“Fine.” Raiden stood up, then stuck his hand out toward me, almost as if he were jabbing me with it. “Come on, we may as well startnow.”
I stared at his outstretched arm. “Isn’t there anyone else who can train me?” I blurted out, a little desperately. I couldn’t bear the idea of being forced to learn from someone who didn’t want to teach me. Especially someone I’d developed an insta-crush on. I couldn’t believe how much Raiden’s sudden rejection stung, even though I understood his need to get to his parents. After all, that’s what I was doing, wasn’tit?
Mamoru shook his head. “All our other high-level shamans were called away. Raiden is the best we have, and usually, he acts like it.” He gave Raiden a look. “Don’t forget to take the charm box withyou.”
Raiden froze. “The charm box? You don’t meanthatcharm box, do you?” he askedwarily.
Mamoru scowled. “What other charm box would I be talking about?” he demanded imperiously. “Do you want to stand here all night arguing, or do you want to train? Neither of you are leaving this building until she hassomeidea of what to do with her powers,” he added, his voice growing low and threatening. The air shifted, growing charged with power, and the hair on my arms stood on end as Mamoru began toglow.
Raiden’s spine went ramrod straight. “Very well,” he said tightly. Not looking at me, he stalked toward the back of the room, disappearing between theshelves.
“Don’t mind him,” Mamoru said, refilling my cup of tea. I noticed the shelves weren’t just lined with books—there were ancient artifacts as well, though I couldn’t identify them from where I sat. “Raiden thinks he knows everything, but he is still young, and growing up in America has shielded him in many ways. The old gods do not visit here often.” His wizened face grewsad.
“The old gods?” I asked. “What do youmean?”
Before Mamoru could answer, Raiden returned with a lacquered wooden box inlaid withkanjisymbols.Anofudacharm had been slapped across the latch, and I noticed the box was glowingfaintly.
I frowned. “What’s thatglow?”
“Theyoki,” Raiden said. He still sounded irritated, but he was glancing curiously at me now. “I guess you’re able to see it now, unlikebefore?”
I blinked. “Is that why you said you could sense theogamawhen we were outside the apartment? Because you saw aglow?”
“Yes.” He gestured for me to get up. “Come on. Let’s head to the trainingroom.”
I stood up, then bowed to Mamoru. “Thank you for the tea,” I said, “and theconversation.”
Mamoru huffed. “No need for thanks,” he said, waving us away. “Now get going. I have work todo!”
Raiden and I grabbed our shoes, then got back into the elevator. “What a strange guy,” I muttered as we began to go down. “He’s nice one moment, grumpy thenext.”
Raiden shrugged, and some of his annoyance seemed to dissipate with the motion. “Mamoru is an elder, so he’s allowed his mood swings.” The hint of derision in his voice told me exactly what Raiden thought of that, but to his credit he didn’t say anything disparaging about the old man. An awkward silence fell between us, and we both lookedaway.
Finally, Raiden exhaled. “I’m sorry if I came off too harsh earlier,” he said. “It isn’t that I consider you a burden. Really, you’re not.” He turned toward me, and the sincerity in his voice soothed some of the sting from earlier. “It’s just that I really wasn’t expecting any of this.” Frustration bubbled in hisvoice.
“That makes two of us,” I said, raising my eyebrows. I held his gaze for several seconds before I added, “But I was rude to you too, for the same reason. We’re both shaken up tonight.” I gave him a small smile. “I guess you could say this makes useven.”
Raiden chuckled. “That’s not the answer I was expecting, but I’ll takeit.”
The doors opened into another room withtatamimat flooring. The tang of old sweat mixed with the fragrance of jasmine flowers made my nose wrinkle, and I looked around to see that this was a kind of dojo. There was a sitting area toward the front with cubbies, where you could store your shoes and hang your coats, and two walled off changing areas. A hallway cut through the center of the room, which was subdivided into various smaller rooms by drywall. Some of the rooms had windows that you could look into, while others were completely closedoff.
“I thought we were here to do shaman training?” I asked as Raiden led me into the biggest room, toward the back. The walls were lined with every weapon imaginable, as well as boxing pads of varying shapes and sizes. There were gym mats stacked in a corner, and a huge wire basket filled with sparringgear.
“We are,” Raiden said, sitting cross-legged on the floor. His thigh muscles strained against his jeans as he settled, and I had to force myself not to stare. “Shamans are required to train both our bodies and our minds,” he continued as I sat down in front of him, as far away as I possibly could without being obvious. “The stronger our bodies are, the better our spirits are able to use them. There’s little point in merging with a samurai spirit if your body is too weak to wield asword.”
“Makes sense,” I admitted, scanning the weapons on the walls again. “Do you know how to use all ofthose?”
“Most of them.” Raiden set the lacquered box down between us. “Openit.”
My stomach fluttered, this time with nerves, as I stared down at the box. Hesitantly, I reached for theofudaand pulled it off. The paper withered to ash in my hand, and the box immediately began to glow brighter, no longer hampered by theofuda’smagic. Holding my breath, I flipped up the gold clasp and opened the box, bracing myself for ayokaito come rushingout.
“Relax,” Raiden said, sounding amused. I met his gaze, and glared at the mirth I found in his eyes. “They’re just charms. They won’t bite…yet.”
“Whatever,” I muttered, tearing my eyes away from him so I could focus on the contents of the box. Sure enough, it was filled with tiny charms of all shapes and sizes—a turtle carved out of jade, a metal ball covered insakurablossoms, a tinyofudain a silk drawstring pouch. They were all the kind of charms you’d find at aShintoshrine or Buddhist temple…except they were old, the colors faded and the paint chipped on many of them. The stone ones were shiny and smooth, and some of the carving details had worn away, as if by repeatedtouching.
“So all of these can summon ayokai?” I asked, pulling out a shiny yen coin attached to a jewelry fob with two tiny bells. The charm flared, nearly blinding me, and I shrieked, dropping it back into thebox.
“Whoa!” Raiden said as I scrambled back, his eyes wide. “I’ve never seen them do thatbefore.”
