The dojo was quiet that evening, yet Kaizen found no peace within its walls. The lesson from earlier still gnawed at him. Renji's recklessness, Bang's rebuke, the cries of fearful shopkeepers all lingered in his chest. He trained alone under the moon, fists striking the wooden post until his knuckles split and bled.
"Control and decisiveness," he muttered between ragged breaths. "How do I hold both at once?"
The night answered with silence. Or so he thought.
A voice drifted from the shadows, mocking yet smooth."Funny. You look more like a caged animal than a disciplined fighter."
Kaizen froze, fists still raised. His eyes darted toward the courtyard wall. A figure perched there, crouched with lazy grace. Moonlight revealed the sharp grin, silver hair catching the light like a blade.
Garou.
Kaizen's heart pounded. He had seen this man before, in passing the rogue disciple whispered about in the dojo's hushed tones. The one even Bang regarded as dangerous.
Garou hopped down effortlessly, landing with feline ease. He walked toward Kaizen, hands in his pockets, expression unreadable.
"You're Bang's new toy, huh?" Garou tilted his head, studying him. "Kaizen, wasn't it? The quiet one. Always brooding, always grinding away. You're practically begging someone to break you."
Kaizen steadied his stance. "What do you want?"
Garou chuckled. "Relax. If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be bleeding out on the floor. I'm curious, that's all. I keep hearing whispers about you. The disciplined prodigy, the one Bang thinks might be worth molding." His grin sharpened. "So I came to see what kind of prey you are."
Kaizen's instincts screamed danger, but he refused to flinch. "If you're here to test me, then stop talking."
That earned him a laugh, sharp and genuine. "Oh, I like you. But you don't get it, do you? This isn't about fists, not yet. It's about philosophy."
Garou's eyes gleamed, reflecting the moonlight. "Tell me, Kaizen. When you fought those thugs today, what did you feel?"
Kaizen stiffened. He was watching…?
"I felt responsibility," Kaizen answered cautiously.
"Wrong." Garou stepped closer, circling him like a wolf. "You felt hesitation. I saw it in your stance, the way you moved. You weren't fighting to win you were fighting not to lose. To avoid hurting them too much, to protect everyone, to balance every little thing." He sneered. "That's weakness."
Kaizen's jaw clenched. "Control is not weakness. Recklessness endangers lives."
"Control?" Garou spat the word. "That's just fear dressed up as virtue. You think Bang preaches restraint because it makes you stronger? No. He preaches it because he's scared of what happens when you let go. He's old. He's afraid of monsters."
Garou leaned in, eyes piercing. "Me? I embrace the monster."
Kaizen's breath quickened. He tried to hold firm, but Garou's words burrowed into his chest, unsettling truths he hadn't admitted.
"You're lying to yourself," Garou continued. "You want to cut loose. You want to feel it the raw thrill of overwhelming someone, of knowing they can't touch you. That's why your fists shake when you stop. Not because you're tired. Because you're restraining what you really are."
Kaizen said nothing, but his silence was answer enough.
Garou smirked. "See? You feel it too." He stepped back, raising his arms theatrically. "That's what separates me from you. I'm honest about it. I don't play hero, I don't hide behind talk of protection. I fight because I want to. Because domination is the purest truth there is."
Kaizen finally spoke, voice low but steady. "That's not strength. That's corruption."
Garou's smile widened. "And yet, I always win."
The air grew heavier between them. Kaizen shifted into stance unconsciously, every nerve alive. Garou noticed and grinned wider.
"Oh? You want to test me already?" He cracked his knuckles. "Fine. Let's play a little game."
In a blur, Garou lunged. His fist cut through the air like a blade, stopping an inch from Kaizen's face. The wind of the strike stung his skin.
Kaizen didn't move. Not out of calm, but because he couldn't. His body had locked under Garou's speed.
Garou chuckled, withdrawing his fist. "Too slow. But you didn't flinch. Not bad."
Again he struck this time at Kaizen's ribs. Kaizen twisted barely in time, the fist grazing his side. Pain flared, but he stayed upright.
"Better," Garou said, circling him again. "But predictable. You move like you're still inside Bang's dojo, following rules. Out here?" His grin turned wolfish. "There are no rules."
For the next few minutes, Garou toyed with him fast jabs, sweeping kicks, sudden feints. Kaizen dodged, blocked, absorbed, but he couldn't find an opening. Every strike carried not just force but intent, a predator's cunning.
Finally, Garou stopped, breathing steady, not a drop of sweat on him. "You're not ready. Not yet. But you could be."
Kaizen wiped blood from his lip, glaring. "I'll never become like you."
Garou smirked. "We'll see. The more you fight, the more you'll feel it the urge to abandon restraint. And when you finally give in, when you stop lying to yourself…" He leaned close, whispering like a curse. "…you'll realize you're no different from me."
With that, he turned and leapt back over the wall, vanishing into the night.
Kaizen stood frozen, chest heaving. The courtyard was silent again, but his mind roared with turmoil. His hands trembled not from fear, not entirely but from something darker.
He's wrong, Kaizen told himself. He has to be wrong.
Yet deep inside, in the place he never admitted existed, the memory of Garou's words lingered.You want to cut loose… you want to feel it…
Kaizen clenched his fists until his knuckles bled again. "No," he whispered to the night. "I fight to protect. I fight to control."
But the echo of Garou's laughter seemed to answer, mocking and certain.
Far across the city, Garou walked the rooftops with a predator's ease, hands in his pockets, whistling softly.
"That kid…" he muttered, smirking to himself. "He's going to be fun."
The hunt had begun.