Released – Chapter 10

Jiro and I pick up Usagi and then Kentaro the next morning, and he is dressed and waiting for us. Good. He grabs two staff weapons from behind the door and follows us out.

At the dōjō, Kentaro walks the room and looks at everything: the rack of wooden swords and towels, the door to the surveillance room in the back, the windows (he lifts each window covering and peers out), and bounces on the mats a few times.

Jiro and Usagi head to the surveillance room while Kentaro and I silently assess each other.

“So this is where you train? With Jiro?”

“Yes, almost every day. Before he died, Koichi was here with us some days, too.”

He stops for a brief moment and nods his head, sadness rounding his shoulders. If he and Jiro were friends, Kentaro’s relationship with Koichi might have been strong in the past. I don’t know enough about the history here to guess accurately.

“Do you know any martial arts other than iaido?”

“I’m a brown belt in karate as well but it’s been at least six months since I’ve actively practiced.”

“But still, a brown belt? Good.” He nods his head and lifts his chin, gazing down at me over the length of his nose. “Fighting with the staff is not all that different from fighting with your hands. In fact, bōjutsu, fighting with the bō,” he holds out the longer of the two staff weapons, “is considered the next step for advanced karate students. Usually black belt and higher.

“The jō,” he points to the shorter of the two, “uses many of the same techniques, but because of its smaller size, it’s better for close fighting. With time, you could learn how to fight someone attacking you with a sword and disarm them before you come to harm. Is that the sort of training you’re looking for?”

“I think that’s the kind of training I need. I won’t always be able to carry Kazenoho…”

“Kazenoho?”

“Sorry, my sword.”

“Where did you get it?” He tilts his chin up, his eyebrows drawn together. I’m a puzzle to him.

“It was with all of my family’s belongings.”

He shakes his head at me. “You’re really descended from the last emperor of Japan?” His voice is pitched higher, sounding incredulous and unbelieving, and I sigh. I’ll be hearing this question for the rest of my life.

“Yes. Really.”

“Shouldn’t you consider a consort from a… better family?”

I turn my hardest stare on him. “Better? Better than the people who have taken care of me and my family for ages? Do you think your family is better?”

Kentaro must think his family is better because they were one of the original noble clans in Old Japan along with Taira, Fujiwara, and Tachibana, but it’s a family’s actions that make them stand out. Sakai clan is more noble and reliable in my eyes than any of the others.

The surveillance room door opens and out comes Jiro with my shiny new weapon. Just in time. Kentaro is not going to apologize for prying into my private life, and I don’t feel like making him right now.

“Here it is, Sanaa. You’re very own shinobijō with Masa’s blessings. He’s invited us for dinner soon, by the way.”

I love meeting all of Jiro’s family. Miko and Yoichi’s wedding next week will be small, and I won’t get to meet the second cousins like Masa.

I smile at him before taking the shinobijō. The name is the biggest clue to what this is: shinobi (ninja) and jō (short staff). Right now, the weapon is collapsed into two connected segments, about eight centimeters wide and less than a meter long. The shinobijō is lightweight, can’t be more than a half a kilo. If I need to carry it with me, I could have it against my back under my obi bow, and it wouldn’t be too conspicuous.

“So, here’s how it works,” Jiro says, taking the collapsed shinobijō back from me. “Snap the ends up like this…” He points to where the hinge is on the joining point and brings up the ends to meet. “Twist until you feel the two pieces catch.” I hear a faint click. “To undo it, you pull in opposite directions and twist. Your body’s current makes the mechanisms inside work, so you need to remember that in order to assemble or disassemble it, there should be bare skin contact. Once it’s together though you can wear gloves if you ever need to be hidden.”

He twirls the staff around, over his head, behind his back and to the side, and the way the shinobijō travels from one side of his body to the other seems effortless. Didn’t he say he wasn’t any good with the staff? Jiro is too modest sometimes.

“Each end contains weapons.” Jiro unhinges the shinobijō into two pieces again and shows me a small button inside. “When this button is flush with the surface, they’re on. When it’s up, they’re off.” He turns them off. “You should have them off for practice, obviously. One end is a super sharp knife and the other is an electric weapon, delivers a shock to victims that paralyzes them for a short time. Do not test it out on anything.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Please. Do I look like I want to play around with it?”

“Yes, you do,” he says, matter-of-factly.

“Okay, I do, but how do they even come out? The ends are solid.”

He smiles, opens the shinobijō back up, and presses the button. “This is a composite material. I don’t know how it works but with the electrical current applied to the surface it reshapes and opens up. Even works if the thing gets wet. There’s this depression here,” he points to two places on either side of the joint, “that you run your thumb up while applying pressure, and…”

A knife pops out of one end startling me. That was quick! Jiro rubs his thumb down the depression, and the knife recedes back in with a swift zing. I can’t tell it was ever there. Jiro flicks his thumb along the other impression and an electrical weapon on the other end comes out sparking and causes both Kentaro and me to back away.

“Wow. Yeah, I will not be trying that out on anyone. Jiro, this shinobijō really screamed at you to buy it for me?”

He smiles and bobs his head back and forth. “Well, it certainly is crazy and unpredictable just like you.”

Kentaro laughs, a wide smile splitting his face in two handsome pieces. It’s the first time he has shown any other emotion than hatred. “I get the feeling training you is not going to be what I was expecting.”

I take the shinobijō from Jiro, open it, and turn off the weapons. There. I feel a little safer now.

Jiro clasps Kentaro on the shoulder. “Good luck, Ken.”

I smirk at them both. Jiro is neglecting to tell Kentaro I’m a model student.

“So, Sanaa, what do you hope to learn from me? Do you want to concentrate on defense, offense, or both?”

“I think defense first. The only reason I’m learning a new weapon is to protect myself in public situations because I refuse to sit inside all day. I’m not going to be one of those people. I want to be out and about, but I can’t always have my sword so this —” I heft the shinobijō in my hands “— is my next line of defense.”

Jiro narrows his eyes at me. “Sanaa —”

“What?” I turn my temper on him. “I cannot spend the rest of my days in Sakai building…”

“Just…” He sighs, internally struggling with keeping me safe and keeping me happy. “Later. Once we get the minor clans all aligned, and you should always be with an escort.”

Do I keep arguing in front of Kentaro? Jiro doesn’t seem angry, just anxious and worried, and my anger backs down, my temperamental dragon sitting back on its haunches and huffing. I shouldn’t give him a hard time about this, but I’m already tired of being cooped up.

Kentaro crosses his arms, measuring his breathing while thinking. I wish I could read minds because I must be debunking a stereotype in his head. What did he think of me before he even met me?

“Okay, defense first,” Kentaro says, grabbing the short staff and laying the longer one on the floor against the wall. “Defense against an unarmed assailant and defense against someone carrying a sword. Then we’ll move onto offensive strikes to disable an assailant so that you can get away. Let’s warm up.”

Kentaro’s not going to give anything away. Not today.

Jiro picks up his bag, moves to the wall, and sits down with his tablet. He’s going to watch and make sure Kentaro won’t try to hurt me though I think his presence will be unnecessary. Kentaro did smile and laugh so maybe he doesn’t completely dislike me.

Taking off my outer shirt and leaving on only my undershirt, I toss it off the mats next to Jiro. Kentaro peeks around my back and takes a good look at my tattoos, but I ignore him and walk to the center of the mats awaiting his instruction. There will be no more witty banter today, Kentaro.

To start, he shows me how to stretch my arms, chest, and back using the staff, and how to stand at rest with it out in front of me. After we’re warmed up, he demonstrates three different ways to hold the staff and corrects my grip when I try to hold it too much like a sword. Many of the stances are similar to the ones I’ve learned in karate, so Kentaro demonstrates the upper, mid-level, and low postures next, how to hold the jō high above my head, at my mid-section, and down around my hips.

He walks around me and nods his head. “I don’t think it’s going to take you long to learn this, especially all of the different strikes which are similar to sword fighting. Let’s try some now.”

Kentaro instructs me on how to strike from the front, how to strike across the diagonal, and to sweep up from below, and I follow all of his movements exactly.

“Good. You’re a quick learner.”

He is generous with the compliments, so different from Jiro who held back a long time before complimenting me. Looking over at him now, his eyes are narrowed at Kentaro. Aw, it’s okay, Jiro. I’ll keep it business.

“Thank you, Kentaro. What else is there to learn?”

“Well, we’ll continue practicing striking, then we can get Jiro involved with the wooden sword, and I can show you how to block and strike at his hands, arms, legs, head, et cetera until he’s disarmed. Then you can learn more sweeps and thrusts in combination. It’ll all be basic, but I think you’ll do well as long as you’re not up against someone who has spent his whole life learning to fight with the staff.”

“And then?”

“I would hope you have back-up,” he says.

Jiro and I both laugh at this. He turns off his tablet and stands up. “Sanaa, it’s almost lunch. We have to get going. I’ll fetch Usagi.”

“Is this really all you want from me? To train you?” Kentaro pulls his hand through his short spiky hair already glistening with sweat. The dōjō is never cool.

“What did you think you would be doing when your father accepted this arrangement?”

“I don’t know. I had no idea what to expect.”

“I’m not going to keep you from your life. Go out, see your friends, come here to the dōjō and practice when we’re not using it, get yourself a girlfriend, a boyfriend, or whatever…” I laugh and he smiles lightly. He’s warming up. “Keep your tablet on you, and I’ll let you know if you’re needed. If you want to attend meetings or hang out and listen in, fine. Advise me. I don’t know what your father wants back from me, but I want his support.”

Kentaro nods. I fold up the shinobijō like Jiro taught me and toss it in my bag. Fits nicely.

“I’ll message you when we go out, and you can come along or not. I won’t order you again. Know this, Helena is taken.” I poke him in the chest with my index finger and make my face as stern as possible. I’m not very menacing since he’s at least fifteen centimeters taller than me, but he gets the picture. “You do not want to mess with Usagi or me.”

He rolls his eyes, but I almost made him laugh again. I can feel it. “I get it.”

“Stay and practice, if you like.” I wave as I walk off to meet Jiro and Usagi at the door. They ignored my conversation with Kentaro as they walked past us, though I’m sure Usagi’s eyes snapped to me briefly when I mentioned Helena’s name.

At the door, we stop to watch Kentaro. He’s pretty impressive with the jō. The weapon is a blur as he swipes, flicks, and twirls it around over his head, behind his back, across his shoulders and neck. He is swift and sure, confident like Jiro and I are with our swords. He’s fascinating to watch but the jō doesn’t thrill me the way my sword does.