Mai and I were sprinting through the pouring rain to escape through the pouring rain to escape the wormhole.
Nobunaga: "Running east will bring us to the foot of the mountain. We can take shelter under the cliffs."
Mai: "Sounds like a plan!" I clutched Mai's hand as tightly as I could-- I couldn't risk letting go. The rain was a thick curtain, blocking our sight, but that didn't stop us. I won't let her go. I don't care if this is destiny or the will of some supreme being! I'm not alive when she's not near.
A sudden flash tore through the darkness, lighting up the sky. It's going to strike! A thunderous roar sounded right over our heads--
Mai: "Aah!"
Nobunaga: "Mai!" I grabbed her and dove away, landing in the wet grass. Everything was consumed in a blinding spark. What happened? When the light finally faded, I saw that where I had been standing was now a burnt, smoldering patch. Mai and I stood up. The sky crackled, seemingly readying its next shot. "It's as if it were aiming for me. Heaven is intent on correcting its mistake after all."
Mai: "What are you saying?"
Nobunaga: "You said it yourself. I'm not supposed to be alive right now." The wormhole may be coming for her, but this storm is here for me. I've faced countless threats on my life, and now, heaven is telling me to die too? I see no way run from this. But, even if there's no way out for me-- I looked down at Mai, drenched from the rain, shivering in my arms. She was cold, but try as I might, there was little I could do to warm her. I must find a way to keep her safe.
Then, as if summoned by my thoughts--
I felt a wave of dizziness that forced me to close my eyes. When I opened them, I saw a thick blanket of fog forming around us.
Nobunaga: "What is this?"
Mai: "It's the same thing that happened last time I time traveled!" What?! Above us, heaven threatened me with another fierce roar. "No, stop it! I'm not going back!"
Nobunaga: "Mai!!" Mai fought the fog as it spiraled up around her, trying to pull us apart. There's only one way to keep her safe. And that is for me to let go. The lightning danced, eager to be released. Memories of my time with Mai flashed through my mind.
Mai: "Hey, you, look out!"
Nobunaga: "Who are you?"
Mai: "No time for introductions. come on, let's get you out of here! Take my hand!"
That moment when I touched her hand, that had been the start--
Nobunaga: "How would you like to rule the world at my side?"
Mai: "Sorry, but I can't! I'm starting my dream job really, really soon, and, well, bye!"
------
Nobunaga: "I wonder. Will I take all of you, or will you escape?"
Mai: "I can assure you that things aren't going to go your way!"
Nobunaga: "That's the spirit. Keep fighting."
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Nobunaga: "I'm fond of you. Enough that I would have you be the only one to warm my bed.
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Nobunaga: "For the sake of my ambition, I've taken hundreds of thousands of lives. And I will take countless more. I don't deserve to feel this warmth, or to have these feelings. But even knowing that-- I want to hold you. I want to touch you. I can't stop myself.
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Mai: "I don't care if it's not allowed. I don't care if it destroys time itself. I love you and I will stay with you."
Nobunaga: "Mai-- Then you and I are both sinners. But even if we end up in hell, I will never leave you."
Mai, this is goodbye. I hugged her to me with all the strength I could manage. She stopped shivering, relaxing in my arms. I kissed her lips, one last taste of that beautiful warmth that I treasured. Then I pushed her away from me and into the fog bank.
Nobunaga: "Mai, go on."
Mai: "You mean go back? No!"
Nobunaga: "You can't die here. No matter what, you have to live. Return to the future and live." Her shocked expression became one of heartrending grief.
It's hard enough to let you go as it is. I tried to let go once before. I forced myself to keep her at a distance. I thought I didn't deserve her warmth, her love. But this is different. Now, she's too precious to me to keep any longer. My only wish is that giving up my life is enough to keep her safe.
Mai grew distant as the fog wrapped around her. An impossible distance.
Mai: "Wait! I don't want this!"
Nobunaga: "I'd do anything to grant any wish of yours-- But forgive me, Mai. this is one wish I can't grant."
Mai: "But if I return, you'll die!"
Nobunaga: "I know that. Mai, listen to me now." Your death would mean the end of the world to me. "If you stay, the forces that seek to end my life will harm you too. You have to go." I stared at Mai, at my love, with all my heart. "I'm fond of you. Enough that I don't mind dying if it means you're safe."
Tears spilled from Mai's eyes. I wish you wouldn't cry. This is the one time I can't wipe your tears away. I resisted reaching out to her, disrupting that which would protect her.
Nobunaga: "I've killed so many, I understand better than anyone how fleeting life is. Knowing that , yours is the only life I want to last. Your life is priceless to me. Nothing can take its place, not even my own. That's why you must live." I felt split in two. Just then, something warm traveled down my cheek. What is this? Are these tears? Realizing that, I couldn't help but smile.
Nobunaga: "You often asked me if I was sad. Now, in our last moments together, I finally understand what it feels like."
Mai: "Please, don't cry--" Mai extended her hand, but by now she was painfully out of reach. I let the tears fall, letting my last sight of Mai burn an image in my mind.
Nobunaga: "I won't say goodbye. Even if it takes 500 years, I will prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that I loved you."
Mai: "NOBUNAGA!" Mai--! . . . I love you. I shouted wordlessly as the world became consumed in light. I love you. I love you. I love you.
There was nothing else I could think of to say. Mai had vanished along with the fog. The cold rain pelted my body, and thunder rumbled above me like a hungry beast.
. . . I can't die here. Not after seeing Mai cry. If heaven has sworn to kill me, then heaven is what I will fight. I will find a way to live, no matter what that takes, and see Mai again. When I do, I promise I'll wipe her tears away. With my oath residing in my heart, I ran, seeking to outrun the storm--
YOU ARE READING
Ikémen Sengoku: Transcriptioned Romances Across Time (Nobunaga)
רומנטיקהYou've just nabbed your dream job as a fashion designer when you're sent hurtling back in time to an alternate version of Sengoku era Japan! After accidentally changing history and earning the favor of warlord Nobunaga Oda by saving him from near de...
