What the Dragon Owns is His
Alt. Title: Don't Mess with the Dragon's Possessions
"Sanada Yukimuraaa!" Wham!
"Masamune-donoooo!" Whack!
Wham! Whack! Pow!
The punches were traded between the two men as swiftly and easily as the trading stones shared between children from my village…
"Go Number One!" "Kick his ass Sanada-san!" "Kill 'im!"
Various shouts of encouragement rang from both sides of the fight and I sighed, rubbing my temples with my forefingers tiredly, "Ugh, men are such idiots."
Maka bit her lip from beside me and said somewhat timidly, "Ooh, where on earth is Oyakata-sama? He should be here to stop-"
I jerked my thumb to the side at said man, who was only a few feet away, his fist pumped into the air as he shouted just as enthusiastically as everyone else, "Yukimuraaaa, show him the true might of the Takeda Clan!"
Maka's face fell in horror as she watched her superior cheer and I smiled grimly. When even the Tiger of Kai was aroused enough to allow such a petty fist fight during our temporary coalition, you knew all hope was lost.
The reason why we, the Date army and I, Kazehaya Rin, are here in the first place is because of recent news of an attack on Date grounds from one of the neighboring lands across Takeda's territory. To prevent being caught in the middle of it, Takeda-sama suggested a temporary alliance and luckily with us and not the opposing army. Since then we have been resting on Takeda's kind hospitality for a week now, already forming battle plans and such, but no progress or news has been made.
On account of that, the men sent out scouts for more information and Kojurou had been sent with Sasuke for his expert tactical knowledge. They've been gone for about two days now though so it's only a matter of time before they are back from their journeys. In his absence, I was left to babysit the great Dokuganryu for Kojurou which, trust me, is a job in it of itself; he can be such a child. If he's such a wild child now, I can only imagine how wild he was as child. Ugh, I shudder somewhat at the thought. I have no idea how Kojurou ever managed it, especially during my husband's earlier years.
Oh... It feels so strange saying those words... "My husband", that is. Although we've been an engaged couple since the end of the war with the Devil King, Masamune and I had never gone through the official marriage ceremony until recently. More than recently even. Actually, it was last week.
Literally.
Last week, and because of this recent threat, things have been extremely hectic and we've barely had any time to ourselves. Ah, not that I mind of course, I'm not complaining at all! I mean… The only thing that sex-crazed pervert has really changed since our ceremony has been an increased level of sexual harassment and pestering by about a hundred (because apparently he thinks that now that he can officially call me his wife he can do whatever he likes, as if he hadn't already thought that way) but even so, that doesn't mean I don't miss it… If only just a little… Ah, I'm rambling again, aren't I? Just forget I said anything...
Anyway, the question to be asked is this: why on earth is the infamous One-Eyed Dragon and young Cub of Kai fighting like a pair of eight year-old boys instead of well-respected men?
That is a very good question. I commend you for asking it.
See, it all began with a comment, and not just any comment.
An opinion. And not just any opinion.
Sanada Yukimura's opinion.
'About what?' You may ask.
Dango.
Yes, you read me right.
Dango.
Sounds like a pretty petty thing to fight over, right?
Exactly, so what happened was that Yukimura was telling me about finding a certain tea store in town that sold really great dango and he mentioned visiting it with me one day. Masamune, who was lounging around like a pompous cat, as usual, was listening in and naturally the big jerk took this innocent offer the wrong way and before I could decline the offer kindly, he butted in.
I don't know what he was thinking. That this was some invitation threatening our marriage or what, but after a few sarcastic quips and snarky remarks, Masamune ended up punching Yukimura! A stunned silence had followed, but Yukimura, thinking it was some sort of game or test like how he "played" with Takeda-sama, then returned the punch.
Another stunned silence after that.
So with both now 1-1 on punches, one would think that Yukimura, if not Masamune, would have the decency or the maturity to be content and end it there but nope. Another punch came from Masamune's side and that punch lead to another from Yukimura, and soon the two were duking it out like there was no tomorrow. It only escalated from there when some of the other men caught sight of their generals fighting and then they began fighting each other as well and soon the whole courtyard had become a battlefield.
