Jun drove the scooter to the Abaku-kai’s apartment complex. Inside, he found Bushi playing video games with a crowd of teenagers.
Akio, Bushi’s second in command, handed Jun a beer. Jun accepted the can but didn’t open it. Bushi saw Jun and passed the controller to Goro. Bushi stood and walked down the hallway. Jun followed.
Goro snatched the can of beer from Jun as he passed the couch.
“Are!” Jun smacked Goro on the back of the head and snatched the beer back. “Taco.”
Bushi laughed, and Jun felt he’d played that well. He pulled out all the money he’d collected after his deliveries today and handed it to Bushi.
Bushi flipped through the money, counting it, then peeled off 5000 yen and handed it back to Jun. Bushi pocketed the money and handed Jun a tiny paper envelope.
“Another delivery?” Jun asked.
“A bonus. For you.”
The floor seemed to sway under Jun’s feet. This was a package of rose petals. “But I thought Shoko—”
“It’s yours,” Bushi said. “Take it yourself, sell it, give it to your girlfriend. Whatever you want. Or you can bring it with you when you come to Shizuka tomorrow night.”
“When I come?” Bushi had given Jun the Shizuka book and urged him to read the prayers, but he’d never mentioned that there were any meetings.
“The address is in the package.” Bushi walked past Jun, returning to his place on the couch. He swiped the game controller from Goro and snapped his fingers. “Akio! Biiru.”
Akio jumped up and fetched Bushi a beer.
Jun stayed as long as he felt he had to, then walked outside. He stopped under a streetlight that was beside a driveway and opened the package. There were five petals of rose inside, which was worth another 5000 yen. There was also an address.
A tip? Or something more.
He could try a petal, see what it was like. He might not get home, though. What if he tried one at home, when he was lying in bed, safe? No one would know. Then he could give the rest to Toda-san in the morning along with the money.
Iie. He couldn’t do that. He knew better.
But he did wonder what was so great about a petal. He’d seen people doing them at the Abaku-kai apartment. They always made it sound so great.
No. Doing drugs was stupid.
“Nani o shiteru no?”
Jun jumped and looked toward the voice, which had come from a car parked in the driveway. The door opened and a Japanese man got out. His hair was short and his face was covered in the scruff that comes from missing a few days of shaving. He was wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt.
Jun shoved the petals into his pocket and crossed the driveway, putting the car between them. He didn’t need some user trying to rob him. His scooter was across the street.
“Donata desu ka?” the man asked.
The code phrase. This man was an agent? “Kaeru no ko wa kaeru,” Jun said.
The man nodded to the passenger’s side of the car. “Get in.”
Jun moved toward the car, still unsure if it was wise to obey this man, agent or not. “Where are we going?”
“Toda-san wants to talk to you.”
“Oh.” Jun got inside, wondering what his instructor wanted so late at night. The agent started the car and headed north, toward the safe house.
“How did you find me?” Jun asked.
“I always know where you are,” the agent said.
Jun’s head tingled at this confession. He thought over the things he’d done in public with the Abaku-kai. Nothing terribly embarrassing, he supposed. Yet the idea of this man following him without his consent bothered him.
The agent said nothing for the entire ride. Jun sat silently, feeling as if the petals in his pocket were glowing. They both knew they were there. He was so glad he hadn’t taken one. He could hardly believe he’d even considered it.
At this time of night they were able to reach the safe house quickly. Jun followed the agent upstairs and through the front door of the apartment. Toda-san was sitting on a couch watching TV. His instructor stood to greet them.
“Why didn’t you tell me I was being followed?” Jun asked.
“Turn out your pockets,” Toda-san said.
The gruff tone of Toda-san’s voice earned instant obedience from Jun. He reached into his pockets and put his keys, the 5000 yen, a few coins of his own, and the package of petals on the table next to a clear plastic cup.
Toda-san picked up the cup and thrust it against Jun’s chest. “Bathroom, now.”
Jun stumbled back a step and took hold of the cup. “But I
didn’t do anything.”
