Four minutes in, the natural physics of eight people in a contained space doing genuine damage to each other began collapsing the royale into something more specific.
Kai went down first. Not out — down. Aaron's Boxing A Rank found the damaged shoulder three times in one combination, and the third time Kai's attempt to redirect simply didn't produce. His body had made a unilateral decision. He hit the floor on one knee, one arm folded beneath him, breathing.
Aaron stepped back.
His eyes asked the question without asking it.
Kai looked up at him. The shoulder was not fine. They both knew the shoulder was not fine. Kai stood up, and Aaron came back in, and they continued, because that was the shape of who they were.
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