"Hey sunshine!"

[ it's better to be direct, don't you think? ]

ITTO GETS THE BENCH HE DOESN'T DESERVE THE HAREM COUCH

He hears them say (type? After all, he couldn't exactly hear their voice.) He couldn't help but wonder, why? Why had they been treating him like this recently when they had been so excited upon finally being able to take control of him, to fight and to explore as HIM!
They didn't actually hate him, did they? Itto could even argue that they absolutely loved him! They weren't as cruel towards him on their first day as say, someone like the Raiden Shogun or Kokomi who they dropped off cliffs and drowned over and over and over before finally getting bored and leveling them, only to bench them for a few months.

They loved him, right? With the way they leveled him all the way to 90 within 30 minutes of getting him, with the way that he was given the honor to be the first that they "triple-crowned". But why was it that everytime they used him, they seemed so... sad?

And so, the usually confident Itto was now reduced to a miserable pile of thoughts and doubts.

They loved him, right? With the way they farmed endlessly for what she claimed to be a "decent hat", all for him!

They loved him, right? With the way they stood and played a very specific song on the lyre, only for him to hear.

They loved him, right? With the way that they stood in front of him in the teapot on that fateful day, promising that they'd love him until the end of time.

They loved him, right? With all their efforts to make him stronger, hit harder and survive longer.

They loved him, right? Despite the way they implied that they hated him, they were just joking, right?

Itto sighs, he wasn't even feeling up to go to the beetle fight that he and Ayato agreed on earlier that week in the forest.

Too invested in his own thoughts, Itto doesn't notice the sound of a door opening nearby, he doesn't notice the Kamisato's blond housekeeper emerging from a room either. Thoma perks up upon seeing itto in the main hall of the mansion before raising a brow at how he seemed to be so lost in thought.

Thoma walks up to the half oni and greets him with a cheery, "Good morning, Itto!" The said man is snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Thoma's voice, only offering a half-hearted greeting back.

Thoma shoots a worried look at Itto.
"Are you okay? Are you feeling sick...?"

Itto looks up at him in disbelief,
"I'm Itto! the one and oni! Someone as cool as me doesn't get sick that easily!" He laughs, but Thoma notices that he didn't seem to be well.

"Are you thinking about something?" The Pyro user asks, testing the waters. Itto sighs, he figured that Thoma would definitely know if something was up.

"You remember the player, (y/n) or something?" He asks, to which Thoma nods.

"Of course! They *were* the one that brought me into the teapot in the first place. Why do you ask?" Itto thinks, and thinks and thinks some more before something clicks. Thoma! They loved Thoma, didn't they? Decking him out with the best gear they had and leveling him quickly.

"Well, I was wondering about something..." Itto sighs and looks away from Thoma before finally giving in and asking the question that had been plaguing him for quite some time. "They hate me, don't they?"

Thoma laughed, *so thats what it was about!*
"You really had me worried there, buddy! Of course they don't hate you!" At his response, Itto perks up.

"Y- you really think so?" Itto cringed at the sound of his voice crackling ever-so-slightly. To which Thoma nodded. The oni sighs in relief, it looks like he didn't need to worry so much after all-