“Annoyed” did not even begin to cover it. Anger and humiliation mixed and festered in the pit of his stomach as he stumbled in the darkness, led by none other than Tomioka. Fucking Tomioka who had blindfolded him like an hour ago.
Yes, he could not be sure if it had been five minutes or five hours, but it felt like he had walked for miles and miles in complete and utter darkness, not that he was going to recognize anything if he decided to remove the blindfold, they were probably about more that halfway to wherever forsaken place God had decided to establish the stupid Water Estate.
And yes, yes, if he wanted to he could have removed the stupid blindfold himself, technically speaking, his hands were not tied behind his back, but Oyakata-sama had said that the Water Estate was a secret and would remain so, so he had actually agreed to be blindfolded the moment he sent that stupid letter to Tomioka about his stupid heat.
… And if he had to say so, Tomioka had not let him fall a single time.
And finally they stopped and the blindfold was taken out of him at last.
Obanai was not ready for what he found, he was not even sure what he was expecting, and it should not have taken him by surprise that Tomioka’s residence was the dream home of a hermit, but he was not expecting the gentle calmness that all that nature and all that solitude would provide.
Even if he hated Tomioka, and he did a little bit, he could not deny that the Water Estate was quite beautiful.
“Iguro,” Tomioka said, had it been anyone else Obanai would have found it completely normal but Tomioka was not one to initiate a conversation, “this has nothing to do with Oyakata-sama’s restrictions, this is more of a personal thing,” he said, his voice barely audible, somehow calming, and Obanai hated the power his voice had to change his emotions. “There are some people who live in the Water Estate who are somewhat hidden there. They had a hard life and I adopted them some years ago. I will not ask you to keep my secrets, but if you could, I would appreciate it if you were careful with the information about them,” he said.
Obanai could not care less about Tomioka and his secrets, whatever they were, but even if he did he did not have many other people to tell anything except Sanemi and he was sure Sanemi would keep their little chitchats to himself or they would risk to someone else finding out about the nasty way they used to gossip.
And even if that was the case, Obanai was not the type of person to poke his nose into someone else’s private affairs, he knew a thing or two about privacy and knew that training with Tomioka during his heat could end up with his bandages falling off or even being discarded, he could use a secret or two to blackmail Tomioka into keeping quiet about his own secrets. Not that he thought Tomioka had anyone to tell anything about anyone.
“Fine, I will be careful,” he replied. And Tomioka finally opened the doors.
The inside was even more beautiful than the outside. Still waters flowing everywhere, a pond here, a fountain there, koi fish swimming around, the scent of plants around them, the scent of the forest floor enveloping him, nature about to overflow but still ordered and contained. The Water Estate was homey and cool in such a way that Obanai thought the heat there would be easier to bear than anywhere else.
Three children were waiting for them in the engawa, two girls and one boy, the only one Obanai knew was Senjuro but he looked so different from the last time they had seen each other that for a second he wondered if it was who he thought he was. He was dressed in a dark red kimono that faded to cream and what looked like brand new hakama pants. And he had the biggest smile he had seen on his face in a very long time.
The two girls were fairly similar to each other, enough to make him think they were related by blood. The brunette had a messy bun at the crown of her head and was wearing a red and white striped kimono and a black skirt, meanwhile the black-haired one had managed to delicately catch her fringe at the top of her head, making her look a little older than she probably was. The yellow obi that fitted her blue kimono with white flowers to her body betrayed the illusion of her hair and showed off her still childlike figure.
“Iguro-san,” Senjuro greeted him with a small and respectful bow that the two girls imitated right away, “I hope the trip was pleasant, this is Suki and Aiko,” he said, pointing first to the black-haired girl and then to the brunette. “We prepared some refreshment for the two of you, if you care to go to the dining room,” he added, inviting him to enter the Water Estate with a hand gesture.
“Haha, do you know what his favorite food is?” one of the girls muttered to Tomioka. Obanai was not sure which one was, but he could not care less. Had she called Tomioka “haha”?
