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#ikesen mai
shatcey · 3 days
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Knowing smile
After the very sad (if you like Mitsuhide) dramatic ending of the Kichi route, I decided to choose something light… The obvious choice is Ieyasu. I don't remember who the love rival on his route is, but it's definitely not Mitsuhide. So that already makes it light. And I remember how sad his backstory is, but it's still better…
I just love this scene…
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queen-dahlia · 10 months
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Fight for Love! ❤️
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xenokiryu · 4 months
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Thinkin about giving the Ikemen MCs some smooches.
My girls look like they could use a smooch or two at that too. Move aside boys, it's my turn.
Don't clown on my post, ya MC hate ain't welcome on this post at this time
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this-is-war-peacock · 1 month
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I can’t stop thinking about an ikesen AU where instead of Mai the MC is a foreign tourist from abroad and doesn’t actually know Japanese, so she’s whipping out her phone and using the Google Translate app from the very beginning just to understand what these people are saying. Just imagine foreign!MC standing in front of the burning building she just saved Nobunaga from using her phone to awkwardly translate an explanation of being from the future and then having the robot voice badly read the translation with the volume all the way up. Like she has to replay it five times and show them the text before they get it because it’s that bad.
Oh and then it would be a race to get conversational Japanese before her phone dies while this girl has the Oda forces working to prematurely invent electricity because she has her charger on her and if she could just plug it in she’d have her phone. Of course, Sasuke would find her like in canon but now he’d be joining the Oda in their endeavor to invent electricity because of course he would. Also, he would definitely speak MC’s native language but would hide that from everyone because of how badly he wants to do nerdy science shit with historical figures.
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chasing-storm-s · 4 months
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A few reasons why I love IkeSen:
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I WANT TO KNOW WHO WRITES THIS. Also, narrator seems very much like Mai, or Mai the narrator
And then we have these gems:
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Whatever it is she lost, thankfully, her sass is not one them.
Bonus:
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If he did, well Mai, sorry but that's on you 😂
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rams-gallery · 3 months
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Happy new year everyone!
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nuttytani · 8 months
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his vs your spice tolerance
characters: ieyasu, hideyoshi, mitsuhide, mai, gn!reader
warnings: none
a/n: I was daydreaming about spicy food during one of those boring lectures and then this happened. don't mind any typos or stuff, it's not proof read. p.s oh followers of mine, do you still wan't to get tagged on my hcs and fics? even though i pop in once in a century.
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Ieyasu 
He’s known to be able to hold his spice
There hasn't been ANYONE who was able to surpass him in terms of spice tolerance
Enter: you 
Oh boy, he did not expect someone to handle spicier food than him
Genuinely feels scared as he watches you drown your meal in copious amount of hot sauce, roasted and cut chilli (yes, the green or red ones that grow on bushes) and straight up shove it in your mouth without a single flinch
He is scared. Saying that would be an understatement since he has tried your “food” once, and never again. Swears to not even dream about it. Ieyasu was crying his eyes out just from two bites and was chugging down glasses of water…. Which - uhh backfired. 
Needless to say but yasu was breathing fire like a dragon 
Now has profound admiration for your spice tolerance. No one can top you.
Hideyoshi 
He didn’t really have any spice tolerance from the start
Thinks you’re crazier than Ieyasu to…..be able to eat the demonic level of spice that you do
Doesn’t dare to even take a bite out of your food, he already knows that it would end badly for his mouth and his behind. 
But he does feel concerned about your health though, eating too much spice can be detrimental to your health after all
Somehow succeeds in making you eat at least a little less spice than before.
(actually, the only reason you reduced your spice intake was because of his puppy dog eyes. Darn em’ can’t say no to those shiny eyes)
Mitsuhide 
This man can’t even taste, what do you expect him to say about your abominable love for spice? Nothing.
Except, he does enjoy seeing you place a bottle of hot sauce and plenty of chillies on the side of your plate for every meal. 
Once, he exchanged your lunch box with Hideyoshi’s. For educational purposes. 
Gets punched in the face the very next day by Hideyoshi, who appeared to be unwell. 
He did try your food out of curiosity once, alas, no taste, but he did find the mild burning sensation on his tongue to be intriguing. 
You eventually make him addicted to eating whole chilli, ain't that nice? Better than eating random leaves in his garden (and who knows what else)
Bonus: 
Mai 
Thinks you’re some sort of godly specimen to be able to handle extremely spicy food.
Like, even Ieyasu is scared/amazed by your spice tolerance! 
She tries your food once, how bad can it be? Just a little bit of burning won’t stop her from trying it out!
Regrets immediately 
Curses her life choices and is now stuck in the toilet 
Is currently missing her 21st century western style toilets 
Gets the heebie jeebies whenever she looks at your food from then on
She does, however, tried eating whole chilli. After you taught her how to eat it like a pro
Mai is now unstoppable
Flaunts her newfound skill to eat chillies without a sweat to yasu. 
