Yag eating that humble pie.

the moment when you start a new character, and forget you didn't have your endgame-tier items.

"Ey Gammy."

"Fucking kill yourself, Kusanagi."

They were sitting in his favorite Barbecue spot, and - per usual - were sniping at each other. Iori was more annoyed than usual, since for the past three days he'd been absolutely bulldozed by his rival. Granted, as much as it hurt him to say - Kyo did usually beat him, if only by a sliver… but now, Kyo was toying with him. This morning, the man had taken several punches to the gut without even bothering to dodge. If Iori had his normal body, he would never have risked such a thing.

Dammit Howard…

Well, the plus side was Iori found himself hurting a lot less than normal. Kyo pretty much spent the entire duration of their 'battles' calling him a wimp and pushing him over. He had collected a couple of scrapes and bruises, but nothing too serious. Also, nobody got set on fire, so for the first time in a long while, they didn't stink like a chimney stack.

"Nah man… look, you're in the news."

Iori snorted.

"I'm always in the news."

Kyo was scrolling through news articles on his phone with one hand, and shoveling mouthfuls of pickled radish into his face with the other. He had been here for three days already, and usually left after two. Normally, Iori would have kicked him out by now - but with his current predicament it was nice having somebody familiar around. Besides, he was pretty bored. Having the brain to himself was nice, but at the same time, it was pretty lonely. But with Kyo here, they just hopped from restaurant to restaurant to coffee shop to street stand, and participated in lopsided wrestling matches in between. Iori was thankful he had forgotten to cancel the bank card he had issued to Rock during the June Tour - otherwise he would likely have emptied his employee's accounts. Good mistakes... but what did the little shit buy on my dime?!

Kyo interrupted his monologue.

"Nah man... like bad news. Serious news. Not just speculations on your disaster of a sex life."

"What! My sex life isn't a disas-"

"Yeah, sure, man. Yuki loves to read gossip magazines, and apparently you're in every single issue with some article attached about the weird shit you're into. But... Seriously. Here. Take a look."

Kyo's voice had started out mocking, but had dropped into a serious tone. He handed his phone across the table. Iori let the last comment slide, and received it with a frown. He squinted down as he read the article.

Three day rampage, new SouthTown Serial killer nicknamed 'Freeman' terrorizing the night. Four victims thus far have been found, all had been brutalized and had their livers cut out. Please stay vigilant as the police investigate the matter.

Iori blinked. Livers? I certainly sounds like Riot.

He scrolled down to find a grainy photo, evidently a still taken from a CCTV camera. Red hair unkempt and splayed across his face. Posture, hunched over and wiry. Even with the terrible quality, one could see the insanity rolling off the figure. Without a doubt, it was him - if he had managed to lose ten pounds over the past four days… Damn… Riot you little shit.

Kyo interrupted his thoughts.

"That's you, right? I mean… you look really thin in the picture, but still."

"...It's Riot."

Iori sighed and put down his chopsticks. He must have sounded pretty stressed, because Kyo bit back his neverending flow of stupid remarks to shut up for once. He appreciated the silence… because he really needed to think. What the hell am I supposed to do…

Iori had a ton of experience playing mental footsies with his alter-ego, but actually fighting? Physically fighting? He had never done it before. He never had the opportunity, and frankly was not looking forward to it. He had never formulated, nor imagined the need to formulate, any counter-measures against Riot's erratic fighting style.

It might attack me… I mean… shit…

Would it? Riot could recognize him, but that certainly didn't mean he was safe. If Riot got violent - and he obviously had been riding that violence train for the past two days - Iori wasn't sure if he could fight him off, especially since he didn't have flames.

Ah shit… yeah, Riot will kill me… Dammit!

Riot! That little shit knew who he was - it knew it wasn't supposed to run around the city and kill people, and yet - here he was, reading the newspaper and discovering he was SouthTown's newest serial murderer. What the hell was Howard doing in there? Did Riot do something to him? Did he just… fully take over? Eat him up? Crush the boy's consciousness?

Chill, Yagami…

"Hey Yag,"

Iori raised his head, Kyo was asking for his phone back. Iori handed it over without complaint.

"So...You gonna do something about it? I mean, the kid. He's probably in trouble."

"... yeah. No shit."

Kyo started looking smug. He leaned forward and waggled his finger. Iori furrowed his brow and curled his lip.

"You need my help, don't ya, Gammy."

His voice was so incredibly annoying that Iori simply could not make the admission - even if he knew he needed his rival's help.

"..."

Instead, he glared as hard as he could, and with as much hatred as he could muster. Kyo had begun sniggering.

"Aww, What's that face? You don't wanna ask? You're not about to go fight Riot on your own, right? I know you're dumb - but surely you're not that dumb. You'll walk outta there looking like a piece of fried chicken... Come on. Ask nicely and Big Man Kusanagi will make sure nobody hurts you."

"..."

Kyo waggled his eyebrows and, as if on cue, Iori's self-control snapped in half. He yelled something incomprehensible and lunged forward to attack the grinning man goading him along. The bastard began to cackle, and Iori was filled with the overwhelming desire to choke the life out of him.

"You piece of shit I'll kill you!"

Unfortunately, in that moment, Iori forgot he was no longer heatproof, and planted his palm on the barbecue stove as a pivot to vault over the table. The pain wasn't bad, but was so unexpected his snarl became a yelp, and the shock threw off his trajectory. He ended up missing his target entirely and barreled headfirst into the chair next to Kyo.

"Hahahaha~ oh my god… Bitch, you alright?"

Iori didn't reply. He had managed to wedge his entire upper body in the gap between the seat, and the backrest of the restaurant chair, and was stuck there. He decided not to embarrass himself further and just dangled there. He stared alternatively at the floor, the restaurant's confused patrons, and his bright red, blistering palm. He shut his eyes and dropped his head.

Kyo was having the time of his life. He was barely getting words out between giggling like a schoolgirl, snorting, and choking on his own breath.

"Aww, (hahahaha) come on, man. Hey, let's go. You alright? I told you, you were gonna burn yourself. Hey, Hey! I'll pull you out. Let's go get Riot, okay?... Hey, Yag?"

Kyo is the best ngl. He decided to stick around to help out because Yag found himself in a pickle. He was supposed to go home like 2 days ago.

ofc that doesn't mean he's not gonna troll the shit outta best boi.