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waterscrollI don't have a lot of time to be writing but I want to be writing, so let's try this: A drabble series set in a genderbending Hakuouki AU I've been thinking about for a while. In this AU the Shinsengumi are all women, Chizuru is a man, and all other non-Shinsengumi characters (Demons, Sakamoto, the Shogun, etc) are their canonical or historical genders. (I haven't decided what to do with Kaoru yet.) Ficlets will be set on different routes. Here's one for Hijikata and one for Saito, and I have ideas for Heisuke, Sanan, Kazama and possibly some others. Requests are welcome. If I write a few more I might post them on AO3. Each ficlet will be 200 words.
1. Hijikata
The woman holding a sword to Chizuru’s neck was the most beautiful he had ever seen. Chizuru was a doctor’s son and had grown up away from politics but even he had heard of Hijikata, the terrifying vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, the she-wolves of Mibu, a savage group of women ronin. He hadn’t imagined she would be beautiful, her hair like cherry trees blooming out of season. Blue-white moonlight lit her slender face and shone from her blade. There was no doubt in her eyes that she was prepared to kill him, and yet she looked troubled. There was no kindness in her, but perhaps there would be mercy?
Chizuru’s father was gone and Chizuru didn’t know where or why. This attack had taught him that all his self-defence training was worthless. But it was more than protection that he needed. He needed hope. Hijikata’s eyes defied him to find it.
“I won’t run,” Chizuru promised. He did run, eventually, but it was only the once, before he learned to take Hijikata’s orders. Before he’d learned that her will was as sharp and as beautiful as her steel and that he would follow her to the end of their world.
2. Saito
Saito’s body was a sword, a precise instrument for her life as a warrior. Each stroke was defined and quick, there was no need for further elaboration. Chizuru had been taught by his master well, his blade was unclouded, and his purpose for coming to Kyoto was clear. With deep respect Saito sent Chizuru’s sword to the ground and her own blade to his neck.
“You thought you could kill Saito?” Souji had asked, falling over with laughter at the boy who imagined he could fight in a way equal to theirs. As a girl Souji had needed to prove herself to the men around her. Saito had never had that need, since from the moment she had first raised her blade there was never any doubt that she could kill. As a left-handed fighter only her honor was questioned.
Later, Saito helped Chizuru find clothes fit for a woman page, since no man could live among the women of the Shinsengumi. Saito had learned long ago that when a body is covered people see only what they imagine. No one had thought her a woman for many years, until she came to the Shinsengumi, sword strapped to her right side, to be drawn by her left hand.
1. Hijikata
The woman holding a sword to Chizuru’s neck was the most beautiful he had ever seen. Chizuru was a doctor’s son and had grown up away from politics but even he had heard of Hijikata, the terrifying vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, the she-wolves of Mibu, a savage group of women ronin. He hadn’t imagined she would be beautiful, her hair like cherry trees blooming out of season. Blue-white moonlight lit her slender face and shone from her blade. There was no doubt in her eyes that she was prepared to kill him, and yet she looked troubled. There was no kindness in her, but perhaps there would be mercy?
Chizuru’s father was gone and Chizuru didn’t know where or why. This attack had taught him that all his self-defence training was worthless. But it was more than protection that he needed. He needed hope. Hijikata’s eyes defied him to find it.
“I won’t run,” Chizuru promised. He did run, eventually, but it was only the once, before he learned to take Hijikata’s orders. Before he’d learned that her will was as sharp and as beautiful as her steel and that he would follow her to the end of their world.
2. Saito
Saito’s body was a sword, a precise instrument for her life as a warrior. Each stroke was defined and quick, there was no need for further elaboration. Chizuru had been taught by his master well, his blade was unclouded, and his purpose for coming to Kyoto was clear. With deep respect Saito sent Chizuru’s sword to the ground and her own blade to his neck.
“You thought you could kill Saito?” Souji had asked, falling over with laughter at the boy who imagined he could fight in a way equal to theirs. As a girl Souji had needed to prove herself to the men around her. Saito had never had that need, since from the moment she had first raised her blade there was never any doubt that she could kill. As a left-handed fighter only her honor was questioned.
Later, Saito helped Chizuru find clothes fit for a woman page, since no man could live among the women of the Shinsengumi. Saito had learned long ago that when a body is covered people see only what they imagine. No one had thought her a woman for many years, until she came to the Shinsengumi, sword strapped to her right side, to be drawn by her left hand.
