His Own Way
Sep. 23rd, 2021 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerno, kiryu, you cannot punch all your problems
Main Points:
Yakuza
Summary: Kiryu sees Majima-san acting uncharacteristically.
Word Count: 1435
Rating: Teen
pre-Kiryu/Majima (probably)
less mild spoilers about Kiwami (mentions a lot of the main plot points/characters)
warning: references the problematic ending of the goromi stuff (in a 'that was messed up and I'm sorry' way), implication of (probably) adults mistreating young kiryu because he likes to think it through before he answers, so in general some lgbtq+ stuff plus some possibly neurodivergent stuff. just implications, but it's good to warn because there is some mistreatment regarding that.
Signs of emotion were signs of weakness. If Majima-san were still technically his niisan, he’d be obliged to look away or better yet just to leave and not let his superior he’d spotted him in the first place, let alone seen his hands tremble as he tries to light a cigarette.
He takes a moment to consider his decision. He’s hungry and hadn’t managed to make it it to the konbini. If he bothers the Patriarch, the man might attack him, and he’s tired and really doesn’t feel like dealing with a fight, especially from a man so very good at it, especially not when he’s tired and hungry. On the other hand, he finds it extremely difficult to walk away from someone—anyone—in trouble, even if they might happen to be Majima-san. Perhaps that’s what makes him, in niisan’s own words, ‘soft as a marshmallow’. He doesn’t plan on changing, though.
He doesn’t want to overstep his boundaries. Maybe Majima-san won’t want to talk about it. But he can at least silently show he’s there, and that he’ll support the man and not say a word.
So he steps forward and offers—offers Nishiki’s lighter, that he still hasn’t given back and probably never will. It’d been an old joke between the two of them, or at least it had been, ten years ago. With what he’s seen of Nishikiyama now, it’s likely that his kyoudai would count that another thing owed that has yet to be repaid. They were brothers in every way but blood, and there was no use keeping score, but Nishiki was, now, for whatever reason. Kiryu wouldn’t consider himself a hero. He considers doing the same, but his answer each and every time is that it wouldn’t be worth it. People who need help aren’t particularly in a good position to pay anyone back, and it would be wrong to ask them to do so.
There are hazards, though. Maybe the silent approach had been the wrong choice? But if he’d said anything, then he’d still probably have startled Majima-san into swearing. At least he flicks the lighter closed before the Patriarch has the opportunity to burn himself on anything as he flails around a little.
If not for the circumstances, Kiryu might think the overreaction was a little funny. But unfortunately whatever’s going on with Majima-san is serious. It’d be easier to deal with if it wasn’t, but the Dragon of Dojima isn’t used to things being easy, as much as that would be nice sometimes.
“The hell, Kiryu-chan? I ambush ya, not the other way round! This ain’t how this shit works!” Kiryu finds himself grateful for the fact that his expression doesn’t tend to change much, because what with Majima-san’s own legendary nickname he has a quick visualization of a startled, lonely dog yapping, and the humorous image doesn’t help much with the fact that this is a serious situation that needs to be taken seriously.
Still, he can take some tricks from the book of dealing with a dog. Don’t make any startling movements (whoops). Speak calmly and kindly to him. Don’t react to threats, but give him space if he needs it.
He makes sure not to make any more sudden movements. “It wasn’t supposed to be an ambush. Sorry, niisan.”
Majima-san’s lone eye narrows, and if Kiryu isn’t mistaken, this is the point at which a mistreated dog can get downright vicious and bite your arm. “What’s yer aim, then?”
Kiryu doesn’t answer right away, considering the correct answer, and the Patriarch snorts, lips curling back in a snarl. “It ain’t a hard question.”
The Dragon flinches, just a little. And clenches his jaw, spins on his heel, and begins to walk away. Fortunately, weeks of dealing with Majima-san being everywhere has taught him, when he’s paying attention, to listen for the very specific sound of steel-tipped shoes. He’s able to easily shrug off Majima’s hand. He very nearly follows through with a left hook before what he’s about to do catches up with him, and he drops his hand.
It helps that Majima-san’s holding his hands up in a surrendering position, looking apologetic. “Didja want a fight? It ain’t gonna be much more’n a warm-up, but I can put somethin’ together…”
“I really don’t want to fight tonight, Majima-san.” Maybe he can lead by example? Be honest and maybe a little vulnerable, and maybe Majima will follow suit. “I really felt like I could talk to Goromi about anything, but when she started talking about a date I panicked and said things I didn’t mean. I don’t think she’d want to talk to me again, and she has every right not to want to do that, but—if I can’t make it up to her, maybe I can at least help someone else a little.”
The instant he mentions Goromi, the man looks startled and wary. Kiryu can’t blame him, because he’s a little surprised, too. He hadn’t meant to mention her. And, of course, there’s something going on there that the Dragon doesn’t fully understand. It’s possible he never will.
