Surviving Death

Biting into the clean cloth to muffle my cry of pain, I glared through my tears at the writhing mess of symbols drawn below my belly button but refrained my touching it, digging my fingers into the futon instead.

It was tempting – so, so tempting – to give in, to just give up, but…!

I couldn't, shouldn't, must not fold.

Because if the seal were to be disturbed while it was in the process of setting, then…

I hissed, feeling the burn travel throughout my body, and fell onto my side, curling into myself, as cold sweat dampened the sheets below me.

Black spots were beginning to swim before my eyes and pain twisted my insides before finally exploding in a single burst, leaving me gasping for air. Eventually, the sharpness that needled my innards, that felt like forever and a day, dulled into throbbing aches and my body went limp. A sweet numbness was permeating through my muscles.

How long I'd lain there, I was unsure of.

Still, with the seal cemented, taking on the appearance of an arabesque but symmetrical tattoo akin to intertwining black vines, I felt accomplished and relieved:

No longer need I worry about menstruation and its ilk!

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Halle-fucking-lujah.

20: Clash of Wills

"–and that's the plan," I reiterated to the Vagabond, resisting the urge to yawn from exhaustion while unraveling the bandages around his knee to check on its progress, "So what do you think?"

It had been days since my first (face-to-face) meeting with Chosokabe and the majority of the time, aside from negotiating between said pirate and the man before me, had been spent gathering intel from as well as planting information within Mori's circle and waiting for everything to come to fruition.

Now, Keiji and I were hammering out the details in preparation for the Plot (as I'd whimsically decided to call the upcoming events).

"Hm… I'm still worried about Mori's reaction," he admitted, watching me poke and prod around the patella with both a careful finger and my chakra, "He's… different. I honestly can't predict how he'll respond to this."

And I frowned in remembrance.

"That Mori," Chosokabe spoke, voice laced with dark undertones, "I don't know what he's thinking anymore." The sake swirled in his cup. "It's like he's abandoned Aki in favor of… something."

"Abandon Aki?" The mere suggestion seemed ludicrous to me. "What do you mean?"

He knocked back his drink, poured himself some more, and downed that as well before sighing, "I mean what I said. That guy… He's… Well, you heard about my attack a while back, right? After you took my spear?"

I grimaced and he snickered. "No need to look so guilty. I shouldn't have let my guard down and besides…" His smirk was boyish but sincere. "You had the chance to wipe us out, to take over Shikoku, but you didn't." The air around him softened. "None of my men were harmed and even I was simply left to snooze like a babe. My enemies would never be so merciful." He ruffled his silver hair, looking a bit sheepish. "I may have raged like my moniker, but, in hindsight, a stolen weapon was obviously the lesser of two evils." However, his gaiety quickly faded. "And yet, somehow, it's like that Mori's got his priorities backwards."

"…?" Unsure of what to say, I remained silent as Chosokabe lost himself in his own thoughts, fiddling with Uminoshoten's chain, and moments passed. Finally, he spoke though perhaps more to himself than to me, "I always knew that he was the vengeful type, but… He never struck me as the kind to be so single-mindedly focused on it. Did his loss at the hands of that old Tiger really trip him up so badly?"

That caught my attention and I couldn't resist asking, "Do you know why he attacked Kai?"

Blinking back to focus, he looked over at me, surprised, before answering, "If I recall correctly, the constant skirmishes between Takeda and Uesugi ended up putting a strain on Kai's resources so there was a bit of instability. And I'm sure that the surrounding provinces would've vied for the territory had they not been preoccupied with the Devil King's conquest. Hell, even I would've set my sight on it, but I had my hands full with my own projects. The same probably went for that One-Eyed Dragon I've been hearing about since he'd just united Oshu at the time. But Mori…" There was a glimmer of begrudging respect in his eye. "Mori had all of his internal affairs set straight and was free to do as he pleased. To be honest, I'm surprised that he failed. Everything seemed to be in his favor, so why…?"

And I bit the inside of my lower lip. Could it be…?

Shunko had succeeded in delivering the plans. I knew that she did because Sasuke had recognized her even before I joined the Alliance. So why did Mori still go through with the invasion when he had to have known that his plans were likely to be compromised…?!

"What do you mean?"

I twitched, realizing that I'd spoken aloud. (Really, I needed to break that habit before it ended in my death.) And as much as I wanted to play it off, I knew that he'd heard every word and had no intention of letting me escape without spilling the beans. (The vise-like grip around my wrist attested to that.) Thus, I resigned myself to explaining about the time I'd broken into Takamatsu Castle in order to steal Mori's ring-blade and chanced upon his plans before deciding to send a copy to Takeda in order to repay my (self-imposed) debt.

