Chapter Text
“Asano and Shinazugawa, tomorrow, you are both to depart towards the northeast village of-”
“Next week isn’t really a good time for me, Oyakata,” Sabito shakes his head up. “I’m trying to get my heat, you see.”
Curious gazes turn to him.
“Is that the sort of shit that you can plan?” Sanemi grunts, one eyebrow raised. “Does it not just come, whenever?”
“With external factors, the onset of a cycle can be triggered,” Shinobu giggles. “Although, this is usually done only for specific reasons…”
Less tactful, Tengen leers, “Doing some family planning, Asano?”
Sabito just nods. “That’s right.”
The Hashira pause in their gossiping. That was not an answer they expected. Mitsuri screeches, “You have a mate?!”
This, Sabito frowns to. “No.” He begins to pack up, “I hope to have one after this, though.” He’s smiling a little. “I’ve been working hard, to prove myself.”
Who in the world would think Sabito as he currently is, isn’t enough yet? The Hashira collectively think. A Pillar is the highest caliber of mate that anyone could ever look for…!
“Give up,” Sanemi scoffs, and Sabito turns to scowl at him. Sanemi continues, “No Alpha would want an Omega who’s so brash or stronger than them.”
Mitsuri looks hurt by those words as well, and Obanai growls at Sanemi for the crime.
“Well, mine’s different,” Sabito says firmly. “He loves me for who I am, I know it.”
He. A male Alpha - Sanemi grits his teeth.
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense!” Tengen says. “Tell us about this flashy individual who has stolen your heart!”
Kyojuro pipes in, “That’s right! You’ve never mentioned him before… Did you two meet recently?”
Sabito suddenly turns shy - it’s incredibly endearing! He drops his head and turns pink. “Actually… I’ve been courting him for a long time now…”
Everyone looks at him, surprised. So, Sabito can be soft too…
“Ahem!” Sabito leaps to his feet. “I can’t stay, he’s returning from a mission soon… I’m getting some groceries, I want to make a nice dinner for him!”
They watch him scurry away.
Mitsuri sighs dreamily, “to think that love will make someone like Sabito become so domestic…”
“Bah, I think that’s disgusting,” Sanemi spits, and she pouts sadly in his direction.
“Eh...?” Shinobu smiles thinly at him, “Shinazugawa, you seem like such a traditional Alpha, wouldn’t you want your Omega to dote on you…?”
“Tch, I just think Asano shouldn’t waste his time with chores, he’s a Hashira, for fuck’s sake!” Sanemi defends, “We need him on the field, not to play house!”
“...I see the point,” Obanai sighs roughly, not too happy with the amount of frowns Sanemi is pulling from Mitsuri today but still understanding his line of logic. “We’re on the cusp of a war, it’s not wise to start a family…”
“Still, it’s beautiful to hope,” Mitsuri sighs, and Sanemi just rolls his eyes, stalking out on them.
“Trouble in paradise?” Tengen quipped.
“Honestly, it was quite a surprise to hear Sabito has interest in someone else,” Shinobu giggles. “I could have sworn that… The person he was interested in, would have been…”
“Giyuu~! Welcome home!” Giyuu is barely through the door when Sabito leaps and pounces on him, wrapping his arms around Giyuu’s shoulders and burying his face in his neck. His scent is sweet, wrapping around Giyuu like a spring breeze.
Giyuu politely presses his cheek to Sabito’s, enjoying his fresh scent. The clothes he’d left on his mission with had already lost the smell of home and were now stinking of the wilderness.
Sabito doesn’t seem to mind - he tugs Giyuu’s haori off his shoulders, and instead of tossing it into a laundry pile, he scurries to his room.
Bemused, Giyuu follows him to see his dirty clothes join the beginnings of a nest.
“Is your heat soon?” Giyuu asks.
“Next week, actually,” Sabito says. “But, I’m trying to speed it up…” He pouts. (Actually, he had been hoping to be in pre-heat before Giyuu came home, so the combination of a needy Omega and homesickness would ensure that he gets jumped immediately! Alas, the supplements he was given from that elderly woman whom he saved last mission didn’t seem to be working…)
“Is it working?” Giyuu sits at the edge of the nest. He doesn’t want to go inside without Sabito’s express permission, or with dirty clothes on.
