64 Twinsies

After Hidemasa had saved her the only thing Harumi wanted was to go home. She was silently crying while Hidemasa's horse galloped back to the castle. She needed all of the strength she had left to try and keep it together. She was so focused on not breaking down she didn't even noticed that when she thought about home she pictured the castle and Nobunaga in her mind. Her legs and hands were still shaking when she got off the horse. She was tired, dirty and hungry. She just wanted to lay in her bed and cry like there was no tomorrow. One bad thing after another kept happening to her and she still had no idea if she would be able to see her family ever again. Hidemasa escorted her inside and there, in the middle of the hallway stood Nobunaga. Harumi felt her knees almost giving out and the tiredness take over. She ran to him and hugged him tightly. She didn't care that he was stand offish the last couple of weeks. She just wanted to feel safe again. Nobunaga closed his arms around her and Harumi could only cry. She hadn't even noticed that Hidemasa was excused by Nobunaga. She wanted to thank him for saving her. Well, she would do that tomorrow.

When she finally was calmed down a bit Nobunaga's hug loosened a bit and he had a puzzled look on his face while he studies hers.

"Lord?" Two of Nobunaga's personal guards asked after a while.

"Yes, you know where to take her." Nobunaga said while he let Harumi go.

"Please, will you come with me?" Harumi asked, eyes still glossy from all the tiers. She didn't want to be alone. She wanted to feel safe in the warm embrace of Nobunaga. This was the first time she had asked him something like this and he was clearly a bit taken aback. Due to his reaction Harumi also began to blush.

"I'll come see you later." Nobunaga said while the two guards escorted Harumi back to her quarters. Or at least that was what she though.

"Where are we going?" She asked when they turned another wrong corner. She had followed the guards up till now without any problem, but the two men were being weird. They hadn't greeted her properly. Not that she minded that, but is was still weird.

"We are sorry, we have our orders." One of the guards apologized while they both grabbed one of her arms and forcefully dragged her along. Harumi was so extremely shocked about what was happening she completely forgot to yell for help. Eventually they arrived at the dungeons and put her in one of the cells.

"What is the meaning of this?" Harumi asked angry when she finally managed to wrap her head around the situation. She grabbed the cold steel bars and looked at the two guards with fury.

"We're sorry, Nobunaga ordered us to bring you here." They said again while bowing and leaving the dungeons. Harumi looked at the backs of the guards flabbergasted. Nobunaga had ordered them to put her here?

"THAT BASTARD!" She screamed while yanking the steel bars in the hopes of them giving out. Screaming in anger she walked circles in the small cell while ballyragging Nobunaga. "That complete idiot?!? What is he thinking? ARGH!" Harumi screamed again while balling her hand into a fist and hitting one of the stone walls hard. Her hand immediately began to throb and on her knuckles were small wounds. In a flash her hand was covered in blood. Due to the pain in her hand she momentarily forgot Nobunaga. She cradled her injured hand in her good hand and sat down on the cold floor. Luckily she still wore Hidemasa's cloak. That protected her a bit from the icy cold in the dungeons.