Kimono Code (4 page)

The taxi made its way through the streets of Tokyo. EJ was still stunned at how many people, how many buildings, how many cars there could be in one city. It was so crowded, so busy.

‘Ueno,' said the taxi driver, as the taxi pulled over to the side of the road.

EJ paid the driver. The car door opened, and she stepped out and walked through the park gates and along the wide, pebbled path. Large evergreen trees stood on either side of the path, their leafy branches creating a green canopy over it. Birds chirped and flew from tree to tree. The park seemed to swallow up the rush of the crowds; EJ noticed that people seem to walk more slowly here than on the city streets. She checked her location on her phone-map: the cherry blossom area was in the centre of the park. Turning on her GPS, she walked towards it. She didn't need her GPS, though, to tell when she had reached the centre, because she knew by the change in the trees. The thick, leafy-green branches gave way to the brown, bare, spindly branches of cherry trees.

There was not a cherry blossom to be seen on any of the branches of any of the trees. Yet yellow and black paper lanterns were strung from the trees, and blue plastic sheets had been laid out in preparation for the traditional
hanami
picnics. All that was needed to celebrate were the blossoms, and they, according to the
Sakura
Front, were due tomorrow. Yet, as EJ knew,
SHADOW,
the
kunoichi
and whoever was leading them were going to stop that occurring. Perhaps they already had.

EJ took the sushi CHARM from her bracelet and twisted. As people walked by, she pretended to nibble on the sushi as she moved closer to one of the trees. When she was sure no one was watching, she reached up and poked the test-stick into one of the lower branches of a cherry blossom tree, piercing the bark. A little red light flashed on the side of the sushi. EJ waited. When the light flashed green, she removed the rod from the branch and then connected it to her phone socket. Her phone screen flashed.

Her phone beeped.

 

A new message from
SHINE
had come through on EJ's phone.

The test was negative. That was good, it meant that these trees had not yet been infected with Blossom Block, but EJ knew they were under threat. Had Agent CC12 from the Surveillance Division found out something? EJ checked her map and saw she wasn't too far from the temple. She continued along the path and turned left. Ahead of her was a huge wooden gateway; two large pieces of timber, painted orange, stood nearly four metres high on either side of the path with two long beams of black timber lying across the top. The beams were covered with ornate engravings of cherry blossoms.

EJ walked through the gate and up a long set of stone steps. Tall bamboo plants flanked the steps and led up to a large, stone-paved courtyard. At the back of the courtyard was a large wooden building, the temple. Intricately detailed engravings, painted red, white and gold, adorned its front, and red lanterns with black Japanese symbols hung from beams while two large stone dragons guarded the doorway. There were many visitors at the temple, and EJ realised that it was important to respect the temple customs. She watched to see what people did as they entered its grounds.

EJ saw people come to a long stone tub basin at the entrance to the courtyard. Resting on a wooden rack across the basin were bamboo ladles, cups on long sticks. People took the ladles, poured water onto their hands and took a sip before rinsing the ladle and resting it back on the rack. Then, some people approached the temple, bowing before they entered, while others walked to the wooden stalls that lined the temple courtyard.

EJ washed her hands carefully and walked over to the first stall. There, an old lady, white hair pulled back off her face and wearing a simple white kimono with a yellow belt, stood behind a cabinet displaying small cloth amulets, envelope-like pouches no larger than two fingers wide. They were all of different colours, each with different symbols and patterns sewn into the cloth.

‘
Omamori,
' said the woman. ‘Blessings, charms inside for good fortune.'

EJ looked over the bags pinned up on the board. Thankfully, under each was an English translation. There were blessings for health, for family, for road safety, even blessings for good luck in exams.

I wish there was one for success in dealing with mean girls,
thought EJ as she walked to the next stall,
or finding agents. Where is CC12?

At the next stall, there was a high, wide wooden chest with rows of small drawers, each with a knob and a Japanese character painted in black on the drawer. On the ledge in front of the chest stood a plain metal canister. To the side was a wooden frame with metal wires. Hundreds of strips of paper had been tied in knots across the wires and were fluttering in the breeze. EJ watched as a woman first put a silver coin through a slit on the ledge, picked up the canister and shook it, tipping the canister upside down until a bamboo stick came out of a hole at the top. The woman looked at the stick, opened one of the chest drawers and removed a piece of paper. She frowned as she read, and then tied the piece of paper on the wire before walking away. EJ approached the ledge and saw a notice in Japanese. She took a photo and translated it with her app.

She pressed the link for more information.

I could do with some good luck,
thought EJ, as she put a silver coin through the slot and shook the canister. A bamboo stick fell out.

EJ matched the symbol on the stick with the symbol on a drawer. She smiled as she counted—it was number 13—and opened the drawer, but her smile faded when she saw there was nothing there. She pulled the drawer out and then jumped back as she saw two deep blue eyes staring out at her.

‘It's okay, EJ, it's me, CC12!' whispered CC. ‘Hey, I like your black hair!'

EJ relaxed and stepped closer to the drawer. ‘Thanks, CC,' EJ whispered, ‘but how did you get in there?'

‘I'm very flexible,' replied CC, grinning. ‘And it's a perfect surveillance position. I have a spy-hole at the back of this chest, and I've been on watch since the first message was intercepted here.'

‘Have you seen anything?' asked EJ.

‘Nothing unusual as far as I can tell,' said CC. ‘The preparations for the
hanami
are underway. A special geisha tea ceremony has been announced for later this evening, ahead of the blooming that should begin tomorrow.'

‘I've tested one of the trees here,' said EJ. ‘It hasn't been infected with Blossom Block, at least not yet.'

‘But
SHADOW
has been busy,' said CC. ‘The Japanese Government has received a new message saying the blossoms of each major city will be struck and the ransom will go up one million yen for each city until it is paid.
SHINE
has upgraded our phone-maps, showing which cities have been infected. Black means “infected and no blossoms”, brown means “no blossoms but not infected” and pink means “have blossoms”. The red line shows where in the country blossoms should be blooming. Everything below the line is late.'

‘Yes,' agreed EJ, looking at her map. ‘Everything below the line is black, and everything above it is brown. They seem to be striking just before the trees are meant to bloom. I need to stop them blocking any more blossoms, and I need to find the antidote. The last city infected was Osaka in the south.' EJ checked her map. ‘The next major city after Osaka is Kyoto. That will be their next target. I need to go there now.'