Relax, I'm A Ninja Read online

  Amy didn’t seem nervous like me. She grabbed my arm and put it around her waist. She was so small, and she felt even smaller as she snuggled into my side.

  “Is this okay?” she whispered.

  “Yeah.” There were no words to tell her how incredibly “okay” it felt.

  We lay there for a while. I was nowhere close to sleep even though I should’ve been. She kept playing with my hair and running her fingers across my back. I couldn’t stop staring at her porcelain face. I swear it glowed in the dark. Maybe it was because I was crazy for her, but it seemed like she had a slight glow whenever we were close.

  “Tosh?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Why are you acting so afraid of me?”

  “What?”

  She looked away. “You’ve been so tense lately. And right now you’re like…I don’t know…petrified. Am I that gross?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re not gross at all. How could you think that?”

  “Well, you haven’t kissed me yet, and now you’re acting like you don’t want to touch me at all. Are you having second thoughts about us being together?” She bit her lip, and I couldn’t believe she was worrying about this.

  “Amy.” I hugged her tight. “I don’t want anything but you. I…I don’t want to freak you out by being too forward. You mean a lot to me. I can’t explain it.”

  I couldn’t say it out loud, but something deep inside me needed Amy. On every level. We were connected—we always had been. Even when I was trying to ignore her curious stares in elementary school, she was always in my subconscious.

  She nuzzled me and sighed. “I was starting to think I was insane for being so crazy about you this soon.”

  “I know what you mean.” We’d spent every second we were allowed together over the past weeks, and I still missed her like hell when she left.

  “So, when are you going to kiss me?”

  “I don’t know, seems like it should be special, shouldn’t it? Like when we were on your roof. That was…well, romantic.” Man, do I sound like a girl or what? The idea of my mom wanting me to kiss her also made it hard to give in.

  “Aw, that’s so cute.” She spread her fingers over my chest. “I’ll be patient, then.”

  I held her close without worrying about her getting mad. I had finally started to doze off when I heard the door click open. I slammed my eyes shut and kept my breathing even, positive it was my mom checking on us.

  “Kawaii!” she squeaked in the softest whisper. She called us cute. Then she shut the door.

  “Okay, that’s freaky how she’s not flipping out,” Amy whispered. “What’s going on, Tosh?”

  “I’ll tell you, just hold on.” After waiting a few minutes, I slipped out of bed and cracked my door open without a sound. I searched every inch of the house for signs of life. Nothing. Then I went back to Amy, who stood by my small desk. I sat on the bed.

  “Where’s your mom going at one in the morning?” Amy folded her arms. I told her what I’d overheard my parents talking about, and her eyes went wide. “It?”

  “Yeah. I don’t know what ‘it’ means, but I think we’re something important.” I didn’t want to scare her, but I wouldn’t lie like my mom did. So what if she thought she was protecting me? I didn’t feel protected—I felt exposed. “I think it has something to do with that Clan my dad warned us about.”

  She went absolutely still. “Why do you think that? That…that thing…I don’t ever want to see it again.”

  “I know, me neither.” I pulled her close, wishing I could do more to comfort her. But I had to keep going. I told her about what really happened the night I ended up in Courtney’s bedroom, and how she thought I was one of them.

  “Wait.” She stared in disbelief. “Courtney Petersen is a ninja?”

  I nodded.

  She pulled away, glaring at me. “No way.”

  “It’s true. She’s the one who saved Todd—the one we ran into the night of your birthday, I swear. Cheerleader is a good cover, you gotta admit.” I put my hands on hers, praying she’d believe me. I needed her to believe me. If she got mad and called me crazy, I didn’t know what I’d do.

  She wrapped her fingers around mine. “You didn’t throw the pencil at Logan. You threw it at her and she dodged.”

  I smiled. “Yeah. That was really stupid.”

  “So, she knows about that other Clan?” Amy melted back into me, and I breathed her in. I told her how I fought Courtney and what she said about the Akuma and kami.

  “Do you think that green light in the park was kami?” she asked.

