Twelve Lies I Told Shingen Takeda

Chapter Eighteen - A New Player and an Old Adversary

Ugh. Make that sweet, sweet insomnia, would you please leave me alone! Though I was exhausted, my brain wouldn't shut down, even as my body managed a fitful doze full of bizarre dreams. I was in an old time American western movie set? Or maybe just the American west in general, since all I knew of the place was from movies. Akihira was there, and he threw Sasuke through plate glass window. The broken glass turned into arrows that chased after us both. Shards of glass landed on the ground and took root, bursting into giant Redwood trees.

Weird as that was, it was better than what followed - my recurring dream about Iekane burying me alive in a tiny coffin, that as per usual, had me waking myself up with a gasp. Had any time passed at all? It was impossible to tell from the rain, and I was as tired as before.

Ugh, if I was going to be plagued by dreams, why couldn't they be hot and sexy? I pondered that – the few times the dream Gods had gifted me with a sex dream, I always woke up before we got to the good stuff. My subconscious was undermining me.

Alright. Sleep was a necessity. Determined to get some rest, I focused on the patter of rain on the roof, trying to time my breathing in the rhythm, until at last I dropped off into at least a semblance of sleep. Until...

Arrows!

I sat up. Though it was possible the archer who had attacked Mai had been hired from another part of the country, perhaps one of Oda's territories, Mitsuhide had said there had been an attack in Azuchi as well. Could that assassin have been hired from here? While I was sure Mitsuhide would have investigated that, if he had learned something, it was the kind of information that he would not have shared. But that didn't mean I couldn't find that out on my own.

***

It was still raining when I returned to Shingen's room to grab the messages he wanted me to deliver. "The good news is, it's not snowing," he said, sounding apologetic about the idea of sending me back out into the deluge.

"I like snow, actually," I said. Having spent so many winters in Aki's home in the mountains (not to mention growing up in Nagano), I knew how to handle snow. You could brush snow off, and wear winter furs to keep warm. "It's fine. If I run fast enough, I can duck between raindrops."

"I'd let you use my mino, but you'd be dwarfed in it." He said, glancing at where his rain cape was hung next to his armor.

"Yeah, I'd look like a little kid wearing his dad's clothes." Shingen had at least twenty centimeters on me, and the mino would have been made to fit over his armor. Although the thought of wearing his clothes – something about that made me feel...

Nope.

Anyway, I hadn't been complaining (out loud anyway) to Shingen, so his apologetic attitude must have had more to do with sending me back into the storm while he stayed inside – which, "Don't worry about it... it is my job." What was it Americans said about their postal service... neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail... something something?

It would have been nice though, to have that towel that he had stolen from "Angel," because I was certain I was going to need it when I came back. But it wasn't like this version of me would be able to ask for its return.

***

After delivering the messages and checking all the drop sites, I detoured to Susumu's restaurant before heading back to the castle. Given that it was located close to two Inns and a posting station, his clientele was more transient than most places – if someone was looking to hire, they might just begin by asking questions here, were few would stick around and remember them.