Storm (17 page)

I bit my lip, thinking it over. “It’s possible. Amaterasu is on our side, right? She wouldn’t tell him if she was planning to destroy him.”

“Why do you think she’s on our side?”

I stared at him. “Why don’t you? She’s been in our dreams helping us, right?”

Tomo crouched to the ground, reaching for a dried leaf. “Has she helped us? Every night is torture. Death around every corner, threats, names on the wind.”

“But she wanted to protect Japan,” I said. “She gave Emperor Jimmu the treasures. She stopped Tsukiyomi from creating a new world by destroying this one.”

“Yes,” Tomo said. “She protects Japan. But it doesn’t mean she cares about us.” He rose to his feet, twirling the leaf by its stem before dropping it to the ground. It sailed between us, dropping with a small crunch. “We’re just pawns to the
kami
. I can be Takahashi’s weapon or Amaterasu’s. Either way, I’m still just a pawn.” He squeezed his eyes shut, his head tilting forward. “I want to be free from all this.”

Every fiber of me wanted to hold him, to take away the pain on his face. I reached my hands up and intertwined my fingers with his. “We will be,” I said. “We just need the last two treasures, and we’ll be free.”

He nodded, and we continued walking. He watched me walk up the stairs of the mansion, waited until the glass doors of the lobby slid closed behind me and separated us.

I rode the elevator up and tiptoed down the hall. I slid my key into our door to let myself in. Everything felt like it balanced on the edge of a cliff. How was I going to get to the other two artifacts we needed? Tokyo had been an easy day trip with a good excuse. What excuse could I come up with for going to Nagoya? And Ise was almost a four-hour trip. I’d need some kind of miracle, like Diane leaving for a conference for a week or something. Like that would happen.

At that moment, Diane popped her head into the hallway.
“Okaeri.”
She smiled. “I’m just sitting down to watch that doctor drama you like. Want to watch?”

I shook my head. I couldn’t deal with any more drama right now. I had enough of my own. “I’m pretty tired.”

“You must be,” she said. “It’s not even ten yet. I’ll record it for you. You and Tomohiro didn’t go to the café?”

“I’m sort of overwhelmed with everything that happened today.” It was the truth.

She smiled and made us tea, and we stayed up late talking about my dad. She bristled at the mention of Alison, just as I had. It was good to know I wasn’t crazy to feel the way I did.

She shook her head, leaning back into the purple leather couch. “I hope he really does mean it, that he’s sorry,” she said. “He did the wrong thing, and he hurt you. You can’t tell what people are going through by looking at them, you know? Look at you, for example.”

I felt the heat rise up the back of my neck. “Let’s not.”

Diane laughed. “What I mean is, you’re tougher than you look. You’ve been through a lot, and you keep going. You don’t give up. And it’s up to you to decide how much of a role you want Steven to play in your life, not him.” She sipped her tea. “And your friend Tomohiro. He looks tough, but he cares about you, and the Japanese he used with me was ultrapolite.” She shook her head with a smile. “He’s not fooling me. I can see exactly what he is.”

“And what is he?”

“A good guy.”

I grinned. “I think so, too.”

“But take your time with him, okay? I gave you freedom tonight to show you I trust you. Please show me the same respect by deserving that trust, okay?”

Oh god. The awkward talk again. “So no love hotels, huh?”

Diane’s face turned crimson. “Absolutely not.”

“I was joking,” I said. Kind of. I didn’t know how I felt about being alone with Tomo, but I knew I felt safe with him. I knew he wouldn’t push me.

I’d barely hopped into my pj’s when my
keitai
rang. Yuki. I pressed the phone to my ear.

“Where have you been?” she asked me frantically. “I’ve been waiting!”

“Sorry?”

“You promised me you’d tell me all the details about your Tokyo trip.”

I squinted, trying to remember. “I don’t think I promised that.”

“No, but you should have. What did your aunt think of Yuu? How much trouble did you get in when she saw him?”