Chosokabe listened with bated breath and, when I finished, slowly shook his head, laughing in clear disbelief. "You… If you hadn't already proven yourself to be a terrible liar, then I would've had a hard time believing that." (I was almost offended – almost – but the truth was the truth and I'd rather not deny it.) "Then again, since it's you, that makes it all the more believable." My wrist was released as his hand covered my head instead and I scowled when he mussed up my hair. "Sometimes, I can't help but think," he huffed with a wry quirk to his lips, "If you weren't as… as nice as you are, then this land would most likely be under your control."

And I gave him a look. "Well, I think that you're too nice, thinking so highly of me…"

"Heh."

"Maybe," I said, pulling out of my memories in order to soothe Keiji's mounting anxiety, evident in the furrow between his brows, "You should follow your own advice."

Confusion flickered in those clear eyes of his and I smirked.

"Don't think. Do."

That startled a laugh out of him.

"Aa… You're right," he agreed as I began checking over his hand, "In the first place, Mori has always thought on another level so my predictions would already be that much less accurate." He then sobered. "I can only hope that casualties will be kept to a minimum."

Given Mori's disposition, I highly doubted that that would be the case but kept a lid on my pessimism. There was no need to bring down the morale before the plan was even executed. Instead, I focused on the now and gave him a love-tap, grinning. "Give it a few more days and you'll be as good as new! For now, stick with some light exercise."

Visibly perking up, Keiji jumped to his feet and began stretching out his sore muscles. "Ah~! It's good to be moving again! Right, Yumekichi?"

Said monkey squeaked in agreement and, before I knew it, the two began posing in some of the most ridiculous stances I'd ever seen and–

Is that supposed to be the crane?

I face-palmed.

Oy vey…

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It was time.

Hidden in the shadows of Mori's main ship, I carefully monitored the flow of my chakra in order to maintain the illusion surrounding Keiji and the spies, giving them the appearance of being weak and injured. Their wounds had long been treated, but it was for the best that that be kept a secret. As for Yumekichi, the monkey was perched upon my shoulder so as to not get caught in the upcoming crossfire.

Meanwhile, high above the clouds, I could sense Shunko circling once, twice, thrice before taking off to the east and knew that to be the cue. My fingers curled into a sign of concentration and I felt the seals attached to the bottom of the ships' hull activate, converting seawater into vapor. Soon, but gradual enough to be mistaken as natural, mist began to rise until a fog settled over us, slowly thickening.

My ears perked upon hearing uneasy whispers on deck and my lips pulled back into a sharp smile as lights flickered within the cloud of gray, quickly followed by a number of theatrical booms, before a familiar voice cut through the tension.

"Yo, Motonari Mori," Chosokabe's drawl belied the sharpness in his eye, "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

And seeing the mobile fortress in its true glory instead of the prototype that I'd mistaken it as during my theft easily took away my breath. Roughly a hundred times bigger, Hyakki Fugaku was actually an islet modified to be a warship with a plethora of hidden weapons and a main cannon that had enough firepower to devastate a village in a single attack. It was also decorated with a rather gaudy-looking oni at the bow as a tribute to Chosokabe's nickname, but, that aside, it was hard not to be awed.

I gotta hand it to him, I thought with an unbidden grin, He really knows how to make an entrance.

Unfortunately, now was not the time to be admiring the pirate and I listened to their conversation with one ear while mentally directing my clones to their positions. The fleet of smaller vessels that Mori had commanded ahead of time finally surrounded the mobile fortress, but I wasn't worried. It was to be expected that Mori had a preemptive tactic in place.

"Chosokabe," the self-proclaimed Child of the Sun spoke monotonously, "I suggest that you surrender Hyakki Fugaku to me and slink back to your little island."

Condescending much? I couldn't help the tic in my brow as Yumekichi bristled with a displeased growl that was lost in the buzzing atmosphere. No matter. My thoughts turned to happier ones. That'll just make our success ever sweeter in the end.

The plan focused on three objectives:

1. Rescue Chosokabe's spies,

2. Convince Mori to join the Alliance, and

3. Coordinate to attack Honno-ji.

(Keiji wasn't included in the first since, well, he was strong enough to escape on his own.)

Unfortunately, given how life could be so unfair and Mori's general douche-ness, it should have been obvious that the strategy, which consisted of stealthy sleep bombs and disorienting illusions, would fail right from the get-go when a spike in scorching, bittersweet, hissing, amber, ashes and reflecting light from above caught my attention.

