[ yamato meanwhile just kind of. hides his face in his hand a little. because wow he is too old to not freak out a little at the entire scenario more in retrospect, despite the fact that: ]
He-- was fine. Not even a scratch. Takeru managed to get himself out of it on his own. He'd grown up without me realizing it.
[ and it gave yamato a crisis at the time, but he does not share that, because this is embarrassing enough. ]
That was from our first time in the Digital World. He was in second grade and I was in fifth.
[ THIS IS MAKING ICHIRO FEEL LIKE FREAKING OUT!!!!! he like. clutches his heart a little like an old maid. jesus christ. ] Dude, I think - even if he grew up, I think you're allowed to freak the fuck out if your little brother gets handed an AK. What the hell.
... No, he was right. I was being overprotective, before that. And freaking out didn't help me find him any. All I did was make it worse for everyone, and before I knew it, he'd come back on his own. Totally fine.
[ his understanding of what kids should and shouldn't get up to is very skewed now yes ]
[ LOOK THAT FREAKED HIM OUT!!! he just laughs a little, and waves it off. i guess that's normal.
anyway he's gonna explain, but, it looks like he doesn't get to because it's memshare week! ]
[ it's a quick memory, and at first, it's one that's confusing. you are running up the stairs of a building, following behind a guy in a leather jacket with something written on the back of it. you're feeling angry, but determined, but underneath that? you're terrified. there's a single, bright point of fear as you rush to the top floor of a building, because your brothers could be in danger and you have to save them.
as you make it up to the top floor, you hear low, muttered voices - and you hear a panicked gasp, and you know that voice, that's jiro. terror grips your heart like ice and you throw yourself onto the landing and scramble for the door -
samatoki bursts out of the staircase first, and you're a second behind him, and you can see over his shoulder -- a shoe? that is definitely a woman's heeled shoe that goes sailing across from where it hit its original target. it's followed immediately by a girl's voice.
"Hey! You wanted to cut off my fingers! So do it!"
the scene comes into view from behind samatoki - a man that you know as the head of the orphanage you live in is holding a knife in one hand, and the wrist of a young woman in the other. she's holding perfectly still despite the knife a centimeter from her finger, refusing to scream.
...unlike her brother, who launches forward with a scream of YOU FUCKER! and attempts to tackle the man, who just roundhouse kicks him in the stomach and chides him for his loud attack. samatoki snarls at him, but you're not even paying attention, because you look from the brave girl back and you see your entire world, hands tied together, at the wall. terrified, unharmed - but alive.
the emotion threatens to burst out of you, and you're shouting before you can help yourself as you skid onto the scene. ] Jiro, Saburo! I'm coming to get you out of there as fast as I can! Wait for me!
[ the two of them look stunned. jiro stammers a soft, "Wh... why?"
and you love your brothers, so much, but that is a stupid as hell question. ] Does a guy need a reason to rescue his brothers? I'm doing it because you're important to me!
[ the boys stare at you for a moment longer, as you turn all of your fire onto the man who was supposed to raise you, a dick named genchou housen. a person you have never liked, you have never trusted. (you have learned never to trust adults. that burns in your core. you never trust them.)
behind him steps out your boss. mozuku, the head of the dirty jobs business you can't stand. the guy you beat the shit out of with samatoki as you finally broke free of his stairway2heaven just a few days before, and shit starts to get real.
so you battle. (yes, you rap battle, so yamato can see and experience it all.) you fight, and mozuku and housen beat the shit out of you both. the attacks come relentlessly - hypnosis mics break up your whole soul, rattle you from the inside out. you know you could take these clowns with your eyes closed, let alone with samatoki next to you, but you take every single hit, because your resolve is steady and you refuse to be knocked down.
you rap like shit, samatoki says from next to you. you laugh, a scoff, and wipe your mouth, spit blood on the floor, and jerk your head up in defiance. ] I'm not done yet.
