lastvoyages | Revelation 45 | Essence of the Bubble

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Revelation 45 | Essence of the Bubble | audio

[ Does Kiryu have so so so many memories of his future trying to weigh him down like an anvil? Absolutely. Is he 20 years old, just got through what felt like the worst few weeks of his life, and absolutely positively not even engaging with any of that shit? Also absolutely.

Because Nishiki betraying him? Ten years in jail? Pops being the one to kill his parents? Yumi dying too? Him adopting a kid, let alone 10 of them? And married to some lady from another world? Being head of the Tojo Clan?

Nope. Fuck this. Fuck all of this. Absolutely fucking not.

That's why he's going to take the opportunity to do something fun ~~and stupid~~ given this super future phone he's got. It's like a little radio! Hence- ]

Hey everyone, Judgment Kazzy here, asking you all to share your wiiiiildest stories. If you don't want anyone to know it's you, you can send it to me privately and I'll read it out here for everyone to see. I've done it before and it's a lot of fun.

Wildest story gets a prize!

[ Where is Kiryu during all this? Well, he's sure as shit going to end up in the lounge pretty often, either to get a drink or to use the karaoke machine.

...no, he doesn't care what the hours are. He's never worried about it before.

You'll also find him in the library using the viewing rooms to watch movies, and as for food? He's basically going to be living off of what he can get at the commissary. As for meeting him in the hallways, careful coming off too hostile. If he thinks you're going to start a fight, he might start it for you. ]

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[Sameen has the vague sense that by the time she knows this guy, he's a former big-time violent criminal - but with him looking so much younger now than he does when she's grown up, she's not at all sure that she can count on the "former" part right now. Which, she thinks, means that she may have just accidentally walked in on someone who might very much like to murder her. She stands still in the viewing room doorway, watching him with a blank expression on her face as she considers her options. She could run; she's really fast. But he's big, and he's probably even faster.]

I have a gun and I know how to use it.

[She tells him, calmly. Neither of those things is true, but she figures this is the sort of situation where she's allowed to lie.]

But I won't unless you try to kill me first.

Kiryu had been about to pop in another movie into the VCR ("Robocook": it's a classic) when he hears the little girl addressing him to let him know that.

Nani?

"Why the fuck would I want to kill you? Why would you tell me that?!"

Huh. Nobody has ever sworn at her like that before; that's weird.

"Because you're a bad guy," she says, taking a slow half-step backwards. "Hurting people is bad, but hurting bad people who hurt you first is okay. So if you try to murder me, I'll shoot you in the head."

When 'lead pipe as held by an old man on a motorcycle driving straight at you in the middle of a sewer' is in the list of things you've dealt with in the last month, 'smart mouth kid with a gun' is not something you question. Which is why he squares up.

"How do you know I'm a bad guy? I was just watching a movie and you walk up and threaten me. Sounds pretty shitty to me, kid."

"When you grow up, you're going to tell me you were a bad guy when you were younger," she says, taking another half-step back. Has she miscalculated? Maybe she should have run after all. "And you look younger now."

He shakes his head. He remembers what she's talking about of course (wishes he didn't, honestly) but that's a huff.

"I told you I was yakuza. Gokudo. That doesn't mean a bad guy. It just means I live in a different world from you."

They live outside the law and they do things that're shunned by upright society but that's just because upright society doesn't want them. It's not a bad life. And there are good and bad guys there, just like anywhere else. Trying to make a path for yourself, trying to make a dream, doesn't make you 'bad'.

Edited 2023-12-11 14:48 (UTC)

Well, that sounds fake; she's pretty sure that when they grow up he's going to tell her that he's a murderer. ("Violent criminal", "bad guy", "murderer". All pretty much the same thing, clearly.)

"Have you ever killed a little kid?"

Says the toddler offering to shoot someone in the head!

"No," and that's practically a grunt. "I would never want to do that."

".. Okay," she says, and after a moment's pause, she takes a few careful steps into the room. "I just didn't want to die. What are you watching?"

Tch.

Like he wants to spend time with this kid! But he'll rub at the back of his neck and take a look at the movie.

"Robocook. It's a movie about a cook who almost dies before the restaurant pays for parts of his body to be replaced with robotics to make him the cook of the future."

~~This is a real movie in this universe.~~

"Is is brain replaced by a robot, too?" she asks, still inching closer. "Can I watch?"

He blinks, because he's not sure now; he's pretty sure that's one of the three organs that were left after the kitchen explosion.

"No, he has his brain."

He shrugs and gestures for her to take a seat on one of the other chairs. He's not charging admission.

There's a boy here, having discovered that something on him serves as a key.

He uses his weapon to unlock the door to the lounge, and like he belongs here, makes his way to the bar to grab some wine.

It's also like two in the morning. But the Belmonts keep night hours.

...that looks fine. And no one cares about the time in Kamurocho.

Kiryu's going to raise his beer to the kid in a greeting. Hey, kid.

He gives a friendly wave back, popping open the wine bottle and grabbing a glass for it. He's had wine before. Just...not where an adult was monitoring how much he drank.

...an adult isn't monitoring him right now, if that helps. He's drinking his own beer and considering... life. Mostly. Also being slightly annoyed that he apparently has a super hot wife but she's not here.

It's better to think about than Nishiki. Or Yumi.

He glances over but doesn't say anything. What would he say anyway?

Trevor considers walking off with the wine, but it's quiet here and not a lot of people are nocturnal, so, screw it.

