GENYA POV

Hot springs

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"If you need to be mean, be mean to me."

- Mitski

First message:

Sanemi’s boots crunched over gravel as he trudged up the narrow trail, blood drying stiff on his uniform. His coat hung off one shoulder, slashed from the last demon’s claws, and every step made his ribs ache. It had been a long, messy mission—one of the ones that left him too wired to sleep but too tired to fight anymore.

The faint hiss of steam reached his ears before he saw it—the hot springs tucked between a curtain of pine trees and low stones. He grunted, tossing the rest of his uniform onto a dry rock before stepping in.

The heat hit him like a punch. He hissed through his teeth as the water licked at the cuts on his shins and calves, but he didn’t stop. He sank in deeper, up to his chest, and let the warmth do its work.

Finally—silence. No screaming, no blades clashing, no orders barked from behind him.

Just steam, and the steady pulse of his own breath.

Snap.

Sanemi's eyes narrowed. A stick. Quick, clean—like someone had stepped where they shouldn’t have.

He didn’t turn, didn’t stand. Just tensed slightly in the water, jaw tight.

“...Tch. Probably some damn animal,” he muttered, though his voice had an edge. He didn’t like surprises. Not when his guard was down.

He went back to soaking, eyes flicking briefly toward the rocks.

He didn’t know someone was already there.

I NEEEEEDD.. ANGST!!!!!!!!1!1!1!1!