CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The monsoon rains didn't let up for several days so both Bonnie and Hirotaka were unable to climb up Mt Yamanouchi. Even at the best of times it was a challenging climb because it was criss-crossed with tracks that disorientated most hikers. That was no accident: the tracks had been deliberately designed that way to ensure that hikers never got near the Yamanouchi Ninja School. To further confuse people no maps given by local tramping guides provided any information about the mountain except to announce it was off limits to the public. It was even worse when it rained heavily because the tracks were often flooded or turned into bogs. Only a couple of tracks didn't suffer from that problem but they were well concealed. That was the only reason Bonnie needed Hirotaka.

Bonnie's mood did not improve over those days. After so many months of almost constant activity she found it difficult to wind down and relax. Rather than hang around the house with a horny Hirotaka hitting on her at every opportunity he could she went exploring the city to see what it had to offer. It was during one of her walks into town that she saw Monique with Shego. The manner in which the two females implied they had become good friends.

She contacted Marx as soon as she returned to Hirotaka's place.

Marx stated, 'You're to head straight up to Yamanouchi and establish contact with Ron, regardless of the weather.'

Hirotaka was not happy with these instructions but he could only mutter angrily under his breath.

Just before dawn the following morning Bonnie was woken up by a pair of hiking boots being thrown in her face. 'Wakey, wakey, gorgeous. We have a mountain to climb.'

Bonnie let loose with some very colourful phrases before climbing out of bed.

She kneed him in the crotch as she walked out of the bedroom. 'I'm so not a morning person, honey,' she hissed.

Within the hour they were riding up the road on Hirotaka's motorcycle that would take them part-way up the mountain. The rain was only light so it wasn't so bad by the time they set off up Mt Yamanouchi. Hirotaka had taken the lead from the moment they had left the road. Watching him as he walked reminded her of why she had such a crush on him when he'd been an exchange student at Middleton High all those years ago. There was no getting over the fact he had great abs and his butt was to die for. She would've jumped him in a heartbeat but she had found the adrenalin rush that came from the thrill of the hunt much more arousing.

Marx had been specific in his intructions. 'It doesn't matter how you do it. Confirm Ron's alive then do everything in your power to ensure he cannot leave Yamanouchi. If that means killing him then so be it.'

There was only one problem. She didn't have any particular animosity towards Ron Stoppable. She thought he was a loser but definitely not a threat to anyone. Being sent out to take out that pathetic reject was like being sent out to hunt sheep in a paddock. Then again, the money she was being offered for successfully carrying out her mission was too good to pass up.

'There's been a lot of rain,' Hirotaka remarked. 'It's possible the bridge across the Yamanouchi River has been swept away. Hope you can swim.'

'I'm a good swimmer,' she bragged.

'Your high school swimming pool doesn't count.'

'Who said anything about a swimming pool?'

'I'm just warning you, Bon-Bon.'

'Yeah, consider me warned. And stop calling me Bon-Bon.'

He swung round angrily, 'What's up with you? Ever since you got here you've been such a bitch!'

'I could ask you the same thing,' she retorted. 'You've been talking down to me like I'm still at high school. I'm a woman on a mission.'

'Like sucking up to Marx,' he retaliated. 'You American girls are all the same. It's all about status, not honour or respect.'

Bonnie snarled, 'I have never kissed his ass. He came looking for me, he hired me and he assigned me this mission. I had nothing to do with any of it.'

'Why would he hire a spoilt bitch like you?'

'Screw you, Hirotaka,' she yelled and pushed him aside angrily.

'Where are you going?' He yelled after her. 'You still need me to get there!'

'If I can find my way around a bloody desert I think I can find my way around this damned mountain. It's just a case of going up until I run into it!'

'If it was that simple then why the hell am I babysitting you for?'

'Local knowledge gets the job done faster than screwing around with GPS and maps. Assuming the ninja school is on a map!'

'Which it isn't,' he crowed triumphantly.

'So I guess we're stuck with eac other until we get there. After that, it's Sayonara to you.'

'Marx's orders were for me to take you there and bring you back.'

'He also said I'm in charge. In other words, I give the orders, not you.'

Hirotaka glared at the brunette: her turquoise eyes blazing with an intensity he hadn't seen before. Seeing her stand there, her khaki blouse and one of her hands on her shapely hips in that regulation khaki skirt while the other gripped the hunting knife tucked into her leather belt he suddenly grasped that she would just as easily kill him if she thought it was in her interests to do so.

They walked on in a sullen silence, each lost in their own thoughts as they made their way up the mountain along a track that progressively got narrower and more treacherous until they could hear the sound of the Yamanouchi River in full flood. Normally, the river was about ten metres below the track but the river was now level with the track. Parts of the track had been swept away, which forced them to clamber along the bank until they got past the washed out parts. The track suddenly turned towards a bridge, only to find the river sweeping over it.

Bonnie cried out, 'I am so not going back down this damn mountain to find another track but I don't like the look of that.'

Hirotaka jeered, 'Is the big and tough Bonnie Rockwaller scared of a little bit of water on a bridge?' But, he too, was not so sure it was a good idea to cross over it.

The bridge was a small one which she guessed was about thirty metres long with small wooden railings on both sides. Water was rushing over the bridge deck so she climbed up onto the wooden railing and walked across the bridge. He stopped occassionally when the bridge shook. As she neared the end she yelled back, 'Coming over, big boy?'

Unable to resist the challenge Hirotaka followed Bonnie's example by climbing onto the railing. 'I'm coming over!'

Hirotaka was far too cocky to let the swaying deter him, although he had to slow down and tread carefully after several steps. He could now see the bridge was shaking more violently than it had been only a few moments earlier. 'Ā kuso, watashi wa watashi no jikan ga kite iru to omou,' he muttered as he heard a loud crack and the bridge began to break near the middle. He jumped off the railing but the force of the water was so strong it swept him off his feet and sent him sliding across the bridge and slamming into the railing on the other side but he was still conscious.

Bonnie screamed, 'Hirotaka! Get up! The bridge is -!'

The section of bridge he was on broke away, taking him with it. She saw him scramble to his feet. He called out something but she couldn't hear him. All she could do was watch as he disappeared downstream. She hoped he had survived but she wasn't going back downstream to find out. Her training had taught her the mission was more important than personal discomfort or sentiment.

With the only source of knowledge about the mountain having disappeared with him she now had to find her own way to where she needed to go. The best course of action, she reasoned, was to follow the river. Eventually she had to reach the school. She just hoped she didn't bump into the ninjas along the way.