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400 Years Apart	By : Cynthermes Category: +M to R > Mirage of Blaze Views: 4238 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Mirage of Blaze and its characters solely belong to Kuwabara Mizuna. I’m just going to creep into a corner of her sand box and play the part of a wannabe historical writer. No profit has been made in the construction of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Chapter Ten:

Three Parts Triangle: Part 2.5

A/N: I just noticed that many people interested in Japanese History fail to keep every notable Sengoku personage into memory. And this I suppose is because of their names… They are not only difficult to pronounce (if one is not Japanese) but also because way back, famous samurai/bushi or daimyo could have as much as ten names per person! The birth name, family pet-name, a Buddhist or religious name, a self-acclaimed name, lordship titles, government position, adoption name, honorable names they get in winning wars, official name, and even a posthumous name!

Since I’m doing my best adopting the same style of the Heian-Sengoku Jidai, I’m going to go ahead and eliminate some possible name confusion:

To enumerate a few we have tackled so far:

>>Hojo Saburo/ Tsune

>>Nagao-Naoe Nobutsuna / Musanaga no Unsui

>>Yasuda Nagahide/ Jin

>>Takeda Shingen/ Minamoto no Harunobu/Takeda Nobuharu

>>Kousaka Masanobu Danjyo/ Lady Sanji

>>Uesugi-Nagao Kagetora/ Uesugi Kenshin

If I miss something, please do PM me, thanks.

Again, sorry for the hundred-name dump. (^^;)

>> Year 1569 of our time slip. Some notable series of events will happen.

***

In a secluded part of the outskirts far from the immediate scope of the ruling daimyo’s castle sat a slender figure by the fire. He had long, wavy, dark hair tied at the nape with a cheap riband. Calculating, cunning orbs reflect the orange-reddish flames licking dried leaves and twigs into ash. If not for the pock-marked face, women might consider him attractive. However due to his close relations to a more muscular, towering companion, members of his troupe and majority of Sagami’s locals identify him as the average man with a courtesan’s face on a dancer’s body.

If he was born a peasant he might have led a carefree life. It was easier to live without the pride of a warrior following the way of the sword. Sadly, the object weighing heavily on his palm harshly reminds him of reality.

“Tomorrow in full moonlight,” was inscribed on the old-fashioned coin. To anyone else, the phrase was harmless poetry but to a Danjyo and a pair of bushi they were a coded message for a joint siege.

Jin was worried. This invitation came from the Takeda.

Should they really partake in this? Their troops were amassed an hour away by horse but no word of affirmation came from Kagetora-sama³⁵ himself. He shouldn’t make assumptions even if the Danjyo himself came to deliver the message. Though it was unlikely to pull such a risk if he wasn’t serious, Kousaka’s motives remain unclear.

What were Takeda-dono and Kagetora-sama³⁵ thinking?

This ploy won’t succeed if there wasn’t any collaborative planning ahead. And he was so quick to judge his childhood friend’s uncharacteristic brooding!

He mentally smacked himself and reassessed the situation. Their overlord sent them for a cloak-and-dagger mission. Intelligence gathering was progressing well through immersion. So he was sorely tempted to go for the heart of enemy territory. Perhaps Kousaka must think it possible if he was willing to tip them off. But this was the Nige-Danjyo³⁶ they were dealing with. He and Nobutsuna needed to be more watchful of themselves than ever.

Clanship ties were more problematic than he once thought.

The sound of familiar footsteps interrupts his musings.

Nobutsuna arrives just a little past midnight looking… lovesick? “Otto, you were stood up, weren’t you?” Nagahide greets him by way of jest giving his shoulder a firm thump.

The unsui brushes his hand away, “And what if I was?” There was no actual bite in his words just a hint of the same irritation when something gets past his understanding of things. Shaking his preternatural equilibrium makes his friend somewhat standoffish.

More than used to these ‘cold tantrums’ Nagahide offers a helpless smile of empathy. When the kaijin³⁷ reveals his sensibilities he couldn’t help but become hideously tolerant. “Did he not like the top knot without the shaved head? Perhaps he expected unsui with no hair.” On the contrary, his friend would hate him more for it.

