This time, the ones in the hot springs pool were the boys. Five bros, chilling in the hot tub, five feet apart for obvious reasons. Despite all being friends, they just stared at the moon in an awkward silence. 

But then Risei spoke up.

"So we can all agree this is weird, right?"

"Yes." Tate nodded.

"What took you so long to say it, Reirei..." Endo deadpanned.

"I'm vibing." Ban shrugged.

"I want to die..." Izuru muttered.

"How do girls do this hot springs thing?! When did we start sucking at being bros? C'mon fam, we gotta make this thing get alive or something! I swear I will make things pop off, or else my name isn't Super Love General Tate-sama!"

"It isn't, shut up." Ban deadpanned.

"No, he's right... Things have been too awkward. We should be enjoying this break, not suffering because of our terrible life choice making skills!" Izuru exclaimed.

"Pretty sure that's just you." Risei said.

"That's because it's just him, Reirei."

"Hey you two, you've been alive for forever, what do bros do in hot springs? Out with it!"

"I never came to one." Endo admitted, raising his hand. "I've been a generic bath house puritan for a good couple of years since... Ever."

"Hm... We can always just appreciate the moon." Risei suggested, rubbing his chin. "That's something I hear people do. Just look up at the moment and rethink your life as you bathe in its beauty."

And so, the five exited the pool, put on their towels and looked up at the moon, this time not five feet apart becayse they weren't chilling in a hot tub.

It took them a good five minutes before they sick of that.

"Reirei, this sucks."

"Not it doesn't."

"He's right, get some sound going." izuru snickered. "I think I know some cool songs for hanging out in hot springs."

"Shut up, your taste sucks." Tate deadpanned.

"Kanye been top billion since one day. He only didn't get that presidency because of schemes. Ye finna be in the studio for fourty days and fourty nights."

"You've been riding that man for fourty months and fourty weeks." Ban said.

"Hmmm... I got it!" Risei clapped his hands. "Don dokodoko don dokodoko don dokodoko don dokodoko!"

"The full moon!" Endo sang.

"Is wonderful!" Tate continued it.

"The full moon is beautiful!" And Ban joined in on the singing train.

"Ah screw this, this is a terrible idea! This entire break day has been going downhill non-stop!" Izuru deadpanned, rubbing the back of his head. "Think Izuru, think..."

"You guys wanna just play some card games?" Tate asked.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Izuru exclaimed, taking out his deck.

"Where did you get that from?" Ban asked.

"You were readin' my mind all along, Miyuki!" Tate laughed, taking out his own deck.

"No seriously, where did you guys get those from?"

"Life finds a way." Endo chuckled.

"I think you mean degenerates find a way, Maki-chan..."

"With the big boy boosts the ride deck has given me, my soulcharge game is gonna go dummy! I'mma be making five attacks by the time I ride Schar for the first- Ah no, nevermind, all this steam is making the sleeves slippery. I don't wanna be accidently dropping cards."

"So what? We'll just without sleeves!"

That's a bold statement that's gonna kick you in the butt really hard in about two minutes.

"W-what?! Are you crazy or something?!" Ban asked. "You can't play without sleeves, specially in a place this like! You're just signing a death sentence with your own hands!"

But Izuru didn't listen because he was too busy taking his fifty cards from his sleeves.

"Oh please, what can possibly go wrong?" Izuru laughed it off and held up his unsleeved deck with pride. "Look at this! I fear no force of nature! Both water and wind are friends with Aqua Force, they would never do anything to bring harm to these cards!"

Remember when it was really windy on the day Izuru and Endo had their fight? Good.

Because a slight breeze passed by.

And it proved why the wind isn't friends with Aqua Force.

And then the weight in Izuru's hand became none.

Izuru blinked and looked at the water pool, just to see his cards scatter all around and fall into the warm waters, one by one, before starting to drown to the bottom.

The wind blew by once again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH IT HAPPENED!" Tate screamed.

"YOU DUMBASS, YOU JINXED IT WAY TOO HARD!" Ban yelled.

"Wha... Wha... M-MY CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARDS! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, NOT THE DECK I SPEND AGES TRYING TO BLING OUT!! I HAD FINALLY SCHEMED RYUZAKI INTO PRINTING RIPTIDE SPS, THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO ME!!!" Izuru shouted, holding his head with widened eyes.

"It'll be fine, Izuru." Risei said, placing his hand on Izuru's shoulder. He looked at his employee and pupil with smile that showed that everything would be okay. "They are Aqua Forces... They can't be damaged by water since it's their whole aesthetic!" He laughed.

"..."

(Media - Detonation)

Something became much hotter than the hot springs.

Someone's Asakusa blood began burning hotter than ever before.

"Eh? Izuru?" Risei said.

Izuru remained silent, allowing for his hair to cover his eyes. He clenched his right fist and slammed it across Risei's face, defeating him in one fell swoop.

"Reirei!"

"R-risei-san!" Tate and Ban called out.

