Between Loyalty and Lust

The locker room was buzzing with anticipation.

Hatake Rin, was talkingto his team mates, listening to the excited chatter around him. His teammates were hyped—more than usual—and it wasn’t just because of practice. The real buzz was about a party. But not just any party.

Takuri Komori—the enigmatic third-year senior who founded the Shirakiba Wolves basketball team—was finally back in Japan.

Takuri had been a legend even before his injury. An Enigma by secondary gender and a genius on the court, he had built the foundation of Shirakiba with his bare hands and iron will. But during their first year, a catastrophic knee injury had taken him out of the game and off to the States for long-term rehabilitation.

Now, after nearly two years, he had returned.

And in typical Takuri fashion, he was throwing a party that screamed over-the-top—one held at his family’s estate, a mansion sprawling with unused space and silent fountains. He'd invited not just his old team, but rival schools and basketball elites from all over the region. According to Aio, it was “gonna be wild—drinks, chicks, hot dudes, rival captains—it’s like a sports anime exploded.”

The locker room roared with laughter.

But not everyone was excited.

Taiga sat alone on a bench in the far corner, eyes shut but mind alert. The chatter didn't reach him—not really. His thoughts were somewhere else, rooted in confusion and a growing storm he couldn’t suppress.

He hadn’t spoken to Maya in almost two days...It wasn’t Maya’s fault, and it wasn’t really his either. Taiga knew he was being petty. He always wore his emotions too plainly on his face, and Maya—ever perceptive—would have known something was wrong the second he opened his mouth.

So he stayed silent.

Taiga had always faked his masculine personality. It was a defense mechanism, one that earned him the respect he thought he needed in a world that didn't welcome softness in people like him. His scent-blocking was flawless. Everyone thought he was an Enigma. The aggression. The stoicism. The authority. It was all a mask.

In truth, he didn’t even like Enigmas.

He found them loud, aggressive for no reason, territorial—just like dogs. And now, he was tangled up with one, and another was orbiting them like a hungry predator.

Maybe it was time to end the lie. Maybe he should tell Maya his secondary gender—confess everything and drop the act. Stop pretending. Let the real Taiga breathe, just once.

---

Maya stood in front of a towering estate, fingers twitching with nerves.

He knew how he got here. Every step he took, every breath he drew, had led to this moment. But now that he stood at Dante’s front gate, his courage faltered.

He couldn’t keep hiding.

Not anymore.

As he was led inside by a sharply dressed servant, the vast halls swallowed him in silence. The mansion hadn’t changed much, but it felt different. Less like a home and more like a shrine—cold and impersonal.

“I’ll let the young master know you’re expecting him,” the waiter said politely, bowing slightly before disappearing into another wing.

“Young master.” God, that title still made Maya laugh inwardly. Dante had always lived like royalty. Even when they were just awkward teens in middle school, he had the air of a king—chauffeured cars, chef-prepared meals, the works. Maya’s family wasn’t poor, but next to Dante, he might as well have been dirt broke.

He didn’t know how long he stood there before Dante finally appeared.

“Maya?” Dante blinked in genuine surprise. “Is there a problem?”

He walked into the room with a soft, cautious smile, wearing sweats like they were tailored silk. His hair was slightly tousled, like he’d just woken from a nap, and his expression teetered between happy and alarmed.

“How long has it been? Two years? And you’re just... here. In my living room,” he said, voice laced with disbelief. “You know, I should charge you for the shock.”

There it was—that cocky tone, the infuriating smirk that always made Maya want to either kiss or slap him. He turned on his heel.

“You know what? Never mind. This was a mistake.”

He didn’t get far before Dante caught his wrist and yanked him back gently.

“Hey, take it easy. I’m just messing with you. You should know me by now,” Dante said, brushing a stray hair from Maya’s face. “I’m actually kind of offended. Okay, love—I'm all ears.”

Suddenly, the mansion became deathly quiet.

Maya didn’t even realize the living room had a fountain until the silence made its gentle gurgle loud as thunder.

“What? Didn’t plan what you were going to say?” Dante teased. “Should’ve written a scri—”

He was cut off by Maya’s lips on his.

It was brief, but powerful. Soft. Honest. Dante didn’t even have time to react before Maya pulled back. “I came here to talk,” Maya said, breathing hard.

Maya stood still, his breath uneven, eyes locked somewhere just beyond Dante’s shoulder. The words he’d rehearsed a hundred times trembled on his lips. But when he finally spoke, they came out soft and almost broken.

