Disclaimer: All credit goes to Shingo Nanami and フクロウ. Enjoy.

猫とお酒とやきもち

Cat and Sake and Envy

Part Four

Kasane x Nobunaga

"Where on earth are we going…?"

Kasane asked to Nobunaga, who continued to walk silently on.

She supposed about 20 minutes have passed by now.

No matter how many times she asked, Nobunaga would kept silent. Is what was the current situation.

(He only told me to follow him after all...)

They had exited the castle and went deep into the forest.

If she were to take a quick glance around, she wouldn't be able to see any trace of humans anywhere.

Outside was already dark and with the road only lit by the light of the moon, she almost fell down on multiple occasions.

However Nobunaga, who was used to these conditions, continued on just fine.

(Just how far does he intend to go...)

Back when she was drunk, she had a vague memory of being kissed by him.

Remembering that, Kasane covered her face.

Her face is hot.

Wondering why he did such an act, Kasane stared after his back.

Could it be just another whim of his? She couldn't read his mind at all.

"...What."

"Eh?! Ah, no w-well…"

Sharply noticing her stare, Kasane wondered if he had eyes on the back of his head.

"W-why did… you k-kiss… me back there?"

Kasane fidgeted at she asked.

Nobunaga knitted his brows together.

"Kisu? What's that about?"*

"No, not the fish, t-the mouth…"

She tried to convey it, but from the embarrassment she could only stammer it out and once she reached to the end of her sentence, all of her spirit collapsed.

Wait a minute, why did she have to bring up that embarrassing memory in the first place?

After all the person who did it was from the man whom she couldn't comprehend what he was thinking, the man standing right in front of her.

And doing all that, the person himself acted as if nothing had occurred.

Kasane couldn't understand him.

"You mean from that time."**

"Eh, y-yeah… That's it…"

Nobunaga bluntly said that in an awfully bold and unembarrassed tone.

It seems that he at least remembers what he did.

So his reckless actions back there were not due to the effects of alcohol.

"It's not even like you can get pregnant with a brat from a kiss."

"K-kids!?"

Kasane turned bright red at his words.

"What? Don't tell me that was your first kiss?"

"My first was Masamune and Kotetsu, so it's fine!"

"..."

"What's with those pitying eyes."

Leaving Kasane to herself, Nobunaga continued on.

"We're here."

"Eh?"

As Kasane raised her face and looked past the forest, it seemed that they were on a small elevated hill.

"Look down."

"Down…?"

Suspicious of his instructions, Kasane cautiously gazed down at the bottom of the hill to then see the whole entirely of the village before her.

"Uwah…!"

Animated by the festival, the village was lit by many torches.

Right in the center there was one particularly huge bonfire and with it's thick column of flames combined with the innumerable small torches scattered around, it was certainly a beautiful view.

"Tono-sama, this is…!"

"Isn't it a good view?"

It wasn't just a simple enough to say that the fire being lit was beautiful, but also the lively mood of everyone there, conveyed such a reaction through her skin.

"Wow…!"

Kasane whispered to herself, not knowing one bit what she was saying.

"Tono-sama, did you bring me here just to show me this?"

"...I do not partake in the festival as I don't like crowds, however I have viewed this scenery for many years."

"So you refrained me from going to the festival so you can show me this?"

"That was only because I found it outrageous for a loafer like you to go out and play."

"Is that so…"

Kasane feebly replied back.

That precious impression faded away with his next words.

"...One day I will not be the lord of the country of Owari, but the demon king who unified this entire land."***

"D-demon king…"

Kasane widened her eyes at the haughty metaphor he described himself as.

Well it did rather match him more than 'king' so oh well.

"This scenery we see below us, soon it will not only be the country of Owaru but all the land in this country that will become mine."

"All the land…"

"When that time comes, like now… I'll have you look at this country in its entirety at my side."

"…..Eh?"

Unable to follow him, Kasane tilted her head in confusion.

"...What does that mean?"

"..."

Nobunaga frowned unpleasantly at her words.

"...The hell I know. Think about it yourself."

"...?"

Hearing the sound of a bird's cry, Nobunaga suddenly looked up.

Above them, they saw the bird circling round and round in the sky.

"Tenrou is calling us back…"

Nobunaga softly muttered.

"Woman, we're going back."

"Eh? W-wait!"

Without consent, Nobunaga left Kasane and hurriedly turned to the path they had just taken moments before.

Kasane frantically tried to follow him.

In this dimly lit forest it was 100% guaranteed that she would get lost if left behind.

"W-wait, Tono-sama!"

Out of breath, she finally caught up to Nobunaga, grabbing onto his sleeve.

"...Please go a little bit slower."

"..."

Though he sent her a troublesome expression, he listened to her demand and lowered his pace to match hers.

"Thanks…"

The reason why grabbed the hem of his clothes wasn't just because she didn't want to be lost, but to spend, even if it was just a little bit, more time with him. Kasane vowed to never spoke of it to the person himself.

Afterward

"Kasane-dono, Ikeda-dono had requested me to hand you some things…"

"From Ikeda-san? For me?"

"Yes, like umeboshi and unripe mandarins…. how this is quite rare. A Western fruit called a lemon is also here as well. For him to prepare such things, since when did you become so well acquainted with Ikeda-dono? ...However he has sent you many sour foods. Do you happen to like sour foods? Kasane-dono." ****

(... …. … …. … … Uwaa…. … I forgot to fix that misunderstanding.)

*Kasane used the word キス. Which at Nobunaga's time is a foreign word. So instead it sounds like 鱚 (smelt-whitings a type of fish), which has the same pronunciation.

**He used 口付け(kuchitsuke) which is the term for kissing. I just put it here because it's a little bit weird to put kiss, when he got the word wrong a few sentences before. Plus it'll be even weirder if I put in smooch instead of kiss. So… (-v-;;)

***He used the word 天下(tenka), a phrase that used a lot when referring to this guy as well as 魔王（Maou-Demon King）you'll see it in many dramas, mangas, novels, etc. Basically it literally means all under the heavens. He might be referring to just the entire country of Japan than the entire world though.

**** I had to do some research before. Turns out pregnant woman crave sour foods and fruits. An interesting fact, I only knew that they would have weird cravings, but not specifically sour food. But lol, Ikeda nope there's no heir coming to the Oda family this year.

I hope everyone enjoyed this story. The next one I will be translating will be お仕事:Work. I might not be able to upload tomorrow, but let's see what happens. The next story is pretty entertaining especially the latter parts, if I can translate it properly to everyone though... lol. Well, then I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable day!