Kai gritted his teeth, his muscles burning from the strain as he forced himself up to his knees. Every fiber of his being was screaming in protest, but he couldn't stop now. Not when he had come this far. The taste of blood was thick in his mouth, and his vision blurred from exhaustion, but he wasn’t done.

Hana, standing over him, stared down with an expression that was both hard and strangely reflective. "You're still pushing? Do you really think this will get you anywhere?"

Kai coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood. His breathing was labored, each breath a painful reminder of the punishment his body had endured. "You think you’re the only one who can keep going... who can survive?" He rasped, his voice raw with pain and defiance. "I’m not done yet."

Hana shook her head, a small smirk playing on her lips, though her eyes betrayed something more—something like respect. "You don’t get it, do you? Survival isn’t just about endurance. You can’t just throw yourself into the fire without understanding what you’re doing. You’ll burn out."

Kai’s hands clenched into fists as he struggled to stand, his legs shaking beneath him. "I don’t care about burning out. I don’t care about anything except proving that I can stand with you."

"Prove what?" Hana stepped closer, her voice steady but her eyes flashing with intensity. "That you can suffer? That you can take a beating? That’s not strength, Kai. It’s foolishness. If you keep going like this, you’ll break."

Kai’s breathing was ragged, his chest heaving with the effort it took to stay upright. But he locked eyes with her, his voice low but resolute. "Maybe I already am broken. But you’re wrong. I’m not doing this just to prove something to you. I’m doing this for me."

For a moment, Hana hesitated, her expression hard to read. Then she let out a slow breath. "You want to keep going? Fine." She dropped into a fighting stance, her hands raised, her body coiled with readiness. "But this is where you’ll find out what real strength looks like."

Without warning, she lunged at Kai, her fists moving in a blur. Kai barely had time to react, his body slow and sluggish from the pain and exhaustion. He raised his arms to block, but Hana’s fist smashed through his defense, landing a brutal punch to his ribs. The impact was like a hammer, knocking the wind from his lungs and sending him stumbling back.

"Fight back, Kai!" Hana barked, her voice sharp and commanding. "Stop pretending you can take everything without fighting!"

Kai groaned, his vision swimming as he tried to stay on his feet. But he couldn’t give in. Not yet. He clenched his fists tighter, ignoring the searing pain in his ribs as he swung at her. His punch was wild, lacking precision, but he poured everything he had left into it.

Hana easily sidestepped the blow, her movements smooth and controlled. She countered with a swift kick to his knee, sending Kai crashing to the ground again. He groaned in pain, his body screaming at him to stop, but he grit his teeth and forced himself up once more.

"You’re not listening!" Hana snapped, her frustration finally breaking through. "This isn’t about who can take more hits. It’s about knowing when to strike, when to hold back, when to adapt. You can’t win like this!"

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Kai struggled to catch his breath, his body trembling from the effort it took just to stay standing. "Then teach me," he growled, his voice strained but determined. "If I’m doing it wrong, show me how to do it right."

Hana’s eyes widened, caught off guard by his words. For a moment, she stood there, her fists still raised, her expression unreadable.

"You don’t get it, Kai," she said softly, lowering her hands slightly. "There’s no shortcut. No trick that’s going to save you from this. You have to learn how to think, how to move, how to fight... You can’t just brute-force your way through everything."

Kai shook his head, wiping the blood from his face. "Then let me figure it out! Let me learn—" He swung at her again, his punch more controlled this time, more calculated. Hana blocked it easily, but something in her expression shifted.

"You're stubborn," she muttered, sidestepping another punch. "But maybe that's what you need." She countered with a quick jab to his shoulder, but it wasn’t as hard as before, almost as if she was testing him. "You’re not thinking about what comes next. You react, but you don’t anticipate."

Kai stumbled back, wiping the sweat from his brow. "I’m trying—"

"Trying isn’t enough," Hana interrupted, her tone sharp. "You need to know. Fighting isn’t just physical, Kai. It’s in your head. Right now, you're fighting like you want to die."

Kai glared at her, frustration boiling in his chest. "What do you know about what I want?" he shot back. "I didn’t ask for any of this. You think I want to fight like this? I’m doing what I have to."

Hana’s expression softened for a moment, a flicker of something almost like empathy crossing her face. "I know you didn’t ask for this. But you need to start asking yourself why you’re fighting in the first place. Are you doing this just to prove something to me? Or are you doing it for you?"

Kai didn’t answer right away, his breathing labored as he tried to push the pain from his mind. Why was he fighting? Was it really just about proving himself to Hana? Or was there something deeper driving him?

Hana took a step closer, her gaze steady. "You can keep pushing yourself until you break. But you won’t learn anything from it. If you want to get stronger, you have to understand why you're fighting. What do you really want, Kai?"

Kai clenched his fists, his mind racing. What did he want? The question gnawed at him, the answer just out of reach. He thought of Jin, of the Ledger, of the power he had been so close to using. But deep down, he knew that wasn’t the real answer.

"I want to be strong enough to stop all of this," Kai said finally, his voice quieter now but no less determined. "I want to be strong enough to end the pain. To protect the people I care about."

Hana’s gaze softened, her stance relaxing slightly. "That’s something. But strength doesn’t come from fighting alone. It comes from knowing when to fight—and when to walk away."

Kai shook his head, his frustration boiling over again. "I can’t walk away. Not when Jin’s still out there. Not when the Ledger’s still hanging over me. I need to be ready."

Hana sighed, her expression pained. "The Ledger won’t solve your problems, Kai. You keep thinking that power is the answer, but it’s not. The moment you use that power, you lose part of yourself. Trust me, I know."

Kai looked at her, his chest heaving. "Then why do you keep using it?"

Hana’s jaw tightened, and for a moment, her gaze flickered with something dark—regret, maybe. Or fear. "Because I have no choice. But you still do."

Kai shook his head, his fists clenching tighter. "I can’t let it go. Not yet."

Hana’s eyes narrowed, her frustration boiling over again. "Then you’ll keep fighting like this—recklessly, without purpose. You’ll keep getting hurt until there’s nothing left of you."

Kai glared at her, his voice rising. "Then teach me how to fight the right way! Stop talking and show me!"

For a moment, Hana hesitated, her gaze searching his face. Then, with a sharp exhale, she stepped back into her stance. "Fine. But you’re going to have to earn it."

Kai’s heart pounded in his chest as he readied himself, his body screaming in protest. But he wasn’t backing down. Not now. Not when he was so close.

Hana moved first, her strikes fast and controlled, but this time, Kai was ready. He dodged, keeping his movements tight and deliberate, just as she had told him. He focused on her patterns, watching for the openings.

He wasn’t fighting to survive anymore. He was fighting to win.