#slbp masamune fic

[yonezawacastle]

brittle (1/?)

Pairing(s): background Masamune/MC (here named Aya)

This is an excerpt from an unfinished fic I wrote purely for myself, in which the Oshu family adds a tiny new member, thanks to an injudicious act of compassion by Masamune. Things...don't go smoothly.

I've never liked my own writing. I am trying to be less of a perfectionist in the coming year, however, so forcing myself to finally put something longer than a sentence or two out there is part of my commitment to that. Anyway.

-----

The girl’s name means stop. 

This fact bothers Masamune sometimes, when he’s sifting through his papers, and finds the word among the plans and correspondence. The girl’s name is written only in hiragana --とめ -- but the implication of the name, the character that crosses his desk every so often and never fails to stop him, is plain as day given the girl's personal history.

The character 止 carries no trace of softness. It is stiff and unyielding lines, the rightmost stroke an arm stretched in prohibition. Unwanted. Forbidden. No.

It suggests an unwished child, and Masamune knows all about being unwished. 

After all, his eyes are much like her own.

“It’s actually a common enough name,” Aya tells him one night in his annex kitchen, his wife's back to him as she chops vegetables for their dinner. “A lot of families will call their daughter that, if they don��t want any more children. Especially if they have one too many mouths to feed.” 

But Tome had been born to a samurai family. 

_________

In one sense, he must admit, the girl’s name is suitable.

Tome is a brittle, sticklike figure, her bones sharp and prominent in places where Aya insists there ought to be a peachy softness. There is a faintly skeletal quality to the six-year-old, something wholly insubstantial, and sometimes Masamune feels that if he breathes too hard, she might blow away. 

The greatest stiffness, though, is in the way she regards them, in the fragile quiet that suggests she is all too used to being shattered.

Watchful, Kojuro calls her. Both men know this is a polite gloss on afraid. 

(“We rescued her, Masa,” Shigezane says to him once. “Even if we had to make her a hostage to do it.” Masamune watches the uneasy set of the girl’s shoulders beneath Aya’s hands and wonders if they’d rescued her from anything.) 

These first months have made him awkward and clumsy. Masamune has never loved his own body, and now he feels there is too much of it altogether: standing near the girl feels more like looming, and on the vanishingly rare occasions that Tome finds the courage to reach for him, one of his hands easily swallows both of hers. 

“Bend down when you talk to her,” hisses Shigezane in his ear. “Kids like it when you get on their level.” 

He has felt less menacing on the battlefield.

[otonymous]

Simmer (SLBP Masamune - NSFW)

Description: Masamune beats the summer heat by generating some of his own. Warnings: NSFW/18+:  Explicit/graphic language — reader discretion is advised Word Count: 996 words (~ 5 mins of smut)

AO3: Read here Author’s Notes: The snow is finally melting, so here’s a story set in much warmer weather.  Gratuitous PWP, that is all.  Hope you all enjoy it!

Tagging: @rubyleeray: I confess that the 12 Days of Chrismut was a big reason why I looked forward to this holiday for the past two years 😂 @heavenzfiend: Because I still can’t stop thinking about your Hideyoshi/Kiyomasa/Masanori x MC story.  And I never will.

Also tagging other lovely readers: @all-my-cuffs-have-buttons, @artemira-sengoku, @dear-mrs-otome, @pseudofaux, @fieryanmitsu, @otomediary, @suzi-q-uinn, @kitty-kat-ty, @saizoswifey, @belxsar, @anyakane, @friedchikyorice, @fromthedeskofelizabeththird, @selenecrawford, @akiza-hades-rose

All characters & SLBP owned by Voltage Inc.

On those sticky nights when there was nothing else to do but lie quietly on the veranda and feel the heat coming off one’s skin in invisible waves, you loved to run away from the stone ramparts of Yonezawa Castle, your lover’s fingers tightly intertwined with yours, tacky with sweat.

The soldiers stationed at the gates barely paid the pair of you any attention, assuming you were a page off to run an errand, and never guessing that the man dressed in simple robes, face hidden beneath a straw hat, was the lord of the castle.  

The Dragon of Oshu discretely trained a green eye in your direction, his heart warming at the sight of your face flushed in exertion, trying unsuccessfully to suppress your mischievous laughter at having finally evaded the prying eyes of Kojuro and Shigezane.  And as the quick movement of your legs took the pair of you further and further into the wilds, he wonders if you are real or a figment of his imagination, conjured up to fill all the lonely spaces of his heart left empty by a lifetime of rejection by those who should have held him dear.

Making your way amongst a dense collection of reeds that stood shoulder to shoulder with you, reaching up like so many supplicant hands to the night sky, you finally turn to face him, the collar of Yahiko’s kimono already coming undone to reveal the virginal white of your binding cloth.  Masamune barely registers the warm breeze coming off the river to tousle his hair when his hat falls by the wayside, the intention of his mind as singular as his body when he rushes to touch you at the insistence of your mouth forming the quiet word,

“Come.”

One hand tugs at his eyepatch as the other reaches out to cradle your cheek, its warmth encouraging you to look up at his face from where you’ve settled onto your knees on the spongy earth.  Hungry eyes of sapphire and emerald widen when you bring your lips to his cock, deliberately hesitating a hair’s breadth from contact to prolong savouring the offering before you.  On instinct, Masamune’s hips buck slightly, pushing his silken head past your waiting lips to fill your mouth with a heat that rivalled the temperatures of the sweltering season.  

The Lord of the Date clan was a man of few words, but even he couldn’t suppress the moans your lips and tongue drew from him as they worked their way up and down his length.  You kept your gaze fixed on his unusually expressive face as your head drew closer and closer to the hard plane of his groin, willing yourself to suppress the reflex that would prevent you from swallowing him whole.  And every time his head falls back in ecstasy, every time white teeth bite down on the plush lower lip you love to suck into your mouth, the overwhelming desire to please has you salivating with each slide of his cock against your flattened tongue.  

Your kneading hands sense the tensing muscles of his backside through his loosened hakama, and not long after, he spills into your mouth, coating the hollow of your cheeks and flooding your tongue as you make to swallow all that he leaves behind.

“I’m sorry!  I didn’t mean to…”

Masamune says under his breath as he kneels to face you, gently wiping away the cum glistening on your lips in the moonlight, and as his index finger drags across their swollen softness, the lust in his eyes flickers back to life despite the guilt hanging on his brows.  

“May I?”

His question resonates over the din of rushing water nearby, and he is on you the instant you nod, tongue slipping into your mouth to partake in the lingering salt of his release as his hands work feverishly at the bindings around your chest and the hakama at your waist.  

When you feel the heat of his breath lingering at your entrance, close enough to send the blood rushing in throbbing pulses through your sensitive flesh, the anticipation has you craning your neck to look at your lover.  What you see makes you blush.

Masamune is staring at your pussy, eyes glazed over as if entranced by the sight.  When he finally ventures to skim his finger over the length of your folds, admiring the strands of arousal that cling to his hand, you close your eyes to avoid burning up from embarrassment.  

“You’re so beautiful.”

They fly open again as you gasp at the contact of his mouth on you, his voice muffled as he makes his confession in the midst of lapping desperately between your legs.  And when his fingers push into your wetness to curl and press at the end of every stroke, you are so thankful for the ability of the river to drown out the noises you weren’t even aware you could make.  

Masamune’s breathy whimper in your ear makes you wrap your trembling legs tighter around his waist, the sensation of his entry so sweet you want to keep him there forever.  The dim light of the stars overhead start to blur with every body-shaking thrust, and you struggle for breath in the stagnant summer air as his pace picks up.  One large hand weaves into your disheveled topknot to tilt your head, allowing Masamune to suck at the tender flesh of your neck as you feel him tremble against you before collapsing by your side.  

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Thoroughly refreshed, you smile conspiratorially at each other as you approach Yonezawa Castle, painfully aware of the dreadful way you both must have looked with mud-caked clothing and grass in your hair.  But the soldiers at the gate only widen their eyes for a moment before stepping aside to let their lord and his page through, thinking on how strange it was that no one even saw the One-Eyed Dragon leave in the first place.  

Thanks for reading!  More stories available here! 💕

[draconivn]

002 | Wife Duties

Pairing: Masamune Date (SLBP) x Reader Summary: He’s stressed, and sometimes he has a hard time in expressing himself. Now that you’re his wife, it makes you wonder what you could do to help, since the things that stress him out can’t be put on your shoulders. One-shot. Fluff. Disclaimer: I don’t own Masamune, Shigezane, Kojuro or SLBP Note: I did this while I was lying in bed so I haven’t really proofread it. I wasn’t sure if this would be a good idea at first, but I remembered something from the Last Samurai movie where they did something similar so here we go.

Every day, he was always awake before me. As his page, I should have been the one to ensure he was awake and ready to tackle his duties for the day. As his wife, I should have been the one to see him off with a smile before he goes to work. He would notice if I got up earlier to make him breakfast and would question if I slept at all.

He works so hard every day, dealing with meetings, paperwork and reports.

I watch him every day as I work by him, exasperated expressions exchanged when Lord Shigezane comes running down the corridor and throws the door open carelessly, followed by either Lord Kojuro or himself to lecture him about failing to announce himself again. 

"You have to remember that they are married now," Lord Kojuro reminds Lord Shigezane.

Lord Shigezane grins. "Relax! I know they're busy but Masa wouldn't be trying to get it in the middle of the day."

It makes me think about whether I do enough to be Masamune's wife during the day, when I spend much of it being his page and being his wife comes when the sun has fallen.

As his page, I've become oblivious to the expression of stress on his features. But I see it as his wife when he comes to bed, his arms wrapped around me to protect me and he looks exhausted. Meal times seem to grant him that little bit of energy of being able to deal with anything happening before we go to bed.

By the time I realize it, I've let it go on for a few days and I'm already kicking myself.

I've finished my bath and come back in my sleeping robes, where I find him in the same clothing but he's reviewing a letter that I know can wait until tomorrow. My actions don't seem to do anything to pull him out of his thoughts, even as I closed the door and put aside my things, allowing me a moment to observe him.

His shoulders are tense, and his position is far from relaxed.

I decided to go and kneel behind him, gently placing my hands on his shoulders. I can feel him jump under my palms and realize it's me before I start to move my hands, applying pressure in a massage. I can feel how tense he is, the little noises he makes when I press a certain way, as I work out the little knots. After a moment, I slow my actions to a stop and move my weight onto my knees so I can reach over his shoulder and take the letter from his hands to place on the table. "Work can wait until tomorrow," I say softly.

He looked at me as I had done so, placing a hand over one of my own and smiled. "Yeah."

I suppose my actions took him by surprise, because I had always asked to touch him before anything else, but I felt like he would say it's fine and dismiss it before I could do anything. 

We decide to go to bed from there, and this time I put my arms around him last and I embrace him, wanting to protect my beloved for just this one night. If anyone wanted him, they would have to go through me first.

I felt him be more at ease with himself that night, as if I had reminded him that being his wife meant that he could share his burdens with me. 

When the crack of dawn comes, his expression seems a bit better as I open my eyes in time to see him start to get dressed for the day. I watch him for a moment, before my eyes drift to his clothing and it gives me a reason to get up instead of returning back to sleep. 

With his under robes on, he still has yet to put on his hakama and kimono. When he turns to reach for his kimono, it isn't there and he looks around, only for his beautiful jade-coloured eye to fall on me.

I smile with his kimono in my hands and I come up to him in offering for him to slip his hands through.

There's a tinge of pink on our cheeks as I help him dress bit by bit, the actions almost as intimate as when we take each other's robes off and make love. 

"Is this too tight?" I ask softly as I secured the tie of his hakama. I had surveyed him enough to watch how he tied his clothing that I never realized it would come handy at a moment like this.

"No, it's just right," came his warm voice in my ear.

His sword is tucked right where it needs to be, and I come around with the final piece. Standing behind him, I place his haori on his shoulders and lean forward to rest my cheek on his back as my hands remain where they are. As his wife, I am his support when he is struggling and having a difficult time. 

We stay like that for a moment before I pull back and we go to the door.

I smile warmly and with love at him, giving pause to press a light kiss to his lips despite the blush that blooms on both of our cheeks at my being so forward. "Have a good day, Masamune." My role as his wife will end when he says his goodbye, and I will begin as his page at breakfast.

