Chapter 26 - Back on track
"It's not the dark i fear it's not being able to see where i'm going" Masamune grumbled as he walked over to Kojūrō.
"You still afraid of having a monster under your bed?" Kojūrō chuckled. "Or the faceless ghost, searching for children to replace his?"
Masamune shivered "Just shut up and let's get out of here Kojy" Masamune said walking past Kojūrō.
"Aww. Masa's afraid of the dark." Kojūrō chuckled.
Masamune growled "You'll have plenty of time to embarrass me when we're home" Masamune grumbled
"And i will. Right after i punish you for the amount of times you've scared me on this trip." Kojūrō chuckled.
"You've scared me many times as well, you know" Masamune complained
"Yeah, but i'm the adult. So I can do what i want." Kojūrō joked. "Besides, what kind of parent would allow their child to nearly die several times."
"An your my right hand man, im the lord i tell you do" Masamune huffed "One who believe's in their child to survive"
"Technically i don't have to listen to you yet, since you're a child." Kojūrō chuckled.
"Im still the lord" Masamune grumbled
"And if we allowed you to act on your lordly powers, you'd demand all the sugar in the land and all the sweets you could eat. That's why you're not a lord yet." Kojūrō chuckled.
Masamune crossed his arms "I don't understand why i can't"
"You're not old enough to understand. Besides, you don't want to sit through boring long clan meetings, do you?" Kojūrō chuckled.
Masamune shuttered "no, i already have to sit through you talking about something" Masamune sighed
"You don't like my angelic voice?" Kojūrō grinned, faking shock.
"Sorry but after a while of no change in tone it's boring" Masamune chuckled
"Sanada never has an issue with it. He says my voice is nice to listen to." Kojūrō said, smiling.
"Well that's Yuki not me, I get bored when nothing changes." Masamune sighed "That's why i like training it's fun and active i have to try to predict what they are going to do, not sit and try and keep focus which never works" Masamune complained
"Well then, Masa, please recall the founding of our clan." Kojūrō said, using his 'teaching voice'.
"People fought, lots of talk, boom there Date clan established" Masamune said
"We need more details than that, Masa. after all, with that description, you make us sound like some ordinary clan." Kojūrō chuckled, never breaking his 'teaching' voice.
Masamune sighed "Uh someone rose up and fought others joined them they fought and won a land but they were just rebels, so they talked and picked a lord and then Boom the great and powerful Date clan was made, yha" Masamune said
"Very well, we'll start simple. Who did we 'rebel' from?" Kojūrō chuckled.
Masamune was quite "You know theres the gate im just gonna go unlock it" Masamune said as he took off running.
"You don't even know your ancestor's name. Oh, Masamune, what would your ancestors think if they could hear you now." Kojūrō said dramatically. "How will you even run the clan if you don't even know who you have to thank for having a clan in the first place! And you need to know who exactly you're winning glory for!"
"Maybe you should be more entertaining and i might pay attention more!" Masamune shouted.
Kojūrō laughed "If i was more entertaining, you'd be more focused on me, and much less focused on the lesson. Besides, i intend to bore you so much that the lesson becomes interesting as opposed to me."
"Well it's not working my mind wanders and when you're talking i'm like hm.. i wonder what Yuki's doing, or how river is not the names and things" Masamune laughed
"Well, in that case, what can you tell me about Takeda history?" Kojūrō said, his voice cheerful.
"Ask Yuki he'd know" Masamune said as he reached the gate.
"I'm not asking Yuki, i'm asking you." Kojūrō laughed. "Now, explain to me the details of the battle of 1468 between Takeda and Date. This one's an important one. It's where our rivalry with Takeda comes from, and they're still butthurt over it."
"Uh we fought people died, we defeated them with their own tricks" Masamune said obviously showing he hadn't paid the slightest attention.
"Close. But Takeda's butthurt over one detail in particular about the battle. Can you tell me what it is?" Kojūrō said, smirking.
"That they lost" Masamune chuckled nervously
"No." Kojūrō chuckled. "Fine, we'll move onto a different topic. Where does the name Date come from?"
