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.