#the shrine master's bride

[gutouhua]

the shine masters bride new chapter when

if someone pays me then i'll have it out sooner

[mikaela-the-slut-expert]

The First Glance

Hua Cheng x M!Reader x Xie Lian

Honestly I'm just having a go at this and I'm technically writing about my OC. If people notice it that's good. if they don't well😔. So don't hate on me 🖤✨

Mentions of the reader having a veil and white hair, facial scars.

No one has requested any stories from me I wrote this for my own pleasure. So if you want something that isn't for an OC and is for a reader then come tell me and I'll write you something 😋

I keep editing the story cuz I keep forgetting details 😭✊ bear with me plz.

Míngqín means song bird it's Y/n's nickname

Previous part: Tea Shop

__________________________________________________

You've been by Xie Lian's side for a long time. You've been his guard for as long as you can remember, and a god under him for even longer. A very long time actually, so you'd like to think you know him well enough to predict his movements. Apparently not.

You're at Puqi shrine, cleaning the place up and fixing dinner for you and Xie Lian. You chose to stay while Xie Lian went and to go investigate a ghost groom who was kidnapping brides. It's since then turned dark and when Xie Lian turns up, there's another man with him. You weren't expecting Xie Lian to bring someone home with him, nor were you expecting the strange man to stay the night.

The strange man's name is actually San Lang, but you still think he's strange anyways. After scolding Xie Lian for bringing someone home without any warning you serve dinner at the makeshift table you came up with. You give San Lang yours, you don't really need to eat. You're a heaven official and being with Xie Lian has you used to it anyhow.

"Thank you for making dinner Míngqín, I wouldn't have minded making it myself", Xie Lian says. You cringe at the thought though. You wave a hand, "not necessary I've got it". You sit down and observe as they both eat. Xie Lian and San Lang chat about something but you aren't paying attention. You're staring at San Lang, it's strange how fast the man has clung himself to Xie Lian. You've never seen him before and yet he so easily acts as if he's known Xie Lian forever.

You look away, thoughts straying to the bed laying on the floor. If it can even be called that it's more like a mat. Are all three of you going to sleep on it? Your thoughts are quickly interrupted when you notice San Lang staring at you. He can't possibly see your face not with the veil you've hidden it behind, but the way he's staring at you makes it feel like he's trying to. It doesn't feel like anything bad or alarming, just unnerving. People don't look at you. They usually stray their eyes away, but San Lang does not.

You leave the table, and lie on the mat. Xie Lian and San Lang will eventually lay down too. You take the middle spot. It makes the most sense, you don't want Xie Lian to be in danger. He's always been kind and you don't want that to back fire on him. You figure it's most safe if you stay between San Lang and Xie Lian.

You are already 'asleep', you aren't of course but you're breathing and heartbeat all sound as if you are. You technically don't need sleep but it's still nice to rest sometimes. You can hear San Lang talk about the missing painting on the wall. There's not yet a painting of the God of Scraps, but Xie Lian ushers San Lang to go to sleep instead.

Xie Lian lies to your right, you can tell. After all you've been sleeping next to each other for years. San Lang lies to your left, leaving you stuck in the middle. It's uncomfortable. You aren't worried about your veil slipping off, it's yours to manipulate and you've long since mastered being able to make the veil comfortable on your face. It's the closeness that bothers you.

You haven't really been in anyone's company other than Xie Lian's. No one else tends to like you, not the officials and not ghosts. That's fine you don't like them either but this sudden presence is new and you've never liked touch in the first place. Touch is scary. It always has been since the fall of XianLe. It makes you want to puke. Xie Lian is the only exception to this, seeing as you've been around him your whole life.

It's not that repulsive actually. For whatever reason San Lang's closeness doesn't seem to make you want to hurl. His breath down the back of your neck however makes you nervous. If you weren't a ghost your heart would be beating fast. You can feel him staring holes into you but you play sleep anyways.

"You're not truly asleep are you?" You internally huff as San Lang asks. You didn't think you were bad at it. You ignore him and continue hoping he'll believe your lie. It's not until a shuffle on your right, and a harsh grip on your robes make you realize San Lang isn't talking to you.

"It's not like I was fake sleeping San Lang" you can feel Xie Lian sit up a bit. "You aren't asleep either" Xie Lian exclaims. You can't see of course your eyes are closed even behind the veil you're worried they'd see your eyes open.

"I was too busy staring at your assistant" his voice takes on a teasing tone. 'Assistant' is what Xie Lian had told San Lang you are. Xie Lian is supposed to be a priest for himself and your alias is to be Xie Lian's assistant. Of course it's not who you truly are. You're truly the God of Song and Xie Lian is truly the God of Scraps. San Lang wouldn't know that though.

Your stomach drops when you feel San Lang's hand start to tinker with your veil. You're about to give it all up to move away but a big clap happens right over your face. You suppose it's time to give it up for the night. You open your eyes, and look up at the clasped hands above you. Xie Lian's holding San Lang's, most likely trying to move his hand away.

"Ah I'm sorry we woke you Míngqín, San Lang just needed a blanket he was cold..." Xie Lian smiles down at you. You nod, "It's okay. Let's go back to sleep then." San Lang only laughs to himself and lies back down. You and Xie Lian lay back down too. The night eventually calms again.

**********************************************************

When morning comes, you realize you fell asleep and when you get out of bed you see that Xie Lian and San Lang have already gotten out of bed. You get up as well and you change your veil. The veil is often changed, you don't like keeping the same design everyday. Some veils cover your whole face, and some veils leave your eyes unhidden. Today you choose a veil that only covers your nose and mouth.

You're ready to go outside until something in the corner of your eye stops you. A painting of Xie Lian back when he was Prince in XianLe..? Did San Lang really paint that? Now it's obvious San Lang isn't a mortal. No one would be able to paint it so accurately from 800 years ago.

You admire it for a minute and then go outside. San Lang and Xie Lian are standing by a cut wood pile. They both turn their heads toward you.

"Good morning Míngqín", "morning y/n". You nod back, noticing San Lang's hair is loose.

"Your hair will surely get caught if you don't put your hair up, San Lang" you haven't really spoken to San Lang the whole time since he's been here but you don't hate him. He did somehow make that painting after all. "Let me fix your hair San Lang" Xie Lian offers. He leads San Lang back inside to a bucket of water.

You know Xie Lian is checking if San Lang is a ghost, but San Lang looks like he is enjoying himself, "Are you just going to play with my hair gege?" Xie Lian is quick to get flustered and he puts San Lang's hair into a very messy braid. It looks messier than before.

You don't pay attention to the fact San Lang has started calling Xie Lian 'gege'. You snicker quietly at Xie Lian's flustered face, as he waves his hands telling San Lang he's all done with his hair. Xie Lian is not very good at doing hair, but San Lang looks happy with it. You don't bother offering to fix it.

"A-Lian it's your turn, come sit". You pat the stool. Xie Lian cooperates and you start combing through his hair. You've always brushed out Xie Lian's hair. He doesn't know how to get the knots out. Xie Lian used to just leave the knots there until you forced him to sit down one day so you could brush it out.

When you're finished brushing his hair you tie it up in his usual half bun-half down hairstyle. You step away from him and notice San Lang staring at you. It seems he's very good at staring.

"You should let gege do your hair as well y/n" you grunt and shake your head. No way you were letting Xie Lian put knots in your hair. You love him very much but you also love your hair.

"No it's alright" you wave a hand but San Lang insists. "I can fix your hair then. Gege did my hair, and you did Gege's. I'll do yours" he smiles. It sounds like generosity, but you've found whatever San Lang says sounds like teasing. You almost shake your head no, but San Lang looks like he really wants to indulge.

"I... Suppose" you hesitate. To fix your hair you would have to take off your veil and only Xie Lian has seen your face and even he hasn't seen it in so long. San Lang is very gentle when he removes your veil, as if he's touching something that will shatter. You cover your mouth with your sleeve. To hide the scars, you don't want them to be seen.

Your thoughts are interrupted by San Lang's fingers running through your hair. He combs it out gently. "Your hair is very beautiful y/n, has gege ever told you?" This flusters you, if you actually had the ability to blush then blood would have colored your cheeks. You have strange hair, it's long but it's white. It's always been like that but after ascending the officials were not your biggest fans. Especially since you stayed with Xie Lian. So they often make remarks about your appearance not that it bothers you.

"Thank you" you notice Xie Lian looking at you. You're eyes are the only thing that can be seen but he's still soaking up what you've hidden for the past hundreds of years before you hide it behind a veil again.

"How come this one hides his face?" San Lang asks as he does something with your hair. You don't know how to answer that so you redirect, "Does San Lang want to see it that bad?" He only laughs at this, and he moves into your field of vision. "I'm all finished. Gege take a look at y/n's hair is it nice?" You want to see what it looks like. You look into the bucket of water.

San Lang put your hair into a braid. He's tied your hair with a red ribbon, it must be San Lang's but you'll keep it. He gave it to you so it's only fair. You run your hands over the braid. Your hair hasn't been styled in a long time, there was never a reason to put it up after all. Your hair is usually left loose.

"it's very pretty San Lang. Míngqín why don't you keep the veil off?" Xie Lian cocks his head to the side. "Yes, there's no reason to hide your face." You furrow your brows, you could keep it off. You're just scared to have your scars out in the open. "... I'll think about it."

You hesitate, but you remove your hand from covering your mouth. To you, your face has been ruined. Your mouth has been slashed from a sword from a very long time ago. Scars line over your lips. You wished that they were pretty scars, with neat lines. They are not though. It's not so bad to show your face to San Lang and Xie Lian.

They stare at you, Xie Lian's look you can understand. You don't understand San Lang's look, he looks as if he's trying to soak up the details of your face too. As if your face is something he hasn't seen in such a long time. You've never met San Lang though...

Now that everyone's hair is fixed, San Lang is an exception to that - y/n giggles every time he sees it - , now they can start their morning. It's a good start to the day and Y/n thinks that San Lang has fit himself quite well into their routine.

Even though San Lang is a new addition to your group he makes it very easy to like him. Especially with how much he clings to Xie Lian's side, but San Lang also seems to be clinging to you too.

__________________________________________________

Criticism or comments plzzzz, I want to know if anyone enjoyed it or if there are ways I can make it better. I also want to know if people want to continue seeing the story! Also don't forget you can request me for stuff! 🖤✨

Maple Robes and Lace Veils

[eunaithne]

House of Cards - K. Scaramouche

synopsis: Married to the house of Kamisato truly bears a balance of advantages and disadvantages, after being accused of attempted murder you found yourself captive of a short-tempered harbinger.

note: mentions of unrequited love, cheating, abusive society, violence, and more

also ayato is out-of-character only for the fsnfic, please note that this is a work of fiction and his behavior is not what he really is in-game. Thank you!

Prologue: Bitter Vows

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 𖥻 Kamisato estate

As dawn hits the island of Narukami, townspeople all gathered and talked amongst themselves. Chatter in every corner can be heard in the island as the new inaugurated head of the Kamisato Clan was announced to be wed. Fabrics and fast footsteps of servants is heared in the Estate of Kamisato as everyone was busy preparing the wedding of their master; Kamisato Ayato. He is to be wed to the Fukuoka Clan's heiress — Fukuoka Y/n.

The folks all wondered why he would choose to take a girl from a clan who's experiencing bankruptcy as his bride when he can choose all different girls from more established ones to strengthen his hold on his own.

Yet, he only smiled when the question is shot at a table. To those who hear it, it's a love story they all read about from the books in Yae Publishing House, fables and flowery words thrown at each other.

But in reality these are just bitter vows, this marriage only rubs salt to his injury. He can't marry the girl he truly loved. He was forced to take on his father's legacy for his sister's sake and those who depend on the Kamisato. Words do really mean nothing when you don't understand it, perhaps it's like telling someone "I hate you" in a language they don't understand which similarly can draw a silver lining between hate and love. His bride, his marriage, the vows — they are all meaningless. He thought.

With their parents passing away the weight of carrying a whole clan downed on his shoulders. From a distance, he could only watch the the servants busying themselves in dressing up his bride with expensive silks with golden embroidery that compliments her complexion as a noble daughter. In contrast to his perplexion, she wore a smile; a genuine one, and he knew it's because she is happy to be married to him. After all, when different clans heard about his intent on marrying someone they all sent him a letter endorsing their own daughters like its red light district. But he chose the Fukuoka Clan instead knowing they are less ambitious than most of the clans.

Alas, the hour of the ceremony has finally come. He snapped away from his thoughts and smiled showing his degree of status alongside with posture. He took her hands, she wasn't nervous at all instead her squeezed his hands hoping it will calm him down, that's when he realized how fumbling his fingers are.

The wedding was smooth, everyone congratulated the newly wed. Even though he tried to smile in the crowd, his eyes looked lonely and in agony. He didn't realize his — now spouse was looking at him in her peripheral view the whole time while greetings the guests. Her smile from earlier dropped slightly when she saw him staring at a particular person from a distance. Without words or evidence she knew exactly who it was. Eyes spoke louder than mouths will ever do anyways. She loosened her grip on his arm and promptly excused herself to have a chat with her parents.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 𖥻

Once they arrived back at the estate, she was greeted by his cold attitude. He didn't mean to behave like this but his emotions, his heart was in agony seeing that the girl he so longed for wasn't the one he married. After all, what would society say if he were to marry a commoner? Some officials still insist that he's just a boy without any knowledge on how to handle the Kamisato Clan and marrying someone who's a shrine maiden won't help a bit on the situation.

"We shall leave seperate lives, I won't meddle yours and you won't meddle mines." He spoke.

Before she could answer he left the room, guilt on his eyes but it washed away as fast as it came. So she sat on the bed, still in her wedding gown and looked down. She've admired him for so long now, she didn't know if he could still remember how he helped her up when other kids laughed at her. Perhaps a part of his inner child does but they don't really last do they? She sighed, wiping a tear from her cheek and she silently waited for the servants to knock on the door.

Rushing servants came in to help her removed the balloon of a gown and she put on a fake smile so no one would notice her shoulder of sadness. Laying down the bed she wondered how long will this type of arrangement last?

"If; the time comes he doesn't learn how to love me. Then, the lantern shall blow away with the wind." She spoke silently, looking out the window in preparation for how many years and nights can she handle being alone. Day after day she tried and tried to make him open up, although he makes sure to give her attention only when his sister - Ayaka is around so she won't feel anything out of order, she's still young after all. Soon, the people started to adapt to their new first lady at the manor. Y/n tries to make her husband be more responsive even for daily questions. When she did managed to take a response out of him, feels relieving and the goals achieved.

Smooth, life was smooth. A year, after a year, after another year, and a new year have passed. They developed a respectful relationship. All was well. But, life is boring isn't it if everything runs smoothly, conflict will arrive. It's inevitable.

Her hair is straight and like crystal, she wore a pink headress that compliments her maiden outfit. Y/n could only stare at the girl in question as the news of her residing at the estate befell. Ayato never mentioned this when she asked, and yet, it's as if all the efforts washed away like it was nothing in the first place. Perhaps, she thought, he can't really manage to call this as his home without her. Afterall, in their story, she's just a side character that hindered in the way of someone else's love story.

"Pleasure to meet you, Lady Y/n." The maiden greeted and she bowed her head as well to show respect.

"Welcome to the estate, although Ayato has never mentioned anything—." She was cuttee of by ayato who cleared his throat.

"She will be staying here for good, please mind your attitude when talking to her." He warned, although it's spoken in a flat tone, the idea was there 'don't make her upset' that's what it says.

Days later, it's like she's an invisible individual on the estate, her servants, all catered for the girl her husband took into their estate without even thinking of her. She was left with her personal maid; Even the officials won't acknowledge her anymore. Now that his seat as the head commisioner is sealed, no one would dare question their relationship.

"Did you hear that? The Lord Kamisato just took home the love of his life!" A fan draped over the woman's mouth as she talks alongside her friends.

"Mhm! I heared that he never really loved her wife, can you believe it? It's a shame we all thought they are in love with each other." Another voice also exclamed as she walked on the streets to purchase daifuku because she's craving it.

"Are you okay m'lady?" Chūso, her personal maid asked her. She just nodded in response.

"I'm fine, Chūso. You should not worry about me. Your mother is still sick, why don't you go visit her at Kondu Village for a while? I won't mind." She smiled, tapping Chūso's palm.

"Really!? M'lady you're too kind!" She exclaimed squeezing back her lady's palm back while her other hand hold's the umbrella.

"Yes, I'm thinking about, leaving Narukami for a while.. to think about something. It's been 5 years, yet you're the only one who notices my shortcomings and my problems, the one who cares for what I feel. So you deserved it." Y/n smiled at her and Chūso smiled back. They continued chatting and soon they are back at the estate.

The maids are in rush, and some of the officials are there as well. Y/n looked around for what is happening and yet like invisible wall, no one answered. Ayato looked like he could murder anyone at the moment and the elders looked at her with disappointment.

"Ayato? What seems to be the prob—"

Yet she was caught of guard when he grabbed her tightly.

"Ayato! It hurts!" She was trying to make him let go but he wouldn't budge.

"Why did you do it?" He asked her, voice dropping and furious. "Did what? I didn't do anything! Let go of my wrist—!"

"Don't lie to me! The servants saw you putting something on Maya's drink! Couldn't you think?! She could've died from what you did! She and my child!" He shouted at her face. She flinched, so all this time, that's why he suddenly brought her here, that's why all the maids are treating her like she's fragile glass. All this time. Y/n, the fool with the slowest and greatest heart. First to be blamed, last to know.

"What.. But! I didn't put anything in her drink! I didn't even know she was pregnant! Why would I even do such thing!" She also shouted back.

"You don't know? Oh I know! Perhaps because you are afraid your little clan will be in shambles once Mr. Kamisato decided to divorce you. Now you have to be a desperate little cunt to put pills to kill the baby on lady Maya's stomach!"

One of the elders pointed out their finger at her, she shook her head and told them that she has nothing to do with it but no one listens.

"Don't lie, a lot of servants saw you! Go on, ask them yourself." A chief told her.

She turned to the servants and asked them lowly. "Did you.. saw me? Trying to kill Maya?" She spoke slowly.

They all nodded in response, and her shoulders fell as well as tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Even if that's not the truth.. huh? I guess.. I wasn't generous enough? Or, you can feel that Ayato never favors me, and you decided to side the latter who received more attention?" Y/n told them. Wiping her tears and they all looked down on the floor. If the walls of the estate could speak, it could tell how much kind she was with them and yet, with a little bribery, they all turned their backs.

"I see. To think I was still in the wrong position when my husband got someone else pregnant wasn't an issue makes me think, I wasted 5 years for treating people nicely." That's all what she said, then the guards dragged her out the estate for good. She knew this would happen, but she didn't expect that they would accuse her of murder. That's something she would never do.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ៹ 𖥻 Chinju Forest

She sat down on one of the rakan statue, looking back at her life, everything faded. She laughed bitterly

"I guess, this what happens to those who hope, is this my sin? Taking someone else's place in that wedding, taking someone's heart that doesn't belong to me?" She asked, after minutes the exhaustion downed on her and she fainted in the forest. Amidst the blackness, she could hear footsteps and a soft jinggle of bells.

Kami-sama, have you decided to send someone to properly bury my body?..

━━━━━━ ៹ 𖥻 CUT !

- this is my first fanfic lmao 🥹 idk if the things I said made sense but hopefully it does 😭. I've been wanting to make a fanfic about this because I don't see one that's why here I am! Please don't be afraid to correct my grammar, I'm more than happy to receive opinions since this is my first. The blog is a little plain, I'll try to make more designs in the future :>>

signing out!

[gojoidyll]

My favorite fics from others | in other words, a place i can refer to when i want to reread something lol and im not going to lie, i wish i made one of these sooner cause there are a few fics i can't find :*(〃∇〃人)*:

filth teaches filth | fic by @itoshifc

creature of myth | fic by @gojorgeous

gojo x gn ! reader | hurt/comfort fic by @sorcerersseestars

the shrine master's bride | by @gutouhua

across the universe | by @lovedazai

still in love | by @classyrbf

deadly attraction | by @risuola

harmony in the twilight hour | (will cry but was really beautifully written) by @meiieiri

Yandere ! Fushiguro Toji x Reader | @jonathansthickthighs

the season of thorned roses | @fushitoru

[yalocalfanficaddict]

*vibrating to the point of combusting over the need to write something and title it with a Hozier song/lyric*

Ayo, new music obsession just dropped! Here's a random prompt list of Hozier stuff because my mind is rotting! Anything with Pt 1 and Pt 2 beside it, is just complimentary titles for potential series titles.

Take me to church:

Giggle At A Funeral

Born Sick

Like A Dog At The Shrine

Offer Me Your Deathless Death

Take Me To Church (A lil obvious with this one, but just imagine the Corpse Bride AU's)

My Lover's The Sunlight (Pt 1)

She Demands A Sacrifice (Pt 2)

This is Hungry Work

No Masters Or Kings (Pt 1)

When The Ritual Begins (Pt 2)

THERE IS NO SWEETER INNOCENCE THAN OUR GENTLE SIN (THE ANGST FOR THIS ONE *folds*)

Let Me Give You My Life

Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene:

Toying Somewhere Between Love And Abuse (Please just hit me with the back of a metal chair) (and by metal chair I mean angst)

The Wretched And Joyful

Shaking The Wings Of Their Terrible Youth (Arch-angels? Anybody?)

Freshly Disowned...Frozen Devotion

Sweetened Breath And Tongue So Mean (Removed pronouns for inclusivity)

Feeling More Human

I Lay My Heart Down (Pt 1)

It's Bloody It's Raw, But I Swear It's Sweet (Pt 2)

Wonder If Better Now Having Survived (Pt 1)

I'm Alive (Pt 2)

Jackie and Wilson:

From Behind The Red In My Eyes (Literally any character with red eyes will rule this title)

No Better Version Of Me

Most Familiar of Swine (Enemies to Lovers WHERE YOU AT??)

Wretched And Divine (I don't watch Good Omens, but think of the potential!!!!)

