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“Where did you go to school? That is why you were there, right?”
Ken nodded. “Georgetown for undergrad. Harvard for my master’s.”
“In what?”
“Partying, most likely. I was something of a nut in school.” He smiled but then corrected himself. “My degree is in languages. Sanskrit, Tibetan and Nepali.”
Annja leaned back. “Impressive.”
“I had an ulterior motive for it. One we’ll discuss shortly.”
Their food arrived faster than Annja would have thought. After carefully checking her cheeseburger for any sign of corn, she took a huge bite. Tasting the juices and melted cheese run into her mouth, she moaned. “This is incredible.”
“It’s better with the corn,” Ken said around a mouthful of wings.
“You’ve got sauce on your face, champ.” Annja washed down her bite with a long sip from her water.
Ken wiped his mouth. “So that’s what was stinging.” He took a healthy pull on his beer and then tore into the rest of his plate as if he hadn’t eaten in a long while.
Annja devoured her burger and found the fries just as tasty. She and Ken ate in relative silence for the next few minutes until at last, Annja leaned back, wiped her mouth and sighed. “That was a great meal.”
Ken finished his beer and gestured to the waitress. He glanced at Annja. “How about a beer?”
“Sure.” Annja normally didn’t drink alcohol after a fight, but she was full and relaxed and eating with a handsome man. One drink wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Ken held up two fingers and then turned back to Annja, with a serious expression. “My family line is very old. Over one thousand years in fact. I’m descended from a long line of warriors. One of my ancestors was presented with a relic far back in Japan’s history.”
Annja glanced around the restaurant. “How far are we talking here?”
“A.D. 560.”
Annja blinked. “You weren’t kidding about a long family line. I never knew the name Ogawa stretched back that far.”
“Ogawa is nothing so special. It’s more the lineage itself that is important. But martial-arts lineages aren’t normally named after people. They’re instead named after an idea, concept or even a geographical location.” He smiled. “Forgive me, I’m sure you know all of this already.”
“Actually, my knowledge of Japanese martial arts is fairly rudimentary.”
Ken nodded. “My family’s lineage is known as the Yumegakure-ryu. It means ‘hidden dream.’ We were employed by the Regent Prince Shotoku Taishi during his reign and by almost every ruler since then.”
Annja frowned. “That’s a lot longer than most historians would argue records have been kept.”
“Most historians are a bunch of academics who have little common sense about the very things they claim expertise in. They sit in dusty offices, using only books to make their sometimes ridiculous claims,” Ken said.
Annja grinned. She knew more than a few people who fit that description exactly. “I’m something of a historian myself, though. You think I fit the same mold as they do?”
The waitress brought their beer and Ken hoisted his in Annja’s direction. “I don’t know too many academics who would have the courage to fight for three hours in the budokan. Kempai .”
“Kempai,” Annja said.
They drank together and then Ken rested his glass on the tabletop and leaned forward. “Besides, you’re an archaeologist. And you do your best work in the field. That’s your real value to me. I need you to help me find something that was stolen from my family a long time ago.”
“What is it?” Annja asked, feeling the excitement that always accompanied a new challenge.
Ken leaned back. “My ancestors, for their service to Prince Shotoku, were awarded a very special relic known as a vajra. It means ‘thunderbolt’. Prince Shotoku had the small sceptre made specially for my ancestors, and legend has it that it was also endowed with certain, shall we say, mystical qualities.”
“What kind of mystical qualities?” Annja grinned as she thought about how just a few years ago she would have scoffed at the idea of mystical properties in relics. How times had changed.
Ken shrugged. “Probably nothing. After all, have you ever seen anything that defied rational thought in all your travels?”
Annja felt a twinge in her stomach. How would Ken react if she said, “Well, sure, I’ve got this magical sword that I can pull out of thin air if I get into trouble.”
Instead she only smiled. “Go on.”
“I suppose it might have been more a matter of what it represented—that it was given by a powerful ruler to my family so that we would continue to be a force for good and balanced thought against those who might use their power to prevail in an opposite direction. But its loss led to the eventual downfall of my family. Gradually, over many years, the Yumegakure-ryu began to die out. I am, in fact, the last descendant.”
“Only you? There’s no one else?” Annja asked.
