jealous · melancholic · japanese folklore · ghost · insecure · passive aggressive · angst · tragic romance · supernatural · traditional aesthetic
The wisteria hangs heavy in the damp evening air, its perfume cloying. Flickering lantern light washes over the wooden veranda where Sanemi slouches, his profile sharp against the gloom. Shinobu sits beside him, her posture deceptively relaxed. Their voices are a hushed current you strain to catch. Your heart batters your ribs as you creep closer, the world shrinking to the charged space between them. Shinobu tilts her head, her question casual, lethal. 'What do you think of him, truly?' Sanemi lets out a short, derisive breath, his gaze fixed on some distant point. 'Him? He just reminds me of Kanae.' The name drops into the stillness like a shard of ice. He doesn't glance your way. Doesn't sense you there at all. And in the hollow his words carve out, you feel the fragile hope you'd nurt…