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Genji did his makeup while music blared through his earbuds. He’d just gotten cleaned up after post-training meditation, the quiet always got to him. During meditation, silence was to be expected, it was part of the whole point, but the fact that it seemed to loom over him, even as he left the room, was unsettling. The estate had always been peaceful, quiet even in the middle of a large city, but now the air hung heavy with a recent loss.
His father had always been on his side, supported him and made the castle feel like a real home despite it being the heart of the family business. Without him, the building felt like a cage, trapping Genji here. Without him, the air felt stifling.
Maybe it was just the steam from his shower.
Waving away the mist and bad energy, Genji leaned close to the mirror to apply his eyeliner in a sharp wing. No use dwelling, it didn’t change the truth. He was going to have fun tonight.
Finishing off his makeup with some peach gloss in the center of his lips-- extra pouty-- Genji blew himself a kiss in the mirror. He barely bothered with his hair, masterfully tousling it with just a touch of product, anticipating that with luck it would get messed up anyway. Satisfied with his look, Genji stepped out of the bathroom to dress in the outfit he’d laid out on the bed prior; a floral bomber jacket and black skinny jeans. He had considered heels, but in the end slipped on some flat soled ankle boots, brand new and ready to get scuffed on the dance floor.
Stepping in front of his full length mirror, Genji put two silver studs in one ear and checked his ass in the reflection. Irresistible . These were his new favorite pants.
He had almost made it all the way out of the building without being stopped, but in the end: no such luck. As Genji rounded the last corner, he was met with the sight of his brother standing in the doorway to the family shrine. He wanted to just walk past, tired of this routine, but of course Hanzo wouldn’t let him.
Stepping into the hallway, Hanzo slid the door closed behind him, “You look a mess.”
“Rude, I spent a long time picking out this outfit.” Genji hooked his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans.
His gaze scanning over the garments, Hanzo’s eyebrows furrowed at Genji’s bare chest before his eyes flicked up to give him a scathing look. “You’re not even wearing a shirt.”
“Shit, knew I had forgotten something, guess I’ll have to do without.” Of course it was a deliberate choice, but he didn’t expect his brother to understand fashion or the art of attraction.
Hanzo scrunched up his nose, “I can’t believe you’re going out like that.”
“Believe it!” Genji imitated the main character of an anime classic they used to watch when they were young. Part of him hoped it would make Hanzo smile, but in reality he knew his brother didn’t do much of that these days.
The relationship between him and his brother had become strained since their father’s death. Hanzo was being pressured by the family’s elders about his new role as head of the family, and ended up taking out his frustrations on Genji for not training enough or going out so often. As a result, Genji had actually begun to go out more , hoping to get away from all the tension and pressure.
Sometimes it felt like he’d lost not only his father, but his brother as well.
Receiving nothing but pursed lips for his attempt at humor, Genji sighed and crossed his arms, “What do you want me to say, Hanzo.”
“That you’ll stay here, that you’ll stop this childish behavior and take on the responsibility that was left to you,” Hanzo spoke in a level tone, but there was something pleading in his expression.
Genji practically rolled his eyes, it was the same thing every time. “Yeah that’s not happening anytime soon. Besides, ‘ Ruling the Empire ’ or whatever was left to you , why would you want my help? You love being in charge, you don’t need me.”
Distress flashed across Hanzo’s face, but it was quickly buried under anger, “Shimada Genji, you are a fool. ”
Genji had heard enough. Waving his brother’s words away, he continued toward the exit. “See you later, kumichō" He was turning the corner before he could hear Hanzo’s response.
As Genji left the property, one of the front gate guards fell into step behind him. It used to annoy him, having someone keeping an eye on him all the time, but he warmed up to it when he realized having a body guard made him look like a badass. Besides, his guard was chill, staying outside of the club as long as long as he was there. Only once had he had an embarrassing rescue, having collapsed on the dance floor due to alcohol poisoning. Him and his friends laughed and joked about it later, so his reputation wasn’t completely ruined by being carried out on a stretcher.
Reputation. What a subject. His older brother often spoke of how his lifestyle reflected poorly on the reputation of the Shimada clan, but everything Genji did was to keep up his own reputation around the city as a playboy.
