Ninja Assassin: Attraction

by Sally Keira

  "So you DO care about him," he taunted, amused. "I'll let him live then for you".

  “You bastard,” Kaiya swore.

  Lawso turned his thigh in time to block her attempt to knee him in the balls. He held her against the wall, pressing his lower body against her so that she could not move her legs. He started rubbing his hand across her curves.

  "Where is the chip, Kaiya?" Lawso asked her seductively.

  He checked all the obvious pouches. Grinning, he started rubbing suggestively over her chest plate, then her stomach, the front of her pants. His hand even stroked a searching hand behind her, across her butt.

  "We didn't find it!" Kaiya told him desperately.

  Kaiya realised they had company and looked up hopefully. Unfortunately, she saw Yoshito standing at ease next to a furious looking Kazuo. Kazuo's hands were bound behind his back and Yoshito had a gun pointed at Kazuo's back.

  "Lawso, I don't think that is working, she seems to be enjoying that,” Yoshito sounded amused when he spoke, even though his facial expressions remained cold.

  Yoshito roughly pushed Kazuo forward, causing Kazuo to stumble for a moment. Kazuo recovered his balance as Yoshito pressed his gun against the back of Kazuo's head.

  "Kaiya, give Lawso the chip and I'll spare Kazuo. I don’t really want to kill him but I will if I have to," Yoshito calmly demanded.

  Kazuo shook his head at Kaiya and they exchanged a meaningful look between them. Kazuo’s look told her that he doubted Yoshito would shoot him.

  "We couldn't find it!" Kaiya repeated and Kazuo grinned obnoxiously.

  In frustration Yoshito smacked Kazuo hard over the head with the butt of his gun, and knocked Kazuo out cold. Kazuo fell in a heap on the ground. Yoshito pointed his gun at Kaiya. She stood frozen in fury, watching him and Lawso, awaiting their next moves.

  Lawso walked over to Nao's unconscious body and decided to pat Nao down in a search, not expecting to find anything. Lawso laughed loudly in surprise when he found the chip in Nao's zipped pants pouch.

  "She gave it to her boyfriend," Lawso exclaimed, waving the chip at Yoshito. “I can’t believe she actually trusted the chip to someone else!”

  “That’s her boyfriend?” Yoshito sounded unimpressed. “From the state of him, he mustn’t be a very good fighter.”

  “No, he wasn’t,” Lawso said matter-of-factly.

  Yoshito and Lawso turned to face Kaiya. They were surprised to find she was already clutching her combat knife ready to throw it, despite Yoshito's gun still pointed at her.

  “I’m done listening to you assholes,” Kaiya snapped.

  Kaiya tightened her grip on her knife, even though she knew she could not take them both, and Yoshito would undoubtedly shoot her. She should have thrown it at Yoshito whilst he had been distracted by Lawso searching Nao. Luckily her father was not here to witness her hesitation. Her instructions had been to secure that chip at all costs. Tatsuya did not accept failure.

  Yoshito narrowed his eyes dangerously at Kaiya.

  “Drop the knife now, Kaiya. I’m not mucking around,” Yoshito demanded, sending a chill down her spine.

  “Neither am I,” Kaiya declared, keeping her grip on the knife.

  Without looking away from her Yoshito spoke again.

  "Lawso?" There was an urgency to his voice. Kaiya realised that Yoshito was asking permission to shoot her.

  Lawso had clearly had enough of Kaiya calling their bluff. His intense blue eyes flashed at Kaiya in anger. Lawso unsheathed his samurai and pointed it in her direction across the space between them.

  "No!" Lawso yelled loudly at her like she was a disobedient child, his voice echoing across the complex.

  Lawso continued glaring at Kaiya and she stared defiantly back at him.

  Lawso strode purposely toward her with his sword still pointed at her. The expression on his face reminded her how dangerous he truly was. She regretted grabbing her knife then and knew she should not have pushed them further. Before Lawso reached her, Kaiya let her knife drop to the ground.

  Yoshito released a sigh of relief as he relaxed the aim of his gun.

  Lawso halted a few steps from Kaiya and shook his head at her.

