陸奥国

"You should totally meet my cousin."

Anyone who heard such a statement would have been puzzled as to why one had to mention one’s relative who was not present at that very moment, but given that her situation had been rather odd as well, she should not have been surprised.

It was stupid, really, on how it all began.

After living in the Ancient Capital her whole life, the moment the opportunity presented itself for her to be able to study in the East Capital, she seized it and never looked back. Sure, she got a bit homesick at times, but more importantly, she had her freedom.

It was not known to all that she was from an old samurai clan, and a conservative one at that.

Which meant that everything she did was scrutinized, from the way she dressed to where she studied. As such, she went to one of the few 'Super Science High Schools' in the country from elementary until high school, and her family, albeit reluctantly to allow her to pursue higher education, expected her to go to the equally elite Kyoto University, if only to keep an eye on her.

Instead, she opted to enroll at the University of Tokyo, specifically, to a course that she had been interested in ever since she could read a book: the Liberal Arts, with her specialization being Japanese history. Ironic, as she had been subjected to math and science most of her life, only for her to pursue a degree in the arts.

Not that her family had been against it, but they were rather disappointed that she was going to university when she could have simply gone through a marriage meeting in order to get married soon after her high school graduation.

The last thing she wanted was to become a pawn to her family, which was why she opted to be as physically distant from them as she could possibly achieve. It was by pure luck that she managed to get a scholarship for the famed TouDai, and with her situated in Tokyo, that meant less meddling.

Sure, it made year-end family gatherings a little bit awkward, but it was on them, not her. She had no desire to follow their wishes; she did so once, just to please them, but it made her miserable in the end.

Never again would she allow herself to be manipulated.

Pushing aside any thought of her estranged family, she asked, "... Excuse me?"

The other person grinned before chuckling. "Oh, sorry about that. Just that… you remind me of my cousin. He's pretty knowledgeable about history too, and would probably appreciate seeing the famed Red Gate with his own eyes."

"I… see." she decided not to tell the stranger that the ancestors of her childhood friend had a connection to this Red Gate [1], lest it invited more talk. It wasn’t everyday that some stranger came up to you to discuss about Japanese history, and no matter how much she wanted to stop and chat, it simply wasn’t done upon the first encounter. "Well then, if you'll excuse me…"

"Sorry for the sudden outburst though." The man scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "You a junior?"

She nodded tentatively, which made the man grin. "Nice, I'm a junior too. Komaba Campus, yeah? Guess I'll see you around."

She found herself nodding again before turning away, heading back to the station.

"Itou Narumi!"

She stopped in her tracks and looked back at the man, who was now grinning widely at her. “I’m Itou Narumi.” he repeated. “Nice to meet you.”

Despite her hesitation, she found herself smiling a bit. "Tamura Aki. Nice to meet you."

----------

While their initial meeting had been rather unusual, she quickly became friends with Narumi. It turned out that happy-go-lucky man was such a people-person that he had made friends with everyone in their year in no time, though curiously, he somehow chose to spend most of his time with her whenever possible. Of course, that brought about rumors regarding their relationship being more than friends, but he had been quick to tell her that she was, in his opinion, better off with his cousin.

As to who that cousin was, she had no clue, other than said cousin did not reside in Tokyo, and was a year older than both of them. When she pressed her classmate for more details about this cousin of his, all he did was smirk.

“In due time, my friend. In due time.” the words sounded ominous, but to her, it was simply typical of master showman Itou Narumi to keep people in suspense.

Which was why she was now in a Shinkansen bound for Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture as soon as her summer break started; her original plan was to attend the Sendai Tanabata, held yearly during the 6th until the 8th of August, but somehow, somehow, Narumi had managed to convince her to make changes to her plan and, instead, head over to Sendai a few days before the start of the festival. She protested over the lack of funds; the cost of a Shinkansen ticket was no joke, nor were the hotel prices. A yearly event like Sendai Tanabata surely meant that the cost of the lodging would skyrocket, but her friend told her that she did not have to worry too much about her lodging. Rather, she could stay over at his family’s place in Sendai, which she had declined initially until he pestered her to simply accept her blessings. In the end, she reluctantly accepted the offer, though making a mental note to simply go back to Tokyo just in case the arrangements did not fall through and took a turn for the worst.

