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shuyaakuji · 3 months ago

Text

(Snap) Back to Reality

Content Warning:

MMORPG AU

Explicit Language or mention of Explicit Language

Mature Themes (but nothing out of the ordinary for Saints Row)

Mild Violence/Blood and Injury (Again, nothing too out of the ordinary for Saints Row, really)

This is an AU used for Comedic-Centric fics and is not a "serious" AU for Saints Row.

This fic is not canon to any RP's used on this account.

"Kill me, but don't do this!"

"Just kill me damn it, don't do this!"

The screams of Shogo Akuji went ignored by those who lowered the casket with him still very much alive into he ground, his futile attempts to desperately pound and kick, despite one leg being essentially broken at the knee, being made in vain as he could hear them shoveling the dirt on top of them. With no katana within the holster on the back of his leather jacket and no guns on him, even his phone having fallen out of his pocket during the earlier struggle, his fate was very much sealed. Soon his efforts to avoid this horrific fate would cease as his oxygen depleted, his screaming becoming hoarse as he struggled to breathe. He would never again see the light of day, as the least thing he would have seen before pitch darkness would have been the night sky over Stilwater with the drops of rain pouring down everywhere - until the coffin was closed shut with him in it. Moments later, he could hear the sound of it being mechanically lowered into the ground, and that had been when the true horror of his fate settled in. He'd never be sure of how long he actually lasted, but given his terrified screaming, it wasn't all that long.

His world having already turned to darkness, he couldn't tell the difference when his vision became blurred. He could feel it becoming harder to breathe, his screaming ceasing because he just had no oxygen for it; only the carbon dioxide that his mouth had been spewing in its place. Tears streamed from his eyes as he wished for his father to save him from this torment. If he could just muster up the ability to speak, perhaps he'd even cry out for Jyunichi's name, regretting in this moment his betrayal of the man who did nothing but serve him. But he couldn't.

Covered in sweat and with tears streaming from his eyes until he had wasted all of the water they had, Shogo's body slowly started following suit with his lungs as his kicks and pounds on the coffin also inevitably became weak until he simply couldn't do them anymore. At this point, any rescue attempt would have been pointless - it was too late. He was slipping in and out of consciousness, no matter how hard he tried to fight it. He could hardly even think back to his happier memories; all his final thoughts could be about how much it pained him to be in this situation to begin with. How much he was scared, how much he wanted his father. Even then, his thoughts were constantly interjected by what could best be described as nothing. Just simply nothing.

He was slipping.

Nobody cared.

The city of Stilwater would never know Shogo Akuji's exact time of death; likely, it was only no more than an hour after his burial, given his waste of oxygen. He was probably dead either by the time Ji-Hoon "Johnny" Gat and his Boss got back to their hideout or at least shortly after that. For Shogo himself, however, his death felt like it took an eternity in and of itself.

Luckily for him, it was all just a game.

Lying on his bed, the very much alive and breathing Shogo Akuji jolted up into a sitting position faster than a speeding bullet. Letting out a deep gasp followed by an almost girlish scream, he yanked off his head the pearl white Ultor-VR headset and, in a terrified fury, threw it against the wall of his hotel room in the perfectly intact Tohoku Towers. It hit the wall and fell to the floor with very loud thuds, and Shogo was left sitting on his bed, still covered in sweat. His chest was pounding, breathing no longer hoarse or difficult, but his heart was working overtime. His brown eyes were widened in what best be described as absolute terror. He had been using that headset to immerse himself in the game he was playing and truly live out all of his juvenile fantasies, yet now it was the source of a horrific experience he'll likely never be able to forget.

His skin being coated in sweat, the snap back to reality was so hidden that his vision was still spinning once he finally had the headset off. The first thing he did was feel his chest, slipping underneath his silk robe to practically clutch his heart as it pounded so fast, and it almost felt like it was going to pop out of his chest.

"Fuck..." he uttered as he took his hand off from his chest and back to his sides, looking down. He didn't have anything on beneath his robe, but his nether regions weren't what he was looking at. He was looking at his legs - they were shaking as though he'd just drank a metric ton of caffeine or snorted way too much cocaine for the human body to handle. On one hand, this was good as it meant his one leg wasn't broken, but he also couldn't get them to stop shaking. He sat like that for what felt like an hour, his eyes widened like a deer caught in headlights as he kept mentally reliving what he'd just experienced. Sure, it was just a game; everything he saw was just a bunch of digital polygons. He wasn't dead. That headset, however, made it so real, so terribly real. At the time, he was seeing it in first person without the security of also looking at a computer monitor or television screen; he saw all of that as though he were actually in the game world and now understood why very few people didn't want to play the game in VR. He could swear that his head and jaw still hurt as though he'd been head-butted and punched through a solid stone gravestone.

Eventually recovering enough to look around his room, he could see that his hotel, Tohoku Towers - was still intact and not destroyed. The hot tub that was adjacent to his bed was still intact, though the water could probably be replaced. The wooden floors didn't have any debris or ash on them, the ceiling wasn't caved in, the lights still worked, he still had his dressers, and the door to his en-suite bathroom was right there in case he needed to puke after what he'd been through. However, there was one problem.

The bed was stained with a bit more than just his sweat. He had urinated all over his thighs, the lower part of his robe, and had plenty of it seeping into his bed sheets. He didn't smell it right away until he was finally really focusing on just what that wetness across his legs was.

"Jyunichi..." he weakly called, "Can you get room service up here? I...I need to have my bed sheets changed....and my robe washed."

There was no answer, and he was sure he'd called loud enough to be heard. Even so, he tried yelling:

"Jyunichi!"

Yet still, no answer.

That's when he remembered. Jyunichi silently left the Ronin's private discord server not long after his death in-game. He'd also started making himself more scarce around Tohoku Towers in real life as well, and Shogo never really thought about it before just now. He didn't know how Jyunichi could have found out, but it seems that somehow he did, and as a result, Shogo was sitting within his luxury suite alone. His father was still in the game, for now, but was physically in Japan within reality. Shogo had dragged both him and Jyunichi into the game - and they both agreed to it. Jyunichi had a restaurant to run, one where he was a franchisee in the employ of Kazuo himself, yet he also was working double as Shogo's hotel manager, triple as his bodyguard and quadruple as his in-game enforcer because nobody else could really put up with him for as long. Yet even the loyal and honorable Jyunichi has a breaking point, and Shogo had made him reach it.

