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#toranaga x reader
schrodingerscougar · 2 months
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Note: Seriously, I have no excuse for the Toranaga fics. Here's a modern day one. Please, enjoy, then kindly point me in the direction of works from others.
..
Toranaga remained silent after Blackthorne finished talking and waited for Mariko to translate for him. You watched him with curious eyes, looking for small changes in his expression that would tell you what he was planning this time. Because you knew many things about him, one of them being the fact that he spoke English quite well.
Once the conversation was over, he asked Mariko to be with their guest for the rest of the day to help him communicate with others and get to know your customs better. After they left, he asked you to go to the roof with him so you could talk in private, away from the people who were dying to find out more about the outsider.
“Please, enlighten me. Why are you making the Englishman believe you don't speak English?” you asked Toranaga once you stepped next to him by the railing of the rooftop.
The man looked at you with a small smile as his fingers played with the small box he held in his hand. What it contained you didn't know, but something told you it was none of your business. “I believe I shouldn't make things easy for him just yet,” he said after a while.
You tried to resist, but your eyes kept falling on the box in his hand. It was a small and simple cardboard box, not something that would seem particularly precious. It was killing you that you had absolutely no clue what it was hiding, and why he had been playing with it ever since you joined him up here.
“You want to know what's inside, don't you?” Toranaga asked with a laugh as he opened his palm and held the box close to you. You shook your head without thinking, even reaching out to close his fingers around it, but he gently pulled your hand away and showed you the object once again. “Take it. It's yours anyway.”
“Mine?” He nodded with that kind smile still visible on his lips. So you took the box and opened it, only to find another box inside. But it wasn't another cardboard box, no. It was a blue jewelry box that had a beautiful white gold ring with a yellow diamond in the middle inside. “I don't understand, what is this?”
“I believe you already know. We've been together for long enough to understand what we want from this relationship. This is what I want,” he explained.
You didn't know what to say. These were trying times for all of you, a proposal wasn't something you could think about. There were people after him, his life was in danger, he had a strange Englishman as a guest, and he was thinking about this? If you didn't know any better, you would have assumed he went mad.
“You have nothing to say?” he asked, bringing you back to the conversation with only these five words.
“Why now in the middle of this mess?”
Toranaga decided to wrap an arm around your body and pull you into a kiss, probably hoping this would make you focus on his proposal instead of your fears regarding the future. His future. He was right as usual, you were terrified those idiots would get him killed.
“I want to hear you say yes before I die, that's all,” came his response as he placed a soft kiss on your cheek. “Don't you want to stay by my side as my wife?”
You flashed a delicate smile at him then put your arms around his neck to pull him against you. “That's all I want,” you whispered to him before burying your face into the crook of his neck.
People had warned you not to let him close, to keep a safe distance from this man who was way more powerful than you could handle. At first you followed the advice, especially because you saw what he could be like, how cold and scheming he was with others.
But then you saw a different side of him. A softer side, one he seemingly reserved for you, and only you. Gentle touches, romantic getaways, generous gifts; he did everything he could to sweep you off your feet. Maybe it was a trap, but maybe he was genuinely interested in you. Either way, you couldn't resist for long.
The two of you joined Blackthorne and Mariko for dinner in the evening, going to an excellent restaurant with a private room to talk a little more. Through the other woman, Toranaga asked a lot of questions about the Englishman's intentions. He assumed he came here looking for something that had been hidden a long time ago, a relic that held value only to a small circle of people.
You remained silent and listened. You weren't allowed to talk to the outsider yet because your fiancé wanted you to stay out of whatever mess he was here to cause. He would have rather thrown Mariko under the bus right now. It was cruel, but he was only protecting you, you knew that.
“Why don't you ask him about the relic? Go on, ask him about what object they've been hiding for a long time,” Blackthorne told Mariko once he had enough of the cross-examination.
She looked confused, hesitant to speak up at first. Knowing Toranaga understood everything made her more cautious and you couldn't blame her. Of course, Blackthorne didn't speak Japanese, so he wouldn't have understood what she said. But despite this, she was carefully choosing each word when she spoke up again.
“Lord Toranaga, the relic he's talking about… Is it real?” she asked.
“It is very much real, I can assure you,” he said before turning to his guest and switching to English. “I believe you are chasing a myth, Mr. Blackthorne. This relic went missing a long time ago.”
His lie made you nervous. What was he plotting this time? But the biggest surprise came from the other man whose jaw dropped upon hearing him speak his language.
“You bastard, you understood everything I said, didn't you?” he asked angrily before turning to you. “I bet you understand everything too.”
“Whether or not she understands you doesn't matter as I asked Mariko to translate, not her.”
Blackthorne laughed at this. “You don't want your lover to be involved? What are you afraid of? That she might realize what a manipulative piece of shit you are?”
Toranaga glanced over at you for a moment, then turned back to the Englishman. “You should learn to choose your words more carefully,” he warned him. “You saved my life, for which I'm grateful, and you are my guest, but I won't hesitate to get rid of you if you make the wrong choice.”
You shivered because of the way he talked to Blackthorne. This was the man people warned you about, the one who was usually nowhere to be found when you were around. He exchanged a few words with Mariko in Japanese, then stood up and extended a hand to help you up too. It was time to leave apparently.
