Kasumi tried to press her fingertips to her mouth, but let it go with the initial motion. "Oh dear.... That might be rather bad...."
"Is that so?"
"Well.... I'm sure that you had your reasons, but you're supposed to have been rather mean...."
"That is...."
"Mostly been distorted by years of telling, and storytellers... using history to base fiction on," Kodachi-in-Ryoga interrupted, looking rather put out about the whole thing.
"Quite true. How did you know?"
"I read historical accounts, and realize that many of the stories of the past are told with the desire to place 'spin' upon the tales of the person."
"Then he really isn't that mean?" the sole person still in her own body and conscious asked.
"Perhaps. But he was not a merely blinded by cruelty and anger. He was wise enough to do things that would work on improving the nation, such as road building and economic reform."
"That was nice of him."
"It might have been, though I doubt that he had done it for mere generosity."
"Why is that?" Kasumi asked, cocking her head in confusion.
"Simply because whatever improvements he made in the lands that he conquered would benefit him. Isn't that so?"
"You are quite wise, my friend," Nobunaga replied, curving Shampoo's lips into an amused smile.
"Do you really think that?"
"Oh, but I do. Not many of your... demeanor would be so understanding of the actions of a leader."
"If you judge my abilities by this form, do not bother. I am usually in a body more elegant than this one."
"Is that so?"
The displaced gymnast went to point out her birth body, but stopped herself as she realized that she did not want it stared at in its current state. "It is true. In playing this... game, I was switched with the one whose body this truly is."
"She's right," Kasumi confirmed. "It was a pretty big surprise to see what happened with Ryoga...."
"So the name of the one who's body that is happens to be... Wait a moment. 'She'? You are a woman?" the former warlord asked.
"That is the case," Kodachi-in-Ryoga answered with a slight nod.
"I see. And an educated one at that...."
"In my family, you have to learn about history. We are descended from samurai, after all. Though my foolish brother is quite idiotic about the subject."
"How so?"
"He is taken by the stories, but does not take the time to absorb the facts. To him, the samurai were a totally noble class who were chosen by the heavens to lead, with the peasantry automatically willing to serve their lords, with him as the culmination of such a process."
"And yet I've seen that the samurai were a mixture of individuals, including fools, braggarts, drunkards, and other... undesirables."
"Which begs the question as to what you will be doing now. You are merely the spirit of the man who died all those centuries ago," the rich girl-in-Lost Boy pointed out.
"It depends on what my situation will be. For all that I know, this may be simply nothing more than a passing effect, and that I will be returned to the afterlife when enough time has passed."
"In which case...."
"I will simply have to enjoy the opportunity to be of flesh again. It is not the form that I would have chosen, but it is of warrior stock," the ghost commented. "I can feel it."
"Supposedly, that is the case. Would you be doing what you describe until the end of the game."
"That would logically be the end of my time in this body, would it not? Then I would have to go through the game, and play the turns of this woman. Yet, it would give me the time to... investigate certain things that had escaped me during my living days. It would so ease my... interest to have a woman's body to freely enjoy at my leisure."
A frown curved Ryoga's mouth as Kodachi gave a level look at the possessed Amazon. "And what will you do if it turns out that the effects are... not so constrained?"
"If this is permanent, you mean? I would have to adapt, of course. Starting with the basics would be an annoyance, but I have no reason to think that I could not gain power in this new time. All that would have to be done would be the proper use of what I have available."
"And that means...." the bodily displaced Kuno raised a brow as she trailed off.
"I would use my brain. Or my mind in this girl's body, as the case may be. With her strength, and my experience, I could do much if it came to a fight. However, I will not be blindly dealing with problems with violence. As I understand it, this time allows women into positions of political and economic power. Just by proving myself as an asset, I can move up in the hierarchy of this land. Of course, there is the quick way to gain power and prestige, which is made available to me now that I bear a woman's body."
"You would be willing to...."
"You would be surprise what time being dead will allow you to do. Think of it as a reincarnation. And I am sure that the feelings of pleasure that I am already getting from this form are only a prelude to what I could get otherwise. Besides, once I caught my target, I could shift true control of the assets to my own possession. But be it as a bride, executive, or politician, this body has much for me to use and enjoy as I move back into the position of power that I lost so long ago," Nobunaga responded, using Shampoo's small hands to heft and squeeze her sizable breasts.
Both Kodachi and Kasumi didn't show any enjoyment of the dead warlord's announcement, while:
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(Posted Sun, 29 Apr 2007 01:34)
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