"Uh the person's last name" Masamune smiled nerviously.
"No, the name didn't exist then. It was taken from the land. Really, Masamune. You don't even have respect for your ancestor's victories?" Kojūrō said dramatically.
"Sorry" Masamune said as there ws an unlocking sound
"And by the way, we didn't rebel. We helped someone win against a sibling, and they allowed us land in gratitude." Kojūrō chuckled. "The Date name comes from the Date District of the land we'd been granted. And the founder was Isa Tomomune, who came to the land to help the lord there."
"Okay okay, so we won a fight and got land from it, founder Tomomune and name comes from the land we got" Masamune said pushing on the gate "little help here"
"good, you're finally remembering. Now let's move onto a little later after our founding." Kojūrō chuckled, starting to push on the gate as well. "During the Nanboku-cho Wars in the 1330s, the Date supported the Imperial Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo through Kitabatake Akiie, who had been appointed by the Emperor Chinjufu Shōgun or Commander in Chief of the Defense of the North. That ring a bell? You never know. We get teased a lot for the circumstances of our founding, after all. You might need to verbally defend us from another lord." Kojūrō went on, pushing on the gate.
"Ugh less history lesson more of getting out of here, Kojūrō" Masamune complained
"But i haven't even gotten to the history of all the people we've pissed off so far." Kojūrō chuckled. "And i had a whole history test planned out for when we get back. I've been planning out all the questions in my head."
"Well you can bore me to death later" Masamune laughed "I knew we had heavy defence but god this gate is hard to open from the inside" Masamune said seeing how slowly the door was opening with both of them pushing on it.
"Usually we'd have the pulley opening it. except from the looks of it, it's been broken. Speaking of which, shall i go over the history of our defenses?" Kojūrō said with a smirk.'
Masamune groaned "I said later Kojūrō" Masamune grumbled.
"The first line of defense we had was back during our founding. We had little more than wood walls, and a few traps." Kojūrō said with a smirk. "A few of these traps are still laying around, unsprung."
"Really now, and now we have these danm heavy gates" Masamune said with a huff
"Well, we had to keep the appearance that we were serious about defending ourselves." Kojūrō chuckled.
"Like we aren't" Masamune said sarcastically
"We may be now, but we're one of the ones who have had to prove ourselves." Kojūrō said with a smile.
"I guess" Masamune shrugged. Kojūrō gave a heavy shove, throwing the gate open to show the path down to the village.
"So down to the village then" Masamune sighed.
"It's like we're back home. Except everything's abandoned." Kojūrō chuckled. "To think under any other circumstance you'd be dragging me down there to every shop you could find."
"makes me wonder if there anything still edible here" Masamune laughed
"Might be. After all, the monster would probably want everything as real as possible to fool us." Kojūrō said.
"Yeah but we have to find the exit out of this version and get back to the others" Masamune smiled
"but not before you look in every shop in the village, am i right?" Kojūrō asked, looking at him.
Masamune turned to look at him "Huh?"
"I know you. You'll totally look in every place in the village you can for food before leaving." Kojūrō chuckled.
"No i wont" Masamune said looking back at one of the shop windows.
"I'm waiting for you to say 'Kojūrō, can i have that?' over a hundred times." Kojūrō chuckled, looking at some of the shop windows himself. "Hm… that's a nice set of gardening tools." Kojūrō said, looking in one shop.
"See you'r worse than me right - oh what's that" Masamune said looking at some kind of toy.
"You were saying?" Kojūrō said, chuckling "Interesting. The food is all fresh. And you could use some new toys- wait. No." Kojūrō scolded himself as he looked in a toy shop.
"You said it no taking it back. when we get back your getting me some new toys" Masamune smiled
"You can have up to 2 new toys." Kojūrō said. "besides, i'll just act like i forgot, and avoid it- oh, that blade looks very nice…"
"I won't forget" Masamune grumbled
"What were we talking about?" Kojūrō said, a bit distracted.
"You getting me two new toys when we get back home, which we should be doing danmi it" Masamune said shaking his head and walking back down the village road.
"Did i say getting you new toys? I meant getting myself new toys." Kojūrō said, smirking.
