Chapter Text
Kiryu wiped the counter for what was probably the hundredth time by now.
It was already clean enough - it hadn’t even been dirty to begin with; he really just needed to keep his hands busy with something at the moment.
Beyond the quiet music playing in the background and some faint noise coming from outside, the room was quiet around him. Which was to be expected, since, just like most of the time, there was not a single soul in there other than Kiryu himself.
As it turns out, when you open a bar in a district that’s already chock-full of them, where most locals already have their favorite places to get drunk at, it is a little difficult to find regular customers.
He sighed.
It could always be worse, he reminded himself.
It had been a little over two years since Kiryu died in Hiroshima. Most of that time, he spent locked away at the Daidoji Temple, where he’d train, meditate, and watch as the days and weeks blended into each other. Hanawa would appear every now and then, send him to do some job for the faction - and he would always obey without asking too many questions.
Nobody said being dead was supposed to be easy, after all. But this was the price he had to pay for knowing too much - and for the well-being of his own family. So he got used to the routine, accepting that for the rest of his life, this was all that he was going to get; for his loved ones, he would be willing to endure much worse than the collar he now wore around his neck.
… no matter how much he thought about it, Kiryu still wasn’t too sure what had changed.
All he knew was that, one day, Hanawa came and told him he was free to go.
Not free from the Daidoji, of course not; Kiryu knew well enough that the faction would always have their eyes on him, no matter where he went. Their deal would stay the same - Kazuma Kiryu would remain dead. He wouldn’t reveal his identity, wouldn’t contact anyone who knew him, and would still work for the Daidoji whenever they demanded it.
In return, they would keep funding Morning Glory, and his family would stay safe.
Still, after nearly two years of keeping the Dragon of Dojima under their thumb, apparently the Daidoji decided they could loosen their hold on his leash a little. Hanawa refused to share the reasoning behind that decision, and Kiryu knew well enough by now that asking repeated questions would get him nowhere.
He was free to leave the temple. Free to go anywhere he went, and do whatever he wanted with his life. A fresh start, under the fake identity Hanawa had so kindly provided to him - Taichi Suzuki. That part, at least, was mildly amusing.
At first, Kiryu was left at a loss. There wasn’t anything he particularly wanted to do with his life - there was, of course there was, but it was the one thing that he couldn’t have anymore -, but he wasn’t too inclined to stay in the Daidoji Temple, either.
So he gave the matter some thought. And the more he did, the more he found himself drawn to Yokohama. It was his birthplace, and where he’d lived with Haruka for a year before they moved to Okinawa; besides, his ties to the place as the Dragon of Dojima or the Fourth Chairman of the Tojo were virtually none. As far as the options available to him went, it was as good as any.
And Hanawa agreed. The bar had been his idea; nobody would notice another hole-in-the-wall appearing in the Bar District by the Sakura River, he’d said. He was the one to arrange everything, and even get the Daidoji to cover the business expenses for some time.
Kiryu hadn’t been left with much of a choice in that matter, but at least he got to name the bar himself. Sunset Bar - a fitting name, in his opinion.
So, in late 2018, he moved into a small apartment just outside of Ijincho, and opened the doors of his new business for the first time.
And in the months since then, his life had been utterly, mind-numbingly boring.
He’d wake up, open the bar, stay behind the counter all day, go back home, sleep, repeat. The occasional patrons that would wander inside during his first few weeks there never returned, until he started finding himself at an empty bar more often than not. He never talked to anyone, and eventually others stopped trying to talk to him too - he’d learned the names of maybe three people in the whole neighborhood.
So perhaps he wasn’t very good at this new job, but he couldn’t say he cared all that much. Ever since he died, his life had been just going through the motions, looking for ways to kill time, to distract himself from the emptiness of it all; and being a bartender was as good as any, even if his customers were few and far in between.
It was still better than being back at that temple.
Lost in thought as he was, it took a while for Kiryu to realize he’d stopped wiping the counter. With a frustrated grunt, he gave up, throwing the cloth he was using over his shoulder and running a hand through his hair - still not used to the way it now fell over his forehead instead of being slicked back, nor to the glasses sitting on his face that were actually more useful than he was willing to admit.
