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Volume 5 Chapter 1 Part 4

(Geez, that irritating Viper. The love between Yoshiharu and me… What the hell is this, just what do you want me to say? Why must I be the only one brooding here alone, AHHHHHH!)

「Nobuna-sama, Nobuna-sama… 」

Inuchiyo tugged at Nobuna’s sleeves.

「……Nobusumi is here. 」

「Ahh, he has been shutting himself in his room ever since he returned from Omi. I guess he finally exploded and came over here to argue with me for marrying him off to a guy for a marriage alliance… 」

「….No, it ooks like he isn’t angry… 」

「Dearu ka. I’m busy eating, but forget it. Let him in. 」

Inuchiyo passed down the order, and a short time later the chief retainers, Shibata Katsuie and Niwa Nagahide brought the cross-dressed Nobusumi into the room.

「Nobuna-sama, Nobusumi is here. As for Monkey, it does not seem he approached Honn-ji temple today. 」

No matter if it’s breasts or courage, Katsuie was the Oda clan’s finest warrior. Ever since certain situations led to Yoshiharu rubbing her breasts and a subsequent scolding by a furious Nobuna, she had filled her heart with thoughts of revenge, vowing 「I must kill Monkey the next time I’ll see him. 」

「Katsuie-dono, you keep mumbling, ‘kill, kill kill’, but even if Sagara-dono wanted to, he can’t get anywhere near Nobuna-sama. 」

On the other side, Niwa Nagahide revealed a normal, calm smile. Like an older sister to Nobuna, she strove in her own soft ways to protect Nobuna and Yoshiharu’s love.

「Ahh, Onee-sama, after I separated from Nagamasa and returned to the Oda clan, I visited the business district and invented a new flavor of takoyaki with Imai Sougyu! 」

Nobusumi sure had a way with opening statements.

「Dearu ka. 」

Surprisingly, this Nobusumi wasn’t acting as she feared. For whatever reason, he didn’t seem to blame her for marrying him off to Nagamasa. A bit of tension seemed to leave Nobuna’s body, unbeknownst to anyone.

(But if that’s the case, then what is he here for?)

Nobuna chewed her carp as she thought.

「We’ve had carp a great deal recently; is the chef in love or something? 」

「Onee-sama, you can relax. I’m here to talk with you as your brother, hahaha. 」

「Talk? Do you plan to say something like ‘It’s not wise to engage both Takeda Shingen and the Azai-Asakura alliance, so it’s better to give up Kyoto instead’?

「No, military stuff is really not my specialty, but I have other things I am good at. 」

「Things you are good at… Um… don’t tell me it’s crossdressing? 」

She tried her best to think of Nobusumi’s good points, but other than crossdressing, Nobuna could not think of anything good about him.

「No, it isn’t that. Didn’t you notice? I want to talk about, ‘love’, Onee-sama, hahaha. 」

「Huh? … Don’t tell me… After Azai Nagamasa did so many embarrassing things to you… Uhh… So pitiful, Kanjuuro. It’s my fault you were married off as a princess and treated in such a way… 」

「It’s not like that, Onee-sama. 」

「Ara, what else could it be then? Anyway, since when do you understand the word love; you only know how to lead your personal squad of girls around and make trouble everywhere. 」

「Onee-sama, this is the result of a great deal of thought on my end. There’s a thing called fate in our lives. This Fate can be divided into timing, luck and people, elements that are normally not as per our wishes. A couple, man and woman meeting, falling in love and getting married, and finally living out their lives to the fullest while protecting each other… In this chaotic Sengoku era, this sort of happiness is really very rare. 」

Katsuie whispered to Nagahide:

「It’s rare to see Nobusumi speak proper things with a serious face, though I have totally no idea what he is talking about. 」

「It seems something happened during his time with the Azai Clan that helped him grow up, 80 points. 」

Nagahide answered

「Kanjuuro? I’m not comfortable with you turning things around like that. Say it in a simpler way so that I could understand you. 」

「Asai Nagamasa and I were married, but in the end, due to the fickle nature of fate, we had to go our separate ways. I think that is unfortunate. 」
「….A riddle… It’s unfortunate that it’s a couple formed by two males, but for some reason he felt lucky? 」

Inuchiyo pondered, her head tilted with a puzzled expression.

