It was late morning and they were all gathered back in the shabby apartment. Hanzo, to his credit, looked brushed and clean and like he hadn't spent most of the night keeping the local distillery in business. He had a collected, business-like pride to his walk as he paced the room.
"I understand the situation has changed somewhat, with the arrival of this extremist omnic group on the scene. You are obviously keen to hunt down such a group, but my part here is to follow the leads of the remaining omnic artefacts stolen from my castle. Given that we have no more forthcoming information on the whereabouts of this Nullsector group-"
"Couldn't you ask Mr Sasaki?" Genji put in, "he knows you're looking for these parts and that he owns them wrongly."
Hanzo tutted,
"Hardly. Since you shot up his tower and business partner, and stole the only actual piece of merchandise we can pin to him, there is little more we will be able to get from him. Not to mention the delicate situation this places us in with regard to the Yaushiro more generally. It is a very tentative peace, and I imagine Blackwatch does not want to get dragged into a war with the Yakuza."
"You imagine correctly," Reyes said.
Hanzo pondered for a moment,
"Who else was in the meeting with you?" he asked Genji.
"The meeting? Which meeting? There was only me and Jesse when we met Mr Sasaki, then later there was also N-294 – the omnic – I mean."
"What about the second signature I saw on infra-red. Omnics don't show up on that. Someone else was in the initial meeting Mr Sasaki was having before you arrived."
"Before I arrived?" Genji repeated a little testily, "well, how am I meant to know about that?"
"Hanzo's right," Reyes murmured, he was scratching his beard in thought. "There was a second heat signature. Someone who came upstairs with Mr Sasaki…"
"That entire level was floor-to-ceiling glass walls," Ana put in, she'd had a good view of it through her scope, "you must have seen the second person walk right past you."
"I don't… recall anything like that," Genji was beginning to feel incompetent, "Jesse?"
Jesse's face looked like it was going through the gradual phases of evolution all in a matter of seconds. He arrived at a picture of epiphany.
"I ain't got a clue," he said, "but I think I might know how we can find out."
Ten minutes later, they were all crowded round the computer desk. All except Genji, who was sitting a tactical way off, dying of embarrassment.
"We… we can fast forward through this bit," Jesse urged, finger going to the mobile phone he'd hooked up to the holoscreens. The video he'd taken in the Yaushiro tower looked very big on the holoscreen.
"Leave it," Reyes said, "we don't want to miss anything."
"We could turn the sound off at least," Jesse said urgently as a throbbing bass beat lit up the speakers.
"Listen for footsteps, could be our only cue as to when and what we're looking for," Ana put in.
The phone camera was focussed on the floor and gradually swung up until its view was full of bristly beard.
"I uh – always get the little reverse camera thing on the wrong setting at first," McCree whispered in his defence. Ana hushed him as the camera flipped. Genji gave a long slow release of air from his seat on the floor. The video showed Genji Shimada in a sharp suit with his cybernetic lights winking in time to the music. His shoulders shuffled and his arms moved fluid to the music, while his head moved back and forth like a cool, controlled pigeon.
Ana raised an eyebrow,
"Interesting."
Hanzo's lips pursed, his eyes scanned the background of the camera. McCree hadn't kept his phone very still. The image got even more blurry as Jesse received a glass from the waiter.
"That was for my cover, Boss," McCree hurried to explain, "I wasn't drinkin' on the job or anythin'."
The camera refocussed slightly on Genji's smooth dance moves. Hanzo let out an audible noise of exasperation. Real Genji buried his head deeper into his hands.
"Ok the bit where Mr Sasaki comes in is coming any minute," Jesse put in, "any minute."
"Not bad," camera Jesse said, voice loud and clipping over the close microphone, "I mean I'd take a shot o' whiskey over it any day, but all things considered this ain't half bad."
"You've unlocked possible conversation option one with my brother," camera Genji said back to camera Jesse.
"Yeah, pass," camera Jesse said, but real Jesse jumped in,
"I actually just remembered where this conversation goes, and it gets kinda rude so maybe we should-"
"Quiet," Reyes snapped, eyes fixed on the glass corridor in the background of the video, where a figure was just coming into view.
"...hundreds o' kinds of sake an' he knows them all an' if you say you like the wrong one he'll give you that look like-" camera Jesse continued on to his inevitable conclusion, "Insolent cur!" he finished, in an impression good enough to be clearly identifiable as Hanzo.
Real Jesse's face drained of all colour.
Camera Genji was laughing and leaning on the fountain. Mr Sasaki was approaching him from behind. Another figure continued on down the glass corridor behind them and vanished.
