"Naoki?" Natsumi's soft voicewoke me from my slumber and my eyes snapped open.

Taking in my surroundings, I noticedher at the doorway, waiting for me to reply. "Hai,Natsumi-san?"

"A messenger showed up at thegates. He requested to speak only with you. Ryo-kun was busy andasked me to get you."

I nodded. "Arigato,Natsumi-san. I'll see him in a moment."

She nodded and left, gently closing the door behind her. For amoment, I stared at the door, wishing I could go back to sleep anddream of a better world. Finally, however, I got out of bed, tryingto mentally prepare myself for the day while I dressed.

As it turned out, I wasn't quite as prepared as I'd originallythought.

"You say the Iga clan sent you,hai?" I confirmed,watching the man intently, trying to focus on the present, ratherthan the past.

"The Iga clan sent me to aid you in any way I can. Oda attacked,and has pushed us back into the mountains," the rider told me.

"What is your name?"

"Tatsu."

"Naoki-kun?" the ninja asked.

"Shazai shimasu. What wereyou saying?"

"The Iga clan sent me to informyou that a unit of their best warriors is on the way. I am to stayand help as well."

"Hai, hai... Was thereanything else?" This conversation was getting much too similar tomy first real interaction with Tatsu, and it was disconcerting.

"Hai. While approachingyour castle, I noticed the Sanada clan was marching this way. Ithought that, under the circumstances, a warning would be wise."

"How big is their army?"

"It was large enough, but not asbig as your own. They had a unit of horsemen with them as well."

"Arigato, yūjin.Tell Ryo-kun to spread the word.Anata ga iku kamo shiremasen,"I said, dismissing him.

He nodded and bowed, leaving.

Silence hung over the room like a shroud and I let myself sink deepinto my thoughts, letting my subconscious take over for a while so Icould contrive a plan.

***

Masaki knocked on my door several minutes later, pulling me from mythoughts. "Masaki-kun, any word?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'm worried, Naoki-kun. If Mitsuhide-kundoesn't come through on his end of the bargain, we're not going to bethe only ones suffering. Michi-kun is out there, and as long as Odahas him, he's in danger."

"Be patient, Masaki-kun.Mitsuhide-kun will help, I know he will. But even if he doesn't help,I'm working to come up with backup plans. As long as Oda doesn't knowwe're playing him, you can keep feeding him information until we getyour brother back. Until then, there isn't anything we can do fromhere except wait."

"Hai," Masaki agreed. Icould tell he was restless, however. His foot was in constant motion,tapping against the floor rhythmically until I couldn't stand itanymore and put my hand out to stop it.

"You need to do something to takeyour mind off of your brother," I muttered.

He snorted. "Hai, butI doubt there's much of anything I could do that would accomplishthat."

For a moment, I was silent, considering. "The ninja who arrived wassupposed to spread the word. The Sanada are headed our way, ready tobattle. I believe it's possible they plan to siege us and we need tobe prepared. How many ways are there into this castle? I counted onlythree."

Masaki shrugged. "Well there are the main gates, and the side gate,but other than that the only other entrance is the tunnels."

I nodded slowly. "And according to the information given, theSanada fighting forces are smaller than ours, which means a normalsiege won't work."

"The simplest way to get in hereif you had the right men would be to take over the gatehouse and letthe army through," Masaki pointed out.

"But that won't work because theirarmy is too small for that. We have the advantage over them if theytry that method."

After a brief moment of consideration, we both came to the sameconclusion. "So if they can't get either of the gates, they wouldhead for the tunnels, because those are less defended and iteliminates the disadvantage of having the lower ground."

"If they go that way, they couldwin," Masaki said.

"Unless we defend it well enoughthat they can't get in through the tunnels either," I mused.

Natsumi knocked lightly on the door, interrupting us. "Naoki, yourscouts reported the Sanada armies at half a mile away," shereported, then hurried off before I could reply.

Masaki frowned. "No honorific? I wouldn't have thought she wouldhave been the first one you would have convinced, Naoki-kun. Shedoesn't seem the type."

"Well, you could stand to take alesson from her, then," I muttered, getting a laugh out of him.

A Japanese honey bee flew in throughthe open window, landing lightly on my sleeve for a second beforeflying away. I watched at it, remembering the time I'd watched aswarm of them defending their home from a Japanese hornet. Kindof like I have to now, I suppose.

"Naoki-kun?"

"Mōshiwakearimasenga, dono yō na?"

"Do you have any of your brilliantideas? Because now would be a good time..."

"Actually, yes... I do."

