The Way of the Warrior - Chris Bradford [93]
‘Great, thanks!’ said Jack. ‘This is a wonderful festival –’
‘Come on!’ urged Yamato, seeing Akiko’s prickly reaction. He grabbed Jack’s arm. ‘I know a better place to stand.’
‘Sorry, I have to go. Perhaps see you later?’ said Jack, waving at the disappointed Emi as he was dragged by Yamato and Akiko to the back of the crowd, where they found Saburo, Yori and Kiku waiting for them.
‘Here, try this!’ greeted Saburo, and shoved a small fish-shaped cake in his hand.
‘What is it?’ asked Jack, eyeing the pastry suspiciously.
‘It’s taiyaki…’ replied Saburo through a mouthful of the cake.
‘Later. We’ve got all afternoon to eat,’ interrupted Yamato. ‘We need to get ahead of the procession to see it all. Follow me!’
Yamato led them off down a back street and they wound their way through a maze of narrow deserted alleyways before coming out on to the main thoroughfare in front of the Imperial Palace.
Hundreds of people were already gathered and the street was lined with stalls selling strange sweets, skewers of barbequed chicken, sencha and a vast array of festival delights, from brightly coloured paper fans to gruesome papier-mâché masks, all in readiness for the evening celebrations.
‘There! What did I tell you, Jack? We can see the whole procession from here,’ said Yamato eagerly, making his way to the front.
From the moment of their Taryu-Jiai victory the previous day and his reconciliation with his father, Yamato had been a changed person. No longer was he so serious, or so cold towards Jack. In fact, he took his newfound friendship with Jack so far that Yamato was almost a bodyguard, challenging anyone who referred to Jack as the gaijin.
Not that many people did. Along with Akiko and Saburo, Jack and Yamato were the heroes of the school. Only Kazuki and his friends remained hostile towards Jack, but they were keeping a low profile while everyone was celebrating the school’s victory over the Yagyu Ryū.
‘Look!’ said Kiku. ‘There’s Masamoto!’
‘Where’s he going?’ asked Jack.
‘To meet the Emperor, of course!’ said Kiku in reverential awe. ‘Our Living God.’
‘You may have won the Taryu-Jiai,’ explained Akiko, ‘but as the founder of the Niten Ichi Ryū, Masamoto gets the honour of meeting the Emperor himself.’
Masamoto, bearing the Jade Green sword and flanked by Sensei Yamada, Sensei Kyuzo, Sensei Hosokawa and Sensei Yosa, all in full ceremonial regalia, entered through the immense gateway of the Imperial Palace and disappeared behind the tall earthen walls.
Jack wondered what it would be like to meet a ‘Living God’.
The rest of that afternoon was spent watching the passing parade of floats, geisha and musicians, while Jack was introduced to a bizarre variety of Japanese foods. Saburo appeared to greatly enjoy experimenting with Jack’s taste buds, force-feeding him with varying levels of success. Jack enjoyed the takoyaki, a dumpling made of batter, ginger and fried octopus, but he found the obanyaki, a thick round pastry filled with custard, sickly sweet. As they wandered the streets, Saburo kept giving Jack various fried pancakes.
‘They’re called okonomiyaki. It means “cook what you like, when you like”,’ explained Akiko, a disgusted look on her face as Jack tucked into his fourth one, ‘but I wouldn’t trust it. You never know what they might have put in it!’
‘Quick, over here,’ shouted Yamato, waving them to a stand on the corner of a side street. ‘This stall’s selling some of the best masks I’ve seen yet!’
‘Here, Jack, this one will suit you,’ said Saburo, handing him an ugly red demon mask with four eyes and metallic gold teeth. ‘It should improve the way you look!’
‘Well, you had better have this one, considering you fight like one!’ retorted Jack, passing him the wrinkled, half-sunken face of an old woman.
‘Ha, ha!’ replied Saburo humourlessly, but took it anyway. ‘What about this one for you, Yamato?’
‘Yes, why not? It’s got spirit,’ said Yamato, examining the gold mask of a madman with spikes of black hair.