#inspired by my friend who talked w/ me abt th*ma’s loyalties

[thomine]

sincere sins & serious schemes : thoma

pair: thoma x reader info: teen & up, corruption, manipulation, homicide, bad parenting, brief mention of starvation, emotional manipulation, power imbalance, ambiguous ending, not proofread

summary: you cover up your brother’s crime to repay what he did for you many years back. it comes back to bite you in an innocent request for a date.

word count: 2.8k words series: day 13 of au august 2023 / prompt: noir links: work tag

You’ve explored less travelled paths of Inazuma City with Thoma while on the hunt for criminals, sticking closer than peas in a pod for it was easier to deal with danger than imagine the other out of sight.

He’s the first person you seek after successfully connecting clues all night, knocking on his door at ungodly hours. You’ve lost count how many times he’s apologised for his small apartment. He says he should be a gentleman to send you home, but he never does and replaces your toothbrush in his washroom every three months.

Your close relationship with him is a common topic of discussion during lunch in Inazuma Detective Agency as your distant colleagues make bets like little kids while giggling to themselves. They have lots say when justifying that you and Thoma might cross that line, but they forget to factor your division in their judgements.

“Kamisato Ayato, Sir,” you greet as your leader steps out of the board meeting. Thoma—the closest you can describe their complicated relationship is that he is Ayato’s secretary—follows tightly behind, and he smiles at you as if he wasn’t trapped in a room for 3 hours. “What was the conclusion of the case?”

Your leader clicks his tongue. What scares you is how his quaint smile is present on his handsome features. If you didn’t catch his flash of annoyance, Ayato’s disdained tone when he replies can cause a whiplash.

“They’re doing this on purpose.” His eyes gloss over the group of men that came out of the room with him. They cluster at the exit, eager to go home. Ayato pulls his bangs back, resolution burning in his eyes. You lower your gaze just to reduce clashing with his.

With a sigh, hands falling to his sides, he adds, “They’re certain the recently arrested man is the culprit and will be imprisoning him without a hearing. There are details I want to iron out, so I’ll postpone the briefing. I won’t let this rest.”

Ayato’s voice is dangerously soft. You give him a minute to ruminate in his thoughts—nothing more and nothing less.

“It should be expected. They hold the power to label someone guilty, not evidence,” you quip, torso bent in a subtle bow out of respect but also from freshly acquired fear. Ayato is not someone to mess with, and this topic of the recent culprit you captured…

“I know that look,” Thoma butts into the conversation, an accusatory finger pointing at Ayato. “You’re going to lock yourself in your office again. Won’t your sister be disappointed?”

It is at this moment their squabble fades to background noise. There are more pressing matters to think about than eavesdrop on the private life of your boss.

Tonight, you’ll be meeting your brother. The plan was to get your hands on the brief so you can discuss things with him. Now that you don’t know the specifics, you aren’t sure how to proceed. At least there is hope that—

“Besides,” Ayato’s voice cuts through your thoughts. You raise your head to give him respectful eye contact since he sounds like he’s addressing you, but he’s focused on Thoma instead. “I don’t want to hold anyone back. The day is ending, and I’m sure there are things both of you—” he finally glances at you “—have to do just as I have work to finish. A new case was brought to my attention, and I don’t want those corrupted officials to get their hands on it before I crack it open.”

The clock ticks.

You have 2 and a half hours before you meet with your brother. 2 and a half hours to run through everything and calculate how you might have underestimated the danger Ayato brings to the situation.

You bow when your boss leaves, and you thought Thoma will say goodbye. Perhaps berate his boss like childhood friends do on the importance of self-care before he does, but you find yourself caught in his sight instead.

“Is there something on my face?” you ask.

“No,” he replies, looking away for a second.  “I do have something to ask.”

“If it’s about the drug seller that just got apprehended, I think it is best to ask Ayato. You know better than anyone this case was a burden for me. I just… want to rest.”

“Then…” he rubs his neck. You cross your arms. Hesitant Thoma is a new side of him you’ve never saw in the years you work with him. “If you’d like to rest, may I propose going out for dinner with me?”

“Where is this coming from?” Your head spins. You’ve cracked complicated cases that were top headline news, yet you cannot wrap your head around his question. “Are you going to discuss the new case Ayato brought up? We aren’t supposed to talk about it before an official assignment… not like the others.”

If there were no cases, there would be no opportunity to walk around Inazuma City with Thoma. If there were no clues, you would not find yourself sleeping on his old couch. Determined to build Ayato’s hopeful vision of the city, Thoma and you dance at the edges of that line.

“Can’t I make a personal request?” He gives you a cheeky smile, hands in his pockets and even for his tall stature he looks like a small, shy boy in front of you. “You… don’t see me as only a work partner, do you?”

