Sagiri watched Taziraka's chest rise and fall between attacks, then realized the rhythm was not his own breathing at all.
The pulse building under his collar rose and fell on a count Sagiri had felt once before, in the last seconds of Rika's corruption right before her strikes turned patient.
'That same count lived under her skin,' Sagiri thought, tracking the black lines climbing toward Taziraka's jaw, 'someone is running both of them off the same clock.'
Kiuga circled to Sagiri's left, weapon low, and asked, "Does knowing the rhythm actually help us?"
"It tells us when he's about to commit to something he can't take back," Sagiri answered, watching Taziraka's shoulder drop half a beat early.
Taziraka surged forward on the next pulse, and Sagiri caught the strike across Nokai's shaft, letting the impact carry both of them sideways through the broken road.
Kaka planted himself at the edge of the group, ribs still aching, and shouted, "Left side again, same drop!"
