Warning: This is based off a manga called Sengoku Strays. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend that you do! I don't own anything but my OC, and I will probably end up using artistic license to butcher Japanese history, so I would just like to apologize in advance, and I don't mean to offend anyone!

[Narration]

{setting/stage directions}

"Speech."

'Thoughts.'

"English speech."

—¡–!–¡–!–¡— Scene shift/passage of time.

A whole line of text like this without quotes is a written letter or something similar.

WORDS IN ALL CAPS AND NO QUOTATION MARKS ARE SOUND EFFECTS.

Flashbacks and changes in POV will be labeled.

Unless stated otherwise, the POV will be third person omniscient.

If you ever have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Previously:

"My, my... soldiers of the Oda family are really good, just as you'd expect." Mystery man said, his eyes hidden in shadow as he grinned. The other men surrounded him, pointing their spears at the strange man. "I was planning to excuse myself without causing a fuss, but... since I'm surrounded, I guess I've got no choice."

'Who is this guy...!?' Kasane thought, gulping nervously as she aimed her wooden sword at him. '... An enemy...? An ally...?' Mystery man gripped the straps that were holding the box of doom on his back... and suddenly slipped them off, drooping the dangerous box to the ground as he fell to his knees, prostrating himself before them. He was bowing so deeply, his forehead was hitting the dirt.

"... Huh?" They all said, sweat dropping as they stared at him.

"I swear that you don't need to be suspicious of me!? Please find it in your hearts to let me go!" Mystery man cried, tears streaming down his face as he begged for forgiveness. Ayako sweat dropped.

"—Huh? What?" Kasane said, confused. What were they supposed to do now?

"..." Kuranosuke said. He looked disappointed that he couldn't just get payback for being ignored and hit before.

"Wh-What should we do, Lord Kawajiri?" Shinsuke asked, confused and flustered. The man was obviously a suspicious intruder, but it wouldn't be honorable to attack someone while they were unarmed and begging so earnestly to be spared.

"Hmm, this is troubling..." Kawajiri said thoughtfully.

"What's all the fuss about?" Nobunaga demanded as he walked up to them.

"Ah, my Lord!" Kasane said when she saw Nobunaga.

"My Lord!" Kawajiri said, greeting him.

'Well, he sure took his sweet time getting here...' Ayako thought. She was sure Nobunaga would've come sooner. "Hey, it looks like we have an uninvited guest." She told him.

"I apologize for the ruckus. This guy here... calls himself an arms dealer, but he's been acting suspicious." Kawajiri said.

"Yeah, he thought Onihime was a man." Kuranosuke added, unable to resist getting in one last jab at Ayako for all the times she had teased him. Ayako twitched, clearly upset.

"Why must you always say one thing too many...!?" Ayako growled, glaring at him.

"L-Lo...! Lord...!" Mystery man stuttered, trembling. "Lord Nobunagaaaa! Waaaaah!" He cried out in relief as he suddenly launched himself at the young lord.

"Eh!?" Ayako said in surprise. Nobunaga frowned slightly as the man flew at him.

THUNK.

Nobunaga had stuck his foot out at the last second, causing the mystery man to ram his own face into the sole of Nobunaga's sandal. Mystery man landed with a thud and slid a few inches away from the young lord when Nobunaga pushed him away with his foot. Kasane flinched in surprise, and the others just stared, stunned. Ayako shook her head at the two men. Nobunaga had a weird way of showing affection...

"What!? Wh-What'd you do that for!?" Kasane asked, shocked by how he had just treated the man.

"Why are you so surprised...?" Ayako asked, sweat dropping. She thought Kasane had gotten used to Nobunaga's brusque behavior by now.

"...Hmph." Nobunaga said, but then he grinned. "It's been awhile, 'Monkey.'"

'Monkey...!?' Ayako thought, surprised. '...He couldn't be...'

