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His alpha, Thoma thinks, is too busy with back-to-back meetings and paperwork to realise that Thoma is doing chores.
Which is a good thing, because Ayato had specifically forbidden Thoma from doing anything strenuous when they'd found out about his pregnancy, no matter that he is barely out of the first trimester and that this is far from their first child.
Thoma sighs fondly, and grips his duster more firmly, stretching up to brush a spot of dust off of the low-hanging lantern in the outer pavillion. Really, Ayato got like this every single time, and it was sweet, but Thoma knew what was considered too much and dusting was definitely not it. Honestly, he's barely even showing yet, a little light housework wouldn't hurt anyone.
Besides, they had guests coming in from the various minor clans under them, and it was always good to impress upon them how efficient and sightly the Kamisato Estate was. Dust on the lanterns was not how Thoma wanted to present their household, thank you very much!
A high giggle catches his attention, pulling him from his musings, and Thoma peers around the side of the estate to catch his excitable little Mizuki scrambling out of her elder brother's room, presumably having played some mischief or another on him.
He shakes his head amusedly, and resolves to check in on Mizuha later just to make sure that Mizuki hadn't done anything that warranted a reprimand. Given that said boy wasn't running to him or Ayato to complain, though, Thoma doubted that it was anything too serious.
Ah, for a child that looked so much like him, Mizuki truly had all of Ayato's mischievous streak.
Laughing softly, Thoma turns back to his dusting. The next guest was due soon, and Thoma would have the estate spotless before then-
The sound of one of the maids greeting a guest at the main entrance travels through the courtyard, and Thoma frowns. He couldn't see the entrance from where he was, but judging from the greeting, their guest was the young master of the Saito clan. The Saito clan was one of the minor clans that Ayato disliked dealing with- they fell under the clans that were affiliated with the Kamisato clan, but ever since their previous head had passed, the clan had been getting more and more brazen in behaviour. The young master of the clan was one of the worst offenders, in Thoma's opinion. He was every bit a spoiled brat, born with a silver spoon and prejudiced to boot- Ayato had always been careful to keep Thoma away from the man, who looked down on outlanders and omegas alike, when possible. Thoma himself had no qualms about allowing Ayato his wants- it wasn't like his alpha couldn't handle the arrogant man by himself, and Thoma had no desire to invite vitriol upon himself when it wasn't necessary.
Which meant that he would -to his alpha's great relief, no doubt- steer clear of young master Saito while he was on the grounds of the estate.
Or at least he had been planning to, until he hears a sharp gasp coming from the main courtyard. It's a startled, childish sound, and it's scared, and it- it sounds like Mizuki.
It's scared, and it sounds like his daughter, and Thoma runs.
"S-Sorry," comes Mizuki's voice, words stuttered with a fear that makes all of Thoma's hackles rise, makes all his instincts howl for blood, and he's grabbing his polearm from the weapons rack before he can even think.
When he rounds the corner, Mizuki is sprawled on the ground, half on the stones lining the main walkway.
"You clumsy little foreign brat! How dare you!"
Standing in front of his daughter's small form is young master Saito, towering over Mizuki with rage on his face, and-
Young master Saito raises an angry hand, Mizuki cowers, and Thoma moves. He may be pregnant, but he can still more than hold his own against a spoiled young master like this arrogant man, and Thoma grabs the man's wrist with his left hand and angles his polearm at a vulnerable throat with his right. It didn't matter, that this was the young master of a minor clan come to meet Ayato, it didn't matter, that this action would likely sour the relationship between the Kamisato and Saito clans.
It only mattered that Mizuki was on the ground behind him, whimpering softly, tears in her eyes. It only mattered that this spoiled, arrogant little bastard had raised a hand against his daughter.
"How dare you," Thoma hisses, a pyro shield flaring to life around his scared little daughter. He watches, fury simmering in his veins, as young master Saito blinks, and then a truly sickening leer comes over his features.
"Feisty little thing, aren't you?" The man in front of him says, eyes roving over Thoma in a way that makes him grit his teeth. "Little omega playing at things out of its control. Why don't you put down the weapon and let me show you a good time, huh?"
Thoma growls, disgusted and enraged in equal measure, and both his mind and his instincts are screaming at him to just- gut this man, who dared to hurt his daughter, dared to question the sanctity of Thoma's bond, his marriage, dared to imply that Thoma, mated to the Yashiro Commissioner, would ever stray-
"How about it? A pretty little exotic thing like yourself…" Saito's gaze trails down to the swell of Thoma's abdomen, and his mouth twists, just a little. "Just have to get rid of the evidence of that other alpha, right?"