“I’ll be happy to put that in my report once I have proof. Go.”
Jun’s urine sample was clean, of course. He hadn’t even drunk any alcohol that night. But he’d come very close to taking a petal.
Toda-san sat him down at the table and introduced field agent Michito Itou. “You’ve done well, Jun,” Toda-san said. “I’m sorry about the test, but it’s protocol to do sporadic testing on agents who are working undercover when drugs are involved.”
What if Jun had taken a petal? A little curiosity would have ruined everything. He was glad Toda-san would never know how close he’d come to blowing it.
“We’re interested in this invitation to Shizuka, to know who will attend. But it’s much too dangerous for you to go. Itou-san will watch the address that night, see if he can identify whoever shows up. If Bushi asks you about it, give him whatever excuse you like.”
“Why can’t I go?” Jun had earned his invitation to the Shizuka meeting, and he wondered what went on there.
“Participation would require you to take the drugs,” Toda-san said. “It’s part of their ritual. One you won’t be participating in. But we would like to talk about something else. Itou-san?”
“The Abaku-kai is getting ready to make a shipment of rose
to Shanghai,” the field agent said. “We know where the shipment is leaving from, but we don’t know where the drugs are made. Find out as much as you can. Ask Bushi if you could learn to make it yourself. Something that might get him to show you where they cook it.”
Bushi wouldn’t find such a question suspicious, especially considering how little money Jun’s family had. He simply needed to make it look like he wanted a way to earn even more money. “I can do that,” Jun said.
“Good,” Toda-san said. “Now let’s talk about the amount of time you spend with Kozue Kimura.”
Jun had wondered when Toda-san might bring up Kozue, seeing as her father was the Toda-san’s number one suspect. “She’s my girlfriend.”
“She’s not to be trusted, Jun,” Toda-san said. “Not with her father’s involvement in the Abaku-kai.”
“Suspected involvement,” Jun said, truly hoping that Kimura-san’s name would be cleared, for Kozue’s sake. “I’ve never seen Kozue in the Abaku-kai apartment. Ever.”
“But you saw Keiko there,” Toda-san said.
“Once, yes. But she was yelling at Bushi.”
“We have no proof that his daughters are involved in any of this,” Itou-san said. “But your behavior has not been cautious.”
Jun was furious that the agent had been spying on him and Kozue. “You must know something or you wouldn’t be telling me this.”
“You told me Kozue attends Shogaku High School,” Toda-san said.
“Hai. Keiko used to go there too, but three months ago—”
“I read your report, Jun,” Toda-san said. “And Itou-san checked it out. Kozue lied to you. She dropped out of Shogaku at the same time as Keiko did. Keiko is attending Oroku, but Kozue is not attending school at all.”
REPORT NUMBER: 18
REPORT TITLE: An Asian Princess Kisses Me for her Birthday
SUBMITTED BY: Agent-in-Training Spencer Garmond
LOCATION: The Kimura’s house, 1021-3 Tomishiro-aza, Naha, Okinawa, Japan
DATE AND TIME: Sunday, June 28, 7:03 p.m.
&
nbsp; KEIKO AND KOZUE TURNED SIXTEEN ON June twenty-eighth. Kimura-san was throwing them a party despite it being a school night. It would be the first time I’d seen Keiko since chasing Bushi through the streets of Naha. I could hardly wait.
Jun and I went shopping for birthday presents for the party. I had no idea what to give Kozue, so I bought her a CD that Jun said she’d like. Jun had already bought her a silver necklace with a jade bead on it. He bought Keiko some Anime novel. I bought Keiko a journal with a lacy purple cover that she could make into an intercession journal. I hoped to give it to her in private where I could explain what it was for. If I could get her to talk more about her dreams, maybe I could find out something good for my next report and prove to Mr. S that I wasn’t a moron.
The girls’ party was even bigger than the welcome party Kimura-san had thrown for us when we’d arrived. The place was packed with people. Jun found Kozue right away, leaving me to weave through the crammed house looking for Keiko.
