Disclaimer: Hello everyone! Sorry I'm a bit late, I still feel a little bit tired from my trip. Okay, disclaimer... All credit goes to Shingo Namami, the author of Sengoku Strays, and フクロウ, the author of these stories. I just happen to be a lousy translator who got permission to translate and upload her stories onto this website. Everyone is good with that right? Alright then, let's start this chapter!

二人の幸福論

Their Theory Of Happiness

Nobunaga x Kasane

"Everyone made a mess, huh~," Kasane happily laughed. Dead asleep, everyone else was huddled together over in the next room. Initially they all got drunk and fell asleep in this place, but Kasane moved and crammed them all in the other room.

She chuckled softly as she cleaned the room that was cluttered from the aftermath of the party. The cute hair ornament in her hair tinkled as it swayed to and fro from her head.

"… You're cleaning?"

"Huh? Tono-sama? You're awake already?" She turned towards the voice, seeing a certain frowning lord standing near the room. Scowling deeply, he rubbed his forehead where the headache was located.

"Oi, get me tea."

"Alright, alright… I'm nearly finished cleaning over here, so please wait a little more, okay?" she waved off his order and continued her work. Nobunaga quietly gazed at her.

"What happened to the others? Why isn't anyone else helping?"

"The others got drunk and fell asleep. Even Gorouza-san unusually drank a lot last night, he's also sleeping in the next room," she turned her heads towards the room where a number of people were contently sleeping. Many of them were tucked into futons that Kasane laid out. If you were to vaguely observe them from afar, you could hear the faint sound of their breath.

"Yosh. This should be good for the time being. Sorry for making you wait. I'll prepare the tea right away!"

"…～ "

Humming a small tune, Kasane gracefully poured the tea into the cup. In comparison to the time she first came to this castle, she has gotten better at handling things more civilly.

"Here you go. It's piping hot, so be careful."

"Un."

She offered the tea to Nobunaga, who leisurely sat at his desk, and placed it softly over the surface of his workspace. Quickly glancing outside of his cold room, Kasane noted that the sun still hasn't risen. The new year still hasn't arrived yet.

Silently, Nobunaga took the steaming cup of tea and carefully sipped it. The warmth of the tea quickly drew out the coldness from his body.

"…It went by so fast. I can't believe a year has passed by already…" she dreamily murmured, spacing out as if she were in some faraway land. Nobunaga raised his eyebrows.

"Since I came, time flew by so quickly. Ahahaha…" she forcefully laughed and scratched the back of her head. Her short black hair fluttered from the wind.

For a second, he was startled to see her downcast expression.

In that moment, the little girl in front of his eyes had suddenly turned into a woman. He swallowed the inexpressible emotion down his throat.

…Sooner or later, she would definitely become a proper lady.

After all her figure wasn't that bad… no she certainly belonged under the category of 'good women'. If she lost more of her childish features, many men who'll desire her would appear.

"…"

He faintly frowned at the thought. An unsettling feeling settled in his gut.

"What's wrong? Ah, could it be… the tea isn't good!?" Kasane frantically asked, observing Nobunaga's displeased expression.

He answered ambiguously and avoided her gaze.

Come to think of it, she's wearing a kimono.

A peach-colored kimono that suited her features well. The soft, warm atmosphere around Kasane matched the pale color of her clothes. If memory serves him right, Mino's Dousan bought it for her…

As the naturally lewd old man floated into his mind, Nobunaga furrowed his brow.

He often heard that a man's interest is emphasized when he gives these kinds of gifts to a woman.

…If he were to pick a kimono, he would have gotten the same one that old man chose for her. The nausea he felt in his stomach increasingly grew worse.

"…This whole year… You still didn't find a way back to your world," he murmured. Hearing that, Kasane froze.

"…Do you still want to go back home….to your family?"

"…"

Softly he inquired her. Long ago she told him: she wanted to go back to her world, that she wanted to see her family once more.

But right now everyone sees her as an existence that is necessary for Owari. And he was certain that the girl found his castle to be a comfortable place.

"…That's right. I wish to go home."

At her quiet response, he felt his blood boil.

Was he disturbed by her answer? Him, disturbed?

He coldly sneered at the thought. Of course not.

"This castle is very pleasant… and fun… if I don't leave soon, there will be a time when I'll wish to never leave this place."

Nobunaga turned his head towards Kasane. Without a doubt, the smiling Kasane before him looked like a woman.

"That's why, before that happens, I want to go home soon."

Though she was smiling, he saw loneliness behind her happy facade. He felt as if the girl in front of him was extremely miserable.

As if she would completely shatter if he touched her.

Seeing this new, fragile side of Kasane, Nobunaga was at loss.

This girl was always smiling.

During her highest and lowest points she would always cry. She would never hide her feelings from others.

….Yet, right now he felt that Kasane was trying to conceal something from him.

"…Then feel free to stay here," he sipped his tea. An unusual sparkle appeared in her eyes.

"Even if I'll forever be a freeloader here?"

"That's if you do your work. Just like now, you better efficiently work to compensate your needs," he curtly responded then weakly praised, "…You are already a woman of the Oda family."

He intentionally said it bluntly. After all, he was not accustomed to expressing words like this.

Initially Kasane looked at him with shock, but soon smiled happily.

His eyes nervously fidgeted away from her gaze.

"…Thank you very much. I'm happy to hear that from you." At her modest gratitude, he returned her gaze.

"…However…."

Even if Kasane didn't continue on, Nobunaga knew exactly what she as going to say.

There was always a wall between him and Kasane. An invisible thick chasm.

And he never intends to cross over it. And she probably wishes the same.

No matter how long she'll stay in this era, that wall will never disappear.

No matter how much he'll try to be on his guard…

No matter how much the girl would be emotionally attached to him…

In her eyes, Kasane most likely sees him, and the other people that live in this castle, no more than her precious family.

That was his undisputed premonition.

That's what that girl would think.

"…However, even so… I love the Oda clan."

Hearing those calming words, he quietly smiled.

"…You are my second family."

"…"

Finishing up his tea, he set the cup back onto his desk. The candlelight flickered. That small red fire lit up enough light to illuminate them both.

"Tono-sama, once more, happy new year."

"Un."

She shivered slightly from the cold. Catching her discomfort, he casually shrugged off his haori and offhandedly offered it to her. Initially, Kasane politely declined, as she was hesitant to accept his offering. However, she finally accepted his haori in a puzzled manner.

"T-thank you…. Um, Tono-sama."

"What."

With a small blush on her cheeks, she softly chuckled, "…Please take care of me this year as well."

"…Ah."

Saying those formal words, Kasane made a womanly face.

It's best if she doesn't notice… the significance of this surging passion when he sees her smiling face.

Even when the warmth from his hand completely disappears…

Just for now, just this moment, they can share this time together, this happiness.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I'm sort of miffed that this website doesn't accept music symbols in the Copy-N-Paste document, but oh well... FYI, as of right now, I'm just writing フクロウ's oneshots. So when I finish those, I'll start on her longer stories. Ah, and again, if anyone wants to read the raws/original please click to my profile and click on Fukurou: Sengoku Strays to redirect to her website. As for her AU, 10 Ways To Drop A Stray Cat, I'll start on the second arc very soon. Have a nice day!