The Lost Scroll of Fudo Shin (15 page)

Jimmy grunted.  Cripes, that hurt, he thought, blinking away the stars that filled his vision.

Hideaki came in again and lashed out with a high kick aimed at the other side of Jimmy’s head.  This time, Jimmy managed to duck under the kick and as he did so, he punched up into the underside of Hideaki’s thigh.

Hideaki grunted and yanked his leg back out of the way.  Jimmy saw the grimace on his face and allowed himself a small grin.

“Looks like maybe she taught me a little something, after all.”

Hideaki shrugged.  “Even a beginner can get lucky every once in a while.  That won’t happen again.”

Hideaki came in faster than Jimmy could breathe and this time, the barrage of punches and kicks sent Jimmy stumbling backward.  Each blow thudded into his body and made Jimmy taste blood, bile, and gulp for air that never seemed to be enough for his lungs.

He crumpled to the deck and fought to get his breathing under control.  His lungs heaved worse than any of the exercises that Vanessa had him go through so far on the journey.

Hideaki’s laughter filled his ears.  Jimmy glanced up and saw Hideaki regarding him like a wounded puppy.  “Do you need me to go call your babysitter and tell her that you’ve unfortunately been thoroughly humiliated?”

Jimmy grit his teeth and pushed himself back up.  “Not just yet.”

Hideaki smirked.  “Looking for more punishment, are you?  Well, I am very happy to oblige.”

Jimmy steeled himself for the attack, but this time, Hideaki drove in low, under Jimmy’s guard.  Too late Jimmy saw his mistake and then felt his legs swept out from under him as Hideaki had gone to one knee and then spun himself around.

The deck came up fast and Jimmy landed on the flat of his back.  The wind jumped from his lungs again and he heaved once before he saw blackness looming at the fringes of his consciousness.

It would be so easy, he thought.  Just give in and black out.  Maybe then Hideaki would leave him alone.

Or maybe he’d kill me.

Jimmy frowned.  Where was Vanessa?  Couldn’t she see this happening?  Wouldn’t she put an end to this?  Hideaki was trying to kill him, for crying out loud!

Jimmy groaned and cracked his eyes open.  Hideaki’s face came into view, hovering over him.

“You don’t get out of this so easily, boy.”

Jimmy shot his fist up toward Hideaki’s face, but Hideaki merely batted it away and then headbutted Jimmy above his right eyebrow.  Jimmy’s head exploded in pain.

Hideaki’s hands found their way to Jimmy’s neck and started squeezing.  Jimmy gagged and tried to rake them free, but Hideaki’s grip seemed unbreakable.  His eyes gleamed.  

He’s enjoying this, thought Jimmy.  He’s actually enjoying strangling me.

Was this how it was going to end?  He hadn’t even been a real ninja yet and here he was on the deck of a freighter in the middle of the Pacific Ocean being beaten to a pulp by some Japanese kid he’d never meant to annoy.

Jimmy fought for breath; the blackness seemed to be spreading inward to claim him now.

He grunted and then felt a heat in the pit of his stomach start to grow and radiate out to his limbs.

No!

Jimmy bucked his hips and as he did so, he shot another hand up toward Hideaki’s face, searching for his eyeball.  His fingernails curved and Jimmy blinked through the pain to feel something soft and jelly-like.  He jerked his hand down and felt Hideaki stiffen slightly and then roll free.

Jimmy got to his feet, sucking wind into his starved lungs.  He wanted to vomit, but choked it back down.

Across from him, Hideaki kept a hand over his left eye.  He looked at Jimmy and the smile was gone now.

“So, there is a little something in there, after all.”

Jimmy stood up to his full height, feeling his heart thunder in his chest.  “There is.”

Hideaki nodded.  “Good.  Let’s finish this.”

He leapt in the air and flew at Jimmy with a jumping side kick.  But Jimmy moved to the right and punched into Hideaki’s exposed lower back as he sailed by.

Hideaki grunted and collapsed on the deck.  He rolled over and got to his feet, a bit shakier now.

Jimmy could see blood flowing down the left side of Hideaki’s face.  It splattered his shirt and Jimmy could smell it on the salty air.

Hideaki screamed and attacked again and again, trying to drive Jimmy back.  But now Jimmy’s body seemed to be acting on its own.  As Hideaki came in, Jimmy angled back and out of reach before countering with solid strikes to Hideaki’s exposed weak points.

