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"princeeeeessssss"
"yes tomo?"
"do you know where my hair tie is?"
kazuha looked up from making the two breakfast to see tomo chaoticly crawling around the cave they were staying in for his missing hair tie.
kazuha sighed, this is gonna be fun.
"why isn't it in your hair?"
"princess i always put it down to sleep, or else it hurts in the morning"
"well then, where'd you put it?"
tomo looked down slightly embarrassed.
"....next to my bed roll."
kazuha rubed his face with his hands in frustration.
"next to your- tomo. why didnt you put it on your wrist?"
"i dunno i was tired"
kazuha stared at him in disbelief for a while until tomo flopped onto the ground next to kazuha whining-
"princess where am i gonna put my vision???"
"there a literally so many hooks on your clothes-"
"but-"
kazuha sighed loudly in defeat. kazuha stood up to sit behind tomos head, not before checking to make sure their breakfast wouldn't boil over.
"here sit up you big baby"
"hey!!"
kazuha giggled behind his hand at tomo''s red face. tomo just stared at him, he would never get over how pretty his laugh was-
"archons..."
tomo muttered under his breath. remembering kazuha asked him to sit up, he does facing kazuha.
"turn around tomo"
"okay"
tomo turns around not sure of whats happening, until he feels two hands start to comb through his hair.
"wha- what are you doing?"
"im giving you my hair tie so you can have your hair up"
"but-"
"tomo i can live one day without it. and besides we're stopping by the city later so we can buy you a new one if you cant find yours by then."
if he wasnt before, tomo was sure his face was as red as that streak in kazuhas hair. he was sorta glad he was facing away from kazuha, just the thought of him with his hair down made him even redder.
it's not that he's never seen kazuha with his hair down before, he has plenty, when they bathe in a lake, when some rouge leaves or branches get stuck in his hair and he has to comb it out, but he also see's it down when they have fun. tomo cleared his throat to get the idea out of his head.
tomo could feel kazuhas soft, gentle hands brushing his hair and he melted under the touch. kazuha was always so gentle, (well unless he was pissed off then he was a force to be reckoned with) he put so much care into everything he did. what tomo never understood was why he didnt do the same for himself. if tomo was injured, probably scratched up from trying to tame some random cat, kazuha would insist on cleaning his wounds, and he'd do it like tomo was the most important person in teyvat. but when it came to himself, he was the exact opposite.
tomo found this out one day after he had left to go fetch supplies from the city.
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usually kazuha would come along but he had found a particularly nice rock and tomo decided it was best to not disturb him. (also the look on his face was so peaceful he'd feel like a monster waking him up) so he left to go to the city with one of their empty bags and a list kazuha had made this morning of all the supplies they needed.
when he got to the city he got everything kazuha had put on the list, thank archons for that, he was sure he would've forgotten something the second he got to the city gates without it. tomo also saw some red and purple yarn at one of the stalls and decided he could make them matching bracelets. tomo got super excited at the thought of kazuha wearing something he made and quickly purchased it.
when he got back to their temporary camp he saw kazuha, still on his rock but there was an air of restlessness surrounding him. tomo walked up behind him, concerned, he woke kazuha up. kazuha jumped up, not a good sign, and looked at tomo.
"hi tomo, where'd you go?"
tomo eyed him up and down but found no apparent injuries so he kissed him softly,
"i went to the city to get us supplies, i would've woken you up but you looked so peaceful (and cute) so i decided to go by myself!"
kazuha looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face.
"what? oh, dont worry i brought the list and didn't forget anything!"
tomo gave him a big smile to show kazuha he was being sincere. kazuha smiled back and went to lay back down.
"hey princess, do you wanna spar? its been like two whole days since we last did"
kazuha had that same look in his eye as he did when tomo first woke him up, but it quickly dissipated. kazuha had always been good at hiding his emotions, he was born a noble after all.
"sure, are you ready?"
they both took their stances across from each other. and in the blink of an eye tomo was on kazuha. kazuha blocked him easily quickly shifting to get behind him, he swung his sword at tomo and tomo just barley doged it, giving kazuha an opening. using his vision he propelled himself into the air gathering tomos electro energy in the process and quickly plunged back down on tomo. tomo rolled out of the way, a little confused how he didnt get caught then but he shook it off. they fought for what could only be a few more minutes untill kazuha cried out and fell to the ground.
tomo, scared he may have hurt him, dropped his sword and ran over to him. kazuha was clutching his side, but still trying to stand back up.
"kazuha! are you okay what happened?"
"f-fine im fine"
tomo didnt believe any of it. he grabed kazuha's shoulders and dragged him twords their camp sitting him on his bed roll. tomo tried to move kazuha's hands where they were holding his side but kazuha pushed him away. something was definitely wrong.
"kazuha, if you're hurt i need you to show me so i can help."
kazuha just shook his head trying to get out of tomos grasp
"im okay seriously its nothing."
"kazuha-"
"dont worry about me im okay"
"kazu-"
"we should start packing our stuff up so we can start moving in the morning"
"ka-"
"stop touching me i swear im okay"
"kaedehara!!"
kazuha flinched at that. tomo never yelled at him or used that name on him. tomo watched as all the fight drained from kazuha. he let tomo look at his side, there was a large gash on his waist. not deep enough for stiches but definitely enough to be cause for concern. tomo looked at him with frustrated eyes mixed with concern.
