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Thoma had been through many things in his life. He lived through the raging storm surrounding Inazuma and lived to tell the tale. He could get himself out of any slippy situation with the help of someone’s connections here and there. All in all, Thoma felt like he could survive through any situation he’s presented with.
...Except the one he’s facing right now, where his boss and a delinquent are on the ground in one of the streets of Ritou with onikabutos in hand. His mouth drops at the sight, wondering why the Yashiro Commissioner was here of all places, when he had piles of work to do left back at their headquarters. Thoma moved a little to see the commotion the two were having, careful to not let his presence be known. It seems they were having a beetle fighting match upon closer look. And despite not knowing anything about the rules of beetle fighting, he could tell his boss was winning from the smug and relaxed look on his face compared to his opponent’s tone of desperation in his voice.
“Come on, little dude! Give him the nudge, you’re so clo- OH COME ON!” The delinquent fell face-plant on the ground in defeat. Taking note of his muscular physique and the red horns on his head, Thoma assumed this was the notorious Arataki “Jobless” Itto. (Title made by yours truly from Kujou Sara, who was ranting about the oni the other day.) The oni who was rumored to be proud and loud and always smiling was now sobbing so hard he thought Inazuma might flood the next day.
“781 wins for me, 781 losses for you.” The proud Commissioner was wearing a straw hat and common everyday clothes. But you could tell he was Kamisato Ayato thanks to the distinguishable white locks of hair he had. And Thoma learned to feel his presence thanks to the many food experiment sessions he was forced to go into. It was like a bell was ringing every time Ayato was in the vicinity and that bell rang stronger than ever.
“Come on now, surely you won’t back down just yet? And that was only our first round for today too…” The oni got back up on his feet with much effort, and Ayato helped him clear out the tears of defeat in his eyes with a napkin Thoma noticed he knitted for him. “I’ll get back at you, I swear! You better not go easy on me next time!”
The oni hits Ayato’s shoulder playfully with a lot of unintended force, much to Thoma’s surprise that he lets out a sharp gasp. This goes noticed by Ayato who swiftly turns around and grins with glee at the familiar face, to which Thoma returns by diving headfirst into the nearest bags to hide. Mission failed however, as Ayato grabs him by the ponytail and tackles him.
“Haha! If it isn’t Thoma! I didn’t expect you to be here!” Ayato hugs him with so much force, Thoma felt like the soul was being sucked out of him.
“I...didn’t expect you to… be here too!” Thoma escapes from his clutches at long last, noticing the menacing gaze the oni had towards him. What did he do to make him look at him like that?! The thought paced through his mind, before getting back on track.
“Ayato, why are you here anyway? I thought you were finishing work at the Ya-” Thoma tries to ask before being cut off by a punch in the gut from Ayato, and he falls on the ground wincing. “OW?!”
“Haha, right! About that... I’ll get back to it, I swear. Don’t ruin my fun time, pretty please, Thoma my bestest friend ever in the world?” Ayato teases with a dangerous look in his eyes, as if he was indirectly asking him to shut it about the Yashiro Commission. But why? Thoma wonders. He gets himself back up before the realization hits him and he looks again at the oni who had an angry look on his face. Don’t tell me....
“So. You must be Mr. 100th Vision, huh.” Itto crosses his arms in much distaste and points at Thoma with a challenging look. “I challenge you to a match!” Thoma looked back and forth between Ayato and Itto, not understanding what was going on. “...Not exactly the same line of thought I had in mind, can you repeat that?”
Itto stepped closer towards Thoma, too close that he could see the hints of geo in his eyes. He’s got nice eyes.
“FIGHT ME IN A BEETLE FIGHTING MATCH. RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW.”
...Nevermind.
“If I may, Arataki.” Ayato interrupts, placing his arm around Thoma’s shoulder, to which Thoma slightly feels his ears reddening. Did Ayato ever smell this nice? “I wish to assist my dear Thoma, he doesn’t know a thing about beetle fighting. He’s spent his entire childhood blowing dandelions and singing and prancing around.” Thoma felt touched at Ayato’s helping hand. He’s an angel...
“YOU OF ALL PEOPLE?!”
“Winner gets my rare Forgeru Loyd card,” Ayato offers, snatching a shiny trading card from the inside of his hair, How?! , “loser eats 5 fried lizard tails and a crushed starconch shake.” Forget what I said. Ayato’s the living devil.
Itto thinks for a while before nodding with a grin. “Alright. Fair enough.” Thoma escapes from Ayato’s arm and places himself in between the two, arms flailing around. “Hold it, hold it! Can we… change the punishment?” The memory of lizard tails forcefully fed into his mouth sends Thoma back so hard he felt himself throwing up any moment.
“Hah! So Mr. 100th Vision isn’t so tough at all.” Itto says, glaring at Thoma.
“Yes, Yes, so let’s all sto-” Thoma says before being interrupted by Ayato again by swinging a lizard tail on a stick on his face. “Nonsense, nonsense! Unless, you’d like to take the honor of eating this delicious treat, Thoma?”
Thoma helplessly looks at Itto, to which he shrugs while smirking at Ayato. “...Let’s have it then.” Thoma says with a tone of despair, to which Ayato and Itto cheer on enthusiastically.
“WELL THEN! GET READY TO GET CRUSHED BY THE ONE AND ONLY ARATAKI “BEETLE FIGHTING GLADIATOR” ITTO, BECAUSE YOU’RE ABOUT TO GO DOWN!”
