My Ninja Girl 4

by Gideon Caldwell

  “What I just said—they have every issue. Hold up, I’ll show you.” Choro went back to the room he’d been sleeping in and returned with another stack, which he also placed on the table. “I didn’t know the series had this many volumes; in Neo-Hokkaido, there’s something like five to seven volumes. It’s practically double that here. And speaking of which, why are they here in the first place? In this hotel room, of all places. And why this particular series, though? The others in my bedroom sort of make sense. They are mostly political thrillers and a few classics.”

  “Maybe they think diplomats like comics?” Milsung suggested.

  “No, diplomats like whoring, unmarked bills, having their prostates stimulated, and illicit drugs,” Micah’s grandmother said matter-of-factly. “What you should be looking for here, Choro, is a hidden entrance or some way to slip a prostitute out once someone’s spouse shows up. That would be our exit if someone tried to collect on payment for the room.”

  “You worry too much,” Bunni told her “Our diplomat strategy is safe, at least for a day or two. That said, we still need to find some money before then.”

  “I already told you my idea,” his grandmother replied as she lifted her two wrinkled hands into the air. “I’m sure Choro and Micah here would be okay with it.”

  “I would use whatever credit we have from Neo-Hokkaido,” Micah said, ignoring his grandmother, “but that would make us trackable, and I don’t what the exchange rate is, not that that last part really matters.”

  “Seriously? Is no one interested in these comics?” Choro asked as he lifted one of them, showing the cover to the group. It featured a team of female ninjas kicking forward alongside a few other surprising characters.

  “Wait a minute, are they fighting with a nun?” Micah asked. “Who’s the guy in the helmet?”

  “Looks mighty familiar, doesn’t it? Or should I say, doesn’t he?” Choro asked. “It appears the later volumes, the ones that they don’t have in our country, have a male character that looks just like you. Well, he’s more muscular, and he has superpowers, but close enough. And here’s the real kicker: they also come to the future.” Choro flipped to the comic and showed the image to Micah. “It also introduces a nun who wields two swords.”

  “Just like me…” Liza said.

  “Exactly.”

  “Is there a cute little grandmother in there?” Bunni asked.

  “No, but there is a grandfather who is surly and vulgar, and prone to drunken comedic rants. He was in the first volumes as well.”

  “What are you suggesting?” Yuri asked.

  “Yeah, what are you trying to say?” Micah’s grandmother asked. “I’m not surly!”

  “I don’t really know what I’m trying to say,” Choro told them. “And I know that sounds crazy. For one, I want to know why these comics are here. So maybe we could figure that part out first; it just seems really out of place. I don’t want to give too much weight to something like this, but it sort of feels like some kind of prophecy, or vision. I don’t know. Maybe I’m thinking too mystically about this.” Choro placed his hand on his head. He wore new clothing as well, the design similar to what Micah had on, but XXL, the red lens over his eye as usual. “Yeah, maybe. I was up late last night reading them. I want to flip through them again today, just to see if I missed something.”

  “A prophecy?” Soraya asked as she finally sat. Her eyes fell upon the graphic novels, which Choro had set around his placement. There was something disapproving about the way she was looking at them, Micah sensing that she didn’t like the fact they were on the table next to the breakfast she had slaved over. Choro got the hint and moved the books to the couch. He returned and sat in his place.

  “It’s something,” he said with certainty in his voice. “I mean, how would this writer, Hermane Coofyur, come up with all this on his own? Sure, anyone can come up with anything, I get that part, but to be so specific, and about ninjas who have come from the past, and to later introduce a character like you, and then a war between the rebel group and the Society of Monks—who aren’t called Society of Monks in the comic, obviously, but operate in the same capacity. I guess what I’m saying is whatever this graphic novel is, it means something.”

  “Does it have anything about a young female leader taking charge and stopping further conflict?” Micah asked, referring to real-life Ahmey, the young nun he’d recently met.

  “Actually, yes. Although, in the comic it is a race to prevent her assassination, the group ultimately failing.”

  “Her assassination?”

