The arena vibrates with a wild, disbelieving roar. Fans are on their feet, stunned and ecstatic, watching the blue corner unravel this early.
It’s only the first round, yet Aramaki’s calculated violence has turned the ring electric; dangerous, unpredictable, and intoxicating.
Hiroyuki snaps out with another burst of desperate retaliation. But Aramaki imdiately resets, slipping back into that safer mid-close range he’s controlled from the start, posture steady, eyes observant.
For a mont, even the comntators fall silent before scrambling to catch up.
"What’s happening here? Hiroyuki looks lost!"
"Aramaki’s making it look easy, trapping him this early and unloading that vicious combo!"
"And there... a left clips Hiroyuki’s temple. He fires back, but it’s pointless."
"Aramaki is in complete control. This is the first ti we’ve seen him manage a fight this cleanly, without rushing."
"Oh... Hiroyuki finally lands sothing, a sharp left, trying to punch his way out of the corner."
"But no... Aramaki isn’t letting him escape."
"Hiroyuki needs an answer now, or this fight might end way earlier than anyone expected."
Finally, Hiroyuki abandons finesse and gambles everything on sheer grit, hurling himself into a direct trade to break Aramaki’s montum.
The fight turns ssy fast, sothing the fans love the most. Even with Aramaki controlling the pocket beautifully, one and two punches slip through, landing in the sa heartbeat Aramaki smacks Hiroyuki’s head.
The last one jolts Aramaki, just enough for Hiroyuki to flick a sharp jab across his face and sprint out of the corner.
"Reckless as hell," a comntator picks it up. "But sohow it worked. Hiroyuki’s still in this."
He reaches the center again, but there’s no relief in his expression. That corner exchange drained him. His legs tremble from the body shots, his head still swimming.
Aramaki, anwhile, looks exactly as he did at the opening bell; fresh, composed, unhurried. He bumps his gloves together once and strolls back to center, settling into his stance without a hint of strain.
Hiroyuki forces a bounce into his step, trying to mask the damage. He brings his hit-and-run back to life, smooth, elegant, jabs and lead hooks thrown on the move. But only few connect, and the ones that do are smothered by Aramaki’s guard.
Aramaki pivots left, then right, shifting his angle with patient intent. Still no punches, but Hiroyuki already feels hunted. He keeps circling, circling... until without realizing it, he’s drifted toward the corner again.
However...
Ding!
The bell spares him, ending the first round.
***
Aramaki bumps his gloves once, then turns away from the center with the sa quiet composure he carried into the opening bell.
Nakahara greets him with an equally calm nod, no triumph, no excitent, only a low satisfied murmur: "Good job. You showed exactly what you’ve been working on."
Aramaki exhales once, controlled and unhurried, like a man sharpening a blade rather than celebrating a victory.
On the opposite side, Hiroyuki collapses into his stool, shoulders sagging, breath tearing out of him in uneven bursts.
The composure he had at the bell is gone. Cornern swarm him, one icing the ribs he kept trying to hide, another wiping sweat and checking the swelling along his cheek. Their hands move fast, almost frantic, mirroring the chaos in Hiroyuki’s expression.
Sugimoto leans in imdiately, voice low but edged with fear. "How’s the head? Chest? Legs? Talk to ... how bad?"
Hiroyuki’s eyes flick around like he’s still trapped between the ropes, words tumbling out in a halting panic.
"My legs... they feel heavy already. I don’t... I don’t know what he did. Or how. This isn’t... this isn’t what I pictured. He didn’t even chase , but he still pushed into the corner. I don’t understand. I really don’t."
Sugimoto goes quiet, too quiet. His hands keep working, checking Hiroyuki’s ribs and wiping sweat from his brow, but his mind is sowhere else entirely.
He isn’t just worried; he’s shaken. A cold creeping doubt curls into his chest as he stares at the red corner.
"Four months...?" Sugimoto’s thought scratches at him like a splinter. "Four months, and they turned him into that?"
