PROS AND CONS OF TAKING
A TEN HOUR FLIGHT WITH
YOUR SUPER HOT-SUPERSPY PARTNER
PRO: Plenty of time to get to know each other
CON: That only works if he will talk
PRO: It totally looks like you have a super hot boyfriend
CON: You totally have to pretend to have a super hot younger brother
PRO: Time to think
CON: There's nothing to think about besides the secret society you're running from and the hoard of mafiosi you're running towards.
Cammie couldn't remember ever being more relieved then she was when their plane finally landed in Tokyo. He'd said all of two things through the entire flight, the first asking if she wanted the window seat and the second to tell the flight hostess that they did not want the in flight refreshments, thank you very much. She found herself resenting the way he took control of the situation, not even asking her opinion, not that she wanted the bad airline food, but it would have been nice to be asked.
It reminded her of Zach, his cocky arrogance and surety that he knew better than she did. The only difference was that Zach wasn't two years younger than her. Not for the first time since she had met Alex she wished her friends were with her. Boys, she just didn't understand them; first Josh, then Zach, and now Alex Rider. They just didn't make any sense, especially without Macey there to translate for her.
After they disembarked the kids took a Shinkansen, or bullet train, to Sendai, where they caught a bus to Namimori. Cammie was glad they'd been told not to bring much, reflecting that multiple bags would be a nightmare to keep track of between all the stops. Waiting for them at the Namimori bus stop was an old man. He was white- with white hair, a white mustache, and a white suit. His face was wrinkled and he wore spectacles that kept slipping down his hooked nose. He was holding a sign that said "Walker." Alex figured it had to be a joke, considering he was the only person at the stop, let alone the only white person.
Seeing him Alex smiled, or tried to. He waved a hand above his head and called out "Gram-pa." People passing stared at him and Cammie rolled her eyes, though Alex thought she might be hiding a grin. When they reached Mr. Walker the older man rapped him on the head with his knuckles. "This is Japan," he said in Japanese, "here you will treat your elders with respect."
Alex wanted to scowl, but knew that he had to keep up appearances, so instead he followed Cammie's lead and bowed to the old man. Starting over in the same language he said. "Hello, Ojii-san, it's wonderful to see you."
Mr. Walker bowed in return and said, "I am happy to see you also, Adam-kun, Emma-chan. It has been too long." He smiled then, hugged Alex and placed a kiss on Cammie's forehead. "I've missed you." Then taking the girl's backpack he put an arm around her shoulders and started off, leading the way home. "How is your family?" he asked as Alex hurried to catch up.
"They're doing well," was Cammie's reply. "Oto-san is back working for the newspaper as a sports journalist, and Okaa-san is still as involved in the PTA as ever."
"And your sister?" he asked Alex.
"Lily-chan? She's twelve now, and becoming quite the socialite. It's very rare that she'll be home by the time I get done with football practice in the evenings."
"Good, good," said Mr. Walker absentmindedly and Alex breathed a sigh of relief. To anyone listening the conversation may have sounded trivial, but in reality it was a very strict code. If they had gotten even one word wrong Mr. Walker would have shot them of the spot. And they had had to say it in a language they hadn't had much use for up until now.
By the time they reached the house Alex could barely walk from exhaustion, the long days of travel were catching up to him. It irritated him to see Cammie looking as fresh and chipper as she had when they had boarded the plane in DC approximately sixteen hours previously. She practically bounced as Mr. Walker let them in and lead them to the rooms they would be staying in for the next month or so. The house was small and very European, much to Alex's pleasure. He had not been looking forward to spending a month sleeping on a tetimi mat. Mr. Walker turned to leave the room once he made sure he had everything he needed, but Alex stopped him.
"Don't we need to debrief?" he asked, fighting to keep his eyes open.
The old man looked back over his shoulder. Alex was swaying where he stood. "You're practically dead on your feet kid," he said in English, fighting back a laugh. "I think we can spare a couple hours for you to take a nap. The mafia aren't going anywhere."
Hearing that, Alex allowed himself to fall onto the bed, not even bothering to change. He was asleep within seconds.
Alex woke late the next morning. He probably would have slept longer, but the sun shone through his window and into his eyes. The smell of rice and coffee wafted up to his sensitive nose and his stomach gurgled loudly. He got up and quickly changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a nondescript t-shirt. He looked around for his trainers and only then remembered that he was in Japan and that the culture was very different from what he was used to. His shoes were beside the front door, because it was rude to wear shoes in a Japanese house.