Yet, Shogo didn't feel any regret. Even after all he'd just experienced, he didn't blame himself for anything and instead just pouted. Angrily mumbling "Fucking asshole, fine, I'll call them up myself. And take a shower..."

While Shogo tended to cleaning himself up, the Discord server for his hated enemies - the Third Street Saints, was blowing up in the aftermath of his virtual death.

** Third Street Saints' Discord Server **

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "Damn Gat, that was cold."

Hackey_Sack (Shaundi) - "Yeah, that was the brutal thing I've ever seen from you, Johnny. Damn."

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "After he tried to grope my ass last time me and Donnie went out, I think got what he deserved. Besides it's not like the brat is actually dead IRL."

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "Don't remind me of that just yet, Lin. I'm still trying to pretend what I did was real."

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "Wait, Lin, what did Shogo do?"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "What I said happened. Me and Donnie were visiting Club Koi when that spoiled jackass showed up and started hitting on me like some stupid drunk pervert. I was playing it cool until his hand went for my ass."

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "Did Donnie do anything about it?"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "He's Donnie. I'm the one with the pants, but he did try his best. Shogo backed off when I grabbed him by the wrist and almost popped his arm right out of it's socket."

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "Tell me someone caught that on video."

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "I have no idea Johnny, might have to look it up yourself."

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "Well then, BRB."

Hackey_Sack (Shaundi) - "I get why we don't like Shogo here but Aisha is alive in the real world, right?"

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "Yeah, she is, but that ain't the point. The point is even outside the game Shogo is a piece of shit who acts like just cuz his daddy's rich and he owns some shitty hotel and a stake in a casino makes him better than everyone. It's good he finally got taken down a peg."

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "Does he actually own Tohoku Towers or does his dad?"

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "Do you really care?"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "Nah, but you brought it up."

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "You think Shogo's gonna change from his experience?"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "Probably not. But at least he's gone from the game forever now. Running into him in real life is bad enough. He's why I avoid going to Downtown or Saint's Row."

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "So what does happen when you die in this game again?"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "I heard they're working on adding Heaven and Hell in some later patch update. My money's on his ass going to Hell. Right now nothing happens, you can't come back as your same character."

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "But aren't we all criminals in-game? Wouldn't we all go to Hell?"

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "I guess it'll be some Gangsta Heaven type shit or somethin'. Which is fine by me."

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "Besides, Beanie Boy, you're the most innocent of us all. No way you're going to Hell."

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) -"Hey, I'm not innocent. I had Boss steal my friends car, remember?"

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "That's baby gangsta stuff, Carlos."

Hackey_Sack (Shaundi) - "Come on, Pierce, don't be mean. He's trying his best."

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "I'm not a baby guys, I have a job at a Rim Jobs IRL and I helped Boss bust out of prison in-game. It's hard to find info out on the Brotherhood, I never dated a Brotherhood chick and they're not all public like the Ronin."

Hackey_Sack (Shaundi) - "Aw Carlos, it's ok, don't get insecure about it. Me and Pierce can help you find intel on them if you want."

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "Thanks but I need to prove to the Boss I can do this on my own. I was the one assigned the Brotherhood."

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "Well I might have the time to help ya out soon anyway, don't think the Ronin are gonna be lastin' much longer."

Hackey_Sack (Shaundi) - "Why is Kazuo even staying in the game? I heard he was just dragged into it by Shogo."

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "You've never met a geriatric asian man before."

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "lmao"

- Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) has entered the chat -

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "Ayo WTF?"

Hackey_Sack (Shaundi) - "what are you doing here?"

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "How the hell you found this server?"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "What the hell do you want?"

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "You guys are a bunch of fucking ASSHOLES"

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "Oh boo hoo, you died in a video game. Who gives a shit?"

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "I DO"

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "Obviously"

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "You guys think beating and burying someone alive is fucking funny?!"

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "And you think attacking a funeral is fucking hilarious?"

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "SHE'S NOT EVEN DEAD IN REAL LIFE"

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "You still deadass attacked a funeral and refused to back the fuck off. IDK what you expected Johnny to do."

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "IT WAS A FUCKING VIRTUAL FUNERAL YOU DUMBASS"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "Insult Carlos again and you'll be buried alive IRL"

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "SHUT IT YOU WHORE"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "LMAO. I'm the whore? You're the one who just used the game as a way to have constant sex with god knows how many women, which I assume is something you couldn't get in real life because you're either compensating for something with that bike or you probably couldn't satisfy a real woman if you tried. Did you ever do anything for the Ronin besides sit on your ass getting your dick sucked by a bunch of 3D polygons?"

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "Damn Lin you burnin' his ass alive rn"

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "YES, I DID SHIT FOR THE RONIN. HOW THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I ESTABLISHED MY TERRITORY IN THE FIRST PLACE BITCH?! I EARNED THE RIGHT TO SIT BACK AND GET SUCKED OFF BY SOME DAMN WHORES! AND FOR THE RECORD I HAVE PLENTY OF SEX IN THE REAL WORLD, ALL WITH WOMEN."

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "I always figured your boyfriend Jyunichi just did everything for you TBH"

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "LMAO Pierce went there"

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "JYUNICHI WAS NOT MY FUCKING BOYFRIEND I AM NOT GAY YOU FUCKER"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "Denial is not just a river in Egypt"

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "GO FUCK YOURSELF"

Hackey_Sack (Shaundi) - "I heard Jyunichi left him anyway. Something about him finding out Shogo sold him out to the Boss."

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "EXACTLY I GAVE YOUR BOSS JYUNICHI'S LOCATION, I SHOULD'VE BEEN SPARED FOR HELPING YOU UNGRATEFUL FUCKASSES."

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "LOL"

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "Nah bruh"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "No wonder Jyunichi dumped your ass."

Hackey_Sack (Shaundi) - "You're very good at mental gymnastics, Shogo."

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "JYUNICHI. WAS NOT. MY BOYFRIEND. I. AM. NOT. GAY."

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "He's. Typng. Like. This. Now. L. O. L."

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "It's just a damn game bruh."

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING IDEA WHAT MY FATHER THINKS OF ME NOW BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DID?!"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "And there's the Daddy Issues"

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "Dude we didn't make you bring your boomer ass dad into the game. We didn't make you betray Jyunichi. We didn't make you attack a funeral. Do you really think your dad would even change his opinion on you from a fucking video game?"

