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Hanzo meets his betrothed when he's six, old enough to understand what his family name means and to understand the significance of the meeting, but still young enough to not fully grasp the extent of her importance.
Hanzo is sat next to his mother, silent and carefully minding his posture as his parents converse softly with another family over tea in the Shimada garden, the sun beginning to curl below the horizon, casting stark shadows across the pebbled walkways.
The other family: the mother, father, and their young daughter are wrapped in colorful embroidery and adorned in gold jewelry that glows in the remaining sunlight. Hanzo recalls that he had seen the mother in passing, probably involved in Mr. Shimada's "business", but the father and girl are unfamiliar to him.
Mrs. and Mr. Vaswani, Hanzo's mother had said when the family first arrived to the estate mere hours ago. Hanzo had tried to say the surname as well, but found that his tongue fought against the syllables. He had felt his face burn and began to apologize, ducking his head, but Mrs. Vaswani had laughed, not unkindly, brushing his bangs aside with her fingers, the bracelets decorating her wrists jingling a high tune as she said that it was alright, that he had done just fine.
"Satya?" Hanzo's father turns to address the young girl sitting next to her mother.
Satya's head snaps up from where it had been bent over her teacup, clasped between both of her tiny hands. "Yes, Mr. Shimada?" she replies, her pronunciation perfect.
"Have you ever seen a koi fish? In real life?" Mr. Shimada asks, and Hanzo can already read where this is going by the time Satya shakes her head. "No?" Hanzo spots the smile his mother is sporting behind her hand. "Hanzo, why don't you show Satya the koi?"
Had this meeting been a year or so ago, perhaps Hanzo would have huffed or sighed in resignation, but instead, he just stands from his seat, and, keeping his mother in mind, offers his hand to Satya with his most polite smile.
Hanzo's only thought when Satya places her hand in his, her eyes big and bright, is the question of if it was safe for his heart to be beating so fast.
"There's going to be some sort of, like, carousel or Ferris wheel or both," Genji relays excitedly as he watches Hanzo slide into the cramped subway car behind himself and Satya. "It's going to be in the middle of all of the stores or something," Genji continues as Satya pulls Hanzo tighter into her side, out of the way of the closing door.
"A Ferris wheel or a carousel, Genji?" Hanzo questions, one hand moving to grip the handle above him, his other finding the small of Satya's back, keeping her balanced in between himself and his brother as the train lurches into momentum.
Genji just nods enthusiastically while Satya chuckles as she pulls her bag into the middle of their bodies.
"Which is it?" she asks, a compassionate smile on her face, "Because there's a very big height difference between one and the other."
"Uh." Genji's gaze drifts away as he tries to recall. "Oh, hey, I had the information about it in a text I sent Lúcio, hang on," he says, beginning the task of searching through his pockets for his phone.
Satya looks at Hanzo, her single raised eyebrow and soft smile perfectly conveying her mixture of exasperation and fondness. Hanzo only rolls his eyes in reply, forcing the smile tugging at the corner of his lips down as Genji finally pulls out his phone with a noise of triumph.
"Okay, okay, it's opening in four months—" Genji says, voice falling into the background as Hanzo tunes him out, his attention drawn to a pair of college-aged guys behind Genji. He watches as one, brown-haired and wearing a navy blue varsity jacket, whispers something in his friend's ear. The friend, sporting a red sweatshirt and a pair of shades balanced atop his bleached hair, laughs at whatever was whispered to him before pointing further down the car and saying something in return.
Hanzo's eyes follow the gesture, his eyes resting on a young woman in business attire with her back to them. He's not sure if that is who they're whispering about but when he glances back at the two, the brunette is making an obscene gesture that his friend seems amused by.
The train slows to a stop, a final jerk and screech of metal before the car doors open. A fifth of the people in the train car shuffle off, allowing for Genji to step back into the car and giving Satya and Hanzo room to move out of the way of the car doors.
Satya sends Hanzo a confused look when he follows close behind her, tucking himself against her side, his hand curling to hold her waist. He notices the look, but says nothing, eyes glancing towards where the blonde man is trying to sneak a picture of — Hanzo suspects — the businesswoman's backside, now that there's fewer people between the two.
"— can go for you birthday, Han," Genji is saying, as Hanzo yanks his attention back to his brother.
"Go where?" Hanzo asks, gaze flicking back to where the two men are snickering over the phone.