“The third wheel found you undesirable or is it because he was young enough to consider you his father?”

“Nagahide!” Nobutsuna hisses and begins to look genuinely angry.

“Fine, I’ll stop now.” The slender man raises his hands in fake surrender. With a quirk of lips, he watches those broad shoulders stiffen and the schooled expression cracks away.

Did he overstep his boundaries? Not one to back out of anything, Nagahide meets the strength of the Uesugi Ten-ou’s glare. The staring match lasts only for another second before Nobutsuna succumbs to reason and gives up. Being at odds with Jin was like challenging Mt. Fuji into a fist fight.

"Mamushi-san³⁹ met me at the seaside. Typical of him. I asked him what he wants and what do I get? A piece of doodle on paper."

Nagahide snatches it and upon close inspection, laughs, dissolving the ghost of tension between them. This was their routine. They go with the flow when people least expect them to and swing by their own rules next when complying with the norm proved disadvantageous. This unpredictability has saved their cover countless times from prying eyes. It was how they got here in the first place.

Nobutsuna won’t let a dangerous wild card bump them off track. And that was more cause for worry.

His friend could mask his sworn nemesis’ profound effect on his psyche but that boy was an entirely different story. In the youth’s presence the walls built on years of tragedy and bloodbath crumble away into dust. Without his intervention, would Nobutsuna’s sensibility turn into a liability and cost them the mission?

Ah, he was thinking too far ahead.

When did he become this paranoid? Perhaps it was the late hour or the inappropriate time for this discussion. And yet his gut told him the boy was a vital element. The moment Nagahide saw “Tsune-sama,” (as Nobutsuna irritatingly addressed him) his attention was instantaneously captured akin to falling for a beautiful trap. The boy practically stood out from a crowd without him knowing. Charismatic and with a regal radiance, he reminded Nagahide of witnessing his Kagetora-sama³⁵ for the first time. The only difference between the two was the succeeding emotion he felt he knew was horrendously inappropriate.

If he revered Kagetora-sama with dignified, absolute respect, Tsune appealed to him in the same way a god-like lord is worshipped as the most desirable courtesan. A two-sided coin, a double-edged sword… A person of dual identities? Tsune’s mysterious personage was as bothersome as their mission landing on crossroads. Could Nobutsuna be having the same predicament? Unfortunately that was something his friend and superior was not keen to share.

Nagahide used the coin and the roughly drawn layout of Odawara-jo as a means to call his whimsical mind into order. Studying the map on one hand and weighing the metal on the other, he surmised, “Wait for command or go independent?”

“Both.” Nagao-Naoe Nobutsuna answers curtly.

“Are you telling me to split myself in two?” Nagahide, ever sarcastic asks him incredulously.

“The Takeda plans to use us as scapegoats so we’ll simply imitate them.” Ignoring him, Naoe continues.

“Huh?”

“We’ll join them in the siege but we won’t let them know we did. A handful of sohei should do.”

“Ah. That’s a risky one, exactly the way I like it. So it is timed in accordance to tomorrow’s Annual Plum Blossom Festival³⁸?” Jin hastily approves with dangerous delight mixed in his thoughtful expression.

“The mamushi³⁹ has done its research too, apparently. The man is at least useful at espionage. Sometimes I wonder why he became a general in the first place. I mean he should just quit and saunter like a fake woman prostitute all day and scare men in their beds!” Nagahide snickers at Naoe talking excessively over a ‘snake’ he has claimed to harbor venomous hatred.

“Oh? But isn’t his abilities the reason why we are always successful in every infiltration mission we undertake?”

Naoe shoots him a murderous glare. “Are you by any chance, siding with him?”

Jin didn’t have seconds at comic relief. The bonfire crackled and the flames swayed violently as if disturbed by a malevolent force. He had his katana almost out of its sheath by the time the sound of sandal-clad feet scraped the ground.

