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Hanzo has a system, and as much as he doesn't want to admit it, any tiny error can ruin the entire day. Hanzo has always been known to be quiet, cold and (in his head) perfect. It's hard to beat the ideals that were taught to you at a young age. So, with the help of a therapist and his nosy younger brother that seems to always have time for him (much to hanzo's dismay) his system has become a lot more lenient. Which was perfect because Genji has been practically begging for his brother to go have some fun with him.
“Some fresh air would be good for you brother” is Genji's’ response for the (almost) daily requests. Now here's Hanzo, grumbling as he walks down his stairs going to prove to Genji that he can actually be a social person and he sure as hell doesn't need him to go with him to places like some sort of child.
Now to find a place to go.
Hanzo figured that if he just walks around, he should just be able to find a place that's perfect for him to go into. He doesn't want to overwhelm himself by entering a full cafe or a packed mall on his first time trying to be “social”.
He sees many families in the various restaurants and remembers the time Genji once found him eating alone, teasing him about how “sad” the sight of a single 40-year-old man looked like, eating by himself. He definitely doesn't want to bum out the other customers by doing such a thing. But after walking around aimlessly for 30 minutes, he realizes that there's not a lot of places he could go.
He considers just going home but he also thinks of the embarrassment that will happen if Genji catches wind of him trying to find a place to go out, just for him to come back home without any luck, so he ventures on. Finally, after many more minutes of searching, he found the perfect spot to “relax” as Genji has begged him to do for so long.
It was a beautiful dog cafe, it looked newer than the rest of the buildings in the area. He remembers when he and Genji were children running around Hanamura and kanezaka. From before Hanzo had to run the clan, he remembers the various sizes of dogs there, from the gigantic guard dogs they had that were dark and silent as the night, to the small ones that the civilians would own, yipping away at anything that passed by their windows. It brings a fond memory to his mind, so of course he has to go in. As he walks into the cafe, he thinks about inviting Genji next time as well.
“Murphy! DOWN”
As soon as he walks in, this dog practically jumps on him, it probably could, if only she wasn't so small. “Excited to see a new face, huh?” Hanzo says as he pets the dog jumping at his feet. He hears other dogs barking in the deeper parts of the cafe, they were probably still in their cages. Slowly going to pick the dog up “It is a pleasure to meet you as well, but I doubt your owner would enjoy you running out into the streets.”
“And he’s Right” Hanzo turned around, almost dropping the poor dog with whom he saw. A beautiful woman, with gold under her beautiful blue eyes that almost made them shine twice as bright, her beautiful hair coming out from under her hat, Hanzo was starstruck. “Thank you by the way, My name is Vivian, but please, call me Sojourn most do anyways. My apologies, Murphy loves meeting new people, maybe a little too much, huh girl?”
Hanzo could say nothing, but he had to pull himself together, lest he make a fool out of himself with this first encounter. “ A-ah yes it's alright.” He clears his throat. “She is adorable. I must say, I've never seen a dog with cybernetic enhancements like these. What a lucky girl she is to find you.” Hanzo says as kneels on the ground to pet Murphy's stomach, watching her eagerly wiggle around his hand as if she's asking for more. As if he remembers where it is at.
Hanzo quickly gets up, dusts off his knees and bows. “ Ah, my apologies, My name is Hanzo. I was looking for a place to eat and I found this cafe.”
Sojourn laughs as she bends down to pick up murphy. “Why thank you! I promise that there's usually more people around, and even more dogs walking around, but I usually keep them in their rooms whenever there's no one around, makes it easier to clean. I take it that you’d like to order something? Would you be okay with just Murphy being out today?”
Sojourn puts Murphy in one of the many dog beds in the lobby, right next to a table with two empty chairs. She points at the menu on the wall behind her and the display case in front. “Order whatever you'd like and take your time!” She starts walking towards the kitchen to clean and glove up.
Hanzo looks at the menu, its assortment of foods all has something to do with dogs, which is fitting. Even so, he sees some croissants sitting on top of the display case. With the words “HOMEMADE!” in front of it. After waiting for a bit, sojourn comes back, appropriately wearing a hairnet and gloves. She takes Hanzo's order, and he goes to sit at the table that was next to Murphy's bed.
Though he would never admit it, Hanzo always has had a soft spot for smaller dogs. He remembers being a little kid after the sword training with his teacher, sneaking out to where all the kennels were and trying to play with the dogs. The dogs would do nothing but stare at him and turn away with huff. Hanzo always thought about how they reminded him of the elders.
Sojourn moved to Japan a while after retiring from her whole vigilante life. She headed the warnings that Tremblay gave her and left Canada entirely. While the culture shock was very apparent, she made do and in a couple of months after moving, she successfully opened shop to a dog cafe.
She remembers the first couple of months in Japan after moving, visiting the cat cafe in kanezaka. She remembers how Murphy kept on sniffing her as well, clearly annoyed with the lingering smells of the cats from the day. Sojourn always considered herself more of a dog person anyways, so it's not like Murphy had to worry. She decided a while after to open her own cafe. After much planning and actual adoptions of the many dogs for the dog cafe. She finally opened in Hanaoka.
