Note: This is my first Ikemen fanfic. Yes, yes, I'm still working on my other fics, but I just got really caught up in this one and it won't let me sleep until I get it all out of my system. Please keep in mind that I haven't done all the routes, so some of this is from my own imagination combined with as much canon material as I can muster. Constructive comments are always welcome.
Languidly, the bright orange sun dipped below the horizon—bit by bit. Streaks of reds and yellows traced themselves across the sky, warm and cheerful. Lifting her face to the sky, Kaori allowed the last of the sun's rays to caress her skin. Walking parallel to her friend's steps in the shadows of some nearby shops, Akemi pushed her large sunglasses up her nose, her mood pleasant. Although they had a destination in mind, the two friends traveled leisurely, making time to take in the sights around them as the first day of their much-deserved vacation drew closer to an end.
"Hey Kimi, I think we've found it!" Up ahead, Kaori waved, smile stretching from ear to ear.
Adrenaline rushed through her veins. "I'm coming!" Akemi quickened her pace, gaze fixed on the serene temple that rested to their left. Pushing herself up the steps as the last of the sun's rays vanished beneath the blanket of trees, the ombre-haired girl looked around them. There wasn't a soul in sight at this time in the evening, but that was just the way she liked it.
"What're you grinning about?" Kaori raised a well-manicured eyebrow teasingly.
"Oh, you know, Sengoku Warlords and whatnot." Akemi gave her friend a lopsided grin, slender fingers smoothing back a stray strand of hair as she removed her sunglasses from her face.
Kaori couldn't help but burst out laughing at the brunette's words. Reaching into her purse, she nimbly retrieved a colourful book titled "A Guide to Ikemen Sengoku." Pausing to clear her throat extra loudly as she flipped it open, she rounded on her friend once more. "So…who's your favourite?"
Wounding a strand of ombre locks around her finger, Akemi countered her friend's attack with a smirk. "Don't pretend you're not a part of this Ari. You had your nose stuck in that book every time I took a bathroom break this afternoon, and I don't think I need to point out why."
At her words, both girls dissolved into laughter once more, only to be interrupted when they stumbled upon a modest stone plaque lit by soft incandescent light from the lanterns situated around Honno-ji's grounds. Without the need to meet each other's gaze, they shared a respectful moment of silence at the event that it commemorated—the untimely death of Oda Nobunaga, a powerful Sengoku daimyo who, if not betrayed by one of his most faithful vassals, would have likely had all of Japan in his grasp.
Silently, both girls gazed upon the plaque, each wondering whether this man, once so esteemed and who had made such a powerful impact on the future of his nation, would have been satisfied with such a small memento of his life. Averting her eyes to Akemi, Kaori was surprised to find a wistful expression on her friend's heart-shaped face. It wasn't often that her friend wore an expression such as this one where what looked like a sea of emotions, albeit well-contained behind bright amber eyes, stirred restlessly within. Instinctively, she reached for the brunette, intertwining their arms as a gesture of support.
Gentle footsteps could be heard approaching their direction. Both girls raised their heads as a tall and handsome man came into view. He wore a white lab coat over well-tailored clothing, and his dark hair swayed lazily in the cool night breeze. The expression on his face was serious as he studied the stone plaque.
Suddenly, lightning struck from overhead. Startled, the three jumped in surprise. Eyes wide, Akemi looked from Kaori's face to that of the new arrival's, and then to the charred stone that rested mere steps from their feet. It was at this moment that it also began to rain, buckets after buckets pouring from the heavens.
"Are the two of you alright?" the man had turned to them, arm outstretched. "Here, take my hand."
As Kaori opened her mouth to respond, everything went black.
The smell of smoke forced Akemi to open her eyes. Groaning quietly, the ombre-brunette pushed herself up from the stone walkway, rubbing her head. Kaori lay next to her, the black-haired girl's soft breathing telling her friend that she had yet to regain consciousness. Looking around, Akemi's eyes quickly grew wide at the sight around them. The rain had stopped, but bright red flames raged all around them in its stead. Squinting through the fire and smoke, the brunette was able to make out the words "Honno-ji" carved into a wooden plaque not far away. What lay beyond that, however, made her breath catch in her throat.
