A Song for the Devil

Love & War

As the days of the war drag on our men do not lose hope. It may not be possible for them to when they hear about or see the way we are fighting alongside them. I am still amazed at how much like dancing fighting feels most of the time, and after spending a rare quiet day, both sides agreeing to a respite, choreographing with Masamune and Hideyoshi we discovered a new, lethal way for the three of us to fight together.

Kenshin must know what I did to Mitsuhide, maybe he can sense the change in powers now that I have taken the fragments of the fox's power he put in this stream of reality. Whatever the case, it has been four months and I haven't seen a glimpse or heard a whisper of him on the battlefield.

When the snow fell for a week solid, I kept our men warm with my flames, and we hoped that the freezing temperature would help lower the enemy numbers, but when we met them on the fields they seemed just as strong as us and just as resolute to win.

The snow had not yet melted when on a particularly still night I slipped out of our tent to take a walk in the moonlight. On that walk I noticed another pair of footprints, one that I somehow knew weren't one of my men's, my suspicions only confirmed when I found a perimeter guard stabbed to death and leaned up against a tree.

"I heard the whispers that your appearance had changed." The voice that seemed to echo all around me sent shivers down my spine.

"Show yourself green eyed snake." I peer into the shadows trying to find him.

"No. I think it would be best for my health to stay concealed from such a powerful spirit vessel." His voice is so calm, the way it sounded when he captured me, when he defiled me. All the memories fill my mind and ignite the flames in my hands that begin to illuminate the area. "Oh, is someone excited by the sound of my voice?"

I reach for Nobunaga's katana and pull it out as I speak in the same steady rage I did when I killed Mitsuhide. "I will never forgive what you did to me and I will never stop hunting for you and your brother until you are both dead."

He hummed low. "You should really reconsider forgiving me. I spared you so much pain." His voice turns from humored to bitter. "I don't enjoy making people scream a fraction of the amount my brother does. I told you, I helped you, to get your screams out before he could hear them. He would never have given you back to Nobunaga if he had heard your beautiful screams. You're welcome."

I spat at his last words before spinning towards the rustling I hear only to find a sparrow with a kunai buried in it's chest and wheezing out it's last breaths.

As we ate our morning meal I told Hideyoshi everything that happened. "We should increase the perimeter guards around the base camps, and they should be in pairs of two or more." He nods in agreement as he chews his food. I don't really eat much since receiving the gift of the phoenix so when I finish I rest back on my elbows and stare at the roof of our tent. "Hide, is there a town anywhere near here?"

"The nearest town is two days ride, and is really just a..." he shifts, and straightens his back as the color leaves his face. Really? Is this the time for him to be bashful or ashamed with me?

"A brothel." I state. We've been married four months, and there are moments, like this one, when I can read him as clearly as I can read a book. This is the brothel, the one he was sold to when his parents died.

He relaxes when he sees the tender understanding of my experession. "Why are you asking?" He wonders after swallowing his last bite.

I sit up so we can see each other better. "Kenshin never struck me as someone who would avoid the battlefield this long, no matter how many members of his council urged him to. Not being on the field must be either driving him into madness, or he's being so distracted by something he loves more that he doesn't care."