Warnings: Butchering of the Japanese language

Chapter 5.

Kannon sat on the edge of the couch, rolling a small white ball through his fingers. Where it had come from, I had no idea. It rolled through his fingers like it was stuck to his hand somehow, and would never fall off.

"We kitsune have been around for a long time," he mused. "We've been here as long as people have."

"So what is the standing of the kitsune?" I asked, sipping coffee that room service delivered. "Do you work with the vampires, or against them?"

Kannon turned his head toward me, gold eye peering through strands of fox-colored hair.

"We work with them, to a degree. We are not their slaves, but here in Japan, none of us are legal citizens, and we all need each other for help. Not to say we don't war against each other from time to time." He smiled at the last sentence.

"So you have werewolves?" Cherry asked.

"Most of them are foreigners." Kannon twirled the ball through his fingers again. "The native tribes are the Kitsune, foxes; the Saru, monkies; the Tora, tigers; and the cranes, the Tsuru."

"There are bird weres?" I was surprised to hear this. It reminded me of a certain swan skin I had on my wall. It had come not from a shape shifter, but a man under a curse. Richard thought it was a sick and twisted tribute to the man who had endangered all of our lives. I thought it was more than he deserved.

Kannon nodded. "They tend to keep to themselves. Among the other tribes, we generally work together. Since the werewolves and the wererats have made their presence known we include them too. The vampires look upon themselves as the keepers of the ancient ways, and look upon us the same as they did in the olden days. They care not so much for the newer breeds, as they were not well known in the ancient days."

"So the kitsune have always been errand boys and trickers?" I asked, trying to dish on him a little.

"Exactly," he grinned, baring the sharp little teeth again. "The Tsuru are messengers and more like priests. The Saru are the armies the vampires like to use. The Tora are more like your werewolves, pulled to heel only with a fight."

"If the vampires are like the ancients, then they have samurai?" Nathaniel asked in interest.

"Of course." Kannon tossed the ball up and down. "Often only the finest samurai were accepted as vampires back in the day. The Japanese appreciate honor, and our country is not as big as yours. We cannot support as big a community. So Japan's vampires are more choosy for survival."

"I'd like to meet real samurai," Nathaniel said excitedly. "Anita?"

"Not if I can help it." I shook my head at him. "This trip is not supposed to be about vampires, Nathaniel. It's a break from all of that."

"You ooze danger, Anita," Zane mumbled from the other side of the couch. "It's a lure vampires and shape shifters can't seem to resist."

"Bullshit," I laughed. "You haven't met Edward."

If anyone oozed danger, it was Edward. Vampires called me the Executioner. They may as well call Edward, Death. He had been a bounty hunter that got bored killing humans. He often gave me my newest toys, and was the only person I'd ever seen use a flamethrower on a vamp. Lately, we've gotten to thinking I might actually stand a chance if a showdown was called between us. He had once been offered a contract on my life and turned it down. He said it was because I was his friend. Yeah, right. He admitted later it was simply more interesting trying to keep me alive. He got to kill more people if he helped me. Taking the job, he only got to kill me. Reassuring, isn't it? But I could always count on him. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. When the shit hits the fan, the tough call Edward.

"I'd like to meet this Edward." Zane licked his lips.

"If you're meeting with Edward, you won't live to tell the tale, no matter how super werekitty you are," I chuckled.

"Would you like to go sightseeing tomorrow?" Kannon asked, changing the subject like a good boy. "I can get us a car."

"Yes!" Nathaniel nodded eagerly. "Can we go to Mount Fuji?"

Kannon yipped in delight. "That's an interesting drive, Nathaniel."

Nathaniel smiled back at him, close lipped, which only made him look seductive. Kannon returned the smile with a tilt of his head.

There was a knock on the door, and Asher entered cautiously, checking if I was aiming to blow his head off. How quickly they learn. Cautiously, yet he seemed to just float into the room as if he were the pillar of confidence. Maybe I was the only one that noticed his quick glance at me for a weapon.

Kannon's back went rigid and he turned to look at Asher. Asher was flushed with full color again, looking almost alive. Nathaniel wasn't as impressed. He'd seen it before.

"Kannon, are there nightclubs around here?" he asked eagerly. Kannon nodded back to him, looking at the vampire.

