Chapter Text
Just like any other day, Thoma liked to spend his afternoons taking a walk around the grounds of ritou. The fresh air and cool breeze, the warm fuzzy sun and clear skies. It was all too perfect to let the day go to waste. He felt a sense of peace by this atmosphere, but also by being able to escape from having to deal with all the mishaps of the Kamisato family. He’d never admit that though.
It was quite calming. There weren’t too many people around and up to his knowledge, no shady business going on for him to worry about. It wasn’t supposed to be a long walk; 20? Maybe 30 minutes? Doesn’t really matter. What matters to him is enjoying the walk.
He continued to walk for about 10 minutes, Humming to the sound of his surroundings…well that was until it was disturbed. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN!?” He heard shouting coming from somewhere, and the shouting seemed to be back and forth. Now usually he doesn’t like to get involved in other people’s business when he’s on his walk, but sadly ignoring it will be at the inconvenience of him. He stopped, then sighed, then sighed again, then sighed one last time, then headed off to where all the ruckus was.
He looked around and saw three men together and it seemed to be a 1 v 2. He walked over and stood in front of those three men. “…Ahem, Goodday gentleman! I couldn’t help but notice that there’s a little quarrel between you guys. What seems to be the problem?”
“CAN YOU BELIEVE THESE GUYS ARE ACCUSING ME OF CHEATING!? ME! THE GREAT ONI ITTO, LEADER OF THE ARATAKI GANG!? CHEATING!? I AM NO CHEATER! I MAY HAVE MY WAY AROUND THINGS BUT I’LL NEVER CHEAT THAT’S FOR SURE!!!”
“Leader of the Arataki gang..? ...oh…Oh! The one that hosts all these events?? Or the one that gets arrested a lot? I’m not too sure myself…haha,” Thoma scratched the back of his head in confusion. He’d heard of some gang roaming around the streets of Narakumi Island but didn’t actually know who was the mastermind orchestrating it all.
“Both actually! On the streets they call me Itto the one and Oni Itto, but I have many names. You can just call me Itto though…but that’s beside the point! These douchebags over here are accusing me of cheating on a card game!! A card game that requires luck to win! It’s completely random so how exactly do you expect me to cheat!” Thoma couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at Itto’s little fit. He quickly composed himself and attended to the matter. “Now you gentlemen, what’s your side of the story?”
“This buffoon over here was cheating on the game we were playing! This is a game of pure luck so how could he possibly beat us both twice ! There’s no way someone is that lucky so he must have cheated!” One of the men responded back. Itto looked utterly offended and was about to have his way but was cut off.
“Well that’s stupid.” The two men looked at Thoma shocked. “I get that you’re mad and all but that’s really not enough of an excuse. While yes it seems as though the odds are unlikely, they’re still not zero. So that means that it’s still 100% possible to win 4 games in a row,” Thoma continued. Itto looked at him and then at the two men and smiled confidently. “Exactly my point! The odds are low but they’re not zero! So I’m no cheater! Case closed!” Thoma chuckled again at Itto’s very expressive reaction. He’d expect no less from all the rumours he’d heard.
The two men were baffled by such a claim just thrown at their faces. It was hard to debunk or at least manipulate it into their favour since it was true. The odds are never zero. So the next best thing was to just leave, and so they did without even saying their farewells. They left with annoyed faces as they mumbled and grumbled to each other and disappeared into the distance. Itto could finally sigh a sigh of relief.
“Thanks man. You really helped out there. I thought you were totally on their side. And then the police get involved and one way or another I’d find myself in the same handcuffs as always. But thank Archons that you came to my rescue……”
“…Oh I know you! You’re the guy who got a whole ceremony for getting your vision taken away.”
“Hahaha! I didn’t think I was that popular around here…but yea, unfortunately that’s how you get to know me,”Thoma was taken aback by that and responded a bit awkwardly. Itto was the type to often speak without considering the people around him. It wasn’t rude but it definitely wasn’t one of Thoma’s best memories. He’d rather not be reminded.
Itto looked confused at Thoma, he didn’t really understand what was so unfortunate about it. It didn’t really change his impression about Thoma but decided to ignore it. “Hey! As a token of my gratitude, I’d like to take you out on a playdate!”
“ Playdate ? Don’t you think that’s a bit too childish?”
“What do you mean! You’re never too old to have a bit of fun! C'mon, we’ll do all sorts of things like go exploring, go shopping around the city, take selfies, maybe have some lunch, grab a couple of drinks…” Itto went on and on about what they could do before the day ended. Thoma however, was listening to Itto go on and on about what they could do before the day ended. He found it cute how enthusiastic Itto was about a “play date” he hadn’t even agreed on.
“Okay, okay! I’ll gladly accept your invitation to go on a play date with you.”
“Great! Then let’s head to Amakane Island first! There’s some really nice places to take a ton load of pictures!”Itto said excitedly. He was so excited that he immediately grabbed Thoma’s hand and ran off with him. Leaving no room for Thoma to make any commentary.
