Yugai’s entire body froze still from a single strike, a solitary impact from below, that had landed directly on the bottom of his chin. His eyes were just able to peer down and see the culprit. Kentarou had grounded himself with his left hand and right leg planted against the ground as if they were the roots of an ancient tree and drew power from the earth itself. He had barely understood what just had happened. Kentarou’s left leg was pointed skywards and tiled to the right. The kick had taken a crescent shape and slashed his face with pinpoint precision. That was all he needed.

Yugai wanted to continue his attacks. His spirit wasn’t broken but his body gave in and collapsed. His legs went first. No matter how much mana he put into them, they couldn’t hold stability. The reason being that his brain had been rattled from the force of the kick. He had lost control. He fell on his bottom, his eyes still fixated on the tip of his opponent’s foot. It had struck him with deadly venom. Yugai’s hands slammed against the ground shortly after. He tried to put force into his arms to prop himself back up but this too was a useless endeavour. He then attempted to lurch forward with his torso but this didn’t do anything either. His own control and command of his physical form had been taken away with one hit.

The only thing left he had was his voice. “W-what… why… I can still… fight…!” However, try as he might, he could not stand no matter how much he wanted to. He began to howl at his own helplessness, begging for the power to get up and continue the fight. “...You’ll get up again in a few seconds, but you won’t be able to fight with me for the rest of the day.” Kentarou’s entire body flipped horizontally and glided through the air and landed back on the earth in a single blink and while doing so he snapped his fingers so that the music would stop. He now stood tall and straight, no longer in a fighting stance, and looked quite bored.

Raimon walked over to the fallen boy and extended his left arm toward him. Yugai grumbled but grabbed the helping hand and was pulled back up. His legs wobbled as he tried to regain his own stability and forced his body back into its fighting stance, though it was clear that he could crumble again with just a push. “You won’t give up will you?” Kentarou sounded emotionally exhausted. Yugai charged forward and swung a wide right clawing motion. It was sloppy and slow, but Kentarou sighed and dodged with a backflip. Yugai continued to push forward, a straight left thrust that twirled wonkily that likely would not hit its intended target if it did connect. Kentarou sighed deeper this time and raised his right arm to shield his face while lowering his left arm to stand just below his hips, and he bent his knees as he did so.

This stance was completely different. He lowered his head and then the rest of his upper body chased after it. Yugai’s attack flew over him, his anger at himself being written all over his face. He decided to follow up with a right kick. He felt that it couldn’t possibly miss in this position. It was on a collision course with Kentarou’s side. Just before it would make an impact, Kentarou was able to take one step to the right and then moved that foot at a 45-degree angle and had essentially swayed to dodge the attack entirely.

Yugai growled as he tried to attack again but… he fell to his knees. “W-what? D-did I get hit again?” Hakuro reappeared on the shoulder of his student. “No. You’re pretty much out of Ki and stamina. You can’t do anything more than this. This is your current limit.” Upon hearing those words Yugai’s mind swirled with uneasiness. His confidence had been dealt a heavy blow. “...He didn’t even use any Ki or Mana himself. He beat you with pure athleticism and acrobatics. Honestly, I expected you to struggle and lose quite badly but I didn’t think the gap would be this wide. It makes me… what’s the expression… ticked off. Yes, I’m mad.” The cat hissed at his troubles and that only sunk Yugai deeper down the hole he was in.

Kentarou sighed as he glanced over his crushed pupil. “Well, I have a good idea where you’re at, physically, mentally, and socially. Urgh, this is going to eat up so much time… meet me in my room tomorrow a bit before work starts. Here.” He took out a red card with his Host Name written in gold cursive and gently pushed it into his open right hand while pushing against it to form a grip. “...You fall quite hard when you fail, huh? This is why I didn’t want to go so hard from the get-go.” Kentarou looked over the fallen and exhausted figure. Yugai had practically turned into a statue. Hakuro was tapping his face with his paws but there was no reaction. Kentarou grumbled again with a curious look in his eyes. He was going to try something. He wasn’t sure how effective it was going to be, and a part of him really didn’t want it to work, but even so.

“Arima.” Kentarou leaned down as she spoke to make sure he was eye level with Yugai. “My last name is Arima. Combined with what Hibari blurted out earlier, you should know now. My real name is Arima Juro. Think of this as a reward. You did better than I thought you did, both as a host and a fighter. I don’t just give my name out to anyone, at least from this side of the business. Only the Four Kings, the Boss, Fen, and Raimon over there know. Now, that includes you. Chin up. I actually had to sweat. Show me how much you’ve grown next time. If you’re still frustrated, prove you’re stronger next time.” Kentarou got back up as he saw a small flicker in the boy’s eyes. Internally he was slightly annoyed. This way of talking and praising was a bit too close to home in a number of ways.

