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Genji didn’t necessarily have a plan when he first brought Hanzo to Overwatch. He had a goal; to help his brother follow the path of self-acceptance, to help him realize he was trapped in the past when Genji had already moved on, though it was hard to execute knowing there was no one to help him teach Hanzo that. Genji's teachings were to help him accept that there was no one like him, and that his cybernetic aspects were gifts no one else had. But Hanzo’s—Hanzo’s was something else entirely. On many occasions, Genji wished Zenyatta were still with him here to help get through to his older brother the way he once did for Genji.
If not for Hanzo, then at least for him.
For the time being however, Genji found ways to help open up his relationship with his brother through weekly meetings. They weren’t formal, much like the hundreds of mission briefings that the both of them had to suffer through. Genji liked to think of it as just a night out, a casual time to relax and talk about whatever was on their minds—or like the few times they went to a bar with some others. That way it would not only help keep Hanzo updated, but it would also give Hanzo something to look forward to at the end of every week. With how much happier Hanzo has been lately, especially tonight, Genji could tell it was working.
At this point, Genji had already finished an entire bottle of shōchū, and Hanzo was on his fifth cup of tea. Genji twisted the cap off of a new bottle and set it on the table, alongside his designated shōchū cup. “So,” Genji said, and he took a drink before continuing, “what’s new with you?”
“Not much,” Hanzo muttered. It was late at night and he didn’t want to disturb those who were trying to rest, so he figured to be more quiet. “Mei and I have been making great progress with our sculpting.”
“I remember her talking about that with Angela.” Genji chuckled and picked up his empty cup to fill it. “I never thought you would sculpt, aniki .”
“I craft my own arrows.”
“And I don't get why you do, in all honesty.” He took a swig of the freshly poured shōchū, being careful not to slam the cup on the table afterward. “Why do you make your own? I'm sure you can find them online somewhere, and gathering the material must be tedious.”
Hanzo smiled, his voice reverberating in the yunomi cup as he spoke. “I use it to help myself concentrate, to center myself. You meditate as well, no?”
“I mean yeah, but you don’t see me carving wood with my blades.” Genji laughed, lifting the cup to drink again. Perhaps in the past he might’ve used it to make shurikens, though he knew better than to make weapons he wouldn’t need.
“Nevertheless, it keeps me entertained.”
Genji rolled his eyes in a playful manner, and he couldn’t help but smile wider. “Until you mess up an arrow and you have to start all over again.”
Hanzo couldn’t help but laugh as he drank more of his oolong tea. It was a relief to live a somewhat normal life now, with most of his loose ends tied up and his relationship with his brother fixed for the most part. Obviously there would still be imperfections, but Hanzo did his best to embrace them, to welcome the ugly aspects of every good bond. After all, what kind of brothers would they be without having their inside jokes and playful teasing?
Hanzo set his cup down on the coffee table and sat criss-crossed instead of kneeling on the ground. His tone made it sound like Genji was in trouble. “Genji.”
“Hm?”
“I've always wondered—why do you refer to Dr. Ziegler by her first name?”
Genji suddenly sat up straight, not even noticing that he was slouching. “She's my friend.”
“Yes, but so is Cassidy, and yet I've never heard you say his first name at all.”
“That's different—Angela saved my life.”
“Hasn’t he, at some point?”
This really wasn’t something Genji wanted to discuss. He looked at his shōchū cup, considered drinking what he had poured himself, then decided to just drink straight out of the bottle to clear his head and formulate words.
His relationship with Mercy was complicated, to say the least. He wasn’t in love with her—not with Pharah in the picture, anyway—but he knew that he couldn’t just say friends. Close co-workers sounded unprofessional, then again what was professional about how they spoke to each other? One thing was certain; they weren’t dating. He got that a lot in the past, claims that he and the doctor were romantically involved. It was such a strange idea to date his doctor and Genji never liked romance to begin with, so he frankly felt uncomfortable when people asked him about their relationship.
Alas, Hanzo wanted an answer. Genji cleared his throat and hunched forward in shame. “It's merely out of respect, is all.”
“You do the same for dos Santos, no? Yet I've never seen you two talk much.”
“That's because Lúcio—he’s a celebrity. I do the same for Hana, as well.”
“You can’t possibly expect me to believe you don’t have some kind of romantic connection with Dr. Ziegler.”
“That’s because I don’t .”
There was a kind of anger in Genji’s voice that Hanzo had barely ever heard come from him. It was the kind of anger that reminded him of when they were boys, when Genji was accused of breaking a vase or leaving a cut in wood pillars. He was always the troublemaker, so by default it was his fault, but he stuck to what he said because it was the truth. Nobody was believing him, and Hanzo wasn’t believing when he said that he and Mercy weren’t a couple.
Genji turned red, realizing he practically shouted at his brother, and turned away. “ G—Gomen . I didn’t mean to get angry like that, I... Cassidy used to tease me about it a lot before.”
Hanzo leaned forward. “Did she reject your advances?”
“No, no. I just never did so in the first place, and yet everyone constantly assumed we were together because we just... talked.”
Hanzo thought back to the past for a moment, to the many times where he had to pick Genji up from the nearby arcade with girls swooning and clinging onto his arms as he did so. “That was never a problem before.”
“Yeah, before . But then time passed and I realized that I wanted nothing to do with romance.” Genji crossed his arms and looked back at his older brother, who’s expression remained frustratedly blank.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m okay with other people being in relationships. Like I saw Hana and Lindholm having a picnic date near the offices—super cute by the way, they make a great couple—and I'm fine with it, but when it comes to my relationships, my love life, it’s... Kuso , it’s hard to describe.
“I never wanted anything to do with romance. Maybe not as a teenager or any time in our past life, but certainly not now. I don't have an eye for anyone and I don't expect to in the future. I'm fine being single—I'm fine not having a significant other, or multiple if it ever happens. Maybe for everyone else, but not for me.”
Hanzo watched as Genji took the shōchū bottle and drank the entire thing in one sitting. He decided not to question Genji’s alcohol tolerance, though he wanted to learn more, if he could. Back then, Hanzo never mingled with anyone. Not only did he not have the time, but being in a relationship was too much to handle. He could never picture himself in one, not when there were so many things being asked of him. But now that he had the freedom to fall in love, he could see that his younger brother was like he was when he was younger. Perhaps not the same situation, but for sure the same circumstance. Not wanting love when it was presented to him.
Aromanticism was what he called it.
“I apologize for prying into your love life,” Hanzo muttered, bowing as an apology. Genji couldn’t help but chuckle a bit to himself, seeing Hanzo realize his mistakes and not hold it against himself for forever.
“You were trying to understand. I don’t blame you—we go way back. I just get sick and tired of people always assuming she and I are together.”
“You know who I did see together, though?”
Genji’s excitement came flooding back thinking about the possibilities. “Who, who?”
“Guess.”
“Hana and Lindholm. No no, Lúcio and Augustin. Oh, or maybe Zarya and Augustin?”
Hanzo couldn’t help but laugh as Genji was practically pairing people together. The two went back to their normal discussion, which went from relationship speculation to more about Hanzo’s sculpting lessons that he mentioned before. There were a lot of things to think about that following night, when the two wrapped up their weekly hang out session and went their own ways. Genji laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking of what to label his feelings. That’s when he remembered how Hanzo had never gotten into relationships when he was a teenager—how he had a word for it.
Aromanticism was what he called it.