Author: Nami-chan.
Pairing: DateSana, MotoMoto, KojuSasu.
Disclaimers: I own nothing that my mind didn't provide
Note : again, no beta, but if someone want to… I gladly accept help.
Dragon Tales
Chapter 13
As long as he can remember, during his short life, it was the second time that Yukimura was awakened by nothing other than the light of the rising sun. It was this time, nothing pressing him, nothing forcing him to rush out of bed that he realized he was somehow missing the violent awakenings provided by Sasuke
It'd be lying to himself to say that's was the only thing he missed. Two days spent away from Kai and the thing he wanted the most was to come back. Masamune was only one capable of making him forget this want, even though he knew he had no right to lose sight of the reason he came Oshu ... but this morning, he was not there, and it didn't take long before Yukimura came to the conclusion that he couldn't always be by his side.
It was disturbing that ... Masamune, Masamune presence, he missed it so much. Still Yukimura hadn't dared to delve deeper into his mind to understand what could be the real meaning of this.
Striped out of his red jacket, letting the little drizzle that greyed the sky come moisten the bare skin of is chest, Yukimura was training… an old habit he has. He emptied his mind of all superfluous thoughts, as he was allowing his hands to guide his spears toward the sky before returning them to face the ground. His right foot was placed in front of him while in a graceful movement he quietly repeated one of his favorite moves.
His breath was shortened and his eyes were determined. The air was rather cool outside in this autumn morning, but the exercise brought slight redness to his body. His tense muscles were burning, and sweat and rain were sticking his hair to his back and his forehead while his headband and his pants seemed heavy to carry. It had been several hours that he traced furrows with his footsteps in the gravel of the courtyard.
Taking a deep breath, he released a powerful war cry while charging an invisible enemy. Planting his spear into the ground, Yukimura used his élan to perform a somersault before rearming his spears, now facing the part of the garden which was at his back a few seconds ago.
"How long have you been here?" he asked, taking a more relaxed pose.
Having found Shelter from the drizzle posted under the patio, Masamune face was adorned by a smirk, and his eyes showed his interest, he shrugged.
"I wish I had been here longer, you sexy bastard."
He said this knowing that Yukimura wouldn't really understand the end of his sentence. However the tone he used when he said that easily allowed the young tiger to get an idea, he joined Masamune on the patio, his red cheeks no longer reddened by the sole exercise.
"I'm sorry for last night." Yukimura confessed, his eyes avoiding the dragon's.
Masamune interrupted him by raising a hand, and then put it on Yukimura scalding cheek surprising this one. He used is thumb to withdrew a rebellious droplet who sought to make its way to Yukimura mouth.
"You did that often when we were little, it may have become a natural reaction." Masamune had always loved the fact that Yukimura could fall asleep against him like that, because it showed how much he trusted him.
Yukimura blinked, wondering for a second if Masamune was talking about the same thing as him, unless the young king really liked it when Yukimura was violent with him. He regained his mind when he saw Masamune face only millimeters away from his, but he didn't retreat, not wanting the butterflies that had made their home in his stomach to leave. Masamune seemed hesitant.
"Look, here is the moments where I should give you a good morning kiss, but Keiji could pop out from anywhere ..." Masamune said, his eyes wandering around them.
Yukimura almost chuckled silently before taking a decision which, although seeming trivial, meant everything to him. He crossed himself the distance between their lips, exerting a shy and brief pressure that totally entangled mind. Breathing again, he said to help Masamune coma back to himself:
"Good morning Masamune-dono, and that was the thanks for the party last night."
As his mind shut down, Masamune had to mentally slap himself to remember why he was gone to find Yukimura in the first place ... because it was important ... and this idiot was driving him crazy in spite of himself.
Ignoring this painful thing trying to awake in his fundoshi, Masamune sighed.
"The clan council is waiting for you Sanada Yukimura." he was scratching the back of his head.
Yukimura stiffened throwing a quick glance at his person, judging himself not presentable, he panicked.
"Ma-Masamune-dono, I completely forgot ..." admitted the shameful young tiger.
"There is a well behind this building." Masamune, crossing his arms over his chest, pointed with a nod to the building adjacent from the one where Yukimura room was. One could definitely not get bored with Yukimura.
"Thank you!" the samurai launched, already rushing to the specified location.
Still, it did take a quarter of an hour for Yukimura to finally come out of his room, washed and changed to his usual combat clothing, hair still wet. He tightened his red headband addressing to Masamune who was resting against a pillar.
"I'm ready now."
An approving smile and Masamune grabbed his forearm, bringing him after him.
"Let's go." His concern resurfaced violently.
