Location: THE VANE ESTATE
THE TRAINING FLOOR (LEVEL B3)
SEPTEMBER 15, 2025 — 06:15
The training floor is located three levels below the basalt garden and the air down here is filtered to a clinical chill. The floor is covered in a high-impact charcoal rubber that absorbs the sound of footsteps and the impact of bodies. Tanaka is already waiting in the center of the room. He has traded his suit for a black compression shirt that makes him look like a mountain of corded muscle. He is holding a wooden training knife in one hand and a stopwatch in the other.
Ren enters the room wearing the black tactical gear from his wardrobe. The fabric is stiff and reinforced with flexible Kevlar panels at the joints. It fits him like a second skin and makes him feel like he is wearing a costume for a play he never auditioned for. He feels heavy and restricted compared to his usual loose hoodies.
"You look like a cadet," Tanaka grunts. He tosses the wooden knife toward Ren. "Pick it up. Let us see if that footwork of yours is good for anything other than running away."
Ren catches the knife by the hilt without looking. "A cadet? That is the best you have? I was expecting something a bit more creative from the man who got taken out by a Doberman and a garden fence."
Tanaka doesn't smile. He moves with a sudden and explosive speed that catches Ren off guard. He lunges with a training blade of his own and aims for Ren's midsection. Ren twists his body and his hips moving with the instinctive grace of a dancer. He avoids the strike by a fraction of an inch and feels the rush of air as the wooden blade whistles past his ribs.
"Your center of gravity is too high," Tanaka barks. He resets his position and circles Ren like a shark. "You are moving like you are on a stage. You are trying to look pretty. In a real fight looking pretty gets you a closed casket."
"I can't help it if I'm naturally photogenic, Tanaka," Ren snaps back. He shifts his weight and sinks lower into his stance. He tries to remember the way Kaito looked in the driveway. He tries to mimic that cold and mechanical efficiency.
Tanaka lunges again and this time he follows up with a heavy kick toward Ren's lead leg. Ren anticipates the move and steps inside the arc of the kick. He uses Tanaka's own momentum against him and reaches out to grab the man's forearm. He tries to execute a joint lock he saw in a movie once but Tanaka is like a wall of solid oak. The bodyguard twists his wrist and flips the grip with a single and violent motion. He slams his shoulder into Ren's chest and sends the student sprawling across the rubber floor.
Ren hits the ground hard and the air leaves his lungs in a ragged gasp. He stares up at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling while his vision swims.
"Get up," Tanaka says. He stands over Ren and the stopwatch is still ticking in his hand. "Mr. Vane is watching the feed. Are you going to show him a victim or are you going to show him an asset?"
Ren rolls to his feet while his chest is burning. He looks up at the corners of the room where the small black lenses of the cameras are pointed directly at him. He can feel Kaito's gaze through the screens. He can imagine the man sitting in his office and drinking more espresso while he critiques every failed block and every slow transition.
"I'm going to show him how to make you look stupid," Ren whispers.
He doesn't wait for Tanaka to move this time. Ren initiates the strike with a series of rapid and light jabs that are meant to distract rather than damage. He uses his speed to stay on the perimeter and forces Tanaka to turn constantly to keep up. When Tanaka reaches out to grab him Ren doesn't pull away. He drops to the floor in a low sweep and catches Tanaka's ankle with the heel of his boot.
It isn't enough to knock the big man down but it makes him stumble. Ren uses that split second to vault over Tanaka's back. He uses the man's shoulders as a springboard and lands lightly behind him. Before Tanaka can turn Ren has the wooden knife pressed against the back of the bodyguard's neck.
"Checkmate," Ren breathes.
Tanaka freezes. The room is silent for a long moment. Then Tanaka reaches up and slowly moves the wooden blade away from his throat. He turns around and his expression is unreadable. "Sloping. Your landing was loud. If this were a concrete floor you would have bruised your heels. But the transition was acceptable."
