Samurai Awakening Read online

  “The day before a ceremony, Rie and Takumi must help prepare,” Yukiko said. “Unfortunately, only the Matsumotos and their apprentices may do these things. Rie says she is sorry that they were unable to stop the students who hurt you. Shall we go have a better look at your wounds before I start dinner?”

  Guiding David to the main door, Yukiko stopped to give an elegantly low bow to Grandpa. Smiling warmly, Grandpa seemed to ignore David’s disheveled state as he slapped his shoulder, jostling David’s hand. With a laugh as David blinked through the pain, Grandpa joined Masao and the twins as they walked around the left side of the house for the workshop.

  That night David lay awake for a long time. He looked around his darkened room, considering his life.

  ‘I can’t believe how strange the Matsumoto’s reactions always are,’ he thought as sleep eluded him. ‘They all but ignored the fight. I wasn’t grounded or in any trouble. Back in the States, I probably would have been expelled.’

  Anger surged again within him. David had recovered his picture, but it was dirty and scratched. Koji would pay for that.

  ‘Not with my family,’ he thought. Even as his rage solidified into a hard knot of determination in his chest, the shame of his injury froze it to a brittle shell.

  Alone in the back corner of the main house, David was in the only four-walled bedroom. His refuge and island of western culture now seemed an isolated prison cell.

  ‘And the twins would probably rather die than be seen with me,’ he thought as sleep finally claimed him.

  The Shrine

  April,

  Is it not funny how connected existence is with anticipation? If you do not know about something, if it does not exist for you, then there is no anticipation. Yet that double-edged feeling hunts us, drives us…

  Yukiko woke David early the next day. After checking his splinted hand, she left him to dress. David’s sluggishness from having to wake early on a Saturday morning stayed with him until the red flames of sunrise erupted through the trees behind the dojo. The sun’s rays glittered along the pond and awoke the main expanse of the Matsumoto forest into a bright green sea. A solitary path through the trees began at the edge of the garden, where two old stone pillars rose on either side of the path to support the two massive curving beams of etched stone. The torii gate’s obvious age and simplicity lent it a mysterious air even in the clear morning dawn.

  With Yukiko beside him, David passed under the gate and followed the winding path north. Along the way, smaller footpaths branched off to places he had never been. David only ventured into the forest with Yukiko, so he had only ever seen the vegetable garden. At the end of the path, a small clearing strewn with boulders met the base of a tall mountain. On the far side, a small stone Shinto shrine rose out of a hollow in the mountain. Although man made, the shrine was so old it seemed natural, as if it belonged among the scattered boulders.

  Warm spring sunshine pervaded the area, making it hot despite the early hour. The rest of the Matsumotos were already at the shrine, but they waited for David to recover from the walk.

  The shrine was a curious thing. A small house made of stone was set upon a pillar of rock carved from the mountain. From the pillar’s base, stone stairs descended to the clearing, where Takumi and Rie helped Grandpa adjust his robes. Looking back, David noticed a fused mass of metal before the shrine. The jagged edges had been carefully laid upon a small wooden altar.

  “What’s up with the metal?” David asked. He was immediately sorry he broke the calm silence in the clearing as everyone turned towards him. Despite his embarrassment, he was awed by the way the metal caught the green tinted sunlight and threw it back in an array of gray.

  “The purpose of this ceremony is to… bless the metal on the shrine. It will become a new sword,” Yukiko answered quietly, her poise relaxed as always even through the difficult English. “The metal has been prepared to look as if it came from a meteorite, in memory of how the first Matsumoto sword was created.”

  Finished with their preparations, the twins and Masao joined David and Yukiko. Meanwhile Grandpa, bowed and ascended the two meters of steps to the shrine. In the full garb of a Shinto priest, he wore a long and voluminous white robe accented by a tall black cap. In one hand, he held a wand made of cut white paper, folded into zigzagging tendrils that flew about with his every movement. In his other hand, he held a small brown paddle.

