“What kind of trouble? Should we tell her father?” James reached for his phone. Then he hesitated as he had second thoughts about pulling it out in front of Shion.

  “Don’t be a damn jerk,” Shion swore. “You think Matsuri wants her father involved?”

  “You are referring to her rather familiarly there, Shion-san,” Mitsue said disapprovingly. “I thought your roommate was teaching you manners?”

  “She’s my friend, and I’ll refer to her how I like, Mitsue.” Shion glared at Mitsue and made a gesture that James assumed was rude. He also assumed she was dropping Mitsue’s honorific for very different reasons. “Are you going to help me bust her out, or what?”

  “What? Bust her out of what? Is she in jail?” James asked.

  “No! Don’t be stupid, idiot. It’s just the local yakuza.”

  James stared. “I think I should call her dad.”

  Shion swore and drew back her fist.

  Suki intervened. “Perhaps!” she said insistently, putting herself between them, “You could explain what has happened to Matsuri.”

  “Explain?” Shion said, as if it were a foreign word.

  “Yes. Tell us what happened, while assuming that we know nothing about any of your interactions with Matsuri.”

  Shion looked at Suki warily, as if she were considering a new and terrifying concept for the first time.

  “Fine!” she finally said. “We can do it your way, I guess. From the beginning…”

  Her gaze trailed off in thought. “So, to start with, Matsuri is a genius when it comes to Frames.”

  Suki nodded. “She does seem very interested in them.”

  “Yeah, so last year, she asked me to introduce her to a yakuza group that runs an illegal Frame-fighting ring.”

  “Last year?” Mitsue asked. “Was that not before either of you had started school here?”

  “She was living on the island with her dad,” Shion explained. “Going to school by ferry. I wasn’t at school, but I was on the island getting ‘socialised’.” She made the air quotes with her fingers.

  “That’s the bit you want to comment on?” James exclaimed. “What about the yakuza? Aren’t they criminals?”

  “Eh, sort of,” Shion said, shrugging. “Didn’t I just say it was an illegal Frame-fighting ring?”

  “This ring isn’t on the island, is it?” Mitsue asked. “How did you become aware of it if you were being kept here?”

  “I wasn’t a prisoner,” Shion said, scowling. “They didn’t like me leaving, they were all ‘we can’t protect you’ and ‘don’t cause trouble’, but they never stopped me from getting on the ferry.”

  Shion snorted with disgust. “So, anyway, she wanted to pilot frames, and her dad wouldn’t give her one, so she joined up.”

  “With the yakuza-run fighting ring,” Harue put in.

  “Yeah. You having trouble keeping up?”

  “No, I just wanted to say it,” Harue said. She grinned with delight. “I never thought the girl had it in her, to be honest.”

  “Whatever. She had a deal with the group, where they provided the mech and got all of the winnings. “

  Harue nodded. “That’s the kind of deal they’d like,” she said. “They pay the prize back to themselves and profit off the bets. Did she win much?”

  “All the damn time,” Shion said. “Even in that crappy Frame they gave her. She’s a genius.”

  “Even better,” Harue said. “If she’s winning as the underdog, they can fix the odds and make nice book. That won’t work forever, though. Once the punters catch on…”

  “That doesn’t matter right now,” Shion said. “I just heard from Matsuri that she entered tonight’s fight with her own Frame.”

  “But she doesn’t have her own—Oh. Junko-san’s missing Frame. Matsuri-san has it.” James squeezed the bridge of his nose. He was too young to be getting a stress headache. “But why?”

  “She must want to get the prize, so Junko can pay back her credit card,” Harue said. “But it won’t work.”

  “That’s what I said!” Shion exclaimed. “But she didn’t believe me!”

  “Why won’t it work?” Suki asked.

  “Yakusa like deals where they make the money,” Harue explained. “If Matsuri has been winning, they’ve been able to jack up the prize and attract better fighters, without having to go so far as to pay out the prize. Now if she turns around and collects the prize…”

  “Is that what you told her?” Suki asked Shion.

