Some disclaimers to go by:
- While this starts off as a sort of retelling, the story becomes quite canon divergent at a certain point. The only true retelling – to my standards, that is – is just the prologue when all the characters are introduced as in canon.
- With that said, regardless of this narrative diverging from canon, there are heavy, full on spoilers for Masamune and Shingen's route. Don't say I didn't warn you!
- While MC's name is Mai Mizusaki, it's not truly my intention to portray her exactly as how her character is. Only took her name by default to be honest, there's not really too much into it.
- I also made the decision to extend the wormhole's apparition from three to six months, but this is only to my personal benefit and consideration. To be honest, I just think three months is just a very short span of time for everything that happens.
Mai
A gleeful smile clings to her lips, turning to the starry sky in sheer delight, free and careless as a bird. It has taken so long and almost taken too much of her, but finally, finally, her efforts bore fruit.
She'd just gotten her dream job! She's really, really going to be a fashion designer! Good riddance, matte-gray cubicle! Good riddance, piles upon piles of resumes! Cheers and so long to all those suckers who'd strongly believed she wouldn't make it!
I bet grandma is so proud of me now…
With a full and unabashed grin, her first resolution is to get all her partying out of her system in the next couple of days, with some of her friends currently staying or either visiting Kyoto. It surely won't be easy to get used to the hurries and constant activity of such a big city at first—that, she's pretty much sure of, as for being a small town girl—but regardless, that's far from being one of the biggest challenges she's faced.
And she does like some good challenges. Where's the thrill and excitement of life, otherwise?
It's been some time since Mai hasn't felt as proud of herself as of then, and her feet are glad to show that, leading her into a stroll through the streets of Kyoto. Recalling something, she brings a magazine from her purse, titled 'A Traveler's Guide To Japan's Hottest Warlords'. The cheesy title makes her chuckle in amusement once again, knowing the most basic reason she in fact got that has been for the whole silliness of it. However, Kyoto's truly a hub of historical activity, and that guide promised to have plenty of information on good sightseeing spots.
Stopping at a red street light, Mai flicks through the pages, honey-colored eyes falling upon some—supposedly so—familiar names. 'The Peerless Warrior – Yukimura Sanada', reads the top of the page. Who this guy was famous for, again? Much to her family's concern, she'd crammed for Japanese history last. And to point that out, for a so-called guide on 'Hottest warlords', having that one as an introduction is just about a tad bit disappointing.
But just this once, she actually didn't get that book for some eye candy, and so Mai opts out on scrolling some more. Quick enough, there's another name that rings a bell.
'The One-Eyed Dragon – Masamune Date"
That one, she's more familiar with, and there's been quite a bunch of historical dramas made about him as well. Ah, 'The One-Eyed Dragon'… Mai can't help but savor that name, feeling too nice when rolled over the tip of her tongue. And that eye patch as portrayed on the picture? Well, well, apparently she has finally gotten to the real deal of that magazine, something about the intensity depicted in that one single eye making her bite her lower lip in excitement. It's really too bad he's not from Kyoto, though, or else she'd be visiting every single museum or sightseeing made about him.
With a certain itching, Mai drops the evident eye candy displayed all over the magazine for the time being. "Mmh, let's see. Where's the closest place I can visit?" She mumbles to herself.
Apparently there is one nearby—a stone monument to Honno-ji, carved at the ancient temple's original location. Next to the map of the site, there's a full page dedicated to the most famous man tied to that location; the notorious 'Devil King of the 6th Heaven', Nobunaga Oda.
And that is a man Mai can clearly remember. After all, and if she recalls it right, he almost unified all of Japan under his rule. That's not something to go by unnoticed. Along the pages, it reads, "In the year 1582, betrayed by Mitsuhide Akechi, Nobunaga committed suicide amidst the fiery wreckage of Honno-ji."
… Or as Mai recalls it better, "In 1582, Nobunaga's ambitions burned in a coup!"