Gets kicked out of his room.
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taglist : im sorry, i lost my old one- uhh if you guys ares still interested tho, let me know
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fang-and-feather · 2 months
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the12thnightproject · 1 month
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Chapter 42: Mitsuhide POV Chapter - Other Half - Catching up with the Kitsune, as Hideyoshi attempts an intervention of sorts.
Mitsuhide x OC; Hideyoshi x MC (Mai)
All Chapters Archived on Ao3 
Logline - With Mai, Hideyoshi, and Aki missing, Mitsuhide and Katsuko reluctantly team up. Disguised as a merchant and his concubine, can they outsmart the man known as the God of Deceit?
As soon as the guard captain ordered their unit to the top of the castle wall, he knew. Something had gone wrong for Katsuko. Although Mitsuhide was certain his encounter with her in the courtyard had remained undetected, he had not been able to watch out for her as she returned to the castle.
Whatever just happened had resulted in Motonari and Iekane having a low-voiced conversation while the rest of them waited at attention, hands on the hilts of their swords, ready to draw them upon command.  
Mitsuhide stayed at the edge of the line, keeping his posture at attention, with his helmet low on his head. It would do her no good if he were to be identified before he could even determine the extent of the problem. So he stood still. Even though every muscle in his body was alert for an opportunity to take control of the situation. Even though his mind was already racing through a number of scenarios – none of which reached a positive conclusion.
In a few moments, another contingent of Kanamori vassals marched Katsuko and Yoshimoto onto the wall. She was still wearing that fur cloak, while Yoshimoto, on the other hand, was dressed in an informal kimono, and as usual, unarmed. Mitsuhide doubted that the man would be much help in this, but perhaps he was counting on the gloss that came from being an Imagawa. Indeed, he was already puffing up into the parody of an annoyed high-caste Prince. "Master Iekane, what is the meaning of this insult?"
"This doesn't concern you, Lord Imagawa." Iekane’s voice was a few degrees short of the groveling that Yoshimoto seemed to expect. Since this man was not yet familiar, Mitsuhide kept his attention on him, hoping to learn as much about Katsuko’s enemy as possible. From what she’d revealed of him, Mitsuhide knew that Iekane was a good liar with the patience of spider; able to spin a web and lie in wait for it to snare an unwary victim. "Motonari has a problem with a member of your household."
"I don't see how. My page has devoted his attention to me since the moment we arrived. Any insult would have come about because he was merely doing my bidding." Thus far, Yoshimoto’s approach was to throw around his status to protect Katsuko.
Unfortunately, what would work against the Kanamori vassals was unlikely to work against Motonari and that man’s distain for the current societal structure (a philosophy that Mitsuhide somewhat sympathized with, though he disagreed with a ‘burn it all down’ solution). Indeed just as expected, Motonari focused his ire on Katsuko, having apparently recognized her from their prior encounters. "Lord Imagawa, yer page is a spy who works for Mitsuhide."
Yoshimoto whipped out his fan and yawned. "Of course she's a spy. But she works for my cousin, not Mitsuhide."
For one very short moment, Mitsuhide wondered if that was in fact true. Was Katsuko one of the mitsumono? Had she always been so? He glanced over at her, and noticed a quickly concealed flash of surprise, that was then followed by a straightening of her posture, as if she was mimicking what she believed a Takeda spy would look like.
It seemed that Imagawa was improvising.
Keep talking. It would give him an opportunity to figure out how to defuse this situation without giving up his mission.
Rescue her first. Hang the mission.
No. Now was not the time for indecision.
Iekane started to speak, but Motonari took control. "Shut up." He turned to Katsuko and asked, "Yer one of the Mitsumono? Why’d ya help Mitsuhide?"
“The best way to gain his trust was to help him. And of course once he pulled us off your ship, I figured the only way I was going to get back to Kasaguyama was to work with him."
Good girl. That sounded plausible.
“By burning down my camp." Motonari’s words came out as a growl, but there was a different kind of light in his eyes.
"Next time tell your men not to store, the gunpowder so close to open flame.” She shrugged. "Hell of a fire though."
For a moment, Mitsuhide worried that she had pushed Motonari too far, but then the man started laughing. ”Hell of a fire."
The guards near Mitsuhide shifted uneasily, apparently not used to this type of volatility. Iekane looked around and seemed to be preparing to try and re-take control, but Katsuko spoke up first. "Lord Iekane knows this, because he and I were both originally trained by the same spymaster." She addressed the rest of the Kanamori guardsmen. "Just a suggestion, but you might want to get a food taster in for Mozumi's meals and drink."
Iekane put his hand to his heart. "Are you accusing me of harming my dear father? The man took me in, saved my life. I'm devoted to his health."
