My father had a daughter loved a man, as it might be perhaps, were I a woman, I should your lordship.

-Cesario (Viola) to Orsino

William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

Chapter One: Judgment Calls

My life changed the night I wrecked the timeline by shooting a sniper out of a tree.

I wouldn't discover I had bent the timeline for some weeks. But within an hour after sending an arrow into the hand of a bandit who'd been aiming a flintlock musket at a group of travelers, my familiar routine had altered for good.

Aki and I had been following a gang of bandits that were menacing the merchant traffic in the area around the mountain where Aki made his home. Our intention was to track them back their base of operations, then turn that information over to Ryoichi, the local Daimyo. Unfortunately, the bandits' path had first crossed another group of travelers, which meant that instead of simply following the bandits, Aki's plan morphed into a gig he called 'robber interruptus.'

Ok, that's a lie. I called it "robber interruptus." All Aki had said was, "here's what I want you to do..."

While Aki got into disguise as a drunken old man, I glided through the treetops to settle in the branches above where the travelers had camped for the night. My job would be to disarm the ones who were armed with muskets. Aki planned to use the element of surprise to scare off the rest. "Wait for my signal," he reiterated. "Katsuko, you are to stay hidden in the tree unless it's necessary."

I nodded. Aki wasn't terribly confident in my battle skills. While I ordinarily enjoyed a good practice bout, I had never been tested by the real thing.

As I waited for Aki to make his appearance, I took in the surroundings. The trees provided cover the bandits, though they were loud and clumsy enough for me to be able to pinpoint all of them. Twelve bandits, two armed with muskets, the rest with swords. They surrounded a campsite belonging to three travelers. The travelers' fire had died down, with only glowing embers remaining. Two lanterns, both attracting a party of fluttering moths, provided some illumination, enough for me to take aim at the man below me, who had his gun trained on the intended victims.

Twelve bandits against, three men. Not particularly great odds, even when I added in Aki's very good and my… dubious… fighting skills. Hence the need for the element of surprise. In the tree, I was a ghost, and perhaps a ghost slinging arrows at them would frighten the superstitious into running away.

I considered adding a ghostly howl to the whole deal, but… Aki hates it when I improvise.

I turned my attention to the travelers, wondering how much help - or hindrance - they would be. Ordinary travelers, merchants, usually, tended to panic in dangerous situations. But after getting a better look at them, I reassessed the odds: I recognized them, and these were not ordinary travelers.

The lantern light gleamed off the glasses of my friend Sasuke. He was a Ninja - an asset in any fight. The man next to him gripped a spear with the ease of someone well used to battle – that was his friend Yuki, who was probably a spy or a soldier of some sort. The third man, I didn't know his name, but I'd once witnessed him successfully take on half a dozen sailors in a brothel in Sakai. If it weren't for the bandits with firearms, our help would be unnecessary. But, what's that saying? Don't bring a knife (or in this case a sword) to a gunfight.

An off-key singing filled the air, and Aki came stumbling along the path. I could smell him from where I was perched – he'd completely doused his clothing with sake. "Well, what's goin' on here? Is it a party?" Aki stumbled around, ricocheting off the bandits like a pinball in an arcade game, before spinning to a halt in front of the apparent leader. "Can I join the party?" He fumbled around some more, making sure to draw their attention to his coin purse.

Aki… is not subtle.

The bandits exchanged glances.

All going to plan. I aimed my arrow at one of the gunmen, ready for Aki's signal, then… something caught my eye. Something in a tree across the clearing… a sliver of moonlight catching a glint of metal… the spark of flint. Another bandit, hiding in the tree for insurance? Sniper? Whatever the reason, his musket was aiming toward Sasuke's group, who had arranged themselves back to back to back, swords out toward the tightening circle of bandits.

New information called for a quick reassessment. As soon as the bandit ignited the powder it would be too late. No time to wait for Aki's signal – but he had already provided a solid enough distraction. I let an arrow fly, shooting the sniper in the hand. The gun flew one way, firing as it landed somewhere in the underbrush, and the sniper crashed out of the tree with a pained yelp.

Aki sprang into action, spinning his walking stick and disarming the man in front of him. While the bandits were still muddling around in confusion, I grabbed another arrow and shot the musket out the hands of the third gunman.

That took care of the guns. Aki and the travelers reacted faster than the bandits. They flew into action, wielding swords and sticks with the ease of seasoned warriors. Per Aki's orders, I hung back in the tree, where I had a perfect view of the entire melee, though in the dim light, it was sometimes hard to make out what was going on in the shadows. It was now four against ten, since Aki's stick, and my arrows had neutralized the three gunmen. It looked like Sasuke and his friends would easily prevail. Sasuke had clearly increased his skills since his days of getting stuck in trees, Yuki looked like he was having fun as he took on two men at once, and the warlord-from-the-brothel was slinging a sword so gigantic (not a euphemism) that the bandits couldn't get close to him.