Before you left the room, your eyes met Mariko’s and you couldn't hide your worry. She flashed a small smile at you then nodded to tell you she would be fine. You returned the smile then said goodbye and went after Toranaga. You didn't dare to resist.
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sublygod · 1 month
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For anyone that wants shogun fanfic- feel free to send requests of what you want and I’ll see if I can write them out! I get sidetracked a lot so it might take me some time to write them but I will write them!
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whimsical-lullaby · 1 month
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Welcome to my corner!
About me:
Phumla || 18 y/o || she/her || 🇿🇦 || Proud Zulu girl || Writer || History enthusiast
Fandoms/Who I write for:
Shōgun
Kashigi Yabushige
Yoshii Toranaga
Requests are open! Please be kind and patient.
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bridgetotheskyyy · 2 months
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cw: smut, 18+, fingering, slight degradation, toranaga x f!reader. in her ignorance reader says something really scandalous and toranaga's amused. wc 898. not truly proofread.
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You raised your head to Toranaga, only to find him already looking at you. His brow raised in a near imperceptible arch.
Come again?
“I —“ Your lips remained parted. How could you be so brash? Your family was right; you were nothing but a clown.
All the while Toranaga held your gaze, one you felt increasingly hot from, your lord replacing the sun. You should genuflect, you know. Apologize tenfold for your audacity, but your body refused to move. Lord Toranaga’s stare rendered you stone. 
You trembled, back beginning to strain from your declined position above him. Lord Toranaga remained trained on your eye for a few seconds more, and after engaged in this staring contest for a century it happened:
A light smile. He chuckled. 
“Come,” he said.
“My — My Lord —“
“Come.”
What a poor choice in wordage. You shuddered at his commanding tone. Lord Toranaga jerked his head downward to gesture at his lap.
You scrambled to your feet, only to awkwardly nestle into his lap, where Lord Toranaga’s hands wove around you like vine. You gulped, startled by the strength of his hold.
“You’re quite the brazen little thing.” Lord Toranaga offered another chuckle, this time right into the shell of your ear before leveling his face with yours — seemingly to watch your reaction to him seizing your hand and directing it north, past the gap of your legs. “You’ll make an excellent plaything.”
You dared to look up at him, and the scratch of his beard as your lips brushed against him almost sent your eyes rolling in your head. “My lord,” you murmured, “Idon’tunderstand —“
“Don’t be obtuse.” Lord Toranaga’s hand propped up your chin, his eyes, thunderstorm gray without the tumult, downcast into yours. “You know what I wish to see. Put those elegant fingers to use.”
You spent seconds in astonished denial until Lord Toranaga raised his brow — would you really abstain from following a direct order? — and you snuck a hand under your robe, the loose clothing pooling around your shoulders, exacerbating your cleavage, as your hand lay naked at your sex. 
“Oh …” You arched into him when two of your fingers split your folds. Lord Toranaga’s rumble of approval spurred you on to tease the tight ring of your virgin hole, growing ever-wetter with your play. 
Lord Toranaga’s laughter bounced his shoulders. “Brazen and eager.” He held you tight to him, adding to the friction needed to make you cry out into his neck. “A fortuitous combination.”
He rocked you and your hand brushed against your clit, harsh and sudden. “My — My lord …!”
“Is this what preoccupies you in the blackest ink of night?” Lord Toranaga’s tone was genuine in its curiosity. He tilted his head; his lips brushed the hill of your zygoma, your cheek, nearing dangerous close to your lips, again the scratch of his beard on your skin maddening. “Playing with yourself to the thought of your lord pillowing you?”
Your head hung back as your fingertips circled your clit. Lord Toranaga’s hand slipped into the fold of your robe to thumb at an excited nipple, his breath hot on your neck.
“When your lord asks a question, he expects an answer.”
Again, he seized your hand to replace it with his own, and smacked at your labia.
“Yes!” How could you lie to him? Lie to yourself? This was exactly what you pictured if not more. 
Lord Toranaga grabbed the back of your head and steered you forward for an open mouthed kiss. His tongue ran hot and quick over yours. Lord Toranaga’s rough kiss stoked a moan from you. Your hand returned to your folds, and you gave in to the delicious tightness brought about by two fingertips teasing your clit, rendered more sensitive from your lord’s punishment, while another dipped in and out of your cunt. 
“My Lord —!” How you wanted that finger to be his cock. His hot breath puffed against your lips. One of your hands caressed the side of his face now as you shamelessly ground against him. “I — I’m — I can’t —!”
“Go on then,” Lord Toranaga said before nibbling down on your lower one. “Come for your lord.”
With his permission, you cried out, your head falling back and Lord Toranaga there to claim it for himself, the insistent bite of his teeth accentuating your release. You gushed over your aching fingers. You yelped out as your lord marked you, a hickey surely purpling at the side of your neck from his harsh suction.
Lord Toranaga allowed for you to come down from your high, one hand secure at your back, before he retrieved your hand and sucked at your pruned fingers. You watched, eyes lid-heavy, the feel of his tongue sending you shivering.
“Very good.” His voice was even, more fitting for a war tent than for your current situation. His eyes, previously closed to savor the taste of you, opened and trailed up to your face. “It is courtesy to thank your lord when he does you a favor.”
“Thank you,” You rushed out. “Oh, thank you, Lord Toranaga …”
“Very good,” Lord Toranaga repeated, releasing your hand.
