#what could’ve happened if Aku wasn’t born an adult?

[silvercrow72]

What if…

[tragedestined-a]

Headcanons about Nagamasa's Parents !

Nagamasa's mother —– Ono-dono ( 小野殿 ) / Ako ( 阿古 )

She’s originally from the Iguchi family. Her father (Iguchi Keigen) was the retainer and right-hand man of Hisamasa’s father (Azai Sukemasa), so it was natural that Ako and Hisamasa were married, given the friendship between their fathers and to keep the ties between their two clans strong.

Ako married Hisamasa when she was 14-15 years old, and when Hisamasa was 15-16 years old.

She had her first daughter (later known as Kyogoku Maria) a couple years after getting married.

Ako has a good relationship with Hisamasa’s eldest illegitimate daughter / Sukemasa’s adopted daughter Aku ( 阿久 ) / Shoankenkyu ( 昌安見久尼 ). Since they’re only nine years apart in age, Ako views Aku as something akin to a younger sister.

She also has an older brother, two younger sisters, and one younger brother who are related to her by blood?

As a teenager / young adult, Ako had a very positive and somewhat easily excited personality, but she was also very sheltered and naïve about some things.

Ako quickly developed romantic feelings for Hisamasa when she first married him. When she looks back on that time now, she realizes this was mostly just her being excited to be married (and to be the first daughter in her family to be married).

Several years of being a hostage and raising Saruyashamaru (little Nagamasa) all by herself forced her to mature quickly and learn to always be on the lookout for danger. She returns to the Azai as a cautious, wise-beyond-her-years woman, although she still retains some of her optimism.

Ako can’t help but wonder whether she could’ve curbed Maria’s cruel / selfish tendencies if she had been there to guide her when she was growing up.

Ako’s strongest bond is with Nagamasa, and Nagamasa is in turn very close to his mother, since the two of them only had each other to rely on during their time as hostages. Because of this, Ako is probably the only person in the Azai clan who has even a suspicion that Nagamasa’s time as a hostage was traumatic for him. Even though he doesn’t “act traumatized”, she believes that if he hadn’t been a hostage, his personality probably would’ve been very different. She worries about how much his time as a hostage has affected him and wonders whether she could’ve done more to protect him.

Ako currently has mixed feelings towards Hisamasa. Being a hostage for eight years (and, at times, fearing for her life and/or her son’s life) was a traumatic experience for her and she’ll probably never completely forgive Hisamasa for giving her to the Rokkaku as a hostage. In addition, she’s very hurt that he slept around during this time. However, Ako also wonders if Nagamasa’s actions towards Hisamasa (forcing him to retire and exiling him) were too harsh. In the end, though, she’s fine with the status quo of Nagamasa being in charge and Hisamasa being exiled. Ako could end up befriending Hisamasa, but there’s no chance that she’d fall in love with him again.

Ako was initially nervous about Nagamasa getting married, both because she had a feeling that he couldn’t deal with a loveless political marriage like she could, and because she was worried that he’d be too harsh on his future wife and scare her off. But she’s glad to see that a warm, loving relationship is slowly but surely blossoming between Oichi and Nagamasa.

Ako has interacted with Oichi in-person several times since Nagamasa’s marriage. She sees her younger self in Oichi a little bit, and tries to encourage her to be more confident and more open about her emotions with Nagamasa. However, Oichi’s Dark Hands and the “Demon King” side of Oichi’s personality seriously creep Ako out. XD So she mostly interacts with Oichi as a penpal, and the two of them send letters to each other on a regular basis.

Nagamasa built her a place specifically for her to live called 阿古の邸 (Ako’s Residence?), which is where she lives most of the time. It’s a quiet, peaceful place where her servants wait on her and treat her like she’s the owner of the residence, and because of this, she’s really mellowed out and come to peace with a lot of what’s happened to her. Despite only being in her late 30s / early 40s, she kind of lives and acts like a grandma now. XD

Ako ends up meeting a very terrible end. During the same month that Nagamasa dies (but before he dies), Ako gets captured by the Oda army. Over the course of a few days, each of her fingers are cut off, and then she dies.

Nagamasa's father —– Azai Hisamasa ( 浅井久政 )

Eldest son of Azai Sukemasa and the second-generation head of the Azai family.

Hisamasa is supposedly a legitimate child of his father Sukemasa, but there have been rumors ever since he was young that he’s the son of Sukemasa’s concubine. These rumors have followed him into adulthood.

Has four younger half-brothers (if the rumors are to be believed, one is his full brother), three younger sisters (half-sisters?), and two younger half-sisters.

