#ikesengo

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon.

Ch.9

Warnings: Swearing

Your day started earlier than you would have liked, not that you knew how early seeing as you had no way to tell time other than how high up the sun was. You tried hiding from the filtered sunlight under your blanket, but even with your body completely relaxed, you couldn't seem to fall back to sleep. Your biological clock was telling you it was time to get up, but you'd be damned if you didn't fight it...till your stomach growled.

You groaned in an irritated manner before angrily throwing your blanket off and literally rolling out of your mat. The floor felt nice and cold against your bare skin and you let out a sigh, perhaps if you laid on the wood floor long enough you would drift back to sleep.

The silence was interrupted by another growl from your digestive tract. You huffed and propped your head up with one hand, impatient tapping the your fingers on the hard floor as you thought about what you would eat today. Ieyasu seemed to have forgotten about your medicine since you and Nobunaga departed from the castle to the hot springs, and you had yet to hear that vial substance come up again. Of course it could just be that he deemed you healthy enough to not need it anymore, Ieyasu didn't seem like the forgetful type.

"Milady, are you up?" You recognized Kinu's voice followed by a gentle knock on your door, like she didn't want to wake you if your were still sleeping.

"I'm up, Kinu. Feel free to come in," you didn't move from your laying position on the floor, but you did turn you head to look at your maid when she slid the doors open and stepped in.

"Oh, Milday!" She covered her mouth, "You fell out of your mat," before covering her eyes, "And you're naked!"

You shrugged. Not like it really mattered. It wasn't a long way down from the too of the mat to the floor, just a couple inches, maybe three- tops. "I didn't fall," you groggily corrected her, "I rolled out of bed to try and get myself up, but that was all the energy I had left."

Kinu rushed to your side, "Milady you should have waited!" She took your sarcasm seriously, "I heard you were injured at the hot spring, you should be taking it easy."

"I'm fine Kinu."

"Princess, I don't doubt your strength, but a wound as nasty as what I'd heard shouldn't be taken lightly!"

"Kinu, I'm fine, really."

"Oh! I should go fetch Ieyasu-" she was rambling now.

"Kinu!"

She finally stopped talking and looked towards you, "I'm fine, you can check the wound yourself," you sat up and gave her your back. The maid stepped closer, her eyes narrowing as she searched your skin with skepticism, "Milady, it was isn't nice to play tricks!"

You laughed at her expense, "But I'm not playing a trick on you Kinu, my wound has healed, that's why its gone."

"Ah!" She saw a thin line of pink skin on your lower back, "is that where you were hurt, Milady?"

You raised your head to look and see what she was talking about. It was hard to see but you saw she was pointing in the general area of where you remember being stabbed, "Yes."

She gasped covering her mouth again, "That's remarkable, Princess!"

"Yes," you turned around to face her again, and she tried her best to keep her eyes on yours, "But it's not normal for people to recover from such a wound so quickly, people may suspect something if they see its gone."

Kinu's eyes widened like she realized something, "Right! So we need to keep it a secret!" However her tone made a 180 when she realized something, "Wait! But Lord Ieyasu will probably want to check on you soon!" She gasped and covered her mouth, "How will we hide it from him?!"

"Okay first," you couldn't help but laugh slightly, "You're gonna' have calm down."

Kinu nodded obediently, "Right!"

"And next, I'm going to have to see if I can convince him to let me care for my wound myself again..." you remembered a couple days ago, when you were suffering from having withdrawn from the world, "Which will be tough, given what happened last time."

"Milady," Kinu smiled at you gently, "Why dont we just play it by ear?" She rikted her head slightly to the side, "For now we need to get you something to eat."

You returned her smile and nodded, "Yes," before staggering to your feet and moving towards the door.

"Milady!"

You whipped around to look at your maid just before you reached the door, "Yes?"

"Clothes!"

You looked down at your bare body and huffed, before walking over to your closet to rifle through your many kimonos. You picked one quickly before dressing yourself and storming once more towards your door, "To the kitchen!"

Kinu trailed after you, "Princess perhaps I should get you your food?!"

"Nonsense, Kinu, I'm not helpless."

"I didn't mean it that way, Milady," She quickened her pace to step in front of you, "What I ment is perhaps you should take it easy? People might see you up and about and...spry?"

With a sigh, you gave in, "Fine, but I want to at least come with you."

Kinu smiled and nodded, "Of course, Princess. Follow me!" This was also an excellent opportunity for you to learn where the kitchen was located.

You followed Kinu down the hall and around the numerous twists and turns the castle seemed to have till the two of you ended up in the kitchen. The smell of food cooking immediately hit your nose, and you were never more aware of how much you were starving than now. The kitchen itself was a sight to behold - cooks and chefs running around and cooking various thinks in their pots, pans, and large bowls. You flinched back when a large fire flared in the corner, but the servants seemed to have it under control. You looked around, at a loss for words. You hadn't noticed Kinu leave your side.

You panicked for a moment, and frantically turned around in your spot to try and locate her, and you nearly jumped out of your skin when she called your name from behind you. You whipped around to look at her, and she swiftly stepped back so you wouldn't knock the tray of food out of her hands, "Milady, are you okay?"

You sighed in relief, "Yes, sorry, just thought I lost you for a moment."

Kinu shot you a sympathetic smile and nodded, "Shall we head to the garden, Milady?"

You silently nodded in reply and the both of you exited the kitchen before making your way to the garden, where you sat in the grass surrounded by flowers, as Kinu passed you the tray and spread out a blanket before laying out all the food in front of the both of you. You took in a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air. It was perfect weather outside, not too hot, not too cold, and there was a gentle breeze to help cool you off as you both sat in the sun.

The two of you grabbed a bowl and began eating, enjoying nature and the sounds she provided to fill the silence, till Kinu spoke up, "So what does your kind often eat, Milady?"

You perked up slightly, raising a brow to look at her through the corner of your eyes before you let out a small fit of giggles, "A lot more than this."

Kinu looked at you, slightly wide-eyed and she opened her mouth to say something, but a familiar voice cut her off-

"Well if you ever feel the need to grab a midnight snack, keep an eye out for our castles resident mother hen."

The two of you whipped your heads around to look, only to come face to face with none other than Mitsuhide and his wicked grin. You audibly snarled at him, "What do you want?"

Kinu was a bit taken aback at your display of...abilities? She would have covered her mouth in shock if she didn't have a bowl in her hands.

"Now is that any way to greet the man who just got the others off your trail?" He leaned in closer to your face, as if daring you to do something.

"What?"

He chuckled, moving to stand up straight again when he knew you weren't going to try anything, "I just got out of war council. The others are starting to suspect you." He glared down at you, hoping you would head his warning, "You need to lay low with your dragon antics."

Kinu seemed stunned, however you met his glare with one of your own and didnt break eye contact till the maid next to you spoke up, "Milady?" Kinu could practically feel the tension between the two of you and it made her shake slightly, "I though you said you hadn't told any of them?"

"I didn't," you spoke lowly, "He found out on his own."

The maid shrunk back, if she could disappear I to the ground, she would. For a moment she feared you might turn I to a dragon and rip him to shreds but you didn't.

"Thanks," you nearly spat at the white haired kitsune, "Qhat do you want in return?" You turned you back to him and took a bite to eat, chewing it, and swallowing before opening your mouth to speak again, "I assume I am now indebted to you?"

The sentence made another sly smirk creep on to Mitsuhide's face, "Why, Ryū," he spoke sarcastically, "I hadn't ment that at all, but since you offered so nicely!"

You grit your teeth and growled, shooting a glare at him with your vibrant dragon eyes.

"I'll be sure to collect my debt when the time arises- oh," he moved to walk away but stopped and turned back to the two of you, "Nobunaga ordered you stay at Ieyasu's estate while you heal so he can keep a close eye on you and make sure you weren't poisoned."

"Well that's going to be a problem."

"Oh?" He snickered, "and why is that?"

"There's nothing to keep an eye on, the wound is gone."

"It's true!" Kinu piped up, "I checked on it myself this morning- well I guess technically I didn't mean to look," she was rambling now, "I walked in, and Milday was laying down on the floor naked-"

"Oh she was?" Mitsuhide's interest had peaked.

"Mhm," she nodded, "And I was worried she was feeling ill because she was all sweaty, she looked like a mess, and her cheeks were flushed-"

You quickly put your bowl down and covered her mouth, not sure how far she had been planning to go with her explanation, but she had definitely said enough. Mitsuhide watched your actions and snickered before leaning over you, "Is that true, Ryū? Were you feeling ill? Or perhaps maybe she found you in such a state for a more sinful reason?"

How he was able to read you so well you had no idea, but his questions brought a blush to your cheeks when you remembered last nights...unfortunate events, "It's none of your business!"

"Really?" Mitsuhide extended a hand and gently cupped the side of your face, the gesture made you inhale sharply and a shiver went up your spine. "Your face is getting warm, Ryū," his voice was deep and husky, and it only made things worse. You weren't prepared for the purr that rumbled from your chest, but the sound made both your eyes widen for different reasons - his for having come to a rather interesting conclusion, and yours out of embarrassment.

He hummed, "Tell me," either forgetting poor Kinu was still here or didn't care, "How long has in been since you've been tamed."

You let out a shakey breath at his implications.

"Perhaps that's why you're always so sharp tongued? Or maybe you've never-"

"I am in no way innocent, I can assure you that," you were now taking this as a challenge, and your pride made you have the tendency to not back down. Kinu was eating her rice like she was watching an interesting TV show play out - not that she would have known what a TV was.

You fought the urge to have a go at Mitsuhide right here in the middle of the garden- with Kinu still present. You were still very much riled up from last nights dreams. You glanced towards your maid, having almost forgotten she was there, and shoved Mitsuhide away.

"Another time then," he smirked before walking away.

Once he was out of sight you let out a relieved sigh, "You mention this to no one, Kinu."

"Of course, Milady," she held an impish smile, much like a child who knew a secret no one else did, and she wouldn't be completely wrong. You were going to get back at him - some how, some way.

The two of you quickly finished your meal, Kinu leaving your side to take the dirty dishes back to the kitchen while you stayed in the garden to wait for her.

"Princess," the sound of another familiar voice caught your attention - the voice of someone you currently weren't speaking to.

Hideyoshi sighed when you didn't turn to look at him and he walked closer to you, "Princess."

"I am not speaking to you, so whatever you have to say, you had better say it to Kinu and have her relay the message," you crossed your arms stubbornly.

Hideyoshi frowned, he guessed he deserved that, but at the same time he felt you couldn't claim him. After your first night here, when you broke down infront of him, he had begun to thought that maybe you were trust worthy. Especially when you opened up to him about wanting to go home. For a brief moment he saw a scared little girl who was a victim of circumstance, but as it became more and more evident that you were hiding something, he began to feel manipulated.

"Look," he came around to kneel beside you, "I get that you're angry."

"Oh I'm more than angry," you swiftly turned around to look at him and shoved a finger in his face, "I'm pissed! You know I thought you were a hard ass at first, but after everything you did for me I actually started to think that you might be one of the nice ones. But after what you said yesterday, I take it all back!" You turned around again so you wouldn't have to look at him, "Fuck you, go to hell Hideyoshi!"

Hideyoshi looked genuinely hurt by your words. His brows furrowed, his mouth was slightly agape in shock, and he took a step back as of you had struck him physically. He regained his composure as quickly as he could before clearing his throat to speak, "I came to inform you that Lord Nobunaga has requested you stay with Ieyasu while you heal-"

"Don't bother, Mitsuhide already told me."

"He did?" Hideyoshi paused and blinked, that would explain why he ran into him on the way here, "Well, I'm here to escort you there."

"Yes and I refuse to go, or at the very least, I refuse to go with you." You definitely weren't going to make this easy for him, you heard him sigh in frustration, "Princess."

"Don't call me that!" You turned around and growled at him, "I'm not a princess! I understand you all wanting to keep up appearances in public, but we all know I'm no princess! Make up, cards, jewelry, as nice as I think those things are- it isn't me!" You sighed in an effort to calm yourself, "Besides if I were truly a princess you all would have more trust in me than what you actually do," but before you knew it, you got heated again, "So why dont you let me go?! Why do you keep me here?!"

You hadn't realized you were now walking towards Hideyoshi, and he was stepping back, finding himself unable to speak as he stared into a pair of colorful vibrant eyes with slitted pupils- a stark contrast to what they normally were. The once gentle breeze was now a steady gust of wind, and Hideyoshi no long just thought you were hiding something.

"Kick me out, set me free, turn me loose on the streets- why keep me locked away if you obviously don't want me here?!"

"Princess," he breathed, "Your eyes." As he studied them more, he noticed the glassy look in them. You looked like you, for the second time infront of him, were on the verge of tears from all your spent up anger, frustration, and deep seeded sadness - especially when you recoiled back and held a look of confusion on your face.

You looked around, noticing that you had once again let your emotions get the best of you. You backed away from Hideyoshi, and he attempted to reach out for you, but you bolted so quickly he didnt have the chance to grab you. You could hear him calling your name as you ran out of the garden, and you weren't sure if he chased after you, but you were sure you had easily lost him. Where would you go? What would you do? Skip town? Everything was a blur as you ran off the castle grounds and into the town, you were so distracted you bumped, shoved, and ducked through the crowds of people till you were met with a second set of larger gates. As you approached them you held your hands out and gates flew open - slamming back on to the walls they were attached to, and you kept on running.

It wasn't safe.

You had to go.

Too many people know.

You hadn't intended for anyone to know, not even Sasuke.

Why did you always have to let your emotions get the best of you? That night you saved Nobunaga and the same night when you had Sasuke cornered, each and everytime you hadn't thought about your actions, you just did.

You hadnt noticed that as you were running it began to rain till you stopped in the middle of a field. Your running slowed to a stop and you frantically looked around, not quite sure where you would go. It felt like your head was spinning, you replayed what had just happened with Hideyoshi in you mind over and over, and it brought tears to your eyes. A small sob wracked your body and you fell onto your knees with a crash of thunder.

Fuck that place.

Fuck those people.

You don't need them.

"It's not safe to tto go walking alone outside the town walls. Though I suppose any woman who hangs around that fool Nobunaga wouldn't realize it." A voice you didnt recognize.

"Go away," you hissed, "I'm not in the mood for bullshit," you turned around to look at the stranger and saw a large man wielding a katana slowly making his way towards you.

"Don't scream," he chuckled, "Or do. No one will be able to hear you in the rain."

You growled, glaring at the man with a dark look in your eyes. There was another crash of thunder. Your body language seemed to tense, you weren't sure how you would handle this situation- well you had a few violent ideas, but you refused to act upon them. You mustn't take your anger out on a random bystander.

"You're coming with me," he pointed at you, "And if you don't like it, blame Nobunaga."

"I fail to see how this is the fault of a man who isn't even here right now," you slowly stood to your feet so the man wouldn't perceive you as a threat, "We all make our own decisions in life, no one can truly force us to do something we don't want to."

"Well you don't have a choice."

You stared down the tip of his sword and glared at him. You normally were against taking your anger out on other who had nothing to do with why you were so upset, but for this man, you might just make an exception.

"Don't touch the woman," a chilling voice cut through the sound of rain, and you looked over the mans shoulder to see one of the last people you expected to come looking for you- Ieyasu.

"Hm?" The man whipped around, "That's-!" The man tensed when he saw the blond haired warlord, he scrambled to fix the scarf around his face, before turning back to face you and grabbing you wrist, "We're going. Come quietly."

"Fuck off!" You tried to give an easy tug, more of a warning really.

"Quit struggling!" He tried to yank you along.

"No!" You yanked your hand back harshly, causing your would-be kidnapper to fall to the ground.

"Insolent wench!" He spat mud out from his mouth, "I wont let Nobunaga's concubine get the better of me!"

"Concubine?!" There was obvious rage in your voice, you were fully prepared to tear this man apart, "How dare you!"

"There's no denying it," he stumbled to his feet, finding it slightly difficult to regain his footing in the mud, "You can't fool me!"

He raised his sword in the air to strike you, and you prepared to defend yourself, but when the strange man brought his sword down, Ieyasu leapt infront of you - sword drawn as he parried the attack, "I told you not to touch her."

"Ieyasu?" You were more than just a little suprised. He was also one of the last people you expected to defend you.

"Damn you!" The man yelled out as he staggered back.

You glared at both men from where you stood, "What are you doing here," your voice was firm, obviously having already worked through the shock.

"Bringing you back," he spoke as if it was obvious, "Lord Nobunaga tasked me with the job of watching you while you heal- from that point on, you became my responsibility. Like it or not, your life is in my hands."

You huffed stubbornly.

"If you don't want to die, I suggest you stay right where you are," he was so demanding, you almost didn't recognize him as the one who normally sat quietly during war councils.

"Fine," you could have handled this on your own, but you supposed this was for the best. The more people who knew about you the worse off you would be.

"I dont know what you're hoping to accomplish here," Ieyasu's emerald eyes narrowed and he turned his attention back to the stranger ahead of him, "But you can't have the woman."

The rogue ronin didn't seem to be backing down.

"If you leave immediately, I'll forget about this."

"Well aren't we full of our selves," the stranger taunted, causing a low growl to rumble from your throat, but it was drowned out by a crash of thunder. Raising his sword once more, the man charged toward Ieyasu. However, Ieyasu didnt seem phased, he stood his ground and readied his sword, before swinging it across the blade of your attacker - breaking it in half and causing the man to stumble back.

"We're going back to the castle now." Ieyasu turned to look at you briefly, "Keep up, or I'll leave you behind," before he began to walk away back towards Azuchi.

You rolled your eyes again, and followed him. As your mood lightened, so did the rain and by the time you were both back behind the towns walls, the rain had completely stopped. The both of you were soaked, and even though Ieyasu disnt show it, you were sure he was probably chilled to the bone.

To help or not to help?

He did save you. Even though you didn't need saving.

With a sigh, you hiked up your body temperature and went to stand next to the blond.

AUTHORS NOTE:

It's been a while since I posted something. I just want to let you all know that these last few posts are just me cleaning out my drafts.... I've been inactive for a very long time, but I held on to everything hoping I would regain the muses I once had for these stories. Unfortunately, I haven't, and I don't think I ever will. This story was based off of a Roleplay a couple friends and I had going....or rather, the remainder of it was supposed to be based off our role-play. However, almost a year ago, a member of our friend group passed away, and we have not touched our servers since. I dont think we ever will again. I haven't even picked up ikesen, ikerev, or ikevamp since. There are just too many memories.... This blog will officially fall inactive till further notice. Though, I will keep it up so my stories will always be here for you all to read if you wish. I'm not going to promise I'll come back to it as I don't like making promises I can't keep. Sorry for the long wait and disappointing results, but I really did have fun writing stories for you all while the inspiration lasted. Hágoónee'! (Goodbye)

[late-night-tryst]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon.

Ch. 8.5 (Optional)

Warnings: Swearing, very explicit, ALL THE SMUT, masterbation. I got the itch to write some smut but didn't want to write something that didn't pertain to the series because I was afraid I would lose my muse - so...

You don't know how you got into this situation. You don't remember coming here with him, you know this isn't right, this isn't how it happened but you don't question it. Everything is foggy and it feels like your mind is swimming - unable to conjure images of how you got to this point. All you know are 'facts' that, for some reason, your brain has provided for you.

You're at the hot springs.

There is a third party just behind the door that leads to the spring.

The door that leads to the pool is to your left.

And currently you're-

"Mitsuhide~!" You throw your head back as a jolt of pleasure shoots up your spine, originating from your core. Your back arches off the mattress, and your arms reach over your head to cling to the edge of the bed. You bite your lip as your eyes open to gaze at the white haired warlord pistoning his hips into you.

"Do you like that, my little Ryū?" His voice sounds taunting, and you want to slap him- he gives one particularly hard thrust into you and your jaw drops open as you let out a loud moan. You won't slap him right this second though. Your legs, which were previously wrapped around his hips slowly move farther apart the more he thrusts into you.

You want more.

And you want it deeper.

You muster up enough strength in your body, somehow, to push yourself up and throw Mitsuhide on to his back, before placing your hands on his chest and proceed to bounce yourself on his dick. The bed springs squeak from underneath the both of you as you ride him. Mitsuhide let's out a groan, and you hear it, but you don't see it because your head is hanging low and your eyes are shut tightly.

Your breathing is becoming ragged as the tingling and pulsing sensation between your thighs becomes more intense. You move to sit up, bringing one hand down to rub your clit while the other rakes a scratch down the kitsune's chest. Your head falls back and you breathlessly say his name again, "Mitsuhide~"

He roughly grabs you hips with his hands, digging his heels into the bed behind you before thrusting upwards to meet you half way at every bounce, however, just when you think your going to cum - the sliding doors to the hot spring slam open and you hear a familiar deep voice, "What is the meaning of this?"

You practically jump off of the man beneath you and whip around to look in the direction of the now open doors, but no one is there. Frantically, you search the room till your eyes land on Nobunaga, who is standing at the edge of the bed opposite to where he entered, wearing a thin bath robe. Before you even have time to question him, he's kneeling on the bed, tangling his hand in your hair and kissing you. You let out a pleased hum, before bringing his bottom lip into your mouth and lightly biting down.

Nobunaga groans and when you pull back to look at him, he no longer has his robe on. You grin, bringing your hands up to run them up and down his chest before you proceed to attack his neck- licking, biting and sucking. You didn't care if you left a necklace of hickies.

Mine.

You've moved so that now you're kneeling on the other side of Mitsuhide and leaning over his legs to reach Nobunaga. You don't even feel Mitsuhide leave that spot on the bed, but when you scoot closer to the raven haired warlord, Mitsuhide is no longer there.

You feel a set of hands running up and down your body. You aren't sure who they belong to, but you aren't complaining - especially when they move up to massage your breasts before tweaking your nipples, causing you're lean into them. You whimper, the sound muffled by Nobunaga's neck. He brings a hand to your chin, taking it between his thumb and index finger before forcing you to look into his piercing eyes.

There is a beat of silence till it's broken by the sound of your gasp. One of the hands, who you assume belong to Mitsuhide, migrated down your body and began rubbing circles around your clit. You turn to look at the man behind you and jutt your hips back towards him, presenting yourself to the kitsune in a silent plea for more.

He grins mischievously at you, his rubbing quickens, causing you to hiss when the burning sensation in your pussy becomes so intense it leaves you panting. You look back to Nobunaga and see he has a smug smirk on his face. You glare at him before leaning down so you were resting on your elbows and at eye level with his swollen cock.

With determination, you took the his twitching dick into your mouth. A sigh escapes him and you feel his hand move to the back of you head and tangle into your hair again. With your free hand, you take whatever doesn't fit into your mouth and grasp it firmly, before pulling his dick out of your mouth with a loud 'pop'. You hear a grunt and feel the hand in your hair tighten. You lick the tip while you glance up to gaze at Nobunaga; he has the same look in his face as he did that night he first invited you to his room- lust blown pupils and slightly reddened cheeks.

While you stare into his eyes, and continue to tease the head of his member, the rubbing between your legs quickens and you tremble with a wonton moan. You can feel your wetness in the cool night air, and for a brief moment you wonder if it'll dribble down your legs. You pull just the tip of Nobunaga's dick completely into your mouth, sucking it and and swirling your tongue around it. His eyes screw shut and a deep groan leaves his parted lips. You take him deeper and let out a pleased hum around the hard appendage.

The rubbing around your clit isn't enough, which is odd, but you lean the weight of your upper body onto the elbow of the arm that is grasping Nobunaga, before snaking your free hand underneath yourself with a plan to guide Mitsuhide's hand to where you really want it. However, as if reading your mind, the white haired warlord plunges himself deep into you, and you let out the most whore-ish, muffled moan around Nobunaga's cock that you've ever heard.

The hand that had previously been traveling down south, shoots up to push against the mattress so you don't knock into raven haired man with the force of Mitsuhide's thrusts. After that, you have no choice but to release the Oda man from your grasp in order to plant both your hands into the mattress, because Mitsuhide is ramming into you at a relentless pace.

You squeak, and moan, and squeal because fuck you feel so relieved after all that teasing to finally have a cock inside you again, but you find it very hard to concentrate on giving Nobunaga a blow job like this. The creaking of the bed and the sound of skin slapping fills the room. Your focusing on meeting Mitsuhide for every pump, but your concentration is broken when you feel Nobunaga push his own member into your parted lips. You let out a muffled whimper, the action sending a jolt of pleasure down your spine that made your back arch so your ass was higher in the air.

Mitsuhide gripped your hips tightly and proceeded to move you to meet his thrusts, himself. You gasped at the action, the force of his movements leaving you breathless. You were getting fucked so hard right now, and you've never been happier. You assumed that feeling had something to do with all the cock teasing you've been doing to some of the warlords - afterall they weren't the only ones left feeling horny after a session, but if this was the result of it, you would happily do it more often and maybe schedule an orgy on your calendar.

Nobunaga was firmly holding your head in place with one hand, and holding the base of his shaft with the other as he thrust in and out of your mouth with a deep guttural groan. You let your lower jaw drop slightly so you could stick your tongue out underneath his shaft - sparing him from the constant scraping of your teeth as he pounded into your mouth. You were rewarded with a pleased moan. You felt like you were melting onto the bed beneath you, and you so desperately wanted to cum already.

"Do you want to cum, Ryū?" Your heard Mitsuhide's voice from behind you. You wanted to respond but all you could do was whimper around Nobunaga's cock.

Yes! Please! Make me cum pretty, pretty please!

You felt one of Mitsuhide's hands move from your hip around, your front, and down to your clit.

Too much!

With a scream of pleasure you fell off of Nobunaga's member and let your upper half completely collapse onto the bed. You heard a deep chuckle from above you, but you didn't care to look. Your body felt like it was trembling, your muscles were spasming with all the stimulation and you felt the familiar feeling of a knott tightening at the pit of your stomach.

"Ah-ha!" Without Nobunaga's dick in your mouth, you could let your desperate cries flood out as you pleased, "Please don't stop!"

You heard Mitsuhide snicker from behind you, "What a dirty, Ryū."

You felt yourself clenching around him and he hissed, "You act so dominant, but all you want is to be dominated, don't you?"

You growled at the white haired warlords words, but it came out as more of a needy whimper. When you didn't answer him he pulled out.

"Yes!" You didn't want it to end, and him ceasing his ministrations was causing your high to quickly plummet, "Please just take me, damn it!" And luckily that was answer enough. Mitsuhide continued to ram into you from behind, or so you thought till you heard his voice in your ear, "Was that so hard to admit?"

You looked up to see that the kitsune was now where Nobunaga had been kneeling, and when you looked back to see who was fucking you, you were met with the intense gaze of the Oda man himself - till he placed his hand on the back of your neck and firmly pushed you back down to the mattress. The action caused you to clench around his dick, and judging by the grunt he gave he noticed. The hand pushed down a little more firmly and you once more became a moaning mess when he pounded into you faster and harder, while his other hand picked up where Mitsuhide left off and played with your clit relentlessly.

"Yes!" You gasped, bringing your hands up to look for something, anything to grab, "God, please don't stop!" The pleasure was becoming too much, the knott in your stomach left you gasping for air.

You looked up at Mitsuhide to see him jerking himself off above you. He smirked down at you, eyes dark with carnal want, hair slick and slightly frazzled from sweat. One hand held the base of his shaft while the other rubbed and twisted around the tip in his palm. The sight made your jaw drop open and a greedy moan left your lips.

You wanted a cock in your mouth, so you were going to take what you wanted. You pushed yourself up as much as Nobunaga would allow you, and slapped the hand on the tip of Mitsuhide's dick away before taking it into your mouth and bobbing your head back and fourth with avengeance.

You were still whimpering, inhaling sharply through your nose, and you bent your back like a cat in heat. Your legs were parted wide and shaking. Your head bobbing became more frantic the tighter the knott in your stomach clenched, but then - with one well angled thrust, Nobunaga hit that spot deep within you.

"Nobunaga!" You pressed your ass harder on to him, causing you to release Mitsuhide's member (who continued your work with his hands again), screw your eyes shut, and let out a scream of pleasure as you came. Hard. A low groan from Nobunaga was followed by a warm sensation filling you, and your face became hot.

You opened your eyes again and briefly saw the image of Mitsuhide with slightly disheveled hair, flushed cheeks, mouth agap as he spurt ribbons of hot cum into your open mouth-

You awoke with a jolt. Eyes shooting open to see your room empty, and void of anyone but yourself. It was still dark outside, and there was no light in your room. However your dragon eyes allowed you to see everything in your room perfectly. You let out a sleepy grunt, proping yourself up on to your elbows, which is when you realized your butt was up in the air.

You hissed out of frustration and embarrassment before laying down flat. How dare you have a wet dream about the men who irk you, and how dare it be just a dream. Your train of thought was broken by a pulsing sensation between your legs, and for a split second you thought about going to Nobunaga's room and letting him have his way with you, or perhaps you could go to Masamune's manor and have a go at him - he had been the nicest one to you thus far.

Your imagination conjured the image of Masamune fucking you on his desk, and you moaned at the jolt your pussy sent up your back. You chuffed, shaking your head in defiance. Masamune's place was too far to walk to in your tired state, and you'd be damned if you gave into Nobunaga this early in the game. On top of that, you were still mad at him for suspecting you.

The pulsing sensation between your thighs interrupted your thinking again, and your brain pulled forth the image of Nobunaga railing you from behind in your dream. You growled and rolled over onto your back. You knew you weren't going to get any sleep in this state, and if you did manage to fall back to sleep, you would probably just have another wet dream.

You would never admit to anyone of what you were about to do, both out of pride and embarrassment. You untied your sleeping robe, allowing your body to be exposed to the cool night air. You sighed at the thin sheen of sweat on your skin which intensified the chill. Your hand snaked down your body and began to rub your clit. You flinched and gasped at the sensitivity of it, your hand moving away out of suprise.

With a deep breath, you rubbed slow, gentle circles around the button, and closed your eyes as you focused on the pleasure. You conjured that image again of you screwing Masamune on his little desk in the office room you went to last time when you dropped off Shogetsu, mostly because you wanted to mentally spite Nobunaga and Mitsuhide.

Masamune definitely seemed like the type who would want to be ridden, probably. You pictured him, sitting with his legs crossed, and leaning back slightly on his hands, with his kimono undone open and disheveled - probably falling off his shoulders too as you rode his cock.

Your fingers picked up the pace a bit, and you began to tease your nipple with your free hand - imagining the one-eyed warlord taking it into his mouth and nipping it. You gasped.

You wouldn't be forceful with him, like you were when you were teasing Nobunaga. Aside from Mitsunari, and despite all his flirting, Masamune was the nicest one to you. So no, you wouldn't pin him to the floor like you did with the raven haired warlord, or make a show of dominance as you had with Mitsuhide, you would be much sweeter to him.

You imagined his arms tenderly wrapping around your waist, your hands tangling into his dark brown hair, and what his voice might sound like as he gave breathy moans of pleasure.

Had you not been so lost in your imagination, you would have scoffed at how much you desperately wanted to genuinely please this immaginary Masamune.

You would gently cup his cheek, causing him to look at you as you leaned down to kiss him. The kiss was tender, and had you not known better, you would have even called it loving.

The hand that had been teasing your nipple began to slowly migrate down wards in sync with your vision.

Masamune moved to gently lay you back on his desk, before plunging his cock back into your warm cavern.

You moaned as your fingers dipped as far as they could into your pussy.

"Ah-ha..." You eyes opened to look up at the ceiling, but for some reason, your mind didn't register that you were looking up at your rooms ceiling.

All you could see was the deep blue eye of Masamune as he pumped into you at a nice steady pace. You imagined what the desk would sound like. Would it creak with your movements or just scuff along the bamboo flooring?

You moaned again as the finger rubbing your clit moved more quickly now, and the fingers in your pussy curled and tapped upwards into that g-spot that the men from your time would debate on if whether or not it existed.

You sighed, the Masamune in your mind letting out a breath aswell as he began to pump into you more frantically- the both of you desperately chasing your orgasm. You wanted to cling to the man, hold on to him, and let your legs stay suspended wide in the air as a welcome invitation to him.

Your knees bent from their previous flat position on your sleeping mat. The finger circling your clit moved urgently now, and at some point the fingers in your pussy stopped pumping and settled for staying knuckle deep within you. Sometimes just the feeling of something filling you was enough to bring you pleasure. You let out another wonton moan as you felt a familiar pressure building within you, "Oh, fuck."

Masamune was pounding into you rapidly now, arms wrapped around your waist, and teeth sinking into your neck with a grunt. You could almost hear the sound of skin slapping against skin, and the more you moaned the harder and faster he moved.

Your legs moved into the air of their own volition, still bent at your knees, and spread wide. Your fingers were circling your clit at an almost maddening pace. The sopping wet bundle of nerves sent pulsing waves of pleasure through your body, and it felt so good it almost burned.

"Please!" You were whimpering now into an empty room.

Masamune released you, unlatching his teeth from the junction between your neck and shoulder, before moving your legs to rest on his shoulders. He moved his hands to your hips and continued to ram into you at a frantic pace. His eye was dark with a carnal need to climax and it sent a tingling sensation down your spine and to your core, causing it to clench around his cock- your fingers.

Your fingers circled your clit with just as much furostity as Masamune's thrusts till finally the knott snapped, and you came - arching your back off your sleeping mat as you let out an obscenely loud rather pornographic moan.

You imagined Masamune groaning alongside you as he came as well.

When you began to descend from the throes of pleasure, you fell back down into your mat, panting for air. Your face was hot, and your hair was sticking to you. You slowly moved your hands away from you, silently wishing you had a bathroom in your room so you could wash up. You removed your sleeping robe completely and wiped your hands with it before briefly moving to check if you had to clean anything else up. However, you found it hard to move as your body felt heavy.

A problem to deal with tomorrow then.

You tossed your sleeping robe to the side and rolled over onto you stomach, before hugging your pillow and closing your eyes to go back to sleep.

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon

Ch.8

Warnings: MC isn't physically in this one - just mentioned, slightly short

The following day a council was held at the crack of dawn, but Nobunaga was sure to not extend and invitation towards you, and instead of holding it in Azuchi's council room, it was held in the council room of Ieyasu's estate. You remained asleep while the warlords gathered to discuss the events that transpired at the hot springs.

Everyone hadn't even been seated yet when Mitsuhide noticed your lack of attendance, and he allowed a sly smile to creep on to his lips, "My Lord, are we not missing a person?"

"No," Nobunaga didn't want to raise any suspicion till he had all his bases covered, "The princess needs rest."

At that, the white haird kitsune raised a brow before turning his head to face forward with a straight face. Dear little Ryū, what did you do now?

"Right," Hideyoshi cleared his throat before he began to go over the report he composed the previous night after returning, "After Lord Nobunaga and the Princess departed castle town, Mitsunari and I headed out some time after them and kept hidden. We arrived in time to intervene in the enemy's attempts to engage with our Lord, but unfortunately the princess was caught in the crossfire and was injured anyways. However, we were able to apprehend all three of them for interrogation."

"Well? Don't keep us waiting. Did the villans confess?" Mitsuhide straightened his posture in his seat, eager to hear what the others were able to pull out of them.

"Yes," Hideyoshi confirmed, "As we suspected, they're with the group who planned the assasination attempt at Honno-ji."

"And they gave us the name of their leader," Mitsunari cut in.

"Don't be dramatic," Ieyasu sneered, "Spit it out."

"It's Kennyo, former abbot of Hongan-ji."

"Hongan-ji?" Masamune echoed, "That's the temple fortress of those Ikko-ikki warrior monks, right?" He tried and failed to hold back a laugh, "They picked a fight with Nobunaga in the first place! Now they're holding a grudge because they lost?"

"I heard he went missing after their surrender, when his temple was taken down," the blonde's brows furrowed ever so slightly. Of course, that could have just been a rumor spread to allow Kennyo time to rally more troopes.

"Yes," Mitsunari nodded in confirmation, "He appears to have spent all that time plotting his revenge."

"He's gathering the fallen monks of Ikko-ikki who feel the same," Hideyoshi cut in, "They number a little under 5,000. Not a sizable force but-"

"But when they're fueled by anger, who knows what they're capable of, right?" A smile lit up Masamune's face, "I'm impressed he can command that many men while in hiding. His talents are wasted in a monastery."

"Indeed," Mitsuhide nodded thoughtfully, "I would welcome a man of his skill working for me."

"Mitsuhide, watch your tongue," Hideyoshi interjected angrily.

"The assassins," Ieyasu attempted to real everyone back into the topic at hand, "Where are they now?"

"Yes, speaking of the assassins," Masamune raised a hand, "Earlier you said the Princess was caught in their crossfire, is she okay?"

"I let them go," Nobunaga answered Ieyasu's question first, "With a message."

"A message?"

"Yes. 'A reckoning is coming'." Nobunaga allowed a wicked smirk to cross his features for a brief moment before turning to look at Masamune, "As for the princess. She seems fine for now- once again taking her injuries in great stride. Better than a majority of our soldiers would be, in fact." He turned his attention to Ieyasu, "But that has yet to be officially determined. Ieyasu was tasked with finding out if the blade was poisoned and if it is killing her slowly."

"Yes," Ieyasu pulled out a now clean dagger - the very same one that the assassin had used to attack you, "There wasn't much left on the blade, but I was able to find trace amounts of the toxin. The herbs that were used to make it aren't anything special in that it isn't hard to find the ingredients. The toxin was supposed to incapacitate the victim, make their body numb and then paralyze them - rendering them incapable of defending themselves. And that's just if it was the right dose- assuming they were intending to harm or do worse to Lord Nobunaga, anymore than the right amount and it could cause her organs to fail.

"But the princess was able to defend herself just fine," Mitsunari seemed confused, "Or at least from what we saw."

"She didn't even stumble," Hideyoshi threw his two cents in, "She got stabbed and was able to walk and talk just fine after."

