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. It will be in bold if it's English.

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:

"... So, basically, you're basing your theory on Hollywood's special effects, really?" Isshin said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. Hiroshi sweat dropped and rubbed the back of his head. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that part. "Well, whatever. We'll know soon enough once Kinoshita analyzes this. I'll send a piece of one of the pages that doesn't have her handwriting on it." Isshin glanced at the book. 'While I'm waiting, I might as well see what she wrote... maybe it'll give me a clue about what happened to her...' He thought.

{April 2011—Saionji Temple, Kyoto}

"Yeah, just let me know as soon as you're done analyzing it. Later, Kinoshita." Isshin said as he hung up the phone back on its base on the kitchen wall. Like everything else in the house, it was old, and still had a chord, so you had to stand in the kitchen to use it. He had just sent Hiroshi to deliver the sample of a page from Ayako's diary for Kinoshita to test, but he had decided to call ahead and let the other man know Hiroshi was coming, just in case. Isshin ran a hand through his hair and sighed. 'I guess I'll get started reading it while I'm waiting for the results...' He thought. Luckily Isshin had taken care of his major chores for the day, and the other monks were preoccupied with taking care of the chores Ayako usually did, so he should have a few rare moments of peace until they finished and Hiroshi returned from his errand. It's a good thing Hiroshi didn't have school today, because Isshin hated having to go up and down the temple's long staircase. Well, that's the price you pay for being a chain smoker—you have trouble breathing when stairs are involved. At least it was getting better, now that Ayako had finally managed to get him to start quitting. Isshin entered his room and closed the door behind him, before picking up Ayako's diary and getting comfortable as he sat down to read the short novel she had written. Isshin was glad now that he had bothered to learn how to speak and read English so that he could communicate better with Ayako when she first came to live with them and didn't know any Japanese other than 'hello' and 'goodbye.' Isshin turned to the first page and began reading.

April 1552
Nagoya Castle, Owari
Dear Uncle Isshin,
I'm sorry for suddenly disappearing like that, but it was a complete accident! I swear! I was some how transported back to the Sengoku era after touching a bamboo walking stick that had a round blue charm tied to it. I've tried everything I could think of to get it to bring me back—even saying 'abracadabra' if you can believe it. (-_-;) Anyway, since it doesn't look like I'll be able to come home any time soon, I've decided to start writing down everything that's happened to me in this journal I made, just in case I can't get back. At least, this way you'll know what happened to me. I'm actually writing this on my third day in the Sengoku era, but I'm going to include my first two days too, so don't worry. (^-^) I'm sorry it's in English, but I didn't want just anybody to be able to pick it up and read it. I hope you guys are doing alright, and Hiroshi isn't freaking out to much... I'm sorry if he is. You can show him this if you think it'll calm him down. Just don't hit him with your harisen—he has enough brain damage from that as it is.
Love,
Ayako

'Hmph, so she left this specifically for me...' Isshin thought as he turned to the next page. He was glad she had thought of him, but he hoped Ayako was putting just as much effort into getting back home as she had writing this.

My first day in the Sengoku era was pretty nerve wrecking. I forgot to mention this before, but I'm actually staying here as one of Nobunaga's soldiers—Surprise! \(^o^;)/ I somehow had the luck of appearing right in front of him when I slipped back in time, so he knows the truth about me and believes me. I also managed to convince him that being his Sengoku era 'cheat sheet' was NOT a good idea, so no worries there. He looks pretty evil for a nineteen-year-old, but he's actually a pretty good guy, just strict. In exchange for room and board, I have to do a whole bunch of chores, but it's not that much different from what I do back home, so I think I can handle it. Anyway, my first day went something like this...

=Flashback mode=

"Lord Nobunaga, as you have said, I currently have no way to return to my home and nowhere else to go. You have already done me a huge favor by offering me a place to stay, but I have one more favor to ask of you… Please allow me to serve as a soldier." Ayako said, bowing respectfully as she waited for the young lord to answer her. This girl just continued to surprise him.

"… You mean to say you will become a citizen of this province?" Nobunaga asked.

