Chapter 48: The Asset and the Anomaly

Kenichi is driving with the partition up, and Ayako is sitting in the back with me. She is not in the middle; she is on her side by her door, and I am on my side by mine. The space between us feels electric, not empty. She is staring out the window, watching the neon lights of Tokyo streak past. The blood-red dress, the lipstick, the "goddess" persona for the gala... it is all still there. But the mask is down. I can see her, the real her. She is tired. The "Successor" has left the building.

"You are adequate, Minatawa-kun," she says, her voice quiet, not even looking at me.

"Just adequate?" I ask, and I am not annoyed; I am amused. "I looked acceptable, I was your shadow, and I did not punch anyone. I would call that exceptional."

She turns her head, and in the dark of the car, I can just barely see her face. She is smiling. A real, tiny, tired smile. "Your presence," she admits, "is not inefficient."

This is the highest praise I have ever received. It is her A-plus. It is her "I love you." My heart does a stupid, inefficient flip.

"So," I say, my voice a little softer, "that is it? You won? You gutted that Kageyama guy."

Her smile vanishes, and the ice returns. "I did not win," she whispers. "I corrected a problem. Kageyama is a fool. He is arrogant. He telegraphed his entire strategy. He allowed me to beat him."

"He is not the real threat," she says, turning back to the window. "He is just a symptom. The real pest is still out there. The Kaichou of the Hitsune-kai. The one in the shadows."

The rest of the ride is silent. Kenichi drops me off a block from my apartment, as always. "Dojo. 6 AM," she says, her voice all business again.

"It is Sunday," I groan.

"War does not take the weekend, asset," she says, but there is no bite to it.

I just nod. "Yes, Kaichou."

I watch the Lexus glide away. I am an asset. And I am okay with it.

The next morning, the dojo is hell. But it is our hell. The "Hybrid Style" training is insane. She is teaching me to see, not just to fight.

"You are a rock," she criticizes, sweeping my leg and sending me to the mat. "I am a river. What does a river do to a rock?"

"I... it... goes around it?" I gasp.

"It wears it down," she corrects, pressing her bo staff to my chest. "It is patient. It is relentless. You are still trying to punch the river. It is stupid."

She is teaching me how to think like her.

Monday at school is the new test. I walk into class 1-B and see Hina Aizawa. She is sitting at her desk in a different part of the room. She is not the sunshine girl; she is the thunderstorm. She is glaring at me, a look of pure, betrayed, angry fury. I deserve it.

I walk to my desk and sit. I can feel her glare burning into the side of my head. I look at Ayako, who is already there, reading.

"Good morning, Minatawa-kun," she says.

"Good morning, Katsumi-san," I say.

We are professional. We are cover. Hina sees this. It makes her glare harder.

At lunch, I am on the roof. The door screeches open. It is not Ayako; it is Hina.

"Shou-chan," she says, and her voice is not sunshine or thunder; it is just cold. It is her father's voice.

"Hina," I say, standing up. "Look, about the mall..."

"Who is she?" she asks, cutting me off.

"She is Ayako Katsumi."

"Do not play dumb with me," Hina snaps. "My father told me. He told me who she is. What she is. She is the Successor. She is yakuza." She steps closer. "And you knew. You are with her. You are her asset." She spits the word. Ayako's word.

"Hina, it is complicated..."

"That is what you always say!" she yells. "She is a criminal, Shou-chan! A monster! She is evil! And you are protecting her! You are with her!"

"It is not like that," I say, my voice low. "She is... she is..."

"She is what?" Hina demands. "Your girlfriend? Your boss? Your handler?"

"She is my friend," I say. The word just comes out. And the second I say it, I realize it is the truest thing I have ever said.

Hina's face just crumples. It is like I just stabbed her. "A friend," she whispers. "You chose her. Over me."

"It is not about choosing!" I say. "This is my life! My business!" I am using her words. I sound ridiculous.

"Right," Hina says, her voice dead. She wipes a tear from her eye, angrily. "Right. Your business." She looks at me, and her eyes are her father's. "My dad... he is watching her. He is watching you. He is building a case against the Bokumuchi-kai."

My blood freezes. "What?"

"This war she is in. The Hitsune-kai. It is getting loud. People are getting hurt. The police... we... are going to stop it."

"Hina, you cannot," I say, grabbing her arm. "This is not justice. This is war. You will get hurt."

She yanks her arm away. "And you are on the wrong side, Shou-chan."

She turns and leaves. The door slams shut. I am left on the roof. My historical attachment has just declared war on my present. This is not procedural. This is a complete, total, inefficient mess.