#Send this to the genshin fandom and a war would break out

[alternatefandom]

Illusory Palinopsia (2/5)

Fandom: Genshin Impact Pairing: Gen, Kamisato-Clan centric, could be read as thomato Warnings: Some made-up lore Summary: "This is what is going to happen. I will hold on to this talisman. You will find your Chief Retainer and deal with the traitor yourself. You will not let the Shogun do it for you. Do so, and I will destroy this evidence in front of your eyes. Fail to do so, and I doubt the clan you hold dear will be able to survive the resulting storm. Do not involve anyone who does not carry a vision, for they will not survive the fight. Do you understand?" "I understand," Ayato said. "I will deal with this matter myself. Thank you for your kindness, Lady Guuji." Instead of satisfaction, the expression on Yae Miko's face was one of stricken pity. "Oh, Ayato," she said. "If you truly understood what I am asking of you, you would not call be calling it a kindness." Part of the our homespun sanctuary series.

...a war is brewing at Seirai Island. If my father is out there, I have to find him before it breaks. I won't lose him a second time.

I am aware that the kind of trouble I am heading into is not fit for the Chief Retainer of the Kamisato Clan. Therefore, I have left a resignation letter on your desk; it should be sufficient to clear your name of any mess I will inevitably be involved in....

CHAPTER I

Ayato found Ayaka in the dojo, contemplating her bokken as if she could find Thoma somewhere between the nicks and dents of the old wooden blade. She didn't look up as he passed her by. Didn't say anything as he rifled through the array of training implements, kept still as a statue as he selected a bokken and tested its heft in his hands.

When he was satisfied with his choice, he turned around, and she was already on her feet. Her grip on her bokken was loose and relaxed, but the sharp downturn of her mouth betrayed her upset.

"Fight me," she said.

He met her gaze. Her pain and fury seared into him, and Ayato accepted them squarely, the blame for this mistake of his. "Alright."

Once upon a time, Ayato considered himself invincible. He was, after all, the young master of the Kamisato Clan. It was his duty to be the best, for it was him people looked at for the future of the clan. Nowadays, his place was amongst the sharks that infested the political landscape of Inazuma. His blade was only drawn in defence of his own life.

Ayaka, on the other hand, knew this dojo like the back of her own hand. Not a day went by without her spending time in these halls. There was no doubt in his mind that Ayaka was the better swordsman between them. Her strikes were more fluid, precise, and powerful.

But today, they were wild and unbalanced. Ayato deflected them easily, redirecting the force of her blows so it may glance off his own bokken instead of back at her. Allowing her to vent her anger while making sure she wouldn't strain herself.

And vent she did. Ayaka knew better than to be predictable with him; to do so was tantamount to throwing the match, for his strength laid in using his opponent's moves against themselves. Still, she charged him head-on, throwing the brunt of her frustrations at him. Her stance was unsteady. It wouldn't take much to knock her off her feet. He could disarm and defeat her in a heartbeat.

He didn't. So Ayaka continued to attack, and Ayato continued to deflect, containing and tempering her anger with the ease of long practice.

It's your fault, said Ayaka's harsh swing of her blade. You're right, sang Ayato's blade, barely deflecting it. She pressed on with a flurry of slashes. Thoma thought his father was among the Seirai Island pirates. He thought you sent the Kujou army after his father. And still, he put your reputation above his own life.

You're right, you're right, you're right.

If anything happened to him, it'll be your fault.

He faltered. Ayaka's bokken hit him hard, sending him sprawling over the floor. Ayato rolled with the hit, but he was too slow to recover⁠—the wooden blade swung straight for his unprotected neck.

Ayato closed his eyes, waiting for a hit that never came.

A moment, and then two. Ayaka's breathing sounded loud in this enclosed space. He could feel her bokken, just a whisper away from his skin. Had it been a real sword, he would be bleeding.

"Oniisama," she said. Her voice was faint. Had he imagined her fury, then? He didn't think he had. "You're..."

He opened his eyes and realized that his lashes were wet with tears.

"Ah," he said numbly. Even his voice had lost its steadiness; how utterly unacceptable. Sorry, Ayaka.

Ayaka made a tiny, wounded sound. This, Ayato reflected, was the first time she'd seen him cry ever since they were children. She had always been a sympathetic crier; she would cry whenever anyone in her vicinity was upset. Ayato had quickly learned to temper his own sadness and mould it into something resembling solemnity.