He sighed and went downstairs. Cammie and Mr. Walker were sitting at the table with bowls of white rice and some sort of soup in front of them. Mr. Walker was sipping from a small cup while Cammie cradled a larger porcelain mug and Alex could smell the faint scent of green tea underneath the overpowering scent of coffee. The old man looked up when he heard Alex enter the room.
"Good morning Adam," he said in English. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, thank you." They lapsed into silence.
"Please, sit down." Walker gestured to the seat across from him, next to Cammie. Alex sat and the silence continued.
"Are you hungry?" Alex nodded. "What would you like? I've got rice and miso soup, toast, nori, fish..."
"Is there any cereal?" Mr. Walker nodded and fetched a bowl and spoon, milk, and a box of cereal- it looked like cornflakes.
"It's hard to find good cereal here," the man said apologetically. "They don't eat it much. Tea?"
"Yes please." At this Cammie wrinkled her nose. Right. American's didn't drink tea. They preferred coffee in the mornings. Savages.
Walker got the tea and then watched Alex as he ate. Feeling uncomfortable with the older man's eyes on him Alex swallowed his cereal and asked, "So what's going on here?" Cammie, who had been staring sleepily into the depths of her cup, perked up. This conversation was important.
"What have you been told?"
"Not much. There's something going on with the Italian mafia and it's bleeding into the yakuza here. They said you would give us the details when we got here." Cammie nodded her agreement, apparently still too tired for speech.
Walker was quiet for a moment before he got up. "I'll be right back," he said, and hurried out of the room. Alex had just started to dig into his meal when he was surprised by Cammie asking, "Ever get the impression he's just a bit scatter brained?"
Alex snorted and continued to eat.
When Mr. Walker came back he had a thick manila folder tucked under one arm. "What do you know about the Italian mafia?" he asked, tossing the folder onto the table.
"Nothing really. Last time I was in Italy I was a bit preoccupied by SCORPIA. I didn't have anything to do with the mafia."
"The Italian mafia is divided into multiple famiglias, or families. The Vongola, Gesso, Tomaso- they're all different, but they're all dangerous," said Cammie.
Walker nodded his approval. "Very good Emma. Some of the families have formed alliances over the years. The most powerful of these alliances is the Vongola Famiglia Alliance. The Vongola Famiglia has been around for nine generations. It was started by a bunch of vigilantes who were rumored to be no more than children. Their leader was a man named Giotto, but he has become better known as Vongola Primo. The Vongola Famiglia grew until it was the most powerful of all the mafia families. Their current leader is Vongola Nono, a man named Timoteo."
"Okay," said Alex, uncomprehending. "What does that have to do with Japan?"
"Maybe nothing." Walker said. "But mafiosi, especially members of the Vongola Alliance, both known and alleged, have been cropping up in Namimori over the last few months. They don't seem to be doing much, but it's my experience that the Vongola never do anything without a reason."
Walker flipped open the folder handed a picture to Cammie. Alex leaned over to get a better look. It looked like a surveillance photo, slightly grainy and at a bad angle, but it was clear enough that Alex could make out a middle aged man with shaggy black hair and wearing a white lab coat. "This man goes by the name of Doctor Shamal. He's a famous hitman in mafia circles and is a member of the Vongola Famiglia. They call him Trident Shamal, and he's known for infecting his victims with incurable diseases, though we don't know how. I first saw him three weeks ago. The rumor is he had to flee Italy for being a womanizer. The question is, why did he show up here?"
He took the picture back and handed them another one. The subject of this photo had obviously been aware she was being followed because she was smiling at the camera. She looked to be in her late teens with pink hair and a black tattoo of a scorpion on her shoulder. Alex couldn't help but shudder at the memories that picture brought up. In the woman's hand was what seemed to be a wedding cake. "This is the Poison Scorpion, we don't know her real name. She's a free-lance hitman with ties to the Vongola. As her name suggests she is well known for poisoning her targets. She showed up a couple weeks before Shamal."
Walker flipped through more names and photos. Dino Chiavarone, called the Bronco, the 22 year old boss of the Chiavarone Famiglia and a great ally to the Vongola. Hurricane Bomb Hayato, an uncontrollable demolitions expert who was nevertheless incredibly loyal to his family and no older than Alex's 14 years. Fuuta de la Stella, not even ten yet, but already coveted throughout the mafia world for his uncanny ability to rank people accurately- also known as the Ranking Prince. Mukuro Rokudo, there was no picture to accompany this name, a mafia criminal who killed off his entire family when he wasn't much older than the Ranking Prince. Rumor had it that he had recently done something else to anger the mafia world and had been taken to their worst prison- the fabled Vendicare.
