The Way of the Warrior - Chris Bradford [82]
Jack was one of the few to see it. Hair grabbing was prohibited, and Moriko kept close, hiding the illegal move with her body. Akiko was trapped. Moriko then foot-sweeped Akiko from behind, dragging her down with her hair.
‘YAME! Waza-ari to Moriko!’ said the official, oblivious to Moriko’s cheating. ‘First match goes to Yagyu Ryū!’
‘I can’t believe it!’ said Jack, incensed, as Akiko knelt down next to him. ‘How could the referee not see that?’
‘Don’t worry about my fight. It’s over,’ said Akiko, her face hot and flushed with the exertion. ‘Focus on yours. You have to win.’
‘Second match. Raiden versus Jack. Line up!’
Jack’s heart stopped for a beat. He was up against Raiden.
‘Good luck, Jack,’ whispered Yori, who was kneeling behind them with the rest of their class.
‘Yes, good luck, Jack,’ said Emi warmly.
Her flirtatious tone was not lost on Akiko who stared at Emi in mute astonishment.
‘Thank you,’ said Jack, somehow managing to smile back. Now there’s a first, he thought, Emi noticing him.
Then Kazuki caught his eye and Jack’s amiable feelings evaporated. Kazuki slid a finger across his throat.
His old enemy had been sulking ever since the hanami, for Jack was no longer the gaijin of the school, but the hero. And Kazuki had been sidelined. Now he was relishing the prospect of Jack’s forthcoming bout. There was no way on earth he could win and Kazuki knew no one liked a loser.
Jack walked out into the centre of the Butokuden. The heat instantly sapped his strength. There was not a breath of fresh air and bars of hot sunlight scorched the wooden floor.
The hall appeared larger than ever to Jack, who felt tiny as an ant opposite the giant that was Raiden. Raiden grinned and tilted his head from side to side, loosening the joints in his neck with a sickening crack.
Jack was about to be torn into pieces.
He glanced over to his friends. Their faces reflected his fears like a mirror.
Then he saw Sensei Yamada, Sensei Kyuzo and Sensei Hosokawa, standing in the wings. Sensei Yamada bowed slightly, then indicated with an open hand the size difference between Sensei Kyuzo and Sensei Hosokawa. Jack immediately understood; size had never been an issue for Sensei Kyuzo when fighting. It should not be for him either.
‘Rei!’ said the official.
Jack and Raiden bowed to Masamoto and Kamakura, then curtly to one another. The official waited for another short stick of incense to be lit before shouting, ‘Hajime!’
Jack had decided on an all-or-nothing approach and, as Raiden lumbered forward, Jack hit him with a front kick, then a roundhouse. But Raiden merely batted his kicks away before throwing a single forearm blow. Jack went flying and ended up sprawled on the floor.
‘YAME!’ cried the official. ‘Koka to Raiden!’
Jack staggered to his feet, dazed but unhurt. Akiko and Saburo gave him encouraging looks, but their support was undermined by Kazuki’s gloating face behind and Nobu miming himself getting hung by a noose.
‘Hajime!’
Jack was barely ready when Raiden stomped on his front foot. Jack let out a yelp and tried to get away, but his foot was trapped. Raiden swung a large left hook. Jack ducked, feeling it pass over his head. But as he rose, Raiden launched his right fist into Jack’s face.
Jack blocked it with a solid age-uke, rising block, but he knew his time was short if he didn’t free himself quickly.
Jack dropped to his knees and, with all his weight, struck the inside of Raiden’s thigh, aiming directly at the nerve point Sensei Kyuzo had shown them during training. Raiden howled in pain, releasing Jack’s foot, but as he staggered backwards, he managed to catch Jack with a messy but brutal backhanded slap across the cheek.
Jack went flying for a second time.
‘YAME!’ called the official. ‘Koka to Raiden!’
‘Come on, Jack. You can beat him,’ encouraged Akiko, but the groans from the rest of Niten Ichi Ryū were a far more