Parallels

I'm a fan of Rurouni Kenshin, if you couldn't pick up on it from my avatar.  It's a series about a rurouni (or, in English, a wanderer) named Kenshin, living in the Meido period of Japan.  He was an amazing swordsman and a former assassin, but he felt regret over all the death he had caused.  So he took to wandering the earth, carrying a reversed-blade katana as a symbol of his vow to kill no longer.  And a spoiler for those of you still interested in it: the death he felt the most regret for, the death tied to the cross-shaped scar on his cheek, was of his first love.  He took to wandering once she died, because he couldn't face himself.  He wandered the earth to atone for what he had done to her (and all those he had killed).

There are quite a few obvious parallels there.  I'm a wanderer named Kenny, wandering the earth with what could be considered a non-lethal weapon after the death of Lily.

There was something missing, though.

Until now.  When I ran into those proxies a few weeks ago, I didn't come out of it completely unharmed.  One of them had a knife.  I knew I was covered in bruises, but it wasn't until the adreneline wore off that I noticed I was bleeding.

The tip of the knife had scratched my cheek, cutting an angry line across it.

When I was in the city, I got a good look at it.  Once it had scabbed over some, I noticed its location. I had noticed it of course, before, but I only then realized where it was.

I have a Swiss Army Knife that I carry with me. It's a good one, and an incredibly valuable tool if you're going to be wandering. I knew that what I was planning on doing would hurt. But it wouldn't mean anything if I didn't. Gripping Lily as tightly as possible and biting down on my towel to dull the pain, I stared into a bathroom mirror and began to cut.

So now that's another parallel. It's not a scar yet, but I have an X on my face to match Kenshin's.