#but again i think any attempt at softening nishiki would be taken as an attack on his progress

[iheart-nishiki]

Mind if I share this idea with you? An AU where Kiryu joins the Nishikiyama Family after getting out of prison, and after seeing Nishiki’s new, self-destructive way of living, he’s like “no way am I letting you live like this anymore”

So he starts taking care of Nishiki— cooking meals for him, pressing his shoulders when he’s stressed, and basically acting like a mother hen to make sure that Nishiki isn’t falling apart. And Nishiki hasn’t been cared for like this, so he kinda just blue-screens the first time, before his temperament eventually softens into that of a grumpy kitten who secretly likes affection ❤️ what do you think?

aaaaaaaah i want so badly to believe in a world where they can go back to being bros so quick..........

but honestly even barring any of the events happening when he gets out of jail i just don't think kiryu would agree to joining the nishikiyama family, especially if he learned what they've really been up to all this time. too loyal to kazama and not even close to coddling enough to take care of nishiki like that😞 he might try to talk him down or reason with him before resorting to more direct methods, but nishiki's got his pride and image to maintain at this point; add on trust issues out the ass it's like trying to approach a feral street cat. he'd sooner swipe kiryu across the nose than let him touch his shoulders.

they're just too different and nishiki's gone too far past a line kiryu would never cross. kiryu wouldn't betray his morals to sink to nishiki's level and nishiki would never admit how far he's sunk, so they're stuck at a stalemate in which neither of them would consider taking a step towards the other. It's all or nothing for both of them :(