Now, Ayaka was a woman grown; there wasn't the slightest hint of tears as she threw herself at Ayato. Instinctively, he engulfed her in his arms. With a shaky sigh, he closed his eyes and rested his cheek upon the crown of her head. His sister was a force to be reckoned with and had a reputation to match, but here in his arms she would always be little Ayaka, and he would always be her oniisama. For her, he could be strong.

"Oniisama," she said, whisper-soft. "It'll be okay."

"I'm sorry," Ayato said, but the words twisted in his throat and came out faint and choked. "It's my fault."

"Thoma can take care of himself," Ayaka said. "He'll be fine."

Ayato could feel his lips twisting in self-contempt. "He's walking into a war zone because I was too prideful to tell him that I failed. Because I was too ashamed to commit my failures to paper, thinking that it would never matter. And yet, I was careless enough to leave them lying around without considering what others might make of it."

Why was it always Thoma who ended up paying the price for his lapses in judgement? Why was it always him who threw himself into dangers that Ayato hadn't foreseen?

If Ayato had one regret in his life, it was that all these years, Thoma never seemed to understand just how precious he was to them. The Kamisato Clan's ray of sunshine grew up in the city of freedom, where treating everybody as an equal was the norm and people can wear their hearts on their sleeves. And thus, he had no clue of the significance of the way Ayato treated him, the way they were just Ayato and Thoma when they were alone, the way Thoma was allowed to take liberties that a Chief Retainer should never have.

Because all these should be things that anyone could give freely. Anyone, except for Kamisato Ayato.

I have left a resignation letter on your desk; it should be sufficient to clear your name of any mess I will inevitably be involved in.

All these years, and Thoma still treated himself as if he was expendable.

"If something happens to him, I..."

It didn't bear thinking about. Thoma was one of the two people Ayato fought hard to protect; the reason Ayato could smile at the end of a long week, the only one he trusted unconditionally, the first to ever choose Ayato despite being offered nothing in return. His unconditional faith and loyalty were the foundation upon which Ayato first built his dream, and Ayato feared for all the ways he would crumble in Thoma's absence.

"I can't let anything happen to him," Ayato said. "I'm taking a leave of absence to go to Seirai Island tomorrow morning. I'm going to find him, and I'll bring him home."

Read the rest on Ao3

[raamyun-and-rambles]

Of Qingxins and Rattles: One

Fandom: Genshin Impact  Pairing: Xiao x Reader 

Summary: He's afraid to reach out, to touch something so pure that a being like him must never hold. The voices in his head scream blasphemy and lies.

———–

Xiao was a being that has existed for thousands of centuries. 

Which meant that he has outlived countless of people, watching them come and go as they eventually get taken by the passage of time.

It was also safe to say that the yaksha has experienced much more than any other mortal could in their entire lifetime. He's travelled the entirety of Liyue on foot, has bore witness to phenomenon that people could only talk about in hushed whispers as the eons pass them by and has fought a number of battles that no human could ever imagine. The blood that stained his hands wasn't something that could be easily washed away and Xiao was convinced that anything good touched by those hands would wither and perish. He was a sinner and Xiao was determined to live the rest of his life paying off the debt of his sins in perpetual agony until you waltzed into his life, turning everything he's come to known in disarray the moment he saw the breeze catch locks of your  (h/c)  as you overlooked Dihua Marsh from Wangshu Inn's balcony.

In retrospect, the Yaksha should have known better than to meddle in trivial human affairs. You were just another face among thousands he's met. You shouldn't have been able to draw him in the way you did. Yet here he was now, putty in your arms as you stroked gentle circles on the small of his back, whispering words of love and reassurance that Xiao knows he doesn't deserve but soaks it up all the same. 

Perhaps...just maybe - Xiao thinks with a hopeful afterthought as his lips press against yours in a silent act of worship of your presence, fingers ghosting feather light touches onto your skin - maybe he too deserved even a moment of respite, to love and be loved.

To simply exist in bliss. 

Xiao looks at you with a gaze that displays deep unspoken emotion. He watches you in awe even with the simplest of his things.

He watches in awe as you work your way in the kitchen, weaving your way through the space and he fights back a chuckle as you almost trip. He catches you before you could hurt yourself though (he always does).

He watches in awe even when you rouse from your sleep, admiring the way the sun bathes you in a warm glow as it floods into the room from the open window. He admires the way your lashes slowly flutter as you attempt to blink away the sleep that raptures your system, sending him a small smile as you nuzzle further into his embrace, murmuring something about needing a couple more hours of rest. Xiao scoffs at that every time, knowing you'd oversleep (yet he always allows you). 

