Wakabayashi lies facedown on the canvas, motionless. One glove is trapped awkwardly beneath his chest while the other rests palm-down near his shoulder.
His body is angled slightly toward the ropes, legs stretched out behind him without tension. The bright lights above cast harsh reflections across the sweat on his back, but he does not react to them.
In the red corner, Narisawa’s face drains of color. His fingers tighten around the bottom rope as he leans forward, eyes wide and unblinking.
"What is this...?" he murmurs under his breath. "What am I looking at?"
The referee imdiately positions himself between the fallen fighter and the man still standing. He stretches one arm outward without taking his eyes off Wakabayashi.
"Neutral corner. Now."
Okabe does not respond at first. He is still standing there, chest rising and falling heavily, eyes fixed on the sight in front of him as if trying to understand what he is seeing. The roar of the arena reaches him as if from underwater, distant and distorted.
"Neutral corner!" the referee repeats sharply.
This ti, the command snaps through the haze. Okabe blinks once, then twice, as awareness rushes back into his limbs. He exhales abruptly, almost like soone waking from a dream, and nods.
"Yeah... right."
He turns and walks toward the neutral corner, each step slightly unsteady but deliberate.
anwhile, Wakabayashi shifts weakly, managing to slide one arm free and press it against the mat. For a mont it seems he might push himself up, but the strength never cos.
His elbow trembles, collapses, and his body rolls slightly to the side instead. Now he lies half-turned, one arm bent uselessly beneath him, the other barely supporting any weight.
His cheek remains pressed against the canvas, allowing the referee a clear view of his eyes. Those eyes are open, but distant. His breathing is ragged and uneven, each inhale shallow, each exhale slipping out in a strained rasp.
The referee cos down on one knee, and begins the count.
"One... two..."
But there is no reaction.
"Oh... that does not look good," the first comntator says, his voice dropping from excitent into concern. "He’s not even trying to rise."
"He might be completely gone from that impact," the second adds, tone tightening. "If he doesn’t respond soon, this could be the end of the fight."
Wakabayashi still makes no effort. There is no attempt to crawl, no instinctive reach for the ropes.
"Four..."
There is no anger, no sha, no argunt with the count. There is only pain spreading through his skull and ribs, and an overwhelming heaviness that drains any command he tries to send to his limbs.
The referee stops the count, studies Wakabayashi’s unfocused gaze for another second. And then, still kneeling on one knee, simply he waves both hands and shakes his head.
"It’s over! the first comntator explodes, his voice cracking under the surge of disbelief. "It’s over! The referee has stopped the fight!"
"This is unbelievable!" the second shouts over him. "Wakabayashi is out! Okabe has done it!"
For half a heartbeat, the arena seems suspended in stunned silence.
Then the sound detonates. The crowd erupts in a thunderous roar that crashes through the rafters. Thousands of voices collide into one overwhelming wave of shock and exhilaration.
OKA-BE! OKA-BE! OKA-BE!
What began as a technical contest has transford into sothing primal. The underdog who endured five rounds of precision has shattered the hierarchy in a matter of seconds, and the audience feels the violence of that reversal in their bones.
On the blue corner, Sera steps through the ropes with controlled urgency. Murakami follows more steadily.
Hiroshi, however, cannot contain himself. He sprints straight toward Okabe, nearly colliding with him.
"You did it, Okabe!" Hiroshi shouts, grabbing both of his shoulders. "Man, you finally used a counter in your fight... and you actually won with it!"
Okabe only grins uncertainly, the expression awkward and almost boyish. His chest still rises rapidly, and there is a strange disbelief in his eyes.
The victory feels distant, almost abstract. What matters more to him is not the fallen opponent behind him, but the realization blooming quietly inside his mind.
He felt it; the rhythm, the step-back, and the timing. For the first ti, he did not just brawl. He actually built sothing toward the victory.
Sera approaches more slowly, stopping in front of him with a small, satisfied smile.
Okabe blinks at him. "I really win?" he asks, the question sounding almost naive.
Sera snorts lightly. "What kind of question is that?"
Then he steps forward and pulls Okabe into a firm embrace. "Congratulations, Okabe," he says quietly, pride evident beneath his calm tone. "That was the best fight of your career."
***
While the arena above trembles with celebration, the atmosphere inside Nakahara’s private locker room feels entirely different.
The television mounted in the corner still replays Okabe’s knockout in slow motion, but no one in the room reacts to it.
Kurogane is already here, his sleeves neatly buttoned as always, office shirt unwrinkled despite the long night. His expression is tight, phone in hand, thumb hovering over the screen.
