‘That’s not why I’m doing it. I mean it’s not like I have any potential girlfriends or anything. Not that I’d even want one.’
David and Kou continued their internal discussion as their tour guide told them about the areas they passed through. Beside him, Takumi remained deep in thought, while the rest of the bus listened, studied, or played with their friends. For his part, David’s thoughts drifted back to the girl in gray.
At the next hotel, there was an actual open-air bath so they had an hour and a half before dinner to work on their homework and bathe. The boys were given the first forty-five minutes, so after stowing their bags they headed back downstairs to shower, then headed out to the huge bath. Unlike before, where the bath was inside, this time they had to run naked through the frigid night air to get to the water. Once they made it in, they found the water barely warmer than the air.
With such a disappointing bath, they were happy to give it up well before their time was up and returned to their rooms to finish their work. Every night they had to turn in their guide books with various questions answered so they could prove they had paid attention and learned something. With the rest of their time, they began to plan their skit for the recreation period on the last day.
As David readied his futon, he made a mental note to get a new souvenir for Jessica. With Kou already fading out, he began to drift off, yet he was not surprised that the strange girl in gray came to mind. He wondered if he would see her again.
SKI PATROL
I should have realized it back then. Love can never start with deception and violence. How many before me have gone to battle for love only to find that it was not for another that they fought, but for themselves…
The next morning, Class 2B woke again at six, and the students were soon preparing to leave the hotel. Since there were other students in his room, David was safe from Takumi’s promised reprisal, though he was sure it would come eventually.
For their fourth day, the second year Nakano Junior High School students traveled by bus to Oita Prefecture. High in the mountains, they passed snow covered rice paddies and small groups of houses until they arrived at their destination. Thick curtains of fog hid the mountain before them, and the only things they could see past the large building in front of them were the swinging ski lift chairs disappearing into the mist. Although no one had brought snow clothes, inside the warm lobby, attendants directed them to locker rooms, where the students changed into matching outfits, boots, and skis. An attendant guided David to a separate counter where he received a different set. Out of all the students, he was one of three who already knew how to either snowboard or ski. During the planning sessions, David had pulled the gaijin card and convinced Yukiko to get his teachers to let him go snowboarding instead.
David attempted to fit in and follow Japanese custom, but as the incident with the camera proved, his attempts were not always effective. He had begged Yukiko, and she had agreed to ask his teachers to let him go snowboarding. The twins had tried to convince her to let them switch as well. Since the class was only for skiing and they had never gone before, their pleas had not worked. While David had been far from athletic growing up, he had learned to snowboard while on a trip with his father’s TV station. While he had never gotten past the basics, he was far more comfortable with the idea of being on one board than two.
David was careful not to smile as an attendant led him aside to get his snowboard. Takumi’s glare was particularly epic.
‘Takumi usually keeps better control over his emotions.’
‘I wouldn’t want to hunt him right now. He still has not forgiven you for that picture.’
‘Maybe if I wipeout into a tree they’ll all feel better,’ David replied as he caught the stares of his other envious classmates.
With many stares following him, David slid over to the lift with a push from his free foot. He just caught the rest of Class 2B gather around their instructor and begin stretching as he reached the ski lift line. The last thing he saw as he faded into the low clouds was a few specks tilting their skis between parallel and triangle positions.
It took David one trip down the first half of the mountain to remember his s-curves. He was delighted at how his hard-won balance made snowboarding almost easy.
‘Do not become distracted by the snow-slider. We must stay alert.’
David acknowledged Kou’s concerns, but it was hard not to slide into a zone where nothing but the speed mattered. As his body relaxed, the board seemed to move on its own, letting him navigate around the other skiers and snowboarders. Despite his warnings, Kou purred with excitement as they gained more speed than he had ever achieved before. His second time down, the class was higher on the slopes, so David stopped to watch and help, as some of his classmates were having trouble staying up. He was surprised that even Rie and Takumi were having problems. Even with the same training David had received, they were not prepared to think about balancing on long pieces of fiberglass just to stay upright.
While David helped Kenta re-attach a ski, he saw Rie slip and fall. He moved to catch her, but somehow Hidemi was there first, catching her before Rie could hit the ground. It was an agile move for their class’s resident genius, but David caught the bit of her face that was still visible stiffen as she helped Rie back up.
‘Rie must have been heavier than she expected,’ David thought with a laugh. As soon as he got Kenta’s ski back in place, he shifted his weight and slipped away. In order to test the extent of his ability with his board, David took the second lift to the top of the mountain. Although he had never gone down the more treacherous slopes back home, he figured he could handle it, or at least heal fast enough to make it down the mountain without too many problems.
On the lonely ride up, David’s mind wandered. Something about Hidemi’s expression bugged him. His training with Masao had taught him to analyze the world, to ask questions and seek answers that could explain how things truly were. His interest pulled Kou from the Zodiac Tiger’s memories, and together they sought a reason for their interest.