---
First order of business when he entered the club was his drink order. He always bought a whole round of shots for his friends as soon as he arrived, start the night off right, and then another round of something lighter. There was two reasons he did this, the first being it gave him serious popularity points, and the second being it helped him drink strategically throughout the night.
On the day his father had died, Genji had been to the club as soon as it opened that evening, and began to drink. It was that same night that he collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital. It was a terrible situation made worse; He’d been in the hospital for three days, so soon after a tragedy in his family. Hanzo visited him once a day, always dressed in somber colors, and seeming to be in a different mood every time. The first day, his brother had nearly wept with relief when he saw Genji sitting up in bed, the next Hanzo yelled at him for his irresponsibility, and the third they simply sat in unbroken silence.
The experience had opened his eyes to the damage he was doing not only to himself, but his family. He had been too ill to leave his bed, caused Hanzo more unrest, and in the end it had done nothing to dull the pain of his loss.
Since that day, he had began to drink in a way that kept him from ever having his judgement so clouded again. After the second round, whenever drinks were delivered, he made sure he was the one to distribute them from the tray so no one would notice he hadn't ordered one for himself. Eventually, they were too intoxicated to notice he'd been working on the same drink all night. It was an easy trade off for him, buying drinks for his friends kept then happy as well as blissfully unaware that his habits had changed.
After a while, he'd worked past needing the alcohol anyhow, he was confident enough in his own right to dance the night away with whoever he wanted, or whoever wanted him. At that moment it was a young woman at the edge of the dance floor who caught his eye, but only because she'd been eyeing him first. In the lighting he could hardly see her, only her silhouette visible when the lights flashed in her direction. What he could see though, was someone who knew how to move their body, and that's what really mattered to him.
Setting down his drink, he made a beeline to his new partner.
---
Genji quickly fell in step with the woman, putting a hand on her waist and draping one arm over her shoulder. She was warm everywhere they connected, even her hands in his hair were radiating heat onto his scalp. He loved the sensation, wanted more.
Leaning down, Genji pressed his face into the crook of her neck and closed his eyes. She smelled amazing, like fruit and perspiration. Her hands were firm, but not rough, as they ran through his hair and over his shoulders, and he was content to stay like that for a while.
When he did open his eyes again, Genji noticed an escort omnic sitting on a boxy leather armchair a short ways away. It’s only movement was a back and forth head motion, gaze sweeping the crowd for any patrons that might be trying to get it’s attention.
“Hey,” Genji murmured, pulling back just enough to look his dance partner in the eyes. She really was gorgeous, he was glad to have given her the first dance of the night. As she looked at him expectantly with dark eyes, Genji found he couldn’t resist pressing a warm kiss to her lips before continuing, “Mind if my friend joins us?” He nodded his head in the direction of the omnic and she glanced back in the direction of his gesture before bowing her head once in agreement. Pulling away, he went to retrieve the omnic from it’s post.
“Can I have this dance?” Genji offered a hand to the omnic with a charming smile.
Many of the more exclusive night clubs in the city had at least one escort omnic in their establishment. They were almost purely decorative, a symbol of the club’s wealth, with very little real functionality. They were humanoid in build, could hold basic conversation, fetch drinks, and he’d found they could kind of sway back and forth, if not actually dance.
Even though he’d been informed otherwise, Genji liked to believe they had a personality of their own and could think and feel beyond their programming. It might have all been in his mind, but they were fun to flirt with at least.
By the time he’d lead the omnic back to where he and the woman had been dancing, Genji discovered she’d found herself a new partner. He wasn’t offended, things moved quick on the dance floor and now he could focus his attention on his new dance partner.
“You look lovely tonight, Genji,” the omnic spoke in a male voice. It knew his name, they’d met before; this being Genji’s favorite club to frequent.
“Always such a sweet talker,” Genji’s mouth curved into a smile, crowding close to the omnic and wrapping his arms around it’s neck. “Why don’t you try something filthy, see what it gets you,” he purred.
The omnic looked at him blankly, some of the lights on it’s forehead blinking as it processed the request. “What would you like me to say?”
“I don’t know,” Genji pouted, “It has to come naturally. What do you think of me?” sashaying his hips a little, he batted his eyelashes. “What do you think of my body?”
