The Beauty of the West: The Blue Route

Chapter Twenty Two: Meeting in Honno-Ji

Kanbe and I, along with the Toyotomi remnants, kept a slower pace to get through Kanegasaki, so that we would be ready if someone wanted to suddenly try to surprise us.  I didn't want to think about what Mitsunari would do to someone who had tried.  Then again, I didn't even want to think about what Mitsunari was planning on doing to any  of the Oda, let alone Nobunaga himself.  When I glanced over at Mitsunari, he had a straight face as if he weren't thinking about anything. I knew though, how he was feeling.

It didn't take long to pass through Honno-Ji, even at our slower pace.  I was happy to be away from that place and felt relieved for a moment before entering Honno-Ji.  I wasn't too thrilled to be there, but I was with Mitsunari and Kanbe, and soon to be with Masamune as well.  I was going to be okay, especially after all this was over and we all went home.

I could only imagine the look on Masamune's face when he found out that I was there.  Not just him, but Kojuro too.  I hadn't even thought about the lecture I would get from Kojuro.  That alone made me want to go home, and tell Masamune 'Good Luck'

"We're here."  Mitsunari felt the need to say, as we arrived.  I knew we were there, everyone knew we were.

"You ready for this, (Y/N)?"  Kanbe asked me, as I took a deep breath.

"I'm as ready as I will ever be.  I trained hard for this, so that one day I would be able to take him on with no fear."  I answered, but at this point I was just stalling.  I just wanted to get it all over with.

We all entered Honno-Ji, and what a sight it was!  We came across a few camps that looked like they  had been burned down, along with some more corpses of the Oda army.  It was unnerving to see them, but at the same time, I was glad that it wasn't Oshu's men.  I looked at a man who was face down on the ground, and turned him over.  There were no wounds on his body, but his eyes were completely black.  It startled me.  It was as if that man had his soul ripped out from his body.  Little did I know, that's exactly what had happened.

We continued on and found more camps that had been abandoned, and more dead men.  We did eventually come across a  camp that was occupied by a few of Oshu's men.  I hurried to run to them.  They had informed me that I had just missed the boss, and that Nobunaga had been taking the souls of his men, like I was thinking.  I didn't really care though.  All I heard was that I had just missed Masamune, I was going to catch up no matter what it took.  

I was also informed that there were other allies to aid Oshu in this battle; The Saica Faction was there to help, and so was Mikawa.  Also I heard that a pirate was on his way.  I was thankful to hear that, but I also knew that the Oda army was underhanded and even with our numbers, they would be tough to beat.

There was a pit in the middle of Honno-Ji, where there was a man that stood, waiting to take on the oncoming armies, and he seemed to be challenging them all alone.  There were no men at his side. I guessed that all the men we saw on the way through Kanegasaki and at those base camps were all them men he had left.  Too bad for him, but the way he stood confident, just waiting for all the soldiers to come rushing at him was a little unnerving.

I stood at a ledge higher than others so I could take a look around.  I saw tons of men making their way to the only path that led down the ditch.  I looked among them to see if I could find Masamune's stupid helmet.  Seriously, I always hated the statement it made.  But now, it was the key to spotting him, and I found it.

"There he is..." I told myself, and kept an eye on him as I began climbing down the cliff to hopefully meet him.

"Masa!"  I yelled, and caught his attention as I lost my footing and fell.  It was a long way to fall.  When I had lost my footing,  I had hurt my ankle too.

"(Y/N)!! Dammit!" I heard Mitsunari yell, followed by others yelling at me.  All they could do was watch me fall, since I was too far away from them on that high ledge.

"(Y/N)!  What the hell??"  Masamune was either really surprised or really annoyed, but I didn't care.  He caught me as I fell to him.

"Masa!" I cried, flinging my arms around his neck.

"What are you doing here??  I thought I told you to stay home!"

"I know you did.  But what if you didn't come back?"  I know I made a point with Masamune when he grew quiet, like he had at that moment. "I heard you and dad talking last night.  This is my fight, you know?  And I need to be with you."

Masamune just held me tighter. 

"I didn't want to leave you behind, believe me.  But I didn't want you to get involved with the Oda again. I wanted to take your pain away.  And it is my job to make sure no one ever hurts you again."

"What would make me happy right now, Masa, is if we could solve this problem as a team."  I explained. "Because then, we can't possibly lose.  It'd be...One hell of a party!"

"..Now we're talkin!" Masamune grinned.