Spy School: The Rise of Gama

Chapter 11: Love at First Fight

“So, you’re Naomi huh? I’m Liz, nice to meet you. I’m really happy that you’re here now, it was kind of lonely being the only one on the Beta team.” Liz chatters away nervously as she leads the new girl up to the correct hallway. “Where are you from? I was born here in the United States, never really stayed in one state for very long though.”

“Japan, I’m from Kyoto.” Naomi responds when Liz finally stops to take a breath.

“Cool, Ahara’s from Japan too. Adela is from England, although she’s lost her accent. Lyndley’s from Italy, her accent only becomes strong when she’s frustrated or scared. I don’t know where Ty’s from.” Liz falls silent as her mind wanders to Nico, wondering where he’s from. “That’s pretty much everyone. Oh, here’s your room.” She stops outside of the door next to hers in the Beta commons.

Naomi pauses a moment to examine the commons. Her eyes scan the simple furniture and plain color scheme of whites and greys before she turns back to the door marked with her name. The door swings open easily when she turns the handle revealing a bedroom that matches all the other students’ rooms.

Liz stands in the doorway as Naomi walks over to the bed and drops her two bags onto it. “So, since you’re on Beta, that means you’re good at surveillance and shadowy stuff, right? Sneaking around, sniping, that kind of thing?”

“I was raised as an assassin, so yes. This school will be no problem for me.” Naomi responds in an almost bored tone. After putting away some of the clothes, she carefully pulls out a few rolled up scrolls. She handles these much more gently than anything else she has pulled from the bags up to this point.

“You were raised as an assassin?” Liz asks incredulously. “That’s pretty cool, I guess. I only started real training back in September. It’s been kind of difficult, to be honest.”

“There never was any choice for me,” Naomi says softly as she carries the scrolls over to her desk and slowly puts them down. “I had to advance my skills or else I would have shamed my family forever.”

Liz raises an eyebrow questioningly, “So, you overall did this for your family?”

Naomi nods, “Your organization here, they’re called the Imperial Eagles, yes? In Japan there is a similar organization, I believe the name translates into English as the Crimson Assassins. My parents run the organization there. It’s because of this that I was forced into training starting the moment I could walk. My family has a reputation to maintain.”

While she is talking, Naomi rolls open the scrolls and leaves them open on her desk. When she moves back towards the bed to gather more items from her bag, Liz takes a moment to peek at them from her position in the doorway.The first of the two has a beautifully hand-painted scene of a cherry blossom tree in full bloom positioned at the center surrounded by a border of graceful spiraling leaves and buds that are only half opened. The second scroll is also hand-painted. This one holds a koi pond with elegant koi fish swimming in sparkling blue water. A young girl dressed in a dark kimono crouches at the edge of the pond, smiling down at the koi. Her small hands are reaching towards the pond as if she’s going to attempt to grab one of the bright, patterned fish.

Liz can’t help but stare at the scrolls for a moment, taking in their beauty and brilliance. “Did you paint those yourself?”

“No.” Naomi walks back over to the scrolls, now holding pins to attach them to the walls of her room. “My brother, Otaru, did. He is the only reason I agreed to transfer here in the first place. If it was not for him I wouldn’t have left Japan. If it was not for him,” She cuts off suddenly, shaking her head. “I apologize for ranting, I am merely frustrated. I did not mean to come off as rude.” She bows her head slightly before returning to hanging the scrolls.