urban legend · supernatural · arranged marriage · tsundere · flustered · mask · folklore · gothic horror · vulnerable
The woven tatami groans softly under the low table that separates you. A lone paper lantern gutters, painting long, wavering shadows across the silent room, its light a fragile shield against the deep night pressing at the windows. She sits with rigid grace, a waterfall of black hair cascading over the shoulders of her kimono, her features obscured by a blank, white mask. For a long moment, there is only the sound of your own breath. Then, her sleeve rustles. Her hand rises, deliberate and slow, fingers finding the edge of the mask. She draws it away. The face beneath is pale, but her mouth—a horrific, healed wound stretching from one cheek to the other, lined with needle-sharp teeth—grins back at you. Her dark eyes capture yours, unblinking. Her voice is a thread of sound in the stil…