Figuring the two of you were done with this sordid display, you made to leave his lap — only for him to hold you in place.
“And what servant would leave her lord’s presence without returning a favor?”
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mahbu335 · 2 months
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For the people writing Yoshii Toranaga x reader fics, I will build you a monument that will stand the test of time and declare a festival in your honor
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simpingforclaudette · 2 months
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cw: smut (oral sex), (consensual) voyeurism, reader insert, afab! reader
pairings: yoshii toranaga x reader, john blackthorne x reader
toranaga asking reader & john about eastern/english people’s ways and ending up watching them having sex, including john eating reader out and reader giving him a blowjob. thoughts? :3
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sublygod · 1 month
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STARTING THE SHOGUN FANFIC RN! TEHEHEHHE- but I also gotta do mortal Kombat stuff 😭
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schrodingerscougar · 2 months
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A proposal (Yoshii Toranaga x reader)
Note: I love his wife, but for the sake of this she has to go. RIP. Anyway, I just had to get this out of my system.
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Toranaga’s wife had fallen ill weeks ago, rumor had it she didn’t have much time left. And ever since then, he has been visiting your family more and more often, watching you like a hawk the whole time, as if he was carefully studying you for future reference.
Your parents didn’t tell you anything, but you saw the meaningful looks he and your father exchanged. Everything pointed in the direction that he wanted to take you with him, probably to take his wife’s place in the event of her passing.
“You know why I am here, don’t you?” he asked you one evening over dinner.
You looked down at the floor and tried to gather your thoughts. Everything you knew was based on theories, possibilities your mind came up with to explain the past weeks’ happenings. “I believe it is related to your wife’s illness, Lord Toranaga,” you noted quietly.
His tired eyes were set on you and he let out a long sigh upon hearing your answer. “You are right, it is. She sadly passed away two days ago.” Before you could say anything, he raised a hand to stop you. “I want you to come with me.”
“Why?”
Your father warned you to behave, to keep your tongue tied unless you had something intelligent to add to the conversation. You nodded obediently even though you didn't agree with this. You felt like you had the right to know, to learn what exactly he was planning with you.
To your surprise, Toranaga smiled at you, a gesture that seemed so alien minutes after hearing him speak about his wife's death. “I believe she has the right to know,” he said eventually. “You will be my wife.”
With that he confirmed your theory, causing your heart to sink to your stomach. You didn't want that. He had been nothing but nice to you, still, it just didn't feel right. His wife was a kind woman, you would never dare to even consider replacing her.
“Don't look so sad. It is a great honor,” your mother told you quietly.
“Why don't we go for a walk? It is such a nice evening,” Toranaga offered, gesturing towards the garden.
Your father nodded, giving you a look that was more of an order to do as he wished. So you stood up and followed him outside, walking by his side in silence until he finally decided to speak up. Sometimes he glanced over at you with the same curious eyes you had seen back in the house.
After he made sure you were alone, he came to a halt and said, “I can assure you, this is more than just politics. You are a very clever young woman, you caught my eye almost two years ago. But I didn’t want you to be any less than a proper wife. I assumed you might get married and I could finally get the thought of you out of my head.”
The sincerity in his voice made you realize he was telling the truth. You looked over at him, eyes locking in the silence that was only broken by a few birds flying by. “Is it a good idea? Getting feelings involved, I mean,” you clarified.
“It is hard to put my feelings aside when it comes to you. All I know is that I couldn't stand the thought of you being someone else's wife when you could be mine.” He reached out to touch your face, his fingers moving under your chin to make you look at him. “I will give you anything you want. I promise.”
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whimsical-lullaby · 22 days
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Would you write a Toranaga x reader who was traveling with John Blackthorne?
Untethered, floating aimlessly
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Standing before the great lord, your head hung low with your eyes trained to the ground and unable to meet his gaze. But your ears bore witness to your surroundings; the howling winds of nightfall, the crimson tent's flap flying in the breeze. Had your feet not been covered, you would have felt sand cling to your toes. For a moment you are thankful you are in this clothing .. but the weight of it hangs on your shoulders.
Just like the weight of his silence, you think inwardly as you waited patiently for whatever words would come out the Lord's mouth.
Biting the inside of your cheek, you finally raised your eyes to see the scene unfold before you. Yoshii Toranaga, holding his infant daughter in his arms .. he looked down at her, his lips upturn in a small but recognisable smile of content. Moving slightly in a motion of rocking the child who rests in her peaceful slumber. You've never seen him this peaceful before, not ever since you met him.
The girl seemed like she was too little to even fit in his arms but she did, perfectly so. An image too good to be true.
Toranaga lifts his had and his eyes rest on yours. "You did well."
You did well. At those three simple words, you gleamed softly.
In your time in Ajiro village, you had taken up the task to learn as much of the Japanese language as you could. Ten words a day, you had requested of your teacher, Lady Mariko. But she adjusted them to five, less you wanted to go to sleep with a headache and forget the pronunciations which was most likely what happened.
"What have you decided to name her?" Toranaga quarries in a hum.
Yes, it is true. You have excelled in learning as much words as your brain could handle. But you were still new to stringing up sentences with said words. Your head turned to Lady Mariko, awaiting his translation.
Swallowing up every anxiety you had in you, your eyes interlocked with his. "I have." Your voice began, leveled. "Mariko will be her name. For she has stood by me like no one else has since my arrival."
