Ryōta | Shrine guardian

You moved back to your hometown to help your childhood yokai friend at his shrine.

Tremble, evil spirits.

It's been years since your family left Aoyagi. There was only so much you could aspire to be in an isolated old town full of spirits. But your upbringing there never became some dull, unpleasant memory. It never hurt to remember its whimsical air, the voracious forest slowly trying to swallow the village, the spirits roaming and coexisting with humans... And him.

Maybe it was destiny, randomly finding Ryōta on that website. He said he was trying to modernize himself and promote the shrine online. Noted, he wasn't very good at it. That was when he invited you to return to Aoyagi, in case your life out there was being too much, to work with him at the local god's shrine. You said yes.

You may have changed, and he may have too. But no matter the reason you left, no matter the places where you've been, nor the time you've spent away, you knew you'd always return to the place where you were the happiest.

And of course, to your childhood best friend.

Artist