Samurai Son (41 page)

Chapter Seventy-Eight

Akira grasped Kasumi and pulled her into one of the adjacent rooms.
 
It was dark and the sparse, low furnishings gave them nowhere to hide.
 
They crouched beside the shoji screen, Akira’s hand on the hilt of the no-dachi.

“What now?” one of the Shinobi said as Akira heard the chirps of their footfalls on the nightingale floors, not bothering to hide their presence.
 
He cocked his head to get a better reading on how many were there.

“Don’t know.
 
Shigeko wants the Tengu.
 
She says he may know something about the tiger.
 
The Neko is missing too.”

“She knows…”
 
Kasumi’s voice was hardly audible.

Akira motioned her to be quiet.
 
He knew she could tell their numbers by their scent.
 
How many?
he mouthed to her.

She held up her fingers:
three.

Akira nodded, biting his lip.
 
He wasn’t afraid of fighting the ninja; he had bested Shigeko’s warriors.
 
But if they were to escape without killing anyone, he had to be careful.
 
Oh, for a metsubushi or other distractive device.

“Why does she want the Tengu?” the first asked.

“The Neko girl was looking for him,” the second said.
 
“I heard her ask for him several times.”

Shadows of three ninja cast along the shoji screens and halted.
 
In the oil lamps’ light, they flickered like giant wraiths.
 
One man led the group, no doubt heading toward Akira’s room.
 
Akira still gripped Kasumi and felt her shiver beneath his grasp.
 
She was holding her breath.
 
Akira forced himself to breathe, remembering Rokuro’s training.

I’m glad you remember something,
the sword remarked.

Akira did not respond, his mind racing, and he could feel the sweat trickle down his brow.
 
He wasn’t sure what to do if they were caught.

It would be better if you killed them now,
Windspirit said.

The sound of heavy footsteps, someone running down the hall, reached his ears.
 
One shadow came into view in a hurry.
 
The man panted, “He’s gone!”

“Gone?” said the other ninja.
 
“Fan out; search the building.
 
He couldn’t have gone far.”
 
With that, the door opened.

Akira was on his feet, the no-dachi in his hand.
 
Windspirit screamed from the sheath, its unnatural voice and ghostly light filling the room.
 
The ninja dropped back in terror as the sword bore down on him.
 
The man’s scream was abruptly cut off as his severed head fell from the body.

“No!”
 
Kasumi’s face was livid.
 
She drew her katana as Akira spun around.
 
“Look what you did!”

Akira stared.
 
For a moment, the man’s death seemed unreal, almost as if not he but the sword had killed the man.
 
The other two ninja leaped inside.
 
One lunged into a skee position.
 
Akira slapped the blade away, and the no-dachi slid inside the man’s guard and chopped off both his hands.
 
The other man paused, and Akira heard the distinct sound of shuriken being thrown.
 
He raised the no-dachi, and with speed he could not imagine, he parried the throwing stars.
 
Sparks flew from the no-dachi’s blade.

“You weren’t supposed to kill anyone.”
 
Kasumi looked as angry as a tiger caught in a trap.
 
Despite herself, she partially morphed: her eyes and face looked catlike in the dark.
 
Her skin had taken on a tawny glow.

“I know.
 
What was I to do?”
 
Akira did not say what he really was thinking.
 
The sword had jumped in his hand and controlled the fight.
 
She would never believe him, though, and he wasn’t ready to reveal all his secrets.
 
“Come on, we’ll discuss it later when we have time.
 
Where’s the kitsune?”

They ran out into the hall, but they saw no sign of the little fox.
 
Akira felt the breeze run through the building, and he was about to pull Kasumi toward the entrance when the front door burst open and ninja carrying torches and ninjato came in.
 
For a moment, the ninja and Akira and Kasumi stared at each other in wide-eyed surprise.
 
Kasumi pushed her katana into Akira’s left hand.
 
“Bring my things.”

Suddenly there was no longer a girl standing there.
 
A ferocious tiger leaped at the ninja, her teeth bared and her claws extended.
 
She took a powerful swipe at the first ninja, her claws tearing through armor and flesh.
 
The man screamed as bright red blood spurted from his chest.
 
He collapsed and the tiger lunged forward.

Suddenly the room filled with flashes and bangs.
 
Akira wheeled around to see three ninja where none had been before.

He raised the no-dachi and charged the nearest ninja.
 
The ninja moved quickly and used Akira’s momentum to fling him down to the floor.
 
But Akira rolled and bounced back up to his feet, swinging Windspirit.
 
The sword came to life in his hands and guided his thrust into the first ninja.
 
The other two ninja attacked, throwing their shuriken at him.
 
Akira parried the throwing blades and dodged others, rolling toward the ninja.
 
With a flash-bang, the ninja disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Come on!
 
Akira heard Kasumi’s mindspoken voice in his head.
 
We have to get out of here!
 
Climb aboard!

Akira stared at Kasumi, who stood in her tiger form.
 
Climb on?
 
You?

You’re nothing in weight.
 
Get on now.
 
Kasumi roared to emphasize the urgency.

Akira sheathed the sword, grasped her clothes and pack, and climbed on her back.
 
He clung to her shoulders, feeling the short, tawny fur and rippling muscles.
 