He looks at me with that kind, loving and boyish smile of his that makes my heart skip a beat every time, his hand reaching up to cup my cheek and his thumb gently smoothing over my skin. "Yeah. I'm heading off now." His warmth leaves me as he moves back to head out the door.

It isn't long before I have to get dressed too so I can begin my duties for the day, but as long as I serve the love of my life while supporting him, I persevere in happiness.

After all, I am his wife.

[breaktimewritings]

The One-Eyed Dragon II Masamune Dragon AU

tPrompt from @yoolee‘s 50 SLBP Prompt list! This one took me longer to work out oops XD

Prompt: Surprise! Masamune actually IS a dragon. And in all his time as a dragon, no one has ever dared talk to him until this little chef heard his dragon tummy rumble and made him porridge, and now he’s walking around as a human and hey look, this restaurant has porridge and it smells familiar…

MC was sure dragon yokai were not found in shrines. Fairly sure. She didn’t know a thing about yokai admittedly but when she entered the small, dusty shrine to pay her respect on her way home from a shopping trip several towns over, she was surprised to find it empty. The snow-covered roof was cracked in some places. There were no fires or incense burning either. She was fairly sure that had to do with the large dragon coiled up in the corner, looking ready to strike at anyone. It was hard to make him out in the shadows of the room, but the dragon looked as if it had dark green scales. Perhaps it was a forest spirit? It gave a low growl, clearly a warning. She blinked, realizing she’d been staring. Lingering too long. MC turned to leave quickly, pausing only when she heard something that only a chef would notice.

A stomach growl.

“Could I...borrow the kitchen?”

The innkeeper raised a brow at the young lady who she’d just given a room to. “My dear what would you need to do that for? We’d be more than happy to cook for you.”

“I know. It’s just...I uh...need something to pay my respects at the shrine with. It’s so cold and I have a long way back to Kyoto you see...”

“Oh I see. That’s fine. If you’re not used to Oshu’s weather it can certainly be hard.” The woman was cordial, giving her a smile. “Be careful you don’t stay out there after dark.”

This gave her pause. “Is something the matter with the shrine?”

“There’s an evil that makes its home there sometimes. It was once a fine dragon that protected this land, but it was possessed by an evil spirit that stole its eye. It will eat anyone who draws to close, especially women!”

MC blinked. The dragon she saw didn’t look...evil. More apprehensive than anything. That would explain the run-down nature of the shrine. With stories like that she suspected it hardly got any visitors.

“I’ll be careful.”

When she got to the kitchen she realized she had no idea what dragons ate. Humans seemed like a viable option, of course, but that was out of the question. She had no way of knowing what his preferred tastes were or how much he would eat. If he didn’t like it would he turn on her? For a moment, she thought of giving up entirely. But...if a dragon was so hungry that his stomach was rumbling...She didn’t have it in her to simply leave him like that. She decided on something safe. Something to warm him up from the cold winter that had set in.

No one could ever resist her family’s porridge on a winter night.

The setting of the sun gave an eerie look to the shrine, bathing it in cool hues of twilight. A fire had been lit inside, and she was grateful for at least that. Cautiously, she stepped back inside. The dragon had moved, now nowhere to be seen.

“H-hello...?” She called.

She suddenly felt very foolish. Coming to a shrine at sunset to give porridge to a dragon. She was looking around for a place to set the bowl when something on her right shifted, and she whirled around before a snarl rang out. There was a sudden blaze, and something that had crept at her from the shadows was made visible. A giant spider had been reaching for her, but its attention was at something in the back of the shrine. There was another snarl, the same dragon as before coming into view. The spider scurried away, and the dragon turned its ire on her.

In the fresh light of the shrine she could she him fully. She wasn’t sure how she would have originally described a dragon, but he was striking. Handsome in an odd way. His scales were a deep green, the color of the forest in winter. Only one eye glared at her, a bright green color that blazed with an inner fire. Its other eye was covered by a dark patch. MC gulped. Was...was that the eye the evil spirit took? A cold shiver ran down her spine.

The dragon turned on her fully, giving her a low growl as he had before. It feld scolding. She shouldn’t have come back. She should have stayed away. But then his eye dropped to her hands.

“You were hungry.” She blurted suddenly. The dragon blinked, its gaze softening. For a moment, she hesitated, but then held the porridge out to him. “I-I know it’s not much but...It’s cold tonight so I thought this might warm you up.”

She offered him a smile. The dragon looked almost dumbfounded before its head shook slightly and he rightened himself, standing taller. It was...adorable really. Was he so not used to interaction that something as simple as porridge took him aback? One of his large talons moved. MC flinched before it turned, and she was able to place the porridge in his...hand?

“I’ll be on my way home to Kyoto tomorrow, so this is all I’ll be able to make you.” She wasn’t sure why it was suddenly important she tell him this but it...was. She gave him a bright smile. “Stay warm. And thank you for protecting me.”

With a bow, MC turned and left the shrine. She could only hope the dragon liked the porridge, even if one bowl was probably not enough to fill him. The next day felt warmer, if only a little. And when she looked back to the shrine she could see a fire burning in the morning light. For some reason, that made her smile. When she returned to Kyoto, she left that little adventure out of the stories she’d told her family. She’d gone to learn northern cuisine after all. Besides, not even her little brother would believe she’d fed porridge to a one-eyed dragon.

~

Masamune did not travel very far very often. He enjoyed traveling. It got him out of Oshu and the stuffy castle. He didn’t get the apprehensive looks that he normally did. No one feared him while he was out.

“Kyoto is quite lively, even covered in snow.”

“Indeed it is, Lord Masamune.”

The man on his left, Kojuro, seemed content with the city before them. Well, “man” used loosely. He and Kojuro weren’t exactly human, but by looking at them very few would know. It was much more convenient to travel in human form. No one questioned anything.

“How long do we plan to stay?” Kojuro asked. “The roads to Oshu will be getting worse the more this snow sets in.”

“Just the night.”

“Yes, milord.”

Kojuro was loyal to a fault, if not a bit overbearing, but Masamune appreciated that. He also appreciated the odd sort of understanding that they had. Often, Masamune barely had to speak for Kojuro to understand what he meant just as he could understand Kojuro in merely a word. They walked in silence, chuckling at children as they played in the snow and perusing the various foreign traders that apparently frequented the city. Masamune was about to suggest they find an inn when the wind shifted and an odd, familiar, warm scent lingered around him. One that made him immediately stop short.

His stomach gave a growl.

“Milord?”

Masamune ignored Kojuro for a moment, his eye scanning the street, trying to figure out where the smell had came from. Had he merely imagined it? And what compelled him to stop and find it so suddenly.

“Let’s go.” Masamune finally said, thinking the wind must have merely been playing tricks on him.

“I think there’s an inn not far ahead.”

But then the smell came to him again. Stronger. Masamune turned, realizing its source suddenly. A small restaurant tucked away. If you weren’t paying attention, you might miss it entirely. It was exuding warmth even in the chill of the air. The smells coming from it promised sweets and pickled vegetables and...porridge. The same porridge he’d smelled...how many winter ago now? Two? His stomach gave another hardy growl.

“Milord?”

Masamune glanced to Kojuro. “Hungry.”

Kojuro’s brows knit, but he followed the other man’s gaze. “Shall I get you something from there?”

“It’s fine. I won’t be long.”

With an indulgent smile, Kojuro agreed and turned to head to the inn. Masamune was grateful that he didn’t ask further. He had never told anyone of the odd little slip of a girl who had brought him porridge one night when he was resting after a battle with the tiger’s clan. No one ever talked to him, yet she’d offered him a hot meal. Was this where she’d learned to cook so well?

“Get out of here!”

“Yahiko, stop!”

The sight before him felt familiar. The moment he stepped into the restaurant he was met with the sight of a pudgy man in yellow. He only saw his back as the man blocked the door. But facing him down was...her.

“What did you say to me, boy?!” The pudgy man sneered. Then, a sickeningly fake smile could be heard in his voice. “Don’t you think you ought to be nicer to your future brother in law?”

The porridge girl moved in front of her brother, shielding him from the pudgy man’s ire. He found it suddenly amusing that in the past he’d seen her nearly devoured by a spider and now she was facing one down.

“I told you I’ll never be your wife. Now please leave our restaurant. You’re disturbing the other patrons.”

That only made the pudgy man angrier. “You’d best remember who you’re talking to, my dear. You’re destined to be mine.”

The pudgy man took a step forward, and he saw fear flicker behind her eyes. He was suddenly overcome with a predatory, possessive urge. He didn’t know the situation, but this woman had barely flinched at the sight of him, and the mere thought of someone causing her fear made something hot rumble in his throat.

“Hey.” His voice was perhaps too much. It cut through the air like hot iron. Everyone immediately went still. The pudgy man flinched, turning to give him a glare. Masamune’s frown only depended. “You’re in my way.”

For a moment, the man looked as if he wanted to retort. But Masamune knew spiders. The smart ones always scurried away when they knew they were facing something that could squish them under their heel.

“I’m leaving now.” He muttered, turning back to the porridge girl to bark out. “I won’t forget this, MC!”

He was soon scurrying out the door. Before him, the porridge girl (MC?) relaxed. One by one, the other patrons went back to their food, barely giving him a second glance.

“Thank you.” Her voice came, and he tended when he realized how close she’d come to him. Immediately, he took a step back. She blinked “Um...Can I get you anything?”

He needed to leave. There was no reason for him to stay. He wasn’t even sure why he’d come to find her in the first place. But he needed to leave. Humans were nothing but trouble. Especially female humans.

She tilted her head at him. “Mochi.” He finally said. “And...porridge.”

The smile she gave him was as bright as the one she’d given him before. The same one that lit the shrine brighter than his fire ever could. “Right away!”

He took a seat by the window, where he could watch the sun slowly set. Her brother appeared not long after with two plates of mochi in hand, one of them topped with an odd bit of green.

“This zunda mochi is on the house.” The boy said. “Thanks for chasing that pervy magistrate away.”

They had manners, it seemed. Masamune was happy about that. Not long afte, she appeared with a steaming bowl of porridge.

“Sorry for the wait.” She said. “I hope this is able to warm you up.”

The smell from the bowl was identical from the one he’d been given so long ago. Once she’d disappeared from his sight, he took a bite. It held the same warm taste that made him hum and had a tender warmth spreading through his body with every bite. If he had any doubts in his mind they were immediately chased away. This was indeed the same girl that had given him porridge in the past. The girl who didn’t even bother to come back for her bowl. The girl who offered him warmth and a smile and kind words when no one else dared.

Why did that matter so much?

~

The man with the eyepatch was gone before she could take away his dishes, leaving only coin for the meal and his clean plates. She smiled knowing that he’d at least eaten it all.

“I hope he liked it.” Yahiko said when she came back to the kitchen to wash them. “He was quiet but definitely a good guy.”

“He seemed familiar...” She muttered to herself.

“What did you say, sis?”

“Nothing.”

She didn’t speak of him for the rest of the evening, though she simply couldn’t hake the feeling that she’d seen something in his eye somewhere before. The color perhaps? Or the way it burned when he faced down the magistrate. The feeling left her unable to sleep that night, and even followed her into the morning.

“Excuse me.”

A soothing voice floated to her as she swept the inside of the restaurant. A man with brown hair combed to one side entered, his presence as commanding as the man with the eyepatch from the day before.

“You’re MC, are you not?”

She could only nod. Had she met him before? He didn’t feel familiar at all. The man smiled, reaching into his sleeve to pull out a bundle. She blinked as he presented it to her.

“This is yours.”

“Mine?”

“I’m afraid my lord is not very good with women. He asked me to give this back to you.”

“Your...lord?” Had she met a lord? Had she given anything to a lord? No, certainly not.

“Lord Masamune of Oshu.” The man said as she took the bundle. “He gives his gratitude for the porridge. He said he was quite warm after eating it.”

With a bow, the man left their restaurant just as easily as he’d entered. The bundle in her hands felt...heavy somehow. Had Masamune been the man who had ordered the porrige and mochi the day before? What on earth would he be giving back to her? He certainly hadn’t left with anything and she’d never met him before to--

Unless...

