Chapter 1

Kiryu walked along Tenkachi Street in Kamurocho, Tokyo, taking a long drag on his cigarette, before blowing out a large cloud of smoke. Was only another night in Kamurocho really, strolling about without a care in the world. Like most nights, he didn't have a particular destination in mind, preferring to wander about and see what he came across. The streets bustled with people, some looking like they were in a hurry, while others slowed down to enter the various shops, restaurants, and other establishments. A man with a sign called out the deals at a nearby electronics store. Meanwhile, hosts stood outside the Stardust host club, trying to woo women inside. Yuya was there in his maroon suit, calling out to a group of girls, but was unsuccessful at bringing them in. However, Yuya smiled and waved to Kiryu, who returned the gesture as he passed.

Someone brushed past him, the man's arm almost knocking him down. Not a mean feat with how tall Kiryu was himself, so that got his attention.

"Oi…" Kiryu called out, turning around.

The man who bumped him was huge, wearing a brown sport coat, black slacks, glasses, and a checkered fedora… "Hmm?" Kiryu looked closer. The fedora looked familiar. He could have sworn he remembered it from somewhere.

"Kazuma…Kiryu…?" The huge man leaned over to look at him, studying him. Kiryu sure wasn't used to being stared down at, given his own impressive height. But this big lug had to be at least two and a half meters tall. Suddenly, the large man got a big smile on his face. "Kiryu-san, it is you!"

Substory #10,462 – To Infinity…

Hmm…there's only a small number of people I know that are guy's height. "You are…" His memory fired on overdrive, taking him all the way back to the eighties. "Hiroya Egashira, yes? Mr. Shakedown?"

"So you remember me too!" Hiroya laughed.

"Kind of hard to forget a huge man who runs around shaking down people so he can train on mountains and islands to become the strongest organism in the universe." Kiryu smirked. "Still saving up for that training trip to space? That was…what? Over three decades ago?"

"Oh, that?" Hiroya laughed. "Old news. I saved up the money to build a spaceship years ago. Already made several trips up there!" He pointed his finger at the night sky.

"Nani?!" Kiryu's eyes widened. "You did it?!"

"If you like, I can show you." Hiroya put on a huge grin. "Had the launch pad set up on the private island I had already purchased for training before. What do you say?"

Kiryu scratched his chin. This could be total nonsense for all he knew, but all the same he found himself intrigued.

- Accuse him of lying

* Go with him

Well, I've heard taller tales spun around these parts… Guess I could go check it out. Kiryu smiled. "All right, lead the way."

"Excellent, Kiryu-san!" Hiroya laughed, clapping his hands, the noise so loud it sounded like a thunderclap. "Perhaps you could train with me while we are up there. I've learned a lot since the last time we fought!"

"Um, sure…" Training was the last thing on his mind, to be truthful. In reality, Kiryu had never seen any of these private islands, private mountains, wild animals and whatnot Hiroya claimed to have purchased with his ill-gotten gains, and over the decades he'd always been curious to see if any of it was real.

"I'll call my private helicopter now." Hiroya pulled out his phone to call someone. Within seconds he had them on the line. "Yes. Pick us up. Yes, right now! In Theater Square! I don't care if people are there! They'll scatter when they see you coming! I'll pay off the police later, just land!"

The distinct whump of helicopter blades sounded in the distance. Whoa, that was fast. Kiryu looked up as the sound grew louder, spotting a helicopter descending behind the buildings, where he knew Theater Square was. Pedestrians screamed and ran the other way, hurrying to escape the strong wind as others took cover behind whatever they could find. Planted bushes around the area billowed in the wind, as did the flags advertising businesses.

"Let's go, Kiryu!" Hiroya waved for him to follow, the giant running down the street.

Kiryu gulped, jogging after him. Perhaps he wasn't exaggerating about the shaking down after all. What have I gotten myself into now?

