Chapter 10: The Death of Hideyoshi and the Beginning of the End! -Karia
Karia walked out to the main gates to see the army off. Everyone was geared up and ready to go. Masamune and Kojuro walked over with their horses ready as well. Kojuro mounted his horse and Masamune walked over to her. He moved his hand to the back of her head and kissed her gently at first. When he pulled back he said, "We'll be back before you know it promise." Karia nodded as Masamune pulled her closer kissing her more fiercely. She wrapped her arm around his neck as the arm that wasn't at the back of her head went around her waist. The stood there kissing for a few moments before Kojuro said, "If you want we could just wait for the Toyotomi to come here?" His voice was full of sarcasum, and humor, and I little bit of impatience. Masamune turned and rolled his good eye at Kojuro before giving her one final kiss goodbye.
Masamune jumped up onto his horse. Kojuro moved over to Karia as he said, "Karia please behave yourself while we're gone and take the medicine whenever the medic tells you to." Karia rolled her eyes. "Yes father," she said sarcastically. The maid walked over and handed Akaryuu to her. "Would you look at that my lady you can already see the color of the boy's hair." Karia looked down and smiled. She could see small curly stands of dark red hair coming out of his head along with the light silvery-blue of his eyes. Then Karia laughed a little. "My red hair and Masamune's blue eyes." The maid laughed along with her. "Yes His eyes look like silver! Those beautiful silver eyes and the dark red hair is going to have make a lovely combination I sure he'll be a lot like his father when it comes to the girls thinking of him as the most handsome young man in the land of the rising sun." Karia laughed again at that. She could imagine young girls in the village looking at Masamune's long unruly brown hair and blue-grey eye and thinking it was the most amazing thing they had ever seen. It made her laugh quite a bit.
Masamune and Kojuro rode side by side to meet up with the Toyotomi army as they always did riding into battle. He couldn't wait to start fighting. They were riding hard and fast trying to start and end this battle in the quickest way possible. As soon as the army came within range the battle exploded into a frenzy of spears, swords, and soldiers as the two armies collided. Masamune was getting irritated as the only people he saw were the Toyotomi's common soldiers, he didn't see one of the major generals at the battle field! If the Toyotomi dared think that the Date army was that weak then Masamune had a big bone to pick with Hideyoshi Toyotomi! Masamune caught a ninja leave the battle field out of the corner of his eye and hoped that he was going for reinforcements so that at least one of their major generals would have to come out and fight!
As the battle raged on the numbers of the Toyotomi dwindled and decreased with every minute. Masamune looked up as he heard a battle horn go off signaling back up. Masamune saw another wave of Toyotomi men approach the battlefield lead by Mitsunari Ishida, Hanbei Takenaka, and Hideyoshi Toyotomi himself! Masamune immediately charged for Hideyoshi and he saw Kojuro headed for Hanbei. Masamune lashed out at the large man with all six of his Dragon Claws but his attack was easily swatted away by the hand of the giant Hideyoshi. Growling in frustration Masamune charged again with lightning sparking up the field of battle. The two warriors clashed again and again sword to fist and neither one showing a bit of fatigue. Masamune was about to strike again when he heard a familiar voice cry out. Masamune looked over to see Kojuro drop to one knee clutching his now bloodstained side. He rushed over and blocked what would have been Kojuro's finishing blow just in time. Masamune lifted Kojuro up as best he could and ran back towards their side of the battlefield while blocking off attacks from the enemy.
Kojuro's blood was warm as it soaked through Masamune's shirt. Yoshinao and Samanosuke came running over as Masamune lifted Kojuro up onto his horse. Masamune looked over at his two retainers and said with great urgency, "Yoshinao I need you to get on this horse and take Kojuro back to Ōshū and hurry he's been gravely injured he needs help!" Masamune watched Yoshinao leave with Kojuro as he made his way back over to Hideyoshi. Anger was what had fueled his fighting spirit on the battlefield today, now the thing that sustained his passion for the fight was a mixture of pain, sadness, worry, and a sense of pure hatred! These men wanted to provoke a Dragon and they succeeded with interest.
