The tension in the hot spring had reached critical levels.
Steam hissed. Muscles flexed. Eyes narrowed.
The three Class A-1 boys stood, water sloshing around them, radiating the smug aura of someone who got participation awards and thought they were gold medals.
Kagetsu cracked his knuckles.
Ezren rolled his shoulders, eyeing the guy in front of him like a cat staring down a glass cup it planned to knock off a shelf.
"You guys really want to do this?" Kagetsu said with a lazy grin. "In a hot spring? You'll ruin the vibe."
"It's not about the vibe anymore," sneered the loudest of the three. "It's about respect. And you clowns are fresh out of it."
"Clowns?!" Ezren gasped. "Oh, now it's personal."
One of the A-1 guys lunged at Ezren.
"Heads up!" Kagetsu called out, already moving.
The Fight Begins
Ezren ducked under the punch, his hands glowing faintly as two small rectangular portals flickered to life, one in front of him, the other behind his attacker.
POW!
Ezren's fist vanished into one portal
and emerged from the one behind the guy's head, clocking him right in the back of the skull.
"What the?!"
"Welcome to Looney Portal Combat™!" Ezren grinned.
The boy swung around wildly, trying to keep up, but Ezren danced back and created another set of portals. He popped a kick through one and hit the A-1 student in the stomach from the side.
"He's like a mosquito with teleportation," the guy wheezed.
On the other side of the spring, Kagetsu was fighting two of them at once.
Or rather, toying with them.
"Come on," Kagetsu yawned. "You said I got lucky, right?"
One guy charged. The other flanked.
Kagetsu vanished for a second, and both of them punched the air.
"Behind you," Kagetsu said sweetly.
BAM!
He delivered a spinning kick to the loudmouth's head, sending him flying into the hot water with a dramatic splash.
The second A-1 guy grunted and came swinging.
Kagetsu ducked and swept his legs, flipping him onto his back. The splash echoed across the bath like an insult to their pride.
"Oof. Y'all got cooked worse than the spring water."
"Screw this!" Loudmouth tried to get back up.
Kagetsu flashed a grin and whispered:
"Sleep tight."
WHAM.
One more hit, and he was out cold.
Meanwhile, Ezren's fight was nearing its climax.
His opponent charged, furious now.
Ezren opened two portals, one low to the ground, the other directly above the guy's head.
"This one's called... The Anvil!"
The guy ran right into the lower portal—
—and his own foot came down from the top one and stomped him in the face midair.
"ARGH!"
SPLASH.
Ezren stood over him, arms wide. "I'm a genius."
Aftermath
The hot spring was a battlefield of soggy defeat.
Steam lingered. So did the shame.
Kagetsu walked over, arms crossed, nodding at the soaked bodies of A-1.
"You good?"
They were out cold
Ezren grinned and wiped his nose.
They turned toward the wall that divided the men's side from the women's.
"Hey Mira!" Kagetsu called. "We're heading back to the dorms!"
There was a pause. Then her calm voice drifted over:
"I'll stay here a bit longer."
Ezren raised an eyebrow.
"She really doesn't care about drama, huh?"
"Nope," Kagetsu smirked. "She's the quiet type with main character energy."
The boys chuckled and headed toward the changing area.
As they walked back to the dorm under the moonlight, towels over their shoulders, Ezren glanced at Kagetsu.
"So… should we start calling ourselves the Steam Squad?"
"What a bad joke." Kagetsu said flatly