𝔸𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕦𝕤

♜       ⌜ I am death, and none can tell                 If I open the door to Heaven or Hell —                                        When God is gone and the Devil takes hold,                                                 Who'll have mercy on my soul? ⌟

selective || multiverse & crossover friendly || written by Kkeungi        ᴄʀᴇᴅɪᴛ: ᴏʙʟɪᴠɪᴏɴ ʀᴇsᴏᴜʀᴄᴇs

[General FYI under the cut]

Young Shirogane: HEHEH

Despite having to look up at his 'old acquaintance', Shirogane refuses to be cowed, submissive, nor show any outwards signs of pain nor discomfort (amongst other... complicated emotions). The virtuous and charitable public figure that Giovanni continues to build himself up into is a farce, but he had to acknowledge that the younger man has clearly covered up his true agenda exceptionally well. His alibis were leakproof, his world-spanning network rivaled that of the Interpol Counterintelligence Head's, himself. He really couldn't have fabricated a more blisteringly obnoxious rival than the person crowding him into some rarely trekked corner of the luxury hotel, caging his unfortunately thinner frame against the wall with arms the size of veritable ham hocks.

Ginjiro's trench knife is poised against the sloping angle of Giovanni's neck above the collar of his starched and perfectly ironed dress shirt, a thin and barely perceptible cut that had sliced into the first surface layers of bare skin threatening to ooze fresh blood the longer they remain entangled. He can feel a fine layer of perspiration collecting on the back of his neck from the uncomfortable weight against his bad leg, the sharp and stabbing flares of even damaged nerve endings singing in white-hot agony managing to spread to his hip as well. His forearm has his opponent held at bay, pressing roughly against the jut of his adam's apple in an attempt to choke off airflow if Gio dares move in closer.

"Oh, I'm having a blast- Not every day I get to be pinned by some grease-laden shuckster with such a jacked-up chassis..." he deadpans, hooded eyes narrowing into a hateful glare that could cut a clean facet out of raw diamond.

did you know him

         a good public image was crucial. making just enough appearances before the social elite of the region, maintaining the delicate balance of keeping an aura of a charming billionaire, and that of a successful, law-abiding businessman. while giovanni had once been a man who preferred to spend the majority of his time locked up in his office and pulling the strings behind the schemes of the kantonian underground, his methods had went through major changes after the events of the goldenrod radio tower.

         why shouldn’t he put a focus in keeping up a good front for the people? the profit it brought in was a nice little bonus on the side of the regular business, and it was a good way of keeping the interpol off his tracks  –  as if the bribe money he had dished towards them over the years wasn’t enough.  just by taking a glance around the room, giovanni could spot multiple people who preached their charitable ways for the public, yet had had no moral issues taking a briefcase full of money to overlook whichever gnarly scene they had stumbled upon.  how amusing was it to see them avert their gaze in shame, while being perfectly aware of their knowledge of where giovanni’s generous donations to the charity auction had originated from.

         a tap on the shoulder from one of his executives, now posing as a bodyguard, made the man excuse himself from the conversation at hand. those words whispered by his underling, alerting of the possible threat that had entered the room, piqued giovanni’s interest towards the event in an entirely new fashion.

         his gaze shifted oh-so casually, landing onto that familiar face in a way that couldn’t be a coincidence. a casual stroll towards the drinks table to have his glass refilled was a good excuse to get on a conversation distance. subtle as ever.

          “  how surprising to meet old acquaintances like this,  ”  he lifted the glass onto his lips to hide a smirk, eyes narrowing in amusement towards the other man.  “  be careful not to push yourself too hard, chief. you have many eyes on you.  ”

Ginjiro could have committed all of those ass-kissers attempting to mass scale the social ladder to memory, the lingering malaise of guilt and abject shame for shaking hands (even if proverbially so) over deals struck in VIP rooms and luxury hotels, as well as digital correspondence was enough to pick up on as a scent to track. Naturally, these CEOs and artificially constructed personalities were lousy at covering their tracks- Who would be aware of the countless tales spun and lies crafted when you relied on a PR manager to keep all of the fabrications straight? It was pathetic.

“Is it? A surprise, that is,” Shirogane muses with a false air of congeniality. Oh, he is ever aware of Giovanni’s ‘charms’ and enumerable contributions to the world. He couldn’t even enjoy a basic daily report without hearing some overblown account of how genteel, how selfless the younger man was- What an honor and a privilege it was to have such a singular and stately leader at the helm steering the direction of their society, existing as such an admirable example for future generations.

It made him want to flay his own skin wide open and bathe in salt, drench his broken frame in acid, have his useless and brittle old bones pulverized into dust to be sprinkled in memoriam over the churning waters of some far off Unovan harbor.

The comment about having captured the attention of ‘many eyes’ simply gave rise to a low chuckle.

“I don’t doubt that, but considering all of the noble efforts enacted in the past handful of years- I’d dare to venture that you are our currently esteemed public figure with a massive target painted on his back. I’m not too keen on social media engagement these days, truth be told, but I am rather concerned about the one-sided nature of these ever-growing parasocial dynamics.” Feigning a brief sigh of weariness, the former agent checks his pocket watch out of needing a reason to vacate his seat as soon as humanly possible- Before he takes one of those cute little wooden picks the bar staff employ for cocktail garnishes and jams it straight into the crime lord’s closest eye.

“You must regale me with further exploits, but another time, perhaps. I’m expected to reconvene with the chairman, before he ventures too adjacent to my age.”