「Kanjuuro, what does that mean? Stop beating around the bush and speak your point! 」

Nobuna shouted while her exasperation was reaching its limits.

At this, Nobusumi raised his head suddenly and, blushing bright red, told Nobuna face to face:

But, compared to me, Onee-sama and Monkey-kun are even more unfortunate! 」

Heavy tears began to fall from Nobusumi’s eyes.

「Nagamasa and I were married and lived together for a very short time, so even though our situation is unfortunate now, as long as I recall the past, I can feel the happiness we both felt in that short but delightful time. But Onee-sama and Monkey-kun’s difference in social status is just too great! In this Sengoku era, there is no possible way for the both of you to be joined together! The words that were exchanged between you two during the 「Retreat at Kanegasaki」, I hear them still from the people every day I return to Kyoto! A dying person never lies! As a love specialist, I understand. Onee-sama really loves Monkey-kun as a woman loves a man, and Monkey-kun is holding you more important than anything else. But… but in this Sengoku era, the difference of social status continues to interfere with your love! Even worse is Onee-sama’s troubling personality that will never let you be honest with yourself, even if you sincerely wanted to! No matter how much trouble there is between the two of you, you have broken the promise of the kiss set at Kanegasaki, and you have ignored Monkey-kun’s words. Onee-sama, you have gone too far this time! 」

A former Nobuna would definitely have drawn the sword from Inuchiyo’s side and begun swinging it around in a blind rage at Kanjuuro’s words, but now, Nobusumi’s words had stunned Nobuna in place. Inuchiyo and the rest were shocked speechless as well. Even the normally calm Nagahide was sobbing, forgetting to rate Nobusumi’s action with her usual points.

「Ahh, you guys were so comfortable with each other, yet you can’t be together in the real world. How unfortunate you two are, Onee-sama and Monkey-kun! After listening to what happened at Kanegasaki, I cried so much I forgot about my own tragedy! Compared to you,onee-sama, any person would consider me lucky…. 」

「I…Is…Is that… so…? 」

A minute earlier, if she didn’t scold Kanjuuro, this atmosphere would probably become really bad! Nobuna was anxious, but after seeing Kanjuuro’s teary face and his exhausted look, she couldn’t squeeze any words past the complicated knot of anger, shock and something else in her heart.

In the end, even Inuchiyo and Katsuie were moved by Nobusumi’s words and cried, 「Uhh… Nobuna-sama 」with tears streaming down their faces.

「I-I-I-It-It’s not like that, K-K-Ka-Ka-Kanjuuro, t…t-t-t-totally not. H-H-How can I l…li…li-li-like that human-monkey cross breed? I-I-It-It-It’s just a m… ma-ma-mas-master liking her own p-p-pe-pet, t… th-th-the-there’s a big difference between the two! A…An-An-Any-Anyway, why does it feel like you and Azai Nagamasa love each other? Y…Y-Yo-You’re both guys, right? T…T-That’s just too suspicious! K…K-Ka-Ka-Kanjuurou, as expected, y-yo-yo-you have been t…tr-tr-tra-trained by Azai Nagamasa, right? 」

「It’s not like this, Onee-sama! I’m serious. Though I was fooling around a lot in the past, now I know the mistakes tha I have committed! The rarest and most precious thing in this world is love. I can finally say I understand this! 」

Nobusumi stood up, crying.

「In this era when we don’t know if the we will live to see the next moment, and especially during this time with enemies at every side, this can’t go on,Onee-sama! If you don’t kiss with Monkey-kun, yoyu will definitely regret it for the rest of your life. Hurry and head out now! 」

Nobuna could make no reply to that.

「Nobusumi-dono’s advice… full marks! 」

Nagahide finally managed to calm down, and, ending Katsuie’s sobbing with a motion from her hand, she stood up as well.

「If we continue delaying Sagara-dono’s reward, we will tarnish the reputation of the Oda clan. Please go see Sagara-dono right now, Nobuna-sama! 」

「…Inuchiyo will help too. 」

Inuchiyo, taking her bamboo sword, grabbed Nobuna on one side as Nagahide grabbed the other, leaving Nobuna barely enough time to cry out:「Eh, wait! 」as they carried her out.