The bundle was unwrapped in an instant, and she gasped at the bowl in her hands. The very bowl she’d left with the dragon at the shrine in Oshu all that time ago. He’d kept it? All this time? But why?

Her feet were suddenly moving. She knew the path to Oshu, and they couldn’t have gotten far. The cold air made goosebumps prickle on her skin, but she paid it no mind. They finally came into view on the outskirts of town, and despite the chill in her lungs she called out to him.

“Lord Masamune!”

He stopped. The man at his side turned before him, eyes wide with surprise for a moment before chuckling, amused by something she was sure was between them.

After a moment, Masamune turned. He flinched, taking a step back from her, and she reminded herself he might not like her so close. Suddenly, she realized why his eye seemed familiar. She’d seen it before.

“You’re the dragon from the shrine?”

It was less of a question, but if he wasn’t she needed to have a reason for him not to think her crazy. He searcher her gaze for a moment before finally nodding.

“Yes.”

Her face lit up. She had no idea why she was so happy to see him well. Or why she’d felt so compelled to know she was right, but she couldn’t help it. Her smile was infectious, his own lips even turning up into a small one. She suddenly felt foolish to have ran after him in the snow, but his soft gaze and smile made her chest squeeze and the cold was again forgotten.

“I’m glad you stayed warm.”

[kiriyana]

a/n: this is a small lil fic for @utsusemi for her amazing masa hcs coz it killed me with how good they are >w>

The world is a festival today.

He looks rather nervous as he looks around the throng of people, at the stalls, at everything. You can’t help but laugh a little, intertwining your fingers with his as you hold on to his hand.

His head snaps to look at you, surprise evident on his face as he stares at your joined hands, but you only hold more firmly.

“Wanna look around?” You ask him. He continues to stare at your hands, then your face, then at everything else, then back at you, before wordlessly nodding, squeezing your hand back.

You smile at him, and you pull him along.

He’s surprisingly good at the games.

Especially the shooting game. But what’s amusing is the way he seemed to concentrate, looking through the sights while subconsciously sticking a bit of his tongue out just before shooting each target with pinpoint accuracy.

And he’s also good at knowing what you want. You haven’t said anything but he picks the exact prize you have been eyeing on and gives it to you silently. When you thanked him, a small smile forms on his face before it disappears just as quick.

It’s a bit disappointing all of this is a dream because you know his gift is something you’d cherish forever.

He doesn’t really eat much. But seems to have a thing for zunda mochi.

When you offer him a bite of every food item you’ve bought, he’s willing to give it a taste, telling you it’s good every time but would never ask for more. Nor did he buy anything for himself.

Except for the mochis.

You had to hold back your laughter as you ask him to look at you when he stops for a moment, already have eaten a few from the dozen that he had bought. His eyes widen in surprise when he feels your touch, blinking dumbfoundedly as you wipe something off the corner of his mouth.

When you inform him as to why you had done that, a very light blush forms on his cheeks, something you manage to see before he looks away from you.

“Thanks.”

Now it’s your turn to get flustered. The way he had said it isn’t loud, but it’s enough for you to hear him with ease. You rarely hear him speak, but every time he does, it sends your heart racing.

You know it’s almost over.

This fills you with sadness as the two of you walk out of the festivities and somewhere more remote and quiet. And it would affect you more if it isn’t for the warm hand still holding on to yours. And the fact you’ll see him again when you dream again.

The two of you keep walking until you’re somewhere with a clear view of the sky.

Before you can ask, the sky is painted with bright and beautiful fireworks. You stand and stare in awe as each disappear, only to be replaced by one just as wonderful.

When you turn to him, he’s staring at you shyly, but his eyes hold so much tenderness as he pulls you closer to him before you feel his lips on your forehead, soft and pleasant.

“I’ll see you again soon.”

Sora arrives just after you finish freshening up. You greet him cheerfully as you thank him for the white clover he has brought you today, offering him the small bowl of seeds despite the fact he never really eats them.

He tilts his head back and forth, as if asking about your mood, and you can’t help but laugh as you kneel down to face him. “I just had another wonderful dream.”

...

Your bright smile is something Masamune always likes seeing. And hearing how much you like your dreams, meeting him, makes his heart thump. But also makes the longing grow bigger.

One day. One day, he will break the curse, and he can meet you more.

[arielle0808]

New chapter of my Masamune x oc fic~

Thank you for reading!

[nightingaledarling]

microdrabbles: petits fours

Fandom: Samurai Love Ballad Party Timeline/Continuity: Canon and Modern AU. Characters: All 12 main lords + Shigezane, Hotaru, and Kageie Genre: Varied Microdrabble count: 50 total, anywhere from 2-4 per character Warnings: Spoilers for all routes, Acts 1 and 2. Slight dub con in Mitsuhide’s and Kageie’s sections, but nothing worse than you’d find in canon. Rating: Varied, up to R Notes: Once upon a time when fandoms congregated on Livejournal, they used to have these drabble challenges. One of them was one sentence fics. So you think you’ve seen run-on sentences with metric fucktons (this is an actual legit unit of measurement btw) of commas and hyphens? You ain’t seen nothing yet!

Breaking the rules here and utilizing multiple pairings/characters because that’s how I do. Oof.

Prompts are from Theme Set Epsilon of the 1Sentence Community.

I. Nobunaga

09. King With his sword at his hip, overcoat swaying in the breeze as he stands up on the battlements, smile lined with ruthless ambition, you think he looks rather like a king.

26. Goodbye It doesn’t matter that both of you are fading fast - you simply thank the gods that allowed you to be by his side until the very end, and you hope and pray that one day you’ll meet again.

40. History The pure conviction in Representative Oda’s voice reminds you of rulers from times past - but why does it also make you ache?

21. Fool He calls you a foolish, brazen little thing, but if he still loves you even now, four hundred years later, who is the true fool - he or you?

II. Mitsuhide

12. Wait You put a hand to his chest, your half-hearted protest dying in your throat when you see his pupils blown wide with want as he says, voice low and strained, I am sorry, my darling, but I cannot.

15. Hold My love, my darling, my dearest - all names that wrap you with the warmest affection.

49. Hunger You set the tray of treats onto the dais, and when you turn away and catch his eyes, they speak of anticipation and desire and promises to do all manner of things to you tonight that you flush and cannot excuse yourself quickly enough.

19. Soul Something about him is so familiar and warm and kind and dear that your heart seems to know him, even if you do not.

III. Yukimura

06. Gentle Those hands are strong enough to concuss a man, vicious enough to slice one to his innards, but when they lay upon your cheeks, they are so incredibly gentle.

17. Vision Admittedly, you are but a humble cook’s daughter - but when he looks at you, eyes lit up like the summer sky, you admit with pride - yes, I am his wife, I am the Lady Sanada.

41. Power It’s said that love makes you weak, but that’s a lie - because as he cuts through his foes on the battlefield with your smile on his mind, he knows that the man with someone worth fighting for is the strongest one of all.

01. Motion It all happens so very quickly - one moment your husband is at your side and the next, he’s pulling you underneath him and you can only watch in horror as he uses his body to shield you from the thousands of arrows that come raining down.

IV. Saizo

11. Blur The pair of you zip through the trees dizzyingly fast to leave the world behind, and when his fingers curl into your skin just a little tighter, holding you against his warmth, you thank the gods for his rare selfishness.

44. Wall Lord Yukimura said once that he never lets anyone in - but as time goes on and you see the fondness in those knowing smirks, the softness in the red of his eyes, the affection in the way he speaks to you - you wonder if you’ve made your way in.

18. Attention For the first time, you find that the roles are reversed - now you are the one who prepares to leave the room (only to get a fresh basin of cold water, of course) whereas Saizo is the one who, fever-addled as he is, wraps his arms around your hips in a silent plea to stay.

16. Need You bite your lip, allowing your body’s responsiveness to his touch speak for itself, but your lover is nothing if not determined to hear you voice your desire - be honest with us, little lady, and I might be kind.

V. Masamune

28. Fortune He has given you so much already; you find it is only right to give him an omamori made with the pieces of your hair pin, and it is all the more worth it when he grants you that smile that melts your heart and says thank you, I’ll cherish it always.

32. Eye It still surprises him when you tell him how you feel - because when you say that you love him, he knows that you mean all of him - even the parts that he can’t accept, even the parts that he hates.

13. Change “I will live as long as there are people who depend on me - that will not change, Mother, not even for you.”

37. Time Soon his hair will start to gray, and the backs of your hands will begin to spot, but you will stay by his side as he will stay by yours - because with the moon as your witness, you have promised each other your years, your hearts, your everything.

VI. Kojuro

04. Last There is a certain degree of insecurity to be expected when with a man of Kojuro’s experience - but though you may not be his first lover, you intend to be his last.

23. Child He has joked about it more than once, but when you notice him splaying his fingers over your belly and pressing kisses to the soft skin there more often in recent months, you wonder if he is serious after all.

48. Precious He says it fondly with a smile first thing in the morning, he groans it into your skin when you two are coupled as close as can be, he declares it with a warning when you become overly aggressive in tidying his study - no matter how the word escapes him, you never grow tired of hearing it.

VII. Hideyoshi

05. Wrong “No titles, no honorifics, just me - Hideyoshi.”

08. Thousand You have heard the rumors of course - the man of a thousand lovers - and when he puts his skilled mouth between your thighs, you think that they must be true, that you are only one of a thousand.

07. One But when he laces his fingers with yours and breathes your name with all the reverence and love in the world, you know that you are wrong - that you are not one of a thousand, that you are only one.

VIII. Inuchiyo

35. Sudden You straddle him in attempt to tickle him under his arms, but when he looks up at you shock-still and breathless, lips parted with want, you pause and realize in that moment that nothing will ever be the same again.

24. Now You cannot keep thinking of the past - not when he’s pushing you down into the futon, your hands clawing at his clothing - not when you want him now, now, now.

29. Safe His face pressed to your neck, you hold him close - for with all the years you spent apart, you may not know the demons he battles, but because he spent his childhood protecting you, you’re now more determined than ever to return the favor.

27. Hide You peek demurely up at him from under the wataboshi and whisper you found me, and though his cheeks are flushed from happiness and anticipation, he manages to reply I always will.

IX. Ieyasu

02. Cool This must be a dream, you think upon waking and finding a poultice and a compress packed to your brow, but when he mutters shut your mouth and get better, the sentiment is so him that you realize this must be real after all.

45. Naked Every inch of you is mine, he declares, drawing his fingers down between your breasts, over your belly, settling in the wetness between your legs, from here to here to here.

42. Bother He reaches out to grasp your wrist, tugging you to sit back down next to him - his eyes only straying from his book for a half-second to tell you stay where you are - and you’ve never felt so loved.

X. Mitsunari

31. Book You know that no tome in the world can capture what he’s trying to say, so when you enter his chambers and see him flipping through pages with an embarrassed blush on his cheeks, you press his hand to your heart and cup his cheek and quietly remind him don’t think - feel.

33. Never For someone so learned, he rarely uses his words when it counts - but when he holds you close like this, capturing your mouth with strong but achingly sweet kisses, he doesn’t need to.

XI. Kenshin

34. Sing Let me hear it once more, he murmurs into your hair, trailing his fingers down your throat, across the sweat cooling on your skin, that lovely song that is mine and mine alone.

39. Torn Ah but this is my favorite as well, Lord Kenshin says dreamily as he caresses a ripped blue kerchief, and you wonder if it would be overstepping if you offered to mend it - at the very least, this place would be cluttered by one less thing.

43. God They call him thusly, and when you see the blood dripping from his sword and the crimson that stains the front of his robe, the fear in you cowers to the name so well-deserved.

XII. Shingen

30. Ghost The sharp pangs of loss have long faded, but even now you sometimes think you can still hear his heavy footsteps in the hall, see the flash of his red hair, feel his insistent lips upon your skin.

20. Picture When your son holds out a brush and paper and asks you to show him what his father looked like, you take both items with a smile born no longer of pain but of fondness as you say well my love, I shall try.

XIII. Shigezane

36. Stop Your breath catches when you hear his thinly-veiled threat to your lord - if you don’t start treating her right, someone else will - and he sounds so determined, so sure of the inevitability that you can’t help but think what if.

