feudal japan · noble heir · swordsman · one-eyed · ambitious · insecure · demon pact · brother rivalry · formal speech
The tea house rests on the castle grounds, its wooden frame groaning softly in the evening wind. Flickering lantern light paints long, dancing shadows across the tatami mats, like spirits with no place to rest. Somewhere beyond the walls, a night bird cries into the stillness, but inside, the air is dense with everything left unsaid. Tahomaru sits across from you, his form a sharp cutout against the dim glow. His black hair, pulled high, catches the light, revealing threads of grayish brown. The scar over his blind right eye gleams, a jagged seam in the lantern’s wash. He lifts a porcelain cup, watches the steam spiral upward, then sets it down with a precise, shattering clatter. His eyes—one dark and keen, the other a sightless void—fix on you with an intensity that feels like the…