A/N: Hello. UvU

This is my first fanfiction on here, and I really just wanted to spread my work to anyone who's interested (which I hope is a lot, but hoping!) in a little bit of love for our beloved character, Date Masamune. As the summary states, this is a Date Masamune x OC.

Constructive criticism is extremely appreciative, and even if you don't have anything to correct, just having your review is good enough. I hope you enjoy reading.

-QTCal

Italics are thoughts or flashbacks...

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Sengoku Basara or any of its characters.

Chapter One

There was a ray of light that flittered past the barred, wooden windows that let the young girl see her surroundings for the very first time. Her face was against the dusty floor, and although her bound hands and feet made her uncomfortable, the bruises and sores of unknown origin forced her to lay still. Closing her eyes, the girl let her mind wrap itself free from the careless tranquility that clouded her thinking.

First, there was the pain, then the entrapments; her nose itched from the musty smell the room had and she heard nothing but the sound of her own breathing. Her clear eyesight flickered and she blinked slowly several times to focus, already growing tired from simple actions.

The room was empty.

Why was it empty?

Or, more importantly, where was she?

Attempting to take a deep breath, she coughed out the dust particles she collected instead and groaned, rolling onto her back then decided against it when her hands were beginning to become crushed by her own weight.

Wait - stop; Again, where was she?

Freezing for a few moments, the girl darted her eyes around the room once again to find out that wow, the room really was empty; and she wasn't even in her room. She grudgingly ignored the searing pain moving caused her and, after a few attempts, managed to sit up against the wall. Breathing heavily, she felt her heart begin to beat faster and faster, slowly entering a panic-state.

Wait... Wait...

She told herself, trying to remember what happened before she was here. Considering the fact she still had her night gown on... Did she go anywhere? What happened before she got here? Suddenly as she tried to retrace her steps she felt a jolt of pain go through her head. She groaned, hands struggling against the rope bindings in attempt to raise them and hold her head.

Why couldn't she remember?

Feeling the familiar panic-attack coming, the girl tried to think of a solution to all of this before she reverted to crying out of helplessness. But - she cried out in pain once again, finally forcing herself to really look at her battered body. There were bruises on her calves and her arms and back as she could tell; cuts were on her feet and fingers but she didn't remember how she got any of them.

She got kidnapped - that was the only reason why she was here, drugged, most likely, bound, still in her pajamas, and in a strange place that showed no evidence of living quarters. Now that she figured that out, what was she going to do now?

Then she heard voices from outside her room pass by the window and made the light flitter across the ground. Frightened, she held her breath and closed her eyes - an automatic reaction of fear she had developed over time, and heard the men enter the room, laugh menacingly, and then take her by the arms and feet to a place she wasn't sure was going to be any better than this.

Not far from the girl's abandoned hut was a large crowd of army men patrolling the borders of Oshuu. This was ordinary and, in a lack of a better word, boring occurrence that happened every other week in Date Masamune's life. Resisting the urge to yawn as they traveled through the forest, Masamune slowed down enough to ride next to his retainer, Katakura Kojuurou.

"Are we half-way done with going around the borders yet, Kojuurou?" Masamune drawled, his one eye taking a quick look to monitor his 'right eye's expression, which, as expected, showed nothing to how he was feeling.

"As a matter of fact, we are, my lord," Kojuurou replied, looking back at his lord patronizingly, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "We need only to travel for a few more miles before heading back to the compound..."

The Date Army's leader glanced back at his retainer who paused in the middle of his sentence. Kojuurou was staring intently past his lord and into the deep forest, making Masamune turn and peer at the forest also.

"You hear something, Kojuurou?"

"Not exactly... Rather, I saw something... There!"

Narrowing his good eye, Masamune saw a glimpse of three men carrying what seemed to be a person. Raising his brows in surprise, he whistled in interest at the idea that there was in fact, some bandits roaming around on his turf.