  “I can’t believe how far you are willing to test our limits. I have some restraint, but Yoshito was so close to ending you,” Lawso snapped at her.

  “You have a death wish, Kaiya. Next time I will shoot you,” Yoshito told her harshly.

  Lawso tossed Yoshito the chip. Yoshito turned once he caught it, abruptly walking off to exit the facility.

  Lawso remained behind briefly. He stood glaring at Kaiya for a bit longer, with only a metre separating them.

  “Ooh, what is this, a stare-down?” Kaiya asked sarcastically, defiantly meeting his glare with one of her own.

  Her comment brought a hint of a smile to the corner of Lawso’s mouth.

  “I’m just looking my fill, until next time,” Lawso said, his furious expression dissolving into something else altogether.

  Lawso deliberately ran his eyes slowly up and down her figure, his expression conveying that he very much appreciated her tight ninja outfit.

  Kaiya stood transfixed by his dominating stare, not trusting herself to speak. Mixed relief and disappointment registered in her gut when Lawso eventually turned his back on her.

  "I'll see you again soon, Kaiya," Lawso called over his shoulder, his voice full of promise as he jogged off to catch up with Yoshito.

  Lawso had a gun strapped to his back that he had not even used. Kaiya exhaled in a huff, while she watched the two men disappear out of sight.

  It was not often that Lawso lost his temper, she recalled. Perhaps Lawso had been afraid that Yoshito was actually going to shoot her. Or maybe he was just frustrated that she would not cooperate. It was very doubtful that Lawso wanted her to die when he kissed her like that! Kaiya shook her head to clear those thoughts, she would think about what Lawso's reaction meant later. At least she had just confirmed that Yoshito did not want to shoot her or Kazuo either. She would store that knowledge away, to use against Yoshito in the future if she needed to.

  It was time to retreat now because the burning building had probably already drawn attention, the flames were coming out of the rooftop now. Unfortunately, Kaiya could only bare the weight of one of these men on the ground in front of her and would have to leave the other one behind. The decision was easy. She reached under Kazuo's arm pits and used all her energy to drag him toward the border of the compound. She yanked Kazuo along even more urgently when sirens could be heard approaching in the distance. Although Nao would survive his brutal injuries, he would definitely be arrested. There was nothing Kaiya could do about their team of ten being reduced to two.

  Chapter 14

  Kaiya managed to drag Kazuo into one of the hummers in the warehouse with little time to spare, before the compound down the block was overrun by sirens from emergency service workers. Defence personnel would be called in shortly, so they had to get well out of there. Speeding off in her hummer, she glanced in her rear mirror at Kazuo lying unconscious across the back seats. Perhaps she would take Kazuo back to her apartment, rather than the security floor, so that Mariko could tend to him. Reluctantly, she placed a call to the security team in her building. Kaiya knew she would be expected to ring her father first, but she wanted to gather her thoughts before she phoned him.

  Kaiya recognised the voice of the ninja on duty who answered her call.

  "I'm on my way back with Kazuo unconscious in the back seat. The mission was compromised. Yoshito and his... clan took the chip from us. The other eight didn't get out. Nao is the only one left behind alive from my team, and he is badly injured. We won't know if any of the others are alive too until Kazuo comes to."

  Kaiya waited for a response from the other end of the line. Her heart hammered in her chest when she unexpectedly heard Tatsuya's abrupt voice in the background.

  "Tell her to come straight upstairs to my apartment when she
gets here," Tatsuya snapped.

  There was a pause and then a door could be heard slamming.

  "Kaiya, you were on speaker phone. Tatsuya was here and said-"

  "I heard him, thanks," Kaiya cut the other ninja off and ended the call.

  Kaiya exhaled deeply. She felt stressed. It was unlike Tatsuya to be waiting in the security office. This meant that he had planned to receive the chip from them immediately. This did not bode well for her. Dread set in at the thought of facing her father, his temper was horrific. She wished Kazuo was not unconscious because he might have faced Tatsuya with her. Kaiya snorted at the irony that she did not think she feared death but she sometimes feared her father.

  Kaiya placed a phone call to Mariko, who answered on the second ring.

  "Kaiya, are you ok?"

