Daiki Tanaka, the eldest son of one of the most powerful families in Japan- the Rising sun Yakuza was like a brother, more than a brother. When he asked Cory to come home to meet his ailing father, for the last time perhaps, if she could; Cory Dayell was on the flight to Tokyo within a few hours.
It was thirteen years ago when Cory was a novice at the The House and a fellow student that she entered the inner circle of the Tanaka clan. It was still late winter and a time of many free days. Daiki and a couple of his friends, were busy being a nuisance- pranking students, harassing the support staff and causing general mayhem- this was not very unusual at the House. Cory and one of her friends were the butt of more than a prank. Like Cory her friend was also an outsider, part American and like Cory, regularly snubbed for it.
Cory had followed them since morning, quietly and from a distance. The three boys and a girl had settled on the benches in the rock garden, waiting for a visit from Daiki's father. A perfect time to bomb the party- she did not know yet that this exact thought had occurred to another, and he had sent assassins to wipe put the Tanaka clan. Cory decided on using her slingshot- handcrafted by her- she had a dozen almost round pebbles, all of them about the size of a large cherry.
She was climbing to the roof of the nearby building. It was twin roofs covering about thirty square meters. The top was about twenty five feet while the edges dropped to merely ten feet from the ground before curling up decoratively. She was not aware of the two assassins even when she sat astride the top of a roof. There was no clear view of her target, so Cory decided to climb down towards the middle, where the twin roofs created a valley. Only, in her haste she misplaced a foot and then reacting to balance herself she stamped on to tile, breaking the corner. The only way to save herself from falling was to hurl herself down the slope at an angle, running till she should be able balance herself.
They saw each other almost simultaneously. The masked assassins alert but startled at the noise behind them; Cory already at the limit of her capacity to balance and regain control. While the assassins tried to gauge the threat, moving away from each other to create advantage; assassin was the last thing Cory was thinking, her thoughts veered from maintenance staff to seniors. That is why when Cory veered towards her right angling away from the two people, she inadvertently cut off one of the two assassins shuffling climb.
Cory was only a few feet away from him when, again shifting her angle towards the lowest point, she tried to avoid crashing into him. She was on top of him when the assassin sat down feet spread in front. Both hands steadying his dart tube as he aimed at Cory's torso, the poison would paralyze in a few seconds before killing her. Fortunately for Cory She lurched sideways and down to avoid him, some instinct recognizing the threat; but as her hands crashed into the roof her foot got entangled in one of his. Jerked forward, the assassin's dart flew high, over Cory's body but straight at his partner scrambling up the opposite slope.
The assassin untangled himself and drew his dagger. Cory, dizzy from the fall barely managed to see the dagger and began scrambling towards the edge. The assassin, not missing beat re-sheathed the dagger and began to load a dart into the blow tube. In the couple of seconds this took, Cory had stopped and grabbing a fist full of pebbles from her pouch, threw it at his face. The distraction being enough for her to fall off the edge, hanging by her fingers for breath and then dropping down to the pathway, folding into a roll to absorb the shock.
The assassin was looking down from the roof by this time. He got a dagger in his shoulder for his trouble. Daiki's father had arrived and he was decisive and fast. On his instructions; within minutes the two assassins were carried down by the boys, one dead and one alive. But he first took time to sit with Cory and after hearing about her accidental encounter the strangers on the roof, he thanked her profusely and formally. Cory was quick to respond that it was more chance than any bravery. But since that day Daiki had considered her family and their relationship had only grown stronger as days passed.
Cory had taken a taxi from the airport, straight for the hospital. Tanaka Senior was still in ICU but stable, the doctors were of the opinion that the worst had passed. Daiki however was still looking anxious and tired. Cory waited till they were alone, before asking the reason. Daiki denied anything was wrong even after Cory's insistence that he share what troubled him. So Cory decided that the best way was to contact his wife, she was more sensible.
....to be continued.