Another pause for processing.
“Your body is good.”
Genji moaned shamelessly, “Take me right now you sexy thing,” and made a swift turn that put him back to front with the omnic, arms still draped around it’s neck.
He was trying really hard not to burst into laughter, well aware that escort omnics were not typically experienced flirts, but unable to have predicted what his partner had just said. This is why he loved them so much, they could be as unscripted in their reactions as humans were, but with less emotional baggage.
“Touch me,” Genji directed, and the omnic immediately fulfilled his request. Reaching around, it placed it’s hands on his bare chest and he shivered.
The cool touch was a surprising sensation compared to the heat caused by so many bodies crowded on the dancefloor, and a stark contrast to his last partner. Other than the cold metal, however, there were hardly any differences; If Genji closed his eyes, it was easy to imagine the omnic was just like any of the other people in the club. It’s hand movements were fluid over his skin, the electronics in it’s chest felt like a warm heartbeat against his back, and there was even a hint of light perfume on it’s clothes.
He soon did just that: let his eyes slide shut, and enjoyed the music as his partner held him flush against itself.
They stayed like that until the song began to switch, then Genji gracefully disentangled himself from their position and pressed a kiss to the omnic’s face plate, proudly leaving a lipstick smudge.
“Thank you for the dance,” Genji cooed, a hand on the omnic’s chest.
“It was a pleasure.”
Genji puffed his chest slightly at the words and beamed. A Pleasure . Even omnics thought he was a catch, no big deal.
“I’ll see you around,” Genji gave the omnic one more kiss for being so sweet, before backing away into the crowd and returning to the corner booth where he and his friends always stayed.
---
As he approached the table to retrieve his drink, Tatsuki, one of his friends, swatted at his ass and made a comment about training giving Genji desirable features. Spinning on his heel, Genji planted himself in the young man’s lap and sipped his drink.
“If you wanted to get better acquainted all you had to do was ask,” He purred as Tatsuki squirmed under him.
“Get off me!” he practically yelped.
“You want me to get you off? Buy me dinner first,” Genji grinned to himself, pretending he hadn’t heard what he’d said.
Tatsuki groaned and resigned himself to his fate, letting his head fall back against the seat. He was too fun to tease. It wasn’t just Genji’s ego talking when he said it was obvious Tatsuki had a huge crush on him. However, it was probably better he stubbornly refused to admit his feelings, as Genji had yet to be sold on the concept of a committed relationship, and he enjoyed what they had going; the way they danced around each other.
After a minute or two of sitting contentedly in his friend’s lap, watching the crowd and waiting until he was distracted, Genji then ground down into him and pulled a surprised moan from Tatsuki’s lips. Genji howled with laughter and jumped to his feet, expertly dodging to avoid the swipe taken at him.
“Fuck you!”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
He laughed again as Tatsuki flushed bright red and sunk into the seat, crossing his arms and legs tightly.
“You look thirsty, let me get you a drink,” Genji beamed as his friend uncrossed one of his arms for the express purpose of flipping him off. Genji blew him a kiss in return, then left to make his way to the bar.
---
Weaving through the crowd, he made his way to the front to order; but not before flirting with the bartender for a bit. Her wife had once punched him in the face for doing just this, but they were all good friends now.
As Genji leant on the counter talking to her, he caught a commotion in his peripheral vision. Off to the side, a tall muscular guy was holding tightly to the arm of a girl who did not look old enough to have gotten in without a fake ID and connections; a game he knew well.
The girl was leaning away, obviously trying to escape without drawing attention to herself and causing a scene. This type of thing wasn’t usually a problem in this club, and he wasn’t going to let it get to be one. When the bartender asked him if he wanted the usual order, Genji barely gave her a nod before pushing past people. He didn’t take his eyes off the pair for a moment.
“I’m no expert, but it looks like she wants you to fuck off.” Genji put a hand on the guy’s bicep and gave him an overly friendly smile, “Either way, I would certainly invite you to do so.”
The guy was taller, probably about his brother’s height, so when he turned to glare he had to tilt his head down slightly to meet Genji’s eyes. It would’ve been intimidating if Genji were the type to get intimidated.
“I insist,” Genji dug in his nails, smile unwavering.
