Chapter Text
Sangonomiya Kokomi was a conundrum. An odd little thing. She was a pure blood alpha, the leader of the Sangonomiya pack. The sole heir of the clan. The symbol of resistance and power through wisdom. But she was so much more than that.
She was a liar.
Born from a powerful pure blooded alpha male and a quirky, kind omega female, the great maiden of the shrine, she was not meant to face such a troublesome life before it even began. When life gives you lemons, you are supposed to make lemonade, is what she remembers her mother saying. What her heart sang out in return was a melancholic tune of a war cry. Life hasn’t given her anything but destruction. And you couldn’t make anything of that.
Kokomi sighed into her work. Piles of papers tilted sideways on her desk, terribly close to falling down among other books and notes, all on the same topics. She was tired, back sore from sitting on a chair for the entirety of the day and eyes drooping dangerously low. She smacked her face and frowned at herself.
It took days to figure out the perfect strategy to fend off the Shogun’s pack, a bunch of bold, ruthless alphas and betas who have tried for decades to steal the land her ancestors have owned, ruled over and loved for centuries. They would always poke them with something, an attack in the south, a boat of supplies on fire, a threat from the higher ups even, letting Kokomi’s clan know she’d have no chance once the Shogunate forces rally down the island, bringing terror into their lives.
She was struggling to find a way to stop them, both from dethroning her hard working position as leader and from stealing their lands and marking them as their own. Kokomi needed some air.
Leaving the clustered place behind, the pack leader headed towards her favourite tree along her secret lair. Her people thought she lived somewhere in the shrine’s vicinity, or even a secluded humble shack not far away from civilization. How wrong they would be, when the last thing Kokomi needed was someone discovering her secret.
She placed a hand on the back of her neck, to where she knew her scent gland would be. Now covered with a blocker and an illegal scent modifier, she knew she would be safe from prying eyes and noses. Sangonomiya Kokomi was a respectable, trustworthy and wise leader.
But she was a coward and a liar. She sugarcoated those terms on her best days. You couldn’t lead a pack if you were an omega, after all, that she knew before her father passed away. Her mother soon followed, due to broken heart disease, way before Kokomi had time to present her secondary gender. That day was a blur - of emotions and, perhaps, faces - she swore she would become a great leader, just like her father had, that she would protect her people with the same passion he had.
Most of all, though, she swore she would never fall in love.
After all, her alpha status was what kept herself and her clan still standing against the forces of the Shogunate. The day of her first heat changed everything - she remembered praying along with the shrine maidens when the pain began, like a flurry of ice staking her belly and limbs, leaving her breathless and panicked. She left in a hurry, blaming a stomachache, and her people couldn’t find her till later that week, when she rejoined society with a smile on her face and a barely found scent blocker.
She told everyone her second gender has been confirmed as alpha and she didn’t know whether to be relieved or offended by how easily they took it. She’s been occupying a position of vice leader up until that day, her father’s closest friend promising to lead the pack until the day came for Kokomi to stand up for them herself. He proudly took her in, nodding his head.
“Your father would be proud.”
No one has told her that her mother would be proud when she became the great shrine maiden the day her mother passed away. Not even when she lied about her second gender. She doubted she’d be proud of her now, as she was watching her daughter hide her identity for the sake of her people.
Kokomi let out a sigh as she remembered his father’s friend offering his advice whenever he saw fit - he was the one who proposed Kokomi leave the shrine duties to someone else - she refused in the blink of an eye. She has already disappointed her mother by refusing her omega status; she wouldn’t do it twice by leaving the position as shrine maiden.
That was how Watatsumi island had its greatest leader and sole great shrine maiden as one, deceiving person.
And that one person had other businesses to attend to at every breath of air, her every second that she wasn’t working, considered as wasted. She fixed her white gloves, tied her hair up in her signature ponytail and made sure her outfit had not a speck of dust on it. She had to take a shower later, but she thought she might not have time for a regular one.
A little walk on the shores of the island, where the waterfalls are surrounded by high mountains and corals every other way didn’t sound like such a bad idea, especially under the secrecy of the moonshine. She nodded her head and headed towards the shrine.
