golden rules.

1. No rape and non-consensual s*x.

2. All mate bonding and marking can only take place after both students sign a mate registration certificate.

3. Only registered mates can spend their heats in each other's rooms during the mating season.

4. Dormitories are only accessible by their respective second genders. No visiting of other second gender dormitories are allowed.

5. Alpha, beta and omegas have individual toilets, no using of other second gender toilets allowed on campus.

6. No attempting to break up a registered couple.

7. No public s*x.

8. Pregnancy rooms must be reserved beforehand and approval from both parties' parents must be submitted before permitted use.

9. No skipping or faking results of second gender retests held every semester.

10. All second genders and species are treated equally and fairly, no bullying is tolerated.

Apart from these rules, students have a lot of freedom to choose their elective classes and even roommates. Soubi's roommate hasn't arrived yet but he is an omega human who looked very out of the place and afraid. The snow fox demon didn't blame the kid. He was only eighteen and a human to boot who was registered in Time Cross Academy by his adoptive family to marry into an influential alpha's family for connections. Soubi took pity on the poor boy and befriended him.

The boy's name was Ringo Yamamoto and he came from a family of exorcists. He wears a traditional blue bottom hakama and is shorter than Soubi. The man had black hair and chubby cheeks despite being eighteen years of age and this was the first time Soubi thought a boy could be cute despite being the same age as him. Ringo was a clumsy boy who was shy and soft-spoken. The snow fox didn't think that his roommate would last very long in the school full of supernatural creatures. Many alphas were eyeing the human boy earlier and Soubi decided to step in when a vampire alpha came too close.

Speaking of Ringo, the boy was late. Soubi's stomach rumbled. They were supposed to meet up in the room before heading to the canteen together to grab dinner. How long could one shower take? Showering twice a day must sound tiring. Soubi hated water so his showers usually only lasted five minutes. Ringo had been gone for half an hour now, surely he didn't drown in the bath... right?

"I better check on him," the grouchy snow fox demon said and left his room.

The showers and bathrooms were shared in the dormitories. After the introductory speech by Asahina, Soubi learnt more about second genders. In society, most of the population were betas and they made up about sixty to seventy percent of the workforce. However, in Time Cross Academy the betas were the minority population making up only twenty percent. Their dormitories were smaller compared to the alpha and omega dormitories.

Alphas made up ten to fifteen percent in the population outside of the academy in the ratio similar to omegas. The urban legends have it that alpha and omegas were attracted to each other because of physical compatibility by the power of pheromones released during heats and ruts. However, according to Amanda, there was one other attraction between alphas and omegas called the soul bond. This happened when alphas and omegas who were fated mates met. The chances of finding your fated mate were one in a few billion but at Time Cross Academy, Amanda helped. Most alphas and omegas will find their fated mates in the academy over the five years. Rumours have it that the archmage herself was actually the goddess of love who could see who had red threads and where they led. Soubi didn't know if he should believe it but he didn't care. He just wanted to know why the alpha and omega dormitories were so ridiculously huge. Then again, housing four hundred omegas in one building must be difficult even for the archmage.

The alpha and omega dormitories were like mansions. There were a total of four levels with each level housing a hundred students. Each room had two students sharing a bunk bed which meant there were at least fifty bedrooms on each level of the dormitory. Even after the orientation tour of the dormitory, Soubi was still lost. Exactly which bathroom did Ringo use? Soubi had checked the fourth bathroom now but his roommate wasn't there.

"Whoa! Why are you in such a hurry?" the dorm manager stopped Soubi when he was running in the hallways.

"Dorm manager Lee!" Soubi nearly sobbed in relief. "I can't find Ringo anywhere..."

Dorm manager Lee was a five-hundred-year-old mermaid who worked for the academy for nearly two hundred years now. The lady was kind, patient and understanding. All the omegas loved her and she gave off a motherly vibe.

"Ringo? I think he went to the bathroom on the second floor but he should be back in his room by now. Do you want me to show you the way back to your room? You've run quite far to look for him."

Hearing that, the snow fox demon heaved a sigh of relief and thanked the lady before excusing himself. It was only the first day and Soubi was exhausted. That human exorcist was really more troublesome than Soubi expected. When he saw him he was going to give Ringo a piece of his mind.

The door to the room clicked open and Soubi smelled the lower scented soap before he saw his human roommate. Immediately, he felt lethargic from the chase and scowled.

"Where did you go? What kind of shower were you taking? It's almost an hour now, the canteen is going to close!"

Ringo apologised profusely and promised to make it up to Soubi tomorrow by collecting breakfast for him. "Let's go now before they run out of food," Soubi sighed and dragged his small roommate to the dining area.

