The Way Of The Sword (27 page)

The High Priest beckoned to Akiko, and Jack felt his heart swell with pride at her achievement.

‘This girl is proof that you can expand your mind beyond anything you think it’s capable of. And the mind, once expanded, never returns to its former dimensions. Learn from this challenge to be the master of your mind, rather than being mastered by your mind. This knowledge will aid you greatly in tomorrow’s Spirit challenge.’

‘I got your message,’ stated Jack, tossing the paper note at Kazuki’s feet. ‘So what do you want?’

Kazuki merely smiled, looking like a cat whose prey had just dropped into its lap. He was leaning nonchalantly against the town well. Built of stone, with an aged wooden bucket attached to a rope, it was the only feature of the Iga Ueno’s town square, a place enclosed on all sides by shops and two-storey wooden houses.

The shops were now closed for the day, their windows shuttered and doors barred, offering little incentive for people to hang around. Apart from a single villager hurrying home down a side street ahead of the encroaching storm, the place was deserted.

‘I don’t believe you’re here alone,’ said Jack, glancing around the darkened alleyways. ‘Where’s your Scorpion Gang?’

The note Jack had found slipped under the door of his bedroom after dinner that evening had demanded a oneto-one meeting between himself and Kazuki. Akiko had tried to dissuade him from going, but Jack, despite having no idea what Kazuki wanted, felt honour bound to attend. If he didn’t appear, he would be considered gutless. He would be branded a coward.

Besides, he wanted to confront Kazuki about Yori.

Kazuki took a step closer to Jack so that they were eyeball-to-eyeball with one another.

‘I dislike you,
gaijin
,’ Kazuki hissed, his hooded eyes shadowy in the twilight, ‘and I don’t like accusations of being a cheat. I can easily beat you in the Circle without having to resort to cheating.’

‘You barefaced liar! We both know for a fact that you cheated,’ exclaimed Jack, his blood boiling at the thought of Yori lying fevered in bed, his leg swollen to twice its usual size.

‘I don’t lie,’ retorted Kazuki, his voice taut with indignation, ‘I don’t cheat and, for the record, I don’t steal things either! Don’t judge me by your
gaijin
standards. I come from an honourable family. I am samurai born and bred. Unlike
you
.’

He spat the last two words into Jack’s face.

‘Your accusation in front of the school caused me to lose face. I summoned you here to defend my honour. I challenge you to a fight. Submission or first blood wins.’

Jack didn’t reply immediately. As large drops of rain began to fall out of the thundering sky, he continued to stare at Kazuki, considering his options.

Jack was confident of his ability to fight hand-to-hand, especially since Sensei Kano’s
chi sao
training. In fact, the onset of dusk could only increase his chances of victory. On the other hand, Jack knew Kazuki had worked just as hard during his own private training sessions with Sensei Kyuzo and his strength and advanced skill in
taijutsu
meant he might still have the upper hand. Accepting Kazuki’s challenge could prove fatal, particularly in Jack’s current exhausted condition. To back down, however, would be seen as shameful and he was under no illusion that Kazuki wouldn’t hesitate to revel in spreading the word of such a spineless surrender.

When it came down to it, did he actually have a choice?

One look into Kazuki’s eyes told Jack his enemy intended to fight him regardless of his answer.

Lightning flared across the sky. The Castle of the White Phoenix was momentarily illuminated, a ghostly apparition against the horizon. As the storm rumbled angrily overhead, the rain became a downpour that drummed loudly on the nearby roofs and a chill wind blasted the cloth signs that hung from the shop awnings.

Seemingly oblivious to the storm, Kazuki waited for Jack’s answer.

Jack nodded his head once in assent.

Kazuki grinned.

‘Stop!’ cried Akiko, running through the rain towards them.

Close behind her were Yamato and Saburo. Although Jack had insisted he should go alone, he was relieved to see his loyal friends.

‘Didn’t trust me, did you,
gaijin
?’ spat Kazuki. ‘No matter, it’ll be good to have an audience for this. Scorpions!’

He signed to a darkened alleyway and the Scorpion Gang materialized out of the shadows. With a sinking heart, Jack realized this was going to be a fight, not to first blood but his last.

They closed in upon Jack and his friends. There was a tense stand-off, then Kazuki laughed and indicated for his gang to back off and join him.

