Page 31 of Shifting Gears

And I felt all eyes turn in my direction as the announcer pointed at my doors.

“Heroooo!” he shouted, and my gate opened as well.

That wasn’t the name I’d expected her to give, but, hell, whatever worked.

I lazily strolled out into the ring and chuckled as I heard the overwhelming boos. I always loved being an underdog. The victory felt extra good when I took it from someone who didn’t deserve it.

The crowd quieted as the announcer held his hand in the air. He beckoned the both of us to the middle of the ring.

Kanjirou bowed at me, his smirk large on his face. He was a cocky one. I nodded in reply, and the announcer stuck his arm out between us. I got into position as his eyes flicked between the two of us.

Suddenly, he shouted, “Begin!” and jumped out of the way, running toward the edge of the ring.

Kanjirou lunged at me, throwing a right hook with a fuck ton of force behind it. I sidestepped it easily enough, feeling the air whip past my cheek. He didn’t stop, following up with a left kick, then another jab. I dodged them all, slipping out of reach each time.

My body was starting to remember how it felt to fight—my feet light and my breath steady as I put some distance between us. I circled him, bouncing from foot to foot, feeling my blood pound through my veins, my muscles loosening.

Kanjirou smirked at me. “What are you doing,gaijin? Are you scared?”

I looked past him and right into the eyes of Kaito, speaking to him instead of the man in front of me.

“Nah, just warming up,” I said with a chuckle as I rolled my shoulders in circles and cracked my knuckles.

“Oh, you think you’re a funny guy, huh, American?” Kanjirou snapped at me. He began to move and closed in on me. “Then laugh at this!”

He swung a wild haymaker that could’ve taken my head off if I hadn’t seen it coming from a mile away. The guy wasn’t the fastest. I ducked, letting his fist sail over my back, then stretched out my leg, tripping Kanjirou in the process.

He collided with the ground, and the crowd gasped and booed. I chuckled and glanced at Raven, giving her a wink as I heard him get back on his feet behind me.

I pivoted as he swung again, narrowly missing this hit, but the frustration building on his face was worth it. Every time he tried to hit me, I wasn’t there. The crowd began to notice, murmurs rising through the ring. I wasn’t throwing punches back—I was making a statement.

Kanjirou’s frustration hit a peak. He started coming at me harder, punching and kicking back-to-back in a barrage of blows, but it didn’t matter. He was big, strong, but slow. His movements were more predictable than I’d anticipated, but the guy had a rhythm to his style, a punch, followed by a kick and three more punches. Then, rinse and repeat.

Before I knew it, the announcer hit a bell, and the round ended. I hadn’t even realized they did rounds here.

We had gone ten minutes without him landing a single blow on me. His breaths were heavy, his last few swings were sluggish even. Meanwhile, I was fresh, all warmed up and bouncing on my toes like I’d just stepped into the ring.

He took a drink from the guys standing by the doors he’d entered in, but I walked right up to the edge of the ring next to Raven, determined to rub it in a little more.

“You’re unbelievable, you know that?” she said in a hushed tone to me.

I placed an arm on the ring’s edge and looked up at her, my smirk growing. “Think I’ve had enough time to warm up now, don’t you?” I asked her.

I knew I was pouring out arrogance, and I could see from the corner of my eyes, Kaito was attempting to remain unbothered in appearance. But his eyebrow twitched at my words.

Raven stifled a smile but nodded. “Yes, that should do it.”

“Hang tight. I’ll be sure to finish this up soon,” I said as I pushed off the wall and made my way back to the center of the ring, where the announcer stood waiting.

Kanjirou took another drink and then walked over as well. Man was dripping sweat. He was angrier, his fists clenched. I could see it in his eyes—he knew he’d been made a fool of in round one. He was going to try his best to not let it happen again.

This time, when the ref dropped his hand and jumped out of the way, I let him hit me.

First blow, that’s all I gave my opponents. But damn, his fist smashed into my ribs like a damn sledge hammer, knocking the breath from my lungs for a moment. A solid hit. The crowd roared around us, thinking their favorite would win now that he’d landed a blow. Thinking that the tides had turned.

It hadn’t.

That was the only hit I was giving him. I decided that as soon as I saw the smirk on Kaito’s face as he turned and said something to Raven that made her entire body stiffen.

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