  "I'm on my way back now. Kazuo got hurt but he will be ok, he was just knocked unconscious. We didn't get the chip and we were the only two who got out."

  "Oh my god, what happened? Can I see Kazuo, where is he?" Mariko sounded hysterical.

  Kaiya could hear her sister's voice breaking so she tried to calm her.

  "Don't worry about Kazuo, he’s not that bad. I won't bring him up to our place because father is upstairs. Maybe you can sneak down and see him later when father leaves. I'll see you after he is done with me."

  “Oh,” was all Mariko could manage to say at the thought of Kaiya having to face their father without the chip.

  "See you soon Mari," Kaiya said, with her best fake calm voice and hung up the phone.

  Kaiya drove into their secure car park level. Two of their other ninjas met her there to assist her with carrying Kazuo.

  “We’ll carry him,” one of the ninjas offered.

  They grabbed one end of him each and they all moved into the lift. The ninjas were silent and clearly tense from the news of what had happened to the rest of their clan. They seemed to sense that Kaiya was not up for conversation. She was trying to mentally prepare herself for her pending confrontation with Tatsuya.

  Kaiya watched miserably in silence as the ninjas carried Kazuo out of the lift at the third top floor. The doors shut again, leaving her alone in the lift. Too soon she ascended to the top floor and was opening the door to her father's apartment.

  Tatsuya was sitting at the head of a beautiful oak six-seater table in his lavish lounge room. The floor to ceiling glass windows were several metres behind him. Kaiya barely noticed their brilliant sky-high view of the sun rising over Tokyo. She hesitated once she was in view of her father. He stared at her sternly for a full minute before he gestured with his hand extended, for her to take the seat opposite him at the far end of the table. Nodding in respect, she moved to take her seat.

  Tatsuya had a glass of orange juice within reach of his hand and a lap top directly in front of him. He continued working on his computer for a few minutes longer, forcing Kaiya to wait. He made her feel as though she was not worthy of his attention. The tension in the room increased by the minute.

  The silence was eventually interrupted by Tatsuya’s ringing mobile phone. He answered it without looking at her.

  "Yes..... Good. Ask Kazuo how many survived." There was a long pause and Kaiya waited for the answer and Tatsuya's reaction. Tatsuya's eyes narrowed.

  "Get my lawyers down there to sort the four of them out." Tatsuya barked over the phone, before abruptly hanging up.

  Yoshito and Lawso must have killed four and let the other four live. Her father's legal team would have their work cut out for them.

  Tatsuya finally directed his attention toward Kaiya.

  "Tell me about Yoshito and his team,” he said calmly, yet there was a dangerous edge to his question.

  Kaiya's heart pounded even more rapidly, she knew this was not going to bode well for her. She was afraid to admit there had been just two of them there.

  Tatsuya grew angry at her inability to find words. He downed his glass of orange juice and slammed it on the table. His knuckles whitened as he clutched onto the glass forcefully, while he glared at her.

  "How many of them were there?" Tatsuya demanded louder, daring her to lie.

  "Two," Kaiya answered meekly, her eyes downcast.

  Tatsuya crushed the drink in his hand, shattering glass across the table, not seeming to care that he cut his hand.

  "What?!" Tatsuya screamed as he jumped to his feet, knocking his chair over in the process.

  Kaiya felt intimidated. Tatsuya leaned toward her from his end of the table, with his palms spread on the tabletop. He remained indifferent to the broken glass beneath his palms. Glass crunched under his hands but Tatsuya did not even flinch.

  Kaiya tried to explain what had happened.

  "They've hired Lawso, another one of the opponents from our Mizuchi Ninjutsu training. The two of them have been training together non-stop for six months. I tried to...."

  But she grew silent. Tatsuya watched a single tear slide down her cheek. She reminded him of Natalya.

  "The Australian?!" Tatsuya screamed incredulously.

  He grabbed the table and overturned it in a loud crash. Kaiya flinched but remained seated in her chair after the table was no longer in front of her. She wondered how and what her father knew about Lawso. Now uncomfortable seated, she made to stand up.

  “Sit,” her father sternly snapped at her, so she sat again obediently.

