Football Frenzy (3 page)

“Let us just say...we have seen a lot of each other since then,” Shini said.

Josh smiled at them, and at the ecstatic look on Jessica’s face. He knew what she was thinking: if it hadn’t been for Team O, Kiki would never have made it to the first episode of
Banzai Banzai Benzaiten
, her new live music show. It was as if they’d brought Kiki and Shini together!

“In fact,” said Shini, “Kiki’s coming to dinner at my parents’ restaurant tonight. You should join us.”

“Oh,” Josh said, heart sinking. “We would love to. But we’re staying with our granny, and I think she’s taking us out to eat tonight.”

“Bring her to Shini’s place!” Kiki clapped her hands together. “Dinner’s on me – after all, I owe you for what you did for me.”

“What was that?” Shini asked.

Jessica’s eyebrows shot up. Josh caught Kiki’s eye and tried to beam a message silently into her mind:
Don’t break Granny’s cover, Kiki! Don’t tell Shini about
Team O!

Kiki blushed. “Er...
hai
, of course, for not telling the papers about me and you, Shini...obviously!” Shini laughed, and Kiki turned a secret “oops” face to
Josh.

Josh decided he wouldn’t tell Granny that their nice quiet afternoon at the football had nearly ended with Kiki revealing their big secret.
That wouldn’t go down well at
all.

Beside him, Jessica stared around at the walls. They were lined with tanks of colourful fish that sparkled and shimmered as they swam.

Kiki leaned over to fill Josh’s cup with green tea, and he remembered that in Japanese restaurants everyone was supposed to fill each other’s cups, so he took the square porcelain
teapot from her and filled up Kiki’s. She gave him a dazzling smile. “Isn’t this place great?” she said.

Granny nodded her approval. “It is most civilized,” she said.

“And what do you think of the waiter?” Kiki asked, grinning at Jessica as Shini approached their table. He was dressed in a waiter’s outfit that was half traditional Japanese
and half Western: a white shirt with a black silk jacket and shiny gold buttons.

“Oh, he’s okay, I suppose,” said Jessica, teasing.

Shini bowed to them all. “May I ask, how do you find your dishes?”

“They’re great!” Josh said.

“Indeed,
oishii
,” said Granny.

“I hope you didn’t mind the photographers outside,” Shini said. Josh glanced towards the front of the restaurant. Through the curtain veiling the glass panels in the door and
the large, tinted windows, he could make out the shadowy silhouettes of men and women with camera equipment camping on the street outside. They had been there a while. “They are very
persistent, especially when Kiki and I are in the same place – they suspect we are an item, but have yet to get the proof. They understand they shouldn’t bother people inside my
family’s restaurant, though.”

“A football star working as a waiter,” said Jessica. “That would be an amazing photo spread.”

“I like to keep my feet on the ground,” Shini said. “My parents have supported my career, and out of respect I like to return the favour.”

“That is very honourable of you, Shinichiro-san,” Granny said with another nod. Josh hoped that Shini knew how much of a compliment that little nod was from stern, serious Granny
Murata. She had dressed up for the occasion, though that had only meant exchanging her flowery, light-coloured traditional kimono for a darker one printed with a pattern of golden cranes.

A movement caught his eye at the front door, and he glanced up.

CRASH!

Jessica let out a gasp, and Josh’s heart leaped into his throat and seemed to stick there. Shards of glass rained down around them, glinting in the light. The pieces scattered across the
floor of the restaurant and Josh felt some striking his head and shoulders.

The large front windows of the restaurant had shattered, and now eight huge men stepped through, their eyes covered by dark glasses. They pulled back their long black coats and drew out
aluminium baseball bats.

Diners leaped from their tables, overturning chairs and scattering cushions.

“Hey!” Shini yelled. “What is this?”

“A warning,” one of the men growled. The thugs brandished their bats at the diners. Some screamed and threw their arms over their heads, others grabbed their friends’ hands and
backed away. Granny, Josh and Jessica all sprang to their feet as Kiki dived under one of the tables.

“All of you, get through to the back!” Shini called to the diners, and started to herd the terrified crowd into the kitchen. “I’ll call the police!”

As the diners fled, the thugs began to swing their baseball bats wildly, cracking tables and sending shards of glass and china spiralling through the air. One of the goons approached Granny,
smacking his bat tauntingly against the palm of his hand. Josh and Jessica took half a step back and Josh watched Granny carefully, waiting for her to take the lead. Whatever she did, they’d
be there to back her up.

“Go with the others, old woman,” rasped the thug. “This doesn’t concern you.”

Granny glanced over her shoulder to check that Shini and the waiters were out of the dining room, and then turned back to the grinning goon. “Are you deaf?” he barked. “I told
you—”

Granny’s hand was so quick, Josh wasn’t sure that she’d actually moved at all. But when he saw the thug drop to his knees, clutching his face, he knew what had happened. Granny
had broken his nose with a single blow.

Another thug gave a shout and pointed towards them, and two of his friends thumped across the wooden floor in their direction. One of them tried to tackle Jessica. Josh saw her dodge and turn to
plant a hard kick in the middle of his back.

Josh leaped forward, catching the other man on the shoulder with a spinning back kick, but the guy was so solid he barely stumbled. He grabbed Josh by his elbow and swung him against the
wall.

“You pathetic weed,” the man hissed.

Josh struggled, reaching for the weak point in the thug’s grip. It was the first move Granny had taught them, and it always worked – well, almost always. He fumbled it once, before
seizing the man’s little finger and pulling with all his strength. The thug let go, and Josh pulled his opponent’s face down onto his rising knee. The man smacked into his kneecap hard
and fell back, crumpling to the floor with his eyes shut.

