Disclaimer: All credit goes to Shingo Nanami and フクロウ. Here's the second part, enjoy!

君と帰ろう

Returning With You

Part Two

Kasane x Ikeda

"Wah~! Ikeda-san look at that! Look at it!"

"...Kusanagi-dono."

Ikeda cradled his head as Kasane continuously hopped from one vendor to another.

He had intended to send her off to Nobunaga and the others, however Kasane became too preoccupied with their surroundings so they made no progress.

When he called out her name, she gave a sheepish smile and hurried back to his side.

"There are many strange things here, aren't they?"

"There are plenty of peddlers who are trying to open a store. There are times when they sell things that you can only lay hands on in other countries or even rare Western goods."*

"Heh~, you know anything don't you?"

Kasane steadily gazed up at Ikeda in admiration.

He shrank a little from her gaze and let his eyes wander off.

"Let's hurry back."

When he started to pick up the pace, Kasane hurriedly followed.

As their strides were quite different, for Kasane, Ikeda's normal steps were fast.

In addition, it was quite difficult to match his pace in this crowd.

"I-Ikeda-san, pl-please wait-... Ow!?"

Just as she tried to maneuver through the crowd to catch up to him, Kasane tripped and fell down.

"Uuuu~... Ouch…"

On the ground she rubbed her sore spot.

Noticing her state, he returned to her side.

"...Blood's coming out."

Indeed, blood flowed down from her knee.

She must have scrapped it when she fell.

"...Can you walk?"

"I...I'm fine."

She gave him an apologetic look as she wobbled up.

Seeing her state, he lend out a hand as if to support her.

"Kusanagi-dono, this way."

Grabbing her hand, he reduced his pace and continued to walk on.

His direction was opposite to where Nobunaga and the others were and he lead her away from the crowd to the forest.

Kasane widened her eyes as she followed after him.

"If it's here…"

The place Ikeda brought her was in the forest just some ways away from the festival.

On the other side of the trees, she could faintly hear the merry sound of the festival.

"Please take a seat here."

Guided to a flat stone, Kasane took his advice and took a seat.

"U-um, I-Ikeda-san?"

Crouching before her, he rinsed the blood off her knee with water.

She raised her voice, puzzled by his actions.

"Please don't move."

"Ah, y-yes!"

"..."

Obeying his command, Kasane's body stiffened and stilled.**

He met her distraught gaze, but soon devoted himself to treating her injury.

"Ow, ow."

"Please endure it."

Even for the sake of treatment, when he touched the wound, Kasane winced from the pain.

In return, he bluntly responded back.

"...Well, this should be good for now."

After cleaning the wound, he took out a small cloth he had carried with him and tied it over her knee.

This was just a temporary treatment before they return back to the castle. There, they would be able to take proper measures.

"Th-thank you very much."

"There isn't any need to thank me."

He easily waved off her words of appreciation.

"...That reminds me, this sort of thing happened before. Though our positions were reversed.

"Heh? ….Ah, ahhh… now that you've said it."

Ikeda said as if remembering it, he stood up.

It was before when he was attacked and wounded by the three female spies, Kasane had tied it up the wound with a cloth like how he did moments before.

Though he can't say they are particularly close now, back then they were even more so distant. It was that moment, when he properly talked to her for the first time.

Now if he were to call out to her, he would receive an answer back, but back then there was barrier between them.

He gazed straight at her face.

Compared to the palm of his hand, it was such a small face.

Her chestnut eyes gazed back at him.

With a thump, his heart heaved.

"...L-let's hurry back."

As Ikeda frantically back away from the place, he hurriedly walked over to the direction to the festival.

As he hardly ever had the chance to be in contact with a woman, especially with one all by himself, he couldn't get used to this situation.

"Ikeda-san?"

Kasane tried to follow after the panicked Ikeda.

"Ouch."

Just as she stood up, the wound stung which made her wince.

"Are you alright?"

"T-thanks."

Before she managed to fall again, Ikeda caught her by the arm.

Though she can pass off as reliable, she was also slightly unstable. An airheaded, yet strong-to-the-core girl.

It seems that was the thing that caught his lord's attention.

After the event of what happened in the afternoon, it came to him.

For that lord to take interest in someone was a rare thing.

Even he and the others who've spent their childhood with him, had never seen him praise and show others such a calm smile like that.

This young girl was an enigma.

Even though the time she and his lord spent together wasn't long, the man began showing clear signs of trust towards her.

And the girl also showed no signs of spite towards him either.

Somehow the two of them had a sense of alienation.

If this were to go on, the lord and this girl's bond will deepen to the point that won't allow others to interfere-...

When he thought about it like that, a sense of discomfort sprang out.

Just what was this feeling that raised from his heart?

It wasn't to the point where he felt utterly unpleasant, but somehow it felt as if it were tightly clenched together by something so it felt upsetting.

This was the first time he had this sort of strange sensation.

….Even though he thought about it, it couldn't be helped.

Ikeda silently gazed at the distant crowd.

Within the bustling of people relentlessly passing by each other, he would easily and definitely get separated from the injured Kasane.

"..."

Turning his attention from the crowd and towards the girl, he uncomfortably opened his mouth.

"K-kusanagi-dono."

"Yes?"

He started with an awkward tone and unnaturally coughed.

"...It would be troublesome to get separated, so…... ... ...sh…. shall we hold hands?"

"..."

Kasane stared up at him with surprise.

Unable to bear with that response he hurriedly corrected, "I-If you don't like it, then you don't need to do it though."

"Such a thing, of course I wouldn't hate it!"

Kasane gave him a smile and offered her hand out to him.

Slightly bewildered, Ikeda shyly scratched his cheek.

….He was weak to this girl's smile.

"...Then, shall we return to the castle?"

"Yes!"

Holding onto the hand of the smiling Kasane, Ikeda lead her where the two of them slowly disappeared into the mass.

*Again different countries just mean different provinces in Japan. This still holds true today. Like for example, Aomori is known for their apples. Shizuoka is known for their tea and such. It's good to travel all over the place other than Tokyo ^_^ so go have fun and explore different prefectures if you ever visit Japan.

**Here it's like she overdid it on the 'staying still' part.

Well I hope everyone enjoyed this story. The next story will be a sequel to Indulging You. So fans of that story, rejoice! Yay~ banzai~. Have a safe and enjoyable day!