I grinned. “Not much. She liked him.”

There was a pause. “I guess she had low expectations.”

“Hey!” I leaned back on my bed, staring at the ceiling. “You’re my best friend, Yuki. You shouldn’t talk about my boyfriend like that.”

She sighed, like I just didn’t get it at all. “It’s
because
I’m your best friend that I should talk about him like that,” she said. “You’re the starry-eyed one, so I’m the voice of reason.”

“So he’s no good, Voice of Reason?”

“I didn’t say that exactly. In fact, he’s...actually kind of nice.”

“See? I do all right for myself.”

“Did you finish your Future Plan assignment yet?”

I glanced over at my desk, where the paper sat untouched. “Why do we have to do it this year, anyway? We have two more years until graduation.” More than that if I flunked out and had to repeat a year.

“Two years isn’t much to plan ahead,” Yuki said. “You should work on it soon, okay?”

“Yeah.” I stared at the paper, wishing it would fill itself out. I could live in Canada with Nan and Gramps. I could move back to the States with Dad and this Alison who made him forget us. Or I could stay here with Tomo and Yuki and Diane. Even if it felt impossible, it still seemed so right. “Okay. I promise to look into programs here.”

“Great. Try for a school in Osaka, okay? Or even Nara or Kyoto. Then we can be neighbors. Or even roommates! Where is Yuu trying to get in?”

I’d seen papers on his desk I wasn’t supposed to, entrance exam info for Geidai, one of the best arts schools in Japan. Problem was, it was in Tokyo. Could he even live a normal life there?
He could if we could end this
, I thought.
If we don’t stop Jun, there may not even be a normal life by then.

“Maybe Tokyo,” I said.

“Him, too? Tanaka is talking about Todai. Seriously. I know he’s supersmart, but Tokyo University has got to be the toughest entrance exam out there.”

“I wish we could all get away from this for a while,” I said. “Just...all of us hanging out, like that double date you wanted to go on that time.”

Her voice slowed down, filled with concern. “It’s a lot of pressure right now, right? Taking on all your kanji at the same time as the regular workload.”

“Something like that,” I said.

“Maybe we could,” she said, her voice brightening.

“Could what?”

“Go on a trip. The school always organizes a field trip in December. The student council is taking suggestions right now.”

But...there was no way they’d want to go to Nagoya or Ise, was there? But we could spin either one as a really educational trip. I mean, Ise Jingu Shrine was a hugely important monument of the Shinto faith.

“Where did they go last year?” I asked.

“Enoshima, I think,” she said. “The year before that was Fukuoka. Tan-kun’s sister Keiko was a First Year then and she told me all about it.”

Fukuoka was pretty far, on the southwest island of Kyushu. If they would go that far, then Ise might have a chance.

“It’s too bad December’s so cold,” she said. “I wish we could go to Kyoto for the cherry blossoms. It would be so romantic if I could sneak away with Tan-kun. That is, if I could get him away from eating all those
takoyaki
.”

“Do you think the student council would consider Ise?” I blurted.

She hesitated, only her breathing coming across the line. “In Mie Prefecture?” she asked. “Why would you want to go there?”

“We were talking about it in history class, right? It’s kind of the home of a superimportant shrine.”

Yuki let out a peel of laughter. “Yeah, but that’s boring!”

“It’s not,” I said. “Anyway, I bet it’s remote, and quiet, and...” I flipped on my laptop, searching the city for something appealing to Yuki. “It has lots of parks and forests,” I tried. “And Ise Bay?”

“You don’t have to sell
me
on it,” she said. I could hear the grin in her words. “You have to convince the council.”

“Okay.”

I guess my tone was too serious, because she hesitated. “I don’t know why,” she said slowly, “but this sounds important to you.”

My mouth felt dry, the truth caught in my throat. “It is.”

“Then I’ll vote for whatever you choose,” Yuki said. “And I’ll rally as many votes as I can.”

Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes. How was I so lucky to have a friend like her? “Thank you,” I said. “You’re the best.”

“On one condition, though.” She started to giggle. “You have to help me get alone time with Tan-kun, so he can figure out how he feels about me.”

I grinned. “I promise.”

We hung up and I tossed the phone onto the low table beside my bed. December was only a few weeks away. Could the world hang on until then? I wished I knew what Jun was thinking, how exactly he planned to become the ruler of Japan or whatever he was thinking. He’d have to eventually reveal himself as a Kami, but in such a way that the police wouldn’t take him down as a criminal. He wanted the world to embrace him as a ruler, I knew that much. He was too arrogant to take things by force. He wanted the world kneeling, groveling, offering him a crown on a platter.

December. It seemed too far away.

I slipped the Future Plan assignment off my desk and stared at the empty boxes where I was supposed to fill out my answers.

I grabbed a pen and wrote in the tidiest Japanese I could.

“I want to become a journalist like my mother. I want to stay in Japan and translate for the English newspapers in Tokyo or Osaka. I want to embrace my life here with my Japanese friends.

I want to have a future that matters.”

Ishikawa shouted at the top of his lungs, his bamboo shinai swinging toward my stomach. My foot squeaked across the gym floor as I stepped back, my own shinai rising up to meet his. They cracked against each other as I defended myself, but Ishikawa was fast. A minute later he swung it around and tapped my arm.

“Point,” he yelled, lowering his bamboo sword to the ground.

I hunched over, panting, and rested my shinai on the floor as well, where it rolled and clanked against his. “How can you be so fast?” I said, pulling the
kote
gloves off my sweating hands.

Ishikawa unlaced the back of his helmet and pulled it from his shoulders. He grinned at me. “Speak for yourself,” he said. “You’re getting faster.”

“It’s only because of your shoulder,” I said, pointing to the spot where he’d been bandaged up after taking the bullet from Tomo’s sketched gun. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t go so easy on you.”

Ishikawa grinned, slipping the soaked bandanna off his head. “Naturally I’d expect you to let me win since I’ve saved Yuuto’s life.” He reached for a water bottle on the bench tucked against the gym wall. “He’s back at school next week, huh?”

“Yeah,” I said, sitting down on the bench as Ishikawa chugged the water. “Do you think he’ll have time to get it all together for the tournament?”

Ishikawa raised an eyebrow, the thin line of black brushing against the tips of his white spikes. “You know about the deal with Watanabe-sensei, don’t you?” I shook my head, and he leaned in like a conspirator. “Coach has been letting him come in after-hours to practice.”

I blinked. “Seriously?”

He nodded, screwing the lid back on his water. “You don’t think they’d actually let him go a month without practice this close to the nationals, right?”

“How come he didn’t tell me?”

“He probably didn’t want you to worry,” Ishikawa said. “Breaking the rules of his suspension could’ve gotten him expelled. Anyway, he’s always been the type to keep his secrets close.” He made air quotes. “To ‘protect his friends,’ and shit.”

I smirked. “In your case, it was the right thing to do.”

He narrowed his eyes, but a smile tugged at his lips. “I’m pretty sure we’ve had this discussion, Greene.” He sat on the bench beside me, his legs sprawled out and his wrists balanced on his knees. “Whether he was right or not, he shut me out. It gets tiring after a while, when your best friend doesn’t trust you with his secrets.” He ran a hand through his hair, still slick with sweat. He may have won the sparring match just now, but he looked so defeated.

His face was a mix of guilt and pain. I had to say something. “It’s not just you,” I tried. “He does it to me, too.”

He tilted his head back, his white hair flattened against the gym wall. “Yeah, but it’s different. He keeps it from me because he can’t trust me. He keeps it from you because he cares about you.”

“He cares about you, too,” I said. “He’s protecting both of us.”

Ishikawa let out a single laugh. “He’s an idiot. He should’ve let those punks get me after the prefecture tournament.” The attack that had got both of them arrested, because Ishikawa had been stupid enough to pull his knife.