Ooooooooooooo
From a messy desk which no one could really know what was his real function, Motonari had make a little haven of property and order for himself, a place he had made his available to develop the most horrible and cruelest way to end Motochika life.
Each new plan seemed more stupide or more unrealizable than the last, the little brunet watched again as yet another parchment he had crumbled flew through the room. He was bored, and came to nothing with the pitching of the boat. Motonari resigned to postpone the making of his plan at a time when his mind will be more at peace when this entire story's be settled.
He was tired of being locked indoors, the trip was horribly long and despite the wide windows of the captain's cabin he had occupied for a few days, and he was seriously missing the sun. Motochika lied ... because if he had returned since he first awakened, Motonari was not aware of it, and it was even more difficult to accept that his company would have at least brought him a little out of his boredom.
Motonari made his way through the mess of models and maps and other objects he dared not to touch. Reaching the door, he let his hand linger on the door for a moment, was it reasonable? Outside they were all uncouth and uneducated pirates, but there were also Motochika, right? ... But especially the sun and the fresh air actually.
He knew that the captain had not locked the door, the one-eyed man knew Motonari enough to know he would imprison himself. So far he had not been wrong but now Motonari was out of patience, an extremely rare trait of him.
The kitsune quickly ran a hand through his hair, checking that everything was in order before taking a deep breath.
When the door opened, all his senses took a blow, his sensitive nose was assaulted by the sea breeze, his brown eyes were blinded by the surrounding clarity and his ears were assailed by the sound of waves and ubiquitous seagulls. Motonari, raising a gloved hand to protect himself from what he loved most in the world, finally made a step outside the cabin, groaning with discomfort.
When finally regained his sight, he was surprised to find, not a giant naval fortress with cannon which noise still buzzed in his ears but a ship anything but uncommon.
Two masts surmounted by two large white sails which exposed the Chosokabe clan blazon, no figurehead or extravagant decorations. A single crew member visible a mop in hand passed by, ignoring him, leaving Motonari to wonder if the door had not brought him into a parallel world.
"This is not Fugaku ..." Motonari blurted, disappointed.
"Although it is a great ship, Fugaku is not the fastest of my fleet."
Motonari turned more sharply to the voice that he would have liked, but he met up only emptiness. Motochika took the opportunity to surprise him by landing behind him.
"Even if I wanted to spend some time with you, I think the situation his urgent." He continued.
He definitely not expected Motonari to be startled and to stumbles, literally falling into his arms.
"Motochika." Motonari sighed before he could realize it.
He withdrew himself as quickly as the time it took to realize what he had done, refusing to believe that the spasms from the corner of his mouth were a sign of a smile, because no, he wasn't happy to see the pirate.
Motochika scratched him behind the ears, making a strange squealing out from between his treacherous lips.
"It's rare that you call me by my name." Motochika smile reminded him of his beloved sun.
Shaking his head, Motonari held Motochika away from him, he hastily hid is fox ear before groaning.
"Your ears are dirty and blocked, you filthy pirate."
"And your tongue is forked sweetheart." He added, his smile not leaving him.
Annoyed, but inwardly satisfied that it was the end of his boredom, Motonari leaned against one of the edges of the wooden boat, feeling Motochika eye following.
"If you're out, I assume that you are no longer mad against me for having forced you to come?" the larger man tried.
"For the moment." Motonari said, busy watching the foam forming around the hull.
He didn't reacted when he felt a hand put a gentle pressure on his shoulder.
"We'll reach the first port of Oshu before nightfall."
The sensation of touch disappeared and when Motonari turned, Motochika was looking toward the horizon. His deep and serious expression touched Motonari. It was difficult to lie to himself by thinking that there was no way that this pirate was beautiful. He was disturbed by something, in normal times, Motonari would have used this time to take advantage of him, but now, he just couldn't do it...
"Tell me when the time comes. I'll remain in the cabin."
Motonari feet carried him faster to return to hide than when he had decided to come out of his prison. He slammed the door behind him, his hand clutching his aching heart.
Oooooooooooo
Elder men, younger men, middle aged men, all kinds of lords and noblemen from Oshu were now facing Yukimura. They were watching him, gauging him.
Sitting to Masamune left side while Kojuuro was at his right, the young tiger of Kai had just listened without really hearing hit when Masamune presented the situation and the reason for his presence at their sovereign main castle. Yukimura had gauged their reactions throughout Masamune brief and concise speech.
So cold. Like the board room where they were gathered, big and empty, not any ornamental armor like with Takeda, nothing but a few decorations, such impersonality ... Yukimura really felt uncomfortable.
