Marriage of an Omega Chapter 1.1: Masazumi and Yoshihisa (Part 1)

Marriage of an Omega by Haruhi Tono
やんごとなきオメガの婚姻
原作：遠野春日　画：サマミヤアカザ
Genre: BL, Omegaverse
Novel Status in Country of Origin: 1 volume (9 chapters, split)
Translator: mojo
Editor: Addis
~~~~Brought to you by ExR~~~~

SUMMARY:
Being born as an omega in a prestigious count’s family is considered a disgrace. Desperate to keep his secret, Masazumi lives as a Beta in boarding school. “I won’t fall in love with anyone, I’ll die without a pair!”. However, one day his unrivaled good-looks and wit caught the eyes of his classmates and he was attacked!! The one who rescued him from this predicament was the janitor, Miyake. Despite being dressed in plain work clothes and a hat, when Miyake approached, Masazumi felt a spark like he’d never experienced before.
Publication date: 2020/05/14

Chapter 1.1: Masazumi and Yoshihisa

Translated by Mojo of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

¹

When the last class of the day had finished, all the students rushed to leave the classroom. They formed groups of three or five to head to their clubs or extra lessons.

“Masazumi, would you like to go back to the dorms together? Our club advisor is away on a business trip today,” one of Masazumi’s admirers asked shyly.

Even though they were classmates, he addressed Masazumi like an upperclassman he admired rather than as a friend. He looked flustered in front of Masazumi — you could tell from his flushed face and restless demeanor. He wasn’t the only one, there were quite a few other students just like him. Maybe it was because they all became third-year (12th-grade seniors) students that spring and no longer had to worry about upperclassmen, but these kinds of casual invitations had become more frequent. 

“Sorry, but I haven’t finished writing today’s class log yet. You should go back first.”

“Ah, you’re on class duty today, aren’t you? Sorry for not noticing earlier”, the classmate apologized. Scratching his head as if ashamed, he reluctantly left Masazumi’s side. If he was too persistent, he was afraid Masazumi would come to dislike him. 

‘I really wish he wouldn’t be so mindful of me.’ Masazumi thought, ‘but on the other hand, when he pays too much attention, I get frustrated and act cold and unkind. So I guess it’s not surprising.’

Even at that moment, it felt like Masazumi was subconsciously giving off an ‘if you wait for me, it’ll be a nuisance’ type of aura. Among his admirers, he was worshipped like a prince. 

In reality, Masazumi was the second son of the Nirei family, a prestigious family of Counts respected by even the most elite aristocrats. Their wealth rivals that of the Toudou family, a distant relative to the royal family (and the sole owners of the Marquis title). 

In the beauty rankings that were traditionally held every year, Masazumi, with his slender face and delicate features, had ranked first for five consecutive years since he entered middle school. Masazumi himself had doubts about these results, but his peers generally accepted these results as valid. 

There were rumors about how he would make his debut into high society, once he had graduated and turned eighteen. “He’ll outclass the other ladies and take the title of ‘flower’ for himself”, they’d say. Of course, there were also quite a few contemptuous folks who found him annoying and would speak ill of him behind his back.

Masazumi, watching this unfold from the sidelines, thought that this kind of a ‘blessed’ lifestyle was irritating. Although he wasn’t a dorm monitor or anything, he had been given a private room in the dormitory. When it was decided that it was compulsory for every student to join a club, he claimed that he had a weak body and was given an exemption. Due to various reasons like these, it was no wonder that he stood out from the other students. 

But this was inescapable.

This special treatment arose because Masazumi had an important secret, one which was only known to his immediate family and a few who cooperate with them. The private room, and the inability to participate in club activities, were all measures to keep this secret hidden. 

A voice called out from the door which had been left open, “Is Tanushimaru here?” 

It was Nakamori from the neighboring class. Nakamori was a student who excelled at sports, and acted as vice-representative for the tennis club. He was good friends with Tanushimaru from the same club. Seemingly uninterested in anything except tennis, he gave off an uncommunicative and unrefined impression.

