“A distraction from what?” James demanded.

  “You think I’ll just tell you? You must be some kind of—oh god, it hurts! It hurts so much!”

  “Don’t torture him, Harue!” James protested half-heartedly.

  “I’m just squeezing his finger,” Harue sneered. “How are you going to survive getting a finger chopped off if you’re this much of a baby?”

  “The boss says—itai!—that finger-chopping creates negative—itai!—downstream effects on workforce—itai!—morale and long-term brand—itai!—posture!”

  “Seriously, Harue, let him go. He hasn’t done anything.”

  “It’s… okay, isn’t it?” Suki put in hesitantly. “It’s fine to torture bad guys.”

  “No, it isn’t!” James insisted. “It’s wrong and counter-productive! They just make up stuff to make the pain stop!”

  “That’s a very American perspective,” Harue said. She released her captive and let him sink to the ground, clutching his injured finger. “Maybe that’s true for terrorists that would rather die than betray the cause, but this guy…”

  She glared down at him. “He’s just a weak-ass yakuza who hasn’t even had a finger chopped off. He’ll squeal like a piggy with just a little more effort.”

  “No, I won’t!” Toji mumbled. “I’ll never give up my bros,”

  “If you’re gonna insist on no bloodshed,” Harue continued, “I just have to take him some place private.” She leaned down over the trembling gangster.

  “How do you feel about cockroaches?” she purred. “Crawling all over your body with their scratchy hairy legs, getting into your mouth, your nose, your ears…”

  Toji whimpered wordlessly.

  “Harue,” James complained.

  She grabbed Toji by the back of his collar.

  “Fifteen minutes, that’s all it will take!” she said brightly. “And that includes dragging time.”

  “Oh god, no,” Toji moaned as she started lifting him. “I’ll talk! Just don’t let her have me!”

  “Aw, that’s no fun,” Harue griped. “We should do a little torture first, just to be sure.”

  “Harue,” James said flatly. “Let’s hear him out.”

  “Fine,” Harue said, rolling her eyes and dropping the yakuza back to the ground. “Talk, then. Where have the bombs been placed?”

  “Bombs?” Toji squeaked. “We didn’t place no bombs!”

  “What did you do—what are you doing?” James demanded.

  Toji grimaced and glanced back at Harue fearfully. “We’re… we’re kidnapping Ogasawara-sama.”

  “Again? Why?” James asked.

  “The Boss doesn’t tell me things like that!” Toji said scornfully. “I’m just a lowly foot-soldier!”

  Harue coughed.

  “But-but-but,” Toji backpedalled. “I did overhear the Boss’s phone call! Kotodama is paying us a buttload of cash for the girl!”

  “Kotodama Heavy Industries? Or Kotodama the man?” Suki put in.

  “Uh…” Toji looked nervously at Harue. “I dunno, the corporation, I guess? I don’t know who Kotodama-san might be.”

  “How?” James asked. “Koto—KIH isn’t supposed to be able to get on the island, but they can send you? How does that work?”

  “I dunno, the Boss said they were paying for our special expertise,” Toji said proudly. “We’re statistically invisible.”

  James’s head was starting to hurt.

  “Even if that’s true,” he said. “How were you going to get her off the island? You can’t take her on the ferry bundled up in a rug.”

  “That’s what the Boss said,” Toji replied, looking down despondently. “I thought it was a good idea. But the Boss had a better one! We’d hire her as a consultant!”

  “She’s still in school. She’s fifteen.”

  “Yeah, but she’s got real business acupuncture! He tells her that it’s a short-term engagement, doing a strategic review of our deliverables, and then we hand her over when she gets off the ferry! It’s genius.”

  “Assuming your boss knows the difference between accumen and acupuncture… it might work,” Suki conceded. “Junko-san did have a lot of advice for your… organisation.”

  “Yeah, she never met the Boss, but what we told him really impressed him,” Toji said eagerly. “He was gonna try and hire her for real, if this gig hadn’t shown up.”

  “And this… is happening right now?” James asked. He was starting to feel crushed by the realisation that this was all serious.

  He took out his phone and called Mitsue. As was typical, Mitsue picked up on the second ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Mitsue, I need you to get to the ferry. That yakuza group we ran into before is trying to make off with Junko-san. They’re working for Kotodama.”

  “Really? I mean, understood,” Mitsue said, hanging up.

