The walk to the Toyotomi house was a quiet and slightly awkward one; my arms folded as I walked beside Hideyoshi and feeling both Hanbei's and Kanbei's eyes on me in the process. It was weird, knowing that I was with three of the men that I befriended first in my games, yet they knew nothing of me or who I was. I couldn't share the "inside" jokes with them like I could in virtual space, but here they were next to me; living and breathing.

I didn't want to say anything that could give away my situation so soon, but I was at a loss for words to break the silence. The dirt under our shoes and the shifting of armor were the only noises that filled my surroundings. I didn't dare try and turn around to see either strategist possibly stare at me, not wanting anymore attention on me than there already was.

Hideyoshi was humming a tune to himself as we came walking through a busy town. People were walking around and talking to neighbors, selling and trading goods with each other, and kids were playing by the trees with home-made toys. Most of them looked to be of middle-class merchants, but a few were obviously farmers judging from their clothes. As we passed, the men and women bowed to Hideyoshi and smiled, returning to their business after their lord waved or nodded to them in acknowledgement.

I knew that the man clad in yellow was a good lord and just with his decisions and actions. He was highly respected and his personality strangely attracted many people, which made him favorable to those who knew of his peasant background. If only they knew what would happen after his death...

After crossing the road of merchants, long stone steps led the way to the entrance of the castle, the double doors large and decorated with gold and silver. The castle itself looked to be about three or four stories tall, mixed with a few smaller buildings that seemed to be connected by it. A stone wall was built around the entire castle, which was obviously used as protection in cases of an invasion.

I was led inside with a slight push from the lord himself, his hand on my shoulder guiding me as we climbed a set of stairs before finding Hideyoshi's wife sitting behind a low table filled with bowls and plates full of vegetables, fruits, and rice.

"Nene, I brought someone extra with me who needed a good meal. I hope you don't mind too much." Hideyoshi laughed and motioned me to sit by his wife, Kanbei taking a seat beside me with a small grunt. I was settled between two very powerful people and I couldn't do anything to calm my nerves down.

I didn't look at her and I kept my eyes glued to the table, feeling too embarrassed to look at her at the moment. I heard Nene giggle next to me and she handed me a bowl of rice to eat from with a pair of chopsticks. It looked like she had made extra, judging from the amount of rice in the bowl. I really hoped that I wasn't intruding in her well-made dinner.

"I don't mind one bit! You're free to enjoy my cooking all you want, it's what brings family together after all!" Nene's smile was warm and inviting, and it made me feel more comfortable, but I was still nervous about my situation. Hanbei was sitting across from me and he passed me a plate filled with cut up cabbage to put on top of my rice. I thanked him quietly as I took the offering, dropping a few pieces into my bowl before giving the plate to Kanbei.

"By the way," Hideyoshi was chewing as he spoke, "where are the boys? I thought that they would be joining us for dinner?" The lord leaned over more to take another serving of rice into his mouth, catching a slice of carrot in the process.

The woman beside me huffed and shook her head, taking a bite of her food and swallowing before she answered, much unlike her husband. "You-know-who started throwing a tantrum while he was helping with the chores, so I sent him to his room to eat dinner later in the evening." She ate another clump of rice with her cabbage, her lips frowning as she ate.

"What about the other two?" Hideyoshi seemed intrigued by Nene's explanation, as was I. I wasn't aware that they had any children at this time. I thought that Hideyoshi's son came at a later date? And they apparently had three sons already?

"One didn't feel like eating dinner without the other, so he's currently with him in his room. The third one just didn't want to wake up from his nap, so I decided to just feed him once he's awake and hungry."

Her husband nodded in understanding, stuffing his face once more. "Yeah, I figured as much. Mitsunari has been acting up-"

My sudden coughing fit interrupted Hideyoshi from his comment, my hand dropping my chopsticks in favor for covering my mouth so I wouldn't spit in any of the food. I felt my back being patted, probably Nene trying to calm my spasm, and I hastily forced myself to breathe. I had choked on a piece of rice when Hideyoshi mentioned Mitsunari, my mind going blank as I swallowed the food too fast in the moment.

