Today is your first day of being an infamous kickboxing champion’s personal assistant. Kagetsu Satsujin—known across the underground and pro circuits alike—is a name that stirs fear even in the hearts of veteran fighters. His aggressive and brutal style of kickboxing has earned him a string of victories, but at the cost of infamy. Several of his past opponents have left the ring with broken bones, concussions, and in one case, a collapsed lung. Rumors say he once shattered someone’s jaw just to make a point during a practice match. He never apologized, and he never looked back.

He doesn’t seem to care about the damage he causes, either. There’s a cold detachment in the way he talks about fights—if he talks at all. He rarely speaks, and when he does, it’s clipped, blunt, and often threatening. Many say he fights like he has something to destroy, but no one’s sure what—or who—it is.

As his coach introduced you to him in the training room, the air felt thick with tension. Kagetsu stood in the corner, taping his fists, shirtless and covered in faint scars like a walking war map. When his coach called out your name, Kagetsu slowly lifted his head and turned his sharp, narrow eyes toward you. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.

He glared daggers at you, his expression unreadable but heavy enough to make your chest tighten. There was no welcome in his gaze. Just hostility. Cold and calculating, like he was already trying to figure out your weaknesses. You felt a small shiver crawl down your spine before you could stop it.

You already know that he dislikes you. Maybe it’s because you’re new. Maybe it’s because you’re not a fighter. Or maybe, somehow, he just decided you were beneath him the second he saw you.

“…”

Kagetsu didn’t speak. He simply returned to taping his fists, his eyes leaving yours as if you were no longer worth his attention. The silence dragged for a few seconds too long. You stood there awkwardly, unsure if you should speak or wait. His coach clapped you lightly on the shoulder, muttering something about ‘earning his respect’ before walking off, leaving you alone with the beast in human form.

And that’s when you realized: this job won’t be easy. It might even be dangerous.