"Even lifted and threw a man across the room," now Mitsunari and the others sounded like they were debating something, trying to piece together a puzzle. Masamune burst out laughing, "Reminds me of when the lass threw me and Ieyasu across the room after the first time she was injured."

"My Lord," Hideyoshi looked to Nobunaga, "I still stand by what I said when she first arrived- she is hiding something."

The others remained silent and Nobunaga rubbed his chin in thought, "Yes," he chuckled slightly, "Here I thought she mentioned you had said you trusted her at one point," he cocked his head to the side as if to taunt his vassal, "I didn't know you were one for playing tricks, Hideyoshi. Here I thought Mitsuhide was the only one here ever so willing and capable to do such a thing." His tone was joking, he was only picking on his right hand for fun, but Hideyoshi broke eye contact with his lord at those words - looking at the wood floors as if he were ashamed of his actions.

"I told her I didn't think she was sent her to kill you, but that doesn't mean she isn't hiding anything," Hideyoshi's voice was low, like he was talking more to himself than to the others in an attempt to justify his words.

"Yes, after tonight it's clear," the raven haired warlord leaned back in his seat slightly, "She wasn't sent here to kill me -or not yet at the very least- but I do agree, she is hiding something."

Ieyasu scoffed in disbelief, "That troublesome waif," before shaking his head, "What could she possibly be capable of other than getting in the way?"

"Have you forgotten, even after I just mentioned it?" Masamune snickered, "She tossed the both of us aside like rag dolls, at the same time." The One-eyed Dragon turned his attention to Nobunaga, "Personally I think we should test her strengths, she could be useful."

"What are you suggesting, Masamune," Hideyoshi practically growled, "We send her into battle?! You saw what happened last time."

"Yes, but last time she was untrained, we should see what all she can do-"

"Enough," Nobunaga's deep voice carried through the room and silenced everyone, calling their attention to him. There was a beat of silence before Mitsuhide cleared his throat, "If I may, my Lord."

Nobunaga looked to the white haired fox and raised a brow, signaling him to go on, "I agree with Ieyasu," all heads in the room turned their attention to him, "She just some random stray, we've picked up off the road. There's nothing special about her."

"But she threw us," Masamune attempted to argue.

"Yes but was she under great stress?"

Masamune shut his mouth in order to give himself a chance to recall that day three months ago, and it occured to him, "She seemed terrified."

Mitsuhide nodded and motioned for him to go on, "Can you tell us about what lead up to it?"

Masamune swallowed, eye widening slightly as he only realized now that perhaps you had been traumatized. They had found you, beaten, bloody, dying, and naked in the woods. What if he and Ieyasu trying to force you to the ground triggered something in you from that night?

"Masamune," Mitsuhide's voice snapped the warlord out of his thoughts, "Continue."

"When I came into the room, Ieyasu was trying to get the princess to lay down, because she needed her rest, but she refused and she was fighting back," he swallowed a lump in his throat as his imagination went wild with what the experience may have caused you to remember, "So I tried to help him and... She screamed for us to get off of her before she threw us both in opposite directions."

"And in the hot springs?" Mitsuhide turned to look towards Mitsunari and Hideyoshi, "One would think being stabbed might be a pretty distressing situation."

Hideyoshi's jaw clenched, suddenly having the feeling that the kitsune was covering for you, "I suppose it would be, yes."

"Well then," the white haired warlord shrugged slightly, "It's no secret that people can do remarkable things under great stress - including exhibiting great shows of strength, speed, and endurance. Perhaps it was the adrenaline coursing through her veins that allowed her to preform these unbelievable acts."

Mitsunari looked to the floor and brought a hand to his chin, "I suppose it wouldn't be the first time we've heard of such a thing. Some of our soldiers have ridden into camp, half dead and clinging to life, determined to deliver a message to us."

The others remained silent before Nobunaga spoke up with a rather disappointed sigh, "And I suppose I have once heard a rumor when I was young, of a man lifting a cart to save a boy," he waved off the conversation, "You've made your point Mitsuhide."

The white haired warlord smiled in satisfaction, "Thank you, my lord."

"I still think the lass should at least learn to defend herself," Masamune spoke up from his seat after a brief pause of silence, "Mitsunari said the princess had been able to defend herself, but obviously not very well if she still got injured," he raised both his hands in the air as if to surrender when he saw the look Hideyoshi shot him, "I'm not saying we send a woman into battle, all I'm saying is we teach her some self defense and how to get out of a few tricky situations should the need arise."

"Very well," Nobunaga's responce came quickly, "If you're so adamant about her learning, then you shall be the one to teach her."

Masamune's eyes seemed to light up at the prospect of sparing with you, "But," and that light was quickly smothered by Nobunaga continuing, "Only after she's been cleared by Ieyasu."

Ieyasu nodded, having expected as much. However, his eyes widened slightly when Nobunaga spoke again, "And she is to stay with Ieyasu for close supervision, till he can be sure that the toxin isn't killing her, and that the threat has passed."

The blond immediately seemed to detach himself for the situation. He wasn't a babysitter, and the idea of him having to watch you, though for good reason, didn't exactly sit well with him. But with a sigh and silent nod, it was clear he accepted his fate, "And in that time I will concoct an antidote to be sure there are no ill effects."

"Excellent."

As soon as the meeting was adjourned, the warlords dispersed, and while most of them returned to their manors, Mitsuhide made a beeline for Azuchi castle. Vassals, maids, and other servants moved out of his way as he stormed through the halls and to your room. However, when he slammed your sliding doors open, you were no where to be found.

Troublesome Ryū.

On his way out of your room he almost ran into a maid carrying a stack of folded towels, "Oh Pardom me, my Lord!" She fumbled and stuttered, hands scurrying to catch her stack before it toppled over. Mitsuhide helped her catch them in time before looking her dead in the eyes with his sharp gaze, "Do you know where the princess is?"

The maid shrunk back, not entirely sure she should answer his question. Everyone knew of the rumors running rampent about Mitsuhide- how he was biding his time and plotting against Nobunaga, so what did he want with his lords beloved Princess?

"Answer the question," his voice was calm, but it only served to strike more fear within her.

"I-I don't know," she stepped back in an attempt to put room between her and Mitsuhide, but when he stepped forward in time with her steps back, she panicked - closing her eyes as she flinched away from the man, "She's in the garden with Kinu!"

When the maid opened her eyes again, she was alone in the hall, with no trace of Mitsuhide having been there other than her racing heart. She looked both ways but he was no where in sight. With a shakey sigh, the maid went back to what she was doing before she was interrupted.

You were so going to owe him big time after this.

When Mitsuhide reached the guarden, he was met with the sight of you sitting in the center of a large flower bed, with a more petite woman with jet black hair right beside you.

"So what does your kind often eat, Milady?"

Your kind?

You chuckled, your shoulders shaking with your light laughter, "A lot more than this."

Mitsuhide craned his head up from where he stood to peer over both your shoulders. There was a small blanket spread infront of the both of you with food laid out on top. It was a basic breakfast, typical, and well balanced - steamed rice, with miso soup, a cut of fish, and some eggs. He had never thought about what a creature such as yourself would require for sustenance, but hearing just a small cut of your conversation made him wonder briefly if you were constantly on the verge of starvation.

"Well if you ever feel the need to grab a midnight snack, keep an eye out for our castles resident mother hen."

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon.

Ch.7 Pt.1

Warnings: Swearing, ya girl got tired of only using 'Milady' and 'Princess' (thank you @thatsmolart for helping me brainstorm nicknames). Whoops this chapter was ment to be more comical, but my hand slipped and it got spicey - things get a little steamy at the hot springs (just a little); this one ran on longer than expected.

You once again hadn't realized you'd fallen asleep till you woke up the next morning and the sun was shining through the thin barrier of your balcony doors. You groaned, opening your eyes to see the dimmed sunlight, before deciding it was too early to be up and threw the blanket completely over your head. You felt safe and secure underneath the slightly weighted fabric, and would have fallen back to sleep had it not been for the loud knock at your door.

Perhaps if you remained silent and pretended you were still asleep-

'Knock knock knock'.

They would go away.

"Oh my little Ryū~"

Fuck, Mitsuhide. You let out a hiss of displeasure and stayed under your blanket, while the Kitsune allowed himself in, "Come now, Ryū, it's time to get up."

You lifted the blanket just enough so you could peek through the bottom. Mitsuhide leaned over slightly to get a look underneath and caught sight of a glowing slitted eye staring back at him, till the blanket slammed back down on to the floor. You gave a sleepy, half hearted growl, "Go away."

The white haired warlord laughed at your childishness, "Isn't your trip today? It's rather late to be just waking up."

"I do not wish to go," you briefly poked your head out from underneath to argue with him till retreating back underneath.

"Has my little Ryū made a den for herself underneath that blanket?" He continued to mock you, knowing full well that if he annoyed you enough, you would eventually come out.

"Your choice in nicknames is truly impeccable," you poked your head out again, "Tell me, just how many brain cells did it take for you to come up with it- wait wait," you waved a hand out from under the blanket, "You don't need to tell me, I know it probably took all three of them," you retreated back underneath.

Mitsuhide stayed silent for a moment with a brow raised in an unimpressed manner, "Well if you didn't want to go, you should have just said so in the first place."

You poked your head out from underneath the blanket and looked at him skeptically with narrowed eyes. A moment of silence passed between the two of you and he shrugged, "If that's all you want," you slowly emerged from your blanket as he began to waltz out of your room, "There's an exit on the southern side of the castle," he waved you off before turning the corner around your door and disappearing from sight.

That asshole.

You moved to slam the door shut behind him before you proceeded to get ready - brushing your hair out of any knots before tying it into a lazy bun.

He probably knows you won't listen to him.

You threw on the Kimono you had picked out for the journey (and Kinu had approved of), and straightened it out till you looked decent enough to go out into public.

Which means he knows you would go the opposite direction, North-

Then finally after freshening up with your morning routine and chewing on a mint leaf you took from Masamune's cooking stash, you headed out of your room - completely leaving the bag Kinu had packed for you in hope's you wouldn't need it.

Which means North is the trap, so you shall go South.

Once you reached the outside world you used a small handkerchief you had tucked under your obi to spit out the mint leaf and wipe your mouth, before folding it up and tucking it back. When you looked up, your eyes widened.

That motherfucker.

It was a dead end. No exit in sight. The nicker of a horse behind you caught your attention and made you turn around, only to be met with the sight of Nobunaga atop his horse and ready to depart, "Just where Mitsuhide said you'd be. Though I don't know what you're doing out here."

Son of a bitch.

You should have gone in any direction except South, the East or West would have probably been preferable. Nobunaga approached you with an outstretched hand, and you huffed- finding no sense in fighting your fate at the moment. You took his hand and he helped to pull you up into the saddle, allowing you to sit infront of him. He took hold of the reins after assuring you were properly seated, caging you between him and the horse with his arms outstretched on either side of you.

After a brief moment he took the reins in one hand, using the other to wrap around your waist and pull you flush against him. You turned slightly to glanced back at him through the corner of your eye, and he leaned his head forward to speak into your ear, "I expect I'll have plenty of entertainment with you along."

"Getting a bit excited already are we?" You chuckled in response before turning back to face forward and scooted up about an inch to put some distance between you and Nobunaga. He 'tsked' before pulling up the small sack Kinu had been packing for you last night, "Carry your own belongings."

You huffed before taking the sack in your hands and placing infront of you to rest between your legs, "You're so considerate," you snickered sarcastically, "Grabbing my things for me."

"Mitsuhide brought them to me," he clarified, "said you had accidentally left them in your room."

Ass.

He clicked his tongue, urging the horse forward to the front gate of Azuchi's castle, where Hideyoshi and Mitsunari were waiting to see you both off, "Lord Nobunaga!" The two bowed to him.

"Please be careful in your journey," Hideyoshi, ever the worrywart.

"Of course. Thank you for seeing me off."

"I hope you'll take good care of our lord, Princess." Mitsunari smiled, and you chuckled humorlessly, "I'll do what I can."

"I slipped some coins in with your belongings," Hideyoshi turned to you now, "Use them to get anything you like."

Your brows furrowed and you looked at him skeptically, "Wait why did you look into my things?"

"I suspected you would try to run, so I wanted to make sure you were packed for the hot springs and not to run away," You glared at his response, "But then Mitsuhide assured me that he had packed your things himself- of course that only gave me more reason to look into it-"

"Hold on, hold on," you waved you hand infront of him, "Mitsuhide packed all my things?"

"Enough," Nobunaga cut in to your conversation, "We must be going."

Hideyoshi and Mitsunari bowed and smiled, saying their farewells as Nobunaga urged the horse foward, and gave it the signal to pick up speed. Before you knew it, the equine was in full gallop and you were holding on to the horn of the saddle to be sure you wouldn't fall off. You felt like one of those cats in those old cartoons where the poor feline was scared to death of something, and jumped into the air only to latch on to the ceiling. When your hands became sweaty and clammy you moved your grip to the horses mane - wrapping your hands in the animals long locks.

This was the third time you had been on a horse since your arrival to the Sengoku period, and you really felt like you were getting the hang of it...maybe, a little, okay not really, but at least you weren't falling off. You had figured out that if you clenched the barrel of the horse between your thighs and legs it was easier to hold on.

After riding for a few hours, Nobunaga gently pulled the reins of the horse back when you reached a lake, causing it to slow to a stop. You gazed at the body of water in awe. The water was so beautiful, and it reflected the sky and the line of trees on the otherside perfectly. Water was hardly ever this clean in your time period. Years of people using it up, and throwing trash or other gunk into it made it all murky and ugly.

The sound of Nobunaga whistling broke you out of your thoughts and you turned to look at him with a raised brow, "What are you doing?"

"I'm calling Haguro."

Who?

You heard a loud screech from the skies and looked up. A black dot shot across the sky and you squinted your eyes to try and get a better look. Your eyes shifted, and suddenly everything was inhanced.

A hawk.

Nobunaga moved both reins into one hand again before stretching out his free arm. You glanced back at him for second before looking back up towards the sky.

The giant hawk was diving down towards the both of you but just as it was a few kilometers away, it extended its wings and came to a sudden halt with another screech. Nobunaga looked up at the bird with a perplexed expression, "Odd."

You swallowed, having an idea as to why it wouldn't come near, "Maybe he doesn't like strangers," you hadn't ment it seriously, but Nobunaga thought you had.

"Nonsense, he doesn't care."

The bird of prey descended more cautiously, flying circles around the two of you as if to inspect you both before getting within arms length of you. The giant hawk with black tipped feathers fluttered in front of you for a moment, looking you in the eyes quizzically, as if to ask why you were on the back of horse.

"Haguro," Nobunaga spoke to it firmly, but it hadn't even seemed to flinch. It merely tilted its head and chirped, gazing into your eyes like it knew. After a moment he flew another, tighter circle around the two of you, hesitating infront of you for a moment before ascending into the sky, stopping to look back at you before letting out another screech.

Asking you to join perhaps? They did always say animals had a sixth sense about people.

Without verbally saying a word, your eyes flickered back to normal and you turned your head away from the bird - a gentle wordless decline to his offer.

Nobunaga whistled again, and this time Haguro listened, descending once again to rest gracefully of the warlords arm, "This is Haguro. It's odd, he normally doesn't act that way."

You shrugged, extending a hand out towards him, pausing mere inches from his beak to allow him to inspect you further, "Maybe he's feeling under the weather."

When he neither showed signs of agression nore fear you moved to stroke the underside of his neck with the back of your finger, and he gave an appreciative chirp, "What do you use him for?"

"He's an attack hawk," Nobunaga jested, and you looked at him questioningly- wondering for a momemt if that was an actual thing. He laughed at your expression and you looked at him wryly.

Just then, Haguro turned his attention from the both of you and towards the open grass fields. You turned to look in the same direction and smelled something. The grass rustled, and a rabbit hopped out from hiding.

"We'll hunt before the hot springs," Nobunaga raised his arm slightly to give Haguro more room to spread his wings, "Join me, princess."

You gave the man in incredulous look and your eyes shifted to the hawk, who was also looking at you. It felt like the bird was giving you the opportunity to have first dibs, but you shook you head, "How?"

Nobunaga threw his arm up into the air, allowing Haguro to take flight, "Go Haguro," you turned to watch the bird fly off wordlessly, not wanting to scare off the rabbit. Normally, there would be something to be said about using an animal to kill another animal, but had Haguro not had a handler and were simply hunting for himself, could the same be said? No, because that was nature. Besides, in this time people had to hunt to eat, or else they might starve.

You watched the giant hawk dive for the small mammal before the sound of small voices caught your attention, "It's a rabbit! Get it!"

Yours and Nobunaga's eyes snapped in the direction of a nearby tree, and out from behind it appeared three small children armed with rocks. With all the racket, the rabbits ears perked and it fled just as the kids started to throw the stones at it. You looked up, noticing Haguro remained stagnant in the air, probably having seen and heard the children as well.

"Aww," the children, dressed in patchy and tattered clothing rationed into kimonos, plopped onto the ground to sit and willow in their defeat, "It got away!"

"You suck at this!" One of them spoke up, pointing a finger at one of the others, "That's why it got away. I was gonna' get it 'cause I promised mom I'd get dinner."

"Nuh-huh!" Another spoke up, "It was mine!"

"No," Nobunaga's voice from behind you caught your attention, as well as the children's attention, "it was mine," Haguro circled the sky above all of you once more before descending to gently land on the warlords shoulder. The children gaped at him, and you were unsure if it was out of awe or intimidation, probably a mixture of both. "You disturbed my hunt. Brave, but foolish."

You watched as he dismounted the horse, sure he wasn't really going to do anything, but there was still a tiny part of you in the back of your mind that whispered, 'but what if he does?' You shook the thought off, so what if you saw him cut down enemy soldiers on the battlefield? Those were grown men who had fully intended to strike him down, these were just children who didn't even know who they were talking to.

"Who's the mean guy?"

You dismounted the horse at that comment, fully intending to get in the middle if the warlord took things too far, "It isn't polite to judge people based on the way they look," you shot Nobunaga a mischievous look, "even if you're 100% right."

You chuckled before looking back to the children and crouching down to their level when you reached them, "Would you like to try again?"

One of the children, wide-eyed and fearful, nodded, "Are you a samurai?"

Nobunaga's expression didn't shift the entire time, "I am Nobunaga Oda, Lord of Azuchi Castle."

The fear in the children's expressions now overpowered the awe, and they seemed to shrink back, "R-really?"

"Now name yourselves."

Oh boy.

"M-my name is Taiichi," after a moment the one in the center finally spoke up, which gave his friends the courage to speak as well.

"Kisuke."

"I'm Kotaro."

"Taiichi. Kisuke. Kotaro. If you plan to steal my prey again, you'll need to be much better than that." Your brows raised at his words. You hadn't known what you had been expecting, but it certainly wasnt that. "Taiichi, bring the stone and come here."

"Okay," with a puzzled look on his face, Taiichi searched the grass for a stone and when he found one he brought it over to Nobunaga, who crouched down beside him.

"The first step in hunting your prey, is to have good sight of it," the raven haired warlord pointed out towards the lake, and when you turned to look you saw a hollowed tree in his line of sight, "Do you see that tree by the lake? Do you see the hollow in its trunk?"

"That hole?" You didn't turn around to look at them, but you could hear them conversing, "Yeah, I see it."

"Throw the stone at it as if it were the rabbit." You allowed yourself to smile at the whole situation.

"Okay," you turned back just in time to see Taiichi throw the stone, and you followed it in its path to the tree. It flew pretty far, but much too high to hit the hollow hole, and he missed.

"You have a good arm," Nobunaga praised, "but you're letting go too early." The image of a father teaching his son how to play baseball in those old Hallmark movies came to mind, and your smile only widened. "Put out your hand, I'll show you how to grip the stone."

Nobunaga has a soft side after all.

"Show me too!"

"Me too! Me too!" With the flip of a switch, all the fear that had been previously in their eyes was gone and replaced with excitment as they crowded him.

He's teaching them how to hunt, how cute.

Nobunaga explained how to aim, how to throw. He spoke to them like they were adults, though his voice still had a twinge of his normal demanding tone. However, you did notice how he gently placed a hand on their backs to support them, and guide their arms into the right position. Even when their attempts failed, he remained patient with them and began explaining again from the beginning. Then finally, Taiichi managed to hit the tree hollow dead on.

"Did you see that? I did it!" Taiichi fist pumped into the air.

"Remember that timing," the warlord sounded like a coach.

"Taiichi, that's awesome!" His friends praised.

"Thank you, Lord Nobunaga!"

"Don't thank me," Nobunaga chuckled, "And dont get cocky either," before standing up, "In a real hunt, once your prey sees you, it will attempt to flee. If you want to land the killing blow, you need to lure it to a place where it can't escape."

"We will!" With that they ran off, turning back for a brief moment to wave to the both of you before heading into the woods to begin their hunt anew.

You sent them a wave as well while Nobunaga turned back to face you, "It's going on towards afternoon. We'll go hawking another time. We must go to the inn."

"Why, Mister Nobunaga," you held a shit eating grin on your face the entire time the two of you walked over to the horse, and you placed a hand on the saddle before turning to look at Nobunaga, "I had no idea you were so soft."

Nobunaga scoffed at this, "I'm not soft-"

"Oh don't be ridiculous," you gently took hold of the neckline of his kimono and ran it between your thumb and index finger, "It was absolutely adorable, though very uncharacteristic-"

Nobunaga looked down to watch your hand before you brought his gaze back to you by bring the same index finger under his chin to tip it back up so he could meet your eyes, "So why did you do it? Why did you show them how to hunt?"

Nobunaga slowly put his hands on you waist, and you leaned into him, thinking for a moment that perhaps you had him like that night in his room - till he lifted you to place you in the saddle. "Because," after he was sure you were steady, he began to climb into the saddle as well, "they weren't any good at it," he shrugged.

You raised a brow at him and he continued, "If they can't hunt, they may someday starve. A country starves if it's people starve. Those boys have the will and the need to fill their stomachs. What they lack is technique. I have given them that."

For the second time in just a few hours, Nobunaga suprised you. Much like when you both first spotted those three boys, you hadn't known what you were expecting his answer to be, but it wasn't that. You were glad he gave those kids a life skill that would help them survive and feed their families, but up until this point you had thought Nobunaga was a slightly sadistic, greedy, power hungry man, with a touch of carnal desire - so why? What did he have to gain from this? You turned your head to look at him quizzically through the corner of your eye.

"And the hawk?"

"How I hunt," he spoke like it was obvious.

"No shit," you laughed, "but why?"

"I planned to take the rabbit with us and serve it to you for dinner. Now that's changed."

You hummed as a genuine smile broke out on your face, before you shook it off. You were going to say, how sweet, but who are you kidding he needs to eat too. It definitely wasn't a kind gesture of any sort.

"Why don't you try learning a useful skill, like Taiichi and the others?" He gently kicked the horse into a canter.

"You'd like me to learn how to hunt?" You chuckled.

"Something more immediate," Nobunaga reached out and put the reins in you hands.

"Wait what- No," you shook your head definently, "Absolutely not, Nobunaga," you sighed exasperatedly, "Can we at least slow down first?!"

"If I'm going to teach you, it's not going to be slowly. Besides a gallop feels better," with another kick, Nobunaga urged the horse into a gallop. You flinched, scrunching your eyes shut as the horse picked up speed, and clenched your teeth to keep in a frightened squeal. You gripped the reins tighter.

"Keep your grip loose on the reins. They aren't what keeps you on the horse."

"Well then how am I supposed to keep hold of them?!"

"Squeeze the horse between your knees. That's how you stay on."

"I'm already doing that!"

"Push against the stirrups and raise your rump to ride steady."

"Oh no!" You hissed, "My ass is staying firmly planted on this saddle!!"

You yelped when the horse jumped over a boulder, "Get me off this stupid thing!" You felt tears pricking the corners of your eyes, genuine fear. For a moment you were airborne and you almost expected to fly right off the saddle and be dragged by the reins (which you were still gripping tightly). However, you noticed that you were still seated in the saddle, and from there you realized you felt a firm pressure on your hips- Nobunaga's hands.

"Keep your eyes ahead. If you're nervous, the horse will know."

You let out a shakey breath and readjusted your position, "How long do you intend to run at full speed?" You turned your head to look at Nobunaga, "I believe there is a cliff up ahead."

What.

"What?! And you didn't think it was important to tell me that?!"

Nobunaga looked at you like you offended him, "I am telling you."

That's when you noticed the density of the trees becoming more scarce as the horse continued on, and you looked ahead to see the cliff. You felt panicked, not sure what you should do. You briefly remembered when you rode that horse into battle, but you didn't know what you were doing, and it was hard to say whether it was your actions or the actions of the soldier who had run into you that stopped the horse that time.

You felt your heart practically pounding out of your chest, you felt slightly short of breath, and there was no end to the amount of fluttering in your stomach that followed the feeling of dread. You blinked and suddenly everything was in high definition, you were hyper aware of your surroundings and the quiet growl that rose in the back of your throat as you took in a deep breath before roaring out a, "STOP!!!"

With a suprised whinny, the horse skidded and reared into a stop, just inches from the edge before taking a few hurried steps back farther away from it. You sighed in relief, glad the horses decision was to stop as opposed to run faster. For a moment you thought your ears were fooling you when it sounded like both you and the horse were panting in sync. As you calmed down your dragons eyes faded and you gently placed a hand on the side of the horses neck, as if to confirm that it was just as out of breath as you were, and just like you the equines pulse was bounding.

Nobunaga gently pried the reins out of your hands, and you looked at him with wide eyes and mouth agape - still trying to catch your breath. "Generally," he started, "You would pull the reins to stop your horse."

Your brows furrowed and you looked away from him, bringing your gaze to the steed below you as the both of you calmed down.

"But congratulations," he chuckled, "You survived your first riding lesson."

"Oh wipe that smug look off your face," you barked, "You would have died if we went over that cliff!"

"I would have stopped you. Although it was getting close," he peered over the horse to look at the cliffs edge, "On second thought, I probably wouldn't have been in time."

You scoffed, "You're unbelievable!"

Nobunaga laughed at this, "I wouldn't let the horse get out of my control."

You weren't sure if you believed him or not, but if you could get off this horse without having to walk the rest of the way to the hot springs, you would. You turned back to look at him with a joking suspicious look and saw that he was grinning like mischievous child. You found it hard to growl at him and frustratedly ran your fingers through your hair, speaking quietly to yourself, "Just when I thought I had you figured out," you laugh at your own naivety.

"You are laughing. Why?" He smiled still, though it slowly faded away and instead he held a perplexed look.

"Just the irony of it all I guess, I don't really know," you shrugged and cleared your throat, thinking yourself stupid for letting your walls down around him, "We're done right? No more lessons for today?"

It was Nobunaga's turn to scoff, "What a foolish question, I never intended to stop here. By the time we reach the inn, you'll be able to ride on your own."

You puffed, "Or we'll be dead before we get there."

The warlord laughed at your comment and you smirked. So he likes dark humor, "Oh just give me the reins!" You turned to take them with a determined look on your face.

"That's a good look on you."

"What?" You chuckled, a bit caught off guard, "Spiteful? Exasperated? Plotting revenge?"

"Determined," he corrected, "Resolute. Unyielding. Confident."

You put your tongue to your cheek and looked away from him. How dare he honestly compliment you, and it was empowering too. After a moment he took the reins from you once more, "Here I'll teach you to turn."

You dramatically groaned. The ride had been long and hard, probably would have been a lot smoother and a lot faster if Nobunaga had just steered as opposed to making a novice take hold of the medieval steering wheel. You both had to stop several times, and you managed to go off course at least twice, but damn Nobunaga for being patient with you. You partly wished he would have been harsh so it would be easier for you to loath him.

When you arrived at the in and checked into your room, Nobunaga left you saying he had something to take care of, but he urged you to enjoy the hot springs. You didn't need to be told twice, and as soon as he left you shut the door behind him and stripped before walking to the hot water with pep in your step. You sat at the waters edge before slipping in and plunging yourself underneath, only to emerge completely soaked with a gasp followed by a relaxed sigh. You revealed in the waters temperature, it felt nice on your skin, and you were sure your scales would appreciate the rocks underneath. You paused, looking around and wondering if there was any way for someone to see you. There wasn't, not unless they came through the rooms door but even then you would hear the door before they would have the chance to see you.

A deep purr rumbled from your throat before you plunged underwater yet again. You couldn't fully shift, this particular pool was much too small, but maybe if you could scale yourself down to the size you were when Mitsuhide confronted you? You emerged from the spring, body covered in scaled patches here and there.

No, still a little too small.

You huffed, maybe if you sould stay human sized it would be fine. You had never tried it before. With a deep breath you went under water again and attempted to shift while maintaining your size. It was difficult - a limb morphing into a size that was much to big before turning back, here and there. Some of the water splashed outwards from the pool and you growled in frustration. By the end of the struggle, you settled on a partial transformation that wouldn't make you quite as big as you were the other night when you freighted Mitsuhide. You looked much like an anthropomorphic dragon - with a long neck, slightly longer torso, and a tail. The proportions frustrated you, but you would have to deal with it for now.

With one last deep breath, you went below the waters surface and rubbed the side of your face against the rock walls, easily knocking off any loose or damaged scales that you were unable to gnaw loose when you groomed. Another purr bubbled from your chest and you pressed your elongated body against the side of the spring and wriggled. Maybe after this trip you could convince Nobunaga to take you back to the lake so you could search the bottom for a bed of smooth rocks to polish the new and salvageable ones.

With all the rough treatment, the irreparable scales were not long for this world and crumbled as soon as they left your skin, though without the wind to carry them, they left a fine glittery dust over the top of the water. You emerged to inspect yourself, but before you could determine if you scraped off all the loose scales you heard your door slide open. With a squeak, you went underwater and shifted back before poking your head out above the surface.

To your horror you noticed the fog all the dusted scales left over the water, and you couldn't cup your hands fast enough to begin throwing it out before Nobunaga stepped out of the room, "How is the temperature?"

"It's warm, not too hot-" you froze as he stepped out of the room and out to the spring. He was dressed in only a thin cotton robe, carrying a tray in one hand. You faught the low growl at the back of your throat and attempted to hide the resulting blush by sinking lower into the water so only your eyes and up were visible. Nobunaga raised a brow at your behavior before he noticed the foggy cloud that made the water opaque. He carefully put the tray down and inspected the water with suspicious eyes.

"They're exfoliating minerals," you came back up to spit out an excuse before he could inspect it more, "You put it in the water and it's supposed to rub against you while you bathe to get rid of the layer of dead skin on your body and make it softer."

It wasn't a complete lie, there were many uses for ground dragon scales as well as any other asset one could harvest off a dragon, live or dead. Which was one of the reasons your kind was so sought after by specialty hunters - you could make a pretty penny off all the things you get off a dragon. He plunged a hand under the water before pulling it back up to see how the glittery material coated his skin, "Odd, I have heard of it before, we make our own at the bathhouse with salt and sand," he turned his hand around to see the 'exfoliator' shine iridescently, "But I've never seen one like this before."

"I brought it from my village with the things I packed."

"I thought Mitsuhide had packed your things?"

Damn him for paying attention.

"Yes well, Kinu and I had packed together last night, but I fell asleep and I guess she finished for me," you paused, "And when I checked my pack after we arrived, I saw everything Mitsuhide packed was basically just a trimmed down version of what she and I packed last night."

You gave him a small smile, as if to punctuate the fact that there was nothing odd going on at all. He hummed and you figured he would brush off your odd behavior for now. He wiped the odd substance off his hand with his robe as you approached him, before taking his hand in yours, "Are you going to join me?"

You playfully bit your lip, drew an invisible circle in his palm with the tip of your finger, and looked up at him with mischievous eyes. He smirked down at you, till you splashed him with some water, "Well too bad," you laughed, "This pool is taken."

You splashed him again before releasing him and disappearing under the water, only to resurface at the other end of the spring with your back to him. "I won't bother," he spoke and you looked back at him suprised.

He wasn't going to get into the springs? Surely he knows you were kidding? You couldn't care less whether he joined you or not, "The innkeeper brought this to our room. I won't drink tonight," you raised a disbelieving brow, easily catching that something was up, so you made your way back over to him.

"You have it."

You tilted your head up at him, "Wait," you grabbed the bottom of his robe before he could walk off, causing him to stop and look back at you. You gazed at him searchingly with slightly narrowed eyes, "What's going on?" You spoke in a low voice, as if worried that the walls had ears.

He looked down at your hand and then beck to you, before leaning down to meet your level as best he could, "Do not worry about it."

If he wasn't going to get into the springs, why bother comming? You had already suspected this was all some ploy, but you were also worried that you may just paranoid till he verbally confirmed your worries. You released him and he stood up again to walk away. With a sigh you redirected your gaze to the water.

Perhaps you should practice.

You watched Nobunaga as he disappeared into the room, before staring down at the cloudy water with a determined look. You eyeballed the steaming spring as you backed up against the wall of the pool again, like you were expecting it to do something.

After a brief moment, the water around you swirled like a mini whirlpool, causing the powdered scales to gather in the center, and the spot you had been looking at seemed to bubble up - like there was a spout pushing the water up from underneath it. Your gaze became more intense, and the bubbling turned into an air born, steady stream that gently slithered into the air just half a foot above the water before draining onto the stone and gravel ground a few feet away. You were able to focus enough to separate the muddled water from the clean, and clear the hot spring of your dusted scales, but just as you were finishing up a faint sound broke your concentration and made you jump slightly.

You looked up, making sure Nobunaga hadn't spotted you. You saw nothing, but decided to take that as a sign for you to get out - wrapping your robe around your body when you emerged.

"Hey, did you hear something-" when you walked into the room you noticed Nobunaga had some sort of game set up. To you it looked like some medieval version if chess or checkers, "What is all this?"

"Are you familiar with Go?" He turned to look at you, hands resting on his knees as he sat cross legged on one side of the bored.

"Heard of it, but I don't know how to play it."

"I will teach you. And then, when I ask, you and I shall play."

"A Go call girl?" You raised a brow, "Why?"

"You're resilient. Resolute. Strong willed." He adjusted the pieces as he spoke.

"And?" You came around the table to sit on the other side.

"You like to play games, so do I, and as much as I hate to say it- I won't beat you in your own game," you chuckled at this, you guessed he was talking about that night three months ago, and every other teasing moment after that.

"So you're going to play my game."

You snickered, "And how is that any more fair?" You picked up a playing piece and examined it, "The only difference is, the scale tips on your side more now than it does mine?"

"Life isn't fair."

"Okay fine," you looked at him tauntingly, "So what do I get if win this game?"

"Games," he corrected.

"Right, sorry," you sigh, "What do I get if I win these games?'

"Why your freedom of course."

You perked up at this and cocked your head to the side.

"You strike me as the adventurous type," yes good observation, "And right now you're confined to the castle," a temporary hindrance, but continue, "Or rather, Azuchi's castle and town," better, "If you win, you're free to go."

"If I win? As in, if I win in one game?" You smirked, liking your odds before your smile disappeared, "What do you get if you win?"

"You."

Your expression never turned into a glare so fast, "No. Absolutely not," you didn't like your odds anymore.

"Oh, come now," Nobunaga rolled his eyes, "Every time you lose a game, I will claim a part of your body as my own. That means I am free to touch or kiss it. I won't take all of you at once, or else it wouldn't be any fun," he gave you a cocky smirk, "Unless you want me too- and, you can even tell me when to stop."

You chewed the inside of your lip, thinking about it. He gave himself a handicap by allowing you at least one win for all your freedom, while he had to win several games to get his end of the bargain, "Fine."

"Excellent, I wouldn't take any pleasure in using force, so I will have you submit to me piece by piece until I've conquered you completely."

You rolled you eyes, "Let's just begin the first game."

Nobunaga gave you a run down of the game as you both played, explaining how the pieces moved and answering any questions you had. It wasn't long till Nobunaga won the first of your games. Of course you hadn't been expecting to win on your first game, but your win would come with experience.

"A promise is a promise," you huffed as he reached across the table and took the hand you had been moving pieces with, "Tonight, I'll take this."

"My hand?" You raised a brow, "I would have thought you would go for some place more daring."

He brought your hand right up to his lips and kissed your fingertips. Your breath hitched and you actually felt your heart pound, not having expected him to be so gentle. His lips were soft, a stark contrast to his overall personality. You weren't sure if your fingers were actually pulsing, or if it was just your pulse points echoing your heartbeat, but it didn't hinder you from subconsciously moving the Go table aside so you could scoot closer to Nobunaga. You definitely wanted more, but you couldn't just give him everything after the first game - afterall, he obviously wanted a challenge, "Perhaps that's enough."

"Why?" He took your pinky between his teeth and you glared at him, before feeling your face heat up as you suddenly recognized the parallels between now and the short lived tryst you two had a while back. You felt a jolt go up your spine when he started using his tongue and you gasped pleasurably.

One thing you never did care to admit, was that dragons were incredibly emotionally and sensually driven creatures.

"Ah, I see why now," he gave you a cocky smile as he withdrew, but you followed him - crawling into his lap and making yourself comfortable. "Just to be clear," you whispered, "My hand is all you get to claim tonight, but-"

You leaned forward and he met you half way, the both of you claiming eachothers lips with breathy eagerness. You slid your hands up his chest and around his neck, while he slid his around your waist and brought you closer. You let out an unintentional moan, getting far more excited than you cared to admit - especially at the fact that the only thing separating your bodies were your two thin robes. He took advantage of your moment of weakness made a trail of kisses down your neck, gently biting and scraping his teeth on junction where your neck and shoulder met.

"Ah!" You gasped, one arm staying firmly wrapped around his neck while the other hand slowly scraped its way up to tangled in his hair. Nobunaga grunted and bucked his hips up into you, seeming quite a bit excited himself. Before you knew it, you pulled away from him and slowly leaned back - tugging him down with you by the neckline of his robe till he had you pinned underneath him. You gazed into his eyes for a moment, his eyes were trained and focused on you, but he also seemed distant, detached, and cold.

