One Bright Day in the Middle of the Night

Chapter 2: How Many of These Guys Are There?

"How would you like to rule the world at my side?"

What?? Nobunaga's strong arm wrapped around my waist and his silver words ringing in my ears had turned my brain to mush with all rational thought blown away.

"Oh...um...no. No thank you. Let's not go there.... I really, really should be going now." I pushed myself away from Nobunaga, both hands firmly against his chest.

"What?" He seemed stunned at my answer. It was in that moment I took advantage of his momentary lapse.

Deftly I twisted out of his grasp, knocking his arm from my body, and broke out into a run. Both Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi called after me, but I sure as hell wasn't stopping now. In one quick movement I snatched up my purse as I ran past, and ducked out of the camp. I ran as if the Devil himself were after me, and to be honest, he probably was. I took off into the nearby forest, stopping when silence was my only companion, the sounds of the camp left far, far behind.

At the moment I was safe. Wait. Safe? I'm stuck in the Sengoku period, in the middle of nowhere, wearing a kimono for god's sake, and Nobunaga Oda himself wants to get....shall we say...friendly. Crap. Not to mention Nobunaga should have died tonight.
I pulled my copy of 'A Traveler's Guide to Japan's Hottest warlords' out of my purse, and confirmed my earlier assessment. Mitsuhide held Japan for 3 days before dying by the hand of Hideyoshi after Nobunaga's death. Except now Nobunaga was alive, Mitsuhide doesn't take over, and Nature abhors a vacuum. Exactly how much damage did I do?

My musings were interrupted by a soft chime of bells, and the crunch of leaves underfoot. Instantly, I was on my guard.

"Young Lady, what are you doing out in the woods this late at night?" A very weathered looking man, with a chiseled jaw stepped out of the darkness of the forest around me. He was clad in robes, carrying a long staff, the headpiece of which was adorned with small bells. A long scar crossed his face, from the right side of his forehead to his left ear, and gave him an almost sinister look. A Buddhist monk? Can this night get any weirder? At my silence, he continued.

"Forgive me, My name is Kennyo, and I am a travelling monk. Perhaps I can be of assistance to you?"

"No thanks, I'm good." I kept my face carefully neutral, even though my heart just about flew out of my chest beating so hard. This guy! This is the guy I saw attacking Nobunaga. The feeling was so strong that I was right, and I was trying so hard to conceal my unease, that I didn't realize he had come up to me until he put a hand on my shoulder.

"You should return home quickly. Demons lurk in the woods at night." A knot of dread that had formed in the depths of my stomach burst as I realized, that yes, there were demons in the woods, and I was looking right at one. I didn't even bother to contain my fear anymore.

"Thanks for the warning, I'll be going now." I took off like a shot and didn't even care about the direction, just that I wanted to get as far away from that guy as humanly possible. I ran, my thoughts scattered. Is this period studded with creepy bastards or what? There were no lights, no sounds to indicate my direction, the darkness of the forest and the sounds of my heavy breathing enveloped my senses. I clutched my purse to my chest as I ran blindly through the woods.

"Watch it!" Great, what the hell now? That was all the response I thought before a hand grabbed me, seemingly out of nowhere, and yanked me hard enough to pull me right off my feet.

"Hey!" I fell backward onto the man, both of us hitting the ground hard.

"Ouch!" He made a grumbled sound of pain, as I landed on him.

"Sorry!" I looked down and a young and very well built handsome man lie beneath me. Oh, hello sailor. He really didn't look happy to be used as a pillow, but compared to the last few men I have *cough* run into this evening, he seemed like a cool drink of water. It was only polite to get off him, but hey, he was comfy. I stood up only to have him instantly stand up and grab me from behind.