Several hours later, the chopper descended towards a forested island off the coast of Hokkaido. On the side facing the Pacific Ocean, Kiryu noticed a large plot of land cleared away to create a small settlement. A helicopter pad, a small wooden house, a farming plot along with a pen for livestock…and a launching pad, with a spaceship next to a launching tower. Kiryu's jaw dropped. "Sonna bakana…" He'd only ever seen real life spaceships on the news, like back in the eighties and nineties when America launched their space shuttles. Seeing that had not prepared him for how huge a spaceship was in person. The thing towered overhead as the helicopter descended to the landing pad.

Kiryu couldn't speak anymore, shaky as he looked at the rocket.

He meant every word about me going into space to train with him?! I don't know about this… Being stuck up in space with Mr. Shakedown in this ship for days, weeks, or months?! And that's even ignoring the whole logistics of training in zero gravity. Not to mention, I've seen some wild things over the decades living in Kamurocho, but never anything on a scale like this! And I thought Miracle Johnson and his zombies would be impossible to top, or the time I fought five grown men dressed up as babies in a 'daycare'…

"I take it from your face,you're impressed?" Hiroya seemed to love his astonishment.

"Umm…" Kiryu struggled to find the words. "It's uh… It's something, that's for sure. You've sure been doing a lot of shaking down."

Hiroya laughed, as the helicopter landed and he slid the door open. "I did the math, and it was near as much as half the gross domestic product of Japan."

He walked towards the launch pad, Kiryu following in step. Red-suited techs ran about the area, preparing the ship for launch. One man hooked up a fuel line to the ship's tanks, while another with a tablet called out directions to the others. Kiryu was overwhelmed and lost as he watched all of them, clueless as to what they were doing. He never was one for science or anything technical. He hadn't even seen any movies set in space, and everyone was always shocked when he told them that.

Kiryu shook his head.

"Egashira-san!" a fresh-faced tech approached, handing him a space suit and helmet. "About to go up again?"

"Arigato, Abe-san!" He accepted the suit from the tech. "Do you have the suit I requested for Kiryu-san as well?"

"Right here!" The man held out another suit to Kiryu.

Confused, Kiryu held the heavy clothing in front of him, but he realized something. "Hold on. We only met a few hours ago. You already had a suit made for me? It wasn't a coincidence you ran into me, was it?"

"Oh no, it was!" Hiroya laughed, sounding nervous. "I, uh...called ahead to have one made for you. Cost me hundreds of millions of yen, but-but I do not mind if it means you'll become a better opponent for me!"

Kiryu found Hiroya's nervousness odd as he eyed the clothing, holding it up as he looked at it from all angles. This is absurd. I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't holding it right now…

"So Kiryu-san, ready to go to the stars?" Hiroya pointed his finger up again.

Kiryu had let himself get talked into some pretty dumb things before. Like that one time he accidentally ended up doing voice acting for a yaoi video game, or becoming the mascot Ono Michio for the town Onomichi… But this seemed to be on a whole other level of dumb. He was about to climb into a spaceship with a man who'd mugged people to build the thing. Would this ship even work? Muggers stalking the streets of Kamurocho weren't exactly known for their expertise on space travel after all…

- No thanks, I want to stay on Earth.

* To infinity…and beyond!

Kiryu sighed, lowering his head as he closed his eyes. You know me… I never back down from a challenge. With reluctance, Kiryu nodded. "Okay, let's go."

"All right!" Hiroya fist pumped. "Let us get underway, Kiryu-san! And don't worry about the long trip. We'll be put in hypersleep while we go to my favorite training destination. It'll feel like you've woken up and arrived almost right after you've gone to sleep."

Kiryu was afraid to ask, but… "Where are we going?"

"A planet called Corneria, in the Lylat System."

~X~

True to his word, as soon as Kiryu's head hit the pillow in the hypersleep chamber, it seemed Hiroya was knocking on the window. "Wake up, sleepyhead! We made it!"

