Ikemen Sengoku: Nobunaga Oda

Chapter 7 + His POV

The day of our departure had arrived.

Nobunaga: "Mai."

Mai: "Nobunaga." Nobunaga, on his horse, rode up to me. He stopped and offered me his hand.

Nobunaga: "Are you ready? Get on."

Mai: "I'm all set!" I placed my hand in his.

Nobunaga: "Excellent." He lifted me up into the saddle. Here we go again! I sat side-saddle for a moment, able to catch a glimpse of his smile. "Listen carefully. Your life is mine, and I will protect it. Stay close."

The confidence overflowing in his gaze made my heart pound.

Mai: "I'm not so sure about who my life belongs to, but I trust you to protect me." We're about to go to war, but I actually do feel safe as long as Nobunaga is around. How strange is that?

Thus, the Nobunaga forces, totaling some 10,000 men, departed Azuchi for the garrison castle of Kenshin Uesugi. We're moving at a really relaxed pace. Riding with Nobunaga, I looked around at the stretch of green plains to all sides. The whole army was keeping pace with the slow speed of the foot soldiers. This doesn't feel like the prelude to a war at all.

Skylarks flitted about in the clear sky. The thick, green grass caught the light and rustled in the wind.

Nobunaga: "You seem thoughtful, Mai." Huh. Didn't think he'd notice. I turned my head to see Nobunaga was looking at me. "What were you thinking about?"

Mai: "I was wondering why we're moving so slowly. Isn't the goal to stop the other side before they have a chance to prepare?"

Nobunaga: "We have to. Going any faster would tire out the foot soldiers before we arrive." That makes sense. The foot soldiers make up the majority of the army, too. "We're safe from attack as long as we're in my domain of Owari. There's no need to force a march."

Mai: "Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into the well being of your men."

Nobunaga: "That's a naïve way to see it." Nobunaga laughed, indicating the long stretch of his forces. "It's not the well being of my men, it's how I, as commander, master my forces. If I can't use my pieces well, then there's no point in bringing them."

"My pieces." He might as well be talking about a bowl of Go stones. Nobunaga had that old heartlessness in his eyes. But there was no falsehood in his words. He believed in what he said. I was imagining Nobunaga had gotten a little kinder lately. But I forgot that this is exactly the kind of person he is. Those cold eyes and calculating words stung me.

Nobunaga: "What is it?"

Mai: "Nothing." I turned away from him and the army to look at the scenery instead.

Nobunaga: "Is our slow pace boring you?"

Mai: "Is my being quiet boring you?"

Nobunaga: "Not at all. At nightfall, we'll be stopping at the residence of Yorimasa, a local daimyo. We can entertain each other better there." It's easy enough to tell he means a game of Go. All the same, the idea had my pulse pounding.

Mai: "Nobunaga, I'm not bored. I'm enjoying the peace."

Nobunaga: "Is that so? Then I expect you'll be in a good mood tonight when we share a room tonight." He didn't even ask me!

Mai: "We aren't sharing a room! I'm requesting a room change!"

Nobunaga: "Why?"

Mai: "Why? Because--" Because it's still complicated for me. I'm not comfy sharing a room with you until I can figure things out. But I knew telling him that would be no better than saying nothing at all.