Chains of Command

Chapter 3 - Friction Burn

Structure.

It was a word Ryuen used to mock-something the school worshipped and he rebelled against. Structure was what bound sheep. He thrived in chaos. He created it. He weaponized it.

But now... something inside him ached for it.

A framework. An edge. A line he couldn't cross unless told to.

And that disgusted him.

⸻

The Fracture Begins

He woke before sunrise.

Not because he needed to.

Because something in him couldn't rest anymore.

His body moved on impulse-shower, teeth, uniform, routine. All without thought.

Not for discipline. Not for preparation.

But because it gave him boundaries.

Because if he didn't, he might spiral again. Into that suffocating internal silence. Into the space Ayanokouji had opened inside him.

His mind kept circling back to those moments.

"Move."
"Sit."
"Wait."

They rang louder than punches. More final than defeat. They didn't command-they assumed compliance, as though obedience was a foregone conclusion.

And the worst part?

Ryuen obeyed. Again and again.

Even when he didn't want to.

Especially when no one else noticed.

What did that make him?

⸻

The Plan

Ryuen needed to break it. Flip the script. Make Ayanokouji crack. Force him to either overextend-or reveal his own need to dominate.

He chose the outdoor practice courts, mid-afternoon. Warm, bright, open enough to be public but controlled. A confrontation in full daylight.

He texted Ishizaki to show up, then told him not to interfere no matter what happened.

He stood near the court's center, jacket slung casually over his shoulder, posture relaxed, but eyes sharp.

Ayanokouji approached exactly on time.

"How predictable," Ryuen said.

"You called me here," Ayanokouji replied.

"You didn't have to come."

"You wanted me to."

Ryuen smiled, all teeth. "You think you've figured me out. Just because I didn't punch your throat last week."

Ayanokouji tilted his head. "You could try now."

Silence.

A tension so sharp it could've sliced steel.

Ryuen stepped closer.

"You're not in control here," he muttered. "You think saying a few words makes you some kind of god. That I'll just roll over."

"You have," Ayanokouji said softly. "More than once."

Another beat. Ryuen's pulse thudded in his ear.

"I let it happen. I was measuring you."

"You were responding to me."

"No," Ryuen snapped. "You respond to me. You came when I told you to. You're here. You want this."