Genji stepped out from the front wheelhouse of the Hanamura, his feet crossing one another in a drunken sort of gait, his arms quickly throwing themselves in front of him as he fell forward, grasping the ship's edge as he braved himself. His body collapsed sideways, his back hitting the hull before he slid down into a seated position, giggling absently to himself at the still-whirling world around him. He reached into his pocket as he sighed gleefully, his legs lazily sprawled our before him as he took another swing of whiskey, nearly spitting it out in laughter as he noticed his brother's stern face approaching him.
He quickly reached his wrist up to his mouth to catch himself, though his body still quakes in amusement, his head shaking, "Uh oh! Brother's here!"
Hanzo sighed dismissively, crossing his arms as he stood above his brother, Genji still in a giggling fit as he explained, "I'm just doing my part, brother! Merriment is- It's an important- A very important part of maintaining your men's morale."
"You're drunk again, Genji," Hanzo conformed mutely to himself aloud, knowing his brother wouldn't remember anything in the way of disciplinary words by the morning, though he still continued nonetheless, "You know officers are not allowed to drink."
"Bah, I'm not even piloting this thing," Genji assured grumpily, though he smiled as he pointed back toward the stern, "Oji-san's got it- he's like my designa- designate- That thing."
Hanzo grumbled to himself as he reached down to pull his younger brother up to his feet, though while Genji followed, he did little in propping himself help, speaking up in a low tone, "Maybe not. That-… That implies I was given command in the first place."
"I wonder why that hasn't happened yet," Hanzo bit back sarcastically, helping his brother along, "Come on, let's get you to bed and you can sleep this off."
Genji snickered wearily, "Pfft. I've slept a lot of things off, brother; whiskey does not quite go silently into that good night! I remember father's sake stores, pilfering one for the amusement of myself and our dear cousin; the two of us were right as rain the next morning! if not for one blathering brother, anyway."
"You were also ten years younger," Hanzo reminded, "And I merely pointed out the labels you had so stupidly left in sight. Father was the one to deduce that you were the one who's have done such a thing so sloppily so as to leave bits stuck to the bottles."
"Eh, you have got to live mistakes to know not to make them," Genji replied jovially, his head swaying back and forth in a spirited fashion.
Hanzo shot back, "You needed to steal father's prized bottle of 1600's sake, drink it all up, fall ass-first through the partition of the garden hallway, and wake up in the koi pond to know such things were stupid?"
"Well when you put it that way, brother," Genji offered weakly, though he perked right back up, "Don't pretend your little…stunt back when we were kids wasn't within the same vein."
"I was offered a few glasses from our grandfather," Hanzo corrected, "When you're offered, you're excused for what may happen as a result. Even then, I only disturbed the workers by some rambling outbursts. The more expensive the sake, too, the more disrespectful it is to waste on drunken idiocy."
Genji dismissed him with a groan, throwing a flagrant hand out I front of them, "Please. I made good use of the stuff. I still remember, it wasn't even that good; father must've been telling tales."
Suddenly, the weight from around his back released as Hanzo let his brother fell down onto deck, his knees hitting the wooden planks with a loud thud before he curled up, hitting the deck with a lazy impact, rolling there as if he were unsure which way was up. Hanzo leaned down, eyeing him with a straight glance as he drew in a hot breath.
"Disrespect me all you like, Genji, I won't allow you to disparage our father."
"Bah," Genji grumbled I'm unapologetic reply, finally finding his way down as he weakly staggered himself onto all fours, "Maybe the man just had a bad taste for sake and- Oh… Speaking of bad taste-"
He struggled toward the edge of the ship as his ribs suddenly constructed, sending him into a vomitous cringe as Hanzo grabbed his collar, pulling him up and over to the ship's edge, allowing Genji to fall there as his arms wildly clutches at the wooden frame as he threw up into the ocean, his legs dangling weakly along the deck as he kept all of his weight atop his shoulders as he succumbed to the poison within himself. A wave of relief washed over him as his body completed its purging, his body slowly sliding back along toward the deck as Hanzo helped guide him into a seated position against the rim of the ship.
"You can't help but help," Genji admired weakly, still very much drunk as he laughed at his repetition.
