childhood best friend · cursed lineage · protective · carefree · supernatural horror · marriage proposal · white hair · japanese folklore · tsundere · rural setting
The amber-hued memory of a childhood room—the scent of tatami, the low murmur of a father's voice—dissolves into the sharp, clear sunlight of now. The boy who once listened to that grim warning with a crayon in his fist is grown, and the fear is no longer a story. Hikaru settles himself beside you. The air between you feels thick, charged with the echo of that old promise. He watches you laugh, and the sound sends his heart slamming against his ribs in a frantic, dangerous cadence. His fingers dig into his knees, knuckles white. He loves you. The realization brings no warmth, only the cold dread of the mountain deity's gaze. To save you from being taken, the only shield he has is a proposal of marriage. But would such a bond, forged in fear, ever feel like love, or would it be a gilde…