Hideaki reacted to the counters but by then Jimmy had already moved again, choosing his attacks when he saw Hideaki expose himself.  Hideaki was now on the defensive and Jimmy felt the heat in his body firing his limbs like nothing he’d ever experienced before.  He was exhausted beyond belief but his body kept going, attacking Hideaki and giving him no quarter.

Hideaki attempted one final half-hearted attack in the form of a straight punch at Jimmy’s head.  Jimmy caught his wrist and then pivoted as he swept Hideaki’s arm up and in a counterclockwise direction, affecting the outward wristlock.

Hideaki went with the lock and vaulted to the side, but he seemed to have mistimed it; his head bounced off the steel plate and he grunted and then lay still.

Jimmy saw that Hideaki was out cold.  Was it a trick?  Should Jimmy just go ahead and kick him in the face to be sure he was done?  Yeah, that would be good-

“Enough.”

Vanessa’s voice cut through the adrenaline surging through Jimmy’s body.  He looked up and saw her standing six feet away with her arms folded.  Her eyes were cold and discerning.  But there was also a small glint of pride in them.

“You saw it?”  Jimmy gasped for oxygen, feeling his legs buckle as he sank to the deck.

Vanessa nodded.  “I did.”  

“Good,” said Jimmy.   “”Cause I’m gonna pass out now.”

And then he gave himself over to the blackness.

Chapter Sixteen

“Are you all right now?”

Jimmy’s eyes fluttered open and he instantly blinked them back shut, shielding them from the sun overhead.  He turned his head slightly and tried again.

This time, Vanessa’s face swam into view.  He could see the mixture of pride and concern battling for dominance.  Her smile beat them both.  “Welcome back, Jimmy.”

He groaned and rolled over, feeling like he wanted to heave out everything in his stomach that he’d eaten for the past month.  “Ugh.”

“That’s to be expected.”

He glanced at her.  “It is?”

“Adrenaline dump.  It makes you feel like you’ve got to go to the bathroom, puke, and a dozen other nasty things.  It happens.”

“I thought I’d already experienced that when I dealt with Hideaki in the corridor of the ship a few days back.”

Vanessa nodded.  “You got a taste of it.  But you didn’t actually fight then, did you?”

“No.”

“Exactly.  When it happens for real, there’s a big difference.”

Jimmy groaned again.  “Wonderful.”

“You hungry?”

He winced.  “You’re not serious.”

“You’d be surprised what a good meal will do for you after something like that, Jimmy.”

Jimmy shook his head.  “Maybe some water.”

Vanessa produced a bottle and held it up to his lips.  Jimmy sucked in some of the cold liquid and felt it wash down his throat.  He chocked back the urge to gag it back up and frowned.  “How long does this adrenaline dump last?”

“Depends on the person.  But since it’s your first time, I’d say you might have it for a half hour or so.”

“That long?”

“It won’t last that long in the future.”

“Swell.  You mean this thing always happens?”

Vanessa smiled some more.  “Doesn’t matter how experienced you get, those butterflies will always be there and afterwards, you’ll have to deal with this.  Just get used to it.  It’s your body’s way of telling you you just survived some truly heinous stuff and you should be grateful that you’re still alive.”

“I am grateful,” said Jimmy.  “Very much so.”

Vanessa nodded.  “Good, can you look after yourself?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess so.”

“Good, I’ve got to tend to Hideaki.”

“Tend to-?”  Jimmy frowned.  “Why would you even care about that guy?  He tried to kill me.”

Vanessa shook her head.  “Don’t be ridiculous, Jimmy.  He wasn’t trying to kill you.  He was testing you.”

“Testing…”  Jimmy’s voice trailed off.  “You mean-?”

Vanessa’s face softened.  “I’m sorry, Jimmy.  We had to be sure you could handle yourself.”

“You set the whole thing up?”

“Yes.”  Vanessa watched him carefully.  “I hope you can understand why we did it.”

Jimmy thought about Hideaki and the run-ins they’d had.  Each one had seemed coincidental, but now looking back, Jimmy could se they’d been carefully calculated to put additional pressure on him.

He sighed.  His entire body ached.  “I don’t like it.  But I guess I can understand why.”

“Good.  You gave him a pretty good beating there at the end.”

“He beat the snot out of me first.”

Vanessa laughed.  “That he did.  But you’re none the worse for wear, despite how you might be feeling.  Hideaki was under orders to do no permanent damage to you, just test you out on a number of levels.”

“Like what?”

