"Yoshitsugu!"
When a quick response did not come, the Dark King called again. "YOSHITSUGU!!!"
The one who was called for came into the room slowly, wary of Mitsunari. "Yes? What seems to be the proble-"
Yoshitsugu looked down at two beings wrapped around Mitsunari's legs. They stood on four legs and wrapped their tail around his legs, brushing against his body. "Oh," Yoshitsugu said. "You meant these."
"Yes, of course I meant these! Where in the world did they come from?!"
The older man sighed and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose to suppress a headache. "That new one, Y/n, brought them in."
"What."
Before Yoshitsugu could say anything more, Mitsunari abruptly turned and began his search for the source of the cats. Speaking of which, they were glaring at him for interrupting their... process of cat-stuff. They looked at Yoshitsugu, but he only raised his bandaged arms in surrender.
-
"Y/N!!" Mitsunari shouted, striding with purpose around the castle. Any guard he asked had said they didn't know where the new recruit was, so they weren't much help.
"Where could they be?!" His anger kept rising every minute he couldn't find them. He searched the castle thoroughly, but no Y/n was to be seen.
When he really had no idea where Y/n was, Mitsunari's anger had turned to fear. Could they have been kidnapped? Or even assassinated? What if they betrayed Hideyoshi's forces?
The Dark King shook his head, as he knew Y/n would not trade loyalties so easily, nor fake them. But the first two thoughts worried him. While the new recruit was able to join because of unique fighting abilities, they weren't the strongest.
Mitsunari growled and had started to walk even faster, then noticed a single cherry blossom tree in front of the castle, hiding the person he was looking for behind its petals.
"Y/N!" he shouted, covering his relief with temporary irritation.
"Huh?" Y/n looked over to their lord and immediately knew they were caught.
"What were you doing?! Do you know how long I was looking for you?!" Mitsunari had a scowl on his face that told Y/n that he was, in fact, searching for them for a while.
"Oh, I, uh..." they mumbled. "I found some friends...?" Y/n had several cats in their lap, two of which were sleeping and the others purring and brushing against them to regain their attention. Mitsunari watched the felines revolve around his new recruit and sighed. He sat down beside Y/n and shot a look at one cat, who was previously napping on Y/n's stomach.
The cat glared back and hissed.
"I wouldn't do that, my lord. Cats have their own weapons," Y/n said with a smile. Mitsunari huffed and looked in the opposite reaction.
Since he wouldn't start a conversation, the one covered in cats decided to. "So, why were you looking for me? Did you need something?"
The Dark King returned his vision to the person sitting beside him. "Not really," he said. "I was just curious as to why there were cats inside the castle."
"W-wait, they got inside?! They weren't supposed to- I'm so sorry!! I thought I had them all-"
Mitsunari put a finger to Y/n's lips to hush them. "It's fine, it was a mistake. I was only upset at first. I'm not sure how I feel about... these pesky creatures staying in the castle, so I was concerned about how they appeared."
Y/n gently pushed his hand away from their face and looked down at the cat on her stomach, who was still glaring at their lord. "Sorry," they muttered.
"Whatever," Mitsunari said as he stood up. "Come on, let's get back. I don't want people thinking I get lost as easily as you."
Y/n stuck their tongue out at him while he turned and started towards the castle. "Fine."
The cats all looked sad, which prompted Y/n to say what they did. "Can we keep the cats?"
Mitsunari stopped walking when he heard that. "Can we what?"
Feline eyes all begged Mitsunari to go along. Even the one that had previously glared at him. He looked at each one, and then at Y/n.
They had the same pleading gaze.
Mitsunari cursed under his breath and then continued walking. "Just keep them in your room."
Y/n grinned and signaled the cats to follow them, which they did. Most of them trailed behind Y/n, but a few caught up with Mitsunari and kept his brisk pace. When he noticed them, he looked down and met their eyes, only to hide a smile with his jacket.
-
[EXTENDED ENDING]
"So," Yoshitsugu started. "How did everything go?"
Mitsunari sighed. "We've apparently acquired a small army of cats."
"I figured Y/n would convince you."
The Dark King put his hands over his face while Y/n entered the room with a small squad of felines behind. Mitsunari didn't know they'd appeared.
"They definitely convinced me," he said, smiling and only keeping one hand over his eyes. Y/n beamed and quietly traveled the stairs, heading to their room.
A few seconds later, from upstairs, Yoshitsugu spotted a thumb. Thankfully, he was only confused for a moment. He laughed a short and quiet laugh, then returned the thumbs-up.
