Author: Elf Asato
Written: 10/20/05
Summary: Non-canon incest.
Disclaimer: Not mine whatsoever.
Notes: Written for the "Five things that never happened to..." challenge on the Togakushishrine community at Livejournal.
One
By Elf Asato
In the sixties, Setsuka usually went to school on time and without frequent absence, unlike how she had operated in her early, pre-teenage years, and this was largely due to her grandfather's influence.
She lived with her mother in her earlier years, fatherless, for the most part, with the exceptional male or two who desired her mother so much that he was willing to care for Setsuka as well. Naturally rebellious, Setsuka hated this and went out of her way to become a problem child until the day came when her mother, a troubled woman, committed suicide; after that, she was sent to live with her grandfather where she more or less became a young woman rather than a rebellious pre-teen. Born at the turn of the century with a strict yet warm disposition, he only allowed Setsuka to miss school for illness or a special occasion.
He told her to stay home from school one morning in April, and since she knew she wasn't sick, it must have been a special occasion. Still in her nightgown, she watched him prepare to leave.
"My dearest Setsuka," he asked as he grabbed a coat he had set aside on a table and began to put it on, "do you know what today is?"
"Ummm, Thursday?" she replied with a finger coyly placed on her chin.
He smiled. "Yes, it is indeed Thursday, but it is also another day. Can you guess what it is?"
With a youthful and girlish smile deliberately set in place for the sole pleasure of the elderly man before her, she opened her mouth for a few seconds as if she'd respond with something meaningful, but in the end she simply shook her head and said, "No, grandfather. Is it a special day?"
"It's a very special day for us, Setsuka," he said as he crossed little distance to cup her chin with his wrinkled and worn hands, bringing it up slightly so that she could look at him directly, "for it is the day that you kill me and become the new heir to the Sakura."
Her eyes opened wide with an almost childish excitement. "Really?"
"Yes, my dear," he confirmed as he stroked her hair, "and words cannot express how much I have been waiting for this...from the moment you came to me, Setsuka. I have been training you since then for this. Are you as happy as I am? It is truly a wonderful day for us, and I want it to be the best in my life."
She leaned up enthusiastically to plant an intimate kiss on his lips. "It must be so wonderful to know that you'll be killed by the one you love! What glory! I'll be so thrilled when it happens to me, grandfather!"
"...Which is why you must take extra care to see to it that you do not die before then. You know this, Setsuka? That whoever kills you will be the one to receive the Sakura? An unworthy successor would be simply unacceptable. Do you understand this?"
"Yes, yes," she sighed almost drearily, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "You've taught me this before - and well. Must you ruin our wonderful day with such droll talk?"
He only chuckled and gave her a more thorough kiss, his hands wandering to touch her body through the thin fabric of her nightgown; he knew she enjoyed being touched by him, though he would never know that she found his age slightly repulsive and liked it when the younger boys touched her instead. "My darling Setsuka," he said finally with a smile as he broke from her and went about putting on his shoes at the door, "forever you'll remain a young girl like this, won't you?"
"Of course! And...where are you going, grandfather, if I may ask?" she asked, swaying coyly for his amusement.
"Since it is my last day alive, I thought I would indulge in a little amusement - for old times sake, darling."
"Ohhh," she said with a knowing smirk, "going to toy with the Sumeragi clan again, are you? Well, don't underestimate their new clan head just because she's a woman, all right? She's likely to still be angry at you for killing her husband last year, and...oh how does it go? 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'? Anyway, just be careful, please."
He only chuckled in response and opened the door to leave.
"I'll have your favorite meal ready when you get back, grandfather."
"Thank you, Setsuka," he said and closed the door.
Setsuka's grandfather was killed that afternoon in a duel with Lady Sumeragi.