  As David watched, Grandpa began to chant in a low voice. The sound was unlike any Japanese he had heard before. It was older, more simplistic, yet refined. He had no idea what it meant, but beside him, Takumi watched the old man intently, his mouth moving slightly as if trying to recite the words himself. Grandpa alternated waving the paper wand, bowing with the wooden paddle in front of him, and pacing back and forth in front of the shrine. David frowned. The meaning of Grandpa’s words was lost on him. Just as with everyone else over the last month, he was expected to listen attentively to another boring speech without the slightest clue as to its meaning.

  Unlike at school, where he would just zone out right away, David made an extra effort to keep his attention on Grandpa. David liked the old man, but unable to follow what he was doing, the heat and humidity soon began to weigh on him. His eyes strayed from the shrine, following the brooding trees around the clearing as his thoughts flowed back to the previous day’s fight.

  ‘Why can’t I break through their walls? It’s like all of Japan is trying to keep me from understanding. Yukiko probably brought me here to make me feel more included. Her and Grandpa are all I have here,’ he thought.

  As his eyes and mind wandered, the dark greens and browns of the forest shifted just perceptibly, and a golden patch wavered through the tall ferns above him. David blinked. When he looked again, the forest was as it had been. Then he returned his attention back to Grandpa and found the golden hue again. Larger than before, and mingled with black streaks, the colors were brilliant against the dark browns and greens of the forest. David focused on the spot, the colors resolving into the black and gold stripes of a giant head. A large graceful tiger peered through the forest, its eyes intent, and ears alert. David watched as it slowly crept though the underbrush, angling for the shrine.

  David completely forgot the ceremony, captivated as he watched the tiger move gracefully through the ferns. For an instant, David thought of the Matsumoto twins and their surreal agility. He had often watched them wishing he too could move as smoothly and confidently as Takumi, as gracefully as Rie.

  ‘What’s a tiger doing in Japan?’ David thought. ‘And why isn’t it orange?’

  Although the incongruous thoughts made David blink to clear his vision, the tiger was still there. Its tail flicked languidly through the air and he almost convinced himself that he was dreaming.

  ‘After all, why would a giant tiger be stalking through the trees above the shrine?’ David shook his head, trying to clear his mind. The movement brought the tiger’s bright gaze on him, sending waves of primal fear rolling through David’s body. Time stretched as his heart struggled to beat, and then the golden eyes flicked away in dismissal. David managed one jagged breath. The massive head turned, and the tiger’s full attention focused on Grandpa. Black lips peeled from ivory fangs to form a hungry snarl.

  “Takumi!” David hissed, trying to get the boy’s attention. “A tiger… Takumi!”

  Afraid the tiger might not be a figment of his imagination, David pulled on Takumi’s sleeve. When that did not work, he grabbed the boy’s muscled arm, pointing frantically. He finally succeeded in getting Takumi to look at where he was gesturing.

  Takumi said harshly. He put his finger to his lips and turned back to watch Grandpa, adding only “Shh!” when David continued to stare and babble at him in surprise. Although David could not understand his words, Takumi’s face said, “Catch the hint, I was ignoring you.”

  When he turned back toward the shrine, the tiger was much closer to the old man. It crouched, every muscle tightening as it sh
uffled its legs beneath its long powerful body. David had watched enough Discovery Channel back home to know what would happen next. It was like watching a deer just before an attack. The tail swept over dead pine needles as the tiger’s whiskers twitched. The only problem was that there was no deer, and the huge golden tiger had its sights set firmly on Grandpa.

  David felt panic rising within him. Grandpa was in danger. David started moving before he realized he had made a decision. As he ran forward, the full power of the beast’s muscles unleashed in a surge of motion. David moved quickly, as he had the time Jessica had followed a dog into the street, up the steep incline next to the stairs. The tiger sped forward, using the high ground to its advantage as any hunter would.

  ‘I’ll never make it,’ David’s mind screamed in despair, the panic sapping his energy even as he willed himself forward.

