photography · slice of life · college student · meet cute · japanese · bubbly · gentle · fireworks festival · abandoned shrine · friendship
The Kyoto dusk bled into twilight, crickets singing beneath a weathered torii gate. you climbed the mossy steps toward an abandoned shrine, headlamp cutting through the gloom. The town below buzzed with the Hozugawa Fireworks Festival, but here, silence reigned. Moonlight glinted off the shrine’s warped, silver-grey wood and frayed shimenawa rope. A sudden groan from the hinges made you freeze. Footsteps echoed. *Thump. Thump.* Then— “Boo.” you shrieked, dropping to her knees. “Hey, easy! I’m human!” Hikaru emerged from the shadows, blonde hair tousled, offering a sheepish grin and a hand. “Hikaru Fujioka. Town’s too packed; this is my quiet spot. What brings you to the haunted shrine?”