I do not own Sengoku Basara, only original characters. I write for meaning, not monetary gain.
Ch 6- in which we discover what charms the palate of Ishida Mitsunari among other pertinent details.
Over the next week, Mitsunari spends most of training and meeting with his field commanders. In fact, between bouts of meditation and brooding, that's all he spends his time doing. His meals grow cold and the candles of his room burn late into the night. None of this went unnoticed by the resident doctor who finally approached Tschiyo-san regarding the matter.
"Mitsunari-dono takes medicine, but the servants informed me his food remains untouched," she tells the head of staff, wringing water from a soaked sheet before handing it over.
The elder woman hangs the item over a bamboo line to dry. "Ara?" There is amusement in her voice. "It can't be that he's mad?"
Ran knits her brows. "I'm not sure I understand Tschiyo-san, but I am concerned about his health", the younger woman folding her hands before her summer yukata, white with lilac blossoms on the sleeves.
Tschiyo empties the bucket that contained the afternoon wash. "Ah, you haven't been informed, but when Sakichi was young, he would go days without eating until he got his way. That boy was trouble, but to think he grew up to be so tall," she recalls fondly, releasing her sleeves from the white tie.
"But Mitsunari-dono is-"
A hand on her shoulder. "Daijoubu desu," Tschiyo reassures with a warm smile at the only other woman who worries for the sullen youth. "It is but a phase. Though Ran-dono, if you do what I did, it may expedite his sulking…"
"What. Is. This?" Mitsunari demands as he crosses the threshold. "You said we had business to discuss, Ieyasu."
The aroma of fish and miso in the air; the warmth of steamed rice.
Ran covers a pot, returning to her seat besides Ieyasu.
After hours of slaving over a hot stove, Ran managed to prepare the specified meal from Tschiyo-san's advice that would appease the tetchy Ishida general. With hindsight, she should have never attempted such a stunt, especially on account of said person's livid expression, but…
"Ah, we do," Ieyasu grins from his seat, "but how about we talk over dinner? Ran-san made it for this occasion herself."
…thank goodness she bought Ieyasu-dono.
He always had the right words.
She happened upon him in the corridors on her way to the kitchen. Never one to beat around the bush with him, Ran disclosed her concern of Mitsunari. He in return, had told her it was perfect timing for Mitsunari and him to discuss some military matters. Whether or not this was true, will be revealed soon enough, but Ran would not fault the Tokugawa heir for his timing and consideration. In truth, if there was anyone who held sway over the temperamental Ishida general, it was Tokugawa Ieyasu.
"Douzo, Mitsunari-dono." Ran gestures to a third dining set next to Ieyasu for good measure.
Mitsunari almost turns on his heels, but Ieyasu's promise to speak about a certain Aizu Lord compels him to stay. The drifting aroma helps too, though he'll never admit it. With a grunt, he seats himself, finding the white kimono and purple hakama too light and soft for his comfort. He keeps it on because the peasant had insisted his armor would do no good for his healing. Mitsunari is no doctor, but he is no fool either to undermine his own recuperation, so tentatively and begrudgingly he follows.
"This better be important," he warns, before making short work of the miso soup.
Ieyasu takes a bite of his food. "Umai, kono yakizakana!" He grins wildly at Ran, whom humbly brushes off the remark.
Mitsunari stiffens at the tacit slight and is about snap a foul remark when he takes his first bite.
"Dou desu ka, Mitsunari-dono?" She turns to him, smiling in a way that vaguely reminds him of the flower in his room, while he allows the flavor to melt inside his mouth.
"Edible," Mitsunari notes tersely, reaching for another piece of the grilled fish. He fails to see the growing smile on her face as she returns to her bowl.
"Lord Gamo has been expanding his territory" Ieyasu states as the amber outside slips to dark.
Gamo Hideyuki.
The name produces bitterness on Mitsunari's palate.
A residual, obsolete, vassal of the crumbled Oda Nobunaga Empire. After the fall of the Devil King, the man had gathered what riches he could salvage from his days of servitude and sequestered himself deep in the terrains of Aizu. How he had risen to become Lord, any fool could guess, but even then his avarice knew no bounds. After the death of Lord Hideyoshi, he had ordered his army, cowards like the ones Mitsunari fought in Chogoku, to claw its way into neighboring provinces, leaving a path of sulfur, smoke and death in its wake. There were even rumors of arquebus trade surrounding the Aizu clan, a practice outlawed during Toyotomi rule.
Mitsunari sets his bowl down. There isn't much left but he's no longer hungry. He stares intensely at the soft flame from a candle. "So I have heard."
"Ah, Mitsunari-dono, Ieyasu-dono," comes a soft voice. "Perhaps it is best to discuss such matters over sake?" Ran reaches over to a shelf and retrieves a ceramic container. Tschiyo-san also suggested sake to ease any unforeseen tension. Whether or not it would be efficacious, she'll find out for future references.
"…Sake?" Ieyasu repeats and before Ran can answer Mitsunari takes the initiative.
"Yes, sake", the other general mocks and whatever protest dies in Ieyasu's throat as his ex-comrade reminds him refusing another's courtesy is blatantly inconsiderate. The irony is more than enough to make Ieyasu's stomach churn.
"Ah…arigato", the dark-haired samurai brings himself to say as a filled saucer is passed his way.
Mitsunari shoots him a smirk before draining his share- daring Ieyasu to follow.
Yellow eyes meet the swirling fluid. Ieyasu is no coward, and he decides he will neither be rude nor bested as he downs his serving. The bitterness assaults him, but it isn't intolerable, much to Mitsunari's dismayed sneer.
"How is it?" Ran asks, ever so vigilant with refills.
