Chapter Text
Spring has arrived in Hanamura. The pastel pink cherry blossoms, for which the city is best known for, are now in full bloom. With the clear blue sky above, the sun brightens up every inch of the town. Once again, Hanamura shows why it is one of the best visited towns in the area, especially during hanami season.
Though there is another beautiful spot, located hidden at the edge of the town. Almost no one knows of it, and those who do know, do not dare to take a footstep near it. The gardens of the Shimada clan.
If an intruder does enter it, it's very likely it's an enemy of the clan, seeking to infiltrate and hurt them. But those people go missing before anyone notices them. Normally, a Shimada member would kill them, and the enemy would see this as a warning not to threaten them again.
Sometimes teenagers break into their gardens as a dare. They know the Shimada clan has a great influence in the area due to their high status and money, and thus seek to rebel by means of ransacking their property.
Whoever it is, if they don't belong to the Shimada clan, they won't be staying there for long.
―
A shadow moves swiftly through the clan's gardens, sneaking along the walls demarcating the grounds from the outside. The ninja hops through the treetops, creating a faint rustling sound. There, on the biggest tree in the garden, he sits down on one of the branches overlooking the gardens. The man takes off his hood to reveal green, spiky hair.
Usually, one would instantly recognize Genji, the youngest son of the Shimada clan, from dozens of meters away. Right now, though, this is not the case, since the young man's hair blends in perfectly with the brightly green leaves. From his bag, he takes out a bento box and picks out his favorite maki sushi, enjoying the peace and quiet of the gardens. He'd told his family more than once what a torment it is to have to watch over the clan's estate while his friends can go out and have fun. Not only that, but it's also a waste since his family could easily gain more money if they were to open the gardens for visitors in exchange for a small fee.
He wishes he could show his friends just how goddamn beautiful the place is without it being a offense against his clan. No matter how nice to look at it is, it won't get nicer as long as there's no one to share the beauty with.
His other family members aren't here very often, most times it's when they're inviting others and showing them around. The patrolling and cultivation is mostly done by servants but sometimes the clan members help out voluntarily, when there's time. Or they have to do it as punishment for mild offenses. Which happens mostly to Genji, just as today.
His eyes look around the place for anything unusual, already knowing it will look the same as always. It does. He finishes eating his little snack and considers just going out anyway when he hears a distinct rustle. Is this another foreign cat that got lost in here? he thinks. Or is it some sort of attacker hiding in the castle’s grounds again? Or just simply another prank? In any case, he's quick to investigate. Sneaking further through the treetops, he reaches the wall leading to their Zen garden. He takes one last look over the main garden from above but again, sees nothing. So, the next station is their small Zen garden, which he can't observe from the trees because the wall separating the two gardens is too high. He climbs down the wall with ease and continues into the small garden, hiding behind a huge rock near the gate.
And there he is. The intruder. He spots a tall but slim figure sitting at the koi pond. His right hand already glides to his wakizashi, ready to strike quick and soundless. But upon closer inspection, he realizes that the intruder isn’t even human. It’s an omnic. And it’s wearing… a white orange kasaya? Normally, the clan’s enemies would send human hitmen on them, and even if they did send omnics, they would never look like this one. He isn’t sure what this thing is doing here, or how he is going to approach it.
In the end, he settles for sneaking up to it, giving in to his desire to exploit the element of surprise. If he has the omnic captured, he can freely interrogate it and then, decide on his next move.
But as he sneaks his way further into the garden, the omnic suddenly speaks up.
“Greetings, my friend. Are you here to appreciate the beautiful gardens as well?”
Clearly thrown off by the question, he abandons his former plan and instead, rushes forward and stands behind the omnic. “Who are you and how did you know I was here?”
The omnic chuckles slightly and stands up, the two now face to face. “I am sorry if I disturbed you. You may call me Zenyatta. Who are you?”
The young man looked at the omnic in utter disbelief. Who does this omnic think it is, just breaking into our castle and pretending nothing's happened. Does it want to die?
He coughs into his fist and tries to answer so as to get more information out of the omnic. “Huh. You know that this garden is my family's property?”
Zenyatta gasps. “Oh! I did not know that. I thought I was free to take a look at this place when I saw the opened entrance.” He bows and apologizes.
Wait, the entrance was open? Who opened it? Nevermind, I’ll just escort Zenyatta back to the entrance before anyone notices.
