Chapter Text
Year after year, Itto revelled in the same day after day. Going out to terrorize treasure hoarders, posting on the bulletin boards of Inazuma City and subconsciously daydreaming of the soon-to-be legends written in books of his fabled Arataki Gang... There was never a conformity to his daily happenings, they just occurred, and he let them. This unknown and lack of uniformity often fuelled his wit, giving him a push to achieve more, to be better and to solidify his strength to the inhabitants of Inazuma. Often, that strength only appeared on the boards littered across the city but no one had to know that. His ever-shifting personality caught the attention of a blonde boy, quite young at the time. Green eyes immediately were drawn to the spontaneous jump in the steps of a then- young Itto, often seen boasting around the city, no hesitance to be sighted anywhere. Eyes wide with wonder, having never seen such a person in Mondstadt before, inched closer to the boy with protruding black horns, in absolute awe of his developing muscles. If only he could be as open with others, he thought, but with regret and nervousness, he turned and walked the other way, absolutely ashamed.
From that moment, Thoma knew he was hooked. Dark eyebrows framed by a canopy of white fluffy hair, muted red stripes under his awe-inspiring eyes.... God he wanted to brush his hands over the strangers dark eyelashes, wanted to cup his hands around his perfect face and hold it until the end of time. During his walks around the streets the young boy with the dark horns would always walk by him, smelling of the forest and dirt, of pine and spring-water. Never having the courage to meet his eyes with the boy, he looked down instead, staring at the blue petals of flowers from Chinju Forest falling from his soles. As the years passed, he knew this was not just a simple crush, an admired figure, a damned acquaintance, but his one and only love. He couldn't believe it, a stranger, who he didn't even know the name of, and he was hooked onto his finger. Sitting down on a spare bench outside Komore Teahouse, he dreamed. Dreamed of what it was like to hug the boy, to smooth his hands over his flurry of white hair and to be hopefully, loved back.
As Thoma grew acquainted with the Kamisato siblings, his clearly one-sided pining subsided. Gaining the trust of the Kamisato siblings meant understanding the ins and outs of the Yashiro Commission. With this successfully taking his mind off of Arataki Itto during the early years of working for the Yashiro Commission, he slowly yet surely pushed him out of his mind, never showing his affection and never telling either Ayaka or Ayato anything regarding his love life. He concluded that they didn't need to know, didn't need to advise him over such a trivial matter such as love. As they were now much older, he suspected that he was now growing more mature, understanding that maybe... just maybe, his heart-wrenching crush over the damned Itto was just a subsidizing phase. He only finally convinced himself when Itto glanced his way, instead of expecting him to even say just a word to Itto for the first time, Itto said someone else's name; looking right through him... Itto didn't even know who he was... did he? His heart broke and he forced himself to forget about him, he didn't matter anyways. There were other things to do that were more important, he thought to himself as tears slowly settled down his cheeks.
Itto smiled with tears of joy, he had finally recruited his first member! Skipping down the cobbled stone paths, reflecting sunlight through the sakura trees. Heading straight for the main bulletin board nestled in the crooks of the food stall alleyway, he crouched and pasted his reply to Kujou Sara, grinning a wide toothy smile. And the legends begin, he thought to himself, leaning against his claymore. While it had been years since he began replying to the threats from Sara, every new retort sprouted a new fire in his veins. A challenger! Simply pleased with his reply, he walked away and shoved a deflated dango into his mouth, wiping the sticky residue on his pants. Soon, he would feel the gazes of the citizens, ushering their children away and shielding their eyes from his bunching muscles and litter of tattoos. He loved it. Loved feeling watched, loved feeling intimidating. All what makes him a qualified leader, he thought. Brushing a hand through his hair, he gripped his claymore tighter and erupted into the wilderness, off a small plateau of rock and into the sunbaked sand of the Inazuman beaches.