Kiryu rubbed his eyes, looking up through the foggy glass at the gigantic man. Hiroya was as giddy as a school boy. Kiryu shook his head a few times, collecting himself.

As the sleep chamber's door opened, Hiroya extended a hand. "Here you are!" The giant man reached down, yanking Kiryu off the bed as easily as if he were a child. "And here are your clothes."

Kiryu found his gray suit and red shirt shoved into his hands, staring at them bewildered. A strange gray metal box rested on top of the clothes, about the size of a deck of cards.

"What's this?" Kiryu picked it up.

"A universal translator. The locals around here don't speak Japanese or any Earth language, so you'll need this to understand them. We're lucky they manufacture these locally. Anyway, make sure you switch it on after you get dressed. We've got things to do, Kiryu-san!"

His mind still in a daze, Kiryu stepped into a nearby alcove, discarding the space suit and slipping back into his regular outfit. Though wearing these familiar clothes helped reorient him, what waited for him once he stepped out of this ship? He'd never even been outside of Japan before, let alone Earth. Clipping the strange box to his belt, Kiryu pressed a button on the side. A green light lit up, but otherwise the box did nothing. Was it working?

"Hurry up!" Hiroya waved for him to follow, standing at a small door where sunlight streamed in from outside. Almost like we're still on Earth. What if I laid my head on the pillow and the 'ship' didn't go anywhere? The giant man ducked to get through hatchway, stepping outside. As Kiryu adjusted his collar, he sighed, looking at the 'universal translator' again. I bet this was nothing but a prank. Hiroya's stringing me along and he's about to show how stupid I was to believe him. Oh well. Let's get this overwith.

Ducking, Kiryu stepped out into the sunlight, expecting to see the Pacific Ocean again. He did hear the dull roar of something, as his eyes adjusted to the light, but it wasn't the sound of water crashing against rocks. Were those jet engines?

As the white faded, he found himself standing on a concrete launch pad, a massive city bustling around him. Are we back in Tokyo? White high rises filled the air around him, done up in shining metal and glass that caught the midday sun, the blue skies contrasting brilliantly against them. But aren't these buildings a little too tall, even for Tokyo? Small dots flitted between the buildings, in little lines that resembled trails of ants flying in the air. What were those? One of the gray dots separated from the line and approached closer, becoming larger.

It turned out to be another spaceship, coming in for a landing on a different landing pad a few rows over. And more starships filled the space all around Kiryu. I don't think this is a prank anymore…

A hiss sounded behind Kiryu, followed up by the noise of something being screwed shut. Kiryu turned around to see a man in a maintenance uniform connecting some sort of hose to an outlet on Hiroya's starship. Except…why did the man have a fluffy dog tail stuck to his pants? The orange furred appendage curled in on itself, like a Shiba Inu's tail.

"Sumimasen," Kiryu said.

The man turned around and he had the face of a Shiba Inu too, along with furred paws for hands. Was it some kind of costume? The man must have spent a fortune on it, because it looked so realistic.

"Can I help you?" the person asked. Kiryu looked inside the mouth as the person spoke. Even the mouth's interior looked realistic, with what appeared to be genuine slobber and sharp teeth. The tail even wagged behind the person. It was unnerving…

"Umm…" He had a feeling he was going to regret asking this, but did it anyway. "Why are you wearing a mask while you work?"

"A mask?" And then the dog mask's eyes widened in surprise, brow furrowed in confusion, head tilting…like a real dog. As real as Mame back at the Morning Glory Orphanage in Okinawa… "I'm not wearing a mask, sir. What are you talking about?"

Kiryu couldn't speak, standing there in stunned silence for a moment before he recollected himself. This person wasn't someone in a dog costume. It was an actual dog. A real life, genuine dog. Although not any kind of dog he'd ever seen before… He didn't know of any dogs on Earth who walked around on two feet and spoke like humans, outside of cartoons at least. It reminded him of that one movie Haruka had taken him to see, with the fox hustler and bunny cop trying to solve a case of predators going feral, called Zooarium or something.