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "OH GO TO FUCKING HELL BITCH"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "You know you're just fucking typing right? Keeping the caps button on just makes you look like even more of a crybaby rn"

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "YOU ASSHOLES LITERALLY CUT INTO MY REAL LIFE PROFITS!"

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "Or maybe you keeping everybody in your hotel up at night with loud ass music made people sick of staying there."

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "I heard bro deadass spits on people from the top floor."

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "Wow you really think we're that far beneath you, huh?"

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "I DON'T FUCKING DO THAT! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHO FUCKING TOLD YOU I DID THAT? I DON'T HAVE MY MUSIC THAT LOUD WHEN I HAVE THE BITCHES OVER AND I'M NOT 5 YEARS OLD I WOULDN'T SPIT ON PEOPLE UNLESS THEY REALLY FUCKIN' DESERVE IT"

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "Says the funeral crasher who betrayed his own top lieutenant just cuz daddy liked him more probably, get the fuck outta here already Akuji."

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "NOT UNTIL I GET SOME FUCKING JUSTICE"

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "What the fucking shit is going on here?"

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "THERE YOU FUCKING ARE YOU SON OF A BITCH. ROUND 2. NOW."

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "Little boy. You have lost your goddamn mind."

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "AND YOU'RE GONNA LOSE YOUR FUCKIN' LIFE"

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "You know I'm a cop IRL right? I will go down to that hotel you're typin' from behind your lil' keyboard or phone or whatever the fuck you're usin' at and arrest your fuckin' ass right now. And I won't be gentle about it."

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "Do it Johnny. Would love to see how long he lasts in prison."

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "He'd be Big Bubba's bitch the second he's locked up."

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "YOU FUCKING BURIED ME ALIVE YOU BASTARD, AND YOUR WOMAN IS STILL ALIVE"

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "You're right. My woman. Which I have, and you don't. You just have a bunch of random sluts who like your money more than they do you. You even admitted to betraying the only person who ever put up with your sorry ass and now he's dropped you too. Your dad probably hates the fuck out of you now for making him take the time out of his day to join your game just because you couldn't handle the heat; and you damn near just left him to die at an airport and then turned on your best dude just cuz daddy liked him more than you. If you were my kid, I can tell you I wouldn't very much appreciate any of your bullshit. So at least I have someone I can say actually fuckin' likes and cares about me. But what the fuck do you have, Akuji? And who's fuckin' fault is that?"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "FAX"

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "DAMN, Gat. You COOKED him."

BeanieBoiMendoza (Carlos) - "Forget burying him alive, Gat just cooked him alive too."

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "FUCK YOU"

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "Which is what Eesh does every night."

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "GO FUCK YOURSELF"

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "And that's what you're stuck doin'."

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "COOKED LIKE DINNER"

VoxelGurl81 (Lin) - "He's got nothing but F-bombs to say now, so tragic"

Hackey_Sack (Shaundi) - "Just leave the server before Boss gets on and bans you, Shogo. This server is only for the Saints, don't the Ronin have their own server?"

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "Unless your Pops kicked your sorry ass out of it. Which if you were my son, I would."

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "If I were your son, you would have buried your own son alive."

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "Bitch if you were my kid your ass would've been beaten to the point of bleeding before you even thought about attacking a fuckin' funeral."

Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) - "GO TO HELL."

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "Nah. I'm going to bed with Eesh when I'm done with this bullshit."

-- Cozmo_Naughty_1990 (Shogo) has been banned --

SelfRespectinBrutha (Pierce) - "About time, Boss"

UpAndMurderin (Gat) - "Could've let me mess with his bitch ass a lil more"

DaPlaya (Boss) - "It's 1 AM, Johnny. We should all get some rest."

--- Returning to Real Life ---

Shogo was sitting on the couch of his suite's main room with intense hatred on his face as he stared down at the screen of his laptop that he had on his, well, lap. Having just taken a shower, he had a fresh new robe draped over his naked body, and his hair still hadn't been fully styled back into his usual style because he had taken precious time from doing that to confront his hated adversaries. Only to come back from doing so feeling even more humiliated than from the virtual burial itself.

Aggressively closing his laptop and tossing it to his side, Shogo huffed. Standing up to go finish drying and styling his hair back into it's usual highly gelled-up spiked style with his 'iconic' dyed tips of blonde, a process which took him about an hour to get it just the way he likes it, he didn't know what he was more infuriated about as he sneered in the mirror. Looking at his reflection in the eyes, all he could think about was what those so-called Saints had done to him. In his mind, they made his father drop what he was doing for his businesses in Japan and come to help Shogo try to win his game so he wouldn't lose his virtual fantasy world, it was them that somehow caused the stock price for Poseidon's Palace as well as Tohoku Towers to dip in reality after their robbery and destruction of each in a virtual world of 3-dimensional polygons, it was them who made him betray Jyunichi. It was all them and nobody else, he thought. They were just petty, vindictive people who just couldn't leave well enough alone and couldn't handle co-existing with other factions. They made him attack the funeral, they made Ultor fire him, they ruined his life both in and outside of the game. He hated all of them, he wished he could legally make them pay for what he did. But he's not a minor anymore, he's in his 20s. In the real world, he would go to prison or perhaps even be deported back to Japan if he did any of the things he was fantasizing in his vengeful brain at the moment. He had no intention of ever going through either experience.

As such, much as it greatly pained him, he had to take a deep breath and calm himself. He took a break from angrily glaring at himself in the mirror and looked instead down at his bathroom sink as he continued contemplating.

He couldn't get Gat's words out of his head.

The sheer amount of real estate Gat now had within Shogo's mind was immense. Shogo really couldn't stop thinking about the feeling that nobody cared about him. The women he fuck just care about the money he pays them to sleep with him, the one guy who tolerated him despite all of his shortcomings has cut Shogo out of his life already, his business deals with Ultor were already starting to fall apart as the corporation sent many emails about wanting to buy-out Shogo's stock in Poseidon's Palace and he figured Dane had something to do with the hotel being blown up in-game, and to top everything off not only was his father already ashamed of him now but he shuttered at the thought of what his father thinks of him now that he's lost and will be known as the person who crashed a funeral only to get buried alive for it. The only people Gat didn't mention were his sister and nephew, but thinking of them didn't make Shogo feel any better.

For a moment, Shogo finally let down his guard, and a tear fell from his eye.

Was Gat truly right?

