Temper: Deference: Book One of the TEMPER Saga

by Lila Mina

  “No, I do not,” he growled. “Focus on her.”

  Yuki rested her head on Lana’s lap. The trio remained entangled in a careful heap for almost half an hour,, until Lana stirred, convinced she had recovered enough sense to stand up again and walk without assistance.

  Honda let her go and rose on his feet. “Come now, it is time to go home.”

  After Lana had put back some order into her dress, makeup and hair, they stepped out of the room. Yuki and Lana walked side by side behind Honda who strolled ahead, not caring for the club patrons who parted before him. There was a congestion near the doors though, and they couldn’t get back on the streets immediately.

  Lana’s aching body still hummed with pleasure at their intense session. While they waited in line, her teasing fingers roamed along her mistress’ arm and lower back. To her delight, Yuki closed her eyes and a large smile bloomed on her lips.

  But the delicious mood was shattered when Lana’s spine tingled, and her stomach began to burn. A bolt of tension jolted her.

  Danger!

  Out of reflex, not knowing what she was even looking for, her eyes scanned the dense crowd of merry partygoers; she came to a halt and a long hiss passed her clenched teeth.

  What the…

  The young woman in the cream dress stood a few meters from them, staring in their direction with the same hateful snarl and dangerous stance as before.

  Another rush of pain in the pit of her sternum made Lana wince. Anger flooded her system once again, mingled with a low-burning anxiety; her bruised buttocks forgotten, Lana was in front of her in three strides and invaded her personal space.

  “What do you want?” she spat in the plainest and rudest language register she knew. “Leave us the fuck alone, or I’ll wipe this ugly smile off your face.”

  The woman smacked her blood-red lips and chuckled. “My my, such violence, why am I not surprised he picked you as his fucktoy… but if you think for one second you can help him, you’re dead wrong, tramp. There’s no way out, and he will–”

  A sudden wave of rage suffocated Lana and the need to strike overwhelmed her. A large hand grabbed her wrist just as she raised her arm.

  “Go to the taxi line with Yuki and wait for me there. I will take care of this.” Honda’s low voice left no room for arguing. Those two had met in the past, but nothing good had come out of it given the stormy look on his face. Her words were so strange though. She didn’t sound like a disgruntled lover.

  Lana was tempted to watch what would happen next, but his orders had been clear. After a last hateful glance at the troublemaker, she walked back to Yuki, put an arm around her mistress’ waist and led her outside. With each step, she felt better, and her heart finally calmed down.

  “Where did goshujin sama go? Did he forget anything inside?” Yuki asked as they hailed a taxi at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Ah, I think he wanted to drill some sense in that sl… errr… young woman’s head. You know, the one from before, with the lacy white dress? She was so aggressive, I almost slapped her. She was near the exit right now.”

  Yuki frowned and shook her head. “Really? I remember three or four, but none with a white dress.”

  “Uh, perhaps you couldn’t see her from where you stood, but her behavior struck me. As if she had been onto something serious and we had… ruined her plans when we joined goshujin sama.”

  “And he went back to talk with her? They… know each other?”

  “Looks like it, but I don’t see how she could be any threat to him and trust me, there was no love between them. He looked downright livid, and she was full of… spite and hatred.”

  Right then, Honda jogged down the long flight of stairs of the nightclub and caught up with them. Face a blank, his left hand was in his pocket, something he never did. “Let’s get in the taxi,” he told them with a curt nod.

  They climbed inside the car, Yuki first, followed by Lana and Honda. Swallowing back a wince of pain, Lana shot a careful glance at her companion, aware of his body tension and the fact he still had not taken his hand from his pocket. The three of them were squeezed together on the back seats, and she dared brush his sleeve.

  “Did she–”

  “The problem is solved,” he uttered. Then he threw Lana a side look. “If you ever see her again, wherever it may be, let me know at once, but do not approach her or talk with her. She is… unstable.”