The changes to his appearance, as well as the different style of clothes the Daidoji demanded he wear (all black and other dark tones, which was very uncreative of them) were a good reminder that he was no longer the man he once was.
Soon enough, he would be closing down for the night and returning home, so he could do the same thing all over again the next day. Just a few more hours to go.
It was then that, over the silence of the bar, Kiryu heard the voices outside.
Though they were quiet at first, it did not take long at all for them to raise in volume - and by the time he had realized the commotion was right outside his door, the all familiar sounds of a street fight had joined the shouts.
Kiryu frowned, already starting to move out from behind the counter. He couldn’t have a bunch of thugs causing trouble in front of his bar - it would be bad for business. Luckily, he was already too used to dealing with situations like these; he knew it wouldn’t take too much for him to send them scattering.
Before he was even halfway there, though, the front door was flung open by a guy being punched through it, the poor bastard stumbling and falling to the floor right in front of him.
Kiryu took a small step back, looking down. With only a short pained grunt, the guy pushed himself up with a surprising amount of speed and energy, as if he had no time to lose. He looked towards the door, then back at Kiryu, a startled but guilty look on his face.
“Sorry!” the guy nearly shouted before dashing back outside - leaving Kiryu with barely enough time to notice the bright red suit and the wild hair before he was gone.
Taken aback by the sudden appearance, it took Kiryu a second to react. He walked to the still open-wide door and looked outside, just in time to see a small group of punks running and limping away, shouting insults at the two men still standing on the street in front of his bar.
The first thing Kiryu noticed about them was that they were likely homeless. It wasn’t anything particularly noteworthy - Ijincho’s largest homeless camp was just on the other side of the river, and he was used to seeing the people who lived there walking around from time to time. One of the two men in front of him was dressed in several layers of green, dirty clothes, and the messy hair on his head hadn’t been washed in a while. Behind his glasses, his eyes had the same defeated, hopeless look that Kiryu had only seen in the faces of people who’d been knocked down by life one too many times.
The other one was the man who’d crashed inside the bar - and the second thing Kiryu noticed was that this guy was certainly yakuza.
The red suit he’d seen before was just as filthy as his friend’s clothes, and his hair was so strange that Kiryu wasn’t sure if it was meant to be a fashion statement or just the result of an accident while getting a haircut. Now that he had the time, he took a better look at him, and Kiryu’s eyes didn’t miss what was surely a bullet hole on the suit pocket over the man’s chest, stains of what looked a little too much like dried blood surrounding it.
Still, he was standing there, just lowering his fists after the fight, a proud grin on his face as if he hadn’t been sent crashing through a door less than a minute before. The cheerful aura coming off him was a sharp contrast to his companion - and it really didn’t fit a guy who was wearing clothes stained with his own blood.
“Damn, we ran into a lot of these guys today, huh?” Man With Wild Hair said, turning to his friend. “You good there, Nanba?”
Man With Glasses - or just Nanba, apparently - sighed, lowering his umbrella. “Fine. You’re the one who got punched through that door.”
As if only now recalling that had happened, the first man’s eyes widened, and he turned a concerned look towards Kiryu, who was still standing at the bar’s entrance. “Shit! I’m real sorry, man - I didn’t break your door, did I?”
Kiryu turned to take a better look at the door. “... no, it’s fine.” What a weird thing to worry about - between him and the door, the guy probably had it worse.
Still, he let out a relieved sigh. “That’s good. Sorry for causing trouble outside your bar like this. Sometimes I feel like I can’t walk two steps in this town without some assholes coming out of nowhere trying to beat us up or something.”
“Hm.” Honestly, Kiryu could relate to that feeling.
“You know, I never noticed this place was a bar, too,” Nanba commented, scratching his nose while looking at the small sign just above the door. “Sunset Bar, huh? You new in town?”
“... in a way, yes.”
“Hey, me too!” Man with Wild Hair grinned. “I’m Kasuga. Ichiban Kasuga - not a fake name, I swear - and this guy here is my friend Nanba!”
“Nice to meet you.” Kiryu nodded at them. “I’m… Suzuki.”
“We’re looking for a bar around here - we were told they had a job to offer for some guys like us,” Kasuga chuckled, gesturing to himself and Nanba. “Don’t know if you can tell, but we kinda really need some money right now. Picking up cans for recycling just isn’t cutting it anymore.”
