#was still editing and didn't mean to post just yet but uuuhhh here yall go ig!! 🥲

[maladaptivedaydreamsx]

I am unfaithfully yours, for better or worse.

IkeSen Ranmaru x Mai (mc)

In which Mai knows Ranmaru is a spy... but falls in love with him despite knowing better. And she thinks it's about high time she took matters into her own hands, fate be damned.

tw: mentions of blood and injury (no death), mentions of war and torture but nothing detailed in the slightest, ikesen spoilers! bits & pieces from all sorts of different routes tho so it's all jumbled up lore. please lmk if i forgot to tag anything!

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- mai knows by now that ranmaru is a spy, and she tries to secretly meet up with kennyo to talk him out of this war

( cue sentimental flashbacks to peaceful days sneaking off to peach trees at the outskirts of azuchi, a montage of sunshine and smiles )

- she tells him that revenge will only bring more death to the people and that peace would be the only salvation for them all

- after things go south (motonari shows up) ranmaru enters and covers for her to escape

. . .

- fast forward to a break in battle with oda vs the uesugi-takeda

- mai makes a sort of sleep bomb to knock out their enemies and save ieyasu, who had been captured after injury

- sasuke helps mai carry him out to safety, then goes back to pretend to be unconscious with the others

- he didn't knock out bc mai had given him a special mask to filter it out previously w/out his knowledge (sasuke just thought it was a nice gift, or perhaps a way to tell him his old one was in need of replacing)

- escapes back to oda forces with ieyasu in tow (albeit slowly and stealthily)

- after returning, mai and ranmaru go off to be distractions while the warlords strategize and wait for ieyasu to get patched up

- they (mitsuhide) recognize that ranmaru is too agile for a page, he almost seems like a ...ninja? and wonder where/when mai learned how to fight and plan like she's doing now

- the two had always been very close after she saved ranmaru in the beginning of her stay, but this seemed like practiced ease between the two... surely not..?

- they find out (or rather confirm) that mai is from the future, and ask if she saved ieyasu bc he's important to the timeline and such, to which she says she can't explain anything in the future bc of the dangers of the butterfly effect

- mai explains certain things in the past that didn't happen due to her intervention and why she's so worried about the future now with this odd three-way war (the past being nobunaga & kenshin/shingen's deaths)

- she then explains that while she was out luring and distracting enemies, she ran into yoshimoto on her way back

(cue flashback)

- mc runs into yoshimoto, both armed with a single weapon (his fan, her dagger) but no desire to fight one another. it is implied yoshimoto may harbor feelings towards mc or at least certainly cares for her safety

- they trade information regarding kennyo: she explains that she believes he's working with motonari, to which yoshimoto confirms, adding on that they've teamed up with kicho and the former shogun (and his dogs daimyos)

- they question each other about things and find out that 1) mai has met up with him privately when she tried to save ranmaru and 2) yoshimoto has been contacted for recruitment from this entourage of third party enemies. yoshimoto wants nothing to do with them, but his former clanmates want nothing but war and vengeance, so he's caught between a rock and a hard place at the moment (hence his current disappearance from the battles)

- they decide to part ways once ranmaru comes looking for her, & they all can't help but worry

- when they get back though, having arrived separately, mai is greeted by the news that the oda forces are tending to ieyasu.. and notices they seem to have constrained ranmaru for questioning while she was explaining the info she got from yoshimoto (which they obviously question how/why she got as well)

- she explains that they're friends from before they knew anything about their alliances, and that they only exchanged info on third party enemies, not about their own groups

- mitsuhide outs ranmaru as kennyo's spy n felt of everything, which prompts mai uses herself as a hostage

- she explains everything with his situation and how he's not actually on either side, but rather torn between people he admires: kennyo, who raised him like a father, and nobunaga, who took him in and gave him his current environment to flourish in

- obviously however, the oda forces don't care bc a spy's a spy, and they're about ready to beat him to death for answers before...

- ...mai holds up a knife to her own throat and attempts a last ditch bargain, trying to judge her worth after all that's just transpired. "if i mean anything, you'll keep him alive, but otherwise.. you lose us both, and all the info we have"

- they don't believe she'll do it, though their eyes widen as she slices across her neck to get their attention, but when they still don't budge, mai proceeds to stab herself right in the chest (trying to purposely aim for where it wouldn't kill her.. but they don't know that)

- everyone proceeds to panic, shoving her off to the medical tent, whilst keep ranmaru captive (he's too horrified from the sight of his love flashing before his eyes to do much of anything except get pushed around)

. . .

- flash forward to mc waking up at ieyasu's palace, extremely weak and in excruciating pain

- he explains that she's been out for a little over a month now, and has received surgery and multiple treatments even just to be stable. he wonders how she even survived at all

- she asks (as best as she is currently able to) as to why she was kept alive.. and whatever happened to ranmaru after that day

- he explains that while they believe she is aiming for peace and don't see her as too much of a threat, it was mainly bc they wanted more info she had about the enemies, and wanted to know how to build her her sleep bombs, etc.

- ieyasu also explains that ranmaru's been in the dungeons and they've been.. questioning him, but she knows exactly what that entails, grimacing both in pain for herself and his sake

- on the other side, after roughly a month's worth of brutal interrogations, a battered ranmaru emerges from the dungeons, granted an audience in the chambers usual reserved for war council

- nobunaga explains he has no use for a page who can't even pick what side he's on, and that he is not to return until he (at the very least) finally has the conviction to pick a master. deems him weak and spineless and all matter of insults, in front of present company of course

- ieyasu arrives just after the meeting starts with news of mai's brief awakening, to which ranmaru lights up immediately, relieved that she's even alive after all this time

- he asks if he can see her but before the others can say no, ieyasu says oh why the hell not, might as well let him see once her before you cast him out. although it comes out in a very him way, "he's had every chance to kill us before and let them all slip.. let alone the pitiful state the two are in. if people this weak could take over my castle, i wouldn't be here in the first place."

- and so they end up going to visit mai over at ieyasu's palace, but she's unconscious again due to the pain, especially after from more bitter medication and dealing with treatment when they'd spoken last. she even had to bite down on towels bc of the pain she endured

- mai's hand twitches at some point while the two are talking, and ranmaru holds it while crying, somewhat glad she can't see the depressing state he's currently in

- ieyasu explains that if he finally decides what side he's on, he's got a little place nearby he can stash him to update him on her wellbeing until she recovers, but that he's not to tell a single soul. they can decide what to do from there once she gives the oda the info they need

- after ranmaru leaves, ieyasu questions whether he's helping her because she had saved him so recklessly on enemy lines... or...

- (turns out he's secretly a hopeless romantic and he admires her courage and their dedication to each other, so he wants to help since they're genuinely nice people, all things considered. they didn't really want to fight in the first place, and he understands that.... but also he kinda feels like he owes mai and sasuke after that last battle)

- eventually, after thorough recovery, mai and ranmaru run off together, never once looking back at what was once their peaceful home in azuchi. they secretly consult sasuke for help, as they are unsure if to find somewhere to hide after kennyo's recent defeat/capture, or whether to go back to her time since he no longer has any family or where to go, and neither does mai now after they ran away

and from there, decisions must be made.....