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{This is going to be a past thread, basically the SPQ taking place when Motonari was a kid. In fact, before he was even known as Motonari. Huzzah! Oh, it sucks near the end. Brain kinda died. Sorry. >.<}

"What? Are you not gonna prove yourself, Shojumaru? taunted a teenage boy to the fourteen-year-old Motonari, whose brown eyes moved up from his scroll, looked over at the kid, decided he was an idiot, and went back to reading in silence. It somewhat irked him that no suffix was used, but he thought it better to simply ignore the others. This was not an uncommon occurrence ever since at twelve he became an adviser for his elder brother daimyo. It was simply difficult for most to accept that there were those who were far more intelligent than them, especially children. The other boy seemed particularly frustrated, and a couple of others with him stepped closer. "See? Always sticking his nose in scrolls and keeping to himself. I bet he doesn't even know how to wield a bokken properly. Hell, even hold one!"

"Yeah!" exclaimed one of the other boys.

Another crossed his arms over his chest and huffed, "And to think he's adviser to itoko-sama, and engaged to Fujin-san..."

"She's gorgeous! Becoming a real beauty, filling out and growing in all of the right places, and... and freaking Shojumaru of all people is... is... What makes him worthy?"

"Bastard...!"

"What makes you deserve all of that? What the hell can you do? We've never seen you do anything but read your damn scrolls and play freaking shogi!" suddenly they had turned on him, and were growing closer, surrounding the young Motonari, who didn't stop reading, gaze downcast. He had grown irritated from them talking about his fiance as they did, but contained himself.

The taller of them drew closer, placing a hand on top of the scroll to cover it and flicking a strand of Motonari's brown hair, leaning in and asking lowly, "Too scared to say anything, huh? Huh?"

At this stage in the young Motonari's life, he had actually been rather non-violent, peaceful even. It was not that he was against fighting, but would have rather avoided it if possible, finding it to be a waste of time. He was not irked easily at the time and took a lot more, which was quite contradictory to his current character, who detested and had no patience for incompetency or disrespect.

Blinking at the taller cousin's action, Motonari finally raised his gaze upwards, staring into the face of the older boy. His expression was impassive, and even seemed bored. He was obviously entirely unaffected by the intimidation or the words of the others. Even at his young age, Motonari was not going to let them get a rise out of him, knowing full-well that he was superior to them in nearly every way. He had seen their skills, both physically and mentally, and the current daimyo's younger brother knew he was leagues ahead of them. It was not really a sense of superiority at this age. Now when he is older, that is a whooole other story lulz, but mere fact from observation and comparison. He didn't need to prove himself, not in his mind, at least.

Raising his brows, Motonari replied rather matter-of-factly,[/font "Not particularly. There is no discernible reason for me to defend myself to a coterie of cretins."

Well, maybe there was a slight air of preeminence even at this age... lololol ilu Motonari <3

The one who had just spoken blinked and stood straight, taken aback, although simultaneously confused. It was clear he wasn't quite sure how to feel. "What was that?"

"I think he was insulting us!"

'Think?' They couldn't possibly be related, could they? The young Motonari had to restrain himself from visibly rolling his eyes. To think he shared blood with these morons...

But the young Motonari didn't have much time to think about it, as a voice called out, "Otōto-san, you may as well prove to them your worth."

Everyone's gazes moved over to source, but Motonari knew who it was without even looking. It was his older brother, Okimoto, or the current daimyo. He was standing in the hallway, leaning on a wooden pillar. Okimoto's expression was clearly amused, lights flicking, dancing within his eyes, and Motonari pondered just how long he had been there watching this scene unfold. The daimyo grinned and added, directly speaking to Motonari, "If only to uphold our family's honour, yes?"

"Nii-sama..." Both Okimoto and Motonari knew he could wipe the floor with them, and the younger brother conveyed this with his eyes. The only real point of this would be to humiliate the others. But messages went back and forth between the two, the daimyo moving closer to his younger brother. The others missed what was silently spoken to the siblings, as they backed away and bowed nervously. But there was more reason than that, and deep down even Motonari knew this was the truth.

Because of his young age, many did question Motonari's power and influence, besides those who saw his prowess firsthand and knew just what all the young boy did. As troublesome as it was, people's opinions did matter for those in their positions, and if everyone didn't believe Motonari held any worth, that could bring about problems. When faith and trust wavered, for justifiable causes or not, people could be uprooted from their positions and there was more room betrayal, for treason. And that was dangerous, indeed.

"Come on. Show all of our idiot cousins why I chose you to be one of my top advisers," said the current Mori daimyo lowly, smiling widely and patting Motonari's shoulder. He straightened up, hands slipping into the sleeves of his kimono, and he announced to the others, "None of you have seen him fight, right? You believe that he cannot hold his own, so he cannot possibly be good enough to be my right-hand man. Or that he is a real worthy candidate for marrying Fujin. That... what? Shojumaru-kun is just having everything handed to him because of the Mori name? Am I getting this right, cousins?"

They appeared nervous, afraid they had offended the daimyo, and shifted uncomfortably, murmuring in unison, "Well..."

A hand removed itself from a sleeve and waved up and down dismissively, and said all while smiling,"No, no. You aren't the first to have that concern. So why not have a little contest? A fighting match. One-on-one, with my otōto fighting each of you, one after the other."

This seemed to surprise all of them and they glanced at one another. "Does that sound fair? Is that acceptable?"

They all grinned and nodded enthusiastically, satisfied at the thought of finally being able to pummel their supposedly "unworthy", "weakling" younger cousin, and not get in trouble for it. Motonari simply sighed and rolled up his scroll. He hoped this wouldn't take long, hoping to go back to his studies.

Soon enough, they had all found themselves at the Mori dojo with bokkens in their hands. The other boys seemed overly excited and eager, while Motonari remained bored. The sooner he could prove his worth to these imbeciles and make them shut up, the sooner he could get back to enriching his mind.

The first to face Motonari, after bowing, stood still for a few moments. As the cousin immediately charged the younger of the boys, he read his body, casually standing in place. With ease, he evaded the attack last second, extending his leg to trip the unsuspecting opponent, and, while the other stumbled, Motonari swung the bokken at the back of his neck, bringing him down within seconds. Everyone but Okimoto, who silently chuckled and grinned, was shocked, their jaws dropping. The match had ended so swiftly that they had barely even been able to see what had happened, let alone comprehend it.

"T-That was just a lucky hit," exclaimed one of the others, who went forward as the defeated boy groaned and crawled away. "Just luck!"

Motonari didn't say anything, and, after the two bowed, they slowly walked in a circle. The current daimyo's brother read the other, and, when he finally charged, Motonari calculated his moves in a Sherlock sort of fashion. Aw yis. He's a badass. This one was more skilled and careful, and Motonari dodged accordingly, the bokkens clashing. Eventually, the other leaped away and charged forward again, hoping to use the speedy attack to his advantage. Dodging, Motonari took a hold of his wrist, getting behind the cousin and grabbing his other arm. He used the momentum and weight against the opponent. Swiftly bringing the arm with the weapon behind his back and pulling him back, Motonari hooked his leg with the teenager's, pushing him down simultaneously. Effectively disarming him, the daimyo's brother proceeded to force him down, falling onto him and digging his knee into his back while threatening to break his wrist and pinning the other arm on the ground, until he finally cried to be let go. Think Jujutsu. I just can't describe moves for shit.

Two down. One more to go. At this rate, they were all shocked and angry, and even frightened, and Okimoto was clearly trying very hard not to laugh. Despite his best efforts, the third match went much the same. Motonari easily calculated his opponent's moves, his motions swift and fluid. Expecting the attacks, he was able to dodge and counter easily, and eventually used the opponent's weight and power against him with hardly breaking a sweat. The others may have been physically stronger than Motonari, but he had easily been able to use their strength against them, with his speed and wit.

With a sigh, Motonari rolled his shoulders and moved to put away the bokken so he could go back to his previous work. Hanging it up, the daimyo's brother inquired, without looking at them, "Does that suffice? Has my worth been adequately proven and displayed? ... Good. Now if you will excuse me, I would like to get back to my studies."

Generally, Motonari was not cold, not at this age. He was studious and sometimes distant, wrapped up in his deep, intricate thoughts and ideas, but could be very warm and pleasant. But, understandably so, the boy's patience had worn thin with his cousins. Turning around, he began to walk away, but, as he passed them, Motonari stopped. He glanced over at them, and for the first time his gaze clearly showed emotion. It was not overwhelming, but the message was crystal clear, the warning making them gulp.

"Oh. Also, I highly suggest ceasing to froth over Fujin-chan like a pack of mongrels. She is a good, respectable person and her worth is leagues away from what any of yours could possibly ever dream of being... and she is my fiance."

Motonari highly respected Fujin, seeing her as a good friend first and foremost. Her honour was of great importance to him, and the idea of his cousins or anyone undressing her with their eyes or thinking of her in even the slightest of impure ways displeased him. He had been protective even before they were engaged, and once they had gotten older and it was arranged for them to be married... well... it only grew all the more.

At this stage in his life, Motonari wasn't known to be an intimidating person in the least, and so they were taken aback by the dominance and hostility. This was the first real hint of the present day Motonari, and after staring at them long and hard and getting his message across perfectly, he walked away, brother finally releasing his amused laughter.

Stay away from his fiance, mother fuckers. xD

A tall Indian man was seen walking along a road with a sitar in hand a couple of days ago. He had come across a nervous-looking fellow with it and for a fair price the Indian purchased the instrument, as it had been some time since he had played the instrument. However, he didn't really think much of the supposed merchant's behavior, who had actually stolen the device from a quite important person. The Indian was one of Lord Mori's most important soldiers, who went by the name Loke Neelkanta, and he smiled cheerily whilst walking along the road, humming and playing the sitar as he headed back home. He stopped by a little roadside restaurant, consumed some food, and went on his merry way back to his lordship.

You can have her pass by that restaurant and ask questions ahem.

~*~

Meanwhile, presently it is Lord Mori's birthday and a couple of his most trusted generals, including his son Takakage, happened to oversee the preparations... and may have diced up and slipped some hallucinogenic mushrooms within Motonari's food. Hoo boy.

Lord Motonari was rubbing his forehead in irritation in respond to the events that had transpired over the last few days. His youngest daughter, Kikuhime, had lost her puppy. It had apparently run off while the two were in the gardens, and Kikuhime was greatly upset over the matter. Motonari's wife had informed her husband, and so he had purchased another dog, hoping this would quell his daughter. But it wasn't the same as her Koromaru, his daughter had whined, and so he bought an identical puppy. But she had definitely inherited her father's intelligence because after less than ten seconds of looking at the puppy, she had looked up at Lord Mori and the five-year-old had furrowed her brows, little arms crossing over her chest while saying, "Kiku isn't stupid, Daddy."

Goddamnit.

Only because it was Kikuhime did Motonari send out his some of his men to search for the puppy. It had taken them a day to find the canine, but it had proven difficult to catch. In fact, announcement after announcement proclaimed that the puppy was still on the run. It had been caught a few times, but had managed to escape... four times! At the last messenger coming in with the news, Motonari twitched and snapped, "How hard is it to capture a cur!? Idiots! Worthless, the whole lot of you! If someone does not bring that dog back, so help me, Amaterasu-!"

From there he exclaimed that he didn't care if they brought the puppy back or someone else did because they couldn't do their jobs. Motonari had been growing steadily more and more annoyed as the days went on. It didn't help that his daughter had been quite literally clinging to his legs everywhere he went for the last several days and whined the whole time. It was incredibly grating, and even his wife was having trouble maintaining the girl. With his patience level over the matter, Kikuhime would have a dead puppy returned to her if Motonari went out himself to get the dog, and that simply wouldn't go over well at all.

And so one of Motonari's (smarter) generals sought out help, and that was how Yukimura found himself here and why the Lord of the Mori clan was sitting on his throne, internally grumbling and rubbing his temples. Kikuhime was sitting on the floor, hugging his leg, and the beautiful Lady Mori was sweatdropping and smiling nervously, having given up on begging and enticing her daughter to come over to her.

Lord Mori's brown eyes looked over to Yukimura and the daimyo straightened himself in his chair, releasing a sigh. "Sanada Yukimura, is it?"

Motonari knew who the young man was. Even if he didn't have many alliances or associate with Eastern Japan, Motonari made sure he knew as much as possible about other factions and of the members within them. Looking over at his general, Motonari raised his brows and inquired, expression a deadpan, "Did Hajime-san inform you on the situation?"

{I apologize for taking so long. I had several things to figure out and do, one of which was figuring out Motonari's children. Eh heh~ Sorry about that. ^^;}

Kikuhime kept kicking her heels and clapping, demanding cheerily that he go, and so Motonari dashed forward before she would begin calling him horsey, or something as equally embarrassing. He held onto her so that the little girl wouldn't fall off, but his speed didn't seem to deter her. In fact, Kikuhime only grew more excited, and the other children seemed to notice them. And, of course, they wanted in on the fun.

After running around for a minute or two, Motonari halted, really wanting to be done with this embarrassing act. He turned his head to look back at his daughter, who pouted, and began, "Alright, Kikuhime-chan. It is time to get do-"

But as soon as he stopped, his other children charged towards him. Motonari only had time to blink and turn his gaze towards them as they shouted, and soon enough they all surrounded and tackled him. His sons and daughters were giggling and, with all of their weight combined and being surprised, Lord Mori toppled over, and his children essentially dog-piled him.

"AGH-!"

Lady Mori blinked and stared wide-eyed at the scene, before erupting into sweet laughter. But she knew Motonari had an image to uphold and that this was overwhelming regardless, and so the saintly, regal woman chimed, "Children~! Children~! Let up on your father now~ You don't want to suffocate him, do you~?"

That seemed to do the trick, the mother knowing precisely how to work her children, because all of the kids gasped, fearful of suffocating their dad (even though, of course, he would be fine), and they scrambled off of him. Motonari stood up, brushing the sand off of his dark green kimono, before gazing down at the children. They seemed fearful of being harshly reprimanded and yelled at, and huddled together, shrinking down. A few, long moments of silence passed, before a soft, drawn out sigh released from the daimyo. He simply waved them off, telling them to go have fun, and with beams of relief and joy, the bounded off.

Motonari ran his fingers through his brown locks, scratching at his head. Little bits of sand fell down as the daimyo headed towards his wife and baby. He would plop beside her, cool gaze moving towards his men, who were actively avoiding looking at their lord. Smart men. That still wouldn't save the non-generals from his Abuse Boots. Motonari then looked at his wife, who was smiling sweetly at him.

After a moment of silence, the man's gaze softened slightly. "Thank you, Fu-chan."

"Even my great Lord needs saving sometimes~" responded the woman lightly, smiling up at her husband.

His hand slid over to her lap, rubbing the top of her thigh before taking a hold of Fujin's hand, the man smiling in the slightest as he peered within her eyes. After taking in the sight of his baby and wife, his eyes slid over to his other children and scoped the area, taking in the beautiful, sparkling sea. But as his brown eyes moved down the beach, his brows furrowed. There was a fair woman overhead, and his eyes narrowed a little.

He murmured a little tensely, remembering distinctly ordering that no one besides them were to be at this section of the beach, "... Who is that?"

A hand instinctively moved to his god-sword, and Fujin shifted at feeling his tension, asking him what was wrong. Her gaze would follow his and at seeing the stranger, she would place her dainty hand over his on the hilt, smiling softly at him. Her voice was extra soothing, the woman wanting to dispel her husband's unease, "She is merely a girl simply wishing to have some fun in the sun, as we are. Please, do not worry yourself, dear."

Just to try and prove her point, the angelic woman would lift her hand up while cradling her baby, waving at the white-haired girl further down the beach, motioning her forward, her smile and body language warm and welcoming, quite the opposite of Motonari's.

Tag: Azai Mana

There had been a group of traitors with incredibly valuable information fleeing Chugoku after killing a couple of retainers of Motonari in order to escape. The result was that Motonari had heard of this almost immediately. Because of the severity of the matter, he gathered a handful of his generals and they chased after the group. This was not something simple soldiers could handle. Motonari wouldn't allow it.

There was a point where they got close on their tails, but the groups split up into three, and Motonari ordered his generals to go after the larger group while he went after a lone man, the leader of them, apparently.

Anyhow, the chase went on for some time, horses and men glistening with sweat, and Motonari found himself someplace he would never go himself. There were screams and this startled the other man's horse, who immediately halted, reared, and ran off. The man fell off and was trying to scramble from Motonari, who glared at him with furiously cold eyes. Lord Mori jumped off of his steed, removing his sword.

As he went forward, the daimyo stated, "You have a choice. Either commit seppuku here and now, or I will end your miserable life where you stand, or lay. It matters not to me, scum."

The man panicked and jumped to his feet, unsheathing his sword and charging Motonari, who simply narrowed his eyes.

"Fool."

With a swing, the other man's head went flying. He hadn't a chance from the start. Wiping off the blade to remove the crimson blood, Motonari finally glanced up and his brows furrowed. Was this... Numa castle? He was already at the entrance, frowning, his hands moving to his hips. There were three other men, two of which wore the mon of Uesugi and Date. One was one-eyed, and there was no doubt that he was Date Masamune, and the appearance of the other man within the castle, his garb, and how he carried himself made Motonari suspect he was Uesugi Kenshin. The other, well... Motonari wasn't really sure who he was, nor did he care. After he looked them all over, taking in everything that he could, Motonari glanced behind himself.

To go back and go forward? His horse was gone, scared away by the supernatural screaming, and his cold, calculating eyes moved back to the castle and other persons. What choice did he really have?

Because the weapons were already loaded, the men fired as soon as Ryu charged in with his chariot and they caught sight of him. A handful of bangs followed a little later by a boom resounded within the air. The cannon hit the horse and chariot, sufficiently killing it and causing the demon steed and chariot to poof. As this occurred, a bullet would pass through Ryu's shoulder. With the disappearance of his demon chariot, the injured Ryu would start falling to the ground.

With not everyone firing before and men still having loaded guns and cannons, this is the que to run. RUN, RYU, RUUUUN!

Sagi stood far enough back that he wasn't seen or hit. His attack was fantastically successful. The castle began to shake and this left the enemies unbalanced, struggling to stand on their two feet. His attack would take out the majority of men and two of the cannons, leaving two more and five gunmen near the sides. Three gunmen who survived the attack had fired already and were starting to reload, and all of them were trying to avoid the stalagmites, running to the sides. They were trying to discern who and where to attack. They would see Sagi near the entrance and two men who would fire at him, and one of the men at a cannon would scramble to light it, in hopes of hitting Sagi.

Sakkaku was safe. Everyone was busy with the attack below the wall. Because of his position, he would notice a couple of soldiers and bandits running in and out of a door. There seemed to be a commotion over there. Perhaps it was worth investigating?