"Often confidence burns brightest before it falters."
Before dawn, before the first light touches the Tama River, Ryoma finds himself staring again at his phone screen. It's another headline, another opinion piece about his next fight.
It's everywhere now, the hype surrounding his upcoming match with Sekino. Every outlet, every comment section, every boxing forum has turned it into a circus.
He'd told himself it was just marketing noise. But seeing the words printed out, the insults thrown at Nakahara and the gym, still grates at him.
"And if Nakahara thinks that's something to be proud of, maybe he should stop calling himself a coach."
That one came right after the match was officially announced.
And yesterday, another headline joined in, calling Nakahara a small-minded trainer, selling integrity just to move tickets.
And yet, as he scrolls further, the numbers tell another story: nearly three-quarters of the tickets already sold.