Toda Mariko blinked, hesitating her interpretation for her Lord as her heart swells with gratitude. Her eightfold fence rattled but she charged on, guarding it dutifully. She dips her head in a bow. "You honor me greatly, N/N-sama."
Lord Toranaga's eyes narrowed lightly, brows contorted in confusion and they rested as Lady Mariko translates for you. He didn't dare miss the warmth the two women shared and found it endearing that you were finding a footing in his country, a home in the form of one his most trusted people.
A small smile settles on his lips, looking at you. "A fitting name indeed."
The Lord comes over to you, carefully placing Mariko in the safety of your arms. Your heart swells with wonder of her being here .. for a long time she had been but an imagination, a dream. And now you're finding it hard to believe she was actually here.
You had expected so much from Toranaga's arrival. The first image of him that came to your mind when he saw you, was him raging and speaking so quickly in long sentences you didn't even understand. And you just staring at him like a deer, surveying for any predators in the area.
However, you weren't going to lie because you deserved his anger, his lecture. Hiding a pregnancy wasn't a small thing...
Still, you couldn't take your mind off of the day you two parted. You had argued with him on the ship sailing to Ajiro village after the escape at Osaka. Needing to let out your pent up emotions to the sole purpose of your anguish and frustration. Him.
When you were first brought before him along with John Blackthorne, you had been but a stranger to him. A barbarian. At first you had no knowledge as to why he had strike up the deal to set John and his crew free in exchange of you being his concubine.
It seemed like a deal for his own personal gain which you righteously refused. But just as John had a slippery tongue when it comes to vile words, he did so when telling lies. Like the lie he told Toranaga of you being his sister, to ensure that you were close to him whatever the circumstances was.. a lie in which still is hidden til today. And then he goes on to accept the offer on your behalf.
Some brother he was.
Lady Mariko was there to help you in any way she could and you were grateful in that aspect. Yet that still didn't mean it was sunshine and roses from then on.
The escape from Osaka took place.
You had thought, since you were Toranaga's concubine he would protect you, at the very least. But when you climbed on that Portuguese ship at the bay, and the captain said he wanted you and Blackthorne out and back to the shores of Osaka, Toranaga came out of the captain's quarters and relied his words.
Betrayed.
You were no stranger to betrayal. It was the root cause of you coming here in the first place. The son of a lady you were serving had his eyes of for you, one day gifting you his grandmother's ring on Christmas. A little bird tweeted in the kitchens you were working in and you found yourself in front of the Mistress who had her son beside her, questioning him on the jewellery. The bastard denied ever giving it to you.
Branded a thief, you knew sooner than late that you would be sentenced to transportation.
Your nan always told you to be wary of men, they will take advantage of you if you don't.
That's why you descended upon the Portuguese ship in tow behind John, because you were just a pawn in whatever game the Lord of Kanto was playing.
You both narrowly escaped. That was one thing about you that you shared with John. Your drive to live ...
For the few coming hours, you had Mary that drive nor will ..
Unable to face Toranaga after his betrayal, you went to the back of the ship that courses through the waves. Somehow, you ended on the other side of the helm of the ship, the heal of your legs balancing on a protruding beam. Your mind had conjured up a peaceful oblivion, that was enough to make you do that.
As you gaze down at the reflection of the starry littered sea, that's all you wished to be engulfed in. A gleaming heaven, a calm nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Not a raging cold ocean that would drown you the moment you let go.
The moment you let go ..
It never came. Because Toranaga was there.
He stopped you. Obviously it didn't work. You were a stubborn girl from the day you were born.
Your mind was made up. You nothing here in these, you had no one, you were no one.
By the time you reached Ajiro village, no words were shared between you and Lord Toranaga. You stood next to Blackthorne as the formalities went on with Toranaga inspecting his vassal's army.
Then you saw him sailing away on the boat, gracefully raising his fan as the army cheered him on. Nagakado had said he had urgent business and that for the coming months, the gun regiment needed to be trained.
There was only a moment where you interlocked eyes with his as the boat took him away. A foreign feeling tugged at your heart and you ignored it as you wondered beneath all that anguish inside you. Was he ever feeling it too?
Now how were you to bring up being with child in all that whirlwind of pain and betrayal and loneliness?
Thankfully the loneliness was cured.
You found a friend in Usami Fuji. She had orders from Toranaga to be John's consort and you knew a great deal about him spending time on the Erasmus, in that long, excruciating voyage. She was thankful for you immensely.
With time, she helped you adjust to the life growing in your womb as she was once a mother too.
Lady Mariko was there, too.
She was your translator, your closest confidant. You had begun to accept her as the older sister you always wished and dreamed you had. Most of your siblings you had to see go because of famine. You were much accustomed to death around you.
So when a new life came, your heart was heavy with joy. Your eyes shed tears of content for the very first time since you arrived in this island country. In your daughter, you had something that was yours and a purpose to keep moving forward in this godforsaken journey called life.
Life seemed a little brighter with her here now. And that only hope you held, was the reason you stood before Toranaga today, without having to fall to your knees and wallow in self pity and embarrassment.
Toranaga nods toward Lady Mariko and she bows, taking her leave. Your heart sinks as you watched the departure of your interpreter but you do your best not to show it. Now, all you had was your broken Japanese to communicate with him.