And Thoma- Thoma doesn't allow himself to show it, the instinctual fear at the threat, the way he wants to curl a protective arm over his bump at the words, the way rage and fear alike set every nerve on edge. Instead, he tightens his grip around his polearm, knuckles going white, and if his left hand squeezes hard enough around the other man's wrist to hurt… well, nobody has to know.
"You-"
Footsteps, deliberate and purposeful, stalking across the Yumemiru floorboards of the outer pavillion. Familiar footsteps, followed by the quick patter of little feet, and then Mizuha's frantic, "Papa! Mizuki!"
Thoma doesn't turn, refuses to take his attention off of Saito, but he sees Mizuha run to Mizuki's side out of the corner of his eye, and drops the shield around her just as his little boy reaches his sister. He sees Mizuha help Mizuki to her feet and usher them both backwards, coming to hide behind-
"What is the meaning of this?"
His alpha's voice is cold and severe, but everything in Thoma relaxes all at once, finally letting go of Saito's wrist. Ayato is here, and everything will be alright.
"Lord Kamisato!" Saito's eyes go wide, and Thoma withdraws his polearm just in time to avoid slicing the idiotic man's throat open as he falls into a bow at Ayato's presence. "I was simply advising this foolish servant of yours- what do they teach in those foreign lands, that a mere servant raises a blade to one of higher standing? Luckily, it was myself that encountered this. Had it been another noble, I'm certain that they would have taken more drastic action!"
"Hm," Ayato says, a considering hum even though Thoma can already see the decisiveness in his eyes. "That is not what my son has told me, however."
"Your-" Saito starts, eyes going wide. "Your son, Lord Kamisato?"
"You see, Mizuha here came running into my office earlier, saying that there was a fight happening in the courtyard, that someone had hurt his little sister…"
Thoma sees Mizuha peek out from behind Ayato's legs, sees the way Saito's gaze falls on Mizuha's pale blue hair, then his bright green eyes, before shakily lifting his gaze to meet Thoma's own green eyes. Then, he sees the way Saito takes a trembling step back as he slowly pieces things together.
"Lord- Lord Kamisato-" the other man stammers, eyes wide.
"Young master Saito," Ayato says, lips quirked in a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "You aren't calling my son a liar, are you?"
"Of- Of course not, Lord Kamisato…"
Ayato's eyes glint, the look that Thoma recognises as a plot successfully executed, a look that has always reminded Thoma of a cat letting a mouse go just before catching it again.
"Then you agree with what my son has said," Ayato says decisively. "And admit that you have caused my daughter harm, and attempted assault on my mate."
"Lord Kamisato-!"
"Leave." Ayato’s voice is firm, a clear order with all of an alpha's fury behind it, and Thoma feels a shiver go down his spine at the command in his alpha's voice. "Leave my estate now, and know that neither you nor your clan are welcome here again, not until both myself and my mate have decided that you have made appropriate reparations for your actions."
"Mercy, Lord Commissioner, please-"
Ayato's voice turns cold, icy, and Thoma can hear the low growl that his alpha is barely suppressing. "The Kamisato clan does not wish to, and will not, have ties to any clan that treats children as you have. I am being merciful, young master Saito. You have injured my daughter, attacked my mate, and threatened the life of my unborn child. If I were to show you even an inch less mercy, it would be your blood on my blade and your head on my wall. Do not push your luck."
And Thoma watches, almost vindictive in his satisfaction, as Saito scrambles backwards, trembling, and flees the estate. The moment he is past the gates, Thoma's entire body untenses, and he rests his polearm against the railing of the outer pavillion, turning to face his mate and children. He climbs the few steps up to the pavillion to join them, coaxing Mizuki out from behind Ayato with a few soft words, tugging lightly at her arm until he can assess the scrapes on her elbow and palm.
Thankfully, he thinks, they are nothing serious, not any worse than she has gotten from simple falls when she was younger, and he pulls his youngest into his arms with a soft coo, curling his body around hers and pressing kisses to the crown of her head.
He only loosens his embrace when Mizuki's sniffles die down, and turns to Mizuha, who is watching the proceedings with wide eyes. "Is Mizuki okay?"
