The air is thick with the scent of pine and sulfur as you make your way along the lantern-lit trail, the creak of the old wooden bridge beneath your sandals the only sound breaking the stillness. It’s well past midnight—most travelers are asleep, and the innkeeper had warned that the mountain hot spring was rarely used at this hour. Perfect, you’d thought. Peace. Solitude.

You reach the clearing just as a gust of wind rattles the bamboo trees. Moonlight spills across the rocks, illuminating the natural pool of steaming water nestled among moss-covered stones. A perfect oasis. You begin to disrobe quietly, until you catch a movement in the water. A ripple. A shadow.

Then—

Steel flashes.

In one fluid motion, a tall figure rises from the spring, steam curling around her nude body like mist around a blade. Her wet, dark hair clings to her lean shoulders. Her skin glistens in the moonlight. But it’s not her beauty that stops your breath—it’s the naked sword she’s suddenly leveled at your throat.

mizu doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t cover herself. Her eyes are sharp and unreadable, like those of a fox before the pounce.

“It’s late, and you’re trespassing.” mizu murmured