Chapter 12: A Matter Of Honor
It was pitch black out — except of course for the bright lights of Tokyo — when the little mini-jet came in for a landing. Leslie Ann was wide-eyed at the bright lights and flashing colors as they climbed out of the mini-jet and headed for the loudly colored city, and she had her hands almost constantly clasped under her chin.
"First up — we find a room," Bobby said in a tired tone.
"But there's so much to see," Leslie Ann said as she seemed to be trying to take in everything at once.
"And it'll be there in the morning," Bobby said. "When it's easier to spot the murderous ninjas that follow him around like a shadow."
Leslie Ann grinned at him and lightly punched him in the shoulder. "Don't worry; I've been practicing. And I've gotten really good at growing vines to grab bad guys!"
"You still don't want to deal with these creeps, kiddo," Bobby insisted. "The less ninjas, the better this trip will be."
"Well, let's at least find a place with a view," Leslie Ann sighed.
"I'll see what I can do," Logan said as he hailed a cab and the three of them headed into the heart of the city.
The whole experience was kind of wild for Leslie Ann and slightly irritating for Bobby, since it seemed that one of Logan's favorite hobbies in Japan was busting out random locals on saying awful things to foreigners in rapidfire, short-sounding Japanese. But Leslie Ann seemed to take it in stride, tickled that Logan was standing up for them.
The room they got was exactly what she'd hoped for — a large suite that overlooked the main drag, nothing but neon lights and massive television screens up and down the street, with the cars thirty stories below.
"This is amazing," Leslie Ann whispered out.
"Glad you're enjoyin' it," Logan said over her shoulder. "But you should get some rest. We have miles to put under our shoes tomorrow."
"I can try," she said, bouncing on her toes the slightest bit. She wrapped her arms around Logan's neck in a hug again and giggled delightedly. "Thanks a million!"
"Yeah, yeah — get to bed," he grumbled. And when Leslie Ann flounced off, Logan watched as the little girl bounded over to her bedroom before he settled in to keep an eye on things.
"You sure you don't want me to take first watch?" Bobby asked.
"I've got it, popsicle," Logan told him as they settled in for the remainder of the night.
The train ride to Hokkaido was long and boring, and it seemed like Logan was taking his nap on the train while Bobby tried to entertain Leslie Ann for the duration. When they stepped off the train, though, she audibly gasped at the sheer number of massive pink-blossom laden trees surrounding them.
There were fallen blossoms covering every pathway, making the whole place look like it had fallen from a postcard. And in the distance, Mount Fuji loomed — larger than life and smoking almost ominously.
Leslie Ann picked up a few of the fallen blossoms and held them in her hands, blooming them brighter and bigger as her excitement poured into them. She couldn't stop grinning at absolutely everything.
As she was taking in the flowers, they were passed by three geisha in full makeup, almost silently floating by, with beautiful silk kimonos that stood out perfectly against the beautiful flowering trees around them. "Welcome to Japan," Logan told her quietly.
"Oh wow," was all she could manage to say, wide-eyed and grinning and unable to stop the occasional delighted giggle.
"Come on, let's take in the festival for now," he directed, his hand on her shoulder to steer her toward where the people were converging. "Find a nice spot and make yourself comfortable."
Leslie Ann did just that and tucked herself in between a couple big trees, letting out a little contented sigh as she put her hand very gently against the side of one of them. "Ooh. So old," she whispered, her eyes sparkling before she closed them and seemed to be perfectly content to become one with the tree.
"Typical. All of Japan and she's spending an hour with two trees," Bobby chuckled under his breath to Logan.
"We'll head up to the shrine when she's done. There are some really old ones up there she oughta get a kick out of."
"I should've brought something to read at this rate," Bobby said with a smirk.
"You should be keeping your eyes open for ninja," Logan said. "Otherwise ... you can refreeze her snow cone."
Bobby grinned and headed over to Leslie Ann to fill her snow cone cup with fresh ice. "Hey, kiddo, you're gonna drip all over yourself," he teased.
