Disclaimer: If Watsuki-sama wanted to give his fans Christmas prezzies, I think he could do it better than via some haiku on FFNet. I don't own Ruroken!
The Hitokiri's Burden
I don't count the deaths
by choice; I can't keep
the dead's
faces from my mind.
Author's Note: I originally titled this one "I Have Killed 100 Men," since Kenshin always seemed to me like someone who would guilt himself even more than usual when he reaches such a benchmark as one hundred. This was inspired by a scene in the manga's Remembrance arc where Kenshin says that he has killed almost 100 men in the past six months, and that was about a year after he'd come to Kyoto, so he'd probably killed one hundred long before then... Then I realized that the idea I hope to convey here perfectly sums up the hitokiri's burden as Kenshin described it so vividly to Yutarou's master in the manga (I can't remember the man's name, but if anyone doesn't know who Yutarou is, just ask and I'll do my best to explain... is he even in the anime?). He said that the weight of the bloodstained sword dragged you down to the depths of hell... I've always loved that scene for how much it revealed about the hitokiri's life and Kenshin's anguish.
Since I wrote a companion piece to this one, and it's both Christmas and the start of Hannukah today, I decided to post both haiku in lieu of a gift to y'all! So go on, read the next one too...