Hayato's body surged forward in the blink of an eye.
He moved with Renji's speed… but without Renji's mind.
Veins bulged across his body, trembling with pressure.
Renji took one involuntary step back, chest tightening.
"That's enough," Renji hissed.
Renji let his weight shift backward.
He pretended as if losing balance— then snapped upward into a clean backflip, snow spraying beneath him.
Midair upside down, he drew a hidden dagger from his boot—and streaked through the air toward Hayato's right shoulder.
"I haven't used this move since Red Boar Sakaga,"
Renji muttered.
"You should feel honored, Hayato."
And he watched his dagger cutting through the snow like a snake striking.
Hayato… slipped past it.
Renji's breath knotted in his chest.
"What…?
Not even my own brother ever dodged that.
Not even Sensei 'Red Lion' Kazuma."
Hayato didn't stop even for a breath.
Renji's voice cracked,
"If I treat him gently, he'll kill me. If I treat him harshly, I'll lose him."
He roared into the void:
"Hayato! Think of Kana! Yui!"
Renji saw it.
"That flicker… did I imagine it?
Staying in this stage too long… it's suicide for both of us."
Hayato's strikes were so merciless that Renji could only breathe by stepping back again and again.
Then a single mistake.
Hayato's void-black eyes caught it instantly.
A katana appeared at Renji's throat.
Renji didn't even see the movement— he only felt the pale reflection of steel spill across his face.
His body didn't listen to his mind.
Renji lunged forward a single step and seized Hayato's wrist with both hands.
He was late.
Warmth slid down his neck.
Renji's voice carried disbelief:
"
If I'd been any slower... my head would've hit the ground."
Renji's arms grew heavy; his reflexes slowed.
Renji's left hand trembled on its own.
"My flame… it'll tear me apart. I fear dying while watching the boy I raised disappear forever."
At that exact moment, a heavy strike from the left crashed into his ribs.
His right hand went numb, and his katana slipped from between his fingers, plunging into the snow.
The blows did not stop.
Steel scraped his shoulder, then carved a second line beneath his neck.
His clothes hung in tatters.
But Renji only looked to Hayato's eyes.
Then Renji spat blood.
His lips curved upward,
"What if I give up?" he whispered.
"This legendary warrior… finally losing to time."
For the first time, Hayato's blade hesitated.
For the first time he blinked.
Renji's smile softened, almost breaking.
"There you are," he breathed.
But it was a false hope.
Two swift cuts opened across Renji's legs from below, and Renji collapsed to his knees.
Renji let out an aching laugh that stung with pain.
"My legs finally knelt for someone. Traitors!"
The snowfall grew heavier; Renji lifted his head toward the gray-white sky.
"Even the gods mourn for this."
Hayato approached Renji with heavy, deliberate steps.
Like the footsteps of an executioner.
Hayato's shadow fell over Renji.
Renji lifted his head; blood, snow, and exhaustion carved lines across his face.
"You finally beat me…
But if I die now, you fall with me.
Don't walk to the cliff, Hayato.
Promise me."
Hayato's body went rigid in an instant.
Strangled breath frozen in his throat.
His sword hung in the air.
His pitch-black eyes lost their focus. He blinked once, and when they opened again, the void in his right eye had faded into gray.
The silhouette of the boy appeared from within the shadow.
Renji thought: "For a heartbeat he looked lost. For a heartbeat he looked like a boy."
Renji's breath left him in pale clouds that vanished into the cold air.
A heartbeat of hesitation… then resolve.
The two mini-daggers hidden in his boots slid into his palms.
"Sorry… I have to," he whispered to himself.
He drove forward, and the daggers struck.
Both buried themselves into Hayato's feet.
Hayato didn't scream.
The katana slipped from his fingers, dropping into the snow with a muted thud.
Renji wasn't waiting for an opportunity— he was making one.
He lunged, despite the torn muscles and failing strength.
The flame kept him moving; his will dragged the rest of him along.
He seized Hayato's legs and threw all his weight forward, slamming him down into the snow.
As Hayato fell, Renji thought:
"If it keeps him alive… he can hate me later."
Even though Renji's trembling knees burned like knives, he forced himself over Hayato's body.
Renji's head hummed with a low roar, his vision blurred.
And still, he pressed his weight down against Hayato's chest.
When Hayato's body twitched again, Renji's fingers tightened around him—shaking.
"Don't tremble… Renji.
Hayato… that's enough.
Rest with me, just for a while…
Wake up as my boy again.
Not with those eyes…"
Renji didn't let go—
but the weight dragging him down
pulled his consciousness with it.
His eyes stung with heat and exhaustion.
The last thing he heard was the echo of his own heartbeat throbbing inside his ears.
And then the snow quietly draped itself over the two of them.
The world, at last, had grown tired of noise.