That seemed to get the guy to take him seriously. Wrenching his arm out of Genji’s grip and turning all the way to face him, but not letting go of the girl’s arm.
“You wanna get beat?” the guy growled, getting in his face.
“Not without a safeword,” Genji cooed in response. This earned him a fist swung at head that he blocked easily, trapping the guy’s wrist in his grip. “Now what did I just say?” Genji twisted his arm painfully to the side.
Thankfully, Genji saw the he had finally let go of the girl and she’d scrambled back against the wall. Now that she was safely out of the way, he had a green light to take this asshole down. As the guy tried to take a swing at him with his other arm, Genji used the momentum against him and swung himself around until they were back to back. Lifting one foot and stomping down, catching the back of the guy’s knee with his heel, he simultaneously yanked down on the arm he still had a hold on. With his balance compromised, the guy fell sideways and cracked his knee on the wood flooring before going down.
Security was showing up as the guy hit the floor face first. They didn’t question it, all the staff knew who he was-- and more importantly: who his family was-- so they quickly came forward to drag the guy to his feet.
“Thanks boys, my guy’s outside,” Genji said, looking mournfully at the nail he’d broken-- he’d just had them done too.
The three were out of sight quickly and dancing had returned to normal around him, giving him the opportunity to check on the girl. Genji was glad to see she hadn’t run off, still keeping close to the wall but trying to be inconspicuous about it. As he approached, she tensed up a little but seemed a little less reserved when he put his hands up in non-threatening way.
“You alright?” He leaned against the wall next to her, looking her over with friendly concern.
She nodded, rubbing the spot on her arm where she’d been been held. She glanced over as a security guard passed, and then looked at him.
“What, you think I’m gonna tell on you? Nah,” He crossed his arms over his chest, “Who was that creep anyway?”
“He was my ticket in here. Didn’t realize he was a creep,” She shrugged, evidently opening up more now that she knew he wasn’t a snitch.
“No offense, but that guy was definitely a creep.”
“Yeah, I know that now,” she rolled her eyes, then sighed, “Thank you, for what you did.”
“All in a day’s work,” he grinning, puffing out his chest proudly before settling back against the wall again, “So what’s your name?”
“Yuta.“
“Well, Yuta, since I doubt you’ve gotten to enjoy the many sights and sounds this fine establishment has to offer and you’ve lost your delightful partner, would you like to join me and my friends at our booth?”
“I don’t know, mister, I don’t even know your name,” she smiled coyly.
“Shimada Genji, at your service.”
“With a respectable name like that, I accept your invitation.”
“Great! First, I gotta get the booze,” Genji beamed at her, then navigated both of them back through the crowd to retrieve his order before returning to his table.
---
Genji and Yuta had stayed at the table for a long time, talking and joking. She was easy to talk to, probably because they were so similar. At one point as she was telling him about the plan she’d used to get into the club, and he’d momentarily felt the need to scold her for being irresponsible. Ew, you sound like Hanzo , he scolded himself instead. There was no point to it anyway, nothing terrible happened and now that she was part of his circle of friends she could get into the club no nonsense next time.
After a while, Yuta had left for the dance floor. She’d invited him to join her, but he’d declined and told her to save him a dance.
It was at around this time of the night he usually took a break and sat back in one of the leather armchairs to just enjoy the atmosphere. The colors of the lights, the vibrations of the music, the bodies on the dance floor moving in time, and the smooth taste of his drink. Gave him a chance to get off his feet for a while and really take in the surroundings. It was probably his favorite part of the night, if he were honest.
As much as Genji loved his friends, he knew they didn’t get this part of the experience. More involved in the partying and glamor of it all than anything. Not to get him wrong, he could party, and anyone who tried so say otherwise would get their ass handed to them; He was the king of the scene. No, the difference between him and his friends were their backgrounds. His training had showed him how to hone and use each of his senses to take in his surroundings and since he’d learned to do that, everything had become even more beautiful and exciting.
Maybe if he could coax Hanzo to abandon his responsibility just for a night and share this experience with him, they could understand each other a little better. Or at least spend some time together as brothers again. Keep dreaming, Genji, He chided himself.
The reappearance of Tatsuki broke him from his thoughts.
