"No more rules," Kenji thought. "No more honor. Just end it."
The word again. The bruise-colored finality. The first exchange lasted 0.8 seconds. Buchikome High kick- -Final- -Aokumashii-
"Little brother of the broken doll," Goro rumbled, his voice like gravel in a blender. "I was hoping you'd come. I need a warm-up before I visit Akari's hospital room." "No more rules," Kenji thought
"You're not your sister," Goro said, spitting blood. "She was elegant. A dancer. You're just a hammer. And hammers break." "No more rules
"You went to the final," she said. It wasn’t a question.
Kenji’s older sister, Akari, lay in a hospital bed with a fractured skull and a shattered right tibia. She had been the true champion. And Goro had stepped on her face after she’d already fallen.