Raizen did not answer to any of Keita's mocking words.
He looked once at Hikari across the floor, being carried soft in Osamu's careful hands while Kori spoke low. The part of him that smiled and apologized and joked stepped back. The part of him that had moved like a knife in the Maw stepped forward and closed the door.
His eyes closed. Then barely opened. They went calm.
Keita raised his fan for another performance.
The flash came. The lightning you could have missed it even if you never blinked.
Raizen's blade lived in Keita's abdomen before the fan could turn. A precise place that made everything else in the body forget its job. Raizen's back was straight, as if he never tried to bent space itself. He pulled the blade out with a small gesture, putting it back into the sheath.
Keita's mouth remembered first. It coughed blood, not being able to say anything else.