Hmmm. From that response, it was possible that Katsuko had hit a nerve. Mitsuhide continued to study him, watching his face for reactions, looking for any opening that would allow him to subtly help matters. As always, in the back of his head, help Katsuko warred with stop Yoshiaki.
But thus far, Yoshimoto appeared to have a slight edge of control. "Yes, of course you must be. A poor orphan is always grateful to the rich man, especially if he has no other living offspring."
The difficulty of this whole situation was threading the needle in such a way to get both the Kanamori vassals and Motonari on their side. Katsu and Yoshimoto had yet to manage that task, for Motonari simply shrugged away all hints of that accusation. "Heh. This is all very interesting. I don’t care if Iekane is offing his Pap, it all ends up the same in the end. Imagawa ya in for destroying Nobunaga and getting this party started or not?"
"The desire of my vassals is clear." Yoshimoto snapped his fan shut. "That said, I do not agree that Sakai is a worthwhile target." Did that translate into ‘not interested in wanting to stop Yoshiaki’? Or could Mitsuhide count on Yoshimoto’s aid?
"Iekane when you caused the cart accident, was your target me... or was it Hiko?" Katsuko sent her former friend a lethal looking glare.
Iekane caused that accident? Why hadn’t she told him that? As far as Mitsuhide knew, Iekane had not been to Sakai. Or was this something she’d only recently discovered and not had time to share with him?
"Accident?" Iekane laughed, and turned to look at the guardsmen, sending them a ‘do you believe this nonsense?’ look. "Kaya, you've always been clumsy. And little boys, well, they can get into so much mischief."
Interesting. It seemed that Katsuko had just led Iekane into a trap.
"Lord Motonari… Has Iekane ever met Hiko?" Her posture was triumphant as she snapped that trap closed. Mitsuhide felt a quick shot of pride in her interrogation skills.
Motonari frowned. "No. He ain’t been to Sakai. Do you have a point, spy? Or are ya wasting time waiting for reinforcements?"
"How does Iekane know Hiko is a little boy?" She took a deep breath, and spoke faster. "Hiko is in danger, from Iekane. Before my former master disappeared, he sent me a letter, asking me to find Hiko and protect him from Iekane."
Akihira’s letter… if only he’d let her have it back earlier… could this have been prevented? What did Hiko have to do with Iekane and Akihira?
"Why, why would I care about some street kid?" Mitsuhide was looking at Katsuko’s face when Iekane asked, and he caught her hesitation. She doesn’t know.
"Because," Yoshimoto must have noticed her panic as well, and began spinning a tale. "Hiko is actually Mozumi's son. His blood son. Hiko's mother was one of Mozumi's concubines. But Mozumi's second wife Osumi was jealous of Niwa, and arranged for an attempt on her life. Frightened for her safety and realizing she was carrying a baby, Niwa decided to fake her death, at least until the child was born. Unfortunately, during childbirth, poor Niwa’s death became a reality. This was when her sister decided to raise Hiko as her own. She already had a daughter, Sho, and the children were devoted to each other."
It was a wild tale, full of the Imagawa’s flair for the dramatic. Mitsuhide noted it was partially striking sympathy from the Kanamori guards and vassals, and was gaining a little ground on Motonari as well.
"And that is why Iekane plans to attack Sakai. It would be easy enough to kill one small boy in the confusion and make it look like an accident of war." Katsuko seemed more confident in this answer, an answer that Mitsuhide internally agreed might be effective on Motonari, whom he knew was not convinced that Sakai was an appropriate target for the shogun’s forces.
"That's ridiculous." Iekane addressed Motonari, "Lord Imagawa has spent so much time on the arts that it’s rotted his brain. No true warrior would believe such a fanciful tale."
But the Kanamori were on the edge of believing it, and Mitsuhide added in his part to tilt the balance in Katsuko’s direction. “Mozumi did have a concubine by name of Niwa.”
Iekane looked hesitantly over his shoulder but Mitsuhide was already hiding his face. He placed his hand in front of his mouth and directed his voice so that it appeared to be coming from the vassals. A stage trick, but a useful one. “Lady Osumi was the jealous type.”
“Are you really believing this nonsense?” Iekane’s voice was shaking. A cornered beast is a dangerous one. As he spoke, fumbled for something he had in his kimono. Something that made Katsuko turn pale, her fear visible even in this deepening night. Was he armed with one of those Nanban pistols?
It was only a split second of hesitation while he tried to calculate whether he could stop Iekane from shooting without jeopardizing his own mission. Failure in either could spell disaster for not only Katsuko but also Nobunaga. How could he weigh one against the other?
How could he weigh his head against his heart?
Before he could determine the best course of action, Katsuko gave him one last look, then before he could stop her, she jumped on Iekane. Mitsuhide leaped after, this time knowing he could use the excuse of protecting the Kanamori to grab her, but for some reason, Iekane pulled her close, and let the motion carry both over the side of the castle.