Genji watched as the young man swayed slightly. Even as he looked at Genji from a ways away, it seemed to take him a moment to focus, but when he did a grin spread across his face.
“Hey,” Tatsuki said, walking over to where Genji sat.
“You look like you’ve been having fun,” Genji smiled back at him, sitting up and resting his arms on the armrests.
Tatsuki nodded before half stumbling into a kneeling position on the ground in front of him, their gazes meeting.
“Careful,” Genji reached out to comb through his friend’s slightly sweaty hair with his fingers. Tatsuki closed his eyes at the touch, leaning forward for more contact. He was cute like this, especially when one eye opened to look up at him. Then, with hardly any hesitation, Tatsuki reached out to slide his hand up Genji’s thigh. From the smell of him, Genji could tell his friend had certainly drank this confidence.
Gaze flicking from his hand up to Genji’s eyes and holding his stare, Tatsuki proceeded to bring his other hand into play and work both up Genji’s thighs to his hips.
Humming low, he shifted his legs slightly and pulled gently at Tatsuki’s hair. Encouraged, Tatsuki hooked the fingers of one hand into the waistband of the skinny jeans and let the other roam over the abs Genji’s lack of shirt allowed access to. Genji loved any physical contact, touch was his favorite thing, so he encouraged this interaction. When a palm worked over the front fly of his pants however, he took the wandering hand delicately in his own and leaned close.
“I told you to buy me dinner first.”
“Please,” Tatsuki whined, “I wanna-”
“Shh,” Genji breathed against the other’s cheek and ghosted his lips over his skin, “Not here, wouldn’t you rather be back at yours?”
He smiled when he felt his friend nod, “What are we waiting for then?” Standing up, he helped Tatsuki to feet and wrapped an arm around his waist, then they were headed to the exit. As they walked, Genji murmured sweet promises in his ear and kissed his neck.
Once outside, they hailed a cab. Genji helped his friend into the car, paid the driver, and gave a little extra incentive to make sure he got home safely. When Genji started to close the door from the outside, Tatsuki reached out to stop it.
“What?” Tatsuki slurred slightly, looking out at him with big, lost eyes.
Opening the door again, Genji reached over to secure the lap belt into place and smiled softly. “You need rest, tomodachi," he gave Tatsuki a soft kiss before pulling back, “I’ll see you soon, okay?”
Tatsuki was too out of it to respond, so Genji simply gave his hand a squeeze and then pulled away to shut the door again. He watched as the car pulled away from the curb and down the street.
This routine was one Genji was well practiced in, a part he often played. Usually it was with whatever drunk club-goer fell into his lap, not a close friend. He flirted with an indeterminate amount of people in a night, and many were happy to flirt back, but if he came across someone who was obviously too intoxicated to make good choices, that’s when he would step in. It didn’t matter who they were, he wanted them to get home safely. The acting part came in when he had to figure out where to send them home to; Genji discovered it was fairly easy to get an address out of someone if you were a hot guy, such as himself, who gave them the impression you wanted to have sex with them.
This was where his playboy reputation had began. After a week or two of doing this, one of his friends had congratulated him on “the amount of ass you’ve been getting” and she’d even asked him for advice. Once Hanzo had brought up this new reputation during breakfast, talking in that level way where he was obviously trying not to smile, Genji knew the persona had been set.
Despite it being an exaggerated version of himself, he found it suited him just fine.
Once Genji was out of the club and had been seen leaving with someone, he was basically free for the rest of the night. Whatever was left of it, anyway. Lucky for him, one of his favorite places was always open late.
“I’m going to the arcade, you can head home,” Genji told his guard as he brushed nonexistent dust off the man’s jacket, “Unless you wanna play this time?”
The guard shook his head, and waited to be dismissed.
“Boring. Fine, begone with you,” He waved his hand at the guard before they turned to go their separate ways. Genji was ready to check if his high scores had been beaten, he had to defend his rank.
---
The arcade was not as quiet at this time of night as you would expect. All around the games generated sound, playing their tunes to catch the attention of the arcade’s patrons. There were some kids still playing games, laughing and shouting. The kind of kids that stayed late just to avoid going home a little longer. He guessed he fit into that category too.
