NO TAKEDA ALLOWED (Monthly/Yukimura)

[Morei Hidenori]

"How long have I been out here...?"

It had only been five minutes. Hidenori stared up at the blue sky, laying on his back on the shore. His ship had crashed and landed him here. Why was he on a ship anyway? His zanbato laid out over to his side, and he seemed exhausted as if though he had been here for ages. Lord Kenshin was back in Echigo, and his most able in his head bodyguard was out stranded in the middle of nowhere.

"Welp, time to get moving!"

He flipped onto his feet, picking up his zanbato and placing it on his shoulders. He turned around, full of energy suddenly, and began to walk towards the center of the island. This was the opportunity of a lifetime! For what, he didn't know. He just knew there was a silver lining here somewhere, and that this couldn't have been all bad.

Wandering further into the island, he would pass many strange trees. His hand would come out to touch the long trees. "Hmm... it feels rough on my palm... perhaps I'll call them 'palm trees'." It was genius.

Stepping further in, he would notice a great tree with a house built on top of it and a ladder leading up. "Hey, that's convenient!" Before running up to it, he would find a piece of wood on the ground, carving the words "NO TAKEDA ALLOWED" onto it before tying it to a stick and sticking it in the ground. He then proceeded up the ladder. "I bet this has air conditioning! Whatever that is!"

[Sanada Yukimura]

After the ship he had been on board transporting cargo and supplies from Okinawa to Kofu had crashed and sunk at sea, leaving Yukimura stranded on an island after he had drifted and washed up on shore, left with nothing but the clothes, weapons, and armor on his back, the moment he had woken up, he had wandered around the island, searching for any materials he could use to build a shelter. Stumbling upon the planks from the wrecked ship after it had washed ashore, he would use the planks that weren't completely destroyed and build himself a decent shelter and ladder high up in a tree.

Under the impression he was the only one on the island, he would leave his shelter and go to scrounge for any possible sources of food, and had managed to find some strange oval-shaped fruits, which he had named "mango" since the fruit had literally made him, a man, go around the island to find, and was returning to his shelter when he found a sign stuck in the sand at the bottom of his ladder.

"No Takeda allowed...!? I'M STUCK ON AN ISLAND WITH AN OPPOSING FACTION SOLDIER!?"

Slicing the sign in two with his spear, he would charge up the ladder and into his shelter, a pile of mangoes carried in a makeshift pouch he had formed from a branch of a palm tree tied on his back.

"WHAT THE HELL!? IT'S BAD ENOUGH I WAS SHIPWRECKED ON AN ISLAND, BUT NOW I'M STUCK HERE WITH AN UESUGI SOLDIER OF ALL PEOPLE!?"

[Morei Hidenori]

Finding the shelter cramped, but still passable, Hidenori found himself laying on the floor, just about to take a nap... when all of a sudden he heard shouting. All of a sudden, an angry guy with a spear and a bunch of fruit came charging in up the ladder, and Hidenori backed up against the wall out of surprise.

"WOAH, WHAT THE HELL? ARE YOU TAKEDA? DIDN'T YOU READ THE SIGN?!"

He reached for the nearest object he could find and threw it at the Takeda soldier's face, forgetting all about the fact that he had a spear and Hidenori's weapon was well-sheathed right now.

"GET OUT OF MY TREEHOUSE! FINDER'S KEEPERS!"

[Sanada Yukimura]

"OF COURSE I AM PART OF TAKEDA AND SAW THE SIGN, BUT THIS IS MY SHELTER! I MADE IT, SO GET OUT UESUGI!"

Slicing the makeshift table Hidenori threw at him, Yukimura would quickly charge forward at Hidenori, and would try to thrust his spear at the Uesugi soldier's chest.

"FINDER'S KEEPERS MY ASS! YOU WANT TO FIND SOMETHING, FIND THE SHARP END OF MY SPEAR IN YOUR HEART!"

[Morei Hidenori]

Ho-ho-ho-holy crap was this guy fast! For story and comedy's sake, Hidenori rolled out of the way of the spear, grabbing his zanbato and unsheathing it. Now, Hidenori wasn't the smartest man, and swinging a weapon of that size in a small area like this was bound to have disastrous effects, but he did it anyway, twirling it above him before swinging it at the Takeda soldier.

