Relax, I'm A Ninja (25 page)

“Me too.” I carried her out the back door and up the stairs. I didn’t stop in the living room. I went straight to my room and tossed her on my bed.  

She laughed nervously, carefully pulling the covers over herself. “Didn’t we just agree it’s too soon?”

I ignored her teasing. “So, you’re okay?”

She took a deep breath. “Mostly. My gut still kind of hurts if I think too hard, but I want you more than I want to punish you.”

I kissed her since I didn’t have a reply. She kissed back, and for a moment it felt like none of the bad stuff had ever happened. When I pulled away, her eyes were filled with tears again. I wiped her cheek. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No. I’m just being a baby today.” She grabbed my arm and put it around her shoulder.

“It’s cute. Nice to see you act like a girl sometimes.”

She punched me. “Ha ha. You’re so funny.”

Now that things felt better, my mind moved on to the one thing we couldn’t do while we were apart. “So, we have some Akuma to deal with.”

“Yeah. We should probably try to take them out, huh.” She sighed. The Akuma had to be making headway. Along with the extra guards, Mom was barely home and Courtney looked drained at school.

“I wish we didn’t have to fight them, but I think we’re the only ones who can. My mom definitely won’t help if we don’t give in. If we tell her we’ll face them anyway, she’ll think we’re bluffing. But I’m worried about taking on four at once without help.”

“Then we need to get some backup. There won’t be a better time to attack. They’re weaker if they haven’t taken
kami,
right?”

“So they say. Any plans, my beautiful genius?”

She tensed, digging her fingers into me too hard. “I think so, but it’ll take a little orchestrating…and a deal with the devil.”

“The devil?” I could barely believe she was willing to work with Courtney, but I wasn’t about to argue. Sadly, she was our best bet for backup. The sooner we could get rid of the Akuma, the sooner we could get back to normal. Well, normal for ninjas.

31

“You sure this is the only way?” I asked as we walked to Courtney’s house. Amy had a good plan, but I didn’t want to beg the cheerleader after saying I didn’t need her help. She’d rub it in my face and refuse.

Amy’s hand tensed in mine. “Unfortunately, yes. She’s not like the other Saburau. Haven’t you noticed?”

“No.” Actually, I had noticed, but I wasn’t about to tell Amy now that things were looking up. She might take it the wrong way. I couldn’t risk losing our connection over something so small.

“I don’t think she likes being what she is. If any Saburau will defect, it’ll be her. The others might tell your mom.”

“I guess I can see that.”

She sighed. “You should do the talking. Charm her, whatever. If I try to convince her we’ll just end up fighting, and then she’ll never agree.”

“What? I don’t want—” I stopped walking. Was she testing me? I didn’t want to charm Courtney after what had happened the last time I’d tried to persuade her.

She got on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. “I don’t mind, okay? That’s how bad we need her.”

“Fine.” I rang the doorbell, mustering my so-called charm.

Courtney answered. When she saw it was us she tried to close the door, but I put my foot in the way. “Please don’t make me break your foot.”

“We have a proposition for you,” I said.

“Don’t care. Even if I wanted to—which I don’t—I’m not allowed to work with you.” She pushed on the door, and I pushed back.

My mom was on one serious power trip. She’d even stopped making dinner. She’d said something about me not acting like a son, so she wouldn’t act like a mother. I wasn’t really listening. Her tantrums only confirmed that we’d made the right decision.

“You like truth, don’t you?” I asked.

She hesitated. “I already know everything.”

“No, you don’t. How about we do another info trade? No harm in that, is there? We’ll tell you what’s up, and you can decide if you’re interested in helping.” I held my breath as she mulled it over.

Her whole body screamed “conflicted.” She shifted on her toes like she was balancing between the options, and her eyes darted back and forth. I tried to keep myself calm. Did she know how much we needed her?

“Ugh, fine.”

I smiled, trying to be charming, and we walked in. “Thanks, Courtney.”

Her house was pretty over-the-top. It looked as Victorian on the inside as it did from the street. I felt like I was in a museum—not good when I tended to dent stuff unintentionally with my
kami-
fueled super strength. She took us to her room. I guessed for privacy reasons, since there were two blond boys on the living room couch. I didn’t realize she had siblings.

