The hot springs were outside and spacious. Tall wooden fences surrounded it preventing outsiders from seeing them bathe, while stones surrounded the steaming water making it feel like they were entering a lake. In the centre of the hot spring, three giant boulders stood next to each other, as more hot water poured out from the centre.
Hikaru immediately threw his towel into the air, before quickly jumping in like a canon ball creating a huge splash. As he emerges from under the water he shouts,
"Hot!"
As the other two boys entered Kenji struggled to deal with the hot environment, however, Akumu had adjusted just fine.
"I don't see what's so impressive about this place.", Akumu said as he submerged all, of his body but his face.
Hikaru then shouted, "This place is meant to be like, the heaven of Hot springs. It's a must-visit sight for any tourist."
Akumu responded, "Still not impressive enough, could be hotter."
Before Hikaru began another scuffle, Kenji strongly cleared his throat before shouting,
"I heard that 50 years ago, a curse that could control volcanoes and flames appeared here. They were able to exorcist it quickly but its flames were so strong that the fire persisted even after it died. Even when its fires cooled down, the heat still remained here, eventually forming this hot spring."
Akumu then told him, "I didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable."
Kenji smirked to himself in approval. Then Hikaru instantly broke the mood with his few words, "That was written, in the brochure..."
Kenji then shouted at him while exploding, "Cmere you little brat."
Kenji suddenly began to run towards Hikaru at great speeds while Hikaru tried to swim away. Kenji struggled as he was running in water that reached up to his neck.
As the two began to play fight, Akumu suddenly bursted out laughing. "I wish this could last forever."
A couple of minutes later
The trio was now relaxing away from the hot springs entrance, on the opposite side of the boulder. The three sat there bored until Akumu asked, the Ice breaking question,
"This is a shared pool, right? When does the time change?"
Kenji then looked at Hikaru as he was the one to drag them here while they were busy. Hikaru then said nervously,
"Say, it's getting quite hot in here isn't it?"
"You don't know do you.", Kenji then bluntly said.
Hikaru only laughed nervously as Akumu said, "We better get out of here quickly before the girls come. If it is a bunch of strangers they might be lenient, but if it's Yumeno and Taori..."
Kenji then urgently said, "They will eat us alive!".
As the group were about to leave the hot spring, they then heard the sounds of heavy splashing, followed by some laughing.
Taori spoke, "I haven't been here in so long. I missed this warm feeling."
"You've been here before?!", Yumeno asked.
Taori hesitated while quickly responding, "I came here with some relatives once. Even if you don't have a room booked here, you can still pay to use the hot springs separately."
Yumeno then said, "It's strangely empty though, isn't it? Even if it's this late you would think there would be two or three other people here."
Taori told her, "The changeover did just happen so it might be just us. We even waited an extra 5-10 minutes just to make sure no guys were in here."
"If there are any guys still here, we will kill them without hesitation.", Yumeno shouted.
Taori quietly nodded while agreeing. She even brought her sword into the hot springs just in case.
Hikaru then shouted, "Oh Shi-."
Kenji quickly grabbed his mouth to prevent him from speaking, but the splashing as well as Hikarus' struggle were already heard by Yumenos' enhanced hearing.
Yumeno then said as she wrapped herself in her towel, "I will take the left and you will take the right."
Taori nodded silently while drawing her blade.
Akumu then asked while panicking, "I already got caught once with Yukiko, so I'm not letting myself get caught again. Where are our towels?"
The three then realised that they left them near the entrance, as they panicked.
"We are dead. There is nothing left for us, why bother trying?", Kenji hopelessly said.
The two girls slowly began to zoom in on them as they heard the sound of splashing approaching them.
A great idea then flashed into Akumus' mind as he shouted, "Quickly put these on."
From his hands, he then manifested three large blankets made from black whips that the other boys quickly put on. Akumu then continued,
"Let's jump over the fence. If we do we will end up in the hotels courtyard. After that, all we will need to do is head back through the back entrance and then all three of us can make it out of this. We will look suspicious in that attire but it's better than death right?"
Kenji then thought about the remaining seconds that they had, but then said, "No. If you use your cursed energy again to jump over the fence then they will definitely notice. And with all three of us here, it will be like sticking out like a sore thumb."
Hikaru then asked him, "What are we going to do then??"
Kenji then said bravely while grabbing Hikaru and Akumu in each arm, "Make sure you guys live long and fulfilling lives. Die old but surrounded by the people that you love."
Then with a great rewind, he threw the two boys over the fence with great strength. As the two landed softly in the grass, Akumu quickly ran back to the large fence while shouting, "DOJIMA-KUN."
Hikaru quickly grabbed him around the neck while shouting, "HES SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR USE SO THAT WE COULD LIVE. WE NEED TO HONOUR HIS SACRIFICE BY MAKING IT OUT OF THIS ALIVE!"
As Hikaru struggled to drag Akumu away while crying. Kenji then shouted, "Wait I can explain."
Yumeno then said, "You were the last person that I thought would give into temptations like this Kenji..."
"I thought that I was really getting to know you in the last couple of days Kenji... But you were just another pervert weren't you!?!"
As Hikaru and Akumu ran away into the distance, a loud explosion as well as water splashing, followed by painful sounds of agony, could be heard behind them. Then suddenly a naked Kenji was sent flying into the skies above, even reaching into the stars before quickly falling down like a comet.
1 hour later in the dining hall
Omo was laughing loudly while shouting, "You got caught in the hot springs spying on girls Kenji?? I know what reaching that age can do to some men, but this?? This is just too funny."
The three were starting at Omo while, Kenji was sighing exhaustingly. Then Akumu asked, "Omo-sensei, are you drunk?"
Omo began to nervously laugh as he said, "What are you talking about??"
Even with his denial, you could very clearly smell the alcohol oozing off him. Wherever he spent his time, must have had some pretty strong stuff.
Before he left, however, Omo shouted, "You guys are still kids, so you better go to bed on time, you hear me??"
As he left the two other girls slowly left clearly bothered by Kenjis' presence who could only sit there exhaustingly.
Since they were the only three left in the room Hikaru then excitedly asked him, "Did you get a glimpse of anything good?"
But he weakly told him, "They blew me away before I could even turn around."
Suddenly life flashed into Kenji as he shouted, "YOU DID THIS ON PURPOSE YOU BASTARD."
As he jumped out of his seat to chase Hikaru, the two ran out of the room, in a deadly game of tag as Kenji shouted all across the hotel, "I WILL KILL YOU!"
Later that night
Akumu lay alone in his luxury bedroom. The soft pillow and bedsheet quickly devoured him, as he slowly fell asleep with the TV on. It played the following,
[News Anchor] Today in Japanese Times, Today marks the 5th anniversary of the death of Sumito Totora, the famous J-Pop singer who died from a tragic heart disease at the young age of 23. Next, we will follow a series of missing people cases in Osaka, which adds up to almost 100, statistics say that the number of unreported cases could even reach 300. And again in Osaka, the victory Paladins defeat a wild stampede of monsters along with the help of two Jujutsu sorcerers, Zenin Hagone and Takeshi Yukiko. Following that case, the monsters in question have completely died but some witnesses say that they heard them crying while screaming for help. Not only that but their corpses don't disappear, suggesting that their origins are not that of a curse bu,t maybe stem from someone's Jujutsu?
As the Anchor continues, Akumu hears the names of his two friends on the news. However, his exhaustion weakened him to the point that he instantly fell asleep while snoring loudly.
As he did so he found himself in an empty white place, once again making contact with his shadow, as he stood before him. He then said,
"So we meet again?"