The Way of the Warrior - Chris Bradford [67]
‘Masamoto will not punish us,’ egged on Kazuki, as if reading Yamato’s thoughts. ‘Nobu is my witness. He saw the gaijin strike me first. I have every right to defend myself.’
Yamato stepped back a pace.
‘That’s right, Yamato, let me rid you of this gaijin. You and I both know he has been a thorn in your side.’
Kazuki twisted Jack’s wrist a notch further to emphasize the point. Jack cried out, the pain searing through his arm like a hot iron rod. Then suddenly the pressure disappeared.
Akiko had slammed her foot into Kazuki’s back, using a mae-geri, the simple but effective front kick they had been taught that day in taijutsu. Kazuki was sent sprawling across the floor.
He flipped over and started towards Akiko.
Instinctively she threw up her guard to counter his attack, but Kazuki checked his strike at the last moment.
‘This is foolish,’ he said, stepping away and raising his hands in a sign of peace. ‘We’re fighting over a gaijin. Masamoto decreed that we should be loyal to the samurai of this school. I will not fight you.’
‘Yet you will fight Jack and he is samurai too,’ retorted Akiko.
‘No, he isn’t. He never will be and he knows it. Just look at him.’
Jack lay on the floor, cradling his arm, his face bruised and swelling where Kazuki had struck him. Akiko looked down at Jack, her eyes filled with pity.
Jack didn’t want pity. He was hurt and ashamed, but not beaten. What he wanted was acceptance, but perhaps that was too much to ask. He turned away from her.
Kazuki bowed and calmly walked over to the door, Nobu faithfully following him, still clutching his stomach. Kazuki wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his hand, then turned and faced them all.
‘I don’t want any of you telling the sensei about tonight.’
‘I’ll tell Masamoto, if you ever touch Jack again,’ threatened Akiko.
‘No, you won’t. If you do, we’ll all be thrown out of the school. Fighting is forbidden within the Buddha Hall.’
‘Jack is my friend and I’ll defend him, whatever the cost.’
Jack couldn’t believe his ears. Akiko had declared her loyalty publicly. The significance of her pronouncement was not lost on any of the others present either.
She helped Jack to his feet.
‘Don’t be a gaijin lover, Akiko! I cannot promise to hold back next time you stand in my way,’ warned Kazuki.
‘Harm him and I will tell – the choice is yours.’ Kazuki faltered.
Jack guessed that he couldn’t afford to gamble on Akiko’s threat. Being thrown out of the Niten Ichi Ryū would be a permanent loss of face, a highly inappropriate circumstance for a boy of imperial blood.
‘I do not wish to see you disgraced, Akiko, so I will make you a promise in return for forgetting this night. I’ll not fight the gaijin again within the walls of the Niten Ichi Ryū. Agreed?’
Akiko looked at Jack before nodding her acceptance.
‘Gaijin!’ snarled Kazuki. ‘You and I are not finished. Our war has barely begun.’
32
HANAMI PARTY
A glorious butterfly with iridescent blue wings rested on the pink blossom of a cherry tree. It sipped on the sweet nectar of the flower, gaining nourishment and growing strong. Its antennae twitched as the breeze shifted.
Out of nowhere a heavy iron bar came crashing into the blossom. The butterfly flitted away, escaping death only by a fraction of a second. A giant red demon came thundering out of the undergrowth, maniacally swinging the bar, intent on catching the butterfly as it settled upon each blossom.
The butterfly effortlessly avoided the blows time and time again. Sweat rolled down the face of the red demon, frustration etched on its brow. The demon, boiling with rage, thrashed again and again at the butterfly, until it collapsed on the barren earth, defeated by its own efforts. The butterfly, with its iridescent blue wings still intact, fluttered away