Was there nobody in this entire world that would actually care about him? If he really did get buried alive, would anyone mourn him? Would anyone even feel sympathy for him?

Jyunichi had already left, silently making his stance quite clear. His father hasn't spoken to him since the in-game destruction of Tohoku Towers, and the words "Do whatever you want, Shogo, just do it away from me" still make Shogo's face shift from rage to dejection. If the burial had been real, that would have been the last thing his father ever said to him. Then those women - in all honesty, he didn't exactly care about the women he slept with either; he always knew that they were just there because he paid them to be. Was that the only way he would get someone to put up with him? Paying them to spend time with him? Was he truly that unlovable?

The only people in his life Johnny didn't mention were the two members of his immediate family who didn't play the game - his sister and nephew. Even before he started playing the game, he questioned how much his sister likes him, if she does at all. Thinking about her and her son, however, only made Shogo think he needs to go to his fridge and get a beer before his growing depression overtakes him.

Well, maybe two, to also drown out the feelings from what he was told on that server.

Three would do better.

By the time the morning light was shining through the windows of his penthouse suite as he lay on his bed legs and arms both stretched out as the sunlight shined directly into his eyes causing Shogo to stir with whining irritation, there were six bottles of beer laying across the floor entirely emptied and a 7th with only a fraction of liquid left in it resting within his hand before the piercing headache of his hangover flared up with the light entering his eyes and he dropped it to the floor. To no surprise, he had completely blacked out and in the moment had little memory of what transpired the previous night.

"Jyunichi!" he called out, throwing an arm over his eyes to shield them from the light, "Get this light out of my eyes!"

There was, however, no answer. Jyunichi was still nowhere to be seen within the hotel.

"Jyunichi?!" Sitting up with both arms to his side again, Shogo realized with some thought that he did remember last night. It made his hungover head ache, but he remembers coming to the understanding that Jyunichi left him in Tohoku Towers to be alone. With a whining groan, Shogo dragged himself out of bed and into his walk-in closet. Rubbing the space between his eyes, he looked at himself in the mirror and just glared. His hair was a mess. His eyes had all the tell-tale signs of him having drunk way too much last night, being all gross, red, and puffy. He looked like shit. He probably smelled like beer too.

Much as he would love to remain in nothing but his robe and enjoy his day with his usual activities, his lingering thoughts about Jyunichi kept creeping up into his mind and encouraged him to get himself dressed, his hair fixed back up, and his ass onto the seat of his customized dragon-themed silver Kaneda bike. All of which he did in that moment; he did like the way a pair of tight leather pants felt on his lower half. He also, of course, still took the time to pop the collar of his yellow shirt before heading out of his suite, and couldn't forget the sunglasses to be worn on his forehead - that last detail was always necessary for him.

It was honestly a miracle he was able to get on his bike and drive it without crashing at all. He was still having trouble walking, let alone the fact that he had to put his sunglasses actually over his eyes, not only to hide the redness but also to mitigate what felt like a migraine when he stepped outside, exposed to the natural sunlight. Even so, he still managed to survive the initial drive out from Tohoku Towers and even made it across the bridge into Rebadeaux. He would've loved to make a stop by Tee N' Ay - his favorite strip club - but he shook his head and focused on his mission. His destination was Kanto, and his objective was to confront Jyunichi.

When he finally pulled up onto the pagoda-themed Japanese restaurant, Shogo had on his face a most disgruntled expression. He could see Jyunichi was there - his Zircon sedan was parked nearby. Stepping off his bike, Shogo marched himself right past the front door and cut past pretty much everyone in line no matter how many of those idiots complained about him. He slammed his hands down on the host's desk and hissed, "Is Jyunichi here?"

"Sir, do you have a-"

"My father owns this company, bitch!" he shouted, "I don't need a fucking reservation! So just tell me, is Jyunichi here?"

"Sir, you need a-"

"You know what, fuck you! I'm going in anyway!" and Shogo just ignored what the host was trying to tell him, pushing them aside and anyone else in front of him on his way down the stairs to the bottom level of Kanto, where he then looked around frantically for the man he once called his top lieutenant. When he finally did spot the bald, 6-foot-tall, muscular man with an entire arm coated in tattoos, even in real life, his irritated eyes erupted into a scowl.

Jyunichi was honestly just minding his own business. Shogo was the last thing on the man's mind. He still gladly worked for his father, managing this particular franchise location for the man's popular chain of Japanese restaurants, but after what transpired in-game, he had no interest in continuing to entertain the antics of Kazuo's spoiled son. In fact, in perhaps what was the greatest of ironies, Jyunichi was speaking with a pair of people known as Ji-Hoon "Johnny" Gat and his beloved Aisha.

Johnny in real life served on the Stilwater police department, with a reputation as the most badass cop on the force. The fact that, in-game, he played the polar opposite of that was just to show that he knew it was just a game and wanted to simply have some fun after his days of stressful police work. Despite being in real life, though, the man still had a build that was roughly equal to Jyunichi's, and a height to match, and as expected of him, he still represented the Saints by wearing his fine purple silk shirt.

Sitting across from him, Aisha still had her head on and was rocking her pixie cut. She was wearing a bit more purple - an amethyst-studded necklace and matching earrings, to go with the purple she had underneath her mostly beige outfit, but other than that, she was coincidentally wearing an outfit similar to her previous in-game one.

"I'm sorry to bother you both, but I just wanted to make sure you were enjoying the meal," Jyunichi said to them as he walked up to their table, giving them a respectful bow.

Gat remained silent, though Aisha spoke up:

"The food here is great, Jyunichi," she said with a polite smile, "And don't feel bad about what happened in that silly game, I don't hold any grudge over that. What happens in the game, stays in the game."

"I appreciate the thought, Mrs. Gat," Jyunichi replied with a respectful bow.

"Don't think that means I'm going easy on you if I ever run into your ass again in there though" Gat replied with a slight smirk, "I'm still itchin' for a personal rematch with you."

"I look forward to that as well," Jyunichi replied, with something of a smirk of his own. In the world of the game, the two were bitter enemies, though in reality, it was much more of a cordial rivalry. To no surprise, it was just then that Shogo had finally closed in on the three. Storming towards the man who was 6'0'' to his 5'6'' self and significantly more muscular, the smaller man aggressively shoved Jyunichi's back once he was close enough to do so. It had no effect except making Jyunichi tilt his head up in an irritated breath; the best way to describe it would be like the younger Akuji was trying to seriously move a mountain. Once he had made his presence known, even Gat and Aisha's smiles turned to annoyed frowns as Shogo started speaking.