Unbidden the image in his mind shifted from Hidemi. Kou growled. The girl in gray was in David’s thoughts so much that Kou was becoming annoyed. No one had ever occupied David’s mind quite so much, and what was in David’s mind, affected Kou’s as well. As David approached the lift drop off, he shrugged aside the errant thoughts and concentrated instead on lifting the front of his board and positioning himself so he would not fall down like fool during the exit.
At the top of the hill, he slid away from the lift to a small area next to a stand of trees. David sat, sinking into a drift of fresh snow. Beside him, the back edge of the mountain tapered away into a wonderland of trees and clean, fresh snow. David reached forward to brush white mush from his quick-lock bindings.
‘I’m sorry, okay? You don’t have to give me the silent treatment,’ David said as he peered through the fog, thinner at the top than it had been lower down.
‘We are being watched,’ Kou replied. David jerked his foot back out of the binding and joined Kou in re-checking the area.
Sure enough, David spotted a lone figure hiding down the opposite slope of the mountain, away from skiers and prying eyes. Whoever it was wore the same rental outfit that David and the rest of his classmates had received before the lessons. As David studied the figure, he adjusted himself so he could escape down the more populated slope. Seeing David about to leave, the mysterious figure stood, pulled back her hood, and waved at him.
Without stopping to consider any further danger, David tilted the edge of his board around a barrier rope and propelled himself across the slight decline. He slid toward the girl from Okinawa slowly, watching all the while. Soon tall forest trees surrounded him, cutting them off from the top of the mountain. He slid to an easy stop a few feet from the girl and noticed she was shaking, though it did not appear to be from the cold.
“Quick, behind the tree,” she said in a harsh whisper. David smiled at her dramatic ton
e and moved under the shadow of a tall pine.
“So what is it that you want? I don’t even know your name.” David moved closer, drawn by curiosity and his quickened heartbeat. She looked to be about the same age, though it was always difficult for David to gauge just how old Japanese people actually were. Her eyes were soft and inviting, despite the fear that seemed to be radiating throughout her entire body. She moved closer to him, her hand reaching up for his face.
Her cold fingers brushed past his cheek, setting it aflame. With a shockingly strong grip, she brought his head closer, as if to whisper in his ear. David just caught her stiffen in fear as his back exploded in lances of pain. A sudden weight on his back drove him past the trembling girl. Sharp claws of pain drove into his shoulder and ribs.
“She’s mine,” growled a voice, carried by hot fetid breath close to David’s ear. With the extra weight, David and his attacker scooted forward on his snowboard. Since only one of his boots was still in the bindings, he was unstable, barely able to guide the board. They slid away from the girl, even as his back arched in pain. The claws dug deeper and David pounded at the thing on his back and angled the board toward a small drop off. Gaining speed, he regained a measure of control and balance.
Struggling against the weight, David’s hands met thick course fur as he battled the ōkami that had attacked him. He slammed his free foot into the bindings, and then pushed with his toes on one foot while picking up the others. Warping the snowboard beneath him, he turned in a quick circle as a huge tree loomed before him. With a crash and an even greater blast of pain, David slammed the ōkami into the tree back first.
Falling forward, David punched the bindings on his board, releasing his feet. In midair, David twisted, the claws pulling out of his back as painful as having fingernails extracted one at a time. The cold snow turned red beneath him as David’s blood seeped into the frosty ground. Beside the tree, a reddish brown ōkami, bigger than even Chul Soon had been, shook its snarling wolven features, clearing its head from the impact.
Looking back, David saw the Okinawan girl. Her back was pressed against the tree and two much smaller ōkami growled at her, snapping when she tried to move past them. They looked identical, gray with streaks of the same reddish brown the monster before him had.
David shuddered as the wounds on his back began to heal, thankful that his Jitsugen Samurai powers made it quick. Still, he felt the full pain from both the injury and the healing process. The claw marks were deep enough that it would take several minutes before they would stop hurting.
Gathering his wits from the surprise attack, David’s jaw set in determination. Kou roared within in outrage. He searched within himself for the familiar place where his true sword, the Seikaku, resided within him. Finding the molten globe of metal in his chest, he willed it to take the shape of a sword, summoning it before him. To anyone watching David, it would have seemed as if he closed his eyes and let his arms fly away from his sides. Then with inhuman speed, his arms were in front of him, holding a nearly transparent metal blade that caught the sun’s rays off the snow and threw them in a myriad of patterns.
In less time than it had taken his attacker to blink, David was prepared to defend himself. The monster before him growled in anger, attacking with large claws and fangs. David blocked with his sword. The massive ōkami rained heavy blows, and David could hear the rest of the small pack hassle the girl.
Determined, David focused his mind on his Seikaku, his eyes shifted to orange as Kou took ever more control over their movements. Working together Kou and David began to open up shallow cuts along the ōkami’s body.
The ōkami’s skin was so tough that even with a sword sharper than any normal katana it was difficult to inflict any real damage. Kou also had to defend David’s body from the ōkami’s razor claws as David focused on directing the sword.
‘We are lucky he isn’t transforming into his human form. He’s incredibly powerful,’ David thought as they evaded a slash to their knee. Without his armor, he was vulnerable to the ōkami’s attacks.
