" YUANFEN " genji shimada.

iii | old habits die hard

yuanfen.
act four, chapter three.
"old habits die hard"

_

THE GREEN GLOW OF Genji's cybernetic suit was the only light in the otherwise pitch black room. Dahlia maneuvered her way between the file cabinets that crowded the room, doing her best to stick close to him in order to better see her surroundings. Her eyes scanned the labels on the cabinets as she moved past them, searching for a specific one.

Blackrock. My last name is Blackrock.

She found the cabinet labeled with a B near the back of the room. She stopped in front of it, causing Genji to also turn back to stand beside her, and immediately pulled open the drawer. Her fingers ran over the countless dusty files hidden inside, reading over each of them closely. She found a file labeled "Blackrock, Sam" in the midst of the others. She quickly pulled it out and flipped it open. It was difficult to see in such low lighting; even Genji's suit didn't give off nearly enough light, though that didn't stop her. She held the file close to her face in an attempt to read it better, reading over its contents.

Blackrock, Sam. Status: Deceased. Cause of Death: Gunshot wound to the head by Talon Assassins.

So he is dead, Dahlia thought to herself with a frown. She felt almost guilty for not feeling any sadness towards the discovery. She remembered nothing about her father, and she realized that perhaps it was better that way. What unsettled her, however, was the fact that the Overwatch agents didn't bother telling her about her deceased father. Perhaps they figured that, due to the fact that she couldn't remember him, it simply didn't matter. Still, she felt that there was a deeper meaning behind it.

Dahlia jumped as she felt something cool touch her hand. She glanced down to see Genji's fingers brushing against her own as he slowly took the file from her. She shivered at the sudden contact, surprised to find her skin feeling as though it was on fire where he had touched her.

"I should have known," Genji mumbled, sounding almost amused, as he read over the file. "Old habits die hard."

"What do you mean?" Dahlia questioned. She looked down at the file over his shoulder, the sound of his breathing being the only thing she could focus on. She felt a strange need to be close to him, the darkness of the room and the contents of the file in his hands putting her on edge. Genji looked down at her, and she met the green glow of his visor. For the first time, she found herself wondering what he looked like beneath the mask.

"You did the same thing when you were with Overwatch," he explained to her. His voice was quiet, his accent more accentuated than usual. "You were just an intern, but a handful for the Commanders nonetheless. It is how we met."

Dahlia sensed the nostalgia in his voice. She never thought about the possibility that she once knew Genji. "Were we close?" She asked.

He surprised her by laughing. A real, genuine laugh that shook his shoulders. "We hated one another, Nogitsune."

Dahlia's lips pulled together in an O shape. She went to speak, curious about the idea of her and Genji knowing each other before she had met him as an Assassin, though the sudden sound of the door swinging open caused her to tense. The lights on Genji's suits immediately went out, casting the pair into complete darkness. She sucked in a breath of surprise as she felt his hand wrap around her own, and the next thing she knew, she was being led towards a door in the very back of the room. Genji pulled her inside and quietly shut the door behind them.

The room they were in was nothing more than a tiny storage closet. Shelves took up most of the space on either side of them, boxes full of even more files seated on top of the surfaces. There was barely enough room for one person, let alone two people, inside. Dahlia was overly aware of the sound of Genji's breath in her ear. His hands rested on her hips, pulling her flush against his chest due to the lack of space in the closet. The feeling of his metallic fingers on her waist made her head spin, and she had to cover her mouth in an attempt to silence her shaky breathing.