They only stopped briefly when Takeda Shingen appeared, but he only joined in the fight when a hit from Masamune sent Yukimura crashing into him. Takeda threw in his own punch at his subordinate then for being overcome by Masamune and the two went back to their own battle. The rest of the armies all banded around to form a ring and watched as the two fought, cheering and howling with laughter as the two beat the crap out of each other.
It's all so ridiculous and all over something as stupid as going out to get some dango, I mean really! I didn't even get a chance to answer Yukimura because my idiot husband jumped to the conclusion that I would accept! Masamune can be such a possessive, thick-headed jerk sometimes. Why he has to be so overly possessive, I'll never know, but I mean, it's not like we haven't been a couple for a year beforehand. Sure, we've only been officially married for a week but it's not as if he doesn't already know me.
And did he really consider it a date Yukimura had been offering? How could he? After all, Yukimura is courting Maka now and so therefore, we'd only be visiting as friends. Besides, Masamune and I are married for God's sake. How many times do I have to repeat that?
Maka (or should I call her by her real name Akihime now?) was my former apprentice and worked as my second in command when I was a mercenary before she joined under Takeda Shingen's army. She's a bit younger than he, but it would seem a sort of innocent romance and sprung between her and my other friend and I want to help them now more than ever.
I sighed, rubbing my forehead distractedly and turning away from the battle to Maka to ask tiredly, "Hey, Maka, let's get out of here. It's obvious that nothing we say will reach them anymore, they're in their own little world."
"But—" Maka bit her lip nervously, watching the fight for a moment. After thinking about it and seeing my point she finally sighed again, also totally resigned now. "I guess we might as well. Come on then, do you want some tea?"
I nodded my head and we snuck away from the crowd.
Honestly, men really can be such idiots sometimes. I turned to watch Masamune connect his fist to Yukimura again, only a tiny feeling of worry tugging at my mind and I wondered, why is it that I love this one so much?
It's late now and the sun has been long gone. The generals had fought till sundown, only stopping because of pure exhaustion and after their final punches cancelled each other out, the two had promptly passed out. Masamune had only just regained consciousness mere moments ago and has been sulking ever since. He sat moodily on the porch of the room that had been provided for us, already in a plain blue yukata with a round of sake as I prepared a cold compress for him.
I sighed in exasperation, wringing the water out of the wash cloth and reprimanded him from inside the room, "Why do you do these things Masamune? You know you aren't exactly the strongest man around when it comes to fist fights."
"Shut up, I couldn't just let Sanada Yukimura think he can get away with being so casual with other people's wives. He needed to be taught his boundaries," was his sullen reply.
"More like you couldn't let a good excuse to fight him get away," I muttered under my breath. I shook my head in disapproval and called, "Well… Anyway, come over here so I can clean your bruises."
He didn't move.
Figures. I sighed again and brought the basin over behind where he sat, then crawled to sit in front of him. He wouldn't look at me as I pulled his chin forward and placed the wet cloth on his forehead, wiping at the dried perspiration first. Over all, his face looked just fine for someone who had previously gotten the stuffing punched out of him, but the area just under his eye patch had swollen a great deal and I worried about it.
I washed the left side of his face next and he only watched me calmly but when I moved on to his other cheek and added some pressure to it he suddenly jumped and shouted, "Ouch! Damn it Rin, that hurts!"
"Hold still!" I said with equal force. He tried pulling away but I gripped his chin firmly and he continued to struggle. I let go of him crossly to glare and snapped, "Well of course it does, you idiot! You're badly bruised here and we need to get the swelling down!" I gripped his chin again tightly and forced the cloth onto his face as he scowled.
"It's fine Rin, leave me alone. It's just a bruise and it'll heal by itself."
He brushed me away irritably and I seethed, crossing my arms over my chest, "You can be such a baby sometimes, Masamune. It's amazing how your men have never seen this side of you."
