One Bright Day in the Middle of the Night

Chapter 40: Decisions on the Fly

Kenshin and Shingen sat on the dais in the large meeting room, the room full of Kenshin's vassals as they discussed the coming battle in depth. Kenshin sat stoically, only partially listening to the buzz of the conversation around him. This is a strategy meeting, a sharing of information between the commanders to discuss the expected moves of the enemy, the supply chain, and how orders and counters would be placed and put into action. Normally, Kenshin would be completely engaged, at least mentally in this type of meeting, but for some reason, his thoughts kept wandering.

Memory of last night kept intruding on his mind, seeing Alexis bathed in silver moonlight, the dim glow highlighting her porcelain complexion and making her eyes an even deeper blue. He still gets lost in those eyes, eyes that make him burn with need that was getting harder and harder to suppress. It wasn't just that, however. It was with some trepidation that Kenshin realized he was looking more forward to speaking with Alexis than he was the coming battle.

There was a pull, as if gravity itself had wrapped itself around her, tugging Kenshin to her side. He didn't want to be away from her. He wanted her at his side, always. It was confusing, and it was pissing him off. If it wasn't for the fact that he had to go to take care of this meddling bastard who decided to attack Alexis, he wouldn't be leaving. His eyes widened a bit as he realized he hadn't even thanked her for foiling the assassination attempt in the first place. What the hell kind of a man was he that he would neglect to do that?

Why is this meeting taking so long? Haven't we gone over this all already before? It's not as if we weren't going to have to possibly change tactics in the middle of battle depending on the changing situations. Orders for supply lines were already in place, and the Sassa lands were only a days march away. It's not going to be as glorious as fighting Nobunaga, but there was definitely a more personal reason for it. Kenshin itched to take the bastards head himself.

"....Kenshin."

Kenshin was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of his name at his side. He looked around as if waking from a sleep before realizing that Shingen was the one to try to get his attention. The vassals were still discussing deployment formations, and hadn't noticed that Kenshin's thoughts had been turned inward, Kenshin himself not actually in attendance mentally during the discussion. The God of War couldn't help the cold irritation, both at Shingen for bothering him, and himself for not paying attention. What the hell is wrong with me?

"There you are." Shingen had an annoying smirk across his face, that set Kenshin's teeth on edge.

"What? Is there a reason you are interrupting my meeting?" Kenshin raised an eyebrow at the Takeda warlord, his eyes glaring.

"You're not even actually present right now, Kenshin." Shingen spoke in a low tone, not wanting to be overheard by the others in the room. "When is the last time you got any sleep?"

"Sleep is for the weak. I'll sleep just fine once I separate Sassa's head from his shoulders." Kenshin's tone seeped with blood-soaked arrogance, and iron conviction.

"Yes, yes...." Shingen waved him off, dismissing his statement offhandedly as he narrowed his eyes at Kenshin. "You need a break anyway. We're basically done here, and I need to get my men together as well."

Kenshin gazed at Shingen, suspicion dancing in his two-tone eyes.

"What do you mean? Are you implying I'm not thinking clearly?" Ice dripped from Kenshin's words and it was as if the room dropped 10 degrees. Shingen shook his head in denial, the slight smirk still across his handsome face.

"Not at all. I just thought you might like to take a little time to yourself. Get some food, go visit Alexis." Shingen shrugged. "Your men know what needs to be done. You can fine tune things a little later."