Hisamasa resents his father for multiple reasons, some of which are obvious and others which are less so. One reason is that others often compare him to his father, Sukemasa, and consider him to be cowardly and foolish while they consider his father to be a brave, skilled warrior. He feels that they tend to ignore the talents he does have while putting his father on a pedestal. Another reason is that Sukemasa was tough on Hisamasa, since he was the eldest son and Sukemasa wanted him to be the Azai clan’s next leader. A third reason is that Sukemasa refused to confirm who Hisamasa’s birth mother actually is, even to his own son. The circumstances of Aku’s conception and birth also cause Hisamasa to bear a grudge against his father.

As a young man, Hisamasa seems like a good-natured and friendly young man, if a bit shy. However, on the inside, he’s very stressed and bears grudges against his father and some of his father’s men. 

Sukemasa died when Hisamasa was 16 years old, not long after Hisamasa married Ako. When Sukemasa died, Hisamasa had trouble inheriting the title of clan leader. Sukemasa’s son-in-law, along with the Kyogoku clan, tried to start a rebellion so that Sukemasa’s son-in-law could inherit the position instead. However, Hisamasa and his retainers talked him out of it.

As he grows up (and especially after Sukemasa’s death), Hisamasa loses the shyness and becomes very extroverted. To deal with his stress, he invests himself in culture and the arts —– Noh theater, renga, falconry, etc. He’s interested in trying all sorts of things!

However, no matter how many years pass, Hisamasa has little aptitude for fighting and battle strategy. His true talents lie in domestic policy and diplomacy —– he can be a very smooth talker and somewhat manipulative, especially in his later years. Even while he’s “retired” and exiled on Chikibu Island, he still exerts some influence over the Azai clan.

Sending his wife as a hostage to the Rokkaku clan was not a decision he took lightly, and it pained him deeply to make it. However, he feels that if he hadn’t done it, the leader of the Rokkaku clan would have become upset and crushed the Azai clan.

Although he tries to hide it, Hisamasa is the sort of person who constantly needs positive attention from others so that he can feel okay about himself. During the time Ako was a hostage, with Ako gone and his retainers starting to turn against him, Hisamasa started sleeping around, and that’s how Nagamasa’s younger half-brother Masamoto was born.

Hisamasa tried to rekindle his relationship with Ako when she returned, but she gave him the cold shoulder when she learned about Masamoto’s birth. To this day he’s still hoping he can win her back, and he sends her love letters every few months. She never responds back.

Hisamasa’s relationship with Nagamasa is strained at best. However, while Nagamasa hates him for being a weak leader and forcing Nagamasa and his mother to be hostages, Hisamasa’s only somewhat annoyed with his eldest son for usurping his title of clan leader. Hisamasa doesn’t understand why Nagamasa hates him so much, and he feels that Nagamasa should think more kindly of him since Hisamasa wasn’t anywhere near as hard on Nagamasa as Sukemasa was on him.

In general, Hisamasa cares about his children equally and treats them all quite warmly, showing them physical affection (e.g. hugs, headpats, etc.) and always doing his best to cheer them on at whatever they’re doing and compliment them. 

That having been said, Maria is Hisamasa’s favorite child, and he’s doted on her ever since she was young. XD As Maria has grown up and become more independent (and less reliant on him for basic needs and emotional support), though, their relationship is starting to show signs of strain.

Unfortunately, Hisamasa has never been able to feel any fondness for his eldest daughter, Aku, due to the circumstances of her conception and birth. When she was first born, he could hardly bring himself to be in the same room as her and her mother. However, he’s always felt guilty about feeling so detached from / disgusted by Aku, because he knows those feelings stem from how he feels about her mother and that Aku has done nothing to deserve that from him. After being exiled to Chikubu Island, Hisamasa’s loneliness and guilt caught up with him, and he started reaching out to Aku for the first time via a letter. To his surprise, Aku enthusiastically wrote him back, and the two of them became penpals.

Hisamasa has never actually met Oichi. But back when Nagamasa first married her, Hisamasa sent him a letter simultaneously congratulating him for marrying the most beautiful woman in the land and condemning his decision to ally with the Oda. Nagamasa never replied back.

Hisamasa hates Nobunaga and feels that Nagamasa’s decision to ally with him is one of the worst decisions he’s ever made. Hisamasa regularly corresponds with some of the older Azai retainers he knows who also dislike Nobunaga to try to sabotage Nagamasa’s alliance with the Oda.

Nagamasa grudgingly lets Hisamasa back into Odani Castle so he can have him help fight against Nobunaga. However, during the attack on Odani Castle, once the Azai start losing, Hisamasa sees the writing on the wall and commits seppuku.