  “Kaiya, I needed that chip! I still need that chip! You have let me down!” Tatsuya yelled at her, towering over her from his standing position.

  Kaiya kept her head down as she waited for him to continue.

  "Your failed leadership has resulted in four deaths and four arrests. You have lost everyone's respect. You are hereby demoted from your position. Kazuo is now in charge. You are not second in charge, you are nothing. Your sole purpose now is to retrieve that chip at all costs. Tadao has no idea what to do with that chip, so he will try to sell it to the highest bidder. You have a very small window to bring it back to me. You will run all of your plans by Kazuo and receive his authorisation before you act. I do not want to hear from you again until you have that chip."

  Kaiya nodded, not meeting his glare. Tatsuya dialled his mobile and barked his orders to a ninja on the other end of the phone line.

  "Prepare my helicopter. Also bring me a medic and someone to clean up some broken glass."

  Tatsuya picked some glass out of his palm and flicked it onto the floor. He inspected his bleeding palms, bunched his hands into fists and stormed out of the room.

  Kaiya remained seated on the only chair left standing, looking down at the other over-turned chairs and table, and the forgotten laptop on the floor. Breathing out heavily, she fought to prevent further tears. Her father had managed to make her feel so small and worthless. Of course she felt awful about the deaths and arrests that had occurred that night, but she did not think it was her fault. In truth Kazuo was at as much to blame as her. They had organised their tactics together. It was selfish to be more concerned with the humiliation of being demoted than she was at the loss of her ninjas, but she could not help it. She needed to restore her father’s faith in her. Kaiya vowed that she would get that chip back no matter what the cost.

  Chapter 15

  Over the next couple of days Kaiya kept a low profile at home in her shared apartment with Mariko. A lot of her time was spent working out in her gym because she wanted to keep fit. There was also not much else to be done, whilst she waited for further information to aid her in going after the chip. Training with her remaining ninja clan, was not an option she would take whilst she was demoted. She would not be able to stand that humiliation. Her gym was her refuge. Not only did it have weights and cardio equipment, she also had a gymnastics floor and balance beam, her two favourite apparatuses. Music regularly filled the room whilst she improvised new combinations of movement, or even practiced and extended her existing routines. She loved focusing her mind and body completely on her motion as she flowed through a series of tucks, twists a
nd flips. When she was completely enmeshed in a workout she felt free.

  Earlier that day Kazuo had finally received and shared Intel with her that Tadao was planning to sell the chip this coming Saturday night. Tadao was apparently going to a host a formal party with potential international buyers in his heavily guarded mansion on the other side of Tokyo. Kaiya knew it would be no small feat to gain access to the site of the chip. Obviously, Tadao must be very confident that the chip was secure and that his security system was unbreachable. Otherwise, he would not dare to invite such well-resourced and dangerous potential buyers; such as Itsunori Tanaka, the corrupt Japanese Minister of Defence. This chip must be quite the weapon, since the various parties of interest were wanting to keep the chip's existence under wraps. They had managed to find out that Tadao was planning to duplicate the chip and sell it to multiple buyers on his guest list. Kaiya knew that she needed to get herself invited to that party or else she would miss her chance to steal it back. She was currently preparing for the first phase of her plan.

  "Wow Kaiya, if I didn't know that was you, I would never recognise you!" Mariko exclaimed.

  Mariko was sitting on a couch, cuddled up to Kazuo in one of the larger rooms in their extravagant apartment. They both watched in amusement as Kaiya tested out her disguise in character. Kaiya's hair was completely hidden under a long blonde styled wig. The appearance of her eyes had been altered with cleverly applied make-up and brown coloured contact lenses. A beauty spot had been added to her face for good measure. She was dressed in an attention grabbing, tightly fitted, metallic-glitter knee-length cocktail dress. It was cut low across her cleavage, extending in a line across the top of her arms, leaving her shoulders bare but arms covered. The dress was by a New York designer that Kaiya admired. It was a sexy yet classy dress that she had never worn before. Kaiya exaggerated the sway of her hips as she practised walking across the room in her expensive matching high heels. She needed to walk differently to her usual walk and she needed to speak differently as well, if she was going to pull this disguise off.