[ housen grins, and they another verse comes. brutal, more painful than the last. you can feel it, frying your braincells, making you bleed. another hit might do you in.
you glance to the left. this top floor of this building is a restaurant - there are tables and chairs thrown everywhere, and a roll of silverware is undone on the floor, not far away. you can see a fork, a knife. two pairs of chopsticks.
and you get an idea.
you glance at samatoki. you've barely known each other for 24 hours, but you're on the same wavelength. mozuku laughs. seems like this one's going to be your last!
think again, bastard, you think, and you grab the chopsticks, straighten up, and with zero hesitation, jam them into your ears, popping both of your eardrums in one fluid, painful motion. the world goes deaf, and the pain doesn't matter, even if it makes you want to scream.
because you'll take another twenty rounds of this hell if it means jiro and saburo get to walk out of here alive. you will do anything for the people that matter to you.
[ ICHIRO WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT THE FUCK??? WHAT THE FUCK?????
it's yamato's turn to freak out, because, yo, what the fuck is a hypmic battle and why was there so much blood and ICHIRO YOUR EAR DRUMS ]
What the hell... [ like, part of yamato has to respect the sheer balls of that, but also, what the fuck! was all of that!! ] Were your brothers alright?!
[ ichiro is clearly fine with fine eardrums but like ]
anyway yamato gets right to the part of this that matters the absolute most, so, he nods, reaching up to absently rub at his ear. ] Yeah. Yeah, they were. Two other guys showed up for backup like a minute after we did that.
[ at that, he laughs. ] ...One of 'em was a doctor, even, so he patched me and Samatoki right up. We probably could've avoided doing that, but we both panicked.
... At least you guys ended up okay. [ but still. uh. yikes? ] How... you said they got like real battles, but this was a lot more than I expected. How does it even work?
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He-- was fine. Not even a scratch. Takeru managed to get himself out of it on his own. He'd grown up without me realizing it.
[ and it gave yamato a crisis at the time, but he does not share that, because this is embarrassing enough. ]
That was from our first time in the Digital World. He was in second grade and I was in fifth.
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Second grade?! Holy shit.
[ THIS IS MAKING ICHIRO FEEL LIKE FREAKING OUT!!!!! he like. clutches his heart a little like an old maid. jesus christ. ] Dude, I think - even if he grew up, I think you're allowed to freak the fuck out if your little brother gets handed an AK. What the hell.
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... No, he was right. I was being overprotective, before that. And freaking out didn't help me find him any. All I did was make it worse for everyone, and before I knew it, he'd come back on his own. Totally fine.
[ his understanding of what kids should and shouldn't get up to is very skewed now yes ]
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[ this aged him so much ]
... I'm glad, at least. God, I'd lose my whole mind, I can't blame you. Maybe the women were onto something by banning guns.
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he's not allowed to judge because ichiro just watched a puppet give a gun to a toddler but like ]
slaps a cw: ear trauma for anyone reading this later
anyway he's gonna explain, but, it looks like he doesn't get to because it's memshare week! ]
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it's yamato's turn to freak out, because, yo, what the fuck is a hypmic battle and why was there so much blood and ICHIRO YOUR EAR DRUMS ]
What the hell... [ like, part of yamato has to respect the sheer balls of that, but also, what the fuck! was all of that!! ] Were your brothers alright?!
[ ichiro is clearly fine with fine eardrums but like ]
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anyway yamato gets right to the part of this that matters the absolute most, so, he nods, reaching up to absently rub at his ear. ] Yeah. Yeah, they were. Two other guys showed up for backup like a minute after we did that.
[ at that, he laughs. ] ...One of 'em was a doctor, even, so he patched me and Samatoki right up. We probably could've avoided doing that, but we both panicked.
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... At least you guys ended up okay. [ but still. uh. yikes? ] How... you said they got like real battles, but this was a lot more than I expected. How does it even work?