Hello everyone! Just a disclaimer: I am the co writer of this story, alongside Verto strife. She's having some trouble uploading, so i've taken the liberty to deliver the rest of the story to you guys! So enjoy and hope you'll enjoy ^_^
Masamune sighed as he stretched his back still hurting from not doing his regular stretches now two days in a row and from being slammed to the ground and pressure put on his back. "Damn ninja i'll get him back for that" Masamune growled undoing his pajama pants. Kiku seemed to see his chance to cause trouble and leapt forward to try and grab the pants. "Kiku don't do that" Masamune said grabbing Kiku. Kiku gripped the pants determinedly as he attempted to pull Masamune's pants down. Masamune sighed and let the kitten win dropping his ripped and dirty pajamas. Kiku meowed up at him, licking his leg in thanks and running off with his pajama bottoms. Masamune sighed "Kittens are a handful" He said washing off his hands since he had been working hard all morning. In the mirror he could see Kiku dragging his pants under the bed and chewing on them. Masamune sighed since he was going to have to throw away the ripped pants anyway "Might as well let him have his fun" Masamune the dried off his hands with the clean new towel on the side of the sink. Dally seemed to see her chance and ran over, clinging to his leg as she attacked his bare leg. "Shit! Claws, claws, claws! Ouch, ouch!" Masamune hissed in pain as her claws dug into his wounds from the fight with Sasuke. Dally bit into his knees. Masamune winced at the pain but didn't dare try to rip her claws out of his leg and cause more pain to himself. He felt Dally start purring against his leg. Masamune looked at her confused "You like my leg Dally?" Dally started sheathing and unsheathing her claws against his leg and purring more. Suddenly she gave a big bite to his leg, deepening her claws and holding on. Masamune held in a slight scream and let out a shaky sigh of pain. "Bad Dally! Let go!" Masamune whined, trying to pull Dally off. Dally didn't let go and nuzzled his leg as she started climbing. Masamune winced at the pain of her claws climbing farther up his leg, 'Oh please, whatever you do, Dally, please don't go where I think you're going.' Masamune winced as her claws got closer to his balls than he'd like. Thankfully Dally missed his balls, but gripped his ass to pull herself let out a soft quiet scream "Ass off limits" Masamune said trying to get her off. Dally deepened her claws and tried to continue her climb, bringing her back legs on his ass, and her front to the base of his back. "Dally off now" Masamune said trying to get her off still. Dally gave him a look like 'make me' and continued her climb up his back. Masamune backed up slowly to the wall and made it uncomfortable for Dally "Off now, or i'll squish you like the orange" Masamune threatened 'though I would never hurt you kittens intentionally' Masamune said in his head. Dally didn't seem threatened and continued climbing, reaching his shoulder blades. Masamune started to slowly make the distance between his back and the wall shorter "Off" Masamune growled his face red from the pain of her climbing up his back. Dally crawled up his shoulders and leapt onto his head, staring down at his face like 'what now?'. Masamune shook his head softly "You win you pervert" Masamune said looking at Dally in the mirror. Dally batted at his eyepatch string, causing it to come loose. "Hey!" Masamune said grabbing his eyepatch with one hand to keep his eye covered. Dally bit the string of the eyepatch and tried pulling it away. "Now that's way too far Kitten" Masamune said grabbing her by the scruff. Dally gave a long meow of protest as she was picked up. "Yeah yeah I know i'm taking away your fun but you wouldn't like what you see Dally." Masamune sighed placing her on the counter and tying the strings back so the eyepatch would stay still. Dally stood on her back legs trying to get at the eyepatch. "Trust me on this Dally, you don't want to see it" Masamune said looking in the mirror the image of the missing eye embedded in his mind making his shutter knowing that he didn't have his eyepatch off and he could see it in the mirror. Dally seemed to realize she wasn't going to get the eyepatch off, and jumped down from the counter and ran off back to the bedroom. Masamune sighed and grabbed his clean pants and started to put them on. 'Luckily there's no scratches' Masamune thought as he looked over his back in the mirror. 'If Kojūrō had seen scratches he would have gotten the wrong idea' Masamune sighed a relief and then grabbed his shirt and made sure it was on tight "I don't think I need armor I'm just going to see Kojūrō right?" Masamune said debating if he should put on armor or not. 'But most of my shirts are in the laundry...' Masamune groaned. He eventually decided against it. He walked out of the bathroom with the box of food for Kojūrō. "I'll be back later kittens, Kojy take care of them, Yuki don't be too much of a troublemaker, Kiku … enjoy the pants. Dally you need to calm down little girl" Masamune chuckled. The four meowed goodbye and continued with their activities. Masamune left closing the door behind him and walked down to the castle gate's which were open because they hadn't suspected any suspicious actions of other clans around which made Ōshū look even more peaceful than it normally did. 'Maybe we should look into a couple of wall reinforcements. Just in case, right?' Masamune thought, looking at the walls which showed age but still stood strong. 'I remember a bunch of the old castles in the west had cannons on their walls. Probably not necessary, but it'd send the message, right?' Masamune sighed 'Maybe we should put funding into walls around the village to protect them? In the case of an attack, the village would be the first thing attacked, so it's probably necessary.' Masamune nodded at himself 'protect you citizens they count on you too protect them and newer walls will be sturdier to keep them safe' Masamune thought as he looked over the calm villagers as he passed. 'You guys probably have no idea what kind of danger you guys are in, do you? Lucky. You don't have to deal with threats from other lords' Masamune sighed he longed to be like the kids in the streets and always being able to do what they want not having to actually train and do what's right for the clan. They got to be themselves each and every day no faking and no lies just the truth and honesty. All they had to care about was keeping up with chores and doing their part in the family. This was not the first time, he considered dropping everything and running off to join them, even if he'd only spend a day with them. But they'd never see him as one of their own. He was there lord not just some everyday kid like them, he was 'important' and couldn't falter to anything. He had to be there walls and their swords even their voice, their ideals. He'd never be able to just run off and hang out with the other boys, and do what they did. He and them had nothing in common, other than gender. He couldn't run off, play, talk about girls, brag about things they'd done, complain about chores, or do anything with them. It sometimes seemed like he was so very different even though he wished to do exactly what they did. He was so like them but put into a different situation which sometimes felt like a different world. 'It would be so easy to just drop my swords, drop my fancy armor, my title, and just act like one of them. But they'd recognize me. Anyone would.' He sighed as he walked solemnly to the clinic 'Sometimes I don't even feel like i'm a guy like i'm part of some strange gender not a guy or a girl but a lord.I don't see why others would want to be a lord we're just forced to grow up and act like an adult when all we want is someone to call a friend who understands where not anything great just a person with harder chores to do' Masamune held back the tears that wanted to fall from his face. He walked alone head down.
