The Angel of Death-Ikemen Sengoku

Chapter 1-Five Years and a Fire

5 years later

"Well I'll be damned."

Akira whistles low as she takes in the familiar temple of Honno-ji. Instead of her modern-day clothes, she's wearing a worn and torn kimono without any shoes on. The only thing that looks to be of any value is a red bead earring on her left ear, with strands of ribbon that brush against her shoulder. Waking forward, she approaches one of the monks, bowing her head slightly. He places one of hands up, as if in prayer, and asks what she needs. She polity requests if she can stay the night. His face lights up and indicates her to follow. Akira smiles in return and follows the monk inside the temple.

She wakes up to the smell of smoke.

Sitting up, Akira frantically looks around,only to hear heavy coughing from the room across from her's. When she runs to it, the door won't open. Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Akira takes a step back, before ramming into it with her shoulder, winching as it gives, falling over. Looking through the smoke, she can vaguely see a figure lying on the ground. She rushes over and grabs the man's arm. The man's eyes snap open, and push off her grip. Scowling, Akira grabs him, pulling him to his knees with a jerk.

"Hey, get up! You don't want to die here, do you?!"

The man stares at her with his red eyes for a moment before nodding. Akira hauls him to his feet, throwing his arm over her shoulder. They get out of the room, and looking through the smoke, Akira can make out a broad shouldered, tall man, clearly with a mask over his face. Turning away from him, she takes the man outside, and places him on the ground in front of the burning shrine.

Akira stares at him as he stands up,eyes focused on the building, and she takes in his appearance. He's wearing black armor and is armed with a long sword. He has pitch black hair, opposite to her own light grey hair. And, of course, his red eyes. Feeling her stare, he turns to her. "You. What's your name?" "Nice way of asking. Yours first." "Nobunaga Oda." Akira's brows furrow as she murmurs a curse under her breath. She just saved one of the most powerful warlords in Japan. Great. She looks back up and meets his eyes.

"I'm Akira. So, can I assume this is for you?" She indicates towards the raging fire. He raises a questioning eyebrow at her words, before laughing. "Yes, I believe someone just tried to kill me." He shoots her a grin. "And you just saved me." He grabs her chin and forces her to face him. "No matter what fun the monks brought you in for, you are indeed a lucky charm."

Akira grabs his wrist and pulls his hand off her face. "One, I am not lucky, two I was not brought in for 'fun'. I'm a wanderer, and the monks were going to provide me with shelter till the morning." She drops his hand. Ignoring the look of surprise on his face, Akira sighs, before turning away from the building and walking towards the forest.

"Where are you going?" "To find a place to sleep." She calls back. "Wait." Nobunaga calls. She halts, and spins on her heel to face him. She looks at him questioningly as he breaks out into a grin. "Let me provide you with clothing." He says, looking at her rag-tag kimono. Akira sighs and looks pointedly at the black-haired man before mumbling a curse under her breath. She needed new clothes.

Published March 27th, 2020