Otaku

by Jamie K. Schmidt

  Evernight Publishing

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2012 Jamie K. Schmidt

  ISBN: 978-1-77130-134-3

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: Natascha Jaffa

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  To Raechel, Paul and Brenda who started me off with Riding Bean, Bubblegum Crisis and *cough* La Blue Girl.

  OTAKU

  Romance on the Go

  Jamie K. Schmidt

  Copyright © 2012

  Ashley knew her co-workers would faint at the tentacle sex depicted on the front of her manga, so she had sewn a quilted book cover to protect their virgin eyes while she read on her lunch break. She could usually get away with yaoi because, inevitably, one of the boys on the cover looked enough like a girl that her friends just assumed she was reading a traditional romance graphic novel. Still, she usually had to keep her books face down if anyone came into her cubicle.

  “I need this translated by five,” her boss said, making her jump and blush because she had been reading a particularly descriptive section.

  Ashley looked down at the folder and then at the clock. “I’m not sure I can—”

  “Then cut your lunch short,” he said and left without looking at her or waiting for her response.

  She made a face, put her book back in her desk drawer, and opened up the CEO’s speech. The software company she worked for had distribution points world wide. She handled all the English to Japanese translations.

  “You know, Ash, people would take you more seriously if you weren’t reading comic books,” Julien said, leaning up against her cubicle. “They’d at the very least let you finish your burger.”

  Julien was handsome and slick and just enough of a brown noser to keep Ashley from considering his many attempts to take her out to dinner. He snitched a fry and angled in to look at her computer screen. He seemed disappointed to find she was on the company’s website.

  “How’s your fantasy football league doing?” she asked, refusing to rise to his bait. She knew “comic books” was his way of being passive aggressively insulting.

  “I’m in last place.” He shrugged.

  “Why is it that you can wear a Giants T-shirt and no one blinks an eye, but I wear an Akira shirt and I’m the weird one?”

  “Because it’s football, the all American sport. Akira was trying to take over the world. See the difference?”

  “Akira wasn’t trying to take over the world. His powers wound up saving it…after a lot of collateral damage.” Ashley looked up and flushed. Julien was looking at her condescendingly.

  “Fascinating,” he drawled.

  “Look, if you paint your face and chest blue or shave numbers in your head, you get a thumbs up for being such a dedicated fan. If I dressed up like Sailor Moon, I’d get sent to Human Resources.”

  “Football is ordinary.”

  “Ordinary? We work at a software company whose biggest seller is a first person shooter called Samurai vs. Ronin.” Ashley stopped and blinked for a moment. “Wouldn’t that be a first person slasher? Anyway, I think ordinary for us has more to do with espers who are too powerful for their own good and defeating evil forces while wearing cute outfits.”

  The term “prairie dogging” is what happens when workers in cubicles pop their heads up to see what’s going on. Ashley noticed she was getting a bunch of them and decided to stop geeking out. It was bad enough they all thought she was a little weird, better not continue the lecture and remove all doubt.

  “So, Ashley, are you doing anything tonight?” Julien asked when she turned back to her translation.

  “Why?”

  “I was wondering if I could get you to go to a reception with me?”

  “Is this work related?”

  “Of course. I could use your help.”

  Ashley sighed. On the one hand, she really wanted to go home, kick back with a bottle of wine, and finish her book. On the other hand, this was her last book until a new shipment came in this weekend. “What kind of reception?”

  “I think this will be right up your alley. Magome is flying in to record some tracks on Samurai X and tonight there’s a meet and greet.”

  “So what do you need me for?” Most of the artists were bilingual.

  Julien looked down at his feet. “I…um…wanted you to introduce me to your ex.”

  “Kai is going to be there?” Ashley stared at her computer screen without seeing it.

  “Yeah, he’s got a new storyline written and I wanted to see if he would be willing to collaborate on a project of mine.”

  Julien kept rambling on, but Ashley didn’t hear a word he said. There wasn’t a chance in hell that she was going to go anywhere near the reception tonight, even if it meant she’d never find out if Tendo Kaisuke was still being possessed by Terasaka Kichiemon, a ghost of a disgraced samurai.

  Ashley finished up the translation for her boss by a little after five. Since no one was around, she tossed it on his desk and scurried into the elevator. The reception wasn’t going to start until eight, so she should be safe inside her apartment by the time the guests arrived. Only she didn’t count on her former boyfriend coming early to look for her. They saw each other as the elevator doors opened. His eyes grew wide and his smile feral as he strode toward her. Jerking back into the elevator, she jammed on the close button and was satisfied to see the doors shut in his face. She had no doubt that if he had his katana, he’d have sliced it through the door. But building security tended to frown on that sort of thing, even with foreign dignitaries.

  She pressed the top floor button and felt the anxiety build as it sped up to the twelfth floor. He was fast, but he wasn’t that fast. When the elevator doors opened, she pressed every single button and sent it back down again. That should keep him wondering what floor she got out on. But then, she was at a loss of what to do. Ashley didn’t know anyone in these offices and it was just a matter of time before he came up the stairs.