Yugai picked himself up and shoved his back against the closest wall while looking at the card in his hand. “It’s pretty.” He closed his eyes and tried to stay balanced. Kentarou left the dojo while Raimon stayed with his back against the wall parallel to Yugai. A full minute of silence passed while Yugai caught his breath and slowly dragged himself out of the mental minefield he had created for himself. “Dumbass.” Raimon broke the silence with a bolt of mocking thunder. Yugai’s head raised to look directly at the man who was trying to kick him while he was down.

Raimon’s eyes were clear and full of mischief and pity. “Cerberus Combat. That’s the name of his fighting style. It’s constructed through a mixture of various styles of dancing, Taekwondo, and Capoeria. Those are the three heads of the beast. He used them one after another on you. He licked you with each head one by one. He never used all three to bite you at once. That’s how much he held back.” The truth made Yugai slam his back even harder against the wall and brought his head upwards to scream, but only a weak mewl was able to come out. The fire of the forge within had died down into a single ember among a pile of burnt-out coal.

“Also, c’mon how could you not notice how he just talked down to you?” Raimon walked over to the broken man until he stood straight before him. “He has two other jobs besides this. One of them is being a vet. He talked to you like you were a misbehaving puppy, and you ate up all the treats he put before your nose so easily. That’s why you’re standing up right now, isn’t it?” Yugai tightened the grip of his shut eyes and bite down with all his teeth and hissed from the gaps between them. Raimon would not stop laying into him now. He still had more to say. “It pisses you off, doesn’t it? That he, no everyone, heck even me, we are all looking down on you. Does that make your blood boil?” Yugai’s hands balled into fists with the weight of lead.

“It does. I know how that feels. How it stings. I heard everything a little while back. You don’t have anything at all. Nothing. You have nothing. So that’s why it’s so frustrating that when you finally tried to grasp some form of strength, some form of happiness, and it doesn’t come, it hurts hard because you’re left with nothing again.” Silence welcomed them both again after that sentence… until the sound of a drop of water against the floor. It became a downpour in seconds.

“Gahhhhhhhhhhhaaaaahhhhhh goddamit!” Yugai howled into the wind while hot tears dripped down the left side of his burning red face. He threw his body to the ground again and then lifted his left arm upwards. He started to choke on his own tears, but he swung his fist down against the floor and sent a small tremor across it. Then he lifted it and threw it down again. Again. Again. Again. Again. And again. Until he coughed up water and displayed sharp white fangs for the world to see. The steel in his eyes sharpened itself and pointed their blades towards Raimon.

“That’s good. He should have done this from the start. It’s what he’s best at. He tried to treat you with kids gloves instead. That was wrong of him. Don’t you want to punch his face? I sure as hell do. He’s going to teach you how to move, dodge, and get a rhythm in a fight. Let me teach you how to break his face. I promise results in… two weeks. Yeah. That should be just enough time to make you learn it. That pain. Hold onto it and make it really sharp. You’ll need it. Follow me. The number 3 wants to see you now. He’ll fix up your body and well…” Raimon addressed the cat on Yugai’s shoulder.

“You haven’t taught people like him before. However, you taught or instructed him, you’re missing a ton of basic details. Hakase can cover the fundamentals for your kid. He needs to work from the ground up. I’m guessing your previous disciples were all prodigies or something. You’re a picky and prissy diva, aren’t you?” The cyclone attacked all within its range without discrimination. Hakuro’s tail spiked up into the air and his eyes narrowed with indignation.

“...He’s not wrong but it really pisses me off to hear it that way. He should have more respect when addressing one such as I!” The cat held its tongue but desperately wished to bite back with fangs of his own. Raimon was only spared because he was right, but just barely. Hakuro carried a great deal of pride but, “...the kid did get beat far worse than I thought. I did not overestimate Yugai nor did I underestimate the dancer. I simply failed to give effective instruction. It was meant to be a loss but also an experience to give him the drive to grow, but it almost failed. In a way, this man is salvaging that situation. I can let him off the hook. For now.”

Yugai wiped his tears with his arms, took a deep breath, roared out, and then stood tall again. “I’ll do whatever it takes to nail that guy,” Raimon smirked in response to the declaration. The first phase of his plan was now underway. He needed to confirm a certain idea bouncing in his head, but once he did, he could really have fun with this. Two weeks before the game unfolded. “This is going to be fun. I can’t wait to see that idiot on the floor.”

Raimon left the dojo with Yugai following behind, fury in his steps. They travelled in a straight line across to the building on the other side. A white building that resembled a clinic but had no name upon it. The doors opened automatically at their arrival and with it a youthful but deep and booming hyperactive voice made its presence known.

“Welcome! Feast your eyes on the wonders of the Laboratory of Futuristic Mystery!”