"YOUR FACE IS DUMB! I BET YOUR NAME IS SOMETHING LAME LIKE YUKIMURA!"

[Sanada Yukimura]

To continue the story and comedy sake, plus pity on Hidenori, Yukimura's spear would end up buried in the wall of his treehouse as Hidenori rolled out of the way, as he would rip it free from the wall, tearing a piece of plank out and sending it flying at Hidenori's face. Turning to face the Uesugi soldier, his eyes would widen seeing the man grab his ludicrously over-sized nodachi and unsheathed it, twirling it above him before swinging it at Yukimura, who would easily dodge the strike.

"MY FACE IS DUMB!? AT LEAST I'M NOT DUMB PERIOD! ARE YOU TRYING TO DEMOLISH THE PLACE WITH YOUR STUPID WEAPON!? I BET YOUR NAME IS SOMETHING STUPID LIKE HIDENORI, JUST LIKE THE UESUGI FACTION! IT SUITS YOU, YOU HAVE NO BRAINS LIKE SEAWEED!"

[Morei Hidenori]

"WHAT?! HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY NAME! I NEVER DID ANYTHING TO Y--"

Hidenori would be interrupted by the plank of wood smacking him in the face, which caused his swing to redirect itself and smashed directly into the wall of the treehouse. The whole place began to shake violently, before Hidenori could feel the floor rotating between his feet, and before he knew it, he'd be rolling down and out of the treehouse.

All he could shout?

"WHAT'S SEAWEED GOTTA DO WITH ANYTHING, YOU TURD?!"

Before hitting the sand face-first.

[Sanada Yukimura]

"YES YOU DID YOU IDIOT! YOU INSULTED MY NAME FIR-"

Yukimura would shout before the entire treehouse literally shook as Hidenori swung his weapon and ended up smashing into a wall of the treehouse. The floor moving beneath his feet, Yukimura would slam the blade of his spear into the floor of the shelter and hold onto it for dear life, while Hidenori would be sent rolling out of the treehouse and into the sand down below as the entire treehouse fell apart around him.

"YOUR STUPID NAME HAS THE WORD SEAWEED IN IT YOU IDIOT! I WAS RIGHT, YOU REALLY DON'T HAVE ANY BRAINS LIKE SEAWEED! ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD SWING A LUDICROUSLY OVER-SIZED NODACHI AROUND IN SUCH SMALL QUARTERS!"

The good news? The Uesugi soldier was out of his shelter. The bad news? His shelter was now out a wall, just barely staying together.

"GOOD JOB UESUGI IDIOT! NOW WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO RE-BUILD THE WALL OF MY SHELTER WITH!? PALM TREE BRANCHES!? IF I WASN'T DESPERATE TO HAVE SHELTER FOR TONIGHT, I'D FIGHT YOU HERE AND NOW!"

[Morei Hidenori]

Getting back to his feet, Hidenori stared up at Yukimura angrily, picking his zanbato back up.

"I DON'T..." He approached the base of the tree, weapon in hand. "...EVEN LIKE SEAWEED!"

He would swing his zanbato as hard as he could at the base of the tree, planning on completely destroying it and sending Yukimura toppling down. If this wasn't successful, he would keep swinging his weapon and shaking the place up until it fell down, and the Takeda soldier with it.

[Sanada Yukimura]

"THEN WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE A NAME WITH THE WORD IN IT SEAWEED FOR BRAINS!?"

Yukimura would shout, before hanging onto his spear for dear life as a giant boom could be heard, from Hidenori slamming his zanbato into the tree, to chop it down. Yanking his spear free from the wooden plank, Yukimura would backflip out of the entrance of the treehouse just as the base of the tree would be chopped through completely and tip over to the side with a loud boom, and go to Spartan drop-kick Hidenori on the head, appearing as just a blur, without a single warning or indication he had escaped. Then he'd resume shouting after, if the kick connected.

"NO WONDER HAJI-SAN WAS GRATEFUL FOR MY OFFER OF JOINING THE TAKEDA FACTION! THEN HE WOULDN'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH UESUGI SOLDIERS WHO HAVE BRAINS LIKE SEAWEED!"

