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otome--fantasy · 5 years ago

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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."

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