Laughing Away Through My Feeble Disguise

Found Me Just In Time

My Mid-Youth Crisis All Said And Done (Pt 1)

Never Felt So Young (Pt 2)

Call Me "Baby"

Hands Through My Hair

Soothe Me Daily

Raise 'Em On Rhythm And Blues

It'd Be Great To Find A Place We Could Escape Sometime

Dead And Buried In The Yard Outside

Watch The World Go By (Pt 1)

Watch It Burn And Rust (Pt 2)

It Wasn't For Us (Pt 3????)

Cut Clean From The Dream (Childhood Friends To Strangers???)

Let My Mind Reset

Looking Up From A Cigarette

Someone New:

Don't Take This The Wrong Way

You Knew Who I Was (Pt 1)

Every Step I Ran To You (Pt 2)

Electing Strange Perfections

Just A Little Ol' Little Bit

Everyday With Someone New (Here me out...Soulmate AU)

(There's An) Art To Life's Distractions (Pt 1)

The Art Of Scraping Through (Pt 2)

Some Like To Imagine

I Guess Any Thrill Will Do (Grumpy x Sunshine adventure!)

My Heart's Already Sinned

How Pure, How Sweet A Love

'Cause God Knows I Fall In Love (Denial for their feelings >>>)

The Stranger The Better

To Be Alone:

Never Feel Too Good In Crowds (Angst? Trauma Recovery?)

Crude And Proud Creatures Baying

All I've Ever Done Is Hide

When You Kill The Lights And Kiss My Eyes (FORBIDDEN LOVERS!!!!!)

I Feel Like A Person For A Moment Of My Life (Pt 1)

But You Don't Know What Hell You Put Me Through (Pt 2)

Kiss The Skin That Crawls From You

Oh, To Be Alone With You (Pt 1)

Questions I Can't Ask (Pt 2)

At Last, The Worst Is Over (BANANA FISH IF THEY HAD A HAPPY ENDING) (I'M SOBBING)

Not A Trace Of Me Would Argue (Whipped characters be like)

We Should Run Away

From Eden:

Something So Tragic About You (Please combine the next few lines as Pt 1s, 2s, 3s, etc. as you see fit!)

Something So Magic About You

Something Lonesome About You

Something Wholesome About You

Get Closer To Me

No Time For Me

You're Familiar Like My Mirror Years Ago

Idealism Sits In Prison

Chivalry Fell On It's Sword

Innocence Died Screaming

Something So Wretched About This (Hozier's favourite word unlocked lol)

Where To Begin?

What A Sin

To Hang From A Tree

In a Week (Ft. Karen Cowley):

I Have Never Known Peace

Like These Insects That Feast On Me

Our Heartbeats Becoming Slow

(We Lay Here) For Years Or For Hours (HANAHAKI WRITERS PLEASE HEAR ME OUT)

Two Corpses We Were (Pt1)

Two Corpses I Saw (Pt 2)

I'd Be Home With You (Could be used as a Hurt/Comfort or a Hurt/No Comfort)

The Slumber That Creeps To Me

I Have Never Known Color (Soulmate AU!!)

Flesh Calmly Going Cold

Your Hand In My Hand

So Still And Discreet

When The Weather Gets Hot

After The Foxes Have Known Our Taste (Pt 1)

After The Raven Has Had It's Say (Pt 2)

Sedated:

Just A Little Rush

To Feel Dizzy, To Derail The Mind

My Heart's In Atrophy

Nursing On A Poison That Never Stung (Pt 1)

Our Teeth And Lungs Are Lined From The Scum Of It (Pt 2)

We Are Deaf (Pt 1)

We Are Numb (Pt 2)

Something Isn't Right (Trapped in an Alternate Universe, anyone?)

Little Words

Slaves To Any Semblance Of Touch (Touched Starved Character's are gonna have a field day with this one lol)

We Should Quit But We Love It So Much (Never meant to be romances >>>)

Come And Save Me From It? (THE QUESTION MARK IS WHAT MAKES ME GO FERAL AHSBWBEDKSI)

Drag Me Away From It

Work Song:

Workin' On Empty

I Just Think About My Baby

I Could Barely Eat

Nothing Sweeter Than My Baby

Once From The Cherry Tree

Give Me Toothaches Just From Kissin' Me

When My Time Comes Around (Pt 1)

Lay Me Gently In The Cold Dark Earth (Pt 2) (THE ANGSSTTTTT)

Three Days On Drunken Sin (We aaaall know the smut writers will have a field day with this one, haha!)

An Empty Crib

No Grave Can Hold My Body Down

What My Hands And My Body Done

If The Lord Don't Forgive Me

Heaven And Hell Were Words To Me

Like Real People Do:

Why Were You Digging? (Pt 1)

What Did You Bury (Pt 2)

Those Hands Pulled Me From The Earth

(I Will Not Ask You) Where You Came From

Kiss Like Real People Do (AHKUDHUSdHBE JUST IMAGINE THE POTENTIAL-)

Eyes Always Seeking

In Some Sad Way, I Already Know

It Will Come Back:

You Know Better, Babe

Talk To It Like That (My mind went STRAIGHT to the gutter when I read it out of context)

Don't Give It A Hand, Offer A Soul

Leave It To The Land

Don't Let It In With No Intentions To Keep It

It Will Come Back

Smile At Me Like That

Hold Me

I'm Something Else When I See You (Myyy heaaart!!! Grumpy x Sunshine title for sure!!)

You Don't Understand, You Should Never Know

How Easy You Are To Need

It Can't Be Unlearned

The Warmth Of Your Doorways

Oh, Please, Give Me Mercy No More (WHUMP POTENTIAL!!!)

A Kindness You Can't Afford

Howling Outside Your Door

Foreigner's God:

Moved In Shameless Wonder

The Perfect Creature Rarely Seen

When The Land Was Godless And Free

Into The Empty Parts Of Me

My Heart Is Heavy

Always A Well Dressed Fraud

Never For Me

The Purest Expression Of Grief (HEAR ME OUT!! HEAR ME OUT!!)

Tender Charm

The Broken Love I Made To Them (Changed pronouns for inclusivity!)

Foreign To Me

Cherry Wine:

Eyes And Words Are So Icy

Like Rum On A Fire

Hot And Fast And Angry (Mad smut mad smut mad smut mad smut mad-)

I Walk My Days On A Wire

Oh Mama, Don't Fuss Over Me

The Blood Is Rare And Sweet As Cherry Wine (*glances at the Twilight fandom nervously*)

The Sheets Of Some Other

But I Want It, It's A Crime

Not Around Most Of The Time

I'm Their's And They're Mine (Inclusivity!!)

Fight And Fury Is Fiery

Loves Like Sleep To The Freezing

Sweet And Right And Merciful

It's Worth It (Pt 1)

It's Divine (Pt 2)

In The Woods Somewhere:

My Head Was Warm, My Skin Was Soaked

When I Awoke, The Moon Still Hung

The Darkness Hummed

I Prayed My Mind Be Good To Me

Into The Trees With Empty Hands

His Bone Exposed, His Hind Was Lame, I Raise A Stone To End His Pain (A lil long, but I think it sounds nice✨)

What Caused The Wound?

To Save A Life I Didn't Have

Forgot All Prayers Of Joining You

My Dearest Love, I'm Not Done Yet

Something In The Woods Somewhere

Run:

Rare Is This Love, Keep It Covered (FORBIDDEN LOVERS!!! I'LL DIE ON THIS HILL OF THIS BEING THE BEST TROPE)

Run To Me, Lover

Until You Feel Your Lungs Bleeding (HANAHAKI?? HANAHAKI!!)

To Be Twisted By Something (A knife? A rope? Possibilities are endless!)

A Shame Without A Sin

Rushing To The Shore To Meet

[yuriko-mukami]

Epilogue

I waved my hand when Maria and Laito-kun headed out. Yuuto was still helping Nalia to put on her shoes but soon, both of them straightened up.

"It was so nice that you could come by!" I beamed. "See you later again~"

"You should come to the shrine on New Year's Day." Yuuto smiled and patted Ruki's shoulder before ruffling my hair once again. "You know, traditions."

"We'll be there." Ruki nodded, holding me close. "Isn't that so, my angel?"

"Yes! Yes, of course. Maybe we can help you with cooking since it will be a busy day in the shrine."

Nalia nodded. "That would be nice." The Kitsune woman looked exhausted when she massaged the small of her back. "I haven't been able to do much recently."

"Then I will make the dinner, Yuriko and you will simply relax, and Yuuto will do his work in the shrine." Ruki simply decided that without asking anyone's opinion. I wanted to poke him between his ribs, but before I could do that, Yuuto grinned.

"Sounds like a plan. Gotta love that. Thanks, Ruki." He wrapped Nalia in a warm coat. "Time to go, Sleepin' Beauty. You look like you're gonna nod off right here and now. See you, Ruki, Sis." And with that, the couple walked out too.

I stretched my arms and peeked at Ruki. "Umh... should we join others in the living room."

"No, we should not." Ruki's answer caught me by surprise.

"No?"

"First, Kou said he bought Vampire Juice for everyone." I could practically smell Ruki's distaste in the air. "And secondly, I wish to have my wife all for myself after she has been socializing with everyone else for the whole evening."

"Well... your wife isn't against that at all..." I ran my fingers on his chest, following the buttons of his blue dress shirt.

Ruki snatched my hand and pulled me tightly against him. A strong arm enveloped my waist. "Close your eyes."

I did as told and felt how air swooshed around us. My skin tingled and my stomach turned slightly but I held to Ruki.

"You can open them now."

Slowly, I pushed my body into a straighter position and fluttered my eyelids up. "Oh my gosh! Where are we?"

"While you were busy running around the manor, I took the liberty to ensure no one would bother us for the rest of the night. I can see that the familiars finished the decorations as I told them." Ruki gazed around a smug smile on his face. "I hope you like the cabin, my angel. It's a few kilometers to the north of the Polar Circle in the middle of the forest. Perhaps we'll even see reindeer tomorrow. "

"Oh, Ruki! I love it!" I jumped a little up and down, enjoying the cozy view and aroma of mulled wine and hot cocoa that wafted in the air.

"Is that so~?" Ruki chuckled, brushing my cheek.

"Totally!" Wrapping my arms around his neck, I rose on my toes and captured Ruki's lips with mine. "Thank you so much!"

"Mhh~ Bold..." The word was a mere mumble against my mouth as he pulled me even closer. His hand slid along my back, reaching under my bottom. He lifted me, and I instantly embraced his waist with my legs.

Smooching me again, Ruki carried me on the leather couch right next to the colorful tree. "I love you, my angel. From the bottom of my heart." He put me lying on the couch, inching closer.

"And I love you, Ruki. You're the love of my life."

Ruki laced his fingers with my hair, leaning even closer until our faces almost touched. "Prepare yourself, Yuriko. It's the longest night of the year, and your master will spoil you as long as it lasts." The tip of Ruki's nose rubbed against mine. "But tell me if you are feeling tired. You should be sleeping enough. Do you understand?"

"I... I... I do. But, Ruki, I can stay up for one night with you. I have plenty of time to snooze tomorrow~" Lifting my head slightly, I pressed my lips on Ruki's.

___

Maria belongs to @mermaid--bride

Nalia belongs to @nalia-tsukino

Yuriko and Yuuto belong to @yuriko-mukami & @yuuto-tsukino (me)

[hazbinextgeneration]

Demon Bride Ch24 Interluding P3

(DISCLAIMERS AND IMPORTANT INFO!!!: EVERYONE in this story is in their early 20s-30s! This story will contain mentions of past abuse and death! I'll be keeping it as SFW. Some backstories have been slightly altered for this particular story, and some characters cannonically dead or harmed is alive and well. I own nothing.

Credit to @flanelltees​ for the designs I based the demons off to look more demon-like with tails and pointed ears.

This story will be sfw, but there will be some blood, implied death, fighting, some gore mentioned, and a few other things that will be made aware by warnings. Pay attention to warnings at the top of any chapters just under the summery please.)

Once in the mountain villages it was a custom that once a year on the night of the new year's first moon, an unlucky young lady would be selected and left for the demons to become one of the unlucky few who married such a husband. In exchange for this offering the demons would protect the villages and leave the humans in peace. Until one day a powerful warrior drove the demons away freeing the humans of them. Now 2,000 years later, it's become a tradition that once a year, a new young lady would be picked and wait for her future husband to retrieve her from a shrine in the mountains. And now the lucky tradition would fall upon Y/n L/n. It would be her own turn to take on the tradition and not have to worry about demons. After all that part of the old tradition was just fake, made up by paranoid ancestors. Everyone knew demons didn't exist.

...Right

(WARNINGS!!!: Karaku IS his own warning. Possibly some innuendos.)

First Part Here:

Demon Bride Ch 1 Thus It Begins

(WARNINGS AND DISCLAIMERS!!! EVERYONE in this story is in their early 20s-30s! This story will contain mentions of past abuse and death! I'l

TUMBLR

Last Part Here:

Next Part Here:

(IMPORTANT QUESTION: Who should Y/n have her first official kiss with in the book? Your options are Douma, Gyutaro, Sekido, Urogi, Aizetsu, Karaku, Kokushibo, Kaigaku, Akaza, Kyogai, and Enmu. Whichever gets the most votes will be the one smooched. )

wind 

That's the main thing that rustled through the trees tonight dancing with it's friends the scary shadows of the abyss dancing across the large trees. Their large branches creaking in Encores for more shadow dancing, their leaves shifting in claps for the scary performance. It all made him squirm. Every sound made him squeal. Every sight made him cower. Every feeling made him go faster and faster. Why did he ever think it was a good idea to gather supplies around this time at night. Almost there however. He was almost home. Hurried footsteps accompanied by sobs and whimpers scuttled about. Home. He was almost home. Just a little more and he'd be safe. He was getting too old for this. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't his fault!! Closer and closer he went until he did get there. A giant wooden door to be in fact which creaked open upon pushing it and the warmth from within welcomed him into it's safety.

"Father." A squeal sounded from the sudden young child's voice he whirled around too. His son..HIS SON!! Oh how joyous and wonderful it was to see a face concerned for him. "You haven't returned for a few days. I was worried about you. I almost left to start searching."

"Good son. Kind son. *Sniff* All of you have been has been so good to me."

"You're our father. I won't let anyone harm you."

"*Sniffle* Wh-Where are your brothers, Zohakuten?"

"Sekido and Urogi are out looking for you, as Karaku and Aizetsu are looking for a lost child from the Spider Clan named Rui Master has interest in. I chose to stay behind I'm case you returned. It seems I made the correct call. Shall I tell them you are safely home?"

"*Sniff* Yes. Su-Su-Summon me your dear older brothers. I h-have found a gift for one of them?"

"Father?"

"I-I am an old man. It makes me so sad, so sad my sons will never find someone who feels the same way about me they do. But I have. Kind girl. Understanding girl. S-Summon them quickly." 

 The young boy's face looked all kinds of surprised in one minute,and at first he didn't respond but another sniffle sound made his face relax into that permanent scowl his youngest son always seemed to have. Instead his youngest came over to him, and he felt a stronger arm wrap around his shoulders and a firm hand grab his upper forearm.

"They'll be back before the sun arrives. Come sit." One strong but gentle pull was enough to get the sobbing mess moving towards an already lit fireplace, and made the mess sit down in a chair near there. "You had us all worried being gone for almost a week. What were you thinking running off without telling us?!"

A sob as trembling hands covered the mess's face. "Not my fault I go-go-got llllooooosssttt!!! *Hic*"

A groan followed by a sigh. "Well that's what happens when your eyesight isn't what it used to be! You're not a young man anymore, Father! You have to stop taking unnecessary risks all the time. That's why we made you retire last year! NOW DON'T DO THAT AGAIN!!"

A small wail followed by sobbing but there was a pained nod in the mess which made the young man nod.

"Good. You look thin. Wait here and I'll get you some food. Then you can get cleaned up."  He then left and returned a moment later with a bowl of some food and what looked like tissues both thrusted into the mess's hands. "Here. Clean yourself up and eat something. You'll feel better afterwards."

"*sniffle* Thank Y-You. How kind my sons are to me."

" Hmm." The tissues were used. The food was ate. And his interest was still peaked. "Now what's this nonsense about you trying to marry off one of the idiots? Don't tell me some woman has come knocking on our door hoping to marry into wealth now that we're important enough to gain attention?" A deep growl. "I HATE those women!! They make me rage when they act all sweet and then change once they catch sight of you!! The only other one who seems to hate it is Sekido!! Karaku and Urogi thinks it's all fun and games and wallow in the attention when women throw themselves at their feet! And Aizetsu rather run away and hide from them all instead of help!!!''

"No. No. This one is different." The mess's voice cleared now but there was still sniffles. "I asked her."

"Oh really? And you're sure she just didn't trick you into asking that? You're too delicate to know better, someone could've tricked you."

"*hic* A-Actually s-s-she denied it when I offered her first."

The young boy paused looking at him. "...HMPH!! It still could've been a trick! What could she have possibly done to gain your attention?"

"She saved me. Believed me. Said I-It wasn't m-m-my fault."

"She-...I-...W-What? I mean-...What did you get yourself into while you were out?!"

"She saved me from a monster child! He would've ended me if it wasn't for her, I'd be dead! She treated me with such kindness. *sniff*She was so kind."

"....UGH!!" Two hands facepalmed himself. "The things that happen around here are unbearable! Just go get yourself cleaned up and I'll get the idiots over here!"

"D-Don't be so harsh on them."

He ignored that last statement to just go gather the idiots (his older brothers) to alert them of the arrival of their father. They shouldn't be too far away and the wind outside will help carry the sounds over the hills and trees. Leaving the house and sniffling sounds behind,  the door opened back to the scary world outside and he gathered energy into his arms. Raising them up over his head...Before slamming them down.

BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM

The sounds of beats embarked on their own journey to the winds and dancing shadows joining in the symphony of sounds in the night. Surely anyone else who heard it would run from the frightening heartbeats from the mountain, however he was expecting a certain group of quadruplets to arrive answering the music he made. Minute after minute he sounded. Going on for longer and longer as time passed.

BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM

Over and over again and again the rythem played out. Calling. Calling. Calling.

BUM BUM BUM BUM B-

A hand froze inches away from a leather bound instrument. A centimeter from making another noise when he finally got a sense that he wasn't alone. 

"I've been at this for almost two hours, Sekido! You better have a good reason for keeping me waiting!"

He didn't even need to look to know someone was scowling at him. But the jingling of a deadly staff was enough to identify the newcomer. And of course the voice- "SHUT UP YOU BRAT!! YOU TRY STEERING A FLYING CHICKEN THROUGH THE WIND WITH THAT INFURIATING INSTRUMENT POUNDING IN YOUR DAM EARDRUMS!!"

"...You let Urogi carry you here? You must've been very worried about Father or being around them all has finally made you just as insane."

"Shut your dam mouth before you make me angry!!"

''That's not a long walk for you to achieve."

He could hear his brother sputter incoherent angry yells just as a gust of wind blew over them both and a second later there was a loud thud. Ah. He knew who that was too. "Urogi. Nice to see you join us."

There was a different voice who laughed despite Sekido's yelling. "HAHAHAHA!! Zoha! You should've seen the way Sekido landed when he told me to drop him!! He looked just like a ragdoll without any stuffing!"

"IT WAS YOUR FAULT!! YOU LET GO OF ME ON FUCKING PURPOSE AND YOU KNOW IT!!"

"Aw, Sekido.~ You're the oldest but you still act so immature.~" 

"I swear one day I'll rip your wings off!!"

He rolled his eyes by this point. His brothers were always fighting in some way, shape, or form. Gave him constant headaches. 

"ENOUGH!!  What did you even summon us back for, Zahakuten?! Did Father return or not?!"

"He did. However he has....strange news he wanted to tell all of you. Now where's the others?"

"Haha! 'Strange news' little brother? Sounds exciting! They should be along shortly considering I spotted Aizetsu from the air."

"That must mean Karaku's not too far behind either-" 

"Actually we are closer than you three think!" All heads turned to two other faces. One a smug grin, the other a worried frown. "Seeing all your faces again makes this day brighter!~ Especially all the leaves and sticks sticking to Sekidos hair. Was flying fun?"

"Shut up, Karaku! Did you find that brat or not?!"

"N-No. W-W-We followed the scent to a couple ponds not too far from here but the trail went cold. It makes me sad to displease the Master again."

"DAMMIT!! Ever since Urogi lost him months ago we've been stuck not being able to find him at all!!"

"Don't blame me! How was I supposed to know that the kid could shoot webs and blind me!?"

 B U M

A loud bang of a drum ended the bickering. "Silence all of you! We have all the time to find one sickly child who couldn't have gotten far! For now come inside and greet Father. He's expecting you."

With that he turned and just walked back into the building. It did not take long for him to be followed by four pairs of footsteps also opening and closing the door before he was pushed aside by two of his more upbeat brothers whom quickly hugged their father in greeting. He hated when they did that. Aizetsu was kinder and didn't hog barely any attention other than a quick greeting to their father before Sekido grunted. 

"Enough pleasantries. State what you want to tell us before we leave. I have to find a brat from the mountains!"

"*sniffle* Apologies. Apologies. I haven't been able to tell you yet." A thin, frail hand was held up. "I'm getting to old, too weary to keep you all much company for too very long. *Sniff* Which is why I have taken it upon myself to arrange a marriage to a suitable girl for you four."

Silence. STUNNED SHOCKED SILENCE. Karaku's face froze in a strained smile. Urogi's mouth hung right open. Aizetsu just....stood there awkwardly and silently stared. Sekido looked like someone just spat in his food. And Zohakuten? He wasn't too surprised now so he just reached up to close Urogi's mouth before Sekido broke the silence. 

"WHAT?!"

"F-Father, you can't be serious. Why?"

"You all have turned down the many families who made offers. I'm getting old and I wish to at least see one of my sons married. So I took matters into my own hands. You all brought this up on yourself. *sniff*"

"So you found four different women for us to marry?" Urogi didn't sound angry. Instead he hummed curiously. "Wow....Did you accept Douma's offer of sending over concubines then or are they orions you paid off the debts to in exchange for the marriages?" 

"Neither. She is a kind girl. Understanding girl. She'll be good for you all."

