Disclaimer: Gate 7 still belongs to CLAMP, but i still love it dearly.
In another life, Mitsuhide had a daughter. She was still around, in this one. He knew of her, but he didn't know her. She never approached him.
Mitsuhide supposed that was fair. There was nothing to bind them anymore, after all.
In this lifetime, he wasn't her father, and she wasn't his daughter. She didn't call herself by his family name, Akechi, or the name he had given her, Tama.
They were perfect strangers.
But when they crossed paths on the streets of Kyoto, he knew her at once. From the way she bit the inside of her lip, he could tell she knew him too.
If he tried to greet her as a father greets his long-lost daughter, she would be furious. He had no place trying to insert himself into her life, and he knew it.
If he passed her without acknowledging her, she would resent him all the more. He was the father who had followed his own desires to the detriment of his family. Because of him, she had to live the shameful life of a traitor's daughter. It didn't matter that, had he succeeded, she would have been the daughter of a shogun. She'd needed a father, not a thirteen-day shogun. Any attempt he made to explain his betrayal would fail.
He was never any good at dealing with people on a personal level.
He nodded to her and continued on his way.
Gracia didn't try to stop him.