The Beauty of the West: The Gold Route

Chapter Two: Warm in the Sun

I woke up with no one around.  There was however  a giant suit of armor right near where I was. It was weird, the way he just stood there,  as if someone put it there to watch me. He was kind of robotic. He made weird mechanical noises, but from the distance I was from him, he seemed to have a human eye other than his mechanical one.  He was kinda scary.

When I sat up, I found that I was bandaged in a few places, including my head and arms. I didn't bump my head to my knowledge, and my arms weren't broken, but I did feel better wearing them. I also wore loosely fitted hakama, red.

The robot guy made a loud noise that made me jump. Startled, I backed up and reached for the sliding doors to the room we were in. They opened behind me and I backed into someone. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

This man was so much taller than me. He wore a golden hooded vest with matching loose pants. Nothing covered his sculpted abs. He had short brown hair and brown eyes.

"Hey there." He greeted me with the gentlest of smiles. "No need to be afraid, we won't hurt you." He chuckled a little.

I looked over at the giant robot, just staring at me, then hid behind the man who stood in front of me. 

"Oh, that's just Tadakatsu." He chuckled again. "Don't worry, despite that intimidating face he has,  he is as gentle as they come."

That was hard to believe. Tadakatsu was not only huge,  but he seemed like he lacked any facial emotion capability.

"Sorry, where are my manners?" He laughed, and knelt down on one knee as if I was royalty.  "My name is Ieyasu Tokugawa. Might I have the pleasure of knowing yours?"

Not gonna lie, I blushed a little bit. This man was the nicest person I had ever spoken to in my entire life. I once again opened my mouth, but no sound came out.

I couldn't, I just couldn't bring myself to talk. I thought about it, but my time in Honno-ji would haunt me,  so that I was afraid to say anything. Lord Ieyasu was wonderful, but....

I turned my head away, tears building in my eyes.

"Did I say something wrong, My Lady?" He asked as if I had hurt his feelings, the look on his face seemed even more so.

I nodded, and placed my hand on my neck, gesturing that I couldn't speak. I tried at first meeting though, and so he knew that I wasn't always a mute.

"I'm sorry,  I wasn't aware that you don't speak." His expression changed from hurt to concerned, then back to the happy cheerful man I had originally met. "Well, welcome to Mikawa. Come walk with me,  I'll show you around."

I smiled and accepted his offer. Mikawa was a beautiful place, definitely lived in by rich people. There was gold everywhere,  I wasn't sure if it was paint or actual gold.

The place we were staying in was just a regular house. I wasn't sure what kind of person Lord Ieyasu was, but I had thought that by making the decision to bring me there, he was someone of high importance, like a shogun or something.

Lord Ieyasu walked me around the city of Mikawa, as we hooked arms so That he could lead me. That giant robot guy followed us around acting as some kind of guardian or something, like I would do something to Lord Ieyasu. It was quite intimidating.  No one seemed to freak out at the sight of this guy though, so I guess he was....normal...?

I saw fountains,  which I loved, because it gave me peace of mind and I saw numerous statues everywhere.  We walked up to each one, and he explained who the statue was modeled after and why it was put there.

We walked up to a beautiful fountain,  that didn't quite match the rest of Mikawa.  Instead of bright and uplifting colors, the first statue we saw was dark and gloomy.

"This is for my best friend...and My Lord, who is no longer with us." He explained, then bowed a little as if respecting the statue as a gravestone. "Lord Hideyoshi is gone...but Mitsunari Ishida lives on...for how long I can't say."

Lord Hideyoshi....Mitsunari Ishida....
Those names sounded like I had heard them before.  I had only thought of it for a moment, then my thoughts moved on without me, as we continued to look at the statues

"You must be hungry, My Lady.  Let's stop and get some lunch!"

I nodded happily,  as I was very hungry, and I followed him to a kind of market where farmer's sold freshly grown fruits and vegetables. Ieyasu picked out some apples, cucumbers,  tomatoes, grapes, cheese, and carrot juice, fresh from Mikawa! It all looked wonderful.

We sat down at a wooden table Tadakatsu wasn't that far behind, sitting in the shade nearby. Lord Ieyasu slid a plate of the produce towards me, with the biggest smile on his face. I looked at it, wide-eyed, and began to panic. I quickly slid the veggies back to him and stood up.

"My lady,what's wrong??" Lord Ieyasu stood to tend to me. He quickly put his arm around me to stop my flailing, "is it the food? Is something wrong with it? Do you not like it??"

After he asked, I had settled down a bit. I took a deep breath.

"That's right...breathe..." he coached.

I pointed to the food.

"It just came from the farms.  There is nothing to be scared of." He gently led me to sit down next to him. He picked up a grape and ate it. "See? It's delicious."

I felt so embarrassed with the way I acted. I was so used to the way the Oda would always drug my food, that I assumed Lord Ieyasu was trying to do the same. He cut some tomatoes and cheese into bite sized pieces and fed them to me.

"This is what Mikawa has to offer. I hope it is to your liking, My Lady."

I smiled in response as I continued to eat what he gave me. I didn't mind not eating it myself. It was actually kinda nice.