Relax, I'm A Ninja (19 page)

My father pulled off his shirt. On his chest, right over his heart, was a tattoo. Reading the
kanji
was like a physical blow. My father was an Akuma.

I slumped forward, putting my head in my hands. My survival instincts whispered that I should jump in front of Amy and get out of there, but I was completely defeated. How had I missed this? I was the blindest ninja on the planet. My father, my sensei, quite literally my lifetime hero, was one of
them.

My heart burned, eaten up by feelings so terrible I couldn’t name them, and still I sat there, trying to block it out. My parents didn’t speak. Their crinkled faces weren’t familiar anymore. Dad’s narrow black eyes had always seemed gentle. Now they were those of a killer. All the innocence Mom’s smile used to hold had been replaced with cunning.

My whole life had been flipped upside down. I’d been keeping secrets since I understood what that meant, pretending to be a regular nerdy kid at a fancy private school. It was hard sometimes, but at least I had my dad. He knew who I really was, and I trusted him. I knew
nothing
. Who could I trust if not my own parents?

Amy pulled herself up and wrapped her arms around my waist. I stared at the top of her head. She looked up at me, and her eyes seemed to say we’d be okay. Her full lips curled slightly, saturating my heart with relief. How could she be strong when I was so weak? I grabbed her in a hug. She was so sincere, so honest with me. I could trust her. She was my anchor now, and I was hers.

“Stop that,” my father said.

We were glowing from the hug. Amy let go.

My mother sighed. “I’m sure your faith in us has been damaged, Toshiro, but I can assure you that your father is trustworthy. He suppresses the urge. It has been over twenty years since he’s taken
kami
into himself. He’s not the first, nor will he be the last, to help us. If it weren’t for ex-Akuma like him, the Saburau would know nothing of their ways.”

“So, your Clan knows?” I asked.

“Those who need to.”

“I’m not proud of my past,” my dad said quietly, looking smaller in that moment than he ever had before.

My mother put her hand on his back. “The recent influx in the area is probably a hunting party in search of your father. They view him as a traitor, of course. That’s why we left Japan in the first place. I know this is overwhelming. Don’t focus on the big picture yet; focus on training.”

We both nodded. My head hurt too much to say anything else, which meant Amy’s probably did too. Weird.

“You both look tired. I’ll make lunch.” Mom went to the kitchen while my dad stood up and tossed us the remote.

I glared at him as he put his shirt back on. If Amy wasn’t hurt, I would have climbed out the window right then to be anywhere else. But all I could do was stay there and stare at my Akuma father. There were too many thoughts in my head. I couldn’t make any of them come out in words. This betrayal surpassed Mom’s by light years. I’d never trust him again.

“I need to meditate.” He headed out the front door and down to the dojo.  

Amy cuddled into me, and I wasn’t sure if she was acting strong or really okay with this
Inyo
thing. I was definitely happy to have her, but were we really going to be together forever? I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I hadn’t thought that far into the future, and thinking about it now scared me almost as much as the black-eyed demons all around us.

24

Amy didn’t get that I had to talk to Eddie alone. I couldn’t risk another fight with her, so I patiently explained that her presence would rub salt into his gaping wound. She finally relented. I waited by his locker after school, hoping I’d given him enough breathing room.

As great as having a girlfriend was, I missed my friends. I missed D&D night and talking about online game strategies. Hanging out with Amy’s group wasn’t the same, even if they did have some pretty serious discussions about the impact of anime on American culture.

Eddie’s bushy hair was all I could see of him until a crowd of band geeks moved. When he saw me, his face went from sad to angry. He stomped to his locker and fiddled with the dial. “Go away.”

“Can’t I apologize? I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, Ed.” He wouldn’t look at me. How could years of friendship be over so fast?

“But it did. You think I was dumb enough not to notice she liked you? Instead of owning up, you lied right to my face. I fell for it because best friends don’t sell out for girls.” He wrenched his locker open and stuffed books into his bag. “So much for that.”

Eddie had always wanted to be strong and noble like King Arthur, and now he was acting like I was Lancelot or something. And then it hit me: I kind of was. I’d gone behind his back, made excuses to be closer to her, and taken the girl he cared about. I really had been a jerk. There was no other way to put it. “You’re right. But what’s done is done. You’re gonna hate me forever?”

