It seemed that despite their leader had changed to a woman with foreign coloured hair, the Saica were still as efficient as ever at choosing their alliances. "Yes, I think I remember Ishida. He was the swordsman with white hair and a vicious temper, wasn't he?"

"That's right." Ieyasu confirmed, "Has he made no move to renew the Toyotomi's contract with you?"

"Not as yet. Then again, that could be because he isn't yet aware the contract ended."

"He won't like that."

"I don't care what he likes." Magoichi scoffed, leaning back and folding her arms, "We served Hideyoshi, not a petulant child."

"He definitely won't like that." I snorted, "Being described as a child I mean."

It was a lot easier to be a smart mouth now that we weren't in imminent danger of being shot and Magoichi had let me into a private room so I could deal with the armour. Rolling my shoulders for what had to be the thousandth time, I looked at Ieyasu who began speaking again, "Our forces include the unbeatable Honda Tadakatsu, the One Eyed Dragon," He ignored the soft smirk that this elicited, "As well as a ninja network that Mitsunari cannot compare to."

"Unless," Magoichi interrupted, "Takeda of Kai and Uesugi of Echigo ally with him." Beside me Ieyasu stiffened, tripped on the very first hurdle. "Judging by your expression, you had forgotten them?"

"I…" Biting his lip, Ieyasu looked down into his lap, trying hard to recover his former ease. My thoughts went to Lord Takeda, silently wondering if he would turn his back on a former pupil to side with the Toyotomi, or if Lord Uesugi would be so impressed by the man sent to kill him that he'd go to his side. "No."

Magoichi's eyes widened just a little, "No?"

"Lords Shingen and Kenshin would not yield to another's might so easily. But Mitsunari would never accept another mentor, a position they would try to take naturally. The question is less, 'who would they side with' but more 'will they get involved at all'."

"You sound very certain of this." The gaze came back onto me, "Does Oda's Blade agree with you?"

"I'm sure her opinion means little from under the wreckage of Honno-Ji." I answered, just as sweetly. Ieyasu wasn't kidding when he said Magoichi would be a tough customer.

"Lady Magoichi, at present my might means little, but allies will come. A contract with you and your men would go a long way in aiding me, and I can ensure that any decisions pertaining them will be run through you every time." Unlike the Toyotomi, who would move and use them regardless of your feelings. The words went unsaid, but were knitted throughout the final sentence, picked up on immediately by Magoichi.

For all of two seconds she seemed to consider his words. Even then, her mind seemed to have been made up in one, but she still gestured for us to step back into the courtyard, pulling out a pistol as she did. Wary suddenly, I stepped closer to Ieyasu only for my fears to be unfounded as she pointed it at the sky, firing of three rounds, waiting maybe a second between each. "Let the red bell toll. Let all know that a contract with the Saica has been made!"

The final shot's echo died down, only to be replaced by the low ringing of a far off bell. Until the sound completely vanished, Magoichi remained still, and her face impossible to read. "Remember though Tokugawa, if I deem it unworthy, I also have the power to revoke a contract."

"Noted."

A lot more probably would've been said, and Ieyasu was actually just leaning to bow when the bell's noise was overshadowed by something else entirely: a loud cry of "IEYASU!"

"He followed us?" Mitsunari screamed again, and it was noticeably closer than the last one had been. "Ieyasu, run!"

"She's right." Magoichi nodded, spinning her holster and selecting two fresh pistols, "We will not fall here. He has invaded our lands and so we will deal with him."

"I'm not leaving anybody here to die!"

"Do you know what it takes to ring the red bell?" Magoichi asked, her conversational tone laced with a dangerous warning, "We have just rang it, and should you face Mitsunari and die, we would have to ring it again to signal the end of your contract. And then of course, Mitsunari might want his own contract."

"IEYASU!"

"Circle back around in about an hour. We'll be fine." I promised. Still looking uncertain, Ieyasu dithered for just a second too long, finally turning to leave just as Mitsunari appeared in the courtyard.

Physically, he hadn't changed from the last time I'd seen him. All the same, the anger and hatred he surrounded himself with was nothing short of suffocating. But when he was finally able to look away from his prey, it reduced ever so slightly. "I see, so you've turned traitor to the Toyotomi too Magoichi?"

"The Saica are loyal to those with our contract and this province. You have invaded on both."

He had two pistols, a sword and probably a dozen more hidden guns aimed his way, yet Mitsunari could still radiate a threat. "Do not interfere with this. The same warning applies to you, Sayomi."

"What, no 'Lady'?" The second his eyes left Ieyasu to glare at me, the Edo warlord took off running, jumping into the air just as Mitsunari recovered and tried to give chase, only for Tadakatsu to swoop down at the last minute and collect his boss.

As he took a minute to register what had just happened and scream at the retreating figures some more, Magoichi quirked an eyebrow at me, "That was a foolish idea."

"Maybe, but at the speed he hits, you need him slowed down. My style's just similar enough to his to manage it."

"The contract doesn't ensure your protection."

"I signed up for a war," I murmured, pulling my sword out, just as Mitsunari slowly turned, "There's never any assurance."

I was well aware of the fact that without the breastplate, I was risking my neck more than usual. But when Mitsunari made his first lunge, all thoughts vanished as I defended my left side, pulling back at the last second to slash at his chest. He avoided it, obviously, but the split second he was in that spot for before dashing around to try and strike my back was enough for one of Magoichi's bullets to splinter the tree that had been behind him, several more making the dust on the ground fly up in a mockery of his trail. Giving nothing away, the woman herself and presumably her men just reloaded and waited for their second chance.

