Work Text:
Hanako and Genji were born together. They came into the world screaming together and on the first night out in the world they slept together as their mother and father cooed over them.
They both had the same sharp eyes and mischievous smiles, Hankos being a bit more serene and Genjis a bit more devious. They were each other's balance. Hanako was cautious and mindful while genji forged ahead with reckless abandon.
And both were a continued source of stress for Hanzo, it was bad enough that Genji ran wild, but dragging his twin into trouble was too much.
After one severe scolding from Hanzo, the two were hiding from their elder brother. Hanako was crying into her sleeves while genji tried to sooth her.
Hanzo had watched from a distance. He sometimes felt a pang of jealously of how close his brother and sister were. They were always there for each other, there to talk , there to listen to each other. Hanzo felt so remote from them sometimes. The burden of being the eldest sibling was heavy on his shoulders. The expectation to be the best, the expectation to ensure his siblings were in line and behaved.
Expectation , expectation expectation.
What Hanzo wouldn’t give to be as carefree as his brother sometimes.
It was one fine fall afternoon. Hanzo had been in his room, dutifuly working away at his homework when he hear someone at his door.
The door was softly opened and Hanako stood behind it.
“Hanzo . . . “ She said, ever gently
He motioned her to come in and she went to his side to sit.
And said nothing.
This was deeply peculiar to Hanzo. Hanako was holding a book, picking at its leather bound edge. Something was afoot but Hanzo , for the life of him, couldn't guess what it was.
“ Can I stay for a while? . . . I ..I’m gonna be quiet, i promise.”
Curiosity burned inside Hanzo. Hanako seeking his company? Not genjis or their fathers or mother or her tutor Choji? But Hanzos? He dearly wanted to ask what was wrong. But he bided his time instead. Hanako was unlike Genji when it came to being upset. Genji would immediately let it be known to all who could hear of his displeasure. Hanako was quieter, but would relent eventually.
“ Its alright. You can stay.”
And so she did. She sat beside him, leaning into his sit and silently read her book, the only sound coming from the pages as they were turned.
Hanzo did not currently have the same concentration on his studies like his sister currently did. What could've possibly happened to make Hanako come to him?
“ What are you reading?” he asked, finally breaking the silence between them. Turning the book over she showed him the title.
“ The Sengoku jidai is a bit of heavy reading for your age isn't it?” he commented, raising an eyebrow
“No it isn't!” She pouted , easily falling for the bait the teasing comment had made, “ I’m learning about the different periods with Choji!”
“ I see”
He remembered how their father had encouraged him to find a historical figure to model himself after. Sojiro had been pleased when Hanzo had chosen to learn more in depth about Oda Nobunaga, a powerful Daimyō that had helped unify japan.
“ Father actually took away the book I was reading before and gave me this one . .. But i've already read this one. ..”
“ Really? “ hanzo knitted his brows together , he could not recall a time when their father had taken a book from him.
“ What was it about?”
Another silence
“. . . Yi Sun-sin”
Ah.
“ I’m . . sure he’ll give it back in time. . .”
“I’d like it back now” She replied quietly but rebelliously
Hanzo could only smile in response. Genji might be outwardly mutinous, but Hanako's brand of subversion probably bothered their father more that he showed.
Hanako was clearly miffed about her book being taken, but Hanzo could tell this was not the main issue.
He rested his hand on her head, stroking her long dark hair, before resting it on her shoulder.
“Hanako . . . “
Instead of a response she turned her head and buried her face into his side.
There was a quiet muffled sigh before she pulled herself back.
“ . . . I got into an argument with Genji . . . “
There it was. The source.
“ He made fun of be because I said he should've apologised sooner for what he did last week . . . “
Hanzo winced slightly. That week had been inadvertently filled with much accidental property damage and yelling.
He hmmed in response and Hanako continued.
“ HE said that it was an accident and it wasn't his fault but I said that he had started the argument at the arcade and it WAS his fault because he KNEW Shika would get mad when he teased him about his teeth”
This was not the version of the story their parents had been told.
“And then he didn't even bother warning that Shika had threw the chair before it hit Reo, who dropped his drink on Touma, which is why he punched Shika…”
This was DEFINITELY not the version their parents were told
“ And he just LAUGHED as everyone fought but it was scary and it made Yui cry and I had to leave to take her outside and then thats when i heard the glass-”
“ Hanako. ..” He raised a hand to stop her, lest become more complicit in what was very clearly a more complicated event than anyone had suspected.
She stopped speaking her eyes big.
“ He said that it was cowardly of me to try to get help” She huffed “ Like I meant to rat him out or something!”
Turning away she folded her arms and sulked.
“ So i'm not talking to him at all”
There it was core of it all. Hanako was avoiding Genji, but seeing as the twins spent all their time with each other, finding other places to be seemed to be difficult for them.
Hanzo went back to stroking her hair.
“ You can stay for as long as you like . . . “
She turned and gave her older brother a smile before wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
He couldn't help smiling.
The next week was a very different one for them both, Hanako had taken to following her older brother around as much as she possibly could, hand in hand. Hanzo was more surprised at how easy conversation with his sister was. She a very intelligent child, so there was no end to the topics to choose from. And Hanako was quick to show she had many opinions on many subjects.
Their parents were delighted to see them spending time with each other. Their mother had been worried that they had been drifting apart from each other. One evening she even had a look of pride as she described how a guest of hers had commented on how sociable Hanzo had been.
While Hanako had been Genji's foil, she was now Hanzo’s support. There was something wonderful about having a ear he could vent to when he chose to, confident that she would not tell anyone. Hanako was dependable confidant.
It was late in the week when it occurred to Hanzo he had not seen his brother for days. Usually he ran into his brother a few times during the week but his younger sibling had seemed to vanish entirely.
Hanzo would see Genji for the first time in days just before dinner that night. His younger brother had been walking toward the dining room, looking down at the floor when he had finally noticed Hanzo down the hallway.
Never in all of Hanzo's life had he ever seen a look of such bitterness on his brother's face. Bitterness and anger and jealousy. The look had made Hanzo stop in his tracks, surprised at being the target of such a vicious glare.
From somewhere in another room, they both heard Hanako call out Hanzos name, seeking him so they could sit together for dinner.
Naked guilt crossed genji's face before the glare returned , and Genji stuck his hands in his pockets and turned away from his brother, moving quickly to avoid being in their sister's presence.
Hanzo hadn't really thought about it but Genji was probably suffering right now, from the loss of his twins company. He could not think of a time when they were apart for long. They were a pair, a set. Two parts of the same whole.
But now they were separate. What was Genji possibly feeling right now?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Genji had had a terrible week.
His sister, his only true friend was angry with him. MAYBE she had been right but Genji was too stubborn to admit it, and that had driven her away.
Away and right into Hanzo.
How could she hang out with HANZO? Boring HANZO, mean rude antifun HANZO over HIM.Hanzo wanted nothing more than to never be young and go straight into being a boring old fart who did nothing but work and frown.How could she LEAVE him by his lonesome and instead of playing games or having fun together at the arcade, choose to stay inside and sit and read and do NOTHING?
How could that POSSIBLY be better then him?
He took a shakey breath in as he walked down the hall, and tried to blink away the sudden tears that had formed in his eyes.
She’d come back. She’d get bored to Hanzo eventually.
Right?