1 Month Before the Incident

Day 1

Iri Tokugawa

This is not good. From the moment we heard about the assassination attempt, I had a bad feeling. Anything pertaining to Nadia's safety always put Natsu in a bad mood, but for him to ignore me like that? It meant we have a big problem, and he wanted us to solve it. More secret meetings and acting on our own, even though Nobunaga and the other warlords would prohibit us from doing so unless instructed to. I'd grown accustomed to it, though. Natsu acted on his own instincts most of the time, dragging me along with him to make sure he didn't make a mess of things. And we now have a new woman, who just happened to save Nobunaga's life? Sounds like a ploy to get close to him.

"You said that Nadia was injured, right?" I asked, staring at the direction that Natsu had disappeared in. It's irritating when he gets like this.

Mari nodded her head, her attention on the guards at the gate. "You find it weird, too? They had every opportunity. She's an easy target. What are you thinking?" Mari liked to help, but at heart, she wanted to be a normal girl. Her skills in fighting were mediocre at best, and she'd rather be thinking about boys and food, rather than discuss strategies and war. Her problem was that she hadn't told anyone that she didn't want to fight, but that's the curse of being a warlord's daughter, especially being from the Date clan.

Unlike Nadia, who was a princess in her own right, and unlike Minori, who couldn't hurt a fly, Mari had the pressure of her father on her. He wanted her to be a fighter. It was a little sad, but she would have to either suck it up and work harder at her skills or tell him what she really wants and face the consequences.

"I shouldn't make any assumptions until I hear the story from Nadia. It's just a theory," I replied. It could crumble apart quickly if Nadia's story didn't match it just right. Chewing on my lip, my mind worked on other theories, but none seemed as dire as the first one. No one would just attack the princess of the Oda Clan with intent to kill and quit the job halfway through. Like Mari said, she's an easy target. Nadia couldn't even hold a sword. She said they were too heavy. Like a real spoiled princess.

Mari and I stayed at the gate until sunrise, when Hideyoshi and Masamune finally arrived. Mitsunari and my father had returned just in time. Hikaru had Mai on his horse, cradling her like a wounded dove. It made me roll my eyes in disgust. Mai couldn't be trusted. She was a wolf in sheep's clothing. If I let my guard down around her, she'd surely sink her teeth into me.

Mai stumbled into Hikaru as she dismounted the horse. "It's still bleeding," she whined, gently touching the wound on her head.

Hikaru brought her over to me, always ready to assist the damsel. He's a good kid, with a good head on his shoulders. He, Mari, and I had spent most of our childhood together. I considered him a close friend and trusted him fully. But, this affection he holds Mai has got to change. "Mai needs stitches, Iri. Could you or Ieyasu help her? She must have hit something when her horse threw her off."

Anyone with eyes could see that wound didn't come from being thrown off a horse.

I'd only turned to look at my father, not even getting one word out.

"You can do them, Iri. Unless you haven't been paying attention when I've showed you how multiple times," Father said, clearly not pleased that I had thought about not doing it. He's always watching me closely, ready to test my newly learned knowledge at any chance.

I shook my head. "No, I remember how to do it." Even though I would rather stab a knife through my own hand than do them. Grabbing Mai's wrist, I made her follow me. "No, Hikaru, you go somewhere else. I'll do them alone." I snapped before Hikaru could take one step in our direction.

His dejected expression didn't faze me. "Just be easy, Iri. She's been hurt," He called after me.

Out of sight, Mai dropped her fake smile and mockingly said, "Yeah, Iri, I've been injured, so be easy with me." She laughed and jerked her hand loose. "I can walk perfectly fine. As much as I hate spending time with you, I would really like to stop this bleeding on my beautiful face." She stroked her cheek.

Closing the door to one of the medical rooms, I pointed to a clean spot on the floor. "Sit down. I'll try and make this as painless for the both of us as possible." Digging through the medical supplies to find everything I'd need, I watched her from the corner of my eye.

After all her whimpering and acting in front of Hikaru, Mai looked pretty good for someone who got thrown off a horse. She swept her hand through her hair, detangling it and removing all the leaves she could find. "Disgusting, isn't it? Breathing the same air. I wish you'd go back to Mikawa, already."

"And I wish you'd return to whatever rocked you crawled out from, but neither of us are getting what we want today," I replied spitefully. Sitting down on my knees in front of her, I started on the stitches. Part of me wanted to rush through it, but if anything was messed up, I'd have to do it again, and Father would not be pleased with me. I'd have to sit through another lesson, except it wouldn't be fun for me. He'd make me practice over and over, until I could do it my sleep.