"Do not fear, little fox." Asher smiled. "If there are nightclubs, why do we not get a taste of culture? I've missed out on the day's adventures."

I really didn't want them heading to a nightclub. But Asher was right. He wasn't going to get to enjoy Japan like the rest of us.

"All right." I sighed. "You can go to a nightclub."

Nathaniel grinned at me, followed by Kannon.

"Ahh, not such a stick in the mud, are we, Anita?" Asher asked, seeming amused. The phone rang and we all looked at it. Who in the world could be calling?

"Hello?" I answered, and thought frantically for what Japanese folk said. King Kong wa?

"Anita," said the voice at the other end. I gasped.

"Edward?" I gripped the phone. "How the HELL did you get this number?"

Edward chuckled on the other end of the line. "Are you beginning to doubt me already?"

"I'm in fricking JAPAN!" I yelled. I could hear the shape shifters moving behind me and I turned to give them a warning look.

"I know," Edward said mysteriously. For some reason the Mission Impossible theme ran through my head. He was probably hanging from some thread right outside my window.

"I thought it fair to warn you," Edward continued. "I got notified of another hit."

"On who?" I gripped the phone. Richard? Jean Claude? Larry? Dolph? Burt? Names ran through my head like mad. Well, I might not miss Burt so much. If only he wasn't so good with money.

"Guess, Anita," Edward chuckled. "It's right up your alley."

I turned to look at the assorted folk. "Zane, go get Jason."

Zane nodded, serious at my tone, and left the room.

"Is there a problem?" Asher asked, and I waved for him not to speak.

"Don't fricking play games, Edward!" I snapped. "Tell me!"

"It's you again, Anita," Edward laughed. "Who have you pissed off this time?"

"While I'm in Japan?" I demanded.

"Precisely," he answered. "So, talk. Who have you pissed off in Japan?"

I turned to glare at Kannon, who lifted his eyebrows at me.

"Hold on one moment, Edward."

"I'm not staying on," Edward declined. "Just be careful. Life is so much more fun with you alive. Besides, you still owe me a favor. And I want you there so I can call it."

"Of course." I nodded as if he could see me. "I'm always careful."

Bullshit. And he knew it.

"They want you in the next forty-eight hours, Anita," Edward added and I got dialtone.

Great, just great. Well, all I had to do was stay alive for two days. Riiight. My vacation was two weeks long. I didn't think they'd only try for two days.

"Kannon." I hung up the phone. "Who have you been speaking to?"

Kannon frowned. "Just you."

"Who else?" I walked toward him. I watched his face get angry.

"No one else for today," he answered through clenched teeth.

"Anita, talk to us," Cherry said worriedly.

"All right, there's another contract on my life," I snapped. "Ta-dah!"

"Anita, you aren't afraid, are you?" Asher asked. I smiled at him.

"Do I look like I'm afraid?" I asked. "I'm fricking pissed! How am I gonna enjoy my vacation now?"

"Priorities." Asher nodded with a slow smile.

"I didn't want to have to do any killing in a foreign country," I said bitchily. "How's that for international relations?"

"Do you think they'll send ninja?" Nathaniel asked, and Zane opened the door, Jason following after him.

Jason had a goofy grin on his face, and yawned sleepily. His huge sweater covered any bite marks Asher might have left. If they hadn't healed already. Seeing Jason safe, I repressed the urge to laugh and lost.

"Ninja." I slammed my fist on the counter, laughing. "Another thing to add to my list."

No one else laughed.

"I was serious." Nathaniel frowned.

"And our fights will be subtitled," I laughed, pointing at Kannon. "Translated by him!"

"Anita," Asher said softly.

"I'm not losing it." I pulled my laughter into check. "It was funny. It's okay to laugh in times of tension."

Zane was the only one who chuckled. Kannon dropped to his knees, pressing his hands to the floor and his forehead to his hands.

"Forgive me, Anita-san," he mumbled into the floor. "I had no part in this."

"Get up," I grumbled. "I'm not a shogun or anything."

Kannon did get up, looking at me apologetically. "I swear to you, I have no part in this. I am only to be your guide."

"And you said in the beginning we couldn't trust you," I reminded him.

"You're right." he nodded. "You can't. We're tricksters. But kitsune do not murder."