There was silence, only the winds whispered, filling the space between them. As if they too were anticipating who would break the silence of suffocation.
"That day .. no goodbye." You tried piecing together the words you could only describe were like million puzzle pieces to create one image, while the clock ticked in your eardrums.
The clock being the unflinching gaze of Toranaga.
Toranaga replies, "I'd assumed you were angry with me."
"I still am." You confirmed, catching onto the last three words he said. The lessons you spent with Mariko giving you hope that even though broken, you could still communicate and reach and understanding.
Your gaze fell on a lamp, finding it interesting all of a sudden. You harboured enough strengths and courage to do a great many things but looking into his eyes was not one of them. He was the most frustrating yet undaunted man you had ever met in your life and you didn't know whether to see that as a blessing of a curse.
"Can .. can I trust you?" Your voice came out in a whisper.
"Trust is a powerful word."
Of course he would say that. I mean, what were you hoping? He was a Lord, for crying out loud. And you .. you are just a girl from a small town that courageously paved her way through life and then royally fucked it up after you trusted someone you claimed to love.
Still not meeting his eyes, yours closed as you let out a shaky breath. You just needed the clarity. "Then, can I lean on you? Until the storm is over?"
He knew exactly what you meant. This war. You wanted clarity on whether he would protect you should anything happen ..
Toranaga nods. "I will you give you a shelter untill this storm is over." His lips upturned and your eyes finally found his, your heart fluttering as the burning on your cheeks stung.
"And perhaps," he continues, "we can start over. From the beginning."
"I'd like that," for the first time, you beamed a smile that reached to your eyes. "I'd like that very much."
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schrodingerscougar · 2 months
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I want to write another part for the Toranaga fic. The lack of fics is bothering me, sorry.
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whimsical-lullaby · 28 days
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Hi! So nice to see another person who writes for Shogun on here.
Anyways, I was wondering if I could get a Yoshii Toranaga x fem reader please? I don't know what all you write in the story, but I know it will be good. Thanks! And take all the time you need, I am in no rush.
Shrivelled Blossoms
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You were always a strong person who knew what to say and when to say something in the right moment. And when to keep silent and re-evaluate words and tones that needed to be input in a conversation, whether serious or not. So, what happened today? You just... froze. A word you're so sure isn't even in your vocabulary.
Your friends warned that this would be a serious case to handle and you prepared for it every possible way you could. And when it came, you tackled it in every direction.
'It's not cheese and sprinkles, being a lawyer.' Your father would say. This field of work was hard but you weren't about to lie to yourself, that it didn't build you up as a person.
Entering the train, you took a seat and then texted your friends, telling them you were on the subway. Honestly, it was a miracle you even made it this far! What with the many shots of saké you shared with your friends, that you yourself couldn't remember the exact number.
Your childhood friends who still lived in Osaka texted you after work, when you were curled up on your couch and in your Disney pajamas, contemplating whether to do a Disney marathon starting with Pirates of the Caribbean or just continue binging the last episode of Demon Slayer. They invited you to a girls' night out to cheer you up and you were too nice to decline as much as you were anticipating the latter.
Plus, you thought that it would be nice to catch up after some time you three were caught up in your hectic careers.
Now you wanted nothing more than to plop on your bed and let the drowsiness take you to a peaceful slumber. The hangover can be dealt with once you wake up.
But still, thoughts of the court case resurfaced once more. It's to be expected, as you were an over-achiever ever since you could remember.
It wasn't so much as failing the case and bringing failure to your family name... Well, just a tad bit on that part. But the rest, you wanted to fight for someone so passionately and effortlessly. The dejected look your client gave you made you want to shrivel up and find a place to hide and never come out. But time waits for no one and this wasn't the last case you had. However, you viewed it as your big break.
What a waste, you thought as you contemplated appealing. However that thought was soon demolished by the fear of making a fool of your client and yourself so you just let it rest.
You were so caught up in your internal conflict that you didn't hear the intercom announcement. When you lifted your head up, you realized every passenger was gone and the train was moving once more. Shit.
Clicking your phone open, you immediately went to the phone tracker app only to stare dumbfounded at the moving point from your stop. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!"
You stood up hastily and turned your head to the right. Was it even possible to get ahold of the conductor? You didn't know but you would try. As you took your first steps, the lights flickered just for a millisecond and it went on once more.
A part of you furiously fought off the whispers in your ears of the urban legends of riding a train at night. You weren't big on scary stuff but you grew up mostly with your grandparents so you were a tad bit superstitious.
Gulping hard, you beelined for the front door, hoping that no ghosts or spirits will claim your soul. The train is probably old, it might need a few things checked up. That's why the lights are flickering, your voice of reason was there to calm you down as usual. It's nothing!
Those movies are unrealistic! How could the character's brains function properly when they are stuck in unsettling situation while you are struggling to open a damn door? Despite your voice of reason, your mind kept traversing back to those camp stories and deep down, you thought that a spirit of a bear would maul you. Why the fuck would a bear be doing in a subway station? You're not thinking clearly!
At some point, you managed to pry the sliding door open and enter the pilot's compartment. The air was knocked out of your lungs as the train violently shook from side to side but you managed to grab onto something to stable you. What the fuck is going on?
Losing balance, you fell to the floor and a dull thud filled your ears before it was replaced by a white noise that viscously stung.
