The Kendo Lesson.

After Kozue had finished her conversation with Kasuga-sensei, she returned to her classroom to retrieve her bag. As she went, she could detect a faint whiff of smoke. Following it took her right to her own empty classroom. She slid the door open and was shocked to find an open book on her desk with its pages burnt. She rushed to it and found it to be the book she had been reading. Someone had burnt the book as an elevated form of bullying. She had endured so much of it until now, but she felt this one had gone too far. She reached her hand out and touched the burnt cover, tears starting to run down her cheeks and anger swelling in her chest.

“Again?” came a voice from behind her. She didn’t have to turn to know it was Emily. “You can’t keep letting them do this to you.”

“What do you expect me to do?” Kozue said. “I can report it, but I can’t prove who did this.” Then, more to herself than to Emily, she said. “Why my book, of all things?”

“They mean to break you,” Emily said. “Anyone could see that ridiculous attachment you have to your books. You’ve been syphoning off Imai-kun’s attention and they don’t like that. Not only do they feel you are unfit to be their competition for his affections, they also see you as an easy target.”

“Imai-kun’s only curious because I’m weird,” Kozue said, her face turning red, both from anger and from the mention of Imai’s name. “He couldn’t possibly see me as anything but a plain girl who doesn’t know how to socialize.”

“Is that what you think?”

Kozue rounded on Emily, her face angrier than Emily had ever seen it. “And what am I supposed to think? I’m ugly and completely socially inept! What other reason could there possibly be?”

“You’re not ugly, though I’ll admit your social skills are quite lacking. Besides, even if you were ugly, does that mean that you have no entitlement to any happiness at all? You think that just because you don’t know how to mingle with other people you have to take the crap you’re given? Grow a backbone, Sonoda! If you at least fought back they wouldn’t see you as such an easy target.”

“Fight back with what? Are you suggesting I beat them up, or kill them?”

Emily sighed. She reached out and grabbed Kozue’s hand and pulled her toward the door. “Come with me,” she said.

Kozue was confused and had no idea what Emily was on about, but she grabbed her bag and allowed herself to be lead from the classroom. “Where are you taking me?” she asked.

“To the kendo clubroom,” Emily replied, and shortly they were there.

Emily brought her to the center of the room and fetched two shinai, handing one to Kozue.

“Maybe you won’t be so spineless if you learn how to use one of these,” she said.

Kozue looked down at the shinai and said, “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but this isn’t going to help.”

“Nonsense. My confidence comes from kendo. Even though I’m a foreigner, I’m the best kenshi this school has seen in ages and I haven’t lost a match yet. I haven’t even shown any willingness to draw my sword yet, but still no one dares to tangle with me. I’m not saying you have to use this against them, but it may give you the backbone you need to stand up to them.”

“It’s no use...”

“Dang it, Sonoda, this is the kind of attitude that makes you such a pushover! If you aren’t going to even defend yourself, I might as well do you a favor and take you out myself!”

She swung her shinai in a high arc and came down on Kozue with considerable force, but was surprised at the ease in which Kozue blocked the blow.

“A pushover, am I?” Kozue said. “You have no idea who you’re talking to. If the ability to use as sword was all I needed, then I wouldn’t have any problems.” She looked sharply into Emily’s eyes, a dangerous look on her face like Emily had never seen. “Very well, kenshi-san, we’ll see how you fare against me!”

With a swift motion, Kozue pushed Emily back with enough force to knock her flat on her back. In her surprise, Emily had almost forgotten to pick up her shinai when she got to her feet again. Before she could think, though, Kozue was already on a second attack. Blow after blow, Kozue’s shinai was nearly impossible for Emily to block. She moved with a speed that Emily had never thought possible. Within seconds, Emily’s shinai was across the room and Kozue’s was right in her face.

“The sword is all I know,” Kozue said. “I don’t know how to deal with people on a social basis, but even I know I can’t just simply kill them.” Tears started to well up in Kozue’s eyes. She dropped her shinai and fell to her knees, her hands covering her face. “I can’t do that, you know? Because I can’t do that, I feel so lost! It’s the only thing I know and it’s useless to me! I... just don’t know what to do!”

Emily’s shock hadn’t worn off yet, but the sight of Kozue’s tears at least reassured her that she was the same person she had brought into the room to start with. Those skills were definitely not those of a normal high school student and she was shocked to see such immense strength and such heartbreaking frailty residing in the same person.

Emily was at a loss and all she could say was, “Who are you, really?” but Kozue didn’t respond. A person whom Emily thought she knew had just proved her how wrong she was on an epic scale.

Kozue eventually calmed down and rose from the floor. To Emily’s great surprise, Kozue quickly pinned her to the ground and had a tanto right to her throat. Kozue's eyes were as cold and deadly as the steel of the blade.

“You know my secret. Because it’s you I won’t kill you now, but rest assured I will if you let this slip to anyone.”

It was this statement that tipped off to Emily that she was in way over her head in a way she hadn’t been aware of moments before.


© Copyright 2010 Eric Williamson