I looked up, eyes widening at the sight of archers– no, snipers in the crow's nest.

Shit…!

Moving on automatic, I leapt from the shadows and tackled the hostages out of the way as my clones intercepted the bolts – They have crossbows?! – that were aimed for the spies of both parties.

"Hachinosuke-dono!" Matsu shouted in alarm, reaching for her naginata, but…

–metal whistling through air and ripping through flesh, lodged within the heart that no longer pulsed–

–shattering through the bony barrier, piercing gray matter, as bright red blood splattered–

–breath stuttering within collapsed lungs and throat filling with the taste of iron as darkness encroached–

…there was no need.

"Are you fucking insane…?" Chosokabe's voice, low with restrained fury, filtered through the haze of painful memories. "They risked their lives for you and you try to repay them with death…?!"

Head throbbing, I winced, barely able to contain the mental onslaught before shunting it away to the back of my mind, but the damage was done: the careful control I had over my illusions slipped through metaphorical fingers as they flickered and dissolved into dissipating feathers.

"You…"

Time seemed to freeze when I heard him speak and the silence was deafening, shock near palpable, as I locked eyes with his, seeing black pupils dilate within dark irises, before the surprise in his chakra iced over into freezing rage and a chill ran up my spine because he recognized me.

"…die."

(Who knew that a man's voice could sound so calm and yet so bestial at the same time?)

"WATCH OUT!"

I couldn't react in time.

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Is this where it ends?

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CLANG!

The sound of metal against metal echoed within my ears as I saw my image, pale and wide-eyed, reflected in the surface of the blades locked in front of me.

Ah…

Little sparks of heat were crackling from the sheer pressure exerted by the grinding weapons, but all that I could focus on was the pound, pound, pounding of my heart within my ears and the sickening feeling of fearhorrorterrorIdon'twanttodie–

"KIRA!"

I gasped, tunnel vision shattering into nothingness, as tickling, floral, singing, pink, cherries brushed against my senses and I forced myself to look up, to see that Keiji had covered me and was holding back Mori's attack with his signature dai-nodachi in hand.

Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump…!

My heart never slowed from its frantic beat despite the stillness surrounding us and it took a moment to realize.

In that split second that felt like hours, the only ones to have moved were the two before me.

"Eee!" Yumekichi (when did he get there?) peeked out from behind his cover in the Vagabond's fur-lined sleeveless jacket. "Eee?"

…oh, my mind corrected belatedly, Make that three.

(Can't forget the monkey, after all.)

And as inappropriate as that thought was, it somehow made me feel better.

That was close…

I exhaled, as if breathing out all of the bad, before slowly standing from my crouch in front of the stunned freebooters, curling my fingers discreetly. The shadows beneath Chosokabe's spies shuddered and rose, enveloping the three who yelped in surprise, and they vanished from sight only to reappear in a disgruntled pile on Hyakki Fugaku where I'd placed my revised transportation seal days ago. The agitation in crackling, cloud white, sweet and salty, tickling, sea foam calmed and I didn't need to look to know that the pirate was relieved.

But it's not over yet.

The tension was stifling, almost to the point of suffocating, and yet my desire to know could not be abated as I finally dared to breathe my question,

"Did Mitsuhide Akechi tell you about me?"

Amaterasu's replacement screeched against Renai and I gripped the hilt of my tanto before the two weapons disengaged as Mori distanced himself, aura no less intense than before despite his placid expression.

He wouldn't attack: not when he was at a disadvantage.

The man may be an enigma in mind, but he wasn't an idiot.

And my deduction was proven true as he stayed his hand in favor of watching me, thinking through his options. Meanwhile, I marveled at the way his chakra held more emotions than I thought possible for him. The cold rage that had pervaded it was now simmering quietly alongside disbelief as intrigue quickly became prominent. Finally, he spoke.

"'The hawk may soar the skies, unbound by the land, but it shall never escape the touch of sunlight'," Mori quoted before sniffing in contempt, "That ignoramus was full of sweet but poisonous words. He thought to manipulate my grudge in order to hold Chosokabe here, but I am no fool." And surprised murmurs rose when the Sun's Child lowered his weapon. "To allow Oda to continue on in this manner is to lose Aki in the end." He held out a hand towards me. "Dorobo-taka… Return Amaterasu to me and the Great Sun shall scorch Her enemies."

"…"

It was honestly tempting to accept his offer.

