Kanej

Kanej is the het ship between Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa from the Grishaverse fandom.

Six of Crows
Before the start of Six of Crows, Kaz and Inej first met during her time in the Menagerie. Tante Heleen, the owner of the Menagerie where abused and harassed Inej, and prevented her escape. Desperate for any assistance, she attempted to offer Kaz information, whispering, "I can help you," which manages to Kaz off guard. Later the next night, Kaz shows up to buy Inej's indenture on behalf of Per Haskell, the boss of the Dregs at the time. Kaz offers her a place among the Dregs, calling her "dangerous", convinced that her ability to turn practically "invisible" would be invaluable to the gang. Kaz tells Inej never to sneak up on him again, and although Inej tries afterward, Kaz seems to have mastered the art of seeing her.

Kaz gifted her first blade, Sankt Petyr, which Inej compared to wild geraniums, her mother's favorite flower and something her father always left for her mother. Sometime during Inej's first year with the Dregs, Kaz had caught Inej feeding the crows on the roof, and for a moment, he was transported back to his childhood, sure that magic existed. When Inej finally decided to join the Dregs, she didn't take the tattoo when given the choice. When questioned by Nina, Inej says that "He [Kaz] said it was my choice, that he wouldn't be the one to mark me again."

At the start of Six of Crows, Kaz is offered a job and invites Inej to join his ragtag crew to break into the Ice Court. However, on the way to the harbor, Inej is severely wounded by Oomen. Kaz comes to her rescue and brutally blinds Oomen in one eye and tosses him into the sea. During this, Kaz is acting incredibly irrationally, shaken by the situation. The other characters, most notably Nina and Jesper, take notice of Kaz's peculiar, irrational behavior during this, both attributing it to something romantic. Inej brushes this off, as Kaz called her an "investment" and "replaceable" earlier.

However, despite Kaz's attempts to distance himself from Inej by being a massive jerk, he still feels the need to confide in her, looking for any excuse to talk to her. He tries getting her to say she believes in him because he trusts her judgment. By far, Inej is the crew member he depends on the most, going as far as to reveal the fact that "Pekka Rollins killed my brother," to her. Annoyed at himself for telling Inej this, Kaz tries to justify it to himself - convincing himself that he doesn't want Inej”; he just wants their routine back.

During their wagon ride to the prison, Inej is the only one of the crew to notice Kaz’s ragged breathing and to hear him faint due to his haphephobia. Her voice is the sound that brought him back from his nightmare, grounding him. Kaz is embarrassed about this, but he knows that out of anyone, it was best it was Inej. His trust in Inej is so great that he knows that Inej would never betray his greatest weakness, his “shame”, to anyone. When he enters the prison, he worries about Inej, trying to convince himself she’d be fine.

While Inej gets ready to disguise herself, she reveals to Kaz her plan to leave the Dregs to hunt slavers; he remarks that Inej was always too good for the barrel. He tries to tell her something, but he stops himself. Inej waits for the words, but they never come. She cupped her hand to Kaz’s skin, the first time they’d ever touched skin-to-skin, and she understood this was the best he could offer. Despite her feelings for him, she knew her path led away from him.

When Kaz is drowning, he tries to think of revenge, but instead, he thinks of Inej. He recalls the memories of her fondly. He realizes that he needs to be honest and open with Inej. That, despite her being completely out of his league, he could at least try to “pull himself together into some semblance of a man for her.” He realizes that he relies heavily on Inej.

On their way back to Ketterdam, Kaz tries to convince Inej to stay in Ketterdam, to stay with him. But Inej recognizes that this is too little, too late. Kaz turns away, frustrated. She waits - quietly begs for Kaz to speak, to try. He stays silent, and Inej leaves.

Kaz gets into a fight with Van Eck after the merch double-crossed him. At first, the merchant ordered his guards to “kill everyone but Brekker” but then Kaz instinctively looked for Inej to see if she was alright. Van Eck saw and shifted his attention to Inej. Kaz tries to keep his composure, but the Squallers end up taking Inej captive. At the end of Six of Crows, Kaz is determined to rescue Inej.

Six of Crows

 * “One minute he made her blush and the next he made her want to commit murder.” - Inej, Six of Crows


 * "Nina thought of the look on his face when he'd set Inej down on the table. He was the same Kaz - cold, rude, impossible, but beneath all that anger, she thought she'd seen something else, too. Or maybe she was just a romantic." - Nina, Six of Crows


 * "Matthias suspected that Brekker would drag the girl back from hell himself if he had to." - Matthias, Six of Crows


 * "But he had, in his own way - despite her best intentions. Feeling anything for Kaz Brekker was the worst kind of foolishness. She knew that." - Inej, Six of Crows


 * "I mean, I think it was hard for him to be around you that way. The first day you were hurt...he went a little crazy." - Jesper to Inej, Six of Crows


 * "Even the idea of being this near someone should have set his skin crawling. Instead he thought, What happens if I move closer?" - Kaz, Six of Crows


 * "The old answers came easily to mind. Money. Vengeance. Jordie's voice in my head silenced forever. But a different reply roared to life inside him, loud, insistent, and unwelcome. You, Inej. You." - Kaz, Six of Crows


 * "She knew it was the best he could offer. It was not enough." - Inej, Six of Crows


 * "She had her aim now, her heart had direction, and though it hurt to know that path led away from him, she could endure it." - Inej, Six of Crows


 * “She'd laughed, and if he could have bottled the sound and gotten drunk on it every night, he would have. It terrified him.”- Kaz, Six of Crows


 * “The ache in his lungs was unbearable. He needed to tell her...what? That she was lovely and brave and better than anything he deserved. That he was twisted, crooked, wrong, but not so broken that he couldn't pull himself together into some semblance of a man for her. That without meaning to, he'd begun to lean on her, to look for her, to need her near. He needed to thank her for his new hat.”- Kaz, Six of Crows


 * "It catches every time, like he's never seen you before."- Nina to Inej, Six of Crows


 * "I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all." - Kaz, Six of Crows


 * ”For all his selfishness and cruelty, Kaz was still the boy who saved her. She wanted to believe he was worth saving, too.” - Inej, Six of Crows


 * ”Instead, in that moment of threat, when he should have thought only of the fight, he looked at Inej.” - Kaz, Six of Crows


 * "And I'm going to get my girl. Inej could never be his, not really, but he would find a way to give her the freedom he'd promised her so long ago.” - Kaz, Six of Crows

Fanon
Kanej is a very popular ship in the Six of Crows fandom as it has proven to be canon. Fans enjoy the contrast between the two personalities, as well as the closeness of their relationship. There is also an appreciation for their smaller moments.

Some where upset that they didn't officially become a couple at the end of the series, but other's were okay with it. There were others who appreciated it as the two both suffered from PTSD, and many thought they needed to heal before becoming a part of a romantic relationship.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Inej/Kaz tag on FanFiction.Net
 * Inej/Kaz tag on FanFiction.Net