"No, I won't." Ayako said frankly. "I still haven't given up on finding a way to return to my own time yet, and I don't want to just live on your mercy. I was raised on the principle that 'those who don't work, don't eat.' So that I don't lose sight of my goal, or myself, and to live in this world, I will fight. I will gladly work to earn my keep, and I am fully aware of what following you into war will mean. In these turbulent times, even those who do not wield a sword can still die upon one. Since that is the case, I would rather fight than live in fear. However, it is against my religion to kill, so I cannot guarantee that I will be able to take a life on command, but I have no intention of letting myself be killed, nor do I intend to let harm come to the people I view as comrades. I will not hesitate to come to your aid. If you can accept these terms, then you can consider me your ally." Ayako said, looking up at the lord of Owari as she spoke. Nobunaga could see the resolve and determination burning in her eyes. Nobunaga stared at Ayako, contemplating her words.

"Hmph!" Nobunaga said, laughing in amusement and smirking like the Cheshire cat. "Interesting, I'll look forward to seeing what you can do."

'Eh…? Why do I feel like I just sold my soul…' Ayako thought a little nervously. No matter, she wouldn't go back on her word. Ayako smirked back at him. "Just don't be too surprised when you do." Ayako said, smiling cheekily.

SLAM!

Ayako jumped, startled when the sliding doors of Nobunaga's room flew open, and three boys, close to her age came rushing in.

"My Lord, we heard a strange noise, are you alright!?" Gorouza asked. Ayako thought he was really pretty for a guy. He added a whole knew level to the word 'bishounen.'

"Look, Gorouza! There's a suspiciously weird girl here." Kuranosuke said as he pointed his gun in between her eyes. Ayako blinked in confusion and held her hands in the air on reflex, since that's usually what people were supposed to do when a gun was pointed at them.

"Whoa! Watch where you're pointing that thing." Ayako said, sweat dropping.

"Hey, hey! Who's that girl?" Inuchiyo asked curiously. Ayako didn't seem very dangerous to him.

"Isn't it obvious, she must be an assassin!" Kuranosuke said. Ayako raised an eyebrow. Did she really look like a coldblooded killer to them? She glanced at Nobunaga, who looked more amused than anything. Ayako sweat dropped. She had a feeling he wouldn't let her die, but he wasn't going to help her out of this situation just yet either.

"Look, this is just a misunderstanding... I'm not a—" Ayako tried to explain, but Kuranosuke cut her off.

"And are you sure she's a girl? Her chest's so flat, it could just be a feminine boy. Look at those strange hakama they're wearing." Kuranosuke said bluntly as he pointed at her cargo jeans, his words stabbing her. Ayako hung her head, casting her eyes in shadow.

"It's true that I'm only an A-cup, but I'm still a growing girl, and besides... there are just some things you just shouldn't say!" Ayako said lowly, but it turned into an angry yell at the end when she snapped, vein mark throbbing on her head, and grabbed Kuranosuke's gun, twisted it out of his hand, and tossed it to the side as she head butted him.

"!?" The three boys said in surprise when Kuranosuke hit the floor, holding his head. Nobunaga smirked. It was good to know it wasn't a lie that she could fight. Ayako stood over Kuranosuke, cracking her knuckles and scowling at him.

"I might be a tomboy, but I'm 100% female! I'm not an assassin, but if you laugh at a 'slender-bodied' girl, you'll get burned—remember that!" Ayako said darkly. Gorouza sweat dropped. It had been totally obvious that Ayako was a girl, despite her strange clothes, and since Nobunaga had been standing there calmly the whole time, she must not be an enemy... or at least she wasn't before Kuranosuke insulted her.

"Please, forgive Kuranosuke. He's suspicious of everybody when he first meets them. It's clear you're not an assassin, but would you mind telling us who you are?" Gorouza said, smiling politely.

"Oh, I'm Himura Ayako Louise, but you can just call me Ayako. I'm not from around here, so I got a little lost and some how ended up here. The lord was kind enough to allow me to stay here in exchange for working for him." Ayako said, sweat dropping and rubbing the back of her neck. She hoped they bought it. Gorouza looked a little skeptical, and Kuranosuke had blatant disbelief written all over his face. Well, after being hit like that, she didn't think he'd be her biggest fan.

"Oh, so that's why you look so strange! You're a foreigner." Inuchiyo said, smiling. "Nice to meet you, Ayako. I'm Inuchiyo, and That's Gorouza and Kuranosuke!" He said, introducing himself and pointing to the other two.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, too." Ayako said, smiling and bowing politely.

"Hmph, you said you were going to work here—what kind of work? Cleaning?" Kuranosuke said, grinning evilly. If it was cleaning, he'd be sure to leave behind a big mess for her to clean up. Ayako glanced curiously at Nobunaga. He hadn't actually told her what her specific job would be.

