The locker room doesn't explode after a loss. It sags with depression.
Nakahara notices it the way a veteran notices a change in pressure; the slack in shoulders, the quiet spreading too fast.
This is how it starts, one loss becoming permission for another. But the old man won't let it happen.
"Aramaki," he calls quietly. "Put your gloves on."
Aramaki reaches into his bag, takes the gloves out, and slides his hands in, the weight settles differently than it does in the gym.
It always does before a fight.
This time though, it's burdened more by the knowledge that for the first time he isn't facing a rookie, but someone who's lived on the contender list for years.
Nakahara steps in front of Aramaki and raises the mitts.
"Come. Let's test your punches with gloves on first."
The first punches are light, almost tentative.
Nakahara adjusts the angle of the mitts with small movements of his wrists, guiding rather than testing.