"Mr Shimada, you are enjoying my hospitality as usual, I see," Sasaki said. The picture tilted down, there was a crackle of sound and Jesse's clumsy fingers came into view. Then the video ended.
"Really sorry about that," Jesse said sheepishly to Hanzo, "I didn't mean anything by it, just-"
"Akemi," Hanzo interrupted sharply, "the other man in the meeting was Akemi. He's one of mine. And he's been directing much of the theft of my artefacts. It appears he's in deeper in this conspiracy than I first assumed. The answers we wish to find lie with him. I will go and see if I can get a location on him." Hanzo left.
"Oh fuck." Jesse pulled his hand slowly down his face. "How deep in the shit am I?" he turned to Genji.
"Pretty deep," Genji's face was still shades of embarrassment.
Reyes sat back in his chair,
"Highly unprofessional, but in this instance, it got the job done. Good work, boys."
Ana gave a slightly disapproving follow-up look, but didn't add anything further.
Genji and Jesse were sitting on the rooftop balcony of the block watching the grey sky move into the dim shades of later evening. Hanzo hadn't returned yet, and there was little to do until he regrouped with them. Reyes opened the steel balcony door in time to see Genji toss a shuriken into the air and McCree shoot the thing out of the air with his revolver. His expression turned thundercloud black.
"Oh… haha, hi, Boss. Didn't see ya there," Jesse winced.
"Do you know how loud a fucking revolver is, Jesse McCree?"
"Yep, yep. But we're really high up, Boss, and-"
"If the neighbour below calls the police because they can hear shots fired?"
Jesse looked sheepish. Genji was grinning next to him.
"Don't think you're off the hook either, Shimada." Reyes turned his furious eyebrows on him.
"I only threw shuriken, Commander. No one can hear those."
"No but they can feel them once they hit terminal velocity and come through the top of their skull when dropped from god-knows how many floors. Did no one here take an exam in school?"
"In science?"
"In common sense," Reyes gave a growl of frustration. He brought his phone out of his pocket and beckoned to Genji. Genji got up warily, not sure if this was still part of the lecture. "I got a message from your brother. He's given us a location to check out but advises waiting for him before going in. He's been contacted by some… Yakuza boss, and has to go to a meeting this evening to smooth things over."
"He what?" Genji was immediately sober, "he's been summoned by the Oyabun?"
"Oyabun? Yeah, that's what it says here." He showed Genji the message. Genji's eyebrows knitted into a frown. "Is that bad?" Reyes asked.
"Probably. Is he going with anyone? He's not going on his own is he?"
Reyes shrugged,
"Your guess is as good as mine."
There was a pause. Genji drew in a breath.
"I want to go with him."
"Nope," Reyes stowed his phone, "not if it's dangerous. He's expendable. You're not."
Genji's eyes flashed,
"He's my brother."
"And I'm your commander. Deal with it." Reyes pulled open the door to the stairwell.
Genji hurried after him,
"Wait, Commander: he stands a much better chance of coming out of all this well if I go with him. And the only reason he's in this trouble is because we've put him up to it."
Reyes ignored him.
"Commander, please. I'm good at talking to people, I know you won't believe me, but honestly I am. I can make the problems between the Shimada and the rest of Akita go away, I know I can."
Reyes finally stopped part way down a staircase and looked at him,
"Why do you want this? After everything we talked about last night-"
"I was in a bad mood. You know how it is – it comes and goes. Anyway, this is good for the mission – it'll get us back on track quickest if I go with him. Can I go, Commander? Please?"
Reyes put a hand over his face, and gave a long puff of air,
"Only if you take McCree with you."
"To meet the Oyabun? I… don't think that's a good idea."
"You said Japanese like foreign guests."
"Well, yes, we do, but not in our most private business meetings… It'll be awkward enough that I turn up when it's just Hanzo that's been summoned."
"I don't want you on your own. Not with your shady brother, and not with shady crime bosses."
Genji was warmed by that. He gave a slight smile, hoping it was conveyed through the mask,
"I've been around my shady brother and shady crime bosses all my life, Commander."
"And you nearly lost it because of them," Reyes snapped.
Genji shrunk away. His eyes lowered. Reyes looked at the dejected picture. He gave another sigh.
"Alright. Alright. Go. Join him. But be careful, ok? And remember you don't owe this guy a goddamn thing."
Genji beamed,
"Thank-you. I won't let you down." Genji vaulted over the edge of the railings and dropped down, taking Reyes' breath and several years off his life with him.
"Genji!" Reyes snarled, putting a hand to his pounding chest as he looked over the railing and into the stairwell.
