Chapter 19 : Fighting Blind

Jack sprinted round the corner of the Butokuden, but he knew he wouldn't

make it across the courtyard without being spotted by Kazuki and his

Scorpion Gang.

Glancing around, the only cover within reach was the building works

of the Hall of the Hawk. Jack ran and dived into a waterlogged hole in the

newly dug foundations just as several figures burst out of the Butokuden.

Peering over the muddy lip, he watched as they hunted for him. The

first two went round the far side of the training hall, while the other two

headed in Jack's direction. Jack slipped further into the murky depths of the

hole. As they drew closer, he could hear the squelch of their feet in the mud.

They stopped at the edge of the flooded foundations.

'There's no way I'm going in there,' protested a voice.

'Go on!' ordered Kazuki. 'You need an excuse for a bath.'

Jack heard three more squelching footsteps and looked up. Above him

towered the bulk of Nobu.

'I can't go any further. I'm sinking!' complained Nobu, oblivious to

Jack's presence right at his feet.

'You're useless! Come back then.'

Turning round, Nobu slipped and wobbled on the edge. For a moment

it looked like he might fall into the hole, but to Jack's relief the oaf regained

his balance.

'Do you think it was one of the sensei?' asked Nobu as he slowly

made his way back to Kazuki.

'No,' replied Kazuki. 'A sensei wouldn't run away! But whoever it

was, we need to convince them to join the gang. Or else silence them. Come

on. Let's go find the others.'

Jack, shivering with a combination of cold, fear and anger, waited until

he was sure Kazuki and Nobu were gone, then crawled out of the hole. As

much as he wanted to go back to his room, he first had to find his sword.

Masamoto had instructed him that 'it must never fall into the hands of your

enemy'. He couldn't risk Kazuki finding it.

Jack hurried to the back of the Butokuden, but in the darkness and

downpour it was impossible to see anything. He scrabbled around on his

hands and knees, praying his fingers would come across it.

Suddenly he was aware of footsteps running up behind him.

Loath to leave his sword, he realized he had no choice but to escape

while he could.

Jack sensed the blow a fraction before he was caught hard across the gut.

He reeled, gasping for breath. Struggling to keep his feet, he heard

movement to his left and turned to face his enemy.

The problem was that Jack couldn't see. The darkness completely

enveloped him. But he could hear Kazuki snorting with laughter in the

background and the sound of shuffling feet. Apart from that, he had no

other way of knowing where the next attack might come from.

Out of nowhere the swoosh of a weapon came rocketing towards his

head. More by luck than skill, Jack lurched sideways and avoided the blow.

In blind retaliation, he swung wildly at his assailant. Missing his target, he

flailed through empty air.

Before Jack could follow through, he was struck across the shins. His

legs went from under him and he fell to the ground face first. He tried to

roll out of the fall, but was too disorientated. Jack grunted in pain as his

shoulder ploughed into the stony earth.

'Yame!' boomed the voice of Sensei Kano, bringing the fight to a halt.

Jack pulled off his blindfold, squinting into the bright light of the

midday sun. Kazuki was kneeling in line with the other students, delighting

in Jack's defeat.

'Sorry, Jack,' apologized Yamato, taking off his own blindfold and

offering his hand to help him up. 'I didn't mean to hit you so hard. It's just I

couldn't see where you were…'

'Don't worry, I'm fine,' grimaced Jack, pulling himself to his feet.

'Good work, both of you,' commended Sensei Kano, who sat upon the

worn steps of the Kompon Chu-do Temple.

Once again, Sensei Kano had led his students at dawn up Mount Hiei

for their lesson in the Art of the Bō. He considered the long walk good

conditioning for them and the mountain air beneficial to training.

'I heard three attacks avoided. And you, Yamato-kun, were highly

aware of your surroundings. Two strikes on target are praiseworthy for a

first attempt at blind kumite, but please control your strength next time. It

sounds like Jack-kun took quite a tumble. Let's have the next two students.'

Relieved the free-fighting session was over, Jack handed over his

blindfold to another student and knelt back in line between Yori and Akiko.

He massaged his aching shoulder, groaning as his fingers found the bruise.

'Are you hurt badly?' asked Akiko, noting Jack's pained expression.

'No, I'm fine… but I'm still not sure why we're learning to fight

blindfolded,' replied Jack under his breath, 'when all of us can see.'

'As I explained before, Jack-kun,' interrupted Sensei Kano, whose

acute sense of hearing had picked up the comment from the opposite side of

the courtyard, 'to see with eyes alone is not to see at all. In my lessons,

you're learning not to rely upon your eyes to defend yourself. As soon as

you open your eyes, you begin to make mistakes.'

'But wouldn't I make fewer mistakes if I could see what my enemy

was doing?' asked Jack.

'No, young samurai. You must remember the eyes are the windows to

your mind,' explained Sensei Kano. 'Come stand on this step before me and

I will show what I mean.'

Sensei Kano beckoned him over. Jack got to his feet and joined him on

the steps.

'Look at my feet,' instructed the sensei.

Jack studied his teacher's open-toed sandals and was instantly struck

on top of the head by the sensei's bō staff.

'My apologies, I'm blind and sometimes clumsy,' said Sensei Kano.

'Please keep an eye on my staff for me.'

Jack followed the tip of the white staff, ensuring he was not caught out

again.

Sensei Kano kicked him sharply in the shin.

'Oww!' Jack exclaimed, hobbling backwards.

The students all sniggered behind their hands.

'Lesson over,' stated Sensei Kano. 'Now do you understand?'

'Not really, Sensei…' said Jack, rubbing his sore shin.

'Think about it! If you look at an opponent's feet your attention will be

directed to his feet, and if you look to his weapon your attention will be

drawn to his weapon. So it follows, when you look to the left you forget the

right, and when you look to the right you forget the left.'

Sensei Kano let the message sink in. He pointed to his own sightless

eyes.

'Whatever is being contemplated within never fails to be revealed

through the eyes. Your enemy will take advantage of this. In order to fight

without giving yourself away, you must learn to fight without relying on

your eyes.'

Jack put down his writing brush. After his humiliation in front of Sensei

Kyuzo over not being able to write kanji, Akiko had offered to teach him

the basics of calligraphy. Whenever they had free time before dinner, they

would meet in her room and she would show him a new kanji character and

the correct order of brushstrokes needed to form it.

Akiko looked up at Jack, wondering why he had stopped halfway

through her explanation of the character for 'temple'.

Jack took a breath. Since his discovery of the Scorpion Gang and

losing his sword, this was the first opportunity he'd had to speak with

Akiko alone and he was uncertain how to tackle the mystery of her absence

the previous evening.

'Where were you last night?' Jack eventually asked. 'You weren't in

your room.'

She blinked once, her mouth visibly tightening at Jack's inappropriate

directness.

'I don't know what it's like in England, but that's not the sort of

question you ask a lady in Japan,' she replied coolly and started to pack

away her writing tools. 'Perhaps the question that should be asked is, where

were you?'

'Me? I was at the Butokuden…'

'That will explain why I found this,' she snapped, sliding open the

door of her wall closet and taking out Jack's katana.

Jack was completely thrown, both by Akiko's harshness and his

sword's unexpected appearance.

The previous night when he'd heard footsteps approaching, he'd run

back to the Hall of Lions empty-handed, afraid it was Kazuki and his gang.

On returning to the training hall at first light, his sword was nowhere to be

seen. He assumed Kazuki had taken it and had been worrying ever since,

for to confront him about it would mean revealing he knew about the

Scorpion Gang.

Miraculously, though, Akiko had it. He stared at her in curious

amazement.

'Thank you, Akiko. I've been looking for it everywhere,' he eventually

said, bowing to receive his sword.

'Jack, this sword is your soul,' she continued gravely, ignoring Jack's

outstretched hands. 'It's unforgivable to lose such a possession. The shame

is even greater considering this was a gift from Masamoto-sama and his

first sword. Why didn't you tell anyone you'd lost it?'

'I only lost it last night. I was hoping I'd be able to find it. Akiko,

please don't tell Masamoto-sama,' pleaded Jack, mortified at his mistake.

Akiko stared impassively at him and Jack couldn't tell whether she

was disappointed or pitying him for his carelessness. Then the hardness in

her expression softened and she handed over the weapon. 'I won't. But

what was it doing at the back of the Butokuden?'

This was not how Jack had envisaged the conversation going. He had

wanted to find out where Akiko had been and whether she knew about

Kazuki's plans. He hadn't expected to have to account for his own actions.

