Malachi's POV
"Do you really think now's the time to joke around? Look at you!" Hideyoshi growled. He gripped him by the white-haired man's torn robes and indicated towards his body. His arms.. His hands.. His fingers.. Mitsuhide lowered his gaze. "What the hell were you thinking, damn it?!" Hideyoshi shouted angrily, making his hand into a fist and rearing it back-
His fist collided with the wooden bars of the cell, the collision having such a rough impact that the bars shook erratically. And Hideyoshi almost looked ready to punch them again. "..Stop, Hideyoshi. You'll only hurt yourself." Mitsuhide spoke. Hideyoshi gave the man a glare, "Oh, shut the hell up! Like you can talk!" The two men looked at each other, unspoken words passing silently between them.
Hideyoshi's hand slipped away from the bar, his gaze filling with sorrow. "..I'm really pissed off this time. I'm pissed at myself for believing in you countless times, despite the dumb shit you pull." He spoke, his voice filled with the despair he felt. "..And more than that, I'm pissed off at you for never thinking to ask me for help..!" Hideyoshi let out an exhale of air, a sigh filled with his pain and frustration.
I remembered thinking they must've hated each other; that it was all too easy to picture these two fighting to the death. But despite the fact that their ideals and their visions of 'right' were polar opposite to each other- It was clear to me that Hideyoshi and Mitsuhide trusted each other in a way that words couldn't even begin to describe. It was crystal clear that these two shared a bond so much stronger than most. It.. It honestly amazed me how two people could be so opposite, yet care this deeply for each other.
"Oh? Is this where the mental torture starts? You've come to bore me to death with nonsense?" Mitsuhide asked. Hideyoshi stepped back, his eyes widening, "I-..!" "Off with you, Hideyoshi. Be gone. You shouldn't be in a place like this.." Hideyoshi bit back his response. It was just the three of us there, and the suffocating silence.
Mitsuhide wasn't being brusque just to shoo Hideyoshi off. I may have thought that before, but there was a reason Mitsuhide deflected any attempt to understand him or even ally with him. A hidden purpose. One he refused to give light to. He had something he wanted to do, or protect, or see through.. And that was worth sacrificing friendships, love, even his own humanity. I knew that much. And even though that was something I myself could never fully understand.. It was what made him human. And.. It was such an incredibly beautiful thing about this race. 'Maybe Azuka isn't so awful for creating them..'
"This isn't over, Mitsuhide." Hideyoshi slowly stepped away from the wooden bars. "I'm going to figure out what's inside your heart if I have to cut it out of your damn chest." "..My, how romantic." Seemingly ignoring his comment, Hideyoshi turned his attention to me. "Malachi, come on. Let's go back." "I'm not ready-" I was about to argue, but Mitsuhide interrupted me. "..Leave me, Malachi. And never come here again.. go, my little mouse.."
I stared at him for a few moments. Before sighing and turning away, "..Fine. I'll go." To my own surprise, Hideyoshi turned but did not move. Almost like he was giving us time. "But, Mitsuhide, before I go-" "Yes?" I spoke in a softer tone, like a hushed whisper on the breeze. But it was all a plot to lure Mitsuhide closer to the bars. And it had worked.
Mitsuhide had leaned close enough for me to gently reach my hand through the bars and cup his battered and bruised face. I leaned forward and lightly pressed my lips to the side of his face. Had we not been this close, I would've never noticed the blush tinting his cheeks, or the soft way he murmured my name. "I'll be waiting for you to come back." I gave Mitsuhide a gentle smile, and then pulled my hand away and stood up. I joined Hideyoshi, and left the dungeons.
In the quiet air, I reflected upon how it felt to kiss Mitsuhide. And the sweet surprised look that adorned his features when I did. I think I was slowly starting to understand him. He's never betrayed anyone or done anything evil- for those are just mere concepts defined by mortals, fluid based on the time and place. He's chosen to live life according to a principle that he personally believes in. Something that seems stable in such a chaotic world. Someday, I'll figure out just what that is.
