Kiriai didn’t know how to react. She wanted to demand an explanation, but the reputation of these ’forcers was scary enough to keep her mouth shut. Her grandfather, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care.
“You’re early. I agreed to meet you at Hood headquarters. There is no need to come to my house.”
Kiriai’s mouth dropped open. She turned to stare at Ojisan. Only a tightness around his mouth indicated his displeasure. “You know these ’forcers, Grandfather?”
The male ’forcer arched his eyebrows and interrupted before Ojisan could answer her. “We are leaving an hour early. An early departure encourages new staff making the transfer. Too much time to reconsider the opportunity being offered can cause problems.”
Part of Kiriai responded to the quality of command in the man’s voice that expected everyone in earshot to obey. She was a senior scrapper and followed orders instinctively.
Ojisan, however, had no such instincts. The old man drew himself up to his full height and glared at the two ’forcers. Both looked like they could break him in half with little effort. “You never intended to meet the new staff at headquarters, did you?”
From anyone else, the words would have come out angry and biting. Kiriai marveled at Ojisan’s strict control, how his voice was calm and matter-of-fact even as he faced intruders in his own home.
The female ’forcer sneered, and Kiriai took an immediate dislike to the skinny woman, whose body shape and facial expression bore a resemblance to a snake with legs. “In the past, we have found that you hood rats don’t always appreciate how lucky you are to be chosen to serve Chief Kosui in Southern Core. More credits, more influence and a chance to help govern the little hoods you come from and some of you still try to get out of it.”
A sick sensation was growing in the pit of Kiriai’s stomach. It couldn’t be true! She turned back to her grandfather. “Boss Akuto put you in the staff tribute? How could he? You saved his life, and he’s making you leave?” Kiriai looked back at the two burb ’forcers, struggling between horror and anger. “Grandfather? It can’t be true! It’s a permanent move to Southern Core.”
Ojisan kept his stoic expression and Kiriai wished they could have just a moment of privacy. She knew he would reveal nothing in the presence of these outsiders.
“Don’t cry, little scrapper,” said the woman, her face twisted in a sneer. “If you want to join your grandfather, you can always win the brawler tournament in the spring. Then you can leave your pathetic little hood life behind and join us in the big leagues.” She nudged the brawler next to her and he joined her ugly laugh.
Kiriai ignored the anger growing inside her. There had to be some mistake! She didn’t even know how long it took to travel to the core. She’d never been there. The farthest she’d ever traveled was to Rinjin, their allied neighbor. Well, and the one scrounging trip into the wastelands last spring with Eigo. Ojisan still didn’t know about that one.
“Grandfather?” Kiriai had no control, and all of her anguish and pleading poured into that one word. She refused to believe Ojisan was leaving for good.
Her grandfather finally turned to look at her and he let her see just a fraction of what he was feeling. The resignation and regret she saw there stopped any further questions. It was true. It couldn’t be, but it was. Then another piece of the tradition occurred to Kiriai. Immediate family members could relocate with the promoted staff member.
“But Ojisan. I have to come with you—” Kiriai got out the words but emotions inside her screamed at leaving the fighting life she loved. And their hood needed every good fighter in the war against Raibaru.
“No!” Ojisan chopped down his hand, face hard. “I would never ask you to give up everything you have fought for, along with your home. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”
“You were going to leave without telling me?” Kiriai couldn’t keep a stricken look from her face.
“No, of course not.” His expression softened. “I had planned to say goodbye at our dinner at the dojo. You know I wouldn’t leave without speaking to you.”
Kiriai shook her head, frustration rolling through her. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this. I thought we were past the stage where you treat me like a child.” Instead of anger, Kiriai could hear the betrayal and sadness in her own voice. “I spend all day doing what I can to help our family and protect our hood and you think all I deserve is a quick goodbye as you leave?”
“You should have told her.” Kiriai turned and saw Isha standing in the doorway, her face a mix of sadness and understanding.
“Kiriai-chan.” Ojisan’s endearment made Kiriai’s eyes sting. She still couldn’t absorb that he was leaving. This was goodbye.
Her grandfather stepped closer to her and placed a hand on her cheek. It felt cool and strong. Kiriai breathed in his familiar scent of herbs and soap. She closed her eyes and shook her head, unable to stop. He couldn’t just leave!
“I knew this would be hard for you. You would fight it. But, my girl, even Boss Akuto has no ability to stop this. I wanted to spare you as much pain as possible. I decided a short painful goodbye would be best.”
