Tenshu: An architectural typology found in Japanese castle complexes. They are easily identifiable as the highest tower within the castle.
Mochi: A traditional rice cake made of mochigome, a short-grain glutinous rice.
Mai
The next morning greets Mai with a newfound energy, popping her joints and stretching her limbs while bracing herself for the day to come. To her surprise and despite the odds—most precisely, the tumultuous event from last night, for the lack of a better word—she's had a fairly good night's sleep, feeling quite optimistic to get on her assigned duties with ease.
As instructed by Hideyoshi before parting ways yesterday, she finds her way up to Nobunaga's tenshu, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door. For the next six months he's going to be her boss, so she might as well start to get used to his intimidating persona and take on whatever whims he comes up with as best as she can. On a more positive side, when she gets back, she'll never fear another boss ever again, that's for sure.
After being called in, the Lord of Azuchi meets her on his working desk, full-on dressed and surrounded by several papers. Huh. Did he have any sleep at all?
She opts on not dwelling too much about it. "Good morning, my Lord," Mai says with a polite nod, "Apologies for coming here this early. I've come to get my assignments,"
Ever so slowly—and with a certain characteristic elegance, much proper of him—he shoots her an inquisitive look. "You're actually here to work." Nobunaga doesn't pose it as a question, quirking a brow in rapt curiosity. "Well, well, Masamune was right about you."
The comment takes her aback just slightly, not expecting to hear anything about the guy so out of the blue. "Huh? Masamune? What did he say?" Mai can't help but wonder aloud.
His mouth curls into a pleased smirk. "He didn't think it was your nature to stay idle and hide in the shadows." That's not precisely what she was looking forward to hearing.
So he's been talking about me with Nobunaga, of all people? I don't get it, though. It's Hideyoshi who sent me here in the first place.
However, Nobunaga's mysterious smile doesn't lean her in any further. "As you can see, I already am busy. But since you're here and willing, I have a suitable task for you."
Once she takes a seat before him as requested, Nobunaga proceeds to instruct her to visit the manors of his most important vassals and oversee if they have everything they need during their stay at Azuchi. As far as it goes, it definitely seems like the perfect Day One task, and it wouldn't hurt at all to put her mental map of the castle onto practice.
Not much later, Hideyoshi makes his appearance, prompting Mai to a stand. "Good morning, my Lord, Lady Mai." Nobunaga's vassal flashes an easygoing smile, nodding in greeting. "I've heard you called for me."
His Lord is quick to lean him in on her first assignment as chatelaine, practically relying on him for further guidance and orders, looking somewhat keen to return to his papers. Hideyoshi appears more than happy to relieve him of whatever he can, nodding earnestly. Mai, for the matter, opts on to watch their interactions from the sidelines, forming a sort of better picture of the men she has to spend six months with.
For all intents and purposes, Mai wouldn't say it in the open—not if she intends to stay on his good graces, that is—but the truth is, Nobunaga rubs her all sorts of wrong. Although she's aware she'd be a terrible fool to have only her personal assumptions into consideration; firstly because she barely knows the guy, and secondly because there clearly has to be a strong reason why Nobunaga Oda had managed to amass such reliable alliances and become the most prominent leader of the current time.
Regardless, as willing as she is to figure out the real warlord behind the very intimidating mask, Nobunaga also seems just as willing to burn out her hopes, turning to her with an indifferent look. "Well, why are you still standing there for? You wanted to work, then go already," He says dismissively, throwing her off with how easy he's shifted his demeanor towards her.
First, he tries getting his hands on me, but now that he's done with that close and personal move I'm a bother? Why, that's so rude!
She shoots him an offended glare, his attitude getting on her nerves once again. "Why, did you ever think all your internal opposition stems from your so winning personality?" Sarcasm drips off her, gritting her teeth.
Nobunaga's brows knit together in a deep frown. "… What did you say?"
All so suddenly, she realizes what she's done, stammering. Oh, no, what did I say indeed? Nobunaga Oda is already known for killing the bird who doesn't sing—what could he do to the bird that won't shut up?
