Blood Vengeance

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Mai met the master assassin, Gyuki, in the green depths of Shinjuku Park, close to the Hilton in central Tokyo. At any other time, the scenery would have called to her. Multi-hued tall and short trees, sculpted bushes, temples, bridges and acres of lush greenery offered a tranquil place for her mind to dwell, but not on this day.

The place of their meeting was a low, arched bridge spanning a narrow body of water. Trees overhung both sides, and natural vegetation had built up all around. It was a good place for a clandestine meet.

Mai saw the figure standing in the center of the bridge as she approached. It had been a long time since she had seen Gyuki; a long time since she had even heard of him. When he looked up, pinning her with his gaze, she saw the fire in his eyes was as furious and fanatical as ever.

“Your prayers were not answered,” were his first words to her in so many years she had forgotten. “I did not die.”

“Master Gyuki.” She inclined her head. “The years have not changed you, though perhaps the world has?”

“Is that your way of inferring that you have changed?” Gyuki spat the words, the deep furrows across his face creasing. “In what way? To consort with our enemy?”

Mai watched him very carefully, mindful of every fluid change in his body. His hands and arms were hidden deep inside a flowing black cloak which reached to his knees, and his face was partly shaded by a wide-brimmed hat. “I consort only with those I wish to,” Mai said evenly. “Just like any girl who is not owned. Tell me, Master Gyuki, do you have the same luxury?”

The assassin’s eyes widened. Mai slipped into a defensive stance. She knew her friend, Dai Hibiki, was observing the exchange through the lens of a high-powered rifle, but Gyuki was quick.

Was he quicker than a bullet?

Of course, she thought. A man didn’t become the greatest Ninja assassin of all time through tardiness in battle.

It isn’t being faster than the bullet. She remembered his teachings. It is offering the person behind the barrel many distractions.

“The Clan made you,” Gyuki said. “Yet you show your disrespect.”

Mai shook her head. She had been determined not to get into a slanging match with Gyuki, it would do her no good, but his visionless words spoke purely of blind faith. Here was a man who had never loved anything, owned anything, or experienced the happiness of childhood, even his own. Here was a machine, made by older machines that should have died out long ago.

Extinction would be good for them.

“The Clan bought me. Imprisoned me. Molded me into a killer with no soul, no heart. They killed with impunity and, I daresay, probably still do. Some of those old jobs I heard about, and the one I observed,” she shook her head, “still haunt me.”

“It is our life,” Gyuki said simply. “It is what we were born to do.”

“Not me,” Mai said. “I was dragged from the arms of my penniless parents. I, who had known only adoration and love, was suddenly told it was fight or die. Survive or perish in adversity. You had no right to impose that law. You still don’t.”

“You will return to the Clan for the rest of your life,” Gyuki told her harshly. “And you will do our bidding, whatever that may be. We own you and always have. There will be no other life for you, Mai Kitano.”

“And how do you intend to enforce your words?”

Mai faced off the master assassin, confident in her own ability, but knowing he was probably better. The odds still stood at two-to-one, though. She was sure he hadn’t spotted Hibiki.

Gyuki didn’t move. His fiery glare bored into her own eyes as if he was trying to set her on fire. Maybe he could do that. Mai wondered if she’d played too many video games in her past. Then Gyuki did move, but it was only a step toward the edge of the bridge. He clasped the rails, deliberately not looking at her.

“Your parents are with us now.”

Mai gasped. Nothing could have shocked her more. Chika had disowned her parents when she found out about Mai, and Mai herself had not known them since she was a child. Neither sister knew of their whereabouts and had privately thought they might have passed away. The broken hearted tended to die young.

Mai grasped the rail, trying to steady herself. “You mean you have them imprisoned? In your village?”

“They reside in the Clan village,” Gyuki acknowledged. “We have a job for you.” He produced a manila folder from deep inside the folds of his cloak. “Everything is in there. Do this job, Mai Kitano, or you will never see your parents alive again. And even after them we would sacrifice Chika, and Hibiki, and then you. For the Clan”

Gyuki turned to walk away. “The quicker you get it done, the quicker you will see your parents.”

“You must let them go!” Mai called after him. “If I do this you must let them go.”

Gyuki did not answer.