“What news do you have of the Yashiro? How are they faring against the Wada?” Mitsuhide settled comfortably into his chair, looking at Saika expectantly. After visiting Bitou Noboru she had informed the Kuroda daimyo of all she had learnt, and send out spies to uncover the state of affairs elsewhere while they prepared for their own attack.

“Not so well, my lord. I’ve received word they’ve taken multiple losses and have yet to breach the castle walls.”

“Excellent.” Mitsuhide smiled, clearly the news he had been hoping for. “A smart man would have waited for the right opportunity to attack, especially such a well-fortified castle as that.”

“My sources tell me they were also surprised by a nurikabe, supposedly under the employ of the Wada.”

“A nurikabe?!” Mitsuhide’s eyes opened in shock, his distaste for yokai clear once more. “You mean they… how?!”

Saika shook her head. “I don’t know, my lord. If you listen to the rumours, some say Kuniaki’s daughter has a certain way with the powers of darkness.”

“A way with the powers of darkness… what does that even mean? Nonsense, pure nonsense…” The daimyo shuddered and took a sip from his cup. Sake, not tea. A long sip. “On that note, did you deal with our little… uh…. cat problem?”

“The bakeneko, my lord?”

“Yes, that thing.”

Saika had looked into it, for what it was worth. Mihara Naoto’s wife, Sachiko, had been accused of being a bakeneko, but she had found zero evidence of it. On the contrary, she was one of the most normal, dutiful, and filial wives she had ever seen. Which was likely the problem, as she was also extremely attractive. Saika couldn’t place who exactly had started the rumours, but she had her suspicions about another of the Kuroda vassals, a certain Yamada Ichiro, a man who had been making far too blatant advances on her for years now.

“I’ve found no evidence that she is what she’s been accused of. I dare say the rumour was simply begun by a jealous suitor, my lord.” No point in mincing words.

“Hmph. Well, that’s good I suppose. Now I don’t have to kill their entire family. That would be a terrible loss.”

Saika could feel the pity in his voice from across the table. A knock at the door drew their attention.

“What?!” Mitsuhide yelled gruffly. The sake was beginning to warm his face.

“The Bitou have arrived, my lord. I have with me the young lord Kenichi.”

Kenichi? Bitou Kenichi was Noboru’s eldest son, but the boy was only 12 years old. If he were here, then that meant…

“Let him in!”

The door opened and a young boy walked in. He bowed deeply.

“Kuroda-sama, it is an honour and a pleasure to greet you in the place of my father. He has taken ill and sadly could not make the trip, but he hopes that I will suffice in his stead.”

The boy was tall, and his shoulders just beginning to widen. His face was that of a child, however, and it was difficult to see him as anything but. A child entering a man’s world.

“Come, my boy, sit, have a drink, you must be exhausted.” Mitsuhide gestured to the spot next to him at the table. “And call me Mitsuhide.” The grin was almost lecherous. Mitsuhide himself poured a cup of sake and handed it to the boy, who nodded his head gratefully in thanks.

“This is a gift from my father,” the boy bowed his head deeply and held out a finely carved bottle of sake. “One of our family’s finest brews, my father hopes you will accept this and continue to look favourably upon us.”

Mitsuhide took the bottle and smiled. “Thank you very much, and I’m truly sorry to hear about your father. I had very much been looking forward to catching up with him.” He almost seemed sincere. Almost. “But I’m also very pleased to see you. How long has it been, my boy?”

Kenichi put the cup down on the table. “Over a year, sir.”

“Over a year… ah yes, since that terrible ordeal with your sister.”

“Yes, sir…”

“And I told you, call me Mitsuhide! No need for such formalities between close friends!”

“Yes… Mitsuhide.”

The boy looked at Saika. She nodded slightly. He looked so much like his father. In younger, stronger days.

“So your father has sent you to join me on this campaign in his stead. He must have a lot of faith in your abilities, son.”

The boy gave a shy smile and nod. “I’ve had a lot of practice in sword fighting and horse riding, sir, but this is my first real battle.”

“Your first real battle!” Mitsuhide smiled and pretended to look shocked at Saika. “Well, what do you know? I’m honoured that your first time will be with me. You only get one first time, you know. But that’s okay, between you and me, it’s all uphill after that.” Mitsuhide leant close to the boy and winked. Saika did her best to bite her tongue.

“And I tell you what,” Mitsuhide continued, relaxing back in his chair and taking another sip of his sake, “if you do well with me on this campaign I’ll do my best to support your claim to the Bitou clan. As one man to another.”

There it was. Mitsuhide was already planning two steps ahead.

The boy looked confused. “My… claim? I’m sorry, I don’t-”

“Yes. You are Noboru’s eldest son, unless I’m mistaken?”

“Yes, but-”

“I know, your sister. But where is your sister? How do we know she’s even still alive? Your father needs an heir, an heir that’s here and ready to take over and provide strong leadership for your clan. I’m just saying, I’m willing to support you in this. You won’t get much better backing than the entire weight of the Kuroda.”

Impressive, but also not unexpected. Noboru likely didn’t have much longer, and with his heir still a hostage of another clan they could use her to their advantage and move in. But if Mitsuhide set up his own heir, one he could easily manipulate, the Bitou people and lands would essentially become his to do with as he pleased.

“I… I don’t know what to say.” If he were anything like his father, Kenichi would grow up to be a physically strong and imposing man, but as of right now he was simply a scared, 12 year old boy, trying to do what he thought was right.

“‘Thank you,’ would suffice.” Mitsuhide smiled that awful smile again.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Mitsuhide.”

“Sorry, thank you, Mitsuhide.”

“Saika! Take the boy to a guest room and see that he settles in, would you? We’re leaving in the morning, I want the boy well and rested. You must be tired after your travels.”

Saika stood up and Kenichi followed suit, bowing to Mitsuhide and following Saika out of the room. The sound of another sake bottle being opened followed them into the hall.

“How is your father doing?” Saika asked as she lead him to one of several guest rooms in the residence.

“Not so well, ma’am. Lately he’s been too weak to even get out of bed.”

Noboru had seemed under the weather when Saika last saw him, but such a dramatic turn in his health didn’t bode well.

“Kuroda-sama called you Saika? Kage Saika?”

She looked down at the boy. “Yes?”

The boy pulled something out of his pocket, a tiny bag with a beautiful ribbon around the top. “Father told me that if I were to see you to give you this.”

It was Saika’s turn to be surprised. “What… why?”

The boy shrugged. “I don’t know, ma’am. He just said to give it to you because he didn’t think he’d have the chance to himself, and to tell you that he hopes you find what you’re looking for.”

Saika opened the bag. A small pearl dropped into her palm, indescribably beautiful. It sparkled and shone so brightly she could almost see her own reflection in it. But beyond the beauty it was the meaning behind it that caused her heart to skip a beat. It was a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long, long time. The feeling that, for once, she had been the one found out and not the other way around.

She stopped before the door of one of the guest rooms, feeling choked up. She opened the door and let the boy in.

“Thank you,” she said, trying not to bite her lip. “Truly, thank you.”

The boy nodded and turned to leave.

“Be careful,” Saika warned him. He turned back to look at her. “Just… be careful.”

“Thank you,” he replied in turn, giving her a smile. He really was his father’s double. Saika returned the smile and softly closed the door, grasping the pearl tightly in her hand.