The Ninja's Oath by Tori Eldridge

Author:Tori Eldridge [Eldridge, Tori]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781957957319
Publisher: Polis Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Thirty-Four

“Welcome to Japan,” the customs agent said, returned my passport, and flagged Uncle to come forward after me.

I joined Tran on the other side of the barrier. “Will they let him through?”

“They should.”

“Should isn’t yes.”

He shrugged. “We’ll know soon enough.”

Japan permitted citizens from sixty-eight countries to visit for up to ninety days without a Visa. China was not on the list. Hong Kong was. Uncle had used nefarious means and his maternal grandparents’ Junk Bay address to renew the Hong Kong-issued passport he had received when his parents moved him to Shanghai. He used the same means and address to acquire the new Hong Kong Special Administration Region passport that was created when the British transferred sovereignty to China. I had questioned him about this before we left Shanghai.

“Is that what you used to come to Hong Kong to help me?”

“No need,” he had said. “My Chinese credentials were good enough. This will be the first time I’ve put the false passport to the test.”

I couldn’t believe it. “You went to all that trouble on the off chance you might need it at some point in your life?”

“HKSAR passports are valuable. I had an advantage to exploit, so I did.”

So we booked our flights and hoped Japan would let him in.

Everything had gone smoothly with the airline. Uncle and I traveled by coach while Tran flew first class. He had offered to upgrade my seat, but I had declined. Even without focusing his intention, Tran’s energy pricked my skin with electrical heat. Hours sitting beside him in the quasi-privacy of first class modules would have driven me mad.

I used the quiet flight, sandwiched between snoozing Uncle and the window, to raise my shields and shut down the energy receptors Sensei had trained me to hone. Tran’s energy had vanished and left me blessedly detached. I couldn’t even feel the urgency of travelers as they hurried through the terminal. The absence of sensation felt odd yet comforting to my over-stimulated nerves.

“There he is.” I pointed across the terminal where Uncle rolled his carryon down the gleaming white tiles.

“Any trouble?” Tran asked him when he arrived.

“Just the normal delays. Get your luggage so we can go.”

Although Tran and Uncle traveled light, I had brought the same luggage I had taken to Hong Kong. As soon as we rescued Suyin, I planned to fly straight home.

I yanked my suitcase off the conveyor belt and rolled it after Tran. “Don’t we need passes for the train?”

He veered toward a parking lot. “My contact left us a car.”

The vehicle turned out to be a gun-metal gray turbo-engine Subaru. Tran found the hidden key. Within minutes, we were on our way to the Naniwa Ward in Osaka where a former Yakuza group was rumored to buy fentanyl from the gang in Hefei. Uncle’s horrid cousin had held up her end of the deal. If her information led us to Suyin, Uncle would have to pay her price.

“How much rent money will you lose?” I asked Uncle.

“With the shikumen penthouse?”

“Yeah.

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