"Uh… excuse me, Lord Masamune?"
Masamune looked at the voice and put on a fake smile. "Yes?"
"Well… I was wondering.. are those swords real?" The kid asked, looking extremely nervous and stuttering.
Masamune put his hand on one of the swords and pulled it out a little bit "Yep and sharp, brand new too"
"Woah! You must be a really good fighter!" The kid's eyes widened as he touched the blade briefly.
"Yep years of training make you that way" Masamune said with a smile but his feeling of 'how does he think that my swords are any different than any other?'
"Wow! My big brother got a sword like that from grandfather. Big brother's training to be a warrior, and I want to be one too! I've been asking for a sword, but my parents said I can't get one until i'm older." The kid said, sounding excited.
"I bet your grandfather was in the army huh. I might see him around one day! There only looking out for you but you can always practice with a stick." Masamune said trying to sound happy 'I wish kids would just be farmers and such, I don't want them to be so disappointed when they dream of big fights when it's a lot of practicing and hoping something pops up that's interesting' Masamune sighed in his head
"Sometimes big brother lets me use his sword. He's been teaching me what he's been learning from watching the real soldiers. I even beat him in a fight once!" The boy giggled.
Masamune smiled "I'm sure you'll be a great fighter one day and don't worry i'll make sure your brother get's better if he get's past Katakura's tests" Masamune laughed
"Well, my parents did say I can't use a sword, but I have been learning archery from dad. He says I can be an archer instead of a sword fighter."The boy grinned at his skill.
"Good to hear, you wouldn't imagine how many sword fighters we have but were a little short on archers" Masamune said ruffling the kid's hair 'Archery huh keep the kid farther from danger'
"My brother boasts that he's planning to be as good as you someday. I doubt it. I think i'll be as good as you before he is." The boy giggled at the mention of his brother's skills.
"I would love to see my own citizens surpass me mean's that I have strong warriors. But that's only if you can, I do have lot's of experience on my side" Masamune smiled ' I don't deserve that kind of admiration i'm no different than you I wish you could see that. i'm far from the best i'm not even that good.' Masamune growled in his head
"I'm always better than the rest of the boys when me and them play 'War'. But it's always funner when it's in the snow." The boy grinned widely at his skills at the game called 'War'.
"Really well maybe you can teach them we always need fighters to protect the Clan. And how is that?" Masamune asked 'War that horrible thing, they call it a game when it's really a horrible experience' Masamune sighed in his head remembering the stories Kojūrō had told him and the remains of it on his travels.
"When it's in the snow I don't get mud on me and don't get scolded by mother for getting dirty. Plus it's soft when you fall 'dead'." The boy explained. "My big brother and his friends play it sometimes. Maybe they'll let you play sometime."
Masamune smiled "That's alway a plus not to be scolded" Masamune laughed 'playing dead is better than seeing the dead on your side being taken away to be buried' Masamune remembered the maiden battle that he had to show that he was ready to lead the Date clan and how many graves he had to dig with Kojūrō right beside him only a few good handful of men survived that battle. "I wouldn't mind playing along with them if I get the chance, it sound's like fun!" Masamune laughed
"You'd like them. There's this American boy in the village that plays with them that taught them a new game called 'Colonists and Indians' I think. I didn't know there were indians in america though. How would they get over there?" the boy looked confused, apparently not knowing that there were two types of 'indians'. Masamune grinned "They probably built great ships but not as good as ours to sail to America!" Masamune said trying to make it easier on the boy to understand.
"ooooh! That makes sense." the boy nodded maturely as he put the pieces together in his head. "Anyway, my brother's probably looking for me. Sorry for stopping you. Thanks for talking! Make sure to get lots of bad guys out there!" The boy punched the air with enthusiasm.
"You run along now then don't make him worry to much" Masamune said ruffling the kid's hair again "Don't you worry I will the only one's left standing will be Date!" Masamune said with his commanding voice
"Cool! Make sure to save some for my brother though! Bye!" The boy yelled, running away.
"If he can keep up with the party! Bye!" Masamune called back to the kid before deciding to stop and sit down for a little bit. 'I still don't understand what makes them so eager to lay down their lives? And kill so many? The enemy is just like them there's no good and bad right or wrong there's only what you believe to be true in this world.'