My room was fairly empty, but that was to be expected. A bed had been prepared, a simple mat with two blankets folded neatly atop it. I didn't need much more than that, and I didn't own much else to give the room some character. It wouldn't make sense to accrue further possessions either just in case I ended up needing to make a quick exit somewhere down the line. That said, I sat on the floor to take a short break. Not that I was exhausted, but there was a lot to think about.

It was theoretically simple to get down to the truth. A few questions was all it would take. So hey, did this particular village get destroyed by Oda soldiers, say, six years ago? No reason for asking, has absolutely nothing to do with my motivations. Yeah. I would have to be a bit smarter about this. There was no guarantee these questions would receive truthful answers either.

A noise floated through from the room next to mine, the princess's place, stymieing my thoughts. Thin walls, then. I wasn't too bothered. A small wall was better than no wall at all, or sleeping on the ground in a dangerous open space.

"W-Wait, Nobunaga… Ah!" A delighted moan that defied the reluctance those words might have implied.

Okay, time for me to excuse myself. From my own room. I would have to talk with this princess, maybe make myself scarce when she was going to receive her… visits.

I took a few steps from my room, hands clamped over my ears, and promptly bumped into someone. White hair and sharp eyes. An inscrutable smile. Of course, this was Mitsuhide Akechi. The stories preceded him. The cunning fox that knew all. There wasn't a string he couldn't pull to get what he wanted or his lord needed.

"You don't want to go in there," I said, pointing to the firmly shut door of the princess's room.

"Oh, believe me. That hurdle has been crossed before. Not by myself until today, but even so." He sounded amused by the whole thing as he waved a letter casually around. "Business is business."

"Best of luck to you, in that case." I paused. "It's not exactly a job worthy of your position, is it? Having to… interrupt." I pitied him, I really did, but I wasn't going to volunteer to take his place.

Akechi's smile didn't shift. "The things I do for my country."

"I'll leave you to it. Excuse me."

He seized my wrist as I passed him. "Just a moment."

"What? Hey, I have to live next to it. I think that excuses me at least once from having to intrude."

"You're a woman, aren't you?"

I arched an eyebrow while my insides writhed with panic. That fast? He'd guessed that fast?! "Is that question supposed to be some form of hazing? Teasing the new recruit, and whatnot?"

"You try too hard to fool everyone. Your walk is too stiff, your words too careful. No matter how far you've come in perfecting your masquerade, and I'll admit it's commendable, you can't fool everyone. Least of all me."

He'd known me for less than a moment and yet he'd already guessed at the truth. No, that was impossible. He must have seen me somewhere before and analyzed me without my knowing of his observance. Likely I had been tailed for a while before this job had been offered to me. The Oda wouldn't trust me without those measures. I shouldn't have expected less. Still, I smiled. "You're very funny."

He chuckled and leaned in close to me; my back hit the wall as I retreated. "You should be very careful. The Oda don't take kindly to liars or traitors."

I swallowed, quite audibly. He knew. There was no use acting the fool or trying to convince him he was wrong. I could try to convince him, however, not to kill me then and there for lying. "Not even liars with very good reasons? Such as… living in an incredibly cruel world. A world where, sometimes, even in a land where a man is trying to unify and create peace, homes are destroyed and women are forced to survive on their own using any means. A hypothetical world like that," I whispered. My desperation was coming through and I wasn't proud of myself at all, but I figured that slight honesty was the best way to convince him that, for now and pending the results of my inquiries, I had no intention to hurt anyone.

"Hm. Is that all?" Of course he didn't take pity on me whatsoever.

"Th-That's all," I stammered. Yes, I was afraid of him. How could I not be? No one would have reason to doubt him if he revealed me as a sneaking spy, false as that would be, and then there was no telling what might happen. The warlords might be reasonable about the whole thing, but I wasn't willing to take that chance.

"I think we could be friends," Akechi said smoothly.

"Friends?" Not what I had expected, but still not good by the sound of it. "How so?"

"I keep your secret and you do something to repay me from time to time." He laughed at my expression. "I'm not a monster, you know. I don't intend to take advantage of your body."

"How comforting," I hissed.

"Do we have a deal?"

Not like I had a choice. "Yes." I spoke through gritted teeth as he tilted my chin up to make me face a gaze I'd been avoiding, fingers trailing along my jaw.

"In that case, I think you and I will get along just fine."

"Yeah. It's gonna be great," I muttered.

"Why, hello there, Ieyasu!" Mitsuhide suddenly sang, and I jumped. I'd been so focused on my impending servitude that I hadn't noticed the other warlord, who seemed to be attempting to leave the scene.

Although he didn't audibly sigh, his face when he turned around conveyed his heavy reluctance so strongly that he may as well have. "I was just leaving. As you very well knew."

"Not alone, of course. Take this one along with you." Mitsuhide pushed my back with surprisingly little force, and I obediently floated to Tokugawa's side. Whatever I had to do to get away from Akechi was fine by me, even if Tokugawa doubtless wouldn't be pleasant company.

Tokugawa rolled his eyes. "Come on." He marched off without waiting.