Across from him, Coach Nakahara paces back and forth with short, clipped steps.
"This is a goddamn train wreck..." he growls, digging his palms into his eyes. "They squeezed for every cent just to get that contract signed. I’m bled dry before the first bell even rings."
His voice isn’t loud, but the anger in it is unmistakable, less about the money itself, more about the principle.
Thirty thousand US dollars was the agreed deal at the ti, ten for fighter’s purse, and twenty for their accommodation. It had been a calculated investnt, not a gamble.
"And now," he adds bitterly, "they vanish on fight night?"
The locker room door opens without ceremony. Tetsu steps in first, Maria follows a half step behind.
"You’re here," Kurogane says, not bothering with greetings. "This is bad, Maria. Arman Sargsyan and his team still haven’t arrived."
Nakahara stops pacing, jaw tight. "And his fight is slotted before the co-main. If he doesn’t show, we risk destabilizing the entire event."
Maria does not answer imdiately. She walks further into the room, sets her tablet on the table, and glances at the bout order sheet taped beside the mirror.
"What’s the official call ti listed in the contract?" she asks calmly.
Kurogane answers at once. "Two hours before ring walk. dical ninety minutes before. He’s missed both."
"And weigh-in was clean yesterday?"
"Yes."
Tetsu steps closer to the board. "How much buffer do we realistically have?"
Maria scrolls through the production schedule on her tablet, eyes moving quickly across the tiline.
"Okabe’s fight has just wrapped," she says. "Aramaki’s ring walk is scheduled in about fifteen minutes."
She swipes to the next block. "If Aramaki goes the full ten rounds, that’s roughly thirty minutes of fight ti. Add the one-minute intervals between rounds, that gives us another nine minutes. With ring walks, post-fight announcent, and standard broadcast transitions, we’re looking at close to an hour."
She pauses, calculating. "If we stretch the post-fight analysis, run extended replays, and insert sponsor segnts, we could realistically create up to ninety minutes before we absolutely have to send the next bout to the ring."
Nakahara exhales through his teeth. "And if Aramaki ends early?"
"Then we stall," Tetsu replies. "Interviews. Replay packages. Walkout rehearsals. But that buys us ten, fifteen minutes at best."
Kurogane checks his phone again. "Still nothing from Sugiarto."
Maria finally looks up. "First step," she says, voice steady. "We docunt everything. Missed call tis. No contact. If this becos a breach case, we need a clean record."
Nakahara nods impatiently. "And the fight?"
"There are three scenarios," Maria continues.
She raises one finger. "Scenario one: they arrive within the next twenty minutes. We proceed as scheduled."
Second finger. "Scenario two: they arrive late but dically cleared. We delay ring walk slightly. We fra it as production adjustnt."
Third finger. "Scenario three: they do not arrive in ti to pass commission requirents."
Tetsu folds his arms. "Then we cancel."
Maria nods once. "Yes. And we imdiately inform the commission and the broadcast desk before rumors spread."
Nakahara’s jaw tightens. "Canceling leaves a hole."
"It does," Maria agrees. "But starting a fight without proper dical clearance would be worse. Insurance alone would destroy us."
"We can stretch," Tetsu says slowly. "Post-fight breakdown of Okabe. Live corner interviews. Maybe bring Sera in for analysis. That buys us ti."
"Ti for what?" Nakahara snaps, impatient.
"For them to walk through that door," Tetsu replies evenly.
Kurogane lowers his phone. "How long do we wait?"
Maria checks the running clock on her tablet. "We give them until the midpoint of Aramaki’s fight," she says. "That is the last professional window. If they are not physically in the building by then, we initiate cancellation protocol."
Not far from them, all the fighters, including Kenta, have been listening without aning to. A flat-screen mounted high on the wall replays Okabe’s knockout.
One of their own had just broken through. Okabe’s grin lingers on the screen, awkward and disbelieving.
They are happy for him. But the joy doesn’t spread fully. Because Kenta is sitting only a few ters away, and he isn’t smiling.
For Kenta, this fight against Arman isn’t just filler beneath a ga event.
It’s a lever.
Arman stands at number two in the OPBF rankings. Kenta is fourth. A decisive win tonight doesn’t just add a victory to his record. It compresses distance, and pushes him into the number two spot.
And number two can trigger a title eliminator against the top-ranked contender. Win that, and the champion has nowhere left to look.
But if Arman doesn’t show, there is no leap, no montum.
Only stagnation.
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