Her heart races, struggling to find something to say, although surprisingly she doesn't have to as Hideyoshi huffs at her, "How dare you to say that about him?" He gives Mai a stern glare of his own, "Lord Nobunaga does not have a winning personality!"
Wait, what? Both heads turn to Hideyoshi, confusion clear in their faces. Is that a sort of cultural misunderstanding? At least and as far as she knows, that's not truly a way to get on the good graces of one's boss. But what do I know, though.
Figuring out it's for the best to leave that slip be, Mai chuckles awkwardly in means to lighten up the mood. "… I'll take my leave now."
"You do that," Nobunaga agrees genuinely, not bothering to spare any other look at his subordinates and returning to his papers.
With the dutiful help of Hideyoshi, she manages to get a better way around the huge castle, the two walking over to where he's set up. Thankfully so, he also happens to be a good conversationalist, chit-chatting on some interesting activities for her to partake on in Azuchi town as well as giving her more directions, should she need any.
Inside his place they find his subordinate, Mitsunari—or so Mai assumes by the pattern of his clothes—his face hidden from view and stuffed in a book. For some reason, Hideyoshi doesn't bother calling him just yet and neither does she, just in case it comes off somewhat rude.
The two of them walk to his working desk. "Alright, so, all that's left is to arrange lodgings for the group that's arriving late, and then you're all set?" Mai continues their former conversation, doing her best to memorize everything.
"Yes, Mitsunari is taking care of the rest. Ah, and speaking of which," Hideyoshi stops her when she stands up to take her leave, clicking his fingers as to recall the attention of his subordinate. "Mitsunari… hey, are you listening?"
The young warlord startles a bit, blinking repeatedly. That book must be truly interesting, huh, Mai settles to assume, feeling kind of bad for the guy to be somewhat forcefully pulled out of his reading. "… My Lord! And Mai, good morning. Is there something you need?"
"Can you give her the thing?" Hideyoshi vaguely points to an auxiliary table on the room. Luckily, Mitsunari seems to catch the gist enough, dropping his book and turning to fetch something.
He comes back with a lacquer plate in his hands, holding a rice cake topped with a thick green paste. "Here you go, Mai. Lord Masamune came by earlier and said to give this to you." Mitsunari's bright smile makes it incredibly difficult to say no to anything as he holds out the plate to her.
However, there they go mentioning him again. What's up with that? "Why did Masamune come here with something for me?"
"I don't know. That's all he said when he came by this morning," Hideyoshi says with a shrug, apparently not giving it much importance.
Mai takes a better inspection of the treat in display before her, recalling it to be known as zunda-mochi. As for not having breakfast just yet, the sight is more than tempting to make her hungry, grabbing a piece before giving it a second thought.
Taking a bite, she has to hold back a near embarrassing moan. "Wow, this is delicious!" A grin reaches her lips, the sweetened paste feeling smooth and creamy in her mouth. I think I had these on a trip to Sendai when I was a kid. I really should have eaten them yesterday when I had the chance.
The treat brings her back to some endearing moments of her childhood, memories of her grandmother's homemade food putting her at ease. Smiling both inside and out, she polishes off the rest with eagerness, making up for her loss at yesterday's feast.
It's after she's taken a second mochi when both of the men also decide to grab some as well. "Looks like it's not poison, or not a fast-acting one, at least," Hideyoshi muses, huffing in slight amusement as he glances her way, "One can never tell with Masamune, though…"
The comment makes her almost spit the bite she's taken. "W-what?" Mai chokes a little, giving him a wide-eyed stare, horrified, "You thought it was poisoned!?"
"And you were careless enough to eat it without a second thought…" He points out matter-of-factly, smirking, "Congratulations! I don't think you're a spy out to get Lord Nobunaga now."
What? So that's what the whole thing was about? Although somehow, Mai can't bring herself to believe Masamune's not up to something, at least not when the past two mentions of him are starting to become not as coincidental as it seemed like.
"Yay… I'm sooo happy to hear that." She says sarcastically, suddenly losing her appetite. Although on the brighter side, at least it brought Hideyoshi to open up a tiny bit to her—and all things considered, Mai's up to take whatever she can get, so there's that.
