Chapter 46: "Guts, Broken Bones, and Ren's Greatest Hits of Motivational Shouting"
In which Haruki endures a professional beatdown, Ren delivers a motivational speech nobody asked for, and Reiji proves that childhood grudges age terribly.
Haruki Fujimoto had two rules in life.
Avoid conflict whenever possible.
And especially avoid conflict with childhood friends who had grown up into white-suited martial artists with superiority complexes.
Unfortunately, today had decided to break both rules at once.
Haruki stood near the center of Red Dawn's headquarters with dozens of Olympus fighters surrounding the training yard. Members of Athena's Amazons stood on one side, while the huge fighters of Hephaestus's Combat Sumo occupied the other. Red Dawn gathered behind him, and at the center of everything stood Reiji Takamura, perfectly calm in his spotless white suit.
Ren leaned casually against his reinforced baton and lowered his voice.
"You okay?"
"Nope," Haruki whispered back. "Extremely nope. I think I'm emotionally allergic to dramatic confrontations."
Reiji's smile widened slightly.
"You look nervous, Haruki."
Haruki swallowed.
"Don't worry. This will be over soon."
Haruki took a breath and stepped forward.
"Reiji… listen. I'm not scared of fighting you. Not like before. But I don't actually want to fight you." His hands tightened at his sides. "We were friends once. Friends can spar. They don't have to beat each other half to death over something that happened when they were six."
The smile disappeared from Reiji's face.
"You broke our promise."
"I know."
"You left. I trained every day while you went on with an ordinary life. I spent years becoming stronger because I believed that someday we would meet again and you would have done the same."
Haruki lowered his gaze.
"And when I finally found you?"
Reiji's voice hardened.
"You had forgotten."
"I said I was sorry."
"Sorry does not restore those years."
Haruki scratched awkwardly at his cheek.
"…You know, most childhood friends just send each other messages when they're angry."
Reiji stared at him.
"Right. Bad time for jokes."
Ren decided that was probably his cue.
He stepped between them, baton resting against one shoulder.
"All right, Zeus."
Reiji looked toward him.
"Since you apparently enjoy dramatic speeches, I've got a question. Why exactly are you building Olympus?"
Reiji's expression became serious.
"The Black Heaven Society."
Ren's amusement faded.
"The martial-arts organization?"
"The older generation is dangerous enough," Reiji said. "But there is already another generation growing beneath them. Students. Successors. Children raised by assassins, mercenaries and martial artists who believe strength gives them the right to dominate anyone weaker."
He looked toward the fighters behind him.
"I am building something capable of opposing them."
Ren stared at him for a moment.
Then frowned.
"Okay. There's one major problem."
Reiji raised an eyebrow.
"You're insane."
"That is not an argument."
"I'm serious." Ren gestured toward the young fighters surrounding them. "Most of these people haven't even awakened Ki yet. You're talking about preparing them to fight people raised by some of the most dangerous martial artists on Earth."
"That is precisely why they need training."
"That part isn't the problem."
Reiji's eyebrow rose again.
Ren stepped closer.
"I'm training Red Dawn too. I want them strong. Strong enough to protect themselves, work dangerous jobs, deal with supernatural threats and actually build something with what they learn."
"Then we agree."
"No."
Ren's voice hardened.
"Because I'm not building an army that exists to obey me."
Reiji gave a small shrug.
"Semantics."
"Morality."
That got a few reactions from the surrounding fighters.
Before Reiji could answer, Athena stepped forward from among the Amazons.
"My people chose to remain with Olympus."
Ren looked toward her.
Athena folded her arms.
"The Black Heaven Society represents exactly what martial arts should never become: strength used for domination, cruelty and personal ambition. If Zeus genuinely intends to create something capable of opposing them, then the Amazons will contribute."
Beside her, Hephaestus gave a broad grin.
"Same here. I want my guys stronger, and I want to see how far Ki can take us. If Olympus gives us that chance, I'm interested."
Ren glanced around at the assembled fighters.
For one strange moment, he felt like he had walked into the opening scene of a war neither side was remotely prepared to fight.
"You could do better with us," Ren said. "Ryūseikan will teach you properly. You'll learn Ki. You'll get stronger. But you'll also have people making sure you actually survive long enough to use that strength."
