Kuroba Asashin's Arc

Chapter 17 of 44

Kuroba waited until the sun cleared the ridge before he called them out. Jackie stood by the well, blade at his hip, his mechanical eye tracking the light off the tiles. Ona came from the porch in her boots, bow left inside, the short knife on her left hip and eleven others across her belt. Kuroba pointed to the packed earth square. "You two. Wooden blades. First to three clean strikes." Kenji sat on the porch rail with tea. Tish stood behind him and did not look at Jackie. Kuroba wanted to see what Jackie had built in seven days against someone who thought before she moved. Jackie bowed short and stepped in first. Ona did not bow. She walked a slow circle and made him turn. He held his breath the way Kuroba had taught him and the water inside him did not spill. He waited. She waited longer. She feinted low and he did not bite. He stepped off the line and tapped her shoulder with the flat. "One," Kuroba said. Ona nodded once. She reset. She drew him toward the well stone, then cut back across his hip when his foot caught the lip. "One," Kuroba said. They traded the second point the same way. Jackie read her shoulder. Ona read the ground. Neither gave anything cheap. They went twenty minutes at two apiece. Jackie's chi held. He did not overcommit. Ona did not rush. She set three traps and he saw two. He set two traps and she saw both. Kuroba watched their feet and stopped counting the strikes. Kenji set his cup down. "Even," the old man said. Kuroba nodded. On the next pass Jackie stepped where Ona had left a heel-mark in the dust on purpose. She turned inside his guard. He turned inside hers at the same instant. The wooden blades met at both throats and stopped. Neither moved. Neither could finish without taking the other's point. Kuroba raised his hand. "Hold." He walked between them and pushed the blades down with two fingers. "You're the same weight," he said. "He has the body and the breath. You have the head and the ground. Neither of you wins alone." Ona wiped her mouth. "Then pair us," she said. Jackie looked at her. He did not smile, but he nodded. Kuroba looked at Kenji. Kenji looked back and said nothing, which meant yes. "Tomorrow you drill together," Kuroba said. "Two blades, one mind. If Kazrik comes back, he comes back to both of you." He turned to the porch. The dojo had two students now, and for the first time they were pointed the same direction. What he had built could hold a second attack. He was not sure it could hold a third.