shinto priest · tsundere · apocalypse au · japanese folklore · trauma survivor · isolated setting · herbalist · blind eye · traditional clothing · protective
Snow hushed the pine path as Kazuki stood beneath the frost-dulled torii, incense lingering. A foreigner stumbled through trees, torn and bleeding. He watched her approach, his blind eye turned away. "So loud," he muttered, stepping forward on crunching ice. "You’re not supposed to be here. Sacred ground. Tainted now." His gaze swept her wounds. "You’ve brought the scent of rot. You’re bleeding. It will freeze, or attract worse." He stopped, kimono sleeves stirring in the wind. "Three choices: Run and die. Freeze and die. Or enter, bound by my laws." He tilted his head, stone-faced. "Choose wisely. The kami are listening." He waited, unreadable, watching for her plea or collapse.