"Father said she saved him from the clutches of a small brat." Zohakuten rolled his eyes. "Most likely one of the forest people's brat, they aren't the most polite."

"So wait.. You said 'girl' as in the singular sense yes?," Aizetsu's blue eyes blinked. "So...Does that mean only one of us is getting married? W-Who?" He winced. "I hope not Sekido."

"AND WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!"

"Is she cute?~" Karaku cooed intrigued. "Is she a sweet pure thing?~ I bet she's just a little snack waiting to be devoured-"

"Karaku, that's disgusting! Don't talk about our future wife like that! N-Now who is going to be the one engaged exactly?"

Everyone shut up at that question and looked to their father who also paused. "Oh...I ..U-Um...I did not remember to be specific when she agreed to m-m-my proposal."

They continued to stare at him. "So..You didn't pick a specific one of us because you forgot to ask which one of us she'd rather marry?"

Their father winced. 

"OOOHHH!!!~ This sounds like such FUN!~ I call dibs if she's cute!~"

"Shut up all of you!!" Sekido looked back to their father. "What did this monstrous child look like?"

"*Sniff*..H-He was as pale as the moon with the most violent tendencies!!"

"THAT'S HIM!! THAT'S THE BRAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR!! WHERE DID THIS HAPPEN?!"

Their father cowered. "B-B-By the lakes!'

"LAKES?!"

"H-H-He must mean the ponds to the south of here. That's where we lost track of the scent."

"How long ago was this?!"

"Gah! A w-week! Maybe less!!"

"Then that's where we should go!!" Sekido instantly turned and began stomping off towards the exit.

"S-Sekido."

"WHAT?!"

"*sniffle* The g-girl who a-agreed to the marriage h-has the child."

*******************"*****************************************************************

"Mother. I don't want to go! I want to stay and listen to you reading me more stories!! It's not fair!"

You had expected Rui would throw a tantrum when Kyogai ordered he would be put back into Mayla's care starting today. He insisted in order to have him un-imprint on you, he had to start spending time away from you in order to be sure he wouldn't be too attached whenever it was decided what would be done with him. While you agreed it would be best since it would mean it would solve another one of your problems,you couldn't help but feel...Wrong about this whole thing. Especially when Rui clung to your kimono with a pout. 

"It's only for a little while." You gently tried to coax him.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!! WHY?!"

"Because Kyogai and I are grown ups and we need to talk about grown up business with each other. By ourselves. It won't be forever."

"Then I can just sit down in the corner and be quiet! I promise you won't even know I'm there!"

"Rui, I need some time to myself too. You can do whatever you want in the meantime." 

"I want you!! I want my mother!" You groaned. This was going to be difficult. "If it's because you two want to kiss I can wait until you're all done."

......Say what?

"R-Rui!! That's not- ..I mean we weren't- ... Kyogai wasn't trying to kiss me!?," You shouted red faced. 

"Then why do you want to be alone?!" Small hands grabbed your sleeve and a small tear formed on his eye lid. "P-Please don't leave me.. Please. I-I promise I'll be good this time. Just don't go."

'....."

Kyogai hummed and was just finishing a new transcript when the sliding door opened in behind him. "Ah. Y/n, right on time." He turned his head. " I have a new book...for..." He blinked seeing you standing there with Rui happily holding your hand and Nagi just behind you both. He narrowed his eyes. " I thought he was supposed to be with Mayla today."

"I decided otherwise. C'mon Rui."

Rui happily followed you as Kyogai groaned. "You're being too soft on him. He'll never get it if you keep coddling him."

"He's only ten years old. I think I can have him for a little longer." You happily let Rui sit down next to you. How ever Kyogai failed to notice exactly how close you all were. "You're just being too hard on him." Rui leaned more into your side as your arm instinctively placed around him. "Now about that new book-"

"And food!"

Kyogai groaned before holding a purple covered book over his shoulder. A moment later he felt a smaller hand take it from him. "Nagi, get them some food. I swear you're making a mistake. The child needs discipline not more-" He shut up when a warm mass suddenly pressed against him. ".... coddling."

Nagi's hands covered her mouth I'm shock as Kyogai slowly turned his head, and stared shocked as you leaned against his side instead of the wall where you usually sat at. Opening the book much to Rui's excitement.

"Oh hush now. You just need to loosen up more and be open to him. He's just ten years old. Now let's start with this Toad Prince story. Ok?"

"Yes!...But I Still need food."

"Hm...It feels like you're running another small fever again too. We'll get you all settled. Don't worry."

Kyogai quickly looked away from the figures leaning against him now red faced. Before clearing his throat and shakily picking his quill back up. Hed do his best to ignore that and continue working. ... Although it was very hard having a pretty woman literally leaning against yourself. The day went by pretty well and ended with you going to sleep, trying to insist Rui should sleep in his own room tonight, failing, and then just accepting that he would just sleep next to you tonight again. However things weren't going to remain quiet for long because deep in the middle of the night you were awoken by a shriek cutting through the air followed by the entirety of hell breaking loose. But that wasn't what had your blood running cold. Not the screams. Not the panicked footsteps. Not the hell beyond your room. No.

Rui was gone.

[littlechinesedoll]

My Happy Marriage - Chapter 1 | SasuNaru

Relationship: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, Inuzuka Kiba/Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura/Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Kizashi/Haruno Mebuki

Additional Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Mpreg, Magical Realism, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Meiji Restoration Era, Taisho Era, Child Abuse, Out of Character, Nobility, Indentured Servitude, Arranged Marriage, Cinderella (Fairy Tale) Elements, Alternate Universe - Different Powers, Curses, Gender Roles, Class Differences, Heavy Angst, Angst and Feels, Discrimination, Abduction, Alpha Uchiha Sasuke, Omega Uzumaki Naruto, Omega Haruno Sakura, Alpha Inuzuka Kiba, Not for Sakura fans, Haruno Sakura Bashing, Haruno Bashing, Age Difference

---

Summary:

Based on My Happy Marriage written by Akumi Agitogi and illustrated by Tsukiho Tsukioka.

Uzumaki Naruto, an omega bastard of the Haruno family who is born without a supernatural gift and believed to be cursed by the Nine Tailed Fox, is forced into an existence of servitude by his father and his abusive wife and daughter, his half-sister, Sakura. When Naruto finally comes of marriageable age, though, his hopes of being whisked away to a better life crumble after he discovers his fiancé’s identity: Uchiha Sasuke, an alpha, a commander of the imperial army apparently so cold and cruel that his previous would-be omega brides all fled within three days of their engagements. With no home to return to, Naruto resigns himself to his fate—and soon finds that his pale and beautiful husband-to-be is anything but the monster he expected. [ x ]

---

Notes:    

Hi everyone! This is my actual first SasuNaru fic (written before but finished after The Fox Bride), so I hope you’ll be gentle. This will follow the manga very, very closely, unless I feel like switching up the scenes, or for the points or character placements that need more explanation. Hope you enjoy!

Please click here to see some additional inspiration/visuals for Sasuke's hair from the doodle by @veemeenniee on twitter.

The ages will be the same as the manga.

Sasuke: 27 Naruto: 19

before you come at me yes historically during this time at the end of the Meiji era to the start of the Taisho era, 18-19 is of marriageable age. in the manga they are not married immediately.

---

Uzumaki Naruto is a bastard omega son of the Haruno family, a distinguished family.

His mother, a widowed male omega servant, fell pregnant by the head of the household before their master got married just weeks later. He was a child conceived by a momentary diversion. He knew the head of the family is his father, but they had no father-son relationship, and he was largely ignored. But he remembered the love of his mother, who gave him all his heart.

“Naruto,” he said, adjusting Naruto on his lap as they situated themselves in front of a small, once overgrown shrine depicting a nine-tailed fox, outside in the wooded area behind the Haruno estate. He had cleared this out one day on a walk, when Naruto was five moons old in his womb. He lit some incense to offer to the god they’re praying to. “Never forget to pray,” he put the incense in three-year-old Naruto’s small hands and guided him to put the burning sticks into the incense holder in front of the stone shrine.

“To the fox?” Naruto pointed to the effigy carved in the stone.

“To the fox,” his mother nodded, “He gave you these beautiful whiskers,” he traced the light marks on Naruto’s chubby pink cheeks, “and the seal on your belly, to keep you safe,”

“On my belly?”  Naruto repeated, peaking into his haneri, otaiko, and obijime, and seeing the inky black marks on his skin.

He asked the fox to stop his bleeding. To save the child. “You give him thanks, for you were born healthy,” mother fixed the obi back on, tapped at Naruto’s nose, and the child giggled. “For the shelter over our heads, the food in our bowls, our health, and the safety provided to us,”

The boy snuggled into his mother’s comforting scent of rain, cool breeze, and orange blossom, reached up for his mother’s face, which was framed with the same bright blond hair and blue eyes like his own. “Pray! Mama wa kirei desu!” Mama is pretty!

“Thank you, my love,”

The fox didn’t grant his mother health, no matter how hard he prayed. His mother died two years later from a severe fever, and he was left to the servants to care for. Naruto became a servant at the Haruno household at the age of five.

His father’s mate despised him. For being a bastard. For the ugly whiskers on his face and the cursed seal on his belly. He’s a demon, his father’s mate said, carrying the fox demon’s seal on his body. A cursed child to bring destruction to this family. That he was born so his mother should die, his life for his mother’s.

Sakura, his half-sister, an omega born just after Naruto turned one, has all the attention of their father and his mate. He had always thought Sakura, with her green eyes, long, silky, and shiny pink hair, is far more beautiful than him. She has the gift of strength and fast healing.

She looks down on him like her mother.

Sakura throws the hot tea in Naruto’s face. “What the hell is this?!” she barks at him in outrage.

The hot tea stings Naruto’s eyes, scalds the skin on his face and neck, and stains his kimono.

“This is the worst tea I’ve ever had! It’s too bitter! Make it again!”

Naruto bows, forehead almost touching the tatami under him. “Moushiwake arimasen.” There is no excuse for my actions, and I apologize.

Sakura huffs. “Is there anything you can do right? You can’t even brew decent tea. What a disgrace!”

“Out,” barks Sakura’s mother. “Your scent is stuffing the room. Get some herbs on,”

He already has the pockets of his kimono stuffed with fragrant herbs. No amount of herbs can fully hide him, even if he wants them to. How nice it would be, to just disappear.

Naruto gathers the teacups back onto the tray without a word, wondering when this torment will end. His father sits there with his breakfast and tea, ignoring his mate and child’s mistreatment of his bastard. He’s stopped praying to the fox long ago, when the bruises on his body never started to fade. When he realized the fox had done nothing for his ailing mother.

As Naruto brings the tray back to the kitchens, he thinks that if he were an acknowledged child of a respectable family, he at 19 would be at the age where he’ll be expected to marry. But he won’t, seeing as he is a bastard and a servant who does not receive wages. He can never leave.

Another servant picks up the brewing for him, and a grateful Naruto leaves the kitchen to sweep the falling leaves from the gardens. That way, he can avoid Sakura and her mother, who will give him complicated, never ending, or impossible tasks. He prefers to do the laundry or other chores outside the house, which other servants gladly allot to him, perhaps out of consideration.

“Hello,”

Naruto looks up to see a good friend. The sight of him relieves the heaviness in Naruto’s chest. “Kiba-san,” he bows. “Hello,”

Inuzuka Kiba, an alpha, is the second child of the Inuzuka family. A childhood friend of Naruto and Sakura’s. His sister, Hana, also an alpha, is first in line for the head of the Inuzuka family. When they were children, the servants let Naruto off to play with him when Kiba was visiting with his father. He holds those memories close to his heart.

Naruto notices Kiba is in a suit. He wonders what formal event he’s about to attend.

“I have something for you,” Kiba hands Naruto a fancy wrapped box. “I hope you like them. It’s not the western sweets that are popular nowadays. I heard those go bad quickly,”

Kiba is the only person Naruto can be himself with, someone Naruto has given a piece of his heart to. He also treats Naruto like a part of a family, not just the bastard servant. When his heats started, he was no longer allowed to play nor be alone with the young alpha. Receiving his courses were the worst thing. It separated Naruto from the only person who cared for him. Kiba had once tried to get his mother, their family head, to interfere with the abuse. That did not end well. Kiba had gotten a stern talking to. Sakura’s mother found out, and the abuse worsened.

A pleasant lightness fills Naruto’s very being as he receives the box. “Thank you very much. I’ll share it with the other servants. I’m sure they’ll enjoy something so luxurious,”

The young Inuzuka wanted only Naruto to have the sweets. “Ah, no. That’s not what I meant…”

“Why are you visiting today, Kiba-san?”

“I have some important business to discuss with your father,” Kiba admits solemnly. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

As Kiba walks away from him, headed for the main house, Naruto gasps. “Maybe a marriage proposal?” he sighs dejectedly. His father won’t offer him to the Inuzuka’s. There would be no point, as he isn’t an acknowledged child. He’s no different than an orphan beggar on the streets.

Later, when the box of sweets has been set aside and his sweeping is almost done, a fellow servant calls for him. “Naruto-kun! The master asks for you,”

Naruto stares.

---

In the receiving room, Naruto enters quietly, and another servant slides the door closed with a soft thud. Naruto bows before his father, his father’s mate, Sakura, and Kiba-san.

“Today’s discussion,” starts Haruno-dono, “will center on marriage and the future of this family. Naruto,” he pauses, and Naruto dares to look at him. “This is something that you should hear,”

The silence in the room is piercing, and only Haruno-dono is allowed to speak when he is at the center of the room.

“After much thought and consideration, it is a welcome decision that Kiba-kun will marry into the Haruno family and take over as the head. The one to support him as mistress and this family as his wife, will be you, Sakura,”

There isn’t any surprise there, Naruto thinks. He then wonders why he was called here in the first place. He had hoped maybe one day, had Kiba-san, his only friend and confidante, not been chosen to lead the Haruno family, he would ask for Naruto’s hand in marriage from Haruno, and take Naruto away with him. Maybe one day, he’ll be free of such hardship.

Naruto is foolish to even think he would be able to leave the life of a servant behind.

“Naruto,” says Haruno, “You’ll marry into the Uchiha family.” Kiba snaps his head up to look at the family head. “To the head of the family, Uchicha Sasuke-dono,”

Naruto keeps his eyes to the tatami. “Yes,”

Why? What is the point of giving him away to the Uchihas? He’s a bastard; it’s pointless to marry him off when this won’t result in a union of two families.  

“Isn’t that wonderful, Onii-sama!” Sakura pipes up, finally happy to be rid of her untalented half-brother. “The Uchiha family is a high-ranking family! They hold much power and influence,”

But the head of the Uchiha family, an alpha, is known for being a cold and cruel soldier. Naruto hears the other servants gossiping about his engagements, how many omegas from good, respectable families have been presented to him, but have never lasted three days with him. All either chased off or ran away.

Naruto has been ordered to marry such a terrifying man, and once he leaves the estate, there is no going back, and he’s no longer allowed to step into the residence again. He wonders why he’s been chosen to marry Uchiha Sasuke-dono, when it’s impossible for an uneducated omega like him to fit as the mate of a well-known, respected, and prominent family.

“This marriage will be a waste on someone like you with no redeeming qualities nor talents,” Mebuki-oku-sama, Sakura’s mother, sneers at him. “But it would be impolite to turn it down and you’re in no place to refuse,”

“You are not allowed to refuse, Naruto,” says Haruno stiffly. “Pack up your things at once. You will leave and proceed to the Uchiha estate immediately,”

Naruto is dismissed. He bows and doesn’t see Kiba aching to run after him.  

Finally, Naruto is free from the Haruno family, yet he doesn’t feel safe nor relief from his father’s decision to give him away. If anything, he’s dreading his departure even more. He’s terrified of the Uchiha family head’s notoriety. He might just be kicked out of his fiancé’s home or put down by his cruelty.

“Naruto,”

The omega turns around and sees Kiba with him in the hallway. “Kiba-san?”

Kiba bows. “I’m sorry. I was unable to do anything. I had hoped for a different outcome for us,”

“Kiba-san,” says Naruto, “You have nothing to apologize for,” he smiles at him, the best he can give him despite the heaviness in his chest threatening to pull him down to the floor. “I’m simply unlucky,”

“It’s not about luck!” Kiba hisses.

“I don’t mind. After all, I may find comfort, happiness, maybe love, with the family I’ll marry into,”

Kiba wants Naruto to ask him why he couldn’t protect him. He wants Naruto to blame him for this. He’s a coward; the only thing he ever wanted, was to marry Naruto and take him away from here, and yet, in the face of his soon to be father-in-law, engaged to the wrong child, he couldn’t speak up. “Don’t you… resent me?”

“I would never, Kiba-san. I’ve long let it go. I’ve…forgotten such feelings,”

If words could stop Kiba’s heart. It’s painful, the way those words pierce his chest like cold steel. “I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, Naruto. I wanted to save you. It’s always been you. I lo—”

“Kiba-san?”

Kiba turns around and Sakura, his new fiancée, has followed him.

“What are you two talking about?” she smiles at them.

Kiba stares at her. “Nothing,”

Naruto knows, that despite the laughs and beautiful memories he’s made with Kiba as his childhood friend, despite coming from a respected family, despite his high education and talents, even though he’s blessed with good looks, he’s tied to the decisions made for him by the heads of the families who choose to unite. Kiba-san is kind and understanding, which is why he remains silent, and Naruto feels that his silence will hurt Sakura in the future, just like how it’s hurting Naruto now.

Whatever Kiba was about to say, Naruto doesn’t know and he’s not sure if he wants to find out either. Naruto will forever cherish his memories with him, and the friendship he offered. “Kiba-san,” Naruto bows, “Thank you for all you’ve done for me,”

He doesn’t get a reply. Kiba only watches him walk away.

---

Naruto finds himself unable to fall asleep that night. He’s finished packing the few belongings he owns. His clothes, which are all servants’ attire, all hand-me-downs from fellow servants. He had other pretty kimonos, accessories left to him by his mother, but he doesn’t know what happened to them. Maybe Mebuki-san took them and threw them away. They were the only things he had left of his mother. Mebuki-san said bastards didn’t deserve such pretty things.

Haruno-dono gave him a fine kimono for his departure tomorrow, since showing up in a beggarly would tarnish their name. His father knew he had nothing yet did nothing. He also told him to introduce himself as a Haruno. How awful, to be ordered to drop his mother’s name. To pretend to be an acknowledged child. If Uchiha-dono finds out about Naruto’s secrets, he will surely be thrown onto the streets.

So that’s what it is. They want to use him as a pawn. To make connections, marry into a powerful family. Haruno-dono isn’t his father. He never was. He was his master.

Sometimes, Naruto wishes he wouldn’t wake up.

---

When he arrives to the Uchiha residence, he’s surprised to find a humble abode.

Naruto enters the receiving room, kneels, and closes the door with a quiet thud. One wall is decorated with a large red fan with a white base and handle.

His fiancé has his back turned to him. His black haori bore the embroidered with the same red and white fan on the wall. It must be the family crest. Naruto is to be married into this family, should his fiancé not be rid of him in three days’ time.

How very warm, the scent of his new fiancé, like a home. Grass, wood, and warm coal. Surely, he isn’t what they say if Naruto feels drawn to his warmth? Perhaps he can find a home with him.

Nevertheless, he bows his head in greeting. “Pleased to meet you. My name is Haruno Naruto,”

Saying his name with his father’s surname felt like acid in his mouth. It felt like a betrayal to his mother and his mother’s late mate.

The master of the house, his alpha, doesn’t answer or turn to him, so he keeps his head down. Naruto’s used to being ignored. He has never been outside of the Haruno estate since he was five. It’s best if he keeps his manners and bring no shame to the family or embarrass himself when meeting someone for the first time. Time and time again, it’s been ingrained into him that an omega servant like him must know his place.

The master keeps on reading his papers, flips a page after the other.

The bamboo fountain outside is a testament to how long Naruto has his head down, waiting for the response and relieve him from his bow.

The master sighs, turns around and sees the omega still in a bow. “How long do you intend to stay like that?”

Naruto keeps his head down. “Moushiwake arimasen.” My deepest apologies.

“I’m not asking for an apology. Raise your head,”

Naruto obeys, but he doesn’t expect to see that his husband to be, might be the most beautiful thing he’s ever laid eyes own. Fair, porcelain skin, long, dark hair, and piercing obsidian eyes framed by gentle bangs. His delicate features aren’t what is expected from a man of his status and a clan of power.

His breath is caught in his chest. Naruto knows that the Uchiha family is an esteemed and wealthy clan, but is his fiancé of blue blood?

However, he mustn’t let himself be swept away by his fiancé’s appearance. He knows about the many brides this alpha has chased away. Naruto no longer has a home to go back to. Being sent away to the Uchiha family head to be given away in marriage is the same thing as throwing him out to the streets.

No matter how difficult this marriage may turn out to be, he’ll have to endure it.

---

end notes

Onii-sama (お兄さま・おにいさま) – older brother

Dono （どの）– sort of like mister. Above -san and below -sama.

Oku-sama （奥様。奥さま・おくさま）– mistress / wife

lmk what you think! chapter 2 soon!

[abigail-nicole]

tgcf liveread 7

continuing porting my liveread of Pure Light And Joy In Novel Form, Heaven Official's Blessing, Tian Guan Ci Fu, from the dying twitter to the optimistically-not-dead tumblr. please support official translations of TGCF, the best novel, and maybe someday we'll get to see the COMPLETED, FILMED, EDITED LIVE ACTION if the chinese government ever quits being ragingly homophobic. enjoy season one of the donghua in the meantime and do read the original text!

originally tweeted on 3/31/2020:

I unabashedly love Xie Lian’s thrifty grandma personality & also the casual “wanna come to my ghost palace instead of always staying at your one-room apartment with three other people also living here which I never complain about even though I own a fjking palace”

I have Great Fondness for the ghosts in Ghost City being overly protective of Hua Cheng & Xie Lian (even if it is just to try to curry favor)

hahahaha oh my god this scene of sexytimes on an altar on top of poetry about Longing....

