If you didn't see my profile last week, updates will be slowing down - probably about one upload every two weeks. I'll try and mitigate this as much as possible but I'll be increasingly busy and away from writing. As always, my profile is the most up to date news on my writing so please keep an eye on it if ever you feel like you missed something. Thank you and enjoy.

Tokyo - Fifteen Years Ago

The city was ruined, there was no doubt about it. Even from so far away Kiryu could see how badly the nuke had devastated the city. As a child, Kiryu had read about the effects of such a weapon, the scars it left behind on those unfortunate enough to survive such a catastrophe. He hoped Kazama-san was spared most of that pain. One way…or another.

A hand on his shoulder brought Kiryu's attention to the rest of the car, "We will be arriving shortly, are you ready?" Kashiwagi asked.

The captain held a baton out, a weapon in case things went awry. Kiryu nodded and grabbed the baton, it was a small but weighty thing. Dense metal that could definitely break a bone or two. "I have a question."

"It's about your brother, isn't it?" The elder yakuza asked.

Kiryu nodded, "Do you know where he is? How is he?" Kashiwagi did not immediately reply, and that worried Kiryu.

"After we find Kazama-san, we need to talk about Nishikiyama." His face was solemn and conflicted, "He's changed since you went to prison, I don't think you'd like what he's become."

Kiryu's heart sank, he had a feeling that things would not stay the same when he got out of jail. "There is more that you should know, but right now focus on finding Kazama-san. He needs us right now."

Kiryu did not argue.

"Sir," The man driving the car drew their attention, "We are arriving."

Kiryu looked past the line of vehicles, ahead of him was the Tojo Clan compound. Part of the main building was sunken in, the roof had caved in from debris. He had to get in there quickly.

"Everyone out!" Kashiwagi ordered.

The men quickly exited their cars and assembled in front of the gate, Kiryu followed right behind them. Now with a better view he could see a small fire burning inside, time was not on their side.

"We don't have much time." Kiryu looked to Kashiwagi; the man examined the compound thoroughly. He agreed with Kiryu's assessment and gave the order for the men to enter the compound.

The courtyard was littered with bodies, disheveled and thrown around at random. Likely due to the force of the explosion. Kiryu knelt down to look at the fallen Yakuza members. The faces of the Tojo men looked frozen in time, many of them had looks of horror on them.

"Aki!"

Kiryu turned around, one of the men that was brought on had keeled over, in front of him a puddle of his vomit. The man's friend stood by his side, keeping Aki upright.

"I don't feel good." Aki said, stumbling each step.

"Get that man back to the cars, everyone else hurry into the compound. Find our Patriarch!" Kashiwagi shouted, as the two men walked back to the cars the rest ran into the building.

"What's wrong with him?" Kiryu asked.

Kashiwagi gave a grim face, "I fear it is the radiation from the explosion."

"But we aren't in the city proper."

The Tojo Clan headquarters was on the outskirts of the great city, far enough away from the explosion to not be completely flattened. Kiryu didn't expect the bombs' sickness to reach this far.

"Well well, if it isn't Kiryu-chan!" Kiryu recognized that voice, it was someone he really would not want to deal with right now.

At the gate entrance were a couple handful of men, and at the front was none other than Goro Majima.

"Majima." Kiryu sternly greeted.

The one-eyed Yakuza swaggered into the courtyard with a dozen other men backing him up. Kiryu shouldn't be surprised that Majima had a less than serious attitude about the current situation, he was always one to make light of things. Still, the situation around them was dire, even Majima had to realize that.

"Outta the slammer already? They musta let you go early for good behavior, huh?" Majima slinked in front of Kiryu, almost sizing him up. Sitting on his shoulder was a metal bat he bounced up and down. "Certainly you didn't go soft, yeah?"

"Majima, surely you realize what is going on here?" Kiryu motioned off to the distance where the mushroom cloud hung over the city of Tokyo. "We don't have time to waste."

Majima looked over to the city, his sneering grin dropped, "Oh yeah, I know what this is. The end of the world, at least, the one we knew." His voice became solemn, dull even, "Every blood, sweat, and tear gone into making the world we live in today will have been all for nothing."

It was rare that Kiryu would see this side of Majima, the part of him that actually sounded like a reasonable man. It seemed ironic that the apocalypse would bring out the more level-headed Majima.

"But I'm not here for that." Majima lifted his bat, and pointed it directly to Kiryu, "I wanna make sure I fulfill that little promise I made to you five years ago."