  “I told her that she was an idiot, and the yakuza never paid anyone money, let alone that much money.”

  “How do you know that much about how the yakuza operate, Harue?” James asked.

  “Oh, it’s part of the general education,” Harue said. She gave him an impish grin. “Law-abiding schoolchildren need to be taught what to look for so they don’t fall victim to yakuza schemes.”

  James looked at her doubtfully. “Is that true, Mitsue?”

  Mitsue rolled his eyes. “I cannot comment with authority on the standard Japanese curriculum. I note, however, that it was not a part of Matsuri-san’s education.”

  “She probably didn’t pay attention, since it wasn’t Frame-related,” Harue countered.

  “So now that we’ve got the jibber-jabber out of the way, are you going to help Matsuri or not?” Shion demanded.

  “Of course!” Harue said.

  “I really don’t think we should. This sounds like the sort of thing that we should call the Professor about,” James said.

  “Narc,” Shion spat. “I’ll teach you to—”

  “Hold up, hold up!” Harue said. She held up a placating hand in front of Shion. “James just needs things explained to him, is all.”

  She stood in front of James, looking up at him with a sweet smile. “James,” she said. “I know that Matsuri is starting to tolerate you, but if you get her in trouble with her father, she will hate you forever.”

  “She might be mad,” James admitted. “But if she’s really in trouble, her dad should know. And he’s got connections, he can probably get her out of this!”

  “JSDF vs yakuza, that might be something fun to watch,” Harue agreed. “But! This is about Matsuri, who is trying to help Junko out of a jam.”

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “That Matsuri-san got Junko-san into.” James pointed out.

  Harue shrugged. “I’m sure she thought she was helping, just like she’s trying to help now. The point is that if she fails and doesn’t get the payout, Junko won’t be able to pay back her dad and will probably leave the club! And that makes it an Idol Club matter.”

  “Does it?” James said sceptically. “You were the one who said she didn’t need to quit over this.”

  “What’s the second rule of Idol Club, James?”

  James looked at her with suspicion. “Isn’t it the same as the first one? Everyone has to talk about Idol Club?”

  “No! I’m shocked and hurt that you’d think I would base our sacred rules on an old American movie. No, the rule is: Idols support each other!”

  “Are these written down somewhere? If I look, will I see that you scratched out the old rule?”

  Harue ignored him and turned to Kana.

  “Kana, we need you to lead the club to victory against the yakuza,” she said.

  Kana broke from staring at Shion and turned to Harue. “I see. Will the other club members be joining us?”

  “There isn’t time. You see, we—”

  Kana cut her off. “Do not trouble me with unnecessary details. I know everything I need to.”

  “Were you even listening?” James objected.

  “Why would I need to?” Kana said, looking at him with narrowed eyes. “I do not need to know the nature of my foe to know that he will fall before me.”

  “That’s the spirit!” Harue said. “Many dreams, one stage!”

  “Shining together!” Suki and Kana chorused.

  Suki bumped James gently from the side. “Sorry, James, it’s Idol Club rules.”

  James sighed. “Even if that were remotely true, I’m not in Idol Club. Nothing is stopping me from telling the Professor.”

  “But that would get us into trouble,” Suki said. She looked up at him and batted her eyelids. “You wouldn’t get me into trouble, would you?”

  James tried to resist, but he was only human. “No,” he admitted.

  “And you’ll come along as well? To protect me?”

  James let out a low breath, tilting his head in defeat. “All right… fine.”

  Suki hugged him tightly. “You are such a supportive boyfriend.” James found that he couldn’t bring himself to regret his decision, even if he did have trouble meeting Mitsue’s gaze.

  “Whoo hoo!” Harue exclaimed. “Let’s do this! Just one thing.”

  She turned to Shion. “You wouldn’t happen to know the name of this yakuza group?”

