Ninja Assassin: Attraction

by Sally Keira

  “Will the faceless Sensei approve of us making a fire in his courtyard?” Kaiya wondered out loud.

  “Lawso has already sought out permission to do so,” Satoshi informed her.

  “I didn’t hear him yelling out a request!” Kaiya said, wondering how else they would go about asking the Sensei a question.

  Satoshi glanced up at her questioningly.

  “Didn’t Lawso or Yoshito tell you that they’ve both met the Sensei? They’ve both caught him moving around the dojo on separate occasions. Apparently they were told where to find him after that,” Satoshi revealed.

  Kaiya was shocked by this information. The men probably swapped all of the useful stories in the bath pool, she thought to herself with irritation. She had cut off that source of information when she had declared that she would be bathing in private. Damn.

  ***

  Later that morning Yoshito and Lawso returned to the dojo. They were both grinning triumphantly, whilst carrying the carcass of small wild boar between them.

  “The little bastard tried to hide from us but we got him in the end,” Yoshito said.

  Yoshito continued describing their hunting mission. But Kaiya lost track of what he was saying when Lawso smiled at her.

  “Take the boar to the kitchen to skin and gut it. After you’re done, I’ll salt it and secure it to the wooden spit that Kaiya and I made earlier,” Satoshi commanded.

  Lawso and Yoshito eagerly carried the boar off to the western pagoda. After the boar was impaled, Satoshi fastened handles to the spit pole, so that they could all take turns rotating the boar. Anton ignited the fire and they all stood around impressed with their handiwork. Over the rest of the day and into the evening they all took turns turning the spit. They mostly hung around the spit chatting or staring into the flames. They had even set up six chairs around it. The spit became a centre point for them to all chill out together on their day off.

  “The only thing we’re missing is a few beers,” Lawso told them.

  “I wouldn’t mind some sake,” Yoshito said.

  “Horilka or vodka, would go down well,” Anton added.

  “I’m disappointed that you’re all meeting my stereotypes of you,” Satoshi said.

  “Budweiser, for you then, yank,” Lawso joked.

  They were all still hanging around the spit hours later in the dark, watching shadows flickering across the courtyard from the dancing flames of the fire. Except for Kaiya and Kazuo, who were both still stewing at each other. The pair had unfortunately crossed paths again and could be heard arguing inside the kitchen pagoda. The men outside could hear that their fight had escalated and it sounded like they were now smashing things in there.

  “Are they fighting about me?” Lawso asked the others, only picking up some of their argument in Japanese.

  Satoshi sat thoughtful for a moment before providing a translated summary.

  "It started off about you. I think Kazuo was mostly teasing her though and she over-reacted. But now they're fighting about Yoshito, because Kaiya got defensive and accused Kazuo of befriending their enemy. Then their fight escalated, and they started arguing about Tadao Takahashi, Kaiya’s uncle. I heard Kazuo threaten to go work for him!"

  “Tadao Takahashi would never employ Kazuo because he'd never trust that he hadn't lost loyalty to his original clan. Kazuo was probably just trying to get more of a rise out of Kaiya, she always takes the bait,” Yoshito joined in the conversation.

  “Yeah, well Kazuo better watch out for his nose,” Anton muttered.

  The men laughed, surprised that Anton had made his first joke. It had only taken him to reach the half-way point of their training to do so. The four of them grew quiet when as they heard the kitchen table being overturned. Lawso abruptly stood up from turning the spit.

  "I'm going to break them up before we have no kitchen left,” Lawso decided.

  Lawso returned from the kitchen pagoda dragging a kicking Kaiya out by her waist. They could all see that she was furious and sporting a bleeding split lip. In response to Kazuo’s threats to go work for her uncle, she screamed back in his direction.

  "How could you think of abandoning Mariko? She loves you, Bakayarou!"

  Lawso dragged Kaiya over to the spit and sat down heavily into one of the chairs, pulling her down backwards onto his lap. Kaiya tried to break free by punching at his strong arms, which were still holding her secure by her waist. Lawso ignored her punches and held her firmly locked in his arms, pulling her against his chest in a tight bear hug. Kaiya noticed that the other men looked amused with Lawso holding her like that.