Nanba groaned. “Come on, you don’t have to say it like that.”
Kasuga gleefully ignored the comment. “Anyway, it’s called Harbor Light. You know where it is, by any chance?”
Kiryu’s brows furrowed as he thought for a moment. Harbor Light… the name was familiar. “I do. It’s not far from here, actually. I can take you both there.”
“For real? That would be great, man, thanks!” Kasuga grinned, before the smile slowly fell from his face. “But wait, don’t you have to take care of your bar?”
“It’s fine.” Kiryu shook his head, already pulling the door closed behind himself. “I don’t get that many customers around this time.”
“... well, if you say so,” Kasuga said, the look on his face still a bit uncertain, though a smile was quick to replace it. “Lead the way, Suzuki-san!”
Kiryu was right when he said Harbor Light wasn’t far - the Bar District was tiny enough that everything was close by. He started walking, and two pairs of footsteps followed him closely, Kasuga and Nanba talking quietly to each other; Kiryu chose to silently listen to them.
“Sorry to say it, but that punch will probably leave you with a nasty bruise there.”
“Eh, it’s nothing an ice pack can’t fix.”
Soon enough, they were at Harbor Light’s door; Kiryu walked in, the two men following and closing the door behind themselves. A woman sitting at the counter stood up to welcome them - the bar’s mama, if he had to guess.
Kiryu bowed his head slightly. “Good evening,” he said quietly.
“Um, excuse me, an old guy at Hello Work said you need some help…?” Kasuga stepped up, his voice far more polite than Kiryu had heard until now.
The mama looked between the three of them, confusion evident in her face. “Huh? Hello Work?”
“I’m the one who requested them,” another woman spoke up from where she was sitting next to the window, drawing everyone’s attention. She was holding a half-empty glass, and staring at the three of them with a curious look. “Though I wasn’t expecting Suzuki of all people to come for the job, too.”
Kiryu frowned. She knew his name?... He took a better look at the woman, something in her striking him as familiar. “You are Hamako-san, right?” he asked, finally placing it. She had visited his bar once or twice after he first arrived, and seemed to be quite a big name in town.
Hamako smiled at him. “Oh, so you do remember me, then. Finally decided to come meet the neighbors?” she chuckled, downing some of her drink. “About time you stopped playing the lonely, mysterious guy.”
“Hamako-san!” The mama lightly scolded her. “Don’t make the man uncomfortable.”
Hamako shrugged, apparently unbothered by the reprimand. Kasuga was staring between her and Kiryu, his brow slightly furrowed.
“... my apologies,” Kiryu said, deciding to ignore the light sting caused by the comments. “But I’m not here for the job. I was only helping these two find your bar.”
“Good, because we wouldn’t share the money,” Nanba grumbled behind him, too quietly for the two women to hear - and promptly earned an elbow to the side from Kasuga.
“Are they your friends?” Hamako asked, her voice sounding a little too pleasantly surprised at the idea.
Kiryu grunted softly, lowering his eyes. “No. We just met by chance.”
“I see. That’s too bad.” Hamako gave him a knowing look, before turning towards the other two. “I told Kanbe at Hello Work to send over some guards. That’s you two, then?”
At his side, Kasuga frowned, and Kiryu couldn’t help but do the same. Guards?
“C’mon, Hamako-san! You can’t just request things I can’t pay for!” the mama complained.
Once again, Hamako did not seem to care for the admonishment, and merely continued to grin at them. “5,000 yen is getting off cheap for the risk. Kanbe was smart to send two.”
“Hey, hold up,” Kasuga interrupted them. “Guards? Risk? What’s going on? What’s up with this ‘job’?”
Kiryu was asking himself those same questions, and was already convinced he’d heard enough. “I should get going,” he said, taking a step back towards the door. Whatever this was, it was better for him not to get involved.
“Wait, Suzuki-san!” the mama called him. “Wouldn’t you like to at least stay for a drink?”
He shook his head. “Sorry. I have to take care of my own bar, too.”
“Oh, I see. Well, do stop by again sometime! It would be lovely to see you!” she offered him a friendly smile.
