The Shield of Kuromori. Jason Rohan
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let go of the blade in her right hand, so her whole weight was supported by her left.
Ignoring the rising ache in her lungs, she drew back her free hand and smashed the heel of her palm into the crack. The impact jarred through her arm. Sweat ran down her left wrist and she felt her grip loosening on the dagger. Kiyomi slammed her palm against the wood again.
Spots danced behind her eyes, but she refused to give in. If only she had a hand free to perform the correct kata and trace the power symbol in the air, to channel her ki . . . But then Kiyomi found herself wondering: What would Kenny do? The goddess Inari had chosen him as her champion because of his ability to think differently. If Kenny couldn’t find an answer, he changed the question.
And then it came to her – though it was a long shot and the timing would have to be perfect. Ribbons of flame danced along the support timbers, like heralds announcing that the dome was now ablaze. She was out of time.
Kiyomi let go of the dagger in her left fist and whipped the same hand across, down, up again at a diagonal and then down again, writing a kanji character in the air as she fell.
‘Chikara!’ she yelled, exhaling in a single gasp. At the same time, her right fist streaked through the smoke and connected with the split in the wood. KAH-RUUNCH! Her strike tore through the plank as easily as if it was paper, punching out the external metal tile. The fire quickened, as if sensing the loss of its quarry, and flames reached towards her. Kiyomi thrust her other arm into the hole, pulled up and wriggled her shoulders through.
‘Kiyomi!’ Kenny stared, struck with numb horror at the flames spewing out of both entrances of the observatory. Even from where he stood, the heat was blistering, and the awful truth was that anyone inside would be incinerated. Kenny wiped a grimy knuckle across his stinging eyes and prepared to direct the anger and grief welling inside. He had created water once before. Now it was time for –
BZZZT!
Kenny blinked in bewilderment. He checked his smartwatch and read: GET OUT OF THE WAY.
‘Huh?’ He stumbled backwards. The next thing he knew there was a scraping, sliding sound from above, a blur of movement and a black-leather-clad figure dropped to the ground directly in front of him, landing on all fours, with steam rising off its shoulders.
Kenny was speechless. Kiyomi wasn’t.
‘Where have you been?’ she demanded. ‘I’m trapped in there with a whole army of oni turning me into barbecue and you’re out here – sightseeing.’
‘What? You told me to go rescue people, and that’s what I was doing, until this oni turned up with a Minigun and shot down half the trees.’
Kiyomi took in Kenny’s appearance – clothes smeared with dust and soot, splinters in his hair, knees grazed, small cuts across his face – and softened. ‘OK. He’s clever, I’ll give him that.’
‘Who?’
‘The oni in charge.’
‘I thought you said before that all oni are stupid.’ Kenny glanced back at the fallen tree.
‘This one’s different. He created a diversion, blew up two buildings and then set us a trap.’
A loud splintering sound came from the dome and a section of roof fell inwards, sending a shower of sparks into the twilight sky.
‘We should go,’ Kiyomi said. ‘Fire and ambulance are here already; it won’t be long before the police start asking questions.’ She set off towards a large shrub.
‘Let’s start with why,’ Kenny said. ‘Why go to all this trouble? Why burn down half the observatory?’
Kiyomi reached into the bush and grabbed a pair of handlebars. ‘Best way to cover your tracks,’ she said. ‘Set a fire and destroy all evidence.’
Kenny frowned. ‘Evidence? Of what?’
‘Ken-chan, they just stole a seventeen-tonne telescope.’
Kiyomi wheeled her motorbike out of its hiding place and waited for this to sink in.
‘They stole a honking great telescope?’ Kenny repeated.
‘Uh-huh.’ She pulled on her crash helmet.
‘Why?’
‘I don’t know. Let’s ask them.’ Kiyomi sat astride the bike and powered up the engine.
‘How are we going to do that? They’re long gone.’
Kiyomi switched on the dashboard display screen. ‘Yeah, but they’re stuck in rush-hour traffic, heading south on Route 123.’
Kenny smiled. ‘You planted a bug? Then why are you wasting time talking to me?’ He jumped on the bike behind Kiyomi. ‘Let’s get after them!’
Kiyomi flipped her visor down. ‘Hang on tight. This might get rough.’
She spun the bike round, its rear tyre spraying up a geyser of dirt, and cut through the trees behind the burnt-out building, before streaking out of the front gate.
Two police cars were stationed outside the National Observatory to control access. One of them reversed slowly, to permit another fire engine to pass through, when a silent motorcycle blitzed past, hurtling out of the gates. It swerved right, narrowly avoiding a number 91 bus, and headed south on Route 123.
Cars crawled along the road, bumper to bumper. Kiyomi consulted the dashboard display once more and swung out into the centre. Keeping both wheels on the orange line in the middle, she followed the curve of the road, eating up the distance.
‘They haven’t gone far,’ she called back to Kenny, who was hanging on for grim life. ‘They’re at the next traffic lights, by the primary school.’
‘Won’t they see us coming?’
As if on cue, a boxy delivery van pulled out into the opposite lane and parked at a right angle, blocking the road.
‘That’s not good,’ Kenny warned. ‘Better slow down.’
Kiyomi sped up. ‘No way. I’m not stopping for those clowns.’
‘Are you nuts?’
‘Hold on tight!’
Kenny saw the leer of triumph on the face of the oni in the driver’s seat change to befuddlement as Kiyomi eased off the throttle for a split second, leaned forward, then hit the power and snapped her arms back.
The front of the bike lifted in a perfect wheelie and Kiyomi veered left, bringing the wheel down with a thump on the back of a yellow taxi. Before Kenny could object, she opened up the throttle again and the motorbike lurched over the stationary vehicle, nosed down over the bonnet and on to the boot of a Toyota sedan in front. Kenny felt his stomach heave up into his chest and drop down again while he clung on to Kiyomi.
The oni watched the motorcycle ride up and down over the row of waiting cars, passing round the back of the van.
‘NOOO! You come back – now!’ it roared, shaking both fists.
With a final burst of speed, the motorbike leapt off the roof of a Honda estate and touched down on asphalt, streaking it with black rubber. Ignoring the shouts of angry drivers, Kiyomi continued down the centre line, leaving the oni behind.
BEEP! Kenny whipped his head round at the sound of smashing metal and tinkling glass. Behind him and closing fast, the delivery van was tearing down the road on the wrong side. The few cars heading north swerved on to the wide pavement and screeched to a stop, out of its way.
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