"Hoh~?" Chosokabe hummed airily but his eye was sharp. "You've changed your tune rather quickly, Mori." And his smile gained a certain edge to it. "Am I to believe that you're truly offering us your aid?"

And yet…

"I do not lie," Mori said coldly, face never betraying his thoughts and chakra purposefully subdued, "So do not make me repeat my words."

I wasn't convinced.

Just what is he plotting now?

There were too many loopholes in his statement, too many ways for him to backstab us without becoming a liar, and the most important one was…

Misconstruction.

"You say that 'the Great Sun shall scorch Her enemies'," I spoke up, ignoring Keiji's worried glance at how tightly I was gripping my tanto, "And you say that you don't lie…" My voice sounded about as warm as winter in the Antarctic. "But…" And my eyes narrowed. "You're being purposefully vague."

Because Mori thought of one and all in terms of potential threats, if not possible pawns to be discarded.

And scorching, bittersweet, hissing, amber, ashes flared from its confines, lashing out against mine in irritation and making me want to quail beneath its intensity.

Still…

My eyes narrowed a fraction.

I have to try.

"Swear," I continued, bottling up the thoughts of ohgodthisiscrazywhatamIeven and shunting them to the back of my mind in favor of a stoic mien, "In the name of your Great Sun," before I drew my tanto and flashed the seal that I'd found in his private library during my investigation, "That you and your province will not harm any of those in the Anti-Oda Alliance before its dissolution," deliberately pointing the blade towards him in a knowing manner, "Lest She strikes you down for breaking a sacred vow."

And he inwardly raged upon having his belief turned against him, lips twitching in an effort to stave off the urge to snarl at me. (My heart gave a painful thump as sweat clung to my temple.) His chakra burned against mine. (My feathers were ruffled and stiffened as if that could somehow protect me.) And several tense moments passed in quiet contemplation before it abruptly cooled into a semblance of begrudging respect.

"I swear," Mori spoke clearly, carefully enunciating each word as if this had been his plan the entire time, "In the name of the Great Sun," with eyes never wavering from mine, "That I, Motonari Mori, and those found to be a part of my Chuugoku shall not willfully harm any of those in the Anti-Oda Alliance before its dissolution," even as his fists tightened through the gaps of his sleeves, "Lest She strikes us down for breaking this sacred vow."

Checkmate.

What happened next was… difficult to describe.

There was a… flash of light from the intricate circle of symbols, and a pressure that I'd never felt before as time, or perhaps… existence itself froze, and then… and then the moment passed.

The vow had been heard and the contract complete.

I knew this to be true though the how escaped me.

And my heart continued pounding in my ears.

…perhaps there is a god, I thought as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of my face, Because that right then felt…

It felt…

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…otherworldly.

A shiver ran up my spine.

God, I hope I didn't just sign my soul away…

From beside me, Keiji give a low whistle of appreciation and relaxed a smidgen, lowering his weapon and stepping back as I moved on autopilot: sheathing my tanto, taking out the scroll containing Amaterasu, unsealing it…

Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump…

I breathed, steeling my nerves even as my heart continued pounding away, and slowly approached the green-clad warlord. With a formal bow, I knelt before the man and lifted the weapon while lowering my gaze respectfully, a commoner before nobility. A shift in weight and the winds changed just as alarm rippled in the chakra surrounding me, but I didn't move and simply lifted my gaze.

Ba-thump!

His attack stopped mere millimeters away from my face and my bangs swayed from its force.

Ah…

My eyes widened at the captivating sight before me.

How beautiful…

Amaterasu, a ring-blade skillfully crafted with tempered metal, was shining like its name: wreathed in a light of pure whiteness tinged with the softest of gold, giving it a feeling that could only be described as ethereal.

It was a far cry from my tanto.

"Hn."

And in a single movement, the weapon danced around the green-clad warlord before resting over his shoulder as the show ended and Mori turned away, stating drolly,

"Let us sail."

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"That was pretty ballsy of you today."

I glanced over my shoulder to see Chosokabe leaning against the railing that served as my perch before resuming my gaze into the deep, dark sea with a shrug.

'Ballsy', huh…

(Ba-thump.)

My lips quirked into a wry smile.

"If you say so."

But…

My heart was still pounding from that moment, stuck in time and still uneasy, and my grip tightened even more around the wooden structure.

I can't stop shaking.

It was pathetic, I couldn't help but feel, how a battle of wits ended up terrifying me more than a life-threatening fight… How facing Mori had left me shaking and trembling long after the fact when attempting suicide didn't… How I was tempted to run and run and hide away in hopes of never being called out again… And I laughed a laugh that couldn't be more than a huff of self-derision.

