Samurai Awakening Page 18

  “It seems your bond is not strong enough to maintain the Seikaku for longer than about a minute. That would happen immediately if anyone but a bonded partner tried to touch a Seikaku.” As he spoke, a tired edge crept into Masao’s voice as his eyes narrowed in concentration. Kou stopped cleaning himself and came over to where Masao and Natsuki were standing.

  “Natsuki and I are like miso and bread, they kind of work, but not as well as miso and rice,” David said. Kou’s eyes were completely blue.

  “I have been more and more influenced by David’s view of Natsuki. David no longer hates her, but neither am I the love struck kitten,” added Kou, his eyes changing back to their usual orange as he took over the conversation. As Natsuki flushed, Kou attempted to take the sting out his words by brushing up against her leg. Natsuki tried to conceal the emotions playing across her face, but Kou caught her eyes flick between him and Takumi.

  “It seems David and Kou’s experiences are drawing them closer together,” Masao said. “You will still need to practice together Kou, Natsuki… But it seems Natsuki will have to start carrying her own sword.”

  “Maybe Takumi can help with that,” Grandpa said, walking into the dojo. A slightly amused crease around his eyes that Kou’s advanced vision barely caught. Takumi was suddenly eager, and with a huge smile on his face, literally jumped at the chance.

  “I could make you a concealed sword so you can carry it without getting in trouble,” Takumi said immediately after landing from the sword stand. “That is, once I finish my own first sword and Dad thinks it’s good enough.” Takumi eyed the floor. The trial of making his first sword alone was something he had been working toward his whole life. It was not something Masao would allow lightly.

  “You are ready to make your own sword,” Masao said. “Next weekend I think will be the perfect time for you to begin. If your first sword is good enough, you can make Natsuki’s as well.” Kou’s ears picked up the pride in Masao’s voice, despite his calm appearance and iron control.

  “So where does this leave us?” asked Kou, his voice bringing them back to the issue of Natsuki, David, and Kou as Partners.

  “It means that you are still Partners, but I have no idea how the weakened bond will affect Natsuki or her powers. I have read of things like this in the past, but they are rare, and as I said, you and David are much younger than normal. For now, we will practice as usual. Takumi will make his swords, and hopefully, David will not be called upon to fight anytime too soon.” Masao took his leave with Grandpa.

  Later that evening as Kou was sneaking out to run through the forest a shadow caught his attention. Following it, Kou was led down a path towards Yukiko’s vegetable garden. Rie stood waiting for him in the moonlight.

  “So Grandpa finished your Seikaku then?” she said.

  “Yes, it is a shame you were not there to see it,” Kou replied. David was too embarrassed to speak.

  “I can’t believe you let me down,” Rie said, stepping out of a shadow. Her face seemed so sad to Kou, he knew that being able to see every crease and flicker of muscle would be a curse to David. “You said you wanted to help me. Without the metal, I won’t be able to practice. And now Takumi will be hogging the workshop so he can make his own swords first.”

  “I’m really sorry!” Kou stood up on his hind legs, clasping his paws together to beg, Japanese style. Although they were in tiger form, Kou let David control their body to talk with Rie. “With the ghost and everything there wasn’t much I could do.”

  Rie frowned and eyed him quietly for a moment, and then her expression changed as if someone had re-set her to the kind and soft-featured Rie. Stepping forward, Rie smiled. “Well. Maybe there is one way you could make it up…”

  Alliance

  July,

  With Natsuki unable to use the Seikaku, it meant we would be more reliant on our own skills than our predecessors were. On top of that, it was difficult for me to understand how preoccupied he was with helping Rie. In the forests, we take what we want. We do not give back…

  Rie’s request turned out to be two-fold. Originally, she had wanted David to sneak an order of steel to the Estate so she could practice without the elders knowing. Her reaction to Takumi getting to make his swords first, made it clear to David that her request was all about their sibling rivalry. With her plans thwarted by David’s run in with the obake, she asked him to deliver her supply to her friend Misaki for safekeeping. Though he thought the cloak and dagger stuff was rather funny, David found it trickier than he had expected. Ditching Takumi was no easy task, and with training and school, he had to do it little by little. Nevertheless, he finished the task, only to have the more difficult second half of her request. David pondered his new problems during his morning run.