  “I suppose we’d better put you in custody,” James said, glaring at Toji.

  “What? You can’t, I ain’t done nothing!”

  “You were involved in the first kidnapping,” James sighed. “That was a crime worth putting you away for. I’ve no idea how the Student Council handles that, so I’ll let them deal with you.”

  “Hey, hey, let’s not be hasty,” Harue interjected. “A tasty fellow like this, who won’t be missed… That’s a resource that you don’t want to just hand over to the police.”

  James glowered at her. “Kana isn’t supposed to eat people on the island. And you told me you don’t need to eat people.”

  “Want and need are different things,” Harue said carelessly. “And I was thinking of a different fox, one whom I’d like to owe me a favour…”

  James stared at her a moment longer. “He goes into PMC custody,” he said. “That’s final.”

  Harue clicked her tongue in irritation. “Vegan, Gluten intolerant.. Why will no one ever consider my dietary needs?”

  * * *

  James’s phone rang just as he got to the guard post. Ema was there, with another flower-shirted thug in tow.

  “Have you seen Junko-san?” she asked anxiously.

  James shook his head and answered Mitsue on speaker.

  “Bad news,” Mitsue said. “The ferry left about three minutes ago. I think I can make out Junko, surrounded by a bunch of guys in Hawaiian shirts.”

  Ema gasped. James just grimaced.

  “Thanks, anyway,” he told Mitsue. “Ema and I will get these two locked up, and we’ll see how Midoriko-senpai wants to proceed.”

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  There was silence on the other end of the line for a second.

  “You are aware,” Mitsue said, his voice grim, “That Midoriko-senpai may tell you to let them go?”

  “What? Why would she do that?”

  “It is outside of the PMC’s jurisdiction,” Mitsue explained. “Off the island, the PMC are just vigilantes with swords.”

  “But we can’t just…” James trailed off. He’d gotten so used to… everything that he’d forgotten the police existed.

  “Also, if Kotodama is involved, it may be a trap for you or Suki,” Mitsue added. “Professor Toei will definitely tell you not to get involved.”

  “What can we do, then?” James asked. He looked at Ema, who was listening in anxiously and took the phone off speaker.

  “I can follow them,” Mitsue said in his ear. “Using Hiei-no-Jutsu, I could follow them over the water, perhaps even make it on board without being seen. Perhaps. It is far too clear a day for stealth to be effective.”

  “What can I do?” James asked, ignoring Ema’s outraged glare.

  “You need to find a way off the island and bring some reinforcements,” Mitsue suggested. “I can handle the Yakuza, but I’m not confident about whatever force Kotodama has sent to meet them.”

  “Right. Do that, then,” James said, and hung up. “Can you process both of these guys?” he asked Ema.

  “I can… but what should I tell Midoriko-senpai?” Ema asked.

  “Tell her everything you heard.” James turned to Suki and Harue, who had followed him and were now waiting patiently. Impatiently in Harue’s case.

  “You’re not going to save her, are you?” Harue asked scornfully. “You’ve already got a girlfriend!”

  “Harue, I know you don’t get along with Junko-san,” Suki said firmly, “But we can’t disrupt the group at this point… and isn’t being an idol all about friendship?”

  Harue scowled at having her own words thrown back at her. “Fine!” she grumbled. “But how are you gonna get there?”

  “I don’t know yet,” James admitted. “But, Suki, you need to stay behind.”

  “What? Why?” Suki asked.

  “Because Kotodama is involved. Even if it isn’t a trap, they’ll be pretty happy about getting a chance to grab you.”

  Suki pouted. “It is true that I’m not supposed to leave the island,” she admitted. “I don’t see why, though, if Yakuza are allowed to just wander around freely.”

  She turned to Ema. “I’ll help you explain things to Midoriko-senpai,” she said. “And maybe we’ll be able to get an explanation of this gaping security hole.”

  “Are you coming?” James asked Harue.

  “I suppose,” she said dramatically. “Even if Junko doesn’t get the true meaning of friendship. Someone has to be the bigger person. Kana’s down on the beach, by the way.”

  “Right.” Getting down to the beach was the next step; he had to find a way off the island. Briefly, he wondered if Suki could call her sister and borrow the cigarette boat, but he ruthlessly clamped down on that thought. He didn’t want to owe terrorists favours.