“Oh, and if you didn’t know, the place’s actually very near Zuihoden; you can be there as soon as it opens at 9.”

And that was how she fell for the scheme, hook, line, and sinker.

While most of the people she knew had known about her interest in history, what they were not aware of was that she was one of them, namely, a rekijo.

Calling her a ‘female history buff’ was still too kind; rather, she was obsessed with simply one man who made his mark in history.

While she did not go to the extremes of living, speaking, and breathing anything related to pre-Edo period, the way she was obsessed with learning and reading about her favorite warlord was another story. Every new book and magazine that featured him, without fail, she would buy it and read it, even if the information on said book had been something that she already knew. After all, she knew she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she overlooked anything related to him.

As to who her favorite warrior was, it was the One-Eyed Dragon of the North, Date Mutsu no Kami Masamune, the man who founded the city she was to visit.

Upon admitting this tidbit to her new friend and explaining why she was going to all three days of Sendai Tanabata, a smile that she could only describe as ‘scheming’ made its way to Narumi’s face before saying, “... I see. Well then, your Sendai trip should be interesting, yeah? Why not stay longer? I’m sure my cousin wouldn’t mind entertaining you.”

If it was only possible to cancel the trip, but the history buff in her was screaming at her not to, and to even take this as an opportunity to have the best Tanabata experience possible. She was never one to join festivals, especially since it was always humid in the summer. Besides that, she always had a part-time job lined up for a few weeks during summer vacation as she had bills to pay and money to save up. It took her two long years to save up for this trip, and she would rather not let the moment pass her by.

… That, and it would be totally embarrassing if she cancelled out on her friend, who had actually managed to convince his cousin to tour them around Sendai and the spots around the prefecture. Narumi, it turned out, had gotten the same cousin to agree to house her for the duration of her stay, and for free. When she asked why she had to stay at a total stranger’s place instead of his family home, it was then he told her that while he had been born in Miyagi Prefecture, he and his family moved to Hokkaido and settled at Date City. [2]

To her own embarrassment and shame, she then couldn’t help but quiz him about the city he grew up in, as it was related to the Date clan. Thankfully, her friend was more than happy to tell her about the history of the place.

“Honestly, you’re the only one I know who actually wanted to hear about where I grew up. Mention ‘Hokkaido’, and everyone just assumes that you’re from Sapporo.”

She shrugged. “I’ve read about Date City and didn’t want to assume, so I thought it would be better to ask you directly instead of making my own conclusions.”

He nodded solemnly. “You’re awesome as always, Acchan!”

While, at first, she was not very fond of the nickname, she realized that Narumi-kun didn’t call her by that to make fun of her. Growing up, a majority of people made fun of her and her name, mockingly calling her ‘Megohime’ whenever she starts blabbering about Sengoku Period history related to her favorite warlord or when they find out the characters to her name.

“No wonder you’re so fond of that warlord; you’ve even named yourself after his wife! Just how obsessed are you, really?” [3]

For the most part, people assumed that her name was her alias when, in fact, it was her real name. Narumi, to her own surprise, asked her how her name was read, even after seeing the way she wrote it.

Now that she thought about it, Narumi was truly a nice guy; at first, it seemed really suspicious as to why he would go out of his way to be so nice to her, even if they became friends recently. 

Then again, he's always been like that to everyone.

Quickly relieving herself of distracting thoughts, she began to reread the list of places she would like to visit while she was in Tohoku. Now was her chance to truly visit the place she had always dreamed of; the very region her favorite warlord had ruled… just thinking about it was enough to make her want to scream in happiness.

She reached her destination a little before noon, and immediately after exiting the Shinkansen, the university student took a photo of the sign that indicated the station name, trying her best not to either burst into tears or simply scream.

