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

Sealed Away

"It's him. Replay-" Another coughed seized your throat, and you doubled over as all the air knocked out of your lungs.

Three knocks to the wooden panel on your screen, and you pressed a palm to your heaving chest as you willed your body to calm down with heavy breaths that were, to your dismay, also becoming a hassle for you to accomplish. Your insides were being pricked by needles, and the short supply of air that you could muster every time you inhaled did not suffice to tame that dizziness brought by your dyspnea.

"Hime-sama." It was Karasuno, sliding the shoji to the sides so that he may better see your condition. As he expected you were within three feet of your holographic device, with the same scene greeting his eyes through his glasses, the same sounds of distant screaming flying into his ears. If anything changed, it was you: Your body rolled even forward than the day before, your lips have chapped dry, and whatever skin you had visible from the heavy layers of kimono you wore bore a paleness that bordered a light gray.

You were starting to look like a corpse.

"Princess," the man called softly and momentarily widened his eyes, gesturing to the space of your room, asking permission to be let in.

"Oh, it's you." You blinked fervently and nodded your head. "Yes, yes, please come in, Karasuno-san."

With a slight and quick bow, your companion approached you and scanned at the entirety of his surroundings with half a heart of interest.

"I...His Majesty told me to check on you," he explained, still idly skating his gaze all around. "You've been keeping yourself here for three days now, princess. He's worried you might be down with a fever, but from the looks of it, well...I don't know how I'm going to break this to him--and at breakfast no less. It's worse than I expected."

You only answered him with silence, then you looked back at the repeating clip, dancing back and forth in an attempt to mock you, remind you of the one thing you knew deep inside you could never run away from.

"I...I'm just trying to figure out why he would-" you bit your lip and contemplated on how you would word your defense. "Why would he do this? I have a lot of questions and I need them answered--the oni clearly had control over his soul at that time, so how is he acting so human? The last time I saw him with the curse, he nearly killed me and anything else that he sees moving!"

Karasuno remained silent and caught sight of your open laptop, and the thing that dominated the bright screen was none other than an article from a credible news source talking about the earth-shaking incident. They labelled Hanzo as an "unidentified Talon agent" but recognized Ogundimu and an omnic going by the name of Maximillian as the masterminds of the terror attack, provided that the two were present when the chaos ran amock.

"Princess, perhaps you need to step outside for a little while-"

"No." You stood your ground, diving low to gather the many papers in which you've scribbled down notes on, worthy notes that you thought would clear your head from the many inquiries it would have concerning your estranged lover. "I-I need answers. I need to know why Hanzo bears their mark and does their work for them--a terrorist organization."

"Are you certain it's him? The Hanzo Shimada?"

You nodded with crystal clear certainty. "He does not look like anything I've remembered him to be, I mean he certainly has acquired a bigger build, but I know those eyes. It's Hanzo--I'm sure of it."

At your resolution the man cleared his throat and straightened his spine to stand his full height. "With all due respect, princess," he began reluctantly, "Hanzo Shimada has already done atrocities to the general public by serving and supporting the illegal activities his clan was running. I'm certain that to take the lives of others in this manner for gain or profit would not inconvenience him in the slightest.