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He should have known that the fight wasn’t going to end well.
For starters, anytime that Kaeya went on a mission with Diluc, it never ended well. Either he ended up hurt, or Diluc ended up hurt, or they ended up at one another’s throats, or…just, bad things happened. They had learned to try and limit their working together for the sake of everyone’s sanity. It was like they had Bennett’s luck, but only when they were together on missions.
The last time it had happened, Kaeya had been the lucky one to not end up hurt. Diluc, unfortunately, broke his right arm and both of his legs in several different places each. He got thrown off a small cliff. He was fine, now.
Usually, Jean managed to lessen the bad luck that trailed along after them. Apparently, today was not that day.
They were fighting odds that were pretty difficult even for them. Now, normally, they didn’t need to worry about fighting six mercenaries for every one of them. This, however, was because Diluc was still struggling with his previous injuries, and Jean was as sleep-deprived as ever, and Kaeya had been struggling with a slight migraine the whole week. So, none of them were in top condition.
Throwing himself forward, Kaeya slashed at the closest man. A sword swung up to meet his. He blocked, barely. The blade flashed in his peripheral. Alright. Let’s take care of this quickly. He slashed, ducked around a blow for his head. Cut through the fighters, make sure you can keep them in your sight some way or another. Don’t fall. Watch your back. Watch the others’ backs. Focus.
His eyepatch originally gave him quite the trouble, especially when he and Diluc used to spar daily. Learning how to adjust—to keep his head on a swivel, to never leave someone in his blind spot for too long, to keep his ears sharp and his bladework sharper—kept him in the fight as a sparring partner and alive as a fighter. He just needed to keep his head on his shoulders.
Preferably literally, not just metaphorically.
He sidestepped a blow that went for his throat. The blade flashed. He returned the hit with one of his own, finding the man’s arm and shearing through it. Eyes wide, the man clasped a hand over the injury. His mouth fell open. Kaeya struck again, hitting him in the skull with his pommel. The man went down.
Turning back, Kaeya smiled and looked at Diluc.
The man met his gaze. Rolling his eyes, he shook his head and turned back to the fight. With another laugh, Kaeya jumped in at his back. Jean eventually ended up beside them again. The three of them fought the way they used to when they were training, blades flashing as they practically danced.
I missed this, Kaeya thought with a smile. He dodged around Diluc’s backswing, defended Jean from a blow to the back, struck his own hit while Diluc watched his back and Jean watched Diluc’s. It was an old, knife-grip tango with life and death that they had done a thousand times. There was a laugh bubbling up in his chest.
I’m sure Diluc would roast me for that, blocking another blow, Kaeya dodged to the side again. He knocked the blade aside and struck. His sword hit true, driving into the mercenary’s ribs. Staggering back, the man grabbed the wound and beat a hasty retreat. Some of his friends had also decided to do the same.
The fight was over before he expected it. Honestly, really fun. He missed fighting with Diluc and Jean at his side. “We should do this more often!” He turned to look at the others. Staring at him, Jean and Diluc shared a glance. She rolled her eyes with a soft smile. Diluc’s always-disappointed face didn’t change. Kaeya grinned at him.
“You could at try to be professional, Cavalry Captain.” Casually, Diluc slicked some blood from his blade with a glove. It spattered on the floor like paint. Shaking his head, Kaeya started walking backwards towards the exit to the cavern, gaze staying on his friends. Diluc turned away to study the bodies left behind. Jean had already been studying the cavern around them, looking for more signs of the mercenaries and who might have hired them. Still, apparently Diluc felt his last words weren’t enough. “Combat is meant to be serious.”
“Come on, Diluc.” Turning, Kaeya took a few steps backward. “You act like this wasn’t at least a little bit—”
Something punched him in the back.
Grunting, Kaeya stared at Diluc and Jean. Their gazes landed on him separately—Diluc was already looking in his direction, Jean had just begun to turn. Both of them reacted the same, though. Eyes widened, Jean began to run for him. Diluc dropped his weapon and ran as well, “Kaeya!”
Something was ripped from his body. Stumbling to the side, Kaeya blinked. He dropped his gaze, raised a hand to his stomach. There was red spilling across the white fabric of his shirt and the corset on top of it. It almost looked like wine. Huh. Blinking, Kaeya held out one hand to catch himself. The world blurred, Jean ran by him with her sword drawn. Diluc’s hands stretched out to catch him. There was the clash of a sword. Diluc shouted.
Everything went dark.
He woke up a few times to pain, to being carried, to blurry lights. Diluc was cradling him to his chest, letting his head rest in the crook of his neck and shoulder. Panting, Diluc glanced down at him. “You’re going to be fine, Kaeya. Hold on.” Diluc reassured. He looked the same way he did when Crepus had died. Terrified, panicked, like he was about to lose everything.
Then, he was being rushed up the Cathedral steps. “We need a surgeon!” Jean shouted. “Get one of the operating rooms set up, now! Hoffman, Amber, find Rosaria and Barbara!” Jean ordered. Carefully, Diluc set him on something. Reaching out, Kaeya grabbed for his hand. Blood smeared against Diluc’s skin as he stepped back, expression torn.
“Get him an anemo mask! He needs air!” Kaeya watched Diluc as he backed away. People rushed in between Kaeya and Diluc, moving around him. Staring, he tried to push himself up.
“—luc—no, don’t—” Pain shot through his middle. Gasping, Kaeya grabbed at the wound. Something pricked his neck. He just barely caught a glimpse of more nurses, of Diluc shaking his head before turning and running.
He was out before he could scream for Diluc.
+
When he woke, Diluc was sitting beside him, holding his hand.
He was lying on his back, an anemo mask still pressed to his face and his throat aching and sore. There were bandages wrapped around his middle. He could feel them shift as he breathed. “…’luc.”
Diluc raised his head. Was he…praying? Kaeya stared at him. Weakly, he cracked a smile. “Kaeya. Are you alright?” Shaking himself, he frowned. “Sorry. I—how do you feel?”
“Like I got ran over by my horse.” Kaeya groaned. Then, he added, “You know, again.”
Diluc looked at him. Then, he took a breath, like he was steeling himself for a fight. Kaeya prepared to get yelled at. Actually, as Diluc leaned in, he thought—well, this is it. It’s time to die.
The last thing he expected was for Diluc to wrap his arms around him instead, in the most awkward and most gentle hug Kaeya had ever had.
Blinking, he stared at the room ceiling. Okay. He had died, apparently. Probably in surgery. This was— “Don’t do that to me again. I can’t lose anyone else.”
Pausing for a moment, Kaeya closed his eyes. He rested a hand between Diluc’s shoulders. “Even if that anyone is a traitor from Khaenri’ah, who picked the worst time to tell you his origin and then kept pestering you when you came back?”
Diluc let out a wet scoff. “If you can forgive me for attacking you. Besides, you’re a younger sibling. Pestering is what you do.”
With a weak laugh of his own, Kaeya might have held on just a little tighter—but, then, no one but him and Diluc would know that.