“I hope so,” Raiden said, but the hint of doubt in his voice wasn’t reassuring. “I just figured that if you did, wouldn’t your mother have known about them? It’s very uncommon to marry someone and have no idea about their familialconnections.”
I bit my lip. “Mom says that my grandparents are back in Japan, and that she had a falling out with them. They didn’t want her to marry my father, so the two of them eloped, and ended up moving to America while she was pregnant with me. I don’t have any idea who they are—Mom didn’t even have pictures of them in the house. Do you think that her parents knew my father was a shaman? What if that’s the reason they didn’t want her to marry him?” My stomach plummeted at the thought. Did that mean my mother’s parents would reject me too, if I ever met them face toface?
“It’s all too possible,” Raiden said sadly. “Shamans used to be revered, but ever since that Inoue Enryo guy came onto the scene, our reputations have gone down thedrain.”
“Enryo?” The name rang a bell, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. “Who’sthat?”
Raiden let out a disgusted sigh. “He was a doctor of philosophy who made it his personal mission to debunkyokaiandyureimyths,” he said. “He basically managed to convince all of Japan that most of the superstitions they’ve believed in for thousands of years are lies, and to throw away their traditions and turn to science instead.” His eyes flashed with anger. “It isn’t that I don’t believe in science, or that some of Dr. Inoue’s work wasn’t unfounded. A lot of the myths and superstitions Japan has clung toarefalse. But the old gods have faded away as we move further and further into the age of technology. We’re losing touch with our ancestors, with ourspirituality.”
A pang of sadness hit my heart, and I found myself reaching for the hand I’d spurned earlier. “That has to be really hard,” I said softly, “being continuously rejected bysociety.”
I felt guilty now for dismissing Raiden so thoroughly when he’d first told me I was a shaman, despite the evidence staring me in the face. As a pre-med student, I was one of the science-worshipers, even though I was also a spiritual person. While I still believed that modern medicine was one of the greatest achievements of mankind, I was areikipractitioner, too. It was all too obvious that there was still a lot we didn’tknow.
And ignoring the very real existence of spirits and monsters was only going to push us further away from answers, notcloser.
“I’m used to it.” Raiden shrugged as if it were no big deal. But his hand tightened around mine, and that familiar pain glimmered in his eyes again. “That’s why my family started our investigation company. So we could continue to make use of our abilities, and worship the old gods, without being ridiculed or turned destitute. That could be what happened to your father’s family, Aika. They might have been poor, and your mother’s family didn’t want her to marry him because of their lack of social status orwealth.”
I flinched. “That sounds so cold,” I said. But it also wasn’t uncommon amongst Japanese families. “I need to ask my mother about all this,” I added, urgency filling my words. “She’s the only one who can give me answers about myheritage.”
Raiden’s expression hardened, and he nodded. “We’ll have to get her out of therethen.”
The turtle shell tilted backward, and I sat up, realizing we were headed toward the surface. I squeezed Raiden’s hand tighter as nervous energy pumped through my veins. It was one thing to say you were going to an island of monkeys—another thing entirely to actually set foot on one. And on top of it, we were going to have to kill the monkey king and take his liver. A shudder rippled through me at the thought of reaching into a dead primate’s abdomen and pulling out hisorgans.
You’re studying to become a doctor, Aika,I reminded myself.Now’s as good a time as any to get used to sticking your hands into someone else’s guts. Even if you’re doing it without sterilizedgloves.
TheUmigamegave one last push with his enormous fins, and we broke the surface with a huge splash. Sea water slapped me in the face, and I sputtered, trying to maintain my balance on the turtle shell. The sun hung high in the air above us, blazing with the ferocity of a summer afternoon even though it had been early fall back in SanFrancisco.
“Guess we’re close to the equator,” I said as a warm breeze drifted around us. I picked at my sodden shirt, realizing the hot air was going to bake the sea salt into my skin and clothing. “You wouldn’t happen to have anofudathat dries clothes, wouldyou?”
Raiden grimaced, pulling out a sodden wad of paper from his pocket. “These are all ruined,” he groaned. “I should have thought to ask Shota for his waterproof pack. Maybe yourkyuubican dry us off?” He glanced dubiously at my charmbracelet.
I snorted. “Maybe, but she’d probably singe all the hairs off your body just for fun.” Wiping my hair out of my eyes, I turned and got my first look at Sarushima. The beach seemed to stretch out across the coast, with dense green vegetation just beyond it. Even from here I could see that the place would be ideal for fishing and having a beach day. Better still were the huge persimmon trees dotting the landscape complete with bright orange fruit that glittered like gemstones in the brightsunlight.
“Well, no time like the present,” Raiden said, getting to his feet. “Thanks for the ride,Umigame,” he called. He executed a perfect swan dive into the water, barely making asplash.
Show-off.
“I have another matter that requires my attention,”theUmigamesaid,“so I cannot stay. But I will come when youcall.”
“Thank you.” I patted the turtle on the shell, then carefully slid down the side of it. Raiden popped up just as I reached the water, and a jolt of surprise hit me as he caught me in his strongarms.
“Thanks,” I said as he cradled me against his chest. I looked up at him and was surprised to see he was smiling down at me. “You didn’t have to do that, youknow.”
“No, but I wanted to.” He brushed my sopping wet hair out of my eyes, his smile fading a little. My pulse jumped as he dipped his head a little closer to mine, our breath mingling in the salty sea air. “I know you don’t like it, but I can’t help that I want to protect you, Aika. It’s just who Iam.”
My heart melted at the sincerity in his tone, and I wanted so badly to tilt my head back and let him kiss me. But theUmigamechose that moment to dive back beneath the ocean, and we were immediately caught up in a giganticwave.
“Hold your breath, Aika!” Raiden shouted. He ducked beneath the wave, still holding me with one arm, and tried to swim his way out of it. My heart jackhammered in my chest as he pumped his legs, but even though we made it through the initial wave, another, smaller one caught us and flung us straight toward the shore. We crashed into the surf, and Raiden somehow twisted us around so he landed first, putting his body between me and thesand.
“Raiden!” I cried as his head smashed into a rock. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he moaned inpain.
“Shit!” I scrambled to my feet, nearly getting knocked over by another wave, and slid my hands beneath Raiden’s armpits. “Come on,” I groaned, pulling him away from the surf as fast as Icould.
I managed to drag him beneath the shade of a tree before I collapsed in the sand next to him, my arms aching. I just wasn’t built to carry a guy nearly twice my weight across any kind of distance. But there was no time to sit back and relax—I needed to make sure Raiden wasokay.
“Raiden,” I murmured urgently, grabbing him by the shoulders. I’d propped him up against the tree trunk, but he was already sliding sideways. “Raiden, I need you to open youreyes.”
He was completely unresponsive.Shit.Bracing him against the trunk with one hand, I used my other to find his pulse. It was still there, but weaker than it should be considering he was strong, young, and healthy. Panic began to set in when I realized he wasn’t going to wake up, and I fought against the urge tohyperventilate.