"To the mall? C'mon, brother, keep up. You can't go senile on us yet," Genji jokes, grinning as his thumbs fly across the keyboard of his phone.
Hanzo makes a noncommittal noise as he watches the two men from his peripheral. He's distracted again by a tug on the front of his shirt.
Satya has been patiently accepting his maneuvering, but Hanzo can tell that she is curious.
"Our stop," she says, giving him that look that makes him think she's trying to read his mind.
Sometimes, he worries she might be able to do just that.
"Right," Hanzo answers, sparing one last glance at the two men, but they appeared to have settled in.
"We just have to walk about a mile to the diner. My friends will be meeting us there," Genji says, dashing out of the car the instant the doors slide open.
Hanzo drops his arm from Satya's waist, mildly perturbed at how protective he got over such a silly situation, and follows the other two off of the train.
"So, there I am, right? In some stranger's bathroom — I've got frosting all over my bare chest, no idea where Lúcio is, and an empty bag of bird seed in my lap," Genji says, his hands helping to tell his story as Hana, Lena, Satya, and Hanzo listen from their places around the dining table. Hana has a fry midway to her mouth, which is opened partially, eyes wide as she and Lena focus entirely on Genji's story.
Hanzo and Satya have heard this one before and exchange a knowing look before Hanzo snipes in, "And that's why I told you not to party with college kids after finals, Genji."
Genji whines, slumping in his chair. "Why do you have to ruin my fun, Hanzo?" he says, a cartoonish pout on his face.
"Because he's the older brother," Lena says, laughing as she ruffles Genji's hair from her seat next to him. "I still can't believe we hadn't met your older brother until now, and it's nice to meet the poor Satya who somehow managed to survive growing up with Genji."
Genji makes a fake hurt noise in the back of his throat. "Really?"
"I still can't believe you two are related," Hana says, the incredulity evident in her voice as her eyes dart between Hanzo and Genji. She takes a pull from her drink before suddenly pointing a fry at Satya. "Like, I know you all grew up together but how?"
"'How'?" Satya repeats, confused as she regards the piece of food aimed at her with a mix of repulsion and apprehension.
"Yeah, Genji told us that your parents are business partners or whatever, but when you started going to different schools, you could've..." Hana pauses, making a circular motion with her fry in the air before popping it into her mouth. "Y'know, just grown apart or whatever," she finishes, words muffled.
"Ah— that's..." Hanzo starts, Satya and him glancing at each other briefly.
"You haven't stayed in touch with any of your childhood friends?" Satya asks quickly, trying to devise a way to maneuver the conversation in a different direction.
Hana shrugs as she shakes her head. "Nope, I moved around too much — army brat," she says.
"I stayed in touch with one of my friends from back when I was in kindergarten until... late middle school, I believe," Lena pipes up, frowning in thought before her face is lighting up again in an instant. "But it's good that you've all stayed so close!"
Genji laughs as he chucks a fry at his brother. "It's mostly those two. I'm pretty sure I just trailed after them long enough that they just decided to accept it."
"You two are, what, a couple years apart?" Hana asks, her chin resting in her palm as she watches Satya and Hanzo with something that reads oddly like suspicion. "How did you become friends, if it wasn't through Genji, who's the same age as Satya?"
"It's not as if Satya and I aren't friends, though," Genji says, pouting slightly.
"I'm just curious how you two met, if it wasn't through school," Hana clarifies, leaning back in her chair with her head tilted to the side.
"Well," Satya starts, trying to devise a way through the explanation without revealing too much. "The... heirs of the family business are typically encouraged to be involved with the... more important meetings, so I traveled with my mother regularly before we settled here. Hanzo is the heir for the Shimada business, so we met frequently before my family moved here. His was a familiar face."
Satya watches Hana nod understandingly, imagines Hana having run into similar army kids rarely but enough that she must appreciate the idea of seeing someone she had seen once before.
"And it's kind of inevitable that you're going to get close to someone you're promised to," Genji says, laughing as he stuffs several fries into his mouth.
Satya feels the warmth leave her face. Genji immediately realizes his mistake, a soft "oh shit" garbled between the fries in his mouth.
"Like, what an arranged marriage?" Lena tries to joke, her grin faltering as Hanzo mutters something about needing to use the bathroom before he stands from the table, his chair scraping harshly against the linoleum floor. "Wait, you're not serious, right?"
