Synopsis: After years of rivalry, Masamune realizes that his feelings for Yukimura extend far beyond hostility. MxY. Masamune's POV.

A/N: This was a spur of the moment thing. I've only actually played the Wii game –never watched the anime– and I'm not really finished with that so please point out some mistakes if I've made any.

The night air was filled with the scent of cherry blossoms. Except for the sound of crickets, everything was silent. A slight breeze blew past, bringing with it the distinctive smell of spring. Spring had just come around the corner, and as Date Masamune sipped a cup of sake, watching the sight of falling petals descending like rain on his garden, his thoughts drifted back to a certain spirited brunet.

The rivalry between him and Sanada Yukimura had been going on for quite some time that Masamune only had vague recollections of how it all began. Somehow, the two of them had ended up challenging each other at every opportunity that the whole reason for all this had remained forgotten –or rather, unheeded– to the Oshu lord. Masamune knew he won most of these challenges, but nonetheless he still saw Yukimura as his rival. He looked forward to meeting him on the battlefield—to seeing that determined glint in his eyes that Masamune knew was reserved for him alone. Somehow, it made him feel a little special; felt his heart race whenever those vibrant golden eyes fixed themselves on his own with such intensity.

Masamune didn't know when, but somewhere along the way, he had learned to love the little tiger; learned to like how his voice rang with such conviction, how his forehead settled into a familiar crease whenever he was crossing swords with him, how his lips parted ever so slightly in confusion after a defeat in his hands. Masamune loved everything about Sanada Yukimura –loath he was to admit it. The realization struck him as sudden as lightning, and from that point on, Masamune knew that he could no longer look at Yukimura the same way as he had done before.

Much to his irritation, Masamune soon discovered that his newfound feelings created a bigger problem than was necessary. Whenever the two faced off in the battlefield, and Yukimura would spout some nonsense about his sense of duty to his lord Takeda Shingen and that he'd follow him to the ends of the earth, Masamune's mood would sour –something that didn't really happen before. The look of sheer admiration on the brunet's face whenever he talked about his lord made Masamune want to stab the man in his grave, and demand to know how on earth he still was able to occupy so much space in Yukimura's heart. Although Shingen had long since passed away, Masamune knew that Yukimura's love and loyalty still remained with his lord. That was just the kind of person he was, and perhaps it was this passion that had made him attracted to Yukimura.

Of course, this realization also brought with it despair on Masamune's part; the Oshu lord knew that as long as Yukimura's whole being was dedicated to his lord, he could not claim Yukimura as his. They would forever be locked in battle, and there was nothing he could do to break the cycle. At least by declaring him as his rival, he would still have reason to see Yukimura. That was enough for him.

Masamune shook his head. 'What am I doing?' he sighed, setting down the cup of sake he had been holding. The night was young, and briefly, Masamune considered going to a red light district. Kojuro wasn't going to be happy about it, but at least it would keep thoughts of a certain Takeda retainer at bay.

Without his famous crescent moon-bearing helmet, Masamune looked almost like any other samurai, save for the eyepatch that covered his right eye. Although he had eased into a hakama and waraji in exchange for his usual heavy armor, the crest of the Date clan imprinted on his back said anything but ordinary. Heads turned to acknowledge his presence, and although he was in the red light district, the Oshu lord had long since gained a reputation of frequenting the area. Kojuro had sworn that this did nothing but damage his image as an honorable man, but Masamune would often reason that there was nothing wrong with it. It was fairly common for warlords to visit areas like these every once in a while.

Besides, it had been three months since he'd last seen Yukimura, that by now it had begun to set him on edge. Whenever he'd go on campaigns, he would often find himself half hoping that he'd see a flash of red in the battlefield that was characteristic of Yukimura's clothes. The mere sight of the brunet would cause him to feel a sudden rush of emotion, and his heart would skip a beat. But their last encounter at Ueda had left a bitter taste in his mouth, as the two had not parted in the best terms:

"Lay down your weapons, Yukimura, I don't want to fight you." Masamune sheathed his sword with a decisive click, determined not to fight.

"Draw your sword! In the name of the Tiger of Kai, I shall defeat you!"

'There he goes again.' Masamune laughed bitterly. "Don't you think we're past that stage already? Your lord is long dead –isn't it about time to grow up, little tiger?"

"His spirit lives on, Masamune-dono." Yukimura replied serenely. "As his most loyal subject, I will serve him until the day I die."

