Spring Came With You

Chapter 1

Hanamura is beautiful in the spring.

When the cherry trees stand in bloom and the sun's strength returns after the winter, there are few places as beautiful as Hanamura; as the Shimada Castle and its pristine gardens.

Part of Hanzo still feels a childish joy wash over him each spring, when the warmth returns, and he sits and watches the blushing trees sway gently in the breeze. Most of him, however, despise this time of year.

When spring comes, so does Hanzo's foul mood.

He sits in his bedroom window, seated comfortably on the cushioned windowsill, as he glares down at the trees in the Shimada Garden. Within him, happiness wrestles with anger. His struggling emotions leave him feeling numb and apathetic. He dissociates to avoid the hassle of raging emotions.

Despite his reluctance to acknowledge his feelings, Hanzo sits and wallows in emotions he doesn't know how to process. Happiness that sings of the long-awaited spring, the beauty of the cherry trees, and the chirping of sparrows; and anger that roars about bad memories that awaken dread and regret.

Hanzo dreads spring and regrets things that have long since passed.

"Brother..."

A lonely tear trickles down his cheek, followed by many more. Hanzo wipes them away with the back of his hand, which only quickens the pace of which the tears are coming. He squeezes his eyes closed and tries to force the tears and the lump in his throat back down.

His eyelids burn and his throat aches.

A sharp knock silences the sobs Hanzo didn't know he was letting out. Someone is at the door.

He clears his throat and wipes away the remaining tears before he calls out with all the confidence and authority he can muster. " Come in," he says.

The door to his chambers slide open and an elderly woman stands in the doorway, looking at him with apologetic eyes. "Young master Shimada," she says. " Your father has requested your presence. "

Hanzo nods. "And where is he?"

"He is in his office, master Shimada. He wishes you there with utmost haste."

"I shall head there immediately," Hanzo says with a firm nod. "Thank you."

The elderly woman bows and slides the door closed. Hanzo listens to her walk down the long hall, until her footsteps can no longer be heard.

He casts a final glance down at the blooming garden before he twists his body and climbs back into his room, stepping down onto the wooden floor with two metallic clanks. One for each foot.

He straightens himself up before the mirror, swiping his hair back behind his ears and wiping the half-dry tears away from his flustered cheeks. It is not pretty, but it will have to do, he thinks to himself as he exits his chamber and makes his way through the castle to his father's office.

The long corridor to his room is mostly deserted, his being the only room in this wing of the castle that is occupied. Despite the emptiness, the hard wooden floors and the metal of his feet and legs, Hanzo moves unheard through the castle. A useful skill he's developed during the years he's been wearing prosthetics.

When he stands outside his father's office, the door is open and Hanzo steps inside, falling into a courteous bow the moment his father looks his way. "Father," he says, noticing the man sitting cross-legged opposite of his father at the low table.

"Hanzo, son."

Sojiro Shimada is a tall man, authority and confidence making him appear even more so. He sits behind his desk, hands folded on its surface and eyes trained on his eldest son. "Come, meet Mr. Marco Costello." Sojiro gestures to the other man in the room.