'I spotted intruders in the courtyard again. I thought they could be

ninja breaking into the school,' confided Jack, hoping that if he was straight

with her, she would be with him. 'But it wasn't.'

'Who was it?'

'It was Kazuki, Nobu, someone else and, you won't believe this,

Moriko from the Yagyu Ryū.'

'Moriko? In our school?' she replied, alarmed at the idea. 'Have you

told Masamoto-sama?'

'Not yet. He's still not returned, but we must tell him. Not just about

Moriko, but about Kazuki's Scorpion Gang.'

Akiko listened intently while Jack described what he had overheard

about daimyo Kamakura and the Scorpion Gang.

After some thought, Akiko replied, 'Jack, there are always rumours of

war. Of daimyo threatening daimyo. We're in a time of peace now and

there's no reason why this won't continue. You've met daimyo Kamakura.

He's hot-headed and power hungry. Masamoto-sama often complains about

how he's always stirring up trouble. But it never comes to anything. He

never has the support.'

'That's what Sensei Yamada said. But what if he is getting the

support?' insisted Jack. 'What if –?'

'Jack! There you are!'

Jack looked up as Yamato burst into the room with Saburo.

'You two look like you've been busy,' he said, picking up a piece of

paper with one of Jack's attempts at kanji. 'It'll be dinner soon and we all

need to get a bath. What's keeping you?'

'Jack saw Kazuki in the Butokuden last night,' explained Akiko in

hushed tones, indicating for Saburo to close the shoji behind him. 'He and

some others were getting a tattoo from that Moriko girl from the Yagyu

School.'

'Moriko?' said Yamato, alarmed. 'What was she doing here?'

'Supposedly, Kazuki's formed an anti-gaijin gang.'

'But tattoos? They're the mark of a prisoner!' exclaimed Saburo.

'They used to be,' corrected Akiko. 'But now merchants, and even

some samurai, are getting them as marks of bravery or declarations of love.'

Saburo laughed and gave Jack a reassuring grin. 'Jack, whatever it is

you're worried about, you certainly don't need to be afraid of a gang of

convicts and lovers.'

'It's no laughing matter, Saburo,' retorted Jack. 'Kazuki's serious. He

has it in for me.'

Yamato nodded thoughtfully. 'It sounds like Kazuki thinks he's a

warlord or something. I know what we should do – me and Saburo will

become your official bodyguards.'

'And we'll arrange to see Masamoto-sama as soon as he returns,'

added Akiko.

'Anyway, Jack, you should be less concerned about Kazuki and more

worried about how much you smell!' Yamato teased, throwing Jack a towel.

'Come on, let's get to the bathhouse before they serve dinner. I'm hungry.'

Sighing with bliss, Jack eased himself into the steaming hot water of the

ofuro.

There had been a time when he would have run scared of a bath. In

England, it was considered dangerous for your health, a surefire way to

catch the flux. But his time in Japan had soon changed that opinion and now

the ofuro was one of the highlights of his day.

Having first scrubbed and sluiced himself down in cold water, he then

slipped into a large square wooden tub of hot water. Jack began to relax.

Sensei Yamada and Akiko had both dismissed his fears about daimyo

Kamakura. Perhaps the combination of the night and the raging storm had

distorted his perception of the whole situation. Maybe Kazuki's war

amounted to little more than a figment of his rival's imagination. Anyway,

with Yamato and Saburo looking out for him, he should be safe.

Jack allowed the steaming water to loosen his muscles, easing the

tension in his bruised shoulder. His worries began to disappear too, seeming

to dissolve in the heat of the bath. After a while, he got out and towelled

himself down before joining the others for dinner.

'How's your shoulder, Jack?' asked Yamato as they headed over to the Chōno-ma with Saburo.

'It's much better thanks to the bath, but don't worry about it. I'll get

you back in kenjutsu tomorrow!' promised Jack, punching Yamato on the

arm.

Yamato gave an expression of mock pain and they all laughed.

'That's a devastating right hook,' commented a voice from behind. 'I'd

better watch out.'

Their amusement ceased as Kazuki, flanked by Nobu and Hiroto,

strode towards them.

Jack clenched his fists, preparing for a fight.

Perhaps the Scorpion Gang was more than just a game. Perhaps

Kazuki really believed he was a warlord.