"You said me so no backing out" Masamune said pulling on Kojūrō's jacket
"Nah. I think i'll just buy them then keep them. You can wait until christmas, can't you?" Kojūrō teased.
Masamune glared at Kojūrō "I get what i want when i want. Right now i want to get out of here" Masamune growled
"That kind of attitude is what bratty lords use. You're not a bratty lord, are you?" Kojūrō chuckled.
"I don't know am i or am i just annoyed. let's go Kojy" Masamune said
" i can feel the exit coming from that toy shop up ahead. How ironic." Kojūrō mumbled.
"Of course remember they wanted you to die not me, they would wanted me to get out so in a toy shop makes since" Masamune pointed out
"They certainly went out of their way to get rid of me." Kojūrō grumbled, opening the toy shop. He got a stressed expression as they stepped in, as he instinctively prepared himself for 'Kojūrō can i have this' 'Kojūrō what does this do', 'Kojūrō please let me have this'. "You know i never understood why you still collect toys. You'll be getting rid of them in a few years, anyway, so why do you need them? Why not ask for something like books or something?" Kojūrō remarked.
"Because I don't always have friend over my brothers have to leave most of the times, Yuki doesn't get to stay all that long and you're always busy when i'm bored so it's better to have something i can mess with when others are busy" Masamune said.
"I'm not always busy. If you ask, i'll gladly play with you." Kojūrō protested. "Besides, If you're bored, we can do something like plan a camping trip or something. Just the two of us together. And if you want, you can help me rule the country. Paperwork, treaties, public relations, patrol reports, laws and such. Sounds like fun right?" Kojūrō chuckled.
"Not really," Masamune sighed.
"It's not so bad. We can talk and stuff." Kojūrō said, smiling as he ruffled Masamune's hair. Kojūrō looked on the counter to see a glowing blue stuffed tiger.
"Only one person goes back?" Kojūrō sighed, walking up to the stuffed tiger.
Masamune sighed and looked at kouro "only one" Masamune whispered
"You go." Kojūrō mumbled. "Yuki needs you. I can survive here."
"No! i can't leave you behind" Masamune retorted
"Yes. You can. I'm telling you you can." Kojūrō said calmly, pulling out the gun.
"Your my right eye, my guardian I don't want to leave you alone when you're in danger" Masamune said sadly "I don't want to lose you"
"Unless you have some other idea, you're going to have to lose me. Listen Masamune, sometimes you have to let people go." Kojūrō said, slipping into the same speech he'd given about Masamune's father.
"No I've lost too many people close to me i refuse to lose you" Masamune growled
"Do you have some idea of how to get us both back then." Kojūrō retorted.
Masamune thought and grabbed the tiger and held it out to Kojūrō. "They want me to leave then you go now i'll be there i'm sure" Masamune smiled
"How do you know. I'm not leaving you here." Kojūrō growled.
"Kojūrō please they didn't kill me they only threatened me when you were there. i was alone and wandering around before i came to you. If they wanted me dead they would have killed me" Masamune said "Please, Kojūrō go"
"And how do you know that this isn't just what they want. They want one of us gone so they can finish off the other." Kojūrō said, tossing the tiger to the ground.
"If they did then they would know that you would refuse and make me go!" Masamune shouted
"I have a better chance of surving here than you do! And if Hikari is still out to kill me, i'm not going without a fight." Kojūrō raised his voice, not quite shouting.
"Kojūrō you did fight and no your not your wounded im not. I'm fine i know basic first aid and how to fight. go i order you to" Masamune said picking up the tiger.
"She injured me, what do you think she's going to do to you!" Kojūrō hissed. "If she drags you off, you'll have no chance at all!"
"You need to believe in me more Kojūrō. I may be a child but i am a lord and i understand i don't know everything but in this place I have stayed sane and i kept my composure when you were breaking down, I got two ghost girls to be alive again, I can do this plus I need to do this it wasn't your fault it was mine I should have thought that a monster would be in there and gone in and waited while you stood guard. So please Kojūrō go if you got hurt again when i could have done something to keep you safe then i might lose my will to continue. Everything we face so far has put me in situations alone and i'm still here unscathed, while you're hurt." Masamune said holding the tiger out.
