"I shall see that your cooling vest and best uniform are laid out. You will wish a bath?"
"That would be good."
"Husband ..."
"Say nothing, wife."
Tears welled in her eyes, filling them. Takashi reached a gentle hand to wipe away the fugitives that coursed down her cheeks. With a sudden, fierce move, she clutched one of his hands in both of hers and pressed it to her lips. Sobbing, she fled the chamber, her feet drumming on the veranda that led to the main portion of the palace. Takashi held a hand out to her, but said nothing. His hand fell to his side and he stood staring at the empty door.
From within the dojowhere Homitsu waited, he heard all that was said between the Coordinator and his wife. Like any servant of House Kurita, he gave no sign that he had heard what was not his affair. Takashi finally stepped from the mats at the edge of the room and onto the polished wood. Homitsu, now a part of the Coordinator's world, greeted him with a deep bow. The Coordinator bowed in return, deeper than the proper response to a mere servant.
"I apologize for keeping you waiting, Homitsu -san."
"I am at your disposal, Coordinator."
Takashi chuckled at some private joke. "You know, I used to practice with the Director of the ISF. They were hard matches, well-fought. I did not always win."
"Does the Coordinator have a complaint?"
"Iie,"he said absently as he slipped into his mask and secured the ties that would hold the menin place. "No complaint."
"If it would be the Coordinator's wish, I had thought to suggest bokkentoday."
Takashi's expression was hidden behind his protective mask. "Bokken?Yes, the wooden swords will be more appropriate than shinaitoday. You know what is to happen today?"
"Hai,Coordinator."
"Do not hold back."
Homitsu finished tying on his own men.He was glad his face was hidden. "I will not."
They donned gloves and Homitsu offered two bokkento Takashi, letting his karmachoose his course. The Coordinator hefted the wooden sword he'd selected and nodded in satisfaction. Homitsu gripped the remaining sword, feeling its weight. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Karma.
They bowed and began. The Coordinator's form was sharper than usual as he pressed his attack. Homitsu gave ground, blocking only. He shifted balance, bokkencanted away from the best line of defense. The Coordinator's weapon slipped through, striking Homitsu on the dowith a resounding crack.
Takashi backed away. "You are holding back more than usual."
"It is so, Coordinator."
"Ha! You finally admit it."
"Hai,Coordinator."
"Why?"
"This will be the last time we fight," Homitsu said gravely.
Takashi stiffened. "I did not know you thought so little of my skills as a warrior."
"I respect you as a warrior, Coordinator." That was no lie. Takashi's skills as a warrior had no bearing on other matters.
"But you believe I will lose to Jaime Wolf."
"Iie,Coordinator. You will not lose to Jaime Wolf."
Takashi frowned, his puzzlement overcoming his emotional control. Then, as if suddenly sensing the threat Homitsu posed, Takashi snapped his bokkenup between them.
Homitsu brought his own weapon up as he moved forward. Now that they were engaged, it must be resolved quickly. No one must interfere.
The Coordinator did not let him take the initiative. Takashi struck quickly, murderous strength in his blows. Homitsu parried. And parried again as the fury of the Coordinator's attack forced him to retreat. Takashi's blows shifted target from the restricted zones of kendo,darting for areas unprotected by armor. Wielded with lethal intent, a bokkencould be as deadly as a sword, breaking bones and smashing muscles instead of slicing them.
Homitsu could not let himself be defeated. His life would be nothing if he failed today; his honor would be wind. The fire of his need burned him clean and the flames filled his limbs.
Takashi snapped a feint to the menand twisted it into a rising cut from the off-side. Homitsu took the blow on his armor, flowing with it. The impact made his head ring, but the bokkenwas deflected and Takashi's rhythm was broken. Homitsu's bokkendarted out, thrusting for the Coordinator's face. Takashi danced back, as Homitsu intended. Pressing forward, Homitsu rained blow after blow on Takashi, forcing him further back. Always the flat of Homitsu's weapon contacted the Coordinator's flashing bokken.Flaws appeared in Takashi's defense. His breathing became ragged, a sign of slipping concentration. Homitsu smashed the Coordinator's bokkenaside, whirling his own weapon up for a pear-splitting stroke. Helpless, Takashi stood to take the blow, but Homitsu halted his weapon as it kissed the Coordinator's men.
He took a step back, allowing the puzzled Coordinator to raise his bokkento a warding position. Thought one with action, Homitsu struck at Takashi's bokken.This time, the edge contacted the Coordinator's weapon. Wood parted. The shining blade concealed within the wood burst free to slice through Takashi's bokkenjust above the guard. Homitsu completed the great circle, stilling his movement only when the blade's point hovered at Takashi's throat.
The Coordinator let the useless hilt of his bokkenfall to the floor. The sound was loud in the sudden silence. Homitsu waited while Takashi mastered his ragged breathing.
"You could have killed me."
Homitsu said nothing.
"That you did not tells me that you have more in mind. Do you expect to torture me?" Takashi tugged loose the knot securing his men,releasing the mask to fall to the floor. "One shout will bring the Otomo. Any suffering you inflict will be of inconsequential duration, and I assure you that you will be disappointed in my response. Even if you manage to kill me, you will die shortly thereafter."
The Coordinator's baiting meant nothing. Holding his sword steady in one hand, Homitsu removed his own men.The Coordinator made no move to escape or cry out. Homitsu didn't care what Takashi's reasons were; he was grateful that the Coordinator remained calm. Perhaps Takashi sensed the importance of the moment.
Over the clatter of Homitsu's mask falling to the floor, Takashi asked, "What is it you want?"
"Your death."
"Why?" Takashi demanded without hesitation. "We have no quarrel."
"With Fukushu Homitsu you have no quarrel, Takashi Kurita, but I am no longer Homitsu. He is a fiction, a tool." The man who had denied his own name reached to his face and peeled away his eye patch. A dead white orb was revealed. "I am Michi Noketsuna."
The pronouncement did not disturb the harsh set of the Coordinator's face. His stern expression neither lightened nor darkened. To that implacability, Michi said, "You say we have no quarrel, and in a sense you are correct. I am justice for another man's quarrel, an innocent man you sacrificed to your personal hatred. Minobu Tetsuhara was my lord and mentor. I bring hisquarrel to you."