Angel Fish (Display of Trust) — Part 1
.✦ ݁˖ "I have no allies on the other end of a blade."
★i really really hope the MK fandom is still alive. anyway, here's a subscorp fanfic that will eventually turn into smut in the next part lol. also sorry if it's slightly ooc, i just came back to the fandom a few weeks ago...
"Seems like we're both getting old, Hanzo."
"Speak for yourself. I was simply testing my limits."
"By letting me hold an axe to your throat?"
Kuai Liang had not lost his edge — much to Hanzo's displeasure. The Lin Kuei finally released his opponent, helping him to his feet with a firm grip.
"I must admit, the Shirai Ryu have earned their reputation," said Kuai Liang, punctuating the compliment with a light tap on the other's shoulder.
"A hellfire does not go out, my friend."
Kuai Liang smiled. Pragmatism ruled most of his days, and he had little patience for metaphors and philosophy. Yet these words settled in his mind like an open book laid bare — Hanzo's soul, readable at last.
A hellfire does not go out, he repeated to himself, following his companion through the Fire Gardens. Yes — a gehennical flame, now smothered beneath a diving bell of ice, that would one day melt. However thick.
The two continued their slow walk among the auburn leaves. Their synchronized steps dissolved into the silence and the wind-shaken trees.
"I saw fear in your eyes, just now," Kuai Liang observed. Hanzo's eyebrows rose imperceptibly.
"It seems rather natural to feel fear in that situation."
"And yet you knew I wouldn't hurt you."
Hanzo fell silent, slowing his pace just enough — anything not to stop dead like a fool while searching for an answer to something that required none.
"I trust you, Kuai Liang. But I have no allies on the other end of a blade."
He laughed then. A sincere laugh, from somewhere genuine.
"Don't laugh like an idiot. I simply remain cautious. I have my reasons."
"You have a way with words I envy."
Kuai Liang quickened his pace slightly, pulling ahead of Hanzo by a step. It was clearly time to give him a moment alone. Then a hand caught his forearm — and for an instant, he seemed to lose all sense of time and space.
"Yes?" said Kuai Liang, trying to pull free.
"If you had been in my place, would you have felt afraid — even for a moment — of ending up with your throat cut?"
"Hanzo, why are you asking this?"
"I... suppose so? Brushing up against death tends to leave a mark."
He released his arm at last.
"You think me capable of killing you?"
"No! Gods, what's gotten into you?"
"Then why would you think me capable of hurting you?"
Their eyes met, each waiting for the other to answer.
Why would he trust me with his life?
Why is he so determined to dig up old grievances?
"Truthfully, I don't understand what you're getting at, Hanzo."
"Do you truly believe there's no resentment left between us?"
Kuai Liang had lost the thread entirely. A simple friendly spar — like so many others — and somehow it had been enough to stoke the embers of a misdirected vendetta?
"I want to know where our mutual trust reaches its limits."
"I would have thought that placing myself between you and danger, more times than I can count, was proof enough of trust."
"Its limits. Not proof of its existence."
How was he supposed to answer that? Kuai Liang looked away, searching for an exit from the dead end he'd walked himself into.
"My trust in you, or yours in me?"
Something like divine clarity descended on the Lin Kuei's mind.
"Follow me," he said, turning toward the temple.
"What for?" Hanzo shot back — already quickening his pace regardless.
"You want proof of trust. You'll have it."
The Shirai Ryu dojo seemed to bear the mark of every soul who had ever crossed its threshold. The wood looked as though it might crack at any moment beneath the weight of a legacy it had never chosen — yet carried anyway, because pride would never let it rest if it didn't.
The two removed their shoes without a word or a glance. Hanzo was already picturing another sparring match — codes of honor, friendly terms. Then they stood facing each other, and Kuai Liang pulled his headband down over his eyes, tightening it with one steady hand.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"But what exactly do you want from me?"
"You wield a blade like no one else," said Kuai, pulling off his tunic and his yòurèn. "I'm going to let you cut into my skin — throat, back, both arms."
"You've asked enough questions. I am a man of action.
The sound of Hanzo's blade rang through the dojo as he drew it.
"Are you certain?" he asked, taking his position.
They swallowed almost simultaneously. Hanzo moved behind Kuai Liang as the other sank to his knees. Without a signal, without a sound save for the blade cutting through the air, he scarified the other's back with precision. The blood only surfaced after a few seconds. The wound was as fine as a paper cut.
thank you so much for reading, i'm already working on part 2 (which WILL include middle-aged men gay sex), i promise <3
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