#Mouri Clan

[the12thnightproject]

Chapter 14: Midnight Confidences: The middle of the night is the time to exchange stories…are Mitsuhide and Katsu becoming… friends?

All Chapters Archived on Ao3 

Logline - With Mai, Hideyoshi, and Aki missing, Mitsuhide and Katsuko reluctantly team up. Disguised as a merchant and his concubine, can they outsmart the man known as the God of Deceit?

At some point after we said goodnight however many hours ago, Mitsuhide had changed into a loose night kimono and cleaned the rest of the make-up off his face. There was a fresh bruise on his knuckle - had he gone back out and interrogated the priest? Was that the reason for that bleak expression that had been on his face just a moment ago? Or… there were two bottles of sake on the desk. One was already empty, and the other was halfway gone. “Never mind. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow when you’re sober.”

He easily set the cup down. “I could drink twice this much and remain unaffected.” Hm. Well, that much sake would have me unconscious, but then again, I have zero tolerance and a lower body weight. And it was true that he didn’t appear to be drunk. “What is it?” He indicated the cushion in front of the desk. “I presume this is important.”

“I think it might be.” Too tired to bother to kneel gracefully, I plopped down on the cushion, then shook my head when he pushed the cup of sake toward me. “I can’t. It gives me nightmares. Waking nightmares too. And, I already just had a sleeping one that woke me up.” Ugh. I wasn’t making any sense, was it?

“A nightmare about the priest?” He rubbed his bruised knuckle. “He will no longer be a factor.”

File that one under ‘don’t need any details.’ If the priest was connected to Aki’s or the other disappearances, Mitsuhide would have told me. Probably. “A different nightmare.” One that left phantom splinters under my nails.

“If you’ve come to me to be soothed, I’m flattered.” He looked at my bare feet, then took off his socks and passed them to me. “Don’t protest. I never feel extreme heat or cold.”

I went ahead and put his socks on. They were soft and toasty warm from his feet. Comforting. “Alright. I guess to explain the nightmare, I have to go back and explain why I don’t like boxes.”

“The palanquin.” With perfectly steady hands, he poured himself another cup.

“Yes. Well. About five years ago, someone tried to kill me, or maybe just get rid of me – by locking me in a crate and leaving it in a warehouse.” I felt my stomach clench when I recalled what a stupid kid I had been at the time. 

“The warehouse that currently belongs to Shojumaru.” Alright, he was indeed sober enough to follow along.

“Yes – that one. I don’t know if he owned it then though. The crate I was in got hidden under a heavy shipment of western muskets. I couldn’t get enough leverage to move the lid.” As my brain returned to that place and time, I felt cold all over and my fingers were tingling.

“Katsu. Look at me. Breathe.” As directed, I looked up and focused on that amber gaze until I felt steady.

Oh. He had grabbed my hands.

Holding hands with him felt – too intimate -  and I let go. Or rather, I pulled away and he allowed it. “While I was in there – before I realized I was trapped - I overheard a conversation between a foreign merchant and a man he called Motonari.”

Mitsuhide’s eyebrow went up. “Five years ago? The only Motonari I can think of who would have been interested in and able to acquire a large shipment of weapons is Mouri Motonari, and he’s been dead for longer than that.”

Not able to reflect the eyebrow back at him, I simply shrugged. “So were Kenshin and Shingen, and they’re still alive.”

“You’re suggesting Mouri Motonari is not dead.” He rubbed his chin. “That’s… possible. The Mouri clan has been rather active of late. However…” He left the sentence hanging, and I mentally filled in the unstated comment that this could have waited until morning.

“The thing is, I think he’s Shojumaru. His voice. It’s been bothering me about him since we met.” Sure, it could have been that the warehouse ghosts were playing on my senses. But the more I thought about it, the more I was sure. “Shojumaru was the man in the warehouse back then. The one that they called Motonari.”

Mitsuhide went completely still. Not in shock, or surprise… more, like deep into thought. “You are certain about this?” He held up his hand over my initial protest. “I do not doubt your story, only what time does to the memory. As you say, it has been five years.”

“Five years of a memory that regularly appears in my nightmares.” Pleasure doing business with ye!  “He could not have been aware that I was trapped in there. That was just a coincidence on his side.” Although Iekane had to have known who those guns were going to.

“How did you escape?” Hm. I thought he would be more interested in the Motonari part of it all, and not so curious about my personal experience. “It’s not such an unusual question – someone must have found you, for here you are, sitting with your feet in my socks.”

Uh. Well. This answer was bound to anger him… but I supposed it no longer mattered now that the person who had saved my life was dead. (As far as I knew. Given the Sengoku spontaneous resurrection rate, he could still be around somewhere). “A person heard me yelling later and rescued me.”

“A random passerby to a warehouse that was used by weapons smugglers.” No amount of sake could make that statement less sarcastic. “For if you had been rescued by Aki, you would have mentioned it. And let me digress to remind you that it’s as important to take note of what a person does not say, as it is to listen to what they do. Therefore, the name of your rescuer…?”

“I don’t actually know if those weapons were smuggled. It could have been a legal shipment…” I trailed off in the face of Mitshide’s incredulous look. “It was Kennyo.”

“Ah.” They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So is one ‘ah’ as spoken by Mitsuhide. “The reason for your stubbornness at the beginning of the summer is now revealed. Were you working or him?”

“What? Oh. No. But I felt like I owed him for saving me, and that life debt weighed. And at the time you questioned me, I had no idea that he was anything but a travelling monk.” Ok. No evidence that he was anything more than that.

That explanation prompted of those x-ray looks from him and I once again felt that prickly feeling through my body. It had been on low hum since moving in here with him, and I’d gotten so used to it that it had become no longer noticable. But that look from him brought that feeling back into sharp focus. “Katsuko, you are far too smart to believe that.”

The praise of my intelligence was something I would have to take out and hug to myself later.

My throat was getting dry, almost enough to tempt me to the sake. There was a teapot sitting on the edge of his desk. Mitsuhide nodded at it. “It’s from this morning.” When I shrugged, he poured the dregs of the tea into a sake cup and passed it to me.

Ugh. Yup. Cold. Strong. Worse than Mitsunari’s tea… wait. Huh? Mitsunari who? I shook my head trying to rid myself of that odd thought.

“Kennyo.” Mitsuhide’s prompt was an order.

“He found me, pulled me out, and Aki caught up to us a little while later. Anyway, he took us back to his encampment, found some clothes for me, and… well, he hinted that he might some day come to ask me to repay him, or ask it of Aki.” Ugh. Another tickle in my throat that I suspected was a loose tea leaf. “Forgetting that I had not seen him when I briefly crossed his path that night seemed like a harmless way to repay him.”

“Harmless. Did it occur to you that if we had been able to capture him at that point, then he would not be able to return and ask a favor?” He stared me down for a moment. “Never mind. Sometimes I forget how young you truly are.”

