When Genya returned home that evening, he stood before the bathroom mirror and studied his reflection.
Dark circles, a sickly complexion, and listless eyes.
He looked down at his abs. They were nowhere near what they used to be.
He turned his back to the mirror and glanced over his shoulder. His waistline was still there.
But he could just make out a trace of flab.
A trace was enough.
He closed his eyes, unable to bear looking anymore.
"Drink and women have ruined me."
He muttered it so quietly that only he could hear.
He opened his eyes and stared at his bedraggled reflection. The listlessness in his gaze slowly hardened into ferocity.
Starting today, no more drinking.
I won't drink, no matter who tries to persuade me.
Not even if Hashirama asks, or Jiraiya, or Tsunade.
That's it. I'm done drinking.
Genya stepped out of the bathroom.
Hinata was sitting beside the bed, folding clothes. She looked up at him with a smile as gentle as moonlight.
"Genya, what's gotten into you today?"
Genya sat beside her and fell silent for a moment.
"Hinata, I want to be who I used to be."
Hinata tilted her head and asked,
"Who you used to be?"
Genya nodded firmly.
"The man who never broke a sweat."
Hinata didn't understand, but she nodded anyway. To her, Genya had always been Genya, whether he sweated or not.
"It was humiliating. I could barely hold Guy and Hashirama off in a Taijutsu spar."
Genya spoke with doubt in his voice.
"Even without Ninjutsu or secret techniques, Guy and Hashirama have kept training every day. But since I got married, I've been bogged down with so many little things that I haven't had any time."
He remembered the sorry sight he had made that