Death Before Dishonor Page 23

  "Nothing to say?”

  Maybe there was nothing to be said. Maybe it was over, and Yuri was in denial. His heart was overloading, but he kept up the visage of stoicism.

  “Why are you playing games with me, Yuri?” she roared.

  Yuri shook his head. “I’m not.”

  “Yes, you are!”

  “Please, stop yelling at me.”

  “You need to stop playing games with me!"

  Yuri’s voice became stern. “You. Need. To stop. Yelling at me.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. “You’re hurting me.” She dropped onto the couch.

  “I—I’m sorry, Veronica.” Yuri’s stomach suddenly ached. “I’m not trying to hurt you.”

  She buried her face in her hands to hide her tears.

  Yuri felt a quake in his heart. He didn’t want to go to Japan. He had unfinished business there, but he wasn’t willing to hurt Veronica over it. His duty and his honor pulled him back. He was a reluctant piece of metal to Ninpo’s magnet. Veronica’s heart was the victim.

  Terry warned him not to get too involved. The deeper Yuri dove into his relationship, the harder it would be for him to come up for air. Yuri didn’t want to admit it, but Terry was right. Veronica, though, gave him something indescribable. Yuri couldn’t let that go. Terry wouldn’t approve. Then again, Terry had never been in a real relationship.

  Yuri searched for the right thing to say. He really had to be careful with what he said. And giving up a sliver of the information would raise her suspicion. She was an attorney, and she was a professional at squeezing people for information. Yuri was under enough pressure and didn’t need to be squeezed.

  Being honest bounced around in his mind. How bad could it be? Who would know that he’d told her anything?

  Yuri remembered one of his earliest lessons of Ninpo: One cannot outrun dishonor. It is a contagion that will kill those one holds dear. Never believe that one can escape dishonor. Many have tried, only to realize that dishonor is a grave tax collector.

  He couldn’t tell her. Besides, Veronica wouldn’t understand—or perhaps even believe—the situation if he fully explained it

  Yuri sat down next to hurt and wrapped her in his arms. “I know this is tough. It’s tough for me too.”

  Veronica lifted her head and sobbed. "We can’t go on like this. I can’t continue to have you shut me out. It’s like you’re hiding from something or somebody.”

  “Okay—look, I have to handle some family issues—”

  Veronica cut in, “I could have sworn you said that you don’t talk to your family.”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Try me.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?"

  “Because you wouldn’t understand if I told you.”

  “How do you know until you try?”

  What was he to say? Honey, so I'm like a ninja, and I kill for a living? And now I have to go back to Japan and participate in a duel to the death with a rival ninja clan? No. He couldn’t say any of that. Never mind that he would have to kill her immediately and then take his own life.

  Regardless, his silence was going to poison his relationship until it fell apart. He had to be honest with her about something. “There are things in my life—especially in my past—that I’m just not ready to disclose. There are some pretty terrible things. My family is not at all what it seems.”

  “I didn’t mean—”

  “It’s nothing against you,” he cut in. “Things…life takes time.”

  She looked at him now. “How long is it going to take us, Yuri? I have to know.”

  “I don’t know.” His eyes were soft for the first time.

  “Yuri, I don’t want this to destroy what we have, but you have to be two feet in with me. I can’t be the only person in this relationship willing to devote time for us to develop as a couple. I can't just love who you are now. I have to be able to love who you were in the past as well. And if you can't trust me with your past, then you can't trust me with your future."

  Once again, she was right. But the future was going to have to wait. He still had to handle his past.

  “This isn’t any easier on me than it is on you. Believe that,” he said. "I have to go. I don’t know when I’ll be back. It totally depends on how long it takes for Terry and me to find a resolution." He smiled. "And you know that Terry doesn't do anything fast."

  Veronica gave a weak smile.

  Yuri kissed her on the side of her face, and then he found his feet and headed for the door.

  “Yuri?”

  He stopped.

  “Can I at least drive you to the airport?”

  Yuri shot her a smile over his shoulder and then left.

  ***

  Paying no real attention to the passing scenery, Terry stared aimlessly through the back window of Veronica’s SUV. Why on earth had he agreed to let Veronica chauffer them to Dulles International?

