Chapter Thirty-Five: Friendly Fire
"Hello there." The little girl brought her head up, eyes serious, but lighting up in delight when she saw who was before her, "What are you doing here all alone?"
"Lord Hanbei!" She leapt up from her seat, wrapping her arms around him in the biggest hug she could manage. He reciprocated, laughing softly, "Are you going to take me home?" Neither of them noticed me at the bar, watching the exchange with amazed curiosity.
This…couldn't be real. Swallowing deeply, I quickly shot my eyes around my surroundings, trying so hard to find any evidence that this was false, just an invention of my mind. All I managed to find was the familiar transparency of a spirit, all along my body.
Biting my lip, I looked back at Takenaka, noting a definite younger air about him, increasing as he smiled, setting the younger me back on the floor. "That's right. I just have to speak to your uncle." His eyes moved over her shoulder, and for a split second, I thought he was looking right at the real me, only for someone to stride past, anger falling off him in waves.
"Get the fuck away from my niece, Takenaka." Jaw dropping, I missed the yelling of the tavern keeper, which Uncle Satoshi likewise ignored, "I am not going to repeat myself."
"Your niece? You mean this well mannered, well groomed young lady?" Sucking in a breath, I winced, noticing Satoshi tense slightly. It was true, his clothes and hair weren't exactly the tidiest. The younger me sat between both men, looking between them with a trace of fear in her eyes.
Noticing this, Satoshi jerked his head towards the door, and she practically ran out of it, not even stopping to look at me. With her out of the way, Takenaka drew back to his full height (not that impressive against my uncle) and narrowed his eyes, "I promised Kazuki I'd protect her. I can't do that if you're dragging her around the country."
"She's safer on the road than with her father's fucking murderer!" Again a reprimand for the language, but it was water off of Satoshi's back.
Takenaka was similarly unswayed, "Do you think I don't regret his death?"
"I don't care about your regrets. If it wasn't for you, my brother would still be alive." Turning to leave, Satoshi froze when Takenaka spoke again, eyes narrowed dangerously,
"And when she's of age? The Hiroto clan will look to her for leadership one day."
"What clan?" Satoshi spat, some leaves from his morning pipe landing on the floor. I looked towards the tavern keeper, expecting him to have something to say about that, but I think he'd finally given up. "There's nothing left but a ronin and a child!" Punctuating his statement, Satoshi slammed the door on his way out, causing me to jump about a foot in the air, and my eyes to open wide.
Snapped awake, I brushed all my hair out of my face, swallowing deeply as I thought. That first nightmare I'd had, the one about the swimming lesson, I remembered it clearly. Not just the version I saw when I was dreaming, but the day I'd been the one in Oda's arms.
When he'd found out I could barely keep afloat in the baths, let alone a pond, he'd cancelled my sword lessons for the day, even telling Nohime to bring Ranmaru along so he could paddle. Everything had been going so well, my body just beginning to float naturally, and then I'd heard the scream. Oda had had a job getting me back up to the surface again, and had promptly called a halt to the lesson, and would have refused to give me any more if the doctor hadn't advised in their favour. To actually know that the source of the noise had been me…Swearing under my breath, I held my head in my hands, bringing last night's dream back into my mind.
That hadn't been the first time my uncle had left me in a tavern overnight, and it was far from the last. Eventually word was passed along the roads, and the price for a small breakfast was added onto his tab each night, given back if he happened to have me at his heels in the morning. But I couldn't remember if Takenaka had ever found me there. If he'd ever intended to take me away.
If it wasn't for you, my brother would still be alive.
Rubbing my temples, I pushed the thoughts away, kicking off my quilt and moving to the balcony doors, pushing it open and moving into the fresh air. Gulping large amounts of it, I steadily brought my mind back to heel, trying to smile. "You're going to the beach today, Yomi. Smile for fuck's sake."
When I eventually pulled away, intent on dressing for the day, my uncle's words bounced around my skull again. Gritting my teeth, I pulled the first piece of clothing I felt out of the bags, blinking slightly when I realised that it wasn't a yukata, but a Western dress very different than what I used to wear.