  “Let me go, Lawso!” Kaiya yelled in protest.

  “No,” Lawso said.

  Kaiya struggled against him for a while longer, but his strong hold was defeating her. She hated looking helpless. Attacking him with her fists and feet in this position proved ineffective. Lawso gritted his teeth when she resorted to digging nails into his skin.

  “If you make me bleed, I’ll just hold you here longer,” Lawso said, still not letting her go.

  Her fury at Kazuo was redirected toward Lawso now. She felt outraged and embarrassed at being secured in his arms. Who did he think he was? Her death glare was met by his cheeky grin. The man was infuriating!

  “I’ll rip you apart, if you don’t release me,” Kaiya hissed.

  “I’ll release you after you calm down,” Lawso decided.

  Lawso was enjoying keeping Kaiya trapped in his lap. He was also enjoying her discomfort at the others witnessing him holding her. He could not get the passionate kiss they had shared last night out of his head. Since the others knew about their kiss he did not need to hide his intentions to claim her, although he had been pretty obvious anyway. The guys had often made jokes about his open attraction to Kaiya and Lawso had met their goading face on with humour.

  Lawso knew that Kaiya thought she was fierce, but he had noticed how very feminine she also was. He was very aware that she had left her hair down today and wondered if she had done so for his sake. He liked the feel of the long dark strands brushing against his neck and face as she struggled in his lap. When he finally felt Kaiya relax he turned her face toward him and inspected her lip with a light stroke of his finger.

  “Just a minor cut, it has already stopped bleeding,” he told her.

  Lawso wanted to kiss her again but would wait until he could get her alone. Plus, he knew she was angry still and back to her game of trying to resist him. Lawso thought she was beautiful when she was angry. He wondered if she would bite him if he tried to kiss her now. Not that he would mind, her wild streak turned him on.

  Kaiya was still bothered that Lawso had captured her and had not yet released her. But part of her was enjoying being wrapped up in his arms. She had never met a man that she could not defeat. There was something surprisingly appealing about meeting her match. When she felt Lawso relax, she made another failed attempt to get out of his hold.

  “No, you don’t,” Lawso laughed smugly.

  “You are infuriating,” Kaiya muttered.

  Lawso gave her body a big squeeze, to remind her she was held in place. Kaiya could not believe that the other smug bastards were all just sitting there watching her and Lawso, not even bothering to hide their amusement at her predicament. Kaiya was also ashamed to admit to herself that she felt aroused in his impenetrable hold. Turning her head toward him again, she narrowed her large green eyes at him in the dark. A heated look passed between them.

  Kaiya decided that she needed to try to unsettle Lawso to turn the tables. Discretely sliding her hand back behind her, Kaiya boldly, yet roughly gripped his cock through his pants. Stiffening in surprise, Lawso felt his cock growing harder than it already was.

  “I said, let me go, Lawso,” Kaiya demanded again, thinking she had him now.

  “No little wench,” he whispered back, his blue eyes sparkling at her in challenge.

  Then she stared stroking him there. His mouth fell open slightly in response to the mo
vement of her hand and the smug look on her face. Clearly she could feel how erect he had grown. The tables were turning. Kaiya intended to keep stroking him until he stopped her or else let her go. Wow, his cock is huge, she realised. Hopefully the others could not tell what she was doing in the dark. Although, she would laugh if Lawso lost his composure. Surely he would release his hold on her now, she thought. Entertained by her own actions, she deliberately squeezed the head of his cock through his pants to see what he would do next.

  Conversation had resumed around the spit fire. It took all of Lawso's effort to look like he was concentrating on what the others were saying. He struggled to stare expressionless at the flickering flames of the fire and regroup. Lawso realised that he was not in control of Kaiya now, but he resisted removing her hand off his cock. He did not want to lose this round of whatever power battle was going on between them. Unbelievable how turned on he was. Lawso leant forward and whispered huskily in Kaiya's ear, soft enough so that only she could hear him.

  "Kaiya, if you continue doing that, I'm going to drag you upstairs and show you what it's used for! Kazuo is probably too pissed off at you to stop me, and the other killers probably wouldn’t care what I did to you.”

