It was a night of celebration for the Niwa army as they raised glasses in the name of their victory, and toasted for future victories to come. It was inevitable that they got drunk – perhaps too drunk. Even Gengyo took a sip of the liquor as he joined in the festivities.
"Come on lad, let's have a chat."
Nakatane steered him towards his tent by his shoulders, as Gengyo insisted that he wasn't drunk.
They pushed the flap of cloth - that made up the entrance - aside, revealing a table drenched in coin.
"This is…?"
Gengyo asked, pointing toward it.
"Correct. The coin that Imagawa gave us."
"I counted it, and it came to 323 gold pieces."
Jikouji added, sitting on a chair by the candlelight in the corner, sipping on a glass full of sake. He wore a contented smile on his face, like a cat that had eaten its fill, and was now bathing in the warm sunlight that flitted through the window.
"Hoh… a generous amount."
He commented.
"It is. It certainly is."
Nakatane nodded twice, agreeing wholeheartedly. It was an amount that had fallen into their hands so easily, compared to what they had gleaned from Toda after sacrificing up many lives.
"But it is not an amount that I can take. Not myself. We would not have had such a victory if it wasn't for you."
"Niwa-san… we've been through this, I'm your retainer."
"Exactly. You're my retainer. And you should be rewarded as such."
He slid a preallocated amount of coin across the table with his hands, bringing it towards them.
"150 gold coins."
"But Niwa-"
"Take it. If we are to serve together for a long time – as I hope we will – we should do things fairly. You may not think you require a reward now, but in time you would. Take it now, and use it however you wish."
Gengyo bit his lip. He really disliked the idea of taking money from Nakatane. It was not something he felt he deserved. He wanted to at least repay the debt he owed to the man. But in this matter, he seemingly had no choice, so he took it within his palm, and slipped it into a large leather coin pouch, before burying it firmly within his kimono. He planned on sharing it with the men later, but as of now, they were much too drunk to be trusted with money.
"Good lad. Now go and enjoy the rest of the celebrations."
Nakatane looked satisfied as he gestured toward the door, as did Jikouji. It was a relief to them being able to reward the young lad what they thought he deserved. To be right, he deserved even more, but they knew if they gave him more than they took for themselves, then he was have refused even more vehemently.
Once more the young man rejoined the lively party, that was so loud it threatened to disturb the sleep of the other, less successful units. But no one dared to come over to chastise them. They were wary of Imagawa's parting comment. No one quite knew where the Niwa army stood in the eyes of the Daimyo, so they proceeded cautiously.
"Ayyyy! Look who's back fellas!"
Rokkaku called out, threading his around Gengyo's shoulders as he called out to the rest of the men, still drinking avidly from the bottle in his hands.
"Awahhh!!! It's the boss! Hahaha, come and get more drink Miura-san!"
Some of the men called in response, their voices attempting to break through the roar of drunken singing as Kitajo played a drum with an intense look of concentration on his face. He appeared to be more of the brooding drunk type.
The new recruits were as much a part of the celebrations as the older ones, as the big Sasaki was engaged in a wrestling match with Morohira as the rest bet on the outcome with coin flying everywhere. The difference in size between the two was vast, but as Morohira had proved time and time again, his strength was not to be underestimated, and if anything, he was even better unarmed than he was armed, and Sasaki was having a rather hard time.
Togashi looked to be enjoying himself as well. Gengyo had noted as they had battled, the man had stayed close to him, like some unofficial guard. He was grateful for the loyalty the man demonstrated, but worried that he might be approaching things too seriously, as to make it difficult to fit in with the rest of the men.
But he needn't have worried, as he and Niiro were sat on a log together, swaying in time with the song as they sung with all their hearts.
"There once was a maid from by the gulllllleyyyyy…"
"Mannnyyyy a man's heart sheeee did sulllyyyyy…"
"But whennnn I caught sighhhht of herrrr beinggg bulllieeedddd…"
"I took the chance toooo proveee I wassss moreeee thannn oneeee bigggg bellieddd mannnn… As I stooodddd besideee herrrr and beatttt themmm bloodddyyy withhhh a pannnn..."
Gengyo – who was a little less drunk than the rest – watched with great amus.e.m.e.nt what havoc the liquor was causing to their behaviour.
He caught Masaatsu sitting in between Aritada and Yoritomo, as the three of them argued fiercely – albeit drunkenly – of what sword technique was superior. It was amusing that even when victory had been taken, and though they had been given the chance to relax, the thing still foremost on their minds was the sword. It was rare to find such dedication, and also a little surprising for Gengyo to see his brother so engaged in it. He had not realised he shared the two boy's fondness for the sword.
A great bonfire raged in the centre of their circle of partying. It was beautiful to see that even with the liquor running through their veins, the men retained their sense of honour, and there were no serious altercations, only good-natured scuffles. It was a very healthy form of partying, motivated by the need to celebrate, rather than to escape.