There's a long beat of silence where Satya chews at her lip, wracking her brain for a way to either escape or downplay the betrothal.
"Isn't that... kind of old fashioned?" Hana asks, her mouth twisting in thinly veiled disapproval.
Satya finds her stomach twisting uncomfortably at Hana's words.
"That is why it is not public knowledge," Satya says, tossing a glare at Genji who has enough sense to look ashamed. "It's not even much of a marriage. Mostly a... legally bound combining of... affairs."
Hana sniffs, her frown intensifying, "That just sounds like a fancy way of saying 'marriage' to me..."
"It removes the complications that would come, should I inherit the business and then die without finding someone suitable to take on the responsibility," Satya continues, sitting up straighter, reminding herself what her mother would do in this situation. "Actually, there are quite a number of complications that are avoided by this... It's not unheard of."
Lena looks sad of all things as she says, "But that's awfully far into the future. I mean, what if you want to date in college?"
"I would rather focus on obtaining my education, rather than finding a partner," Satya scoffs, hoping she isn't overdoing it.
"You don't think you'll change your mind about that?" Lena asks, her brows furrowed as she stirs her straw in her drink. "What if you... fall in love with someone?"
Satya clenches her jaw as she reminds herself that these sorts of conversations were unavoidable, that Lena and Hana were coming from places of concern.
"For me, my family and my education are far more important than a relationship that could likely waste my time, money, and energy," Satya says before she stands. "I'm going to... going to get some air."
She leaves the silent table feeling shaky and uneasy, but manages fine until she turns the corner to find Hanzo leaning against the wall opposite the bathrooms, head tilted back and eyes closed.
Satya settles against the wall next to him, worrying the cuticles of her nails.
Hanzo doesn't say anything, simply takes one of her hands in his, tracing patterns on her palm to distract her from ruining the skin of her hands.
Satya doesn't remember when she accepted the idea of her and Hanzo's betrothal, just remembers waking up one morning and seeing Hanzo as her closest friend and knowing that no matter what happened, he'd be there for her.
Whether he wanted to be or not.
The thought suddenly overwhelms everything else in her mind.
What does Hanzo want?
They've never talked about the betrothal, joked around it, sure, but never truly talked about it.
"Too much thinking," Hanzo says, his voice muffling the worries bouncing around Satya's head.
"What do you want?" Satya spits out while half of her mind is someplace else — and it's obviously the half that contains her self-control.
Satya glances up to see Hanzo staring at her in wide-eyed bewilderment.
"From you future?" she adds. Unsure if that's really the question she wants to ask.
Hanzo blinks at her, his face settling into something unreadable. He laughs, a bit dryly, and his hands gripping hers a bit tighter.
"What future, Satya?" he asks, his smile tight and perhaps a touch bitter. "We have our duties to our family to fulfill. You know we cannot deviate from that."
There's a heavy moment of silence as Hanzo rubs his thumb over the back of Satya's hand.
An elderly woman glares at them as she heads into the ladies' restroom, and Satya decides perhaps somewhere else would be a better place to wind down.
"I'm going to tell Genji to head out with his friends, and we can take the metro back — call it a night," Satya says, squeezing his hand in return.
Hanzo smiles gratefully at her, and she rests her forehead against his chest as she pulls out her cellphone to send a text to Genji, and Hanzo's arms wrap around her in a comforting embrace, blocking off the rest of the world, even if only for the moment.
What future, indeed.
Satya didn't even know who she could talk to about this. No one else was in her position — no one else but Hanzo.
And, she certainly wasn't going to express her reservations to him.
"You're thinking too loud, again," Hanzo says, meeting her eyes briefly before Satya ducks her head down, worried that he'd somehow be able to read her doubts.
"I'm afraid I do that quite often," she replies, watching the sidewalk underneath her feet as they walk down mostly empty streets in fading daylight.
Hanzo hums in agreement, and Satya can feel his eyes on her, but she's suddenly terrified to meet his eyes.
Long shadows folding upon the streets, cloaking some areas in absolute darkness where the streetlights' timers have yet to tick on for the night. There's the distant rumble of the elevated train several blocks behind them, boosted bass coming from an apartment to their right, and the sound of Satya's heeled boots on the sidewalk. The air feels heavy, thick with the tension of the waning summer, inundated with the unvoiced doubts boiling between them.