The last thing your blackening vision saw was red liquid pooling on the metal floors of the subway train.
...
Furrowing your eyebrows, you blinked your disoriented eyes open, trying to adjust to the light seeping through the room. Room?
Examining the room you were in, you spotted no doors. Only three mahogany wooden doors and a traditional screen door.
You shut your eyes, trying not to panic. Trying to remember how you got here. Your head feels foggy, temples throbbing as you sort through vague memories.
The court case. Night out with friends, few shots of saké, maybe more since you didn't remember the number. The subway. Missing your stop. The light's flickering on and off. The earthquake.
And then ... nothing.
You can't remember.
Your eyes fly open and you take comfort in the feeling of being fully clothed. But it's not your clothes. Glancing down at the unfamiliar outfit. A simple teal kosode. It felt comfortable ... but it still unsettled you - the fact that someone could have undressed you. You hoped and prayed it was a woman, at the very least.
As you sat up, shutting your eyes as you listened to the ache in your head. Opening them once more, observing your new surroundings.
It looked to be one of those traditional homes. There were no windows. Light passed through the paper of the shoji screen. It kind of reminded you of that traditional Airbnb you stayed in for a night with your mom. There were no modern appliances like air-conditioning or heaters. It looked plain.
Your eyes found your sneakers, next to your neatly folded clothes. But your handbag was no where to be seen. I've been robbed, was your first thought and then pieced together the puzzle. And you concluded you were kidnapped and they confiscated your handbag.
Your heart leaps into your throat as it becomes clear that you need to get the hell out of here.
Wobbling as you slowly got up, your bare feet brushed along the tatami  mat, taking your clothes and sneakers in your hands, ambling your way towards the shoji screen. You dropped your shoes and pulled the sliding door to the left and you were met with shocked brown eyes staring back at you.
"Miss, you shouldn't be up and about with your injury!" The young woman gasped.
"Who are you and where am I?" Your hoarse voice croaked and felt scorching in your throat due to screaming for dear life in the train.
"I am Lady Toda Mariko," she introduce and from the corner of your eye, you saw two women shuffling in the room. One carried a bowel of water and a towel, the other carried what looked to be a neatly folded kosode. "I am instructed to bring you to My Lord once you regain consciousness."
"Your Lord?" You echoed and your eyes widen. "Jesus Christ? Am .. Am I in heaven?"
Lady Mariko blinked momentarily before laughing softly. "No, I assure you, you are very much alive. And seem to be doing well than yesterday. You are in Ajiro village and I've been instructed to bring you to My Lord, Toranaga-sama."
....
You had been out of place.
Exotic, is one word Toranaga could describe you and quite frankly the only word he could find in his mind after last night's events. His brother had betrayed him, his brash son drove himself to his death trying to avoid an already fixed fate. And just a few feet way from Nagakado's lifeless body was you.
An unconscious young woman, half drowning in a pond filling up with crimson blood. Sustaining an injury to your head that he requested should be treated by a skilled healer.
Hiromatsu thought you were an assassin or a spy who was caught up in the wrong place and time. Why else were you there? You were just so out of place. Upon closer inspection, you were anything but.
They confiscated your bag and searched for any weapon you might be concealing but found.. strange, peculiar things instead. Yet nothing threatening.
Scrutinizing you now in a different light, his thoughts were concluded.
Silence.
That was Toranaga's tactic. He waited to see who would speak first. And judging by how your eyes travelled everywhere in the room, unable to meet his. You were shifty, and you needed to fill the silence quickly.
Very simple, that's what you were. But definitely non-threatening. Unless your true self was hidden well behind a facade. Now that was a different story and he would soon find out.
You did not know how many centimeters your forehead was to the floor, or how many degrees you were bowing. Once you were presentable as so Lady Mariko deemed you to be, you were led to a relatively spacious room by two men in samurai haircuts and made to kneel before this person she had referred to him as her Lord, Yoshii Toranaga.
Behind Toranaga was a Tokoma which displayed an impressive samurai armer and a part of you thought the production crew really had the budget to pull off even the smallest detail.
"Hello-"
"Who are you?" He asked.
"Me? My name is Y/N." You answered. Silence dragged on again and it became unbearable so you filled it. "Is this a movie set?"
"A what?"
"I was just assuming... where are you hiding the cameras?" The two men shared a glance and you were starting to get annoyed that they were beating around the bush.
You desperately wanted an ibuprofen to sooth your headache and call a doctor to check if you didn't sustain any brain injury. Yes, you were grateful for their assistance whilst you were unconscious but you wanted nothing more than to go home.
"Look. There's been a huge misunderstanding here." You say, the tension reverberates in your throat as the words came out in a petty croak.
"Where are you from?" Toranaga asks.
"I am from Tokyo."
The lord hesitated, not knowing of a place by the name of Tokyo but ventured on. "And tell me. What were you doing in the middle of last night's squabble?" You blinked at his question, not knowing what to say.
"You mean the train incident?" You trekked, not sure to what he was alluding. "I was distracted and missed my stop so the train continued on it's journey."
"What are you saying?" It was the man on the other end of the room who spoke. Lady Mariko told you he was Toranaga's right-hand man, Hiromatsu. "Speak plainly."
Breathing out through your nose, you collected yourself. Opening your mouth to speak, you were cut off by the old man. "Are you an assassin sent by Ishidō?" He accuses.
