My Ninja Girl 4

by Gideon Caldwell

  So there was that, yet another way to combat the monks and nuns they would inevitably face. Regarding internal organs, they hadn’t tried anything like that yet, but Micah had asked Youseg about it, and he claimed that it was possible with great practice. In his view, it was better to simply sweep someone to the ground and hold them there than try to latch onto an organ.

  Still, another option.

  “You go first,” Soraya said as she stepped over to a container filled with balls. They’d thankfully stopped using the bricks. Micah got pegged by a brick a couple days back, and now he flinched every time she threw one, the kitsune not at all the type to go easy on him. Besides, both of them reasoned that if they were able to grab onto one of the balls, they could easily latch onto a brick. It was easier, and safer.

  Soraya tossed the ball up into the air and caught it. “Well?”

  “Almost ready.”

  Once Micah was in position, he nodded and she proceeded to strike him in the chest with the ball.

  “You’re not supposed to absorb it; you’re supposed to repel it by catching,” she said. “How many times do we have to go over this?”

  “Thanks for the reminder.”

  The next thirty minutes passed, Micah never able to utilize the power correctly. There were a few points where he did latch onto the ball, but this was after it had already hit him, which didn’t count. There was even a time that Micah was able to stop the ball midair and hold it there for a moment, the ball simply floating before dropping to the ground. But that was about as impressive as he was going to be able to get with it.

  They switched places, and Micah started off by underhand tossing balls to Soraya, which only seemed to frustrate her more.

  “You need to relax,” he said after a dark look took shape over her face. “I know it’s hard, but you’re not going to be able to do it by acting like that.”

  She didn’t say anything, but her ears lowered to some degree.

  “You know I’m right. And there’s no need to be angry at the messenger. Just try again. If anyone can do this, it’s you. I might be a lost cause myself, and I’m fine with that. But we have been practicing a lot, and I know it has helped some of my other abilities. What I’m trying to say here is that you’ve got this.”

  Micah was certain she could do it.

  And it was true, with all of their training, he had noticed that his ability to heal had grown exponentially stronger. He was even getting better and better at absorbing and subsequently repelling attacks in his sparring matches against Liza. He also felt as if he were moving faster than he had been just a few days back.

  He was by no means moving at the same speed as any of the ninjas, but if he kept it up, he’d be able to catch up to Liza sooner rather than later. It was strange to think that what the team truly needed was just a few days off to train and lick their wounds, that this was the key to radically unlocking their powers. Even his grandmother seemed to be in a better mood as of late, still adding salacious comments and teasing people when she could, yet happy, the elderly woman a fan of where they were living and the bustling district around them.

  It didn’t hurt that Youseg had some serious connections. Micah and his group had already received permits, all forged, that listed them as foreign nationals with different names. Their biometric data had been modified as well, which was something that Choro had tested, Micah’s old friend finding what Youseg called his ‘tech room’ quite handy. Everything Choro could ever want was in the room, and he had already made sure he could communicate with Bobi, Choro also modifying Micah and Liza’s helmets to even allow for cross-border communication.

  Yes, Youseg’s monastery was truly what they needed, a place to call home and start over, yet the future still loomed over them. They couldn’t remain stationary and wait for it to reach them. There was always the option of expatriating, which Micah saw in their future, but this didn’t mean there still wasn’t work to do in the meantime.

  Here we go, he thought as he focused on Soraya.

  He threw the ball at her with a short breath out, the kitsune squinting as she managed to swipe it out of the air using industria. She couldn’t believe she had done it, and of all things, he didn’t expect her to run forward and hug him, Soraya squeezing Micah tighter than she ever had before.

  “You did it,” he said. “I told you that you could. I knew it.”

  “Sorry, sorry,” she told him she lowered her hands and turned away. “I’m getting ahead of myself. It could just be a one-off.”

  “I don’t know,” said Micah. “It seems to me like the start of something new…”

  “Throw it again and we’ll find out.”

  Unfortunately, Soraya turned out to be right. Over the rest of their early-morning practice, she was unable to perform the same move again, but she didn’t grow as frustrated as she normally would have, which was a relief to Micah. A glimmer of hope seemed to go a long way with the kitsune.

  Toward the tail end of their early morning training session, Youseg’s attendants came to help Soraya with breakfast and she sent them away. “Micah can help me.”

  “I can?” Micah asked. He had been planning to take a shower.

  “Of course,” Soraya said as she passed him, her tail lightly flitting against his arm. “You’ve been my assistant before.”

  Your assistant? Micah followed her into the large, first floor kitchen, all the surfaces nice and clean, everything orderly. He did as she instructed, performing a number of tasks as he thought about how he used to make breakfast and dinner for his grandmother. It had just been the two of them for so long, Micah raising her as much as she raised him at times.

  Who would have thought that things could change as drastically as they had?

  Six months ago, Micah would have never dreamed of his current situation, in the Plains Dwellers’ country of Heian, married to beautiful ninja women and likely planning to marry a nun in the future, kitsunes and mechas and everything in between. It was a fascinating and remarkable life, the exact opposite of his rough start at the university. Micah wondered if he would have ever gotten his shit together and made it through medical school. Would he have pulled it together in the end? Would he have had a breakthrough?