"Oh, sorry," she said, though she seemed to be speaking more to her jeans, where there was a little bit of snow cone. She clambored to her feet and looked around. "I get lost in them sometimes. They're just so… peaceful," she explained as she followed him back to where Logan was. "I wish I could talk to them and hear the stories they could tell."
"If they did, you'd need to learn Japanese to understand 'em," Logan said distractedly as he watched the crowd. "If you wanna go see the shrine before it gets too crowded..."
"Okay, lead the way," she said, shooing him with her hands.
The three of them went through the twisting streets until they came up on the very quiet shrine lined with visitors lighting candles and ringing the bell. "There are a few really old ones if that's what you're after," Logan whispered to Leslie Ann.
"I want to light a candle first," she whispered back.
"Alright; I'll walk you through it," he told her. He led her to the little area meant to wash your hands, and as they did so, he told her what the next steps were. "Walk toward the shrine's god and put some money in the box," he said as he handed her a few coins. "Bow twice — politely. Clap your hands twice, then bow once more. That's all there is to it."
Leslie Ann nodded as she carefully went through all the steps he'd told her, her eyes sparkling with happiness as she did so, though it was clear she was concentrating hard to get it all right. When she was done, she turned Logan's way, clearly tickled to pieces.
He was smirking at her as he nodded, entertained as she tried to stop herself from skipping all the way over to where he and Bobby were watching.
"Do you mind if I see the old trees? You can tell me if I'm taking too long," she said, still grinning.
"I don't mind at all," he replied. "This is your trip. We'll just have to feed Bobby before he starts whining."
"Well, we've gotta feed our Iceman," Leslie Ann teased happily.
"I'll take you to your trees first," he said. "He ain't gonna wither away on us."
She laughed delightedly as she skipped behind the two men until they got to the ancient trees at the shrine, and she gaped in awe as she almost reverently sat between them and closed her eyes, seemingly over the moon and happy to be able to stay there as long as she wanted.
It was some time later when she finally opened her eyes, taking a deep and rattling breath as she stared up at the two X-Men with eyes that were practically shining. "I could stay here forever," she said.
"That's precious," Bobby said. "But I'm starving."
She laughed and shook her head at him. "Yeah, I guess we should eat something," she said with a sigh.
"C'mon, I know a place," Logan said. "Noodles okay with you two?"
"I'll try anything," Leslie Ann said with a confident grin.
"No, don't tell him that," Bobby said in her ear. "He will take you for sushi when we get back by the coast."
"What's wrong with sushi? My uncle likes sushi. Uncle Craig, I mean."
"See?" Logan said, smacking Bobby in the center of his chest. "Ya big baby."
"We'll have noodles first," Leslie Ann promised Bobby soothingly as she trailed along behind Logan. It was entertaining to watch the little curly-headed girl going down the streets, because her every step left brighter blooms in her wake — a clear sign she was having a blast.
After a quick dinner, they found another hotel that was much smaller than the last one, but it only meant that the next day was going to be on Mount Fuji with the bamboo forest.
Again, the train ride was boring, and when they got to the mountain, Logan looked a bit more tense, but he took them up the trail and into the bamboo forest without much fanfare.
Just like before, Leslie Ann seemed to be entirely enamored with the natural sights of Japan, pausing several times to run a hand over the bamboo as she beamed. "This is way different from the trees. It's a whole different feeling," she told Logan.
"I heard someone say it was more like giant grass. Not sure how close that is, though," he said quietly.
"It's pretty similar," she admitted. "Sort of like… self-important overgrown lawn stuff." She giggled a bit at the description as she patted the bamboo almost consolingly. "But really pretty."
"Sounds about right for the country," Bobby said under his breath, earning a little glare from Logan.
"It grows pretty fast too," Leslie Ann told Bobby. "I've read about this stuff. It actually feels impatient. I wish I could explain it better."
"Well there's plenty to look at," Logan said as he strolled up the path that led to the top of the volcano.
The three of them made their way up, with Leslie Ann stopping often to marvel over some new aspect of the nature around them that stuck out to her. She was in heaven exploring the forest, having the time of her life, until Logan stopped short ahead of her.
