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"Don't follow me." That had been what Diluc had told Chuuya as he stormed away from him and Kaeya, his footsteps angry, but the shaking of his hands giving away just how badly the situation had affected him.
Chuuya didn't know if it was the wisest thing for him to be alone at the moment, but as wise as it might be to follow him, he knew it would be much more unwise to leave Kaeya alone. And so for once he chose to listen, and pulled his gaze away from Diluc's retreating back and turned his attention to Kaeya instead. His other brother sat unmoving in the dirt, paying no heed to the numerous burns scattering his body as he stared in shock at the Vision in his hand.
"Kaeya..." Chuuya called softly, using the same tone he used to use in his original world to coax any subordinate who was having a hard time. "Can you stand?" He didn't bother asking anything stupid like if Kaeya was okay, not when the answer was obvious; none of them were okay right now. For the time being though, Chuuya could work with not okay, so long as everyone was at least alive.
It took several moments for Kaeya to actually respond, his one visible eye staring up at Chuuya in confusion. "Callen?" He finally questioned, calling Chuuya by the name he'd been given when he'd been reborn in this world. It was one that Chuuya had gotten used to after fourteen years in this world, but it still didn't fully feel like his. "What.....why are you here?"
Chuuya pulled on one of Kaeya's arms, careful to avoid any burns he could see as he hooked it over his shoulder and pulled him into a standing position. Because Kaeya was so much taller than him, it was a little bit awkward, but he didn't think there was any way that Kaeya would be able to walk on his own. "My brothers are being idiots, where else should I be?"
"Don't...don't you hate me? I'm a spy for Khaenri'ah." Kaeya's voice sounded so broken, that Chuuya felt a strong desire to personally go hunt down his birth father and pound him into the dirt. If there was something that Chuuya hated more than anything, it was people who tried to use children as tools; had Kaeya's father ever even considered for a second the burden he was placing on a child's shoulder?
"How could I? You're my brother." He'd put up with years of Dazai's deliberate trouble-making and abuse without ever coming to fully hate him, there was no way he could come to hate Kaeya for something he'd been given no choice in.
"But.."
"But what?" Chuuya interrupted, before Kaeya could go on some tirade about how he should be hated. "I was only six when father found you, but I still remember how scared and skinny you looked. You were just a kid, you can hardly be held responsible for a task that was forced on you by adults."
Chuuya remembered everything about the night Kaeya had arrived clearly; it had been two years since he'd regained his memories of his previous life and while the fact that a six year old's brain wasn't fully developed had limited him some, he still had the benefit of being able to think like an adult for the most part. Kaeya had been soaked to the bone and clearly terrified when Crepus had brought him to the manor, he'd been constantly looking around and watching anyone who came near; not in the way a spy trying to gather information would, but like a child who wasn't sure he was safe.
Kaeya was silent for a moment, thinking over the words that Chuuya had said, and hopefully taking them to heart. "...Diluc hates me." He finally said, sounding close to tears. Chuuya didn't blame him, he and Diluc had been close enough that someone who didn't now them might mistake the two of them as twins, the way Diluc had reacted to Kaeya's confession had to be tearing him apart.
"Diluc doesn't hate you, he's just grieving. I'll be honest Kaeya, you picked a really bad time to come clean."
"You're grieving too, but you're handling it pretty well." Kayea pointed out, much to Chuuya's annoyance, he'd just had to pick up on something that was rather hard for Chuuya to explain. As much as Chuuya mourned for Crepus, for the first father he'd ever had, the fact was that unlike Diluc he was no stranger to loss. Time and time again he'd lost people dear to him in his original world, and while it never stopped hurting, he'd learned to deal with the grief without drowning in it.
The only person Diluc had lost before today was his mother; he'd only been four at the time though and she'd died of sickness, not in a fight. It was clear he was already struggling to deal with his father's death, and Kaeya's revelation had been the final straw needed to make him lose it. Chuuya couldn't say any of that to Kaeya, not without revealing he was someone who'd been reborn, and that was not a conversation he ever planned to have.
"I wasn't there when father died." Chuuya finally settled on as an excuse, "Diluc wasn't strong enough to defeat Ursa, and he ended up having to put father out of his misery. He's living with the guilt of believing father's death was his fault."
Kaeya stumbled slightly, though whether it was because of what Chuuya had said or due to his injuries was uncertain, and Chuuya shot him a worried look. "Do you want me to just carry you?" He asked, earning a horrified look from Kaeya.
"Let me keep some of my dignity." He pleaded, making Chuuya snort in laughter.
"Fine." He agreed, though he shifted himself slightly so that Kaeya was leaning more of his weight on him. The body he was in currently might only be fourteen years old, but it was still just as strong as his original one had been. "Just give it time Kaeya, Diluc will come around eventually, he just needs a little bit of time to deal with things. For now let's just focus on getting your injuries taken care of, are you okay with me taking you to Jean?"
The burns on Kaeya looked bad, and Chuuya didn't want to risk them getting infected. He was sure Diluc was already going to be horrified with himself once he fully came to his senses, Chuuya didn't want to add anymore guilt onto his back, nor did he want Kaeya to suffer anymore then he already was.
"Not Jean." Kaeya protested, sounding close to passing out. If he did, Chuuya decided he'd carry him regardless of his desire to retain dignity; he wasn't going to try to drag Kaeya's body all the way to the manor. "She'll ask too many questions, I can't...I can't tell her."
"Not Jean then." Chuuya quickly agreed, not wanting to take any chances that Kaeya would work himself up into a panic. "Looks like it'll be up to me then, you're going to owe me so much for this."
Thankfully he had plenty of experience patching up people's wounds, and to think people had once said that having been part of the mafia wouldn't do him any favors in the future.
"Hey Callen?" Kaeya said, as the two of them continued down the path back to the manor.
"Hmm?"
"Thanks."