***

The tunnels were riddled with traps by the time the Sanada clanarrived. Many had been flooded, and holes had been dug where therewas dirt and hidden by weak boards covered in dirt. Carefullyconstructed traps were also set in strategic places so that, whentripped, they would release several heavy boulders from a side tunneland crush the army.

My personal favorite, however, wasthe hornets. The bee that I'd seen earlier had sparked the idea.Japanese Giant Hornets could be deadly, and they were extremelyterritorial. Plus, they were attracted by several things, especiallyhuman sweat and strong drinks, like sake.

They hadn't been easy to find inlarge numbers, but once they were spotted, all we'd had to do tocollect them was put a bottle of sakein the bottom of a barrel and let them fly over to check it out.Eventually, we had enough to erect traps similar to the ones with theboulders.

"They camped out in front of ourwalls, Naoki-kun," Masaki informed me.

"Good. They'll probably wait fornightfall before moving in. If I were attacking, I'd leave the tentsup and have a squadron of men stay behind to make it look like theynever left, sending the main force into the tunnels."

Masaki nodded. "It makes sense. They would want as many men aspossible going in with them, but they wouldn't want us to know aboutit until the last possible second, which means they would have toleave some behind to move about the camp and keep watch."

"Tell the men to keep an eye outfor that, just in case they try it. Have you heard anything of theunit of ninja the Iga clan sent to aid us?"

"Hai, but the news isn'tgood. They sent another messenger. Oda attacked again, and they hadto pull back and head home to defend their territory."

I sighed. "They wouldn't havegotten here in time to help anyway." I just hope we don'tend up needing them.

***

They camped out for two days before making their attack, heading intothe tunnels in the dead of night. The scouts almost missed themovement, as they'd sent out a 'hunting party' during the day, and itdidn't seem to have returned.

Takeo delivered the news to me, looking worried. "They've gotteninto the tunnels, Daimyo Naoki. We can't track their movement well,but the scouts are watching to make sure things go according toplan."

"What direction are they heading?"I asked him.

"Kita, straight for theentrance to the castle."

"They'll hit most of the trapsthen. Send for a scout. I want him to show me."

"Hai, Daimyo Naoki."

***

The tunnels were dark and myfootsteps seemed to echo through the corridor as I followed the scouttowards the outer sections. The steady drip of water and the distantsound of a river could easily be heard, reminding me of the threatsthat lurked around every corner. So many traps around everycorner, just waiting to be released.

The thought wasn't exactlyappealing, and I realized the danger I put myself and others in, ifanyone ever needed to use the tunnels to escape from an attackingarmy, but on the other hand, I also realized that if I didn't usethese tactics, our armies would meet in an enclosed space againstboth normal soldiers, samurai, and horsemen, taking away both theadvantage of a larger army andthe advantage of higher ground.

Eventually, the sound of the Sanada attacking force could be heardthrough the tunnels, apparently not hindered by the traps. But aftera few moments, a crash could be heard, and panicked screams echoedthrough the hollow mountain as hundreds of hornets were unleashed onthe army.

The scout stopped and held out his hand. "We should turn back,Daimyo Naoki. If we continue, we are likely to be caught in our owntraps."

"Hai, we will turn back.Keep an eye out and make sure to send word of the army's movements. Iwill return alone."

"Mochiron, Daimyo Naoki,"he said.

I turned to leave, then stopped. "Please, call me Naoki."

He watched me for a moment and thennodded. "Hai... Naoki."

***

"They've tripped most of ourtraps, Naoki-kun," Masaki reported. "It seems to be working. Ifwe send a small fighting force into the tunnels, we may be able tofinish them off completely."

"I don't want to send anyone in ifwe don't have to. Leave the force in the main tunnels to guard theentrance to the castle. If they make it that far, don't let them getfarther."

Masaki nodded and returned to his task of commanding the army. I satdown on a mat in the council room and made myself stay put. Theinaction was tearing me apart, and I hated the feeling ofhelplessness it caused.

They need you here, to command them, Naoki. You can't go off andget yourself killed. Kyou-kun needs you, or he'll have to fight Odaalone.

The less rational side of me triedto cajole itself into some action. Kyou has Magiochi-kun,he'll be fine if you end up dead, don't worry about it. Just join thefight already!

Which of course, was the perfect wayof looking at things... if you didn't mind getting killed. Since Idid mind, I mademyself sit put. You strategy will work, and if it doesn'twork well enough, the soldiers you sent with Masaki-kun will takecare of it. You've barely survived being poisoned twice andstabbed through the stomach. You're still recovering from the latter,and fighting won't help.

 I didn't get to contemplate that any further, however, as ahauntingly familiar cry echoed through the castle. "Masaki-kun!"