Samurai Awakening Read online

  Stranger Danger

  May,

  Fate is sometimes cruel. But then, if you believe that, you would have to believe in fate itself. I know better…

  “You might want to avoid being alone for a while,” Tsubasa said as he hefted a heavy pane of glass outside the gym. “Koji-sempai seems keen on the idea of a repeat performance of your fight.”

  David was still trying to recover after being destroyed in a humiliating singles match with Natsuki, and Tsubasa’s passing comment did nothing to help his confidence. With the sun high over Nakano, the twins joined David as the rest of their teammates left the gym. Most of the third years turned together to head to a cram school to study for high school entrance exams, while the rest headed home or to hangouts around town. With the twins, David turned towards the Estate.

  Farther into town, a red light struggled to shine out amid the sweltering sun. The Nakano Police Station was a small two-story building that hosted the town’s lone police officer, Yonamine, and his family. The lower building was partitioned into an office and a small room that served as a jail cell. David had visited once before to get his photograph taken for his alien registration card.

  He was about to ask Rie if their classmate Daisuke was Yonamine’s son when his world upturned. He just caught the image of a wiry man in ragged clothes and mangled hair surrounded by a halo of shattering glass as he spun through the air. Two meters away, he landed, his skin burning as it slid against concrete and the falling glass around him. By the time he stopped, Takumi and Rie were both crouched in the familiar Matsumoto fighting stances, blocking the stranger’s escape. Glancing around wildly, the tall man’s gaze stopped on Takumi. He crouched, as if preparing to rush past him.

  “Don’t,” Takumi said.

  The stranger lunged Takumi low, nearly on all fours. Takumi blocked, fending off the stranger’s wild blows, keeping him in front of the station. His careful calm broke as the stranger’s fist connected, hitting him in the face. With a look of outrage, Takumi let loose a vicious high kick that forced the stranger to roll to avoid the powerful blow.

  As David stood up, Rie and Takumi warily converged on the stranger. With a final look at the twins and his surroundings, the stranger lowered his hands as if giving up. Then, with a shard of glass, the stranger was suddenly behind David, the glass pressed against his throat.

  “Don’t move unless you want to get cut,” the stranger growled, his voice strangely and heavily accented.

  David froze, terror racking his body. The strangers’ voice sent tendrils of fear through his body, like a super charged version of some dread he had felt before, but could not name. Aside from the incident with Koji, he had never been in a real fight before, let alone attacked by a crazy, smelly, violent man. David screwed his eyes shut. Even as fear enveloped him, a new emotion emerged more strongly. It was accompanied by a burning in his chest the like of which he had never felt before. He felt a sudden, driving, need to stop the stranger.

  Takumi and Rie inched closer, their eyes darting, bodies shifting as they reacted to every change in the man’s movements. Held in his bony grip, David’s arms suddenly rose from his sides as his emotions suddenly calmed. Before either twin could react to help David, a large jagged piece of metal appeared before him. It fell, a sharp spike driving into the stranger’s foot. Howling in pain, he dropped the glass shard and released David.

  David just caught a glance of the metal before it disappeared as Yonamine stumbled out of the station. Bleeding from a head wound, he quickly had the stranger in cuffs. The officer attempted to take him towards the station, but he struggled so much that Takumi had to help carry him inside. Rie watched Takumi and Yonamine struggle with the criminal, and then looked to David.

  “We’d better go,” she said, sidling up to David.

  “I’ll need statements from all three of you before you go,” Yonamine called. Gesturing with his chin, he asked, “Is he alright?”

  “Oh, yes, of course he is,” Rie answered as she stepped to cut off his view of David’s deadpan stare.

  “Better bring him inside,” Yonamine said, glancing around at the crowd beginning to form as people noticed the broken glass glittering under the sun. Luckily, none of the passersby had seen the actual fight. “I’ll call your parents.”

