Hideyoshi Sequel Summary - Tragic End
Link to the common route (ch 1-6) summary here
Hideyoshi cuts down every last one of the attackers, curt and brutal and bestial. By the time he's done, he's standing alone in a pool of blood. In the back of her mind, Mai remembers Kicho's words and his plan to have Hideyoshi be thrown off balance. The Hideyoshi that Mai knows is kind, yes, but she is no stranger to his brutal side, having seen it for herself in the past. She is afraid for a moment that Hideyoshi has lost himself to that violence in trying to keep her safe.
But then Hideyoshi turns, slightly, just enough to meet her gaze. And she knows that no matter what he becomes or what he does, he is her Hideyoshi, and she loves him. Careful to keep her touch away from his bare skin, she wanders into the blood-soaked battlefield to hug him, and let him know that she will always love him.
Flash forward to a year later. We are in Azuchi Castle, seeing Ieyasu and Keiji greet Hideyoshi as he returns from a battlefield. He has just stopped another rebellion in a distant province, but he brushes off their suggestion that he get some rest. He has to report to Nobunaga first. And with that, he turns and leaves. Ieyasu and Keiji share an uneasy glance about how Hideyoshi has been acting. He's never been the same since he and Mai returned to Azuchi in the wake of the Sacrificial Princess business a year ago.
Inside the war council meeting hall, Nobunaga, Masamune, Mistunari, and Mitsuhide are there as Hideyoshi enters to make his report. Another rebellion successfully quashed and dealt with. Hideyoshi says that he'll be stopping by his manor briefly but will set out soon to stop the next rebellion. Masamune comments that Hideyoshi has lost weight and asks if he's taking care of himself; Hideyoshi brushes it off. Nobunaga comments that Hideyoshi has stopped trying to negotiate truces and ceasefires and stops all the potential uprisings via force; Hideyoshi says that as long as he's successful, what's the issue. Either way, there's no more rebellion.
Just as he goes to leave, Mitsuhide stops him. He asks if Hideyoshi--if he and Mai are happy. For just the barest hint of a moment, Hideyoshi pauses. But he answers that yes, they are, and actually leaves this time. The remaining warlords in the room look concerned, and worried. Mitsunari wonders how long it will be before they can see Hideyoshi and Mai together again.
Hideyoshi returns to his manor, where a maid informs him that everything has been taken care of in his absence. He thanks her, and proceeds to a particular room of the manor that has been specially built. Nobody is allowed to enter the section where that room is located, no one except for him.
In that room, Mai wakes up, seeing that it's afternoon and she's slept the whole morning away. Though it's not as if it makes a difference to her. Morning, afternoon, evening, night; everything is the same. Over the past year, her symptoms had worsened progressively, to the point where even complete strangers began to feel pain when she looked at them or heard her voice. So she and Hideyoshi both decided that she'd stay in Hideyoshi's manor for as long as it took for her symptoms to fade.
She hasn't spoken to anyone for months. Hasn't seen anyone either. But as a familiar set of footsteps walks down the corridor, she perks up and moves closer to the door. Hearing Hideyoshi's familiar voice speak to her, she wants to be as close as she can. He apologizes for being away, asks her if she's doing well, if she needs anything.
Uri scampers through the door, for now content to just play in Mai's room. Uri is the only company she keeps these days. But she doesn't know if her symptoms have gotten to the point where animals would be affected, so she still refrains from touching or speaking to Uri. So she can only watch as Uri plays, but it's better than nothing.
Hideyoshi's palm is pressed against the hanging cloth that serves as a door to the room. Through the cloth, Mai writes on his palm that she wants some more food for Uri, and Hideyoshi says that he'll have that prepared for her as soon as possible. He's glad that she has at least some companionship.
They talk some more- or rather, Hideyoshi talks, and Mai listens. This is as much contact as they can have. No matter how much Mai wants to call Hideyoshi's name, to see his face, to touch him, this is all they get. Until they solve the unrest sweeping through the land and set history back on its peaceful course, this will have to be enough.
Even though it's really, really not.
But Mai and Hideyoshi won't leave each other. No matter how long it takes, they will wait, and wait, and wait...
...Years pass.
...A decade.
...More.
...And one day, accompanied by Hideyoshi's voice, the curtain opens. There he is, smiling that kind and beloved smile at her. At last, they have the rest of their lives with each other again.