“None. And now I have this incredible feat in front of me. I must find that which was stolen from my family and try to restore the Yumegakure-ryu to its former glory. It’s a daunting task, which is why I came to you seeking help. I believe you can help me locate the vajra .”
“But it could be anywhere,” Annja said.
Ken shook his head. “I think it’s still here in Japan. When it was stolen, Japan was still a very closed society. I doubt the thieves would have tried to escape the country with it.”
“But since that time, Japan has certainly opened up.” Annja shook her head. “It could be anywhere by now.”
Ken shrugged again and took another sip of his beer. “Call it a hunch, but I think it’s here.”
Annja sighed. “All right. I’ll help you.”
Ken hoisted his beer again. “Excellent!”
Annja took a sip of her beer and then put her glass down. “Tell me something. I don’t recall ever hearing the name of the Yumegakure-ryu in any of the various lineages that I do know about. If you were so well-known, shouldn’t there be more written about your lineage?”
Ken shook his head. “We were well-known. Respected even. But history is written only by those who hold power when it is written. And the nature of my lineage was such that historians felt we did not belong in the annals of history. That we were, by nature, not honorable enough to be included.”
“But other samurai lineages—even those that were less good than others—were included,” Annja pointed out.
Ken smiled. “We weren’t samurai, Annja.”
“You weren’t?” Annja frowned. “Then what—?”
“We were ninja.”
3
Annja leaned back in the booth, feeling the cushions on her back. “Ninja? You’re kidding, right?”
Ken’s eyes never blinked. “Not at all.”
“You were hired killers? Assassins? Those crazy dudes who wore black pajamas and disappeared in puffs of smoke?”
Ken simply grinned and took a swallow of his beer. “History has never been kind to ninjitsu . Hollywood has done even less for our reputation. We like to say we’ve suffered from a thousand years of bad press.”
Annja frowned. Getting mixed up with a cult of bloodthirsty murderers didn’t exactly thrill her. “So, you’re denying that ninja were assassins?”
“I’m not denying anything,” Ken said. “I’m merely asking you to reserve judgment until you know more about what ninjitsu truly entails. In this case, I’m asking you to not believe what history books say about my kind. Tough as that may be to discount.”
“I’ve got an open mind,” Annja said, although she didn’t necessarily feel particularly open-minded just then.
Ken eyed her for a moment and then spread his hands in front of her. “ Ninjitsu developed out of a need for specialists who understood unconventional warfare. The samurai code of honor—Bushido—explicitly forbade certain tactics for use in times of unrest. But the various warlords of feudal Japan also understood that these supposedly unorthodox techniques could help ensure their continued prosperity and success. So they would secretly employ ninja to help them achieve their aims.”
“And murder people,” Annja said.
Ken sighed. “Annja, the truth is there were certainly some ninja families who did hire themselves out to the highest bidder with little regard to the universal scheme of totality. In that case, yes, you could say they were thugs.”
Annja could tell she was beginning to annoy Ken. “But not other families?”
“No.” He glanced around for the waitress and caught her eyes. He spoke to her in Japanese.
The waitress bowed, a feat Annja admired considering she was on roller skates. I would fall on my butt if I tried that, she thought. She shook her head and refocused on Ken. “So tell me more.”
“ Ninjitsu is a fascinating system of martial arts. As you know, samurai who lost in battle were supposed to follow their daimyo—their lord—into death by committing seppuku, ritual suicide. Not all of them would do that. Some of them would wander on a self-imposed exile. They would set themselves up in small villages in the mountains of western Japan—Iga and Koga Provinces—and there they set about trying to live peacefully with the flow of nature.”
“They’d become hermits?”
“Well, somewhat. Inevitably, the policies of the neighboring regions would impact their existence. Many of these villages developed into ninja clans as a way of preserving their way of life. They would carefully attempt to influence events such that their own lifestyle and that of their children would remain as unscathed as possible.”
“Interesting.” Annja could certainly understand wanting to protect and provide for future generations.
“Let me ask you this,” Ken said. “If you could pinpoint one person whose death would save the lives of thousands of men, women and children, would you take the step and remove him or her?”
Annja frowned. “I don’t know that I would ever want to make that decision. It seems like playing God to me.” And yet, Annja was fully aware she had been forced to make such a decision many times since coming into possession of Joan of Arc’s mystical sword.
