I Knew

  Earlier, in the slave camp supply shed where they were first given junk to use for the Rat Race, Dozai, Kenny, and Nobu were already moving.

  The shed smelled of old rope and overheated metal and dust hung in the light like trapped breaths.

  Nobu was already moving, hands working fast, tightening straps on a heavy pack. Dozai watched the small, precise motions, seeing how desperate he was to get back to the battle.

  Then the forest screamed.

  A raw, ragged sound that cleaved the quiet. Dozai’s head snapped up. The hairs on his arms prickled.

  Kenny looked at him, eyes wide. Nobu’s jaw tightened. “Was that Rei—?”

  “Wait. Do you have everything—” Dozai began.

  “I DO!” Nobu cut him off, voice single-minded as he ran past. Full speed. "I'll clear the way!"

  Dozai clenched his hands, nails digging crescents into his palms. He rolled his shoulder; the old bruise flamed, a deep ache from Kota’s earlier hit. His body shivered at the memory.

  He turned to Kenny, voice low. “…We have to hurry.”

  The supply caches were chaos, wire, cracked mana cells, scavenged tech, patched traps.

  They moved like field surgeons, hands scooping, loading, checking. Time thinned.

  Grab. Bind. Zip. Pack.

  Dozai winced, rolling his shoulder again, pain hissing at the edge of his skin.

  Low and resigned, he said, “We can’t capture him.” The sentence fell into the dust. “That glancing punch told me everything.”

  Kenny’s hand froze over a rusted mana caltrop. “Then why pack this crap? If we can’t win, we should—“

  “I never said we can’t win,” Dozai cut in. He slid a modified mana mine into a pack, hands shaking. “Just not the way he expects.” He zipped the pack, fingers fumbling.

  He tucked another mine away. “The first explosion was bait. To pull his guard down.” He paused. ”Now, if we hit him with these, he’ll take the hit. Kota doesn’t seem like that type to dodge ‘useless’ attacks.”

  Dozai looked up, eyes sharp with tired calculation. “Even a scratch will make him hesitate. Doubt. A window where his rhythm is off. Then…”

  “We keep stalling,” Kenny finished.

  Dozai nodded slow.

  Kenny hefted a pack onto his shoulders with a grunt. “This is insane,” he said, jaw tight. “Bit off more than we can chew, huh?” He joked, but Dozai saw the tremble in his lips.

  Dozai strapped his pack on, fingers lingering on the clasp.

  “It’s all we can do,” he said quietly. “We buy time. If it goes wrong, we run. Regroup, and try again.”

  He checked the battered clock.

  Three minutes has past.

  “Roi should be at the Heatbox by now, hopefully Rei is….” He choked down the nausea. “Let’s move.”

  Kenny’s hand shot out, gripping Dozai's shoulder. The contact was warm, heavy with a question that had no answer.

  His eyes held fear and respect.

  “Did... Did you plan all this? You knew he’d go after Roi and Rei? That Rei would be stalling him right now?”

  Dozai hesitated, the truth a stone in his mouth, then looked away.

  His fingers trembled, then steadied. If anyone looked close enough they would see it, not just the hand.

  His whole body quivered. Seconds from snapping.

  But not his eyes. They stayed unwavering.

  Focused. Quiet.

  “Of course not,” he said, his voice smaller than the plan demanded.

  Kenny watched him, from the pitch black of his eyes to the white of his hair. A beat, a breath, then a slow crooked grin spread over Kenny’s face.

  He slapped Dozai’s shoulder with a tense laugh.

  “You lunatic. Glad you’re on our side. At our church, we only eat wit those we trust.” His grin held for a moment like mercy. “So lets eat with each other from now on.”

  Dozai let himself blink. A soft half-smile touched his lips. He nodded once, brief and solemn.

  They moved as one, leaving the stale safety, sprinting toward the shriek that had split the trees.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The air was thick, every breeze dragging tension like invisible blades. Time slipped through the grass like blood.

  Dozai and Kenny raced down the path, weaving through the outskirts of the clearing. Nobu was ahead—far ahead—running like something inside him had broken.

  Branches tore at his sleeves, stones sliced his hands, but Nobu didn’t slow. He wasn’t thinking about formation or traps. He was thinking about her.

  Dozai heard the chant between Nobu's gasps.

  “Faster. Faster. Faster.”

  Each word a heartbeat through the woods.

  Then the sound of his feet changed.

  From dirt.

  To gravel.

  To silence.

  By the time Dozai burst through the last line of trees, Nobu was already on his knees.

  The sight hit like a hammer.

  Rei.

  Crumpled on the ground, half-buried in dirt. One leg bound in bandages soaked dark as rust. Her chest rose and fell so shallowly he could count each breath.

  “REI!!”

  Nobu’s scream tore through the clearing. He lunged forward, scooping her into his arms. His hands shook as he checked for a pulse, pressed against the bleeding, tried to keep her body from falling apart. Each shallow breath she took felt like a betrayal to him.

  Dozai’s mind froze for a moment. The image didn’t compute—Rei, so small and fragile in Nobu’s arms. Deep down, he’d known the risk. He had trained them to face danger, to endure loss—but seeing it manifest? It was something no drill could teach.

  Then he saw Rizaru.

