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.

"I'm back, your turn, Kasane." Ayako said, smiling as she returned to her and Kasane's room, relieving Kasane form watch duty over Nouhime.

"Okay! I'll be right back!" Kasane said cheerfully as she left to take her bath. Ayako closed the door behind her, and plopped down onto her futon, exhausted after the long and emotionally draining day she had had. Ayako sighed heavily, as she tried to relax. She looked at Nouhime and smiled.

"How are you feeling? Any better?" Ayako asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. I'm feeling much better now, thanks." Nouhime said, smiling at her, but then Nouhime frowned slightly. "You, know, you don't have to force yourself." She said. Ayako blinked as she stared at Nouhime in surprise and confusion.

"What do you mean...?" Ayako asked.

"Don't try to deny it. It's obvious that you're pushing yourself just to be in the same room with me. I can't say I blame you, though. It's only natural to feel uncomfortable when you're alone with the wife of the man you love." Nouhime said matter of factly. Ayako stared at her, shocked.

"I—" Ayako said, about to deny it, but... she just couldn't bring herself to say the words. Ayako bit her lip and closed her eyes as she gathered her courage. Ayako wasn't going to let herself feel ashamed for loving Nobunaga. She looked Nouhime dead in the eye. "You're right. I do love Nobunaga, but you don't need to worry. I have no intention of coming between you two. Because I love him, I've already decided that I would protect what's important to him, and that includes you. I don't want to burden him with my emotional baggage." Ayako said seriously as the two women stared at eachother. Nouhime closed her eyes and sighted. Ayako blinked in surprise. Nouhime looked... disappointed.

"So, you're just going to give up? Nobunaga's a lord, he can afford to support more than one wife, you know." Nouhime said, frowning slightly at Ayako. Ayako stared at Nouhime, stunned. Was Nouhime encouraging her to go after her husband? Ayako remembered that in addition to Nouhime, Nobunaga did have other wives, but the only other ones that she knew the names for were Kitsuno, and Lady Saka. Ayako had somehow forgotten that they practiced polygamy in the past in Japan... but still...

"You mean, it doesn't bother you...?" Ayako asked.

"I said it before, didn't I? There was never any kind of that sentiment between us. We respect each other, but we don't have any romantic feelings for each other, and it's also unlikely that I will be able to provide Kazusanosuke with an heir. Because of my condition, I'm too weak to bear children and survive, and any children I have could also inherit my weak heart. Nobunaga needs a strong heir. I can't give him that, but you can." Nouhime said, Ayako blushed a deep red at the thought, but she still looked a little sad as she smiled gratefully at Nouhime.

"Thank you, for telling me that, but... you said that Nobunaga told you about me in his letters, right? Did he tell you about my 'homeland'?" Ayako asked. Nouhime nodded.

"You're from the future, right? I found it hard to believe, but I could tell Nobunaga really believed it, and he wouldn't have accepted something that crazy unless he had seen real proof to support it, so I believe it too." Nouhime said. Ayako smiled sadly.

"Then you know that I don't really belong here. At first, all I could think about was getting back home, but... honestly I'd give it all up if could stay here with Nobunaga." Ayako said honestly. "However, there aren't any records of Nobunaga having a wife or mistress with my name, and also... Well, I don't know how much of this you'll be able to understand since I'm not very good at explaining things, but... Although human blood all looks the same, there's actually several didn't types: O+, O–, A+, A–, B+, B–, AB+, and AB–. Each blood type has its own special characteristics. For instance, if a person with A+ blood get wounded and is going to die from blood loss, if you give them blood from another person with A+ blood, then their body can use that blood to heal, and they won't die from blood loss." Ayako explained.

"... Okay... I think I understand for the most part, but what does that have to do with what you being able to have children?" Nouhime asked.

"Well, you see, my blood type is O-negative. People with this blood type are known as universal donors, because O– is accepted by people of all blood types." Ayako said.

"Oh, so, in other words, if you could save that person with A+ blood, even though it would usually reject other blood types?" Nouhime said. Ayako nodded.

"Yes, however, people with my blood type cannot accept blood from anyone who is not O-negative, or our bodies will reject it, and our immune systems will try to fight the foreign blood. If someone with my blood type were given a large enough amount of a different blood type, it could actually kill us. This is actually very important for me, because if I were to get pregnant, and my baby inherited a different blood type than me, then my immune system could get confused and attack the baby." Ayako said sadly. "My great grandmother lost several children that way, before the doctors finally figured out what was wrong and how to fix it. It can be easily avoided now in the era I'm from, but I would need special treatment and regular tests to make sure the baby was healthy. We don't have the technology for that in this era."

"... I see." Nouhime said, closing her eyes. "I understand your reasons for hesitating now... However, I still think you should tell Nobunaga. Let him decide for himself whether he thinks you're worth it. Didn't you ever think that maybe you were brought to this era for a reason? What you said before implies that Nobunaga will have more than just two wives, and Nobunaga mentioned to me that you told him there weren't any extensive records keep about the women of this era. Tell me, were the women that the historians bothered to name the ones who bore him the most children?" Ayako's eyes widened in realization.

"Yes, you were mentioned because you're his first wife, and the other two were named because they were the mothers of his children, but it was implied that he had another wife..." Ayako said. Nouhime smiled at her.

"You just said it yourself, you might not be able to bear him any children, so who's to say that mystery wife wasn't actually you? Even if it isn't you, and you marry him without giving him any heirs, then it wouldn't make a difference either way now, would it?" Nouhime said, smirking at her. Ayako smiled, and this time, it was real. She hugged Nouhime.

"Thank you!" Ayako said, crying tears of happiness and relief that she might still have a chance. Nouhime patted her on the back, smiling wryly.

"Just be sure to tell him soon, before I have to make you." Nouhime said, only half teasing her. Nouhime knew that Nobunaga obviously cared for Ayako, but she thought Ayako should hear it from him first.

"I will." Ayako said, wiping her eyes as she released Nouhime. "I'll tell him once this whole mess with Yoshitatsu and Kiyosu is sorted out."

WHAM!

"!?" Ayako said, flinching in surprise when the door flew open suddenly. Nouhime chuckled softly in amusement. She thought it was funny how jumpy Ayako was, but then again, there was really only one person they knew who seemed to insist on always entering a room that dramatically. It was Nobunaga. Yes, the person who had just thrown open the thin sliding doors, was none other than the man they had just been talking about.

'Geez, it's like he'd got a radar for gossip or something... He always seems to appear whenever someone starts talking about him.' Ayako thought as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart. 'I hope he didn't hear any of that...'