“This ain’t about makin’ up fer—fer breakin’ a girl’s heart?” If Majima-san really were a dog, his tail would be wagging, slowly because he isn’t quite sure of Kiryu. And Kiryu makes the connection—yes, Majima-san jokes around a lot, or at least he isn’t always serious, but the ex-yakuza is pretty sure he’s not joking about this. Goromi might have protested, but she really had started to like him, and it’s probably not just Goromi. Majima-san had said some pretty explicit things, egging him on for a fight, and it had worked because you don’t joke about those kinds of things or say them without meaning them, but if Majima-san really had meant them the whole time…
He desperately hopes his blush isn’t visible. It’s a back alley in Kamurocho, it’s probably not that well lit. Also, if they were on speaking terms, Nishiki probably would have pointed this out at least ten times before now and would now be adding ‘I told you so’.
He misses Nishiki. He’s pretty sure Nishiki misses Nishiki, too, but can’t quite make his way out of the mold of Real Yakuza he’s trapped himself in.
“I’m tired, Majima-san. I’m tired and lonely and scared. I don’t know what I’m doing. Most of my allies either can’t talk to me or they’ll be punished or they don’t want to talk to me. I don’t know Nishiki anymore. I have a little girl counting on me and I don’t want to let her down but I can’t tell her that because she needs to believe in me, even though she’s smart enough she’s probably seen right through it. I’ve already failed to protect her. A woman I loved is missing, and…” he swallows, “…and probably dead, and probably has been dead for years, and my closest friends are a hostess who loves photography and a guy who keeps tracking me down to try his hardest to murder me.” He’s about to continue, but swallows back the words. He shouldn’t be making this about him. Enough of an example. “I was going to get food, and then I saw you and thought maybe you’d like some food and company, too.”
He waits. It’s uncomfortably quiet. He’s not sure what he’ll get, a loud, sing-song cackle? The bite of a tanto? An argument or excuse? More taunting words? But he definitely doesn’t expect what he does get.
A slight smile, ephemeral, beautiful and bound to die. This is the serious Majima that sometimes tries to peek through the masks the Patriarch wears. “Eh, if yer sure. Shimano’s a connivin’ tiger, an’ I ain’t exactly my own dog free ta do as I please.”
Kiryu considers that. It had never occurred to him that Majima might not have, for instance, kidnapped a little girl for the fun of it, but it should have. It’s very uncharacteristic. Setting up a city-wide ‘zombie outbreak’? That’s Majima’s style. The implication is also that Shimano wouldn’t hesitate to target a bar’s Mama or a little girl. Which sucks, but he can probably work with that. It also hadn’t occurred to him that he might not be the only one staying away from other people for their own good, but, again, he can work with that.
“I can always punch him again,” the Dragon offers, and the Dog starts cackling uproariously, despite himself.
Main Points:
Yakuza
Summary: Kiryu sees Majima-san acting uncharacteristically.
Word Count: 1435
Rating: Teen
pre-Kiryu/Majima (probably)
less mild spoilers about Kiwami (mentions a lot of the main plot points/characters)
warning: references the problematic ending of the goromi stuff (in a 'that was messed up and I'm sorry' way), implication of (probably) adults mistreating young kiryu because he likes to think it through before he answers, so in general some lgbtq+ stuff plus some possibly neurodivergent stuff. just implications, but it's good to warn because there is some mistreatment regarding that.
It’s an intimate moment. Embarrassing, almost. Or, well, it would be, if Kiryu were still in the Yakuza.
Signs of emotion were signs of weakness. If Majima-san were still technically his niisan, he’d be obliged to look away or better yet just to leave and not let his superior he’d spotted him in the first place, let alone seen his hands tremble as he tries to light a cigarette.
He takes a moment to consider his decision. He’s hungry and hadn’t managed to make it it to the konbini. If he bothers the Patriarch, the man might attack him, and he’s tired and really doesn’t feel like dealing with a fight, especially from a man so very good at it, especially not when he’s tired and hungry. On the other hand, he finds it extremely difficult to walk away from someone—anyone—in trouble, even if they might happen to be Majima-san. Perhaps that’s what makes him, in niisan’s own words, ‘soft as a marshmallow’. He doesn’t plan on changing, though.
He doesn’t want to overstep his boundaries. Maybe Majima-san won’t want to talk about it. But he can at least silently show he’s there, and that he’ll support the man and not say a word.
So he steps forward and offers—offers Nishiki’s lighter, that he still hasn’t given back and probably never will. It’d been an old joke between the two of them, or at least it had been, ten years ago. With what he’s seen of Nishikiyama now, it’s likely that his kyoudai would count that another thing owed that has yet to be repaid. They were brothers in every way but blood, and there was no use keeping score, but Nishiki was, now, for whatever reason. Kiryu wouldn’t consider himself a hero. He considers doing the same, but his answer each and every time is that it wouldn’t be worth it. People who need help aren’t particularly in a good position to pay anyone back, and it would be wrong to ask them to do so.
There are hazards, though. Maybe the silent approach had been the wrong choice? But if he’d said anything, then he’d still probably have startled Majima-san into swearing. At least he flicks the lighter closed before the Patriarch has the opportunity to burn himself on anything as he flails around a little.
