Hello Everybody! How are you all? As usual, I've been reading and writing and doing stuff. Playing my trumpet, studying, and attending to school. I got a piece of sheet music for my trumpet, and I literally got lost for almost the whole entire song. Why do you want me to play a high F that isn't even on the physical lines?! Oh well. Gosh, school is really overwhelming, and luckily I didn't get lost! Hurray for me! Also luckily, most of my classes are in the south, so it's less confusing. I thank you all for being patient, and you might have to wait a bit for the next chapter, but I think everything should be fine. So, how's life? Is school fun for you? I miss elementary school... Oh well, we all have to grow up some time, huh? Anyway, enough babbling, let's get to the story!

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Chapter 9

"If they won't let us in, then we'll force ourselves in!" Mitsunari stood proudly above all of his soldiers; with steel, harden eyes ready for battle. They were already at Fushimi, there has been a significant problem of trying to take the castle, and he had already decided that there was going to be nothing that would be spared.

"We must do this for Lord Hideyoshi!" The crowd consisting of men from all ages cheered as Mitsunari rallied, almost like a call and response game. The sky was already black and blue, with a tinge of red mixed in, and it looked like their time was running short. "Charge!"

Soldiers, medics, and commanders of all kind charged towards the dreaded castle, ready to lose their lives at best. Yet, within the ranks of the Western Army, there were traitors ready to take their comrades' lives away. And they were also ready to shred the Western Army apart. One after another, rooks would march on the now red grass, if there were any, and held onto their spears like there was no tomorrow.

"Sir," said Sakon, approaching the arrogant bureaucrat from behind. "We have a slight problem." Mitsunari's head shot up in alarm; what could possibly be the problem now? There was already enough problems to deal with; Mitsunari had hoped that it would be of some importance. "In the midst of the battle, it seems... That there was a ninja attack... They were headed for the main camp," Sakon soon became nervous; nervous of saying what must be said next.

"But you said 'were'. What are you getting at?" Mitsunari questioned. Mitsunari's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Why in the world is Sakon wasting his time like that? Sakon soon cleared his throat.

"Well, the good thing is that the attack was intercepted, but there has been a injury," as Sakon spoke, Mitsunari did not understand why he was telling him this; if it meant no defeat then... Well, he sure received a unexpected and a most definitely cringing surprise. "Atsuko was the person to intercept, and she did a superb job, but she didn't get away with it very well," Mitsunari bit his thumbnail in fear, he hoped that there was going to be nothing that happened to the little girl, but it seems that he was wrong.

"I-Is she a-alright...?" He looked up at Sakon with his eyes twinkle, as if he was ready to cry. They flashed with fear and concern, along with a minuscule amount of relief because she had hopefully survived the attack. However, seeing this, Sakon laughed out loud. "What?! I cannot be worried for a little girl, let alone the only girl in the army?!" And if you look at it the right way, you would have thought that he had just confessed about his little love.

Unfortunately for him, that only sent Sakon down to the floor laughing.

"And I thought you were the king of jerks, people who don't care about anyone else but them! She's completely fine! She's resting now, she told me that she wanted a certain unhappy man for a visitor. But she knew how busy he was and she said if he was, then don't bother him. Anyway, we should visit her anyway." Then, Mitsunari had unconsciously veered back towards main camp. Sakon noticed this and decided to tease the man. "That's right, come along! Now who's a good little tsundere? Don't worry, I'll take care of everything here for you!"

Then, looking to see if Mitsunari had for sure left, Sakon started to walk towards where Tadakatsu Honda had showed up. He whispered a small and snide comment. "HeeHeeHee... Wait until I tell Atsuko about this... She'll be quite happy..."

Ignoring the comment, Mitsunari already started to drift back to camp; hoping that everything had gone well with Atsuko. His heart would sink and flutter over and over again; as he would argue with himself and try to convince himself that his other self was wrong. He walked down the bloody and depressing hill down to the main camp, ignoring all of the dead bodies that continued to pile itself up more.

As he arrived at the camp, he walked past all of the injured; one had his arm torn off, while another had half of his face blown off. Even though he was considered to be a heartless person, like one of those people who couldn't care less, Mitsunari truly cared for his men; he just had difficulty expressing that mother-like initiative. He even secretly mourned for each and every one of the people he had passed by.

"Maybe I've changed... I've never cared for my own people before... Maybe it's all because of her..."

"Lord Mitsunari! You came to visit me! How wonderful!" Atsuko had kept the cheery demeanor she always had; even if she was injured. Mitsunari immediately ran up to the little girl and hugged her. "M-My lord?! You sure are clingy today huh, old man? Hey... Were you worried? I bet you were! Aww, I'm honored that you care for me!" She then curled up against Mitsunari's head.

But he just ignored every word and kept his embrace steady.

Atsuko, seeing that Mitsunari wouldn't budge, started to grow a faint pink underneath his arms. "M-Mitsunari...? Old man...?"

"I have missed you," he said, releasing Atsuko from his grip, but not all the way. "Are you alright? Where did they get you?" Just thinking about who could have attacked his precious Atsuko got him very angry, and flames sparked in Mitsunari's eyes. Atsuko saw the embers turn into flames and sighed, thinking about how protective Mitsunari was.