You blink, straightening your back before slouching and staring at the ground.

Do you?

But you have your brother to meet.

“How about another day—”

“There’s a discount at Uyuu restaurant. 10% off selected meals and your favourite so happens to be part of that list.”

When you don’t reply, he chips in, “Since it’s a date, I’ll pay.”

A date.

“Does… Ayato know of…” you awkwardly gesture between you and him, “… this?”

“Well… That… would I do something he wouldn’t agree with?”

There’s a thin layer of red on his cheeks as he gives a sheepish smile. His touch is something you’re so used to that you didn’t notice him holding your hands until you feel resistance trying to scratch your cheek.

You never thought of Thoma being anything more due to the sheer impossibility of it among other reasons. This feels like a dead lead, but it doesn’t mean you aren’t heating up at the way he takes a few steps forward with those pleading puppy green eyes.

Why does everything have to always be thought out so carefully? You think, exhausted, defeated, and surrendering to the tiny voice in your heart.

“Now?” You ask.

“Now.”

“I’m not the best dressed though…”

“I’ve seen you in the ugliest pyjamas. Does wearing your best erase that memory from my mind?”

You attempt to hit him but fail because of his hands holding yours, and he laughs. It’s a moment of happiness, you suppose, but his grip is strong and tight.

If you said no, would he let you go?

It is past 10 minutes from the time you promised to meet your brother, but you’re stuck between a wall and Thoma. He has his lips all over yours, and as much as you wish you can enjoy this apparent moment of bliss, anxieties pile up with each passing second.

You press against his chest a second time. He hesitates, and you take that opportunity to turn your head, unable to look at his eyes. This is not something you can enjoy—not when you hold a large secret.

To your luck, your phone chimes. You create more space between you and him so you can stand without the wall.

“Sorry, I…” you say, a hand reaching into your pocket for your phone. It must be your brother, waiting helplessly outside your apartment. If you aren’t going to tell him you’re held back by a clandestine kiss, you better start thinking of excuses. “I really have to go. It was… nice, i guess.”

Thoma rubs the nape of his neck, apologetic. He looks like a puppy, and you want to envelope him in a hug to reassure him that he’s not the one at fault here—in every sense of the word—but your phone chimes again and your brother barely double texts due to his limited credit.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” Thoma asks, green eyes staring at the ground. The guilt in you solidifies. Does he really like you that much?

Your throat tightens.

“Yes. And I guess we’ll… talk about this some other day?”

“Right,” Thoma flushes. “We’ll talk about it.”

Awkwardly, you make your way out of the alleyways. You expect something—he calls out your name or grabs your wrist—but you slip out of his grasp like water. Just seconds ago, he held you with a grip so firm that his gentleness was easy to forget and now it’s like all of it was for naught. There’s no time to piece this situation because your phone chimes again.

Brother: There’s someone lingering near your apartment. Claims she’s your neighbour—Momoyo—but something’s off about her. I didn’t think it’s safe for me to stay so I wandered for a while. I’ll let you know where to meet. Brother: Planning to go to the garden behind your apartment. Act normal. Brother: The pavilion on the outskirts of the north-west gate.

He’s more demanding than usual. The night is getting weirder. You just want to sleep, but in order to save your ass as well, this meeting is necessary.

You: On my way. Give me 5.

At the pavilion, your brother reads a book. When he sees you, he discards it and drops to his knees. The book was a front, and underneath, your brother hosts great grief. In seconds, his eyes are pooling with regret. He grabs your hands and you’re tired of being treated like an object, but at his plea, you have greater things to be concerned about.

“Someone found out.”

“What?” you ask, feeling blood seep from your body. You want to puke. “They found out. You mean…”

“No, not the drug case. Something else. I didn’t want to trouble you and planned to take this to my grave, but I need your help. Someone is going after me. They know that I killed—”

“You what?” You tear your hand out of his grasp, unbothered by the friction burns due to his strong clasp. It’s proven to be a mistake when your body grows light, and you stumble backwards. If not for the pavilion seats, you would have fallen to the floor. “Where is all this coming from? You could have started with something… more digestible?” You glare at him, but that only worsens the volume of his tears. “A drug case is already tough to manage. A murder is not something I can cover.”

He holds your hands again with both arms, pulling himself closer to you. Lower lips trembling, he barely squeaks out his reply.

“If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be here. I was the one who saved leftover food for you. I was the one who encouraged you to join the Detective Agency. You should repay me, shouldn’t you?”

“This was all part of your ploy, isn’t it? You wanted me to get this position so you could puppeteer me to your liking.” You take a deep breath and let it out in a held-back groan. “And here I thought it was worth repaying your faux kindness. You’re just like our parents. You don’t care about me.”