“It’s okay,” Genji answers, trying to be as polite as possible. “I’m simply going to lead you back to the garden’s entrance, and then it’s all forgotten. My name’s Genji Shimada, by the way.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your hospitality, Mr. Shimada.”
He really is an outsider. Otherwise he would have run the second he’d heard the name Shimada, Genji thinks.
——
Somehow, the omnic came back to the garden the day after that. And the day after that. It strolled through the gardens like nothing happened. It even played with Mio, Genji's favorite cat. And they both enjoyed each other's company! Genji's disbelief was immeasurable. It's lucky he has to watch over the gardens the whole week, or else this would have ended very quickly and very badly.
“Listen,” Genji says on the last day of the week, leaning against one of the trees and watching the omnic sitting at the garden’s pond from afar. This seems to be its favorite spot so far. Genji even saw it talking to the koi. No omnic does that. Not even a human does that. The average human at least. “I don’t know why you are so stubborn and won’t listen to my advice about not coming here again. These gardens are still private property, you know. And even though I'm often around this part of the castle, there is still a chance that someone other than me will walk around here, and when they see you, then you'll probably be dead." He twirls his shuriken around his fingers, partly to scare him, partly to show off.
"I am aware, Mr. Shimada," Zenyatta answers, and the confidence in its voice throws Genji off - he marvels at all the emotions this omnic manages to get across with only his voice. "I had hoped that you would be able to protect me, should such a thing really happen."
Oh god, this omnic is really to confident for his own good, Genji thinks.
He snorts. "Hah! As much as I love to rescue damsels in distress, I would rather not like to incite a war within the clan because of you."
He'd love to tell the omnic otherwise. He'd love to see someone give this huge garden the appreciation it deserves, even if it's just an omnic. Though, if Genji were to be honest, Zenyatta being an omnic doesn't really bother him, it is of no importance. More important are his manners. It just outright ignored his advice, seemingly without further thinking about it. If omnics were disobedient, they were usually violent too. It doesn't look like this applies to Zenyatta though. Genji doesn't even know where it comes from and what its motives and interests are. Maybe it's a spy after all?
Zenyatta stands up and looks in his direction, and even though its faceplate is unmoving he can somehow see the sadness beneath. "I am sorry for causing you trouble, Mr. Shimada. I was merely so fascinated by this place... I could not help myself."
The omnic slowly walks along the stony path leading to the exit but Genji stops it short by standing in front of it with his katana drawn. He knows he's being overdramatic right now and wants to show off again more than anything else, but he just has to know what's going on with this omnic.
"I'm not letting you go without you telling me who you are."
"I already told you my name," it says, tilting its head in confusion.
"No, I mean like, where do you come from and what is your purpose."
"Ah," Zenyatta answers, and Genji sees just now how not frightened it is. Of course, omnics are not humans but they have a built-in survival instinct similar to humans. Most times when Genji draws his blade, humans and omnics alike are quick to either run away, step back or put their hands up to surrender. Zenyatta has done none of that. Genji begins more and more to think it's either a servere error made by mistake or in reality a killer machine without fear sent to destroy his clan. Before he can continue that thought, the omnic answers slowly and calmly.
"As I said, my name is Zenyatta. I chose that name myself. I do not know which omnium I came from, but I can tell you I am currently in this city with a group of omnics from the same assembly line. We currently have no other purpose than to look for a purpose."
Genji lowers his sword. He wants to believe it so badly. But how can he? Omnics are able to lie just as well as humans.
"You do not believe me," Zenyatta says as if it can read his thoughts.
"I do! But..." Genji struggles to find the right words, so he simply says: "Maybe you can understand my caution."
"I can, Mr. Shimada, and again my deepest apologies for causing you trouble," the omnic replies and bows, the first act of submissiveness he has seen from it. "Is there any way I can prove my innocence? Maybe you can pay us a visit?"
"Hmmm..." Even if this proved to be a trap, he would surely get done with it. "Okay. So, where do you live?"
"Not too far away. Just across the 7-Eleven north from here."
The young man grins. "Ah, I know where you mean." There are some ryokan down that street. It's weird to have traditional old Japanese houses on one side of the street, and loud and bright supermarkets on the other side, but that's just how things are now.
"Wonderful!" Zenyatta clasps its hands in front of its chest. "I am looking forward to your visit!" It says with warmth in its voice.
Its emotional behavior throws Genji off. "Are you fl-" He stops himself mid-sentence. Are you insane?! He's - no, it's... whatever. He's not flirting with you! This is not even human! Your charm is inappropriate! "Nevermind. I will escort you to the exit."