Unlikely he was referring to my biological age, and probably, he was correct. If we compared life experiences, even with the time travel thrown in, I imagined that Mitsuhide’s was longer, fuller, and full of enough angst for three seasons of a K-drama.

“Besides, there were so many people in the woods that night. I figured someone else must have seen him too, and if so, you were bound to figure things out without me.” Whoops, nearly outed Sasuke there. As I wanted to get away from this line of questioning, I asked, “What do you plan to do about Shojumaru? Motonari.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Watch him. See if he makes a mistake. Find out if he has any weaknesses and exploit them. For the moment, de Sousa still seems to be a key here. Hideyoshi met with de Sousa. If I can prove a stronger connection between him and Motonari, it would give me a lever to press. If Motonari is involved, it makes the situation political. They could be hostages instead of slaves. If Motonari has… executed them already… he would have taunted Nobunaga about that.” Aside from the intake of breath on the word ‘execute’ Mitsuhide sounded measured and calm. There was a grim set to lips though, and I was sure that inside, he was anything but calm.

I understood. Hostages were easier to locate than slaves – but the political implications made the situation more desperate. “What are they like?” The question popped out. A personal question, unrelated to our business, or our contract. I wanted the answer anyway. “Lord Hideyoshi and Lady Mai. What are they like?”

Why did I feel the need to move the conversation into personal revelations? I just… possibly was putting off returning to a room that still contained the shadow of a nightmare.

He poured himself another drink, thus finishing that second bottle. “Hideyoshi is Nobunaga’s right hand man. He’s a good man… idealistic… devoted… passionate… honest. An all around pain in the ass.”

The abrupt change in description caught me off guard and I laughed.

Mitsuhide looked up at the sound. “You don’t smile very often.”

Oh God. Please don’t tell me I have resting bitch face. “Um… what? Should I?”

He waved the comment away. “Dear me, no. Not if you don’t feel like it. It wasn’t meant as a criticism. For what is needed, your face is completely appropriate.”

Oh well, yes. Every girl’s dream is to be described as completely appropriate. Not that I care if that is how Mitsuhide sees me. Still. Completely appropriate. I felt like sulking for no good reason. “I don’t trust smilers. The man who tried to kill me was like that.” I pictured Iekane with that ever-present smile and couldn’t hold back a shiver at how badly he had fooled me.

Mitsuhide must have misinterpreted that shiver, for he took off his outer robe and handed it to me. Yeesh. If we stayed up much later, he would be naked.

Which would be bad. Of course. I erased the mental image that was forming in my brain, and simply cuddled myself into that robe. “And… Lady Mai?”

“Completely devoted to Hideyoshi and his dreams. At a look, the two of them can enter a world where they are the only two inhabitants. Hand me that bottle.” He gestured to an unopened bottle of sake that sat at the far edge of the desk.

Really? He had brought out three bottles of sake intending to drink them all? But it wasn’t my place to question his habits, and I doubted this indulgence was normal for him anyway, so whatever he wanted to wallow over, was his business. I gave him the bottle. “It’s nice that they found each other.” Hopefully whether they were, they were being held together… and well, hopefully their relationship wasn’t being used against them.

“He tried not to want her… but with Mai, that’s not possible. He believed that Nobunaga wanted her for himself, and Hideyoshi is nothing if not self-sacrificing. The man would work himself until he dropped from exhaustion if no one stopped him.” A fond smile crept across his face, and suddenly Mitsuhide looked years younger. “And then he would still find time to scold everyone else.”

To be honest it sounded like Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi had a lot in common. Or maybe I was the only person that Mitsuhide had ever scolded. I burrowed deeper into the robe, letting the smells of sandalwood and cinnamon envelope me. At this time, in this hour, they were comforting smells. “Does he scold Mai too?”

“Sometimes. If she works too hard. He can’t help it. It’s in his nature to mother everyone. Though Mai at least can get him to rest.” That smile lingered on his face. It was not his normal smirk or the grin he used when he was teasing me. I don’t think he was looking at anything in the room. Or anyone.

Does he realize that his voice always softens and catches when he mentions her?

Maybe I didn’t want to hear anything about Mai after all. Not from him. It was too late now. He was in a reflective mood now and there was no stopping the flow of words.

“Mai is the most idealistic person you will ever meet. Yet, as she much as passionately despises war, she’ll leap into any fight to defend her friends or an innocent bystander, or… even me.” It sounded like he might have been recalling a specific incident.

“I’m having trouble imagining that you ever needed to be defended.” Or wanted to be for that matter. “Who dared?”

“I dared, in fact. I needed to appear to be working for Kennyo, and I carefully constructed matters to make myself look like a traitor. But Mai cut through the entire charade by refusing to believe I was guilty.” That fond smile again. He had the same note in his voice when talking about her that Sasuke did. “And the evidence of my guilt was overwhelming – I ought to know, I manufactured it myself. With my reputation, it would have been more than enough to condemn me. But she and Hideyoshi never doubted my innocence.”

“Well, to be honest, I would have a hard time accepting your guilt too. I mean, ok, I don’t like you, but anyone with eyes and a logically functioning brain can tell you’re loyal to the Oda.” Even as I said it, I wondered if it was still true that I didn’t like him.

He blinked a couple of times, before that teasing expression reappeared. “What a pity. I believe I have treated you perfectly well. I am a very likeable fellow.”

Nope. Still hate him.

The fifth thing I hate about Mitsuhide – his ego.

“Although I suppose it’s flattering that you too would defend my innocence. Flattering. But foolish.” Whatever funk he had been in seemed to be fading away. He tapped my nose. “Have you forgotten that you’re my prisoner?”

If I were being honest, it had been a fairly benign prison, given that I still figured I could escape if I really needed to. “Don’t worry. I think you’re capable of a great many morally grey things. But in service to a Nobunaga’s cause… not for personal gain.”

Once again he rubbed his thumb across the bruise on his knuckles. “For this cause there must be someone willing to take on the burden of evil. And someone must be the light to my dark. That has always been Hideyoshi. It’s a delicate balance we make up – Nobunaga needs him, his honesty, as much he needs someone to carry out the missions that no one speaks about. Someone to interrogate--” he reached over again and lifted my chin so that I was looking right into those golden eyes. “Is that what this has been? An interrogation? Looking for a weakness in your captor?”

Fighting the urge to jerk away, I forced my eyes to stay on his. “Always.” I just wanted to know more about you. This was not a conversational path I wanted to follow, so I shrugged. “Making conversation. Trying to chase away my own nightmares.”

 “Have they been chased?” He let go of me. “For I know that if Hideyoshi were here at this moment, he would tell us both to go to bed now.” It was a dismissal. “And to clean our teeth first.”

I stood up.

He did not.

“He would be correct… in both. You should go to sleep.” I stumbled on trying to figure out if I should call him by name. I never had. “Lord Mitsuhide.”

