For a brief moment, Ishimaru looks genuinely cornered. The imposing boss persona he had carried into the room seems to disappear entirely.
Kurogane may be acting arrogant, but everything he has said is backed by numbers and events the entire boxing industry already knows to be real.
Ishimaru's eyes shift toward Ryoma for a moment, still seated behind his desk and seemingly untouched by the tension around him.
Somehow, the room suddenly feels much larger than it had when Ishimaru walked in, and he finds himself looking a little smaller inside it.
Perhaps he had spent too long believing that being a major promoter in Osaka meant he was automatically a major figure wherever he went.
After a moment, Ishimaru clears his throat once and forces his composure back into place. If the numbers have failed, perhaps the pressure waiting outside can still be useful.