Amused after noticing she still remembers her past old mnemonics, her feet guide her across the map leading to where Honno-ji once stood. However, her face winces with disappointment as she makes it to the place.
So… this is it? Really? It's just a simple, somber monument—and pretty small as well.
"So much for 'the best sightseeing spots of Kyoto', huh?" Her lips purse into a frown, wondering if the almighty Nobunaga Oda would be as disappointed as she is as of then. Regardless, Mai stands there for some more time, trying her best to picture how the famous temple would have been.
Not much later, another visitor joins her at the monument; a young man with thin glasses and a tad bit messy brunette hair. The fact of him wearing a lab coat in public clearly makes him stand out. Is he a doctor? Nah, probably not, Mai assumes, looking too young and probably just about her age, instead assuming he most likely is a med-school student.
Standing silently beside her, his eyes are fixed on the monument stone, his expression too serious, almost contemplative—Mai can't help it when her eyes drift to him instead. In her defense, he clearly is more intriguing than a chunk of rock, after all.
Her thoughts vanish in the next second after a drop of rainwater falls on her nose, blinking and turning to the sky. All so very sudden, dark gray clouds are looming over them, making Mai frown in concern. Where did those clouds come from? It was a clear sky just moments ago!
"Oh, no…" Without any advice whatsoever, the clouds abruptly break open and the tiny drops give way to a downpour.
Her companion doesn't seem to be surprised, however. "Talk about poor timing," His voice drifts over before the storm roars over and muffles it down.
"'Clear skies, all day and night', it said. Stupid weather report," Mai opts out for a small chit chat, already glancing around them for the closest shelter, growing annoyed.
The man's glasses glint as a thunder breaks through, giving her a somewhat worried once-over. "Are you alright? You have an umbrella?" His serious expression doesn't waver, yet he seems as polite as for asking.
"Well, yeah, but back at my hotel," Mai grunts, anticipating the immediate struggle of removing her wet bangs off her face, getting soaked within seconds.
Her gaze drifts from past the man's shoulder to his face, yet only for a split second before the two of them come to a startle—a fierce lightning bolt striking through and coming down before their very faces. Mai can't help but screech, but the sound is muffled as they're left to watch the stone monument in front of them shatter into pieces. What the heck!?
She's forced to blink past the thick downpour and the blinding light from the bolt, never having seen such a thing that close before. The man's arm makes way to seemingly push her back, "Careful, miss—!" His voice is tinged with panic and Mai can only watch in a blur as her companion struggles to get a hold on her.
Overcome with fright as she is, she tries grabbing his offered hand but, for some reason, it warps and bends into a thick, overwhelming darkness, eventually disappearing. Dizziness overtakes all her senses, squeezing her eyes shut to fight the feeling of gagging and pass out altogether, heart hammering its way out of her chest.
What the hell is happening?
For what it could be a brief moment or days later, the dizziness finally recedes, but as Mai dares drifting her eyes open, her sight gets obscured once more with streams of billowing hot smoke. Her limbs shake violently, weak and sick to the core, and a heavy cough makes its way up her throat, sheer confusion getting a stronger hold of her. One moment it was just raining and then, there's not even a hint of humidity around her.
She blinks harder to adjust her sights, but her sense of smell wasn't deceiving her in the first place. Where am I? How did I get in here? Her heartbeat pounds in her ears, adrenaline flushing through her veins—for the hot smoke can only mean one thing…
This place is on fire!
With an urgency that could only attribute to the most basic human sense of survival, she covers her mouth and leaps on, a shot of adrenaline numbing the shaking of her legs and arms. Looking through the suffocating smoke to catch a glimpse of the lab coat from her last living companion, the man isn't anywhere to be seen. There's no shattered monument either, or even the cold concrete under her scraped knees.
Instead, her eyes lay over the most unbelievable sight—a man, dressed in a suit of ancient Japanese armor.
