Kazuki was not present at dinner that evening.
Jack, for the first time since his arrival in Kyoto, relaxed. Clearly Kazuki
was still carrying out Sensei Yosa's punishment. Jack's only concern was
that Yori had not turned up for dinner either. Akiko said she had seen him
heading over to the Buddha Hall and thought he may have gone there to see
Sensei Yamada. However, when dinner started, Sensei Yamada shuffled in
alone.
There was still no sign of Yori when the meal drew to a close and Jack
was certain something had happened to him. He grew even more anxious
when he saw Nobu waddle out of the door in a hurry.
'Akiko, I'm worried about Yori. He's not turned up for dinner.'
'I'm sure he's fine, Jack. He's probably meditating somewhere. I've often
seen him in his room meditating morning, noon and night. He has some
lovely sandalwood incense. He even let me try some –'
'I'm serious, Akiko. After kyujutsu today, surely he has made an enemy
of Kazuki.'
'Jack. Kazuki lost face, but he wouldn't dare do anything to Yori. It
would be against his honour.'
'Honour? What honour? He attacks me without any problem.'
'That is true, but you're…' Akiko appeared suddenly uncomfortable. '…
gaijin… a foreigner. He does not see you as an equal. Yori, however, is
Japanese, from a samurai family with a long and honourable history.'
'But Masamoto has adopted me, surely I deserve the same respect…'
said Jack, but he trailed off.
Jack could see it in her eyes. He was not equal. He never would be. Not
in hers or Kazuki's eyes. He looked round the table. Saburo and Kiku
politely avoided his gaze. Yamato stared coolly back. It was apparent to
Jack that Yamato still only tolerated him because his father had commanded
him to, despite Jack having saved his life.
'So honour is only reserved for the Japanese, is it?' Jack said,
challenging them. Akiko's face crumpled like a snowdrift and she bowed to
avoid his furious glare. 'Fine. Well, at least maintain your honour for Yori
and help me find him.'
'Yes, good idea,' said Saburo, attempting to diffuse the situation.
'Perhaps Yamato and I can go and look for him in the Niwa? Akiko and
Kiku can try and find him in the Shishi-no-ma. Jack, you can check out the
Butsuden. Akiko's right, he's probably just meditating somewhere.'
Saburo quickly got to his feet, urging everyone to begin searching, and
they all hurried out of the Chō-no-ma.
It was another cold starry night and a half-moon hung in the heavens,
illuminating the courtyard in a ghostly pale light as the lone figure of Jack
climbed the stone steps to the Butsuden's entrance.
Jack wanted to scream at the moon. His frustration at being in Japan
simmered like hot oil beneath his skin. He could handle most of it, even
Kazuki, but the thing that had hurt him most was Akiko's reaction, and the
realization that she also saw him as different, beneath her. Jack thought they
had become friends. But friends don't divide by difference. They unite
because of it.
Jack gave a humourless smile. Now he was starting to sound like Sensei
Yamada spouting some Zen proverb. He swallowed down his bitterness. At
least Yori had stood up for him. Jack just hoped the boy was not in trouble.
Reaching the top step, he peered into the Butsuden's gloomy darkness.
Shafts of moonlight cut across the hall like the bars on a cell. He was about
to call out Yori's name, when he heard subdued voices, tense and angry.
'I had to spread the night soil from the toilets on to the garden,' said the
voice. 'I've missed my dinner and I stink!'
'So sorry, Kazuki. But it was wrong to…'
Jack peered round the door and saw Kazuki standing over the trembling
form of Yori. Nobu was looming behind him, his shadow spread fat and
bulbous across the floor. Jack pressed himself flat against the wall and,
hidden by the darkness, edged closer.
'Wrong? What do you care? He is gaijin! He is not worthy to be one of
us,' spat Kazuki. 'I dare not believe that you, Yori, first son of the Takedas
whose ancestors fought and defeated the Mongols, stood up for a mere
gaijin!'
'But he is really no different from us, Kazuki…' pleaded Yori.
'What? You have much to learn. We are the descendants of Amaterasu,
the sun goddess. The samurai are the chosen ones, the warriors of the gods.
Gaijin are nothing. Gaijin are to be ruled over.'
Jack was astounded at Kazuki's self-importance. His blood boiled at the
boy's ignorance. No one person was better than another. Only different.
Kazuki, however, clearly saw difference as a weakness, a flaw, a mistake.
Jack steeled himself to intervene. Just as he was about to make his move,
Kazuki changed tack.
'But I can be reasonable, Yori,' continued Kazuki in an almost appeasing
tone. 'In recognition of your family's ancestors, I will give you a chance to
escape your punishment.'
Jack checked himself. Maybe Akiko is right, thought Jack, perhaps he
will honour Yori as a samurai. Yori blinked up at Kazuki in the darkness,
confused and anxious.
'You appear to know a lot about Zen. I want you to answer this koan. It's
a riddle I'm sure you can easily solve. But if you don't, then you will accept
your punishment gratefully, although you may find eating a little hard
tomorrow.'
Nobu chuckled at the threat, cracking his knuckles, the sound
reverberating throughout the hall. Yori whimpered.
'Here is your koan. Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the
sound of one hand clapping?'
Yori said nothing for a moment, nervously wringing his hands on his
kimono, his forehead creased in panicked concentration.
'What is the sound of one hand, Yori?' demanded Kazuki.
'Please. Please. I need silence to think.'
'Sorry, but I'm hungry and have little patience. Answer me!'
'It refers to… the koan itself. When the two hands clapping are… seen as
the seeking of the answer… so that the hands themselves become the
koan… it then follows that you… as the meditator… become the koan that
you are trying to understand… That is the sound of one hand clapping.'