Genji was perched on the railings several floors below, he gave a thumbs up and called,
"All good, Commander!"
Genji was following the red blip in front of his eyes. The commander had run a trace on Hanzo's phone and sent the signal to Genji's head. Genji could follow the tracking beacon in real time over his vision. He dimmed the electronic overlay a little. As he did, he caught sight of the now customary clock and download in small glowing digits.
17:02 Download at 48.87%
It was getting dark, and the city was so busy and full of bright moving lights, that Genji found he remained relatively unnoticed even when he chose the most direct route to follow the blip on his vision. That involved going in a straight line, so when Genji hit a building, he simply scaled it. It might have been quicker to take a guess at the final location Hanzo was aiming for and plot a route that took him there via road, but where was the fun in that? He'd been given some of the most advanced cyber upgrades on the planet and could run up vertical walls: there was no way he was going to walk or take a taxi when he could freehand climb skyscrapers.
He took a moment out to pause. The air was cool and the sky was a long clear deep blue, just tipped with the thickening purples of evening. The city was a map of winking light beneath him. The wind ruffled his hair and chilled his exposed skin. The drop beneath him was sheer and vertical, like it had been at Almaty Tower. Except this was here – now – in his home city. When he breathed in he could smell the city – its rich aromas from open air street food stalls, the balmy herbal odours of burning biofuel, and that slightly damp after-rain smell still clinging to the air. There were precious few moments where he felt alive, and thankful, and flood of relief that he was able to do this again – breathe, move, walk, let alone the more incredible things Overwatch had restored to him and enhanced. For all the things he was confused about and dreaded in his new body, there had been nothing more hopeless, more soul-destroying, than to be lying helpless, unable to move, unable to eat, unable to speak, unable to feel anything but pain. And after all the opiates set in, that overwhelming feeling of absence. All the little nerves that should have been sending him signals – his fingers on the bed sheet, his weight on the mattress, his legs beneath the thin blanket – nothing. And his vision blurred and double, filled with tubes and wires and massive equipment and lifesupport all working overtime to keep him functioning. His fixed view filled with the beep of machinery the gurgle of liquids being pumped, the continual heart monitor, the rasp of the makeshift ventilator. And Doctor Ziegler, calm and composed, gentle and compassionate throughout the whole ordeal, her voice meandering to him between the artificial sounds pulsating around him. She'd seen the fragmented thing he'd become and had seen only potential and places for healing. Genji could never separate the image of her face in his mind from the ethereal, angelic work that had brought him back from the brink of death. He was fairly certain everyone in Overwatch was at least a little in love with the doctor.
The red blip on his vision took him through back streets, up walls, over the roof of a Family Mart and the parking lot of a 7-11, up and over a number of apartment blocks, until finally it slowed before a high end bathhouse. Genji groaned. There was going to be so much humidity in there that his augmentations were already itching in forewarning.
He was stopped at the entrance by two large men in suits, with biceps so big they looked they might pop the seems of their jackets. They were a lot taller than Genji too. They didn't say anything, content merely to shake their heads and point him away.
"I'm Shimada Genji," he explained. "The head of the Shimada clan is in there." And for good measure: "he summoned me here, go ask him."
Moments later he was being shown into a wooden waiting room, thick with waxy leaved plants and low comfortable bamboo seating.
"I did not summon you here."
It took Genji a moment to spy his brother in the dim light and in amidst the foliage.
Hanzo was reclining in a corner, ever present cup of sake in hand. He was in full traditional attire – a black and gold kimono sashed with blue.
"You need to leave." Hanzo didn't move from his seat, nor did he sound particularly annoyed. Genji could see other things in his posture. There was a slight tenseness to the grip on his cup, betraying his anxiety.
"I've come to help." Genji sat down next to his brother and pulled off a bag he'd bound to him for safekeeping in his energetic approach. "I thought you might be dressed up all fancy, so I brought this." He unzipped the bag and drew out a black kimono bordered in forest green and hakama to match. "I can help with this meeting, you know I can. Don't try and stop me."
Hanzo glanced at the clothes and let out a huff. His eyebrows went to their customary frown, but Genji could see tension elsewhere leave him.
Hanzo sipped his sake,
"You've never been particularly good at polite conversation in front of your superiors, Genji."
"But I am good at making people feel comfortable, smoothing over problems, and getting everyone on the same side. If you do the formalities, couldn't I do the bit where we reassure everyone we don't want a clan war? I'm guessing that's what this is about."
"And when they ask where you've been? And what's happened to you?"
Genji started, caught off guard.
