Renji blinks, but the canvas beneath him keeps tilting, rising and sinking like a slow tide. The ropes above blur into pale ribbons, and Elliot's figure stands somewhere beyond them, distorted and doubled.
His ears ring. For a moment he can't tell if it's the bell or just the noise living inside his skull.
Somewhere at the edge of it all, a pounding echoes as Kirizume's fist hits on the apron. He's shouting something and Renji can see his coach's mouth moving.
"Renji! Get up! You hear me? Renji, talk to me!"
The crowd has become one shapeless noise, an ocean of voices blending with the ringing in his ears.
Through the speakers, the commentators' voices stretch and distort, bright and distant.
"…can he make it up…!"
"…the referee's count has started!"
Renji exhales, sweat dripping down his cheek to the mat. He presses a glove against the floor, trying to find the ground beneath all that noise.
