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Driving was considered a luxury in Kamurocho. Not only were cars expensive, but maintenance of them slowly added up over time. Between the regular oil changes and fluids and gas prices, they were certainly an investment. On top of that, finding parking in the cramped and crowded city was always a pain to deal with. It was a city where one could go their entire life without a car, making use of taxis or simply walking to their destinations. Everything was centrally located.
But Nishikiyama loved his car- and he most certainly didn’t mind giving Kiryu rides, it was always nice to spend time with him.
Kiryu almost always insisted on walking.
“It’s faster,” Kiryu said, eyebrows knit together, watching Nishiki spin his car keys on his finger.
“So? You work too hard bro, and it’s across town. Let me give you a ride,” Nishikiyama said, trying his best to persuade Kiryu. “Plus you’ve been on your feet all day.”
Kiryu knew that Nishiki wasn’t going to give in easily.
“Alright, just this once,” Kiryu said, admitting defeat.
Kiryu watched as the bright lights of Kamurocho slipped into the side view mirror, the loud and vibrant town slipping into the distance behind them, taking the artificial daylight with it.
The wide stretch of highway slowly twisted and turned, Kiryu glancing out the window, eyes flickering across the trees that lined the sides of the road. The radio played at a low volume- he couldn’t make out the words, but it sounded like some sort of pop music.
“It’s nice outside,” Nishiki said, glancing out the window for a fraction of a second before focusing his attention back to the road. “I can’t remember the last time we got to see the stars like this, too many lights in town.”
“Probably back at Sunflower,” Kiryu agreed, dark eyes looking at the stars overhead, littering the sky gently. He had never really thought about it, the fact that he hadn’t really seen the stars in years. As he grew older, he had forgotten many times to stop and look up every once in a while. Then again, he was usually fairly busy with collection runs late at night, and there usually wasn’t time to stop and do other things.
Nishiki had suggested he try to get some rest, but he wasn’t sure if he could even fall asleep if he tried. His entire body was exhausted and he felt overexerted. His fight with Kuze earlier that day had wiped him out fairly well- especially considering he was completely caught off guard with being ambushed in the sewers.
“Hungry?” Nishiki asked, peeking over to Kiryu, directing his focus from the road ahead of them for a moment.
“A little,” Kiryu admitted, his stomach growling again. “Haven’t eaten today,” he admitted.
“Bro, nothing all day? Come on, you should take better care of yourself,” Nishikiyama said, his heartstrings being yanked by something so simple. It hurt him deeply that Kiryu wasn’t taking care of his body- especially considering what all had been going on lately.
“I’ve had a lot on my mind, I forgot,” Kiryu said softly, shifting in his seat a bit.
“I got you bro, you’ll rest easier tonight with some food in your stomach,” he said, flashing a small smile over at Kiryu, getting one in return.
The Smile Burger was practically dead, then again, it was the middle of the night, so it wasn’t super surprising to either of them. In town they always seemed to be bustling and busy- it was nice to see one off the side of the highway that was empty.
“Wait here, I don’t want you being seen,” Nishiki said, reaching up to turn the interior light off manually, popping the door open and making sure the inside of the car didn’t light up as he did so.
“Alright,” Kiryu replied, as if he really had a choice- or as if he had somewhere he suddenly needed to be. “Just don’t go overboard and order a ton of stuff, you always do that,” Kiryu huffed, remembering back to just a few days ago when he said he wasn’t hungry, but Nishiki ordered him a large bowl of ramen anyways.
“I don’t do that,” he said defensively, even though he knew he did, Kiryu was sure that Nishiki rolled his eyes at him- but he couldn’t tell with the low light of the parking lot, Nishiki had parked in the parking stall furthest from the restaurant.
“Hang tight,” Nishikiyama insisted, the door clasping shut as he walked into the restaurant.
Kiryu adjusted the seat slightly, leaning back a bit further as he rested, glancing up at the stars overhead.