All eyes on him had the same icy stare, like the silence that had followed the end of the tirade the young king of Oshuu had made. Was this what they called the blood of dragons? Yukimura now fully understood what Masamune had wanted to actually tell him, he was not welcome here. His hand wanted to reach Masamune as to seek warmth but Yukimura held himself back, digging his nails into his palm. Frowning, recalling the pride of Kai, ignoring the chills that roamed his members, he burst out. The clear sound made by the six coin of the pendant around his neck reasoned in his head, waking his fiery spirit.
Yukimura loudly put his fists on the floor, his didn't dared to raise his eyes though, bowing his back and with the clearest voice he could manage, he spoke to the audience.
"Let me on behalf of Takeda lend you my strength and serve Oshu with my very soul! May my spears help brings peace to this land!" he roared.
Masamune watched him, a slight glow of pride in his eyes glad it was useful for once that he had listened to his heart. For him, if someone could tame theses dragons though it could be a tiger he knew the strength of. Members of clans conquered and unified, key members of his family ... if he had been pure blooded it would have been a long since he'd get rid of them.
His gray eyes widened as much as his pupil constricted forming a dark line in his metallic iris, while the sound of an object breaking terminated the silence.
An earthenware cup had landed violently on Yukimura head, spreading into a thousand pieces at his feet, spreading burning liquid on top of his body, and the offended young man did bat an eyelash when a hubbub spread among the guests.
"We do not need a human wretch!"
"This is only a hideous kid! How could he be useful?!"
"His ugliness hurt my eyes!"
"Human!" "Human!" human! "
Cried the dragons as one voice, their sentences seemed to merger only to come out as an understandable word "human". Masamune jaw tensed, in this place he hadn't the to silence them, not in a place where they had sworn that everyone could express his opinion, he was hoping for a miracle, that they would be silent before that he breaks out and do something regrettable.
But Yukimura didn't moved, only slightly trembling as insults abounded and increased in violence Masamune had warned him after all he could and had to endure that.
"The old Shingen of Kai must have become senile!"
Yukimura straightened up, his take-off reminiscent of a tiger's, his eyes burning instituted the silence immediately, they could insult him, calling him a bastard and giving him names, but that, he couldn't tolerate it.
"Oyakata-sama decisions are always thoughtful, I forbid you to slander his name or doubt him. He sent me here to represent the power of Kai and I would show it to you! Those who do not believe me are invited to confront me in a duel, but I'm sure no one of you know how to properly carry a sword as it was Masamune who was wounded on the battlefield, I-"
"Sanada"
Kojuuro interrupted him, preventing him from going further into a political world that was beyond his young and naïve comprehension. He stood behind him, grasping the arm with which the young tiger hadn't noticed that threatened the clan leaders. Yukimura felt stupid when his soul began to cool down. But the eyes fixed on him weren't icy anymore...
"You're hurt, let me get you a treatment."
Then Yukimura realized that the hot liquid flowing in his eyes wasn't only the burning tee the cup had contained when he brought his finger to his temple, he looked his red fingers without pronouncing any words while Kojuuro was accompanying him outside.
"Kojuuro ..." Masamune stopped.
"I'll take care of him, Masamune-sama." Then he added the rest muttering for Masamune ears. "I wouldn't be there to hold you back anymore then."
A smile is painted itself on Masamune lips when he cracked the knuckles of his hands.
"True enough, I think there have to be reminded of who is in command here."
A general shudder spread.
Kojuuro closed the door behind them. Yukimura forgot the question that burned his lips while Masamune servant got down, inspecting the wound.
He wasn't hurting; he didn't understand why Kojuuro made such a face.
"That's deep." He said. "But I think it will not be necessary to bring the doctor."
"Are they always like this?" the curious tiger finally asked.
Kojuuro sighed heavily, leading Yukimura in the property.
"Worse sometimes." He could still see the time when Masamune was a child ... who had already experienced a number of attempted murders. "But we are in a time of war, they can't ignore the threat that Oda clan is, and they have clearly expressed their hostility."
Yukimura nodded, looking behind him at the area he had just left, he really hoped that Masamune can sort it out alone.
"Oi, Katakura." Masamune voice interpellated them. But how could this be possible? Wasn't he still in the boardroom?
Yukimura, surprised turned to the sound of the voice so similar to his friend's, yet he found the man in front of him was totally different.
A nonchalant air and equally impetuous stood out on his features very similar to Masamune's. Both his gray eyes were clear and expressive as his long brown hair was pulled back to meet his hips. A simple blue kimono hid his body from view and a wooden smoking pipe was slipped between his delicate fingers.
"Shigezane-sama, you are expected to be inside the boardroom, not eavesdropping at the door." Kojuuro rebuked.
"Don't want to." Shigezane said pulling on his pipe.
