Aisuru. -- Masamune Date / Inahime (Samurai Warriors 2)

Author comments: Hhahahahaha. This is like, pure crack. I always thought they'd be sort of cute together. Aside from the height difference. I take this from the Samurai Warriors 2 / Sengoku Musou 2 standpoint; not SW1/SW1:XL, primarily because Masamune looks like he's 12. He brought on the sexy in SW2, but anyway...! Enjoy. (By the way, Aisuru in Japanese means "to love")

"Your form is looking better than a lot of other morons around here."

"You know what," Ina sighed, lowering her bow gently before turning around to her companion sitting underneath the sakura tree, "You can keep those comments to yourself, please."

But he didn't like giving up so easily. On the contrary, he enjoyed pushing those comments on her. He liked to annoy her, tease her -- but not to a boiling point. At least, that's what he thought. He smiled on her fondly, soon turning that smile into a smirk. Masamune took this time to polish more of his pistol, "It's a compliment, Ina."

She rolled her eyes, knowing his true intentions. Ever since he'd arrived to serve under Hideyoshi for the Siege of Odawara, he couldn't help but vex her in any way possible. Her father claimed that Masamune was simply "affectionately teasing her" and thought it to be an honor since the boy was rather talented.

She knew Masamune was harboring a--

Inahime breathed out, trying to let her mind sit on it.

Trying not to kill him.

--a crush on her.

Masamune would yell and aggressively frustrate any female, or even male who didn't appease him; but even still, even if Ina was hit hard by her father on her form and lack of ammunition (in her case, arrows) or Iyeasu was criticsizing her on the battlefield, Masamune would make a note of it not to frustrate her further, in fact, he even tried to comfort her. Strangely enough, no matter how much it failed, the gesture was rather nice. However... she just didn't know when to reject him. Something inside always cringed when he began to speak eloquently to her, and even try devising a 'cool' side underneath the pile of belligerence. She could never come out to confront him.

Not noticing that Masamune moved from his comfy spot, her attention was soon back on Masamune at the present moment, who was standing before her, "Listen up, if you have any trouble, don't be afraid to call for help. One of my imbeciles will come to you, understand?!"

She blinked several times, looking into those caramel orbs of energy.

It wasn't an offer, it was a command.

"Masamune, i'll be fine." She breathed out, "Just because i'm a woman doesn't mean i'm not capable of taking care of myself."

"This doesn't have to do with you being a woman!" He retorted, affectively reaching out to grab free hand and turning very red. He was SO thankful that he was shorter than her, "Your the best archer I know and a wonderful ally for this battle. I--" He hesitated, "--We can't lose you."

Her heart sank.

This was Masamune, that little cocky brat who basically proclaims being the best, and yet...

He has a soft spot. She was truly touched.

Still very annoyed, but touched. Her expression went gentle as she tightened her grip on his gloved hands, catching him off guard, "I appreciate it, Masamune. I won't hesitate to call for you when I need assistance."

"You promise?!" He grit his teeth, "I swear, if you--"

Inahime knew this routine all too well. He, too, had a hard time admitting it. She figured that his message (in a more romantic tone) was: "If you need me, i'll be here for you, always."

"Alright, alright. I promise." She nodded, looking down at him. For a petite, he was actually pretty handsome and a lot more attractive than other youths his age. Granted, she was only a few years older than he was, but he was already showing exceptional qualities that made him man material; with that arrogance and pride overlooked, of course. As she watched him bid her goodbye and to return to his clan to infiltrate Odawara, she reached to gently touch the corners of her mouth.

She was smiling. Her heart was beating fast.

And this is how it always ended. He would come out of nowhere, invade her privacy, vex her, and in the end-- it always came out the same. Ina ends up smiling anyway.

Bring on Odawara.

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Thanks for reading!