chess and poetry

After that one day Harumi was allowed to return to her own quarters. She wouldn't try to run away again. She honestly couldn't care less if it would bring dishonor to Nobunaga's name if she left but he was right about the other thing. She had no idea how it was outside the castle. She still had no idea where in Japan she was at the moment since all the names in modern times were different. She had no idea how life was for normal people in this era and just like he said, she probably wouldn't last long. But she couldn't just give up! There had to be a way for her to find the real Nohime. She just needed more time to come up with a better plan.

"Please enlighten me as to why Katsuro Honzo is in a cell, apparently on your orders?" Nobunaga asked while they played some sort of chess game.

"Didn't Niwa Nagahide-sama tell you?" Harumi asked to evade the question. She was still mad at him for locking her up and basically telling her she couldn't make a move without asking him fist.

"He did tell me something, I just want to verify it with you." He said calmly while placing a piece.

"Fine." Harumi said while gritting her teeth. "By accident I found that there was something wrong with the finances of the castle. After some investigation I found the culprit. I locked him up and left him there for you to deal with him." She slammed one of her pieces on the board. "Check mate. I'm going to sleep and don't bother with sleeping here." She finished the conversation coldly.

"See to it that Nobunaga leaves after he recovered from his loss." She instructed Masa-kun. From day one she hadn't used honorifics for Nobunaga. Something that irritated him. She could see that in his eyes, all the more fun to keep doing it. Swiftly she continued to walk to her bedroom closely followed bij Lin-chan and Rike-chan to help her get ready for the night.

Nobunaga has gotten her message. He didn't bother showing up for the next few days. Something that didn't bother Harumi at all. She was so done with that man. She hoped he would just get swallowed by the earth so she would never have to see him again. He had placed guard at the entry of her quarters and doubled the the guards that made rounds within the garden just so she would never have an opportunity to sneak away. The guards even accompanied her while she went to the library or when she went out for a stroll in the garden with her maids.

"Nohime..." Lin-chan asked carefully. Harumi laid lazily in the door opening to the garden. Every time a guard walked by she waved at them. They all ignored her.

"You have a invitation for a poetry reading..." Lin-chan continued.

"Who send it?" Was the only thing Harumi asked.

"Lord Nobunaga-sama." Lin-chan answered with a small voice.

"Decline it." Harumi said while inspecting her nails.

"Nohime, I'm not so sure if you can decline it..." Lin-chan tried again.

"There is no way that I can be certain that this came from my dear husband and since I don't have to answer to anyone but him I can, and will, decline." After her statement Lin-chan took the letter away. Not then minutes later there was a guard asking for her attendance. She told him the same thing as she did Lin-chan moment ago and so the guard left as well. Surely he would get the message, right? Wrong. Within another twenty minutes a very pissed Nobunaga rushed into the room. Now she couldn't use the same thing a third time since this was Nobunaga himself.

"But I haven't done my hair or make-up, it will take hours before I'm ready." She said in a sweet voice, feigning ignorance.

"Your natural beauty is all that you need." Nobunaga recovered smoothly. He offered her his arm which she reluctantly held on to while he led her to the room where a poetry reading was going on.

To Harumi's surprise the room was full of Nobunaga's highest ranking warlords and most trusted advisers. She knew a few like Hideyoshi, Hidemasa and Nagahide. But most of the men she didn't know. They all bowed their heads respectfully for her and Nobunaga. She did the same while Nobunaga ushered her to her place. She sat on a pillow directly at Nobunaga's right. Something that apparently was a big deal. Harumi thought Nobunaga probably only did that so he could keep her in check. She looked around the room but didn't see a poetry reader or musicians or anything. Her face went pale when she understood that it wasn't a poetry reading but a poetry slam! She had to come up with something. She had always been terribly at poetry, even her little poems for secret santa sucked every year. After someone was done with their poem everybody clapped in unison. The list of people who went before Harumi became shorter and shorter. She had no idea what see could say when it was her turn. Then an idea popped up in her head. She was in a completely different time. They could never know any pop songs or something like that.

When it was Harumi's turn she cleared her throat and began reciting the lyrics of a BTS song;

"I miss you

Saying it like this makes me miss you more

Even when I'm looking at your picture

I miss you

Time is too cruel

I detest ourselves

Seeing each other's faces even once

Has become difficult for us now

It's nothing but winter here

Winter comes even in August

My heart runs on time

Alone on a train in snow country* that's left behind

I want to go the other side of the earth

Holding your hand

And end winter

How much longing

Should fall like snow till the spring day comes

Friend

If I were snow that is drifting

In the empty air

Like tiny dust

Like tiny dust

I'd be able to reach you

A little faster

Snowflakes are falling

I'm getting further away little by little again

I miss you, I miss you

I miss you, I miss you

How long must I wait

How many more nights must I stay up

So that I'll be able to see you, able to see you

So that I'll be able to meet you, able to meet you

Passing by the end of a cold winter,

Until the spring day comes again

Until flowers bloom

Please stay at that place for a bit longer

Please stay there

Is it you who changed

Is it you who changed

Or is it I who changed

I who changed

I even loathe the time that's passing at this moment

We're the ones who've changed I guess

Everyone is like that I guess

Yes, I detest you

You left but I couldn't forget you

Even for a day

Honestly I miss you

But now, I will forget about you

That will be less painful

Than resenting you

I try to blow away the you who makes me feel cold inside

Like smoke, like white smoke

I say that I'll erase you

But honestly, I can't let you go yet

Snowflakes are falling

I'm getting further away little by little again

I miss you, I miss you

I miss you, I miss you,

How long must I wait

How many more nights must I stay up

So that I'll be able to see you, able to see you

So that I'll be able to meet you, able to meet you

You know it all

You're my best friend

Mornings will come back

Because no darkness, no season

Can be forever

It looks like cherry blossoms are blooming

This winter's also ending

I miss you, I miss you

I miss you, I miss you,

If you wait for just a little

If you just stay up a few more nights

I'll come to meet you, I'll come to meet you

I'll come pick you up, I'll come pick you up

Passing by the end of a cold winter,

Until the spring day comes again

Until flowers bloom

Please stay at that place for a bit longer

Please stay there"

All the men were so flabbergasted with the length of her 'poetry' that they didn't even notice some of the things that would be impossible for them to know like a train.