  “That’s right,” Choro said as he scraped some food onto his plate. The others were already eating and he started as well, continuing between bites. “I’m just saying that you should look through it, just to get a sense of the story. I don’t know how much it relates to what’s actually going to happen, obviously, but I’m also wondering why it’s here in this hotel room. And the question remains: why would it be in Heian in the first place?”

  There was a knock at the door, and Bunni went to open it. She stepped aside and a hotel employee pushed a cart into the room with several silver platters on. “More food items, as per your request,” he said, the man with furry brown rabbit ears that matched his beard stubble.

  “Put them in the kitchen,” Soraya told him.

  She didn’t actually bake this, did she? Micah thought as he took a bite of one of his pastries. That’s a surprise!

  “Before you leave,” Bunni called over to the hotel employee, “I have a question for you. Why are these comic books in the library?”

  “Comics? You mean graphic novels?” he asked as he glanced at the stack that Choro had placed on the couch.

  “Yes, My Ninja Girl,” Choro said.

  “That’s because it’s famous around here.”

  “But why would this particular series be famous?” Micah asked.

  “Because the writer lives around here.”

  “Hermane Coofyur?” Choro asked. “I thought he was Neo-Hokkaidan.”

  This statement caused the hotel employee to snort with disapproval. “Of course you would think that, considering you’re from Neo-Hokkaido. I’m sorry to spoil it for you, but Hermane Coofyur isn’t from your country. He’s Heian, and that’s not his real name anyway, it’s his pen name. His real name is Youseg, and he is one of the most powerful monks in our country. His shrine isn’t very far from here, you know.”

  Choro’s jaw dropped open. “Are you telling us that a Heian monk wrote the My Ninja Girl series?”

  “It’s pretty common knowledge around here, especially because…” The hotel employee smoothed his hands over his vest and placed them behind his back. “Many, including myself, look to it as a point of pride that the series has been so successful in your country, and that people don’t know it wasn’t even written by a Neo-Hokkaidan. Subversive, or at least something like that.”

  “We should probably visit this monk,” Bunni said.

  “Yes,” Yuri added, “as part of our, um, diplomatic mission. It would probably be good for us to meet him.”

  “And you said the shrine was around here?” Micah asked the hotel attendant.

  “It sure is,” he said, pointing toward the west, “just a few blocks that way. Down an alley, you really can’t miss it.”

  “Good to know. We’ll get directions once we get down to the lobby,” Micah told him.

  “As you wish, sir,” the hotel employee said as he returned his cart and left the room.

  “Were we supposed to tip him?” Choro asked once he was gone.

  Liza shrugged. “Charge it to the room?”

  “Ha! I would give him more than a tip,” Micah’s grandmother said, which nearly caused Bunni to spit her food out. “What? He was handsome, and that beard can do wonders between a lady’s legs, believe me. Micah’s grandfather always had a beard, at my instruction. Tried to shave it once and I almost divorced him. I’m sorry, was I supposed to be paying attention to a conversation about
a stupid comic book series? Or was I supposed to be paying attention to the handsome young Plains Dweller that would do well to take on the patronage of an experienced cougar like me?”

  “Um, let’s just finish breakfast,” Micah said, trying not to bury his face in his hand.

  “At least we have something to do today,” Soraya said. “Maybe we can figure out a way to get some money while we’re out.”

  “I’ll likely stay here with Granny,” Choro told them. “I’d like to reread the graphic novels, like I said, and someone needs to keep an eye on her.”

  “Don’t you dare treat me like I’m some sort of tween! And as long as you let me call for room service, that works for me,” Micah’s grandmother said with a satisfactory smack of her lips. “Do they do massages in this hotel?”

  “No,” Micah, Yuri, Liza, and Soraya all said at the same time, which elicited a chuckle from Choro and Bunni, Milsung not quite part of the group dynamics yet. Micah turned his attention to his old friend. “Come on, don’t you want to meet the author?”

  Choro shook his head. “What if he is a douche hat? No, I’m good. I try not to meet my idols if I can help it. It always comes as a disappointment.”

