#i just want to know if ichiban reminds kiryu of nishiki

[overdevelopedglasses]

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)

—--------------------------

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?

[xuanelle]

Top 5 favorite Kiryu moments

picking just five is so hard for me ;__;

The almost definitive Kiryu scene to me is the old between him and Watase as Watase talks about how Kiryu has that same bloodlust, how he wants a war against the Tojo and Kiryu doesn't deny what he says but walks away and says to him, being Yakuza is a way to live. That is who Kiryu is at his core, he is a man who cannot be separated from the Yakuza for better and for worse and ouhh I love it.

The scene at the end of Gaiden destroyed me in a way nothing else has, it's so depressing and it hurts to see Kiryu unable to be with his family and ;___; like Kiryu just wallowing in his loneliness and wishing he could be with them as he sees his strong they've become and he can't even tell them that he loves them. what if I died?!?!

The scene where he tells Ichiban he'll protect the past and entrusts him the future, where Ichiban reminds him to truly live and he listens means so much. Seeing Kiryu truly embrace life and have it be Ichiban who shows him that is so beautiful to me, it means something that Kiryu dons the suit again and tells Ichiban he'll try living.

The scene of Kiryu performing Judgment with everyone in IW and getting to be happy and surrounded by new friends enjoying his company and reuniting with Kashiwagi is everything to me I love that scene and it's one of my favourites in the whole series :^)

The scene of Kiryu and Nishiki saying they feel invincible around each-other ;__; I don't think anything else needs to be said but that scene made me cry and knowing everything that happens after, it's definitely true their strongest was when they were together.

Bonus sixth because I couldn't pick just five. Him at the end of five and seeing Haruka and asking if it's a dream ;__; because his dream is to be with his family is to be with haruka, and that's all he wants out of life.

[serene-faerie]

Yeah, now that I think about it, you're right-- neither Nishiki nor Ichiban would pick a fight with each other (unless Nishiki wanted to test Ichiban's strength to see if he was worthy of Kiryu's approval or something like that)

I practically wrote an essay beneath the Read More, so I hope that's okay! I just had to get it off my chest.

Here's how I think it would go down. Just to note, this is an AU where Y6 never happened, so Kiryu's living peacefully in Okinawa with Haruka and the Morning Glory orphans.

Following the events of Kiwami, Nishiki quits the yakuza, leaves Kamurocho, then goes into hiding-- probably with Kashiwagi's help. Now that he's not in the yakuza anymore, he's got a lot of time to reflect on his actions and ultimately regretting all of them. Nishiki wishes he could apologize to Kiryu, make amends with him, but he's afraid; what if Kiryu hates him now? What if Kiryu never forgives him? Nishiki wouldn't blame him-- he can't forgive himself either.

But then, fourteen years later, the unexpected happens: the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance are both disbanded. It's at this point that Nishiki realizes that this is the right time to find Kiryu and apologize to him. So he starts gathering information-- a month after the events of Y7. Through some informants, he learns that Kiryu was last seen in Isezaki Ijincho, and without thinking, Nishiki takes the first train to Yokohama.

Nishiki ends up at Survive Bar, where he not only meets Kashiwagi again, but he meets one of the regulars-- Ichiban Kasuga himself. Surprisingly, they get along pretty well-- Ichiban almost reminds Nishiki of his younger self, and Nishiki feels compelled to open up to him. And that's how he ends up telling him about Kiryu, and his desire to see his kyodai again so he can make things right with him. Ichiban, upon realizing who he's talking about, tells Nishiki that he's actually met him before, and he's actually been wanting to find Kiryu so he can prove his strength to him.

Cue Nishiki and Ichiban teaming up together to find Kiryu however they can. Along the journey, Nishiki slowly opens up to Ichiban about his history with Kiryu, from their childhood together to his betrayal. Eventually, their search brings them to Okinawa, and they're directed to Morning Glory Orphanage, where Kiryu is.

When they reach the orphanage, Nishiki is afraid. What will Kiryu say to him? Could he ever be forgiven? Did he even deserve Kiryu's forgiveness? He almost panics, but Ichiban gives him some encouragement.

"I might not know him for as long as you do, but he seems like a forgiving guy. You got this, Nishiki."

Emboldened, Nishiki follows Ichiban to the orphanage. Mame the dog starts barking at them, making enough noise to draw Kiryu outside.

Kiryu doesn't know who to expect. He's surprised to see Ichiban here, who cheerily greets him. Then, Ichiban says that he's brought someone to meet him-- someone who's been wanting to meet him for a very long time. Then, he steps aside to reveal Nishiki to him.

At first, Kiryu's convinced that he's seeing a ghost-- he was told that Nishiki was dead all those years ago. But Kiryu can recognize Nishiki's eyes anywhere, and he knows that he's not hallucinating. Nishiki is here. Nishiki's alive.

Nishiki takes a good, long look at Kiryu, and he can't hold back his tears anymore. With a shaky voice, he says, "it's been a long time, kyodai."

Hey! How are you? I wanted to share this video with you, and an idea I got after watching it:

https://youtu.be/f9NvnvON5PU

Nishiki somehow survives the events of Kiwami, but goes into hiding for a few years. Now that the Tojo Clan has been dissolved, Nishiki decides to try and find Kiryu so he can properly apologize for his betrayal and all the hurt he caused him. But at some point, he runs into Ichiban, and they somehow get into a fight, where Nishiki learns that Ichiban has met Kiryu, and he’s looking for him as well (for a rematch, maybe).

And that’s how Nishiki ends up working together with Ichiban to find Kiryu, so he can make amends with his kyodai and rebuild their broken bond together, little by little.

What do you think of this? I hope it’s okay to share with you!

! ! ! I LOVE THE IDEA OF ICHIBAN AND NISHIKI TEAMING UP (and. bein frens 🥺) its somethin i have def thought about a lot aaaa

i dont think ichiban would start a fight outta nowhere tho 🤔 hes a good boi (confirmed with my good fren, ichiban expert) and idk if nishiki would look for a fight himself after everything that happened.... uNLESS theres's some BIG BIG misunderstanding where it looks like nishiki is doing something bad maybe?? idk,, LIKE IF U REALLY WANT EM TO FITE, IDK

also i feel like ichiban would just help nishiki look for kiryu if nishiki gets to explain! he seems like hed be happy to help out... (ALSO CONFIRMED BY ICHIBAN EXPERT, "ichiban is a bit sus at first but he still listens to Nishiki. this isnt the first time a random dude has come up to him after all. when Nishiki explains the situation, Ichiban is moved by his resolve to apologize and mend things with his kyodai helping Nishiki get to Kiryu becomes his new side/main quest AND NISHIKI BECOMES A PARTY MEMBER, ON THE HOST CLASS" —@rotten-dan 🧡)