“You’re joking, right? You’d be back in the hospital again.”

He smirked. “Or worse.”

His tone sent a chill through me. “Ishikawa,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “You okay?”

“I’m not worth anything,” he said. His eyes were dull as he stared across the gym. “Yuuto...he’s so goddamned smart. He can miss a month of classes and still whip the hell out of his entrance exams. It’s not like that for me, Greene. While he’s studying I’m on the street corner for some kind of shitty job they have me on.”

“Then don’t go,” I said. “Stay home and study.”

Ishikawa balled his hand into a fist and bounced it against the bench. “You don’t get it,” he said. “I’m not smart like you guys, okay? I try to study and it’s like I just can’t focus.” He lowered his voice to a quiet murmur. “There’s no future for me, Greene. I can’t be who I am. I can’t be who I want to be. I’m stuck.”

I couldn’t believe he was telling me all this. The culture in Japan was to keep your troubles to yourself so you didn’t bother others. Sometimes I wanted to speak up, like when things happened on the train, and Diane would grab my arm and shake her head no. It would be embarrassing for them if I interfered, she’d told me. But here was Ishikawa spilling out his deepest thoughts, his shortcomings, without even caring anymore. Was it a good sign he was being so open, or bad?

“It’s okay,” I said. “You’re probably too tangled in your past decisions to feel like you have a way out.”

“There is no way out,” Ishikawa said, looking down at his hands. “I can’t see one.”

I folded my arms across my chest and leaned back against the wall. “There is one,” I said. “Get off the street and sit at your desk. You going to let Tomo beat you at this? Someone who’s fighting with every breath to stay human? Someone who kept his secret from you so you wouldn’t get hurt?” I took a breath, trying to find the right words. “He fought those punks right alongside you, Ishikawa. He was arrested with you. You matter to him, and if you give up, he’ll never forgive you.”

Ishikawa was silent for a moment, staring at me with his head tilted in thought. Then a big smirk crossed his lips as he nodded his head slowly, thinking about what I’d said.

“Yeah.” He bit his lip before he continued. “Yuuto’s dealing with ancient crap that I can’t even imagine. If he can deal with the Kami spirit trying to take over his body, then I can handle some stupid entrance exams and Yakuza wannabes.”

“Right,” I said. “Tomo’s fighting for a world where you get to choose, Ishikawa. So don’t screw it up.”

He grinned. “I was wrong about you, Greene. I thought you’d distract Yuuto from who he was meant to be. But I’m starting to get it now, that what you guys have is different. Whether it pans out in the end, who knows? But it matters that you have this time, right now.” He took a swig of the water bottle, resting it against the bench as he hunched over. “If it can’t be me... I’m glad it’s you.”

Oh.
Oh.
So it was true, what I’d wondered those times when I’d seen him look at Tomo like that. “Have you...have you told him how you feel?”

Ishikawa shrugged. “There’s no point. Enough about me, Greene.
Kuse
, you’re so nosy.”

I must have misunderstood. “What?”

He shook his head, pulling the
kote
gloves from his arms, the colors of his tattoo weaving around his skin in rainbows of ink. “Nosy,” he said. “Annoying. Irritating.” He laughed. “Just the way it should be. I’m not going to lose my best friend to someone like you. Now tell me what’s next.”

He wanted to drop the subject; I got it. “What do you know about the December field trip?” I said.

“Field trip?” Ishikawa narrowed one eye, looking at me like I’d grown another head. “Student council voted on that last week. They’re going to Nikko.”

My heart dropped. “Nikko? But...but Yuki said we could put in a vote for Ise.”

“Ise?” he said. “As in Ise Jingu the shrine? Why the hell would you want to go there?” His expression shifted from confusion to understanding. “This has to do with Yuuto, doesn’t it?”

