Progenitor Alpha

♦ 9 ♦

 After Haganezuka left and the uniform being delivered as well, Shez instantly changes into it and looks at herself. The standard black uniform of the demon slayer corps, with the trousers slim fitting and wearing her dark red boots instead. The belt having a dark waist-cape belt, which she personally added along with having a haori on that is dark purple with a large black triskelion symbol on the back and one each on the helms of the sleeves.

It feels odd for not wearing her standard outfit, but she'll get used to it. After checking herself out one last time and finding nothing wrong on her, as it was a perfect fit, she heads out and went to strap on the box to her back. Douma is already inside of it while she was changing, shrunken to a child form to fit in. 

 "I'm heading out." Shez remarks while making her way to the front door, where her mother is waiting by.

 "Look at you... finally a full-fledged demon slayer." Camilla smiles with pride.

 She always knew that her daughter would fit right among the ranks of the corporation, given that for years since she first held the swords and fends off the demons. The Alpha was talented and skilled, which the corporation could use someone like her.

 Seeing her dressed like that, ready to be part of the forces to drive off the demons to defend humanity, the mere sight of it looked just right. It was as though Shez was destined to be a demon slayer. 

"Yeah, yeah..."

 "Don't forget to send me letters while you're away, you hear me?" Camilla then tells her, hands on her hips to show her seriousness. "Especially coming to visit every once and a while!"

 Being apart like this would make her worry about her daughter being alive or not, so obviously she wants them to keep contact through letters. Even so, she would also want to see her daughter in a flesh after being apart for so long. That way, she will be at ease knowing she's still out there.

 "I know, I won't forget." Shez nods, as they both then embraced each other with Camilla kissing her daughter on the forehead. She will surely miss having her in the house with her, but the bird must leave the nest.

 "Take care yourself, my dear. And tell your moonie that if he messes up, I'll shove wisteria down his throat." Camilla pulls back while saying this, and Shez just snickers a little. Moonie is a nickname for Douma, given that he is an Upper Moon.

 "No need, I'm sure he heard that." she remarks, gesturing the box on her back. Camilla chuckles, staring at it with a scary look on her face.

 "He better."

With that being said, Shez leaves the house with her crow cawing at her to follow her. She waves over to her mother while running ahead, with Camilla waving back with a smile on her elegant face. Her childhood home now becoming far away, and this time Shez would not return.

-

 The traveling to her destination was only five days away, and each passing nights she would let Douma out for him to stretch his legs. That, or carry him in her arm while wandering down the road and being on high alert for the demons trying to kill her. They never did, upon seeing Douma himself and realizing that he is an Upper Moon.

 The entire trip, Shez kept her scent being a Beta. 

 She could've just let loose her real scent, but she doesn't want to give herself away like that at the possibility of nearby folks or demons nearby. They would spread the word about an Alpha being around, which of course would turn into rumors.

 But that would mean it'll attract people who would wanna find out if its true or not. And she doesn't want to deal with that kind of trouble. 

She gets the feeling that Hinoka somehow figured out her real dynamic. Which is why she asked the Kasugai Crow to not tell the master about her secret, until she is ready to tell herself. They are meant to send reports to whoever operates the corps currently, and she hoped that her crow would respect her wishes.

 So far, Hinoka is keeping her beak shut about it.

 At least, she hopes the pied animal would.

Shez smells a town ahead, making her focus from being lost in thought and sees a zen bridge crossing over the water as folks are seen wandering across to either enter the village or leave. She can see the boats beneath lazily sailing across the waters, before looking at her crow.

 "Here?"

 "Hai! Your mission is here!" Hinoka remarks before flying off elsewhere, leaving Shez on her own along with her demon companion. 

From what Hinoka told her, this town had a case of young girls being kidnapped each night. That's something Douma would do, but he would've done it within a single night if he wanted to. Plus, he stopped eating for nearly two weeks now and hadn't relapsed.

 So another demon must've had the same taste in eating young women. Shez wanders down the bridge, going over the plans of what to do to track down the demon before nightfall. She would have to make note of the young female villagers here, knowing taking a guess of who will go next would be a pain.

 So the only option is to strike when the demon had chosen his meal to take for tonight, before the girl ends up in his stomach. 

 "Shez-san?"

 A familiar scent of apples and apple blossom brought her out from her thoughts, along with hearing a familiar voice. Shez turns around, and sees Tanjiro across from her. He is wearing the standard uniform as well, with a checkered haori on that is black and seafoam green. Like her, he has a box on his back which had to contain his demon sister he mentioned back then.

 She can smell cherries and cherry blossoms within the box, making her realize Tanjiro's sister is also an Omega. Oh great, she's gonna be stuck with two pure Omegas, she muses to herself with a bit of nervousness in her.

 "Tanjiro, it's been a while." Shez smiles, making Tanjiro beam brightly and wanders close to her. His smile is almost like it is the sun itself, she noted. She might need something to protect her eyes from being blinded completely from the brightness.

 "It has! Are you here for this town too?" Tanjiro asked.

  "Yeah, it's my first mission."

 "Same here! I'm glad we can work together again!"

 Shez then smelled a scent that is akin to curiosity, coming from Tanjiro's box. Maybe his sister is wondering who he is talking to. There's even a tinge of eagerness, wanting to come out but can't because it's still daylight. Tanjiro must've told her about her, and wanted to meet her upon realizing she was the one.

 As for Tanjiro, he noticed right away that Shez has a box on her back just like him. It even looks similar to his, just a tad bigger though. From there, he can smell a demon's scent that is unexpectedly overwhelming compared to the demons he faced back then and during the Final Selection. Malicious, bloody and borderline sadistic.

 It had him nervous of course, wondering what kind of demon is Shez carrying with her. He can tell it was no ordinary one because of how powerful his senses are warning him about. Tanjiro also noticed the demon's natural scent, which are lotus flowers.

 The demon's an Omega.

 Maybe a friend of hers...?

 He gulps when he smelled something from the box. What he is smelling are the emotions that Omegas typically emit when they don't like another lingering near their desired life-partner. Jealousy and disgust, tinted by malice like the demon wanted to do something bad to get rid of potential competition.

 Scratch that, definitely not a friend.

"Come on, we gotta investigate before nightfall." Shez then said, making Tanjiro look back to her and nod in agreement with a serious look. He'll wonder about the demon in the box later, the mission is top priority.