  ‘Well, at least I finally got the metal to Misaki’s. Maybe Rie will forget she asked me the other part,’ he thought hopefully, careful to keep his footing on a patch of slick leaves.

  ‘I doubt it. You promised to help her. I’m starting to see why she and Natsuki used to be friends.’

  In addition to his courier tasks, Rie had asked him to try to help Chul Moo make friends. Although Chul Moo was antisocial, the boys ignored him and the girls tended to stare from a distance. He had only ever heard Rie actually talk to him.

  ‘I have no idea how we are going to break through all of that and make Chul Moo some friends. I have a feeling I’m going to be running into a lot of blank stares and laughs.’

  “Your classmates are conditioned to keep problems within the group. Some of them keep things so close they do not consciously recognize there is a problem,” Kou said as David splashed through a puddle. “They ignore Chul Moo so that other classes don’t take note.”

  ‘Is that why Chul Moo has been left to his own devices for so long? How am I supposed to get past that?’

  ‘Especially since she swore you to secrecy. Takumi cannot help you. Even though he knows why Rie is spending so much time with him.’

  ‘Maybe I can get him to join in one of the games the others are always playing… Chess or even the stamp on people’s foot game or something. Hell, even rock, paper, scissors, would be more participation than usual.’

  After his run, Takumi and Natsuki joined David for morning practice. The months of training were paying off. David had the toned muscles, strength, and endurance the others had always taken for granted. Unfortunately, their years of training lent Takumi and Natsuki a grace and fluidity he had yet to match. When they sparred David was able to keep up, but he always lost. His two competitors knew techniques he did not, and tended to keep more than a few tricks ready if he caught them off guard.

  At school there was the palpable tension caused by the anticipation of a month off and the hectic worry of semester finals. It was refreshing for David to see everyone running around fretting about end of semester tests. While many things were different in Japan, at least there seemed to be a few universal constants. David felt sure he would do well. While his memory had always been suspect, Kou had no such problems. Anything they learned anew, Kou was able to recall for them at will, provided David could keep his attention from wandering. While his other half had bridled at being relegated to the role of reference, David had cajoled and even made several promises to ensure Kou’s help.

  Despite the tests, Takumi spent all his free time getting ready for the weekend. He gathered and triple checked all his equipment and supplies in order to forge his first sword. In the past, Takumi had helped in the completion and creation of some of the Matsumotos’ best works. This time around, he had to use all his own tools, and finish the sword with no help. It was not an easy prospect, even for a master smith. When David caught up with him running from the dojo, Takumi barely slowed.

  “I have to complete everything, from the first ritual before the family shrine, to the smallest trim on the scabbard,” he said. “The only thing I have going for me is that I can buy the metal from a dealer. That and I always keep an ample supply of all the
types of coals for Dad and Grandpa.”

  Since Takumi had only from Saturday morning until Monday when school started again to finish, Takumi was frantic in his preparations. Their classmates started comparing Takumi to David when he zoned out. Luckily, none of them knew that David was talking to a god, and Takumi planning a sword.

  David’s dilemma, however, was not ensuring he had a good supply of clay or wood chips. Instead, he had to figure out what to do with Chul Moo. To make matters worse, in the aftermath of Natsuki and the Seikaku, he had agreed not to change into Kou at night for the duration of the week so that she could get enough sleep to study for the tests.

  With only half the tests over, David joined the Matsumotos at the shrine Saturday morning for Takumi’s summoning ceremony. Although David saw no Kami appear, Kou seemed to churn with him as Takumi chanted.

  ‘The words call to me, they make me want to run.’

  ‘It’s like we’ve never wanted anything as much as we want to go,’ thought David, feeling the pull through Kou.