  Overhearing despite his whispering, Yuki leaned forward to look at her husband. “What is the matter here? Is this woman threatening you… or Lana san? Should we call the police? Did you...” Her quirked eyebrow and inquiring glance asked quite plainly the question she wouldn’t say aloud given their audience.

  Marble-stiff, Honda let out a long hiss. “No, Yuki san. Never. And no need to call the police. Please do not worry about this… person. She will never bother you. She is an unbalanced nuisance, that’s all.”

  Lana frowned. Uh. ‘Bother you’? Why not ‘us’?

  She locked eyes with Honda; he was unreadable. A heavy sigh escaped her; sometimes, too much got lost in translation. When he switched to such a clamped-down mode, it was useless to attempt to pry open his jaws for more details.

  The late hour and the excitement of the night caught up with her. As she dozed off, her head fell on his shoulder. With Yuki’s fingers enlaced with hers, a new sense of peace and contentment bloomed inside her heart and mind.

  22

  Strange Neighbors

  Sunday practice was over. Lana stepped under the dojo porch and glanced upward, aggravated. It was well into the rainy season, the only time of the year when she longed to be back in Montreal. Heavy rains drenched the city and all its inhabitants at least twice a day. Even when it didn’t rain, humidity levels skyrocketed, and everything felt damp all the time.

  “Oh my, it wasn’t raining so hard two hours ago… but look at this now, it’s a downpour!”

  Tim and his wife put their shoes on and joined her, umbrellas already open. “Well, this is when I’m happy to have a car,” Tim said. “Do you want us to drive you home? You’re welcome to tag along.”

  With a headshake, Lana put her bag on the stairs leading to the dojo. “No, no, it’s fine, this will be just like a long shower!”

  “At this late hour, it’s a bit dangerous, don’t you think?” Tim insisted. “The visibility is so poor…”

  Lana waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Don’t worry, my lights are powerful. See you on Tuesday!”

  “As you wish Lana, you and your stubborn head… Take care! Don’t rush…”

  Lana stuffed her blouson in her duffel bag, readjusted her baseball cap, and wearing nothing but a sports bra and a tank top over knee-length running pants, she walked into the open. She was a wet dog in seconds. The rain and air were warm, however, so she didn’t mind.

  “Oh rats,” she muttered under her breath when she saw her bicycle. One of her tires was flat. She grabbed her pump, kneeled in the muddy sand and got to work. When the rain stopped, she looked up, surprised. Honda was behind her, protecting her with his umbrella.

  “What is the matter?” Honda asked, making sure to not play any familiar card while many of their fellow aikidoka were around.

  “Just a flat tire, Sensei, luckily it’s not punctured. I’ll be done in a minute, thank you,” she added with a smile.

  “You should go home with me,” he said a few minutes later in a low voice. Lana shook her head, still pumping air.

  “Thank you, but I don’t want to leave my bicycle here overnight. And I’m already soaked, so I’ll be fine and won’t ruin the leather of your front seat.” She stopped and glanced behind him. There was nobody around. “If you could take my bag though, I’d be grateful.”

  They hadn’t disclosed that she lived with him and Yuki; it would kick off the gossip mill, and for once, people would be right. Even if he was harder with her than with anyone else, it wouldn’t be good for the morale in the dojo, despite the valid excuse of h
er burnt flat, and that he wasn’t in charge of grading her.

  “Of course.”

  Lana was done and straightened up. They stood close to each other under his umbrella, now so familiar with the other’s body, none of them felt the need to step away.

  After a few heartbeats, Lana handed him her bag. “Here it is, thank you. I will see you… later,” she whispered before bowing and stepping back under the rain.

  Her bicycle led her south toward Setagaya ward using the back streets. With this weather and the traffic, Lana would be home before him. A change of clothes and something to eat were at the top of her list.

  She arrived at the gate of the Honda estate in less than fifteen minutes. Ever since the episode at the club, she had been growing at ease with her two companions and their new domestic life. The right words to describe their complex three-way relationship still failed her but even though the three of them were keeping a low profile for obvious reasons, there was no embarrassment.