  “I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe. It looked kinda like that vine light thing. Same color, at least.” There were still too many pieces missing. Amy and I were something important, but what? The Akuma were after us, but why? My mom said we needed more training, but for what?

  Amy went to the bed and flopped onto the mattress. Tapping her fingers on her stomach, she stared up at the ceiling. “We need more information. Shouldn’t we ask your parents?”

  I lay down next to her. “Honestly, I’m pissed off at them right now. They’ve decided not to tell us what’s up. They’d probably say it’s not time to know or something.”

  “Probably. Then we’ll have to trap Courtney.”

  “She’s pretty slippery. I’ve been trying to corner her for weeks.” I put my arm around her bare shoulder, and she came closer.

  “Ah, but she doesn’t know about me, does she?”

  I smiled wide. “No, she doesn’t. We could set a trap for her or something.”

  “Could I take her?” Her face was so close it was almost impossible not to kiss her. But I held strong.

  “Hmm, hard to say. She’s good. You might need more training.” Amy got better every day, but Courtney was hardcore. I didn’t want to send her against the cheerleader without being sure she’d win.

  “Okay, train me.” She seemed determined to beat Courtney, almost excited. “I can tell my mom we’re practicing more for another big competition…not like she really cares at this point. Having a boyfriend makes me cool.”

  “All right, I bet two or three weeks and you could beat her.” I could train her in sai, which would be perfect against Courtney’s sword. And I already knew a lot about Courtney’s fighting style, so I could easily show Amy how to counter it.

  “Sweet.” She pulled herself up and kissed my cheek. Zing. That was the best way to explain it. Her lips made my skin zing. It had felt like that even with the self-defense kiss. She laughed at my expression. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Should we sleep now?”

  “I should take you home.” It sounded stupid, but I really wanted to be the good guy.

  “Nope. Not after all this. You said we were going to bed—you’re just gonna have to deal with it.” She pulled her phone out and typed a text to her mom, then she rolled over and pulled the covers above her head.

  I sighed, but wrapped my arms around her anyway. “Don’t think this is happening tomorrow.”

  “Fine.”

  As I dozed off, things didn’t seem so bad. We’d figure this out, and when we did, maybe we’d stop the Akuma before they killed again. At least that’s what I hoped for, even if part of me whispered it was impossible.

  18

  My dad had no problem with us training more. Actually, he seemed deeply pleased about it, just like my mom was pleased with our cuddling. He moved his meditation period upstairs to his room so we could have more space.

  Amy and I stood across from each other in the training room. Amy smiled in a way that made it hard to attack her. I hated attacking anyone to begin with, especially my girlfriend. But I ran at her, ready to smash my elbow into her face. That’s the only way she’d learn. She ducked and pushed my arm to throw me off balance. Next thing I knew she was on my back, arms around my neck. I flipped her off me and she landed on her feet.

  “Much better.” I’d been showing her how Courtney fought so she’d be prepared.
/>   She nodded, breathing hard as she went over to the drinking fountain. When she came back, she plopped down on the mat and stared at me with her panther eyes. The dance was in a couple of days, and I couldn’t wait to get that over with so I could have her to myself again. I sat close and took her hand.

  “How come you never attack first? You’re just as good at that as defending,” she said.

  “You can tell a lot about your opponent in those first moments. How they like to fight, how confident they are, how much training they’ve had. I like to learn all that before they know anything about me.”

  “And here I thought you were chicken.” She laughed at the scowl I gave her. “I’m kidding!”

  “Not a fan of being called that.” I kicked her playfully. “Kids on the playground used to call me that when I wouldn’t test my ‘karate skills’ on them.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Fine, sorry. I won’t call you that ever again. Anything else I shouldn’t call you?”

  “Short.” That brought me back to junior high when I was Amy’s height. Eddie, Stu, and Todd towered over me back then. Even as my friends, they made sure to point it out. It hurt, though I tried to laugh it off. I was average height now, but I still felt short.

