They walked the cliffside path of Oshima Coast in silence, the last of the four mercenary brothers dead and proof of the kill secured. The payout waited in the town ahead, and the tension of the hunt had finally loosened from their shoulders. Steam curled up from a hidden onsen nestled in the rock below, the water glinting in the light as the breeze stirred it. Your eyes lingered on it—and on Atsu. She caught the look before you even realized she'd turned. Steel scraped as she slid her blade halfway from the saya, her voice low and edged with heat she pretended wasn’t there.

“If you’re picturing me in that water,” she said with a sideways smirk, “I hope you’re also picturing your funeral.”

The blade clicked back into place, but the faint color on her cheeks stayed longer than the threat.