[Morei Hidenori]

"THAT'S BECAUSE I--"

Hidenori would be kicked in the head by a red blur, flying backwards and rolling absurdly far, only stopping when he finally collided with a tree balls-first. "SACRE BLEU!" He would scream in agony before falling onto his back. Rolling around in agonizing pain for a short period of time, the man would stand up, gripping his weapon and staring at Yukimura.

"DID YOU SAY HAJI?! OF THE MOREI CLAN?!" He would hit the nearby tree with his zanbato, causing a coconut to fall. "SO KATSU-ROSHI WAS RIGHT! MY BABY BROTHER IS ALIVE!" He swung the zanbato like a baseball bat, hitting the coconut and sending it flying straight for Yukimura's face.

[Sanada Yukimura]

Landing on the sand flat on his feet after kicking Hidenori in the head, he would roar with laughter seeing Hidenori collide balls-first with a tree and land on his back before rolling around, swearing in some foreign language after being sent flying backwards and rolling, Yukimura holding his stomach in agony from laughing so hard. Managing to calm down as the Uesugi soldier stood up gripping his weapon, Yukimura would wipe the tears from his eyes and see Hidenori stare at him.

"Yes, I did say Haji-san, Morei Haji- YOU'RE BROTHERS!? YOU DON'T EVEN LOOK ALI- Katsu-roshi? Oh... Shinomori-san. Yes, Haji-san is alive seaweed for brains, if he wasn't, why would I even say his name!?"

Yukimura would answer back, thrusting his spear at the coconut Hidenori hit with his zanbato at him, plucking the coconut off the blade and drink the juice from it, before chucking the empty shell back at Hidenori... hard.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU THINK HE'S DEAD IN THE FIRST PLACE!?"

[Morei Hidenori]

"MY BABY BROTHER LIVES!"

Hidenori rose his zanbato into the air in celebration as Yukimura threw the coconut at Hidenori. As the coconut approached, Hidenori reared his head back before slamming it into the coconut, sending it to the ground. He looked up at Yukimura defiantly, blood trickling down from his forehead where the coconut had struck him.

".... Owwwwwwwwwwwww..." He complained, falling back and rubbing his head in pain, speaking to Yukimura as he did so.

"FIFTEEN YEARS AGO THE ODA ATTACKED OUR FAMILY! ME AND MY TWO BROTHERS GOT SEPARATED! I HAD NO IDEA IF HE WAS ALIVE UNTIL I MET KATSUMI!" He picked up a big rock and threw it at Yukimura. "YOU INCONSIDERATE JERK! ARE ALL TAKEDA ASSHOLES LIKE THIS?!"

[Sanada Yukimura]

"GOOD JOB SEAWEED BRAIN! WANT TO HEADBUTT THE END OF MY SPEAR WHILE YOU'RE AT IT!?"

Yukimura would say as he palmed his own face, shaking his head in disbelief. Lifting his hand off his face, his expression would turn grim... then back to annoyance as he thrust his spear at the giant rock thrown at him, shattering it into pieces.

"NO, ONLY TO YOU SEAWEED BRAIN! ARE ALL UESUGI SOLDIERS THIS IDIOTIC!? WHO SLAMS THEIR HEAD INTO A COCONUT SHELL WHEN YOU COULD JUST SWAT IT AWAY WITH YOUR STUPIDLY LARGE NODACHI!?"

Plopping down on the sand, his spear still in his hand, Yukimura would pull off the makeshift bag he had made from the palm tree branch and open it, pulling out a mango... before lobbing one at Hidenori to catch.

"I still don't like you seaweed brain, but I'm not so cold-hearted that I won't share food with you."

[Morei Hidenori]

"THAT WOULD KILL ME! THAT'S A STUPID SUGGESTION! ARE YOU STUPID?!"

Of course Hidenori didn't want to headbutt a spear! He completely missed Yukimura's sarcasm. The Uesugi soldier continued to rub his head in pain, it wasn't the brightest idea he ever had... then again, he never had bright ideas.

He looked at his nodachi. Maybe it was stupidly large, but on the rare occasion he actually hit something with it, it was devastating. He shrugged, realizing he needed to change how he went about things. Yukimura was on a whole other level from him, and he was at least smart enough to realize that in their little skirmish.

