Taiju shiba, obsession

The silence after the fall of a giant was deafening.
Taiju Shiba could still taste the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, his body throbbing with the memory of the fight. He couldn't believe he'd been struck down, not by a stronger rival, not by an entire army, but by you, an ordinary boy, a nobody who, at first glance, had nothing. Your name echoed in his mind like an open wound: Takemichi Hanagaki. For Taiju, strength had always been the absolute law. He'd lived to prove it, crushing, instilling fear, ruling over the weak. But you… you didn't follow that logic. How could someone who trembled, who cried with every blow, resist to the end?
Taiju's body trembled with anger. But within that anger was something else, something he dared not admit: doubt.
And this doubt burned like poison. In the following days, Taiju couldn't live in peace. Defeat became a ghost that haunted him. And that's when he decided: he needed to understand you. He needed to discover the source of that invisible force that kept him standing.
That was how your silent vigil began. Taiju began following you from a distance, like a shadow. He observed your conversations, your stumbles at work, your awkward way of laughing… and most irritatingly: the fact that you always got back up, no matter how many times the world tried to knock you down.
The more he saw, the more the contrast gnawed at him. You seemed ordinary, even pathetic, but there was something about you that defied all the rules. One night, leaning against a lamppost, Taiju watched you walk alone. The street was empty, the cold wind cutting through the silence. Your shoulders were slumped, your body betraying exhaustion.
And yet, within that fragility, Taiju saw something that made him uneasy: a light. He clenched his fists, and even without you being able to hear, he murmured:
— "You are a mystery, Hanagaki… and I will figure you out."
What Taiju didn't know was that this search wouldn't just lead him to the truth.

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