#Reckless Youth [ Kippoushi ]

[nobuverse]

"It's not that I can't pay attention. I just don't want to"

[nobuverse]

There were many that might argue it was difficult to keep Kippoushi's attention; that she was little more than a hyperactive child with no sense of respect to anything or anyone. They might have stood in great awe with the way the girl gives her undivided focus to this complete stranger that had caught her interest with a few well chosen words.

"...I knew it. That makes a lot more sense" she gives a nod in confirmation, despite the absurdity of taking his belief at face value.

"Feels good to hear someone else say something like that. I was starting to feel like I was going nuts with everything my dad kept trying to drill into my brain"

One hand rests on the knee of her crossed legs, the displayed at her side for dramatic effect as she imitates him.

"'Girls aren't supposed to learn these things, Kipposhi - they won't be useful to you! Politics and war are a man's job!'"

She lets the palm of her hand settle under her chin with a sigh.

"Getting books on anything I like is already such a pain - and then he gets all sour about the fact that I read them at all! Oh and the judgement-! Ugh. It's like nothing about stuff outside of Japan is worth reading for him! What a boring old man...."

She pauses.

"Him. My dad. Nobuhibe. Not you. You're cool."

...should she really be revealing her identity as his daughter when she was out here by herself and unguarded ( again ) ? Eh. Probably nothing to worry about.

"Vaya... My thoughts... This is not a material condition, it's a social condition imposed on girls and boys, in order to maintain the social reproduction that enforces the mode of that functioning society. The way..." He blinks a few times.

"Uhh... In simple terms, girls and boys are pretty much the same, just as women and men are pretty much the same barring physical differences, which themselves are generalities and not set rules. Nature is not rigid, it's in constant flux, it's fluid. Oh, it's not simple anymore... Anyway, even the concept of gender is another social structure, a fiction, that is used to maintain the hierarchies needed to keep that society functioning, by setting binaries and limitations, so any such roles mean nothing to the individual's experience and therefore can only cause suffering to the individual of that society, a contradiction. Sometimes, many times, girls love reading. My little sisters loved to read storybooks after I taught them. So it's not true, it's a fiction as I said before..." This was not a thought, it was an observation. What was his thought?

"Which is setting up my opinion as...it's another worthless traditional imposition against girls to stunt their intellectual curiosity and prime them for submissive roles in society, so I absolutely despise that notion from the very beginning. Everyone should be able to read."

[nobuverse]

"...I hope I sound that cool when I grow up."

She only got about half of it, but it sounded really awesome. ( She did get the overall message, though! Promise )

[nobuverse]

"So, uh - older me - it's all true? We really did grow up to unite Japan like I'd always dreamed of? Those promises I made weren't just all nonsense after all?"

"They sure weren't! Sure, maybe we didn't unify everything like you and I had hoped - but we sure did an awesome job of setting up everything! I'd think I did a pretty awesome job at it, don't you?"

"Whaha! That's amazing! I never would have imagined I'd ever had the guts and know-how to pull something like that off! Oh, oh - and Kicho's still with you at the end, right? I guess you must have finally confessed to her, huh?"

"Weeeell...not exactly....I mean she stays with us, of course - but I never actually told her how I really feel about her or anything...aha..."

"...w..What?! You're telling me I grow up to conquer most of a nation, revolutionize Japan - but I didn't have the guts to tell the girl we liked that I have a crush on her?! That's BULLSHIT!"

"Gghh....I never really did know when to stop running my mouth as a kid, huh? Now I know how everyone else felt about me..."

[nobuverse]

( I'm gonna be 100 with you guys - this was supposed to be a shitpost but it turned out into a small drabble between one of Kippoushi / Nobunaga's many tutors and her dad. Posting it anyways as a sort of headcanon for how her dad felt about her in general )

"I'm sorry Nobuhibe-sama, I can't teach your daughter. This is a task far beyond my ability."

"Unbelievable. You're the third tutor that's quit in the last three months - can it really be that she is so devoid of intelligence?"

"No. You don't understand, my lord. She has enough of that to spare -too much in fact. Worse yet, she is ambitious."

"A fine trait - if she had been my firstborn son. But it will not do for her when she is a woman. Is there no advice you can give me on how to crush it?"

"The best I can offer is that you should pray it becomes nothing but a fleeting trait of her childhood days; that it disappears when she inherits the name of Nobunaga."

"Is that all? I implore you, don't restrain yourself if you think a more disciplinary measure would be effective"

"I'm afraid beating her would get you nowhere, if that is what you imply. A child like that does not shrivel and shrink in the face of adversity, no matter how extreme. It would only make her angrier. More likely to rebel against you. She is already convinced the world is not just; you would only make it more so."

"I see. And if it does not not quell with age, as we hope?"

"Do not try and marry her off. I'm certain she will usurp her husband; she will lead the people to war against you. If I can suggest anything, it is to try and forget she your daughter altogether. Your firstborn son, on the other hand, is a brilliant mind. Focus on him instead"

"Very well. I will take your words to heart."

As she overhears the last bit, she can feel her own heart sink in her chest. Her ear pulls away from the door, wishing to hear no more of it.

Much as she would love to point out the irony in having been the one to teach 'Katsu everything he knew - well, it wouldn't matter to them anyways.

He could never be proud of her, for as long as she remained a girl. No amount of acting like or dressing like a boy would ever change his mind.

-Not that she'd ever wanted to be one. Was it really so absurd to want something else than what was expected of her?

Well- 'it couldn't be helped', as they all liked to say.

[nobuverse]

"Hahaha! Who's the short one now?! I'm meters above you now! Doesn't feel so great now, does it?!"

...She'll think about how she's going to get out of this particular tree later.

[nobuverse]

( Crouching Tiger

Hidden muse page )

[nobuverse]

"....huh? Did you say something...?"

Kippoushi doesn't even bother to lift her eyes towards him to ask the question; attention having clearly shifted to studying Mondragon instead. Trying to figure out that weapon just by staring at had long become the more interesting thing to do right now.

You have lost her completely.

"Dammit... I thought I'd simplified LTV enough to make it clear what the formula is expressing... Even Xiang ran out the room screaming about killing Helena. Is my theory really that complex?"

[nobuverse]

"And it was cool. It started being less cool like - an hour ago? When you started talking about all that math stuff. Now I'm bored."

Well- it was probably more like fifteen minutes ago...? Oh well.

"You're the one who wanted me to teach you about this theoretical stuff."

[nobuverse]

"Well it's a LOT cooler than the nerd stuff Hirate Masahide keeps trying to teach me. Or my dad. Or anyone else who tells me I read too much for a girl." - a bit of an absurd statement, really, given how much time 'Katsu spent in the library doing just that. ( Not that she'd hold it against him, even if she did envy it a little.)

"Hey, hey - what's your thought on that idea? That girls shouldn't do the types of things boys do? Come on ! Tell me!"

( She's hoping she can get him started on another speech again-! )

"That sounded cool? That was complete nerd stuff."