@caelumriptide | sc.
He wasn’t supposed to be here- he wasn’t supposed to return to Inazuma, not yet- ( not ever )
But the Fatui would hardly consider his own conflicting feelings that he kept so carefully under wraps and to himself. He was the one to know Inazuma so well, rivalling even the sixth, one of the many results of the wanderer’s life he missed.
He’d just have to make it quick and leave while no one knew he was there. Regardless of how foreign it felt to step back into what had once been his home, how he wasn’t even entirely sure of what the situation was there anymore. It was fine- he could handle this. It wouldn’t be any worse than what he had already gone through the last few... recently.
And here Kazuha was now, once again in the beach that had once been a battlefield and a reunion, taking a seat on the remains of a ship, huddling in his own coat against the night breeze. He knew already that sleep wouldn’t come to him that night- at least he could try to take in some of the home he had been longing for before having to leave it all behind again.
For what felt like far too long, that was all Kazuha did, mission be damned. Sitting there in silence, letting the breeze carry the essence of the sea all around him, feel the cold and the salt in the air. It felt right, in its own way. It only lasted until the faint sound of footsteps reached him through the wind, sand crunching under feet- Kazuha just reached for his hood on instinct, tugging it hard until every lock of pale hair and fierce red eyes was hidden under fabric and shadows, back on his feet and on high alert, a hand reaching for a dagger already. (swords weren’t safe, someone was bound to recognize him-)
Carefully, he looked around, trying to spot whoever was approaching- until he caught on the familiar scent, finally spotted the one that perhaps he was dreading to face the most. Kazuha’s heart sank, and for a moment, he forgot how to breathe.
He admired Gorou’s strength and will, his honesty and how open he always was- and now here he was, trying to hide like a coward and avoid what he knew would have to happen sooner or later, as if his mere stepping foot in his homeland once again wasn’t condemning him on its own.
Gorou would hate him for this, wouldn’t he? He had to get away-