“Hi, Spencer.” Arianna’s voice distracted me. She was standing by a table filled with food, wearing a hideous rainbow striped skirt.
“Where’d you get that skirt?” I asked.
“Heiwa-dori. Our host mom took us shopping. I think she’s trying to make up for the lunch money thing.”
That skirt looked more like the woman was trying to punish Arianna. I scanned the crowd and easily caught sight of Grace. With all the dark hair in the room, her blond mane stood out.
“Are you looking for Keiko?” Arianna asked me.
My eyes settled on Keiko’s sweet face then, standing in the corner of the room, talking to Isabel. “I just found her.” I nodded toward the corner.
Arianna tapped the package under my arm. “Is that for
Keiko? What’d you get her?”
I looked at the package, then back to the corner.
Keiko’s gaze met mine, and a smile lit her face. “Pensa!” She pushed her way across the room and walked right up to me, so close her shoes bumped up against mine. The skin around her left eye was yellowish now. The swelling was gone.
“Hi,” I said.
“Kisu shi-te.” She fisted the front of my shirt and pulled it down. Her other hand slid around the back of my neck and she stretched up on her toes.
I wasn’t going to argue.
Our lips met, and I could feel myself trembling against her. She was kissing me! Asian Princess was kissing me! Someone in the crowd wolf-whistled, which inspired scattered applause and some more whistles. I put my arms around her and pulled her close. She was small but solid and warm. I could have stayed there forever. But she started the kiss and she ended it, looking up at me, slightly dazed, cheeks flushed.
I did that. I made her glow. I wanted to text Kip and brag.
“You saved my life,” she said.
Now it was my turn to flush. Everyone was looking at us, so I held out my gift. “Happy birthday.” But when she tried to take it, I held tight. “I need to give it to you somewhere … private.”
She raised one eyebrow and gave me a sly grin, then took my hand and led me through the house, down the hall toward her bedroom. But we didn’t go in there. Instead she opened a shoji screen across the hall from her room, and we went inside.
It was an office. A big wooden desk stood in the middle of the room. Bookshelves lined the wall behind it. A sofa filled the opposite wall.
“My father’s office,” Keiko said, sliding the screen closed behind us. She pulled me to the sofa and we sat.
I handed her the package. She tore off the paper, and when she saw the journal, she frowned at me. “Is for school?”
My heart trilled as I took the journal from her hands and flipped it open. “It’s a dream journal. You keep track of your dreams so that you can report them to Toda-san or whoever.”
“Report?”
“Yeah. I write a report for every dream I have. The reports go to the …” I stopped myself before telling her about the International Office and the Mission League server. I wanted to help her and impress her too, but I had to be careful, like Mr. S said. “If you log your dreams, you’ll have a reference for yourself.”
“You do this for your dreams?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I see your dream book?”
I shifted uncomfortably. “You shouldn’t show your journal to anyone.”
“But, Pensa, I could learn much from yours, I am certain.”
I loved it when she called me Pensa. I stared at her for a few seconds, my gaze trailing the curve of one sculpted eyebrow to those deep brown Anime eyes to her glossy pink lips. Then I caught myself and cleared my throat. “See? Look.” I turned the pages to the sample entry I’d written. “I wrote in the dream you told me about. It’s really easy.”
“I will learn this.” She took hold of my hand and pulled it into her lap. “But I’m still afraid.”
I stared at our hands as she laced her fingers between mine. “Keiko, why did you refuse to join the Mission League?”
“What it is?”
“Um … Mishion Ligu? Toda-san, he could help you with your dreams.”
“Ah, my father said we cannot join Toda-san.”
“But why?”
“Shiranai.” She released my hand and hugged the journal to her chest. “I love this, anyway. Arigato.”
“You’re welcome. Happy birthday.”
She tossed the journal on the floor, and the thump startled me. Then she crawled onto my lap and kissed me again—also startling. I felt like a popsicle that had suddenly melted all over the leather upholstery.