The eyebrow went up. “Will you escort me to my bed? It’s not too late to renegotiate.” But the words had no bite, and he finally stood up as well.

“To your door.” Somehow it felt like our relationship had shifted. Not as far as to say that we were friends. But past prisoner and keeper. Vassal and lord, I suppose, would be the best way to describe it.

Maybe he had been thinking along the same lines, for he said, “Planning to take on Kyubei’s role?”

He took my arm, out of habit, I think, and I walked him up the stairs. He was completely steady – I supposed he truly did have an enormously high tolerance for alcohol, for the only difference between his behavior tonight and the night he taught me how to pick a lock was a bit more candor in his conversation. Even with that, I imagined that he had only told me things that he was ok with me knowing, things I could have learned on my own.

But I was learning to pick up on what was not said… and though he had not said it, I had discovered that he was in love with Mai.

As promised, I walked him to the doorway of his room and stopped at the threshold. He turned to look at me, playfully tugged on my ponytail, much like a mischievous child would, then without a word, went inside.

I slid shut his door, then returned to my own room, and lit one small lantern to serve as a night light. Tonight I felt I needed it, not only to chase away the shadows of the past, but any odd daydreams for the future.

I had a job to do. Many jobs, it felt like. Too many people had already disappeared. I would not lose myself as well.

Damn it… I forgot to give him his socks and kimono back.

@bestbryn @selenacosmic @lorei-writes @akitsuneswife @tele86 @lyds323

[samurailoveballadhistory]

The context in SLBP is different, but the whole plot is hilarious when compared to the history.

The Oda in real life knows damn well who Kobayakawa Takakage is. He was the contact person from the Mouri side when the Oda and the Mouri were still friends. Even if maybe it was never made known to the Oda that Takakage is one of Motonari's sons, the Oda side still knows he's someone representing the Mouri clan.

If somehow the Oda side doesn't know Takakage's full name due to the courtesies of the time period (the polite way to address someone by using their surnames or titles or aliases), they should still know that "Kobayakawa" is associated with Mouri.

Takakage and Hideyoshi frequently exchange letters. In fact, transcripts (and/or the actual artefacts) of Hideyoshi's letters addressed to Takakage exist, and you can read them in the Japanese national archives. The responses from Takakage sadly has been lost.

Also, maybe this is a new writer who were never briefed about the other routes, because MC being amazed at this is very strange:

How many times have we seen Hideyoshi just casually clowning around in front of and to Nobunaga's face and nobody cares? Toshiie and old man Shibata were also kind of casual with Nobunaga, even if they won't shove him around like Kageharu does with Takakage.

[rwfanficrw]

Meeting Cye’s Mom for Lunch

Depending how you view Mrs. Mouri, this will either be OOC or in character. Their relationship is complicated in my stories. After her husband died, she blamed Cye for it and it just went downhill.

“Well, I see someone left his manners at home.”

Rowen lifted his eyes off his plate to see Cye’s mother directing the comment to Cye. He clenched his other hand tightly into a fist doing his best not to react. Cye told him he could handle his mother and so he was going to let him.

“Mother, I already told you. I can’t eat as much as I used to. You understand how it is-“

“We don’t have the same affliction. Men don’t fall for things like this. Women are like delicate flowers, one wrong gust of wind and we fall apart.”

It was hard for Rowen not to roll his eyes at that one. From what he’d seen and who he met, none of the Mouri Clan women were “fragile” or “delicate flowers”.

“Regardless, I can’t eat right now. I promised you that I’d come sit with you during lunch and talk a bit. You wanted to meet Rowen and so I brought him.” Cye did his best to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “We’re here now and we’re having lunch.”

“He’s having lunch.” She stated glaring at him. “You are just sitting here. I offered to host you and pay for your meal and-“

“Mrs. Mouri, he can’t eat right now. If he does, he’ll just throw it back up.” Rowen interjected getting glares from both sides.

“Hmph.” She shook her head still not pleased. Her hand shook as she reached out for her drink.

Rowen tilted his eyes watching her then silently pushes her the salt, “You’re low on Sodium.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. His voice didn’t waver as she glared sharply at him. “I can shake some on a spoon but you gotta eat some. Cye gets like this several times a day.”

“You dare to tell me about my own body?!”

“Am I wrong? That tea ain’t helpin’ either. You need one of the electrolyte drink things. They don’t taste the best but they help.”

Cye just hung his head slightly embarrassed but he didn’t know why. What Rowen said wasn’t a lie.. it just.. now it came across like he couldn’t’ take care of himself. He secretly wet oen of his fingers before swiping the edge of his plate where he had poured some salt for himself and licked it off unable to look up.

“Young man, you do not tell a sick old lady what she should or shouldn’t do. I don’t even know you.”

“Rowen Hashiba. I’m from Osaka but born in New York.” He said dryly grinning as he sits back in his chair crossing his arms. “I’m dating your lovely son over here.”

“ROWEN!!” Cye sat up straight shoving the other in the arm as best he could. “M-Mother I …” He was mortified that she knew until he met eyes with Rowen then smiled weakly. “…t-that is no lie..just-“

Sitting up that fast had left him dizzy. His blood pressure had already been high with the nervousness of eating with his mother and being unable to eat. His vision started to go dark and he wanted to warn Rowen but his body wouldn’t move.

He was going to faint right here in front of his mother.

“Yeah we’ve been datin’ for about six months and-“

Cye fell to the side going limp, the chair tipping slightly. Rowen’s eyes widened and he reached out steadying the chair then caught the smaller body as it pitched forward. He sighed looking around nervously as he supported Cye’s head against his shoulder. “W-Woah, okay buddy, I gotcha.. I gotcha…”

He couldn’t tell whether Cye’s mother was upset, shocked, angry, worried.. she was emotionless. “Hey can you wet a napkin and hand it over?”

The old lady just stared at him not moving.

“Look lady, I know you’re just bein’ stubborn over there. Your son needs a wet compress if you want him to come back faster. Otherwise, there is no tellin’ how long we’ll be waitin’ it out. Would you rather him wake up now or wait and possibly cause a scene.”

This time she huffed but followed directions before handing it over. He took his gratefully then pressed it on Cye’s collarbone, “Come on buddy…now is not the place to fall asleep.”

A few seconds later a moan is heard and Cye’s eyes fluttered but didn’t open. “There we go, we’ve got movement.” Rowen let out a sigh of relief but didn’t move. He could feel Cye trying to move his body and reached down guiding one of the wandering hands to his shirt and the other to his arm. “I’m here. You’re at a restaurant with me and your mom.”

Mrs. Mouri only looked annoyed at the scene in front of her she was forced to be apart of. She looked down at her food, “I believe I’ve had enough of this. Cye stop making a scene and sit up straight or I’ll make you do it.”