Third POV
Once he could no longer hear the footsteps, Mitsuhide rolled over in his cell and let out a sigh. "..Truly, it never is the physical torture that brings a man to the breaking point." The damage that had been inflicted upon his skin by a long night's worth of fists, kicks, and blades had only been skin deep. Within minutes, using only words, Hideyoshi and Malachi had dug out his heart and made him feel true pain.
"Though curiously.." Mitsuhide brushed throbbing fingers over the single spot, free of pain, that held warmth. The spot where Malachi had kissed him. An infatuated smile adorned his lips, "..I did not expect him to get revenge in such a daring fashion." He smiled, despite the fact it caused him immense agony to do so. ..And that was fine. It was worth the pain.
But his smile quickly dissipated, "Alas. Exhausted as I am, there is no rest for the weary. Now is when my work truly begins.." Mitsuhide pushed himself up in the darkness of his cell, and readjusted his robes to be in a more presentable form.
With Mitsuhide imprisoned, Ranmaru escaped the castle and stole away to a forest that resided just at the border of Azuchi- "..And that is the situation. You see why I felt it was urgent to report to you." Ranmaru was knelt down on one knee, casting his stormy gray eyes up at the man he spoke to. The man looked down on the boy with a stern expression- one bisected by a vicious and painful-looking scar.
"Mitsuhide Akechi working with us..? And you say he confessed to it?" The former monk asked, an astonished expression on his features. As if he could not believe what he was hearing. Ranmaru nodded, "Yes, Master Kennyo. It's all over Azuchi." Kennyo's expression hardened, "..The Devil King and that murderous viper of his insult me by association." A horrible fire, its ever-burning embers stirred by the burden of hatred, burned in the back of Kennyo's dark eyes. His tone laced with venom as he spoke. But Ranmaru, upon seeing his master's reaction, gained a measure of peace within the confines of his heart.
A pleased smile graced the boy's youthful features, "I knew you couldn't have been in league with him, Master! Not someone who hurt us so. But also-" Ranmaru's smile fell, "..Much as I don't like the guy, I can't imagine turning against the person you've sworn yourself to after so many years." Ranmaru bit his lips, only just realizing how his words could easily apply to himself as well. "There's.. something else, Master Kennyo." Ranmaru averted his gaze, clutching his hands to his chest nervously. "Your expression tells everything but say it."
"The disciple that Mitsuhide captured and held prisoner for so long, he..passed away.. ..He was tortured to death." Ranmaru spoke mournfully, his tone low. The trees almost seemed to howl in anguish with the rough winds. "By Mitsuhide's hand?" Kennyo asked through grit teeth. "No, Master. I hate to call it this, but what Mitsuhide had done to him was..light in comparison. Mitsuhide Akechi's usual method used brief instances of pain and recurring emotional pressure." Ranmaru straightened up, meeting his Master's gaze as he continued. "He never killed his victims, even if they urged him to. In his absence, someone else took control. They did this."
Ranmaru's gaze fell once more as he recalled the horrors he had seen, "I saw the body. If you could-.. If you could call that a body." The fires in those dark eyes blazed even hotter than before. A chorus of screams, screams to never be forgotten, joined that burning blaze. "They must have done it with the goal of getting him to confess that Mitsuhide Akechi was our ally." "..He held out well.." Kennyo croaked, his voice heavy with emotion.
The two of them locked their hands in a silent prayer for their lost brethren, who had been forced on his soul's journey much too soon. "So, someone wishes to use my name to entrap Mitsuhide and divide the Oda forces.." Kennyo spoke, his voice dangerously low. "I think so too. The only thing I don't understand is why Mitsuhide went along with it." Ranmaru commented.
Daylight faded from the sky as dark clouds began to move in. Kennyo's staff gave a mournful-sounding ring as he turned toward the horizon. A storm brewing there. "We will hold a memorial for our brother, whose life was viciously taken before he could see vengeance done. ..Killing Nobunaga comes after." Kennyo decided. Ranmaru dipped his head respectfully, "Yes, Master."
