It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.

Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.

Twenty Fifth Slice: Striking Mayo

The sun had begun to set outside when the meeting of merchants adjourned. The logistics were in place to hold the event so the next step was to spread the word out so that they could have a nice big crowd for the day after tomorrow. So now Sasaki not only had to worry about being able to cook something, he had to do it in front of a huge audience.

This was really bad for him since he never really learned how to cook. For the most part, he spent his university years eating cheap meals at the multiple cafeterias around campus. When he wasn't getting a meal there, he was either picking up something quick at the convenience store or just cooking a microwave dinner. Since he had moved into his own apartment prior to this whole adventure starting, he had been meaning to take some basic cooking lessons. Now, he was going to have to figure out something in such a short period of time. He could probably stick with something simple that would work in this environment like a festival dish.

'Well, I might as well look on the bright side. No matter who wins, we get the 120,000 kan.' His thoughts were interrupted when he spotted someone stopping in front of his resting spot on the inn's porch.

"Mitsuhide-san?"

"Let's make one thing clear. Nobuna-sama will be saved by my 120,000 kan. I won't lose to you!" exclaimed the other Oda retainer.

"Aren't you taking this cooking duel too seriously?"

His comment only earned him a fierce glare from the girl. "If I don't win, there's no point! I don't care what happens to anyone else! Once I win, Nobuna-sama will recognize me and elevate me above you! You won't be able to boss me around!"

"… I really don't recall any time I actually bossed you around." Unless that one night fortress operation counted but if anything, he didn't really order her to do anything beyond the scope of the plan.

"Listen, the Akechi clan is ancient and respected. After my father died, my mother led the clan and raised me herself to become a great general." Mitsuhide then thrust out a letter in front of Motoharu's face. "Now she has fallen ill and the only thing I can do for her is to become the Oda clan's number one retainer!"

"I'm sorry to hear about her poor health but-"

"But nothing! Just know that I will steal the trust that Nobuna-sama places in you and become her most treasured officer!" With that said, Mitsuhide stormed off, leaving a stunned Motoharu to walk back into the inn where Nobuna and Imai were having some tea together to relax after a hard day.

Immediately, the blonde female noticed the look on his face. "Saru, what's wrong?"

"Well…"

"Che… what a day." Shibata Katsuie dismounted her horse once she was safely within Gifu Castle's gates. Saitou Yoshitatsu had been able to slip away from her during the skirmish but at least that was the only real bad news. Not only were casualties light on their side but they managed to take out a high ranking enemy from the Miyoshi clan and get rid of that potential monstrous ally.

"You should go get something to eat. You will need to regain your strength."

"That's true. Hey, thanks for dealing with that monster back there. I just wish that old man hadn't been there…"

Bujin Double nodded once in acknowledgement as they moved inside. "It was unfortunate that an innocent life was lost. But all we can do now is move forward."

"Shibata-san, you're back?" The pair noticed a small girl with her sleeves rolled up and some bits of rice on her hands. "Ah, and you must be my beloved's guardian."

"Kichou-sama, are you…?"

"Please wait a moment!" The Viper's daughter dashed back into the room where she came from before emerging with a small plate of rice balls. "Here, I've been practicing all day! Please have one!"

Shibata took one of the snacks before taking a bite. "This is good!"

The little girl smiled. "I'm glad you like it! I hope I can feed these to my beloved when he returns!"

"That could be a while, Kichou-sama. We can only imagine how busy it must be in Sakai."

"Huh… Juubei said all that?" After taking what Motoharu told her into consideration, Nobuna went back to her tea. "Well, as long as you win, it'll be fine."

"Are you certain?" asked the Toei employee.

"Her taking this seriously is a good thing," answered the Oda Princess. "More importantly, have you thought about what you will be making?"

"Well, I did think about simple dishes that would be appropriate for the local tastes. I had some ideas but…"

Imai picked up the young man's train of thought. "It's going to be takoyaki in the end, am I right?"

"Most likely," admitted Motoharu.

The older man went to his tea cup and drained the liquid in one last gulp. "And it's also likely that Tsuda will have Akechi-dono make takoyaki too."

Nobuna frowned. "Then if Juubei wins…"

"Tsuda's goal this entire time had been to join the Egoushuu and get in on the takoyaki monopoly. The 120,000 kan is a small price to pay for that," explained Imai.

"So he makes it look like he's helping us while reaping the biggest benefit," concluded Motoharu.

"He was using us?" This fact didn't settle too well with the young lady.