"Lord Hanbei would be saddened to see this fight."

"He didn't seem to mind when the odds were fixed in your favour." Barely daring to breathe, I held firm against his downward slash, trying to get a hand free and on my wakizashi, when he dashed again, plaster from the wall we were by flying into the air and into my eyes, "Gah!"

Blinking the dust away would've taken too much time, so I settled for trying to track him by his rage, only to be physically thrown off my feet by the force behind it, his sword never coming remotely close to me. Landing with a Portuguese curse on my lips, I went to extend my own battle aura, blood running cold when nothing happened.

With Oda, only the direst of straits required my aura, rare enough that I'd only ever had cause to use it twice before. That I needed it against Mitsunari's strength spoke volumes.

I was still shivering when Magoichi produced a rifle from somewhere and cocked it, Mitsunari getting the hint and scarpering pretty quickly. "I told you it was foolish." She hummed as I stumbled closer to her, blinking furiously. "No matter, Tokugawa's safe and I don't have to take him your head." When I didn't stop winking, she scoffed and led me inside so I could clean my eyes properly, but it was friendly and by the time Ieyasu and Tadakatsu circled back around, she'd dropped the act and started calling me by my name.

My last name anyway, but it was a start.


"Osaka's security's been increased since your scouts were last there."

"Short of planting enough explosives to destroy the outer wards, we're not getting in easily."

"I see." Ieyasu hummed. "Thank you anyway."

Around four hours after we'd gotten back from Kii, Magoichi promising to bring her men within a few days, Hanzo and Mizu appeared at the rear gate, a day early, but satisfied with what they'd seen. Better yet, Mizu had actually been smiling slightly, resulting in a full meeting room. At least something had come from their week away.

With the map spread out on the table, and Mizu marking down where security had been especially tight, it soon became clear that they really weren't exaggerating. "Do our defences match up to this?" I asked, receiving a nod.

"Between Tadakatsu and the ninja core, you wouldn't be able to get within a mile of Edo without one of them noticing."

"Then we're not completely helpless." Master Katakura sighed. Looking at the amount of tiny Xs covering along the outer ward and only getting stronger towards the centre, Mitsunari really hadn't been crippled as much as we'd hoped. "I can't understand where he's getting these men from."

"Conscription again?" Hanzo suggested.

"On that scale? We would've heard something." Biting my lip at Mizu's answer, I settled for shaking my head and stepping away. If a castle assault was out of the question, then we had to be extra sure we didn't end up fighting on our home turf. It would have to be another plains battlefield.

All through the meeting, Masamune had been fairly quiet for him, his eye never remaining still as he searched for an opening. "There is something else." Hanzo added, "We saw Mitsunari speed out of the castle like a bat out of hell, and he came back maybe an hour before we packed up to go. He didn't look happy."

"That would be his reaction to missing Ieyasu's head by this much." I explained, standing straight and folding my arms, "We went to recruit the Saica. Good news, they're with us. Bad news, slowing Mitsunari down only works when he isn't superbly pissed off and firing his aura up."

A soft snort followed my voice, Masamune finally speaking up, "So he was throwing a temper tantrum?"

"One that nearly took my head off, but yeah, that's the best way I can describe it."

Silence reigned supreme between us while Ieyasu rolled the map up and moved away to put it on his shelf, stopping to scribble something on the edge so he'd know which one to grab in a hurry. "Well, at least we know not to try the age old technique of sending a ninja in. Not if we want the ninja to come back anyway."

"Wouldn't that go against your whole open bonds shtick?" Masamune questioned, only getting a shrug.

"Turn of phrase."

With the meeting unofficially over, we went to go get changed, Ieyasu having agreed to the booze up as long as the guards weren't bringing us back on carts. Smiling awkwardly at Mizu as we separated from the boys to our own room, I stumbled hard on my words, until she finally sighed, "Hanzo already said it for you, among other things."

"Still, I shouldn't have asked so bluntly."

"Then learn from this experience. Besides, I hear you're paying for the first round."

"You didn't hear that from Masamune did you?"

"Yup." Rolling my eyes, I turned back to folding my combat gear up and wrapping my yukata around me, only to get smacked in the back of the head by something. "Hanzo picked it up in Osaka. An early birthday present since neither of us were sure when we'd next get to town."

How did he…Frowning as I put the cloth covered parcel on my shelf to open when I'd tied my sash, I quickly dealt with the knots, putting a fair sized pouch of coins in there too. If some fool tried pickpocketing me, my fist would be meeting his nose before he had time to think of an excuse. Now there was a thought to cheer me up.

"Are you going to open that thing or not?"

"Give me a second." Even though it was fairly small, there was a weight to the box, and by the time I stopped trying to guess what it was, Mizu had come over and looked like she was going to rip it from my hands to open herself if I didn't hurry up. Taking the loose knot and giving it a light tug, I let the material fall to surround my palm, leaving behind the wooden box. One look inside, and I laughed quietly, holding it out for Mizu to see.

Taking it off me, she inspected it with a tilt of me head, looking up just as I showed her one of the splintered shards of my mother's comb. "Okay, that's weird."

"Not really." The comb wasn't alone, there was a kanzashi decorated with an orchid resting on the cushions above it, its light green tassels tucked underneath it. "They're perfect."