A Good Deed Gone Unpunished

Mai Connects the Dots

Her tongue tasted like blood. Even before the rest of her senses returned, she felt pinpricks of annoyance at the metallic flavor.

Goddamnit. I haven't bit my tongue like this in years.

What happened? One minute she was punching a soldier and the next-

The next-?

Fuck, she was tired. She wanted to check her surroundings but she couldn't get her eyes to open. Her eyebrows twitched.

"Lady Mai?" Mitsunari? Was Mitsunari there? Armed with new energy, Mai pried her eyelids apart. Blurry ceiling panels spun into focus. The room smelled like dried grass. The blanket she was tucked in was warm and heavy. Mitsunari was seated by her side on the floor, eyes brimming with concern. There was a long scratch on his cheek, stretching from just under his beauty mark to the corner of his mouth. Portions of it were scabbed over.

Mai jerkily pushed an arm out from her blanket. She tried to raise it to his face, but she could barely get it off the ground. Mitsunari clasped her hand between his, face twisted in concern. "Please don't strain yourself, Lady Mai. You're still recovering."

"Your face... what happened...?" The exhaustion, her tongue, the memory loss... she'd had a seizure. If Mitsunari was there, if he'd tried to hold her... Mai's eyes stung. "Did I...?" A single hot tear fell down her cheek.

A door slammed open. "What the hell?! I'm out for ten minutes and you've gone and made her cry?!"

Mitsunari startled, looking panicked. "Lord Ieyasu, I-"

Ieyasu's puffy blonde hair entered the very edge of Mai's vision. "Out. You know Nobunaga's orders."

"But-"

"Go. Watch Akabori's execution if you need a distraction."

"Execution?!" That woke Mai right up. She aggressively threw her blankets off, racing down the waxed floors of the palace in nothing but the simple cream kimono she'd woke up in (who changed her clothes?) towards the courtyards. She didn't actually know if the execution would be taking place there, but that was the go-to spot for historical drama execution scenes.

Why the hell was Akabori being executed anyways? Sure, he'd been rough with her, and stolen Mitsunari's report, but that didn't warrant the death penalty. Maybe it was naive and idealistic in the Sengoku period, but Mai hated the idea of someone dying when she could've prevented it. Needless human suffering infuriated her, reminded her of the hollow faces of fellow orphans and the empty gazes of broke patrons.

Miraculously, the courtyard bet rang true. There stood Akabori and the two men that always hung with him. They had been stripped of their fancy clothing. The lackeys were still sporting their wounds from when Mai fought them; one's jaw was blatantly dislocated and an ugly blue-black. The other's eyes were near-completely swollen, sporting the same bruises and a crooked nose. The pattern of her brass knuckles was stark on their skin. It seemed no one had patched them up. Nobunaga stood to the side, imperious and regal as ever. Hideyoshi was with him, eyes chilled, along with a furious Masamune. Mitsuhide was standing in front, speaking to a minor crowd seemingly composed of other lords, soldiers, and some castle staff.

The size of the crowd forced her to a stuttering halt. She hadn't thought this through. Mai couldn't just run in front of that huge crowd. She couldn't demand Nobunaga stop, either; there's no way he'd react to that well. Frozen at the entrance to the yard, and rapidly running out of the little energy adrenaline had given her, all Mai could do was shoot the warlords a panicked stare and pray they could read minds.

"Get back here!" Ieyasu came from behind, somehow more prickly-furious than Mai had ever seen. That constant scowl suddenly felt serious, and Mai realized just how little weight his typical irritated face held. Ieyasu's shout stole the attention of the crowd, a swarm of faces turning to her. The sudden influx of attention made her feel faint.