You wrapped your legs around his hips and pulled him closer to you before you began kissing him again, nipping and sucking at his lip to tease him. At this point you weren't sure if he was genuinely enjoying this or just going through the motions as he began to run his hand up and down, and around your body.

Wait.

You pulled back and looked at him, your memory briefly flashing back to the first time the two of you did something like this.

That first time he was obviously aroused and looking to have you sleep with him - his pupils were diolated, his cheeks had been slightly flush from the heat, and his breathing was fast. But this time, this time he seemed like he was trying to keep control of himself, like he was on guard, had his walls up, and still feeling you up. Even in places he, as an experienced man, must have known would give you no pleasure.

Your brows furrowed and you pushed him away with a hurt expression when it occured to you. Your mouth was slightly agape as you let out a shakey breath and blinked away pinprick of tears.

How could you be suprised by this?

How could you let it affect you the way it was?

Perhaps you were getting a little too comfortable at Azuchi.

"You think it's me?" You quickly unwrapped your legs from around him and slid out from underneath the warlord, before scrambling to your feet and backed up towards the door, "Or at least, you think I have something to do with it?"

As if on cue you heard a noise from the hall, and your head snapped to the side to look at your rooms door. The door began to rattle and suddenly, Nobunaga was on his feet and alert. You actually felt like you had to take a slightly defensive position, you had no weapon, and no fighting experience, but you could defend yourself if you had too. When the door rattled more violently you turned around to face it just in time to see the screen door split in two - falling apart with a clatter.

At that point, your instincts took over - the emotional turmoil and adrenalin rush from feeling like you may be in danger allowed you to easily hone your senses. When three men dressed completely in all black entered the room, the first thing they would have seen was you - with your dragons eyes. The next thing they would have seen a few feet behind you was Nobunaga.

"Nobunaga, prepare yourself!"

"You finally decided to show up," your eyes widened. Your theory had been correct all along. This was a ruse to draw out his enemies, only problem was, he thought you might be in on it too. "You should be ashamed of yourselves, attacking a man while he takes his evenings pleasure. You obviously lack the skills to please a woman."

"Go ahead!" One of the men leapt forward, "Prattle on!" Slashing his sword down toward Nobunaga, but before he could get past you - you quickly grabbed his arm, spun him around and easily threw him into the next room, breaking a hole in the wall. You flinched slightly, not having ment to cause damage to the place or throw the man that hard. You had merely wanted him to get away from the both of you, "Oh, sorry."

The other two men watched you with wide eyes, "Ahhhh!" Till a second one decided to come for you. You jolted like a frightened cat and jumped out of his way, before knocking him down like you would a rowdy animal - by grabbing him by the back of the neck, picking him up slightly, only to slam him down into a laying position on the floor, with your knee resting in his back so you could put your weight on him to keep him down. Your eyes widened and you quickly scrambled off him and to your feet, "Sorry, reflexes!"

"You lack follow through, who taught you how to fight," Nobunaga was poking at the three assailants, making things worse.

"Grrr!" The third and final man came running at you and you turned you back to Nobunaga before ducking with your arms above your head, in a curled position- causing the man to trip and fall. Meanwhile, the first assassin you had thrown was climbing back into the room through the hole in the wall, "Die, tyrant!"

Nobunaga turned and drove an elbow into the mans face when he was close enough, "Guh!"

With the third assassin fallen and the first one currently clutching his face in pain on the ground, the second attempted to stand, but you quickly turned around and grabbed his foot, before pulling, and causing him to fall once more, "No, you stay down!"

"Are you taking turns?" Nobunaga taunted, "Fight us like you mean it."

"Shut up, Nobunaga," you growled.

"Damn it!" The two that had been occupied by you scrambled away on their hands and knees towards the wall with the hole, and just when they were about to charge you and the warlord-

"Stop right there!" Hideyoshi and Mitsunari came through what remained of the door.

"My lord, are you injured?" Mitsunari quickly examined Nobunaga with his eyes.

"As you can see, I am unhurt." Your eyes narrowed at him.

"Hideyoshi and Mitsunari are here?" The two who stood by the broken wall held suprised looks in their eyes, "He was supposed to be alone!"

"Alone?" Mitsunari smiles sweetly, "No, we were waiting for you to show up."

"You idiots fell into a trap," Hideyoshi chuckled as he and Mitsunari knocked the two by the wall out, before looking to you, "I'm sorry if this startled you, Princess."

You tsked, "I can't say it did, I thought it odd Nobunaga would want to come alone with just me- I suspected from the begining this was a trap of some sort."

Hideyoshi and Mitsunari seemed surprised, "You knew?"

"Of course I knew, It's been three months since that battle, and the wound is barely being addressed now? And Nobunaga come alone when he is supposedly wounded? Even I thought that seemed out of character for him- he may be a cocky bastard, but he's not stupid. I just don't understand why none of you just told me."

"That was me," Hideyoshi spoke up, "I didn't believe we could trust you-"

"To what," you cut him off, anger evident in your voice, "Not be the mole? Or at least have some part in this attack? Or maybe even the previous one? Yeah I got that."

Hideyoshi pursed his lips together and Mitsunari frowned, his gaze turning to the floor in slight shame. "I can't believe you thought I'd do that, Hideyoshi," his suspicion of you honestly felt like it hurt the most - he was there for you when you lost your cool for the first time and nearly broke down, and he was there when you collapsed, heaven only knows what else he may have also done to help you when you first got injured, "I thought you said you trusted me, or at the very least, didn't suspect me."

"Milady," Mitsunari attempted to stand up for his lord, but you cut him off with a sharp look, "Don't fucking talk to me."

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon

Ch.7 Pt.2

Warnings: Swearing, blood and violence, MC gets physically hurt, this one is short as it is just the last bit of the chapter 7 that didn't fit in my last post.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way," Hideyoshi extended a hand towards you, as if the motion could calm you down, "Forgive me. When we return to the castle, I'll do whatever I can to make it up to you."

You shook your head defiantly and replied with a shakey, "No."

"It was a fine retreat," now Nobunaga was attempting to steer the conversation in a different direction, "Although my entertainment was cut short."

You gave the man a small growl, not even looking in his direction, before an odd sound cough the attention of all four of you, "U-ugh."

You had almost forgotten about the guy Nobunaga elbowed in the face. You raised a brow at him as he attempted to get up, but ultimately just ended up crawling towards you when the two of you locked eyes, "I'm sorry!"

You made no attempts to move from your spot and instead stood your ground whilst the man groveled at your feet, "I apologize for everything!"

Oh? Your brows furrowed as you looked at him with a perplexed expression.

"I-I'll do anything you ask!"

The expression on your face turned from one of confusion to one of remorse. This man thought he was going to die.

"Just spare me!" His eyes were wide with panic, and he quickly grabbed your ankle in what you had thought was just another act of desperation, but when you opened your mouth to say something, you were cut off by the sound of Nobunaga drawing his sword.

"Don't touch her." You saw the blade come down through the corner of your eye, and you intercepted it with your hand - giving the downed man your back, "No!"

Nobunaga attempted to stop himself when he realized you had put yourself in his path, but before he could you had already caught the sword. No one noticed the thin layer of scales that blanketed the inside of your hand to keep you from being cut.

"He's surrendering!" Your face held a mixture of bafflement and horror at the warlords actions, but you stopping Nobunaga only caused Hideyoshi to draw his sword - whether is was at you or not wasn't clear, "Hideyoshi-!"

You couldn't even finish your sentence as your words were cut off by a dagger being plunged into your back. Your eyes widened in shock and you snapped your jaw shut before looking down at your abdomen. The blade hadn't been long enough to pierce you all the way through, but when you didn't fall to your knees, the assassin who clung to you attempted to drive the weapon deeper.

"Mildly!" Mitsunari, being the only one with free hands, moved to catch you for when you inevitably fell, but you didn't. Both he and Hideyoshi held suprised expressions on their faces, but Nobunaga's could only be described as detached rage.

"You naive woman!" Nobunaga tried to pull his sword from your hand, but the pain from the dagger had made you tense. You gritted your teeth and clutched its blade tighter, holding it with such strength that it dug into your skin and created a superficial cut, which resulted in a thin trail of blood dribbling down your wrist.

"I was trying to help you," your voice was shakey. Your three companions thought it was a result of your shock, but no, you were pissed. You slowly turned to look at the man still clinging to your leg with sharp eyes, and when he noticed the inhuman look of them, he quickly released you and scrambled to scoot away, "Ahh! No!"

The man used his hands and the heels of his feet to push himself along the wood flooring in an attempt to keep his eyes on you, "W-what?! What are-?!"

"I was trying to help you!" You turned around completely to face him, releasing Nobunaga's sword and slowly walking towards your would-be killer, "And you, quite literally, stabbed me in the back!"

He was hyperventilating now as your eyes seemed to glow, and you sneered at him with sharp teeth and fangs. He stopped in his panicked effort to get away from you only when his back hit the wall with a 'thud' that crushed any hopes he had of getting away. You were approaching faster than he cared for, and he watched you with terrified eyes as your hand reached behind you. Did you have a weapon? Where would your hide it in that bath robe? You couldn't see the wide-eyed expression the warlords behind you had when your hand grabbed the handle of the dagger you had been assaulted with, and pulled it out of your back.

The blade was slick and colored crimson with your blood. A few droplets pattered on to the floor as you stopped right in front of the man who tried to murder you. He was too stunned to try and defend himself, especially when you raised the dagger above your head like you were going to kill him. He screamed, but before you could bring the blade down a hand stopped you by grabbing your forearm, "Mildly."

You turned to meet the pleading gaze of Mitsunari. He was a taken aback by the dark look in your eyes, but he waved it off as an illusion created by the lighting and the stray steam from the hot springs, "Please princess," he took a deep breath, "once you go down this path, there is no going back."

How sweet, he was trying to preserve your 'innocence'.

You huffed, "I wasn't going to kill him," you spat, "and if you knew me as well as you think you do, you would have known that."

The man at your feet tried to make a break for it by squeezing past you to the back doors, but you caught him by the neck, picked him up into the air so his feet were a good foot off the ground, and slammed him against the wall, "Where do you think you're going?"

He squeaked unceremoniously before frantically bringing his hands up to grab your wrist, "P-please!"

"Princess," Hideyoshi spoke firmly, "Put down the assassin."

You looked back to see Hideyoshi still in a defensive position with his sword pointed at you. You growled before taking a glance around the room - Nobunaga seemed to be studying you, Mitsunari was slowly releasing your hand, and the other two assailants were pale and shaken. You sighed, your posture visibly relaxing and after a brief moment, Mitsunari stepped away from you. Hideyoshi quietly let out the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, and replaced his sword back in its sheath - but as soon as they thought everything had past you quickly brought the dagger down.

"No!" Mitsunari moved to stop you, but before he could finish raising his arms you had lodged the bloody knife into the wall two inches from the assassins head. He whined pathetically before you tossed him to the side, sending him flying into his two comrades and making all three of them fall flat onto the floor yet again. Mitsunari let out a relieved sigh before taking the blade from the wall.

You rolled your eyes, "I told you I wouldn't kill him."

Hideyoshi swallowed nervously as you approached and Nobunaga nodded, "Good, the retreat is over. We shall return to Azuchi, and these men will be taken in for questioning, and you," he pointed towards you when you stopped in front of him, "Are going to see Ieyasu as soon as we return."

"I'm fine."

Hideyoshi moved to gently grab your arm and lead you away, but when he did you smacked his hand away - the quick movement caused your wound to send a sharp pain through your body and you winced.

The trip home was agony, every movement of the horse sent another jolt of pain through your back, but at least the bleeding had stopped. The only thing that made you blood boil more than the fact that you were once again injured, was the fact that you had to ride back with the men you were currently pissed at. You refused to speak to either of then the entire way.

"The silent treatment is unbecoming of a princess," Nobunaga jested, but you didn't respond with a witty comeback like you normally would have. Instead, you just silently glared at him any time he tried to get your attention before looking back to the trail ahead of you. He was receiving better treatment from you than Hideyoshi and Mitsunari however, you wouldn't even acknowledge them when they spoke to you. The brunette was actually becoming quite frustrated, though he tried not to show it, Mitsunari however probably took it better than Nobunaga or Hideyoshi. He simply didn't talk to you and gave you your space.

When you arrived at Azuchi, Ieyasu was one of the first to greet you all at the castle gates. Probably to make sure that no one had been seriously injured, "Seriously, again?" Ieyasu scoffed as you were handed off to him and you chuckled, "Guess trouble just follows me."

The group rushed you to the castles med bay where Ieyasu sat you down and examined your wound, you were currently sitting on his desk with nothing to cover your top and your back to the warlords.

"Well at least he didn't get you in a spot that would put your vital organs in any danger," the lead medic briefly glanced at the others standing behind him, "You said she was stabbed with what again?" Ieyasu sat on a pillow on the floor, leaning forward to examine your injury. Mitsunari stepped forward and held out the dagger he pulled from the wall at the hot springs, "This."

By now the blood had dried and crusted, and the flecks of white speckle and wood from the wall stuck to the blade with your blood as the adhesive. The blond turned around and looked at the weapon with furrowed brows, taking it by the handle before raising it up to compare its size with the opening, "It can't be, the entry point is too small."

Oh boy.

"Well how can you tell?" Hideyoshi motioned to the blood surrounding your wound, "There's so much blood, and it's dried already- what if it clotted a majority of the wound shut?"

At that moment a servant you didn't recognize walked it with a bowl of hot water and a rag, "The supplies you requested my lord."

Ieyasu nodded to the servant and took the bowl and rag before turning to look at Hideyoshi, "While that is how things like paper cuts and splinters work, that's not how it works for big wounds like this," he began cleaning the area around your injury, and you winced slightly from discomfort. The blond washed off all the sticky crusted blood and all that was left was a cut in your skin about half the size of the daggers width, and it wasn't actively bleeding. Ieyasu tsked before turning to look at Nobunaga, Mitsunari, and Hideyoshi, "You're sure this is what she was attacked with?"

"Of course," Nobunaga spoke up, "She pulled it out of her back herself."

"What?" Ieyasu looked at you from over your shoulder, "Are you stupid? You should never pull out a weapon from a wound, you could have bled out!"

"Well I figured if I wanted it to heal faster, I couldn't just leave it there," you began to argue with the blond, "Besides the blade was sharp, it was a clean cut, it should have no issues closing," you shrugged, "Probably won't even leave a scar."

Ieyasu rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, "That isn't the point." Ieyasu moved to look back at your wound, and if he hadn't known better, he could have sworn it had gotten smaller. He blinked a few times before leaving his seat all together, "I'm going to examine this for any possible additives- toxic herbs or poison incase it wasn't ment to kill right away."

You looked at Ieyasu through the corner of your eye and nodded while bringing your rob back up and sliding your arms into it. "Wait," Hideyoshi called after Ieyasu before he could close the door, causing the blond to whip around with an irritated look, "What?"

"You aren't even going to stitch her up?" The brunette motioned to you as you turned around to face the group and crossed your arms. The green-eyed warlord groaned, "It's a small enough cut, it's not even bleeding, probably isn't that deep- she'll be fine, I'll bring her some more salve in the morning. Now if you don't mind," Ieyasu raised the blade, "I need to hurry up and get a look at this," before slamming the sliding doors shut.

You sighed heavily, being left alone once again with the men you were mad at made you feel tense and anxious, and after a moment of thick silence you stood up from sitting on the desk to go back to your room. The three of them looked at you and you raised a brow at them, "What?"

"Don't you think you need to stay here?" Hideyoshi moved so he was infront of you, and also blocking your path to the door.

"No, I think what I need is some rest, maybe some food, and a good nights sleep," you moved to step around him before stopping and back tracking like you had forgotten something, and motioned to Nobunaga, "Oh, and to get out of the same room as the man who has almost gotten me killed twice already," you shoulder checked the brunette as you passed, "Thank you for asking."

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon.

Ch.5

Warnings: Swearing, depictions of depression

Several weeks had passed since you had attempted to flee the castle, almost three months, and it was beginning to take its toll. Since then, you've kept to your room - emerging only to bathe and go to the restroom, while you had maids deliver food to your room at set times. These past few days had been especially hard however, you hadn't bathed in days, and the maids have been returning to your room to pick up a full trays of food more often than not. At first, you enjoyed the silence and the time to yourself, but after the first two weeks you started becoming stir crazy. You would pace your room, reorganize things again and again, clean even when your furnishings weren't dirty, and you preened to the best of your ability, constantly.

While grooming was essential to keeping your dragon scales healthy, strong, and of course clean - too much of it could be detrimental. Dragons were much like birds in that sense. Lack of interaction, stress, and boredom lead to obsessive grooming which lead to plucking, but for you it simply ment your scales fell out on their own. You realized you had an issue when you woke up this particular morning, sat up, and scratched the back of your head, only to pull a dragon scale the size of your finger out of your hair.

"Milady?" Kinu opened the door, assuming you were still asleep as she was normally the one to wake you, "Oh Princess, where did you get that?" She had noticed the scale in your hand. Luckily because of its size she didn't know what it was, and luckily for you, you weren't in so bad of a condition that they were just falling out without you doing anything.

She walked closer, "It's so pretty!" You would have been flattered had you not been embarrassed by the condition the scale was in. Normally dragon scales were iridescent, polished, sleek, smooth, and hard so they could protect the softer skin underneath, but the one you had shed was dull, and rough from constant licking, as well as a bit brittle.

"I found it when I went out into town."

She reached for the scale and you hesitantly gave it to her to examine, "Careful it feels a bit fragile."

She nodded before cupping her hands together so you could place it in the center, and she gawked at the [in her eyes] vivid coloration, "You found it? Just laying around?"

"Yes," you lied, "it was on the ground and it caught my eye, so I took it."

She carefully lifted it to eye level with her thumb and index finger, "What is it?"

"I'm not sure," you shrugged, "For now just a pretty keep sake." She smiled and nodded before handing it back to you, "Right well," once you had taken it back her smile widened and she gave you a bow, "What would you like for breakfast this morning, Milady?"

You once again shrugged, "It doesn't really matter."

Kinu frowned at your lack luster answer, though she noticed that the past few weeks your personality seemed to be dimming, "Is something wrong, Princess?" She knelt beside you, "You haven't quite been yourself as of late..."

You looked up to meet Kinu's gaze. To be honest you felt quite tired, and you definitely weren't looking forward to another day of being trapped in your room. Perhaps you should just forget about breakfast this morning and go back to bed. It wouldn't really matter either way anyways.

"Milady?" Kinu's brows furrowed, and her ordinarily chipper expression contorted into one of sadness and concern, "Do you feel ill? Should I call Ieyasu?"

"No," you sighed before you slumped back down into your mat, turned your back to Kinu, and pulled your blanket over you. She had no idea what was wrong, whenever she had seen you wandering the castle or heard about you sneaking out to see the town that one time - you always seemed so bright, but now...

"Princess?"

"Hmm...?"

"Maybe we could have Ieyasu check your wounds? Maybe he can clear you, and you and I could go out into town today?"

What a brilliant idea, how had you not thought of that sooner? Well the answer to that was simple - you thought it would look too suspicious for you to heal so fast.

"It's been three months, Milady, I'm sure you're well enough to at least get out of your room, and maybe even the castle."

Yes some fresh air and more sun than what your balcony could offer would probably do the trick. You turned over in your mat to look at Kinu, "That's an excellent idea Kinu." While you hadn't immediately brightened like she had hoped, you at least sounded a bit more alive than before.

"Wonderful!" She smiled and hopped up onto her feet, "I shall go fetch Lord Ieyasu immediately!" She bowed quickly before running out of your room with an accidental slam of the door to rush to the medical experts med bay. With a grunt you sat up again and began inspecting yourself for any loose scales that showed through your skin. You rubbed your arms and lightly scratched the back of your head, before patting down your sides and legs. A few emerged and slid off you as your hands glided over your skin and you sighed in frustration. Nothing else seemed to fall after that - for now. Hopefully, a nice stroll outside would do you some good.

You got out of bed and straightened up to the best of your ability - getting rid of your fallen scales by crushing them and throwing them out the balcony doors to let them scatter to the wind, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, smoothing out any creases in your sleeping robe and running your fingers through your hair to get out whatever knots you could, before tying your hair up into a lazy bun with a ribbon Kinu had gotten for you the last time she went out into town. Perhaps you could buy a brush and a comb when you went out today, maybe even a mirror. Sure you could ask the servants and they would bring you one, but you wanted something that was yours and didn't feel borrowed.

You were standing out on the balcony when Ieyasu and Kinu emerged through the door to your room.

"Milady?" Kinu was the first to speak of the two as she attempted to get a reaction out of you. However, when she didn't receive one she turned to Ieyasu and whispered, "This is what I was talking about, she hasn't been quite herself lately..."

The blond made his way over to you, gently grabbing you arm to bring you back inside. Ieyasu released you for a moment to close the door behind you and him before leading you back to your sleeping mat and guiding you into a sitting position.

"Hey, woman," Ieyasu was so eloquent with words. You looked up to meet his gaze with an almost blank expression, "I'm going to have to take off your sleeping robe to check your injuries okay?" You wordlessly nodded.

Your silence made him uneasy. He was so used to you being loud and talkative, always having something to say, but now you were almost eerily quiet. He cleared his throat and slowly untied the knot of your robe, before pulling the collar slightly to reveal the side if your neck. There were no signs of injury, it was like you'd never been shot by arrows. He leaned in closer to better examine - not even a trace of scar tissue. With a small subconscious gasp, he moved around to sit behind you and pulled the rest of the robe away.

Nothing.

No scabbing, no signs of inflammation or infection, not even a scar. He was glad your wounds hadn't worsened but he was expecting to at least see a scar. With a hard swallow, Ieyasu slowly and gently ran his fingers down your bare back in an attempt to confirm that there was indeed nothing there. The light ghost of a touch sent a small shiver up and down your spine, causing you to flinch and turn your head slightly to the right to get a better look at the medic through the corner of your eye.

Again there was nothing, no smooth, pink, shiny, or soft skin that would come with a scar being there. He furrowed his brows and pressed on the areas where your wounds used to be, "Let me know if you feel any pain or discomfort."

You moved your head back forward and focused to his hands. They traveled up your back at a snail's pace, pressing down here and there - starting off easy before applying more pressure. It felt more like a massage than anything, and the contact was nice enough to have you close your eyes and let out a deep breath.

The action made Ieyasu stop, thinking your actions were an attempt to mask some pain you felt, "Are you okay?" He asked while simultaneously pressing down on the spot.

"Yes," your monotonous voice caught him almost as off guard as your behavior thus far.

"You don't feel any pain or discomfort?" He continued to apply the same constant pressure as he rubbed your back up and down, before his hands migrated to your side where you had sustained the most injuries from the battle, and he repeated his actions.

"No."

"Okay then," he wasn't sure what more to say as he pulled his hands away from you before pulling your robe back over your shoulders and straightening it out as best he could. "You're injuries have obviously healed," he stood up from his spot behind you and made his way over to your door, "I see no more reason to confine you to your room anymore."

That was all he said before he left, leaving you and Kinu alone in your room. "Oh Princess!" She was ecstatic, "This is wonderful news!"

The maid walked over to you and kneeled by your side to gauge you reaction. You simply nodded and turned to look at her, adjusting and tying your robe back up, "I guess I should have a bath before we go."

"Of course, Milady," she smiled sweetly, "And I'll be sure there is a beautiful kimono laid out for you for when you return!" With a small bow, she stood and left the room to head to the bathhouse. She decided at that moment that she would add some extra bath herbs, salts, and oils to hopefully perk you up.

News traveled fast among the servants that you had officially recovered as Kinu could hardly contain her excitement that she would be accompanying you out into town today. That being said you hadn't been expecting to hear a knock on your door so soon after Kinu left, it normally takes a while to prep a bath especially in the mornings.

"Princess."

Your head quickly turned to look towards the door when it opened and you were greeted by the sight of a familiar face, "Hideyoshi."

He smiled as he entered your room, placing a hand on your head before ruffling your hair like one would a younger loved one or a dog.

"No!" You lightly smacked his hand away, not meaning to harm him, just get his hand out of your hair.

He pulled back and looked at you quizzically as you covered your head with your arms and hands, "I haven't bathed in days, my hair is disgusting."

The brunette chuckled, "Is that all?"

"Is that all?" You huffed, "I have had little reason to leave this room and the past few weeks have been especially difficult..."

"I know," Hideyoshi knelt down so he could look at you at eye level, "That's why I came to offer to take you into town today."

"Kinu already beat you to that."

"I know," he laughed slightly, "I'm sure she's told everyone in the castle about it by now, she's happy you're well again."

You couldn't imagine why, you must have been the worst person she'd ever been assigned to service. You know in the months you've been here you hadn't been exactly friendly towards everyone, and sure you hadn't been nasty to Kinu, but still - you hadn't exactly been looking to make any friends during your stay here.

"Hey," Hideyoshi placed a hand on your shoulder with a small frown on his face. You looked up to meet his gaze, and what he saw seemed to be a shell of the girl he'd come to know the first few days of your stay, "Alright, that's it," he stood and helped you to your feet, "Were going to get you to the bathhouse so you can clean up, get you dressed, and then get you some food before we head out okay?"

"Kinu already beat you to that." You had ment the bath, but Hideyoshi thought you were getting delusional, which to be fair, he probably wasn't completely wrong.

The day you fully healed and fled the castle, was the day you had decided to lock yourself up. First it was the lack of sun, and lack of activity that began to wear on you mentally. Then the lack of stimulation began to wear on you emotionally, leading to the depression you had been feeling, and that lead you to not having the motivation to do much of anything - like eating and bathing. All that on top of your body trying to recoup from a speedy regeneration left you feeling weak, even with all the sleep you had been getting.

"Hideyoshi," was all you were able to get out as he attempted to lead you down the halls of the castle before you collapsed.

"Hey, hey!" He rushed to catch you and keep you from hitting the floor.

"Princess!" Kinu must have been heading back to your room to get you for your bath because she had been in the same hall when she saw you collapse, "Milady! What's wrong?!"

Hideyoshi was quick to pick you up bridal style and rush you to the castle sick bay where Ieyasu studied and practiced his medicine during his stays in Azuchi. He should be there at about this time.

"Ieyasu!!!" Hideyoshi called for the blond as he ran down the halls, as if that alone would be enough to summon the healer before him, "I swear if it isn't one thing with you it's another. You really are like a troublesome little sister."

"I'll inform Lord Nobunaga, he'll want to be updated!" Kinu broke off from him, heading in the opposite direction.

All the yelling got the attention of those who were in the rooms that lined the halls. Mitsunari and Mitsuhide poked their heads out from the library as Hideyoshi approached with you in his arms. Both their eyes widened.

"What happened?" Mitsunari was the first to step out of the room and follow after Hideyoshi, with Mitsuhide on his heels, "Did she try to run off again?"

"No, she collapsed- Ieyasu!!!"

The blond in question slammed open his sliding doors with a deep frown on his face, "What-" He almost lunged out of his room, but stopped as soon as he saw you weak in Hideyoshi's arms.

"Is she conscious?" Ieyasu pulled the taller warlord into the room and lead him to a matt on the floor closer to the back of the room, allowing the others to fall in behind him.

"I'm not sure maybe," Hideyoshi placed you on the matt as gently as he could while also maintaining a sense of urgency. Ieyasu placed a hand on the side of your face to make you look at him. He tsked. You were definitely awake but most likely weren't aware of what was going on. You produced a groan as your eyes opened only to roll to the back of your head every now and then and flutter shut before opening again.

"She's awake," he confirmed, "But going in and out of conciousness," Ieyasu flittered about you, straightening your position on the matt so your posture wouldn't get in the way of his work, "Move, Hideyoshi."

The brunette was practically shoved out of the way as Ieyasu took your pulse rate, breath rate and checked your temperature with his hand.

"Her breathing is erratic, pulse rate normal but a little weak, and her temperature is-" he wanted to double check because your temperature was, "Abnormally high."

One of the servants who worked under Ieyasu and had seen him rushing to your aid returned to the room with a bowl of water and some towels as well as a few jars of herbs, "My lord!"

He placed the jars on his desk and moved to put the bowl next to Ieyasu, folding a towel and putting it into the water to soak, before placing it on your head in and effort to cool your temperature. Meanwhile, the blond immediately made a beeline for his table, took some water into a separate bowl and began to crush a few herbs and roots in it to create a mixture.

"What's that?" A new voice next to Ieyasu made him jump slightly.

"Damn it, Masamune!" He huffed and shook his head before continuing to crush the herbs and mix them, "It's a mixture of several different roots, herbs, and vegetables packed with vitamins and anything else she might need to boost her strength."

The one eyed warlord's eye narrowed, "Why?"

Ieyasu rolled his eyes at his colleagues persistence, "Kinu has been keeping me updated on her progress, as I asked her to. It seems our princess hasn't been taking quite good care of herself." Once he was done mixing the concoction into a slurry he poured it into a tea mug for you to drink out of, "She's been excessively sleeping, and eating little to no food for the past few weeks - she's also probably dehydrated."

"Weeks?" Hideyoshi chimed in from the spot next to you he reclaimed when Ieyasu stepped away to mix your medicine.

"Did I stutter?" The response was tense and if not a little snappy, "Help me sit her up."

Hideyoshi snaked his arm underneath your shoulders and wrapped the other around your midsection, shuffling his position slightly so he could easily lift you and then let you lean back against him to sit you upright.

"Hey, hey," Ieyasu tapped your cheek three times rapidly to try and get you to stir enough to drink the medicine he had made. You groaned and shook your head. With an impatient sigh he grabbed your chin and made you look at him, "Hey, woman, look at me."

You were able to open your eyes, but they felt heavy, the light filtering in through the windows was entirely too bright, and all the noise made your head pound.

"Drink this." Ieyasu's voice sounded muffled, far away, and had a bit of an echo to it. It took your brain a moment to register what he was asking but it clicked when you felt a warm ceramic cup touch your lips. When you finally opened you mouth slightly, he tilted the bottom up to let the medicine pour into your mouth.

"Drink," he coached you, "easy now." You face scrunched up when your tongue tasted the elixir, "I know it doesn't taste the best but you have to drink all of it."

Worst smoothie ever.

You wanted to spit it out, but you were coherent enough to understand what the blond wanted and begrudgingly drank every last drop before finishing it with a gasp.

"Here," the servant from earlier passed Ieyasu another mug, which he then held up to your lips. You shook your head, not wanting anymore of the vile medicine, "It's water," he reassured you, "Wash it down."

You some how gathered enough strength to grab the mug yourself and practically chugged the fresh, clean water down before you shot up into a proper sitting position instead of leaning against Hideyoshi. He let you free from his grasp but kept his hands on your shoulders, should your strength falter again.

"Good girl."

Your digestive system was making quick work of the concoction. The medicine being pre-smashed, and easily digestible ment your body was able to more easily and more quickly absorb all the nutrients it had been deprived of these past few weeks.

Once you had calmed and quieted down, you leaned back again - forgetting Hideyoshi was still their, "Easy there," you quickly turned to look at him at the sound of his voice.

"I need to lay down," you held your head with one hand and shakily lowered yourself to the mat with Hideyoshi's help. The speed at which you had moved to drink the water gave you a bit of vertigo and left you feeling dizzy.

"Honestly," Ieyasu scoffed, "This will be the last time we trust you to take care of yourself when you're injured."

You chuckled as you settled into the mat to get comfortable, "Hopefully it will be the last time I get injured. Period."

"What part of 'I want you to stay by my side' do you not understand," a familiar deep voice cut through the room like a sharp knife. The warlords stopped what they were doing to look to the still open doors as Nobunaga stormed through them with a nervous Kinu at his side.

"That was an order, not a request," he barked grumpily as he took a seat next to you beside Hideyoshi, eyes gazing at you with a hard glare.

You gave him a smug smile and chuckled, "I'm not good with following orders."

"Obviously," Nobunaga crossed his arms and huffed, "What good are you to me if you're dead."

Ieyasu came around to your opposite side and placed down another mug of that terrible mixture he concocted. You flinched away from both him and the mug, causing you to press into both Hideyoshi and Nobunaga's laps with a hiss. The blond raised a brow at you before rolling his eyes, "Calm down. I just want you to drink it after you've had breakfast and with every other meal for the next few days."

"Days?!" You whined, opting instead to bury your face into the pillow.

"Oh be quiet," Ieyasu crossed his arms, "It's the fastest way for you to regain all your strength," he placed down another, slightly larger mug full of water next to it, "And I want you to drink one of these full of water every hour."

You supposed you couldn't argue with him, he was the doctor, and it was your own fault for not eating. You groaned, "Fine, but I've already drank some of that stuff for the morning, so can I not for breakfast?"

"No."

Shot down so easily. You groaned again.

"He's only trying to help you, lass," you hadn't realized Masamune was in the room, and you took the opportunity to examine the rest of its occupants. Everyone was here, including Kinu and a few other servants who had been helping Ieyasu.

You immediately swallowed your stubborn pride and slumped back into the sleeping matt with a defeated sigh. You felt guilty, you had worried everyone with your carelessness - at least when your were physically in danger you knew you would be alright, and that their worry stemmed from a lack of knowledge as to what you were, but in this case...you had truly been reckless.

"I'm sorry."

The others turned to look at you, stunned expressions on all their faces, "I should have asked for help when I needed it. I knew I wasn't doing well, but instead of saying something I chose to let myself rot." You really had done it to yourself, locking yourself away, letting your health deteriorate the way it did, as well as not eating.

Hideyoshi placed a hand on your head, and ruffled your hair, "Don't worry about that, all that matters is you're going to get better."

"I should have never trusted you to look after yourself," Ieyasu hid the pang of guilt he felt for not checking in on his patient, with a snooty attitude, "I should have known you weren't capable of providing yourself with the care you needed to get better."

"Excuse me?" Kinu's mousey voice piped up from behind the others, and she stepped forward, "Would the princess still be able to go out into town today?"

"No," Ieyasu wasn't harsh, but his answer was absolute, "Not today at least, maybe tomorrow or the day after."

She nodded solemnly, "I understand, I do not want her to strain herself."

After everything was said and done, and you were set up to stay in Ieyasu's sick bay for the next few days, the others cleared out - leaving you in the room with Ieyasu to keep an eye on you, and Nobunaga, "I'm suprised you said nothing the night I summoned you to my quarters. You're usually so vocal when you can't or don't want to do something."

Ieyasu glanced up at the both of you from his place at his desk as he made more of the mixture you would be needing over the course of the next few days. His eyes narrowed in suspicion before he shook his head and continued his work.

"I knew I could handle it, your aren't that difficult to deal with," you snickered.

Nobunaga raised a brow at you, taking that as a challenge, "If I remember correctly you were the one who-"

"My lord," Ieyasu interrupted, walking up to stand beside him before bowing, "I don't mean to interrupt, but the princess really must get as much rest as possible."

Oda looked up at Ieyasu as he spoke, and gave you a glance before he stood, "Very well." He turned his back to the both of you before walking towards the sliding doors.

"I expect updates on her progress," he stopped just before the exit and turned to look at Ieyasu before continuing on his way out.

The blond medic slid a plate of food over to you once Nobunaga shut the door behind him, "Eat."

You looked, it was a small simple breakfast, but what did you expect of the times you were living in currently? Right now you would kill for a larger breakfast, it felt like your stomach was prepared to eat you from the inside out. You suspected Ieyasu may have also included something in that elixir to jumpstart your appetite again. Slowly, you sat up in your mat and took the plate before you began eating.

Ieyasu gently placed the other mug of elixir and another of water next to you. You watched him when the 'thud' of the glasses being placed on wood flooring got your attention, before looking back to the half eaten food infront of you.

You swallowed whatever food was in your mouth before reaching to take your first sip of the elixir, "So, doc," and placing it back next to you, "What's the verdict?"

The warlord huffed, "You collapsed from exhaustion and dehydration, on top of that, due to lack of food intake- your body didn't have the strength for whatever it was you were doing when you collapsed."

You finished up your plate of food and threw the elixer back like you were taking a shot of alcohol till you finished it. 'You aren't supposed to taste it,' as your party animal friends back at home used to say, "Oh that's disgusting." You then drank your water till the glass was empty and placed it on the floor next to your empty plate and the medicine cup.

"Hopefully by the end of tomorrow you should be well enough to be up and walking around again," Ieyasu took the mugs and stacked them on the plate before taking it and standing up, "But we'll play it by ear."

Without another word he exited the room to do whatever it was he did. You were sure he would be back to check on you in an hour and make sure you were drinking your water. A sigh left you lips as you laid back down and stared at the door. Your eye lids felt heavy, and for the first time in a while your body actually felt relaxed as opposed to the stiff weight you had become accustomed to the past few weeks.

You were drifting off when the sound of a knock on the cieling caught your attention and your eyes shot open. You rolled on to your back to look at the cieling and saw one of the tiles shift before being lifted slightly, and then opened all that way.

"I am so sorry I haven't been able to get into contact with you sooner."

"It's okay Sasuke," you didn't bother sitting up, you were quite comfortable to be honest.

"I see you are still playing the part of the wounded princess?" A good guess, but a wrong one no less.

"No," you sighed, "Turns out locking myself away and avoiding contact with other people as much as I could took its toll on me, and I slipped into a small depression."

Sasuke looked at you suprised.

"Ieyasu cleared me this morning for my wounds," you continued, "But since I, like the rest of my generation, have a horrible habit of neglecting myself, I collapsed in the hall."

Sasuke lowered himself from the cieling and walked over to your place on your matt, "I take it that's why you're in the sick bay now instead of your room? Ieyasu wants to keep a closer eye in you?"

"Yes."