“Nagao-Naoe-sama.” Sohei kneeled dutifully before them. Having both eyes trained on the Uesugi Ten-ou’s elite unit leader, Yasuda Nagahide slides his weapon back on its sheath. With the stealth and speed the Sohei moved, even a war commander’s senses are rattled. He almost failed to distinguish an ally from a foe. His kenjutsu must be rusting, Jin thought unhappily. His blade has not tasted blood for a long time now.

“Speak your errand.” Naoe commands.

“We have completely secured Hakone but in doing so, the master of the temple, Hojo Genan and his daughter, Hanaiin-hime have escaped.” This unfortunate report couldn’t be more concurrent.

“How so?” When it appeared that the underling was incapable of answering, Naoe asks again, “Where are they supposedly?”

“Hojo Genan and his daughter are in Odawara-jo. They successfully sought refuge into the stronghold of the Hojo Clan.” Naoe must be the only one among them who perceives this news positively.

“I see. So they flew into the primary nest.” He flatly regards the nearly imperceptible nervousness on the sohei. “What else?”

“Some of our underlings have turned up dead with a single slash on the neck. Our ranks are on edge yet so far no further hostile attempts have been made. We believe this is the work of an assassin. Awaiting for your command, my lord.” Creases appear on Naoe’s forehead. This was the dreaded news he wanted to hear first. He could care less if the Hojo managed to flee but he couldn’t allow them to recapture Hakone. The proximity of that territory was ideal for the long awaited pincer attack.

For every day they idled and remained on standby, the weaker the forces become to execute a siege. They had to act fast. His decisions from then on would be crucial to either bring victory or defeat for the Uesugi. “Sange, I want you to gather me three of your best second-in-commands but before that alert Kakizaki-dono of your status and secretly ask for backup. I know that the unit shall strain with fewer men. That is why I am asking you to stay with them.”

“Understood.” Naoe’s acting-unit leader obeys and was given permission to rise.

“Do not fail me, Sange. The Hojo should remain oblivious and be cut off from Hakone for as long as possible.”

With a final bow of determination, the sohei departs in a whisper of wind.

“Already in a tight spot huh?”

His nerves don’t settle when Nobutsuna becomes the receiver of Nagahide’s scrutiny.

“Jin-ai, let’s return to our akunoya. We need sleep to be in good shape, won’t we?” Naoe goes ahead without waiting for a reply.

Nagahide stares at his childhood friend’s retreating back, knowing that neither of them would get a wink in bed and wonders what sort of expression he wears… to hide the burden.

XxXMOBXxX

Rough, slightly tender wounds now layered with scabs were seen in the mirror. They were almost healed so why did they hurt so much yesterday? Saburo traces them with his fingers and experimentally presses hard on one. A gasp with a mixture of pain and pleasure surprisingly leave his lips. His hand reflexively clamp over his mouth before another shameful sound came out. What was this… perplexing sensation? An injury was supposed to hurt wasn’t it? So why did he feel good about inflicting pain on himself?

Was he some sick, twisted person to derive enjoyment from something so despicable? As he sees his bewildered reflection, dark phantasms slowly creep up from behind forming distorted images of vile, monstrous men wearing demonically gleeful expressions on their faces. Their white bloodshot sockets stare at him from the glass. He became petrified of their huge, lecherous grins wide enough to tear their heads. And when they opened their cavernous mouths, deep bulbous laughter and high pitched guffaws could be heard ringing on his ears.

As he sat powerless, gazing at his own terrified image, outstretched hands descend to strip him of his clothing, holding him down, strangling him, and proceed to violate him: they grope his flesh, their lascivious mouths finally latching on his skin, and then… and then… he was screaming so loudly that running footsteps and a briskly opened shoji admit startled individuals inside.

Enter a breathless, out-of-sorts Hanaiin with the nearest bushi in tow. “Saburo-sama, are you alright?” She darts towards him and was alarmed to see the wound exposed.

A few paces away from her, Matsuda Katsuhide was already searching the room for intruders with his shoto at the ready. “Who dares to attack you, Saburo-sama?”

“What happened?” She shakes him by the shoulders and that’s the only time he seriously snaps out of his trance.

He blinks at her several times as if seeing her for the first time and then holds onto her, leaning by instinct. “I… don’t know.”

