ART TRADE NOTICE
I'd love to have a picture of Byakuya and Kenshin – trouble is, I can't draw to save my life.
So, here we are.
Is there somebody who can draw, liked this story and is willing to make a deal?
These are the terms of the trade:
The artist can draw them as s/he please, using whatever technique they like. Background is not required – the artist decides whether to put it or not. Either way is fine with me.
In exchange for your picture – I'll write you a short story. You decide genre, characters and pairings if you want them.
No yaoi and no yuri. I have nothing against this kind of fics, in fact I am a yaoi reader myself, but I write them as I draw – dreadfully.
However, I can also write about Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist (haven't finished it yet, so don't expect much. And don't spoiler) and Fruits Basket (don't know much about it, but I have a couple of friends I can bully into helping me).
Please note that every one who sends a picture will get a story – not only the author of the picture I think the best.
I only ask you to be patient, because I write out of inspiration – that never shows up when I want her to. I also have a hundred projects going on, plus school… but I'll do my best to give you your story as soon as possible.
If you decide to join the trade, just say so in a review email me (my address can be found in my profile)
So – is anyone interested? Pretty please?
PART 2 – SHATTEREDIt wasn't supposed to happen.
Kenshin wasn't supposed to know yet.
He caught me off guard – I wasn't ready to face him on this.
Maybe I never will.
After all, I haven't been able to look at my son's face since he was born.
He looks like you so much, Hisana…
I know what they say about me. They say that I would have been happier if you had lived and the child had died in your place. They say that I wish he was never born.
Maybe he thinks so as well – I never gave him any reason to think differently.
I can't look at him in the face for more than a few minutes. How can I tell him that I love him? How can I make him understand that he must not blame himself for your death, Hisana?
How can I confess that the only one to blame is me?
My relatives never stopped talking about us. They had accepted – albeit unenthusiastically – my marriage to you, but now they had found another reason to complain.
Four years of marriage and still no heir.
Outrageous. Wasn't this the main purpose of a marriage?
Forgive me, Hisana.
I shouldn't have listened to them.
I shouldn't have talked you into having a baby.
I honestly thought I was doing it for us both, when I was only trying to satisfy my own selfishness.
I thought that motherhood would have eased your troubled mind. Maybe the child – our child – would strengthened our bond.
Instead, in my haste to bound you closer to me, I crushed you.
Forgive me, Hisana. I didn't realize that it would trouble you even more.
You kept on wondering what sort of mother you would make, since you had deserted your own sister, and I kept on telling you that you would be perfect – but words were not enough.
You needed a solid proof, not words. Probably the only thing I couldn't give you.
Childbirth weakened your body and your spirit.
You didn't have the strength to fight the sickness that overtook you and you left me and your son.
If only I had waited one more year…
I am such a coward, Hisana. I can never quite look at them.
Years ago, I found Kenshin and Rukia playing in the garden. For a moment, I almost thought that it was you playing with our son.
It hurt so much, Hisana.
I stopped them and ordered Kenshin to go back to his studies. Then I told Rukia not to distract him anymore.
Seeing them together is almost unbearable. I can't help but thinking that you could have been there with them, if it hadn't been for me.
Hisana… what should I do today?
I promised you to protect your sister – but I also swore that I would never break the rules again.
It has been relatively easy not to think about it – until now.
Until our son rushed in, yelling at me, forcing me to take a stand.
I can't hide behind orders anymore.
Not with him. Not with you.
I am about to fail you again, Hisana.
Maybe I truly am the cold monster they say I am.
Being a noble, I could not express my feelings after your passing. I kept my desperation for myself, but it has been eating me up from the inside for fifty long years now.
Our son was – and still is – too painful a reminder.
He reminds me of my crime, of my selfishness.
I love him dearly – he's all I have left of you.
But I can't show it.
Loving hurts too much.
I used the family rules as a shield. They were the only certain thing I knew. I built my life without you around them, used them as a strong point – as head of the Kuchiki family, I was not allowed to crumble or despair.
I detached myself from everything.
Even from your sister.
Even from our son – especially from him.
I never knew the sound of his sobs. But I never knew the sound of his laugh, either.
I am trying to instill in him the same respect for rules – I want him to be strong and protected from anything. I want him to have something to hold on to forever.
I can't say that it is working, though.
But someday, he will understand.
Maybe starting from this very day.
He must understand. Rules can't be broken – if it happens, everything falls apart.
My contemplations are interrupted by the sound of hurried, approaching footsteps. I turn around as the door opens, revealing Toma-san's distressed face. Kuchiki-sama!
"What caused this commotion?" I ask.
"Forgive us, Kuchiki-sama…your son…"
My heart start pounding in my chest. "What of my son?"
Toma-san bows her head, shaking. "He…he escaped." she breathes out, wriggling her hands. "Should I send for your men?"
"That won't be necessary." I reply as I move toward the door. "I shall take care of this personally."
I know his destination. He is heading to the place everybody tried to reach in the last few days: the white tower.
Rukia is still there – there are still a few hours to the execution.
And he's going to save her.
A few seconds – this is the time it takes me to find him.
He tried to suppress his spiritual power – but I can feel it nonetheless.
He tried to run as fast as he could – but I am faster.
Although I have to admit that I didn't expect him to come so close to the tower.
Even if it's not really close – it is still farther than I had anticipated.
But I cannot allow him to take another step forward.
I wait for him at the end of the alley.
He sees me and stops – a hand on his training sword.
He doesn't look surprised – merely angry that I could find him so quickly.
"Son." I say, looking at him in the eyes as I allow my spiritual powers to flow freely.
He staggers beneath the pressure, but does not look away. "Kuchiki-sama." he addresses me formally.