"Kiryu-san!" Hiroya called from further down the gangway. "What are you doing? Let's go!"

Kiryu glanced back at Hiroya, before returning one more look to the dog person. "Umm…never mind. Arigato." He gave a short bow.

And with that he took off after Hiroya-san. Soon after they left the spaceport, Hiroya hailed a cab, driven by another one of those dog people. This one was a golden retriever. Seeing a dog driving a car was strange enough, but Kiryu couldn't stop looking outside at the city. A staggering number of dog people filled the sidewalks, all of them also wearing clothes and doing human-like things. He even recognized most of the breeds, plus various other species like felines, monkeys, and birds. Okay… Maybe I'm high on something right now. I'm still in that 'sleep chamber' and Hiroya pumped it full of drugs.

Nonetheless Kiryu couldn't help but ask more questions. "Your new training location is a planet of dog people?" Kiryu whispered to Hiroya next to him.

"Don't call them that!" Hiroya hissed, glancing between Kiryu and their driver. "They don't like it. They're Cornerians, okay? You got me?"

Cornerians. He stroked his chin. These dogs have a nationality too?

They pulled into a part of town that had a slightly shadier look to it, with the narrower streets and the signs clinging to the sides of the buildings, making for a busy spectacle overhead. Was it him or did this neighborhood look familiar? He eyed all of the businesses along the streets Hostess clubs, strip clubs, bars, restaurants...all with their own signs and advertising, the streets and walls filled with a dizzying array of colors and shapes.

"We're here, sirs." The golden retriever pulled the car to a stop on a tree-lined street.

Hiroya paid the man and the car drove away, leaving Kiryu and Hiroya standing on the side of the road. Kiryu still couldn't stop looking around in amazement.

"This is like…"

"Kamurocho, no?" Hiroya smiled. "Tis why I gravitated to this place. Anyway, I need to go meet with my sparring partners to sort something out. The bears, gorillas, and rhinos here are much better training partners than any humans back on earth. Far stronger and more resilient."

"Wait, what?" Kiryu did a double take. "There are even bear, gorilla, and rhino people here? This place is Zooarium!"

Hiroya gave him another dirty look for referring to them that way, but he let it go. "Kiryu-san, would you like to look around some before we meet up later?"

Kiryu didn't know about being left alone in a place like this. He looked around, still seeing more of the dog people wandering about, some of them giving him odd looks. Not too long ago he thought it would be a strange experience to visit a place outside of Japan, but he imagined he'd visit France or America or something. Corneria wasn't what he had in mind. Would it be okay to wander around on an alien planet he knew nothing about?

Then again, I don't think I need to worry too much about it. if there were an award for it, I would win the title of Most Mugged Man on Earth, and yet I still have all of my teeth. Kiryu nodded. "Okay, I can do that. Where will we meet?"

"Theater Square."

"They have a Theater Square too?" Kiryu raised his eyebrow.

"Oh, yes, of course! I will meet you there in about two hours. Bye for now, Kiryu-san!"

And with that, Hiroya jogged away, almost skipping as he ran. Kiryu almost wanted to call out to ask why he was in such a hurry, but the giant man was soon gone, leaving Kiryu by himself.

Well, what to do for the next two hours, in a place filled with dog people? Sure, Hiroya insisted they were Cornerians but Kiryu still found the whole concept bizarre. At least they seemed friendly enough to talk to, from what he'd seen so far. Hope none of them try licking my face though.

Sighing, Kiryu looked around the street, gazing at the various establishments packed tight together, all of them competing for small footprints of real estate. Not that different from home. They even have dominatrix clubs... Kiryu found his eyes wandering over to a female wolf with purple-dyed fur, standing outside her establishment in a revealing, all black outfit that showed a lot of skin...err, fur. Her breasts stood out prominently, as she tapped a short whip in her hand. Kiryu winced, looking at her. Should I be turned on by that? I can't tell… Anyway, I don't think I'll go that way.