"Tch." Masamune turned away. That slightest itch of irritation had crawled into his mind, and he had decided that he had had enough. "Still as naïve as ever. Come back and challenge me when you've grown enough guts, Yukimura."

"Wh…what?"

At that point, Masamune had mounted his horse and had left without looking back. God only knew how Yukimura had reacted after he had said those words, but Masamune had decided not to stick around any longer to find out. Kojuro, on the other hand, had merely looked at him wordlessly on the ride back to Oshu, although he had fixed him a questioning look that Masamune had not bothered to entertain. True, his behavior that time had been somewhat strange, but that was because lately he had been confused with his feelings. Having Kojuro know about them was less than ideal, so he had chosen to keep him in the dark. It was another thing entirely if his retainer had already figured things out on his own. Somehow, considering that Kojuro knew everything about him, he wouldn't be surprised if he did.

Before, Masamune would unwaveringly declare Yukimura as his rival, but in the past few months prior to their last meeting, he had often found himself wondering if his heart beating faster whenever he saw the Takeda retainer had everything to do with adrenaline rush in anticipation of the fight –or something a bit more. When he had finally sorted out his feelings, he snapped, he supposed, and had said those words to Yukimura in their last encounter.

Masamune couldn't say that he regretted it though. His pent up feelings of frustration were bound to come spilling out sooner than later, and he'd rather they come out before they drove him mad. Sighing, he ducked beneath a door to a place he frequented whenever he was bored or needed to take things off his mind –in this case, the latter.

"Date-sama, irrashiaimase." A woman in a kimono greeted him, bowing deeply as he nodded to acknowledge her.

Masamune waved a hand as he continued walking past her. "Anyone will do." Because he was something like a regular and a VIP in this place, the people who ran it had a room reserved especially for him. It probably wasn't a good thing to be frequenting the place enough to have a room all to himself, but these days, he didn't do much anyway except to talk about trivial things he knew he could not bother Kojuro with.

Sliding open the screen, Masamune stepped inside, and settled himself on the zabuton. At this point, he felt a small pang of guilt; he knew this was no way to deal with his feelings, but he knew of no other way to deal with them. He couldn't bring himself to believe it, but not being able to see Yukimura was driving him insane. How could this possibly happen?

Masamune shook his head vigorously, folding his arms across his chest. "I don't believe this."

"Believe what, Date-dono?"

A woman had slipped inside the room unnoticed by Masamune. Long, dark hair framed her pale face. She had high cheekbones, half-lidded eyes, and painted lips that curled into an arrogant smirk. Her kimono was plain, but her obi was tied at the front –characteristic of the women who worked in the place. Masamune raised one eyebrow and shrugged, choosing not to answer.

"Secretive as always, aren't you?" She sashayed across the floor and dropped beside him. Her proximity was too close for just a casual conversation, and to be honest, a conversation was all he was hoping for.

"Sayuko-san, I'm not in a good mood today." Masamune pulled his hand away, which Sayuko had just begun to caress.

She tilted her head to the side, curious. But if anything, her smirk widened and she leaned in closer. "Ara? So what did you come here for?"

"I just wanted to talk."

"You come to a red light district to talk? How silly of you, Date-dono. There are geisha districts for that, you know?"

Masamune fell silent. Right. Under normal circumstances, he would have come here with every intention to enjoy himself, but lately, he found no satisfaction in sleeping with women. Try as he might, every heated encounter would always leave him feeling as somber as ever, if not more frustrated at the way things were right now. It also didn't help that thoughts of a certain brunet would pop into his head at the most inopportune times, and it was all he could do to stop himself from saying his name aloud.

Perhaps his silence had encouraged her, but Sayuko had inched closer to him; when he snapped out of his thoughts, he could smell the sharp tang of her perfume. "You are a funny thing, Date-dono. Lately I've heard that all you've been doing with the girls is talk with them –you do understand that our work goes far beyond that, yes?"

Masamune closed his eyes, sighing. "…Yes."

"You sound so troubled, my lord…" She leaned forward into the crook of his neck, planting butterfly kisses across his throat. Slipping her hand beneath his hakama, her hands exploring the entire breadth of his chest, she whispered, "Allow me to clear your mind other than thoughts of me tonight."

'Not likely to happen,' Masamune thought bitterly as she set out to do her work.

