Kiryu was sitting in his current residence in California, drinking a bottle of something he had heard been called vodka. It was pretty hard stuff especially considering he wasn't much of a drinker beside the occasional champagne back when celebrating something in his old country, or the casual drinking of sake. The hard stuff called vodka was hitting the spot at the moment as he felt like he needed something with a kick to it, to go along with his reminiscing.

He was remembering how he had ended up California to begin with. He had thrown himself right into his work ever since he had come to America from Japan. Most of it was polishing his English and familiarizing himself with the culture here. Since he was busy with that he never really had the chance to think about and remember everything that led up to his self imposed exile from his home of Japan. Until now it seems. He could remember his last moments before leaving clearly.
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Two men stood shirtless over the top of the tallest building in Kamurocho, Japan. The Millennium Tower it was called. Taking a look at the two men and seeing some of the cuts and bruises on them, it would be easy to come to the conclusion that the two men had been fighting on the rooftop of the building. The heavy breathing would also help one come to that conclusion, but despite the fact that the two men had just exchanged fists, there was no ill will coming from either man. In fact things seemed more peaceful than anything else.

One man to the left would seem odd to anyone at first sight, if not downright creepy. His hair was cut short in the back but hung over at the sides a little bit. His left eye was covered by an eye patch with the design of a snake on it. On his back was the tattoo of a Demon mask that if you looked at it a certain way looked like it was laughing. It was surrounded by swirl patterns and other colored tattoo's but the demon mask was the thing that stood out the most. It went along perfectly with his nickname. His name was Goro Majima, AKA the Mad Dog of Shimano. He was a lieutenant in the Shimano family and right hand to his boss.

He turned slightly to address the man to his left "So this is really it? You're really leaving, Kiryu-chan?" The man asked.
The man named Kiryu continued to look out over the city from his place on the skyscraper. His face showed nothing to how he was feeling, but if anything could be gleaned from the look in his eye, it would be a look of resolution. Kiryu often had a serious look on his face, he was famous for it in fact. Only thing more known than his usual serious countenance the only other more known look on his face was his scowl, that was seen by many of his enemies and would be the last thing they would see for a long time.

He was a man of few words most of the time unless there was a need for him to speak. You could tell this was true by the simple response of "Yeah" he gave to Majima.

Kiryu Kazuma, by the way people who spoke English said their names his name would go Kazuma Kiryu. Like Majima he was also apart of the Japanese underworld. He was apart of the Dojima family and though not a lieutenant like Majima was, he was very influential in his part of the underworld earning the nickname Dojima no Ryuu or in English Dragon of Dojima. He was also known due to his foster father, Shintaro Fuma, being apart of the underworld as well and he was captain of his own family, The Kazama family.

Kiryu and Majima were what some in the country of Japan would call criminals and scum, while others would call them men of honor but the universal term and what everyone knew they were, were Yakuza. The two men belonged to the same clan (organization), the Tojo Clan, but different families (crews).

They were like brothers, though not sworn brothers, which was when two members in the underworld were to look out for and be like brothers in arms to one another, or brothers by blood, but they had a relationship of friends who were like brothers to each other. With a unique relationship like theirs', the one way they were always able to understand each other was through fighting. Their main way to communicate things to each other was through the exchanging of fists. This is what led to the current scene now.

Majima looked at Kiryu with confusion clear on his face.

"So the Dragon of Dojima is really planning to leave it all behind huh? All for Nishki?" Majima asked with disbelief in his voice.
Kiryu listened to the question and nodded

"Yeah. Nishki is my Kyodai (sworn brother). Even if he did own up to it and take the sentence, he wouldn't be able to survive the prison sentence mentally. His sister is still in the hospital and needs another operation. Most importantly, he killed Dojima-taichou (captain) there's no way he would be able to return back to the family after he got out." Kiryu explained again to Majima, his voice sounding tired as it wasn't the first time he explained it.

Majima scratched the back of his head.

"Nishkiyama huh? Who would've thought the little punk had the balls to kill someone. Nevermind it being the captain of your family. And you were so close to starting your own family too. See Kiryu-chan this is why I said you need to discipline your people better." Majima said half lecturing half taunting.

Kiryu snorted as he recognized that Majima was trying to not let things get too dark and serious.

"Yeah, I should start walking around with a bat and knife and regularly beat all my underlings with it whenever I feel like it." Kiryu said dryly

Majima turned to Kiryu and pretended to be offended

"Oi, I don't beat them whenever I feel like it. I beat them when they deserve it. If it was whenever I FELT like it I don't think I'd ever have anyone to work under me."

Majima took a minute and then grew serious once more.

"Seriously Kiryu-chan, can't the old man pull some strings? Maybe avoid the jail time, and we can cover up the fact that it was Nishki who shot old man Dojima?" Majima asked with a little hope tinting in his voice.

