Thanks again for all the reviews, guys! I honestly did not realize this chapter was so short until reading over it before posting it, so in return I'll be posting the next chapter rather soon!
To Lord Mitsuhide, I'm glad to meet someone who shares the same favorite character as me! Motochika and the Chosokabe are going to be hugely important in this fic, so stay tuned for their arrival into the story! And you're welcome, writing this fic is my pleasure!
To Guest Warrior, I don't know if I'll be altering Oichi-dono's story but I suppose anything could happen! And I've checked out TVTropes and it did give me some useful informaton, thanks again for the tip!
To Arashi, I'm glad you're beginning to like one of my characters! I do admit that Saizo is one of my own personal favorite characters also! And I'm sure you'll appreciate the rest of the cuteness that'll show up in the coming chapters! :)
Since this is a nice, short chapter, I'll explain something that I regrettably left out of the previous few chapters. Right now, the fic is in Act I. I've decided to split this fic into different "Acts" which each make up a piece of Mitsuhide and the Akechi's life. Act I will be wrapping up soon and I will make sure to indicate when Act I shifts to Act II and so forth! (This whole "Act" idea is just a little experiment as this fic is a large experiment for my writing endeavors of the future).
Thanks again for your reviews, I hope you'll continue on this Akechi journey with me!
Act I: Mino
Akechi Mitsuharu and Tsumaki Hirotada sat atop their horses, donning their armor and weapons. From the gates of Akechi Castle, Haru anxiously watched the brutal combat, made only worse by the storm above. Though Mitsuhide officially placed Haru in charge, Haru delegated every single movement of their army to the veteran Hirotada.
"We are gaining the upperhand," Haru eyes frantically shifted back and forth across the battlefield before he turned to Hirotada.
Hirotada nodded as he slowly scanned the battlefield, his eyes methodically surveying the battlefield. "Perhaps it is time to begin pushing the offensive."
"However... There is one thing troubling me, Lord Tsumaki." Hirotada's gaze now moved to Haru as he spoke. "Yoshitatsu had a much larger army fighting against Dosan, he had tens of thousands more troops there, and Dosan seemed all but defeated when we last saw them."
"Yoshitatsu is a very crafty man; there's no doubt he has more troops on the way..." Hirotada looked back to the battlefield and watched as Yoshitatsu's troops began to slowly pull back their attacks. "Still, if we keep up the attack and obliterate their current force, it may cost us some troops but it'll be a huge morale victory."
"So... We should begin going on the offensive?" Haru reached for his saihai, a samurai's tool for signaling the army, and unfastened it from his waist, ready to give the signal to his troops to attack.
"Not yet. Do we have any scouts that could-"
"Lord Mitsuharu!" Hirotada was interrupted by a yell from atop the castle gates; two panicked guards were looking down at the samurai. "A large force has been spotted approaching the castle from the south!"
The entire battle with Saito Yoshitatsu had taken place to the north of the castle. Akechi Castle had very limited troops, especially not enough for any rear guard to the south. Haru turned to Hirotada's wisdom once again. "That must be the rest of Yoshitatu's army... Hirotada, the south is completely exposed, we have nothing to obstruct their advance... What do we do?"
Before Hirotada could respond, the crisis became even worse for the helpless Mitsuharu. Tada, his armor stained with blood and drenched with water, huffed as he rushed to his brother. "Mitsuharu, thousands of more troops have arrived for Yoshitatsu! We're going to be overrun in a matter of minutes!" The urgency in his voice was obvious even as he attempted to catch his breath.
Haru's own breaths became heavy as the crushing pressure of the situation overwhelmed him; Haru looked to Hirotada but found no solace. The sudden stress was too much for Haru to handle as his vision became blurry and the voices all became a muddled mess. Haru buried his face into his hands and prayed for it all to end.
As Haru cracked under the pressure, Tada turned to Hirotada and desperately begged for his assistance. "Lord Hirotada, what can we do?"
"There is only one thing we can do now..." Hirotada uttered as he kept his eyes fixed on the battlefield. Everyone, Tada, the nearby group of guards, even the distraught Haru, all fell silent as they waited for Hirotada's answer. "Run."