Her eyes almost bulge out and her breath catches on her mouth, taking too long to process what she's seeing. The man seems to have passed out on the middle of the floor, but to make everything even worse, barely a second later, the thick smoke gives way to the silhouette of another man, this one appearing to hold some kind of walking stick.
It doesn't take much longer for her brain to put two and two together, and not even the roaring noise of the roof falling apart makes Mai drift her eyes away from the newcomer. It's not a walking stick, it's a sword!
Sparks from the flaming paper wall illuminate the sharp edge of the metal blade, rising and pointing in direction of the fainted man. "Hey, you, look out!" Mai's tongue is faster than her brain, crying at the armored man clearly about to be butchered.
Mai's heart and breath stops, struggling not to fall herself into sheer panic—and justifiably so—but for some miraculous reason that shout seems to work, the figure with the menacing sword going still. A second later and apparently without a second thought, the figure turns and flees from the scene.
Without giving herself a moment to question her eyes, Mai crouches beside the unconscious man, shaking him urgently. Her efforts make way to a brief success, eyes drifting open lazily.
"W-who are you?" It's the first he wonders, his voice gruff yet apparently stressing himself to give way to a tint of demand.
"No time for introductions. Come on, we have to get out of here!" They're on a building on fire, literally about to fall apart at any moment, and with a man undoubtedly out to kill that one. If there's a time for questions, that's clearly not the one. "Take my hand!"
Apparently holding onto the same urgency as her yet still struggling with an understandable dizziness, he complies and takes Mai's hand. As she hauls him to his feet, the next moment they're running for their lives through the blazing fire. A column roars at her right as it falls apart before her eyes, clutching the man's hand harder and sharply tugging him closer to keep him from facing a cloud of debris flying straight to them. She forces her feet to keep running despite the smoke threatening to burn her lungs, sheer adrenaline pumping through her veins.
It's a miracle, but they manage to make it through, almost tripping with a set of stairs but finding a way out to the open regardless. Her legs are screaming in pain, knees and elbows skinned, thighs with burns in some places, with one sandal left behind. Thankfully so, the real sting hasn't arrived just yet, leaving Mai to spare herself a moment to stare at the building they've left behind, panting hard.
At first sight, it looks out to be a… temple—or was, most precisely, considering the fact of it then being engulfed by uncontrollable flames, the whole structure already falling apart. Mai blinks again past the smoke and debris, her brain refusing to cooperate and process what her eyes are witnessing.
I must be dreaming. This has to be a dream…
Beside her, her companion seems to be slowly coming to his senses, panting slightly and coughing away the remains of the hot smoke. "Someone tried to do away with me while I slept? Audacious, but foolish…" He growls, clearly aggravated. "Killing my guards and getting that close to me is another matter."
Mai gives him a brief once-over to check up on visible injuries before returning to the burning scene on display, getting hard to tear her gaze away from such a horrible sight. "… Woman, let go of me."
A tug at her hand makes her realize she was still gripping him for dear life, her knuckles white. "Oh, right. Sorry." She lets him go without hesitation, forcing her own fingers to pry themselves open.
The man she'd rescued then turns to look her over thoughtfully. "You saved my life." He says with clear surprise in his voice, straightening his back, his chest still rising and falling as he slowly seems to be regaining his breathing. "You may be some woman the monks snuck in for amusement, but I owe you my thanks regardless..."
The innuendo isn't lost in her, meeting the man's eyes. "Oh, really? I must have missed all the amused monks in the massive fire we just escaped from. I don't even know how I got in here," Mai frowns, adrenaline slowly yet surely wearing down after getting some clearer air into her system. However, that also gives way to an impending rush of questions after questions.
Who exactly has she just saved? Why is he dressed like a star in a poor samurai drama? And why does he speak like one too? But his eyes look proud and brutal and, most importantly, all too genuine in his demeanor. To make it worse, she can tell by a mere brief look at his clothes that they are, in fact, authentic—and just as much as that sword hanging on his belt.