A man, dressed in an elaborate looking suit of armour, lay in a sea of flames. Behind him, brandishing a staff that carried the dangerous glint of a blade, a shadowed figure descended steadily with what felt like malicious intent.
"Kimi…? Wha-?" Kaori squeaked from beside her, having come around. "Oh my god."
Whatever words she may have had to respond to Kaori died on her tongue the moment Akemi saw the mysterious figure raise his staff above the man out of the corner of her eyes.
"Stay away from him!" Before her mind could react, Akemi was already racing towards the pair, Kaori on her heels. Startled at the authority and strength in her voice, the figure lowered his weapon and withdrew.
The man was extremely handsome, with long eye lashes and features befitting nobility. Unfortunately, this was no time to admire his beauty. Kneeling beside him, Akemi shook his shoulder. "Oku-san, wake up!"
"Mmm?" He stirred under her touch, slowly coming to.
"Oku-san, wake up! The temple is on fire, we have to get out of here!" A series of sharp rasping coughs erupted from the back of her throat. Akemi bit at her lip as she felt a familiar shortness of breath and tightness in her chest.
Behind her, Kaori grew increasingly agitated at the brunette's coughs. "Kimi, let's go!"
Grabbing the man's hand, Akemi tugged with all her might. Confusion surfaced in his eyes, but he followed her willingly, fingers clasped firmly around hers.
They were halfway to safety when a deafening crack sounded overhead. Kaori screamed as the shadow of a large pillar fell towards them at a rapid pace, rooted to the ground with fear.
"Ari, run!" Akemi's voice came from behind her, jolting the black-haired girl from her stupor. There was a strong shove on her back, and Kaori sprang forward, grabbing at a hand that she thought belonged to the brunette. It wasn't until that she tasted the crisp night air with her lungs that she spun around, and her eyes grew wide at the figure that she had managed to drag with her out of the flames.
"Y-you…" horror filled her mind as she faced the man whose hand was tightly clasped in hers.
"Let go."
Surprised at the ice in his voice, she dropped his hand like she had been burned. Without so much as a further glance at her, the man turned and disappeared into the flames once more. Kaori watched his retreating back, collapsing to her knees. It felt like a thousand years had passed before he emerged again with Akemi in his arms.
"Kimi!" Kaori sprang forward, colour draining from her face when she was close enough to see the man cradling her friend's limp form against his chest. "Oh my god, no! No, no, no!"
"Silence." The man, who had been listening rather patiently to her screams, suddenly spoke. Freezing in her tracks, Kaori turned towards him, the authority in his voice making it difficult to disobey.
Before he could say anything further, however, the sound of horses and riders drew their attention to the very end of the stone walkway. A group of men emerged from the forest, led by a handsome young man clad in an elaborate green overcoat and glistening black armour. Once they were within walking distance, the man dismounted and quickly made his way to the man beside Kaori before kneeling at his feet.
"Lord Nobunaga! Are you alright?!" Hideyoshi looked at the fiery wreckage of the temple with a frown. "We've received word of an assassination attempt and came as quickly as we could."
Kaori's eyes grew wide for the second time that night. N-nobunaga Oda?! Furtively, she scanned her surroundings. There were no fluorescent lights nor skyscrapers in the distance, and beautiful twinkling stars decorated the night sky as far as the eye could see. B-but that's impossible!
She could feel the two men, Hideyoshi and Nobunaga, as implausible as it seemed, staring at her back as she attempted to muffle the sounds of surprise.
Taking a moment to fully apprise himself of his surroundings, Hideyoshi's eyes grew equally wide at the sight of Kaori and that of his lord holding a second woman in his arms. "My lord, who are they?"
"I don't know."
"What?!" Hideyoshi exclaimed before he could help himself.
A stern maroon gaze washed over Kaori's astonished face before it returned to that of the Toyotomi warlord. "They may be some girls that the monks snuck in for fun, but they saved my life. This one," the Oda daimyo's eyes gestured to Akemi, "almost lost hers in the process."
Such a lewd reference was not on Kaori. "Hey! We're not prostitutes!" Hands on her hips, the black-haired girl scowled openly. Then, something seemingly struck her. "W-wait, what did you say about Kimi?"
