The Dragon's Curse (A Hanzo X Reader Fanfic)

Atrocity

"Of course he is," the elder replied without a blink of an eyelid, "but what if he stops being compliant? What if he decides to think for himself and disobey you? Think of the effect it could have on the clan."

"Where are you getting at exactly, Shintaro?"

"I'm just saying...maybe we shouldn't use (Y/N) on Hanzo just yet. Let's take advantage of the fact that while he's in his cursed state, we could let him do our bidding--wipe away our competitors, frighten our business partners--think of all that we can do with it.

"The specialists under our department have confirmed that during the activation of the curse, there's chemical activity going on in Hanzo's head that if tampered with, could subject the person in a state of extreme submission. It's perfect!"

Sojiro started curling his fists, not quite knowing what to do with the displeasure bubbling inside his gut. "Are you saying we should use my son as some mindless war machine? And who gave orders for them to conduct experiments on my son without my knowledge?"

"My deepest apologies, my lord." Shintaro bowed low. "It was my doing. I would have told you sooner, but I wasn't certain back then if the results would turn up how I wanted it to."

Heaving a sigh of bridled frustration, the clan leader composed himself and turned to eye the other men standing with him in his council. Their whispers were like incessant buzzing, and their small calculating orbs darted towards him as they spoke in low tones.

"My lord, what do you say?" Elder Shintaro inquired from beside him, a hint of a smug grin on his withering face. "Not every yakuza has this kind of opportunity."

"I refuse." The clan leader was fiercely intent with his decision. "In three years, Hanzo's curse will be permanent, and that does not leave me much time at all. Besides, we don't need to kill everyone we make a transaction with, and Hanzo will be a more effective leader once he's...normal."

"I don't see why you couldn't bring yourself to do these things." Shintaro clicked his tongue to show his dismay. "You've already kidnapped the servant girl from the imperial family itself--what could be a greater atrocity?"

"My word outweighs yours by a thousand, Shintaro, and my verdict is no. I will use (Y/N) to remove the curse from my son and that is final." Sojiro snapped the other way and briskly walked towards his shoji screens, his face red and jaw shut tight.

He had one hand on the screen when he glowered back towards his brother in law, who only regarded him with a slight rivet on the spot and a raised thin brow. "Know better than to argue with me next time Shintaro. Know your place in this clan and don't try to disrespect my rule by impeding on my decisions. Do I make myself clear?"

The old man bowed as low as he were able and put up a face that suggested remorse and deference altogether. "Like a diamond, my lord. I was getting ahead of myself again; my deepest apologies."

Sojiro left it at that, apparently content with whatever the man had to say. He ripped the screens apart and he stepped out, closing the panels behind him.

Meanwhile, Shintaro stood up from his cumbersome position and sighed with a snarl shaking his throat; being bent low from the waist in front of someone you secretly abhor took a toll on his elderly person and his ego, and as soon as he had respite, he wasted no time in ripping off the facade of reverence he'd been wearing for some time and scowled.

"You've angered our master, Shintaro," Togashi whispered the very moment the heated atmosphere simmered down.

Some of the other elders followed out where Sojiro went, some headed towards the hall leading to the kitchen, and a few remained, namely him, Togashi, and their blind colleague who really couldn't do much in his condition.

"As if I give a rat's ass about what he thinks of me," the other elder spat just slightly above a whisper, crossing his arms as he rolled his eyes. "I had just given him the secret to what could be our clan's unremitting success and he throws it into the trash. What kind of leader does that? Truly typical of him--as if coddling his youngest son wasn't bad enough."

Emotions are weaknesses...so are sentiments and the virtue of kindness.

Sojiro is a threat to the clan's well-being just as much as my incompetent nephew Genji is. If they're out of the way, then nothing will stand in the way of this empire's glory.

***
From where he stood just inches away from his quarters' entrance, Sojiro blew air out of his puckered lips and let his shoulders roll forth as the turmoil in his chest made it hard to breathe.

A few seconds afterwards, he noticed a blur of gray tinting the usually bright shade of the corridors, and so he turned to the direction of the object before blanching all the way down to his toes. Looking up, he saw his son, standing a few feet away from where he was, his face still, mouth agape, and voice mute.

There was no doubt then that Hanzo had heard a fair amount of their conversation inside, if not all of it.

"You...you kidnapped (Y/N)?" was all that he could muster, and it was spoken so quietly the words nearly passed out of his father's other ear.

The clan leader tried to ease the countenance of horrified disbelief on the young man's face. "Son, what are you doing here-"

"Father how could you!" the heir was screaming now, vehemently so that his entire body trembled in the futile effort of getting the words out without any hint of strain.  "I come up here to seek your guidance and this is what I hear?"

"Hanzo, please."

"Do you know how affected (Y/N) is about not having her parents growing up by her side?" Hanzo challenged further, eyes wide with anguish. "She grew up thinking they hated her, that they abandoned her on purpose. What do you think is she going to say once she finds out you, of all people, took her from her family?"

"She won't because you are not to say a word about this to her," Sojiro snapped, pointing a finger towards his son's chest.
"She deserves to know the truth, father."

"You dare defy me-"

"Father this is wrong!" Hanzo stood his ground. "How could you have done this? And to the imperial family? Do you know what crime you've committed? Wha- is she the emperor's daughter?"

"Niece," Sojiro answered as his hand rose to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I'm not foolish to disrupt all of Japan by taking away an heir from the main bloodline itself. (Y/N) had no chance of ascending as empress anyway; the emperor has two sons and the servant girl was born of the emperor's sister, the late Princess Kisaragi. It's a foreseen outcome, and having that in mind...I went ahead in desperation and proceeded to take her for the very purpose of removing the curse out of you permanently."

"But the late princess, she died in a car crash along with her husband-" Hanzo's brown orbs suddenly widened in realization. "That...that was your doing too, father?"

Silence.

"Does mother know?"

For the second time that day, the clan leader didn't answer his son. Instead, he turned his back on Hanzo and walked towards a darkened hall that lead to a part in the estates that Hanzo wasn't familiar of.

"Come with me. There's something I want you to see."