“Over my dead body.”

“Then you hurry it up. This is embarrassing. I can’t very well call for the check if he is like this. What will people think?” She hisses.

“The same thing I am of why you aren’t helpin’.”

“I refuse to encourage this behavior. He has no reason to do this except to make a scene and I’ve had enough.” She starts to stand.

“He has a fucking medical condition, what more do you want lady!? He’s been doing his best to hide this from you but there is only so much he can do before his body gives out.”

“You’re very vulgar.”

“You don’t know the half of it. Where are you going?”

“Leaving. Since he doesn’t want to spend time with me.”

“HE FAINTED. He doesn’t have control over this what don’t you understand?!” Rowen’s voice raised a bit louder and started to get the attention of a few other people in the restaurant.

“Yes, your party is over here.” A waitress walked a familiar face over.

“Oh Sayako, thank goodness can you talk some sense into your brother, he-“

Sayako pushed past her mother dropping her purse at her feet before kneeling where Rowen was holding Cye up. “How long has he been out?”

“Way too long. I tried to cold compress on his collar bone.”

“Have you tried his wrists?”

“Don’t have enough hands. Someone wouldn’t help.”

Sayako stands glaring at her mother before pulling her hair into a low pony tail. She then picks up her purse and cleans her hands with antibacterial then reaches into her mothers water pulling out two ice cubes.

“SAYAKO!”

“You’re not drinking it. If I’m not mistaken you’re leaving.” She turns and presses each ice cube against her brother’s wrists watching worried. “Come on, Cye… you can do it.” She encourages slightly hoping to get two unfocused eyes looking at her and Rowen.

The hands that were gripping randomly started to get an actual grip and Rowen sighed relieved, “He’s comin’ back for real this time.” He looked up and saw Cye’s mother had disappeared leaving them behind. “She really left..”

Sayako shook her head, “Don’t worry about her right now. If you do, she’s won. That’s what she wants. Let’s focus on Cye.”

Rowen let his hand drop from Cye’s head but hovered nervously, he was relieved Cye could hold it up on his own now. “Hey.. welcome back.” He picked up the glass of water Cye had been nursing the entire meal and held the straw for him. “Sip at it slowly.”

Sayako watches hovering over the both of them. She sees his eyes move to her and she smiles, “Why hello there.”

“When did you?”

“About 5 minutes ago.” She takes a seat at the other end of the table, his gaze followed her. She saw his face drop. “No, don’t you dare blame yourself. You did nothing wrong.”

“I-I couldn’t stop it from happening.. I tried a-and..” His hands started to shake as he blinked tears out of his eyes. He felt hands go over his and his glass of water was removed and sat down before a warm hand held his.

“Cye look at me.” Rowen moved his face until he met up with Cye. “You can’t control how often or when you faint. You know this. You can’t always predict it. The doctor has confirmed this.”

“But I scared my mother away and she wanted to have lunch and-“

“You didn’t scare anyone away. If she left because she was scared, she’s a coward. You’re her son, Cye. She’s a mom, she faces scary things all the time when it comes to you and Sayako. A real mother would have stayed.”

“D-Don’t say that … she is a real mother.. s-she just…” He trails off biting his lip. He falls back into his chair, Rowen not letting him fall back too hard. “…doesn’t believe me. She thinks I’m bloody faking it.”

Sayako sighs, “I honestly don’t think she’s ready to admit it, Cye. Until she is, it won’t matter. That’s why I was hesitant for you to meet her for lunch to begin with.”

Rowen scoots his chair closer and pulls Cye into a slow hug. “Come here. You did your best. She was just trying to get you to have a fight with her. I was proud of you for not givin’ in.”

“You certainly didn’t.. you and she started to just go off.”

Rowen grins proudly, “What can I say? I was raised in America, we don’t take a lot of that crap sitting down. Besides, it got the attention off of you and onto me.”

[ahanenohi]

float away with the sea

This was supposed to be a simple mission. Keiji certainly did not expect it to throw his entire life beneath the waves.

or: my entries for this round of the @flash-exchange , created for the lovely @cottonfluffballofdoom .

this is a dual entry containing a rough sketch and a short flashfic below the cut (700 words)

story below the cut.

The first tides of the day brought upon fierce waves, throwing themselves upwards and onto the workers’ docks, dousing the sandals of Japan’s most famous wild child and his companions.

“So, debrief me,” Keiji started with a lazy smile, turning to the man next to him-- a trusted vassal of his uncle’s. “What are we here for, again?”

The man gave him an unimpressed look. “My Lord has an ongoing negotiation with the Mouri clan. You were asked to coordinate the final details.”

“Ah, yes. Right.” Keiji grinned. Finally, he was being trusted with such an important task. 

Keiji hummed and noticed a man atop a ship. Tanned and lithe, with a countenance that Keiji had only seen in fellow warriors. He indicated the stranger with a gesture that was both grand and playful.

“I suppose that’s our contact, eh? C’mon, let’s go greet him.” 

The vassal nodded stiffly and Keiji called out to the man as they approached.

“Ah! The Maeda delegation! Welcome,” The guy laughed. “I assume you’re here for the trade negotiations?” 

Keiji gave his assent and they got to work, discussing into the late hours of the afternoon.

“It was wonderful doing business with you,” His contact smiled pleasantly. “Our discussion was quite fruitful. Now, as for your uncle’s special request… Men?”

It all happened so suddenly. At first it was an ambush. And then, it was a betrayal as his own companions worked with the attackers and threw him overboard with the anchor.

It was all a ploy to get rid of him, he realized belatedly, struggling as he sank. As he inhaled more water with every kick, he began to notice something.

Something moving towards him. There was no chance that figure was an ordinary person.

They got close enough for him to take in their long hair, their horrified eyes and their… claws?

Claws that slashed across his neck, leaving blood in the water. He pressed his hands to his neck, desperate to survive. If he could stop the blood flow and make it back to the surface…

The figure tilted their head in an almost confused manner and simply slashed again, this time at some point on the sides of his ribcage. He gasped and swallowed water. 

This is it, he thought. This is how I’ll die. It does not feel the same as the way he’d imagined death.

The first sensation he felt is that he wasn't drowning but breathing. How was he breathing? He’d been deep under the water for ages now, the sea must have filled his lungs-- ah. He wasn’t breathing through his lungs anymore, was he? Instead he felt the distinct sensation of air coming out of his neck and sides-- from the same wounds that figure had left.

The second sensation he felt was that his legs, his face, his everything, all of it was hurting to an agonizing degree. With a final bubbled sob, he slipped into darkness.

---

“Holy Cats! You’re awake?!” Keiji startled as he looked for the owner of the voice just now, readying himself for a fight. “Calm down! My name is Mai, I’m the mermaid who turned you!”

“Turned..?” Keiji asked, eyeing the woman who had come in. He took notice of the light pink fins and tail attached to her body, almost as if she were half-fish. Mai simply pointed at his… legs?