Suspicion narrows the stranger's eyes as he acknowledges her. "What are you staring at?" He muses, brows knitting in a frown. "You surely know who I am…"
"I really don't…" Mai doesn't actually know what else to say, blinking in confusion. "Should I, though?"
The man seems taken aback by the admission, tilting his head back. "You saved me without knowing who I am? Not expecting a reward or favor?" He doesn't seem to be letting that surprising—for him, that is—fact take over, an amused smirk clinging to his face. "So be it. I shall tell you my name."
Leaning closer to her, a glint of pride and something more dangerous crosses his eyes, brighter than the reflection of the blazing fire dancing across his dirty face. "I am the man who will rule over all under the sun—"
Mai's heart skips a beat, something akin to danger coursing through her. Abort, abort, abort! Her brain seems to shout. "Actually, you really don't need to tell me," She blurts out, unconsciously taking a step back and procuring herself some distance from that devious look in that man's face.
As if he just took a slap in the cheek, the stranger blinks once. "What?" Mai's aware she's being pretty much rude, but her instincts are stronger, getting the feeling she most certainly will not going to like whatever it is he has to say.
Then again, his stunned look doesn't last for long, a long, amused laugh echoing its way far into the night. "You're a curious one, woman. No one has spoken so imprudently to me before…" Mai doesn't feel up to join his sudden mirth, however, not finding anything about the situation funny in the slightest.
And, wow, that wicked smile could really kill a kitten.
"You intrigue me, which is almost as worthy of praise as saving my life." He looks inclined to admit, the pride in his eyes also reaching his lips, quirking up into a grin. "I am the Lord of Azuchi Castle and Daimyo of Owari, Nobunaga Oda."
A moment goes by, then two and then three, until her brain finally makes a connection. Her eyes go wide and mouth hangs open, jaw falling to the very floor. "Wait, what." It's all she can mumble, removing some bangs off her face as if that mere action would make her sense of hearing some more clearer. Did he just really say his name is Nobunaga Oda? Nah, I don't buy it.
But as she returns to glance at her surroundings, her honey eyes turn towards the gate of the burning temple. The sign on the gate hasn't yet fallen victim of the blazing fire and wreckage, engraved with a name she's just read moments—or is it hours? Or days?—ago, deeming it unmistakable:
'Honno-ji'.
Her shoulders slump down, limbs threatening to stop keeping her standing—if she wasn't truly shocked at the horrible sight of a temple being engulfed in flames, she can certainly assure she is then.
With her brain still struggling to make any sense of the situation, Mai opts on for keeping herself together and just go through the basics of it. "Um, pardon me for asking something as strange as this but… what year is it?"
Thankfully so, he doesn't seem to be taking too much into it. "It is 1582. Why?"
Memories of a sentence she'd just read not so long ago make a resurface. "In the year 1582, betrayed by Mitsuhide Akechi, Nobunaga committed suicide amidst the fiery wreckage of Honno-ji."
As if that recalling had just hurt her eyes, she shakes her head sharply. I've got to be dreaming this. There's absolutely no way this can't be a dream. Following her most rational thought, she raises her hand to her cheek and pinches it hard. Okay, that hurt. There goes the dream theory…
But does that possibly mean she's back in time to the night Nobunaga Oda died?
The aforementioned man looks amused once again, the wickedness in his eyes gleaming even brighter. "Why are you pinching yourself for? I've given my name. It's only fair to hear yours."
Pushing the situation even further, he closes the distance between them, taking Mai's chin in his hand and forcing her to meet his eyes. "Tell me your name." The self-proclaimed Nobunaga Oda all but demands, undoubtedly savoring the way he intends to corner her—if the near devilish look in his face is anything to go by.
She gulps hard, knowing there's no use with denying him such a thing.
"M-Mai, it's Mai. Mai Mizusaki..."