  She opened the stairwell door and listened. Risking a peek over the railing, she didn’t hear anything—not even the normal coming and goings of quitting time. She swallowed hard and took off her heels. Creeping down a flight, she strained to hear even the slightest rustle. When a door banged open, she nearly shrieked and almost threw her shoes at the Vice President. She managed to smile weakly at him, but he didn’t look up from his paperwork.

  Sagging against the wall in relief, she thought, this is ridiculous. Neither Kai nor Terasaka were going to hurt her. He probably just wanted her help in whatever screwball mess he found himself in, and if they wound up tangled in the bed sheets, so much the better. Clamping down on a whimper that came straight from her broken heart, Ashley padded down to the tenth floor and stepped into the hallway.

  “Julien was looking for you,” one of the writers said.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled as she slipped back on her shoes. She hurried down to Julien’s office and breathed a sigh of relief when he wasn’t there. Closing the door behind her, she sat at his desk and looked out his window. How long could she stay in here before the coast was clear? Ashley was reasonably sure this was the last place Julien and her ex would think to look for her. She started getting fidgety after about a half hour. This would go by seamlessly if she only had her book. As it was, she might have to aban
don it and go home without it. That irritated her to no end. Glaring at the phone, she picked it up and dialed her work number. It rang three times and then a soft, masculine voice answered.

  “Ashley Woodworth’s desk.”

  “Is that you, Kai?”

  “Sometimes,” he said.

  His deep voice made her clench her knees together as her mind kept replaying erotic images of them tangling together in the dark.

  “Why are you answering my phone?”

  “Why are you calling it?”

  “I was looking for Kai.”

  “We’re right here waiting for you.”

  “I was afraid of that.”

  “I told you, you don’t have to be afraid of me.”

  “I don’t want to be dragged into whatever madness you’re involved in.”

  “OK.”

  Ashley got a pang in her stomach. “OK? You’re giving in way too easily.”

  “We’ve missed you.”

  The pang rose a little to ache in her chest. “I haven’t forgotten Miyo.”

  “You know how it is.” He had lowered his voice. “Men have needs.”

  “I know that when most women find their boyfriend in bed with a floozy, they come up with outrageous lies.”

  “Yet, your boyfriend told you the truth.”

  “That the ghost possessing him made him do it.”

  “Kai was being honest with you.”

  “Put him on the phone,” she hissed.

  “I’d rather not.”

  “I’d rather be home reading right now, but we can’t always get what we want.”

  Ashley heard her desk drawer open. “Ah yes,” he said.

  “Stop smirking.”

  “We brought you three Tokyohentai books hot off the press. They won’t hit the states for another year.”

  “That’s blackmail,” she hissed.

  “I want to give you your gift in person. I’ll just take this one too. For safekeeping.”

  “Don’t you dare steal my book.”

  “I’ll be at the reception tonight. If you want your books, you can put on a nice dress and talk to me like an adult.”

  Ashley spluttered into a dead phone. She grimly put it back on the hook.

  Terasaka Kichiemon feudal swordsman or Tendo Kaisuke modern day writer, this means war.

  If Ashley had traditional samurai armor, she would have considered donning it. As it was, she didn’t think the little black dress was a bad choice. It hugged her figure and the push up bra did wonders for her cleavage. She gathered her auburn hair in a messy bun on top of her head and chose lipstick and nail polish in a heady wine shade. Her fists clenched a bit as her brain flashed on Miyo, a delicate Japanese flower with long, black tresses and wide, innocent eyes—everything Ashley wasn’t. She relaxed her fists, having learned her lesson about hitting. Terasaka had stopped her from slapping the shit out of Miyo—after Ashley had dragged her from the bed by her hair. It hadn’t mattered that Kai wasn’t in control of his body. It still didn’t matter that Kai probably hadn’t really wanted Terasaka using his body to bang the chick like a cheap copper gong. It mattered that when Ashley turned on him, he’d backhanded her across the room.

  She swallowed and touched her jaw. She remembered Terasaka staggering to his knees and his eyes changing color from deep brown to Kai’s golden brown as Kai wrenched back control of his body. Sometimes that’s the only way she knew who was driving—by the eye color—and even then there were times when she thought it had been a trick of the light and Kai was schizophrenic. Ashley, her mouth bleeding, ran from the house and caught the next flight back to the States. That had been six months ago. She’d changed her cell phone, blocked him from social media and figured that’s what she got for getting involved with a man possessed by a ghost who liked to hit women.

  Ashley sat back down on her bed. Unfortunately, she missed the son of a bitch. Both of them. Yet her life had just gotten back to normal. Boring, but normal. She didn’t have to go to the reception. Was it worth the aggravation for those books? Kai really knew what she liked and Terasaka knew how to bait the hook. She could try eBay or haunt some conventions and see what she could dig up instead. She didn’t have to face Kai or Terasaka, who seemed to be in charge today—again. She could forget how the silky tide of Kai’s ebony hair falling across her neck and chest as he kissed his way down her body. She would love to forget Terasaka’s brooding glances and rough touches, but most of all, she’d like to get rid of her own desire to ride the ronin like a Harley down a bumpy road.