"Lord Hideyoshi is right, though. You should really have someone test for poison on these things first." Mitsunari voices out his concerns after swallowing a big piece, looking as if having a proper meal is an obstacle of some sorts, "Try not to make that mistake next time someone offers you food."
Humming in consideration, Mai can only nod, knowing the young strategist means that, "Thank you for the advice, Mitsunari. I hope I never need it…"
Next on the list of stops is Ieyasu, one of the snarkiest—if not the most—among his fellow warlords. She tries to keep whatever expectations she has on the man in a very low spot while walking down the corridors to his quarters. As far as I'm concerned, he's not really a mean guy, but probably it's for the best to keep everything just straight to business and give him some space.
Knocking curtly, Mai patiently waits for the cue to be allowed in, meeting a slightly surprised blonde awaiting her past the door.
"You really came?" His tone is sharp but his gaze flashes with a sort of curiosity, brows quirking up, taking a tiresome stand from his working desk. "I thought you were weak, but I see now you're just foolish…"
"Huh? Foolish because I came to do my job?" Mai asks back, tilting her head. "Uh, what are you doing?" All so suddenly, Ieyasu throws a wooden sword her way, her reflexes acting beforehand and grabbing it midair.
It's after she takes a second look at it when Mai notices he's offered the sword, as she is, in fact, holding it by the handle. Regardless, it doesn't stop her from casting a wide-eyed look to him.
"You wanted to fight me, right?"
What in the seven hells!?
"… A fight? With swords!?" Her jaw drops as well as the tip of the weapon in her hand, not helping to stare at him as if he just told her he's become a sort of godlike being overnight or something just as unbelievable. "Where in all heavens and hells did you hear that?"
Her genuine misunderstanding appears to throw him off, breaking a former fighting stance and lowering his weapon. "Masamune delivered the message this morning." He says as if it's obvious, understanding dawning in his emerald eyes not quite later. "Ah, he was messing with me…"
"Why, you better believe he was! Why on earth would I want to fight you?" Growing more upset by the second, she thrusts the sword onto a safe place for both their sakes.
That's it, this is my ending point. Masamune goddamn Date, you and I will have words. And real words at that!
Ieyasu rolls his eyes in annoyance but eventually does the same as her, returning to a big pile of parchments stacked on his desk. "Uh-huh. Well, whatever. But why are you even here, then?"
First, she takes an intake of breath to regain her composure. "Lord Nobunaga was the one who sent me," Mai explains in an obvious tone, but knows best not to take the poor guy as the blunt end of her incoming irritable state. "I've just come to check up and see if you have everything you need, that's all."
Naturally, Ieyasu doesn't have anything of urgency to request of her—and probably, even knowing him as little as she has, he'd be having a catastrophic emergency before relying on anyone else for assistance. So after some short words, Mai's quick of getting out of his hair, bowing politely before closing the door behind her.
The next stop is the closest one to her room and for a very brief moment, she's seriously tempted to turn on her steps and take refuge inside her place and into her futon. Although and giving it another thought, she can't even tell it wouldn't be another odd prank waiting in there as well.
Why is he doing this to me? I'm not paranoid, right? Is this actually happening?
She can't understand what unfathomable goal would lie at the end of that trap-filled day. As for being well aware who's residing in the quarters she's about to visit, it's perfectly safe to assume something's waiting for her there—mostly when the owner of that room and the guy who's been apparently setting her up for the whole morning have been acting as some sort of partners-in-crime last time she's seen them. It's too obvious to think otherwise.
Once invited in, she opens the door, hairs standing on end and ready for anything—and quite literally so. "Lord Mitsuhide? Excuse me, I've come to—AAAH!"
Her reflexes fail to be faster as she's immediately tackled by twenty pounds of leaping impossible, her screech catching on her throat. Whatever it was that had slammed into her chest knocks the wind out of her, landing unceremoniously on her butt in the middle of the hallway. For some reason—probably in attempts to process what in heavens and hells just happened—Mai doesn't dare to open her eyes just yet, her entire body frozen and tense as a bowstring, feeling a painful ache bursting on the back of her left shoulder.
