Chapter Text
Sitting on his bed, Genji closed his worn out copy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, running his finger tips down the damaged spine. It would have to be replaced soon.
He didn’t mind.
The story, not the book, was his security blanket and had been for years since some one night stand he’d had in high school insisted it was amazing and in a drunken haze one night he watched the movie.
He watched it again sober and was shocked and amazed by the sheer amount of shade every single character had thrown.
He fell in love with it instantly.
Before long he had become obsessed with all of Austen's works, the elegance, the romance, the grandeur, and the way that characters who reminded him of his own elitist relatives always got some form of comeuppance.
Something about the incongruity of his love for regency literature with his playboy, socialite lifestyle appealed to him as well. It was his preferred escape from the expectations of his family as well as his own personal issues.
The Shimada family had been a fixture of Hanamura for centuries, tracing their lineage from great feudal lords and in the modern era producing great doctors, engineers and politicians. Rumors of Yakuza ties may have been true in his Great Grandfather’s day, but the Shimada had since found ways to keep their noses clean while maintaining their status.
A knock on the door startled Genji out of his reverie.
“Come in.” The door slid open and Genji's older brother, Hanzo appeared.
“What did the doctor say?”
A small smile spread across Genji's face.
“Good morning, Anija.”
Hanzo scowled in the way that told Genji he was poignantly not rolling his eyes.
“Good morning, Genji. What did the doctor say?”
“Well I don’t have chlamydia. So, you know, dodged that bullet.”
This time Hanzo did roll his eyes.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I. He also said that you need to stop worrying about me and mind your own buisness. Your blood pressure must be through the roof. Not good for a man your age, Hanzo. He suggests you get laid.” Hanzo scowled again, this time in frustration and Genji released a sigh.
“There’s nothing for it right now, Anija.” He said more softly this time, “I will let you know if that changes.”
Hanzo rolled his eyes again, but entered the room properly to place a kiss on his younger brother’s neon green head before ducking back out.
“You do that. Are we still having lunch?”
“Of course.” Genji said with a sly grin.
He hated worrying his Anija. Harsh as the expectations that fell on him were, Genji knew that the majority of the burden fell on Hanzo as the heir.
Despite Hanzo's love of anything to do with the book industry, Sojiro Shimada's first wish for his oldest son had been politics. Hanzo, however, had neither aptitude nor love for it and the two had almost come to blows on multiple occasions throughout Hanzo’s teenage years.
They had finally compromised on business and Sojiro had squeezed Hanzo into a place within the company he had inherited from his own father. The nepotism had sat poorly with Hanzo despite the fact that he excelled in management and even enjoyed it, in his own way.
Perhaps, Genji thought, he should arrange a blind date for Hanzo. Genji was already grabbing his phone by the time he remembered how the last blind date, set up courtesy of their mother, had gone.
Scratch that then.
Of course, over the course of the morning his Jane Austen Chat board had blown up.
Curious as they weren’t a very vocal bunch. At least they weren’t when there wasn’t some new academic analysis to salivate over or a probably sexually explicit retelling of one of her works.
Whatever it had been about the discussion had been long and varied.
His phone chimed with a personal message. It was Sombra, an online friend from Mexico with a similar contrarian approach to literature.
::Have you been keeping up with the chat?:: She asked.
::No. Long day already. Give me the rundown?::
He clicked on the link she posted with a curiosity that only got more morbid as he explored the website it connected to. Genji mumbled to himself, enraptured. He needed to experience this.
“Austenland.”
888
Hanzo tossed the report back onto his desk and pinched the bridge of his nose under his glasses. If he had to look at another productivity spreadsheet he was going to scream. Unfortunately he was currently stuck between a rock and a hard place.
On a good day he actually kind of liked his job. He enjoyed seeing the way the cogs of a machine fit together and somehow never had to struggle to remember that there were real people on the other end of those numbers depending on him to shield them from the ravages of the system. On a bad day the specter of the nepotism that had landed him here plagued him, and his “team” went out of their way to remind him that he didn’t belong.
Today that meant looking at making cuts.
This on top of an argument with his father, on top of Genji’s doctor visit had made for a ragged mental state.
On his desk under the report he had just cast aside was a manila folder containing the picture and profile of yet another eligible young woman. His mother was apparently visiting her mother this very morning and would be scheduling yet another marriage interview.
It seemed as though getting Hanzo married was the delight of his mother’s life. He vaguely wondered how she would entertain herself if both he and Genji ever did get married.
On that note, how she would react if he told her that she was looking on the wrong side of the gender spectrum for a match for him?
It was not a train of thought he was particularly keen on following.
Hanzo heaved another sigh and looked at his phone.
It was about time to meet Genji over at Rikimaru for lunch. On one hand it would get him away from the company, on the other it meant an hour closer to another grueling interview.
He grabbed his jacket and managed to be the only occupant of the elevator down to the first floor.
Rikimaru, a favored ramen shop for both him and Genji since their youth, was only a couple of blocks from his office. He attempted to clear his head on the walk over, but the morning’s events kept swirling around, refusing to let him be.
They only settled once he walked into the restaurant.
He spied Genji and slid into the seat across from him.