50. Believe When his forces are vastly outnumbered on the battlefield, he sends you running with a disarming smile and a trust me, doll, and you find that, despite all odds pitted against him, you do.

38. Wash Not there - here, he says cheekily, moving your hand holding the washcloth from his upper back to his front and down until you go scarlet.

XIV. Hotaru

03. Young He may not know the intricacies of human emotion - but that just makes you want to gather him close and love him all the same.

14. Command You know what he can do, how he can bend man’s will with just a word, but he never abuses that with you and never has to - for all he needs to do is smile and you would willingly give him everything.

XV. Kageie

25. Shadow He’ll back you into your room, pressing cold fingers to your mouth to coerce you into silence as his lips fall onto your neck, your chest, before drawing back and leaving you with not a trace, befitting of the shadow that haunts his name.

47. Harm ...Or so you think, until you wake up in the morning and notice a stark purple bruise on the swell of your breast - right there where his teeth had been.

XVI. Reader’s Choice

10. Learn You’re a quick study, he praises you on a sharp intake of breath, curling his fingers in your hair, and though your face reddens, you push the covers away so he can see you swallow him down.

22. Mad All it takes is a kiss, openmouthed and filthy - or a touch, over your clothes to all your sensitive spots, and you’re left trembling and quaking and mad with desire.

46. Drive His hands steering, your hair in the wind - no matter if it’s by horse or by car, four hundred years ago or now, you loved him back then as you love him today.

[rubyleeray]

Sengokink - The 12 Days of Chrismut: Day 2:  Masamune

http://archiveofourown.org/works/12926931/chapters/29700408

Masamune really loves eating MC’s food and realizes it tastes even better when eaten off her body. 

Previous Days: Day 1  

[rin412]

Love Ballad (Chapter 2)

~ A Samurai Love Ballad Party Fanfiction ~ ~Warning! Samurais x OC pairings! If you don’t like my pairing, I don’t care. lol~ ~Future AU~ ~Definitely OOC so please prepare yourself to vomit~

Yay, I’m here with new chap~

I hope you all enjoy it up until now huhu ;;

Here’s the links if you want to read the previous ones:

Prologue Chapter 1

Now, enjoy~

…….

“You see, actually I don’t want him to leave so soon…”

“Then why—“

“Because I’m afraid… I will make Myst suffer more…”

Myst… she just said Myst, didn’t she?

“Rin, do you remember? I said that I was stalking Mr. Katakura for someone.”

“O-oh, yeah… I remember…” so she admits that she was stalking.

“It was for Myst…”

“Myst….”

“O-oh, Myst is my friend. Her existence is like… a big sister to me. She’s a third year, and she’s currently in student council.”

“I… think I met her before…”

“You did?”

“N-not exactly met… uhh… I… just happened to saw her with Masamune, that’s all.”

“Ah, I see. So she’s still trying.”

“Huh? Trying?”

“O-oh, sorry. It’s nothing.” again, I see a fake smile from Yukina as she gets up from the bench, “It’s getting late. Let’s go home.”

“Sure…”

That’s the way of telling me not to ask more than this. Well, what can I do now? It’s not like I can force her. Her feelings are currently a mess too.

*a few days later*

It’s Saturday.

Yeah, Saturday…

Lazily, I wake up early in the morning. I open my room’s door, and go to dining room to see….. no one.

Nobody is here. It’s empty. This house… is always empty. No, it’s all right. I still have my family. I have my father and my mother. Though…

Both of them are working. Yeah, even in Saturday, when everyone usually rest.

“They’re busy again….” I mumble to no one in particular. I feel like I can only hear my echo in this big house. Oh well, I’m used to it already, so I think it’s not problem at all.

….

Haha, liar.

You know how you feel more than anyone else.

You know you want them to be at home. You know you want them to spend more times together with you. You know you miss them more than anything else in this world. And yet, you still managed an ugly lie like that? How stupid of you, Rin.

I know they’re doing their best for me, which is why I always hate myself for being such a burden to them. But even if I say that to them, they are going to be angry in return, so in the end I just have to be a good kid while being all alone like this.

Decided to refresh myself, I look up to see the clock, and I realize it’s almost the time for my usual routine.

*1 hour later*

With my heavy steps, I walk into the most familiar place I have ever known.

This calming, yet frustating air around….

The smell of pain, sadness, happiness, and loneliness that get mixed into capsules and syrups…

The sound of heart beat from everyone who’s fighting so hard for their life…

And even the sound of people who falls into the deepest part of darkness, because they finally know the feelings of losing someone important in their life…

Everything… everything in this place….

I hate it. I hate it so much. And yet….

I’m so used to it.

*a few hours later*

Done with my business, now I’m on my way to home. At least that’s what I wanted to do at first, but now…. I don’t feel like going home. Since I know I will be all alone again in the end.

Clutching my bag, I decide to just walk aimlessly. I don’t know where this feet of mine will bring me to, but as long as it’s a calming place, I don’t really mind.

But…. Suddenly…

“So dark.”

“…..?” I turn around, and there’s that rude guy—Ieyasu—right behind my back.

“You look more irritating than usual today.”

“….” I don’t feel like talking to him today. I think I will blame all my frustation if I talk to him right now, so I better just go.

But…

Before I can take a step to run away, he grips my arm, so tightly. As if trying to tell me that I shouldn’t run away from whatever I’m facing on right now.

So cruel.

Look at that harsh expression. Don’t look at me like that when you don’t know anything about me.

“Come with me.” He drags me along with him. Almost forcefully.

“W-where are you taking me to….?”

“Just shut up and follow me.”

“Are you trying to kidnap me…?!”

“Huh?! Like I will do something like that! And you have no worth even if I kidnap you, so there’s nothing to gain. It’s useless!”

“Wha—?!”

This guy is sooo rude!! I hate him!!

I feel like yelling. Yell from the bottom of my heart. But right now… I think I don’t have energy to even do that.

So, I can only let out a sigh.

*then*

He drags me to a nearby river bank. It’s so quiet here. So calming.

I see him walk away and sit down on the grass. I follow him and do the same.

No one between us talk for a while. Only the sound of the flowing water that fills the empty air.

Until…

“Wipe it off.”

“Huh?” I look at him, and he’s only staring back at me.

“Wipe that ugly face of yours.”

“Excuse me, I have always been like this since I was born.”

“That day…”

“Huh?”

“When I first met you in front of the gate… you didn’t have this ugly face.”

“……” w-what’s that… wait, that was a bit bad for my heart…!

“No reaction, huh.”

“I-I can’t do anything about it. I was born this way, I told you…”

“No…”

“O-ow!!” suddenly I feel a sting of pain in my cheek. Yes, he just pinched my cheek. Not to mention, really hard!

“I know you have annoying face, but not this ugly. Now wipe it off!”

“Ow ow ow!! Stop that!! You’re hurting me!!”

“I won’t let you go until you—“

“F-fine fine fine!! No more ugly face!! See? See?!” I try to smile despite the pain that I’m feeling right now.

For a moment, he’s still staring at me. Then slowly he let go of my cheek and somehow… gently poke it in return.

“….I-Ieyasu?”

He smiles. Mostly like a mocking smile. But….

“Yeah. This face is annoying indeed…”

“How rud—“

“But it’s the face that I know…”

“O-oh…”

“….and I like.”

“…..!”

What was that….

Why did he say something like that? What does that mean?

“What are you thinking about?” Ieyasu suddenly snap me out from my thoughts.

“Huh? N-no…. nothing!”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I like it better because it’s easier to tease you.”

“So you admit that you like to tease me…”

“Why not? Your reaction is interesting. And I like to see people suffering because of me..”

“How evil.”

“I take that as a compliment.”

“What were you even doing in that place, though?” honestly I didn’t think I would meet him at such timing.

“Ah, I was running away.”

“From your driver again?”

“No.. from my father. He’s so annoying and noisy recently.”

“So, you often comes here to calm yourself down?”

“Mn..”

“Did you have a fight with your father?”

“……..”

“Ie…yasu?”

That silence… he’s telling me not to ask more than this, huh. Fine, it’s not like I want to know anything about him anyway. F-for now, yeah…

*later, Monday*

I’m on my way to my class. The same morning as usual. A peaceful one.

Until…

“YUKIMURAAAAAAA!”

“Huh?!” I quickly stop myself from walking for a moment, just to see a… uhh… couple—maybe—run around in the corridor. The girl with purple long hair is chasing after Yukimura with an amazing thirst. Meanwhile Yukimura looks so scared and terrified. I-is he okay though?

GRAB!

“Caught you!!” the girl grins widely while hugging Yukimura from behind—after she forcefully pulled him—.

“K-Kohaku, the class is about to begin! Let me g—whoaaa—!!!! Wait wait wait wait!!! Where are you touching?!” Yukimura blushes furiously when that Kohaku girl is tracing Yukimura’s body up to his chest with her fingertip. U-ugh… what a sight early in the morning…

“Eeeh~? Embarassed now out of all time?”

“I-i-i-it’s school, you know!!! Stop!!”

“Don’t be shy, my boy~ I will make sure to treat you gently~”

“But, Koha—aaaah!!!”

“Wow, you’re screaming~”

“Because you just—aaah!!”

“I like your voice~”

Ah… I… I think I should go to my class soon.

I know Yukimura is popular, but to think there’s a girl that’s bold enough to approach him that way. She’s so brave, I admit that.

“They’re at again, huh…”

“….?” Suddenly hear a voice beside me, I look up to finally see Saizo there. He’s eating dango while watching the scene in front of him with such unreadable expression.

Realized that I’m staring at him, he’s looking down at me while munching his dango, “Mornin’.”

“Huh? O-oh, yeah. Morning.”

“That will take long enough, for sure..”

I look back at Yukimura and Kohaku, “Yukimura is so popular, huh. To think he even attracts that bold girl.”

“Good for him, yes?”

“Aren’t you popular too?”

“Am I now.”

“Wait, you got hundreds of chocolates in Valentine last year! And yet you didn’t realize that you’re popular?!”

“If they want to give me something, I will just accept. That’s all.”

“Ah… I see…” so this is that give and take thing? I feel bad for the girls.

TAP

“Huh?”

“……….”

Suddenly, I see her again in front of me. No, she’s now standing in front of Saizo, to be exact. Looking up at him, almost expressionless. Meanwhile Saizo is only eating his dango in silence and stares back at that girl. That heterochromia girl, Chise.

“……..”

“…….”

Both of them only stare at each other in silence. Until Chise says, “I hate dango.”

“Do you now.”

“You like dango.”

“I do, I guess.”

“……?” I don’t understand these two. Curious, I ask, “Chise, do you want to try Saizo’s dango?”

Sudenly for the first time, Chise shows me an expression. She frowns, and walks away while mumbling, “Don’t be stupid.”

D-did I say something wrong?! Did I just get on her nerve by asking unnecesarry thing?! But, I thought Chise likes Saizo…? Or at least that was what Chiaki said the other day…

Meanwhile, I look over at Saizo, and he’s still munching his dango in silence. He looks like he doesn’t care and just walks inside to his class. But somehow…

Deep inside those eyes…

I see a slightly dark shadow is surrounding him for a minute.

*then*

Finally, I arrive safely on my desk. It’s still early in the morning, and yet I’m so exhausted already.

“Rin, good morning.” Ane just arrived in class too and puts her bag on her table beside me.

“Ah, morning…” I smile to her.

“You look tired. Did something happen?”

“Nothing really.”

“Hmm, I don’t see it that way, though…”

“If something happened to you…” Ryuu who just came into the class suddenly approached me and smile, “…we don’t mind to listen. Right?”

Ane nods in agreement, “Yes! That’s right!”

Ah, these two. I really am glad to have friends like them. In return, I smile brightly, trying to convice them, “I’m fine, seriously! I just happened to see an amazing sight before I got here, so…”

“Amazing sight….?” Ane tilts her head, confuse.

“Ah…” looks like Ryuu understands what I’m talking about, “You mean Kohaku and Yukimura?”

“Oh, so you saw it too?” I look up at Ryuu in surprise.

“They always at it almost everyday, so yeah…” Ryuu chuckles while she’s imagining the sight of Kohaku ‘attacks’ Yukimura.

“I see. Well, who wouldn’t know if they do it in public, right?”

