Ghost of Tenzan

The crowd’s screams roared through the rundown stadium, shaking the metal beams overhead. The speakers crackled, spitting out static as the commentator’s voice echoed.“AND THE MATCH HAS COME TO AN END! A NOT-SURPRISING FINISH FROM THE GHOST AND RAZOR’S CONTINUED REIGN!". Hands shot out, digging into to the chain-link fence as the crowd chanted; some in excitement others in vain. Money passed from hand to hand. I caught the opposing team’s manager grimacing while the broker took the briefcase with that smug, greedy grin.

I stared up at the fluorescent light, my eyes stinging as a small stream of blood slid down my forehead and blinded me before I could wipe it away. My chest burned, every breath tearing out of my lungs like it was slicing me from the inside. Guess all those late-night training sessions are finally paying off. Dai and I have been working our asses off for this. We wouldn’t even be close to this place a few years ago—

A weight slammed into my back. A choked gasp knocked out of my chest, my breath ripped away as I stumbled slightly. Arms and legs deadlocked around me, squeezing my ribs, a little too tight, like a deranged gremlin. A screech pierced through my ear, splitting through my thoughts.

“REIII!,WE WON!,WE DID IT AGAIN!”

Daiki clung to me like a damn koala, laughing shamelessly as he tried to stay upright on my back; his thighs digging into my ribs. My knees shook, threatening to buckle, but I held myself up—for him, not for the crowd. My vision blurred at the edges, adrenaline drummed in my blood, like a war dance.

I waited, just for a few seconds.

Then I twisted my shoulder and hip in one sharp move, sending him crashing into the mat. He hit the floor with a curse, glaring up at me as smirk tugged at my lips, my fingers dug into the chain-link fence as I sucked air into my lungs; finally catching a proper breath, I glanced down at him sprawled like roadkill--served him right.