Kuroba Asashin's Arc

Chapter 37 of 44

At dawn Kuroba sent word to the palace and to the wall. He wrote three lines and no more. Come to the dojo by midday. Bring no weapons you cannot leave at the door. There is a thing you need to learn. He signed each note and sealed them with wax. He did not write Vincent's name. He did not write mind. He told the runner to ride hard and wait for no reply. Bobby arrived first, boots dusty from the road, tank top dark at the collar. He set his hands on the porch rail and waited without asking. Ona came next, bow across her back, the short knife on her left hip. She looked at Kuroba once and read the set of his shoulders and said nothing. Jackie rode in last from the palace, dropped from the saddle, and walked up chewing on a strip of dried meat. "You called," Jackie said. "We came. What." "Sit," Kuroba said. He pointed to the mat. They sat in a loose triangle. He knelt across from them and set the staff down. "There is a way a man can push into your head with chi. He can listen to what you think. Some can push harder and move what you choose. I have felt it twice. I want you to feel it once, from me, so you know the shape of it." Ona's hand went to her knife and stopped there. Bobby's jaw set. Jackie's mechanical eye clicked once as it focused. "Who," Ona said. "Later," Kuroba said. "First the wall." He taught them the way Kenji had taught him footwork. Breath first. Slow the breath until the chest moved once for four counts in and four counts out. Then a picture. He told each of them to build a room inside the skull and put one plain object in it. Bobby chose a fence post. Ona chose her father's knife. Jackie chose a closed door with no handle. "Hold the picture," Kuroba said. "When something pushes, push the picture back at it. Do not chase the pusher. Guard the room." He reached for each of them in turn with a thin thread of chi. Bobby's post held on the second try. Ona's knife held on the first and did not move. Jackie's door bent, then set, then bent again. Kuroba pushed harder. The door slammed shut. "Good," Kuroba said. He sat back. His nose bled a thin line. He wiped it with his thumb. "Who," Ona said again. Kuroba looked at the three of them. He had not meant to say the name today. He said it anyway. "Vincent Castellano. He watches this ground. He tried it on me. He will try it on you. Now you know the door. Keep it shut." No one spoke. Bobby stood and walked to the post to practice alone.