Sumire: *clamps a hand over Mei's mouth* hey! Don't go off track!
Mei: Teehee! What was I doing? Ah! here goes! A Chaotic Mix- season 2: ...*stares*...*whispers* what do i call this arc? Do arcs have titles?
Everyone:...
Sumire: Cheh! You suck! How about this? Sumire the great's adventure!
Takeshi:*nods with approval* perfect.
Mei: uh..no*shakes head*oh!. i got it! The blood fortress!*smiles* sounds cool right?
Everyone:...* Mei's still drunk*
~X~X~X~X~
"...ktchoo!" Shira sneezed softly as she wrapped her arms around herself and quickly tried fixing the falling bandages. " Tsk. This is exactly why I detest alcohol and drunkards. " Next to her, Mitsunari scowled and shook his head before gripping tighter onto Shira's hand. "..." She turned bright red and looked up at his redder face before smiling and turning away.
They continued walking quickly through the red Torii gates and entered a small temple. The lack of noise around the building suggested it was either abandoned or the inhabitants were currently not inside. Not wanting to spend any longer in their wet clothing, the duo rushed inside and searched for people, or anything they could use to dry off.
"Seems like it's empty. I'll look in here, you can look through that room there." Mitsunari rattled off instructions to which Shira nodded silently and rushed off with her hand pressed against the bandages on her face. "...I hope he didn't see... but...I...don't want to hide anything from him..."
~Owari~
Back at the castle, everyone collapsed and crashed at the nearest spot, as soon as the Hanami was over. The journey hadn't taken very long; but the arduous task of locating and rescuing drunks (as well as saving Hideyoshi from a furious Nene) was pretty taxing. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to have cared that Shira and Mitsunari were still missing, and joked that the sake might have done 'something'.
This was the reason why everyone was still in a relaxed and carefree state, either too tired to assume daily activities or to do anything. A lone figure approached the normally heavily guarded gates and raised an enquiring eyebrow at the lack of security, before rushing quickly into the main hallway. There, a sobbing Ranmaru sat gritting his teeth while a pouting Gracia grudgingly took off his makeup, Sumire sat oblivious as always eating dango and formulating a plan to steal valuables. In other words, she was currently freeloading off the Oda, or to be more accurate the hospitality of a kind Toshiie Maeda.
"What's going on?" An unfamiliar voice filtered through the hallway before several heads peered out of doorways to see who was talking. "There aren't any guards at the gate, the security is...lacking, actually it seems like you've all just returned from somewhere."
A tall and regal looking young woman stood in the centrw if the hallway. Her electric blue eyes coolly surveyed the current inhabitants who all looked blankly back at her. Just then a bright yellow flash whirled in from the roof and a grinning Nene landed in front of the new arrival.
"oh! It's Kalypso! Welcome home my dear~" Nene waved cheerily and produced a small bowl of manju with a bright smile "You must be hungry after that long trip! Eat up! I managed to save the last of these from the hanami we just had!" Kalypso narrowed her eyes slightly before bowing her head slightly "Thank you Nene. I appreciate it." She drew out a hand to take a manju when ...
"Nooooo! Nene! That's MIIIIIIINNNEEEEE!" roared Sumire as she charged towards the manju before grabbing it tightly and shoving them in her mouth. "Yew pwomished! All da manjew ish mwyne!" she crossed her arms stubbornly and turned away with her cheeks stuffed full of manju.
"..." Kalypso frowned slightly at Sumire with a questioning expression on her face "I think it's quite rude to steal food. It would be a different matter if you were half-starved though, but you aren't, are you? Please apologise at least."
"Cheh!" Sumire swallowed and stuck her tongue out stubbornly before smiling mischievously "I'll let my weapons apologise for me! How about it? Unless you're scared or something?" she grinned and pulled out her tachi before pointing it at Kalypso's neck. "Come on! Ooh! Let's up the odds! If I win, you have to give me double the manju!"