"I for one, am jealous." You scoffed at Sasuke's statement, "Why?"

"Because, the Ieyasu Tokugawa is looking after you. He was one of the Sengoku periods leading doctors, if you will." Sasuke adjusted his glasses and took a seat next to you, "However, that does also mean that this meeting must be short. Ieyasu strikes me as someone who is very thorough."

"Well you would be right about that, he's probably going to be checking on me every hour or so, maybe less."

"When did he leave?"

You shrugged, "About ten minutes or so ago, give or take."

The brunette nodded, "Well I just wanted to inform you that I will be leaving Azuchi for a little bit due to an assignment I've been given by my employer, but I have asked Yuki to keep an eye on you should you go into town."

"Okay, thanks," you nodded, "I feel like I don't need to tell you to be safe, because you should know, but I'm going to tell you anyways. Be safe."

"Thank you," Sasuke smiled at your kind gesture, "I shouldn't be gone for long, maybe a month or two if all goes well."

"Bring me back a silvaner," you chuckled.

He smiled in return, "I don't know if that will be possible, but I'll do what I can."

Sasuke stood to take his leave, "Oh, and I have yet to receive any signs that a wormhole will be opening up any time soon, but I'll be sure to keep you updated."

You sat up to look at Sasuke's retreating figure, before giving him a nod. Without further word, he skillfully jumped up through the ceiling tile he removed before placing it back as if it had never been disturbed, and not a moment too soon.

A knock at the door caught you by suprise. Surely it hadn't been an hour already? The last person you had ever wanted to see, poked his head through the door, "Hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

It took everything in you not to growl at Mitsuhide, or throw a book case at him. "Not at all," you spoke flatly, "I was just here, sitting in this dim room and staring at the wall."

A knowing smile crept on to his features before he stepped in and closed the door behind him, "Were you now?"

"Yes, what else would there be to do?"

"I must admit," he walked closer to you, "You play the part of a damsel in distress well."

"That whole thing wasn't an act," you snapped at him with a low voice, "I have been too stressed to care for myself properly these past few months."

"Oh do tell," he sat next to you, so he could look you in the eye, "What makes you so uneasy?"

You. But you weren't going to give him the pleasure of knowing that, even if he was already aware. Maybe you could try to scare him off, if actions can't maybe words will. You briefly remembered the resolve you reached with Sasuke when you attempted to escape three months ago.

Just pretend you know nothing.

"Sorry," you sneared and turned up your nose at him, "I try not to make it a habbit to tell my struggles to those who can do nothing for me."

His smile only seemed to widen at this as he reached forward to move a strand of hair and tuck it behind your ear, "Well how do you know I have nothing to offer if you don't tell me?" The action caught your attention and made you whip around to look at him.

"Well you could go away for starters," you shuffled to pull away from him, "That itself would make my situation so much better- infact if you stayed as far away from me as possible that would make my life so much better."

"Hard to imagine little old me could frighten someone like you." Mitsuhide pulled his hand back.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't?" He didn't bother to hold back his grin, "Perhaps when you're well again, I can take you on a tour of the castle and show you the pillar you nearly destroyed."

"You're crazy."

"Am I?" His head cocked to the side slightly in question, "Is that what that vision I saw of you with serpents eyes was?"

Pause.

"Maybe you should stay," you gave him a smirk of your own, "Ieyasu could have a look at you and determine if you are no longer mentally stable."

He frowned and his eyes narrowed at you. You weren't budging, "I don't know what you are, but it obviously isn't human."

You remained silent at that remark, not sure what more you could say to throw him off.

"Your eyes, your strength, Ieyasu's tea that one time you were cross with him, and the castle gate-"

"Why, Mitsuhide, I had no idea you were so taken with me," you scooted closer to him again - bending your knee under your blanket so you could prop your elbow on it and rest the side of your head against your knuckles, "I'm flattered, you've been paying such close attention to me."

At this point maybe you should just play along like its a joke. "Perhaps I'm some sort of Demoness," you shrugged. His scowl didn't falter at your words, and you lowered your leg in favor of leaning in towards him till he was a breath away, "In which case, you should be careful."

His breathing became heavy when he felt your lips brush against his, but other than that he gave no visual sign that your words had managed to get to him, "Because we feast on male flesh."

There was a small moment of silence as you examined his expression before a wide smile caused your lips to part and you gave a mischievous giggle, "I'm kidding."

However, as you pulled away, Mitsuhide grabbed your lower jaw rather roughly with his hand. His eyes seemed to be searching you for some sort of answer, "If you are here to infiltrate our ranks, and harm Lord Nobunaga-"

"Ah, so you and Hidayoshi are the same, just with different methods," You took his hand in yours and pried it off but continued to hold it. That must have been why he was watching you so closely - the others had already determined that you ment no harm, but Mitsuhide -having already pieced together that you had abilities of some sort- still wasn't so sure.

Your expression turned deadly serious, and you shifted so you were on your knees as opposed to just leaning towards the white haired fox. Your grip on his hand became painfully tight before you yanked him closer to you - your free hand stopping him when he was just an inch away by grabbing him by the throat.

You felt the cold steal of a blade at your neck, "I assure you, Mitsuhide, I mean no harm to your Lord." You growl at him, baring your fangs as your pupils became slited and your irises changed color. His eyes widened.

"If I had," you easily forced him to the floor and felt the blade press slightly harder against where your jugular was located. You released his hand to loosen the knott of your sleeping robe, and allowed yourself to partially transform, "I would have done so a long time ago."

Mitsuhide couldn't remember the last time he was so caught off guard or frightened that he shook. It must have been back when he was a child. Yet here he was, shaking as he took in your alien form.

You were indeed a dragon. There was no doubting that, but your partial transformation had allowed you to remain small enough to comfortably fit in the room. You towered over him, his knife was no longer at your neck but instead rested against your breast bone as you continued to hold him down with a taloned paw. With a snarl you snapped at the dagger, taking it between your teeth and snatching it out of his hand before throwing it to the other side of the room, "And there would have been nothing you could do about it."

You huffed, a deep rumble reverberating from the depths of your throat as you lowered you maw to his face and parted your teeth - a hiss with a puff of hot condensed air escaping from your mouth.

A knock at the door caught your attention, making your head snap up to look at the entrance. In the blink of an eye you had turned back to normal before Mitsuhide could even comprehend what was happening. You swiftly fixed your robe, plopped back down on to the mat before throwing the blanket over you, and closed your eyes to pretend you had been sleeping.

Mitsuhide, meanwhile, practically scrambled back into a sitting position and composed himself as best he could before letting out a shakey breath, "Come in!"

Ieyasu walked in through the doors, "Mitsuhide?" His browns furrowed at the kitsune, "Are you harassing my patient?"

Mitsuhide quietly swallowed the lump in his throat before turning to look at the blond, "No," he stood up, glad he was able to maintain a calm visage, "I thought I heard her grumbling," he waved off Ieyasu's concerns, "I simply thought the girl was having a terrible fever dream and came in to check on her."

His answer only made Ieyasu suspect him more. Mitsuhide once again waved him off before moving to leave the room, "Do be sure the Princess is ready for tonight, Lord Nobunaga wants to have a feast to celebrate her recovery."

"Tsk," Ieyasu clicked his tongue when he disappeared from sight and went to wake you up, mug of water in hand.

"Hrm..." you grumbled while taking in a deep breath and turned to face Ieyasu. You rubbed the 'sleep' from your eyes and looked at him with squinted eyes, "Yes?" Your voice sounded soft, like you had just woken up from a deep sleep.

"Drink your water," he handed you the mug and you slowly pushed yourself up into a sitting position to drink it, "Kinu will be here in a few hours with a light lunch, and then to take you to the bath house and get you ready for tonight. Lord Nobunaga is hosting a feast to celebrate your recovery."

You nodded before finishing your glass of water.

"Dont eat too much," Ieyasu instructed, "If you really haven't been eating like Kinu tells me, too much food will make you sick."

"Okay."

Then, just as quickly as Ieyasu had came, he left. You sighed, once again left alone in silence, you plopped back on to the mat, fully intending to actually sleep, but you couldn't.

All that sleeping you had done, and now you body actually had the energy to do something, but you once again found yourself trapped. You glanced at the large jar you recalled seeing Ieyasu pour your herbal medicine in, and contemplated downing the entire thing. Your body could handle it...maybe, and maybe you would get well faster, or maybe you would just make yourself sick like Ieyasu warned. Either way you couldn't do that right now, you had to save room for tonight.

Maybe you could preen, the med bay was much larger than your room since it was ment to house at least a little over half the Oda army.

No. Your scales needed a break.

But then again, how could your new scales grow in with the old worn ones still in place?

Without a second thought, you removed your robe and shifted. Fully. The room wasn't taller than yours but width wise you could spread out and have some wiggle room. You practically purred in delight before getting to work - using your incisors to gently scratch off your old scales.

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon.

Ch.4

Warnings: Swearing, MC is comfortable with her sexuality, things get a little saucy because two can play at that game.

"Just what were you thinking!?" Hideyoshi practically shoved you into your room, closing the door after he and Mitsunari had stepped in, "Actually scratch that, your weren't thinking! You couldn't have possibly been!"

"What Lord Hideyoshi means, Milady, is 'what you did was incredibly dangerous and could have ended very badly'," Mitsunari attempted to clarify, not wanting you to think that Hideyoshi's words came from a place of malice.

"We trust you enough to give you just a little bit of breathing room," Hideyoshi is pacing your room now, "And you go and pull a stunt like this!" You suddenly remember that there were no guards at your door when you left for the bathhouse. Till now, you had assumed it was because training was at the top of their list.

"Are you saying you no longer think I've been sent here to kill Lord Nobunaga?" You tilt your head slightly to the side in question.

"What?" He stopped his pacing to look at you, thrown off by your question. "No, you do too many stupid and reckless things for me to think that you could ever pull off killing Lord Nobunaga."

Well if that wasn't a big middle finger to you, but you didn't do the things you did because you were reckless- okay maybe running away from the castle was a bit of a stupid move, but like every other time before that, you knew you would be okay.

"I'm sorry."

Hideyoshi yet again ceased his pacing to look at you when he heard the apology leave your mouth. Mitsunari also seemed a little caught off guard as he turned to give you his full attention. With an exasperated sigh and a roll of your eyes you continued on, "I'm sorry. What I did was stupid, and reckless, I didn't think it through, and it could have ended badly for everyone involved...and I'm sorry about the castle gate."

"Yes, what did happen to the gate?" Mitsunari's brows furrowed as a perplexed look crossed his features. They already had someone working on repairs, but neither they nor the repairman could understand just how the whole gate had flown off the hinges.

"Well I know I really wanted to get out and was prepared to use myself to ram the gate open," you shrugged your shoulders, "Maybe the hinges were already loose and that's why it flew off so easily?"

Hideyoshi turned to look at his vassal, as if to ask if that were possible. "I mean it isn't impossible," the silver-haired tactician reasoned. Hideyoshi turned to look at you, like he was making sure this was the story you wanted to go with. His silent question was answered when you gave him a wide smile, and he sighed in defeat, "Okay then." He stepped away from you headed towards your door, and motioned for Mitsunari to follow him, "I guess we will be on our way then."

You held your smile and waved, following them to the door so you could shut it when they left. With a sigh of relief you slumped against your door before locking the inside latch and walking over to your mat. Perhaps you should just nap the rest of the day away... Your body told you 'No' when the biggest growl rumbled from your stomach. Right. You woke up late, and hadn't had breakfast yet and it was surely already way past noon. You made your way back to the sliding doors, and reached to unlock the latch, but froze midway. What if you ran into Mitsuhide again? Do you really want to deal with his incessant snooping if you do run into him? You could always ask a maid to bring you food... As if your thoughts had summoned it, there was a knock at your door that caused you to jump.

"Hello? Milady, are you awake?" Ah! A maid! You smiled and silently thanked the universe before unlocking the latch and opening the sliding door enough to pop your head out, "Yes! I am!"

"Oh," the woman smiled at your excitement, "Well I am Kinu, I'm one of your maids!"

Excellent.

"And I am here because Lord Nobunaga has summoned you."

Not excellent.

You stood there for a moment, not sure how to respond, "He does realize I am injured and as such should not leave this room, correct?" You physically turned up your nose at having to answer to Nobunaga's every beck and call. The maid laughed nervously, "Yes well, I did tell him that, and our Lord said you might decline, but he insisted that you were well enough to come to his chambers if your are well enough to run off castle grounds and wander about the village."

You huff and retreat back into the room, closing the door to think for a minute, before stepping out of your room, "Fine, I'll go," your face softened as you looked back at the maid. She wasn't to blame for this, she was only doing her job, "Though you will have to escort me since I don't know the way."

"Of course, Milady," she bowed to you, polite smile returning to her face before she turned to lead you down the hall. You followed her silently, taking in everything as the two of you walked. For the most part, everything looked the same, with the only notable differences being in the halls that had windows showing the outside. You were about to go up the first flight of stairs when something bumped your leg. With a small start, you turned to look behind you, only to find nothing there. Then the sensation of something pulling at the hem of your Kimono got your attention.

"Hm?" Your eyes widened when you saw a tiger cub trying to play tug-of-war with your clothes, "Excuse me!" The maid was suprised to hear your outburst and turned to look at you, nervous that she had done something wrong. She sighed in relief however, when she saw you pick up the baby tiger.

"Princess!" She gasped, "I am so sorry!" She moved to take him, but you stepped back and out of her reach. Mine.

"Many apologies, Milady," she bowed, "That's Lord Masamune's pet tiger, Shogetsu." She looked to the cub in your arms and then to you, "He has the habit of wandering off Lord Masamune's manor and exploring Azuchi."

"Is that so?" You turned to look at the orange and black feline in your arms before poking him on the nose and smiling, "What an irresponsible father you have." The maid was suprised as you baby talked to the tiger cub, "Perhaps I should keep you." The baby let out a small 'mrowl', attempting to wrap his massive paw around the finger that poked him, and gently batted at it, before giving up all together and just settling for mouthing the appendage. The maid smiled before she continued on her way up the flight of stairs, looking back every now and then to make sure you were still following.

You did fall behind however, when the tiger cub bit down a little too hard on your finger. You didn't cry out or pull your hand away, instead you stopped walking while Kinu continued on and once she was far enough, you looked down to the tiger cub and produced a low growl. The baby feline stopped and looked at you with wide eyes, before deciding it better to lick the finger it had hurt as opposed to challenging you back. You smiled, glad the cub had taken to your correction well before you began walking again to catch up with Kinu.

Several hallways and flights of stairs later, you and Kinu finally reached Nobunaga's quarters. You could tell it was possibly one of the fanciest rooms in the castle just by looking at the sliding doors - they were large, larger than even the council's sliding doors, and as opposed to the normal off white color the hall walls and doors had, this one was colored red with a painting of a dragon around the edges, and demons and men seemingly at war with each other in the center. It took everything in you not to laugh at the irony of the situation.

How fitting.

Kinu bowed to you before walking off back in the direction you both came, and you readjusted the tiger cub so you were carrying it like a human baby before knocking on the double doors, "Nobunaga?" You stepped in and briefly glanced around, finding the immediate room empty with the balcony doors wide open. The view was a beautiful image of the village at sunset, and better than the view in your room of course since it was higher up

Asshole, calling you and then having the gull not to be here when you arrive.

"Why are you standing there? Come closer." The sound of his voice got your attention, and you stepped in, closed the door behind you, before following it outside to see him sitting on the balcony just around the edge of the doorway.

Damn it.

He stood placing a saucer-like cup on the railing before turning to face you. You huffed as you made your way to him, gently placing Shogetsu on the floor before you reached the raven haired warlord.

"It appears you have a shadow." You looked back only to see that, instead of walking the room to find something to chew on, the cub had decided to remain by your side, "Never mind him, what did you want?"

"I was unable to sleep."

And?

"You arrived at just the right time."

What does he want you to do about it? Read him a bedtime story-

"You will warm my bed."

"Excuse me, what?" Your brows raised in suprise. For a moment you wondered if that statement ment what you thought it ment before he clarified for you.

"What's so confusing? I want you to be my partner tonight." Yeah that's what you thought he was asking.

To be fair, Nobunaga was fairly handsome, you couldn't deny that. You also thought that the two of you in bed together would be absolutely wicked. Perhaps you could finally put him in his place, but you knew what sex in this time period often marked, especially to someone like Nobunaga. In the old days, women were often viewed more as property or a commodity than anything else, and sleeping with a man ment that had some sort of a claim on you, and that was something you were 100% not down for.

"No," Your answer was simple and sharp.

"Why? Is there a problem?" There was a small tenderness to his voice, but you highly doubted it was genuine and thought it was more of a tactic to seduce you.

"I'm not your play thing."

He smirked at this, "No one ever said you were."

"You don't have to say it," you took a step closer to him, "It's written between the lines."

"Well, well, it seems I have acquired a most outspoken woman," Nobunaga began to approach you, and for a brief moment you contemplated taking a few steps back, but then it would have looked like you were actually backing down. You stood your ground and allowed him to slowly place a hand on your shoulder before gently lifting your chin with his index finger and thumb. Out of suprise from the forwardness of his actions thus far, you raised both your brows - one going slightly higher than the other, before your expression changed and you gave him a smirk when an absolutely delicious idea came to mind.

"Why don't we share a drink then, instead of all this inane complaining?" He was actually trying to flirt with you.

You broke your gaze with him to look towards the sake cup on the railing as he reached for it and brought it to your lips, but before he could tip the sake you gently pushed it away with your finger, "I haven't eaten, you aren't supposed to drink on an empty stomach."

"Well if that is the only issue," Nobunaga walked around you, cup of saké still in hand, and he pulled on some sort of red tasseled cord that hung next to a rather lavish chair. You tried to maintain you snickering, he has a throne in his room? He pulled the tassel a second time consecutively after the last, and your brows furrowed in confusion. What was he doing?

"Now we wait," he moved back to the balcony and sat back down on the floor. Should you leave? You would like to, but then again he would probably either [try to] stop you or just have you called back up, "Come."

His voice rang through the air and snapped you out of your thoughts. You huffed, wanting to leave even more now just to spite him and show him that he can't tell you what to do, but you end up joining him on the balcony - claiming a seat on the floor a couple feet away from him, "Just for the record, I'm not sitting with you because you told me too."

"Hm?"

"I'm sitting because I am bored and have nothing more interesting to-" on that note the sound of metal clattering to the ground, followed by the sound of a distressed animal caught your attention and you immediately turned to look beside you. When you found you seemed to be lacking one tiger cub, you shot up to find the feline you almost forgot about. You found him attempting to wriggle out of some armor piled on the floor that you had never seen before, and helped the poor creature out from underneath before scooping him up like a baby, "No! Bad boy!"

Nobunaga remained seated at the balcony, head turned to watch you interact with the animal before making your way back over, tiger in your arms, "Sorry about that," you apologized, "I would try to fix however you had it displayed, but honestly I would probably just make it worse."

The raven haired warlord waved off your statement, "It's fine. It's just an old armor that I no longer use."

He took a sip of his saké and watched you as you played with the small cub - first placing it in your lap and petting it before the tiger thought it would be more entertaining to try and chew your fingers. Shogetsu, thinking he had you, started attempting to tug your hand till you adjusted it so you could grab his lower jaw. The cub quit chewing your hand and was now trying to get it un-stuck from your grasp, pawing at it and trying to push your hand out with his tongue. Finally, with a small growl, Shogetsu sat on his haunches with his head low in defeat - looking between you and Nobunaga rather pitifully.

For the first time since your arrival, you heard the warlord let out a genuine laugh, "You even exhaust a wild animal." With a chuckle you released Shogetsu's lower jaw before patting the cub's head, "It might teach him that not everything is a chew toy."

The sound of a loud knock on the doors made you jump slightly and you quickly turned around to see who it was. Shogetsu was also alarmed by this, but instead decided to hide behind the pile of armor he knocked over.

"Come in," Nobunaga called without even glancing back. The sliding doors opened to reveal a maid with a large tray full of several different types of onigri, sushi, fruit, vegetable sticks, and a new bottle of sake.

"The food you rang for, Lord Nobunaga," the maid placed the tray between the two of you and bowed, before taking her leave and closing the sliding doors behind her. You were a bit suprised. That must have been what the hanging cord was for...

Nobunaga reached for a pair of chopsticks and began eating, you however, without thinking reached for a piece of chopped carrot with your hands and ate it. Nobunaga gave you an odd look.

"What?"

"Do you not know how to eat properly."

You chuckled at this, not wanting to verbally admit that you still struggled to eat with chopsticks having been much more accustomed to forks and spoons all your life, "What are you talking about."

He looked down at second pair of chopsticks on the tray, "Eating with proper utensils separates us from the barbarians."

You again, chuckled at this, "If you put a suit on a monkey, does that make it a gentleman?"

"A what?" Now it was his turn to be confused.

"If you put fancy cloths on a monkey, does that make him royalty?"

"Of course not."

"Well then how is eating with chopsticks any different?" Silence. "I'm well spoken, educated, and, when not aggravated, well mannered. I don't need to eat with two sticks to know I'm not a 'barbarian'."

Silence again.

"Besides," you reached for another carrot and ate it, chewing, and then swallowed before continuing, "My hands are clean, I know I washed them, and I know where they've been. Do you know where your chopsticks have been?"

He eyed you skeptically.

"Maybe someone dropped them on the trip here, and then they got on the floor, where all your maids, servants, and vassals walk with their dirty feet-"

"Stop!" He put the chopsticks down onto the tray and picked up a piece of sushi with his fingers before eating it. You bursted out laughing, having thought about how you just talked a powerful warlord into eating with his hands because the chopsticks might have more germs.

Wanting nothing more than to change the subject and stop you from laughing at him, Nobunaga picked up another piece of sushi with his index finger and thumb, "Have you ever had sushi before."

You snorted, "Of course."

"Ah, but have you ever had the sushi made in the kitchen of Azuchi castle?" Oh yes, of course Nobunaga would insist on having all the best cooks, so naturally he figured the food made in his kitchen must be the best.

"No, no I haven't," you admitted before he moved the hand that was holding the sushi closer to you at mouth level. Your head recoiled slightly and you instead tried to take the food in your hand, but he pulled it back to keep it out of your reach.

Ah, he wanted to feed you. Was he still trying to seduce you? Was this him trying again, but without making it so blatantly obvious? Well two could play at that game, and you could play it better. For a brief moment, a mischievous glint reached your features before you leaned your head forward, acting as if you were unsure of what he was offering, and when he moved his hand towards you again, you easily took the sushi and his fingers into your mouth.

It took everything in you not to break your bearings or eye contact to laugh at his wide-eyed expression. You rolled your tongue, effectively brushing it against the pads of his fingers while moving the small piece of sushi to the back of your mouth so you could gently suck on his fingers at you pulled away - making sure no steamed rice stayed stuck to him.

You gave him the most smug expression you could muster while chewing with you mouth closed and his eyes narrowed at you, "You tease."

You swallowed your food and quickly covered your mouth with your hand as you had a small fit of giggles, "Nooo."

After that the two of you ate in silence till the tray was nearly empty, leaving a few sushi, onigiri, and celery sticks. The quiet was broken however, when Nobunaga poured more saké in his saucer, "Now you have no excuse."

You snickered, "What if I just say 'no', for the sake of saying 'no'?"

Nobunaga took the bottle of saké and placed it on the hard wood floor on the other side of him, before sliding the tray a bit away from the both of you. He moved closer to you, "Fine, then just let me drink-"

You shrugged your shoulders.

"From your lips."

What.

He placed the cup to your lips, and you let him. He tipped the sake slightly, and you let him- not only did you let him, you parted your lips so you could drink some. The saké was warm, and the alcohol burned your tongue as well as your throat when you swallowed it. He placed the cup down before leaning forward.

Should you stop him? Turn him down? Go back to your room? It took a lot to get you drunk, and you weren't even feeling a little warm or buzzed, but you would blaimed it on the saké when your brain decided to say 'Fuck it.'

You tangle your fingers in his hair with one hand, using your other to help support you as you leaned forward to meet him half way. He let out a pleased humm and put the cup down gently on the food tray, thinking he had been victorious in regards to the small argument you both had earlier, but oh how wrong he is.

You took his lower lip into your mouth, gently biting it and dragging your tongue across it, which caused him to let out a pleased grunt, and move both his hands up to caress your face. You pushed yourself up with the hand that was supporting you and pulled your other hand from his hair to crawl into his lap. An action he showed his appreciation for by sliding his hands down to your hips to help keep you steady.

You caught him by suprise when you grounded your hips against his and with groan he broke the kiss to look at you, "You are unlike any of the other women I have been with."

You chuckled a bit breathlessly, caught up in the moment, "Oh believe me I know," you kissed him on the lips once more before leaving a trail of them down his neck, "In more ways than you can imagine."

In an effort to gain control, he completely wrapped his arms around your waist and rolled the both of you over so you were below him, though you quickly countered by rolling you both over again so you were back on top, before continuing to assault his neck with kisses. He growled, determined to be the one in charge, but he was once again suprised when you answered with a growl of your own and a firm bite to the junction between his neck and shoulder. His breathing hitched - not quite sure how he felt about the sensation, but his train of thought was quickly thrown to the wind when you rolled your hips against him again and trailed your kisses up to his ear.

"You want me?" You whispered, your breath hot and heavy on his ear as you nipped and sucked on the lobe. He squirmed underneath you, finding the feeling both pleasurable and a bit irritating - definitely because he so desperately wanted to be in control, and not because he was ticklish (or at least that's what he would say if asked). He placed his hands on your shoulders before trying to push you so he could roll over on top, but you stopped him by pulling back, grabbing his hands and pinning them to the floor, "Answer the question!"

"Of course!" He growled in frustration, "I said from the beginning that as my lucky charm I wanted you at my side, always."

Your eyes narrowed and you leaned down to nip and bite at the side of his neck, making him produce a groan, "You know that isn't what I ment," you spoke lowly in his ear, "being your 'lucky charm' is one thing, but what does that have to do with you wanting to sleep with me?"

You wanted him to admit it - admit that you would simply be another notch on the proverbial bed post, so you would have more reason to despise him. He struggled against your hold, before letting out a huff and going limp on the floor. You raised your head to look at him with a grin, "Gave up already?"

"Why are you so strong?" He looked at you with a suspicious glare.

"You answer my question, I'll answer yours."

"I've already answered one of your questions, so answer mine," his retort was quick, and you frowned at it.

"I'm special," it was a simple and vague answer, not at all what Nobunaga had wanted, "now answer my question."

"I have not given up yet," he gave you a sly smirk. Fucking asshole. You growled, and once again assaulted the side of his neck, stopping at the spot just under his ear as it seemed to get the biggest reaction out of him, "You know that isn't the question I wanted answered," you nipped at him and his body arched against you.

"How are you special?" He grunted out between gritted teeth.

"I'm not like most people," another vague answer, but as a consolation prize, you released his hands and allowed him to roam you, "Why do you want to sleep with me so bad?"

One of his hands slid up your back, past your neck and tangled into your hair. For a brief moment he couldn't decide whether to pull you closer or pull you off. He made his decision when he pulled you off him, "It is because you are different," now he could look at you in the eyes, "you peaked my interest, so of course I want you."

Was that it bragging rights to say 'she was different'? You would play along for just a little longer.

You rolled your hips against him, and he thrust his own upwards before leaning up to once again lock lips with you. You restrained your strength, letting him roll you both onto something soft - his sleeping mat. Neither of you broke the kiss unless you needed air. His hands roamed you body up and down before settling on your hips and roughly pulling you against him. You chuckled at being able to feel him through his clothes.

"What?" He pulled back to look at you, very obviously aroused - his cheeks were slightly flush, pupils diolated, and his breathing was heavy.

"Nothing," you replied breathlessly as you ran your hands up and down his clothed chest, before shutting him up with another kiss. He was becoming a bit rough as he once again pressed his hips against yours and attempted to slide a hand up your leg. While this all was beginning to excite you, maybe this was a good stopping point. You placed your hand on his chest and gently pushed him away - causing him to cease his ministrations.

"I think that's enough for now, your bed is warm enough." You smiled and propped yourself up with your hands, before sliding out from underneath him to stand. He looked at you with that expression of slight suprise on his face again as he watched you head towards the door while you straightened out your robe and the kimono Hidayoshi had given you in town.

"Shogetsu," your voice was firm, catching the attention of the tiger cub who had been busying himself with the leftovers from your food, "Come."

The feline let out a small 'mrrrowl', before jumping over the tray and scampering out behind you before you closed the sliding doors. Meanwhile, Nobunaga remained kneeling on his sleeping mat, just staring at the red painted doors till he barked out a small laugh, "That Vixen."

Shogetsu followed you as you wandered the halls and went down the several flights of stairs, till you ran into a familiar face.

"I thought I told you not to wander the halls late at night by yourself?" Hideyoshi called after you as you passed a hall he had been walking through, "Honestly, you're like a troublesome little sister." You back tracked from around the corner to verify that it was him and looked at him with slightly wide eyes.

"You did, but a persistent thorn at my side summoned me to his room and finally let me leave," well he didn't necessarily give you permission to leave, but he didn't stop you either. He eyed you skeptically before deciding to let it slide, "Well here," he joined you at your side, "I'll escort you back to your room."

"No need," you were quick to try and decline, bending down to pick up Shogetsu from next to you in an effort to find some sort of excuse, "Unless you wanna' help me take this little guy home?"

Please say no.

Hideyoshi's brows furrowed as he examined the small beast in your arms, "Shogetsu?" He 'tsked' and disappointedly shook his head, "I've told Masamune several times to keep better watch over him." Hideyoshi reached for the cub, but for the second time that night you found yourself backing away from prying hands to keep the baby tiger near.

"I want to take him," another lie. You wanted to keep him, but now you've dug yourself a hole in trying to stay out of your room longer, so you're going to lay in it. Hideyoshi sighed, "Fine, follow me."

The warlord walked ahead of you and turned the corner you had previously disappeared behind when he first spotted you to lead you to the entrance of the castle, "Where even would Masamune be?"

Hideyoshi turned to look at you for a brief moment before continuing to exit through the main entrance of the building, and walking down a path that lead to the left, "You haven't been allowed to explore the entirety of Azuchi's grounds yet, but next to Lord Nobunaga's castle on either side are several large manors where I and the other warlords and our vassals stay when visiting."

You hummed, "I had wondered where the lot of you stayed," you looked towards Hideyoshi, "But if that's the case, then isn't staying in the castle just to watch my door a bit inconvenient?"

"Not at all." You shot him a look, not quite believing him, but you weren't going to question him further as the two of you walked on.

Shogetsu was getting impatient with being carried, and began to squirm. You didn't quite trust the cub to not wander off if you put him down, so you rustled with the feline - readjusting your grip on him whenever he tried to climb or slide out of your grip.

"Mraah!" He growled and hissed in frustration and you glanced once more over at Hideyoshi before responding to the noise with a snarl of your own. You stopped when Hideyoshi stopped and looked at him blankly as he turned back to you.

"Was that Shogetsu?" Ah yes, your noise had been louder and lower pitched with a lot more grit.

"Yes," you sighed, feigning exasperation with the little ones antics, "He's getting antsy with me carrying him, but I don't trust him to follow us home if I put him down."

Hideyoshi chuckled at this before he continued walking, "I did offer to take him for you."

"I know but I'm fine," you sped up in your stride to catch up with him, "Children can just be fussy."

Hideyoshi smiled at this, thinking you must have experience with children -you don't- and must be very patient with them -probably not. "Well don't worry," his golden gaze turned away from you to look at the large building just ahead of the both of you, "We're here."

The two of you went up all three steps of the manors porch before Hideyoshi took it upon himself to knock for the both of you since your hands were full. A man dressed in a light uniform with patterns and colors akin to Masamune's armor answered the door, opening it only enough for him to squeeze through. Must be one of his vassals.

"We're here to return, Masamune's child," the Vassal looked at you confused till you held up a squirming tiger cub to him, "Shogetsu."

He looked at the cub a bit dumbfounded, "Oh yes!" He spoke as if he remembered something, "This must be what Lord Masamune had been talking about."

You pulled the cub back to your chest and both you and Hideyoshi turned to eachother with a raised brow, before directing your attention back to the vassal. "He said he was expecting you to come by with something that belonged to him, though he might have been expecting you sooner..."

That fucker, he planned this, "Yes well," you hugged the tiger closer to you, half wanting to go back to your room and definitely not give him Shogetsu back out of spite, "I apologize, Lord Nobunaga had requested a meeting with me," Hideyoshi glanced at you with those words. That's right, you hadn't mentioned who wanted that meeting with you, "And it went on longer than expected."

"It's no issue, Milady," the vassal nodded with a bow, opening the doors all the way and revealing two rows of vassals standing at attention on either side of the doorway, "Our Lord awaits you inside."

You blinked, a bit caught off guard before you regained in your barings and stepped inside. Hideyoshi was about to follow you, till you turned and placed a hand to his chest, "You should go check on Lord Nobunaga."

"Hm?" Now he looked at you suprised, "And let you walk back to your room in the dark? No way."

Your brows furrowed. Was he concerned about your wellbeing? No, he couldn't be. Probably just worried you'll go sneaking off and get into whatever trouble it is he thinks you get into. You snickered, "Oh c'mon," and lightly elbowed him, dismissing his worries, "I saw the way you looked when I said I met with your Lord." You turned to completely look at him, "We both know your worried I tried to do something."

"That's not the point-"

"I'll walk her back, Hideyoshi." The both of you snapped your attention back inside the manor at the sound of Masamune's voice. You gave him a sly smile before turning to Hideyoshi and sent him a small wave as you entered. Masamune's vassals slowly closed the doors behind you, leaving the chestnut haired warlord to stand outside and collect his thoughts before deciding it best to leave and check on Nobunaga as you had suggested.

Each pair of vassals bowed in sync with your steps as you passed them till you were mere feet in front of Masamune, "Looks like Shogetsu's found a friend," the one eyed man smiled cheekily at you as he stretched out a hand, offering you to come closer.

"He doesn't usually let people hold him," He explained as he wrapped an arm around your shoulder when you got close enough, and led you to his office room, "Scratches and bites, he does, the impudent kit."

You snickered at this, "He and I have come to a...mutual understanding."

"Oh?" He went to go sit on the pillow behind the low desk, "And how is that?"

"Some things," you followed behind him, gently placing the tiger cub in his lap when he sat down before placing your index finger under his chin to make him turn and look at you, "Just require a womans touch."

Now it was his turn to blink - not quite sure of how he should respond, but your actions brought a mischievous smile to his face as you continued talking, "It isn't wise to let wild animals roam the town or the castle so freely." You dropped his chin and walked around to the other side of the desk across from him, "Today he was trying to rip apart my Kimono- tomorrow it might be someone's leg. You should keep a closer eye on him, less you wish for someone to snatch him away from you."

You, you were talking about you.

"I see." His smile widened and moved into something more akin to amusement, "You suprise me again. I knew I wasn't wrong about you."

"What?" You found yourself asking that question a lot since you got here.

"You scold me before even saying hello," he clarified, "I like that boldness. It's not the only thing I like though." Masamune leaned forward, propping himself up on the desk with his elbows.

Wonderful, another flirt. You had been hoping you would be wrong about Masamune, that perhaps he wasn't as flirtatious as his Oda ally, or at the very least it was a ruse just to mess with you, but if anything you had their personalitys swapped. He reached over the table and reached for you, your eyes narrowed in suspicion but as you attempted to back away he caught your wrist before pulling you around the small desk and down next to him.

Yous studied him with a small glare - his cocky smile, his eye patch, and one vivid eye. There was a glint there that he didn't try to hide, and the second you saw it you once again attempted to move away, but Masamune held you firmly. To use all your strength, or not to use all your strength? That is the question.

"Its all right kitten," your eyes widened at his words, "I won't let you stray." Suprisingly in your state of shock, you didn't miss the sound of paws padding out the room as Shogetsu once again wandered off. With a huff you came back to your senses and twisted your wrist so your hand went up and over his hand, allowing you to both free yourself from his grip and grab his own wrist in the process.

"Thank you for the offer, but I can watch myself," you stood and released Masamune, "I was talking about your tiger. You know, the one I had to bring back to you and just now wandered off again?" You stood and turned away from him to walk towards the door. If you see the tiger cub again, you're keeping it. Besides, a normal human shouldn't have that kind of animal as a pet.

"Wait," you heard the shuffling and thumping of clothed feet on wood behind you, "Let me walk you back. Kojuro! I'm going out!" You turned back to give him a look, "You guys watch the place while I'm gone!"

"I'm comfortable with the castle now," you weren't, "I can get back on my own," eventually.

"Don't be shy," he approached you and once again wrapped an arm around your shoulder, "Come on. I promise I don't bite," and lead you out of the room, back into the hall, and out the manors front doors.

Yes he doesn't bite, but you might. At first you were going to go along with him, till you noticed him taking a detour towards the gate instead of the main castle. Perhaps now was a good time to practice being injured. You struggled against him, trying your best not to go along with him, and when he inevitably tried to pull you along harder, you hissed in pain. The sound immediately made him retract his arm and look at you with a stirn concerned expression, "I almost forgot about your injuries, what are you doing out of bed?"

"Well I was trying to rest, but Nobunaga summoned me, and then I found your tiger and had to return him." Not completely a lie.

"You carried that fussy kit all the way here in your condition?" His eye narrowed at you quizzically.

"He was a sweetheart with me," after you put him in his place, "and Hideyoshi did offer help," but you didn't take it.

Masamune tsked, "And here I was hoping to take you into town," he shrugged, before walking back in the direction of the castle- you following close behind, "Perhaps another time then?"

You oddly found yourself in another hole you'd dug. You wanted to explore the town and the castle, but you had decided to act like you were still injured to stay off Mitsuhide's radar. Now you are going to have to lay in that grave too.

"Yes," you caught up so you were walking side by side and gave him a charmingly sweet smile, "A rain check would be wonderful."

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon.

Ch.6

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of dark themes, mentions of alcohol consumption

You hadn't ment to fall asleep while you groomed your scales, you weren't even aware you had dozed off till an absolutely blood curdling scream and the sound of something wooden clattering to the floor woke you up. With a suprised grunt, your eyes shot open and you attempted to stand, causing you to bump your head and the points of your antlers hard against the cieling. You wriggled and writhed in a panic, desperately trying to move around as you had forgotten where you were.

"Princess?!?!"

Your head snapped to the open door to see a terrified Kinu, shaking with her hands covering her mouth, and the tray of food she had been carrying splayed out on the flooring. Your own eyes widened in suprise, but you quickly snapped out of it when she moved to run away. Without thinking, you lunged for her, catching her with your teeth by the back of her obi and pulling her into the med bay before using your nose to shut the door - all while she screeched in fear for her life.

"Kinu!" You called her name to try and get her attention, but she couldn't hear you over all her screaming. With a huff, you carried her to the center of the room. She was struggling and beginning to sob and hyperventilate as she tried to free herself from your grasp.

"Kinu!" She gasped and paused in her frightened fit at the sound of your voice.

"P-princess?!" She looked around the room, unsure of where your voice had originated from.

"I'm right here, Kinu."

She visibly froze and looked behind her to see you, "Oh goodness...!" The poor girl looked like she was on the verge of tears, "The beast ate you princess?!"

You sighed through your nose and rolled your eyes before gently putting her down on the floor and released her, "No Kinu," you corrected, "It is me."

She swallowed a thick lump in her throat, "Huh...?" And looked up up at you with her jaw dropped and eyes wide, "P-princess?"

"Yes, Kinu," you tilted your head slightly to the side, right ear twitching as you gazed at your maid. You briefly wondered how many times you would have to reiterate this.

"Wha-wha-what happened to you?" Her voice was shaky as she trembled, causing her to stutter.

"Nothing," you blinked, "I am the same as I've always been."

"But-but you're a...uh-"

"Dragon," you finished for her.

"Yes," her breathing was still erratic, but she was beginning to calm down. She collapsed into a sitting position on the floor as she watched you shift back to normal. She scrambled on all fours to hand you your robe once you had finished and she realized you were naked, "I came to collect you for your bath, Milady..."

She seemed afraid of you, but you couldn't really blame her. "Thank you," you gave her a small smile, taking the robe and sliding it on before securing it. Kinu simply nodded and staggered back to her feet, before silently motioning for you to follow. You trailed after her to the bath house where everything was laid out - towels on the racks, bath nice and hot, and some scrubbing rags by the tub.

"Well, miss," Kinu kept it formal, too on edge to be as open as she had previously been with you, "I'll leave you to it."

"Actually, Kinu," You called to her before she could exit the room, "I could use your assistance."

She turned back to see you sliding off your robe and climbing the steps to enter the bath. She gulped and silently made her way back to you while you settled into the tub. A small sob bubbled from within her throat. What were you going to do with her? Did she know too much? Were you going to drown her in the tub for finding out your secret? You could simply say that she slipped and fell into the tub while she was preparing it and no one would question a thing. Tears welled up in her eyes and slowly trickled down her face, "Miss?"

"You have a body scrub I can use, yes? And a brush?"

She nodded, walking over to the shelf on the back wall and pulled down a wooden box before placing it on one of the steps and opening it. She pulled out a brush, a bowl, and a few jars - opening them before pouring a bit of the contents into the mixing bowl. First she poured some pure white sand into the bowl, followed by ground salt. You watched her with curious eyes as she added a few herbs, oils, and other plants, "I thought salt was valuable?"

Maybe you had your history wrong, but you thought salt used to be very rare back in the old days. It was even sometimes treated as a commodity by some countries. "In places without easy access to the sea, yes. Besides, this is a special stash we keep for important guests."

Made sense.

After she mixed the ingredients thoroughly, you saw her peal what looked like an aloe vera leaf and add it to create a lotion-like substance. She then picked up the bowl and walked around the bath to the side you were leaning against and set it down on the top step, before taking a seat herself. She was obviously nervous, and was using the home made bath scrub as a fidgeting tool - constantly stirring it even after it had been consistently mixed.

"You have questions," you broke the silence and heard a sharp intake of air from her.

"T-the others, Milady," it took her a moment to gather her thoughts, and fight back the sobs that racked her body enough to form a coherent question, "d-do they know?"

"No, they are unaware," you sighed, making the silent decision not to tell her about Mitsuhide. She was shaken up enough as it was, you don't need to give the girl even an inkling that you may have threatened him.

"O-oh," she sighed. So you were in hiding? "W-what exactly are you, Milday?" There was still a bit of shakiness to her voice.

"A dragon."

"Are there more of you?" She gently began to brush your hair in an effort to give her hands something to do other than shake. She was careful when removing all the knots that had accumulated over the semi-long period of neglect. You took this moment to ponder where your ancestors would be in this current time period.

"Yes," she paused along with you before the both of you continued, "I think at around this time my kind was- are divided. Some of us live among the people, but most of us live in more remote places away from civilization."

Kinu stopped her motions once again, but this time she leaned over the edge of the tub so she could look at you, "Why?"

"I suspect because of the hunters."

Her brows furrowed in concern, people hunted dragons? Were there some hunting you? Well that explained why you hid yourself, and though it wasn't the full reason - had she voiced it she wouldn't be entirely wrong, "Hunters?"

"Yes there were-" you corrected yourself, "are many of them these days. Most of us think living with humans isn't worth the possibility of being killed, so we live secluded in very hidden locations."

"Oh," she seemed to sadden at this, before placing the washcloth into the bowl, and began to wash your shoulders, working her way to your neck before scrubbing back out towards your arms. She thought about your explanation, as well as the way you had been treating everyone since your arrival. She thought your confidence among the warlords was something to be admired - especially in the eyes of she and the more timid maids, and you had been fairly kind to her and the other servants thus far, "Well I think that truly is a great loss to the world that you should all stay hidden."

You chuckled at her naive view, but you couldn't blaim her, ignorance was bliss in this case but also dangerous. You were the only one of your kind she'd probably ever met (knowingly), "Most of us avoid people like the plague."

She tilted her head, not understanding the phrase, though whether is was due to lack of schooling or because Japan had yet to hear of the plague was beyond you, "But those of us who do live among you all," you sneared as you recalled the history of your people, "Nasty."

Oh yes, there was no end to the list of abhorrent things your kind did to the humans back in the old days. Sure there were some who just wanted to live peaceful lives along side strangers who looked like them, but others... human trafficking and cannibalism (can it be called that?) to name a few.

"What do you mean, miss?" Surely it couldn't be any worse than some of the things people already did to each other, and on some levels she was right, but still, "You don't want to know."

Kinu took that as her cue to shut her mouth before she continued scrubbing, but she stopped when you turned around to face her, "Would you head back to my room and prepare everything for me?" You looked at her with soft eyes and a kind smile. This was probably a lot for her to take in, and you wanted to give her a moment to sort herself out.

"Well sure, Milady. Was there a particular kimono you had in mind," she smiled feeling a bit more at ease now that the two of you had time to talk.

"No, I trust your judgment," besides, she probably knew better than you what would be more appropriate for an occasion such as this. Her smile widened, and she nodded before heading off to go prepare everything for you, and once you heard the door shut you let out a sigh. Today had not been the best, but hopefully from here on out things would get better.

You finished up your bath - scrubbing off all the unseen dirt and grime that must have accumulated from your many days without self care, before drying off, grabbing a new robe, and sliding it on to head back to your room. You must have been in there for at least an hour and a half, because when you returned there were two mugs of water on your dresser along with another full of elixer.

Kinu looked up from smoothing out the kimono that had been laid out for you and followed your gaze, "Ah yes, Lord Ieyasu said he wanted you to drink at least one glass of water and your next dose of elixer before you went to the feast."

You gave Kinu a tight smile accompanied by a small humourless laugh, "Yes, of course," that was the first thing you did after closing the door behind you - hoping that the preparations for tonight would take long enough that both drinks wouldn't spoil your dinner too much. At first you weren't going to drink the second glass of water, but the medicine seemed to be getting worse everytime you drank it, so the extra glass was useful for getting rid of the disgusting aftertaste.

You now stood in front of a mirror that had been brought to your room to dress you and eyed the choice of design on your kimono rather curiously. There was an embroidery of a large dragon that stretched from below your waist line to the bottom of the kimono, the main color matched that of your scales, the stitched dragon matched your secondary colors, and the floral designs that served as a background for the dragon added a variety of color. Your hair was in a nice bun with loose curls and decorative accessories of flowers here and there. You almost didn't recognize your reflection staring right back at you, and you remained silent till the other maids left.

"You look beautiful, Princess," Kinu smiled, the imagery of the designs of your Kimono ironically flying over her head - even just after your conversation, though you wondered if she had done this intentionally.

"Kinu, did you pick this for me?" You turned and gave her a gentle smile, wanting her to know that, if she had, she wasn't in trouble, but if she hadn't-

"No, Mitsuhide arrived while I was looking for a suitable kimono, and said that you had requested to wear this specific one." She smiled at you through the mirror, oh so happy and blissfully unaware of what had transpired between you and the kitsune, "I assumed you thought of something you really wanted to wear and had changed your mind."

Fuck you, Mitsuhide.

"Oh yes," you laughed humorlessly, "How could I have forgotten," the smile didn't fade from your expression, though it didn't quite reach your eyes.

"Is something wrong, Princess?" Kinu, having been a servant for many years, recognized even the most subtle change in mood.

"No," you reassured her by turning to place a hand on her shoulder, "It's beautiful."

She placed a hand atop yours and returned your smile, "No, Milady, you're beautiful."

After a moment your turned back to look in the mirror and sighed. Kinu made a last minute check of your attire before she was sure you looked perfect. She smoothed out any wrinkles or creases that had gone unnoticed, and straightened out your obi. The outfit wasn't ceremony fancy, or 'trophy princess' flashy, but it was very obvious a lot of time and effort had gone into it and you appreciated every detail.

Once Kinu was sure everything was in its place, she escorted you to the mess hall where you undoubtedly turned heads. You caught the attention of the warlords who had been conversing with each other, and a few of the vassals gawked at you. You were not quite sure where your place was in all this, till Nobunaga waved you over to an empty seat between he and Masamune.

"I'll leave you to it, Milady," Kinu smiled before she turned to leave, but you stopped her by grabbing her arm, "You aren't going to eat with us?"

She shook her head, "The servants normally eat separately from the vassals and in private."

Your brows furrowed and you glanced at Nobunaga before looking back towards her. You had words, but she placed her hand on the one you had used to grab her and held it, "It's okay, Milday. It's this way so there are people to serve and bring the food out to the others," she giggled, "And there are no servants for servants, so we all just eat in the kitchen or in our rooms."

You grit your teeth for a split second, she had a point, "If you say so," before nodding to Kinu and turning to make your way to Nobunaga. You walked to the right of the mess hall and around all the tables. There were six of them in total, five were arranged columnar so one end was towards the mess hall entrance and the other towards the back of the room, with equal spacing between them; the sixth one was set up horizontally centered towards the back, each end pointing towards the left and right sides of the room respectfully.

The table at the back is where all the warlords were seated, with the exception of Mitsunari who sat between Hideyoshi (to his left) and Ieyasu (to his right at the farthest end). As you approached the table, you caught eyes with Mitsuhide who sat at the end on the side you approached from, and glared at him. He sent you an amused smile in return that made you bite back the urge to swipe at him the way you did three months ago.

"Why Princess," the kitsune's grin widened slightly.

Don't react.

"You look absolutely ravishing in that kimono."

You sent him a quiet hiss when you walked past, before taking your seat between the Demon Commander himself and the One Eyed Dragon, "Mitsuhide is right, lass. That kimono suits you very well."

You shot Masamune a sweet smile and shrugged your shoulders slightly, "Thank you, Masamune. I had no idea it was in my closet." You didn't even bother acknowledging Mitsuhide as you had made the silent decision to ignore him for the night.

"Yes," Nobunaga cut in to your conversation, getting your attention when he moved a stray curl behind your ear, "Your outfit choice for the night is very fitting." He brushed his fingers along the decorative faux flowers in your hair, an action that was oddly soothing, "Delicate like a flower," he moved one of the tassels from your obi's ties out of your lap, better exposing the dragon embroidery underneath it, "But fierce like a dragon."

His words, his actions, his smug ass smile was all very breathtaking and sent a nice tingle up your spine. "Thank you," you unintentionally purred, "Though to be honest, I really can't take any credit. The maids picked out everything, and did all the work." You picked up your tea mug, "All I did was stand there and look pretty."

"You're having tea?" Masamune shot you a look before picking up a spare saucer of saké, "Tonight is a night for celebration."

"I don't think my doctor would condone that," you looked to the blue-clad warlord and chuckled.

"He wouldn't," Ieyasu spoke up from the other end of the table and shot the two of you a glare.

"Sorry," you laughed bringing the tea to your lips, "Warden says no," before taking a sip and placing the mug down. Masamune clicked his tongue and shook his head, placing the saucer down before picking up his own cup of tea. You raised a brow at him, and he shrugged, "Solidarity."

"Masamune can't drink," Hideyoshi clarified. Ah, he can't handle liquor. The revelation made you giggle, and Masamune sent a glare towards Hideyoshi.

"You should try some of the Sashimi and Dumplings, Milady!" Mitsunari leaned over the table to look past Hideyoshi and Nobunaga, and towsrds you.

"No she shouldn't," Ieyasu interjected, "She is still recovering. No raw foods," he said with finality.

"Damn Salmonella," you grumbled. To be honest it was fine by you, you were hungry but due to Ieyasu's warning you didn't want to eat anything heavy, and meat in general was as heavy as food could get. "What?" Masamune looked at you with a confused face, and you sighed - remembering that a lot of food born illnesses didn't have names yet.

Oh that probably means that any time someone got sick from food poisoning, they blamed it on someone trying to kill them.

"Nothing," you couldn't hold back the chuckle that bubbled from your own personal thoughts.

Nobunaga reached for something that was infront of him, but closer to the other edge of the table and silently winced in pain. The quiet sound caught your attention and you watched him for a moment, not sure if you heard him right. He tried again, only for the same sound to escape him. Were you missing something? When did he get injured? You took the tray of sushi he had been reaching for and placed it next to his, earning a quiet thanks from him.

You briefly glanced around the room, to make sure your eyes weren't deceiving you, and surprisingly the subtle spectacle had not gotten the attention of any vassals around the room. Nobunaga seemed to be favoring his right arm and you narrowed your eyes at him.

"Are you okay?" You tried to keep the conversation quiet, but it was difficult with so many different conversations going on around the room.

"What?" He turned to look at you to better understand your question.

"I said, are you okay?" You spoke up a bit, hoping no one outside the warlords table had heard you.

"It's nothing," he stated simply, before brushing off your concerns for the rest of the feast. You watched him like a hawk while the others enjoyed eating and drinking, though you suspected the other warlords were doing it in moderation and you wondered why for a moment. The vassals however didn't hold back, they got loud halfway through the celebration, but their drunken banter put a smile on your face.

The group seemed really tightknit, more like a very large band of brothers than a garrison of soldiers under the command of different leaders. The night wound down when there was almost no food left on the tables for the vassals, and they left in groups of three or more to either head off to bed or find somewhere else to indulge themselves. Within an hour of the food depleting to nothing, the hall was empty save for Ieyasu, Mitsunari, Hideyoshi, Nobunaga, yourself, Masamune, and Mitsuhide.

Should you leave? You wanted to, but you felt awkward being the only one at the table to leave, before Mitsunari spoke up, "We should head to the council room before it gets too terribly late."

That caught your attention, and you perked up a bit, "You all are going to have a council meeting right now?"

"Not just us, you too."

Shut up Mitsuhide.

"But why?" You huffed, "I'm no one important."

"Nonsense," Mitsunari looked over towards you with a gentle smile, "You're the Oda Princess."

"Not a real one though," Ieyasu snarked.

"One of the topics we are going to cover tonight involves you," Nobunaga finally answered your question. Your brows furrowed, "Me?" You repeated, "How?"

Nobunaga chuckled before moving to stand, "Come to find out."

Ugh.

The other warlords followed his lead, and with a begrudging sigh, you trailed after them. You contemplated ditching them and just returning to your room for the night - being around so many lively people drained your energy. However, before you could linger too much on the idea, you entered a hall that looked familiar. Dang, here already.

When you entered, the warlords took their places at their assigned seats, while you followed Nobunaga up the dais, only to pick up your pillow and walk over to the spot next to Ieyasu, before plopping it and yourself down.

Nobunaga leaned back slightly and let out a sigh. You glanced around the room, before turning to look at the raven haired man, and leaned in his direction, "Are you really okay? You seemed stiff the entire feast."

"No," at least he was finally being honest, and you weren't going to have to jump through too many hoops to get an answer like you would most men. Your brows furrowed at this, "What's wrong?"

Before you could get an answer out of him, Hideyoshi cleared his throat and Nobunaga waved off your question. "I'll begin," Hideyoshi watched you till he was sure you wouldn't interrupt and then continued, "I have a report on the villains who attacked Lord Nobunaga at Honno-ji."

You perked up a bit, it had been a while since you heard of the incident. "Mitsunari," the brunette turned to his vassal, "The night of the attack, you sent several men to follow their tracks."

"Yes," he nodded in confirmation, "I had hoped to search for their whereabouts. However," Mitsunari paused for a moment to clear his throat, "Last night several bodies were delivered to the castle."

Your eyes widened, having a feeling you knew what he was going to say next.

"It was the men I had sent out."

You glanced around the room to gauge the others reactions. Most if not all of them remained calm and expressionless, though you couldn't say you were suprised. This type of thing was probably normal to them. People didn't exactly have a long life expectancy in this time period. You looked at Nobunaga through the corner of your eye as he held a disturbingly pleased smile in his face.

Asshole.

"They must have gotten close," he chuckled, "Apparently their leader doesn't want me learning his identity."

"We may be out of leads," Hideyoshi sounded resolute, and you could hear the anger growing in his voice, "but we won't give up the search. Those assassins won't be allowed to roam free."

"Hideyoshi, I want you and Mitsunari to come to my room afterwards to discuss this more." You looked at the Oda leader with a raised brow, though your eyes narrowed in suspicion - he was up to something.

"Yes, my lord," they both replied in sync.

"If I may, I have a report as well," Mitsuhide began to speak with a smile on his face, "The scouts we sent out to reconnotier the eastern front came back to us with rather curious rumors."

You raised a brow, partially because you had never heard that word used before in the place of recon or reconnaissance, and partly because you were actually interested in what the snake had to say. "It means to gather information, Princess," you shot a glare in Ieyasu's direction - half tempted to make his tea erupt again, but sadly he didn't have one.

"I know what it means," you snapped back at him, "You should be paying attention to the report and not whether or not I have a grasp on military jargon."

"They say the Dragon of Echigo is alive," Mitsuhide continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted, "And he is sheltering the Tiger of Kai back to life from his supposed death due to illness."

"Interesting," Nobunaga raised a hand to rub his chin in thought.

Dragon of Echigo? Your brows furrowed at the irony. How cute- a soft sigh interrupted your thoughts, and you looked at Ieyasu with an annoyed expression.

"The Dragon of Echigo is Kenshin Uesagi, Lord of Kasugayama Castle in Echigo. The Tiger of Kai is Shingen Takeda. They're brave generals who vied with Nobunaga for power. Both of them supposedly died some time back."

"Thanks, Wikipedia-" you snarked, but Ieyasu wouldn't stop till he had delivered an insult, "And incase you're wondering, your cluelessness was written all over your face. Try being quiet will you?"

"You should really get checked out, Ieyasu, it isn't healthy to be hearing voices that aren't there." And while your at it get your eyes checked too.

"Mitsuhide," your and Ieyasu's quiet squabble did nothing to interrupt Nobunaga and Mitsuhide's conversation, "Can you verify this?"

"Not yet. So far it's just been nothing but rumors. But I will bring you proof." You saw nothing wrong with this idea. If he went chasing rumors, he wouldn't be in Azuchi to pester you. Please go away, Mitsuhide.

"Hold on, Mitsuhide."

Ugh.

"Yes?" Mitsuhide turned his attention to Hideyoshi.

"Why are you leaving our lord's side to go chasing rumors?"

You had almost forgotten that Hideyoshi suspected Mitsuhide... Almost.

"It's simple. If they turn out to be true we need to know as soon as possible to plan our next move." Hideyoshi got quiet after Mitsuhide's reply, but that didn't mean that the brunette was backing down. Your gaze shifted between the two as the silently glared at eachother from across the room.

"Can you promise you're not planning anything?"

The whole argument made you want to groan outloud, but you refrained from doing so. You knew for a fact, the last thing Mitsuhide wanted to do was betray Lord Nobunaga - he just liked to play Devil's advocate.

"Anything?" A sly smile crept onto Mitsuhide's face, "Could you be more specific, Hideyoshi? I'm a little slow on the uptake, you see."

You wanted to slap that smile off his face and tell him to quit his shit, but you also wondered why he was trying so hard to look like he was up to something. You kept your gaze on the kitsune, examining him for answers.

"You know what I'm talking about. I need to know you are not planning to betray our Lord to his enemies."

"Would you trust me if I told you I wasn't?" Mitsuhide chuckled, "What's to prevent me from lying or changing my mind, Hideyoshi?"

"Mitsuhide," Hideyoshi spoke through gritted teeth, "why does a man of your talents insist on such-"

"Enough, both of you," at the proverbial snap of his fingers, Nobunaga's command caused the both of them to cease their arguing. Once the room was silent, Nobunaga spoke once again, "Mitsuhide, I give you permission to scout Echigo. Ascertain whether the tiger and dragon are alive or dead, and what's going on a Kasugayama Castle."

"I understand, my lord," Mitsuhide bowed slightly with a nod of his head. You glanced at Nobunaga for a split second before gazing over at Hideyoshi. He seemed like he had a lot more say on the matter, but kept his opinions to himself after that.

You remembered the first day you met everyone. Hideyoshi and Mitsuhide had an argument almost exactly like this that time as well. Hideyoshi wanted to hear Mitsuhide say that he wasn't plotting behind their backs, but like today, Mitsuhide was insistent on antagonizing him. You once again wondered why Mitsuhide didn't just tell the truth, he was loyal to Nobunaga. Fiercely so- so loyal infact he had come after you knowing full well you had inhuman capabilities. There had to be some sort of angle to this.

"My plan was to begin an invasion of the western territories," with that out of the way, Nobunaga continued the council with a smile, "but I may have found bigger prey. Any activity from Echigo can't be overlooked. Make swift preparations for war. Masamune, Ieyasu. Gather the troops."

Both the one eyed warrior and the blond looked to their leader and nodded, "Yes, my lord."

"The rumors better be true," Masamune held a playful smile on his face, "I've been waiting for some action."

"Princess," Nobunaga's voice brought your attention to him, "It's your turn."

"Hm?" You raised a questioning brow to him, and wontered if you should make a smart ass comment but before you could, he answered your silent question. "I have orders for you."

"No," your turned up your nose at him, an action that only made his smirk widen, "I haven't given them yet."

"Don't care," you turned your head away from him, emphasizing the fact that you weren't having any of it.

"I enjoy your spirit but listen to what I have to say first." You still didn't turn to look at him, and after a moment he continued, "I hadn't mentioned this before, but I suffered an injury in the previous battle."

That got your attention. You turned to look at him and narrowed your eyes skeptically.

"When you put down that revolt?" Ieyasu's voice cut through your silence, and brought your gaze to him before you looked back at Nobunaga. Why was he barely making all this known now? It's been three months, you felt like this is something that should have been delt with long before?

Unless-

"Yes. A glancing blow from one of the arrows, but it has yet to heal."

You couldn't even say if it was true or not, you had been absent for a majority of the battle due to having to deal with a small skirmish of your own. "However," the raven haired warlord continued, "I must be in perfect condition for the next battle. And so I will be going on retreat to the springs."

Your glare only hardened as you watched him, silently searching for more answers, because you knew there was something he wasn't telling you.

"My dearest Lucky Charm will be coming with me."

"What?" Just like that you snapped out of your thoughts, "Why?"

"Isn't that nice," Mitsuhide chuckled from the other side of the room, "Congratulations on being chosen for such an important mission."

"I'm counting on you to not fall for our Lord too quickly, lass," Masamune jested at you in a friendly manner, a smug smirk etched on to his features.

"No one has answered my question yet???" You looked at the others confused.

"Princess," Hideyoshi tried to reassure you, you think, "remember to serve Lord Nobunaga as I would," or give you tips, you guess.

"But why???" You raised a brow at the brunettes comment. Bad choice of words, Hideyoshi, but then again he doesn't know the two of you nearly screwed.

"You sustained serious injuries as well, did you not?" Nobunaga was talking to you as if the answer should be obvious.

"Well yes but-" he didn't let you finish, "Then the hot springs will benefit you as well." He nodded, as if the action could physically bring a close to the conversation.

"Is it just going to be you and me?" You sighed, knowing there was nothing you could do to change his mind, so you may as well get as many details as you can.

"Yes, if word of this injury got out, there could be another revolt. For secrecy, I will take no guards and go with you alone."

Oh even you knew that was bull. Nobunaga was many things, but stupid was not one of them. He had to know going alone would be dangerous. Sure, he had you, but none were aware of what you were - save for Mitsuhide.

Unless of course-

"We leave in the morning. See that you're prepared, Princess."

He's trying to make himself look like an easy target. But what would he have to gain from this?

You gaped at him slightly when it occured to you.

He suspects a mole amongst his ranks and he's trying to draw them out by making himself look like an easy target.

Nobunaga was giving you a teasing smile.

If nothing happens, then he knows his inner circle is safe and the traitor is lower in the chain of command.

You looked around the room, examining the men you had though you'd come to know. They had all seemed fairly loyal in your eyes. It was obvious from the way Ieyasu used to birate you about your interactions with Nobunaga that he respects him very much. Hideyoshi practically worshiped the ground Nobunaga walked on. Mitsunari's loyalty to the Lord in question was second only to Hideyoshi, so it was a given that by association it wasn't him either. Masamune was always so eager to fight for Nobunaga and for some reason their relationship struck you as brotherly, and Mitsuhide had proven to you earlier that day how loyal he truly was to his lord.

Who could he possibly think it is?

"Close your mouth or you'll catch flies," Ieyasu snipped. You snapped you mouth shut and shot him a glare.

"You should probably start packing," Hideyoshi called your attention away from the blond and your face scrunched up slightly in distaste, "I guess, since you're leaving me with no other choice."

Nobunaga nodded at your words, as you stood up to head to your room. Like hell you were packing, more like staying up and thinking of a way to get the heck out of here.

"Kinu will be bringing you your last dose of medicine for the day," Ieyasu called after you., and you loudly groaned before closing the doors to the council room behind you.

When you arrived to your quarters, Kinu was already there with your medicine and a glass of water, as well as a few extra maids to assist you in removing your complicated garb. You allowed them to change you into your night attire first since the smell of the medicine assured you that this glass was even more concentrated before the last. Obviously the idea of shaking liquid medicine before giving it so it was equally distributed in each glass was still a foreign concept, and you could only assume the medicine was getting more potent because whatever was still in it that was solid had settled to the bottom and you may be nearly finished with the first batch.

You almost wanted to spit out the last sip. It had an unpleasant gritty texture to it and it felt like it left a thin film over the roof of your mouth and your tongue. Kinu quickly handed you your glass of water, and you eagerly chugged it before handing it back to her and politely asking for more.

You straightened out your night robe and turned to Kinu after she poured more water in your mug. The other maids bowed you, taking your used clothing before leaving the room and closing the door behind them. "How was the feast, Milady?" She smiled and handed you the ceramic cup.

"Good," was all you could really say. Of course you had tasted better food, but what could you expect from a world that had yet to obtain the variety of spices and cooking techniques of modern day life. "It wasn't what I was expecting," you chuckled, before taking a sip of your water "Lots of drinking and marry banter from the vassals. Don't know why I expected it to be stiff and stuffy."

Kinu covered her giggle with her hands, "Of course not, Princess. Banquets like this are often to help the lord's and their vassals unwind, it also helps boost morale if it's in celebration of something, such as your getting better."

"Yes well," you moved to sift though your closet, not entirely sure if you should really pack, "It was great up until the end."

Kinu tilted her head in a confused manor, and you glanced back at her when she remained silent, before turning back to your closet and explaining what you meant, "Lord Nobunaga wants me to go to the hot springs with him tomorrow-"

You were cut of my the maids failed attempt at muffling her excited squeals. And you turned to look at her, a smile creeping on to your face at her infectious joy, "Oh, Princess! That's wonderful!"

Your brows furrowed and you snickered, "How?"

"Well, Milady," she hastily walked over to you with an extra hop in her step, and made an effort to speak a bit more quietly, though it failed miserably, "I'm sure you're aware of the Lords fondness of you."

Fondness?

You scoffed and turned to look at Kinu, "He's only doing it because-" you paused, your smile dropping from your face as did not want to tell her your suspicions on why he is really doing all this, and you also didn't want to tell her he was 'injured' in fear of spoiling his little experiment. She looked at you expectantly, "Because...?"

You cleared your throat, "He thinks the hot spring will do me some good, and he thinks I would enjoy getting out of the castle for once."

Your little white lie only made her squeal again and you rolled your eyes, smile once again returning to your face as you pulled out a simple kimono off the rack. The material felt light and the had a little more give than most, it would be perfect for traveling, maybe. Your weren't sure. It was hard to say since you didn't know how exactly you would be traveling. You assumed by horse, and you've never ridden on a horse in a kimono for extended periods of time.

"That would be good for the trip there, Princess," oh yay, you made a good guess, "Would it be alright if I pack your things for you?" She stuttered slightly, afraid you would take her request the wrong way, "N-not that I don't think you know how to dress, it's just-"

"Kinu." She snapped her mouth shut, "I would appreciate it."

Just like that her excitement returned, "Oh! Thank you, Milady!" She hopped to your closet, taking your place when you moved out of the way. With a relaxed smile you made your way to your futon, slowly laying down onto the mat while Kinu flitted through your closet for everything she thought would be nice for you to take. She would pull out a kimono, talk out the pros and cons outloud before putting it back and picking out another. You talked with her while you could, asking questions and agreeing with some of her opinions, till all you could respond to her with was, "Mhmm..."

As your responses became quieter and quieter, she turned around to look at you and smiled at the image of you curled up beneath your blanket - the only thing visible was your head from your cheek bones up. She continued sorting through your closet till she was finished and then took her leave.

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon

Ch.1

Warnings: Swearing, we explore MC's powers a bit more in this, near death situations, descriptions of violence including blood.

After the council meeting, Hideyoshi escorted you back to your room. He was rather insistent that he start ASAP, and that he was sure you didn't know your way back to your room...which he was right about, but you would never admit that out loud. You slept for about six hours and when you awoke the sun appeared to be going down. You groaned, there goes your hope of going out into town. You opened your rooms doors to see if you could possibly sneak out, only to find Hideyoshi standing outside your room and all you could do was stare at him wide-eyed.

"Can I help you?" He raised a brow to you with his arms crossed, and you sighed agitatedly, "Don't you have anything better to do then stand outside my door the whole day?"

His eye twitched, "I do, but we don't have anyone specific assigned to you yet, and I doubt you would let me know if you were planning on heading into town," he was right about that, you wanted to sneak off, "So here I am," he said with finality. You groaned and glared at him before retreating back into your room and slamming you door shut. Perhaps you could sneak out the balcony? No, you were sure once you had been quiet for a while he would check the room only to see you gone. You could groom? No, there isn't enough space in this room to preen without causing a racket, and with Hideyoshi standing right outside your door, he would know something was up the second you transformed.

You told yourself you would nap again. You told yourself you would sit quietly in the middle of the room for hours on end as some form of protest - make Hideyoshi paranoid that you were up to something, but here you were, begrudgingly opening you doors yet again, just ten minutes after the last. Hideyoshi raised a brow to you in question, and it hurt your pride to look him in the eye with such a request, "Surely there must be something to do around here? Could we maybe still go out into town?"

"No," his response was swift, "It's too late, the sun is going down." Ah, so your curfew was sunset then. Well that's no fun. You thought for a moment, "Maybe you could give me a tour of the castle?"

The man eyed you for a moment, like he wasn't sure if showing you where everything was in the castle was such a good idea. You sighed and rolled your eyes, "It's your tour, you don't have to show me some things if you aren't comfortable with it." He blinked, suprised that you would be so understanding. "Please Hideyoshi, I'm going stir crazy in this room," you were pleading with him now.

"I suppose if you're wanting to visit the guarden whenever you want, you do have to know where it is first." It was a pathetic attempt at reasoning with himself as to why he was going to go through with this, "Yes!" Hideyoshi chuckled at your enthusiasm as you exited your room to join him in the hall before turning around to close the double doors behind you. He began walking down the hall and you excitedly followed after him, "Never wander the castle halls alone at night," Hideyoshi warned.

"Yes, yes I know," you sighed and rolled your eyes, "You don't trust me alone yet-"

"No not just that, let me finish," he cut you off, "while you will be considered a princess from here on out and shall be treated as such, some of the warriors staying here may see you as...less." He didn't need to go on, you weren't naive, you knew what he was hinting at, "And what of the other women in the castle?" The thought of that happening to any of the other woman here...

"They know the rules. Don't leave your quarters after dark, and if you absolutely have to, for any reason- leave in groups of two or more. As an extra precaution the women are boarded on one side of the castle, while the men are on the opposite side." It was nice that Nobunaga and the other warlords cared enough to lay down some ground rules for the women to help keep them safe, but why not handle the problem at the source? The thought almost tempted you to walk alone at night, to go looking for trouble, and to challenge any man who thought he could lay a hand on a woman without her consent.

You and Hideyoshi walked in silence for a while, till you nearly bumped into him when he suddenly stopped. "Sorry," you muttered glancing up at him for a brief second before turning to your left to look out to the open garden, "Woah."

You were in awe. The garden before you was full of lush greenery- grass, flowers, trees, and bushes, with a small man made stream running diagonally through the middle from one small pond at one end to another small pond at the other end, and a bridge connected the two bodies of land on either side of the stream, "It's beautiful."

You gaped at the sight before slowly stepping down the hard wood stairs of the open hall to the garden. You removed the socks you wore as part of the garb, and felt the grass beneath your feet - the cool feeling of soft grass made you let out a relaxed sigh. You raised your head to look up at the moon, which was becoming clearer and easier to see as the minutes passed and the sun set. A content smile graced your face and you raised your arms to the air while you stepped in a circle in the same spot, and it was then that you remembered you weren't alone. Your gaze was brought down to Hideyoshi, who had claimed his spot propped up against the hard wood framing of the castles hall wall with a smile of his own in his face. Perhaps he had been wrong about you.

You quickly lowered your arms and about-faced to look away from him, feeling embarrassed that -for a moment- you lowered your guard. You walked towards the stream and crouched down to look at it. You could see you reflection, though it was disturbed by some koi fish who were swimming around freely. A subtle, gentle smile refound its way to your face and you slowly placed your hand in your water so's not to disturb the fish. A quiet giggle left your lips as you felt the koi swim and brushed past your hand to go on their merry way. You felt the urge to dip your feet into the water, but Hideyoshi called your attention, "It's getting very late," you were broken out of your trancelike state to look at him, "we should be getting you back to your room."

You nodded your head, standing up from your place next to the stream to head over to him, and putting your socks back on, before going up the stairs. Of course he wouldn't let you stay out too late, it was probably already way past the time the women were expected to be in their rooms and he probably had business in the morning. The two of you head back down the way you came, but as you approached your room you hear the rapid thumping of feet running your way.

"My Lord! My Lord!"

Hideyoshi pulled you towards him as he backed up against the wall, "Watch it! No running in the halls!"

"Sorry!" The man looked back briefly to apologize before he continued his run, "My Lord, Nobunaga!"

Hideyoshi's brows furrowed before he clotheslined another soldier who had been trailing behind the first to stop him, "Go get the others," whatever it was, it sounded urgent. The soldier nodded before running back towards the castle entrance and Hideyoshi turned to look at you, "Go to your room," before heading the same direction as the soldier who was going to Nobunaga's quarters, "No way!" You stood there for a second while Hideyoshi ran off before following after him as well.

When you reached Nobunaga's room, Hideyoshi was standing over the soldier, who was bowing with his head to the floor infront of Nobunaga.

"I see," the raven haired warlord spoke with an amused smile, "We shall hold council."

"I've already sent to summon the others, my Lord." Hideyoshi bowed as well.

"Excellent," Nobunaga stood from his sitting mat, which was when he spotted you, "Ah," his smile grew wider, "My Lucky Charm, your timing couldn't have been better."

Hideyoshi turned and saw you in the doorway and held a stirn look on his face, probably upset about you not listening to him. You simply gave a curt smile to him before looking to Nobunaga, "Yes I do always seem to be in the wrong place at the right time."

"You shall come with us," he approached you in the doorway, "To the council, and with your fortune, to the battlefield as well."

You crossed your arms and leaned against the doorframe with your hip cocked out, "If it weren't the only remotely interesting thing going on in this castle right now, I would tell you no, but..." Nobunaga lead you to the council room, with Hideyoshi following closely behind.

By the time the four of you reached the council room, all the other warlords had gathered and taken their seats. "We came running as soon as we heard my Lord," Mitsunari spoke from his place next to the empty mat that was set out for Hideyoshi, who briskly went to take his seat upon his entrance, followed by Nobunaga who sat at the head of group. You were a bit at a loss on where you fit in to all this, till Nobunaga pat the empty cushion that was next to him. You narrowed your eyes and raised a brow before heading over to his side, moving the pillow over by a good foot or so, and then claiming your seat.