  Looking up, the world slowed as the tiger landed and recoiled, preparing for the last jump. As his mind sped up to deal with the flow of adrenaline, David became aware of the tiger’s loose furred skin rippling over powerful muscles. He could see every sharp edge of the tiger’s white fangs, every bristly hair between deeply ancient eyes. As his opponent gathered its last bit of energy, David’s heart seemed to pause again at the anticipation he saw in the feral golden eyes.

  David surged forward. As he leapt, Grandpa clapped his hands twice and stepped back. The old man bowed low, and the last image David saw as his momentum carried him over Grandpa’s back was the gaping, fang-filled mouth of the giant tiger.

  As the buzz in his ears grew louder, David realized that he was lying down. Most of his body felt numb, as if submerged in ice. He tried to take a gulp of air, only to find his lungs did not respond. The wave of panic that swept through him threatened to push him deeper into his subconscious, but the incessant buzzing refused to let him sink into oblivion. Slowly, David locked onto a pain that cut through the numbness and buzzing.

  ‘If the tiger ate me, how come I hurt so much?’ he thought. He focused on what he remembered of his body and finally decided that his chest hurt. More specifically, his heart burned, as if someone had ripped it out and replaced it with molten metal. As the heat seared through him, an intense agony far, far greater, suddenly overcame the hell in his chest. He tried to scream out as burning lances pierced his mind, but his deadened body provided no outlet. His consciousness filled with a strange voice, each word surged through his mind with a ripping bolt of pain that shook his core.

  ‘You tried to save him,’ the voice said. It was deep, with a haunting edge. Every word was a scalpel that cut harshly at David’s mind.

  ‘Of course. Grandpa is…’ Pressured by the force of the voice’s presence, David fought to make his thoughts coherent. He groped in the abyss as his consciousness was ripped apart, his own thoughts stripped away to be examined even as he grasped for them.

  ‘You have no idea what you have begun. Take care of the young one,’ the voice said as it faded away. A long roar of pain reverberated through him, and then he agonizingly faded back into unconsciousness.

  Hours later it seemed, the buzz returned. The memory of the agony faded even as the noise resolved itself into words and familiar voices.

  “Is he alright? He stopped shaking,” asked a high girly voice.

  “Aside from the shirt there’s no blood,” a kind voice said. So similar to the first, yet more mature and refined, it was familiar. He knew the voice.

  ‘That sounds like Yukiko,’ David managed to think.

  “What about the metal? It’s gone. Why did he run forward?” asked an excited male voice.

  “Look, his eyes are moving,” Yukiko said. David felt two practiced fingers check his pulse. “His breathing has calmed down as well.”

  ‘Yukiko,’ thought David. Opening his eyes, the bright glare was blinding. As his eyes recovered, he took in the blurry images of the Matsumotos standing over him.

  “He is awake! David? David!” Yukiko called quietly but intently to him, bending closer to try to rouse him.

  “Let’s get him to the house,” Masao said calmly. With his vision foggy, David could not place him. Suddenly he felt hands digging under him, lifting him from the ground. He was trapped within his unresponsive limbs, unable to react, yet too muddled to care.

  The pain in his chest became less pronounced the farther they carried him from the shrine. David’s mind wandered, eyes darting as he struggled to control his unruly body. Sometimes he lingered on one of the Matsumotos, sometimes on a rock or bug. Although both Rie and Takumi tried to talk to him, David remained in a daze, unable to respond. As they passed beneath the grey stone torii gate, David jerked abruptly and became as still as the windless trees.

  The Man, the Meteor, and the Thief

  April,

  Even after all those years, nothing prepared us for the pain, so much more powerful than any human could ever know or withstand…

  The inside of the Matsumoto’s main house was sparse. Each room had mat covered floors separated from the other rooms by sliding doors instead of walls. The tatami mats were firm, like wood, covered with thin straw. A hardwood hallway skirted the outside of the house leaving the tatami rooms in the center. The outside sliding doors were removed to catch afternoon breezes, leaving the house mostly open.

  Though he kept his eyes closed, David knew he was laying on one of the portable Japanese beds, called a futon. He suspected he was in the largest room of the house near the low table, with the four Matsumotos sitting and drinking tea. He could sense someone near him by the faint rustle of fabric. Yukiko would be kneeling off to the side, checking him.

