Title: Green Dye
Pairings: None
Summary: Sometimes it's the smallest things that make us realize we still could have hope. And sometimes those things happened years ago. (Kid!Hanzo and kid!Genji featured)
"GENJI-KUN! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Hanzo yelled out as he pushed his way through the crowded street outside the arcade. Genji had badgered him all morning about going. He had relented eventually, finally giving into his little brother's irresistible charms. Not that he would ever tell him of course, Hanzo had appearances to maintain.
He brushed one of his two long bangs away from his eyes as he scanned the crowds for his eleven year old brother. Hanzo wasn't sure where the boy had gone, but he had already scoured the arcade, all three or four levels and the smaller child was just gone.
Hanzo yelped a bit as he was roughly pushed aside by some man in a hurry, spinning a bit in the midst of the crowd, catching himself with a rattled breath. His senses brought the world to a crawl as he began to panic as he was not able to find his brother. Where did Genji go, how had he vanished, did someone get him?
Shivering as ghostly touches spread up his body, Hanzo's brain was wracked with flashbacks of his own kidnapping less than a year ago. Rival clans were out to get the two heirs and they had almost succeeded. His father had saved him before anything could happen to him- Hanzo had just spent a few hours bound and gagged, roughly tossed about a few cars in the escape attempt -but what if Genji had already been grabbed!
Trying to steady his breathing as he began to hyperventilate, Hanzo's voice let loose a little whimper as his brain flashed images of the horrors the other yakuza could be doing to his baby brother. He'd failed, he'd lost track of him, what would father say, what could they do-
"Hey there kiddo, you alright?" A voice floated down to him. Hanzo snapped out of his panic attack suddenly, absentmindedly shifting into a stance, arm flying out at the sound of the voice as he registered the voice as a threat in his panicked state.
A soft thump and small flash of pain greeted his fist as it was caught by the stranger, who let out a chuckle. "Well well, very good form kid- sorry, you look like a young man actually. I know how you youngsters can get about being called children," the man laughed.
Hanzo glanced up at his face, a foot or so above him. Sharp and angular, the man's hair was shaven so it formed an undercut, the top of his hair flopping onto the left side of his head. He had a sharply trimmed beard, wearing a pair of jeans, a duster-style coat swirling to the man's ankles and a satchel slung over his side.
"Thank you Stranger-san, I was…." Hanzo looked for the right word as he fervently looked around still for his baby brother, "not in a good frame of mind."
The man laughed, "No need for the formalities Hanzo-chan. I assume your looking for the little boy who was runninga round earlier?" He said stretching before turning to walk away, "Follow me, the rascal ran off this way."
Hanzo gasped and ran to catch up with the man, eyes narrowing though as he realized the man knew his name, "Where is Genji-kun?" The man hummed- Hanzo was very wary now, the man looked familiar though he couldn't place why. He would need to be cautious.
"He's such an enthusiastic kid you know? Tons of people running around here, yet he could be made out as clear as day, swerving amongst people in that ninja outfit of his." The man laughed at that comment, "A really bad ninja actually when I put it like that!"
Hanzo mentally chuckled a bit too before berating himself- his brother had been that easy to spot and now this man was leading him to Genji. This seemed too suspicious. The man looked at him with a knowing look- could he sense what he was thinking? "You're a good big brother. I remember when I was younger, my brother and I didn't get along anywhere near as well as you two do."
The man seemed to have gone off into his own world for a moment like Hanzo did earlier. "Jealous I guess. I'm not sure. He was always the serious one, angry all the time and quick to get into fights. I was indifferent to him back then, and it let his rage build, maybe made it worse." The Stranger sighed before stopping suddenly in front of a hair salon and entering.
The young boy paused with a frown but quickly followed, curious as to why they were entering a hair salon of all places. "Hey Isabella-chan, Genji no kimi!"
Hanzo's head bolted to the back of the salon where a middle-aged European woman stood helping a much younger person. "GENJI!" He practically ran to him as he flew over to where his younger brother. Hanzo almost threw himself onto his brother, wanting to cry and hug him, but restrained himself as it would not be proper, not noticing the sad look that gave the stranger.
Genji was laying down, having something done to his hair but his eyes widened happily and if it weren't for the wo- for Isabella-san's intervention, Genji would have been up in a flash and have thrown himself into his brother's arms, "Nii-chan! Hanzo-nii , look what they're doing!" He squealed happily and full of energy, earning a chuckle from the woman.
Before he let himself get pulled away by his brother's energy, the older brother fumed a bit, "Look what they're doing?! You scared me Genji-kun, you ran and disappeared and I was worried about you, and you weren't anywhere in the street and you didn't tell me you would be here!"
His younger brother had the sensibility to look a bit sheepish at that fact being mentioned, "I'm sorry, niichan, but at least Uncle Daichi was able to find you right?" He said brightly as the stranger's face clicked in Hanzo's young head.
He whirled around but his uncle was gone. The man had been exiled when they were young and they'd never seen him before. What the man had been doing here, Hanzo could only guess. Wait. What was Genji getting done to himself?!
Hanzo's gaze flew to the woman and she shrugged, "He wanted mint green hair, so I'm coloring it."
Hanzo stared at her. Isabella stared right back as Genji giggled, "We broke niichan!"
He practically squealed internally at his baby brother's laugh but schooled his features into one of outrage (though he could tell Isabella saw through it somehow) as he turned to Genji, "GENJI-KUN! GREEN?! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT FATHER WILL SAY?!"
Above, on the roof Daichi and the head of the boys' security detail shared a chuckle as they listened to the two brother's (unknowingly) very loud interactions. "Thanks for this."
The agents waved him off, "Anything for an old friend. Just don't be caught." He teased as the ex-Shimada smirked back and gave the man a wink.
"No promises."
Hanzo wasn't sure what it was that got him thinking about that time. Maybe it was the fact that he had seen Genji again so recently, back at the old house and near the old arcade… Or maybe it was the the boy running through the snow desperately, stumbling a bit as the wind buffeted him, "HADRIAN! HARRY, WHERE'D YOU GO!"
The young brown haired boy stumbled in the snow drift, falling to his knees. Hanzo wasn't sure why he saw himself again, saw his young self in someone for the first time in years. Was it the fact he knew his brother was alive, even if horribly disfigured, unlike how he used to beleive he had murdered him? Was he letting go? Learning to move on and forgive himself... as Genji had apparently already done?
He snorted mentally, but began moving to the child, who sat among the snow now with his beanie clutched between his gloved fingers as he cried. Perhaps he was too late to be a big brother again for the most important person in his life.
But as he helped the crying boy to his feet, a spark reignited in him. So had his Uncle, exiled like himself, roaming the world. As Hanzo helped reunite the brothers, getting pulled into an arcade the two had been had heading to before they had bee separated, he smiled. Maybe Genji hadn't been wrong that, no matter how little Hanzo had ever believed it, there was in fact still hope for him.
