Tags and trigger warnings: Emetophilia, sickfic, vomiting, mentions of Thoma/Ayato, hurt/comfort

Summary: Thoma is a very busy man, frequently helping out the residents of Ritou as well as going about his usual business as the chief retainer of the Kamisato clan. Still, when he gets sick, even he has trouble completing his tasks.

Posted to Ao3: September 5th 2021

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Shockingly Thoma wasn't someone who got sick easily, while he did take care of himself he was also a very, very busy man considering he was not only Inazuma's resident "fixer" but also the chief retainer of the Kamisato clan as well as being one of the many housekeepers for the estate.

Thoma didn't mind at all however he was always happy to help and he enjoyed keeping himself busy.

It is early when Thoma wakes up that day, the dark almost pitch-black sky had started to fade into a dark blue signaling the oncoming sunrise.

Groaning softly, Thoma shifts in his futon as he pushes the covers off of himself. It's warm, a little too warm and the blankets are only making it feel worse by clinging to his skin.

Thoma isn't surprised however, Inazuma often had very humid nights and mornings still he could've sworn he got used to it years ago when he began living here.

He yawns as he props himself up slightly on his elbows, brushing his hair out of his face as he blinks, still feeling groggy despite having gone to sleep rather early last night. Exhaustion tugging at the edges of his mind.

Thoma ignores it, however, stretching again as he sits up, giving a soft sigh as his joints creak, feeling more than a little stiff. But this isn't surprising to him as it was something that happened from time to time, especially if his schedule was strenuous the day before.

His routine today promises to be equally as busy, he has quite a few tasks to do in Ritou, then he needs to accompany Ayaka to Inazuma city to pick up a few things, then he needs to come back and clean a few places in the Kamisato estate, and finally, he'd promised Ayaka he'd spar with her later on tonight.

Knowing he had a full day ahead of him, Thoma gets up to get dressed, pausing for a moment when a slight sensation of lightheadedness washes over him briefly. It leaves as quickly as it came however so he pays it no mind as he continues getting ready.

