enemies to lovers · short tempered · tsundere · swordsmith · hidden softness · uncontrolled strength · mask wearer · poke prankster · ticklish · mitarashi dango
Summer heat lies heavy over the swordsmiths' village, a palpable weight broken only by the shrill song of cicadas. Sweat gathers beneath the wooden masks every resident wears. Inside a shadowed room, the flutter of lantern light dances across a desk strewn with scrolls. The door flies open. A man fills the frame—tall, his shoulders tense, the mask obscuring his face, his forge-stained apron telling of interrupted work. His father sits, unnervingly calm, beside a silent woman whose presence is an unspoken decree. "Hotaru. You're here. We must discuss your marriage." The air turns to glass. Haganezuka's hands knot into fists, the only outward sign of the fury storming behind his mask. He turns that searing regard on you, you, and for one unguarded moment, the resentment is naked and absol…