Being in her room brought back a lot of strange memories. I was such a different person that night—and I didn’t know jack about the ninja world I lived in. Amy hid her face when we sat on the hot pink love seat, trying not to laugh and doing a terrible job. The pink was pretty funny, and it was way worse in broad daylight.

“Shut up. It’s my cover.” Courtney sat on the bed and glared at us.

“We know…I think,” I said.

“Whatever. Spill it.” Courtney flipped her hair back and pulled it into a ponytail.

I shook my head. “Question for question, just like last time. You can go first.”

“How will I know you’re telling the truth? You lied through your teeth last time.”

“I didn’t. You’ll see.” I motioned for her to start.

“Okay, Tosh, if you aren’t Akuma or Saburau, then how can you sense
kami
?” she asked without hesitation. I didn’t particularly want to answer, but we had to gain her trust.

“I can’t sense them—I can see them. Have you ever heard of
Inyo
?”

Her eyes went wide, a hint of devastation flickering in them. “Yes.”

“Amy and I are two halves of a whole. When we’re together, we can see
kami
. They make us glow. Akuma with
kami
in them glow, too.”

“That’s how you beat Simon. I knew there was something weird going on…No wonder Hisako kept you a secret from the Saburau.” Courtney put her head in her hands and sighed. “You weren’t lying before.”

“No, and what do you mean by my mom keeping me a secret?” Did the lies and deception never end? Every time I thought I had answers, I discovered more missing pieces.

Her face
softened. “Not just anyone can be
Inyo
. They say you have to have huge spiritual power to begin with. Your dad probably sensed it when you were born, and probably with Amy too. No Saburau knew you existed, or you would have been recruited young like me. They’ve probably been hoping you’d connect.”

Amy and I looked at each other. That’s why my Dad recruited Amy—Mom probably told him it was time. And that’s why my Mom didn’t stop us from cuddling and kissing. She’d totally used us.

“I’m sorry you didn’t know,” Courtney said. I turned back to her, surprised to find sympathy on her face. She’d never looked so sad, so…vulnerable. “It’s a hard thing to deal with.”

“How do you know?” Amy asked, barely keeping back her bitterness. She had to feel as manipulated as I did. Of course, I was happy to have her, but it was kind of sickening to learn your life was a carefully planned charade. At that point, I wasn’t sure I’d let my mom help if she offered.

Courtney looked down. “I told you I got recruited at five, right? That’s not normal. In Okinawa an ex-Akuma sensed my spiritual strength. I’m possibly half of an
Inyo
. So they forced me into the Saburau and told me all these pretty stories about how someday I’d find my soul mate. They’d bring boys with strong spirits to see me and make me kiss them, but nothing ever happened. I stopped believing that I’d ever find my other half. Until just now I didn’t even think it was possible.”

I couldn’t find words. She honestly thought she’d be alone forever. I wondered how it would feel if that happened to me. If Mom hadn’t hidden me from her Clan, would I have been shipped off somewhere and paired up with random girls until we glowed? And how would I feel if it never happened? It sure explained a lot about Courtney.

“That’s why you …” Amy stared at her, but this time with surprising concern. “You thought Tosh might be your other half. You had to see just in case.”

“What? I …” Courtney’s eyes were wide, her face bright red. Then she looked out her window, as if eye contact was too hard. “Yeah, I’m sorry. If I had known you were
Inyo
, I wouldn’t have.”

Amy pursed her lips like she was trying to decide what to say. “I’m sorry for thinking you were a major bitch. That sucks.”

Courtney smirked, glancing at me briefly. “It all evens out. At least I know it can actually happen. Maybe it’s not over for me yet.”

“We’re young. You have plenty of time,” Amy said.

Courtney smiled, a warm, pleasant sight in comparison to the smug grins I was used to. She turned to me, a strange kind of relief on her face. “So, what’s the plan?”

If I’d known a little common ground was all it took to get her on board, I would have told her the truth right from the start. “We want to take out the Akuma, but we’re not stupid enough to do it without backup.”

She nodded. “I can manage that. First we have to find them.”

