VISION GRID SYSTEM: THE COMEBACK OF RYOMA TAKEDA

Kenta freezes for a beat, then immediately fires back with a series of short hooks and uppercuts.

Ryoma drops his stance and holds his ground, adjusting his guard to catch everything on his forearms.

Dug. Dug. Dp. Dug.

Then he takes a subtle step back before immediately sliding his lead foot forward again as he ducks under a hook.

He digs a left body shot into Kenta’s midsection.

Thud!

The moment the punch lands, Ryoma has already angled off to Kenta’s left and quickly snaps a right hook into the base of his jaw.

DSH!

Kenta’s head whips sideways from the impact, the blow rattling his brain.

His legs give out, and Ryoma immediately catches his arm to keep him on his feet.

For a moment, Kenta looks as though he’s just passed out. Then he blinks, struggling to regain his bearings. His legs feel weak, and his balance is still terrible.

”You good?” Ryoma asks.

”What? What just happened?”

Ryoma doesn’t answer. He simply holds Kenta until his footing becomes a little steadier.

Then he lets go and turns away.

”That’s it for today.”

”But, Ryoma…”

”Sorry, Kenta. I have a meeting.”

At ringside, Sera and Nakahara look stunned by the sudden shift.

Sera blinks a few times before scoffing at Nakahara.

”Is that what you call regressing?”

Nakahara’s expression gradually shifts, though he remains serious.

It’s not Ryoma’s performance that concerns him, but the change in his personality. He now begins to seriously consider what might have triggered that sudden shift.

***

After removing his headgear and boxing gloves and putting them away, Ryoma heads straight for the recovery room, the same room he always visits when he wants to communicate with Phantom Ryoma.

As soon as he opens the door, he finds the figure sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room.

His sudden appearance catches Ryoma off guard, because he has tried to call him out several times lately, but Phantom Ryoma has never shown himself.

Now, however, he’s sitting right there, wearing an amused smile, as though he’s been waiting for this moment.

”I believe you want to see me,” he says.

”Yes,” Ryoma replies as he approaches him. ”And I want you to be honest with me this time. Were you the one who killed Hayashida Muneyaki?”

”The question is, will you accept what I have to say?”

”Just answer my question and stop dodging it.”

”I’m not the one avoiding anything. You’re the one who keeps trying to deny my existence. Hell, I’ve been trying to tell you the truth, but you’ve kept me muted.”

Ryoma says nothing more, simply staring at the figure with a calculating gaze. They hold each other’s gaze for a while before Phantom Ryoma raises both hands in mock surrender.

”Fine, I admit it. I killed him. Happy now?”

”You’re lying,” Ryoma says.

”See? You’re still in denial.”

”I’m not in denial. I know you’re still not taking me seriously. You even deliberately showed me how much you were lying just now.”

Only then does Phantom Ryoma’s attitude begin to change.

”Alright. Let’s see how far you can trust my testimony.”

His smile remains, but his gaze grows colder, more serious.

”He was a threat to us, to everything we’ve achieved, and to the people we care about. So yeah, I went there to kill him.”

”So you really did it and made me a murderer.”

”Except someone else got to him before I did. And honestly, I’m still pissed about that.”

Ryoma remains silent for a moment. This time, he sees no sign that Phantom Ryoma is lying to him. Still, he can’t rule out the possibility that he’s simply gotten better at hiding it.

”You still haven’t convinced me. And you should know that your decision to bring Reika along that day has become a liability for me.”

”I saw the guy who did it,” Phantom Ryoma says.

Ryoma’s expression shifts, freezing for a brief moment before he regains his composure.

”It was the same guy with the scar on his face. The one we met at the hotel when you were kidnapped by the Frenchman.”

Then he shrugs. ”Not that I saw how he did it. But I bumped into him on the stairs, and the moment he saw me, he bolted. By the time I reached Muneyaki’s girlfriend’s place, I found him hanging there, already dead. But rest assured, I made sure not to leave any trace of us behind.”

Ryoma’s mind immediately begins piecing together the implications of the testimony. He has suspected from the beginning that someone is after his life, and that Muneyaki might have been a hired killer working for a mafia group.

Now, after hearing Phantom Ryoma’s account, one name immediately comes to mind: Erzhanov. He may be the one pulling the strings behind all of this.

