Summary: Drabbles from the Love, Lies n Empire universe. All characters. Situations and events referred to in the main story. Read n Review.
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. It is the creative work of Watsuki Nobuhiro.
Rating: T
Annals of Empire
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Drabble 10: Mild Inconveniences
Ideally, there was supposed to have been a moment, wait, several moments in fact, when he should have submerged himself in an angst-ridden dialogue with himself, questioning every decision made, every argument won and lost with his council, till at last he found the moment where future scribes and scholars could point and say, this is where Shishio lost the fight, or lost his head, both eventually leading to the same conclusion – death. To lose one's reason is equal to losing one's life. This was the truth. It wasn't always very comfortable, but few things in life are meant to be.
Shishio smiled to himself. Perhaps he was going about it the wrong way. Perhaps he hadn't taken enough time to think things over. But no matter how looked at the situation, he could see only one course of action open to him, and that was the course he was following.
He supposed that was a good thing too. He had believed in his own strength his entire life. Strength, without which, a man was little more than the husk of a grain of rice. Strength to stand and face your enemy with pride, with honor and with the knowledge that one would leave the battlefield to make the journey to the afterlife, and that one would not be him.
He hoped that of all the thousands of men marching towards his borders; at least one had the potential to kill him. A king is nothing without his kingdom. He had no intention of surviving without his kingdom. And if not one of them was good enough to send him to his death, it would be inconvenient, extremely inconvenient for him. Taking his own life or forcing Taro to do so was not a prospect that he relished. He could only hope that the emperor of the north had found at least one man who could be counted upon to finish him off.
He would not give his life up. His life would have to be snatched away from him for he would not give it up without letting his opponent know a taste of hell. He expected this to be the battle of his life, and Shishio refused to believe that his final battle would be upstaged for the lack of a worthy opponent.
I am waiting for you, whoever you are. I have no patience for weaklings. If you are strong, become stronger. Be the strongest you can be.
Author's Notes
Review please. Meh. It's pretty disappointing, but oh well.