บท 157: XVII: On the wake of broken dreams Part 1

Way before I felt ready, I found myself on the platform, about to get a pounding. I was only hoping that it wouldn’t be a massacre. I needed to survive this fight and heal enough to take part and win on the third bout.

Honoring my promise, I had pondered Kumiko's plea, yet understood its futility. I didn’t consider myself a good actress, so acting all frail and weak in this moment wouldn’t serve me; instead, I had to be myself, act as the warrior I was and face my opponent with everything that I had and, in doing so, I would gain a true measure of what I had to overcome in the next bout and how much I had to grow.