  Unable to control themselves any longer, David transformed almost instantly into Kou. Running forward, they touched their nose to both pieces of metal then Kou sat waving his tail throughout the rest of the ceremony. Natsuki arrived towards the end, interested and surprised by the ceremony. At her approach, Kou caught Rie stiffen. Quietly, she moved away from the rest of the Matsumotos.

  “I figured you’d come with Kou running around. Sorry, I didn’t expect David to change, but it’s just as well, you have practice, and I have a sword to make. We just finished the first part,” Takumi said smiling broadly.

  As Natsuki walked up to Takumi, Kou stumbled around underfoot. Still energized and a bit befuddled by the ceremony, both Kou and David were nearly lost within Kou’s muddled animal instincts. Natsuki stopped, seeing Takumi for the first time in the traditional garb of the Matsumoto priests. As Natsuki stared at Takumi, Rie stalked off towards the main house.

  “You look…” Natsuki stopped short, mumbling, she was not given the time to search for the right words as Masao took Takumi off to begin his sword. Grandpa came and attempted to pull David and Kou out of their stupor so they could start their weekend training.

  “There is no use practicing today,” Grandpa said. “Both of your heads are in the clouds. Take the rest of the day off so I can go watch Takumi work.” Kou barely caught him murmur “addled” and “waste my time” before Grandpa stomped down the path.

  ‘I think he just wanted an excuse to go watch Takumi,’ David thought, finally pulling himself out of the weird visions he and Kou had been sharing.

  ‘Maybe we should peak in too.’

  ‘I wonder where Rie is…’

  David struggled against the images roiling within Kou’s mind, threatening to suck them back into their stupor. They reminded him of the nightmares that had plagued him after their Golden Week training. Dreams he now knew were old memories from the Golden Tiger. While he had not remembered them after dreaming, he often saw glimpses from Kou. Together they had made the connection.

  As Takumi toiled away in the workshop, Natsuki spent the rest of the day running around the main house chatting with Yukiko. The only female besides Rie who knew the Matsumotos’ secret, Yukiko was Natsuki’s confidant on the Estate. With Rie constantly off training, Yukiko drew Natsuki in with the promise of a ready ear and good advice. David spent most of the morning watching Takumi work before leaving to finish his homework for the week and study for the remaining tests so he would be free in the evenings.

  Even in their room, Kou insisted they stay aware of their surrounds, yet David ignored Natsuki when she stopped after Yukiko passed his door. He was intent on finishing so he could spend the rest of the weekend trying to get back on Rie’s good side. Natsuki’s mouth tightened around the edges, her eyebrows constricting as she looked up at the ceiling. Finally, just when he was about to give in, she cautiously entered his room.

  “So I was hoping you might be willing to help me with a few questions before the English test,” Natsuki said without preamble. Sighing, David looked up from his math homework.

  ‘Go on, you know it will be easier to just answer her questions. It probably was not easy for her to ask you for help,’ thought Kou as David hesitated.

  “What do you want to know?” David leaned back, inviting Natsuki to sit at the end of his bed and ask her questions.

  That night, David wandered the Matsumoto Forest. Having had an almost normal conversation with Natsuki had unnerved him. It was just too strange having her come to him for help. Her presence in the house did have one upside for him though. David was hopeful that Rie might want to escape after having hidden in her room all day. While sitting in his favorite tree, the sun finally faded, shrouding the Estate in darkness. David had heard Natsuki leave the Estate, yet had not caught a glimpse of Rie.

  ‘We have been sitting up in this tree for hours, she is not coming, and if she is, we will not see her with your poor eyes. Let us go have some fun, or at least practice if we are going to stay up all night. Natsuki should be asleep soon.’

  ‘Oh I get it. You just want her to dream about you all night so she’ll want to come straight here in the morning.’ David filled his thoughts with as much repulsion as he could muster, yet he could not hide his amusement from Kou.

  ‘What can I say? I am a ladies’ man… ladies’ cat… tiger… whatever.’