“There doesn’t appear to be a hostile force. The windows, doors, and the entirety of the room are undisturbed. I will go back to my post, Saburo-sama, Hanaiin-hime.”

“Thank you.” She bows while carefully angling herself to cover his cousin from view. Somehow she felt… unsafe with Katsuhide around. “Saburo-sama, pull yourself together. You scared me! I thought something awful was being done to you!”

“I’m sorry. I must be… dreaming awake.” He releases her and turns away.

“You should have ‘that’ covered. I heard your brother; Ujiteru-sama was on his way here to speak with you.” Digesting these words, Saburo scrambles on his feet and fidgets with the wound, unable to really do anything.

So she takes the task upon herself making him all patched up before he came scurrying all over the place like a nervous kitten under threat. Saburo wanted to disappear and fast. He doesn’t need to see anyone in the family in this state, Hanaiin was a given but if he was made to choose he’d rather throw himself out the window than face Ujiteru-ani of all people!

“Hana-san, did you see my brother on your way here?” He asks rummaging through some old clothes. The worst ones he picked were passable for peasant wear and before he had the decency to remember that Hanaiin was still in the room, changes into the ragged kosode.

“Please excuse my leave!” She blushes cherry red and bolts out of the room just catching a glimpse of Saburo’s naked back. Unfortunately, she runs into…

“Ujiteru-sama.”

XxXMOBXxX

“Going out again?”

Saburo drops the bundle of silk and linen at the sound of his aniue’s voice. He stubbornly kept his back on his brother who approached and attempted to turn him around. “Tell me, what is the matter? You have been avoiding me as of late.”

Saburo plants both feet hard on the floor, refusing to budge. The rude silence was getting into Ujiteru’s severely weakened temperance. Why can‘t their youngest realize there was no time for this? The Hojo clan was lulled into a false sense of security until the day before today. While he, Genan-oji and the Sagami no Kami were doing their best to remedy the situation it would be all for nothing if the enemy set their sights on the more vulnerable members of the family. Saburo, Hanaiin, and Genan were likely targets should they leave the premises of the castle. “Saburo, listen to me. It’s very dangerous outside Odawara-jo right now. Stay here.”

His young brother doesn’t seem to hear and continues to shy away from his gaze. They haven’t had eye contact for three days now. In fact, Saburo became withdrawn at the end of the miai’s tea ceremony. It was gradually fraying his nerves into lamentable shreds. Desperate for their old familiarity he extends his fingers and cups that reluctant face.

Pain, confusion, and fear…? Why were such emotions swirling in those cherished amber eyes? “Saburo… why…?”

“It’s nothing… Aniue.” Limp hands rise and weakly slap Ujiteru’s wrists away.

“I left you alone with Ujimasa-ani when you were yourself last. Has something happened? I noticed aniue’s hand was bandaged…” Saburo’s heartbeat speeds up when he realized those knowing eyes were studying him as the acute collector of precious china searching for the smallest crack in the porcelain.

It won’t take him long to find the flaw he so wishes to see. Saburo was not about to let that happen. He eludes that scalding scrutiny, quickly vacating their personal space, and runs for the door. But the Mutsu no Kami has had enough. Being the more experienced warrior, quicker in reflexes and more superior in strength, Ujiteru does nothing short of shamelessly seizing him into an embrace. “You haven’t come of age and yet you already hide things from me.”

Saburo struggles to break free. No! He doesn’t need this! To be smothered with affection was not what he wants right now! “Let go! –Aniue!” He could not possibly know what happened in that room and the worst thing he could do was repeat what that person did before he… he…

Kotarou’s arms wounding around him tight, saving him from immediate threat and then dishonored by sentimental impulses asking him to take his life, a master’s refusal resulting into that… act.

“Why is there a band of gauze around your neck? Are you hurt?”

“You’re hurting me more! Release me!” His hoarse yells were the only plea that gets through.

What was wrong with him? Why was he acting this way? Ujiteru-ani has always loved him beyond condition so what was holding him back? What prevents him from crying out to him?

