The blood blade came down.
Seo had done this a hundred times. He knew exactly how it would feel, the small resistance of skin, the give of whatever lay beneath, the quiet after. He'd aimed for the back of Jin's neck, clean and quick. It was the least he could do for someone who had made him bleed.
Jin's hand came up and caught it.
It didn't block the blade. It let it in. The red point punched straight through the center of Jin's palm and out the back of his hand, and the hand kept closing anyway, fingers wrapping around the blood blade, locking it in place.
Seo blinked, not understanding.
The body on the ground moved like something on strings. It didn't push itself up. It rose, all at once, in a way no tired person could have, and its other hand was already reaching for the katana lying in the dirt. Seo tried to pull his blade free. The fingers around it didn't budge.
The katana came up in one flat, sweeping line.