He stared incredulously at Yukimura for throwing a mango to him, which the soldier caught gratefully.

"You'd... actually help your enemy? And not just kill me where I stand.. err, sit?"

[Sanada Yukimura]

"NO, BUT YOU ARE, SEEING AS YOU COMPLETELY MISSED MY SARCASM! WHO WOULD ACTUALLY SERIOUSLY SUGGEST SOMEONE GO HEADBUTT A SPEAR!?"

Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, of all the Uesugi soldiers in Nippon, he was stuck on a deserted island with the most idiotic one. Probably was all brawn, no brains. Picking up a mango and beginning to peel it with a small kunai he carried with him after throwing one to Hidenori, he'd resist the urge to roll his eyes a second time, and just give him a 'you're kidding me...' look.

"No genius, the fruit is poisonous. Of course I'd help you. Killing you here and now wouldn't do me any good, except possibly drive me crazier even more slowly. We may be on opposing factions, but on this island, that accounts for nothing. The island isn't going to care who fights for Lord Takeda Shingen or Lord Uesugi Kenshin."

After he had finished peeling his mango, he'd slice off a piece of the fruit, and take a bite from it, giving an approving shrug of his shoulders. Not bad, texture was a bit strange, but it had a sweet taste to it.

"I'm not that heartless to let an enemy soldier starve."

[Morei Hidenori]

Hidenori scratched his head, trying to ponder Yukimura's logic. "Sarcasm? But you..." He looked like he was thinking really hard. The tall man sat in silence for a moment.

He snapped out of his thoughts, losing his train of thought entirely when Yukimura began to speak. He started to peel his mango too, taking a bite of it. Being as hungry and thirsty as he was, he was very grateful for the fruit.

"You know... you're right." He took another bite, speaking again mid-chew. "Takeda. Uesugi. Right now, they're just names... maybe we should focus on just getting out of this together." And another bite. "You're not so bad after all, Take-bro."

He stood up, looking down at Yukimura. "That said..." He placed his hand on his zanbato menacingly, looking as if he was going to strike at Yukimura. "We should build a new shelter!"

He ran off suddenly, his new goal to salvage some wood and whatever else he could find.

[Sanada Yukimura]

"Neither are you Uesugi warrior. Even if you have seaweed for brains."

Popping the remaining half of the mango slice in his hand in mouth, just as he sliced off another piece of the mango, he would see Hidenori stand up and look down at him before placing his hand on his zanbato menacingly, looking like he was going to strike, causing Yukimura to automatically raise the kunai up and ready to strike back... only for him to run off after actually making a good suggestion. Turning his head to look at Hidenori's retreating back, he would regard the Uesugi soldier with this expression on his face: o__O

He really didn't understand Uesugi soldiers, especially this one. Shaking his head, he would finish off his mango before standing up and heading in the opposite direction Hidenori ran off in, seeing if he could find any more wood from his wrecked ship, and other materials to build a shelter with. He'd also gather any other fruit he came across, since there was no guarantee the crates that had the food for his ship would be intact and wash up on shore.

[Morei Hidenori]

"Huh... the Takeda don't seem so bad..."

Hidenori mused to himself as he made his way back to his own shipwreck, weapon on his shoulders. If Yukimura's old treehouse was made of his old ship's wood, then Hidenori would compensate for the damage he caused by getting some wood from his own ship. He may have been dumb, but he was a man of honor nonetheless, or so he liked to think.

Finally arriving at the shore where he crash landed, Hidenori made his way to the ship itself, examining it for a moment. It was banged up pretty badly, but parts of it looked salvageable. If he combined it with whatever Yukimura had left, he was hoping there could be a sizeable shelter built. Placing his zanbato into a holster on his back, the tall man went to work, starting to gather wood.

"I wonder if I should tell Kenshin that a Takeda soldier helped me out..."

[Sanada Yukimura]

"... Seems like not all of the Uesugi soldiers are bad. Even if this one has seaweed for brains..."

Yukimura would muse while making his way towards his wrecked ship. As a large part of the salvageable planks from the ship had been used for his first shelter, unlike Hidenori, Yukimura had very little left to contribute to the building of the new shelter, but what he lacked in materials for the shelter, he made up for in supplies and food. Managing to find a couple crates that washed up on shore, he would grab hold of one and drag it onto the sand, before lifting it up and carrying back to their home base area of sorts.