His kimono had been neatly cut and hemmed with what looked like seaweed just below his hips. But underneath that… was a fishtail, one of rich reds and oranges. Keiji paused, concentrating on moving it. It almost seemed like flickering fire as it caught the light. Keiji lifted his hands, noting that they were now tipped with claws of the same color. He pressed his palms to his neck and felt… gills flare on his neck as he breathed heavily.

Mai gave him a guilty smile. “I’m sorry. I know from experience how much the transformation hurts… but you were tied to that rope and drowning. It was the only way to save you.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, catching him as he fell forward, shocked. “I’ll help you adjust. Just as long as you stay with me.”

[daeva-agas]

I’m so damn curious. IS MOTONARI STILL AORUND OR NOT. Kikkawa Okitsune, the old man over there, historically died long before Motonari did (despite being younger). Motonari is such a long-lived grandpa. 

Maybe I should read the event with Motoharu in it to see if they confirm if Motonari is still alive or not... Like, in the previous set, I only got to see the Shimadzu people, I didn’t manage to get the Mouri boys.

I love this (adoptive) father-son dynamic tho LMAO. Okitsune wants to make Motoharu the next clan head, but Motoharu is such a brat he’s sometimes Kind Of Nervous about it. 

I have bias for Motoharu thanks to the Hiroshima Bushoutai GRRRRRR I thought I’m not usually swayed by fangirl bias, but I guess I’m still a normal human being after all...

[blogyogawp]

Here comes the Detective Boys and the Amazoness Quartet!

The alliance between the Detective Boys and the Amazoness Quartet occurs when Ayumi Yoshida, Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya and Genta Kojima asked Professor Agasa to contact the Detective Conan Couples and the Sailor Moon Couples. As their promise, Professor Agasa calls CereCere, PallaPalla, VesVes and JunJun to disloyal Queen Nehelenia, Amazon Trio, Zirconia and the Dead Moon Circus. With their betrayal from Zirconia, Luna and Artemis suggests Professor Agasa now unites the Detective Boys and the Amazoness Quartet into one group: Detective Boys-Amazoness Quarter Alliance. The members are Ayumi Yoshida, Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya and Genta Kojima from Detective Conan alongside CereCere, PallaPalla, VesVes and JunJun from Sailor Moon SuperS. They often come when Sonoko Suzuki, Makoto Kyogoku, Usagi Tsukino and Mamoru Chiba, Shinichi Kudo, Ran Mouri, Rei Hino, Jadeite, Heiji Hattori, Kazuha Toyama, Minako Aino, Kunzite, Kaito Kuroba, Aoko Nakamori, Makoto Kino, Nephrite, Saguru Hakuba, Akako Koizumi, Ami Mizuno, Zoisite, Shuichi Akai, Akemi Miyano, Setsuna Meiou, Taiki Kou, Masumi Sera, Eisuke Hondou, Haruka Tenou, Seiya Kou, Soshi Okita, Momiji Ooka, Michiru Kaiou, Yaten Kou, Shiho Miyano, Rei Furuya, Hotaru Tomoe and Saphir from the hands of Black Organization and Black Organization, Black Moon Clan and Shadow Galactica.

[kon-konk]

You know, I feel like fictional swords should pull on the fact that real historical swords sometimes just have regular person names.

Like, yeah, there's a lot with fantastical/badass/fancy names (ex: Gokotai (五虎/goko meaning "five tigers" and 退/tai meaning "to drive away"), Mikazuki Munechika (三日月/mikazuki meaning "crescent moon" for the designs on the blade created during the forging process and 宗近/Munechika being the smith that forged it, this is the most beautiful of the Tenka Goken), Joyeuse (meaning "joyful" or "joyous" in French, this was reportedly the sword of Charlemagne and was used in French coronation ceremonies for nearly 600 years))

But sometimes they're just named after the family who owned them or the area they're from or the smith (like Mouri Toushiro (which is named after the Mouri clan) or Akashi Kuniyuki (named after the Akashi domain its owners were in control of and Rai Kuniyuki, the smith that forged it))

Basically what I'm trying to say is that there should be more fictional swords that have people names.

[jfvnknvdngdcbj]

Mouri and Houjou clans of the Empire of Japan

And the Nishigawan Dojo Battleground in Seattle Kingdom and paid intl a Generational Illuminati Society that is in public Dominion development. Building a personal bureaucracy to manage employees we ial finances over social cintracts based on Alexandrianist and Sinonic Principles.

[reccyls]

wow i have gotten behind on these. anyway, chapters 5-7 (chapter divisions may be a little vague because I can't quite remember what happens in each)

Chapter 5

Kicho seems to be trusting the MC more, just a little bit. While he's still keeping her under surveillance, it's not personal anymore. He goes off on business trips while leaving her to his underlings to watch. He informs her that he's intending to hold a big party/ball at his merchant house in a few weeks, and he has a lot of preparations to do so he'll be traveling a lot. But first, he does take her out on a shopping trip with him, as thanks for her hard work as his assistant. Well, that's what he says, anyway. But essentially they go out in Sakai and have a shopping date.

This is when Sasuke sees the MC. He and the rest of the Kasugayama Crew have been keeping an eye on the situation, and Yukimura had reported news about a strange woman from the Oda side being sent as a spy to Sakai. Sasuke, worried that it might be the MC, agrees to also go and infiltrate Sakai.

While Kicho is away on a business trip, Sasuke pretends to be a deliveryman (courier, if we're putting it in less anachronistic terms, although he still announces himself like he was a modern day deliveryman working for Sarutobi Express Deliveries, what a loveable dweeb) and infiltrates Kicho's mansion to get in touch with MC. They catch up a bit, discuss her situation, and he drops some knowledge about Kicho--the whole, "supposed to be a woman known as Nohime" stuff. And he also offers to act as her go-between with Mitsuhide so she can pass on the information she's learned: how namely that Kicho is working with Motonari (who was supposed to be allied with the Oda via the Mouri clan), and that he's buying up weapons in huge numbers.

Once while Kicho is away, MC goes to discuss party preparations with another businessman. However, the rival businessman drops the nice act pretty quickly once he figures out that MC has a rather trusted position as Kicho's assistant, and begins to try and threaten her to get her to spill business secrets that he can use against Kicho. She refuses, and Kicho soon shows up himself, having concluded his business early. Pointing a pistol at the businessman, he gets him to stop threatening the MC with a knife, but just as Kicho is checking on MC to make sure she's okay, the businessman flees and locks MC and Kicho in the small and dark storage room together.

This is very very bad. Kicho begins to have a panic attack: hyperventilating, shaking, breaking out in a cold sweat. He just says, "I want to live, I don't want to die." MC is at a loss about what to do. She's never seen Kicho shaken like this before.