"No."
"A spy?"
Your eyes bulged at the mere thought of doing that. "Jesus Christ. No!"
"Then explain this weapon." Toranaga placed your phone in front of him. "One of my Koshō took it from your bag and it's light burned his eyes."
Mouth agape, you couldn't fandom the craziness of this situation. What hell did I step into? You wondered inwardly.
"That's because he turned it on. Don't you know what a phone is?"
Toranaga and Hiromatsu stared at you as if you had grown two heads. You hated that it made you look stupid, in front of these serious-looking men. It reminded you of your years in college and some classmates never thought you would make it as a lawyer because you were too sensitive.
Seeing this was going no where, you played along with their game. Method actors, you reasoned with yourself. Perhaps you are in a movie set, set in feudal Japan ... based on their clothing and the extraordinary built set.
Surprisingly, they came to a conclusion and believed you. Toranaga allowed a roof over your head as a guest in his Edo castle until he figured out what he should do with you. You felt like a burden to him and you hated that.
Adjusting for you wasn't so much of a problem. You had a great teacher. Lady Mariko was very patient with you and explained everything you needed to know, that coupled with you were a fast learner, took you farther.
However, in some places you felt restricted. Like the many layers you had to carry when you wear your kimono, or the way you had to shuffle your feet all the time when you walked. Sometimes when you made sure no one was around you, you walked the normal way you did. Screw grace and elegance .. at certain times, that is.
Thankfully you would be going home pretty soon. Toranaga and his entourage were marching to Edo, present day Tokyo.
The lord's brows furrowed as he silently watched you raise your arm in different directions, clutching your magic box in your palm. Muttering something about 'no reception' in a groan.
You were a strange thing. But tolerable.
Upon arriving in Edo, you stopped on your tracks, no longer trailing behind the foot soldiers. He wondered what shocked you...
Continuing to observe your body language, you were now keeping to yourself as your eyes scanned the still thriving city of Edo.
A few days went by as Nagakado's funeral arrived all too quickly and he was staying within the walls of his castle, intent on having time to himself to process these emotions on his own. From afar, he gazed at the smoke drawing up to the sky - the fire that would turn his son's remains into ashes. He needed to distract his thoughts before grief took over. Weakness was never an option.
However, he's mind kept coming back to you. The lord noticed he rarely saw you. He began taking note of your routine. On most occasions, you spent your time in the gardens or by the pond. One time he caught you drawing something on the sand, and the gardener fumed at his ruined work.
Upon inquiry, you told him you drew what you explained as a stickman in an aeroplane, flying back to his home. You missed home ... yet you said Edo was your home. That confused him tremendously.
Requesting a maidservant to invite you to dine with him. Toranaga raised his brows upon receiving the response. "My Lord, she declined your invitation."
Nodding, the maid took her departure. Letting out a breath, he humbly sought you out.
The maids were flocking around you with towels in their hands, lecturing your ear off but you heard nothing. You weren't thinking straight as you sat under the rain. Perhaps a part of you was trying to reach God somehow by asking to end this dreadful nightmare. Reality hit you like a bus, the days were moving and you slowly came into realization that you were stuck, in the past.
Thoughts about your parents and family invaded Would they miss you too much? Would they think you were dead if they searched high and low and couldn't find your body? You began to recalling your grandmother's funeral .. all those sorrowful faces looking up at you, voices giving you and your family condolences. Would that be the same for you as well?
You were unable fathom why .. why this happened to you?
Was this to be your reality?
Drowning in your depressive thoughts, you hadn't noticed Lord Toranaga enter the threshold of your room, requesting the maids to leave you both.
Advancing towards you, he stood in front of you with furrowed brows confusion. "Why are you crying?"
"I'm not going home, am I?" My bottom lip trembled as your heart swelled, feeling tears fill up your eyes.
Feeling a warm finger under your chin, he brought your eyes to meet his. A warm smile settled on his lips. "I do not know how or what brought you here, Y/N. But everyone has a fate, perhaps being here is your fate."
You blinked away the tears, sniffling lightly. "But..but why?" Hot tears fell down your cheeks. "My life was just beginning, I was starting to make my parents proud of me, I was starting to find my footing in my career... There is nothing for me here."
As much as you wanted to appear strong all the time, you broke down. Everything you've ever worked hard for is gone and now you were forced to start life anew, in a time not of your own, with new people.
When she sobbed, Toranaga's body went froze, not knowing what to do. He wasn't accustomed to a woman crying in front of him, most woman he knew had learned to stiffen their lips and march on with their pain carefully hidden away.
Hesitantly, he brought you in an embrace, shocking himself as well. But was relieved as you didn't pull away, deciding to lay your head on his chest.
Not knowing how to comfort her any further, he decided to just listen. Inviting her to dine with him in his private quarters and just listened to how she grew up in the year 21st century.
Toranaga had found you infuriating at first.
You were a disagreeable woman with a sharp tongue and quick-witted mind. And he almost lost his words around you. Almost, being the key word. Brazen, just like his son and everyone else in his circle, you wanted him to fight.
He didn't know if you were stupid or too bold for your own good. Such matters needed to be handled tactically, that's what he told you one night as you dined together, getting to know you better. In hope of steering your mind away from the conversation.
And then you told him of your position as a lawyer.