Karia was coming back through the gates of Ōshū after she had taken a long walk when she was nearly run over by someone on a horse! She looked ahead of her to see what looked like Yoshinao? Karia started running when she saw who else was on the horse. Karia ran over as Yoshinao was pulling Kojuro off of his horse. She rushed to help and they half carried half drug Kojuro onto one of the beds in the clinic house. Karia carefully removed his jacket and his shirt along with the rest of his armor and nearly screamed when she saw the bloody wound in his side. It wasn't by far a clean cut: it looked as though the wielder of a sword had sent his blade into Kojuro's side at one angle and had to move it painfully back and forth to get it back out.
Kojuro's face was twisted in pain and agony as the medic came in and started to work on the wound. The medic told Karia to hold him down as he poured alcohol over the gash. It was extremely difficult to keep Kojuro down since he was such a strong and large man. It took almost everything she had to keep him lying down. Being the strong willed person Kojuro was he tried as hard as he could not to cry out as he was getting patched up. His eyes had been shut tight ever since he arrived and he was drenched in sweat. His hair which was always slicked back was now all out of place. His bangs had fallen forward covering his forehead and He had been clutching Karia's hand as if he were trying to break it. After a few hours Kojuro grip had loosened on her hand and his breaths were coming out more evenly and calmer. All the tension in his muscles seemed to slowly fade as time went by and Kojuro fell asleep. Karia had never seen such an agonized and scared look on Kojuro face before, it frightened her to know that he was in so much pain and she wished that she would never have to see him like this again!
She was sitting in a chair beside Kojuro holding Akaryuu and letting him play with her finger. Karia wanted Masamune to hurry up and come home, she was scared that something might of happened to him as well. It had almost been 24 hours since Masamune left for battle, so she was hoping he was on his way. Karia had been sitting and watching Kojuro ever since Yoshinao had brought him back. She was very tired but refused to fall asleep in case Kojuro woke up. She was about to fall asleep when she heard a noise. She looked up and saw Kojuro attempting to sit up. Karia was about to protest but he sat up and leaned his head back against the wall.
Kojuro look at Karia and then let out a deep breath. "I'm sorry Karia it looks like you've been sitting here with me for a long time." His voice was rough and he sounded very tired. Karia gave him a smile. "You don't have anything to be sorry for Kojuro I was here because I was pretty sure you would want someone here when you woke up." Kojuro smiled back and nodded. His hand went to the bandages on his side and he winced at the touch. "Damn. I was completely careless and now Masamune's alone on the battlefield against three Toyotomi officers!" Karia pushed back the worry in her mind and tried to reassure both Kojuro and herself. "Masamune will be fine. I'm sure he's worried about you and wouldn't do anything stupid. If Masamune starts loosing then I'm sure that he'll retreat."
Kojuro didn't look convinced. "With Hideyoshi, Hanbei, and Mitsunari there he might not have time to be smart." Karia sighed, "Kojuro let me go to the battlefield. I can help him I'm not doing any good here! Karia coughed again for a few minutes and she cursed the bad timing. Kojuro shook his head. "Masamune has enough to worry about if you were to go there now it would only make him worry more. I'm sure your right and that he will come back if things go bad." One of the medics came in with a roll of bandages in her hand. "Master Katakura it's about time we changed your bandages." Karia took the roll from her and said, "Here I can do it. I need to feel like I'm doing something useful around here."