“Right? Sometimes, I kind of envy Kohaku.”

“Huh? You like Yukimura too?”

“No, not that! It’s just… I envy her braveness and straightfroward attitude. Y-you see, that kind of woman is so strong and admirable, don’t you think?”

Ane nods in agreement, “Yes, I agree! I wish I can be more straightforward with my own feelings too if someday I fall in love with someone!”

Ane…. She’s so cute and innocent, seriously.

But Ryuu…

I feel like… she was telling that to her own self. Does she has something in her mind? Not that I can ask right now. Maybe… one day she will open her heart more and trust me enough to tell me about it. For now, I will just spend my time with these two as usual. Enjoy, enjoy!

*then, lunch time*

Ugh… I didn’t get my bread this time….

Maybe I should consider to bring a lunch next time. But it’s such a pain to make it.

Sigh…

“Say say…”

Hm?

“It’s almost Valentine again this year…!”

“Ah, you’re right! Ugh, should I give him chocolate this time?”

“Yes yes! Go confess your feelings!”

I overheard the conversation between two girls in canteen. Now that they mention it, Valentine is only two weeks ahead. And to think I just talked about Valentine with Saizo too this morning. Haha, such a funny reminder.

Though, I don’t think I will give chocolate to anyone in particular. I don’t have someone that I like right now, so I can take it easy, I guess?

I walk off from the canteen. Giving up on my lunch already. Yeah, I guess you know who will get starving soon during the next class.

*then, after school*

I’m on my way to my home. I look around at my surrounding, and I notice that most of the stores are decorated in pink now. I see chocolate sales everywhere. Valentine is really close already, huh.

Not that I will make chocolate anyway. Besides, I don’t know how to make one, so it’s pointless.

GROWL~

Ugh. Okay stomach, I know you didn’t get what you wanted at lunch, so let’s buy one of those chocolates for you.

Feeling hungry, I decided to come into a nearby store to buy snacks.

Once I get into the store, I look around and I see chocolates. Chocolates. And chocolates.

Nice, and here I am trying so hard on my diet.

As I let out a sigh while picking up the most delicious chocolate for myself, I spotted someone that I know very well is currently looking at a recipe book.

It’s Yukina.

What’s she doing here? Could it be she’s going to make a chocolate too?

Curious, I approach her and peek the book she’s holding from her back, “Yukina?”

“WHA—!!!” again, she’s so surprised but once she turns and looks at me, “R-Riiiin! Stop making my heart stop for every time you call out to me!”

“Ahaha, sorry, sorry. You were just so serious, so I was curious. You’re reading a recipe book, right? Are you going to cook something?”

For a moment, Yukina blushes a little, and she averts her gaze from me. Clutching the recipe book tightly in her chest, “Y-yes… I was planning to make a chocolate.”

“Oh?! Are you going to give it to Mr. Katakura?!”

“T-that was… my plan at first… but…”

“But…?”

“After what I said the other day to him, I kind of afraid to face him now.”

“You know, Yukina.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t think Mr. Katakura is such narrow minded person. He’s only in our school for six months, but I can tell he’s a really nice person.”

“How can you tell..?”

“If he’s such a narrow minded person, he wouldn’t say those things with a smile.”

“…..!”

…….

“Even if you hate me….. even if you want me to leave soon…. I can’t leave yet. ”

……..

I smile as I pat Yukina’s shoulder who looks so surprised, “You were running away from him that time, so I guess you didn’t know. But that time, Mr. Katakura smiled and said, ‘To think someone would hate me. Maybe I should apologize to her.’”

“No… no! Mr. Katakura didn’t do anything wrong! I… I was the one at fault….”

“That’s why, go make that chocolate, and tell him how you feel. Properly.”

“Properly….”

“Your feeling is your feeling. What’s the point of trying to protect someone by making your own self suffer? Tell him that you want to apologize and tell him… that you love him so much.”

“C-confession….”

“Yes yes! A confession! I will definitely cheer for you, okay?”

“Rin…” Yukina finally smiles and holds my hand now, “Thank you, I will do my best! Oh, but…. What about Myst….”

“I don’t know what happened between you two, but like I said, it’s pointless if you’re trying to protect Myst’s feeling by making your own self suffer. So, try to let it go at least in Valentine, will you? In the end, no matter how big your feeling towards Mr. Katakura, he’ll be the one who decide to stay or not by your side. Right?”

“You’re right….” Yukina smiles wryly to my opinion, “I always try to protect Myst’s feelings… but I never protect my own properly….”

“And now is the time for you to finally make a move, okay?!”

“Yes! I will do my best!”

Oh, for the first time I finally see Yukina’s genuine smile. Hehe, she’s so cute.

“By the way Rin, what are you doing here?”

“Hm? ….ah! I was going to buy chocolate because I was hungry!”

“I see. Ahaha. I thought you’re going to buy chocolate because you wanted to give it to someone too.”

“No no no. I don’t have someone that I like after all.”

“Giving chocolate in Valentine day doesn’t always have to be a love confession, you know. You can give the chocolates for people you care about such as your friends or families. You know, it’s like a way for you to show them your grattitude.”

Friends… families… grattitude….

Hmm….

Now that I think about it…. Maybe she’s right….

“All right, I will give chocolates to my friends and my families in Valentine day!”

Yukina nods in agreement, “Yes! That’s Valentine spirit!”

We chuckle together, while paying for our own chocolates that we’re going to prepare for the upcoming Valentine day.

*two weeks later*

Finally, it’s Valentine. First, I gave my chocolate to my father and mother this morning before I went to school. They were so happy, even my father had to cried. He’s such a dramatic person, I swear. But it’s worth all the moneys that I spent then.

Yeah, I can only bought them since I don’t know how to make one…

I really am a failure for a woman….

And next, I gave them to Ane and Ryuu. They were happy to take it too. Ane even said she felt a bit manly to received a chocolate from a girl. Haha, she seriously was so cute.

And now, lunch time, I give my other chocolate to Yukina.

“Here Yukina. For you.”

“For me?” Yukina looks surprised, “Thank you! To think I received a chocolate from you. I’m so happy! I feel special! Ahaha.”

“Well, take this as my way of supporting you for today, okay?”

“Ah, I see. Yes! I will do my best!”

Whoa, look at her face. I can tell she’s so nervous.

And that time, as if God is pushing Yukina’s back to move on, Mr. Katakura is passing by the empty corridor where we talk.

“It’s him, Yukina! Go go!” I push Yukina’s back and she finally approaches Mr. Katakura.

“M-Mr. Katakura!” Yukina is definitely nervous, indeed. I hope she’s okay. Trying not to get in the way, I decided to just hide inside a classroom and peeking from between the door.

“Oh, Shiho. What’s wrong?” surprisingly, Mr. Katakura is acting normal. The same as usual.

“T-there’s… something that I want to talk about with you….”

“Sure. What is it? Oh, are you trying to tell me to leave this school again?”

“……..”

“Ah, I was kidding! I’m sorry, I—“

“Actually… I wanted to apologize about that…”

“Shiho…”

“I-it was rude of me, I know…”

“It’s fine. Getting a dislike from a student is usual thing for a teacher, I suppose. Ahaha.”

“But… but I don’t hate you, Mr. Katakura! I-in fact… I…. I….”

“………”

“I love yo—“

“Stop.”

“Huh?”

“I forgive you already, Shiho. So it’s fine. In fact, I think I’m the one who should apologize now.” Mr. Katakura smiles. The most painful smile for Yukina, “That chocolate. I think you better give it to someone more special.”

“Why…. But… Mr. Katakura… you’re—“

“Shiho.” a smile disappeared from Mr. Katakura’s face. He’s looking down at Yukina in such seriousness, “I’m sorry.”

Then, after he said that, he walks away back to teacher’s room.

Meanwhile, Yukina who’s feeling all shock, can only drop the tears from her widened eyes. Her slightly parted lips finally find its way to bite the lower one. Holding back the sound of her cry that echoed in the empty corridor.

To be continued~

P.s: Expect a very slow update. huhu.

[yonezawacastle]

She remembers two colors from that first winter in Oshu.

One is the endless expanse of white that veiled the fields and mountains for months on end.

The other is the crimson blush that stained Masamune's cheeks when he first asked her to share the warmth of his own bed.

[krys-loves-otome]

Writing Summary of 2021

Time again for my writing summary for the year! For last year's summary, check here!

Didn't do as many writing challenges as last year so the totals are gonna reflect that. Still, it was a pretty productive writing year, all things considered.

Let's crunch some numbers!

Posted Works to Ao3/Tumblr: 6

-Second Glance, Part 3 [Ikemen Sengoku, Hideyoshi x Preg!Reader, long fic]: 3,251

-Reunion [Midnight Cinderella, Alyn Crawford x Custom!MC]: 2,165

-Family [Ikemen Vampire, Arthur Conan Doyle x Preg!Reader]: 934

-I've Waited For This [Ikemen Vampire, Theodorus Van Gogh & Abigail Clarke (OC), Fictober 2021]: 2,702

-Fine, I Give Up [Ikemen Sengoku, Mitsuhide Akechi x Reader, Fictober 2021]: 942

-That Could Have Gone Better [Ikemen Revolution, Harr Silver x Madeline Fleming (OC), Fictober 2021]: 772

Total Word Count on Published Fanfics: 10,766

Posted Original Works: 0

Published Headcanons: 0

Published WIPs (That Were Written in 2021): 8

-Panic! In the Ballroom [Midnight Cinderella, Princess MC]: 165

-Future Daddy Shingen [Ikemen Sengoku, Shingen Takeda x Preg!Reader]: 665

-Kissings [Ikemen Sengoku, Ikemen Revolution, Ikemen Vampire, Mitsunari Ishida x Houki of Jiyel (OC), Kennyo x Ophelia of Revaire (OC), Harr Silver x Madeline Fleming (OC), Dorothea Reid (OC) x Theodorus Van Gogh x Arthur Conan Doyle, Abigail Clarke (OC) x Vincent Van Gogh]: 1,534

-Sebby The Magic Guardian [Ikemen Vampire, Sebastian x Reader, Fantasy AU]: 207

-Second Glance Pt 4 [Ikemen Sengoku, Hideyoshi x Preg!Reader, long fic]: 703

-I'm With You, You Know That [Ikemen Vampire, Dorothea Reid (OC) x Theodorus Van Gogh, Fictober 2021]: 578

-Comte for Fictober [Ikemen Vampire, Comte de Saint Germain x Reader, Cinderella AU, Fictober 2021]: 393

-Updated Houki and Nobunaga Playing Go [Ikemen Sengoku, Nobunaga Oda & Houki of Jiyel (OC), Fictober 2021]: 695

Total Word Count on Published WIPs: 4,940

Unpublished Wips (That Were Written in 2021): 6

-Suitors + Jealous of the Baby (IkeVamp Edition): 96

-Napoleon Bday Week (IkeVamp): 133

-Thea/Theo smut (IkeVamp): 55

-Self Indulgent Comte Comforting Your Homesickness (IkeVamp): 260

-Scene Rewrite of Shigezane's Epilogue (SLBP): 71

-Scene Rewrite of Masamune's Last Love Standing Video (SLBP): 448

Total Word Count on Unpublished Wips of 2021: 1,063

Essays/Commentary/Asks/Other Writings: 6

-Writer's Ask Meme: 578

-Fanfic Asks Themed Around Time: 321

-OC Naming Conventions: 431

-Houki Asks: 535

-Masamune Act 2 Summary (IkeSen): 2,854

-IkeSeries OCs Asks: 2,199

Total Word Count on Other Writings: 6,918

Total Word Count for 2021: 23,687

2021 still had its problems, but I am glad we made it this far, and like last year, I hope to see everyone in 2022 and that it's better than ever.

See you lovelies next year!

