Disclaimer: Again all credit goes to Nanami Shingo, author of Sengoku Strays, and フクロウ, the author of this story. I am merely a translator, though... a lousy one who wants to other readers, who can't read Japanese, enjoy her stories. Well then, let's get started!


野良猫を落とす10の方法 I

10 Ways To Drop A Stray Cat I

Part Four


(If I recall, this is her room.)

Nobunaga stepped up to Kasane's room. He opened the door and took a step in.

"Mi-miss nurse~!"

With a thud, a heavy object collided into him. Dumbfounded, he regained balance and looked down; frantically clinging onto him was a tiny creature.

"A-again! It appeared again! A-a strange woman… A strange woman came iiinnnnn~!" Sobbing hysterically, the tiny creature, with all her might, gripped her arms tighter around him. He found her body to be very soft and a delicate sweet smell tingled his nose.

She was too frightened to realize she was clinging onto him.

"Oi."

He called out to her in an forbidding manner.

"It, it came out. I can't take this anymore, this room is too scary…! Nurse…!"

"Calm down!"

He firmly held the sniffling Kasane by the shoulders and made her look at him. She blinked. Regaining her sanity, she realized that the person in her arms wasn't her nurse, but a man, more specifically her doctor, and immediately released him from her hold.

"…"

Nobunaga softly exhaled and looked at the girl whose face turned from red to blue to red and blue again.

"Wh-why, why is… Tono-sama here…."

"Tono-sama?"

"It, it's nothing!"

Kasane shook her head.

Nobunaga snorted in disbelief.

"Hiiiiii-!" she shrieked with fright when he forcefully grabbed her head.

"I remember you saying that to me before. Tell me what you meant by that."

"No, no, It's… really nothing… ow! Owowowowow! I'm sorry! I'll tell you! I'll tell you so let go!"

Grasping her head tightly in his hand, he watched at the teary-eyed Kasane squeak in pain.

"So noisy." He quickly released her head and flicked her forehead before pulling back.

"U,um… well… you, Doctor Oda is well… kinda like those old lords… I thought… So the nickname kinda just stuck…"

"…"

"I, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Nervously she looked up to return his unreadable gaze. It wouldn't surprise her if he went wild with rage after discovering her ridiculous nickname that she made up all on her own.

"…?"

"Hmph, it's not bad, that nickname."

"Eh."

Kasane gaped at his words. And here she thought he would undoubtedly get angry at her.

"It's a nickname that only a brat would think of, but I'll give you special permission to call me that."

Stupefied Kasane responded to the smirking Nobunaga, "Huh…?"

"Putting that aside, what's all the fuss about?"

"-! Th-that's right, please save me Tono-sama…!"

Gaining his approval, Kasane wasted no time using his nickname.

"The, the ghost! The ghost came back into this room…!"

"…"

He coldly gazed down at her as she frantically cried and implored him to save her.

Though he did not speak, Kasane could see his expression read 'what the hell are you talking about?'.

"It, it's true!"

She desperately urged him to trust her, but Nobunaga only creased his brow.

Sniffling, she began to weep on him.

"I can't stay in this soon any longer…! I beg you, I don't care where, let me sleep somewhere else. Please…!" she begged him. She didn't care how she looked at the moment.

"You know I can't do that, idiot," he tightly seized her head once more in his grasp.

"Bu-but… Can't you do something about it…I beg you, please…!"

"Impossible requests are impossible to fulfill," he firmly told her.

Kasane slumped down to the floor. This was horrible, she still had to stay in this terrifying place for three more days.

She lost all hope.

With one look at Kasane's sniveling form, Nobunaga deeply sighed.

"…Stop crying. I'll stay spend the night with you."

"…Eh?"

Nobunaga pulled out the chair that was situated by her bed and sat on it. From the window, a thin layer of light from outside pooled around the area.

"Eh…. Eh? Ehhh?"

She blankly stared after him. Ignoring her, Nobunaga magically produced documents, books, and clinical records out of his coat and started reading them.

"Eh? Spend… night?"

"Because you had to spend the night all alone in this room, you must have became stressed and therefore had crazy hallucinations. But even if what you say did happen, then you wouldn't be worried if I'm here with you."

"Eh… b-but, is that-"

Is this acceptable?

She never heard stories of doctors giving special treatment to patients like this.

"…Well of course if an emergency occurs, then I'll have to leave. Besides, this is a good opportunity for me to finish paperwork."

"Bu-but you need to go out your way to stay in this dark place…"

"What, are you saying that you want to be alone?"

"No, no thank you for leaving me in your care!" she bowed deeply before climbing onto her bed. She had no idea what his motives were, but as Kasane studied the man whose beautiful profile was illuminated by the moonlight and the street lights below she thought, "…He's irritating but… he looks like he came straight out of a picture right now."

The view of Nobunaga concentrating on difficult documents seemed so cool to her that in order to calm down her fluttering heartbeat, she called out to him.

"Why are you doing this for me? The nurse didn't attempt to do anything even when I told her a ghost appeared…"

"Ah, that nurse," Nobunaga faintly thought as he hazily remembered that woman. Well judging by that nurse's personality, she must have thought Kasane to be an idiot and left without offering her any help.

If she had the time to passionately pay attention to him, then she should have use that time to help this poor girl instead.

"…There's a lot of bothersome people who barge into my office, so this works out perfectly for me. Besides, even they wouldn't dare try to come into an occupied room when the patient is resting.

"Ah, ahh, I see.. So that's why… Tono-sama is quite popular, huh," she wryly smiled. So in other words, he wasn't doing this out of pure kindness.

Still…

"Um… well… For staying with me… Thank you very much…" her voice became gradually softer as she thanked him.

Even though this happened to be convenient chance for him, his presence in the room made her feel safe.

When she was alone she couldn't help but feel scared. With someone at her side, she didn't feel so uneasy.

That's why deep in her heart, she was thankful towards Nobunaga.

As she expressed gratitude to him, Nobunaga's looked up, eyes widely opened.

(Eh, why was he staring at her like that. Did she say something crude?)

Lost in her innermost thoughts, she almost didn't notice the big palm that rested on top of her head.

"Brats like you should be sleeping right now." With a firm push on her head, he shoved Kasane down further into the covers.

Realizing that he's treating her like a little kid, Kasane sulked while Nobunaga indifferently ignored her gaze.

"…Goodnight," she chuckled and closed her eyes. And soon after, Nobunaga heard her breath slow down to rhythmic cycles; she finally fell asleep. Listening to her soft snores, Nobunaga glanced at his palm.

It was unusual of him to initiate physical contact as he did with Kasane moments ago. He always loathed the touch of the inconsiderate nurses, and he never initiated contact to them.

Now that he thought about it, he didn't feel unpleasant when Kasane accidentally hugged him. Her sweet scent still lingered in his mind, as if it was trying to signify something to him.

(Such a strange girl.)

He thought as a rare, genuine smile formed on his face. However, he could now understand Tenrou's sudden attraction to Kasane a little more.

TBC


I hope you had an enjoyable time reading this chapter. I'll try to finish chapter five by tomorrow then go back to translating フクロウ's drabbles in Owari's Stray afterwards. Have a nice day and make sure you thank フクロウ for writing these lovely stories!