James thought that tonight couldn’t possibly have any more surprises for him. He was wrong. The fact that Nanamori Saiako was somehow able to arrange for a military helicopter to transport Kana’s unconscious form couldn’t be called anything less than surprising.

  “She needs to recuperate somewhere, dear, and they’re somewhat—” she waved a hand vaguely, “—aware of things at Tsubaki. The commandant there owes me a few favours.”

  That might have solved one problem, but it gave them an entirely new one, as landing a helicopter on the street and airlifting a dragon out was a bridge too far for whatever rules governed keeping the supernatural a secret.

  The solution for that problem was for them to carry Kana to the roof of the building and airlift her from there. James thought there might be rules about moving injured patients but apparently, they didn’t apply to dragons.

  Even with the addition of Saiako to the lifting team, it was a nightmare getting her up the stairs. They couldn’t coil her tightly enough to fit in the lifts, but they could wind her through the spiral of the emergency stairwell.

  The helicopter still hadn’t arrived by the time they got her in position, so they all got a well-deserved break.

  “Before we get back to school,” Harue said as they leaned against the parapet at the edge of the roof. “We should get our stories straight.”

  “Stories?” Suki said.

  “You know, what we tell the adults about what we did tonight.”

  Mitsue raised an eyebrow. “Should we be having this discussion in front of one such adult?” he asked, pointing at Saiako. The nurse in question was examining Kana a little distance away from them.

  “She’s not going to snitch on us,” Harue assured them. “Game recognises game.”

  “You’re forgetting I’m an educator now, Haru-chan, with responsibilities to my students,” Saiako said. She stood and walked over to the group.

  A flash of outrage flickered across Harue’s face. “You mean I—fine.”

  She stood up and turned to Saiako. “Here,” she said, pulling out her wad of yakuza cash. Saiako didn’t move to take the money. She just stood there with an inquisitive expression.

  Harue grunted with frustration and pulled another wad out from under her school uniform. “There! Satisfied?”

  “Very,” Saiako said, taking the offered money. She glanced at the rest of the group. “Remember, kids, crime doesn’t pay.”

  She went back to examining Kana.

  “I take it that now we can rely on her silence,” Mitsue said carefully. Harue stuck her tongue out at him.

  “Yeah, probably,” she said bitterly. “I’ve never had to bribe her before, so I don’t know for sure if she’s the type to stay bought.”

  Mitsue nodded. “I understand. Then, as a starting point, I propose that we say nothing at all of what transpired this night.”

  “We can’t say nothing,” James objected. “They’ll know Kana was shot!”

  “But we know nothing at all of why, or who or even how she was shot,” Mitsue pointed out.

  “Pretty sure it was because she turned into a dragon,” Harue said thoughtfully. “I’ve never heard of a bullet that can take out a dragon. It must have some special dragon-killing poison on it.”

  “You think that someone—someone not connected to my Master— happened to have a dragonbane bullet, saw Kana and decided that she was the perfect target to use it on?” Suki asked.

  “I mean… yeah? You don’t have a bullet like that unless you want to kill dragons. Why they were there, though, expecting to see a dragon… that’s a bit iffy.”

  “We weren’t expecting to be there,” James said. “How could they?”

  Harue shrugged. “Any number of ways. Prophecy, stalking, or dumb luck. Or… they might have been there for some other dragon. It could—”

  Harue looked up. “Oops, looks like we’re out of time.”

  A moment later, James heard the sound of the helicopter approaching.

  Saiako made Harue ride on the cargo net. She called it a stretcher, but it really wasn’t.

  “Are you sure this is wise, Hanamori-sensei?” Suki’s voice came through the headphones that James was wearing.

  “She’s fine,” Saiako said with amusement. “She’s not in any danger and she can stabilise the stretcher if we run into any crosswinds. In the worst case, she should be able to get Kana down safely if the cables snap.”

  “All of that is just as true for you,” Harue complained. “And you’d be able to tell if something was wrong with your patient.”

  “She seemed quite stable,” Saiako replied. “Do let me know if she starts bleeding or stops breathing.”

  “Yes, Auntie.” The bitterness in Harue’s voice was audible even over the radio, and she didn’t say anything for the rest of the trip. Neither did the rest of them. It felt a bit odd to be conversing over the headphones, with who-knows-who listening in over the radio.

  It was, at least, a short trip. It wasn’t long before the lights of the base’s landing field came up beneath them.

  Kana touched down first, of course, triggering a swarm of activity before they’d even landed. She was carted away on a pair of gurneys, the net and cables were removed and only then could they land.

  When they did, Saiako started barking orders to some of the soldiers and walked off with them, while others busied themselves with the helicopter. The noise of the blades was winding down when Harue poked her head in, tossing her helmet radio into a corner of the cargo bay.

  “Come on!” she said. “I bet Mitsue has got some great ideas about how we can sneak in and not get caught out after curfew!”

  “That won’t be necessary, Kuzahana-san.”

