Ren dragged Kaito into the medic's shrine, which, by the way, reeked of herbs and whatever ancient incense was left burning. The light in there? All weird and rainbowy from the stained glass. Kaito basically collapsed onto the nearest bed, looking like he'd just run a marathon with a boulder strapped to his back.
"Please tell me I'm about to get, like, magically fixed up," Kaito groaned.
Ren made a face. "Yeah, nah. Not happening."
Meanwhile, this absurdly pretty medic was patching Ren up, and Kaito kept sneaking glances, which Ren did not miss. "Quit staring and focus for once. Ever had anything this nuts happen before? Anything even a little weird?"
Kaito blinked. "Uh… yeah? I get these dreams, where some dude with a shiny ice sword chops up these black shadow things."
Ren perked up, like she'd just sniffed out free food. "Alright, that's actually helpful. Say this: *Sylus Veyne*."
Kaito said it—boom, next thing, he's airborne. Completely off the bed, faceplants onto the floor, out cold. Zero warning.
Fast-forward two hours. Kaito wakes up, blurry-eyed, and spots Ren practically flirting with the medic. He's instantly annoyed, so he swings a punch. Ren snatches his fist out of the air like it's nothing.
Ren just laughs. "What's with you?"
Kaito scowls. "You zapped me or something. Thanks for that, I guess."
Ren grins, pure cocky energy. "Chill out. You really think you could land a hit on me?"
Kaito tries again. Nope, still blocked. He hops back, suddenly noticing this freaky blue aura around Ren. "You look like you're about to freeze the room. What's with that?"
Ren's voice drops a few octaves, all serious suddenly. "Lie down, Kaito. Trust me."
Honestly, Kaito figures if he doesn't listen, he's toast. So he does.
Ren orders, "Say *Sylus Veyne* again—and this time, punch me."
Kaito does, and holy hell—his fist connects and the entire wall behind Ren just explodes. Dust, broken glass, the works.
He's panting, hands shaking, but underneath it all, he feels… weirdly safe. "What the hell just happened? Why do I feel fine now?"
Ren shrugs, leaning back like he does this every Thursday. "You see me as a threat, your instincts flip a switch, boom—now you've got some confidence. Doesn't mean you're stronger than me, not even close. That old fear? Still real, just hiding under all that adrenaline."
Kaito tries to process. "So how'd you figure out my bloodline so fast? Didn't you say that stuff's supposed to be hard?"
Ren's grinning now, leaning against the rubble like it's a sofa. "Usually, yeah. But there's only one legendary lunatic with a glass sword fighting shadows and it's just popular and your symptoms are common in your bloodline. You're not exactly subtle, dude."
Kaito groans. "So I just lucked out?"
"Luck is putting it lightly. Those dreams? That's Sylus Veyne, your great-great-whatever grandpa. You're number fourteen in the Veyne line."
Kaito's mouth goes dry. "So… what the hell do I do now?"
Ren pushed off the wall, eyes gleaming. "Now comes your first assignment."
"Let me guess… rescue a cat?"
"No. Rescue the world. But first—let's get you equipped."
Ren drags Kaito over to the club's boxing ring, and man, it's chaos in there. Sweat, noise, people tossing hooks like it's free sample day at a street fair. You can practically taste the adrenaline.
Kaito whistles, eyeing the crowd. "Who're all these wannabes?"
Ren just shrugs, playing it cool. "Eh. Trainees. Don't get too distracted."
Kaito gives him this cocky grin. "Wait—didn't you say it was one-on-one?"
"Yeah," Ren says, straight-faced. "Not everyone gets their sensei tagging along holding their hand. Feel special yet?"
Kaito laughs, "So you're basically unemployed, huh?"
Ren's eye twitches. He says nothing, but you can tell he's dying a little inside.
"Hop in the ring," Ren barks. "Go show off against those guys."
Kaito strolls up, all zen-like. What nobody here knows? Dude's a pro. This is gonna be good.
Bell rings. Kaito moves like a ghost, then—bam! Ryuu Tori goes down hard. Poor guy. He's a rookie boxer, but apparently a big deal with yōrei. Not that it helped.
Kaito wipes his nose, mutters, "Too easy."
The whole place just... freezes. You could hear a pin drop, if anyone dared move.
Kaito whoops, "Yo, did I just win a date or something? Ren-sensei, you see that? Guess you're not the only one with a Bankai now."
Ren sips his tea, trying to look unfazed, but his eyes are huge. "That was... impressive. Okay, let's roll. Got somewhere else to take you."
Kaito hops out, practically vibrating with hype.
Ren's acting all chill, but inside? He's low-key amazed. His new kid just smacked down one of the club's golden boys. Not bad.
They head to the next zone—here, it's weapon central. Swords, axes, stuff you probably shouldn't hand to teenagers.
"Pick your poison," Ren says.
Kaito grabs a scythe, grinning like a maniac. "Heads up—I'm winning this, too."
Sixty seconds later? He's on his back, seeing stars. Some girl with a stick just demolished him. Not even a fancy stick—just straight-up wood.
Ren arches an eyebrow. "You lost to a stick. A stick, Kaito."
Kaito groans, "Just—help me. Please. For the love of god."
Ren shrugs and walks off. No sympathy, only judgment.
For six miserable hours, Kaito gets stomped flat by everyone and everything. Face looks like mashed mochi by the end, ego shredded to confetti.
He staggers back, wild-eyed. "Bro. That girl's scarier than my sister. And my sister's nuts."
Ren gives him a once-over. "Alright. You're done for today."
Deep down, Ren wonders if he pushed things a little too far. Eh. Builds character, right?
He points Kaito to the medic. "Go get patched up.", "Since you won, here—take the medic's details."
Kaito grabs the chit and heads over, eager to impress.
He opens the file, flashing a confident smile at the medic. But then his eyes catch a certain line:MarriedSpouse: Ren Murakami
Kaito's face drains of color. He sits down, slumped in comedic disappointment.
The medic raises an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"
Kaito forces a weak smile, "N-nothing… I'm just… sorry."