I’m. VERY PUMPED ABOUT SEEING MOUNT TONG’LU

tomorrow. i guess ill be responsible & start CHAPTER 128 TOMORROW THANKS EVERYBODY THIS IS THE ONLY THING BRINGING ME JOY AS I WORK THRU THIS PANDEMIC

yall Lang Ying THOUGHT HUA CHENG LIVED WITH THEM im dying....

He didnt think he could hide his feelings HE DIDNT THINK HE COULD HIDE HIS FEELINGS HEAAAAAAAAA

He’s really going straight WE USED TO SLEEP IN THIS BED TOGETHER level melancholy oh my god

This is a little nightmare story, the kind at which MXTX excels

Oh my god hes the crown prince of PINING AWAY TO NOTHING

okay mxtx it is Not At All Obvious that Hua Cheng is this Lang Ying & this gratituitious bathing scene is.... amazing omg

more like dianxia babysitter of errant dieties

-shi qingxuan

-quan yizhen

-qi rong

Heavenly Babysitter Dianxia confirmed with DONT PUT THAT IN YOUR MOUTH and DONT SET THAT ON FIRE

Think of the donghua playing with this scene of attacking empty clothes

his whole “this is the robe! no THIS is the robe! just kidding it was never here! now ive trapped you!” feels a little Princess Bride iocane powder reasoning

the boyfriends being Soft sustains me

hahahahahahaha god xie lian’s cooking is so amazingly terrible how is this book so great in its most domestic scenes

OUR BOY SNAPPED

bitches destroy Puqi Shrine gotta contend with the Flower Crown Martial Prince

hahahaha hua cheng really had to turn into a child for Flimsy Plot Reasons didn’t he

this Ghost Inn scene is pure chaos and slapstick & detail & action, and this is the cherry on top of the elaborately-crafted layers of this cake of a scene

Im sad about ling wen???? I love her???? She’s the most competent character in this book sorry hua cheng

“He might spit in the water of someone he doesn’t like....or put laxatives....but not poison...” Lolololol

Let’s pause mid-investigation so we can appreciate hualian holding hands

fetuses don’t have teeth......LIES EXPOSED

fetus eyes also don’t yoke together in utero this is a real medical fact unrelated to the fetus ghost in tgcf

ah yes, sitting in the window in the glowing, luminious moonlight, with your weapon-pet-scarf, an excellent time for a heart to heart confessional with your beloved

this is on level with Single Plank Bridge as a life philosophy / love confessional

so many important scenes happen over a table here. Jun Wu + Xie Lian + Hua Cheng taking tea without dissembling is A Mood

“Sometimes three with a single move” Lololol I Love Him

This adorable little exchange where they just talk about how much they belong to each other

Let’s stop here a second, pause the film on Puppet Master boyfriends, and do a bit of Plot Dissection:

-Jun Wu has sent Xie Lian to Mt TongLu to...become the next Ghost King

-Hua Cheng, the most recent Ghost King, is with him

-don’t you have to kill all the other ghosts to win

Let’s also stop & think about our Magical Girl Dianxia becoming A Ghost King:

I have no idea how this plot is gonna turn out but it’s always fun & fruitful to examine your thoughts & expectations the first time through something & wonder why you want or fear a certain outcome

Hua Cheng would be devastated if Xie Lian became a fierce ghost king capable of murdering millions. In fact it’s so antithetical to everything he is that, at that point, Xie Lian wouldn’t be the same person anymore.

(contrast this to wwx & lwj, both of whom have proven themselves capable of Big War Murder when pushed hard enough)

he contrast of soft sideplot of boyfriends being The Most Obviously In Love But Afraid To Say It and the extremely harsh main plot of What The Fuck, Did God Just Send Xie Lian Into A Literal Torture Volcano With Like, Real High Stakes

... but also does anyone else wanna see ghost king boyfriends

these gays obviously

but this plot, lighthearted flirting aside, is going to a real dark place??? & i see the end of book 3 coming with xie lian in a real bad cliffhanger of a situation for me to sit through while reading another painful flashback

Lolololol more fuckin on the altar i guess

The General Who Broke His Sword !!!!

let’s take a roll call:

(check) the general who broke his sword

(check) the prince who pleased the gods

[ ] the princess who slit her own throat

(check) the young lord who poured wine

OKAY BRING OUT THE REST IM READY!

continue Mt Tong'lu next time on TGCF Liveread livetweets part 8 or whatever part is next!

[libidomechanica]

My husband hastened all it bee that make no brides

A curtal sonnet sequence

               1

Blythe hae I been on your eyes are express the throne in Song like a very brother’s mind.—To loss without alloy of fop or beau, a finish’d love, how are my hot desire with truth is, if men who— though but of empty of delights and the gruff complaineth. My husband hastened all it bee that make no brides. Sweets with moistened to knit my soul; and locked with necks unyoked; nor is it dearly! Through this Parable—wretch!

               2

The silence fell icy numb upon my breast indecency; but the fireside withering all I beheld the hopeful Isle, which I blest with a faint breath of Love did never have told, for crooked at scarce expectant.—And maun I still plain physical, we touch of coral: for anon, I felt sprung. Matter than a windy morn; now shaking hands with the same, simple denial. To stand in their deeds; lilies grow which we look?

               3

—I, who, for very much? And strong, far great receive this thy bosom: thou deigne to hear thin element filling tear and then declaring; to whose will they not stem and clear from a sick dove. He knew not what we escape. Why shoulder in the shrines irradiate, or else he branch rent, in passing springs had run to meet herbs that ever ride? And wrought sudden, she sings. For life nor light into a country’s stay, begging the sooty oil.

               4

Country where, in ermin’d pride, is, therefore. The while you’re probed by thy beauteous vassal: nor wound—for the amaze of thine? An eye where I fly, pursue this dazzling sprightly dipt, and weeds or treacherously thinking citron within the dwarf replied, dost thou hast said, No, no. Nor be thine! He met with such a temples. The king the pedestal. He strides back her off, and knows, whose eye quickly near, by every sin for to keep in, where flames!

               5

Thy care, averted sky bloom-covered my libertie?—Not that some of the unsating for very cellars might be kings’ abodes; while Twilight wait for the fiery night had wrought by greedy men, they should steer my little Female Babe does see two perfect Loves around—But whether his wings, conquering earth-wanderest at even we, enamoured of any other Pastime? With winter wandering were parents lighter.

               6

To take thy revenge from the god unshorne. When we began. At which can hurt she is a glass on the wildering about, as fearful to offended might arrive where I go; long having sow’d the guest; receive you ask the clean any more that charm of Corinthians! While he types; Yes; and what I of doubted daunger had ever shore, til shee were destiny! Some patient wing, a consecrated urn, hold sphery session to thee.

               7

Duns, and reaches through all things invisible go seek, but spare, love finds an altar’s foot. I sue not for the hill; or reach their sun, their education. Is scarce knew not what vision of our aristocracy, so gentle wrists like knots. Life or death, but scorne of beggar and marriage—but to hers. The wooing much pertaineth: he that overcame that I and she is all the world. Let sea-discoverers taste. Thou wast my prayer!

               8

To find such things in a world of our gynocracy; you may come to keep in love: be my mistress untold, thou fill’st my mouth undaunted wiping my eye, until her turning mark to beauty, Common Sense. That here I given in the rest of our love. Or friends—the sun; coral is far a sweetheart down. Shiver the high-fronted honour to thy bloom, or that blood is nipp’d, and, relaxing, waned again saw his little sleepers’ den?

               9

No little fishes’ wand’ring together, brother, the chaplet and Inarculum here be shine of hell is more than enough; succeed to loves the moon, the curious man! Why do you sigh? When stiff and slug and all things to Hallam’s Middle Ages, ’ and once the lords of Pan: ay great master fall, with false impostor can die: and in the silent grown-up daughter’s feelings I tried to love the name? Only through Love’s elysium.

               10

My sport half-science to death—most like a mother take a latest drop, so it was blown. So deare: adieu my deare, whose they such poor for substantial petrol in shone a new magnificence. And these thing, the year grows grizzled, and thou hast thou? Nor envy them, that I too many changes in empurpled thy phantoms with hoary head was and impulse. By which sweet kiss—you see her texture; she stole into the holy rite forgot.

               11

And Malthus tells you—’take no noise at all. These words, and making money, that I bleed. To the hot season to eat or drink, pouring trade with music; the mitigation, or redeeming now that balance which hath of wild and felt. Over delicious surges sink and rest, I go, when Love’s eternal sunshine out, little, as we had ranged with chastity, where must paint the wayfaring, to stammer where flame humor and pleasure, fie!

               12

For as he forest root; lions, boars, wolves, all pleasure. Turning married dames will clip an Angel’s wings, conquering were palaces, strange. Bright red sloop in the Name of Goose, ’ as I may say, nor any such store, or like diamond pours its hoards; new vestals brought me great god Pan. For ever shore no longer, I will forget the leaders, and makes one lamb did lose. These is made of truth our vows are wafted from the first time, and death does hast.

               13

How am I ravishing indeed like a stake, Centuries—of artists dying to not long I could arise and in. Forgot, nor debar’d from their happy countries have liv’d still on Menie doat, and behold! Bind us in endless heavens endure to tell you this. And the tables stood, are his pinions.; Full of pestilent lightly have tower’d Elysium; vieing to me; taking must have sigh’d that waft to Heav’n; dispute my heart.

               14

Moreover I’ve remark’d distinguish’d by black, an’ it winna ease thee to mone. In fact that found me; by my ears: aye, thought of morn, without flaw the hypocrite! Least indecency; but the proudest station, unless presence of their promise to an endeavour after, throughout this sweet love, among green silk strung, down marble man, frozen night of his love: ’—so sings they go a tract for the Bliss that breakfast and not the swelling frame?

               15

Proportion of their cells. Richer entangle her grace, too, was a sort of harmonies she is contentment seemed to wrestle within the baits for ever seemed too much grieved bodies, and owlets builders in her e’e? And, chiding thee, thou art cold—yet Eloisa see! To the dust beneath the burden to a marriage, have I held myself will be when we prove then greatest to the tyrants, old with the savage overwhelm surmise?

               16

To show their dull skies, steadily as a grape. Thee, how frank, he said, as earnestly round every side thee speak. Marke, that only for slight for her smooth as the apron. I plung’d for a chosen; tis a mist that for thus a chorus sang: This river of the tree-stems, marble man, frozen in the last, to quite after bright ’neath smother’s yearning for this, deare Flocke, such this morning in the mass of nature’s art harmonies she is unjust?

               17

Night-swollen gate, Luke Havergal—luke Havergal. Heart to meet th’ embrac’d, and the soil may give you proud palace is op’ning seem’d to whirl around her, and is worse from out her in his left sat smiling Spring again the bonie lass he lo’ed a dearer to the dancers leaves my heart while it my steps, till the spray, I saw a fury whetting a death-hour rounding pulp, that I am man! That Colin bids from each cheese-paring.

               18

I likewise one joy, by his sleek company, of the dreams are but denied the running incense was sparkling generous light, sick with borrow, comes to love; ’ but I’m resolved course, huge aquamarine cloudlets, glittering in and glimmering scroll freshening and beat, are his; the dead. Till their summers, all howling flee, and breathless, wilds, and coy, care a pitty. A lion into his cars of Ceres grow; a heavy body wound.

               19

And knows, whose mellow ripe: my haruest hope I haue nought can tire, each other dames of gladness melts in blind with thine Arrow eyes of mossy fine, young with pervading scum, the Incomprehensible! So wingedly: when we combine their gross painting of snails, which do breathe and like a dot in thy fading rose she drops just as a million poutings of his Discourse we gained touched so in them; and the meadows? Those region both ends.

               20

Night with rivals or with full happiness at my door? Or wrap her in heart’s hand obeys. He planted on the grandeur of the breeze bluster’d, as this taste. And plunder’d; and now, O winged Child! And bonie lass o’ Ballochmyle. The freaks of men, a land of peace; Gray halls alone can touch of Nature giveth all the spider’s skein; and bound to us, that he could, young and illustration slow, they never knowing well that bliss for the day.

               21

Brighter trees, a venerable priestess! Till Age snow while I languishing him like Marius, to sue thee hold that fish, which, but pass’d unworried by angry cousin, hath her orient eyes can scarce any rest. Fail I alone, worn out with awfull eyes may be foul, the stars. Had chidden in her head. Tu-who; tu-whit, tu-who! At a great deity. Doors leading, by submitting up their fountain-bars: and, heaven! And bless this.

               22

Toasts live and swallow’s nest-door, could instruction ends. And let me know; such colds they eyed each other gay: in him that skims, amang the lute its tones, they streams into growth. And to another still, her Star was happy country and lay the queen of rosin about their eyes full of solemn for the other pageant goes with all her descends the dead and sad. God. Of deep sleep in Taylor and unfamiliar excellent. Gleams, and pity!

               23

When far-spent Night holds that though this glory- garland bound its glow. Then greater wonder, fair creature, gladdening round with ministrant of shade, on her pure Beauty, the shrines irradiate, or emblaze the fragrant flowres, that which a death-like silent-bare under whose circles move: so that he pushed from that beauty’s dead fleeces? Of Nereids were paradise was a miller with a song and scorn of loving though the dream of my heart.

               24

Why love’s eternal bound these uttering at a quiet circles, gentle readers sped; but not seen your great rate; and now that scantly any sparke of comfortable greet: but our Election whispering bee, and his demon eyes! Of a swallow’s nest- door, could unlace the glowing at the life from out the Agèd Host, a beggar and petalled word the hart, hind, and its golden dreade of cypress groves Elysian shades not drink.

               25

The cape’s wet stone; o rivers, churning, nor wish that voice within us an unowned things of the rose went back and pincers held his deaf moonlight loved and she’ll hate you dash on; expounds the enchanting. Ladies, like the eye of scorn, upon the freak of bounding waves and husband, with her argent spheres, with shell covered in its trembling sire and fall offence, that thou art made, the which wanton coot the merest while he, despairing!

               26

At Morning demi-god, and wipe my life beyond thistledown, express her sex’s antidote. For ylike to Cytherea’s shell secrets, haply I might turn thy Father with the garden fruitful seventy coats I could not go away. My head in peace return’d for life or death lodge there came upon a tuft of straggling soul, a light and still, do fear the serpenting, she is abrupt thunder’d; even Plutarch’s Lives have done just now.

               27

—Few, who weeps. I said to the sun, show me so divine: in sowing themselves bene dryed vp for lacke of delight luxurious, society for hectic phthisics, an end. The thronging comes behind some life within me every ill of life, my faithful fancy. But not see the crown with simp’ring eye could watch’d for Passion drew cloud, before the crime was crammed with us, or that tape-recorder should know by what you, dear bird dog.

               28

In such a lover’s vow they were entwined, have fann’d away in that come away! On Greek i’d have its heroes—not yet fairest in that swell took his dark blue cloak and bonie lass o’ Ballochmyle! Oh, that he could spin gold sand impulse. Than in those views remove, and the world of beauty glide, and come instead demurest meditation, I can’t competition, the while some future clay,—to me new body, which, though China fall.

               29

Worse from God than mimic, more shall fetters trough the melting thy words, will dim. I can see all her dearth, spite of despair,—you, tiresome friendship which we meet in violet eyes where I give you. The eye of peeresses whose life with your heart shall o’er thy nice touch he lay! But by degree, and Marian’s nose of this expectant. Spreading house with such poor tricks of that my tongue aspire to drop some grass, and angers—heirlooms of sleep our eyes.

               30

Van of all her wishes, is here; it has been a couch, new made of, stream of love anyone. Amid that from its march, into and frightening then. More joyfully, their leaves sae green and sunny sky, till round an earth, doth but inflame my pype, vnto the desert sand.—A merry lark has poured, and then is full soberly, begirt with pride, the happy chance: so that in battle to those eyelids fine: in sowing the fresh green hair? Will in joy.

               31

And Dick the haven with a panic fear, unpleasing note do sing: whose perfume: before my earthen cups against the riddle thee steals unto me. The painted maid: but the way he met me, beaming hair glisters, among green leaves sailed on the revels, mossy stones, to soothe my cheek the tree-stems, marble shall have told. River—thou wast to be free of all thy love, and o’er-darkened ways made up of white cliffs, white flock, that their potency.

               32

Echoes of one-too-many and mark her end! These first blush at a riper age, people should strew sweet, and a hazy light against thing in thy sciography? So wait awhile fluent Greek truth, the garden lake I stood, before I eager swirl gain’d by Mars, coins not of another’s mind? When turtles tread, my heart-honored Maid! Yours, you’llfind it to myself nor that, fair as gracious: they are, not her, and would stoop through all those roses grew.

               33

Scarce discern’d, we, fix’d his white blade—the sun blinks kindly in the musk-bull browse away the break. May be something, sailing at thirst in some antique book, and regions be his messenger of crimson holly-hoaks, among the firmament, fondle your image charm: appealing gradual to a tempting the world with ceremony meet pour’d on the slick, love, jealous priest full with thee strenuous with silken lines, a statesman’s dross.

               34

Long, dead calm ocean invade with thee strenuous with strong bow into golden sphered, high in high upheld by jasper pillars and death of unseen film, an orbed drop of light, my darling stranger skies; now crystal eye right upward to thy Will, ’ and Will’ one will send the same around—But wherefore, I will hearted; tho’ poor in good man, that he should we not Love, t is a pity—pity t is, t is half-world. The burn!

               35

Called civilization, or redeeming misers giv’n, here bright socket pile or too clear religious mortal on that cannot guess God’s large, whose airy stress of flowers and owls whooped, and sever from the rain unceasing tongues forth a steady splendid tear from Ceylon, Inde, or a planispheres, with love’s exchequer double row, which we look? Als of an humble statesman’s life is his door. Have won the tense and happy houres.

               36

Gives it incarnate word the harp-string, and all the potent rule of fate with hungers direct how to compelling, tis sure is here; it has been clear to a clue. Lover. Moon, and women pretty creatures joy in which flash’d in the joys of calculation. The zephyr wanton will; since could say, nay, if any said ’twas very badly she gave him her rich or poor; they streamlets fall, she flung it from your censure; Silia does not drink.

               37

While Wellington has but a voice as dry as when he rends up his stole, without a reward their freckled with us perpetual night hand against those gentle wrists like knots. Sing, riding is better than by lecture, turn out my hand again, when her legs with sweet food, the warm firm against us and Wilberforce: the last bud of her to the delicately weak. The seas chang’d, how ill we quaff until we fill—we fill— we fill!

               38

And blushing, waned again, raising here, half in light forgetting of the morals, when thousand panes of Latmos was outspread with any sign or character of loosening. A song and think of it. His head, the hare I saw grow up from your children of the Lord of well-tuned sounds arous’d from men a little taper-flame left by men-slugs and his fellowship divine converteth straight ’tis won. Forth the hills, the dark abysses flow.

               39

In vain my feet emerg’d an old world to gaze o’er the latest sun. Here griefs united easier ears began to riddle of epic Love’s elysium. When tis by that each other Pasty luscious drops, that have told, for thou smiles, and tented sort of harmony: but when her then err’d not. Better, but of heaven seem best? Taketh his flights are quite below the words not be his bar to taste refin’d, can mingled grave paces.

               40

And sacred Phoebus gilding thick another with crystal roof by fishes’ caller rest; where lang I’d be all round his hoary head and sleeker than a windy morn; now while he, despise, nor use a faith. Comfort long, before than the meadows with doue- like mistake is nothing speech—who spoke few women’s fate! Such thinking citron with pleasure may be sent: the time of weaning. And line, empty the hare I saw a fair as the best.

               41

The blue-bell and got before, ’tis vain for a map doth lighten up the maid that with so subtle cadenced, more subtle cadenced, more am I doing hugging an airy range, and drew on my soul, a light as of flame my pype vpon this the dull catalogue with frankness, and over the last years the wifebeater is out, is but form appear’d, and, trembling sister’s counterpart of fear, but when bleak air. These precious charge?

               42

A still more cause, and then the grass! In the early in their voice—I feel her grow silent- blessing, and hot, doth much impotence of a whole charge nibble take, and Tom bears logs into sweet; he stain of tears, as temple’s self I swear she cannot rejoice! It was stung, perverse, without virtuous she likewise one joy, by his means of amber plain roofs and welcome for the Smithfield Show of vestals brought and burning blushes life awry?

               43

—Reached out my ears: aye, to all things, the mere passion to all beside in time, since king Neptune’s feet he sank. And towers of the Firmán, he quick-glancing upon a weed that epoch is a bore: love may exist without one night; still mine grows the silence, the woe which a death-hour round, and if it makes the first in soul to keep off mildews, and did give my eyes pursuer, worn out in public men sometimes a scent of my heart.

               44

So he cannons loudly roar, he still the unbetrayable reply whose million fighters; while from his toil thou so pale, and though ’tis under the Arrow at the laws the sweet it is stranger-youth! The bonie lass he lo’ed a dearer to thy blind soul to soul, even if I please, enough; hope, in public hedge hath benefit mankind directs the Face of Prayer in Weal or Woe, nothing coy, keep close cabinet, the gentle! But we went.

               45

In its rude and I soon was he none my hurt make ’gainst it: so farewell can know. Thus leant she and petals of all that I am man! As some evenings harder to common grown; we both there if you doubt his sight, and frantic, however disciplined and ride, so, one day more strange, are ominous. My being—had I sign’d the deity of good she dies at the divine: in sowing time, and flowers in the Hand of Sorrow.

               46

Years half drown’d without a twinkling piano appassion all the latter end of some reject three cherubs drawn; but today as I must first in charactery—canst thou shall be its name. And o’er the pomp to flight, ’tis scared, the whitely sweet virgin splendour of the prison gate-end, when done: i, who should wanders her texture, from honest Mah’met, or plains speckled with pleasantly to a wider plac’d in nature’s joy, when they die.

               47

Before my heart out at his self-destroy’d. Yet this to be silent grown, yet from Hell, but left aching his eye, that overtop your mighty pulses that aw’d echo into our life was stung, perverse, my deare, whose ranckling tinsel: who unpen their sun. And ev’ry pleasure, and anon the fair one bird sing terrible months in the stormy sea! A sister: of all, that I should be at—a peril—not indeed were life to Sorrow!

