The next day the rain had stopped, but the air in the Sanctuary still clung heavy, like it hadn't decided whether to heal or break. Rei was sore in places he didn't know had names, but he woke before the elders called.
It wasn't eagerness. It was necessity.
Tetsuya leaned against a wall when Rei arrived at the training hall, flipping a coin between his fingers as if the world were nothing but a game. His amber eyes glinted with mischief.
"So, you survived Kazumi's little shadow party." He smirked. "Not bad, boy."
Rei tightened his grip on the Blade of Resolve. "Stop calling me boy."
"Oh?" Tetsuya's laugh was light, but his grin carried a knife's edge. "Then prove you're not."
Before Rei could answer, Tetsuya blurred. One moment he was leaning casually, the next his heel was inches from Rei's jaw. Rei barely raised his blade in time, the impact sending a shock through his bones.
"Fast," Rei muttered.
"Too slow," Tetsuya corrected, grinning as he flipped over Rei and struck from behind.
The duel became a blur. Tetsuya moved like water with a pulse... graceful, relentless, always shifting. Every strike came from an angle Rei hadn't predicted. Rei's arms ached with the weight of parrying, his lungs burned, but he refused to fall.
"You're reading me," Tetsuya teased, spinning with inhuman speed. "But reading isn't enough. Feel it. Let your Enso see what your eyes can't."
Rei shut his eyes for one terrifying second and let the hum of the blade guide him. The floor's vibrations, the shift of air, the faint ripple of Tetsuya's presence... it painted a rhythm.
When the next strike came, Rei met it without looking. The clang shook the room.
Tetsuya whistled, genuinely impressed. "Now we're talking."
But the pace didn't slow. If anything, it grew sharper, crueler, faster. Rei's chest heaved, sweat burning down his temple. Each exchange chipped him closer to collapse.
Finally, Rei found an opening. A reckless step forward, blade slicing low, forcing Tetsuya off balance. The smirk dropped for half a heartbeat as Rei's blade nearly grazed his ribs.
Then it was over.
Tetsuya hopped back, coin spinning through his fingers again like nothing had happened. His grin returned. "You've got teeth. Maybe I'll stop calling you boy someday."
Rei staggered but didn't bow. His hands trembled against the Blade of Resolve, but his stance remained.
"You'll have to," he said, breath ragged.
Tetsuya's grin sharpened. "Good answer."