'Excellent. Sensei Yamada would approve of such a philosophical
muddle of an answer. But wrong! This is the sound of one hand clapping,'
said Kazuki, and he raised his own hand and slapped Yori hard across the
face. Yori fell to the floor, whimpering in distress.
'No!' shouted Jack who, without a second's thought, flew from the
shadows and slammed into Kazuki.
He drove his shoulder into Kazuki's gut and they both rolled into the
middle of the hall. Kazuki was severely winded and couldn't move. Jack
punched him in the mouth.
'That one's for Yori,' said Jack. 'And this is for me!'
Akiko and Kiku came flying into the Butsuden just as Jack raised his fist
for the second time.
'Jack!' cried Akiko.
Jack glanced up. It was the split second Kazuki needed. He drove his
own fist up into Jack's chin, sending Jack backwards. Kazuki scrambled to
his feet as Jack lay sprawled across the stone floor. Kazuki stood over him,
his burst lip trickling blood.
'Bad move, gaijin,' he spat, lifting his leg to strike.
'No!' warned Akiko, launching herself at Kazuki in an attempt to stop
him. But Nobu grabbed her by the hair and sharply pulled her back.
Jack, fired up by Nobu's assault on Akiko, rolled into Kazuki and drove
hard into his standing leg.
Pushed off-balance, Kazuki crashed to the floor.
The two boys wrestled, each trying to get the upper hand.
Kazuki managed to roll on top and trap Jack's left arm. Jack felt pressure
being applied and was immediately paralysed with pain. He tried to move,
but each time he did, Kazuki pressed down harder.
Yamato ran in with Saburo.
'Yamato, help Jack!' cried Akiko, who struggled against Nobu's grip.
Nobu, scared that Yamato might attack him, immediately released Akiko.
Kiku ran to her aid, but Akiko didn't need any help. She elbowed Nobu
hard in the stomach, causing him to double over in agony.
'Why would you want to help a gaijin, Yamato?' shouted Kazuki,
breathless from the fight. 'Especially one who has usurped your brother's
place. I am right, he is Masamoto's adopted son, isn't he?'
Yamato faltered, stalling his approach, and stared at Jack who lay pinned
down under Kazuki.
'How could you let that happen, Yamato? A gaijin, part of your family.
The disgrace!'
Kazuki's words rebounded off the walls of the Butsuden, echoing
'Disgrace! Disgrace! Disgrace!' in Yamato's ears.
'I can end this dishonour. I can break his arm such that even Masamoto
could never fix it. I don't know many one-armed samurai, do you, Yamato?'
Jack could see Yamato weighing up his options. On the one hand, how
much better it would be for Yamato if he was gone, and on the other, there
was the debt of honour he owed Jack for saving his life. But that was not
the real issue here; the wrath of his father would be the deciding factor.
'Masamoto will not punish us,' egged on Kazuki, as if reading Yamato's
thoughts. 'Nobu is my witness. He saw the gaijin strike me first. I have
every right to defend myself.'
Yamato stepped back a pace.
'That's right, Yamato, let me rid you of this gaijin. You and I both know
he has been a thorn in your side.'
Kazuki twisted Jack's wrist a notch further to emphasize the point. Jack
cried out, the pain searing through his arm like a hot iron rod. Then
suddenly the pressure disappeared.
Akiko had slammed her foot into Kazuki's back, using a mae-geri, the
simple but effective front kick they had been taught that day in taijutsu.
Kazuki was sent sprawling across the floor.
He flipped over and started towards Akiko.
Instinctively she threw up her guard to counter his attack, but Kazuki
checked his strike at the last moment.
'This is foolish,' he said, stepping away and raising his hands in a sign of
peace. 'We're fighting over a gaijin. Masamoto decreed that we should be
loyal to the samurai of this school. I will not fight you.'
'Yet you will fight Jack and he is samurai too,' retorted Akiko.
'No, he isn't. He never will be and he knows it. Just look at him.'
Jack lay on the floor, cradling his arm, his face bruised and swelling
where Kazuki had struck him. Akiko looked down at Jack, her eyes filled
with pity.
Jack didn't want pity. He was hurt and ashamed, but not beaten. What he
wanted was acceptance, but perhaps that was too much to ask. He turned
away from her.
Kazuki bowed and calmly walked over to the door, Nobu faithfully
following him, still clutching his stomach. Kazuki wiped the blood from his
lip with the back of his hand, then turned and faced them all.
'I don't want any of you telling the sensei about tonight.'
'I'll tell Masamoto, if you ever touch Jack again,' threatened Akiko.
'No, you won't. If you do, we'll all be thrown out of the school. Fighting
is forbidden within the Buddha Hall.'
'Jack is my friend and I'll defend him, whatever the cost.'
Jack couldn't believe his ears. Akiko had declared her loyalty publicly.
The significance of her pronouncement was not lost on any of the others
present either.
She helped Jack to his feet.
'Don't be a gaijin lover, Akiko! I cannot promise to hold back next time
you stand in my way,' warned Kazuki.
'Harm him and I will tell – the choice is yours.' Kazuki faltered.
Jack guessed that he couldn't afford to gamble on Akiko's threat. Being
thrown out of the Niten Ichi Ryū would be a permanent loss of face, a
highly inappropriate circumstance for a boy of imperial blood.
'I do not wish to see you disgraced, Akiko, so I will make you a promise
in return for forgetting this night. I'll not fight the gaijin again within the
walls of the Niten Ichi Ryū. Agreed?'
Akiko looked at Jack before nodding her acceptance.
'Gaijin!' snarled Kazuki. 'You and I are not finished. Our war has barely
begun.'