August 23rd — Morning Weigh-In (Undercards)
The undercard weigh-in is held in a functional hotel conference room, bright with flat fluorescent light and stripped of spectacle. There are no sponsor backdrops here, no roaring crowd, just the business of making weight.
Okabe steps forward when his name is called. He removes his tracksuit calmly and climbs onto the scale without hesitation. The number settles cleanly on the limit. He gets no problem because this is his natural division. His body carries no trace of strain.
Across the room, Wakabayashi watches with a crooked smile. Slightly taller, longer through the limbs, he looks tighter around the midsection from a visible cut. When his turn comes, he exhales slowly before stepping onto the scale.
The digits flicker for a second before locking in at the contracted weight. He looks dry, lips pale, eyes sharper than usual. But the smirk never leaves.
