Synopsis: Something scary happens to you in Inazuma City. You run home to Thoma who vows to do all he can to make you feel safe again.

Theme(s): Angst, Comfort

Relationship: Dating

TRIGGER WARNING: This story contains sexual assault. While nothing overly serious happens, it may upset some readers.

Word Count: 2831

Please enjoy

Home Safe

You didn't stop. You kept running and running, no matter how much your throat screamed or your heart throbbed. You begged your legs to let you go a few more steps, just a few more steps. If you stopped now, he would find you again . . .

Your legs were threatening to give to out on you. They had been for the last five minutes. But you dared not let them stop. You were almost home.

Almost home.

Almost safe . . .

And you crashed through the door and collapsed onto the floor. You lay there, for a while, making miserable attempts to catch your breath. Your throat was too dry to even let you cry.

You stiffened as you sensed a presence near you. You felt a soft tickle on your face. Something rough and wet flicked at your ear.

Tongue.

You screamed and leapt to your feet, grabbing your ears. Taroumaru scrambled out of your space with a whine.

Door.

The door.

You whipped around and slammed it shut, dropping all of your body weight against it for extra measure. Was the door locked? You didn't think so. You fumbled around the key to make sure. It was so hard to do with shaky hands.

You sensed another presence nearby and braved a peep out the window.

Was he there?

You could barely see through the lashing rain. But you could still sense him there. You shuddered and yanked the curtains shut.

"Y/N? What's wro-"

You jumped around to face your boyfriend who immediately stepped back a safe distance from you. The two of you just stood where you were. It gave Thoma the time he needed to take in everything: your violent shivering, the way you gripped onto the curtains, the pure terror in your eyes . . .

His face melted for you. He raised a timid hand towards you.

"Wanna come here?"

You don't know why you hesitated. You slowly slid your fingers into his hand inside of grabbing it like you normally would. Thoma carefully closed his fingers around your hand and slowly reached out with his second arm. He allowed you to step over to his body at your own pace. He wrapped his arm around you, squeezing your shoulder when you didn't respond.

"Shall we sit down?"

You nodded meekly and let Thoma walk you towards the living room. He did it gently, though you could sense an urgency in his footsteps. Taroumaru followed you, rubbing his head off your leg.

As soon as you were down on the couch, Thoma wrapped a blanket around you, reminding you how wet and cold you were. He hurried around the room, shutting the curtains and starting a fire- he could do it so quickly, even without his Pyro Vision. All the time, you sit there, shivering, staring down at nothing. You didn't even respond when Taroumaru jumped onto the couch and pawed at your blanket, whining for a bit of attention.

Thoma patted his head instead. He kneeled down before you and tried to get at least a glance from you.

"Would you like some tea?"

You barely nodded. He ran his hands up your shoulders before cupping your head in his hands. Your gaze stayed down, even when Thoma leaned in for loving but cautious kiss.

You couldn't kiss him back. You remained motionless as he slowly pulled back.

"I'll be back, m'love," he whispered. And with that, he slid his hands away and left the room.

You knew he was trying his best. You knew he hated to see you hurt. You knew that he wanted so bad to find out what had happened to you that had left you almost numb.

How could you possibly tell him?

You felt Taroumaru's little nose nudging under your hand. Your mouth wobbled as you let him wiggle in under your arm. You ran your fingers through his fur, hoping it would provide some form of comfort.

It didn't.

A little while later, Thoma returned with a cup of green tea and a wet white cloth. As you took the cup, he sat beside you and brought the cloth to your forehead. You felt a sting as he gently patted at it. He was probably cleaning a wound. You hadn't even realized you were injured.

He must have figured out that not only had you been attacked but this was far worse than a simple sprawl with Nobushi or Treasure Hoarders. You shuddered at the thought.

"It's okay, m'love . . ."

You squeezed your eyes shut to try and fight back the oncoming tears. It wasn't okay. It really wasn't okay . . . Your grip tightened on your cup as you felt Thoma's arm carefully slide around your shoulders. As he leaned in towards you, you felt his warm breath fan over your ear.

"You don't have to tell me what happened. I just want you to know that I'll do my best to help you. I'm always gonna be here . . . okay?"

You felt your walls crumbling as he slid his other arm around you and shuffled in closer. He didn't pull you in just yet. He pressed his lips on your temple before whispering,

"I love you, Y/N . . ."

It absolutely destroyed you. You shattered like a dam and threw yourself into him, clinging onto his shirt, sobbing uncontrollably into his chest. Thoma said nothing. He scooped you up onto his lap and wrapped the blanket further around you. He rocked you back and forth, cradling you in his arms. He softly shushed you, whispering "it's okay" and "I'm here." All between kisses on the top of your head.

It made the thought of telling him even worse.