A confused look must have sprouted on Kiryu's face, as Majima seemed to look hurt. "Don't you remember? Our fight! I wanted you to fight me, but I had to find a good reason to, remember?"

That night five years ago in the alley beside Serena, Majima had beaten Kiryu with an umbrella. Majima's strikes stung like hell but it was nothing he hadn't felt before.

"Ah, yes, I remember now. Have you found a reason?" Kiryu asked.

Majima gave a wide smile, "You know, for the past few years, I was stumped. But after coming here today, I think I may have just found my answer."

Majima lowered his bat and reached into his jacket, and pulled out a gun.

"If you don't fight me, I'll send my boys inside and kill Kazama-san." Behind him even Majima's backup seemed shocked by this.

"You wouldn't!" Kiryu could hear Kashiwagi argue.

The Mad Dog simply laughed, "You willing to bet on that? The old world is dead, Kiryu, why not make sure we die with as few regrets as possible."

"Kiryu!" Kashiwagi's urgent voice told him all he needed to know, Majima was a threat that needed to be stopped.

"Very well." Kiryu cracked his knuckles, "Fight me Majima!"

The One-Eyed Assassin cackled as he threw his gun away, "No regrets!"

Goro Majima
Tojo Clan
Patriarch of the Majima Family

"Kashiwagi, find Kazama-san, fast!" Kiryu shouted as Majima ran at him with his metal bat raised.

The captain did not bother to reply, instead going straight for the building. Leaving Majima to him.

The Mad Dog did not hesitate in attacking him with a downward swing, one that Kiryu easily avoided. The metal bat hit the concrete ground with a loud 'clang'. Kiryu did not miss the opportunity to roundhouse kick his opponent at the perfect opportunity.

Majima reeled back, "You haven't gone completely soft, good. I want this to be good."

Majima and Kiryu circled each other, waiting for either to attack. Like before, Majima's impatience got the best of him as he attacked first and thrust the bat forward.

Kiryu brushed the blunt weapon away with his forearm, but Majima was quick to redirect his momentum to Kiryu's open side. The bat hit Kiryu's side hard, try as he might to lessen the blow by following the bats movement; the air in Kiryu's lung still left him.

Majima did not stop in his assault, whipping the bat left and right but each attack was blocked. "You make a good whipping post Kiryu-ch-ACK!" His words died in his mouth as Kiryus fist implanted itself into Majimas body.

"Pay attention." Kiryu commanded.

The Dragon reeled its other hand back and launched forward straight into Majimas face, knocking him down with ease. Kiryu did not relent, grabbing Majima by his leg and launching them around. The body flopped hard against concrete ground with a crunch, that definitely hurt him.

"Are you done?" Kiryu asked between labored breaths.

Majima shakily stood up, "Is that all?" He chuckled, "I haveta be honest, I was worried you'd lose all your spunk spending five years in the joint. But noooo…you still got that spark in ya!" The bat fell from his grasp, ringing as the metal hit the ground.

"Are you done?' Kiryu asked once again, preparing himself again to fight.

Majima shook his head, "I won't be done until I see you on the ground, Kiryu-chan!" The Mad Dog reached into his jacket and pulled out his tanto knife.

"If that's what it will take, don't expect it to be easy." Kiryu regained his composition, ready to start their fight again.

Majima only gave him a wild smile, "That's what I love to hear!" He lowered his stance, his knife gleaming in the light of the day.

"MAJIMA!"

"KIRYU!"

The two juggernauts rushed towards each other, ready to fight as long as their bodies would allow them.

"Enough!"

Everyone stopped, standing on the opposite side of the courtyard was Captain Kashiwagi, but he was not the man who commanded everyone here.

"Kazama-san!" Kiryu looked at his adoptive father in horror.

Shintaro Kazama stood bloodied across half his body, bandages covered as much of him as he could but it looked hasty. He looked like he had a foot in the grave. Kashiwagi was careful to guide the Patriarch away from the building, but the two were not alone.

In stark contrast Futoshi Shimano looked barely grazed, "Put that away Majima unless you want to eat a bullet." The Patriarch's reprimand caused Majima to stow his knife.

Kiryu did not wait to rush over to his father figure, "Kazama-san, we need to get you to a hospital."

Kazama coughed violently, a trickle of blood landed on the ground. Despite his grievous injuries the man spoke calmly, "We will, but order must be established."

