Kuroba Asashin's Arc

Chapter 13 of 44

Tish carried the breakfast bowls out to the porch and watched the yard. Kuroba had cleared a square of packed earth beside the hall. Jackie stood at the edge in bare feet, rolling his metal shoulder. Ona was already on the ground, boots off, bow set against the rail. Kenji sat on the porch with his stick across his knees. Tish set the bowls down and did not go back inside. She had meant to. She thought of the wash house instead, the wet shoulder, the tattoos across the ribs. The memory did not sting the way it had yesterday. She stayed to watch. Kuroba placed them in stance. He walked behind Ona and set his hand at the small of her back to straighten it. He moved to Jackie and tapped the inside of his knee with two fingers. "Lower," he said. "Both of you. Weight in the heel, not the toe." He stepped back. "Slide the front foot. Do not lift it." Ona slid. Jackie slid. Kuroba watched their feet. Kenji watched Kuroba. Jackie's blue eye clicked and narrowed toward the porch. Tish met it and did not look away this time. He grinned around the mouthguard. She touched the edge of her earring. Ona caught the exchange in one glance. She caught the next one, and the one after that. Jackie's front foot lifted when it should have slid. His shoulder drifted open. Ona's jaw set. She slid her stance three inches wider than Kuroba had called for and drove her elbow into Jackie's ribs on the turn. He grunted and stumbled off the square. "Eyes on the floor, bro," she said. "Not the porch." Kuroba stopped the drill. He looked at Ona. He looked at Jackie on one knee, holding his side. He looked at Tish, who had stood up. Kenji tapped his stick once against the boards. Kuroba spoke without raising his voice. "Ona. Off the square. Cool down at the well." She did not argue. She picked up her boots and walked. Kuroba turned to Jackie. "Up. Same stance. Your partner is the post until you can hold the line for a full count." To Tish he said, "The east rail. Sit there if you want to watch. Not behind him." Tish moved to the east rail and sat. Jackie faced the post. The drill started again. At the well Ona rinsed her face and did not come back until the sun had shifted off the square. She stopped Kuroba at the water barrel. "He can't train if she's there," she said. "He can't train if I'm there either. Pick one." Kuroba wiped his hands on the cloth at his belt. "I pick both. You learn to keep your line when someone is watching. That is the lesson." Ona looked at him a long moment. "Fine," she said. "But he owes me a rib." She walked past him into the hall. The first session was over. The second one would be harder.