Kasumi shot through the yard and, with a snarl, jumped over the ninja guards and through the gate.

Chapter Seventy-Nine

Outside the ninja compound, Kasumi ran until her paws became slick with sweat and she was panting hard.
 
As a cat, she couldn’t sweat except through her paw pads, which made it easy to overheat.
 
She had no idea how far she had run when she crossed a stream and tumbled into it, changing as she did.
 
She heard a shout from Akira as he tumbled off her and she splashed into the water, naked.
 
She drank the cold water, half transformed from tiger into a human.

“Come on!
 
We have to go.”
 
Akira’s feet splashed along the rocks next to her.
 
He stared at her as her skin shivered with the exertion.
 
“What’s wrong with you?”

Kasumi looked up from the cold, sweet water, and a growl burbled up from her throat.
 
“Don’t you know anything about tigers?”

“No, but I know enough about ninja,” Akira replied.
 
“They’ll be after us, and we’ve got to keep moving.”

“I can’t do it in this form.
 
Get me my things.”
 
Kasumi straightened and changed fully into human form.
 
To her surprise, she saw in the dim light that Akira’s face flushed and he quickly turned away.
 
“You can see in the dark?”

“Yes.”
 
Akira splashed over to the bag that lay half in, half out of the water.
 
He picked up her dripping things.
 
“Sorry about that.”

“Great.
 
Hand it here.”
 
Kasumi grabbed the bag from his hands and began dressing.

#

Akira tried not to gawk at the slender woman as she put on her clothing.
 
At once, he was reminded of the exquisite Tengu women bodies and the nights he had spent with them.
 
Kasumi was clearly not Tengu, but a shapeshifter who could turn into a deadly tiger faster than he could even think about sex.

You shouldn’t be thinking about that anyway,
Windspirit said in his mind.

What would you know what I should think about?
Akira snapped.
 
You’re a sword.

I was a man.
 
And I was your age at one time.

Akira immediately regretted his remark.
 
Of course Rokuro had been a man.
 
Akira tried to imagine Rokuro at his age.
 
He tugged at his hair, shaggy from the weeks of being out in the wild with the Tengu.
 
Had Rokuro been as unsure as he?

The sword didn’t reply.
 
Kasumi finished putting on her belt.
 
“Come on,” she said, shouldering the pack.
 
The ninja will be out looking for us.”
 
She started forward, across the creek, away from the ninja compound.

Akira trudged behind.
 
“I’m surprised they haven’t already found us,” Akira said under his breath.

Kasumi shot him a look.
 
“I had to change.
 
I can’t keep up the pace in my tiger form.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t—oh, you wouldn’t understand.”
 
She shook her head.
 
“This was all so very stupid.
 
I don’t know where Tenko is, and I’m here in the middle of Shinobi-jima with no help at all.”

“In case you didn’t notice, I managed just fine with my sword.”

“You killed Shinobi.
 
They won’t help us now.”

“I saved our lives.”

“You?”
 
She whirled on him.
 
“I don’t recall you turning into a tiger and getting us out of there.
 
If anyone saved our lives, it was me.”
 
She paused.
 
“If I didn’t need you so badly, I’d leave you for the ninja.
 
I haven’t a clue why the Tengu would even be interested in you.”

Akira grimaced.
 
He wanted to argue the point, but with ninja looking for them, the discussion seemed ludicrous.
 
“It’s because I’m half Tengu,” he said.

Kasumi’s eyes widened.
 
“You’re a Karasu-Tengu?”

“I am a Taka-Tengu.”
 
He shook his head.
 
“I chose to return to be a samurai.
 
Ikumi was a Tengu.”
 
He paused.
 
“I can’t change form or use my Tengu powers, or the Tengu will return for me.”

“What about Ikumi?”

“Ikumi is…”
 
He paused.
 
“Gone.
 
She can’t help us.”

“Great.
 
Just great.”
 
Kasumi’s voice took on the tiger’s growl.
 
She looked around.
 
“Where’s Tenko?”

“The kitsune?
 
I haven’t seen him since we escaped.”

“Oh no,” she said.
 
“Could it possibly get any worse?
 
We’ve got to find him.”

He probably ran off,
the sword said.

“He’ll be fine, I’m sure,” said Akira.
 
“We can’t take time to look for him.”

“Speak for yourself,” she snarled.
 
“I’m not going anywhere without Tenko.
 
You’re a little more than useless if your father won’t help my people.”

“Fine,” said Akira.
 
“I don’t need this.”
 
With that, he turned and started walking into the forest.

What are you doing?
Windspirit asked.

You said I didn’t need her; you’re right.
 
I’ll figure out my own way off the island.

“Come back here!” Kasumi said.

Akira ignored her and kept walking.
 
Although he couldn’t use his Tengu magic, his Tengu senses were ingrained, and he was able to see well enough with them.
 
He continued walking, ignoring Kasumi’s calls for reason until he was quite alone in the forest.

He hadn’t gotten far when he sensed something change in the air.
 
His hand went to the no-dachi as two ninja leaped at him, their ninjato flashing.
 
He parried the strikes with ease before he heard the roar of the tiger and men screaming somewhere behind him.