"Back?"
Tennoji Kaede was idly tossing pebbles.
Ryuen Kakeru approached, looking disheveled. "It's about time."
Kaede replied, "Pretty much. No need to stick to the intervals so strictly. One less trip means one less ordeal... Speaking of which, you've really been working hard. I don't think I could keep that up."
"Taking a walk counts as working hard? That's a pretty cheap definition of effort..."
Ryuen looked absolutely miserable—not at all like someone who'd just gone for a walk.
After all, he was the Class C attendance-checking tool, running all over the island three times a day. How could anyone call that a walk?
Even marathon runners didn't train like that!
Kaede stood up and hurled a small stone at the ground.
"Enough pretending! Tell me, Ryuen, how do you want to die?"
He raised an arm and replied, "Wouldn't it be enough to just get a little hurt?"
Blood ran freely from Ryuen's hands. It wasn't just one hand—judging by the marks, all four of his limbs were bleeding...
"You really didn't have to go that far. You need to watch out for tetanus..."
Whoosh! A fierce gust of wind swept in!
Kaede suddenly leaned far back, dodging Ryuen's surprise whip kick!
"...You're still going to try sneak attacks?"
Ryuen rushed in and threw a flurry of punches, his attacks completely unstructured. He just went for whatever seemed most brutal.
Kaede blocked left and right, holding off on counterattacking.
Beneath the crescent moon, the rain clouds had dispersed, allowing hazy beams of clear moonlight to fall.
The two men traded blows beneath the moon, blood spraying through the air.
Kaede pressed down on one of Ryuen's punches and locked his knee and wrist in place. "Who do you want to give it to?"
Ryuen strained against him, but Kaede