Chapter.5 Blood and gentle touches

"Razor!!" Aether cried, watching as the wolven boy's limp body tumbled across the field. Xingqiu quickly rushed over to aid him, but his hands trembled when he saw the amount of blood that was seeping through the snow, looking back at Aether with horror in his eyes.

Kazuha stood frozen. His heart sank at the sight of his friend…

Aether rushed over to join Xingqiu in hopes to help stop the bleeding. He carefully lifted Razor's limp body, making sure to keep his head elevated. They needed to get out of here and fast, they needed to get to the Serenitea pot.

"Kazuha we!-" Aether's eyes widened as he watched Kazuha mercilessly slaughter every Fatui member. He was like a one man army, his eyes cold as ice and sharp as steel…and it was frightening. Aether didn't even recognize the swordsman anymore…

"X-Xingqiu, help me get Razor to the teapot, Kokomi and Thoma should be able to help!" The guhua boy nodded, trying to swallow his fear as he helped the traveler lift the wolven boy's body, quickly trying to get him to safety as safely as possible. For the moment, they had to trust Kazuha to meet up with them later and leave him behind…

After what felt like hours, Thoma came downstairs with a tired smile and reassured the young traveler and the Guhua boy that their feral friend would be okay. The injury hadn't been life threatening but there was a lot of blood loss, so all Razor would need is plenty of rest. Aether and Xingqiu sighed with relief, falling back onto the couch.

"You two must be exhausted and your clothes are all bloody. Why don't you two take a hot bath and I'll wash your clothes," Thoma suggested, brightening his smile. Even though Aether could say the same to the other man, he couldn't help but find himself leaning on the older man's kindness. Thoma was very kind and was very easy to rely on, almost like an older brother. Aether let Xingqiu take the first bath since the boy seemed more exhausted about the situation than he was.

"It was a good thing that lady Kokomi was here. She's quite the healer." Thoma said, taking mental note of some of the medical techniques she displayed.

"Yeah, she-" Suddenly stepping through the door was Kazuha, soaked in blood with the eyes of a dead man. Aether and Thoma looked at each other before hesitantly looking back at the young samurai.

"K-Kazuha, Razor's going to be okay," Aether said, trying his best to smile despite the slight fear he felt at the sight of the swordsman.

"...Let me see him." His voice was barely above a whisper.

Thoma was the first to respond, taking Kazuha upstairs, passing Kokomi on the way up as they headed for the guest room. Once inside, Kazuha's eyes locked onto the wolven boy laying in bed, bandages wrapped firmly around his head, his arms and body in a similar manner. He was sleeping soundly almost as if nothing had even happened to him.

Without needing to be told, Thoma left the room to give Kazuha some privacy.

Kazuha pulled up one of the stools in the room by Razor's bedside and sat down, letting his head hang low with his hands resting in his lap, clutching the fabric of his shorts tightly. He couldn't help but blame himself for what happened…

During one of their trips to Inazuma, The group had come across some Fatui while they were doing some requests by the locals. Everything seemed like it was going smoothly like normal but Kazuha lost focus on the battle when he realized how dangerously close they were to -

"Tomo!" Clouded with panic, Kazuha abandoned his friends and headed for the nearby grave, taking down any Fatui that had gotten in his way, but he was ambushed and his mind had been too cloudy to see it coming.

"Kazuha!" Like a bolt of lightning, Razor dashed towards the swordsman and grabbed him by the back of his clothing, and pulled him away before taking a hard blow by the electro hammer that had been aimed for Kazuha. Using his electro persona, he had barely softened the blow and his body was sent flying, rolling, and tumbling through the snow; his persona dissipating like flames. Kazuha froze, eyes locked on the limp body, his nose only smelling the heavy stench of copper… Images of Tomo began to flood his mind, his cold limp body, the blood, the glow of the vision fading… and at that moment, he snapped.

Tomo's death had been the first time Kazuha cried, but this made Kazuha cry for the second time... Even though he was told Razor would be okay, he couldn't help but feel guilty for his condition, to feel the fear well up inside him when he remembered the wolven boy laying in a small pool of blood… He clutched the boy's hand tightly as tears ran down his cheeks in thick streams, pressing the hand to his forehead. The hand was warm against his cold porcelain skin.

