Title: Unifiers
Author/Artist: MoyaKite
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Japan, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu
Rating: PG-13, I guess, technically
Warnings: Lots of historical allusions, mention of seppuku and wars (specifically wars against Korea)
Summary: Deanon from the kink meme for the prompt:
Japan - his relationship with the three unifiers of Japan: So to be clear, that's Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. I would like to read about Japan's thoughts on their actions and approaches, and interacting with them as a country.
Bonus for the bird not singing quote being mentioned.
Author's Notes: This isn't in the same style as my other fics; I knew that, were I to get too involved in the prompt, it could totally consume my life. The original is here. (Toyotomi Hideyoshi is my favorite historical figure, and I've done at least one huge project on him. I read a several hundred page biography on him.) I may fill this a second time when I stop being too sick to write creatively, in which case I'll share that fill, too.
The second son pounded the rice. He was heir, and he would kill the bird that would not sing—through might, he unified much of Japan. Japan knew him well, this child who was born an heir and yet appointed others by their ability. He brought trade to Japan, and rewrote the rules of commerce for as much of the country as he conquered. Japan knew that he had a sharp, calculating mind, but he knew also that he could be swayed by kindness or thoughtfulness.
The peasant boy knew this, as well. Japan knew this child, who was fondly called little monkey. The little monkey tucked the second son's shoes inside his cloak, warming them until his master had need of them, and thus endeared himself to the second son. The little monkey was the one who kneaded the rice cake. When the second son committed seppuku, it was the little monkey who took revenge. Japan could see through to the heart of this peasant, past the monkey-faced exterior, and saw him to be shrewd and wise. He knew when to bribe, when to pick his battles, when to play weak—how to make the bird sing. But the former peasant, who ascended to the position of regent, was the one who turned peasants' weapons into Buddhas, who constructed a class system that would have prevented him from rising to the power he now held.
Faced with a country full of warlords and no more wars to fight, the little monkey began to falter. Japan knew the end of a leader when it came—after two failed conquests of Korea, banning Christians from Japan, and retiring from his post, the little monkey left him.
The monkey's child was regent, but his power was soon usurped. The one who would eat the rice, the one who would wait for the bird to sing, the one who was born to war and would become shogun—Japan knew him, as well. The boy had been raised as a captive by the second son's family, and they had grown close; the future shogun was fiercely loyal and determined. After the little monkey's death, the Battle of Sekigahara decided Japan's fate, and the age of Tokugawa began.