“Boss Akuto!” Kiriai’s head jerked up. The anger rushed back in. “Why is he letting this happen after you saved his life? Without you, he’d be rotting in a grave, dead from poison. I can’t believe this is how he repays you.”
“Actually, most consider a transfer to burb life to be a valuable reward.” Isha’s voice was projecting a calm that just make Kiriai feel even more furious. “It isn’t as if he’s going to an enemy burb, Kiriai. He’s just being transferred to our capital. Southern Core is a journey, but not an impossible one.” Isha had come up behind Kiriai and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’ll visit, Kiriai, as many times as you’d like.”
“But your patients, Grandfather . . .” Kiriai tried another tactic. Even if he might think she was old enough to be on her own, he couldn’t leave his patients behind. Their health and lives depending on him.
Ojisan gave her a smile of regret. “Isha will care for my patients. She’s been ready to take over for some time now. Her promotion to journeyman fixer is long overdue. Now her new rank will be official and she’ll step into my place.”
The female guard made an impatient noise. “All right. That’s enough. You’re not the only staff we’re picking up. Let’s go. Put your bags in the wagon.”
The kindness in Ojisan’s demeanor vanished as he turned to face the two burb ’forcers and spoke in a wintry voice. “We’ll need to get the rest of my things I already moved to hood headquarters. I wouldn’t be a good fixer for your chief without my equipment.”
“Already done. We’re not idiots. Everyone’s things are in the wagon outside. All that’s missing are the bodies. Do you need us to pick you up and drag you out?”
Kiriai’s body flooded with adrenaline and she crouched instinctively. No one would lay a hand on her grandfather while she was alive. Her movement caught the attention of both ’forcers and Kiriai saw the moment the man recognized what he was dealing with. Their superiors had sent them to pick up an old man. Instead, they faced a trained fighter who needed only the slightest provocation to attack them.
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The tall man hesitated. He was an elite burb ’forcer. Recognizing danger would have to be second nature to him and right now, Kiriai embodied danger.
Satisfaction filled Kiriai at his response. He should be afraid. A savage urge to lash out pumped through her body. If either of them touched Ojisan, they would regret it.
“Kiriai!” Ojisan’s voice snapped Kiriai’s attention out of the tunnel vision that had closed in around her. His hand gripped her arm with surprising force, but Kiriai kept her eyes glued to the two ’forcers who had invaded her home and threatened her family.
The man put a hand on his partner’s arm and she gave him an angry look. She obviously didn’t think a defiant teenager was someone to back down from. Her partner leaned close and whispered something urgent into her ear. The woman’s eyes swung back to Kiriai and with obvious reluctance, she let her hands drop and took a step back, reversing her earlier aggression.
“We will be outside in the wagon to give you some privacy for your goodbyes. Please finish up as quickly as possible. As my partner mentioned, we still have others to pick up.” The man gave everyone a simple nod and backed slowly out of the front door. He made sure his partner preceded him.
Alone again, Ojisan turned back to Kiriai. In a rare occurrence, he let all his control and defenses drop so Kiriai could see exactly what he was feeling as he spoke. She saw frustration layered over the love and concern she’d always known was there. He opened his mouth to speak and from one moment to the next, the world around them slowed to a crawl. Kiriai watched helplessly, in the grip of the same force, unable to alter anything as the next second of the future played out in slow-motion in front of her.
Her pre-cog was making its daily appearance, unexpected and uncontrolled. Powerless to stop, Kiriai watched her grandfather’s mouth move in exaggerated speech as his words echoed in a muffled, drawn-out tone. Unable to focus enough to decipher his words, Kiriai took the chance to stare at her grandfather’s face, the caring in his eyes, the wrinkles between his eyebrows from worrying about her, the man who was everything she loved in the world, the man who was leaving her.
At that moment, if she could have, she might have paused the world and lived in that moment forever, never letting it progress to the painful separation she knew was coming.
Her gift, however, behaved as usual, rewinding the scene around her back to the beginning after showing her the tiniest glimpse of her future.
Kiriai just stared, feeling stunned, and wanting, more than anything, to ignore her current reality. Her grandfather was staring at her, an expectant look on his face.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?” She shook her head to clear her thoughts. There were two ’forcers waiting outside and this was her last chance to speak to her grandfather.
He gave her a curious look before repeating himself. “This is exactly why I didn’t tell you earlier.”
“What?” Surprise filled Kiriai. What is he talking about?
Ojisan shook his head, a touch of frustration on his face. “Just a few seconds ago, you were ready to attack two official burb ’forcers. Do you have any idea what would have happened to you if you had?”