“Not so pathetic now,” Josh muttered. Granny had taught him that good fighting had little to do with strength.

“Josh!” Granny called. He looked round and saw her seize a wooden chair and snap off the legs. She threw one to him, and the other to his sister. Without pausing, Jessica snatched up
the weapon, simultaneously punching a goon between the shoulder blades with her other fist. Josh grasped his own chair leg and swung it around, hitting another of the thugs on the side of his head
and sending him crashing to the ground.

Kiki’s muffled voice sounded from beneath the table. “Yeah, go guys, go!”

Josh dodged between the shattered tables to avoid a thug’s lunge, then jabbed his chair leg into his attacker’s ribs.

“Oof!” The man doubled over, clutching his side. It was a move Josh had practised in the dojo with a retractable baton, but had never got completely right – until now. He
allowed himself a quick fist-pump before the thug was on him again like an enraged gorilla, swinging his baseball bat at Josh’s face. Josh backed up, nearly tripping over the splintered
remains of a table. He ducked and hopped to avoid another strike, finding himself back-to-back with Jessica, who was aiming a volley of high kicks at another thug.

Josh looked for Granny, and saw her grab one of the men by his shirt collar. She threw him over her shoulder. “Go, Gran—”

“Josh, look out!” Kiki shrieked.

Josh ducked, feeling a
whoosh
as another aluminium bat passed over his head. His foot slipped on the wet, glass-covered floor and he fell backwards. All the breath exploded out of him as his
back struck the ground. He gasped and tried to sit up, but before he could, a thug was leaning over him, both hands reaching out to grip his neck.

“Stupid kids!” the thug growled. “I’m going to teach you a lesson!”

Josh flung his arms up over his face, and the thug’s hands closed over his wrists. He brought his knee up into the man’s belly, with all the
force he could manage.

“Oof!” the thug moaned again, and Josh pressed his advantage, getting in a few rapid kicks to the man’s legs. The thug’s knees buckled and his grip loosened. Josh managed
to slide out from under his opponent and get to his feet. He spun, swinging his foot into a roundhouse kick that caught the man on the side of the head with a hard
thwack
. The thug
half-collapsed, his eyes rolling back in his head, stunned. Josh could almost see the little cartoon birds circling his head, tweeting in scrawled kanji.

The kitchen door banged open and Shini rushed in, brandishing a huge, heavy-looking soup ladle with both hands. A flood of cooks and waiters streamed out, armed with meat cleavers and frying
pans. A man and a woman in late middle age stood behind them, looking fierce.

All the thugs were getting to their feet, groaning and glancing warily in the direction of Granny Murata. She was standing demurely to one side, an innocent old lady once more. The thugs turned
and rushed out of the door.

A cheer went up from the cooks and waiters.

“And stay out!” shouted the middle-aged man.

Shini was bending down to help Kiki climb out from underneath her table.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “We managed to get all the customers out through the back, but then I noticed none of you were with them... I worried you might all
be...”

“I’m fine!” Kiki said brightly. She threw her arms around him. “Thank goodness you came, we were in real trouble!” she added, giving Josh a wink over Shini’s
shoulder.

“Quick!” Jessica elbowed Josh, thrusting a vase full of water into his hands. “Help me finish rescuing the fish!”

Josh saw that the thugs had smashed one of the fish tanks. He sprang into action, scooping up a large koi that writhed in his hands, and dropping it into the vase. Soon all the wriggling,
flapping fish were safe – if a little bit crowded – and the head waiter took the vases from the twins with a grateful bow.

“Murata-sama, Josh, Jessica,” Shini said. He gestured towards the middle-aged couple. “These are my parents, Yoshiro and Chiyoko Hanzo.”

Mr. Hanzo came back from the front door and bowed. His hair was grey and he had a large, drooping white moustache. Mrs. Hanzo was a small lady in a black kimono. She wrung her hands together as
Granny, Josh and Jessica returned the bow.

“Hanzo-san,” Granny said, “
Hajimemashite
– I only wish our meeting could have been a little more peaceful.”

Shini’s father nodded, frowning. “I too, Murata-sama,” he said. His face was red with anger. “What could those thugs want with us?”

“Come on,” Jessica said to Josh. “Let’s help clear up.”

Kiki was already collecting wet, scattered cushions and piling them into a laundry bin. Josh set to checking the furniture for breakages and stacking up chairs. Whenever he crossed the middle of
the room he could hear Granny comforting the Hanzos, and he tried to listen in without being noticed.

“They didn’t chase after Shini and the guests, or try to make their way to you,” Granny was saying. “Frightening as it was, they seemed to be interested only in breaking
up the place. I think they wanted to scare you. Has anything like this happened before?”

Josh’s Japanese was just about good enough to keep up with the conversation. He may have misheard the odd word, but his granny definitely sounded frightened.
No way was she scared in
that attack!
he thought. What plan was she hatching?

“Never!” Shini’s father said.

“Who would want to scare us?” Shini’s mother wondered. “For what purpose?”

“Indeed,” Granny said. “I am reminded of a time when the Yakuza used tactics just like these to extort money from honest businesses, to ‘prevent anything bad
happening’. I remember a particularly vile gangster by the name of Yoshida...”

Josh remembered Yoshida, too – in fact, it hadn’t been more than two weeks since he’d seen the silver-haired Yakuza boss escaping across the Tokyo rooftops after they’d
rescued Kiki from his clutches. Granny had plenty of history with Yoshida, but did she think that this was his doing? Why would he target the Hanzos?

“My grandfather opened this place,” said Shini’s mother. “He told me a few stories about the Yakuza in his day. But nothing like that has happened here for decades.
We’ve had no threats, and no demands for money.” Her husband took her hand and nodded his agreement.