"...Sumire...*sigh*"
"*whisper* Takeshi...do something about your sister...Kalypso's gonna kill her"
"...Zzzzzz..."
There was silence in the hallway, as everyone except Sumire and Kalypso; who had sparks flying out their eyes mentally face palmed. "..Sumire..she just can't read the situation huh?"
" ...Sorry.." Takeshi effortlessly disarmed his sister and placed a hand on a scowling Sumire's head "...she's just bored."
"Eh? Nii-san! Meanie! I would have beat her! You ruined my fun!" whined Sumire as she grudgingly sheathed her sword and went back to attacking the reclaimed manju bowed elegantly before sitting down at the table where everyone else was "it's quite alright. Getting angry over something as petty as this is pathetic." Sumire shot her a scowl before restuffing her face and running off to search for more food.
"Oh." Kalypso stared at Takeshi's necklace with interest and pointed at the hair ornament hanging on the leather strap . It was similar to a fascinator, but carefully decorated with a red snake coiled around a flower."That...it's got quite an exquisite design. If you don't mind, could you tell me where you got it?"
~Minegishi Temple~
Inside the quiet room, Shira carefully removed the bandages around her arms and slowly smoothed them out before wrapping them securely again. With a slow sigh, she turned towards the mirror and stared back at her partly bandaged face which returned her sad gaze. "..." She lifted the bandages on covering her left eye and forehead. Countless scars from crude surgeries marred her forehead while her left eye was horrifically scarred. Without the scars, she could be considered somewhat attractive, perhaps even cute. She smiled almost self-deprecatingly before tracing the largest scar on her forehead with a finger."...I'm...so...ugly..." she whispered to herself before almost jumping out of fright as Mitsunari walked in.
"... I knew there was a reason why you wore those bandages, but I never knew why." He turned away awkwardly before mumbling "...I'm sorry. I'll leave you then." He nodded before turning sharply to leave when a gentle tug on his sleeve stopped him. "...it's...ok..." Shira whispered quietly as she nodded before taking a deep breath. "...I don't mind...because...it's you..." She paused before sitting down and fiddling with the pile of bandages. She nodded slightly "...you know how I...use...magic?" With a raised eyebrow, Mitsunari nodded "What about it? It's not particularly unusual, Lord Akechi's daughter also uses something similar to you." While saying that, he bent down and sat next to Shira who was now hugging her knees and staring at the floor.
"...when I was younger...my parents...everyone...thought it was abnormal...I..." Shira's normally quiet voice echoed in the small room as Mitsunari remained silent as if to tell her to continue.
~10 years ago~
"Wow! This is amazing! Mother! Look at what I can do!"
An ecstatic 10 year old Shira excitedly tugged on her mother's sleeve attempting to show her the floating flower. "Mother! Look! Isn't it pretty?"
To her shock, her mother's reaction was one of horror, then revulsion. "Stay away from me!" Her mother grabbed a nearby broom and brutally beat her on the legs. "Stay away. Demon!"
"waah! M-mother? Why are you doing this? I'm so sorry! M-mother!D-don't hate me!"
~x~a few years later~x~
. "Hey! Hey! Isn't that the cursed kid?"
"Wow. Her parents must have been really horrible in their past lives."
"Gross. Look at all those injuries. Yuck, but then again she's a demon child."
"My big sis said you shouldn't talk to her or you'll die!"
"Seriously? Who would want to talk to her anyway?"
"You know how Emi fell down the cliff? That's cos she talked to her the other day.."
"whoa! scary!"
"Oh man, she's looking at us! Aah! I don't wanna die!Ruuun!"
"Ugh! Stay away from me! You'll curse my family!" A glaring woman pushed Shira away with a broom and hit her on the arm roughly. " Aika! Come here quickly!" she grabbed her curious daughter before slamming the door loudly. "*thwack*" a few boys threw rocks close to her before shouting insults and running off. "*wham*" A shinai slammed onto Shira's arm sending her to the ground before a man kicked her in the stomach " Stay away you demon!"
