TomoKazu

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

Backstory
Kazuha and Tomo were good friends and close traveling companions for a period of time. One day, Kazuha's friend asked him 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 go into hiding. While on the run, 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 the Raiden Shogun's behalf, in Tenshukaku. The defeated would face punishment from her.

Although usually a calm person, Kazuha drew his sword and stormed into Tenshukaku when he had heard of this duel, but he arrived too late. The duel was over and he had seen his friend had lost, his blade broken into pieces. Kazuha ran away with his friend's dying vision in his hand, not wanting his friend's ambitions to be engraved into the Omnipresent Statue. The dying vision possibly burned his right hand and thus be the reason for the bandages on his hand in the present.

He didn't regret coming out of hiding for his friend or begrudge his friend for leaving him, but he did ask himself if conflict was the only way to assert one's ideals. Kazuha also wondered what expression was on his friend's face during his friend's last moments.

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.

Chapter II: Prologue
Kazuha made his friend's masterless Vision the grand prize of the Crux Clash.

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.

Chapter II: Act III
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 and block the Raiden Shogun's sword. Just before the Vision is reawakened, Kazuha's friend can be heard saying "There will always be those who dare to brave the lightning's glow." When Kazuha is knocked away by the Raiden Shogun, the Vision once again becomes unlit.

At the end of the quest, Kazuha leaves the Vision at his friend's grave and pays respects to him. The Vision can be seen slightly lighting up while Kazuha walks away.

Voicelines

 * 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. '

Quotes
"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."

- Kazuha's Story IV

"His friend's sword lay shattered in pieces, his Vision now an empty husk. Now a wanted man himself, Kazuha fled with grief in his heart."

- Kazuha's Story IV

"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.

There are many that wish for a reunion between them, either hoping that Kazuha's friend is still alive or theorizing that Kazuha may die at some point. This was most prominent when the 2.1 Version Trailer was released, as it showed Kazuha fighting the Raiden Shogun. Many feared Kazuha would lose that battle, and thus be reunited with Tomo in death.

On Twitter, a Tomo x Kazuha week is taking place from October 26 to November 1, though people can still take part in it after the week ends. Participants are given prompts for each day of the week and they can make fan content based on those prompts.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TUMBLR

TWITTER

Trivia

 * 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.
 * During the clash between Kazuha (with Anemo and Electro) and Ei, Kazuha and Tomo's attack 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. Another animation by 喵太Miota featuring Kazuha's and Tomo's story was also featured in the Genshin Impact Fanart livestream.
 * Kazuha was able to use Tomo's vision because their ambitions met; to protect. In his Story "Vision Shell", Kazuha also expresses that it felt like his friend was lending him aid.
 * 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