"You ... it was you last night with Masamune-dono, I'm wrong?" Yukimura intervened.
"Oh you and you must be Yukimura, your wound is not nice to see." He said with a grin, probably trying to change the subject.
"I was on my way to take care of that, so if you have nothing important to say ..." Kojuuro grew impatient.
"Exactly, there was this weird ninja looking for you ... he said he had a message, Saru-something ..."
"Sasuke! Sasuke is here!" Yukimura exclaimed recovering its energy in an instant.
"Calm down, we must deal with this first, I got it, I have to talk to this one anyway." Shigezane added bringing Yukimura close to him, and then he winked at Kojuuro.
The samurai frowned, wondering if it was reasonable. He didn't know what this eccentric person could have in mind.
"Katakura-dono, I don't know if ..." Yukimura tried. He suspected that the white spots that appeared before his eyes were not a good sign, but he really wanted to see Sasuke again.
"Okay, go with him Sanada, you can trust him. Though his behavior could be worse than Masamune-sama's."
Yukimura wondered if that even could be possible.
Anyway Kojuuro parted with them and took in the direction indicated by Shigezane while he accompanied Yukimura to a nearby room. The man made Yukimura sit down and soon delved into a Chinese shelf drawer.
Yukimura didn't know where to start the conversation as the man sorted various healing products. Shigezane seemed to mutter something unintelligible while inspecting various bottles.
Silently and with a funny smile, he removed the bloodied headband from Yukimura forehead, cleaning the tiger cub face with a white cloth that quickly tinged with red. Yukimura felt troubled to see so many different expressions and estranged on a face so familiar, still watching the other person, he finally asked.
"How it is that you look so much like Masamune-dono?"
The other seemed distracted by the sudden question, Yukimura flinched when he pressed a cloth soaked in disinfectant on his scalp.
"It's because I am his cousin, both by his mother and his father. Date Shigezane, it is convenient, I 'm often used as is kagemusha." He said it with a hint of pride that proved to Yukimura he would never be a threat to Masamune.
Yukimura realized once again that he really knew nothing about Masamune, if he had known that he had an almost identical cousin one day he couldn't have remembered, but he still felt guilty. He smiled slightly, thinking he could enjoy his stay in Oshu to make up from his lost memories.
"I am honored to finally meet this human who stole the heart of my dear cousin. And to say, he thought you were dead, I've never seen Masamune this feverish."
"I ... I don't remember that time."
"I know."
Shigezane applied a bandage on the wound, tying it around Yukimura head. Satisfied with his work, he began to prepare a steaming brewage, Yukimura nostrils were unable to differentiate the scents.
"I made you come here because there are things you need to know, things would never tell you himself."
The carefree expression of the young man turned into something more mature, and worried.
"Those nobles ... they will never understand what uncle Terumune wanted to show them by marrying a half-blood."
Not need to be a light to understand that he spoke of Masamune parents, strangely it fanned Yukimura curiosity, a curiosity that young tiger felt misplaced, if Masamune didn't wanted to talk about these things, and he can't understand why he should hear them.
"I don't think Masamune-dono need for me to know this." Yukimura explained his thought.
"Yes, he needs it, but he will not admit it, how can you claim to love someone when you don't know what they went through?" Was it jealousy that Yukimura perceived in these words?
"I never claimed to be in love ..."
"But you are."
Yukimura didn't know how to deny that, Shigezane a point. He didn't know whether what he felt for Masamune was the feeling called love, but he also thought he would not have done this ... if his body, his soul hadn't any feelings for the beautiful dragon. He looked at his hand when he felt the urge to feel Masamune presence, to hear his voice again ... to feel his fingers touching his body...
Shigezane handed him a tea, ending his musing.
"Drink this, you need liquid."
Yukimura accepted the drink. Drinking a sip, he grimaced from the bitter taste of it.
"Drugs can't taste good." The smirk displayed by Shigezane annoyed Yukimura deeply.
"Now, are you ready to hear how Masamune own mother on many occasions had tried to get rid of him ... just because he was not what she wanted him to be?"
The bitterness in Masamune cousin voice helped Yukimura understand the importance of the story he was about to hear, there was just this little part of him that told him how it sounded familiar ... as if he already knew internally.
The story became more and more violent and painful, the story of a rejected child, abandoned by those that surrounded him, just because he had the misfortune to be born with a bit of humanity in him, a part that Yukimura knew he liked. Masamune was for him a powerful and beautiful being, a leader admired by his peers and it did not matter that he is not a full blooded dragon ... Yukimura in his heart had always known he was different from all humans as dragons ...so why ... why did he had to suffer this much from it ?
TBC
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Xiaoland : Thank you for still being here with me !