Categories > Anime/Manga > Samurai Deeper Kyo
Pilgrimage
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For the 31-Days LJ community, 8 April, "the world through my feet." A little Kyoshiro-centric drabble, because where is the love? And, y'know, the theme made me think of him. That too.
Spoilers for later manga chapters.
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On his first day as a travelling medicine peddler, Kyoshiro discovers the meaning of hard work.
A group of thugs ambushes him and he subdues them without causing permanent injury, which is the most difficult thing he's ever done in his life. He knows exactly how he could kill them, even without his faithful (if a little bloodthirsty) Shibien-a punch here, a kick here, a few ribs ripped out of the really ugly one's chest from behind him. It would be so easy, but he doesn't do it.
And so he spares his second through fifteenth lives. It's a learning experience for him.
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On his second day as a travelling medicine peddler, Kyoshiro discovers the meaning of compassion.
He's healed people before, of course, but not on such a large scale. The whole town reeks of plague (he could smell it from a mile away and he feels it on his skin as he gets closer: that horrible, horrible feeling of death he used to revel in), and it would be easy to ignore the suffering, but when the first child comes forward out of the throng that's gathered to meet their visitor, he can't turn away.
He clears the town of sickness, helps burn the dead, and gets absolutely filthy, but afterwards he feels so /clean/, like he's atoned for something.
Maybe he has.
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On his third day as a travelling medicine peddler, Kyoshiro discovers blisters.
They're the logical conclusion of walking for three days straight in ill-fitting sandals (which he may or may not have swiped from Muramasa's house), and he could stop to heal himself any time he wanted, but he keeps going. There are sights to see. So far, he's seen five trees he doesn't recognise, six flowers he's never seen before, and a girl with hair like sunshine looking at bounty postings and sighing.
It's all so new to him.
There's so much more to the world than the Mibu lands and his little village and he's determined to see every bit of it, even if it's at the expense of his feet.
- - -
For the 31-Days LJ community, 8 April, "the world through my feet." A little Kyoshiro-centric drabble, because where is the love? And, y'know, the theme made me think of him. That too.
Spoilers for later manga chapters.
- - -
On his first day as a travelling medicine peddler, Kyoshiro discovers the meaning of hard work.
A group of thugs ambushes him and he subdues them without causing permanent injury, which is the most difficult thing he's ever done in his life. He knows exactly how he could kill them, even without his faithful (if a little bloodthirsty) Shibien-a punch here, a kick here, a few ribs ripped out of the really ugly one's chest from behind him. It would be so easy, but he doesn't do it.
And so he spares his second through fifteenth lives. It's a learning experience for him.
-
On his second day as a travelling medicine peddler, Kyoshiro discovers the meaning of compassion.
He's healed people before, of course, but not on such a large scale. The whole town reeks of plague (he could smell it from a mile away and he feels it on his skin as he gets closer: that horrible, horrible feeling of death he used to revel in), and it would be easy to ignore the suffering, but when the first child comes forward out of the throng that's gathered to meet their visitor, he can't turn away.
He clears the town of sickness, helps burn the dead, and gets absolutely filthy, but afterwards he feels so /clean/, like he's atoned for something.
Maybe he has.
-
On his third day as a travelling medicine peddler, Kyoshiro discovers blisters.
They're the logical conclusion of walking for three days straight in ill-fitting sandals (which he may or may not have swiped from Muramasa's house), and he could stop to heal himself any time he wanted, but he keeps going. There are sights to see. So far, he's seen five trees he doesn't recognise, six flowers he's never seen before, and a girl with hair like sunshine looking at bounty postings and sighing.
It's all so new to him.
There's so much more to the world than the Mibu lands and his little village and he's determined to see every bit of it, even if it's at the expense of his feet.
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