avalononline | Video un: sneaky

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Video un: sneaky_fox

[The video is taken from Mitsuhide's perspective since he's the one making it after all. The subject of the video? Why the Demon King himself! Oda Nobunaga of course!]

[The video shows the inside of the bar that Mitsuhide works at. More specifically, it's the view from behind the counter. And Nobunaga is shown wearing the button down shirt that the other bartenders were wearing. He also opted to wear a tie, which Mitsuhide normally forgoes. That said tie, though, was currently in one of the glasses of beer that Nobunaga was arranging on a tray.]

[Mitsuhide could be heard snickering from behind the camera.]

You really need to mind where your tie goes, my lord.

[And that's when Nobunaga notices his now wet tie. He glared towards Mitsuhide, took off the tie and went back to arranging the drinks so that the tray would be more balanced.]

[Once he was satisfied with the arrangement, Nobunaga than moved to the patron side of the counter. Of course Mitsuhide followed him because he had to make sure that he got all of this one video.]

[Nobunaga then did a handstand, which he then managed to slide the tray and balance it on one foot. After he moved a short distance to a nearby table, he managed to transfer the tray to the other foot, lower it and carefully slide it onto the table, much the delight of the patrons at the table.]

[Everyone nearby clapped once Nobunaga was standing back on his feet. Mitsuhide could be heard chuckling some.]

Very good, my lord! Now... Catch!

[Just before the video cuts off, Mitsuhide's hand comes into view as he tossed an empty bottle to the Demon King, who had a bit of a surprised look on his face.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

lmao are u serving foot beer?

[ you know. like root beer. look, he thinks it's funny. ]

[Well that's an amusing pun. He needs to remember it.]

Indeed. That's one way of looking at it.

also tell the other me he should do a flip next time

Other you? Ah, so you must be Kippōshi.

Don't worry, I'm fairly sure he will come up with that all on his own.

[ ... hoh. ]

u got me at a disadvantage here, u kno.

knowing who i am but not vice versa.

How rude of me~ I'm Akechi Mitsuhide.

[ Honestly, he could have guessed as much. Still, it was... interesting. Having confirmation. And he had to bite his own cheek to remind himself this wasn't the same Mitsuhide.

But it still felt weird. ]

ye ye other me told me about u being here.

i tend to tune out his info dumps, but i damn sure heard ur name.

gimme a sec

[ Which meant the text conversation just felt a little too informal. He wanted this Mitsuhide to see his face. To look into his eyes. So the video feed switches on, to show Kipposhi in his room at the inn, the lights dem but the faint sound of the television being heard in the background. His hat was off, but he hadn't let his hair down, so the whole bushy thing was still sitting behind his head. ]

And yeah, for the sake of convenience, Kipposhi works best.

[It only seemed fair for Mitsuhide to turn on his video feed. He was still at the bar, but on break, thus able to play around on social media for a little while. He had a similar shirt that Nobunaga was wearing in the video, only he left the first couple of top buttons undone.]

[When he saw Kipposhi, the first thing he noted were the differences and similarities he had to the Nobunaga from his own realm.]

Kipposhi it is. I find it no surprise that my lord mentioned that I was here. He seems to be doing that quite a bit.

He has a tendency to say a lot.

[ A small shrug. ]

But the most important thing he told me about you was that he didn't die at Honnouji.

[ Which spoke... volumes, in both how that fact stood, and how it sat in Kipposhi's tone, to the biggest difference between Kipposhi and Nobunaga. ]

I fully agree with you on that. [Thus why he doesn't tell Nobunaga his full plans. There was a good chance that he would completely blow Mitsuhide's cover!]

[He gave a bit of a nod]

That is true, along with the fact that I wasn't the one responsible for it. Apparently other worldly versions of myself are rather thin skinned and are easily insulted.

Hold your tongue.

[ The words are sharp, swift. Not unlike bullets. ]

And don't be mistaken, I won't defend what Mitsuhide did. He deluded himself into believing I was something I could never be. But I would never call someone who knew they were inviting Hell itself upon them with their actions "thin skinned"...

Turning your blade on the Demon King requires conviction. And even if he was insane, he still had that. Do you?

[Well, that was certainly an interesting reaction. Though it doesn't phase Mitsuhide. He simply just arched a brow.]

I didn't mean to imply that the Mitsuhide from your reality was thin skinned. I'm merely stating what I had researched had implied in other realities. That doesn't necessarily mean it was true in your own world.

[He gave a casual shrug.]

Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. [Like he would openly admit to anything of that nature.]

The one thing I will say is that my ambitions align with Lord Nobunaga's.

[ He pauses a moment, turning his head to the side to stare out of the window. ]

The Nobunaga doing hand stands in your bar, or the Nobunaga created by the people, by history?

If you're at all like my Mitsuhide, that's a conversation you'll want to have with yourself, eventually...

The one doing the hand stands of course. The other Nobunagas in other realities don't concern me, especially since history plays out differently in my own.

[Like he wouldn't betray Nobunaga, unless he absolutely had to, and his Nobunaga is aware of that.]

Besides, if other versions of me are so different from myself, then it's logical to assume that other versions of Nobunaga are different as well. Their ambitions may not even align with my own.

I'm not talking about me or any other hypothetical Nobunaga from another history, I'm talking about your history. Nobunaga, even in your world, is two people; the one you know on a personal level and the one that exists as a symbol.

If you're certain you've reconciled that, then fine, but it was something mine didn't. And from what I understand, that's the "correct" version of history, anyways. Pardon me for not being completely at ease.

[ Not that he... was the "correct" version, himself, but that was well too complicated to dive into just yet. ]

Symbols are pointless to me, as they only hold power when people put their faith into them. They are fragile things that can easily be shattered. [Thus why he doesn't believe in any gods either.]

I only see Lord Nobunaga as an individual who has the ideal plan to the unification of Japan. Nothing more, and nothing less.

If you want to meet someone who views Lord Nobunaga as something more than an individual, wait and see if the Hideyoshi of my world ever shows up.

Edited 2021-06-05 02:26 (UTC)

Ah, Kozaru... [ A small laugh, fondness in his voice. Honestly, even if this wasn't his Mitsuhide, he didn't feel strange using that little nickname in front of him. It just seemed to come out naturally. ]

That's definitely a whole other deal unto itself. To be honest, I don't have a lot of regrets these days, but how things wound up panning out for him, well... that's definitely one of them.

[ A long sigh, leaning back again, putting his eyes back on the camera. ]

Him, me, Ieyasu... we were going to do it all together, you know? And then I had to up and die...

[Hearing the nickname doesn't surprise Mitsuhide at all. Many times he had heard Nobunaga call Hideyoshi a "monkey" though it was usually with annoyance and not with fondness.]

[He gave a bit of a shrug.] There's no going back and changing that in your world, I suppose.

I'm curious though, was the Hideyoshi in your world a nagging mother hen as well? [He was wondering if there were any similarities with other versions of the Oda Forces' warlords.]

[ Kipposhi's grin widened, and he allowed himself a low chuckle. ]

He can be happy-go-lucky yet calculative, emotionally fragile yet cruel without compare. Although he is that double-faced, he regardless shines and sparkles, truly a man akin to the sun. It's no wonder that he took command of the world after me. But the most amusing thing about him was that if he fell in love, he could never look the other person in the eye!

That's the sort of man Kozaru is. Whether he was my sandal bearer or my brother in arms!