Ikémen Sengoku: Transcriptioned Romances Across Time (Nobunaga)

Nobunaga Oda Romantic Route Chapter 11

Nobunaga must be battling with Kenshin by now.  It had been several hours since the army had taken the field. I was at one of the larger tents in headquarters. Hideyoshi had asked me to concentrate on guiding the first aid effort. He's trying to give me the safest possible position.

Finished prepping my staff, I had little to do but wait for the wounded to arrive. Wishing there would be as few injuries as possible, I looked up at the sky above. I'll be living the rest of my life under this sky.  It was a beautiful one, free of the airplanes, skyscrapers, and cell towers that had filled mine. It stretched endlessly upward, unhindered. Clouds rushed by, chased by the wind.

Mai: "I'm not going back to the future. I'm staying."

Nobunaga: "What?"

Mai: "Is that offer of ruling the world at your side still on the table?"

Nobunaga: "Mai-- What a foolish question. Don't you remember last night? I asked you to give yourself to me, heart, body, and soul. I won't let you leave my side."

Mai: "Then it's settled! I'm not going anywhere."

Nobunaga: "A fine answer. I commend you."

I'm leaving my old life, with all its promise, behind. But I'm ready to embrace this one and expect great things from it. While Nobunaga is a major part of the decision, I'm not giving up on my dream for him. I'll bring what I love about fashion and design work to this time. I won't need to put off my dreams for love. I can have both, and be happy together with Nobunaga.

Just then, I saw Ieyasu poke his head in through the curtain surrounding headquarters.

Ieyasu: "Oh, Mai. There you are."

Mai: "Ieyasu? I thought you were at the front with the others?"

Ieyasu: "In case you don't know, most warlords command from behind the lines. Only the Oda forces are full of crazies who think they have to dive headfirst into battle." Honestly, I was beginning to wonder why it seemed like I was the only one still at headquarters.  "Well, our opponents aren't any more sensible. They're out there fighting too."

Mai: "Mitsunari mentioned Kenshin's lust for battle."

Ieyasu: "He's pretty bad, but he's not the only one. According to reports, Shingen Takeda is out there too."

Mai: "Is that good, or bad?"

Ieyasu: "He comes packaged with Yukimura Sanada, who's a real berserker with that spear of his. I'll let you decide. And Kenshin has that exceptional ninja. We're not wrong to throw everything we have at them. I'm here to make sense of all the intelligence and pass it on. I could use your help, chatelaine."

Mai: "Of course. You know, I think you and I make a pretty good pair, 'Lord' Ieyasu."

Ieyasu: "Don't call me that. Ever." Ieyasu sat down in the seat of command, looking uncomfortable. "Just be your normal self."

Mai: "And what's that?"

Ieyasu: "Looking like you have no idea how dangerous things are. As usual." I knew I was running into a trap by asking him.  I shrugged, smiling. Ieyasu clearly had no idea how dangerous I thought everything here was at first. "It's actually good for morale."

Mai: "How so?"

Ieyasu: "The wounded will start showing up any minute. A lot of these men consider being wounded as a sign of failure, a sign they're weak. That feeling hurts worse than the injury." Ieyasu sounds like he's talking about himself.  His doll-like features darkened. I think he's been wounded in some way too, maybe not physically.  "But when they see you smile like nothing's wrong, they'll realize they were idiots to get so worked up. So keep smiling." He could have said that in the first place.