judgementkazzy | inbox//recolle;

Ok, sure, lets do that.

[ yeah kiryu mentioned something about how smoking was bad for you to mafuyu but honestly the amount majima cares for himself is alarmingly small. it'll be better on the porch, he won't make kiryu's place smell bad that way.

they head out to the little porch/patio and he waits to light up when they get out there, making sure to take the seat that's downwind from kiryu. at least he's thoughtful about it. ]

You got any memories of some dude in a white suit?

[ aka that white suit fucker aka who the fuck is that guy tho aka this guy is probably gonna be a boss fight ]

[ Majima's so thoughtful, see, there's a reason Kiryu loves you, dude. ]

No, not really. [ Maybe one day he'll remember he wore white, but not day. ] I remembered my old boss... the guy in charge of Tachibana Real Estate. But he wore black.

Hmm, okay.

[ he figures it was kind of a shot in the dark anyway, with the way the two of them seem to be remembering things out of order. ]

I'm pretty sure white suit guy's the one I got your business card from.

Oh. What was he like?

[ A man in a white suit... maybe it'll jog his memory. ]

[ there's no good way to prepare kiryu for the content here, but at least kiryu already knew he'd been arrested. already understood that whatever had happened, before, it had been pretty shady.

he can't prepare kiryu for something that he so obviously wasn't prepared to handle, either. but they're in this together, for better or worse. he hopes whatever their lives were before doesn't change that. (it certainly hadn't back then, judging by the you're all i have left comment.) ]

He handed me a gun and told me to shoot him if I didn't trust him.

Woah.

[ There really isn't any way to prep someone for that. But then, Kiryu knows Majima was probably a criminal, and even if Kiryu himself had only been a shady real estate agent, he'd gotten arrested and knew guys like Majima. He's not entirely committed to the idea of being a law abiding citizen, especially considering his tattoo might be... one of those. ]

That's really hardcore.

[ Obviously. But he follows it up. He's been doing some research since Makoto told him what his tattoo might be about. ]

That sounds really... yakuza.

Yakuza ...?

[ majima's brow furrows. he doesn't really know what that means. i mean, he knows what the word means, more or less. he knows that it's mafia stuff. he doesn't know why kiryu would assume it applies to them. ]

Why?

I looked it up. The yakuza are really big on honor-- they're supposed to cut their fingers off if they mess up or kill themselves if they betray their clan.

[ That's the part that sounds pretty scary, honestly. It had sounded cool at first, but the more Kiryu researched, the more it worried him. It hadn't seemed likely before, but now? ]

My tattoo. [ Kiryu points toward his back. Not like anyone could forget his tattoo once they've seen it. ] Makoto said... that my tattoo looked a lot the ones the yakuza get in Japan. I remembered a lot about the technique, about how they're supposed to be really important, not just what you get done but where and how you take care of it.

The only people who would care this much about tattoos in Japan, who would do something like that... it's the yakuza.

They start with the pinky.

[ the way he says it is so automatic - a fact a simple as the sky being blue. he'd remembered it chatting with chloe about jim and retrospec. remembered that the organization he'd been with had been like that. it makes sense with the pieces kiryu gives him, too. kiryu's probably right.

majima sighs. it's a lot to think about and he's not quite sure what to say about it. there's still more he needs to say about White Suit Guy, but it's better not doing it all at once. better to have a conversation. ]

Hope my ink's as dope as yours.

[ Kiryu raises an eyebrow at Majima's comment. It's true they started with the pinky, but he hadn't mentioned that. Majima must have remembered... which of course means it must be true. There's really no doubt anymore.

It's a lot to take in, honestly. Kiryu doesn't have a problem thinking of himself as being a former criminal-- he remembered getting arrested and that didn't change anything. Maybe he retired and went into the Real Estate business? Or maybe he did real estate first? Who knows. One thing's for sure, and that is that he and Majima are definitely in this together.

It's a relief, honestly. Enough to make Kiryu smirk the tiniest bit. ]

Mine is a dragon, maybe you'll get a tiger.

Dragon suits you, though. Tigers are like...

[ he takes a moment to try and come up with things a tiger is like. ]

I don't think I'm much of a tiger.

That's true. If you were a tiger then I'd have no problem beating you.

[ He smirks. Is that a joke? Yes, actually. ]

You and yer damn tigers.

[ he laughs, but it's a little humorlessly - he's still got too much on his mind. he's quiet for a long moment, trying to collect his thoughts before he continues. figure out the best way to phrase it. ]

The guy in the white suit...he told me your card was in his pocket. And I could take it off his corpse.

[ i mean, sera hadn't precisely said it was kiryu's but how many real estate agents were that important to him??? ]

[ Kiryu listens honestly to what Majima says. He's always been a bit of a hopeless optimist. Of course he doesn't believe Majima could have killed him. He pauses, considering their options. Maybe they'd fought and he'd changed his mind. Maybe something else happened entirely.

Majima couldn't have killed him. Right? ]

Do you remember what happened after that?

Edited 2017-06-16 00:57 (UTC)

[ majima shakes his head. if only he had as much confidence in himself and kiryu does. ]

No. But we both know I ended up with your card.

[ Kiryu believes in Majima, that's all there is to it. ]

Something else must have happened.

[ He nods. If Majima doesn't remember the rest, then it's just as likely that he didn't kill him. ]

Do you think you could have killed him?

