Samurai Awakening Page 30

  Koji had resorted to trying to humiliate David in front of the school during another open P.E. session. The third and second years had been playing flag rugby together under the semi-watchful eye of Mr. Shima. Thanks to Rie, Koji had been unable to get his fellow teammates to take David down. When he tried on his own, Takumi was repeatedly able to deflect him away from his host brother. Koji had gotten so angry he finally tackled David when he didn’t have the ball and got himself thrown out of the game.

  “Wow even my sister can tackle the right person,” David had said to the laughter of nearly everyone present. Koji’s eyes had promised their feud would not end on that field as he was led away by the teacher.

  “Boys,” Rie said to herself with a laugh as a movement at the edge of her vision brought her out of her recollections. The early winter sun barely filtered down to her through the dense trees, above the grey-feathered phoenix soared overhead. Rie’s discolored eyes glinted strangely in the light.

  “Did you see the newspaper,” she asked in a whisper nearly lost on the wind as she suddenly turned to look directly into Kou’s orange eyes.

  “About the stolen statue,” David said, uncomfortable under her piercing gaze, “sure.”

  “We expect Ryohei to be around soon with an explanation,” Kou added. He stepped out of the shadows and sat by her. Rie eyed Kou with a shrewd glance.

  “In that case, we better get back to the house,” she said, pushing off from the tree like a sprinter from a block. Kou barely had time to growl at her before David took control. In a blur of armor, they were after her.

  As Kou neared the Japanese garden, he slowed, sensing something wrong. Perhaps it was a foreign scent, or a sound barely caught, but they stopped completely, blending into the shadows. They saw Rie burst into the square among the building and stop suddenly. Standing with Yukiko was a tall rangy man. Thin, with a light complexion and brown air, he was staring intently at one of the sculpted trees. Beside him was a young girl with long flowing blond hair, a skirt that was far too short, and a t-shirt that proclaimed her love of Justin Bieber.

  Jessica Matthews tossed her hair as she surveyed the old buildings. As soon as they spotted Rie, Kou whipped around the outside of the dojo, running into it as fast and quietly as he could. He was not sure, but he hoped that the movement in the corner of his eyes as he rushed in had not been Jess’s curious glance. Inside the dojo, Kou quickly changed back into David. He struggled out of his armor, replacing it with a stash of clothes. He waited until his family’s backs were turned again before dashing around the building. He jogged through the forest, and then followed Rie’s path out. A squeal broke through the air as Jessica saw him. He was nearly tackled as she flung her arms around him. David’s surprise, hit him with all the force of his little sister’s embrace.

  They spent a week on the Estate, staying in the retirement cottage that had once housed Masato Matsumoto. David showed them around Nakano and filled them in as much as possible about the last eight months of his life. David’s father, Dr. Matthews discussed the possibility of David staying another year, which Jessica was completely against.

  “If he’s going to stay, then I’m staying too,” she said.

  “But then who would make sure I get to the station on time?” Dr. Matthews asked with a laugh. “There would be no one to do Crazy Science, and think of all the projects we have to finish back home.”

  “Fine!” she grumbled.

  Kou complained about their inability to transform for a week as all training was stopped. Natsuki was so thrilled by the break that she helped show Jessica around Nakano, even without being able to say much to her. For her part, Jessica chattered away incessantly, as if she was trying to catch David up on a year’s worth of gossip. He could not help noticing there was a lot more about boys then he remembered.

  Jess seemed particularly interested in David’s relationships with Natsuki and Rie. David was extremely thankful the girls did not understand the questions she started throwing at them, and hoped his red face did not give them the right idea.

  When Jessica met Takumi, she did something David had never seen her do before. She went completely silent. Throughout the whole week, the only words she was able to mutter when he was around was a stammering “Hi.”

  Eventually, the surprise visit ended with Jessica standing quietly by their father as he scribbled hurriedly in his notebook. Jess stared widely at Takumi before finally getting in the Matsumotos car with Yukiko at the wheel. David had requested she drive for fear of killing his father with a heart attack at Masao’s driving. Together they drove to Himeji so they wouldn’t have to navigate the more difficult local trains on their way to the Kansai Airport.