To be honest, Masamune had half-expected something like this to happen. Going here was practically asking for it, and while he was not in the mood, he was in no position either to refuse. His arm found itself wrapped around her waist as she continued. Why did he even come here? He knew that it was the last thing he wanted to do –things like these always brought him back to his feelings for Yukimura. At the end of this, he knew he'd feel more depressed than before, knowing that their relationship would never amount to anything more than rivalry.

But still, something about this didn't sit well with him. Masamune shook his head and nudged his neck away from prying lips. "No. That's enough, I—"

The screen suddenly flew open, cutting Masamune off before he could complete his sentence. The two froze in surprise as a bent figure stood at the opening, panting.

It only took a second for Masamune to recognize who it was. He blinked twice, his mouth dropping open in shock.

"Yukimura?"

"Masamune-dono, I…I challenge you to a duel!" The younger one breathed, his eyes locking onto Masamune's own with the same passion that would often accompany his words. The Oshu lord knew he definitely missed those eyes, and he smiled wryly inspite of himself.

"You have some great timing, don't you?"

Yukimura's opened his mouth to protest, but upon a quick scan of the room and seeing that they weren't alone, he closed his mouth again. A rosy blush spread across his cheeks and he quickly looked away.

"A-ah…excuse me. P-pardon me for interrupting. I should speak with you in the morning."

"Wait, Yukimura—"

Before he could say anything, the Takeda retainer bowed briefly –Masamune didn't know why he was even doing such a thing—and turned to leave, shutting the screen door behind him softly.

Masamune dropped his hand and stared at the door, his mind reeling. Why was Yukimura all the way here in Oshu? If he had wanted to issue a challenge, couldn't he just have sent a messenger to deliver a letter and arrange for a meeting place? And why was what he had to say so important that Yukimura had to track him down to the red light district in the middle of the night, instead of waiting for him back at the Oshu castle?

That, and the very fact that Yukimura had challenged him three months after he had said those words back in Ueda meant that the brunet had realized something. At the very least, he had a change of perspective. Masamune wanted to know what exactly had compelled Yukimura to confront him now, and staying here any longer was not going to give him any answers.

Suddenly, he knew what he had to do.

Sayuko tugged at his sleeve as he brushed her hand away, standing up. "Date-dono, what's wrong?"

"Sorry, but I have somewhere to go."

Yukimura picked the worst time to come to him and challenge him to a duel. He also picked the worst place, and not only that, but he had the gall to disappear without even bothering to hear what Masamune had to say. Then again, he himself had pretty much done the same thing during their last encounter at Ueda, so he was in no position to accuse him of anything.

Inspite of everything, Masamune found himself running out of the district, somehow knowing that it was the last place he'd find Yukimura in. There was a sense of urgency that accompanied his movements as he peered past every alley, looking for a flash of red that he knew so well. Masamune didn't know why, but he had to see him; had to talk to him and tell him how he felt even if he knew that in the end, nothing was going to change. He had to risk it, or he would forever suffer the torment of not having told the one person who meant so much to him just how much he loved him.

Thanks to Yukimura's timing, if there was any shot of their relationship working out, that was ruined now. But it didn't matter to him anymore. Masamune sped past the last of the houses and came upon a river tributary. A red bridge arched across the water, and at the height of the evening, the moon, full and luminous, bathed the trees with light. Its reflection was cast onto the water, and upon squinting, Masamune saw that there was indeed someone there, leaning across the edge and staring blankly at the reflection.

That person was clothed in red.

Without a second thought, Masamune walked briskly up to the bridge, crossing the distance between them in a heartbeat. "Oi, Yukimura." Masamune called, loud enough for him to hear.

Yukimura looked up from the river, startled to see his face. A confused expression crossed his features, before he hastily turned away and made a move to walk away. What on earth was happening to Yukimura? The man had never once turned his back on him especially when they were in the middle of something important. Irritated, Masamune's hand shot from his side and grabbed the other's wrist in a fierce grip, forcing the Takeda retainer to stop in his tracks.

"What's wrong with you? I came here to talk."

"It's alright, Masamune-dono. We can talk another time when you're not so…busy." His voice was quiet, almost ashamed. Whatever happened to that fierce conviction that he saw in him not too long ago?

"I have time, which is why I am here. Now what were you saying?" A wry smirk formed in his lips, and he continued, "If I did recall, I thought I said to come challenge me when you've outgrown the ghost of Takeda Shingen."