He held up one hand and turned his head slowly to the side. "Well, that took longer than I'm used to," he muttered out.
Leslie Ann was just about to ask him what he was talking about when it seemed like a whole swarm of ninjas positively melted out of the forest to very quickly surround the three of them.
"They aren't Hand," Logan said to Bobby, though he didn't sound thrilled at the prospect.
.
"Good to know," Bobby said as he iced up and was clearly sticking close to Leslie Ann.
"They're from Yashida," Logan clarified. "So don't … start anything. Yet."
"Do you want me to … I could make us a path in the forest," Leslie Ann offered.
"Won't help," Logan replied. "They're keeping us here for their master. If we go, they'll stop us or follow."
"I don't think I like that," she muttered half under her breath.
"Hazards of travelling anywhere in the Eastern Hemisphere with this guy," Bobby said under his breath to her.
It wasn't too long before a fully-armored samurai appeared. His face was covered, though the armor was familiar — bright silver, every bit of it.
The harsh voice behind the armor barked out a few things in Japanese that Leslie Ann and Bobby clearly did not come close to catching, but Logan answered him in a calm, even tone, even as the samurai got more and more agitated. It was clear pretty early on that the guy wanted a fight, but Logan kept calm even when the guy started pointing at him and was clearly losing his cool.
"What are they saying? Do you know?" Leslie Ann whispered to Bobby, who shook his head.
"Doesn't seem like the other guy's too happy. Whatever his problem is."
It wasn't long into their argument before Logan finally raised his voice a bit and said something that had the guy positively livid. A moment later, the samurai had drawn his sword, and the two of them were sizing each other up, though Logan refused to move — even without his claws out or a sword for him to fight with. When the samurai rushed toward him, Logan made a quick move as he darted around the samurai's strikes and pulled the scabbard from his belt. He used the scabbard to deflect the hits, and the first time the young man charged him in a lunge, Logan simply held up the scabbard to sheathe the sword and twisted hard to take it away from him.
The younger silver-clad man stumbled a bit when he lost his weapon, and Logan turned to face him with a scowl on his face as he looked at the blade and started positively berating him. The words were out of Bobby's grasp, but the tone and the expression on his face were very familiar to him, at least.
"Well. I think he just got told," Bobby said as Logan pointed toward the ninjas with the beginning of a growl creeping into his voice as he continued to get after the samurai.
Leslie Ann giggled a bit at that. "So ... can we go? I mean, that was pretty cool. I think Logan won. Right?"
"Yeah, he won," Bobby said. "But… I don't think it's entirely over. Yet." But at that, Logan threw the sword in its scabbard at the samurai's feet and made it clear even to the English speakers that he wasn't putting up with their nonsense.
"We're leaving," Logan growled out finally to his friends. "We'll continue on our way up the mountain, and when we come back down — they will be gone."
Bobby was watching the ninjas warily still, but Leslie Ann simply nodded, entirely confident in Logan as she followed after him with slightly widened eyes and a little grin.
The rest of the trip up the mountain was peaceful, and it took some time, but after a while, she got to take a break and take in the forest again, though Logan was glaring into the trees and bamboo around them.
"Are you okay?" Leslie Ann asked him after a moment. "I don't know what that guy said to make you mad, but I'll totally get in his face for it if you tell me what it was."
"I appreciate the sentiment, but I've got it covered," Logan said. "Just a little punk trying to find a way to bring honor back to his clan."
"I thought the Silver Samurai was dead," she replied, then looked a little sheepish. "I've been reading up on Japan since you told me we'd be going."
"He is," Logan replied. "That was his son. Harada and I went around for years on who was the rightful samurai of clan Yashida. His kid wants to take the job, but he can't get the honor that goes with the title until he beats me."
"Well that's never gonna happen," Leslie Ann said, shaking her head. "Can't he do it some other way?"
"Not if I'm breathin'," he replied. "It's not a big deal. Harada cheated to win and I still beat him. The old man poisoned me to beat me — and I still won. They don't know how to fight square anyhow, and cheatin' brings more dishonor on their name. You think they'd learn."
