Demoted || Genyatta

Chapter 3: Don't Ask a Lot and You Won't Lose a Lot

The sounds of people chatting away in the mess hall was more infuriating than usual as Genji threw his tray onto a table and sat down. He'd grabbed the food only out of habit, but he had no appetite at all. Still fuming in anger of being mistreated by Reyes, Genji had barely slept at all last night, and he was definitely feeling the effects of the sleepless hours right now.

He felt eyes boring into him and he looked up, catching a glimpse of a group of people at the table opposite looking at him, but they quickly turned their heads. Usually, Genji would make some kind of remark, but he was way too tired to be bothered today. He opted to ignore them instead.

While Genji was mushing his food with his fork, someone sat down in front of him.

"Howdy," McCree greeted him, his smile disappearing when Genji looked up at him. "Why the long face?"

McCree was one of the people that Genji didn't mind. They met on a mission one day and, after finding out they weren't that bad of a team, stuck around each other inside of the base as well. Although neither of them were one for deep, friendly conversations, just having someone to fill the silence now and then was really all that Genji needed in a friend.

From the look on his face, it appeared McCree was still waiting on an answer, but Genji wasn't planning on giving one. In the end, it didn't matter, because someone else decided to answer for him.

"Oh, didn't you hear?" Both Genji and McCree startled at Moira's sudden appearance. She calmly sat down next to McCree. "It seems our Genji no longer outranks us."

After getting passed the shock of Moira's entrance, McCree's surprise turned into shock as he turned towards Genji. "Does that mean you lost a rank? That's tough."

Once again, it seems Genji didn't have to answer. He gritted his teeth as Moira laughed. "Even better. He's back to being a Novice."

Not only McCree fell into a stunned silence, but the happy chatter of the entire mass hall slowly died out. Moira hadn't really attempted to keep her voice down. Underneath the table, Genji's fists formed into tight fists, and he felt himself starting to tremble.

"A-Are you serious..?" McCree eventually broke the painful silence. Moira was still grinning.

"When am I not?"

The two started to bicker, which was how most of their conversations went, but Genji was no longer listening. He was hyper aware of the whispering of everyone around them, and the people pointing at him. Everyone knew, now. Somehow, Genji was lower in rank than almost all of the people here, including the two bickering idiots in front of him. Reyes made a huge mistake, and he'd come to realize that soon enough.

As if reading his mind, Reyes walked through the double doors of the mess hall at that moment and all faces finally turned away from Genji. Reyes was never in the mess hall unless it was something urgent. McCree and Moira continued to bicker, completely oblivious to the sudden tension in the air, until Reyes was standing right next to them. They finally noticed him and abruptly stopped talking altogether.

"Genji, follow me to my office, if you will," he spoke, not waiting around for a moment longer than necessary; he'd already turned back around towards the exit of the mess hall.

Thank god, Reyes must've changed his mind. He'd finally realized that Blackwatch needed Genji more than any of the low ranking idiots here. Blackwatch couldn't function without him; Reyes didn't have another choice.

Genji hurried to follow the commander, but not before flipping Moira off.

Relieved to be away from everyone's stares, Genji allowed himself a moment of peace on the way to the office. Everything was fine. He'd get his rank back, and then he'd make sure everyone knew about it. His reputation wasn't hurt too much just yet – he could still salvage this.

When the two reached Reyes' office, they sat down in the same position as the previous day, only Genji was feeling more confident this time. The only thing missing from Reyes' desk was the vase with flowers; it was otherwise filled with the same papers and files. Genji wondered if Reyes was still mad about the flowers.

"I have a mission for you," Reyes said. Genji was mildly surprised, but tried not to let it show.

"What happened to 'no more missions'?" Genji asked, not quite able to hide his smugness as successfully as his surprise. Reyes only frowned.

"You are to welcome a new member of Blackwatch," Reyes explained, ignoring Genji's remark completely. "I want you to introduce him to everyone, and to make sure he's comfortable."

Genji's grin melted off his face abruptly. "You're making me babysit a Rookie?!" Could his career sink any lower..?

"You bet I am. It's a perfect mission for you to show me that you can, in fact, follow orders." Reyes seemed way too smug about this, and Genji didn't like being on the receiving end of it. He suddenly realized how annoying his constant arrogance must be for others.

"You're kidding, right?" Genji asked, although from the satisfaction in Reyes' expression he knew that he was completely serious. "I'm the best you have! How can you just give me an unimportant mission like this?!"

"You were the best, before you decided to act selfishly and make your own orders."

Those words hit Genji harder than he'd ever admit. He was the best, but not anymore. Now he was back to being an unimportant Novice. After all Genji had done, everything he had sacrificed for Blackwatch, this was his reward.

He wanted his anger to return, but all he felt was emptiness. What was he supposed to do now? Blackwatch was all he had, but now he'd lost all of his ranks and his reputation was destroyed. He was left with nothing.

"The Rookie will arrive at noon tomorrow," Reyes said. His voice was a lot softer all of a sudden, and Genji loathed it. "I expect you to behave. Dismissed."

Genji blackly stared up at the commander for a moment longer, and then turned away. He didn't bother to storm out of the office this time around, too tired to throw a fit, and instead calmly left.

When he opened the door, he came face to face with Moira and McCree. Both looked a bit startled, like they hadn't expected him to come out, but they had no doubt been eavesdropping. Genji expects that's how Moira knew of his demotion, too.

Without saying a word, Genji pushed past both of them. The rest of the day was spent locked away in his room.