His eyes moved toward Reiji.
"Fighting bad people doesn't automatically make someone good. Look at how he treats people who are supposedly his allies. Look at how he talks to Haruki. If somebody breaks while following him, does he actually care?"
Reiji chuckled quietly.
"Words are cheap."
"Usually."
"Then prove yours."
Reiji stepped backward.
"Let us settle this through the thing everyone here understands."
He raised one hand.
"A fight."
The surrounding crowd immediately became quieter.
"If Red Dawn wins, anyone here who prefers your path may follow you. If Olympus wins, Red Dawn joins me."
Ren narrowed his eyes.
Reiji's gaze moved past him.
"Haruki."
Haruki's stomach dropped.
"You're first."
"…Of course I am."
Haruki had always imagined that if he ever ended up in a dramatic martial-arts showdown, there would at least be some benefit to it.
Maybe confidence.
Maybe impressive music.
Maybe the wind would blow through his hair in a way that made him look heroic instead of terrified.
Instead, he was standing in dusty shoes with sweat running down his back while Ren whispered encouragement beside him like the world's least qualified coach.
"You've got this."
Haruki looked at him.
"I really don't."
"You do."
"Ren, he has been training for years."
"So?"
"So I've been training seriously for less than a week!"
Ren patted him on the back hard enough to make him stumble.
"Then think of it as accelerated education."
"I would prefer regular education."
Ren poked one finger against Haruki's chest.
"Stop worrying about beating him. Go out there and show him that you're not the same person he remembers."
Haruki glanced toward Reiji.
"I'd also like to avoid the hospital."
"A few bruises build character."
"That explains a lot about you."
Ren grinned.
Across from them, Reiji calmly removed his glasses.
"I will not use Ki."
Ren's expression sharpened.
Reiji slipped the glasses into his coat pocket.
"Do not mistake that for mercy. I simply do not need Ki to defeat Haruki."
Haruki winced.
"That was unnecessarily personal."
"This is a demonstration," Reiji continued. "I want him to understand what he could have become."
Ren stepped forward slightly.
"Good. Because if you start using Ki against him, the fight ends."
Reiji smiled.
"I have no need to use a cannon against an insect."
Ren pointed toward Haruki.
"Then go ahead and watch that insect punch you in the face."
Haruki slowly turned his head.
"Your motivational speeches need work."
"I'm improvising."
"That explains it."
Ren finally stepped aside.
Haruki inhaled deeply.
His legs were shaking.
His hands weren't much better.
But Ren genuinely believed he could do this.
Not win.
Even Haruki wasn't delusional enough to believe that.
But stand.
Fight.
Show Reiji that the boy he remembered wasn't the person standing here now.
Haruki clenched his fists.
"I might be ordinary," he muttered.
Reiji settled into stance.
Haruki raised his hands.
"But ordinary people can still fight."
"Ready?" Reiji asked.
Haruki swallowed.
"Yes."
Then he charged.
Reiji raised one eyebrow as Haruki sprinted toward him.
"Hm."
Haruki went straight for a high kick.
Reiji didn't retreat.
He barely even moved.
One hand rose, redirecting the kick past his head. Reiji turned with the motion, stepped inside Haruki's guard and drove an elbow into his shoulder.
CRACK.
Pain exploded down Haruki's arm.
He stumbled backward.
But he didn't fall.
Reiji paused.
"Not bad."
Haruki gritted his teeth.
"You actually trained."
Haruki rushed him again.
This time he feinted high before driving a punch toward Reiji's ribs. Reiji blocked it, but Haruki turned immediately into a back kick before catching Reiji's arm and attempting the judo throw Seijūrō had drilled into him repeatedly.
For half a second, Haruki thought he had him.
Reiji smiled.
"Too slow."
His center dropped.
Haruki's balance vanished.
Then the world flipped.
He hit the ground hard enough to knock the air from his lungs.
Before coming to Red Dawn, that would probably have ended the fight.
Now Haruki rolled with the impact and pushed himself upright.
His shoulder throbbed.
His back hurt.
His legs were already protesting.
But he was standing.
"Again!" he shouted.