[haloshornsinkstains]

Kinktober Masterlist

All NSFW, all below cut For any and all Kinktober fics I do, any year

please see each fic for specific trigger warnings

- Knifeplay (Saizo SLBP) - Dirty Talk (Arthur IkeVamp) - Orgasm Denial (Mitsuhide IkeSen) - Breathplay (Motonari IkeSen) - Double Penetration in 2 Holes (Leviathan) - Sensory Deprivation & Waxplay (Mitsuhide IkeSen) - Tentacles (Tamaki Amajiki BNHA) - Nipple Play (Zen Mystic Messenger) - Pegging (Mammon) - Somnophillia (Belphie) - Stockings (Kyle IkeRev) - Biting (Masamune IkeSen) - Spanking & Body Worship (Comte IkeVamp) - Collaring & Face Sitting (Motonari IkeSen) - Massage (Sirius IkeRev) - ABO & Breeding (Hawks) - Semi-Public Sex (Kuroo)

[bigboyazia]

the fleeting fox, red and coy

a reinterpretation of of ninjas and foxes by @frywen-babbles. (this is a fanfiction of a fanfiction, if you will.)

title from “kyūbi no kitsune in disguise” by lain ender.

note: should i have written a story about saizo before playing his route? you decide. oh, and i will gladly remove this story if the original author feels uncomfortable with the fact that this is based off of something that they wrote! i only mean the utmost respect to the original work, as it is something that i cannot stop thinking about.

the numbers throughout the story refer to the of ninjas and foxes chapter that is being referenced.

prelude —

 You loved Masamune with all of your heart, mind, body, and soul. And he loved you too just as much. But his mother didn’t. She spread a rumor that you were a kitsune hell-bent on bringing the downfall of the Date clan. The news managed to reach the wrong hands and you were taken from your lord, and you would do anything – absolutely anything – to return to him. But for now, you were stuck in a temple by, not only a watchful lord, but an even more watchful ninja as the messenger to the gods themselves and the bringer of prosperity for a clan that was far, far away from your new home in Yonezawa.

10 —

 You stared ahead in the palanquin, eyes focused on the wood of the floor. Sudden girlish giggling disrupted your thoughts. Your fingers inched toward the blinds, but you stopped. Were you allowed to do such a thing? Your new life was filled with restriction on top of restriction. You felt like if you breathed wrong, people would be down your throat.

 “She’s the kitsune?”

 “She’s supposed to be the messenger to Inari Ōkami?”

 More giggling. Some were high-pitched. Some were nearly barks.

“Who’s that? Never heard of that name before!”

 “I don’t know… I think that’s supposed to be our God.”

 In unison: “Ooh! Ooh!” Then, roaring laughter. Your hand remained wavering by the blinds. They definitely weren’t the voices of the people in the castle or the temple. They didn’t dare talk to you, nonetheless joke around with you.

 You heard clicking noises, the sound that a person would make to attract a dog. “Kitsune, kitsune, won’t you please come out to play?” Your thoughts stilled. It seemed like it was simply just women coming out to tease you and you have had enough of people looking at you the wrong way. You moved your hand back to your side and bunched the skirt of your outer kimono in your hand. You could endure a verbal lashing for just a little while longer. You’ve suffered worse. “Aw, she put her hand down. Are you a shy one?”

 Your eyes widened. No, no, no. There was no possible way that they could see inside of the palanquin.

 “A shy kitsune? A rarity indeed! It’s a miracle!”

 “Sōma-sama caught a good one!”

 They were cackling. Everyone was having the time of their lives based off your misery. You bit your lip as you pulled the blinds back. An unexpected sight met your eyes: geisha. Of all ages, shapes, and sizes. There were so many – that was what shocked you – you estimated more than twenty. A young shikomi stood up front with her hands folded over her stomach and looked up at you with a curious glimmer in her large, dark eyes. Deep rouge lipped, black teeth smiles creased the rice white-powered faces of the dozen maiko surrounding you. There were three geisha. The one closest to you was the only one of them smiling. There was even what you assumed to be their proprietress towards the back of the group with amusement etched into the wrinkles of her face.

 “Hello.” The smiling geisha in front you bowed. The others followed suit. Her voice was the one that had mentioned you had put your hand down.  

 “H-Hello,” you replied. You returned their greeting gestures. “How did you…?” Should you even bother asking? The woman quirked her eyebrow up at you. She was tall, nearly as tall as the palanquin. Her face was all sharp angles and cheekbones. Intimidating, but you knew you couldn’t let it show on your face. You had to ask. You had to say something. “How did you know I put my hand down?”

 “From one vixen to another,” she leaned down slightly towards you, “it is only intuition.” Her breath had a peculiar scent. You could practically taste the salt and soybeans and something else that was just on the tip of your tongue, but you couldn’t name it. You resisted wrinkling your noise. Your fingers still twitched. It felt like ages – no, it had been ages – since your carefree days in the kitchens of Yonezawa. This woman probably made tofu whenever she felt like it (and it must have been often, based upon how strong the scent of beans lingered on her breath). She backed away with a grin. “Enjoy the festival, kitsune-chan.” They all simultaneously bowed before they turned around and walked away, murmuring to themselves all along the way. You continued to stare after them until you felt the glare of one the temple’s doorkeepers on the back of your head. You closed the blinds with a heavy sigh. What a strange interaction… You bunched up the skirt of your kimono again and tried not to think about it too much.

 *

 You heard a rustle just outside of the window. You fruitlessly wiped at your tears. “Go away!” You called out. You didn’t care who heard you. It didn’t matter anymore. The sounds continued. “I said that I wanted you to leave me alone!” It was getting louder. A frown crossed your face. All would say that Saizo’s greatest idiosyncrasy was his swift entrances and exits. You crawled on your hands and knees towards the window. The sounds stopped once they reached the veranda.

 Something was out there. Now, the question was do you go after it or not? What did you have to lose? And it wasn’t as if you were escaping (and you couldn’t even if you wanted to). You were only going to check out on the veranda and go right back in. It was most likely only an animal shuffling across the temple grounds back towards the forest. At least, that’s what you kept repeating to yourself as you slid the door open.

 Something was rolling your way. A ball? You got onto your knees and looked around. Surely it was too late for children to be out playing. But, no, that didn’t make too much sense. You haven’t seen any children around for the entire duration your stay at the temple. There had only been Sasuke and the little girl with the geisha during the festival. So, why would there be children now, especially during the middle of the night?

 Was it a weapon? You gasped. Whatever it was, it was glowing. A soft lavender was emitting from the deep purple orb. Was it… safe to touch? The veranda shook. You fell over onto your stomach and felt the ball roll over against your hand. You tried to steady yourself as you picked it up. Were there possibly samurai doing some late night training? But back in Yonezawa the samurai never trained so hard to the point that the buildings shook. Your fingers roamed over the ball. It felt like crystal, yet soft and nearly moldable at the same time. There was another boom. Dirt managed to get up onto the veranda. The glowing from the orb suddenly became so bright that you had to shield your eyes.

 There was a thud next to you. You clutched the orb to your chest and had to bite your lip to hold back a scream. It looked like a person. A woman? She was facedown and her hair spread out all around her, covering her face. You took a slow step towards her. You could suddenly feel the night chill work its way through your body, through each layer of kimono that you had left on since the festival. “Are you okay?” You whispered. No response. You took another step. You had to put the ball behind your back. It was reaching blinding levels. “Ma’am…?” You glanced around again. No one managed to hear the commotion? You still tucked the ball underneath your sleeve just in case the light managed to attract anyone.

 You made haste to move the woman’s hair out of the way to expose her neck. Blood covered the bottom half of her face and disappeared down into her clothes, but she was still breathing and still had a pulse. Maybe she was just unconscious. You carefully rolled her onto her back. Oh! It was the geisha who had spoken to you during the festival. The one who had somehow known you lowered your hand from the palanquin’s blinds and whispered to you. But what was she doing by the temple, especially at night…?

 You could see her eyes beginning to move behind her eyelids. Her body was suddenly growing so pale. “I’m sure you will forgive me for doing this,” you whispered as you began to undo her kimono. It was as you thought. The wound originated from her neck and managed to travel down to her chest, just above her heart. It didn’t quite look like the familiar laceration from a sword, but a deep scratch mark. Had she been attacked by an animal? Surely a woman would scream if she was being attacked in general, but you had heard no such thing.

 No matter. You made quick to go back inside the temple and fetch all the makeshift medical paraphernalia you could.

 11 —

 A frown creased your face. “So soon?” Saizo nodded. “I had asked Moritane-sama to have a tea house made for me since he’s been begging to fulfill a wish of mine. What a shame that I will never get to enjoy it.” You folded the kimono he handed you over in your hands. “Hm? What’s with the look?”

 “Hadn’t you been begging for another chance with your lord? You would rather take a hut over him?”

 “Did you expect more from a kitsune?”

 “…Perhaps not.” His eyes flickered away momentarily before he turned back to you. “The war will be here soon. Change clothes and leave. Hide. Survive. I’ll come for you.” His fingers danced across your cheek before he leaned in to kiss you. You could feel something akin to hesitation between his lips though. It was so brief that if you blinked you would’ve missed it. Hadn’t he been such a surely, confident person before? What changed?

 “Is… there something wrong?” Your breath wasn’t too horrendous, was it? There wasn’t any more black dye on your teeth or lipstick lingering on your lips to your knowledge either, so he couldn’t have tasted that. “I thought you liked me,” you murmured against his lips. He didn’t reply. You caught the ghost of a smile that graced his face before he disappeared.

 12 —

 Once the twilight began to peek through the heavy canopy of the forest, your cries ceased. You slowly pried your red-rimmed eyes open and looked around. You were still high up in the trees. Still being held against the ninja’s chest. Still being searched out by the Date clan’s samurai.

 But more importantly, there was a silkworm in front of you. Inching its way across the branch just by your nose. You were in a mulberry tree? What good luck. You placed one hand over Saizo’s before you reached out for the caterpillar. You felt him stir slightly against your back. “People usually enjoy these when they’re boiled in sweet and sour sauce with some soy sauce and sugar,” you whispered. How many times had silkworms been served in the restaurant in Kyoto? Probably not too often, you thought. “Tsukudani is good, but…” You sighed and enclosed the silkworm in your hand. You could feel it squirming around. Its hairs tickled your palm.

 “But?”

 “Nothing.” You let the silkworm back on the branch. “I have always preferred to eat them in another way, that’s all.”

 “Have you found the ninja and kitsune yet?” Your eyes looked down. They were really determined to find you two.

 “No, not yet.”

 “Keep searching. They couldn’t have gone too far.”

 “Hey, Saizo,” you dropped your voice even lower. He leaned your chin even further onto your shoulder. “What do you think someone would want to do with a kitsune and a ninja?”

 “Many things.”

 “Such as?”

 “Perhaps they will boil us together like silkworms.”

 “Sounds delici—no, horrible. We would taste… questionable.”

 14 —

 You tried to close the door behind you as quietly as possible when you reentered the hideaway. “I was thinking that you had fell in.”

 “Hm?” Had you woken him up? No. He must have already been up, you figured. His wound had been doing quite nicely. You kneeled and set the water that you had gathered in between the two of you. You could just make out a sliver of his hair and eyes through the darkness. He was a stunning creature, all odd colors mixed together in a truly off-color individual. “In the well? No. I don’t consider myself to be that clumsy.” You looked up to him with a small smile. You wondered if he could see it. A small part of you hoped not. “You should really give me more credit…”

 “Why, are we suddenly feeling neglected, little kitsune?”

 “And if I was, would you do something about it?”

 “Maybe. Maybe not.”

 “Must you leave everything ambiguous?” You took out a fresh strip of cloth and began to dampen it. You thought that it would be wise to redress his bandage before you two headed out again. Out of the corner of your eye, you just managed to catch the muscles of his arms tighten then loosen. If your eyes hadn’t been adjusted to the darkness, you would’ve missed it. He was truly an oddity, was he? “I don’t get a ‘thank you?’” You teased once you secured the bandage. “Oh well…” You went to go dispose of the bloodied cloth.

 15 —

 “Milord, you should be careful! Kitsune are known to be devious and untrustworthy an—!”

 Shingen cut Yukimura off with the wave of a hand. “But if she really is the messenger of Inari we should gain greatly having her here with us, don’t you agree, Yukimura?” Yukimura’s head turned away briefly before you could feel him staring daggers into your back. Of course he was. Everyone in the room was the moment Saizo announced that you were Sōma’s kitsune. What a predicament. You felt a certain emotion bubble in the pit of your stomach. “After all,” Shingen’s voice wove back into your consciousness, “the time she spent with the Date and Sōma were very prosperous for them. Why shouldn’t we want the same for the Takeda clan?”