“Have the Saburau found any other suspects?” I’d hoped that Eddie was off the hook and I didn’t know it. He kept going to that comic book store, and the owner wouldn’t talk to us.

“We’ve investigated several leads, but nothing’s come of it.” She hesitated a moment, scrunching her face. “I haven’t mentioned Eddie. We have to look into that ourselves.”

I sighed. There was still one other person I could push. “What about Logan?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re still going on about that? Look, I’ve checked into it. He’s clean, no matter how suspicious you think he is.”

“Well, Eddie’s clean, too. If we’re suspecting him, it’s only fair we check Logan as well.” I folded my arms, angry that no one would listen to me. Maybe I was being stubborn, but I didn’t care.

“Fine, we’ll check him out if Eddie’s clean. That okay with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Any deaths?” Amy asked after we’d planned how to test Eddie.

“Three. If they get one more, there’s no doubt they’ll attack the dojo.” Courtney stopped pacing and took a deep breath. “Sensei, your mother, is about as bullheaded as they come, so she might never admit this, but we need you two. Desperately. The Saburau can slow the Akuma down, maybe get a lucky kill, and protect the
kami
from oblivion. But we can’t stop them, not permanently.”

I nodded. I had a feeling the Saburau were hurting. Three more deaths—we needed to stop this before we had murders every night, before they had enough
kami
to attack the dojo and kill my dad.

“Should we try to convince Marty to help?” Amy asked.

Courtney’s perfect nose wrinkled up. “He’s worthless.”

“He is not,” I said. I’d learned from Saburau training that Marty held back a lot on purpose. No one expected much of him, which gave him an element of surprise. “We need all the help we can get, and I trust him more than the others. Can you get a hold of him?”

Courtney rolled her eyes, but grabbed her phone and scrolled through her contacts, finally putting her phone to her ear. She let out an exasperated sigh. “Shut up, Perry. How close are you to my house?” I thought she might crush her phone as she listened to him. “You wish. Get over here.” She hung up.

Once Marty showed up, we told him the plan. He was all for it, motivated by the idea of working so close with Courtney. He spent the whole time flirting with her—she spent the whole time insulting him. I started to wonder if he actually liked her.

“Sounds good.” Marty sat up from the bed and ran his fingers through his curly blond hair. “Call when you need me, Court.”

“Get out.” She threw a shuriken at him, which he caught it mid-air. Impressive. He went to the window, cracked it open, and then winked at her before he jumped out. The smallest smile crept onto her lips. “Idiot.”

“I guess we’ll do this tomorrow.” I stood up, and Amy took my hand as we headed for the door.

“Yup.” Courtney was staring out the window. “Tosh? Amy?”

“Yeah?”

“I hope you know just how hard this will be. Don’t get cocky because of your powers. The Akuma have them, too. You could get hurt.” She looked back to us, concern in her eyes. “You could die.”

“We know,” Amy said, squeezing my hand.

“We’re prepared,” I added. Though if I thought about it too much, I wasn’t sure it was possible to be ready for what we were about to face.

32

My dad didn’t bat an eye when I told him we were going out that night, but I had a feeling he knew something was up. He had to have known. We’d been like hungry bears in training—one-track mind on the picnic basket. No games. No joking. We had to be the best we could for the possible fight.

We were both quiet as we geared up in my room. Though we’d gone out in ninja gi before, it was the first time we were going out with a full bag of tricks. If Eddie wasn’t innocent, we had to have all the tools to face him and whoever else showed up. I still didn’t know if I could fight him…hurt him. I pushed the fear down. If he was an Akuma, he wasn’t the friend I knew. He was a demon who wanted to kill my dad.

“Where the heck do I put these?” Amy held up her sai, and I smirked.

“Here.” I took one from her. Then I pulled the waistband of her pants out and slid the weapon in until the prongs sat right on her hip.

She had a wide smile on her face. “Care to do the other one?”

“Sure.” I wasn’t about to pass up that opportunity. I grabbed the other sai and slid it in place. “How does that feel? Can you move?”

She took a few steps around the room, sat on the bed, did a high kick, and a few squats. “Yeah, feels weird, but I should be fine.”

“We’ll have to get you a harness for next time, that way you can carry them on your back. Mine definitely won’t fit you.”