"Then… I'll tell them I've been away in America. Studying. And that I picked up a couple of augmentations while I was over there. Someone's been telling people that anyway."
"What were you studying?"
"Huh?"
"In America. What were you studying?"
"Hanzo, I don't think they're going to grill me."
"Answer the question."
"Um. English? My English has got a lot better."
"Good. Follow my lead when we're inside. Don't do anything outrageous. And leave Blackwatch and Overwatch out of this."
"Of course." Genji could feel warmth blooming in his chest. He could count the times on his fingers that Hanzo had said something positive to him and let him join in with something uninvited. It still never failed to make him feel excited and somehow validated.
"You going to put that on?" Hanzo nodded to fine clothes Genji had brought with him. Genji's excitement faded.
"Yeah. Unless you think we'll be in the baths anyway, so maybe I don't need t-"
"I think the Oyabun will expected us to approach fully clothed, Genji," Hanzo couldn't quite remove the testiness from his voice, "if there is bathing to follow then we follow protocol accordingly."
"Yes, of course." Genji looked back at the clothes. They looked neat, and formal, and very not Genji. "Will… will you help me put them on?" Genji kept his eyes averted as he asked this. When he didn't receive an answer he glanced up anxiously. He was surprised to see an equally anxious look in Hanzo's eye.
"If that is what you wish," Hanzo said carefully.
Genji nodded, then stood silently.
Hanzo unfolded the kimono and brushed out the folds. He held it up and Genji slipped his arms in. Hanzo could immediately see his brother's agitation as the cloth struggled to sit over the external wiring. He waited patiently.
Genji reached for the wakizashi at his side. His heart was beating hard. He offered the short sword to Hanzo.
Hanzo received it with two hands and bowed slightly as he took it. He drew the blade from its sheath. He could see Genji struggling not to flinch away from the sound. Torments and guilt stormed through Hanzo as he watched the fear in his own brother's body language, and the difficulty with which he kept his back to Hanzo. Hanzo remained externally calm, waiting until Genji was more relaxed before making clean quick incisions in the material for the auxiliary tubing and wires to feed through. The cuts were much neater than those McCree had made, but Hanzo didn't miss the flinch that accompanied every slice through the fabric.
When he was done, Hanzo resheathed the wakizashi and bowed slightly as he offered it back to his brother. Genji took it and laid it down next to his katana beside him. He pulled on the hakama and tied them roughly, they would be mostly hidden anyway by the kimono. Hanzo came round in front and knelt one knee. He pulled one length of the kimono firmly over the other. Smoothing out the creases. He held the fabric in place with one hand and held out his other expectantly. Genji passed him the green sash. Hanzo wrapped it tight about his middle, tying it off with a finesse Genji had never quite managed to perfect, though not for lack of trying. Once he was done, Hanzo stood.
Genji looked down, barely recognising himself. He felt different. With all the loose clothing on, he couldn't see any of his cybernetic parts. He looked almost human again.
"Thank-you," he mumbled.
Hanzo bowed his head in response.
Genji looked at his brother. No matter what the circumstance, Hanzo always seemed to look his best and be groomed for any occasion. Genji wondered if he secretly carried a mirror round with him. He hoped he didn't look too much of a mess next to him. Genji touched his face and came upon the metal of his mask. He felt around it for what was visible.
"Is my hair ok?" he asked.
Hanzo glanced up at him, then frowned.
"Hmph. I don't remember you being this tall. Did that doctor make you taller?"
"No, I'm the same height as I was before."
"I'm sure you were shorter than me."
"Yeah, when I was fifteen, Hanzo. You just always wear those metal boot things that give you an inch or two."
"Hmm..." Hanzo gestured to a seat and Genji sat. Hanzo put out a hesitant hand and placed a finger against the steel holding his brother's face together. He could see the uncertainty in Genji's eyes, like he was afraid of what Hanzo might think of him. Hanzo still found it impossible that Genji could possibly care what he thought, could possibly feel ashamed for his appearance when everything about it was Hanzo's fault and Hanzo's doing. He tilted Genji's face away slightly so that he could see his hair better.
"I mean, apart from the fact it's not green, it looks the same as normal – like it hasn't seen a brush in years and is sticking up at every angle known to mankind."
"Oh. Stylish, then," Genji corrected.
