Twelve Lies I Told Shingen Takeda

Chapter Forty-Six - About Time

Before I began my trek down the path to the lower shrine, I paused at one the cedar trees. The bark was still damp from the wormhole's storm and felt rough under my fingertips. These trees had always been my favorite part of the Togakushi Shrine area. Their massive trunks instilled a feeling of comfort in me. Permanence. Their roots had been in the soil for generations. But now, knowing that they hadn't been here during the Sengoku era, I felt the weight of those five centuries pressing down on me. When I'd originally been swept into 1575, the shock had kept me from thinking of anything except survival. Now, as I looked up into those giant 400-year-old trees, I felt lost. The cedars had grown up in between the then and the now.

Maybe I had too.

By the time I got to the middle shrine, I was already on sensory overload. It was so loud. I had forgotten how much ambient noise the modern world produced. From the roar of the planes overhead, the low hum of electricity, the people walking by talking on cell phones, and a distant sound of traffic, my ears were ringing.

To be honest, I almost wanted to take a nap. I couldn't of course. I needed to get to the entrance before the last bus left... and what time was it anyway? For that matter, what month was it? There had been a blizzard in 1582, and a mix of rain and sleet in that other timeline. But here, it was much more obviously Autumn. That didn't mean that it couldn't be the exact same date only hundreds of years apart – the blizzard Yuki and I rode through had been an early season storm, and global warming might have delayed winter here in modern Japan.

Below the middle shrine was a tourist information center with a small noodle stand. There was an American (or maybe Canadian?) group of tourists milling around the information desk, so I headed to the noodle stand, where the two clerks were gushing about some hot guy who'd been in there earlier. I waited patiently for them to notice me while they argued good naturedly about which of them he had smiled at more. "Oh, good afternoon. Would you like to order?"

Aware that I didn't have any money on me and likely made a ridiculous sight in my kimono, I shook my head. "Um, my purse was stolen, and I lost my phone – can you tell me what time it is?"

Both girls were horror struck at the idea of being without a phone, and one of them pulled out an android in a case decorated by images of what looked like a K-Pop band. I didn't recognize them. They were cute enough that I probably would have been into them if I had never time traveled. She unlocked the phone and showed me the time. Four-fifteen.

I knew I couldn't get away with asking her what the day was, but luckily that was visible on her phone too: November sixth. It had been closer to the equivalent of November 21 when I went through the wormhole. That meant I hadn't done a date-to-date travel. I wondered if it also meant Sasuke and Shingen were still in Kyoto, and not planning to arrive up here for a couple more weeks. "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't listening." I belatedly realized the girl had asked me a question.

"Did you want to get any food?" She buffed her phone on her arm, then put it back in her apron pocket.

"I wish, but stolen purse, no money." I turned to go, but gratefully accepted the cup of tea that they gave me, likely out of pity.

Once back outside, I sat down on a nearby bench – looked like someone had already wiped the rain away – sipped the tea and contemplated my next move. The date had basically confirmed that Kyoto needed to be my next stop, although it was late enough in the day that I doubted I'd be able to find an open antique store in Nagano where I could exchange my dagger for cash. I was going to have to figure out a place to sleep – sleeping in a bus or train station didn't hold any attraction for me. I'd rather slip off the trail and camp under a tree.