  “David,” Dr. Matthews said in front of the station, “I’m so proud of you. You really seem to be doing well. Sorry I haven’t kept in better touch, it’s just so hard to keep things straight. Jess tried to show me how to text you but my phone ended up in one of my experiments.”

  He gave David a big hug and his usual smile. David was comforted by the half bemused, half-surprised expression that was so him. Jess cried, which almost made David cry, something he had not done since the fight. He smiled, and reassured her he would write more. Yukiko invited them all to return anytime.

  “I’ll keep you to that,” Jess said, then smiled. She leaned in to whisper in David’s ear. “Don’t date Rie. If you get married you’ll never come back.”

  David was so thrown all he could do was sputter until Jess laughed and punched him. Her look of indigent shock at how much it hurt sent David laughing to the point he hurt. She had always been able to hit him. Finally, the time came for them to board the train. With another quick round of waves, Jess led David’s father through the electronic turnstiles and back to Arizona.

  October 31st,

  The littlest things, the smallest mistakes can rear up and overthrow every good decision you’ve ever made. If I had only known… but then who knows? Maybe things would have turned out far worse. Who draws the line between hero and villain?

  —Rie

  An excerpt from the Rie Matsumoto Diary, as seen in the Matsumoto Library

  Acknowledgments

  Samurai Awakening is the culmination of more than ten years of Japanese study. From my first introductions in elementary school to the Modern Japanese History course I took with Gail Bernstein, I have sought to understand just what Japan is. A few years ago, I began teaching in Japan and was luckily placed on a small island in Okinawa Prefecture. Many of the names within are borrowed from my students and friends from my time there, though they have been rearranged so personalities no longer match. Although a work of fiction, many cultural aspects of the story contain my personal experiences observing life in the remote places of Japan.

  Many people lent me their time, patience, and opinions while writing Samurai Awakening. My old friend, Giao was my first victim and reader. Without him, it never would have become more than an idea. Fukiko-sensei, a fellow English teacher and karate-ka helped me perfect my Japanese phrases. Natalie devoted the most time and help in suffering through the multitude of emails and questions I threw at her. Finally, I must thank the people at Tuttle for their hard work and for leaping into the world of Samurai Awakening with me.

  The Tuttle Story: “Books to Span the East and West”

  Most people are surprised to learn that the world’s largest publisher of books on Asia had its humble beginnings in the tiny American state of Vermont. The company’s founder, Charles Tuttle, came from a New England family steeped in publishing, and his first love was books—especially old and rare editions.

  Tuttle’s father was a noted antiquarian dealer in Rutland, Vermont. Young Charles honed his knowledge of the trade working in the family bookstore, and later in the rare books section of Columbia University Library. His passion for beautiful books—old and new—never wavered through his long career as a bookseller and publisher.

  After graduating from Harvard, Tuttle enlisted in the milit
ary and in 1945 was sent to Tokyo to work on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff. He was tasked with helping to revive the Japanese publishing industry, which had been utterly devastated by the war. After his tour of duty was completed, he left the military, married a talented and beautiful singer, Reiko Chiba, and in 1948 began several successful business ventures.

  To his astonishment, Tuttle discovered that postwar Tokyo was actually a book-lover’s paradise. He befriended dealers in the Kanda district and began supplying rare Japanese editions to American libraries. He also imported American books to sell to the thousands of GIs stationed in Japan. By 1949, Tuttle’s business was thriving, and he opened Tokyo’s very first English-language bookstore in the Takashimaya Department Store in Ginza, to great success. Two years later, he began publishing books to fulfill the growing interest of foreigners in all things Asian.

  Though a westerner, Tuttle was hugely instrumental in bringing a knowledge of Japan and Asia to a world hungry for information about the East. By the time of his death in 1993, he had published over 6,000 books on Asian culture, history and art—a legacy honored by Emperor Hirohito in 1983 with the “Order of the Sacred Treasure,” the highest honor Japan bestows upon a non-Japanese.

  The Tuttle company today maintains an active backlist of some 1,500 titles, many of which have been continuously in print since the 1950s and 1960s—a great testament to Charles Tuttle’s skill as a publisher. More than 60 years after its founding, Tuttle Publishing is more active today than at any time in its history, still inspired by Charles Tuttle’s core mission—to publish fine books to span the East and West and provide a greater understanding of each.