Ninja Assassin: Attraction

by Sally Keira

  Just when Kaiya thought they must be high enough she looked at the altimeter and realised they were only just over 3000 feet high, there was still more than three quarters of their altitude left to climb! It took a while for them to climb to 12 500ft. When the plane finally levelled out, it was beyond comprehension how high up they were.

  After a while Satoshi pointed to a small island in the distance. Lawso sat down on the floor of the plane and secured the packed parachute onto his back. Spreading his legs, he patted the space in front of him, indicating that Kaiya should sit down there so he could join her harness to his. Kaiya felt mixed nervousness and excitement as Lawso clipped them together, and passed her some glasses to strap to her head.

  "We're going to edge forward so you can dangle your feet over the side of the plane. When we first jump out, lay your head back on my shoulder. Satoshi will tell us when to jump," Lawso said loudly in Kaiya’s ear. Kayia nodded her response.

  Lawso started edging them forward and he slid open the door of the plane. The noise was so loud now with the door open. Butterflies flipped in Kaiya’s stomach when she realised that she had to move toward the open door. Reflexively, Kaiya hesitated. Lawso grinned at her and used his legs to shuffle them further forward anyway, so that her legs were forced out the door. He laughed in response to her gasp of surprise to find herself partially hanging out of the door.

  Now there was a rocky island with large patches of thick jungle far below. Moments later the island was directly under them, and Satoshi yelled out "Go!"

  Lawso gently tucked Kaiya’s forehead back against his shoulder and pushed them out of the plane. Kaiya felt the heavy force of the wind pounding against her face and body as they sailed rapidly downward into the expanse of air. The drop was so intense and so loud but Kaiya felt like she was floating rather than falling. She screamed in awe as they soared toward the earth. The approaching white clouds and blue ocean below them looked utterly serene and beautiful from her curved sky view of the world.

  It all happened so quickly, a minute felt life seconds. Kaiya knew when Lawso pulled the chute because there was a dramatic contrast in the force of the wind; as they slowed down and started to sail gently toward the earth.

  “That was awesome!” Kaiya exclaimed.

  “I knew you’d love it,” Lawso said. “We’ll do this again some time.”

  Lawso smiled at her, whilst controlling the parachute. He guided them to the far end of the island, away from the only building below. They could see that the building was a giant cement structure, surrounded by a barbed wire fence. Four dune-buggy-like armoured desert control vehicles drove out of the compound. The vehicles were headed toward the other end of the island, no doubt to intersect them.

  "We've been spotted, I count eight men," Kaiya pointed.

  “I’ll land us as close to the tree line as I can,” Lawso said, as he aimed their landing toward the edge of the strip of beach.

  "Lift your feet," Lawso said, just before he landed them firmly in the sand. Not that it mattered whether she did or not, she was attached to his front and he was so tall.

  Lawso cut the parachute off him, carelessly abandoning it on the beach. Strong legs raced them into the cover of the tree line. Lawso held Kaiya around her waist, still attached to him through the harness. Once they had more cover they stopped to unhook themselves and Kaiya’s boots finally touched soil. They discarded their harnesses in a bush and pulled out their guns.

  "Follow me," Lawso commanded and ran further into the thickening scrub, leaving Kaiya no choice but to follow him.

  Lawso led them toward the vehicles. They crouched down behind a bush, a couple hundred metres away. They could see that the four vehicles were parked now, but with no enemies within sight.

  Lawso turned to face Kaiya. "I know this must be hard for you to have to shoot some of your friends. But we can’t give them any opportunity to shoot us. If you want, I'll reduce their numbers. Then when I've cleared a path I'll meet you under the front vehicle. This is what us SAS are trained for. They won’t want to send their whole force outside the wire, so we'll catch a ride into the compound when they retreat."

  “I don’t know about that pl-”

  Before she could finish her protest Lawso disappeared almost soundlessly into the trees. Kaiya felt irritated that Lawso thought he was in charge, and that he seemed to think he was going to take the guards out by himself. And his plan for them both to climb under the front vehicle was also ridiculous. That was never going to happen. Who did he think he was, James Bond?! Lawso could go after the chip however he pleased, but she was not here to wipe everyone out. Her own agenda was to face Tatsuya and get her sister safely off the island. Surely there must be an easier way to get into the compound without shooting everyone.