You knew he would never cross any lines with you. But you both knew that deep down, he was aching to find out what happened. He wanted so badly to make it all better for you . . .

You spluttered through the tears and peered up at your boyfriend. He gazed sympathetically down at you, wiping the tears away with your thumb.

"Thoma . . ." You sniffed. "If I tell you what happened . . . will you try not to get mad?"

"What?" His eyebrows dropped a little. "You mean get mad at you? N- no, of course I won't . . ."

"No, what I mean is-" You shivered, making him squeeze you tighter. "I don't want you to fret yourself over . . ." You swallowed back a lump in your throat.

"Hey," Thoma said softly. "If this is too upsetting, you don't have to tell me. Or maybe you can tell me tomorrow . . ."

"No." You shook your head and dropped your head on his chest. You sunk into the blanket, into his arms which wrapped around you tighter.

"I'll tell you."

And yet you were trembling as you began your story . . .

. . .

You were on your way home after finishing your commissions. A lot of them had been the usual- running a few errands for people, but mostly dealing with Nobushi and Treasure Hoarder antics.

After collecting your rewards at the Adventurer's Guild, you had decided to buy some matcha tea cake and tricolour dango. A nice little treat for after dinner, which you knew Thoma would have lovingly prepared for you. You had just managed to get it before the stall owner declared the shop closed. A lot of the stalls were closing, most of them turning off lights. Initially, it hadn't bothered you. You knew Inazuma City so well, you could almost walk around with your eyes closed. You held your treat parcel close to your chest and began heading home with a skip in your step.

However, as you walked down the increasingly darkening city, you sensed a presence behind you. You peeped back over your shoulder. There was a man walking a few meters behind you- he looked a few years older than Thoma, and looked taller, possibly stronger too.

You tried to shrug off your suspicions- perhaps he just lived in the same area. You lowered your head and picked up your pace. However, you could hear the man's footsteps behind you- he was walking at the same pace, possibly faster. You snuck another peep behind and turned straight back round when you saw his eyes fixed on you.

Keeping your head down, you switched over to the opposite side of the path. It was a little lighter, but not much. With each step you took, there were less lights and less people. You considered turning back round to the city where there might be some guards or an open bar.

But that would mean facing him . . .

The man had crossed over to the same path as you. You could actually sense his shadow nearby. And you could hear him breathing- it was deep and raspy. You tried to keep yourself from running, but you couldn't stop your feet from hurrying up a little.

"I know what you're doing!"

Your blood ran cold enough for you to freeze on the spot. You tried to shake it off and went to run. But the second you stopped, the man had stepped in your path.

"Excuse me, can I go home please?" You tried to step aside, but he mirrored your movements.

"But I'm trying to talk to you." The man stepped forwards, making you step back. You tried not to stumble, raising your parcel to try and create some distance.

"What's in the box, huh?" The man raised his hands towards it. You snatched it away, continuously walking backwards.

"None of your business!"

"Is there something sweet in there?" He licked his lips. It made you feel sick to your stomach.

"I don't know what you want." It was a struggle to keep your voice firm when inside you were trembling. "But I want to go home. Get out of my space."

"Ohh sweetie," the man sneered. He took your hands holding the box sending shivers up your arms and down your spine. "I think you have a good idea what I want."

His grip on your hands tightened. You whined and dropped the box. You tried to tug free. He wouldn't let go.

"Ow!" you cried as he spun you around and grabbed the back of your head. "Let me go! I have a boyfriend!"

You stomped on his foot, getting a grunt out of him. But he didn't let go. Instead, he slammed your face into the opposite wall. You screamed out a "NO!" as he pinned you down and made a grab for your skirt . . .

. . .

A squeeze brought you back home to your living room, in the blanket, in Thoma's arms. You slowly glanced up at him. His eyes were shut. Not only were every one of his facial features tightened, but every part of his body was trembling.

"Thoma?"

"It's okay." He said it through gritted teeth. "You don't need to tell me any more."

You shivered, more tears streaming down your cheeks. "I'm sorry . . ."

"No." His voice cracked. "Don't apologize." He planted a kiss on your head and buried his head into your hair as he cradled you against his chest.

"You did nothing wrong, m'love. You did absolutely nothing wrong, you hear me?"

"But . . ." Your breath wavered. "I did do something wrong."

Thoma paused from cuddling you. He slowly raised his head. He took your head in his hand and slowly steered your face towards his. There was no anger or bitterness towards you in his eyes. Only confusion.

"Y/N?"

"I . . ." You squeezed your eyes shut, releasing some tears for him to wipe. "I fought back . . ."

. . .

"GET OFF OF ME!"

You don't know how you did it, but you managed to summon a mighty blast of Elemental Skill. It sent the man flying out of your space, into the air and crash landing onto the ground. You whipped around and pulled out your weapon, growling as you marched towards the man who tried to scramble away.