"Maybe they'll figure it out this time," Leslie Ann offered, though Logan looked like he simply didn't believe that was possible.
"The whole thing is stupid. I don't want the title. I gave it to Harada years ago. But because this guy is new … thinks he's gotta prove himself. Probably got handed the old 'kill the gaijin' routine."
"Maybe he should find a different job," Leslie Ann suggested with a little smile. "Since he's never ever gonna beat you."
"Maybe we should find something better to do than mess around with samurai wannabes that hang out with honorless ninjas."
Leslie Ann leaned forward with a little crooked grin. "I was totally going to smack some ninjas with bamboo."
"I'm sure we'll have to deal with some before we head back," Logan told her. "We always do. This group was holding back so the kid could take his shot. They won't next time."
Leslie Ann playfully hit his arm with the back of her hand. "We can take 'em," she said confidently as she fell into step with him and Bobby the rest of the way down the mountain.
The rest of the trip was amazingly peaceful, though Logan never did relax for it, and when they finally returned to Tokyo, Leslie Ann was more than ready to try out some of the local cuisine.
Bobby was complaining loudly about Logan's choice of restaurant, though Logan had expected as much. "I swear to God, Logan — we fly to the other side of the world, you promise world class food, and you bring us to a sushi bar in a subway. You have got to be kidding me."
"It's the best place in the city," he defended. "And what do you know about it anyhow?"
"That's, like, the basic rule of sushi. Even I know that," Bobby argued.
"If we were stateside, or if it was any other place, I'd agree," he countered. "But in this case, you don't know what you're talkin' about." He held the door open for Leslie Ann, and the three of them headed over to take a seat at the bar before Logan ordered for the three of them and leaned over to whisper the rules to Leslie Ann.
"Whatever he gives you, just pick it up and eat it. Doesn't matter if you use the chopsticks or not."
"Oh good, because I kinda stink at those," Leslie Ann admitted with a bit of a blush.
"Don't worry about it. This guy is good; he'll make it to size for you," Logan promised. "Bobby's pieces will be huge."
"Did you ask him to do that?" she asked with a little giggle.
"Nope, he just makes them to fit your mouth," Logan replied with a little smirk.
"You shouldn't make fun of him," Leslie Ann said, but not even she sounded like she believed that — she was just defending her favorite X-Man.
"Just pay attention and tell me who gets the biggest pieces," Logan whispered as the first round of sushi was set down in front of the three of them. He gave her a moment to compare before he picked up his piece with the chopsticks and popped it in his mouth.
She giggled a bit and followed his lead, grinning around the first bite as she did so. "Ooh. This is good!"
The two of them looked at Bobby, who looked a bit wary, but he followed suit, and seemed a bit surprised himself when it wasn't as terrible as he thought. The rest of their meal came just like that, one bite on top of another, never a new piece until the last one was gone — and the nigiri just made way for more interesting-looking offerings that Bobby was certain he did not want to touch, let alone eat. But he kept going as long as Leslie Ann did.
"I don't want to know what that was," Bobby said after he swallowed a particularly … colorful bit.
"Oh, don't tell me. It might ruin it, and this stuff is pretty good," Leslie Ann said earnestly.
"Tobiko," Logan said. "I told you and it still isn't an issue."
"Yeah, but I don't know what that means," she laughed as she tried another nigiri. "Don't tell me."
"I'll tell you later," he said. "But this — believe it or not, Iceman — is one of the most expensive joints in the country. And one of the best."
"Alright, I admit it — this place is good," Bobby said.
"Always so surprised," Logan muttered before he lifted his glass of beer.
"Can I try some of that?" Leslie Ann asked with a bit of a hopeful look.
"Not a chance," Logan replied. "I'm not gonna slip booze to an underage kid whose dad is a frikkin' cop."
She looked a bit put out. "I wouldn't tell him."
"Until the next time you got liquored up — then it'd be 'no dad, this isn't the first time…Wolverine let me take a sip in Japan...'" he teased.