"kazuha you cant hide stuff like this! wait here-"
tomo turned to their bag and grabed an ointment that smelled of mint and mistflowers, and a roll of bandages. tomo turned back to kazuha who was hanging his head, and started to clean his wound.
after he was done they sat in silence for awhile, until tomo broke it.
"kazuha."
"...."
"kazuha look at me"
kazuha slowly lifted his head. tomo could see guilt and embarrassment in his eyes. but more concerningly he looked confused. confused as to why tomo helped him. that upset tomo even more.
"kazuha what happened?"
kazuha stared at him for awhile before gazing at the ground.
"i-"
kazuha sighed
"a group of bandits came to our camp. i think they thought i was sleeping so they saw me as an easy target."
kazuha took a breath
"i fought them off but there were 8 of them and only one of me.
i knocked most of them out but one slashed me before i got him."
"why did you hide this from me? you always take care of me, why are you making yourself an exception?"
kazuha looked back up at him and saw nothing but concern in his eyes. kazuha looked for any sign of malicious intent but saw nothing. of course he didnt, tomo was the kindest person he'd ever met.
they've been dating for 3 months now and even though he hated talking about his past and bringing others into his own shit, kazuha looked at tomo and realized he cant lie his way out of this one, so hesitantly he told him.
he told him about how when he was still in his clan his father would force him to spar with the largest samurai he could find from the kujou clan and have them fight morning to night until his performance was deemed "passable" by his father.
when it was over he was sent to his room with nothing but a bag that had a bottle of water and some bandages. it was never enough to completely heal him so he only focused on the bad ones.
kazuha didn't think the slash that bandit gave him was a bad enough wound for him to waste any supplies they had so he just left it to heal on its own. only during their spar it had opened back up.
when kazuha looked back at tomo his breath hitched as he saw the other had a sorrowful look on his face and tears slowly falling down his face.
"ah! tomo- im s-sorry i shouldnt of told you this. p-please dont cry im sorry."
tomo wiped his face and gave kazuha the biggest hug he's ever experienced in his life.
"i had no idea. i-im so sorry you had to go through that. i wish i met you earlier so i could've saved you from that hell sooner."
"kazuha, you are so strong. for going through that for years and still being here. im so so proud of you."
tomo always complimented kazuha. usually on his sword and cooking skills and his ability to read nature. but for some reason this was different.
maybe its because he never told anyone about it. when he was a kid he had no one to talk to and even if he did he wouldn't be able to tell them for fear of what his father would do if he found out.
for his whole life he's been taught to bottle everything up for the sake of his clan. he didnt realize his fathers words would still be instilled in him. he never cared to notice the pile of ash that was his self-worth. always focusing on either nature or tomo.
but for once he felt safe. in tomos arms he, for the first time since he was a child, cried. he let every bottled up emotion he had over his 19 years of life spill everywhere.
every disappointed glare of his father tossed his way, every argument that ended with kazuha having multiple bruises the next day, every training session, every word of gossip the maids spoke behind his back, his mother dying in his arms, his father blaming him for her death, everything that happened while still in that damned estate.
he was so happy to have tomo there, someone to help pick up the pieces, someone to ground him. but he couldnt help but feel guilty. for dumping his trauma on someone else who deserved nothing but happiness.
after awhile kazuha's tears dried up and he was sitting on tomos lap with his head buried into his neck. tomo rubbed his back so gently it reminded him of his mother.
"i-im sorry for dumping all this on yo-"
tomo pulled him back abruptly and stared at him.
"nope, none of that. do not apologize. you have been holding that in for way to long. and if anything im honored to know you trust me enough to tell me about that."
he gave tomo a tired smile, exhausted from everything that happened.
"thank you tomo. i love you"
"i love you too"
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after that day he helped kazuha as best as he could to build back his self-worth.
it wasnt easy, old habits die hard. he still wasnt great at taking care of himself, but with tomo around he was doing alot better.
shaking his head tomo came back to the present, he felt kazuha starting to pull his hair up, to put it in its usual high ponytail.
"what were you thinking about tomo?"
"oh its nothing kitten dont worry about it"
kazuha blushed at the nickname but didnt say anything else. kazuha finished putting his hair up and clipped tomos vision to its normal spot in his hair.
"and, done! there you go tomo. now stop complaining we still have to get to the city."
tomo turned around to thank kazuha but stopped short at how pretty kazuha was with his hair down. he couldn't help but reach out and pet him.
kazuha laughed behind his hand at tomos dumbstruck face and quickly kissed him, turning back to their breakfast.
"you should let your hair down more often kazu. its really pretty"
"are you saying im not pretty when its up?"
kazuha smiled smugly, still facing the breakfast as he heard tomo stumble to correct him
"n-no no! i mean you look pretty all the time bu-"
kazuha laughed at tomos elegant attempt at a correction.
"tomo tomo im just kidding dont worry. now here eat up we have a big journey ahead of us"
tomo stared at kazuha as he grabed the plate handed his way. he looked at the delicious smelling meal and smiled.
"another fish based meal by the kitten of course"
"oh hush tomo eat your food"
they laughed together and ate the delicious breakfast. kazuha smiled.
he never thought he'd be able to leave his estate, escape his father to the beauty of nature, but now here he is with the love of his life surrounded by leaves drifting in the soft autumn breeze and he couldnt be more happy.
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(in the distance kazuha heard the faint rumble of a storm starting to brew over tenshukaku.)