  “Top of the morning to you,” Bunni said once they reached the lobby of the hotel, Micah joined by the other ninjas and Liza, his backpack over his stomach with his prosthetic gatling gun inside. To keep the lie up, he was in his bucket helmet, just like Liza. He felt much more official now than he had the previous night, when they showed up wearing athletic gear, a ragtag bunch if there ever was one.

  Sven, the same hotel clerk they dealt with last night, offered them a tight smile. “You have visitors.”

  Micah followed the man’s gesture to a group of armed Plains Dwellers, each with a long sword and an energy weapon latched to the wrist. Six in total, the leader of the group, a muscular man with a pointed goatee, stepped up. “All of you are under arrest for impersonating diplomats…” he began.

  “Police?” Liza asked, only to be immediately corrected by Bunni.

  “Worse, rabbiteers.”

  Yuri, Milsung, and Soraya unsheathed their weapons.

  “I believe there has been a mistake,” Yuri said, taking the lead. “And it would be best for you to leave the premises.”

  “That’s some way to greet a national law enforcement agency,” the man told her with a sly grin.

  A woman came into the hotel, seemingly oblivious to the standoff that was taking place. The female Plains Dweller, in a pair of slippers and a pink bathrobe, took one look at what was happening and quickly exited.

  “We do not want to have to take you by force, but we will if necessary,” said the leader of the rabbiteers. “Not only are you wanted for impersonating diplomats, but the Society of Monks has initiated extradition contracts for your group, eight in total. Where the other two?”

  “We aren’t being extradited back to Neo-Hokkaido,” Micah said as he began to unzip his bag. “That’s for goddamn sure.”

  “Put your weapons down, and place your hands in the air,” the lead rabbiteer said as he raised his energy weapon.

  Milsung’s flail snapped the weapon out of his hand, Micah not at all surprised to see that she could move so quickly. Soraya and Bunni exploded forward, Liza holding back, both her blades drawn as she stood in front of Micah so he could equip his prosthetic weapon.

  One of the rabbiteers fired at them, his blasts going wide and striking Sven the hotel clerk in the shoulder, the man crying out like a little girl as he went down.

  The way the Royal Star Ninjas responded in unison was instinctual—no death, and no blood—Yuri’s directions telepathic to the point that Micah could sense them. Do not kill these men. Rather than fire his weapon at various kill zones, he aimed for their feet while the ninjas went to work, weapons clanking, fists and feet meeting their targets.

  The head rabbiteer was certainly the best combatant, the man expertly changing his stance as he and Yuri tried to overpower one another. Yuri flourished her blade and avoided his next strike, the woman able to swiftly step around her opponent and bring her elbow into his back. The rabbiteer spun, now going with both hands on his blade with the intention of cutting her down. She blocked his attack, a burst of green energy flashing as their blades met. Micah recognized what this was once the rabbiteer flew backward.

  She redistributed industria, he thought.

  Her glaive fully extended, Bunni veered right as she blocked a blast from one of the smaller rabbiteers, her opponent at the back of the group clearly in charge of ballistics.

  She didn’t have time to meet him head-on as Soraya slipped past her, her tail adding a splash of orange and white to the scene as she bolted around the man and took his legs out from beneath him. Of all the rabbiteers who had fallen, this one hit the ground the hardest, the front of his face covered in blood by the time he tried to push himself up

  As the fight moved toward the seating area of the lobby, Micah made the split-second decision to help the fallen man rather than let him bleed out. “Cover me!” he told Liza as he moved toward the man, Micah circling around another rabbiteer that was on the ground and groaning.

  He crouched before the man who had face-planted on the ground, Micah noticing that a few of his teeth were shattered, and others were missing, that his nose was broken. The man’s eyes came open, fear tracing across them as he saw Micah.

  “Please, relax, I’m going to heal you,” Micah told the injured rabbiteer. He placed his hand on the man and lowered his head. Liza still standing guard before him, Micah began to sense the man’s industria. It wasn’t long before his own jaw started to hurt, and he could taste blood in his mouth.