"You fucking goddamn asshole are serious right now?!" Shogo yelled at his former lieutenant, "You're talking to them but not to me?! Where the fuck have you even been?!"

"I've been managing the restaurant I work at," Jyunichi bluntly answered, folding his arms as he turned to face Shogo, "And unless you're intending on paying for food here, I suggest you leave."

"Excuse me? You work for my father, you ungrateful bastard!" Shogo exclaimed, to which Jyunichi then interrupted before he could continue speaking:

"Yes, I work for your father. Not for you."

Gat and Aisha both couldn't help but find what Jyunichi just said to be both satisfying and entertaining.

"That motherfucker beat me and buried me alive and this is the way you treat me?! They even had their boss cut your ass to fucking pieces and you're just talking to them like you're their best fuckin' friend?!"

"That was in a game, Shogo. From what I can see, you're very much alive and unbeaten."

"Unfortunately," Gat muttered and then chuckled. Aisha gently motioned with her hand as if to suggest he don't get involved. But Shogo had heard him speak and turned his attention towards him with vindictive venom in his voice;

"Oh fucking bite me you piece of shit!"

Gat, not one to take shit lying or in this case sitting down, just plainly said "Excuse me?" more than ready to stand up and give Shogo a taste of police brutality. However, Jyunichi stood between them and plainly said to Shogo in a professional tone, though only faintly hiding his annoyance with the younger man:

"Please leave, Shogo."

"After all I've fucking done for you, this is how you repay me?!"

"After all you've done?" Jyunichi asked, "All you've done in both the game you obsess over and in real life is have me do your work for you despite knowing I have a job to do here, and on top of that, I was made aware of your betrayal of me. Out of respect for your father, I will refrain from physical aggression upon you, but I again highly suggest you leave or I will allow Officer Gat to escort you out of here."

"And I just might take you to the cemetery rather than the station," Gat interjected, "Just puttin' that out there."

Shogo glared at both Jyunichi and Gat, his face still red with rage. His lips were still contorted in a furious pout. He wanted so badly to fight both of them right there in that moment, but he wasn't drunk or high enough to think he could seriously take on both of them at once. They could probably play volleyball with Shogo's 5'6'' body from separate ends of the restaurant if they wanted to. Still, he stood there glaring at Jyunichi from behind his sunglasses for long enough that the larger man once again said:

"Go home, Shogo."

Huffing and puffing with outraged breaths, Shogo furiously turned around. He purposely slapped a tray of sushi that was being carried by one of the waiters to the floor on his way out, just about the only thing he could do to get back at Jyunichi without being thoroughly manhandled. Jyunichi shook his head at the 22-year-old's behavior being so much more like that of a 12-year-old. He turned back to Gat and Aisha before apologizing to them, "I'm sorry you had to witness that."

"Oh, I don't mind," Gat remarked with a chuckle, "I thought it was kinda hilarious."

"Johnny" Aisha replied, looking at him with a 'seriously?' look, "To be fair, you were pretty brutal with him in the game. Even if he is an annoying little shit."

"Eesh, if you died and he or anyone did that bullshit in real life, I'm not gonna just let them walk away. Hell if our kids did some stupid shit like that I'd have half a mind to help the guy buryin' their asses."

"I know, and I appreciate that very much, it's good to know that I've got you in my life" she said with a genuinely warm smile, gently brushing Johnny's hand with her own as she looked at him with the greatest of appreciations, "Now, since the show's over, think we can finish our dinner?"

"Gladly, Eesh."

Jyunichi again politely bowed to them before walking over to assist in the clean-up of the mess Shogo had made on the floor.

As for Shogo himself, he stormed out of Kanto, pushing anyone and everyone out of his way in a fury. He wasn't even sure he knew what it was he hoped to accomplish in there, but it certainly didn't happen. When he finally got back outside, the only thing certain was that he wasn't drunk enough. He needed booze, and frankly, he needed some nudity too. Getting back on his bike, rather than going home he decided to just make a stop at Tee 'N Ay to get some much needed - well, Tits and Ass. As well as lots of beer. Not the smartest thing in the world to do, but Shogo had already sacrificed plenty of his brain cells to alcohol by this point in his life. Besides all of that, he was 22 goddamn years old and could do whatever he wanted - it's not long there was anyone who gave a shit about him anyway.

Pulling up to the club's parking lot, his mood got the better of him and he came in fast enough that his bike slammed right into the wheel stop hard enough that he was jolted off of it and onto the ground, with his bike itself falling over onto it's side. Seeing how he wasn't wearing any protective gear at all, he was fortunate that he hadn't been propelled far enough to cause serious damage, though faceplanting onto the heated pavement in front of a strip club when you're only hungover and not drunk was humiliating enough. He still ended up with his pants torn, exposing his left knee, which was scratched badly to the point of bleeding, and not to mention sore. He had also gained some scrapes on the smooth skin of his face as well; worst of all, his sunglasses had flown clean off his head.

Feeling the pain shoot all across his body, all Shogo could muster the energy to do was let out a defeated, exhausted, whining groan.

He kept his eyes closed.

He honestly didn't want to get up.

Oh god, "Get Up"....

He could still hear those words repeating in his mind as if they had all been real.

He had just wanted to play the game in VR for the tits and ass. He never thought that decision would lead him to a moment such as this.

Then, suddenly, he felt a jolt on one of his arms, the unmistakable grip of someone stronger than him. Forcibly pulling him off the pavement and onto his feet. This also brought back memories of his virtual demise, he couldn't help but emit panicked cries, "No! What are you doing?! Let me go!"

"Relax", the voice of the person pulling him back up onto his feet, "We're nowhere near an open grave."

That voice made his eyes widen. With a mix of fear and rage, Shogo turned to see it was nothing other than the so-called 'Boss', current leader of the Third Street Saints and the person who had digitally dragged him to get beaten and buried by Gat who was now yet again the one grabbing his arm to pull him back up to his feet. As if he had some form of post-traumatic stress disorder, Shogo started shaking before pulling away violently from the Boss' grip - shouting "I said let go of me!" in a very panicked and almost feminine shriek, only for the pain of his scraped and bleeding knee to get the better of him and with another whimper he fell backwards onto his own tipped over Kaneda and from there rolled rack back onto the parking lot pavement.