"Well? Lord Masamune, do you plan on taking action?" Kojuurou asked, though he already prepared himself for the battle that was to come.

Smirking, Masamune responded back with a feral grin, "About time something interesting happened! Let's get this party started!"

Stop.

Stop.

Her mind screamed but her body refused to comply with speaking her thoughts, having been drugged yet again. The sun's light flickered in her line of sight as the bandits carried her body quickly through the forest under the abundant trees that grew here. Groaning, the girl refused to give up and began to wildly flail her slowly numbing arm. Somehow, the grip on her arm had loosened and she had slammed her fist, fully powered, into the bandit's face, causing him to trip, fall, and drop her. Rolling away from the bandits, the girl tried to quickly rise onto her feet and run, but the drugs had weakened her body greatly, disorientating her, causing her to lean against a nearby tree trunk to gain her balance.

"The little-!"

"-you idiot!"

"Grab her-!"

Vaguely recognizing the mess of voices flashing together in her ears, she pushed herself off from the tree and started to unstably run, using her new-found adrenaline, and simply go somewhere far from the people behind her.

Suddenly, the earth began to rumble and she, in her concentration to escape, had a moment of bad coordination from the movement and fell onto the ground. She heard the sound of a pack of horses rushing toward her, and a panic forced her to act quickly and run before the horses headed this way and ran over her.

As if having similar thoughts, the bandit ran the same direction as her and unfortunately saw her. His face contorting into an ugly expression, he cursed at her and ran toward her with his sword drawn out. Cursing under her breath, the girl darted around the forest and grabbed the only rock she could see that could offer her even the littlest of protection.

"I've got you now, you wily wench!" The bandit screeched from behind her, pointing his sword threateningly at her. "I almost can't wait until I finally get my money's worth from you!"

Grabbing more rocks, she began to throw them at the bandit, hoping to disorientate him enough to run. Angry, the bandit took a slash at her, only to have her quickly hop back to avoid getting anymore injuries. Again and again, the man took more slashes at her and she continued to dodge, feeling the effect of her wounds and the fading adrenaline.

Her body abruptly couldn't react fast enough to the next slash and she could only scream and hold her hand out to protect herself from the sword that almost cut past her hand. She lurched backward and, unable to catch herself, fell to the ground. The blood dripped profusely as the girl gripped her hand, her eyes closed tightly in response to the amplified feeling of pain that resounded from her hand to her entire body.

"I've got you now- URGH-!"

The bandit's body suddenly fell motionless in front of her as she could only stare in shock. Looking around for the person who did the deed and finding no one, she struggled to get up and grab his sword with her uninjured right hand, though she had fumbled with ripping the dead man's fingers from it.
Pulling out the sword swiftly with one hand, she forced herself to wield the metal sword with two hands, wincing as she did so. Hearing a bush rustle on her right, the girl raised her sword in that direction and posed herself ready to fight through her walls of fear and fatigue.

Whatever's going to happen will happen, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

A man came out from the dark bushes with his sword raised, and with an almost feral instinct, she attacked him with all the strength she had. Every attempt to get a hit on him was useless as he could deflect everything she tried on him. Though now that she was slowing her attacks, he could hear him speak clearly.

"Wait! I'm not going to hurt you!"

Backing up with unsure steps, she stared at the man with a scar on his left cheek. The blood from her hand slowly leaked onto the sword's blade and finally dropped into the cover of green below them, creating a mark in this pure forest floor. Breathing heavily, she could feel her body beginning to slow down and her eyes wanting to droop lower and lower.

The man approached her carefully, having already sheathed his sword. "Please," he said slowly, "let me help you."

And as if those words were the only thing she needed to hear, her body shut down right after, and the last thing she could feel was his strong arms catching her before she could fall.

The girl they had found was asleep for three days and counting while they healed the countless wounds on her body. The nurses couldn't help but look at the girl with sympathetic eyes as they gingerly daubed the antiseptic on her injuries before bandaging her. By the time they were done, her body, minus her face, was covered in white and the nurses had cooed affectionately that at least her darling face was still flawless.