Once he's dressed, he ties his hair back before leaving his bedroom, waving to a few of the housekeepers walking through the halls at the moment as he makes his way to the kitchen to help prepare breakfast.

~~~

Thoma sighs, a slight smile on his face as he makes his way into Ritou, it was incredibly humid today at least it felt that way to him, the heat leaving him feeling as though he was melting. It was the type of heat that seemed to almost drain a person's energy, leaving them wanting to do nothing more than lay down inside all day.

Still, Thoma is not surprised Inazuma's more humid days were rather fierce after all, but he can do nothing except hope that it eases up as the day continues. That however doesn't stop the exhaustion from weighing down Thoma's limbs, nagging at the edge of his mind leaving him feeling groggy and almost slightly dazed.

He grins as he waves to the familiar faces he passes on the street as he makes his way to the International Trade Association. Thoma is very well known around Inazuma and especially in Ritou, often doing what he could to help out its inhabitants.

"Hi, there inspector Yurika," He said as he waved at the woman.

She gives him a small nod. "Good morning Mr. Thoma, busy as ever I see," she greeted him, noting the slight sheen of sweat on his face.

"Yes, Mr.Kurisu requested my help with something. I just hope that the weather calms down, it's way too warm today," he chuckled.

At his words, the woman frowned slightly, looking a little confused as her eyes roved over the man in front of her again, this time noting that he looked slightly pale. Then she slowly nodded although the frown didn't disappear. "Yes...I suppose it is rather warm today," she said slowly.

Rather warm was a complete understatement in Thoma's eyes at the moment, but he merely gives a smile and a nod before he continues on his way to the International Trade Association stretching as he does, in an attempt to ease the stiffness still in his limbs. There's a slight ache beginning to settle in his joints as well, it's not too bad barely noticeable in fact.

Thoma did find it odd that his body still felt stiff despite all the fighting and walking he'd done on his way to Ritou, clearing out the occasional group of hilichurls that may have been wandering too close to Konda village and Ritou that he'd stumbled across on his way here. He doesn't get too long to dwell on it however when Kurisu greets him with a rather large grin when he sees Thoma approaching.

"Mr. Thoma, it's nice to see you today. You're doing well I hope," Kurisu said. "How is Lady Ayaka?"

Thoma chuckled. "I'm fine, and Lady Ayaka is fairing well too." He runs a hand over his face, wiping away some of the sweat there. "You said you needed my help with something?"

"Ah, right. Please come inside, I'll explain everything," he told Thoma.

Thoma doesn't bother hiding his sigh of relief, thankful to get out of this heat as soon as possible. He felt as though he was baking under the sweltering heat, his clothes feeling as though they were clinging to his skin, smothering him.

Once inside Kurisu offers him something to eat and drink before he begins explaining his request to Thoma. While Thoma does take the cold water rather gratefully, he politely declines the food. Strangely enough, he has no appetite. In fact the rich scent of the food makes him feel a bit nauseous, his stomach beginning to churn ever so slightly.

He can't help but give a soft sigh of relief as he drinks his water listening intently to Kurisu's request, it feels absolutely amazing on his dry throat temporarily smothering some of the heat still enveloping his body. And Thoma can't help but wonder why he's still warm despite being inside, but no matter how much he racks his still exhausted mind he can't think of an answer at the moment.

The problem that Kurisu needed Thoma's help with is treasure hoarders, who'd stolen some pretty valuable supplies. And of course, with the Kanjou commission giving the International trade association such a hard time, it would be hard for Kurisu to recover the supplies himself not to mention the fact that Kurisu wouldn't be able to fight off one treasure hoarder let alone a group.

"Alright, I'll be sure to take care of it for you today. If the supplies are intact I'll arrange for someone from the Yashiro commission to bring them here, it'd be fine if you received them tomorrow right?" Thoma asked as he stood up.

He blinks quickly, scowling when his vision seems to blur for the briefest moment and a wave of dizziness washes over him leaving him feeling slightly light-headed as a cold almost slimy nausea settled in his gut. He can't help but glance away with a small almost embarrassed chuckle when his stomach makes a low growling noise. Perhaps he should've taken the food he'd been offered? But at the same time, he just isn't hungry in fact the thought of eating anything right now has his stomach churning.

Kurisu winces slightly, a grimace on his face. "Truthfully I need the supplies as soon as possible. If you would be so kind as to get it delivered here today, I'll be sure to compensate you more than enough for the extra trouble."

Thoma resists the urge to sigh, instead allowing his usual smile to remain in place. "Sure, I'm happy to help. I'll deal with the treasure hoarders and get the supplies back," he said cheerfully, he was already dreading having to go back outside in the sweltering heat.

"Thank you so much, I'm glad we can always count not only you Thoma but the Yashiro commission to have Ritou's best interest in heart," Kurisu told him with a grin to which Thoma just chuckled sheepishly.

As Thoma leaves the International Trade Association Kurisu can't help but frown slightly, was it just him or did the young man look a bit pale?

~~~

Thoma groans as he wipes the sweat from his face. He can feel a dull ache settling at the base of his skull signaling an oncoming headache.

He's almost exhausted and doesn't really feel too well. His stomach felt strangely heavy, almost full despite him not eating much of anything since breakfast. It's churning as well a sickening, cold slimy nausea having settled in the pit of his stomach as it churned like a whirlpool, small soft gurgling noises coming from it.

Thoma is sweating, which isn't surprising considering he'd been out fighting monsters and fulfilling the request of Ritou's inhabitants. But he's sweating so much that his clothes are soaked, now clinging to his skin leaving Thoma feeling smothered.

The ache and stiffness in his limbs has only grown, this ache is a lot different than soreness he got after a good fight or sparring session, this ache weighed down his limbs making his movements sluggish and clumsy.

The heat from the sun ever-present high in Inazuma's sky feels like it's cooking him from the inside out to the point that he can practically feel his stomach contents curdling inside of him.

Thoma blinks a few times when his vision seems to swim slightly. Panting he sits down on a nearby rock, his polearm in one hand as he wipes the sweat from his face.

He was so, so tired but at the same time with the unbearable heat bearing down on him, sleep was the furthest thing from his mind right now. He rests his head on his hand for a moment or two, merely trying to collect his thoughts and catch his breath.

A wave of dizziness and nausea washes over him and as a loud burp bubbles up his throat he doesn't bother to stop it, merely giving a soft huff as his stomach makes a soft gurgling noise.

This is when it begins to dawn on Thoma very slowly that it's not humidity that's making him feel like this, his thoughts moving as slow as molasses as he comes to the realization that he's sick.

