Kimono Code (7 page)

EJ went straight to the kimono shop EW12 had told her about. She was about to walk in when she heard someone speak.

‘Have you taken any good photos of chocolate bars?'

The voice seemed to be coming from a life-sized doll dressed in a yellow kimono outside the shop. EJ moved closer.

‘Oh, yes,' she whispered. ‘I must show you my jelly crunch pictures.'

‘EJ12, I'm Agent JV12, Surveillance Division,' said the girl from the side of her mouth. ‘A1 has updated me. We have your kimono ready. There's something else.'

‘What's that, JV12?'

‘A large group of geisha, maybe twenty, have just left the tea-house. They were all wearing the fox-and-tree kimonos, like in the photo you sent to A1.'

‘Then that's my opportunity to get in there,' said EJ.

‘Ask for the red cherry-blossom kimono,' said JV12.

‘Thanks, JV12,' replied EJ. ‘Keep watch.'

EJ approached the lady at the counter. Like the lady at the temple in Tokyo, she was wearing a simple white kimono with a yellow belt.

‘Do you have a red cherry-blossom kimono that would fit me?' she asked.

‘Ah, yes,' replied the lady. ‘It has been prepared for you.'

EJ went into the change rooms and put on the kimono, stockings and sandals. Finally, she took off her wig and rotated the dial to ‘geisha'. There was a whirring noise as the black hair of the wig was whipped up into the traditional geisha hairstyle. She walked out of the change room.

‘Very good,' said the lady. ‘Allow me to help you with your make-up while I tell you about this fan.'

‘My fan?' asked EJ, taking a closer look at her pretty but ordinary-looking fan.

The lady nodded. As she applied the white geisha-style make-up to EJ's face, she said, ‘Your kimono is very special, EJ-san. The blossom petals are actually small microchips. They can be removed from the kimono and stuck anywhere. You use this fan to track them. Activate the device with these buttons on the handle. There, you are done.'

EJ looked in the small mirror that the lady held up. With black hair, white face and black-lined eyes, she didn't look like herself anymore. Which was exactly the point. ‘
Arigato gozaimasu
,' said EJ to the lady, who bowed in reply.

As EJ walked back to the tea-house, she was amused to see tourists taking her photo as she walked. However, she didn't stop. She reached the tea-house and walked straight past the ticket woman who barely raised her eyes when the little geisha in the red cherry-blossom kimono walked past into the tea-room.

EJ closed the screen door behind her. The tatami mats and table were set up for the next tea ceremony. Everything was set out as before. EJ looked at the panels and remembered that the geisha in the fox kimono had turned to do something, but what? EJ looked around. Then she noticed the ceramic white cat on the table—the
maneki-neko
. Next to it was a fan. EJ picked up the fan and opened it out. She wasn't surprised to see a fox painted on the fan nor the
kunoichi
symbol engraved on the handle, but she was surprised to see two small buttons. EJ pressed one, and a sucking noise came from the bottom of the handle. She pressed the other, and there was a whirring sound as large gusts of air were blown from the fan.

It picks up something and then blows it out,
guessed EJ. Then she looked at the cat.
Hmmm, I wonder.

EJ gently moved the arm of the cat. As she brought it forward, the head of the statue tilted back. EJ looked inside and saw a dark green powder. ‘It really is a good luck charm,' she murmured, smiling.

Taking out her test CHARM, EJ sent the sample back to
SHINE
. But she was sure she had found the Blossom Block.

 

The message gave EJ an idea. ‘I think we might make this tea a little weaker,' she murmured. She took the fan and put the handle into the
maneki-neko
. When she pressed the button, the Blossom Block powder was sucked up into the handle. She put some normal tea powder from the table back into the
maneki-neko
and pulled the arm back up. The head swung shut. When EJ pressed the second button on the fan, it blew the Blossom Block all over the room, but the particles were so fine that no one would ever know they were there.

‘So
that's
how they do it,' said EJ. ‘Well, they will be blowing normal tea over the last cherry blossom trees in Kyoto now!'

 

 

It was her phone. JV12 had sent her a message.

EJ needed to get out of there, and quickly.

As several fox-kimono geisha entered the tea-house, a geisha in a red cherry-blossom kimono walked out.

‘
Sumimasen
,' she said quietly from behind her fan. As she bowed to each geisha, EJ took tiny blossom petals from her kimono and, brushing against them, quickly placed one on each geisha's kimono. They stuck like glue but were so small that they would never be noticed.