  It’s an impossible situation, she thought, kicking off her very cute, but very painful, shoes. It was better this way. She was heading to the computer when her doorbell rang.

  Peeking through the security hole, though, was Terasaka. Ashley would have liked to pretend it was Kai, but she realized as she looked at him that they carried themselves differently. It wasn’t just the eye color. Terasaka was a warrior. Kai was a poet.

  “Open the door, koneko. I can hear you breathing.”

  “Don’t call me kitten,” she said.

  “Then sheath your claws and let me in. I’m told I am to apologize to you.”

  “Drop dead.”

  “Too late.” He smiled. “It’s not like you to cower behind a closed door.”

  “Maybe I’d rather not get punched in the head again.”

  The smile dropped. “I am deeply sorry for that. It was a reaction. I pulled the blow.”

  “That’s supposed to make me feel better?” That had been a pulled punch?

  “I am here to make amends.”

  “Do you have my books?”

  He made a face. “In my day, women didn’t read such trash.” He showed her a bag.

  Ashley opened the door. “In your day, concubines read and did far worse. Give me that.” She reached for it. He used her motion to hand over the books, pushing by her into the apartment. She glared at him for a moment, but then looked inside the bag. Good stuff. She picked up the one she had been reading and made sure he hadn’t lost her place.

  “You are not a geisha.” He ran his eyes up the length of Ashley’s body. Even though she tingled everywhere his gaze touched her, she wanted to cover up. “But I am enthralled by your loveliness.”

  “I’m so glad.” Ashley hoped the sarcasm froze his black heart, but he looked unaffected. “Where’s Kai?”

  Terasaka shrugged. “Composing odes or some such.” He stood in the middle of the room, not slouching, so still he was like a statue. But Ashley had seen him pounce from that stance, with a quickness that belied his casual gaze around the room.

  “I’d like to speak to him.”

  “Speak to me instead.” He stepped in closer and the scent of sandalwood and pine washed over her. Her eyes half closed in memory and the books dropped to the floor.

  “Why are you here?” she asked, snapping out of the haze of arousal.

  “I told you. To apologize. Julien was nice enough to tell me where you lived.”

  “Julien is an idiot. He’s only trying to get on Kai’s good side so you agree to give him a byline on Kai’s next piece.”

  “As if Kai would ever allow that.”

  “So you apologized, now get out.”

  “Did I?” He leaned in closer.

  Ashley took a step back, aware that it looked like she was retreating, but she had to in order to stop swaying nearer to him. If she didn’t get some distance, she’d be hopping into his arms. This wasn’t Kai. This was the man who treated her like a punching bag and hauled her all over Japan looking for relics and beasties to fight.

  “I’ll take the books instead. That’s all I wanted. You can leave.”

  “I’d like there not to be this tension between us.” He went to touch her cheek and Ashley flinched away from him. Terasaka dropped his hand in defeat.

  “Yeah? Well, I’d like you not to use my boyfriend’s body to lay other girls.”

  “I thought you broke up.”

  “W
e did.”

  “Then you shouldn’t care what I do or who I do.”

  Ashley gritted her teeth. “You’re right. It’s over. Do as you will. Now, get out of my apartment and stay out of my life.”

  “You’d let Kaisuke go that easily? You are not worthy of him.”

  “Nope. Get out.”

  He didn’t move.

  “What would Kai have done if he caught me in bed with another man?”

  “We would have killed him.” Terasaka’s voice was emotionless and even.

  “This isn’t feudal Japan. You can’t just go hacking off heads when someone displeases you.”

  He took another deliberate step forward. “Is this why you haven’t contacted us in six months? Is there another man?” He veered quickly and walked into her bedroom.

  “Get out of there!”

  He glanced in the closet and then nodded. “I don’t see any evidence of a man in your life.”

  Ashley crossed her arms in front of her chest. She felt like shivering. “Maybe my clothes are at his house.”

  He grew still again and Ashley took another step back. “And then,” he said, “after his head left his body, I would have shown you the error of your ways.”

  “You would have beaten me?”

  He shook his head. “I would have made sure you would have never wanted to take another lover again.”

  “That sounds ominous.”

  “Does it?” He stalked nearer. “Or does it sound exciting? Perhaps, if you were willing to share my bed, Miyo wouldn’t have been so attractive to me.”

  “This conversation is over.”

  “What are you afraid of, koneko?” He was close enough that the heat from his body made the hair on her arms raise up. Dipping his head in close, Terasaka inhaled deeply. “You smell fresh and innocent.” When she would have flinched back, he caught her head in a gentle grip and tilted her neck closer to his mouth. He brushed his lips once, twice over the beating pulse of her throat. Ashley’s knees buckled and Terasaka hauled her against his hard body. His teeth grazed her and she let out a small gasp.