I nodded. Around us, the other
kendouka
were starting to pack up the
bogu
armor from practice, so we got up and started unlacing our
dou
, as well. “It...it has to do with these dreams I’ve been having,” I said. “I think it’s a way to save Tomo.”

“Then it can’t wait until December,” Ishikawa said, shrugging out of the plastic chest plate. “You need to go now.”

“It’s four hours away,” I said. “My aunt is going to notice I’m missing.”

“Then come up with an excuse,” Ishikawa said, rolling his eyes. “You going to let the world collapse because your aunt won’t let you go to Ise?”

I looked down and smoothed out the pleats in my
hakama
skirt. “I know, but...”

Ishikawa grabbed my arms suddenly, his fingers wrapping around my elbows, his face too close to mine. “Greene,” he said, his eyes gleaming and earnest. “Go to Ise. If there’s some way to save him, you’ve got to chase after it with your last breath.” He closed his eyes, thinking for a moment, and then opened them again. “You’ve got to do it because I can’t.”

He was right. We had to gather the last two treasures now.

We were already out of time.

I nodded. “I’ll find a way.”

* * *

The dream lifted slowly around me from the shadows, the sound of the ink waterfall hissing in my ears. A tall pagoda loomed over me, its curled rooftops stretched out like tiny pairs of wings between the stories of crimson-red walls. Pagodas were usually Buddhist, I’d thought, but nevertheless I saw Amaterasu standing beside it, draped in a simple white kimono and obi. Her eyes were round and red, the tears dried on her cheeks.

I stepped toward her.

“You found the Magatama,” she said to me. “Only two remain.”

“I will go to Ise,” I said, resting a hand against the pagoda wall. “But what’s going to happen when we collect the treasures?”

“Tsukiyomi will be stopped,” she said.

“And Jun?”

She nodded slowly. “Susanou’s heir will suffer the death foretold.”

The words caught in my throat. “Jun... Jun will die, too?”

“In the end, there is only death,” she said, something she’d told Tomo and Jun over and over.

“I don’t want to kill him,” I said. “Just stop him from killing others.”

“It is not for you to decide,” Amaterasu said. “He is the one who stains his soul with it.”

I shook my head. “I’ve had enough. I don’t want Jun to die. You said I would betray Tomo. I won’t. We’re not going to listen to you anymore.”

She paused, tilting her head to the side. The golden beads threaded in her hair tinkled as they swung and collided. In the distance, I could hear the ravens calling to one another.

Finally, she spoke. “There is another way.”

The adrenaline pulsed through me.
Another way? Why didn’t she tell us?

“I told Yuu Tomohiro,” she said as if I’d spoken out loud. “The Sanshu no Jingi will free him, just as they freed the one destined to be emperor.”

“You mean Jimmu,” I said, and she nodded.

“If Yuu Tomohiro can accept the full truth of himself, then the sword named Kusanagi can cleave the darkness of Tsukiyomi from him.”

The thought sounded vaguely familiar. Hadn’t Tomo suggested the same thing, that he’d had dreams where Amaterasu had told him this?

“Then...I don’t have to betray him,” I said.

She shook her head. “But only if he has the strength to face himself—all of him—once uniting the treasures. Find the mirror, then the sword. They will mark the way to the tangle he wove.”

“The tangle?”

The hissing of the waterfalls grew louder. It was ink, wasn’t it? It sounded almost like a pit of snakes...

Amaterasu raised the palm of her hand slowly, outstretched toward me. Did she want me to take her hand in mine? I stood, unsure what to do.

Then I heard the growls.

I turned to see a pack of
inugami
, their eyes glowing with turquoise light, their lips curled back as they snarled and bared their teeth. They crouched on their haunches, ready to pounce.

The panic coursed through me like a jolt. If I hurried, I could make it to the pagoda door.

I wouldn’t make it.

I might.

I leaped forward, and so did the
inugami
.

The powerful jaws clamped around my ankle, and I screamed out in pain.

The scream sent Diane running, pulling me back into the safety of the waking world.