‘He must not have brought a sword or gauntlets. He did not expecte a fight, or at least not one he could not have won as a wolf,’ Kou replied as they managed to slice deep enough to cause damage. The ōkami howled in outrage. Building on their success, David began to attack joints, weakening the ōkami’s resistance and will. A gasp of pain sounded from the girl.
‘We need to end this.’
David dropped the tip of his blade, creating an opening near his left shoulder. With a rumble deep in its throat, the ōkami’s paw slashed out to take advantage of what seemed like a mistake. Kou roared within, David’s eyes blazing brighter as they checked their movement and sent the Seikaku slicing upward. The glistening steel drove halfway through the wolf’s paw. A quick sawing motion finished it. With the ōkami momentarily stunned with pain, David brought his sword down. The wolf spasmed as the strange metal cleaved it between the ears.
Even as the wolf began to collapse, David changed the sword to its elemental form, and drove it with all his might into the center of the beast. With a howl the ōkami turned into a smaller wooden statue. David left his blade touching the ruddy wood just long enough to ensure the severed paw popped into place.
‘Can’t let what happened to Chul Moo happen again, can we,’ David thought as he turned his attention to the other two ōkami.
David took in the situation in an instant, registering the ōkamis’ placements and threat levels. The girl pressed against a tree, her palms flat beside her, digging into the rough bark. Before her and on the right, one ōkami growled. Shivers of rage racked through its fur, making the hairs on its back rise in waves. Beside it, the other wolf was subdued, mewling and looking between the girl, its twin, and the statue behind David.
Hours of drills with the Matsumotos had given David and Kou the ability to take in everything about a situation, and then act. After a moment of hesitation had nearly led to the death of both his host-siblings, David had worked hard to increase his decision making speed while trying not to sacrifice his judgment. The result of his training was a far more confident and self-assured person than the one who had watched Chul Soon bite Takumi.
David slashed before the growling ōkami even realized it was under attack. Since it was not fully grown, and was not concentrating on fighting, David’s Seikaku passed through its neck, the vicious head rolling to look back at him with hate. David changed his sword to its elemental form again and soon had another statue.
Turning, David paused. Instead of the expected attack, the last ōkami sat with its ears angled in sadness. With one last look at the girl, it rolled over as if playing dead. David did not even bother changing his sword. With blinding speed, the wooden Seikaku’s point stabbed into the ōkami, a perfect yet smaller statue replacing the whimpering wolf.
Looking up, David saw the girl, frozen with her hand out, as if to stop him, a peculiar look on her face. Then, shaking her head, she turned to David and smiled. Before he knew what was happening, she was there, pressing into him, her light arms and delicate hands wrapping around him as her bright eyes gleamed with gratitude and happiness. Then her soft lips were pressing against his and there was nothing else in his universe than the strange girl from Okinawa. His entire being, past, present, and future, became that moment. All thought blanked from his mind. Even Kou was silent as she pressed against him. Then she was gone, leaving David alone and dumbfounded as she jogged away.
“What’s your name?” was all he could think to yell.
“Manami! Amuro Manami!” she called. “If you come to Okinawa, look me up!” Her voice faded as she disappeared from view.
Checking the area, David was shocked to see a boy stomping toward him through the snow, his skis in his hands. David tensed as he recognized Tsubasa beneath his large snow goggles.
‘How much did he see?’ David wondered, afraid he already knew the answer.
‘Maybe everything. Should we dispose of him?’ Kou asked.
‘Really? That’s your plan? Kill off one of my classmates and hope no one notices?’
‘My, you are uptight. It is almost as if a cub you just met licked you, and then loped off without trying for a bite or two. Let him guide the conversation, then go from there.’
David watched Tsubasa as he approached, trying to gauge what the other boy had seen and how he would react. David considered him a friend but could not say he knew the boy well. He knew Tsubasa was suspicious of him and the Matsumotos after David saved him the previous fall and after the incident with the obake the previous day. David remembered the blood from his back in the snow. He ducked behind the tree and rolled to clean off his jacket, then kicked snow over the spots of red. He could do nothing about the rips in his jacket, but they were not large.
“It’s a good thing I found you and not… well, not someone else,” Tsubasa said with a smile. He pointed back where Manami had disappeared. “You’re going to have to tell me how you do it.”
David froze, uncertain about what Tsubasa had meant. Had he just seen the last bit, or had he seen David decapitate a wolf as well?
“Better hurry. The principal sent me to remind you time is almost up. They’re going to come looking for us soon,” Tsubasa said.
David knew he was right. The teachers had given him a strict timeline. If he did not check in, they would send the entire ski patrol after him. He made a quick circle, locating his snowboard and the statues. He froze again as he realized one of the statues was gone.
“Your new girlfriend, Manami, was carrying the other wolf statue when she took off. I have to admit she was pretty cute. How did you meet her?” Tsubasa asked, stopping near him. David’s eyes bulged in surprise.
Revenge of the Akuma Clan Page 7