Young Samurai_ The Way of the Sword - Chris Bradford [67]
Kazuki and his team gave a great shout, then split apart and positioned themselves strategically across the courtyard. Nobu and Raiden stayed at the back, while Goro and Moriko took midfield, leaving Kazuki and Hiroto up front.
‘Who’s going to referee?’ shouted Tadashi.
‘I will,’ offered Emi, emerging from the crowd.
She beckoned the team leaders over.
Kazuki and Tadashi faced off.
‘Remember, this is a friendly game and my decisions are final,’ said Emi, making eye contact with both of them to ensure their understanding.
Jack immediately recognized her father’s natural authority in her.
‘What are your team names?’ she asked.
‘The Scorpions,’ stated Kazuki with pride, raising his arms skyward.
A loyal cheer erupted from the sidelines.
‘And your team, Tadashi?’
Tadashi looked back over his shoulder at Yamato.
‘The Phoenix Team,’ he replied, a round of applause immediately breaking from the crowd.
Jack saw Yamato nod at Tadashi and grin. It was a good choice, the phoenix being Yamato’s family kamon.
‘Take up your positions,’ announced Emi, and the excited spectators roared their approval. ‘Yuki Gassen will begin in five… four… three… two… one!’
32
SCORPIONS VS PHOENIX
A volley of snowballs flew through the air and Jack dived behind the nearest snow wall.
‘OUT!’ cried Emi.
There was a great cheer from the crowd and for a moment Jack thought he’d already been caught. Then he saw Saburo wiping the remains of two snowballs from the front of his kimono. His friend gave a half-hearted bow before slouching off to the sidelines.
‘Jack! To your right!’ warned Akiko.
Taking advantage of Saburo’s departure, Hiroto was sneaking forward and now had Jack directly in his line of fire.
Jack ducked as a snowball whizzed past his head. He threw two balls back in retaliation but they missed, striking the spectators instead. A mixture of catcalls and boos broke from the crowd. Jack retreated to behind a snow mound on his left, randomly throwing balls as he ran.
‘They’re going to overrun us if we don’t attack!’ shouted Tadashi over the growing chants of the Scorpion Team’s supporters.
With that he launched several snowballs at Moriko, who was advancing down the right.
‘OUT!’ cried Emi.
Pretending she hadn’t heard, Moriko kept lobbing snowballs.
‘OUT! Or forfeit the game!’
Moriko kicked the nearest snow wall in frustration and hissed at Emi. The Phoenix supporters booed Moriko’s dishonourable behaviour.
‘Cover me!’ shouted Jack as he sprinted forward to join Tadashi behind the central wall.
Akiko and Yori let loose a round of snowballs. Three of them struck the lumbering figure of Raiden as he stepped out from behind his defence to target Jack.
‘OUT!’ announced Emi.
The Scorpion Team retaliated with a barrage of snowballs. A moment later, there was a squeal of pain from behind.
‘OUT!’
‘They’re using ice balls!’ cried Yori, a large bump already swelling on his forehead as he staggered to the sidelines.
Tadashi gave Jack an uneasy look. ‘And I thought this was supposed to be a friendly game.’
Tadashi stood up and quickly blasted Kazuki’s team with several balls. The rest of the Phoenix Team joined in, but despite a courageous offensive, a long shot from Kazuki took out Akiko. Fortunately the ice ball struck her arm and not her face.
Only Jack, Tadashi and Yamato were now left against four Scorpions.
Tadashi spotted Nobu trying to ferry ice balls to Kazuki. Launching a lightning attack, he managed to smack Nobu twice in the rear.
‘OUT!’
‘Shame we’re not using ice balls,’ commented Tadashi, giving Jack a mischievous grin.
‘Or snowballs for that matter,’ replied Jack. ‘I’ve run out.’
With the fight now three on three, their main problem was the dwindling supply of ammunition. Tadashi indicated he only had five left, but he nonetheless passed three to Jack.
Tadashi then spotted Saburo’s original stockpile by the bokken and signed his intention to get them. Jack threw a covering shot at Kazuki while Tadashi zigzagged towards them. Tadashi dived the