One Bright Day in the Middle of the Night

Chapter 8: What Evil Lurks...

The next day, between my everyday duties, it was mid afternoon before I was standing in front of Nobunaga's quarters with my heart in my throat. I had the feeling I was going to have to do some serious groveling here, and I highly doubted that Nobunaga was going to be lenient. Better get this over with. I rapped my knuckles on the frame of the door, calling out.

"Lord Nobunaga? May I speak with you, sir?" The butterflies in my stomach didn't want to calm down.

"Enter."

I slid open the door, and took a step, closing the door behind me. I turned around and quickly faced Nobunaga, who sat once more at his writing desk, a small stack of scrolls piled on the floor next to him.

"Forgive my intrusion, Sir. Is this a bad time?"

Nobunaga looked up at me, a questioning frown on his face as I sank to the mats, kneeling in front of him. I bowed down, my forehead almost to the floor.

"I am exceedingly sorry for my behaviour yesterday, Sir. I should not have lost my temper, and definitely not in front of the others." I heard a soft clink as he set the brush on the ink stand, and the soft pelt of sand onto the scroll before he rolled it up. My eyes were glued to the mat in front of me, and my anxiety had me sweating bullets. Damn, he's pissed.

"Sit up." I slowly sat up, my hands in my lap. He sighed, and my gaze flew up to his face, my eyes questioning. "Don't worry about it. I can forgive you for being upset, provided it does not happen again." He thought for a moment, putting his chin in his hand as he stared at me. "But I do have a question. What is the meaning of this 'Sir' you keep calling me?" Wait, he's more concerned about that? I was almost at a loss for words. I didn't realize that I had dropped into military courtesy, and used the English word as well.

"Uh, my apologies, My Lord." Quickly I searched my mind for the explanation. "You are aware that I am not from this...country." He nodded, giving me his full attention. "In my country, 'Sir' is an honorific used for a high ranking military commander, or leader of Armies." Actually it was used for anyone of officer rank or above, but I wasn't going to go into that. "It is a very old habit, and I did not realize I was using it."

Nobunaga's eyes narrowed, a slow smirk breaking across his face. That one I've come to know as him feeling a bit full of himself.

"So. You are saying you have military training..."

I paled, my eyes widening for a fraction before I pulled my face into an impassive mask. Too late. He caught that; there was no way he wouldn't. I refused to confirm or deny anything. The look of triumph was disheartening to say the least. Crap. Imagine my surprise when he changed the subject.

"I have business to attend to over the next couple of days, and I will be leaving the castle. Since you are here, you can take these orders to Hideyoshi, who will be staying here. " He gestured to the small pile of scrolls that it looked like he had spent the entire day preparing.

"We will discuss what 'training' you have had when I return." I swallowed the lump that suddenly hit my throat. Oh. He wasn't going to let it slide, I was just getting a reprieve. Somehow I was not at all comforted by this.

"Yes, my Lord." I stood and went to gather the scrolls for Hideyoshi, but Nobunaga's next words made me pause.

"Oh, and as to the matter of the punishment for your insolence..." My hand froze just before I grabbed the first scroll and I looked to Nobunaga. "I want you to go and get a full report from Mitsuhide about the prisoners we brought in yesterday."

"So...you are saying my punishment is to run an errand?" I was more than a little floored. It seemed too easy.

Nobunaga nodded, that evil smirk making me more uncomfortable than I expected.