I frown. "What is this folly? You heard what I said: Rukia has been sentenced to death by the central government – the highest authority in Soul Sociaty. Surely you are not planning to act against them."
"I will, if I have to." he shots back.
I raise an eyebrow, surprised. "You are a child – you know nothing of the world." I take a deep breath. "Such an act would be regarded as high treason. Your age would not be considered an excuse and I would not do anything to change it."
"I wouldn't expect you to." he spits back.
"You cannot save her and you know it." I reply calmly, although my heart is hammering in my chest. "You are not trained yet. You aren't even an Apprentice Shinigami."
"I know." he says, still gripping his small sword. "But I must try. I must prove that there's at least a man in the Kuchiki family."
I scowl. "You have been taught better than that. You are disgracing our House by attempting such a foolish act."
"I don't think so, Kuchiki-sama." nor his voice nor his gaze weaver as he speaks. "I believe it more vile not to raise a single finger to help one's family."
"Do not judge actions you can't understand, child." I do not mean to be stern, but, somehow, my voice comes out harshly. "What would you know of honor? Your actions and your words prove that you have yet to grasp the deep meaning of this word." He frowns, but doesn't speak. "Rukia did. In fact, she has accepted her fate. She knows the entity of her fault and is willing to pay for it."
"And you call this honorable?"
"I do."
"I'd rather call it sensible, Kuchiki-sama." Every time he says that word – and he doesn't say it, he spits it out as if it was poisonous – I feel a knife twisting in my heart. "She obviously knew that she should never hope for anything from you."
You still persist in your proposal?"
He nods curtly. "I do."
I sigh. "Son, I understand how you are feeling…"
"No, you don't." he shouts, interrupting me. "You only care about rules and regulations! You're too stubborn to listen to anybody else!"
"It seems to me that it's you the one who is being unreasonable."I can't help but feeling a twinge of disappointment"I never thought you would grow up to value life more than honor – if it had been you, you would have begged for my help, then?"
A bright flame burns in his eyes as he replies. "I wouldn't even ask you to close my eyes when I'm dead, Kuchiki-sama. Even if I was to die within a hour."
His answer strikes me deeply. I can almost see a deep, dark rift between the two of us, as if we were standing on the opposite edges of a ravine.
"Kenshin…" I whisper as I blink my tears away.
A shadow falls on his face. For a second, I wish I was blind like Captain Tousen. So I wouldn't be forced to see the pain in my son's eyes – the desperation of one who has finally received what his heart yearned for, but when it was too late.
"If it had been you…" he chokes. "I would have done anything to save you. Not out of love or honor – but because you are my father."
I feel like my heart could burst as I see the abyss that lies between us.
"I understand." I whisper.
For a few seconds, no one speaks.
"However…" I don't know where I found the voice to answer"I cannot allow you to go."
He nods. "Then, there is no other way."
He charges at me. I know he's running as fast as he can, but everything seems slowed down – as if Time itself stretched, turning seconds into hours and minutes into days. Just to torture me with my own thoughts.
You are right, Kenshin. There is no other way – but don't blame yourself.
It was not your fault.
Once more, I am the only one to blame.
I guess that there's a price to pay for every choice – even when one decides to follow the rules to the end.
Forgive me, Hisana.
This is the way I chose to live – I won't change it now.
I can't change it.
I wonder if there is a right path to choose, in the end – if it's not the path of regulations, then which one?
Kenshin jumps as high as he can and starts bringing his sword down on me. I step aside and thrust out my hand – a second later, I'm holding the sword by the blade.
Kenshin shakes, bravely but vainly trying to fight my Demon Arts that are descending on him. After a few seconds, he loses his battle against oblivion and falls, but I catch him before he hits the ground.
His sword clatters on the pavement.
A boy of fifty can't weight much – yet, as I walk back with my son unconscious in my arms, I feel like I was carrying the whole tower.
A strangled scream, then a young girl comes rushing out the door. I should know her – yes, she was Hisana's youngest handmaiden, then became Kenshin's nanny.
Shinju – that's her name – Shinju snatches him out of my arms, cradling him against her chest and softly whispering his name.
She looks at me through her tears – if Hisana was still alive, I know she would have the very same look in her eyes, now.
"He is not injured – I used my Demon Arts to make him sleep." I feel compelled to explain as I lay his sword across his small body.
She doesn't speak – she merely raises and starts walking away, holding my son protectively.
If I was a different man, now I would go and finish what my son couldn't. I would save the person he loves the most from death and unjust punishment.
But I can't.
I can't do it more than I could step aside and let him save her with his own hands or die trying. I know he would.
Forgive me, Hisana.
I truly am a coward.
But I can't risk my sanity.
My eyes follow Shinju's retreating figure, lingering on Kenshin's pale face.
I never knew the sound of my son's laugh.
Now I never will.
ANSWERS TO REVIEWS
Lacus-chan: here you are! Hope it was soon enough ; )
ChibiRulz YanLan: yeah, I do read the manga. Can't wait to see what's going to happen… I hope you'll like this new chapter as well, I was really flattered by your review.
Alowl: so would I…
DreamAnimeKitten: glad you liked it so much! Technically it's a two-shots, but.. well, it's explained down here.
VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This fic was meant to end here. I have small idea for another couple of chapters, but, even so, I've no idea of where we are going… '
Should I continue it anyway?
There's also another little problem – this fic might take another path entirely – e.g. veer toward "humor". Imagine Byakuya with gastritis because of Kenshin's rebellious behavior and you'll get an idea.
If I decide to write it, I'll make it into another story and continue this one for serious developments – being an Angst writer to the core.
Anyway – what do you think I should do?
Continue this? Write the "humor part"? Write both?
I fell like I've just signed my own death warrant – a hundred projects, remember? – but I'll anxiously wait for your answers.