EJ stood outside, around the corner from the tea-house. She knew the geisha would come out again to spray the Blossom Block on the last cherry blossom trees and she wanted to check the homing device. As she waited, she felt something land on her back. She turned in surprise.

‘Hey, you again, Sakura!'

The snow monkey climbed around EJ's neck, its arms hugging her. Together, they watched and waited. When the geisha came out of the tea-house, EJ opened her fan and pressed the button. A small light went green. The homing devices were activated. EJ began to walk in the opposite direction from the geisha. Sakura screeched and tugged at EJ's sleeve.

‘Calm down, Sakura,' EJ said, laughing. ‘They won't be doing any damage this time, and then they will return to Kitsune-sensei. The
kunoich
i-geisha will follow the kimono code.' EJ looked at the inside of her fan where a map of Japan was marked with the flashing lights that were the
kunoichi
. ‘And I will follow them.'

EJ checked the map on her fan. As she suspected, the
kunoichi
had stopped briefly in a park on the outskirts of Kyoto, but they were now heading north, in the direction of Mount Fuji. EJ had a plan, but she needed to get to Mount Fuji quickly. Even the Bullet Train would not be fast enough. EJ sent a text to
SHINE
.

SHINE
would track exactly where EJ was from the phone's location, so she returned to the kimono shop, removed her kimono and make-up but put the fan in her pocket.

‘
Arigato gozaimasu
,' she said again to the lady behind the counter and smiled at JV12 as she left the shop.

 

 

EJ quickly checked her phone.

Which corner?
wondered EJ. She ran to the closest one, glanced left and saw EK12 standing next to a tandem bike.

‘Well, you did say express,' called EK12, waving her over. ‘Put on this helmet and jump on, EJ!'

The agents climbed onto the bike and pedalled through the streets of Gion and then down a quiet laneway. When the coast was clear, EK12 hit the CONVERT button and the bike became a
SHINE
mini-chopper. It began to lift up into the sky. As they left Kyoto, they flew over the park. EJ smiled when she saw a row of cherry blossom trees with their blossoms beginning to open. Her tea-swap had worked.

‘Time to go sonic, EJ,' said EK. ‘Hold on!'

As EK pressed a button marked SONIC on her handlebar, EJ felt the chopper's blades spin even faster as they sped through the sky. EJ checked the map on her fan. The
kunoichi
were also travelling fast, but EJ and EK were ahead of them and, in what seemed no time at all, they were approaching Mount Fuji.

‘I think,' EJ told EK, ‘that Kitsune-sensei's hideout will be near the Shrine to the Cherry Blossom Goddess,
Konohanasakuuyahime
. That's in the forest at the foot of the north side of the mountain. Let's go there and wait. If the
kunoichi
come this way, it will confirm my suspicions.'

EK landed the mini-chopper behind a group of trees. EJ watched the map as the little dots that were the homing devices of the
kunoichi
moved closer and closer towards where EJ and EK were. EJ had been right.

‘They're getting very close now,' she said. ‘A little too close. I think I can find the hideout from here. It's time to call the
SHINE
delivery service. They are on stand-by and will pick up the
kunoichi
on our signal.'

EJ keyed the message. EJ and EK heard the sounds of car brakes screeching nearby.

 

‘That's my cue,' said EJ. ‘Kitsune-sensei is waiting, she just won't be expecting me.'

‘Be careful, EJ!' said EK.

‘I will,' EJ reassured her. ‘See you soon.'

EJ walked through the trees and onto a path leading towards the temple. Rows of moss-covered stone foxes lined the path. An even larger fox stood at the temple gate. At its feet was another
maneki-neko
.

Too easy,
thought EJ.

As EJ moved the arm of the
maneki-neko
, the fox statue behind it tilted back to reveal hidden steps leading underground. EJ walked down and then into a narrow annexe. She heard a thud as the statue closed back over the entrance.

‘
Hai
!' A sharp voice came from around the corner of the annexe. ‘
Kitsune-kunoichi
?'

