Time After Time - an Ikemen Sengoku fanfiction

Chapter 4

The morning after that came with my classes. Three classes in the morning. That meant I needed to take Hideyoshi with me, or leave him alone at home.

"Hideyoshi, would you like to go to school with me today?"

I asked him, looking up from the newspaper of the day. Hideyoshi was making breakfast in the kitchen. After the incident last night, he insisted to take care of the meals from now on. I taught him how to use the stove, the microwave, and everything else in the kitchen. He did catch on very quickly.

"To school? You mean, a place where people go there to learn?"

"Yes. I'm a student after all. I can't skip any class, and I cannot afford dropping my grades, either. The choice is up to you though. If you'd rather stay at home, I don't mind."

It didn't take him a second to hesitate.

"Sure, let's go then." He shrugged, and continued on with flipping the omelet.

"Eh? Are you sure?"

"Do you not want me to go?"

"That's not what I meant. There will be a lot of people, you know? From different countries, not just Japanese or Asian people. The university is big, too. Aren't you worried or anxious, even a little bit?"

"Why?" He turned his gaze to me, asking a question as if it was obvious. "I'm with you, right? Why would I be worried?"

The statement made me blush, so I looked down at the newspaper again, holding it up to hide my face. Damn, did he do that intentionally, or was it just his natural charm to say something so misleading like that?

"Didn't you say this is a world of peace? There is no one dying, isn't there? Then I don't have any reason to be afraid."

For a moment, I forgot that he came from the Sengoku time. He had been in many life and death situation, this was nothing compared to anything that he had gone through. Compared to him, all my worries felt ridiculously childish.

When we arrived at the university, the sun had not come out to greet us yet. The campus was dipped in a gloomy and hazy color of the early fog. Hideyoshi had gotten better with the bus, and said nothing out of ordinary on our way here.

My university had a big campus, and it usually took me half an hour to walk from north to south campus. He obviously looked baffled, but then told me that Azuchi had paddy fields as grand as this campus.

"Must be nice for Nobunaga then." I giggled. "All the rice would make a hefty profit, if the farmers manage to save some leftover for trading."

"You bet." He looked proud. "Lord Nobunaga calculated everything after all. We always have enough food for next season in store."

My first class was located at the other side of campus, so we took our time walking there, while chatting along the way. I explained to him what each building was, and he was certainly mesmerized by the European architecture.

"It's amazing to think that all these buildings are for education. Back in Azuchi, we only have private tutor for rich daimyo's family. Not many people had the opportunity to learn." He commented as we walked by the library. "What are all those machines inside?"

"They are computers, almost similar to the one I'm carrying right here." I pointed to my laptop bag. "Students use it to do their homework and research. They can contact the instructors and other faculty through emails, using these laptops as well."

"That's incredible. Speaking of which," he frowned. "Doesn't the bag look heavy? I didn't think we would walk this far. Let me carry it for you."

Oh, the kind side of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, which had become scarce in this modern world.