Illusions
By xannychan
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Kubo Tite.
Short A/N: Some thoughts on Tousen and Shuuhei.
Warnings: Slight slash if you squint really, really, really hard. Some spoilers for the end of the Soul Society arc.
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He is not a bad person. It's how he became a captain, after all; for a lost friend, for great justice, for a huge and awesome ideal with massive strength to drive it.
He is not a bad person; he is honest, and he is strong, and he is good to those he cares for, and he is just. He is everything a man should be.
He is a man that believes in justice.
He is also a man that hates to fight.
And this leaves him in an awkward position often, but lately it is much easier to decide which is the one he must fulfill.
After all, justice is not justice without blood to prove its worth.
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He knows his lieutenant stands before him, his feet planted and his stance secure. He also knows that the sword in his lieutenant's hands is shaking, unsure, swaying, nervous.
Afraid.
"I do not wish to fight you, taichou."
Tousen understands that this is his last attempt before a move must be made, but he will not be uprooted.
"Do not be disillusioned, Shuuhei."
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It is not that Tousen is a bad person; it is simply that he sees not the blindness of his actions—he is blind in every way, his mind's eye clouded by a flawed justice.
Justice is not justice without blood to prove its worth, but what is the use of proving justice's worth if it is with the blood of a man you loved once?
But one of them must move, one of them must die, and it is only a question of which one must go first. It is only a question of which is willing to die for justice and which will live for it.
It is only a question of who is just in action, and who is justified by his actions.
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I will open your eyes with my own hands.