She still could hardly believe the fact that she was finally here.

In Sendai.

“Don’t you start breaking down on me here.”

She hardly had any time to gasp as soon as she realized that Itou Narumi was now walking towards her, and had went out of his way to pay the platform ticket [4] just to see her.

“Why are you even here?!” she could barely keep her surprise down.

“Been messaging you for ten minutes. Guess you were too giddy to reply back? We’re not even at the castle ruins yet!” upon hearing his teasing, her face flamed, knowing that he spoke the truth.

Unable to counter what he had said, she proceeded to hit him on the arm, prompting him to yelp in surprise and in shock.

“... Come on, let’s just go okay. I bet your cousin’s waiting for us.” with that, she began walking towards the exit, eager to begin her exploration of the region.

With her back turned, she missed the calculating smirk on her friend’s face.

“Yes, he’s so looking forward to meeting you.”

----------

If only publicly throttling and assaulting his cousin wasn’t a crime, he would have done so as soon as Shigezane made it out of the ticket gates.

Despite being younger by a year old, his now soon-to-be disowned cousin was such a sleaze that he could not believe he got outsmarted by this… this… schemer.

Date Masamune being uncomfortable with women was the biggest understatement of the year within his family, and the fact that there was a woman trailing behind Shigezane was the biggest indicator that this happened to be the very person he had to take care of during her entire stay in Sendai.

Inwardly, he cringed, irritated at the fact that he assumed that the ‘buddy’ Shigezane mentioned over at LINE was male. While he wanted to blame the other man for the situation he was currently in, Masamune knew that the burden fell to him to confirm all the details. He had been so busy lately that it was highly likely that he overlooked the messages. That, or Shigezane seemed to have been intentionally been vague and rather pushy that he had no other choice but to agree just to get him to stop spamming their LINE chat.

Typical of Shigezane to use his so-called “persuasion skills” to force the other person to simply give in.

Resisting the urge to roll both of his eyes, he sized up the person who was to be his house guest for the next few days.

Surprisingly, up close, she was a rather small thing, the top of her head barely reaching his cousin’s chin. While he was no fashion expert, even from his good left eye, he noticed that her hairstyle reminded him of how women from the Heian Period, who kept it very long, but the hair on the sides of her cheeks were cut short.

… Not that she had a face similar to the Heian Period women depicted on those scrolls.

She looked… well, she was definitely a looker in that blue-green summer dress and short-sleeved cardigan, if he had to admit it. With eyes the color of ruby and her burgundy locks cascading just above the middle of her back, Shigezane’s… whoever she was, she was guaranteed to catch a man’s attention, himself included, even though he was no good in dealing with her kind.

She had seemed rather soft-spoken when she bowed at Kojuro after Shigezane did the introductions. To his surprise, she seemed to refer to his cousin by a different name, one that he couldn't quite catch.

Before he could ponder on it further, Shigezane interrupted his thoughts.

“Masa! Sorry for the wait! My buddy’s here now!” it was hard to miss the cheeky grin on his cousin’s face. “She spent her time on the platform taking photos of the ‘Sendai Station’ signboard like a tourist!”

He also did not miss the glare she aimed at her cousin, who was either oblivious or was simply ignoring her anger.

Inwardly, he shook his head and sighed, knowing that since he had to honor his promise, he might as well steel himself for the upcoming chaos.

“I’m Masamune.” he said, bowing at the girl.

Curiously, her face lit up. “ ‘Masamune’? Is your name written the same way as — ”

For some reason, he felt annoyed upon hearing where her query was going. While he was aware that there were many ways to write the name, still, hearing it from her was enough to stir something in him other than indifference.

“Yes, I write my name the same way as the Date Masamune.” [5] he said curtly, not wanting to explain further.

Like his more famous ancestor before him, he was named thus, which he thought was not a bad thing… though it got annoying when even his right eye had somehow tried to imitate the first lord of the Sendai Domain. While the issue with his eye was not due to smallpox, he felt uncomfortable about it, which was why he chose to cover his affected eye with part of his hair and, at times, a medical eyepatch.