  “Did what I think happen, actually happen to David?” Yukiko asked. David remained still, not quite ready to will his limbs to move.

  “David will have to answer that. I have my suspicions, just as you do, but until we hear from him, who knows for sure?” Masao’s words, so easily understood washed over David.

  ‘Masao only speaks Japanese, right?’ David cracked his eyes open just enough to see his host father sitting calmly at the head of the table.

  “I’ve never seen anyone sleep so much,” Rie said. “I thought he was dead after he stopped moving under the torii gate, but no, just asleep.”

  David opened his eyes the rest of the way. Finding the ceiling in focus, he tilted his head to look at the source of the voices around him.

  “You are in the main house. You had quite an accident. Do you remember anything?” Yukiko smiled kindly down at David, easing some of his anxiety.

  Masao quietly regarded David as he waited for his response. David jerked to a sitting position, pushing away a heavy quilt. Seeing Grandpa sitting in his ceremonial robes sent a jolt through his mind that finally focused him.

  “Grandpa! You all right? Tiger, it…” David’s words came out in slurred Japanese. He worked his jaw in confusion at the difficulty he had forming words. Slowly, he registered the carved wood of the main room’s low table.

  ‘I’m back.’ David fell back onto the tatami. ‘Why can’t I… think.’

  Takumi and Rie shared surprised glances, understanding each other as only twins could. David had just spoken broken but understandable Japanese. Although limited, his words were the most sophisticated Japanese he had attempted in the last month.

  “Can you tell me what happened? Everything from the beginning of the ceremony?” Masao asked casually in Japanese.

  In a far off voice, his eyes staring blindly, David began to speak rough Japanese. His words came faster and more fluently than ever before, yet they were still imperfect. David’s mind was so clouded he missed the change in his own words.

  “Got to the… place. Grandpa… there, ceremony start.” David’s voice wavered as English thoughts became Japanese words.

  Masao nodded politely, throwing a discreet warning glance to Rie. She sat forward, her eyes wide. Takumi merely watched, his eyes flickering occasionally to Masao. Yukiko remained kneeling nearby, quiet but eying Masao and Grandpa shrew
dly.

  “In the trees, gold. A head. Big gold and black… Tiger. I don’t believe it. Tiger move forward, like on TV,” continued David.

  “He tried to get my attention,” Takumi said, his calm breaking a little. “When he pointed to the trees… there was nothing there.” Takumi stopped abruptly as both Grandpa’s and Masao’s eyes fell on him as if sword blows.

  “Just because you did not see anything, does not mean there was nothing there,” Grandpa said, unusually stern. After holding his frown on Takumi for a beat, he smiled and gestured to David. He tried to continue, but as he tried to think past running to Grandpa, he faltered and withdrew into a confused silence.

  “But why is he speaking Japanese?” Rie asked. Her thoughtful frown and curious eyes were riveted on her father. Her expression was one David had seen many times over the last month. When she did not understand his English, she often looked at him the same way, as if trying to figure him out through simple observation.

  “Japanese? Why you speak English?” David stared dumbly, as he tried to work past the mental fog slowing his speech.

  “You just said that in Japanese…” Rie‘s voice cut off abruptly after a sharp look from Masao.

  David shook his head. He clearly understood everything said to him, but it was like walking under water to get each word out. He stood, staring at the people around the room.

  “David, sit down,” Masao said lightly. Ignoring him, David took a step back. His vision flickered then cleared. Suddenly, his mind was sharp.

  He saw not the Matsumoto’s house, but a time and place he could not recognize. Around him, David saw the rough gray of old rock cliffs rising around him. He felt hard stone under him, smelt salt on the air. A figure caught his attention. It was barely visible, its features blurred by both darkness and fire. As the thing before him rushed forward, David jumped back in fear, catching his foot on the outer sliding door’s track. He fell before Takumi could reach him. Rolling back off the veranda to the ground outside.