  She typed in the entrance code and pushed her bicycle inside before coming to an abrupt stop. The house was dark. Lana swore aloud: it was Yuki’s night out. Her keys, along with her wallet and smartphone, were in her jacket pockets, inside her bag, in Honda’s car. There was nothing to do except wait. Sitting under the porch, she stared, morose, at the water gushing down the gutter and the darkened walls running around the house.

  Her head shot up, startled by an incongruous noise coming from the east wall of the property. The side connected to the Shinto shrine. Lana frowned. The sound repeated itself, and her eyes widened. It’s a child laughing! But at this hour? With this weather? Could it be the same kid?

  Lana jumped to her feet, went back on the road, and then stepped on the shrine’s gravelly grounds. Something made her pause under the tall vermilion torii gate marking the entrance.

  Except for street lights behind her, there was not a single source of light to pierce through the damp darkness ahead. The pine trees planted around the grounds cut off any light from the neighboring houses and deepened the pitch-black obscurity surrounding the small shrine. Even its shape was swallowed by the night; for all that she knew, there was nothing in front of her except for a black abyss.

  Out of sheer curiosity, she had visited the shrine two weeks before. There was nothing special about it: it was small, yet the neighbors did a great job with its upkeep. According to Yuki, after the war, the Honda clan had donated a part of their land to the local community. The shrine had been established in honor of a minor deity, Kagu-tushi, the kami of fire, for protection against fires threatening to wipe out entire neighborhoods.

  Lana shuffled on her feet, annoyed at herself. Dark places didn’t scare her. On the one hand, she felt a pressing urge to go and check out what was going on there. On the other hand, something undefined held her back from stepping any further inside. Instincts or irrational fear, it was impossible to say.

  She was about to return to the house when the kid laughed again. Goosebumps covered her arms. This time, sharp and brief, the laugh had sounded like glass shattering.

  With a head shake, she planted her feet in the wet sand and put her hands on her hips. “Hello! Anyone out there? Hey kid! What are you doing, you should be home!” It was ridiculous to shout at dark trees, under the rain. Summoning all her courage, she took a step forward.

  The hell? “Ah!” Lana exclaimed in fright and anger.

  In a blink, she found herself on all fours, face a few centimeters away from a pool of mud and gravel. Her aikido training had been the only thing allowing her to break her fall. Something had rubbed her shins and pulled at her legs, making her trip. To her surprise, a small and roundish dog with odd long hair that covered its face watched her, expectant. She had never seen one like this.

  “Hey, watch out, you idiot!” she protested, half-amused, half-exasperated. She got on her feet; to her chagrin, her jogging pants were torn at her knees. Better than her skin, but still…

  The dog wasn’t deterred by her reaction. “Ah stop! Go away now, hushhh!”

  There was nothing to do. It wasn’t aggressive or even barking, but Lana couldn’t walk past it unless she wanted to land again nose first in the wet ground. Every time she took a step toward the shrine, the animal kept coming back to slalom between her legs. Wary, she chuckled at its odd behavior and gave up.

  After a last glance at the trees, she walked back to the house, rubbing her muddy hands on her ruined pants. To her relief, the small animal didn’t follow her. Right when she moved to sit again in front of the house, the main gate opened. Honda’s car drove in, going straight inside the garage.

  He didn’t bother hiding his smirk when he joined her by the door. “Forgot something?” It wasn’t frequent for him to be anything less than strict around her. After the creepy moment she had gone through, she welcomed the change of mood.

  “Don’t get me started, the list is endless, starting with my brain,” she replied with a grin of her own. “It wasn’t smart of me to give you everything, including my wallet.”

  “Indeed not, make sure this does not happen again.” The ground was still shaking now and then. It wasn’t a good idea to be outside on her own, at night, without any ID, money or communication device. “What happened to your clothes? Were you in an accident?”

  “No, just a… late encounter with a too friendly dog while I waited for you.”