Mortal traditions don't normally interest Xiao, yet he watches in awe as you walked down the makeshift aisle the inn staff had prepared, donned in fine silk and Qingxin braided in your hair. Xiao thought you've never looked more beautiful, like a goddess that has descended from Celestia itself. It takes him a while to recover from the sight and by then you're already standing next to him with the brightest of smiles, holding his hand and intertwining your fingers. The entire world tuned out of existence and the only thing Xiao could see was you. He doesn't even remember what he said for his vows, too awestruck to even form a coherent sentence as his thoughts reeled a thousand miles per second. Whatever it was he said seemed to make you happy and Xiao allows himself to smile as he slips the ring onto your finger. There weren't many to bear witness to the day you both promised to be one - except perhaps Verr, Huai'an and the traveler who each played a part - but for Xiao it was more than enough to feel the plush of your lips against his under the light of the moon and the stars.

(Zhongli couldn't help but smile at the scene before him but he leaves without another word, receding into the darkness of the night before anyone could take notice.) 

Xiao worried the most throughout your pregnancy and even more so on the day you gave birth. Mortals are far too fragile of a creature and Xiao was hyperaware of this fact as he paced to and fro outside the door, could only hear the way you cry out and the midwife's gentle encouragement as she eases you through the process. There was a moment of silence and Xiao had to fight the urge to burst into the room, thinking that something terrible must have gone wrong until suddenly there was a tiny cry and Xiao's heart seized up in his throat. 

He was allowed inside a moment later and he immediately moves to your side, gently stroking your hair as you smiled up at him tiredly before turning your gaze to the baby swaddled in your arms. 

"Congratulations," the midwife had said, a smile on her face before leaving the room, "it's a healthy baby girl." 

No amount of words could have ever expressed the emotion swirling in Xiao's eyes, both anxiety, joy and excitement clashing within amber speckled orbs but his hand stops in mid-air and all of a sudden time feels as though it was suddenly put to a halt.

Is this truly alright?

He's afraid to reach out, to touch something so pure that a being like him must never hold. The voices in his head scream blasphemy and lies.

Perhaps this was just some dream he's conjured up in the hazy murk of his mind and he'll wake up on the roof of the inn like he's always had with only the frigid wind keeping him company. That's right, maybe this wasn't true at all. He's simply far too gone that he's fabricated an ideal world of his making. One where he lives in peace, where he's loved and accepted. The iron tang of blood suddenly fills the air and all at once he imagines the battles he's fought, the sickening squelch of metal against flesh and the dust and grime of battles waged in war. The screams, the cries, the pain, the agony- 

A small hand wrapping itself around his pinky successfully pulls him out of his trance and the soft giggle and coo that followed after it made Xiao's chest constrict tightly with an emotion he can't seem to place. 

Xiao's breath catches in his throat as the small fist around his finger grounded him back to reality.

For a moment Xiao felt stupid for allowing himself to be consumed by how his mind wandered back into one of the darkest fragments of his memory, how could he when he was in front of the very two things that shone light in his life of perpetual agony? 

The adepti allowed a shaky breath himself a shaky breath at long last, leaning closer so he could rest his head against yours while he allowed his daughter to hold onto his pinky. 

"Can I..." he started, fumbling with his words as he kept his gaze fixated on the infant, "can I hold her?" 

The apprehension in his voice was terribly apparent and in an effort to calm his nerves you gently press a kiss to his cheek, nodding before carefully placing the child in his awkward attempt of a cradle. He quickly adjusts himself with your careful guidance, much more silent than he already usually is as the baby babbled sleepily. You will yourself to stay awake despite the fatigue and discomfort settling in your bones, opting instead to lean back against the headboard as you watch Xiao marvel in the presence of your child. 

"I'll protect you." Xiao says a moment later, voice soft yet filled with determination. 

He turns to face you this time and you swore you saw his eyes glisten with the beginning of tears but you don't get so much of a second chance to look before he rests his forehead against your shoulder, purposely hiding so you won't see the way he breaks and the vulnerability that lies behind the battle-hardened warrior of one of Rex Lapis' strongest Yakshas.

"I'll protect the both of you no matter what the cost." 

You're both terribly precious to me. 

———–

I feel like I idealize relationships with these characters so much because of how touch-starved and affection craved I am but I live for soff Xiao so here. Take this mushy thing I made during class again wwww

I do hope it wasn’t too OOC at least