  I guess that doesn’t matter now, he thought as his grandmother hobbled over to the table, then Choro, followed by Milsung and Yuri.

  “And Bunni?” Micah asked as Liza came down the stairs.

  “Still asleep,” said Yuri.

  “I’ll wake her.” Micah headed up the stairs to find the Plains Dweller asleep on her stomach, her underwear halfway stuck between her ass cheeks. Micah gently sat on the bed and placed his hand on her rear.

  “Who’s touching my ass?” Bunni asked as she turned her head to him, her eyes partially open, a smile on her face.

  “It’s time for breakfast.”

  “I have a surprise for you,” she said after a cute sigh.

  “Do you, now?”

  “I might have pulled a few strings last night and arranged a trip to the spa for us. You and me, a date night. Interested?”

  “Do I even have a choice?”

  “Ha, no, you most certainly do not. There’s a place not too far from here, and it is one of the best in the district, at least according to the nun that I cornered last night.”

  “I hope you didn’t hurt her.”

  Bunni winked at him. “She may need to spend a couple days in the infirmary, but she’ll be okay.”

  “So a spa trip, huh?”

  The Plains Dweller shook her ass a little, Micah’s hand still resting on it. “It’s sort of my specialty, right? It’s just so relaxing to me.”

  “I guess you have earned it.”

  “Earned it? I’ve more than earned it, and so have you. So that’s what we’re doing tonight; don’t make any plans with anyone else.”

  “If you say so.” Micah helped her sit up. Bunni shifted her position and brought her legs over his lap, eventually scooting forward so he
could hold her. She laid her head near his neck, her ears grazing against the side of his cheek as she got into a comfortable position.

  “Would you carry me downstairs like this, like I’m your princess?”

  “What would be the point in that?”

  “Imagine the look on Soraya’s face if you kept carrying me throughout the day; she would be so annoyed.”

  “She would just look at you like you were crazy.”

  “I know, that’s the best part of it. I shouldn’t tease her,” Bunni said, “but I have to. She’s like the little sister I never had.”

  “She was able to do it this morning, you know.”

  “Do what?” Bunni nodded. “Oh, that, her industria. I didn’t know you two were still training. Good for you.”

  “We still are. It has sort of become our thing.”

  “Oooh, your thing…”

  “Liza joined us the first day, but Soraya pissed her off after throwing a temper tantrum. But to answer your question, yes, we are still training. She was able to do it; she was able to finally stop an object.”

  “Bet she won’t be able to later when we all have to train together.”

  Micah shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. But it’s a start. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “You are sweet to help her.” Bunni kissed his cheek. “Being patient with the kitsune. How magnanimous of you, such a gentle husband.”

  “Magnanimous, huh?”

  “What? I’ve used that word before.” Bunni glanced up at the ceiling. “I think.”

  “Let’s get down to breakfast before the others think we opted for a quickie.”

  “Did we opt for a quickie?” Bunni made a kissy face at him. “I mean, the others could wait.”

  “I’m always available, but we do have a trip to the spa planned later…”

  “That’s right, and I can’t wait. Best to save up then!” Bunni stood in front of Micah and hiked her panties up even further. She bent down to grab something off the floor, moving slowly, aware that Micah was watching her.

  “Yep,” Micah said as he got to his feet. “See you down there.”

  It was a brutal day of training, one which had Micah completely exhausted by the time it ended, as they were set to have dinner. Bunni reminded him to tread lightly because of the massage he was going to receive later, and he did as instructed, only eating about half what he would normally go for.

  The food was good, cooked by Youseg’s attendants, all of it vegetarian and healthy to a point that Micah had never experienced before. At first, he was skeptical about the more vegetarian dishes, but over the last few days, he had grown to enjoy them and didn’t notice a change whatsoever in cutting some of the meat from his normal diet.

  While she didn’t dislike this food per se, Soraya made sure that they had meat for breakfast every morning, which Micah’s grandmother seemed to really appreciate, Choro too.

  “Looks like it’s just you and me,” Bunni said after dinner, the rest of the now group gathered in the living space of their residence and relaxing for the evening.

  Choro had found a corner where he could talk with Youseg, the two deep into a conversation about the My Ninja Girl series, Choro running through a list of fan theories that were popular in Neo-Hokkaido. Milsung had retired to her bedroom, while Yuri and Soraya sat with Micah’s grandmother as she told them an exaggerated story about her past, Liza nearby, flipping through one of the graphic novels and vaguely listening to Choro’s conversation.

  “Lead the way,” Micah told Bunni.

  She looped her arm into his and walked proudly in front of the others. “We’ll be back. Don’t wait up for us,” she said, her comment causing Soraya’s ears to twitch. “And don’t miss us too much.”

  “We’ll be sure not to,” the kitsune called to her.

  They exited the large residence and came to the main courtyard of the monastery, paper lanterns lit and growing lime green with industria, prayer flags above them beating in the nice evening breeze.

  “I think Soraya is growing fond of you,” Bunni teased.