Masamune was breathing heavily as the rain came down. He winced at the pain in his side that was more than likely going to turn into a really nasty bruise. It hurt every time he inhaled and thought that some of his ribs might be broken. But despite the pain he was feeling at the moment a look of triumph was displayed proudly across his face. Lying dead before him was Hideyoshi Toyotomi. He heard Hanbei calling for a retreat. One of the Toyotomi retainers, Mitsunari Ishida was knelt down at his lord's side. He looked up at Masamune with a look of pure hatred on his face much like that of his own after Kojuro had been hurt. Masamune couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity and sorrow towards the white haired man. The guy stood up and pointed his blade at Masamune. Hanbei rode over on his white horse and ordered Mitsunari to retreat. Regretfully he sheathed his sword. "Lord Masamune I swear one day I…..WILL…..KILLLLLL…YOOOOUUUUUUUUU!"
The Toyotomi left and Masamune continued to stand there breathing heavily and letting the rain drench his hair and his entire body. Masamune fell backwards into a sitting position welcoming the cold that the rain brought. Samanosuke walked over and put a hand on his shoulder as Kojuro might have done. "Big boss we really should get going. Karia and Master Katakura are sure to be waiting for us and well…if you sit here like this any longer you might catch a cold sir." Masamune lifted himself up and mounted his horse. He took off desperately wanting to be at home.
The passed through the gates and Masamune ran to the clinic house. He was about to open the door when Karia opened it and looked up at him. She looked extremely tired with her hair in her face and dark rings forming under her eyes. She stepped back into the room and Masamune followed her. He looked immediately at Kojuro who was asleep. "How is he?" Masamune was shocked at the sound of his own voice. He could hear the worry and pain coming from it. "He's fine now. What about you?" She sounded as tired as she looked. "Just a little banged up nothing to worry about."
Karia was glad that Masamune was home and even though he said he was fine for some reason she was inclined to disbelieve that statement. She set Akaryuu down on one of the empty beds and walked over to Masamune. She took his helmet out of his hand and made him sit down in one of the chairs. She could tell that he was exhausted since he didn't complain when she started taking off his armor. After she had removed his armor she took off his shirt and saw a large bruise forming on his side. When she touched the bruised area he winced. After checking to make sure nothing was majorly injured, she only found that he had about three broken ribs. After taking care of his one injury she decided that everyone was tired and everyone needed sleep including herself.
The next morning when Karia woke up Masamune had already left the room so she assumed that he was with Kojuro. Karia walked over to the dining hall and grabbed all three of them plates since she also assumed that Masamune didn't stop for breakfast. When she walked in she handed one plate to Masamune and then sat the other in Kojuro's lap. Masamune had Akaryuu in his lap and he was playing with a small toy. "So Kojuro, how do you feel today?" He just smiled and let out a short smile. "I'm fine Karia. But you still look very tired." Karia shook her head. "No no it's nothing I'm really not that tired." Masamune set his plate on the floor next to him and asked, "Are you gonna eat Karia or are you gonna talk Kojuro's ear off." Karia was glad that the cockiness and the sarcasum had returned after hours of only hearing his tired and worried voice. "Ha ha says the guy who has to be forced to eat breakfast."
As she sat down and started eating one of the female medic came in to change Kojuro's bandages. When she was done she began to walk out before she stopped and turned around. She smacked her fist into her hand and then smiled. "Oh that's right! Lady Karia the bandages on your arm are past due to be taken off!" Karia looked wide eyed at the medic. "Huh it's been so long I almost forgot that my arm had been bandaged." The medic walked out of the room and returned with a small medical knife. She took Karia's arm and cut the bandages off with the knife and then discarded the bandages into the trash. Karia followed the scar on her arm all the way up to and past her pulled up sleeve. "Wow I never realized it was that long." She was almost shocked that the scar started at the tip of her pointer finger and ran all the way up to her shoulder.