  Crouched by a dead tree, her hands slack at her sides. Her shoulders sagged, eyes rimmed red and distant. She didn’t flinch, didn’t speak, didn’t hide—the emptiness in her gaze mirrored the storm in Nobu’s arms.

  Their eyes met, a quiet acknowledgment passing between them. No blame, no fury. Just understanding.

  Nobu’s lip trembled. Words ripped out like raw, jagged edges. “Did you… arrive too late, Rizaru? Or… did you just watch?”

  Rizaru rose slowly, measured, voice barely above the wind. “I saw everything,” she said, soft, almost apologetic. “I couldn’t intervene. If I had… you would all have been punished.”

  Nobu’s fists clenched until knuckles cracked against his palms. “AND THIS IS BETTER?!” He slammed the ground, a roar of frustration and helplessness. “SHE COULD DIE!”

  Rizaru’s answer came as a whisper, almost swallowed by the leaves. “I wanted to…” Her eyes never left Rei.

  For a heartbeat, the forest itself seemed to pause. The wind hung still. Even the trees held their breath, whispering only when it was too late to matter.

  Dozai felt something coil tight in his chest.

  This wasn’t something you could prepare for.

  Kenny finally arrived.

  “Sorry, I picked up something that might be use—“ He skidded to a halt. His face paled. “R-Rei?” His voice was a broken echo, as he ran to her side, eyes wide, breath caught.

  Dozai shoved the shock down.

  “There’s no time,” he said, voice hard. “We have to get to Roi. Now.”

  Nobu’s voice broke. “I’m not leaving her.”

  Dozai knelt, hand on Nobu’s shoulder. “If we don’t stop Kota, Roi ends up the same. Or worse. Then this was for nothing.”

  Something in Nobu’s face shifted—rage refocusing. Tears pooled in his eyes.

  “No… No, I…”

  He looked at Dozai for a beat longer, searching his face, trying to find certainty there. Dozai’s expression, usually calm, had a rawness to it now, anger braided with grief.

  “I’ve been counting,” Dozai whispered. “Six minutes until the match ends. Stall. I’ll make sure she’s okay.” Then lower, quieter. “…Please.”

  Nobu hesitated, biting his lip until it bled. A sound escaped him—a sob, a laugh.

  Kenny gripped Nobu’s shoulder as well, his hand also shaking with frustration. “Least we can do is make him regret it.” He forced a grin that didn’t reach his eyes.

  Nobu set Rei down gently and rose, eyes sharpening to a point.

  “Fine,” he said. “Let’s make that bastard pay.”

  They moved, boots pounding across wet grass. Before they vanished into the trees, Nobu looked back at Rizaru—not angrily, not forgivingly—but with that look that lodged itself into someone’s memory.

  Rizaru met his gaze without flinching, but her eyes no longer the same as before. The look hung there, a silent thing between them, then he was gone.

  Dozai eased Rei against the rough bark of a tree, cradling her with meticulous care. Her breaths were shallow, but steady, a fragile rhythm he refused to break.

  He shifted his attention to Rizaru. She met his gaze for only a heartbeat before looking away, fingers twisting nervously.

  “It’s not your fault,” he said quietly, keeping his own frustration pinned beneath calm, measured words. Every muscle felt wound tight, ready to act, but he forced stillness for her sake.

  Her shoulders shivered, a small hitch in her breath betraying the tension she fought to hide.

  “I know you,” he continued, tone soft but firm. “If she were truly dying… you wouldn’t have hesitated. You made the right call.”

  Rizaru’s gaze dropped to the ground. The words felt heavier than the air around them. “…Doesn’t feel like it,” she murmured, almost to herself.

  Dozai let the silence linger, not rushing to fill it. He could feel his own anger and helplessness coiling beneath his chest, but he let it stay there, steadying himself so he could steady her too.

  But deep down Dozai only blamed himself.

  Because he knew the truth.

  He’d planned for this.

  Not directly. Not maliciously.

  But when they were all huddled and whispering to eachother “What if something goes wrong?”

  In that moment,

  Without even realizing it…

  He had glanced at Rei.

  Not because he knew she would save the day or anything.

  But because he knew that she would be able to buy time if they needed it.

  She had been looking back at him too.

  Watching him calculate all possible option.

  Like always.

  And that’s when they both knew.

  They didn’t say anything to eachother.

  Didn’t ask what they were thinking.

  But she smiled.

  And he looked away.

  He didn’t want it to be true, he didn’t want to say it out loud.

  But he knew…

  He knew…

  He knew it would play out like this.

  He clenched his jaw, hair covering his eyes. "…Can I have a moment?” he asked. “Even if you can’t help… please. Watch them.”

  Rizaru looked at him—his posture, his voice.

  She nodded once.

  Silently.

  Then rushed towards the others.

  Dozai sat next to Rei.

  She stirred slightly, maybe from instinct.

  Maybe from his presence.

  He didn’t speak. Just held her hand.

  Trying his best not to blame himself.

  Failing.

  Then.

  Bootsteps.

  Crunching earth.

  Deliberate. Familiar.

  Dozai’s entire body froze. He didn’t need to look.

  He knew that walk.

  "Oh! A little reunion. How touching." Delnora smiled, wide and cruel. "She held on longer than I thought she would! Hey guys! ”

  And beside her, towering in silence...

  Master Hellick.