“I do not,” Tomioka replied. Obanai was about to laugh, those girls got more engagement from Tomioka effortlessly than Kocho did after pestering him for hours on end.
“You should ask, we can still make it for dinner if it is not too hard,” the other one said. Tomioka suddenly had both his hands occupied by the girls' small hands and he did not seem too desperate to shake them off.
“What is your favorite food, Iguro-san?” Senjuro asked, probably knowing that Tomioka was not going to ask for himself.
“Vinegar-soaked kelp, and it is ‘Obanai’ for you,” he said, feeling suddenly self-conscious.
Senjuro smiled at him, big and unafraid and Obanai smiled back from under his bandages. Peaceful, that was what had changed in Senjuro, he looked at peace, relaxed and more confident, and he seemed to shine brighter than he had ever shined in the seclusion he had been forced into, hidden in the shadows of his father and brother. Always relegated to last place as the least important in the family.
Senjuro’s needs and wants had never been met in his family’s house, he was the one who gave and gave and gave and never took, never received because the only thing that was received from his family was pain, rejection and humiliation. Of course Senjuro would thrive in a place like the Water Estate, he would have thrived pretty much anywhere at that point, but nature and tranquility might have been a good decision after all.
“Yes, we could make vinegar-soaked kelp for dinner,” said one of the girls.
“Do we have kelp?” asked the other one.
“I will prepare dinner, you have to show me the work you did today. Senjuro, you too,” Tomioka said, “so if you have not finished it just yet, I would advise you to finish it now,” he added, opening the shoji doors to the dining room.
“I have finished everything but the breathing technique stuff, I think I will need your help with that,” Senjuro said, sitting at the Kotatsu next to Aiko.
“We have been reading the new book and Suki did the best sketches so far,” the girl said, praising her sister.
“That is because the book is so boring that I need to spice it up with my sketches or both Sen and Aiko would sleep through all of it,” she replied, trying to hide her satisfied smirk.
Obanai understood the way they worked in that instant, the three children were talking so much that Tomioka would not have been able to put a word in even if he wanted to… and he did not wanted to, but his silence was not that noticeable with so much conversation going on and he seemed to be paying close attention to every little thing they said. Even Obanai felt comfortable at the Kotatsu, somehow it reassured him that he did not need to talk a lot to blend in.
The room he had been assigned to was pretty much like his own room in the Serpent Estate, a six tatami bedroom with the softest futon and duvet he had ever had the pleasure to touch. Obanai actually considered the possibility of asking Senjuro if he knew where Tomioka had gotten that futon to invest his disproportionate salary from being a Hashira in something like that. Even if he only used it when he was close to his heat, it would make a big difference.
Staying at Tomioka’s Estate proved to be one of the most difficult and challenging things Obanai had to do in a very long time, not just because of his heat or because of all the things he had to learn to do, but because he had to accept that Tomioka was actually good at many many things.
The challenge began that first night at dinner, with his favorite food prepared by Tomioka himself. He had to begrudgingly agree that it was one of the best vinegar-soaked kelp he had ever tasted, surpassed only by his favorite shop’s one and Kanroji's, but he acknowledged that he might have been a little biased on the top three.
The first morning was hell, the pain woke him up early, way too early, and he had never been an early riser. He was uncomfortable, too hot and too cold and disgusting, he felt filthy, all lubricated over nothing at all. He hated the unfamiliar scents, the scratchy yogi he had gone to sleep in because he was not comfortable sleeping naked on fucking Tomioka’s Estate of all places.
A soft knock on the door made him groan, he pushed the duvet to himself to cover the lower part of his face as his bandages did during the day. The only thing he did not hate from this nest that was not his was the futon, he could live with this futon, he could make a little place for it in HIS nest on HIS Estate.
The shoji door slid open revealing Tomioka, fully dressed in the demon slayer’s uniform but without his ugly haori. He had something in his hands and barely made a sound as he approached him.