Hanzo looked at him through hooded eyes. Genji gave him a mischievous grin. And for a second it lightened Hanzo's heart, and it was like he had his little brother back, and nothing had happened between them, and nothing would ever shake that bright spark of admiration behind Genji's eyes whenever he looked up at Hanzo. Then he remembered the way those same eyes had looked at him as he drew his bow: the confusion, slowly changing through dismay and betrayal, until it hit that special kind of fear that somehow conveyed both Genji's terror at what was about to happen and that utter brokenness at having failed to meet Hanzo's standards. Even as Hanzo's had raised his weapon against him, one of Genji's last thoughts had been that he wasn't good enough, and that hurt Hanzo almost more than anything else. Because Genji had never failed his standards, only the strict standards of the clan they'd grown up in. And no matter how irritating or frustrating Genji could be, he was still his little brother who he would have fought the world for. Should have fought the world for. Hanzo turned away.
Genji's eyes followed the movement. He wondered if just looking at his scarred and plated face was enough to disappoint Hanzo. He ran his fingers back through his hair, nervously trying to flatten it a little.
Hanzo noticed the movement and turned back. A small sigh escaped him when he realised Genji was still misreading his actions and worried about his opinion. He rested a hand on Genji's hand, stopping the anxious action.
"It's fine," he said, "let it be."
Genji's brow flickered uncertainly. Just this once he wanted to try and get right all of the things Hanzo expected of him. He wanted to look smart, and be polite, and be savvy and aware, and say the right things to keep his clan in good graces. He wanted to prove that he could be all those things he was sentenced to death for not being good enough at.
A man in a suit approached them.
"Master Shimada? The Oyabun invites you to join him."
Hanzo breathed out slowly and nodded. He beckoned for Genji to follow him.
They followed the man through a heavy door. The air beyond was hot and humid. Genji immediately felt a faint itching along all his scar lines. He twitched his organic shoulder, trying to loosen up the aching. Hanzo flicked him a faint frown. Genji immediately stilled, forcing himself to endure the irritation stoicly. The floor beneath his feet was slatted bamboo raised above dark stone. Through a haze of heat he could see round, hot, communal baths, with seats lying just below their surface. The baths were relatively empty, but a couple of people passed quiet conversation to one another, enjoying the heat and the water. Waxy leafed tropical plants formed screens between the different baths, lending the place the feel of a controlled jungle.
They were led to a large bath where two men sat, chatting amiably. The faint sound of a koto being plucked wound dissonant harmonies through the otherwise hushed bathhouse. The hot humid air, the itching, the ethereal music, and the prospect of the formalities before him were all giving Genji second thoughts. He followed Hanzo's lead in bowing low, then kneeling at the side of the bath. Genji's eyes narrowed when he saw who one of the men was: Mr Sasaki, the head of the Yaushiro Clan. Beside him was an older man, with a full tufted white beard, and receding dark hair shot through with grey upon his head. A large faded blue tattoo covered his chest and wound over his shoulders. Genji had never met the Oyabun before. Various family members throughout the years had (probably wisely) decided it was not appropriate. He was very aware now of how the man's gaze settled upon him.
"Thank-you for coming, Mr Shimada," the man said, with a voice that was deep and used to ordering people around, "and can I assume this is the young Shimada Genji I have heard so much about?"
Genji shifted slightly and glanced at Hanzo, unsure if it was his place to answer.
"Thank-you for your invitation, Master Satake. This is indeed my brother. He was keen to be a part of this meeting, I hope you will not begrudge his presence," Hanzo spoke carefully.
"Not at all," the Oyabun, Master Satake, replied. He smiled, but to Genji it looked like the kind of smile a wolf might give a small mammal caught between its paws.
"It is customary remove all masks when in the presence of the Oyabun," the suited man who had led them into the bathhouse said. Genji realised now that he was still present, and part of a line of three men standing silently and ominously in the background, behind the Yakuza boss.
"We ask your forgiveness," Hanzo bowed to the ground. Genji blinked, then hastily followed suit. "My brother has a health condition that requires the mask to remain in place."
Yeah, the health condition is you broke my jaw and crushed my throat. Genji's thoughts snapped loud through the quiet, stiff, formal atmosphere. His mind always wandered when he was meant to be in these kinds of meetings. Stay focussed. Stay focussed for Hanzo. Don't fuck this up. This one time, be the person he doesn't think you can be.
"The mask is a part of his breathing apparatus," Hanzo finished.
Mr Sasaki's face fell into a frown, this was clearly news to him.
"I'm sorry to hear that," the Oyabun said sincerely, "I had not heard anything of a condition befalling the younger Shimada brother." There was something slightly accusatory about that sentence. Genji couldn't quite put his finger on it, but this was all Hanzo's territory anyway – veiled insults and prising information out of people through a series of polite formal exchanges.
"There were many things concerning my brother that the Shimada saw fit to keep from public knowledge," Hanzo replied.
