The Book of the Shadow

by Carrie Asai

  We got right to work, heading into one of the large practice rooms that was empty. We both knew, but didn’t mention, that the practice room was empty because Karen, who usually taught a class in there, was missing.

  We stood in the middle. I had never felt more eager to work. Hiro went through a few simple rules in a low, serious voice. “Don’t telegraph your fighting style,” he said first. “Whoever these guys are, they might know all sorts of martial arts. So don’t stick to just one. Use everything we’ve worked on. Don’t use exaggerated stances. Be graceful. Be slippery. And remember, whoever these guys are, they are not honorable. This is not like sparring in the dojo. This is dangerous. Anything goes. If you have to kick him in the crotch, do it. If you need to bite his hand or step on his foot or whatever, do it. Ordinarily I would not advise this. But this is not your normal enemy.”

  “I know,” I said. And believe me, I did.

  “Know your strengths and weaknesses,” Hiro said. “For you, Heaven, one of your strengths is that you are small and you are quick. You can anticipate where people might move next. You have to use this to your advantage. You have to employ your stealth techniques, too. Even if these guys are bigger than you, they won’t be able to get you if they can’t see where you’re moving around.”

  We went through an aikido practice called tai-jutsu—using different parts of your body to fight. The only thing I might be able to bring along with me as a weapon would be something like a small katana or a scarf, which I could use to wrap around the attacker’s neck. But no Whisper of Death. Hiro explained how I could use my head as a battering ram. My shoulder to slam into a foe’s body to unbalance him. An elbow to strike the chin. The wrist, when turned inward, to bludgeon the solar plexus. Even my thumb to strike his eyes and throat. My knees to blow into the legs. The ball of my foot for tense kicking.

  “Remember,” Hiro said, “these guys might not even know martial arts. They might get you in a hold or something. You have to know what parts of your body you can use to get out. And how to hurt them without using superfluous moves.”

  I learned the “crab” takedown: If someone pushed me down on the ground, I could push off with both hands firmly rooted on the ground and encircle the attacker’s legs with my own, one leg in the front and one leg behind, basically tripping him and rolling him over on the ground. This move was next to impossible—it required every shred of my upper-body strength because I had to balance on my arms and whip my legs into the air to trip Hiro. But I remembered: I’d managed to flip Teddy only a few days ago. He was huge. If I could do that, I could take him down with my legs. I just had to believe I could do it.

  We ran through some drills based on two, three, or four attackers. Hiro advised that I take down each quickly, either through tripping moves or blows to their chest or lower body, knocking them off balance. Then I should move to the next, and the next, and the next.

  We rolled across the ground in stealth techniques. We dimmed the lights in one of the practice rooms and flew across the floor, running through drills of fighting and going in and out of invisibility. This was totally not what I wanted to be doing in a darkened room with Hiro, but I managed to get in a couple of blows using the invisibility. He stopped, panting. “You’re actually getting the hang of this,” he said.

  Finally we sat down and meditated. Again Hiro said to think of the word calm and close my eyes. I did. But again I thought of random things. Airplanes crashing. Teddy and the tattoo. Ohiko hugging me in that dream. Karen, somewhere, perhaps in darkness, scared and alone. Did she know we were coming for her? Were they telling her anything? What would they do with me once they had me? What if I had to marry Teddy? Or worse, what if Hiro was right? What if these people weren’t the Yukemuras at all?

  What if another dark force was out there?

  I was covered in sweat when we finished. “You did great today,” Hiro said. “I know we haven’t had really focused on practices lately, but it seems like you’ve really stayed in shape. I’m still nervous about the exchange, but I think if we work at it over the next couple of days and if I can get back to you as soon as possible that night, we should be okay.”

  I agreed. We decided that we would meet the next morning, early, for another full day of practice. I could barely walk home. Everything ached more than it ever had before. More even than when I started training in the first place. Now it felt real. Now it felt like I was doing something. It still astounded me that a couple of months ago, I had no idea how to do any of these moves. I had no conception of martial arts, of bushido. I had no idea how to defend myself, nor did I ever think I’d need to. And now look at me: I was whipping around the room, knocking Hiro down and holding my own.