The Boss couldn't help but smirk and allow hushed chuckles to escape his voice. In all honesty, he should utterly despise Shogo, the character he plays in the game certainly does. But the real-life one? At this moment, he's being almost too pathetic to waste time or energy on viscerally hating. The Boss wouldn't say he necessarily feels sorry for him, he is taking way too personally events that were nothing more than a collection of 3D polygons in a digitized simulation of the city they live in. Even Gat was able to turn off his blood rage over Aisha's in-game death when he shut his monitor off and inevitably was greeted by her in his bed, but of course, he was one to stay true to his persona whenever he came back online. The Boss still remembers Shogo's little 1:00 AM tantrum from earlier, but he found that incident more amusing than anything else. He knew Shogo was no serious threat in real life. However, if someone didn't step in, the dude was just gonna be lying there forever taking up what could be someone else's parking space. At least until he gets forcibly dragged away by cops, anyway.

Plus Gat was out on a date with Aisha and all the other Saints had work to do. He honestly had not much better to do.

"Dude, are you seriously that scared of me?" he remarked, having noticed how shaken up Shogo seemed by his mere presence, and he couldn't help but smirk somewhat impressed by how he lived in this younger man's head without any rent due, "It was just a fuckin' game."

"Please, leave me alone," Shogo said, his head pressed on it's side against the heated pavement, but his eyes were purposely trying to avoid contact with the Boss's face. Instead, he was looking at the traffic driving all around them. "I have nothing to say to you."

"So you're just gonna lie down in the parking lot of a strip club like some loser?"

"Why do you fucking care?"

"I don't" the Boss admitted, "You can live your life however the fuck you want, but I'm just saying it's kinda fuckin' pathetic."

"Just leave me alone. Haven't you and your friends done enough to me already?"

"Jesus Christ you're taking that game more seriously than Angelo fuckin' Lopez did. Granted, that guy was probably more mad it was how he found out his girl was cheating on him, but still. You still have your life and your stupid hotel, the fuck are you so shaken up about?"

"Look, I know you don't give a shit. Just don't even talk to me. I have nothing to say to you, I hate you about as much as I hate Gat, and I will ge-stand up when I damn well want to!"

"Damn" the Boss laughed again, "You can't even say the phrase 'Get Up'? Gat must own more real estate up there than you've got brain cells."

"I said shut up!" Shogo exclaimed back, this time finally trying to look back at the Boss. He then felt his head finally really sting with pain again, and with a whine Shogo protested "Look, I'm seriously hung the fuck over right now, all I wanted was to come here get some beer and see some tits. But if you're here, I'm going to some other strip club."

"So you're getting more drunk while you already have a hangover?"

"I'm 20-fucking-2 years old, I live my life however the fuck I want!" Shogo yelled, even though his voice made his headache flare up again, but at least he pulled himself into a sitting position so his face wasn't pressed against the burning pavement in the head of the sun, though even moving the leg that took the brunt of the fall made him hiss with the pain, and by this point the blood had made it down to the socks he was wearing.

The Boss whistled after getting a good look at that ankle.

"I think you should go home and patch that shit up", he said.

"Bite me, fucker" Shogo sneered at him in response.

"Not a vampire, so pass."

Shogo rolled his eyes at the comment, and then he really looked to his side and fully realized his bike was tipped over on its side, letting out another whine, he exclaimed, "My bike!"

Forcing himself to stand up, Shogo tried desperately to pull his Kaneda back up. The Boss just stood by with a slight lean, finding the sight amusing. Shogo was about as physically strong in real life as he was in the game, because he struggled quite a lot in getting his motorcycle back up onto it's wheels - even using both hands on the opposite side of it he could only get it to nudge up and then back down. "Fucking hell why is this shit so heavy" he grunted, which to be fair the Kaneda was a pretty large motorcycle compared to other models but still from the Boss' perspective he just couldn't help but remember how little of a fight this man put up against Gat in the game and yet he's expecting to lift an entire motorcycle with those hands.

With a sigh and a shaking of his head, the Boss decided he'd had enough entertainment for now and went over to the Akuji.

"Let me do it" he said, using his much stronger hands to move Shogo with ease off to the side.

"No!" Shogo yelled, "You're not stealing my fucking bike!"

"I'm not stealing it, I'm helping you stand it back up, dumbass. This is just getting sad at this point."

"I can do it myself!"

"Yeah maybe after about 5 hours."

"Fuck you!" Shogo hissed.

"You think I don't know that even if you do get this thing back up right you'll probably fall over with it on top of your stupid ass?"

"Fuck. You."

"You know I could be enjoying the inside of that strip club right now instead of trying to help your sorry ass."

"Then why the fuck aren't you? It's what I'd be doing."

"And you wonder why you have no friends," the Boss uttered sarcastically, to which Shogo glared at him for saying. Before Shogo could continue running his mouth, the Boss continued with a very blunt statement "Look, I'm just trying to be nice to you because it was pretty harsh how you went, but if you're still gonna work to make me think you deserved it I'm gonna just go enjoy my day and let you continue looking like a pathetic bitch to everyone walking on the sidewalk around us."

Though he still hesitated, Shogo shook his head as he finally admitted defeat. Folding his arms and looking away as his ass remained on the sun-drenched pavement of a strip club parking lot, he said in a tired tone "Fine. You can help me."

Not the most appreciative wording, but the Boss knew that was all he was gonna get from the spoiled manchild. He proceeded to put his muscles into getting the Kaneda bike back up, and to little surprise, had a much easier job doing so than Shogo had. Once the bike was back up on it's wheels, the Boss turned to Shogo and spoke plainly, "There. Now are we even for the burial?"

"Hell fucking no!" Shogo shouted as he used his bike as support to stand back up, "Not in a million fucking years!"

"A'ight" the Boss once again replied with a smirk, "Be like that."

"I will!"

Shogo then proceeded to sit up on his bike, but was unamused when he saw that it had some minor damage. The headlight was cracked, the mirror of the side that full to the pavement had snapped off, and there was also some minor dents & scratches to that side. Shogo grimaced as he again looked back at the Boss. "It's damaged," he said, almost as if he expected the Boss to care.

"And that's my fault, how?" - unsurprisingly, the Boss did not care.

