Page 53 of Celestial Combat

The memory of his hands grabbing me, his fistsslamminginto my body, his weight pressing me into the tile of that bathroom floor–

I climbed over him, my knees digging into his ribs.

My fingers found thesayaat my hip. With a smooth pull, mytantoblade slid free, the edge gleaming sharp and ready under the dim light.

Hiroshi barely reacted. His bloodshot eyes flickered open, and he looked at me. Like I was a ghost from his past come to collect what was owed.

I lifted the knife, my grip so tight my knuckles burned.

One strike. That’s all it would take.

One clean cut, and he’d be nothing.

I stared down at him, my pulse thundering, my chest heaving. My body was burning with adrenaline and rage, with years of pent-up fury clawing at my throat, demanding justice.

My hands started to shake.

I gritted my teeth, trying to steady them.

But my eyes blurred.

A drop of something wet slipped down my cheek, burning hot against my freezing skin.

No.

Not now. Not when I was finally here.

I gripped the handle tighter, forced my body to move, to end this–

I screamed.

And drove the knife down.

The blade sank into the pavement, an inch from Hiroshi’s head.

I let out a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding. My whole body trembled, adrenaline crashing into me like a tidal wave.

I couldn’t do it.

The moment I pushed off Hiroshi’s broken body, blade still clutched in my hand, I felt the weight of what I had almost done crush me. My hands trembled as I stumbled away, my breathing erratic.

I sucked in air, but it wasn’t enough.

My chest heaved.

The world tilted.

The edges of my vision blurred, darkness creeping in as my pulse thundered too fast, too loud.

I tried to focus – tried to breathe. But I couldn’t.

My throat felt tight, my lungs straining, refusing to expand. The alley spun around me, suffocating, the scent of blood thick in my nose. My body shook with adrenaline, but my limbs felt numb, disconnected, like I wasn’t inside my own skin.

Then something heavy and solid settled on my shoulder.

The weight was grounding. Warm.

I gasped, sucking in a sharp breath as my body jerked in response, my mind latching onto the sensation. Slowly, the noise in my head dulled, the panic retreating. My vision cleared enough to see the hand gripping my shoulder – large, strong, steady.

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