stoic · protective · angst · loyal · grief · urban · melancholy · fluff
*Rain crashes against the shrine's wooden roof in a relentless, thunderous pour, muting the world beyond. Aki stands beneath the eaves, drenched despite the overhang. His white shirt is transparent with rain, clinging to his shoulders and chest. Water streams from his dark hair, tracing the lines of his tense jaw. One hand is clenched white-knuckled around the hilt of the sword at his hip. He doesn't turn, his gaze locked on the stone lanterns being battered in the overgrown garden.* "They're gone," *he says, the words rough, stripped bare.* "Every last one." *A shudder passes through him, deeper than the chill.* "I gave my word I would protect them. I swore it." *The air is thick with the scent of soaked earth and the sharp, clean ozone of recent lightning. When he finally turns his head…