Masazumi didn’t have any bad feelings towards Nakamori, but there was something about him which he didn’t like… Due to a family connection, he was a devout follower of Nashiba Takashi who despised Masazumi.

Upon hearing Nakamori’s voice, Masazumi stopped writing and looked up from the class log to see Nashiba who was pushing Nakamori aside to get into the classroom. It seemed Nashiba had been with him after all. Masazumi felt annoyed that his unfortunate prediction was right. 

Nashiba was the tennis club representative, and behind him was the student who was always with him, Toyonaga, standing around like a lackey. Nakamori could be described as the follower incapable of having his own opinion, and Toyonaga as the follower who thought he was tough because he was associated with Nashiba.² But in terms of bad character, Toyonaga wouldn’t lose to Nashiba. 

Masazumi was particularly bad at dealing with these two. Even though they were his weak point, if he showed them that weak side, he knew that they would get carried away. So he had to force himself to act tough in front of them. 

Nashiba began approaching determinedly. His body was muscular and trained from tennis, and Masazumi could not compare to his physical strength or running ability. He had slanted eyes, a face with the impression of a tough cat, and wavy black hair. Whenever Masazumi saw him, he always thought that his outward appearance matched his intimidating personality.

Their eyes met for a second but Masazumi pretended not to notice and returned his gaze to the class log. As he filled in the necessary information, Nashiba came and stood by his side, “Don’t ignore me, Nirei. We just made eye contact, yeah?”

Masazumi let out a sigh towards Nashiba, who from the beginning had been trying to start a fight. He replied in a disinterested tone, “Did you need something? Tanushimaru already left a while ago. He’s probably already in the club room so you missed each other.”

Though Nashiba’s emotions didn’t show on his face, Masazumi sensed his growing anger at his blunt reaction, “The Princess is acting high and mighty as usual I see.”

“Won’t you stop calling me that? It’s stupid.” Masazumi said in a controlled voice. Though he was calm already, he deliberately made his words sound colder. 

Nashiba became increasingly aware of this and tried to twist Masazumi’s words into an argument. If he was ignored then he got angry, he wouldn’t give up. Over the past five years, Masazumi had come to realize that giving the bare minimum of answers in this way was the least annoying option.

“Oi, you guys go back to the club room before me. We’ll do doubles for training, so go tell Tanushimaru.” Once Nashiba had made the others leave and he was alone with Masazumi, he pulled up a chair beside him indicating that he wasn’t done talking. 

Having finished writing in the class log, Masazumi reluctantly put down his pen and turned to face him. Masazumi asked again, “Do you need something from me?” 

He continued to focus on looking unconcerned, unsure how else to react. He guessed that Nashiba definitely thought of him as unpleasant, or thought that he was an intolerable snob. 

“In gym class the other day, when we played red vs. white in basketball, you only subbed in for one minute.”

Masazumi didn’t know why this was his line of questioning, but he found it mentally tiresome being attacked over something so inconsequential, “My health was relatively good that day, so I decided to join in instead of watching. What about it?”

“It seems like you slipped through all the opponent’s defenses and shot a basket.”

Beginning to see the direction of this conversation, and feeling uneasy, Masazumi returned to his careful state, “Well, only once.” 

The classroom which had at some point been reduced to just the two of them added to the anxious feeling which was bubbling over inside him. From the hallway, the inside of the classroom was visible through the fitted windows, so people could pass by. This, at least, was a small consolation that he wasn’t completely trapped.

“Don’t be modest. The basketball club regulars even praised you, saying it was a brilliant dribble. Aren’t you just saying your body’s weak as an excuse to skip class?”

“I’m surprised that this is the first time you’ve thought of that, after all this time.” In reality, Masazumi truly was surprised. Strictly speaking, he was purposefully skipping gym class, he was terrible at sports, he wanted to study during those periods. However, those were not the real reasons that he didn’t participate. There was no way that Nashiba had worked out the real reason, but his lack of tact meant that he was prone to insensitive speculations, and the thought of these speculations being accurate tormented Masazumi.