"Lord Nobunaga, Mai, you have three seconds until I come in!" I heard Mitsuhide cackling behind us and made a very conscious choice not to look over my shoulder.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"For what?" Tokugawa asked. No, it was Ieyasu. Maybe thinking of them on familiar terms would help abate my nervousness. "I didn't do anything for your sake."

"Oh, I know, and you certainly had no obligation to. But I got out of there nevertheless due to your intervention, so, thank you."

He just grunted in response.

"Is he always like that? Mitushide, I mean."

"No. He's worse."

Despite myself I laughed. "You're honest." Not like me at all. Even if I didn't feel like I had a choice, the basic fact was that I was a deceiver. "So… Do you have any tips? About life here."

"No."

Okay, he clearly didn't want to talk. Hm. Let's try this, then. "So, about Lord Mitsunari…"

"He's insufferable. He can't take a hint, He's capable of predicting the path of a battlefield down to the most minute detail and yet he can't even understand the fact that I actively hate it when he breathes. He's incapable of taking care of himself. An absolute man-child. And another thing –"

I tried, I really did. But I just couldn't contain myself.

*Ieyasu Tokugawa*

"Hah!" The ronin suddenly burst, just when I was starting to really educate him on the walking talking horror that was Mitsunari Ishida. "Ahahahaha!" He was soon laughing so hard that he was doubled over and clutching his stomach.

Okay, that settled it. I hated him too. What was his name again? I needed to know his name so I could loathe him properly. Right, Botan. Hatred.

"You're hilarious!" He wheezed.

Of all words possible, that was not one any person had ever used to describe me. Surprise almost replaced my anger for a moment, but grumpy anger was one of the most powerful parts of me.

"I mean, first you can't seem to stand the thought of a conversation, but I mention Lord Mitsunari and you become a veritable fountain!"

As he dissolved into laughter again, I glared at him and really looked at him for the first time because of this. He had a chipped tooth on the top row of his mouth and two crooked teeth hugging each other on the bottom. Dark brown hair, bangs hanging across his forehead, longer patches framing his face with a small knot of hair tied at the base of his neck. Simple and slightly tattered clothes, a brown haori over a blue kosode with a gray scarf tied tightly around the neck. There was a largish leather case, torn and worn, and a few white pouches secured at his waist as well. A bit suspicious, those, as they had to be concealing weapons of some kind, but he still looked like a regular old ronin. Nothing too special, but at least it would be mildly interesting to see how Hideyoshi's little idea worked out. There was also the security that Masamume, the half-blind battle-hungry oaf, would slice this man in half at the first sign of treachery. There was barely a need to involve myself. I could hate comfortably from afar.

"Sorry, sorry." Botan straightened and shook himself. "I'll admit, that encounter with Mitsuhide shook me a bit."

"What was that about?" I had to ask. We couldn't have Mitsuhide sneaking around, not with the culprit behind the latest assassination attempt on Lord Nobunaga still unclear. Luckily Mai had been around to save him from the flames.

"Mitsuhide was just…" Botan paused to turn his words over. "Well, I suppose in a way he was warning me to stay in my place."

"Hm." Not that this was a bad idea, but maybe Mitsuhide wasn't the best person to do it. I may as well give a warning too. "If you're a spy, you'll be caught. So, if that's your intent, you should just quit while you're ahead."

"Yeah, yeah." Botan frowned petulantly. "I know."

"Do you think I said that lightly?" I snapped.

He sighed. "No, I don't."

"Then why do you think it's a good idea whatsoever to take it that way?"

"I understand, Lord Ieyasu, I do. I'm here to guard a princess. I'll prove my loyalty by doing that job to the best of my ability."

"Funny," I scoffed. "A ronin talking about loyalty."

That was the first time my words actually seemed to get under his skin. He shot me a glare. "I do what I have to do to survive. I'm sure you understand."

I did, but not enough to really regret what I'd said. If he couldn't handle me being a bit critical, he probably couldn't handle our life. "It's a bit too much credit to call yourself a guard, isn't it?"

"So I'm a glorified babysitter." Botan glanced at me askance and smirked. "Like you and Lord Hideyoshi, with Lord Mitsunari."

"Lay off it."

He chuckled. "Of course. You know, you may not like me, Lord Ieyasu, but I think you're a decent person."

"I'm positively moved by your appraisal."

"Ha. Ha," Botan drawled.

"Look, I don't really care about where you came from or what you've been through. We're fighting for the future now. It doesn't matter anymore what's behind us."

"It's not that easy, though," he murmured.

No. No, I am not curious at all, because I have no reason whatsoever to care about this person. And I genuinely didn't care. Lots of people had a sad story to them. Not one of us was unique.

"Anyways, I actually have important things to do. So if you'll leave me alone, I'd appreciate it. Go back to your, you know, job. Guarding Mai," I suggested dryly.

Botan actually blushed. "Yeah. They should be… done. By now."

"Just go," I sighed, and he spun on his heel. Good riddance.

"Lord Ieyasu," he said before I had gone more than five steps.

What now? "Yes?" That single word was filled with exhaustion and reluctance.

"Thanks again. For talking with me." Botan dipped his head before running off.

So he was a sincere person. I hated that too, but… In small doses it wouldn't be too intolerable. Maybe.