No shit, Genji thought, then tried to school his mind to stay focussed.
"Well, I am glad you are able to join us." The Oyabun looked at Genji as he said this. Hanzo slowly raised himself so that he was kneeling again. Genji copied him. "This matter does, I believe, concern Shimada Genji," the Oyabun continued, "it was he that was present at the time of the incident that Mr Sasaki was just speaking of."
"Genji was tangentially involved. But he was following my orders."
"So this thing was done with your complicity, Mr Shimada?"
"Of course."
There was something unreal about hearing Hanzo defend him in public. It was doing wonders for Genji's ragged self esteem.
The Oyabun paused in thought. There was a long moment of quiet, filled only by the winding polyphony of the koto meandering in the background.
"Will you join us?" The Oyabun gestured to the bath, "your brother is most welcome also."
Hanzo tilted his head in agreement. It wasn't really the kind of request one could refuse. The brothers left in order to change. As soon as they were in the privacy of a changing room, Genji turned to Hanzo.
"Is this a good idea? Am I allowed? Will they think I'm dirtying the water because I'm…" He trailed off anxiously.
"You were invited," Hanzo said simply, unwinding the sash from his middle.
"But you just helped me get dressed," Genji gave a nervous laugh, "and with these clothes on they might think that I'm…" He didn't say 'normal', but they could both hear it in the silence. "What if they-"
"There is nothing they can say against you that will not be extremely rude at this stage," Hanzo assured him.
"I don't want them to see that I'm just a tiny bit of a person." There was a hard stubborn edge to Genji's voice that Hanzo recognised all too well.
"How could you not think this might be an issue when the meeting was in a bathhouse?" Hanzo tried to keep the impatience in his voice to a minimum, "and a moment ago you were complaining at having to wear clothes. Which is it?"
"I can be inconsistent if I want," Genji said defensively. "I want to sit by the edge and watch. Please can you make it so that that's ok? You always know what to say, and you always-"
"Flattery will get you nowhere."
"It's not flattery, it's true! Hanzo, please-"
"Alright!" Hanzo cut in, "but remember if you're sitting nearby, you're not in the conversation. You cannot just butt in. You must be invited to speak before you speak. At all other times you remain silent, understood?"
Genji nodded quickly. Hanzo looped a towel about his waist once he'd shrugged out of his clothes and folded them neatly. He untied his hair, shaking it free, then rebound it tightly so that no stray hairs fell about his face. Genji waited whilst Hanzo went and washed himself in a stone room off to the side, then followed in his shadow as he returned to the steamy bathhouse. Hanzo walked between the pools, blue dragon tattoo on full display. The few people they passed on the way glanced anxiously at the tattoo. Some looked away, a couple even left.
When they returned to the Oyabun, Hanzo took off his towel and handed it to Genji. He descended slowly into the hot water. Genji sat cross-legged on the side, a little to Hanzo's left. He folded his brother's towel and laid it on his lap.
When Hanzo was seated, he spoke to the Oyabun.
"It is best for my brother's condition if he does not join us in bathing. If it suits you, I can ask him to leave and give us some privacy."
"Please," the Oyabun gestured graciously, "whatever makes you comfortable."
Genji's shoulders relaxed a little, although he noticed Hanzo's did not.
"Now," the Oyabun settled more comfortably into the hot water, resting his elbows on the side and stretching his legs, "Mr Sasaki tells me that the Shimada murdered a business partner he was settling a deal with, before making off with the merchandise in question. Perhaps you can shed a little light on this, Mr Shimada."
Hanzo let his skin soak in the water for a moment, turning the request over in his mind while he gathered himself. Genji watched him, he could never understand how Hanzo remained so calm in appearance whilst such large accusations and difficulties were on the line.
"Did Mr Sasaki, mention the nature of the transaction that the Shimada interrupted, or perhaps where he acquired the merchandise?"
Mr Sasaki quickly put in an answer to that,
"I explained to Master Satake that as far as I was aware, I purchased the merchandise from a ranking member of the Shimada, and assumed he had his Kumichō's permission to do so. Was it wrong of me to assume that the Shimada were in control of their own clan?" Mr Sasaki deftly turned his response into an insult. Hanzo's eyes narrowed at him.
"Those within my clan who acted without my permission will be dealt with," Hanzo said stiffly, "and whilst I of course don't hold the Yaushiro responsible for the original transaction, I do wonder why you thought it proper to continue your business when it so clearly violated the friendship our clans share."