Mitsuhide put on a burst of speed and lunged for her, his hands only reaching empty air.
It wasn’t that far to the ground, a ground covered in soft snow… a fall from that distance would have been survivable. Even so, Mitsuhide would have forgiven if he had shut his eyes to the sight of her body hitting the earth.
But he didn’t.
Which was how he was able to witness Katsuko and Iekane vanishing into a shimmer of thin air.
“What happened to… ah…” Yoshimoto trailed off, but Mitsuhide caught his tone of voice. It was the voice of someone who had made a realization. Yoshimoto looked at him, and his eyes widened. Hm, it seemed that he had not been informed of Mitsuhide’s presence here.
“You know something.” It was only his disguise that stopped him from grabbing Yoshimoto by the neck and dangling him over the edge.
“I promise to explain… later. If you will back me up now.” Without giving Mitsuhide a chance to respond, Yoshimoto whipped around and addressed the vassals. “Witchcraft! The Kanamori imposter has escaped into the spirit realm and stolen my personal guard in the process.”
“Master Iekane was Yokai! Before they vanished, he revealed his true form is that of a Tengu.” Mitsuhide turned to the Kanamori guards. “We have been misled by a demon.”
“Yer not a Kana-“ Motonari scowled in his direction, then apparently decided he had had enough of the Kanamori and Yoshiaki in general. “Never should have trusted that the shogun had the brains to pull this off.” He made a mocking bow toward Mitsuhide. “Until later.”
Then he stalked away.
Mitsuhide debated stopping him, but Goro was still outside the castle, and was smart enough to follow Motonari back to his lair, back to where Kennyo was holed up as well. At the moment, Yoshiaki was still the more dangerous of the two, and stopping the shogun was his primary mission.
And at least in this, he could keep an eye on Yoshimoto, ready to question him about Katsuko’s mysterious disappearance.
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It was well into mid-morning before Yoshimoto and Mitsuhide were able to have their promised talk. With a bit of prompting from Mitsuhide, Mozumi had tottered up from his sickbed, and in no uncertain terms, told his vassals he was honoring an alliance with Nobunaga. Generally disgusted by the attitude of both the shogun and the too-proud Imagawa vassals, the Kanamori vassals and guards evicted their former allies.
Yoshimoto seemed to have exhausted his supply of diplomacy and was unable to convince his vassals to return to Kasugayama. Therefore, when Mitsuhide had finally followed the man back to his quarters, it was to watch him pack his things in order to journey with Yoshiaki. This was a journey that the Imagawa Prince was clearly dreading. “However, if I am with the shogun, I may be able to distract him from his plans, at least until he meets with an unfortunate accident.”
Mitsuhide raised his eyebrow but did not comment. In truth, whatever Yoshimoto was going to have to do to “distract” the shogun sounded even less pleasant than any plans to assassinate him.
“Yoshiaki is not good for this country.” Yoshimoto’s voice was quiet but full of conviction. “I am uncertain if Nobunaga is the answer, and certainly my cousin does not believe so. But Yoshiaki’s use of my vassals is a mess of my making, and I see now that I must do what I can to unsnarl it. In any case, even with what is left of the Imagawa clan, the shogun does not currently have the resources to make trouble.”
Though this was indisputable Mitsuhide resolved to keep an eye on the situation, well aware that even with a small force, the shogun was capable of plotting revenge. But he had a more urgent question to be answered. “Do you know where Katsuko is?”
“I expect she has returned to her original time.” Yoshimoto rummaged in the shelf and pulled out a familiar pack. Katsuko’s. “She is from the future. About four hundred and fifty years forward in time. And… if you think such a thing is impossible, I suggest you discuss the matter with Mai.” He plopped the pack in Mitsuhide’s hands.
He hadn’t realized he was even reaching for it.
It sounded less plausible than Yoshimoto’s tale of Hiko’s origins. If Mitushide hadn’t seen Katsuko and Iekane disappear between the castle walls and the ground, he would have accused Yoshimoto of telling more folk tales. But the explanation of time-travelling explained so much, not just about Katsuko, but also Mai. “She told you of this?”
Yet another bit of Katsuko that Yoshimoto knew and Mitsuhide did not. It… hurt that she had never confided this in him.
“She did not originally, though we have discussed it. I have been aware of the existence of time travel for several years, and Kenshin’s ninja is from the future as well.” Yoshimoto kept his focus on packing up his own belongings. Even though the man took care to neatly fold his clothing, his hands were shaking. “If I must spend the next few months with Yoshiaki, I will be unable to give Katsuko her things, not to mention her horse… if she returns. I am given to understand that she comes from a time of peace. Perhaps she has had enough of these troubled times and the people in it.”
Perhaps. Perhaps she is safer where she is now….
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"I'm not going to Azuchi. There’s no place for me."