I wonder…

My shoulders hunched ever so slightly.

…is this normal?

(Feeling as if I'm growing but then suddenly reverting, slowly recovering only to depressingly regress, over and over and over again until I was left wondering if I'd changed at all.)

So lost in thought, I flinched upon feeling warmth brush against my bare shoulder before tilting my head backwards to see Chosokabe staring up at the crescent moon, silver locks swaying in the ocean breeze, and, for a moment, I was struck with a sense of… deja vu, but the feeling quickly passed and I was left to wonder what that was all about.

Still, the silence that reigned was comforting and I found myself relaxing as those gloomy thoughts of mine gradually faded away.

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But a glimmer of light suddenly glinting against the night sky quickly made me tense, catching the pirate's attention as he shifted to look at me.

"What is it, Taka-chan?"

Something brushed against the edge of my senses, just enough to alert me but not enough for me to tell what it was.

"Mm… Not sure, but…" I frowned, squinting my eyes in an attempt to see farther. "I think… someone's coming…?"

Chosokabe frowned, one hand resting on Uminoshoten, and I could see that he was shifting through his memories in an effort to deduce who it may be.

In the meantime, I decided to take action: pulling away from the usual senses and delving into my most prized one, unleashing a wave of chakra in order to reach out to Shunko and finding her familiar raspberry, red, smoky, ticklish, humming almost instantly before tugging and–

The ocean, easily mistaken as black were it not for the hint of blue illuminated by the moon, stretched for miles on end in its vast glory with nothing to accompany it save for a lone moving fortress.

And, though faint, there was a distinct whistling amongst the rushing wind, but that wasn't all.

There was also… a scream?

–the horizon that laid before my normal field of vision overlapped with the sight given to me by my avian partner and my head throbbed–

The figure in the distance was quickly growing closer, shifting from an indistinct blob to something triangular in shape before certain details came to light beneath the crescent moon.

–before I gasped in surprise,

"Venus?!"

The connection snapped and I was filled with vertigo, tilting over and slipping off of the railing, almost plummeting into the rolling waves below had Chosokabe not grabbed me in time.

"–AAAHHH…!"

Splash!

I managed to hear through my own disorientation and felt myself be pulled against a warm body as footsteps sounded, stopping nearby.

"Kasuga-chan!" Keiji shouted with a hint of concern as Chosokabe ordered his men to set down a rescue boat, "Are you alright?"

Planting my feet on firmer grounds, I held my head and gripped onto the railing, peering through my lashes to see a blonde dash climb onto a brown smear against a sea of darkness, before haltingly voicing my thoughts, "Since she's here, chances are that the Alliance will soon be in place."

"Aa," the pirate agreed, grip tightening ever so slightly around my shoulder in anticipation, "And right on schedule too."

As if on cue, there, along the horizon, was a familiar sight though shadowed by the yet-to-be bright sky.

Tired, I bit back a yawn and cracked my neck in an effort to stay awake before musing aloud, "Say... They're traveling by land, but… Do you think Mori's already there, or…?"

Or did he return to Aki instead?

(Because our agreement didn't include his participation, only his neutrality.)

"…"

For a moment, Chosokabe didn't respond, opting to stare into the distance instead, before, finally, he let out a bark of laughter.

"Don't worry, Taka-chan. He'll definitely be there."

His fanged grin was oddly comforting.

"If only to ensure the vow's dissolution himself."

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It was time.

Author's Note: Sorry for the late update! As it turned out, the trip overseas was canceled and I... Well, I hadn't been in the best of moods, especially since my previous work finished and I have yet to find new employment... oTL

Real Life woes aside, though, I was asked by a guest in a review for the previous chapter about how Kira met with Chosokabe and went back and forth between him and Keiji. Reading back, I realized that I was horribly vague about this issue, so here's the gist as I imagined it:

Chosokabe and his men were hidden in the prototype Fugaku near Chuugoku with his parrot of a partner spying on Mori. Kira followed the parrot back to the ship and met with Chosokabe in person because of the mission's importance. After their first meeting, Kira took the liberty of placing a seal on Fugaku and several other places for easier method of transportation. Thus, Kira simply teleports between places via the shadow-way.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for reading/reviewing/fav'ing/subscribing and I hope to see y'all next time!

Until then~ ;3

Disclaimer: Sengoku Basara © Capcom; Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto; Kira and all other concepts © me