Satya runs her necklace between her fingers, sighing in frustration when the action doesn't soothe her like it typically does.
She tries to hold her tongue, but finds it's not as easy when there are so many words pushing at her throat.
"Hanzo," she says quietly, stopping in her tracks.
Hanzo slows to a stop a few steps ahead of her, turning with a neutral expression, almost as if he had been preparing himself.
Thankfully, he doesn't rush her, simply stays where he is, quietly watching her fiddle with her necklace and stare down at her feet.
"Is... what does the... the betrothal mean to you?" she questions, stumbling around a way to ask what she needs. Still failing in the end.
She doesn't want to see Hanzo's face, so despite her training, she locks her eyes to his shoes instead, too petrified to raise them any higher.
"What do you mean?" Hanzo asks, question almost inaudible.
"Do you care for it?" Satya says, her mouth twisting into a grimace. No, not quite right, either. "Is it simply another family duty to fulfill? Just... something you're going to go along with, whether you want it or not? I just," Satya notices the pressure of a sob in her chest, but pushes past it. "There's no authenticity to it. We're just playing our parts, aren't we?"
Satya finds it in herself to look at Hanzo, discovers him blurry beneath a haze of tears she hadn't noticed. He's silent. Still.
"Doesn't it—doesn't it bother you?" she groans, wiping at her eyes in frustration. She's trying to make a point, damnit. She can't blubber her way through this. She needs answers. True, honest answers. "You've been by my side for longer than I can remember, and I can read you most of the time, but not about this, Hanzo. Never about this. I need to know what you're thinking."
Hanzo's face remains doggedly stoic.
"Please, Hanzo," Satya begs.
There's a heavy moment of silence between them — even with the constant commotion of the city in the background, the area around them manages to seem deathly quiet.
"Satya, I," Hanzo starts, an edge to his voice, and Satya dares to look him in the eyes.
She's surprised when she spots the shimmer in his eyes, the tight pull of the frown on his face making sense now.
Composed, always composed.
"I feel... as if my entire life has already been played out. All of my actions and words and choices decided for me, before I was even born," Hanzo says, voice wavering.
Hanzo pulls in a shaky breath between clenched teeth before a grim smile crosses his face. "You, though, you have been a catalyst throughout. You have surprised me, time after time."
Satya can't help the bark of a laugh that escapes her. "What?" she asks, part indignation, part hysterics. "I–I have strict rules a-and rituals I abide by, Hanzo. That I've put in place for myself. What surprises can I cause, especially after all our time together?"
"I–I can't quite explain it. You're," Hanzo makes a noise of frustration. "You're like a... a breath of fresh air, I suppose. After days of meetings and schoolwork and lectures, I see you, and it's as if the entire world falls away — all of those expectations and family secrets." He turns his head to the side, looking away from Satya. She watches his jaw clench, knowing he's not done, knowing that there's more to be said.
"I shouldn't be, but I'm... delighted at the thought that I will have you beside me," Hanzo finally says, and Satya's breath catches. "That is one part of the script I look forward to, Satya. And I feel so guilty for wanting that. It's not fair to you — to be stuck with me."
It takes approximately four seconds before all of the words settle in. Satya ends up laughing, knows she shouldn't but can't help it, but before Hanzo can take it the wrong way, she closes the few steps between them, capturing his face between her hands.
Satya is still chuckling as Hanzo touches his forehead to hers, but she can see the tentative smile on his face.
"I am not sure I'm in on the joke," he murmurs, but he doesn't move his forehead and lifts his hands to lay them cautiously on her hips nonetheless.
"I'm sorry," Satya sighs, still grinning. "I'm just... happy."
She feels his eyebrows scrunch together against her own.
"'Happy'?" Hanzo repeats.
Satya nods as she lifts her head, locking her gaze with his as she rubs her thumbs against his cheekbones. She finds herself lacking the words to explain, so she forgoes them entirely, pressing her nose hesitantly to his.
Smirking delightedly when Hanzo sucks in a quick breath, Satya tilts her head, mouth pressing against his own.
The reaction is immediate; the hands at her waist tighten, Hanzo pulling her further against him as he slots his lips with hers.
Satya can feel his smile against her own, and determines that the question of their future was no longer so daunting.
Yes, they would be just fine.