But how to decide which way he would go?

Kiryu looked at his feet, spotting a stray dead branch that had fallen to the pavement from a nearby tree. He picked it up and threw it into the air. The branch landed on its end, bounced off the pavement once, and settled to where the tip pointed along a side street street lined with restaurants and convenience stores.

Guess I'll head that way. Good a direction as any right now…

"Excuse me!"

The voice was unfamiliar to Kiryu's ears. He turned around to see someone running towards him. Instead of a dog, this man appeared to be a fox, given away by his ruddy red fur, bushy tail, pointed ears, and keen muzzle. He wore a silver jacket that looked like it belonged in a pilot's getup, along with a red scarf, a black undershirt, green flight pants, and gray boots. The fox stopped next to Kiryu, craning his head up so they could meet each other's eyes. Though his voice sounded like an adult's, this vulpine almost looked cute with his tiny appearance. He could be some kind of character from a cartoon or video game aimed at kids.

Kiryu leaned forward, needing to put his hands on his knees. "Can I help you, kitsune-san?" He never thought he'd be talking to a fox like this, that was for sure.

"Kitsune-san?" the canine tilted his head. He glanced at Kiryu's face. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're…not from around here, are you? What species are you, anyway?"

What a bizarre question. Then again I've never met talking animals before. "Um, human."

"Is that some kind of ape?" Fox kept studying him. "You look like one of them."

I swear I must be on drugs. This conversation is too damn weird to be real. "Uh, I suppose I am an ape, yes." Weirdest sentence Kiryu had ever found himself saying, and that was saying something.

"Where are you from?"

"Japan."

"Is that a planet?"

Kiryu stifled a laugh. He'd forgotten he wasn't on his home planet anymore. "No, Japan is a country on the planet Earth."

"Huh, never heard of that place. So humans come from there?"

Kiryu nodded. "To be fair, I didn't know about Corneria until a short while ago. Anyway, I'm Kazuma Kiryu. What's your name?"

"Fox McCloud."

A fox named Fox, huh? Kiryu didn't say anything, but he found that amusing. "So what did you need?"

"I got a tip that there's a new criminal gang growing in this area. Supposedly, Wolf O'Donnell is setting up a branch of his gang here."

Kiryu couldn't resist anymore, a big grin on his face. "So you're a fox named Fox. And that guy's probably a wolf named Wolf and—"

"Yeah I know. I get that a lot." Fox rolled his eyes, his ears curling back in annoyance. "Kinda sick of the jokes."

Kiryu couldn't help but watch the way this fox's ears were so expressive. It freaked him out, and yet also looked adorable. Anyway, he still couldn't get over the names these people had. Some fox dad out there decided to name his son Fox, and some wolf dad named his son Wolf. What would happen if I changed Haruka's name to Human?

"Anyway, I was told this gang liked to strut around this part of town dressed up in fancy suits." He took a second look at Kiryu. "Um, kind of like yours."

Kiryu went silent. Might be reaching with this next question, but I need to ask anyway. "Do they call themselves yakuza?"

Fox was surprised. "How did you know?"

Now it was Kiryu's turn to be surprised. "Wait, you're telling me I was right? There's a yakuza syndicate here?!"

"You're not one of them, are you?"

"No, I'm not." While it was a common occurrence for him back home to be mistaken as active yakuza, he sure didn't expect the same thing to happen this far away from Japan. Seemed like he could never escape from that misconception no matter where he went. Kiryu looked up, looking behind Fox. "Um, I think those guys might be, though."

A group of dogs strutted down the street towards them. They all wore nice suits, nice shoes, chains, smart looking hair… And yet despite being dressed to the nines, they gave off a dangerous vibe. He could see how they gazed around the street with a smug air of superiority, as if hoping someone would attack them so they could have some fun with a fight. What a bizarrely familiar sight. One of them—an akita with dark fur and wearing a purple suit—looked up, eying Kiryu's suit. The dog patted another one of his friends on the shoulder, all of them pointing at Kiryu now.

"Oi!" the akita called out, as the whole pack of yakuza ran up to Kiryu, Fox staring wide eyed as they approached. "Chotto matte yo!"

Kiryu sighed. Welp, here we go again…

The group pulled out various weapons. Tonfas, brass knuckles, stun guns… One of them even had a wooden katana draped over his back, his arms hanging off of it as he strutted over with the same yakuza swagger Kiryu recognized from Earth.

"You think you can walk around dressed like that?!" the lead akita said, pointing at Kiryu's suit. "We gotta teach this out of town punk a lesson, boys! This is our turf!"

"You're picking a fight with him over his suit?!" Fox kept looking between the yakuza dogs and Kiryu. "Come on, leave him alone!"

"Or what?" One of them, a hyena, laughed at Fox. "Watcha gonna do about it, golden boy?"

Fox growled, reaching for his blaster.

Kiryu held out a hand, blocking Fox. "No, it's okay. I can deal with them." He cracked his knuckles, steeling himself for his four hundred thousandth and ninety-sixth street fight, or so…

"Are you sure?" Fox kept glancing between Kiryu standing alone, and the pack of angry dogs. "This doesn't look like a fair fight!"

"I fight people every fifty meters down the street back home. It's no big deal."

"What?!" Fox's eyes darted about. "Is Earth that dangerous?!"

"Give me half a minute. That's all I need."

(Yakuza Kiwami OST – Funk Goes On)

CORNERIAN YAKUZA

The dogs surrounded Kiryu, wielding their weapons with menace in their eyes. He had to admit, it looked weird seeing the faces of dogs atop men wearing yakuza suits, especially with how they snarled and growled at him. Regardless, he had been in this situation thousands of times before, so his experience from before took over like it was nothing new.

Kiryu took his eyes off the pack, glancing around the street. Where's a bicycle? Are there any—oh, there they are. The bike rack outside of the convenience store across the street was packed with them. Kiryu rushed over to the rack, snatching one right off and holding it above his head, like it weighed nothing. As the dogs closed in around him, he swung it in a wide arc, knocking aside the dogs who were too close. The bicycle's frame and tires became mangled from the impact, so it wouldn't be much good as a weapon for longer. Kiryu smashed it on the head of a bulldog, knocking him to the floor. The bicycle shattered into metallic fragments from the hit, leaving him without a weapon.

That wasn't a problem for long though. The bulldog had dropped his wooden tonfa, so Kiryu scooped it up off the ground. Without missing a beat, he struck another dog on the head and sent him to the pavement. A boxer dog ran at him with a knife, but Kiryu slammed the pommel of his tonfa into the man's stomach, spittle coming out of the dog's muzzle. The knife clattered to the ground. Kiryu capitalized on the man being stunned, as he smashed the tonfa on the back of the boxer's head, sending him to the floor right next to his companion. However, he was without a weapon again, as he'd hit so hard the tonfa's shaft had shattered, leaving him with a useless handle.

A husky charged straight at Kiryu, unleashing a flurry of punches that he bobbed and weaved around, as if he were water in a stream coursing around a rock. When the husky tired himself out from his failed attack, Kiryu gave the dog a knee in the stomach, staggering him. Next weapon… Kiryu spotted a nearby fruit stand, a set of oranges on display. He snatched one right out of the box, shoving it into the husky's mouth, the push so hard the husky fell to the pavement with the fruit still in its mouth. Kiryu stomped on the orange and the husky's face, fresh pressed juice lining the concrete.

As he'd said, all of the dogs were put to the ground in less than thirty seconds.

REWARD EARNINGS: 300 Cornerian Credits, 14 Strength EXP, 14 Ability EXP, 14 Spirit EXP, 14 Technique EXP, 14 Charm EXP

The dogs clutched to their fresh injuries as they staggered to their feet, throwing money to the ground as they ran away. "Sorry! So sorry! We'll never do it again!" One of them called out as he fled, hurrying to join his friends.

