TomoKazu

TomoKazu is the slash ship between Kaedehara Kazuha and his friend from the Genshin Impact fandom.

Canon
Kazuha and Tomo were good friends and it was implied they were close travelling companions. Kazuha explained to the Traveler that Kazuha's friend one day asked about a sword art of which he had heard, the Musou no Hitotachi. Kazuha told his friend that it could only be witnessed when "divine punishment" is administered and that it was the pinnacle of the Raiden Shogun's skill, a symbol of ultimate power. Kazuha's friend replied that there must be someone who could withstand it and that there will always be those who dare to brave the lightning's glow.

When the Vision Hunt Decree arrived, Kazuha had to flee from place to place. While fleeing, he had heard that his friend had challenged the Vision Hunters to a duel before the throne. Kazuha's friend dueled with Kujou Sara, who had accepted the duel on Baal's behalf, in Tenshukaku. The defeated would be face punishment from the Raiden Shogun. When Kazuha arrived, the duel was over and he had seen his friend had lost. Kazuha ran away with his friend's dying vision in his hand, which possibly could have burned his right hand. He didn't regret coming out of hiding for his friend or begrudge his friend for leaving.

Kazuha couldn't remember what expression was on his friend's face during his friend's last moments alive. Kazuha would remain silent when any of the Crux's sailors spoke to him, likely because he was mourning his friend's death. While Kazuha eventually started talking to the sailors, he still thought of the death of his friend. Kazuha made the grand prize of the Crux Clash his friend's Masterless Vision. After it was stolen, Kazuha thought of a plan to have the thief reawaken the vision, which didn't work. The Traveler also could not rekindle the vision upon Kazuha's request.

Later on when the Traveler is about to be defeated by the Raiden Shogun, Kazuha reawakens his friend's vision and uses the power of electro to save the Traveler. Just before the vision is reawakened, Kazuha's friend can be heard saying "There will always be those who dare to brave from the lightning's glow." Kazuha is knocked away by the Raiden Shogun and the vision once again becomes unlit. Kazuha leaves his friend's vision at his friend's grave. The vision can be seen slightly lighting up while Kazuha walks away.

Kazuha's Elemental Burst Voiceline "Clouds hide..the birds call!" was originally quoted from a Japanese poem written by a poet to a prince who passed away 10 years ago; the poem expresses yearning of reunion.

Something to Share: Maple Leaves - "On this mountain path, where the red leaves lifeless lie... My heart calls for a companion, echoing the deer's cry... " Hm... I do love maple leaves, but it is a shame that so many goodbyes seem to happen when they turn red." This quote comes from an iconic poem written by Hyakunin Isshu about Autumn. According to Tanka commentary, a deer cries out when missing their wife/spouse/mate. Kazuha states that Tomo and him are tied together/connected by fate

Kazuha made many friends during his travels. One of them was particularly close to his heart, and for a time, the two journeyed together. But they too would part, for their destinations were different. To have met merely by chance and then form such a strong bond, there must be a fated connection between them... so, although they would part ways for now, surely they would meet again. Or so Kazuha thought.

Quotes
"In his last moments, what expression was on his face?"

- Kazuha about his friend's death

"All I knew was that I mustn't let his hope which burned so brightly become buried among the ice-cold statue of a god."

- Kazuha explaining his thoughts after running off with his friend's vision

"There will always be those who dare to brave from the lightning's glow."

- Kazuha's friend to Kazuha

Fanon
While TomoKazu is fairly popular within its fandom, other people would rather ship Kazuha with Scaramouche or Gorou. Some would also argue that Kazuha's friend is dead, so it would be impossible for the ship to be canon. Despite these reasons, there are 214+ works on AO3 of the pairing. Many TomoKazu shippers started shipping it after seeing the cinematic showing Kazuha's backstory. Others only shipped it after Kazuha briefly reawakened his friend's vision.

Kazuha's friend's name has not yet been revealed. Because of this, fans use the name "Tomo" for Kazuha's friend, which is short for tomodachi, meaning friend in Japanese. Tomo's voice actor has referred to Kazuha's friend as Tomo before.

Fandom
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Trivia

 * During the clash between Kazuha (with anemo and electro) and Baal, Kazuha and Tomo's ult together forms a Sakura Blossom. ( Kazuha can be said to be the Maple Boy while Tomo is the Spring Boy since he died during Spring; read More Info for more information)
 * The poem on Tomo's sword - 「春雷率いて、我を斬り、灰になろうとも、万の世の為. 」This roughly translates to "even if the spring thunder leads, slashes me, turns me into ashes, it's for the sake of the world of all.  the poem on Tomo's sword was written by himself before he went to the battle. He uses kazuha's name kanji (万, kazu) in one of the lines ( 万の世の為 ) which could translates to both "for the sake of the world of all" and "for the sake of kazu's world."
 * Kazuha's fifth constellation in JP includes both“万” and “世”. That's because Kazuha's name（万葉）relates much to Manyoshu（万葉集）which is considered to have the same meaning and pronunciation as “万世集”. So it's not only “for Kazuha's world", it can just be——For Kazuha
 * Animation by 喵太Miota; Kazuha was willing to drown himself seemingly giving up on every hope he once had after Tomo's death
 * Kazuha was able to use Tomo's vision because 1. Tomo is always watching over him. Whether he's in danger or faced with one..Tomo's vision will always be there to protect him. 2. Both their ambitions met; to protect. Kazuha needed to protect Traveler and Tomo perhaps died to protect Kazuha.
 * Kazuha refers to Tomo as "best friend" however in the JPN and/or CN version. The translated word leans more towards intimacy.

Variations

 * TomoKazuGorou refers to the ship between the two and Gorou
 * TomoKazuScara refers to the ship between the two and Scaramouche