‘This is a matter of honour, between me and the
gaijin
. No need for anyone else to get involved,’ he said, passing Nobu his
bokken
. ‘On my family’s name, I’ll follow the samurai code. No weapons. We stop at first blood.’

Akiko turned urgently to Jack and whispered, ‘Don’t do this, Jack. You know he breaks the rules during
randori
. You think he’ll be satisfied with first blood? Kazuki will want to finish you off, once and for all.’

‘He just swore on the honour of his family,’ Jack countered as he gave Saburo his raincoat. ‘He considers himself pure samurai. He won’t break
bushido
.’

‘Jack, you don’t get it, do you? Don’t you remember the rocks in the snowballs? The rules don’t apply to you. You’re
gaijin
.’

Jack was stung by Akiko’s use of the insult. Although he realized she hadn’t said it out of cruelty, it still cut deeply to hear her call him
gaijin
. He was reminded yet again that however accomplished he became at their language, however well he knew Japan and its customs, however perfectly he followed their etiquette and mastered their martial arts, for the simple reason that he was not born Japanese, he would always be perceived as an outsider – even by Akiko.

Unwittingly, Akiko’s comment spurred Jack on and strengthened his determination to fight. He would prove that he was more samurai than any of them.

Jack gave Yamato his
bokken
and stepped forward.

‘Destroy him, Kazuki!’ yelled Hiroto as Kazuki and Jack faced off in the pouring rain.

Keeping within the tradition of a formal fight, Kazuki bowed to Jack.

Jack returned the bow. But Kazuki had tricked him. He didn’t wait for Jack to finish, kicking straight for his face. Jack barely had time to react. He blocked the kick, but the force of the blow sent him staggering backwards.

Kazuki drove into him, trying to blast his way through Jack’s desperate guard. Jack ducked, evading Kazuki’s hook punch, and countered with two body blows to his stomach. Jack got kneed in the thigh for his efforts and immediately backed off.

‘Come on, Jack! You can take him!’ urged Saburo in response.

Jack faked a front kick as Kazuki advanced on him. The ruse worked and Kazuki dropped his guard to block it. Jack went on the offensive with a blistering combination of a front jab, reverse punch and spinning back fist. The back fist caught Kazuki hard across the jaw.

Stunned, Kazuki staggered backwards, slipping on the muddy ground and falling unceremoniously on his backside.

Yamato and Saburo let out a cheer.

‘I win,’ declared Jack in between ragged drawing of breaths.

‘It isn’t over yet…’

‘You’re bleeding.’

Kazuki wiped his hand across his mouth, a thin stream of blood running over it before quickly dispersing in the rain.

‘I bit my own tongue,’ spat Kazuki. ‘That doesn’t qualify as first blood.’

He then flung a handful of mud into Jack’s eyes, blinding him. In that moment of distraction, Kazuki scrambled to his feet and punched Jack in the face. Jack’s head rang and he tasted blood as his own lip split open.

‘That
qualifies as first blood,’ announced Kazuki with vindictive glee.

But Kazuki didn’t halt his assault there. He began to pummel Jack as hard as he could. Instinctively, Jack’s
chi sao
training kicked in and he threw up his guard, locking himself against his opponent’s arms.

Jack sensed Kazuki’s attacks as each technique was thrown. He successfully slipped a series of jabs and attempted a counter. He heard Kazuki cursing in frustration at Jack’s unexpected ability to fight without sight.

Jack’s skill even amazed himself for a while, but then he was struck on the jaw by an unforeseen roundhouse punch.

His flow broken, Jack began to panic. The pressure of a real blind fight overwhelmed him as another strike from Kazuki caught him in the gut. This was not the same as sparring with Yamato. Kazuki fought differently and Jack was now finding it harder to predict his moves.

Jack lost all contact with Kazuki’s guard. An instant later, he found himself flying through the air and splashing down into a large puddle.

Kazuki dropped on top of him.

Before Jack could catch his breath, Kazuki had him in a neck choke and was thrusting him under the water. Jack gagged as his mouth filled with slimy mud. Struggling wildly, he managed to lift his head out of the puddle to snatch a lungful of air. The murky water had washed the remnants of mud from his eyes and he caught a glimpse of Akiko and his friends being restrained by the Scorpion Gang.

‘You’re going to drown him!’ Akiko was screaming as she clawed at Hiroto to free herself.