Nishiki glanced inside the bag, making sure that everything was there before he returned to the car, stuffing a handful of napkins inside of it before folding the top of the bag over several times to keep the contents hot.
His mind was racing- unsure of where exactly to go from here. He could be next on Dojima’s list if he kept hanging around with Kiryu- not that it was something he was terribly afraid of. Kiryu was his sworn brother, and he would go to the ends of the earth for him, and with him.
The temperature was slowly starting to drop as the night went on, a shiver racing down his spine, goosebumps covering his skin beneath his suit as he walked back outside- a bag in one hand and a cup of soda in the other.
Kiryu perked up when he pulled open the door to the car, tucking the cup of soda between his forearm and his side, nearly crushing the flimsy paper cup on accident.
“Here,” Nishiki said, handing the cup to Kiryu- who quickly put it in the cup holder so he wouldn’t spill it all over the interior of the car. He had a feeling Nishiki wouldn’t be too mad, but still, it wasn’t his car so he knew he should be extra careful and to respect his brother's car.
“Thanks, I’ll buy next time,” Kiryu promised, taking the bag from Nishiki.
Nishikiyama was positive that his heart skipped a beat as Kiryu’s fingers brushed across his as he retrieved his dinner, holding out hope that his face wasn’t a light shade of red from something so simple.
“It’s fine,” he said, brushing it off.
“I insist,” Kiryu said. “Plus you paid for ramen and drinks last week anyways, I’ll take you out somewhere nice,” he said, rummaging around inside the bag- feeling the heat from it slowly seeping through the bottom of the brown paper and through his slacks, warming the tops of his thighs.
“Whatever,” Nishikiyama said, not that he would ever bring it up if they were eating. He never minded taking care of Kiryu, especially if it meant something as simple as picking up the tab for him.
Anything to make his kyodai happy.
“Ready to hit the road again?” Nishiki said, clasping his seat belt, turning the key in the ignition, the car springing to life as the headlights illuminated the dark parking lot.
“Yeah,” Kiryu said, only half-paying attention, too focused on the hot burger wrapped in paper in one hand, the other digging for the fries at the bottom of the bag. Kiryu tried his best to balance the cardboard container of french fries between his legs, trying to not crush them on accident as he set the paper bag on the floor, slowly peeling back the paper to expose the sandwich inside.
Nishikiyama always fed him well- he never cheaped out on food for Kiryu, always splurging to get the nicest thing on the menu. Kiryu always insisted that he was fine with something off of the value menu, Nishiki always laughed at that.
“I’m not going to feed you a 300 yen burger, bro. You deserve way better than that!”
“Good?” Nishikiyama asked, pulling the car out of the parking lot and back onto the highway.
“Yeah, thanks,” Kiryu said, he couldn’t deny how hungry he actually was, especially with a hot double cheeseburger in his hands. It was delicious, even for it being fast food.
Sometimes all you needed was a greasy fast food burger and a large order of fries.
“Hey, why didn’t you get your own?” Kiryu huffed as Nishiki reached over into the bag, stealing a few fries.
“Why do that when I can just steal yours?” Nishikiyama laughed, popping the french fries into his mouth, Kiryu taking the fries out of the bag and setting them in the small cup holder between them.
“There, now you can reach them easier,” Kiryu said, prompting a smile from Nishiki. “All you have to do is ask, I won’t tell you no,” Kiryu shook his head before taking another bite from his burger.
The sound of paper crinkling and the radio playing softly eventually drowned out the road noise of the vehicle traversing down the highway, Kiryu occasionally looking outside.
Eventually the cityscape slowly turned into nothing, and then trees. Nishiki never said where they were going, but perhaps it was something that he didn’t want to talk about.
Things overall weren’t looking too good at the moment for either of them. Kiryu was drowning in trouble and Nishiki was risking it all to even be close to him.