The word surprised him almost as much as it surprised everyone else.
Ren immediately started clapping.
"YES! That's what I'm talking about!"
Reina watched Haruki with obvious surprise.
"He's improved."
Hermes folded his arms thoughtfully.
"I am officially upgrading his threat classification from harmless rabbit to angry squirrel."
Haruki glanced toward him.
"That is not helping!"
"It's still an upgrade."
Reiji's smile had faded.
"This isn't how you fought when we were children."
Haruki breathed heavily.
"I didn't train under terrifying lunatics back then."
For a moment, Reiji simply watched him.
Then his stance changed.
Lower.
Tighter.
More serious.
Haruki noticed immediately.
That was somehow both terrifying and satisfying.
Reiji wasn't looking down on him anymore.
"Let us see how long you can stand against me."
Every sensible instinct in Haruki's body suggested lying down and pretending he had lost consciousness.
Instead, he raised his fists.
"Long enough to remind you that I was your friend before I was your opponent."
Then they moved again.
By the time the fight reached its final stretch, Haruki's knuckles were scraped raw, his lip was split, and standing upright had become something he needed to consciously remember how to do.
Yet somehow, he was still standing.
The people surrounding Red Dawn's headquarters had stopped laughing.
Even some of Olympus's fighters were watching him differently now.
Reiji, on the other hand, still looked almost untouched.
His white suit remained irritatingly clean.
His breathing remained controlled.
And his attacks had become faster.
Haruki charged again.
Reiji met him halfway.
A knee slammed into Haruki's stomach.
Air vanished from his lungs.
A palm strike hit his chest before he could recover, followed immediately by a roundhouse kick that sent him spinning sideways and crashing into the ground.
"Stay down!"
Reiji's voice had changed.
The smug amusement was gone.
Haruki lay still.
His entire body begged him to listen.
Then his fingers dug into the dirt.
He pushed himself upward.
One arm trembled badly beneath his weight.
His wrist hurt.
One leg barely wanted to support him.
But somehow, he got back to his feet.
"…Not done."
Reiji stared at him.
Haruki swayed.
"I still have something to say."
Behind him, Ren had spent most of the fight shouting enough encouragement to supply several sporting events.
Haruki ignored him.
For once, this wasn't about Red Dawn.
Or Ryūseikan.
Or proving that he could become strong.
This was about Reiji.
Haruki looked his old friend directly in the eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Reiji's expression shifted.
Just slightly.
"I'm sorry I forgot our promise," Haruki said, voice rough. "I'm sorry I didn't keep training. And I'm sorry you spent all those years believing I would."
The crowd had become completely silent.
"But I can't undo that."
Haruki clenched his shaking fists.
"I can only decide what I do now."
Reiji said nothing.
"I'm not running anymore. And I'm asking you as your friend…"
Haruki took another difficult breath.
"Please reconsider what you're doing."
For a fraction of a second, something changed in Reiji's face.
Something uncertain.
Then it disappeared.
His eyes hardened again.
"This is what I have always hated about you."
Haruki blinked.
"You never know when to quit."
Reiji raised one fist.
"You always think words can solve what strength decides."
Haruki gave the faintest smile.
"Sometimes they can."
Reiji stepped forward.
"Then let me teach you otherwise."
He moved.
"That's enough!"
Ren appeared between them.
Haruki's remaining strength disappeared almost immediately.
He collapsed behind Ren like someone had cut the strings holding him upright.
Ren didn't look back.
His eyes stayed fixed on Reiji.
Reiji stopped.
"So now you want to fight me?"
For once, Ren wasn't smiling.
"No."
Reiji raised an eyebrow.
"I want to beat some sense into you."
Reiji adjusted one sleeve.
"I have somewhere else to be. Make it quick."
Ren rolled his neck once.
Radiant light burst around his arm.
The white-gold gauntlet of Fivefold Ascension formed over it, the luminous core flaring as Vhalor's power answered him.
Ren raised his fist.
"Fine."
His eyes locked onto Reiji.
"Then I'll finish this with one punch."
Hermes looked toward Shōgo.
"Do you think he actually means that?"
Shōgo grinned.
"I hope so."
Ren stepped forward.
And the real fight began.