There was a spark in his baby brother’s eyes that Hanzo knew did not bode well for him. The fact that Genji was practically vibrating in his seat made his stomach sink even further.
“Out with it.” He said.
“So you like books, right?” Genji asked, completely unable to contain his excitement.
Hanzo simply fixed him with a level stare.
“Yes, yes, dumb opening. I don’t care. You know that I am a fan of Jane Austen, no?”
Another dumb question. Genji had been trying to get Hanzo to watch film adaptations of his favorite works for years and Hanzo always, ALWAYS, managed to fall asleep less than half way through.
It wasn’t that Hanzo disliked classic literature. He adored most literary fiction. It was just that the flighty romance fantasies of every teenaged girl held no appeal to him. It seemed the epitome of every dumb romantic comedy, a genre he generally despised. Genji, of course, argued that this was only because every modern dumb romantic comedy could trace its lineage to the books, but Hanzo didn’t really see how that made any difference. It was all still dumb romantic comedy.
Genji seemed to hold his breath waiting for some sort of reaction from Hanzo until he couldn’t actually handle it anymore and the words came spilling out.
“I want us to go to the UK for two weeks to participate in a Regency Era Live Action Role Play!”
“No.”
“But Anija-!”
“Genji, no. I have no interest in some dinner theatre mystery, especially not one that lasts two weeks. I have a lot to do here, and you should probably not be traveling anyway.”
“I’ve already spoken to the doctor. He has ties in England, if I need to I can go to a hospital there, it’s not a big deal.”
“My answer is no.”
“Hanzo, I wouldn’t ask, but I can’t go on my own. Mother and Father would have a fit. Besides. This is my one chance to ever do anything like this. Maybe my only chance.”
And of course out came the goddamned puppy eyes.
“No, Genji.”
Hanzo could feel his resolve crumbling. He looked away before it dissolved completely.
They sat in silence for a long moment while Genji sulked.
Despite staring at the wall, Hanzo could still feel the almost ridiculous anime eyeshine of his brother’s pleading gaze.
“When is it?” He asked, against his better judgement.
“We would need to leave on the third of next month. Does this mean you will come? I can take care of all the arrangements.”
“It means I will think about it.”
If Genji’s excitement had been irrepressible before, he practically glowed now.
The mischievous spark had also grown into a full blown blaze and Hanzo didn’t like his chances.
Still, it was difficult to tell his little brother ‘no’ and stick to it.
Lunch passed far more quickly than Hanzo would have liked, Genji telling him raunchy stories about his latest exploits and Hanzo gently chiding his younger brother in turn.
The walk back to his office was pleasant enough to distract him from the impending dataset still on his desk. As the elevator doors opened, however, his stomach dropped at the sight of his mother sitting in his office with her own barely contained excitement.
“Mother,” He said in greeting.
“I was not expecting you. I was just having lunch with Genji.”
She smiled softly at that.
“I’m happy you two have seemed to grow closer the last few years. I know it’s been hard.”
Her smile faltered and her eyes began to mist as they always did when Genji was brought up lately.
Anxiety churned in Hanzo’s stomach. He had wanted to distract her from the topic of marriage, not upset her. He would just have to indulge his mother.
“I take it the preliminary interview went well today?”
His words seemed to have the desired effect and she suddenly beamed again.
“Her name is Keiko. What’s this?” She practically yelled; her expression pulling another one eighty at the sight of Hanzo’s ill-concealed discomfort.
“You flinch? I knew you didn’t read the folder I gave you! I swear! You and your brother both! I’ll never have grandchildren at this rate! The way Genji carries on one would think! But, no.”
Hanzo cringed even harder.
With every passing year her near panic at her both her sons bachelor status increased in pitch exponentially. He had caught her hinting heavily once in the past year to a poor cornered maid that she secretly wished that one of Genji’s flings would result in an accident.
It made him vaguely ill if he was honest.
He needed to get her back on track.
“So about Seiko…” he prompted.
“Keiko. She’s a very successful actress, but she’s nearing 30 and it’s not likely she’ll be offered the kinds of roles she’s used too much longer. It’ll be a good match for both of you. She’ll be good for your reputation and she’ll have a secure future as part of our family.”
Hanzo tried to cut her off to defend the young woman and explain to his mother why her assertions were grossly inappropriate but she spoke over him.
“Now due to negotiations with her agency the first interview won’t be until early next month.”
Hanzo’s brain froze.
“Next month? Early, like the third?”
“Probably closer to the fifth, but yes.”
“I can’t!” He said quickly, desperate to put the interview off as long as possible.
“Genji wants to go to the UK for a book thing. I promised him.”
His mother looked suspicious.
“Genji isn’t up to going overseas.”
“His doctor has given express permission and it may be his last international trip for years at least. I cannot let him go alone.”
He could see her own brain struggle to process what he had just said, caught between worry over her baby “Sparrow” and her need to indulge Genji’s every whim.
“Of course. I swear! The both of you. The boy would cut off his nose to spite his face. Well. We’ll take care of it. You must look after your brother. One day you’re going to be all he has and vice versa. Heaven knows your father and I can’t be around forever. Really I wish you would both just get married.”
It took another 10 minutes to get his mother out of his office and on her way home, all thoughts of corporate concern scattered.
It looked like he would be going with Genji to England after all.