Minerva McGonagall: Event: Gifts: Anotsu Kagehisa
Minerva wasn't sure of the workability of this idea when it finally occurred, but it was the best she had and Xellos seemed to think it would be fine.
She goes into Canterbury to find a calligrapher and is greeted at the door by a young woman in a sleek pantsuit -- the shop is sleek and modern, monochromatic with dashes of red, the lines clean and sharp as the works the room is intended to display. It's lovely, but Minerva is still not entirely convinced.
But after she explains her errand as thoroughly as possible, the young woman invites her cordially upstairs into a small studio where a bent old woman, perhaps her own age, in very thick lenses grinds red ink on a stone. This is the master calligrapher. She explains the mechanics of the process dutifully, showing the paper, the silk scroll, and the red and black inks, pointing out examples on the walls in a clearly prepared sales pitch. When Minerva repeats her description of Anotsu, though, she seems to catch the woman's interest.
The calligrapher explains how the balance of the work is crucial to its success, how every composition must contain at least one blot where the brush is heavy with ink, and a dry fan where it's running lower, because while the harmony, rhythm and uniformity cannot be compromised, what might seem to be an imperfection is what carries beauty. Minerva is entranced. As they discuss the commission, the calligrapher mixes ink and paints a few ideas, small and quick, on thin paper.
They decide on the phrase onkochishin: "Respect the past, create the new." Minerva picks up the finished scroll in two weeks, and leaves it at Anotsu's door while he's out, with a note.
For Anotsu Kagehisa from Minerva McGonagall, in hopes you will find pleasure and use in this gift.