Beyond Time, Living In Sengoku

(What was that?)

I was thinking about the previous night"s kiss. The unexpected action upset me and I left immediately, but drinking alcohol had no effect and I couldn"t sleep a wink.

That was my first kiss. While I lived in the Reiwa era, I was in a romantic relationship with Kobashi Kouichi, a high school cla.s.smate and childhood friend, but I could barely hold hands with him.

Betraying Kouichi, who was back in my original time, was painful, but the freshness of the first experience was impressive.

I placed my hand on my heart as I lied in the futon, and sighed many times before dawn came. There was also another reason for sighing, and that was the thought of the hara.s.sment I would receive from Shiho and the other maids for having had someone else prepare the sake for me and n.o.bunaga.

(It"s no use thinking about it.)

I didn"t leave the futon until morning.

After cleaning the bath, I headed to the kitchen area. Early mornings were busy. Steam rose from the four stoves, and the sound of the knife hitting the cutting board resounded all around.

I wasn"t late for work, but that day all the other maids were already there, working together.

"Good morning."

It was usual to receive no response to my greeting, and wasn"t surprised. However, at a glance, I could see that the atmosphere was different than usual. Shiho was cutting vegetables, preparing miso soup. I stopped next to her and apologized for the previous night, but she ignored me, talking to the other maids as if I wasn"t even there.

The other maids did the same, and not even looked at me. Above all, Yuu, a maid who had been with n.o.bunaga until I came, was working with purpose, making loud noises both when placing objects and when opening and closing doors.

I was able to get out of that oppressive situation once breakfast was ready, and I brought it to n.o.bunaga"s room.

"Excuse me."

I pulled open the door and went inside, finding no sign of n.o.bunaga. I was a little relieved. While waiting for him to come out of the bath, I went out to the garden behind the living room and spent time taking care of the weeds. The work of the garden was not one I had to do, but I was reluctant to return to the kitchen, and decided to kill time there.

"You"re a face I haven"t seen before."

An elderly man came from the back of the garden.

He had a masculine face and an aura of being an understanding man. I immediately felt drawn to him.

"My name is Aoi."

I immediately stood up and bowed deeply.

"Are you the new maid who came to serve Saburo?"

"Yes, I am."

Saburo was n.o.bunaga"s pseudonym. At that time, samurai didn"t use their full names, using pseudonyms instead.

"My son was happy that an interesting woman had arrived."

"Son?"

Nodding, Oda n.o.bunaga"s father, Oda n.o.buhide, sat on the veranda.

"He called me interesting?"

"Yes. He said, ‘Aoi"."

"I see… I"m going to take care of him properly…”

"There"s nothing to worry about. Saburo is a bright man, but he"s a little fussy, isn"t it bothersome?"

"No, that"s the way he is."

"He"s an earnest man. Right now, that guy is running around town being a fool together with Inuchiyo, but he never fails to train daily. Ah, I can see he"s training harder than anybody else. He"s got a kind heart, too, and his kindness makes him believe in people easily. But samurai also need to be a little cold-hearted. That"s it."

n.o.buhide urged me to sit next to him, facing him, and raised his index finger to face level.

"That guy has one big flaw."

"A flaw, you say."

"He is a man of few words. Don"t you think so?"

"Ah…ha."

"He doesn"t bother to explain what he"s thinking, but expects to be understood. That can cause misunderstandings. I"m worried about it."

"I see."

Indeed, n.o.bunaga was a man with few words. These days, he often hangs out with his friends, and he often laughs and enjoys playing. However, when it comes to serious matters, the number of words decreases extremely. Because he gives only the gists, the listener is desperate to understand his true intentions.

The morning was over.

As me and n.o.buhide gazed at the white sky, n.o.bunaga came back from his bath.

"Father."

At n.o.bunaga"s voice, n.o.buhide turned around. Surprised by n.o.bunaga"s voice, I stood up immediately.

"You took a long bath. The breakfast is completely cooled down now."

With that said, n.o.buhide looked at the table set in the center of the living room.

"The food is good. I"m not hungry, so it can be cleaned out."

"Yes."

I went to enter the living room, but n.o.buhide stopped me.

"Well, you don"t have to hurry so much. Or is it something else you have to do?"

"It"s like that."

After the bath, my free time will last for a while. However, staying there and chatting with him where Shiho and the others could see me, and after what happened the night before, I couldn"t even look at n.o.bunaga in the eyes.

I was told to sit down again, so I sat down, but I put my hands together on my knees and turned around.

"Aoi has long eyelashes. Saburo, don"t you think so?”

As n.o.buhide said, my eyes that are looking down are adorned by long eyelashes.

n.o.bunaga did not answer anything. He"s sitting so that I was in between them, and he is playing with the handle of his wakizashi with his right hand.

"So, Aoi."

n.o.buhide patted his knee lightly.

"Would you like to watch over the Oda family and Oda n.o.bunaga for many years to come?"

n.o.buhide said so, and silently looking up at the sky. The thin clouds were dissipating, and the blue sky was spreading.

Perhaps because of all the battles, n.o.buhide"s profile looked rugged and mournful.

Notes:
Inuchiyo was Maeda Toshiie"s childhood name.