Mai kept her eyes on me, reaching out to touch my sword. "You're still carrying this everywhere, are you? You know, you're not a warrior, Iri. They tolerate you because you are kind of useful sometimes, but to me, you're just being ridiculous. It's funny, really." She laughed and then winced. "That hurts."

I'd pulled hard that time, intending for it to cause pain. "Oops." I shrugged my shoulders. Just a few more… I'd better make sure that it's completely closed. Wouldn't want the snake to lose its head just yet. Someday, I'll take immense pleasure in beating her in this game she's playing. Looping the last stitch, I sat back on my heels. "There. You should wipe off the blood," I said, tossing a wet cloth against her chest. It hit with a thud.

"Thanks for doing my stitches, Iri." She replied with a chipper voice. From outside the door, footsteps went by. Acting, as usual. She wiped the cloth around her face, cleaning the dirt and mud off her skin.

Standing to my feet, I packed away the mess I'd made. "That wound didn't come from being tossed off a horse. More than likely, you did it to yourself. You're twisted in that kind of way," I said. Turning my head to look back her, my bright green eyes narrowed. "Whatever your planning… if I find out that you have intentions to betray us, I will kill you." How can no one else see the danger she poses being in this castle?

Mai laughed, rising to her feet. "Oh, Iri. Always so quick to threats and violence. That's not very becoming of a lady." She threw the cloth at me, laughing again when I caught it. "I'll look forward to hearing about your meeting with Natsu. The castles got ears, remember?" She pushed open the door and swept out of the room with a light skip in her step.

Squeezing the cloth so hard that the blood mixed water dripped onto the floor, I glared at her retreating figure. I turned around to finish cleaning the medical equipment, not bothering to look at who had closed the door after entering the room. "I thought you wanted to meet all together," I said, still irritated with my encounter with Mai.

Natsu sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. "I know, but Father's called a war council. You're required to attend, and I was sent to retrieve you. I wanted to talk about this with all of us before… but I-"

"Natsu, are you sure we should trust Hikaru with this?" I asked, lowering my voice to keep anyone outside from hearing me. I shouldn't have said anything, since Hikaru and Natsu were very close and trusted each other with everything.

"Do you have a reason that I shouldn't?" That's… what made me trust that he'd make the right decision. He's proclaimed his love for me over and over, and though I've rejected him at every turn, he still places the utmost faith in me. "Mai's said something that's bothered you. I saw her leave."

Letting my shoulders drop, I nodded my head. "She's going to hurt us one day. I can feel it. And Hikaru likes her, enough that he might spill some secrets to her. She's a manipulator. I know that you all think I just dislike her, but she's dangerous, Natsu." My intuition about these things were never wrong.

The room was quiet. "I believe you, Iri. Mai hasn't done anything to prove to me that she's bad, but I trust that you have. We'll have the meeting as planned, but I'll meet you in the garden, after dark tonight, and the two of us can work on this. I'll just see if Mari and Hikaru have any theories or ideas about this attacker." He's not so bad when he's not being an arrogant child.

"We should get to the meeting," I said, moving past him to open the door.

Natsu caught my wrist, pulling me back towards him. "Just one more thing," he said, embracing me in a tight hug. "I missed you while I was gone." Before I could stop him, he'd leaned down and placed a peck on my lips.

Shoving him away, I landed a kick to his stomach, not hard enough to break anything, but enough to make it sore for a few days. "Don't get any ideas, Natsu. I am not interested in you like that," I said with a frown and left the room without looking back.

He's such an idiot! Always proposing to me and kissing me out of nowhere. Wiping my mouth on my arm, I blew out some air, even more irritated than before. I have no interest in marrying an Oda when my goal is to get my Father to name me as the heir. It's a farfetched idea, because I'm a woman, but if I can prove myself strong and smart enough, then… maybe… Maybe Father will be willing to make me the heir to the Tokugawa's. I can't let anyone get in the way of that, especially not Natsu. He's going to make a great leader one day, if he can stop chasing me and focus on his lessons and work harder on becoming the best he can be. That's what I'm doing. I'm going to study harder than anyone. I'll get what I want someday.

A/N: Reference for all the Kids and their respective ages!

Nobunaga Oda- Natsu and Nadia (Twins- 19)

Hideyoshi Toyotomi- Hikaru (18)

Mitsuhide Akechi- Mei and Mai (Twins- 15)

Mitsunari Ishida- Minori (15)

Ieyasu Tokugawa- Iri (17)

Masamune Date- Mari (17)

Kenshin Uesugi- Katsue (18)

Shingen Takeda- Saika (16)

Yukimura Sanada- Yuri and Yori (17 and 14)