"I'm not sure if I want to tell Oyakata-sama that an Uesugi soldier helped me. He'd either laugh heartily... or uppercut me."

Dropping the crate on the sand with a loud boom, he'd then head back to grab the other crate he managed to find, before it was washed out to sea again by the tide.

[Morei Hidenori]

Hidenori made several trips back and forth, bringing wood to the camp. He did this until he felt they had sufficient lumber, though there wasn't much left to salvage when he was finally done.

Coming back and finding a crate at the base, he figured Yukimura was also gathering supplies. With this in mind, he started to fix what he did before, only this time the shelter would be built on the ground level. Mostly because there wasn't a good tree in sight, and also because it was much simpler. He had no idea how the Takeda soldier got all of that into the tree himself.

"I'm not one to think much, but I'm wondering why we're fighting anyway..."

[Sanada Yukimura]

"It's been ingrained to us. The Takeda faction and the Uesugi faction have been at war with one another for so long, we instinctively fight whenever we encounter each other."

Dropping the second and final crate beside the first one with a loud boom, Yukimura would pop open one with his spear, taking a look to see what was inside. There wasn't much inside, a few potatoes, some fruits, a large bucket of rice and, you guessed it, dried seaweed. But what they really needed was some meat. Hell, even fish would do.

"I'm going to try and catch us some fish to eat. I don't know how long the supplies in the crate can sustain us for."

[Morei Hidenori]

Hidenori grimaced at seeing the dried seaweed. Yuck. But he took a moment to ponder on what Yukimura said. It had been true that they were fighting because they had been following orders, but the Uesugi soldier had to wonder if it was the right thing to do? He owed Kenshin his life, and yet, he was starting to feel like if he ever met Yukimura on a battlefield, he wouldn't want to cross swords with him. He seemed... okay. The Uesugi were taught that the Takeda were the enemy, and yet... Yukimura could've killed him by now, but didn't. Why?

"I wonder if it really has to be that way..."

With a shrug, he placed his weapon on his shoulders again.

"I think I'll give you a hand with the fishing. Least I could do for you not taking my head off earlier."

[Sanada Yukimura]

"... It doesn't necessarily have to be that way. But it's hard to resist against an instinct that is so deeply rooted inside each of us. And I would greatly appreciate your help. If we can get a good enough haul, we won't have to worry about foraging for food for a bit."

Before he went out to fish though, Yukimura would grab a few palm tree branches, and weave them together into a basket, to hold the fish they would hopefully catch, complete with a lid to prevent the fish from flopping out for whatever reason. Wading out into the sea, his hakama rolled up all the way to his knees, with spear in hand, he would patiently wait for the fish to swim nearby, before attempting to harpoon one with the blade.

"It's hard to say if this will change relations between the Uesugi faction and Takeda faction. If I met you on the battlefield... I think I'd be hesitant to clash against you, much less want to kill you."

[Morei Hidenori]

Hidenori looked at Yukimura as he spoke. He had heard from Uesugi soldiers who had fought at Kawanakajima that the Takeda were a bunch of terrible people, and that the Uesugi fought to rid the world of them so that we'd all live in a better place. Kenshin himself never said such things, although he held a bitter rivalry with Shingen anyway. He wanted Hidenori to find his own answers, and seeing this man before him...

"Yeah, let's catch as many as we can."

He wasn't being his usual jokester self for now. It felt like everything the man knew was turning around in this moment. Old Uesugi veterans had lied to him. Or maybe they just wanted to fuel the fire of the youth in order to keep them motivated for the next skirmish between the two forces.

Hidenori waited in the river, standing there patiently. Every time a fish came by, he would reach down and grab at it, attempting to take hold of it. Most of his attempts would fail, but he'd be able to snag a fish now and then and dump it in the basket with the ones Yukimura had grabbed. It was an unorthodox way of fishing MULAN but little did he know that Haji did the same exact thing... with more success, that is.

"You said it... I don't know if I could put my heart into that battle."

The man sighed as he continued trying to catch more fish.

"So... you said you met Haji? How is he...?"