  Not knowing what else to do, Kaiya crept quietly toward the vehicles. Across the jungle she heard occasional clicks of Lawso's silenced weapon and muffled cries. He was undoubtedly a dangerous man on the attack. Spotting a guard sneaking toward her, she had no choice but to go into combat mode, taking him by surprise by shooting him in the neck. With relief, she did not recognise the body. He was a foreigner and not one of Tatsuya’s ninjas. It made sense that Tatsuya had hired mercenaries because the number of ninjas in their clan had vastly dwindled since last weekend. No thanks to Lawso and Yoshito.

  Leaving the body where it was, she quickly moved on through the thick trees to another concealed location. Kaiya would shoot a couple more of them if she had to, especially now that she knew they were not part of her clan. Resting behind a bush, she listened for a while. Her tactics were less gung-ho than Lawso's.

  Eventually several minutes passed and she finally heard something. Someone was creeping toward her. Hoping that she was still concealed, she snuck a peak through some thick branches. She almost gasped and gave herself away when she realised the man approaching her was Anton! Lawso could deal with the other men. This target was hers, she thought, as she stared at that big nose that she hated.

  Anton barked Russian commands into his radio.

  Although Lawso had insisted that the guards would retreat, she knew Anton favoured aggressive tactics. Kaiya did not want more enemies showing up. Springing out of the bush, she swept her uninjured foot high, knocking Anton's gun out of his hand. Her body gracefully rotated through the air, and she landed with her gun aimed at Anton’s chin. And her combat knife was nudging against his balls.

  "Hello, asshole. Take me to Tatsuya now!" Kaiya demanded.

  Anton hesitated but cursed loudly when Kaiya pressed her knife harder against him, intentionally drawing a thin line of blood on his pants.

  "This way then, bitch," he snapped furiously in recognition.

  “Take that vehicle, over there,” Kaiya commanded.

  Kaiya walked him to the front vehicle like the dog that he was. There was no way of knowing if Lawso had managed to crawl under there, without checking and giving his position away to Anton. Enough time had passed, and the gun fire had ceased, so he might be under there. But even if he was, good luck to him holding on with that vehicle’s dodgy looking suspension. Kaiya kept her knife and gun pressed against Anton as they drove off, leaving the other three vehicles behind.

  Anton drove them directly into the centre of the compound. Kaiya stepped out of the vehicle with Anton still her hostage. Several armed foreign men that she did not recognise, had her surrounded immediately with their guns aimed at her.

  "My name is Kaiya Takahashi. I demand to speak with my stepfather, Tatsuya."

  It was difficult to refer to him as uncle, stepfather seemed to fit better.

  Anton was furious about the gun being held to his head. But he was even more furious that she was holding her combat knife to his balls in front of his men. Kaiya sensed his growing agitation in their stand-off, as she eyed the mercenary soldiers staring threateningly back at her.

  “Pick another language, bitch,” Anton snickered in English.

  Kaiya was forced to repeat
her demand in English. She had never met anyone from her mother’s family, so she did not know any Russian words, other than the swear words Anton seemed to favour during their former training together.

  “Drop your weapons, woman,” one of the soldiers commanded in English, in a Ukrainian accent similar to Anton’s.

  "No! You tell Tatsuya that I'm here and that I want to speak with him right now! If he won't see me, I’ll keep my weapons but I’ll quietly leave the island without trouble,” Kaiya declared in English.

  The same solider looked at Anton for instruction.

  “Tell your dogs to heel,” Kaiya snapped at Anton.

  Anton looked furious.

  “Radio through. Tatsuya will probably see her,” Anton said through gritted teeth.

  Kaiya smirked at the soldiers when they received confirmation to let her pass. Kaiya removed her knife from against Anton's balls, strapping it back in its holster; but she kept her gun pressed firmly against Anton's head.

  "Lead the way, Anton," she demanded.