"That's the point! You shouldn't have to risk yourself! You shouldn't even be here! You're supposed to be safe in the real world! And it was my fault, because I was right in front of her, i had the chance to save her, just by drawing my sword! But i didn't! I stood there and let her get blown to bits over my fear of hurting her. And what makes you think i'll have any will left to fight either! You die, and i might as well just go straight to the monster and let him finish me off." Kojūrō said, tearing up slightly. Masamune looked at Kojūrō determined "Kojūrō I promise i'll make it out, so you better be there when i get there, got it" Masamune said softly
"And then i have to explain to everyone when we get back that their lord is dead and everything will fall apart. But fine. You want to go risk your life. Then neither of us are going." Kojūrō grumbled, wiping his eyes.
"Kojūrō you do the same to me you push me away and say you'll risk your life. I let you because I know you're strong and can do it, but right now it's not physical strength it's mental. You were shocked and shaking, and i stood there still me, you have to admit when it comes to mental strength the one that has lost everything is the strongest. I wont lose you, i swear i'll protect you from here on out, all you have to do is protect my back. If you won't go then fine but nether of us are dying got it" Masamune growled. Kojūrō narrowed his eyes and pulled Masamune's hand so they were both touching the stuffed tiger. Masamune smiled "You always think best in tight situations" Masamune chuckled
"You did all that on purpose didn't you." Kojūrō grumbled. "You put me under a lot of stress there, kid."
Masamune smiled happily "I like to mess with you, it's fun and helps me relax" Masamune said happily
"So glad you get enjoyment from aging me from stress." Kojūrō muttered, breathing to relax himself. "I could swear gray hair is already popping up and i'm not even past 30 yet."
Masamune laughed "You know how you asked if I was a brat. Yes, yes i am but only because it's the only way i can relax in stressful situations" Masamune said with a warm smile
"I swear i am never having kids. Ever." Kojūrō grumbled, running fingers through his hair to show some of the roots had already started turning grayish silver. "When we get back you are so getting a belt whipping. Bare bottom, for giving me a mini heart attack." Kojūrō said, looking completely serious.
"Worth it" Masamune laughed
"Oh it will be. It will be." Kojūrō said darkly, looking at Masamune.
Masamune sighed "lets just go, idiot" Masamune said with a smile as he rolled his eye
"What have i told you about respect for your elders." Kojūrō said smiling slightly as he sat down.
"I do respect you, but i like being a terror" Masamune chuckled
"Good children listen to their elders. And your elder tells you to be good and don't cause trouble" Kojūrō smiled, his eyes already slipping closed.
"I already told you im a brat" Masamune laughed as he smiled warmly and yawned
"Nappy time for Masamune." Kojūrō chuckled.
Masamune stuck out his tongue " Same for you Kojy" Masamune said sitting down by Kojūrō.
"Ah, but adults don't take naps." Kojūrō laughed. "But babies do." Kojūrō smirked, looking at Masamune.
"I'm not a baby, and everyone need's naps once and a while" Masamune said as he snuggled up to Kojūrō.
"Oh? You're not a baby? You're just as fussy as one. And i always have to clean up after you, and i still have to wash you in the tub." Kojūrō chuckled.
"Just be quiet and go to sleep Kojūrō" Masamune grumbled as he closed his eye.
"Sounds like baby Masamune's embarrassed. My job here is done." Kojūrō smiled as his eyes closed.
Masamune smiled and fell into the sleep that had tugged at him. Kojūrō pulled Masamune close, his arm protectively around Masamune and his other on his sword. Masamune breathed softly as he had fallen asleep. Kojūrō smiled and rocked Masamune a bit, a bit of nostalgia tugging at him as he slowly fell asleep. 'He's so cute like this. Too bad he's such a pain most of the time. He had a point though, i do tend to push him away at times. I need to stop doing that. I can put work aside for a while, i guess.' Kojūrō thought as he struggled to stay awake, but eventually fell asleep.