"No." Kiryu said sternly and immediately to shut down that idea. "If my father were to do that then it would end up hurting the reputation of both the Dojima and Kazama families. It may even lead to inner war inside the Tojo clan. And trying to cover it up would only then hurt your family and someone would still be able to tie it back to Nishki. No, it has to be me, and to make it look convincing, I'll leave. I'll go somewhere they won't come looking and even if they did, they won't be able to raise too much of a ruckus without any consequences." Kiryu said.

Majima then reached inside his pants pocket, pulling out a somewhat crushed box of cigarettes. Taking one out and putting it in his mouth, he then lit it and took a drag before responding back to Kiryu.

"Where?" Majima asked.

Kiryu then shook his head and said "No, not even you can know where I'm going Majima-niisan. Not yet anyway. If anyone knew then they'd b-" Kiryu was cut off by Majima turning Kiryu to face him for the first time since they had fought each other

"Kiyru-chan, I'm not the rest of them to be so easily bother by the police or anyone else who would be foolish enough to go looking for you. Besides to take my endurance lightly." Majima said with a stern glare and pointed to his eyepatch when talking about endurance.

Kiryu looked at the eyepatch remembering the story of how the Mad Dog of Shimano had lost his eye. It was utter nonsense and had become something of an urban legend in Kamurocho and the rest of the Japanese underworld. But he was also one of the few to know how Majima really had lost his eye, and taking his endurance lightly was not something he would ever do after that. Majima would never betray a friend or someone who considered him a brother. Besides, there was a pact that they had sworn on themselves. Remembering this Kiryu decided that a half answer would suffice here.

"America." He said simply.

"America? Kiryu-chan, are you sure? Things are completely different over there compared to here. COMPLETELY different." Majima said with his eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, I know a few people over there, they'll hide me and give me shelter. In return I'll work for them, they're in the same line of work we are, only a bit different." Kiryu responded.

"Ohh? The dragon flies west to make a name for himself over there? When do you leave?" Majima asked.

Kiryu then turned around to find his shirt and suit jacket and put the shirt on and button it up followed by his suit jacket.
"As soon as I'm done here." He replied.

Majima turned to Kiryu looking at him incredulously

"Now?! You leave for good now without seeing old man Fuma, or that punk Nishki? Don't get me wrong Kiryu-chan it makes me feel all fuzzy inside that you'd fight me one last time before leaving. But not seeing your Tou-chan (father) or Kyodai (brother)?" Majima asked, wondering how many times Kiryu was going to put him in disbelief before he left.

"No. I can't see them otherwise it would look suspicious like we conspired something. You being from the Shimano family can claim complete ignorance but Nishiki and the old man couldn't. And the more they stay quiet the more the Tojo clan and the police would be after them." Kiryu said while looking away and once again not letting any emotion show on his face.

Majima knew he was feeling conflicted and decided to push the issue instead of backing off. It was his way of making sure Kiryu was really and truly resolved to just pick up and leave for the good of everyone else, despite all he would lose.

"What about Yumi-chan? You okay with leaving without saying anything to Yumi-chan?" Majima asked and didn't need to see Kiryu's face to know that he let sadness flash in his eyes and all the emotions his internal conflict had caused on his face for a quick second before he covered it back up again.

Kiryu took a moment to compose himself. And said "Yeah, I'll leave without seeing Yumi too." Kiryu said with as much composure as he could muster.

Majima knew he would but he needed to see the resolve for himself. Now that he seen as much as he could expect he laid off. He knew that it was only because of Yumi that Nishki killed Dojima. He knew how much of a toll the person who was supposed to be Kiryu's sworn brother and the woman he loved were taking on him. So of course he knew how hard it was for him to leave without seeing them again since the night the murder happened.
 
But both men knew, it must be done if this sacrifice was to work.

"Ahh, well then Kiryu-chan. When you get big time over there make sure you don't forget about me." Majima said light heartedly as again he was trying to not let the atmosphere stay dark and gloomy.

Kiryu snorted again but this one was a bit more forced than the last one.

"It's kinda hard to forget about someone as crazy as you Majima-niisan. Damn near impossible even." Kiryu replied dryly again.

Majima clapped once and nodded before standing face to face with Kiryu and saying "Well I guess that's true. But I wasn't talking about me in particular. To be more exact I was talking about our promise."

Majima's voice took on that creepy dark tone that was a mixture of being both deadly serious and joking at the same time. He then said.

"Don't forget.............Nobody gets to kill you.......Except me."

A normal person would've felt chills at the killing intent that Majima put into those words. Kiryu knew him long enough to know that it was as affectionate a goodbye as he would get from this man. And somewhere deep down inside, he was relieved that Majima stayed true to how things have been to the very end.

Majima then patted Kiryu on the shoulder having thrown his shirt over his shoulder at some point during this conversation, and said "Well then, see ya around, Kiryu-chan." And walked off the roof of the building leaving Kiryu to himself.

Kiryu reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out his own carton of cigarettes and put one in his mouth and lighting it up. Taking a drag he watched the smoke he exhaled float up into the night sky as he said aloud what he was thinking. "The Dragon flies west huh?" As he let that idea hang in the air he finished his cigarette and left the tower and would eventually catch a cab to the airport seeing the country one last time for a very very long time.