  It was nice of her to do so, no doubt. It alleviated the need for long-term parking or having to pay the sizeable Uber fee for a ride from Oxen Hill, Maryland, all the way to Loudon County, Virginia. Now Terry regretted not paying the money, since he was presently a captive audience—and a hostage—to Veronica's final interrogation of Yuri.

  Veronica was notoriously skilled at disrupting Yuri’s focus. In fact, she was speaking to him in a playful voice, and Yuri was eating it up. Terry, however, was not the least bit fooled. He knew that Veronica was trying to mask her real intent: use Yuri's emotions as leverage to force him to reveal things that he otherwise would not.

  Women had an uncanny ability to make men open up. Even the most resolved man could be reduced to a blathering idiot, spilling every secret he had—all in the name of love. In fact, the clan trained female Shinobi—Kunoichi—to exploit this ability, making them peerless infiltrators and interrogators. Veronica may not have been a disciplined Shinobi, but her training to notice the smallest technicalities as a legal professional made her quite formidable.

  Terry laughed.

  Veronica looked at him in the rearview mirror. "What's so funny?"

  "I just fantasized about stabbing you," Terry said.

  “What?” Her face pruned. "Why?"

  "No particular reason, really. That's what made it funny."

  Her mouth became a scalene triangle. "Okay, then."

  “Okay, then,” said Terry.

  "Okay, then.” Yuri decided he’d join in. He was tugging at his seatbelt to the rhythm of the song, the inertial reel locking—thump—with each pull.

  "What are you boys going to do while you’re there?”

  “I told you. Wrap some things up."

  “There is no way you two gorgeous boys are going overseas just to visit with family the entire time. I know you guys are going to go out.”

  Terry glanced at Veronica. She was going for the throat. Cute wasn’t working, so now she was employing a different approach. Crafty little minx.

  Thump. Thump. Thump. Yuri continued banging the seatbelt lock. “We really don’t go out that much when we go home.”

  “Why do I find that hard to believe? Especially considering how flamboyant Terry is.”

  Terry became suddenly suspicious. “I’m not sure how I should take that last statement.”

  She laughed and glanced over her shoulder for a brief second. “I was implying that you're friendly and love crowds. I don’t know how you could resist the urge to go out and hook up with all the Asian women.”

  Little did Veronica know, more often than not, when Terry was out indulging in the nightlife, he actually was meeting with clients or gathering intelligence on targets. Rarely did he go out to socialize these days. There was way too much work to be done and training to keep up with. When he was free, he did bonsai.

  In fact, Terry and Yuri used to meet clients and conduct intelligence together; however, Yuri’s relationship tended to cramp their espionage. Quite often, the responsibility fell on Terry when Yuri was busy tend
ing to his relationship. In fact, on the evening Terry had interrupted Yuri and Veronica, Terry was supposed to have been on the Odyssey Cruise gathering intelligence on a foreign dignitary suspected of committing treason against his parent country.

  To that end, Terry found a measure of satisfaction in Veronica's misinterpretation of his true personality. It meant that his version of Terry—the disguise as it were—that he portrayed to those not of the Fujibayashi was effective.

  Yuri unfolded the sun visor and looked at himself in the mirror. “I’m telling you, babe; we don’t really go out much when we go home. We grew up a good distance from the city. Hell, you have to pack a lunch just to go to the market.” Satisfied, he stowed it and resumed his drumming of the seatbelt.

  “So, where did you get your food?” she asked.

  “We grew it.”

  Thump. Thump. Thump.

  “That's so cool.”

  “Yeah—well, personally, I prefer the grocery store and microwaves.”

  Veronica’s mouth dropped. “You didn’t have microwaves?”

  Thump. Thump. Thump.

  “Naw, we had pigs and goats.”

  Veronica laughed. She imagined Yuri in a pair of overalls and a straw hat, tending a small herd of livestock, and Terry dressed the same, staring at him. Just believing that Yuri was an author of foreign literature and Terry was a Bonsai Artist was hard enough. But farmers? Now, that was almost far-fetched.