He doesn't know where he picked it up or when it'd all begun but he does remember feeling slightly off the day before, not sick or tired, just a little strange.

"This isn't good," he sighed to himself.

While he'd just finished completing the requests for everyone in Ritou he still had a full day ahead of him. In fact, he should be getting ready to go into Inazuma city with Ayaka right now. He briefly considers telling her about his condition, while he had no doubt Ayaka would understand he also knows how excited she was for the trip and the thought of her disappointed face has him immediately disregarding that thought.

Thoma closes his eyes for a moment as he takes a few deep breaths then he opens his eyes and gets to his feet, only to quickly close them again when a dizzying, intense wave of nausea washes over him. The sensation leaves him feeling light-headed, a series of soft hiccups bubbling out of him as his stomach churned viscously. As his stomach seems to plummet to his feet.

He swallows thickly trying to clear away some of the excess saliva that seems to be suddenly building up in his mouth. Once he's sure he won't either faint or throw up Thoma begins his return trip to retrieve Ayaka from the Kamisato estate.

~~~

"Be careful Lady Ayaka," Thoma called out as she ran ahead of him only to stumble slightly.

She catches herself with ease giving him a sheepish grin as she looks back at him. "Thank you, Thoma."

Thoma merely gives a small smile back and hopes it doesn't look too strained. He feels as though he's dying, his body is burning from the inside out a fever-fueled haze blanketing his mind as his stomach churns and bubbles like a pot of boiling water.

He's holding the many items Ayaka has chosen to buy during their trip and normally it wouldn't be an issue but at the moment it only added to the ache in his limbs. He was trembling as well, almost shivering from both the fever and the cold nausea swirling in his gut, but he desperately hoped that Ayaka mistook it for him struggling to carry the numerous packages he held.

"Oh my," Ayaka said, then she's excitedly darting off towards one of the street vendor stalls.

Thoma can't help but smile at the sight. While Ayaka leaving the Kamisato estate wasn't rare, it was rare that she had someone to tag along with her on her trips into Inazuma city. Especially considering how busy Thoma, her, and her brother Ayato were.

"Here Thoma," Ayaka chuckled, holding a dango out for him to take, while she held her own in her other hand.

Thoma couldn't help but eye the food wearily, dango was one of his favorite snacks but at the moment the thought of eating anything had his stomach flipping inside of him as a wave of nausea washed over him. Him being sick wasn't the only reason he was eyeing the food cautiously, both Ayaka and Ayato had a habit of coercing Thoma into eating all kinds of strange and horrible foods.

Shifting the packages in his arms around carefully, Thoma eventually reaches out and takes the food from her, hesitantly taking a bite. After all, it should be fine considering she'd gotten it from a street vendor.

Thoma takes a bite of his at the same time as Ayaka and instantly regrets it when a bitter taste like unripened fruit coats his tongue. He freezes for a moment his eyes going wide as his nausea seems to increase tenfold, a sudden cold sweat prickling at his skin.

It takes everything he has in him to force himself to swallow quickly, the piece of food seems to plummet down into his stomach like a rock. Thoma shudders, swallowing almost convulsively as he forces back the hiccups and burps threatening to come up and more than likely bring something else with them.

"Oh, mine's sweet," Ayaka said, giving a soft hum once she'd finished chewing.

"L-Lady Ayaka...why was it bitter?" He asked after a moment, eyeing the dango he held as if it were poison.

Ayaka giggles before gesturing to the small sign sitting on the merchant stall's counter. "It's a surprise dango, there are numerous flavors both good and bad. You pick a color and are given the mystery dango that corresponds to that color. The colors change as well as the dango options every day," she explained enthusiastically.

Thoma merely chuckled sheepishly, glancing away when his stomach gives a low, growling noise. He really isn't too surprised by her explanation.

"Ah, right it's lunchtime as well. You must be hungry, shall we get something to eat?" Ayaka suggested with a grin.

Thoma opens his mouth to tell her he's fine, cause in actuality he's sure that he'll get sick instantly if he forces himself to eat something, but the beaming grin on her face stops him. She'd clearly been really excited to spend time with him, especially since he was technically Ayaka's best friend as well.

He can do this, he tells himself. He'd eat with Ayaka and finish their trip, then return to the estate to clean it, and finally, he'd spar with Ayaka as he'd promised before taking some medicine and getting some well-deserved rest.

Thoma nods, giving her a small smile. "I'd love to, shall we go to Komore Teahouse?"

Ayaka nods and Thoma allows her to lead the way, as he does his best to mentally and physically prepare himself for what he's about to do.