  Shion blinked. “It’s a mid-tier one… um, the Raimēkai family, I think.”

  “Great!” Harue replied. “I’ve just gotta make one quick phone call.” Pulling out her phone, she didn’t bother dialling, just held it to her ear and waited. Looking at everyone watching her, she smiled apologetically and took two steps backwards. While that took her out of the conversation, it wasn’t far enough to prevent anyone from hearing anything she said.

  “Hello, Onee-sama,” was how she started. Then there were a few quick murmurs of agreement. Then: “I didn’t want to bother you, Onee-sama, but I did have one quick question. The Raimēkai family, are they… connected?”

  She listened to the answer. “I might… tweak their nose a little bit. Is that okay?”

  The unheard voice on the line continued talking, with Harue responding with “Yes,” a few times until she said. “I will look out for that, thank you, Onee-sama.”

  Putting the phone away, she gave them all a bright smile. “Good news! Everything’s fine and we can proceed!”

  “Harue,” James said slowly. “Is your temple… part of the Yakuza?”

  “Hmm… that’s kind of hard for me to say,” Harue said.

  “Yes, admitting to criminal liability is not recommended in most cases,” Mitsue commented.

  “I mean, sure, that. But it’s more like… I don’t know? They keep the younger maidens away from all that.”

  “You knew enough to call your sister,” Suki said.

  “I know enough to check before I do anything that might step on any toes,” Harue agreed. “But you don’t get how it works at the temple. Everything is deniable, nothing is admitted. I got permission, but it’s possible that Onee-sama does have an interest in this group and is calling them right now to warn them about me.”

  “What? Then why did you—”

  “Relax,” Harue cut James off with a gesture. “It’s a low probability. Even if she does have her finger in this pie, it would be far easier for her to tell me to drop it.”

  “Then why call at all, if it is such low risk?” Mitsue asked. “In the unlikely event it becomes necessary, forgiveness could be sought.”

  “That’s not how it works with Onee-sama,” Harue said. She gave a slight shudder. “This way, she’s not going to get mad at us and, believe me, that’s how we want it.”

  “Are we done, now?” Shion broke in. “Can we go? We’ve got two ferries to catch.”

  “Two?” James asked.

  “We need to go to Fukuyama on the normal ferry,” Shion said with an impatient glare. “Then we get another ferry to Akahone Island, where the fights are.”

  “I guess we should go then if we really are going to do this,” James said.

  “Finally!” Shion muttered.

  The first ferry ride went quickly. At least, it did for James. Suki was hanging on to his arm and leaning against him, and he wasn’t paying attention to the conversation that was going on around him.

  The only moment that broke through his daze was when Harue drew Mitsue aside and started arguing with him.

  “What was that about?” James asked him when he got back.

  Mitsue scowled. “I have been… reluctantly convinced that the best course of action is for me to complete a role that is separate from your own efforts.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It’s best that I don’t explain,” Mitsue said. “Much as it pains me to conceal things from you, if circumstances should turn against you, you won’t be able to reveal what I’m doing.”

  “So you’re going in alone? Will you be all right?”

  “Please,” Mitsue said. “Criminal organisations like the Yakuza are not to be trifled with, but I am a trained ninja. Infiltration will pose no problems for me.”

  “I guess that’s true,” James said. “Take care, though.”

  “Always,” Mitsue assured him. “You be careful as well. You should be fine with those two—” he glanced at Harue and Kana. “I made Harue promise not to let you get into trouble. Even if she thinks it would be funny.”

  James snorted. “That’s an important condition,” he agreed.

  “What about me?” Suki asked from James’ side.

  Mitsue bowed. “You have James to protect you, Suki. You will be quite safe.”

  “Pfth,” Suki said. She gave a mock pout. “I’ll have you know I can take care of myself.”

  Mitsue gave Suki a level look. “I’m sure you can.”

  When they got off the ferry, Shion started walking. She led them out of the ferry terminal and headed into the commercial section of the docks.

