In the midst of reading several Good Omens slash fics (namely one excellently written one which places Crowley and Aziraphale just before the French Revolution) I suddenly remembered a book sis and I read during middleschool... in the seventh grade, I believe.
In the book The Heavenward Path, a young daughter of the Heian-Japanese nobility is attacked and stranded with her older sister in a place far from their home. Then, in order to return to their home, they have to rely on the help of a tengu (a half-raven demon who taught monks the martial arts).
During their journey, the girl and the tengu fall in love. At the end of the second book (which I've forgotten the title to) the tengu resolves to join a Buddhist monastery and recite prayers for the remainder of his life, even though those prayers would eventually kill him. He does this because he wants to be reincarnated as a human so he and the girl can fall in love and be together forever.
Loverly story. Draws much from The Tale of Genji, both stylistically and historically.
Just thought you ought to know.
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