“I brought you some water, in case you want to refresh yourself,” he said, as if he did not dare suggest to Obanai, in that state, that he should clean himself up. Obanai wanted to punch him in the face nonetheless. “Get dressed and come to the kitchen,” he added and Obanai recognize it as an order, he did not liked it and groaned again.
“Leave me the fuck alone,” he said, his menacing eyes looking deep into Tomioka´s.
“Get dressed and come to the kitchen,” Tomioka repeated.
“I am not going to get up, it is fucking early,” Obanai complained.
“Do you want to learn or do you want to lay undignified like this for the rest of your life?” Tomioka asked and a second later he had to push a feral Obanai off of him. Tomioka stood tall and graceful in one corner of the room, not even caring about Obanai’s mouth scar, Obanai crouched at the other end, snarling and baring his teeth, looking almost animal-like. “Get dressed and come to the kitchen,” Tomioka said for the third time and if Tomioka had not foreseen the attack, he would have had to live with a black eye for a week, but Obanai’s hand was stopped before it could collide with Tomioka’s face who did not let him go until he tired himself out with his fight.
By the time Tomioka released his wrist, Obanai was utterly spent, sweat running from his forehead to his neck and his hair sticking uncomfortably against his face. He was panting frantically and he had forgotten his breathing technique completely. He had not even been able to lay a single finger in Tomioka, he had dodged every single punch and kick with ease and did not even seem affected. Obanai felt humiliated and angry but he was too tired and too sore to even think about fighting him again. If what he had done could even be considered "fighting".
“I will wait for you with your breakfast in the kitchen,” Tomioka said once again and this time he left, closing the shoji door behind him.
The bowl of water Tomioka had brought him was a blessing in the end and Obanai wiped his face and most of his whole body with it. Even if a bath would have felt better, at least it was fresh clean water and it had been brought to him.
The demon slayer’s uniform was another thing he wanted to complain about, although he wanted to complain about everything during heat, but it was so damn uncomfortable, who the hell had decided that it was a good idea? certainly not an omega. Stupid alphas good for nothing, they could not for the life of them even do a simple good uniform, they only though of themself and fuck the rest.
Obanai came to the kitchen stomping his anger away and he could not master the inner strength to look Tomioka in the face, not after his pathetic attempts to attack or break away.
He was presented with two bowls, one contained congee, although Obanai might have thrown up just looking at it, the other one had different types of fruits arranged in a very artistic fashion, he smiled at the second bowl, not that Tomioka would ever know, for he had wrapped his bandages around his face once more, which reminded him that Tomioka knew his secret now. As if everything else was not enough humiliation.
“I know some omegas prefere a heavy meal while others prefer a light breakfast, so I made both, you may choose,” Tomioka said, not a question about his scar, not a snide remark about his actions that morning, nothing, just quiet gentleness and breakfast options.
“The fruits, thank you,” he replied, gently pushing the congee away from him.
Tomioka sat across from him and ate the congee in silence, perhaps enjoying the only time he could hear his own thoughts in his home. With the sheer amount of talking his daughters did, it seemed easy to believe.
Once they were both finished, he took both bowls and cleaned them without saying a single word. Obanai was feeling a bit spoiled and ungrateful, he was doing nothing to help Tomioka but being combative, annoying and rude, and yes, he did not like Tomioka at all but the man was trying to help him without getting anything in return. He thought that maybe if Tomioka kept up his tolerant attitude, he could manage to change his behavior and be a little bit more pleasant to be around.
“Do you usually wear your uniform during heat?” Tomioka asked, three bowls of congee balanced in his hands.
“Normally I have no need to wear anything during heat since I isolate myself in my bedroom,” Obanai replied, unable to take the bite out of his words in time.
Just at that moment the three children appeared at the dining room door. Aiko went straight for Tomioka and pushed her body against his, her eyes still glued together with sleep, walking on instinct. Suki, on the other hand, looked murderous, her hair straight as an arrow cascading down her back, her fringe all over the place. And Senjuro was still rubbing his eyes, the wrinkles from the pillow still plastered on his chubby cheek.
“Is it uncomfortable?” Tomioka asked again, his voice even softer so as not to disturb the sleeping children eating their breakfast on autopilot.
“Yes,” Obanai said, in the same volume as his interlocutor.
Tomioka seemed to pause to think for a second and then he looked at him as if to take his measurements.
“Sen, would you mind lending one of your special yukata to Iguro while he is with us?” he asked, gently stroking Senjuro’s hair.
“mhm,” the kid answered, not ready to speak just yet, but then he seemed to register the words and straightened up. “Take the green one, the yellow one is kind of special,” he added.
“Thank you,” Tomioka said, even though Obanai should have been the one to thank him, but Iguro did not know what made those yukata special so he stayed quiet and listened attentively. “We should go and buy you some more, I was thinking about some yogi so you can sleep better during heat,” he proposed.
“May I go with you?” he asked, wide awake and ready to go shopping if Tomioka said yes.
“Yes, you can, but not now, maybe in the afternoon if everything goes according to plan and I do not have any missions,” he replied. “Iguro, if you are ready, I will give you Senjuro’s yukata and once you change we can start,” he said, standing up and kissing each of his children on the top of their heads, including Senjuro.
Obanai could regret many things from his stay at the Water Estate, Senjuro’s yukata was not one of them. It was warm and cool at the same time, it felt breathable, almost like he was wearing nothing at all, and it looked good on him, or maybe on everyone. Even if color was not something he would normally wear, his haori was black and white for a reason, it reminded him of Kanroji’s hair and beautiful big eyes, so he could wear it, he could be happy about it and maybe he could admire himself in the mirror even if it was something he would avoid on any given day.
Tomioka’s exercises were something he would not miss at all. They were hellish not because of the physical aspect but because he was bad at all of them and they seemed so fucking simple that it was embarrassing. Early in the morning Tomioka made him stand in front of him, next to the pond, with his eyes closed.
The instructions had been simple, he had to place his hands facing each other in front of him, almost as if he were praying, as close to each other as possible but without touching at any time. He had to keep his eyes closed and concentrate on feeling the magnetic force that kept his palms apart.
It was more complicated than it seemed. The first fifteen minutes, Obanai managed to keep his hands from touching each other, but then Tomioka asked if he could feel the energy between them, which was a complete “no'' from Obanai and then he made him pull his hands a little bit closer together. It was then that everything got really complicated.
If his palms were close enough, his fingers would touch, if he withdrew his fingers to get them apart from each other, Tomioka would tell him to relax his posture. It was never good enough and being with his eyes closed in front of Tomioka who was watching him fail over and over again made him feel stupid on top of his earlier humiliation that had not washed off just yet.
“Leave it,” Tomioka said, and Obanai wanted to keep at it just out of defiance because the truth was that his arms were tired from being held still for so long and he wanted nothing more than to stop failing but for Tomioka to give up on him at the sight of how bad he was at it was not something Obanai could witness and accept immediately. “Your scent is turning bitter, we do not need that, it is not going to help you in the future and it is going to affect you negatively now,” he added and Obanai finally let go of his ego, he was too tired.
“So you can not do anything? am I useless? I will not be able to do it?” he asked, angry but not sure if it was with Tomioka or with himself.
“No, I did not say that,” Tomioka replied. Obanai was about to object, but the meaning of his words got to him before he could insult the other Hashira.
“Do you think I can still learn? Even if I am older?” Obanai asked, way too sensitive from his heat to be comfortable but unable to stop himself.
“It is your first try, Senjuro is younger and he did not get it on his first try either, he still has not got it,” he replied, as serene as ever with his stupid blank face even though his words were encouraging. Obanai had the fleeting thought that perhaps Tomioka’s facial muscles did not work properly and half of his and Sanemi’s hatred for the Water Hashira was a big ass misunderstanding.