Food was ever-present, as one of the new recruits was taking his job very seriously. In one of the past conversations he had shared with his leader, he had found out that the man was once a chief to one of the samurai households in the area. But had quit, after growing tired of the monotony of the kitchen.
After quitting he had not lost any of skills, as Gengyo sampled some of the roast chicken that had been left – still hot – on a table, waiting for them to be eaten.
"Delicious!"
He shouted, a little influenced by the alcohol.
"Thanks boss!"
The man called out in return.
"Ay! Boss? Wanna wrestle?"
Rokkaku asked, as he and a group of other's gathered round their leader to share more food and more liquor. The suggestion was met with numerous roars of approval from the rest of the men, as they called for their leader to demonstrate his skill in the art of unarmed combat.
"Go on boss! Wrestle!"
He had initially thought of refusing, not wishing to embarrass himself in front of the men he would lead, but by now the attention of the rest of the unit had been attracted, and even Morohira came over, having won his bout with a now bruised up Sasaki.
"Go on son! Show them how the Miura's fight!"
"FIGHT!"
Niiro bellowed, extremely drunk, before he had Togashi shared a look and burst out laughing.
The young man raised a hand, as a circle formed around them, with other's calling for the bout. They had not seen their leader wrestle with anyone. Even duels were a rarity, so they were genuinely excited to see how he would handle the colossal Rokkaku, who only stood slightly smaller than Sasaki.
"Fine! Rokkaku! LET'S WRESTLE!"
"WOOOOO! LET'S GET IT!"
Rokkaku roared, pumped. They all knew their boss to be a brilliant man, but he thought, in this at least, he could best him.
The rules would be that of sumo, as all wrestling bouts tended to be. If any part of their body – apart from their feet – touched the floor, then it was a point to the opponent. Or if they got pushed outside of the circle, they would also concede a point.
The two faced off against each other, swaying slightly from the liquor.
They quickly assumed the grappling position, with their hands on each other's shoulder's fighting to get on the outside, so that they could control the movements.
In raw strength, Rokkaku was years ahead of his young leader, but wrestling – especially competitive wrestling – was more a chess match than it was a display of raw power, more so if your opponent would not allow you to engage in raw power.
Rokkaku lowered himself, and used his body weight to push the lighter man forward. With his hands still on the tall man's shoulders, he pulled the left shoulder more towards him, forcing the bigger man to take a larger step with his lead leg.
In that instance, he slipped from his grasp, lowering himself so that he was almost parallel to the floor, and extremely low. With that, he exploded, throwing himself at the knee, ruining his balance, and sending him crashing to the floor.
"OHHHHHHHHH! THE BOSS HAS GOT MOVES MAN!"
Yoritomo shouted above the noise of the cheering crowd. It was a very basic wrestling technique, but the execution was perfect.
"You slippery bastard!"
Rokkaku shouted, roaring with laughter as he lay sprawled out on the floor.
"But this next point is mine!"
He went in, feigning that he would resume the grappling position, but instead, he went low, and captured the young man's legs, leaning backwards and tossing him over shoulder as though he weighed as little as a bag of flour.
Gengyo landed heavily, and the wind was forced out of his lungs. But he also could not help chuckling. It had been a while since he had engaged in wrestling of any sort, and he had forgotten how adrenaline-filled it could be.
"Good!"
He shouted, dusting his clothes off.
"Rokkaku, what points are we aiming for?"
"Mmm… Best of three! It all comes down to this one boss!"
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
They prowled around each other, waiting to counter their opponent's next move.
Rokkaku tried again to get in low, but this time Gengyo was prepared for it, and countered by going even lower, as they resumed a grappling position attempting to push each other out of the ring.
Rokkaku managed to secure the outside position with his arms, but the younger man had let him do so, as he reached for his neck, attempting to control his head. The goal was achieved and he forced the head downwards.
The bigger man forced his head back up immediately, but in the instance where he had lost sight, the younger man had moved, and gotten extremely low, driving forwards at an impressive speed, and securing both knees with his hands.
There was no chance of him remaining standing after such an attack to his weak point, and he fell heavily to the floor, laughing all the while.
"WOHHH!! THE BOSS ACTUALLY WON!"
The men cheered all the more. Even Rokkaku did. They were not in it simply for the victory, but to enjoy the thrill of the contest. Gengyo raised his hand up, accepting the cheers, before he helped Rokkaku to his feet, and raised his hand up as well.
The cheering increased, as Rokkaku accepted his loss without complaint, impressed by the young man's technique.
"You're so slippery, boss! So damn slippery! But good fight!"
"Aye big man, good fight!"
He returned the praise, having genuinely enjoyed it. And so that brought an end to the night of celebration for the Niwa army, and they each began to drift towards their tents, catching some sleep in preparation for the next task that was bound to come their way.
//Author's Note
A little more relaxed chapter - the men have to have some fun now and then. Hope you enjoyed c: