Chapters:

1. Firewall

The elderly couple thanked them profusely as Shane slammed the hood of the car down, but they didn't have time to stand around and chat. She was already backing away, smiling and wishing them a good day, and Dustin was right behind her. Or in front of her, since they were backing up. Shane, for all his complaining, stayed long enough to shake their hands before he followed.

As they headed for the van, Dustin began listing wildly optimistic scenarios--those being any situation that didn't involve expulsion for all three of them by the end of the day. "Maybe," he suggested, "his alarm didn't go off, and he didn't even miss us!"

Tori rolled her eyes, not bothering to reply. They had all known what they were doing when they stopped. Sensei had told them what would happen if they were late again, and they had made a decision that they knew would make them late. They had made the right decision, there was no doubt in her mind. But they were going to have to live with the consequences.

"He's a ninja master, Dustin," Shane reminded him. "They don't oversleep."

As she climbed into the driver's seat, she saw Dustin pause by the passenger side. "Really?" He seemed to be contemplating Shane's words.

"Dustin, get in," Tori told him. The clock on the dashboard read 3:54. "Not showing up at all has got to be worse than showing up late. So let's go."

Shane slid over and Dustin squeezed in, pulling the door shut behind him. She didn't dare speed when she could, because at this point getting a ticket was the only thing that would make them later than they already were. She couldn't speed over the logging roads. When they abandoned the van and headed deeper into the mountains, though, all three of them moved as fast as they could on foot.

They were out of breath by the time they made it to the "waterfall." It was hard to say whether the fact that there was no one waiting for them there was a good sign or a bad one. No ambush... no test. On the other hand, they had already failed one test in spectacular fashion--they might not be given a second chance to prove themselves.

They glanced at each other out of habit, and she wondered if they were all thinking the same thing. They exchanged their street clothes for ninja uniforms without a word. Marching across the water, Tori couldn't help but wonder whether this was the last time they would do this. The waterfall might never flash open for them again.

As they stepped through holographic stone into thinning woods on the other side, it was clear that something was up. There was no welcoming committee, for one thing. No Sensei, no disapproving teachers... there was no one near the entrance at all, in fact, not even the occasional ninja traffic or departing students.

Tori glanced at Shane, who was frowning. She caught Dustin's eye next. He just shrugged. "Dude, maybe they do oversleep. Even the alarm doesn't always wake me up."

"Isn't that our class over there?" Tori asked warily. The entire group was standing at attention, waiting in rows as though still anticipating the arrival of their teacher. But if they were, they had been waiting a long time--class should have started twenty minutes ago.

"Let's not stand around waiting to find out," Shane told them. "Come on."

They hurried through the gate and bowed at the edge of the training area. It was a warm-up class, multi-disciplinary and open to everyone, and it should have been almost over by now. The students they usually trained with were shooting them covert glances as they slid into line at the back of the group. Word of their probation must have gotten around.

They really shouldn't do anything else to call attention to themselves. They should stand at attention and wait. Just like everyone else. Tori saw Dustin fidget out of the corner of her eye, and she sighed. They had never been able to do anything just like everyone else.

She glanced at the blonde-haired student on her other side. The girl got into at least as much trouble as Tori and her friends did, so she didn't feel guilty about leaning over to whisper, "What's going on?"

"Oh, you know." The girl tossed her braid over her shoulder with a shrug. "Something blew up, or fell apart, or whatever. The usual."

"Something blew up?" Tori hissed. She could feel Dustin crowding close beside her, trying to hear or maybe just flirting with Kapri's sister. The two of them were on the same wavelength, though she'd always thought her friend was too smart for the other girl. "Where? Here at the school?"

"Inside," Kapri said, tipping her chin toward the building. "The tech wing, we heard. There was a huge crash, and kind of a shaking."

"Now the teachers are having like an emergency conference or something," her sister added solemnly. "They might send us home."

"Dude, there was another explosion?" Dustin whispered.

Shane must have heard too. "Man, can't the Fire ninjas practice somewhere else?" he wanted to know. "Nothing ever blew up until they started working with the samurai students."

Tori had a bad feeling about this. "You guys, I don't think it was the Fire ninjas," she whispered. She was about to say something else when Dustin poked her sharply and the cry of a hawk made her snap to attention.

She bit her tongue and stood up a little straighter. She doubted that Sensei had missed their late arrival, no matter what had blown up or how distracted he was. They would just have to hope that he had something so important to say that he would let their behavior slide for another day... inadvertently giving them one more chance.

The hawk soared into an atypical ground landing, momentarily disappearing from Tori's sight. There was a flash of light, and a moment later the head of the Wind Ninja Academy stood at the front of the class. Sensei regarded them for a long moment before he spoke.

"Students of the Wind Ninja way," he said at last. "It is with the utmost regret that I must inform that your safety is no longer assured on school grounds. Events of the past week have led me to a decision that I have never before had to make: the decision to temporarily close this academy.

"Classes will be suspended for the next ten days while my staff and I determine the source of the problem. Residential students will have the rest of the afternoon to gather their belongings and obtain any assistance they may need in relocating. Financial support is available to those who choose not to take advantage of the academy network. All students may report to the dining hall for details on training at local academies in the interim."

He paused again, his gaze sweeping across them all. They were mostly first years in the intro class at this time of day. They had no way of judging what was normal and what wasn't, and Sensei wasn't exactly sounding the alarm. Maybe this was a standard kind of drill, something that happened every so often to test the way they handled it?

But no, he had said he'd never done this before. What were those explosions, then? They had to be behind the dismissal of students, but how? No one from outside the academy system could get onto the grounds without a ninja escort, so it couldn't be sabotage. Some ninja experiment gone awry, then? Something the teachers didn't want the students to know about?

That almost made sense. There was nowhere on Earth safer than a ninja academy. She could believe that the teachers were protecting their secrets before she could believe that they were protecting the students by sending them away. But what secret could they have that would rate this kind of response?

"I extend my apologies to all students of this school," Sensei was saying. "Be assured that we will do everything we can to re-open our doors as quickly as possible."

With a slight incline of his head, he added, "May the wind be at your backs, ninjas. Class dismissed."

They all bowed automatically, and he waited until they straightened up to turn away. He took three paces before his form vanished into thin air, a hawk winging away from the place where he had been. The class dissolved into excited chatter in his wake.

"There's something he's not telling us," Shane declared, as the three of them huddled together.

Tori rolled her eyes at him. "You think?"

From behind her, she heard Kapri saying, "We'll have to pack, I guess. I don't know how I'm going to fit everything I need--" Luckily, the rest of her complaint was drowned out by Dustin's question.

"Does this mean we're not, like, expelled?" he wanted to know.

"Dude, the chance to train at a totally different academy!" Shane exclaimed. "This is gonna be awesome!"

"It's going to be exactly like this one if you guys don't learn to tell time," Tori retorted. "I mean, really--would it kill you to start wearing watches?"

"Should we go find out where our classes are or something?" Dustin wondered.

"Yeah," Shane agreed. "Let's book, man."

"Come on, Tor." Dustin clapped her shoulder as they took off for the dining hall. She just sighed, staring after them for a moment. Something things never changed.

Sensei must have been making the rounds, because by the time they reached the dining hall it was crammed with ninja students. Not just students, either--she caught sight of several teachers' robes before Shane nudged her and pointed out one in particular. "Look, it's Sensei Cameron."

She had seen him too, but she tried to pretend she hadn't. "So?"

"So," Dustin said, giving her a shove. "Go ask him what's going on!"

"Why me?" she protested, pushing back. "Besides, we have to figure out where we're supposed to go."

"We'll do it," Shane promised. "Go pump Cam for information."

"Yeah, cause you know, he likes you," Dustin added tactlessly.

"He does not!" Tori exclaimed, laughing to cover her blush. The samurai teacher was awfully cute, not that she would have ever admitted it to her guy friends. But outside of the samurai class, she was the only one of the first years that he spoke to--and no matter how clueless her friends could be they noticed that.

"Yes he does." Shane put his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward Cam. "Your mission, whether you choose to accept it or not..."

"Is to make Cam talk," Dustin finished. "Go!"

She sighed loudly, but this time she let them push her in Cam's direction. The belt that showed his rank was slashed with green, unlike most of the others here, and he was one of the few teachers to wear glasses. Right now he also wore a pensive expression that was the norm for him; as always, it made her nervous about approaching him.

Actually, in all fairness, it wasn't the expression that made her nervous. It was his reputation for unstinting sarcasm and his willingness to inflict it upon anyone who didn't meet his standards. And the standards of a sensei's son, born and raised on site at a ninja academy, with a father of air and a mother trained as a samurai, were impossibly high. No one met Cameron's standards.

She took a deep breath. "Sensei Cameron?"

He barely glanced at her. "Hi, Tori."

"Hey," she offered tentatively. "Am I interrupting?"

"The chaos of an entire ninja academy trying to transfer its operations to disparate bases around the country in the space of a single afternoon?" He shook his head once. "No, of course not."

It was also impossible to tell when he was being serious. "I was just wondering what's going on," she said. "Why do all the students have to leave?"

He grimaced, scanning the room as though he was looking for someone. "It's not just the students. It's the teachers too. Dad's going to evacuate everyone until he figures out who's behind the attacks."

"Attacks?" Tori repeated, startled. "You mean someone's doing this on purpose?"

"If someone was doing it by accident, they'd probably have been expelled by now," Cam said dryly. "Will you be training at the Thunder Academy?"

"Um--" She was taken aback by the abrupt change of subject, not to mention the reminder of being threatened with expulsion. Finally, though, her brain caught up and she nodded. "Probably. It's the closest, right?"

"Good." He didn't bother to answer. "I'll see you there." He caught her eye briefly before turning away, and she thought he smiled, just a little.

***

The local students had all been sent home for the night. The residents had mostly finished their hasty packing effort and those who remained were trickling in for a final, informal meal in the dining hall. He couldn't blame them for wanting to eat before they left: the Thunder Academy was the only other school in the country on Pacific Standard Time, and the Wind students might very well arrive at their temporary homes to find dinner long past.

Cam sat at the head table, trying to work out a schedule that didn't disrupt instruction at the Thunder Academy while at the same time leaving him free to help with the investigation at home. It really depended on how many students the starter academy could absorb into its own curriculum. It would probably do the first years some good to get experience with a different teaching style... but the more advanced students would need specialized training in their own discipline, and those classes weren't interchangeable.

And then, of course, there were the samurai. It was hard enough to maintain a class here at the Wind Academy. They couldn't be split up; there just weren't that many teachers. So they would all end up at the nearby Thunder Academy--a school that had splintered from their own over the inclusion of the samurai years ago. He didn't know if they were inviting irony or disaster, but the samurai were on average a more local class than any other. They didn't deserve to be sent to the other side of the country just because the school of Thunder didn't like their style.

On the other hand, if the Thunder Academy was going to make their lives miserable, wouldn't it be worth it to go somewhere else? He frowned, debating mentally with himself. It was only for ten days. Surely the Thunder ninjas and the samurai could coexist for ten days?

"You look worried, Cam." A chair was pulled out from the table beside him and occupied, and the senior samurai teacher helped herself to rice and vegetables. "Are you going to eat?"

He pushed the schedules away with a sigh, giving her a distracted smile. "Thanks, Mom." He accepted the serving bowls as she passed them to him, setting them down in front of the empty place on his other side when his own plate was full. The teachers were just wandering through tonight, making no concerted attempt to follow meal ritual. Nonetheless, their missing family member was conspicuous by his absence.

"What are you working on?" Miko turned his cup over and poured tea into it before she poured her own. "Those looked like Thunder Academy plans."

"They are," he agreed, glancing over at them. "I was just wondering how wise it is to send the samurai there, given our history."

She bowed her head over her food for a moment and he was silent. When she reached for her chopsticks, though--a habit he had never been able to get into--she continued as though she hadn't paused. "I worry too," she admitted. "But Cale's family won't let him live on site, and Meisha can't take her daughter out of school to travel. If they want to continue their training, it will have to be at the Thunder Academy."

Parental consent. The "real" world. The practical conflicts that arose from studying at a place that officially didn't exist were things that he rarely had to worry about. Not only was he guaranteed a sympathetic workplace and residence, but his entire family knew what he did and what it involved. He forgot, sometimes, that it wasn't so easy for everyone else.

"I'm sure it will be fine," he said abruptly. "It's a temporary measure, and we're all adults. We'll just keep the samurai classes as separate as possible from ninja training."

"Do you think that keeping the samurai isolated is the best decision?" Miko asked, wielding her chopsticks with an easy expertise that still eluded him. "I wonder if it will cause resentment among the Thunder ninjas. It certainly won't do anything to convince them that the samurai are just students, like them."

He looked at her in surprise. "Are you saying that we shouldn't teach samurai classes while we're there?"

"No," she said easily. "I'm suggesting that we open the samurai classes to anyone who's interested. Beginners wouldn't be able to participate in the advanced classes, of course, but they could observe if they wanted to. It might help to de-mystify the samurai a little."

He didn't really want strangers watching him teach, ninjas or not. But on the other hand... "We only fear what we don't understand," Cam said with a sigh.

She nodded once. "Exactly."

He considered the schedules he had been working on again, putting food in his mouth without really noticing what it was. Finally he pushed the papers toward her and pointed at the one on top. "The Thunder Academy teaches basics in the evening, instead of the afternoon. What if we take the afternoon for samurai and specialized classes and leave the morning for work here?"

She gave the schedule a cursory glance. "I think it's a good idea," she agreed. "Especially if we alternate, one day for samurai and earth affinities, one day for water and air affinities... it's not the ideal training plan, but it will free up as many teachers as possible for covert investigation."

"Covert?" he repeated, pausing with his fork in the middle of his plate. There was only one thing that could mean. "Do you have someone in mind? Why are we sending all the students away if you're just going to be watching them the whole time?"

"No, Cam, I don't have any one in mind." She was quick to counter, and she caught his eye to emphasize her words. "And it's because we're sending them away that we're watching them in the first place. Can you imagine if something were to happen at one of the other schools? Not only would we have failed to protect our own students, we would have endangered others. We can't let that happen."

He searched her expression carefully. "You think it's one of the students," he guessed, and the remark was halfway between an observation and a question.

She frowned, looking over his shoulder for a moment before she spoke. "I don't know what to think. I'd like to think we know the teachers better than we know some of the students. But I'd also like to think that everyone who comes here comes to learn, not to intimidate."

Cam wasn't surprised to hear his father's voice reply. "The line between good and evil is not so clear as we would like to believe. If there is destructive intent behind these incidents, it would not be the first time in academy history that someone turned their energy toward darker goals."

"Dad, they blew up the tech wing." Cam barely looked at him as his father joined them at the head table. He was still angry about the loss of a program he'd been working on in his spare time. "I don't know how they could have meant to be anything other than destructive."

"We must not jump to conclusions," his father chided him. "A perceptive mind is open to all possibilities."

Cam let his fork clatter to his plate. "Well, maybe I'm just not perceptive enough," he said, trying not to sound as sarcastic as he felt. "Luckily, I'll have plenty of time to practice, now that everything I was working on has been destroyed by someone who may or may not have had 'destructive intent.'"

"Cam," Miko said quietly.

He paused, standing beside his chair with his plate in one hand and the stack of papers in the other. He'd had enough to eat, and he really didn't need a lecture on forgiveness right now. Maybe they could just tape record it for some other time.

"Be careful," she told him, holding his gaze. "I worry that the tech wing explosion was meant for you."

"That is unlikely," his father commented.

"Unlikely or not," she said firmly. "I worry. Just be careful."

Pushing his chair in with one foot, he gave her a reluctant nod. "I will, Mom."

He scraped his plate into the compost bucket inside the kitchen door and tossed his silverware into a tray on the counter. He put his plate into the rack waiting to run through the hobart, nodded to the staff on duty tonight, and escaped through the back door. It was faster than walking through the dining hall again, and he wasn't sure how many people he wanted to see right now anyway.

The evening was warm and still light as spring slowly penetrated the mountains. He stopped off in the teachers' wing to leave the schedules and plans where anyone headed for the Thunder Academy could find them. As he left, though, he found himself at something of a loss. There were no classes tonight. Most of his idle time had been spent in a wing that was now closed. And he had nothing else to do.

He was passing by one of the library courtyards when a familiar flash of red caught his eye. The unnatural hue of a fellow Fire student's hair was enough to make him hesitate, and he identified the person with him a moment later. The other samurai teacher was sitting with Chitzu in the courtyard, the latter leaning up against the fountain while she trailed her fingers in the water. Cam was about to walk on when Chitzu raised a hand in his direction.

"Hey, Cam!" he called, gesturing for him to join them. Nena looked up at the greeting, smiling when she saw Cam. She tossed a few water droplets in the air and they caught the setting sun with a bright sparkle that couldn't have been an accident.

Cam smiled back, amused by the flamboyant gesture. "Nice trick," he told her as he wandered into the courtyard. "Is that what they're teaching the water affinities now?"

She shook her head, dipping her fingers in the water again when Chitzu turned to watch. "One of the first years did it a few days ago. I thought it looked neat." She threw water drops into the air again, holding them there just long enough for them to catch the sunlight and magnify it. The little shower of sparkles fell to the ground and disappeared as the water soaked into the grass.

If one of the first year students was showing off a trick they hadn't been taught, they were either very confident or very daring. Possibly both. "Which one?" Cam wanted to know.

"The blonde girl who's always late," Nena answered. She braced her arm against the side of the fountain again and let her fingers dangle in the water. "Tori?"

Cam just shook his head, torn between a sigh and a smirk. "Of course," he muttered to himself. "It would be one of them."

"Let it go," Chitzu advised, putting his hands behind his head as he leaned back against the fountain again. "You did worse when you first started studying with us."

"That was different," Cam reminded him. He had gone to the Fire Academy for samurai training as a teenager, and he had ended up staying to earn his ninja element and the rank of teacher. "I knew what I was doing."

"Ah," Chitzu said with a dramatic sigh. "The refrain of students everywhere."

Cam opened his mouth, then decided he'd be better off not to respond at all. So he just settled on the ground next to a stone bench, putting his back against it when none of them seemed inclined to challenge the silence. He might live here, now, but the Fires and the samurai were still the people he knew best. It was a comfortable feeling to be with people who didn't need to talk to establish companionship.

His thoughts were drifting back to the program he'd left in the tech wing when Nena spoke again. "So we're all going to end up at the Thunder Academy for a while, I guess."

By "we" Cam understood her to mean the samurai. "It looks that way," he agreed. He wanted to add, and the Thunders will see what they've been missing, but he managed to keep it to himself.

Nena said it for him. "We'll make them sorry they ever left," she commented idly.

His lips twitched, and he saw her grin over at him. Before he could answer, Chitzu beat him to it. "Now, Nena," he said, with a mock-stern tone to his voice. "Would you put school pride before ninja solidarity?"

"Maybe not if I were a ninja," she retorted, with a smile that meant she was teasing. Nena wore green on her belt, too, to show that her samurai training superseded her elemental affinity.

"Touche," Chitzu admitted good-naturedly. His brightly dyed hair matched the air element he had earned at the Fire Academy, and although he had a good deal of samurai skill himself he had chosen not to pursue it.

"The Thunder Academy isn't inferior just because they don't accept alternative training styles," Cam pointed out, reminding himself as much as them. "I'm sure they'll all be perfectly respectful."

"In class, while they're being watched," Nena added.

Cam didn't agree out loud, but he didn't correct her either.

***

The day wasn't a total write-off... not yet, anyway, and whether the only good part of it could be salvaged remained to be seen. He could have used some help with that, actually. The problem was that Hunter was being unusually anti-social, even for him, and it would take some serious bargaining to get him anywhere near strangers today.

Luckily, Blake was very experienced with Hunter-bargaining.

"Come on, bro," he cajoled, still wading through the preliminary arguments. Convincing Hunter of anything he didn't want to be convinced of was a long and arduous process. "It's not like she's the only decent one in the entire bunch. Where there's a hot girl, there's bound to be hot girlfriends."

"So you'll have options," Hunter threw over his shoulder. He had yet to even look up from the bike he was working on. "So what?"

Hunter had been holed up in the bike shop since classes ended this morning. His attitude could probably be attributed to the mass invasion of their school by students from a neighboring ninja academy--at least one of whom, Blake couldn't help but notice, was serious eye candy. Unfortunately, Hunter saw strangers first and good looks second... and he really didn't like strangers.

Blake knew when not to press the issue. If his brother wasn't interested in a date, he wouldn't get any points for pushing. Hunter was rarely interested in dates, if it came to that, which was both annoying and lucky. Lucky, because Blake didn't have to compete with him for girls. Annoying, because at times like this it would have been easier if their interests coincided. Blake appreciated a good bike as much as the next person, but it didn't take precedence over a social life.

"So," he said, switching tracks with the ease of long practice, "we can probably get back on Sensei's good side by being friendly and welcoming." He resisted the urge to put the words in quotes, since Hunter's definition of "friendly" was anyone else's definition of "not actively hostile."

A grunt from the direction of the bike told him how important Hunter thought that was.

"He's still mad about the rain last week," Blake reminded him. "And I'm pretty sure he knows it was us."

"He thinks it was us," Hunter corrected, exchanging his wrench for a pair of pliers. "If he knew it was us, he would have busted us already. The Wind ninjas will probably distract him enough without us having to go play nice with them."

He would finish with the most convincing of his preliminary arguments. "On the plus side, we'd get dinner out of it. No one's been home to cook, and you know the food at school will be good tonight."

This did seem to give Hunter pause. "For once," he agreed at last. "Not as good as pizza from that place around the corner, though."

Man... that was a good counter-argument. He pondered that for a moment. Maybe he could take the hot girl out for pizza? It would be the best of both worlds.

Time to move on to the serious stuff: things he was pretty sure Hunter didn't know yet. Hunter was nothing if not curious, and Blake had learned to use the times when his brother was doing his People Avoidance Routine to gather as much potentially useful information as he could. It was rare that he knew more than Hunter about anything going on at the academy, and Blake took any advantage he could get.

"I heard they're going to have someone teaching a samurai class tomorrow afternoon," he said casually. "It's going to be open to everyone. Ninjas too."

Hunter stopped what he was doing. He sat staring at the bike he was working on for a moment, then turned around to regard Blake with an exasperated expression. "This girl must be really hot."

Blake grinned unrepentantly. "Yeah."

"What do you need me for?" Hunter demanded, tossing the pliers back in his toolbox and wiping some of the grease off of his fingers. Or just smearing it around, more likely. "Go ask her out already."

"I just want you looming in the background when I do it," Blake insisted. "What can I say, bro--you make me look good."

Hunter threw the rag at him.

"Come on," Blake coaxed, throwing it back at him with a laugh. "I know you're curious. You can come check out the crazy Winds without ever having to interact with them."

"What are Mom and Dad gonna say about you dating a Wind ninja?" Hunter wanted to know.

Blake shrugged, unconcerned. "At least she's not a samurai."

"You don't think," Hunter said darkly.

"They all wear green belts," Blake informed him. "Hers is blue. She's a water affinity." Like him. He had to admit the thought was appealing.

Hunter looked surprised. "She's a first year?"

"I don't know. Might be." Unless the Wind Academy's graduation policy was radically different from their own. "She doesn't wear an element badge, so she's not a teacher."

Hunter just shook his head. "She must be really..."

"She is," Blake interrupted. "Now can we go? They had some kind of orientation this afternoon, and I want to catch her before basics start."

Hunter was already closing his toolbox, although he wasn't doing it with any kind of speed. "Yeah, sure," he said over his shoulder. "If it's that important to you. But I reserve the right to pizza if the place is a zoo."

"You and me both, bro." He didn't tell Hunter that the place had been a zoo all day, and didn't show any signs of settling down in the near future. He wanted some backup on this mission, and his brother was the only one he trusted to respect his claim.

Hunter snorted in apparent disbelief, but a moment later he glanced back at Blake with a look of grudging interest. "Is the samurai class really open to everyone?"

Blake chuckled. There were days when he thought he knew his brother better than he knew himself. "Mom will flip if you join that class, bro."

"I'm just asking," Hunter pointed out. His equipment stowed, he turned his attention back to the bike. "Guess I'll just leave this here. I'll go wash up, tell Rick I'm leaving, and we're outta here."

Blake waited out front, and he managed to convince Hunter that they should take his truck. Hunter wouldn't have any trouble getting home if he wanted to go, and Blake would have transportation if his hot girl decided to screw basic training and go out with him instead. Stranger things had happened, he told himself.

Orientation was clearly over by the time they arrived. In fact, they made it onto the grounds just as the dinner bell was ringing, and this seemed to lighten Hunter's deliberately dark mood a little. He didn't look at all thrilled to enter the dining hall and see it crawling with nearly twice its usual number, however.

"Looks like a lot of people decided to come and see the new kids," Blake remarked, scanning the crowd for one face in particular. While the Wind ninjas did make up a sizeable percentage of the people gathered in the dining hall, there were just as many local Thunders who--like the two of them--had decided to eat on site for the sole purpose of socializing. Or rubbernecking. Maybe a little of both.

"Pizza to go is looking better and better," Hunter grumbled. "Where did all these people come from?"

"Hell?" Blake suggested, anticipating his brother's response.

Hunter allowed a reluctant smile, and Blake seized the opportunity. "There she is," he said, pointing across the room toward a table near the far wall. "Come on."

"I don't remember agreeing to eat dinner with this girl of yours," Hunter complained. He followed anyway, somehow managing to refrain from any comments about "the crazy Winds." Or worse, the samurai.

It might be a fleeting reprieve, Blake realized as they got closer to the table in question. Some of the Winds had spread out, venturing farther afield in a room dominated by Thunder uniforms. The samurai had not, and to be honest, he didn't blame them. They were all clustered at two tables in the back, tables whose only other occupants were Wind ninjas.

The hot girl was at one of those tables. She was chatting animatedly with the guy across from her. And she was sitting right next to someone wearing a belt slashed with green.

Conversation slowly quieted up and down the two tables as he and Hunter came to a halt in front of them. He didn't know if it was because Hunter looked that intimidating, or if it was because they were the first Thunders to approach the Samurai Tables. They might well be--but there were empty chairs, and last he knew, there weren't any assigned seats in the dining hall.

"Hi," he said, when the blonde girl finally realized something was up and looked around. "Are these seats taken?"

The blonde girl's surprise quickly melted into a smile that made it all worth it. "Now they are," she said, making a show of sliding her chair over to give him room. "Sit down. My name's Tori."

"I'm Blake," he said, taking the seat next to hers. "This is my brother, Hunter." He glanced over to make sure that Hunter was actually still there, and he got a neutral sort of nod in return. That was pretty good, for Hunter.

"Nice to meet you, Blake," she said sunnily. "And Hunter. These are my friends, Dustin and Shane." She indicated the two guys across from her, then leaned back in her chair so he could see the people on her other side. "This is Sensei Cameron, Sensei Nena, and Meisha on the end. On the other side is Kapri, Marah, and Sensei Chitzu from the Fire Academy."

"Nice to meet you," he echoed, giving all of them a single nod. He gave Hunter a pointed look, and his brother offered a half-hearted wave before reaching for the nearest serving dish without a word.

"Hunter says hello," Blake said confidently, turning back to Tori. "He's like this with everyone; you shouldn't take it personally."

"Oh, so he's like Shane right after he fails one of his ninja tests?" Tori asked innocently.

Instead of scowling, the ninja across the table from her gave a good-natured shrug. "Actually, I think he's more social than I am when something goes wrong."

"Yeah," the guy next to him agreed. "Shane doesn't wave."

Blake felt Hunter shift, but before he could distract them the guy who had mentioned waving exclaimed, "Oh, dude, do you moto?"

Neither of them had changed before returning to the academy, and Hunter was wearing an old AMA jersey. He hesitated, then offered the first words he'd spoken since they sat down. "Yeah. You?"

"Yeah, man! I've been riding with my dad ever since I was old enough to stay on the bike! You into racing, or freestyle?"

"Racing," Hunter said grudgingly.

"Hey, I'm really into freestyle, but I've been doing some racing lately. What are you on?"

He had found the one subject that Hunter might be willing to discuss, Blake thought with a smile. It would keep his brother out of trouble. Every eye was no longer on them, and low-level chatter had resumed at the next table over. He accepted a serving dish full of rice from Hunter and gave Tori a warm smile. "So, is this your first visit to the Thunder Academy?"

"It's my first visit to any academy," she answered, handing him a basket full of rolls from the middle of the table. "Other than the Wind Academy, I mean."

"Yeah, man, we hear about the other academies but we've never seen them," Shane agreed. "We know they exist because people like Sensei Chitzu come from them and teach us things..."

"Try to teach you things," the teacher corrected. He wore a red badge with a circled dot on it, which Blake guessed was the symbol of an air element at the Fire Academy. "Some of you are better students than others."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Shane declared, with apparent seriousness. "There aren't any better students at this end of the table."

"Because we're all equally bad," Tori said with a laugh. She didn't seem very upset about it--especially when she turned that amused gaze on him. "I don't suppose you have any remedial ninja classes?"

"Sure we do." Blake jumped at the chance. "There's one tomorrow, in fact. Dinnertime, in town... I'll give you directions. Better yet, I'll pick you up. Great pizza," he added.

"I'm guessing this isn't a group lesson," Shane said dryly.

"Sorry," Blake told him with a grin. "Private tutoring only."

***

The path up the mountain was as bright and noisy as ever, the animals that ran and hunted in this forest unconcerned by the sudden inactivity at the academy in their midst. Cam glanced around as he strode into the clearing by the lake, caught sight of the guard stationed nearby, and waved. The darker shadow among the undergrowth didn't move, and he smiled to himself. There were no hiding places out here that he didn't know.

The waterfall flashed open at the base of the holographic cliff, welcoming him home after a night spent away. Strictly speaking, the teachers were not subject to his father's suspension of academy operations. On the other hand, if the point was to make the school less of a target, it could only help to evacuate as many non-essential personnel as possible. Cam had reluctantly agreed to "set a good example" for his fellow ninjas by accepting temporary lodging at the Thunder Academy.

On the other side of the portal the grounds were quiet. The stillness was almost eerie. He wasn't used to seeing the place so deserted, without even the year-round presence of the residential teachers going about their daily lives. He made it halfway to the main building without seeing a single person, and by the time he reached the entrance to the teachers' wing he had changed his mind. He wasn't sure he felt like going inside after all... as quiet as it was out here, the halls inside would positively echo with emptiness.

Instead, he made a circuit around the outside of the building. It was no small time commitment, given its perimeter, but it gave him a little bit of perspective. Of course they couldn't guarantee the safety of everyone attending a school this size under these circumstances. This wasn't the Thunder Academy. This was the second largest ninja academy in the western hemisphere, and easily the least rigid in its discipline. Maybe this rare lack of security was the price they paid for that freedom.

It was easier to be philosophical when he wasn't passing the tech wing. The structural damage to the exterior was minimal, but he turned away from the darkened windows and locked doors. Funny that the target of this latest attack bothered him more than the attacks themselves. It was almost a personal affront, that someone would deliberately vandalize something he held so dear.

Finishing his tour of the inner grounds, he turned away from the building and headed for the one completely inviolable sanctuary they had. He almost didn't bother to make sure no one followed him, but the habit was too ingrained. Even with the academy nearly empty, he still found himself looking over his shoulder.

The doors opened for his palmprint, and the lights came up automatically. He hadn't realized how keyed up he was until he started to relax, familiar with the quiet of these surroundings in a way he wasn't outside. No one came down here. At least, no one outside of the family, and even his parents' visits were few and far between. This was his own refuge when the rest of the academy got too close.

It was also the most technologically advanced place on campus. He prowled the room while the mainframe powered up, checking to make sure that the camera was running and the door sensors were all active. Just because no one was supposed to be able to get in here didn't mean he would count on it.

The mainframe was programmed to access the ninja network as soon as it came online, and Cam paused behind the chair to regard the monitor. It logged in with his security clearance, which was as high as it got, and he noted that there were several messages in the queue. He had accessed the network from the Thunder Academy the night before, and it surprised him that there would have been so much activity in just a few hours.

He settled into the chair to investigate. Two were standard reports from his spyders, invisible programs that kept watch over network traffic and alerted him to important occurrences at the other academies. His own personal news service... not one that was completely legal, but they were ninjas, after all. A certain amount of covert surveillance could be forgiven in the spirit of the ninja code.

The third message was from a friend at the Fire Academy, someone who had heard about the temporary shutdown of the Wind Academy and wanted to know if he was all right. A strange question, Cam thought, since they had released the names of everyone injured in the explosions and his hadn't been on it. The timing, too, seemed odd, since the Academy had been evacuated two days ago now.

The fourth message made him pause. Cam, it said simply. How many of your students can you account for last night? There was another explosion at 2:30 this morning in the residential wing. No one was hurt. Love, Mom.

The residential wing. He just stared at the words, trying to make them less comprehensible than they were. At 2:30 am, there was only one thing that could mean. This wasn't just vandalism anymore--that blast had been meant to kill someone.

He shook his head abruptly. No, that was ridiculous. Of course that wasn't what it meant; most of the residential wing had been empty last night and anybody here would have known it. It was just another damaging blow, meant to accomplish something he still hadn't been able to figure out.

He called up the school logs, not surprised to see that campus activity had spiked sharply just after 2:30 that morning. The only ones not called in were the perimeter guards, whose shift didn't change until four am. There was, often, a few minutes of less than perfect perimeter awareness when that happened, and he didn't know whether it was a good sign or bad that whoever had snuck onto the grounds hadn't bothered to take advantage of it.

It was a good sign, if whoever was responsible for the attacks didn't know enough about the guards' rotation to use it. It was a bad sign if whoever was behind them knew and didn't need to use it... implying that he or she was someone the guards recognized and would allow through without challenge. He tried not to think about the worse case scenario: that the person responsible had already been on-site.

Cam traced the activity directly after the explosion, and was dismayed to see that it culminated in a mass gathering outside the masters' apartments. The masters hadn't evacuated--yet his mother had said no one was hurt. Had one of the empty apartments been targeted, then? Or perhaps the gathering was a preliminary one, an organization of forces before they attended to the real damage done somewhere else...

He watched the activity fluctuate over the course of the predawn hours, but never did it gather strength at any other location. He didn't like the way this looked. He pulled up the infrared scans from the minutes just before the explosion and overlaid them on a detailed layout of the main building. He let the readings flicker forward, jumping by the half-minute as the scanning sweep caught up with realtime.

At exactly 02:31:30, a burst of brilliant white blossomed in one of the masters' apartments. His stomach clenched, and he felt a cold prickling sensation crawl across his skin. At 02:32:00, the white had spread into an encompassing yellow glow that showed the temperature spike caused by superheated air. The apartment was completely engulfed, and thirty seconds later he could see the dull reds and oranges that indicated spot fires started by the blast.

His parents' apartment. There was no mistaking the overlay. He felt sick, detached, as though his body had frozen far away while his mind was overwhelmed by the heat images being displayed on the monitor. He didn't wait for the next few minutes, calling up Miko's message again and reading the words over and over. No one was hurt.

No one was hurt. She would have said, otherwise. The message had been stamped 05:12:04, almost three hours after the nightmare he was seeing now. His parents were all right. They hadn't been in the apartment at the time.

Why hadn't they been in their apartment, he wondered numbly. Where could they possibly have been at two in the morning if they weren't sleeping like everyone else? His father sometimes wandered at odd hours of the night. His mother... didn't. She rose and slept early, and she was a firm believer in routine. For her to have been anywhere other than in her bed last night was a stroke of almost incredible luck.

Teacher, student, stranger. There were three possible classifications for the person responsible, and every attack narrowed the list of suspects further. Cam already had a working list of every student and teacher unaccounted for at the time of the first two explosions, including the hours that preceded them--the time from which the location of the blast had certainly been clean and the time at which it was destroyed. Now he checked that list against the students he personally could account for last night, and the one list that had already been sent to his mother this morning.

Accessing the Thunder Academy's perimeter logs wasn't difficult, and he wondered briefly whether they wanted some tips on improving their data security. They probably wouldn't want to hear it from a samurai even if they did, he told himself. The faint twinge of conscience vanished.

This was the first attack for which it was easier to clear the residential students than the locals. Only four Wind residentials had been absent from the Thunder Academy last night, and of those, only two of them were still on his "bad list." The locals were harder, but he pulled up the perimeter logs for his own academy and started to watch. The logs themselves were concise, a traffic summary and nothing more, but thanks to him each of the portals had its own camera as well. It was that footage that he reviewed now, idly comparing the camera's record with that of the appropriate perimeter guard.

He didn't expect to find any discrepancies. It was only an exercise to keep his mind busy, to keep him from thinking about last night and how much his mother hadn't told him. Was she trying not to worry him? Because it hadn't worked. He was more worried by the thought that his parents might know they were in danger and not say a word to him.

He remembered suddenly her warning at dinner two nights ago. "I worry that the tech wing explosion was meant for you." Was that a mother's fear, or the voice of someone who had suspicions they couldn't substantiate?

"Unlikely," his father had said. He couldn't help looking at the conversation in a whole new light, now. Did they know something about what was happening? Were they the target? Was he? The first explosion had occurred in the samurai training area, and he knew it had been widely attributed to the influence of the Fire ninjas. But in retrospect...

The white static on one of the screens made him sit up in his chair. It was gone as soon as it had come, and he frowned at the monitor. His first thought, as far-fetched as it seemed, was that something was wrong with the mainframe. He discarded that idea immediately, and he threw out the possibility of visual feed interference right after. That left either a problem with the data storage, or the data itself.

The clocks were off. He checked again, gaze flicking from one part of the split screen to another. The camera feed on the right and the one in the middle were still in perfect sync, down to the tenth of a second. The camera on the left--the one that had staticked--was two minutes ahead.

Cam paused the playback and considered the time stamp at the bottom. 02:13:13. Eighteen minutes before the explosion that destroyed a ninja master's apartment, one of the cameras at the secret holographic entrance had malfunctioned. A glance at the perimeter log made his frown deepen. Someone had indeed passed through the entrance during that burst of static: a single person, whose transit had been duly noted by the perimeter guard.

It was his father. His father had been off-site early this morning, and had returned shortly before his own apartment was destroyed. There was no record of him having left, which wasn't all that unusual. His father occasionally flew out, choosing to bypass the perimeter altogether, as was his prerogative as a ninja master. That kind of unmonitored traffic did nothing for their security, but again, the spirit of the ninja code was not entirely bound up in law and order.

So where had he been? Why had he chosen that time to return? Why had he come in through the portal if he hadn't left by it? And why had the camera that should have recorded his presence spontaneously malfunctioned at that exact moment?

The obvious answer was that it hadn't been his father at all, but rather someone pretending to be his father. But then how had whoever it was fooled the perimeter guard? And where had his father been, fifteen minutes later, when an explosion tore through his place of residence? Where was his mother? And why hadn't she told Cam that it had been their home that was the target of the early morning attack?

He wanted some answers, and it didn't look like he was going to find them here. He had to see his parents anyway. He wasn't sure where they would be right now, not with the academy schedule so completely disrupted, but he had a few ideas about where to start looking. He spun his chair around and got up, intent on returning to the surface and figuring out what was going on around here.

A shadow in the doorway made him flinch. Even as he froze, he recognized the figure and his mind told him to relax. His body wasn't so quick to obey. He hadn't even heard someone come in.

"Mom," he said with a sigh of relief. "I didn't know you were here."

She smiled, not moving from the doorway. "The feeling's mutual. We didn't expect to see you this morning."

"I would have been here sooner if you'd told me about the attack," he informed her. "Are you and Dad okay? Where were you when it happened? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you," she admitted. "We knew you had your hands full yesterday, and today you're supposed to be teaching--I thought it would be easier if you didn't have to think about it."

"It wasn't," he said bluntly. "It makes me think there's more you're not telling me, Mom. Who did this? You know, don't you. You know they're after our family. But why?"

She didn't answer right away.

He waited, watching her glance around the room as though looking for something. "Come walk with me," she said at last. "There are things that even this place can't protect us from."

***

He had expected the samurai teacher to be arrogant. Aloof, at the least... reserved, definitely, and maybe a little bit condescending. Maybe a lot condescending. The Thunder Academy didn't think much of samurai, and he had just assumed that the samurai would return the favor.

They didn't. Or at least, this one didn't. He was very sure of himself, Hunter noted. And he was reserved, in the sense that he had a stare that spoke for him in a lot of situations. But he was also... funny, in a sarcastic way. Oddly polite. And surprisingly patient, considering that the number of novices he was working with almost doubled the size of his class.

There had been several Thunder ninjas observing, but Hunter had been the only one to take the Winds up on their invitation to practice with the samurai. The rest of the class had consisted of five samurai students, two of whom still wore their school badge in lieu of an earned element, and three Wind ninjas who apparently had little to no samurai training. Just like him. It hadn't surprised him when the instructor divided the class.

Hunter was partnered with Shane, Tori's non-moto friend from the night before. The teacher worked with them first, which he ought to have expected. As the only Thunder actively participating, he was too important to leave to the advanced students and too threatening to leave with the beginners. Sensei Cameron wasn't stupid, Hunter decided, when he watched the rest of the class establish break-out groups that included the other two Wind ninjas. They had clearly planned for this in advance.

It had been an interesting class, all things considered. He and Shane had managed not to injure each other too badly with their practice lathes, which was probably more a testament to their instructor's skill than their own... but a good fight was any fight you walked away from. The observing Thunder ninjas didn't say a word while the samurai students ignored them, and Hunter suspected they were all thinking the same thing: it's only for a little while.

For himself, he was there to learn something. No one liked the samurai, but no one seemed to know anything about them either. It was very irritating. He couldn't work up a proper hatred for people he didn't know anything about. Not unless they attacked him or someone he cared about, and although his parents sometimes acted as though the samurai had done just that, neither of them could provide specifics.

So he was going to find some reasons for himself. He would either find out that everyone he knew had been right about the samurai all along, or--less likely--he would realize that everyone he knew was on crack and he had better stop drinking the water. He was going to stay in this class until he reached a conclusion or until it ended, whichever came first.

He told himself that the way a person acted in public wasn't the best standard for judging their behavior. He told himself that really, discreet surveillance was part of the ninja code, and it had always been part of his training to gather as much information as he could. The truth was, though, that he was late getting out of the equipment room and he had been too distracted to notice someone sneaking up on him.

Okay, maybe "sneaking" was an overstatement. Sensei Cameron hadn't exactly been quiet about his approach, and between the angry stamping of feet on the tiled floor and the way he was muttering to himself under his breath, Hunter didn't know how he could have missed it. But he had, and he'd barely had time to freeze and melt into the shadows before the samurai teacher burst through the door.

Stomping across the floor, he came to a halt in front of the lathe rack and began replacing the ones he had borrowed for his "guest" students. His regular class apparently had personal practice blades, even the two students--and that wasn't typical, at least not at the Thunder Academy. Was it different at the Winds' school, Hunter wondered, or did the samurai get special treatment?

"The only way to make them more nervous," the instructor was complaining under his breath. "Sure, help them feel at home, don't foster resentment... invite complete strangers to watch their every move. Great idea, Mom. That was really helpful."

Mom? Hunter's lips quirked. There was something just a little bit amusing about this apparently self-sufficient and highly skilled individual blaming his mother for a teaching decision. He wondered if his mother was a ninja too. Or maybe a samurai?

"Not to mention," the instructor was muttering, "the fact that I have strange ninjas pretending to be invisible in the equipment room for the sole purpose of making me even more jumpy than I already am."

This time, Hunter couldn't suppress a smile, albeit a rueful one. He hadn't done a single thing to give away his presence, but the samurai teacher clearly wasn't as distracted as he looked. Sensei Cameron hadn't even turned around.

"You surprised me," Hunter said, shaking off the shadows and folding his arms as he leaned back against the wall. "Habit."

The last practice lathe was lifted higher than was strictly necessary, dropped, and allowed to rattle into place with a series of clacks before its wielder turned around. The samurai instructor wore an exasperated expression that eased the moment he caught sight of Hunter. "You're the Thunder ninja from class," he observed, studying him.

He felt the statement deserved an equally obvious response. "And you're the Wind ninja samurai instructor."

This drew an uninterpretable look. "Fire ninja, actually. I trained in Japan."

Hunter raised an eyebrow. That was an honor few people could claim... and one that would almost make up for his samurai tendencies, if he were a little less subtle about one and more about the other. "Learn anything?"

"How to hide culture shock," the instructor said with a flash of humor. "Something you did rather well this afternoon, I thought. You're very brave."

He hadn't been the one teaching that class on a hostile campus. "So are you," Hunter said evenly. "Thanks for opening it up like that."

"I'll tell my mother you said so," the samurai teacher said with a sigh. "It's her latest plan to win friends and influence people."

"She a samurai too?" Hunter wanted to know.

"Yes." The response was curt. He had clearly gotten too personal, and the Wi--Fire ninja was letting him know. Before he could back off, though, the samurai teacher added, "I'm going to dinner. Thanks for trying the class."

"Mind if I come with?" Hunter asked, detaching himself from the wall. "I have a couple of questions about that kata."

The samurai looked surprised, but he didn't object. "I don't mind, if you're curious. Are you planning to come back?"

"Maybe." Depending on what and how much he learned in the next two days.

"Well, if you do, I'm Cameron." The other teacher held out his hand, and they shook perfunctorily. "Sensei Nena will also teach some of the samurai classes, and I know she plans to open at least her first one to everybody."

"Good to know," Hunter said neutrally. "I'm Hunter Bradley. We were introduced by my brother's latest crush last night."

"I thought you looked familiar," Cameron remarked, scrutinizing him again as they made their way toward the door. "I must have been distracted by the cloud of hormones and bad ninja jokes that settled around the two of them."

Hunter smiled involuntarily. "It is a little hard to take, isn't it. I don't remember ever being that young."

"It's an age not enough people skip," Cameron said dryly.

The dining hall was less crowded tonight, and even after a walk filled with kata talk Hunter managed to sneak in a few more questions while they wound their way among the tables. He knew people would inevitably overhear, but this was something he wanted to know about and he wasn't going to get the information anywhere else. Besides, he was already being watched for attending the class in the first place. He might as well give them something to see.

As they had done the night before, the samurai students and teachers occupied two tables near the kitchen exit. Again, they were surrounded only by Wind ninjas. Neither Tori nor Blake was anywhere to be seen, Hunter noted as he took a place toward the end of the table.

Cameron introduced him to everyone again, and this time several of them waved or nodded in return. He didn't remember any of the girls' faces, but he recognized Sensei Nena's name. Sensei Chitzu's hair was impossible to forget or miss. Tori's friends were absent as well, but across from him at the table were Meisha and Cale, two of the samurai students from the class he had just been in.

They were surprisingly friendly. It was as though he had proven himself, somehow, by participating in their class when none of the other Thunders would. He didn't plan to disillusion them--at least, not yet--but he wasn't going to accept them just because they accepted him. He still had a lot to learn about the samurai.

He didn't try to contribute to the conversation unless someone spoke directly to him. It was too much work. He was here to eat and to observe, not to socialize. But when Cale said something about moto, he couldn't help answering, and a few minutes later he realized he had been drawn into discussion without even noticing.

It wasn't entirely a bad feeling.

Cameron was barely eating. It wasn't obvious until Hunter poked him and asked for the bowl of rice and beans--his second serving, where the samurai teacher had barely touched his first. He was looking a little pale, actually. And he had gone quiet. He had been talking with Sensei Nena when they first sat down, but now he was staring at his plate and apparently ignoring the rest of the table.

Hunter had opened his mouth to ask if he was all right, when suddenly he looked up. Dark eyes met his with a pained expression, but his voice was perfectly composed when he asked for directions to the bathroom. Stomach bug, Hunter wondered? Wouldn't have guessed he was sick after the way he handled class that afternoon, but he hadn't eaten enough at dinner for it to be the food disagreeing with him.

He kept an idle eye on the empty seat beside him while Cale continued to chatter eagerly on about moto. When they passed the five-minute mark and there was still no sign of Cameron, Hunter began keeping closer track of the time. Six minutes... seven. Eight and a half minutes. Nine.

At ten minutes, he excused himself from the table and headed in the direction he'd sent Cameron. There were two bathrooms outside in the service hallway, and they were the closest to this side of the dining hall. He supposed it was possible that both had been occupied, earlier, but most people tended to use the larger facilities just inside the academy connector.

One door open, one door closed when he arrived, with no one else in sight. Maybe Cameron had stepped outside for a few minutes--there was a door at the end of the little hallway, and it was a nice night. Or maybe he had gone back into the dining hall and been distracted by friends at another table. Hunter hadn't bothered to look for him inside before he came out here.

He knocked on the closed door anyway, expecting to hear anyone's voice but Cameron's at this point. When had he turned into such a worrier? The guy was allowed to leave the dining hall any time he wanted.

There was no answer.

Hunter knocked again, louder this time. "Anyone in there?" he called, when there was still no response. The words didn't produce any reply either, and he frowned.

The door could simply have been left shut. Whoever was in there might not realize he was talking to them. They could be ignoring him for the fun of it, or maybe this was some kind of prank. A dozen possibilities flashed through his mind, but none of them made him feel any better. He decided to go with his gut instinct.

Putting one hand on the doorknob, he jiggled it briefly. Locked. Well, there was no one around to lecture him for busting it, so he wrapped his fingers around the knob and concentrated. One of the first tricks any self-respecting ninja kid learned: how to break simple locks in five seconds or less.

The doorknob turned, and he knocked again before pushing it open.

The door met resistance. He eased it open just far enough to see why, and he swore out loud as he shoved it the rest of the way. This was not what he'd had in mind when he was running through all the logical explanations for the samurai teacher's continued absence.

Cameron lay crumpled in front of the sink. His breathing was shallow and there was blood oozing from a head wound that was clearly several minutes old. Must have hit the sink on the way down, Hunter thought distantly. He dropped to his knees beside the samurai and felt for a pulse, an automatic reaction that really didn't do either of them any good. The man obviously needed medical attention.

He stood up again, reluctant to leave anyone lying unconscious on the floor no matter how good the reason. He did it anyway, glancing back just the once before he went for help. The only thing he could think of was a single word, repeating over and over in his mind:

***

Light. Morning. Time to get up. Probably late--not his room...

Confused, he jerked upright, and pain slammed into the side of his skull. He bit back a groan, lowering his head and lifting a hand to the side of his face instinctively. His skin was raw and hot to the touch, the ache in his head intensifying when he flinched. He hurt. And that couldn't be good.

"Welcome back," a familiar voice offered from somewhere nearby. He swung around, wincing as motion made the pain worse. Where was he? What was going on?

Chitzu sat in a chair by the room's only door, slouched against the back with a magazine propped up on his lap. He was regarding Cam calmly, bright red hair falling in his face while he made no effort to sit up straight. "How are you feeling?"

Questions like that were never easy when one was completely disoriented, Cam thought warily. "Like I'm waking up in a hospital room?" he guessed, careful not to move his head as he looked around slowly.

"Close." Chitzu let the magazine fall, but he made no move to get up. "The medical ward at the Thunder Academy.

Cam reached up to touch his face again. There were two plastic stitches taped across his temple, making his skin feel stretched and painful underneath. "What happened?" he asked, trying to remember and dreading the answer at the same time. "What time is it?"

"A little after eight," Chitzu said, not bothering to consult his watch.

"In the morning?"

Chitzu shook his head. "Still evening. You got kind of sick at dinner, I guess. One of your ninja students found you."

Dinner. He almost remembered dinner. Class came back to him first, reassuring him with his sudden ability to recall events. The samurai had put up with Thunder ninjas watching everything they did, in class as well as around campus, and they had been as welcoming as he could have asked to the ninjas who had joined them. Including the one Thunder ninja who had deigned to participate, and then accosted Cam afterward--

Hunter. He remembered talking with Hunter, sitting down to dinner, asking Nena about her cat. He had started to feel queasy within minutes of taking his seat. He had thought it must have been something he ate, but he'd drank more than he'd eaten and there was nothing unfamiliar at the table.

"What happened?" he asked at last, unable to remember much after that. He thought he'd gone to the bathroom, but there must have been more if someone had found him. He started to frown and just as quickly stopped when it made his skin pull.

"You passed out," Chitzu said matter-of-factly. "Good job finding the only thing around to hit your head on when you fell. You want some aspirin or something? I'm supposed to give you some when you wake up."

"Yeah, sure." Cam couldn't help sighing. "So how many people saw me faint?"

"No one," Chitzu said, setting the magazine aside and pushing himself to his feet. "You waited until you got to the bathroom. The Thunder ninja you brought to dinner went looking for you when you didn't come back."

Hunter, his brain reminded him. Why had Hunter come looking for him? And how had he found him if Cam was in the bathroom? He tried to think his way around it and failed. "What, did I not lock the door?"

"He broke the lock." Chitzu handed him a couple of aspirin and a glass of water. "You made some kind of friend in that samurai class."

Cam stared at him for a moment before accepting the aspirin. "Friend or stalker," he muttered, gulping the water and almost gagging for his effort. His throat burned at the first touch of water, and swallowing the aspirin brought tears to his eyes. "My throat hurts," he gasped, putting a hand over his throat as though it would help.

Chitzu was frowning. "You mean, like a sore throat, or like you swallowed something wrong?"

"Like it's been scraped raw." So he couldn't think, and now he couldn't swallow either... it even hurt to talk. This day just got better.

"I'm gonna go get the doctor," Chitzu was saying. "You be all right for a few minutes?"

It was an open question as to whether nodding or speaking would hurt more. He settled for nodding, once, very slowly. Chitzu looked concerned for the first time, but he didn't even make it to the door before it swung open.

"Cam?" His mother was in the doorway. She had something in her hand, and she didn't wait to be invited in. "Nena called us. How are you doing?"

One of the disadvantages of living at the Wind Academy again: everyone he knew also knew his parents. He managed a smile as she came over to stand by his bed. "Fine, Mom." He choked on the last word, and his throat totally closed up.

It didn't open again. He swallowed hard, couldn't clear his throat, couldn't breathe. Then his mother's hand was over his mouth and her other hand against the back of his head. "Breathe through your nose," she ordered. "Don't try to swallow. Chitzu, go get me some hot water for tea. Cam, are you listening?"

He managed to nod the slightest bit, even with her holding his head. "I want you to lean forward," she was telling him. "Don't bend your neck, just your back. Can you do that?"

He nodded again, and she let go of him carefully as he leaned forward. It didn't help his throat, but he was breathing and he wasn't going to question that. "Cam," his mother said gently. "Don't answer if it hurts, all right? Did you eat or drink anything before I came in?"

He nodded once. Lifting one hand, he pointed backwards in the general direction of the table where he thought Chitzu had left the water. He saw her pick it up, sniff it warily, and then drink some of it herself.

A moment later, she set the glass down and asked, "What about when you got sick? Nena said you passed out. Did you drink anything unusual before that?"

He shook his head carefully, pointing at the glass again.

"Just water?"

He nodded once, calmer now and a little more confident in his ability to continue breathing. He straightened incrementally, watching her out of the corner of his eye to see if she would object. She watched, but there was a sad look on her face that he couldn't quite understand. She didn't try to stop him.

He opened his mouth and drew in an experimental breath. Finally, his throat cooperated, and he wondered if he dared to try talking again. "Why--" He swallowed, but the pain in his throat actually seemed to be subsiding a little. "Why do you ask?"

She walked over to the door, and glanced out into the hallway before closing it quietly. "This is Lothor's work," she said fiercely. "There's no one else it could be."

Cam had to sigh. "Mom, I just got sick. It does happen."

"Not like this," she told him. "Not to you. Cam, you were the healthiest child I ever saw. You haven't been to a doctor in six years--and that was for a physical. If you've ever once passed out, you didn't tell me about it."

He shrugged, relieved when the motion didn't make his head hurt. The aspirin seemed to have kicked in quickly. "Maybe I was due. Maybe I ate something my stomach didn't like. Everyone gets sick sometime. There's no reason to think Dad's evil twin had anything to do with it."

To tell the truth, he was still a little bit skeptical about the evil twin story. His mother had taken him aside this morning and told him, apparently in all seriousness, that she and his father thought someone named Lothor was behind the attacks on the school. How Lothor was accomplishing them and why was something else entirely.

That his father had a brother he never talked about, Cam could accept. That his father's brother had made illegal use of "dark" ninja powers and been banished from the face of the planet for doing so was a little less believable. The idea that the banished ninja had returned from outer space to exact his revenge on the Wind Academy was beyond the realm of reason.

"Cam, I want you to be more careful," his mother was telling him. "Especially about what you eat and drink. Don't let other people get things for you. You didn't pour that water yourself, did you?"

Confused, he had to remind himself not to frown. "Chitzu got it for me."

"I meant the water in the dining hall," she said. "Before you got sick. Did someone else get it for you?"

"I don't remember." He gave her an odd look. "What are you saying? You think someone's trying to poison me? That's crazy. Why would anyone do that?"

"Lothor wants the academy to pay for banishing him," she answered. "Our family is a living symbol of everything the Wind Academy stands for. That's enough for him."

"No offense, Mom, but I'm pretty sure I would have noticed someone who looks just like Dad sneaking into the dining hall to put something in my water," Cam told her. "And really, even if this Lothor person is behind the attacks at the Wind Academy, why would he bother with poison? It's not consistent. He blows up a training facility, a computer lab, and an apartment, and suddenly he's going to resort to poisoning? Isn't that a little below him, dramatically speaking?"

"Cameron," his mother said sternly. "This is not a joke. We thought you'd be safer somewhere far away from the Wind Academy, but clearly you're still in danger. Think of it as part of your samurai training to be more careful: about where you are, who you're with, and what they're doing."

There was nothing he could do but agree with her. Luckily there was a knock on the door, and Chitzu's return put an end to her lecture on the evils of banished dark ninjas bent on retribution. "I found some water," he offered, his gaze flicking to Cam before he pushed the door all the way open and entered. "You feeling better?"

Cam nodded, watching him set the teapot and cup on the table by the bed. His mother stuffed the tea strainer she had brought with leaves she didn't identify, set it in the cup, and poured hot water over it. While it steeped, she reached up to touch the amulet she had worn for as long as Cam could remember.

She considered him for a moment, then pulled the necklace off over her head. "I want you to keep this for a few days," she told him.

"I know, I know," she said, forestalling his immediate objection. "You don't have to wear it. Carry it in your pocket if you want, just keep it with you. The amulet has healing properties--I've seen them work. You can give it back to me when you stop needing tape to hold your head together."

He uttered a token sigh, but he accepted the amulet without any other complaint. If that was all it took to keep his mom happy... well, it was better than having her hovering over him for the foreseeable future. He studied the amulet briefly before shifting to slide it into his pocket.

"So, can I go now?" he wanted to know, glancing around the room again. "The medical ward is nice, but I'd rather not live here."

"No," his mother said, removing the tea strainer and holding the cup out to him. "Drink your tea first. It should soothe your throat and settle your stomach a little."

"Yes, Mom," he muttered, exchanging glances with Chitzu. The other Fire ninja just grinned at him, no sympathy in his expression. The Wind Academy--and now the school of Thunder--was his vacation from family, just as the Fire Academy had been for Cam.

"I saw that," his mother informed them. "We only do it because we care."

"And I only put up with it because I know," Cam returned in kind. "Thanks, Mom."

She smiled at him. He finished the rest of his tea in one swallow and handed her the cup, giving her something to do while he made an attempt at standing up. It wasn't as hard as he'd thought it might be, worried that dizziness might strike the moment he got up. His head throbbed quietly as his heart started pumping faster, compensating for his change in position, but otherwise he was fine.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," he remarked lightly. "I could still get in a couple of rounds of sparring tonight."

"If you were crazy," Chitzu agreed. "Since we already know you are, I say, go to it."

"Don't encourage him," his mother scolded. "You air elements are all alike."

Cam started to smirk, but then she added, "Wipe that smug look off your face, Cameron Watanabe. Earth elements are even worse."

He started to protest, but Chitzu said drolly, "Well, you know what they say about water elements, Sensei Miko. All it takes is one to ruin a good party."

His mother was unfazed. "Don't you forget it," she told him.

***

There were days when he didn't think that life could get any better. This was one of them. He had no homework--at least, none that he could remember--no projects that still had to be finished before he clocked out, and no worries. Just a temporary reprieve from expulsion at his other school, another half hour to tinker with his own bike, and best of all, a visit from the girl he'd been trying to lure to Storm Chargers for weeks.

Dark-haired Marah Jennings leaned on the counter by his collection of alarm clocks, watching him play with the orbiter Kelly had left beside the cash register. "It's cool, right," Dustin was telling her, "because it's just this flimsy paper until you pull on it, and all of a sudden it's this awesome thing!"

"But why doesn't it break?" she wanted to know. "It looks so... fragile."

"Yeah, doesn't it?" He held it out to her, slipping the handles onto her outstretched fingers. "There, now just pull."

She gave the silver strands a doubtful look, but she pulled obediently on the plastic handles. The beads spun, making a humming noise as the holographic paper bowed out in the middle. The silver bubble sparkled while it twirled around the center string, slowing only when it had been stretched to its limit.

Marah's face lit up with a delighted smile. She let the string relax before tugging on the toy again, and this time she pulled hard enough that the bubble flattened out into a shimmering disc. "Wow," she exclaimed, still watching it intently. "It really doesn't break!"

"Nah," Dustin said easily. "It's supposed to work like that. Kinda boring, until you do something to it. And then it's like, presto!"

He watched Marah play with the toy a little longer. After a moment, though, she asked, "Do you think maybe people are like that?" She didn't look up from the orbiter, easing the tension in the string before pulling it again. "Just ordinary, until something comes along and it's like... I don't know. It puts pressure on them, you know what I mean?"

"Kinda like the Power Rangers?" he suggested. He had been educating her in his spare time. "Cause they're like, these totally normal people, until someone comes along and gives them morphers and says, 'go fight those evil dudes' and they're just like, 'okay.' But they always do, and they end up being really cool."

She didn't laugh. She actually looked sort of thoughtful, and then she nodded. "Yeah, maybe like the Power Rangers." She paused, then added, "But don't you think the Power Rangers were chosen because they were already cool, and people just didn't know it yet?"

"Sure, if you believe in fate and stuff," Dustin agreed. "I think everyone has it in them to be that cool, really. I mean, obviously, the Power Rangers... they're awesome. But they're awesome because they're Power Rangers, right, they're not Power Rangers because they're awesome."

"You think anyone could be a Power Ranger?" she asked dubiously.

"Yeah, totally!" he exclaimed. "Like, look at all the people who have been Power Rangers. They're the good kids and the bad kids. They're guardians and ancient warriors and techno geeks and aliens and reformed evil henchmen. They're everyone, you know? They're just whoever happened to be around when someone needed them."

She brightened. "Evil people did become Power Rangers! I forgot about that!"

"Yeah, and they were just as cool as the others," Dustin pointed out. "Some of them were cooler. See, everyone can be that good if they really want to be. Not just good, but awesome!"

She giggled a little at his enthusiasm, and he grinned. Tori didn't think Marah was very smart. But most people didn't think he was very smart either, and he thought about things they couldn't answer. He didn't feel dumb. So he had always figured maybe Marah was the same way. She sure was good conversation.

"How did the Power Rangers who were evil become good?" she was asking. "I mean, they must have had a lot of people telling them what to do, right?"

He reached out and poked the idle orbiter. "You mean a lot of bad people?"

She shrugged noncommittally, lifting the toy again and pulling on the ends. The silver paper spun a new bubble of humming light. "Bad people, and good people too. I mean, the good Rangers must have told them to stop being bad..."

"Yeah, that's true," he realized. "I guess they did get a lot of, you know, advice or whatever."

"How do you think they decided who to listen to?" Marah wanted to know.

"Well, they must have known what was right," he pointed out. "They just had to stop doing the stuff that wasn't right, and start doing what was."

She gave him a funny look. "Don't you ever do anything you're not sure is right? I mean... you're always late to class. Is that right?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "I guess not... but being late to class?" He shrugged again. "It doesn't seem that bad, really."

"How do you know how bad something is?" she pressed. "Do you ever... I don't know. Do you ever do something you wouldn't have done if someone else hadn't told you to do it?"

"Dude, yeah, all the time!" He started to list the things. "Math tests, math homework, math class... basically anything to do with math. I wouldn't do math if someone didn't make me."

"I mean bad things," she insisted, totally not getting the joke. "Do people ever tell you to do things you're not sure are right?"

"Umm..." Dustin thought about it for a moment. It hadn't been that bad a joke. So either she was really serious about this evil Power Ranger thing--or maybe someone was telling her to do something she didn't think was right. "I guess, sometimes. But that's what parents are for, right? To tell you if something's wrong, and to back you up if you don't want to do it."

She looked very sad then. "What if you can't ask your parents?" Marah asked quietly.

Oh. Was that why she lived on site? He'd thought she just came from a really long way away. Maybe she did, and she couldn't talk to her family that much? "Well," he said at last, "I guess if I couldn't talk to my parents, I'd talk to Sensei. I mean, he's a ninja master, so he's pretty smart. He knows a lot about right and wrong."

She seemed to like that idea. "Yeah," she agreed thoughtfully. "That's true. He's all wise and stuff." She smiled suddenly and added, "He'd make a good Power Ranger mentor, don't you think?"

"Yeah!" Dustin crowed. "Dude, he totally would! Can't you just see him being all like, 'Rangers, this monster has grown too powerful for you to defeat alone. You must call upon your inner ninja--"

"And your Wind ninja zords," Marah added. "Don't forget the zords!"

"Oh, and the supercool weapons!" Dustin agreed. "We can put them all together to make a mega giant weapon, and then we'll call the zords when that doesn't work!"

"What are you guys talking about?" an incredulous voice inquired.

"Hey, Tori." He barely paused. "We're just talking about how we're going to form the coolest megazord in history to defeat the huge, ugly, city-destroying monster!"

"With our supercool, color-coordinated weapons," Marah reminded him. "And don't forget the inner ninja."

"Right!" Dustin agreed. "Our inner ninja will help us defeat the monster!"

"Is this about Power Rangers again?" Tori said with a laugh. "Cause really, Dustin, you shouldn't keep spreading that stuff around. If you infect a whole new academy with Power Ranger wannabes, Sensei Omino is going to throw us out."

"They're role models," he defended himself. "Sensei should thank me for inspiring my fellow students!"

"Whatever," Tori said, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to get some more wax for my board. Is Kelly around?"

"Yeah, and she's gonna bust you for not wearing a shirt," Dustin warned her. His friend was wearing board shorts and a bikini top--she must have come straight from the beach. "You know how she feels about swimsuits in the shop."

"I'll risk it," Tori tossed over her shoulder, already heading for the water sports display. "Shane here yet?"

"Nah, he must still be at the park." He glanced at Marah and offered, "Hey, do you want a ride to class? We're gonna go as soon as Shane gets here."

She shook her head, setting the orbiter down on the counter. "I'd better leave now," she said regretfully. "I think I'm going to stop at our school on the way and see if Sensei's around. Thanks, though."

"Sure thing. Hey, good luck with Sensei, okay?"

"Yeah." She smiled at him. "Thanks, Dustin."

"See ya, Marah." He watched her go, wondering what could be so important that she needed to see Sensei today. She looked happier as she left, though.

"Tori, what have I told you about swimsuits," Kelly's voice called. It was the sound of someone who had said that same thing a dozen times before and didn't expect to be stopping any time soon.

"Sorry Kelly!" Tori's return shout was delivered in exactly the same tone, but she did skip out of the way and follow Marah out of the store. She passed off the jar of surfboard wax to Shane as he entered. "Get Dustin to ring this up for me?"

"Yeah, sure." Shane was still looking over his shoulder as he came up to the counter, and he grinned at Dustin as he tossed him the jar. "Hey, was that Marah I saw out there?"

"Yeah." Dustin tried to act casual, keeping his eyes on the cash register, but he couldn't stop smiling. "She, uh, she just stopped by to check the place out."

"Yeah, right she did!" Shane hooted. "Way to go, Dustin! She totally came to see you, man!"

Dustin shrugged, but his smile wouldn't go away. "Sure, maybe," he agreed. "I mean, I don't know. But, you know, she stayed and talked, so that was cool."

He applied his own employee discount to the purchase automatically while Shane chortled with glee. "Hey," Dustin said, trying to sigh and grin at the same time, "are you gonna pay for Tor's stuff, or what?" He was going to be hearing about this for days.

It was worth it, though.

"Come on, guys," Tori called from the doorway. "We have to leave spare time for freaky emergencies, remember? New carpool policy."

"Hey, I'm paying for you here!" Shane yelled back. "A little gratitude!"

"Thanks Shane!" she replied. "Now hurry up!"

Dustin handed Shane the receipt, caught Kelly's eye across the store and gestured toward the door. She just smiled, shaking her head as she waved in return. "Tomorrow afternoon, two-thirty!" she reminded him.

"I'll be here," he called over his shoulder. And they were free, bursting out of the shop and piling into the front of Tori's van. She had pulled on a tank top over her swimsuit, and she was starting the engine before Shane had even closed the door.

"Hey, slow down," Shane demanded, fumbling for his seatbelt. "Where's the fire?"

"I want to hear how Cam's doing," she answered.

Dustin thought about that for a moment, but no matter which angle he looked it from, it didn't make any sense. "Wait," he said, exchanging glances with Shane. "Did you just explain that and I totally, like, missed it?"

"Didn't Marah tell you?" Tori asked, not taking her eyes from the road. "Sensei Cameron got sick last night. Blake's brother thinks it wasn't an accident."

"Well, people don't really get sick on purpose," Dustin pointed out.

"You mean someone made him sick?" Shane was frowning. "The explosion in the tech wing... you think someone's after Cam? Who could get past every ninja at the academy?"

"I don't know what's going on," Tori told the windshield. "But Blake says the kitchen was closed and searched last night, and there are guards in the dining hall today.

"I don't think they're linking it to the explosions at our school," she added. "They're calling it a hate crime."

***

"How did this turn into a campus-wide witch hunt?"

Cam folded his arms, watching Nena's students assemble in the same place he had trained the day before. It was an unscheduled seminar class, being held at the invitation of Sensei Omino himself. The number of Thunder ninjas trickling in to observe was already twice that which he had dealt with, and there were two who seemed to be moving forward to join the samurai students. Hunter was not among them.

"I don't like it," Chitzu continued, when he didn't answer. "None of the Thunders did anything wrong, and now we've got half the Wind students glaring at them and the other half looking over their shoulders."

They also had a growing number of Thunder ninjas beginning to question the samurai ban, if today's class was any indication. For the first time since he'd arrived, one of the Thunder teachers had made small talk with him in the dining hall. Nena had been invited to join one of the advanced element classes--one taught by a Thunder ninja, not one of the classes being continued by their own Wind instructors.

It wasn't an unconditional welcome, but a few people did seem to be trying to make up for their school's perceived hostility. He couldn't help seeing it at least partly as a reaction to what had happened to him. Or what they believed had happened to him.

"Someone must have decided that this was the best way to keep people from panicking," Cam said at last, careful to keep his voice as low. The gathering students and teachers alike were glancing their way with varying degrees of subtlety.

"What, letting the Thunders think it was one of their own when we know full well they had nothing to do with it?" Chitzu sounded disgusted. "Maybe Sensei Watanabe thinks they're drawing their own conclusions, but I still think it's low."

It was low. Cam didn't like it any more than Chitzu did, but his father wouldn't intervene without an actual suspect and proof. In the meantime, keeping the attacks at their own school separate from the incident last night would keep the Thunder Academy open. The two of them might not like it, but the alternative wasn't particularly appealing either.

"Your Thunder ninja's back."

He shot Chitzu a sharp look, more surprised by the comment than anything else. It was at least the third time Chitzu had referred to Hunter that way, and he couldn't decide whether to be amused or annoyed. "He's not mine," Cam remarked neutrally, gaze scanning the class again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chitzu smile.

Hunter was bordering on late. He joined the other two Thunder ninjas in Nena's class, and Cam saw his gaze flick across the observers. It was a quick glance, no recognition when his eyes slid past Cam--until he took a second look. The double take was worth the attention Cam was drawing just by standing there, and he nodded slightly in Hunter's direction. The gesture was returned with no hint of hesitation.

He had planned to watch the entire class. Nena could probably use the moral support, and he didn't have anything better to do. Not while still under his mother's orders to take it easy and to, quite literally, "stay out of trouble." What was he, five? He wondered idly whether Hunter's parents were ninjas, too.

His observation was interrupted, however, by a voice that he shouldn't be hearing. He looked over his shoulder automatically, expecting to see his father standing there. It was several seconds before he realized that the words were--so to speak--for his ears only. His father's irritating mastery of ninja telepathy tended to intrude at the most unwelcome times.

Not that he could think of any times when it would be welcome, really.

Hi to you too, Dad, he thought with a sigh. If Kapri's not on site now, she'll be here for basics this evening. You want to talk to her?

Cam frowned, aware that Chitzu was keeping a careful but unobtrusive eye on him. Interesting, how? What could they have to confess?

Cam stared. He wasn't seeing the samurai class in front of him, the odd looks from people who were paying more attention to him than he wanted to realize, or the flash of concern on his friend's face. Mom was right? Then a more confusing question occurred to him. Why Kapri and Marah?

Marah's confession to me is, of course, confidential.

Cam couldn't help rolling his eyes. Not confidential enough to keep it from him altogether, obviously. Not confidential enough to prevent his father from telepathically interrupting to send him on what amounted to an errand. But? he prompted sarcastically.

But I would like to speak with Kapri, his father replied, with perfect equanimity. If you could locate her and escort her to me?

Cam sighed aloud. Sure, Dad.

"You all right?" Chitzu said quietly, sending him another covert look.

"My dad." It was all the explanation he needed. "He's looking for one of the Wind students. I'm going to go see if I can track her down."

"Want some help?" Chitzu offered.

"Help?" Cam said dryly. It was just a matter of checking the perimeter logs and then narrowing the search one way or the other. "No. Company, yes." It had been a boring morning, and he saw no guarantee that the afternoon would be an improvement. At least he wouldn't have to sacrifice intelligent conversation.

The search for Kapri Jennings took less time than Cam expected, for the simple reason that she had left campus a little more than three hours before. Basics started at seven, with introductory elemental training to follow. She might not be here now, but he could anticipate her return to the minute.

He relayed the information to his father. He got no further explanation of the alleged poisoning incident, nor any comment on whether Marah would be at basics this evening. If it weren't for this supposed confession, he would have taken the opportunity to argue the "poisoning" angle with his parents again. But it was, and he didn't.

Instead, he shook his head and remarked aloud, "I don't understand it."

"Understand what?" Chitzu was poking around the mostly empty computer lab, paying little attention to the other occupants and less to Cam's search for a single student. "Life, the universe, and everything?"

"People get sick," Cam insisted, more talking to himself than to his friend. "Why was poison the first thing she assumed?"

Chitzu scoffed, not looking up from the filing cabinet into which he was peering. "I don't think you've been sick a single time since I've known you, Cam. Food poisoning was the first thing I thought of, and deliberate poison isn't such a big leap considering recent events."

"But why?" Cam insisted. "Why would I be on anyone's 'to poison' list? Let alone Marah's? She's not the brightest sparkle on the water, but I've never done anything to her."

"Neither did your parents, but their apartment blew up. We're ninjas, Cam. Weird things happen."

He considered that for a moment, frowning. "The more I try to believe that whoever was behind the poison also tried to blow up significant parts of campus, the less plausible it seems. The approaches are totally different. Why start big and then become subtle?"

"You call poisoning your water in front of the entire dining hall subtle?" Chitzu retorted. He held up a hand when Cam opened his mouth, stopping him before he could start. "I know what you mean. And, okay, there's not a lot of logic there... but can you rule either of them out? I know you were making lists."

And the girls had still been on them. They were the only two Wind residentials he hadn't been able to clear, but he hadn't honestly believed they could have anything to do with the attacks. They just... weren't that clever.

The perfect disguise, he supposed.

"No," he admitted at last. "I couldn't rule them out."

"Well, there you go." Chitzu saw his expression, obviously knew he wasn't convinced. "Look, Cam, it doesn't mean they were out to get you. Maybe they were taking orders from someone else. Maybe they were being manipulated by some kind of dark magic. How much do we really know about the two of them, anyway? They just started training this year."

"Just because someone is new doesn't mean they're suspect," Cam muttered.

"Would you rather suspect someone you've known forever?" Chitzu countered.

"I'd rather suspect the person who's guilty."

Chitzu shrugged at that, dropping into the chair beside him. "Maybe your father knows who's guilty, now. At least it sounds like he's on to something."

Cam frowned down at the table, then lifted his gaze to stare through the screen without seeing it. "You know what I ask myself, though? Would he tell me if he did know? That's what I'm starting to wonder."

Chitzu leaned back in his chair, the slight frown looking out of place in his normally uncaring expression. He didn't answer, and Cam was left to line up the events of the last few days in his own mind. His parents' apartment was attacked, and not only had they not told him but their explanation for their absence at the time of the attack was the most ridiculous cover story he'd ever heard. A romantic stroll? At two in the morning? Yeah, that was likely.

Then his mother had told him about a relative he'd never heard of, who had supposedly been banished to outer space and had now returned to seek revenge on the academy that had cast him out. He was expected to believe that this revenge took the form of a personal vendetta against their family--and now, that two Wind Academy students had been in on it from the beginning? Were they supposed to be connected to "Lothor" somehow?

More importantly, if his parents were telling the truth, why did they seem so calm about it? And if they weren't, what could they possibly be trying to cover up? Something too dangerous to share? Something about which his ignorance had to be maintained in order to avoid alerting the real culprits? Or something even stranger than the story they had given him so far?

Finally, quietly, Chitzu inquired, "Is it just that you don't believe what your mom told you? Or do you not believe that they're trying to protect you?"

Cam shook his head. "Oh, I'm sure they're trying to protect me." He couldn't imagine malevolent intent from his parents, no matter how misguided their efforts to help him might sometimes be. "I just don't like the feeling of being protected from something I don't understand by something I can't see."

Chitzu's tone was noticeably lighter when he remarked, "At least you're on the right side of the firewall."

Cam smiled at the analogy, but he couldn't help asking, "Am I?" His parents had always supported him, often managing to be exactly what he needed when he needed it. But they had their secrets. He had always known that--and he had to wonder if he would ever be old enough to be trusted with those secrets himself.

Cam reached out and tapped the keyboard again, erasing his illegal path into the Thunder Academy's records and easing the computer back into standby. There could be no firewalls on these machines--it would defeat the entire purpose of the network. "The problem with a firewall," he said with a sigh, "is that all the information is on the other side."

"So is the danger," Chitzu said dryly. "You done here? Because I'm hungry, and the afternoon classes must be almost over."

"Yeah," Cam said, staring at the blank monitor a moment longer. Then, with a nod, he pushed himself away from the computer. "Yeah, I'm done."

They made their way back across campus together, toward the place where they had left Nena, and found her class in its final stages. The two of them watched while the class bowed out, the three Thunder ninjas as respectful as any of the samurai. Nena caught their eye with a smile of triumph as they headed her way.

Preoccupied by the effort to overhear the question she was answering, Cam almost didn't notice the approach of "his" Thunder ninja. Almost, because Chitzu's gaze flicked sideways when someone got to close, and Cam turned to see what had made him smile. Hunter was pacing them, the symbol of his air element flashing in the sunlight.

"Hi," he remarked, eyes flickering across them in acknowledgement. "Feeling better?"

Though Cam had assumed Hunter was greeting them both, the question was clearly directed at him. "If you discount the paranoia," he replied. "Yes."

"Hey." Hunter stopped, forcing Cam to stop with him or walk away. Chitzu chose the latter, Cam noted, but could probably be forgiven since Hunter didn't appear to have noticed his presence in the first place. "This isn't what we're about, you know."

Low. It really was, and he hated the way this had reflected on the Thunder Academy. "I know," he said simply. It was the truth, after all.

Hunter studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. Just wanted to make sure you were all right."

He gave every appearance of being about to leave, so Cam added, "Thanks. By the way. I wanted to thank you for... you know. Finding me."

"Sure." Hunter shrugged it off. "Glad you're okay."

And he did seem to be, which surprised Cam a little. Meisha accosted him then, a local student who hadn't been aware of academy happenings until arriving for classes this afternoon. She, too, asked Cam how he was feeling.

Thinking back to his conversation with Chitzu, his first and most telling reply was "distrustful." But that wouldn't be fair to Hunter, who was still standing there and would interpret the answer very differently. So he just smiled, told her the same thing he had told Hunter--"better"--and thanked her for her concern.

It was the truth. But it wasn't the whole truth.

Cam was getting tired of half-truths.

2. Little Green Men

There were a lot of good things about training at the Thunder Academy. First among them, of course, was the fact that they were training there at all. They had come within half an hour of being expelled from ninja school and Shane didn't have any doubt that Sensei would have made good on his threat. Only the most unlikely coincidence had saved their butts, and they didn't have to be told to take advantage of it.

He was sorry that things were being blown up, of course. And he was sorry that people at their new school were bagging on the samurai. But there were things he could change and things he couldn't, and part of being a ninja was figuring out which was which. The other part of being a ninja was finding someone who could change the things he couldn't, but he figured he wasn't advanced enough to be responsible for that part yet.

Shane stuffed his long-sleeved shirt into his backpack and swung it over his shoulder, stepping onto his skateboard as he headed out of the park. Someone shouted at him from the halfpipe, and he waved over his shoulder absently. "Later, man!" He had a class to get to.

Not one of his own classes, for once. Another major bonus that came with attending the Thunder Academy was the total rearrangement of training schedules and the sudden inclusion of guest students in the beginner samurai classes. He would never have been allowed in a samurai class at the Wind Academy--not because they were exclusive, but because students had to prove that they could handle that kind of workload.

Samurai didn't trade one set of classes for another. They simply accepted samurai training on top of their elemental education. Under normal circumstances, Shane wouldn't have even been considered for that kind of added burden. He was only allowed in the advanced classes because he had placed there... attitude and tardiness notwithstanding.

He glanced over his shoulder, leaned back to lift the front wheels up, and turned to coast down off the curb. He rolled through the crosswalk and jumped up onto the sidewalk on the other side, pushing into the downhill to pick up speed. The "guest student" clause had given him the chance he wanted, and he was going to make the most of it. They couldn't turn away a Wind student after making such an obvious effort to include any Thunder ninja who showed an interest.

He was just lucky that the samurai classes had been scheduled opposite the advanced air classes. Sensei Cameron was the only samurai at the Wind Academy with an earth element, so samurai and earth classes often overlapped in order to work around the schedules of air and water affinities. The spontaneous seminar yesterday should have been a conflict for every samurai currently training at the Thunder Academy, but they had been temporarily excused from element training for the sake of school harmony.

Shane, unfortunately, had no such special dispensation.

The house was deserted when he skidded up the walk. He snapped the back of his board down and leapt nimbly off, grabbing the front end in his hand and jogging up the steps. He pulled his key out of his pocket, let himself in, and dropped his skateboard by the door. His backpack went into his room, the power bar in the cupboard went into his pocket, and he stopped only to grab a drink before the front door banged shut behind him again and he was off.

The next best thing about training at the Thunder Academy was the fact that they were now allowed to streak to class. It was too far away for local students to drive daily in any reasonable amount of time, so Sensei had given them all permission to employ their ninja abilities off-site for this purpose and this purpose alone. It had improved Shane's punctuality significantly.

He didn't change into his ninja uniform until he was right outside the academy's holographic entrance--which, he had to admit, was more dramatic than their own. The Thunder Academy itself was perched on a rock outcropping just off the coast, accessible via cliffs that appeared to drop off sharply toward the water below. It was a convincing illusion, and he thought it might have taken some getting used to if he wasn't an air affinity. Dustin sure hadn't been crazy about it.

Stepping onto the invisible ledge between cliff and... well, cliff, was an act of faith that Shane sort of enjoyed. He looked down as he made his way across, wondering how high it was and exactly what the ledge looked like. The cliff on the far side was higher than the one he'd come from, and the apparently solid rock face flashed open for him at the last second. He was transported from the hidden bridge straight onto a well-camouflaged island, and the view made him grin.

The Wind Academy it wasn't. The nearest trees were stunted by wind and salt spray, growing to full height only in the most protected areas of the island. There was a constant seabreeze, an abundance of stone, and a dampness that got into everything. It was humid here in a way that was foreign to most California-born students. It was always chilly, the wind countering the effects of the sun and season.

And it was amazing. The view alone was worth any inconvenience: he had yet to get tired of staring out at the ocean, or the coast, or in any direction where he could see the place where land met sky. Maybe it was an air thing, but he liked to have the horizon as far away as possible. He liked that feeling of being able to see forever.

"Hey... Shane, right?" The vaguely familiar voice didn't sound at all uncertain, like it knew him but was polite enough not to presume on their acquaintance. "You here for class, man?"

He had no trouble remembering Blake's name, given that Tori hadn't been able to go five minutes the day before without mentioning it. "Hey, Blake," he greeted the other ninja. Blake couldn't be much older than he was, but he wore an elemental badge that denoted his status as a teacher. "Kinda. I came in for the samurai class, actually."

He wasn't sure that was something a Thunder ninja wanted to hear, but he wasn't about to hide behind an excuse. They were all weird about samurai around here. It was strange to come from his own school, where those who trained with the samurai were typically some of the best students on campus, to this place, where samurai seemed to be in general disfavor. He didn't get it.

"Yeah?" Blake gave him a second look. "Hey, that's right--my bro said he saw you in that first class. You study with them at your school?"

"Nah, man," Shane said ruefully. "I'm not that good. But I figure this is my chance to check it out, you know? See what it's all about."

"Not that good?" Blake repeated. "What, only the good students get to be samurai?" He looked like he couldn't quite get his mind around that idea.

"Well, anyone who wants to train with the samurai has to fit it in around all their other classes." Shane shrugged a little. "I have enough trouble getting to element training on time. Swordwork and politics are kind of beyond me right now, you know?"

When Blake folded his arms, looking puzzled, Shane added, "Sensei can't tell me not to come here, now that he's opened up the class to guests. As long as I don't miss any other classes, I mean. But I'd have had a heck of a time trying to talk him into it at the Wind Academy."

"Yeah?" Blake asked, studying him quizzically. "So it's sort of like a privilege to train with the samurai?"

"Yeah," Shane admitted. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Blake considered that for a moment, glancing over his shoulder. "Well, you better get to class, then. Wouldn't want to say you were late 'cause of a Thunder ninja."

Shane was about to bail on him anyway when a thought occurred to him. "Hey, where are you headed? No classes this afternoon?"

"Nah." Blake's grin was almost Cheshire. "Gonna hook up with Tori before basics this evening, show her some of the town. Catch you later, man."

Blake was gone before Shane could get out a word of warning. Or multiple words, like, "Mess with her and die." It wasn't overreacting if you meant it, right?

He shook his head, deciding to get Dustin in on the whole "watch out for Tori" thing later. It was just what they did, after all. Not because they were guys and she wasn't--she'd kick their butts for even suggesting it--but because they were friends. He and Tori kept a similar eye on Marah.

For the third day in a row, Shane managed to arrive at a class before it even lined up. He flexed his left wrist self-consciously, despite the fact that there was nothing there now but a bracer displaying the symbol of the Wind Academy. He wondered if Tori was going to use this string of punctual arrivals to make him and Dustin keep wearing the watches she had fastened to their arms herself at the beginning of the week.

"Hey, Cale," he said, picking the least intimidating of the samurai students to greet first. Cale mumbled what could have been a reply. He was one of the youngest students at the Wind Academy, and that was saying something on a campus where ninja parents occasionally chose to raise and train their own children.

The kid wasn't alone, so Shane added, "Hi Sensei Nena."

She looked a little surprised to seem him, but not unhappy about it. "Hi, Shane," she said with a smile. "Come back for more training in the samurai way?"

"You got it," he agreed good-naturedly. "I figure I better take advantage of the schedule while I can."

She gave him a speculative look. "If you're interested in samurai training, I'm sure we could work something out at the Wind Academy."

"Nah, try telling that to Sensei." Shane was careful to keep his voice quiet and unconcerned, so that even if he was overheard no one would read anything into it. "I'm not exactly at the top of my class. He won't let me anywhere near samurai training until I 'prove my commitment.'"

She considered that for a moment. "Then I guess you've been given an opportunity," she said at last. With a wink, she added, "Don't waste it. Even Sensei can change his mind."

He nodded, wondering what she meant by that. Could he expect help from her? Did he want help from her? He wanted to know everything that was taught at his school, but could he really handle samurai classes on top of his regular training? Dustin would laugh at the whole idea.

But he wasn't Dustin.

"Hunter," Nena was saying. "Sensei Cam was looking for you earlier. Are you going to join our class today?"

He hadn't even seen Blake's brother arrive, but now that he was looking he saw two other Thunder uniforms among the samurai students. Neither of the Wind ninjas that had been in Cam's first class was here today, but there was a girl from his advanced air class and an older woman that he didn't recognize wearing an earth element. It was double the number of students Cam usually had.

"Yeah, I'm here for the party," Hunter answered, barely making eye contact as he scanned the other ninjas assembled there. "You helping out today?"

Hunter was a teacher too, Shane reminded himself. Apparently that earned him some degree of informality, because Nena just nodded. "We're going to work on bunkai," she told him. There was what Shane would have considered a dangerous glint in her eye when she added, "I'm going to help Sensei Cam attack all of you."

Hunter only snorted. "You'll enjoy that a little too much, I'm sure."

They acted almost like they knew each other, Shane thought. Sometimes he wondered what he missed by not being a residential student. He would have eavesdropped on their conversation until training started, if the girl from his air class hadn't sidled up to him and chosen that moment to gossip.

"So did you hear about Marah?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

He frowned, and not just because he couldn't remember her name for anything. "What about Marah?" he muttered. An internal Dustin alarm went off, and he got ready to add to the list of Things Local Students Missed.

"She turned her sister in for poisoning Sensei Cameron," the girl murmured. "They just told us last night. Her sister took off yesterday afternoon and hasn't been seen since."

***

The class could have been more interesting. He didn't particularly enjoy bunkai, no matter what style it was in. He preferred free-form competition, jousting, anything that gave his opponent room and creativity to maneuver in their attack. Traditional bunkai was very structured, designed to illustrate the purpose of the kata for the student and nothing more.

As far as Hunter was concerned, it was boring.

Less boring had been the way the class was divided, with Sensei Nena spending most of her time with the Wind students and Sensei Cameron working with the Thunders. The samurai had taken care of themselves, perfectly able to spar through bunkai exercises on their own. It hadn't been lost on Hunter that Cameron--rapidly becoming the poster boy for samurai sympathizers--had been the one pulling his strikes for the Thunder students. Butterfly stitches and all.

When it came right down to it, though, who was gonna hurt a guy with a head wound? Geez. Even Hunter had felt sorry for him, but Cameron gave no indication that he either needed or wanted special treatment. So they had been forced to "spar" with him, at least to whatever extent people with no samurai experience whatsoever could spar with a trained swordsman.

Looking back on it, he couldn't help being suspicious that perhaps their reaction had been exactly what the samurai instructor intended. He had to know that what had happened to him was slowly polarizing the campus. The announcement last night about Kapri Jennings only seemed to make things worse. Now the Thunder ninjas felt just as justified in being upset as the Wind ninjas had, so what else could Cameron do but put himself out there and tell people to bring it on?

He had a disturbing amount of courage, Hunter would give him that. Courage that could still get him hurt if he wasn't a little more careful about whom he invited to hit him. Sure, Hunter had felt sorry for him. And sure, his classmates had been just as cautious in their attacks. But all it would take was one mis-step, one dizziness-induced falter and one person who didn't bother to pull their punches to send him right back to the medical ward.

The sound of a vehicle in the driveway brought his gaze back from an unseen distance, and he pushed himself to his feet. Glancing out the window, he saw his mom's car coming to a halt in front of the garage. Time to head for the kitchen. He knew as well as anyone what was on the dinner list for tonight, and he probably could have spent his brooding time a little more productively.

He had the vegetables out by the time his mom came in the front door, and he returned her greeting with a quick glance over his shoulder. She looked tired. He heard her rescue gear hit the floor with a thud as he turned back to cutting the peppers, and he asked, "Tough day?"

"Augh," she agreed, the digust evident in her tone. "We have almost an entire pod stranded down on Long Beach, and we only got a third of them out before we lost the tide. I'm going to have to go back right after dinner to help keep them hydrated until it comes back in."

Hunter considered his own plans for the evening, which mostly involved working on his bike and torturing Blake when he came home. "I'll help," he offered, after only the briefest hesitation. "I'm not doing anything else tonight."

Her voice was muffled as she pulled off her long sleeve sun-shirt, but the gratitude came through clearly. "That would be wonderful, Hunter, thank you." Then, more clearly, she added, "Where's Blake this evening?"

"Out with Tori." Hunter pulled a bowl out of the cupboard and scooped the pepper slices into it, then turned his attention to the onion. "He was gonna show her around some, and I think they're going out to dinner afterward. He said not to expect him till later."

"Okay." He wasn't fooled by her apparently calm acceptance of this information, but he didn't say anything. "Thanks for starting dinner, sweetie. I'll go wash some of the sand off and then I'll be down to help."

"Sure," he agreed, adding peeled onion pieces to the vegetable bowl. He was probably going to spend all of dinner answering questions about Tori.

"Oh, Evan's home." Her footsteps had stopped by the front door, but they resumed again a moment later, heading up the stairs. Apparently Dad didn't win out over a shower today, Hunter thought with a smirk. Maybe next time.

He drained a jar of mushrooms, dumped them into the bowl, and started on a tomato before his dad made it through the door. "Hey, Dad," he called, dropping tomato pieces into the bowl before they could drip.

His father answered, clomping into the kitchen in academy-issue boots and khaki shorts, complete with a white t-shirt and fishing hat. He looked like he'd gotten lost on a safari, and he grinned at Hunter's pointed look. "What?"

"Nice fashion statement," Hunter said dryly. "You want an elephant to go with that outfit?"

"Can't grill an elephant," his dad answered cheerfully. "You start it up yet?"

Hunter shook his head, and his father traipsed straight on through to the deck to light the grill. He was still wearing his boots when he came back inside, and Hunter remarked, "Didn't quite lose the ninja uniform at the holographic entryway?"

"Kept the boots on purpose," Evan corrected. "There was a lot of wandering around in the dark and stepping on sharp objects." He pulled the skewers out of the silverware drawer and set them on the counter on his way to the refrigerator.

"How are the tunnels?" Hunter asked, making room for him next to the cutting board. His dad dropped the plastic bag of still-marinating meat beside the sink and stuck his hands under the faucet, nodding as he reached for the soap.

"They're in good shape. There were a couple of lights out, but all the signs are still good and we didn't have any trouble with the maps. We did have to do some work at one of the off-site entrances. That took most of the afternoon, but it's clear now."

"Oh, the one up by Cedar Point?" Hunter's mouth quirked. "Yeah, I thought there were some trees down up there that shouldn't have been."

Evan dropped the hand towel back on the rack by the sink and smacked him gently upside the head. "We have a tunnel crew," he reminded him. "You're as bad as Blake."

Hunter grinned, picking up one of the skewers. Blake had once found a rockfall in one of the tunnels that ran underneath the Thunder Academy and neglected to mention it to anyone until after it was discovered a second time. "He's not coming home for dinner, by the way."

"More for us," his father replied, grabbing another skewer and stabbing it through a piece of meat. "What's he doing tonight?"

"Showing Tori around."

"Really," his dad mused. "Two dinner dates already, huh?" He considered that information, adding tomato and onion to his skewer before going back for more meat. "Did you say she's a water affinity?"

Hunter nodded.

"How long has she been with the Wind Academy?" his dad wanted to know.

"Dunno," Hunter said with a shrug. "I think this is her first year. Not more than second, unless she's really slow. She doesn't have an element yet."

"Residential student, or local?"

"Local." That one he knew, since they were meeting before basics so that Tori could use the class excuse to streak instead of drive. Southern California was a serious commute from here.

"You've met her, then?" his dad asked. "Do you like her?"

Hunter shrugged. "She's all right. Nice enough. Cute. Not a total flake."

"Coming from you, that's a compliment," Evan teased.

"I haven't talked to her that much." He wasn't going to endorse someone he didn't really know, but Blake usually had good taste. He liked to leer at the pretty girls, but somehow he drew the smart ones. A second date with Tori was a pretty good vote of confidence right there.

"I hear you've been pretty busy yourself," his dad was saying. His tone was so casual that it barely even registered until he added, "Sensei Omino says you've been taking some extra classes with the Wind ninjas?"

Damn. He'd known the information would get back to his parents eventually, but he'd hoped it might stay under the radar for a few more days. Blake hadn't said anything, he knew. With his mom off-site so much lately and his dad supervising the cloaking crews, Hunter had hoped they might be out of the ninja gossip loop.

"Sort of," Hunter agreed without looking up. He set aside a full skewer and picked up another one, devoting as much attention as possible to the process of ordering vegetables and meat. "Their samurai classes are open to everyone, so I've been checking them out."

"Any particular reason?"

Hunter set one of the thicker pieces of onion on the cutting board to hold it in place while he speared it. "I want to know what it's about."

"There are other ways to learn about the samurai," his dad pointed out. "People write whole books on them. Is it really necessary to put yourself in that environment?"

"I'm not going to turn into a samurai, Dad. I just want to see what they're like."

"I just don't see why you need to keep going to their classes," Evan insisted. "You went to the first one. What are you trying to get out of them by continuing to attend?"

"I'm trying to see who they are," Hunter said firmly. "You don't get to know anyone in a couple of hours. Why doesn't anyone like them? They're ninjas, just like us. Until I figure out what people have against them, I'm gonna keep going to their class."

"They aren't just like us. The samurai were hereditary agents of the ruling class, warriors that oppressed an entire country for almost a thousand years. It's difficult to imagine studying their philosophy without absorbing some of it yourself."

Hunter picked up the last empty skewer, giving his dad a sideways look. "Dad, ninjas were secret assassins. You killed anyone lately?"

"Ninja were ordinary citizens who trained to do whatever needed doing, taking care of themselves when the people in power ignored their concerns," his dad countered. "That's what we still do today. It doesn't make any of us criminals."

"I guess that depends who's writing the laws," Hunter said bluntly. "Look, we're not the same people who became ninjas a thousand years ago. Maybe the samurai aren't the same either."

He heard his mom coming downstairs again, and he sighed silently. Great. Dinner suddenly had the potential to turn into a "Hunter can't take care of himself" session. What did they think the samurai were going to do to him, anyway?

"I'm just saying that you might want to be careful what you get involved with," his dad was telling him. "You want to help me out, grilling this stuff?"

"Nah, you're on your own." Hunter grabbed a platter and helped pile the skewers on it, but he didn't follow his dad when he headed for the back door. "I'm gonna stay in here and set the table."

He might as well hear it from his mom, too. Get them both out of the way at once. His mom tended to be a little more adamant about the samurai, and if he was going to spend most of the night with her he'd better know what he was in for.

***

He flexed his ankles, bent his knees, twisted to either side, and stretched his arms above his head with a yawn. He rolled over on his side, sat up, and slid out of bed in one fluid motion. Yup. It was gonna be a good day. Blake figured any day was a good one if just opening his eyes made him grin.

He'd kissed Tori last night. He'd chickened out on their first date, but their first date had also been the first day they met. He thought it was only polite to wait until you'd known a girl for a couple of days before kissing her. Plus it gave him time to work up the courage.

He stretched, worked his way through a greet-the-sun pattern, and pulled a t-shirt on over his boxers before padding toward the door. He was still grinning when he came back from the bathroom. He glanced out the window, saw Hunter's motorcycle in the driveway, and headed for the kitchen. It was early, but he'd known his brother to sneak out to the track earlier than this.

Blake wouldn't be able to go until later, of course. He had a class to teach this morning, and he was privately glad to see that Hunter hadn't gone without him. If he wasn't up already, he'd probably sleep for a few more hours. They'd all been at the beach until the early morning hours--Blake had left just after midnight, since he was the only who had to be at the academy this weekend. He didn't know how long the rest of his family had stayed.

It didn't surprise him to see his mom at the kitchen table. She looked up at the sound of his bare feet on the tile floor, and the tired cast to her face was lessened by her smile. "Good morning, sweetie."

"Hi Mom," he answered, and the act of speaking made him yawn again. He gave her a sheepish grin in return. "How'd it go after I left? Did you get them all back in the water?"

She nodded, wrapping her fingers around her cup and leaning back in her chair. "Everyone's happy and out to sea again. Including the Coast Guard, who still swears that increased traffic along migratory routes has nothing to do with animals getting disoriented. They did volunteer their help, though, so that's something."

"Even though they had nothing to do with it," Blake surmised.

His mom just shook her head. "They blame the Navy's locator beacons, the Navy blames fishing activity, the fisherpeople blame cruise ships. Everybody's willing to point fingers as long as they don't have to change anything."

Blake rummaged around in the food drawer until he found muffins, only then realizing that he didn't have a plate. He collected a plate, cereal, and two hard-boiled eggs from the refrigerator. The muffin joined the eggs on the plate, and he poured dry cereal around them. Now all he needed was something to drink.

His mom was staring at the paper again when he sat down at the table across from her, but she didn't look like she was really reading it. She was still sitting back in her chair, steam drifting up from the cup in her hands, gazing distantly at the Op Eds page. Her attention shifted to him as soon as he sat down, though, and he saw her smile at his plate.

"Just think," she mused aloud, "in China, all anyone wants are boy babies. The country would run out of food in a year."

Blake rolled his eyes at her but didn't comment.

It didn't take him long to get through his breakfast. He was almost done when she asked, "Has Hunter been taking a lot of samurai classes?"

Blake hesitated, reaching for his juice. "I don't know," he said after a moment. "Guess you'd have to ask him."

"I did," she said with a sigh. "He says he's just been going to their introductory classes, but I don't know how many there are. Or why they're offering introductory classes at a school that never wanted anything to do with them in the first place."

Blake popped the last bit of egg into his mouth and idly pushed the eggshells into a pile in the middle of his plate. "He's not the only one, you know. A lot of people go to watch."

"Then why can't he watch?" his mom wanted to know. "Why does he have to participate?"

Blake shrugged. "You know Hunter. Has to prove he can be good at anything. One of the Wind ninjas told me that only the best students are allowed to train with the samurai at their school. Hunter probably just wants to show that he's that good."

That made her smile a little, and he felt better about getting up and putting his dishes in the dishwasher. "Don't worry about it, Mom," he said over his shoulder. "He likes to try new stuff. By the time they go back to their own school, he'll probably be over it anyway."

He saw her nod out of the corner of his eye. "I just worry," she said lightly. Getting to her feet, she brought her tea cup over to the sink and rinsed it out. "And what about you? Are you teaching all day today?"

"Nah, just the morning." He grabbed a water bottle with the Thunder Academy logo on it out of the cupboard and filled it up when she stepped out of the way. He gathered snacks as he added, "Gonna see if Hunter wants to hit the track this afternoon."

"Well, it looks like the weather will be good," she said, leaning back against the counter. "Ride safely out there."

He grinned, backing out of the kitchen with his hands full. "There's no other way," he promised.

It was her turn to roll her eyes.

He dumped his snacks into the bag with his moto gear, stuck the water bottle in the outside pocket, and changed into street clothes for the drive to the academy. He checked to make sure he had his wallet and phone before heading back through the house. The kitchen was empty this time, his mom presumably having gone back upstairs or out into the yard.

All their vehicles were still in the driveway. Hunter had adopted the space above the garage as a pseudo-apartment, which lead to the rest of them using the garage less than they might have otherwise. He swore he didn't care about the noise, but by the time both their parents' cars were parked outside, there was no way for Blake to get his truck to the garage, let alone inside. Hunter's bike was probably in there more than the rest of the vehicles combined.

Blake had an annual permit for the lot at Cassini Cove. He flipped it over as he drove in, making sure the brightly colored seal was clearly visible on his rearview mirror. It wasn't one of the more popular stretches of the coast, but it was only a few miles from the Thunder Academy. Ninjas probably accounted for a fairly regular percentage of the town's seaside parking revenue.

He flipped his cell phone open before he got out of the truck and dialed his own voice mail. No reason to wake Hunter up, especially when he'd forgotten to ask how long they'd been out this morning. But he wouldn't be able to call once he got to the academy, and he'd probably be there until at least lunch.

He keyed in his password and told the phone, "Hey bro. Mom was asking questions about you and the samurai classes this morning... might not want to mention it around her today. You gonna hit the track this afternoon? Let me know."

He ended the recording, punched in Hunter's number, and let the phone deliver it directly to Hunter's voice mail. Tossing the phone back in his knapsack, he swung it over his shoulder and climbed out of the truck. He locked the door behind him, climbed over the seawall, and headed down the beach.

The tide was on its way out again. He had plenty of room to walk most of the way, although he had to resort to the street when he hit the conservation area. Some nights, he could just walk out on the water, but it was too light for that now. Too bad, too. They had wave-running competitions at the academy sometimes and he could have used the practice.

He didn't bother winding his way around the cliffs when he reached them, just headed straight for the base and ducked into an apparently dead-end cave formation. It had been hollowed out by water over the millennia, and it still flooded at high tide. There was a hole in the ceiling at the back, though, and someone who knew how to leap straight up could clear the narrow opening with ease.

As long as they didn't mind jumping into total darkness, of course. It gave the illusion of being nothing more than a recess, a shadowed part of cave ceiling, and it took some kind of courage to aim your head at what might as well be solid stone. Blake's dad joked that most of the tunnel entrances had been designed by earth ninjas.

Standing on the lip above the entrance, Blake put out both hands: one on the rough stone wall beside him, and the other just above his head. He had never bumped into anything in the blackness, but he wasn't about to start now either. He followed the wall to his right, his eyes wide against the impenetrable darkness until he turned the first corner. Then he took his right hand away from the wall, stared down at where his palm should be, and waited for the glow to form.

Ethereal blue light gathered above his skin, and he smiled to himself. The hand over his head reached out to touch the symbol of the Thunder Academy, now clearly visible on the wall beside him, and a muted luminescence sprang up from the other end of the stone tunnel. He let the light above his palm vanish and changed into his ninja uniform.

He followed the academy lights down, out under the water, and up through the system of caves under the island itself. The lighting got better as he went, more frequent, and the climb was more of a challenge than the distance. He emerged into the bright sunlight of a morning already well underway.

Blake made his way to the main building, checked in to the teachers' wing, and dropped his bag while he scanned the notice board. There were a couple of new lost and found cards thumbtacked to the frame, nothing he recognized. There was the usual invitation to the Sunday smorgasbord, and a daily quote from someone's inspirational calendar. The class schedule for the next two days took up the right side of the board, along with the deadline for declaring conflicts with next week's schedule.

There was also a reminder to all teachers that they were to accept qualified Wind students into their classes upon request, samurai or not. There was a two-days-old message about Kapri Jennings. And there was a warning about student showdowns: not permissible. Period. Anyone caught challenging a ninja or samurai would be suspended for the duration of the Wind ninjas' residence.

Blake had to wonder if something in particular had happened to prompt that notice. If it had, there was no news about it on the teachers' bulletin board. He would have to ask around, see who knew what.

After class. It was worth getting to class early, he'd found, because any number of people could have concerns that would distract them the entire time if they went unanswered. He abbreviated his conversations with fellow teachers on his way out, hurrying as best he could on what was arguably the busiest day of the week on campus. He had almost made it to the practice arena when a familiar face stopped him in his tracks.

"Tori?" He saw her look up, clearly not spotting him, and he waved. "Hey, Tor! Thought you had class this afternoon!" She had been planning to attend a Wind-taught class this afternoon. When he'd mentioned in passing that she would be welcome in his class, she'd declined on the basis that she didn't want to spend the entire day at the academy.

Her eyes finally found him, and her face lit up with a smile. "Hey!" she called. "I changed my mind!" As he joined her, she added, "I figure if I can make it through your class, I can take it in place of the one I was supposed to be in. And if not, well," she shrugged, "I can still make it up this afternoon."

"You'll be fine," Blake told her with a grin. "I hear you're quick when you concentrate."

"Oh, you hear that, do you?" Her expression was indignant, but her eyes were laughing. "Since when do you go around gossiping about Wind students?"

It was almost too easy. "Since I started dating one!"

She did laugh at that. "I guess I'd better start catching some gossip on Thunder teachers, then! Who should I talk to about that? Any suggestions?"

"Let's see..." Blake pretended to think about it. "Who owes me right now?"

"Maybe you could give me a list of people you don't want me to talk to and I'll start there," Tori suggested impishly.

He shook his head, pretending to be rueful. "That would be the longer list..."

***

"You have a motorcycle?" The tone was one of incredulous disapproval.

Hunter managed to keep a straight face, but he felt sure that that particular mixture of disbelief and disdain was utterly unique to Cameron. "Yeah. You want a ride?"

"On a deathtrap?" Cameron must not feel that his tone was conveying his feelings on the subject effectively. "I don't think so."

Hunter couldn't keep from grinning, so he looked out at the water to hide his expression. "You afraid of a little motorcycle?"

Cameron's retort was laced with amusement. "I have trouble believing that you own anything little."

Hunter laughed aloud at that. "I'll take that as the compliment it is," he remarked. "It's not a small bike, no. But I figured you'd be offended if I asked if you were afraid of a big, bad-ass motorcycle."

"Whereas suggesting that I'm afraid of a little motorcycle wasn't supposed to be in any way derogatory," Cameron countered dryly. "Thanks for trying to spare my ego."

"Whatever I can do," Hunter assured him. "You a car person, then? Truck? What do you drive?"

"Why would I need to drive?" Cameron inquired. "I live on-site. My family lives on-site. Everyone I know is either at the Wind Academy or in Japan, and I can't exactly drive there."

"You're telling me you don't have a car."

"No car," Cameron agreed.

Hunter considered that information for a minute. "Don't you ever leave the Wind Academy? How do you get around?"

"It's called public transportation, Hunter. You must have heard of it."

"Are there any moments in your life when you're not sarcastic?" Hunter wanted to know.

"I teach," Cameron said simply.

That was true. His sarcasm was noticeably sharper when he wasn't instructing students. Hunter had thought maybe it was just him, since it seemed that every time they spoke the samurai teacher became less sincere. "Do you think sarcastically?" he wondered.

He could hear the wry smile in Cameron's voice. "For every sarcastic remark I make, there are ten more I don't say. I try to tone it down around people I don't know."

Interesting. So what he had assumed was annoyance on Cameron's part was actually an indicator of comfort level. "What are you thinking right now?" Hunter wanted to know.

"I'm wondering how far down the beach you're going to walk in ninja gear."

"Hey." He didn't know why he smiled, but there was just something about the conversation that amused him. "I'm not the only one in uniform, here."

"But I'm on my way to the Wind Academy," Cameron reminded him.

"Which is, I think--" Hunter held up one finger, paused, then turned and started walking backwards as he pointed back the way they'd come. "That way."

"Do you want someone to brag to about your motorcycle or not?" Cameron inquired.

"You're not the most appreciative audience," Hunter pointed out, turning around again. "But since you mention it, we're almost to the parking lot. You might as well stick around and see what I'm talking about."

"My day wouldn't be complete otherwise," Cameron agreed wryly.

He paused just long enough for Hunter to come up with a reply, then spoke again before he could voice it. "Doesn't the town think it's odd that there's a parking lot full of cars and no one in the water?"

Cassini Cove was in sight now, the seawall hiding the road from view. "Maybe we're beachcombers," Hunter said with a shrug. "Or joggers. Or people with dune buggies."

"Ah." Cameron glanced around at the unmarred sand. "Yes, that would explain all these dune buggy tracks I've been seeing."

"Where do your people park?" Hunter wanted to know. "Where is the Wind Academy, anyway? I've never been there."

"It's up in the mountains." Cameron's reply was vague at best. "People park at the trailheads, or sometimes on the logging roads. It's not so conspicuous in the middle of the woods," he added.

The flash of black out of the corner of his eye would barely have caught his attention on academy grounds. Here in the middle of a deserted beach, though, it interrupted anything he might have said and made him tense. His head whipped around, trying to follow a blur that wouldn't settle out at a reasonable distance.

He was on the ground before he realized what had just happened. A streaker had hit him! He leapt to his feet, guard up, angry with anybody who couldn't avoid the only obstacle on the beach. He wasn't even upright when instinct made him lunge out of the way--

He heard the bang before he saw the flash of light that must have caused it. He spit sand out of his mouth as he rolled aside and scrambled to his feet. Another bang followed the light and he threw his arm up in front of him automatically. The invisible wall of focus diverted nothing more threatening than another spray of sand as he swung around.

Cameron had both hands up against a shield that sizzled under repeated assault. A blond-haired woman in a Wind ninja uniform flung one energy blast after another at his shield, throwing reckless amounts of power around in full view of anyone who happened to be in the vicinity. The glower on her face was almost comical, and for a long moment Hunter could only stare at the two of them in disbelief.

It was a test. That was his first thought. A challenge that Cameron had issued to one of his students, maybe, or an open invitation for them to try to catch him off guard.

She slammed his legs out from under him, the physical strike penetrating his shield where none of her energy blasts could. Cameron's knees buckled, he hit the ground hard, and suddenly Hunter knew: this was no test. He swung into action, launching himself at the attacking ninja with no plan except to take her down.

He found himself flat on his back, crumpled against the sand as though he had bounced off of something harsh and unforgiving. He flung an arm at the ninja's back angrily, whipping wind around her face so hard she should have been gasping for breath. It got her attention, at least, and she turned on him with the darkest eyes he'd ever seen.

Not just dark, he realized a moment later. Black. Her eyes were black. Even as he stared, the air itself started to darken, the light fading from the beach as he tore his eyes away to search for Cameron.

The samurai slammed into their attacker from behind and she stumbled, but incredibly, she remained on her feet. The ground shook, sand erupting from under her feet, and for the first time the woman cried out in surprise. Earth ninja, Hunter's mind noted distantly. They were really gonna tear up the beach together.

The sand sprang into a maelstrom around them, barely noticeable to him and probably only a minor annoyance to Cameron. Shadows emanated from the blond-haired woman, pushing the elements away from her, forcing them back incrementally. Hunter lunged forward to grab her before she could gain any ground--

He got no further than he had before. This time those black eyes locked on to him and she laughed as he crashed into some invisible protection that seemed to surround her. "Stay out of this!" she shrieked, the words barely audible over the howl of the wind. "I only want him!"

Surprise flared in her expression as a blow to her shoulders forced her into the ground. Literally, straight down into the ground, burying her halfway to her waist. As the sand crawled around her Cameron shouted, "Women are always telling me that!"

Hunter smirked, but the darkness was already radiating out from her, melting the sand into a fluid force that flowed away from her body until she was standing on top of it again. She continued to rise when he wrapped gusts around her body and lifted her into he air, but something burned across his temple and he flinched hard. By the time he realized the ground had slammed into his side, he'd already heard Cameron's voice yell, "Ninja shadow battle!"

"No!" He tried to lunge to his feet, but the ground just wouldn't let him go. It came looking for him the minute he moved, disorientation skewing all sense of balance as he struggled against the pull of gravity. The darkness and moving sand were gone as though they'd never been, the wind that was his own creation whistling off into this distance.

Hunter was alone on the beach.

He hated ninja shadow battles. He fumbled for his phone, hands shaking with reaction as he pulled it from his pocket. He hit 2-call and thought violent thoughts about women in general and blond-haired ninja women in particular. "Bro," he said, not even waiting for Blake's greeting. "I need ninja help now. Kapri Jennings is at Cassini Cove."

He'd barely finished the sentence when he heard, "I'm there," followed by a beep that indicated the call had been terminated.

Okay, maybe not all blond-haired ninja women. Blake had picked up, after all. He hadn't consciously realized it was Kapri until he'd said it, but it was the only thing that made sense. If anything about this situation could be said to make sense.

Hunter managed to get to his feet without another accidental encounter with the sand, and he thought the dizziness must be abating if he could handle that much. He glanced around, confirmed that the beach was still empty, and held out his right hand. A red-tinged light gathered above his palm, then began to spill out between his fingertips as he clenched his fist. The light flashed into a blinding luminescence, turning everything around him faded and white.

He turned slowly, staring hard at everything the light touched. Finally he saw it: the slightest hint of a shadow in the air as it flickered back and forth. He tossed the light up above his head and charged forward, intent on catapulting himself into the middle of their fight. "Ninja shadow battle!"

He had been one of the only students to immediately grasp the concept of interrupting someone else's shadow battle. There were teachers who still couldn't do it--after all, the point was to remove the participants from contact with their immediate surroundings. It kept them from hurting onlookers, it kept outsiders from interfering... and it drove Hunter to distraction, knowing there was something occurring that he wasn't a part of. It was an obstacle he had quickly learned to overcome.

And a foot in his ribs was the only reward. He caught the offending ankle and twisted automatically, sending Kapri to the ground with a very satisfying yelp, but her damn shadows were solid and they tangled around his wrists before he could follow through. She pushed him out of her way like he didn't even matter.

"I told you to get lost, human," she sneered, shadows creeping around his ankles as she shoved him again, this time tripping him up and sending him into a sprawl. Yeah, he was getting to know the ground really well.

"And I told you," Cameron's voice retorted, "to go back where you came from!"

The ground exploded underneath them. By the time he could see again, Kapri was standing over Cameron with a really nasty looking energy surge building between her fingers. Cameron didn't look like he was going to be moving any time soon, and Hunter had to wonder just how the hell the two of them were losing. He struggled against the shadows that were seriously creepy all on their own, noticed distractedly that Kapri's light was starting to look a little green, and then froze as he realized where the light was coming from.

Cameron was glowing. Or his chest was glowing. Or something on his chest--

The light burst outward. The shadows vanished. Kapri screamed, head sinking and arms wrapping around her as she seemed to fold inward. Then she was replaced by a black blur that streaked away, the shadow battle dissolving completely in her absence.

Blue sky overheard, sand underneath, someone shouting his name as he scrambled to Cameron's side. The guy had lifted himself up on one elbow, turning to the side like he might throw up, clutching his chest as his bangs brushed against the ground. His head was bleeding again.

"Bro!" Blake skidded to a stop beside them, dropping immediately to check Cameron while he studied Hunter with his eyes. "Are you guys all right?"

"Yeah," Hunter growled, gaze flicking to Tori behind Blake for just a moment. "Great. We just got our butts kicked by a student."

***

"Don't they teach you how to sit still at the Wind Academy?"

Cam shifted uncomfortably, frowning when Hunter shot him another glare. To be honest, he had more important things to worry about right now than whether he had a little blood on his face. He would have preferred to clean up the recently reopened cut himself, but he had no mirror and Hunter had the first aid kit.

He would, Cam thought grimly. The air ninja was annoyingly responsible for someone who projected such a careless attitude. He was starting to think that there was very little about Hunter that was what one expected. At least what he expected--and he had thought he was pretty open-minded about the Thunder Academy.

Gentle fingers pushed his hair away from his face and he flinched instinctively. Hunter pressed another antiseptic wipe against his skin and gave him a skeptical look. "What, you can take being pounded into the ground but rubbing alcohol makes you wince?"

It wasn't the stinging that bothered him. It was the fact that he really did have more urgent things to think about, and Hunter was making it difficult. He couldn't seem to concentrate on anything right now. He'd like to attribute his difficulty to the effect of Kapri's attack--embarrassing as it would be to admit that the incident had shaken him that way--but the possibility that his distraction had nothing to do with her was irritatingly insistent.

"I don't think I've ever seen Sensei Cameron this quiet," Tori remarked, studying him with her hands on her hips and an impish look in her eyes. "Maybe Kapri hit him harder than you thought?"

Smart alec. Normally he found her impertinence charming... he was secretly delighted by the way she stood up for herself in the hierarchical environment of the academy. She was confident and clever enough to get almost anything she wanted, and he had to admit that he enjoyed her wit. Most of the time.

"Don't you have a class to attend this afternoon?" he asked, frowning in her direction.

"I went this morning," she told him. "Sensei Blake invited me to join his class."

"I see." He transferred his frown to Blake, then winced at pressure on the side of his head. "Ow!"

Unexpectedly, Hunter apologized. "Sorry," he said, reaching backward for something in his traveling first aid kit. "Hold this, will you?"

Cam put a hand to the side of his head, fingers fumbling with Hunter's as he found the gauze that was still absorbing blood around the stitches. That was a bad sign. If he was still bleeding, he probably wasn't going to get out of this with any less than a minor bandage, which would alarm his parents to no end. Assuming he ever made it back to the Wind Academy. Why had he let himself get drawn into conversation with Hunter in the first place?

He hadn't, of course. He had seen Hunter leaving and had followed him deliberately, curious about the pensive air ninja and his reasons for lingering in a group that his academy traditionally shunned. And in all fairness, Kapri probably would have caught up with him eventually, delay or no. It might have been on more familiar territory... but it might also have been alone.

It probably would have been alone. He didn't like the idea that Kapri had come this close to taking him down, and he didn't like the idea that she might have succeeded were it not for Hunter. But it was possible. He didn't know what his mother's amulet had done--though he was pretty sure it had done something--but he knew what defeat felt like, and that had been it.

If he had been alone, he might not need antiseptic and gauze right now.

"Thanks," Cam said abruptly. It wouldn't get any easier to say.

"Don't thank me until someone in a medical ward checks this out," Hunter warned. "Those stitches don't look too good."

"Yeah, bro," Blake put in. "You shouldn't mess around with head wounds. You want that we should take you back to the Thunder Academy?"

"I meant, thanks for helping me against Kapri," Cam said impatiently. "And I'm not going back to the Thunder Academy. I'm going home; I'll get someone to look at it there."

"Whoa," Hunter interrupted. "You're gonna streak back to the Wind Academy now? After that?"

"I'm fine." He wanted to snap, but the words were necessarily muted by Hunter's proximity. The air ninja had stained a fresh gauze pad with antibiotic and was replacing the old one, nodding to Cam to put his hand over it again to hold it in place. "I was going back anyway, and someone there owes me some answers."

"Answers?" Tori repeated, looking puzzled. "What kind of answers?"

"I think my parents know something about Kapri," he muttered, for lack of any better explanation. He shouldn't have said anything. Hunter was cutting adhesive tape, and he resigned himself to the bandaged look after all.

"Things Sensei hasn't told us?" Tori pressed. "It kind of looks like she's after you specifically, but I can't figure out why."

"You and me both." He twitched his fingers aside as Hunter started to tape the gauze to his skin, and he tried to find a safe place for his eyes. There were things he really didn't want to think about, because they were ridiculous and it was just some stress-induced reaction to the fighting anyway.

"Well, maybe your dad will be more likely to tell you if you show up with your head bandaged," Tori said, with a feigned graveness that didn't fool him in the slightest. He shot her an exasperated look, and he was hard-pressed to hide his amusement when she winked back at him.

"Your dad know the sensei well?" Hunter asked, pressing tape along the bottom of the gauze and freeing Cam's fingers at last.

"My dad is the sensei." He checked his fingers for blood or antibiotic, he wasn't sure which, and found them clean. "That's why I trained at the Fire Academy."

He looked up as Hunter stepped back, and he was just in time to catch the odd look Hunter exchanged with Blake. He wasn't sure what passed between them, but Blake's expression made him wary. "What?"

Hunter shook his head, and the moment was gone. "Nothing. Didn't know that, that's all. You sure you don't want a lift back to the Wind Academy or something?"

Cam frowned, trying to reconstruct whatever had just happened. His concentration was marginally improved but unfortunately still inadequate to the task. "No," he said at last, too distracted to bother pointing out the obvious flaws in the offer. "I'm fine. I'll have Dad alert the Thunder Academy when I get there."

That uninterpretable look was back, but he didn't wait to find out what it meant. There was nothing about this situation that he wanted to prolong. And there was more than one person at the Wind Academy that he wanted answers from right now.

The trip left him with a headache that he should have expected, all things considered, and he almost stopped by the medical ward before heading for his parents' temporary living quarters. But no, there were more important things than pain right now. And maybe it would give him a credible irritability that actually got him somewhere.

He knocked, but he didn't wait for someone to answer. His parents were probably working anyway, and he figured he could track down their schedules from whatever computer terminal they had in their new place. So he was surprised to get no further than closing the door behind him when his mother hurried out into the living room.

"Mom," he began.

"Cam, what happened?" She glanced over her shoulder as though she wanted to get him something but wasn't sure quite what. "Are you all right?"

"No, I'm not. Is Dad around?" He really preferred to be angry with his father rather than his mom, and he didn't want to have to ask the same questions all over again if he could confront them both at once.

"He went into town," she told him. "What happened to your head? Is it worse?"

"Yeah, it's worse." He tried to keep his tone even. "Kapri Jennings attacked me on the beach outside the Thunder Academy, and she said some pretty wild stuff."

"She attacked you?" She looked appropriately horrified, but her expression was tempered by a wariness that set off every warning bell in his mind. "What did she say?"

She knew. He couldn't believe half of what Kapri had said--or at least implied, apparently believing he was already in on the secret--but it looked like he was the only one. "Mom," he said with a sigh, lifting his hand to his head. He aborted the gesture at the last second, pressing the fingers of his other hand to his uninjured temple. "What do you know about Kapri?"

For a long moment, there was no answer. Finally, she looked over her shoulder again. This time she said quietly, "Malai."

He opened his mouth, then closed it again firmly as a shadow appeared in the kitchen doorway. A man stepped out, one that looked disturbingly familiar. Cam narrowed his eyes, gaze flicking from one to the other. He couldn't think of any way for this scenario to be good.

The man inclined his head, a ninja-style bow that Cam deliberately didn't return. "Cameron," the man greeted him solemnly. "It's good to finally meet you."

Cam just raised his eyebrows.

The man held his gaze. "I'm Kaprikethsen's father," he said. He did glance briefly at Miko then, but his eyes returned to Cam immediately. "I'm also Kanoi's younger brother. Your uncle."

Cam looked at him for a moment, then turned to his mother. "Is there any more family you want to tell me about while we're at it? How many brothers does Dad have, exactly?"

"One," his mother said quietly. "Malai. Lothor is no kin of ours, not anymore."

"Any sisters?" Cam inquired, in what he thought was a very polite tone. "Step-siblings? Other children I should know about?"

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you." His mother was clearly troubled, but he wasn't really in the mood to feel sorry for anyone else right now. "I thought it would be better to let you grow up here, away from all of that."

"Away from all of what?" Cam demanded. He turned on "Malai" when she hesitated. "Are you trying to tell me that Kapri and I are related? Does she try to kill all of her cousins, or am I just special? And where have you been all this time--up in space with Dad's evil twin?"

Malai turned a steady gaze on Cam's mother, who lifted her chin with a familiar determination in her eyes. "Tell him," she said, folding her arms. "It was my decision to keep it from him. It's his decision to ask."

Malai inclined his head tolerantly. Cam thought he could get really tired of that.

"Kapri and Marah are your cousins," Malai said. His voice was oddly toneless. "As Kanoi's only son, you are indeed special, and I am afraid it has made you a target. As for my whereabouts, I do not believe there is any way that the description 'with Dad's evil twin' is accurate."

"But 'up in space' is?" Cam said dryly. The answer was the last thing he expected.

"Yes," Malai replied. "Insofar as there is any 'up' or 'down' in space."

Cam glanced at his mother uncertainly. She had some strange friends, there was no doubt about that. But he had never been able to prove that any of them were delusional.

"Thirty-two years ago," Miko said quietly, "two brothers were sent to infiltrate the ninja academies. They succeeded. I married one of them, and the other was exposed as a practitioner of the dark ninja powers. He was ultimately sent back to where they came from..." She was studying him intently as she added, "Outer space."

Cam rolled his eyes. "Dad and his brother came from outer space," he repeated. "That would explain a few things."

"You'd be surprised," his mother said with a sigh.

Cam just stared at her for a long moment. This was easily the craziest thing he'd ever heard. Especially from his mother, who really wasn't prone to flights of fancy. Or practical jokes. And yet... Kapri had alluded to the same story his mother was telling now. During the shadow battle, before Hunter had joined them--

He turned on Malai. "I suppose you're from space too?" he challenged.

Malai only nodded. "As you say. I apologize, on behalf of my daughter, for any and all wrongs she has inflicted on you."

Cam closed his eyes, counted to three, and opened them slowly.

They were both still there, watching him.

He shook his head. "This is ridiculous," he announced to the room at large. He turned around and walked toward the door. Neither of them made any move to stop him. He closed the door carefully behind him, made his way across campus without any interference, and exited through the holographic entryway. The waterfall flashed into view behind him as it had countless times before, but he didn't see it.

He headed for the road without a backward glance.

***

He'd felt better. Hunter couldn't tell how much of his generally sour mood was due to his physical condition--which wasn't really that bad but was enough to make sitting on the couch sound like fun--and how much was due to the fact that it was a perfect day for riding. There were no couches at the track, unfortunately.

"You want that I should hang out?" Blake asked, demonstrating his willingness by collapsing onto the couch beside him. "There's some movies we gotta catch up on, sometime."

"Yeah, 'cause someone keeps spending their evenings with a girl," Hunter muttered. He was glaring at his ankle, which probably wasn't even sprained but seem to have twisted at some point during his numerous encounters with the ground. He could walk on it, and it had been fine to drive with, but it was just as happy to be propped up with an ice pack now. Its moto-readiness was questionable enough that he wouldn't push it.

"We've gotta hook you up, bro," Blake was telling him. "Half the women at the academy would go out with you in a second, and the other half are committed anyway. Just pick someone and we'll double date."

He shifted, lifting one hand to his head to touch the angry burn that reddened the skin just beneath his hair. Blake slapped his hand away before it could get there, and Hunter frowned at him. "You didn't just pick someone before you met Tori."

"So?" Blake shrugged, apparently unconcerned. "Quit spending all your time with the samurai students and get to know some Wind ninjas. Where there's one..."

"Yeah, I know, whatever." Hunter poked the cushion beside him, uncomfortable with the entire conversation. "Who says there aren't any hot samurai students, anyway?"

Blake snorted. "Dude, are you trying to tick Mom off? You know she'd totally wig if you brought home a samurai girl."

"Yeah, well." Hunter frowned at the cushion, then slumped down and fixed his gaze on the opposite wall. "They're not so bad, y'know. Just--different."

"Yeah." Blake's agreement was unexpected and somewhat gratifying. "One of Tori's friends is training with them. Shane? You said you saw him in the first class?"

He rolled his head to one side, catching Blake's eye. "Yeah. He was there yesterday too. I didn't think he'd ever had samurai training before, though."

"Don't think he has." Blake settled back against the couch cushions too, and they stared companionably across the room. "I ran into him on his way to class yesterday, and he said he'd just started training when they came to our school."

Hunter only nodded. The concession that samurai weren't the personification of the devil was enough for one afternoon, and he was perfectly willing to quit while he was ahead. It hadn't immediately occurred to him that, if he decided the samurai weren't everything the Thunder Academy thought they were, he'd be totally alone in that belief. He hadn't expected to want or need familial support.

He hadn't expected to like any of the samurai, either.

"You don't have to hang," he said at last. "You should go to the track, get some laps in."

"Yeah?" Blake looked sideways at him. "I don't want to ditch you or anything."

"Nah, you should go." Hunter glanced around, spotting the remote over by the door. "Pass me the remote on your way out, would you? I'm gonna catch up on Farscape or something."

Blake pushed himself off the couch and made his way toward the door. "Sure thing, bro. You sure you're feeling okay? You want anything else?"

"I'm good." Hunter held up his hand for Blake to toss the remote to him. He waved when Blake hesitated, dropping the remote on the couch next to him and making a shooing motion. "Go. I'll be fine to ride tomorrow, so enjoy not getting your butt kicked for one afternoon."

"Funny," Blake smirked. "I was going to tell you the same thing."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Get outta here."

"Later, bro," Blake said with a grin.

He stepped out of Hunter's "front" door, and Hunter heard his footsteps on the stairs. He waited idly, listening for the sound of Blake's truck. He didn't really feel like watching TV right now... there was too much to think about. From creepy stuff, like Kapri's eyes and her shadows and her strange choice of insults, to disturbing stuff like Cameron's green glow and his family ties and his insistence that someone at the Wind Academy knew more than they were telling.

Not to mention Cameron himself. Hunter folded his arms, slumping further down on the couch as he tried not to smile. Yeah. Nothing to smile about there. The guy was arrogant, irritating, and sarcastic as hell. He might be handy in a fight, but he was a complete mystery when it came to any other kind of interaction. Was he friendly or just polite? Curious or tactical? Cutting or, as he had implied to Hunter, comfortable?

His mouth quirked involuntarily. What was a comfortable samurai like? What did Cameron do for fun? Who did he hang out with? And maybe most importantly, why had he followed Hunter from the Thunder Academy this afternoon?

"Hey, Hunter!" Blake's voice, yelling from the driveway, brought him out of his absent musings.

"Yeah!" he shouted back, not about to get up if it wasn't important.

"Company!"

He frowned, tipping the ice pack off of his ankle and setting his foot down on the floor. He really couldn't think of anyone who would be stopping by the house for him. He pushed himself to his feet and made his way over to the window, wide open to the cool afternoon breeze.

Speak of the devil. He almost didn't recognize Cameron, standing next to Blake in the driveway, staring up at his window and not looking much happier than he felt. He was dressed in normal clothes for the first time since Hunter had known him... it had never occurred to him that the guy might wear something other than black.

"Hey," he said at last, when he realized no one was going to say anything. "There's stairs around back, if you want to come up."

Cameron glanced at Blake, nodded once, and started around the side of the garage without answering. Blake watched him for a moment, then looked back up at Hunter. "You okay, bro?" He made no effort to keep his voice quiet.

"Yeah, fine." He didn't know what Cameron wanted, but ninja showdowns had been banned and he was pretty sure that someone who wanted one wouldn't come to his house. "See you tonight."

Blake unfolded his arms and gave a token wave, but he was still frowning. "Sure thing."

Hunter knew as well as Blake did that he couldn't count on his parents' civility if they found Cameron in their house. Hopefully he wouldn't have to explain that to the samurai instructor. He turned away from the window and made his way toward the door, opening it just as Cameron reached the top of the steps. "Hey."

"Hey," Cameron said with a sigh. "Can I take you up on that ride sometime?"

He really didn't mean to smile, especially when the request was clearly grudging and Cameron looked... well, tired was probably the best word for it. He just couldn't resist. "What, you changed your mind about risking your life?"

The samurai teacher lifted his hand to his face and pressed his fingers against his temple. Strange habit, Hunter thought, watching him. He felt like he had seen that gesture somewhere before, but he couldn't place it before his gaze flicked to the cut on the other side of Cameron's face.

"Wow." The word was out before he had time to think about it. The bandage was gone and the stitches had been replaced... but underneath, the cut was closed and the edges were visibly smoother. "You heal fast."

For some reason that made Cameron look away, dropping his hand. "Sorry if I'm interrupting."

"No, it's cool," Hunter said quickly, backing up. "Come in. I'll get my keys."

Cameron stepped inside, moving out of the way of the door as he glanced around. Hunter followed his gaze, wishing he had picked up some of the junk he usually left lying around. He did stop to toss the ice pack into the freezer box of his cube refrigerator, and Cameron didn't miss the action.

"Did you get hurt?" he asked, surprise evident in his voice.

"Nah." Hunter sat down on the couch to pull his workboots on again, sneaking a glance at Cameron's footwear as he did so. "You want some heavier shoes? What size do you wear? I've got some old hiking boots."

He saw Cameron look down at his sneakers uncertainly. "Do I need them?"

Hunter shrugged. "Better ankle protection. If you're not worried, then no, you don't. Just, y'know." He gestured in the direction of Cameron's feet. "Double knot your laces and tuck them in. So they don't catch on anything."

Without a word, Cameron went down on one knee to retie his sneakers. Watching out of the corner of his eye, Hunter saw him tuck the laces inside when he was finished. He stared at the floor for a moment before straightening up.

"You all right?" Hunter wanted to know. "You look sort of... I dunno. Spacey."

Cameron's gaze snapped toward him, alarm quickly fading from his face. He opened his mouth, hesitated, then tried again. "I'm having kind of a bad day," he said at last. "That's all."

Hunter paused, studying him. "You wanna talk about it?"

Cameron shook his head wordlessly.

Okay. There was nothing un-weird about this. On the other hand, he had offered. He wasn't going to change his mind just because he hadn't expected the Fire ninja to take him up on it. In fact, he kind of wanted to get going in case Cameron suddenly backed out.

"Ready?" he asked, grabbing his keys. "You got a destination in mind?"

The samurai instructor shook his head again. "Wherever you want."

Hunter hid a smirk by turning back to close the door behind them. Cameron had a lot to learn about him. Including what not to say.

Blake's leather jacket hung beside his in the garage, but he wouldn't loan it out without asking and it probably wouldn't fit Cameron anyway. Instead he handed over his old bomber jacket, then swiped his bro's gloves and waited while Cameron pulled them on. Holding Blake's helmet, he watched the samurai's growing nervousness with what he hoped was undetectable humor. "Having second thoughts?"

Cameron's gaze, which had been drifting toward his bike, shifted quickly back to his. "No." But he frowned when Hunter handed over the helmet. "Blake's?"

"Yeah." Hunter helped him settle it on his head, tugged the chin strap free and showed him how to loosen it. "Grab here, okay?" He put his hand on the back of the helmet, at the bottom, and waited until Cameron's fingers found his.

"Push it forward and try to pull it off," Hunter told him, giving it a tug to demonstrate. Cameron imitated him, and Hunter let go. "No, really try," he added, watching. "It should fit you okay, but I don't want to find out later that it didn't."

When Cameron couldn't get it off, Hunter nodded once. "Good. Okay... you've really never ridden on a motorcycle before?"

He could see the look Cameron gave him from behind the faceplate. "Sorry," he said, trying not to smile. "Stupid question. Get on from this side, okay? One leg over the seat and just slide on. Wait 'till I'm on first, and don't get on or off without warning me."

He leaned over his bike and snapped the passenger footrest into place, then crouched down on the near side and unfolded the other one. "Keep your feet on the pegs--all the time, whether we're moving or not. Don't touch the exhaust--" he pointed out the pipes, "it gets hot, and it'll melt the bottom of your shoes if you're not careful."

He glanced back to assess Cameron's expression. It was hard to read under his helmet, but the Fire ninja nodded when Hunter looked at him. He wasn't backing out.

"Okay," Hunter said, shrugging into his own jacket. He clipped his helmet in place, pulled on his gloves, and swung one leg over his bike. He snapped the kickstand up and braced his feet to either side. "You're good. Ready?"

Cameron didn't answer, but he slid into place behind Hunter with a careful ease that obviously said more about ninja flexibility than experience. He held himself stiffly, barely touching Hunter, and Hunter turned his head a little to make it easier to hear. "You're gonna want both hands around my waist while we ride. Blake keeps bugging me about a grab rail, but..."

He trailed off with a shrug, and Cameron eased forward. "Don't be shy," Hunter advised. "I'm used to passengers, and I know what it takes to stay on a bike. Hang on."

He cranked the ignition, kicked the bike into gear, and Cameron did hang on as the bike accelerated out of the garage. Hunter was careful to shift smoothly and corner slowly, and he was pleased when Cameron instinctively leaned with him as they turned out of the driveway. There was hope for this guy yet.

***

Her foot slid in the sand and she abandoned any effort at balance as she lunged for the ball. It impacted off of her outstretched fists with a very satisfying thwack, and she scrambled up off the ground quickly. Shane had already slammed the volleyball over the net, taking advantage of her save to score the final point.

"Hey yeah!" he shouted, hands thrust above his head as the rest of the team cheered. Everyone on the other side of the net closed in, former opponents mingling, making fun, and Tori found herself the subject of some good-natured abuse.

She gave as good as she got--after all, her encounters with the ground at least produced results--until a gentle tug at her hair made her spin. Blake stood there, lifting his hands apologetically. "You had some, uh, sand," he said with a rueful grin. "In your hair."

"I have sand everywhere," she corrected with a laugh. "This place is amazing! I never would have guessed you had your own million dollar beachfront property here!"

"Yeah, it's pretty impressive, huh?" Blake shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced around at the sandy beach at the foot of the cliffs. "I hear the earth ninjas had a hand in it, way back when."

"How far out does the cloak go?" Tori wondered, stepping away from the volleyball net to stare out at the water. "Do you ever swim here?"

"Sure." Blake peered over her shoulder, leveling his head with hers as he pointed. "See the warning buoys out there? The orange ones, nearest us?"

When she nodded he continued, "Those are ours, inside the cloak. They mark the boundary. There's some white ones farther out--those are ours too, but they're outside. They warn people about rocks and shallow water."

"Are there rocks?" Tori asked, looking sideways at him.

"Nah," Blake said with a grin. "But the current's pretty strong out there. There are some water ninjas on the cloaking crew that make sure no one ignores the buoys. You want to go see?"

"Hey, Tori!" Shane's voice interrupted, and she turned back to see teams reforming around the volleyball net. "You guys gonna play again?"

"No thanks!" she called back. "My arms are black and blue!"

"Just like your ninja uniform," he returned. "Blake, what about you?"

"Nah, I'm good!" Blake answered. Folding his arms, he gave her a speculative look. "So, what do you say? Wanna go out on the water?"

She hesitated. "I've never walked on anything but the lake," she admitted at last. "And if I fall, I'm going to get soaked."

"You won't fall," he said confidently. "The hardest part is getting past the waves. After that it's just like any other water. I do it all the time."

Tori shook her head, but she couldn't resist a challenge like that. Walking on ocean... she had always been tempted, out there with her board, but ultimately it wasn't worth the risk. The risk of someone seeing her, the risk of trying and failing, the risk of turning her most beloved hobby into something she associated with school. But here, on this invisible beach, surrounded by ninjas? Now it seemed almost natural.

"All right," she agreed, smiling as she kicked off her sandals. "But if I fall in, you're so going with me!"

"You'll have to catch me first," he said with a wink. And he took off, bare feet slapping against the wet sand as he turned to run backwards, egging her on. She lifted her shoulders and gave determined chase.

Blake darted out into the surf--onto the surf, without the slightest hesitation. It was impossible to tell what he was doing at first, since he didn't bother to keep from splashing. But the first ripple of froth that was high enough for him to jump made it obvious: he leapt over it, landing higher on the opposite side, and rode the high side of the wave back toward the shore.

Tori stopped where she was, water washing around her ankles as she stared in surprise. She had imagined it more than a few times... but actually seeing it was something totally different. Blake laughed at her expression, clearly delighted by the chance to show off something she'd never tried before.

"Come on," he said, running forward again as the wave petered out and started to roll back out to sea. His progress was hindered by the attempt to move over a surface going in the opposite direction. Yet he made it look natural, like it didn't even occur to him to sink the few inches to the sandy bottom and get a more solid footing.

She was not that good. "Blake, I don't think--"

"Come on," he repeated, grabbing her hand. "It's not dangerous. Water's your element, it's not gonna hurt you."

She almost lost her balance as she stepped up on top of the retreating water. It slid across the sand and she slid with it, Blake steadying her as they let it carry them toward the next wave. "Step up," he directed, lifting her hand to encourage her.

She wasn't quite fast enough, and the bubbles splashed across her foot as she half-skipped to the other side. "You got it," Blake told her, already pulling her forward again. Now the water was rolling in the opposite direction, trying to carry them backward, and she had to jog to gain any ground beside him.

It was a strange sensation, but even as she noticed it the water was slowing, turning back to sea. "Next wave," Blake warned, and she managed to jump this one before it caught her bare feet. And they had to hurry again to not be drawn after it--

It was a constant cycle of ever larger wave crests, faster water on either side pushing her toward them and then pulling her back once she made it over. She didn't have time to think about what was coming until a wave arched up in front of them, unbroken but clearly about to topple, and she cringed instinctively. The abrupt stop yanked Blake back hard, but far from shouting he just laughed as the wave broke over top of them.

Blake lowered his arm and tugged her forward again, both of them completely dry except for their feet. "Come on!" he shouted over the roar of the wave crashing behind them. "We can get out past them if we keep going!"

"How did you do that!" she shouted back, following him as best she could. The water was choppier here, less smooth without the constant ebb and flow of waves, and it rose under her feet unexpectedly. She grabbed Blake's arm and he stopped where he was, catching her other arm and holding her up.

The wave rolled away underneath them, leaving them bobbing in its wake. Her eyes widened as she realized they had made it past the break line... into the lineup, if she'd had her board. The water was deep enough here that the waves could cycle on through without catching on the bottom--no crests, no whitewater, just the up and down motion of the water. They didn't even have to move to stay in place.

Blake was grinning at her surprise, turning back to follow her gaze toward the beach. "Pretty sick, huh? We have races sometimes, to see who can get out the fastest. And I bet you could do some sweet surfing moves here."

"No doubt," she breathed, looking down at the ocean under her feet. There wasn't anything like this at the Wind Academy. She wondered suddenly how the water ninjas there could be content with the calm water of the lake.

She didn't forget Blake's trick with the wave, either, and he spent the rest of the walk out to the buoys trying to teach it to her. She never quite grasped it, although she did eventually figure out what he was trying to say. It was something she wouldn't mind trying again later. In a wetsuit. With no one watching.

By the time they made it back to shore Tori was more than hungry, and Blake was willing enough to join her. He had told her that the weekly smorgasbord was more a social event than anything else, a chance for ninajs from different disciplines to spend time with each other outside of classes and duties. But social or not, it lived up to its official name and there was no shortage of food.

"Dustin, you're supposed to put it on your plate before you eat it," she teased, sneaking up behind her friend at one of the serving tables.

He turned in surprise, mouth full, and just managed to swallow before answering good-naturedly, "Says you! Hey, I saw you out on the water--how cool was that!"

"It's totally cool," she agreed, glancing back at the water. "I want to come surfing here some time!"

"You can," Blake put in from her other side. "Academy grounds are open to all ninjas. You can come up any time you want."

"Yeah, if we ever leave." Dustin reached across the table for another drumstick and a handful of chips. Tori couldn't imagine how the barbecue was keeping up. "I heard the rest of the teachers cleared out of the Wind Academy."

"What?" Tori exclaimed. "Why?"

Dustin shrugged. "I dunno. It's just for a few days, I guess, something about security. Hey, you guys want to join me and Marah? We're eating over there." He gestured vaguely, and Tori was about to agree when Blake interrupted.

"Marah as in, Marah Jennings?" he wanted to know. "Kapri's sister?"

"Yeah." Dustin wore a look that could have been a puzzled frown, but Tori knew him well enough to hear the "you want to make something of it?" tone in his voice. "She didn't do anything to you, dude."

"Yeah, and my bro didn't do anything to her sister," Blake retorted. "That didn't stop her from pounding on him when she had the chance."

"So you want to be like her?" Tori countered. "Taking it out on people you don't know just because they're there?"

He hesitated, just for a moment. "You're good," he admitted grudgingly.

She smiled down at the table, spooning the fruit mix into a transparent cup. "Thanks," she said, turning toward Dustin as she moved away from the table. She winked at him when Blake couldn't see. "Where are you guys, again?"

"Hey, Tor..." Blake was staring off into the distance when she glanced at him, and he nodded as if to indicate someone without pointing. "My parents are here. I'm just gonna go say hi."

She gave him a stern look, and he held up his hands as if in self-defense. "I'll be right back. Really. Come meet them yourself if you want, they've been asking about you all week."

She couldn't really pass that up, and Dustin put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her gently away when she gave him an apologetic look. "Go ahead, go," he said, waving her on. "We'll still be here. Over by the, uh... behind the dessert table from here. See Marah?"

Marah's brightly colored sundress was hard to miss, so Tori nodded. "I'll be over in a few minutes," she promised. She wasn't sure she could speak for Blake.

She didn't get more than a few steps away before she realized Blake had stopped, and he seemed to be trying to look in two directions at once. "What's up?" Tori asked, craning her neck to follow his gaze. She still wasn't sure which ones were his parents, and the only thing she saw in the other direction was an impromptu kickball game.

"They probably won't ask," she heard him mutter under his breath. It was hard to tell if he was talking to her or not. "But if they do, I don't think Hunter's here yet. Okay?"

She frowned at him, puzzled, then glanced back at the kickball players. It took her a minute, but she caught sight of Hunter chatting with Sensei Nena in the lineup. "What are you talking about?" Tori asked at last.

"If they haven't seen him, I haven't seen him." Blake shook his head, now focused solely in the parent direction. "Cause they've already seen me, so I can't go warn him. I dunno what he's thinking; he knew they were coming."

"Warn him about what?" Tori hissed, trying to keep her voice down as she followed him. "What, you don't want your parents to see Hunter playing kickball?"

"Tor, there's like three samurai in that game." Blake made it sound like the most obvious thing in the world. "Do you know how many lectures he's already gotten? It's bad enough he's going to their classes. I don't know what Mom's gonna do if she finds out he's spending his free time with them too."

***

"Go, go, go!"

He abandoned second and sprinted for third on the strength of Nena's kick, which he was sure was about to be intercepted by Ethan. The air ninja had rocketed after the ball with serious purpose, but the point of the game wasn't to stand around. Hunter rounded third base and turned to look, surprised he had made it--

"Keep going!" Cameron gave him a shove, the third baseman clearly working against his own team as he urged Hunter on. He couldn't figure out where the ball had gone so he took Cameron's word for it and raced for home.

He bowled through the rest of his team as he shot across the circle in the sand designating "home." He turned just in time to see Nena coming around third and following in his tracks--similarly pushed by Cameron, it seemed, judging by the samurai's laughter as she shouted back at him.

The team erupted into cheers as Nena slid home with a dramatic flourish, her bare feet spraying sand as the ball was dropped out of the sky to the pitcher. Ethan had definitely missed, Hunter thought smugly. He high-fived Nena, looking around as everyone in the "field" started to gravitate toward them.

There were no kickouts in this game, or maximum number of outs in the field. They pitched until everyone had had a turn and then the teams switched places. Hunter had a tendency to keep score in his head--Nena's bases-clearing home run had just bumped their team up six to five--but he was probably the only one.

"Nice catch," he told Ethan with a smirk, as they passed each other at the plate. "You been practicing that?"

"Tell the samurai to figure out which team they're on," came the good-natured reply. Or at least, his tone was cheerful... the words could have been taken either way.

Hunter raised an eyebrow but decided not to answer. Everyone here had managed to get along for a good ten minutes or so, and if they were mostly Wind students there were still enough Thunders to make the peace significant. He heard Cameron's voice behind him, and he turned in time to see the samurai duck a gentle blow from one of his teammates.

"You're supposed to stop them," Chitzu was telling him. "Not encourage them!"

"We're not even keeping score," Cameron retorted, and to Hunter's surprise he shoved his fellow Fire ninja in return. Cameron hadn't struck him as the rough-housing type. "Who cares?"

"Yeah, thanks for the coaching," Hunter put in. His interruption got their attention immediately, and Chitzu gave him an appraising look. He was more interested in Cameron's reaction, though, and the smile he got from the samurai instructor made him grin. "What'd you tell Nena that made her yell at you?"

Cameron shrugged innocently. "That she kicks like a girl."

That made Chitzu laugh, and he gave the "field" a searching look. "Where is she, anyway? I'll be aiming for her. She can kick, but she can't catch for anything."

"Not like you," Cameron said dryly.

"No, not like me at all," Chitzu agreed. "I can't do either."

Those were his parents over there. He hadn't realized it was so late--he'd come to help set up, and had been distracted as more and more ninjas trickled in. Or rather, he'd been distracted by the arrival of both samurai instructors, and he had ended up watching them socialize more than he had helped. They stuck mostly with other Wind ninjas, but they were friendly enough to him when he finally gave up and went over to talk to them.

Now it was at least an hour later, if his parents were finally here. He wondered whether they had seen him already or not. It didn't take a decoder ring to figure out that the people in green street clothes were samurai, but he wasn't going to avoid them just because Mom and Dad had showed up.

"Yo, Hunter." Ethan smacked him on the shoulder to wake him up. "You switching teams, or what?"

He glanced around, suddenly realizing he was still standing behind the plate with everyone else who was lining up to kick. It didn't really matter, he could kick again if he wanted to, and his team was already pitching. He'd just sort of zoned out there for a minute. He glanced over at Cameron, who was watching him curiously.

"I'm gonna sit this round out," he said abruptly. "Catch up with the folks or something. I'll see you guys later."

"Your parents are here?" Cameron asked, before he could turn away. "Which ones are they?"

Hunter pointed them out, surprised by his interest, and Cameron wandered away from the lineup to look. "Oh, the ones with Tori and Blake?" He smiled a little, and the sound of that expression in his voice made Hunter glanced sideways at him. "He's not wasting any time with the 'meet the parents' routine, is he."

Cameron was surprisingly relaxed this evening, seemingly recovered from his anger and resignation of the day before. He looked harmless in his street clothes, and the small smile on his face only made him look more approachable. All of a sudden Hunter wanted to drag him over to his parents, point to him and say, See? He's just a guy, Mom. What's so bad about that?

"No," he said instead, still watching Cameron. He should leave now, before he had to answer any awkward questions. Yet somehow it seemed rude to just walk away. "He's fast, I'll give him that."

Cameron caught his eye, a curious look behind his smile. "So how do your parents feel about samurai?"

Damn. Just when he was getting used to seeing the guy smile, too. Cameron probably expected a different answer when it came to people who had a son in the samurai class and another dating a Wind ninja. There was no easy way to disillusion him.

Cameron's expression didn't change, but he looked away and Hunter was sure the smile faded as soon as his face was averted. "That good, huh?"

Hunter folded his arms, following his gaze. "I think one of my mom's teachers was banished by a samurai or something." He felt like he owed some kind of explanation, but he didn't really have one.

"Banished?" Cameron didn't move. "I didn't think they did that any more."

"It was a long time ago, I guess." He shrugged apologetically. "I don't know much about it, but... y'know. It probably has something to do with her attitude."

"Yeah." Cameron gave the game a pointed look, still avoiding Hunter's gaze. "Well, see you in class. If you plan to keep coming."

"Dude, I can't change how my parents think," he told Cameron's back. "I came to your class because I wanted to make up my own mind, and I have." He barely hesitated. "Samurai are fine by me."

It was strange to say it, and he didn't care anymore. He couldn't shake the feeling that it would be stranger not to. "But just because I think so doesn't mean my parents are cool with it. It's not my fault that my mom has some weird grudge and my dad's a ninja elitist, okay?"

Cameron sighed, turning just enough that he could survey the area around them before he spoke. "Look," he said, his voice quieter than it had been before. "I understand. No, it's not your fault, and yes, I appreciate you giving class a try. I really do. It's just..."

He shifted, and Hunter could see his jaw clench. "Last weekend, the samurai practice arena at the Wind Academy blew up. My academy was blamed. Two days later, the tech wing blew up. My academy was blamed again. The two places where I spend all my time were shut down and I was asked to come here, where instead of being blamed for my academy I could be blamed for my training style.

"The first night I was here, my parents' apartment blew up. The second night I was here, I was poisoned." He caught Hunter's eye, an incredulous indignation lurking in his expression. "And that was the good half of the week. It was all downhill from there. So to be honest, having to attend this smorgasbord? It's just the perfect ending to the week from hell."

The anger wasn't so far beneath the surface, after all. Hunter felt strangely guilty for having brought it out again, especially when Cameron had been enjoying himself despite the mixed company. "You hungry?" he asked suddenly, just as Cameron seemed about to walk away.

The samurai instructor stopped, staring straight ahead for a moment before glancing back at Hunter with a puzzled frown. "Excuse me?"

Hunter shrugged, uncomfortable with the thought that Cameron's anger could turn on him just as quickly. "I just figured... I dunno. My parents are busy. And I'm starving. I figured you might be too."

Cameron seemed to consider that. "I tell you I'd rather be anywhere but here and you ask if I want to stay?"

"Were you going to leave?"

Cameron frowned. "No," he admitted.

"So," Hunter pressed, not ready to give up. "Maybe I can--I dunno. Make up for some of the freaky samurai prejudice around here."

Cameron's frown vanished, but instead of smiling he sighed. "That's not your job," he muttered.

"You know, you don't have to be the one who understands all the time," Hunter informed him. "You're allowed to do stuff 'cause you want to, and just forget about everyone else for a while."

Cameron's intent look was turned on him now, studying him as though he'd never seen him before. "That's not something I would have expected you to say," he said at last.

Hunter shrugged, but he couldn't hide his smile. "I'm full of surprises."

The corner of Cameron's mouth quirked upward, and Hunter jerked his head toward the food. Cameron fell into step beside him without another word. Hunter scanned ahead, locating his parents off to one side now, within easy view but at least not close enough that they would trip over each other. They could politely ignore each other if it came to that.

It didn't. Blake called his name before they even made it to the tables, and Hunter changed course. Better to see the family first, so that the excuse of food could be their way out of awkwardness later. He saw Cameron brace himself, and no matter what he had said before he couldn't help feeling responsible.

It could have been worse. His parents were civil, if not friendly, and their aloofness might have been less obvious if they didn't have Tori there to fawn over. Tori had clearly become his parents' darling in a matter of minutes... and she was the only one who didn't seem to notice the tension between Cameron and the Thunder ninjas. It was almost worth the stilted conversation to see his parents trying to adore her and ignore Cameron simultaneously.

Almost. "We're gonna go get something to eat," he announced, when he got tired of waiting for Cameron to wince so he could call someone on it. "Stay out of trouble, bro. See you around, Tori," he added, almost as an afterthought.

"See you," she echoed, but her smile was for Cameron. "See you tomorrow, Sensei Cam."

"Later, bro," Blake was saying, distracting him from the nickname. Cam? Since when did Tori call him Cam? He'd thought only the other samurai got away with that.

He waited until they had actually made it to the food to ask. "Cam?" he repeated, secretly amused when the samurai teacher looked up immediately. "She call you that often?"

Cameron shrugged. "My friends call me Cam," he said, turning back to his plate. "I think some of the students pick it up from the other instructors."

"Yeah?" It wasn't a direct answer, but it was more of an implied "no" than "yes." He debated asking just long enough to realize that if he didn't do it now, it wouldn't still be topical in a few seconds. "Can I call you Cam?"

The samurai didn't even look up. "Sure."

He smiled to himself, pleased with the answer. "Can I call you Cam in class?" he drawled, hoping the teasing note came through.

The response sounded suspiciously like a chuckle. "In class, that's Sensei Cam to you."

It wasn't exactly a "no," Hunter decided.

3. Samurai Run

He didn't think there was anyone around. Of course, with ninjas, it was sometimes hard to tell. But it was easier at the Thunder Academy than at his own school, because it was harder to hide on cliffs than in the middle of a forest.

Dustin stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a handful of gravel. He'd collected it along the way, on the path that led up the steep stone grade to the seriously safety-phobic academy entrance. He kept his street clothes, just in case he needed that pocket again, and lined himself up with the bridge.

There was a rock marker on each side, see. As long as you stood in front of it and walked in a straight line toward the one on the other side, you stayed on the bridge. Or that's what their Thunder ninja escort had told them the first time they came for orientation. He hadn't mentioned any of the important details, like how wide the bridge was or how sharply it dropped off.

Dustin tossed a piece of gravel out into thin air. It skittered across the invisible rock and came to a halt about ten feet away. To his right. He frowned. He tossed another pebble to his left, flicking it a little harder this time. It skipped across the air for a good fifteen feet before stopping. Not falling, not sliding off or bouncing down and out of sight as it was obscured by a ledge he couldn't see... just stopping.

This time he shook out a small handful of gravel and flung it all at once. Again the pebbles encountered solid stone in every direction, clicking against rock he couldn't see and tumbling across it without ever falling. Some of the pieces that went the farthest seemed to bounce off of irregular objects, and some of them did vanish behind invisible obstacles--but they didn't fall.

Dustin studied the arrangement of gravel, apparently hovering there in midair, and he was starting to wonder if they'd been had. Was it even a bridge at all? There had to be a drop-off somewhere... unless he was really standing on one solid cliff, not two, with nothing separating one side from the other but a holographic chasm and the very human fear of falling.

He should be able to tell, right? He glanced over his shoulder, made sure there was no one coming up behind him, and knelt down at the edge of the visible rock. He put a hand on the cliff beneath his feet. The outline of the cliff carved itself out behind his lowered eyelids, and he lifted his head as though he needed a different "view."

Still there. The cliff on which he was crouched loomed unbroken to his right, stretching out into the water without any break that he could sense. It tumbled steeply down to the flattened section in front of him--easily wide enough for trucks to pass each other on--and then dropped off more gradually to his left. The illusion of a cliff face on the opposite side of the nonexistent chasm was just that: an illusion that disguised the entrance to the Thunder Academy.

Dustin opened his eyes and looked "down" at the supposedly unbroken drop to the beach below. Huh. It wasn't as scary when you knew it wasn't really there. Just like the waterfall at the Wind Academy, he guessed. A huge, really detailed... picture. Hologram. Whatever.

He straightened up, looking around for the little stones he had thrown before. He had meant to pick them up, erasing the evidence of his experiment, but when he looked again he couldn't see them anywhere. Weird. Maybe the cloak absorbed things that were in contact with it long enough? Would he turn invisible if he stayed here too long?

It was a cool idea, but not one that he really had time to test. Besides, it seemed like one of those things that could end up backfiring in a major way. What if the effect stuck, and he couldn't get anyone to make him un-invisible? What if playing with the cloak set off some alarm somewhere, and all the Thunder ninjas came out to arrest him?

What if he was late to class because he had been trying to figure it out?

Dustin walked across the supposed drop with more confidence than before, stepping through the cliff wall and onto Academy grounds on the other side. It was weird, here, having their advanced classes scheduled before basics, but he was getting used to it. He was also kind of getting used to being on time. It was too bad they couldn't ninja streak to their own academy.

"Yo, Dustin!" Shane's voice proved that he was still the last, whether he was late or not. Tori didn't have to be here until basics started today--but when he thought about it, he didn't think Shane did either.

"Hey dude, what are you doing here!" Dustin said with a grin for Shane's speed. The air ninja was jogging in place while he waited for Dustin to catch up, finally abandoning his fixed position and doing a lap around Dustin while he walked.

"Class," Shane answered, finally slowing down a little to pace beside Dustin instead of around him. "Taking the samurai class. Just for the fun of it, you know?"

"Dude, your idea of fun is totally wacked," Dustin told him. "You're asking to have Sensei Cameron beat you up? That's messed, man."

"Yeah, well," Shane just shrugged. "You never know, maybe I'll learn something."

"Yeah, and maybe you'll get your butt kicked," Dustin added. "I get enough of that in my regular classes."

"I figure, the more I get thrashed now, the better I'll be at thrashing later," Shane said carelessly. "You gonna stick around for dinner afterward?"

"Yeah, I might as well," Dustin agreed. "No time to go home before basics, and I'm gonna have homework tomorrow. Maybe Kelly'll let me do some of it at the shop."

"Dustin."

It was the voice of a Wind instructor, and the previous twenty-four hours flashed through Dustin's mind. What had he done that he might be in trouble for now? He couldn't think of anything in the last day, and he couldn't remember the day before all that well. Besides, wouldn't someone have chewed him out at the smorgasbord if he'd been busted for something as far back as Saturday?

"Yeah," he said, trying to look as innocent as possible. "I was just on my way to class, Sensei Keith."

"I'll excuse you if you're late. Have you seen Marah Jennings lately?"

"Uh, yeah." He glanced at Shane. "Last night, at the smorgasbord. We, uh, we had dinner together. And, you know... we went for a walk afterwards."

"Have you seen her since then?" the instructor pressed. "You haven't seen her today at all?"

"Dude, I just got here today. I mean, Sensei," Dustin added quickly. "I just came in for class. I haven't seen anyone except Shane and you, and--" He gestured vaguely. "All these people I can see now."

"Did she say anything to you last night that seemed strange? Anything that made you think she might be planning something?"

"Like what?" Dustin said with a frown. "I mean, yeah, she was planning to go back to the academy, get some sleep... I think she had some classes today. We didn't really talk about it, though."

The instructor considered that. "I see."

"What's going on?" Shane wanted to know. Belatedly he added, "Sensei. Isn't she staying here at the Thunder Academy? Can't you just check her room or something?"

"We did." Sensei Keith didn't call them on their use of "sensei" the way some instructors did. He was also a lot friendlier than most. "She was at breakfast this morning, and she returned to the residential wing right afterward. No one has seen her since."

"Maybe she doesn't have classes today and she's just taking the day off," Shane suggested. "No offense, Sensei Keith, but this place isn't exactly what we're used to."

"She's already overdue for her afternoon class," the teacher corrected. "And she's not the only one missing. Sensei Watanabe is worried that his son's disappearance might be linked to hers."

"Dude, what?" Dustin wasn't sure which part of that sentence was the most important.

"Sensei Cameron is missing?" Shane repeated. "Since when?"

"He was at breakfast too, but no one can account for him after that. Sensei Watanabe contacted the school when he didn't show up at the Wind Academy this morning. I guess they were expecting him, but we haven't been able to find him anywhere."

"Hey, did you check with Hunter?" Shane wanted to know. "He and Sensei Cameron are pretty tight lately."

That made Sensei Keith frown. "Hunter Bradley? The air ninja who's been taking samurai classes?"

"Yeah, that's him. They've been hanging together since we got here. Maybe he knows something about Sensei Cameron."

"It seems unlikely," the instructor mused. "But worth a try. Thank you."

"Are they the only ones?" Dustin asked. "I mean, random ninjas aren't just disappearing every hour or something, are they?"

"No, Dustin." Sensei Keith gave him a tolerant glance. "Just Marah and Cameron. If you see either of them, please let someone know."

"Sure, Sensei," Dustin agreed, but he was troubled. Everyone was awfully quick to worry when two people who didn't have anything to do with each other happened to bail at the same time.

"Sure thing, Sensei," Shane added.

Sensei Keith bowed to them both and they returned the gesture, waiting until he was a safe distance a way to turn to each other. "Dude, what's that all about?" Dustin said with a frown. "I guess it's not so good to live on campus after all... everybody's always watching you!"

"Yeah, it's kind of creepy," Shane agreed thoughtfully. "Hey... you don't really think they disappeared together, do you?"

"Cam and Marah?" Dustin just shook his head. "I don't think they could stand each other even in some, like, other dimension. Marah's probably taking the day off somewhere, and Cam... I dunno. Maybe he forgot that his father was expecting him."

"Yeah, that sounds like him." Shane gave him a disgusted look. "In another dimension! Come on, the guy can't even hand his class off unless he's been poisoned and had his head stitched together on top of it. He's like, Mr. Responsibility."

"So, maybe his father forgot and it was supposed to be tomorrow or something." Dustin shrugged. "I dunno. I just think we're gonna feel pretty stupid when they both show up at dinner tonight."

"Not as stupid as we're gonna feel being late to class when we were already on-site," Shane said, checking the watch Tori had given him. "I better book."

"Yeah, see you man." Dustin waved absently, wondering why Marah had picked today of all days to take off. It was a bummer that everyone just assumed she was up to something, and probably all because of her sister. That wasn't fair.

Oh well. She'd be back soon, and everyone would see that they had been wrong.

***

The first thing Cam saw when he woke up was Marah's face. That didn't make any sense, but he doubted it was good. He was also pretty sure that Marah didn't usually look like that. So either he was dreaming, or something was seriously wrong.

"What's going on?" he mumbled, wondering if his brain was going to start working with him at any point or if it was just going to sit there in his skull being useless. Where was he, anyway? He didn't like this habit he was starting to develop of waking up in places he didn't recognize with people hovering over him.

Hunter. Last time it had been Hunter, at the beach. The time before that... well, Chitzu hadn't actually been hovering, in the medical ward. Chitzu wasn't big on hovering.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" Marah was definitely hovering, and she didn't seem intent on backing off any time soon. "Sorry about that, Cousin, but Kapri tried convincing you and it didn't work so I thought, well, time to try something different!"

Cam frowned, struggling to sit up where he was. The lighting in here was really weird. "You look like a bug," he muttered, putting a hand to his temple automatically. His glasses were gone.

"Thank you!" Marah sounded positively happy about it, but her earnest expression returned quickly. "Oh, your glasses are right here. I took them off so you wouldn't break them by accident. Here you are!"

He stared at them for a minute, then slid them on and looked at her more closely. It wasn't just the lighting, he decided. She really did look like a bug. He was trying to remember anything that would make his surroundings make sense, but his brain had only progressed from useless to useless and spinning. Where was he?

"Is he awake?" another voice asked. "Oh, he is! Cousin, you have no idea how glad we are to see you. Really, we are."

Kapri was peering over her sister's shoulder, and when she caught his eye she flounced around to sit beside her. Elbow on her knee, chin on her fist, she gave him a bright smile. "So, what do you think? Nice, isn't it? So much better than that ninja school with all its boring colors."

She and Marah looked at each other, and as one they let out disgusted sighs. "Augh. If you're going to decorate," Kapri continued, "you should really decorate. Do you like what I've done with the place?"

"What you've done?" Marah countered. "Hello, I helped! I matched all the colors for the Bridge while you were still trying to decide how shiny the floors should be!"

"Those are decks, Marah, not floors." Kapri rolled her eyes dramatically. "And please. Anyone can do the Bridge. The more sensitive environments--like the living quarters, for example--require a sophisticated touch."

"My touch is sophisticated," Marah huffed indignantly. She gave Cam a confiding look and assured him, "The Bridge is very hip. Trendy, even, with all the latest styles!"

"But the living quarters," Kapri put in, holding out her hand to get his attention. "They are truly trendabulous."

"Tut tut tut!" The sound came from behind them, and Marah and Kapri sprang to either side to reveal someone who looked... disturbingly familiar, actually. "I'm sure that can't be a word," he was telling Kapri. "You know the rule. Another dollar in the made-up-word jar."

"But Uncle," she whined, wringing her hands in front of her. "You know that superfluous jar is not only aesoteric but emblematic of principles our verdigrisian guest would find consternating!"

The man who had reprimanded her held up one hand, apparently counting off on his fingers. When he got up to five he gave Kapri a grudging nod. "Oh, all right. You're off the hook. This time."

Kapri squealed, turning to wink at Cam before she high-fived her sister behind the man's back. "I did it! Five four-syllable words for every one that's made up!"

Cam closed his eyes, giving his head a gentle shake. Gentle because he was worried about the state of his brain, just sitting there in a lazy state of utter non-comprehension. Could he be in some parallel reality, where Marah and Kapri and his father all dressed in weird Halloween costumes year-round? Or maybe he was just dreaming? That seemed the more logical explanation, but where did dreams like this come from?

"Well, Nephew, I can see my nieces have overwhelmed you with their silliness," the disturbingly familiar voice was saying. "You'll have to forgive them, it's just what they do."

Cam opened his eyes, staring at the man who had just called him "nephew." For the first time since he'd woken up, he was starting to seriously worry. "Nephew?" he repeated.

"Yes, of course, how rude of me not to introduce myself. I'm known as Lothor. I believe you already know my nieces, Kapri and Marah? They've been students at your school for almost a year now."

Lothor. This had the potential to be very, very bad. Cam regarded him suspiciously, wondering how much time this fake charm would buy him. How had he gotten here? Where was here? And how was he going to get away?

The man who could have been--and was, if his mother was to be believed--his father's twin peered at him more closely. There was an expression that was pretending to be concern on his face. "Nephew, are you all right? Marah didn't hurt you with that sleep trick of hers, did she?"

This drew an instant protest from Marah. "No, Uncle, I was very careful! You know it doesn't hurt people; I've used it before and they were fine!"

Lothor just waved her off, still studying Cam. "Nephew?"

"Where am I?" Cam demanded. "What do you want?"

"Ah, there, you see?" Lothor chuckled. "He's fine. I guess you haven't had a chance to look around then, is that it? Take a peek out those windows, there?"

He gestured over Cam's shoulder. Cam hesitated, fairly sure he didn't want to do anything just because he was told to--maybe especially because he was told to--but in the end curiosity won out. He turned to look, gaze flicking across the far wall and almost missing what Lothor must have meant for him to see in the first place.

It wasn't a window. It was an unobstructed view of the night sky. Which meant one of three things. It was later than he thought and the angle in this room was really strange, he was on the other side of the planet and very high up, or...

"You're on my ship," Lothor said proudly. "I'm really delighted at the chance to show it off. I don't have strangers up here very often, and family is few and far between. Can I give you a tour?"

"Ooh, me!" Marah chirped. "I want to do it!"

"Pick me!" Kapri added. "I'll give him a tour, Uncle!"

"Oh, very well." Lothor gave Cam what was probably supposed to be a commiserating glance. "You girls can come, but I'm giving the tour!"

"I'm not going anywhere," Cam said steadily, "until you tell me what you want with me. Why am I here? How did I get here? And where is here, exactly?"

"Here is on a spaceship in orbit around Earth," Lothor told him. "We're about four hundred kilometers up, behind a cloaking shield rather like the one used by the ninja academies. You were brought here by Marah, who put you to sleep before she teleported you so that you wouldn't argue with her.

"I am sorry about that, by the way." He didn't look very sorry. "Kapri tried to talk to you about it like a rational person and got attacked for her trouble."

"She attacked me," Cam retorted. It was starting to sink in just how trapped he was. What did he know about spaceships--or space, for that matter? Even if he could find a way off of this ship, there was no guarantee that he would be able to control it safely enough to get home.

"Oh no, that's not true," Kapri said hastily, when Lothor looked at her. "I defended myself, Uncle. But just as I was about to teleport him away, that amulet of his stopped me."

"Ah, yes, the amulet." Lothor regarded him thoughtfully. "It was your mother's at one time, wasn't it?"

Cam narrowed his eyes. "You can't really expect me to answer that."

To his surprise, Lothor just laughed. "My, my, what kind of stories have your parents been telling you about me? I'm almost afraid to ask!"

"I know you were banished for using the dark ninja powers," Cam told him. "What I don't know is why you've gone to all the trouble of coming after me for it. I didn't have anything to do with it. What does being banished matter to you anyway? This is..." He fumbled for words. "You're from--you live here!"

"What, do you think I'm out for revenge?" Lothor looked offended by the whole idea. "Is that what they told you? I'm insulted! Really, I am! I've never had anything but the best interests of my family at heart."

"Yeah, I'm sure you were thinking of their best interests when you blew up my parents' apartment!" Cam snapped.

"I didn't do that!" Lother returned, just as sharply. "Why would I want to hurt my own brother? I took the fall for him all those years ago just so he could stay on Earth and be happy with his precious samurai! I'm certainly not going to go around endangering him now!"

If there had been anywhere to go, he would have taken a step back. "Dad doesn't have anything to do with the dark ninja powers."

"Of course he does," Lothor said impatiently. "All ninjas born in space develop an affinity for it!" He gave Cam an odd look. "You mean to tell me you've never felt any pull toward your father's element?"

Cam swallowed hard. "The dark ninja powers are evil!"

"Oh, don't give me that drivel." Lothor sounded more exasperated than angry. "They really have brainwashed you, haven't they. The dark ninja powers are a product of space, the power of the night, the element that exists between the stars. They're no more evil than those planet-based elements all your Earth academies study."

"Then why is using them a banishable offense?" Cam challenged.

"Why did the Thunder Academy break away from the school of Wind rather than accept samurai into its midst?" Lothor retorted. "People get used to the way they've always done things. Planetary ninjas have been separated from space ninjas for a long time, at least in this part of the universe. We've forgotten almost as much about them as they've forgotten about us."

"What does any of this have to do with me?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound quite as desperate as he felt. Learning that some of his immediate family came from outer space was second only to the discovery that half of them still lived there. Trying to think sensibly about something that was supposed to be taboo on top of it all was just too much.

"Well, I'm glad you asked," Lothor said, suddenly seeming more cheerful. "You see, you are in a very unique position to incorporate both space and planetary affinities into your ninja repertoire. It's something that my brother and I tried to do when we first came to Earth, and in a way, Kapri and Marah are picking up where we left off. But you..."

Lothor eyed him speculatively. "You, my dear nephew, have grown up with an affinity very different from the one you inherited. I think that, in you, the possibility of unifying the two halves of the ninja powers may be stronger than ever before."

Cam's fists clenched at the wide-eyed looks he was getting from Marah and Kapri. "So you're going to keep me here until you figure out what you want to know?" he demanded. "I'm just a guinea pig in whatever experiment you're trying to run?"

Lothor drew back with a dramatic flourish. "I really ought to have a talk with my brother about his bedtime stories," the man complained.

Fixing an intent gaze on Cam, he enunciated, "You are a guest here, Nephew. Not a prisoner. All I ask is that you listen to what I have to say. Afterward, you will be free to leave at any time. Marah will show you how to pilot one of the pods, if you're unwilling or unable to use 'the dark ninja powers' to teleport."

Marah was nodding eagerly, while Kapri looked very put out. "Uncle," she whined. "Why can't I show him? I'm a better pilot than Marah!"

"Are not!" Marah exclaimed, batting at her sister's shoulder childishly.

"Am too!" Kapri declared.

"Girls!" Lothor silenced them with a shout. "That's enough bickering! Get along with each other or get out!"

"Yes, Uncle," Kapri said sullenly.

"Yes, Uncle." Marah's reply was meeker, but Cam saw them exchange sideways glances when Lothor turned back to him. Marah stuck out her tongue, Kapri wrinkled up her nose, and then they both clapped their hands over their mouths to keep from giggling.

Cam frowned at them. Their eyes were wide and guileless when Lothor glanced over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. Just like at the academy, it was hard to tell how much of their rivalry was real and how much was just to keep their audience guessing.

"I only need a few minutes of your time," Lothor was telling him. "I'm sorry to have brought you here so abruptly, and by such duplicitous means, but frankly, it seemed like the only way to get you here at all."

Cam tore his gaze away from the two sisters, still innocent and smiling, and focused on... his uncle. "Fine," he said shortly. "I'm listening."

***

"Tori!"

Shane looked up from his plate as Dustin waved energetically, yelling across an already noisy dining hall at their usually crowd-aware friend. This time was no exception: she spotted them in seconds, lifted her chin in lieu of a wave, and started in their direction. Her tray would be full of disgustingly healthy things, so Shane crammed a couple of cookies into his mouth before she could realize how much dessert he had actually walked away with.

"Hey, Tor," Dustin said, waving at a vacant seat on the other side of the table. "Where's that guy you've been hanging out with, like, nonstop? What's his name again?"

"I think it begins with a 'b'," Shane supplied. He scrunched up his face, pretending to wrack his brain. "Brad? Bill? Buckeye Bob? No, that wasn't it..."

"Very funny, guys." Tori slid into the seat across from them, smiling in the direction of the people at the other end of the table before rolling her eyes at Shane and Dustin. "Blake does have a life, you know. Things to do that don't involve me."

"Well, you wouldn't know it the way you two have been joined at the hip lately," Shane told her.

"Yeah, you guys are like, inseparable," Dustin added. "It's kind of creepy."

Tori put down the fork she had just picked up and gave them an incredulous look. "Do you guys have a problem with Blake, or what?"

"No problem," Shane hurried to assure her. "It's just, you know, you're with him a lot. We miss hanging out with you."

He could see her expression start to melt at that, but then Dustin had to go and add, "Plus, you got into this whole boyfriend thing kind of quick, and he is a Thunder ninja. It's gonna be rough when we go back to our own school."

"Dustin Brooks," Tori said indignantly. "I never thought I'd hear you arguing against romance."

"Ooh, romance," Shane teased. "Is that what it is now? Wait--" He put a hand to his ear and pretended to listen carefully. "What's that I hear? Is it... wedding bells?"

"Oh, shut up!" Tori reached across the table to smack him, and he laughed even as he cringed away from her. "We've gone on a few dates!"

"Ah, but there was..." Shane paused for dramatic emphasis. "Romance."

"He's right, that counts as more than just dating," Dustin agreed, leaning down the table to grab a napkin. "Pretty soon you'll be totally gone on each other and we'll never see you."

"Guys, I'm not going to ignore you just because I'm dating Blake," Tori told them. "That's ridiculous. We've been friends way longer than I've known Blake, and even if he is..."

"Yes? Go on," Shane teased, and even Dustin looked at her expectantly.

"Cute," she continued, much to their disappointment, "that doesn't mean I'm going to spend every waking minute with him."

"So, did he have already plans tonight?" Dustin asked.

Shane snickered when Tori rolled her eyes. "Okay, yes, he's having dinner with his family tonight," she told them. "Are you happy now?"

"No," Shane decided, frowning at her tray. "Where did you get the pasta salad?"

"They were just putting it out." Tori studied both their trays, raised her eyebrows, but refrained from commenting. The Thunder Academy didn't serve all their meals family-style, the way the Wind Academy did, and Shane hadn't been able to figure out the schedule yet. He just knew that sometimes when he came in there was a buffet line, and whenever that happened he could count on Tori's scrutiny as soon as he sat down.

Tonight, apparently, he and Dustin both passed the healthy food inspection. It was harder to do with trays, really, because then she saw everything they ate all at once instead of them being able to sneak things when she wasn't looking. Shane looked at it as a challenge.

"So did I miss anything this afternoon?" Tori was asking, clinking the ice cubes against the side of her glass before taking a drink. "You were here too, right Shane?"

"Yeah." Shane exchanged glances. "Weird stuff's going down today, Tor."

"I heard," she agreed.

Shane eyed her suspiciously and Dustin demanded, "Wait, how did you hear anything? That's not fair; you weren't even here!"

She gave them a nonchalant shrug. "Blake called me just before I got here. He said Sensei Cam is missing and Hunter's been suspended. Anything else?"

"Wait, Hunter's been suspended?" Shane repeated.

"Dude, that's crazy! What for?" Dustin wanted to know.

"He was pulled out of the samurai class this afternoon," Shane added. "Just after I got there. I figured it was because Dustin and I told Sensei Keith to ask him about Cam, but he didn't come back."

"Hey, dude, I didn't tell him to ask Hunter," Dustin reminded him.

"What was I supposed to do?" Shane demanded. "They're like, all over campus together. I just figured maybe Hunter had seen him. I didn't think he'd get in trouble!"

"You told them to talk to Hunter?" Tori repeated. "Why? All I heard was that someone in the Wind Academy thought he might have something to do with Cam's disappearance."

"That's not what I meant!" Shane exclaimed.

"Yeah, he totally didn't," Dustin agreed, finally helping him out. "Sensei Keith asked if I'd seen Marah, and Shane just said maybe Hunter had seen Cam. That's all."

"Wait, why was someone asking you about Marah?" Tori wanted to know. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"Marah's missing too," Dustin said.

"Ah, so you don't know everything!" Shane crowed. Then he caught the look Dustin threw at him and he subsided a little. "Uh, sorry. Yeah, Marah's gone. Sensei Keith said the last time anyone saw either of them was at breakfast."

"Well, that's weird," Tori remarked thoughtfully. She played with her pasta salad idly, watching her fork move in and out of the noodles and veggies.

When the silence stretched out, Shane couldn't overlook the beginnings of discomfort any longer. He prompted, "Hunter didn't really get suspended because of what I said, did he?"

"Huh?" Tori looked up, frowning from Dustin to him before she seemed to remember what he'd asked. "Oh, no. Blake said he was worried when he heard Cam was missing, so he told them about--"

She glanced over her shoulder, then leaned forward and said more quietly, "You know, the thing with Kapri on the beach. When she attacked Cam, and Hunter was there with him."

Tori had told them about the beach attack. She had also said that Cam had promised to tell the senseis of both schools about what had happened... they had all been waiting for some sort of official announcement, but none had come. Shane figured they didn't want the students to panic.

"So, what's wrong with that?" Dustin wanted to know. He was leaning on his elbows, keeping his voice just as low as Tori's. It was a remarkable display of awareness from their sometimes oblivious earth ninja friend. "That wasn't their fault."

"But Kapri is still a student, at least until she can be judged for what she did," Tori murmured. "And Hunter fought her. They're not allowing any challenges this week, remember? The teachers threatened to suspend anyone who gets caught fighting until we leave."

"That's lame," Shane hissed, keeping his head near theirs. "Kapri attacked them and Hunter gets suspended for it?"

Tori just shrugged. "Hunter probably thought they already knew. Cam said he was going to tell his dad, who was supposed to tell Sensei Omino. Either he didn't, or Sensei Omino just didn't tell anyone else. When Hunter mentioned it, they made him leave."

"Dude, that's messed," Dustin breathed sympathetically. "So he's out for the rest of the week?"

Tori nodded wordlessly.

They were all quiet for a few minutes, eating dinner without exchanging more than muted comments about the food or a request for another napkin. Finally, though, Shane had to ask, "You guys think Kapri could have done this, somehow?"

"Done what?" Dustin asked, swirling the remainder of his food together on his plate.

"I dunno... kidnapped Marah and Cam somehow. I mean, we know she's been after Cam for a while, and she must be mad at her sister for turning her in, right?"

"Yeah, but why is she after Cam?" Tori was shaking her head. "It doesn't make any sense. She's been a student for as long as we have; why would she suddenly..." She gestured vaguely. "Attack the sensei's son?"

"Maybe she's a plant," Shane suggested, not very seriously. "You know, from some rival ninja school or something. Maybe they're after Sensei and they figure Cam's the best way to get to him."

"Dude, don't say things like that," Dustin told him. "That's just wrong."

"Dustin, poisoning is wrong," Tori reminded him. "Blowing things up is wrong. Attacking people in the middle of the beach is wrong. Obviously whatever's going on around here is very, very wrong."

"Well, okay, you want to talk possibilities then, try this," Dustin said, setting his glass down. "Maybe all the Watanabes are Power Rangers and Kapri is like, this undercover evil alien sent to destroy them when their guard is down. That's why she waited so long to make her move."

"Not the Power Rangers again," Tori said with a groan.

Shane just grinned at her dismay. "I've got it," he said, sitting forward eagerly. "Maybe Kapri is the Power Ranger, and Cam isn't really Cam, he's an alien disguised as Cam that was clever enough to fool everyone except the Power Rangers. So now they're going after him and we all think they're bad but they're really not."

"They?" Dustin echoed. "Who are you calling 'they'?"

"Kapri's teammates," Shane insisted. "Duh! Come on, who do you think they are?"

"Well, Marah would kind of be the obvious choice," Dustin decided.

"Yeah, and maybe Sensei," Shane agreed. "Lulling the alien into a false sense of security, right?"

Dustin chuckled, then added, "Hunter, too. Making Alien Cam think he's on his side when he's really tracking his movements or something."

"You guys," Tori complained, rolling her eyes.

Shane smirked at her. "And definitely Tor," he concluded. "Because it's always the one who says there's no such thing who turns out to be one."

"Oh, come on!" At least that made her laugh, and she shook her head at them both. "Me, a Power Ranger? Whatever!"

***

"It's up to you, of course," Lothor was telling him. "My nieces have a place here with me for as long as I can stand them. I'd like to see them back at the Wind Academy, but I do understand that they completely bungled their covert operation."

"Even if I wanted to," Cam said tightly, "I couldn't guarantee anything. My father makes those decisions, not me."

"Yes, of course," Lothor agreed. Studying him intently, he continued, "But it's all in what you tell him, isn't it."

Cam frowned. "I don't know what I'm going to tell him," he muttered at last. "I don't know what I'm going to tell anyone."

"Well, Nephew, this probably isn't much comfort to you right now, but my nieces aren't the only ones who have a safe haven here. I must say, I've enjoyed the chance to show you around. I hope you'll visit of your own accord someday."

The corner of Cam's mouth quirked, and he shook his head as he stepped back. "No promises."

Lothor nodded, but he held up his hand to delay Cam a moment longer. "Before you go," he said. "I'm sure this has all been a tremendous shock to you. I had no idea your father hadn't told you about your heritage, and I'm sorry I dropped it on you in such--" He gestured at the window. "Imminent fashion.

"You can believe whatever you want to believe about what I've told you," Lothor continued. "But if you only believe one thing, remember what I said about Malai: he isn't what he seems. And he's already gotten to your parents."

Cam hesitated, then nodded tersely. He extended two fingers, concentrated, then slammed the hand down on his fist. The ship around him flashed brilliant white and then vanished altogether. The next thing he knew, he was standing on the side of the road in the sunset light, shaking with reaction and overwhelmed by the desire to do it again.

Teleporting. He'd heard of it, speculated about it, even toyed with the idea of a machine that could make it possible. It was an interesting thought puzzle. It was an engineer's impossible dream. And it was certainly one of the more tantalizing aspects of the dark ninja powers. He had just never realized it was so... simple.

He clenched his fists, folded his arms across his chest, and took another look around. He was back on Earth, now. Anywhere he needed to go from here could be reached by conventional means. There was no reason to use the trick Lothor had taught him again.

No reason except the fact that he wanted to.

That, he reminded himself sternly, was an even better reason not to. He started walking, not so much to get somewhere as to remind himself that he could get somewhere without just willing himself there. When he thought about it, he wasn't even sure where he was going. He was just outside Blue Bay Harbor, a streak away from either of the academies... and he was completely lost.

He couldn't go back to the Thunder Academy. There would be too many questions, questions he wasn't sure how he was going to answer. He couldn't go to the Wind Academy, either... not with what Lothor had told him still rattling around inside his head. It wasn't safe for him or anyone else until he figured out what all of it meant. But as he had told Hunter, everyone he knew was associated with the academies in some way.

Hunter. What would Hunter say about all of this, he wondered? The air ninja liked science fiction. But it was kind of a leap from something you read about in books to something that was standing in your living room. He had accepted the samurai when half his school wouldn't even look at them... but maybe one life-changing realization a week was all Cam could ask. Was it worth the possibility of losing his tentative friendship to find out?

Was it worth keeping it if he had to lie?

Cam sighed. At least it gave him a goal. Something to do when he didn't know what else he could do. He stripped off his ninja uniform, leaving only his street clothes underneath, and he followed the coast as he headed north.

The usual exhilaration of a streak was muted now, compared to the rush that teleporting had been, and he arrived at his destination in minutes, not seconds. He told himself to get over it. The journey would have taken hours by car.

It was darker here, the dusk deepening just a little sooner at the higher latitude. He was glad for the shadows, knowing they would make him harder to identify for anyone passing on the street or watching out a window. He didn't expect to be recognized by any of the neighbors, but then, they weren't the ones he was worried about. The Bradleys had made it clear that walking up to the front door and asking for Hunter would not be the best strategy.

He counted cars as he approached the driveway. There was Blake's truck, two vehicles he didn't recognize... and no motorcycle. Hunter wasn't there. Could he be at the academy, Cam wondered? It was late for advanced classes, and he was pretty sure that Hunter hadn't been teaching basics lately.

He walked up the driveway anyway. He didn't have anywhere else to go, and sitting in a quiet, empty place actually sounded pretty appealing. He was pretty sure he didn't want anyone to catch him at it, since it also sounded kind of pathetic. But right now? He'd give a lot for the normalcy of the pathetic.

He was still sitting in the back of the oddly empty garage--three vehicles in the driveway and none of them in here?--when he heard a motorcycle come roaring down the street. He had decided this was a terrible idea several times since he'd sat down, but never had it seemed quite as stupid as it did now. Heart racing, he watched the single headlight cut a swath through the darkness as it turned into the driveway. He could only hope this was Hunter. Because otherwise, it was going to be difficult to explain to a family of ninjas just what he was doing in their garage.

The headlight blinded him as the bike swerved smoothly between the cars and glided to a stop inside the garage. It cut out abruptly, and he could see a driveway light illuminating the night outside. They had a motion sensor on the outdoor lights. Great. That would have been good to know before now.

It was Hunter's bike, Hunter's jacket on the biker, and Hunter's helmet that was turned toward him in the suddenly very noisy garage. He hadn't killed the engine yet, and just now, dressed in black and silhouetted by the outside light, Hunter looked very...

He didn't know what word he wanted to use there. But he saw Hunter twist a little on his bike, point to the seat behind him, and tilt his head to the side. Cam stood up, walking numbly toward the bike, and a black-gloved hand rose to stop him. Hunter pointed at the near wall, then mimed pulling something over his shoulders, tugging on gloves, and indicated his own helmet. Cam got the message.

The old bomber jacket felt strangely comforting as he shrugged into it. Blake's helmet was hanging on one of the hooks, but his gloves were nowhere to be seen. Cam turned back toward the bike and held up his hands. Hunter patted the pockets of his coat and pointed at the wall again, and Cam found the gloves in the pocket of Blake's jacket. The engine revved up a notch as Hunter turned his bike around and motioned Cam over.

The passenger footrests were still down, but getting on was no easier than it had been the first time. Cam had seen what bikes like this could do when they tipped, and what was left of the riders when they crashed. He didn't like motorcycles. But right now his life was equally out of control, and at least this was a decision he could make.

He wrapped his arms around Hunter, feeling the air ninja shift as he lifted one foot to kick the bike into gear. Cam held on harder as the bike jumped forward, darting between the vehicles outside as easily as it had on the way in, and he looked over Hunter's inside shoulder as they shot out the end of the driveway and turned down the street. He wondered if anyone from the house was watching them go.

Hunter put on the left blinker before they even reached the stop sign, and as the bike idled briefly it was almost quiet enough to talk over. Hunter didn't, and Cam was grateful. He didn't have any opinion on where they were or where they were going, and he had no answers to more abstract questions either. In short, he had nothing to say.

They continued on like that for an indefinite period of time, with Hunter making the decisions about when to turn and where while Cam watched the unfamiliar surroundings flash by in the glare of the headlight. The warmer glow of streetlights lit their way every now and then, but then they would dive down another back road where there was nothing but the roar of the engine and the air screaming past his helmet and shadows, all around. Sound and speed isolated them from the rest of the world--and right now, that was an oddly comforting feeling.

He almost wished Hunter wouldn't stop. There would be questions when he did, curiosity, uncertainty, and everything would come rushing back. Right now it was held at a distance: the things he loved, feared, questioned, worried about, none of them were quite as important as the grip he had on Hunter's waist or the direction of the next turn.

They were cruising along the coastal route now, the ocean meandering slowly in and out of view as the highway approached or veered away. The road sidled closer and then pulled back, closer again, and back. Finally it turned decisively out to sea, sticking to the shore as close as the shore itself would allow, and they followed. The smell of saltwater crept in under his helmet, and the full moon was just rising over the trees.

The bike was slowing down. Cam let out his breath in a sigh. Well, it wasn't such a bad place to be stranded if Hunter took off and left him here. He wasn't totally sure which direction the Thunder Academy was in, but it couldn't be far and as long as he followed the ocean...

Gold light flashed against the pavement behind them as Hunter put his blinker on and pulled over. It was a dirt pulloff, big enough for four, maybe five cars if they packed it in. Hunter's bike had the entire space to itself, and he put his feet down as they came to a complete stop. The engine died a moment later.

With another sigh, Cam eased off the back of the bike and stepped back, reaching up to pull off his helmet as he did so. Hunter followed suit a moment later, making the movement look almost graceful. He dropped his helmet on the front of his bike and proceeded to pull off his gloves. Apparently they were staying a while.

When he was finished, Hunter turned to him and folded his arms. His hair gleamed silver-white but his eyes were in shadow as he studied Cam. "Wanna tell me what's going on?" he asked at last.

Cam looked down at the helmet in his hands, not so sure he did after all of this. He owed Hunter some explanation, though, and he would feel awfully stupid if he walked away now. Maybe not as embarrassed, hurt, or alone as he might feel if he didn't... but still stupid.

"On Saturday I found out my dad's an alien," he blurted out. "Today I met his twin brother. On a spaceship."

Hunter just kept looking at him. His face betrayed no reaction. "Yeah?"

"Marah kidnapped me." His heart was pounding and his fingers were cold where they grasped the helmet, but once he had started he just kept going. "It turns out she and Kapri are my cousins, and Dad's twin sent them to bring me to his ship. He showed me how to use the dark ninja powers to teleport."

Hunter didn't answer right away. Finally he asked, "And then he let you go?"

"Yeah." He didn't need to be told how insane it sounded. He knew as well as the next person--he'd been listening to it all day.

Hunter was quiet for another long moment, and Cam wondered if he should just start walking now. There wasn't any way to make what was happening to him sound plausible. Maybe it wasn't, maybe he was crazy, he didn't know. Maybe all this was just some stress-induced delusion to keep him from having to deal with the Thunder Academy's bias.

"Can you teleport now?" Hunter asked abruptly.

Something inside of him was all too eager to comply, and he tried not to think about it. Instead he just held out two fingers, pressed one hand on top of the other, and drew strength from the darkness around them. The world glared blindingly white. Power flooded through him, inside of him, out, releasing him to the night once more.

He was standing ten feet closer to the edge than he had been before. He turned. The scuff of his sneakers on the dirt made Hunter whirl, arms falling to his sides as his eyes widened.

They were on opposite sides of the bike now, and they stared at each other in utter silence. The ocean murmured in the background, waves crashing in and draining out like it was any other night. Like Cam's family hadn't exploded from loving parents to crazed relatives in a muddle of deceit and manipulation. Like Hunter hadn't been the most comforting presence he'd felt all day, and he hadn't wished he could stay on that bike forever.

Like Cam hadn't just done something that could get him banished, not only from the academies but from the face of the earth, simply because Hunter had asked.

***

He didn't know what he'd expected. Could he teleport now, he asked the guy. Of course he could, he'd just vanish and reappear over there like it was nothing. Thanks for asking.

No! That was what he'd expected him to say. No, of course he couldn't teleport, because that was one of those powers everyone heard about but didn't really believe in. Even if it was real, it was something only dark ninjas could do, and to speculate on it openly was to invite suspicion and fear. He'd just progressed from talking about it to witnessing it in the space of a few very short seconds.

He couldn't see the guy's eyes, couldn't tell if they were as black as Kapri's had been or not. He couldn't read his expression, either, which was pretty typical but right now made him kind of nervous. Whatever whacked out stories he was telling, or imagining, or totally making up, this wasn't a power anyone messed around with.

"You shouldn't do that," he muttered uneasily. It had to be said, whether the response was angry or amused or... something else entirely. He had no idea what was going on, and he didn't have any more idea what to expect now than he had before.

Still, the words shattered the silence between them, and Cam's response was both sarcastic and oddly familiar. "No kidding."

Hunter's mouth quirked. Yeah, okay. Still him. If his eyes were different--and there was no way to know in the darkness--then his tone sure wasn't. What made a dark ninja, anyway? Was it the power they used, or the way they used it? He had always been taught that it was the former, but obviously...

Obvious, hell. There was nothing obvious about it. The Fire ninja was doing a damn good job of contradicting everything he'd ever believed in an incredibly short period of time. And he was just one person. If he was right, Hunter was going to feel like an idiot. But if he was wrong...

"So, your dad's bro showed you how to do that?" he asked cautiously. "Your uncle?"

"Yeah." There was a moment's hesitation, and then, "Marah and Kapri can do it too."

"Marah," Hunter repeated, surprised. He shook his head, and the words were out before he thought. "Man, your school is just full of dark ninjas."

He wished he could take it back as soon as he said it, but Cam only sighed. It was disturbingly forlorn sound. "Apparently," he murmured.

Just like that, Hunter felt like a jerk. Here he was, half-convinced he was gonna have a fight on his hands the second the newly minted "dark ninja" decided to test his powers, and there was Cam, taking it on the chin for something that probably wasn't even his fault. Just like the stupid samurai prejudice.

He was awfully quick to absolve Cam of blame, his mind noted distantly. Could that be some dark ninja trick itself? Some kind of mind control?

Oh, shut the fuck up, he thought crossly. If the guy was going to attack you, he'd have done it by now.

Hunter stuck his hands in his pockets, came up empty, and reached inside his coat for the pocket there. This one had what he was looking for, and he pulled one of the cards out and tilted it toward the moonlight to make sure it was what he thought it was. Then he gestured to Cam. "C'mere."

The Fire ninja stared at him for a long moment, then took a few steps toward the bike. He stopped as soon as Hunter started to move, circling the bike and closing in on him impatiently. The guy was too suspicious for his own good. Hunter pushed the bomber jacket up, caught the edge of his jeans pocket, and tucked the card into it before Cam could protest.

"Next time," he told the top of Cam's head. "When you disappear to some spaceship or whatever to learn about powers no one's supposed to have anymore--"

Cam was staring down at the object he had removed from his pocket, apparently unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Hunter flicked the back of his business card with his first finger. When this provoked no reaction, he ordered, "Call me, okay? I was worried."

Slowly, Cam lifted his head. His eyes were normal in the bright moonlight, and all of a sudden Hunter realized how close they were. Shit. No wondered he'd freaked the guy out. He was standing close enough to--

Hunter took a step back, cleared his throat and immediately wished he hadn't done it. Way to sound like he was thinking about things that hadn't even crossed his mind. Way to make the whole night more uncomfortable than it already was. Way to look like he didn't care whatever hell Cam was going through, like these crazy stories were the last thing on his mind, like the phone number was some kind of lame pick-up line and where did he get these ideas?

"Thank you," Cam said quietly.

"Sure." The reply was automatic. He could only hope it didn't sound quite as stupid as he felt right now. "So, your whole family have these powers, or what?"

So much for not sounding stupid. If he had been looking for a subtle way to turn attention away from him and back to a relatively--and he stressed relatively, only in comparison to the sudden chaos in his head--safer topic, that hadn't been it. Subtle as a sledgehammer, that was him. Occasionally a source of pride, more often a source of familial amusement, it was nonetheless a character trait he had to live with.

"I don't know." Cam's voice was so quiet that the ocean almost drowned it out. "Not my mom. My... uncle says that everyone who comes from space has them. All ninjas, anyway. He says the dark ninja powers are just--a space element, the way earth and air and water are planetary elements."

"Couldn't they have named them something a little friendlier, then? Why the dark ninja powers? Why not the cute little kitty powers?" His mouth and his brain were now totally disconnected. Self-defense, he decided. If Cam knew what he was thinking, one of them would be walking home.

"I don't know." If nothing else, his voice was a little stronger now. "I think the Cute Little Kitties' Association would probably sue them for slander."

Hunter just stared at him.

"Or maybe there was some kind of feud between the cute little kitties and the cute little puppies, I don't know. 'Dark ninja powers' could have been the easiest way to keep everyone happy."

Hunter opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Does anything slow you down?" he asked at last.

Cam was quiet for a minute. "I think that's probably like asking you if anything scares you," he said at last. His voice was deliberately soft this time: familiar, rather than faint. "It does, but I don't think you ever admit it."

"Now you're an expert on me?" Hunter had meant to tease him with the idea, make it into a joke to cover his discomfort, but he was pretty sure the edge came through anyway.

"You're an expert on me," Cam replied, turning to look out at the water. "You know as much about me as I do right now. Maybe I'm just trying to catch up."

Oh. Damn. Could he let any part of this conversation not be about him? What was wrong with him, anyway? He didn't know why Cam had come to him, but he had and it couldn't have been easy. Geez, if Hunter had stumbled over the dark ninja powers he would have holed up in his room for days and refused to talk to anyone.

"Is your dad really from outer space?" he blurted out.

Oh yeah. Mouth and mind still not talking to each other. Still about as good as it was bad--ever since he'd realized he was feeling Cam's breath on his skin his brain had been on high alert, noticing every detail of clothing and posture and expression. Feeding all of that to his imagination, making him terrified that he would say something to give away the places it was going.

Instead it seemed he was just going to say whatever superficial remark happened to pop up when he opened his mouth, and it was really debatable whether or not that was an improvement.

"According to my mom," Cam was saying. He was still staring out at the ocean. "You'd think she'd know, right?"

"Then why didn't she tell you before?" Hunter pressed. "Why now?"

Cam folded his arms. "She said, because I asked."

"You asked if your dad was an alien?" Hunter asked incredulously. "How did that come up in conversation?"

Cam shrugged, lowering his gaze to the ground in front of him. "Kapri said some things," he muttered. "During the shadow battle. You weren't there."

He might not be the most subtle person around, but he knew a "back off" vibe when he heard it. He shifted awkwardly, wondering what to do. He couldn't exactly leave him alone here; the guy probably didn't have the faintest idea where they were. But he wasn't scoring any points on the talking front, either. If it wasn't leaving, and it wasn't talking, that pretty much left standing around until he got a clue.

It could be a long wait, he decided.

He heard Cam sigh softly, the kind of controlled breath that meant he really wasn't trying to be dramatic, and Hunter opened his mouth. He still didn't have anything to say. Finally he suggested, "Long day, huh?"

Cam let out his breath in a huff. "Yeah," he agreed, his voice tinged with tired amusement. Then after a moment he amended, "Today was a long week."

Hunter gave him a sympathetic look that he knew Cam couldn't see. "You going back to the Thunder Academy tonight?"

Cam's hesitation alerted him. "No," he said at last. That was all he said.

"The Wind Academy?" Hunter guessed.

Cam shook his head wordlessly.

Hunter frowned. "Do your parents know you're all right? You've told them you're back, right?"

"Look." Cam shifted uncomfortably. "My uncle said some things, okay? About my family. I don't know what it all means yet, and I'm not going back until I figure it out. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone you saw me."

"Cam--" He stopped, reminding himself not to argue with a tired, freaked out, possibly delusional dark ninja. "Okay. Do you have a place to stay tonight?"

Cam didn't answer.

"You know you can crash at my place any time, right?" He tried very hard to sound casual, like he was just throwing the idea out there because he wanted to, not because he thought Cam needed it. "You can have the bed if you want; I've got a couch. And food." It occurred to him belatedly that Cam might not have eaten since this morning.

Cam turned to look at him, the moonlight full on his face and the water sparkling behind him. "Are you sure you don't mind?" he asked at last.

Hunter snorted. "No, I always say things I don't mean." He turned back to his bike, tossing the words "Come on," over his shoulder. That image of Cam in front of the ocean would be stuck in his mind for a long time.

It was a problem, he decided moments later, as they raced down the highway and he tried not to enjoy the feeling of Cam pressed up against his back. It was a problem that he'd given some thought to over the years, and one that he had eventually concluded could be safely ignored. He hadn't even lost that much sleep over it.

The problem, simply stated, was that girls were boring and guys were dumb. He had always liked girls, just like everyone else. Girls were the ones you dated, bought things for, and got laid with. That was fine, he was cool with that. He liked the idea of having a girl, so he had started dating as soon as he found one that managed to be both smart and pretty--it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

The problem surfaced one night when he kissed her good night. That was what everyone did after a date, right? Kissed? Yeah, well, he didn't see anything so great about it. He just didn't care about kissing. But the girl he was going out with did, so they stopped going out.

He tried another girl. She cared about kissing too. So did the one after her. It was the same problem, over and over again, and finally it occurred to him that it wasn't their problem. It was his.

He stopped going out with girls for a while and tried to figure it out. He had reasoned that maybe it was something one got used to, given an appropriate amount of practice. It was too bad, he thought, that he couldn't just practice on guys and then sort of work up to girls. Girls were a whole different world.

He couldn't help smiling wryly at the memory. Yeah. Practice on guys. It had seemed so normal at the time. Looking back now, it was like a big sign flashing the word "gay" over his head. Guys were hot. Girls were just... the other half of the population.

Of course, the rest of his problem had been that guys were also dumb. At least there was the possibility of finding one or two reasonable girls in a group. The reasonable guys, on the other hand, were either nonexistent or extremely well disguised. He had his share of guy friends, and he didn't think he'd ever had a serious conversation with any of them. It just wasn't what they did. There wasn't a single one of them he'd date even if they did show an interest.

This, in many ways, had made his life easier. In the circle of people he knew, he wasn't interested in the girls and he didn't like the guys. So dating became a non-issue for him. He wasn't going to bring up a non-issue with his parents, and he certainly wasn't going to tell his friends. As long as there was no one worth dating, there was no reason to make sexuality a topic of discussion.

The traffic light came faster than usual on the heavier bike, and Cam's helmet bumped against his as he hit the brakes. He hadn't done that on purpose, just to feel Cam's body press harder against his as they slowed. He hadn't. To prove it, he rolled through the empty intersection without stopping completely, cutting their deceleration and easing down on the gas again. He felt Cam shift as they pulled away, probably turning to look over his other shoulder.

Hunter's old problem had recently been replaced by a new one, and it was starting to complicate his life. Because now, for the first time, he thought he might know someone worth dating.

***

He needed a plan. The academies were his life; he couldn't avoid them forever. Joining his "Uncle Lothor" was equally unthinkable, since without corroboration his story was just a story. And as tempting as it was to just lie here on Hunter's couch all day, he was pretty sure that wasn't a long-term solution either.

Cam sat up, vaguely dismayed by his own lethargy and determined to do something about it. He looked over at Hunter--or rather, he looked in the direction of Hunter's bed. The lump that he assumed to be the blonde-haired Thunder ninja had yet to stir, speak, or show any other signs of consciousness. What time was it, anyway?

He scanned the room, eventually settling on the green glow of numbers emanating from the microwave. 5:45. Fine. That was something.

Now he needed a shower, food, and a change of clothes. The change of clothes probably wasn't going to happen, but he thought a shower and food might not be asking too much. He didn't count a plan as one of his requirements, since he was starting to think that a specific plan might not be as useful as a conditional one: a plan based on whatever answers he came up with this morning, for instance.

He stood up carefully, wondering how much movement it would take to wake Hunter. He folded the blankets one at a time, piling them up on the couch while he watched the bed out of the corner of his eye. He put his own clothes on the couch next to the blankets and turned toward the refrigerator. The lump still didn't move.

Hunter's t-shirt hung off of his shoulders, and he was walking on the cuffs of sweatpants that were too long, but somehow he managed not to trip and the sensation was oddly comforting. He wondered idly if that was why women liked wearing men's clothes: it was engulfing, an almost protective embrace, and probably psychologically related to childhood somehow. He didn't doubt that it had helped him sleep the night before.

His mouth quirked at the idea of mentioning it to Hunter. No doubt that would go over well. Possible commentary ran through his mind while he inspected the bowls sitting on top of the refrigerator. By the way, you can forget about getting your shirt back. It's the next best thing to being held all night. And if there was one thing he could use lately...

Right. He kept his gaze on the cereal he was pouring into an apparently clean bowl. That was the last thing he needed. He set the box back down beside the refrigerator, retrieved the milk jug, and tried not to be impressed that Hunter had actual food. He didn't need it, after all. His parents presumably owned food. He could eat at the Thunder Academy any time he wanted. And the idea of Hunter grocery shopping made Cam smile.

Finding a clean spoon proved to be somewhat harder, and he was a little surprised that Hunter still didn't seem to have woken up. Didn't he have class this morning? Teaching, work, something? The ninja academies were notorious for their early morning schedules, and Cam had actually slept later than usual. He contemplated Hunter's unmoving form while he ate his cereal.

He couldn't remember the last time he had watched someone sleep. It was a little disconcerting, especially when it involved someone like Hunter. The air ninja was so intense that Cam half expected him to open his eyes and stare right back with no warning whatsoever. Yet the rare appearance of vulnerability was too intriguing to ignore just because looking put him on edge.

It wasn't just the vulnerability, either. He had to admit that Hunter had sex appeal. Hunter knew it, too--he had a rakish charm that he could turn on and off in the blink of an eye. It wasn't natural, instinctive, just part of his personality... it was something that he worked at. And it only showed up around people he was comfortable with, Cam was sure. In the company of strangers, he was aloof and quick to condescend. But around people he knew? He could be positively flirty.

Cam had spent a lot of time observing Hunter. Hunter had made it easy for him, what with signing up for samurai classes, joining the samurai at meals, and seeking Cam out in his downtime to question him on some minor point or other. If he hadn't been so careful to direct all of his attentiveness at the samurai in general, rather than at Cam in particular, Cam might have wondered before now. As it was, he had written off his own fascination with the Thunder ninja as loneliness: attraction to the individual, rather than what he represented, that was not reciprocated.

Until last night, when Hunter had handed over his phone number without prompting and had gone so far as to tuck it into Cam's pocket. Until Cam had looked up and found those blue eyes staring down at him in the heavy salt air, widening slightly with the realization that Cam wasn't going to back away. Hunter had backed off instead, but not without hesitating first... and Cam wondered.

Was it possible that Hunter was interested? Would it matter if the answer was yes? That really was the last thing he needed right now. He hadn't had time for a relationship in years, and the Fire Academy had been arguably more tolerant of such things. At this point he had too much to do, too few waking hours, and a whole host of apparently alien relatives that seemed to think he needed more going on in his life.

He sighed without meaning to. Yes, life was complicated right now. When wasn't it? And how often did someone like Hunter come along, anyway?

Someone like Hunter? The voice in the back of his mind was skeptical. You don't even know him.

Hunter mumbled something in his sleep, shifting restlessly for the first time since Cam had woken up. He focused on his cereal again, finishing off the last few spoonfuls while he waited to see whether the movement signaled Hunter's imminent awakening. He didn't know Hunter that well, it was true. But he was here. Hunter had helped him out when he didn't know where else to turn, and he had to think that counted for something.

Did it count for enough, though? It wouldn't matter if Hunter wasn't interested. It wouldn't matter if Cam didn't bother to reciprocate. And it probably wouldn't matter at all by the time the Wind Academy reopened. They would be hours apart and wrapped up in their own lives again--it was only coincidence that had thrown them together now.

He glanced over at Hunter again, light skin on dark sheets and a sprawl that he wouldn't have expected from someone whose waking movements were so controlled. The corner of his mouth quirked upwards, and he shook his head at himself. Fine, logically, he shouldn't even waste time thinking about it... but he kept looking.

It took him a moment to realize that Hunter was looking back. How had he known that would happen? Couldn't the Thunder ninja do anything the way everyone else did? Cam looked away, knowing it was too late even as he set his bowl down. He'd been caught and he might as well admit it.

"Thanks for breakfast," he said, meeting Hunter's gaze squarely. Neither of them had moved, and Hunter was still studying him as though he hadn't quite figured out what he was seeing yet. Just because he could open his eyes, Cam supposed, didn't mean he was fully awake.

"Sure," Hunter mumbled at last, pushing himself up on one elbow and blinking hard. "Y'know, whatever I can do." His voice was husky with sleep, and he frowned slightly as he glanced around the room.

"It's almost six," Cam offered. "Do you have classes this morning?"

That brought Hunter's attention back to him, and his frown deepened. "No--" He stopped as though there was going to be more, but he'd thought better of it. "No," he repeated. "You?"

Cam raised his eyebrows. Definitely not all the way awake yet. That was kind of reassuring, really. Hunter might be able to pull off the act, but he wasn't superhuman. "I'm absent without leave, remember?"

Hunter sat up the rest of the way, lifting his hands to scrub his face. "Not really," he admitted with a yawn. "But it's coming back to me. You sleep okay?" he added, lowering his hands and scrutinizing Cam more carefully.

Cam nodded. He'd slept better than he'd expected to, in fact. He had brushed off Hunter's offer of the bed, knowing that the added comfort would be outweighed by the strangeness of his environment. He typically had a hard time sleeping anywhere he wasn't used to... last night being an unexpected exception.

"Cool." Hunter swung over the side of the bed and stared at the floor for a moment before levering himself upright. "You want a shower or something? I probably have some clothes that'd fit, too, if you want."

"I'm going back to the Wind Academy," Cam said quickly. "I'll get something to wear there. But," he added hopefully, "I'll take you up on the shower."

Hunter gave him a sideways glance as he padded barefoot across the room. In boxers and a wifebeater, he was hard not to watch. "Back to the Wind Academy, huh? You decided what you're going to tell them?"

"It's more a matter of what they're going to tell me." He'd meant it to sound dry, a joke in tone if not in fact, but he was distracted and he wouldn't be surprised if the words came across as grim. "I'm tired of being protected. I can't yell at my mom, but I think my dad owes me a confrontation."

Hunter was doing something in the bathroom, and he came out without answering. "I don't have any spare towels, but I've got an extra beach towel you can use if you want. You'll have to fight the rest of the house for hot water."

"That's fine." He was used to apartment rituals. "Thanks."

"Hey." Hunter caught his arm before he could step into the bathroom, and without the haze of sleep it was clear that his blue eyes were troubled. "You need anything this morning... a ride, backup at the academy, whatever... let me know, okay?"

Cam looked at him for a long moment, but this time Hunter didn't back away. Finally he nodded once. Hunter still didn't release his arm. Before he could say anything, though, the sound of someone pounding on the door made Hunter let go and take an involuntary step back.

Cam glanced in the direction of the door as though he could see through it, and he heard Hunter sigh. "This should be fun," the air ninja muttered. "That better be Blake, or this morning is really gonna suck."

Cam refrained from pointing out that, from what he'd seen, Blake might not be much happier than Hunter's parents. Instead he just jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the bathroom, raising his eyebrows in Hunter's direction. Should I disappear?

Hunter shook his head, waving the suggestion off even as he headed for the door. "Just a minute," he called, unlocking the door. He pulled it open without hesitation, and sure enough, there was Blake on the other side.

"Hey, bro," he greeted. "Dad wants to know if you want a lift to the academy. He's on his way in to--"

It was a casual glance, Cam thought, just an idle look around the room to take his eyes off of Hunter. Unfortunately, that was all it took to bring the room's second occupant to his attention. Blake broke off midsentence, staring at him for a moment before he turned his glare back on Hunter.

"What's he doing here?" Blake demanded.

"He spent the night," Hunter said bluntly. "He needed a place to stay, so I gave him one. You got a problem with that?"

"The problem is that Mom's gonna flip," Blake informed him.

"Yeah, well, maybe Mom needs to get over it," Hunter shot back. "Cam didn't do anything to her."

There was a moment of silence. At first he thought it was because of Hunter's open hostility, but it eventually occurred to him that Blake might be used to his brother's attitude by now. Finally Blake repeated, "Cam?"

Hunter looked away, first at the doorframe, then down at the floor. With a half-shrug, he muttered, "Everyone calls him Cam."

Cam's lips twitched, and he worked very hard to stifle a smile. Hunter was deliberately not looking at him. And was he... blushing? Leave it to Hunter's brother to pick up on a nickname that Cam didn't even notice the use of anymore.

Then Blake was looking at him, and Cam gazed back evenly. He'd been told he didn't trigger gaydar. Depending on how much Blake knew about his brother, though, he wouldn't have to. Was that more or less likely to upset the younger Bradley brother than the fact that he was a samurai, he wondered?

"Dad said to tell you he's going in to the academy," Blake said at last, his gaze sliding reluctantly back to Hunter when Cam didn't flinch. "He says you're welcome on his crew any time, suspended or not."

Cam frowned, but Hunter still wasn't looking at him. "Sure, free labor," he grumbled, and that made Blake smirk just a little.

"Can't blame him for trying," Blake remarked, glancing at Cam again. "I gotta go. You gonna be all right here?" He didn't bother to hide his suspicion that Hunter might not be: not with Cam around.

"We're fine. Go annoy some ninja students or something; I'll catch up with you later."

Blake didn't argue, but the expression on his face said clear as day that they'd talk about this later. Cam waited for the door to close behind him before he turned to Hunter. Folding his arms, he inquired, "Suspended?"

***

"Not coming?" his dad guessed as he slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door.

"Nah." Blake reached around for his seatbelt, pulling it over his shoulder and clicking it into place. "He just got up. Probably gonna go in to work early or something."

"He'll run out of bikes if he's there all day."

Blake shrugged, watching the house retreat as his dad started the car and backed out onto the street. "I think Rick's got some stuff backed up."

Would Hunter really go to the shop, though? How long was Cameron planning to stay? Where had he come from? Half the academy was out looking for him, and here was his own bro hiding the guy who'd gotten him suspended. Where had Blake been while Hunter was becoming best buddies with the samurai instructor?

With Tori, probably. He frowned to himself, but it was the truth. He'd been spending an awful lot of time with Tori these last few days, and maybe he hadn't paid as much attention as usual to what Hunter was doing. But since when did he need to? Watching out for his brother was Hunter's job, not Blake's.

"Did Hunter have a visitor?" His dad's question came out of nowhere, and Blake could only give him a helpless look.

"Huh?"

"Just now. The window was open, and I heard you two arguing."

Blake stared out at the road, not even seeing the familiar landmarks as they flashed by. He tried to remember exactly what they'd said, and how much of it had been loud enough to reach his dad in the driveway. They hadn't been yelling. But if his dad had come out of the house right behind him, or maybe gone into the garage for something instead of waiting in the car...

"Yeah," Blake said at last, not seeing any way out of it. Was it Hunter's fault for not telling him, or his for not asking? He wished he knew how much Hunter wanted their parents to know. "He had a friend over last night."

"Oh?" He knew that tone. "Anyone we know?"

That was the moment of truth. If Hunter threw it in their faces later, they'd bust Blake for lying about it. But if he told them and then Hunter tried to cover it up, they'd know he was lying.

"Nah," Blake said at last. "Probably not. It was one of the Wind ninjas," he added, and at least that part was true. It was also the only way to explain a local ninja that his parents had never met.

"But you know this person?" his dad persisted.

Blake shrugged again. "Yeah," he admitted. "I was just... surprised."

There was a pause, and his father glanced sideways at him before returning his gaze to the road. "Blake, did Hunter bring a girl home last night?"

He blinked. The idea was so odd that it took him a minute to answer. "No," he said honestly. A grin tugged at his expression. "Come on, Dad. When was the last time Hunter even took a girl to dinner?"

His dad leaned forward to look up and down the road before pulling out. "Samantha, wasn't it?"

Blake had to think about it. Who knew his dad was keeping track? "Yeah, I guess. Back in high school, anyway. He's not big on the dating scene."

He had been, once. Blake could remember a time when he was allowed to date only because Hunter was. Hunter had never taken no for an answer, and he had repeatedly demonstrated that if their parents didn't let him do something he'd just find a way to do something worse.

Was that what he was doing now, Blake wondered? Their parents didn't want him in the samurai classes, so he had deliberately befriended one of the instructors? He didn't do it out of spite, he just... did it. Just because. Because Hunter had never grown out of the "why" phase of childhood. Because telling him not to do something just made him ask "why not?" And because, Blake often thought, the things that other people considered warnings were things that his brother looked at as inspiration.

"Is he really not dating lately?" his dad asked out of the blue. "Or is he just seeing someone he thinks we wouldn't like?"

Blake was caught off-guard again. "What?" He was starting to wonder if riding with his dad was really such a good idea.

"Would Hunter tell us if he was seeing something he thought we wouldn't approve of?"

Blake considered that carefully and decided there was no right answer. "I don't know," he said at last. "But he's not. He isn't seeing anyone right now."

"Except this mysterious friend from the Wind Academy," his dad pointed out.

"Dad, it's just a guy from one of his classes," Blake said with a sigh. "That's all."

"A guy he can't have known for more than a week," his dad noted. "And he's sleeping over?"

"They probably got in late," Blake muttered. He wasn't too clear on why Cameron had had to stay over, himself. Why didn't he just go back to the academy and tell them where he'd been? "I don't know; ask Hunter."

His dad didn't answer, and Blake stared out the window without seeing what was on the other side. Someone their parents didn't approve of. Until the Wind ninjas had started training at the Thunder Academy and brought their samurai with them, Blake wouldn't have been able to come up with a single person. His parents were friendly and open-minded and he couldn't think of anyone that they would reject sight unseen.

Now, of course, he had to admit that his parents might have been less excited about Tori if she'd been a samurai student instead of a ninja. She wasn't, luckily, but he thought they might have come around even if she had been. He didn't know exactly why they reacted so strongly to Cameron, except that he was a guy and therefore less cute and cuddly than Tori. Still, it wasn't like Hunter was dating--

Cameron. The samurai instructor. The male samurai instructor who had been wandering around Hunter's apartment in borrowed clothes at six o'clock in the morning. The car could have come to a screeching halt and Blake probably wouldn't have noticed. He was too busy trying to stare his way into his brother's head from several miles away. No way.

No fucking way. Hunter would have told him... right?

Hunter had told him. He had told him over and over again; Blake just hadn't been listening. His bro had hooked up with Cameron.

"Has Hunter ever said anything to you," his dad was asking, "about... being interested in men?"

No. Way. Where had he been? If even his dad had figured it out, then Blake was seriously behind. On the other hand, at least he was telling the truth when he said no. He and Hunter were going to have a long talk later.

"What about women?" his dad insisted. "Does he show any interest in girls?"

"Dad, I don't know anything," Blake said impatiently. He really didn't, either, and that was what bugged him the most. "You'll have to ask him."

His dad finally seemed to accept that he wasn't going to get anywhere. He didn't bring it up again, at least, and at this point that was all Blake could ask. He was taking the truck from now on.

***

"I do not understand why you would choose to believe Lothor over your own parents."

"Because Lothor didn't lie to me!"

"He has lied to you with regard to Malai, myself, and the nature of the dark ninja powers."

"How do I know that? It's just your word against his, and frankly he's got a better track record at this point!"

He shouldn't have said that. Cam regretted the words the moment they were out, but it was too late to take them back. Even if Malai had subverted his parents somehow, it wasn't their fault, and they didn't deserve his anger. And if he hadn't, and Lothor was the one who was lying, then Cam was on the wrong side.

Unfortunately the problem was that even if he shouldn't have said it, it was still true. His parents had tried to protect him by keeping him in the dark, and it was too easy to believe that they were still doing it. No, of course there was no reason to suspect Malai. Of course Marah and Kapri were the ones who had been duped, not Cam's own parents. Of course, they had everything under control, there was no need to worry, he should just go back to class like a good little samurai.

A good little gay, teleporting, half-alien samurai. Yeah. He had outgrown the stage of his life during which he told his parents everything, and apparently it had never been reciprocal. Even now all his father was doing was countering anything he said. If Lothor was willing to actually volunteer information, then Cam was willing to listen.

"Cam!" His mom's voice made him turn, and she flowed into the meditation room like the element she studied. "Where have you been? When Marah turned up missing too, we were afraid..."

She trailed off, and Cam filled in what she didn't say. "Marah put some kind of sleep spell on me, Mom. When I woke up, I was on Lothor's ship."

She gave him a horrified look that was totally out of character. "Are you all right? How did you get away?"

"He let me go," Cam said warily, wondering if he should really be telling them this story after all. His parents were acting... odder than usual. His father was closed off and impossible to read, but his tight control would be in keeping with someone under the influence of a malicious power. And his mother was rarely so dramatic--could that be part of Malai's plan to scare him away from Lothor?

His parents exchanged glances, and for the first time since he'd arrived they were starting to creep him out. "He just captured you and then let you go?" Miko asked carefully. "He must have told you why, at least."

"He said he wanted to talk to me. He said we're all in danger, and he came to warn us but he was too late. He took me because he thought I was the only one who would listen."

"Lothor has never been trustworthy," his father said smoothly. "I am disappointed that he has tried to draw you into his persistent deceit. You must alert us if he attempts to make contact with you again."

His mom looked troubled, but she didn't immediately agree. "Did Lothor say what kind of danger he thought we were in?"

"He said that Malai isn't who you think he is," Cam told her. It sounded stranger in familiar surroundings than it had yesterday on an alien spaceship, but the line between normal and fantastic wasn't as clear as he used to think. "Malai's been replaced by some kind of fanatic shapeshifter that's using his form to spread dissent among planetary ninjas by showing off the space powers. The dark ninja powers. He tried to get Marah and Kapri to join him, but they saw through him and came to Lothor to get help finding their real father."

"Lothor kidnapped both girls," his mother corrected quickly. "Kanoi recognized their disguises and allowed their enrollment at the Wind Academy so he could keep an eye on them. Malai comes to check on them whenever he can. I've known him since I first started training here, Cam, and I promise he's the same man your father introduced me to years ago."

"Malai is no practitioner of the dark ninja powers," his father added. "Nor am I. I am aware that Kapri and Marah have a history of using the powers while in the company of Lothor, but until recently they have completely abstained when on Earth. They had lost all contact with Lothor until he reappeared last week, and we had hoped that they might see reason if left alone long enough. Unfortunately, I fear Lothor got to them before their father could."

"Funny," Cam said neutrally. "Lothor says the same thing about Malai. He was trying to get here in time to warn us that Malai was coming."

"Then why did he not come to us?" his father inquired. "Why go to you instead?"

"Because he knew Malai had already talked to you! He knew you wouldn't believe anything he said after that--"

"We've never believed anything Lothor says," his mom interrupted. "He was banished for a reason, Cam."

"He was banished because of a stupid prejudice," Cam retorted. "Just like the one the Thunder Academy has against samurai. What's wrong with using powers that come from space? Everyone in my family is an alien; you'd think if it was dangerous someone would have told me before now!"

"You live on Earth..." His mom actually looked upset, saddened by his outburst, and he felt guilty for shouting at her. "We thought it was better for you to feel as normal as possible here."

His father held up a hand before she could continue. "Do you not see," he asked, "that Lothor has done to you the same thing that he accuses Malai of having done to us? He has given you a story that will make you doubt anything we say. What proof do you require to convince you that we are telling you the truth?"

Proof. Could they really give him proof? Or was the fact that they couldn't volunteer something without him defining it first just more evidence that the truth was on Lothor's side? "I don't know," he said slowly. "Maybe you're right... if there's nothing I can say to convince you, then maybe there's nothing you can say that will convince me, either."

There was utter silence, and he almost held his breath. It wouldn't--he wasn't in any actual danger, was he? The idea seemed ridiculous. Yet just a few days ago, he would have said the same thing about his father being an alien.

"He hasn't asked you to do anything for him, has he?" his mother asked at last.

"Mom, I wouldn't do something just because a total stranger asked me to," Cam said disgustedly. "Give me a little credit, okay? And no," he added as an afterthought. "He hasn't."

That didn't seem to reassure her, and she sighed unhappily. "Be careful, Cam. If he tries to talk to you again, just--if you won't believe us, please don't believe him either. Use your judgement."

What, did she think his judgement took a break every so often? He gave it vacation time so it wouldn't strike? He was pretty sure that his judgement was more objective than hers was at this point. She had just told him, essentially, to trust them or no one. There wasn't anything unbiased about that advice.

"I really can take care of myself, Mom," he reminded her. "I promise. I've had practice and everything."

His father disagreed before she could do more than stare back at him. "Not when it comes to dark ninjas from outer space."

"Whose fault is that?" Cam countered. "Maybe it's time I got some. I'm not going to get less alien. It'd be nice to know what to expect."

"As long as you remain on Earth, such knowledge is unnecessary," his father said sternly. "Your physiology has so far affected your life in only the most minor of ways--and all of them positive. There is no need to know how to interact with aliens when you will spend your entire life surrounded by humans."

"What if I don't?" Cam challenged. "If people like Marah can come and go from the face of the planet, why can't I?"

His mother turned away, hiding her face, and Cam sighed helplessly. "Mom..."

"Marah and Kapri's transit between the planet's surface and Lothor's ship is accomplished by means of the dark ninja powers," his father told him. "The use of those powers has been banned from this academy, and from every other around the world."

"Yeah, speaking of that," Cam said, glancing quickly in his mom's direction. She still refused to look at him. "There was a Thunder ninja at the beach with me on Saturday. He got suspended for defending himself from Kapri. Can you do anything about that?"

His father frowned slightly. "Why was he suspended?"

"The Thunder Academy put a temporary ban on ninja showdowns to keep our students from being harassed while they're there. Hunter's a Thunder ninja; he fought someone, so he's out. It wasn't his fault."

"Many of the things that happen to us in life are not our fault," his father remarked.

Cam narrowed his eyes. He really hated it when his dad pulled the sensei-talk on him. "Then to be fair, I guess I should voluntarily suspend myself. I fought too, and the Thunder Academy won't like it if a samurai decides he's above the rules."

The rule in question hadn't been directed at Wind ninjas, and since the incident hadn't taken place on academy grounds the Thunders really couldn't punish him for it. His dad knew as well as he did how it would look, though. His dad also knew how hard it would be for Nena to take all of the samurai classes herself.

Whether it was the obvious reasons or something more subtle, Cam couldn't tell, but his father relented. "I will speak to Sensei Omino. It is possible there are mitigating circumstances that have been overlooked."

Like the fact that Hunter had thought he was fighting for his life? Yeah, Cam would call that a mitigating circumstance. Too bad the Thunder Academy didn't take things like that into account. "Thanks," Cam said curtly.

His father just nodded once. "What is the name of the ninja who was with you?"

"Hunter Bradley," Cam replied. "He's an air teacher."

"The one who's been taking samurai classes?" His mother finally caught his eye again, and Cam nodded. "You've mentioned him before... are you trying to convert him?" It was a half-hearted joke, a quiet humor that seemed more apologetic than anything else.

Cam couldn't help thinking back to that moment in Hunter's apartment before Blake had knocked. Blue eyes staring into his, a warm hand on his arm, when all the reasons he shouldn't had seemed so unimportant. "Yeah," he said, giving his mom a small, rueful smile. "I am, actually."

She smiled back at him. "If there's anything I can do," she said, her tone still unusually subdued. Nonetheless, he recognized the offer for what it was. Peace-making. "You know I like a challenge."

He gave her a wry look for that understatement, and her smile grew. "Thanks," he said, amused by her expression and a privately curious about her reaction to Hunter. What would she think of him, Cam wondered? Maybe he could get her to sit in on one of the samurai classes tomorrow.

His father's silence was conspicuous, and Cam decided to talk over it. "I'm going to meet with Nena," he told them, directing most of his attention at his mom. "She must have taken my class yesterday, right?"

His mother nodded, but his father deigned to speak before she could. "Perhaps you should not relate every detail of yesterday's events to the rest of the academy."

"Thanks, Dad," Cam said irritably. "I wouldn't have thought of that. Marah had a family emergency and she didn't want to travel alone; she's on leave from the academy indefinitely. The details of the situation," he added, "are of course confidential."

When his father didn't answer, Cam took a step back. "I'm going," he told them. "I'll keep working on security from the Thunder Academy, and I'll e-mail you if I find anything." For all the good it would do. If the explosions had been Malai's work, as he suspected, then the perpetrator had already had site clearance when things started to go wrong. And if, as a thought experiment, the explosions were attributable to Lothor, how were they supposed to deny access to the sensei's twin?

"Be careful, Cam." Miko held her hands out to him. He took them automatically as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "We love you," she murmured, but her eyes were troubled as he pulled away.

"I love you too," he assured her. He glanced over at his dad, nodded, and turned to leave. The hair on the back of his neck prickled as he stepped through the door, and he glanced up to see Malai hiding in the shadows of the hallway.

Cam continued walking as though he hadn't noticed. He made his way back to his own apartment, checked his almost entirely healed head wound in the mirror, and grabbed the backpack he had filled earlier. Minor positive effects on his physiology, indeed. It'd be hell to explain if he ever wound up in the hospital.

Only as he slung his backpack over his shoulder did he realize that he'd forgotten to give his mother's amulet back to her. Of course, she hadn't asked for it, either. He supposed he might as well keep it... it wasn't like it was reporting back to her or anything. He would have to remember to return it the next time he saw her.

He left through the waterfall, crossed the lake, and hiked a considerable distance down the mountain. When he was sure that he was out of range of the ninja patrols, he stopped and glanced around. He was pretty confident in his ability to spot people who thought they were hiding--ninjas especially.

He was alone. Two fingers together, one fist on top of the other, and a bright light flared in front of his eyes. It was one of the simplest ninja tricks he had ever learned. When the light faded, the sunshine was gone and the dominant illumination came from glowing wall sconces arrayed around the control center of a spaceship.

Lothor and Kapri were huddled over a table on the far side of the room, but they both looked up at his instantaneous arrival. Kapri looked surprised. Lothor just beamed.

"Nephew!" he exclaimed, holding his arms out to the side effusively. "I hoped we'd see you again!"

Cam glanced around, noting the few changes to the "bridge" environment since he'd left. "Yeah," he said. His gaze slid over Kapri--whom he couldn't help thinking looked a little like a lizard--to Lothor. "I have a few questions."

4. Dark Fire

The wooden practice lath cut through the air with a satisfying "whoosh." It snapped back up as he pivoted, blocking an imaginary attacker and maintaining its position while he took a step back. The movements were basic, just an imitation of what someone who had studied longer could do. Normally he'd be embarrassed to practice them in front of people who knew what they were doing.

Today wasn't a normal day. There hadn't been any normal days since the Wind Academy was shut down and its students were sent away to train at schools across the continent. In two days they were all supposed to go home, to return to an academy that had been rocked by sabotage and general weirdness for the past two weeks. No one had heard any official news from Sensei, and he didn't know whether that was good or bad.

So the Wind students were stuck here for now, and the Thunder Academy was still about as friendly and welcoming as it had been on day one. Which was to say, not very. It wasn't a very inclusive school to begin with, freaky stuff was going down lately, and everyone was just generally getting on each other's nerves.

"I understand that Cam has been tutoring you in his spare time," a quiet voice remarked. It was quiet partly because Sensei Miko was usually quiet, and partly because she wasn't talking to him.

Shane had been going through the motions of the kata they'd worked on during class ever since the class had ended. He wanted to talk to Hunter, and it looked like he'd have to get in line if he wanted to do it today. He'd tried to catch the Thunder ninja before class, but being early didn't do him any good when Hunter was late. Cale had started talking to Hunter as soon as class ended, so Shane had ended up hanging around nearby, trying to look like he was minding his own business.

He wasn't the only one still there. More than half the class was still in the training arena, chatting with each other or talking to one of the senseis. Even some of the Thunder ninjas who had come to watch were mingling now--maybe samurai were less contagious when they weren't actively practicing?

"Yes Sensei," Hunter said, apparently in response to the tutoring comment. "You could say that."

Shane glanced in his direction and wondered how obvious it was that he was trying to overhear. Cale had disappeared when Sensei Miko approached Hunter, and even if he hadn't been waiting his turn he would have been curious. Hunter had attended every samurai class since the Wind ninjas had come to the Thunder Academy, and Shane was dying to know what the senior samurai teacher had to say to him.

"He speaks very highly of you." She looked like she was sizing Hunter up, Shane decided. Trying to decide if he was worthy of samurai training, maybe?

Hunter was giving her the same look in return. "That's nice to hear, Sensei Miko."

"I'm Miko Watanabe," she told him, like she was introducing herself for the first time. She bowed, and Hunter was quick to return the gesture.

"Hunter Bradley," he said, a different tone in his voice now. "You must be related to Cam?"

Shane wondered how they had gotten all the way through class with her without someone mentioning that. All three samurai teachers had been present today, and he had wondered if they expected trouble or were just compensating for the increased class size. Now he wondered why Hunter would be interested in Sensei Cameron's family.

"He's my son," Sensei Miko replied, the hint of a smile in her voice.

There was a pause. "That surprises me, Sensei," Hunter said at last. "I expected you to say he's your brother."

Now her smile was obvious, and she sounded more amused than offended. "That's not such a compliment where I come from. But thank you anyway."

"I guess I'll have to get Cam to teach me something about Japan in between sparring sessions." He left off the honorific, Shane noticed, and he didn't sound too worried.

"I'm sure he'd be happy to do that," she agreed. Then she added, "You're welcome at the Wind Academy any time, Sensei Hunter. I'm sure Cam will get you a class schedule if you're interested in continuing your samurai training."

There was a longer pause this time. Finally Hunter responded with what had to be one of the last things Shane had expected him to say. "I'll think about it, Sensei."

"Are you planning to keep that lath?" a closer voice inquired, and Shane snapped the practice weapon down as he turned.

"Sensei Nena," he said quickly. He gave a slight bow and offered the lath to her handle first. "I was just trying to memorize the new moves we learned."

"Don't let me stop you," she said with a smile. "I'm on my way back to the equipment room now, but you're welcome to keep that if you're training with it. Just don't take it off academy grounds."

"Really?" First year ninjas weren't allowed to practice without supervision, and any student who wanted to use an academy weapon outside of class needed an instructor's permission. Being near the bottom of his class, Shane wasn't used to special favors. "Thanks, Sensei!"

"You're welcome." She shouldered the bundle of laths and added, "See you on Friday."

"See you, Sensei." Shane watched her go with surprise and no small amount of gratitude. He was starting to think he might be able to stay in this class after all.

He glanced over at Hunter again, and he tipped his head back in exasperation. Now Hunter's brother was there, hands in his pockets as he stared around the practice arena like he was planning to wait until Hunter was ready to leave. Blake would make it impossible to catch the elder Bradley brother alone.

"What's the occasion?" Hunter was asking.

Blake shrugged. "Mom's around, and Dad thought it'd be nice to give everyone a night off from cooking. He says it does us good to stay in touch with the academy atmosphere."

"What happened to family bonding?" Hunter demanded. "Last month the whole point of eating dinner at home was so that we could see each other outside of the academy. Now we're not here enough?"

Blake held up his hands in self-defense. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger, bro."

"Whatever," Hunter grumbled. "I'm gonna catch up with Cam first. See you at dinner."

"Yeah, sure." Blake took the hint, and Shane took the opportunity as soon as he wandered away.

"Hey, Hunter." He moved in to get the Thunder ninja's attention. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Why not?" Hunter demanded. "Everyone else is."

It was definitely impatient, borderline hostile, and Shane shrugged it off. So things weren't going his way. Join the club. "I heard about the suspension thing," he said, lowering his voice a little. "I was the one who told Sensei Keith to talk to you--but it wasn't because I thought you had anything to do with what was going on. I have no idea where he got that."

"I'm a Thunder ninja," Hunter said irritably. "Of course I'm suspect in anything that happens to the samurai. Never mind that I've been training with them for a week..."

"Yeah, well, that's why I thought you might know something." Shane shifted his lath from one hand to the other uncomfortably. "I didn't mean to sic the higher-ups on you, man."

"Woulda happened sooner or later," Hunter said with a grimace. He held out his hand and Shane clasped it briefly. "No hard feelings."

"No hard feelings," Shane echoed. "See you around."

"Yeah, Friday," Hunter said absently, already looking over Shane's shoulder. Shane stepped out of the way, glancing back to see what had gotten his attention.

There was Dustin, talking earnestly to Sensei Cameron. Shane frowned. What did Dustin want with the samurai instructor? Had he gotten out of class early, or had Shane been standing around that long waiting to talk to Hunter? And was Hunter really going to walk right into the middle of their conversation?

Yes, Shane realized a moment later. The Thunder ninja must have been absent the day they taught politeness in kindergarden. "This a private conversation?" he asked. He had stopped saying "Sensei Cam" as soon as class was over, and Shane couldn't help wondering how someone like Hunter had managed to befriend the way more subtle and reserved samurai instructor.

He didn't hear Dustin's response, but a moment later the earth ninja was walking toward him. "Hey, man," Shane greeted him, lifting his free hand in a quick wave. "S'up?"

"Uh..." Dustin shrugged, a subdued expression on his face. On someone else the look could have passed as thoughtful, but on him it definitely meant glum. "Just trying to find out if Marah's okay."

It would have been a great opportunity to tease his friend if he hadn't looked so bummed out. "Did Sensei Cameron tell you anything?"

Dustin shook his head. "Just that he can't tell me anything. It's all, like, confidential." He shrugged again, lifting his hands impatiently. "I just want to know if she's okay, and he says he can't tell me."

"Dude, I'm sure she's fine," Shane told him. "You know how he is. He's gotta follow the rules."

"Yeah," Dustin muttered. "As long as they don't affect his friends."

Shane gave him a sharp look. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing." Dustin waved it off, then caught Shane's expression and added, "Yeah, well, it's just that Hunter's back in class today, right? Cam comes back from wherever he took Marah and all of a sudden it's like, Hunter's not suspended anymore. He was gonna be out all week."

"Dude, you know he didn't deserve that suspension," Shane reminded him.

"Yeah, I know." Dustin looked away, obviously frustrated.

Shane glanced in the direction Hunter had gone. He and Cam were still talking, heads together, voices too quiet for anyone to overhear. They had gotten pretty chummy pretty quick, but then, Hunter was taking the samurai classes. They probably had stuff to talk about.

Of course, Shane was taking the samurai classes too, and he didn't rate private tutoring from the instructor. Miko Watanabe hadn't talked to him about continuing classes. Was it just because Hunter was a Thunder ninja, Shane wondered? Was Sensei Miko inviting someone from a rival academy to train with her samurai--or was she just being nice to her son's friend?

Someone important had to have let Hunter back in. If Sensei Omino was going to waive the whole suspension thing for a good cause, he probably would have done it before now. Could it have been Sensei Watanabe that got Hunter off the hook? Because Cam asked him to?

"Hey, dinner." Dustin seemed to cheer up at the sound of the dinner bell, and he shrugged off whatever had been bothering him before. "You gonna stick around?"

"Nah, I can't." Shane glanced at his watch and whistled. "Man, I gotta go; I've got homework to do tonight. This whole samurai thing is totally messing with my schedule."

"Yeah, all right. I'll catch you tomorrow, then."

"Sure," Shane agreed. "Later, man."

Dustin waved, and Shane took one last look around the practice arena before he headed for the student lockers. Miko was talking to the youngest samurai, but the rest of the students were already gone. The other instructors had left too... Cam was gone, and Hunter too. Had they left together?

He told himself it was none of his business, but he couldn't help wondering.

"You want me to do what?"

"To meet my uncle," Cam repeated patiently. "I want to see how he treats you. He's ridiculously polite to me, and I want to know if he's like that with everyone or if he's just trying to gain my trust."

So, Cam wanted him to be the guinea pig in an experiment that involved a spaceship full of dark ninjas. Great, fine, that sounded really safe. It was one of those excuses for missing dinner that his parents would just love: their favorite samurai was hanging out with dark ninjas and wanted to introduce Hunter to the crowd.

"I'm not too keen on that idea," he told Cam. Unfortunately, he was keen on Cam, and for now that meant Cam's crazy idea got a pass. "But I'm with you, if you want to give it a try."

"Really?" The Fire ninja was giving him this look like he hadn't expected Hunter to agree. "Right now?"

He debated bringing up the dinner thing. If he didn't mention it, he wouldn't have any excuse to catch up with Blake, to warn his brother or to let his parents know that he was planning to skip their family event. An event, he was pretty sure, that had been designed to see exactly what he was up to and who he was hanging out with on campus.

On the other hand, if he did mention it, Cam would probably withdraw his invitation and tell him that family was more important. Who knew when he would see the samurai instructor after that? Cam had left his phone number on a piece of paper next to the TV in Hunter's apartment, but so far Hunter hadn't dared to call it.

"Yeah," he said finally. "Right now."

And that was how he found himself on a spaceship--an actual spaceship--hundreds of miles above the earth while his parents learned more than they'd probably wanted to know about his priorities. They would start asking questions when he didn't show, and Blake knew who he'd been talking to after class. Plenty of ninjas had seen him leave with Cam. But right now, the fact that he was in space seemed a pretty fair tradeoff for the hell he was gonna catch later.

The fact that he was surrounded by dark ninjas, of course, was another matter.

Cam introduced him to his uncle and to both his "cousins," although Hunter was a little unclear on how they were related. He also wondered if there was anyone else on this ship, and if there was, where they were hiding. He folded his arms before "Uncle Lothor" could offer to shake his hand, and it didn't seem to slow the older man down in the slightest.

"Well, I'm delighted to meet you, Hunter Bradley," Lothor said smoothly. He inclined his upper body in a polite bow, then added, "Any friend of my nephew's is welcome here. Perhaps he can show you around a little, if you're interested."

"Ooh, we can help!" Marah exclaimed, and Hunter glanced in her direction.

"Yes," Kapri added. "We're very good at showing people around. We've had some practice lately, haven't we Uncle!"

"They accompanied us when I showed my nephew around the ship for the first time," Lothor explained, for Hunter's benefit. "Now they think they're tour guides."

"Oh, we could totally be tour guides," Marah agreed enthusiastically. "I've always thought that would be, like, a really glamorous profession."

"Shyeah! With all the interesting people, and exotic destinations, and the really fun shoes..."

"I think we will take a look around," Cam interrupted. "If you don't mind."

Hunter considered Lothor carefully, but he didn't seem at all troubled by the idea he himself had suggested. If he was hiding something, he wasn't worried about them stumbling over it accidentally. "Be my guest," the man said, throwing his arms open. "I don't suppose I could convince you to stay for dinner afterwards? Wednesday is usually Earth Night, and we were planning to order in."

Hunter looked at Cam, and found Cam looking back. "Earth Night?" the samurai instructor repeated.

"We order food from all the best Earth restaurants," Kapri told him, before Lothor could answer. "It's a global menu, truly."

"Which means," Lothor interjected, "that when I let the girls order, all we get is ethnic take-out from establishments in the vicinity of Blue Bay Harbor. Tonight, however, the ordering is up to me, so I can promise you there will be at least some food that is not deep fried."

This time he could feel Cam's gaze on him first. He returned it evenly, determined not to contribute until he had something to say. Cam had brought him here, and Cam could make the decisions on his own until Hunter knew what, exactly, they were deciding.

"We'll think about it," Cam said at last. "Thanks for the invitation, but don't wait for us if you're going to order something."

What kind of delivery service did they get up here, Hunter wondered? He didn't think "thirty minutes or it's free" applied to orbiting spaceships. Lothor might not look totally alien, but he was a little strange, and it was hard to imagine him standing in line at Dominos.

"Enjoy your walkabout," Cam's uncle was saying cheerfully. "Let me know if you need anything, and don't hesitate to send the girls away if they bother you."

This prompted immediate and identical whining from Kapri and Marah. "But, Uncle..."

"No buts!" he told them. "Don't you have some ninja homework you should be doing? Just because you're not in school, that's double the reason to keep up with your studies!"

How they had gotten into the ninja academies in the first place was a mystery. Had they made up their history and contact information? Had the head of the Wind Academy helped them do it? He must have, if they were family and he wanted them there. The admissions process at most academies was archaic, based on a system of recommendations that could be bypassed in any number of ways if someone important enough wanted a potential ninja in.

It was a somewhat subdued Marah and Kapri that trailed him and Cam into the hallway outside the room in which they had appeared, and he decided to take advantage of it. "So, is this what you guys really look like?" he wanted to know. "Did you disguise yourselves so you could attend the Wind Academy?"

"What's wrong with the way we look?" Kapri wanted to know.

"Yeah, don't you like it?" Marah's eyes were wide and she stared at him with a seriously impressive whipped puppy expression. Her lower lip quivered.

"Well--" Hunter stopped, then shrugged uncomfortably. There was no honest way out of this one. "It's, y'know... different."

Marah turned teary eyes in Cam's direction. "Cousin?" she begged.

Cam rolled his eyes, and the look he threw in Hunter's direction was that of someone trying very hard not to snicker. "You've been had."

A giggle escaped from Kapri, and she clapped her hand over her mouth. Marah let out a delighted laugh, all trace of sorrow gone from her expression. "Oh, we really had you worried!" she said in a singsong.

"'Don't you like it?'" Kapri mimicked, giving her sister a high five. "That was priceless."

Hunter frowned, but he didn't bother to open his mouth. He had no idea what to say. The only good thing was that Cam, despite his expression, had managed not to laugh. Hunter had taken their ditzy attitudes at face value, and that had obviously been a mistake. So much for ninja training.

"They're shapeshifters," Cam said, coming to his rescue. "No, they weren't in disguise at the academy--that's what they really look like. This is the disguise."

"It's not a disguise," Marah said indignantly.

"We," Kapri corrected, talking over her. "We are shapeshifters, Cousin. Not just me and Marah. You do a pretty mean motocross outfit!"

Hunter looked at Cam in surprise.

Cam studied the walls as they passed, suddenly paying more attention than any of them to where they were going. Hunter had been noting general surroundings out of the corner of his eye, but now Cam was looking at them like he'd never seen them before. Was he... embarrassed? Hunter's lips quirked at the thought.

"They were trying to show me how to do it," Cam said at last, still not looking at Hunter. "It was the most different thing I could think of."

"He's very good at it," Marah assured Hunter. "Definitely a natural."

"Yeah? So do I get to see this gear or what?" Hunter prompted.

"No," Cam replied immediately.

"Yes!" Marah and Kapri exclaimed at the same time.

Cam glanced at him, and Hunter raised an eyebrow in his direction.

With a sigh, Cam stopped where he was and looked down at the floor. The rest of them gathered around him, and after a moment he held his hands up in front of him, crossed at the wrists. He flung his hands down, there was a flash of light, and there before them stood a motocross rider.

Hunter laughed. He couldn't help it; the uniform was too perfect. His helmet was scorched with green flames, complete with goggles and a SNELL certification logo, and green body armor partially obscured the tunic and racing pants. How the hell had moto-phobic Cam known how to do that?

With another flash, Cam reverted to his ninja uniform, and Hunter protested unthinkingly. "Hey, I didn't even get to see the brand!"

Cam was frowning at him. "Excuse me?"

"You know, your--" Hunter gestured to his chest. "The brand name, on your jersey. It looked like you had one."

"Oh," Cam muttered, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Is that what that is?"

"How'd you manage the look if you don't know anything about it?" Hunter demanded, overcome with curiosity.

Cam shrugged. "The picture of you and Blake with your bikes," he told the wall behind Hunter's head. "By the end of your couch."

"You did that from a picture?" Hunter didn't know whether to be impressed or... yeah, impressed. "Do it again, would you? And ditch the protective gear."

Marah clapped excitedly. He ignored her, but Kapri must have given her a look because she said, "What? Moto gear is soo hot!"

Firestorm. That was what the green oval in the middle of Cam's long-sleeved jersey said. Hunter grinned, and he raked his gaze over the entire outfit. This was his opportunity to stare and be appreciative about it, and he was gonna take it. He couldn't help it--this was what he was used to seeing guys in, what he loved more than anything, and the association of Cam with motocross was just... awesome.

"Now that's hot," Kapri declared loudly.

"Yeah it is," Hunter agreed, and only after the words were out did he realize what he'd said. "I mean--"

"I don't know," Marah chirped. "I kind of like the style better in yellow."

"We know what you like," Kapri said, rolling her eyes dramatically. "If I have to go to one more of those stupid races just so you can flirt with your boy..."

Hunter wasn't listening. He was too busy being distracted by the assessing look Cam had given him when he agreed with Kapri. It was a brief look that had lingered when he caught Hunter's eye. His gaze flicked down before climbing slowly back up Hunter's body, offering a small smile when their eyes met again.

It wasn't his imagination. It couldn't be, right? He wouldn't come right out and call him on it... but he was pretty sure Cam had just leered at him.

"I'm gonna kill him," Blake told the water. "I'm seriously gonna kill him."

"I'm sure he just got distracted by something," Tori said soothingly. They were walking along the beach in the twilight hours after basics, watching the stars come out. "Maybe something came up with a student, or... I don't know. He might not have done it on purpose."

"Tor, the patrol saw him leaving with Cameron. That's not an emergency, that's deliberately ditching your family."

"Well, you don't have dinner together every night. Maybe he forgot."

"I saw him right after class!" Blake exclaimed. "I told him we were doing the family dinner thing tonight, on campus! How hard is it to say, hey, I'm not gonna be there? I could have covered for him if I'd known he wasn't coming!"

This time she didn't answer, and he let out his breath in a rueful sigh. "I'm being a jerk about this, aren't I."

"Kind of," Tori said, giving him a wry smile. "Yeah."

Her honesty made him grin. "Look, I'm sorry. Let's talk about something other than how annoying my brother is."

"How about how nice your parents are?" she suggested. "I like them a lot."

"Yeah, and you totally saved me by having dinner with us," he told her. "Have I thanked you for that yet?"

"Really?" She sounded a little chagrinned. "I thought maybe we were interrupting and you were too polite to tell us."

"No way! You were the best thing that could have happened to that conversation, believe me. I think they asked me where Hunter was five times before you showed up. You'd think I could have just said 'I don't know' once and that would be the end of it, but they're convinced I know what's going on with him and just won't tell them."

"What's going on with him?" Tori repeated. "You mean that he's taking samurai classes? Blake, that's such an honor at our school. I can't believe your parents don't like it."

"I know, I know," Blake said, holding up his hands to ward her off. "I've told them, really I have. But they think he's gone over to the dark side or something, and having the whole Cameron thing on top of it isn't helping."

Tori gave him an odd look, and he wished he'd thought about that more carefully before he said it. "What whole Cameron thing?" she wanted to know. "They don't like Cam either?"

"Well, he's a samurai instructor," Blake said with a sigh. "So there's one strike against him right there."

"He and Hunter seem to get along pretty well," Tori pointed out. "Samurai or not."

Blake was staring out at the water again, not really noticing as the waves rolled in. He remembered looking back and seeing Hunter whispering with Cameron after the samurai class, and he wondered again if their family would have to choose. Would they give up their image of Hunter and accept a new one, or would they hold onto that old image until they drove him away?

"Yeah," he said after a moment. "I guess they're pretty close."

"You don't sound very happy about it," she observed.

He hesitated, not sure he really wanted to get into it. He had been trying to avoid discussing this with his parents for days, and now he was going to bring it up with a girl he'd only been dating for a week? Sure, she didn't have a problem with samurai. That didn't mean she was open to anything.

But if she couldn't tolerate his bro, did he really want to find out later?

"How much do you know about Cameron?" he asked at last. He could at least do a little tactical reconnaissance first. "You ever take any classes from him or anything?"

She didn't answer right away, and he wondered what she was thinking. "He usually teaches the samurai... Dustin says he's taken a couple of the earth classes when one of the other instructors couldn't do it, but if he's taught basics then it wasn't a class I was in."

"So you don't see him that much?" Blake guessed. "You guys seem to know each other whenever we meet up somewhere."

Tori shrugged at that. "He helped me out back when I first started at the academy," she answered. "I was late and I got lost, and Sensei Cameron got me into my class without a warning. He's been nice to me ever since."

Blake frowned. "How nice?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well, I don't get the glare of death every time he sees me," Tori said with a smile. "And for him, that's pretty nice!"

He relaxed a little. He didn't know whether the idea that he might have competition or the idea that Hunter might get hurt worried him more. "So what you're saying is, if some flowers mysteriously turned up in your locker or something, you wouldn't wonder who sent them?"

She laughed. "Well, I won't now!" she teased. "I'll have to warn Cam not to leave me any valentines for a few days."

He gave her a sideways glance, and her smile softened. "I'm just kidding. I wouldn't even look for a card," she added solemnly, and it made him smirk.

"Besides," she said as an afterthought. "Sensei Cam doesn't date students."

He felt her fingers brush against his, and he figured she meant that to be reassuring. As he clasped her hand, though, he saw an opportunity. "Yeah?" he said carefully. "Who does he date?"

"No one, since I've been at the academy," Tori answered. "At least no one that I knew about." She hesitated, then seemed to shrug off whatever she was thinking. "He's really close to some of the samurai, so sometimes it was hard to tell."

Was? She sounded pretty sure that he wasn't dating anyone now, at least. "Sensei Nena?" he suggested casually. "They seem pretty tight."

Tori laughed, and he wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or not. "Yeah, they would," she agreed. "They've trained together forever. But she's not... well, I don't think she's really his type."

Blake didn't miss her hesitation. "Really?" he pressed. "Why not?"

She gave him an odd look. "Why are you so interested in Sensei Cameron?" she asked, smiling a little. "What, are you thinking about taking a samurai class too? There's only one more."

He gave up. He could either ask straight out or not, but he clearly wasn't going to sneak anything past her "My bro's interested in him," he muttered, letting her read into that whatever she would. "We watch out for each other. It's a family thing."

She nodded silently, like she knew exactly what he was talking about. After a moment, though, she asked, "When you say he's interested...?"

Blake glanced at her, trying to judge her reaction. She was frowning slightly, and suddenly it occurred to him that she was giving him his own expression right back. "I mean," he said uncomfortably, "you know. Interested."

She let out a delighted laugh. "Hunter wants to date Sensei Cameron?!"

"Well." Blake shrugged, trying to look over his shoulder without making it obvious that he was doing it. They probably weren't alone on the beach, but it was hard to tell in the darkness. On the other hand, it was pretty hard to overhear anyone so close to the shore. "Maybe," he admitted reluctantly.

"I knew it!" Tori exclaimed. The smug note in her voice made him look at her suspiciously. "I thought they were spending an awful lot of time together! And the way they were looking at each other after Kapri attacked them? Hah!"

So much for her hypothetical intolerance. Had everyone seen it but him? He was starting to feel really out of the loop. "So, you don't think Cameron's gonna shoot him down?"

"Blake, I've never seen Cam warm up to someone the way he did with Hunter. Never," she emphasized. "He's the kind of teacher that doesn't even know your name until the class is practically over. And I've never seen him leave campus with someone who wasn't in the samurai program--or his family."

Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Until Marah, anyway." The remark brought a frown to her face, but then she shrugged it off. "If he's not totally into your brother, I'm going to owe my sister money."

"Your sister?" he repeated, surprised. "I didn't know you had ninja family."

"She doesn't train at the Wind Academy," Tori answered. "She's at the Sun Academy in Nepal. She's met Sensei Cameron, though, and she swears he's straight. We have kind of a bet going on the Hunter situation."

"You talk to her often?" Blake wasn't sure how he felt about his brother being a "situation."

Tori shrugged. "We e-mail almost every day." Giving him a sideways glance, she added, "She's a big fan of yours, by the way."

"Wait a second," Blake demanded. "She knows Cameron, she knows me... who is she? Does she have spies everywhere?"

"Laci Hanson," Tori said. There was a brief pause, maybe to see if he recognized the name, which he didn't. "It isn't you she knows," she continued, taking pity on him. "It's Leanne Omino."

He winced. "Sensei's daughter?" Ninja kids often grew up together, and he and Hunter had spent a lot of time with Leanne when they were younger. She had all kinds of dirt on them. "She can't have heard good things, then."

"Oh, is she on the list of people I'm not supposed to talk to?" Tori teased.

"She's at the top of that list," Blake agreed. "I'm gonna have to start interviewing your friends now. Let's see... where does Dustin ride? You think he wants some competition on his home track?"

"Don't you dare," Tori said with a laugh. "Shane will never forgive us if we both start talking about you all the time!"

He grinned at her. "So you talk about me all the time, huh?"

"Well--" She hesitated, and his grin widened. For the first time, he had caught her off guard. "Not all the time," she temporized. "Just... you know, some of the time."

"Uh-huh," he agreed knowingly. "Some of the time."

"Yes," she declared. "Some of the time. When I'm not talking about something more important."

"Good, 'cause that's how often I talk about you, too," he told her.

She made an indignant sound. "What's more important than me?"

"Uh..." He pretended to give that due consideration, but there was only one right answer and he knew it would make her laugh to hear it. "I can't think of anything right now."

This was a classic bad situation. There was just nothing good about it. Or so Hunter tried to tell himself as he scanned the Bridge of Lothor's spaceship. Bridge cum lounge area, it seemed. Which only made him more nervous, because it all looked so benign.

First off, he wasn't convinced that these dark ninjas weren't just extremely good actors. And actresses. Second, he and Cam were outnumbered if something went wrong and they all ended up facing off against each other. Third, they were in enemy territory with no easy way out. Bad, worse, and rock-bottom as far as he was concerned.

He frowned to himself, knowing that wasn't entirely true. Rock-bottom would involve dark ninjas who stopped pretending to care what Cam thought of them. Right now, they all seemed annoyingly sincere about earning his good opinion. And so far, that earnestness extended to Hunter. He was, after all, a friend of their latest recruit.

He wasn't sure how long that goodwill would last, though, and that alone was enough to make him nervous.

The other reason he couldn't honestly consider this rock-bottom was Cam himself. He was pretty sure that anything that involved Cam sprawled out comfortably in moto gear couldn't be all bad. Right now he was lying on the floor next to Kapri, playing an idle game with her while Lothor regaled them with tales of space.

And that was irritating too, because did it really take a spaceship and a family of dark ninjas to make Cam look that relaxed? He had never acted that careless around Hunter. Not even first thing in the morning.

Time stopped.

Hunter's eyes narrowed and he froze, watching the rest of the Bridge warily. Cam had rolled away from Kapri the second she stopped moving, leaping to his feet in a defensive stance that made Hunter wonder if he had really been as relaxed as he looked. Nobody else responded in any way... not even to blink.

"What's going on?" Hunter demanded, still searching for some sign of trouble, something that could have caused everything around them to just stop.

Cam found it first. "What do you want?" He was facing a shadow that resolved itself into a person as soon as Hunter looked directly at it. A ninja, to be more specific, but who and what kind was open to question. The man's uniform was that of the Wind Academy, but his element symbol was silver with a bi-directional arrow on it.

"To tell you the truth," the man replied.

"Why now?" Cam challenged. "Why after I've talked to Lothor? Why didn't you want to tell me the truth before?"

"Because I thought the truth was self-evident. It is a mistake I have made before, and I hope that I have recognized it in time."

"Uh, hello." Hunter glanced from one to the other, then around at the rest of the Bridge. "Anyone want to tell me what's going on here?"

"Hunter, this is Malai." Cam didn't take his eyes off of the man. "He's my father's younger brother--or he was. Lothor claims he's been replaced by an imposter."

The man lowered his head briefly. "If this is what he told my daughters as well, then it is little wonder they will have nothing to do with me. I should not have allowed them into his company alone, but it is not so easy to make decisions for one's children once they are grown."

"That doesn't stop our parents from trying," Cam said sharply.

"Indeed." Malai's gaze flickered to Hunter. "We fear for our children's welfare even more than we fear for our own, and sometimes this fear blinds us to their capabilities."

Cam visibly bristled. "I can take care of myself," he snapped.

For the first time, there was an expression on Malai's face. It was just a trace of a smile. "As I said," he agreed gravely. "Sometimes we are blinded to their capabilities."

Hunter wasn't sure he was welcome in this conversation, but he knew he wasn't getting any answers by staying out of it. "Is there a reason that no one but us is moving?" he wanted to know.

Malai glanced at him again. "I did that," he said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah?" Hunter looked at Cam to see if he was missing something major, but Cam didn't look any more enlightened than he did. "How?"

"I have altered our perception of time," Malai replied. "It is a skill one learns rather quickly in my discipline."

"That discipline being?" Cam demanded.

"I'm a time ninja," he answered. "One of three elements of the stars, as you each represent an element of the planets."

Cam frowned. "I thought space ninjas were all dark ninjas."

"Darkness represents the opposite of all that is discernible," Malai replied slowly. "Dark ninjas may emerge from any discipline, though of course it is our hope that none will arise in any given class."

"Are they evil?" Hunter asked bluntly.

Malai hesitated. "Dark ninjas often call upon forces that are better left undisturbed," he said at last. "They may use these and other forces to ends that most ninjas consider unacceptable. Though they themselves may not be evil, their actions often are."

What's the difference, Hunter wanted to ask? But he already knew. He liked Cam, and something in him refused to think the samurai was evil. But the dark ninja powers made him nervous. What made a dark ninja, after all? Was it the power they used, or the way they used it? He had wondered before, and he had to admit that right now he was more comfortable with Malai's definition than he was with Cam's.

"Then what are space ninjas?" Cam countered. "You don't study any of our elements."

"I am a student of time," Malai repeated patiently. "There are three universal elements, just as there are three planetary elements. Creation was the first element, duration the second, and location the third. The planetary elements, earth, air, and water, arise from these original three. We now call them origin, time, and space."

Hunter couldn't decide whether to laugh or roll his eyes, so he settled on an intermediate skepticism. "You're saying there are people who call themselves origin ninjas?"

"Some prefer the phrase 'star ninja,'" Malai remarked. "I'm told that the words 'creation' and 'origin' have religious connotations among some cultures. On Earth, however, 'star' has its own unique connotation, so it seems that there is no universally neutral phrase."

There was a pause in which Hunter found himself looking at Cam again. The samurai was frowning, but when he spoke his tone was even. "You're telling me that everything Lothor said was a lie."

"No," Malai countered. "I'm simply asking you to give my words the same consideration you gave to his. I trust your intuition to recognize the truth when you hear it."

Cam didn't answer.

"Look, I know we don't know each other," Hunter interjected, "but I don't get your timing. If what you're saying is the truth, and this whole 'dark ninjas are just misunderstood' thing is a lie, then why wait till now to say something? You obviously knew what was going on. What do you get out of standing by and watching?"

"It is not my policy to interfere in the affairs of others," Malai informed him. "Indeed, it is one of the central tenets of my discipline: a time ninja may not deliberately alter another's history. It is possible that I have subscribed so strongly to this policy that I have failed to realize my inevitable role in the lives of those around me."

"You wanna run that by me again?" Hunter said, frowning.

Malai paused. Cam said nothing, but he was clearly waiting on the answer too. Finally Malai told them, "I lost my daughters to the man you call Lothor because I believed they would come to the truth in their own time. I will not lose my nephew because I refused to give that truth a voice."

"Prove it," Cam said suddenly.

Malai just looked at him.

"Prove that you're a time ninja," Cam insisted. "Dark ninjas can shapeshift, so that uniform doesn't mean anything. Do something that isn't taught on Earth and isn't a dark ninja power."

This time, there was more than the trace of a smile that had been on his face before. "As you will," Malai said, with a small bow.

They were back on Earth.

Hunter blinked. "What--"

That was as far as he got before he remembered what had happened. Or rather, what hadn't happened. No, it had to have happened, because he remembered it. But it hadn't--he had been on the ship, talking to Cam and Malai, and now he was on Earth. Alone, with Cam, no trace of Malai or Lothor or either of Cam's cousins. No time had passed between the two situations, and yet he remembered the intervening events.

He remembered Malai disappearing, he remembered everyone on the Bridge returning to normal, and he remembered the strange look Kapri had given Cam when she realized he was standing over her instead of lying next to her on the floor. He remembered Lothor asking them if they were all right. He remembered the awkward moments that followed, and the excuses Cam had finally made to get them out of there.

And now here they were on Earth. He remembered Cam bringing them here, to the beach where he had first told Hunter about using the dark ninja powers. But it was Malai they had just been talking to, not Lothor... no matter what he remembered. It was like information he didn't ask for had been put directly into his brain. He didn't know what it meant, but he was pretty sure he didn't like it.

"Time's Arrow," he heard Cam mutter. "That's what that meant. He must be able to go back in time, too."

"What?" Hunter repeated. "What just happened? What are you talking about? And how big is your family, anyway? Are they all ninjas?"

"Apparently." Cam didn't look all that happy about it.

When he didn't seem like he was about to say anything else, Hunter prompted, "Well? How did we get from there to here just like that? And how come I remember all this other stuff in between?"

"He did the same thing he did on Lothor's ship," Cam said with sigh. "Just the opposite. I can't believe I didn't see it before."

"What are you talking about?" Hunter demanded. Cam didn't look happy about anything right now, and he had a bad feeling about this. Okay, so Malai's story was pretty fantastic. So was Lothor's. So what?

"On the ship," Cam said again. "Malai said he altered our perception of time. He made us perceive time more quickly than the others so that he could talk to me without them knowing. We experienced a longer time than they did--a whole conversation, while it was only a second or two to them."

"He slowed them down," Hunter said, watching him carefully.

Cam sighed again. "No, he sped us up. It's different. Time isn't absolute; every person experiences a unique time based partly on their velocity, surrounding mass, and sensory perceptions. Ours was faster than theirs for as long as we were talking to Malai."

That made zero sense, but he figured it wasn't important right now. "And we got here because... he did the opposite? Slowed us down?"

"No," Cam said slowly. "That can't be right. If that were true, we'd still be on the ship. We'd look to them the way they looked to us... I think he actually changed our awareness to a different point in our own time."

"What?" So it was becoming the single most important word in his vocabulary. So what? As long as Cam kept answering, he didn't particularly care.

"The concept of simultaneous time is that we always exist at every point in our unique time." Cam paused, then shook his head in disgust. "There's never been any evidence for that, since humans all experience time sequentially. The way we perceive our passage through time varies, but it's always perceived as one moment after another, and the moments only go in one direction, hence the phrase 'Time's Arrow.'"

He hesitated again, but his annoyance now was a decidedly thoughtful one. Like he had forgotten to take all of this personally in his rush to analyze it. "Malai," he said at last, "may have just proved that relativity isn't only dependent on the speed of light."

If Hunter had been lost before, he was now so far off course that he might as well abandon all hope of finding his way and just call Cam back. "So... is that the proof you wanted? You think he's telling the truth?"

Cam's far-off gaze returned to him. Hunter was disappointed to see the thoughtful look fade only to be replaced by an angry, closed off expression. "I don't know. I should go."

"Hey--" That wasn't quite what he'd had in mind. "You wanna ride or something?"

"No." The reply was curt, but he looked like he was about to add something.

He didn't, though. Just turned away and started walking.

So he knew where they were after all, Hunter thought. Cam was heading for the Thunder Academy. Not toward home and his family... but then, he wasn't going back to Lothor either. And he wasn't teleporting. That was something, right?

Watching him leave, Hunter wasn't so sure.

"No way," Tori said, leaning forward to flip through the color chips. "Blue is totally better. Look, this nice ocean blue with the sky blue and turquoise. It's perfect."

"Nah, red is the way to go." Shane moved his chips to the center of the table. "Red is the color of action. This is an action store, and it's gotta be cool."

"Are you saying blue isn't cool?" Tori demanded, sliding onto the floor to challenge him over top of the low table. "Blue is friendly and inviting. That's exactly what a store needs to draw people in."

"And it needs red to inspire them," Shane countered. "If they come in and they're like, 'well, this is nice,' what's the good of that? They've gotta want it!"

"So, what, you're saying it has to be blue and red?" Dustin was watching them from the doorway, wiping his hands off absently as they argued. "Dude, I don't know about you, but I dunno if Kelly is gonna go for that much paint."

Tori leaned back to crane her neck up at him. "What color would you paint it?"

Dustin shrugged. "Well, if you ask me, it's gotta be yellow."

"I didn't ask you," Shane pointed out, while Tori just laughed.

"Have you guys totally repainted the 'Storm Chargers' sign yet?" Kelly asked, coming up behind Dustin and peering around him at the table. "Can I get a prototype or something?"

"We're thinking maybe white," Tori said, before anyone else could answer.

"White," Kelly repeated thoughtfully.

"Yellow," Dustin corrected.

"Red," Shane said at the same time.

Tori threw up her hands. "Well, I wanted it to be blue," she said, rolling her eyes, "but see what happens when we try to compromise!"

"Right," Kelly said, clapping Dustin on the shoulder. "So are you off for the afternoon?"

"Uh, no." He straightened up, switching the rag he was holding from one hand to the other. "Actually, I'm gonna stick around and see what else I can get done on those bikes out back."

"Really?" Kelly looked surprised. "Don't you usually have something to do on Thursdays?"

"Yeah, my schedule's totally messed lately." He offered an apologetic shrug, looking down at the floor and pretending not to see Tori and Shane glance at each other. "Sorry about that. I'm kinda hoping everything'll be back to normal next week."

"Don't apologize," Kelly told him. "I really want those bikes done by the end of the week, so anything you can do with them this afternoon is great."

"We'd better get going," Tori said, starting to push the paint chips together into a pile.

"Oh, you can just leave those where they are," Kelly said. "Maybe I'll have a customer competition or something. Everyone can vote on the new colors until I make up my mind."

"Red is the color of leadership," Shane commented, climbing to his feet. "Definitely go with red." He jumped out of the way as Tori tossed a paint chip at him.

"Blue is the color of intelligence and inner peace," she retorted, and he grinned at her.

"Yeah, you look really peaceful tossing those paint chips around," Shane teased.

"Hey, guys." Dustin stepped in between them, bending down to pick up the tossed paint chip. Handing it back to Tori he informed them, "Yellow is the color of mediation."

"Yeah, well, thanks for your help," Kelly said, shaking her head as she headed back toward the counter. "See you guys around."

"See ya, Kelly!" Shane called. "Later, Dustin."

"Bye Dustin," Tori added, following him toward the door.

He waved before making his way out back, ready to take advantage of the afternoon. He would have classes tomorrow afternoon and evening, and who knew what would happen over the weekend. Kelly had been totally patient through this whole Thunder Academy thing, and he wasn't gonna leave her with anything he could get done himself.

He wasn't paying attention to the time, but it didn't seem like long before Kelly was calling him. Maybe she needed a cover, or to check something out front, or just wanted him to answer a question for someone. He straightened up, reaching for a clean rag as he scrambled up off the floor.

"Yeah," he called, wandering toward the counter. "What's up, Kelly?"

She waved to him from the front door, where she was standing between him and a customer who was barely inside the shop. The door had been propped open today, but most people picked one side or the other. "Visitor!"

Who--

Marah gave him a tentative smile as Kelly stepped aside. He just stared at her for a second, then he realized what Kelly had meant by that. Dustin dropped the rag on the counter and slid around the end as he headed for the door. Marah had come specifically to see him.

"Hey," he said, coming to a halt in front of her. Kelly just smiled and went back to whatever she had been doing, which kind of looked like it had involved something on the other side of the shop. "How are you? I mean, how've you been? I was worried when you disappeared--"

"You were worried?" she echoed. She was doing that cute girl-thing with her eyelashes. "About me?"

"Well, yeah..." That wasn't bad, was it? He tried to remember if there was anything bad about worrying about girls that you had sort of almost gone out with. "Nobody knew where you went. Except for Sensei Cameron, and he wouldn't tell me anything. I heard it was like this big family thing so I was wondering if you were okay."

"You heard it was a family thing?" Marah looked worried about that, but he couldn't figure out why.

"Yeah, Cameron said you had some kind of family emergency and he didn't want you traveling alone or something, so he went with you and made sure you got there safely and all that."

Her smile was kind of sad, and she was looking down at the ground. "Yeah, he did," she agreed quietly. "He made sure I got there safely. But I'm not sure I'm going to be able to come back."

"What do you mean?" That didn't make any sense. "You're back now, right?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, I just came to see you. Um, can we... do you think maybe we could go outside or something?"

"Uh... sure." He looked around for Kelly, and he saw her alone behind the counter. "Kelly, I'm just gonna take a break, okay? I'll be back in a few minutes."

She looked up, then looked over her shoulder pointedly.

"A few minutes!" he repeated. "I promise, I'll be right back!"

Kelly just waved at him, but she was smiling when she looked away. Yeah, she trusted him. She liked to hassle him for his tardiness and his occasional flaky behavior in the shop, but he did good work and she really was the best boss ever. She put up with his weird schedule, and this wasn't the first time he'd taken a ninja-related "break" to talk about something he didn't want her to overhear.

"So," he said, when they were walking down the sidewalk a minute later. "You're back, but you're not really back, because you're not sure if you can come back. Right?"

"Pretty much?" It came out as more of a question than an agreement, and she sighed. "The whole... family thing, is complicated. My family--may not let me come back to the academy."

"Your family knows you're a ninja?" Dustin repeated, surprised. "Dude, are they like, ninjas too or something?"

"Um... kind of. Yeah. I mean, my dad was, but I live my uncle, and he's a ninja too, but he doesn't really... like the Wind Academy."

"Oh." Dustin thought about that for a moment. "So why'd he let you go for so long?"

"Well, Kapri really wanted to go," Marah said with a shrug. "And I get to do whatever she does, so when she talked Uncle into it... it was kind of a package deal."

He frowned. "You mean, now that she's, like, in trouble..."

"If she can't go, I can't go," Marah said with a sigh. "I'm pretty sure."

"That's not fair," Dustin protested. "You didn't do anything! I mean, you did--you did the right thing, telling Sensei what she did!"

"I don't know, really," she said quietly. "I'm not so sure."

"Marah..." He squinted down the street, then made a decision. He stopped, catching her shoulder and making her stop beside him. "Do you need help or something?"

She just shook her head.

"Cause, if you do," Dustin continued, "I know some people that are pretty good with that stuff. I mean, I'll do anything I can, but there are a lot of people that would do anything they can, too, and all together we could totally take care of you. No problem."

He thought maybe she hesitated for just a second. "I can't leave my family," she told him firmly. "If they say I can't go to the Wind Academy, I guess I can't go."

"But you can still see me, right?" He knew better than to argue with someone who thought she didn't have any choice. "I mean... I don't know where you're from, exactly, but if you can stop by Storm Chargers then you can still come to my race this weekend, right?"

This time she definitely paused before she answered. "Do you want me to?" she asked, like she wasn't really sure.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed. "I invited you, didn't I? I really want you to come," he told her, in case she didn't get it. "And I can pick you up or something, give you a ride, if you want."

"No, no it's okay," Marah said quickly. "I'll be there."

"Cool." He watched her for a moment, then patted his pockets to see if he had anything to write with. He didn't. "Come on back to the shop, okay? I want to give you my phone number, just in case."

"Just in case what?" She looked honestly puzzled, and he shook his head.

"In case whatever," Dustin told her. "If you need anything, just call and tell whoever picks up who you are. I've told my parents all about you."

That made her smile. "You have?" she asked shyly. "Really?"

"Yeah," he said with an embarrassed grin. "Really."

She made a happy little noise, sort of a "hmm," and she turned with a flounce as they headed back toward Storm Chargers. A moment later he felt her arm slide through his, and he couldn't stop grinning. Whatever was going on with her, at least she was still talking to him. He would have to figure the rest of it out later.

"We need to talk."

Hunter didn't look up. "Uh-huh."

Blake hadn't bothered to knock, and now he dropped his moto gear bag on the floor and tossed his helmet on top of it without further invitation. "You been avoiding me today? I thought we were gonna meet at the track."

"Left you a message," Hunter muttered, turning the pages of Transworld Motocross without really seeing what he was looking at. He was sprawled out on his stomach on the couch, feeling gloomy and lazy and just generally uninspired. So he had skipped the track. So what? He had wanted to get farther away than a moto bike could take him.

"Yeah, I got it." Blake sounded annoyed. "Lousy excuse, bro. What's going on?"

Hunter shrugged as much as he could while braced on his elbows. "Nothing."

"Us talking means us talking," Blake informed him. "Not me asking questions and you ignoring them."

"Fine." Hunter rolled over on his back and sat up, leaving the magazine where it was at the other end of the couch. "What do you wanna know? Is there a list? Can I do a written interview?"

Blake ignored him. "Where have I been this week, huh? First you're hanging out with the samurai, then you're best buddies with the instructor, and now you're--" He broke off.

"Sounds like you've been everywhere I've been," Hunter said dryly. "What's to talk about?"

"Are you gay?" Blake demanded.

It had been so obvious in his head. It was a lot weirder hearing it said out loud. But... it was still true, right? He liked guys. He didn't want anything to do with girls, not romantically, not sexually, not in any way except as friends and classmates and coworkers. He was sure that straight guys wanted more than that, at least with some of them. Straight guys chased girls.

Straight guys probably didn't wonder what it would be like to kiss Cam Watanabe.

"Yeah," Hunter said at last. He was gay. Well, hooray for him. Welcome to a life of prejudice and mockery. "I guess."

"Are you and Cameron...?" Blake managed to make it a question without actually asking anything.

"No." Hunter frowned at the table in front of the couch, slouching backwards to prop his feet up on it. That was it, just no. He hadn't heard from Cam since the day before and the confrontation on Lothor's ship.

"No, what?" Blake persisted. "You guys have been pretty close lately."

"Lately?" Hunter echoed with a sneer. "I just met him last week."

"Kind of my point," Blake agreed. "What was with the sleepover?"

"He needed a place to sleep," Hunter snapped. "I had one, I offered it to him, end of story."

"Why'd he need a place to sleep? He has a room at the Thunder Academy. He lives at the Wind Academy. What, is he afraid to streak after dark or something?"

"He didn't want to go back there," Hunter muttered. "He just slept on the couch, okay? What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that my bro is sleeping with a guy he just met!"

"I'm not sleeping with him!" Hunter shouted. "He's not even talking to me anymore!"

He hadn't meant to say that. It had just slipped out in a moment of frustrated anger, and it was true and it really sucked when he let himself think about it. Cam should have been on campus today. He should have been around somewhere, and Hunter had covered "around" several times. But he hadn't been able to find Cam, and he hadn't been able to find anyone else who could find Cam, and that kind of worried him.

"What do you mean by that?" Blake asked, frowning a little.

"What do you think I mean?" Hunter grumbled. There were only so many things "not talking" could mean. "He's avoiding me." Or worse.

"Why?" Blake wanted to know.

"I dunno." Hunter transferred his glare to Blake. "Maybe because some people think we're sleeping together."

Blake didn't flinch, which was fair since that wasn't the reason and Hunter knew it. But he did relax a little, unfolding his arms as he made his way around the table. He pushed Hunter's magazine onto the floor and flopped down on the couch beside him. Neither of them said anything for a long moment.

"So, do you like him?" Blake asked at last.

"Nah," Hunter told the opposite wall. "I've just been hanging around with him to drive Mom crazy."

"It's working," Blake warned.

"She'll get over it."

There was a quiet moment, and then Blake said, "You really do like him."

Hunter didn't answer.

"Seriously?" Blake didn't sound convinced.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "What do you want me to say?" he demanded. "Yes, okay, I like him. Are you happy?"

"How much do you like him?" Blake insisted. "Is this like, you'd go out with him kind of liking? On a date?"

"Thank you for explaining what 'going out' means," Hunter growled, kicking the edge of the table uncomfortably.

"Well?" Blake wanted to know. "Would you?" There was a brief pause, just long enough for Hunter to think he was done, before he added, "'Cause Tori thinks he'd go out with you."

Hunter stared at the table. "Tori thinks... what?"

When he looked over at his bro, he found him smirking. "That the esteemed samurai instructor would say yes if you asked him out."

Horrified, Hunter could barely get the words out. "And you were talking about this why?"

"Hey, you ditched me at dinner. She came to my rescue--and by the way, you still owe me for that little interrogation session before Tor showed up. Of course we were gonna talk about where you were. And with who," Blake added.

"It's none of your business!" Hunter exclaimed. "Man, what does a guy have to do to get some privacy around here?"

"Pretty much anything except what you're doing, bro." Blake was starting to sound more relaxed, even amused by his reaction, which Hunter really didn't appreciate. "You want a list?"

He continued before Hunter could answer. "One, you're fraternizing with the enemy. Two, not just any enemy, but one of the most high-profile teachers from the Wind Academy. Three, you're doing it in public, and four, you're blowing off your family to meet privately with a guy you won't even introduce them to."

"They've been introduced," Hunter snapped. "And he's not the enemy!"

Blake held up his hands in a calming gesture of surrender, which only annoyed Hunter more. "Figure of speech, bro. Let's just say, you haven't exactly been staying under the radar lately, okay?"

Hunter glared at the tabletop, but there wasn't anything he could say to that and he knew it. Okay, so he'd been obvious about his interest in the samurai. And maybe he'd been a little too... well, in retrospect, he'd spent kind of a lot of time with Cam. At least until today.

"Does she really think he'd go out with me?" he asked abruptly.

He didn't have to look at him to know that Blake was grinning. "I think the phrase 'totally into you' might have come up. They're going back to the Wind Academy tomorrow, y'know... you better ask him soon."

Hunter set his jaw. "Bro," he began warningly. "Just because--"

His cell phone rang.

He sat forward, his feet hitting the floor as he squinted down at the display. Glancing sideways at his brother, he narrowed his eyes. "Don't. Speak," he ordered, pushing the call button and lifting the phone to his ear.

"Hey," Hunter said, trying to sound casual.

"Hi, Hunter?" There was no mistaking his voice, even over the phone. "It's Cam."

Like everyone in the world didn't have caller ID. "Hey," he repeated. "How ya doing?"

There was a pause. "Well, aside from my ever-growing familial connections and their irritating inability to get their stories straight, I'm fine. You?"

Hunter's mouth quirked, and he glanced over at Blake. His brother just folded his arms and leaned back against the couch, a smug smile on his face. Hunter pointedly looked away.

"I'm cool," he told the phone. "Listen..." Blake was just gonna love this. "I wanted to say thanks for taking me along last night."

For a moment there was no answer, and he wondered if it had been the right thing to say. Then Cam asked, "So you weren't... well, totally weirded out?"

"Nah," Hunter said quickly. As soon as he said it, though, he realized how stupid it sounded. "Well, yeah," he admitted. "But, y'know... the company was good."

He couldn't believe he'd just said that. He heard Blake snicker softly, and he didn't even bother with a glare. If his bro had said it, he would have snickered too.

"Some of it better than others," Cam was saying dryly. "Speaking of which, I was wondering if you had plans for tomorrow night."

Hunter raised his eyebrows, careful not to look at Blake. "You going back?"

"No." The answer was immediate, but the explanation was longer in coming. "Actually, I was thinking of catching a movie or something."

"Sounds cool." Hunter wasn't totally sure that had been an invitation.

"Yeah? If you're coming to the samurai class, we could go right after."

Apparently it had been. "I'll be there," Hunter said, trying hard to suppress a smile. He really shouldn't be so happy about a stupid movie. "Only if we get something to eat first, though. Your class is killer."

"Thank you," Cam replied, without a hint of irony. "Dinner it is. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"See ya," Hunter echoed. He hung up the phone with the strangest feeling that he had been beaten to something important.

Blake, predictably, was smirking. "Cameron asked you out, didn't he."

"What d'you know about it?" Hunter tried to grumble, but it was hard when he was also trying not to smile. He wasn't sure he really believed it... Tori'd been right after all.

"I know it makes you the girl," Blake teased, with a mocking laugh for Hunter's expression. "Careful, bro--if he offers to pay, you're in deep trouble!"

His bro got a well-deserved smack to the back of his head.

"Hunter. Shane." Cam paused a moment before dismissing the class to glance at the two of them. Standing side by side in identical attention stances, they didn't so much as blink when he called their names. "See me after class, please."

"Yes, Sensei." They spoke at the same time, and both replies were perfectly respectful. While Shane stared straight ahead, however, Hunter caught his eye and gave him a look. It was a look that was impossible to define--nothing so overt as a wink or even a smirk, but there was something about it that was knowing nonetheless.

Cam did his best to ignore it.

"Class dismissed," he told his students. It was the last time he would say those words on Thunder Academy grounds, and it was, in all honesty, a welcome end to ten days of uncertainty and veiled hostility. They had all taken it well, but now wasn't the time to tell them so. They would regroup at their own academy tomorrow.

"Sensei?" Hunter's voice caught him while he was reaching for a folder he'd tucked into the equipment bundle he'd brought to class. His tone was smooth... just respectful enough, and no more. It was the first time he'd called Cam "Sensei" after a class had ended.

What was he going to do if Hunter actually took him up on the offer of continued samurai training? Hunter had been only borderline respectful before today: he challenged both Nena and Cam repeatedly, and if he backed off when warned, he'd still made it clear that he was there to get what he wanted out of class--not necessarily what they planned to teach. Today he had been less obvious in his challenges, but that tone had been there in everything he said.

Cam had tried not to let it annoy him. After a few minutes he'd given up and snapped back at Hunter. Hunter had only smiled, and that was when Cam realized it wasn't annoyance he was feeling at all. He hoped no one else could tell why he'd responded. Hunter's attitude was a total turn-on.

It wasn't exactly conducive to a fair and impartial class environment, either. Now he knew why student-teacher relationships got so much attention. If Hunter did come to the Wind Academy, Cam was going to make sure he ended up in Nena's classes.

"I want to thank you both for your interest in samurai training," Cam said, making sure his expression was neutral before turning to face them. "You have a lot of potential, and it would be a privilege to see you continue the development of your skills."

He opened the folder he'd brought with him and pulled out a piece of paper for each of them. "This is the samurai class schedule at the Wind Academy for the next three months. If you're interested in further training, you'll need to be in class at least twice a week. I hope you'll think about it and let me know."

"Sensei Cameron--" Shane looked from him to Hunter and back again. "Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate this. And I've learned a lot from these classes. But the day before we came here, Sensei talked to us--to me and Tori and Dustin--and he said..."

"I know what my father told you, Shane. As far as I'm concerned, you've done exactly what he asked. You've re-evaluated your commitment and decided where your priorities lie. If you want to continue in the samurai program, I have no objection."

"Yeah!" Shane let out a cheer, then abruptly sobered and clapped his arms to his sides. "I mean, thank you Sensei." He bowed formally.

Cam bowed in return, and Shane's serious expression dissolved into a grin again. "Wait till I tell the others!" he crowed, spinning away and catching sight of Nena as he did so. "Thanks, Sensei Nena!" he called cheerfully, and then in a streak of black he was gone.

"Looks like you made his day," Hunter said, hooking his thumb over his shoulder in the direction Shane had taken. The "sensei" was immediately dropped, Cam noted with amusement.

"He deserves it," Cam said simply. "I know it probably doesn't seem like an honor to you, but at our school it isn't easy to get into samurai classes."

"You sure you want me in them?" Hunter was studying him with a disturbing intensity. "Thought you were gonna take my head off there at the beginning of class."

"You were asking for it," Cam retorted, gathering up his things while Hunter watched. He caught Hunter's half-smile out of the corner of his eye, but it was gone the moment he looked up. "And I think you know it."

Hunter only shrugged, but there was a gleam in his eyes that hadn't been there before. "That what you always tell your students when they complain? That they were asking for it?"

"It's what I tell my friends," Cam countered, swinging the equipment bundle over his shoulder. "Do you need anything, Nena?"

"Nope," she said cheerfully. "Just coming to see if you wanted to celebrate our last night at the Thunder Academy--no offense," Nena added, giving Hunter an apologetic smile. "Chitzu and I are taking a couple of students downtown for a round of laser tag. Got plans?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Cam told her. "I'll see you back at the Wind Academy tomorrow."

"Work doesn't count as plans," she informed him. "Come on, it'll be good for you to get out and play. Besides, there are some students around here that look better with a laser target painted on their chest. Come with us!"

"I'm not working," Cam said with a sigh. "Hunter and I are going to dinner, all right? Do I pass your social standard for Friday night, or do we have to stay out past midnight to get some respect around here?"

"Is this a working dinner or a date?" Nena wanted to know. The impish look on her face said she knew perfectly well. Cam would make her pay later. "Because a working dinner's not going to cut it," she continued, oblivious, "but a date'll get you off the hook."

He glanced at Hunter, and they must have been on the same page. "It's a date," they said at the same time.

Cam tried to hide a smirk. "Happy?" he added, and Nena laughed.

"You bet," she agreed cheerfully. "Have fun, guys. Stay out of trouble!"

Cam scoffed. "You're the one going into a shooting gallery with Chitzu."

That made her hesitate, as it should, and she grinned at him. "Good point. Maybe I'd be better off with you guys."

"Yeah," Hunter interjected, in a tone of voice that said exactly the opposite. "I don't think so."

"No?" She gave him a purely innocent look. "Well, have a good time then. See you later, Cam," she added, with a wink that she made no effort to disguise.

He just waved at her as he turned away, rolling his eyes when Hunter grabbed his gear bag. "I can carry my own stuff," he informed the air ninja.

"Yeah, well, I'm not walking across campus with you empty-handed while you're hauling equipment and a gear bag on top of it," Hunter retorted. "Get over it."

That was fair enough, and Cam conceded the point. The efficiency of the scenario seemed a little flawed, though, and it didn't take much to convince Hunter. So they switched. Cam made his way back to the room he had been assigned while Hunter returned the borrowed laths to the equipment room.

It wasn't that it mattered what he wore, he told himself several minutes later. It was just that he'd been wearing workout clothes before he'd changed into his training uniform, and he wasn't going out to dinner in clothes he'd worn jogging. He also wasn't going out to dinner in anything that wasn't comfortable--a lesson he'd learned at some cost years ago. Luckily, that narrowed the choices somewhat.

By the time Hunter knocked on his door, Cam had run a comb through his hair and was putting his glasses back on. "Come in," he called, picking up his wallet as he turned toward the door.

Hunter pushed the door open and leaned around it, pausing when he caught sight of Cam. "Hey," he said after a moment. The corner of his mouth quirked, and he let his head drop as he smiled. "You look good," he told the floor, glancing up at Cam from under his eyelashes.

Cam stared at him in surprise. It had been a long time since he'd inspired that reaction in someone... or at least, a long time since he'd let himself notice it. He couldn't help smiling himself. "Cute expression," he teased gently. "You use that often?"

Hunter's forehead wrinkled, but his smile didn't fade. "What expression?" he asked, pushing the door all the way open as he stepped inside.

Cam tipped his head down and gave Hunter a look from under his eyelashes.

Hunter laughed. "Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed. "I don't do that."

"Yes, you do," Cam replied, turning back to the clothes he'd tossed aside. "Let me just get my phone and we can go."

He heard Hunter close the door behind him, and when he looked up again he saw the air ninja looking around the room. "Didn't get very settled here, huh?"

Cam followed his gaze. "We knew it was only temporary. The only reason I came at all was to, quote, 'set a good example' for the other teachers."

"Yeah?" Hunter was watching him when Cam looked in his direction again. He offered another smile, this one a little more confident than the first. "Kinda glad you did."