“Ha. Well, you’re definitely skinny, pale, and look like you’re going to die an early death, but even then isn’t that too much special treatment for one person? Just how much money is the Count family willing to spend on you?”

“Is that the end of this conversation?” Being forced to face Nashiba was causing him pain, and he started to feel like he couldn’t stand it anymore. 

Masazumi went to pull back his chair and stand up, but Nashiba grabbed his shoulder and forced him back into his seat, he said as if sulking, “No, the conversation’s hardly started!” 

Unable to compete with Nashiba’s strength, Masazumi was forced back into his seat, hitting his tailbone and causing him to scrunch his eyebrows in pain, “You’re pretty violent…”

“It’s because you were trying to run away in the middle of our conversation.”

“Sorry, but I don’t have that kind of free time. I have to take the class log to the homeroom teacher or he’ll get mad at me for being late.”

“Don’t make me laugh. The fact that no teacher would dare lecture one of the Nirei siblings is something even a first-year junior school brat would know.”

“My brother already graduated…”

“Even now everyone thinks that the great Takanori-senpai holds some influence through you.”

“My brother is my brother. I’m me.”

Ultimately, Nashiba was just trying to find fault in Masazumi, and from the start never really needed anything from him. Though he knew that from the start, while trying to figure out the right timing to leave, Masazumi resented how troublesome the situation had become.

Once again taking the class log in his hand, Masazumi attempted to get out of his seat. Except for this time, Nashiba pushed his chest with the palm of his hand and threw him back. It seemed that Masazumi was lighter than Nashiba had first thought, and so he fell back over the chair, his shoulder hitting the ground hard, “Ugh!”

“What are you two doing?!” a classmate threw open the door that Toyonaga had purposefully left shut, and yelled as if in shock. It was Kase Masamichi, one of Masazumi’s classmates. “You’re next door’s Nashiba, aren’t you?”

“Tch.”  Thinking that someone troublesome had appeared, Nashiba clicked his tongue. He walked past Kase as if he had nothing to do with the situation, and left the classroom.

“He’s quick to run away…” Instead of following Nashiba, Kase walked determinedly towards Masazumi and helped him up. “Are you okay? Injured?”

“No.” Masazumi brushed the dust off his uniform and fixed the rumpled parts in his long hair. Then he solemnly thanked Kase. “Thanks.” 

“If it wasn’t anything major then that’s good. But he managed to start a fight with you, as usual.” Kase looked Masazumi up and down. He was glaring at the doorway, although Nashiba had long gone.

“And today you managed to avoid participating in class, as usual.” Masazumi cynically retorted.

He was thankful that Nashiba had been dealt with, but Kase was another one of those types that Masazumi had trouble dealing with. Just not on the same level as Nashiba. Whenever their eyes met, Kase’s keenly curious gaze felt unsettling. He was a free-spirited guy, who didn’t fit into any category. He’s tall, with broad shoulders and a muscular chest, a healthy-looking body type, and his arms were muscular too.

But contrary to his appearance, he had a calm and detached personality. For one thing, out of the students who enrolled last year, he was one of the most unusual. He had taken a break from school in order to travel overseas, making him two years older than Masazumi and his classmates. In addition, not much was known about his household environment, and nobody seemed to know which ranking his family belonged to, only that they had relations to another noble family from a few decades ago. 

Kase was sociable, though his relationships were mostly shallow so he had no close friends.  He rarely went to class and was always off doing something, though what that was nobody really knew. The teachers had mostly given up on him as a hopeless delinquent, but in progress tests, he always passed with brilliant results, so it seemed he was actually very intelligent.

Kase was mysterious. Because he didn’t understand him, even though he didn’t think of him as a bad person, Masazumi wouldn’t let his guard down. 

