26

"So you want our opinions, then? I'm immediately against it. I can tell you outright."

Fūre's eyes drifted to Kamo, voice careful. "Kamo?"

Kamo met his gaze evenly. "We should do whatever you think is necessary."

Nagitsu visibly restrained a flash of irritation. "That's not an answer."

"It's mine," Kamo said, calm and final.

"You refuse to have any opinion of your own?"

Kamo's expression didn't change. "Do you need to interrogate every choice I make? I made my decision years ago. And with that decision, I accepted that some opinions are simply more valuable than mine."

"Even if his choice leads every one of us to our deaths? You'd follow blindly?"

"If that's what Fūre decides—yes."

Nagitsu turned to Fūre, openly exasperated. "You hear him? He'd march off a cliff if you told him to."

Fūre nodded slowly, thoughtful rather than pleased. "I hear him clearly."

He let the silence settle. After a long pause, Fūre finally stepped toward the door. "I'll give it careful thought. And if we go, it won't be for appearances. Don't think your opinion is ignored, Nagitsu."

Nagitsu shook his head slightly, tension clear in his shoulders. "I get it. You'd think three voices would be enough to weigh a decision. But the boy's indecisive. That's not your fault, Furegen."

Nagitsu left quietly.

Kamo lingered a moment, voice soft but clear. "You know I'm anything but indecisive. If my choice to follow you proves wrong, I'll bear that responsibility fully. I trust your judgment more than my own."

Fūre's voice softened, almost honest. "I know that. I even appreciate it. But I ask because I need different perspectives. I don't doubt my judgment, Kamo—but we all see the world through different lenses."

Kamo hesitated, looking down, voice quiet but certain. "And as far as I'm concerned, mine's already warped beyond repair."

"Well, here's the thing. If you're with me, then be with me at full strength."

He nodded at Kamo to make sure he was still following.

"I understand."

"If you could summon the kid, you alone would be on the edge of high ascension. If my understanding is correct he is stronger than you, so if he remained with his power level through that transformation you could be nearly as strong as I am. But you can't, and you're not. Not yet. So whatever that shadow thing is becoming, you need to push it. Hard. Find the edges and break them. Start tonight."

Kamo moved to leave, he wouldn't argue with what Fure was saying. And after all he trusted his opinion fully.

Fure didn't stop him, but he left him with a simple reassurance.

"You're not broken, Kamo. You just see things different. That's not a flaw—it's part of why I trust you."

In an effort to maintain his common demeanor, Kamo rushed out the door. There was a small part of him that had room for tears, but the biggest spot in his mind was in agreeance. Fure himself said Kamo isn't reaching his potential.

This lit something in him.

Kamo had been training already—obsessively even. Pushing himself mostly toward summoning the boy, toward control, toward something resembling mastery. But if Fūre, of all people, thought there were stones being left unturned? That wasn't just a request. That was a correction.

He walked back through the stone corridors, thinking—not about what he was doing, but what he wasn't. He trained alone. Always had. But maybe that was the issue. Progress needed friction. Pressure. Weight.

Iron sharpens iron.

His path curved toward the east hall—back where he came before Fure's original summons. Only this time he stopped short of the room he previously occupied.

Kamo looked around the hall. Of everywhere in the building, this was were most kynenn congregate.

Dozens of eyes shifted his way. Conversations cut short. Movements stalled. Some froze entirely. The fear wasn't subtle.

He didn't waste time.

"I need one of you to spar me."

No one moved or replied. In all his expeditions, Kamo made sure to give an intimidating show of strength. To put it simply, they were afraid.

That was fine.

Kamo hadn't asked all of them—he'd just asked.

Because he already knew who he wanted.

Ren jumped forward, hand raised cheesing ear to ear. Not with a smirk. Not with showmanship. Just a quiet confidence and the same unbothered eyes he always had.

"Finally," Ren said, "I'll spar with you, c'mon let's go!"

What a child. Kamo thought after he nodded once.

Ren dropped into a balanced stance on the balls of his feet. His left hand extended forward, his right held closer to his jaw, angled slightly sideways. He moved toward Kamo deliberately, testing distance with a slow jab.

Kamo faced him squarely, expression blank. He made no motion until Ren stepped within striking range.

Kamo unfolded sharply, driving his heel down and inward at an angle into the side of Ren's knee. It wasn't a glancing blow; it was a precise attempt to collapse the joint inward.

Ren staggered briefly, face tightening. Pain shot up his thigh, but he caught himself quickly, stepping back to recover balance.

"Bro, what the fuck? I thought we were just sparring." His face still held a goofy cheesy expression, general excitement had yet to wash off Ren's face.

Kamo ignored the comment. As he was deep in thought, only concerned with breaking the man down as he would for his enemies.

Ren moved back in range, more cautious than he'd originally been. Ren unfolded in a deceptively quick movement that left the heel of his palm against Kamo's core, just below the navel. He'd used hardly any force, it was more of a push than an attack, probing the space Kamo was trying to occupy. Ren stretched first one arm, then the other. Moving at a controlled speed, stepping forward into something like half a hook, dropping across at the end like an overhand. He steps a few times, working something out in his head. 

Ren was moving in a way that seemed to prepare a slashing motion, as if to cut through a man with his bare fists. As predictable as the movements were though, and all the while dodging Kamo's counter strikes consistently, by the 3rd or so attempt it had become nearly unavoidable

Kamo took the hits without visible reaction. He closed distance steadily until they stood within arm's reach again. Ren swung in the same slashing motion as before

Ren pivoted sideways, cocking his shoulder slightly for a hook. Kamo read the shift immediately. He waited for another, accepted it, then hooked Ren's arm inside his range. Kamo pivoted through, and drove the back of his elbow sharply into Ren's jaw.

Ren stumbled, head snapping sideways. He spat blood, eyes narrowing.

"Seriously? What's your problem? Aren't we supposed to be on the same side?"

Kamo continued forward, quiet and cold.

Stop whining. Why wouldn't I use the same effort as I would against a real enemy?

Though he couldn't hear Kamo's thoughts, Ren had an idea of the logic. Ren's posture tightened further, he sighed hard and briefly shook his head.