"Not your little pet," you growled out, earning a chuckle from the head lord, "Never said you were," and that was all that was able to be said before he looked to the council room entrance, "Let him in!"

"My Lord!" The soldier who you had seen on the floor in his quarters entered the room only to drop to his knees and bow yet again, "Many apologizes for disturbing you so late at night my lord, but I recieved a report from our scouts in the east! One of the regional daimyos has decided to revolt against you!"

"A revolt?" Nobunaga scoffed, "They don't intend to let me rest now that I'm back, do they?" Though his voice held a tinge of disdain his expression seemed oddly pleased, he held a smile on his lips and a gleam in his eye like a child who knew something no one else did.

"What is your plan, my Lord?" Mitsuhide cut in.

"I'm considering."

"I volunteer to go," Hideyoshi offered, "I'll give them a stirn lesson about knowing their place." Yes please send Hideyoshi so he'll be out of your hair and hopefully they'll forget all about you and let you wander freely.

"No give it to me," Masamune spoke up, "I missed my chance for a rumble back in Kyoto and I'm itching for some action." Shut up, Masamune.

After a moment, Nobunaga stood up, "I shall go." A look of suprise crosse everyone's face except Masamune, who looked more put out than anything. "Why are you going?" Ieyasu questioned.

"My Lord if I may," Mitsunari interjected, "He is hardly a worthy opponent for you to go out and face. He commands a small force of no more than 2,000 men."

"Then I'll only need 500 men."

Cocky bastard.

"Only 500?" Ieyasu's expression changed for the first time since you'd met him from stoic and bored to a bit surprised, "That's too risky."

By all means let him.

"You will come too," Nobunaga turned to look at you and your head whipped around to look at him, "I would much rather stay here."

"My lord, I'm not sure that's wise-" Hideyoshi was just as opposed to it as you were, perhaps more so. "I've made my decision," Nobunaga cut him off.

"Well then change it!" You snapped.

"Here's your chance to bring me luck again." He was completely ignoring you and Hideyoshi's objections.

You stood up to be more leveled with the raven haired man, perhaps if your were standing and in his face he would listen, "You don't seriously believe I'm lucky?"

"Yes. I only speak the truth, and what I say is final. Now prepare yourself. I want my men ready before sunset. That's when we march."

"Look!" You took a step closer towards him, "I don't care how many srews loose you have, I am not risking my life to babysit you just because you think I'm some glorified lucky charm!"

"The decision is mine," Nobunaga didn't back down, "What you think of the matter is meaningless to me." He said not another word as he left the council room.

History be damned, you might be the death of this man.

"And he just returned too," Hideyoshi let out an exasperated sigh, as if the situation was more annoying than dire, "What bad timing."

"Don't take it too hard, Lord Hideyoshi," Mitsunari placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's good for him to go out."

"You there," Ieyasu got your attention, "He gave you your orders, are you just going to stand there?"

"I don't have to do a damn thing that man says," you glared at Ieyasu in defiance.

"Let's get one thing straight," it only made you even angrier that Ieyasu's tone hadn't changed, like the whole ordeal that just happened didn't even cause a hiccup in his day, "Nobunaga's orders are absolute." Your eyes broke contact with his for a split second to draw attention to the tea mug that was infront of him- same as everyone else, though he mistook your eyes bropping towards the ground as you being intimidated, "That goes double for pushovers like you."

That was it, neither he nor anyone had noticed, but while he was busy 'putting you in your place', you were fucking with his tea. The beverage bubbled and boiled, and the second he ended his statement the tea seemed to explode - splashing upwards and out of the glass cup and onto Ieyasu's expensive looking clothes. He hissed and jumped back as the hot liquid touched his leg, "Lord Ieyasu!" Mitsunari attempted to get up and help him and while the other were distracted with trying to help their colleague, you stormed out of the meeting room.

"I don't have to do jack-shit."

"Let me know if you need assistance with your preparations!" Mitsunari called after you before you disappeared around the corner to go back to your room. Hideyoshi quickly got up to follow you, calling your name in an effort to get you to slow down, but to no avail.

Just before you could slam your door shut, Hideyoshi caught it with his foot, "What was that!?" You whipped around to look at the brunette, "What was what?!"

"That!" Hideyoshi motioned back to what had just happened in the council room, "First you go after Nobunaga," you roll your eyes and try to walk away from him towards your balcony but he roughly grabs your arm and turns you around to look at him, "now you poison Ieyasu's drink?!"

Your brows furrowed and you sneared at him. He didn't honestly think poison would make tea bubble and fizzle like that, when would you have even had the time for that?! "I didn't poison his drink!" You ripped your arm out of his grasp- jerking him along slightly. "Well you did something to it," he took another step towards you, "I saw the way you were looking at it, like your were waiting for something to happen, you must have done something!"

"I didn't do anything he didn't deserve!" The balcony doors behind you burst open with a strong gust of wind that rattled the whole back wall. When Hideyoshi's gaze snapped up to look through the open doors it looked as if it was about to storm outside. The sky was mute, dark, and cloudy, and the wind was blowing so hard the tree branches bent to its will. Hideyoshi left you to go close the doors before locking the inside latch to be sure they wouldn't open again.

You were trying really hard not to shift, all the anger, frustration, and the over all helpless feeling the situation brought upon you was too much. You hugged yourself, as if the manual restraint would keep your dragon at bay, and you looked at the ground taking deep breaths in and out to force yourself calm. Hideyoshi came around from behind you and stood in front of you once more. He called your name, but you didn't hear it the first time till he placed his hands on your shoulders. You looked up at him with tears in your eyes, both from your overwhelming emotions and from your internal struggle.

Sure you were by no means normal, but you lived a normal life just like anyone else had - you grew up, you went to school, you had birthday parties, friends and family who loved you, you worked, sure your life had it's fair share of hardships, but what didn't kill you made you stronger and brought you closer to your loved ones. But now that had all been ripped away and you were in the Sengoku period with nothing, with no one, no job, no friends and family -sure you had Sasuke, but until yesterday he had been a nameless stranger- no past, and possibly no future.

"I want to go home..." you choked out with a sob. The last thing you expected was for Hideyoshi to pull you into a firm and comforting hug. The both of you stood there in embrace, everything silent except for the sound of gentle rain hitting the wood doors and wood panels outside. The storm that had seemed to be raging just minutes ago had calmed, though the downpour was heavy and raindrops thick. The soldiers who were preparing for the march in the stables could hardly see past the barn doors.

"Sorry," you cleared your throat and gently pulled away from Hideyoshi, "You should probably be getting ready," you took a few steps back and wiped the stray tears away from your eyes. Hideyoshi stood there, not quite biting your bid to change the subject till you turned your back to him. "Yes," his turn to clear his throat, "and you should be preparing as well."

You didn't give him an answer, you stayed silent even when you heard his footsteps leave your room and the door shut after he'd left. After that you packed, lightly if course - just a few kimonos and a couple pairs of socks in a sack. You had thought it best to bring your personal belongings - your old cloths and your phone (all you had on you the night you got here) but you had accidentally left your clothing in a tattered pile on the floor when you saved Nobunaga back in Honno-ji, and your phone in your pocket meaning that was probably gone as well. Unless they put out the fire before it could do too much damage, but that was wishful thinking.

Preperations went as planned, everyone was ready to head out before the sun had even begun to set, and even more lucky- the sudden storm from earlier had long since died down, and everyone headed out to camp as soon as everyone was accounted for. At the war camp, you sat idly by Nobunaga as the soldiers flittered about, preparing themselves and their horses one last time incase they were needed, "I am amazed the woman who dragged me out of a burning temple cowered at the thought of this back at the castle."

"I didn't cower," you growled, "If you call what I did cowering, I wonder what would you call me biting off your head and spitting it out." Nobunaga laughed at this, taking your words as a joke.

"A report!" One of Nobunaga's vassals came running through the camp, "We've breached the tigers mouth! The vanguards spearmen are in!"

"Continue pressing the assault," Nobunaga waved him off, "Break through the second circle and fire the castle."

You picked at your nails as Nobunaga gave his commands. The vassals continued to come in and out every half an hour to an hour or so. You hadn't realized how much dirt and grime had gotten under your nails till you started cleaning them. Nobunaga continued to effortlessly give orders till-

"My lord! The enemy commander has sallied out!"

"He's come to risk his life in battle rather than hole up and wait to die. I admire his courage." Nobunaga rose from his chair, his hand resting on his sword as he trudged towards a horse that had been prepared for him at the beginning of the march, "I'll put and end to all this."

You rolled your eyes. Men and their dick measuring contests... "You must be growing bored here," Nobunaga turned to look at you, "You'll come as well. I want you to see this."

"Hmm," you hummed, "No, no, I think I am quite comfortable in this chair. But thank you, for your consideration."

"See that she's put in her saddle," he completely dismissed your words as he walked to his stead.

"Yes my Lord!"

You quickly hopped out of your seat as the vassal came to grab you and you shoved him, causing him to fall to the ground. Nobunaga looked back only to find his vassal stumbling to stand and you already mounting your horse. If you were going it would be of your own free will and not from being dragged by some heathen. Riding a horse couldn't be that hard right? Just hold on and don't fall off... but perhaps you should go slow first. You joined Nobunaga at his side, "You learn fast, princess." He took off before you could snark back, and you followed after him, holding on tightly to the reins.

In the throes of battle, one of the soldiers accidentally shoved your horse, causing the equine to go into a gallop at full speed, "Woah!" You pulled on the reins, forcing the horse to come to a rather harsh stop. The horse reared and whinnied before the both of you were crashed into by a rival soldier and his stead. You went tumbling to the ground, and when you realized what was going on your eyes were drawn to the sight of your horse fleeing.

"Archers! Aim for Nobunaga!" You heard a soldier scream out before you turned to look only to be met with the sight of a soldier coming at you on horseback with a bow and arrow ready to launch, so you did the only thing you could think of.

"Fire!"

Run.

You launched yourself in the opposite direction of the enemy soldiers, the arrow lodging itself into the ground where you had been sitting helpless just seconds ago. You heard the sound of galloping hooves to your right, and you turned to see a group of three soldiers heading towards you. With the wave of your hand a strong gust of wind blew in from the North and caused them to fall off when their horses reared in shock. You headed for the woods, a group of four different soldiers on your trail.

"Aim for his head!

Idiots, they still think your Nobunaga.

"Fire!"

They missed you when you ducked behind the tree line - the arrows lodging into the tree bark.

Oh you'll give them fire.

"Find him! He can't get far on foot!" You could hear them as you ran through the woods.

"Nobunaga, you coward!"

You turned to look behind you, but you saw nothing you could only hear their voices. With a hiss you transformed, your long serpent body slithering through the trees with ease till you reached a clearing. It was peaceful, a stark contrast to the war raging on in the grass fields. There was a large lake, which you took refuge in under the water. The tip of your tail disappeared under the water, and the four soldiers that had been chasing you appeared from the trees just minutes after.

"Where is he?!"

Your ears perked when you heard their muffled, warped voices under the water and before they could split up to search, you shot out from the water with a deafening roar. You were only visible from the shoulders up as the rest of you remained below the waters surface. The soldiers let out screams of terror when they saw you and their horses were sent into a frightened frenzy.

"Monster!"

You bared your fangs and snarled, "Insolent men! Are you so stupid you can't tell the difference between the man you wish to kill and an innocent woman?!"

"Demon!" They continued to scream till they readied their arrows and fired. Another strong gust of wind blew from behind you, sending the arrows straight down to the ground.

"Split up!" They began to ride in opposite directions two to your right riding clockwise and two to your left riding counterclockwise. You growled, and watched them not quite sure who to shoot at first.

"Ready your arrows! And fire when ready!"

You roared when you felt two stings at the back of your neck, sure it would take more than arrows to kill you, but that didn't make them not a pain in the neck -no pun intended. You whipped around and snarled.

Fuck it.

"You want fire?" Smoke and steam began to rise from out your nostrils and from between your teeth, and you hissed and opened your mouth, "I'll give you fire!" Before producing a strong steady stream of fire from the depths of your throat. You whirled around in a circle, feeling two more arrows lodging into your neck before the circle had closed, but you didn't stop till the edge of the lake was surrounded by fire.

More arrows shot at you, it didn't take a genius to figure out that you didn't get them, you just wanted them to back off. You screeched in annoyance - more arrows jutting out from the back of your neck. Your mothers words came to mind. She taught you never to harm a human. That while your bloodline held great power, it would also mean responsibility. Always being aware that you could hurt someone, whether it be on purpose or by accident. You had to be hyper aware of what you were, and that, while others may raise their hand to you, you should not fight back less it be a last resort.

Another gaggle of arrows lodging into your neck snapped you out of your thoughts, and you retreated into the water to contemplate. Your blood clouded the water and tinged it red, the color only darkening as you plucked the pesky weapons out.

"We did it!" The men howled in victory, having thought they defeated you, "Not even the Devil Kings beast could stop our revolt!"

You once more came flying out of the water and high into the air, the large splash from your actions swiftly putting out the ring of fire that surrounded the lake. You wouldn't kill them, but they didn't know that.

With a roar you then lunged for them, and they once again screamed in terror before urging their horses to run back into the woods. You effortlessly glided through the trees, ducking and weaving till they split up. You made a sharp turn for two of them, using your horns to ram down trees and foliage that was in your path, all while hissing, snarling, and snapping your teeth at the men who had been shooting at you. However, you were distracted by a set of six sharp pricks at your side and nearly collided with the ground. Your feet extended out towards the forest floor, causing dirt and grass to uproot as you dug your talons into the earth to come to an abrupt halt. With six new wounds jutting out from your side you leered at the other two soldiers, who decided to add salt to the wounds by firing more arrows at you. You roared in rage as one grazed your cheek and the other three lodged into your shoulder blade. The men whimpered, pulling their horses reins back to urge them to move back to the fields, and you chased after them, till they passed the forest treeline and you came to another sudden stop - not wanting to be exposed.

"Monster!!" They came running out into the field. You arrived back just in time to see Nobunaga cutting down men who were attempting to flee the battlefield, and the sight made you growl as you watched from the shadows.

"A monster!" That voice had not come from a wailing soldiers you chased away, but instead from farther into the fields infront of Nobunaga, "You're inhuman!"

"Was this all you had?" Oh so that had been the enemy forces master, "I didn't need to come out here personally after all." You could here the smug pleasure in his voice, "You knew what the price would be for betraying me."

"I submit to you!" The enemy commander dismounted his horse and approached Nobunaga on his knees, "And I beg for your forgiveness! I surrender my land, my castle, and all my vassals to you! You can take anything, just spare my life!"

You couldn't hear the rest through your deep rumbles, but you did see the kneeling man attempt to lunge for Nobunaga only to be quite literally, cut down. You needed to figure out how you would get back to camp. Your clothes were lost to the woods and you were covered in wounds, perhaps you should just fly away, care for yourself and then resurface when you were better. An alternative option was to show up to camp as you were and expose yourself, but you refused to do that.

"I want her found as soon as possible! We do not return to camp till she is found!"

"My lord!" The vassal who had attempted to lead you to your horse approached him, "Some of the others said they witnessed her being chased into the woods by enemy soldiers." You swiftly retreated back to the lake just as Nobunaga turned to look at the tree line, "Then the woods we shall search."

You had followed the path of toppled and splintered trees you left back to the lake, before slumping down at the edge. You were horribly tired, both exhausted from the days events and from blood loss. Your once iridescent scales were now dull, sticky, and crusted with blood. You lazily picked out the arrows that were still protruding from your body before you plopped you head onto the soft cool grass. A purr like noise left your throat at how nice it had felt against your burning body. Should you shift back now? Or let Nobunaga and his men find you like this? Surely you would bleed out in human form before they could get you to help if you shifted now- it could take them a while to find you.

It felt like you had been laying there for ages, but maybe that was because of the constant drifting in and out of consciousness you had been doing over the past hour or so. You breathed in deeply, the backbones along your ribcage popping from how stiff they were before you grew smaller in size - back to a human.

You rolled over onto your back and gazed at the moon in the night sky. When had it gotten so dark? Is this where you would die? Done in by a few wounds? You chuckled to yourself. Now you were being as dramatic as the humans of this time. No. This wouldn't kill you. It would take more than a few arrows to kill you as stated before. But if you didn't find help, infection and sickness just might do you in.

"Nobunaga!" You heard a voice faintly call out, "My Lord, in the clearing!"

How long had you been waiting? You heard Nobunaga call your name, but everything was muffled, and sounded like you were underwater. A face appeared in your line if sight, and your head lazily lulled slightly to the side to look at the person, but you couldn't quite make them out - just a pale peach blob with a black blur on the top.

"You stupid, woman!" Nobunaga hurried to cover you with the most outer layer of his robes. All you could recall was the feeling of warmth surrounding you and he wrapped you in the articles of clothing, and how soft the material felt, and then... Nothing.

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon.

Ch.2

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of suspected rape, lord help Mitsuhide you just might kill him, I feel like this chapter falls a bit flat, but it isn't a very action packed chapter so what did I expect? 🤷🏽‍♀️ I hope you all still enjoy!

When you awoke, you opened your eyes to see the artistry of your rooms cieling. Everything was oddly bright and you gazed around your room to find your balcony doors wide open to allow the sunlight in. You growled, the sunlight made twice as harsh in your weakend state and brought on a small headache. Your attention shot to the doors that lead into the hallway when they opened, revealing Ieyasu with a bowl of steaming water and stack of towels with some odd container on top. He stood there silent and in shock - you shouldn't be awake yet, it had only been about 4 hours since Nobunaga and his army arrived back with your battered body. The medics at the camp had done what they chould to patch you up, but you had lost so much blood, you were so cold, and your breath had been so weak - he had predicted you would sleep two or three days at least and then be bed ridden for the next couple weeks. You attempted to sit up, but the pain along your side and back kept you from moving too quickly.

"Stupid woman!" Ieyasu moved as quickly as he could without spilling the bowl of hot water. He put it down carefully next to your sleeping mat, along with the towels, "You shouldn't even be awake yet, let alone trying to get up!"

"What's going on?" At that moment Hideyoshi poked his head in, his eyes widening just as Ieyasu's had, "I though you said she would be down for a couple days?!"

"Yeah well, looks like she's up," Ieyasu gently, but firmly tried to push you back down to the mat, which was easy to do in your weakened and drowsy state. "I'll go tell Lord Nobunaga," Hideyoshi nodded before rushing to his masters quarters.

"Hideyoshi," Masamune was exiting the kitchen as Hideyoshi stormed passed, causing him to fumble back behind the rooms threshold so's not to get trampled, before he poked his head out again, "what happened?!"

Hideyoshi didn't bother turning back to look at Masmune, he merely shouted and waved a hand in the air as he continued on his way, "The princess is awake!"

"Already?!" Masamune looked in the direction Hideyoshi had come from before deciding he would see for himself. The one eyed warrior walked with haste to your room, finding the door still open and upon glancing in he saw you - attempting to fight off Ieyasu while he tried to keep you from standing. "Lass, I know you don't like being told what to do, but Ieyasu is the best at what he does, and you should listen to him!" Masamune joined Ieyasu in the room to help him restrain you, but the more you felt bound the more you hurt, and the more your hurt the more you began to panic.

"Get off of me!" You roared, mustering up enough strength to push Ieyasu and Masamune across the room in opposite directions. Ieyasu crashed into the hallway wall and Masamune managed to catch the railing before he could topple over it from the force. The both of them had widely different emotions on their face - Ieyasu felt annoyance more than anything, and next was confusion as to how you managed to throw him across the room; Masamune looked...excited, shocked, and utterly giddy that you were strong enough to almost throw him over the railing, and all while you weren't feeling well.

Masamune straightened his clothes and sauntered back into the room like nothing happened, "The Princess seems to be much better already."

Ieyasu scoffed, "She's no where near better," he briskly made his way back to you and kneeled to meet you at eye level, "Look," he sounded stirn, much like a mother who had enough of a child who refused to behave, "I need to change your bandages and reapply the salve every few hours, or else your injuries could get infected."

"He's just trying to help you, Lass," you hadn't realized Masamune mirror Ieyasu and join you at your side opposite to the blond, till he spoke and placed a hand on your shoulder - to which you flinched and hissed at. He quickly removed his hand and backed away, "Sorry!"

"You idiot!" Ieyasu tried to slap the other man away before he carefully removed the bandaged on your shoulders and 'tsked'. The sutures he closed your wounds with hadn't been opened, thank goodness, but he would have to inform the others to be careful with you. Ieyasu turned to Masamune, who had been watching his work intently, "Can you leave?"

Masamune looked at Ieyasu questioningly, before remembering what the blond had come in for, "Oh, right!" He left the room quickly and closed the door behind him.

Ieyasu rolled his eyes, before turning back to tend to you. When he looked you were glaring at him, "Oh, don't give me that," he opened the case resting in the towles to reveal the sengoku period equivalent of a first aid kit- or a crash box, depends on how dire he thought your condition would be when he got back.

"I was the one who stitched you up, gave you medicine, and re-bandaged you when you got back." Well you couldn't argue with that, and though you still wanted to smack him, you did owe him one now. Ieyasu used a pair of scissors to cut off your old bandages, being careful to peel away the bits that rested over your actual wounds. You looked to see what he was doing when you felt a small tug over your injuries as he removed the gauze. You hadn't realized you had indeed needed a change of bandages till you saw the dark brown stains on the woven material.

Once he had removed the wrap completely, you heard the sound of water being disturbed. Ah, the water has been to clean the area around your wounds. You had though you must have had a fever earlier, or that you were too cold for them to be comfortable with.

"How long was I out?" You broke the silence.

"Hm?' He sounded confused by your wording at first.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Only a few hours, four or five at the most after Lord Nobunaga brought you back," he gently rubbed circles around each of your wounds, the warm water and soothing motions felt nice on your sore skin, "You know, you're handling this very well compared to even our most promising vassals."

You simply shrugged, doing your best to brush off his suspicions, "Guess I'm just resilient."

"Hardly," he scoffes, thinking you were more patting yourself on the back than trying to get the subject over with, "I honestly didn't think you were going to make it when you came back."

Thanks for the vote of confidence, jackass. His voice sounded more snooty than anything to you, like he was just trying to have the last word in this conversation.

You heard the water slosh around in the bowl when he dipped a new towel to clean the wounds on your side, an effort you helped him in by raising your arm slightly to move it out of his way, "Thanks, Ieyasu."

Ieyasu paused and you internally punched your pride in the face before rephrasing, "Thank you, for all this."

The blond continued what he was doing - finishing cleaning around your injuries before he put both the dirty towles back in the bowl and got a dry one to clean off the excess water, "Don't thank me, it's my job, my duty for Azuchi castle and the Oda forces."

You huffed at him being difficult, "Yes, but you didn't have to tend to me yourself, we haven't quite gotten along since I arrived, and I'm sure you have other healers in the castle who you could have passed me off to- but you chose to take care of me yourself. That's why I'm thanking you."

Ieyasu remained silent for a while, finishing drying you off so he could apply some fresh salve, "Your welcome."

Meanwhile, in the hall, Masamune had been standing just outside your door to wait, till he was joined by Nobunaga and Hideyoshi.

"She is awake already?" Masamune whipped around to see his raven haired master standing just behind him. "Yes," Masamune bowed slightly to him, "Ieyasu was very surprised."

Nobunaga attempted to step around Masamune, but he stopped him, "Ieyasu is changing her bandages right now, I'm sure he will let us in when he's done."

"What's this?" Hideyoshi was looking at the wall Ieyasu had made contact with when you threw him. He placed a hand on it and examined the indentation. "Oh," Masamune chuckled a bit, "Ah, you see..." Hideyoshi looked at the one eyed warrior with a raised brow, while Nobunaga held a deadpan expression.

"You see, the princess panicked a bit after she woke up when Ieyasu and I were trying to force her to lay back down," he cleared his throat, "And she short of, uh..." he wasn't sure how to phrase it without it sounding outrageous, so he just came out and said it, "She threw the both of us across the room." He shrugged, "I nearly fell over the edge of the balcony."

Both Hideyoshi and Nobunaga blinked in a dumbfounded manor before turning to look at eachother, "My Lord," Hideyoshi's expression quickly returned to being serious, "She's clearly hiding something."

Nobunaga frowned, "What do you mean?" It was at that moment that Ieyasu opened the doors to your room and took his leave, "You all can go in now, but be careful with her or her stitches will open!" The blond was mostly looking at Masamune as he did tend to be more gun-ho than all the others.

"What happened?!" Was the first thing that left Hideyoshi's mouth as he entered the room. You didn't answer, you simply remained laying down, staring at the ceiling with an irritated expression on your face. "Hideyoshi," Nobunaga reprimanded his right-hand. When the brunette had calmed you turned to look at the three men, watching as Nobunaga took a seat on the pillow Ieyasu had left, while Masamune and Hidayoshi joined him at either side.

"How did this happen," Nobunaga asked calmly.

"I was chased by soldiers who thought I was you," you stated simply. The three of them looked at you expectantly and you sighed deeply, "I fell off my horse and some enemy soldiers thought I was you, so they took the opportunity to try and shoot me. I ran for the woods and used the trees as cover, but they followed me, and kept shooting at me."

That explained how you had so many arrow wounds but, "How did you end up in the forest clearing without your clothes?" Nobunaga was wondering what else they did to you. You thought for a moment, trying to think of a way to explain that wouldn't expose you or make you sound crazy. Hideyoshi spoke up, "Did they do anything...else to you?"

Ah. They were wondering if the men had realized you weren't Nobunaga and had laid hands on you. You looked to the ground to think, before sparing a glance at the three men for a brief second. The three of them were both so stiff, and they didn't show it on their faces but you could feel their anger. The room was thick with tension, "No I-"

"Lass," you'd never seen Masamune look so serious, his tone and the look in his eye almost made your hair stand on end, "What did they do to you?"

"I don't remember," was all you could think of to say. Of course it was a lie, you remembered everything - being chased, getting shot at, hiding in the lake, nearly killing the men who chased you, seeing Nobunaga cut down the enemy commander, and finally waiting in the clearing for help to arrive- but you couldn't tell them that.

The three men looked at eachother with grim expressions, assuming the worst. "It's okay, princess," Hideyoshi placed a hand on your head and patted it, giving you a strained smile, before standing along with Masamune and Nobunaga, "You rest now, Mitsunari will be in to check on you later."

You quietly nodded and watched them leave your room and close the door behind them. You let out a deep breath. That had been intense... With a wince, you slowly propped yourself up on your elbows before carefully sitting up in your sleeping mat. You pat yourself down cautiously - it wouldn't take long for you to heal, especially with how well Ieyasu stitched you up. Thanks to what you were, you healed faster than any normal human. Ieyasu predicted you would wake up in two or three days minimum, you predict you would be back to top condition in two to three days, and it would certainly raise more questions.

Your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of knocking on your cieling and you swiftly wrapped your blanket around you, "Sasuke?"

"Yes, it's me," Sasuke opened the cieling panel and silently slipped out from it, landing gracefully on his feet in a crouching position. "I heard you had been dragged off to war with Nobunaga, and I came to see if you were alright."

You moved your blanket slightly, showing that your upper half was completely wrapped in bandages, "I was chased and shot twenty one times by enemy forces..."

"How did you-"

"They chased me because they thought I was Nobunaga, but once I was under the cover of the forest, I turned, and took refuge in a lake. I was shot when I tried to scare them off."

Sasuke's face held regret, "I apologize. I should have tried to get you out of here the first night."

"Sasuke," he paused in his ramblings when you called his name.

"Nobunaga came looking for me when everything was over. He had a search party comb the fields and the woods- said they weren't going home till I was found." Sasuke said nothing to this, he merely averted his gaze to the ground.

"There is not a doubt in my mind that, if you would have taken me, he would have turned all of Azuchi upsidedown looking for me. And then you would have been caught- or worse. Dead." Sasuke nodded in agreement with your reasoning.

"Why would he take you to battle with him? Does he know what you are?" Sasuke glanced back up at you to look you in the eye.

"No," you chuckled, "He thinks the odds should have been against me the night I saved him at Honno-ji, and yet I dragged," with air quotations, "him out unscathed. He thinks I'm lucky."

"So he thought if he took you with him, he would surely be victorious," Sasuke concluded.

"Yes," you nodded, "Not that he needed me," you waved off the thought, "He was against men who couldn't tell the difference between him and a woman so," you shrugged slightly, the pull from your stitches preventing you from being more dramatic, "I doubt they would have been much of a challenge either way."

"What did you do to them? If you don't mind my asking?" Sasuke looked at you questioningly, though his expression held more concern than anything else.

"Nothing," you raised a brow at him and there was a brief moment of silence, "Like I said earlier, I changed and scared them off. My mother taught me better than to kill and maim humans who don't know any better."

Now both his brows were raised and you shook your head, waving the statement off, "Story for another time, besides, it's not me those men have to worry about right now."

Sasuke took a step closer, "What do you mean?"

"Nobunaga, Masamune, and Hideyoshi were just in here and they asked me about what happened. Sasuke, they found me in the woods injured, bloody, naked, I must have looked like I was near death to them." You breathed, giving him a chance to process what you just said, "And they're wondering if the men did anything else to me other than just shoot me with arrows."

It didn't take long for it to click with Sasuke what may have gone through their minds, "Oh."

"And with them trying to keep up the guise that I'm some kind of royalty?"

"Not to mention that Nobunaga truly believes you are his Lucky Charm-" The pieces were coming together for Sasuke, "Those soldiers just might pay for what they've done with their lives..."

"Yes, which is why I thought it best to just tell them that I couldn't remember anything," you nodded in agreement, "That and I can't just tell them I chased them off by turning into a dragon."

"Right well, do you remember what they looked like? Maybe I could warn them or take them somewhere safe?" Sasuke couldn't see any way this would end well.

"Don't bother," you assured him, "the fight is over, and if they run now it will just raise suspicion."

There was a knock on the door, and you turned to look, "Milady?"

Mitsunari.

"Are you decent?"

By the time you turned around to tell Sasuke to leave, he was already gone and the ceiling panel had been closed. You cleared your throat before replying, "As decent as I can be without moving all too much."

The silver haired man took that as an okay to come in. He was stunned to see you sitting up and wrapped in your blanket, "Milady, should you really be sitting up?" He rushed to your side with worry.

"I'm fine, Mitsunari," you smiled up at him, before looking down to his hand and noticing he brought a tray with two mugs, "Tea?"

"Oh, yes," he carefully placed the tray on the floor before sitting down on the pillow Ieyasu left after tending to you, "It's lavender and chamomile," he wrapped the hot mug in a small rag before handing it off to you, "I thought you may get a bit antsy staying all cooped up in this room, so I was hoping this would calm your nerves."

You smelled the tea, the subtle scent of both herbs wafting into your nose and making you hum. Tea also naturally held a more 'earthy' (for lack of a better word) scent to it that made you feel more relaxed, "Thank you, Mitsunari, your very thoughtful."

He smiled and nodded politely, "Thank you Princess," he wrapped his mug in another rag and brought it up to drink, "Anything to make this trying time easier to bare."

You took a sip, the tea, like any other, tastes predominantly like water with an unidentifiable flavor from the herbs that gave it its color and smell, "Oh this would be wonderful with some honey..."

"Pardon?" Mitsunari hadn't quite caught what you said and raised a brow. You briefly wondered if the people of the Sengoku period ate honey like the people of the future. Did they have the honey stored in jars and bottles? Or did they just eat it straight from the comb?

"Nothing," you dismissed your statement with another smile, "I'm feeling very relaxed already."

"Wonderful!" Mitsunari took another sip of his tea before slowly standing up, leaving the tray for you to place your cup on when you were done with it, "As nice as it would be to sit here with you, Milady, all day- I do have a lot of work to get done." He gave you a sympathetic look.

"It's fine, I'm sure there is much to do after a battle."

"Indeed," he bowed to you before heading to the door, "And If you are feeling up to it later, Lord Nobunaga will be holding a council to discuss and debrief what happened in last nights revolt. Ieyasu suggests against you leaving your room, but as the council will involve no strenuous activity, he admits that it would not be impossible for you to attend." He cleared his throat. That was a mouthful, "Again that is if you are feeling well enough."

You pursed your lips, "I'll think about it."

He nodded again, before opening the sliding doors to leave and closing them behind him. Should you go to the council? You're sure the only reason why they would invite you was because they wanted more information on what happened to you in the woods. Perhaps even descriptions of faces. They couldn't let it get out that rival soldiers managed to get their hands on and hurt a princess from the Oda bloodline. Of course you could just say no and avoid the whole thing, but then they might start a witchhunt for the men. With a sigh you took a sip of tea and placed your hand on your head. Perhaps it was just best you go and straighten things out...to an extent.

Once you finished your tea, you stood from your sleeping mat, making your way over to your closet where you kept all the kimonos you had been gifted. Picking the one with the most simple design and not made of such expensive material, you slid it on like a bathrobe and tied it around your waist before walking over to the open balcony doors to stand outside.

The sun immediately warmed your skin, and it felt good to walk around; had you not had stitches you would have loved to stretch. You leaned forward on to the railing and looked out to the castle grounds below as well as the city. The people walking around and going about their day below, only helped to remind you of your current situation- you had been restricted before, after this, would they even allow you to leave the building? Oh how you wished you could go out for a flight right now. The whether was nice, clear, sunny, and warm with a light breeze.

You hadn't realized you'd closed your eyes till they snapped open from suprise due to a loud resounding knock on your rooms doors. You whipped around, just as they slid open to reveal that snake of a man, Mitsuhide. You raised a brow at him.

"Ah, Princess!" He feigned a sickly sweet voice, "Since your up and about, I assume you're well enough to attend the council."

"Save your attempts at trapping and coaxing me, Mitsuhide," you walked back into your room, closing the balcony doors behind you before approaching the white haired fox, "I've already long decided I'm attending."

"Aren't you going to change into something more presentable?" He smiled mischievously, thinking you had forgotten what you were wearing.

"And risk getting blood on those nice kimonos?" You paused in the doorway to raise a brow mockingly at him, "Heavens no," before continuing on your way to the council room. A chuckle left Mitsuhide's lips as he followed after you, quickly catching up to you to join you at your side, "So what really happened in those woods, hm?"

"Why, Mitsuhide, I never took you as one for gossip," you giggled at his expense, "I thought you were more of the facts and damning evidence type."

You, for the first time since you arrived, saw a suprised look cross his face, "Oh?" And the smile was back, "Whatever gave you that impression?"

"I dunno," you shrugged as you approached the council room, "Perhaps it's the way you're always slithering," you stopped infront of the sliding doors and turned to look at your escort, before taking a step towards him, "slinking," another step towards him till you were but a breath away, "and stalking about."

Mitsuhide was another one that got on your nerves. While Ieyasu just always seemed to look down on you and was outwardly vocal about it, Mitsuhide was actively a threat to your secret, and you won't be found out until your good and ready. "Where I'm from," you tilt you head up to look at his smileless face, "They say- curiosity killed the cat," your eyes drift down to examine him before bringing your gaze back up, "or in this case the snake."

"Careful," you spoke lowly as you slowly brought your hand up to caress the side if his face, brushing your thumb gently along his bottom lip, "not to get skinned alive." You grinned, giving him him a light pat on the cheek, before drawing your hand away, swiftly turning to the sliding doors, opening them, and entering.

Mitsuhide let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding after you left him, and he felt the odd need to compose himself eventhough nothing was really out of place. Never, in his years of working for Nobunaga and gathering information had he ever felt so threatened.

"You came alone?" Hideyoshi seemed confused when you entered the council room by yourself, "Where is Mitsuhide?"

You brushed a lock of hair behind your ear and politely smiled, holding your hands together infront of you, "Oh he's just outside the door taking breather. It was a long trek- going to my room and back." With a small nod of your head you continued to take your seat next to Nobunaga, and as if on cue Mitsuhide entered the room and wordlessly took his assigned seat.

"Ah, Mitsuhide," Nobunaga chuckled, "glad you could join us, now we can start with the debriefing."

"Yes my Lord," Mitsunari opened the scroll he had been holding, which held a list of reporters and updates he'd been gathering since you and Nobunaga returned. "New's has traveled fast of your return, as well as the news of having personally handled and quashed last night's revolt with only a fourth of the men." Mitsunari took a breath before continuing, "Our enemies have been relieved of their weapons, armor, and have been banned from practicing any form of combat. They are, from here on out, to be strictly a community of farmers."

Nobunaga nodded along, everything had gone according to plan so far, "Whispers of revolt from other villages have almost completely disappeared."

"Almost?" Nobunaga didn't like that news.

"Ah, yes," Mitsunari cleared his throat, "It seems word has also gotten out that... The Oda clan princess was on the battlefield with you, and," he stuttered slightly, "Uh, that she did not emerge unscathed. That her condition was dire and while most are wishing her a well and swift recovery. And pardon my words, my Lord, I am merely reading the report- others are beginning to questioning our Lords capability to continue to protect them."

"My Lord," Hideyoshi spoke up, trying to utter his next words carefully, "With all due respect, I warned you it was unwise to bring her along."

Nobunaga opened his mouth to answer back before Mitsunari spoke up again, "There is, one other report, my Lord." All attention was brought back to the white and purple clad warlord, "There are reports from the village that participated in the revolt, that they have grown weary of the nearby woods."

Oh boy.

"Some of the ex-vassals are saying they witnessed a beast, in the forest during our battle." Brows rose all around the room, except for yours of course.

"A beast?" Nobunaga mocked, "Well I would think so, the woods are full of all sorts of wild animals. I wouldn't be suprised if a group of them had planned to flank us, only to come face to face with a bear, or a mountain lion-"

"Perhaps a tiger," Masamune chuckled.

"Yes, well," Mitsunari swallowed, "for the villagers sake, the scout asked for descriptions of this 'beast' incase it got too close to town and posed as a threat to their lives in the future."

