The Way of the Warrior - Chris Bradford [91]
The absurdity of the situation suddenly struck home and both the boys began to laugh. The tension between them evaporated as if it had somehow been washed away by the Sound of Feathers waterfall itself.
After their laughter had died down, they sat there in silence, throwing pebbles into the river, unsure as what to say or do next.
‘We had better get back,’ said Yamato eventually. ‘The sun will be setting soon and the Niten Ichi Ryū need to know they have won.’
‘You should carry it,’ said Jack, untying the Jade Sword from his obi and handing it to Yamato.
‘Why me? You were the one to get it.’
‘Yes, but your father doesn’t need to know that, does he?’
40
STAYING THE PATH
Jack and Yamato ran into the Buddha Hall together.
The Yagyu School went wild when they saw their champion carrying the Jade Sword. Kamakura swelled with pride, adjusting his finery in preparation for accepting the sword and victory.
Masamoto sat next to him, cross-legged upon the raised dais. His expression, detached and serious, was fixed, for when Yamato had entered the Buddha Hall bearing the sword, it was as if Masamoto had been replaced with a papier-mâché model of himself, a husk that had had all the life sucked out of it.
The cheering died down to a hushed murmur of respect as Jack and Yamato approached the dais and bowed.
Akiko and Saburo knelt to the right-hand side, Raiden and Moriko to the other. Akiko gave a forlorn smile, clearly glad to see Jack in one piece but dismayed at their defeat. Yamato stepped forward, the Jade Sword in hand. Kamakura prepared himself to accept the offering.
It had taken Jack a great deal of persuasion to convince Yamato to carry the sword, but eventually he had agreed, accepting it to be the best way to reconcile him with his father. Jack didn’t care about the honour of winning the Taryu-Jiai. Masamoto had shown him great kindness by taking him in to his family. Jack didn’t want to be the reason for the family breaking apart.
Yamato bowed once more and went down on one knee raising the Jade Sword above his head with both hands. Kamakura reached out to formally accept the offering and seal his triumph of the Taryu-Jiai, but before he could lay his hands upon it, Yamato turned and presented the sword to his father.
‘Father, I ask for your forgiveness and bestow to you what is rightfully the victory of the Niten Ichi Ryū. I was not the one to retrieve the sword. It was Jack.’
A moment of perplexed silence fell upon the hall.
Jack’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. This is not what they had agreed. Yes, he was to give the sword to Masamoto, but he was not to say Jack had retrieved it. That was to be Yamato’s glory. The proof Masamoto was looking for that Yamato was good enough to be a samurai warrior, worthy to be a Masamoto.
Akiko looked in wide-eyed wonder at the bowing Yamato and then at Jack, who was shaking his head in silent dispute.
Masamoto gave Yamato a dubious look. ‘Is this the truth?’
‘Yes, Father. But Jack insisted that I was the one to hand it to you.’
Ignoring Jack’s protests, Masamoto nodded once, the issue decided. He stood up and took the sword from Yamato’s outstretched hands.
‘The Niten Ichi Ryū are deemed the champions of the Taryu-Jiai!’ announced the equally baffled Imperial Court official.
The whole of the Buddha Hall erupted into a cacophony of cheers from the Niten Ichi Ryū. Raucous heckling exploded from the Yagyu Ryū side and Raiden stamped the ground in frustration, while Moriko bared her black teeth, hissing her disgust at Akiko. Kamakura’s face flushed red with fury and his throat quivered as if he was choking on an oversized frog.
‘This is an outrage!’ Kamakura eventually cried, shoving the official to the floor. ‘An outrage!’
Kamakura threw a curt nod in Masamoto’s direction then stormed out of the hall, his samurai hastening close behind. The official picked himself up and called for silence. Once the noise had finally died down, he deferred to Masamoto.
‘Students