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Kenji barely had time to blink before a fist caught him across the jaw.

"Finally," Kenji muttered, spitting blood. "We are being honest."

They collided like they wanted to kill each other.

Kenji struck in lightning bursts—fast, brutal, precise. Blaidd answered with raw, crushing power.

"You fight like you are trying to prove something!" Kenji snapped, elbow slamming into Blaidd's ribs.

"I am," Blaidd growled, slamming him into the dirt. "That I can still flatten you with one hand tied behind my fucking back."

Kenji rolled, swept his legs, and they went down in a tangle of limbs and rage.

"You are too fat!" Kenji gasped. "Get off me!"

"You are like a puny toothpick!" Blaidd shot back. "Go play with someone your size!"

Kenji wheezed. "You are compensating."

"For what?"

"Maybe your two-second performance in bed."

Blaidd barked a laugh mid-punch before he sent a tooth flying. "I knew you were watching, you pervert."

"You walked into it."

It took three warriors to pull them apart.

They stood swaying, both bleeding. Kenji's eye was already swollen shut; Blaidd's jaw bruised dark.

"You hit like a falling tree," Kenji spat, wiping blood from his lip.

"You talk too much," Blaidd replied thickly.

Kenji wiped blood from his lip. "Your left side is weak."

"Your guard drops when you are angry," Blaidd retorted.

They just stared each other down for a long minute.

Kenji huffed. "You still betrayed her."

Blaidd nodded once. "So did you."

Another pause.

Kenji exhaled carefully, holding his side. "Good. At least we agree on something."

They glared.

Then, grudgingly, they nodded

Later, they lay side by side, banished by the master.

Swollen eyes. Split lips. One of Blaidd's ribs cracked. Kenji's wrist was bent at an unnatural angle before someone reset it with a grim snap.

They lay there, gasping.