Wait… I took a fast head count. Warlord-from-the-brothel facing three, Yuki, Sasuke and Aki on opposite sides of the clearing battling two each. One bandit was unaccounted for. Had he run away? I made a visual sweep of the perimeter of the fighting zone. There! Creeping up behind Warlord-from-the-brothel. Apparently he thought four against one was the best odds? Coward. But… did the Warlord-from-the-brothel see the creeper? Possibly… not?

I aimed another arrow at Creeper no.10, but couldn't fire it. Everyone was moving too fast and too randomly - I didn't want to take out a good guy with friendly fire.

Looked like I was going to need to improvise after all. I leaped out of the tree, and flipped myself into the path between Creeper no.10 and the warlord-from-the-brothel. The element of surprise was on my side, and in all honesty, Creeper no.10 was not that good. I dodged a lurching swing from his sword, then kicked him in the face.

Crunch.

Wow. That's a lot of blood. Huh. I broke his nose. That's what you get for piling on, dude. While he was distracted by what was probably a lot of pain, I slammed my sword into the back of his head.

Meanwhile, the rest of the bandits realized defeat was inevitable, and got the hell out of Dodge.

Right. Our original objective – track them back to their territory. I ran toward my horse, intending to pursue, but Aki grabbed my arm and yanked me back so hard that my shoulder was jarred. "What?" I ignored the urge to rub my shoulder. Aki hates it when we show weakness.

Aki took a step further into the shadows, as he grabbed a rope to tie up Creeper no.10. His nose was still bleeding. Good. "I told you to wait for my signal! Then you were to stay in the tree. Are you in the tree?"

"No, but-"

"Are. You. In. The. Tree?"

"You said stay hidden unless it was necessary. I made a judgment call that improvisation was necessary." I glanced back toward the travelers, where the warlord-from-the-brothel was tying up the sniper I had shot out of the tree.

"Judgment call? Your job is not to make judgment calls. Your job is not to improvise. Your job is to do what I say!" Aki was actually yelling… yelling at me. He'd never yelled before. "You're too impulsive, Katsu!"

Even when Iekane had tricked and nearly killed me, Aki had not yelled. More embarrassing, was that this was playing out as live theater before the other three, who at least didn't seem to be making an obvious show of listening. I took a deep breath, tried to focus. Maybe once Aki's initial rant was concluded, I could ride it out and we'd discuss it later, in private. Because… my actions had been correct. I was certain of it.

"You were too busy fighting to see what was going on," I said, trying to defend myself. "That man," I pointed at Creeper no.10, "was in the process of a sneak attack on the... er," yikes, can't call him Warlord-from-the-brothel without inviting a lot of weird questions. I jabbed my thumb in the direction of Warlord-from-the-brothel, "on him."

He helpfully provided his name. "Takeda Shingen."

Really? The Warlord from the Brothel was Lord Shingen, the "Tiger of Kai"? I paused to bow to him, then returned to pleading my case before Aki. "About to attack him from the rear."

"I knew he was there," Lord Shingen, the Tiger from the Brothel, added, a lot less helpfully.

Aki spoke again, quieter, colder, "You disobeyed my orders, again." He continued to melt back into the shadows. His words chilled me from the inside out. "I've wasted nearly seven years trying to teach you, but I've had enough."

What did he mean? Was I being demoted all the way back to housemaid? Or, even worse, was he throwing me out?

Sasuke spoke up in my defense. "Katsuhira has always impressed me as extremely competent whenever we met. He even rescued me once."

I sensed Lord Shingen's assessing gaze on me.

"Really?" Yuki asked him. "How?"

"Tell you later," Sasuke said in a tone of voice that hinted he hoped Yuki would forget to ask.

"Competent? Perhaps. But this foolish boy will never be anything more than a fast courier." Aki's tone was dismissive. "I can find ten to replace him at the snap of my fingers. Any of them would be far more obedient."

I wanted to protest, to yell that he had trained me to be proactive, to think for myself, but anything I said would surely be taken as proof of my disobedience. All I could do was stand there and wait for my punishment.

Help came from an unexpected quarter. "Simply because there was no need for his assistance doesn't mean I didn't welcome it," Shingen said. "A good warrior makes courageous decisions in the heat of battle."

"I don't doubt his courage," Aki hefted his bound captive on the back of his horse. "Only his intellect."

All of my life, I've been considered not as smart as my genius brother. But I'd thought that Aki believed in me. I struggled to conceal the stab of pain I felt at that, but I might not have been successful, because Shingen patted me on the shoulder. Though that was kind of him, I almost would have preferred indifference. I didn't need to be softened by kindness at this moment.