"What do you mean?" Kiryu asked, what was more important than the Patriarch's health?

"He means that Sera is dead." Shimano walked toward Majima, "Which means the Tojo is leaderless, without direction. And I make claim to it." Shimano boisterously shouted to all that could hear him.

"As the highest ranking officer, I am the only person who can lead us!"

Murmurs elicited from all around, if Shimano was being truthful that Sera was dead along with the rest of the high ranking officers…

"Liar, you are not the only officer alive!" Kashiwagi shouted.

All eyes turned towards Shintaro Kazama, half dead and barely walking. "Ha!" Shimano laughed, "Kazama can barely walk, let alone lead a whole clan. The world as we know it requires a steady hand, with the convictions to do what is necessary!"

Already Kiryu could hear the whispers, the men surrounding them looked at each other with uncertainty.

"He's only like this because you left him for dead," Kashiwagi refuted, "If we did not arrive on time you would have left him trapped under a beam. You are a snake, Shimano!"

"Is this true?" Majima asked.

The officer frowned, "If I said yes, what difference would it make?"

Majima thought for a moment, "Not at all." Majima stood resolute with his decision.

"I should have expected this from you, Shimano," Kazama-san spoke up, "But I didn't think you'd be this dishonorable to achieve your goals." A coughing fit sent him keeling over.

"As long as I live," Kazama started, "You will never take control of the Tojo Clan."

Kiryu did not hesitate to stand in between Shimano and Kazama, letting everyone know where the Dragon of Dojima stood. The title, while often a burden Kiryu thought of trying to dismantle, would sway many to their side.

"You're a stubborn fool, Kiryu," Shimano chuckled, "But, so be it. You've chosen the loser's side, I won't bother trying to dissuade you."

Shimano turned around, those under him or persuaded by him followed. Majima was the last to leave, keeping his eye on Kiryu.

"Don't make any mistakes, Kiryu-chan. I don't follow him because he's right, all I'm in it for is to fight you. That's it." The Mad Dog turned and followed its master, leaving the Kazama Clan alone.

Now assured of his safety, Kiryu turned his attention back to his father. "We must go, now." Kashiwagi did not argue, calling for the cars to pick them up.

With the entire clan packed up, Kiryu sat beside the Patriarch attending to whatever wounds he could.

"Kiryu…" Kazama started.

"Don't speak, save your energy." Kiryu dismissed him.

"You must know…about Nishikiyama."

Kiryu stopped and turned towards his father, "He…he was also an officer…" He doubled over in another coughing fit, but Kiryu understood.

He would never see his brother again.

To Become a Dragon

Kiryu woke up to the sound of knocking, it was muffled but he could hear it as he regained consciousness.

"Uncle Kaz, wake up, you have a call!" The sound of Haruka from the other side of the door was the last bit he needed to fully regain his awareness.

He checked the time on his phone, it was half past Eleven already. He didn't mean to sleep in this long. "I will be out soon." He called out as he stood up.

Kiryu quickly went through his morning routine before walking down stairs. He could hear the kids talking in the dining room already, they sounded excited, were they talking to someone?

"...ou've been? We were getting really worried about you."

As he walked in, he could see all the kids surrounding a phone placed in the center of the table. The screen was an active phone call, with the name of its most recent departure displayed.

"Sorry, I just didn't know how to break it to you all. I didn't think you'd worry so much." Shinji's voice spoke from the small speakers, clear enough for everyone to hear.

Haruka was the first to notice him, silently urging him to get close. "We just wanted to know you were safe, you left and said you'd be back in a couple days. It's been weeks." Ayako was the most worried about Shinji's bout of silence after leaving Morning Glory, not that everyone else weren't but she was the most vocal about it.

"So, are you staying in Tokyo-3?" Shiro quietly asked.

Shinji sighed, "Unfortunately, yeah. I got a new job with my father, it requires me to stay here for a while." There was some hesitancy in his voice, Kiryu could tell that not even Shinji knew how long he'd be there.

"Well if you can't come to us maybe we can come to you?" Koji suggested.

"No!" Shinji's reply was sudden and unexpected, it was a panic response. "I mean, no, I wouldn't want you guys to do anything extreme for me. I'll see if I can come by sometime when I'm not busy, so please, don't bother trying to come over."

Haruka must have picked up on it too as she wordlessly gave Kiryu a worried look, "If you say so. Before you go, I think someone would like to have a talk with you." Haruka nudged Kiryu to speak up.