"You undervalue yourself. If we don’t find Akihira, you have plenty of skills to make yourself valuable at Azuchi. Your language facility alone would be enough for Nobunaga to employ you as a translator."
“I know. Actually he offered me a job the first time I met him. But that wasn't what I meant." She had then put her hand on his heart. "There's no room for me here."
Mitsuhide rubbed his chest, as if he could still feel that touch of her hand as she reached for something he had no business giving away. Something he was no longer certain he had.
 “Shall I unpack this?” Kyubei’s voice was full of impatience.
Mitsuhide looked up from the pile of reports on his desk, to find his vassal uncharacteristically out of sorts. He was holding the pack of Katsu’s things that Mitsuhide had brought back from Genba. Though he had turned the horse over to Ieyasu, who appeared to get along very well with the temperamental beast, Mitsuhide had kept control over the rest. Control… but he had yet to look through them. (He had of course, taken the time to decode his handmade copy of Akihira’s letter – however it did not contain anything beyond what he had already learned from Yoshimoto).
Her personal items… though it was unlikely she would ever return for them, it now seemed… impolite… to search them. However, to refuse Kyubei’s request would only make the man overly suspicious. “Dear me, I had forgotten I had that. Yes, of course.”
He bent his head over the correspondence. As expected, Goro had managed to track Motonari to the Chugoku region, which was still home to the Mouri clan. Unfortunately, he had not yet located where Motonari had stashed Kennyo, as it seemed they were indeed lying low until Spring. Meanwhile the Imagawa and Yoshimoto had not even bothered to keep their escort of Yoshiaki secret, and had blazed an easy to follow trail to the port city of Tsuruga. Thus far, the Shogun was simply throwing his weight around the city without managing to increase his meager forces. And…
A flash of turquoise silk caught his attention. The yukata he had had made for Katsuko. It seemed that she had kept it. Or at least tried to before she’d been pulled back to her original time. He watched Kyubei shake out the wrinkles, and then a scroll of paper fell out of the garment.
It rolled within Mitsuhide’s reach. Without thinking, he opened it, and was surprised to see a drawing of a young man. What was she doing with this? The drawing was old… creased… the paper thinning as if she had taken it out and looked at it many many times. The subject … was a familiar face.
“Katsu’s brother.” Kyubei answered a question he had not asked. “She has been searching for him for as long as I have known her. Apparently they were attacked by bandits and he was carried away, possibly sold to the Nanban.”
No he was not. Katsu’s brother was currently living in Sakai, working as a healer. Toshiie.
“Will you return to check on her?”
The man backed further away from the bed, glancing down at his stained clothing. “No… I can’t. Not like this.”  With that, he fled from the room.
Only after it was clear the healer had left the building did Shojumaru speak into the silence. “Toshiie is a strange one, but he’s saved many considered too injured to survive.”
If only he had thought to ask her brother’s name when she mentioned he’d disappeared. Or asked even one question about him. Of course she would have devoted her life to finding him… and of course she transferred that obsession to Aki when he disappeared as well. Having already lost her home, her mother, and her brother, she would be fixed upon finding the one person left to her.
The one person who could be left for her.
“Kyubei.”
“I am standing right in front of you, Lord Mitshide.” It was said with touch of dry humor.
“So you are.” He tapped the drawing. “This man is living in Sakai as a healer. He should be easy for you to find.”
Kyubei nodded. “And bring him to Azuchi?”
He considered for a moment. It had been clear that Toshiie had not wanted to be recognized by Katsu, had not wanted her to see him. “Not yet. Not unless he seems to be preparing to leave the city. Simply… watch the man, and report on his well-being.” If Toshiie needed help, Mitsuhide would provide it. If he wanted to return to the future to be with his sister, Mitsuhide would figure out how to make it happen. She deserved that much, at least.
“I will do so.” He laid Katsu’s belongings on Mitsuhide’s desk, bowed, and took himself out of the room.
Never happy with a task half-done, Mitsuhide finished unpacking her things, and finding a place for them amongst his own. Though he deemed her return unlikely, there was at least some comfort in placing her small shogi set on the shelf, putting her clothing next to his in the closet, and setting aside a place on his desk for her brush and ink. At the bottom of her pack, he found another letter, this one from the ninja Sasuke, though it simply named two places, Honno-jo and Togakushi, each followed by a series of dates. He suspected that this might be an item more easily decoded by Mai, so he set it aside.
Then, he returned to his report, making plans for his next journey, whether it be to Chugoku to root out Kennyo, or to Tsuruga to help bring about Yoshiaki’s “unfortunate accident.” Wherever his lord needed him to go.
He had work to do. Work that no one else could accomplish.
That no one else should be asked to accomplish.
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It was to be Tsuruga, it seemed. A secret trip, so secret that Nobunaga would not even be aware of it until after Mitsuhide had left.