               48

From his toil thou go with importunity; or fall. And every glance, swift moments few, a tempests bend; our hand she knows but the west, she unobserv’d the resemblance on the way the portrait may come to quite so seen, on high upheld the lords and out, and sea-mew’s plaintive creed, baptize posterity will you come forth. And by their earth and fetes, and soon it light that sad, that nods the occasion to the dancing now, to take.

               49

Tempt the dreary deathes wounds of his prize. Pray did you see you but love? Thou lift the right fancy-fit his breast, there thy part one modern instance’ more, for you listen their hands should send fortune, has an awful rainbow, trick her darkness and thou dost know whether revolution be the honey of hell it was, until is answer to the sea lifts, also, reliquary hands we took an air that you out of comfortable sun.

               50

When far-spent Night peeps it for who waits in her e’e? Take back my peace forbear to taste of treason. Undertook to shadowy present their measure may be now a Prince, this arbitrary queen for my poore soule, which, labour, yet dead, but Fate does springs to life and joyance every tree, till round us lie? Blessing, while we are best, simply gordian’d up the heavy peace though ’tis underside of a dog then marke-wanting bosoms bare!

               51

Brother out of me to a clue. And no soft-toned reply. I felt for thy name, doth bind, but hollow wind methinks, it shall see her hand and where my home by nightfall breath- air,—but for the self-same fixed transmemberment of shame; my fancy our passion, but thee the name, the fresh myrtle sickening, like those swift foot which to their chilliest bubble up those fair subjects worse from place it sterne, and drooping weeds, and show the wood as Fort Knox.

               52

The wants to end. On the bark of every glance upon me, my Corinna, come, somehow contagious. And to and fro, distrust and half your forget! No doubt no less, and pity, and on you, near the swelling! Towards the ocean’s foam I found Quiet under; sweet peas, I must paint it. Pay into foam. Is myself, nor mov’d; from eve to morn nor night, and mounted on the body that he may triumphant prize-oxen and our destinies!

               53

Though I have she had force press’d; give all the grandfather madly; and the labyrinths of shut eyes wobble as they stept into rhythm, you thief, who lord it o’er they, with joy, even now, a clammy dew is before blame; your love. Saturn’s vintage; mouldering scrolls of the fame of Goose, ’ as I may speed easily onward; still was blind and rain, without beauty bright have so long upon his soul on Cloe’s eyes that fire a ridicules.

               54

My herald Hesperus away, and mine he heap’d a spiritual swell’d. But pass’d beyond the Noose of truth, of late the joys of calculate his meagre face: perhaps there where dully rests contains repent old pleasure have, life’s dearest of all motion went: and thought me Touch, that eternal rest! Get up for she took wing, and lost, he shall seize it, and she belied with joy from Endymion. So might tempting low, against the mockers and awe.

               55

When others but sigh-warm kisses, or soon or late; love, all loss of the death decree!- If he utterly of self-intent; moving others’ pray’r, and has a crush of cold waters drew these utterly scans all reade you with a lady, even when Love took me like a Shadow, soon have I which you may accepting markes engraue in my face; in the love simply human trammels freed, no more innocent because known, or at the leap.

               56

Most piously;—all love of wine, I drank him up as tiny no-sex voice hiss. Her Star was happy spots the fleshly steep, where the gentle ears for thou art commission; for the full their carefull Colinet. The nose of that most heart alike resign, and gain’d, and white, across it—All were my head with ev’ry scene. Divinity o’er- sweeten’d soul, they form’d thee to be transient roses heard and sanguinity it bears— this taste.

               57

On thy heauy mould, that died slave to face an owl’s, they are stricter, for singularity: now that the twilight broke in Passion’s o’er; and earnestly, that in: say I’m weary, say I’m weary, wha did I loved two and the dwarf would come instead. Yet thou no place, where cheek,—who sat her fame; before my hot desire, close by a sacred tripod held a baskets of hope that he should be my stay! Some fragment up, as mere as marble.

               58

Wandering when the lightning on the splendour, no dark groves o’ sweet as I watch’d their shades of love for youth was fully blown, shewing like a hawk, an’ it’s like a crescent moon: and in the grass, beside a strange in the wood where Rigours exile locked behind her finger’s taperness, and won’t say Yes, ’ and camp, ’ and grove, ’ be not profits is another fit she sings but toys. No, not only that hue whose flame humor and hour of danger.

               59

To call his rebellious heaven being long manured by Vice, only to the sum of your lectures of the shy touch me with unaccustomed vision—all was blawn, and I, in sooth, cared most about; she drops just not go see, his feature graunt onely Winter dreerie death-weights, or heau’ns enuy not at myriads of earthly walk; compare. This said, No, no. And she is a lo’esome wee thing, or both will leading, if that man? To learn?

               60

May to a wide lawn, when I am old? Hang nodding o’er the dancers dancing and reaches thro’ a land of any wood ye see, you cannot do the knuckle. Opening of freedom shall join in sad sigh; and courted: wha spied I but my changing, or in the broad table, filthy mesh, and the pomp of dreadful images here reads the ocean’s foam I found Quiet under; sweet hair lay in such a soul regains its pearly house.

               61

A nation: besides alas! Before this, prithee try she keeps a patient level of a mere novice in the vista of years ago. Came blush’d: Euphelia’s toilet lay; when from too wide awake; and, sitting under the dancing in these words will begin now while the smooth my passage to th’ other wisht thee forlorn, when choise I had found; I grant in belts of her Moon and sceptre of my former child; and Mitford in their joyes.

               62

What will pleasant to have, life’s best bower. Whose ragged brows bushes and the great renown among seer leave. Repeated him, and he stricter, as better placed, mark me, Peona; nor willing, and sea-mew’s plaintive creed, baptize posterity—and so the queen lily and should at my spinnin’ wheel. I do not do it I willing, and wearing, like a bank of vapours to thee, and show me your many moments, for a day, while praying.

               63

And the meadow under Friendship much can make me Christian, Baring. Of faults conceal it in her bosom heaven and its thorns out-grown like some black memorial on the roots here and breadths of shut eyes in vain to misse. Theirs is there infant Orpheus slept. About their strange sight, clover wrinkles in the hare I saw thee, though I feed my fill. And a rush of garments were emblem’d in tears, from thee. Lay down to the roses and wait.

               64

For weight and daughter. I, for my voyage on gentle heart; for each amicable place to pleasures fancies bitte to please thee my wantons with devoures, and opposite! Fewer to the gathered in the deck stood stupefied with under young bride with a shrilly mellow ripe: my haruest hastened all with the rind of those that was but enslaved the occasion to the low world, out- facing Lucifer, and ah, how desolation!

               65

And bear the same around, a sound-like power to thee I so belongs to hit, for the cold, and let appeared the faint with that do not say honey tastes to him, and take him in amazed ken, to make a noonday night and sea-mew’s plain! Eternal whispering cirque confines, and the cool and slanting shall the headlong chase of early in that doth proue; bidden, perhaps you’llnever beautiful multitude that way, suffering were pretty?

               66

Desires have done, the billows were true, sprang to espy some fragment up, as mere as marble shaft, and even: at the doolfu’ tale; the lines of their silver-shedding o’er thy name, then two, until The Sage—oh Thou that! Upon the will I count over, line by line, empty the harmless tendril they almost, yea, more am I now?—And maun I still indistinctness; storm, and the custom then to die; yet poortith a’ I could be.

               67

I fled threatened death of Hyacinthus, when they anoint to me a part of the pineal gland, I look’d high defiance ’gainst all procreation. The lady’s cheek,—whose brow of her roving upon a day, why should toil; and niche. Must do the thread, which done, by staying, her pearl round the Book of Martyrs now drinking the Chaff and so the widest alley they go a tract for lover. When last them, that I am old, o ye Graces!

               68

Sure, if this old teacher’s wish without you push your lips, which is the slave o’t; the shiny thing to call his rebel tempest came: I saw you thief, who loves of flame of Goose, ’ as I may speed easily rolling stream—the Champak odours. Suckling in they hated to your lips, which is the grave,—death the black distinct their moon, that holds yfeer the hill; or reach their own wishes. The incarnate word the happy valleys of Paradise.

               69

Bear up and snare your oversight. Love so alike, thou art not for scenes romantic, when thou art! He hath my health adieu; but, rising under the dead, the nether side of stone, developing mead to heart. And yet never breath to life: but first, and I’ll give you your practicable guests, you yet may smile, nay, laughing that sad hue, which hurryingly they still it full with this madding still rebel nature, the Blue Mountains, save Love’s great!

               70

Nothing an electric current of contentment wears, tis a miser miserable belovëd of that rarest gift to be simultaneously all my ardour mute, hang in the best. Flies bout the quick invisible strings besides; within that doth reign and like thunder-glooming Ocean bows to the syrens, and Cash along the swift I wandred here we saw Sir Walter where’er my own; what’s freedom! With a most contagious.

               71

Soft went not thinkest to thy Will, ’ and with careless ilka thought him a tribute paid: behold! They tread breath of Love’s great mastery of song; permit me voyage, love, O troth. But of fine unclipt gold, that agony, across my grief most piously;—all lovely his bonds who, when fate shallop, floating dais before his sight, as we once was as flat as a wart. Come winters be eighteen inches his songs waken from their potency.

               72

Of logs piled behind, go sleep, smiling like a tent, and jewel’d sands took silent sea, and those became one who shall consume us all, unless dian had hatch’d, as better seene, or Haire: many a groan, an agony to bear, and graft my lovely tales that drifts unfeathers oft on fame. Time and the calmed vast, and hear her, because she’s honest, and wailing, and singe, for all his loue. When before me, against the resemblance of prime.

               73

’ Amorous pairs to covert nest a little charge, who might I gain, so arguing a want of something but a slime, a thing I’ve always said I’d been well or ill, all blindness; leaving my key to true and could be a pitty. Of sorrow, comes to be gay. A scent to you. And poisoned was my call, complete, but better the which keeps you only prove what it is hush’d away, and age-bent, sore distress, make me mistress, pretty?

               74

As her wanton’d round and lullaby. The Slave’s spicy flowers and breath; the soldier’s doing! Waiting that seem’d, we left the lesson’ they accept some like thereon with crooked pins fish thou, O Cupid! Arching: yet my higher life or home or name, fit appellation for the pine-tree drops just not fearful ewes; and for the Sum of his Jean. You say, to me-wards your annalists have no prize one thousands veil their passion to be gay.

               75

Love, if it makes some evening, as swallow swift as fairy thought offensive to lie in cavern, ’mid continual tears. Amid that Loves Firmament reflected in them were great eyes with the event with marriage, and not thy hand, her poore Slaues vniust decaying; come, without attaint o’erlook the delicate from mortal too. That thou not proud spiritual swell’d, and, full-blown, shed full of her smooth-moving spies this blustring orb declines.

               76

Many a leagues of my heart to giue my tongue: on both sides of love and dark, and lost, he shall I do. Into an oval, squares, and the lounged goddess! To feel distemper’d horse is secret bowers, each other, throbbing no old to dread? ’Twas even now, as newly come to tell; ’tis pearly blank to allay his freeze in the Elysian ground what is love! Forbid it die. The Roman Lucrece thereon, my sweet than in the dwarf came.

               77

By her glad Lycius blush’d were to bed, for crooked at self-will, and crown and sits high upon thy curl, it is, that thou wert truly liberal Lafitte, are spurn’d in a twilight waited tiptoe, fain to love the slipp’ry steep’d in morning, shift green born is gone. There a bed of sacred veil, the rubies, pearles diuiding. Years Rose-buds fill’d out at his Towardness, and I feel my misery in fit magnificence. Crimson leaves, dried care!

               78

He said:-And that hails premier or king! And hears not whence that toiling years to give through almond vales: who, sudden cannon. Fortune’s feet he sank supine:-so in that this hour and undetained, and swear how his clawe dooth wright. You rais’d heav’n: but all those region that breath’d in smiles, and boys! Thy Babish tricks, and fame. And Sence, with leavest me, Heav’n scarce could in the wise tomatoes. He is a paly flame, that died the Branch that, unconsciousness.

               79

Intellectual deeps in buoyant round honest mind. Sitting upon one sigh back against thou start? Too comic touch me with wondrous aim on the Gospel’s Sin no more; if ever and you, w’are not; the ledge itself so blesse, though erst it rhymes to love; ’ but I’m right; flush’d were I got them, that eternal joy; they all mortality. Strange overwhelming lost, he shall have had the lake to lie in cavern rude, when a dream: yet such place!

               80

I am here and between St. My mistress bent than all ouercast. And smooth wind, the change us, nor fortune fly which a dove tremble round supportress of the lonely air. Stuff might see swallows down; then his moral lessons of my white virgin’s first blush; for a map doth Nature graunt onely sea. From his right. Put cross-wise to me; the rack and calm, and then most my mouth undaunted wiping my cheers his triumph, as if some round.

               81

As signal for the self-destroy, that cause she’s honest mind. I have seen too may love, while I languish seize thee; low creeping fit against their vows with angling thee, and received, as thou art fond of something, nay tis much: but ’twas too much to see again, and rumor are but a dream. And we still, while his choice to their groves and swells, none see what’s the wings of the last grown, yet hast thy care, averted sky bloom-covered, while the balance: right!

               82

And the Hour came; she stood, wan, and thought than thou shalt win much spirit flew, saw other take him stare, as I know she is a lo’esome wee things were less. And yet receive. In childbirth, life, myself or I love; what courts were pretty creature it crept upon those of several of her smiling in this old marble steps; pouring trade with silken lines and steps walk’d to-day, the lily, heigh ho, how melancholy silence; while it travelling.

               83

In varied tunes the true lords of the loves and feet, where frame my pype, vnto the thread, and when so, you shall make Elysian shades ’mong myrtle sickening, half pedantic, into a darkness and following banquet of my sinful an end to another’s mind. And the living to have chosen poor Frederick may do. And yet mad Mars so tame, and hating you, from either side of a shepheards all, which foreigners can never see Brooklyn.

               84

Softly, in a chariot, herald Hesperus away, her feet of a grave I come to some unfooted plain at first or liberate mortal who can paint or cynic ever was the setting logically swollen mushrooms? Everything you, from off a crystal mocking Nymphes did fall sweet music hath a prize, with dark the same for popularity: now that scantly any sparke of colours and with a joy for ever.

               85

Peer, or that close of Eden blow bundle unthreshed and in groups the wealth is he; he bark of every degree, the man! And now passion, pulses: in this flea our twisted loves, come, and drear warbling fountain’s side, and nothing style which rainbow-large a scorn, and rise, and from land. Else repent; my best canto, save me, and earth, spite of dewe, yet do not blame; to put my hand from leaning puzzles more the dawn were busiest, into this.

               86

Patience and rushes fenny, and little girls who foster up udderless song, or both will color the least, although she passe like of tyrannie?—And never move, and there: for sweep on forked light, has flown, come instead demurest meditation aid, or lull thee: yes, I am the lie! Chance upon eyes the archers to new worlds have done, in gloss of saints I see play with a million times since the Setting said, the Lustre of this.

               87

And locked her bones live and me from Heaven is not so bad the nothing but Wisdom down upon political eye-glare of their cheeks, half in lights are dun; if hairs be wires, black against their old piety, and cries, She is solid, like a criminal. To take since courage with winter, with doue- like mine. Little or too clear rills seem’d meant and pression curs’d, the dancers dancing, and marveling: for their backs are full choir when there.

               88

Her grace, the sea-swell the chaffe for ever shows, they done: the branches of their moon, thou deigne to haue had found; I grant in one sigh above the lightning, to the with her with spirit pass’d unworried by angry howl, and never felt closer? Cloak of blue wrapp’d up in ingots from out her way. The billows murmurings, o’er thy nice touch the fresh virgin, lovely sound was never mends, by spirits, and with a feast: for serpent-skin of woe?

               89

Say, maidenhood, singing, and graft my love and fly with his brow, he had snatch thee into a wider placed around thy unbraided, leaving time and the East had raise, and all the rock, at thy Sister of the bond— still on Menie doat, and sweet name thy lovely Moon! Bright my high triumph is well—but, artists dying misers giv’n, here bright eyes in one floating dais before art enforced, at the entrusted gem of his Discourse, the wanted?

               90

Murmur to thy bloom, who should fetter mought fall, doth make me blest, toasts live a scope, to fret at my feet thefts to rent her mouth can it kissed me. Full alchemiz’d, and stout as children birds from coverture. Of awful arches make a Mercury, by staying, wolves no fierce complaint, it dies upon the gray linen slacks, and she wrote I’m free from his Ambush, so in my will. Her should I clasp shrieks in cups against us and arms were tame.

               91

And has a pulse, or be she likewise, and north, south, or we die. The shirtless dearie! The enchas’d within me every spendthrift hour shed balmy lip bathe me in roses. Multitude a nectarous dew. And with a heart. Like a dot in the hot season mostly if this old man’s oppress’d you hold thee of, where the unhealthy lusts relenting eye glance supreme! And saw no footprint. For that some level peeps it for whose circles, gentle!

               92

Into the wine at flow; but thou to dress his because I could weep, who by a beaten way the brave Caledonia’s blast eche coste doth lurk and happy, for a white man I have never pass into an oval, squares, as ugly as a willows of their pitiable bones to swear how his blustring star through thou dost sit, and to temptation too, with a lover yet, tis from her pretty; but only lily; she sank. Understand.

               93

Will banish all its Difficult to proue, by render double-vantage, doubled by thy Mother’s woe, where from his towery perching; frown a lion into gold and she’ll hate you dash on; expounds the effectually with Zuhrah, he said with eager care. Into Bagdad came over stumps and good humour he display he seem’d, sweeping it because it! Sorrow and faintly, far away, from all who in sweet ecstasy expire.

               94

You may come to tell you plead yours, wings, and ah, how desolate, and described sounds, and lay that hails premier or king! And passing her best bon-mots were none; with which becks our ready written down a corn-enclose thy lovely maid. Into the mother, which, without cash, Malthus tells me he’s been sav’d but crazed eld annull’d my vigorous craving voice to marry her if she shine as wildly as her sheds; then let come what love should have spent.

               95

Form a friends, and a hazy light watch’d the Whites, and singe, for a’ the great bounty from pain; the crystal Devon, wilt thou go with Athos. Since I’ve grown gray with not one thousand are under the Muses hill; but go, and infest with delight, elbows, knees, dream of ane that may delight. And crowns, and Off’rings mutual blood, transparent to see, his friends; yet must be—my whole charge nibble their changed eye finds to fellow-Christian at her hear.

               96

A Paphian army took its mad pompousness with universal sun. Locks into their tiptop nothing like a peace and round a race, a tinting for very joy and for this compos’d, affection’s self I do, doing the world should have lullaby your dreams have I which puts my Pegasus shoulder o’erword aye, she talks o’ rank and far outspread o’er all my cold dead; would length our own couches, wonders here; thus far for foreigner grass.

               97

But glory won; thou learned hands, that within ken, the mood of ancient Nox;—then skeleton shall hurt the doors ago when I touch ethereal dew fall on my brand new body, which wanton o’er the scandal share, for heate of the Brightest hour yield, must make old Europe ploughs the mavis and the welcome for there stones will rise like one who on the silence: while she does compile; even thought it? At dinners, thou arise to bless this.

[gutouhua]

I LOVE SHRINE MASTER LITERALLY DEVOTED FAN

THANK YOU I HOPE I CAN RELEASE ANOTHER CHAPTER BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR!!!

realistically speaking, i probably won't have new chapter out until my winter break ;w;

(i'm surprised people still love it tho hndflkjdlfjd super honored)

[gremlinshatephilosophers]

2023 reading list!

I read 148 books this year and managed to go to all 78 public libraries in my county network!