  It was so strange.

  But as I walked home, I started to entertain my doubts and feel a little nervous. I could possibly be fighting five or six guys. What if it was more? Was I really prepared for this? What if they brought out a gun? What would I do then? Would that just be…it?

  I couldn’t let go of the nagging feeling that this was all my fault. I shouldn’t have taken Teddy on that bus and forced those questions down his throat. If he’d found Hiro at his bike messenger job, of course he’d track Hiro to his house. How hard could that be? Of course Teddy would find out where Hiro lived and expect I’d show up there sooner or later.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. How could you be so stupid? Hiro was totally right: Meeting Teddy on that bus hadn’t been a good plan. It had led to a completely innocent person getting hurt. They were supposed to kidnap me, not Karen. I knew Hiro must resent that, too—at least a small part of him. If I had just left them alone like I should have last night, I would be gone and they would be together.

  Of course that was what he was thinking. Now he must hate me for sure.

  I can’t believe these people that work for me. Insolence! “Put me on the video conference,” I say to Ojo. He is calling almost a half hour later than our agreed-upon call time. Ojo has figured out how to set up a very secure video conference with an indestructible firewall. It is safer than using telephone communication, most of the time. And because I am not near them, it makes it easier to do our business.

  Ojo connects it and I see the fuzzy images of him and Natsuro in the boardroom. They are both wearing suits. It is very late in L.A. I can see the city behind them, illuminated in the darkness.

  They look solemn, like something has gone wrong. “What is the matter?” I demand. “What happened?”

  “We’ve made a mistake,” Ojo says. “We got the wrong girl. We didn’t know until we got her back to the compound. But she is not Heaven.”

  “What?” My blood boils. “How did this happen?”

  “We don’t know,” Natsuro says. “It was a girl wearing the coat Heaven was wearing when she went inside. It was an honest mistake.”

  “That’s no excuse!” I bellow. “There is no such thing as a mistake!”

  “We are correcting it now,” Natsuro says.

  “You must!” I say. “Do you realize how much money is at stake? Use your heads, both of you! What the hell is wrong with you?”

  Both of the men lower their heads in embarrassment. I flip the picture off so I don’t have to look at them. They are pathetic.

  I stare at the blank screen. “Just make sure you can correct the problem.”

  “Believe me, it was a mistake, and we will, and—” Ojo starts.

  “I don’t want excuses,” I bark. “Just get it done.”

  They are trained for this kind of thing, and what have they done? How is it so impossible to tell one girl from another? Who do I have working for me? Idiots. I should have put them on the smuggling job back in Tokyo. The rice factory raids. Anything but this. This is my prize. This is the job where I need my top people. But who are my top people? Who can I trust anymore?

  Yoji

  13

  I walked through my bedroom door and collapsed on my bed. My muscles began to seize up on me—I had no idea how I would
do the same routine tomorrow and the next day. I sat on my bed, staring at a random spot on the wall. The exchange worried me more and more. How could we pull this off when we had no idea where it was going to take place? Our tactics would have to change wildly depending on whether the exchange was in the desert or the mountains or someone’s house or a public place. I wasn’t a strong enough fighter yet to anticipate and change my plan so quickly. I liked to think I was all badass, but the truth was, I really wasn’t up to this yet.

  There had to be an easier way. There had to be a way to find out what we were in for when making this exchange.

  You could call Teddy. The thought popped up out of nowhere. As crazy as it sounded, I wondered what he would say. I remembered his words: “Heaven, I’m a pawn in this, too. We have to save each other. We have to help each other.” I wondered how much of that was honesty and how much of it was just to get me to drop my guard.

  Hiro had told me specifically not to contact Teddy. He said it wasn’t likely to help—if Teddy was behind the kidnapping, it wasn’t like he would just say, “You got me; here’s Karen back.” We had to go with what we had. Getting Teddy into this was too dangerous. Teddy was an unknown.

  Too bad. I was going to do it. I was going to call him.