They arrived at Amakane Island and fortunately a festival had ended recently so there were still a couple of decorations left behind. Itto the grabbed his Kamera that he’d managed to win in beetle fighting and Thoma awed at the astonishing gadget. “Can I hold it?” He asked curiously. “Sure go ahead!” Itto insisted. Thoma held the Kamera upright. He then examined it a bit, trying to understand what each button does and pointed it towards Itto. “Say cheese!” Thoma snaps a picture of a startled Itto who had dumped all his attention on an Oni shaped figurine lying on the ground.
“Hey! I wasn’t ready for that! Delete right now!”
“But you look so silly, so I don’t wanna delete it,”
“Exactly my point! The great Oni Itto cannot be looking silly and unprofessional in his photos. What will the fans think of me?”
“Well I don’t care. I think you look cute when you’re silly and unprofessional so I’m not going to delete it.”
Itto felt his heart skip a beat. Cute ? Of all the things he’d like to be called, cute is an odd one. He doesn’t want to be cute, he wants to be mighty and strong. Not cute. Silly is one thing, but cute ? He could already feel his cheeks flushing from all this embarrassment.
“I don’t care! Just give me my Kamera and I’ll delete it myself.”
“No!”
“No? What do you mean no ?”
Itto looked at Thoma with great confusion. Was he being for real right now? Whereas Thoma looked at him with a grin on his face. It was so amusing to him how expressive an Oni could be and found it cute. He liked seeing this side of Itto as it was really random. It made his somewhat boring life a lot more entertaining. And now thanks to this Oni, he was already having fun… maybe too much?
“You’re gonna have to come and take it from me if you want such a precious item to be deleted!” And with that, Thoma ran off, holding the Kamera with him.
Itto laughed and grinned. “Is this a challenge I see? Well you better believe I will catch you! The Great Oni does not back down on a challenge HAHAHAHHAHA!!!” He laughed like a maniac and ran off as well, chasing after Thoma.
The Oni may have been big but damn he was fast. He quickly caught up to Thoma who was laughing his ass off from all the adrenaline running through his veins. Thoma glanced back and saw itto right on his tail. He had to act quick or else he’d be caught and done for.
On the other hand, itto was still laughing hysterically! He was barely using any of his energy and was struck by the fact that the man in front of him looked like he was already out of breath. This made his ego rise up a bit and just to scare Thoma a little, he sped up, making him half a metre away from him. He’d assumed that this would make Thoma scared enough to give up, so he can finally get his Kamera back and delete that cute picture of his.
Itto was making all these assumptions but Thoma was not going to give up so easily. He doesn’t tolerate losing as well. He quickly broke down the situation and realised that while itto is fast, he’s not really aware of his surroundings most of the time and doesn’t react too logically to the unexpected. With that in mind, he started running straight towards the rocky wall of the island, slowing his pace the closer he got while Itto continued to run faster.
Itto was too busy imagining different scenarios with Thoma since his imagination was triggered after realising the speed difference between the two.
I wonder what we should do after this? Should we go to the city and get some lunch? I wonder what kind of food he likes? Sweets? Or maybe the infamous dango? Yea probably, he seems like he’ll like it. Order a few and sit by a bench talking while enjoying the view, he’d probably look very pretty while the sun would shine on his skin .
While his thoughts ran wild, he wasn’t very weary of his surroundings. BANG!? He crashed straight into the wall and fell backwards. While he was joyfully daydreaming, Thoma had stopped his tracks and moved away.
“I didn’t think you’d actually fall for it.” Thoma teased Itto while also giggling at his gullibility. Itto may have hit the wall too hard because when Thoma finally noticed him, specifically his face,it was almost entirely covered with blood due to his bloody nose.
“Uhhhh~…T-Thoma..? I don’t- I don’t feel so good,” Itto groaned in pain and confusion while trying to open his eyes and reach his hands out for Thoma. Thoma kneeled down so that he was right above Itto.
“Oh Archons! Itto your nose is bleeding!”
“…is it..?”
“Yes! There’s blood all over your face. Oh my I didn’t think you’d hit the wall that hard! I am so sorry,” Thoma started to panick a bit and quickly went to attend to his injury.
Itto looked at him dazed and confused. I don’t think he was aware that he was in pain, or even that he was injured as a matter of fact. His injury was fortunately being taken care of by Thoma who always made sure to bring his first aid kit just in case.
“Luckily, your nose isn’t broken. Just that you hit the wall hard enough to cause a nose bleed.” Thoma reassured Itto, though it’s not like he was even focusing anyway. He looked like he was seeing stars and purple elephants, and out the blue he started laughing. He lifted his arms and placed them on Thoma’s face. Thoma couldn’t help but blush at his sudden action.
Itto smiled. “Thoma you look so silly now as well. You’re all red and sweaty. You look like a ripe tomato,” For a man who should have been knocked out cold, he easily grabbed his Kamera and took a picture of Thoma. The flash of the Kamera brought him back to reality. He tried to compose himself and calm down.
“So does this mean we’re even? You have a silly picture of me now,” Thoma chuckled and asked. Itto looked at the picture and saw his startled,blushing face and something warmed in his heart. Is this what he meant by cute? He thought Thoma looked cute in the picture and decided to forgive him and keep both pictures.
“…yea, we’re even now.”
End of episode 1