Thoma laughs softly, and opens an arm for his son to run into as well. "Your sister will be fine, sweetheart, it's just a scrape. You did so well today, getting your father. Did you see what was happening from inside?"
A chuckle from above them, and Ayato kneels to pull all three of them into a warm hug. There is still tension in his frame, but he is hiding it well, and Thoma knows that his instincts are probably still screaming for blood.
"Imagine my surprise, when my soft-spoken son barged straight into my office without knocking, almost upending my pot of ink, and began babbling about you being in danger and my dear little daughter in tears. You would not even begin to imagine my panic when I'd finally realised what he was talking about."
Thoma huffs an amused breath at the mental image, watching as Mizuha's little mouth falls open and he begins to apologise for entering his father's office without permission before Ayato stops him with a warm grin and reaches out to ruffle his hair instead.
"You did nothing wrong, my dear," Ayato hums, pressing a kiss to Mizuha's forehead. "In fact, you did exactly what you should have done when you saw a threat, and we're very proud of you."
Thoma nods, pressing another kiss to his son's forehead in agreement, and lets Mizuki go when Ayato pulls back from the hug to gesture for their daughter.
Mizuki scrambles into her father's arms, and Ayato purrs soothingly even as he coaxes her injured arm into his hands, vision shining lightly as hydro coalesces into a glowing orb above their hands. Ayato hums under his breath as he runs the water over the wounds, cleaning them as thoroughly as he can, and Thoma watches, heart aching with fondness, as his alpha's brow furrows and the wounds begin to heal under glowing water.
Once, Ayato had only ever focused his elemental control on techniques that would aid in battle, even though Hydro was the element most suited for elemental healing, but that had been years ago, and Thoma still remembers the panic in Ayato's eyes the first time Mizuha had stumbled and scraped his knee, and had promptly burst into tears.
Ayato had buried himself in healing texts after that, and had only left his office when hydro finally allowed him to heal.
Thoma had laughed, but his heart had felt exactly as it does now- overly warm, and overly fond, and far too large for his chest.
"There," Ayato says when scrapes fade away to reveal whole skin once more, his smile gentle. "Good as new."
Mizuki looks at her father with shining eyes, and hiccups softly. "Thank you, otou-san!"
Ayato just laughs, curling his arms tighter around their daughter. "You're very welcome, darling."
When Ayato lets Mizuki go, their daughter immediately scampers back over to her brother's side, and indeed, she is just as her father had said: good as new. She grabs Mizuha's hand and drags him down the stairs into the courtyard, and before Thoma can even blink, both of them are already engaged in a game of hide-and-seek that is probably a little too noisy for effective hiding.
Thoma laughs, and feels Ayato curl his arms around his waist, hooking his chin over Thoma's shoulder and nuzzling into the scent glands on his throat.
"You're alright, love?" Ayato murmurs softly into the skin of his neck, his hands curved protectively over the swell of Thoma's belly.
Thoma raises a hand to cover Ayato's own, intertwining their fingers, and turns his head to press a kiss to Ayato's cheek. "Never better, my heart."
"You know, you're not doing a very good job of hiding that duster," Ayato says after a long moment, one hand shifting down to snag said duster from Thoma's belt.
"Give it back," Thoma whines says, grabbing for the duster that Ayato snatches out of his reach just in time. "You know that's my favourite duster!"
Ayato hums, tucking the duster away into his seemingly bottomless sleeves, and Thoma definitely doesn't pout. "Whatever should I do with my disobedient little mate, hm?"
Thoma stills, practically a conditioned response to the purr in his alpha's voice, and a pleasant shiver shoots down his spine.
"Well," he murmurs, leaning in to press his whisper against Ayato's lips, cheeks flooding with heat even as he says the words. "Disobedience deserves… punishment, right?"
A soft huff of breath warm and amused on Thoma's lips, and Ayato closes the gap between them, fitting one hand against the small of Thoma's back and the other in his hair, tugging lightly at his ponytail. He licks leisurely into Thoma's mouth, and when they finally break apart for air, Ayato presses their foreheads together and chuckles lowly. "I've rubbed off on you, dearest."
And Thoma's breath catches in his throat in a barely audible squeak as Ayato bends to hook an arm under his knees and back, sweeping him into a hold that is mildly awkward because of their respective heights but no less heart-stopping for it. "Don't regret your words now, darling."
And Thoma can only bury his burning face in his hands and be carted off, head filled with the sound of his alpha's laughter.