To his surprise, a smile made its way to her face. “That is such a cool name. Nice to meet you, I’m Aki.”

He ignored the way his chest warmed upon seeing her smile. “Let’s head out before we run out of parking space at the museum.” Masamune found himself saying before turning around to head for the parking lot.

“Museum? Seriously? Her first time in Sendai, and you’re thinking of bringing her to the museum?” came Shigezane’s unfiltered commentary. “That’s boring and you know it!”

“Got any better ideas?” Kojuro asked curtly, sounding rather exasperated that the carefully planned schedule was being challenged by the very person who asked for a favor.

“I don’t mind going to the museum.” Aki said, seemingly sensing the tension in the air. “I think it’d be great to learn more about Sendai! I mean, we are off to Sendai City Museum [6], right?”

“We are.” Kojuro confirmed. “I trust that you don’t object to that, Tamura-san?”

“Of course not.” he heard her say in affirmation. “I’d love to see the history of this city! Anything goes, really!”

Despite his misgivings about this woman, he found himself admiring her, if only just a little. They’ve only met, after all, and who knows what kind of woman she really was underneath all the politeness. His own mother had been loving and kind until she found out about the condition of his right eye; despite modern-day explanations that there was nothing wrong with it, she clung to old-fashioned beliefs that he had been cursed by their ancestors.

… Now’s not the time to think about that.

He needed a change of pace and a change of scenery; he was on his final year in the university, and had been pushing himself too hard. Upon the advice of Kojuro, he decided to actively join the festivities for this year’s Tanabata. As heir of the Date clan, he had been tasked by his father to tour a group of tourists from overseas around Zuihoden, his famous namesake’s mausoleum complex [7]; while he was uncomfortable with public speaking, he knew he had to overcome this. Someday, he would be giving out lectures about his family to the general public, and the sooner he became more comfortable with his clan duties, the better.

“Are you all done talking? Let’s get moving.” upon looking back to see if everyone was following suit, he noticed that she was carrying her backpack and pulling along her rather large-sized suitcase. Upon seeing the sight, he found himself frowning.

Walking over to her, he said, “Give me that.”

“I’m fine—” just when she was about to protest, he cut her off and grabbed the trolley handle of her suitcase. “Uhhh…”

“Forgive my cousin for forgetting that he is supposed to be a gentleman and should be carrying your stuff for you.” Masamune then directed a glare at his cousin, who at least looked a bit less smug after getting called out for his mistake. “Your backpack, if you don’t mind.”

“I’m good.” she said, shaking her head. “I can carry this at least.”

“Very well. Let’s stop wasting time here.” pulling her roller suitcase behind him, he began to head for the rooftop parking.

----------

Shigezane found himself smirking as soon as his cousin’s back was turned. Beside him, Kojuro was frozen on the spot, unable to process what he had just seen.

Not that he could blame him; Katakura Kojuro served as Masamune’s guardian and mentor since childhood, and knew very well that Masamune could not abide women. And yet, the heir to their clan had been cordial, polite even, and to a woman he had only met for the first time. There was still some awkwardness to the way Masa conducted himself towards Acchan, but that was a start at least.

“... Is this what you meant when you said you’d be going home for the summer holidays?” Kojuro asked in a soft voice as both of them followed the two from a distance. “I was surprised to hear that you wanted to visit Sendai in summer, when we all know that you’d rather go back to Hokkaido and escape the summer heat in Tokyo.”

Instead of denying it, Shigezane figured that he might as well spill the beans to the older man. After all, his plan of setting up his cousin and his new friend wouldn’t go as planned if Kojuro kept trailing after Masamune like a mother hen.

“You’d never believe me on this, but Tamura Aki is the perfect girl for Masa!”

As expected, Kojuro sighed in exasperation. “... Are you serious?”

It was his turn to sigh in exasperation. “Why wouldn’t I be serious about this?”

“You manipulated her into going here just to meet Masamune-sama?!” Kojuro asked, irritation evident in his voice. “That is low, even for you.”

