036. We should attack and finish them off.

"Yes!" Shinji shouted in support of my words. I could see a look of disappointment cross my father's face, but what did I care? He was the real family disappointment. Not only a drunkard and lazy, but now clearly a coward as well.

While they didn’t say so, I think my words swayed the army leaders enough that they eventually agreed that the risks were too great to stop short of anything less than a complete and crushing victory. Soon everyone was gathering up their weapons, donning armor, and mounting horses, and I was lost in the sea of men preparing for war without a clue about what to do next with myself.

"You coming?" Shinji asked me as he appeared out from the mob.

"I…" I started, then realized. "I don’t have a sword, or armor, or even a horse!"

"Well, I got you a horse next to mine," Shinji started. "As for armor, you didn’t seem to need it last night, but you do have a sword." Then he held up the Honda katana and presented it back to me, all cleaned and polished.

"But… this belongs to your ancestors," I said shocked that he would just hand this family heirloom over.

"And now someday it will belong to yours," he said smiling and clapped one hand on my shoulder in friendship. "Hey, I’m the head of the Honda household now, so I can do what I want with it, and if you get me back home alive as a hero, then it will all be worth it."

"Thank you, Shinji," I said placing my hand on his shoulder as he had and we smiled at each other like brothers. Shinji had never treated me like an equal before, more often just as a toy for his amusement. But now I valued his friendship and then together we mounted up and rode into the vanguard to help lead the charge.

That day was bloody and long, and while I didn’t have all the amazing powers of last night's dream, I still found myself a wild dervish with a blade. I lost count of how many more men I killed; their blue, green, and purple-haired heads fell from their bodies with such ease that I wondered if this too wasn't just a dream. And by the time night fell we feasted in the great central tent where I had slain the barbarian king only the night before. There we ate and drank from the foreigners' supplies in celebration as the officers toasted me for my bravery and fighting skill at least a dozen times. I don't usually drink, but it would have been rude not to in the celebration, and somewhere along I drunkenly passed out.

My head throbbed the next day as we started making for home, and only then did Shinji resume his more common teasing of me and how I couldn’t hold my wine. I didn’t talk with my father again, though knew I would have to eventually, but for as long as we were on the road I kept my distance and rode with anyone else. Our trip home was slow and ponderous as we brought home a large amount of looted treasure, supplies, animals, and even quite a number of new slaves. I always felt that it was wrong to enslave Chizu since she was just a child, but I’d fought and battled these barbarians now, so I saw more than a few men take some of the more pretty women as wives and concubines. Shinji even offered me a girl when we were drunk, but she ran off when I fumbled with my pants before puking up half my wine on her tits. Or at least that’s what Shinji told me since I didn’t remember any of it.

In the end, I still had my virginity and didn’t have any slaves of my own. I decided just returning home a hero and rich with the gold I’d taken would be enough. Shinji seemed to think the same thing as he hadn’t claimed any slaves for himself. "Don’t worry Kenji. I’m sure Yuki or Hazuka would readily spread their legs for a war hero like you."

"You think?" I asked hopefully.

"Fuck yeah!" he answered confidently and thought for a moment. "Well, I’m sure about Yuki at least." He didn’t explain any further, but when the army paraded in through town the next day I got drunk again on the cheers of the crowd. I saw many girls waving and cheering, but wasn’t able to have any time to talk with them directly as Shinji insisted I ride with him to dine with the Takahashi’s at his combination victory and wedding engagement feast.

"So, you are already getting married so quickly?" I asked.

"Abso-fucking-yeah, dude!" he laughed. "Tell me you wouldn’t do the same to get Setsuko in the sack as soon as humanly possible." Well, he had me there; Setsuko had been the center of all my masturbation fantasies for so long that I couldn’t argue and was more than a little jealous. Maybe I should tell her it was me that won the war, Shinji himself said so. Maybe she’d dump Shinji and… Nah… That was just crazy wishful daydreaming. Despite all that had happened I was still just a short wimpy looking guy that paled in comparison to Shinji, a ripped and well-muscled god of a man.

Mister Takahashi set me up with a set of his fine dress clothes and without even going home to see Kouki I was soon seated in a grand dinner with all the important people in town. As best man for Shinji next to him on his other side his bride to be Setsuko, all dressed up in a flowing white dress and more beautiful than ever. The food was great, and the wine flowed, but this time I held back on my consumption, not wanting to embarrass Shinji or myself on this auspicious occasion. Then Shinji looked over at me and pointed at my glass.

"No thanks," I said politely as I just ate, but then everyone laughed. It was only then I realized that the room had gone quiet and everyone there was looking at me.

"It’s time for your toast," he whispered under his breath.

"Oh?" I said confused until it struck me. "Oh!" The room laughed again, so I quickly tried to think up something to say as I raised my glass and stood looking out at a bunch of older people I really didn’t know. Then I looked at Shinji and Setsuko and thought quickly about what I should say. "So, Shinji… Setsuko…"

I looked at them happily holding hands, watching my every word with riveted attention. Suddenly all I could think about was Setsuko, still in her white dress. Tomorrow she'd be sitting astride Shinji’s lap and sliding his cock up inside her. I knew it was just my perverted imagination, but the vision of it was so clear in my mind’s eye that I was getting hard while everyone stared in silence, awaiting my next words. Fuck, everyone is looking at me! I had to finish this quickly to sit back down and hide my growing shame and embarrassment.