All Ban, Tate and Endo could do was watch in horror as Izuru, holding Risei by his hair, dragged him to the wooden walls that separated the two hot springs pool.

He ripped Risei's towel off his waist, and with some strength that came from the heat of the moment, Izuru hurled his boss over the wall and into the mixed bath.

That was the worst possible punishment.

The reason why the males of the group didn't went there in the first place was because the old retirement home ladies that Rio failed to the bribe were there.

And they were looking for some young studs.

"O-oh no-! OH GOD, THEY ARE GRABBING ME!! W-WHY ARE THEIR HANDS SO OILEY?!?! T-THEIR SKIN IS SO WRINKLED, H-HELP!! HELP ME, OH MY GOD!" Risei yelled for his dear life, even suddenly changing into the engrish language in the heat of the moment. This would be a trauma that would scare him for many years, and not even punching the bastard who married his beautiful Hanae could make him feel better.

"W-we gotta run away, man..." Tate muttered, all of his body shaking in fear.

"That thing... Is not human anymore...!!" Ban said.

"I will hold it back, you two run away. Tell Minami about the hero that gave his life for yours!" Endo declared, stepping in front of his students.

"E-endo!!" They exclaimed.

"It is fine." The headmaster said, looking back at his dear students with a stern smile. "I will assure your safety, because I am your head- What are those looks of horror in your faces?"

Endo turned his head back to the beast and shock ran through his body. It stood right in front of him, not respecting the five feet apart rule because they weren't chilling in a hot tub.

But what terrified him the most wasn't his presence or the power the beast had.

It was... His dellusions.

Endo's eyes widenned.

His dellusional mind showed him the future he least desire, one where this beast did unholy things to his precious daughter while showing that glare!

"I-izu-kun, h-harder!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I WILL NOT LET YOU PASS!!" Endo clenched his fist, but got kicked into the hot springs right away.

"Any of you guys think... That Aqua Force cards... Being waterproof... Is funny?!" Izuru growled.

"H-hey man, you gotta admit, it was pretty comedic..." Tate whimpered, stepping away from his best friend.

"Y.yeah, Risei-san kinda achieved peak komedi there..." Ban nodded.

"You guys... ARE THE WORST! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Oh no, he unleashed his inner Ansei.

"OH FUCK OH SHIT, FUCKING RUN!" Tate yelled.

Even if they only had their towels around the waste, that wasn't enough to stop Tate and Ban from running throughout the hallways of the inn to live another day, and it didn't stop Izuru from flexing what little knowledge he had of parkour as he chased them.

But as Tate and Ban reached a crossway with another hallway, they looked back.

"OH GOD HE'S STILL COMING! THE HELL ARE WE GONNA DO, KATSU-CHAN?!"

"HELL IF KNOW!"

Izuru passed the crossway, and an arm that suddenly punched him from another hallway slayed the beast.

"H-he stopped?!" Tate asked.

"H-holy crap!!!"

"Yo, fuck you numbnuts doing?" Yukiko asked, holding a bottle of milk. "The hell was this dipshit doing anyway?"

On that night, Taira violated all speed limit rules in order to get to the inn as fast as possible, and partake in the funeral of the cards, that took place outside the inn.

With tears rolling down his eyes, Taira held Izuru close as Ban filled the hole made for the destroyed deck.

"HE WAS SO YOUNG REEEEEEEEEE! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MEEEEEE!"

"I have one question... For god." Izuru looked up and cried. "WHYYYYYYY?!"

While that was going on, Ibuki watched them from a window in the inn with Aimi and Rio, who happened to be passing by.

"What are they doing?" Rio asked.

"Burying his cards, they got thrown into the water apparently." Ibuki deadpanned.

"That's stupid." The blonde girl sighed.

"Actually, I can kinda understand it..." Ibuki admitted. "A deck is an extension of ourselves for us players. We spend so much time making it and bettering it, and at the same time, we better ourselves."

"He got that deck for free and made no changes to it any any point." Aimi said.

"I wished an elephant crushed that scum's kneecaps." Ibuki bluntly said.

"Me too." Aimi and Rio nodded.

Everything has been going downhill today, hasn't it.

From that terrible run in with the girls in the hot springs to the horrible moment with Rio, and then he lost his cards and got his ass kicked by Yukiko again.

What was supposed to be the first day of a great new someone just ended up being another day of the same guy.

Because of the giant mess that the day turned out to be, when most people had left to their rooms already, including the old ladies, Izuru went to the mixed bath by himself and sat inside the pool, sighing.

And then, someone sat next to him.

"Today's been terrible." Ibuki sighed.

"Yeah, no shit." Izuru deadpanned.

"Screw it, I'm putting this aaaaaaaaaall on you, gacha boy. If I hadn't ran into you this morning, I could have been enjoying a nice hot springs break by myself."

"Oh eat shit, this is your fault. If I hadn't ran into you this morning then nothing of the crap that happened would have happened. You're a bad luck charm."

"Right back at you, gacha boy."

"I have a name, cowtail."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, it's Sawada Izuru- Why is it pointing at me?"