She rolled her eyes at him and stuck her tongue out. "Fi-ine," she breathed out, rolling her head as she said it, though she was still grinning. She put down her chopsticks and breathed out, "I think… I think I'm getting full."
"Just hold up your hand when you've had enough," Logan told her as the chef prepared another round.
She nodded and did so with a little sheepish smile. "I want to keep eating, because it's good — but I'm stuffed," she said almost apologetically.
"They don't speak English, darlin'," he told her. "But I'm sure they didn't expect a little thing like you to do the full twenty."
"Maybe next time we come?" she asked hopefully.
"Maybe," he agreed as he simply finished up, razzing Bobby to keep going even though Leslie Ann had tapped out. When the meal was totally finished, the three of them thanked their chef, and Logan picked up the tab as they made their way out.
It was a beautiful night, and music was echoing the streets as they headed toward their hotel room. Leslie Ann was feeling pretty good, considering she had plenty of time to let her meal settle while the two men finished up.
"D'you think I could learn to speak Japanese? I really wanted to thank that guy," Leslie Ann said cheerfully. "Mom's always telling me it's bad manners not to thank someone for a good meal like that, so I feel kinda bad."
"Sure, I can teach you enough to get by," Logan agreed.
She beamed at him and nodded. "Thanks! That — that would be really cool."
They were nearly to the hotel when the locals all scattered, and they found themselves surrounded by ninjas — again.
"Okay, these guys aren't gonna be as friendly as they were before," Logan said. "So don't be friendly back."
As soon as the first one broke the circle, Logan dove at him, and the fight started — though Bobby tried to keep Leslie Ann close, since the amount of greenery in the city was slim.
She gladly stuck close to him, muttering a bit under her breath about how little there was to work with for her there — though she had been brushing up on her hand-to-hand to prep for that trip, and it showed. She dodged a few blows with a delighted sort of astonished giggle before she spotted a crack in the sidewalk and grinned even wider as she reached out to the plants underneath the sidewalk — and the whole thing suddenly surged and blew apart, sending a few ninjas flying in different directions.
"Did you see that?" she asked Bobby excitedly, and he couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm.
"Yeah, that was really good," he told her. "Keep it up!" With that, he pulled her up onto some ice to skate clear of a small group of ninjas that had tried to come up on her blind side, and the two slid to some new opponents.
While they were freezing and more or less disorienting their opponents, Logan had slipped into a serious focus and was taking the brunt of the ninjas surrounding him without his claws, though that wasn't of much consolation to the ninjas once he took a sword off of one of them and went into a totally different kind of dance with them.
Leslie Ann was doing well, though she did not have anywhere near the stamina she needed to put up with professional clan ninjas. She'd just gotten in a good shot when one of them wrapped an arm around her chest from behind, pinning her arms to her side. He reached up with the other hand to try and cover her mouth, and she leaned into his hand and bit the snot out of him. When he pulled back in surprise at the move, she shouted at the top of her lungs for Logan and Bobby.
Both of them turned her way, but Logan sliced through two men and kicked another away in the rush to get closer to her. The ninja tried to use her as a shield, which really only ticked Logan off more, and he threw the sword away to grab Leslie Ann's arm and yank her away from the guy with one hand and stab him in the heart with the claws in his other hand.
"Bobby!" Logan shouted. "Get her outta here! I'll clean up!"
It only took a second for Bobby to catch up to the two of them, and Leslie Ann was wide-eyed and shaking as he got her on an ice slide and took off high above the fight to get her somewhere safe, setting her down in a nearby park where there was nature and relative quiet so she could more or less fall apart.
"He won't be too long," Bobby promised. "But I'm going to stay here with you, okay?"
Leslie Ann just nodded and leaned over until her head was on his shoulder as she simply started to cry — more because she was scared than anything else — as the adrenaline crash and everything else hit her at once.
Bobby wasn't wrong either. It was only another ten minutes or so before Logan walked up to the two of them, a bit more bloodied than last they saw them, and still bow-string tense. "You guys have enough of Tokyo?" Logan asked. "I think it's time we head out."