Hanzo shrugged, "Its easy when you're threatening the gleam of my ship. If the sailors see you like this, they'll no doubt begin to question your authority."
"Pshaw, that's why I revel amongst them! Better to work for a friend than an enemy," Genji reasoned groggily.
"You've still much to learn, Genji," Hanzo sighed, leaning down to pick him back up to his feet, "One of these days, perhaps you'll-"
Genji's head rolled down toward his chest wearily, leaving Hanzo to yank at him to jolt him awake, "Curses, Genji, I'm trying to help you get your life back in order and you can't help but nod off at the slightest provocation in the face of such assistance!"
His younger brother reached a single finger up into the air as if to ask for his brother's silence, his mouth wearily opening and closing with eyes near-shut, a portrait of a perfectly drunk gentleman, "I- I- I do appreciate it, brother, but could you, perhaps, do it without- You sound so much like father when you scold me. It reminds me, so much, of how I loathe that m-"
A sharp strike reached across his face as Hanzo scornfully slapped him, as if trying to force him from his ill-will toward their father, even if he knew it to be futile, ultimately. Genji only began to chuckle as he fell back against the wall, a hiccup slipping out from him as his shoulders quakes humorously, leading to a striking frown from his brother.
"One more time, Genji, and I'll have to-"
"Why does father hate me so?" Genji suddenly asked, his question coming as a disarming glance off of Hanzo's psyche, the elder brother's brow furrowing in confusion as Genji's voice roiled further.
Hanzo didn't answers, merely returning to his feet and pulling his brother along, bringing his arm over his shoulders before the two walked along, Genji still weakened by inebriation. Hanzo couldn't fin much in the way of a reply, simply doing his best to avoid his brother's continued thought process.
"Let's just get you to bed, Genji. Sleep this off and-"
"He always loved you more."
Hanzo frowned, "Don't make me smack you again. You know father has always loved us equally; you never went without anything I had been esteemed. Granted, you used much of what you were given without much thought, but father loves us the same. Don't be a dolt."
He continued his struggling gait as Genji's legs weakened more and more with tire, though the younger of the two spoke up in reply, "You were always good enough for him, brother. I never was; you know that. I'd bring him home paychecks, play compositions in his honor, display artwork- it never did please him in the same way his eldest son's works pleased him."
"I brought him home a grandson even, that child I'd had with that maid woman from Edo? The most beautiful boy he was…" Genji reminisced longingly, much to his brother's chagrin.
Hanzo extolled lightly, "Had you gone about it properly, Genji. Father hadn't a choice; the Shimada name has been built upon such honor over the centuries, he wouldn't dare allow illegitimacy to take root. It boggles the mind to wonder how you have been given so much, yet tarry along with hardly a thought. Every bill father sends out to that woman to buy her silence toward linking that child to you is a waking reminder of his youngest's absolute inability to even-"
"I watched," Genji muttered, his speech slurred.
Hanzo turned to him, stopping in his tracks as he focused on keeping his brother aloft, "Watched what? Your future go by without a mere thought?"
Genji's head rolled listlessly, "He never did buy her silence."
"Please, father told me himself," Hanzo challenged, "I've seen the-"
Genji tanked himself away from his brother's grasp, drunkenly wobbling away and finding the nearby wall that made up the stern, smacking into it violently before leaning there, staring back toward his brother with bloodshot eyes, "Are you so stupid, brother, to think I wouldn't have torn myself from this family to be with my child?!"
Hanzo watched him critically, unsure of his brother's angle, even as Genji reached up his two clenched fists to his face cover his eyes, sliding down the wooden wall as his slurry voice wobbled out of him in the sadness of a drunk man, "Had father not bought their silence with a edge of a blade, I'd have left this family long ago."
"Lies," Hanzo accused, heating up himself, "Genji, if you don't-"
"I watched- I watched," Genji repeated, shaking his head, "That child couldn't even walk. Hadn't a struggle; yet father took his life as though it were the simplest thing in the world, as if his very son's legacy was only something to be extinguished so easily. He made me watch; watch my child, my blood, pour onto the concrete ground."