-
“You’re kidding me?! LET’S DO ONE MORE ROUND!” Itto helplessly begs on his knees to which Ayato laughs off. Thoma was surprised by the turn of events too, and he even thought he would’ve lost because his attention kept diverting elsewhere. Why is Itto so distracting to look at anyway..?
“I thought Arataki Itto admits defeat when he loses? We agreed on a best out of 3 and we won by a landslide.” Ayato wraps his arm around Thoma and he feels his face redden at his contact. Ayato looks at his retainer with a fond look and brushes some of his hair that was covering his eyesight.
“Modest about your win, aren’t you? As expected of my beloved Thoma!” Thoma felt so hot right there he was sure he looked like a fresh tomato.
“Ahem. Mas- I mean Ayato, you se-” He was interrupted for the umpteenth time that day by the cries of the oni who was trying to digest one out of 5 lizard tails. Thoma felt a surge of sympathy, yet he didn’t feel like helping this time. Sorry dude, I’m not putting myself through that… As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Ayato crouches down and munches through 3 lizard tails as if he was eating the most delicious dango in the world.
“You...Ayato, just what are you?” Thoma mutters as Itto stares at Ayato as if he was some sort of evolved hilichurl. Ayato then picks up his onikabuto and tucks it in a tiny basket he was carrying.
“I guess that settles our matches for today, Arataki? Try drinking milk, it helps.” Ayato pats the oni’s horns lightly and beckons Thoma to come with him. “Let’s go home, Thoma.”
Before they got out of Ritou however, he felt a booming voice behind them. “THOMA! YOU’RE STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT! LET’S HAVE A MATCH AGAIN SOMETIME!” Thoma laughs at the unexpected challenge and waves back with a grin on his face.
“Yeah, sure!”
-
“Ayato, I wanted to ask. Why did you shush me earlier when I was asking you about your workload?” Thoma asks the moment he felt no one else’s presence while they walked through the glowing flowers around Chinju Forest.
“Well, how do I put this…” Ayato pauses, trying to think of an answer. “...Would you believe me if he doesn’t know I’m the Yashiro Commissioner?”
Thoma chuckles at his answer. “I sort of figured. After meeting Arataki Titto today, I’ve got a better understanding of his character.” Thoma slows down after he notices Ayato stop in his tracks and sees him holding back so much laughter he was crouching. “You...what did you call him…?”
Thoma’s face flushes in realization. “OH WELL YOU SEE TITTO- I MEAN, UH… ITTO’S TITS ARE VERY…” He felt like dying at Ayato’s laughter echoing through the forest. “THEY’RE VERY….HUGE. OKAY?” Ayato looks at him with a proud smirk and he gives up.
“I guess we can agree on one of Itto’s likable traits. Oh sorry, I meant Titto?” Ayato teases, playfully nudging Thoma on the shoulder. “Oh my god, please don’t say that when we see him again.”
“Oh, I’ll try my best not to.” Ayato says before Thoma looks at him with a pleading look, his mouth pouting. Ayato looks away quickly, his ears reddening before muttering a quick: “I won’t. I promise.” Thoma sighs in relief. Heh. Still works every time.
“Also, how did we win that match anyway? I thought onikabutos didn’t like fighting…” Thoma trails off as Ayato takes out the onikabuto from the basket he was holding.
“Yes. So I had to pull some of my own strings.” Ayato then carefully pokes at the onikabuto’s horns, and a tiny piece falls out. A familiar cold aura is released when it comes out, and Thoma notices the shine of cryo. “You’re cheating! Onikabutos are made of electro so when any other onikabuto comes near this...special onikabuto, they’ll-”
“Lose immediately.” Ayato finishes, carefully tucking back the onikabuto in the basket. “Look, all’s fair in love and bugs, alright?” Thoma stops at that statement. “Wait, Ayato, you..”
Thoma notices Ayato’s eyes widen a bit before he chuckles. “Oh my god, Thoma, you’re not jealous, are you?”
“Jealous?” Thoma exclaims before shaking his head. “I just want to know if...you find him attractive…”
Ayato shrugs and looks towards the path leading to the Kamisato residence with a far and fond look in his eyes. “Maybe I do. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think about you any less or anything. You’re very loyal and more obedient than anyone I know and you’re very fit.” Ayato teases, wrapping an arm around his waist.
“Ayato, you-” Thoma is saved by a familiar blonde traveler stepping out of the residence, whose presence causes Ayato to step away from Thoma awkwardly. “Lumine? What are you doing her-” Thoma doesn’t get an answer except for some marks on her neck and a fast escape left by a trail of electro.
Then it all clicks. The cryo onikabuto and Ayato’s recent out of house activities ever since the traveler came to Inazuma…
Ayato pats his head, as if he knew Thoma figured it out. “It’s a favor for my sister. That’s all.”
The two step into the residence and are greeted by Ayaka with her hair down. “Welcome back, brother! Thoma. You two are awfully late today.”
“Yeah, I had to meet up with important people today.” Ayato says and yawns, patting Ayaka on the head. “Thanks for all your work, dear sister. I’ll head off to bed.”
“Sweet dreams, brother.” Ayaka says, then the two of them watch as Ayato closes the door. “So what did you two actually do, Thoma?” Ayaka asks softly.
“Oh, I met Arataki Titto today.”
“Huh? I think you meant-”
“I know what I said.”