by Alex Ko
“Oh, well, please keep a better eye on them in future,” Mandi said.
“I will,” said Granny.
Mandi still looked a bit doubtful.
Mr. Yamamoto stepped up and bowed to her. “Mandi-san,” he said, giving her a sparkling smile. “Have you ever thought of becoming an actress? I think you’re far prettier than any of the figures here.” Mandi giggled, completely distracted from Josh and Jessica.
“Keep looking,” Granny murmured to Josh. “It was a good try – but it would be better if you try not to draw attention to yourselves again.”
“Right,” Josh said.
Mandi ushered Team O into the next room, which was much less crowded and seemed to have no particular theme. Mr. Yamamoto stuck by her.
They walked along a corridor and past a big metal door, with two burly men in black suits and sunglasses standing guard. One of the guards fixed Josh with a suspicious glare as they passed.
“I’m reading lots of human activity through there,” Sachiko whispered when they were out of range. She showed Josh and Jessica her camera – the screen showed a heat-sensitive scan of the area around them. “Lots of body heat behind that door.”
“That has to be where they’re keeping Kiki,” said Jessica. “But how can we get in?”
“Follow our lead,” Sachiko said.
They came to the end of the tour and found themselves approaching the exit to the museum. Mandi left them to find their way out, bowing to the women and letting Mr. Yamamoto kiss her hand. After she was gone, Mr. Yamamoto and Granny Murata split from their group, waving the other four members of the team off and beckoning Josh and Jessica to follow them into a bathroom.
Inside the bathroom, where there weren’t any security cameras, Mr. Yamamoto opened up his backpack and pulled out four piles of clothing.
“The museum will be shutting down for the night very soon,” Granny Murata said. “The others are going straight to the TV studio, to see if they can stall the music show and give us more time to find Kiki. Sachiko has provided us with disguises, so we can keep looking.”
“Here’s your cleaner’s outfit, Josh,” said Mr. Yamamoto, passing him some blue overalls and a black T-shirt. “And yours, Jessica.” Jessica’s disguise looked exactly the same. “And to hide the fact that you are twins – here.” He passed Josh a baseball hat.
“Quickly, please,” Granny Murata interrupted.
Josh went into one of the bathroom cubicles and climbed into his disguise, and when he stepped out, he saw Jessica’s feet disappearing into the ceiling. Mr. Yamamoto held a square of ceiling tile and Granny Murata was standing on the sink counter.
Josh climbed up on the sink counter next to her. She kneeled and took one foot in her hand, and then gave him a boost-up so he could cling on to the inside of the ceiling. Then, after Mr. Yamamoto had followed, Granny swung herself in and pulled the ceiling tile up after her.
“It’s very dark,” Jessica commented.
“Aha,” said Mr. Yamamoto. “Try squeezing the top button of your uniform.” Suddenly a bright light illuminated the dusty space.
“Wow!” Jessica breathed. “Buttons that double as torches!”
“Good old Sachiko,” Mr. Yamamoto grinned. “She thinks of everything.”
“That way,” Granny said, pointing across the ceiling to a place where a thin sliver of light was seeping through. They crawled towards it. Josh tried to move quickly, but not so quickly that he sent clouds of dust up – he was in severe danger of sneezing with every breath. Finally they found that the light was coming through a metal grille that looked down on one of the waxwork rooms.
“The museum is now closed,” said a robotic voice somewhere below them. “Thank you for visiting the waxworks museum. Please come back soon.” They waited. A few people passed by underneath them.
“Thank you for visiting, but you must leave now,” one of the guards said, marching two teenage girls towards the exit. Their protests faded away as they turned the corner.
“Aw, just one more photo? Please...?”
Finally, the lights went out, and everything went quiet.
“Let’s go,” Granny whispered. “We don’t have long before the show begins.” She levered up the grille and lowered herself into the room. Mr. Yamamoto followed her, moving nimbly, and between them they helped Josh and Jessica to climb down. Josh looked around. There were figures in the darkness. His heart started to beat faster. In his head, he knew that of course there were figures – they were in the middle of the waxworks museum. But the more he tried to see the shapes for what they were, just harmless lumps of wax, the more they looked like evil creatures, just waiting for him to look away before they leaped.