“They would learn not to attack my family in my home.” She sounded petulant to her own ears, though a sick feeling grew inside her as she considered Ojisan’s words.
“You fight in the arena so much, you don’t stop to consider the repercussions for violence in public. You, of all people, should know what happens to anyone guilty of physical violence, much less against high ranking ’forcers like those two.” Ojisan grabbed her sleeve, the green and white colors of her Jitaku armband bunched in his fist, and shook her arm. The naked concern on his face hit her even harder. “Even your boss would have a hard time shielding you from the consequences if that ’forcer hadn’t defused the situation. You should be grateful.”
All of Kiriai’s anger and helplessness focused onto the two ’forcers, the ones who had invaded her home and would steal her grandfather away. “Never.”
Ojisan sighed and his grip changed to one of support and sympathy. He reached out with his other hand and took her by both shoulders, forcing her to focus on him. He waited to speak until she met his eyes. “Kiriai. You are my family. Where I live will never change that. Nothing can ever change that.”
Kiriai felt her throat tighten, and she blinked rapidly.
“This isn’t goodbye, my granddaughter. We will still see each other. I’m sure Isha will have a list of questions before long and need my advice.” He gave his apprentice a wry smile before turning back. “And I will write to you every week.”
“I will, too.” Kiriai stopped and tried to remember the last time she’d written anything of significance. “Or I’ll have Eigo do it for me.”
That broke the tension, and even Ojisan let out a soft laugh. If this was goodbye, Kiriai was grateful for at least a few smiles.
Ojisan, however, wasn’t done. “My time is up and I still have a few things to say. Pay attention and remember.”
Kiriai nodded without speaking.
“Isha will take my place to help and support you at home. But it is Shisen I want you to learn from and obey. Promise me you will work even harder to train your pre-cog gift and learn our ways from her. She has honed her own voy’nt gift into a valuable asset that is very skilled at detecting nearby danger. You can learn a lot from her.”
Kiriai nodded again.
“Next, learn control in everything, not just your gift. Today was just another example of how important this is.”
“I’m sorry, Ojisan—” Kiriai tried to explain.
“I understand your loss of control, but that still doesn’t excuse it. If there is one thing of utmost importance to every gifted, it’s the ability to stay in control—at all times! All of our lives depend on it.” Ojisan’s commanding tone whipped at her and Kiriai vowed to do better.
“Finally, my child, never forget that I love you. I always will. Even when I join the ancestors, I will be here with you at every opportunity.”
The full reality of the situation was finally too much for Kiriai to handle. She tried to keep her calm, but she could feel a fine tremor ripple through her. A hot tear made its way down one cheek. She swiped at it with the back of her hand.
Ojisan didn’t say anything else. He just pulled her into a hug and wrapped his arms around her. He whispered into her ear, “I am so proud of you, my child, of everything you have done.”
Kiriai hiccuped, struggling to keep her breathing calm. She only let go when Ojisan pulled back.
Isha slipped in to give her old teacher a quick hug. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll take care of each other and like you said, it won’t be long before we find a way to come visit.”
“I’m going to get you back.” Kiriai was surprised by her own words, but as soon as she said them, they felt right.
Both Ojisan and Isha stiffened. Her grandfather was already shaking his head as he turned back to her. “No, Kiriai. A transfer to Southern Core is always permanent. This isn’t something you can change and you’ll only hurt yourself if you try. I can’t let you do that.”
Kiriai could feel her features harden. There was no way she wasn’t going to fight this. The burb could find some other fixer so she could have her grandfather back. There had to be a way.
Seeing her expression, Ojisan turned to his apprentice. “Don’t let her pursue this. It will only bring unwanted attention and consequences and in the end we all know it won’t work.”
“I’m an adult, Ojisan. I will listen to you and Isha, but I make my own choices. You have to respect that I will be smart about this. I’ll try to minimize any consequences of fighting this, but I am not going to just sit back and accept it.”
Her grandfather examined her face, as if to both read her mind and memorize her features. Then he nodded. “I do respect and trust you. Please don’t jeopardize the only family I have left trying to accomplish an impossible task.”
Kiriai reached in for one last hug and whispered in Ojisan’s ear, “Nothing is impossible.”
Too soon, she and Isha were standing on their front porch watching the heavily loaded wagon pull away, its electric motor making so little noise for such a momentous occasion. Ojisan stuck a hand out of the window of the cab up front, his face back to his usual stoic expression. Kiriai did her best to imitate him. It was difficult to keep the rage building inside her off her face. Ojisan had dedicated his life to their hood, even saving Boss Akuto’s life in the spring, and this was how they repaid him?