The Way of the Warrior - Chris Bradford [75]
Throughout the day, Jack, Akiko and Saburo were swamped by the other students, demanding to know if it was true that they would be fighting in a Taryu-Jiai for the honour of the school. The rumour had spread rapidly and now that it was confirmed, everyone wanted to be their friend, hoping to increase their status by association.
Jack was suddenly accepted as a fellow samurai. No longer did they call him Gaijin Jack or whisper behind his back as they passed. They had all heard how he had fought bravely against the Seto twins from Hokkaido and they wanted to be part of such a courageous deed.
By dinner that night, the hanami fight had become legend. The Seto twins were giants, twice the height of anyone, and carrying staffs. Akiko had flown through the air, executing scissor kicks, crescent kicks and axe kicks in every direction. Jack was now the samurai who could fight without needing to draw breath. And Saburo had become the drunken warrior, who had defeated Raiden the Thunder God with his eyes closed.
Jack suspected that many of these exaggerations were originating from the garrulous Saburo himself. Saburo never tired of recounting the story, the attention he received swelling his ego. He was clearly allowing his bravado to get the better of him. Akiko and Jack, however, were more subdued on the matter, anxious for what the ensuing months had in store.
After dinner, they made their way up to the Buddha Hall for their first Taryu-Jiai lesson with Sensei Yamada. As they entered the courtyard, Kazuki and Nobu were seen heading their way. They crossed paths, yet Kazuki and Nobu resolutely ignored them.
‘Where are they going?’ asked Jack, surprised Kazuki hadn’t spat his usual taunt of ‘Gaijin Jack’.
‘ To the Butokuden,’ replied Akiko.
‘What? Are they training too?’
‘No!’ laughed Saburo. ‘Didn’t you hear? Masamoto has punished them for dishonouring the school. He has ordered them to polish the entire hall, floor to ceiling.’
‘Really? That’s going to take days!’ said Jack, unable to refrain from a gleeful smile.
‘Not as long as it will take them to clean every brick of this courtyard,’ said Saburo with equal glee. ‘And then they have to rake the gravel in the Southern Zen garden, but they can only use their hashi! It will take them weeks!’
That would keep Kazuki out of his way, thought Jack with relief. He didn’t need Kazuki harassing him with everything else going on.
They reached the top of the stairs and entered the Buddha Hall. Sensei Yamada was already perched upon his cushioned dais, incense burning, surrounded by candles.
‘Come. Come. Seiza!’ welcomed Yamada, his voice resonating in the vast expanse of the hall.
Jack, Akiko and Saburo sat on the three cushions laid out at Sensei Yamada’s feet.
‘So you are the three mighty warriors?’ said Yamada rhetorically, his eyes sparkling with mischief. ‘And it is my honour to prepare your minds for the great battle?’
Sensei Yamada lit another incense stick, a mix of cedar and a red resin he called ‘Dragon’s Blood’. Extracted from rattan palm trees, it had a heavy, woody aroma and Jack felt quite light-headed with its potency.
Sensei Yamada then half-closed his eyes and hummed lightly to himself, drifting off on another one of his trances. They were all familiar with these by now and Jack, Akiko and Saburo each settled into their own meditations.
‘What are you afraid of, Jack-kun?’ asked Sensei Yamada after several minutes, without breaking his trance.
‘Umm,’ said Jack, the unexpected question interrupting his own meditation as he slipped into the fifth ‘View’ – natural wisdom – the stage when things can be seen in their true light.
‘Come. Come. Tell me exactly what you see. What are you afraid of?’
Sensei Yamada’s voice thrummed in Jack’s head, the incense amplifying his senses, and out of the swirling murkiness of his mind, images materialized, faces floated and nightmares appeared.
‘Drowning… I was always… afraid of drowning… being