Granny rummaged in her pocket and brought out a larger torch, which she waved around at the still, silent figures. It cast deep shadows and threw a harsh spotlight onto blank, staring eyes and fixed smiles. Empress Jingu’s benevolent smile suddenly looked far from friendly, as if she was thinking about a nice steaming plate of boiled Josh.
“This way,” Granny said, and led them through the waxworks towards the door.
Something moved to Josh’s right. He jumped and knocked into Jessica, and nearly let out a yell of alarm – but it was only David Beckham, kicking his football.
“You okay?” Jessica asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Only, you seemed scared...”
“I was not scared,” Josh whispered. “I was – startled. That’s very different.”
“If you say so.”
“Very different.”
“Please be quiet,” said Granny Murata. Josh glared at Jessica and she stuck her tongue out at him.
They moved through the doorway and into another waxworks room.
Suddenly a light flared, and a burly figure stepped out.
“Omaesan! What are you doing there?” he demanded.
“Juno-san, I can still see rubbish behind Winston Churchill. Please pick it up,” said Granny, making eye contact with Jessica and pointing. Jessica scurried off to sweep behind the waxwork, and Josh immediately started inspecting the underside of the closest waxwork’s hand. Luckily – or maybe unluckily – he found some genuine chewing gum stuck there and pulled it off with a satisfied grunt. He noticed that Mr. Yamamoto was already on the other side of the room, wiping the dust off Steven Spielberg’s nose.
“Huh?” said the security guard. “Why are you still cleaning at this hour?”
“The Boss,” said Granny, wearily. “He is so demanding at the moment – you must have noticed.” The security guard hesitated. Josh held his breath.
“Yeah,” the guard said. “The Boss is a hard man to please. Like these new guards – I’ve been with the Boss for twenty years, suddenly this week he hires all new guys. And they’re getting paid more than me.”
“Exactly,” said Granny. “So I am putting my team on double-shifts this week until it is finished. I want to make sure he has nothing to complain about from me.”
“I don’t blame you a bit,” said the guard. “I’ll leave you to it.” He turned and walked back out the way he came.
Josh finally let out his breath.
“Whew,” he said. “That was a close call.”
“Wait here,” said Granny, looking down the corridor that had the metal door. “The door is unguarded now.”
Cautiously, they moved towards the door and Granny put her hand up to it, and then pressed her ear to it. “I hear nothing.”
“Would they leave Kiki unguarded?” Jessica wondered.
“Ah, but she is very secure. Look,” Granny said, leading them into the corridor. Josh wasn’t sure what she meant until she pointed to the door. There was a keypad, but no handle.
“Oh, very clever,” Mr. Yamamoto said, nodding in approval. He dug his hand into one of his pockets and pulled out a sleek black device. “But you have to be a bit cleverer than that to get the better of Team O!” He handed the device to Granny. “One of Mimasu’s specials. This s
hould get us past their entry code system. If it works.”
“If?” Josh asked. Mr. Yamamoto shrugged.
“Well...it is quite experimental,” he admitted. Granny Murata held the device up to the door.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the screen on the device lit up. Numbers started to rush over the screen. Finally the numbers resolved into a string of twelve digits. Granny reached up and tapped the sequence of numbers out on the keypad. The door clicked and swung slightly inwards. Josh pushed it open.
“Kiki...?” he whispered.
But it was no good. The room held several chairs and tables, a large safe, a drinks cabinet...but no Kiki.
“Shimatta!” spat Mr. Yamamoto. “The Iron Fist gang must have just left – probably to go to the TV studio.”
Josh’s stomach turned over. Yoko Yay would have her breakthrough. Mr. Yoshida’s gang would win.
“But – where’s Kiki?” Jessica asked, very quietly. Josh knew that tone of voice. It was her there’s-no-way-I’m-going-to-let-this-make-me-cry voice.
“We’ll have to abort this mission,” Granny said. “Kiki isn’t here, and we can’t get caught.”
