Chapter 8 : Submission

The words slammed into Jack's brain like a fist and he stopped struggling.

Was this another of Kazuki's false taunts? Jack hadn't yet been able to

speak with Masamoto or any of the sensei to discover whether the rumours

were true, though he had taken some comfort from the fact that none of the

students in the school, aside from Kazuki and his cohorts, appeared to know

anything about daimyo Kamakura's declaration against Christians.

'SEVEN!'

'They said his flesh fell off in lumps before he died, like a barbecued

pig. Imagine that, gaijin!'

Kazuki's mocking cruelty was what spurred Jack to retaliate. For a

brief moment, he had a flashback of the storm that had shipwrecked the

Alexandria and the sailor who had been set on fire by lightning. Jack could

remember the agony etched on to the dead man's face and the gutwrenching smell of charred flesh. His anger boiled over at the thought and a

surge of adrenalin flooded through him.

'EIGHT!'

In one simultaneous movement, Jack arched his body, flung his legs

round Kazuki's back leg and grabbed his opponent's head with his free

hand. His fingers found Kazuki's nostrils and he wrenched back hard.

'NINE!'

Kazuki grunted in pain and was spun over.

Jack rolled on top. He trapped Kazuki with a chest hold, lying across

Kazuki's shoulders and driving his elbow and knee into either side of

Kazuki's head to lock it in place.

Now it was Kazuki's turn to be counted out.

Through the matting of hair that plastered his face, Jack caught a

glimpse of Yamato and Saburo willing him on. Despite his exhaustion, he

allowed himself the smallest of victory smiles.

'One,' said the sensei half-heartedly.

Kazuki was pinned and going nowhere.

'Two.'

But away from anyone's line of sight, Kazuki managed to free an arm

and began to hammer Jack in the kidneys.

'Three.'

Only Sensei Kyuzo could see it, but he turned a blind eye as Kazuki

landed another unofficial blow. The sensei deliberately slowed his count.

'Four…'

Kazuki struck again. Jack's side flared with pain and he was forced to

relinquish his grip. Throwing Jack off, Kazuki countered hard, putting him

into a choking hold.

'That's not very nice – going for the face!' spat Kazuki, who now lay

on top of Jack, one forearm behind Jack's neck, the other across his throat.

Kazuki wrenched his forearms together, closing them like a vice.

Jack spluttered in shock.

His windpipe was instantly cut off and he couldn't breathe.

'Excellent, Kazuki,' praised Sensei Kyuzo, pleased to see his protégé

back in control.

Blatantly ignoring the escalating violence of the randori, Sensei

Kyuzo turned to instruct the class.

'Notice the switch from the pin to the choke. This is an extremely

effective manoeuvre and will guarantee submission from any enemy.'

Encouraged, Kazuki bore down even harder with his stranglehold, a

sadistic glint in his eyes.

Jack felt his throat being crushed. His head pounded under the

pressure. His lungs starved of oxygen, darkness seeped into the corners of

Jack's vision and he tapped wildly on the floor for submission.

Kazuki merely looked on, savouring Jack's agony.

Jack teetered on the edge of consciousness.

But Kazuki kept the choke on.

Stars exploded in front of Jack's eyes and, for a terrifying moment,

Kazuki's grinning face metamorphosed into Dragon Eye's. The mask of a

blackened skull with a single green eye flashed before him.

Jack's submissive tapping became weaker, his hand flapping like a

dying fish. Then, as if from the depths of a murky pool, he heard Akiko

shout, 'Sensei! He's killing him!'

Sensei Kyuzo observed the blue tinge to Jack's lips with mild interest,

saying, 'That's enough, Kazuki. It's clear you've beaten him…'

Kazuki released the choke and air flooded back into Jack's lungs.

Jack gulped it down like water. The instant the oxygen hit his brain,

Jack's fury exploded with a vengeance. On survival instinct alone, he drove

his fist squarely into Kazuki's face. The punch connected and sent his

enemy flying backwards.

'YAME!' bellowed Sensei Kyuzo, dragging Jack to his feet by the

scruff of his gi.

His thumb sought out a pressure point in Jack's neck and the sensei

pressed down hard. Jack's body was instantly paralysed with pain. He hung

there like a rag doll. To the students, Jack merely appeared exhausted from

the randori. For Jack, it was as if Sensei Kyuzo had inserted a molten iron

rod into his spine.

'What did I say?' breathed Sensei Kyuzo into Jack's face with

hardened contempt. 'Nage waza and katame waza only. Since when was

punching part of grappling technique?'

'Since when… was murder… encouraged during randori?' replied

Jack through clenched teeth as he fought against the spasms of pain.

Kazuki lay in the centre of the dojo, nursing a split lip, his gi stained in

bright red patches with his own blood.

'You have much to learn,' said Sensei Kyuzo, 'the first principle being

fudoshin. You're clearly too unbalanced to be samurai!'

Jack was dumbfounded, not only by the agony Sensei Kyuzo was

inflicting upon him, but by the injustice of it all.

'As punishment for your lack of self-control,' announced Sensei

Kyuzo so that the whole class could hear, 'you will return here at dinner and

polish every single woodblock in this dojo. And you will not go to bed until

you have finished. Do you understand?'

'But, Sensei, I have to go to tea with daimyo Takatomi tonight.'

Sensei Kyuzo fumed at Jack, knowing he couldn't force him to miss

such an important appointment. 'Tomorrow night then!'

'Hai, Sensei,' replied Jack grimly.

The sensei leant forward, screwing his thumb further into Jack's

pressure point and sending another excruciating wave of pain through him.

He bent down to whisper in his ear, 'I don't know how you got your name

on the submission for the Circle of Three, but, mark my words, I will

personally ensure that you're not selected during the trials.