  “How could I ever call you short? You’re way taller than me!” She scooted closer.

  “I’m still the shortest of my friends.”

  “Well, I hope you stop growing, otherwise I’ll get neck aches whenever you decide to kiss me.” She smiled wide, and I sighed. She’d been dropping serious hints. No pressure there. Now I couldn’t possibly measure up. I should have gotten it over with sooner.

  I stood. “You ready for a real fight?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re going down this time.”

  “Okay, sure.”

  She got up, standing about six inches away and staring up with an enigmatic grin. I stared back, determined not to crack a smile. Five minutes passed. She loved to wait like that, just to see if I’d cave and attack first. I’d stood in front of someone for over fifteen minutes, so this was nothing. She grew antsy—an attacker at heart.

  “Have you always been this hot?” she said in a low, sexy voice.

  “Not really. I’d say maybe for the last six months.” I maintained my glare. She pursed her lips so she wouldn’t laugh. I totally checked her out. “When did you stop being such an awkward tomboy?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Maybe six months ago.”

  That got her going. She tried to knee me in the balls. Her own boyfriend. Shameless, and yet a smart move. I jumped back to dodge the blow, and she landed a punch to my face. My girlfriend hit me, and I was proud of her.

  “Sorry!” she cried.

  I laughed. “Don’t be sorry. That was excellent.” I bent down into a traditional karate stance for kicks. “Keep it up.”

  She smiled and charged. Amy put up her best fight yet. Either she was starting to figure me out, or I was too distracted by her to focus. As I blocked a blow to my knee, I caught the look in her eye. Total animal. She went for my head again, staring me down. She went on pure instinct. She fought from her gut, from her soul.

  I ducked out of the way and then jumped to avoid getting tripped. I flipped backward to kick her, but she dodged. She did a flawless job of covering any hold I could get. I grabbed her around the torso; she used her momentum to rip my arms off. I locked her arms behind her back; she twisted out of it.

  We kept going. I stopped thinking about the moves altogether as I watched her. It was like a silent conversation: her attack a question, my defense a reply. I was entranced, at least until I saw the opening.

  I pounced on it like a fox, tripping her. Finally, she was on the ground and I pinned her fast. She glared at me, genuinely angered that she’d lost the fight. Her chest heaved up and down as she caught her breath. And then her eyes glinted. She’d hatched a plan. I don’t know how she did it, but she got her legs free. Wrapping them around me, she pinned me in the same hold from her first day of training. Her heels dug into my spine, and she leaned in close to my face.

  “Hmm, how did you get out of this one again?” Everything about her screamed smugness, and yet she was so sexy it hurt. She’d beaten me, she really had. Freaking her out with a kiss wouldn’t work this time. In fact, I was sure she wanted me to kiss her.

  So I did.

  She released her hold and grabbed my neck. It was incredible. I didn’t know if we were doing it right or not, but it didn’t matter. Her lips felt charged, every kiss like a shock to my system.

  Zing, zing, zing.

  I felt warm, and my eardrums vibrated with a strange sound that seemed familiar. Amy kept kissing me. I had my hands on her back, crushing her to me. I couldn’t get her close enough. It felt like we should have melted together.

  We stopped when we opened our eyes. What little breath I had left disappeared as I stared at Amy’s glowing skin. I couldn’t reason it away this time—she was freaking glowing. We jumped apart.

  “You’re…you’re glowing!” she said, her eyes wide. At least she wouldn’t call me crazy for saying it.

  “You’re glowing!”

  She looked down at her hand, and I looked at my own. I glowed like she did. I recognized the light. It was the same soft green color of that kami. Shimmering like the light at the bottom of a pool, it radiated and pulsed under my skin in soft currents. It slowly faded, but the zinging sensation hadn’t let up.

  “I think you might have been right about us being special.” Amy crawled toward me.

  “No kidding. Are you okay?” I felt okay, way better than okay, but I had to check.

  “I feel great. Can we do it again?” She smiled wide. “It can be my reward for beating you.”