However, rescue comes in the form of Motonari breaking down the door. Together, he and MC get Kicho back to his merchant house and laid out on his bed.

Eventually Kicho recovers. And he's aware that the MC has questions. Once, he asked her questions about her life; now, if she wants, he'll answer her questions about his.

Chapter 6

Kicho admits to having claustrophobia--he specifically uses the full term for it (閉所恐怖症), noting that it's a word he came across in the future. Due to his childhood, he responds very badly to being locked up in small dark spaces.

And as for the reason for that: He was a twin--he had an older twin sister called Nohime. Recall that people of this time don't look kindly on twins, and they also believe that twins of different sexes are even worse than normal twins. Rather than being killed, Kicho's parents instead decided that they would just lock Kicho away in a room for his childhood. To the rest of the world, "Kicho" would not exist. In case anyone ever came into his room, he would pretend to be Nohime; he would be made to wear makeup and such to sell the story even more. Aside from his family and the maids that came by his room to give him food every so often, nobody would know that he existed. His entire world was that room. Nothing else.

It worked, up to a point. Nohime married a man, but her husband died. Out of grief, she took her own life. That meant Kicho was let out of his room and made to pretend to be Nohime. That one also kind of worked, up until the Oda clan asked for an arranged marriage between Nohime and Nobunaga to seal an alliance. Kicho's father had to come clean about everything, but Nobunaga decided to take Kicho on as a vassal anyway. As part of the Oda forces, Kicho worked with Nobunaga and the others, sharing their dream to create a peaceful world together.

But, why did that all change? It all happened while Kicho was in the future.

One day, he came across a boy who had killed himself because he was ostracized/bullied at school. He says he understands that people have struggles mentally and emotionally, and sometimes they are too heavy to move on from. But, the world should never be a place where people are driven to think that suicide is the only option they have left. In the Sengoku period, people got caught up in battles, people starved to death. But they still had a burning desire to live. If the future is a world where even children see suicide as an escape, then he wants to ensure it never comes to pass.

Chapter 7

Sasuke comes to visit again and says that he and Mitsuhide have met up to exchange information. He also says that he has heard news that the Oda are setting out in order to capture Kicho. This means that the merchant house is about to become a very dangerous place, so he and Mitsuhide have made plans for the MC to escape. It'll be the night of the party.

Though she feels conflicted about it, MC agrees. She's made Kicho an outfit for the occasion and goes to give it to him; when she arrives at his room, she discovers that he actually has a gift for her too: a dress. They each get ready for the party and go to dance together (Kicho knows how to ballroom dance, apparently)

This is the outfit:

As the party is coming to a close, the MC steps outside for some fresh air and reflection. That is when Kicho arrives, saying that he had been looking for her...

...to confront her with the knowledge that he has suspected her of being an Oda spy for a while now. He didn't have confirmation until just then, watching the MC's reaction to his accusation, but he had suspected her since he told her of her true origins. When he asks why she had been sent, she says that she wanted to go because she wanted to live--rather than just surviving, drifting and getting by in life in the Sengoku period, she wanted to do something. After a pause, Kicho says that he understands and respects her desire to live... but raises a pistol anyway.

Only, it turns out that he was not aiming at her, but instead at someone hiding in the bushes: Mitsuhide. Mitsuhide emerges with his own pistol aimed at Kicho, leaving them in a standoff. After exchanging some pointed barbs that makes it seem as though someone is going to start shooting, it ends with Kicho giving an ultimatum: if the MC betrays the Oda and remains here on his side, then he'll let Mitsuhide leave.

Now, were you wondering where the "changing the past causes MC to experience side effects" part of the Act 2 routes were? Well, here they are! As MC agonizes over what the right thing to do in this situation is, she starts feeling dizzy and finds that it's suddenly hard to breathe. Then she collapses, to both Mitsuhide and Kicho's worry, and passes out.

But not before hearing 1, and only one, gunshot.

Kicho ch1 p1 summary

About 2.5 months into the MC's time travel adventures, Sasuke drops some disturbing news: he's been tracking the wormhole, and he can no longer find any trace of it. Her ticket back to the present has vanished.

Up until this point, the MC hasn't really been getting involved with the Sengoku era. She's not someone from this time. So why act irresponsibly and get herself entangled in the past? She's leaving soon anyway.

But with Sasuke's news, that's all been taken from her. She can't go home again. 500 years in the future, MC was a woman with a purpose and a dream: to become a fashion designer and pursue her passions. But here, in the past? The position of Oda princess and chatelaine were handed to her, but they're empty titles when she's just been drifting through Sengoku life. She is nobody. She has no purpose.

When the attack on the tenshu comes and the war council to discuss the Oda's next steps begins, things aren't looking good. The Oda forces need intelligence: the weapon that destroyed the tenshu was unlike anything they've ever seen before, they need to know what's there and what's coming so they can plan. However, Kicho knows all their tricks. If they were to send a spy, he'd sniff them out instantly.

But... if the Oda forces needed a no-name nobody to infiltrate Kicho's manor to get information... well, there's someone here who has basically been a ghost for the past few months, isn't there? Someone who didn't really go out, get involved in any Oda business, or have any connections that could be investigated...

So yes, the MC volunteers to go spy on Kicho for the Oda forces. If her life doesn't have meaning, she'll make it have meaning.

[mahotoai]

-- RP: @yugenronin

yugenronin:

"Not every meetin' or fight is with that bastard. If ya don't want to see him, I stand by it, ya don't have to. What happened there... the only unsightly thing was Mouri Motonari. A lord shouldn't behave like that. Not toward his own people or anyone else's," Motochika insisted, hesitantly patting her shoulder. Sometimes he felt like she might still claw or bite him, but most of the time... Hasumi merely amazed him. "He made himself look bad. Maybe if ya went right for his throat when he insulted ya like that, it would've been a bad look for me, but he would have earned that response. Plus, ya didn't. It went better than it could have, that I know for sure. Not to mention, it'll take a lot more than a justified lashing out at Motonari to damage my reputation." Not wanting to fight a war he didn't have to fight was the extent of Motochika's concerns about Motonari and what the other oni lord thought of him. If they could simply live without every crossing paths again, he wouldn't complain, but their provinces were next to each other so they needed to figure out something. Still... if Hasumi had tried to attack Motonari... Motochika might have applauded her. He shouldn't, he knew that, but part of him wished they had knocked the other lord flat on his pompous ass.

Hasumi offered an amused huff at Motochika's words and urged her horse on. "... Well, for what it's worth... what I want and what is needed are two different things. I did what was needed, and that's what matters." She points out. That being said, her blue eyes turn to look over at Motochika. "... Can you tell me more about the Mouri Army? If you're both of Oni Clans... why do you live separately? Why fight? Your species is so rare as is anyway."

At least that's how she saw and heard about it. That being said, she asked from a place of innocence on the matter, not out of disrespect. She didn't want Motochika to feel like she was misunderstanding something.