Typical nurses, Masamune snorted as be watched them file out of the room, give him a courtesy bow, and leave. Figures they would somehow connect with the young unconscious girl, calling her "loving child*" before she could even speak to them.

When Masamune had asked his retainer why he saved her even when he knew her body (and possibly even her mind) was broken and battered, Kojuurou merely deflected his answer and told him to finish his paperwork by tomorrow or else. Heaving a sigh at the thought of work, Masamune gently closed the paper door and sat down, putting his hands into his sleeves as he gazed upon the young girl who was sleeping like the dead.

His good eye flittered over the girl's body, observing it for what it was: well-endowed, strong, soft, and tan. It was strange how she showed mixed signs of both a noble and a villager's physique. Her body before had almost no injuries; to have gotten so many in so little time and survive really was quite a feat. Masamune could see why the nurses had fallen in love with the girl already: she had heart. Despite his acknowledgement of her hidden strength, he knew that this... feeling he had inside him just at the sight of her wasn't just pity, right?

"'Aiko', huh?" The One Eyed Dragon murmured to himself, brushing a strand of stray hair away from the girl's face, "I guess that's your name now, and I have to say... it fits."

The birds chirped out a carefree song as it flew past the guest rooms at the early morning. A very dim light from the sun shined through the paper doors and created a light spectacle by her hand that had suddenly tensed itself in pain as the girl awakened herself from her deep slumber. Staring at the ceiling unblinkingly, the girl slowly raised her tightly bandaged hand over her head and stared at it, trying to recollect what happened before she had blacked out.

She had seen a man with a scar on his left cheek who reached out for her as she fell.

Closing her eyes for a few moments, she could hear only the sound of her steady breathing and the low brush of grass as the wind blew by it. Losing her desire to sleep unless she knew where she was, the girl pushed off the covers, ignoring the strange numbing pain in her limbs. The thin white yukata that she had been wearing rolled off her shoulders, but her body was so covered in bandages she hardly noticed. She slid the paper door open only to wince at the bright light that reflected off the small pond within the Zen garden before her.

The peacefulness of her surroundings almost overwhelmed her. So unusual was this tranquility was when she realized that the last few days were filled with the most traumatic things she had ever seen in her life - blood, entrapment, abandonment, panic - that she expected something else to happen. The adrenaline in her system, she supposed, was why she was not hurting as much as she should. Glancing over at the white bandages on her arms and legs, she felt the lines of the bandages on her arms, but without her hands being free, it felt pointless. Deciding immediately, she began to pick at the bindings on her fingers, ripping them one by one.

Masamune had woken up early for a reason he didn't know and, knowing he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, got up to walk around the compound. With steady footsteps, he walked around the compound, his mind slowly wrapping itself on the idea of the girl - again. For some reason, he couldn't stop thinking about her. What was she like? Why was she still alive? He blinked in surprised as he turned the corner and saw the girl from the forest awake and trying to pry the constricting bandages from her hands. Ignoring the random skip of his heart, he smirked and called out to the girl.

"Hey - what do you think you're doing, taking off your bandages?"

Jumping away, the girl pulled her hands behind her back, the tone of the voice appointed toward her causing her to become defensive. Nervously, the girl stood looking down at the floor instead as the man approached her with deliberate steps. Though, she did know that this man was not the one who had found her in the forest.

Stopping in front of her, Masamune stood with a relaxed stance as he stared down at the girl who meekly avoided meeting his eye. "You know," he began, "you may not feel it now, but your body is in a lot of pain and the bandages are going to help it; so getting them off right now isn't a good idea." As the girl slowly shifted her position with her hands in front of her and surprisingly bright brown eyes looking at him, he nodded approvingly and spoke again. "You feelin' alright?" Seeing her nod, he gave her a quick quirk of his lips.