  It probably wouldn’t be able to arrive on time, anyway.

  The beach wasn’t far; he just had to push past the crowds gawping at the fair stands or, in some cases, at him. He spotted Kana easily; Harue skipped over to recruit her for his sudden mission.

  He just needed a way… and then he saw it—the KV Aqualyte Convertus 700. Crashing through the surf with Matsuri and Shion on the deck, laughing enthusiastically.

  * * *

  “I really don’t think that would be possible,” Sebastian said. “This sounds like a matter for the police.”

  “You don’t get it, dude,” Shion put in. “If Kotodama is involved, the police can’t do a thing.”

  “Even KIH has to follow the law,” Sebastian said. He didn’t sound convinced. “At least where people are watching.”

  “We just need you to take us there,” James argued. “You don’t need to fight or anything. Assuming this boat even has a giant fighting robot mode.”

  “It doesn’t!” Sebastian exclaimed. “It’s a civilian vehicle!”

  “Right,” Harue said. “So no fighting, you can keep the boat nice and safe and not do anything dangerous. And if something does happen, you can claim it on event insurance.”

  “The insurance costs were abnormally high for this event,” Sebastian muttered, “But even so—”

  “You’ll do it,” Matsuri interrupted. “You’ll do it because you want to stay on my good side. Junko’s my friend, and I will go and save her!”

  “Wait, you can’t go,” James protested.

  “Why should you get to go and I can’t?” Matsuri asked.

  “You know why!” James waved vaguely at Sebastian. “For… reasons! Also, your father will kill me.”

  “Well, too bad, because I want to go on another adventure, and Sebastian is only going to take you if I ask him to.” Matsuri smiled smugly. “I figured it out. KansVolk want me working for them, so they’re sucking up to me with all they’ve got.”

  “That's, uh, true, but we were thinking more on the lines of access to state-of-the-art parts…”

  “I want those too,” Matsuri allowed, “But I want this as well.”

  “Maybe if we came to some sort of internship agreement?”

  “Sure. I’ll look at your contract. If I get this boat trip.”

  Sebastian sighed. “Okay, fine. I shouldn’t get in too much trouble if I can get you to sign.”

  “I’m coming too,” Shion said, high-fiving Matsuri. “This sounds like fun.”

  “Didn’t you hear that Kotodama was involved?” James asked. “Aren’t you running from them?”

  “They don’t scare me,” Shion declared. “All the more reason to hit them where it hurts.”

  “Sure, fine, whatever. Not my problem,” James said.

  “Like it was your decision,” Matsuri retorted. “Is anyone else coming, or can we go now?”

  “Just Kana and me!” Harue said brightly.

  “I could make my own way there, but a boat ride will be a novel experience,” Kana stated.

  “I guess… I’ll just make sure there's enough fuel for the trip,” Sebastian sighed.

  * * *

  It was only a few minutes more before they were underway, but James was feeling every second of delay.

  “Are we going to be able to catch up with them?” he asked Sebastian.

  “I’m not sure. We should be faster, but they have a head start, and the trip only takes an hour. Are you sure they’re headed to the ferry dock?”

  “Mitsue would call if they hijacked the ferry,” James said. “Assuming…”

  “You should call him,” Sebastian suggested.

  “I don’t want to trigger his phone if he’s trying to be stealthy,” James explained. “He’ll call when he can, I’m sure of it.”

  He wished his nerves were as sure as his voice sounded. They were almost in sight of Shikoku Island when his phone rang.

  “Mitsue! What’s the situation?”

  “Junko is just getting off the ferry now. She doesn’t seem to have noticed anything amiss, but there are three black SUVs and half a dozen men in suits waiting for them. They look very serious.”

  James didn’t want to think about what “very serious” meant to Mitsue.

  “We’ve got to get there faster!” he told Sebastian.

  “This is as fast as the 700 can go!” Sebastian protested. “If you wanted real speed, you should have ordered the 900!”

  “They’re getting in… I’ve lost sight of Junko,” Mitsue reported. “They’re heading out… I think they’re planning on taking Route 317.”

  “North or South?” Sebastian queried, pressing buttons on the trip computer. It looked fancy.

  “Unsure as yet. I’ll call you back. I have to move to keep up with them.”

  The line went dead.

  “You didn’t even bring your best model?” Matsuri scoffed. “I’m disappointed.”

