The Silent Signs

Spilled Secrets

He had to say something. It had been a month since Tomioka had been diagnosed which meant he only had one month left. It was killing him inside.

Obanai sighed deeply. He wanted so bad to just blurt it out. To let everyone know so that they would stop pushing at the man. But each time he so much as caught a glimpse of the man, the urge grew stronger. He knew Tomioka most likely wouldn't last another month. 

And they had an emergency meeting today. He shook his head as he entered the gates with a heavy heart. Tomioka was the only one there. His feet carried his to stand in front of the man. No one was around.

Tomioka had hidden it well. He looked normal, if a little smaller than before. But he could faintly smell the blood that seemed to linger on the man.

"I know." He blurted out. Tomioka tilted his head in confusion. 

"Know what?" He asked.

Obanai took a deep breath. "How sick you are. What the hell are you thinking?! You should be resting!" Giyuu froze. "I get it Tomioka. I know how long you have left. But with how much work you're forcing yourself to do, you won't last another week let alone month." He pleaded. 

Giyuu took a deep, shaky breath. "I-I'll talk to the master..." He whispered. He lowered his eyes as he saw Sanemi join them with a small frown.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Sanemi glanced at Obanai. "He already knows Sanemi." He sighed.

Sanemi looked up, startled. "Oh." He huffed. "What are you doing out of bed? You should be resting."

Obanai glanced at him. "How'd you find out?" He asked.

Sanemi sent Giyuu a look. "Someone decided to take a week long nap." Obanai froze and shot Tomioka a hard glare.

"The second this meeting is over you're going to fucking rest." He hissed. Giyuu sighed and he sat down.

"Alright....." He all but whined. They were about to say something when the rest of them arrived in a large group.

Giyuu slipped his facade on, surprising the two hashira that had been with him the whole time.

Kocho immediately started poking fun at Tomioka with Sanemi, Obanai and Uzui holding themselves back from attacking her.

The master was running late due to his illness so they had more time than normal to interact.

The ones who knew kept a close eye on Tomioka and Kocho. Shinobu was laughing at yet another cruel joke as Giyuu hid his face by turning his head, seemingly ignoring her. He was actually trying to not cry.

Her words hurt like hell. Sanemi saw his eyes and growled, starting to walk over. Uzui stopped him.

"She'll stop soon. She always stops if she doesn't get a reaction." He whispered, seeing Gyomei frowned.

"Tomioka why are you so thin?" Shinobu suddenly asked quite loudly. They froze. "Are you that bad at taking care of yourself? Or are you just trying to get attention so you can finally get a friend? Honestly you should just stop trying-"

Kocho's head was jerked to the side as Obanai was suddenly between them, having been the one to backhand her.

Mitsuri gasped as the other's heads whipped around to gape. "Obanai! That was uncalled for!" Rengoku scolded.

Obanai glared. "Not only was she body shaming Tomioka but she also insulted his health! Something he because he's sick, he can't control!" He roared.

Rengoku frowned and lowered his head. "Apologies Tomioka. Maybe we should've stepped in." He nodded.

"It's fine. I'm used to being treated this way." They flinched when Mitsuri spoke up.

"Why didnt you say you were sick? You should take a day or two off to get rid of whatevers making you sick!" She voiced. Giyuu swallowed.

"I-I can't." Shinobu glared, still upset about being slapped.

"Why? Are you too good to take a day off?" She snapped. Gyomei spoke up.

"Enough Shinobu. You need to back down and leave him alone."

"No! Not until this asshole says why he can't just rest and get better! He thinks he's too good to take a rest?! Why-"

"I can't get rid of the sickness Kocho." Tomioka mumbled. Gyomei frowned. He knew what was wrong. The master had already told him just in case.

"Of course you can! Just go rest!" Shinobu yelled.

"So just laying down and resting can get rid of a terminal illness?" Tomioka finally asked.

The entire area fell silent. The doors to the master's estate opened just before any questions could be asked.

"The master has arrived."