  Rie pulled David into the Police Station after Yonamine, Takumi, and the stranger. As they walked, she tried to shake him to awareness, but he remained just as vacant. Inside, the stranger was safely locked away and the three students were given seats around a small table. Finally coming around, David started to speak, but Takumi put his fingers to his lips and then jerked his hand towards Yonamine coming from the cell.

  “Let me get you bandaged up while we wait for Matsumoto-san,” Yonamine said, indicating Masao would be there soon. He gestured to David, who was bloody in several places from the glass. Dabbing the blood with a bandage from his kit, Yonamine looked up in surprise. “There are no injuries underneath the blood. Weren’t you cut?”

  Jerking in surprise David looked to Takumi.

  “Uh no, he wasn’t. He must have just got some blood on him from the prisoner,” Takumi lied calmly.

  “I didn’t see any cuts on him either. How strange. Are you sure you’re alright?” Yonamine asked again, prodding David with his eyes.

  David nodded a quick affirmative before his eyes unfocused and he lapsed back into silent thought.

  “Maybe it was from me when the stranger popped me in the nose. I must have gotten some on him before it stopped,” Takumi said.

  Although he sounded far from completely reassured, Yonamine’s questions ended abruptly when Masao entered the small office in a suit. His entrance jolted David to awareness, as he had never seen Masao in anything but traditional clothing. Standing and bowing to Masao, Yonamine came around his desk and gestured to a free spot next to Takumi.

  “Matsumoto-san won’t you please sit,” he said. “I have to ask the children about the incident. Before that though, please allow me to apologize and explain what happened. Tea?” At Masao’s nod, Yonamine quickly served iced tea for everyone then sat down with a notebook.

  “This morning, I brought in Jahangir, the man who broke the window, for questioning after getting complaints about him milling about behind the grocery store. Before I could get more than his name, he clocked me on the head while I was distracted by a fax. Apparently, he jumped through the window, as he must have seen me lock the door. I’ll ask the three of you to tell me what happened after that.” Yonamine sat back, readying his pen. Masao cleared his throat, leaning forward to preempt the others from speaking.

  “David-kun does not speak fluent Japanese, so please let Takumi speak for him,” Masao said.

  “Of course. Takumi-kun?” Yonamine said.

  “Well, like you said, the man came bursting out of the window, knocking into David. He tried to run past me but I, uh, stopped him. While he was trying to get past me, he hit me in the nose. Then he picked up a piece of glass and took David hostage, but David stamped on his foot. You came out right after and got him again. It all happened very fast,” Takumi said seriously.

  “Is that how it happened?” Yonamine asked, looking between Rie and David. Rie nodded her assurance, but David just stared back blankly. “OK, well, David that was very dangerous. It seems this same person is wanted in another town for burglary. You’re lucky he let you go.”

  ‘It’s strange how people still talk to me as they would anyone else, though supposedly I don’t speak Japanese,’ David thought. He had finally gotten over the shock of the attack, but he continued his charade of ignorance.

  “If there is nothing else, I would like to get them all home. I am frankly surprised no one is taking cell phone pictures for the news already.” Masao stood, effectively ending the interview.

  “Yes, that should be all for now. Thank you. I do apologize for the inconvenience,” Yonamine replied with a bow. Masao led the twins and David out to the car, waiting just in front
of the station.

  Back in the car, Masao eyed the teenagers in the rearview mirror. David thought of the last car ride just after the fight. He thought it would spark a feeling of déjà vu but without Yukiko, and with Masao in a suit, the whole thing just seemed wrong.

  “I thought I impressed upon all of you how important discretion is. What really happened anyway?” Masao asked sternly. All three looked at each other before Rie spoke up.

  “It happened just like we told Yonamine-san,” Rie said bravely.

  “Except I didn’t step on him,” David cut in, receiving anxious looks from the twins. “A piece of metal fell on his foot and he let me go, but when I looked again the metal was gone. It was so strange. There was such a weird feeling in my chest, and I didn’t want to let the stranger get away. I was scared at first, but only for a second, then I just wanted to stop him.”