  “It was just meant for joyrides around the bay!” Sebastian protested. “The extra horsepower would have been wasted!”

  Mitsue called back. “They’re headed North,” he said. “Perhaps they’re planning on taking the bridge?”

  The ferry terminal was in sight now, but Sebastian swung the boat to point more north.

  “According to the map, there are a few places we can get past the seawall and get on to the highway more directly,” he said. “We can catch up that way.”

  James looked over Sebastian’s shoulder, but the map was too many closely packed Kanji characters for him to make sense of it. There was a blue line coming off the ocean and going onto the road, so he supposed that was their route.

  “That’s not a standard function for navigation systems,” Matsuri said, from around his shoulder.

  “No, but KV thought it was needed for a vehicle that could transition from water to land,” Sebastian said proudly.

  “I’ll pass on the landmarks as we pass them,” Mitsue said. He started calling out place names, and James passed them on. A few minutes later, the shoreline was approaching at speed.

  “Do we need to slow down?” James asked nervously.

  “No, there’s an auto-detect for rapid beaching,” Sebastian explained. “We’re going a little faster than the recommended—”

  There was a lurch, and a bump and then everything was moving around James as the launch reconfigured. Glass walls rose up from the railing, and a capsule formed around the passengers. Before James knew it, he was looking out of the wide glass windows of a campervan.

  “Hey! I spilled my drink!” Shion complained from the back of the craft.

  “It’s just soda, the cleaning crew can get that out,” Sebastian muttered to himself. Then they were driving up the beach, climbing the steep slope to the car park nearby. The navigation program hadn’t lied about there being a path from the beach to the road network, but it might have stretched the truth a bit.

  “It looks like we didn’t manage to intercept them,” Sebastian said, turning onto a wider road and stepping on the gas. “Should we stop to pick up your friend?”

  “I’m good,” Mitsue said when James relayed that. “I can’t keep up with them on the highway, but I still have them in sight.”

  There was a screech of tyres as Sebastian turned onto the highway without slowing.

  “Sorry,” Sebastian said. “I’m not used to driving vehicles this big.”

  “Are we gonna be okay?” James asked.

  “It’s fine, this model has excellent rollover protection. But, uh, perhaps you might like to put on your seatbelts.”

  James stared at him for a moment and then scrambled for the nearest seat. Matsuri, too, had the presence of mind to follow the instruction. The others… not so much.

  “Hah! If we crash, I’ll go flying out the front window like a bullet!” Shion boasted. “It will be so cool.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Harue promised, coming up front to lean over Sebastian’s shoulder. “You can’t take us out with something as mundane as a car crash.”

  Sebastian’s gaze flicked back at them before returning to the road. “I think the briefing had notes about those girls,” he muttered.

  “I see you,” Mitsue said over the phone. “One moment.”

  There was a whooshing noise from James’s phone, and then a heavy thump sounded from the roof.

  “What was that?” Matsuri screamed.

  “That was Mitsue,” James replied. “Is there a roof access hatch or something?”

  Sebastian looked back at him for way longer than he should have. Then he silently pushed a button. A whirring sound came from the roof, along with the sounds of cars on the motorway. Mitsue dropped down through the hatch.

  “Thank you,” he said to Sebastian. “You are moving faster than I was; they should come into sight soon.”

  “I hope you’ve got a plan for what you’re doing,” Sebastian said. “There are only a few more exits before they’re on the expressway. Then there isn’t another exit until ōshima.”

  “There,” Mitsue said, pointing forward. Three black SUVs had just come into view. “Follow them.”

  “Okay, but did you hear what I said?” Sebastian insisted. “You really should just report this to the police.”

  “We can follow them north if we have to,” James said. “We’re not going to run them off the road, so we just have to wait until they get—”

  He stopped because the cars ahead were acting strangely. Swerving at the last minute, they took the corner to one of the side streets with a screeching of tyres and a chorus of horns from the other drivers.

  “That’s weird,” James said. “Do you think they noticed us?”

  two chapters, but I can't really justify writing two chapters of this a week. It's hard enough getting a single chapter of Dungeon Fun written, and my goal is three. And sometimes Dave and I skip a week. That means that less than one chapter gets written a week, and I publish one a week. So my buffer has been slowly dropping as time goes by. It's down to two chapters now.