He couldn't save Tomo, and by the archons, he wouldn't make the same mistake twice, he just couldn't go through that again… he couldn't lose Razor…

Kazuha could hear the door creak open but he didn't bother to look, he could already tell it was the traveler and Chongyun by their scent. They both carried looks of concern and judging by Aether's hair, he had just finished bathing.

"Kazuha, you should get cleaned up…" Aether said, keeping his voice low as he eyes the blood staining the swordsman's clothes, the blood that was smeared onto his skin and hair.

"Aether and I can watch Razor while you're gone," Chongyun offered. He approached the swordsman with careful footsteps before gently placing a hand on the young samurai's shoulder.

Kazuha didn't want to leave Razor's side… but he was tired and the smell of blood was becoming nauseating, so he nodded and stood up from his seat, and exited the room. He headed downstairs into the shower room, wondering if he would be able to sleep at all tonight...

Razor could feel his head throbbing but he was used to pain and the scars on his body were proof of that. His nose caught the scent of maple, which coaxed his eyes to open, rewarded with the sight of the swordsman sitting beside him on a chair as he leaned over, sleeping with his head resting on his thigh. His leg felt damp and he could see droplets of water dripping from the swordsman's hair, assuming he must have bathed recently… He smelled so nice.

With Kazuha leaning over his leg like this, he had such a clear view of Kazuha's nape. Razor could remember how soft it felt between his teeth, how it tasted against his tongue…

His cheeks flushed red at the memory, remembering how flustered Kazuha looked under him, how he had called his name, almost as if he was begging to be bitten.

Razor knitted his brows as he clutched his stomach, feeling heat pull into his groin, but it was frustrating because after he had bitten Kazuha, he had gotten mad at him, going so far as to avoid him… Razor didn't want to make him mad, he didn't want to drive the swordsman away. Did that mean what he was feeling was… wrong? Was Kazuha's avoidance a sign of disapproval for these strange feelings?

"Gruh…!" He groaned, feeling his frustration intensifying the pain in his head. He didn't want to make Kazuha upset but he was so hungry.

Hearing the wolven boy, Kazuha shot his head up in a panic, standing from his seat, letting the stool scrape against the floor. "Razor!?" He scanned the wolven boy's form, inspecting every part of his body for any new injuries or pain.

Razor blushed a bit at the swordsman's gentle touch, how warm his hands felt against his skin. Kazuha put a hand to Razor's head with a careful and steady touch to check his bandages. There didn't seem to be any bleeding, so he at least knew the stitches were okay.

"Razor, are you alright?" Razor looked up at the swordsman's face, and he could see the bags under his eyes, the worry painting his face, and even faint signs of dried tears.

Had Kazuha been that worried? Had he gotten himself that hurt when he protected him? He didn't think it was that bad, but maybe it had been worse than he thought…

"I Fine…Kazuha makes hurting stop." Razor's cheeks flushed a soft red and leaned into Kazuha's gentle touch, nuzzling his head into his hand. He didn't like making the swordsman worry, he wanted to let him know that he was alright, that just having him at his side was enough...

Kazuha's cheeks lit up into a soft pink, feeling a bit flustered by the feral boy's sudden affectionate gesture. Kazuha couldn't help but return the feeling, gently stroking the boy's head, rubbing circles behind his ear. Razor's heart was tingling at the sensation, forgetting the pain, the hunger, only feeling relaxed by the warm and gentle hand of Kazuha. He could feel sleep haze over his mind as he went limp under the swordsman's touch.

"Go to sleep Razor...you need your rest," Kazuha whispered, moving his hand to comb his fingers through Razor's hair, brushing his bangs out of his face.

Razor could feel his eyelids getting heavy, his mind hazy, feeling sleep inch closer and closer with each slender finger that glided through his hair. It didn't take long before Razor couldn't resist any longer and fell asleep. He dreamt of his Lupical back home, but most of all… he dreamt about Kazuha.