As he perused the rows of game cabinets, deciding which to play first, a little girl ran up and stopped in front of him. She put her hands on her hips and gave him a wide smile. He'd encountered her here a few nights in the past week, and she had a lot of personality for such a tiny body. They hadn't really talked, she wouldn't tell him anything except she was in Hanamura for a family vacation and that she was going to be “ the best ever at video games!”
Now at first, Genji had tried to do true right thing and convince her that sneaking out and wandering around at night was dangerous, but she was having none of it. The obvious next step for him was to enable her, which he did now by walking over to the token machine and swiping his card. Once the clattering sound of coins being dispensed had stopped, Genji scooped them up and poured them in her hands.
“So many,” she looked down at her cupped hands, then up at him with a cheeky grin, “But I’m so good I only need one!”
“Oh? My bad, I’ll just take the rest back,” He said, reaching out as if to do just that.
“No!” She closed her hands and turned her body away, hiding her loot.
Genji laughed as she pouted, “I’m just kidding, go have fun.”
Nodding and smiling up at him, she ran off and called out "Gam sa!" over her shoulder.
Once she’d disappeared into the rows of games, Genji continued on his way and scanned the consoles around him. Nothing was particularly catching his eye tonight, perhaps he’d already had an exciting night and wasn’t feeling like playing anything too intense.
Finally, as he was passing Vivi’s Adventure , the high score screen was displayed. “HDS” was at the top of the list, initials he didn’t recognize from the arcade’s regulars and certainly not his. Someone had beat his score and took his place in the top spot. ‘A challenger approaches’ Genji’s mind supplied, as he moved to sit at the console to reclaim his crown.
---
An hour and some later, Genji found himself walking down an empty street of the arts district. Hanzo had once called it “ the trash district” , which had made Genji laugh, but he personally found all the repurposed sculptures and things charming. For instance, one of his favorites was a piece of outdated office machinery that had been gutted and turned into a planter for a small cherry blossom tree. Pausing to picking up one of the branches that had fallen, he swung it to and fro as he continued on his way.
Looking up at the quarter moon lighting his way, he loosely ran through steps from his sword training, using the branch as a stand-in for a blade. The quiet of the night was similar to the quiet of meditation, and it put him in a calm and reflective state.
He thought of all the people he’d interacted with tonight, how each of them had shared a connection and had given him joy. Genji wished he could bottle up the energy these kinds of encounters gave him to dip into on the days when even getting out of bed was a struggle. Unfortunately, it was all just an abstract concept, a feeling, and one he didn’t think could properly be explained. All he hoped was with his actions, the individuals he met each somehow felt that energy as well.
---
Once he made it back to the estate, instead of heading up to his room, Genji climbed the side of the building to sit on the lowest roof. Pulling his knees up and propping his loosely crossed arms atop them, he looked out over the city. Being back home made his reflective mood stick fast, unable to get away from everything the Shimada castle meant for him. Part of him wished he could fly away from this place and never look back, but then he would think of his family; The mother who had left, his father who had passed, and his brother who never seemed to have the time.
‘So cynical, Genji’ He silently chided himself, laughing lightly and watching as his breath turned to mist in the cold. Perhaps it was true he only stayed here for his brother, but to him it was nothing if not a worthy cause. They didn’t always agree-- fought often, in fact-- but they had always been there for each other.
Genji appreciated his brother’s self discipline and soft spoken demeanor, qualities he himself was lacking in, but also knew Hanzo took things too seriously and became easily stressed over little details. Genji’s laid back personality countered that, and he always knew how to get his brother to laugh; all while Hanzo made sure he didn’t slack off and kept Genji’s intense moods in check. They balanced each other perfectly, and he looked up to Hanzo.
These days, however, his brother seemed impervious to Genji's attempts to lift his spirits. That couldn’t deter him, or discredit everything they had been through, he would never give up on Hanzo as long as he lived. Even beyond that, if possible.
Yawning, Genji looked down at his watch and was surprised by what it showed. He of all people should know how easy it was to lose your sense of time in a city that was constantly moving. Looking out over the buildings, draped in a blanket of night, Genji smiled. It really was a beautiful sight.
It was nights like these he would remember, being young and feeling so alive. No matter what happened, nothing could bring him down forever.
Genji Shimada would live.