Ikémen Sengoku: Transcriptioned Romances Across Time (Nobunaga)

Nobunaga Oda POV Chapter 7

The day we departed to attack the Uesugi garrison castle arrived--

Nobunaga: "Mai."

Mai: "Nobunaga." Mai brightened when she saw me. I offered her my hand.

Nobunaga: "Are you ready? Get on."

Mai: "I'm all set!" A fine response.  With a refreshing smile, she placed her hand in mine.

Nobunaga: "Excellent. Listen carefully. Your life is mine, and I will protect it. Stay close."

Mai: "I'm not so sure about who my life belongs to, but I trust you to protect me." I helped her onto my horse and sat her down in front of me. Hands held loosely on the reins, I charged my horse to the front of the troops. I'm not bringing her because I called her a lucky charm. That's always been a pretext to keep her close. I want to see what she'll see. I want to hear what she'll say. I don't want to miss a single moment with her.  The more I learned about Mai, the more I felt this unknown urge course through me.

Thus, my forces, totaling some 10,000 men, departed Azuchi for the garrison castle of Kenshin Uesugi.

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Several hours after departing Azuchi, the army was making steady progress. Riding my horse, I followed Mai's gaze. But all I saw was empty plains. What has she been looking at?  There were some skylarks in the sky, but that was it. I don't see anything of interest.

Nobunaga: "You seem thoughtful, Mai." I watched her face, waiting for her reply. Drawn from her thoughts, she turned to look 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?" I see. So that's how Mai views this.

Nobunaga: "We have to. Going any faster would tire out the foot soldiers before we arrive. 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." She thinks I'm coddling these warriors?

Nobunaga: "That's a naïve way to see it." I laughed, indicating the long stretch of my 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."

Everyone here was a stone in my bowl. A piece to place to achieve my ambition. All these lives are mine to use as I see fit. Thus, I must make sure not a one of them is wasted. I will use everything at my disposal to win this war.  Sensing Mai's eyes on me, I looked down at her. Mai?  Her expression was strangely troubled. It made my heart stir.

Nobunaga: "What is it?"

Mai: "Nothing." She looked back toward the empty plains. It doesn't look like nothing. Of course. Given how excitable Mai is, I see what's bothering her now.

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." Color touched Mai's cheeks.

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

Nobunaga: "Is that so?" I still don't understand her, but if she's enjoying herself, that's fine.  "Then I expect you'll be in a good mood tonight when we share a room tonight." In order to understand you, I need to keep you by my side as much as possible. But that's not the only reason.  I'd become quite involved in the bet I'd started with Mai. My heart pounded with excitement when I kissed her, becoming almost unbearable when she'd respond with a hushed little moan. While those things had started out as mere diversions, now I found them vital. And I can sleep when I'm with her. There's nothing as comfortable.  But Mai lost her good mood almost immediately.