"..." As the barrage of insults and beatings continued, Shira simply ignored it all and calmly continued walking home. The abuse had become somewhat normal to her and she was able to shut herself off from the pain. She patiently bandaged her arm and examined the new scars.
~x~X~X~
"I..must do this to protect everone!" Her father stood with a glowing hot poker in his hand, next to him, her mother stood carrying a talisman. Their faces were darkened with grim determination.
"...why? It's not my fault!" Shira began sobbing and backed away before freezing in her tracks. The rest of the villagers, led by the priest stood holding various weapons and talismans. "...everyone..Mother?..F-father? Wh-what?" Shira looked confusedly at her parents, fear running through her mind before her nightmares were confirmed. "No! Stop! Please! I..beg of yo-ahhh!"
Her father roughly kicked her in the stomach, bringing her down to her knees before grabbing her hair and attempting to drag her off. "You are the source of evil in this village! I must...destroy the demon!"
~x~X~X~
"...after that...I...managed to escape...and then..." she looked up and smiled softly "I met Yoshitsugu...and you..." She lowered her head with embarassment."...um...you...don't ..." her voice trembled as she looked almost fearfully at Mitsunari ;his face was pinched in the usual half scowl half smirk but his eyes seemed to be filled with disgust. " Hmph. You think I'm that shallow? That i place more importance on appearances? " he gave a sarcastic chuckle " Fool. I already told you i don't care about all that. What's important to me is that you're who you are...b-because I like you!" With an abrupt stop, his confession hung awkwardly in the air as Shira stared at him with an incredulous look on her face before turning beet red and crying.
"Guh! Why are you crying?f-fool!"unsure of how to deal with an embarrassed and crying gril; Mitsunari hugged her lightly before turning even redder."...can we stay like this for just a bit longer?" Whispered Shira softly as she pressed her face into Mitsunari's chest.
"..." The blushing tsundere said nothing and held her closer.
~Owari~
"...My...necklace?" Takeshi blinked sleepily as he closed his fist around it thoughtfully."...it..was a gift from someone...so...if you want it...I...can't give it to you..." he tightened his grip on the ornament and stared off into the distance '. ...why?"
"How interesting." Kalypso had a small smile on her face " because the design of the snake guarding the flower ;is exactly the same as the emblem of the Chishiro rebels."
"...What?" Takeshi's eyes widened with alarm as he gaped at Kalypso who nodded solemnly before tilting his head in confusion "Chishiro?...i...haven't heard of them..." A few other heads nodded in agreement before looking expectantly at Kalypso. "Oh?" She raised an eyebrow before Nene chimed in " isn't this just perfect?Kalypso's been investigating the Chishiro so she can tell us all about the special mission she was given!"
"...Alright. The Chishiro, or 'blood fortress' rebels are an alliance of small warlords; at least from what i found out. They've been targeting villages and increasing their armies by promising to help their families. Their goal seems to be amassing armies large enough to take down Lord Nobunaga and the other powerful forces to control the land. I managed to find out they're intending to negotiate something with the Azai clan leader, Naga- whatever his name is..." Kalypso paused before continuing almost thoughtlessly " I suppose someone as simple minded as him will fall victim to their persuasions."
Fjvvstjkvfidyk!' *talks incoherently* oh my! I dunno, but it feels likee my writing styles changed? Maybe that's because its been awhile since haha! ...and my laptop got stolen by my idiot big brother so I'm using my tablet which is kinda...takes awhile to adjust..ahem* Kurei-chan... *mumbles quietly* I hope you were happy with what I did for Shira! Lol! Most of the chapter was about her...well...the Chishirou are obviously made up and they'll be important later on...when i give you guys a test! Teehee kidding! Well, until next time, see you!
*Everyone watches as Mei staggers to the fridge and sculls a vodka cruiser*
Mei:*hic!*i can't help it! I can drink now! So there!