  “I thought we were catching another ferry?” James asked.

  “You don’t take a standard ferry to the yakuza frame-fighting island,” Shion said. She gave him a disgusted look. James shut up.

  She led them to a dilapidated commercial dock. Fittingly, a dilapidated ship was berthed there.

  “This is a ferry?” James asked.

  “It’s a cargo ship,” Shion replied. “It needs to be big to fit the frames on.”

  She walked straight up to the two men standing by the gangway.

  Are these Yakuza? James wondered. They were wearing dockworkers’ coveralls, so he couldn’t see if they had tattoos.

  “Whoa, Shion-kun,” one of them said. “You can bring your friends along, but no one said anything about bringing the whole class!”

  “Since when do you get to talk back to me, pencil-dick?” Shion snapped. “You want I should take you apart for school supplies?”

  The one she spoke to got red in the face, but the other one laughed. “Yeah, yeah, you’re good. No need to rip into poor old Aka. Just remember, you’re in the cargo hold.”

  “Yeah, yeah, don’t want to frighten away the paying customers,” Shion said. She stomped up the gangway, causing it to rattle alarmingly.

  “Better hurry up,” the second man said, as James hesitated. “Don’t want to get lost in there.”

  James flushed and scurried up the gangway. The others were right on his heels.

  “Where does she find ‘em?” The first guard asked as James entered the ship.

  “Hell if I know,” the other one replied.

  The interior of the ship had no windows, but it was dimly lit by incandescent globes at regular intervals. It stank of metal and oil. Against expectations, Shion had waited for them. Once everyone was there, she turned and stalked further in.

  “We get to ride in the cargo hold,” she said. “There’s a VIP lounge, but we only get to see it when there’s no paying guests.”

  “You seem well-known here,” Mitsue commented.

  Shion snorted. “They like their girls ‘feisty’ and they can’t admit that I’m too feisty for them. That makes me the cute, foul-mouthed mascot. I just have to beat one up every now and again to remind them to keep their hands off me.”

  “And you hang around these guys by choice?” James asked.

  Shion looked at him and shrugged. “It’s not all bad,” she said. “They’ve got drinks, and I get to watch the robot fights. Something to do, ya know?”

  “Couldn’t you, I don’t know, play Pokémon Go?”

  “Don’t have a phone,” Shion said. “Makes you too easy to track.”

  James just stared.

  “This is us,” Shion stated, pulling open a metal door. “There’s seats. Settle in, this will take about two hours.”

  It took thirty-five minutes for the engines to start. They spent the time talking quietly to each other about class and other meaningless things. It wasn’t until the ship started moving that James remembered that he hadn’t been paying attention during the planning session.

  “Um, what’s the plan when we get to the island?” James whispered to Suki. She smiled impishly up at him but chose to spare him from the embarrassment of revealing his inattention.

  “We’re going to check out the public areas with Shion,” she whispered back. “Just in case Matsuri is hanging out there. Harue and Kana are going to check out the back rooms.”

  “And Mitsue is doing secret stuff.”

  “Super-secret stuff,” Suki agreed, giggling. “If any of us find Matsuri, we’re supposed to convince her to leave before her fight starts.”

  “Isn’t she here to win the prize?” James asked.

  “Harue’s convinced that since Mitsue is the favourite to win, they’ve rigged the contest somehow so she loses,” Suki explained. “The only way to win is not to play. But if she won’t back out, we need to find what the sabotage is, and get rid of it.”

  “That sounds… hard,” James said.

  “Harue is very sneaky, and Matsuri is a genius mechanic. If there’s something wrong with her frame, she should be able to find it… If she knows to look.”

  “And how do we get everybody out?”

  “Harue says we’ll wing it once we see what the security is like,” Suki said.

  “Wing it?”

  Suki nodded.

  James closed his eyes. “We have no idea what we’re doing, do we?”

  “Nope!” Suki said. “It’s gonna be fun!”