Toranaga appreciate your willingness to fight for people you personally did not know, whom you addressed as 'clients'. He liked your spirit of having to give someone else a voice to speak their thoughts aloud, maybe that's what made you so fearless.
Daresay he wanted to believe you. That you came from the distant future. A world so extraordinary with tall buildings that reached for the heavens, flying steel dragons that flew across the sky from one country the other, horseless carriages that cruised through the streets. Such a world was out of his imagination.
That was when you showed him your rectangle magic box that glows brilliantly with a switch of a button, which stored countless moments in time called 'pictures'.
It stored pictures of you and the people closest to you in life. Places you've been to, your achievements. Every picture had a story. Most them were of you goofing around and you giggled at those, showing him a part of your character, a carefree soul. That was when he started believing you. This truth was solidified after he asked and you told him of growing up in a unified Japan. Toranaga gleamed softly. For he too wished to live in that reality with no wars, losses and betrayals.
Your reality seemed like a tranquil heaven he wished to bask and his heart shattered when he saw that look in your eyes when you finish telling him of your home. It was like a tide going out and it went out slowly... how he desperately wanted he could stop it surprised him.
You told him of how Japan was so beautifully broken. Your words were like a melodic poem to his ears. Narrating of the cycles earthquakes and hurricanes that destroy homes, the losses. Yet everytime, there still is that slight strength to keep standing up defiantly, rebuilding what was once broken. "That's what makes Japan unique," you told him.
That was something you both agreed on.
Daresay, he found himself distracted by you at times. Him of all people, distracted by a woman, no less. That was unheard of. Such feelings were hazardous ... but he was audacious enough to act on them one morning he made up his mind.
Toranaga found you standing on the engawa, overlooking the serenely pitter pattering rain.
It was like you sensed his presence because your body never stiffened this time when you both crossed each other. You were relaxed and just like at last night's dinner, you were free to speak your thoughts without hesitation.
"I've given myself time to think about it, what you said." A sigh escaped your slightly parted lips and they settled in a serene thin line which was half a smile. "It's not so bad when you get used to it."
Honestly, you began to think this whole thing was a vacation. A long needed vacation - you would adjust. Maybe you're starting to, maybe it'll take some time.
Peering up at the Lord, you saw what you could make out as a soft smile. It wasn't all the way to his eyes - perhaps one day you would have the pleasure to see that miracle. "I have given myself time to think, as well." He shifted to observe the garden and his brows furrowed in the slightest, as if contemplating his words. "I want you by my side."
"As what?" You quarried. "If you want to know the details of what happens in Japan's history, I don't know Jack shit, I'm sorry."
Toranaga chuckles. "Fate has many things fixed for us as a people. The heavens would have sent you anywhere in Japan but they brought you to my path ... And I'd be honored to have you by my side."
It was a lie. You knew exactly what happens in Japan's history. What kind of person does not know their country's history? You always stood by the law. The laws of physics, the laws of science, the natural law. It wouldn't hurt to break the laws of time travel, would it?
If these feelings were true and they ran deeper than what you ancipated ... you would help him win this war, so that you sustain the head on your shoulders and stay by his side.
Giving him a brilliant smile to his earnest words, you reply. "I'd be honored to be by your side, too."
There were many preparations Toranaga needed to settle for the next days to come, and today he would go to his son's final place. And thank him. Both he and his trusted friend, Hiromatsu.
And then ... Crimson Sky would commence.
But for now, he drank delight in this peaceful reprieve, observing the nostalgic drizzle of the rain with you by his side.
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schrodingerscougar · 2 months
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“Please, enlighten me. Why are you making the Englishman believe you don't speak English?” you asked Toranaga once you stepped next to him by the railing of the rooftop.
The man looked at you with a small smile as his fingers played with the small box he held in his hand. What it contained you didn't know, but something told you it was none of your business. “I believe I shouldn't make things easy for him just yet,” he said after a while.
You tried to resist, but your eyes kept falling on the box in his hand. It was a small and simple cardboard box, not something that would seem particularly precious. It was killing you that you had absolutely no clue what it was hiding, and why he had been playing with it ever since you joined him up here.
“You want to know what's inside, don't you?” Toranaga asked with a laugh as he opened his palm and held the box close to you. You shook your head without thinking, even reaching out to close his fingers around it, but he gently pulled your hand away and showed you the object once again. “Take it. It's yours anyway.”
“Mine?” He nodded with that kind smile still visible on his lips. So you took the box and opened it, only to find another box inside. But it wasn't another cardboard box, no. It was a blue jewelry box that had a beautiful white gold ring with a yellow diamond in the middle inside. “I don't understand, what is this?”
“I believe you already know. We've been together for long enough to understand what we want from this relationship. This is what I want,” he explained.
You didn't know what to say. These were trying times for all of you, a proposal wasn't something you could think about. There were people after him, his life was in danger, he had a strange Englishman as a guest, and he was thinking about this? If you didn't know any better, you would have assumed he went mad.
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schrodingerscougar · 2 months
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For a while he only watched you in silence, making you believe he would move on. But then he leaned forward, slowly and cautiously closing the gap between you before he finally kissed you, solidifying his promise from several days ago when he had said he would always love you.
Back then you didn't believe him. How could he love you when he didn't even know you? But this kiss showed you how much he cared.
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That's it. I can't get past this part. Help. Should I delete it and move on to a modern day AU?
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