The canteen was full of delicious food smells and Ringo couldn't decide what he wanted although the exorcist looked a little ill seeing the more unique meal items for other species. Blood wine and raw livers don't sound appetising so they skipped that part of the menu.

"One plate of inari sushi and two fried chicken drumsticks please," Soubi ordered and Ringo chose the same thing, unable to make up his mind.

The lunch lady looked apologetic when she realised that she ran out of fried tofu to make the inari sushi. Soubi's ears drooped. "No inari sushi?" he was close to tears. After a stressful day, eating his favourite food always cheered him out. To think that they were out of stock... it was Soubi's worst nightmare come true.

Ringo watched as his friend mentally collapsed at the devastating news and looked at the long line of people waiting impatiently behind them. "Make it onigiri please with two fried chicken drumsticks. I'll have the same thing as him," the exorcist apologised and urged his friend whose brain had gone offline along.

Soubi was lifeless as Ringo led him to a vacant seat. He didn't realise who he was sharing tables with until a familiar sensation on his lips jolted him out of his thoughts.

"What? You-!"

"Hello, what a coincidence seeing you here," Sei smiled. The alpha black snake demon was sitting alone when he saw Soubi and his troubled roommate. The snake waved to Ringo who was very thankful that there was someone who was willing to share their seats with them.

"I'll go collect our food, please take care of him for me. He's very depressed right now because the cook said they were out of inari sushi."

Sei agreed to look after his childhood friend and love interest and waited for Ringo to leave before observing his zoned-out friend. Soubi must be really depressed to not realise who he was sitting next to. Whenever the fox demon saw him, he would hiss like a cat and approach him with wary eyes and a guarded look. Seeing an unguarded Soubi full of openings just made Sei want to do bad things to him. Hence, he took the opportunity to steal another kiss from him.

The kiss worked like magic and Soubi regained his senses. The spitfire fox in him returned and he yelled at the alpha snake demon who only laughed when Soubi grabbed his collar to shake him.

"Now now, don't be angry. You were unguarded so I cannot be blamed. Besides, do you really have to be so angry with me? I purposely came early and ordered some inari sushi hoping that I would see you so we can eat them together. Can't you forgive me in the name of inari sushi?"

The shameless snake alpha smiled coyly and Soubi found himself blushing at the foul play. On one hand, he was touched that Sei was very thoughtful but on the other hand, he had been kissed twice in a day by this same snake.

"I can forgive you for the kiss earlier but not the one this afternoon behind the school. How dare you steal my first kiss from me?!" he hissed and Sei's eyes widened in genuine surprise.

"First kiss? I thought you lost your first kiss to your first omiai candidate when you were fourteen?"

Soubi blushed furiously at that memory. Why did Sei have to say that? "Who told you that? I didn't lose my first kiss to that madwoman!"

Sei was confused. According to Soubi's older sisters, the kit lost his first kiss when a crazy omiai lady forced herself on him. Kenma found Soubi in the room with his top undone and his hands bound with his obi. The fox lady was also having her wicked way with him and that was when all hell broke loose. Nobody had seen Kenma act so aggressively before. The fox lady went back with one eye less and a disfigured nose. The rumours spread so quickly and from that day onwards, Kenma became Soubi's official bodyguard, accompanying him wherever he went.

"Your sisters said that you lost your first kiss and almost lost your first time to that vixen... Kenma did some to the rescue and stabbed one of her eyes out but that's not the point, is it? Speaking of Kenma, where is he?"

Soubi struggled with his emotion before sighing eventually. "Kenma's with his beta pals. They are hosting a dormitory welcome party and doing the hundred ghost story night so he's not coming. Also, I don't know who you heard it from but that mad vixen didn't kiss me. She actually wanted to skin me for my white fur if that makes you better, I'm still very much a virgin with my first kiss intact until earlier this afternoon."

Sei paled. "Soubi... I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I... I'll take full responsibility for you. Let's get married."

Soubi's jaw fell and Ringo came just in time to hear it with two dinner sets in his hands. "Oh? Soubi, is that your lover? Congratulations on getting married!"

Embarrassed and unable to handle the misunderstanding with so many people watching them, Soubi did what he did best and fled the scene.

"Sou! Wait!" Sei tried to call but groaned when the snow fox demon vanished at record speed. He then turned to Ringo with an apologetic smile. "Sorry but I can trouble you as his roommate to deliver dinner to him later? I have this plate of inari sushi, it should cheer him up. Sorry about that, see you later."

Ringo didn't have time to respond and was left alone to catch up on what just happened while he ate dinner alone. The exorcist sighed as he packed up food for Soubi including the plate of untouched inari sushi. Demons were complicated creatures.