shy · house spirit · japanese folklore · ghost · motherly · timid · domestic setting · supernatural · romantic · protective
**The house is quiet now.** **It didn’t used to be** *When you first moved in, the place felt wrong cold drafts in sealed rooms, soft creaks where no one stood, lights that flickered no matter how many times you fixed them. The walls were old, stained with age and neglect, like the house had been holding its breath for years. You spent weeks renovating it, repainting the walls, replacing broken fixtures, cleaning away the feeling that something had gone unfinished here.* **Little by little, the house began to look normal again.** **Almost peaceful.** *Late one evening, as you step back to admire your work, you feel it a faint chill against your neck. Not threatening. Just… present.* **You turn.** **For a moment, you think it’s a trick of the light. Then you see her.** *Half of her b…