Omega progenitor tomioka pt.2

Chapter 4

He had to leave Kanroji and Obanai to go see Shinobu.

Kanroji's large pale jade eyes had been full of curiosity but Iguro, not missing a single opportunity to spend time alone with the one he loved, had taken the opportunity to drag her to the market for lunch. Sanemi was almost certain that three-quarters of Iguro's salary was used to pay for meals for Kanroji. For a woman of modest stature, she ate more than Rengoku and Himejima combined... and certainly packed the corresponding strength. But hey, just like her stomach didn't seem to have a bottom, Iguro's love for her was apparently worth the sacrifice of his savings.

Good for them.

Waiting only brought regret, after all.

Because where there once was Kanae, now only her ghost remained, imprisoned in Shinobu's smile.

What they had between them, this strange understanding based on mutual grief and barely mastered Rage, was not something he necessarily wanted to reveal, even to his closest friend. Iguro had never known Kanae, having joined the ranks of the Hashira long after her death. And among the Hashiras, it was not customary to talk about those who had been lost along the way.

Who knows, maybe if it had, things would have been different.

Would they have managed to reach Tomioka if they talked about the lost ones ?

It was still strange to think that Tomioka had been Mourning all along. Sanemi had come across Omegas in Mourning during some of his missions and none had looked like Tomioka.

They had been nothing but empty, lifeless shells, sketches of people. He remembered pale, emaciated bodies bedridden in dark rooms. Rancid smells of grief and despair, laced with pheromones that had turned putrid. Looks like those of dolls, empty and unfocused.

Omegas in Mourning were nothing more than dead people on borrowed time. Corpses that were still breathing, for all that it was worth.

Tomioka had been strange, of course. Detached and floating, hard to grab and hold. Slippery like the currents of a river and as cold as one. Quiet as a shadow and with all the presence of a draught, it was as if raising the volume too much would make him disappear. Except for his reports, Sanemi didn't think he'd ever heard him speak more than a few sentences at a time.

But aside from those anti-social behaviors, Tomioka had been... well, he had been normal.

Lost in his thoughts as he was as he mechanically roamed the corridors of the Butterfly Mansion, he almost ran into the same person he was looking for. Luckily for him, Shinobu had mastered avoiding unfortunate stumbles and had long been accustomed to dodging. He watched her dance a small step away, keeping a precarious yet somewhat stable balance over the papers in her hands.

"Sorry for that Kocho," he mumbled. "Do you have a minute ?"

"Well, that depends why. I'm expected at the Water Domain."

Sanemi found himself swallowing hard, his throat suddenly dry, as Kocho looked at him with knowing eyes. She hadn't forgotten Sanemi's behavior during the meeting either. And knowing Kocho, that was a test. So after a breath to calm down and in a weaker voice than he intended, he found himself asking the fateful question.

"Can I tell you about it on the way ?"

Her smile, Kanae's smile, was dripping with sugary kindness as she nodded, but her eyes sparkled with vindictive glee. She knew just like him that this first meeting with Tomioka after the shitshow that was the Trial was going to be an absolute disaster and she was happy about it. From what he had heard of the rumors, she too had been denied entry several times before Tomioka warmed up enough to finally allow her into the Domain. Seeing the same thing happen to Sanemi was just a way for her to soothe her bruised ego and he knew it.

Which didn't mean she had to look so visibly pleased about it.

He found himself waiting for her outside the grounds, trying not to flinch under the blank stare of her Tsuguko. Tsuyuri had grown well and Sanemi knew that she was becoming an accomplished Slayer but gods, someone should teach the kid to emote.

He felt like he was standing in front of a miniature, female version of Tomioka.

Oh.

Could she also... ?

"I don't want to know what you're thinking about, looking at Kanao like that, but please stop."

A hint of sour wisteria smell was a pretty clear message from Kocho. Sanemi almost always forgot that the young woman had made a real little Pack in her Mansion and seeing him take an interest in her younger sister... Well, that didn't exactly send the best message, he could admit it.

"It's just that she reminds me of—"

"Tomioka, I know," she interrupted him as they walked away from the back of the Butterfly Mansion, climbing the hill that would lead them to the Water Domain. "I know, because I had the same fears. But Kanao is not like him. I made sure of that."

Well, if she was certain.

"So, about Tomioka..." he began, uncertain. "I was talking with Iguro. And Kanroji, since they're glued at the hips these days. But, well, Kanroji brought up an interesting point and although it seems a bit far-fetched—"

"For fuck's sake, Sanemi, come to the point."

"Could Tomioka quitting Mourning have something to do with me not Raging anymore ?"

This question seemed to take her genuinely by surprise. So much so that Sanemi nearly bumped into her again, as she turned and rushed into his personal space, frowning.

"Pheromones out," she growled. "Now."

Knowing better than to try and argue with a Kocho Shinobu in doctor mode, he complied and in less than an instant, despite being in the open air, they were surrounded by his thick pine and spikenard scent. The changes were almost unnoticeable unless one was intimately familiar with Sanemi's scent, but given that it was his own pheromones, he had been unable to ignore it.

Where his scent was once more bitter and oppressive, it was now clearer and lighter. As cleansed of a veil of dust, greasy and opaque.

And that was not to mention his own instincts. Since his discussion with Kanroji and Iguro, he had thought about it. In addition to a return of emotions other than boiling anger, his instincts were absolutely everywhere. Sanemi had worked hard to master the worst of his territoriality and marking tendencies, but he had actually spent several hours patrolling his own domain lately and he was certain that the Wind Domain currently smelled like a goddamn mountain forest. He was somehow calmer and yet more tense.

"Well, we'd say you were right," she whispered, bewildered. "Congratulations, you're officially no longer a shame of an Alpha. Your Rage is gone."

She didn't seem entirely happy about that, though. The expression on her face was complicated at best and she quickly turned around before Sanemi could get a good read of it.

"And so ? A connection with Tomioka's Mourning you think ?"

"I'll need to review my notes before giving you a definitive answer," she replied. "But before worrying about that, you should worry about yourself."

Because they had arrived at the Water Domain.

And there, in the entrance to the enclosure, dressed in a delicately crafted kimono and with his hair down, stood Tomioka Giyuu.

With a downright murderous expression.

Spoiler for chapter 5:
I've always wanted to write a fic where the Alpha surrenders to the Omega for one reason or another. Originally, a scene of this type was planned in What You're Thinking Of, during the Trial, but it seemed too forced. So when I decided to do a fic dedicated to the Sanemi redemption arc, I knew he was going to get pinned down by Tomioka at some point or another. Sanemi needed to be put down a peg or two and this first attempt at an apology from Sanemi was the perfect opportunity to do so.