Shogo, finally lacking a comeback to the Boss' words, just glared at him with that pouting face he's been making virtually all day. This was the first time he got a decent, focused look at the man who, in-game, had assisted in his traumatizing demise. He was honestly a bit surprise this man didn't have a bitch of his own at home and felt the need to go to strip clubs in the first place, given he had a rather handsome and clean-shaven face. He was certainly older than Shogo, though the Ronin ex-leader didn't really know by how much, and he had larger and stronger muscles than Shogo, too. His skin was that of a certain natural, 'olive' tan that was better than anything Shogo got at the tanning salon, and paired well with his feathered raven black hair, which was in a styling that somewhat reminded Shogo of Dane Vogel - in a positive way. Unsurprisingly, the man wore a lot of purple even in real life: his naked appearance was masked by a white undershirt with a purple scorpion logo on it, baggy black canvas pants and an open purple dress shirt with its sleeves covering most of his arms. Also, at least two golden necklaces, with the smaller one sporting an Ankh medallion. Shogo was silently considering giving this man a bit of fashion advice, though he didn't want to admit his real reasons for the consideration.

He also could swear this man seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't remember where he could have possibly seen him before. Shaking that thought out of his head, after all of that time spent silently looking the Boss up and down, he simply asked, "So like, do you have an actual name or is your name Boss?"

"Ha" the Boss laughed, that being a question he gets a lot from people. "My close friends call me Tep," he casually revealed, before doing a firm reminder that he and the young Akuji are not on friend status; "But to you, it's just Tepio."

"Tepio?" Shogo answered with a raised eyebrow, "What kind of fuckin' name is that?"

"It's Egyptian."

"So you're Arab?"

"No, I'm Egyptian", 'Sam' reiterated, that question being something he also had to constantly correct people on; "Coptic, specifically."

"Hmph" Shogo huffed, "Whatever. I'm going back to my suite."

"Oh so you're taking my advice?"

Shogo gave 'Sam' the middle finger before revving up the engine on his Kaneda and taking his leave from the parking lot. He didn't even seem to remember that he no longer had his sunglasses as he took off for the bridge heading back downtown, which was just a straight road and a right turn away. After that was the bridge, another right turn, and then pretty much a straight shot before he finally had Tohoku Towers back in his view. He did pick a great spot for the place, having it be such a short drive away from the biggest and fanciest strip club + cabaret in town; and also, Kanto was pretty nice, he supposed, until Jyunichi had to go and ruin it for him earlier. He couldn't let himself start thinking of Jyunichi, though or else he would probably start having an aneurysm.

Since Tohoku Towers didn't have any parking lot attached to itself, just a side directly adjacent to the street and then on the other side a fancy plaza with more fountains than was honestly necessary, Shogo had to either park his motorcycle in a lot on the other side of a street and then cross or do what he ultimately chose to do and just stubbornly drive his back up thew steps and right up to the front door that overlooked the plaza. He wasn't in a very patient mood. Once he was at the top of the steps, the final bump yet again sent him falling off the bike and face-planting on the cement of the plaza while his bike sped off until it slammed into the railing of one of the fountains.

This time, he ended up with a nosebleed.

"Mr. Akuji!" a voice called just shortly after Shogo hit the ground with his face for the second time today. This time it was one of the people who worked the door at the hotel. A man of Japanese ancestry who served a role Shogo could never remember, likely a valet or bellhop. He never even remembered the man's name; he was just some nicely dressed Asian man. "Are you alright?" the employee said again as he tried to help Shogo back up onto his feet, though Shogo again pulled away from his helpful hand and touched his nose. There was a lot of blood on his fingers afterwards.

"Fucking shit!" Shogo slapped the air with his bloodstained hand, before putting it back up to his nose after feeling the blood dripping over his lips, down his chin, and no doubt from there onto the ground or his shirt.

"Don't worry, Mr. Akuji, I'll give you a napkin right away!" the hotel worker said in a worried tone, likely the only person today to be intimidated by Shogo's anger.

"Don't fucking bother!" Shogo replied in a slightly muffled, though exceedingly angry tone as he tried to keep his nose closed with one of his hands, "Just get someone to fix up my bike!"

"Of course, Mr. Akuji!" the employee responded with a respectful bow as Shogo proceeded to walk with a sore limp towards the front door. Looking at himself in the reflection of the glass once he got up to it, well he certainly wasn't amused by what he was seeing. Besides the bloodied nose he was futilely trying to hold closed with a hand, he had now several other scrapes and bruises across his body, with that exposed and particularly bloody one on his knee. His yellow shirt was starting to get stained with drips of his blood, with a trail of red dots following him from the 'impact' sight. Even his eyes still retained their red, irritated, and puffy nature from the fact that he was still very much hungover while doing all of this. Just looking at himself in the reflection made him feel a migraine kicking in.

Closing his eyes and sighing, he turned back towards that employee whose name he never cared to know and said, "Second thought, get me that napkin first. Then the bike. I don't want to get blood all over the floor of my suite."

When Shogo finally reached the top floor of his hotel via elevator, he did indeed have a white, though increasingly blood-stained, napkin held up to his nose as he tried to keep his head lifted up towards the ceiling as much as he could for the bleeding to be quelled. He still walked with a slight limp despite how much the wound on his knee hurt, but he had to deal with that pain to get to what he wanted - just get back to his suite and finally relax. Also, probably get some ointment and bandages on that knee.

Just when he thought he was finally going to get some quiet to send this day off with, though, he heard a very familiar ruckus coming from behind the door of his suite.

The closer he got, the noisier things were. Obnoxiously loud shooting and explosions that just barely masked a lot of obscene and offensive language being shouted in fluent Japanese. A lot of words and sentences that are better left to the imagination, though from what Shogo could tell, a lot of it had to do with obscure Asian ethnic groups and Jewish people. Also, a lot of use of the "O-word". Shogo knew exactly what the situation was before he was even at his door, and it didn't make his day any better. The television was loud enough that the people on the floor below his suite could probably hear everything, and Shogo's headache was getting worse the closer he stood to the suite's door; the suite, using Japanese fusuma doors, didn't make things any better.

Was attacking a virtual funeral for a woman who's not even dead in real life really that horrible?

Did he deserve this?

Was it all real, and this was just his personal Hell?

Perhaps suffocating to death inside a coffin wouldn't be so bad?

He could ask as many internal questions as he wanted, but nothing would change the fact that he had to open that door and face whatever was on the other side.

Once that door was opened, there was no going back. Sure enough, the little shit was there.