"Hello, Shinji."

The phone was silent for a moment, "Hello Kazuma-san." Kiryu chuckled, even a city away he could tell he was bowing in respect.

"We're having a casual conversation, Shinji, no need for honorifics."

"Hello Uncle Kaz." Shinji reiterated.

"Better. How are you doing?" He asked. "Tell us about Tokyo-3."

Shinji talked about the city in detail, his current living conditions, and how he was going to school. While he didn't go into details, Shinji talked about the people he worked for, NERV. Kiryu didn't know a lot about the organization, but it was safe to say he didn't trust them.

Before Shinji left, Kiryu had done as much research as he could about the organization. There was little known about NERV outside of it being a U.N. project designed to 'Defend humanities future'. What that meant, he had no idea. Kiryu had sent people to check on the city a few days before Shinji left. To their knowledge there was nothing strange with the organization other than that no one knew what they did.

"Have you made any friends?" Kiryu asked.

"Er, yes?"

"Well, tell us about them, you never tell us about your friends." Eri bounced on her toes, eager to know Shinji's newest friend.

"Well, she…how do I put it?"

"She huh? Did Shinji go and get himself a girrrrlfriend?" Mitsuo teased.

"No! Please don't misunderstand, Ms. Misato is a nice woman."

"An older woman?!" Eri asked unbelievably.

"Okay, that's enough teasing." Kiryu took pity on the boy, "Go ahead and explain Shinji."

"Ms. Misato is my caretaker, and my boss. I live with her as I go to school and work." The boys didn't stop cheekily making comments as Shinji explained his living condition. "She's nice, a bit of a slob, but nice."

"I'm glad you aren't living there alone, especially with Akiyama lingering around." Kiryu told him, "But please, don't take so long to call us next time, okay?"

"Of course Uncle Kaz."

The rest of the call, the kids asked more about the city, it's landmarks, but all Kiryu could think about was getting in touch with Akiyama. Shinji was light about his work with NERV, and he suspected that whatever he did was not something that could be talked about so openly on the phone. He would have to send a couple of men over to Tokyo-3 and get word from Akiyama.

For some reason, he felt like this was the start of something big.

Hours later - Elsewhere in Tokyo-2.

Neon lights lit the slick streets of Tokyo-2, bars and clubs lined the building faces beckoning everyone passing by. One particular bar stood partially empty, it didn't look as lavish or as grand as the others. Anyone with a serious look however could tell it was distinguished from the rest by age. Fine in its craft, humble and modest in its attitude.

"Sake?" The bartender asked.

The patron nodded, and was quickly served a small cup.

They had done this routine a dozen times before, the man would come into the bar, he would ask him for a drink, and the man would simply nod no matter the drink he was given. The bartender had given up making small conversation with the man, as every time he did try he was only met with silence. It's been like this for the past couple months.

The bartender didn't mind quiet customers, it gave him time to think, time to clean his space, time to do anything really. But it was unnerving how much this one man didn't talk. In the end it was all moot, the man paid well and let him do his work.

The door to the bar opened as another patron entered, "Evening Hiro," The man waved as he entered the bar.

"Same to you Akiba." Hiro reached underneath the bar and pulled out a glass and started pouring out Akiba's usual order, "You're early, didn't expect you for another hour."

Akiba sat down at the bar and briefly gave a weary eye to the other patron, "I just needed to get out for a bit, working myself too hard lately."

Hiro didn't know what Akiba's work was, the man had talked about it only in vague terms - if he had to guess it was pretty important. "Well, you're always welcome into the bar whenever you feel like you need to get outta that place of yours."

Hiro handed over the glass, "Thanks, I appreciate it." Akiba took a swig, losing some tension that he had for some time now. His eyes once again turned to the other patron, inspecting him up and down.

The mysterious man wore a suit and tie, all black, his hair slicked back reaching all the way to the base of his neck, most egregious of all was the man still wearing tinted glasses inside of the bar. It was even night outside, why would someone wear that at this time?

The door to the bar opened once again, this time an older man had entered. He wore a 3-piece suit and had the mug of someone who had just gotten off of a business deal.

"Evening sir, what would you like to drink tonight?" Hiro asked as he reached down for a glass.

"[One whiskey.]" Hiro did a double take, the old man had spoken english to him,

"I'm…sorry I don't understand english, can you say that again?" Hiro asked.

The old man grumbled, Hiro didn't quite understand it either, "Whiskey." This time he spoke in his native tongue.