  Masao pulled the car off the road and stopped abruptly. Looking back, he gave David a piercing gaze.

  “Did either of you see the metal?” he asked. Both Rie and Takumi nodded.

  “We both did. The stranger probably went for him since we were in fighting stances and he wasn’t,” Rie answered.

  “The metal appeared in front of David, then fell and hit the stranger’s foot,” added Takumi.

  “So soon… Anything else?” Masao prompted.

  “Well David was cut by the glass but he has already healed. We passed off the blood on him as blood from me getting a nose bleed when the stranger hit me,” Takumi said.

  “He hit you?” Masao asked, seemingly more surprised someone could get the best of Takumi, than at David’s lack of injury.

  “He was pretty fast and extremely strong, but didn’t actually make me bleed,” Takumi said defensively.

  “Are you saying the metal I saw was real? It was such a strange feeling. Where did it come from?” asked David, still confused.

  “It came from you David. What you saw was the honshitsu, the essence of the metal that impaled you at the shrine, the raw material for a Seikaku,” Masao said staring gravely ahead as he started driving again.

  “But it was just a hunk of metal,” David said, confused.

  “One of your most basic abilities as a Jitsugen Samurai will be the ability to summon a true sword, a Seikaku,” Masao replied.

  “Dad hasn’t forged yours yet,” Takumi said. “Throwing around chunks of metal wouldn’t be very practical.”

  “The accident at the shrine, do you remember it? Has anything else strange happened?” Masao asked as he pulled the car back onto the road.

  “Just… Just dreams. It’s been hard to sleep lately.” David spoke carefully, uncertain how much he should say.

  “That is what I thought. There is still much you must learn to protect yourself. Until now I have tried to avoid telling you too much too soon, and I have only told Takumi and Rie enough for them to be able to watch out for you,” Masao said as, speeding around a corner, he brought the car onto the Matsumoto drive. “I am glad you are all safe, but secrecy is critical. No more stunts like that in public. It raises too many questions we cannot answer. Takumi, good job covering with the bloody nose story.”

  “Why did my cuts heal so fast? I was definitely cut by the glass—it hurt.” David unconsciously rubbed where one of the more painful cuts had been on his arm.

  “It is another benefit of being a Jitsugen Samurai. There are others but they will take time, a long time. The fact that you can summon the metal already is surprising.” Masao brought the car into the Estate’s circular drive and was out walking towards the dojo in an instant.

  Kami

  May,

  I finally knew my purpose and understood the danger that was coming. Unfortunately, that did not make waiting easier…

  In the dojo, Masao left Takumi and David standing near the entrance and walked off toward the far wall. There, Masao stopped before a rack of famous Matsumoto blades. The ones crafted over the centuries by past masters. Masao’s hands glided over the sheathed blades as if feeling them without actually touching them. Choosing one, he lifted it from its place and attached it to his side. Masao turned to the boys, his smile relaxing David.

  From the entrance, David heard Rie and Grandpa enter and turned to meet them. Before he could even complete his turn, Masao was suddenly before him. The gleaming blade in his hand whistled through the air as it sliced down towards David’s unprotected neck. Again, he felt a sudden inner heat as the metal appeared before him, held for the briefest moment, and then fell.

  “David! Open your eyes.” Grandpa’s kind and mellow voice overrode his fear. David saw Masao standing just before him, frozen. Masao’s sword was so close to his neck that he could feel the coldness of the steel, though it did not even graze his skin. Before him, the fused metal shards that had impaled him weeks ago fell through the air.

  “Look at the metal,” Grandpa said insistently.

  Masao stepped back in a rustle of fabric. The metal disappeared before it could touch the ground. Sagging in the aftermath of the fake attack, David met Grandpa’s eyes. His were the deep brown of the oldest trees in the forest, filled with wisdom.

  “Did you feel it? Do you know what it is and where it resides within you?” Grandpa asked in a deep mellow voice. “Look within yourself, think back on Masao’s attack.”