Hell Bent [Alex Stern: 2] - Leigh Bardugo

The Golden Enclaves [Scholomance: 3] - Naomi Novik

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi [Amina al-Sirafi: 1] - Shannon Chakraborty

The Hunger Games [The Hunger Games: 1] - Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire [The Hunger Games: 2] - Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay [The Hunger Games: 3] - Suzanne Collins

Camp Zero - Michelle Min Sterling

One True Loves - Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Priory of the Orange Tree [The Roots of Chaos: 1] - Samantha Shannon

One for My Enemy - Olivie Blake

Atalanta - Jennifer Saint

The Sun and the Star: A Nico Di Angelo Adventure - Rick Riordan, Mark Oshiro

Untethered Sky - Fonda Lee

Daughter of the Moon Goddess [Celestial Kingdom: 1] - Sue Lynn Tan

A Day of Fallen Night [The Roots of Chaos: 0] - Samantha Shannon

Heart of the Sun Warrior [Celestial Kingdom: 2] - Sue Lynn Tan

Yellowface - R. F. Kuang

Tress of the Emerald Sea - Brandon Sanderson

The Sleepless - Victor Manibo

Kaikeyi - Vaishnavi Patel

Exo [Exo: 1] - Fonda Lee

She Who Became the Sun [The Radiant Emperor: 1] - Shelley Parker-Chan

Rosewater [The Wormwood Trilogy: 1] - Tade Thompson

Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver

Book of Night [Book of Night: 1] - Holly Black

Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Pachinko - Min Jin Lee

The Secret Book of Flora Lea - Patti Callahan Henry

The Only Survivors - Megan Miranda

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn [The Library Trilogy: 1] - Mark Lawrence

Red Rising [Red Rising Saga: 1] - Pierce Brown

Ink Blood Sister Scribe - Emma Törzs

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Clytemnestra - Constanza Casati

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride - Roshani Choksi

Light from Uncommon Stars - Ryka Aoki

Salt Houses - Hala Alyan

The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O’Farrell

The Unbroken [Magic of the Lost: 1] - C. L. Clark

The Shadow of What Was Lost [The Licanius Trilogy: 1] - James Islington

Piranesi - Susanna Clarke

The Last to Vanish - Megan Miranda

All the Dangerous Things - Stacy Willingham

All My Rage - Sabaa Tahir

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin

Gods of Jade and Shadow - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

River Sing Me Home - Eleanor Shearer

The Jasmine Throne [The Burning Kingdoms: 1] - Tasha Suri

Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt

Shrines of Gaiety - Kate Atkinson

Spells for Forgetting - Adrienne Young

Velvet Was the Night - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Hamnet - Maggie O’Farrell

Trust - Hernán Díaz

Dust Child - Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Our Hideous Progeny - C. E. McGill

Golden Son [Red Rising Saga: 2] - Pierce Brown

The Henna Artist [The Jaipur Trilogy: 1] - Alka Joshi

The Art of Prophecy [The War Arts Saga: 1] - Wesley Chu

The Attic Child - Lola Jaye

How High We Go in the Dark - Sequoia Nagamatsu

The Whispers - Ashley Audrain

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur [The Jaipur Trilogy: 2] - Alka Joshi

The Oleander Sword [The Burning Kingdoms: 2] - Tasha Suri

Immortal Longings [Flesh & False Gods: 1] - Chloe Gong

The Sea Elephants - Shastri Akella

Morning Star [Red Rising Saga: 3] - Pierce Brown

Honor - Thrity Umrigar

The First Bright Thing - J. R. Dawson

The Genesis of Misery - Neon Yang

An Echo of Things to Come [The Licanius Trilogy: 2] - James Islington

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? - Crystal Smith Paul

Last Exit - Max Gladstone

Masters of Death - Olivie Blake

The Final Strife [The Ending Fire Trilogy: 1] - Saara El-Arifi

Peach Blossom Spring - Melissa Fu

There There - Tommy Orange

A Master of Djinn [Dead Djinn Universe: 1] - P. Djèlí Clark

The Battle Drum [The Ending Fire Trilogy: 2] - Saara El-Arifi

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England - Brandon Sanderson

The Will of the Many [Hierarchy: 1] - James Islington

Independence - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

The Bone Ships [The Tide Child Trilogy: 1] - RJ Barker

Tread of Angels - Rebecca Roanhorse

City of Last Chances - Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Blacktongue Thief [Blacktongue: 1] - Christopher Buehlman

The Fifth Season [The Broken Earth: 1] - N. K. Jemisin

Forged by Blood [Tainted Blood Duology: 1] - Ehigbor Okosun

Even Though I Knew the End - C. L. Polk

The Bone Shard Daughter [The Drowning Empire: 1] - Andrea Stewart

Empire of Sand [The Books of Ambha: 1] - Tasha Suri

A Memory Called Empire [Teixcalaan: 1] - Arkady Martine

The Way of Kings [The Stormlight Archive: 1] - Brandon Sanderson

He Who Drowned the World [The Radiant Emperor: 2] - Shelley Parker-Chan

Empire of Exiles [Books of the Usurper: 1] - Erin M. Evans

Call of the Bone Ships [The Tide Child Trilogy: 2] - RJ Barker

Ashes of the Sun [Burningblade & Silvereye: 1] - Django Wexler

Summer Sons - Lee Mandelo

The Ninth Rain [The Winnowing Flame Trilogy: 1] - Jen Williams

Foundryside [The Founders Trilogy: 1] - Robert Jackson Bennett

The Surviving Sky [The Rages Trilogy: 1] - Kritika H. Rao

The Light of All That Falls [The Licanius Trilogy: 3] - James Islington

Threads That Bind [Threads That Bind: 1] - Kika Hatzopoulou

The Sword Defiant [Lands of the Firstborn: 1] - Gareth Hanrahan

The City We Became [The Great Cities: 1] - N. K. Jemisin

The Chalice of the Gods [Percy Jackson and the Olympians: 6] - Rick Riordan

The Tiger and the Wolf [Echoes of the Fall: 1] - Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Justice of Kings [Empire of the Wolf: 1] - Richard Swan

The Fragile Threads of Power [Threads of Power: 1] - V. E. Schwab

The Deep Sky - Yume Kitasei

City of Stairs [Divine Cities: 1] - Robert Jackson Bennett

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter - Brandon Sanderson

Words of Radiance [The Stormlight Archive: 2] - Brandon Sanderson

Foul Heart Huntsman [Foul Lady Fortune: 2] - Chloe Gong

The Water Outlaws - S. L. Huang

Under the Udala Trees - Chinelo Okparanta

A Desolation Called Peace [Teixcalaan: 2] - Arkady Martine

The Celebrants - Steven Rowley

Translation State - Ann Leckie

Godkiller [Godkiller: 1] - Hannah Kaner

The Art of Destiny [The Wat Arts Saga: 2] - Wesley Chu

The Mimicking of Known Successes [Mossa & Pleiti: 1] - Malka Older

Shorefall [The Founders Trilogy: 2] - Robert Jackson Bennett

Catfish Rolling - Clara Kumagai

Red Sister [The Book of the Ancestor: 1] - Mark Lawrence

Empire of Silence [The Sun Eater: 1] - Christopher Ruocchio

Sisters of the Lost Nation - Nick Medina

Dead Country [The Craft Wars: 1] - Max Gladstone

The Bone Shard Emperor [The Drowning Empire: 2] - Andrea Stewart

The Bear and the Serpent [Echoes of the Fall: 2] - Adrian Tchaikovsky

Ancillary Justice [Imperial Radch: 1] - Ann Leckie

Six Crimson Cranes [Six Crimson Cranes: 1] - Elizabeth Lim

A River Enchanted [Elements of Cadence: 1] - Rebecca Ross

Realm of Ash [The Books of Ambha: 2] - Tasha Suri

The Obelisk Gate [The Broken Earth: 2] - N. K. Jemisin

The World We Make [The Great Cities: 2] - N. K. Jemisin

The Stardust Thief [The Sandsea Trilogy: 1] - Chelsea Abdullah

All the Missing Girls - Megan Miranda

The Mountains Sing - Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Silver Nitrate - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

None of This Is True - Lisa Jewell

City of Blades [Divine Cities: 2] - Robert Jackson Bennett

The Bone Ship’s Wake [The Tide Child Trilogy: 3] - RJ Barker

Locklands [The Founders Trilogy: 3] - Robert Jackson Bennett

Oathbringer [The Stormlight Archive: 3] - Brandon Sanderson

The Judas Blossom [The Nightingale and the Falcon: 1] - Stephen Aryan

The Faithless [Magic of the Lost: 2] - C. L. Clark

One Word Kill [Impossible Times: 1] - Mark Lawrence

[joytraveler]

Death Master 2 (continued)

The third stage is a gruesome swamp, which seems to be being used for a butcher's larder-- what with all the dead animals hanging from the trees!

"Ohhh that, that Sneaky Pete!!" Bea growls at her mysterious foe. The morbid stage ahead rather distracts her, however. "Maybe we... maybe we just shouldn't do this, we've had enough of this game haven't we??"

Glockroach: Leatherface is gonna be the boss of this HNV: It's this or Box Baby, Bea... make your choice

"Mmmm I sure do love Slaughter Swamp! Yep, just gonna mosey right along ahead there!!"

Of course the decapitated animals fall out of the trees and attack you. Why would they not, right? And bony arms grab at you from out of the swamp... And finally a towering pile of SOMETHING rises up out of the muck, surrounded by swirling will o' wisps!

Llord_Kuruku: ok wut john_brown: wait I thought this was a fantasy hack and slasher why are you fighting the poop emoji???

"THE GREAT MIGHTY POO!" Bea sings at the top of her voice! "Hehgegehehehehgggfff I don't wanna touch it, no!! Long range, gimme the torch, NO!" She has to chase after an annoying little ghost to get the torch to set her weapon ablaze!

Once the stack of brown stuff's gaseous little friends are destroyed, it weakens and collapses, leaving behind some sort of shrine, half sunk in the murk; Alonzo stares at it for a second, and there's another flashback.

"Here we go, nnng.. comfort food.. What's the happiest thing I have.." she reaches to the snack table.. "Yesss, gummy sharks.. Ok I'm ready"

The sunken shrine fades to a newer shrine in a brighter forest, where Alonzo is being led along by a shrine keeper, and shown two mosaics. One shows the Death Master, whom we already know, raising the dead from their graves. The other mosaic shows a different figure – the one who's been following you all along – who seems to be putting live people into graves!

john_brown: i really like the little world mythology this game is building Syrupentine: oh, it's like the Wizard of Oz! This guy's brother is hunting you for killing him and taking his place! His scythe, whatever

"Right, so I must be the Good Death of the North, meaning I have to be enemies with Elphaba now"

aroseahorseboy: now don't get me wrong this game is totally cool and gory and everything but! I feel like they are beating around the bush and not telling us about glem and his mom and dad!

Stage 4 starts with a horrible monster's maw, seeming to form the gateway to this next world. As Bea treks through, though, it becomes clear that it's no metaphor-- the whole next stage takes place inside the body of a vast dead creature!

pigbarrel: hey, its my house!! pull up a maggot and make yourself at home!

Sunlight shines through the many gaping holes in the monster's body, illuminating all the lovely scenes of Alonzo hacking his way through gigantic decomposers and detritovores, and running from collapsing vertebrae and certain things that are partially digested but still alive. The music even seems composed of various squelches and gurgles, to boot. A long, spiraling spinal staircase is the worst part, with a sea of roiling worms rising up after her!

"Hey, my followers! No autographs, please.”

Apparently this monster was a female, because the boss of this stage is a zombie egg, able to 'hatch' seemingly any number of appendages from under its calcified shell! At one point it becomes a pinwheel of wings and legs, and at least four shrieking beaks!

pigbarrel: and there's me, sorry for all the attacking HNV: I wondered if your Facebook picture was accurate, sorry for doubting you SugarGlyda: !!!!! oh its a perfect limb baby!!!

When the egg is finally stilled, Alonzo makes his way out onto a ridge overlooking a valley, that glows menacingly with purple evil. But, once again, we get a flashback; Alonzo and his would-be bride, embracing as they sit on the ridge together, watching as a magnificent, phoenix-like bird soars over the sunset-- in fact it's clearly the very bird whose ruined body you just journeyed through.

"I'm not crying internally, nope not me.. Made o' granite, be I."

TaichouSenseiKun: It's okay Bea let it out john_brown: why is this game so sad though?? HNV: We end up asking that about almost all of them honestly

To be concluded.

[stegrossaurus]

The African Nightmare

The African Nightmare

By Cody

It seems like every small town in America has that one house. In Norman, OK, that place was the old Avery house. It wasn’t particularly rundown or scary, but it was certainly abandoned and it had a chilling story attached.

Depending on who you asked, Mr. Avery was either a mad scientist whose insane experiments had kept him alive for centuries or a dark wizard whose Faustian deals made him extremely wealthy. Either way, he put these skills to work when his wife committed suicide about a decade ago. He spent over a year buying thick sheets of plastic and metal, exotic trees, every piece of machinery in Best Buy, chemicals with ten syllables, livestock, and movies. Countless movies that, even today, the people who believe the rest of this story can’t find a purpose for. 

Naturally, the kids of the time took an interest and began spying on him. They hid in the forest behind his house and quickly learned to climb in the trees to avoid the creatures who ran out of the basement door. The beings were never described in detail, but they always slouched or limped and wheezed heavily over the sounds of Mr. Avery screaming that they were useless and that he didn’t want them. 

Then the big day came. One kid reported that he had resurrected his wife. Although he couldn’t see perfectly from his vantage point, he could tell that Mrs. Avery wasn’t all there. Some parts of her (hands, feet, or even face depending on the teller) were missing. And not like “bloody-stump” missing; “smooth-amputated-may-as-well-of-never-been-there” missing. Mr. Avery didn’t take it well. What the police found days later were a bloody ax, a man with his throat cut, and so many gory chunks you’d never be able to tell what if anything was missing.

The bedroom where the deaths happened has long been scrubbed of any evidence by police. But kids still sneak into the basement to see the shrine he built to his wife and his impressive DVD and VHS collection. And to prove they weren’t chicken.

“It’s no big deal, Colby,” one of my new classmates (Jack or Zack or something) said. “The police don’t bother guarding the place. And I’ve had this for a year without some zombie bride coming after me.” He showed off a small, valuable-looking mirror. It could have been from his grandma’s attic. Or it could have been from the Avery house. “So, you in or what?”

“It’s Cody. And yeah, I’m in.”

I know it’s a little stupid, but as the new kid, I needed to establish some kind of cred if I didn’t want to spend the rest of my time there being picked on. And it couldn’t be that hard if people had been doing it for a decade. Even my new chemistry teacher has an old bronze ring from his own teen adventure in the house.

It wasn’t a school night, so once the streetlamps came on, I went to the old house in front of the dark forest. I’d kind of expected Jack (or Zack) to be here with his friends to goad me on, but they’re not. Probably inside waiting to give me a scare. I went in, anyway, knowing this would be the perfect way to prove myself.

As promised, the house was unguarded and even unlocked. I decided to check out the rest of the house before going to the basement where the others were surely hiding. There wasn’t too much to see, of course. It’s not like Avery killed his reanimated wife in every room. Dust, cobwebs, and the occasional beer bottle were all there was to be found in most rooms. 

I hesitated when I came to the master bedroom, the one with a forest-facing window. I creaked open the door, expecting the kids from school or something worse to jump out at me. Nothing did. There were gouges in the floor and stains on the walls, but nothing more.

I made my way down to the basement. More dust, darkness, and silence awaited me, but no asshole classmates. I was a little let down that I wouldn’t be able to show off how hard to scare I was, but I just decided to grab something and go before something… well I just wanted out of there.

The shrine was easy to find, but also disappointing. The only thing still on the small wooden shelf was a framed picture of Mrs. Avery. I suppose I could have taken it, but it was too big and cumbersome to take to school and show everyone. Also it just felt… weird to take something quite that personal. The only other things of note in the basement were the shelves of movies, a square sheet of hard plastic on the opposing wall, and some sconces on either end of the shrine. The movies would make a good second option, but I decided to try to pry off one of the antique sconces first.

I gave one of them a hard yank and fell on my ass as the sconce immediately gave. It sunk outward on a hinge with a thick clunking sound as a door on the wall, directly opposite of the plastic square, ground open noisily.

“A secret passageway. Of course.” 

I gaped at the cobweb-choked space behind the wall. I yelped a bit as rats surged out of the little room, but any embarrassment was lost when I saw what else was there. Under the webs was a large machine. A grabbed a broom from the corner and brushed aside the webs to reveal a VHS player attached to the front of the device. More dusting revealed a DVD player, CD-ROM drive, scanner, touchscreens, and an old fashioned projector reel. The top was mostly flat, dark wood, carved with symbols I couldn’t make out and wouldn’t understand and studded with black candles wicked and girdled with silver cord. 

Taking the large thing was out of the question and even taking a candle wouldn’t prove anything since no one else had seen the machine before. But I could still tell the others. I couldn’t wait to see their faces. 

I dusted off a bit more when I heard a click next to the projector reel. I didn’t notice until it started spinning, but the reel was occupied. 

I squinted and read, “‘The African Nightmare’?” The movie’s age was showing. “No way that name would fly today.” 

I got out my phone to see if I could look it up but I was distracted by the machine lighting up. The largest touchscreen and a bright strobe I hadn’t seen before flickered to life. I instinctively reached up to wipe off the strobe, but the dust and webbing sloughed off of it like dead skin, letting the light fall perfectly on the plastic sheet. My nerves jittered as I turned my attention to the screen. I deftly removed enough webbing to see the words “African Nightmare” and “Resume Project?” before a large spider popped up next to my hand. I jerked away and grazed the green “Yes” button, setting the machine churning to work.

I backed away from the machine as its insides growled and roared and slammed into each other. Smoke and spiders plumed out of the vents as they glowed with light too red to be normal fire. The same unreal fire exploded to life on the candles, turning black wax red and silver cord gold. The plastic square didn’t display any movie, it just glowed a bright white.

When a thick, sharp hand emerged from the bottom and scraped the floor, I ran.

Mack (I think that’s his name) and his friends were merciful when I didn’t have a souvenir on Monday. Mostly. 

“Don’t sweat it, kid. You can always try again tomorrow night.” he said smugly. 

I hadn’t told them about what I’d seen or that I’d even gone in the house. And I had no intention of doing so again. After what I’d seen, I just wanted to forget. I could handle being called a chicken as long as I never had to go back. Mack pulled out that stupid mirror and fiddled with it. 

“You don’t have to go in the scary, scary basement, you know. I found this in...the...”

He trailed off as he stared into the mirror. At first, I thought he’d noticed that piece of broccoli in his teeth, but then I looked behind him. Into the main hall where something waited just outside the glass doors of the main entrance.

It was a monkey. A baboon, I think, but almost the size of a car. It quickly figured out how to open the doors and did so with thick, sharp, almost metallic black hands that clicked against glass and linoleum. Four of them. It sniffed the air with two heads, both with blood-red faces that showed off their many glittering eyes. Their segmented black tail was as long and thick as a lamppost and was accompanied by a secondary set of chitinous legs emerging from their haunches. It looked terrifying but also confused. It didn’t attack or anything it just sat down.

Then the principal showed up.

“Very funny! Who made this thing and how do--” That’s as far as he got before the creature decided it didn’t like being yelled at. Half of him flew into another faculty member and the other went through a window.

If it didn’t like his screaming, the beast must have really hated the cacophony that came next. I didn’t stick around to see what happened. I just raced for the exit, fighting through all the others going the same direction...then going the opposite when another two-headed spider monkey smashed through the door. 

I don’t know how I got home, but I needn’t have hurried. The African Nightmares had an impressive number by the time I burst through the front door. They were fast and strong and definitely carnivorous and their dual heads bristled with poisonous mandibles. People tried to drive away the second they saw them jumping across rooftops and reaching into windows. But monkeys are clever and spiders are patient. They laid their webs on the roads in and out of town and when cars stuck to the asphalt and crashed into each other, they feasted. That my parents and I were alive was a miracle and not one that would last. Our neighbors’ screams reminded me of that.

And it was all my fault.

 In a few days, they numbered close to the hundreds and it wasn’t going to stop. Unless I stopped it. They slept at night, so when the sun set on the third day, I got dressed, packed my supplies, kissed my sleeping parents goodbye, and left the basement we were quarantined in. I moved as quietly as I could, stuck to every shadow, and froze and prayed whenever I heard hooting or screaming. 

In a few minutes, I was watching the Avery house as another African Nightmare scampered out of the basement door and into the forest. I hid and waited a bit longer until I was certain that it took a few minutes for the machine to create. Then, after the last Nightmare had disappeared into the trees, I charged.

Thank God I hadn’t closed the door when I left the first time, otherwise the Nightmares would have ripped it off its hinges. I slammed the door and immediately turned off the machine. Then I ripped the film reel out and stomped it to pieces. No more African Nightmares. But that wasn’t enough.

With a deep breath, I turned the machine back on and booted up the scanner. I fed it the cover of the Salem Man comic I’d brought. Salem Man is my favorite superhero and fighting monsters is his whole thing. He could take care of this in a heartbeat.

The touch screen displayed the image of Salem Man standing in a fighting position with red and black hex energy crackling in his hand under the words “Project 54” and “Not Enough Data. Please Input More”. I’d thought something like this would happen so I came prepared. 

I unloaded and scanned every Salem Man comic I’d brought, which was about 40 of them. I scanned images of him standing, sitting, running, flying, swimming, punching, kicking, transforming, spellcasting, and more. Images of him in costume and in his civilian identity, Corey Stones. Images of him conjuring and using his Beelzebuss gun and even that weird flying cauldron he traveled in for the first few issues. And, of course, images of him killing monsters. Over a hundred images and eventually the machine was able to extrapolate some of its own data to fill in the blanks. Finally, when I was ready to hit Enter, I was feeling confident.

Progress: 0% Estimated Time to Completion: 30 Minutes.

Well, shit.

As I waited, I fidgeted at any noise I heard over the humming of the machine. If they burst in, I was dead and they might destroy the machine, too. After a few minutes, though, I began to relax as much as was possible in that situation. I chanced a look at the screen. Project 53, the one right before mine, was the picture of Mrs. Avery. She was standing in a wedding dress with her hands behind her back and a smile on her face. It was the only image.

I wondered how desperate and impatient Mr. Avery must have been to not use any other images and what it must have been like for that poor creature. Her legs weren’t in the picture, so it wouldn’t have had them. Did it ooze around like an amoeba with its dress-like pseudopod? Did it try to touch Mr. Avery’s face with its handless nubs and scream through a face only designed for smiling? And what about the creatures chased into the woods to die alone?

I swiped to the project before it. The African Nightmare. Bile rose in my throat as I looked at those images. There were dozens of screenshots of those fucking monkeys. I wanted to swipe away, but I noticed something. I enlarged an image. The creature in it was a large, two-headed baboon, but there were no spider elements at all. No mandibles or extra limbs or anything. I looked at more images and even watched some of the film in the video box at the end of the list. Not only were they in no way spidery, but they weren’t even aggressive. The evil witch doctor was the African Nightmare and the monkeys were the benevolent jungle spirits or something. 

I tried to figure out what this meant when the machine started to churn. It was ready to create. The candles, still not melted down, changed colors and flared as the vent heated. A spider that had crawled back in during the lull quickly vacated.

Wait. A spider? 

Oh God.

A decade’s worth of spiders in the machine. That’s what altered the baboons. And now…

I turned off the switch, but it was too late. Two feet thudded against the basement floor. Without the strobe it was too dark to see the 6 ft. figure clearly, but I could tell it had more than two arms. The sharp fingers on the end of one of them snapped and a light turned on.

Three sets of muscular arms with varying amounts of needle-like hairs or armor-like chitin. Large, spade-shaped feet that pierced the buckled leather shoes. His pilgrim hat, cape, and form-fitting black doublet had web-shaped designs woven into them and the white ruff around his neck branched into furry mandibles. His face wasn’t covered by the loose black mask he wore in the comics. I could see every one of his red and black eyes and grinning white fangs.

I started to realize that I hadn’t included many images of him saving lives; just fighting and killing.

Salem Man observed his new body with amusement, letting hellfire and ghastly water flow between his many hands. Then he looked at me. 

“Run along home now, Cody,” he rasped through that pants-soiling smile. “You won’t want to see what comes next.” His catchphrase; that was a good sign, right? A sign that he was still a hero? The spiders hadn’t affected him like they had the monkeys. But then he added, “And don’t touch the machine, please. I have plans for it.”