"Wait! Hold on now!"

Like you were gonna listen to him after he had ignored all your pleas for him to let you go. You stomped on his chest and aimed your weapon at his face.

"No! Please! HELP!" His begging gave you a sick kind of pleasure. You raised your weapon and prepared to strike. It got another scream out of him. You almost smiled. You kind of wanted him to keep screaming. But at the same time, you wouldn't have any peace until he was silenced forever . . .

You went in for a charged attack.

The man screamed again.

"HEY! What's going on here?"

You stopped where you were. Your eyes flicked up to see a guard staring right at you. He took one look at you standing on top of the whimpering man, your attack just inches from his face. You could tell by the guard's deepening frown and tightening grip on his spear that he wouldn't understand.

So you took off.

You ran and you ran. Even when the rain started, you dared not stop for shelter. You kept going until you were home.

Home with Thoma and Taroumaru.

. . .

You sniffed as the situation sank in deeper.

"I nearly killed that man . . ."

"Good."

You blinked and slowly stared up at your boyfriend. His grip around you tightened. He was staring straight ahead. His breathing was heavy. His eyes flickered with fury.

Maybe you had heard him wrong?

"I nearly killed him."

Thoma sucked in a deep breath through his nose and released it slowly through his lips. He spoke his next sentence in a low, almost gravely tone you had never heard from him before.

"And I promise you, if I ever find that scum who thought it was okay to treat you the way he did, I'll finish him."

"Thoma, no!" you squeaked, grabbing onto his shirt. Thoma getting angry was already rare enough, but this was a new kind of fury- the kind that could lead him to do something potentially dangerous, all for you . . .

Your eyes welled up at the thought. You threw your arms around him, nuzzling up to his chest.

"Please don't!"

"Y/N, I-"

"NO NO NO!" you wailed, more tears bursting out as you gripped tighter onto him. "Please! You're gonna hurt yourself! Or get arrested! Please don't!" You tugged on his jacket, your breaths becoming shorter and sharper and harder to control.

"Y/N. Look at me."

"NO!" You buried your face deeper into his chest, making miserable attempts to catch your breath. You felt Thoma's chest rise as he heaved a heavy sigh and tightened his embrace around you. He ran his hands up and down your back, shushing you as you sobbed. As your sobs died down slightly, your breathing calmed just enough to allow him to slide a hand under your chin. He tilted your face up towards his and rested his forehead on yours. It allowed him to seal eye contact.

"Y/N . . . I promise for as long as I'm here, I'll always keep you safe. I'll protect you, and Taroumaru will protect you . . . And you can stay here for as long as you like until you feel better. But I promise you, no one is gonna hurt you like that again. I'll make sure of that."

You could see his passion to protect you burning in his eyes. You reached up for his face and brushed his cheek with your fingertips.

"You need to keep yourself safe too." You palmed his cheek, almost pinching it. "Please, Thoma. No matter what you do, promise you'll keep yourself safe too."

He gazed down at you and said nothing. He brought his hand to yours on his face. The two of you locked fingers. He rested his lips on your hand.

And then he finally whispered,

"I promise." His sincerity soothed your senses.

"Thank you," you said with a sniff. Your head drooped on his shoulder. You squeezed his hand in yours. "Will you stay with me?"

His embrace around you tightened. "Of course, m'love. We can stay here as long as you like."

"I like it when you stay with me," you mumbled. "It makes me feel safe."

"I'll be sure to do just that then."

"Thank you . . ."

"Shhh . . ." Thoma stroked your cheek and rested a gentle kiss on your head. "Get some rest, m'love."

You nodded contently, running your fingers up and down his chest. His warmth was finally sinking in a little. You felt Taroumaru's head rubbing off of you and reached out to give him the head pat he deserved. The blanket slipped as you did it.

So you sat up on Thoma's lap and pulled the blanket off. He watched as you sat in a way that allowed you to wrap the blanket around the two of you. Taroumaru took advantage and walked up onto your lap. You smiled a little and patted his head.

As you cuddled up to Thoma, he cuddled you back and placed one more kiss on your head.

"Better?" he asked.

Your forehead still stung a little. And you knew that man was still out there. But as long as you were home with Thoma and Taroumaru, you knew nothing bad could happen.

So you nodded contently.

"Better."

Well I hope you enjoyed that. If this was too triggering for too many readers, let me know and I can change or delete this chapter. But if you enjoyed this story, or any of the other ones, be sure to follow and fav this fic.

I know I've done a lot of these comfort stories so I'll try to have us do something nice for Thoma in the next one. Potential story titles include "Taking Thoma Home", "Happy Lantern Rite" and "Spring Time."

Hope to see you soon.