[onnajosshumiwa]

[OC] Sugi-no-Ōkata

Back when I entered the fandom for the first time, I've met many amazing people who brought me into the magical world of Senbasa OCs.

Sugi-no-Ōkata, Motonari's foster mother, was my first OC I've ever created in this fandom soon after watching Mōri Motonari's Taiga Drama. At that time I was trying to build my own fanon, encouraged by all the creativity of the fandom and there is when she was born.

Despite being Motonari's polar opposite, Sugi's sparkling and carefree personality never clashes with Motonari's plans. She seems very supportive, and often holds the fort in his absence, but most of the time, she has to pretend she didn't see his cold and cynical behavior towards his own men.

Motonari on the other hand tries his best to hide the bitter truth to her, being one of the fewest people he cherishes. She is family, after all, and has been taking care of him when he needed her the most.

She is the one who's responsible for Motonari's obsession over the sun goddess, being a devoted believer herself, despite her approach to the faith is less "dramatic" compared to her son.

I'm glad I could make a decent artwork for her! And I hope I'll be more consistent on the Mouri Clan fanon in the future, there's still so much I'd like to share!

[blue-and-art]

Tried aging up Motonari a bit; here he’s in his forties. Grew his hair out, but also grew bags under his eyes because he’s tired of all this nonsense. The burn scar on his neck is actually much bigger and goes down to his chest/torso, courtesy of a fight with Motochika. The scar on his face is from his final face-off with my version of Aiou Mototsuna. He still wears his normal armor to battle.

….I kinda wanna try some other age-ups if anyone wants to make a request!

[samurailoveballadhistory]

As mentioned in a previous post, the Mouri and Murakami weren’t using cannons. They were using bombs. Hand-held explosives that very much resembles the cartoon emoji bombs:

Ships at the time were wooden, so explosives would naturally cause much damage on the ships and the fire would send the troops into panic.

To mitigate this issue, Nobunaga ordered new warships to be built. European witnesses recounted that these ships were ridiculously huge, about the size of Portuguese carracks (maybe 25 m long), and also equipped with “heavy artillery”. As they had noted his amazement due to the fact that the “artillery” was rare, it’s believed that these weren’t just regular guns, but cannons. 

An account described the ship to be “iron" (plated) warships, though because there’s no eyewitness accounts that verified it, whether it’s true or not is debatable (the European witnesses did not mention iron plating on the ships).    

An illustration depicting how Nobunaga’s new warships compared to the standard ships of the time: 

[theworldaswedontknowit]

Akechi Mitsuhide: The Thirteen Day Shogun

Akechi Mitsuhide is one of the most famous men in Japanese history, even if it is just for his treachery against his lord. Many note, that there is little known about the man, though I doubt this was due to his character and more because he was, in the end, the loser and history is always written by the winners. I can guarantee that if it was the case that everyone was recorded, unbiased, then I would have a lot to write. That’s not the case.

I’m going to put my opinion on his portrayals in media here, it would ruin the beautiful ending I’ve written. I’m a writer rather than anything more than an amateur historian. Sorry. Anyways.

Off the bat, I was never really a fan of the Sengoku Basara. Perhaps I would have enjoyed him more if I had come across Basara first and not yet come across the SW version of Mitsuhide. The Basara version of him is a psychotic masochist and sadist. He blows my mind, part of me wants to like him because I enjoy eccentric characters like that but Basara Mitsuhide is too much all at once. Though, I did like that they included the Tenkai myth, especially as they carried on the crazy to control and influence the weak willed Hideaki, it was an interesting character dynamic that was shown to be a horrendous ordeal for Hideaki and played its part well.

Samurai Warriors Mitsuhide is an entirely different story. I enjoy his character – he’s gentle and considerate of others. He wants to be acknowledged and admired by Nobunaga, yet never gets it. His betrayal is something I just couldn’t believe, which I like. Samurai Warriors Mitsuhide is just someone I always enjoyed, I decided to play as him first so maybe that influences my choice a little. Still, he’s just someone who’s really well done in the game (and a lot of the characters are in the game, even the ones I don’t particularly like I can agree are well done.) Basically, Mitsuhide is perfect in my eyes.

Until recently, Mitsuhide’s birthdate was asserted to be in 1526, making him 56 when he rebelled however – according to the Samurai archives – there is evidence that points to it being 1528 instead. What evidence this is they don’t mention but I made the point for those who are interested. We do know that Mitsuhide was the son of Akechi Mitsukuni (? – 1538; meaning he died when Mitsuhide was 10/12 years old) who held the Akechi castle in Mino Province, presumably where the family name comes from.

The Akechi, at first, served the Toki clan, who had lost their lands during the Onin wars but had remained vaguely important enough to stick around. This would actually become instrumental to Akechi in his later years as the Akechi were related to the family of the Toki, who claimed descent from Minamoto no Yorimitsu. Claiming descent from a Minamoto was a big ticket to claiming the right to being Shogun.

Originally serving the Saito, possibly being related to Nou-hime – her mother is thought to be Mitsuhide’s aunt(?) but I don’t think there’s any concrete evidence – Mitsuhide would move onto the Asakura. However, it’s pretty safe to assume he was serving Oda Nobunaga as a retainer by 1566 as he was acting as a messenger for the puppet Shogun (or, more romantically, the wandering Shogun), Ashikaga Yoshiaki. This means he served the Oda for at least 16 years so it really does throw it into question exactly why he betrayed Nobunaga.

However, there is actually a big pointer that I think makes a pretty good guess as to why it happened the way it did. The only thing is…it’s a story. Anyway, it goes that Akechi Mitsuhide, eager to have the Hatano submit to Nobunaga did manage to talk Hatano Hideharu into doing so. He did this by promising them safety, a promise that Nobunaga would overturn. With much of the clan still alive, Mitsuhide’s mother was said to be killed in a brutal manner and Mitsuhide would regard Nobunaga with distrust and hate until the end of both their lives. Dramatic and on the brink of fantastical, the story has been traced to the Edo period and we can be assured that it’s not got much truth to it.

However, there is some truth in Mitsuhide continuously being humiliated and insulted by Nobunaga throughout his service. There is one example of this in which Nobunaga grabbed Mitsuhide in a headlock and drummed on his head. It’s also something to consider that  Mitsuhide was older than Nobunaga, by at least 6 years if not more. Even if Nobunaga was extensively more powerful than Mitsuhide, he was still older. It might have done Nobunaga some good to treat his elder with respect.

There was also the additional factor of Mitsuhide being moved from Domain to domain, which is a cumbersome effort looking at how many men Mitsuhide had on his own. Try and imagine having to move everything you own from place to place, all the time without the help of a car and only slow horse carts to pull everything along. Even then, horses were still marginally rare in Japan at the time so you have better luck with donkeys…not that I’d call that luck.