Shuya Akuji. Kazuo Akuji's grandson, son of Kazuo's daughter Mitsuko and therefore Shogo's nephew. At 14 years old, to become 15 on the upcoming November 27th, Shuya had largely caught up to his uncle at 5'4'' to Shogo's 5'6''. Shogo dreaded the kid's next growth spurt, should it come, because the idea of being shorter than his own teenage nephew was not something he looked forward to; he already had enough irritation with having to confirm his age to people.

The kid was what you'd probably expect an Asian kid of his age to look like - he was skinny, had that youthful and hairless baby face, and had a scalp of thick black hair in that popular side-swept fringe style. Like his uncle and most other Ronin associates, he still for whatever reason had yellow as a prominent staple of his clothing even despite him not actually ever playing the MMORPG everyone was to ecstatic over; in Shuya's case his current outfit was a basic long-sleeved undershirt beneath a black short-sleeved shirt - a decal of a popular three-headed dragon and Japanese Kanji on he chest. The rest was just a basic pair of baggy jeans and yellow-black canvas shoes.

As for what he was doing, well, that has already been made clear. Seated on the couch of the suite's main room with an entire PlayStation 3 set up, the kid's eyes were completely fixated on the shooter game he was playing and his mouth on saying obscene and unmentionable things both with and towards his online friends. Shogo would never say he outright hates his family, but ever since he became a teenager, Shuya has been pushing his limits. The volume on the game was so loud that Shogo, for a moment actually could've been fooled into thinking that his hotel suite was a literal war zone with assault rifle shots and grenade explosions going off all over the place, had it not been for the annoying Japanese kid shouting exclusively in edginess.

Already having enough of a headache from being hungover alone, Shogo was one hundred percent not about to deal with this nonsense. Shogo just marched over and unplugged the console from the wall-mounted television. The loud noise of the game immediately switched off, though not so much Shuya's mouth.

"Nani shi teru nda yo kono yarō?!" (What the fuck you bastard?!) the teenager shouted, standing up with arms outstretched as he furiously glared at Shogo, "Onrain matchi no massaichūdatta nda yo, kono homo yarō!" (I was in the middle of an online match, you [redacted]!)

"Hey!" Shogo shouted right back having understood every word, and looking his nephew right in the eyes he did not hide his annoyance, "Watch your fuckin' mouth with me, you little shit! And Speak English!"

"Omae mitaina kuso yarō no meirei wa ukenai" (I don't take orders from a bitch ass loser like you) Shuya remarked, with an arrogant and outright defiant smirk on his face as he watched his uncle's expression only become even angrier and his face more red. Shogo was unable to comprehend he was only giving Shuya exactly what he wanted, the more he responded to his disrespect with only more shouting.

"Omae wa ore no yane no shita ni iru ndakara, ore no iu koto o kiku nda!" (You're under my goddamn roof, you do what I goddamn tell you!) Shogo yelled back at him, this time in Japanese as well.

"Eigo de hanashite hoshī to osshatte ita no ni, ima wa nihongo de hanasa rete imasu ne. Ojisan, dochira de hanashitai nodesu ka?" (You wanted me to speak English, yet you are now speaking Japanese. Which do you wish to speak, Uncle?) Shuya folded his arms with that smug grin still plastered almost from ear to ear.

If Shogo didn't need one hand to hold the napkin to his bloody nose, he would be pinching the space between his eyes at the moment.

"Look" he said in English, "Just tell me where your mother is so I can send your ass back to Japan."

"Wakaranai yo, kanojo wa koko de boku o oroshita dakena nda. Moshi kimi ga bokobokoni sa rete inakereba, kanojo no rimujin ni oitsukeru kamo shirenai." (I don't know, she just dropped me off here. Maybe if you didn't get your ass kicked you would be able to catch up to her limo)

"Of course," Shogo muttered, "She's probably halfway to some club or the casino by now. Fuck. Why are you and she even here?"

"Kanojo wa kareshi to issho ni itakatta nda. Mō 20-mon mo shitsumon suru no o yamete, gēmu ni modoreru ka na?" (She wanted to be with her boyfriend. Now, can you stop asking me 20 questions so I can go back to my games?)

"Boyfriend? She'll be in the retail district then," Shogo reasoned, to which Shuya just rolled his eyes in annoyance, though before he could walk past his uncle to plug the PlayStation back in, Shogo held an arm out to stop him. "Nuh-uh. I am hungover like a motherfucker, I got a bloody nose, and I need to put some shit on my knee before it gets infected or something. You're gonna sit there, be quiet, and respect me."

"Tsumari, anata ga jibun o nagura reru awarena haishadearu tame ni, watashi ga basse rarete iru nodesu ka?" (So I'm being punished for you being a pathetic loser who gets himself beaten up?)

"No, you're being punished for being an annoying little shit who can't shut the fuck up!" Shogo replied, "Now sit the fuck down and read a Manga or something, I don't care!"; he then made another mistake, "And I didn't get beaten up, I fell off my bike. Twice."

The reveal only made Shuya start laughing, and only then did Shogo realize the mistake he'd made. All he'd just given was more ammunition to an already attitude-infected kid.

"Sore de unten no shikata o wasureta no? Hontōni chiteki shōgai-sha janai no?" (So you forgot how to drive? Are you sure you're not mentally disabled?) Shuya uttered, hardly even trying to contain his laughter.

"Iya, watashi wa shōgai-sha janai yo, baka!!" (No, I'm not disabled you dumbass!) Shogo was once again angry enough to speak in Japanese, but with a breathe he recomposed himself and returned to English, "Now seriously, sit down, shut up, and let me get comfortable before you continue being a jackass."

Shuya didn't say anything in response, and to his credit, did sit down as his uncle had directed. The kid didn't stop smirking, though. Shogo glared at him suspiciously, but once he had spent a long enough time sitting down and being quit, he did begin limping over towards his bedroom door, hoping to get to his bathroom where he would be able to take a much-needed aspirin and put some ointment on that scraped-up knee. Not to mention a change of clothes, and after all that, 'Call Mitsuko' was at the top of his To-Do List.

However, not more than a minute or so after Shogo had slammed his bedroom's fusuma door shut, could he hear the sound of the television spring back to life, and within mere seconds, whatever shooter game it was that Shuya had been playing followed suit. Tilting his head upwards towards the ceiling and shaking it with irritation, Shogo could only ask what he did to deserve this much misery in a single day.

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