"I'm fine! But Old man... You don't have to worry so much! You'll get wrinkles if you worry that much! And if you really want to know, they got me right here," Atsuko then pointed to her back and traced her finger along where the cut was underneath her layers of clothes before she winced. "Right there... It hurt a lot at first, but after resting for a bit, its just a bit numb. Like I said, there's no need to worry!"

"B-But..." mumbled Mitsunari, who looked at the energetic kid worryingly. He eyes soon became glassy, causing the monkey-like girl to bite her lip in defense. "I was so worried..." His body soon turned tense, and his voice deepened and started to shake. He was crumbling right before Atsuko's eyes. "I can't lose you. You're everything to me, and I'll protect you. Never leave my side... Please. If you die, I'll never forgive myself." He then began to snuggle and small drops fell from his eyes. He tighted his grip on Atsuko's sleeves, just like how she would when she was with him before the attack.

Out of the blue, Atsuko felt wetness on her chest and looked down to see the headstrong man broken down right in front of her. Boy, did she feel horrible!

"Please don't cry...! I'm here now, right? We all have to live in the moment... Don't worry about the future, promise?" She then pushed Mitsunari away to look into his watery, puffy, and red eyes. "You're the sweetest man I've ever met... So, stop it! And you know that's saying a lot! Haha, silly, don't do that!" He then leaned back onto her chest and smiled against her chest, still with tears in his eyes.

"Thank you... I'm glad you think of me that way..." Soon, they fell asleep in each other's arms, and a certain burly man stood outside of the tent, smiling at what he saw. He then left the two alone for them to enjoy each other's embrace.

"So, is everyone present for this meeting? Well, that's good," Hanbei had gathered everyone from his home province of Mino, along with everyone who had gathered at Gifu Castle. They stood at the camp clearing, and they all listened carefully to the boy-like man. "We must be alert! We have received word that Ieyasu is currently resting at a small town called Sekigahara. We must quickly move! I believe that this will be the place of where Ieyasu and Mitsunari clash! Possibly for the final time. Let's hurry and make haste!"

"But sir, I don't want to ruin anything, but what if we are too weak? The Tokugawa are more powerful than we are. Same with the Western Army, it is a no brainer that we might suffer significantly!" Upon hearing this statement, soldiers soon began to murmur among themselves. They surely did not want to lose their lives! Hanbei, however, was not the in the slightest worried or concerned. In fact, he laughed.

"Do you have no faith in me? Ah, but I see where you are going with this. Don't worry," he said, teasing the soldier that had inquired him of his concerns, "I know tons of people who do not like Ieyasu or Mitsunari, so this is the perfect opportunity to gain trust and to smash the Tokugawa!" He then jumped up from his spot and pointed towards the now setting sun. "Hideyoshi will be watching us! He will be with us in spirit!" Then everyone cheered. "Alright, Kiyomasa, take them away! You know what to do!"

"Quick!" Mitsunari bursted into a grand room full of all of his commanders, and even though they were resting, Mitsunari could not let the opportunity slip by. It was already evening. "We must ready our horses," he said, as the men moaned and protested. "We are very close to our dreams! Ieyasu is right where we want him! Do you men feel like we should not move? That we should let Lord Hideyoshi down and also let his son fall? No, we shall not!" When he mentioned Lord Hideyoshi, everyone immediately perked up and ran straight out of the room, getting ready for combat.

Soon, Sakon came in and was amazed of how everyone pushed each other out of the room, he looked at Mitsunari as if to say, "Did you do all of this?" Mitsunari then nodded.

"Are you not lying about this? Are you sure this is the battle to end all battles?" Sakon spoke, questioning Mitsunari's logic. However, he had already known the answer, all before Mitsunari said anything.

"Yes, I am really sure. It is now or never. We have him where we want him, and don't worry, my sources are reliable. But do you think... Do you think we will win? They are swaying in favor of that fat pig..." Already, Sakon began to see the other side of Mitsunari, a broken down, scared Mitsunari.

"The poor kid," he had thought, "There are so many responsibilities for him to take care of... There's going to be a day where he just cracks and falls... Maybe that day is now," He thought, seeing that Mitsunari began to bite his nails, (which he would never do) in worry.

"Do not worry, my Lord. Everything will sort itself out. We WILL win. Even if it costs many lives. Please," Sakon said, with a stern face written all over, "DO NOT WORRY. That is all." He then left Mitsunari all alone to think about himself, to think about things on his own.

How do you like that? Sorry if this update is a bit late, there's school and stuff, so yeah. I'm a bit obsessed with eyes this chappie, huh? Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed that chappie, because the story is finally about to close... (sigh) So happy that a lot of you guys like my work! Even if there are only like, four of you. So, how do you guys feel about the story coming to a close? I bet you guys are a bit sad or something. I don't know. Please, comment, review, and ask questions! Give me ideas and stuff! Maybe ideas for a next story? I don't know. But pppllleeeaaassee review! Thank you!

See you guys next time!