"A short attention span, I see." A small smirk crossed Nobunaga's lips. "Your friend is alive, but I must admit, I have never come across anyone so sensitive to the smell of smoke. She was coughing so much that one would think she was having trouble breathing."
"That's because she has asthma!" Kaori levelled the Oda lord with a ferocious glare. When both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi gave her questioning looks, she slapped a palm to her forehead. "Okay. This is going to sound crazy, but what year is it?"
Lord and vassal exchanged looks.
"It is 1582, the 12thday of July. Why?" Nobunaga responded.
Kaori gasped audibly, her mind quickly racing back to what she had read in her magazine about Sengoku. "In the year 1582, betrayed by Akechi Mitsuhide, Oda Nobunaga committed suicide in the fiery wreckage of Honno-ji." As much as she didn't want to believe that she was nearly 500 years in the past, the burning of smoke in her lungs stood to convince her otherwise.
Levelling the two warlords with what she hoped was an even stare, Kaori took a big breath. "Listen. Kimi, I mean Akemi, has a medical condition where she has difficulty, more difficulty than the average person, breathing when there's stuff like smoke, or heavily scented things around. She could suffocate if it's bad enough, so please don't make fun of her."
"Why should we trust you?" Hideyoshi narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.
"Why would I lie to you about a thing like that?" Kaori stared right back, growing more agitated by the second. "She's my friend and I don't want her to die!"
"We don't know you or your friend, for all I know, the two of you could be plotting against Lord Nobunaga!"
"T-that's ridiculous!" Kaori balked, clearly offended.
"Hideyoshi, enough." Nobunaga, who had been watching their squabble, commanded. "Regardless of the truth she speaks, her friend threw herself in the path of a falling column to save the two of us."
Abated, Hideyoshi drew back. "My apologies, Lord Nobunaga."
Before Kaori could snap at him again, another man, dressed in armour accented with purple, white, and gold, rode up to them and kneeled. "Lord Nobunaga, Lord Hideyoshi. Our men are currently scouting the area around the temple. We will not let the perpetrator escape." He then tilted his head at the sight of the two women. "If I may ask, who are they? We saw you leaving the temple together."
"Woman, present yourself to my subordinate."
"E-excuse me?!" Kaori drew back, huffing audibly.
"Are you choosing to disobey me?" Nobunaga's gaze was as sharp as a knife. Kaori shrank back, mindful of the rapidly dropping temperature around them, and the fact that he could easily hold Akemi hostage.
"Please, this is on me. It was rude of me not to introduce myself first to a lovely lady. My name is Ishida Mitsunari, I serve at the side of Lord Hideyoshi, the right-hand man of Lord Nobunaga."
The gentleness of his words made Kaori relax just a little. "I'm sorry about earlier." She replied. "My name is Sawada Kaori, and my friend's name is Kuromiya Akemi."
"Please, call me Mitsunari!" there was a pleasant smile on his face, and Kaori found herself relaxing a little more. She was still worried about Akemi, but the fact that Mitsunari was polite and didn't look like he meant any harm was a major source of comfort.
"But is your friend alright, Lady Kaori?" Mitsunari peered at Akemi with a frown on his face. "She looks like she might be hurt."
"Well…" Kaori honestly didn't know the answer to that question. Nobunaga was about to her something earlier before they were interrupted, and she could only pray that it was good news.
"Further questions can wait, Mitsunari." It was Hideyoshi who stepped up to fill the silence. Eyeing the girls, he turned to his subordinate. "Let us set up camp and have everyone taken care of, the men you sent out as scouts should be returning soon."
"Yes, Lord Hideyoshi." Mitsunari nodded thoughtfully. Extending his hand to Kaori, he smiled gently before leading her in the direction of a patch of grass a short walk away. "Sit down over here and get some fresh air. I will have someone bring over a change of clothing. Your current clothing seems to have been…destroyed in the fire."
"Hmm? Y-yes, thank you but-"
"Do not worry about Lady Akemi." Mitsunari's smile grew even gentler as he sat down beside her. "Lord Nobunaga and Lord Hideyoshi will know what to do."