  Kaiya ceased stroking him because she was shocked by his comment. Would he really try to drag her up there with everyone watching? He could try it. But she was confident that he would never manage to get her up to his room when she put up a good fight. He probably could not even drag her more than a few metres away once she got free of this bear hug, and then he would be sorry. She would kick his ass. Lawso was smirking and she realised that he was just goading her. Although her hand had stilled, it remained on his cock in indecision.

  “It’s too late Kaiya. When I get you alone next, I am going to get your little pussy!” Lawso whispered seductively, as he nibbled on her earlobe.

  Kaiya was not sure if she was more shocked by this comment or the involuntary jolt of arousal between her legs.

  “You can try it, if you have a death wish,” Kaiya hissed.

  Flicking her head to the side released his lips from her ear. The others had probably seen him sucking on her ear. She needed to get away from him soon before she either killed him or fucked him.

  Kazuo strolled outside then to join the opponents around the fire, eying off Kaiya sitting in Lawso's lap. Kaiya removed her hand from Lawso's crotch as though caught in the act, and Lawso chuckled at her reaction. Kazuo appeared to have the beginning of a black eye and was holding an ice pack to his face. Kazuo slumped down heavily in one of the two vacant chairs.

  “I wish you good luck taming that little wild cat,” Kazuo snickered.

  Kaiya sprung at Kazuo but Lawso moved faster. Lawso caught her mid-leap and pulled her back down into his lap by his hold on her waist. Kazuo laughed obnoxiously, satisfied that Kaiya could not attack him further at this time. Kazuo and Lawso exchanged grins, whilst Kaiya stewed in Lawso’s lap.

  After Kaiya finally relaxed again, Lawso brushed his fingers through some of her hair.

  “I have enjoyed keeping you squirming around in my lap,” Lawso whispered in her ear.

  Kaiya frowned at him in irritation.

  “But I’ll let you up now,” Lawso said.

  With a hint of a smile, he finally released her from his lap. He resisted the urge to pat her butt as she climbed off of him. The remaining chair on the other side of the spit was unfortunately next to Kazuo. Kazuo and Kaiya eyed each other wearily as she sat beside him.

  “What did you say earlier about Mariko?” Kazuo quietly asked her a few minutes later.

  "I said she loves you, you dumb bastard!" Kaiya snapped at him, folding her arms over her chest.

  "How do you know?" Kazuo asked hopefully, ignoring her bitchy tone.

  "Because she finally admitted it to me before we came here," Kaiya let slip in frustration.

  Kazuo stared into the flames, trying to hide the grin slowly forming across his face from what Kaiya had just revealed.

  “Who is Mariko?” Anton asked.

  "Kaiya's older sister," Yoshito informed him, whilst looking curiously at Kazuo.

  "There's another one of them?" Anton asked in disgust.

  Yoshito and Kazuo burst out laughing at that.

  "No. Kaiya is one of a kind," Yoshito stated humorously.

  “That’s putting it mildly,” Kazuo smirked.

  "Hey, I'm sitting right here, jerks!" Kaiya snapped.

  “The spit roast is ready,” Satoshi interrupted them. “I’m going to reduce the fire now. Everyone can carve their own meat off the boar. Who wants to go first?”

  They all took turns carving off large chunks of pork. It was a reward not to have to eat thawed vegetables and rice for a change. Lawso cut Kaiya and himself some portions of meat, letting the others cut their own.

  “Why didn't you cut some off for me?” Satoshi jokingly asked Lawso.

  "Because he doesn't want to fuck you, Satoshi!" Anton chimed in.

  Kaiya rolled her eyes at Anton. She was used to crude comments coming from him. She was also used to hanging around rough men and their equally rough conversations.

  Yoshito redirected the conversation back to Kazuo, because he was not finished mocking him. He wanted to give it to him, now that he knew Kazuo had fallen for his employer’s other daughter, Mariko.

  “Tatsuya Takahashi would probably kill you, Kazuo, before he’d let you be with Mariko!” Yoshito said with amusement.

  “Yep, I’ve got a death wish!” Kazuo smirked back at him, and the pair of them laughed even louder as if they shared a personal joke.

