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overdevelopedglasses · 7 months

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Tojoctober Day 18 - Drink

(Suddenly, a gleam of dawn)

Alt title is from “Shadow of the Lowlands”, a town theme in Xenoblade Chronicles 2

The dragon runs into the dragonfish once again, and tries his best to not give his identity away quite yet.

(Kiwami and LaD spoilers)

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Nighttime has fallen on the sparkling city of Ijincho, rainbow lights from the iconic Ferris wheel flickering in the ocean water. In Survive, a quiet establishment nestled in the corner of the bar district, the two civilian rock stars of the former Tojo Clan sit at two of the stools away from the bar, embroiled in conversation.

“So, what brings you back to Ijincho?”

Kiryu glances at the man sitting right next to him, his expression and appearance as wild as he remembered. What is new about Ichiban Kasuga is a hopeful glint in his eye, one that shines as bright as his future. Kiryu takes a sip of his drink, one that has a nostalgic aftertaste as he mulls over an answer.

“I… well I can’t really say. Remember when Seonhee said stuff about me being a dead man walking?”

“Well, you’re very alive to me.”

“I-yes. More so, the world can't exactly know I’m alive. It’s uh… very complicated. But let’s just say there’s a reason I still haven’t given you my name, Kasuga.”

Kiryu tries his best to glance away from Ichiban. He can’t really look at the bartender, as his face is all too familiar and he doesn’t want to deal with those ramifications on top of everything else. He settles for a long stare at the top shelf of alcohol.

“Well, come on, there has to be something that I can call you. Feels weird just saying ‘big dragon man’ or ‘that one guy who beat the killing instinct out of me’.” Ichiban replies,

“Fair enough,” Kiryu says with a slight chuckle, “I’ll think about it.”

Kiryu gives a once-over of his surroundings. Besides the bartender, who’s busing himself with the dishes, and his companion across from him, the bar was empty.

“Where are all of your friends anyway, Kasuga?”

Ichiban shrugs “If I remember correctly, Zhao and Joon-gi Han are somewhere in the Geomijul hideout, I think I heard Zhao say something about training? Nanba is assisting Saeko and Eri at Ichiban Holdings, and Adachi… where did Adachi go?” Ichiban ponders for a second, before snapping his fingers in realization, “Right! He said he was finally going to confront his old boss! Good on him.”

“Yes, I know that Horinouchi was giving the old one a hard time.”

“Speaking of, you were looking at Joon-gi Han that one time, like you knew him or something?” Ichiban pressed, seemingly desperate for any information about Kiryu. He sighs a bit, knowing that Ichiban’s curiosity will not be easily satiated with half answers.

“Yeah, but it’s like he said. We… seemed to have shared an acquaintance.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

Silence fills the bar, the two men enjoying their respective drinks, before Ichiban exclaims “A story!”

“What?” Kiryu faces the younger man once again, head cocked to one side.

“I’m sure a great dragon such as yourself would have some amazing stories to tell!” Ichiban continues, with wonder swirling in his eyes, his face full of excitement and joy.

Kiryu blinks, and the whole world shifts. He’s no longer in a small bar in a city he’s unfamiliar with. No, he’s in an all too familiar setting, located just out of harm’s way in Kamurocho. His oath brother is beaming at him, probably just from telling some shitty pun about dragons. He feels the presence of others in the room, he can’t tell who, but he formulates a response to his brother, his best friend since they ran into each other at the orphanage. But his brother speaks first.

“Uh, are you alright?”

The voice is familiar, but wait, no, it's not right, and Kiryu blinks again, which is when reality comes crashing in. Survive’s interior fills his peripherals, and Ichiban stares back at him with a very curious yet worried expression. Did he really get that lost in his own memories?

Or was he finally going to consciously admit the obvious? The real reason he went out of his way to help Ichiban out?

“I’m okay. Just a bit distracted, that’s all.”

“You sure? You were looking at me like I was about to disappear.”

Kiryu sighs again. He takes another sip of his drink, desperate to change the subject.

“You wanted a story, right? Here’s a good one.”

Kiryu regales Ichiban in the story of a man he recalls running into in the 80s, a merchant that dealt in mushrooms, and how he had to defend him from a disgruntled hooligan.

“The produce or the narcotic?” Ichiban asks the other man.

“Everyone thought they were narcotics, but as it turned out, it was simply just regular old mushrooms. I remember taking some home that day. Made a pretty decent meal with them, actually.”

“What happened next?” Ichiban was clearly enthralled in the story, and Kiryu smiled a bit, thankful he wasn’t trying to pry into his identity anymore.

“Well, after buying some more mushrooms, and defending him a lot, it turned out he got mixed up with the mafia. Had to knock some sense into those guys, but in the end their boss asked him to go overseas with him and start a restaurant business together.”

“Woah. That’s an unexpected ending.”

“Yeah. But, that’s Kamurocho for you. The serious and the weird, all mixed up in one small pocket of Japan.”

“Can’t you say that about everywhere in Japan?”

Kiryu chuckles again, “I guess you could say that. Ijincho having a similar effect for you? Any wild stories to tell?”

Ichiban's posture straightens with excitement, eyes gleaming. “Yeah! There was this inventor guy who…” Ichiban trails on and on about whatever the hell a Sojimaru is and why he had to fight it ala Dragon Quest style, as Kiryu realizes once again, just how similar Ichiban is to someone else who he still keeps close to his heart.

Would they have liked each other?

Kiryu can only sit, listen, and wonder, and as he’s prompted to tell another story, he decides that maybe, just maybe, Ichiban could keep a secret.

He didn’t want to live in the shadows forever, did he?

#tojoctober #yakuza #ryu go gotoku #rgg #kiryu kazuma #ichiban kasuga #this was a fun one #the fact that ichiban and nishiki share a VA really opens up the possibilities #i just want to know if ichiban reminds kiryu of nishiki #damn it now i wanna play gaiden #what has this brainrot done to me

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