  In the genkan, the cool and dry A/C flow welcomed them. Even though it was a pain for her sinuses, there was no other choice to keep control on the humidity levels inside the house.

  “Wait!” Honda barked as she was about to remove her shoes and step on the wooden stairs. “You will flood the hall. Let me fetch a bath towel.”

  Lana sighed and crossed her arms, watching his retreating back while small pools of water accumulated at her feet. Then she quirked an eyebrow, feeling like a tease. She got rid of her wet clothes and waited for him, where he had left her, but this time completely naked. Honda came back with several towels and stopped in his tracks, eyebrows lost in his hairline.

  She struggled to keep a smooth face; it was always satisfying when his composure crumbled because of her, even for a split second. However, he demonstrated once again he could easily keep control over the situation.

  Face again a blank, he handed her towels. “Dry yourself, and go put something on your back, we haven’t eaten yet.”

  Lana gulped down her disappointment and wrapped the towel around her chest. “Would you like me to prepare dinner?”

  “It depends, do you plan to cook washoku?”

  “Well, except for instant miso soup, cups of ramen and putting rice in a cooker, there isn’t much I know about Japanese recipes. I thought I’d fix a basic dish, spaghetti with a simple tomato sauce… you know, garlic, basil, olive oil… topped with parmesan cheese...”

  Honda grimaced. “Then no, thank you. I will reheat the noodle soup Yuki prepared yesterday.”

  Lana rolled her eyes at his back. Why this fixation on Japanese cooking? “Is there any chance you might one day try what I cook?” she inquired with a soft smile to avoid sounding like she was whining. “I assure you, Italian recipes are popular here… tomato and parmesan are known for their umami taste. What I make is not spicy at all… well, at least not in general.”

  Honda scoffed as he entered the kitchen and went to the fridge. “Spicy is not the issue. I prefer washoku. Eat whatever pleases you.”

  By the time Lana came back to the kitchen, fully clothed, Honda was reheating a handmade soup as well as a mix of vegetables and pork slices topped with teriyaki sauce. Lana fixed what she needed for her own dish and heated her tomatoes while she waited for the water to boil. The combination of smells was interesting. Famished, she prepared an easy appetizer of toasted bread dipped in olive oil.

  “With the June testing session behind us, it is time for you to get serious about preparing for first kyu in September,” Honda remarked while tossing his vegetables.

  Lana quirked
an eyebrow. “Serious, as opposed to the relaxed and easy training you have put me through since January?”

  His pointed glare transfixed her. “Serious in the sense that you need to be clear on the test requirements and prepare specific combinations for the jiyu waza parts. Inoue shihan will oversee this testing session and if you believe I have high expectations, then think again. He treats candidates for the first kyu as severely as those going for shodan. You know by now that he has a keen eye and will see every little flaw. As many of your kohai will also undergo testing, I should focus on them. I count on your own discipline to make sure you forget nothing, understood?”

  Swallowing a spike of stress, Lana nodded. It would be her first test since they had begun their relationship. The level of expectation had soared.

  “Of course, we will also train here now and then, to fix details together,” Honda added. It did nothing to appease her; one-on-one sessions with him were exhausting, tense and challenging. If there was one place where her temper and smart mouth had no room, it was on the mats.

  “Ah, thank you. I… look forward to tackling this new challenge.”

  Her pasta was ready. They sat on each side of the counter table, eating in comfortable silence. That they could share easy moments like this was also something she appreciated, as she needed her own space, physically and mentally.

  Their peaceful moment came to a brusque end when her phone flared to life from the depths of her duffel bag in the hall. “My apologies,” she muttered before darting out of the kitchen.

  23

  Two Sides of the Same Coin

  Lana’s eyebrows shot up at the caller’s ID. “Ikeda san, good evening. What’s the matter?” she asked her colleague while going back to the kitchen.

  “Martin san, I am so sorry to disturb you at this time of the day. It’s about the Daihanko-Dos Santos meeting tomorrow, we have a problem…” Ikeda sounded embarrassed, almost scared.