“Yup.” He zipped his bag and slammed his locker shut.

“There’s nothing I can do to make it up to you?” I wanted to say that I missed him, that I was overdosing on estrogen, that I
needed
him as a friend. But I couldn’t.

He looked me right in the eye. “Yeah, there’s one thing. Break up with her.”

It felt like he’d knocked the wind out of me. “What?”

“You heard me.” He folded his arms over his gut.

I could tell he was serious, which made me angry. How could he say something like that? Hurt Amy to be friends with him again? That wasn’t possible. With the whole
Inyo
thing, Amy and I were pretty much stuck together even if we didn’t want to be. If only I could tell him.

“Ed…I can’t do that. Amy’s important to me.”

“Then you’re dead to me. Don’t bother trying to be Mr. Nice Guy unless you’re done with her.” When he walked past, he shoved me into the lockers.

I slid to the floor. There was no point in trying to follow him. He wasn’t even close to over this. He was the dishonored king, and I was a traitor. I’d hoped it would smooth over with a little time, but I’d vastly underestimated my jerkiness. Thinking about it from his perspective, I didn’t blame him for being so mad. He’d trusted me, and I didn’t deserve it.

Two pairs of familiar sneakers stopped in front of me. I looked up. Stu and Todd stared back with sad faces.

“No luck?” Todd asked.

“Does it look like it?” I shouldn’t have been rude, but I wasn’t in the mood to be nice to anyone.

Stu sighed. “Maybe give him more time.”

“He told me to break up with Amy. You really think time will change anything?”

They both winced. Stu knelt down on his bony knee. “Do you want me to two-box for you?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Here my life was going up in flames, and Stu was worried about me losing ground online. It said he cared. “Nah, I should play less anyway. Thanks, though.”

“Hang in there, okay?” Todd said. “It can’t last forever. That’d be like Sauron winning.”

I nodded. They left after that, since they were meeting up with Eddie to check out his new computer. Apparently he got three monitors instead of two this time. No fair.

Amy showed up after that, and she didn’t ask about what happened. She probably got from my face that I didn’t want to talk about it. I couldn’t tell her what Eddie had said. She wouldn’t understand. It was a guy thing.

She hopped on the back of my bike and I pedaled toward Richmond District. Now that Amy was partly healed, we had training with my mom for the first time. I was almost looking forward to it, even if it would be different. I was losing muscle because we hadn’t done any training since we found out about Dad. I didn’t want to be that close to him now that I knew what he could really do.

“You okay?” Amy asked after a while.

“Fine. Just nervous, I guess.” We asked each other that question a lot, but I think we both knew the answer was always a lie. Talking openly might lead to a fight, and a fight could make us weaker.

Apparently, there was a secret house we owned where Mom trained her Saburau. Why we lived in a dinky apartment when we owned a freaking house was beyond me. She said it fit better with our cover. I wasn’t so sure.

The yellow house sat right on the sidewalk. A small driveway led to the one-car garage. It was about the size of the dojo, so I guess it wasn’t so bad that we didn’t live there. I chained my bike to the railing, and we climbed the steep flight of stairs to the front door.

Mom opened the door before we knocked, pulling us in without any formal greeting. The first floor was completely open with only a few pillars to keep the ceiling from caving in. Warm oak covered the floors, and mirrors stretched along the wall on my right. It was a pleasant place, even if Courtney Petersen gave us a death stare and Martin Perry laughed his head off. Why did Courtney have to be there? And Marty was a Saburau? I didn’t know anything anymore.

“Come.” Mom headed toward them, and I had to drag Amy with me. “You two know Marty. He’s our current liaison with the Ito Clan. Courtney, this is my son. I’m sure you recognize him from school. He keeps his cover well, no?”

“Yes, Sensei. I didn’t realize he was
your
son.” She bowed slightly and then glared at me.

“We like to keep things…discreet in our family.”
No kidding. So discreet their own son didn’t know what was actually going on for sixteen years.
“And this is Amy Sato, his girlfriend.”

Courtney nodded.