"Hmph, whatever." He went back to sulking, shifting away from me and resting his uninjured cheek on his fist again. I sat back on my heel and huffed just as moodily and merely watched him brood.
After a continued silence I finally gave up. I sighed wearily and stood up, walking and then crouching behind him in front of the water basin. I put the cloth back in the water and was just moving to put everything away when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my waist and pulled me back.
"Eh?" I dropped the basin with a clatter and in one smooth motion found myself against the chest of my husband. I bent my head back to look up into his suddenly grinning face and mine flushed. "Wh-what?" I asked, forcing myself to glare weakly.
He shrugged, shifting so I was between his legs and he pulled me closer before saying, "Nothing. I just wanted to hold you."
I blushed and said a little crossly, "Well that's wonderful of you but next time, warn me first. I could have broken the basin."
He only smirked and said innocently, "But you would have refused."
"That's not true," I said defensively. Or, I actually probably would have at first but I would have come around to doing it eventually... "I just don't like being molested all the time, that's all."
"Oh? Then sometimes you don't mind?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow up teasingly.
I grit my teeth in embarrassment and mumbled, "You know I didn't mean it like that either..." He chuckled lightly and I settled into him with a submissive smile.
We sat like this quietly until he said, "You know, I only do it because I want everyone to know you're mine, and mine alone, right?"
I sighed, "I know, but you shouldn't start fights like that just to prove something already known. Especially over something so petty and with an ally. If Kojuro had been here, you know you'd be in for a lecture."
"Good thing he wasn't," the one-eyed general snorted. "But even so, I would have done something similar to anyone. If anyone is going to go out with you to a stupid dango shop, it's going to be me and not some idiot like Sanada Yukimura. So tell me you won't go with him, okay?"
I rolled my eyes but laughed, "Fine, I won't go with him to the dango shop, if that's what you really want." He nodded and I said, "Just promise me you'll be on your better behavior starting tomorrow, alright? And promise you'll apologize to Yukimura as soon as you see him."
"Okay, okay, I promise to be a good boy but… I'm not apologizing," Masamune laughed as he leaned down and we kissed. I smiled into it wearily. Well, I guessed the first promise was better than nothing. I mean, did I really expect a proud dragon like Date Masamune come down from his perch and apologize to his one and only rival, even during this temporary alliance? Yeah, right, I guess that is too big a stretch to imagine, but one can try…
When we broke apart I added, "And I want you to know, no matter what, Yukimura is just my friend and I would never cheat on you, so stop being so harsh on him. He isn't going to steal me away from you, he has Maka now and I'm your wife so you don't have to be so over protective."
Masamune sighed, "I know, I know. That big idiot isn't sexy enough like I am to be able to do that, but I just wanted to teach him a lesson. Dragons have to protect their treasures, right?"
I rolled my eyes but was secretly pleased that he had called me his 'treasure'. As awkward as he may be with words, sometimes he could say the sweetest of things. Sure, a girl could hope for an "I love you" every once in a while, but with the dokuganryu the most you can get is some vague confession of affection but then, I cherish every one of them... After all, he makes up for it through, ahem, physical affection, and that's just something I've had to come to accept."You're such an arrogant jerk," I concluded with a snort.
"Perhaps, but as I always say," my "oh-so-wonderful" husband said with a smirk and leaning in for another kiss, "I'm your arrogant jerk."
A/N: I'm so bad at coming up with creative titles, ha ha. I struggled so much for a decent one and then I wanted an alternate title just 'cuz. Then I had completely NO idea what to write for a summary this time, so I didn't write anything. I just copied and pasted a bit of the story. :P
Sooo, my second one-shot for Sengoku BASARA. Short, sweet, and simple. Mm-hm, feelin' pretty good over here, I hope you enjoyed it. I had fun writing it, as sappy as it may be. I've really gotten into a romantic writing mood lately, so I'm glad I'm finally posting some cute stories.
Thanks for reading, and reviews would be totally awesome. :3
- Jackal
(Oh, yeah, and although Maka was the original name for the character I made up, Akihime was really yhe name of Sanada Yukira's wife in real life.)