His elder brother gently puts him down, wounded eyes sorrowfully trained on his rigid shoulders. “I wish to go and celebrate Ume Matsuri³⁸. Please don’t take my freedom for it is the most precious thing I shall lose when I come of age.”

Your safety is more important than your freedom! Ujiteru couldn’t say the words. He merely watches with a hollow expression as his favorite young sibling abandons him.

XxXMOBXxX

“Ah, that’s what you get for spoiling him too much.” His curse was muffled by the sharp rattling noise of the bamboo shutter in the main room. “Did I not tell you that emotion clouds judgment, Ujiteru?”

“Ujimasa-ani,”

“I have sent Fuma Akito to guard him in his place to ease your undue worries. Akito would sooner put our rebellious otouto to sleep and return him here before the enemy lays a finger on his hair.” The Sagami no Kami was not in the mood to leave things hanging by themselves. Someone has to pull the strings and patch up the pieces together. So they were caught by surprise but that doesn’t earn them a definite defeat. He hopes Saburo could learn from his example by being prompt in the strategies of warfare. Long, strenuous planning and over the top preparations were not his style. The more spontaneous a war commander is, the better the chances he could gain a victory.

“The odds are very high against us, Ujimasa. I remember my father, Hojo Ujitsuna, your grandfather recount the tale of Soun-sofu⁴⁰ to me and to your father, Ujiyasu. Is this some mockery of the enemy that they dare use the same method that Soun-sofu used to conquer Odawara?” Genan reminisced, seated in between the distance of his two nephews.

“Chichi-ue⁴¹ retold the same story when I was little, countless times. It was the rise of our family and it was how they established what we now call our home.” The overlord agrees as he arranged the board and its pieces.

Ujimasa has enough time to play shogi while the enemy rally up their forces. He seems to have a sound plan not to be bothered of what lies ahead. Genan has developed a habit to watch and decipher his eldest nephew’s mind at work. “Soun-sofu reportedly allied himself with Hakone Gongen, then ruler of Hakone, which is a strategic place to gain a foothold and seize control over Odawara. What old enemy knew of this same feat but the Uesugi! They made the terrible mistake of leaving tracks to someone old enough to distinguish the shape of their footprints!”

Ujimasa simply laughs at his heated outburst but supports the statement anyway, “Using Hakone as a means to shelter amassed forces, I see. Having the supplies and the distance to breach Odawara won’t become a problem like that in the past. We’re in a tight spot indeed.” He aligns the opposing characters of wood on the board.

“Aniue doesn’t seem to be concerned in the least. I believe he has caused disturbance in the enemy camp, already?” As usual, Ujiteru quickly predicts his moves.

Ujimasa has caused them disquiet not to instill fear but to lure a potential bargaining chip. And through that he shall reap a valuable hostage. Wasn’t it common for distressed rats to call for aid? Unfortunately, that aid shall be their downfall.

“We have snakes in the house and more right outside our doorstep. What do you plan to do, Ujimasa?” Genan quirks a part curious, part challenging brow at him.

“What else? We invoke the spirit of Ume Matsuri and set our jokamachi⁴² on fire.” His answer shocks both Ujiteru and Genan. To deliberately turn Odawara into a giant bonfire: They must think him insane!

“Do not worry; I will issue an order for systematic evacuation, nearest first while the farthest go last.” The Sagami no Kami assured them starting a shadow play of shogi with himself being both player and opponent.

“But who shall set the fire? It’s too dangerous! One mistake and we would end up burning ourselves.” Genan was outraged. He rejects the idea completely.

“Odawara-jo was built to withstand fire. The sea, the walls, and the various layers of moat and ditches will protect us,” was Ujimasa’s calm reply.

Ujiteru was also not at all pleased. “Aniue, I think you’re forgetting something very important here. What of Saburo?”

“Akito shall protect him.”

“You plan to use Saburo as bait? How could you!” Ujiteru loses his composure entirely. This was a completely different matter now. He stands abruptly and was almost ready to initiate a violence that was unheard of him when Genan shouts, “Ujiteru! We are already in peril, now is not the time for the two of you to lunge at each other’s throats!”