It was his turn to get angry at the accusation. “Excuse me, but Acchan wanted to attend the Sendai Tanabata; all I did was steer her to Masa’s direction. Wouldn’t it be great if they get along?!”

“This is highly inappropriate—”

“Oh please, Kojuro, we both know that deep within your heart, you want him settled with a good woman and take care of his babies in the future like a doting grandma.” for the second time that day, he ignored the glare aimed at him, though he grinned widely at the embarrassed flush that made its way to the man’s cheeks. “Just your luck, she’s perfect for him.”

When even his childhood guardian did not look convinced, he added, “She doesn’t know anything about the clan, nor our families.”

“You both are from TouDai, are you not? How does she not know?”

“I never told her; I go by ‘Itou Narumi’ [8] in school, and she doesn’t suspect that we’re related to the Date clan of the old Sendai Domain.”

At this, Kojuro simply shook his head, as if to give up trying to process whatever it was that he was saying; which meant that, for now, it was his victory.

“So please, could you not get in their way, at least, until she and I leave for Tokyo?”

Shigezane knew that Kojuro was torn; it was a gamble, as it was not known at this point if his ward and a strange woman would actually get along. Not to mention, the possibility of her being a gold digger and hurting Masamune was something that the member of the Katakura clan was mulling upon.

Shigezane directed a prayer to his ancestors to, for once, enlighten the old man and allow him to let go of his overprotectiveness towards Masamune, albeit temporarily.

It was on the tip of his tongue to say that Masamune wasn’t as fragile as he thought he was, until Kojuro beat him to it.

“... I will humor you just this once, and will allow your friend to be close to Masamune-sama during her stay here. However, one suspicious move from her, and I send her back to Tokyo, along with you.” Kojuro leveled his gaze at him, and for once, Date Shigezane felt as if he was a toddler again, as the look in the older man’s eyes felt eerily similar to his childhood days whenever he was scolded for getting into trouble.

Still, if the gamble paid off…

“Don’t you worry, old man, you’ll like her.” ignoring the eye twitch in the other man’s eye upon hearing the word ‘old man’, Shigezane grinned. “In no time at all, Masa’s gonna fall in love with her, and you’ll have babies to take care of!”

“... You’d better be right about this, or I’ll never forgive myself.”

----------

Notes:

[1] Red Gate - called the 'Akamon'. Tokyo University's main Hongo campus used to be the residence of the Maeda clan in Edo (Tokyo).

[2] Date City - located in Hokkaido. Members of the Date-Watari clan (Shigezane's descendants) moved to Hokkaido during the Meiji period. There is a museum in Date city that displays Date Shigezane's armor.

[3] “No wonder you’re so fond of that warlord; you’ve even named yourself after his wife! Just how obsessed are you, really?” - Date Masamune’s legal wife’s name is Megohime (愛姫).

[4] Platform ticket - when you want to see someone off at the train station and want to go past the ticket gates, you'll need a platform ticket to go in.

[5] Date Masamune’s name - It’s written as 政宗. There are actually eleven ways to write the name ‘Masamune’ in different kanji.

[6] Sendai City Museum - as the name implies, it's a museum within the city of Sendai that tells the history of the city. At times, the museum displays rare items related to Date Masamune or to the Date clan.

[7] Zuihoden - mausoleum complex where Date Masamune is buried.

[8] Itou Narumi - Date Shigezane’s name (伊達成実) can also be read as such, as shown in the game’s event story.

----------

Welp, I started writing for Date Masamune too.

First fanfic for him, and I was bold enough to even try a modern-day AU setting; I guess this is what happens when you keep on visiting Sendai and doing fanfic research while you’re there...? I love Sendai a lot though, which is why I keep coming back whenever I get a chance to do so.

I’ve set Masamune’s MC’s name to be Tamura Aki (田村 愛姫), with the kanji for her first name being similar to Megohime’s, though only read differently. I chose the family name ‘Tamura’, as Tamura was the clan that Megohime belonged to before marrying Date Masamune.