Josh looked around for any other clue as to where they might have taken her. He’d been so sure they were right about Kiki being here.
“We’ll sneak out a side entrance, near the front door,” said Granny.
The four of them hurried down the corridor and Josh felt more and more like they’d lost their only chance to find Kiki. Josh stomped ahead in frustration, almost not caring if they got caught, but when he passed the music stars room, he stopped short.
There was a strange red glow coming from around the doorway leading to that room. He ran up and tried to open the door. It was locked.
“Hey,” he whispered to the others. “I think I’ve found something.”
Granny came up to the door and examined it. “A normal lock – no experimental technology needed here,” she said. She reached up and pulled a hairpin out of her bun. A few seconds of wiggling it in the keyhole, and the lock went click.
Josh opened the door and stared in amazement. The whole room was covered in security laser beams, like the ones they had in museums and palaces in the movies. They made it impossible to cross the room, and turned the Kiki waxwork’s bed with its flowing silks a sickly dark pink colour.
“Why would they need so much security?” Josh asked. “How’s it different to any other room?” Granny and Mr. Yamamoto peered inside, trying to see all around the walls without setting off any of the laser alarms. But Josh saw Jessica was staring straight ahead, directly at the Kiki waxwork.
“That waxwork just moved,” Jessica whispered.
“It’s just your eyes playing tricks,” Josh said.
“No,” Jessica insisted. “Kiki’s waxwork moved.”
“Jessica – you cannot be suggesting...” Granny began.
“I am! It is!” Jessica pointed to the waxwork. “That is Kiki!”
“It makes perfect sense,” said Josh. “The bodyguard said she was somewhere everyone could see her. Not just in public, actually on display! What better way to hide someone than disguised as their own statue?”
A low moan came from the centre of the room and the fabrics on the bed shifted as a foot twitched.
The figure definitely was moving. They’d found Kiki!
“She must have been drugged,” Jessica said, wringing her hands. “And it’s starting to wear off.”
“Chiba Mikiko,” Granny whispered. “Can you hear me?” There was no reply, but Kiki rolled over and groaned. “We are going to get you out of here,” Granny said. “Just hold on.”
“We have to do something quickly,” Josh said, a horrible thought striking him as Kiki wriggled again. “If she rolls off the bed in this state she could set off the alarm herself!”
Mr. Yamamoto sighed. “It looks like the only way to turn it off is to get to that switchboard.” He pointed into the room. Josh had to strain his eyes to see in the dim light, but he eventually spotted a tiny metal panel attached to the wall in the corner of the room. “One of us must climb through these beams,” Mr. Yamamoto said.
“Right,” Granny Murata said, rolling up her sleeves.
“Wait,” said Mr. Yamamoto. “We run a high risk of setting off the alarms – and the taller the person, the higher the risk. We need to send the smallest person.”
“Yes, I see,” said Granny. The two of them looked at Josh and Jessica, who looked at each other.
Josh’s throat went dry, then he nodded.
“I’ll go,” he said. “After all, Jessica is always teasing me that I’m two centimetres shorter than she is.”
Jessica looked like she was about to argue. Then she nodded. “It should be you,” she said. Josh stepped forwards into the room. “Hey – good luck,” Jessica added, stepping in with him as far as she could go without touching the beams of light.
“To avoid activating the alarm, you need to make sure you are aware of your whole body, Josh,” Granny said.
Josh got down on his hands and knees to avoid the first beam and then approached the second beam at knee level. He lay down on his stomach and crawled underneath. Two down. He kept crawling. Sweat started to break out on his brow, and he tried to control his breathing without holding his breath.
He remembered being back in England, being in karate class, or in PE at school, or just running for a bus or climbing a tree. He used to pretend he was the hero of a comic book, and it always helped to put on that extra burst of speed or strength. It wasn’t really helping now. Comic book heroes suddenly seemed like they had it easy.
“Careful,” whispered Jessica. “Just above you.” Josh ducked and turned to look. She was right, he’d come close to brushing a beam with the top of his head. He put his hand out behind him and gave her a thumbs up. Then he kept moving, looking around for larger spaces between the beams that he could crawl into and still get out of again. It felt like very slow going. Kiki moaned again, and Josh swallowed. He had to try to go faster.