“I want both of you,” he whispered. “You and Taiga.”

Dante blinked, but said nothing. His silence pressed against Maya’s ribs like a weight.

“I don’t know how to bring this up to him without making him think it’s something it’s not,” Maya continued. “I don’t want him to believe we were sneaking behind his back. That I was unfaithful before even proposing the idea. But I can’t wrap my head around any other way to live without the both of you in my life.”

He took a breath, trembling now.

“I’m in love with you, Dante. And I’m in love with him too. And I can’t—” he laughed bitterly under his breath, “—I can’t think straight when I imagine losing either of you. It’s not even about being with both of you physically. I don’t care if I’m never in the middle of it. I just love you. Both of you. So much.”

Dante’s gaze softened, the hard lines of his face faltering.

“Do you know why I broke up with you?” Maya asked, stepping forward. Danta paying full attention, he never knew why maya ended things, thought cause he was petty about the choice of high school, Maya's voice cracked. “It wasn’t because I stopped loving you. It was because I knew—knew your parents would never let us be together, That eventually, they’d find someone more… suitable to satiate the Enigma out of you. Someone stronger, someone more persuasive.”

His voice grew quieter.

“I’m an Elite Prime Omega, Dante. I can’t tether you the way they want. I can’t ground you long enough, satiate your hunger well enough, ruts are tough Dante .”

He turned his face away, blinking rapidly.

“But Taiga… he can.” Maya looked back at Dante with a strange mix of hope and desperation. “He’s strong. He can bind all three of us. And he can carry a child—one who could have all l three of our DNA, That’s real. That’s possible.”

Silence.

“wait, We are both Enigmas, Maya, what do you mean?,” Dante said finally, voice low but steady. “Enigmas can't be together. We’re not compatible—you know that.”

Maya shifted his weight, nervous. “I know. I know that, but…” He glanced up, lips parted like he was chasing a breath that wouldn’t come. “I’m actually kind of suspecting he’s a .”

“Luna,” they both said at the same time.

The moment froze. Dante’s arms slowly dropped to his sides. His brows drew together, and his mouth opened just slightly in disbelief.

Maya stared. “Wait—how do you know?”

“I’ve been suspecting for a while,” Dante admitted, stepping closer. His voice dropped, something secretive and taut with tension in it. “His scent is too... soft. Subtle. Controlled. And his instincts—he's always watching us, measuring the space between us. That's Luna behavior, not Alpha or Omega.”

Maya took a step back, stunned. “You’ve been investigating?”

Dante hesitated. Then nodded once. “Yeah. Quietly. I didn’t want to accuse him of something so personal unless I was sure. And—I didn’t want to come between you two, Maya. I didn’t want to stir up something that wasn’t mine to touch.”

Maya’s heart twisted. He could see it now—how Dante had kept his distance not out of coldness, but restraint. Respect. Maybe even... fear.

“I want both of you,” Maya whispered then, unable to keep it inside any longer. “You and Taiga.”

Dante’s expression shifted again—this time, full shock. His breath caught, and for once, the usually unreadable Enigma looked like he’d been thrown into a storm.

“I don’t know how to bring this up to him,” Maya went on, voice shaking, “without making him think we were already involved again. Without making him think I cheated. But I’m in love with both of you. And I can’t think—can’t breathe—without the both of you.”

Dante moved slowly to the couch and sat, his jaw tight, eyes unreadable as he tried to digest Maya’s confession. His voice came after a beat, hoarse.

“How are we even sure he’s a Luna?” he asked. “What if we’re wrong about this whole Luna theory? What if he’s just... delicate? Some Primes can be soft like that.”

“I’m not sure,” Maya admitted, sitting down beside him, close but not touching. “But I feel it. Every instinct in me responds to him the way it shouldn’t if he were a Prime. He makes my whole system quiet. And you—you do the opposite. I feel electric when you're near.”

Dante exhaled through his nose, staring at the floor.

“I’ve liked him too, you know,” he said, almost too softly. “Taiga. I noticed him the moment you brought him to the gym that first time. But I kept my distance because... you chose him. And I didn’t want to become the villain in your life story again.”

Maya’s eyes burned.

“You never were,” he whispered. “You just weren’t mine. Not fully. But maybe, with him... maybe we could all be each other’s.”

Silence hung thick in the room. Then Dante looked at him, expression unreadable—but no longer cold.

“Alright,” he said at last. “Let’s get him on board. Together.”