  “Do you, now?”

  “I do. It’s not often that she warms up to someone, especially a guy, so consider yourself lucky.”

  Micah shrugged. “She just takes some getting used to, that’s all.”

  “Most interesting people do.”

  They made their way down the lane that led away from the monastery, and eventually reached the bustling streets of Muryane, Bunni with her glaive slung over her shoulder and in its cylindrical art case, as usual. Like the others, she couldn’t be very far from her weapon, something that they all seem to have grown used to by this point. Micah didn’t have any of his gear with him. There really was no point: they weren’t going to be attacked here.

  The streets of the district were quite lively, Micah seeing a variety of multicolored rabbiteers, most of the Heian Plains Dwellers much taller than the citizens of Neo-Hokkaido. Many of the restaurants had opened up onto the street and set tables out in front, folks enjoying meals and drinks with others. There was something jovial about it all, Micah a bit surprised to be in a place where people were able to do something like this.

  It was the exact opposite of Neo-Hokkaido, with all the restrictions the monks had put in place, and the overall feel of the country, how strange and oppressive it seemed to have become over the course of his life. It was like viruses didn’t exist here, no masks, no indication that anything like that was coming, no warning lights that Micah knew would eventually go off. Nothing.

  How could a border make such a difference? he thought as they turned a corner, the two now in a well-lit alley that ran into a dead end a quarter mile away. Likely because their own government isn’t using viruses to control people…

  There wasn’t a way for Micah to attack all of the clandestine medical sites that the Society of Monks were using to house their biological weapons, at least not one that didn’t force them to rely heavily on Bobi’s mechas.

  Shining light on the situation, and hoping that the light would work, could only come from the top, which was why installing Ahmey into the role to deal with the Society of Monks seemed to be the only way forward. But they still needed to get to her shrine on the floating district of Uyanga, and while they had plenty of ideas as to how this could play out, it really was up to her in the end.

  He squeezed Bunni’s hand, the same hand which happened to have the wedding ring he’d given her. Soon, we’ll find out if all of our planning, if the idea that we have is even feasible, Micah thought as they came to a three-story building with an elaborately painted exterior, almost resembling a fan of peacock feathers set around a rabbit-ear shaped door. The place didn’t stand out compared to the other buildings, and it had a hidden in plain sight sort of feel to it, a barber shop next door, and a tailor on the other side.

  Bunni knocked, and the door popped open on its own. They stepped in and were greeted by two Plains Dwellers wearing tight little skirts and tops that showed their midriffs. Both had long dark hair which was tied up into a bun, and both were smiling.

  “We have a reservation,” Bunni said.

  “Of course, right this way,” said the woman on the right. Micah and Bunni were led to the top floor, a suite that was entirely theirs with a spa in the corner and room dividers arranged to make a smaller square in the center of the space.

  “Undress. We will be back.”

  The women left, leaving Micah and Bunni to take off their clothing. Now a bit more comfortable in situations like this, Micah got completely undressed, only for Bunni to laugh at him.

  “What?” he asked as he looked down at his member, expecting that this was what she was laughing at.

  “Shower, first. You’re getting a full body massage. You don’t want to stink.”

  “Got it.” Micah stepped over to a shower separated from the room by a pane of frosted glass. The water was instantly warm, and Micah went about soaping himself up as Bunni joined him. The Plains Dweller helped
him, which of course caused an erection, and then she started cleaning herself, Micah ‘helping’ her by kneading her breasts.

  At least he thought he was helping.

  Once they were toweled off, the two made their way to the massage tables and got into position, both still nude.

  “Are you ready for this? A true couples massage…” Bunni looked over at him, the Plains Dweller now on her back.

  “What’s there to be ready for?”

  “You’ll see…”

  The two massage therapists came into the room and began working on their backs. The woman massaging Micah leaning forward as she kneaded her elbows into his shoulders, her breasts rubbing against the back of his head. He was now face down, his head in a padded hole that had been cut to the massage table, and her massage continued for a good fifteen minutes, the woman’s elbows expertly moving up and down his back. She then added a hot oil to the mix, which had a minty smell to it.

  Everything was going normally until she started massaging his ass, Micah not quite expecting that. But it felt good, and he soon relaxed into it. The massage therapist continued downward, moving between his legs, and from there to his testicles, Micah naturally arching his back a little as she grazed her fingers against his inner thighs.

  Here we go, he thought as the woman reached her hand under him and grabbed the front of his cock. She began stroking it while Micah arched backward, his hips hiked up. She moved on, down his thighs and to the soles of his feet, the woman telling him to flip the same time that Bunni’s massage therapist told her to turn around.

  “Enjoying it?” Bunni asked, her voice quite relaxed now, as if she were drunk.

  “I would say that, yes.”

  Micah looked over at Bunni and saw the massage therapist running her hands down her breasts, and lightly drumming her fingers against the front of Bunni’s thighs. Seeing the other woman touch Bunni turned Micah on even more than he had expected, and as his own massage therapist placed her hand on his hard-on, he nearly flipped off the table, a spark of what he would later realize was industria zapping through him.