Speechless at the amount of confidence in his voice but without any better ideas of her own, Kaori could only sigh. "I hope so…"
Akemi awoke to a dull ache that burned progressively harder down the length of her back, the fire especially strong in her lumbar and beneath her ribcage. Suddenly awake because of the pain, she let out a raspy breath followed by several coughs that brought tears to her eyes. Carefully, she attempted to regulate her breath, refusing to let her body get the best of her. An eternity seemed to have gone by before she uncurled herself from a ball-like formation, rolling gingerly onto her side before pushing herself up by the elbows. Her back burned with each movement, but she needed to get a better look at her surroundings.
She found herself in a military like tent, the soft glow of candle light illuminating its cloth walls with shadows of various kinds. There were medical supplies, although opened and used, stacked neatly beside her bedside. Looking down at herself, Akemi was surprised to find that she was now dressed in a loose kimono with bandages wrapped around her torso. Hands flying to her shoulders, embarrassment brewed within her as she no longer felt the familiar straps of her bra under her fingers. Biting her lip softly, she racked her brain for anything that might give a hint as to what could have happened. The only thing she remembered was pushing Kaori and the man out of the way of a falling pillar, the choking smell of smoke that invaded her lungs as she tried to make her way to an alternate exit, a blurry shadow that made its way towards her before she collapsed against a sturdy chest, and then…nothing.
Running a hand through her hair, Akemi blushed fiercely at the thought that someone must have changed her clothing while she was unconscious and buried her face in her hands.
A low chuckle, rich and velvety, permeated the air around her. Head snapping up, the blush on Akemi's face only intensified at the sight of the man from earlier, and at the fact that he had most definitely just witnessed her squeak of shame.
For a few moments, they stared at one another.
Akemi bit her lip. Those dark eyes held more than a glimmer of interest as they threatened to devour her whole. For some unknown reason, that made her heart thump not uncomfortably in her chest.
He must have caught that flash of needy curiosity in her eyes, for now the handsome creature was stalking towards her like a panther, deadly and graceful.
The tension between them was finally broken when the curtain into the tent suddenly parted. Akemi watched as a man with silver hair and golden eyes, entered.
"My Lord, I see you are well."
"Mitsuhide?"
Akemi's mind stuttered for a second as she processed the new arrival's name. Amber eyes darted between them as she struggled to come to terms with the situation. If this was Akechi Mitsuhide, then the man with whom she just shared an oddly sensual stare was undoubtedly Oda Nobunaga, unless the betrayal had already occurred. Except that didn't seem plausible. Akemi was sure that she and Ari had awoke in the fiery ruins of Honno-ji. With a silent gasp, Akemi's brain suddenly kicked into high gear, effortlessly piecing all of the pieces that she had witnessed tonight together in a panic. Kami, she thought as she stared up at the ceiling, please tell me that Ari and I did not just travel through time and change history.
She studied Mitsuhide closely as he walked closer, focusing on small things such as the hang of his clothes to the sword at his belt. They didn't seem to match the man she saw holding a concealed sword over a sleeping Nobunaga, who looked more like a monk. There was no soot or the smell of smoke that clung to Mitsuhide's clothes, and Akemi somehow doubted that he would have needed to carry a second change of clothing if he was successful. Nevertheless, it didn't hurt to be cautious.
"I hurried here when I heard about the attack, but it seems as though I had nothing to worry about."
A dark chuckle emerged from the lips of Lord Nobunaga. "You? Worried? Don't make me laugh. I've never even seen you sweat."
Oda Nobunaga smiled at the man that Akemi was sure Kaori's literature said was his betrayer. The feeling that she and her friend had somehow miraculously changed history settled further into her stomach when another man burst through the curtain into the tent.
"My Lord! The doctor said he found blood on your clothing, are you injured?"
Akemi's eyes widened. Blood? Wordlessly, she turned to Nobunaga. Had the shadow figure somehow injured him before she got there?
Maroon eyes caught hers.
"Hideyoshi. The only injury I have incurred is to my pride for letting the assassin escape me. The blood he found belongs to Akemi," Nobunaga let a small smirk grace his face for just a moment. "She was injured when she and her friend saved my life."
"I see." Hideyoshi stared at Akemi, who simply titled her head to the side. A small part of her was dissatisfied with such a muted reaction. A laceration definitely explained why her back felt like it had been through the ringer.
"Although I don't trust you, just like your friend, I thank you for saving my Lord's life."
That was about as good of a start as she was going to get.