  ‘And I thought Naoto was bad.’ Sometimes Kou’s personality was oddly similar to some of the other students at Nakano Junior High. Other times, he was so archaic that David could barely glean any meaning from his words. Together they listened to Takumi’s hammer blows ring through the forest. Finally, it was dark enough that they were sure Natsuki was asleep.

  ‘I want to try something,’ David thought. Without giving time for Kou to react, David dropped off the high tree branch. With a satisfied growl, Kou took over and they transformed in midair. Kou caught David’s clothes in his teeth, and then ran north through the forest.

  ‘That was our best yet! You know, we really have to figure out what to do with the clothes once I transform.’

  “You are telling me! These taste disgusting.” Kou’s shout was muffled by David’s shirt.

  ‘Natsuki isn’t going to be happy is she?’

  ‘Well. We did promise to stay in for the week so she could study. We did not, however, say anything about the weekend.’ While Kou still liked Natsuki, and David was slowly coming around, neither of them enjoyed the limits her Partnership placed on their freedom to change between tiger and human. As Kou and David slowly adjusted to their new reality, they enjoyed the sharing of each other’s experiences more and more.

  After ditching the clothes near the wall of the Estate, Kou started truly running. Leaping and extending his claws he barely touched a large tree before jumping to the next, blazing through the Matsumoto forest, tree trunk to tree trunk. Once on the other side of the Estate, Kou dropped to the ground, his long white whiskers twitching in delight.

  ‘OK, now you take over.’ Kou’s eyes changed to blue as David exerted control over Kou’s body, merging himself into the feline senses, but also remaining careful so he would not transform or get lost in the intensity of the sensations. Still shocked by the flood of information, even after feeling the heightened senses filtered through Kou’s perspective for so many weeks, David laughed and twitched his tail.

  ‘I still can’t get used to having a tail! There’s so much it does for you.’

  Running forward David lunged onto the nearest tree and followed Kou’s path back along the Estate. Unlike the first trip, where Kou had an easy grace, David lumbered from tree to tree. Digging in with Kou’s claws, he landed on each tree before going to the next. As David ran, he attempted to fine-tune his control. Focused as he was on his task, the sudden voice that wavered through the forest caught him by surprise. He missed his tree completely.

  “Kou is far better at that you know,” the voice said, echoing from around
the forest.

  As used to hearing voices as David was, he was still unnerved. This one had a quality he had heard before but could not place. David let Kou take over as they dropped into the large ferns that covered the forest floor. Kou began to stalk through the underbrush, his senses working to take in as much information as possible. Both David and Kou concentrated, analyzing what Kou’s body was telling them, attempting to find the voice’s source.

  “Don’t worry. I am not here to hurt you. In fact I have a favor to ask… and information as payment.” The voice grew more distinct, obviously male.

  They transformed quickly, summoning the Seikaku and falling into a protective stance as David remembered where he had heard such a similar voice before. Turning slowly in his own body, David retained a bit more of the feline grace he had learned from Kou and his long training with the Matsumotos. His ears twitched at the forest’s night sounds.

  “Talk quickly then,” replied David, still searching. Walking through the high ferns, he used his feet to check around him, while he used his eyes to peer into the forested depths.

  “Not completely unskilled after all. You’re learning quickly. I’m a ghost.” The voice was closer, the echo less intense. David crouched, ready for an attack. “Yes, that’s why I haven’t shown myself yet. I don’t have any desire to acquaint myself with that new sword of yours… First, my payment. A warning. There is a pack of ōkami living in the valley, and they are planning something. I used to be a Matsumoto, and may also have other knowledge that might be useful to you.”

  “And the favor for which you pay?” Kou asked, David’s eyes turning orange.

  “Ah yes, well it’s gotten rather boring floating around woods all the time. I’d like to go haunt, for lack of a better word, the Estate. I promise I won’t attack anyone, I just want to be back home, without of course you banishing me. How about it?” The voice was surprisingly sincere. David thought he could almost feel the pain and loneliness in his words. Still stalking through the forest ferns, David spoke privately to Kou.