As my coughing subsided, Nene offered me a cup of tea to soothe my throat, which I graciously accepted. The liquid was surprisingly hot compared to the tea that I was used to drinking, but I managed not to burn my tongue and make the situation worse. I emptied the cup quickly and averted my eyes back to my bowl of food, knowing that my episode gained an audience.

Nene only continued to rub my back (an action that reminded me of my own mother's calming habit), ignoring her portion of food for the moment. "I never did get introduced to you properly," the ninja started, casting a look to her husband. "My name is Nene! You have a name, don't you, dear?"

I fidgeted in my seat slightly, lifting my head and meeting Hanbei's eyes for a brief second. It served as a reminder of where I was; that I was in the presence of one of the most historical people in Japan, yet here I was eating dinner with him and his wife and friends.

I took another moment to breathe out and in again, collecting my nerves and returning a small smile to the best of my abilities. "My name is Kichi, and it's wonderful to meet you." I didn't think that bowing would be necessary, especially since there wasn't any room by the table to do so. "I'm sorry for imposing on your dinner, Lord Hideyoshi was kind enough to invite me for the meal without much room for argument."

I heard Kanbei set his chopsticks down over his bowl when I stopped speaking, his presence making me sweat with apprehension, though I wasn't sure why.

Before Nene could reply, Kanbei spoke with a suspicious tone, "Why do you address him as your lord, yet you claim that you are not from this province?" His voice cut through the air like a knife, my body tensing from his question without much self-control.

Were people not supposed to call a Daimyo 'lord' if they weren't from that specific town? "I-I just thought that I would show him the same amount of respect that you give him. I apologize if I offended you, Lord Hideyoshi." Being under the scrutinizing gaze of Kanbei scrambled my nerves once more and I felt like I was in a subtle game of interrogation.

"There's no need to make her uncomfortable, Kanbei," Hanbei peeped up teasingly, "she's doing it just fine by herself. You've probably noticed already, haven't you?" I turned my body to face Hanbei, being subjected to his playful grin. "She's not even from this country, right?" He fiddled with his chopsticks, picking up a clump of rice before placing it in his mouth with a satisfied sigh. "The clothes should have at least tipped you off."

"It crossed my mind once or twice," Kanbei replied in a dead-pan manner, his eyes searching my face for any reaction to their deduction. "Even Lord Hideyoshi was smart enough to pick up on that earlier."

"What's that supposed to-"

"Your clothes do look different," Nene chimed in, interrupting her husband as she grasped the sleeve of my shirt gently. "Not anything that I have seen before. Those people from the west wear different clothes, too." She clicked her tongue, dropping her hands from my shirt and adding, "Yours are too plain to be western styled clothes."

It was then that I knew suddenly getting up from my seat would probably lead to my premature death. Both strategists probably assumed that I was some poorly disguised assassin after Hideyoshi, but the said man and his wife showed no hostility towards me at all. They were far too trusting, even if it was towards me.

I looked over at Kanbei first, then Hanbei, Hideyoshi, and Nene. Each one was looking at me with a different expression, but my mouth was running before I could stop myself. I wanted to explain to them that I wasn't from this time, that I somehow ended up here without any knowledge as to why and how. I wanted to give any information that I could before everyone would start suspecting me.

"I... Uh, don't really know how I got here, honestly. My clothes aren't weird from where I come from, and I wound up here by accident." My own voice was quivering slightly, but I bit hard on my gums to keep me from losing my nerve too quickly. Now wasn't the time to be socially awkward. "I can't make sense of it myself, but I really hope that you all are able to believe me when I say that I'm not here to harm Lord Hideyoshi, or any of you, for that matter."

I paused to look at Hanbei again, "Hanbei found me by a nearby riverbank when I swam out from under the water. Before that happened, however, I was home, not here. I managed to slip and fall into a similar river before I resurfaced and that's when I had met Hanbei." When I looked around again, I saw that I had confused Hideyoshi and Nene looked a bit puzzled by my explanation as well. "I think that I traveled through time in that river and wound up in your time period instead."