“Get some rest, I’ll wake you up when we’re there,” Nishiki insisted, “you need some shut-eye, you’ve had a long few days,” Nishiki said, turning the radio down so Kiryu could rest.
“Alright,” he nodded a few times, the Smile Burger bag sitting at his feet on the floor as he leaned back into the chair and let his eyes slipped closed.
“We’re here, Kiryu,” Nishikiyama said softly, the car coming to a halt. Kiryu shifted a bit before peeking his eyes open, glancing at the expanse of trees in front of the parked car.
Light filled the car as Nishiki stepped out of the vehicle, the door closing behind him- Kiryu following suit.
“Nishiki… Where are we?” Kiryu asked, walking over to his sworn brother, the headlights of the parked car illuminated the area in front of them. A small dirt path was blocked off by a rope.
“Dunno. I just kinda kept driving,” Nishikiyama admitted softly, running a hand through his hair. “I just wanted to get you away from Kamurocho.”
Nimble fingers placed a cigarette between his lips. “Want one?” He asked, holding out a pack of Cabin 85 cigarettes.
“Thanks,” Kiryu muttered, taking one from the pack, not commenting on how smashed it was. Nishiki tucked the pack away, patting at his pockets, looking for his lighter.
“Oh, I still had it,” Kiryu said, pulling the lighter from his pocket, quickly flipping it open, his thumb gliding across the spark wheel quickly to ignite it before bringing the flame to the edge of his brother’s cigarette before using it to light his own.
Dark eyes looked down at it, Kiryu holding it out for Nishiki to take.
“Keep it. I’ll get a new one,” he assured him. “You need a good lighter anyways, maybe it’ll be incentive not to lose it, hmm?” Nishiki taunted, Kiryu rolling his eyes as he slipped the lighter into his pocket. It was a habit he had, the cheap disposable lighters were constantly lost or thrown away on accident. They didn’t cost much, a hundred yen each- if that.
“Thanks,” Kiryu said, working on his cigarette.
He looked upwards, looking at the sky through the breaks in the trees.
“It’s pretty,” Kiryu said, Nishikiyama looking over to him to see what he was talking about. His heart lurched in his chest, looking at the bright stars reflecting off of Kiryu’s dark eyes. Each one holding a small universe within them.
“It is,” Nishiki agreed, he could feel his face getting warm now, trying to distract himself by looking up to the stars as well. Out of habit he smoothed out his jacket, patting his back pocket to ensure that his cigarettes were there, as if they would have slipped out somewhere in the car along the trip. His palm brushed across the hard metal of the handgun in his back waistband, quickly stiffening his entire body and snapping him out of his starstruck vision of Kiryu.
“Remember sneaking out at night? When we didn’t think Kazama knew about it?” Kiryu chuckled, smoke slipping between his lips.
“Oh? Back at Sunflower?” Nishiki started, “When we would climb out the window and climb up onto the roof at night?” Nishikiyama laughed.
“Yeah, then one night Kazama came out with a flashlight and told us to get off the roof, saying we were going to hurt ourselves,” Kiryu smiled, Nishiki beaming, remembering it like it was only yesterday. “And we both scrambled to get down so fast we almost both fell?”
“Hey, you mean you almost fell and you tried to grab onto me and almost pulled me down,” Nishikiyama huffed, Kiryu cracking a smile. “He never even yelled at us for that,” Nishiki said, looking up at the stars some more.
It was true that Kazama had put up with a lot, Nishiki never really got into trouble, although it was more Kiryu defending Nishiki from others that tended to start small arguments back at the orphanage.
Silence stretched between them, it was never an uncomfortable or awkward silence. Just the two of them enjoying each other's company. A small breeze whisked away the smoke that slipped between their lips as they relaxed.
Nishikiyama wasn’t sure where to go from here. His kyodai was on the top of Tojo’s shit list. And with the Dojima family Lieutenants after him, it didn’t seem like this would be easy to get out of.