  “That does deserve a reward. How’d you do it?” I traced her jaw line with my finger. I really should have kissed her sooner, because it was the best thing I’d ever experienced.

  “I don’t know…I just stopped thinking.” She grabbed my waist and pulled me up against her.

  We kissed again. Not only was it better than the first time, but we glowed even brighter. That resonating sound filled my ears so much it hurt, and I had to force myself to push her away. We stared at each other as the glowing dissipated.

  “What do you think that is?” she asked.

  “Not sure. It kinda reminds me of that light the Akuma took from that girl …”

  She nodded. “But why would we glow like kami?”

  “No clue.”

  “We need to get Courtney now.”

  I shook my head. “Not until you can disarm me with sai. She’s well-trained in swords.”

  She sighed. “Fine, but we’re not waiting a day after that.”

  “Deal.”

  “All this fighting and kissing is making me hungry.” Her stomach growled on cue, and I laughed.

  “One more—?” Before I finished the sentence her lips were on mine. When I managed to pull myself away, we were like neon signs on the Vegas strip. It was weird, but I didn’t care.

  “Let’s eat.” Once the glowing went away, I held out my hand for her. We walked to the back door and I turned the knob. Except I didn’t actually turn it, I crushed it in my hand and ripped it off the door.

  “Tosh…how did you do that?” Amy said as we stared at the jacked-up handle in my palm.

  “I don’t know.” Something clicked. The Akuma ate kami for power, and we glowed like kami. I didn’t know how, but maybe we got power from kami in a different way. “Amy, hit something.”

  “What?”

  “Just do it.”

  “Okay, okay.” She let go of my hand and punched the metal door in front of us—leaving a huge dent. “Holy crap!”

  “Whoa.” I didn’t feel different, other than the fact that I had kissed Amy and it felt like fireworks on my lips. Yet there we were destroying a door.

  “Is that from us kissing?” Amy squeezed my arm, but it didn’t hurt. I put my finger to the door and pressed, making a little de
nt.

  “I think so. I guess just be careful?”

  “I’ll try, after we get the door open at least.” She dug her fingers into the frame and pulled it open. “Wow.”

  “I think they’ll know something happened.” I laughed as we climbed the stairs. As lightly as possible, I turned the doorknob to my apartment. Still dented it.

  Luckily my mom was watching TV, because if she was in the kitchen she’d have seen how I accidentally bit off the end of my chopsticks. Amy broke her first plate. We could hardly stop laughing to eat. We probably should have been scared, and maybe we would have been if we were alone. But we’d just kissed and got powers from it. There wasn’t a downside at this point, though somewhere in the back of my mind I knew there had to be.

  “How was practice?” my mom asked when we took our usual place on the couch.

  “Fine.” Her nosiness sucked out some of the high. She was probably waiting for what had happened downstairs. I didn’t want to tell her if she wasn’t telling me about her life. It was petty, but that was how I felt. Amy and I could figure this out on our own, and we could protect each other fine now. All we had to do was kiss.

  19

  My parents didn’t ask about the busted dojo door. They thought someone broke in. At least, that was what they said. We figured they were lying, but we were too distracted with each other to care.

  The downside to kissing Amy? We glowed. It didn’t seem like a problem at first, but we couldn’t sneak a peck in public without turning into human-sized fireflies. Sometimes cuddling got a good glow, too. It wore off after a few seconds, but we couldn’t risk anyone noticing. I could see it now. Eddie would catch us glowing and freak out. Amy would accidentally break his arm as she tried to restrain him. Then tabloids would jump all over the glowing couple who betrayed and then maimed their friend.

  The strength wore off like the glowing. It seemed directly proportional to the length of time we kissed. Short session? We’d get maybe five minutes of Herculean strength. Long session? We’d have to be careful for hours.

  The dance was tonight, so I stood in the bathroom trying not to rip my stupid tie. Amy had left thirty minutes before to get ready. I reminded myself I wasn’t going with her. Sarah Parkins was my date, technically. But we were going as friends, so I hoped the lines would blur.