"... Y-Yeah...!" Mystery man said, smiling wryly, despite the footprint on his forehead. He knelt respectfully before Nobunaga. "Owari's very own Toukichirou... has just returned home!" He said.

"Huh...?" Kasane said.

—¡–!–¡–!–¡—

"Whaaat!?" Kasane yelled, surprised.

"Wow, nice reaction, Kasane! Really energetic." Ayako said, giving her a thumbs up from where she was stirring the pot of cooking rice. It had been around lunchtime when Toukichirou showed up, so they had decided to take a break from the tournament to eat. You can't fight as well on an empty stomach, after all. Everyone was starting to line up, eager to get their delicious lunch, but Kasane and Gorouza were still talking to Toukichirou.

To be exact, I'm the arms dealer and 'informant,' Toukichirou." Toukichirou said, blushing a little. A few of the other men were staring at them as they talked.

"I see, so you gather intelligence for our lord. Then, it's no wonder that no one knows you. Is your head okay, where were you hit?" Gorouza said, smiling radiantly. Toukichirou flinched as Gorouza's beautiful smile pierced his heart. He blushed a deep red.

"Oh no, it's my fault! There's no need to worry! When I see a pretty girl, I just can't stop myself~" Toukichirou said quickly, wanting to reassure the pretty 'girl' in front of him. Ayako, who had finished cooking and was coming over to let the others know that lunch was ready, twitched when she heard that. It was obvious that Toukichirou thought Gorouza was a girl.

"Should we clue him in...?" Kasane whispered to Ayako. She flinched in surprise when she saw that Ayako's eyes were cast in shadow, giving away her dark mood.

"Let him rot. It's the monkey's own fault for not being able to tell the difference between a 'bishounen' and a real girl." Ayako said darkly. She was probably going to hold the whole 'bishounen' thing against him for a while. "I don't care if one of my direct ancestors was an illegitimate granddaughter of his..."

'Wow... Ayako's scary when she's mad...' Kasane thought. "No, no the more important thing right now is... If you take 'Toukichirou,' 'Nobunaga,' and the nickname 'Monkey'... Then this guy is Toyotomi Hideyoshi, isn't he!?' Kasane thought, while Toukichirou grinned innocently at them. Kasane turned blue with shock as this revelation set in, and wobbled.

"Ka-Kasane!?" Gorouza said, worried when she started to fall.

"Ah! Miss!?" Toukichirou yelled, also concerned, but then Ayako caught Kasane before she actually fell and helped her sit up again.

'I guess she just realized who we were talking too...' Ayako thought, sweat dropping.

'Nobunaga alone is crazy enough, but now we've got Hideyoshi too...!? And Ayako is related to him...!?' Kasane thought nervously. '... But I—don't know a thing about it!! I'm only average in history! I always excel in gym class, though! Aaah!' Kasane screamed internally, feeling overwhelmed as she turned away from her friends and held her head as she sweated nervously.

"!" Gorouza and Toukichirou said, concerned by her strange behavior.

"It's alright, she's just nervous after meeting someone new..." Ayako said, sweat dropping. The two guys seemed to buy it, because they relaxed. Gorouza glanced off to the side when he felt an ominous presence nearby.

"And here... I thought we'd gotten over being distrustful of each other." Gorouza said, sighing in disappointment when he saw it was Kuranosuke who was emitting the menacing aura. He was glaring suspiciously at Toukichirou. "Why are you acting so menacing?"

"Shuddap, leave me alone! I don't like that slit-eyed jerk!" Kuranosuke growled. Inuchiyo was sitting just behind him, looking at Toukichirou's 'box of doom' like an excited puppy that had just found a new toy.

"Hey, hey! I wanna do this too! I'll play with it till I can imitate you!" Inuchiyo said excitedly.

"Sure, go ahead." Toukichirou said. "Ah, but if you aren't careful, you could get h..."

WHAM!

