Young Samurai _ The Way Of The Dragon - Chris Bradford [20]
‘It wasn’t anything as mysterious as that,’ she dismissed. ‘I’ve always been lucky that way. Do you remember when you first met me I used to dive with the ama people searching for pearls? Well, I’ve been stung by jellyfish so many times I lost count. Once I was even bitten by a blowfish, and they’re deadly. I was ill for a number of days after, but I recovered. I’ve just got a high tolerance to things like that.’
That seemed logical to Jack, but it didn’t explain her other mysteries. ‘So what about…’
But Akiko rose to her feet and began to undo her obi. Jack gawped in astonishment. A Japanese lady would never remove her obi in public. Then again, Akiko was not a typical Japanese girl. Being of samurai class, she shouldn’t have associated with the ama divers in the first place. It was considered beneath her status. But, as Akiko had once explained to Jack, she loved the freedom of the ocean. It was the only place she could escape the rigid confines of Japanese life.
‘Talking of the ama, I really need a swim,’ announced Akiko.
She noticed Jack staring.
‘No peeking,’ she laughed, indicating for Jack to turn round, before handing him the outer layer of her kimono. Securing her undergarments tightly round her, she dived off the cliff and into the cove.
Jack rushed to the edge, but could only see the white ripples of water where she’d entered the ocean. He caught sight of a shadow swimming deep within the bay and, if Jack hadn’t known better, he would have sworn it was a mermaid.
After a while, though, Akiko hadn’t surfaced and he began to worry, fearing that something had happened to her. Then, just like a seal pup, her head popped up on the other side of the cove. She swam over to the inlet beach and beckoned Jack to join her. Jack untied the horses and led them down the path towards her.
By the time he got to the beach, she was almost dry and Jack passed her the kimono. Back turned, he waited patiently for her to get changed.
‘You may look now.’
Jack found Akiko holding out her hand. In her palm was a large, closed oval-shaped shell.
‘It’s an oyster. I spotted it under a rock at the bottom of the cove,’ she explained, placing it in his hand. ‘Go on, see if there’s a pearl inside!’
Jack took the gnarled shell and, using the ninja’s tantō he carried, prised the shell apart. The knife slipped as it broke the seal and he pricked his finger on the blade again. Jack quickly sheathed the weapon before the cursed tantō did any more damage.
Akiko gave a small gasp as Jack opened up the oyster. Inside was a black shiny pearl, the colour of Akiko’s eyes.
‘That’s a rare find,’ she breathed. ‘It must be one of the most perfect black pearls I’ve ever seen.’
Jack passed it back to Akiko.
‘No,’ she said, closing his palm round the precious pearl. ‘It’s my gift to you.’
Jack wanted to thank her, but for a moment words failed him.
‘There you are!’ cried the samurai guard Taka-san, riding down the beach on his horse. ‘You’re summoned back home immediately. Masamoto-sama’s on his way.’
8
BUSHIDO
‘A disgraced samurai must commit seppuku!’ Masamoto thundered, delivering his judgement upon Jack.
He sat upon a raised dais in the reception room of Hiroko’s house, his face fuming like a volcano. Even after two months, his anger at his adopted son still raged, the scarring that ran down the left-hand side of his face was inflamed and his amber eyes burnt fiercely.
Jack looked fearfully at his guardian. He’d once been told by Akiko what seppuku was, but his terror at Masamoto’s anger had wiped it clean from his mind. All he knew was that it wasn’t good. Jack glanced over to Akiko for an explanation, but she remained bowing, face down to the floor, just as Yamato was.
‘Seppuku is ritualized suicide,’ stated Masamoto, noting Jack’s bewilderment. ‘In the Way of the Warrior, it’s considered an act of bravery for a samurai who knows he’s defeated, or disgraced, to take his own life. The deed wipes away all transgressions and