There was silence; beneath his grip, Yukimura didn't move.

"Well, did you?"

"…no. Not exactly, Masamune-dono but I…" He trailed off, and he shook his head, not wanting to continue. Masamune had never seen the Takeda retainer so conflicted; he was usually so sure of his beliefs and of what he had to do, that seeing him like this right now was so unsettling. Masamune had to urge him to continue.

"You what?"

There was a shaky pause, and Yukimura's free hand balled into a fist. "I…I just felt that I needed to see you again."

'What the hell is this?' Was the thrill of battle with him too exciting that months of not having to cross swords with him was more than a little unnerving? Or –dare he hope—was there something more to this?

"Glad to hear I'm missed, then. Turn around and talk to me properly, won't you?"

"No, I….You should be going back, Masamune-dono."

"Well, I don't want to. Turn around."

"I need to go anyway. We should be parting ways; it's getting late." Masamune didn't know if by that he meant for now, or permanently. What had brought this on? As if for emphasis, Yukimura tugged his wrist in an attempt to free it.

"This is ridiculous. At least hear me out. I don't really appreciate talking to people's backs, you know."

"…please let go. I'm not in the mood to talk right now."

"And you sought me out anyway? You have got to be kidding me. Was this about what you saw earlier?"

Yukimura stiffened and refused to answer. It was probably safe to assume that that was a 'yes'. Masamune chuckled; this kid was too naive. "I thought so. Don't even mind that—" 'Wait.' Masamune stopped in midsentence as a realization struck him. If he assumed that his answer was a 'yes', then what did that just imply? That Yukimura's change of mood was brought on by what he had seen him doing earlier? But that was a common past time of warlords; Masamune was even sure that Shingen had indulged in it too. So what was so wrong with him being the same that it had caused Yukimura to become so upset that he refused to even face him?

Unless…Oh no, he dared not believe it. It was too good to be true. But still, he had to know. "Yukimura, turn around so that I can see your face."

"No, I believe that's not really necessary, Masamune-dono."

His eyes flared in mixed anger and impatience by Yukimura's stubbornness, and roughly, he jerked his hand and forced the brunet to face him directly. To say the least, Masamune didn't expect to see his face flush, eyebrows creased together in an effort to express his displeasure at having been forced into this kind of situation.

Masamune could not believe it. Was it possible that—

"If you have something to say, please say it now so that I can leave as soon as possible." Yukimura said, his eyes looking determinedly away from him.

"Well then. Am I allowed to say I love you?"

At first, Yukimura's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. For a moment, his face lit up –but it only took a second before his features assumed a somber expression. His eyes narrowed dangerously, and fiercely, his shook his hand free from Masamune's grasp. "Don't joke around. Don't you dare."

"You think I'm joking?" Masamune locked his gaze onto Yukimura's –golden eyes that stared back at him wide-eyed as he drew closer. He grasped the other's chin in one hand, the other pinning his wrist against the bridge's railing. In the next moment, Masamune had pressed his mouth against the other in an almost desperate kiss. With his lips, he felt Yukimura's mouth open slightly in a gasp. Was he supposed to pull away? Oh no, but it felt so good –Masamune had wanted to do this for a long time, had dreamed about it, had fantasized about it, that he simply couldn't stop right now.

Especially not now that Yukimura's free hand had slipped behind his neck, his fingers curling into his hair as he deepened the kiss. Did he realize what he was doing?

'Oh Kami-sama.'

Experimentally, he slid his tongue across Yukimura's lips. A soft moan ensued from the younger man, and taking that as a sign, Masamune slipped his tongue inside. The brunet's grip on him tightened.

"M…Masamu….ne…"

Yukimura's voice positively dripped with passion. Masamune felt his heart race –he hadn't had this feeling in a long time; hadn't been aroused just by the sound of his name being called out by another. He moved his body closer to the other, wishing more than ever to have his skin pressed against the other's. When they broke apart to gasp for air, Masamune's lips found themselves on the shell of Yukimura's ear.

"I told you, didn't I? I love you."

Owari.

A/N: Admittedly, this is the first time I've written something like this. 'This' referring to so many things in different levels. xD I've also been contemplating rewriting this oneshot in Yukimura's POV, with some changes and added scenes. Let's see if I actually get around to doing that~

Reviews and constructive criticism especially would be greatly appreciated. I was hoping for opinion on how I wrote this oneshot for future references. ~