“You misunderstand. You managed to bribe them. Are you sure they stand for justice? You know very well that those bozos don’t care about us—about you. Do they even know you?”

Thoma flashes across your mind. Perhaps there is another reason why both of you can’t cross that line. The world of the personal heart, of broken childhoods and wretched upbringings, is too much of a burden to share. Thoma only knew the version you wanted him to know.

Would he still want to kiss you if he learned you’ve betrayed everything he stands for? You don’t understand him well enough to be confident you have a conclusion, but one thing is for certain: unlike your brother, the people you called family, he had a heart.

You hope you didn’t break it.

“Why else would I be in my pitiful state?” your brother adds. “Have you thought about that?”

His anguish has turned into anger, voice bordering on a shout if not for the soft chatter in the background, a reminder that even if the pavilion is secluded, there are still ears.

“After our parents died, I couldn’t get myself back on my feet,@ he says. “I may be the favoured one, but do they really have much to give? I had a fling shortly after their funeral. She wanted to keep the child, so we fought. It did not end well.”

He returns to his melancholic mien. A fool will believe his remorse. Unfortunately, you were a fool before. Give him an inch and he will demand a mile.

 “I kept the secret really well, but I’m afraid… not anymore.”

“If you are truly regretful of your actions, you’d go to jail. Willingly. Not drag me around.”

“But you see…” his voice is threateningly soft. “If I get caught… they’ll find out your crimes too. How you covered for my drug case by accusing an innocent man… would you really want that to happen?”

Your stomach churns.

Your voice is played on radio. It scratches and glitches at times, but your confession is clear, and so is Ayato’s disappointment.

Thoma stands at the far side of the room. Ayato is a man who takes his work seriously. He does intensive background checks on everyone who joins his team, and that is a double-edged sword. If he knew you had this characteristic, he would have found a way to silently discard you as if things just never aligned. You stayed in his team for 3 years.

When he approached Thoma and proposed a plan, he was shocked how you are part of this web of lies. He didn’t want to believe it, but the facts have been laid bare.

The kiss tastes sour in his mouth. He didn’t want to play with strings like that, but he knew Ayato needed someone to attach a voice recorder on you before they missed the chance, and you are always cautious even around someone who you’ve hung out with for years.

But you were completely unguarded when he kissed you.

Desperate times calls for desperate measures. He just hopes he did not break your heart that has already been tattered and torn if your conversation with your brother is anything to go by.

He twirls a pen between his fingers. When it flies out of his hand, he lets it roll on the ground. What’s done is done.

The conversation between you and your brother have long been in the back of his mind. He just needed you to admit that you resorted to dirty tricks and his job is done.

However, your voice pricks his attention. Your words are grounded, and it’s the first he’s heard you so resolute. You’ve always been sort of a push-over when it comes to people’s demands. Why else would you stay overnight in his house despite how often both of you agree it is best if you return?

“No.” The recorded glitches. “I’m not like you. I made a mistake, and you showed me that, so I’m going to own it. What was I thinking? Believing I had someone I could trust?” The record glitches again, but the crack in your voice resonances in Ayato’s private office.

“I should have known,” you continue after a loud thud. Ayato’s back faces Thoma. His posture has not changed. His head rests on his tented fingers. “If you truly cared for me, you wouldn’t have roped me in this situation in the first place. You want an upper hand, and I’m not giving it to you.”

There is crunch of dirt followed by the distant call of your brother’s voice. Ayato turns the radio down. He’s smiling.

“Did you…” Thoma starts, picking up the pen on the floor. “You knew this would happen.”

“It was a risk,” Ayato admits. “The tip Momoyo gave of the killer for the lady and the child was weak, and I didn’t expect to get this much information on it… I guess it was a risk worth taking.”

Ayato gets up from his chair and takes out the thumb drive. He hands it over to Thoma.

“What will happen to… my partner?”

Ayato only glances at Thoma before he walks out.

In the silence, Thoma confirms three things.

One: Ayato will give further instructions once you make your move. Two: Ayato’s impressions towards you are mixed after your betrayal of the division’s values… but, and lastly, there is hope for your return.

He did not comment on Thoma calling you his partner—although whether it remains as work partners is an answer Ayato cannot give.

author's note: normally a kiss scene would elevate a fic from ambiguous (indicated by x) to romantic (indicated by /), but i feel the scene is not as straightforward, so there's leeway of interpretation. also, in the spirit of noir, i wrote this fic with a darker undertone in mine, even if the ending is slightly hopeful (depending on how you read it). do check out the author's commentary for more of my thought process!