Rise

Rise is a companion novella to Amanda Sun's Paper Gods trilogy, set between Rain and Storm. It weaves together two parallel love stories separated by a thousand years. In ancient Japan, Izanami and Izanagi, among the first gods who shaped the world from ink and imagination, face a moment of pride that threatens to tear them apart.

In the present day, longtime friends Yuki Watabe and Tanaka Ichirou struggle to navigate deepening feelings without losing the friendship between them. The novella traces the echoes between the mythic and modern romances as both couples confront the risk of losing what they already have.