As Thoma listened to the new communication error with the Tenryou Commission, he could feel a migraine starting. This was the fifth conflict with the commission since the start of the new month, if this goes on, he'd have to get the Shogun to resolve this. Nodding deliberately, he walked away and into the Kamisato Estate, shaking his legs from staying standing for so long.
"Ayaka? You there? New problem with the Tenryou Commission, same thing again this time," Shaking his head, he placed his gloves on the desk out front and ruffled his hair thoroughly, wanting to get the migraine to go away.
"Got it. Thank you Thoma, I'll ask Ayato to deal with this."
Sighing briefly, Thoma starts to head outside, quietly alerting Ayaka that he was going to sit by the seashore for awhile, he tugs at his shirt and leaves.
The breeze was refreshing, successfully clearing his thoughts from the drama that was going to ensue. Times like these are the only times he allows himself to relax, to reflect and to think about what to do next. Dusting his fingers with sand and tousling it loosely, he lies on his back and admires the drifting clouds, bustling heartily through the abundance of sky. Midway through him shuffling his body against a warm rock, the sounds of pattering footsteps alert him. Glaring at his surroundings, he summons his polearm firmly and prepares to demolish a wandering hilichurl. Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat. Preparing to fight, he launches himself forward and he sees the source of his interruption. Everything is sent into slow motion after that, gasping in alarm, he is thrown backwards into the white sand and pushed onto his back. He panics. He's too close, he can't do this. After years and years and years of pining, this is how he finally is approached from his first love? Panting, Itto pins him down fiercely. Glaring at him, his sweat-stained muscles glinting like steel in the harsh sunlight.
"Cute horns," Itto whispers by Thoma's ear, sending a tsunami of shivers down his back. Slowly processing what Itto had said, he blinks rapidly in confusion. Eyes raking over Itto's appearance, finally letting the view of his crush sink into his eyes. He settles on the pecs, nearly unfurling out towards him. Gulping tightly, he knows that he's being unprofessional, knows that Itto probably at least knows that he's a representative of the Yashiro Commission... But his eyes don't leave the washboard abs being presented so close to him.
"Up here," This time, Itto almost snarls out the words. Flicking a sliver of pale blonde hair out of Thoma's face, admiring and observing it closely. Thoma's eyes immediately make eye contact with Itto's. "Thought you were a hilichurl, my bad," Standing up, he dusts off the sprinkled sand, adjusting his clothing accordingly. Immediately missing the closeness yet ultimately relieved, Thoma gets up and does the same. Instead, he sits back down quickly. He remains speechless for the remainder of the time, closing his eyes briefly and opening them. Was that a fever dream?
"Hey, you ok? Look kinda out of it," Reaching a veined hand towards Thoma, he stares at him with kind eyes. Thoma embarrassingly stares at the hand way too long to be acceptable and snaps himself out of it. Reaching forward, he grasps Itto's hands and stands up, swearing that he felt his heart skip a beat when their hands made contact.
"I-I'm fine," That's all he can muster before going a dark shade of red. Itto gives him a slight grin, amused by the smudge of red shifting across the blonde's face.
"Y'sure? 'Cause you look like you're boutta pass out," Thoma's red face goes even darker, letting out a mumble of words. He starts to walk away, clutching the hand that held Itto's just a moment ago. "Hey, if you're free soon, wanna go out to get some food?" Thoma pauses... I-Itto... A-Arataki Itto just asked him out..? This was impossible. Just a week ago, Itto was ignoring his existence and now.... he was asking him out? He nods briskly, awkwardly and continues to walk away, shaking slightly. "Tonight, at Shimura's! 6PM don't be late!" Thoma widens his eyes and looks back and see's that Itto's giving him the brightest grin he's ever seen and he feels the butterflies in his stomach, all woozy and bunched up.. all ready to explode at a moments notice. Itto gives him one last upward twitch of his lips and starts moving away, a whistle signalling to Thoma of his departure.