Cam raised his eyebrows. "Just 'kinda'?" he repeated.

"Well--" Hunter shrugged. When Cam only looked at him, he shifted uncomfortably. "Y'know..."

Finally, Cam couldn't keep from grinning. "How come you're not this easy to fluster in class?" he wanted to know.

Hunter opened his mouth, hesitated, then shook his head. "You don't look like that in class," he said ruefully.

Cam studied him for a moment. "So, just out of curiosity, why did you sign up for samurai classes?"

"What," Hunter countered, "you saying most of your students are in it for your looks?"

That took him aback, until he realized how what he'd said had sounded. His grin returned, and he gave Hunter an appraising look of his own. "They're going to be in it for yours, at this rate."

Hunter smirked. "You that sure I'm gonna stay in your class?" he asked, abandoning his position by the door to saunter across the room.

"Oh, you're not staying in my class," Cam told him. "You're staying in Nena's class. I can't take that attitude in front of five other students."

"But you can take it alone?" Hunter countered.

It was right at the front of his brain, blocking all other efforts at a witty reply. "I'm going to regret saying this," he remarked aloud. "But I kind of like it."

"My attitude?" If Hunter had been smirking before, he was positively radiating smugness now. "Yeah," he agreed, holding Cam's gaze with a lazy certainty that was still more appealing than it was annoying. "No question you're gonna regret saying that."

Cam sighed, shaking his head at himself. "I already do," he said ruefully, making a move toward the door.

Hunter reached out to stop him, not quite touching him as he blocked Cam's way. "Uh..." Just like that, the attitude was gone. "Weird timing, I know," he muttered, looking uncomfortable. "But now that I've said something I have to go through with it, right?"

Cam frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just..." Hunter was giving him that under the eyelashes look again, and damned if it wasn't the sexiest look he'd ever seen on a guy. "There's something I've been wondering for a few days now."

"Oh?" Cam was willing to play along. "What's that?"

Hunter paused, but when he spoke it came out in a rush. "What it'd be like to kiss you," he mumbled.

There really... wasn't anything he could say to that. There wasn't any way to keep himself from smiling. And there wasn't any clever response he could make except to answer the question. By demonstrating.

A moment later he murmured, "Have you ever kissed a guy before?"

"Yeah," Hunter said defensively, watching him with intent eyes. The intensity wavered a little as a reluctant smile slipped through, and he admitted, "No. Can you tell?"

Cam just smiled back at him. "You don't have to be so polite about it, that's all."

"With you?" Hunter didn't take his eyes off of him, and there was a knowing sparkle in that sky blue gaze. "Yeah... I think I do."

One sugar. Two. Three.

He was aware of Cam watching him, and he deliberately added a fourth. He peeled open some cream and poured that in too. Apparently that was it, because Cam asked dryly, "Do you want some coffee with that?"

Hunter shrugged innocently, plastic straw clicking against the side of his cup as he stirred. "I like my caffeine to taste good."

"What about your seafood?" Cam gave Hunter an inquiring look, then smiled at his surprise. "Just trying to find out what you like to eat. Other than pizza, that is."

"Hey, the pizza was good," Hunter countered, a little off balance. He'd been feeling that way all evening, so it wasn't anything new. Cam, by contrast, was just as smooth on a date as he was in front of a class. Nothing seemed to faze him.

"It was," Cam agreed. But he agreed in a tolerant way that reminded Hunter that it wasn't what he'd asked. "Do you always get ham and pineapple?"

Hunter shrugged. "When I'm not with Blake. He doesn't like pineapple on pizza; says it weirds him out. Having it around ruins his pizza experience."

That made Cam smile a little, and for a moment he didn't say anything. "Can I ask you something personal?" he asked at last.

Like he hadn't already. Hunter wasn't used to having his dates ask him questions. The girls he'd gone out with had usually wanted to talk about themselves... but then, that had been years ago. He couldn't tell how many of the things he noticed were gender-related and how many had more to do with the age difference. The last girl he'd gone out with had been seventeen. He didn't know how old Cam was, but he was pretty sure the samurai had a year or two on him.

"Shoot," Hunter told him.

Cam regarded him over the rim of his own coffee cup, an inscrutable look in his dark eyes. "How long have you and Blake been brothers?"

Not an easy topic of conversation. "As long as I can remember," he said, frowning down at his coffee. "We were adopted at the same time... Blake was two; I was five. I don't--" He shifted uncomfortably, keeping his gaze fixed on his coffee. "I don't remember much from before that."

Cam didn't say anything.

"Mom and Dad never said why we were up for adoption," Hunter muttered. "Maybe they don't even know. I never asked." He paused, then added, "If Blake did, he didn't tell me."

Finally he looked up. Cam had set his coffee down, though his fingers were still curled around the cup while he watched Hunter. It was a disconcertingly knowing expression, and Hunter couldn't help feeling that he was at a disadvantage.

Cam offered a half smile. "My mom left when I was two," he said quietly. "Dad says my first word was 'mommy' and she wasn't even around to hear it. Some samurai mission that she still won't talk about... she was gone for three years."

"Three years?" Hunter repeated incredulously. "Who leaves their kid for three years?"

Who put their kid up for adoption and left them forever? He had blurted out the question without thinking, and he tensed as he waited for Cam's sharp retort. He didn't have any right to pass judgement on someone else's family.

"She thought it was the right thing to do," Cam remarked calmly. "I think, at the time, that I was sure it was my fault. Now I know how hard it must have been for her to leave her family, and how important her work must have been for her to even consider it."

"She probably did it for your own good," Hunter muttered, swirling his remaining coffee around in the cup. "I get that a lot."

"The difference is that I believe it." Cam was watching him intently when he looked up. "I really think my mom had our best interests at heart. I don't know everything she knew then, so I can't second-guess her decision. I do trust her, and I trust that she made the best decision she could."

He couldn't help feeling that he was being preached to, and it annoyed him. Partly because he didn't appreciate anyone telling him what he should or shouldn't feel about his biological parents, and partly because he had a nagging suspicion that Cam had a good point buried in there somewhere and he hadn't quite gotten it yet. He didn't like being the slow one.

"I suppose that's why you didn't believe her when she told you about Lothor," Hunter grumbled. He regretted the words even before he'd finished, but he couldn't stifle the urge to strike back in time.

Sure enough, Cam flinched. "That's different," he said evenly.

It was a cliche, but this time it was also true. Luckily, Cam's restraint gave him a chance to take the accusation back. "Yeah, it is," he mumbled. "Sorry. I didn't mean that."

There was a quiet moment. "Maybe it's not," Cam said at last. "I mean, it is if Malai's brainwashed them. But really... can I take Lothor's word for that? Who do I trust more, someone my parents have disowned or someone who's been helping them for years?"

It was probably a rhetorical question, but when the silence stretched, Hunter offered, "You've got pretty good instincts."

For some reason, that made Cam's mouth quirk in a half-smile. "What I have is a healthy sense of paranoia," he corrected. "That's why I've tagged Malai and Lothor with a systemic marker that will allow me to isolate their location instantly if there's more trouble. And," he added casually, "to lock them out of the Wind Academy if I have to."

Hunter felt a grin spreading across his face. "You don't give up, do you."

Cam gave him a pointed look. "No," he said. He held Hunter's gaze for a long moment.

He couldn't get rid of his grin. "You trying to give me a message, there?" he teased.

Cam tipped his head to one side, his amusement obvious. "Only if you haven't gotten it yet."

Cam was chasing him. Cam was... chasing him? There was something a little bit surreal about the whole thing, but he was doing his best to keep up. "I'm starting to," he said ruefully. "You want to clue me in, here? Why me?"

Cam raised his eyebrows. "Why you, what?"

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Come on, you could have anyone you want. Why pick me? Why'd you come to me with all this crazy stuff instead of... I don't know, what about that Chitzu guy you're always hanging out with?"

Cam looked like he was seriously considering that. "I didn't 'pick' anyone," he said at last. "I just asked you out. Is that so surprising?"

"Well, no," Hunter began. But he hadn't been able to bluff his way through the whole kissing thing earlier and frankly, Cam had been wearing him down all evening. The guy was just so damn sincere.

"Yeah," he said with a sigh. "It kind of surprises me. I teach at an academy that's been giving you grief since you arrived, and my family isn't exactly warm and welcoming... even Blake's got some kind of thing. So I guess I don't know what makes it worth the trouble."

"Speaking of family," Cam said dryly. "You've yet to meet a member of my family that I can be sure is telling the truth. And my school has caused just as many problems as yours... I don't know why you'd want to get involved with a samurai."

"Easy." He smirked down at his coffee. "Cause I like you."

Cam slid his cup across the table until it clinked against Hunter's in a pseudo-toast. "It's mutual," he said, lifting his coffee cup to finish off the contents.

They sat there without talking for a few minutes, two of a respectable number of patrons in the bookstore's coffee shop this Friday night. It probably helped that the bookstore was in the same plaza as the movie theater they'd gone to after stopping for pizza. It probably also helped that the coffee shop sold more than just coffee.

"Scallops," he said abruptly.

Cam got it. "You do like seafood."

"Especially when it comes with french fries," Hunter admitted. "Scallops, shrimp, and I don't mind lobster but it's a freakin' lot of work to eat."

"I'm not good at lobster," Cam agreed with a smile. "I like it better when it's already cut up and put in chowder or something."

"What about Chinese?" Hunter wanted to know. "You eat Chinese?"

"Chinese, yes. Indian, no. Not Thai, either."

"Good to know," Hunter said noncommittally. "You know... if we're gonna do this again, you're gonna have to tell me how to get to the Wind Academy."

"I'll show you around when you have time," Cam answered. "It's harder to find than the Thunder Academy, and it's a lot bigger."

"And more dangerous," Hunter reminded him, a little miffed at the comparisons.

Cam just inclined his head, accepting the addition without complaint.

"You busy tomorrow?" Hunter asked gruffly. He wasn't used to Cam letting him have his way. It made him think more about what he was saying.

"Now I am," Cam responded with a small smile. "I think there's a motocross race at the Blue Bay track tomorrow afternoon. You want to go? We could stop by the academy afterwards."

He had heard about that race, but he was surprised Cam knew about it. "How'd you find out about the race?" Hunter wanted to know. "I didn't think you followed motocross."

"I don't," Cam said with a shrug. "But I figured I should know something about it since it's pretty much all you do in your off time. I did some research yesterday."

That explained where he'd been all day. "Yeah," Hunter agreed. "If you don't think it'd be too boring for you... that'd be cool."

"Well, I'm not going to lie awake tonight being excited," Cam said dryly. "But I'm curious. And like you said--I'm in it for the company."

Hunter was pretty sure that wasn't exactly what he'd said, but he wasn't going to contradict him. "Cool," he repeated, relaxing a little now that they had definite plans for "next time." It might even be safe to let Cam out of his sight, to know that no matter how far away he was they'd see each other again tomorrow.

Not that he really wanted to go home. But they'd been together since class ended, for pizza, for a movie, for the time they'd killed in between, and for the coffee and chatting afterwards. Even if they left right now, it would be after midnight before they got back.

"I guess we'd better get going," Cam remarked, apparently reading his mind. They both had stuff to do in the morning.

"Yeah," Hunter agreed reluctantly. There really weren't any more excuses, and the weird sense that leaving would mean waking up was just that: weird. Groundless. This was real. "I guess so."

After all, he still had a good night kiss coming.

5. Back to School

She sat on an old blanket at the edge of the clearing. Not because she didn't have any new blankets, but because this was the one they had given her at the academy when she enrolled last year and she liked it. She probably wouldn't be getting another one.

She pulled back a corner touched the earth underneath it. Tracing a line with her finger, she slowly drew an "M" on the ground. It wasn't an indented "M", dug into the ground. It was a raised letter, the way they taught all earth ninjas to draw during their first week of class. She slowly filled in the next four letters, then hesitated.

She ran her finger over the earth, finishing her signature.

"That can't be your real name," a voice from behind her remarked.

Marah jerked back, eyes wide as she stared up at her cousin. "How did you--" She bit her lip. She really should have sensed him coming. She was an earth ninja, after all.

He seemed to understand what she was saying, and a brief smile touched his face. "I'm a ninja too," he reminded her mildly. "Mind if I sit down?"

"No, of course not!" She tried to smile back. "Cousins are always welcome."

He took a seat beside her, addressing the blanket as he did so. "It's probably better if you call me 'Sensei' while we're on Earth."

"Oh," she said with a sigh. "Okay."

"So." He nodded at the name she had written on the ground next to her. "What's your real name?"

She hesitated, but it must be all right to tell him. He was family, after all. "Marahsayizena," she told him. "But nobody's called me that in a long time."

"Marahsayizena," he repeated. "That's pretty."

She smiled, surprised and pleased. "Yeah. There was a star, see, and it was just coming up on the horizon when I was born. Sayiz, that was the name of the star. And my mom said she knew I would be a star too, bright and shining and pretty."

"My mom and my dad argued over what to name me," he offered. "My dad wanted me to have a more traditional name. But my mom said she was the one who had to deliver me, so she got to decide. And she liked 'Cameron'."

"It's a nice name," Marah agreed, studying him carefully. He was dressed in street clothes--kind of carelessly dressed, she thought, but he hadn't asked her for fashion advice, so. He was wearing that amulet their uncle liked so much over his shirt.

"Where did you come up with 'Jennings'?" he asked, glancing back at her signature in the earth. "It doesn't sound like either of your names."

Oh, see, she was fine. Kapri had obviously told him her real name, too. So she wouldn't get in trouble for that or anything.

"Kapri picked it," she said with a shrug. "I don't know why."

"I saw Kapri on the ship," he remarked. "She said you like to come here when you're thinking about something."

Marah looked at him in surprise. "She told you that?" She hadn't known Kapri had any idea where she went when she wasn't on the ship. At least, when they weren't going somewhere together.

"Well, what she actually said was, 'when you're sulking,'" he said.

She huffed, probably proving her sister right, but what did it matter? "It's her fault we can't go back to the academy," she complained, waving her hand over top of the name she'd written in the earth. The letters disappeared, leaving undisturbed ground in their wake. "And Uncle blames me for it! He says if I hadn't tattled, we'd both still be students and everything would be fine."

There was no answer, and she thought back over what she'd said and made a face. Oops. He probably didn't want to hear about any of that. Bad memories, and all. So Kapri had messed up the sleeping potion they'd put in his water. She swore she hadn't, that it was because he was partly human that it hadn't worked right, but if it hadn't worked then someone had messed up and Marah wasn't the one who had made it.

"That's not true, you know," he said at last.

She glanced sideways at him. Uncle could sometimes read her mind. But he said only ninja masters could do that. Her cousin definitely wasn't a master... was he?

"I already suspected you," he continued. "Both of you. If you hadn't confessed, I wouldn't have trusted you enough to let you in that morning you kidnapped me. So, yeah, you might still be students, but you never would have gotten me onto the ship."

Hey, the ship. Hadn't he said he'd gone to the ship looking for her?

"Did you say you saw Kapri on the ship?" she asked, frowning.

"This morning." He was leaning back against his hands, still staring at her blanket like it was the prettiest thing in the clearing. "She and Lothor were having some kind of weird ninja lesson."

Marah couldn't help pouting. "She's not even studying earth. I don't know why he's always helping her. I mean, what does he know about air elements?"

"What does he know about any of our elements?" he wanted to know.

"Oh, he studied earth when he was at the Wind Academy." Like her. He should be helping her at least as much as Kapri. But somehow Kapri managed to remember more of her lessons than Marah did, so she could answer more of Uncle's questions.

"Really." It didn't sound like a question, but she nodded anyway.

"Yeah, he was earth and his brother was air. Kind of like me and Kapri," she said wistfully. "Except they were students for longer than we were."

There was another long pause. "Tell me about the space elements," he said at last.

She blinked. "Um... what? What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "Well, you grew up with them, right? I grew up with planetary elements, which you now know something about, but I don't know anything about yours."

"Oh, they're not mine, not really," Marah said quickly. "I didn't grow up with them either. I mean, I grew up on a planet, just like you. Well, not just like you, 'cause it wasn't just one planet, but kind of like you..."

She trailed off, because that probably wasn't what he was asking about anyway. "What was the question, again?"

He smiled a little. "I have a lot of questions," he admitted. "But I'd like to know something about the space elements, if you don't mind."

"Sure," she said doubtfully. "I don't really know that much, though."

"You know more than I do," he pointed out. "Just summarize them for me. What are they, what do they do, who uses them. That's all."

That was all? Just a comprehensive test of everything she'd learned? She sighed, wondering why everyone had to be a teacher. "Well, there's time and space, and, oh, stars, so those are the three elements.

"Time ninjas use time to, like, go back and forth and confuse people by not being where you saw them last. Space ninjas use space to, um, create cool energy beams that move things around and stuff. Star ninjas..."

Here she hesitated. She'd never seen a star ninja, not a real one, anyway. "Well, I don't know what star ninjas do, but Uncle says I'm a star affinity and that's very rare."

"Why is it rare?" he asked.

Marah shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't seem very special to me. I can't do any of the cool things that Kapri does."

"Why," he said, "what's Kapri?" He sounded kind of worried, she thought.

"She's a space affinity, like Uncle. I think that's why he likes her better," she said with a sigh. "Well, that and the way she remembers things. She remembers way more than I do. But don't tell her I said that," she added quickly.

"I won't," he promised. Then he asked, "What about the dark ninja powers? I thought they were a space element."

"Oh, no, they're just part of the space element." She made a face. "That's why I'm not as good at them as Kapri. She and Uncle keep trying to teach me, but I'm mostly just good at teleporting. Which is good, I mean, it's really useful, but it sure would be nice to be able to make those forcefields like Uncle can do."

"I thought anyone could learn to use the dark ninja powers," he said.

She looked down at the blanket, wishing he didn't sound so surprised. "Anyone except me, I guess."

"I didn't mean it like that." He sounded startled. "I mean, you can teleport, so obviously you can use them."

She hadn't expected him to try to cheer her up. "Well, sure, 'cause I'm a ninja. I can use any of the space elements, but my affinity for stars is the strongest. So learning about stars should be lots easier than learning about space. Except there isn't anyone to teach me," she added morosely.

"That's what we say about planetary elements," he murmured. "I have an affinity for earth, but I can use air. It just doesn't come as easily."

"Well, yeah." She gave him a sideways look. "All the ninja elements are pretty much the same. Planetary or space, it doesn't really matter.

"You're probably a space affinity," she said, a little envious. "Since you learned to teleport so fast. It took me hours."

"Well," he said after a moment. "If I ever learn how to make forcefields, I'll try to teach you."

That made her smile. "Does that mean you're going to still visit us?" she asked eagerly.

He lifted his head, looking at the trees for a while before turning his head toward her. "Do you want to stay at the academy? Keep studying as a Wind ninja, I mean?"

"Yeah, of course!" She was a little indignant that he even had to ask. "But I can't, because now everyone thinks we were trying to kill you or something."

"Not exactly," he said carefully. "Yes, it's going to be harder for Kapri. But your cover story was ambiguous enough that I don't think you'll have as much trouble."

She'd like to think he was giving her a chance, but she knew better. "I wish I could," she said with a sigh. "But if Kapri can't stay, then neither can I."

"I already talked to Kapri," he reminded her. "She managed to convince me that you were both just trying to get me to listen to Lothor. She was a little... overenthusiastic about it, but she's promised not to accidentally kill me if she comes back. I'm probably safer if I have her where I can keep an eye on her anyway."

Marah gave him a wide-eyed look. "You're letting her back into the Wind Academy?"

He nodded. "Both of you can come back if you want to."

"But--really? What about Sensei Watanabe?"

He got kind of a funny look on his face then, but he shrugged it off. "Dad said it's up to me, since I was the one who was attacked. I think he's trying to make up for the whole Lothor thing."

She frowned. "The whole what?"

"Let's just say, if it were up to Dad, I wouldn't even know Lothor existed," he said, shaking his head. "Needless to say, he'd prefer me to never speak to your uncle again. I prefer otherwise."

She tried to figure that out, and he saw her expression.

"We had a fight," he clarified. "He lost, and now he's trying to apologize without having to actually say the words. So I get to decide whether you and Kapri can stay at the academy or not."

"Oh!" She brightened. "And you decided that we can?"

A smile flashed across his face. "Yeah... cousins are always welcome."

Hunter would be the first to admit that he wasn't paying attention. He'd had a good weekend. In fact, he'd had a great weekend. But it seemed like it was a long time ago, even if it was only Tuesday, and he was impatiently waiting for the end of class.

Cale seemed just as distracted. The kid was barely looking at him, and they'd been jousting partners for the last ten minutes. It was supposed to be a cool-down exercise, a way to relax at the end of class, but between the two of them they might as well be tripping over each other.

He thought Nena might have made a mistake putting him with the youngest person in the class. Apparently Thunder ninjas were still too intimidating to make eye contact with, no matter how long the kid had spent at the Thunder Academy. Weird, though. He'd thought he and Cale had sort of bonded over motocross outside of class, but maybe it didn't count when they were trying to hit each other with wooden laths.

"Matte!" Nena's voice called a halt to their final exercise, and he managed not to roll his eyes in relief. Finally.

He turned to his partner and bowed, getting a stiff bow in return before they went to line up with the other samurai students. As the newest members of the class, he and Shane stood at the end of the line. There were only four other people in the class with them, and he wondered where their missing samurai was.

"Kiotsuke!"

They came to attention, and Hunter was only half-listening until Nena deviated from the expected script. "Advanced samurai has been rescheduled for four-thirty tomorrow," she told them. "It'll meet right after basics and it will be taught by Sensei Cameron."

Hunter wondered absently if they always announced teachers here. Even guest teachers weren't usually announced in advance at the Thunder Academy. It was possible that the information had been aimed at him, though--he wouldn't be welcome in tomorrow's class, and not because it was advanced.

Cam had made it very clear that Hunter was not to show up to any of his classes. He had actually taken Hunter's samurai schedule back and written in the days he knew he would be teaching. He had gotten Hunter's schedule in return, free evenings and afternoons, with the promise that he and Nena would try to switch off often enough that Hunter could meet his two-class-per-week minimum for the program.

"Don't forget the camping trip this weekend," Nena was saying. "We'll be leaving from campus at three o'clock on Friday afternoon. You can bring ninja family and friends, but the activities will be based on your samurai training and everyone will be expected to participate."

Hunter glanced sideways at Shane, wondering what he'd missed. Shane gave a tiny shrug, apparently just as surprised, and Nena must have seen their confusion. "Everyone in the samurai program is welcome to join us," she added. "Shane, Hunter, you can see me after class if you're interested."

"Yes, Sensei." They replied at the same time, but Hunter's mind was already somewhere else. Still somewhere else, more likely. Somewhere with--

He caught sight of Cam just as Nena called them to attention again, so he didn't get to watch the other samurai teacher wander around the outside of their practice arena. He bowed out with the rest of the class, then turned to Shane and clasped his hand, rapped their knuckles together, and slapped his shoulder absently. Nice to have another new guy in the class, and Shane was okay.

Cam was better. He also seemed to be suddenly invisible. Hunter turned around, trying to spot him--geez, how did he do that? He'd just seen the guy!

"Have a good day?" Cam's voice came from right beside him, and no way did he not know that Hunter had been looking for him. Hunter turned, a complaint on his lips that was wiped away with a brief kiss. "Hello."

"Hey," Hunter said, and he couldn't help smiling. "You here to pick me up, or what?"

"Yeah," Cam agreed. "Want to get some coffee?"

"Sure. Let me just--" He gestured around the arena vaguely. "You know.

"Hey," he added, starting to gather up his gear. "You didn't mention this camping thing--"

He caught Cam's eye then, and he was surprised to see the samurai shake his head slightly. Okay. Right. "And I want to catch up with Nena and ask her a couple of questions about it," he finished. "You mind waiting?"

"No," Cam said, like Hunter wasn't about to go get coffee with someone who probably knew everything there was to know about the trip. "Go ahead."

So he did, trying to ignore the weirdness. Nena acted like it was normal, so that helped, but Shane gave him kind of a strange look. You and me both, he wanted to say, but it was Cam's campus and he would play by Cam's rules.

Luckily, they weren't staying on Cam's campus. He'd thought "coffee" meant "coffee in the Wind Academy's dining hall," but apparently Cam had been thinking off-site. Hunter hadn't brought his bike, but Cam seemed fine with streaking back to Fairhaven with him. So that was what they did.

Once they came to a halt out behind the garage, Hunter resettled his gear bag and started for the stairs. Better if he didn't make a big deal of it, maybe, but he'd never been good at laying low. "So why is the camping trip off limits?" he called over his shoulder. "I could have asked any of the other samurai about it and they'd have told me."

"Yeah, but you didn't," Cam answered. "You asked a samurai teacher whom you happen to be dating."

"You're kidding." He might not have rolled his eyes if Cam could see his expression, but he couldn't and he did. "You're not even my samurai teacher anymore. I can't ask you anything about the program at all?"

"Sure you can." Cam sounded wry. "Just not where anyone from the Wind Academy can hear you.

"I'm sorry," he added. "I know it's annoying, but when you grow up being the son of the sensei, you hear endless lectures about favoritism and going through the proper channels."

The son of the sensei. Yeah. That was a whole other thing that Hunter was trying not to think about. He fumbled with his keys, managing to get the appropriate one into the lock, and he shoved his way into the apartment. "If one of the other students had asked you about the trip, would you have answered them?"

"I didn't say it made sense." Cam closed the door behind them, and Hunter looked back in time to see him shove his hands into his pockets. "Believe me, I had this argument with my dad a thousand times. Which is why I eventually ended up at the Fire Academy," he added.

Yeah, well, as appealing as dropping the program sounded, he was interested in this whole camping trip thing. "So tell me about it now," he said, dropping his bag at the end of his bed and turning back to catch Cam's reaction. "The camping thing, I mean. You going?"

Cam gave him a skeptical look. "You must be kidding."

Hunter raised his eyebrows. "Don't want me to go?"

"No." Cam's skepticism was quickly turning into amusement. "I just can't imagine why you think anyone would mention me and camping in the same sentence."

Hunter let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Maybe 'cause they want you to go," he suggested. "Maybe 'cause they want to see you drinking from plastic cups and eating off of paper plates."

"Maybe they've never met me," Cam replied dryly.

Hunter smiled. "Maybe they're hoping to share a tent with you, and they want to see what your pajamas look like."

"I don't camp," Cam informed him.

"Well, until last week, I didn't date guys," Hunter countered. "Things change."

"I've been through a lot of change recently," Cam responded. "I'm not sure my identity can stand another radical shift like this."

Hunter smirked at him. "Scared to find out?"

"Scared to be anywhere without running water," Cam told him.

"Oh, there you're in luck." He really didn't camp, Hunter realized. It didn't get closer to the Wind Academy than the Bear Brook campground, and Cam hadn't even been there. "Campground's got bathrooms, showers, bug lights outside, the works. Plenty of modern conveniences."

"First off," Cam said, eyeing him, "how do you know what the campground is like? And second, I'm afraid the fact that you just referred to bug lights as a modern convenience tells me something about your standards."

Hunter grinned. "Don't underestimate the power of a good bug light," he teased. "If there were more of them at the academies, dawn classes would be a lot more fun."

"I'll mention that to Dad," Cam said dryly. And it was weird, but suddenly Hunter got what he meant about favoritism. Because he was in the most exclusive program at the Wind Academy for no reason except that he had shown up at a few of their classes... and he also happened to be dating the sensei's son.

"We--" He shook his head, looking around for something to do. "Uh, me and Blake go camping a lot. We've been down to Blue Bay Harbor for races a couple of times, and we stayed at Bear Brook overnight."

"The closest I've been to camping is the three days I had to spend outside earning my ninja element," Cam said, watching him kick some socks under the bed. "I can't say I'm eager to repeat the experience."

"That wasn't camping," Hunter said over his shoulder. "That was survival."

"And this isn't?" Cam inquired. He sounded amused, at least, so that had to be a good sign. Hunter was pretty sure that anything Cam really didn't want to do wasn't open for debate, so the fact that they were still talking about this meant the odds were in his favor.

"This," Hunter assured him, abandoning the pretense of activity, "is an outdoor hotel. I've got an all-weather recliner, a portable stove, and a tent you can stand up in."

Cam was smiling as he shook his head. "I'm not sleeping on the ground."

"Air mattress or cot?" Hunter inquired. When Cam eyed him, he added, "I have both."

Cam folded his arms. "I wouldn't be able to stay all weekend," he warned.

"So we'll leave early," Hunter said with a shrug. "No problem."

"You're changing my identity," Cam informed him.

Hunter didn't have a lot of sympathy. He might yet turn Cam into a camping biker, but Cam was turning him into a gay samurai, so he thought they were pretty much even. And he knew agreement when he heard it.

"I'll buy you coffee," he promised, holding up his keys. "The good kind that costs, like, ten dollars a cup."

"Now I can be bought for a cup of coffee," Cam said, rolling his eyes. "It just gets better."

Hunter grinned, but he wasn't kidding when he said, "I could've told you that."

"And you'd be right," Cam agreed, catching the change in tone. "My entirely characteristic complaints notwithstanding."

"I figured," Hunter told him. But it was good to be sure.

Cam smiled. "So, when I said I was picking you up, earlier? What I really meant was that I was letting you pick me up."

Hunter laughed, grabbing his wallet and waving toward the door. "Yeah," he said. "I figured that, too."

"It can't be a three or a four," she said, leaning over the book from the other side of the table. "You've already used those in that row."

"Yeah, okay." Chitzu kept staring at the page like that didn't help at all.

"And both these squares have to be either six or nine, so this one can't be either," she told him.

He frowned at that. "Huh."

"So it's obviously a seven." Nena reached over and plucked the pencil from his fingers, writing a big "7" in the middle of the grid.

"Do you want to do this yourself?" Chitzu demanded.

"I already am," she pointed out. "How can you be bad at this? Your country invented it."

"No, your country invented it," he countered. "We just gave it a cool name."

"Oh, not you too." Cam's tone said "you've got to be kidding me" without him having to actually voice the words. "Aren't there enough challenges at the academy without numeric crossword puzzles?"

"That's the whole point," Nena said, moving her chair over so he could join them at the table. "It's relaxing."

"It's mindless," Cam countered. He turned over his cup as he sat down and reached for the teapot next to Chitzu. "And when you're done, what do you have? A bunch of numbers in a grid. Great. Frame it and hang it on the wall."

"It's arbitrary," Chitzu agreed, "but it's not mindless. Seriously, can you do this? I suck at it."

"I'd rather not damage my reputation further by letting the rest of campus see me doing sudoku in the dining hall." Cam didn't even glance at the book while he served himself.

"Yeah, because your reputation has so far to go." Chitzu let go of the page he'd been studying and leaned back in his chair. "Did you make anyone cry in advanced samurai today?"

"No, surprisingly, without you speaking Japanese at them every five minutes they were all perfectly fine," Cam replied. "And where were you, anyway? Do you not show up to samurai classes anymore?"

Chitzu frowned. "I left you a note on the notice board. Ash asked me to go hiking with the air elements. You didn't get it?"

"Oh." Cam looked somewhat mollified. "I didn't have time to stop by the teacher's wing before class. Sorry."

"Yeah, you get a 'sorry'," Nena complained, reaching for the rolls. "He would have chewed me out for not sending a personal messenger."

"Special dispensation for former boyfriends," Cam informed her. "He could seriously embarrass me if I make him mad."

She shook her head. "I think you should date me," she said with a sigh. "I'm the only samurai teacher who's not related to you somehow."

"Oh, exes are relatives now?" Chitzu grinned across the table at her. "My family just got a lot bigger."

"People you go out with once aren't exes," Cam corrected. "You have to date someone for more than a day for them to count as a former anything."

Chitzu laughed. "You just can't stand not being special, can you."

"No," Cam agreed with careful dignity. "I can't."

Chitzu picked up his glass and leaned forward. Cam lowered his tea cup and clinked it against Chitzu's glass before setting it back down. "We get along well," Chitzu told her. "He tells me what he wants, and I give it to him."

"I should date you instead," Nena decided. "When you get bored with being gay, let me know."

"We won't be able to go out more than once," Chitzu warned her. "Cam likes being the only real ex."

"Don't be ridiculous," Cam said. "You can date someone for at least a week before they become potential ex material."

"Oh?" Nena raised her eyebrows at him. "So, Chitzu has three more days before Hunter is competition?"

"Two," Chitzu said, hanging one arm over the back of his chair and regarding Cam with an amused look. "So what are you doing for your one-week anniversary? Got anything romantic planned?"

"Insofar as sleeping together is romantic," Cam said calmly. "Yes."

Nena choked on her water and Chitzu let out a whoop. "Leave it to you to plan it! Did you write that on your day planner? Week one, sleep with Hunter!" he crowed. "Week two, propose! What are you saving for week three? The wedding?"

Cam closed his eyes, but he was smiling. "That's what I get for trying to make a joke," he murmured. "I didn't realize you were going to yell it to the entire dining hall."

Chitzu was laughing at him, and Nena glared at them both as she set her water down carefully. "I swear to god," she told them, "if you weren't so entertaining, I would never eat with you."

"I'm going on the camping trip," Cam said with a sigh. "Apparently Hunter thinks that sharing a tent in the middle of the wilderness will be a bonding experience."

"In the middle of the wilderness, maybe," Chitzu agreed, smirking at Nena. They liked to gang up on Cam for his not-very-well-hidden dislike of the outdoors. "But a campground with roads and parking lots and half the samurai program hanging around?"

"Still a bonding experience," Nena put in. "Maybe not as romantic, though."

"Why do you like camping?" Cam wanted to know. He was looking at Chitzu. "Your country doesn't even have wilderness."

"How would you know?" Chitzu countered. "It's not like you looked for it while you were there."

"Or anywhere else," Nena added, smiling when Cam gave her a look. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"It will be a disaster," Cam predicted. "I don't even know what tents look like, let alone how to set one up. I don't own a sleeping bag. And I'm definitely not at my best first thing in the morning."

"That's true," Chitzu interjected.

"You can borrow a sleeping bag from the academy," Nena told him. "And Hunter must have a tent, right?"

"Why do you just assume he has a tent?" Cam wanted to know. "What, all normal people have tents?"

"He's the one who wanted to go," she said patiently. "And he talked you into it, which can't have been easy, so he really wants to go. He has a tent. And if he has a tent, he knows how to set it up, and he'll probably enjoy the chance to show off for you. Don't worry."

"Yeah, give him a chance to be better at something than you are," Chitzu remarked. "Your ability to be frighteningly knowledgeable about everything is kind of intimidating."

"Somehow I don't think that's going to be a problem," Cam muttered.

Not the most important one, anyway. She didn't realize there were issues beyond Cam's fear of looking stupid until they joined Sensei Miko later that evening for their weekly staff meeting. Cam opened with a question about Cale, who hadn't shown up to the advanced samurai class, and Miko got very quiet. Or at least, quieter than usual, and for her that was saying something.

"Cale's parents have talked to me about withdrawing him from the samurai program," she said at last. "They haven't made a final decision. But for the time being, he won't be attending your classes."

Nena and Chitzu exchanged glances, but Cam sounded more startled than offended. "He won't be attending samurai classes in general, or my classes in particular?"

"For now, he'll just come to Nena's classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays." Miko's expression was inscrutable.

"Because she's a better role model?" Cam's dangerous tone made it clear that he got it, now.

"He's twelve years old, Cam." Miko's deliberate calm slipped a little when she sighed. "His parents have a right to raise him however they see fit."

"I've been gay all along," Cam snapped. "They never had a problem with my teaching style before."

Miko put her hands on the table, pressing her fingertips together. "It's not your orientation they object to, exactly. From what I can tell, it's more about the fact that you're seeing one of the samurai students."

Cam didn't seem to have an immediate answer for that, so Nena jumped in. "We moved Hunter out of his class as soon as they started dating," she pointed out. "And it's not like Cam isn't an expert at dealing with issues of favoritism."

"It's not about favoritism either, is it." Chitzu was watching Miko closely, but whatever he was seeing, Nena wasn't getting it. "They can't really believe Cam would make a move on their son."

"It's more about what they believe Cale would think," Miko said carefully. "His teacher just started dating one of the other students--a male student--and that makes him aware of possibilities he might not have considered before."

"If he made it to junior high without knowing that adults have relationships," Cam said stiffly, "then someone was going to have to disillusion him."

"That's not our decision," Miko pointed out. "He's a minor, and it's his parents' responsibility to make that decision for him. Not ours."

Cam folded his arms, but he didn't refute that.

"So--" Nena glanced from one of them to the other. "The fact that being in my classes puts him with Hunter doesn't bother them?"

"They're still discussing it," Miko said again. "Right now, not so much. They prefer that Cale train with Hunter rather than study with Cam."

"Still in the room," Cam muttered.

"There are rules about this," Miko reminded him. "You've followed them to the letter. You've gone beyond what official school policy asks of you and made an effort to make this as easy as possible for everyone involved. You're not responsible for one family's paranoid flight of fancy."

Nena blinked. She sometimes forgot how sharp Miko could be when she thought people were being foolish. The senior samurai teacher was kind and gentle and stronger than anyone else she knew. It was hard to remember, sometimes, that Cam carried a double dose of intensity in his genes. His father wasn't the only one who could see right through you.

"Maybe not paranoid," Chitzu said mildly. Of course he would dare to contradict Miko. "Overprotective might be a better word. They're not residential, and they're sending their only child off to an academy they haven't trained at for years. They just want him to feel safe."

Cam's mom just inclined her head, accepting the correction with a small smile.

"Thank you for implying that I don't make students feel safe," Cam told him.

Chitzu rolled his eyes. "Not everything is about you," he replied. But he put a hand on Cam's shoulder and squeezed as he said it, and the words came out sounding more like reassurance than anything else.

"Let's talk about the camping trip," Miko suggested. She probably meant to give Cam a break, let him off the hook for a few minutes, but of course it wasn't going to work out that way.

"Would it be better if I didn't go?" Cam asked immediately.

"Nice try," Nena told him.

"Hunter's going," Chitzu explained, for Miko's benefit. "He talked Cam into coming along."

"You're not getting out of it, either," Nena added. "Cale's bringing both his parents. He'll feel plenty safe."

"You're camping?" The amusement with which Miko regarded her son was obvious. "You know you won't be able to plug in your laptop. How long does it run on battery power? Six hours? Seven?"

"Yes, very funny." Cam gave her an annoyed look in return. "I'm happy to miss the trip if it's going to cause problems for the program."

"Your sense of social justice is disturbingly transitory today," Chitzu observed.

"There's no reason for you to change any of your activities," Miko said firmly. "Obviously, we don't want to lose Cale if he's getting something from the program, but we don't cater to--" She glanced at Chitzu. "Overprotectiveness, here."

"Fine," Cam muttered. He didn't look like someone who was being supported. "I won't change my activities."

"Just remember," Chitzu added blandly, "it's a family camping trip. No shaking the tent."

Nena's eyes widened, and she darted a look at Miko. But Cam's mom was looking down, like she was hiding a smile, and all she said was, "If you're sharing a tent, be discreet. The same rules apply to everyone on the trip."

It was Cam's expression that finally made Nena crack. She started giggling even as he yelped, "Mom! We just started dating! There's nothing indiscreet going on!"

"Even on your anniversary?" Chitzu inquired.

Cam just glared at him.

Blake had other things to worry about. Like the wave-running competition and how to get Tori to sign up for it. He was pretty sure that she could get permission to train for it at the Thunder Academy, since they were the only local school with an invisible beach, and if she was training there she'd be allowed to streak up from the Wind Academy.

The restriction on student streaking was really kind of annoying, he decided. Potential misuse of power, the possibility of the academies being revealed by people who didn't know what they were doing... there were plenty of legitimate and totally arbitrary reasons for it. After all, skilled ninjas could screw up too. And they could do a lot more damage than a student.

As it stood, though, Tori wasn't allowed to streak anywhere without teacher-level permission or higher. And he was pretty sure someone would catch on if it was Blake Bradley's name that kept approving her supposedly academy-related use of ninja streaking. He had to find something that actually would be related to the academy, so someone else could approve her. Then if the two of them happened to go out after her training, well, that was just an efficient use of the circumstances.

Wave running would be a great skill for a first year water ninja to develop. He could make a great argument for that to anyone who asked. The fact that he was particularly good at it was just an added bonus. He still had people to convince, though--and first among them was Tori.

So Blake had plenty to worry about other than whether or not his older brother had come out to their parents yet. Or if he ever would, for that matter. It wasn't like Blake went around discussing his brother's social life with just anyone, and aside from one excruciatingly awkward conversation with his dad, he didn't have any plans to start doing it with his family.

Unfortunately, it seemed that his family had other plans.

He would have liked to blame his brother, since it wasn't like Hunter had to bring it up while he was around. But all Hunter did was answer when their mom asked if they had plans for the weekend. It was just before dinner Thursday night, and she was probably trying to figure out if they should bother with a meal list for the weekend. If everyone was going to be out or at the academy anyway, they might not have dinner together again until the next week.

"Camping," Hunter said briefly. "Leaving tomorrow, back on Sunday."

Blake might have appreciated his effort to keep the information to a bare minimum if he'd had any idea what was going on. He hadn't known Hunter was going camping that weekend. He definitely hadn't known who was going with him.

If he had, he might have excused himself from the kitchen right then.

"Oh?" Their mom was pulling leftovers out of the fridge, and she sounded only mildly curious. "Are you and Blake going together?"

"Nah." That was all Hunter said, and Blake was starting to catch on. Wherever Hunter was going, apparently he didn't really want to talk about it.

"I'm trying to get Tori to try wave running," Blake offered, doing his part to distract their parents. "I figure if Sensei Omino agrees, maybe she can come up to the academy on Saturday to practice."

"Isn't there a competition coming up?" their father wanted to know.

"Yeah," Blake said with a grin. "I can probably get her to come to that even if I can't convince her to practice with me."

"If she sees the competition, she might be more inspired to learn herself," his dad remarked.

Blake smirked. "That's my backup plan." Wave running was almost as amazing to watch as it was to actually do.

"Where are you going, Hunter?" their mom asked. "Somewhere local?"

"Kind of." Hunter's hesitation was noticeable, and Blake wondered what was going on. He found out when Hunter added reluctantly, "Bear Brook."

Damn. Right next to the Wind Academy. Blake knew instantly that this had something to do with Cameron, and there was no way they were getting out of this conversation without full disclosure. He glared at his bro's back, wishing he'd had a little advance warning. Wishing either of them had, really. Dinner was going to be fun tonight.

"Isn't that in Blue Bay Harbor?" Their dad's tone was a little too casual. Blake knew what was coming.

All Hunter said was, "Yeah."

Their mom hadn't gotten it, because she sounded genuinely curious when she asked, "Is there a race this weekend?"

Hunter had finished setting the table and he wasn't making any move to help with the food. Blake figured he could at least take over that part of meal prep, since he didn't really want to get involved in the conversation. Plus, if their mom got totally distracted, Blake didn't want to wind up with no dinner just because no one had bothered to warm up the leftovers.

"Actually, the Wind Academy's sponsoring some kind of camping trip." Hunter managed to sound definite about the event and vague about the details all at the same time. "Sensei Nena invited her entire class."

Blake came very close to snorting. Yeah, he was sure Nena's participation had a lot to do with it. He kept his mouth shut, but sure enough, their mom paused in what she was doing. Blake pulled a tinfoil package out from under her hands and put it into a warming dish. He was going to eat no matter what happened.

"Who's Sensei Nena?" their mom inquired.

Blake winced. Yup. There was that same tone of voice their dad was using, the deliberately non-judging, "you can tell me anything" voice. The one that meant exactly the opposite.

"Samurai teacher," Hunter said matter-of-factly. "Been going to her class since they left the Thunder Academy."

"You didn't mention that," their dad remarked. Like he expected a reply, an answer. An explanation.

Hunter shrugged. "I know how you feel about it."

This brought silence to the kitchen, and Blake thought his chances of getting dinner had just gotten a little smaller. He needed a backup plan. A quick glance at the clock revealed that he might make it to the academy before their food ran out if he left in the next half hour or so.

This couldn't go on longer than half an hour, could it?

"If you want to learn their curriculum," their mom said at last, "that's up to you. But you don't really need to spend all your free time with them, do you? I mean, this camping trip... don't you have other things you need to do this weekend?"

"I can manage my own schedule, Mom." Hunter sounded exasperated already. Definitely not more than half an hour. At this point, Blake gave it another five minutes. And that was only if Cameron's name didn't come up. If it did, he was shortening it to two. Tops.

"Why the sudden interest in samurai?" their dad wanted to know. "It seems to have come on very quickly."

Blake heard what he didn't say, and he figured Hunter did too: brainwashing. Their mom had leveled the brainwashing charge against the samurai before. She had never forgotten that thing with her teacher back when she was a student at the Wind Academy.

"Probably has something to do with the fact that I'm dating one of the samurai teachers," Hunter was saying. Just like that. He just told them. "Tends to encourage interest."

Blake sighed silently, trying not to roll his eyes. Great. Now Hunter had to get smart on top of everything else. So Cameron's name hadn't technically been mentioned--he was lowering his guess to two minutes anyway. Someone was gonna start shouting any second now.

"Ah." Their dad sounded weirdly satisfied with that answer, and Blake looked at him in surprise. "She's going on this camping trip, I assume?"

"Yeah," Hunter said wryly. "He is."

There was a pause, and then their dad repeated, "He?"

Blake was careful not to move, since moving would draw attention and attention would lead to questions. He didn't want to look like he was hiding, though, so he did his best to look casual. Like he was thinking about something else entirely. He just happened to be standing in the room while they had a conversation that he wasn't really paying attention to.

"Sensei Cameron." Hunter folded his arms, looking from one parent to the other. "You met him at the smorgasbord a couple weeks ago."

"Nice guy," Blake put in, abandoning his attempt to hide in plain sight as soon as he saw Hunter getting defensive. Because come on, it wasn't fair. They'd met Tori at the same time and they'd practically tried to adopt her. "Doesn't seem like the type to go camping, though."

Hunter threw him a tight smile, and he knew there was gratitude behind it. "He took some convincing."

"And... you're going camping with Sensei Cameron?" Their mom sounded like she was suddenly having trouble with the name. "This weekend?"

"Yeah, Cam and half the Wind Academy," Hunter reminded them. "It's just a group thing. No big deal."

"When did you start seeing... Cameron?" their dad asked carefully.

"Last week." Hunter shrugged again, but he sounded uncomfortable. "I just met him when the kids from the Wind Academy came up to train with us."

"Kids?" Their mom's tone was sharp, which wasn't really fair either, since Hunter called every student "kid" regardless of their actual age. "How old is he?"

"I dunno," Hunter muttered. "My age, I guess."

"Twenty-four," Blake said. Two years older than Hunter, but who was counting?

Everyone in the kitchen stared at him in surprise. Oh, right, he thought sourly. Everyone. "What?" he demanded, holding up his hands in surrender. "I grilled Tori. That's all."

"What does Tori think of him?" their mom wanted to know.

Blake blinked. What? What did that have to do with anything? "Uh..." He couldn't come up with anything better, so he stuck with what he knew. "What?"

"Tori trains at the Wind Academy. Does she know Cameron? Does she like him? Has she heard anything about him? What kind of teacher is he?"

Wow, the mom interrogation. He'd kind of hoped to avoid this. Obviously Tori knew him, she'd talked to him while Hunter was introducing him to their parents, and what did it matter what she'd heard about him? And how was he supposed to know what kind of teacher the guy was? Wasn't Hunter the one to ask about that kind of thing?

"Yeah, she likes him," he said at last, shooting a look at Hunter. He really hadn't wanted to get dragged into this. "And he's probably a pretty good teacher if he teaches samurai students. They're like elite at the Wind Academy or something."

"He trained in Japan," Hunter informed them. "He's a great teacher. And if you want to know what he's like, maybe you could actually talk to him next time you see him instead of pretending he's not there."

"You didn't introduce him as anything more than an acquaintance when we met him," their dad reminded him. "In the interests of fairness, I think you should take that into account before you make accusations."

Hunter set his jaw, looking totally unintimidated. "We weren't dating then. What did you want me to say? 'Hey, I think I might be gay, so you might want to be nicer to my friends just in case they show up at the dinner table in the future?'"

"Honey," his mom interjected, "you've always been interested in girls. I don't think you suddenly became gay overnight."

"You're just going through a curious phase," their dad added, when Hunter didn't answer. "First the samurai, now... alternative lifestyles. Just remember that other people will remember what you do even after you've had enough. You might want to keep it a little quieter."

Hunter was just staring at them. As defiant as he'd looked before, now he looked totally blank. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

"Dinner's getting cold," their mom said briskly. Yeah, like it had ever gotten to the "warm" stage. Blake kept one eye on the food and the other on his bro, who looked like he was ready to bolt. Or maybe flip out. With Hunter it was sometimes hard to tell.

"Don't worry, honey," his mom added, obviously catching the look too. And that was twice in a row that she'd called Hunter "honey," Blake noted. Weird.

"We still love you," she was telling him. "No matter what happens, you're still the same wonderful son we raised. Here, why don't you carry this over to the table, and Blake can serve the--"

"I'm going out," Hunter said abruptly. "I forgot... I--I have a student meeting tonight. Sorry," he added, turning away without waiting for an answer.

Their mom sighed, loud enough that Hunter had to have heard it. He closed the door to the deck behind him, and they could hear his footsteps crossing the deck and going down the steps before they were swallowed up by the ground. He was heading for his apartment, Blake figured. His license was up there, and "student meeting" or not, Blake was pretty sure his bro would be taking his bike tonight.