She moved her arm around, stretching it and moving it. It was still a little sore but it felt useable again. "Why don't you and Masamune go spar? I know that putting that arm into action again is better than sitting in here worrying about me." Kojuro was smiling and gesturing for the door. Masamune picked up Akaryuu as he was about to walk out of the door. "You get your swords and meet me in the training area. I'll go put Akaryuu to sleep." Karia nodded and walked out with him. They wound up going the same direction since her swords were in the same room Masamune was taking Akaryuu to. Karia grabbed the hilts of her swords and released them from the black leather sheathes. It felt strange to hold her swords in her left hand since over the past couple of months she had been using her right hand to train with. Masamune grabbed his swords and they walked over to the training area.
They begun sparring and Karia found that no matter how long she spent using the right arm fighting still came naturally with her left. Masamune started out by swinging downward. Karia blocked the attack and rolled underneath the interlocked blades coming up on his left side with her swords moving with her. Masamune blocked the move and jumped back. Karia grinned. "So Masamune, how many of the Toyotomi soldiers were at the battlefield?" He came charging and they clashed blades again. "At first I felt like they were trying to pull something since there was only one division. As we rushed into battle I just got even more pissed off since it seemed like they actually thought one division of leaderless soldiers could actually defeat the Date." Karia jumped back and ran for his right trying to knock him down. "We had just about taken them all down before reinforcements came along with the three best generals of Toyotomi. Kojuro got tag teamed by Mitsunari and Hanbei and a little while after I sent Kojuro back I killed Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Mitsunari gave me a death treat before they retreated."
Around noon they both sat down out of exhaustion. Karia felt great being able to move around like that without having to worry about her arm. "So what was that you said about Mitsunari wanting to kill you?" Masamune shrugged. "He just told me that one day he was going to kill me then he got dragged back by the Takenaka bastard." He paused for a moment and then said, "Hey your birthday's in three days isn't it?" Karia laughed. "Yup three days."Karia heard the pounding of hooves near the entrance of the gates and they walked back around to see who had arrived. "Karia, Masamune how's it going?" Keiji jumped off his horse and walked over to them. "I hear there's a new dragon in town." He had a big grin on his face as he talked and Yumekichi was on his shoulder jumping up and down.
"That's right! Akaryuu Date the Red Dragon of Ōshū!" Karia started to head for the room Akaryuu was sleeping in and Masamune and Keiji followed. She opened the door quietly and walked over to pick Akaryuu up. The dark red curls on his head were short and still didn't quite cover his entire head. He opened his silvery blue eyes and blinked a couple times as he was being lifted into the air. "He looks so much like you Masamune," Keiji said as he looked over her shoulder. Masamune chuckled. "Ya think so? So do you plan on staying long Maeda?"Keiji laughed and put one hand behind his head. "Yea I heard about little Akaryuu here and figured I'd drop by. And now that I think about it there's an event coming up here in three days right?"
Karia rolled her eyes. She knew that the only reason Keiji knew about Akaryuu or her birthday was because of Sasuke. Anything that Sasuke knows everyone else seems to know. "I'm sure Sasuke told you my birthdays coming up. When it comes to Sasuke nothing is a secret." Keiji smiled. "Where's Kojuro at usually the tree of you are in the same place?" out of the corner of her eye Karia saw Masamune's hand clench into a fist. She sighed. Kojuro had to stay in bed for a while before his injury healed. She knew Masamune missed having him around all the time and she had to admit….so did she. "Kojuro is in the clinic house over there. In the last battle against Toyotomi Hideyoshi's forces Kojuro was badly wounded." Keiji's good mood seemed to vanish as the sound of Hideyoshi's name. "So that's how he died." Karia looked at Keiji confused at first before she realized, "You were friends with Hideyoshi weren't you…Keiji?" Keiji nodded his head slowly. "Don't get the wrong idea I knew Hideyoshi back when he wasn't obsessed with ruling the land. He was a good friend of mine back then."