"Oh, you see, may ahoge doesn't drop according to my mood like many shows would make you believe. It gets stiff and points in the location of little bitches in the area." Ibuki laughed like a gremlin.

"Then why isn't it pointing at you?"

"Damn, you got guts. Touche."

"You look weird without those fifty earrings."

"Oh please, as if you'd- Holy shit."

"Don't."

"Holy shit!"

"Don't!"

"Holy crap, your ears are pierced! I'm gonna be laughing at this for ages!" Ibuki laughed, moving away Izuru's hair to look at his ears.

"Shut up! I lost a bet to some dumb guy in a hawaiian shirt and had to do it!"

"Eh? Want me to let you borrow some of my thousand earrings, cherry boy?" She asked with a smug.

"Go screw yourself!"

"Ahaha!"

The silence between the two briefly returned until Izuru spoke up.

"So, I heard you have a pretty big tatto on your back."

"Yeah, it's off a pretty bitchin' dragon, if I do say so myself." Ibuki said, lowering her towel a bit to show off her ink. "Took me a whole afternoon to get it done, had to bail classes for it."

"I can't argue with that, that is a pretty bitchin' dragon." Izuru sighed. "You don't really do well with your parents, do you?"

"What makes you think that?"

"From the entire rebellious aesthetic to being in a hot springs for yourself, you tell me."

Ibuki looked at Izuru from the corner of her eye and then sighed. She placed her arms on the stone edge of the hot springs and rested her head over them.

"My parents exist. I'll admit that. But that doesn't mean I have to acknowledge them in any way." Ibuki sighed. "My first old man was some deadbeat that ran away at the thought of ending his days of partying because of some brat, big surprise there. My mom ended up remarrying to this loaded guy when I was little and they got a kid of their own, so I ended up just being in the way most of the time. She gives me tons of money per week if it means me staying away from the house and whenever I'm home, we always end up fighting in front of my little sister Harui."

"Where do you sleep then?"

"Well, sometimes I come down to some fancy inns like this, but mostly I just spend the night at some manga cafes around Shinjuku. Some times, when I actually decide to go home, my mom doesn't even let me into the house. But I'm used to that, lost count of how many times she did that by now. But today... It just stung harder. Today's Harui's birthday, so I stopped by in the morning to give her a present, but my mom just took it from me and told me to go do something else, that Harui doesn't need a disappointment like me near her. So I just ended up coming here instead."

"Oh... I'm... Sorry to hear that..." Izuru said, looking away.

"It's all good, trust me. Got used to hearing that from that braindead baboon. Honestly, I'm just waiting for the day she gives me a super fat stack of money. Invest a big, bet another bit, get even richer. That way I'll just drop out of high school and get out of Tokyo for good. I'll do them a favour and never let them see me again, and I'll be doing myself a bigger favour for never laying my eyes on that garbage waste again. They probably think that I'd be off not existing or just be dead on a ditch. Can't really blame them... Though, it'd be nice to have a home I can return to." Ibuki sighed. "Well then, good talk! I'mma head to bed now and you can forget everything I just said!" She laughed, slapping Izuru on the back. "Hopefully I won't have to see you again, you horrible bad luck charm. And the aesthetic isn't just some rebellious thing, this aesthetic fucking slaps!"

"Yeah... It really does. And same here, bad luck charm." He said, looking at Ibuki as she walked away. "...ah, I'm going to bed..."

While that was the original plan, he first stopped by a vending machine to get a drink, where Yukiko found him and pinned him to the wall.

"Help..." He muttered.

"Don't get the wrong idea, dumbass. This isn't me giving you any sort of authorization to do whatever the hell you want, you got that? I'm just doing this because she asked me to. I'll keep people away from there, so just get moving!"

"Ah?! What do you-!"

"I said move it!" Yukiko grumbled, pushing Izuru towards the turn-based hot springs.

Because of how late it was in the night, that pool was supposed to be closed for the day, but Yukiko managed to get the manager to open it briefly for this situation.

Izuru followed Yukiko's instructions and walked up to the backside of the large stone that was on the pool, and waited there.

Suddenly, someone placed their arms around him and held him close.

"W-what?!" Izuru tried to look back, but only saw strands of black hair, which was enough to know who it was. "Oh, Kasumi... Huh... What's all this about...?"

"...nothing..." Kasumi muttered.

"A-at least put your towel back on or something..."

"..."

"Hm..."

"..."

"Hmm..."

"..."

"Okay, just come out with it!" Izuru pulled Kasumi's arms away from him and looked back, but instead of being shocked by a sight that many boys would kill to see, he was shocked by the sight of something else.

Tears.

Without saying a word, Izuru let go of Kasumi, who hugged him again. This time, Izuru did the same, and held her close.

"Whatever it is... It'll be alright..." He muttered.

Perhaps, he should have treasured that moment more, because that night was the least time he saw Kasumi.

Like as if she had turned to dust and disappeared in the wind, Hatanaka Kasumi was never seen again.