The weight of the gun tucked into the back waistband of his slacks felt foreign at first, the chill of the frigid metal slowly seeped through his patterned button-down shirt. It had dug into his lower back as he drove, leaning back against it, completely unable to forget that it was there.
He hated it, the second he pulled it out of the black briefcase he absolutely hated the feeling of it in his hand. It was heavier than he had previously thought, which surprised him.
Then again, he had never held a gun in his life, so he wasn’t really sure what he was expecting. He occasionally saw firearms within the family, but tended to keep his distance from them. They always seemed to bring nothing but trouble.
But he knew a guy who knew a guy.
And it was good enough for him.
Kiryu tapped the ashes from the end of his cigarette to the ground, Nishikiyama taking a few steps back, letting his cigarette fall into the dirt below, stepping on it a few times to let it out.
A shiver of anticipation raced down his spine, his hair standing on end as goosebumps covered his arms as he tugged the gun from the back of his pants- nearly dropping it as his nerves rocked his body.
“Be sure to savor it. Kyodai…” He said calmly, thumb pulling back the hammer, the gun clicking as a bullet was loaded into the chamber, barrel lined up with the back of Kiryu’s head. “That’s your last smoke. Make it count, Kiryu.”
“What are you doing?” Kiryu asked, tugging the cigarette from his lips, his entire body on edge at the noticeable sound of the gun being loaded behind him. “Isn’t this going a little far for a prank?” He asked, Nishiki’s chest seizing at his brother’s words, as pain sliced through him.
The gun felt heavy in his hands, heavier than anything else he had ever had to hold.
“Come on, bro. Put that thing away,” Kiryu said softly, trying his best to de-escalate the situation. Knowing that if he moved too suddenly, Nishikiyama may not have a choice, and his body may react before his brain can tell him to not do anything. Kiryu looked over his shoulder, heart racing at the sight of the gun pointed directly at him.
“Just stop!” Nishiki yelled, Kiryu nearly jumping out of his skin at the sound of his kyodai yelling at him. “It’s too late. This is the only way! How did it come to this, man?” He asked, eyebrows knitting together, sorrow shining in his eyes.
Or perhaps those were tears.
Probably both, Kiryu figured.
“When did everything get so fucked?” He questioned, his voice wavering, Kiryu turning to face him directly, even though it would have just been better to have his back towards him. Not able to tell when it was coming would have been nice, but he didn’t have that luxury.
Not when his sworn brother was hurting this badly.
And it was his fault.
“Are these the family’s orders, Nishiki?”
“They’ve got nothing to do with it,” he admitted, heart pounding in his ears knowing that he was all on his own. That this action was his and his alone. “Kiryu… you know what they do to guys who fuck with the family? Do you have any idea what they’ll do to you?” He asked, tears slowly sliding down his face, blurring his vision for a moment before he would blink, Kiryu snapping back into focus. “They’ll torture you Kiryu, and they’ll make sure it lasts!” He sobbed, “They’ll hurt you for as long as possible, Kiryu don’t you understand? The bodies of the guys they find… You can’t even tell they’re human anymore!” He cried at the thought of looking down at an unrecognizable Kiryu on the floor beneath him, body sliced open as he was forced to watch his own body being dissected.
“I can’t… I can’t let them do that to you… Kiryu,” he whispered, his voice cracking, his entire body heating up, the gun shaking in his hand. “I’m your sworn brother, I’m not watching you die like that, scared and alone, in a metal room ten meters underground!” He shouted. “You’ll never be free, Kiryu.”
Kiryu remained silent, his mind racing at Nishiki’s words.
“But… but at least I can keep you from dying in pain. You won’t be alone, Kiryu. I’m here with you, right now. I can end it, I can make it quick, and that’s all I can do right now.”
Kiryu watched the gun practically vibrating in Nishiki’s grasp, he was trying his best to keep his hands steady.
“I’m sorry, Nishiki. You’re hurting, and it’s all because of me. It’s my fault, and I know I can never make it right. I’ve got one request.”