“What do we do then?” Obanai asked.
“Is there something you would like to do? Something that helps you relax or makes you happy?” Tomioka asked back.
“Well... I like watching live-amezaiku, but I do not think you know how to do that,” Obanai replied because his other hobby was not going to be mentioned, not in front of Tomioka of all people. Although, on second thought, he would much rather Tomioka know than Uzui or Kocho.
“No, I do not and I do not think it is wise to go to the market. Anything else?”
“I like to read,” Obanai said reluctantly.
“Oh, we have a library,” he deadpanned and started walking towards one of the adjacent buildings. Obanai was not sure what to do for a moment, but decided to follow him anyway, he could trust Tomioka to forget to give him the cue of what the fuck to do. “You can choose whatever you want in this room, that door there is locked and off limits,” he said, as monotone as ever, pointing at a door in the far end of the room.
Obanai moved cautiously around the room in the beginning. It was spacious, silent and a little dark; piles of books, short-legged desks accompanied by their respective zabuton and dim lights were scattered around the room and in one corner was a large number of cushions and some blankets; Obanai could imagine Aiko, Senjuro and Suki piled up one against the other reading one of those books. Aiko holding the book greedily, Senjuro’s head resting on her lap, listening eagerly and Suki, by their side, creating her sketches on earnest, maybe lying on her belly, maybe sitting against the tall bookshelves.
They were happy there, as much as he disliked Tomioka, he could see that those kids were thriving in the Water Estate and it was not an easy job keeping three kids on good tracks while working the amount of missions they had lately. He could recognize that much and with that though he picked up a random book. Poetry section, whatever it was, he was bound to like it.
Tomioka was waiting for him at the door, he did not try to peep on what he had chosen and Obanai was glad of his consideration, he was not sure if he would have been able to continue living peacefully if Tomioka found out that he liked poetry.
Finding a secluded place to read in peace in Tomioka’s Estate was not the hard part of the challenge, even if it was not a challenge at all. Focusing on his book to actually read and comprehend anything he was supposed to be reading was close to impossible. Not because there were three rambunctious children around, but because they were not there to take his mind off where it was.
Tomioka had taken the three kids to the nearby town, willing to fulfill his promise to Senjuro and buy him some clothes. Obanai knew that even if they washed it thoroughly, the yukata he had lent him would never be Senjuro's favorite and he would not wear it during heat unless he had no other option because he had left traces of his scent on it, traces that could not be erased. Even Tomioka’s scent would have been tolerable due to the nature of their relationship, but not Obanai’s. To Senjuro, Obanai was nothing but a colleague of his brother, a boy who had lived in his house for some time, nothing more.
Obanai wished that the heat was the only thing bothering him instead of one of many. Yes, his skin felt way too hot and he was glistening with sweat, he felt sticky and gross, and the pain had not gotten any better, quite the opposite, but what Obanai found most insulting was that at any complain he had about his heat, his mind would always go back to the kids or Tomioka or something he had changed and he hated every second of it because he was under a goddamn tree and it felt nice: the wind on his face, the quietness of nature, even Kaburamaru was happy and had it not been for fucking Tomioka he would have been nestling in his own bedroom with a stale air and wallowing in his misery.
He thought about Rengoku for a second, he had wroten to Tomioka with the idea of telling Kyojuro everything concerning his little brother but he was no longer so sure that it was the right thing to do, there were too many things at stake. He could not properly speak of Senjuro without mentioning Suki and Aiko and they did not deserve to be put in danger despite his hatred for Tomioka. And they were happy where they were and well taken care of, the more people knew about Suki, Aiko and Senjuro, the more people would try to find them and that little haven of peace would be destroyed forever.
Besides, he had to consider the possibility that Tomioka would refuse to teach him or even allow him back at all if he opened his mouth about Suki and Aiko and it was within his rights to do exactly that. Aside from morality telling him to leave the girls alone, deep inside he had to admit that he liked the Water Estate even if he would never admit it in front of another soul.