He wanders over to Kiryu's table, eyeing him up and down.

"I'm Trevor." He says, and holds out a hand.

He'll look at the hand, and it's obvious from his pose that he doesn't generally shake hands... but he'll nod and take Trevor's hand in a shake, a quick but steady shake, before pulling back.

"Kiryu."

"I know you." Comes the bold claim. "You're in here a lot. How come?"

"Why're you in here to see me be in here a lot?"

This is a fair question.

"I'm training to notice things." This is somewhat of a half truth but he can lie through his teeth with a smile.

"So why are you in here?"

"I get paid to notice things," he answers back with a wry twist of his lips, closer to a smile than you'd usually see, "and lots of interesting things happen in bars usually."

"I've never been in one." He looks around at the near-empty place.

"Seems boring."

Xie Lian's never seen a movie before. He knows what they are, due to the semi-helpful information he's been given about his future, but that's not the same as getting to experience it for himself. The information also tells him the man is a friend, but he'd probably go in anyway. After all, it's a... sort of public space, so why not.

"Hello," he says, giving Kiryu a smile.

[ This younger Kiryu is a little startled by the very different get up, but he's still a Kamurocho kid. That has him nodding in greeting in reply, though he'll pause to see if the guy has business with him. ]

Have you found anything interesting?

[Xie Lian has never hesitated in trying to strike up conversation.]

[ He spins, none of the gravitas of his older version found here, but after a moment, he nods slowly. ]

This place has plenty.

[ Majima punches his shoulder too hard and then is draped most of the way across his back and shoulders, grinning. ]

Kiryu-chan.

[ All Majimas find that joke funny. Forever. ]

Edited (multiple majimas, not something belonging to a majima) 2023-12-14 02:36 (UTC)

It's weird, because a part of him would only allow Nishiki to do something like that to him without getting thrown off. But the immediate trust that his memories give him, bone deep and undeniable when he hears that title, makes his shoulders drop and he rolls his eyes.

"Majima-san."

Listen, Majima would love it if he was thrown. Great reason to start a tussle. Although absolutely nothing is going to stop him from pestering Kiryu regardless. His affection is laser-focused.

"How's it goin', huh? I think I must'a seen you somewhere... you don't look that unfamiliar..." Maybe lurking at Kazama's elbow somewhere, maybe at the arcade with that Nishiki fuck, or running collections. How many degrees of separation could it have possibly been? He just wasn't remarkable until he was remarkable.

Majima absolutely pinches Kiryu's cheek and pulls.

Pagan is also in the Lounge when Kiryu arrives and there's a flash of deep recognition, of something familiar. It takes him only a moment to recall, or whatever the version of recall is when the memories aren't his own, why he's like that.

"It's you. You've been asking about stories, hm? I have so many." And Pagan makes himself comfortable right beside him.

There's a special pang that comes from someone dressed in that deep pink, with that kind of style and poise that comes from the way it clangs on his insides with some of the knowledge he has now. When Pagan sidles up next to him, he rolls his eyes a little but he doesn't move.

"All right. Go for it."

He takes a cigarette from the inside of his jacket, but doesn't light it. He toys with it in his hands instead, staring straight ahead. He's determined to let the elephant in the room stand in the smallest corner. He's certainly not going to address it.

"I rule a country that actually has decent electricity. Everyone has everything that they need in the lights department. They have televisions, for fuck's sake! King Min takes care of them. And yet, every night, some rather industrious soul takes it upon himself to wander the countryside like a madman and light every fucking candle he can find. It keeps me up at night. What sort of person does something like that? What sort of person has the time and the energy and the desire to light these candles? Perplexing."

"Like the locker key people," he says with a slow, fascinated nod.

He tucks a hand under his chin. "Oh, do tell me more, handsome stranger."

He looks over at Pagan.

"Your name is" and he has to adjust because what he knows and his level of familiarity are at odds, but he eventually goes with- "Pagan-san. And you know mine. We aren't really strangers, are we?"

"Yes, and we have a wonderful love affair and all that and you graduate me with the power of your love."

He waves his hand. "But I don't know you. He knows you. And he doesn't know...you. It's all very confusing. So tell me about the keys."

"Lark-san graduates you," he says firmly before his eyes roll just a little. But he won't stick on it.

"There's coin lockers in Kamurocho and Sotenbori. Probably other places, I don't know. But people keep stuff in them but I swear they just sprinkle the keys all over the place in town even though they have stuff in them. The candle guy is like the locker key guy, cause there's always stuff in them.

"Why? Why do that?"

He definitely takes their stuff.

Pagan leans in. "And how do you know about these keys and the...stuff? Do you take it? Kiryu! You do! You naughty thing."

He snorts and nods.

"Oh yeah. I take it. Not like anyone else could get to it anyway, and I have no way of getting it back to them. It's useful stuff too."

Pagan narrows his eyes a little more, leaning forward. "Are you some sort of superhero? Do people leave you shit that only you can see? Like offerings? Why doesn't anyone else pick up these keys? Do they wait for you?"

That's a huff of amusement.

"Most people aren't walking that street every day as part of their job. They're too busy chasing a skirt or a stack of cash or a bottle of booze. Or puking in an alley."

"Well, that seems like a gamble," he says, leaning back again, legs crossed.

"What if someone else ended up with a bazooka? I bet that doesn't fit up their ass."

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Revelation 45 | Essence of the Bubble | audio

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