While taking out the ingredients for her customers order, she can't help but sigh. Her whole life she was more focused on helping rather than living her open life. Remembering the old days in overwatch where she would gladly take the extra work and focus on plans instead of spending time to herself. “For the greater good” she always told herself, told her friends when they teased her for not having someone yet, told someone with bated breath after they walked away, heartbroken by their crushes “No”. And while she didn't get too upset over it, now she can do whatever she wants. No more fighting and having to worry if her lover was safe at home. No more saying “no” in general. She can do whatever the hell she damn well pleases.
So when a man walked in, with a bridge piercing and hair in a small ponytail. She truly was thankful for being a civilian. He was a handsome man as well, and Murphy clearly liked him too, seeing as she barreled into him as soon as he stepped foot inside the cafe. She can't believe herself though, it's barely been 10 minutes since he walked in, and she's hiding in the kitchen with what she knows to be a big smile on her face and butterflies in her stomach. She feels like a high school teen all over again.
Eventually she knows that she has to go and face the handsome man, Hanzo, as he called himself. She quickly dismisses the thought and grabs his order to put on the try to carry out food. She couldn't help but feel joyous when she noticed he took the table with two chairs. Maybe sitting down next to him would be too quick, but she couldn't care less.
Sojourn comes back with a Matcha boba and a croissant. When asked it did turn out that yes, it would be alright if sojourn sat next to him. Hanzo thanks her and quickly starts eating. That hour walk did nothing but make him even hungrier than he already was, and what a treat it was. These were the best damn croissants he’s ever had in his entire life.
They were everything that he imagined actually good croissants would be. Not the ones his brother would bring to his house in big plastic containers. They were soft but flaky and had a very delightful buttery taste. She even heated it up a little, making him feel even warmer than he already was by her sitting right next to him.
“These are amazing! I’ve only tried the packaged ones that my brother brings every once in a while. I never thought about how badly I've been missing out on them.” He quickly takes another bite. and doesn't even get him started on the matcha. It was a perfect color, perfect aroma, and the taste was so refreshing after an hour of walking around outside trying to figure out where to go.
He drinks it with a happy sigh after every sip. Sojourn grins while watching him eat, her grin growing bigger and bigger with the praise she receives. Sojourn always took her praise with a curt nod and a thanks, but when a stranger this handsome tells her that, she can't help but swoon a little. She almost regrets sitting so close to where he can see her face. Almost.
“Don't look now, but I think someone else wants a bite as well.” Sojourn says, using her eyes to point at Murphy doing the best puppy eyes she can possibly do. “If you'd like, you can give her some! She's always liked them, even the ones I bought at the stores” She watches as Hanzo gently gives her a piece, she can feel her heart melting at the face of genuine amazement Hanzo has while feeding her.
“She is.. So small. I'm so used to seeing these big guard dogs I grew up with, I almost forgot that dogs can be this gentle.” he smiles as murphy licks his hands. Her small tongue tickled his hands.he never minded dogs licking his hands, he just hated when they slobbered all over him, luckily murphy was too small to do any of that.
Without realizing it, they stared at each other, Hanzo could get lost in sojourn's eyes, she was beautiful in every sense of the word. Her curly hair peeking out from under the hat didn't help him swoon any less. He wonders if this is how Genji felt, but he doubts it. There was no chance in hell his brother would find someone this beautiful to be with. She was more beautiful than all the girls he ever saw.
Sojourn wasn't too hot either. She was also staring; his intense gaze was beautiful. Everything about this man was something to be admired. His beard did nothing more than amplify him, the piercings on his bridge made him look majestic. He looked like he was carved out of stone. How in the world did sojourn get this lucky. She moved from Canada to Japan, just to meet the most handsome man she's ever seen.
The silence (and stares) was broken with the sound of a phone. Hanzo quickly looked and saw his brother was calling. If he could kill him, he would, but two times is already too many. He looks at sojourn with a sad look and quickly answers.
“Anija, Where the hell are you!” Genji basically screams in his ear “i waited out of your house for the past 10 minutes, and when I used your key, you aren't here! Did you get kidnapped or something?” Genji is speaking so loudly that he's afraid Sojourn is going to hear him.
“I am... Somewhere” Hanzo says, trying to mouth apologies at sojourn
“WHAT??” If sojourn didn't hear Genji then, she definitely heard him now. “YOU? No offense Anija, but after all this time of begging, you go somewhere by yourself? I could almost shed a tear. I'm so proud.'' Hanzo can feel the sarcastic look on his face, and he can definitely hear it. “Genji, if I promise to tell you everything when I get home, will you please. PLEASE, hang up now.” as if the heavens themselves answered, Genji instantly hung up the phone, clearly showing that he agreed.
He turns to look back at sojourn, who is looking at him with a very amused face, “I'm going to assume that you have to take your leave? That phone call sounded very important, "Sojourn said, trying her hardest not to laugh. “Yes, I am so sorry Ms. Vivian. I wasn't aware that my brother needed me at this very moment.” Hanzo said sharply. Already planning on the long ‘discussion’ he is going to have with him. Sojourn laughed and led him to the door. “Ah you know what? Here's this.” Sojourn reached over to grab a piece of paper, and quickly wrote something on it.
“My number. Let me know the next time you'd like to stop by. It was wonderful talking to you Hanzo.” She grinned at him and led him out the door. Everything happened so fast that when he realized what just happened, he was standing outside of Hanaoka, gaping at a piece of paper with the whines of murphy being heard clearly from the other side of the door.
He was right, He has many things to discuss with genji.