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“What do you mean the Kujou clan is requesting a meeting?”
She was watching Gorou with a hard look on her face, sweat beads already pouring down her back. It was too early for an official war going on and too late for a peace treaty. Not to mention that her heat was only a month away.
“We just received their request this afternoon. They’re saying they have a…”, Gorou paused and cringed at the way the Kujou clan had probably phrased the next words. “Solution to this back and forth fighting. They want to propose a deal .”
Kokomi was at a loss of words. A solution . To the fighting they had started to begin with?
“Is this a threat?”
Gorou bit his lower lip, shoulders tight and brows furrowed.
“Feels like it,” he murmured.
“They want access to our lands, but they know they won’t get it easily, or with as few casualties as possible, with us putting up some resistance,” Kokomi thought out loud, snapping her knuckles subconsciously.
“And they probably want it fast, but I think there’s something more,” continued Gorou.
Kokomi met his eyes worriedly. She knew where this was headed. She wasn’t raised a fool, not by her parents, nor by the shrine maidens or the counselors that have guided her all these years.
“They want access to me.”
Gorou nodded. “That’s where it gets weird, though. Do they just want to control you, because of your status as the leader of the resistance?”
The pack leader shook her head. Surely, there was something more to it. She prayed to Orobaxi that it wasn’t what she thought of. She worried her lip between her teeth and fought the train of thoughts gnawing at her conscious.
“You don’t think…”
Kokomi placed her hands on the table before her, where they had splayed their strategies and newest fight tactics, a stern look in her eyes. “Don’t even say it out loud.”
Gorou nodded his head and swallowed hard. They didn’t need those words said out loud. Kokomi knew she'd made the right decision when she told the general of the condition she was in, years ago. She’s been on scent blockers for 5 years now, thanks to Gorou, who had easy access to them, with him being an omega. He was also the one to find her during her first heat, huddled up into a messy sort of nest made up of what she had left of her parents in her secret lair. He brought her food and provided comforting words and occasional scenting, by connecting their wrists - Kokomi didn’t like being touched, especially in such a vulnerable state, but the scent of clovers, honey and cinnamon helped soothe her raw nerves.
He was also the reason why she had access to illegal scent modifiers - he got them from a merchant on Tatarasuna island. It was less suspicious for an omega to request them than an alpha who is also in a superior position, with no mate. She had warned him of the risks of getting such drugs under his name, with him being the general of the resistance, but Gorou didn’t bat an eye. He truly was the only friend she had and needed in dire times.
Now, though, she was in danger of someone else finding out her secret. She knew her scent blocker stopped her vanilla pheromones from escaping with her fear and nerves, but she still felt exposed under Gorou’s worried gaze. She had to make sure it wasn’t the case.
Looks like she had to come up with all the ways the meeting was going to go wrong. The relaxing time under the moonshine had to wait.
“Tell them we’ll meet on Nazuchi beach in two days,” spoke Kokomi, her voice never wavering, but her eyes wide. “At sunrise. We will settle this.”
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Kokomi thought she was getting used to the all-nighters by now, but with every night spent staying awake, wrecking her brains for plans, mistakes, awful conclusions and whatnot, her body was only rejecting the idea more. Her omega was not pleased with the way Kokomi was making decisions for the both of them lately. She wondered if it was ever pleased, with the way she’s rejected every comfort her inner self has grasped for in the long 5 years she’s hidden herself away.
She was tempted to use heat suppressants from time to time, just to ease her gnawing consciousness, but she couldn’t do it in the end. Her mother would have been repulsed by her thoughts, the mere idea of her tearing away the last bit she had left of her. Moreover, the village believed her 5 days every 4 months were spent getting over her rut in the way she knew best. It was a good strategy to stay off suppressants, after all. Less suspicions, less ways of hurting her omega.
She came up with 147 ways the meeting could go wrong. Kokomi could laugh at the two sheets of papers on the side of her desk. Only two of those had a happy ending. She scratched her head, looking outside to find the sunrise waving her rays at her. She had to go.
