How Ninja Brush Their Teeth

Chapter 5

Five

Vasha heard the heavy footfalls and door slamming as Tetsuo rushed out of his apartment and thundered down the stairwell to run for his bus. He hadn’t slept much last night and she had heard him hit his snooze alarm several times before committing to actual waking. She wrapped her robe around her, grabbed her watering can, stood outside of her door in the bright early morning sunshine, and smiled.

  It felt strange to smile again, old muscles being pulled again after being slack so long. She watered the hanging hibiscus plants that adorned her entryway, whistling an old, forgotten melody when she felt something warm and furry rub against her bare legs beneath her robe.

  “Good kitty,” she murmured.

                                                                                          ***

Tetsuo had company today in his cramped office in the back of the warehouse. A short, stocky, bald man paced back in forth in front of the grimy, dust covered, plexiglass window.

  “You’re late,” Kenta said flatly, when Tetsuo entered.

  Tetsuo looked at his watch and shook his head, “No, I’m on time. It is 6:00 AM, exactly.”

  “On time is late today.”

  “I wasn’t aware of that.”

  Kenta filled his chest, as if preparing for a long speech. “Do you have any idea how important your job here is today?”

  “Actually, I don’t. All I know is that I was to be here two hours early to supervise a sensitive shipment.”

  “And what do you believe your job here is?”

  “I’m a warehouse manager—”

  Kenta pointed a short stubby finger at him, his lips thinned in anger. “Wrong. You are an operative. Don’t you ever forget that.”  

  Kenta had meant the harsh words and pointy finger to be corrective, but Tetsuo felt relief. He even smiled a little.  

  “You think this is a joke?” Kenta snapped.  

  “No sir, I’m relieved.”

  “Relieved?”

  “Yes, relieved I’m still an operative. I thought I’d been demoted to this job permanently, for my past mishap with the rouge Rogov Clan member, sir.”  

  Kenta’s hard, coal black eyes softened for a brief moment, before they set back into stone. “You were demoted, but I stuck my neck out for you, reminded them of how valuable an asset you were and suggested you would be useful to us here.” Kenta lowered his voice to a whisper, “Prove my words right today and you will be back in the Circle.”

  Tetsuo, bowed his head, “Thank you, Kenta,” he whispered.

  “Don’t let me down again, Tetsuo,” Kenta whispered back, before clearing his throat and sitting down heavily in Tetsuo’s ancient, shrilly squeaking office chair. With an indifferent swipe of his arm he brushed a month’s worth of careful and tedious shipment files onto the floor and tossed what looked like a flat black computer mouse pad onto Tetsuo’s newly cleared desk.

  “Close the blinds please,” Kenta motioned with his chin.

  Tetsuo complied, pulling down the shades as he watched Kenta lean towards the mouse pad and say, “Open.” It flashed briefly before a 3D holographic image of the warehouse blueprints sprang up before his eyes.

  Kenta must have noticed the wonder in Tetsuo’s eyes as he stared at the new tech on the table. He did miss the toys. Snapping his fingers impatiently, Kenta said, “We have two hours to prepare. Pay attention.”

                                                                                            ***

  The grocery store wasn’t too busy today, which was just another reason for Tetsuo to lighten his already cheery mood. Today had been a success; he had performed what Kenta had asked of him and even impressed Clan Leader Goemon with his calm professional manner—at least that was Kenta texted him an hour after the meeting.

  Goemon and a few council members had decided to hold a discreet meeting with some old rivals at the warehouse with hopes of becoming new business allies. They needed Tetsuo there, ready to handle things if they went sour. Luckily for him, they didn’t. Not to say he wasn’t prepared, but if a victory could be won without a battle, it was always the preference.

  Tetsuo browsed the aisle at the store, stocking up on easily prepared meals and Ramen noodles. Hopefully, with the good impression he had left on the new clan leader, it would mean a pay raise and he could go back to eating better.

  He was about to turn down another aisle when he noticed it wasn’t the one he had wanted. He was in the pet food aisle. His eyes fell on a big bag of Purina cat food and he glanced at the price. It was half-off. Tetsuo shook himself off and moved past the aisle. He would not feed the cat. That would be stupid.

  He turned down the toiletry aisle and stocked up on toilet paper, desperately missing the washlet bidet toilets from home. It baffled him how America was so advanced in every other area of technology, yet they continued to wipe their ass with paper leaves like barbarians.

  Something in the air shifted. She was here. He could feel the false silence of someone trying to hide from him in the store.

  He continued filling his basket, trying not to let her know he had noticed her. He used his highly attuned peripheral vision to his advantage, scanning the aisles as he made his way towards the checkout stand. He felt it one row up from him, and turned into the aisle next to it and waited.

  Luckily, it was the magazine aisle and he half-pretended to read. He felt her now, crouching and creeping up behind him. “Stalking someone in a public store? A little tacky don’t you think?” he said over his shoulder, smirking.

  “HI-YAH!” a small voice yelled loudly. He turned just in time to see a five-year-old child dressed in a shoddy ninja costume and attempting to run him through with two plastic ninjato swords.

  Just a child, Tetsuo thought. But he had felt her. He was sure of it.

  “Yah-hi-YAH!” the boy yelled again, swinging his swords wildly.

  “Gary! You stop that right now!” a beleaguered looking woman shouted, as she came running down the aisle. “I’m so sorry,” she said to Tetsuo grabbing the boy’s arm and pulling him away. “Ever since he got his little ninja outfit he just thinks he can attack anyone he sees. Which he can’t,” she said, kneeling down to look at her son at eye level, “and that’s why someone can say goodbye to video games when we get home!”

  “But, Mom! He knewed I was just playing!”

  “Doesn’t matter. We’re going home.” She glanced one more time at Tetsuo, giving him an apologetic smile. Tetsuo stood in the aisle for a moment, and concentrated. He tried to reach out with his awareness and feel her again, but it was gone.

  He was definitely losing his touch to mistake a little child for his enemy. He decided to grab some incense, too. Maybe a little meditation would do him some good tonight. Coincidentally, the air freshener aisle also happened to share the same aisle as the pet food.

  He made the impulse buy he was sure he was going to regret later.