And as if that was not enough, he did not have to forget that Tomioka had seen his scar and if he was not careful and allowed his mouth to run wild, there was nothing stopping Tomioka from doing the exact same thing and if Obanai did not want something in the world, he was certain it was exactly that.
“Iguro-san!” screamed one of the girls, Obanai was not sure who until they came into view. Suki was holding a bag and waving at him with her free hand, “come!” she screamed again successfully raising him to his feet with words alone.
“Do you like ohagi?” Aiko asked, pulling Tomioka and Senjuro to a spot in the engawa to sit in between them.
“Yes,” Obanai replied, out of his depth.
“Here,” Suki said, sitting down next to Tomioka and patting the wooden floor of the engawa beside her for Obanai to sit on. And sit down he did.
In Suki’s bag there were a bunch of ohagi that she took the trouble to hand around and they all sat munching their respectives ohagi in silence for a moment. They were good, though he was sure Sanemi would have found something to complain about, no ohagis were good enough for him.
“I will pay for your new yukata, Senjuro, since I am wearing yours,” Obanai said, out of nowhere.
“Oh no, please. Father sent me money so I can pay for it,” he almost looked like he was begging, he looked pretty exhausted too. “I already had to convince haha, please do not put me through that again,” this time Obanai was sure the boy was pleading but he was too stunned to speak. He understood the girls calling Tomioka “haha”, he could not grasp how Senjuro in such a short time had gotten so close to Tomioka to call him that way when the Hashira had tried to befriend him to varying degrees for so long with little to no success.
“I would recommend you to buy some too, I do not think one will do,” Suki said, still more interested in her ohagi than anything else.
“Yes, Mui has a ton, he even has two demon slayer uniforms made from that fabric to wear when he has to fight or train in his heat,” Aiko added.
“Fighting in a yukata is not the most comfortable thing, I would say,” Senjuro agreed but Obanai's mind was already elsewhere.
“Did you teach Tokito?” Obanai asked Tomioka who was seemingly ignoring their conversation all together, still chewing his ohagi thoroughly.
“Yes,” he replied as if it was obvious.
To Obanai it was not obvious at all.
“And why did he not tell me that?” Obanai asked.
“He does not remember,” Tomioka replied, finally looking at Obanai as if it was a normal answer and, to be completely honest, since they were talking about Tokito, it was.
“So in that Hashira meeting, you knew Tokito could defend himself, that is why you brought it up,” Obanai insisted.
“Yes,” Tomioka repeated.
“Haha is not in a talking mood, you will not get much more than monosyllabic answers,” Aiko said, her little head popping out between the bodies of Tomioka and Senjuro.
Obanai was caught off guard for the hundredth time since he had wroten to Tomioka, something inside him kept telling him that there was something fundamental they were missing regarding Tomioka but he did not know what it was. Aiko, Suki and Senjuro seemed to accept that Tomioka would not speak sometimes, they seemed to find it natural, normal even, and perhaps for Tomioka it was normal and therefore also for his children.
Obanai went to bed that night with his body feeling better than ever during heat and his head a mess. He could not, for the life of him, stop thinking about Tomioka: his quiet gentleness that did not beg for recognition, his patience, how attentive he seemed to be with him and the children.
He went over everything he knew about Tomioka, or everything he thought he knew, and he found two very different people portrayed. If he thought too much of himself as Obanai and Sanemi were sure he did, then why would he teach Tokito and keep it quiet so as not to hurt his feelings by showing him that he had forgotten people important to him? If he was emotionless, why would he ask Obanai of all people to keep Aiko and Suki a secret in order to protect them? If he was as cold as he seemed in the Hashira meetings, why would he care so much for Senjuro? Why would he allow all of his children to call him ‘haha’? Why would he kiss them good morning and good night in their foreheads? Why would he sit and pay immense attention to every single word that came out of their mouths as if they held all the secrets in the world?
No, there had to be something they had missed, there was no other explanation.