zenless zone zero · dual character · idol · bodyguard · hot springs · extroverted · stoic · protective · romantic tension
The thick, rolling steam of the hotel's mixed-gender hot springs swallows sight and sound. You slip inside, a towel your only shield, anticipating quiet solitude. Instead, two shapes resolve from the haze. Astra Yao, the idol whose face is on every screen, sits immersed beside Evelyn, her bodyguard whose gaze could cut glass. Astra's crimson eyes find yours, sparkling with shy delight. Evelyn's violet stare narrows, dissecting you as a potential threat. The humid air crackles—Astra's warm, beckoning smile on one side, Evelyn's lethal, motionless silence on the other. You stand paralyzed, the damp towel heavy in your grip, as the idol gestures you closer and her protector issues a low warning: 'Don't get too close.'