The New Ninja (Ninja Assassin Fanfic.)

Chapter 13: An Idea

I entered Kyokatei, smelling the familiar scent in the building. I went to Kinshiro's room and pressed my ear to the door. When I didn't hear anyone, I gently knocked.

"Come in." His voice sounded a bit rougher than when I left. I slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

"I'm back." I tried not to laugh as I saw the surprise on his face. The pipe he was smoking from fell from his hand and the lit tobacco fell into his lap.

"Ow! Ow! Hot!" He began patting out the embers in a fluster while I laughed.

"Glad to see nothing's changed." I hurried over to him and brushed the embers off his lap. There was a few burn marks in his clothing but luckily it didn't seem like they went through to his skin.

"When did you get back? Are you OK?" He grabbed my hands from his lap and held them as he faced me.

"I just got back in the city early this morning. I'm perfectly fine. I had Wakasa look me over and he gave his seal of approval." I stroked his hands with my thumbs to calm him down. "Sorry it took so long getting back."

" What exactly happened? Were we correct in assuming it was Willem?"

"I'll explain everything when everyone comes over tonight. I told them to meet here, hope you don't mind." I realized I should have seen Kin first when I got back.

"Of course I don't mind." Pulling me against him, he wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace. "I'm just glad to see you're back."

"It's good to be back." I rubbed my cheek against his chest, enjoying his warmth. "So where's Soji? I need to surprise him too."

"He's still doing patrols. He's been really worried about you. We all have." Kinshiro began stroking my back and I felt myself growing tired. I may have slept a lot, but after walking all day and surprising my friends, my energy was running low.

"How about you take a nap? I'll wake you before Soji gets home." Though he said it like a question, Kinshiro made not effort to release me. Instead he picked me up as I nodded and carried me to his futon. "You can sleep here for right now."

"Thank you, Kin. You're sweet." I sent my friend a drowsy smile as he pulled the blanket up to my chin. I vaguely felt him move to my side, laying next to me. His arm went around me, holding me against him. I knew he was worried about me being taken again. I nuzzled against him as I fell asleep, glad to be back with friends.

I felt my body being lightly shook and opened my eyes. I saw Kinshiro smiling down at me as I stretched.

"Soji will be back soon. You still want to surprise him?"

"Definitely! Thanks for letting me sleep. I needed it." I fixed my kimono as I got out of the futon. I had told everyone to keep my return a secret from everyone else so I could see them myself. I looked forward to seeing Soji.

I quickly went to the front of Kyokatei, hiding behind a sliding door. I made my presence hidden as I waited. Finally I heard him. The familiar sound of his footsteps after a long day of being constable. I was grinning as he approached. I went to leave the room to surprise him the moment he entered but something felt off. I couldn't sense Soji anymore. Frowning, I slid open the door and looked around. He wasn't there.

"Where'd he go?" I poked my head outside but didn't see him. As I went back inside, I felt my body be grabbed from behind. Instantly my guard went up and I attempted to grab the hands but they obviously expected that and used one hand to catch both mine and used their other hand to cover my mouth. I struggled against them as they pulled me into the dark room I just exited. The moment we were in the room, the hands released me and I turned, ready to kill whoever it was.