"Then you just got thrown into the line of fire," I told him. "Go ahead home. I don't need your tribe mad at me, or the Master of Tokyo."

"I told you about honor," Kannon answered. "I'm staying."

"You're not alone in this, ma petite," Asher said. "That is why we are here."

I could have smacked Asher. Hearing Jean Claude's pet name for me was almost too much to bear at the moment. They were both French bastards.

"Right." I nodded. "And we were going clubbing, right?"

"Do you think that's a good idea–" Kannon cut off under my look.

"It's just hitmen, Kannon," I told him. "And they're not ruining my vacation."

I let everyone change, or refresh, and Cherry tried to talk me into wearing the pants I'd bought earlier. After she cajoled me into trying them on, I liked the look of them. Like a second skin, but no place to hide a gun. She produced a long but thin thigh-length leather jacket from her own wardrobe to cover any weapons I might wear. I was trying to protest dressing too sluttily, but she was coming up with things to counter my protests. Nurses think on their feet.

I refused to wear the penguin shirt, despite her protests, and she compromised on a red satin top that basically looked like a tank top, but looser. I donned my machete, hiding the handle under my hair, and felt safer already. My knives went on my arms, followed by the Browning under my left arm and the Firestar in the Uncle Mike's inner pants holster in the back waistband of the pants.

Looking at my outfit in the mirror, you couldn't see any weapons. I was suitably impressed. A little lipstick, and a small pair of dainty, black boots finished the outfit. I was not going to wear high heels if an assassin came after me. I might trip and break my own neck and do the job for them. I never liked doing things the easy way.

Dressed for a club, I felt younger, not that I was really old. You're only as old as you feel. I often felt like I was 102. But now I felt like I was 20. I guess clothes are sort of for play.

"I like, Anita." Asher smiled to see my outfit as I stepped out. Jason had put on the new outfit he bought earlier. Cherry and Zane were the same, and Nathaniel made me want to through a blanket over him and drag him back into the room to hide him. The pants from the knees down were normal. From the knees up, they were just horizontal straps till they grew smaller in width to just up the sides of his hips, showing strips of pale flesh. The straps continued up his sides, growing larger again, meeting in a small strip down the center of his chest to end in a collar around his neck. There were no sleeves. I didn't know if showing that much skin was allowed in public. Around other people who might see.

Kannon was still dressed the same, he had no other clothes to change too. Asher wore a black and gold-filigreed vest buttoned up the front over a white shirt. Lace poofed at the wrists and in the front of the vest. Under that was what looked like gray riding pants that ended in what looked like black riding boots.

"Nathaniel," I sighed.

"Don't you like it?" He grinned.

"Like an ulcer," I agreed. You could live with it, but it annoyed the hell out of you.

Kannon grinned. "Let's go. Anita, you in the middle."

"I'll take the back," Asher offered. I sighed. They were intent on protecting me. Monkey in the middle.

We stepped out into the Japanese night, and Kannon led us down the street. As expected, we drew many stares. Well, with this many people watching, I was sure no assassin was going to try for me.

Zane stopped up short, sniffing at the air. Spotting this, Jason started working his wolfy sense of smell.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Familiar," Zane rumbled. "Faint."

"I smell it too." Jason looked around.

"Is it dangerous?" I asked. "We met a lot of people today."

"No, it's different, out of place," Kannon agreed. "It doesn't belong here."

"Well, if it's faint, then it doesn't matter to us, does it?" I asked, pushing forward. Kannon scanned the street one last time and led on. Zane kept doing the rabbit nose thing all the way to the club Kannon stopped in front of.

"As good as any." He grinned, opening the door with a gentlemanly sweep of his hand. I stepped into heat and loud, fast music. The light wasn't the best, and crowded with people. Older generation and younger alike. I found that kind of surprising. Parents went out and played on the kids' playgrounds here in Japan. I thought that was kind of cool. But you could generally tell them apart by their clothes. The younger generation dressed like us, while the older generation leaned more toward suits.

Who had more taste here? Looking at some of the clothes the older generation wore, I wasn't too sure.

"Oooo." Nathaniel took Cherry's hand. "It beckons."

He pulled her toward the dance floor, and Cherry grinned back at us over her shoulder. They looked perfect together.