  Harue looked dismayed as Professor Toei’s voice came from behind her.

  “Commandant Shiga has graciously allowed us the use of one of his briefing rooms for you to explain what you were all doing off the island outside of curfew.”

  “Aww, nuts,” Harue said.

  “You have no idea who shot you, or why?”

  “Snipers do not typically introduce themselves,” Mitsue said.

  “It came right out of the blue!” Harue confirmed. “We were just minding our own business, when bam!”

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  “What were you doing on the street that late at night?”

  “Getting pizza!” Harue said brightly.

  Professor Toei took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please don’t lie to me, it just makes my job more difficult.”

  “We were getting Neapolitan pizza! That’s the best kind!”

  Professor Toei sighed. “As if that makes it any more believable.”

  Suki leaned forward. “We were involved in an altercation at the time, Professor. However, our attackers ran when the shot was fired, we don’t believe there’s any connection between them and the sniper.”

  “And who were these attackers?”

  Suki grimaced. “They were agents of… of…”

  “Kotodama Haruko,” James put in.

  “I’ve heard that name before…” Professor Toei mused. “Is that who you’re running from?”

  “Yes, Professor,” Suki said flatly.

  The professor grunted. “All the more reason to stay on the island, I should have thought.”

  Suki looked away. “There were… circumstances,” she said.

  “I’m sure. Do you kids have anything else you’d like to confess?”

  “Nope!” Harue said quickly. Professor Toei stared at her. “I’m not looking forward to whatever police or newspaper reports you’ve managed to inspire tonight, but that’s not my problem for tonight. Get in the Bentley, I’ll take you back to school.”

  He got up and then stopped.

  “Oh, naturally, you’ve all got detention for breaking curfew.”

  “I can’t believe it!” Harue declared. She looked around the breakfast table for support. “Detention! Me! Unbelievable!”

  “I can believe it,” Mitsue said.

  “Yeah,” James agreed. “Don’t try and tell me you didn’t get detention at your old school, Harue.”

  Harue laughed. “Okay, yeah, I might have gotten detention a few times. A couple of times they didn’t even catch me, and just gave it to me on general principles.”

  “I never have,” Matsuri said. “Dad’s gonna get mad when he finds out—and that's assuming he doesn’t find out I’m caught up in the whole Junko situation.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Harue said, glaring down at her phone. “Junko’s socials are blowing up. Who reviews their kidnappers?”

  Junko wasn’t at the breakfast table because she had been called to meet with the student council right after breakfast. It might have been Sunday, but the Council never rested. Or something like that. Last night, though, she had posted the whole story on her Instagram, and while James wouldn’t say it had gone viral, it was attracting some attention.

  “Is this media attention something that the Idol Club can use?” Suki asked.

  Harue drew air in through her teeth, considering the idea. “I don’t think we can?” she speculated. “We’re not ready for attention right now anyway, and it’s not the good sort of attention.”

  “Weren’t you threatening her last night about exactly this?” James asked. “Damaging her reputation by associating with yakuza groups? You seem a lot calmer about it now.”

  Harue shrugged. “Junko’s been riding my last nerve for a while now. I needed to clear the air. I don’t really think her reputation will be damaged by getting kidnapped.”

  Harue stretched her arms up and out and turned her head back and forth.

  “Besides,” she added, “I got to relieve a bunch of stress on some yakuza fools.”

  “Even so,” Mitsue said. “Don't these posts reflect directly on her reputation?”

  “If I were really fussed about our reputations, I would be screaming about Suki having a boyfriend,” Harue said easily. “That’s way more damaging. I’m more concerned about the soul of the club. That’s what Junko is threatening with her money and her Frames.”

  “Friendship,” Suki said. “And making high school memories.”

  “Exactly,” Harue agreed.

  “I’m not sure how much room there will be for friendship after you waved a knife in her face,” Mitsue pointed out.

  “Mitsue, Mitsue, Mitsue,” Harue chided. “You just don’t understand. That’s how girls make friends. With knives… and the occasional stabbing.”

  Mitsue started to speak, and then frowned. “I want to contradict you,” he said. “But my experience of girls is limited and does not contain any examples that disprove what you said.”

  “Lots of girls with knives in the ninja village, hey?” Harue asked sympathetically. Mitsue nodded.

  “Shion-san wanted to be your girlfriend, and stabbed you,” Suki said thoughtfully. “So she’s not a good example either.”

  Mitsue glowered at her. “That’s not helpful,” he said.

  “I’m sorry,” Suki replied, “But my own experience with human teenagers is limited to this island. I don’t think what she said is true, but I can’t refute it.”

  “And come to think of it, doesn’t Midoriko, the girl that you luuurve, always carry around a big knife?”

  “It’s a sword, not a knife,” Mitsue said sadly. His head sank to the table, and he covered it with his hands. “I’m aware that doesn’t invalidate the point.”

  “Hang on,” said James. “I have plenty of—not romantic—experience with girls back home, and they’re not like that. No knives.”