"And?" Now Mitsuhide's interest had been peaked. He briefly glanced to you before looking back to Mitsunari.

"Only four men who were in the forest that night were able to give descriptions at all." Hidayoshi and Masamune both straightened at Mitsunari's words - the woods were where you had been found, and where you said you were chased.

"They described a serpent-like beast, long and scaled, that towered over the tree tops and walked on four legs. It had antlers like a deer and the face of a demon, could glide through the air. And it also... Breathed. Fire." At the end of Mitsunari's reading Masamune burst out laughing, an unpleased frown rested on Hideyoshi's face, Nobunaga held a smirk, Ieyasu shook his head in disbelief that people would spin such tails, you remained stoic, and Mitsuhide kept his sharp snake eyes on you.

"A dragon?" Masamune reiterated through struggled breathes from his laughing, "They think they saw a dragon?"

"If you don't mind my asking, Princess," you looked at Mitsuhide through the corner of your eye as he spoke, "How many men had chased you into the woods?" He must have heard what happened from Hideyoshi, Masamune, or Nobunaga.

"Four," you answer simply.

"Did you see anything, Milady?" He smiled like a cat who ate the canary.

"Other than the men who nearly killed me? No."

"Really?" He poked and prodded.

"Mitsuhide," Hideyoshi tried to reprimand the informant.

"Yes," you turned and looked at him, "I didn't see a damn thing- I was too busy getting shot, and bleeding out to see anything. Maybe a hallucination or two, but nothing of note. Besides are you really going to believe what these men think they saw when they couldn't even tell the difference between me and your Lord." You giggled at the expense of soldiers who couldn't be there to defend themselves, "Perhaps it was some old toppled tree they saw," you tried to reason with the snake.

"Yes they did leave you in a bad way," you rolled your eyes at him as he didn't seem to be stopping any time soon, "How are you feeling by the way? Ieyasu said your condition was critical when you arrived, yet here you are- up and about, walking, talking, awake."

"Yes, as Masamune said before in private, Ieyasu is the best at what he does," you weren't about to let him corner you, "I guess he's just a miracle worker."

"Mitsuhide what are you trying to prove?" Nobunaga was becoming a bit impatient.

"Even then, most soldiers that come back in the condition you did don't recover this fast if at all, even with Ieyasu as their healer," Mitsuhide glanced at the blond, "Just speaking from experience," before looking back to you.

"This is true," Ieyasu agreed.

"I guess I'm just a fast healer, perhaps my family is gifted," you shrugged, "And speaking of the other vassals," you decided it's best not to entertain Mitsuhide less you share too much information or let your emotions get the best of you. "I was wondering if Ieyasu would allow me to tend to my own wounds." You look to the blond in question with a polite smile on your face, "If I truly am healing at an exceptional rate, I feel it's only fair that you spend the time you are wasting on me, with those who actually need you."

His brows furrowed at your question, "What? Are you crazy?" Now he sounded frustrated with you, "You're sporting some serious injuries, what are you going to do about the wounds on your back?"

"I'll figure something out." To be honest, you thought 24 hours from now, the wounds would be superficial, then they would have another day to close and scar, and then finally all traces would be gone by the end of the day after that.

"Back to the matter at hand," Nobunaga was tired if this meeting getting terribly off track, "If we were able to line up the men of the village we defeated," he turned to look at you, "Would you be able to identify the four who attacked you?"

You turned your gaze away from Ieyasu to give Nobunaga your attention, "I mean, maybe, yeah-"

"Excellent."

"Wait no!" You waved your hands infront of him, "We should just leave them be!"

The others in the room turned to you, gobsmacked, "And let men who assaulted you get away?" Hideyoshi scoffed, "I pegged you as the type who would prefer to get payback for what they've done? You've come after us for far less."

"I know-" you needed to nip this in the bud as soon as you could. If they questioned these men they would say they never saw a woman in the woods, "but I have to live with you all, it's different. And besides, they've obviously been spooked," you looked to the others as if to reason with them, "So spooked that they're conjuring tales of beasts and demons- they aren't going around telling people they got the best if an Oda princess. Maybe we could use these stories to our advantage?" Maybe you should appeal to their more tactical side.

Silence.

"They already think Nobunaga is some type of Demon Diamyo, so why not play the part? Let the people think these rumors of a beast aren't just fiction." You stood before walking behind the Lord you were referring to and placed your hands on his shoulders, crouching behind him so your lips were leveled with his ear, "Imagine if you will."

"Your enemies thinking you actually have a dragon, of all things, at your command now," you swayed to his other ear, "They'd call you a king."

Nobunaga turned to look at you with a cocky smile, "And here I thought Mitsuhide was the only snake in the room."

You snickered shooting a sharp glance at the white-haired warlord, before standing up straight and heading for the council room doors to leave, "Besides, if you silence the men who have only expressed nothing but fear for their safety, what would your people say about you then?" You made sure to drive your point home, by slamming the doors shut behind you.

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon

Prologue

Warnings: Swearing,detailed descriptions of panic/anxiety, I tried to follow the prologue as closely as possible, but obviously some things are different - some dialogue has changed, and some isn't there at all. Dragon shenanigans were kept to a minimum....sort of, can't have everyone finding out in the first part now can we? If this turns into a series it will probably be an amalgamation of all the routes put together and some of my own imagination.

You awake in the Sengoku period, confused as to how you had gone from standing infront of a monument to laying in a burning building. Had someone drugged you? Was it that weird science guy? It would have had to be, he was the only one there with you. All you remember was standing infront of the monument and then- nothing. You attempt to sit up with a light groan at the sudden headache you apparently have, and look around to take in your surroundings. A gasp is caught in your throat when you realize you're in a burning building.

"Oh!" You can barely hear your own shocked voice over the sound of crackling flames, there's a man with a sword is standing over one who appears to be asleep. The confusion, the fear, the shock, and now the anger, it all becomes too much for you when the figure raises the sword above his head. Before you know it, your line of sight becomes elevated, the sound of fabric tearing to pieces fills your ears, and an absolutely ghastly growl rumbles through your throat and escapes your snarling maw. The man who was standing whips around. It's night and the dancing flames appear to make his face warp constantly in the darkness, had you not just turned you would have found his face frightening, but in your dragon form you felt safer. The reflection of the inferno dances in your eyes, making them appear as if they are glowing, "Demon...!"

That's all the mystery man needs to flee the scene of the crime before another growl leaves your throat. You huffed, snorting as you watched the black figure disappear through the flames, before the warmth around you appears to grow more intense. You glance around and realize the flames are quickly closing in around you, and without hesitation you jump for the man, grab him and the blanket covering him, and take off a safe distance above the flames before diving to the secure ground below. With a quick assessment, you're able to verify that there is no one around to see you, before you close your eyes, take a deep breath in, calm your mind -you feel the elevation of your head lowering- deep breath out, and you open your eyes to find you are smaller now, back to being a human, and bare. You wrap the large blanket around you, before you look down at the man you just saved who is surprisingly still asleep.

You hear faint voices to your general left, though they are so far you can't quite make out what they're saying. Slowly you bend down and begin to shake the man and when his eyes shoot open, you're once again surprised though now that you think about it all that must have jostled him from his deep sleep, at least a bit. His piercing mahogany eyes turn to look at you, and for a moment he seems to be scrutinizing you for waking him up, "Who are you?"

His gaze shifted to the building burning to the ground behind you, "Ah," you must have somehow managed to drag him to safety.

"Someone-" he cut you of before you could get more than a word out.

"Someone tried to do away with me while I slept?" You were honestly surprised he came to such a conclusion instead of assuming the fire was an accident, or perhaps he had been fighting the man with the sword and was knocked unconscious by him? You nodded, "Yes."

"Audacious, but foolish." Well you wouldn't have called it foolish seeing as, if you hadn't been there, he would have been dead, "You there, woman, let go of me."

"Oh sorry," You hadn't realized you were still holding on to him till he said something and pulled your hands back. The strange man sat up and you stood, taking a couple steps back to give him some space, "You saved me, yes?" All you could do was nod as he looked you over. You hadn't sustained any burns, and you clung to that blanket rather tightly- telling him you may not have much underneath.

"You may be some girl the monks snuck in for amusement," excuse you? "But I owe you my thanks."

You resisted the urge to bite his head off, "Sorry, I must have missed all the amused monks while I dragged your unconscious body out of a burning building, but your welcome anyways." You asshole.

"Besides," you looked back to the building before returning your gaze to him, "I don't even know how I got in there." Though you had your suspicions. You took in what he was wearing. He wasn't wearing the normal night attire one would assume someone who was sleeping would wear. He looked like a samurai from a movie that takes place in the old days, but it was easy to tell his clothes weren't replicas, and the sword at his side was definitely real. You could dismiss the lack of night attire due to the fact that he may have been fighting that other man before being knocked unconscious, but that didn't make his garb any less odd.

"What are you staring at? Surely you know who I am?" You didn't hold back your deadpan expression this time, he didn't look like any famous actor or star you cared about, so why would you recognize him, "No, actually, I don't."

"You saved me without knowing who I am? Not expecting reward or favor?" He glared back at you, suspicion creeping into his mind. Should you not have been a decent person? "So be it." He smirked in an amused manner that was really starting to grate your nerves, "I am the man who will rule all under the sun-"

"Actually, I dont want to know," he was cocky and full of him self, and after experiencing it and his rudeness, you were just about done with him.

"What? You're a curious one, woman. No one has ever spoken so impudently to me before-"

"I honestly don't care." You could hear the voices from before getting louder or maybe closer, and deduced that you should probably take your leave. You were about to do just that when the man before you let out a laugh, "You intrigue me, which is almost as worthy of praise as saving my life."

Does this guy ever stop monologue-ing?

"I am the lord of Azuchi Castle and Daimyo of Owari, Nobunaga Oda."

You bristled at this, and turned towards the building to study its appearance more closely. The words "Hono-ji" engeraved on the pillars assured you that this was the famous temple you had read about, "What year is it?" You asked sternly, no longer in the mood for any of this guys goading.

"It's 1582, why?"

You didn't answer, just shook your head disbelievingly before you took a couple more steps back, "No."

You refused to believe it, this had to be some kind of social experiment prank or something. Just as you were about to storm off a man dressed in white and purple on horseback appeared.

"Who is that?" You still wore a bit of a hostile look on your face, and that combined with you standing over Nobunaga -who was still sitting on the ground- was a pretty damning sight.

"Mitsunari?"

The man in question quickly hopped off his horse and swiftly drew is sword to point it at you.

"What are you doing here?"

You could feel your teeth sharpening behind your pursed lips, your vision seemed to become enhanced, and a low growl that neither of the men seemed to hear bubbled in the back of your throat, but you didn't shift.

"And where is Hideyoshi?"

"Lord Hideyoshi sent me ahead," Mitsunari went to help Nobunaga up with his sword still pointed at you, "He should be here shortly." Once his leader was up, he backed away, pulling the raven hard man with him before using himself to shield him from you, "We recieved information about an assasination attempt," he looked to the burning temple behind you before his accusing eyes snapped back to you, "It appears to have been true."

Nobunaga was quick to squash what Mitsunari was suspecting with a strong and commanding voice, "This is not my would-be assassin, Mitsunari, this woman has saved me."

The man with the drawn sword studied you before turning back to his lord, as if to ask for clarification. Nobunaga sighed, "She dragged me out of the burning building."

"All by herself?" He seemed to not believe that a woman could pull a grown man from the upper floors, down the stairs, and out of a burning building. And technically he would be correct in terms of that's not how you did it, but these men didn't need to know that.

With a nod from the raven haired man, Mitsunari put his sword away, "Thank you miss...?" He once again looked to Nobunaga who had now moved to stand beside his vassal, "She has yet to introduce herself to me."

You stood your ground, not so much as giving a polite bow when you gave them your name. Mitsunari seemed a bit in awe - having never met a woman with so much confidence, and Nobunaga nearly smirked at your tenacity before he decided it was time to remind you of a womans place in this world, "You cheeky woman, you do not even bow to the lord of this land?"

No, you don't bow to anyone. Your abilities were a wonderful confidence booster in that -if you wanted to, you could kick their asses right here, right now, "You haven't given me reason to bow to you, you might be 'Lord' of this land, but you hold no rank over me- I. Am. Not. One of your subordinates."

His amused expression turned sharp and he glared at you. Had looks been able to kill, surely his eyes would have pierced you like knives- but they couldn't kill, and you weren't just your everyday meek woman that a man like him must have been used to seeing. So you glared right back.

"Please this is on me," Mitsunari was now playing referee as he held his hands out between the two if you, "It was rude of me not to introduce myself first." He looked towards you, placing the hand directed at you over his chest while the other remained extended towards Nobunaga, "My name is Mitsunari Ishida." He bowed slightly to you in the form of a head nod, "I serve at the side if Lord Hideyoshi, Lord Nobunaga's right-hand man."

Your glare faded and you could feel your teeth receding back to normal and your body language relaxed, though you remained vigilant, "Nice to meet you," you gave a polite nod back.

"I cannot thank you enough for protecting our lord's life."

"It's fine," you broke eye contact with Mitsunari to glance at Nobunaga, who's stance had also relaxed, before returning them to the silver-haired man, "though he is kinda' making me regret it."

"Please, do not take it to heart!" He smiled gently at you, "And pardon me, " his voice turned a bit unsure, "but you do not appear to be a nun, and your uh," he looked at the blanket questioningly, "dress is unusual. Are you from abroad?"

"You could say that." Perhaps now was not the best time to tell them you were from a different time period. You were sassy, smart mouthed, fearless or stupid -whatever they chose to see your brashness as- and you showed animosity upon introduction. They might think you're crazy if they didn't already.

"Perhaps we should take you to get cleaned up?" Mitsunari began to lead the both of you back to their camp and it wasn't till then you relized that your skin was covered in ashes and soot, "I would appreciate that."

Mitsunari reached for the saddle bag as they walked and pulled out an extra set of robes that would undoubtedly fit you a few sizes too big. You took them anyways with a polite smile, "Thank you," and before you knew it, the three of you were at camp. Nobunaga's men crowded he and Mitsunari, happy to see they were okay. Luckily for you, you were able to squeeze past and sneak into a vacant tent to quickly change your attire.

Once you stepped out, the group had dispersed and Mitsunari once again approached you to guide you to the center of camp where a warm camp fire and some sitting logs waited for you, "Wait right here," he urged you to sit, "I'll bring you a warm cup of good, clean was water to clear your throat."

The fire and smoke honestly hadn't bothered you, I mean you were a dragon. You watched Mitsunari walk off, staring into space till a familiar voice snapped you out of your thoughts, "You clean up well."

You snorted and turned to look at Nobunaga, the glare from earlier returning to your face as you did not appreciate the way he was eyeing you, "Tch," you propped your elbows on your knees, looked back in the general direction Mitsunari had disappeared, and used your hands to support your head as you hunched over in defeat at once again having to share space with this man, "Gee, you sure do know how to compliment a lady."

"My lord." You perked up when someone parted the curtain and entered the camp, but you quickly deflated again as it wasn't Mitsunari. Great, another new face, "I see you are well."

"Mitsuhide?" Nobunaga's attention was no longer on you, but you quickly followed his gaze at the mention of yet another name you had heard about. You watched him like a hawk, surely he wouldn't do anything stupid in the middle if a camp full of soldiers loyal to the man you were currently sitting next to, but it didn't hurt to people watch.

"I hurried when I heard about the attack, but it seems there was nothing for me to worry about."

"You worry?" Nobunaga chuckled at that, "I have never even seen you break a sweat."

You rolled your eyes, about to drown out their banter before another person emerged from behind the curtain, "Lord Nobunaga! Are you injured?"

You raised a brow at this mother hen.

"Hideyoshi. The only injury I suffered is to my pride in letting my assailant escape."

And zoning out again.

"And what of her?" You looked at Hideyoshi in time to see him motion to you, "Leave her be," Nobunaga waved you off, as he told his right hand your name, "Oh and she saved my life."

"You saved Nobunaga's life...?" Mitsuhide sounded as if he didn't believe the tale, "And you're such a slender thing. But it appears your courage makes up for it."

You glared at the white-haired man, and were about to stand when Nobunaga grabbed you by the back of your robes and pulled you back down to sit, "Yes, she is a bit of a fireball."

"Mitsuhide, what are you doing here?"

You huffed and zoned out again. You didn't have time for any of this, you had to figure out how to get back home. If you could get back home. You ended up back in time, surely there had to be a way back to the present.

"Stop being evasive," you zoned back in when Hideyoshi raised his voice, "Confess!" And saw him grip his sword, "If I find out you played any part in this attack on our lord, Mitsuhide, I'll show you no mercy."

Children.

"It wasn't him," you piped up from your seat next to the man in charge. The bickering men turned to look at you questioningly, "Sure, let's not ask the person who was there if they saw anything," you leaned back, propping your hands up on the edge of the log you were sitting on to keep upright, "Let's instead just point fingers and make false accusations."

"What?"

You shrugged, "I caught a glimpse of the man who attacked Nobu- your Lord Nobunaga," more like you stared him down and put the fear of god in him but again, they don't need to know that, "and Mitsuhide's silhouette is all wrong."

"Stay out if this," Hideyoshi scolded you like you were the one behaving like a child, "We'll settle things with you later, and learn why you've schemed to get so close to Lord Nobunaga."

"Excuse you!" You shot up off your seat this time and stormed up to the both of them before Nobunaga had the chance to grab you again, "I am not scheming to get close to him! If I wanted him dead I could have just left him to die in that fire," you felt your canines poking your lip and huffed, before forcing yourself to calm down by crossing your arms and turning away from them, "Your boss sleeps like the dead anyways."

"Enough, all of you," Nobunaga stood up this time, "Reguardless of what brings Mitsuhide here, I am alive and well."

Hideyoshi's attention left you and Mitsuhide to look at Nobunaga as he addressed the three of you, "My apologies, Lord Nobunaga," Hideyoshi released his grip on his sword and relaxed a bit.

"Hideyoshi, Mitsuhide, leave us. I have something to discuss with our newest acquaintance." The raven haird war lord waved off the other two causing them to step aside as he approached you, "Your sharp tongue and brash nature aside, you saved my life."

You raised a brow and held back a small growl.

"I'm intrigued by you. You're a woman who carries fortunes favor, of that I am certain."

You resisted rolling your eyes at this, luck had nothing to do with you both making it out of that burning temple, "To be fair, I would argue that-"

Nobunaga didn't allow you to finish as he quickly grasped your arm, pulled you towards him, and then slid a hand around your waist to draw you even closer, "How would you like to rule at my side?"

Your head whipped back, your brows furrowed, and the rest of your face scrunched up slightly like you smelled something awful, "What?" You grabbed the hand that was still around your waist and pulled it off to give yourself enough space to rip out of his grasp, "Hell no!" You dropped his hand and took a couple more steps back till your were comfortable with the distance between the two of you.

"What?" Nobunaga seemed a bit perplexed as to why your would turn down such an offer.

You looked around you and noticed everyone's eyes were on you and you shook your head, exclaming, "You all are crazy," before you made a break for it. You found yourself once again scared, confused, and overwhelmed with the situation at hand. Your heart was pounding both from you running out of the small camp and from adrenaline that was now coursing through you veins. Your chest felt tight, and you had to fight to keep control of yourself.

As you entered the woods your vision shifted, and suddenly things were a lot clearer - as opposed to everything being dark, blury, and dimly lit by the moonlight, everything looked bright, vibrant and crisp. It was like someone put a photo editing filter over your eyes and turned up the brightness, saturation, and clarity, but that's just what happenes when the dragon in you was trying to take hold of the steering wheel. The sudden shift only served to make you more disoriented. Everything seemed like it was popping out at you, and you had no choice but to stop once you reached a clearing.

'Calm down, calm down.' You took a deep breath and paced yourself to a slow walk around the forest clearing as your thoughts attempted to calm you, 'You're fine, you're fine.'

Though you paused in the center when your breath was stolen from you and you felt your teeth poke the inside of your mouth, 'No,' deep breath in, close your eyes- the cold chill of the air seemed to no longer nip at your skin, 'Not now, not now- we're fine,' deep breath out, the chill returned, you opened your eyes. Everything looked much more dull. You didn't hear the soft chime of bells in the wind or the quiet sound of dried leaves crunching under someone's feet, you were too busy fighting the change. Normally the transition happened smoothly, and when you wanted it to happen or let it happen, you could hardly notice a change, but when you were fighting it as hard as you were, the shift could be a bit traumatic.

"Young lady."

Damn it, can't you ever catch a break?!

"What are you doing out in the woods this late at night?"

A low growl bubbled at the back of your throat as you whipped around to see who had been following you, 'A monk?' You were thrown off enough for your small fit of anger to disappear.

"I am called Kennyo, and I am a traveling monk. Perhaps I can be of assistance to you?"

"No thanks," you replied sharply. He was giving you the heebie jeebies. The look in his eyes didn't seem right, and the scar across his face told you he was a survivor, but of what, and at what cost? He took a long stride towards you and you had only been able to take a couple small steps back, before he placed a hand on your shoulder, "You should return home quickly, Demons lurk in these woods at night."

Fuck that, fuck him, fuck this place, and fuck who/whatever brought you here! You wordlessly slapped his hand away before darting into the woods again. Your frantic run triggering yet another flare up, one that you were unaware of as iridescent scales seemed to coat your skin and protect you from any scrapes and cuts you would have otherwise recieved from the foliage around you. You looked back for a split second to see if you were being followed, and the slight break in attention at where you were headed was all that was needed to hinder you unable to see the quickly approaching cliff - till a sixth sense told you to stop.

"Watch out!" Your body jerked to an abrupt halt and your feet kicked up a large cloud of dust, however, just as you stopped the ground came loose from underneath you. "Woah, hey!"

Had your reflexes not been fast enough you would have surely fallen to your death, but luckily, you managed to whip your body around fast enough to grab hold of the sturdier ground. Another man, who looked vaguely familiar, came to your aid and swiftly grabbed your hand before pulling you up, "I was trying to tell you there was a cliff, what are you deaf?!"

You aided him and pulled yourself up the rest of the way before quickly snapping at him, "Sorry, I was busy running for my life!"

He attempted to help you stand, but you were determined to do so on your own. You sighed as you got to your feet and dusted yourself, before this stranger leaded you away from the edge.

"Besides, I would have been fine," you sighed.

"Yeah, you certainly looked fine, dangling from the side of a cliff and holding on for dear life."

You couldn't argue with that standpoint, less you wished to raise suspicion, so you merely pouted, "Thanks, I guess..."

Deciding to brush off the attitude, he merely shook his head and continued to lead you away from the cliff, "It's fine."

"What's this Yuki?"

Your head snapped up in the direction of another voice as a taller silhouette walked out from the bushes, "We've been here ten minutes and you've already found yourself a girl?"

"Dont tease me, Lord Shingen. She almost plummeted to her death."

You 'humfed' at how they seemed to make light of your situation and stubbornly turned your head away from them, till 'Yuki' got your attention again, "What even were you doing running around the forest this late at night?" You didn't respond and merely eyed him.

"Hmm. Smoke from Honno-ji, and a woman all alone at night." You looked towards Shingen as he spoke, "Perhaps you're a ghost?" You scoffed. "Though you're the most beautiful ghost I have ever seen."

Close by like a hair, "No." With your senses on high alert, you looked towards the foliage where two other men were about to emerge from, "Your ability to spew-up cheap pickup lines never ceases to amaze me."

"I just call it like I see it, Kenshin."

"You there," the man next to Kenshin called your attention, "Could you step into the light? Thank you."

"What?" You gave him an odd look before he grabbed you with a slender hand and drew you out into the moonlight. You audibly hissed at being touched without your permission and just missed slapping his hand when he released you.

"What a fine piece of work." Your glare only deepened. You would rather face the war lords you just left to these flirty travelers, "Sorry," Shingen interjected, "I laid eyes on this angelic treasure first."

"We can share," the unnamed stranger argued, "Art is to be loved and shared by all-"

You promptly shoved past the both of them, causing them to be caught off guard by your physical strength as you actually managed to make them both stumble slightly, "Excuse you!"

The more dainty of the two gently clasped your hand, "Would you be interested in exchanging the kimono you're wearing with one from my collection?"

"For the last time Yoshimoto-" Ah, so he does have a name, "Women are not pieces of art, so get your hands off her would you?!" You aided Yuki in snatching your kimono away from Yoshimoto and huffed, before walking to stand behind Yuki to put some kind of barrier between you and them.

"My lords," you bristled and whipped around at the sound of another new voice, "I've returned. Nobunaga's forces have extinguished the fires at Honno-ji."

You eyed him quizzically, this one looked and sounded familiar though it was hard to tell with the black mask covering half his face. "Thank goodness they did." Yoshimoto was the first to respond, "That temple houses many treasures. I fear for the fire damage."

He was dressed in tight fitted layers of clothing with interchanging patterns of camouflage, and solid black and dark greens, but it was the glasses that made you suspicious. "Thank you for your investigation," Kenshin nodded in approval, "So I presume Nobunaga is alive then?"

"Yes."

"He's got the devil's luck," Shingen crossed his arms and shook his head disbelievingly.

"Or he is the Devil," Yuki jested.

You had been studying the ninja the entire time - his hidden facial structure, the shape of his body, his eyes, his smell, but it wasn't till you swiftly moved towards him and walked around him much like a predator would circle its prey, that he looked towards you. A look of recognition passed his face, "You-!"

You stopped in your motions, eyes so sharp they could kill a man, "I know you," it was more a statement than a question.

"We happened to run into her here," Kenshin informed his vassel as he watched the exchange, "Do you indeed know this woman?"

"No," the ninja tried to quickly take back his words, "She must be mistaken. Though I spotted a village on the way here. She must be from there. I'll escort her home."

He gave you little to no time to argue as he walked behind you, placed his hands on your shoulders and steered you back into the forest.

"Moving quick, aren't you, Sasuke? You and Yoshimoto both. Give the rest of us a chance, will you?" Sasuke paused to look back at the others, "Lord Shingen please, you and the others should return to the city," he left no more room for commentary as he continued to push you into the woods.

Once you were deep enough, you went off, "You!" You whipped around and pointed a finger in his face, "Did you have something to do with this?!"

"What?" He was caught off guard.

"This!" You motioned to the world around you, giving him your back for a split second before turning back around with different colored eyes contracted into slits, and snarled, "All of this!"

He backed off, his ears catching the creature-like noise you just made. He thought that hiss he heard earlier was just from some animal in the woods, but now there was no mistaking it, it had come from you, "Did you bring me here on purpose?!"

"W-what?" You stormed toward him, and he backed up till he hit a tree when his eyes caught the sight of your teeth sharpening into points. He was a well trained ninja, but his training had not prepared him for seeing someone morph into a monster before his very eyes- at least not into the kind you were.

"I said."

There was a loud, low pitched thump from behind you, and for a brief moment Sasuke tore his eyes away to look, only to be met with the sight of a long, pearlescent, scaly tail.

"Did you." He looked back at you, but your face was no longer that of a human woman, it was instead a scaled beast with an elongated muzzle, and horns that may have better been described as antlers.

"Bring me here." He had to crane his head upwards to keep eye contact with you as your head raised up into the sky due to your neck having grown in length. He looked down for a split second to examine the rest of your body. The kimono, being a more loose fitting garb, seemed to have untied and merely slid off your body. You were indeed no longer human, but were instead a long serpent-like creature on four legs with a long voluminous mane running down your spine. A dragon.

"On purpose!" You roared to forcibly call his attention back to your face, and he did so without hesitation.

"You recognize me?" He lowered his mask and you hissed, "You can hide your face but not your smell."

How are you talking without moving your mouth?!

"You're that scientist I met at the monument," your head lulled from side to side, only causing Sasuke to want to disappear into the tree bark behind him, "How did we get here, in the past, and why are you dressed like a ninja?"

"Please could you just," he boldly placed a hand on the bridge of your snout and lightly pushed you back, "I need space."

You growled but did so, backing off a bit so Sasuke could pull himself off from against the tree and walk to the side of you by a couple steps, "It's best if I start from the beginning- My name is Sasuke. And just like you I come from the present- or future, rather." You snarled, wanting him to get to the point.

"Right, right sorry-" he fumbled with his words, to give you an explanation in layman's terms, "Basically, that lightning strike that almost hit us caused a spacetime warp and sent us into the past." You merely stared at him for a second, and he caught on to what you wanted when you appeared to be studying his clothing and intensified your glare. He backed up a couple steps, "W-we entered the wormhole at the same time. However, for reasons unknown, I arrived 4 years prior to you, and in that time I've equipped myself with the skills necessary to make myself a viable asset- both for my safety and employment."

With that you huffed and backed off him, giving the ninja some breathing room, "You believe me?" Of course it was the truth, but there was no way of knowing if the travel had somehow warped your way of thinking.

"You just watched me turn into a dragon before your eyes, and you're going to ask me if I think time travel is possible?"

"Fair point," he wasn't going to bother correcting you on the smaller details, less he wish to get bit, scratched, or barbecued- whatever it was you were able to do in this form. Sasuke flinched as you let out a long deep breath, before shifting back to normal human. Your dragon scales stood up on end, much like a dogs fur would if it had its hackles raised, before they simply just dispersed in a puff and floated up into the air like a hoard of migrating butterflies, only to disappear into a dust that reflected the moonlight. He looked back down at you as your scales disappeared into the night, and immediately regretted his decision. You were completely nude.

"I'm so sorry!" He covering his eyes, causing his glasses to push up higher against his face before he turned around and gave you his back. You simply blinked and picked up the robes that had been gifted to you by Mitsunari and redressed, "You can look now."

Sasuke peaked slightly through his hands and feigned a cough when he saw you were indeed completely dressed again, "Yes well...I have devised a way to predict when these wormholes will appear, it is why I was at the monument that night- to see if my hypothesis was correct."

"Sounds great, so when's our next ticket home?" You didn't bother pretending to be excited. You felt like he got you into this mess, so he should get you out of it.

"That I do not know-"

You growled.

"Yet!" He raised his hands up in a reflexive effort to calm you, "I was only able to predict the wormhole that got us here three months in advance and I have yet to find any evidence of another one appearing anytime soon."

You calmed as he gave you an explanation. Sounded reasonable enough.

You perked when you heard your name being called, and your gave a sharp look in the direction it had come from, before pushing Sasuke into the foliage in the opposite direction, "Keep in touch," you stated simply before turning your back to him and returning to the center of the small clearing.

"Where are you? Come out!" You recognized Hideyoshi's voice. You heard a simple rustle of leaves before silence, and you assumed that, just like that, Sasuke had disappeared into the night.

You remained in the clearing till the sound of galloping horses got closer, "There you are!" You looked first at Hideyoshi, then to the person who had accompanied him, before looking back at the chestnut-haired warlord, "I searched the whole forest for you."

You tilted your head innocently though your voice still showed your distrust of them, "How sweet-"

"Hiding yourself from Lord Nobunaga for no reason what so ever," he began to berate you, "How insolent can you get?"

"I wasn't hiding," you corrected, "I was running, and I didn't ask for you to come find me."

The man on the other horse laughed at this, gaining your attention. He was another raven haired man, dressed in blues, blacks, and gold, with an eye patch over his right eye, "What a stalwart lass indeed. I have no doubt you are the woman who defied Lord Nobunaga."

"Oh, you're making me blush," you said sarcastically, "Are you someone else I'm supposed to recognize?"

The one eyed man snickered and extended a hand to reach for you, "I'd be pleased if you did, but now's not the best time to talk."

You stepped back out of his reach, only to bump into Hideyoshi's horse. The animal did not move but you whipped around see what it was you bumped into and the answer made you back up again towards the strange pirate man.

"Hey!" He grabbed a hold of your arm and pulled you up, "let me go!" You bared your teeth at him as he tucked you snugly against his chest so you sat sideways between him and the horses neck.

"Oh put the fangs away, I'm Masamune Date. Remember it, lass."

You subconsciously raised your hand to feel your teeth, worried for a moment that your fangs were indeed showing before your attention went to Hideyoshi as he spoke, "Masamune is head if the noble Date family of Oshu. He's also allied with Lord Nobunaga, so show some respect."

You rolled your eyes, "It's a pleasure, can you put me down now?"

"Settle down, you'll spook the horse," you captor smirked down at you. Oh you were going to do a lot more than spook the horse if he didn't let you go. Your brief moment of silence is all he needed to urge the horse to go forward with a snap of the reins and a shout.

"Hey wait!" Horseback riding was not something you were accustomed to, normally if you wanted to get around you either walked or flew, you didn't even like taxis or buses - too small and they made you claustrophobic.

"Dont loose her, Masamune!"

"I won't," he adjusted you so you were tucked more tightly against him, "Hold on tight," as the horses speed picked up, you didn't need to be told twice to hold on and you clung to the one eyed warlord like a frightened cat.

You all rode through the night and after some time you grew bored of clinging for dear life, so you adjusted your sitting position and held on to the horses mane. You enjoyed the wind that blew past you, and if you closed your eyes you could almost pretend you were flying- almost, had riding a galloping horse not been so rough.

When you arrived at your destination you were in awe of the structure before you- it was like a fortress, a city, and a castle all rolled into one.

"We're here," Masamune announced, "Azuchi Castle, home of the Oda forces." You looked around in awe. This place looked like you had jumped right into a movie set. "Don't show yourself to Lord Nobunaga like that, you look like a gaping frog."

Stupid Hideyoshi. You promptly snapped your mouth shut in favor of gritting your teeth and shooting him a glare. "So your a morning person," Masamune speaking into your ear sent a surprised shock down you spine, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

"Oh buzz off!" You had completely forgotten he was still holding you, but you took the opportunity to slap him in the chest.

"Oh? But I quite like where you are right now."

"Masamune-" Hideyoshi reprimanded his fellow warlord, "Nobunaga has taken an interest in her, so keep your hands off."

"Listen you two-" you were cut off by the sound of squealing women.

"Hideyoshi! Welcome back!"

"Over here Hideyoshi!"

"Oh Masamune, you're dashing as ever! Who's your friend?"

You growled slightly at being noticed and subconsciously hid your face in Masamune's chest. Surely you hadn't thought you could hide in plain view, but you really didn't want this interaction to happen - you were tired, agitated, and not in the mood for having to deal with so many people at once.

"Oh! Is she shy?!" One of them gushed and brought her hands to her chest.

"More like antisocial," Hideyoshi took a quiet jab at you with a small chuckle before dismounting his horse and walking towards the crowd of women. Masamune laughed at your behest, and you peaked your head out slightly to watch, before sticking your tongue out at Hidayoshi for a brief moment. You half hoped the group was as viscous as the girls back in your time could get, and that he would simply just disappear into the crowd, but of course we can't all get what we want.

"I've told you there's no need to come all the way to the gate for me. What about your work?" Hideyoshi's tone with then was vastly different compared to the way he addressed you.

"I finished early so I could see you when you come back," one of the women replied. You groaned and rolled your eyes in an exhausted manor before burrowing your face back in Masamune's chest - an action that was met by another laugh, "Jealous, lass?"

You scoffed, "Annoyed," you crossed your arms, which looked a bit silly with you hiding your face so determinedly, "Don't like large group interactions."

"Welcome back, Lord Hideyoshi, Lord Masamune," you visibly perked up at the sound if Mitsunari's voice.

'Sweet angel from up above, get me out of here!'

"Even Ieyasu came out to say hi. That's rare." You hadn't noticed the man standing a bit behind Mitsunari in the shadows, "Ieyasu?"

"Right there," Masamune wrapped a hand around your shoulder as he pointed at the man with his other hand, he was fair skinned, and blond, with green eyes, and wore clothes in varying hues of yellow and orange, "That sourpuss next to Mitsunari. You should take this chance to say hi." Masamune then released you and dismounted the horse, before offering a hand to help you down. You examined him for a moment, deciding that he may be flirty, but he's not so bad before you took his hand and allowed him to aid you. Besides, you can't stay prickly for long if you're going to be staying here for an indefinite amount of time. Masamune took your hand and stepped forward, giving you the opportunity to place your hands on his shoulders before his made their way to your waist to pick you up and place you firmly on the ground.

"Thank you." You gave a polite nod to him before making your way towards Mitsunari and Ieyasu. Masamune merely nodded in response, not quite sure how to handle your rapid changes in demeanor. First you had the temper of the Devil, then you acted all shy and timid around that group of girls, and now you seemed so polite and regal as you passed he and Hideyoshi.

You held your head high, back straight, arms held together infront of you so your hands were hidden under the long loose sleeves, and walked heel-toe, making it seem as though you were gliding as opposed to walking. You gave Mitsunari a small soft smile, aside from that small hiccup during your first encounter, he had been the only one who was nice to you.

"Mitsunari," you greeted.

"I have been expecting your arrival, Milady." He greeted you back with a smile of his own. You opened you mouth to speak when Ieyasu interrupted.

"She looks pitiful," he spoke over you with a disapproving frown, as if whatever it was you were about to say wasn't important.

You looked at him through the corner of your eye and your sass reared its prickly little head again, "You should watch your nasty attitude, or it'll rot whatever beauty you have left," you turned up your nose at him, "However little that may be." Surely with an attitude like that his beauty was only superficial. Granted, you hadn't been the nicest since you got here, but you think you deserved a free pass having been ripped away from your life and thrown into the Sengoku period by a random wormhole.

"Both of you!" Hideyoshi came up from behind you to reprimand you both, "That is no way to greet someone, can't you at least give eachother a smile?"

"Can he?" Masamune followed close behind, "I'm not sure I've seen him do it." You huffed, "Well I was being nice, and giving them both a smile- he started it."

"How mature-" Ieyasu attempted to jab back till he snapped his mouth shut to bite back a fit of laughs, "S-stop it!" Hideyoshi and Masamune were attempting to tickle the blond, and it worked till he managed to wiggle out of their grasp, "You're both just annoying me!"

