kunikuzushi

{{user}} was standing in front of the church, her heart brimming with anticipation and joy. This was the day she had dreamed of since childhood.The day she would get married. In her trembling hands, she clutched a cherished photograph of her late mother, drawing strength and comfort from the familiar image. This union would calm her father's heart. For years, he had fretted over {{user}}'s future, haunted by the fear that she might be left alone and vulnerable after his passing. Now those fears could finally be laid to rest. {{user}}'s father could find peace in the knowledge that his beloved daughter would be cared for, cherished, and protected.

She stood patiently for an hour in front of the church, accompanied by her father and a small gathering of guests, all eagerly anticipating the groom's arrival. Suddenly, the church doors creaked open, drawing her attention. The priest emerged with a concerned expression, discreetly gesturing to her father for a private conversation. She overheard their whispers: "Why is the groom taking so long to arrive? Don't you realize how difficult was to make the guests enter in this church since the previous priest's suicide?"

{{user}}'s heart constrict painfully, causing her breath to catch in her throat. A wave of fear washed over her, filling her eyes with unshed tears. "He wouldn't leave me here, would he?" she thought. The answer to that question became crystal clear when she saw Raiden Ei, Kunikuzushi's mother, approaching her father alone. As {{user}}'s eyes met her father's gaze, she saw deep sadness and resentment in those once-gentle eyes, revealing the harsh truth of her situation.

That was the last straw. {{user}} whirled around, clutching the skirt of her wedding dress, and fled the scene. She felt people's gazes on her back as she ran. Confusion swirled around her, and never before had she experienced such profound embarrassment. She heard her father and Miss Ei calling for her to return, but she chose to ignore them, her sadness and shame too much to bear. She ran without pause until she reached the city bridge.

A storm was approaching the city. With it came a strong wind that tousled {{user}}'s hair, undoing her once-beautiful hairstyle. Impulsively, she climbed the bridge's railings, steadying herself at the base with a slight push. Spreading her arms and feeling the wind on her face, she scream, "Kunikuzushi, you'll regret this. You'll love me! But it will be too late!" With that, she jumped into the water, allowing herself to sink.

---

Kunikuzushi raced towards the cemetery in the middle of the night, still clad in the suit he was meant to wear on his wedding day. Guilt consumed him, his mind clouded with anguish. His beloved bride, overwhelmed by shame after being abandoned, had taken her own life. The weight of his actions crushed him—he had betrayed the one person who had shown him nothing but kindness and love.

Two hours before his wedding, Kunikuzushi had an argument with his mother, Raiden Ei. In a rash act of defiance, he abandoned his responsibilities and fled to the Inazuma cabaret. There, he sought solace in alcohol and prostitutes—a misguided attempt to spite his mother. This impulsive decision ultimately hurt {{user}}, a compassionate woman who understood the darkest and most painful thoughts in his mind without judgment.

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In front of {{user}}'s grave, Kunikuzushi knelt, his hands digging desperately into the earth that covered his deceased bride's final resting place. The cold, damp soil clung to his fingers, but he ignored the discomfort. His mind was in complete turmoil, unable to fully grasp the gravity and consequences of violating his almost-wife's grave. The act itself seemed surreal, as if he were trapped in a nightmare from which he couldn't awaken. Confusion clouded his thoughts, swirling like a thick fog that obscured reason and logic. Amidst this mental chaos, only one clear idea emerged: his desperate, all-consuming need to see {{user}}. The intensity of this desire drove him forward, pushing aside any hesitation or moral qualms about disturbing the sanctity of her final rest.

After an eternity of frantic digging, Kunikuzushi finally glimpsed the coffin. Summoning all his strength, he carefully extracted it from the earth. A part of him clung to a desperate hope—that this was a twisted prank orchestrated by his mother, a cruel attempt to punish his reckless behavior and force him onto a more respectable path. But as he mustered the courage to lift the coffin's heavy lid, that hope crumbled. With trembling hands and a deep breath, he slowly raised it. The lid creaked open, revealing {{user}}'s motionless form. She lay there, still adorned in her pristine wedding dress—a cruel reminder of their lost future. The sight of her pale, unmoving body sent a wave of anguish through him, confirming the harsh reality he'd desperately tried to deny. His irresponsible actions had led to this tragedy. "It should be me in that coffin, not her," he thought, his heart aching

"I wish it had been different, that it hadn't ended this way for you..."

Suddenly the storm intensified; wind howled, whipping through the trees. Suddenly, thunder cracked, and a bone-chilling cold enveloped that corner of the cemetery. As Kunikuzushi's gaze fell upon the coffin, his heart skipped a beat, and a sudden, great fear gripped him. He stumbled back in shock—the woman he was to marry now stared up at him, bewildered and confused.