"You're... from another time in history?" Hideyoshi asked, his chin resting in the palm of his hand.

"I came from the future, actually. A few hundred years from now." I wasn't sure how much information that I should have been giving them, even though I wasn't entirely informed about the situation myself.

"That's impossible, you can't time travel!" Hanbei's lips broke into a smile and he laughed, "Unless it's some form of dark magic, I doubt it's even possible, especially if someone as ordinary as you triggered it."

"She doesn't look ordinary to me," Hideyoshi commented, which promptly earned him a smack to his leg by his wife. "I don't mean that in a bad way, of course!"

I watched as the two of them began to argue. Well, it was more of a scolding from Nene than anything. She wagged a finger at him and explained to him that he shouldn't treat their guests so rudely, to which Hideyoshi hung his head in shame and apologized.

Hanbei and Kanbei were speaking to each other about my situation. They were whispering and leaning close to each other, so listening into their conversation was harder. I could tell that Hanbei was shaking his head over something that Kanbei suggested, which was probably either throwing me out, or trying to help me get back home.

I sighed to myself, taking hold of my chopsticks once more and finishing off my bowl of rice before they all seemed to come to a conclusion.

"Kichi." Hideyoshi got my attention as he said my name, my head picking up. "After some deliberation, Nene and I have decided that we wouldn't mind helping you on your journey to get back home!"

Nene nodded in agreement, smiling and winking at me before she spoke. "As long as you spend the night here as our guest and get plenty of rest for tomorrow. We plan to do everything we can to figure out how to send you back to your time."

"Kanbei doesn't mind helping either, right?" Hanbei grinned and uncrossed his legs from under the table, leaning back on his arms in a lazy manner. "He was the one who offered to lend a hand, though I for one don't really believe your story." He turned to Kanbei and rolled his eyes in a joking way. "You're too kind for your own good."

"I'm only doing this to confirm that she is no threat to us, nothing more. Don't twist my words around for your own amusement." Kanbei rose from his spot at the table, bowing to Nene and Hideyoshi. "I'm afraid that I must leave now, I have some business to take care of. Thank you for the meal."

Hanbei followed after him, giving us a distracted wave before he called out to Kanbei, disappearing down the stairs with his friend.

After that, I helped Nene and Hideyoshi clean up the table before the woman led me into a spare bedroom. The room was big enough for me, though there was nothing inside but a plain futon in the middle of the floor.

Nene had vanished when I entered the room, but she came back moments later with a large folded kimono in her hands. The fabric looked like silk and she unwrapped it carefully before smiling. "I'll help you change into this for tonight. I'm sure that it will be more comfortable to sleep in than what you're wearing right now."

After getting undressed, she taught me how to properly tie the kimono together and that I was free to loosen it throughout the night if I grew uncomfortable with the sleepwear restricting my movement. She fixed me into my futon and reassured me that she would be in my room bright and early tomorrow to wake me up.

When she left, I laid quietly in my bed and rolled to my side, shifting until I was content enough to close my eyes. Outside of the paper walls, I heard Nene moving around and walking through the halls before a boy's voice came through. His words were muffled, but he was immediately shushed by Nene before he could say anymore.

A second child's voice rang out and the same action was repeated when I realized that Nene must have been taking care of Mitsunari and the other two kids that were with him. I sighed, rubbing my forehead. I had thought that Mitsunari wasn't apart of Hideyoshi and Nene's life until he was much older, yet he was in the Toyotomi household just a room away from my own.

I shook my head to empty my thoughts, forcefully shutting my eyes once more until I began to feel sleep overcome me. Tomorrow would be a new day, and maybe some questions would be cleared up.

Okay, so the year that this takes place in is 1564-65, so Mitsuhide, Nobunaga, and a few others are alive and well. In case you haven't realized yet, the two other children with Mitsunari are Masanori and Kiyomasa. The ages of the characters now are:

Hideyoshi-28 Nene-22 Hanbei-20 Kanbei-18 Mitsunari-4 Masanori-3 Kiyomasa-2

And for those Masamune fans out there, he isn't even born until 1567.