Her back to the wall, EJ crept slowly down the corridor and then, carefully, peeked into the room. Rice-paper screen panels stood against the walls, but the rest of the room was like a high-tech science laboratory: a long steel bench, filled with rows of glass test tubes, ran down the centre, computer screens flashed on the back wall and, to the left, were two large vats on wheels, one filled with green powder, the other with pink. A woman was standing in front of the green vat, measuring out the green powder into more test tubes. Also on the bench were two large spray flasks, one filled with green powder, the other with pink, and next to both was what looked like a snow monkey cuddly toy. At least, EJ hoped, it was a toy because it was completely still. EJ felt a little sick at the thought that it might be real.

EJ looked back to the woman. Tall with grey hair styled like a geisha and held with a gold comb, she wore narrow black pants and a black kimono-like jacket, edged in gold with a large fox embroidered on the back. It was a sleek, elegant fox with nine tails, beautiful green eyes and a bare cherry blossom branch in its mouth. The green-eyed fox—Kitsune-sensei was Kuramiko Kitsune.

‘Kitsune-kunoichi
?' the woman repeated, glancing over her shoulder.

EJ took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows into the light of the laboratory.

‘No, Kuramiko Kitsune. It's
SHINE
Agent EJ12,' she announced.

The woman turned around. Her eyes widened in surprise, and her nostrils flared. ‘How did you get in here? How do you know my name?' she snapped. Then she looked longer at EJ. ‘It doesn't matter,' she sniffed. ‘My
kunoichi
will make quick work of you. You are only a child!'

‘Your
kunoichi
are in
SHINE
detention,' EJ informed her. ‘Which is where you're heading, too. Why would you want to destroy something as beautiful as the cherry blossoms?'

‘If I can't be beautiful anymore, why should anything else?'

‘What?' asked EJ. She didn't understand.

‘Beauty! I can't bear it!' cried Kuramiko. ‘Unless it is mine! Once, in my springtime, I was beautiful, and I might have stayed that way if it wasn't for
SHINE
shutting down my laboratory. So, now, I block beauty.'

‘Why the ransom?' asked EJ.

‘Research is expensive,' said Kuramiko, ‘and
SHADOW
said I could keep half if I shared the antidote. The blossoms are only a test. It works on other things too.'

EJ looked at the snow monkey. ‘So there is an antidote?' she asked.

‘Of course,' snapped Kuramiko. ‘I can stop it, I can start it, I can speed it up, I can slow it down. I am a genius.'

EJ wondered if there were any
SHADOW
agents who didn't think they were a genius.

‘What will
SHADOW
do with their money?' she pressed. She hoped to find out
SHADOW
's plans.

‘Who knows, who cares. Something big they say, but I focus on my work,' said Kuramiko. ‘My work to make me beautiful again.'

‘The ransom won't be paid,' said EJ.

‘Of course it will be paid, you silly child. The Japanese love their blossoms, and the trees will never bloom again without my antidote.'

‘No,' said EJ, firmly. ‘It's over.'

Kuramiko began to laugh. ‘It's not over until I say so. And who are you to stop me, you little insect? I'll block you too. You can join my monkey friend here.'

EJ felt her face redden and her anger grow as she realised what Kuramiko was doing. ‘It's alive?' she asked.

‘Yes, but it's been blocked,' said Kuramiko. ‘It should recover when the blocker wears off.'

‘It
should
?' cried EJ. ‘What if it doesn't? How can you be so cruel?'

‘Cruel, I'll tell you what cruel is,' said Kuramiko. ‘Cruel is getting old, losing beauty. That's cruel. I'm doing the silly animal a favour.'

‘Not everyone sees it that way,' began EJ. ‘Akari-sensei says…'

‘Don't you mention that woman to me! She is responsible for this. If she hadn't stopped me all those years ago, I might have been beautiful forever. But, by the time I had rebuilt my laboratory, it was too late for me.'

Kuramiko was angry now. EJ was too, but she took a breath.
The sky is blue, the sun is warm. Keep calm, EJ,
she thought.
Use Kuramiko's anger against her.

‘No more talk!' Kuramiko yelled. ‘I will stop you now!'

Kuramiko grabbed the large spray flask of Blossom Block and lunged towards EJ. EJ took another deep breath and remembered what Akari had taught her. She could use Kuramiko's strength. As Kuramiko threw herself at her, EJ lifted her arm and blocked. So hard was Kuramiko coming at EJ, the simple block sent the
SHADOW
agent flying across the room. The flask shattered, and green powder showered over Kuramiko. She shrieked and tried to crawl away from the powder, but as EJ watched her movements became slower and slower.