  Anton walked off, not caring if she followed. He led her into the building, which was made from thick concrete walls. Perhaps the building was some kind of bunker. Kaiya recalled having spotted what looked like a radar tower outside when they had parachuted overhead.

  They passed a closed door and then a glass window. From within the corridor Kaiya peered through the window, into a room full of computer servers. Tatsuya was in there standing over four men typing into computers. Tatsuya spotted her with her gun pointed at Anton. His almost-black eyes glared at her through the glass for a full minute, before he gestured for them to proceed in the direction of room behind him. Kaiya lost sight of Tatsuya as he disappeared through a door in that direction.

  At the end of the corridor they turned a bend and met two more mercenary soldiers. Those guards were standing ready with their guns pointed at her. Anton yanked open the first door along that corridor and strode inside. Kaiya also stepped into the room, ignoring the two guards who hurried in after her.

  It was a large room set up like an office, with a lounge in the back corner. Tatsuya stood behind a desk still glaring at Kaiya. She refused to be intimidated by him anymore.

  "Anton, you can leave now, you've served your purpose," Kaiya said, dismissing Anton with an impatient wave of her hand.

  "No!" Tatsuya loudly over-ruled her. "Anton, you remain in here. One of you others give Anton your weapon. You other two remain stationed outside this door. Shoot Kaiya on sight if she leaves this room before I say that she can leave."

  Anton snatched up a gun and smugly aimed it at Kaiya, despite her still aiming her gun at him. Kaiya and Anton warily stood mere metres apart from each other. Their eyes were fixed on each other, and their fingers ready on their triggers. The other two guards hesitantly exited and closed the door.

  "Kaiya, if you want to speak to me, put that gun down now!" Tatsuya bellowed at her.

  Kaiya defiantly remained where she was. There was no way that she was going to lower her gun with Anton in the room pointing one back at her. Tatsuya lost his temper.

  "Put it down!" Tatsuya yelled even louder.

  With speed worthy of a Mizuchi Ninjutsu master, Tatsuya threw a knife across the room. A sharp blade sliced across Kaiya’s hand.

  “Ahhh!” Kaiya screamed.

  In reflex from the pain she dropped her gun. There was a large cut across her thumb. Not too deep though she thought, it might not need stitches. Blood was seeping out of her cut so Kaiya pressed it against her shirt. Her gun was out of her reach now, because Anton had easily kicked it aside the moment it had hit the concrete floor.

  "Don't you ever point a gun in my vicinity again!" Tatsuya yelled at her.

  Tatsuya was in a rage and threw his chair ferociously into the wall for good measure. Tatsuya stormed out from behind his desk toward her. Kaiya’s heart pounded loudly in her chest but she still stood her ground.

  "What is this place, what are you doing with the chip?" Kaiya demanded to know.

  Her question halted him and he paused, smiling evilly.

  "The chip is such a clever piece of technology. At the moment, I'm disarming the Chinese defence system. I am also waiting for the US to send their aircraft in this direction. Perhaps I'll send a missile or two from China to block their approach."

  "Why?" Kaiya asked in a disgusted tone.

  "A demonstration of sorts. I grow old and tired of my wealth, and I have also grown tired of my small-scale games with Tadao. He was going to waste this chip by giving a copy to everyone. I actually know what to do with this piece of technology. I am the only one with the guts to use it for the power it can bring me! I’m going to start off by putting the Chinese and the US militaries in their place.”

  Tatsuya’s arrogant response shocked her. Kaiya shook her head, unable to mask her look of contempt for him.

  “You are out of control. No one would respect you for this!” Kaiya declared in disgust.

  Enraged by her comment, Tatsuya backhanded her across her face.

  “How dare you speak down to me! You are lucky I even gave you an audience right now, after you went into league with Tadao, and came to my island without my permission!”

  Before Kaiya could dispute his comment, Tatsuya continued raving.

  "I will not justify my plans to you, stepdaughter! Now, why did you really come here? What do you want?" Tatsuya demanded.

  "I want to know if you killed my mother and I want to tell Mariko about your lies!" Kaiya yelled at him.