His parents were looking at each other. They looked back at him when he glanced from one to the other, and he liked this even less with Hunter gone. "I'm gonna go check on him," he muttered.

"Leave him alone," his dad said quietly. "He just needs some space."

Yeah, and the days when his parents knew his brother better than he did were now officially over. "I'll be back," Blake said firmly. He followed Hunter out into the gathering dusk and headed for the stairs behind the garage.

This was what he got for worrying about other things.

6. The Aardvark and the Pumpernickel

There was running water. There were sinks and showers and flush toilets and fluorescent lighting in the bathrooms, which wasn't the impression he'd had of "camping" at all. And outside the bathrooms there were deep sinks with more lights and a roof over them: a dish-washing station, or at least that was what everyone seemed to be using it for.

So he dropped his armful of cookware, plates, plasticware, and cups into the sink next to one of the ninja kids and turned on the water. The girl beside him studied his pile and remarked frankly, "Wow, that's not very many dishes."

Dawn. Meisha's daughter. She had either been here too long or used too much soap, because she was up to her elbows in suds and it was hard to tell which of the dishes were clean and which were still in line to be scrubbed. What had Meisha made for dinner, Cam wondered? Could she possibly have baked her own bread at the campsite?

"That's fair," Cam told her, squirting some earth-friendly soap onto the sponge. "Because I was just thinking that you had enough dishes there to feed the entire program."

"I'm washing my mom's dishes too," Dawn said, like he might not have guessed that. "So I have twice as many dishes."

"Well, I'm washing my boyfriend's dishes," Cam replied. He was guessing the stuff Hunter had cooked with would do better to soak while he sponged off and rinsed the rest of it. "He cooked. I clean. So I have twice as many dishes too."

"You have a boyfriend?" Dawn was giving him a wide-eyed look that made him wonder if he was going to hear about this from Meisha later. But then she asked, "Who is it? It is Sensei Chitzu?"

He relaxed a little, silently grateful to her single parent for teaching Dawn that it wasn't always about moms and dads. "It's Sensei Hunter. You met him when you were helping Shane set up his tent."

"Oh." There was a clatter and soap bubbles flew as Dawn tipped one of the pans over toward the back of the sink so she could reach the plasticware. "The Thunder Ninja. He has a funny uniform."

No one had worn their training uniform since they'd been here. Which meant that she must have seen him before the camping trip, but probably hadn't been introduced, since she hadn't corrected him about when they'd met. He hadn't seen her on campus during any of his classes, but that was the disadvantage of switching with Nena so often. It was just a little harder to keep up with the students.

"He probably thinks the same thing about you," Cam said at last, wondering if it would have saved water to just fill the sink to begin with. Obviously Dawn had the right idea, saving the rinsing until everything was clean.

Of course, this made Meisha's daughter protest. "My uniform isn't funny!"

Actually, seeing children in ninja training uniforms had always struck him as a little funny, maybe because they had used the generic white-and-grey practice uniforms for kids when he was younger. He had worn white and grey cotton to class until he was ten years old. Now kids could get the heavy duty training uniforms as young as six.

"Your uniform isn't funny," a familiar voice agreed. "But you are."

Dawn craned her neck around to stare at him without lifting her hands out of the sink. At least, not much. Cam kept a wary eye on her soaking, soapy hands as they brushed against the edge of the sink and threatened his considerably dryer washing station. "I'm not funny," she informed Chitzu. "Did you know Sensei Cameron has a boyfriend?"

Cam rolled his eyes as Chitzu's gaze flicked to him. "Yeah," the Japanese teacher drawled, smiling at Dawn. "I heard something like that."

"It's Sensei Hunter," she confided. "He made Sensei Cameron dinner."

"Is that right," Chitzu said agreeably, shouldering her aside at her own sink. "Hey, stop hogging all the space. How long does it take you to do dishes, anyway? Give me some of that soap!"

"No!" she exclaimed, giggling as she pushed him right back. "That's my soap! You can't have any!"

"Even if I use it on your dishes?" He got the soap away from her easily, coating the remaining dishes liberally, which Cam felt was serious overkill. There were already plenty of soap suds in that sink. "Come on, use the sponge or lose it," Chitzu teased her.

Then, of course, he flicked some soap suds into Cam's sink and added, "Couple of slowpokes, here. The campfire's going to be out by the time you two finish doing the dishes."

Dawn squeaked as he turned the water in her sink on full blast and angled a plate so that it poured over her hands. "Ew, stop it!" she shrieked, putting her wet hands on his shoulder and pushing hard.

Chitzu barely moved, grinning down at her when she braced her feet and tried to shove him into Cam. "Get a towel and start drying," he suggested. "Or you won't get any marshmallows at the campfire."

"Ooh, s'mores!" She instantly stuck her hands back in the sink and started vying with him over the remaining dishes. "Do we get chocolate, too? That's my sponge, Sensei!"

"Yeah, and I'm faster with it than you are, so stop complaining," he advised. "I'll rinse, you dry. There's chocolate, if you move fast enough."

Dawn grabbed the towel she'd brought with her and barely waited for him to pass her something to dry. Chitzu gave her a mostly-rinsed plate that was at least very clean, and she turned into a speed-drying machine. He laughed at her efforts, but he didn't bother to correct her if she left a few things a little wetter than they probably should have been. Between the two of them they got her dishes clean enough, dry enough, and stacked to carry safely.

That was why he was better with the kids than Cam would ever be. Because it didn't have to be perfect, and he was nice enough that he could bully them without hurting anyone's feelings. Possibly also because they liked his hair.

Cam handed over his soap as Chitzu put his own dishes in the sink, and the other Fire Ninja grinned at him. "Thanks. I thought I was doing well to remember something to dry them with."

"Have to wash them first." Cam smiled at the careless shrug he got in response, and he knew that if there hadn't been any soap handy by Chitzu would have just rinsed and dried his dishes and called it even. He could smile, now, because those weren't his dishes Chitzu was washing.

"So how are you liking the camping experience?" Chitzu asked, offhand. "Missing the computer yet?"

He was probably the only one who could get away with a comment like that, but they knew each other too well to hear genuine curiosity as an insult. "What I'm really missing is chairs," he admitted. "I never realized how much we sit down until there wasn't any furniture around."

"City dweller," Chitzu said affectionately. "You'd think being a ninja would make you more used to sitting on the ground."

"We have cushions at the academy," Cam grumbled, aware of how it sounded even as he said it. "I'm completely incapable of roughing it, aren't I?"

"Nah." Chitzu was idly dragging a washcloth over his dishes with no trace of the focus that had gotten Dawn done and on her way. "I saw you helping Hunter set up his tent. Very impressive."

Cam snorted. "I wasn't helping so much as I was following him around and holding whatever he told me to hold."

"An essential part of tent setup," Chitzu told him. "Holding down the corners. Those poles don't bend if you don't brace them against something, you know."

"You didn't need any help," Cam countered. Chitzu's tent was easily visible from theirs, and he'd had plenty of time to look around while he'd been trying to stay out of Hunter's way.

"That's because I'm extraordinarily coordinated," Chitzu replied. "And also because my tent is about half the size of yours."

"Where's Nena sleeping?" He figured it couldn't hurt to change the subject, especially if it got the focus off of his total lack of experience when it came to all things camp-related.

"She put up a hammock near Miko." Chitzu seemed to think this was a perfectly reasonable thing to say. "Up the river a little way."

Cam stopped what he was doing and stared at him. "She's sleeping in a hammock?"

"She has bug netting," Chitzu assured him. Like that somehow made it more acceptable.

"What if it rains?" Cam demanded.

"She has a rain fly, too." Chitzu gave him an amused look, and Cam just shook his head. "You should try it out. Really. It's a lot more comfortable than the ground."

"Almost anything would be," Cam muttered.

Chitzu pointed a fork at him. "An air mattress doesn't count as the ground. It's just like a waterbed. You'll be fine."

Because he really liked waterbeds. He frowned at Chitzu a little, wondering aloud, "How did you know Hunter has an air mattress?"

"I heard the pump," Chitzu countered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So, just one? How big is it? You did remember to bring a sleeping bag, right?"

"If you're worried about my personal space," Cam said, rolling his eyes, "don't. For some reason completely unknown to me, Hunter has decided that I'm an old-fashioned woman disguised as a young gay man."

Chitzu paused, and Cam could feel his gaze without even looking up. "I was actually worried about me getting a good night's sleep," he said finally, amusement obvious in his tone. "But it sounds like that's not really a concern."

"He wanted to sleep on a cot," Cam informed him. "It's a queen-sized air mattress. He said he didn't want to make me uncomfortable."

"Huh." He could hear the grin in Chitzu's voice. "Doesn't know you very well, does he."

"He acts like it's the fifties or something," Cam muttered. Which wasn't fair, because Hunter had said often enough that he'd never dated someone of the same sex before. It was probably more likely that Hunter was afraid of being uncomfortable. But Cam didn't appreciate being someone else's excuse.

"Well," Chitzu said cheerfully, "if you get bored, you know where the action is."

Cam blinked, not sure he'd heard that right. Then he thought he'd misinterpreted it. But when he glanced over at Chitzu and got a wink in return, he narrowed his eyes a little. "Did you just come on to me?" Because that hadn't been part of their relationship since Japan, and now was really not a good time to rehash the old issues.

Chitzu only shrugged. "Is that what it sounded like?" His casual tone hadn't changed, and his expression had gone back to a neutral sort of non-interest in rinsing. The offer was unmistakable: pretend I didn't, if you want.

"Yeah," Cam said at last. "That's what it sounded like."

Chitzu was stacking his still-wet dishes on top of the towel he'd brought with him, stuffing the washcloth in the mug and wrapping the whole pile up like it would dry through incidental physical contact. He picked it up, and all Cam got was a friendly nod before he turned away. "Thanks for the soap," Chitzu called over his shoulder.

Cam didn't bother to answer. Why now? Other than the obvious? Or was the obvious enough? He was seeing someone else, and Chitzu was feeling nostalgic. Basic pop psychology. They had agreed it was over before they'd ever left the Fire Academy. There wasn't any point in reconsidering now.

He took all of his dishes--well, all of Hunter's dishes, since Cam had provided a mug and little else--back to the campsite and left them on the picnic table next to the tabletop grill. The fact that Hunter could pull off a decent meal in a regular kitchen would have surprised him enough, but Cam was still getting over the shock of being served shrimp scampi off of a portable stove. Good shrimp scampi, no less.

It wasn't all bad, he decided, being treated like an old-fashioned woman.

He couldn't help noticing that their two Fire ninjas were conspicuously absent when it came time to actually light a fire. There was no shortage of spectators, but they were mostly of the unhelpful variety. Luckily, he could start a pretty mean campfire with little to no elemental assistance, and it might not impress Cam any but he was proud that he didn't have to cheat. Much.

Cam finally showed around the time the kids were getting serious about s'mores, and Hunter stopped trying to steal extra chocolate from Sensei Miko when he looked vaguely interested in toasting marshmallows. Because the only thing more fun than eating s'mores was making s'mores, and he would bet even Cam couldn't do it without getting his fingers messy. Sugar-coated fingers had to be licked off, especially when the nearest sink wasn't exactly convenient.

Hunter was looking forward to watching.

Most of the camp was there by the time the other Fire Ninja wandered over, and Hunter might not have even noticed his arrival if he hadn't stopped to talk to Shane. Cam was trying to slide a marshmallow off of his toasting stick with a couple of graham crackers, which was really a lot more interesting than watching Shane introduce Chitzu and Porter, and Hunter still had the chocolate squares. He pressed a couple down on top of Cam's marshmallow hard enough that it overflowed the edges of the cracker, and Cam squawked indignantly.

The marshmallow insult devolved into an understated but very determined war over who could get the most fluff on whom without letting anyone see that they were fighting. That last part was mostly a lost cause. They did their best, though, because roughhousing around a fire wasn't the best idea ever, and the last thing they needed was to give the kids any ideas.

Only when Cam conceded to lick the marshmallow remnants off of his fingers--an unofficial cessation of hostilities, and also an excellent peace offering as far as Hunter was concerned--did Hunter realize they'd been left to fend for themselves. Sure, the exchange of marshmallow swipes had been as unobtrusive as they could make it. But Cam's fellow teachers knew unobtrusive when they saw it.

Nena was sitting right next to them, helping Dawn open her water bottle so she could pour some of it over her hands. She caught his eye and smirked at him as soon as he turned, so he was pretty sure she'd known exactly what was going on. She'd stayed out of it on purpose.

Chitzu, on the other hand, was way over on the other side of the fire. Still hanging out with Shane and Porter. Hunter frowned, wondering if the samurai teachers were deliberately mingling. The three of them seemed pretty tight when they were on academy grounds. But hey, maybe that was the point of the camping trip. To get everyone to socialize with each other more.

Hunter decided that whatever the point was, it didn't apply to him until Cam said it did, so he went back to making fun of Cam's obsession with a perfectly evenly burned marshmallow.

Ignoring the rest of the group didn't get him into trouble until Nena tapped him on the shoulder. He stopped stick fighting with Cam long enough to glance at her, and she handed him a clothespin. "This is an aardvark," she told him.

Hunter stared at her. That sounded vaguely familiar, something he thought he'd been hearing go around the circle for several minutes now, and he thought the appropriate response was, "A what?"

At which point she turned to Dawn and repeated, "A what?"

Dawn turned to the person on her other side and asked, "A what?" and the question went back around the circle.

Hunter used the moment to lean in close to Cam and whisper, "What the hell is going on?"

Cam's shoulder brushed against his and Hunter would swear he could feel his breath when he whispered back, "Not sure. I think Cale's trying to get us to play a game. I wasn't really listening."

On Cam's other side, Porter passed Tem a travel mug and told her, "This is a pumpernickel."

"A what?" she asked.

"A pumpernickel," he said, and half the people at the fire laughed or groaned or otherwise jeered. "What?" he demanded. "Is that wrong?"

Hunter glanced at Cam at the same moment Cam looked at him, and they were so close that it was actually harder not to kiss him that it would have been to just do it. Especially when Cam smiled a little and murmured, "I'd kiss you right now if I didn't think I'd get lectured for it later."

"Set a good example," Hunter agreed softly, wondering if he could get Cam to go camping without the rest of the samurai program someday. There was something undeniably romantic about the darkness and the fire.

"Raincheck?" Cam whispered.

"You're on," Hunter breathed, and a hand squeezed his arm as Cam sat up straighter and watched Cale try to explain the rules of the game yet again. He pulled his arm back just far enough that his hand brushed Cam's. Their fingers twined together, joined hands draped loosely over Hunter's knee, and for the hundredth time today he thought that really, this gay thing wasn't so bad.

"Whenever someone gives you the aardvark or the pumpernickel, you have to ask what it is," Cale was saying. "And then they have to ask the person who gave it to them, and they have to ask the person who gave it to them, until it gets back to me, and then I tell you, and the answer goes all the way back around."

"And then we pass it on," Shane said. He seemed to be talking as much to his brother as anyone, but Cale confirmed it before he handed the clothespin to his mother.

"This is an aardvark," he told her, very seriously.

"A what?" she repeated obediently.

"An aardvark," Cale said.

"Oh, an aardvark," his mother agreed, smiling as she handed it to her husband. "This is an aardvark," she informed him.

While his dad was repeating the thing all over again, Cale turned to his other side and gave the travel mug to Sensei Miko. "This is a pumpernickel," he informed her.

Without batting an eye, she asked, "A what?"

At the same time, Cale's mom came back with his dad's question about the aardvark. "A what?"

"A pumpernickel," Cale told Sensei Miko, before turning to his mom. "That's an aardvark," he told her.

Sensei Miko said, "Oh, a pumpernickel." Handing the mug off to Chitzu, she added, "This is a pumpernickel."

Cale's mom just turned to her husband and said, "An aardvark," so Hunter assumed the exchange was abbreviated on the second, tenth, hundredth time. He thought the complicated part was supposed to come when the "pumpernickel" and the "aardvark" crossed paths on the far side of the circle--right where he and Cam were, of course--but so far the objects hadn't managed to get that far around the circle without someone forgetting what they were supposed to do.

Watching Cale explain it, he'd figured on a really long, boring game. But it turned out that the people nearest Cale were getting the hang of it, and as they sped up, everyone else felt compelled to talk faster too. Which meant that they messed up more and had to keep starting over, but it was admittedly entertaining to watch well-trained and focused ninjas forget a simple a four-sentence exchange.

Both objects never did make it all the way around the circle, but they both passed him and Cam a couple of times, ensuring that they turned to each other repeatedly and said, "A what?" and "A pumpernickel," or "An aardvark," over and over again.

When the kids started to get bored with the game--the adults, of course, seemed determined to try until they got it right--Sensei Miko got everyone to help pick up the s'mores ingredients while she got out a guitar. Which Hunter totally hadn't expected, and he knew Cam saw his surprise. "She's good, too," Cam whispered, while everyone was wandering around or resettling themselves by the fire.

"Yeah?" Hunter murmured back. "You play?"

"Yeah," Cam replied, and he hadn't expected that either.

"Will you play for me?" Hunter prodded, when Cam didn't elaborate.

It made Cam smile. "Sure. Come by after class sometime."

Miko had a pretty voice, and she knew a lot of camp songs that Hunter had forgotten. Or had never known. His family tended to sing the rowdy, silly songs when they were camping, while Miko apparently liked the cute, uplifting ones.

Or maybe, he realized belatedly, she was just sensitive to the fact that they had a large group of people less than an hour away from the campsite's designated quiet hours. She probably didn't want to wind anyone up more than they already wore. After stuffing themselves full of marshmallows and chocolate, not to mention the coffee that Hunter had seen going around at one point, they didn't need any more excuses.

"Hey," Cam whispered, about halfway through the third song, when even the people who didn't know the songs had been able to pick up the parts that repeated. "Do you not sing?"

"As a general rule?" Hunter whispered back. He caught Chitzu's eye by accident, saw the other Fire Ninja watching them across the flames, and he gave a tiny nod in acknowledgment. "No."

"Well, as a general rule," Cam murmured, "I don't camp. Get over it."

Hunter smiled a little to himself and didn't argue. He honestly didn't remember the words to "Barges," but he could do the choruses. When he sang, Cam didn't, which he planned to tease him about later--until the song ended and Cam poked him in the side before he could say a word.

"You said you didn't sing," he declared, sounding almost accusatory.

Hunter raised his eyebrows at him. "Yeah? And?"

"You were harmonizing," Cam informed him.

Hunter broke into a grin, aware that the conversation wasn't just between them when, on his other side, Nena laughed. "I said I don't sing," he pointed out. "Didn't say I can't."

He did it for "Magic," too, and this time he could hear Cam's voice beside him, which was the coolest reason he'd had to sing in a long time. He was maybe just the the slightest bit disappointed when it was over. Miko kept playing for a few minutes, while everyone just sort of sat around and listened, but finally she put her guitar down altogether and people started to pick up their things and drift away.

"Psst," Nena whispered, nudging him.

"Nice," Hunter said, taking a couple of graham crackers from the open package she offered him. "Thanks," he added, offering one to Cam.

Cam shook his head once. "I'm fine," he said, leaning around Hunter to get a good look at Nena. "Are you really sleeping in a hammock?"

"Mmm-hmm." She swallowed, then added, "Why, are you scared I'll damage your reputation by being cooler than you are?"

"Yes," Cam agreed wryly. "That's my main concern."

"Well, I'll tell you what." Nena grinned up at them from her ground-level camp chair. "You can come try out my hammock, and if you're not an instant convert, at least you'll have firsthand experience that you can base your denouncement of it on."

"Sounds like a terrible idea," Cam told her.

"Yeah," Hunter agreed, affecting a frown. "Did you just invite my boyfriend into your bed?"

"What was that?" Chitzu drawled. He'd finally made it around the fire to join them, and he was eyeing Nena with enough amusement that he must have heard more than he let on. "You trying to get in on the action, here?"

"If you don't keep your voice down, Miko and Meisha will give you 'action,'" Nena threatened. "To say nothing of young Mr. Protected's parents."

Hunter glanced around, but Cale and his family were safely gone from the campfire already. Meisha was indeed giving them the evil eye as she and her daughter gathered up their things, but Dawn didn't seem to be paying any attention to them so it were probably okay. He wasn't sure where Miko had disappeared to so quickly.

"My bad," Hunter said, just loudly enough that maybe Meisha would hear it. "Sorry about that."

"Let's take this somewhere else," Cam suggested.

"I have toys," Nena offered. Her tone was so innocent that Hunter couldn't tell whether she was joking or not, but Chitzu seemed to take her at her word.

"Lead on," he declared, hoisting his camp chair over one shoulder.

Cam gave Hunter a questioning look, and he just shrugged. If Cam wanted to hang out with his friends, he was up for whatever was going on. And it looked like Shane and Porter were going to sit around by the fire a little longer, so even if Miko didn't come back, they would be there to make sure it died down to a safe level.

Hunter pulled his headlamp back on before they turned away from the fire, checked to see that, yes, Cam had forgotten his flashlight, and pulled a little maglite out of his pocket. "Here," he said quietly, tapping it against Cam's wrist before he could trip over something.

He couldn't see Cam's face very well in the shadows, but he could hear the smile in his voice when he said, "Thanks."

They followed Chitzu and Nena up the path by the river, barely discernible by flashlight but vaguely delineated by the sound of the water in one direction and the lantern-lit tents and moving flashlights on the other. Chitzu was teasing Nena about her "toys" as they went, and Cam called ahead to them that Meisha probably thought they were all delinquents now. A little reassuring, Hunter thought, that at least he wasn't the only one who had wondered about that invitation.

"Tattoos," Nena called back. "I have temporary tattoos, that's all!"

"You're too good for these guys, Nena," Hunter said aloud, and he heard her laugh.

"I keep telling them that," she answered. "They never listen!"

"Tattoos of what?" Chitzu wanted to know, ignoring the exchange. "Secret ninja symbols? Pornographic body art? The minotaur?"

"Superheroes," Nena told him. "You can be Captain America."

"You kill me with your irony," Chitzu replied.

Nena's hammock didn't actually occupy a tent site, which maybe made sense since most of the sites were cleared and she needed a couple of close trees. But Hunter did wonder about the legality of the place she had chosen. A hammock didn't leave a big footprint--until you brought all your friends and their camp chairs to sit around it with you.

She did have lanterns, though, and as she turned them on Hunter realized that she wasn't off in the woods at all. She was just at the outer edge of a little site, one without a picnic table or fire pit, and her pack and a cooler sat on a tarp off to one side. So he put his chair down in the cleared area with the rest of them, and Nena snapped her fingers at Cam and Chitzu until one of them started a fire for her.

A small, very ninja-y fire. Hunter stared at it in surprise while it burned, with no containment or any kind of fuel, several inches off the ground. "That," he said, to no one in particular, "is vaguely disturbing."

"And," Chitzu said, in the exactly same tone of voice, "exceedingly cool."

Hunter had to grin. "Yeah. That too."

"You sleep in this?" Cam asked. He was staring at her hammock, a blue silk thing strung between two trees with what looked like lashing straps. There was a bug net pushed to one side, a lantern hung from the other end, and a pile of stuff in the middle that was probably her sleeping bag and pillow.

"I'm going to assume that's a rhetorical question," Nena remarked, rummaging through her pack for something. "Try it out. Just don't knock all my stuff out when you sit down."

Cam didn't sound convinced. "Will this even hold me?"

"It'll hold two of you," Nena informed him without looking up. "Easily."

"What's the weight limit?" Hunter wanted to know.

Nena finally stopped messing around with her pack and sat back on her heels, tilting something toward the nearest light so she could see it better. "Four hundred pounds," she said absently.

"Cool." He stepped around Cam, grabbed the front and the back of the hammock, and sat down as close to the middle as he could manage. It buoyed him up without the slightest complaint, just as strong as she had claimed. When he tugged on the back and twisted a little, he could rest his head against the opposite side.

"This is great," he decided, leaning back appreciatively. Just like a recliner. "I want one."

"Fifty bucks," Nena told him. "Not including the slap straps and the bug net."

"Worth it," Hunter declared. Patting the sleeping bag beside him, he gave Cam a pointed look that was probably lost in the shadows. "Gonna join me?"

Only when there was a very obvious pause did it occur to him that Cam had to be giving him some sort of interesting look in return, but sadly, he couldn't make it out. Cam did come sit with him, though, stiff the way he'd been on the bike at first: like his concept of personal space didn't include hammocks or motorcycles. But when Hunter lifted one arm out of the way to make room, Cam relaxed against his side, letting the arm go around his shoulders without complaint.

"Now who's inviting him into their bed?" Nena teased, smiling over at them. Her face, too, was in shadow, but the expression was everywhere in her voice.

"Technically," Hunter pointed out, "I invited him into your bed."

"And we're back to the group sex," Chitzu remarked. He was lounging in his camp chair, really lounging, in the way that took work. Shoulder over one arm of the chair and a leg over the other, head tilted back, and damned if he didn't make it look comfortable.

"No group sex." Cam spoke up from where he was ensconced in a truly warm and nice way against Hunter's side. "Personal preference. That being that I prefer the person I'm having sex with to also be having sex with me."

"How limiting," Chitzu drawled, but Hunter didn't pay much attention to his response.

"I learn something new about you every day," he told Cam instead. Including the fact that sex was apparently an acceptable topic of conversation, and that Cam was willing to take some amount of teasing on the subject.

"I'm a very sharing person," Cam replied, deadpan.

"All evidence to the contrary," Chitzu added.

"Here you go, Captain America," Nena announced, handing Chitzu something by lantern light. "Knock yourself out."

"Really?" he asked skeptically. "I hoped you were kidding about that."

"Of course Cam will want Spiderman," Nena continued, paying no attention. She gave Cam a tiny square of paper which he accepted with an audible eye roll.

"Thank you for sounding so sure of that in front of Hunter," he told her.

"We're all friends here," she replied, smirking at him with her voice. "Hunter? Which superhero do you want?"

"Got any women?" he countered, figuring that would be enough of a distraction.

Cam replied before she could, sounding amused. "Excuse me?"

"Just proving I'm man enough to wear a girl's tattoo," Hunter told him.

"I think this is Elektra," Nena said, studying the piece of paper as closely as she could. "Apparently she's replaced Wonder Woman as the token female superhero."

"I can get behind that." Hunter held out his free hand, and Nena turned the tattoo over to him. "So who do you get?"

She considered. "It looks like either Daredevil or the Incredible Hulk."

"Really?" Despite his complaints, Chitzu had already slapped his tattoo on his arm and was dribbling water over it. "What about Superman? Why isn't there a Superman tattoo?"

"Or Batman?" Hunter added. "Since when is Daredevil more popular than Batman?"

"Since they started counting intelligence over money?" Cam suggested.

"Ah, I should have known," Hunter said with a smirk. "Hello, Peter Parker. Intrepid photographer and technical genius."

He knew he was right when Cam just smiled. "You're too kind."

"How long do we have to wait for these?" Chitzu wanted to know.

"I don't know; it says on the back." Nena frowned at her square of paper, then looked around for her flashlight.

Hunter held his out toward the lantern, but he couldn't reach far enough to light the instructions and still read them and he didn't really feel like moving. Chitzu must have been at pretty much the same level of motivation, because he remarked, "Yes, I'm really known for reading the directions."

"Sixty seconds," Nena told him, flipping her flashlight off again. "You can probably peel it off any time."

"I don't have any water," Cam said to no one in particular.

"Ask Hunter to lick it," Chitzu advised.

"Are you being deliberately obnoxious tonight?" Nena sounded mildly amused and genuinely curious at the same time. "Or is it just a coincidence that Cam's boyfriend is going to be scarred for life and will probably never talk to us again?"

"Hey, no worries," Hunter assured her. "I've got a younger brother. This is dinner table conversation."

"We're not always this bad." Nena handed over her own water bottle, giving it to Hunter but clearly meaning it for Cam, who had already laid the Spiderman tattoo on the back of his right hand and was holding it up with wordless patience. "Sometimes we have moderately intelligent discussions about things that aren't dirty."

Hunter grinned, pulling his arm free as he sat up a little and reached for Cam's hand. "I'm happy with moderately intelligent discussions of things that are dirty," he promised. "Okay if I pour water on this?" he added, glancing up at Cam without lifting his head.

"Unless you really do plan to lick it," Cam said, raising an eyebrow at him in the dim light. "Yes."

"Smartass," Hunter muttered, cupping his fingers at Cam's wrist to keep the water from running down his arm.

"Flirt," Cam replied.

When the paper on the back of the tattoo was soaked, he covered it with his fingers to hold it in place. "Calling you names is flirting with you now?" he said, giving Cam an amused look. "You weren't kidding about the attitude thing, were you."

"Repeat what I said about your attitude in front of my friends and I may not speak to you for the rest of the night," Cam informed him, his mouth quirking up at the corners. "And I wasn't talking about the name-calling. I was talking about your expression."

"You're imagining things." Which was really one of the more ridiculous things he could have said when they were sitting in a hammock, legs pressed up against each other, hands tangled together in the dark. There probably wasn't anything he could do to Cam right now that wouldn't be flirting.

"You're being unnecessarily coy," Cam countered.

Hunter grinned at him. "Only compared to your friends."

"Sumimasen," Chitzu interjected, very politely. "Do you think we can't hear you?"

"Do you think everyone in the world speaks Japanese?" Cam replied without looking up.

"Does he think everyone in the world should?" Nena added. "Yes. Obviously."

"Do you?" Hunter asked, glancing over at her. She had dropped into her own camp chair and was watching all of them in the flickering light of the ninja fire. She wasn't making any effort to apply her own tattoo.

"Know Japanese?" she guessed. She shook her head. "Only what Chitzu speaks at me and deigns to translate."

"The former of which," Cam put in, "is everything, and the latter of which is almost nothing."

"I'm contributing to greater cultural awareness," Chitzu told them. He was also shining a flashlight on his arm, inspecting his new tattoo in the uneven light. "Do itashimashite."

Cam snorted. "And you're welcome for every time I hold up the line at a sushi bar asking for vegan food."

Nena laughed at that. "You hold up the line at McDonalds asking for vegan food."

Hunter lifted his fingers from Cam's hand, brushed away the leftover drips, and peeled back the little piece of paper covering his tattoo. "Since when are you vegan?" he wanted to know. Cam had been eating meat since their first date, and if he avoided any other animal products Hunter was pretty sure he would have noticed.

"It's situational," Cam replied, shaking his hand out after Hunter let it go. Maybe to dry it the rest of the way. Tipping it toward the lantern hanging from Nena's hammock, he smiled a little. "Nice. Thanks."

"Situational?" Hunter repeated, not about to be diverted. "What does that mean?"

"It means he's not and never will be a vegan," Nena declared. "He just does it to be annoying."

"It's consciousness raising," Cam insisted. "Vegans are a minority that don't deserve to be discriminated against just because they have high standards. I only ask if there's vegan food because I don't feel they should have to change an entire culture by themselves."

"And," Chitzu added calmly, "because it's annoying."

"You would know," Cam said without missing a beat.

Chitzu gave him a flat stare. "You talk like a girl."

Hunter looked back at Cam in time to see him blink. "Wow," he said, with a level of insincerity Hunter had never heard from him. "Thank you for completely proving my point."

"Like. A. Girl," Chitzu repeated deliberately.

Cam just rolled his eyes. "I'm sure Nena appreciates your opinion."

"Hey," Hunter objected, holding up his tattoo. "Elektra here doesn't appreciate your opinion either."

Cam took the complaint as he'd intended it: more of a protest about being excluded than actual comprehension of the conversation. "My mom taught me Japanese," he explained. "I didn't speak it with anyone else until I attended the Fire Academy. Chitzu always says I have a woman's accent."

Hunter raised his eyebrows. "A woman's accent?"

Cam just shrugged, but Chitzu drawled, "He didn't exactly blend in."

"And your English was so much better," Cam said dryly.

"English has approximately one million, eight hundred eighty-three thousand idioms," Chitzu informed him. "And it's irregular. And also, no one in my family speaks it fluently."

"Japanese has more levels of formality than English has idioms," Cam countered. "And it has three different written forms. And hearing my mom speak it occasionally is not the same as taking classes every day for six years!"

Hunter glanced over at Nena, but she didn't look surprised by their vehemence. "They have this argument every other week," she offered, when she realized he was looking. "It's like a ritual or something. I try not to get involved."

"Habit," Chitzu corrected. "I don't think it's reached the level of ritual yet."

Yet, Hunter thought?

"I'd just like to point out," Cam said, "that, as usual, I wasn't the one who started this conversation. If you would stop bringing it up, we could stop discussing it."

Chitzu didn't look very sorry, and Hunter was starting to feel left out, so he nudged Cam and suggested, "Can't resist a challenge?"

Cam's attention instantly refocused on him. "No," he said with a smile. And that was all it took to make him feel like part of the conversation again.

It wasn't the whole story, though, and later he would be glad that Cam hadn't brought it up around the campfire. Because it was so obvious that he should have seen it for himself, but he wasn't used to thinking that way and he wouldn't have known what to say in front of Cam's friends. He still didn't know what to say, even in the darkness and relative privacy of their tent, when Cam casually mentioned that he and Chitzu had been together for almost two years.

A long moment passed before he could even acknowledge it. "Oh," he said awkwardly. And that was all he could come up with.

"It's not important," Cam said quickly. "I just thought, if you were curious. That's why we know so much about each other."

"Oh," Hunter said again, then shook his head once. "I mean, yeah. I get that."

"Surprised?" Cam sounded kind of uncomfortable and maybe a little amused at the same time, and that was pretty much how Hunter was feeling too, so. It worked out.

"I should say no," Hunter told him, after a brief pause. It really should have occurred to him before. "Cause, the two of you, right? It makes sense."

"Does it?" Cam's tone was curious now.

"Well..." Hunter shrugged, because maybe that was a stupid thing to say. What kind of sense did he and Cam make, anyway? And yet here they were, a few feet apart, him sitting on the floor of the tent while Cam was already getting comfortable in his sleeping bag.

"As much as anything, I guess," he said at last. "I just didn't really think about it."

"What about you?" Cam wanted to know. "Good relationships, bad ones? What are you used to?"

Hunter blinked. Cam was comfortable, nice to be around, funny, weirdly open about his life, but he wasn't... easy. He'd say pretty much anything, but he'd ask almost anything too. And when he asked, he expected an answer. He wouldn't let Hunter fade into the background--even if he wanted to.

"Uh, nothing serious, I guess," he admitted. "Just, you know. Prom dates, summer parties, that kind of thing. Me and girls... we never really... worked, that way."

Cam was studying him in the shadows of the flashlight Hunter had propped up against his pack. "Why didn't you try dating guys?"

Hunter shrugged a little. "Didn't know anyone who was worth it," he mumbled. "And contrary to what some might tell you," he added with a half-smile, "I don't go looking for trouble."

"Is it trouble?" Cam asked. Hunter couldn't tell if he sounded more curious or concerned. "Dating me--is that a problem with your friends? Or your family?"

"Nah." But it was an automatic response, not a realistic one. "Maybe," he said a second later. "I don't know."

Cam didn't answer, and he tried to come up with something better.

"It's never really come up with my friends," he said uncomfortably. "And you know what my family's like. They're so worried about you being a samurai that they didn't even notice you're a guy until a few days ago."

"How did that go?" Cam asked, his voice quiet.

"Could have been better," Hunter muttered. "How 'bout you? Your parents are cool with--" He gestured, making huge shadows against the tent walls. "You know, this?"

For some reason, that made Cam smile. "I don't know," he admitted. "My mom is, I guess. She likes you. My dad and I... we don't really talk about things like this."

"He knows you're gay," Hunter said, just barely keeping it from being a question.

"I guess." Cam shrugged, his smile fading. "I never told him. I figure Mom did, or maybe he used his amazing powers of observation to figure it out. Or it's possible he thought Chitzu and I were just really good friends. Hard to say."

"You seem pretty worried," Hunter remarked, amused by his offhandedness.

"It keeps me up nights," Cam agreed, deadpan. "If he can't be bothered to tell me that he's an alien from another planet, I don't see what business it is of his who I sleep with." There was a moment of silence, and then he added, "Literally speaking, in this case."

Hunter had to smile in the jagged light, and he wondered how much Cam could see of his expression. "So I don't have to worry about losing my virginity if I climb onto that mattress with you?"

"Is that what you're waiting for?" Cam countered. "Me to promise that I'll keep my hands to myself?"

He actually sounded serious, and Hunter had to laugh. Reaching for his flashlight, he pushed himself to his feet and covered the two steps necessary to put him on his side of the air mattress. "I don't care what kind of history you have," he said, kneeling on the mattress and yanking the top of his sleeping bag toward him. "I'm not worried about your hands through two layers of sleeping bags."

"Don't challenge me," Cam teased, just as he flicked his flashlight off and dropped it beside the mattress. In the darkness Cam suddenly seemed much closer, and he was glad Cam couldn't see his face.

"I take it back," Hunter promised, and it was somehow easier to kid around when he was effectively invisible. "I'm sure you're a total sex god, wrapped in a sleeping bag or not. Happy?"

Cam's chuckle drifted to him in between the rustles of his sleeping bag against the mattress, and Hunter was actually kind of relieved that he hadn't tried to turn around. Hunter had tossed their stuff inside the tent, inflated the air mattress, and shoved things out of the way, but Cam had been the one to spread out their sleeping bags: head to head and toe to toe. That wasn't the way Hunter was used to sharing a tent, and he really didn't want to find out hours from now that he couldn't sleep with Cam breathing next to his ear.

"Someday," Cam was saying, "I will remind you of this conversation."

There was a long pause, and finally Hunter couldn't resist. "And?" he prompted.

The mattress rocked underneath him, but Cam's voice didn't sound any closer or farther away than it had before when he replied, "I'm not making a prediction. I'm just stating a fact."

"Uh-huh." He sounded very mild, and Hunter was learning to recognize that particular brand of innocence as Cam's "subtle" sarcasm. So, maybe he was totally wrong, but he was gonna go out on a limb and translate that as, Someday I will make out with you in a sleeping bag, get you embarrassingly turned on, and laugh at you for ever thinking it couldn't be sexy.

All things considered, it wasn't a terribly frightening threat.

He grabbed his pillow and slid down into his own sleeping bag, shoving the pillow up against his shoulders as he stared up at where the ceiling of the tent would be. "Cam?" he asked after a moment.

And because Cam was less than a foot away, even if his head was at the other end of the mattress, he replied immediately. "Yeah?"

Hunter smiled into the darkness. Weird, but nice. He thought maybe he could handle dating a guy who asked personal questions and thought in terms of relationships and didn't like getting melted marshmallow on his fingers. "How do you say 'good night' in Japanese?"

He could hear the smile in Cam's voice when he murmured, "Oyasuminasai."

Hunter blinked. "What?"

Cam repeated it, slower and a little more clearly, and Hunter considered that.

"Okay," he agreed at last. "'Night, then."

He heard Cam's soft huff of amusement. "Good night, Hunter."

This was what he didn't like about camping. It was coming back to him now. It wasn't the daytime that was the hardest part, it was the night. When there was nothing to take his mind off of where he was and what he was doing, no way for him to ignore the many little discomforts that, all together, made relaxing enough to sleep utterly impossible.

Cam hated not being able to sleep. There were so many things he could be doing at any given time that taking the time to sleep in the first place was a huge concession. When he finally gave in, laid down, and sleep eluded him, that was just insulting.

Out here it was even worse, because what else was there to do? It was dark outside. Limited electricity. Nowhere to go. Nothing to read, to design, to study. Not even anyone to talk to. Just the dark and the cold and the unfamiliar sleeping bag on an air mattress that was nowhere near as comfortable as his own bed would have been.

He hated camping. Pushing himself up on his elbows--because why not, he was already that uncomfortable--he squinted into the darkness toward where he thought the door should be. Hunter had brought extra blankets, and he'd already gotten one to drape over his sleeping bag. He didn't really want to move enough to get another one, since it meant leaving what minimal warmth he'd managed to gather, but he was too cold to stay where he was and at least it gave him something to do.

The first time, he had managed to avoid waking Hunter. This time he wasn't so lucky. He heard Hunter mumble something as he tried to get out of his sleeping bag, probably rocking the mattress in a really annoying way. He would know, since he'd been awake pretty much all night and he was starting to hate air mattresses almost as much as camping. Every movement seemed to be amplified by its strange and reactionary unevenness.

"Just getting another blanket," he whispered, in case Hunter really had woken up.

Hunter mumbled something else. Something totally indecipherable as far as Cam was concerned. This was followed by the sound of his name, and a question that was vaguely recognizable as, "You okay?"

"Cold," Cam muttered. "Just cold."

"Get a blanket," Hunter's voice murmured, slurring a little over the consonants. "By the door, top of my pack."

"I did." He was currently trying to push the fleece off of his sleeping bag so he could get out of it, but for some reason he was having trouble coordinating in the dark. And he couldn't remember where he'd left his flashlight. "I'll get another one."

He couldn't quite bring himself to say, go back to sleep, because misery did love company. Just being able to complain to someone else might make him feel marginally better. It would probably also make him look even more incapable of surviving in the wilderness than he already felt, but there were always tradeoffs to be made.

The mattress shifted with Hunter's movements, then bobbed more violently and the change in his voice indicated that he'd sat up. "Blanket goes inside the sleeping bag," he mumbled, and Cam could feel his hands, clumsy in the dark, patting the other end of Cam's sleeping bag. "Should've said. Sorry."

"What are you talking about?" Cam demanded, except it was probably closer to a whine, and he folded his arms across his chest in a futile effort to ward off the chill. His body wasn't that warm to begin with, so wrapping himself up wasn't helping much. He was too tired to shiver, and he was pretty much over this whole experience.

"Sleeping bag's down." He could hear Hunter's yawn in the middle of the sentence. "Doesn't work if you compress it. Bring the blanket in with you and it'll keep you warmer."

"Well, that sounds really appealing," Cam muttered into the darkness. "Bring the freezing cold blanket inside the sleeping bag with me."

"Really?" He could hear Hunter grunt as he moved around, maybe resettling himself on the mattress. "That cold?" And now his voice was closer--not resettling after all, but crawling up beside Cam with a flashlight that he aimed into the mattress before he turned it on.

"That cold," Cam confirmed through clenched teeth. Hunter, of course, had had no trouble sleeping. He barely sounded awake now. And Cam could feel the warmth coming off of him like a dark and comforting presence.

This was definitely not fair, he decided.

"Feet?" Hunter asked. He was yawning again. "Hands?" he added. "Face? How much of you is cold?"

"All of the above," Cam muttered. Even his nose was cold, and that wasn't a comfortable feeling. He felt like he should be able to see his breath. It couldn't possibly be that cold out.

"Huh." A brief silence followed his reply, and then Hunter asked abruptly, "How much do you trust me?"

"A lot?" Cam squinted into the shadows, wondering why this game and why now. It was distracting, yes. But it was also pointless. "I trusted you with my life that night I waited for you in the garage. And several times since, if I recall."

"Yeah," Hunter said, sounding more awake by the minute. "Not that kind of trust." He was right next to Cam now, and he wasn't just gathering up the blanket. He was fumbling with the top of Cam's sleeping bag.

Cam didn't answer, because the only thing he could come up with was that Hunter was offering to share body heat. Hunter couldn't really think he'd say no, could he? He wasn't convinced that two people could fit into one sleeping bag, but he was definitely willing to try.

Then Hunter was unzipping the sleeping bag, and Cam protested automatically. That wasn't going to make him warmer. He didn't want any more cold air in contact with him than absolutely necessary. Body heat was not a fair trade if he didn't get to keep the sleeping bag around him too.

"Gonna have to get up," Hunter's voice told him. "Sorry. Here--" And the edges of the fleece blanket were being fumbled into his hands. "Work on warming this up."

"What are you doing?" Cam mumbled, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders as he let himself be nudged to the edge of the air mattress and then off, onto the ground. At least he had something to do again. And someone to talk to.

"Putting the sleeping bags together." The flashlight was momentarily buried when Hunter reoriented his own sleeping bag and yanked the zipper open. Rescuing the flashlight, he stuck it in his mouth and shuffled the sleeping bags around in a way that made a lot of noise and completely obscured his goal.

Cam tried to watch, but with the way the light was jumping around he could barely make out Hunter's hands, let alone see what they were doing. He did hear a couple of false starts with a zipper, and some more sleeping bag rearrangement. Then the zipper caught and slid, and a moment later Hunter had another one going. He shuffled the bags some more, then held the flashlight high enough that Cam could see they were spread out again.

Or at least, that one of them was. Hunter's sleeping bag seemed to be all the way open, lying across the mattress like a comforter cover. Cam lifted the nearest corner, though, and sure enough, there was his underneath--zipped to Hunter's like one big double-sized sleeping bag.

"I didn't know you could do that," he murmured.

"Well, at the risk of sounding like Chitzu," Hunter said, eyeing him in the dim light. "You sleep like a girl. But you're not the only one, so. I know how to compensate."

Cam considered that. There wasn't any part of it that made sense, even on second or third review, so he resigned himself to asking. "What?"

"It's not that cold out," Hunter remarked, somehow managing to sound amused and sympathetic at the first time. "At least, not to me. Your resting body temperature must be low."

Cam's brain translated "resting body temperature" to "basal metabolic rate" and he gave Hunter an impressed look that he probably couldn't see. "You know something about physiology."

"Nah." Hunter sounded like he was smiling, though. "Just the obvious. Girls sleep colder than guys."

"I'm not sure why everyone finds it necessary to compare me to a girl today," Cam grumbled, deliberately not pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders even though his fingers were freezing.

"It's 'cause you're so pretty," Hunter teased, flicking the flashlight off and plunging the tent into darkness again. There was a shuffling sound that might have been him settling back onto the mattress. In their shared double sleeping bag.

"I'm going to pretend that was the sleep talking," Cam muttered. In the dark, he did pull the blanket tighter, wondering how he was supposed to keep it around him and get into the sleeping bag at the same time.

"You waiting for me to promise to keep my hands to myself?" Hunter's voice asked.

Cam smiled only because he knew Hunter couldn't see his expression. He rocked the air mattress, inevitably, climbing awkwardly into the sleeping bags with Hunter. The blanket bunched up around his upper body, and he squirmed in a mostly futile effort to pull it down further. Hunter didn't say anything, didn't protest at all, but the movement brought them into close enough contact that Cam could tell he had rolled over on his side and was facing the other direction.

He hesitated. Hunter's back was warm against his, even through the blanket. Just moving around had dispelled a little of the cold, and he wouldn't care so much about getting the blanket just right if he didn't have to leave a careful amount of space between himself and his bed partner. "Do you mind?" Cam whispered.

Hunter's voice was gruff when he answered, "Wouldn't have done it if I minded."

He wasn't sure Hunter understood what he was asking, but the man wasn't shy. He could tell Cam to back off if he wanted to. So Cam finally let himself relax a little, pressed up against solid warmth under a fleece blanket and a shared sleeping bag, and the last thing he remembered was thinking that if this was how he was going to spend the rest of the night, he wouldn't mind being awake so much.

The next time he opened his eyes, he could see the dark grey nylon pressed up against his cheek. More than that he could see the crimson fleece poking out from under his hand, and the brightly colored panes of domed tent walls arching over him. There was light, and it didn't come from a flashlight. The sun must be coming up.

Had he really slept the rest of the night away?

He tried to shift, looking for his watch, and that was when he realized his right hand was trapped under someone else's arm. Cam went very still, cataloging the sensation flaring to life up and down his body. Legs pressed up against his. Head resting against the back of his neck. An arm over his chest, not careless, not even close, not when those fingers were curled loosely around his hand.

Hunter had worked some magic on their sleeping bags in the middle of the night, making it so Cam could climb in with him when he complained of the cold. Hunter had let him drift off against his back, absorbing heat through sweatshirt and blanket alike, closer than he could possibly have expected in the darkness. And now the same person who had suggested sleeping on a cot on the other side of the tent was wrapped around Cam, holding onto him like he might disappear if they were separated even for a second.

A man can not be held responsible for what his body does when he's asleep, Cam thought, letting his eyes slide shut again as he decided there wasn't any reason to move right now. Chitzu used to tell him that... his excuse for any number of things, actually, and Cam smiled to himself. Hunter probably wouldn't jump him in his sleep.

He didn't think he fell asleep again, but when he felt Hunter shift away from him at last the tent was brighter and his eyes were harder to open than they should have been. He tried to murmur "good morning" and it came out more like an incoherent mumble. Even hearing something in return that sounded vaguely like "coffee" didn't dispel his semi-somnolent state until it was backed up by the unmistakable smell of liquid caffeine.

Rolling over onto his back, Cam squinted up at the ceiling of the tent and decided that he was alone. There definitely wasn't anyone else in the tent. On the other hand, he seemed to be buried in two sleeping bags and a fleece blanket, so he clearly owed his unexpectedly well-rested state to Hunter's intervention.

The tent flap by the foot of the mattress rustled, and Cam shifted his gaze. Hunter's blue eyes met his as he pulled the door open. "Hey," he said with a hopeful smile. "Coffee's ready. Black, right?"

Cam struggled to sit up as Hunter pushed his way into the tent. He reached out automatically as Hunter offered him a mug handle first, and the Spiderman tattoo on his hand distracted him when he glanced down at his watch. It was too much, and he started to smile even as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes. He knew the smile was returned without having to look up.

"You know, it's funny," he mused, drawing his legs up so Hunter could sit down on the edge of the air mattress. He cradled his coffee mug as his camping, cooking, coffee-making boyfriend joined him, and he inhaled the familiar smell with deep appreciation. "I think I'm starting to get what you see in this camping thing."