There was a few moments of awkward silence before Keiji said, "Is Kojuro alright?" Karia felt tears forming but forced them back. It was just like Keiji to worry about other people when he was the one hurting the most. She had to put a lot of effort into holding back tears as Keiji attempted a small smile. "Kojuro will be fine. It's nothing to worry about." In a way, that seemed to brighten Keiji up a little. "That's good wouldn't want the Right Eye of the Dragon to down for too long right." Karia nodded and gave a weak smile still feeling uncomfortable. Akaryuu had wrapped his tiny hand around her finger and had fallen asleep again. Karia thought that it must be nice to just sleep eat and worry about anything like he did. She cheered herself up a little by thinking of her birthday. She would be 23 in a few days but she was still as excited about it as if she were 11 or 12.
Keiji decided to stay until her birthday and then move on and visit Kenshin in Echigo. The next day was spent with Karia and Masamune sparring while Keiji and Yumekichi played with Akaryuu. Karia pushed herself hard during her sparring session with Masamune. She felt so weak after spending so much time with and injured arm. Her blows on Masamune were soft since he was still recovering from a few broken ribs himself but she made sure that she kept alert and focused. At the end of the day Masamune said he was going to take a walk and so Karia sat down and started talking to Keiji. "Karia, do you ever hold back when you fight?" She laughed. "Not usually." Keiji laid back with his hands behind his head and smiled at Akaryuu and Yumekichi. "Masamune seems like a bit of a different person lately." Karia looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "How so?" Keiji laughed. "He seems oh I don't know friendlier almost. He seems more comfortable speaking his mind." "Really?" Keiji nodded. "Masamune used to be the kinda of guy who would either make fun of you or he just wouldn't talk to you. Kojuro and some of the guys were the only ones who could get a word out of him.
Karia couldn't imagine Masamune being like that. Not after what she's seen. He always ready for a conversation. It always seemed to her that Masamune couldn't stand silence. "I can't picture that." "Well after he met Yukimura he seemed to talk more but mostly within his own territory. He never talked and joked as much around me before. I think you a little to do with that." Karia laughed. "What do I have to do with when he talks and to who?" Keiji sat up and looked Karia in the eye with a large grin. "Whether you think so or not I bet almost anyone around here can tell you that you've changed the One-Eyed Dragon. Before you came around he was rude and antisocial, now that you're here he's rude, sociable, and a fun guy to talk to." Karia rolled her eyes at him. She was sure he was exaggerating there's no way she could have that big of an impact on someone. Keiji got up and was about to head for the room he was staying at before he stopped at the corner. "Oh and by the way don't underestimate the affect your personality has on others. It's really quite something."
Karia Shook her head and picked up Akaryuu. She walked to her room and put Akaryuu to sleep before getting ready to go to sleep herself not waiting for Masamune to come back from his walk. The next morning she walked in for breakfast and many of the guys wished her a happy birthday but like she asked there was nothing big going on. She grabbed her breakfast and went to say good morning to Kojuro. She walked in to see Masamune and Kojuro eating and talking. Kojuro looked up and smiled at her saying, "Happy birthday Karia" She smiled back and nodded.
Masamune put his plate down and walked over to her giving her a hug. "Good morning Karia." She looked up and said, "Good morning." Masamune leaned his head down and said happy birthday within kisses. As she sat down to and started eating Masamune said, "Oh Karia close your eyes for a minute. She suspiciously closed her eyes as she was told. She had specifically told everyone not to get her anything. She felt Masamune move her hair back as he tied something around her neck. She felt cold metal at the base of her collar bone as her hair fell back down. "Alright you can open your eyes now." She looked down at the necklace Masamune had givin her. It was a flame with a lightning bolt going through it. The metal was smooth and cold against her skin. She picked it up with her fingers and she moved it the light revealed several different shades of red and orange on the flame and different shades of gold. It was very beautiful and she liked it a lot. "Thank you Masamune. It's amazing, I love it." Kojuro grinned and said, "Believe it or not he made that himself with help from the blacksmith." The fact that Masamune had made the necklace for her made her love it all the more. She kissed Masamune and when she pulled back she said, "Thank you very much."