"If you find no further value in this young man, then release him into my service. There are plenty of areas at Kasugayama where he might be of use." He looked over at the sniper, who was still moaning over the arrow sticking out of his hand.

Aki followed his gaze. "If you have need of an archer, then you're welcome to him. But I'll warn you that the boy is terrible with a sword and insubordinate." He dragged Creeper no.10 over to his horse and hauled him across the saddle. "I'm taking this one to Ryoichi. Do with the other – and this boy – as you wish."

And with that, the only constant in the past seven years of my life was gone.

I'd been left behind before, both accidentally, and on purpose. It never got any easier. This was worse because I hadn't seen it coming. I took a deep breath, and went about pasting a calm expression on my face. Katsuko might be able to cry, but Katsuhira could not. And whoever I was, I would not. Instead, I straightened my shoulders, raised my chin – if another blow was coming, I was ready for it.

For a long time, nobody spoke. I mean, I certainly didn't know what to say, and I doubted any of the others knew either. I risked a look at their faces – Sasuke was typically impassive, Shingen looked like he had mentally moved on to whatever he planned to do next, but Yuki's expression probably would translate to "Dude!"

"Alright boys, no use bothering to go back to sleep," Shingen said, and he included me in his sweeping glance. He tossed the sniper onto the back of his horse like the man was weightless. "Might as well break camp and get an early start. I'd prefer to be back on my own futon tonight."

His matter-of-fact attitude calmed me somewhat. It appeared I had a place to go to, as apparently Shingen had decided to hire me. To do, what… I didn't know.

Shingen continued. "If we get there early enough, I'll be able find a woman willing to warm it."

Even if it looked like my new boss was someone I might have to haul out of brothels on a daily basis.

Still unsure of whether to say anything (should I thank Lord Shingen, or just fall in line behind them?) I chose quiet obedience as my best alternative, at least until I had a better idea what I was going to be expected to do in the future. I got onto my horse and joined the three of them on the road. My brain was still playing pong between the emotions caused by Aki's abandonment, and the logical practicalities of my new life. I only had two changes of clothes with me, and one of those outfits was what I wore when I was a maid, which I doubted I would need at Kasugayama. At least, I really hoped not. There were probably a lot of floors that I could end up scrubbing, were that the case.

The path through the trees widened somewhat, and Sasuke dropped back, interrupting my internal debate. "Katsu, while I'm sorry about the circumstances, I'm always glad to see you."

Yuki joined us, and formally introduced himself to me as "Sanada Yukimura." I didn't tell him we'd already met, sort of, in Azuchi, since I preferred not to let my old man disguise become common knowledge. But Yukimura had another issue on his mind anyway. "I want to know how you rescued Sasuke."

I glanced at my ninja friend, deciding to let him handle that one.

"Igotstuckinatree," he said, so quickly that it became a single word.

Yukimura nearly fell off his horse in laughter, causing Shingen to look over his shoulder at us with curiosity. Seeming satisfied that we were getting along, he returned his attention to the road ahead.

"Well, that was over three years ago – you've gotten much better in the meanwhile," I defended him.

"Yes, I have truly become a moderately awesome ninja," he agreed with as much of a smile as I had ever seen from him. "And I hadn't known that you're more than a moderately awesome archer."

More than a moderately awesome archer. You could set that to music and call it a line from a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. "Thank you, but…" I made a face. "It's true that I'm not really all that great with a sword."

"If you spend any time at all at Kasugayama, that will change," Sasuke said. There was something in his tone that suggested he was being ironic here, although with Sasuke, it was hard to tell what was irony, and what was his normal way of speaking. But, that also reminded me of something I'd wanted to ask him. "What ever happened with that girl? Is she still in Azuchi?"

"No… she's, er, with Kenshin now, so you'll probably meet her sooner or later." Again, he sounded ironic, but he was now looking down at the path, so there might be something else going on here.

"With him, or with him?" Potentially awkward. Sasuke had denied that this girl was anything more than a friend from his home village, but I wasn't sure if I believed that.

"Both."

Yukimura added, "They're so together it makes me want to throw up. Although, Mai's a nice girl, when she's not acting like a wild boar, so at least there is that."

Well, good for this Mai then, I guess – my one encounter with Kenshin had begun and ended with him threatening to stab me, but obviously she'd found a way to tame him. Although hopefully it wouldn't be a Helen of Troy situation if the Oda wanted her back. Speaking of… "Nobunaga let her go that easily?"

"It's an ever-fluctuating situation," was all that Sasuke would say.

Great. Aki would have to abandon me in the middle of a cold war.