sneak attack

Harumi had dozed off for a little wile. When she woke up her stomach was growling and the last rays of sunshine had just disappeared. Within the castle grounds it was already very dark when the sun went down, but here. The inn was the only place this high up on the mountain. When the sun was gone it was pitch black. Harumi stared at the sky in amazement. She had never seen so many stars so clearly! Actually, the first time she could clearly see a star was when she went to the past. Since she had lived her whole life in Tokyo see had never seen them due to the light pollution during the night. She didn't only see stars, she also saw different colourations in the sky, something she had only seen in pictures and thought that is was photoshopped. She never knew the night sky could be this beautiful, with thousand of stars and different hues of blue, green and purple. Her stomach growled again, snapping her out of the moment. She went out of the hot spring and the cold air hit her directly. Quickly she wrapped herself in a big blanked and rushed inside.

"You know this was your idea..." Harumi said while she saw Nobunaga sitting at a desk reading some documents. He looked up at her. The only bodyparts Harumi was showing was a small part of her collarbone and some of her legs just above her ankles. Still, Nobunaga's face turned red again.

"I wanted you to enjoy it first." He said while averting his eyes.

"Well, it is a pretty big hot spring and it's not as if we're naked..." Harumi said, not really getting the point.

"Wha...? Bu... Ho..." Nobunaga tried to start his sentence a few times but failed every time. Eventually he just mumbled something. Harumi's attention shifted from Nobunaga to the table in the middle of the room. On the table stood their dinner.

"Food!" She said exited. "Have you already eaten?"

"Not yet, I was busy with work." Nobunaga said while he stood up from the desk and sat down across from Harumi.

"itadakimasu" They both said with a small bow. The servants from the inn had placed the different food bowls on a hot stone so the food wouldn't get cold. They both dived in. All the side dishes were amazing. Harumi had no idea how they could make the flavor so special and exquisite without losing the taste of the fish, vegetable and meat itself.

"Shouldn't you put some clothes on fist?" Nobunaga asked after a while. Harumi looked down at herself. She still wore the yukata that she wore in the hot spring and had draped the blanked over her shoulders.

"I do it after I finish eating, iI'm too hungry." She shrugged while putting another piece of carrot in her mouth.

When they were halfway trough the meal there was some turmoil right outside their door. Within a split second the sliding door was pushed open and three ninja's barged into the room. They were dresses in all black and wore masks that covered their faces. Harumi shrieked while she tumbled backwards, trying to get away. It was as if Nobunaga had anticipated this and was in his feet, sword drawn, within seconds. The ninja's seized up both their opponents and decided that two would gang up on Nobunaga while the other lunged forward at Harumi. She screamed again while she tried to get away grom the man but he was much faster. He was holding a sharp dagger. He swung the dagger at her with the intent to kill her. By sheer luck the dagger sliced the air a few centimeters away from her neck. Harumi still tried to get away but was chased into a corner while she tried to defend herself. Her vision was blurry due to her tears. Just as suddenly as the mayhem had started, it was finished. The two ninja's that had fought Nobunaga laid unconscious on the floor while he and Hideyoshi gagged the third one. Harumi was still crying uncontrollably while she tried to wrap her head around all the things that had just happend. She and Nobunaga were no longer alone. Hideyoshi and Maeda Toshiie. The two most trusted warlords of Nobunaga. While Nobunaga gave his orders to Toshiie Hideyoshi walked over to her and kneeled before her. He had a concerned look on his face while he inspected hers.

"Are you unharmed Lady Nohime-sama?" He asked but Harumi could only cry. She had never witnessed something like this and had no idea how she should process this. Someone had just tried to kill her.

"Maybe we should leave for now..." Toshiie interrupted Hideyoshi while he tried to calm Harumi. Hideyoshi gave him a puzzled look while Toshiie didn't dare to look in Harumi's direction. In the fight Harumi had lost the blanked and the yukata wasn't tied as nicely. Still, most of her body was still covered. Her summer school uniform exposed more skin but in this day and age she could be practically naked. Hideyoshi hadn't even noticed before but his face quickly became bright red while he stuttered an apology. Harumi, who was still crying, looked passed Hideyoshi at Nobunaga, he wasn't amused. He didn't want other men seeing so much of his wife. Harumi thought that he would probably be mad at her for her lack of fighting skills and the fact that she couldn't even defend herself. The two warlords quickly left the room with the gagged ninja's leaving Harumi and Nobunaga alone.

"Are you alright?" He asked concerned. Meanwhile the worst was over but Harumi still couldn't contain her tears.

"I know it was scary, sorry for that. I hoped you would still be in the hot spring when they attacked." He explained while fixing her yukata.

"You knew?" Harumi asked in a squeaky voice.

"I knew there was a rat within my ranks and I had to smoke them out. This was the only thing I could think of on such short notice." He said. "I am truly sorry for putting you in harms way, that was never my intend." He apologized. Harumi should be furious with him for putting her trough this but the only thing she could do was cry and hold onto Nobunaga as if her life depended on it. As if he were a buoy in a rowdy, untamable, sea storm.