The final theory goes that Mitsuhide was under the influence of a higher power. This isn’t something I personally believe and I think it’s largely disregarded and only used in media. However, I can see the basis for it. In the early 1570s, while fighting the Azai, Oda conducted a massacre of Mt Hiei that killed not only the monks there (who were warrior monks) but also innocent men, women and even children. I believe the estimated dead was 20,000 people. It doesn’t seem that unlikely then, that Mitsuhide decided to wait for the right moment to get revenge on Nobunaga but considering the outrage it caused it would have made more sense to rebel then rather than in 1582, an entire decade later.

As mentioned in the Honnouji post from yesterday, Akechi Mitsuhide would be sent as reinforcements for Hashiba Hideyoushi’s forces fighting the Mouri in the south. Mitsuhide would never reach the Mouri. Instead, he would turn tail and surround Honnouji temple. Calling his immortalised words, the temple was burnt down and the Oda destroyed.

However, Akechi had been banking on too many things to happen that just didn’t. Firstly, Hideyoushi caught wind of what had happened within a few days. Mitsuhide had sent a messenger, intending to ally with the Mouri but the messenger was intercepted by Hideyoushi’s forces. Stealing Akechi’s thunder, he made an alliance with the Mouri himself and they marched on the capital within a few days. It’s impressive considering how far away the two places were.

Mitsuhide had also been relying on alliances he thought he would have. The first was the Hosokawa, which is understandable, his daughter – Tama, or more famously, Gracia – was married to Hosokawa Tadaoki who was the heir to the headship of the clan. The Hosokawa would back out, Gracia confined under house arrest, sensibly believing that joining forces with the Akechi would bring about their destruction. Which it would have done, well played, Hosokawa.

Mitsuhide was also relying on the Mouri’s alliance, which never happened thanks to Hideyoushi, and an alliance with Tsutsui, who had a turbulent relationship with the Oda. It wasn’t enough to bring them to Mitsuhide’s side however and they too left him to fend for himself.

The Battle of Yamazaki would take place on the 2 July, 13 days since Nobuanga’s assassination – hence why I have gone with the name Thirteen Day Shogun. I don’t think Mitsuhide ever did declare himself Shogun but it was the aim of the time for anyone who wanted to rule Japan. Even though Mitsuhide had secured his right side with the 270 meter Tennouzan and the river on his left it took only two hours for his army of 10,000 to be routed. Hideyoushi had an army of 20,000, was secured against the Mouri and Akechi’s two most trusted allies had abandoned him with many more fleeing at the battle.

Ultimately, Mitsuhide would die, fleeing Yamazaki, to Sakamoto which was held by his brother. Either he committed suicide or he was killed by the towns people. His daughter would be brought out of confinement and Tadaoki would take her back at the intervention of Hideyoushi. All of Mitsuhide’s sons were killed or committed suicide and little evidence of them survives to this day. Just as the Akechi had buried the Oda, they lay in the graves beside them.

[selenacosmic]

Hello! If u r still taking in requests I have one for Nobunaga, leyasu,Mitsuhide,Yukimaru,Hideyoshi and lastly Montari ( srry if miss spelled 🥲)

If reader was a Targaryen and has a dragon with her… I have been OBSESSED with House of the Dragon 🐉

Be safe out there 😘

Hello! This is an interesting request! Thank you for the request!

MC who is a Targaryen.

Oda forces.

Nobunaga Oda.

You were definitely different, your hair naturally blond to that tone. You stood out among others, and the way you acted suggested that you had come from an important family. When you did talk about your family, he wondered if you were a foreigner, since he had never heard of such clan before.

The dragon was definitely a shock, though it didn’t scare him. He wondered how useful the dragon would be on a battlefield. He might make the dragon submit to him, and it would work.

Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

You were suspicious, what if you were from an enemy’s clan? He never heard of your family, so he feared that they were a new enemy who would battle against Nobunaga. Though that fear would slowly go away as he learned more about you and your family.

Hideyoshi might faint if he sees the dragon, he would be worried that it could harm people (specially Nobunaga) if it ever got angry. He will trust you to keep the dragon calm and make sure it doesn’t harm anyone.

Mitsuhide Akechi.

He could tell right away that you weren’t a common person, everything about you showed that you were a noble, though it seemed impossible to figure it out from which clan you came from. It made a lot more sense when he learned your family wasn’t in Japan (specially during that era).

He wouldn’t get scared of the dragon, though he might need a few seconds to process the fact that you had a real dragon.

Ieyasu Tokugawa.

He found you suspicious, though Ieyasu wouldn’t try to find out more. He could clearly see that you were from a noble family, which made him keep his eyes on you. He might be less tense around you when he learns more about your family, but will still be suspicious.

The dragon will make him freak out, keep it away from him. He worries that the dragon could cause more trouble than help.

Uesugi-Takeda alliance.

Yukimura Sanada.

He wouldn’t care that much about what family you came from, though your noble attitude made him bicker with you a lot more. You two would find each other bickering more often than expected.

The dragon will make him freak out, Yukimura will get scared of it and doesn’t want it near him. He won’t lie that it was cool that you had a dragon, but he also feared the dragon.

Lone forces.

Motonari Mouri.

He could tell right away that you were from a noble family, that attitude said it all. It was like your family was very important. The problem was, he couldn’t tell from which family you came from. Even after you told him which one it was, he didn’t know about it at all. It wasn’t from Japan or any European country he has been to before. Still, it’s always useful to learn more about it.

The dragon will be a shock, though he doesn’t fear anything. He might even try to attack the dragon if he ever felt threatened by it.

[daeva-agas]

There’s this one letter saying that Nobu’s hellspawn wasn’t in Kyoto with the intention of going to war. So since he only found out about having to go to Chuugoku to fight the Mouri barely a few days before Honnouji, one opinion post said that his brother was supposed to be joining him in Kyoto bringing reinforcements. 

I don’t know where the source for this is. The archive of paper trails didn’t have this part of the story. 

Either way, when news of Honnouji hit, the brother brought his army out, but didn’t enter Azuchi and was wary of the other clans potentially siding with Akechi. But then the Akechi apparently was the one who threw Iga into riot so he had to withdraw to deal with that. 

But. That doesn’t answer why he didn’t join the Yamazaki campaign. He put down the mess in Iga pretty fast apparently, and by the time Yamazaki happened, the paper trail says he’s already squatting in Owari. But why though? 

My Nobuspawn siblings headcanon feels want to say that he went there to evacuate his siblings and also protect Oichi, but I don’t even know.

Also ALSO I dunno if this is my not-clairvoyance acting up again, or if I’d actually read this article before and just completely forgot about it, because I have had the fantasy plot of this guy either about to join his brother in the army, or he just came out alone to visit his brother in Kyoto. 

But. Huh. That’s totally an interesting fodder for my shitpost idea.