‘Excellent suggestion,’ agreed Kazuki, shoving Jack’s head back under.

Jack could no longer hear anything but the swirl of muddy water in his ears. He remembered the last time he’d been strangled by Kazuki. If Sensei Kyuzo hadn’t stopped the
randori
then, Kazuki would have continued the choke until Jack passed out.

This time, however, there was no teacher in charge.

Kazuki might actually kill him.

Fudoshin.

The word flashed in his mind like lightning as he surfaced again.

Kazuki was laughing in delight at his victory and, clamping down harder, he thrust Jack back under for one final time.

A samurai must remain calm at all times – even in the face of danger.

Sensei Hosokawa’s teachings swam through Jack’s head.

You must learn to stare death in the face…

Wrestling with his fear, Jack regained control of himself and, against all natural instinct, he let his body go limp.

He heard Akiko crying, ‘You’ve killed him! You’ve killed him!’

Kazuki immediately let go, suddenly aware he’d taken the fight too far.

Jack lay still a second longer.

Then he exploded out of the puddle.

Taking Kazuki completely by surprise, Jack elbowed his rival in the face and rolled on top. Back in control, he locked Kazuki in a head-hold, then drove Kazuki’s own face under the surface of the muddy pool.

‘SUBMIT!’ demanded Jack. ‘
SUBMIT
,
YOU
CHEAT!’

Jack lifted Kazuki’s head up to allow him a mouthful of air before thrusting him back under.

‘Admit you cheated, Kazuki. Admit that you hid the lantern!’

Jack held him up for longer this time but didn’t release the choking hold.

‘Did what?’ gasped Kazuki, struggling to control his growing panic.

‘Don’t play me for an idiot, Kazuki. Tell everyone here how you put branches in front of the stone lantern. Expose yourself to be the dishonourable samurai that you are!’ demanded Jack, bobbing Kazuki’s head beneath surface in between sentences.

‘I didn’t…’ spluttered Kazuki, his voice harsh and grating under the pressure of the choke. ‘I didn’t cheat… I got ahead of Tadashi and Akiko during that challenge. There’s no way it could’ve been me!’

‘Liar!’ said Jack, dunking him once again.

‘
JACK
,
STOP
IT!’ cried Akiko, breaking free of Hiroto and rushing over to pull Jack off. ‘He’s telling the truth.’

Jack faltered in his attack.

‘I could see the stone lantern when I passed it,’ she explained.

Jack looked at her and knew she was telling the truth. All of a sudden, his entire assumption had been undermined. He let go and allowed himself to be dragged off Kazuki by Akiko. He sat staring dumbfounded at the shuddering form of his rival.

Kazuki rolled on to one side, coughing up muddy water.

‘Tadashi was in front of you, not Kazuki,’ Akiko continued. ‘It must have been
him
that cheated. That would explain why, during the Mind challenge, Tadashi fell against me in the waterfall. At the time, I assumed it wasn’t intentional, but now I’m not so sure.’

‘Tadashi… knocked into me too,’ confessed Jack, a twisted truth emerging in his head, ‘but I thought it was an accident as well.’

‘Clearly not,’ spat Kazuki, giving Jack a venomous look.

Jack felt ashamed and betrayed. He’d accused Kazuki of cheating with no real proof. He’d jumped to conclusions based solely on his low opinion of his rival, while all along it had been Tadashi, whom he’d thought of as a friend. His own behaviour was no better than Kazuki’s, discriminating against him for being a
gaijin
.

‘I’m… sorry,’ admitted Jack, the apology sticking in his throat, each word as heavy and bitter as lead. ‘You didn’t cheat. It was my mistake.’

Kazuki got unsteadily to his feet with the help of Nobu and Hiroto. He looked down at Jack, pure loathing in his eyes. ‘That’s right,
gaijin
. You were mistaken. But make no mistake – I will get my own back.’

Jack felt an ice-cold shiver creep down his spine, but oddly it was not in response to Kazuki’s threat. It came from the distinct feeling that he was being watched.

‘Did you see that?’ Nobu whispered, pointing over Kazuki’s shoulder to a nearby rooftop.

Everyone turned and peered into the rainsoaked night.

Nothing was visible in the darkness, not even the Castle of the White Phoenix.

A second later, lightning blazed across the heavens and for one terrifying moment a figure in black could be seen silhouetted against the boiling sky.