“Most importantly your ability to respond to a surprise attack.”  She winked.  “That needs a bit of work.”

“I wasn’t expecting it, that’s for sure.”

“Exactly.”  She helped Jimmy off the deck and they started walking back toward the superstructure.  “He also wanted to see how far you could be pushed until you truly started to fight back.”

“And how did I do on that part?”

“You took an awful lot of punishment before you switched on.”

“Tell me about it.”

Vanessa shrugged.  “It does sometimes take a while to break through.”

“Break through?”

“We’re conditioned as members of upstanding civilization to not naturally want to beat the stuffing out of each other.  While a lot of people claim to be ready to fight without notice, the truth is those societal laws tend to go a lot deeper than any of us think.  In order to reach down in there and get the warrior out, you have to put a person under a lot of extreme duress.”

“Extreme is a good way of putting it.”  Jimmy shook his head.  “He really seemed to be wanting to kill me.”

“That was the intention he was giving off.  And for good reason, you need to know what that feels like.  It will help you differentiate from a silly schoolyard brawl and a true professional out to kill you.”

"Yeah, but I already dealt with those other guys.  This was different."

"Exactly.  You remember how I asked you why you seemed more concerned about Hideaki despite the run-ins you'd already endured?"

"Yeah."

Vanessa smiled.  "No fight unfolds the same as others.  No enemy is the same as the others.  You've got to understand that in the course of restoring the Matsuda-ryu to its former glory, you will undoubtedly run across the entire spectrum of foes.  Hideaki is here to make sure you minimize your vulnerabilities as much as possible."

Jimmy frowned.  "He certainly seemed to relish his job."

"He's an orphan, Jimmy.  Like you."

They reached the superstructure and Vanessa led them down the corridor to the stairwell.  “You could just go for lunch now if you want.  You must be starving by now.”

On cue, Jimmy’s stomach grumbled.  The nausea seemed to have dissipated and he was left with a gnawing sensation in the pit of his belly.  “I am hungry, after all.”

“And afterwards, you’ll need a nap.  I’d imagine you’re quite knackered after that little display.”

Jimmy grinned.  “Knackered?”

“Don’t mock your teacher, it’s not good form.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Vanessa paused.  “So, are you going to get lunch then?”

Jimmy frowned.  “I thought you were going to check on Hideaki.”

“I am.”

Jimmy nodded.  “Then I’ll come with you.”

Vanessa’s eyebrows shot up.  “Are you sure about that?  Maybe some time away from him would be the best thing right now.”

“Why?  I know he’s not the jerk I thought he was an hour ago.  Besides, I’d like to see him.”

“All right then.  Follow me.”

Vanessa led them down the stairs to the area below the main deck.  Most of the crew slept above the main deck where the rest of passenger berths were housed.  But for some reason Vanessa led him deeper into the ship.

“I thought it best if Hideaki remained out of sight whenever he wasn’t directly harassing you.”

“So you kept him down here?”

“He doesn’t mind.  In fact, he’s rather used to it.”

They turned a corner and entered a huge cavernous area riddled with pipes and gangways of varying sizes.  The sounds of the engines could be heard through the thinner steel walls.  Vanessa headed for a small cabin door on the opposite side of the ship.

At the door she knocked once and then waited.  Jimmy thought he could hear a soft voice answer from inside.

Opening the door, Vanessa stepped in and then waited for Jimmy to do the same before pulling the door shut behind them.

“Look who’s here.”

Jimmy glanced down at Hideaki stretched out on the bed.  A bandage covered his left eye and Jimmy had a vivid flashback to the move he’d done aimed at ripping Hideaki’s eye out of his head.

“Did I do that?”

Hideaki touched the side of his face and grinned.  “Yes, you did.”

Hideaki’s accent had vanished.  Jimmy frowned.  “Who exactly are you?”

Vanessa smiled.  “Meet Hideaki Tanemura.  He's eighteen years old.  From Kita Narashino in Tokyo."

Hideaki held out his hand to Jimmy.  "It's good to meet you properly, at last."

Jimmy shook his hand and smiled.  "Likewise."

"Hideaki came to our attention a few years back and he's a tremendous fighter.  Truly a natural at unarmed combat."

Hideaki tried to brush off the praise but Jimmy could tell he enjoyed it.  After Vanessa finished, he held up his hand and pointed at Jimmy.  "Kid's not bad, V."

Vanessa sighed.  "Don’t go giving him a swollen head with your praise.”