"Hmph, that's part of it." Nobunaga said. "She'll be doing a lot of odd jobs around the castle, but she's primarily going to be working with you three as a fighter." Inuchiyo and Gorouza looked a little surprised. Kuranosuke froze in shock. No way was he working with that she-devil!

"What...!?" Kuranosuke asked, unable to contain his surprise.

"Wow, you must be strong if our lord is letting you fight~!" Inuchiyo said cheerfully. "You want to spar with me?"

"Why don't we help her get settled in first?" Gorouza suggested, smiling. It was unusual for a woman to be a warrior, but Nobunaga was a good judge of character, so she must have something special for him to have let her join them.

—¡–!–¡–!–¡—

{Later that night}

Ayako sighed as she flopped down onto the futon they had supplied her with. Since she was a woman, it would've been inappropriate for her to share one of the rooms with the guys, so Ayako had been given a small room of her own. It was the size of a large closet, but Ayako didn't mind since she was able to have some privacy. It had been a long, physically and mentally exhausting day. After Gorouza and the others had given her a tour of the castle, Nobunaga had wasted no time in putting her to work on a whole bunch of miscellaneous chores. Ayako had just finished, and was ready to get some well-deserved rest.

'At least it didn't give me any time to get depressed about my situation here...' Ayako thought as she started to drift off to sleep.

WHAM!

Ayako bolted upright in surprise when the doors to her room suddenly slid open. Didn't anyone knock in this place? Nobunaga entered her room, holding a bundle of clothes. He had offered to give her one free outfit so she could blend in better, and Ayako had asked for men's clothes since she planned on fighting, and she didn't want to accidentally flash anyone if her kimono flipped up on her while she was fighting.

"Here, you can wear these to blend in better." Nobunaga said as he tossed the bundle at her.

"Thanks." Ayako said as she caught them. "I really appreciate this, but... could you maybe knock first before you come in next time? What if I'm in the middle of changing or something? I could be naked." She said, sweat dropping, slightly chagrined.

"Hmph, it's not like I don't know what a naked woman looks like. I don't see what the big deal is." Nobunaga said carelessly.

"!" Ayako said, blushing bright red in embarrassment. "It's a big deal to me! I don't care if you know what women look like already— you don't need to know what I look like! I don't care who you are, if you come in while I'm not decent, I'll punch you so hard your ancestors will feel it!" Ayako said indignantly. Nobunaga smirked. This girl had a lot of guts to threaten him like that. It also seemed like he had discovered a major weak point of hers. It would seem she was extremely shy when it came to this type of topic.

"You should be careful what you say to people here. I don't know how things work in your world, but after a threat like that, I'd have every right to throw you into a jail cell and let you rot." Nobunaga warned her. He wanted to see how she would react to that. Ayako looked a little startled, but she recovered quickly.

"Go ahead, and try it. If standing up for myself is a crime, I'd rather be a criminal than a human doormat. I'll just have to find a way to escape if you do." Ayako said, determined not to give in. "And, just so you know, where I come from people are allowed to talk to and about their leaders this way, without fear of punishment. Of course, if someone threatens to kill them, then that's another story entirely, but you get the point. Our leaders are there to represent the people and serve them. We're not their property, and they aren't ours. That's why we have a law protecting freedom of speech. If we don't like something, we let them know instead of biting our tongues. We don't have any nobles in the country I was born in either." She added. Ayako had been born and raised in America before she started living with her uncle, after all. Nobunaga stared at her thoughtfully. If that was true, then she wasn't necessarily being as rude as she had come across as on purpose. She was just treating him like a ruler in her own world. It was actually refreshing in away, hearing someone's honest opinion instead of having to make sure their words didn't have any hidden meaning or having people go along with you just because you were their superior and they were afraid to speak up.

"H-How dare you talk to our lord like that...!?" Kuranosuke said incredulously as he burst into the room, bristling like a cat that had been thrown into a tub of water. He and the others had been coming to check on her. Gorouza had suggested eating with her, since he thought it would help them bond more. Gorouza sweat dropped. Inuchiyo looked stunned. "You'd better bow down 'til your nose touches the floor and beg for forgiveness!" Kuranosuke snapped. Honestly, he wouldn't mind seeing her get in trouble after being head butted by her. That had been both painful and embarrassing. Ayako raised an eyebrow at him.

