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ivushk · 2 years

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A/N: For the Kamurocho Life zine! A companion piece to my other one, since I wanted to write some Nishiki/Kiryu. It’s taking place in that fun space between Yakuza 0 and 1, since I have just started 1 and screaming what the hell happened you two.

…

Despite the laid-back way he acted, there were few places where Nishikiyama actually could relax. Serena’s bar was one of them. It was hard not to when he held a glass of amber scotch, soft jazz playing in the background, the lights more warm than bright. With Reina’s gentle company, his favourite spot was right at the bar.

His second was on the couches, Kiryu by his side as they drank the night away. Now that they’d finally left their troubles behind them, they could do this again. Nishikiyama hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed their nights out until they’d all but disappeared from his life. How much he’d needed him until that rainy day, a cold gun in his hand and his heart in his throat.

But that was then, and this was now. And these days, Kiryu’s gruff laughter filled Serena long after the bar closed and the last customer stumbled out.

Well, maybe not today. No, today Kiryu sighed into his drink, his shoulders sinking until it was a miracle he was sitting up at all. It was the tenth sigh in as many minutes and Nishikiyama was tired of it. “What happened?”

Kiryu looked up balefully and sighed. His fingers curled tightly around his glass. “I…I have a problem.”

“You have many.” Over the rim of his cup, he eyed Kiryu’s grey suit distastefully. After all that effort Nishikiyama had put in to give him even the faintest sense of style, he had to throw it all away on a whim. Kiryu was an idiot.

Unfortunately, so was Nishikiyama or he’d have left his sorry ass years ago.

“I don’t have that many.” Kiryu frowned. Crossing his arms, he mulled it over, his expression serious. “I’m not doing that badly now.”

“Says the person staying on a sinking ship.” Nishikiyama sighed. Swirling his glass once, he gulped it down. If he had to deal with Kiryu’s latest mess, he needed the buzz. “Who is it this time?”

Kiryu froze. Scratching his chin, he looked away and stiffly lied, “Who is what?”

“How are you in the yakuza?” Nishikiyama groaned. There had to be a god watching over Kiryu, because there was no way he’d have survived this long otherwise. Poking his arm, he demanded, “Out with it. Who do you have to help now?”

“I…I…” Kiryu hung his head. “There was this nice lady—”

“They’re always nice.” Nishikiyama rolled his eyes.

“—and she needed someone to write an article for her paper or she’d go bankrupt—”

He snorted. “If she needs your help, she will.”

“—and I said I’d do it.” Kiryu rubbed his neck, looking sheepish. “It can’t be that hard, right?”

“You’ve been sighing over it for half an hour.” Nishikiyama shook his head. “So, what’s it about?”

If possible, he looked even more sheepish, his ears turning a bright red. He mumbled something unintelligible.

Nishikiyama growled, “What?”

“A romantic article,” Kiryu repeated awkwardly. “Best places to date in Kamurocho.”

His jaw dropped. “You? She wants you to write about dating?”

“Hey, it’s not like I can’t do it.” Squaring his shoulders, Kiryu glared. If it weren’t for the still full glass in his hands, it would have been believable. “I know what I’m doing.”

“You’ve told me about your ‘dates’.” Nishikiyama snorted, not sure if he should be impressed or despair over his friend’s bravado. Not only wasn’t Kiryu a lady killer, Nishikiyama couldn’t even remember the last time Kiryu had even managed an actual date.

Kiryu’s glare grew deeper before he sighed and hung his head again. “Yeah.”

An annoying part of him twisted at the sight of that. He’d never been able to handle a depressed Kiryu. Nishikiyama stared at his empty glass. God, he needed another drink. Maybe two. “I’ll help.”

Immediately, Kiryu perked up, his eyes hopeful. “You will?”

If it was annoying seeing Kiryu sad, seeing him happy was even worse. Nishikiyama’s neck was warm. Reina must have given them a stronger bottle than usual. “Yeah, sure.” He busied himself with pouring himself another glass. “It can’t be that hard. I’ve been on more dates than you.”

Kiryu frowned. “Right.” He paused a beat, glaring at the table. Before Nishikiyama could ask, he shook himself out of it and grabbed one of the napkins. Ever since his job at the real estate company, he carried around a pen with him everywhere, and today was no exception. Kiryu looked up eagerly, his pen hovering above the napkin. “Where?”

“Huh? Right now?” He should have expected that. Kiryu wasn’t known for his patience; Nishikiyama could count with a single hand the times Kiryu had actually waited for something. Groaning, he ran a hand through his hair and dug through his memories. “Uh…the Maharaja.”

