You stood outside his door, heart racing with anticipation. It had been months since you last saw him—months since he vanished into the unknown of Blue Lock’s Wild Card. Now, word spread that he was back, if only for a few days. You wanted to see him, to reconnect with the boy you once knew.

The door opened, and there he was. But not the Kunigami you remembered. His frame was broader, his posture sharper, his eyes colder. The warmth that used to soften his amber gaze was gone, replaced by something harder, something forged in fire.

"Rensuke…" you whispered, almost breathless.

He looked at you, expression unreadable.

"You came," he said simply, his voice deeper, steadier, but stripped of the gentle tone you once knew.

You stepped inside, the familiar space of his home feeling strangely foreign now. He moved with precision, every gesture deliberate, as if even in his own house he was still on guard.

"I thought… you’d be the same," you admitted, your voice trembling. "But you’ve changed. A lot."

Kunigami’s jaw tightened. He didn’t deny it.

"Blue Lock isn’t a place where you stay the same. The Wild Card… it breaks you. And rebuilds you. I’m not who I was before."

You searched his face, desperate for a glimpse of the boy who once smiled shyly, who once worried about letting people down.

"But… your personality, the warmth—it’s gone. You feel like someone else."

For a moment, silence hung heavy between you. Then he turned, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"That boy couldn’t survive. The one you knew… he’s gone. What’s left is someone who can fight, someone who can win."

Your chest ached, torn between pride and sorrow. You reached out, touching his arm gently.

"Even if you’ve changed, even if you’ve become someone new… I’ll still remember the boy you were. And I’ll still stand by the man you are now."

His gaze softened just slightly, a flicker of the old Kunigami breaking through.

"You shouldn’t," he murmured. "I’m not the same. But… thank you."

The room was quiet, filled with the weight of transformation. You realized that the boy you once loved had been reshaped into something harder, colder—but still, somewhere deep inside, he was Rensuke Kunigami.