  “Well, sure,” Harue said. “They do things weird in America.”

  “That’s not—”

  “Cadet St John! Cadet Kageya!”

  James had been interrupted by two white-coated PMC students. He and Mitsue stood up straight, their earlier training coming to the fore.

  “You have been summoned by Shimoyanagi Midoriko-dono. Please follow us.”

  James kept the scowl off his face as they were led away. This probably meant that they were in trouble. James had a fair idea of what for. But what it really meant was that he’d lost the argument against Harue.

  “Unimpeachable! The honour of the PMC and every member of it must be unquestioned! How can we enforce the moral code if we violate it?”

  That was a question, and there was a pause, so James risked an answer. “We can’t, President.”

  He and Mitsue were standing at attention in the PMC main office while Midoriko yelled at them for breaking curfew. It had gone on for a while. Her katana was, as always, strapped to her hip, but he was much more concerned about the wooden training sword that she was carrying in her hand, and occasionally swinging about. The bokken was for training, but it was also a perfectly fine club. It hurt when you got hit by it.

  “Exactly!” Midoriko declared. “Have you any excuse?”

  “There is no excuse,” Mitsue said quickly.

  “Exactly!” Midoriko returned to her desk. She threw the bokken onto the desk and sat down. She’d somehow mastered the art of sitting in a chair without her sword getting in the way.

  “What we’d normally do in a case like this is beat you to a pulp and throw you out of the PMC,” she said.

  James was supposed to be standing there impassively, so he tried not to look dismayed. This was pretty dismaying, though.

  “However,” she continued. “Since you are only Cadets and since the Student Council has seen fit to commend you for your help in returning Junko to us, I’m inclined to overlook this offence. This time.”

  “Thank you, ma’am!” James said. Mitsue was quick to echo him.

  “Just make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” Midoriko said. “You’re still due a beating, but I’ll save it for training when it will be more useful.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” James said, feeling a little less thankful.

  Midoriko let out a huge breath and slumped back into her chair.

  “There, I’m done being the boss for now,” she said. “Get out of here.”

  James and Mitsue saluted and marched out of the office. Midoriko’s younger brother, Yoshiki, was standing in the reception area. He watched them come out.

  “You guys got off easy,” he said.

  “Yes, sir,” Mitsue said.

  Breakfast was over by the time they got back, but the girls were hanging around waiting for them.

  “Did they mention anything about me?” Matsuri asked anxiously.

  “It looks like you survived,” Suki said and hugged him.

  “I wasn’t really worried about dying,” James said. “Just more detention—which we didn’t get.”

  “Yeah, yeah, but what about me?” Matsuri asked insistently.

  “Nothing,” Mitsue answered. “Though they did know we were involved in Junko’s return.”

  “Huh, Junko,” Harue said, still looking at her phone. “She came back, went straight up to her room. About a minute later, her Instagram post disappeared.”

  “The Council probably told her to,” James said. “They don’t like bad publicity for the school.”

  “They really don’t,” Harue agreed. “Now, it’s all gone. Not just her post, but all the comments about it, all the other posts that linked to it… all gone.”

  “Is that possible?” Suki asked. “I thought you couldn’t completely remove something from the Internet.”

  “I dunno,” Harue said. “Maybe they’ve got magic for it, or a super hacker. Maybe someone screenshot it or backed it up, and it will come back. Maybe everyone who posted will just post again.”

  “You could make a post yourself and see what happens,” Mitsue suggested.

  “Nah,” Harue said. “If I’m going to defy the Council, I want it to be on something I care about.”

  “I can’t say I disagree,” Mitsue said. “Still, this level of control is… disturbing.”

  “Fight the System, man,” Harue said, offering a fist to the ninja. “You gotta—”

  “James St John!” someone called out.

  “Oh, what now?” James asked. Looking over, he saw two students headed towards him. One of them looked familiar. “Oh, no.”

  The Media Club President came barrelling up to him. “Good morning! I’m glad I caught you, we met before, remember? Sakura Yuichiro, of the Media Club.”

  He grabbed James’ hand and shook it thoroughly.

  “And this is Majima Wataru, our upcoming ace reporter.”

  Wataru bowed to James. His uniform was rumpled, and he wore an armband with ‘Press’ printed on it. He stared at James through thin-rimmed glasses and pulled out a pocket recorder.

  “Yes! Hello! I am Majima Wataru for the school newspaper. Can you shed any light on the events of last night?”

  “Ah, what events?” James stared at the microphone being pushed into his face.

  “There are many reports, some of them conflicting!” Wataru said. “Rumours of a kidnapping!”

  “Strange explosions on a nearby island!” Yuichiro put in.

  “Shots fired in Imabari!” Wataru continued.

  “Corpses of mutilated dogs found on Uoshima beach!” Yuichiro declared excitedly. “Do you know anything about that!”

  James blinked. Dogs found on the beach of this island? Isn’t the Council supposed to prevent—

  Suki put her hand over the microphone.

  “I’m afraid we have no comment at this time.”