You tilted you head curiously at the display before you, till Mitsunari came around behind you and spoke to you in a low voice, "Like Lord Masamune and Lord Hideyoshi, Lord Ieyasu is allied with Lord Nobunaga." You turned to look at him, "Like the others, he came as soon as he heard there was an assasination attempt." That explained a lot.

"Everyone!" Mitsunari broke away from you to stand in the middle of the small group you and the other warlords had formed, "Shall we save the happy reunion until after our new arrivals get some rest?"

"Save yourself, Mitsunari. I'm not remotely happy about any of this." Well at least you could agree with Ieyasu about one thing.

"Oh. My apologies," the confused silver haired warlord attempted to clarify, "Then lets simply not stand around and talk outside," Mitsunari turned around to look at you, "Milady, the room you will be staying in is already prepared." Wonderful, "Please get some rest."

Mitsunari was kind enough to lead you through Azuchi Castle to your room, while the others broke off to take care of business. You were surprised when he opened a pair of sliding doors to bring your room into view- it was small, yet spacious, though that probably had to do with the fact that the furniture was not as large or clunky as some of the furnishings from your time could get. Everything was simple in shape, held a classic antique look, and was still extravagant, reminding you once more that this was the Castle of a very successful warlord.

"This room is yours to use as you like," Mitsunari gestured for you to walk in and have a look around, which you so gladly did, "I hope it's enough for you."

You blinked in amazement as you took in the finer details, slowly spinning around as you studied the room in its entirety. The lavish artistry that covered the more solid walls and the cieling, the care that went into the placement of everything, "It's more than I could've asked for." You turned to look at Mitsunari an excited smile on your face, "And you don't have to address me so formally."

"But you are a Lady, and Lord Nobunaga's savior. I couldn't possibly-" you cut him off with a wave of your hand, "Fancy titles mean nothing to me, just a means of establishing hierarchy. Which I also don't care for."

"Then I agree, on the condition that you stay as familiar with me, is that all right?" He gave a friendly smile, one that you returned, "A wonderful idea," he made you feel so happy. Must be his calm and upbeat aura.

"Thank you," he nodded gratefully, "Now take your leisure. Someone will come fetch you soon." Mitsunari gave one last smile before turning to exit the room, and close the sliding doors behind him.

You briefly wondered when you would receive word from Sasuke about a way home. What would the signs be that a new wormhole was approaching? How would he get in touch with you? With a sigh, you decided it best not to spoil your moment of piece by stressing yourself out. It was then that you noticed two other large sliding doors towards the back of your room, opposite to the entrance. Another room? You made your way over to the doors and slowly opened them. A balcony? You smiled widely, happy you would have quick access to the outside world incase you wished to take a midnight flight. Again you paused in thought, wondering how long it would take for someone to come get you, perhaps you could shift and stretch yourself out to relax. Was this room even big enough? You closed the balcony doors and glanced around your quarters, taking a mental note of how big you thought it was. The cieling seemed pretty high, and the parameter of the room itself seemed wide enough - save for the furniture, which again, didn't take up much space anyways.

You sat down on the sleeping mat in the center of your room, crossing your legs before loosening the ties on your kimono, closing your eyes, and breathing deeply. The shift was quick and effortless, no struggle or pain, with the only sign of it being a small thump on the wall from your body hitting it. You opened your eyes and looked around, the room seemed a lot smaller now, with the sound of your horns scraping the cieling reaching your ears. You glanced up and huffed - your antler-like horns would scuff and scratch the cieling, leaveing grooves if you moved in almost any direction, and that was with your head tucked firmly against you as you rested it in your back. Your long body seemed to wrap around the room at least three times, and you were a bit snug to say the least, and you couldn't see the floor at all beneath you. Your form practically took up the entire room. The tip of your tail flicked up and down, much like the tail of a cat in contemplation and a deep guttural rumble came from your throat, 'So much for stretching out...'

Your thoughts were interrupted by a small knock on one of the cieling panels and you looked up wide-eyed, worried that this was the moment you would be found out. Thankfully, you were only met face to snout with Sasuke, "Excuse me-" he froze, looking at you wide-eyed, "You seem packed in here like a sardine," he jested, earning a small grumble from you.

You attempted to shift and get into a more comfortable position to look at him, but your horns thumped against the cieling tiles and startled you with the volume of noise it made. Sasuke also momentarily freaked out, trying to move out of the way so's not to get impaled and nearly fell backwards deeper into the cieling, "Shh! No don't move!" He spoke as quietly as possible while also trying to be sure you would hear him. You promptly froze at his words.

"Why don't you just turn back?"

You looked up at him with a subtle glare and he remembered what happened back in the forest, "R-right, sorry."

"Did you follow me here?" You were quick to change the subject for his own comfort. "Yes," his demeanor effortlessly shifted back to professional, "I hid myself when those men arrived and followed your trail."

"Glad you did," your tail thumped once, "I had been wondering how you would get in contact with me."

He nodded, "Yes, I've also pieced together much of what's happened to you since you got here by watching you. You've gotten yourself into some trouble."

You scoffed, "Its nothing I can't handle, I assure you." What problem couldn't be solved by setting it on fire? Probably a lot of them, but if anyone tried to hurt you it wasn't exactly like your were the helpless dame the Oda forces believed you to be, "Besides, I'm sure you've been through your fair share of trouble," you chuckled. There was a moment of silence, "Sorry," Sasuke exhaled stiffly, "I'm still trying to come to terms with..." he looked at your body spread all around the room before his gaze went back to look you in the eyes, "all this."

You chuffed, "It's fine. Any news about our way home?" He shook his head dejectedly, "Not yet, I just wanted to be sure you would be alright here though," he placed a hand over his chest, "Sould you ever feel unsafe, please, just let me know and I will see what I can do to get you out of here."

"Oh please," you stubbornly looked away, "these men are many things- rude, bold, and flirty, but a threat I think not."

"Please don't forget," Sasuke warned you, "these are warlords miss, and while I don't question whatever power you may have, they shouldn't be taken lightly either."

"Duly noted-" your conversation was cut short by the sound of steps just outside your door.

"I'll be in touch," Sasuke quickly stated before closing the panel he had been speaking through. There was a knock at your door, to which you quickly responded, "I'm not decent!"

You wiggled your tail and cracked open the balcony doors before shifting back into a human, with your dragon form disintegrating into a horde of fluttering scales again, just as it had done in the forest, and they flowed out the open door to follow the wind before disappearing into a cloud of glittery dust. You hastily threw on the kimono you were wearing earlier before rushing to the door with a hand keeping the robe-like garb shut, "Can I help you-" you opened the sliding door out into the hall, "Mitsuhide?"

"I see you weren't able to get away from Nobunaga after all." You stared at him blankly, "He's calling for you," the white haired man continued, "Nobunaga that is. He wants to see you."

You nodded in response, "Give me a moment to better dress myself then," you shut the door without giving him a chance to respond, before walking over to the discarded pile of clothes in the center of the room. It took little time for you to get redressed, though to be honest you probably hadn't put everything on perfectly, but you didn't care. "Okay," you opened the door once again to follow Mitsuhide out and allowed him to lead you to wherever Nobunaga was.

You took this time to examine the interior of the building, making sure to try and memorize anything special that may better help you learn your way around, "You'll damage them if you continue to hold them so tightly."

You raised a brow inquisitively at him till he reached for your hand and pulled it up. You hadn't noticed you were squeezing them so tightly. Probably a nervous tick of some sort from your mind being cluttered with so many thoughts. Your mind went blank when he pulled your hand up and kissed the back of it,'Excuse me?'

"Trying to calm you down," he looked at you through his lashes and smiled mischievously before gently releasing you hand. Okay, but there were many other ways to do it that weren't that, "Well it didn't work, if anything you made it worse."

"Forgive me."

'Fuck you.' The two of you continued down the many halls and corridors, till you reached a pair of giant sliding doors. Mitsuhide didn't waste time opening the doors, "You kept me waiting," you recognized Nobunaga's voice from the otherside of the room. However, he was not the one to catch your attention first. The first thing your eyes were drawn to was the two rows that were formed to either side of him by the other warlords. Seems like they were having a meeting, "Dont just stand there," Nobunaga interrupted your thoughts, "Approach me."

You looked at Nobunaga with sharp eyes before walking towards him. There was a sitting mat a few feet in front of him, but you didn't sit, even when the raven haired man gestured for you to do so. He merely chuckled at your resilience and raised a hand when Hideyoshi moved to use force, "You are a stubborn one."

"Thank you," you crossed your arms, "Even at home, I bowed to no man." Nobunaga waved off your explanation, "You will reside in this castle," his statement was final, "and while you do so, you will give your service to me."

"I think you misunderstand, my shows of rejection, I'm not playing hard to get, I'm giving you a clear 'No'."

"Details, details, none of that matters to me. All you meed to say is 'Yes'," he didn't seem like he was budging, and for a second you thought about what would happen if you were to run again. I mean- theoretically speaking, they probably wouldn't be able to catch you. But you didn't want to spend your indefinite amount of time here on the constant run or being hunted. And if you ran and kept up your appearance as a normal human, what would he do then? Lock you in a dungeon? You sighed in an agitated manor, and you could have sworn you saw a smile begin to tug at the corners of Nobunaga's mouth as you begrudgingly took your seat on the mat infront of him, "Fine, but just for the sake of knowing what I'm getting into, how exactly am I supposed to serve you?"

"Your only duty," he grabbed your wrist before you could even register what was happening and pulled you closer to him, "is to stay nearby. That is what I need of you. You will be my lucky charm as I unify this nation and all that lies beyond." Ah yes, this again.

"You want me around because you think I'm lucky," you tried not to snicker. "Yes," he didn't seem to be joking, infact he was comically serious, "And don't fear. You shall be known as a princess from afar and will be treated as such. Spend your days on makeup, or cards and games if it suits you." Well now that couldn't be so bad. You would never admit it outloud, but dragons could be overwhelmingly vein creatures and it would help if you had someone to help tend to you. Of course, you wouldn't tell them about your....affliction, but the knowledge of having someone at your beck and call was nice it would help out a lot. You glance around the council room to gauge everyone's reactions, before returning your gaze to Nobunaga, "I have a few demands."

"Name them," Nobunaga seemed pleased, though the look disappeared from his face for a fraction of a second when you managed to easily yank your hand away - nearly making him fall forward in the process. "I am to have free roam of the castle, and the city," from the corner of your eye, Hideyoshi looked like he was about to protest, "But if we are to go along with the guise of you as a princess," Nobunaga interjected, "You will need a guard, and a curfew." Of course this guard probably served as more of a spy than anything else, and the curfew could be easily worked around... Fair and easy to deal with, "Fine, I'll accept the guard and the curfew. I assume this castle has a garden?" The raven haired leader nodded, "I can go there at anytime I please, even at night."

"Ridiculous!" Hideyoshi didn't like the idea of you sneaking around the castle at night, you merely shrugged, "Assign two guards, a day shift and a night shift one- I'll even accept only being able to go from my room to the garden and back if I must," you remained relaxed in your seat. Nobunaga nodded, "Then those will be your restrictions as far as that goes, and you shall come whenever I call."

You held back a growl, "Fair enough," you held your hand out for a shake, and Nobunaga looked at it like it was an odd gesture. He was aware of what it was, but was perplexed as to why you were doing it, "Where I'm from, a hand shake is both a friendly gesture, and a means of symbolizing a mutual agreement between two parties- think of it as a pinky promise, but for adults." Nobunaga chuckled and nodded, you certainly didn't handle yourself like the women of his time but it only made you more intriguing to him. He extended a hand out and shook your hand before you both pulled them back to your lap.

Masamune was holding back a fit of giggles the entire time as he leaned over to Hideyoshi, "I can't believe she just bargained with Lord Nobunaga. Though her requests seem trivial I'm sure that they aren't as simple as she made them seem." Hideyoshi hands balled into fists, he was sure Masamune hadn't ment it to sound the way it did, but it got him thinking, "Lord Nobunaga, I would like to volunteer as her Guard during her outings around town." You glanced at him through the corner if your eye, damn, had it been someone who wasn't in this room they might have been easy to loose or scare off. Nobunaga glanced at him with a raised brow, "Hideyoshi?" Before Nobunaga could object to having his right hand reduced to princess babysitter, you interjected while staring the brunette in the eye, "It doesn't matter who the guard is, if Hideyoshi wants to do it, then let him," you turned your gaze back to the warlord infront of you.

"So she's just going to live here and do nothing," Ieyasu tsked, "How could this waif possibly be of any use?" You opened you mouth to retort before you were cut off by Hideyoshi, "It's Lord Nobunaga's decision, Ieyasu. Hold your tongue," finally! Some traction! "Though," Hideyoshi continued, "only time will tell if we can trust her." That was fair enough, you already figured that was the reason why Hideyoshi volunteered to be your guard- or why they bothered giving you a guard at all. So someone could keep tabs on you.

While you were lost in thought, Nobunaga had taken the liberty of taking a hold of your chin between his index finger and thumb and lifted it slightly, making you look at him in the eye. You were caught off guard to say the least, manners were going to be something you were determined to teach this man, "I plan on taking very good care of you, my princess." Your eyes flickered for a split second at his declaration - changing from their normal round pupils and ordinary iris coloration to the thin slits and vibrant hues of your dragon form, before reverting back to normal. He thought it had been a trick of the light, "You can look" you smacked his hand away, "but don't touch."

Nobunaga chuckled at your response, but Hideyoshi wasn't laughing, "You!" He called out before lunging at you, "how dare you be so rude to Lord Nobunaga!" You quickly shifted from sitting to a crouching position, but luckily for the both of you, Masamune and Mitsunari held Hideyoshi back, "Now you've done it, lass! Best apologize to Hideyoshi!" You watched the three men struggle and huffed, stubbornly looking away, "I thought being offended for other people was a trait exclusive to my generation."

"That's enough," Nobunaga's voice cut through the commotion. Hideyoshi lowered his fighting stance on command, and Masamune and Mitsunari returned to their seats as soon as they were sure Hideyoshi's threat had passed, "The next time you raise a hand towards Lord Nobunaga-" Hideyoshi warned.

"You'll what?!" You snarled at him with a snap of your teeth. "I will cut you down where you stand," Hideyoshi threateningly got in your face, but you stood your ground, "I'd like to see you try."

"I said enough," Nobunaga's words once again cut through the commotion and silenced the both of you, "My apologies, my Lord," Hideyoshi submissively bowed to him, an action you did not follow and only responded with a simple, "Sorry." This was going to be a long stay....

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon.

Ch.3

Warnings: Swearing, trigger warning for drowning? There is a bath scene in the sixth paragraph where MC goes underwater - completely of her own free will though. Is dragon shenanigans a warning?

The next morning you were left to wake up at whatever time you pleased. There was no knocking on the door, no vassals or guards who'd come to fetch you, and no ungodly sunlight to disturb you. For the first time since your arrival, you slept like the dead. Perhaps it was your body compensating for your quick recuperation. With a grumble, you sat up in bed, the tug of the stitches once again reminding you to be careful with what you do.

Maybe...

You were already thinking of what to tell Ieyasu if this ended badly. Telling him you bumped into some furniture and accidentally ripped your stitches seemed like the best one. Sure he would call you stupid and clumsy, but he probably already thinks that of you so really what do you have to lose? You stripped yourself of your night attire, examining the stitched wounds along your side before running your fingers over them. The skin didn't feel sore, or tender, maybe this wouldn't end in you running to Ieyasu's quarters.

The nail of your index finger grew longer and sharpened to a point with a curved arch - much like the talon of a bird, and with a deep breath you used it to cut the stitchs of one of the wounds on the side of your hip. It hadn't hurt, if anything your felt a bit of relief with the skin not having to be pulled so tautly. What did feel...odd however, was when the stitches were pulled. It stung and felt like hair was being pulled from the spot, but it wasn't so painful that it would make you stop. Yes, you stood there for a good hour or so just pulling out your own stitches. It would have taken less time had you not struggled with the ones on your back, but you didn't have a mirror to look in to, so you had to just feel for them till you got them all.

With a relieved sigh, you stretched before examining what was left of your wounds. There was only subtle traces left behind - pink, shiny scar tissue that felt smoother and softer than the skin around it. Maybe in a day or two, three at most the scars would be gone, but for now you thought it best to play the part of the wounded princess - though the thought left an unsavory taste in your mouth.

You officially started your day by freshening up and requesting the maids to start a bath for you. The hot water felt wonderful on your skin and helped your muscles relax. With a deep breath in, you closed your eyes and plunged yourself below the surface. You felt yourself become practically weightless in the water, with the only thing grounding you being the bottom of the tub against your lower back. You allowed your arms to drift up as you entered a sort-of meditative state, but when you heard someone's muffled voice calling your name frantically you emerged with gasp - scaring the maid who had been standing at the edge of your tub.

"Oh have mercy!" She cried out with both her hands over her chest, "I thought something had happened to you, Milady! I didn't see you in the bath," she was frantic, "And no one had seen you leave, I- I thought that perhaps you had slipped and fallen, or were hurt-" she rambled, completely hysteric.

You sat there and listened, moving your soaking hair out of your face before making your way over to the side she was standing next to. You gently placed your hands on hers and pulled them up, "Hey, hey, hey, calm down," you spoke in a soft voice in an attempt to get the girl to quiet down and listen, "I'm fine." She looked at you, feeling a bit embarrassed, "I apologize, for worrying you."

"It's alright," she took a deep breath, still trying to calm down, "You were simply enjoying your bath, miss."

You nodded before releasing her hands and sitting back in the water, "I've left you some fresh towels and rags on the shelf ma'am, p-please take as long at you need," she smiled and nodded before quickly scurrying away - probably still embarrassed about the whole ordeal.

After she'd left, you reached over to the shelf that was, conveniently, an arms length away from the edge of the tub and grabbed a small rag to scrub yourself with. You stayed in the water till it got cold and decided to get out and return to your room, wrapping your hair in a towel and yourself in a robe before you left the bathhouse. You hadn't paid any attention to the vassals who were training in the yard and stopped to look at you, till one ran up to you and stopped you in your tracks, "Good afternoon, Princess!"

He was a handsome young man, with young and bright features that would suggest he may be in his early 20's. He looked too old to be a teenager but too young to possibly be an experienced and seasoned soldier. His bright eyes and innocent smile were almost as infectious as Mitsunari's, and his brown locks framed his face freely.

"Yes?" You raised your brows at him questioningly, not quite sure what this man wanted.

"Pardon me, Milady, my name is Soji Okita. I'm a vassal of Lord Masamune," he bowed to you respectfully, and just when you thought his smile couldn't get any brighter, it did.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" You gave him a sly smile.

"No," he chuckled, forgetting for a moment that he was talking to an 'Oda Princess', "I suppose not..."

There was a small moment of silence, before you pursed your lips, and your smile became awkward, "Well I best get going," you should really go to your room and get dressed. You stepped around him to continue on your way.

"Wait!" He quickly whirled around to follow you, "Do you need help getting back to your room? An escort? A lady shouldn't walk so far on her own." He was following you now.

"No, I assure you I can handle myself," You shot him a quick smile before you picked up your pace.

"But Milady-"

"Shouldn't you be training, with your fellow vassals?" A familiar voice that you had gotten fairly acquainted with due to the council meeting the previous night, reached your ears, "After all, you all are training so hard to prevent what happened to the Princess from happening again, aren't you?"

Mitsuhide.

You could practically hear your dragon hissing in your ear.

"Y-yes, sir," Soji's smile faded, and he gave the both of you a bow before scurrying off.

You rolled your eyes and continued to your quarters, "That goes for you too, Mitsuhide. Go away."

"Oh no, I can't just let my Lord's lucky charm walk alone to her chambers- and in nothing but a bathrobe no less." Smug bastard.

"Like I told that soldier, I can handle myself." Now you were walking so fast you had to place a hand on the towel wrapped on your head to keep it from falling off.

"Like you did on the battle field?"

At that you stopped and turned to glare at him, "I have the mind to strangle you with my towel- I will not tell you again, Mitsuhide. Fuck. Off." You quickly whipped around to speed walk.

"And speaking of which."

Damn it.

"How does a girl like you survive such a grisly attack? Shot in several different vital spots- your neck, back, and side. There was a reason Ieyasu didn't think you were going to make it."

"Perhaps, I am as lucky as your Lord might believe."

"Oh we both know that isn't true." You could here the amusement in his voice. He knew he was getting under your skin, "The temple- a fluke, but that battle? Impossible."

You grabbed the tip of your towel and quickly unraveled your hair from it before whipping around and chucking the material at the white-haired warlord, "Oh would you give it a rest already?! What do you want from me?!"

"The truth." He effortlessly caught the damp fabric, his calmness on the matter only serving to anger you more.

"You're one to talk!" You threw your hands in the air, "Always sneaking about, not even Hidayoshi trusts you!"

"He doesn't trust you either."

With an enraged hiss you swiped at him, your nails growing in length and sharpening as your hand rapidly sailed through the air. Mitsuhide was of course, quick, and you hadn't exactly tried to hide your intentions so it was easy for him to predict and move out of the way. He stepped back, leaving a poor defenseless column to suffer your wrath. The wood cracked and gave way under your strike, causing the column to break horizontally and splinter out the other end.

"My, my, what great strength you have." He chuckled. He wasn't going to lie, he had been surprised by your blatant show of your...abilities, but then again, one common denominator in every odd occurrence thus far had been your temper.

You turned to look at him, forgetting to keep yourself in check as you glared at him with your dragons vivid, piercing hues and slited pupils.

"Are those your eyes, or is it a trick of the light?"

That's when you relized what you were probably doing, and you didn't hesitate to flee the scene of the crime. Where would you go? Your room? No, Mitsuhide could follow you there and pester you. Hidayoshi isn't an option, he still doesn't trust you, and even if he did what would you tell him? No one knows anything except-

Sasuke.

You made a beeline for the castles main entrance where you would flee into town in search for Sasuke, the only person who knew anything. Would he even be in town? He had to be, how else would he be able to come and go so freely? Whatever. If you had to leave town, you would as long as it ment you could find a safe haven for a little while.

"Princess!"

"Miss!"

"Milady!"

"Where are you going?!"

Several maids, vassals, and other servants tried calling out to you, but you ignored them as you kept your eyes on the cobblestone road ahead of you, and the closed gates that separated the castle from the village. The closer you got to them, the more they began to rattle and shake as if a strong storm was threatening to throw them open.

When you were only a couple feet infront of them the gates flew off their hinges. The sound got the attention of the villagers in time for them to move out of the way as the metal gate shot past them before clattering to the ground. They couldn't see you run past in the cloud of dust that the ruckus caused, which worked in your favor. You wanted to at least get some distance before you were caught. However, in all the comotion you became disoriented and as soon as you exited the dust cloud you ran into someone- sending both you and them tumbling to the ground.

"Watch where you're going you-" the person who was about to berate you paused for a moment, "You!!"

You glanced up to meet the familiar brown eyes of the man who helped save you from running off the edge of a cliff. The loudness if his voice caused you to snap out of your frozen state and you practically jumped off of him. He raises a brow at you, questioning if it really was you or just someone else who looks like you. The night he met you, you were so different - you were stubborn, headstrong, loud, rude, but also undeniably brave. Now you just seemed...spooked.

"Wha-?"

"Take me to Sasuke," you grab his arm and gaze into his eyes. Your wide-eyed, slightly pale expression caused him to fumble with his words for a brief moment, before he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, "Y-yeah, sure."

He quickly stood, pulling you up with him before he looked to see just what the heck you were wearing. In his peripheral it had looked like a simple white cloth robe, and to his suprise that's just what it was. He blushed when he realized it was a bath robe, "Now just wait a second!" He cleared his throat, "Just what are you planning?!" His red flushed cheeks allowed his embarrassment to be on full display.

"What?" Your tone was sharp and your were quickly losing patience, you didn't have time to stand around and straighten your story out.

"You're not wearing anything under that robe! What's wrong with you? Running out in public after a bath?!" He still hadn't started moving.

"Yes, and one could argue that under all your clothes, you aren't wearing anything either," you were beginning to raise your voice, "Now. I'm not playing around, take me to Sasuke!"

"I'm right here," at the sound of Sasuke's voice you whipped around, causing him to throw his arms in the air as if to show you he ment no harm. "Easy there," he narrowed his eyes to examine you, it was obvious you dropped everything you had been doing to run off and come find him.

"What happened?" He placed a hand on your shoulder and lead you into an alleyway, before pulling you into a small hole-in-the-wall noodle shop, Yukimura following close behind. The small restuarant had been fairly empty, save for a platinum blond man sitting in the far corner and a taller man with reddish-brown hair sitting at the bar - both looking vaguely familiar.

"I-" you took a deep breath as you recalled the past few moments that had just transpired, "I didn't mean to show him." Sasuke lead you to a small booth and sat you down, while he sat across from you and Yukimura stood at the edge of the table, "Show who?"

"I didn't mean to show Mitsuhide..." you glanced up at the ninja before you looked back down at the table, "I just got so angry," you ran your hands through your hair, "And before I realized what I was doing, it was done."

"Wait, Mitsuhide?" Yuki looked between the two of you in suprise, and unbeknownst to the three of you, the other two occupants of the restuarant began listening as well after they heard you mention the name of one of Nobunaga's most trusted vassals.

"Did you...?" Sasuke ignored his friend, for now, as he made a gesture with his hands, asking if you transformed, "No, no...but I may have caused some damage to the building," you cleared your throat, "And he saw my eyes..."

"Okay," Sasuke breathed, "Well what happened?"

"He's been getting under my skin since the first day but," with a sigh you leaned in closer to whisper, though in your shaken state it was difficult to keep an even volume and your voice wasn't as quiet as you would have liked, "He's been watching me," you shook your head slightly, "Or paying attention rather..."

Sasuke's brows furrowed before he finally looked at Yukimura, "Can we have a moment please?"

Yuki looked at his friend in suprise, "What, no-"

"You can trust her, she isn't going to try anything." Sasuke was persistent. He understood why his friend didn't want to leave him alone with you after you just mentioned the name of one of his, and his masters enemies, but you both came from the future and therefore held no ties with any of the warlords...yet. Yuki was hesitant, but he eventually walked away to join the towering man who sat at the bar.

As soon as you thought he was out of earshot enough for you to whisper you leaned over the table again, "He's been paying close attention to me, noticing that things tend to," you motioned with your hands while you tried to think of a way to phrase things incase anyone decided to listen in, "happen when I get angry, or emotional in general."

"Have there been a lot?"

"I mean, a few but, I didn't think anyone would notice..."

"I told you these were warlords, they're highly skilled and trained to notice or pick up on things that most wouldn't," he reminded you of the first night, the night he warned you to be careful around those men, "What exactly has been happening?"

"Well," you stopped to think and began picking at your nails, "I know my eyes change sometimes, uh..." of course you wouldn't be able to name instances off the top of your head, some of these things happen without you realizing it, "and the more emotional I get the more...severe these flare ups seem to be."

"I see."

"The most recent incident was when I made Ieyasu's tea explode-"

"You what?!"

"Shh-" you quickly placed a hand on his mouth and looked to Yukimura, who was eyeing you suspiciously, and the man next to him turned and seemed to be watching you from the corner of his eye. You gave them a awkward halfhearted smile before quickly returning your gaze to Sasuke, "To be fair, he kind of deserved it."

"What?" Sasuke blinked and shook his head in disbelief at what you were telling him, "How can you even make that happen without it being obvious?" He was questioning whether or not you were actually trying to be stealthy with your abilities, or if you were just using them willy-nilly.

"I just made it hot, really, really fast."

"How-"

"I just willed it so- anyways." You waved a hand infront of him as if the motion could physically brush the conversation aside, "The one that's been hard to hide is this," you moved the hem of your robe to the side to expose the skin on your shoulder.

"There's nothing there?"

You have him a look, head ticking slightly to the side, you pursed your lips and gave him a blank stare. And then, as if he could read your mind his eyes widened, "Your wounds from the battle."

"Exactly."

"They're gone!"

"Shhh!" You put your hand on his shoulder as if the action would press a button and make him quiet down before moving it back to your side, "I know, which is what really got the ball rolling on this- apparently my wounds were critical. Life threatening. Ieyasu said I should have been out for days, but I slept for 4 hours and I was fine."

"Well just play possum," Sasuke coughed to correct his expression- possoms play dead Sasuke, "play the damsel in distress."

"Yes I already came to that resolve, but Mitsuhide questioned me, Sasuke, infront of the entire council. Luckily I was able to redirect the topic, but it was a really close call."

"Okay... So what do you want me to do? Do I need to get you out of there."

You sighed. Originally you had come to him seeking safe haven, hoping there was somewhere you could go where you could wait out the rest of your stay, with someone who knew what you were, but your conversation from the previous night came to mind. You told Sasuke that, if you disappeared, Nobunaga would come looking for you, "No..." your rubbed your face defeatedly before slamming your fist on the table. An action that caused Sasuke to jump slightly and place his hands on opposite edges of the table, as if he alone would keep the table together should it break under the force of your hand, "I just needed someone I could talk to... Someone who might be able to give me guidance."

"Why don't you just play dumb?"

"What?"

Sauke clarified, "Why don't you just act like you don't know what's going on? If he tries to get information or a reaction out of you, just act like you don't know what he's talking about. You aren't denying any suspicions, but you aren't confirming them either."

"Excuse me." You looked up at the sound of a deep voice coming from the large figure who approached your table. You do recognized him!

"I couldn't help but over hear, that a beautiful dove such as yourself seems to feel threatened," Shingen smiled gently down at you, though his eyes suggested he was watching to gauge your reaction, like he wanted to get a read on your character.

"Did you really over hear the entire thing?" Sasuke looked suprised for a moment.

"Well, no," he admitted, "But I heard enough to know that an innocent woman is in distress." He bowed to you, "And I am fully prepared to whisk her away to safety."

You laughed and smiled politely, "As nice as that would be, I can't just run from my problems," even if that's what you were totally trying to do, "I have to go back and take care of it."

"Ah, a tenacious young woman, I can respect that," his expression seemed to soften somehow.

"Yes well," you slid out of the booth before standing, Shingen stepping out of your way to give you room before you turned to look at Sasuke, "I suppose I should return to the lions den."

"Yukimura and I can walk you back," Sasuke suggested. "What?!" The man in question piped up from his seat at the bar.

"Won't that be dangerous for the both of you?" Somthing dawned on you and you turned to Shingen, "And you too!" You gave the redheaded man a smack on the arm, "What if you're caught?"

He looked shocked at your actions, "Whatever do you mean?" These men, thinking they could say their names around you and you wouldn't remember them- well normally is does take you longer to remember names, but you learned about these men in history class, and though history wasn't your best subject - you heard their names enough in class to recognize them if you heard them again. "Do you think me stupid, Shingen?'

"You remembered my name?" His mouth was slightly agape now.

"Of course," you scoffed, "You all left such an impression last time."

"Even so," he chuckled, "How would it be unsafe here for us? We are merely travelling merchants." You gave him a look to let him know you didn't quite believe him - raising one brow while the other furrowed and topped it off with a lopsided smile, "Sure."

You began to walk off before Sasuke stopped you, "My offer still stands," you turned to look at him, "If you feel unsafe, we can provide refuge for you."

You smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Sasuke. I'll let you know if anything changes, but I at least plan to teach these boys some manners before I leave." Sasuke released you arm with a smile of his own, "Of course, but at least allow Yuki and I to escort you back. It isn't good for a woman to walk around in public with nothing but a bath robe, unless you intend to announce everything to all of Azuchi."

You huffed, "Yes, I suppose you're right." Sasuke waved Yukimura over who sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes before sliding off the stool and making his was over, "Why would you even run out into public with nothing but a bath robe, thats just asking for trouble," he snarked.

As the three of you headed out the doorway, you roughly elbowed him in the ribs, "Lesson number one," you snapped.

"Ow!" He quickly moved a hand to rub his now sore side.

"No one- woman or man asks for anything just because of what they wear or how they look," you turned to gaze at him with narrowed eyes, a look that -had you been a man- he would have taken as a challenge, "If I were to knee you in your crotch right now and you weren't wearing any protective gear, does that mean you were asking to get kicked in the balls?"

His mouth dropped at your crude words.

"No?" You raised a brow, "That's what I thought." You turned and walked back in the direction of the castle, with Sasuke following closely at your side. It took Yukimura a moment, as he sputtered and tried to find his words before ultimately deciding to keep his mouth shut and run after the both of you.

"You know," after a moment passed, Yuki was finally able to find his words.

"Hm?" You didn't look at him, but you acknowledged his words.

"You don't talk like a woman...or act like one."

"Correction, I don't talk like the women your used to," you sneared, "Meek little housewives, doting, wishing and waiting on men who treat them more like property than living beings, who treat them more like maids than life partners, who scorn them for having an opinion of their own." You gave him a sharp look, "For you to tell me that I neither talk nor act like one of your oppressed women, is a compliment."

For the second time today, Yukimura found himself swallowing the lump that formed in his throat. He was going to say that you acted more like a boar than a woman, but he couldn't form words at the moment. You averted your gaze to look away from him just as Sasuke placed his hands on either of your shoulders, "Forgive her, Yuki, she's from a much more peaceful and care free village."

"She comes from somewhere else? What is she doing here in Azuchi then?"

You laughed, but before you could say a word, Sasuke spoke for you, "One of the vassals who lives in this village has hired her as his seamstress."

You turned to Sasuke and gave him a look, not quite happy with the hole he was digging you. A seamstress? Sure being a dragon you've had to pick up a few things to avoid having to buy new clothing on a daily basis, but your knowledge only went as far as repairing tears and holes in your garments. He looked you in the eyes, practically begging you to play along.

"Yes," you looked to Yukimura, "but I live at the castle with the rest of the working women."

A silence fell over the three if you as you continued down the villages dirt road, earning odd looks here and there from several of the customers and shopkeepers along the trail. Yuki found himself looking around nervously, unsure if any of the villagers would be willing to assault a barely clothed woman being escorted by two men. You and Sasuke however, were a stark contrast- the both of your were calm and walked with your heads held high, as if there wasn't a thing in the world that could harm you.

Unbeknownst to any of you however, there were most certainly people out looking for you. Hideyoshi and Mitsunari were currently scouring the village for you. One of the maids had informed them while they were making their way down the castle halls, that she returned to your room about an hour after you left the bathhouse to find your quarters empty. She was frantic that something may have happened to you, and they recieved several reports from the practicing vassals that they saw you trying to get away from Mitsuhide before you left their line of sight.

However, you noticed Yuki and Sasuke become ridged and a bit more robotic at the same time that the hair at the back of your neck stood on end. Someone was watching you, and not in the awkward gawking manner that the villagers were- it felt like someone was observing you, studying you, approaching you.

"There you are!"

You froze at the familiar sound of Hideyoshi's voice and about faced to look at him, "Hideyoshi"

"What were you thinking?!" He stormed closer to the three of you, frantically removing the outermost layer of his garb to wrap around you, "And in nothing but a bath robe?!"

You allowed him to drape the fabric over your shoulders, quickly shoving your arms through the sleeves before he closed the opening infront of you, and tightly tied the kimono shut. "Oh good! You found her!" Mitsunari came around Hideyoshi to stand infront of you with a gentle smile, "You had us all worried, Milady."

"I'm sorry," you apologized, "I shouldn't have acted so rashly, it was dangerous and stupid and unnecessary."

"Nonsense," Mitsunari looked at you sympathetically, "Mitsuhide said it was his fault for talking to you so rudely. He admitted he had been trying to get under your skin and it frightened you."

Frightened you? Well at least you know he hadn't told anybody about what really happened. But why? Certainly not to protect you... All you know is that now you owe Mitsuhide, and that is one of the last people you want to owe a favor to.

"Yes," you confirmed the story, "I let my emotions get the best of me, and blindly ran away. Luckily I ran into two fine men who talked me down and offered to escort me back to the castle."

As you mentioned them, Hideyoshi looked to both Sasuke and Yuki, with a blank and slightly untrusting gaze, "Thank you both." His eyes narrowed slightly, "Surely there is something we can do for the both of your to repay you for your kindness."

Yuki was about to speak before Sasuke cut him off as he had done before to you, "Nonsense, we merely wanted to make sure this woman got home safely." He bowed slightly with a nod of his head, Yuki followed his actions and remained silent, "She seemed quite distressed, and we just wanted to make sure all was well."

Hideyoshi's gaze softened and he ended the conversation with a small smile, "Well, we thank you for your kind gesture. We can take her the rest of the way." Sasuke nodded, while Yukimura stood still ith a awestruck expression on his face, and with that, Hideyoshi took hold of your arm and guided you away, with Mitsunari following close behind.

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Are yall okay with things getting a little spicy in Chapter 4 lol?

It's nothing smutty, but like, let me know of ya'll are uncomfortable with the idea and I will tweak the chapter to follow the events that happen in Nobunaga's route a little more closely.

*coughMC'sATeasecoughcough*

Also on the topic of smutt, if I reach a part where there is smutt IT WILL NOT BE POSTED ON THIS BLOG.

It will be posted on another side blog as an optional chapter. I would prefer to keep this blog open and easy to find for people who just want to read some ikemen/otome imagines.

Thank you all! And let me know about your feelings for chapter 4 so I can tweak it before posting it!

[otome--fantasy]

I'm laughing so hard 😂😂😂

[otome--fantasy]

Why? He's not the one I hit 😭😭😭

Nobunaga has people to be offended for him

[otome--fantasy]

News on Of Demons and Dragons

Hey guys! Today's chapter is going to be a little late because I didn't like the way I ended it, so I am reworking the last bit now that I've figured something out!

Also, updates are going to slowdown. The first two chapters (now three) were written during my week off, but now I am back to work!

Thanks for all your support thus far!