The Way of the Warrior - Chris Bradford [71]
‘And this is his twin brother, Toru. You don’t want to know what his name means, I assure you.’
He was identical. Only even more stupid-looking, thought Jack.
‘They’re from Hokkaido, but you wouldn’t know where that is, would you, gaijin?’ said Kazuki, baiting Jack again. ‘Let me enlighten you. It’s the north island of Japan and these boys are from the Seto clan, the toughest and most ruthless samurai you’ll ever come across. That’s why they’re enrolled at the Yagyu School here in Kyoto. It’s renowned for producing some of the most fearsome warriors in Japan. Sponsored by the great daimyo Kamakura Katsuro himself, no less!’
‘This is just between you and me, Kazuki,’ interrupted Jack, fed up with Kazuki’s attempts to terrorize him. ‘Send your apes home!’
Raiden and Toru snarled at the insult, lumbering forward with the clear intention of pulling Jack limb from limb.
‘Eh? Whass’ going on ’ere?’ slurred Saburo, stumbling from Kiku and Yori’s grasp and planting himself in between Jack and the two approaching giants. ‘Leave my friend alone… We at a ha-ha-hanami party and you ’aven’t been invited.’
Saburo wobbled slightly, like a Daruma Doll, then fell forward, his head thumping against the chest of Raiden. Raiden slapped him away as if he were swatting a fly.
‘Oww!’ said Saburo, reeling from the blow, blood dripping from his nose. ‘You fat oaf! That hurt!’
Kiku and Yori ran to his aid, but Saburo shrugged them off and wound himself up to take a swing at his assailant. Raiden simply raised his great slab of a fist and drove it at Saburo’s face.
‘Oi! Pick on someone your own size!’ said Jack and let loose a yoko-geri, side-kick, his heel striking directly into Raiden’s ribs.
Raiden grunted, staggered sideways, his fist sailing past Saburo’s startled face and straight into the trunk of a nearby sakura tree. Raiden howled in pain. Furious, he then attacked Jack with a series of wild swinging punches.
Jack retreated to avoid getting caught in the head.
‘Watch out!’ cried Akiko.
But it was too late. Toru had come up from behind and grabbed Jack in a bear hug, pinioning Jack’s arms to his side.
‘What are you going to do now, Gaijin Jack?’ taunted Kazuki, who was watching with unrestrained glee. Behind him, Yamato backed away into the shadows in an attempt to distance himself from the escalating fight.
Toru’s grip tightened and Jack’s breath was crushed from his body. Jack felt himself passing out, but Toru’s grip eased as the great brute let out a wounded groan.
Akiko had kicked him with ushiro-geri, a spinning back kick, the most powerful kick in taijutsu. It had struck Toru straight in the side. Any normal person would have crumpled under such a direct hit, but Toru only loosened his grip slightly and glared at Akiko.
So she followed it up with a mawashi-geri, roundhouse kick. Ready for the attack this time, Toru spun round and put Jack directly in its path. Akiko, desperately attempting to avoid Jack, lost her balance. Toru trapped Akiko’s flailing leg with one arm, while keeping hold of Jack with his other.
Once he had them both under his control, he slipped his left arm up Jack’s chest and encircled his throat. Toru then began to throttle Jack.
‘Stop it!’ cried a distraught Kiku, Yori frozen in wide-eyed alarm next to her. ‘Yamato, help them!’
But Yamato, ignoring her pleas, retreated further away from the brawl. Meanwhile, Kazuki and Nobu were delighting in the spectacle, urging the cousins on and taunting Jack.
‘Haven’t you learnt anything, gaijin? Any real samurai would be able to fight their way out of that,’ Kazuki sneered.
‘Come on, Toru, snap him in half!’ shouted Nobu.
Toru tightened his grip round Jack’s throat and Jack choked. But Toru’s throttling was the least of Jack’s worries. Raiden, with both fists raised, was heading straight for him.
Jack, still pinioned by the iron grip of Toru, and realizing he only had his legs to defend himself, clamped his hands on to Toru’s arm, pulling it down