"Nothing to say? Mm… Shall I tell you what I think, then?" Shingen rose from his seat, drawing his katana, prowling the length of the table, heading towards them. They looked towards him fearfully, before one of them dared to venture a response.
"We thought you might be interested in the information we have, Lord! Everyone knows you've been eyeing Suruga! Through Mikawa and then Totomi, you'll be able to force Ujizane to give you Suruga as well, all whilst maintaining your honour and that of the alliance!"
"Hoh…" Shingen's advancement was paused, as he considered what the man had said. "Interesting. But wrong." Another step forward he took. "I do not care what the other Lords think of me. Nor of honour. I take what is mine, regardless of whether betrayal is required or not. Only my own men have my loyalty. No other clan ever will."
"Then why…?"
"Because it was not the right time. Yoshimoto was a bumbling fool, but he was backed by an army. There was Yoshinobu as well – my son – he would have caused problems. No, it was not the right time. With Uesugi Kenshin, I could not afford to weaken myself." Another step forward.
"This temperament of mine is well known. You servants of Imagawa will have known, that given the slightest bit of weakness, I would have rolled through and took your lands for myself. Now, I ask again, why did you choose me over Nobunaga?"
They truly could not answer this time. There was no answer to be found. And he was only growing closer still. They cowered back towards the wall, and the messengers removed themselves, not wishing to get involved in any bloodshed.
"I'll tell you. Nobunaga values loyalty, and honour, he would not take you in. You took your chances with me, because you feared Nobunaga more than you feared me. Am I wrong?"
He raised his sword above his head.
"N-no, Lord! Please! That's not true!"
"YOU FEAR A PUP MORE THAN THE TIGER OF KAI? FOOLS IT IS THEN!" He brought his sword down without mercy, cleaving through the first man's shoulder, severing his hold on this world with but a single swing. He barely blinked as blood coated his face. Nor did his generals. The messengers had already fled down the corridor in fear, and the maids made sure to be well out of the way.
They were overwhelmed by their fear, and their bladders loosened. The remaining men held up their arms uselessly in an attempt to defend themselves. This wasn't what they had expected. They thought they could conserve their lives and position by switching sides before everything went to hell. And yet leaving their fate in the hands of Shingen, they had forfeited both.
He cut them down, one after the other, ignoring their pleas. He showed no remorse, nor emotion as he beheld the five corpses in front of him. Their blood soaked into the tatami, and seeped through the paper walls. His armour too was covered in it. He flicked the sticky liquid away from his sword, before sheathing it, and slowly making his way back to the head of the table.
He finished the remnants of his tea with a swift movement, before turning to the others, who maintained the same stoic expressions as before, firmly supporting their Lord's decision. It was his ruthless unpredictability that made him so frightening and so successful. They had learned to accept it long before they came into the positions that they held.
"Now… Onto more important news. You have all heard of this Miura Tadakata by now, I presume?" He asked, holding out his cup for one of the serving women to refill. Strong men were brought in, and the corpses were lifted out, as quietly as possibly, entirely ignored by every man at the meeting.
"We have, my Lord." One of his generals – an older man – replied.
"Very good. We will lure him onto the field, and we will take Mikawa. If at all possible, I wish to conserve his life, and claim his fealty. He has a history of overcoming forces far greater than his own, and so we will take away his wants of doing anything too creative by forcing him to fight in our domain – the plains."
"Will we gather all our forces, Lord?"
"We will. We will strike quickly, and return before Uesugi can take advantage of our absence. We will need every man to defeat this Miura Tadakata – he has shown that he is not to be underestimated. Twenty thousand men – that number should be enough to end his successes."
The maids came in quietly, and began to mop up the blood, before cutting up the tatami, and replacing it. They operated without complaint, nor disgust, quite used to their Lord's outbursts, and his habit of killing a man in the most inconvenient of locations.
…
…
Elsewhere, back in Mikawa, Gengyo was yawning lazily, his feet up as he leaned back onto the feather bed, enjoying its luxury to the maximum. The polar opposite of Shingen. Confronting difficulty with a smile and light heartedness. Blessed by the warrior temple that sat in the Takeda's own lands.
"Oh… Honestly." Seeing him lie lazily like that, with his kimono half open, Akiko could not help but sigh. "You're so hopeless at times. Everyone is so busy, and you're here with that kind of smile on your face."
"I'm practising being a Daimyo." He asserted seriously, placing a gr.a.p.e onto the end of his foot, and flicking it towards his mouth. He parted his lips wide, moving in an attempt to line up the trajectories. Too short. It bounced off his chin and rolled to the floor. "Damn. I'll get it soon."
There was a small collection of gr.a.p.es collecting on the floor, and barefoot as she was, she feared stepping on them, and having them clinging to her feet in a disgusting mushy mess.
"Do you not want something proper to eat, at least?" She attempted to motivate him up out of bed, unsure whether his bout of inactivity was because he was in the midst of scheming something, or whether he had truly succ.u.mbed to laziness. Either way she was sure that getting him up and moving could only prove to be beneficial.
"You look even more beautiful than normal today." He stated with another carefree smile, leading the conversation in a different direction. He was not wrong in his claim, either. With the kimonos of the court, and the many servants, she was able to maintain the very image of the Daimyo's wife.
Even Rin was forced to look more presentable, and less boyish. With her hair tied back, and dressing as a woman might – rather than in full armour – her true beauty had been revealed. Of course, Gengyo had not yet left the room to bear witness to it.
She passed him, picking up the gr.a.p.es from the floor one by one, shaking her head, attempting to ignore his comment, knowing for what purpose he voiced it. Honest or not, it did not stop that warm feeling that rose up in her chest.
He grabbed her hand as she passed, and pulled her towards him. With a yelp, she dropped all the gr.a.p.es once more, ending up on top of him.
"Tadakata…" She complained.
He rolled over, pinning her down instead, his face playful like that of a child. "Let's stay in bed today. We deserve it, don't we?" He kissed her neck, trying to tempt her into inactivity, just like him.
But Akiko was firm of heart, and though amused by his antics, she was not entirely convinced by them, and she pushed him off just as easily, rising to her feet once more, bringing up a more important piece of news. "Matsudaira was as good as his word. His army is on the move, and is growing by the day. He's visiting all the towns and villages on his side of the province, gathering whatever men he can. Tadakata, it's our turn now. We have to meet the Takeda with every man with have available."
"Guh…" He groaned, sitting up, reaching for another gr.a.p.e, munching it grumpily, looking forward to a time where he did not have to face impossible odds every other day. It was tiring on the mind. "What of… my letter? The one I wrote for Oda. Has it been delivered yet?"
"A messenger was sent out with two of our fastest horses this morning, don't worry. Do you really think that he'll join us, though?"
Gengyo shrugged, before standing up from the bed, and stretching lightly. "I don't know. We'll see."
"You'll come to dinner then? And we'll start preparing for departure?" Akiko asked, pleased to see him standing once more.
"Aye…" He agreed reluctantly, planning to laze around a little more, only to have his hand seized by her, as he was dragged out of the room.