 “Not too prosperous, milord. War came to both the Date and the Sōma during my time with them.” For some reason or another, Shingen found hilarity in your words.

 “She has a sharp tongue!” Shingen was the only one who found it funny.

 “If you bring anything disadvantageous to the Takeda clan and milord Shingen,” a samurai said from behind you seethed, “I shall destroy anything and everything that is dear to you, vile kitsune.”

 The emotion that you had felt in the pit of your stomach, it wasn’t anger. It was downright fury. Rage – unadulterated. You snapped and put your “sharp tongue” to work before you could even think about it. You ended your rant with, “You might just a well kill me now!” You even moved the collar of your kimono aside to display the tender skin of your neck. “Go on, kill me! I dare you!” Surely if one of them brought out a sword and cut through one of the tendons of your neck it would be a quick, measly death to a quick, measly life. The samurai that had threatened you didn’t step forward to fulfill your request. He didn’t even say anything. His eyes slid over to where Shingen sat high on his dais.  

 “Masatane, kitsune-sama—calm down. The lady clearly has the upper hand here.” Shingen gestured toward you. “What is your name?”

 “Sakura.” You slowly fixed the collar of your kimono. No one seemed too eager to actually go through with your pitiful request. You felt tears sting the corner of your eyes, but you held your ground. You couldn’t give anyone the satisfaction.

 Shingen’s smile widened. “Sakura-hime,” he let the name really roll off his tongue, “why don’t you pledge allegiance to me?” His words only reminded you of the fact that it was nearly a year ago when you were steps away from possibly being Lady Date Sakura.

 17 —

 “I have no plans on waiting forever. If you were a proper lady I would have no qualms about letting you go if you wanted to. But you’re not a proper lady, are you, kitsune-sama? You are mine whether you like it or not.”

 “Whether I am yours or not does not diminish my status as a proper lady, milord.” Your voice was on the verge of a hiss to match his tone. “Now, please, let me go.” Shingen’s grip on your arm tightened. What was with men thinking that they could do as they pleased with you? They touched you and grabbed you as they pleased. They tossed you from castle to castle like a plaything. They acted as if your fate was some type of moldable object. You were literally a slab of dough being stretched out and tossed around and beaten to death by too many cooks in the kitchen.

 He said something about continuing your conversation for another day before he traced his fingers up and down and across the delicate framework of your face and collarbones. “The structure of your face is classic for a vixen.”

 “I could say the same for you. And even Saizo too. Dare I say you two look more like foxes than me even.” Once again, he managed to find some type of enjoyment in your words.  He pressed his lips against the contour of yours and it took everything within you to suppress the urge to lurch back.

 When he left, you found yourself absentmindedly falling to the floor. It called to you. You had to answer.

 18 —

 “Have you considered my offer, Sakura-hime?” Shingen asked.

 “My answer is…” You cleared your throat. “If my request to be returned to the Date clan will be continually rejected by milord, then the only other thing that my heart desires is my own tea house.”

 “A tea house?” He cocked one of his thick eyebrows as he nestled his cheek in his hand. “Why?”

 “I… come from a restaurant in Kyoto, milord. And I have always had a soft spot for the comings and goings that come with a tea house. But I will only accept one if it is placed in a location where people can visit it and I am allowed to visit it also. I don’t even have to be the proprietress! Just please…” You took in a deep breath. “That is all I could ask of you if you will not let me go back to my lord.”

 He scrutinized you for a good minute before he shrugged. “Your wish is my command.” You immediately got onto your hands and knees and bowed before him.  

 “Thank you, milord.”  

 *

 “What happened, little lady?” Saizo murmured once Yukimura left your room. You had screamed. You had shouted. You were just a miniscule away from a full-blown meltdown. Did Yukimura deserve to be the butt of your anger? No. He just wanted to help you but he had unfortunately been a convenient outlet. You made a mental note to yourself to be sure to find some way to look for his forgiveness later. He wasn’t all too bad, really. The only negative things about him were his unshakable faith in Lord Shingen and his wavering distrust of you. “Were we not in a good mood just a little while earlier?”

 “I… I think I made a mistake,” you managed to say through your tears. Tears of anger were one thing and tears of sadness were another. Experiencing a combination of the two at once was taking an avid toll on your body. “No, no, I definitely made a mistake.”

 “And that would be…?” He was beginning to stroke soothing circles across your back. The weight pressing down on your chest was lifted a little bit.

 “It’s just… It’s just I don’t think I should have asked for something just to shut Lord Shingen up. I should have held my ground. I-I’m so w-weak, I’m—” Sobs wracked your body again. He moved your head down to rest on his lap. His touch was rough, but his intentions were gentle. “I’m sorry for—”

 He cut you off, “What did you ask for?” He leaned down. “Let me guess: a tea house?” You nodded. “Hm…”

 “Just something simple. And it’s a place where I could get away, I guess, but I still shouldn’t have asked for anything.” What would Masamune think of you giving up so easily? You were better than that.

 19 —

 “If you help me… I’ll give you a child.”

 “…Are we sure we know what we’re asking for?” Shock and bewilderment was a rarity for Saizo. It was simply just not a part of the many facets of the gem that was his personality.

 “Yes.”

 “I could hurt you.” He pulled you in closer. “I could… utterly destroy you.”

 “I don’t care.” It was a chance you were willing to take. You would do absolutely anything to get even a glimpse of Masamune again. “Please.” It seemed like pleading and begging had become a daily occurrence with you. But the results: always utter fruitlessness.

 “Strip.” You sucked in a breath between your teeth. You were forever at the beck and call of the man. Not just him, but any man – every man. Your supple femininity swiftly cut through the darkness and exposed itself in all of its quivering yet serious glory to his cold and clinical masculinity. But the sure strong voice that had commanded you only seconds before disappeared somewhere as he approached your bare form. What was the problem? Was your silhouette not enticing enough? No, that wasn’t quite it. You could practically hear his thoughts. They were buzzing and jumbling and screeching before they all came to a halt when he leaned in to kiss you.

 His kisses were always so inconsistent. They ranged from chaste to suffocating and you had taken a sole taste of the fruit that he had to offer. He stopped mid-kiss, mid-grasp on your waist. “I can’t do this.”

 “What? What’s wrong?” You took the hem of your disrobed kimono and held it against your chest. “You’ve come after me all this time. Now is a peculiar time to suddenly lose your attraction to me.”

 “That is it.”

 “Hm?” Did everything he say always have to be some sort of puzzle? “What are you talking about?”

 “Come here.” He beckoned to you with his finger. You craned your neck back up to him. His hand secured itself around your throat and jaw as he resumed the kiss. No, it wasn’t quite a kiss. It was almost like he was inspecting and exploring your mouth with his own. His tongue mapped out every corner and every crevice – especially your teeth: from its smooth fronts and backs, then the gumlines, and the crowns. He finally parted from you after you felt thoroughly surveyed.

 And debauched. You were hot and flustered all over. Your kimono had long ago slipped out of your fingers. Your hands were against his chest. One of his was on your elbow and the other was on the small of your back. His nails began to sink into your skin as his eyes fluttered over your face. Was he taking it all in? Your lips were surely dark and swollen. Your eyes were surely even darker and focused only on him. “Saizo,” you breathed out. His eyes loitered on your lips. “Please.”

 “I can’t.”

 Your eyes widened. Again? A pout formed on your lips. “W-Why not?” You were sure that there were going to be angry red marks on your back and bruises on your elbow, he was squeezing you so hard.

 “Because you’re not Sakura, are you, little lady?”

 You weren’t Sakura?

 “Huh?” She gasped. “I am Sakura. What are you talking about?”

 “Don’t play games with me.”

 “Saizo, what are you talking abo—?” Sakura hissed in pain when he dug his nails even deeper into her. “Ah! Let go, you’re hurting me!”

 “Tell me, where have we put the true Sakura?”

 “Nowhere! Saizo, I don’t understand what you’re talking about!”

 “Do you need evidence?” He released Sakura and she fell on her buddle of stripped clothes. “You don’t taste like Sakura. Your teeth are sharper than hers. Your nose, your cheekbones, your jaw, your eyes—it’s all subtle, but they’re sharper than Sakura’s too. It’s a matter not only physical, but also in the linguistics. You speak differently than her. You speak with not confidence, but detachment.”

 “You’re certainly one to talk about detachment.” Sakura shrugged her clothes back on. She flashed him a pointed look as she went into the motions of retying her obi.

 “Who are you?”

 “Sakura.” In less than the blink of an eye, his hands were around her jaw and neck. Her hands carefully enveloped around his wrists. “Please. You’ll bruise me.” A smile twisted onto her lips. Absolutely nothing like Sakura’s. At all. Sakura’s smile budded slowly like a sapling and blossomed into cherry blossoms – soft and novel, but delicate above all. This imposter’s smile was as sickeningly saccharine as the fruit of a cherry and the surrounding browning, curling leaves.

 A silent battle commenced between the two of them. The contenders were their eyes.

 20 —

 “You know, the offer still stands, shinobi-san. It’s an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have offspring with these ‘special’ abilities that men crave so much.” She couldn’t help but laugh when he pulled at her restraints. She was being led through the forest like some type of animal by a man who refused to look at her. “I can stay in Sakura’s form too. I know you really like her for some reason or another.” She sighed. “You know, I don’t get it really, but I guess there is a certain charm about you if I squint hard enough to find it. You’re a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside of an enigma.”

 21 —

 “Sakura is right there,” she murmured, “on the veranda with her lover.” Did he not like that word? Lover. There was a glint in his eye before he put on his mask. Well, it was only true. Had Sakura not spend her entire time spent away from Masamune to find a way to return to him? Even when he had publicly rejected her, she still wanted to come back. She watched as he melted into the night. It took a keen eye to notice his figure approaching the snuggled silhouettes. What business did he have disturbing a lady and her lord?

 A conflict definitely was going to erupt, and as appealing as it was to witness a fight, there was a portion of the bargain that needed to be upheld.

 So, before the first scream echoed into the night and the first sword clashed against the other, you returned back to the Takeda clan.

 23 —

 “Sakura-hime.”

 “Good evening, Kansuke-sama. Do you need something?”

 “Is it still not your intention to go to Harunobu’s bed?”

 “Once I sleep with anyone in your place, our deal is off. You will return to being Sakura the ‘kitsune’ and I will return to being Renka the geisha. No exceptions.”

 “I…” You thought that you had mastered the art of being Sakura. She was a timid and shy creature. She was always pausing, always considering, always musing over her next thought and her next words whenever she didn’t need to. Whenever it was a time to think, she only acted on her impulses. “If it is what my lord asks of me, then I have to obey, don’t I?”

 “You just do everything little thing that’s asked of you, don’t you? Why don’t you ever do whatever you want? If you only stood your ground, you wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place. You’re a pitiful creature like the rest of them, aren’t you?”

 “I suggest you stay as far away from him as possible. Denying him and running away has only increased his interest in you.”

 “I don’t get it. It must be your face. You look trusting. And you’re as sweet as candy too. It’s sickening. You always put others before yourself, no wonder you’re so easy to use. I don’t consider these good traits at all. Look at me! Touch this skin. Feel this face. No one would even consider using me! See how fake kitsune get caught, but the real ones still live amongst the unsuspecting?”

 “I’m sorry.” You bowed your head down in shame. “That was not my intention at all. You must be very upset with me…”

 “You always apologize whenever you step on somebody’s toes, but I noticed that people have never apologized to you and you never ask them to no matter how much wrongdoing they subject you through. Why is that? Don’t you think that you deserve kindness like anyone else?”

 “I’m not upset with you. You’re awfully young, aren’t you?”

 “How old are you? You’re so naïve. If I were you and I had a kitsune at my every whim and command, I would ask to kill the ninja and the clan he comes from and ask for protection of my original lord’s clan.”

 You sighed and looked away. Precious Sakura wouldn’t be able to answer such a hard-hitting question. “I’m sorry for troubling you, but Shingen-sama must be waiting for me already. So, if you’ll excuse me…” There was no point for uselessly conversing any longer. You gave a parting bow then you walked toward Shingen’s door. You cleared your throat before announcing yourself. You touched at your face before he could open the door. Were your features really too sharp?