"Yeah, I think so," Bobby said over the top of Leslie Ann's curls; she was still half tucked into him.
"Whenever you're ready, then," he said, turning his back on them to keep watch for more trouble.
It took another little bit before Leslie Ann could find her voice, but when she did, it was to say, "I'm okay. Really."
"You did good, kiddo," Logan said. "I thought all this mess was over with. If I'd known it was an issue, I'd have fixed it before I brought you here."
"It's not your fault people are stupid," she said as she finally picked her head up to look his way. She took a deep breath. "Maybe ... maybe I need more practice," she admitted in a very small voice.
Logan smirked at her. "You're young. There'll be more trips to Japan. Next time, we'll bring K. That oughta liven it up a little."
That seemed to brighten Leslie Ann up substantially. "Yeah. Next time ... do you think she'll let me try sake?" she asked with a little smirk, though she definitely hadn't come unglued from Bobby, either.
"I think I'll warn her not to, or she probably would," Logan replied.
Leslie Ann stuck her tongue out at him and quickly wiped at her cheeks as she tried to not look like she'd just been crying. "Okay. Let's go home, then," she said with a nod. "I don't really want to stay where those ninja guys are."
"Then you might be better off coming to Japan with someone else," Bobby teased. "He's got some kind of ninja lure coming out of his pores."
She had to giggle a bit. "Yeah, Miss Kate told me that," she agreed. "But she made it sound fun. That… wasn't fun."
"Miss Kate is a little touched in the head, and she had Kurt teleporting her all over the damn place," Logan replied. "Different experience."
Leslie Ann grinned. "Well, I'll just work really hard on my fighting so I'll be more ready next time," she promised as she finally came untucked. "Maybe it's more fun if you're winning."
"What are you talkin' about?" Logan asked with a frown. "We won. Why do you think they tried to grab you? They got desperate."
"Oh, I thought they were just being stupid and mean," she said, looking down.
"That's true too," Bobby said. "It's a job requirement: stupid, mean, and ugly enough they have to hide behind a mask and hood."
She snickered a bit at that. "Yeah, and they taste horrible."
"I grabbed that bag of candy for Jubes," Bobby said. "You need a cherry sucker, I think."
She broke into a wide grin and nodded. "Yes, please," she said, and the two X-Men could tell she was feeling better because the previously wilting grass around her and Bobby was starting to get back some of its life.
"Well let's grab our stuff and head home," Logan said gently. "I'm sure your folks are missing you — and Jana's going to be jealous you got to beat up ninjas." He nudged Bobby. "Isn't that right?"
"Jana? Kate'll be jealous," Bobby said with a laugh.
"Yeah, but Miss Kate is jealous when anybody has any fun without her," Leslie Ann giggled.
Logan smirked her way and took a few steps closer to hand her something heavy with a few sharp edges. "She didn't think to grab a souvenir when she took a turn. Have a throwing star."
Her jaw dropped, and she broke into a little delighted laugh as she looked down at the throwing star. "That… this is so cool."
The two X-Men shared a look, and they led the girl off to pack up and get to the jet before any other trouble could creep up on them, though once Leslie Ann fell asleep, they talked about what kind of a mess Logan had stumbled into this time.
The only problem, of course, was that Logan couldn't give Bobby a solid answer as to what he was going to do about it — particularly since he could see their point in needing a proper samurai, but also that he felt his commitment to the Yashida clan was over. By the time Logan had quit trying to figure out which angle was right, even Bobby was confused — since any little thing on either side was a hit on someone's honor in some way or another.
When they finally got back to Westchester, they were sure to drop Leslie Ann off at her parents' house, and Anton met them at the door to look over his little girl to be sure that she was alright before he gave Logan a bit of a nod over her head that she didn't seem to notice because she was too busy telling him about the trees and the flowers.
"Come on; why don't we get those pictures off your camera so we can show your mom when she wakes up?" Anton offered, pulling Leslie Ann inside, and she gave both of the X-men a cheery wave goodbye.