when shit hits the fan

Harumi was working in Nobunaga's office. It wasn't forbidden for males to enter het quarters but still, many didn't date to enter. Afraid of Nobunaga wart. And she didn't have a proper office in her quarters. So this was much easier. She had been reading various documents for the whole morning and her back was sore. Rike-chan poured her another cup of tea while she stretched her sore muscles. As Nobunaga had predicted, it wasn't a hard task as long as you used common sense. And when Harumi had a question there were more them enough people who were willing to help her.

"Do you want to take a break?" Rike-chan asked when she put the cup of tea in front of Harumi.

"No, not yet. When I'm finished with this stack I'll eat something." Harumi yawned while pointing at a stack of papers that gradually became smaller.

"We have a big problem!" One of the advisers yelled while he barged in the office.

"What is going on?" Harumi asked. A dark feeling crept over her while she looked at the advisor. His look told her that something was very, very wrong.

"There's an army heading to the castle." The man said out of breath.

"What? You mean the Kiyoano clan? Wasn't Nobunaga-sama able to intercept them?" Harumi asked scared.

"No, this is a different clan. As of now we don't know who, but they are coming from the north." The man explained. Harumi's mind wend blank. She had no idea what to do.

"Lady Nohime-sama?" The man asked after a few moments of silence. Harumi woke up from her shock and looked at the concerned face of the advisor. "What are we suppose to do?" He asked again. As if there was a switch being turned inside Harumi's head, her brain began to work again.

"Get all the advisors and warlords that stayed behind here immediately." She ordered. The man gave her a quick bow and left the study. Harumi shifted her focus on Rike-chan who was trembling in a corner.

"Are you alright?" She asked concerned.

"Yes." Rike-chan answered brave but Harumi could see that she was extremely scared.

"Please send tree different messengers to Nobunaga to tell him that the castle is under attack. Order them to all take different routes." Harumi ordered. Rike-chan, happy she had something to take her mind of the things she just heard bowed and left the room in a hurry. Within seconds of Rike-chan leaving the study all the advisors and warlords came barging in. All of them out of breath.

"Has advisor Harumichi told you what is happening?" Harumi asked while all the men sat on the ground before her desk. All the men nodded in agreement.

"That's good. I already ordered for a messenger to go to Nobunaga's side to tell him the castle will be attacked." Harumi explained.

"I think we should send more than one." One of the advisors cut in.

"I've send tree, and ordered them to take different routes." Harumi answered irritated.

"We have a few things we need to take care of right now." She continued. "First, we have to figure out to who the army belongs to. We need to find out how big the army is and what kind of weapons they carry. And we need to find out how long it will take before they arrive." Harumi said. The men in the room looked at her with admiration.

"I have a small team of ninja's, I can send them to investigate." Hidemasa answered.

"That would be excellent. Please give the order right away and come back." Harumi ordered. Hidemasa rose, made a bow and left the room in a hurry.

"Okay, now to the next issue. How many soldiers are at the castle right now?" Harumi asked in no one in particular.

"Less than 50 and most of them are injured. Lord Nobunaga-sama took most of the healthy men with him." An advisor answered. Harumi rubbed her temples in frustration. That would never be enough to defend the castle.

"I've given the order, my men will be back as soon as possible." Hidemasa said while entering the room again. He was breathing heavily and his cheeks were red from all the running.

"I have an idea how we can defend the castle, it's a stretch but I think it's the only option we got." Harumi sighted. The men looked at her and she started to explain her plan. It wasn't that they had to defied the enemy, they only had to hold the ford long enough for Nobunaga to return with the army. At first most of the men were against her idea but after some consideration they came to the conclusion that it was indeed the smartest thing they could do. It was indeed a mad and highly unconventional plan but it was worth a shot. With the lack of people in the castle at the moment they needed that the most. Quickly they divided the work. There was a lot to do and as of now Harumi had no idea how much time they had left.