Tyranny of Steel

Itami Riyo lies asleep on a futon. It was one of the earliest inventions she had brought into this world. She slept comfortably, naked beneath her futon. It was a habit of hers in both her past life and this one. The main reason was comfortability. She did not enjoy being tangled in clothing while she slept. 

In her family's lands, the Imperial Japanese Army maintained their vigilance. Though the rebels were defeated, and their leaders captured. It did not mean that they would not launch a counterattack. As for Itami's family, they were asleep in their own chambers. After getting into an argument with her mother, the woman had spent much of her stay in the region avoiding her family. 

She could only tolerate so much of her mother's antics. Though she enjoyed the company of her sister, the girl was a bit too clingy. Even now, Riyo had to keep one eye open in case the girl snuck into her bed. Naturally, the moment the door to her room opened, Riyo reached for her sword and unsheathed it, before pointing her blade directly in front of her little sister's cute face. 

Momo gazed at her sister's vicious expression of indifference. She was not the slightest bit frightened by Riyo. This was how the two of them normally behaved under such circumstances. Instead, she merely knocked her own head with her tiny fist and stuck out her tongue while mocking her elder sister.

"It looks like I've been found out..."

Riyo sighed before sheathing her blade, where she shook her head. She was not the slightest bit uncomfortable being naked around her own sister. Instead, she was exhausted by the girls' overly affectionate behavior.

"What do you want, Momo?"

The girl instantly smiled before shutting the door behind her and disrobing herself. With an innocent expression, she expressed her desire.

"I just wanted to sleep with nee-chan!"

Riyo gazed upon her sister's naked body, and her pupils shrunk. Just what the hell was her mother feeding this girl? She was several years younger, and still going through development, and yet the girl was curvier than she was. It was at this moment that a sense of embarrassment finally overtook Riyo's mind as she covered her own naked body with her hands before scolding her sister.

"What are you doing? You can't just strip down in my room and share my futon!"

Momo looked up at her sister with a confused expression before asking why she couldn't do such a thing?

"Huh? But you always sleep naked nee-chan? Why can't I?"

Riyo could not help but knock the girl on the head for her lack of a brain before scolding her.

"Idiot! It's one thing to sleep naked on your own, but you can't do it with another person! Especially not your sister. That's taboo!"

It was at this moment that Riyo reached into her belongings and dressed herself in a loose silk kimono, before urging her sister to do the same.

"It can't be helped. If you're going to sleep with your sister, get dressed!"

Momo silently clapped her hands in excitement before doing as she was instructed. After getting dressed in her clothes once more, she crawled into the futon with her elder sister, and snuggled with her.

"Nee-chan is the best!"

Riyo flushed with embarrassment in the darkness when she heard these words. She looked away from her sister, in case the girl's keen eyesight took notice. It was at this moment that Momo voiced a similar question to what her mother had asked upon her arrival.

"Hey, Nee-chan? Is there really no man in your life?"

Riyo became even more flustered as she heard her little sister ask such a shameless question. She could not help but wonder why the girl was so interested in her love life. 

"Why do you care?"

Momo looked up at her sister's flushed face before asking with an innocent expression on her face.

"I'm just curious. I know you never thought of any boys while you were living here, and once you went off to war, I was sure that you would find someone. You're so beautiful and brave. I was certain someone would chase you. Yet, you told Okaa-san you weren't interested in anyone unless they could defeat you. Does that mean you haven't met anyone yet?"

Riyo sighed heavily as she reflected on the question. In this life, all the men she had met were lacking in some way or another. However, that did not mean she was single in her past life like Berengar was. Shortly after Julian's death, Riyo fell into a deep depression, and was only lifted from her despair because of one of her commanding officers. The two of them dated in secret, until another soldier found out about it, and killed her in an act of jealousy. 

However, thinking back on that man's name and face, she realized that she could remember neither. It was almost as if he was simply a substitute for the man she had really longed for. A dense fool who had gotten himself fragged in the last days of a twenty-year conflict. She accidentally let the name slip as she thought about her past life. 

"Julian, you dummy..."

This instantly startled Momo. The name Julian was foreign to her. She had never heard the name before. Hell, it was even difficult for her to pronounce, so how did her sister manage to say it so clearly? If she wasn't so sure that Riyo was talking about a man, she would have thought the girl was speaking gibberish. There were many questions on the girl's mind, chiefly among them was:

"Who is Jurian?"

Momo had a difficult time pronouncing the letter L like many Japanese who were not accustomed to the English tongue. Riyo gazed at her sister with an astonished expression on her face. She only now realized that she had voiced her thoughts aloud. She tried to come up with an excuse but utterly failed to do so.

"Ummm... that's kind of difficult to explain... Just know that he was someone very dear to your nee-chan."

This only made Momo more curious about the mysterious man's identity. She was quick to inquire about this person. In her entire life, Momo had never known her sister to care for a man before. 

"What do you mean was? Is he okay?"

Riyo shook her head with a solemn expression on her face before telling her sister the truth. 

"No, he is not... He died many years ago, but it's okay, I have gotten over it..."

Momo did not believe her sister for a single second as she heard this. She puffed her cheeks in defiance before scolding Riyo for not being honest with herself.

"It sounds to me like you're still hung up on him. Clearly, whoever he was, you are using him as a standard to judge other men, or as an excuse to stay away from them. It sounds like you still need to do some healing..."

Riyo was shocked by this statement. She gazed at her little sister with a hint of surprise on her face, before making a joke.

"Who are you, and what have you done with my foolish little sister?"

Momo pouted once more while she pounded her tiny fists against Riyo's shoulder.

"Nee-chan! I'm being serious!"

Riyo sighed as she stroked the girl's jet black hair. She had nothing more she wanted to say on the matter and forced the girl to get some sleep.

"Go to sleep Momo, dawn is closer than you think..."

After saying this, the woman ignored her younger sister and her protests. Eventually the Momo fell asleep. However, Riyo's consciousness lingered for some time, fearful that she may have let her sister know something that she shouldn't have.

What would happen if the girl had informed their mother of what she had said? Things would not end well for her if that old vixen found out that she was still stuck on some guy who died a long time ago. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he would die many years in the future. 

Eventually, Riyo drifted into sleep, dreaming about her past life, and how easy her life was back then, especially when compared to this brutal world of warfare and intrigue. She was relieved to know that, at least in her dreams, she could still hear his voice and see his face.