Instead of outright telling Mitsuhide to go to Chugoku, Nobunaga had surprisingly assigned that task to Keiji, who… Mitsuhide supposed was capable enough to avoid getting kidnapped by Motonari, but didn’t quite seem terribly skilled in… as Katsu would describe it, ‘the art of being invisible in plain sight.’ Nor had his lord believed that sending Mitsuhide to Tsuruga was necessary. “To make any move upon Yoshiaki while the man is not actively rebelling would be considered an insult to Emperor Ōgimachi. In your own words, the shogun is not keeping his activities in Tsuruga a secret. A few spies placed in the city will be sufficient for the winter months. We will lay a trap for him in spring, should he attempt another attack.”
With the rest of Nobunaga’s council as witness, Mitsuhide could do nothing but publically agree to Nobunaga’s plan. In private… well, Nobunaga hadn’t specifically said that Mitsuhide couldn’t be one of those spies.
And so, it was under the cover of darkness that Mitsuhide stepped out of the entry of his manor.
Whoosh.
Clang.
The telltale sound of a sword whistling through the air gave him enough warning to meet that sword with his own, easily diverting the strike… although his attacker hadn’t been aiming to kill. “My dear Hideyoshi, if you wished to pay me a visit, you had only to knock upon the door.”
Hideyoshi gestured to the door in question with his weapon. “After you.”
“As you can see my friend, I am on my way out. Perhaps tomorrow.” Or in a few weeks, when I have returned. When Hideyoshi lifted his sword again, Mitsuhide sighed. “I’d prefer not to take arms against you.” He could, if he put his mind to it, best Hideyoshi in battle, but that would defeat the purpose of leaving Azuchi undetected. More than likely they’d just send Masamune after him. Another who could not master the art of invisibility.
“I insist.” Hideyoshi normal manner of speaking was one of gentle bossiness, however in certain instances, he could become as immobile as a statue. This, clearly, was one of those instances.
Stubborn ass.
Bowing to the inevitable, Mitsuhide went back inside, into his office, with Hideyoshi close at his heels, so close that if he stopped suddenly, he was certain that the man would slam into him. “Do you not trust me? I am wounded to the core.”
“Of course I don’t trust you. Not in this at least.” Hideyoshi waited until Mitsuhide was seated before settling down between the desk and the door. “I would trust you with my life. I would not trust you with your own.”
“Perhaps I was simply on my way out for a late night stroll.” He brought out a bottle of sake, and two cups. He would not need to fight his way out… he could simply drink his way out, as Hideyoshi had a lower tolerance for alcohol.
“You were not. You plan to set yourself up as a traitor, offer aid to Yoshiaki, while the rest of us wonder how much is an act.” Hideyoshi took the offered sake cup, but set it in front of him untouched. “Much as you did this summer, when you pretended to support Kennyo. Such an act won’t work a second time.”
“On the contrary, most still believe I am a traitor, and those who don’t would not expect me to repeat myself.” He drank his own portion of sake, hoping that Hideyoshi would join automatically out of politeness. When Hideyoshi simply continued to look at him, Mitsuhide poured himself another. It seemed he would not be leaving tonight after all. “You and Mai are exceptions, not the rule.”
For the first time in months, speaking Mai’s name did not cause that internal twist of pain. Apparently what was needed to get past that was to inflect a far deeper wound upon himself.
“You are not required to take on the burdens of all of the unsavory tasks.” If Hideyoshi settled back on his heels, looking as if he intended to spend the night if necessary. This was confirmed when the man gestured to Katsu’s shogi set. “Up for a game?”
“I didn’t realize you played. No… not that one.” Mitsuhide pulled his larger shogi table out from the corner, and withdrew the tiles from the drawer hidden inside.
“I know how to play, but as you are aware, Nobunaga prefers Go. There’s not been any time to play for my own entertainment.” Hideyoshi began setting up the tiles in the wrong order, immediately disproving the ‘know how to play,’ claim. “What is wrong with the other set?”
“Nothing is wrong. It simply does not belong to me.” He considered resetting the tiles in the correct order – or at the very least, flipping the ones that were wrong side up over - before deciding that it might be an interesting experiment to start from this unusual pattern. He therefore set out his own pieces mirroring Hideyoshi’s.
“How did it come to be in your possession?” Again ignoring the conventions of the game, Hideyoshi moved his tile first.
“Katsu… er, Kaya, was not able to take it with her when …” Mitsuhide paused, then figured that Katusko’s origins would not be a surprise to Hideyoshi. “… when she returned to her own time.”
“Did you simply let her go, or did you drive her away?” Hideyoshi moved his rook in a direction that the piece was not legally able to make.
“Are you certain you know the rules of this game?” When Hideyoshi simply answered the question with an ashamed smile, Mitsuhide gave up and began building a fortress with his tiles. “In this particular case, her return was somewhat of an accident of fate.” Or something involved with Iekane’s strange device.