“Okay, can we go back to discussing the job, now?” Nanba complained. Hamako beckoned him and Kasuga closer to the window, and everyone’s attention shifted to the matter at hand while Kiryu opened the door to leave.
Still, before he could step outside, Kasuga turned to give him one last smile. “See you around, Suzuki-san!”
For the rest of the night, Kiryu tried to push the matter out of his mind.
However, as he walked home after closing the bar, he stumbled upon dozens of crossbow darts stuck on the pavement at the bridge near Harbor Light’s building; and that left a bad feeling at the bottom of his stomach that was a little harder to ignore.
Sometimes, Kiryu was a little too curious for his own good.
It was nothing new. His whole life, this curiosity was what led him to get roped into the troubles of random people he met by chance; from mundane, everyday problems to the most… bizarre, to put it that way, of situations. Still, every time, he would walk away with a new lesson learned, and he carried these lessons with him even as the memories of these people, many of which he’d never see again, faded from his mind. So he couldn’t bring himself to regret ever getting involved.
One would think that, after living for over five decades, he would have learned to mind his own business by now. But apparently he wasn’t quite there yet.
Point being: Kiryu hadn’t really stopped thinking about the night before.
He knew Ijincho wasn’t exactly the most peaceful of towns - Hanawa had given him some information the Daidoji had on the local underworld, most notably the Ijin Three and their eternal stalemate -, but he thought he’d done a good job at staying in his own lane so far. The idea that there was trouble brewing so close to his bar left him a bit uneasy.
And then there was that guy, Kasuga. Granted, Kiryu hadn’t spent more than a few minutes in his presence, but Kasuga had a… loud personality, so to speak. And Kiryu didn’t get the impression that he was the kind of man who would shy away from trouble.
Kiryu wasn’t too sure yet what to make of him, but he was intrigued. And he wanted to know what happened to the man the previous night.
So it was still early in the afternoon when his curiosity took him to Harbor Light once more.
The bar was empty - which was a small relief, in Kiryu’s opinion. This would have been a weird conversation to have with strangers around. The mama looked up at the sound of the door opening, a surprised look appearing on her face for barely a second before a welcoming smile replaced it.
“Suzuki-san!” she greeted him warmly. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Hello,” he nodded at her, hesitating for only a second before sitting down at the counter.
“What can I get you today?”
Kiryu thought for a moment about the amount of money he had in his wallet. “... a Kyogetsu Green, please.”
With a short nod, the mama got a glass to pour him his drink. “I’m glad you decided to stop by. Though I’ll admit, I wasn’t really expecting you to,” she chuckled. “I hope Hamako-san’s comments last night didn’t make you feel pressured into anything.”
Kiryu shook his head, accepting the glass. “She wasn’t wrong that I should have made an effort to introduce myself properly before.”
He took a sip of the drink - soju wasn’t really his usual choice of beverage, but it wasn’t bad. And the only whisky the mama had on the menu was too expensive for him right now.
“Still, I did come for a reason,” he said, putting down the glass on the counter. “Last night, I only heard half of the conversation before I left, and, well… I suppose the implications worried me a little.”
An understanding look crossed the mama’s face. “Oh. Yes, I can see how you’d be concerned about trouble in the area. Well, you can relax, Suzuki-san; the matter is all settled now.”
Kiryu frowned in confusion. “What happened?”
The mama smiled. “Kasuga-san happened.”
“Can I ask you a question, Hamako-san?”
She turned to Ichiban with a grin on her face - her mood had really gotten better that day ever since he managed to get rid of the Bleach Japan protesters. “Sure, what is it?”
Ichiban dropped another trash bag outside the ‘restaurant’, Nanba doing the same just a few feet away, before facing the woman once more. “Well, it’s about that guy from last night - Suzuki-san. What’s the deal with him?”
“The deal?” she repeated. “Don’t know what you mean by that. He’s just another bartender from the Bar District.”
“Well, the way you talked to him, it seemed like you knew him, is all,” Ichiban said casually.
Hamako huffed. “I know of him, at least. Most people around here do.” She took a drag of her cigarette. “Suzuki-san appeared in Ijincho and opened his bar last year. And that’s about all anyone around here knows about him. Guy keeps to himself way too much, in my opinion. I don’t think anyone has ever seen him interact properly with another human being.”