"You can't underestimate that man, Nobuna-dono." The older man poured himself another cup of tea while Sasaki took a seat at the table.

"So if you knew that, why did you allow this wager to go forward?"

"It's part of a merchant's job to be a judge of people," answered Imai. "And I have a feeling that Oda Nobuna will achieve her dream of uniting Japan. The princess places a great deal of trust in you so I have to believe in you as well, Saru-san."

"Tsuda, that idiot! If Oda gets the 120,000 kan, I have no choice but to accept Imagawa's succession!" By the way Konoe bit his lip, it was clear he wasn't happy with the news he just heard.

"He chose the option that would make him more money. Merchants are like that," calmly explained Asakura while the monk Gousei looked on.

"Even to my detriment?!" screeched the kampaku.

"Let's make one thing clear. We're allies, not your servants," warned the warlord of Echizen.

"Indeed. As long as I can eliminate the barbarians, I'm satisfied," said the monk.

"If you're going to call yourselves my allies, can't you be more reliable?! The man you sent came back with his tail between his legs!" shouted Konoe.

Asakura merely shrugged. "There was an unexpected development. He couldn't maintain control of the situation and chose to retreat. It's unfair to blame Yoshitatsu for the sudden death of Masayasu."

"Che…!"

'Believe in me, huh?' That statement from Imai would linger in Motoharu's mind throughout the evening and even into the next morning when he went out into the streets of Sakai to look at how the vendors made their takoyaki. The process looked simple enough: whip up some batter with the proper ingredients, pour it into one of those pans and make sure the balls were flipped over properly at the right times to ensure an evenly cooked snack.

This was a commonly consumed dish in this region so the edge would lie in how the snack gets flavoured. If he could figure that aspect out, then his chances of winning the cooking duel would increase. So in regards to getting inspiration on flavour, he would have to visit the docks where foreign ships were moving cargo.

'Maybe I can do a flavour like the Chicken Soup that I had back at the Church that day.' That was a pretty good and simple meal at the time. He had to tip his hat off to the nun who had made dinner for them.

"Mr. Sasaki!"

And speaking of Louise Frois, there she was right in the middle of the work crew waving at him. "Ms. Louise? What are you doing here?"

"Supplies have been delivered by the homeland so I have to get them stored in the Church."

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

The blonde nun clasped her hands and smiled. "Oh, your help would be appreciated!"

While he worked on moving boxes and cargo around, he was quite surprised at hearing that Louise was all alone in the city, being the only missionary in the area. From what she told him, Bontenmaru had some clan business to handle and wouldn't be back until around sunset. Even though Sakai is supposedly neutral territory, Motoharu would have thought that the little warlord would have left Bujin Fourze behind to guard Louise as a safety precaution. In a sense, Bontenmaru was really someone who trusted too easily if she assumed that Sakai was one hundred percent safe for a foreigner like Louise.

Since he more or less had the day to himself and only needed to be back to the inn for a good night's sleep before the cooking match, he volunteered to be her bodyguard and escort which delighted the nun. As thanks, she treated him to a cooked lunch inside the local Church where she was staying for the day. It consisted of a simple vegetable soup, a fresh salad made of lettuce, tomatoes and onions, grilled cod and rice.

After both said grace (Louise with a proper prayer and Motoharu with the standard itadakimasu), the two dug into their respective meals with the young Japanese man being surprised at how good the cod tasted. "This is pretty good! Were you born to a chef or something?"

"I'm glad to hear you like it," said the nun with a smile. "And this is nothing special. I learned how to cook these basic dishes in the monastery."

"I see." Motoharu reached for the salad. "Can you pass me the dressing?"

Louise looked confused for a moment. "What's dressing?"

'There's no salad dressing in this timeline? Okay then.' He thought about something else. "How about mayonnaise…"

That was when the gears clicked in that he realized he could use mayonnaise as his new flavour for the takoyaki contest. From all the stands currently in business, he didn't see a single one use that as a flavour so that meant it hasn't been invented in this time. This could be his major chance to get the win but now the hard part was researching the components of the recipe from scratch which could be tough for someone not so culinary inclined.

Meanwhile, the nun grew a bit uncomfortable at the silence. "Um, Mr. Sasaki…?"

"It's nothing…! But Ms. Frois, I truly do thank you for this from the bottom of my heart."

She found it a little puzzling on why he would thank her that extravagantly for a simple meal but decided not to think about it too much. "You're very welcome!"