~~~

Thoma has made quite a few bad decisions today, and he's willing to admit that. But this one is probably the worst so far.

He's at the Kamisato estate trying to wash the floor after already having swept it. He's practically in a daze having been absentmindedly washing the same spot for a bit now, the haze in his mind making it incredibly difficult to focus on anything besides the sharp throb in his head, the ache settled heavily in his limbs.

He's dizzy and his stomach feels awful, its contents sloshing violently like someone shaking a water balloon as loud, sickly gurgling noises come from it. Eating so much of that food at the Komore Teahouse had very clearly been a mistake, it currently sat in his stomach like a rock absolutely refusing to digest, leaving his stomach slightly bloated.

Thoma hiccups, swallowing thickly as he feels something warm more than likely drool trickling from the corner of his mouth. He shakily reaches up with one wiping the drool from his mouth only to groan softly as more takes its place.

He pauses in the middle of his cleaning as he simply stares down at the floor, the room swirling sickeningly around him, it feels as if the floor is shifting and tilting beneath him.

Thoma closes his eyes, swallowing thickly when he feels bile bubbling at the back of his throat slimy and disgustingly bitter, a low, tense gurgling noise coming from his stomach. The near river of saliva building up in his mouth takes on a coopery metallic taste and Thoma's breathing hitches, in the very next moment, he's lurching forward with a loud, wet, gurgling retch, a wave of thick lumpy pale and greenish vomit spraying from his mouth.

It splatters heavily on the floor sounding as if someone had just spilled a bucket of water on it. The mess is thick, the food he'd forced down coming up practically undigested as it congeals together in a pile.

Thoma gives a series of hiccups as he just sits there for a moment on his hands and knees, panting as his head throbs viciously. "Oh, uh oh," Thoma whispered as he swallowed thickly, drool dripping from his lips into the puddle of vomit on the floor.

Shakily he turns picking up the rag he's been using to clean the floor and begins attempting to clean up the mess he'd just made, his fingers clumsy and uncoordinated. He just needed to finish cleaning, then he could spar with Ayaka and go to sleep. He just had to get this done, he could do this it'd be fine.

Thoma really does try his best to clean up but the sensation of the sticky disgustingly hot vomit on his bare hands only turns his stomach further, especially when he feels chunks of food slipping between his fingers.

He gives a loud, wet, sick-sounding burp as his bloated stomach heaves again, practically convulsing as it sends up another thick, large, wave of vomit adding even more of his undigested lunch to the sickening pile in front of him. His face pinching in pain as he chokes up the mixture.

Stars burst in front of his vision as he retches up another wave of that sludge-like mixture, a wave of dizziness hitting him as he coughs and gasps for air.

"T-Thoma!"

At the familiar voice, Thoma shakily lifts his head, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to focus his vision and although he can't he can just make out that familiar icy blue hair and eyes.

"L-Lady...Ayaka..." he whispers his words slurring together heavily. Drool runs down his chin as he retches again the noise raw and violent as if clawing its way up from the depths of his stomach bringing another smaller wave of vomit with it. This time the mixture is slightly watery and tan almost like a smoothie.

Thoma can't feel his body for some strange reason, he's so delirious and disoriented at this point that he barely notices it when he falls to the floor beside the puddle of vomit the sharp scent of bile filling his nose. There's a loud buzzing filling his ears but he thinks he hears Ayaka calling out to him and shouting for help but he isn't sure.

The world is nothing more but a smear of colors before his eyes practically swirling in time with his stomach, and he burps, retching weakly as he adds to the mess on the floor.

He can faintly feel Ayaka's hands on him, gently brushing his hair away from his face and Thoma sighs, his eyes closing as he leans into her touch. Her hand is cold and feels so, so good against his feverish skin.