Toukichirou had tried to warn him, but Inuchiyo pulled on a cord that was hanging from the box, and another padded pole, like the ones they'd been hit with earlier, shot out and hit Kuranosuke in the face... again.

WHAM!

"What are you doing, you dumb dog!" Kuranosuke yelled angrily as he hit Inuchiyo with a mean right hook.

"Gah!" Inuchiyo cried, more out of surprise than pain.

"Hahaha! Our lord's vassals are always so lively." Toukichirou said, laughing in amusement.

"They're comedic geniuses." Ayako said, stifling a laugh. Kasane smiled wryly and sweat dropped.

'Is that where Ayako gets her strange sense of humor from...?' Kasane wondered. 'They both found someone getting hit funny...' Ayako suddenly sensed someone watching her. Their eyes were practically boring a hole into the back of her head. Ayako turned around to see that it was Nobunaga.

"Ah!" Ayako said, suddenly remembering that he had asked her to bring him his portion once she had finished cooking. "I'll be back in a bit guys, I forgot to serve our lord's lunch!" She said as she floored it and starting getting Nobunaga's lunch ready. He was not someone you wanted to keep waiting—especially when he was hungry and grumpy.

"Oh, that's right! You saved me back there, and I haven't thanked you!" Kasane said, suddenly remembering that she had also forgotten to do something. "Thank you!"

"It was nothing! You can't let girls get hurt." Toukichirou said, smiling and waving her worries away.

"—But if you know our lord, shouldn't you have just come on in openly?" Kasane said.

"How could I! Even if you asked it of me, it would be difficult. My social standing is way down there. I couldn't just walk into a group of vassals like these." Toukichirou said humbly, smiling in a self-depreciating manner.

"Speaking of which... Hid—I mean, Toukichirou, you said you're an informant?" Kasane asked curiously.

"Yeah, but I was born into a peasant family. My house is in a village in Owari. It was pretty tough living, and everyday I worried if we'd have enough food to feed my mom and siblings. My this is embarrassing." Toukichirou said, blushing and rubbing the back of his head bashfully.

"Why? I don't think working hard to support your family is anything to be ashamed of. Where I come from, we don't have nobility. We're all human, aren't we." Ayako said as she returned from feeding the hungry beast—A.K.A Nobunaga. She glanced over at Inuchiyo and Kuranosuke... who were still fighting with each other. Gorouza was keeping an eye on them to make sure they didn't get too rambunctious.

"Thanks, Miss." Toukichirou said. He smiled gratefully at Ayako for her understanding and encouragement.

"What about your dad...? Couldn't he do something...?" Kasane asked a little hesitantly, wondering if he had lost his father, like she had lost both of her parents.

"... Since I wasn't his son, he didn't like me. My mom worked from dawn to dusk, until her hands were chapped. I left home hoping to be able do something about that. So, I'm going to work until I drop, so that one day I'll be able to give the family I left behind good meals to eat." Toukichirou said, smiling.

"I'm sure you will." Ayako said, smiling affectionately. 'Maybe my great grandpa to the nth power here... isn't so bad after all...' Ayako thought. She noticed that Kasane was trembling. "Kasa—" Kasane suddenly began bawling her eyes out, deeply touched by Toukichirou's story. The others flinched in surprise. Inuchiyo and Gorouza looked concerned, while Kuranosuke looked a little disturbed, wondering about her mental health.

"Kasane!?" Gorouza said, surprised by the sudden outburst.

"D-Do you're best!! You'll succeed for sureee!" Kasane cried as she grabbed Toukichirou by the shoulders.

"Yeah! Whatever you say, Miss!" Toukichirou said carelessly and cheerfully, not the least bit bothered by the waterfall of tears falling from Kasane's eyes. The others sweat dropped.

"He's actually a pretty easy going guy, isn't he...?" Ayako said, smiling wryly. 'I can't figure out if he's smart or slow... come to think of it... people used to tell me the same thing about myself back home...' She thought.