 “Kitsune-sama,” he purred, “what are you prepared to do for me?”

 “I am prepared to do anything that you have to offer, milord.” Ah, now you could see the speaking problem. Your response should have been a little more delayed and a little more timid, but you didn’t want to drag anything out. You reached up and pulled your hair down so it could come down in as equally as loose tresses as his were. Instantaneously, he was on you when you lowered your collar. A woman’s neckline was a delicacy – everyone knew that. You grasped the strands of his hair around his shoulders as his lips trailed up and down your exposed skin. You were irresistible. You were meant to be. You couldn’t have been anything else.

 You both didn’t even make it to his bedding and didn’t wait to fully remove your clothes. He had you just adjacent to his door. With you pressed back against the wall, he buried deep inside you – and… and…

 He stilled his hips against yours. He clenched your thigh even closer to his waist. You could feel him smirk against your neck. You could sing praises into his skin forever.

 24 —

 And you did in the morning when you sat behind him, legs crossed, and combed his hair. He remained silent the entire time. Only when you ended your song, saying, “This is the first time I have met a man with hair as long as mine,” and finished fastening the tie to his hair, did your charm end. You moved his hair behind his ear before you leaned down to whisper, “May I go to the tea house you built for me today, milord?” He hummed in approval, and may have said something else, but it didn’t matter. You pressed a kiss against his cheek in gratitude.

 The charade was officially over.

 10 —

 Once you fetched what you deemed as good enough supplies, you ran back as fast as you could to the fallen woman. What would everyone think if they found a woman bled out from scratch marks in your room? You would surely be branded as not only a kitsune, but as part of the yako – and you really couldn’t have that. They still thought that you were divine and a messenger of Inari, which wasn’t exactly great, but it was better than being feared as a vengeful monster.

 You cleaned her wound as best as you could given the circumstances. Her complexion was too faded for your liking. You went through the memory banks of your mind, back when you spent your days with the sick and injured in the Date clan. The woman could already be in of the process of bleeding out despite your best efforts. But the steady movement behind her eyelids still gave you hope.

 And the fact that you could feel her hand grasp at your arm. “Hey,” you called out, voice low, “are you feeling okay?”

 “Give… Give it back.”

 “Huh? Give what back?”

 “My… Give it back…” She held her hand out. You yelped and jumped back. The ball in your sleeve burned at your skin. Was that what she wanted? You used your sleeve to roll it over toward her. You didn’t understand how it would help— “Thank you.”

 “You’re… welcome?” Your eyes widened. “Y-Your skin—!” It was some type of miracle! The slash on her chest was closing itself up. Her skin was brightening to a healthier hue.

 “Okay. What is it?” The woman asked. Her sharp fingernails tightened over the orb. Its blinding light diminished into a much softer, tolerable glow.

 “W-What is… what?”

 “What is it that you want?” She tucked the ball into her own sleeve. “You saved me. So I am in your debt.”

 “I… You…?” You shook your head. “I don’t want anything. I just want for you to be okay.”

 “You are making a mockery of me, aren’t you? My specialty lies in sound, so I may not be one of the flashier kitsune with fire or water powers and I also may not be a messenger to Inari, but I can do something for you.”

 You gasped. “Y-You’re really a kitsune?” You had only thought she was bluffing earlier at the festival. Just another person to add to the list of those that teased you. Your heart was about to beat out of your chest. “I don—No, it’s okay! Really!” You waved your hands in between the both of you with an uneasy smile. “I don’t want anything from you!”

 “You may not want anything, but you need something.” She closed her eyes and began to hum. You felt dizzy all of a sudden. “Let me guess, you want out of here, don’t you? I could bring your mother and brother back to life and break you out of here.”

 Your hand flew up to your chest. If your heart wasn’t pounding before, it surely was now. “You can do that?” You almost forgot to keep your voice down. Her smile seemed to curl at the ends.

 “No!” She laughed as if it was the funniest thing ever. “I got you!” Your hand gripped at your collar.

 “I should’ve figured…” As you thought, just another person who wanted to play with you, and a trickster kitsune at that. “If you can’t do that, then my only request is to see milord Masamune again.”

 “That can be arranged.” You didn’t look up.

 “Really? Or are you just joking again?”

 “No. See?” She held out her hands. “Humans’ hands tend to sweat and shake whenever they lie, but look at my hands—trustworthy.”

 “So you’ll help me escape from here?”

 “Wouldn’t your little ninja friend be against that though?”

 “I…” You held your head down. “You’re right.” But it couldn’t be hopeless. You had to think of some way to return to Masamune – no matter what. “I… think I have an idea.”

 “I’m all ears.”

 “Do you think there’s a possible way that you could take my place? Kitsune have shapeshifting powers, so it will just be for a little while so I have the chance to see milord again, and then we’ll go back to normal.” She blinked. You bit your lip. “Is that not possible either? Maybe—”

 “How old are you?” It was your turn to blink. “You’re so naïve. If I were you and I had a kitsune at my every whim and command, I would ask to kill the ninja and the clan he comes from and ask for protection of my original lord’s clan.”

 “I can’t do that! I couldn’t kill him!” You covered your mouth. Hopefully no one heard your cries.

 She peered off into the night. “Alright. Whatever you say. Do I have permission to come into your dreams tonight?”

 “Come into my dreams?” You knew that kitsunes could give people visions, but whenever that happened the person would be driven into madness. And wasn’t that basically possession? That didn’t sound too good. “I don’t know about that…”

 “I’m not going to do anything bad. I only want to be able to study you so I can masquerade you properly without a certain shinobi eavesdropping in. I’m surprised he’s not out here now.”

 “That’s because—”

 “You two got into a fight?” You nodded. “Me too. Men are vile, aren’t they? Whether beast or human.”

 11 —

 “M-Masamune-sama! I’m so glad I found you!” You didn’t care if everyone was watching, you openly wept into his chest.

 Your plan lingered on the back of your mind.

 12 —

 “Has Saizo found out about you?” You whispered. She shook her head. You let out a sigh of relief. “Ah, that’s good then. Kojuro-sama is letting me hide out in here. All you have to do is pose as me out there and Saizo should find you.”

 “Got it.”

 14 —

 “What are you doing back here? Aren’t you supposed to be with your precious Masamune?”

 “I just—I had to thank you. I’m sorry.”

 “…You’re always doing that.”

 “D-Doing what?”

 “You always apologize whenever you step on somebody’s toes, but I noticed that people have never apologized to you and you never ask them to no matter how much wrongdoing they subject you through. Why is that? Don’t you think that you deserve kindness like anyone else?”

 “I don—I mean, of course I want kindness.”

 “But do you get it? That’s the real question. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get the shinobi some water.”

 “Why? Is he okay?”

 “You really do care about him, don’t you? Don’t worry. I’m taking good care of him.”

 “Please. I-If—If something happened to him, I’d…”

 “I know.”

 18 —

 “Hey.”

 “W-What? What is it? Did something happen to Saizo?”

 “No. He’s fine. Something happened to me though. So I need a break. I accepted Shingen’s offer to have a tea house made and I need a retreat there. So we will be swapping places again for a little while.”

 “O-Okay. I’ll tell Masamune-sama. Um, what’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”

 “I don’t get it. It must be your face. You look trusting. And you’re as sweet as candy too. It’s sickening. You always put others before yourself, no wonder you’re so easy to use. I don’t consider these good traits at all. Look at me! Touch this skin. Feel this face. No one would even consider using me! See how fake kitsune get caught, but the real ones still live amongst the unsuspecting?”

 “I…  I’ll try harder to be the woman that you think I can be, alright?”

 “Don’t do it for me. Do it for yourself. Do it for your mother.”

 19 —

 “I’m scared. I think he’s figuring it out.”

 “Hm? Why do you say that?”

 “I was crying last night and—”

 “Lower your voice.”

 “Sorr—I mean, it’s the way he talks to me. We have to end this…”

 “How so?”

 “He told me that if I had his baby—because he wants a baby with special abilities—then he would help me so…”

 “Really?”

 “Y-Yes, really.”

 “You just do everything little thing that’s asked of you, don’t you? Why don’t you ever do whatever you want? If you only stood your ground, you wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place. You’re a pitiful creature like the rest of them, aren’t you?”

 “I—!”

 “No matter. I’m in your servitude. But remember: once I sleep with anyone in your place, our deal is off. You will return to being Sakura the ‘kitsune’ and I will return to being Renka the ‘geisha.’ No exceptions.”

 “Right. No exceptions. I remember.”

 21 —

 “Saizo, stop! Masamune-sama, please stop!” Miraculously, they listened, but only when you placed your body directly in between their blades. Masamune barely grazed your cheek, but he leaned back, eye wide, before any true damage could be inflicted. “Saizo, please, if it means you’ll stop, I’ll go back with you! I shouldn’t have ever run away. I’m sorry.”

 “Sakura,” Masamune murmured. His hand was on your shoulder. You two had been having a private moment together, stargazing as two lovers did, when you both were interrupted by your worse fear.

 “Masamune,” you whispered back, “I’m so sorry.” You were wearing the coat that he had draped around your shoulders. You took your time taking it off and returning it to him. You could feel Saizo’s eyes boring a hole into the back of your neck. You never would’ve considered that he would’ve gotten so angry over your deceit, but it was justified you figured. “I… I have to go now. But, please, all I wish for is your happiness. Be happy, no matter what you do!”

 “I wish for your happiness as well.” He took you up in his arms and embraced you as tightly as he could before you were pulled away.

 26 —

 “Look, it’s the kitsune.” Your ears immediately perked up and you could feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. You thought that you had finally escaped that horrible life. Who had managed to recognize you? Someone from the Takeda clan? Someone from the Date clan? Or was it a leftover from Sōma’s clan or Inari’s temple? You didn’t even want to turn around. Your hands automatically moved to your stomach. You were pregnant. Not only did you have to look over yourself, but you had someone else to protect too. “Are you afraid? Have a little ninja to return home to?” Your heart dropped into your stomach. “How did I know? From one vixen to another, it’s only intuition.” That laugh. You knew it anywhere.

 “R—?”

 “Stop by at the tea house in town. I’m sure that we can put on a good show for not only you but that little thing you call a husband too.” She laughed again before walking off. She was holding a little shikomi’s hand. It couldn’t have been that little girl from before who had so curiously looked at you all those years ago; she was surely an adult by now.

 You nodded. “I’ll talk to him about it.” You waved. Once she walked away you took the laundry that you had hung out to dry that morning into your arms. You sighed to yourself. Maybe you could make some dango to cheer yourself up.

 Yes, Saizo would like that.

[longing4]

A/N:  A what-if situation, where Masamune sent the MC away, and never retrieved her.

He sometimes wonders if it meant something.

Rain hardens the soil, she once said, bringing tea and medicine, and another cushion to lay his head burning with ache and fever on. I do not need to harden any more, he wanted to reply. She was long gone though, so are the embroidered satin pillows, time will soon follow and the wind blowing through the gaps between the wooden roof is not the best company. It carries the moist scent of wood and refuses to listen or answer.

He wonders about his father. He remembers him, a petite man with dark hair and soft hands that never raised in anger, and repaired the leaking roof or a broken fence, unmindful of his social status. The roof is leaking again, it has been for a long time, but Masamune is not his father.

He tries to, but sometimes trying is not enough, and he knows that as much as he struggled to close his eyes, and not see his father’s corpse covered in dirt, it was all but futile effort.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured to himself, and she wiped his wet face, mingling the tears and sweat. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she had said in return, patching the roof in his father’s stead. “You’ll be fine.”

His eyes closed, repeating the words she had said. It’s okay. He’ll be fine.

The rain, however, continued endlessly as if it had forgotten to stop.

[draconivn]

So I know it’s been a while since I’ve last posted in here. I’ve been writing a lot of Court of Darkness stuff lately, which changed my writing style a bit because the language is so archaic and much different to what I’m used to writing for IkeSen. 

After a lot of thought, I may stick to posting my IkeSen and SLBP fics for Masamune and Masamune-sama here, and posting my Court of Darkness and AyaKoi stuff to my Ao3. I’m not sure. I guess if I reach a general consensus from my followers on what stuff they’d like to see?

[arielle0808]

New chapter! :3