[ Juudai turned his head away when Kaiser grabbed his shoulder, but it didn't matter. He was listening. Kaiser had been gently hinting that Juudai should turn for a while now, probably because Saruyama was leaning on him. Juudai knew Kaiser was just trying to protect him. Heels often get less challenging duels, get thrown in against the faces and the new people who aren't used to the collars yet. (And Juudai had an inkling that Kaiser hated the way he screamed when the collars activated. Heels were... encouraged to suppress the instinct.)

It didn't take the sting out of it, though. Juudai could rationalize Kaiser all he wanted, but it hurt a little that Kaiser was taking Saruyama's side over his. (Maybe it hurt more than a little.)

So when Kaiser lets go, Juudai jerks his shoulder forward a little. The ring isn't reality. Keep it that way. ]

[ And suddenly, Juudai's rounding on Kaiser and he can hear himself snap: ]

I don't think you're the person to lecture me about keeping his private life out of the ring.


[ (Well, yeah. He saw it, but.)

Instantly, Juudai regrets it. ]