Kiryu kneeled to collect the bills and pocket change. Funny, he didn't think he'd be doing this too on an alien planet, although the money here was different. He glanced at the bills, showing the face of a bloodhound wearing a general's outfit. The bills declared themselves as Cornerian Bank Credits, legal tender of the Cornerian Federation. Smirking, Kiryu stuffed them in his wallet. It's like an alternate reality where everyone in Kamurocho has become a dog.

Kiryu sensed eyes upon him, and turned around to see Fox standing there, his mouth agape. It looked amazingly big, considering he was a canine after all.

"...What?" Kiryu asked.

"Holy shit! You destroyed all those guys!" Fox's face was aghast, as he stared at the retreating yakuza. "You're scary, you know that?! Smashing a bicycle on top of a guy! Stuffing an orange in a guy's mouth and stomping on it!"

"Like I say, happens every fifty meters or so down the street." Kiryu shrugged. "I'm used to it. I don't even need a job anymore. Everyone who attacks me throws money at me and runs away, once I finish beating them up."

"Sheesh!" Fox shook his head, staring at the fresh cash in Kiryu's hand. "What did you do to piss off so many people?"

"People fight me over almost anything. I've had people come up to me and go 'I don't like your face!' and throw punches."

Fox couldn't speak for a moment, stunned by Kiryu's words. "How does human society even function if everyone's beating the crap out of each other all the time like that?!"

"It's mostly just me." Kiryu shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I'm an outlier."

Fox didn't seem to know how to process that, so he decided to move on. "Anyway, you look kind of like you know what exactly...this place is." Fox looked around "It's supposed to be some kind of recent development. Dunno why they made it look like this, with how everything is jammed so close together."

"I'm curious too," Kiryu glanced along the street. "It can't be an accident this place looks so much like home to me."

"Well, maybe we'll find out more if we ask the locals. Come on."

The two journeyed through the streets, Kiryu still believing he was in a dream or something. It had so many parallels to the Earth Kamurocho it was uncanny. Many of the restaurants seemed to be knockoffs of the Kamurocho originals, plus he spotted a bowling alley and a batting cage too as they went around.

"Do you guys bowl and play baseball too?" Kiryu asked.

"Uh... I haven't." Fox scratched the back of his head. "Hadn't actually heard of those until they opened in this place."

So they're new sports here. But did someone invent them here just like ours?

They came to a pedestrian bridge passing over a commuter railway below. Cones and construction barriers cordoned off a part of the bridge with a broken railing, with various tools, pipes, and other materials for repairing it laying nearby. One of the trains hissed and spit out sparks as it rumbled along the tracks under their feet. Kiryu watched as it passed by, spotting more of these dog people inside, some of them reading the paper while others played games on their phones. Like this was nothing out of the ordinary.

Kiryu and Fox heard a commotion at the other end of the bridge. The thugs from before rushed around the corner, still smarting from their injuries, but now they had someone new in tow. A tall gray wolf stood in the middle of them, a lighter gray coloring his muzzle and the mohawk-like haircut on his head. He wore some sort of strange black bodysuit with a purple vest, purple gloves, and purple boots. The iris on one of his eyes shone as a brilliant purple, but a black eyepatch covered the other one. A huge grin, exaggerated by the size of his muzzle, was plastered across his face.

"You've had it now!" the bulldog from before cradled a big lump on his head, pointing at Kiryu. "The boss is gonna rip you apart!"

Fox jumped in front of Kiryu. "Hey, it's Wolf! He is behind the yakuza, after all!" The vulpine drew his blaster, flipping a switch on the side. "Let me handle this Kiryu." The vulpine raised his weapon. "Okay, Wolf! Come quietly, if you know what's good for you! Don't make me zap you with a stun bolt!"

Wolf remained still where he was, the big grin frozen upon his face. Kiryu had never met Cornerians until today, but something about that smile felt off...