Ryousuke took the moment to marvel how easy it was to fall back into the same rhythm of long ago. His gaze looked to be in considerable concentration before turning his head ever so slowly to the oni masked man. It was so familiar that he almost gave himself away, biting his bottom lip quickly as he turned to look up into the tree before the nostalgic response could escape him. His body froze however as the fox maiden became aware that there was no doubt about it. This was the oni from back then. Ryou snapped his head to face him, his irises opening in shock. For a moment or two, he forgot how to breathe. His hand began to reach up involuntarily to cradle the oni's mask. Why was his hands trembling? Shaking as if he couldn't bring himself to take the mask off him. Ryou wanted so badly to pull it off of him and yet, he was scared to see if his assumptions were correct. That this was Kuramochi from the feudal era, the time of the most feared oni's that ever ruled this land.

Art piece done for Seasons of Anime's Winter Exchange 2021. Done digitally using Fire Alpaca art program and Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet.