Horizon:Volume 10A Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Noisemaker at the Resting Place

Sleeping

Is peaceful

And when we are together

It is also blissful

Point Allocation (So Tired…)

●

Sakon felt her body shaking.

But not side to side. It was shaking up and down.

…Ohh!?

Only when she tried to jump to her feet did she realize she had been asleep.

“Where am I?”

“The Azuchi’s interior dock. We all returned here after completing the Battle of Shizugatake.”

“But why was I asleep?”

“Because someone I could mention said ‘I’m so tired’, lay down on the floor, and fell asleep.”

“What a talkative alarm clock. But why is it shaped like a helmet?”

“Don’t hit meeee!”

Onitakemaru-san sure has a lot of energy for just having woken up, she thought, but she honestly didn’t remember most of what he said happened.

She remembered fighting Niwa at Shizugatake and having a bad time of it. After that, she greeted Oichi and Kiyomasa had arrived.

…And she returned with Fukushima-senpai.

Sakon hadn’t seen Shibata. But when the Azuchi departed Shibata’s territory, the aerial ship Kitanosho Castle had exploded and she had known she would never see him now.

She had wanted to meet him. But she really wasn’t certain if that was just out of curiosity or duty. She still needed a lot more experience. And come to think of it, I’m still a third year in middle school, she thought, but she wasn’t sure if that was an acceptable excuse.

And she had fallen asleep.

“Yeah, I honestly don’t remember that part…”

Onitakemaru’s mobile shell had been removed from her and taken somewhere. Probably for maintenance.

The simple hangar next to her contained a change of clothes, a stole, and Onitakemaru’s head armor, but…

“Did I sleep that long?”

“You were out long enough that Takenaka was shouting ‘but my schedule!’ ”

“Oh, no. Poor Takenaka-senpai. Onitakemaru-san, you need to apologize to her.”

“Why should I do it!? I was receiving a tuneup to my mobile shell control system and program based on what happened in the battle against Niwa! I was not sleeping!”

“Oh, so everything that needed doing got done? Then it was alright that I slept.”

“My point is,” began Onitakemaru, but then he paused as if to take a breath. Eventually, light raced through the joints of the armor. “I am glad to see you are doing so well after everything you went through, Kohime.”

“Sorry about all the armor you lost.”

“That is my purpose, so don’t apologize. What you need to fix is how you keep dying over and over and over again.”

“I can die over and over and still come back, but it sounds like you’ll be in trouble if you die again. First you were assassinated and then you were caught in an accident by your wearer – you never get to die in normal ways, do you? Still, being accidentally deactivated by your controller’s mistake is at least better than dying, don’t you think?”

“Damn you!”

As she told him to calm down, the fog of sleep gradually cleared. She really was inside the dock. It was that place. The one she had used when boarding the transport ship to Nördlingen.

The transport ships and warships that used this dock were all small, but it was used by people who were important to the Azuchi or the Hashiba forces.

It had been true of her and Onitakemaru when they left for Nördlingen with Komaoumaru and it was true now as they finished the Battle of Shizugatake and made the Great Return.

Next, Sakon realized they weren’t the only ones here.

“They’re all asleep?”

A few of the Ten Spears were sleeping atop insulated sheets with blankets over them.

●

Only now did it feel real to Sakon that the Battle of Shizugatake was over.

The closest to her were Yoshiaki and Angie. They were lying on their sides, facing each other and holding hands. They look as pretty as a sculpture.

“Holding hands like that, they’ll definitely be feeling pins and needles when they wake up,” said Onitakemaru.

She hit him thrice.

On the other side of the winged pair slept Kasuya. Sakon knew she shouldn’t call it “funny”, but Kasuya was sleeping face down in a way she hadn’t seen during their Aki training camp.

“Sleeping like that would chill her belly if not for the insulated sheet,” said Onitakemaru.

Why did patting him in agreed make him even madder than before?

Past Kasuya, the nonhuman unit who had fought alongside her were lying in a group numbering in the double digits. Some of them had relaxed their guard and transformed in the full moons.

“If snoring that loud doesn’t wake them up, they must be as dense as you,” said Onitakemaru.

“They’re just really tired.”

“Then why did you wake up before them?”

“Because I’m hungry.”

“I suppose I can’t blame you for that…”

“Eh!? Onitakemaru-san, can you eat!? If you started munching on things from here, you’d look something like a snow crab. Huh, neat. You’re multi-functional.”

“Why would I be made to do that!? You fool!”

“Ehh!? You’re a real disappointment, Mr. Shogun.”

“Damn you!” he shouted, but a lernen figur appeared next to him. Some of the Azuchi crew had already taken notice of them, but he had also asked to have some food prepared for her.

“Ohh. Onitakemaru-san, that’s incredible!”

“Huh? I’ve decided my role is to assist you after all.”

“Wow, wow, wow! I’ve never seen you use your divine transmissions for anything other than complaints and lectures!”

“What kind of attitude is that!?”

“Yes, yes, I know,” she said offhand as she noticed two people sleeping as if watching over her.

Kiyomasa and Fukushima.

They were near the dock’s entrance.

The interior of the dock was built a step down, so there was a slope leading up to the ship’s interior.

A waiting bench was installed next to the slope and those two were sleeping seated on that bench. They were wrapped in a single blanket with exhaustion reduction and healing charms on their necks.

They must have decided to wait there and then fallen asleep.

“They worked the hardest of any of us.”

“Kohime, it was you who carried Kiyomasa that far.”

She considered what that meant. And something occurred to her.

“Onitakemaru-san, half of that credit belongs to you…so was that a way to subtly toot your own horn?”

That one made him really mad.

●

Kiyomasa found herself waking up. What had woken her was obvious.

“There you go again, Onitakemaru-san! You keep acting like you know what you’re talking about, but I bet you just wanted to use the latest word you learned on the divine net.”

“Damn you!”

They sure are noisy. Oh, that’s Sakon-san. And Yoritomo-sama’s mobile shell. Come to think of it, Sakon-san’s unusually large lung capacity gives her a loud voice.

…And she didn’t fall asleep in the most comfortable position.

As soon as they got back, Sakon had gone “Hooray, we’re finally back!” and, the instant she stepped off the transport ship, collapsed and went to sleep like she had run out of fuel. It was Kiyomasa who helped look after her after that.

She had partially helped because Sakon’s mobile shell was so similar to her own. Maybe that was more a feature of Onitakemaru, but whatever.

With a command from Onitakemaru, removing the mobile shell was simple and Kiyomasa had wanted to move Sakon somewhere comfortable, but…

“She’s so heavy!”

“Yes, Kohime is unnecessarily large!”

She wasn’t sure why he sounded so proud of that, but maybe that was just how partners were. Kiyomasa was already tired and Katagiri had suggested they have several people carry her, but…

“You there! Kohime is not a piece of luggage! She’ll wake up soon enough, so just leave her wherever!”

Her guardian seemed to contradict himself there, but he also seemed to be right.

However, the spot Sakon ended up sleeping in had been a problem. The Azuchi’s dock was located near the engine room and was originally a heat exhaust route for the engine room. It had then been remade into the dock and reinforced to resist external attacks and atmospheric pressure, so it was more sturdy in some places than others.

Sakon had been sleeping on the border between the bottom floor and the base of the slope and the Azuchi bounced a lot there as it crossed air currents. Furthermore, her height must have meant those bounces and the height difference hit her even harder.

And as a result, those two were being noisy now.

“Ohh, I found a song from your time, Onitakemaru-san! On the A.H.R.S. Museum site!”

“Is that a roundabout way of calling me an antique!?”

No, you are both new as can be, thought Kiyomasa.

…Hee hee.

Their noisiness had interrupted her sleep, but her body was loosely controlled by exhaustion, dull pain, and some kind of heat. That made her feel pinned to this spot.

If she had woken to silence, she would have felt like she was still dreaming.

But now she realized everyone else was awake too.

Yoshiaki and Angie were listening to Sakon and Onitakemaru’s conversation with extremely troubled looks. Kasuya, lying face down, had her eyes closed, but she had the expression of someone very much wishing she could go back to sleep.

Kiyomasa understood.

●

AnG: “Huh? Shizugatake is over…or I guess you could say thing’s have finally started, right? But I’m sensing a very familiar feeling coming from a stranger.”

Kimee: “Yes, I don’t quite recognize this mood, but it reminds me a lot of ours.”

Super Justice: “Geh, you’re both awake!? Good morning!”

Black Wolf: “What was that initial ‘geh’ supposed to mean?”

6: “So is everyone up?”

Kiyo-Massive: “It would be more accurate to say we were woken up.”

Tsurugi: “Wait, what? I’ve been up the whole time tuning the engine room.”

●

Everyone had gathered at Shizugatake. With a sigh, Kiyomasa decided to view it as a reunion of the different groups who held “training camps” in different locations.

She noted an emergency assembly hadn’t been called yet, so she hoped she could let Sakon and Yoritomo’s conversation fade into the background as she got a bit more sleep.

After all, she had finally conveyed her feelings to Fukushima.

She was reminded of Unno who had helped her out at Sanada.

How would Unno react if she told her she was sleeping in the same blanket as Fukushima? She wanted to surprise the woman a little, but she didn’t have the energy to go through with it.

She was tired.

No, she was exhausted.

Not only from the back-to-back battles against Niwa and then Shibata and Oichi during the Battle of Shizugatake, but also from the mess with Fukushima before summer break and everything after that.

Now she felt like she was cleaning up everything that led up to this point and starting fresh in a much better direction.

She felt justified in telling herself she had worked very hard indeed.

They weren’t done yet, but if she wasn’t needed at this moment, she hoped to get some sleep.

…Fukushima-sama.

Fukushima was irreplaceable to her. It was the Battle of Shizugatake that had allowed her to not just realize that but also accept it and that had taught her they could continue on together.

Nothing had changed exactly. But she had learned she was mistaken about some important things. Also, Shibata and Oichi had very clearly passed the torch to them.

“It all starts here.”

The past ended here.

The future began here.

They all had to be thinking the same thing in this silent (except for Sakon and Yoritomo’s voices) moment that linked pre- and post-Shizugatake.

Suddenly curious, Kiyomasa looked to the side to see Fukushima there.

They had been leaning their shoulders against each other and sharing their body heat for a while, but that felt so natural now.

The way Fukushima’s cycle of breathing remained at the usual rate even in sleep was likely the result of her training.

As the Ten Spears’ best attacker, she would be given all the most difficult battles from here on, but they had come here knowing that.

The Genesis Project was underway and the moment of ultimate truth was close at hand.

But this moment was stuck in between.

Kiyomasa decided she would make an effort to remember what had come before this and her thoughts here.

If the Genesis Project was achieved, all relationships would vanish.

So the mental burden would be less if she faced forward and didn’t worry about the past. If she was going to forget it all anyway, there was no point in worrying over it all.

But…

“––––”

No matter what happened to the world and them, the past had happened and she wanted to remember what she, Fukushima, and the others had done.

She didn’t know what to call this mental state.

She didn’t know what emotions had led her here.

She didn’t even know what purpose there was in doing it.

Not when everything in this world would be ended without letting it end.

Most likely, she wanted to believe everything would go well for her even after she had forgotten it all and couldn’t remember it.

She wanted to believe it would turn out the same even then.

Or was this only a mental illusion she was experiencing as she dozed in exhaustion.

When she woke next, would she laugh it off as silly?

She didn’t know, but she wanted to believe in this version of herself regardless. She wanted to remember her relationships and everything that had led to their formation. And this was all symbolized by…

“Fukushima-sama…”

She could feel the small, relaxed smile on her lips. And she spoke to everything that she was.

“I will treasure you.”

●

Fukushima just about died while pretending to be asleep.

…I shouldn’t have done that!

Her mistake had been reflexively feigning sleep when she realized Kiyomasa was awake.

She had woken up earlier because she was hungry. But she hadn’t been able to move since she and Kiyomasa were propping each other up.

So she had decided to stay put until Kiyomasa woke, but she now realized staring at Kiyomasa had been a mistake.

Especially after everything that had happened over the past month and a half.

She knew what she had done during her lonely training camp in the mountains and, with some help from Deer-dono, she had arrived in time to make up for her mistakes.

No, she felt she had been granted leniency for the things her clumsiness had nearly lost her.

Kiyo-dono is just so mature, she had concluded after their reunion during the Battle of Shizugatake.

She needed to mature more herself.

She had to stop lying, consider the other person first, and also take better care of herself. She had to avoid pushing herself too hard and trying to keep up appearances and she knew she should simply trust Kiyomasa and stay with her forevermore.

She had been thinking this as she pretended to sleep after Kiyomasa woke up and looked her way.

…Oh. Pretending to sleep is lying, self-preservation, and keeping up appearances!

But, but. If she knew I was staring at her while she slept, I could never look her in the eye again.

On that note, it was incredible how Kiyomasa was staring at her now.

While Fukushima had seen it as a minor competition to see who had the advantage, Kiyomasa seemed to simply be doing what she personally wanted to do.

She really is incredible, thought Fukushima, realizing this may be why she adored the girl so.

But she wanted to treasure their relationship.

It was their role to complete the Genesis Project. Once that was complete, her relationship with Kiyomasa would disappear. Part of her felt it would be better not to take it too far if it would disappear eventually, but another part of her felt that way of thinking was what had held them back for so long.

After all, all of it would be for nothing.

They would be ending everything, ensuring it had all been for nothing, but in doing that, the world wouldn’t have to end.

But, she realized now.

…These feelings aren’t disappearing right here and now.

She couldn’t keep herself going if she rejected everything just because it wouldn’t last.

Making that choice would mean turning herself into a cog in the machine of the Genesis Project.

When even Nobunaga had used Hashiba’s body to see the outside world.

“––––”

What should I do?

In the near future, she would forget everything and so would everyone else.

Once that happened and they didn’t understand anything they were seeing and felt like they were lost in a wasteland, would it all end up the same, even if the form it took and the way it happened differed?

She didn’t know.

But what if she created a precedent?

…I have never thought about it that way before.

Instead of trying to control the future after the Genesis Project, she would simply have faith.

And to do that, she wanted to treasure the present.

She didn’t know what the future held.

But she believed that treasuring the present would let her have faith in the future.

…Yes.

She had felt some lingering heat in her body, perhaps from the Battle of Shizugatake, but that thought seemed to have cooled that heat.

She decided to not think too hard about the present.

If she faced everything that happened as honestly as possible, she could have faith even in a future of severed relationships.

…That will be my stance.

And just as she thought that, Kiyomasa spoke as if in a sigh.

“I will treasure you.”

●

…Ahhh!

Fukushima had been thinking fairly complicated thoughts by her standards as she feigned sleep, but that had all been blown away by Kiyomasa’s words.

…Who is she saying she will treasure!?

Based on the direction of her voice, was she referring to Fukushima?

That was a bit of a problem. Because she was the Ten Spears’ best attacker. If Kiyomasa meant treasure in the sense of “protect”, then it was Fukushima who had to treasure Kiyomasa.

And she wanted to avoid revealing how pathetic she was to Kiyomasa. But…

…Why am I pretending to be asleep!?

If she were awake, she could have reacted to what Kiyomasa said.

She felt like she was already breaking all the promises she had made to herself and slipping back into her old ways.

Then should she wake up?

No, suddenly waking now would be a little too convenient. It would be obvious she had been so shaken by Kiyomasa’s words she had stopped pretending to be asleep.

But Kiyomasa must think she was asleep.

Then waking up now would surprise Kiyomasa too, making them even. How about that? wondered Fukushima, but…

…I feel like I’ve already waited too long for that.

Oh, this feels like the same process that led us to have a fight before leaving before. Where I use a convenient interpretation of her as an excuse to not do anything.

So she thought she should wake up now no matter how it looked. Kiyomasa had said she would treasure her with no concern for appearances, so…

…I will treasure thee as well, Kiyo-dono!

That was all she had to say.

Yes, and if they could go ahead and get married, she was willing to do it at least seven times.

She decided to wake up.

“…!”

And she opened her eyes.

●

AnG: “Oh, Fukushiman woke up.”

Kimee: “I’m pretty sure she’s been awake for awhile.”

The Boy: “It’s hard to tell since I’m not there, but you’re being harsh in your commentary again, aren’t you!? Aren’t you!?”

●

Kiyomasa saw Fukushima directly in front of her.

Well, technically she wasn’t in front of her since they were sitting side by side, but Fukushima’s face had been turned her way, meaning their eyes met.

Fukushima blushed and opened her eyes a little.

This looked nothing like when she was asleep. Her face was overflowing with life and emotion.

This may have been a reaction to what Kiyomasa had said. She felt a little bad about that, but she also selfishly wanted to see what Fukushima would do in response.

Then Fukushima opened her mouth.

“K-K-Kiyo-dono!”

Her voice cracked badly, so she must have been nervous about something. Kiyomasa would also have had a hard time if told she had to say something to Fukushima in these circumstances.

…You can do it, Fukushima-sama!

After some silent encouragement, Kiyomasa gave an audible reply.

“Y-yes!? What is it!?”

She was trying to show her acceptance of Fukushima’s thoughts here, but she hated how she repeatedly nodded her head to such an exaggerated extent. She felt like Fukushima didn’t even need to say anything here. But…

…I want to hear it.

What would Fukushima say? Kiyomasa wanted to hear it to mark this moment and to create a more precious past for them.

Fukushima inhaled and turned in the bench to face Kiyomasa. The blanket twisted around some and slipped from her shoulders, but she paid it no heed.

After a pause, Fukushima looked up into the air and then immediately lowered her eyes to Kiyomasa once more.

“Kiyo-dono.”

“Testament.”

Just as Kiyomasa spoke that word of acknowledgment and agreement, Fukushima opened her mouth.

And that very moment, a shout came from the entrance.

“Sorry about the wait! Kani Saizou here with some food!”

●

Oh, thought Kiyomasa.

…That was some bad timing.

The moment had been completely shattered.

It was like missing a breath. Now Fukushima wouldn’t be able to say anything.

Kiyomasa knew what she had to do.

By smiling and nodding at speechless Fukushima, she could let her know she understood and tell her not to worry.

Kiyomasa understood what mattered here, so it didn’t need to be said out loud right now.

It had remained unsaid until now and they had learned it was true when they were reunited at Shizugatake. So for now, there was no need for Fukushima to force herself to-

“Kiyo-dono.”

She said it anyway.

“I want to marry thee at least seven times.”

●

Has Fukushima lost it? was Angie’s honest opinion.

…Yeah, the Battle of Shizugatake was pretty crazy as a whole.

Thinking back, it had all been absurd.

The Hashiba forces could probably be blamed for the Azuchi’s initial bizarre maneuvering, but way too much had happened afterwards. Like nearly being hit by a rocket punch from an 800m ghost, that same ghost being destroyed with Loup Garou power, and fighting someone who had summoned a divine beast’s power.

It had ended with Fukushima and Kiyomasa dueling Shibata and Oichi, but one of those opponents had been P.A. Oda’s Vice Chancellor, who was a demonic long-lived with a divine weapon. And the other had been a berserker made immortal by a Testamenta Arma. Hadn’t that been a little much?

And yet they had made it through that battle without losing anyone. There were injuries and they were exhausted, but both of those could be dealt with to an extent using spells.

If there was one thing they couldn’t recover and would never return to the way it was, it would be…

“Skill, I guess?”

Their increased skill and their awareness of that would never drop back down.

They knew how dangerous it was to hold back and they had no reason not to make the best and most optimal moves they could.

They must have all boosted their skill in the Battle of Shizugatake. Whether they intended to or not.

That meant they could dive into even more dangerous battlefields going forward.

But that also meant that the battlefield they were heading to now would be on the same level as Shizugatake.

…Hmm.

This wasn’t quite the same thing as their work going unrewarded, but it did feel wrong for their increased skill leading to an increased rather than decreased danger level.

…They should give us hazard pay.

And just as she was mentally sighing…

“Angie.”

She saw Yoshiaki’s smile past their intertwined fingers.

“I’m feeling pins and needles.”

The mobile shell head armor shouted “See! I told you!” and Sakon had to hit him thrice to silence him, but this had been fairly predictable, hadn’t it?

And sitting here lost in thought wasn’t going to help. Food had arrived and the enemy was close. Plus…

“Okay, how about we call Take and the others here and have a meeting?”

There were some unfamiliar faces here. She wanted to make sure they were all as prepared as possible.

If anything was going to drag down their increased skill, it would be unnecessary concern for each other.

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