Erzhanov had hired Muneyaki to hurt him, or perhaps even kill him. When Muneyaki failed, they killed him to cover their tracks.

On one hand, Ryoma feels somewhat relieved, beginning to believe that he isn’t a murderer after all. But on the other, his position remains complicated.

Proving Erzhanov’s involvement would be difficult if they had covered their tracks just as carefully. Meanwhile, Phantom Ryoma had brought his body to the crime scene that night and even taken Reika along with him.

”And about that girl,” Phantom Ryoma says, ”you don’t really need to worry. She didn’t see anything. She has nothing that could incriminate us.”

”Are you stupid?” Ryoma shoots back. ”Even if she has no evidence, her testimony could still complicate things for me. She doesn’t have to claim that I killed Muneyaki. All she has to do is tell the police that you took her there. That alone would be enough to…”

”Come on, don’t play dumb with me. I know a trivial matter like this won’t pose any serious problem for you.”

After saying that, Phantom Ryoma’s form begins to blur, like a blue-dominated hologram flickering out of existence.

”I know you can handle it. The only thing you need to keep in check now is that excessive anxiety of yours.”

Ryoma starts to move toward him. But suddenly, the door opens and Hiroshi calls out from behind him.

”Ryoma. Maria and Reika are here. They’re waiting for you in the living room.”

In an instant, Ryoma’s expression settles back into a calm, calculating look, his mind already working out the mind games he’ll use to deal with Reika.

***

After leaving the recovery room, Ryoma simply tells Hayakawa to attend to his two guests, making the excuse that he’s busy and asking them to come to the training building instead.

He then waits in the corridor connecting the building to the main mansion. When Hayakawa returns with Maria and Reika, Ryoma deliberately greets them coldly, acting as though he’s far too important to make time for them.

”Make it quick. I need to get back to training.”

Maria raises an eyebrow, looking around with an amused smile. ”This is my first time visiting your magnificent residence, and you don’t even offer me a drink?”

”I assumed you came here for something important. If not, I can have Hayakawa keep you company in the living room while I return to my training.”

Maria studies him for a moment, realizing that Ryoma is deliberately creating this unpleasant atmosphere for some reason, though she can’t quite figure out why.

She then glances at Reika, who’s standing slightly behind her and still looks as though she doesn’t want to stay here any longer.

It reminds Maria of what happened at the bar, leading her to suspect that something might be going wrong between the young couple.

After a brief sigh, Maria returns to her usual professional demeanor.

”We just wanted to follow up on the production project at Ota Gym for Kenta’s fight. The event is less than three weeks away, and Ronin is still leaving us hanging without a definite answer.”

”Ah, about that... We’ve already signed a contract with another company,” Ryoma replies coldly. ”Is there anything else?”

Maria pauses briefly, taking in his answer before responding. ”I see. That’s certainly unexpected, considering how far we’ve come with the discussions.”

She maintains her professional composure, though her expression grows more serious. ”May I ask what led you to choose another company? If there’s an issue with our terms or the way we’ve handled the negotiations, I’d appreciate knowing. After two years of working together, I believe we can at least be candid with each other about that.”

”You’re right. There is a problem,” Ryoma replies calmly. ”I asked for your help with Marcus Hale. Even if you’d said no, I wouldn’t have held it against you. But instead, you kept ghosting me. Now you finally show up, all you talk about is your company’s business prospects.”

His expression remains unchanged. ”If that’s all the trust we’ve built over the past two years, then I’ll value it just as much. Now leave. I need to get back to my training.”

Now Maria understands; they’ve disappointed him, and Ryoma is making his position clear to them, that NSN needs him far more than he needs them.

Knowing there’s nothing she can do to salvage the situation by herself, Maria gives a solemn nod and turns away.

”Reika, we’re leaving.”

But Reika can’t afford to leave things like this. If Logan learns that their relationship has ended on these terms, she’ll get into trouble with her father all over again.

She steps forward, her voice low but threatening. ”So this is how you repay me? Have you forgotten that you’re still walking free because I haven’t reported you to the police?”

Ryoma tilts his head slightly. ”And what exactly would you report?”

”That you killed Hayashida Muneyaki.”

With that, Reika turns and hurries after Maria.

Ryoma watches her leave without a hint of concern. He lets out a brief chuckle before calling after her.

”Your father wants me, Reika! He wouldn’t want to see me get into trouble.”