The Sword of Kuromori. Jason Rohan

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      ‘You’re a girl?’ Kenny hadn’t meant it to sound like an accusation, but that was how it came out.

      ‘Last time I checked, yes,’ Kiyomi said, smiling at his awkwardness. Her almond eyes looked directly into his and he blushed, turning away.

      Harashima cleared his throat and addressed Kenny. ‘Your grandfather gave you a message, did he not?’

      ‘How could you possibly know about that?’

      ‘Poyo told me,’ Kiyomi said, setting her motorcycle helmet on the table. The visor faced Kenny and he saw his own distorted reflection looking in bewilderment back at him.

      ‘Who’s Poyo?’ Kenny was floundering; too many new things were happening to him at once and he felt the urge to scream, just to drown it all out.

      ‘This is Poyo,’ Kiyomi said and the furry animal squeezed through the doorway and scampered up to her. She knelt and gathered it up in her arms. ‘Ooh, you’re getting fat,’ she cooed. ‘Is Poyo missing Mama?’

      ‘That thing told you?’ Kenny said, struggling to keep up.

      ‘Mm-hm,’ Kiyomi nodded, tickling Poyo under his chin.

      ‘The message, if you please,’ her father insisted.

      ‘I don’t have it,’ Kenny shot back. ‘That Sato bloke took it from me. He’s still got it.’

      ‘Did you make a copy?’ Harashima said quietly. ‘If I know your grandfather, he would have allowed for this.’

      ‘A copy? No, with wha–?’ Kenny’s voice trailed away. ‘Wait. Yes. I do have a copy. It’s on here.’ He held out his phone. ‘I took a picture.’

      ‘Kiyomi-chan,’ Harashima said.

      Kiyomi nodded and took the phone from Kenny, her fingertips brushing his. She clicked open a panel on the wall, pulled out a USB lead and plugged in the phone.

      ‘Poyo,’ she said. The animal waddled over to a shelf, picked up a remote control and tapped the buttons. This may have been the freakiest thing yet, but Kenny said nothing as the wall panel slid aside again and the enlarged snapshot of his grandfather’s letter appeared, spread out over numerous TV screens. Both Kiyomi and her father scanned it quickly.

      ‘Hm,’ Harashima said. ‘Hardly worth the effort of writing, do you not think, Kuromori-san ?’

      Kenny hesitated. ‘I did think it was a bit strange . . .’

      ‘Didn’t you see the hidden message?’ Kiyomi said.

      Kenny blushed again. Not only was the girl very beautiful, but she was also making him feel very stupid.

      ‘What hidden message?’ he asked.

      ‘Take another look,’ she said. Her spoken English was flawless, with a slight American accent. ‘Your grandfather typed this up in a cute font and it’s all nicely done, right?’

      Kenny stared at the letter, grateful for something else to focus on. He nodded. ‘Yeah . . .’

      ‘Bzzt ! Sorry, wrong answer. Thank you for playing.’

      ‘Huh?’

      ‘Look, Ken-chan. Look harder.’

      Kenny looked again, as carefully as he could, searching for hidden shapes and patterns. ‘I don’t see anything.’

      Kiyomi walked up to the screens and pointed. ‘Didn’t you notice the wonky letters? Some of them are in italic. Look. Here, the “p” in “place” leans to the right. Two lines down, the “h” in “that” and then the “l” in “feelings” are irregular. Do you see it now?’

      Kenny stared again. ‘Oh, wow,’ he said, as the pattern became clear, like a 3D Magic Eye picture coming into focus. ‘You’re right. I never saw any of that before.’

      ‘That’s because your brain irons out the wrinkles,’ Kiyomi said. ‘Here, let me underline the italics.’

      ‘It’s an old trick from World War Two,’ Harashima said. ‘Prisoners would send hidden messages this way in their letters home.’

      ‘So,’ Kiyomi said, arms folded in a teacher-like pose, ‘what does it say?’

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