'Is he still holding a grudge over me head butting him...? I've already forgiven him for calling me a tranny.' Ayako thought. Gorouza and Inuchiyo glanced at Nobunaga to see her reaction. He didn't look the least bit upset. He looked more amused and impressed than anything. Ayako sighed resignedly and bowed down, forming a triangle with her hands as she touched her forehead to them, bowing all the way down, so that her nose was in the triangle.

"Please, forgive me for having a spine, Lord Nobunaga. I'll try to only sass that shortie over there from now on." Ayako said in a very patronizing tone. Though her words made it sound as though she were addressing Nobunaga, it was obvious they were really aimed at Kuranosuke.

"You wanna fight, girl!?" Kuranosuke yelled angrily, a vein mark throbbing on his forehead as Inuchiyo and Gorouza held him back.

"Now, now. You did start it, after all." Gorouza told Kuranosuke, sweat dropping and smiling wryly. He didn't know whether this girl was brave or just had a death wish to be sassing Nobunaga like that. He noticed that Nobunaga was looking more and more amused by the moment, though. She was probably safe for now.

"Hmph. That's a nice bow you have there. For someone so proud, you sure are good at the type of bow that's used for begging for forgiveness." Nobunaga teased her, smirking. Ayako gave him a brilliant shit-eating grin.

"Well, it's important to have the correct posture for this particular bow. After all, Hiroshi-kun, my uncle's apprentice of sorts, warned me that if you don't make a triangle with your hands like this to cradle your nose, it'll break if the person you're apologizing to decides to step on your head." Ayako said brightly.

"..." Nobunaga, Gorouza, and Kuranosuke said as they stared at her. Just what kind of place did she come from?

'Well, It's not like what they told her isn't true.' Nobunaga thought, shrugging mentally. Some of his vassals had learned that the hard way when they got a bloody nose after he did just that to them for screwing up, and they smashed their noses into the floor.

"Oh, so that's why you're supposed to hold your hands like that!" Inuchiyo said, amazed, as he imitated the way Ayako had made a triangle with her hands.

"No, that's not normally something you'd have to worry about..." Gorouza said, sweat dropping. Obviously, he had never been on the receiving end of one of Nobunaga's more severe scoldings.

"Just what kind of person was this uncle of yours...? He sound pretty violent." Kuranosuke asked, sweat dropping too. He was starting to understand why she might've reacted so violently before now...

"Yep. My uncle Isshin is the head priest of a temple." Ayako said, smiling.

"..." They all said. Just what kind of hellish temple was he running?

"Anyway, thanks for the clothes. Oh! I just realized, I don't think my tour covered what to do for bathing." Ayako said, realizing she was still covered in dust from the storehouse. "What do you guys do for bathing around here?" She asked.

"You mean, you don't even know how to maintain your basic hygiene? No wonder you're so dirty." Kuranosuke said, holding his nose.

"I obviously do know, or I wouldn't even know what a bath was, now would I?" Ayako said, chagrined. "And don't even pretend I smell, I took a bath just this morning. This is just dust."

"Now, now. I'll be happy to explain the bathing facilities here to you, Ayako. We are very fortunate because our lord has a bathhouse in this castle that he allows everyone to use." Gorouza said.

"A bathhouse!? For real!? Is it a hot springs!?" Ayako asked excitedly, eyes sparkling with hope and anticipation. She hadn't thought they'd have an actual bathhouse of any kind in this era. It almost sounded too good to be true.

"Yes, it is. I was planning on going after supper anyway, so we can go together then, and I'll show you how everything is set up." Gorouza said, smiling.

"Huh? But... aren't you a guy, Gorouza? Is it alright for you to be in the women's bath?" Ayako asked, confused. Gorouza smiled at Ayako, happy that she hadn't mistaken him for a woman, like most people seemed to, but he wondered why she had assumed there was more than one bath.

"Yes, it's not a problem." Gorouza said. "You see—"

"It's a normal mixed bath." Nobunaga said bluntly. They watched as Ayako froze, still smiling, but obviously shocked.

"Eh? Haha, don't joke with me like that! You said it so seriously, I almost believed it." Ayako said, going into denial, refusing to let her hopes of enjoying a bath be crushed.

"Well, there's only one bath, you see, but it's huge, so there's enough room for everyone." Inuchiyo said cheerfully. Ayako's smile faltered slightly.

"But there's a divider or something for privacy, right?" Ayako asked.

