Star League 4 by H.J. Harper

I know lots of kids are afraid of the dark, but when I was little it was the other way around: I was afraid of the light. After all, setting foot in the light meant a better chance of discovery, and discovery is dangerous. Then I learnt not to be afraid of anything.
    I’ve been raised my whole life in the darkness, waking up just as the sun is setting and going to bed as it starts to rise. Sometimes it feels like I’m a vampire or something, but living in the shadows has nothing to do with getting turned to dust in the sunlight. It’s about doing the best job I can, and as a ninja I do my best work in the dark.
    I crouch on a roof beam and watch the area below. The shadows up here mean nobody wouldspot me in a million years. I zero in on my target walking around below. He has no idea I’m watching him.
    I slowly shift my weight on the beam, careful not to let it creak. Then I reach into one of the deep pockets in my ninja uniform and pull out a rope with a grappling hook on one end called a kaginawa. I twist the kaginawa’s hook around the beam and pull it tight so that it bites into the wood and the rope won’t budge. Then I wait.
    My target seems to be waiting for something too. He looks around, scratching his head. ‘Hmm, seems like there’s nobody here,’ he says to himself.
    I grin and silently lower myself from the beam, making sure the kaginawa can take my weight. I climb down the rope, quiet as a shadow. The end of the rope dangles a few metres above his head. If he were to look up right now he’d see me. But nobody ever looks up.
    I reach the end of the rope and take a breathto steady myself, then I leap. I spread my arms and legs to slow my fall and ready my muscles for impact. I slam into my target and knock him to the ground.
    â€˜EEEEEEEKKK!’ His scream is so high-pitched it hurts my ears. I look down and realise that he has fallen to pieces. His arms and legs are scattered around like a crash-test dummy.
    â€˜Cut!’ I spin around and squint into the bright lights. A tall man with a megaphone walks towards me.
    â€˜Asuka, that was great! Perfect stealth. If we can keep filming scenes like that we’ll have Attack of the Night Assassins done in no time!’
    The film director, Ben Beaumont, frowns down at the boy in pieces at our feet. ‘Roger, you’re not supposed to fall apart yet. Pull yourself together!’
    Roger’s detached head groans. ‘But she scared me! I can’t help it. When I’m scared I just go to pieces! Can’t you give me more warning next time?’
    â€˜Sorry, Zombie-boy, I’m a ninja. We don’t give warnings.’
    We look up as a cameraman runs over to us.
    â€˜How did the scene look?’ asks Ben. ‘Did you get it all?’
    The cameraman looks sheepish. ‘Uh, actually, we didn’t get any of it. Asuka was too quick – we missed the whole shot!’
    â€˜Oh, what a shame,’ says Ben. ‘Well, we’ll just have to do it again.’
    Roger and I groan. ‘Again?’ I ask. ‘We’ve been filming this one scene all week!’
    â€˜And we’ll just have to keep filming it until we get it right,’ says Ben. ‘You’ve got to keep up your cover identities as film stars so nobody suspects you’re really crime-fighters, and the best way to pretend to be a movie star is to make movies! From the top – places, everybody!’
    Roger begins to pull his body back together and I start to climb the wooden beam, where I’msupposed to wait for my cue. But when I get to the top, I pull myself over the other side and climb down again unseen. I sneak across the set and into the shadows.
    As I tiptoe through the studio hallways I can just make out Ben’s voice through the megaphone. ‘Okay, Asuka, that’s your cue! Asuka? Where’s Asuka?’
    But by that point I’m already out the door and on my way to freedom.

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