Two Celebrations for Shingen Takeda

December 1...

Rule One: When creating a treasure hunt for the smartest, sneakiest warlord in the castle, feel free to make the clues as difficult as possible, to ensure that he doesn't solve the puzzle too easily.

In theory.

In practice, I may have overcompensated. Unfortunately, I didn't come to that conclusion until I was already standing in the middle of our room, shivering in the thin yukata that Mai had made for this occasion. It's one thing to pose artistically in a whisper thin silk outfit that more or less amounted to this era's version of lingerie. It's another to wait for at least an hour for someone who was apparently taking their own sweet time.

He probably stopped for pastry somewhere.

Certain that I would be able to hear him before he entered the room (Shingen's long, determined stride is identifiable from ten paces away), I gave up on the pose and sank to the floor, rolling myself up in a warm blanket to wait.

We had tried to reprise this encounter before, and it had gone just as badly.

#nostalgiasexfail

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Rule Two: When celebrating your anniversary with the smartest, sneakiest warlord in the castle, it's best to steer clear of the local wildlife.

Six months earlier:

"Shingen! Don't move!" My fright or flight instinct had landed on fright, as I stood in the middle of the lake, watching with horror as a big brown bear lumbered toward him. And of course, my bow and arrow were uselessly sitting with my clothes on the shore.

Posture ready for ambush, Shingen turned to face the bear. I was splashing my way toward them when he then lunged at the bear.

OMGWTFBBQ

The bear returned the favor and by the time I reached my weapon, the two of them were rolling on the ground, the bear making threatening noises, and neither holding still long enough for me to aim. I neither wanted to shoot Shingen or shoot the bear in a place that would only enrage it further.

Finally, Shingen caught sight of me. "No, wait... this is Koro... the bear cub I rescued." He pulled himself to a sitting position, and the bear, who was most definitely not a cub, hauled its bulk into his lap. Ok, maybe the threatening noise had been happy reunion noise. I've never been close enough to a bear to catalogue its sounds.

"Koro." I relaxed my combat stance. Shingen looked like he was about to laugh.

The bear kind of looked like he was about to laugh too.

"My fierce Goddess, dashing to my rescue. The image of you standing like that will become of one my most cherished memories." He patted my bare leg. "Enchantress of the hunt, perhaps?"

"This image is all you're going to get." I yanked the blanket out from under him and swiftly dried off. "You scared me." I found my clothes and pulled them on. They stuck uncomfortably to my still damp body – a fact that made me feel grumpier.

"I'm sorry, Devil. Not intentionally. He must have come out of hibernation and wandered back into the area. Usually, he stays up in the mountains." Shingen pulled me closer. "Koro, meet Katsu."

The bear who-was-not-a-cub snuffled closer, his cold nose poking at the back of my hand. Then, almost like a cat, he stuck his whole head under my hand, and I automatically scratched his ears. "Ok, yes, you are a handsome boy, aren't you?"

I retrieved the basket we had brought with us, took out a stick of steamed sweet dumplings, and offered it to Koro who hoovered it all right off the stick. "Interesting. It's almost like he's eaten these before."