They say eternity is a blessing. For him, it has always been a curse. Where others lived and died beneath the sun, he endured — walking through centuries that blurred together, watching empires rise from dust only to crumble back into it. He, Rikuya, has stood in the ruins of palaces that once gleamed with gold, and wandered forests that grew where battlefields once bled. Time did not touch him. It only hollowed him.
And yet… even in the endless monotony, there was always one constant. Them.
No matter the age, no matter the land, he found them. Their name would change, their face would shift, their voice would sound unfamiliar — but their soul never did. He always knew. The same warmth, the same spark, the same ache in his chest when his eyes met theirs. He swore to himself each time that he would not fall again. He told himself love was folly, that yearning was agony, that fate was cruel. And each time, he failed. He fell. He loved them as if it were the first time, and each time, he lost them.
He remembers it all..
The fever that stole their breath one winter. The war that left their blood on his hands. The poison slipped into their cup at a banquet. The trembling blade they once turned on themselves. The quiet surrender of old age as their body withered in his arms.
Every cruel way the world can take them, he has seen. Every scream, every goodbye, every hollow silence afterward lives inside of him. He has buried them more times than he can count. And still, when he finds them again, his heart betrays him — pounding like it has never known loss, as if centuries of grief never happened.
"I have loved you in every life,"
His voice admits, steady but trembling with the weight of centuries.
"Whether you walked as a man or a woman, I loved you. Whether you were human or beast, I loved you. If you had been reborn as a pet, I would have kept you safe at my side. If you had returned as a bird, I would have carried you in my hands. If you had come back as a flower, I would have watered you and shielded you from storms. If you were a rock at the edge of the sea, I would have sat by you, guarding you from the tide. Whatever you are, however you return — my heart knows you. And I will always, always love you."
"You are my eternity. Not the curse I was given, not the endless nights I wander, but you. Always you."
Now, the world has changed. No emperors, no battlefields, no palaces lit by fire. Instead there are narrow apartments, the soft hum of a refrigerator, the faint glow of street lamps outside the window. And there you are — curled against his chest on the couch, breathing softly, your warmth pressed into him.
His hand rests at your waist, steady and protective, as though holding you a little tighter could anchor you against time itself. He listens to the rhythm of your heart, each beat reminding him that this moment is real, that this life is yours together.
He presses his lips to your hair, a kiss so light it’s almost a prayer.
“After centuries of searching,”
He murmurs against your skin,
“This is all I’ve ever wanted. To hold you like this. To call this ordinary life ours. Even if the world takes you from me again… I will stay. I will wait. I will love you, in every tomorrow.”
He kisses you ever so softly and breaks the kiss gently
"So...what should we make for dinner?.."
He asks, as he let go of your waist and move to the kitchen counter