There’s no longer panic, no desperation in the way Aramaki fights, and no wild one-dinsional pressure like the fighter Sugimoto had studied.
He’d believed soone like Aramaki had limited room to grow, a bruiser with a fixed style and predictable habits.
But what he saw in the first round wasn’t just improvent. It was transformation, a complete evolution.
And the realization stings, sharp and humiliating: he prepared Hiroyuki for the wrong opponent.
Sugimoto exhales, steadying himself before facing Hiroyuki again. This isn’t the mont to bark orders or force a coback. The kid needs clarity more than bravado.
"He didn’t chase you," Sugimoto says quietly, almost grimly. "He walked you into the corner."
Hiroyuki blinks, still looking puzzled.
"The way he pivoted, the angles he took... they weren’t random," Sugimoto continues. "He kept cutting off your escape paths, little by little, until the only direction left was backward. And with enough ti... you were trapped."
Hiroyuki’s breath trembles, the truth sinking in.
"That’s advanced ring control," Sugimoto finally says, voice low. "Very advanced. I... I never imagined he’d reach this. So fighters turn a match into chess with their jab. But a rare few play a different board entirely, one they command through their pivots. And I’m afraid... you’re facing one of them now."
Hiroyuki’s breath stutters. The words hit him harder than the body shots. His eyes tremble, haunted by the corner he just escaped.
"So what do I do...?" he whispers. "If he traps again, I don’t think I can..."
He cuts himself off, unable to speak the rest. It’s only the end of the first round, and he already feels himself slipping behind.
Sugimoto doesn’t answer at once, because there is no neat answer, not for this.
This isn’t about one trick or one adjustnt. Avoiding a trap like that takes the kind of ring wisdom only years of experience can carve into a boxer’s bones. And Hiroyuki isn’t there yet.
Sugimoto exhales, pats his fighter’s thigh, and forces a calm smile.
"It’s a situation you’ve never seen before. So treat it like one. Keep track of where you stand in the ring. Use your legs, but don’t fear him when he gets close. That fear is what makes his strategy work. He’s evolved into sothing new, Hiroyuki. Maybe it’s ti you evolve, too."
There’s no real solution in those words, not tactically. But Hiroyuki’s eyes brighten anyway.
Because that’s who he is, soone who lives for growth, who treats pain and confusion like the beginning of another step up.
"Alright," he says, nodding. "I’ll use everything I’ve got. Everything I’ve learned. Let’s see how far I can push myself... and how much I can learn from him."
Sugimoto squeezes his shoulder.
"That’s it. Don’t fear the new. Walk forward. Keep learning. No matter what."
***
The ref calls seconds out. The stool clatters against the floor. Water buckets dragged back. Both corners clear, and the tension resets into sothing sharper.
The bell rings.
Ding!
Round two begins.
And Hiroyuki explodes from his corner, sprinting to the center before Aramaki can settle his stance.
Aramaki mirrors him, hands high, feet light, but Hiroyuki doesn’t wait this ti. He takes the initiative.
He steps in hard, legs pumping faster than before, and unleashes a flurry...
Shssh-shssh-shssh-shssh!
More punches, tighter rhythms, sharper angles. It’s not just one-and-out. Two, three, four at a ti, before he slides out again, and never letting his feet rest, and then steps in again, throwing another flurry.
Aramaki’s guard tightens. He blocks the first, slips the second, but the third grazes him. The fourth forces him to shift his weight back.
Another burst, almost too fast for Aramaki to read...
Tap-tap, DSH... tap!
...and Aramaki’s eyes widen.
This rhythm... this footwork...
A jab snaps against his glove, a hook whips past his ear, and Hiroyuki is already gone again, vanishing from the pocket before Aramaki can counter.
"Ryoma?"
Aramaki blinks, a flash of recognition slicing through the chaos.
No... not Ryoma.
But the flow... the exit angles... the rhythm...
He’s fighting like Ryoma.
It’s not entirely a copy. But the influence is unmistakable.
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