  The friendly banter continued late into the night. Kaiya and Lawso made eye contact several times across the fire. There was an unspoken challenge between them. Lawso did not get another opportunity to be near Kaiya before she slipped into her room and away from him for the night.

  Chapter 5

  Yoshito and Lawso were missing in action the next day. The faceless Sensei left instructions for Anton to lead the others in Muay Thai boxing. Although this was not specifically a style of ninjutsu, the program was versatile. Kaiya realised that this must be a style of fighting that Anton excelled at in his former life. Anton was a large man who prided himself on his physical strength. He seemed particularly arrogant that day as he led his opponents in ruthless kicking and punching combinations. They were all finding the sparring tiring, despite using pads and boxing gloves. Because they all were paired against equally hard-hitting fighters.

  Whilst paired with Kazuo, Kaiya fell into conversation with him between hits. She was relieved to realise that he was no longer annoyed at her. Instead, he was more interested in getting information out of her about Mariko.

  “What else did Mariko say about me?” Kazuo asked.

  “I can’t betray Mariko’s confidence. But I do give you my blessing to go after her when we return to Tokyo,” Kaiya told him.

  It was too bad her blessing would not be enough.

  "I’m not sure what you’re going to do about our father though," she laughed at him.

  Even Yoshito had known that Tatsuya would not allow Mariko to be with one of his security clan.

  “Your father needs to stop controlling everyone,” Kazuo said.

  “I dare you to say that to him,” Kaiya laughed.

  “Concentrate on your hits, you two are going soft over there!” Anton yelled at them, trying to break up their conversation.

  The lesson had been dragging on for hours. They were all getting sore and their energy levels were becoming depleted. Kaiya was reaching a point of exhaustion. When she stopped to rest, Anton was in her face again.

  “We will all continue boxing until one of us drops”, Anton declared insolently, looking down at her as he said this.

  “Why, what does that prove?” Kaiya asked.

  “That you are weak,” Anthon said.

  “You’re incompetent,” Kaiya said.

  “Can’t you cope, little girl?” Anton antagonised
her.

  “Fuck you!” Kaiya snapped.

  Kaiya was furious about his expectation that she would drop first, so pride kept her going. Even though Kaiya was fast and could hit hard, the weight difference between herself and her opponents was a clear disadvantage. Kaiya was finding it difficult to continue to absorb her opponents’ stronger blows after so long. Anton knew that Kaiya would not want to back down but he was still smugly confident that she would break first. Kaiya knew that Kazuo and Satoshi must be tiring as well. If only she could keep going and prove Anton wrong.

  “Change of partner,” Anton eventually declared in frustration of Kaiya’s endurance. “Kaiya, you are now paired with me.”

  Anton turned to face Kaiya, with a menacing look on his ugly face. She knew he was intending to strike even harder when he paired with her. Instead of facing him, she ripped her gloves off her hands and pegged them hard at his chest.

  “Alright, yatsume, I’m done!” Kaiya swore at a smirking Anton. She then stormed off to the bath pool to be alone for a while.

  ***

  The following day Kaiya awoke aching from the day before, and did not want to get out of bed. She sat up though when she spied another scroll lying on the floor next to her futon. There was a map and a red flag rolled up inside it. The instructions translated to:

  Kaiya Takahashi, you have been paired with Kazuo for your next exercise. You will go up against Anton and Satoshi in a concealment and escape challenge. You have one day to prepare yourselves. Tomorrow your team will exit from the Southern door of the dojo and the other team will exit from the northern door of the dojo. You can leave any time after sunrise tomorrow. You must all stay within the two kilometre long square area to the east of the dojo, as marked out on the map. Your goal is to reach the eastern border of the marked area and place a flag over the border. The first team to successfully place a flag there wins. Should no one reach the border because you all get shot, the team with the player closest to the border wins. Yoshito and Lawso have volunteered to act as snipers and have been busy helping place traps throughout the challenge zone. If you find yourself stuck in a trap, the snipers are only allowed to shoot you once you escape from that trap. To give you a chance the snipers are not physically allowed into the first 400 metres of the challenge zone. The game ends when the first player crosses the border or when you are all terminated. The losing team will face a penalty.