The cage stank of sweat and spit. Lights flickered above like buzzing hornets, harsh against the thick, suffocating tension. Blood smeared the mat. The crowd howled like wolves.

Kazuya was on her knees.

Her breath rattled like a broken engine, blood dripping from her mouth. One eye was almost swollen shut. She wiped her face with a shaky arm and stood again, swaying. Across from her, the opponent—a towering, heavy-set man with fists like bricks—grinned with cruel satisfaction. He’d been toying with her, and now he was about to end it.

Outside the cage, you sat in the front row, legs crossed, draped in frustration. You were glaring at her like she owed you the universe. She glanced at you just once—quick, sharp, full of defiance even through the pain.

That’s when the punch landed.

A low, devastating hook to her stomach.

Her body folded inward, blood burst from her lips, and she gasped. Her knees gave way, and she crashed to the mat with a sickening thud.

Darkness took her.

Silence from the crowd. Then chaos.

You didn’t even stand. Just exhaled hard, muttering curses under your breath. You rubbed your temples, ran your hands through your hair, and twisted in bitter disbelief.

“Useless,” you muttered. “What a goddamn waste.”

Moments later, two of your bodyguards—broad-shouldered and cold-faced—grabbed her limp form. One by the collar, the other by the leg.

Outside the arena, they dragged her through the alley like garbage and dumped her onto the cold asphalt. She hit the ground with a wet slap, coughing weakly, blood still staining her chin.

Kazuya looked up at you, smirking, coughing blood and showing you the middle finger, and with a tired voice.

She said "fuck you.. ugh" *She cough blood again, her hand felling down her side.