Chapter Text
“Just sayin’, it’s way worth it and really fills you up. It’s a total energy food. A regular meal if I’m training that day. It’s definitely something I’d snack on if I’m fighting off some Nobushi,” the Oni shrugged, his shoulders shifting the hay of the cart from where he was lying flat across the shallow pile, his feet angled towards the back. Thoma was decently comfortable sat beside him, almost hip to hip with a leg bent up to rest his arm, and he was facing ahead in the direction they were going.
Amusing, Itto had been babbling the entire time, though Thoma didn’t mind at all. He was pleasantly informative when it came to foods that worked for his type of frame. Energy and protein based meals from what the blonde could tell and it seemed to sustain him well. For himself, energy foods were something he leaned towards, but there was usually a lower portion of it than what Itto clearly needed to keep his size and strength. Excluding the natural Oni Yokai strength he carried.
“I’d say Sukiyaki would be my choice if I wanted to eat something with energy. It’s filling, but it does mean I don’t need to eat for the rest of the day,” he smiled, he got more work done that way and had some free time to himself rather than needing to prepare separate portions of food throughout the day.
“Bro, seriously? No wonder you’re so lean and thin,” the Oni stared in surprise, tilting his head more towards him with a brow quirk, “I thought the same the other day. You really don’t eat enough… Does it help towards how you fight? I heard you were fast and pretty light. Genta mentioned something about you being really flashy with your moves during some weapon dance performance you did for one of the festivals a couple years back,”
“Oh yeah! The Polearm Performance. It’s not a dance, but I suppose it could be seen that way. It was a competition event for weapon wielders. What he saw must have been the section for Style, as in how you naturally use your weapon in combat,” in all honesty, he hadn’t expected many points, but he was happily surprised. Flashy was right. He was agile and wasn’t predictable with how he wielded his Kitain Cross.
“You're gonna have to show me some time this week!” Itto beamed up at him and Thoma could almost see the giddy puppy ears at the thought of it. Honestly, he thought it’d be interesting to see each others fighting style, maybe a light sparring match. He knew about Itto’s fighting style and the massive weapon he used.
“I wouldn’t mind-,” the cart suddenly and harshly catching a tough pothole cut him off, the hefty jerk tossing Thoma to the side against the Oni. His hand shot out landing flat against the hay on the other side of the larger man, catching himself directly over the other, and it seemed that Itto had had the same idea as his hands were at his waist and belt, a leg suddenly bent up to be a bumper for him to ‘not’ tumble over him or hit the wall of the cart. He was fast!
“Sorry ‘bout that, folks!” the guy up ahead called back swiftly, “Thought I’d missed it,” it wasn’t a big deal, but it sure surprised him. The blonde glanced down, about to open his mouth when he came face to face with the Oni… or more specifically, his chest.
Thoma wasn’t oblivious. He’d taken note of how toned and bulky of a man he was, the amount of muscle was very well defined and clearly, he kept in shape. But being that close, being able to see where muscle met muscle, where the red patterns paved their way over taught skin symmetrically and being able to smell the strong, sharp scent of mountains and fresh fields-.
“Hey, you good?” the same mans voice called from the front, breaking him from his stupor. His gaze flaked and he lifted his head to the cart handler.
“Y-Yes! Yeah, we’re fine!” he replied with a cracking tone, getting a ‘Aright, sorry again’ from the man up front. Thoma let a soft breath leave him and moved to straighten up, the grip on him easing, but he didn’t let go of the blonde. He glanced down, having his senses this time and eyed the other.
“Are you okay?” he asked reflexively. Thoma may have been spooked by it, but he wasn’t the only one in the cart. Even if he was lying down, Itto had reached up for him, maybe to stabilise himself where he was lying down. It had been on his side of the cart.
Though… by the look he was giving him, it might not have been for his own sake. The bewildered stare that was very purposely staring at him as if he’d grown an extra head.
“Dude, I wasn’t the one that almost got launched outta the cart,” the Oni replied, his tone giving away his ‘Are YOU okay?’. He was, but still.
“I wasn’t almost launched out,” Thoma countered, glancing down at himself and the cart as if to show just that. Admittedly, yes, it’d been a shock to his system, but otherwise he was perfectly fine. They were still in the cart and he doubted that it’d been that bad to actually throw him out.
“Thanks to my fast reflexes, Broma~!” the grin was back and he flinched and glanced around when he felt the Oni’s bent leg bump against his side, his hips getting a hefty pat where he’d been holding onto his belt seconds prior. As fast as they appeared, Itto withdrew his hands and shifted his leg away with Thoma still leaning over him.
He’d give it to him. He had let Itto win the short discussion, he did grab him to stop him from being thrown around so much.
“How about on the boat, you stay inside the tent thing. Just so you don’t get tossed out, huh?” the Oni smirked playfully and Thoma gawked, having even made an appalled sound at the suggestion, because that wasn’t his fault nor had he almost been tossed out of the cart!
“Either that or I hold onto you the entire time like a life-jacket,” Itto added. It made the blonde for a comically little pout. He didn’t want to stay in the interior of the ship, nor did he want to trouble the other just to keep him grounded. But again, he wouldn’t fall out. He’d had ‘some’ experience with ships… Excluding the time he first ended up in Inazuma via shipwreck.
… Maybe it would have been best that Itto be close enough to grab him.
—--
And close enough they’d been. For some time after boarding, the other had taken the spot directly beside him.