Kase stared intently at Masazumi, and laughed without an ounce of regret, “Class, huh? I don’t like those kinds of bothersome things. At the moment, from my exchange program, I’ve got the qualification of a high school graduate anyway.”

‘Then why did you even enroll in this school,’ Masazumi wanted to ask, but he had decided to create some distance and separate himself from Kase. So he restrained himself from drawing out the conversation, “What did you come to the classroom for, this late in the day?”

Seeing Masazmi holding the black class log under his arm, and clutching the shoe bag that he carried to school, trying to get away from his seat, Kase casually responded.

“To get my shoes.” He went to the seat furthest towards the back on the hallway side and pulled his shoes out. Masazumi couldn’t help but be convinced. “You’re going back to the dorms, right? I’ll go with you.”

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t have to be so cold. Nashiba might be waiting to ambush you on the way. He didn’t look too happy that I got in the way of what he was doing. It’s possible that he’ll appear again if you’re alone.”

He already plainly refused once, but Masazumi flinched at the mention of Nashiba’s name.

“Let’s go.” He lightly thumped Masazumi on the back to encourage him. Masazumi had missed the opportunity to refuse. He had no choice but to follow behind Kase into the hallway. “Should I carry your shoes?”

“That’s not necessary.” Masazumi strengthened his tone of voice and glared to show his displeasure. This kind of help wasn’t needed. Whenever he was walking with other classmates they would often ask the same sorts of things, and he wondered just what sort of intentions they had when being overly considerate of him this way.

“Oh, my bad. I forgot you don’t like that kind of princess treatment. But I didn’t have an ulterior motive or anything. If anything, it must be a habit. Since I’m the kind of person who always tries to befriend people, especially people like you who are always giving off such a noble aura.”

Masazumi didn’t understand what Kase was saying, so he answered bluntly and faced forward, “A habit? Don’t say such weird things.” 

Kase, who was fairly tall compared to Masazumi, gazed down at him. It looked like he was about to say something, but he stayed silent until they reached the end of the hallway. The next time he opened his mouth was when they were about to descend the staircase, “Your brother, while he was in school, was so popular he was treated like something legendary.”

Masazumi was unprepared for Takanori to be brought up in conversation so suddenly. He quickly realized that Kase had probably overheard his exchange with Nashiba. Rather than being asked about himself, he was more comfortable talking about his older brother. He replied, “Now, he’s one of the school’s major alumni and a third-year university student.”

Masazumi loved Takanori, so whenever he talked about him he tended to relax, and his tone became softer. Of the country’s dozen or so prestigious boarding schools, and even then in this secondary school which gathered all the most promising students, Takanori had excelled to a point unreachable by other students.

Masasumi was aware that he had a considerable brother complex, as almost everyone in the family was enamored with his older brother’s perfection, which even drew the attention of the general public. Takanori, who had countless stories created about him during his time at school, was still a figure of admiration in the memory of senpais and teachers alike.

“Maybe it’s your brother’s reputation, but whenever I hear those stories about him I feel like trying to meet him just once. Last year I didn’t know anything so I ended up skipping the school festival, even though he showed up. Will he come this year too?”

“I’ve heard he intends to.” Masazumi was also looking forward to getting to meet him for the first time in a while. The school festival was held every year on the last weekend of June, spanning two days. It was one of the biggest scale events of the year. Already, the various classes and clubs had begun their preparations for what they would present.

“Then maybe this year I’ll enthusiastically help out,” Kase said.

“If you do that then you’ll probably really help the festival executive committee. Everyone is always so bewildered all the time since you just do whatever you feel like.”

“That’s such an honor student-like statement. You’re pretty harsh, though you wouldn’t know it to look at you.” Kase responded without really addressing Masazumi’s statement, and laughed pleasantly.

“Your brother was a pretty impressive person, but you’re also an honor student who exceeds people’s expectations. The other day, I got the chance to talk to the Dean. I forget how we got to this point but we started talking about the Nirei count family. He told me that he’s pretty good friends with your father. And that he’s known you and your brother since you were babies.”