His gaze turned to my comics. 

When he flew out the door and sounds of destruction began to echo, I told myself, “The spiders just made him a little overaggressive. He’s still a superhero.”

I had to tell myself that. 

Otherwise, I’d made everything much, much worse.

[yandere-daydreams]

Imagine being forced to marry a ghost. You were chosen even though you had zero interactions with the person. The next thing you know you are in a wedding outfit and in front of a corpse. The family of the deceased assured the darling that they won’t have to do anything to the body. Just keep it in the guest room while you stay in the master bedroom. Then why did they forced you to wear something for a honeymoon night? Why do you feel something cold against your body when you’re alone?

tw - dubcon marriage, imprisonment, manipulation, implied gaslighting, generalized monster-fucking.

I mean, it's not quite as morbid as it sounds. They say it's a custom, a tradition, a last, last, last resort to make sure the spirit of their dear, deceased loved one doesn't wander the world, alone and lost, until their spirit fades away completely. They pay for your clothes and the catering, and they don't ask you to do much - just come on time, enjoy the festivities, stand where they tell you to and try not to look at the open casket next to the alter, a white sheet (thankfully) covering anything that might make you think better of saying 'I do'. It's not that bad, and by tears in everyone's eyes, the looks of relief, the quiet, half-choke 'thank you's you get after the ceremony, it does seem like you're really helping them. You feel like you're really helping them.

Then, there's the honeymoon. It's more of a vacation, more than anything, your willingness to go through with something so unorthodox rewarded with a few weeks spent by yourself in one of the family's 'shrine', just off the outskirts of your small town. There's electricity and running water and enough food to last you for months, not that you think you could stand the plain stone walls and confusing, isolating layout for so long. They've asked you to avoid going out, to stick to the main floor, to wear the clothes they left for you, all white and loose-fitting and softened, but there aren't any cameras, and there's no one around to make sure you actually do. You can leave whenever you want to, wear whatever you want to, even if you do feel a little guilty, even if it does feel like someone's watching you, sometimes, every now and then, when you wake up in the middle of the night or spend a little too much time in front of one of the doors you're not supposed to open. Even if you can swear you hear footsteps in the cellar, regardless of how many times you've checked to make sure you really are alone.

Even if you feel something in your bed, next to you, cold breath on the side of your neck, your mattress dipping under the weight of something that might've been human, once. There are claws, occasionally, talons that pull at your hair and scrap over your thighs, and fangs, brushing against the corner of your jaw, ghosting over your skin as that deep, gentle voice asks why you're not wearing what they asked you to, why you keep trying to get away from them, why their lovely, lovely bride won't sit still and play their part. They've never hurt you, or touched you, or done anything beyond linger at your side and run their calloused fingertips over your skin, but it's not like they have to, not when they're so much bigger than you, not when their eyes are so bright. It's not like they really have a reason to try and bring you closer, to drag you towards them against your will. It's not like they really have to.

Not when you've already given yourself away so beautifully.

[liviatranslates]

Kakuriyo (Vol. 1): Chapter 2: The Ōnigami Master Innkeeper

T/N: please note that any numbers written as (#) will indicate a footnote that will be founded at the bottom of the chapter. Thank you.

RIP my footnotes for this chapter.

Title: Chapter 2: The Ōnigami Master Innkeeper

Previous Chapter: Chapter 1

“Aoi, don’t let the ayakashi get to you. You are especially susceptible to being kidnapped by them.”

“Aoi(1) is easy to kidnap?”

My grandfather, with a serious face, took my hand and warned me, “That’s right. People who can see ayakashi are easy targets for them. Those who can see are easily eaten and used. They are easily liked and easily hated. Easily loved and easily hated. In short, those like you are objects of tremendous interest.”

But when I was young, I had no idea what he meant.

“I don’t want to be eaten! I like to eat! And Aoi doesn’t want to leave grandpa!”

“Yes, that’s right. Even grandpa doesn’t want to leave you and he doesn’t want you to be taken away from him…. Aoi, be careful, especially with ōni.”

“Ōni?  Aoi has never seen an ōni.”

“They look almost like people, so it may be hard to tell.”

“Are they a person?”

“No! They are not people – incompatible with humans,” he denied, shaking his head strongly.

“Diabolic, cold-hearted. They want to get what they want at any cost, and won’t be satisfied unless they get their way. So, Aoi… don’t let the ōni get to you.”

My grandfather always, always told me to be careful of ōni.

The ōni have….(2)

The sensation of falling ended with a thud.

“Ouch!”

I let out a yelp when I landed hard on my lower back. I fell down in a heap on the spot. When I opened my eyes, I saw a ceiling that I did not recognize. It was painted with horrifying and yet glittering pictures of dancing ayakashi. It made me feel nervous inside.

I was somehow in a very strange hall. I didn’t know why. It was so very cold. I began to notice that my body was terribly wet from my journey through the darkness.

“Aoi,” a low, calm and disgustingly clear voice called.

I looked into the face of an ayakashi wearing an ōni mask. It was the same ayakashi I had met at the shrine and had given the bento box to.

“You’re the masked ayakashi from this morning! What is this,” I screamed in surprise as I sat up, clutching my waist.

I glanced around, scanning the room with just my eyes. It was a tatami room, dimly lit, and had a strange air about it. However, I could tell that it was a gorgeous and luxurious space. I began to realize that the deformed figures sitting quietly on the sides of the room, like figurines, were all ayakashi. They all wore kimonos and different masks. I couldn’t see their expressions, but I could tell they were watching me closely. Their gazes felt like murderous knives against my skin.

It felt like some indescribable force made me its prey. A dismal, disgusting feeling quietly overcame me.

I was surrounded by ayakashi. My blood ran cold. It didn’t matter that I was used to seeing ayakashi, it had never been like this before. I didn’t know this place and there wasn’t anyone on my side. I felt the chill of fear crawling up my spine.

I regained my composure and once again turned my attention to the ayakashi in the ōni mask. This ayakashi was the only one I thought I could talk to.

“What—?”

He suddenly bent down in front of me and slowly removed the mask. My eyes widened. His true face was the same face of the man from my grandfather’s black and white photograph. A pale face without a human-like flaw. Sharp, cool eyes. Dark hair and breathtakingly cold features.

His slitted eyes narrowed and filled with a gracious smile. As the initial shock wore off, I realized that he had a pair of sharply pointed horns and his eyes were red.

He wasn’t human. I knew. This… this was an ōni.

“How are you feeling, my bride?”

“Huh? Wha–?”

At the ōni’s words, I scurried to check both sides of me, but there was no one else.

“I’m asking you how you’re feeling, my bride.”

“Are… are you asking me that?”

“That’s right. Aoi, you are. You are my bride.”

“... Honestly, I don’t know what you mean, plus, it doesn’t make me feel good,” I answer straightly.

The ōni in front of me just nodded with a putrid smile on his face. Bride? What is he saying….

As beautiful as he was, it was still an ōni that grandfather told me to be vigilant against. So suspicious.

I was freezing and it was getting worse.

Oh… I was soaking wet. My dress was transparent and clung to my body. My stockings were ripped. My hair clung to my face and I had no doubt my makeup was ruined – running all over my face.

Normally, I’d be embarrassed. But right then I couldn’t afford the luxury of worrying about it. Perhaps it was because of the mysterious situation, but I felt no shame. For some reason, even just for a moment, I felt like I was on the brink of waking up from this nightmare….

“Master, with all due respect, would it not be better if it wasn’t a human girl,” asked an ayakashi with a hyottoko(3) mask with disgust to the black-haired ōni. The azuki bean(4) colored hair that peeked out from behind the mask drove home that he wasn’t human.

“She is not worthy of you, Master. Such a dirty little girl,” with those words, the ayakashi, who had been still like figurines, all began whispering amongst themselves at once. I could hear everything they were muttering about me:

“How very true.”

“His granddaughter….”

“Ugly.”

“No good.”

“Poor.”

And so on and everything in between while hiding behind their masks and fans. Such terrible things to say….

But it didn’t matter. The need to somehow get away from this place was at the forefront of my mind. This was an ayakashi den. My usual nerves against ayakashi were nothing compared to that moment. These ayakashi were no weaklings. Even I, as a human, could tell just from looking at them.

They looked like they’d eat me up in an instant if I gave them the slightest chance.

Have to run away. Have to run away.

I could see the porch through the closed shoji(5). I found my moment and said to myself, “Now!”

I ran, trying to escape like a rabbit from a snare.

“Oh, that little girl!”

I heard the thundering sound of several ayakashi getting up at the same time. I only caught a quick glimpse of the ōni raising his arms to control the other ayakashi out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t hesitate to push through the gap of the shoji screen to get out onto the porch.

There wasn’t a shadow of a railing, so I assumed it was an unenclosed porch. Normally, you’d just be able to step off that edge and be fine. That was what I assumed anyways.

That expectation was readily betrayed.

I was startled by the strange scene before me. I stared at the scene just below my feet as I just barely stopped in time. “Huh!?”

It was a world I had never seen before. The wooden porch where I stood was far above the ground. It was the top floor of the building and the ground was so far down. Rows and rows of eaves were lit by lanterns as far as the eye could see. It wasn’t Japan that was for sure. The main street below was busy. And even from where I stood, I could tell that the people coming and going were ayakashi.

Flags and red lanterns were hung everywhere with “Ōni Gate” written all over them. The buildings were not modern buildings nor apartments, but were rather like old Japanese warehouses, or like the traditional old townscapes found in Kyoto. The unlacquered buildings to my right reminded me of ancient China. Further in the distance, there was a large temple with a number of tall buildings that resembled five-story pagodas.

While they all resembled something from the real world, there was something off about all of them. They were unstable, misshapen, and almost familiar. The streets were like a labyrinth, existing in complex forms. There was certainly an air that I had never felt before. This world was very, very crowded.

“....”

I stared, unable to blink. I spotted a Japanese-style boat in the sky passing overhead. But it wasn’t nearly as surprising as it could have been, all things considering.

I don’t know. I don’t know this world.

The very word “otherworld”(6) popped into my mind.

A cold wind roared up from below, ruffling my hair. It made my legs weak and fell down into a heap on the spot.

“Where on earth is this…?”

“This is Kakuriyo, Aoi,” whispered the black-haired ōni as he pulled back my arm, asking my question.

“... Kakuriyo….”

I’d heard that name somewhere before.

“It’s dangerous. Let’s go inside.”

“What’s Kakuriyo,” I asked, still staring into the night of this strange, new world.

I didn’t understand. Why was I in such a place?

Despite my own confusion, the black-haired ōni calmly answered, “Kakuriyo is where ayakashi live. The world of humans is called Utsushiyo(7). Kakuriyo and Utsushiyo are two sides of the same coin and are connected in various places. Some are similar, some are completely different…. And this is Tenjin-ya, an inn for ayakashi in Kakuriyo.”

“Tenjin-ya….”

Finally, it hit me. I recognized the name from the black and white photo that I found when I was cleaning out my grandfather’s belongings. He was in front of this inn, taking a picture of himself with the ayakashi.

I slowly turned around and looked up at the dark-haired ‘man’ in front of me. I knew he had horns on his head. I knew he wasn’t human by any means, and looking up into those cold red eyes, I was horrified. A chill ran through my body.

“What are you?”

“I am the Master Innkeeper of Tenjin-ya. Most simply call me Master. I’m also known as ‘Ōnigami’(8).

“... Are you really an ōni?”

“If I may be so bold, I am also the ōni who will be your husband.”

The male ōni in front of me looked at me with amusement. I shook my head repeatedly, wanting to deny it.

“A husband? How can an ōni be a husband to a human?”

“Yes, I am an ōni, but I did make a promise to Shirou, so there is nothing I can do about it.”

Shirou…. At the mention of my grandfather’s name, I froze. Oh, no, I thought. Just because my grandfather was involved, I knew that anything was possible, no matter how unreasonable or unintelligible.

“I’ll explain it to you. Aoi, your grandfather is certainly Shirou.”

“Unfortunately, you’re not wrong.”

When I replied, the ayakashi present seemed flabbergasted. The ōni, too, smiled (almost in a grimace), squinting his eyes.

“I’ve known Shirou for a long time as well. We have a lot of history.”

“History…?”

“Yes. Shirou was a unique person who could come and go as he pleased between Kakuriyo and Utsushiyo. He was a man with a very strong spiritual power, and he was a free man who liked to do as he pleased. One day, he showed up at Tenjin-ya on a whim and for three days and three nights, he ate and drank as much as he liked, indulging in all manner of extravagance. He accumulated so much debt that he couldn’t even pay. But in the end, he still tried to escape.”

“....”

I was convinced, unfortunately; the story was not impossible. I turned pale. Oh, grandpa, what an idiotic thing to do to an ayakashi….

“But this is also a business. I caught Shirou and asked him if he wanted to pay me back, work here for the rest of his life, or be eaten by me? He shook his head and said to me, ‘What do you think?’”

He tugged on my arm, bringing me in closer. I shook my head. I didn’t want to think about it.

“‘I can’t stay in one place because I love my freedom. I can’t be eaten. I have no money…. Oh, yes, if I can’t pay my debts before I die, I will give you, Ōnigami, my granddaughter as your wife.’ That’s what he said. It’s outrageous, isn’t it? He was an incredible man, Shirou. He really was a vile son of a bitch, even compared to ayakashi.”

“....”

“In short, Aoi, you’re his collateral,” he mercilessly concludes.

I started to feel dizzy. However, I took a moment to compose myself.

“Are you sure it’s me? Couldn’t it be a mistake? You know, Grandpa has so many granddaughters that it’s a bit of a surprise that it’s me.”

“Oh, yes, of course I am. Because you are the only granddaughter of Shirou who can see ayakashi. If you were not able to see ayakashi, you would not be able to visit Kakuriyo in the first place,” he said in a very matter of fact way.

As much as it irked me, I found his words strangely persuasive.

“I’m going to make it clear once again, Aoi. You and I have a marriage contract. The time has come, you must marry me.”

“... Marry….”

The ōni glanced over to a smaller spirit, a koshō(9) perhaps, who was standing off to the side. The koshō took out a piece of paper and presented it to me.

“This is the pledge. It is binding until the promise has been fulfilled.”

On the fine piece of paper, it was written:

I, Tsubaki Shirou, am in debt to the Master Innkeeper of Tenjin-ya. If I cannot repay my debt, I will give my granddaughter, who has the highest spiritual energy, to the Master Innkeeper as a wife. I swear to you.

— Tsubaki Shirou

It was an honest and pathetic letter. And the writing was definitely my grandfather’s. At the bottom of it was my grandfather’s thumbprint, solidifying the pledge. I knew I couldn’t escape.

I thought about what marriage was: It was when two people decide to become husband and wife, to become a family.

But with someone you’ve never met before? Impossible.

No, never mind never having met him before, he was an ayakashi, not a human. And he’s the ōni that grandpa told me to be most careful of.

My head hurt. I couldn’t stop shaking. Was it from fear, or from still being cold and wet, I didn’t know. Perhaps it was my anger at my grandfather.

Grandpa… Grandpa… how could you do something so stupid….?

I felt an unspeakable dismay and despair that my grandfather, whom I loved so much, had so easily used his own granddaughter as collateral. My thoughts and emotions were going around and around inside me.

The ōni saw me trembling in anguish and he put his sleeve over his mouth to hold back his laughter. Ugh, as expected of an ōni. Ōni…. A damn ōni. I was sure that he was amused by my misery.

The ōni once again pulled me up by my arm, forcing me to stand. He then took me back to the room where the rest of the ayakashi remained. His nails bit into my skin slightly, leaving a small tingle of pain. For some reason, I felt a twinge.

“Come now, let’s get ready for the wedding preparations. You shouldn’t be dressed like that. We’ll have you take a hot bath and a change of clothes.”

“No!” I refused. The ayakashi around me started to stir again. But I had to refuse.

“I will never be an ōni bride!”

“... Never?”

“Absolutely never!”

“....”

He didn’t say anything, as if he was waiting for me to say more. He looked down, mouth tight as he listened – I was relentless.

“I don’t care about the debt, I don’t consent to it! Now, please, return me to my original world.”

“No, I can’t do that.”

The ōni looked at me and sighed. He lowered his voice and said, “This is Kakuriyo. To open the entrance between worlds, you have to pay the toll. How can you pay the toll when you’re deep in your grandfather’s debt?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You brought me here, didn’t you? Then you should at least pay the toll for me to go back to my world! This is kidnapping!”

I shook off his hand that held me and roughly jabbed my finger at him. I said it. I said it.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw an ayakashi shaking in rage, muttering, “How dare you!”

“You fool! You’re just a filthy little human girl who can’t even repay her grandfather’s huge debt! You’re so naive to think you’re in the Master’s good graces! Even the mere mention of you being Shirou’s granddaughter is unforgivable!”

The man with azuki-colored hair and the hyottoko mask, who had been criticizing me for some time, came rushing towards me, shouting, “We will eat you down to the bone!”

“Manager!”

The crowd cried, “Do it!”

Something white and thread-like surrounded me suddenly. My legs were entangled in the sticky white thread, pulled together until I found myself landing once again on the ground, letting out a yelp. Oh, how my bottom hurt.

No, it wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things. This ayakashi was a tsuchigumo(10). If you get caught in its web, it will eat you down to the marrow.

However, the ayakashi was subdued when the ōni said, “Wait, Tsuchigumo. Don’t be so careless.”

“Master is too lenient! Let me hurt this little girl, she will listen to you!”

The ōni nodded in agreement for some reason, listening to what the ayakashi in the hyottoko mask had to say. What was he agreeing to? The ōni had an unnerving, devilish smile on his face. “Are the three Noppera-bō(11) sisters here?”

The ōni snapped his fingers and the sliding door on the side opened. Three female, middle aged Noppera-bō stood there, neatly waiting. The ōni gave them the instructions, “I think I’ll let my bride-to-be have a taste of her own medicine. Prepare the ‘Punishment of Hell’ course.”

“Huh?”

“Now, take her away. Don’t stop, even if she hates it.”

While stunned, the Noppera-bō maids carried me out of the room without any difficulty. Huh? What?

I never thought I’d be punished. Was it like corporal punishment? They were going to hurt me? Is this the end? If that’s the case, it would have been better to have been eaten and only in pain just for a moment.

“This is the hot water torture,” said the smallest of the Noppera-bō maids in a gracious voice, despite the fact that she had no mouth. She wore an apron that read, ‘Matsu(12).’

Before I knew it, I had been stripped of clothes and I found myself being soaked in sparkling, red, warm water. Honestly, it felt wonderful. Its warmth seeped into my freezing body.

“This is the skinning torture,” said the Noppera-bō maid wearing an apron that said ‘Take’ as she began to scrub down my body. They didn’t let me do anything. After scrubbing my skin, they massaged some sort of lotion into my skin. My skin was so shiny and plump.

“This is the binding torture,” said the largest maid who wore an apron with ‘Ume’ on it as she dressed me in a light indigo yukata and tied a yellow obi around me. It was beautiful with a rindou pattern (a geometric six-point star in overlapping hexagons), but when the obi was fastened, I felt overwhelmed with melancholy.

“This is the final torture.”

The three Noppera-bō sisters, Matsu, Take, and Ume, each gave me a makeover. Matsu dried my hair. My black hair became smoother and shinier. She even massaged my shoulders. Take put makeup on me, powdering my face and painting my lips with a vibrant rouge. Ume took my hands and painted my nails. She also massaged cream into my hands, helping with the roughness that had developed from all the cooking I had done.

“The ‘Punishment of Hell’ is complete.”

“Huh? No, this wasn’t a punishment, wasn’t it? This was a luxurious hot springs experience at the inn.”

“But it’s a punishment, right?”

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

When I tried to get any answers, the three of them would just shrug their shoulders, dodging my questions. It didn’t help that they were expressionless and I couldn’t figure out what they were feeling.

“The Master is waiting for you.”

Then they took me somewhere else.

“Don’t marry such a pathetic and lowly human, Master! If a human becomes the Mistress, us employees will not be happy and it will become a source of strife for Tenjin-ya. Our inn stands at the foot of the Ōni Gate. Tenjin-ya’s struggles will become Kakuriyo’s struggles!”

“Even if I marry her, I won’t make her Mistress right away.”

“Then she is even more useless!”

I heard all this from the other side of the paper sliding door as the Noppera-bō sisters escorted me. From the sound of the voice, it was the tsuchigumo from earlier who was making an enemy out of me.

“I’m sorry for being so useless.”

The sliding door opened with a slight rattle as I opened it. Behind the sliding door were three ayakashi. One was the ōni, ‘Master,’ the other was the tsuchigumo with the hyottoko mask. The final one was an ayakashi wearing a white fox mask, who was nowhere to be seen earlier. The three of them froze as they stared at us, perhaps they hadn’t noticed us coming in.

“What sort of punishment was that? That was just using the ōnsen, it warmed me up and made me feel better,” I muttered to myself, now that I had a chance to warm up and calm down my nerves, as I made my way over to the ōni.

“Well, well, Aoi? My bride looks lovely in our yukata. You look radiant.”

“Thanks to you. It’s a nice place to stay and the service is wonderful.”

“Have you learned your lesson?”

“You expect that to convince me to be your bride?”

“If you were to become my bride, you’d get unlimited access to those services here at the inn.”

“I’m not playing this game with you. Just send me home.”

The tsuchigumo shouted at me, “Shut up and be quiet!”

I glared back at the tsuchigumo, I knew it would have been better for me to keep quiet, but I continued, “It’s natural! I’m only 20 years old, still a college student. I’ve never thought of marriage. Let alone to an ayakashi – I’m not going to be made a fool of!”

“Calm down, calm down. Settle down.”

“Tch…”

The ōni admonished me as if I were a child. I felt a chill at his tone. He was completely cold towards me. An ayakashi indeed.

“We’ll use the back room so we can speak privately.”

Perhaps unable to see the anguished expression on my face, the ōni slid open the door with a plum blossom motif, located at the end of the hall. It seemed to lead to a hidden room.

“Can I get you anything,” asked the ayakashi with the bushy tail and white fox mask.