"…"
"Ii da yo," Ieyasu replies for the lack of an accurate word, and despite initial misgivings, takes another serving before getting back to the matter at hand. "He has taken Shimogo and Omi. None of which with proper conduct". A darkness cast over Ieyasu's youthful countenance.
Mitsunari feels his mouth go dry and it isn't from the sake.
The unspoken code of conduct all warlords abide by. Unwritten standards of behavior, that governed behavior of both general and soldier in enemy lands, not unlike the type Mitsunari enforced in a measly village months ago when he met her. Rules Lord Hideyoshi too had followed.
Desecration of graves, homes, trees are forbidden
"My scouts report villages in flames…"
Pillage and destruction not tolerated
"…left barren..."
Civilians are to be left alone
"…with no survivors…"
Ran corks the empty sake flask with contorted eyes. "How awful…"
"That is war," Mitsunari mutters, tossing her a glare. Though inwardly, even he knows it should not be. It wouldn't be under the Toyotomi rule either.
Ieyasu sets his empty saucer down. "Regardless, it will stop. I will request an audience with Lord Gamo to forge an alliance."
"Hn, not if I take his head first," Mitsunari sneers, and is about to state that he shall take great pleasure in decapitating the old Gamo rat when a messenger interrupts through the shoji doors.
"Mitsunari-sama, your scout has returned and bears urgent news."
The Ishida general mutters under his breath and storms out the room with slamming shoji doors.
"Ieyasu-dono…will Mitsunari-dono kill Lord Gamo?" It's the first time she has ever seen such raw malice in his eyes. The desire to murder another man shakes her very soul.
The samurai in yellow turns to face her. "Probably. But I shall make it to Aizu before he does", he replies with an assuring grin. "You are probably in more danger than Lord Gamo, having to take care of him everyday."
"I beg your pardon, my Lord?" She tilts her head, humor lost to formality.
"Ah, it's nothing," and grins at her again, dropping his posture into a slouch. "But because of you, many live who would have otherwise died. You do well here."
Ran slides her hands together into a deep bow. "Your words are too kind, Ieyasu-dono, I am merely-"
"Ran….ka?" He murmurs to no one in particular.
She lifts her head to see his small, tranquil smile, reminding her how young he- no, they are underneath the titles and responsibilities. Too old to play but too young to fight. This was true, at least, according to her conventions. Conventions of another time, another life.
"It was bequeathed to me at birth by my mother," Ran provides, noting the slight flush on Ieyasu's cheeks. Her hand grazes over the omamori concealed inside her yukata, before returning to the mat.
He leans forward, the dryness of sake from his breath unmistakable. "Ii namae da…"
Besides treatment purposes, Ran has never been so close to a man, so when the Mikawa warrior reaches out a gloved hand, her breathing halts and voice dies. She concentrates on her white knuckles, reprimanding herself for a variable she should have foreseen. A knot forms in her stomach as primitive insurgents of self-preservation assail her stature of social propriety; one pleading to flee and another imploring to stay.
But Ieyasu-dono wasn't just a man, right? He was a man of justice, of peace, of rectitude; he was a good man. And Ran held on to that silver of truth as her eyes slammed shut to avoid his shroud of inebriation.
"…orchid suits you well", he murmurs, weaving a lock of her hair between his fingers. Her eyes snap open as he pulls away, the same benign profile on his face. He smiles. A wistful smile that she would normally laugh at, but this time leaves her speechless.
She is about to break the mounting silence when swift, calculated footsteps approach the chamber. The shoji slams open, signaling return of the Ishida general.
She breaks a muted sigh. Her insides untangle and with great irony, all seems right with the world.
"Okaerinasai, Mitsunari-dono," Ran immediately falls into a bow, "Ieyasu-dono has been awaiting your return."
If Mitsunari saw how scarlet her face was, he didn't show it as she swept past him to retire for the night. He did however, deem it necessary to deliver the ultimatum to Ieyasu after reports from his scout.
"Sakhalin has fallen. The alliance you seek is a waste of time. That Gamo rat will sooner meet his death by my hands than entertain your folly," Mitsunari eyes Ieyasu from across the room. He wasn't sure if it was Ieyasu's foggy eyes or slackened posture, but his rival seemed far too calm, even by conventional standards. Of course, had he been closer he would've seen the obvious inebriation painted over the Tokugawa heir's visage.
"I must try," the hand combatant replies, not trusting himself to speak any further, and Mitsunari swears the fool is a carbon-copy of a certain stubborn peasant.
"Hn, katte ni shiro," the odachi wielder mutters as he exits the room. "I will spare that Gamo rat no mercy."
After the sound of footsteps recedes, Ieyasu leans back on his arms with a sigh. It isn't that he tries to hide his vulnerabilities from his oldest comrade (ex-comrade according to Mitsunari); he just doesn't want to be exploited on account of them, especially not by a temperamental general who matched him in military prowess.
Ieyasu listens to the serenade of crickets, thinking how well the plan played out, considering how badly things could have actually been. Of course, this was discounting the sake, razed villages, immoral warlord, his questionable behavior and a headache awaiting him in the morning. A gloved hands reaches to scratch the back of his head.
"I guess I should have stayed away," he muses, before withdrawing to his chambers.
The tale shall continue- but I prayed for my rump. It expects little mercy.
Now you know Ran is not named after her non-existent athletic aptitude. hehe
Liberator of men's woes is THE cause of Ieyasu's problems!
This is Mitsunari x OC. Have faith.
Foot notes:
umai= delicious
yakizakana= grilled fish (our skinny general strikes me as a fish guy :D)
Ii da yo = it's fine/okay/good
Ii namae da= it's a good name