His head shook slowly, "Yours is the only legacy he cared to take any amount of pride in."
Hanzo's shoulders slumped regretfully as Genji quietly sobbed, the liquor having lubricated his emotions as much as it had done the same to his inhibitions. He sighed to himself, walking to his younger brother's side before turning around, sliding down to sit beside him with a long face, as though such personal moments were foreign to him. He fiddled with his fingers as Genji's body gently shook with tearful regret, speaking only in a quiet voice.
"I know you'll forget anything I say tonight by morning, which makes this difficult to say, yet also brings me some relief," he spoke up, biting his tongue for a moment as he went on, "Look, brother, you will never be able to know, or understand, the guilt that so drives me to aid you to the best of my ability, even unto my own detriment. You'll never know why I put up with your antics, or why I was so quick to offer your life a path to better days in the way of bringing you aboard here. "
"It's true that our lives took different paths, and that everything seems to come so naturally to me. I suppose you think I'm proud of such things, but I can assure you, brother, nothing aches my heart so as seeing you struggle where I persevered so easily," Hanzo explained, lowly, "It doesn't matter to me how low your life turns, you're my brother. If I were able, in a heartbeat, I would trade my entire enterprise for you to have a life so devoid of its tremors that threaten to sink you, constantly. You're my brother, Genji; and while I would like to think my instruction is wearing off on you, even if it truly is not, nothing will take away that fact."
Hanzo's eyes dipped sadly, though he was only met by a wayward snore breaking the air, his head turning slowly to find Genji m's head hanging low, his lungs billowing obnoxious snores through his nose. Hanzo sighed at the sight, possibly due to relief, as he leaned back into his own spot, shaking his head in his own regretful pose, frowning.
"And we'll have this talk, again and again, only when you're unable to hear. It's true, brother, how frightened I am that I am living father's life, and not my own, while you so freely enjoy your own," Hanzo admitted, only to himself at this point, "I haven't the courage even to speak these things to you within the waking world."
He smirked, an uncharacteristic chuckle escaping him mutely, "How selfish I am. Perhaps I enjoy your drunken escapades; it allows me the freedom to relieve my aching guilt if only for a moment without you ever knowing what I say. Knowing that, for all your faults, I admire you."
Hanzo turned toward his sleeping brother, a nostalgic image of the two of them sleeping soundly beneath the family's grove, too young for the cares of this world around them. Instead of composing himself and dragging his brother away to his bunk, Hanzo simply remained by his side, rolling his head back along the wood supporting his sitting posture, staring up toward the stars absently, his hand fiddling its way into his coat pocket and pulling out a lengthy pipe and a match.
He shot an elbow into Genji's arm, rousing his younger brother, who complained, "Heeey, I was having quite the dream."
"You don't dream until you've slept for some hours, Genji."
Genji shrugged, "I was dreaming of slumber itself, dear brother. Quite the whimsical world that is; for all the alcohol in the world, there is no better escape than that realm of sleep! Many a nights, ive been oblivious to the faults in my life, thanks only to-"
"What about some kizami?" Hanzo interrupted, allowing a wry grin to escape him.
Genji perked up, eyeing the long kiseru pipe in his brother's hand, a considering look rolling along his face as he tilted his head, "That might work."
Hanzo chuckled, pulling out a tiny box from his coat that stored what little hair-like strings of tobacco he would carry, pulling out a fine amount to stuff into the pipe, "Father still has no idea I carried along this habit you so ruefully bestowed upon me."
Smirking suddenly, Genji laughed himself, "Had you not stumbled upon our cousin and myself, you might have been spared our illicit activity."
"Well, I can't say it isn't terrible," Hanzo admitted, "It does calm the nerves after a long day. Perhaps not as effectively as your preferred ingredient to be smoked, but at least I haven't a need for a willing participant in the way of women."
Genji snorted out a laugh, joining his brother in a pseudo-joyous mood as Hanzo finished fixing the pipe, passing the unflamed kiseru to his younger brother, "You always had me stoke it first. You were afraid you'd do it wrong and burn down the house. I figure you've earned it by now to be the one to stoke its flame."