Hideyoshi reached out a finger and knocked over Mitsuhide’s fort. “Was it? And the circumstances that led to this accident? Also fate? Granted, my information is third hand, as I am only aware of what Kyubei told Mai.”
“Kyubei is too loyal to gossip.” He thought a moment. “Mai charmed the information out of him.”
“While I’m certain she could do just that, in this case, your vassal is worried about you. You have jumped from one dangerous escapade to another without stopping to rest.” Hideyoshi nodded at the pack that Mitsuhide had brought back inside. “That seems rather a large bag if you were simply going for a midnight stroll.”
“Oh my, you do have a rather liberal definition of escapades. I prefer the word missions, and they are vital to the health of Nobunaga’s cause.” Although as honest as Hideyoshi was, maybe he would never understand the necessity of having one person willing to crawl through the muck for the good of the whole.
“Must it be you? Must it be now?” The question was posed philosophically. There was no anger in Hideyoshi’s tone. He began picking up the tiles and rearranging them again, this time in the correct formation on the board.
“It absolutely cannot be you. Not only it is essential that there be one person on the Devil King’s side with an unblemished reputation… you could not do that to Mai.” Hadn’t the entire experience with Motonari convinced Hideyoshi of that?
“Ah.”
“’Ah?’” Mitsuhide put his hands in his lap in an attitude of peaceful silence. After a long moment, he said, “You must be aware that I am well versed in the art of interrogation. Dropping a one syllable ah and waiting only works if you target feels he has something he must say. Therefore. Ah?”
“You believed, perhaps still believe, that you are in love with Mai.” Hideyoshi professionally tossed five pawns in the air, and counted the results. “I win first move.”
“Setting aside the issue of the truth of that statement, you can’t possibly think I would attempt to take her from you. I’ve known from the start that you and Mai are two halves of one.” He watched as Hideyoshi play an advanced opening. Apparently during the first ‘game’ Hideyoshi had been teasing him. Interesting. He hadn’t thought the man had it in him.
“Yes, we are.” Hideyoshi smiled. “I suspect, however, that you also believe that we,” he gestured to himself then to Mitsuhide, “are also two halves of one. I am the light half and you are the dark half.”
“Interesting theory.” Mitsuhide studied the game board, and realized that he would have to work to win this match.
“There’s more.”
“Oh do enlighten me.”
“I suspect that you were less in love with Mai, than with the idea of sacrificing a chance of happiness, as penance for the things you believe you must do.” Without even a shred of reluctance, Hideyoshi advanced the knight. Demon killer opening.
It was also, one of Mitsuhide’s favorite openings. He knew how to counteract it. He moved a pawn to protect the bishop.
Hideyoshi wasn’t finished with lecture. “Do you think that because I’m the right hand and you’re the left, that if I am happy, you must be miserable? You are permitted happiness, my friend… you only need to reach for it.”
“My happiness, as it were, is about four hundred and fifty years in the future. That is a bit of a reach.” Instead, he reached for his sake cup, and finding it empty, refilled it. “Even if there weren’t some rather pressing issues to take care of here. Kennyo. Motonari. Yoshiaki. Not to mention Kenshin and Shingen.” Although from what Yoshimoto had said, it appeared that Shingen had also travelled to the future. He and Katsuko might even be in the same place.
And… that was something he didn’t want to contemplate.
“Mitsunari has analyzed the situation and does not believe any of them will make a move until Spring. That gives us five months to plan. That also gives you some time to determine how to make amends to your Kaya. Time that will be available to you if you give up on these suicide missions.” Hideyoshi’s silver general ruthlessly tore a hole in Mitsuhide’s line of pawns.
“She is … not mine.” Even discounting the rest of Hideyoshi’s words, discounting the issue of time travel, or the necessity of the missions at hand, even if he could believe that the Gods would permit one such as himself to have a love… “My life is dangerous, and she would never be safe.”
“No one is safe anywhere, and would you not rather keep her at your side, than wonder what sort of danger she has gotten herself is into alone?” Perhaps thinking he had gotten the final word, Hideyoshi was silent for a while, as they moved from the opening of the game, until… “Check.”
Mitsuhide blinked as he searched the board for options. How had this happened? He never lost.
“I cheated when your back was turned to get more sake,” Hideyoshi said, unprompted. “No one is purely good or purely evil.”
Message received.
Be honest. Can you live without her?
No. He could not.
For that matter, he supposed he was curious to see if Hideyoshi could handle it if Katsuko went full on chaos goblin in Azuchi. It would serve him right if she did.
Mitsuhide picked up the piece of paper with the mysterious numbers and dates. “I suppose I should ask Mai what she knows about time travel.”
“Oh Good!” Without warning, Mai suddenly bounded into the room. At Mitsuhide’s raised eyebrow, she added, “Kyubei let me in after you guys. I was the back-up plan if Hideyoshi couldn’t change your mind.”