The Oyabun raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at Mr Sasaki. Mr Sasaki spluttered a little under the attention,
"I was settling a deal at that very moment with a client! Was I supposed to give an influential client the cold shoulder, possibly ruining Yaushiro relations with them forever, just because the Shimada have some subordination problems they can't contain to their clan?!"
Hanzo's eyes flashed dangerously,
"You were if you expected to maintain good relations with the Shimada, or does belonging to one family under the Kubota mean nothing to you?"
Mr Sasaki blushed. It would be hard to make a comeback to that without implying that Yaushiro did not care for the Oyabun's leadership.
"Master Satake," Mr Sasake bowed his head as low as he could without touching the water as he spoke to the Oyabun, "the family of course means everything to the Yaushiro. And we of course would have tried to even matters out with the Shimada, but we must object to the Shimada's heavy handed methods. Disrupting a business meeting? Killing my client? And then there's the matter of the merchandise having been stolen without so much as recompense!"
"Was one-hundred-and-forty-five million yen not recompense enough?"
That was Genji.
All eyes turned on him. Hanzo's face was a thinly veiled mask of fury at Genji's choice to speak unaddressed.
"My brother apologises for speaking out of turn. He is young and has trouble leaving his immaturity behind him," Hanzo said, bowing to the Oyabun. Hethen turned his head and fixed Genji with a look that made Genji shiver. Genji followed suit and bowed low.
"Hmm," the Oyabun glossed over the offence, "what's this about a large some of money?" He turned to Mr Sasaki.
"Ah," Mr Sasaki looked sheepish, clearly hoping Genji's intervention was going to be ignored, "young Mr Genji is referring to some gambling debts. On the night in question, he lost a large sum gambling in Yaushiro arcades. I did not mention it before, as he was keen for his Kumichō not to find out. I suppose he doesn't mind that detail being aired more publicly now, although if we're going to be completely honest about the matter, it should be pointed out that the exact amount Mr Genji lost was one-hundred-and-forty-five million, sixty-thousand-and-twenty-three yen, and that I waived sixty-thousand-and-twenty-three yen of the sum, since he could not pay it."
Hanzo turned slowly to stare at Genji. Genji's face went heated red. He'd forgotten he'd overspent even on the agreed amount. He really would have preferred that detail to remain private.
The Oyabun gave a slight chuckle, clearly amused by Genji's embarrassment and Hanzo's fury.
"It seems the Shimada lost much to the Yaushiro that night," the Oyabun was still amused, but now addressed Mr Sasaki again, "but it hardly seems appropriate to bring up a matter of recompense when so many of their resources slipped into Yaushiro hands, however unwillingly, that night. Or was the merchandise in question worth so much more than one-hundred-and-forty-five million?"
Hanzo gave a light scoff, closing off Mr Sasaki's opportunity to claim the Bastion turret had been worth anything close to that.
"Uh, well, it's not really the monetary loss that injures the Yaushiro," Mr Sasaki covered quickly, "so much as the insult at having a business partner murdered in our own home."
"That was self-defence," Genji inserted.
"Genji!" Hanzo reprimanded sharply.
"It is fine," the Oyabun put in, "let him continue."
Genji bowed his head to the Oyabun in thanks,
"Really, the insult was the Yaushiro's. Mr Sasaki invited me to his tower as a guest. I asked about the missing Shimada artefacts and he agreed to let me meet his business partner. His business partner proceeded to take out arms and fire at me. When I last looked, it was the host's prerogative to ensure the safety of his guests. So rightly, I'm the insulted one, not Mr Sasaki."
There was quiet. Genji was trying to read his brother's body language to see how his interruption was being handled. Hanzo was a closed book however: all Genji could see was that Hanzo was majorly irritated with him speaking before he was spoken to.
"Is this so, Mr Sasaki?" The Oyabun turned to the head of the Yaushiro. Mr Sasaki opened his mouth in a manner that looked like he might disagree with Genji. Genji decided he'd already put his foot in the polite conversation now, so he might as well make the most of it.
"Yep, it is," Genji interrupted again, "a mate of mine was there too, so if we want a witness or anything, I could always get him in." Genji could practically see the hair standing up on the back of Hanzo's neck at the impropriety. His words did the trick however, and Mr Sasaki had to open and shut his mouth a few times like a goldfish before he could think of anything to say.
"Now that… I recall, it did happen in a similar fashion to that described by Mr Genji."
The Oyabun frowned.