Thoma took a little glance to his side, eyeing the far broader man that was practically pressed to his side again, an arm draped around the back of him on the wooden rest they were sitting against. The Oni had dropped beside him and had gotten comfortable in his space so naturally when they’d entered the large scale Waverider. He’d almost assumed that Itto had had the same idea, to keep him from ‘being launched out’, but even Thoma couldn’t really find any indication of it. He’d simply climbed in and had gotten comfy, much like the cart.
Amusingly enough, time had passed by just as fast as casual banter took over between them, the Oni starting to explain how he and his group had finally taken over Higi Village a year or so ago and made the area safer, a few having moved in besides the Arataki Gang. The blonde could sense the pride in his tone, the achievement in taking down the Nobushi and turning the village into a liveable space again. Given time, Thoma was sure that the Oni could help it thrive and grow to be a safe haven and maybe even a small city between Watatsumi and Narukami alongside Kujou Encampment.
The resources he had at hand were numerous and very convenient. The only issue he could see that needed to be dealt with was the Electro inflicted Gorge. It was deep and wide, sickly if you were caught by the thick mist of static. The dense power from such a next level made others ill simply walking along the paths below. Though he was sure that Itto had some plans for it, he wasn’t an idiot.
Surprisingly, time had flown by quite fast while the boat sailed along, heavy wind taking control of the speed, but was masterfully used to the boat Captain's advantage to get them there faster. And to his shock, the boat was turning into a small harbour, one that the Fatui had been guarding before, to his knowledge.
“It’s a’right, they don’t usually hang around when they see boats coming by, and I know a way out of the area they don’t follow thanks to the Fort nearby,” a light jab of the Oni’s fingers against his shoulder grabbed his attention, seeing the confident look in the mans eyes, “I was updated on stuff by the gang last night and it looks like they actually left the area entirely after that Icy lady’s death, so I don’t think we need to be sneaky or anything,”
Ah right. Thoma could understand the absence of the Fatui after the Harbingers death at the hand of the Raiden Shogun herself. That mercilessness would cause a lot of fear in staying when there was no high rank there to ease away any afterthought of taking out the rest of the subordinates that were left behind.
“Best to be on guard though?” Thoma asked as he leaned a little aside to see where they were docking, feeling the hand that had been behind him on the wood brushing against his side to grab his belt again.
“Definitely. There are still some Nobushi around, but they never really hang around the Village anymore,” he shrugged beside him, Thoma feeling the grip become a fraction firmer as the side of the boat bumped against the sturdy dock. A moment later, he lifted his gaze to the Captain, who called and waved to them. At that, he and Itto got up, the Oni grabbing the blonde bag before he could and started walking, heading over with a grin.
“Thanks for the ride, pops!” the man beamed, giving him a hefty pat on the shoulder before he climbed the shallow ramp up and then down the other side to disembark the ship. Thoma followed, but gave the Captain a respectful bow and a thank you for hurrying after the Oni.
“Don’t forget the weather reports! Be safe!” the man called after them, earning himself a wave from the Oni as the two started their trek up the hill towards the Fort.
“Weather reports?” Thoma asked, glancing over his shoulder at the boat that began to ease away from the dock for a journey back to the city. He hadn’t heard anything about bad weather until that moment and all in all, it was a dryer season, there shouldn’t have been any major warnings just yet.
“Just some downpour, a little drizzle. Yashiori island gets a little more wet weather than the rest of Inazuma, from what I can tell anyway,” was the Oni’s reply. Thoma caught up, walking alongside him, “It doesn’t last that long either and isn’t ever really that heavy either since the huge weather change a while ago. A little rain here and there and that’s it. We can stay indoors to wait it out,”
He was so… calm, casual, relaxed. Thoma tilted his head towards him, regarding him briefly on their walk along the winding dirt path that led them up the hill. And to Itto’s words, Thoma saw a couple of Sangonomian guards up ahead, the two seeming to be having a conversation as the two approached.
“Yo! How’s the guarding coming along?,” Itto called out, earning a couple of questioning stares for a very long moment.
“Ah! So they finally let you out of prison, huh?” one of the two smiled some, seeming genuinely relieved from what the blonde could see.
“Hope it wasn’t so bad or anything. I heard that they wanted to lock you up for longer than stated,” the other sighed a tad sadly, the two earning a laugh from the Oni beside him.
“Nah, they didn’t have enough on me for that-,” the taller man paused and glanced down at the blonde. Thoma, while listening to that reply, had started giving a bit of a firm stare, “I mean… uh… I’ll be good and not let that happen again,” the shorter of the two watched the sheepish react, a hand reaching behind his head to awkwardly scratch.
“Why-.. uh…” one of the guards hesitated, appearing to shift his position to have a better posture when he’d recognized the blonde, “Pardon my question, but why is the Kamisato Commission’s ‘Fixer’ here? No one’s in trouble, are they?” there was that word again.
“No no, no one’s in trouble,” Thoma waved his hands instantly to remove that thought, “Itto invited me and I was given a break from work,” he smiled warmly and crossed his arms behind his back. The two seemed to visibly relax at the explanation, some smiles lifting them back up.
“That’s good. You had us worried. We won’t keep you then. I’m sure it was quite the journey from Narukami,” one of them nodded. In all honesty, Thoma had been expecting a bit more of a prickly reaction to one of the Commission hands appearing in the area considering the whole war situation not that long enough, but… maybe it was due to it being Itto having brought him that it was taken as lightly?
“Alright, we’ll see you again,” the Oni grinned, giving Thoma a hefty pat like the Captain to motion ahead. In the distance, he could see a sturdy bridge between the gorge, linking the Fort land to the mainland, the village sitting directly beside it.
“Welcome to Higi village,” Thoma glanced up to see the openly excited expression on the mans face, drawing another smile to his own.