"You saved Nobunaga's life?" Mitsuhide turned to her, a spark of something between displeasure and interest in his tone. "And you are such a slender thing. It would seem your courage makes up for it." Akemi felt his gold irises boring into her, almost as if snapping at her thoughts. In response, she levelled him with as even a stare as she possible could.
"Mitsuhide? What are you doing here?" Hideyoshi made no attempts to disguise the displeasure in his voice.
"I was wondering the same thing. I didn't know you were in Kyoto, Hideyoshi. What happened to the campaign our Lord sent you on?"
"If you must know, as soon as I heard there might be an attempt on my Lord's life, I immediately came here." Hideyoshi narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "But I never heard anything about you being in Kyoto."
"Are you implying something?"
"Can you swear before our Lord that you weren't plotting anything?"
Akemi almost sighed at the underlying current of suppressed violence in those words. In a sense, the Snake of Azuchi almost deserved it with those taunting words, and the brunette had a sneaky suspicion that he was doing it deliberately to push the other man's buttons. She had been observing the silver-haired man's body language as he spoke, and, aside from his words—smooth as the finest silk, he seemed absolute genuine.
"All men have secrets in these chaotic times. Are you saying you hold no ambitions of your own?"
"Stop being evasive!" Hideyoshi growled, hand on the hilt of his sword, almost visibly itching for an excuse to draw the blade. "If I find you played any part in this, Mitsuhide, I will show you no mercy."
The situation was quickly spiraling out of control, but Akemi bit her tongue. Even though she was certain that Mitsuhide was not the one who held the sword in the burning temple, this was still Sengoku—an era drastically different from that of her own—and one wrong move could pose disastrous consequences. Turning to Nobunaga, she stared at him imploringly.
"Enough, Hideyoshi. Regardless of what brings Mitsuhide here, I am yet alive and well."
"My apologies, Lord Nobunaga." The deference and respect Hideyoshi felt for his Lord was palpable in the way that he immediately stood down as soon as Nobunaga opened his mouth, hand coming off the hilt of his sword if not completely relaxing. That soon changed, however, as the flap to the tent abruptly opened, smacking him squarely in the back of the head.
"Kimi!" Kaori flew in, making a beeline to her friend without as much as a second look around her. "Thank god you're okay!"
"Wait! Lady Kaori!" Mitsunari called after her. "Lord Nobunaga is still speaking with Lord Hideyoshi and Lord Mitsuhide!"
"Ari, easy." Akemi laughed for the first time that night as her friend clung tightly to her waist. "I'm alright, see?" She smiled, petting the other's hair. The way that she drew her kimono tightly around her to hide the bandages, however, was not lost to the others in the room.
"Do you know how worried I was?! Don't EVER do that to me again!"
"Alright, alright," Akemi put her hands up in surrender. "I promise I won't die without your permission."
"That's ridiculous and you know it!" Kaori smiled through her tears, dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a kimono sleeve.
"Ahem." Behind them, Hideyoshi cleared his throat loudly.
"Kimi, why does he look upset?" Kaori pulled back, blinking in confusion.
"Ari," Akemi tried her best to speak evenly, "you hit him when you entered."
"Oh." Kaori blinked. "Sorry!"
"Hideyoshi, Mitsuhide, Kaori, leave us. I have something I wish to discuss with Akemi."
Instantly, Akemi's eyes were on Nobunaga. "With me?"
"Hey!" Kaori shouted as Hideyoshi took her arm and pulled her to the side as he and Mitsuhide made way.
"Your friend's bold lies about coming from the future aside," Akemi cast an accusing glance at Kaori, who gave her a wry look in apology, "you did save my life." Slender fingers reached for her chin, tilting it upwards to meet a gorgeous face. "You intrigue me. You are a woman who carries fortune's favour, of that there is no doubt."
Akemi's eyebrows shot up. If his idea of fortunate was their near-death experience at Honno-ji earlier, this era had to be soundly unbalanced.
With no warning, Nobunaga slipped a possessive arm about her waist and hauled her roughly against his chest. Akemi's eyes grew wide, her heart beating frantically against her chest. His hand was on the small of her back, supporting the area where her injury hurt the most. Leaning in, his next words brushed against her lips like velvet.
"How would you like to rule the world at my side?"