"I see." There was a pause. Then he rose from the bath, and held out a hand. A suited man stepped forth from the background and handed him a towel. The Oyabun wrapped the towel about him and stepped onto the side, "It seems to me like there is little more that needs resolving here, gentlemen. I am disappointed that two clans so dear to my heart would fight over such a trivial matter. Mr Shimada, it seems like this confusion stems from a lack of discipline in your clan. You are young, but we have come to expect great things of you. A mishap like this does not reflect well on your leadership. I suggest you get matters in hand before a more serious problem occurs."
Both Hanzo and Mr Sasaki glowered at that statement: Mr Sasaki because of the triviality made of his grievance, and Hanzo because even when he was secretly responsible for the collapse of his clan, it still hurt that someone called him incompetent.
"I apologise, Master Satake," Hanzo bowed his head, then said more ominously, "the Shimada Clan will not be making any more mistakes in future."
Genji had to repress a shiver. There was no way the others present could know the foreboding that statement promised.
The Oyabun departed with his entourage, leaving Hanzo, Genji and Mr Sasaki still at the bath. Genji gave Mr Sasaki a salute,
"Thought you were going to keep my secrets for me, Mr Sasaki?" Genji spoke more playfully now that the Oyabun was gone.
"Thought you were going to be less of a little prick, Genji," Mr Sasaki retorted.
Hanzo's eyes flashed in anger. Mr Sasaki noticed this and was immediately more reserved.
Genji merely laughed,
"I definitely never promised anything like that. Hope this doesn't mean I'm banned from your arcades," Genji grinned.
"It does," Hanzo said coldly. He extended a hand, demanding his towel. Genji passed it to him.
"Not by me leastwise," Mr Sasaki mused. "Shimada discipline and manners might not be what they were, but your cash is still up to standard."
"Have a care how you speak." Hanzo stepped out of the bath and looked down imperiously at Mr Sasaki as he spoke. "There are some other Shimada standards you might not care to test."
"Are you threatening me, Mr Shimada?" Mr Sasaki's voice was sharp.
"He's not," Genji insisted, "he's just like that. You know. It's his way of saying, good day, Mr Sasaki, we're really glad our families didn't fall out or feud this fine evening."
The hard lines in Mr Sasaki's face receded and he shook his head slightly.
Minutes later, Genji was sitting in the changing room whilst his brother dressed in silence.
"Are you angry with me?" Genji tried to sound innocent. He knew Hanzo was angry with him. "I thought that went quite well. It went according to plan at least – you handling the formality and me doing the social bit…"
Hanzo's lips were pursed together, his attention firmly focussed on folding the fabric of his clothes perfectly across him.
"Is this… is this about… that tiny bit extra I spent on the credit card? Because I can explain that." Genji's fingers twitched anxiously.
"Explain it then."
Genji glanced up, encouraged by Hanzo finally speaking. His hope was immediately dashed by the task at hand.
"I was just… I was doing as you asked, and I just… I miscalculated a little. It wasn't that much… sixty-thousand or so."
Hanzo's eyes fixed on him. Genji could feel old inadequacies squirming in his gut.
"And I wasn't trying to hide it from you," he continued, reading all those familiar accusations he knew those glares were saying. "It was just – Mr Sasaki said he'd waive it anyway, so I didn't think it would be a problem. And – OK – so obviously I didn't want you to find out, is that so bad? I didn't think this would come up again…"
"Never be indebted to your enemy."
Genji had been expecting a reprimand, but that was a little different to how he thought it was going to sound.
"I…- OK," he said lamely.
"We must be the united front. The secret you keep from me is a weapon the enemy can use to drive us apart and make us appear weak."
Genji wondered why Hanzo had never taken the time to explain his failures like this before. It made much more sense of all the seemingly insignificant things Hanzo was always getting frustrated by.
"Sorry," Genji said quietly, "I didn't think of it that way."
Hanzo finished dressing and slung his bow and quiver over his shoulder.
"It wasn't how I envisioned the meeting going down, but your contributions were not unhelpful. Come. Let us be going."
Genji followed his brother out of the bathhouse, face screwed up as he tried to work out if Hanzo had just complimented him.
Author Note: Hopefully all these political shenanigans are easy to follow. When characters are speaking Japanese, all their honorifics are in English, if you're wondering why there are a hundred "Mr"s and "Master"s flying around and they keep changing depending on who's speaking to who.
I mentioned a while back that there were two sketches that inspired me in the course of writing this story. The other one is this dressing scene - I originally wanted it a few chapters ago, but Genji and Hanzo weren't ready to be closer to one another then, so this one is instead a mirror to the earlier scene where Jesse intervenes to help Genji get dressed when he's too afraid to let Hanzo be near him. A link to the other sketch that inspired me can be found on archive of our own.
Thanks as always for your support and comments!