"Good night." Hanako gave Nene a smile as he pat her head softly. As soon as the girl closed her eyes, Hanako looked over at Y/n, who seemed to have a hard time sleeping.

"Are you okay?" Hanako asked in a soft voice. He floated beside Y/n, taking the girl's hand into his as if it was a habit.

"Yeah." Y/n gave the apparition a small smile. "I'm just really tired.. I mean— I witnessed my best friend getting taken by a supernatural, and then witnessed the same best friend throwing us to a pit of bugs— then ended up in an unknown place wherein villagers see us as wraiths."

"You have a point." Hanako frowned as he recalled the events which happened earlier. "I guess being near the far shore can be such a hassle..."

"Yeah." Y/n sighed before sitting up. "Although it doesn't always bring in misfortune." She grinned. "I mean— it did lead me to meeting you~"

Hanako felt the heat on his cheeks rising as he stared at the E/c-eyed girl. He lowered his hat to at least cover the upper part of his face.

"So cheesy, Y/n-chan..."

"Learnt from the best." She chuckled. "But it's true. I don't think I could live my best life if I didn't meet you, Hanako-kun."

"You could."

The smile on Y/n's face nearly faltered when hearing Hanako's reply.

"No, I wouldn't—"

"You could live a longer life if you never interacted with me in the first place, Y/n-chan." Hanako gave the girl a knowing look. "We both know what you did to change your future. We both know that you would have done so much more if you never—"

"I don't regret it," Y/n mumbled, looking away from the boy. She then lied back down. "I'm going to sleep." This is just me running away from reality..

Hanako looked down at the girl before letting out a sigh. "Goodnight, Y/n-chan."

"Goodnight."

What in the world is going on? Y/n blinked as she stared at her reflection with a look of pure confusion plastered on her face.

It hasn't even been five minutes since she woke up, and chaos was already happening.

Y/n woke up to see women bringing gifts into her room, women preparing a dress and some accessories, and Nene with a fearful look on her face.

"Today is a joyous day of celebration, for it is your wedding ceremony." Y/n's eyes widened as soon as she heard one of the woman say that. Today wasn't her wedding, but Sumire's. Now that she thought about it, where was Sumire or Hanako anyway?

"Listen—" Y/n stepped back from the group. "I don't think we're on the same page here. I am not Sumire." She then took Nene's hand, planning to just make a run for it.

"Hm.." The ladies all looked at each other. They all had a mask covering their faces, but Y/n knew that they were disappointed with this. "This won't do, Sumire-sama..."

"For the last time!" Y/n was starting to get annoyed by this. "I'm not Sumire!" With that, she quickly pulled Nene towards the door way and ran as if she never ran before.

"Y/n-chan!" Nene exclaimed. "We have to hide in the forest!"

"Yeah.." Y/n huffed as her eyes wandered around the open area, looking for the apparition who had went missing. On her way out of the house, she spotted the blue head who everyone was talking about.

Sumire. Y/n held back the urge to scream as she quickly ran pass her. If we stop now, the villagers will catch us.

Her and Nene quickly entered the forest, her ankle-length dress nearly getting ripped in the process.

Y/n came to a halt when coming face-to-face with a tall man, a mask covering his face and a spear in hand. He was one of the villagers, and he was about to take her back to whatever the mess was back there.

"Listen, you've got the wrong girl." Y/n quickly let go of Nene and raised both hands in surrender. "I'm not the Sumire you're looking for. She's back at the house, and—"

Nene's eyes widened upon seeing the man's fist coming in contact with Y/n's stomach. This man just punched her best friend.

"Y/n-chan!" Nene cried as she tried to pull the girl back from him. Keyword: tried.

The man pulled Y/n up before dragging her to where the other villagers were supposedly at.

"To run from your duty." He looked at Y/n. "What a failure of a kannagi you are."

"Don't you dare—!" Nene was held back by a group of people. She gave them all a glare as she tried to force herself out of their grip. "Let us go!"

Y/n? Is she awake? Nene averted her gaze to the H/c-haired girl, who was in the man's arms barely standing, clutching her stomach in pain. Barely.

"For the sake of all those in this village, it will be troublesome for us," a woman spoke up, looking down at Y/n. "if you do not die today."

What? Both Y/n and Nene looked at the woman in fear as she brought out a small glass bottle. "Now then—"

The woman kneeled infront of Y/n and brought the glass bottle closer to the girl.

"Please drink this."

"Nobody wants to talk to Sumire." The sound of a crying child filled Y/n's mind as she walked down the path. "Or even look at Sumire in the eyes. Sumire doesn't know what mommy and daddy look like..."

The child turns to the man standing beside her. "Will you stay by Sumire's side? And save Sumire from any trouble?"

"Well, yeah," the man answered back with no hesitation. "I am s'posed to be your caretaker."

Sumire looked at him with her eyes sparkling from both admiration and happiness. A warm feeling filled her chest as she held the man's hand.

He looked down at her, surprised by her sudden move. Sumire grinned.

"Then it's a promise."

"This statue... Every time a child like me is offered God, another one is made." Sumire clasped her hands together as she stared down at the small statues surrounding the area. "On the day when I become God's bride, I wonder if this will happen for me too."