That is, until something wet and kind of rough brushes against her cheek, sending all her thoughts down the flush. Peeking through her lashes, soft and fuzzy fur meets her hands, and two big eyes look up into hers, remarkably similar in hue.
"Mwrraoh!" The cute and playful purr puts a proper name onto the picture before her. What it still doesn't do is putting real sense on what's again licking her face before her eyes.
"You… are not a cat." Mai deadpans, blinking repeatedly. It would be impossible for that animal to be a cat, not even in her present time they can get that big.
The tall figure of Mitsuhide Akechi casts a large shadow looming over her toppled self, nearly giving her an ominous feeling if not for the certainly ridiculous situation she's in. "I wondered who that was screaming at my door," Leaning onto his door frame, he doesn't bother hiding his sheer amusement, smirking slyly.
The cub tilts their ears up, shamelessly sitting on her stomach, turning their two big yellow eyes to the man, looking as proud as if they'd just catch their first prey and wanting to show off. "Well, good morning, Lord Mitsuhide," Mai props herself onto her elbows, worrying her lower lip and hesitating briefly. "Do you, um… keep tigers?"
A snort through his nose confirms her suspicions even before he does. "Me? Oh, I would never. This growing beast belongs to Masamune."
At the corroboration, she can't keep the very annoyed groan to herself, leaning back onto the floor and scrubbing her face with both hands. Of course it does! Argh, I can't fucking believe this! "Masamune keeps a tiger cub. Sure he does…" She whines, for a brief moment feeling about to burst into upset tears, practically reaching the end of her patience and whatever comfort zone she has.
But then Mitsuhide approaches her, prompting her to make quick work of her irked state and recover any composure she has left. "My best guess is he expected you'd be here soon, so he put his pet in my room as a trap for you," He ponders aloud, the sheer amusement in his face slightly faltering as he appears to consider the possibility of brushing the cub aside and helping her up or just leave her to her own devices.
In the end, she does so by herself, and thankfully the little tiger doesn't put up a fight. "After the first two traps, it wasn't that hard to guess…" Mai grumbles with a frown, accepting Mitsuhide's offered hand and propping her up effortlessly.
"The first two, huh?" His smirk turns smugger, a spark of mischief flashing across his golden eyes, holding her hand with both of his in a friendly and tender gesture. "My, my, do tell…"
She wrinkles her nose, but her ill temper subsides at his good manners, if slightly. "Well, if you don't mind, I'd actually like to forget about it," After squeezing Mitsuhide's hand in thanks, they break apart, both turning to the cub currently rubbing their side on her kimono, tail waggling playfully and curling around her ankle.
A cautious look tells her it's a male, but so far it's impossible to say how old he is. Although the cute sight makes her sigh deeply in defeat—for even if the furry guy is still small and harmless, relatively speaking, it's clear she's going to need to put her foot down about that. For everyone's sakes, Masamune can't keep a tiger as a pet, and he certainly can't use him to surprise people like a can of silly string.
She puts that thought onto her mental list of things to get done. Yet speaking of which, "Oh, I almost forgot what I was here for, though. Is there anything you're having trouble with here in Azuchi?" Mai asks him, quick on getting down to business, "Lord Nobunaga instructed me to see if anyone needed any special arrangements or requests,"
Mitsuhide seems to ponder about it for a moment, "No, there's nothing in particular that comes to mind. My fief is nearby, so everything I might need is easy to get." He shrugs it off and drops the subject entirely.
Thanking him with a nod, her list of assignments narrows down to one last warlord—and a specific one she has a damn lot to talk to him about.
Masamune Date, you better believe I won't be going easy on you…
"Well, then. See you around, milord." Carefully hefting the baby tiger in her arms, she gives Mitsuhide a brief bow goodbye.
A very amused snort reaches her before turning on the corner, hearing the sly warlord say behind her, "Why, I hope so. Because I have to see how this plays out…"
A-N: Y'all! Feel free to follow shogetsus on Tumblr for silly doodles, shenanigans and even to send me some questions for this 'verse if you like! I'd looooove to hear from you :D