Spotting an opportunity to address a weakness of his, Motoharu put forward his request. "Actually, I was wondering if you could give me a quick cooking lesson today. In particular, how to make sauces."

"I admit my knowledge in that area is limited but I'll do my best to teach you!"

"All men have reported no unusual activity, madam!"

"Good, continue as you were," ordered Niwa as she placed another scroll away after reviewing it. Owari had been quiet and fortunately, there didn't seem to be any aggressive movements so far from Takeda and Uesegi.

Upon the soldier leaving the area, a certain blonde haired man came into Niwa's work space. "Niwa-san, do you have a moment?"

The woman gave a small smile at her comrade. "What can I do for you?"

Bujin OOO sat down in front of her with a somewhat distressed look on his face. "Do you know how long we will have to guard Owari? I'm a bit unsettled at having Nobuna-sama's security detail restricted only to Bujin Gaim."

"Sakai is well known as neutral territory. Any warlord who values their reputation would not attack it."

"I suppose. But I just have this feeling that there's something else I should be remembering. Something crucial that could affect Nobuna-sama's well-being." Dammit, what could it be?!

"I see. I can understand the frustration behind not grasping the memory but trying to force it out won't be of much use. It'll come to you in time," reassured the tactician before resuming her work.

It was late in the afternoon when they finally started the cooking lesson. Moving the remaining supplies and properly putting them away took at least another two hours after lunch concluded.

"Now you have to be mindful of how much force you use when you're whisking everything together," instructed Louise while Sasaki carefully used his twig whisk to mix the contents.

"Are you sure that this is the proper tool to be using? The last thing I want is to accidentally choke someone if they swallow wood chips," muttered the young Japanese man.

"The twigs are very clean cut! In fact, the wood helps lend some of the fragrance to the sauce!" explained the nun before examining her student's work. "Excellent! Now let's try some of this on the leftover cod from earlier!"

"Frois, I'm back!" The two were interrupted by a loud familiar voice that came from the front door of the Church.

"We're in the kitchen, Bontenmaru!"

'Time went by that fast already?!' Motoharu glanced to the window where he could see an orange sky which indicated a setting sun outside. After confirming the time, he gave a small resigned sigh…

"HUBBY!"

… before his body jerked back due to a certain little Date Masamune latching on to him. "Hey, be careful there! I could have spilled the sauce!"

This only caused the smaller girl to bury herself deeper into his torso. "You're learning how to cook for me? Oh, you're such a sweetie!"

One of his eyebrows began twitching. 'Lord help me…'

"By the way you sound, you must have had a productive day!" noted Louise.

"You better believe it! Me and Kojuurou are getting everything ready so I can make some big changes in Oshu and my clan!" She blinked once. "Speaking of Kojuurou, where did she go?"

It wasn't long until a girl who wore armour over her white top finally made her way to the kitchen. Her lower attire consisted and a dark skirt and stockings. Her long dark hair was covered by a helmet at the top which had the kanji for 'Date' as a crest in gold. On her waist was a sheathed katana.

"Princess, how could you leave me behind?" complained the new girl.

Bontenmaru sheepishly grinned. "Ah, sorry! By the way, this is my aide, Katakura Kojuurou!"

'So this is this world's incarnation of Katakura Kojuurou, senior retainer of the Date clan? Interesting…' While Motoharu was distracted, he felt the little child yank him forward to properly place him in front of her aide.

"And this guy here is Sasaki Motoharu, the man I plan to marry!"

All he could do was manage an awkward greeting to the stunned Kojuurou. "Uh… hi?"

"The day the Princess was born, this Kojuurou was tasked with protecting her. For many years, I have acted as an aide and caretaker for this young and willful lady and now she's getting married before me? Why is this so?!"

He blinked once at the other girl's sudden outburst. "Wait, what?"

"This must be karma. Yes, this must be karma for ignoring my lessons on learning how to be a proper wife to spend more time training to be a worthy sword for the Princess. Now I have no prospective suitors wanting my hand…" The sheer amount of depression coming from Kojuurou threatened to swallow the room. "I knew I should have listened to her more often. She even tells me this job is making me more unmarriageable by the day! And I'm already fifteen so if I don't marry soon, everyone will take notice that I remain unwed!"

'Wow, giving the Christmas Cake speech at that age? This era is brutal…' Motoharu then realized that he might as well use this opportunity to explain to Bontenmaru that he isn't going to marry her.

"Ahahaha! You're so funny!"

'Geez… is she even going to listen to me? She seems so distracted now.' Just as that thought passed through his mind, his phone started beeping to alert him of a Crack being detected. 'Now of all times?!'