[ majima closes his eyes, takes a lot drag of his cigarette. ]

My brother killed someone here, you know. Where things are normal. Where we aren't neck deep in gang drama. If he could do that here, then, why wouldn't I be capable of that? Especially if I was part of a gang as intense as the yakuza.

[ Kiryu doesn't look away. He knows there's logic to what Majima's saying, but also... ]

That's your brother. [ It's a sensitive subject, he knows that. ] You told me what my dad did doesn't change who I am.

[ Kiryu doesn't care if Majima's brother is a killer or not, basically. It's scary, and the yakuza aren't known for playing nice. ]

Whatever we were involved with, you're right. We might both have been killers. But do you think you would have killed him?

It's not that simple, Kazzy. The shit that happened with my brother, if it weren't for me...

[ but kiryu moves on, asking that follow up question so he just lets it go. if it weren't for him goading his brother on, he wouldn't be in jail. if it weren't for him always wanting one more thrill, they could've maybe chilled out as they got older. it's sad how novel the concept of growing older together feels. ]

I don't know.

[ majima can't know, not when every day for the last three years he's berated himself for the poor decisions he made in the past. like every move he makes is the wrong one, like he can't trust himself to do the right thing. how could he be trusted with that man's life? ]

[ Kiryu nods, humming his agreement. He can't know, that much is true. Neither of them can really say they got into this expecting what they got. Whatever honor they might have had as yakuza, they were definitely still criminals. It's impossible to say what they could or couldn't do. ]

What happened with your brother?

[ Majima's never talked about his brother's arrest before, and Kiryu wouldn't press if it didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it. ]

[ mostly, he doesn't like talking about it for the reasons he'd told kiryu before - they're not secrets, they're just not other people's problems. but kiryu's his boyfriend now. and he might as well talk about it now before they get too deep into this and kiryu realizes majima isn't good enough for him. ]

We were a couple of idiots, back then. I was always so full of fuckin' energy, kinda like Mafuyu.

[ a lot like mafuyu, but without the memory of a fish issue. ]

So we were always lookin' for he next thrill. Started out small, like palmin' a pack of candy we couldn't afford at 7/11. An' then it got bigger, flashier. Wallets, big ticket items. Tried not to hurt anyone. My brother's a big guy, just, really fuckin' huge. No one wants to fight a guy like that, not if they can avoid it.

After I graduated from high school it got worse. I'd been cuttin' class a lot even before that, 'cause my brother's a couple years older than me. Neither of us could find steady work, especially not work that paid as much as we were making liftin' shit. I started fightin' for money, then, too.

It was always about the thrill, though. And I always wanted more. Wanted to get better at it, jack better stuff. My brother, he... [ majima considers this ] he was never against it, he needed the money, too. Ya turn 18 and the orphanage doesn't really give a shit what happens to you after that, 'specially if you wasted 18 years worth of resources not gettin' adopted into a nice happy family. But he probably wouldn't have done it, if it weren't for me always wanting more.

Cops would catch us, sometimes. But nothing much happened. They didn't have enough evidence, or it was more trouble than it was worth for somethin' small, or, shit, I don't know. Just ended up with a slap on the wrist. Makes you feel invincible after awhile.

[ he laughs morosely. the invincibility clearly hadn't lasted ]

So one day, we've agreed to hit this convenience store. It was gonna be simple, just in and out. My brother was going to ask them for cash, get it, and leave. Only, the clerk put up a fight and a couple people joined in. I told ya my brother's big as fuck, though, right? And we were fightin' all the time back then, and these guys were just some randos. They didn't know how to throw a punch, most likely. In the fight, he injured two of the guys real bad and killed the third. The charge was extra steep 'cause he was robbing them.

[ majima can't claim to really understand how that one works, but it is what it is. ]

He wouldn't've even gone, if it weren't for me. And I wasn't there -- it should've been me instead of him.

[ Kiryu listens. It's nothing like his life, nothing like the love of his parents or his time in college. Majima may as well be from a different world.

But Kiryu listens and he thinks of Mafuyu and his own memories. Of guys who like to fight and wreak havoc and have fun. Maybe it's not his style, but he could understand it someday. Majima's circumstances were completely different from his, it's no surprise they would have different lives. ]

What kept you from being there?

[ Kiryu won't say they were just kids, or that they clearly learned the error of their ways far too late. If there's one thing Kiryu is good at, it's not judging people. He knows Majima's good deep down, this is just more of what makes up who he is. ]

I don't know, we thought it was gonna be simple. That it wouldn't take both of us. I'd just pick him up after. But he never showed up.

[ it's a stupid reason for him not to have been there, he knows that. but they'd both been so sure at the time. it had made sense. all of it had made sense, until it didn't anymore. ]

[ It makes a lot of sense, even if arguably, Majima didn't really have any of the blame for their job going south. Sure, they could've not done crime, but it obviously wasn't an alternative either of them had considered then. Their circumstances had more to do with what happened.

Or maybe Majima really did fuck up and he's trying to turn his life around now that his brother is in jail for the foreseeable future. Either way makes sense. He's quiet for a pause, running through what he should say and what would actually be genuine concern.

Genuine always wins out with Kiryu. ]

I'm sorry about your brother.

Thanks.

[ he's not bothered by the response, he knows it's the best kiryu can come up with. it's not like kiryu can absolve him of his guilt or anything. ]

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