"Nope." Nobunaga deadpanned. Ayako's jaw dropped in shock. Being raised in America, where people didn't bath together unless they were little kids who were too young to know anything, it had taken her quite a while to get used to sharing the public baths just with other women—There was no way she was getting naked in front of a bunch of men—not to mention that she didn't want to see them.

"I-Is that so...?" Ayako said, sweating nervously as she avoided their gaze, blushing out of embarrassment. "On second thought, skipping a bath for just one night isn't that big of a deal—Good nigh!" Ayako said as she tried to hide under the covers on her futon, hoping they'd let it go.

"Eh? Are you sure?" Gorouza asked, not understanding why she was hesitating. It actually wasn't that uncommon for men and women to bath together in this era, since they had only actually started separating men and women's bathing facilities after being influenced by the western countries and their values. Nobunaga's eyes gleamed mischievously as he realized what her problem was. Ayako made such a big deal about maintaining her modesty before, so she was probably just too embarrassed to bath in front of so many strangers, especially men.

"!?" Ayako cried in surprise when she felt someone pull her out of the futon by her ankles, and they started dragging her out of the room. Ayako could see the surprised faces of Gorouza, Kuranosuke, and Inuchiyo, so it could only be one person—Nobunaga.

"That's not good. It's important to bath daily." Nobunaga said, smirking evilly as he dragged the struggling Ayako to her doom.

"No!" Ayako yelled desperately as she grabbed onto the door frame, refusing to let go. "I refuse! You can't make me!" She yelled as Nobunaga tried to pry her off the door. Gorouza sweat dropped as he watched. It was so obvious that Nobunaga was having fun harassing her.

"What's the big deal? It's just a bath. You seemed eager enough before." Kuranosuke deadpanned, not having any sympathy for her.

"B-But it's mixed!" Ayako protested. "If a man sees me naked—I can't be a bride anymore!" Ayako cried dramatically. Gorouza and Kuranosuke sweat dropped.

"Why not?" Inuchiyo asked curiously.

"I just can't, okay!?" Ayako yelled anxiously as Nobunaga grabbed her legs again and pulled.

"Don't worry, if that happens, I'll take responsibility." Nobunaga deadpanned. "... I can see your underwear."

"!?" Ayako shrieked as she immediately let go of the door and tried to hold her skirt down so Nobunaga wouldn't see anymore, but there were two problems with that—One, she wasn't wearing a skirt... Ayako had forgotten that she was wearing pants, so there was no way Nobunaga could really see her underwear. Two, when Ayako let go of the door, gravity came into effect and caused her unshielded head to fall down and slam into the floor with a rather impressive thump.

"... Ow..." Ayako said, sweat dropping. She felt like an idiot.

"Oh, my!" Gorouza said as he rushed over to check on her.

"Are you okay!?" Inuchiyo asked her.

"Tch, she's still alive, huh." Kuranosuke muttered.

"I heard that, you vertically challenged jerk!" Ayako snapped, a vein mark throbbing on her aching head.

"Once we get to the bathhouse, I'm going to drown you!" Kuranosuke roared as Inuchiyo held him back again. "Let me go, you stupid dog!"

"..." Nobunaga said, as he stared down at Ayako, who was still scowling at Kuranosuke as she rubbed the bump that was starting to form on her head, still holding onto her legs. He had said that hoping Ayako would panic and let go of the door, but he hadn't expected her to be stupid enough to try to shield her body instead of her head when she fell. Ayako realized Nobunaga was staring really intensely at her. She sweat dropped.

"W-What is it?" She asked, suddenly feeling defensive. Nobunaga decided she wasn't seriously injured, and picked her up, tucking her under one of his arms, like she was nothing more than a rag doll and started walking out of the room, and the others followed him. "Wait—!"

"We're just going to get supper... you're lighter than you look." Nobunaga said. Ayako flinched in shock.

"Are you saying I look fat!?" Ayako asked incredulously.

"Gorouza, after supper, put up a few screens in one of the corners to block it off, and put a medium sized tub in there. Show her how to draw water from the well, and how the bathhouse works, in case she changes her mind." Nobunaga said. He decided it might be better to make a small concession, since Ayako was willing to allow herself to be injured to preserve her modesty. "And Kuranosuke... don't drown her."

"Tch." Kuranosuke said, looking a little too disappointed. Ayako sighed. So much for making a good impression on her new co-workers... well, whatever.

"So, What's for supper?" Ayako asked, smiling wryly.