  David wanted to complain, but prompted by Grandpa, he turned his mind inward, searching. Grandpa’s tone made David feel as if he already had the answers, if only he could see with the older Matsumoto’s keen eyes.

  The image of the metal shards lying on the shrine emerged unbidden in his mind. The shrine fell away, leaving only the metal, different from before, more pure. Honshitsu. It was a mysterious word, yet it seemed to have substance as it raced through his mind. As he focused on that word, he thought again of the stranger’s attack. He remembered the intensity of the sensation. Mentally following the tendrils of feeling through his body, he was surprised to find a place he had never felt before. Within him, where he knew his heart had once been, he felt the cold power of what could only be the essence of the metal shards, the honshitsu.

  David’s eyes tightened in concentration as he struggled to call the metal forth. After what seemed like an hour, he finally felt something give. His hands flew out as he imagined the metal outside of his body, instead of within. His hands ready, yet uncertain, caught the honshitsu just before it fell out of his reach.

  “It is in me. It is me,” David breathed. He sat. The fused metal mass still in his hands. “I summoned the metal. I can feel it, yet it’s almost as if it’s feeling me.” The mass seemed to thrum lightly with power in his hands.

  David stared into the shifting grey facets of the honshitsu. Turning the metal in his hands was like peering into his own soul. His hand wandered up to his chest, to the place where this same piece of metal had impaled him just weeks ago. His eyes asked the elder Matsumotos, “Why?”

  “This is the first step in your awakening as a Jitsugen Samurai. It happened much sooner than legends suggested, but since you are so young we do not know for sure how your awakening will progress. The attack may have acted as a catalyst. Whatever the reason, we had to show you that the honshitsu is not only real, but also a part of you. You can, you must control it.” Masao came forward and sat in front of David.

  As Grandpa came to sit with them, David saw a similarity between the men that he had missed before. Although Masao was in a suit, some of the rigidity he had always associated with him seemed to waver, as if it was merely a cloak he used to distinguish himself from his more relaxed father.

  “We cannot be sure if your awakening was caused by chance or need. Masao and I have been searching our records, trying to find any precedents. So far, we have had little luck outside the course of an adult Jitsugen Samurai. You must be ready for anything. Now that you can summon the metal’s essence, we must forge your sword as soon as possible.” Grandpa stared at David with a burning intensity.

  “You must master s
ummoning the honshitsu so that we can help you forge your sword,” Masao said, continuing for his father. “You must also learn how to wield the sword, which is why you have been training with Takumi and Rie. In the past, new Jitsugen Samurai would retreat here to the Matsumoto Estate to train in secrecy and safety. Your case is different in that you are so young and you would be missed from school. We press you because you are in danger as long as you cannot protect yourself.”

  “What if I don’t want to be a Jitsugen Samurai? I’ve been in Japan all of two months and I’ve already died and been taken hostage. I’m not athletic or special. I only agreed to be one because my whole life I’ve been searching for something and thought this could be it, but…” Worn out by the weeks of strange events and difficulties, David wanted answers.

  “We warned you that once you started down this path there would be no turning back, and that there would be sacrifices,” Grandpa said slowly. “One of those sacrifices is having to trust in us to guide you. We cannot reveal everything you wish to know… There are things for which you are not ready.”

  “We’re in the dark too, and we’ve been learning about this stuff our whole lives,” Takumi said.

  “Yeah, see? Takumi is oblivious, but Dad and Grandpa still train him,” Rie added, punching Takumi’s legs out from under him. Far from falling into a heap, as David would have, he turned his fall into an attack. David looked between them as they turned into a tornado of blows before returning his attention to the elder Matsumotos.

  “I know that, it’s just hard sometimes,” David said softly. “The smallest things, a tree or the weather make me think back to Arizona, and the strangest part is I feel more at home here than I did there… and that scares me, and makes me a little sad. Every time I talk to my sister, there is less to say. She has her life, and mine doesn’t seem to be a part of hers anymore.”