Ichiban frowned. “What, he has no friends? Family?”
“They’re very well hidden, if he does,” Hamako shrugged. “He’s always alone, never visits the other bars, never talks to anyone. Even gives his own customers at the bar the silent treatment, can you believe it?” she said with a small chuckle. “Guess that’s the other thing we know about him - he’s not great as a bartender. Couldn’t keep a regular to save his life.”
“Come on, it can’t be that bad. I mean, the bar’s still open, right?” he argued.
“Yeah, I guess. I mean, if he can pay his bills, then who are we to judge?” Hamako said. “His bar is actually pretty inviting on the inside, but he looks a little scary to most people, with that permanent frown on his face and all. When he first showed up, some folk even thought he was shady.”
“Shady… how, exactly?”
“Well, a man just shows up out of nowhere one day, never talks to other people, and glares at everyone who so much as looks at him?” Hamako raised her cigarette to her mouth once again, breathing out the smoke slowly. “I wouldn’t blame anyone for getting suspicious, really.”
“The Geomijul was threatening your bar because of the stolen electricity?”
The mama nodded. “It’s why Hamako-san decided to hire guards - we thought they would retaliate. When we explained the situation, Nanba understandably wanted to leave, but Kasuga decided to take the job, and convinced him to stay, too. The two of them spent the night here.” She paused for a moment. “... I admit I was a little surprised. The Geomijul is dangerous, and the pay wasn’t good, but Kasuga-san wanted to help anyway.”
Kiryu frowned, deep in thought. Were they that desperate for money? Or did Kasuga accept because he genuinely wanted to help? “So, what happened then?”
The mama sighed, looking towards the door. “Well, turns out, the Geomijul did send someone to attack the bar. Not too long after I opened, a man came in with a sledgehammer. Thankfully, Kasuga stopped him before he could cause any damage, or hurt someone,” she told Kiryu. “The man tried running away, but Kasuga and Nanba chased him.”
“I’m assuming they got him, then?”
“... I can’t tell you for sure.” she said. “I had to stay behind and take care of my patrons, make sure they were alright after that scare, so I have no way of knowing what happened. But… while they were out, I received a phone call from someone, apologizing and saying that we could forget about this matter. So, I guess I can only assume that Kasuga-san took care of it somehow,” she laughed softly. “How he confronted the Geomijul, I have no idea, but it all seemed to work out in the end.”
“Hm.” Kiryu thought back to the darts from the night before, a strange sense of understanding crossing his mind.
“Well, he didn’t really seem shady to me.” Ichiban argued. “The opposite, really. He helped me and Nanba find our way around, even though he had no reason to.”
Hamako made a dismissive gesture. “I said they thought he was shady at first. After a while, when it became clear that he wasn’t gonna do anything and was just minding his own business, most people stopped caring. Maybe he’s a little too reserved, but he’s just trying to make a living, just like the rest of us. So everyone left him alone, the way he seemed to want it.”
Ichiban frowned. If he was being honest, that didn’t really fit the impression he’d gotten from the guy.
Something must have shown on his face, because Hamako frowned at him. “Why are you so interested, anyway? If you want to know if he’s single, you’d have better luck asking him directly.”
He choked. “What? No! It’s nothing like that!”
“You sure? I wouldn’t blame you. He is very handsome,” she chuckled. “But really, that’s all I have to tell you about Suzuki. If you want to know more, you’re gonna have to go see him at the bar yourself - when you’re not on the job, that is. There’s still a lot to clean upstairs, so get going!”
“Uh- yes! I’ll get right on it!” Ichiban assured her.
As Hamako stepped away, he turned to go back inside to continue with his work, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him briefly. Ichiban turned to find Nanba, staring at him with a strange look on his face.
“You know, old hag’s got a point,” he said quietly. “Why are you asking about the guy, all of a sudden?”
“I felt bad for making them have to deal with something so dangerous for only five thousand yen, but it was all I could afford to pay,” the mama said with sadness. “Still, Hamako-san hired them to do some work at her restaurant today, so they could earn some more money as well. They should be there right now, actually; it’s just south of here.”
Kiryu nodded, staring at the bottom of his empty glass. The story had certainly given him a lot to think about. He was glad he’d come.