She plopped down in Hideyoshi’s lap. “Now… let me tell you about a modern concept we call the Grand Romantic Gesture. It’s got to be big, not just flowers, but something meaningful. Oh, and when you get settled we need to go on a double date…”
Hideyoshi met Mitsuhide’s gaze. “I believe I will have another drink now.”
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@lorei-writes @selenacosmic @bestbryn @lyds323 @tele86 @akitsuneswife
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mynameiskan · 4 days
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So when the gang (Mai, Shingen, Sasuke, Masamune, Ieyasu, Mitsunari) stay at Hana's house during their time in modern Japan (Hana is my OC).
Hana asks them how Nobunaga looks like since Hana is also a big fan of Sengoku warlords. Ieyasu attempts to answer by drawing.
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Even though Sasuke is Ieyasu's fanboi, he can't even give any compliments. Mai, Shingen and Masamune have complicated feeling about Ieyasu's artwork.
Mitsunari, as expected, loves the artwork very much. Hana gives Ieyasu a lot of compliment. Ieyasu's tsundere behaviour is so similar to one of her students so she accidentally treat him just like how she treats a younger brother. Ieyasu later finds out about that truth and asks Hana not to do that anymore.
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maeko-kun · 8 months
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The reference is from Twitter post.
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shatcey · 3 months
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Finally, Mai said that I've been thinking for a while…
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And this too...
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Unexpectedly, she noticed that on Kenshin's route. Like… She is wary of him, so can see through his mask… Maybe it's Kenshin's influence. And Shingen is more serious here, more often shows his care and insight. I can even say that he's brighter here…
Kenshin, bunny, you're much better, so don't draw your sword! You have nothing to worry about.
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queen-dahlia · 11 months
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Ikemen MCs as Magical Girls💖
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xinimartsy · 4 months
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It’s a mobile game made for the Japanese audience not foreigners. They will never make Belle or any of their MCs change and be strong. It is different with Switch games where MCs might be that way. You should look for games made by Americans or something because it will never change, it is just a cultural difference
Oh, I know, anon. While I do complain about little things that make me feel iffy, I greatly enjoy the games and believe me, I do not expect astounding writing from a mobile game. The game is harmless fun and so are my critics towards it.
Though I do disagree on the front that it's a cultural difference and more of a general genre thing, because there are plenty of ocidental visual novels in which MC falls in the same damsel in distress category, while we can see from anime, manga and dramas that Japan is no stranger to strong female characters.
Mai herself, from Cybird's Ikemen Sengoku, for example, she insisted in working on her craft and making her own money despite Nobunaga guaranteeing her easygoing life, in most routes she picked up some skill from her suitor, she learned medicine from Ieyasu in several routes, learned how to ride a horse, learned negotiation in Mitsuhide's route, she even rode a horse into the battlefield to butt heads with an unhinged Kenshin in one of his routes. Yes, she had to be saved several times, but they never made her look inappropriately clueless (there were things that were logical that she didn't know and things that she knew, like everyone else), she never paled in comparison to her suitors and was always witty within her own capabilities. She never had to master the blade or become stronger or smarter than the warlords to be strong, she brought her own qualities to the negotiation table, and at least I hardly ever felt helpless or like the MC was unbearable while playing, actually, she's my favorite specially cus of her snark hehe
Emma is not all bad, tho, I think it very much depends on the route. In Clavis' route, I particularly find Emma delightful, because since they want to portrait Clavis as being, well, eccentric, they gave his Emma a more grounded personality to contrast his, while making her brave and adventurous enough to keep up with Clavis' bullshit. They exaggerated aspects from the character to emphasize the other, which in this case works, Clavis' weirdness vs Emma's common sense and their willingness to meet halfway through for each other.
But that same tool doesn't work in routes such as Jin and Chev. In Jin's route they wanted to emphasize his maturity as an older man who fooled around a lot, so they made Emma uncharacteristically innocent and almost childish. And in Chev's, they spent half of the word count telling us that Chevalier was a genius instead of showing us, and whenever they did show it, that was done by dumbing everyone, SPECIALLY Emma, down as to emphasize his geniality, making characters uncharacteristically dumb, not understanding basic concepts that they should very much understand, only so Chevalier could basically spell it out for them, call us "fools" and have everyone in game in awe of his geniality while us as the player feel unsatisfied cus, duh, that was the logical answer, are all these characters really THIS dumb?
Therefore, rather than "cultural differences", I think what we're seeing here is just.... Well, lousy writing.
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elleplaysotome · 10 months
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IKESEN FIGHT FOR LOVE ILLUSTRATION!!
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chasing-storm-s · 5 months
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Misunderstandings on top of misunderstandings 😂
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Nope. Nothing like that at all HAHAHA
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HAHAHAHA
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Then we got this two bystanders
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Kanetsugu: why WHY doesn't anyone get my actual meaning?? What is this mess??
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