Kiryu shuddered. “That place…”

Nishikiyama raised a brow. “What? Did something happen there?” Despite hearing most of Kiryu’s escapades, there were always something new to hear.

“I…danced…a lot.” Kiryu dragged out the sentence as though he was a kid, trying to get out of a mess. When Nishikiyama didn’t say anything, he reluctantly added, “There’s some extreme dancers in there who wanted dance battles.”

He snorted. “Since when were you a good dancer?”

“I’m not bad!” Kiryu protested, his expression turning sour. His jaw jutted out defiantly as he added, “I even beat the top dancer in Kamurocho.”

“Sure you did.” Nishikiyama shook his head. A swelled head after everything they’d been through was one thing, but over dancing of all things? “For the rest of us, it’s a good date spot.”

“I even beat the guy from Osaka,” he grumbled as he scribbled on the napkin. After a second, he perked up; he had always bounced back quickly. “The park.”

“With all of those tents?” Nishikiyama rolled his eyes. If it weren’t for that telephone club, he was certain no girl would have spent even five minutes with the big lug. “It doesn’t scream romantic.”

“It’s not that bad. Some real nice guys there.” Kiryu scratched his chin, pondering of the city. “What about the game center?”

“That…actually sounds normal.” Resisting the urge to pinch himself, Nishikiyama gave him a thumbs up. “Yeah, girls will like it.”

Kiryu puffed his chest and took a sip of his drink, sounding far more confident than he had any right to be. “See, told you I could pick at least one place.”

“You know one is the bare minimum,” he muttered dryly.

“The racing games there are amazing.” He stuck out his tongue as he turned the napkin over, scrawling on the back. “You gotta try it. I got the best score.”

Despite himself, Nishikiyama asked, “When did you find the time for that?”

“When I was just setting up the real estate company. There’s this really good racing game there. The lady—” Kiryu flushed, remembering something. Clearing his throat, he quickly added, “It’s a good game.”

There was clearly a story there. He leaned closer, smirking. “The lady?”

Kiryu looked away determinedly. “We need more places.”

“What did you do with the lady?” Nishikiyama teased. He’d never been able to let things go.

Kiryu squared his shoulders and growled, “The docks.”

That wasn’t the answer he’d expected. “You took her there?”

“No.” He paused, then rubbed his neck sheepishly. “Look, nothing happened with her!”

Well, obviously not. Nishikiyama would have been the first to hear if Kiryu had actually managed to land a girl. “Then why bring up the docks?”

“For the list.” Kiryu waved the napkin insistently. “The next spot.”

“There?” Nishikiyama wrinkled his nose automatically. The few times he’d gone there for business had been terrible, the stench of fish and garbage overwhelming. “No girl wants to go there, even for the sunset.”

“You’d go there, right? Remember when we went fishing?” Kiryu grinned as he looked up. He held his hands two feet apart. “And you caught that huge carp?”

“Oh.” He’d almost forgotten about it. Kiryu had nagged him that day till he’d come. The smell had bugged him the entire time, but oddly enough it hadn’t spoiled the day. “I guess it has its uses.”

“You’re just jealous I caught more fish than you.” Kiryu hummed, in a good mood now as he wrote it down. “I know a guy who’ll cut it up for us.”

“That…” Nishikiyama bit his cheek, trying to remember. “That restaurant guy, right?”

“Sushi chef. He’s real good.” Their knees bumped as Kiryu leaned closer and Nishikiyama ignored the pleasant spark that ran up his spine. “We should go again. I’ll treat you.”

He laughed. “Is it really treating if the other guy’s doing all the work?”

“Hey, I had to do a lot for him,” Kiryu retorted, leaning a little closer as he added another note to the napkin. “I’m sure couples’ll like it there.”

“It sounds pricy.” Their arms brushed and his mouth grew dry. Across the room, Reina quietly cleaned her bar, a smile on her lips as she listened to them. Nishikiyama didn’t want to ask her what she thought. He could already hear her husky voice, her teasing response. He had a feeling once he heard it, he couldn’t unhear it. Picking up his glass, he gulped it down, but his mouth didn’t feel any wetter. “Might as well send them here then.”

Kiryu shook his head, immediately dismissing the idea. “Nah, this spot’s just for us. Don’t want them to invade it.”

He felt warm. It was probably the alcohol. Just like it was the drink’s fault he was sitting closer, that Kiryu was leaning on him as he started writing about that stupid car racing game.

A spot just for them.

Nishikiyama liked the sound of it more than he wanted to admit.

#😭😭😭😭😭

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