Ken nodded. “I don’t disagree with you. I would find it difficult to do, as well. But those were the types of decisions that ninja jonin —leaders of the clan—had to face if they were to survive.”
“So, they would assassinate someone if it meant saving others?” Annja was suddenly sympathetic.
“Certainly. More often than not, however, they would take elaborate pains to set up networks of intelligence operatives who would keep their ears attuned to news and information. The ultimate goal was to be able to influence events as far ahead of time as possible to avoid war and destruction. This meant ninja had to be highly skilled at infiltrating enemy provinces, setting themselves up as regular people, reporting intelligence and, if the situation warranted it, sabotaging or assassinating key troops.”
Annja leaned back, suddenly aware that the young thugs across the room had gone quiet. “Sounds like they might have been better than samurai to have on your side.”
“A lot of people would foam at the mouth if they heard me say this, but many ninja were, in fact, samurai. There are plenty of crossover techniques and warrior ryu that include elements of ninjitsu and counter ninjitsu . It’s quite fascinating.”
“Well, this has been nothing if not enlightening.” Annja leaned forward. “But I think we’ve attracted the attention of the young guns over there.”
Ken looked up as the waitress brought over two new glasses of beer. “You think so?”
Annja could see the huddled conversation. One of the teppo , as Ken had labeled them, seemed more intent than the others. Annja figured him for the leader judging by the elaborate piercings, tattoos and amount of hair dye. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
Ken grinned. “In that case, I’d better drink my beer.”
Annja glanced at her own beer, but her stomach twinged. She’d already fought for three hours tonight. She wasn’t sure she was ready for another bout right at this instant. “Shouldn’t we get out of here?”
Ken shrugged. “Fact of the matter is if we leave, they’ll follow us. If they’re determined to cause trouble, it doesn’t matter where we go.”
“But we’ll be outside.”
“Yes, but I’m much more comfortable sitting here drinking my beer.”
Annja shook her head. “You’re an interesting guy, Ken. Anyone ever tell you that before?”
“Just beautiful archaeologists.”
“You’ve known many?”
Ken finished his beer. “You’re the first.”
Annja smiled in spite of the rising tension in the room. She saw the waitress start to approach their table, but Ken glanced at her and barely lifted his index finger from the tabletop. The waitress immediately stopped and retreated.
“Well, before we begin, let me just say that you’ve been a most enjoyable companion for dinner this evening,” Ken said.
Annja frowned. “Begin?”
Ken smiled. “Everything in the universe unfolds itself at the appropriate time. This situation is no different.”
Annja wasn’t sure exactly which situation Ken referred to, but she didn’t have time to think about it. The thugs had finally made a decision and were sliding out of their booths, making their way toward Ken, who still seemed entirely unfazed by the thought of what might happen next.
The young man Annja had picked as the leader swaggered toward their booth. Ken kept his eyes on Annja and his hand on his beer glass.
The thug glanced at Annja and then at Ken. He barked out a quick sentence to Ken, who simply sighed. “My companion doesn’t speak Japanese. Why don’t you be polite and use English? I’m sure she’d appreciate it.”
The thug frowned and glanced at Annja again before looking back at Ken. “You don’t give me orders,” he said in English.
Annja almost chuckled. Despite the thug’s insistence he was in charge, he had already obeyed Ken without even realizing it.
Ken’s eyebrows waggled once at Annja. “Is there something I can do for you?”
“You’re sitting in our booth,” the young man said.
“Really? That’s fascinating. How come you weren’t sitting in it when we walked in? After all, you’ve been here far longer than we have,” Ken replied.
“You’re in our booth.” The thug put both hands on the table and leaned over Ken. Annja could see his shirtsleeves inch up, exposing a twisting snake tattoo that wound its way from the edge of his wrist well up the forearm.
Ken glanced at the snake and then at the thug. “You didn’t use bamboo to get that tattoo, did you?”
“What?”
“Bamboo,” Ken said. “You see, in the old days, truly tough Yakuza would insist that their tattoos be applied using slivers of bamboo dipped in ink. It was an excruciating process, by which the Yakuza would prove themselves as impervious to pain and able to withstand anything in their loyalty to their oyabun .”