Hiro nodded and started pouring a glass.

The old man sat on the other side of Akiba, precariously sandwiching him on either side. The entire bar was open, more than a handful of seats were left empty on either side. Hiro was slowly finding this suspicious.

"Here." Hiro slid the glass to the old man.

"[Thank you.]" The old man said before taking a sip, "[You should have told me he was here, we could have finished this weeks ago.]"

"[He was in there area, I just didn't know where exactly.]" The man who didn't talk finally spoke up, speaking english

"Sir, I'm sure you two are having a decent conversation, but please limit your english." Hiro was frankly becoming uncomfortable hearing two people talk in front of him and he couldn't understand.

"[...Very well, let's finish this.]" The old man grabbed Akiba by the head and forcefully slammed it straight into the bar.

Before Hiro could say anything the other man roughly threw the glass at his face, breaking against his face as the man fell flat on the floor.

"Agh! Stop!" Akiba shouted as he clawed at the hand pushing him down to the bar.

The old man grabbed his arm and twisted it causing Akiba to yell in pain more, "Don't fight back." The man cooly demanded.

To his right the other man fished out a sack from jacket and covered Akiba's head, they didn't stop there, he could feel them wrangling his hands together and placing them into handcuffs.

"[Let's go.]" The old man said.

"[What about the bartender?]"

"[Deal with it.]" Akiba could feel himself being moved away from the bar, as they reached the entrance he could hear the quiet expulsion of air, a silence gun had just gone off. The bartender was dead.

Akiba felt himself thrown into a car, a couple of doors opened and closed around him, the old man said something in English and the car started to drive. They were left in silence for what felt like forever, Akiba was near shaking, the thought that tonight would be the last day of his life was becoming a bigger threat.

After a while, the car stopped, outside he could hear something moving - a gate perhaps - and the car continued forward. When the car stopped, Akiba was forcefully pulled from the car and shoved into a chair. They immediately chained him to the chair by his ankle, making sure he couldn't move.

The sack around his face was taken off, and he could finally see the room around him. It was a large empty garage, with only the car he came in occupying any space.

"Who are you, why did you kidnap me?!"

"I'm sure you know why we have brought you here, Shoichi Akiba, or should we say Shoichi Nanba, famous investigative journalist from JTV responsible for breaking the 'Great Wall of Ijincho'." The old man circled Shoichi like a carrion bird, "We were quite impressed with your work, frankly we would have let you continue it…if you didn't poke your nose into our own work."

"So I was right, the military base in Okinawa was a ploy for something greater, what is it? Please tell me!"

Shoichi felt something cold and hard pressed against his temple, "No more questions from you." With the pull of the trigger, Shoichi Nanba was officially dead to the world.

The garage was quiet, with only the small clatter of a bullet casing ringing across the ground.

"You've done well, I'll be sure to let your masters at the Daidoji know your work was vital to Shoichi Nanba's erasure." The old man complimented.

The Daidoji agent grunted, "I didn't know the CIA spoke with the Daidoji often."

"Only out of business stipulations, our organizations usually steer clear of each other. That is until higher powers ask us to work together for a common cause."

The Daidoji agent knew vaguely of what the American agent spoke of, it was seldom acknowledged among the Daidoji but even so far up the pole in the criminal underground, the Daidoji were the arm of an even greater power. If that power even managed to hold the leash of the CIA…he wondered who was powerful enough to reign in the Americans.

"Tell me." The Daidoji agent started.

"Hm?"

"Did you pick me, knowing my relationship to him?" He asked.

The CIA agent stayed mum for a few seconds before relenting, "Your assignment to this mission was not my choice, but I did volunteer. Before he passed, he sent letters about the two of you. He was proud of you, I wanted to see if his words were true."

"Were they, Kazama-san?"

"Of course, Nishikiyama."

Lotta set up in this chapter, and a really big reveal. Yes you are correct, that is indeed Joji and Nishiki in the last segment of this chapter. Their inclusion is two-fold, one because I wanted to introduce the 'criminal underground' element soon (as we will see more of it with Kaji) and two because I always thought it was quite sad that Nishiki wasn't able to see his brother grow older. Compared to his importance in the series, he doesn't get a lot of time in the grander story of Kiryu's life. This also works as a way to represent the 'Agent' fighting style from LAD: Gaiden. Overall I expect Nishiki and Joji to be excellent additions to the story, and I hope you all look forward to it as well.