  Thump. Thump. Thump.

  “So," she said.

  "So?"

  "Are you going to call me while you're there?”

  Terry clenched his teeth.

  Thump. Thump. Thump.

  “Yeah. I’ll call—" Yuri’s seatbelt cinched violently across his throat. Yuri coughed, startled.

  Veronica glanced at Yuri.

  The seatbelt loosened, and Yuri rubbed his neck gingerly, whipping his head around the headrest to look at Terry.

  Terry's brow was furrowed. “Quit. That. Shit.”

  Quit what? Drumming the seatbelt or talking to Veronica?

  Veronica was unaffected by the brothers' exchange. “Are you going to call me at all?”

  Yuri turned back around in his seat. “Yeah—I’ll have my satellite phone.”

  “Do you promise?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Tell me you promise.”

  “What?” Yuri asked tersely.

  Terry rolled his eyes and shifted his attention to his smartphone.

  Veronica checked her blind spot and merged right. “Say, ‘Veronica, I promise I will call you every chance I get.’”

  “I said, ‘I promise.’”

  “No. You said, ‘Yeah.’”

  “I’ll call you.”

  She looked at Terry in the rearview and called his name to get his attention. He looked up. “Make sure he calls me, please,” she said.

  A caustic grin stretched across Terry's face. “I’ll do that.”

  “Promise?”

  “Yeah—Veronica, I promise I will tell Yuri to call you every day.”

  Terry would say just about anything in exchange for silence the rest of the way to the airport. Much to his chagrin, however, their jousting persisted the remainder of the ride. Veronica threw inquisitive jabs, and Yuri ducked and countered with half-truths—which only spurned her need to ask more questions. She formulated four or five new questions for every answer Yuri made. She even repeated questions in different formats. Yuri was holding his own, though. Yuri was an expert at silence and espionage, after all. Terry just hoped that he stayed that way.

  The Departures sign zoomed by and a feeling of relief rippled through Terry’s body. Ten more minutes with the two lovebirds, and he may have killed them.

  Veronica weaved the SUV around traffic, coming to a halt in front of the door. Terry wasted no time and leaped clear, angling for the trunk. Veronica asked Yuri again if he intended to call her.

  By the time Yuri and Veronica meandered to the rear of the vehicle, Terry had already pulled the luggage out and arranged it on the street.

  “Terry, are you going to take care of my man?”

  “Sure, great care," he replied distantly, putting on his headphones and pulling the hood of his sweatshirt over his braids. "Well, I'd say it was a pleasure, but then I'd be lying." Terry smiled, heaved his bags up, and made for the door.

  "What's eating him?"

  "You'll have to excuse him. He’s grumpy because he’s sore. His anal beads got stuck last night."

  Veronica laughed. "You two are something else."

  Yuri shrugged.

  "You’re going to call me, right?”

  “Only if you ask me a million more times."

  Veronica looked past him, her facial expression betraying her uneasiness.

  "Yes, I’m going to call you.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise—”

  “Talk while walking!" Terry yelled from the door. "We have a plane to catch! You two can talk about this over the phone!”

  "I don't have to speak Japanese to know that he wants you to hurry." Her stomach was in knots.

  “Well." Yuri's stomach was in knots too. "I guess this is it.”

  “I guess so.” She lowered her head, trying to hold back tears.

  Yuri lifted her chin and kissed her. The floodgates opened, and tears fell relentlessly. He wiped her face and smiled. “I’ll see you soon.”

  Yuri grabbed his bags and headed towards the doors.

  "Damn, Prince Charming; I was halfway to Japan."

  Yuri walked past him. "Shut it."

  With her arms wrapped around her for warmth, Veronica watched as the two brothers made their way into the terminal. A security guard approached her and informed her that she needed to move her vehicle. She exhaled an acknowledgment, her breath visible.

  Suddenly Veronica was gripped by a measure of valor, and she ran towards the terminal door. “Yuri!”

  Terry glanced over his shoulder but kept walking. Yuri stopped and turned at the sound of his name.

  “I"—her lungs cramped—"I love you!” She held her breath, feeling suddenly vulnerable and insecure.