The last picture he handed them was nothing more than a police sketch. It showed the round face of a toddler, with long, curling sideburns, and a creepily intelligent look in his black eyes. He was wearing a dark hat with a lizard perched on the brim.
"Who's this?" asked Alex, laying aside the picture of a guy named Lanchia.
"This is Reborn. He's a legend in the criminal underworld. He's known as the World's Strongest Hitman, and as the man most trusted by Vongola Nono."
"He's a midget then?" asked Cammie, examining the picture closely.
"Nope. Or at least, not that anyone'll say. Rumor has it that he's a genuine baby."
Alex lifted an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
Walker shrugged. "I agree. I didn't even think he existed until a couple of months ago."
"What made you change your mind?"
"I've seen him. Well, caught glimpses is probably more accurate. He's here. In Japan. And he's as small as they say."
Alex was tempted not to believe him, to think this was all some big joke. But if he had learned anything in his time with MI6 it was that they didn't have a sense of humor If Walker said this kid was a hitman then, no matter how strange it sounded, he was.
"What does he want?"
Mr. Walker shook his head. "I don't know. His movements make no sense. The only times I've seen him he's been hanging around this kid." He pulled out another photo, this one of a short kid in his early teens with thick brown hair and a goofy, panicked expression on his face. "I've tracked him down. His name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, and he's fourteen years old."
A light seemed to click on in Cammie's eyes. "That's why we're here. Why we're being sent to school. To meet up with this kid."
"Exactly." Walker smiled with approval. "Sawada seems to be tied up with every strange thing going on, and it's your job to find out how."
"Does his family have any connections to this Reborn?" Alex asked.
"Not that we've found. His mother, Sawada Nana, lives here in Japan and seems to be one of the nicest people on the planet, if a bit dim. His father's been gone for years, working traffic in construction sites overseas."
"And Sawada himself doesn't have any extraordinary talents? Nothing really stands out about him?"
Walker shook his head. "Not that I've found. His grades are mediocre. He doesn't have any awards or extracurriculars. I haven't found anything interesting about him."
"So our job is to find out what the Italian mafia wants with a seemingly ordinary Japanese kid like Sawada Tsunayoshi."
The old man nodded. "You need to be very careful. These people are dangerous, and we don't know what they want. Worse still, we don't know if Sawada has any knowledge of them. If he doesn't, you have to do everything in your power to keep him from the truth."
The rest of that morning was spent going over various details of the Italian mafia, most of the information that MI6 and the CIA had. That afternoon Walker showed them around Namimori, pointing out the sites and places of importance, including a safe-house that looked more like a high tech bomb shelter located behind Namimori Shrine, and Namimori Middle, their new school. Once they returned home he gave them their uniforms.
"Try these on," he said, "I want to make sure they fit before tomorrow."
The uniform consisted of dark blue trousers with a white shirt and blue necktie. Alex smiled as he loosened his tie. It seemed that school uniforms were the same world wide. He showed to Walker who nodded his approval and handed him a selection of navy blazers and vests. "Pick one."
Dutifully he tried each on, finally deciding on a vest as it didn't pull at the shoulders like the blazer did. As Walker was examining his uniform Cammie emerged in a very similar outfit. The biggest difference was that instead of a straight tie hers was a red bowtie and she was wearing a skirt. She looked rather pretty, he thought, surprised. "She's supposed to be my sister," he scolded himself. Tearing himself away from those thoughts he asked, "How is she supposed to do anything in a skirt?"
Cammie looked down at herself and shrugged. "I'll manage," she said casually. "We wear them at school, so it;s what I'm used to. As long as we don't have to parachute or something I'll be fine."
Alex decided to drop it. Simply hoping that the skirt wouldn't cause problems seemed ludicrous to him, after all, he'd ended up parachuting on his first mission, but there wasn't much she could do about it anyway. It was the school uniform so it was what she had to wear.
"She will be fine," Walker reassured him. "She has shorts to wear underneath, just in case."
Cammie smiled sweetly at him and Alex realized that she was teasing him. Of course they would make sure she would be able to fight in her uniform.