"Acceptable?" Ren asks while he wipes sweat from his forehead. "I just put a knife to your throat, big guy. In my world that is a win."
"In this world a win is when the other man stops breathing," Tanaka says. He points toward a heavy steel door at the end of the hall. "The range is next. Let us see if you can actually hit anything when the target isn't two feet in front of your face."
The firing range is a narrow corridor of acoustic foam and reinforced steel. It smells sharply of cordite and cleaning solvent. Tanaka leads Ren to a station where a standard-issue nine millimeter handgun sits on a rubber mat. It is cold and heavy and mechanical.
Ren looks at the weapon and feels a surge of familiarity that he has to bury instantly. He knows exactly how the weight will feel in his hand. He knows the tension of the spring and the exact reset point of the trigger. He spent his teenage years in private clubs with his father's associates and learning that a law degree is better served when backed by a steady hand. But today he needs to be the amateur. He needs to be the student who is out of his depth.
"Pick it up," Tanaka commands.
Ren reaches for the gun with a deliberate and exaggerated clumsiness. He fumbles the grip for a second and lets his fingers slip. He holds it like it is a piece of cursed jewelry rather than a tool.
"Is there a safety on this thing?" Ren asks. He makes sure to look a little too nervous while he peers down the barrel. "I don't want to accidentally shoot my own foot. I have a dance career to think about."
Tanaka's eyes narrow as he watches Ren. "The safety is off. Just point and squeeze. Try to hit the paper man at ten yards. Try not to embarrass yourself."
Ren takes a breath and raises the gun. He deliberately lets his elbows lock out and he rounds his shoulders in a way that would make a real instructor wince. He winces before he even pulls the trigger. The first shot goes wide and high and clips the edge of the paper target's shoulder. The recoil sends the gun jumping back toward his face.
"Terrible," Tanaka says. "You are fighting the machine. Stop anticipating the kick."
Ren fires again. This time he hits the torso but it is a sloppy shot near the hip. He is playing the part well but he can feel Tanaka's gaze boring into the side of his head. The bodyguard isn't looking at the target. He is looking at Ren's hands.
"You fired that pistol in the driveway with a lot more confidence," Tanaka says. His voice is dangerously soft. "You didn't hesitate when the SUVs were closing in. You found the center of the windshield through a rain of glass. Why are you shaking now?"
"Adrenaline is a hell of a drug, Tanaka," Ren says. He keeps his eyes on the target and his heart is racing for a different reason now. "I was terrified back then. I was just pulling the trigger because I didn't want to die. Here there is no pressure. No one is shooting back. It is boring."
Ren fires three more times in rapid succession. He intentionally scatters the shots across the target in a pattern that looks like pure luck. He makes sure one shot misses entirely and thuds into the backstop.
Tanaka walks over and takes the gun from Ren's hand. He checks the chamber and sets it back on the mat with a slow movement. He leans in until Ren can smell the salt and sweat on his skin.
"I've spent twenty years watching people handle weapons, Ishida," Tanaka whispers. "I know the difference between a man who is lucky and a man who is hiding something. You adjusted your grip for the fourth shot without thinking. Your thumb went straight for the release. You didn't look for it. You knew where it was."
Ren laughs and it sounds just a little too high and a little too sharp. "Maybe I watch a lot of movies. Or maybe I am just a quick learner. Isn't that what Vane bought me for?"
"Mr. Vane bought an asset," Tanaka says while he stares into Ren's eyes. "But I think he might have accidentally bought a liar. We will see how much you can hide when the targets start moving."
Ren walks out of the range while his palms are sweating. He feels the cameras watching him from every corner. He knows he is walking a thin line between being useful and being dangerous. As he heads toward the elevators for his afternoon session in Kaito's office he realizes that the Shark isn't the only predator in the house. He just needs to make sure they don't find the wolf hiding under the navy cashmere.