For the next … oh, let’s just say an indeterminate period of time, I admit, that I voluntarily, enthusiastically, kissed a girl, and I liked it.
● ● ●
The following Saturday I found myself sitting in a kabuki theater between Gabe and Jun. Besides Tetsu’s skill at performing the running man dance, Jake’s and Lukas’s host brother also did kabuki, which was sort of like a traditional Japanese form of Broadway. Tetsu had a part in a big show and invited us Americans to come and watch. Seemed like a lame way to spend the Fourth of July, but, hey, this wasn’t America.
The show was called Kanadehon Chushingura, whatever that meant, and was about forty-seven samurai who tracked down their lord’s killer to administer revenge. At least that’s what the program said in an English translation added for our benefit.
I couldn’t follow the production at all. When I wasn’t eyeing Jun and Kozue and lamenting the fact that Keiko hadn’t come, I caught myself nodding off. Maybe I’d already missed Tetsu’s big moment. All the actors were dressed in colorful kimonos and had white painted faces or wore sculpted masks. For all I knew he’d been up there all along.
But suddenly Jun elbowed me. “Tetsu,” he whispered, pointing to the stage.
A figure clad in a black hooded kimono slid across the stage one step at a time. His face was completely obscured by the hood. He wore white slippers and held a samurai sword out in front of him.
All right! Some action.
But it was slow coming. A turtle could have crossed the stage faster than Tetsu wearing those white slipper socks.
He finally reached the far side of the stage, where a man in a red kimono and black mask lay sleeping on a mat on the floor. Tetsu raised the sword above his head then swung it down, stopping inches from the figure. The lights went out and the audience applauded.
Jun whistled and clapped.
Wait. That was it? I leaned close to Gabe. “Did he kill that guy?”
“I think so,” Gabe said.
How very dramatic. A minute later, the lights came back on and the set had changed.
Come on, it still wasn’t over? I sighed and sent Gabe a pleading “make it stop” look. He only smiled.
When the performance ended—finally!—we spent another hour posing for pictures with Tetsu in his costume. I had no idea why. After that, Keroppi Frog Girl, whose name had turned out to be Yumiko, left with Jensina and Beth. But us
? Nooo. Tetsu offered to let us try on some of the costumes. Gabe was at the front of the line.
Behind me I heard Jun offer to walk Kozue home. Dude was going to ditch me with the kabuki wannabes while he made out with his Asian princess? How was that fair? I wanted my Asian princess.
“I’m coming too,” Grace said, following them out the door.
I glared after them for half a second. But if Grace was getting out of here, so was I. “Wait up!” I ran after them.
“Anyone else?” Jun asked? When no one answered, he told his dad that he had me and Grace, and we left.
The night was sticky with humidity but cooler than the day. A bunch of crickets were singing at once. I walked with Grace behind Jun and Kozue, who were clinging to each other as usual.
“Where is Keiko tonight?” I asked Kozue. I’d already asked
Jun and he’d had no answer for me.
Kozue glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t know where she goes sometimes.”
Great. Thank you for being so helpful. I just hoped she was okay. Probably at a friend’s house. But not knowing made me worry. Why hadn’t I asked Keiko for her cell phone number? Would International be upset with my phone bill if I started texting a Japanese girl? Was long distance texting more expensive than the roaming charges I’d probably already incurred for texting Kip from here? Either way, I hoped Prière wouldn’t be mad.
Up ahead, Jun and Kozue stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to start kissing. Unfortunately, Grace and I quickly caught up, so I put one hand on Jun’s shoulder and the other on Kozue’s and pushed them forward. “Keep moving, dementors. We can’t get home without our guides.”
Jun pulled away from Kozue and looked at me. “What it means: demmenor?”
“They’re those hooded creatures in Harry Potter that suck off your face,” I said.
Grace giggled, actually laughed at something I’d said. Jun still looked confused, but he took Kozue’s hand and continued walking.
Project Gemini (Mission 2 Page 18