“The Dean and my father were friends who spent time together in a secondary school like this one. As a result, I have been looked after in many ways, I’m very blessed.” Coming to the bottom of the staircase, and exiting out into a pathway that cut across a beautiful green courtyard, Masazumi was subject to a self-loathing feeling at having talked about such unnecessary things. He immediately regretted mentioning it, but he couldn’t take back his words.

“Looked after… huh?” As if wondering what sort of things he was referring to, Kase muttered this as if to prompt an answer. 

Instead of being subject to a bunch of questions, Masazumi decided it would be easier to just start explaining, “Maybe it’s just satisfying my greed, rather than being looked after. The only two people in the dormitory who have private rooms are me and the dorm monitor. The dorm monitor being in a room by himself was something that was decided from the start, and instances of other students being considered for one are rare.”

“Ah, you meant your single room. I was thinking it would be some pretty astounding special treatment.” Kase was convinced with Masazumi’s statement about the room, and it didn’t seem he was actually that interested in the topic. In the first place, he didn’t seem the type to be overly worried about other people, and one student getting special treatment was most likely an irrelevant concern to him. Masazumi was thankful for Kase’s ambivalent attitude and was able to be around him without feeling tense.

“I guess even an honor student like you is capable of being selfish sometimes,” Kase said in a carefree way. It felt as if he was only continuing with this topic because he wanted to keep talking with Masazumi. 

“I can’t sleep if there are people near me, even my family. So my dad asked the Dean and he listened to my unreasonable request.”

“Usually you’d have four to a room in middle school, and then two when you get to high school, yeah… But everyone knows you’ve got kind of a weak body so I think they’re understanding.”

“I don’t know if it’s because they’re conscious of my brother’s influence or what, but Nashiba and his friends are always making snide comments about that.” 

“Nashiba… I wonder why he has such a grudge against you. If it’s because you’re treated special, then he’s no different. It’s as if he’s overly conscious of you and your brother to the point of creating a rivalry. Maybe you don’t really see it that way but he probably can’t stand how you surpass him in so many ways. For me, I feel embarrassed to think that I’m the same as Nashiba, because neither of us adheres to that expression ‘noblesse oblige.’ ³ Though he would probably scowl as well if he heard he was being talked about by a truant like me.” 

Masazumi thought that what Kase had said about Nashiba was definitely the case, and felt a small chuckle escape his lips. But his smile went cold when he heard what Kase said next, “Not that Nashiba is particularly looking for a mate or anything, but I seriously feel bad for whoever catches his eye. It doesn’t look as if there’s an omega student from a rare species like that at this school, so I’m glad, but my one warning to them would be to never get with Nashiba.”

Omega. Rare species.

Like a magic curse that forced Masazumi to recall unpleasant memories, words like those made him feel as if a cold blade had been shoved into his heart. He halted abruptly. Kase turned to see him having trouble even taking a step forward, and Masazumi felt as if he’d just revealed his calm act. 

“Did something I say offend you?” Kase tilted his head and looked puzzled. There was something about his gaze which gave Masaumi the impression that his words didn’t match up with his real intentions.

This guy was, after all, also one of those people that Masazumi didn’t understand. Instinctually he wasn’t sure how much he could trust him. Ultimately he had no choice but to remain cautious and discreet.

Masazumi refocused his mind and hardened his attitude again.

“The staff room is right over there. You completely skipped school today, so you won’t want to just brazenly walk past it with me, right?”

“That’s true.” With his gaze still fixed earnestly on Masazumi, Kase lightly shrugged his shoulders. Looking closely at his face like this, Masazumi noticed his intelligent expression and found that he was actually quite good-looking. They’d been in the same class since their second year but had never properly faced each other, so he was realizing this for the first time.

“Well, see you later then. Take care going home.” A little unexpectedly, Kase left Masazumi without argument, retracing his steps along the pathway.