“You three will have to be extra careful maintaining your appearances at school.” She headed to a large trunk, pulled out four wooden swords, and tossed one to each of us.

“Oh, no problem.” Amy scowled at Courtney, who returned the icy glare. I hadn’t asked Amy about her beef with the cheerleader, but I was starting to wonder if I should now that we’d see her more.

“You finally got in!” Marty shoved me. “Took you long enough.”

I remembered how Marty pushed me to Amy. Was he on orders from my mom to get us together? “Did you know about—?”

“Shh.” He glanced at Courtney and leaned in to whisper. “I was ordered, but I didn’t have to do a thing. Amy really does care about you, that’s for sure.”

I nodded, comforted. Barely. “How long have you known about all this?”

“About two years. Danielle and Julie know too. We have to be part of both Clans so Ito Sensei’s members don’t suspect, since they’re not dealing in spiritual ninja warfare or anything. Don’t worry, shock wears off after a while.” Marty patted me on the shoulder. He glanced at Amy, too much of his movie star smile on his face. Shameless flirt. “Welcome to you, too, Amy.”

“Thanks,” she said. I put my arm around her, and Marty laughed.

“Shut up, Perry. You sound like a hyena.” Courtney swung her sword and he blocked.

“I’m sorry, you don’t like it when I ignore you, huh.” He took a big step, coming in close. She went to kick him, but he dodged. Maybe it was just me, but it seemed like Marty made her even angrier than normal.

Mom cleared her throat and we all stood at attention. “We’ll cover some basic Saburau fighting tactics today. Once you are initiated into the Clan, I will teach you how to use our spiritual abilities to direct
kami
. Courtney and Martin will demonstrate the attacks and counter attacks.”

We went through several offensive and paralyzing maneuvers, which made Courtney’s fighting style crystal clear. The Saburau strategy was to fight the Akuma head-on. The Akuma had a tendency to run if they didn’t get the
kami
they needed, since fighting only attracted more Saburau to the area.

I hated the way my mom wanted me to fight. It felt so unnatural, so forceful. I was used to Dad’s method—bending, dodging, defending. I didn’t see why my old style was wrong. It seemed pretty effective. Amy did well, but she wasn’t quite healed. She couldn’t really spar with me without risking re-injury.

“Martin, help Amy review while Tosh and Courtney spar,” Mom said once Courtney had Marty pinned up against the mirror. He seemed to like it way too much, but the cheerleader didn’t notice. She let go and faced me.

At least with Courtney I could defend like I wanted. She wasted no time charging me, wooden sword at the ready. She went straight for my head and I blocked the powerful slice. Was she this strong last time? I didn’t think so. Maybe it was the anger, because she seethed as she stared me down.

“You’re not winning this time, liar,” she said.

I pushed her away, wishing I’d kissed Amy after school so I could smash her pride. “We’ll see, and I didn’t lie.”

“Whatever.” She came at me again, wielding her wooden sword with precision. I had to admit I was rusty. I only took my sword out on missions with my dad, and the last one was way too long ago. I barely blocked a blow to my thigh which would have left a serious bruise.

I tried to use the Saburau techniques, but it was like putting the positive ends of two magnets together. Courtney and I clashed and clashed, but neither of us would get anywhere like this.

She charged me, and I couldn’t take it anymore. When she got close, I dropped my sword and grabbed her wrist. Then I bent back and rolled, flipping her over me and slamming her into the ground like a pro-wrestler. She grunted. I grabbed her sword arm and put her own blade to her neck. She stared at me, but it wasn’t the searing anger I expected. It was softened with awe. She even smiled a little.

“How do you do that?” Then she glanced at my lips.

I swallowed hard, letting her go and jumping to my feet. Did she…? No, I was reading too deep. Courtney was always mean, so any niceness would look like that. She had Logan, even if he was a jerk. “I just do it. I don’t think about it.”

She pulled herself up and took a few steps toward me. “Well, you’re really—”

A wooden sword whooshed through the air and Courtney ducked.

“Back off, Blondie,” Amy said. Was she…jealous? Had I been transported to an alternate dimension where I was hot? She had her hands on her hips. I’d never seen her so angry.