"What's that?" asked Louise.

"Something I need to take care of. I'll be back soon." Sasaki put down the sauce bowl.

"I'll come with you then!" volunteered Bontenmaru.

"You can't. That place is a potential death trap to normal humans. The only way to pass safely in the area is to have something like this…" He held up his Sengoku Driver for emphasis before strapping it to his waist.

"Then… take this!" Bontenmaru thrust the Fourze Lockseed into his hand before he could reach for his Blood Orange Lockseed. "He'll protect you! Just make sure you come back!"

Motoharu smiled and nodded. "I promise I will."

"One more thing." The smaller girl beckoned for him to come closer before kissing him on the lips quickly, causing him to stumble back in shock.

'… It's official. I am now going to hell for this.' He wasn't much into religion but he figured that kissing an underage girl in the house of God was definitely not going to count in his favour when he got judged in the afterlife.

"Now take care!"

"W-W-W-WHAT WAS THAT?!" screeched Kojuurou.

Bontenmaru looked puzzled. "Isn't that how wives send off their hubbies?"

"I am so not getting involved in this discussion," muttered the Japanese man as he quickly exited the Church and made his way to the Crack. Seriously, that little kid just stole his first kiss! This felt so weird.

'Just try not to focus on that…' It didn't take him long to make his way to the opening. Without wasting time, he entered into the forest and activated his borrowed Lockseed to get ready for anything.

FOURZE!

LOCK ON!

"Henshin!" One tap of the Cutting Blade later had the upper half of the giant head-like Armor Parts along with the eyes folded onto the back while the sides became shoulder armor and the front folded to become the chest plate as well. His helmet's overall shape resembled that of a rocket and his visor changed colour to orange. In his right arm was a giant orange rocket.

FOURZE ARMS! SEISHUN SWITCH ON!

'Alright, now I'm ready!' He could briefly hear the rustling of leaves in the distance which indicated something was approaching the opening. If he could quickly ambush it, he could get out of here and get back to business.

But a strange urge came over him. It bubbled inside his lungs and despite his best efforts, he got into the exact same pose as that Space Rider he met earlier and yelled out those exact same words that the other guy shouted when he first came out of the Lockseed.

"UCHU KITTAAAAA!"

'Well, there goes my plan for stealth,' thought Motoharu irritably while he held that exact same pose. Right now, he had been expecting for something to start rushing him. What he hadn't been expecting is a response to that catchphrase.

"It's not space. It's Helheim." He looked to the right where a creature had just emerged from the thick forest. It resembled a giant metallic black and gold lion, but was covered in body armour. The breastplate was shaped like a red buffalo. The right shoulder guard and wing were shaped like an orange falcon while the left counter got shaped like a purple dolphin. Finally, the tail section was covered with green armour that looked like it belonged to a lizard of sorts.

For a moment, there was a weird silence before the monster tilted its head in curiosity after seeing the Rider. "Well, this brings back memories."

"… You can talk?!"

The creature merely rolled its green eyes. "And you can state the obvious."

TO BE CONTINUED…

Well, this takes care of another episode so now I can address a few other items…

Item 1: This is related to my Super Heroine Chronicle story but currently, it's more or less a three way tie for the latest route split which also includes an option to have the characters in that crossover story visit this story world. If there are any readers here who also follow 'Me and My Super Heroines' and have not yet voted, please leave a review over there with your route choice!

Item 2: This is in response to an interesting guest review that mentioned walking away from the story simply because of the age difference between my Original Character (21 years old) and Oda Nobuna (16 years old). From a Western values viewpoint, I can understand the discomfort and I actually do plan to have this point brought up in a future chapter since Sasaki himself was raised in modern Japan and would have been exposed to such values by interacting with foreign exchange students in Tokyo University. But as a writer striving to keep the Japanese setting genuine, I can't strictly enforce those Western views into the story. One also has to keep in mind that such an age gap wouldn't be considered that big of a deal in Japan and relationships which have an age gap are frequently shown in their own media and history.

Example 1: Nobuna Light Novel canon has Nobusumi marrying Nagamasa. Eventually, both partners find happiness with each other and it's presented as a loving marriage despite Nagamasa being quite a bit older than her little spouse.

Example 2: Nobunaga himself had an intense relationship with his vassal, a young boy named Mori Ranmaru, which is widely admired throughout Japan.

Example 3: Sailor Moon's Usagi and Mamoru. Enough said.