“You are doing well,” Granny Murata said. “Don’t lose focus.”
He kept moving forwards; there were only three beams left. He raised one foot carefully, twisted around for the second step and ducked for the third. Then with a final push, he threw himself forward. He’d made it! He stood up, leaning against the wall and stretching his limbs out.
“You did it!” Jessica said.
He examined the panel, hoping for an OFF button. But there was no OFF – or any other word or number that he recognized. His heart sank.
“Oh no. No, no!” he said. “It’s in kanji. The buttons are all labelled in kanji; I can’t read them.”
“Josh,” Granny Murata snapped. “Did I not tell you to keep up with your studies? This is what happens when you are slack about learning your mother tongue!” Josh thought about pointing out that as it was their dad who was Japanese, it was probably their father tongue. But this didn’t really seem like the time.
“I’ll have a look,” said Mr. Yamamoto. Josh looked over to see that he was using his camera again. “I think it’s the switch in the top left-hand corner.”
“This one?” Josh pointed. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure,” Mr. Yamamoto said.
Josh sighed. That would have to be good enough. He squeezed his eyes shut, and flicked the switch. An electronic droning noise filled his head and he covered his ears, bracing himself for wailing alarms. He’d run and grab Kiki and they’d fight their way out of the building...
Then something went beep and silence fell. Josh opened his eyes. The beams were fading away. Jessica jogged on the spot until they’d all vanished and then sprinted over to Kiki’s bed, followed by Granny and Mr. Yamamoto.
“Kiki, I’m so glad you’re all right!” Jessica cried. Kiki tried to sit up and rub her eyes, but she couldn’t move very far – Jessica pulled back layers of fabric to find that she was tied to the bed. Granny and Mr. Yamamoto went to work
on the knots, and finally Kiki managed to sit up. Jessica couldn’t hold herself back – she threw her arms around her idol.
“Hey,” Kiki said. “I know you, I think – you are from the plane? Jessica! And you had – hey, there you are,” she said, groggily, spotting Josh.
“Yamamoto-san, call HQ and let them know that we have found Kiki and that she is safe,” Granny ordered. Mr. Yamamoto pulled a mobile phone out of his pocket and nodded. “Kiki – do you remember what happened to you?”
“I thought – I thought it was a bit funny,” Kiki muttered. “My agent didn’t tell me I was appearing at the Ro Ningyokan...they wanted me there, as soon as I’d got off the plane, but...my agent didn’t say anything. My bodyguard took me there...and then...I don’t know what happened.”
“Your bodyguard betrayed you. You were kidnapped. They hid you in the Ro Ningyokan, disguised as a waxwork!” Josh said. “But now everything’s going to be fine.”
“Yes,” said Kiki, stretching out her arms. “I think so. I feel a lot better now. But why would anybody kidnap me?”
“It was an evil Yakuza boss,” Josh said. “Yoko Yay’s grandfather. He wants her to present Banzai Banzai Benzaiten instead of you, so he kidnapped you and hid you away here.”
“Oh...that is evil,” said Kiki.
“Nana has been pushing back the time of the live recording,” said Mr. Yamamoto, hanging up the mobile phone. “We have half an hour. We must go, right now.”
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Josh spun around. Figures were moving slowly towards them through the gloom. Six big, burly figures and one smaller, thinner one. The thin man stopped his slow clapping and stepped into the room. Josh caught his breath. The thin face, the grey hair slicked back into a ponytail, his gold tooth glinting in the light from Granny’s torch. It was him. It was Mr. Yoshida.
“I’m really very impressed,” said Yoshida, with a smile like a shark spotting its lunch. “You figured out my little trick. Perhaps I shall have mercy on you after all!” Suddenly he grabbed a gun from one of his goon’s hands and fired. The bullet flew harmlessly into the floor, but the gunshot exploded like the sound of a cannon. Josh and Jessica both jumped and clenched their fists, and Kiki cringed away with a shriek. “Or perhaps not.” Yoshida grinned.