If not for the circumstances, Kiryu might think the overreaction was a little funny. But unfortunately whatever’s going on with Majima-san is serious. It’d be easier to deal with if it wasn’t, but the Dragon of Dojima isn’t used to things being easy, as much as that would be nice sometimes.
“The hell, Kiryu-chan? I ambush ya, not the other way round! This ain’t how this shit works!” Kiryu finds himself grateful for the fact that his expression doesn’t tend to change much, because what with Majima-san’s own legendary nickname he has a quick visualization of a startled, lonely dog yapping, and the humorous image doesn’t help much with the fact that this is a serious situation that needs to be taken seriously.
Still, he can take some tricks from the book of dealing with a dog. Don’t make any startling movements (whoops). Speak calmly and kindly to him. Don’t react to threats, but give him space if he needs it.
He makes sure not to make any more sudden movements. “It wasn’t supposed to be an ambush. Sorry, niisan.”
Majima-san’s lone eye narrows, and if Kiryu isn’t mistaken, this is the point at which a mistreated dog can get downright vicious and bite your arm. “What’s yer aim, then?”
Kiryu doesn’t answer right away, considering the correct answer, and the Patriarch snorts, lips curling back in a snarl. “It ain’t a hard question.”
The Dragon flinches, just a little. And clenches his jaw, spins on his heel, and begins to walk away. Fortunately, weeks of dealing with Majima-san being everywhere has taught him, when he’s paying attention, to listen for the very specific sound of steel-tipped shoes. He’s able to easily shrug off Majima’s hand. He very nearly follows through with a left hook before what he’s about to do catches up with him, and he drops his hand.
It helps that Majima-san’s holding his hands up in a surrendering position, looking apologetic. “Didja want a fight? It ain’t gonna be much more’n a warm-up, but I can put somethin’ together…”
“I really don’t want to fight tonight, Majima-san.” Maybe he can lead by example? Be honest and maybe a little vulnerable, and maybe Majima will follow suit. “I really felt like I could talk to Goromi about anything, but when she started talking about a date I panicked and said things I didn’t mean. I don’t think she’d want to talk to me again, and she has every right not to want to do that, but—if I can’t make it up to her, maybe I can at least help someone else a little.”
The instant he mentions Goromi, the man looks startled and wary. Kiryu can’t blame him, because he’s a little surprised, too. He hadn’t meant to mention her. And, of course, there’s something going on there that the Dragon doesn’t fully understand. It’s possible he never will.
“This ain’t about makin’ up fer—fer breakin’ a girl’s heart?” If Majima-san really were a dog, his tail would be wagging, slowly because he isn’t quite sure of Kiryu. And Kiryu makes the connection—yes, Majima-san jokes around a lot, or at least he isn’t always serious, but the ex-yakuza is pretty sure he’s not joking about this. Goromi might have protested, but she really had started to like him, and it’s probably not just Goromi. Majima-san had said some pretty explicit things, egging him on for a fight, and it had worked because you don’t joke about those kinds of things or say them without meaning them, but if Majima-san really had meant them the whole time…
He desperately hopes his blush isn’t visible. It’s a back alley in Kamurocho, it’s probably not that well lit. Also, if they were on speaking terms, Nishiki probably would have pointed this out at least ten times before now and would now be adding ‘I told you so’.
He misses Nishiki. He’s pretty sure Nishiki misses Nishiki, too, but can’t quite make his way out of the mold of Real Yakuza he’s trapped himself in.
“I’m tired, Majima-san. I’m tired and lonely and scared. I don’t know what I’m doing. Most of my allies either can’t talk to me or they’ll be punished or they don’t want to talk to me. I don’t know Nishiki anymore. I have a little girl counting on me and I don’t want to let her down but I can’t tell her that because she needs to believe in me, even though she’s smart enough she’s probably seen right through it. I’ve already failed to protect her. A woman I loved is missing, and…” he swallows, “…and probably dead, and probably has been dead for years, and my closest friends are a hostess who loves photography and a guy who keeps tracking me down to try his hardest to murder me.” He’s about to continue, but swallows back the words. He shouldn’t be making this about him. Enough of an example. “I was going to get food, and then I saw you and thought maybe you’d like some food and company, too.”
He waits. It’s uncomfortably quiet. He’s not sure what he’ll get, a loud, sing-song cackle? The bite of a tanto? An argument or excuse? More taunting words? But he definitely doesn’t expect what he does get.
A slight smile, ephemeral, beautiful and bound to die. This is the serious Majima that sometimes tries to peek through the masks the Patriarch wears. “Eh, if yer sure. Shimano’s a connivin’ tiger, an’ I ain’t exactly my own dog free ta do as I please.”
Kiryu considers that. It had never occurred to him that Majima might not have, for instance, kidnapped a little girl for the fun of it, but it should have. It’s very uncharacteristic. Setting up a city-wide ‘zombie outbreak’? That’s Majima’s style. The implication is also that Shimano wouldn’t hesitate to target a bar’s Mama or a little girl. Which sucks, but he can probably work with that. It also hadn’t occurred to him that he might not be the only one staying away from other people for their own good, but, again, he can work with that.
“I can always punch him again,” the Dragon offers, and the Dog starts cackling uproariously, despite himself.