  Yuri's eyes focused on her face, and it was as if, for a brief moment, everyone in the terminal except he and Veronica ceased to exist. He smiled. He waved. Then he turned and followed his brother.

  She watched him go. Anxiously.

  The security guard approached her again and told her that she needed to move her vehicle or it would be towed. Again, she acknowledged, and then she climbed in and drove off.

  ***

  Terry and Yuri stood in the sea of travelers as they waited to board. They stood silently for a long while. Although not showing it, Terry was concerned about his brother’s focus. He was afraid that Yuri was going to be too preoccupied with Veronica to be able to cope with the return to Togakure Ryu. Not that he thought that Yuri was soft; Terry was just worried that Yuri’s frustration would manifest as belligerence and they would have a repeat of ten years ago. After all, they had left Japan with a considerable amount of unresolved business. Terry was concerned; he just wasn’t sure how he should voice it. He’d think it over. He had a seventeen-hour flight to figure it out.

  Yuri lifted his head after hitting send on a text message. “I really hate flying,” he said.

  “What?” Terry asked as he watched a group of women pass by.

  “I hate flying.”

  “What are you talking about?” A puzzled, unconvinced expression painted Terry’s face. “You fly all the time.”

  “Yeah, I know. I just never say anything.”

  “Whatever,” Terry said. “It isn’t flying that you hate.”

  Chapter Thirteen: Family Reunion

  Shinobi are assets to the clan, never burdens. A Shinobi unable to lift his sword can no longer shoulder Ninpo.

  The Seventh Mandate, translated from Ninpo.

  Suzuka Mountains. Mie Prefecture, Japan. Today.

  Terry and Yuri hadn
’t been in Japan for nearly a decade, and it seemed that not much had changed. From the moment they stepped off the plane, memories of their youth flooded their minds, brought on by the sounds, smells, and the atmosphere unique to the island nation of their childhood.

  Terry didn’t miss the trip to the village. He remembered the first time as if it was yesterday, except that he had made the original trek in the summer and now it was cold. Yuri, just like when he was a prepubescent boy, didn’t seem the least bit fazed by it; his mind appeared adrift, somewhere other than their current location. Was his mind on Veronica or was it on Hattori Hanzo—or on Kintake?

  Kintake. That name gave Terry a sore feeling. It invoked some pretty difficult memories. Kintake was a hardened teacher who expected perfection from his Shinobi and met anything short with harsh reinforcement. In light of their final, devastating encounter that had resulted in Terry and Yuri’s departure, they rarely spoke Kintake’s name. The anticipation of seeing Kintake was not welcomed, and both brothers were dealing with that anxiety quietly.

  Honestly, neither of them were looking forward to returning to the village. The brothers had grown apart from their connection to the Fujibayashi, and this whole endeavor brought mixed feelings. In some way, Terry was excited about returning to the village in which they’d spent the better part of their childhood—the clansmen who had taken in him and his orphaned brother. On the other hand, Terry was extremely apprehensive. He wondered if the intervening decade had mended old wounds. He doubted that in the case of Yuri, and he was right in his thoughts. Yuri’s feelings were mixed simply because he was concerned for his brother. Yuri was the commander of grudge holders everywhere, the emperor even. His fight with Kintake hadn’t ended; it had only been interrupted. The problem with his desire to finish the fight with Kintake was that he was afraid of hurting his brother in the process. Terry had always been devastated by the sudden fissure that had opened up between the Ciccone brothers and the clan all at once. Yuri didn’t care except that he wanted to settle things with Kintake once and for all. He’d debated with himself for the duration of the seventeen-hour flight to Japan as to whether he should pick a fight the moment they arrived in the village or if he should just let it go. The prudent thing to do was to let it go—the honorable thing, anyway. But he was starting to wonder if he truly cared about honor anymore. Or did he question his loyalty to honor because of Kintake—sort of as a means of rebellion? He decided that he wouldn’t let his personal grudge get the better of him for now, but that could change once they arrived in Togakure Ryu. For Terry’s sake, though, he would try his best to remain composed.