  "Yes, I killed Natalya. She deserved to die for what she did to me, and for what she did to our marriage! But you will not tell Mariko of this accusation. In fact, you do not have my permission to speak to Mariko ever again!” Tatsuya coldly spat out.

  “You’ll have to fight me if you want to stop me!” Kaiya hissed.

  Kaiya was outraged and clenched her fists, spreading herself ready in a fighting stance. She knew then and there that she wanted to kill Tatsuya. Kaiya completely ignored Anton’s presence in the room with his gun still pointed at her. Anton stood watching them both, eagerly hoping for permission from Tatsuya to shoot her. Tatsuya’s almost-black eyes flashed again in fury.

  “You do not get the honour of fighting me, since you never reached Mizuchi Ninjutsu status. That’s right, Kaiya. I know all about how you were too soft to finish Kazuo off when he was injured. That is more proof that you could not be my child.”

  “There is no honour in challenging an injured opponent,” Kaiya snapped, eying Anton off as she spat out those words in disgust.

  Clearly Anton still disagreed, because he was grinning at her smugly.

  “I demand that you fight me, Tatsuya. It is my right to challenge my mother’s killer. Or have you no honour left?” Kaiya faced him bravely, hatred evident in her voice.

  “If you wanted to fight me, you should have first wiped out my mercenaries,” Tatsuya declared. “I am very disappointed that after all of my investment in you, to make you the killer that you are today, that you have become useless to me overnight. Now you are nothing more than a disobedient weapon. I have been disgusted for some time that you couldn’t even finish the Mizuchi Ninjutsu training. And now I will not have you hanging around threatening to turn Mariko against me!”

  Tatsuya knew that he needed to terminate Kaiya. She had become too dangerous. He would not fight her and give her what she wanted. No one had ever defeated him in combat, but he was older now. It had been so long since someone worthy had challenged him. There was no certainty that he would beat her. There was also no way for this unfortunate split in their relationship to be amended, even though he knew it was a waste to end her. As far as Tatsuya was concerned, Kaiya had betrayed him just like her mother had. Tatsuya did not put up with betrayal. Not from anyone.

  With a chilling calmness, Tatsuya spoke the next words sealing Kaiya’s fate.

  “It is with regret that I no longer feel that you have a purpose to serve me. Anton, you may go ahead and kill he
r."

  Kaiya was quick. Before Tatsuya had even finished his sentence, her hand was gripping her combat knife. With rapid precision, her knife was airborne toward Anton’s heart. But her throw was not quick enough because Anton was also Mizuchi Ninjutsu trained. Anton blocked her blade with the side of his gun.

  Time slowed down. The barrel of Anton’s gun was moving around in her direction. Kaiya slid forward and swept her uninjured foot upward. Her foot impacted in Anton’s stomach, sending him staggering several metres backward. Anton recovered easily and raised his gun toward her again….

  Suddenly someone kicked the door open. Bullets were peppering into the room and Anton was dropping to his knees with his gun still in his hand. There was a blur of movement as Tatsuya swept across the room toward her….

  Chapter 22

  Lawso had been listening outside the room that Kaiya, Tatsuya and Anton were inside of. On the floor beside him in the corridor were two dead mercenary soldiers. One with his throat slit, the other with an eyeball stabbed through his skull. The yelling on the other side of the door had masked the sound of their quick deaths. Lawso had left a trail of bodies across the compound, after he had rolled out from under the vehicle that Anton had driven in as Kaiya’s hostage. Lawso was lucky to have made it into the compound, because the vehicle’s suspension had been terrible and had almost crushed him against the ground.

  Lawso had been waiting for the right moment to charge inside of the room that Kaiya was in. He had already mentally placed Kaiya away from the door by the direction of her voice, and he thought that Tatsuya was deeper into the room. Lawso guessed that Anton might be standing somewhere near the door, but he had yet to hear him speak. Lawso could clearly hear Kaiya and Tatsuya's escalating argument, but did not expect to hear Tatsuya order Kaiya's death so suddenly. Lawso did not have time to spare. He ferociously kicked open the door and fired at Anton’s chest.