He gives a soft delirious giggle, no matter how much he breathes he feels as though he can't drag in enough air. The colors swirling in his vision seem to melt away as the world vanishes into nothing and Thoma loses consciousness.

~~~

Hot, it was way too hot is the first thing Thoma registers as he slowly wakes up. He feels slightly more aware than he had been before, at least aware enough to recognize that he's in his room at the Kamisato estate.

He tries to turn so that he isn't laying on his back, but the moment he rolls over on his left side his stomach which had still been churning violently, sloshes sickeningly. The disparity between where he expects his body to go and where it currently is, has him gagging.

"Here," a soft, gentle yet familiar voice tells him, a pale hand holding a medium-sized bowl beneath his mouth as he gags and drools.

He gives a sick-sounding hiccup that gets cut off by a loud burp that seems to echo in the room as a small wave of watery brown vomit gurgles up his throat splashing into the bowl.

Thoma groans, panting and swallowing as threads of drool drip from his lips. Blinking away the tears in his eyes he groggily looks up to see Ayaka sitting down beside his futon, concern, and pity clear in her eyes as she gives him a small sympathetic smile.

One of her hands leaves the bowl she's still holding in front of his mouth to stroke his hair back tucking the now loose strands back beneath his ear. "There we are Thoma, just get it up," she told him gently when he retched, bringing up another small wave of watery vomit that trickled into the bowl.

Thoma whimpers and Ayaka can't help but grimace at the weak, almost pitiful sounding noise. Thoma gives one final violent, gurgling retch that sounds as if it's raking across his throat, bringing an enormous surge of watery vomit into the bowl. It shoots out of him with such force that the disgusting slurry sloshes over the edge of the bowl, a few droplets splattering the floor and Ayaka's hand slightly.

"There you go Thoma, you did well. I think you got everything up," she told him softly as he panted and coughed, greedily gasping for air. She sets the nearly filled bowl aside noting with an almost morbid fascination that it felt warm in her hands.

Thoma groans as he blearily looks around the room, noting that his clothes had been changed into his usual sleeping robe, his hair free of its ponytail, and his metal headband nowhere to be found.

"Ayato helped me carry you here, he changed you as well since your clothes were covered in vomit," Ayaka told him, noticing the look of confusion on his face.

"Oh," Thoma mumbles softly as he begins to remember what had happened before he'd passed out.

Ayaka gives a soft huff as she opens her fan, a stern look on her face. "Don't oh me, Thoma." Her eyes narrow as she closes her fan, her mouth twisted into a scowl. "Forgive me for what I am about to do."

She doesn't give Thoma the chance to respond before she begins hitting him with the folded fan on his arm, her strikes firm but not painful. "What. Were. You. Thinking!" She snapped each word followed by a brief smack.

It doesn't hurt but that doesn't stop Thoma from flailing slightly trying to get away. "Hey-hey, I'm sick!" he spluttered eyes wide.

Ayaka gives a soft huff as she draws back, her expression still stern. "Never, do this again. Do you realize how terrified I was when I saw you in that state? Ayato was scared as well, I don't think I've ever seen my brother that frightened in a while!"

Thoma winced, grimacing as his head throbbed viscously. This wasn't good, not only had he worried Ayaka but he'd upset Ayato as well no doubt. "Where is Ayato?" he asked after a moment.

Ayaka sighed. "After sending for the doctor and staying at your side for a while he was called back to finish the important paperwork he had been doing."

Thoma merely nodded, not surprised by that. Ayato rarely left his room; he was so busy with paperwork, Thoma would often come to check on him, bring him his meals, and sometimes just spend time with him which Ayato enjoyed since he was always too busy to go on what most would call a traditional date.

"I'm sorry, that I won't be able to spar with you as I promised Lady Ayaka," Thoma told her with a frown, knowing just how much she'd been looking forward to it.

Ayaka gives a soft huff, her eyes narrowing once more. "You are a fool if you think I am upset about that," she muttered.

Thoma looks at her with wide eyes when her voice breaks on the last word.

There are tears gathering in her eyes, and a second later she reaches out wrapping Thoma in a tight hug. "You're okay. I'm so thankful you're okay," she whispered.

Thoma freezes for a moment before he smiles slightly, gently returning the hug. "That's right, I'm fine. I'll be okay," he told her reassuringly.

He says nothing else, merely returning her hug as she continues to cry and sniffle. Despite Ayaka's fear from what had happened, there's also an overwhelming feeling of relief, that her one and only best friend is okay.