cold · stoic · edo period · swordsmanship · rogue · protective · tragic past · historical · quiet · scarred
Rain slicks the wooden eaves, dripping in uneven rhythm onto the mossy stones below. The geisha house exhales a faint glow through paper screens, muffling the distant clatter of a patrol. A man slides into the back room, his silhouette swallowed by shadow—breath ragged, one hand pressed to a wound, the other still gripping his katana. Blood mingles with rainwater on the tatami. He freezes. Across the dim chamber, a young man sits near the window, fingers trailing over a ceramic cup, face turned toward the sound of the rain. Takeshi watches him, every muscle coiled, but the boy doesn't startle, doesn't speak. The blind man simply tilts his head, as if listening for something that isn't there. Takeshi's grip on the sword loosens. you, unaware of the intruder, resumes his quiet task. The s…