Ujimasa rises as well, the shogi forgotten and with an undisputed air of authority in his stance he retorts, “This is the first and last time you shall raise your voice on me in favor of that brat! If I know better, you were the one who caused this family to shatter! Your opposition has caused so much grief on our late father and until this day I haven’t forgiven you for it! You are a lord in your own right; I thought you are wise enough! HAVE YOU NO FAITH IN ME AS THE HEAD OF OUR CLAN?”

“Aniue… I…” The Mutsu no kami was lost for words. Ujiteru drops his gaze to the floor and apologizes. “I know not what has occurred to me. I don’t deserve your grace to be here.”

“Ujiteru, you will not receive my forgiveness today but I ask you to stay and support me. As much as I loathe it, I cannot do this alone.”

A softer countenance was gazing back at him when he dared look up. “Tell me how I can be of use, Aniue.”

Ujimasa secretly reveal his plans to the only trusted ones who are here with him.

XxXMOBXxX

For every memorable event in his life, Saburo finds himself gazing at the sunset in the sandy shores of this bay. As a child he had taken walks here with his parents, played with his brothers, and had thrown temper tantrums when he was being teased. He would always threaten them he’d swim to the depths of the sea and never come back. Of course they never took him seriously until he dived one day for his sandals (Ujimasa has thrown them in the water to annoy him) and when he did not surface it sent all three men in the family (Ujiyasu, Ujimasa and Ujiteru) swimming after him. That was the first time Saburo almost drowned and their late father made sure his eldest son severely punished for it. Maybe that was the beginning of Ujimasa-ani’s long list of grudges against him. He shakes his head and swiftly dismisses the childish thought. His aniue could not be that immature, could he?

This was also the first place he came running to when his mother went away and later died. He grieved in wailing sobs and played the flute from dusk until dawn to ease his sorrow. Kotarou’s ears probably bled that day until he was coaxed to return. Ujiteru-ani arrived looking equally sleep-deprived and weary begging him to come home in time for their mother’s funeral.

Merely a year had passed and it was already his father’s turn to be laid to rest. He came by the same seaside despite heavy rains. He hunched beside a large rock, hugging his knees and cradling his head in between. He shed not a single tear or blew a single note, staring blankly at the raging sea but his heart could never be more broken. As the deluge hammered against the poor excuse of a kosode he was wearing over his scrawny twelve-year-old frame, a cold hand landed on his head at the same time a straw raincoat covered his back.

He looks up at a tall, grim-faced, evenly drenched Kotarou standing passively beside him. Behind them was a battered umbrella poorly shielding its master in the rain. Ujiteru-ani has come to take him home again.

But he probably won’t come for him today. He has rejected his brother’s affection and practically spat on his sincerity. Even a very caring brother would have his limits. And Kotarou… he won’t come for him either. The exceptional shinobi must be tired having an incorrigible brat like him for a master and has committed that assault as a means to abandon him.

He was a hopeless fool who can’t do anything right. No one stays to keep him company for long. Most couldn’t even stand his willful and temperamental personality. And the only ones left who understood him beyond reason was his family. Now that he has disobeyed and turned his back on them…

He was alone.

No one would come for him.

No one…

TBC~

35 – Uesugi Kenshin, obviously so: No, he and Saburo COULD NOT be the same person.

36 – Literally means: fleeing danjyo. Kousaka Masanobu was skilled in retreats that result in lesser casualties and sometimes victories for the Takeda.

37 – Half-demon giant or ogre with human attributes in old Japanese folklore. In this story, Naoe or more formally Nagao Nobutsuna is depicted as a tall man with a proportionate large frame. Hmm… maybe we could compare his body structure to Hiko Seijurou Jusandai of Rurouni Kenshin (^o^) There I go again. (^o^)

39 – Pit Viper-san: Naoe’s venomous code and pet name for Kousaka. *Cackles

40 – Grandfather Soun. Hojo Soun or Ise Sozui, a former vassal of Suruga with loose blood ties with the Taira Clan was the first noted daimyo of the Sengoku Era. His family, the Hojo Clan were the last to fall into the rising power and dictatorship of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

41 – Father

42 – The immediate town surrounding a castle.
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400 Years Apart