The younger of the two pushed his wrist away with a smile, "Come now, dear brother; who am I to ward off tradition?"
Hanzo shrugged, striking the match along the deck before shielding its flame from the wind, bringing the end of his pipe to his lips, gently blowing as the flame came alight, a fine plume of smoke emerging from the tobacco before he took in a breath to stoke the entire collection of tobacco hairs, relishing the sensation before ejecting two powerful strands of smoke through his nostrils, the way the two boys had watched their father perform for years.
"You do that so easily now," Genji cracked a smirk, "I remember the first time you tried it, you nearly puked."
Hanzo's relaxation overtook him, leaving him to laugh lightly, "Well, life offers many lessons. Some more unsavory than others. Here."
He passed the kiseru to his brother, who dutifully accepted the pipe, bringing it to his own lips and taking in a puff. Somewhere between his inebriation and inexperience with smoking much of anything, Genji's lungs blew afire, his body jerking forward as he coughed violently, sending Hanzo into a raucous laughter as he bent forward, grappling his arm across his stomach as the sudden movement aches at his midsection.
"Moderation, brother!" he cried in between fits of laughter, "I know you don't know the term, but pace yourself!"
As Genji spat out to relieve his throat, he couldn't help but laugh in time with his brother, sputtering our a few words in between such violent extremes, "C-Curses to- to you, brother! That sh- That shit's strong!"
Hanzo nodded proudly, "Perhaps if I hadn't been introduced at such a young age, I might not have advanced so far along. The fault does rest with you, brother."
His breaths began to calm as he returned to resting against the wall behind him, only allowing irryhthmic chuckles as Genji struggled to calm his own lungs, eventually having found a rest after passing the pipe back to Hanzo, who simply returned to puffing from the kiseru every few moments.
Genji sighed, rubbing his hands along his face before they fell to his side, his voice escaping in a croaking tone, "You know, brother, those times we did stuff like this, when you let your guard down- I never felt closer to you. I forgot about everything that separated us and was just able to remember when we were kids. Nothing separated us then."
"I know what you mean, dear brother," Hanzo replied, eyeing the heavens above, "Back before we had responsibilities. Well, one of us anyway."
His head fell toward Genji to reveal his smirk, allowing his younger brother to laugh with a shake of his head, "My responsibilities may be bound to you, but they are, nonetheless, responsibilities. I may not have the ability to lead a respectful life on my own, but I'd much rather be in your care than father's. or anybody else's, for that matter."
He reached a hand over to clutch Hanzo's shoulder, his elder brother's eyes casting down on him in a distant reverence, "Please continue caring for me, brother."
Hanzo smiles weakly, though he ultimately lifted a hand up toward his shoulder, resting it there atop his brother's before his fingers closed tightly upon him, his voice assuring him, "Whatever you say, brother."
Genji nodded, his head slowing as he did so, until it fell forward, his body lost to sleep once again, leaving Hanzo there alone once again. He carefully returned Genji's hand to his lap before returning to his kiseru, taking gentle puffs into his mouth and expelling then from his nostrils like a boorish dragon, watching its thick smoggy vapors trail up into the sky, leaving only the two brothers sitting there beside one another.
"One day, dear brother," Hanzo mouthed, quietly, "You'll be able to tame the dragon within you as I have."
Rule #1: You can make bad guys look good, but you can't make good guys look bad ;D
A/N: As much as I've loved writing this, you can probably tell from my infrequent posting of it that it's beginning to wear on me- one of the reasons I love sticking to shorter stories, usually :p I'm in no way saying this will remain unfinished! In fact, I have no plans on postponing it, but after the next handful of chapters, I may decide to take short breaks in between chapters to focus on other stories:
I had somebody ask if I could continue my "Echoes/Flame" story from my Warcraft-verse, and on top of that, I've had an amazing Ocarina of Time story in my head the last few days that I would love to get down on 'paper' :D
So while I may start shifting my focus, I'm not at all 'quitting' this story or whatever ;D I just want to keep you guys knowing what's going on in my mind! I haven't stopped writing fan-fiction since I started back in late 2016, even when I decided to 'take breaks' that never happened, so I doubt this story will remain incomplete for too much longer xD