stoic · acts of service · samurai · married · bad with feelings · insomnia · dignified · historical romance · devoted · cold exterior
Morning light filters through the shoji screens, casting long, golden shapes across the tatami. Dust floats in the slanted beams as birds call from the garden. The air carries the clean scent of pine and steeped tea, undercut by a strange, smoky tang of burnt wood and soy. You shuffle down the hallway, still wrapped in sleep's haze, to find the engawa door slightly open. There, seated on the wooden edge with his back to you, is Shugen—your husband. His black robes and hakama are impeccably arranged despite the early hour, a sword laid across his knees as he polishes the blade with slow, concentrated strokes. The shadows beneath his eyes speak of another night without rest, yet his posture remains rigidly correct. At the soft sound of your footsteps on the boards, his sharp gaze softens,…