Kiryu didn’t think he had seen Nishiki cry this hard in a long time, or if he ever had. His cheeks wet with tears, his eyelashes clinging together.
“After you do it… Bring me back to them. Use it to fight your way to the top of the clan. I can’t be there with you, but I can be your stairs to the top.”
Nishikiyama couldn’t imagine fighting his way to the top without Kiryu by his side, without having him to rely on and confide in, or to help him along the way. Kiryu always knew the answer it seemed, even if he was in trouble, he was always there to lend a hand to him.
“Akira… promise me,” Kiryu said as the gun was raised a bit higher, tears dripped from Nishikiyama’s jawline and into the dirt below.
It was up to Nishiki now, something completely out of Kiryu’s control at this point.
“I… I promise… Kazuma.”
He wished Kiryu wouldn’t look at him, not like that. Not with so much trust in his eyes and love in his heart for his brother. Kiryu trusted him to do the right thing- the outcome was in his hands.
His finger shifted from the trigger guard to land on the trigger itself. He didn’t want to do this, he hated this. His entire body screamed at him to stop.
But he had to do this. For Kiryu’s sake.
He had never shot a gun in his life, but it couldn’t be that hard, like in the movies and posters for future films coming to the local theater.
Just point and shoot.
His entire body tensed up as he pulled the trigger, the sound of the gunshot filling the air- much louder than he had anticipated.
Everything slowed down as time seemed to halt entirely. The gun slipped from his hands as if it were on fire, not wanting to touch it anymore.
Dark eyes followed Kiryu as he fell to the ground, blood seeping from his forehead. The sound of his kyodai hitting the dirt was deafening.
Nishikiyama staggered backwards, his entire body throwing itself into overdrive. His pulse was racing, his chest heaving as if he couldn’t get enough air. A shiver raced through his spine despite it not being cold outside. Everything was spinning so fast, grunting as he fell to his knees in an effort to make the nausea subside.
He grimaced as he wretched, stomach acid burning his throat on the way up as he threw up, spitting on the ground a few times afterwards in a feeble attempt to get the taste out of his mouth.
The back of his sleeve rubbed excess spit from his lips as he looked over, tears streaming down his face, immediate regret filling his entire body.
There really wasn’t another move or step after this, he didn’t think he would get this far. He didn’t actually think about going through with it at all.
“Kiryu,” Nishikiyama whispered, tears streaming down his face as he crawled across the dirt to his brother. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his kyodai so relaxed, the crease between his brows gone, his lips slightly parted, eyes half-closed, staring up at the sky above them both.
Get him into the car.
Leave.
You can cry later, get back to Kamurocho.
He underestimated how much Kiryu weighed, struggling to pick up the lax weight, tears blinding his vision as well as the bright light of his car’s headlights. After a few moments, he gave up altogether, falling to his knees as he pulled Kiryu’s head into his lap.
Kiryu almost looked happy in a way, looking but not seeing up at Nishikiyama. His tears slowly slid down his cheeks, falling onto Kiryu’s cheekbones as he looked down at him and sobbed loudly. There was no one to judge him, no one to tell him to stop crying and man up.
It was just him now.
He cried until there were no tears left to cry. Until his throat burned from heavy sobbing. He didn’t stop until his head pounded and ached, his entire body sore.
His sleeve was once again used to clean his face up, grimacing at the mess across both of his jacket sleeves now. But he knew he could wash those fairly easily.
His thumb ghosted across Kiryu’s cheekbones, slowly leaning down to press his lips to Kiryu’s for a chaste kiss before sitting back up, trying not to cry again.
The gun didn’t feel as heavy in his hand this time, only using one hand, as his other hand cradled Kiryu’s face.
Dark eyes glanced at the stars overhead as he brought the barrel to his temple, the metal cold against his warm skin.
“I wonder if these are the same stars we saw at Sunflower, Kiryu.”