Author's Notes: Yeah, updates are slow. I wish I could update faster, but I don't have that sort of time anymore. That's just the way it being in college and everything. Having to work graveyard shifts. Living off of ramen noodles, and not out of choice. But now I'm getting all emo, so let's just move on, shall we?
Ronin
Chapter 4 - Land of the Rising Sun
Danny volunteered to stay at Sam's for the day for "moral support." Fortunately, everyone bought the act and didn't seem to bat an eye over the fact that Jazz was doing the same, despite the fact that she had no more of a connection to Sam than the Fenton parents. Adults were really oblivious that way. It still boggled the mind that they actually believed his half-assed rapist story. That should have been the least believable thing in the world, and yet, here they were, giving details to the cops and everything on a non-existent criminal.
Anyway, once they were alone, this brought up an important issue. "So we figure we have to get to Japan to investigate this whole mess," Danny explained to his sister. "But as to the how part..."
Jazz leaned back in the chair she had settled into and thought. "You know... I might just have an answer to that," she said with a knowing smile.
Sam and Danny looked at one another with furrowed brows before looking to the redhead in front of them. "Care to elaborate?" Sam asked in her usual deadpan manner.
"I thought you'd never ask," Jazz responded. "I happen to know some international friends. While doing a study on the effects of violent media, I made some contacts in Japan regarding... ahem, ultra-violent porn cartoons." Jazz seemed to go a little red in the face at the thought of that, and Danny got a mixed feeling as a result. On the one hand, there was his morbid curiosity side kicking up from those commercials he saw from Akira, and on the other hand he really didn't want to think too much about just what Jazz's blush could have meant.
"Anyway," she continued, "I stayed in contact with one person after I finished my research. Her name is Erika and she's been bugging me to visit her and her fiancé for some time. This seems like as good an excuse as any, don't you?"
Danny and Sam once again looked to each other. "I got nothing planned I couldn't move around," Danny said with a light smile.
"And I have connections that can get us passports by tomorrow if need be," Sam replied.
"Now comes the tricky part, though: explaining this one to our parents."
Jazz giggled slightly. "Leave that to me."
-x-
"So let me get this straight," Sam said for about the third time that week as the plane taxied onto the runway. "You somehow convinced our parents that you were going to continue your research on violent media in Japan and you wanted us to come along as the experiment's control?"
"That's about the size of it," Jazz answered as she settled into her seat and pulled out a copy of one of numerous self-help books she bought at the bookshop next to the terminal. She then took a retractable pen out and began jotting down notes in the margins as she read. Danny had explained to Sam earlier that this was one of his sister's latest habits. Any time she read a book that was even vaguely psychological, she had to make all sorts of notes on it to research at a later date what parts were good and which were a load of crap.
"With any luck we'll be able to find what we need before there's any real trouble back home," Danny sighed as he leaned back in his seat.
A silence settled over the trio as the plane took off. By the time it was okay to turn electronic devices back on, Sam pulled out her mp3 player. She had categorically refused to buy an iPod, seeing them as the latest mainstream fad. They were just another item with the Cool Thing Factor attached to him, making them unbelievably pretentious and thoroughly useless to Amity Park's resident Dark Princess.
"What are you putting on?" Danny asked casually as he pulled out his CD player.
"Cruxshadows," Sam answered. She had recently taken an interest in darkwave music and upon discovering the Cruxshadows, promptly bought up their entire discography and a couple of posters to throw a little extra support their way. "You?"
"Alter Bridge," he replied. Sam tried hard to hide the smile and blush that were coming to her cheeks as she nodded and put in her headphones. Every time Danny listened to Alter Bridge he either lip-synched or played air guitar. It may have looked a little goofy, but it was so god damn adorable! Sure enough, after listening to two songs, Sam glanced over to see Danny sitting there air guitaring away and lip-synching to what she presumed was Open Your Eyes. She tried hard to push down the smile once again and buried her face in one of the catalogs left in the net pocket on the back of the seat in front of her.
As the flight went on, everything was rather predictable. The food wasn't lousy, but it was bland. The movie was okay, but nothing to write home about. The best thing about the flight was the arrival in Japan several hours later. Of course, the time zone changes meant that they were arriving around pretty much the same time they had left. Relatively speaking.
The airport itself was packed full of Japanese people and the token vacationing foreigner like the three of them.
Before Sam knew it, a young Japanese woman came rushing up to them and bowed swiftly. "Jazz Fenton?" has asked excitedly.
"Erika?" Jazz asked with equal anticipation.
The two girls hugged each other quickly and laughed. "It is good to see you," Erika gushed in accented English. "Come. We shall all catch the train to my neighborhood."
"Well... she seems nice," Danny deadpanned.
Sam wasn't sure she could stand to be around such a sunny personality, but it was for a good cause. She'd stomach it... hopefully. She couldn't say she cared much for the crowded conditions, though. The scenery at least made up for it. It was easy to see why Kyoto was called the sacred city. Everyone seemed to tread with a kind of reverence around here. The architecture was nothing short of majestic, and the shrines were gorgeous the way they integrated with nature. By the time they all arrived at Erika's apartment, Sam found herself developing a newfound affinity for Japanese aesthetics.
The apartment, by Japanese standards was relatively large. Apparently, Erika's fiancé was a doctor, affording them some larger living spaces than what a lot of people could afford. "I apologize," Erika said as if she were confessing to a crime, "but we only have one bed. We can make bedding for you in the living room, though I wish we could make your accommodations more comfortable."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll be fine," Jazz assured her. She turned to Danny and Sam and hid a conspiratorial wink to them. "Erika and I are going to do some catching up. Why don't you two go do some sightseeing?"