The man looked down at her. "Ain't that right?" he asked. "The Akanes are that kinda family after all."

"Oh you..." Sumire was used to this man and his straightforward words. "Even if it's a lie, the right thing to say here would be 'That's not true', wouldn't it?" She smiled. "You are such a frank person. Although that's what I exactly like about you."

"Hm, I see."

Sumire looked at the man. "Hey," she said, "do you like me?"

He was silent for a moment. "... My feeling's aside. My master's orders are only to act as your caretaker. Nothing more, nothing less."

"My, what a boring response!" She expected it.

Sumire stood up before clinging onto the man's arms. "If I'm going to be anyone's bride, it would be nice if only you would take me."

"I wouldn't mind taking you."

This was the answer Sumire never expected. She jumped in surprise, taking a step back as her brain processed the answer. There was no way he was joking, he never jokes.

"Really?" Sumire places both hands on her cheeks. She was flustered, she herself knew it.

The man stood there, staring at her.

"Just kidding." Sumire flinched at his painfully straightforward answer. "Didn't ya tell me to lie?"

Sumire gave him a sharp look before turning away to run. "Geez! I don't care anymore!"

She ran with a smile never leaving her face.

Sumire stood infront of a shrine, right infront of the shrine was a cliff where her and the God would supposedly meet.

She tried to hide the fear as she looked down at the height.

She looked over her shoulder, looking for the man who had taken care of her from the start. She spotted him with his usual blank expression plastered on her face.

"Geez." Sumire smiled. "Even if it was only a lie, this is the part where you're supposed to look sad."

"Really, what a frank person."

"Ouch!" Y/n quickly took a step back as she held her wrist in pain. She looked around, unable to recognize where she was and what was going on. "What have I been doing?"

She then noticed the cliff just right infront of her, this is when she realized the situation she was in.

"Wait— you were trying to sacrifice me." Y/n blinked as she looked at the villagers, who were starting to circle her in both anger and disappointment. "You've been sacrificing girls—!"

Before Y/n could speak further, a villager threw their bamboo spear forward, nearly hitting Y/n on the throat. The girl flinched as she backed away, she had no plans of dying at the moment.

"What shall we do about the ritual?"

"Do we give it up as a failure?"

"If it comes to that, then what of the village?"

"It doesn't matter if it's that girl! Catch her and throw her!"

"That's right! It'd be better than doing nothing!"

These people, Y/n thought as her lips slowly formed into a frown. I can make myself invisible, but there are villagers surrounding all sides, and making a run for it is risky.

Well, Y/n was a risk taker in the first place.

Before anyone knew it, the girl had disappeared right infront of their eyes. They all gasped in shock as they looked around, trying to locate wherever she went.

"Where is the girl?!"

"She escaped!"

Thirty seconds later, the invisibility wore off. Y/n sat behind a tree, hiding from the sight of all the villagers. She breathed in as she looked at the shrine.

Every other villager had ran off to different parts of the village to find her, and this man just stood there, as if guarding the shrine.

Y/n huffed. But before she could sit back down, she unintentionally made eye contact with the masked man.

"Frick." She mentally slapped herself. "Why the frick did I do that— oh my goodness he's running with that scary mask—"

Y/n stood up, preparing to run away, but before she could, the man had grabbed her wrist tightly.

Ok, let me just— she clenched her fist, preparing to give this guy a punch right on the face. The man took off his mask, showing Y/n who had been hiding underneath.

"Hanako-kun?"

"The one and only!" Hanako grinned, throwing his mask away as he held Y/n. "Y/n-chan as a runaway bride! Isn't that a new concept?"

Y/n blushed. "Shut up!" She then remembered her ombré-haired friend. "Where's Nene-chan? I haven't seen her since the villagers took me here."

"Shes safe." Hanako smiled. "I made her stay in the house. She was worrying a lot, and so was I."

Y/n frowned. "Sorry. I should have fought those people earlier— or maybe ran away faster. Maybe then, we could have escaped and there wouldn't be any trouble finding me."

"I wouldn't like that solution. You're condition will worsen." Hanako's smile shifted into a pout. "And I wouldn't like that at all."

"You—" she cut herself off, she had no idea what to say next. "Don't say things like that, Hanako-kun."

Y/n gave him a sharp look. "And by the way, you were late!" This was obviously meant as a joke. "Look, they managed to give me a punch here." She rubbed her stomach. "It still hurts like hell."

Hanako blinked, trying to process the words she had just said. These villagers had the audacity to punch her? The urge to take out his knife and kill all villagers was high.

Hanako lets out a smile. The hands which had been on Y/n's sides slowly wrapped around her body, pulling her into a warm embrace.

"I'm sorry for being late."

Y/n smiled as she gave the boy a pat on the head. "You still managed to save me anyway. You're literally my knight— not in shining armor though."

"Hm, of course I'd come save you." Hanako smirked. "I can't just let some nobody out there take my princess as a bride, right?"

꧁☾︎ 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎 ☽︎꧂
next chapter is angsty 💃
— chyuu