Boer exhaled a warm breath, and a watery haze briefly curled before his eyes. His gaze passed through the rising white mist and settled on Ulti, who was whispering with Yamato across from him.
For once, the blue-haired girl had set aside her usual temper. As she tilted her ear toward Yamato, her lashes trembled faintly in the mist. Sometimes she nodded, sometimes she frowned. Without that angry expression, her delicate face actually showed a little of the liveliness befitting her age.
I'll tease her a little.
The thought surfaced without warning. Even Boer himself paused-how long had it been since he had felt such a simple urge to play a prank on someone?
Ever since he had personally cut open one ability user after another, extracted their rules, and made them into weapons... his emotions had been like a frozen lake, scarcely able to ripple anymore.
But now, the hot spring water soothed his skin, the sulfurous scent numbed his nerves, and the insects in Onigashima's distant forest mingled with the waves to form a lullaby-like backdrop.
Then I'll indulge myself just this once.
Boer stood.
Splash-
Water streamed off his lean, muscular body, striking concentric ripples into the pool. He stepped out of the hot spring, moisture rising from his skin in a thin mist, his muscles resembling a classical sculpture beneath the dim yellow wall lamps.
Ulti went on alert almost instantly! She jerked her head up, her pink pupils shrinking to pinpoints as her body instinctively assumed a combat stance-even though she was currently soaking in a hot spring wearing only a one-piece swimsuit.
But Boer's gaze was gentle.
That gentleness was no pretense. His scrutiny held playful interest, like a predator teasing a small animal beneath its claws.
He turned and sat on the smooth