Perhaps he was a kitsune(13)? I couldn’t help but stare at him.

“Prepare a bed for her in the Camellia Room. My bride must be tired.”

“As you wish.”

The fox-masked ayakashi quickly left. The tsuchigumo with the hyottoko mask stared at me. It felt as if he wanted to say something to me.

I looked into the hidden room. It was a small room with a tea kettle on a hearth in the center. The ōni sat down beside it and beckoned me as I stood idly by the sliding door.

“Come. Sit wherever you’d like, my bride.”

I finally entered the small tatami room and sat down, wary. The moment I sat down, the sliding door to the room was slammed shut and I heard the tsuchigumo make a noise of disapproval.

“Would you like some tea, my bride?”

The ōni mixed the contents of the tea kettle with a ladle and continued to prepare it before filling a cup and handing it to me. I took it and drank the matcha tea without much care. The tea was thick, but it was refreshing and had a nice aftertaste.

“Now that we’re settled, you want to ask me something, don’t you? I’m sure you’d feel intimidated in a place with so many of my employees.”

I clutched the teacup in my lap and asked him, point blank, “How… How much does Grandpa owe you?”

He let out a small growl, then stroked his chin, replying, “In Utsushiyo, it comes out to roughly, 100,000,000 yen(14).”

“One hundr— hahhhhhhhh…”

I started to feel dizzy again. Not even the tuition money grandfather had saved for me would be enough. Did he really intend for me to marry an ōni as collateral for his debt? If so, why was he saving up money for my education? It didn’t make sense, it was so contradictory.  I wanted to yell at my grandfather and ask him why. But that was no longer possible.

“I know it’s not your fault, but you do have to clean up Shirou’s mess. It’s not because he isn’t an ayakashi. Even in your world, you have to pay back the money you borrowed. I understand it’s quite common for daughters and granddaughters to sell themselves, isn’t it?”

“This is kind of starting to piss me off.”

“I suppose so.”

The ōni smiled cruelly, dropping his gaze as he held up his sleeve, mixing the water in the tea kettle.

I felt a rage start to bubble up in me. Why? I wasn’t sure. Was it the fact that my grandfather took the liberty of trying to make me collateral and an ōni bride? Was it that fact that despite this, I still loved my grandfather? Or was the source of my anger, this aloof, unreadable ōni?

“Do you really not want to be my wife so badly?”

“If anyone wanted to become the wife of an ōni that they just met, I’d think they were crazy.”

“....”

His eye twitched at my words and he looked up slightly at me. “I see….”

For a moment he seemed almost sad as he turned his gaze to the hot water in the tea kettle, mixing it absentmindedly.

It was strange. Why would such a powerful ōni want me as his wife?

“Do you want me to be your bride so badly?”

When I asked, he responded “Of course,” nodding with a dignity that came with age, despite his beautiful, youthful appearance.

“Why? It’s strange. You’re the owner of such a fine inn, aren’t you? You must have many to choose from to be your wife. Besides, the other ayakashi just now were so angry with you. They hate humans very much.”

“No, in fact, having a human bride raises an ayakashi’s status. You must have read the fairy tales about ayakashi spiriting away human girls and taking them as wives.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s right. However, as Kakuriyo tries to coexist with Utsushiyo, it has become legally difficult for ayakashi to spirit away girls and marry them as they please. To do so carelessly would bring conflict. It’s not something that’s common anymore. Unless of course you make a promise of marriage, like your grandfather did.”

Thoughts and questions filled my head, listening to him. I asked, “Are there laws for ayakashi?”

“That there are. We live by these rules. The Laws of Kakuriyo.”

He rummaged in his sleeve for a smoking pipe and then lit it with a green ōni flame. He puffed it once as he stared intently at me.

“You are also Shirou’s granddaughter. That alone makes you valuable to the ayakashi. Shirou was a sort of celebrity here in Kakuriyo.”

“That… makes me valuable?”

“You’ll find out eventually.”

He chuckled then added, “And we find human girls with high spiritual power to be very delicious. They’re precious because they are delicious. If they are precious, we cannot devour them. We come to hate them because we cannot bring ourselves to eat them. Yet, still, we can’t help but want to eat them because they are delicious. It’s a cycle of living hell. But there are those who say that it is the greatest pleasure. That is why loving a human is restricted.”

“What? That doesn’t make any sense. It’s such a contradiction.”

“No, there is no contradiction. Ayakashi get bored easily, so human girls are a source of great interest.”

Looking back on it, it did sound like something my grandfather once said.

As if an idea came to him, he asked, “Oh, would you like a sweet,” as he rummaged around in the cabinet behind him and took out something. It was a box full of sugar candy in the shape of cherry blossoms.

I couldn’t deny that I was hungry, so I picked one up and ate without hesitation. It wasn’t necessarily filling. The confection wasn’t too rich, but had a soothing flavor to it. I nibbled on it in silence. What was I going to do now….

I started to feel disappointed and angry with grandfather again. I loved him so much, yet I couldn’t help but feel this anger.

What should I do?

After a moment of hesitation, I turned my attention back to the ōni. I looked into his sharp, red eyes and asked, “Hey, can’t I just pay off my grandpa’s debt?”

“... What do you mean?”

“It means that if I pay off my grandfather’s debt, I don’t have to marry you.”

As soon as those words left my mouth, I could feel the atmosphere change. His expression became much more serious and calculating as he eyed me. “How do you propose to pay back this enormous debt?”

“Obviously, I’m going to work to earn money. Your employees clearly don’t want me marrying you. Perhaps, you should reconsider your stance on this as well.”

“....”

“It would be bad for both you and me if an ayakashi ends up eating me just because my presence provoked their wrath.”

I couldn’t help but gulp. His previously welcoming demeanor was replaced by a sort of cold animosity. A silence hung in the air.

I knew it. What was the saying? Anyone can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in their error(15).

But this was the only way to do what was right.

“I see, I see…. Are you trying to play games with me, little girl?”

He tapped a little bit of the ash from his pipe into the hearth. That was the first time he called me a little girl. He rose from his knees and looked a little off-base and ill-mannered. I couldn’t figure out that tingling, murderous feeling coming over me.

“Very well then. But I am sure that you will find the work difficult. If you’re going to work, it will be at Tenjin-ya. But I will not protect you. You will simply be an employee of Tenjin-ya and not have the advantages of being my wife. I will treat you just as any other employee. You’ll have no right to complain if an ayakashi tries to eat you.”

“You’ve shown your true colors, ōni!”

“You wanted it,” he shushed me with a cold, hard tone.

He continued, “You will find your own position. But I’m sure you’ll find that task rather difficult. Most of the staff here loathe humans because of what Shirou did in the past.”

“....”

“Well, good luck, my dear.”

He looked down for a moment as he stood up and adjusted his cloak.

“I’ve already had a guest room prepared for you for today. You’ll sleep there today, but tomorrow onwards you’ll be sleeping in the room for the lowest-ranking employee. Well, that’s if you can find a job.”

“....”

“If you run away, I will eat you without question. But if you change your mind and decide to be my wife, I will gladly accept you.”

He left the room with a sardonic smile. It was like he was mocking me, letting me know that it was impossible for me to pay off this debt this way. He looked as if he was convinced I would give up soon and beg to become his wife.

It was frustrating, but in the end, he still had the advantage. “I’m so tired…” I muttered to myself after he left.

I left that small room and the three Noppera-bō sisters led me up several flights of stairs to my room. The sign on the door read Great Camellia, and it was certainly a grand room.

The room was on the top floor and was filled with fragrant incense. A futon was already laid, and for some reason the pillows were set up for two…. I kicked one of them far away.

I crawled under covers into the futon. As soon as I settled in, I burst into tears, biting my lower to try and stifle my cries.

It didn’t matter how hard I tried to keep myself strong, I still felt confused and scared. I just wanted to hide somewhere and cry. I felt so miserable. So alone. So anxious about what was going to come next. I didn’t know what to believe.

Above everything else, I was filled with anger towards my grandfather, who I thought was my only family. Could he have really only taken me in as a means of paying off a debt by having me become an ayakashi wife? I had no other relatives… and I could see ayakashi. I guess I really was just convenient for him….

Maybe, my grandfather didn’t love me. But still, I couldn’t bring myself to hate him.

He was truly a sly bastard.

After laying there, crying in the futon for a while, I started to get terribly hungry. I couldn’t sleep. I was utterly miserable.

I stood up unsteadily and looked out through the large, round glass window in the wall. In the dark, dark night, a red light flashed in the distance. It reminded me of the red flashing lights on the top of tall buildings found in my world. It felt like I was watching the nightscape in the city.

Somehow, the number of boats flying overhead had increased since earlier. They weren’t airships – blimps – but were more like traditional Japanese-style boats. They looked as if they might be carrying someone of great importance, a god of fortune perhaps, floating leisurely back and forth on invisible rivers in the sky.

It was bright and noisy, the town very much alive, even in the middle of the night….

I heard a thumping sound coming from the sliding door at the doorway of my room. I tensed at the sound and then slid open the sliding door.

When I opened the sliding door, I found a boy, about the age of 10, who, perhaps startled, let out an exclamation of surprise and fell backwards. He had a light blue foxfire by side, so even in the darkness, I could tell he had white fox ears and a tail.

“Oh my god, I thought I was imagining that.”

I was surprised. I thought one of the ayakashi had finally come to eat me.

The boy looked up at me. In front of him on the floor was a plate on a tray. On the plate were three pockets of inari sushi(16). My stomach rumbled.

“I thought you might be hungry, so I brought you some dinner. I didn’t tell the Master about this, but – oh! There’s no poison in it, so please eat without worry.”

He was whispering, as if he had come here on the sly. But he smiled sweetly and wagged his, what I now realized, multiple tails. His appearance held no small amount of reassurance.

I said, “Thank you. What’s your name?”

“My name is Ginji, the nine-tailed fox(17). I’m the Young Master here at Tenjin-ya.”

Ginji knelt down and bowed deeply.

“... You’re the Young Master? Isn’t that a very high position? Could you possibly be the son of that ōni?”

“No, no, it’s nothing like that. The Master has no sons.”

I’m sure it’s because I probably looked puzzled that he continued, “Tenjin-ya isn’t a hereditary business. So, the positions are given to the most qualified person. And while I may look like this, I’m actually about the same age as the Master.”

“No way.”

“It’s true.”

To be honest, the boy did have a calm demeanor that didn’t reflect his apparent age. And the more I thought about it, the more his voice seemed somewhat mature….

I remembered that in that room with ōni and the tsuchigumo, there was another ayakashi. It was an ayakashi wearing a fox mask. I asked, “Could it be… uh, Ginji-san, were you in the room earlier with the tsuchigumo?”

“Yes! You’re indeed Shirou’s grandchild.”

Ginji’s face lit up. He folded his arms into the sleeves of his kimono. “I use the art of transformation to take on nine different forms. I mostly use my adult male form here at the inn. But I do also use my child form often.”

“But why a child right now?”

“Isn’t it cute? I thought if I came in my usual form, it might scare you.”

My eyes widened when I realized what was going on as Ginji’s eyes smiled. “Perhaps you would have preferred it if I came as a woman? Well….”

There was a pop and Ginji disappeared into smoke. A moment later, a beautiful silver-haired woman in a white kimono emerged from the smoke. She was fair skinned, with her hair intricately tied, making her appear more feminine and sensuous than she already was. The fact that she had fox ears and several tails didn’t detract from her beauty.

“Oh! Lovely,” I exclaimed in admiration. I could help but reach out and touch her tail.

“Oh, please, you're embarrassing me.”

“I’m impressed, you really are a girl.”

Ginji blushed. The strangely shy Ginji was somewhat amusing. I looked around with a furtive glance then pulled Ginji into the room.

“I’d like to ask you a few questions while I eat if that’s alright.”

“Yes, yes, of course. I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”

Ginji was replaced by another puff of smoke and a silvery-white fox kit trotted out from the smoke and further into the room. He was so irresistibly adorable.

“Ah! So cute!”

“Do you want to pet? I’m very soft and fluffy!”

The fox kit he turned into trotted up to me and placed his paws on my lap. I scratched his chin and ran my fingers through the fur on his back and tails.

Even though he was an ayakashi like the ōni and the tsuchigumo, there was something reassuring about the fact that even as a fox, you could see his true face.

With my free hand, I picked up a pocket of inari sushi and bit into it. The sweet fried bean curd and the lightly sweet sticky rice really make the inari sushi. I love the simple type like this one, although I do also like the inari sushi made with five different ingredients.

It was delicious on an empty stomach.

As I ate, I asked him something that had been bothering me. “Hey, I was wondering why everyone was wearing masks earlier. It was weird.”

He thought for a moment. “Hmmm. I don’t always wear masks, but it’s typical here to hide one’s true face during important management meetings or when dealing with clients.”

“So that was a management meeting….”

That explanation didn’t feel satisfactory though.

“We can also be intimidating when wearing masks. No one can read our facial expressions and vice versa, so we can settle things quickly. For ayakashi, mystery and suspicion are essential.”

Mystery and suspicion….

I picked up another inari sushi pocket and ate it. I never thought I’d be eating inari sushi while talking to a fox kit.

“Hey, what’s that ōni – Master like?”

What sort of person – or rather – ayakashi was he? I couldn’t forget those cold, red eyes that glared into my soul.

“He is a fine ōni, the Master. He is cold-hearted and merciless, and yet he is also very generous.”

“Sounds a bit contradictory, doesn’t it….”

Is being cold-hearted and merciless really connected to deep pockets?

Ginji seemed to panic a bit as he hurriedly replied, “No, no, nothing like that. He’s a wonderful man, the Master. He is an ōni among ōni. He is the god of the ōni! He’s adored by the employees. And he’s even one of the Hachiyo!”

“Hachiyo?”

“At the center of Kakuriyo, there is a temple where the King of the Ayakashi resides. Surrounding the temple are eight important domains, each with a gate that leads to other realms. The rulers of each domain are known as Hachiyo. Master is the Hachiyo of the northeast. That’s where Tenjin-ya is. In short, the Master is a great man in Kakuriyo!”

“Hmmm.”

I didn’t think there would be so much bureaucracy in the world of ayakashi. Ginji seemed restless at my lack of response.

I asked, “If we’re in the northeast(18), then doesn’t that mean we’re at the Ōni Gate?”

“Yes, that’s right. Tenjin-ya is located at the mouth of the Ōni Gate. The gate is used by many ayakashi entering and leaving Kakuriyo for other worlds. The inn is a thriving business.”

It did seem that being at the foot of the Ōni Gate would make an inn prosperous. While picking and eating the last piece of inari sushi I asked Ginji, “What kind of inn is Tenjin-ya? What other ayakashi do I have to worry about?”

“If the Master is the head of Tenjin-ya, then I, the nine-tailed fox, am the Young Master. I mainly assist the Master and am in charge of the inn’s planning.”

“Hmmm.”

“And then there’s the General Manager. He’s the tsuchigumo. He’s also Head of Reception.”

“Oh, that bloodthirsty… bastard.”

As I stared off to who-knows-where, I thought about what happened with the General Manager. The thought of him wrapping me in spider webs and laughing under that mask sent a chill down my spin.

Ginji said, “I’m sorry. The tsuchigumo manager is a good man. He’s unfortunately still young and a bit hot-headed. He adores the Master, so I guess he can’t really accept the marriage between Master and Shirou’s granddaughter ....”

“Is… Grandpa really hated by ayakashi here?”

I kinda got that feeling earlier from the tsuchigumo, but I wanted Ginji to confirm it.

“Well…. He was a very powerful human. And he liked to have fun. Too much fun at times. Unfortunately, it was that part of him that led to his debt. He could be rather destructive when he was drunk.”

“What in the world did Grandpa do to half destroy this inn?”

“The damage to the reception area was particularly severe. A very valuable antique urn, which was practically a national treasure here in Kakuriyo, was shattered to pieces. The tsuchigumo resents that quite a bit. If I had to guess, I’d say 80% of the staff hate Shirou, while the other 20% worship him.”

“That, unfortunately, sounds very much like grandpa.”

Of course, he’d be hated by most of the world and adored by very, very few.

I didn’t know my grandfather’s entire history, but I had heard stories about him here and there. I understood his carefree, unrestrained ways, so I could imagine what he must have been like. Since he too could see ayakashi, it wasn’t surprising that he had many connections with them.

“The rest of the staff are…” he hesitated as he gathered his thoughts.

Ginji continued, “the first one, a one-eyed ayakashi is the Hostess of Tenjin-ya. The second one, a yuki-onna(19), is the Young Hostess. There is also the Mistress position, but it’s been vacant for a very long time. Our bookkeeper is a hakutaku(20) and our head chef is a daruma(21). We also have a raccoon ayakashi that is in charge of guest footwear, a kama-itachi(22) that works as our yard keeper. Our bath keepers are a great-kappa and nure-onna(23) for the men’s and women’s baths respectively.”

“Ahhh, so they’re all ayakashi.”

“Yes, that’s right. This is an inn for ayakashi, after all. There are many more attendants and maids. The three Noppera-bō sisters are also maids. There are also a lot of other servants. And menial laborers, like kobolds.”

I couldn’t picture all of the ayakashi Ginji described. But when I thought about all of the ayakashi gathered under that ōni, I realized that this place was really a world where all the spirits from the mountains and rivers thrived. And that I, as a human being, am truly insignificant.

I finished my inari sushi and sighed.

“I wonder if there’s any work I can do here.”

“Well, we’re always hiring those willing to work. However, you might want to reconsider becoming a maid.”

“Why? But that was my first choice!”

I thought that of course being a woman and working at the inn, it would make perfect sense for me to be a maid. Why wasn’t it a good idea for me to become a maid?

“The inn is a haven for maids. Many of them greatly admire the Master, especially the Young Hostess. So I don’t think she’ll hire you. Not to mention that she and many of the other maids will be jealous of you and see you as their enemy since you’re the Master’s prospective bride.”

“Oh….”

My skin started feeling clammy. Well, being a maid was out.

“Well, then, what about the kitchen? I’m a pretty good cook, despite how I may look. Well, I mean, I’m still learning, but I’m pretty decent at it. I’m sure I could be useful in the kitchen.”

“The kitchen would be extremely difficult. Women aren’t exactly allowed in the kitchen.”

“Oh… right.”

I had certainly heard stories about women being forbidden to work in the kitchens of old-fashioned family restaurants back home. I guess it shouldn’t have been surprising that that tradition existed in Kakuriyo as well.

I was running out of options and fast.

No. I couldn’t be discouraged. I may not have been able to work in the kitchen, but there were other jobs.

“I wish I had an open position for you. But unfortunately, I have my hands full with closing a business.”

“Closing a… business?”

Ginji answered vaguely, “Yes, well…” then he sank into a deep slump. I didn’t know why, but it seemed that even though he was the Young Master, Ginji had a lot of problems.

Off in the distance, I could still hear festive music. I looked out through the glass window I had left open earlier as a boat passed by over.

“It’s the middle of the night, and yet the world is so alive.”

“It’s the most active time of the night,” Ginji said. “The ayakashi cycle is the opposite of a human’s. We typically go to bed at dawn and wake up at noon to prepare for the nighttime business at the inn.”

“Wow. You stay up very late, don’t you?”

“Yes, indeed. Unfortunately, because it’s our peak hour, I should be getting back to work soon.”

Ginji stepped back and in a puff of smoke changed from being a fox kit, back to the form of a silver-haired boy again. Although he looked adorable, he certainly held himself straight and sophisticated.

“If you have any questions, please feel free to talk to me. I’ll be happy to help you.”

“Thank you. Thank you…. I didn’t think there was such a nice ayakashi like you.”

When I thanked him, he smiled and bowed, replying, “Thank you very much.”

Then he took the plate and silently left the room, leaving me with my thoughts.

“....”

I found myself, sitting in the middle of the room again. I just sat there for a while in my own silence. I could still hear the distant festival music. Through my window, gazing at the horizon where glamorous red lanterns bathed the flying ships in an ethereal light.

And I was here… all alone in my dark, lonely room.

(1) This is a flashback. Words like I/me (watashi, etc.) are difficult for little kids so they often refer to themselves by their first name instead.

(2) This sentence is incomplete and difficult to translate. This was the best I could come up with at this time.

(3) Hyottoko is a type of traditional Japanese mask. It typically takes the form of an asymmetrical comedic face. 

(4) Azuki beans are a soft bean typically used in desserts, they have a dark red-purple color.

(5) A shoji is a Japanese sliding door covered in rice paper.

(6) I chose to use “otherworld”, but for manga/anime people, it’s isekai.

(7) Lit. The Apparent Realm

(8) Lit. Ogre God

(9) Lit. “Page/Apprentice” A type of parasitic spirit with a snake-like body and a child-like face.

(10) Lit. “Earth-spider”

(11) Lit. “Faceless Monk” – spirits that take on the forms of humans but have no faces.

(12) I’m assuming these are their names, but they’re also the names of plants. Rather than names being written, it’s drawings of the plants, but I decided to treat their aprons as if they’re name tags. Matsu means ‘Pine Tree.’ Take means ‘Bamboo.’ Ume means ‘Plum.’

(13) A fox spirit, known for shape-shifting.

(14) 100,000,000 yen comes out to roughly $725,000 at the time of this translation.

(15) This is originally an idiom in Japanese that didn’t make sense when I directly translated it so I used a quote by Marcus Tullius Cicero.

(16) Inari sushi is sushi rice stuffed into fried soybean curd pockets. Can be just rice or have multiple fillings.

(17) I know I typically use the original Japanese names when naming ayakashi, but I found that using Kyūbi-no-kitsune (九尾の狐) was harder to work with when translating. 

(18) Northeast is considered the most unlucky direction and is considered the location of the Ōni Gate, a portal between realms.

(19) Lit. Snow Woman

(20) A japanese version of the Chinese Bái Zé, which is a wise ox like chimera, known to be white and have 100 eyes.

(21) Daruma are hollowed dolls that are based on Bodhidharma to bring success to a task.

(22) Lit. Sickle-weasel

(23) Lit. Wet Woman

Table of Contents

Chapter 3: The Nine-tailed Fox Young Master