Though Sam was certainly not about to say anything, she also wasn't about to waste another chance to be alone with Danny for a while. No Tucker, no Valerie, no ghost attacks... at least so she hoped.
-x-
Danny raked a hand back through his hair as they passed by a shop stocked full of paper lanterns. "So, any idea where we should start looking?" he asked flatly.
"Not a clue," Sam admitted. "All the information I was able to dig up on Kagyaku is pretty scant. For now, we should just check out the lay-out of the city and see if we can find some kind of clue somewhere."
"Just play the part of tourists, huh?" Well, not like that would be hard. It was a really nice country aside from the overabundance of smokers. "Oh well. Promised my parents I'd bring them back a nice souvenir anyway."
"If we're right, and Kagyaku really is behind this," Sam thought aloud, "why do you think he's so intent on tracking you down?"
"I wish I knew," Danny admitted. "With any luck though, he doesn't know we're here."
They passed an hour or two this way, taking in sights, trying to plan out their strategy. They stopped in a small boutique that sold traditional clothing, masks, and other apparel. It was at this point that Danny found himself in a position he never thought he would. He was sitting outside the dressing rooms, waiting for Sam. Never, not in a million years, did he ever suspect something like that was going to happen. In the meantime, their conversation had steered away from ghosts to slightly more pleasant topics. "No way. The greatest kill line ever is from The Untouchables. Elliot Ness shoves the dude off the roof and says, 'Did it sound anything like that?'"
"Oh give me a break," Sam chimed from behind the door to her changing room. "Inigo Montoya has the most prolific kill line of all time."
"I thought you hated popular things," Danny challenged.
"I do. But for every rule there is an exception."
"You're just saying that because Carey Elwes is in the movie."
"Typical guy response."
"I gotta be me. You almost done in there?"
Sam hesitated a moment. "Yeah... I'm not really sure how this looks on me though."
"Typical girl response," Danny muttered ironically, just loud enough for Sam to hear.
The door opened, and the cocky half-grin was wiped right off Danny's face. Sam had changed into a black kimono and slippers. The kimono had a lotus print in a rich, velvety purple, the same color as the wide sash that helped the garment show off her slender figure. The sleeves bellowed out as they went down so that the hems actually reached close to her ankles when she crossed her arms over the sash below her chest. The material was obviously fine silk, giving Sam a regal, luxurious, refined look that Danny had never seen before. He knew she was a very pretty young woman, but in that kimono she looked like royalty out of a storybook. There was just something sublimely elegant about the way she looked and carried herself.
Sam's face went bright red and she turned a few times both so Danny could see the whole garment and she could see how she looked in the nearby mirrors. "What do you think?" she asked self-consciously. It was probably the first time Danny had ever heard that tone of voice from her.
"Words fail me," he admitted. "Uh, I mean, in a good way."
If possible, Sam went even redder and she smiled softly. "I have to admit, I never thought I'd see myself in one of these."
"It's a good look for you." That was the understatement of the year.
"I couldn't agree more," came a lightly accented female voice. They both turned to see one of the proprietors of the shop. "That's one of our finest kimonos, and I must say that it really does compliment your eyes. Your boyfriend here looks positively spellbound."
Danny really wanted to shrink down and go invisible right about then. Too bad it wasn't an option.
Sam looked herself over with an embarrassed smile. "I guess I'll take it then."
Ten minutes later and the two were heading back to the apartment with Sam clutching the box with her new kimono in it under one arm. "Planning on wearing that to a poetry slam?" Danny teased.
"I just may," Sam replied haughtily. "I could be Amity Park's resident Dragon Lady. What about you?"
Well, that was a little ambiguous. "Huh?" Yeah... real smooth, Fenton.
"We could get you a nice jacket and a katana. Danny Phantom, samurai specter."
Danny couldn't help but smile a little at the thought. He always did like all the old romanticized warriors. When he found out George Lucas based the Jedi knights off of samurai in Akira Kurosawa films, he sat in for the night with Tucker and Sam to watch Seven Samurai. It had become one of his favorite movies. "Yeah... That might be cool."
His cell phone going off interrupted his train of thought. He glanced at the caller ID to see Tucker's name popping up. This had better be good or the phone bill was going to be hell. "Tucker? What's up?"
"Oh... not much," Tucker responded. "Just wanted to check in with you guys, see how everything's going and, uh, oh yeah! Just thought you should know that we need you to hurry up!"
Danny pulled the phone away slightly at Tucker's yell. "Tucker, what the hell?"
"There have been another five ghost attacks today. They're all looking for you."
"What?" Well, this complicated matters. "Is anybody hurt?"
"Not yet, no. But it's getting worse. The mayor put your parents in charge again."
"Damn." Danny looked to Sam and pursed his lips, clearly letting her know that things just got even more complicated. "Tuck, I need you to do us a favor. Tell Valerie that Danny Phantom is working on fixing all this, and she's going to have to help my parents hold down the fort until I... he figures out what's going on."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Tucker asked skeptically.
"No. But if you got a better one I'd like to hear it."
"Point taken. All right, man. I'm on it. Good luck over there."
"You too, Tuck. You too." Danny hung up the phone and looked to Sam who had her brows furrowed in concern. "We need to get back to the apartment. We need to find some more leads, pronto. I'll explain on the way."
-x-
Author's Notes: It might be a couple weeks before I put up another update. I've got a lot of work on my plate right now.