By the time I made it into the small sitting room between me and the boys, they were both up and dressed, tidying up the remains of their unfinished game from the night before. Clasping my hands behind me, I rocked on my heels, waiting for one of them to notice me. About a minute passed before Ieyasu finally straightened up, eyes widening into discs when he saw me. "I'm ready for the beach."
"Y-Yeah. You look nice." Interested by the exchange, Mitsunari glanced at me over his shoulder, blinking sharply when he saw me.
Funnily enough, I knew what had them stumped, and as nice as it was, it wasn't the dress, but what it did. The base dress was white, the sleeves went to my elbows, and the hem neatly fell between my knees and ankles. But over it was a kind of pink vest that had taken me a while to figure out, but once I'd set my pride aside, I realised it laced in the front, with a neat little bow at the bottom. This, aside from reducing the need for a sarashi, actually pulled the looser parts around my torso in, and emphasised my body's shape.
For Ieyasu and Mitsunari, who had either seen me in yukatas or a reinforced dress, this was as new for them as it was for me. Regarding each other, the spell over us was broken when Ieyasu snapped out of it, suddenly looking anywhere but at me, "We should probably head downstairs before Motonari gets annoyed."
"Good idea." Mitsunari gulped.
We met the guard sent to retrieve us on our way out, and in his presence, the boys soon recovered, and the chatter swerved onto what we should do at the beach, with Mitsunari suggesting we take a rowboat out. Nodding in agreement, I suddenly found my nose scrunching up as we approached our host, my expression matching his. "Well, if you want to risk getting shot at by the Fugaku or my own warships, feel free. But I doubt the Toyotomi would forgive the loss of two generals and a…ward on my watch."
Biting my lip, I glanced at Mitsunari, not even having to focus to know that he felt cruelly shot down. A quick look at Ieyasu just revealed his usual quiet fury, "Aren't there any sails we can use to broadcast our neutrality?"
Sticking with his smug expression, Mori shook his head, "I'm afraid not. Now unless you intend on going hungry, breakfast will be taken in the main hall."
"So, are we just going to ignore the friendly fire threat?" I asked, flinging my stone, watching it skip once, twice, three times before it sank.
Gauging his own angle, Ieyasu gave the slightest shrug, "We have to. In the interest of peace and the alliance."
"You sound as happy about it as I do. And I'm technically against Toyotomi's scheme." Ieyasu's pebble bounced off of the water four times before plopping under. Looking back at me, an amused smirk decorated his face,
"Technically?"
"Hey, the village I've been living in was neutral before Takenaka came traipsing over the fields." Looking down, I saw no suitable stones, moving on with a competitive pout. Following close behind, Ieyasu suddenly tapped my shoulders, pointing at something on the cliffs. Squinting a little, I hummed thoughtfully, "Nice to see we're trusted not to signal Chosokabe."
"Mitsunari, do you see any more guards?" Ieyasu called. Glancing upwards from his own, solitary hunt, Mitsunari gave a sweep of the area, hand hesitating over the hilt of his sword. Several times, his head stopped turning, and when he finally looked back at us, he gave a quick nod.
Rolling my eyes, I finally picked up a stone, tossing it about in my hand. Weighing it, I kept one eye on the cliff guard, just as Ieyasu snatched it from me, "Don't even think about it."
"The fact that you knew what I was thinking says a lot." I smirked, scooping up another stone and skipping it, grinning wider when it managed four taps.
While Mitsunari finally came over, arms overflowing with perfect skipping stones, I glanced back at the cliff guard again, tucking my hair out of my eyes. I didn't bother hiding that I was watching him, and when he turned back to look at the cove, I eagerly waved, snorting loudly when he took a step back, looking around hurriedly. "Poor bastard. I used to think Oda's soldiers were jumpy."
"They were, that's why." Ieyasu reminded; his eyes still on Mitsunari's attempts. "Especially when one of his generals was in the vicinity."
"Including you?" I teased, stopping short when Mitsunari managed six skips. Staring at him in awe, I swallowed, remembering the sword fight. Sighing quietly to myself, I glanced at the boys, silently wondering if they knew what I knew, both about Takenaka and me. More to the point, I wondered if they'd believe me if I mentioned it, especially the parts I barely believed myself.
