───

"GREETINGS, LORD NOBUNAGA. WHAT brings you here?", himari politely asked, dipping her head in the process.

the man's two most trusted friends, also himari's escorts: tokugawa ieyasu (the one who later inherits the throne after toyotomi) and toyotomi hideyoshi (the one who inherits the throne after oda) — were excused, leaving the woman alone with oda.

     oda nobunaga — probably one of the most well-known historical figures, ultimately tried to unite japan as a whole.

"I hope you've been well, lady himari. after all, I do have some confidential topics to discuss with you", the young male stated — nearly the same age as himari herself.

     "oh? please elaborate then", himari smiled, as she felt her back start to give out on itself.

     however, the woman kept up her straightened posture, as she was quite literally sitting in front of one of the most famous historical figures.

"I won't beat around the bushes and just come straight out with my concern. the shogunate seems to be quite different recently, from my close observations", oda stated.

     "different? how so?"

     "mm...I can't exactly put my finger on it, but he seems...a bit more cruel and conniving, don't you think?"

     "really? well...I've only met twice so..."

     oda raised a brow at the woman's peculiar wording.

     "I-I meant since my return...I've only seen him twice", himari specified, causing oda to nod in agreement.

     "and don't you find it a bit off? the first time, he praised you, and even awarded you! yet the second time, he had deliberately challenged you, practically forcing you upon this journey".

     himari gave it a thought.

     it was indeed a little weird how the shogunate had requested for her presence just to humiliate her in front of all his subjects.

     however, himari had thought that it was just because he was testing her determination on whether she was serious about women equality or not.

     "indeed...it is a little sus...", the auburn-haired woman muttered, making oda slightly confused.

     "a little what?"

     "oh!! nothing, just suspicious. so what does my lord plan on doing then?", himari asked.

     oda's brows seemed to have knit together just a little more, as his stare was starting to intimidate himari to no ends.

     the man was a callous ruler, is what himari had heard. if he wished, he could probably have her killed right here, right now, with no one knowing.

     after all, it wasn't like the rest of her companions knew where she wa—

     "HIMARI!!"

     the woman's head whipped around so fast that she thought a bone in her neck had snapped.

     standing there by the doorway was getō, gojō, sukuna, and tōji — meanwhile itadori and rumi were told to stay behind to comfort chīsana.

     "ayo, whatssup?!", himari cheerfully waved, feeling her wrists hurt, as she clenched onto it with her other hand.

     "huh? well if it isn't lord nobunaga! what a pleasure seeing you here", gojō grinned, casually walking inside as the man could clearly see his two friends and subordinates being restrained by tōji and getō.

"lord satoru sure has a way with people...barging in on our private meeting and chaining up my men", oda seethed, to which himari had awkwardly chuckled.

"suguru, tōji, let them go", himari harshly whispered, to which the two men had hesitantly complied.

     "my apologies, lord nobunaga. they were just playing", himari waved, pulling on gojō's wrist, as she forced the man to sit down.

     "please continue with what you were saying", himari stated.

     "lady himari, this is highly classified...are you sure they—"

     "yeah yeah!! they're all my close friends...per say", himari smiled, tilting her head to the side as she signaled for the rest to take a seat.

     oda sighed, as he nodded, asking for tokugawa to shut the door.

     "anyways, as I was saying, I actually have a proposition in mind for you".

     himari suddenly felt her palms get sweaty, as she had even forgotten that she was still clutching onto gojō's hand — to which the white-haired male had hummed in curiosity.

"go ahead", himari choked out, feeling the tension becoming even more unbearable.

"I wish for you to be my partner", oda bluntly said.

"huh? for wha—"

     "no", gojō rudely rejected.

     "himari-chan spends my money, therefore, she belongs to me", gojō childishly rebutted, making himari's face contort into a mix of confusion and embarrassment.

'nani the fuck?!'

"I meant a partnership between us two. and lady himari didn't tell me that she was reengaged".

"I'm not. he's just a little wacko sometimes. don't mind him", himari smiled, sending gojō a glare.

"anyways, what partnership are we talking about?", the auburn-haired woman asked, to which oda had sighed.

"lady himari, I used to believe that you were a spoiled brat with no sense of priorities, and—"

"wow, is this an intervention, because I didn't sign up for this", himari frowned, to which oda had cracked a small smile.

"that's not it. my point was that I've seen your show of intelligence and grit. and I believe that your advocation for women's rights is very admirable.

so I'm giving you a once in a lifetime opportunity of working with me as partners to remodel all of japan".

everybody held their breaths, as himari had to reprocess the man's words over and over again — like a broken record.

"y-you want me...to help you take down the current shogunate and unite...all of japan?", the woman shakily breathed out.

"indeed. I can help you achieve your goals of becoming the first woman figure to have ruled with legitimate power, and satisfy all your fantasies of helping women gain equality", oda persuaded, to which himari's shock had suddenly turned into pleasantness.

     "sure! as long as it's fifty-fifty in power, I'm down", himari casually replied.

     "fifty-fifty? perhaps sixty-forty", oda bargained.

himari softly sighed.

"we can work that out in more details later on. however, I do suggest that my lord keeps his options open, as who knows? maybe your opinion will change later on", himari smiled.

oda doubted the woman's statement, but nevertheless hummed.

"I'll inform you of later communications. what we discussed in this room today shall not travel into others' ears. if not, then I'm afraid I'd have to take your life in exchange, lady himari".

himari just nodded.

"yeah sure! I'll see you soon or something. bye~", the woman waved, to which oda and his subordinates had swiftly topped their heads with a straw hat, as they dipped their heads and left.

himari then sagged, as she touched her back in pain.

"shit! they kick like a bitch", the woman cursed, to which getō had offered to help the woman up, as they made their way back to the brothel.

"himari, what happened?! why were you with lord nobunaga?", getō worried.

"ah...well...that's a long story, hehe".