  I went to my desk and found the little slip of paper with Teddy’s phone number. I found a different untraceable cell phone and slowly punched in the numbers.

  One ring, two.

  Teddy picked up. His voice came out as a gruff grunt.

  “It’s Heaven,” I said.

  “Hey,” he said, his voice sounding more alive, happy almost. My body filled with rage. How could he be happy? Was this just a day’s work for him, kidnapping someone?

  “So you got the wrong girl, huh?” I said angrily.

  “What?” Teddy said.

  “Kidnapping,” I went on. “Does that jog your memory?”

  “What are you talking about?” Teddy said. I could hear the TV in the background.

  I was fuming. “Teddy. I know that you were trying to kidnap me and not that other girl. But you got her instead. I’m looking for answers. I thought you said we were both pawns in this. I thought you said we should help each other.” I realized my fists were balled up with rage. I unclenched them and tried to calm myself down.

  Teddy interrupted me. “Heaven, what are you talking about? Other girl? Kidnapping?”

  “Yes!” I said. “Don’t play dumb with me. I know it was you.”

  “Look,” Teddy said, in an angry tone that made me a little bit apprehensive. “I don’t know what you’ve detected, Sherlock, but I don’t have anything to do with any kidnapping. Unless it was the little kidnapping ride you took me on yesterday.”

  “But then who? They took a girl who looks like me but realized it wasn’t me. They want me. Isn’t it for the wedding? Who else would want to kidnap me?”

  Teddy grew quiet. I wondered why. Perhaps he was ready to admit he was holding Karen in the upstairs bedroom of his house.

  “I don’t know,” he said. His voice came out broken, strained.

  I couldn’t believe this. “Are you saying you aren’t involved?” I said. “You don’t know anything of what’s going on?”

  “I…I don’t,” Teddy said. His bored tone was completely gone. He had become breathy, a little nervous.

  I waited for a moment. “Where were you last night?” I demanded. “Quick.”

  “I was here,” Teddy said. “The whole night. I was watching TV. I smoked a bunch and fell asleep.”

  A little too much information, I thought. “What did you watch?”

  There was a pause. “I don’t want to tell you,” Teddy said in a small voice.

  “TELL ME.” My voice roared. I was almost shocked I could talk that loud. There was a long pause.

  “I watched a rerun of Dawson’s Creek,” Teddy said finally. “Honest to God. You happy now?”

  I nearly burst out laughing, despite the task at hand. “You did?” I said. I couldn’t imagine Teddy watching Dawson’s Creek. I didn’t even watch Dawson’s Creek.

  “Yes,” Teddy said.

  I quickly ran out to the front room and found yesterday’s TV listings. Dawson’s Creek really had been on the night before. Interesting.

  “What is going on?” Teddy asked.

  “I was over at my friend’s house. Hiro. I went in wearing his jacket. His…um…girlfriend went out wearing his jacket. Someone kidnapped her, thinking it was me. They found out they had the wrong person and called Hiro. Who knows how they had his number. They must have been staking out the place for a while. They want to exchange her for me in three days.”

  “Where are you right now?” Teddy asked.

  “I’m not in town,” I said quickly. I still didn’t trust that Teddy was telling the complete truth.

  “Heaven, honestly, I don’t know a thing about this. But…I want to help. What do you need to know?”

  “You want to help?” Who was this I was talking to? A Teddy clone? Angel Teddy? Why on earth would he want to help?

  “I…do,” Teddy said. I could tell he wanted to say something else or was rolling something around in his head. There was a big pause, and then he spoke again. “Let me see what I can find out for you. At least where and when the exchange will be. Let me make some calls. There might be some things I can find out.”

  “Who are you going to ask?” I said. “You’re not going to have them hurt her, are you?”

  “I’ll call you back,” he said. Then he hung up.

  I stared at the phone in my hand. What kind of bizarre universe had I stumbled into?

  My mind swirled. Teddy knew nothing but possibly knew who to call to get answers. Or so he said. I realized, looking at the phone, that my hand was shaking. There was something about Teddy that freaked me out.