“With you here, maybe it’d start tonight,” Sabito giggles. “Oh, I was so excited for you to return!” This is, after all, the first cycle he’ll be having with Giyuu officially living in the Water Estate, having successfully convinced him to move out of Sakonji’s hut the season prior. (The old man had given Sabito warnings about safe sex - fuck that! Sabito wanted Giyuu to ravage him immediately!)
“I’ll wash up first, then,” Giyuu says, knowing how cuddly Sabito gets…
Sabito nods eagerly, with pink on his face. “Then, I’ll let you come inside…”
Giyuu nods. “I’ll be careful not to mess up your nest.” He knows how important it is to an Omega.
“Well… ahem -” Sabito clears his throat, pinker, “I was wondering if you wanted to stay with me, for my heat…”
Giyuu nods. “Of course. I’ll make sure you have everything you need.” As he has always done. Sabito need not ask everytime, Giyuu will remain by his side throughout - but still, it’s always nice to hear that Sabito wants him around again. Tsutako used to drill into him that being allowed near an Omega during such a vulnerable time was an immense mark of trust, and, ever since Sabito had requested Giyuu to guard him when they were teens, Giyuu has made sure never to betray that relationship between them.
But something about Giyuu’s agreement makes Sabito’s face fall - Giyuu worries. “Did… I say something wrong? Do you not want me there?”
“No, no! Of course I want you here!” Sabito digs his hands into Giyuu’s biceps. “I want you…” He leans in, “And… no one else.”
Giyuu knows Omegas tend to get territorial during their heats. He nods, “I’ll make sure no one else comes near the Water Estate.”
Sabito perks, “So, it’d just be me, and you?”
“That’s right,” Giyuu nods, secretly glad. He does not want to make Sabito feel like he cannot invite who he wants to into his house… but he’s relieved that all he needs is Giyuu now.
“I’ll tell Kanzaburo to tell my squad leader that I’ll be gone for the next week.”
“Two,” Sabito says.
“Okay,” Giyuu agrees, finding it all too easy to agree to anything Sabito asks of him…
Sanemi doesn’t expect Sabito to turn up to their weekly sparring sessions the next week, for obvious reasons, but he shows up like clockwork on the following, lingering heat and an air of dissatisfaction clinging to him.
It carries through in his fighting today - hits of brute strength that are seemingly thrown out of frustration more than anything…
Whatever plans he must have made with his mystery Alpha must have fallen through…
Sabito is not shy about his body, nor his own scars… sometimes, Sanemi finds himself envious. No, he doesn’t keep his hidden, either. But Sabito can strip his muddy, sweaty shirt off without a care and Sanemi finds his eyes roaming over the Omega’s toned shoulders.
He snorts at the dejected look on Sabito’s face. “No bite-mark?”
“Don’t get me started!” Sabito groans, “I spent my entire heat practically throwing myself at him and he didn’t even budge!”
Sanemi scoffs. “Sounds like that pig-headed Alpha doesn’t even like you.” Who would rebuff Sabito multiple times, and from what it sounds like, throughout years?
“Hey, fuck you!” Sabito exclaims. “He loves me and I love him back! He’s just shy.”
“...What’s so good about Alphas, anyway?” Sanemi grumbles. He looks over at Sabito, “I… don’t believe an Alpha can do anything an Omega can’t.”
“Hm?” Sabito eyes Sanemi suspiciously, “That’s strangely nice of you to say…” He leans in, eyes wide with faux-concern, sniffing him a little like he’s trying to identify an intruder (white musk, and red beans,) “who are you and what have you done with Shinazugawa?”
“Hey!” Sanemi snarls, “Do you want a beating?!”
“Ah-hahaha!” Sabito cackles. “Sorry, it’s too fun to resist making fun of you.” He sobers up, “but, thanks. It’s nice to be around Alphas who don’t look down on Omegas and are able to trust my skills as a Hashira…”
With some venom Sanemi asks, “Is that Alpha you’re interested in, an asshole like that?”
“Of course I didn’t mean him!” Sabito denies immediately. “He’s the nicest person you’ll ever meet. I’ve been trying to get him to meet up with us for ages, but he’s very shy…”
A nice Alpha? Sanemi scoffs. “Is he even real?!”
Sabito jabs a finger into Sanemi’s chest. “He is, and you’ll swallow your words once you meet him!”