  He spat, and continued healing his opponent.

  The fight looked like it was just about to end when the hotel doors swung open, and a middle-aged man stepped into the hotel lobby, his beard long and white, robes hanging off his body and dragging on the ground. The ends of his clothing were threadbare and dirty; they matched his tangled beard, but not his haircut. Styled and combed over to one side, with a perfectly executed hard part, the man, who Micah recognized as a monk, seemed to have a million-dollar haircut, his skin clear, every hair on each of his rabbit ears trimmed to perfection.

  The monk lifted one hand, and as he did, Micah and the Royal Star Ninjas were flung backward by an invisible force. Liza struck a corner wall and let out a high-pitched yelp. Micah crawled toward her and placed a hand on her side, clenching his eyes shut as he tried to heal what he increasingly sensed was a serious injury.

  Pain now spreading down his spine, he managed to crack one eye open just as Bunni approached the monk, her weapon held with both hands as if she would be able to repel his attack with her glaive. The Plains Dweller managed to hold strong for a moment, but it wasn’t long before she was lifted into the air and tossed aside.

  Next to engage was Yuri, who was nursing one shoulder as she burst forward, the leader of the Royal Star Ninjas clearing thirty feet in under a second. Wham! Yuri was slammed against the ceiling, and dropped like a sack of potatoes to the floor, which spurred a cry of rage from Milsung.

  The monk caught the chain of her flail and used it to spin her off to the side, where she collided with some of the furniture. The only one still standing was Soraya, no hesitation on her face as she stepped forward to address the man.

  “You fight like a coward,” the kitsune told the mysterious Plains Dweller monk, her ears flitting back as she pointed her short sword at the man.

  “You were the one attacking law enforcement,” he told her, his voice almost friendly, as if he were enjoying the challenge. “I was simply on my morning walk when I heard the commotion.”

  “They attacked us first,” Soraya told him. “Not that that matters. Do you have a weapon? If so, face me. No industria.”

  “Who are you?” the man asked.

  Bunni lifted one finger into the air. “I can answer that question. She’s Princess Shortness—”

>   “—Does it matter who we are?” Soraya hissed, ignoring Bunni, and for that matter, the groans of the rabbiteers all around her.

  “I would say it does, considering what I can do with my power,” the monk said. Micah felt a shift in his chest, as if someone had gripped his heart. He fell to the side next to Liza.

  Soraya was now on one knee, looking up at the monk with searing hatred, the kitsune still gripping her blade tightly. “Face us, coward…”

  “I will ask once more. Who are you?”

  Micah’s vision started to blur, his ears barely picking up what Soraya said next. “I am a Royal Star Ninja, Soraya.”

  The feeling Micah was experiencing in his chest suddenly dissipated.

  “A… Royal Star Ninja?” The monk took a look around. “My vision… So my vision was true?” He placed his hand on his forehead and looked down at the ground. “I never thought…”

  Soraya brought her sword to the ready. “Now, will you face me, coward? Or will you continue to use your industria trickery?”

  “There is no need for us to fight,” the monk told her, a clearness to his eyes now as he took her in.

  “I would say there’s a need.” Yuri got back to her feet, and took her place next to Soraya, gripping her sword with both hands, her shoulder facing the monk. “You’ve made yourself pretty clear in that regard.”

  “I don’t want to fight you now that I know who you are,” the man explained. “I have prophesied your arrival, and now… now you are here.”

  “Prophecy?” Soraya growled. “Cut the bullshit.”

  “Please, lower your weapons. My name is Youseg. Believe it or not, I’m the author of a series of graphic novels that detail your arrival. Of course, some parts may be somewhat embellished, and I wrote the comics fifteen years ago, so things have changed to some degree, but…”

  “Wait… you’re Hermane Coofyur?” Micah asked. My Ninja Girl? he thought.

  The monk looked over to him. “Why yes, that was my pen name. Let’s… let’s heal these men, and I will vouch for your group from here on out.”

  “We need to extradite them…” the leader of the rabbiteers said. He was off to the side, a trickle of blood running down the front of his face.