“Thank you for telling me, mama,” he said, bowing his head slightly. “I’m happy your bar is safe now.”
“So am I,” she smiled. “Fate brought those two here at the right time; if it wasn’t for Kasuga-san’s help, I don’t know what would have happened. He went above and beyond what we expected, and I’ll forever be grateful.”
With another short nod, Kiryu stood up, dropping his money on the counter. “Thank you for the drink. I should get going, now.”
“Of course, I understand,” the mama said. “Well, come back around sometime, will you? It was lovely having you here.”
“... we’ll see. Bye, now,” he said, opening the door to leave.
Just outside, he stopped for a moment, letting out a deep breath before resuming the walk towards his own bar. That was the end of this story, then - and it was a satisfying enough ending. Time to go back to his usual routine now.
Ichiban Kasuga…
What an intriguing man.
“I mean…” Ichiban sighed, turning on his futon to face Nanba fully. “You saw Suzuki-san that night too, right?”
“‘Course I did, I was right there. What about him?”
“... did he look sad to you, by any chance?”
It was only days later that they picked up the conversation again; now on the second floor of Hamako’s place, each of them with a glass of convenience store sake in their hands.
“Sad?” Nanba frowned. “No, not really. I thought he looked angry, actually; and with reason, considering we were brawling right outside his bar,” he huffed. “With that frown on his face, I thought he was gonna throw a punch at us, too.”
“Well, yeah, I guess he does have a pretty intimidating face, but-” Ichiban stammered for a moment, looking up at the ceiling - the ceiling! Holy shit, they had a ceiling now - as he tried to find the right words. “It was his eyes. They weren’t angry; they just looked so… sorrowful.”
Not just the eyes, if he was being honest. His words, his posture, his actions - everything Hamako had told Ichiban the day after, too. He’d seen people like that before; both complete strangers and people that he cared about.
It always bothered him, and Suzuki was no exception.
Nanba squinted at him. “You sure you’re not just imagining things?”
“Man, I know what I saw!” Ichiban glared at him for a moment. “And the way Hamako-san talked about him always being alone - I don’t know, I guess it just rubbed me off the wrong way.”
“Why’s that?”
“I mean, Suzuki-san is obviously a good guy, right?”
Nanba stared blankly at Ichiban for a few seconds. “... we were around him for less than five minutes. And he spoke maybe three words out loud. How could you possibly tell he’s a good guy?”
“That’s just the impression I got, I can’t really explain it.” He thought back to the face Suzuki had made when Hamako teased him back at the bar. “And… I don’t know, man. I just got the feeling that he’s been alone for a very long time.” He turned a pleading look to Nanba. “And that he doesn’t really want to be.”
Silence stretched between the two of them for a moment.
Then Nanba sighed, looking at the empty glass he was still holding. “Let me guess, then. You want to do something about it.”
“I mean, he helped us out! And he seemed cool!” Ichiban insisted. “Least we could do is stop by his bar and see how he’s doing, right?”
“Listen, Ichiban. I don’t know if you considered this option, but some people just keep to themselves,” Nanba said. “I mean, for all we know, Suzuki-san has a wife and kids waiting for him at home every night. Hell, even if he doesn’t, he might be perfectly happy being alone. You’re making a lot of assumptions here.”
“Still, I doubt the guy is gonna complain about us buying drinks at his bar,” Ichiban argued with a knowing grin. “If he really doesn’t want company beyond that, then I’ll fuck off without complaining. If I’m right and he does, though…” he laughed softly. “We won’t lose anything by making a new friend, right?”
Nanba could only stare at him for a few seconds before snorting. “Man, Suzuki-san made quite the first impression on you, huh? If you want to befriend him so bad.”
Ichiban shrugged again, still grinning. “I just wanna help him out, if I can.”
“Right, there’s that hero attitude again,” Nanba said. “Fine, then. We’ll swing by his bar at some point.”
“You’ll come too?!” Ichiban said excitedly.
“Of course. Someone’s gotta keep an eye on you,” Nanba said. “Besides, two friends are better than one, right?”
“Hell yeah, man, that’s the spirit!”
“... and if I’m being honest, he did seem like a cool guy,” Nanba admitted after hesitating for a moment.
Ichiban beamed as bright as the sun.