Role Reversal

This… did not happen every day.

Masanori wasn't even sure it ever happened before. There were countless incidents of him getting drunk and needing Kiyomasa to guide him home, but when were their roles ever reversed?

"Jush ain't right," Kiyomasa slurred waving his arm wildly. Masanori pulled him back so he wouldn't fall over. "Should be me, yaknow?"

Masanori just agreed, not really sure what the rant was even about anymore. Kiyomasa cycled through all the usual topics several times already.

Was this what Kiyomasa went through with him regularly? Masanori suddenly found himself appreciating his friend's hardships much more.

Corruption

Oichi had a bad feeling about this. Whenever her sister-in-law sought her company, it never ended well. They didn't have much in common and Noh's cat-like smile wasn't making things any easier.

"You're going to be a married woman soon, Ichi." Oichi nodded cautiously. She was already nervous about that; she couldn't handle any teasing.

"You've really grown up nicely," Noh purred, "Listen closely, little sister. I'm going to teach you all those wonderful bedroom tricks you can use on your husband to make him putty in your hands."

Oichi's horrified screams were heard all throughout the castle that day.

Mentor

Goemon had to admit, for someone who wandered onto battlefields without a care in the world, and flirted with everyone she saw, Okuni was sharp.

Very, very sharp.

Goemon didn't even suspect anything at first. Sure a few things disappeared from his hideout, or turned up in places he swore he never put them, but Goemon was never the most organized thief in Japan, so he could accept a few oddities here and there.

And then he happened to witness Okuni conning an infamously corrupt merchant with his tactics and far more success.

He never felt more proud of her.

Nightmare

Nobuyuki woke with a start, gasping and shaking. Ina shot up as well and called out his name, concerned. As soon as he saw her, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Oh thank god! You're… you!" he breathed out. Ina let him hold her as he recomposed himself.

Then he explained. "I had a terrible nightmare. I was at my marriage meeting with you—only it wasn't you, it was Nobunaga! And your—his father was Mitsuhide. And I was okay with that!"

Ina edged away a little. Now she was going to have nightmares.

Long Way Back

Why did Kai ever think the trip back home would be like some sort of fairytale romance?

Sure Masamune had been pretty dashing when he rescued her from that crumbling castle, and he did have a somewhat charming side… but why did Kai ever ever think he was even kinda cool?

"I'm telling you, if you'd gone left, it would have been a shortcut!"

"Shut up, Imbecile! I know what I'm doing!"

"Ugh! This is taking forever!"

"Well, maybe if someone wasn't slowing down the horse so much…"

"What did you say?"

It really was no ride into the sunset.

Role Reversal II

Kuroda Kanbei did not get sick often. Contrary to his outward appearance, he actually knew how to take care of himself.

When it did happen though, Hanbei quickly took charge of everything. He took over all of his ailing friend's work, and tended to every one of Kanbei's needs. He did everything to ensure Kanbei's comfort.

Frankly, it was annoying, but admittedly it was also... nice to have someone care so much.

But.

"I warned you this would happen," Kanbei said a few days later, laying a cool cloth on Hanbei's forehead.

Hanbei just smiled and hoarsely whispered, "Worth it."

Stowaway

Motochika was never going to be able to tease Mitsuhide about this again.

He certainly hadn't brushed off his friend's warnings about it. Motochika made sure to take every precautionary measure—he kept his destination secret, gave the wrong departure time, gave the wrong port—everything to keep his young ward at home, where she was supposed to stay.

And yet, he still found himself staring down at her eager face as she sat in a crate on his ship.

"What are you doing here?" he tried his hardest not to sound exasperated.

Clearly, Gracia was not to be underestimated.

Combat

The battlefield was nothing like he'd expected. The samurai liked to think his training gave a good idea of what to expect, but he was swiftly proven wrong.

For starters, no one ever mentioned all those weapons!

The samurai had seen some really ridiculous tools in his battles. Flying compasses, glowing orbs, scarves, hula hoops and even a sitar!

What happened to good old swords and spears? Well, there were those too, but they had their own quirks like floating talismans or ice. Was he even supposed to defend against that?

…At least there hadn't been any feathered fans yet.

Clumsy

"If you carry that many at once, you'll fall."

No sooner had Nobunaga said those words, Toshiie heard a loud crash and rushed over to find Ranmaru on the ground, several boxes of tangerines spilled around him. He watched Ranmaru apologize profusely and promise to clean everything up at once. Nobunaga just walked away chuckling.

Toshiie sighed and rushed over to help him out. "It's not like you to be such a klutz. Are you alright?"

Ranmaru shrugged, unaffected. "I fell on purpose. It's not my place to prove my Lord wrong."

Toshiie snorted and flung a tangerine at him.

Catch

"Lady Nene, please be careful." Hanzo looked up at Mitsunari's exasperated words and immediately noticed the (self-proclaimed) ninja hopping branches in a very tall tree. Her three "children" stood close, readying to catch her should she fall.

Their fears weren't for naught. Nene lost her footing and began to fall, her shrill shriek echoing across the yard. At once the kids lunged.

They'll miss, Hanzo noted, and leapt himself.

He easily caught Nene and landed on his feet, while the trio fell in a heap behind him.

"Thank you Hanzo," she pat his head. Her children's envy radiated in waves.

A/N: Thanks for reading. A lot of my favorites are in this batch :)

Writing Order: 29, 33, 17, 34, 35, 30, 27, 28, 75, 39

Some notes:

"Nightmare": This was based on the very bizarre Seiyuu event... yeah...

"Long Way Back": This is kinda like an epilogue to the SW3E Date Story. Despite my shipping preferences, this is probably the only time I'll ever write these two together though ^^"

"Clumsy": Apparently this one is based on a historical anecdote. This story (minus Toshiie) was mentioned in a translated Sengoku Basara 2 character bio/historical trivia thing. I say apparently though because some of the stuff mentioned in the trivia was a bit questionable... but this one was cute!

That's all for now. As always, I'd love to hear any feedback :)