Brushing her hair and patting herself down, the omega looked around her home for the scent blockers and modifiers. She plastered one of the former on her scent glands and gulped down a pill of the latter, cringing at the taste. She left her secluded home and made her way towards the shrine, where she would meet with Gorou. She clutched the sheets of papers in her hands, a nervous wreck once again. Gorou has helped her lots in the past 48 hours, coming time and time again to make sure she hasn’t collapsed from exhaustion and aiding her in coming up with solutions to every mistake they could make during the meeting.
Now it was time to see what would come out of it.
On her way to the shrine, the world was eerily quiet. It was still too early for the village to have awoken, while the guards simply bowed their heads at her passing. She crossed the bridge leading to the shrine when a different sort of scent made its way to her. It wasn’t native to the island, for sure.
Sakura blossoms mixed with cherries and… hinoki?
“Don't get startled now, darling.”
Kokomi froze mid-step. This was not her week.
“You do realize you are on hostile territory for you and your men, yes?” answered the omega calmly.
She heard a giggle behind her.
“What men?”
Kokomi turned her head only an inch before the honeyed voice sang-sung in disapprovement. She held her ground, fingers clasped on the papers still in her hand. This wasn’t supposed to happen - looks like she had to improvise.
“Your men, on the other hand, need some scolding, Divine Priestess,” rasped the woman behind Kokomi.
The pack leader was almost certain of the presence now clouding her mind in the slightest - alpha pheromones, for certain. Powerful, too, since the woman infiltrated her island without anyone knowing. She really had some speeches to give out if - no, she will get out of this alive.
“What is it that you want, Priestess of the Narukami Shrine?” answered Kokomi.
The woman let out a chuckle. So, she was right. She was royally screwed, then. Not only did a dangerous alpha infiltrate her lands and threaten her pack’s safety, but it was Raiden Shogun’s little pet, as well. Anxiety was a familiar shiver up her spine, inching ever so softly over her entire body at the thought of the entire enemy side on Watatsumi island, tearing apart what remained of her people.
“Your little meeting with Kujou Sara? Not happening.”
Kokomi frowned.
“My general will notice my absence, you will not be able to stop this,” offered Kokomi calmly, despite her gnawing fears.
Surely, the alpha knew better. It took everything in Kokomi not to whimper out anxiously.
Yae Miko sighed. “Do I still need to be clearer? Your men were never contacted by the Kujou.”
The omega’s heart skipped a beat. No. False. Gorou would never lead her astray with fake news, especially from the pack that was threatening their peace every occasion they got. Kokomi took in a steadying breath and turned around, a defying look setting her azure eyes ablaze.
Guuji Yae looked as mesmerizing as the tales have promised, but no words could really describe the glow around her, powerful alpha pheromones only solidifying her strength that no one in Inazuma could contradict. The coral shade of her hair framed her pretty face, attire and coy smile in total contrast to her status.
A quick, subtle sniff of the air assured Kokomi of the alpha’s calm.
“And why would you be here to warn me, then?” Kokomi bluntly asked.
She never believed in dancing around the bush.
Miko shrugged her shoulders, crossing her arms, and the omega tracked the movement with her eyes, skeptical of the entire situation. The sun’s rays shone bright above them, as if laughing in the omega’s face at the grim scenery.
“I could leave,” began the alpha, slow and tantalizing, “let you find out on your own.”
Kokomi held onto a growl that threatened to leave her throat.
“Are you -”
“Oh dear,” said Miko, fake surprise smoldering her sweet voice. “Look at the time. Sure passes fast when you’re having fun,” she giggled and turned away. “Go save your little mionions.”
Kokomi was tempted to run after her, but stopped short. She felt her omega grow anxious at the distance between them and the alpha walking away. She scolded it, reminding it who’s in charge, assuring herself mentally of the relief of a clean breath of air. She would not let an annoying, dangerous alpha stand before her and her people’s safety. She wished the scent of cherries and sakura blossoms would not linger in the air - or mind - longer than necessary.
Its use now was to remind Kokomi of finding Gorou.