  I sat down on my bed, waiting for the return phone call. I had no idea how long it would take. I wasn’t in the mood to meditate. I did a few drills with the different parts of my body I could use as attack weapons. Strikes with my wrists and knees. I did some kicking tsuki karate punching techniques. Jodan tsuki, rising punch. Chudan tsuki, middle punch. Gedan tsuki, downward punch. Oi tsuki, lunge punch. Gyaku tsuki, reverse punch. Over and over I practiced these. I got into a sort of subconscious, lolling rhythm. I repeated slowly to myself, Keiko, keiko. Practice.

  I thought about Hiro at home. How lonely he must feel. How upset he was over the fact that Karen was missing. It had been a day now. Where was Karen? Was she sitting somewhere, terrified, a scarf over her mouth? Were they feeding her? Were they hurting her?

  I was sure Hiro was disappointed in me that I’d allowed Teddy to find me. For not listening to him when I should have. For my ridiculous kidnapping stunt. What did that solve? So I knew Teddy was in the yakuza. Big deal. I had already deduced that by looking on the Internet.

  But then I thought more about Teddy. Yes, he was scary. But there seemed to be a shred of honesty to him. He wanted to help. He seemed like he really wanted to tell me things. He seemed afraid himself. He had his own problems. I wished I knew whether I could really trust him or not.

  My thoughts drifted back to Hiro. The emotions I felt for him hadn’t subsided one bit—they actually felt stronger since I’d gone out on my own. But he’d found someone who was the girl of his dreams—who wasn’t me. Hiro didn’t see me at all. I was truly invisible to him.

  That was probably why I felt so cocky about my mission. If my own sensei wasn’t seeing me, then why would the rest of the world?

  The detachable phone rang. I jumped. “Hello?” I said.

  “Teddy.”

  I breathed in.

  He spoke quickly. “The location of the exchange will be the corner of Winston and Los Angeles. Downtown L.A. It’s going to go down in a garage at the far end of the lot. Eleven-fifteen. If it all goes according to plan, the girl won’t be hurt. They only want you.”

  “Who does?” I demanded. “How did you find this out?”r />
  Teddy sounded like he was speaking through clenched teeth. “They want you alive, all right? Don’t make me tell you any more. They just want you so we can get married and the merger can happen. Then this will end. You won’t be hurt.”

  “How do you know?” I said.

  “Don’t call me again,” he said, and hung up.

  With shaking hands I dialed his number again. But it just rang and rang and rang. He wasn’t picking up.

  I put the phone down, trembling. Teddy must have gotten this information from someone in the Yukemura clan. It was them. But…

  If Teddy wanted to go through with this marriage just as much as his family did, why would he tell me about where the exchange was going to take place? He knew that we would probably devise a plan to escape. Meaning that the marriage would not happen.

  Why would he tell me what he told me?

  Unless it was a lie.

  Maybe he made up the information. Why else would he call me back? But why did he call me back at all? My head hurt. I continued to dial his number, but no one answered. Was he honestly trying to help me? What did he have to gain?

  She called.

  I knew something was weird when my dad didn’t call me all day. And then the next day, silence. What the hell was happening? I began to wonder if he was working on something else.

  But then…yeah. I opened my blabbermouth, too, saying what we really needed to do was to kidnap Heaven because I thought that was the only way she’d agree to the marriage. I was half joking. I had no idea they were going to take my advice.

  Ojo can’t look me in the eye. “What’s up, brotha?” I said. He ignored me. “HELLO?” I said, louder. Then the phone call. Aha. Ojo was in on it. And it was probably Ojo who got the wrong girl.

  Who are these guys my dad hires? Idiots. How could they mistake Heaven for someone else? Heaven looks like…herself. There’s no one else who looks like Heaven.

  When she called and told me about it, I hung up and didn’t know what to do. Marrying her would be the best plan. I knew it. Everyone knew it. Except her, of course. It would push all of my plans forward. Get those dudes off my back. Get my father…out. He’d be out. Whatever they had to do. That would be the first order of business.