"Well, I guess I'll have to introduce myself." Masamune cleared his throat as the girl blinked, waiting. He said, "I'm Date Masamune, ruler of the land of Oshuu."

"Oh..." said the girl slowly, "I know." (She talked, Masamune thought.) Though the person was in fact, in front of her and not an old man in a history book, she vaguely knew of other adaptations of the One Eyed Dragon via anime, game... A small pang of emotion took her breath away for a moment before she regained it back and stared at him. Although, now that she recognized him, she stared at him suspiciously as if he would disappear the moment she blinked.

Slightly miffed, the One-Eyed Dragon raised his eyebrows in question. "...Alright..." He shrugged inwardly, it wasn't that much of a surprise that she knew him; he was, after all, the leader of Oshuu. As the girl continued to stare at him like he had grown three heads, he felt a strange irritation grow in him. Without thought, he raised his hand and flicked her forehead, earning a small cry of pain. "Stop looking at me so blankly," he grunted, eye narrowed. "It's not like you're still sleeping - and man, do we all know you've done that too much lately."

Rubbing her forehead and putting out a pout, the girl said apologetically, "Sorry... Um, how many days was I out?"

"Three," Masamune deadpanned bluntly.

The girl began to sputter, her expression contorted into disbelief - such so that Masamune couldn't help the amused smile that came onto his face. She exclaimed without thinking, "Three-! Are you serious?"

"You know, some people say I don't kid around a lot, but you know," said Masamune with a teasing tone, "it depends on the situation." His grin widened as he saw the girl's face slowly turn redder and redder in embarrassment.

"W- well, anyhow... Um, thanks for... saving me back there," she said, bowing in respect and appreciation, her red face slowly dissipating with the somberness of the topic. "And um," she started, the color starting to crawl back onto her face as she faced the handsome warlord, "if there's anything I can do to pay back... I'd do it."

Just to poke fun at the girl again, Masamune let his poker face slide on and pretended to think, watching as the girl began to fidget and play with the loose bandages on her fingers. A sudden thought entered his head - how exactly was he being so... relaxed with this girl? Knowing him, he could have just met her in the Red-Light District and forgot... but she didn't seem immodest or promiscuous enough to belong there. It was interesting, to say in the least, and since she needed to stay for a while until her wounds healed, he might as well made use of her gratitude. More importantly, the longer she stayed the more time it gave him to figure her out; he had an itching feeling that she...

"...What's your name?" He asked abruptly after minutes of silence. What he didn't expect was to see the girl hesitate. Did she forget her name?

The girl faltered at the simple question asked of her and flushed in immense embarrassment. What was wrong with her? She knew her name - it was easy; why was she doing such stupid things in front of him? But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to call herself the old name again. She had gone through so much but changed so little, and yet her name seemed to be a foreign thing to her. "Um... I... I don't..."

Masamune stared at her thoughtfully and paused before suggesting, "How about Aiko?"

She blinked and asked with her head tilted, "Aiko...?"

"For your new name - Aiko - how is it?" Masamune could feel the grin creep up again and he let it show as he urged her to accept her new name. "It's a... name. Better than nothing, right?"

Seemingly thinking about her new name change, the girl suddenly smiled brightly and nodded. "Yeah - Aiko; it's cool. I'm Aiko." She said to herself, trying out her new name for herself.

"And Aiko, I have a request for you," he said, seeing as he had her full attention. "If you serve me for a certain amount of time, well, I'd say you wouldn't owe me anything anymore, alright?"

Sticking out his hand, the One Eyed Dragon smirked at the girl as she stared at him with the same innocent yet intense gaze Masamune knew now was how she drew Kojuurou in to save her. Without a moment's hesitation, Aiko took his hand and shook it. A sudden jolt of excitement threw the both of them off and they grinned at each other without knowing the real reason why.

Something was about to begin.

A/N: And that settles Chapter One (or is it the prologue...?). I sincerely hope you enjoyed this. C:

*"Loving Child" is the translation of the name Aiko.