L5r - scroll 05 - The Crab Read Online Free PDF

deeply—-to their host. The Scorpion daimyo nodded curtly, and the match began.
    Satsu took a classic ready stance holding his bokken directly between him and Yakamo, the blade nearly perpendicular to the ground. Yakamo abandoned the standard dueling pose and held his bokken loosely in one hand flipping it to and fro in a relaxed manner. The onlookers might have thought he was delaying the start of the match except for the fact that the Crab held the Dragon fast in his steely gaze.
    Tense moment's passed as Satsu waited for Yakamo to adopt some accepted fighting posture. Finally the Mirumoto could wait no longer. With a thunderous "Kiii-aiiii!" he charged his opponent.
    Yakamo reacted by swinging his weapon not like a sword but like a club—as though the bokken were a greatly shortened tetsubo. He deflected Satsu's blow but left his rear unguarded as the Dragon moved past on his follow-through.
    Satsu's eyes widened. The entire gallery gasped. Yakamo would never be able to recover from that swing quickly enough to block a reverse slash from the Dragon samurai.
    The young Crab had no intention of defending against the blow. As his opponent moved by, Yakamo did not even attempt to recover his fighting position. Instead he pivoted on his front heel and slammed his foot into the small of Satsu's back, sending the Dragon flying face first to the ground.
    "Foul!" cried the Crane sensei.
    Yakamo was not listening. He followed his kick by bringing his club—that was what he now considered the bokken—down hard across Satsu's shoulder blades.
    "Forfeit!" yelled the Crane sensei. He threw his body over Mirumoto in a protective and quite embarrassing manner. "Hida Yakamo used a banned technique and struck with a weapon other than the bokken. He is disqualified. Mirumoto Satsu is the winner."
    A restrained cheer went up from the crowd while a wild roar came from the Crab contingent.
    Yakamo stood there grinning a foolish grin. He had lost the match but won the fight.
    Seating himself beside his sensei, he said, "I now understand your lesson."
    "No, Young Bear, you do not," his sensei replied. "But very soon you will."
    Yakamo pondered the matter as he sat through the rest of the matches. His reverie was interrupted occasionally as friends congratulated him and detractors berated him. All eyes were on him again, but this time the young Hida didn't mind at all.
    When the day's matches were through, Yakamo's fellow students convinced him to go drinking with them. Though he ate twice what his teachers usually allowed on a training regimen, and though his sake cup never seemed to be less than half-full, Yakamo still felt empty inside. Nothing about the evening seemed real to him. He drank and caroused till late in the night and knew he would remember none of it.
    The next morning Yakamo awoke earlier than anyone else in his group. The sensei's words still rang in his ears. He wandered off to the castle's garden and tried to clear his mind—they still had one more day of duels in the Bayushi court before they left for home. Despite his victory the day before, Yakamo wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. No peace of mind was to be found in the garden, so he made his way slowly to the main court.
    The day's matches were already underway. Two students, one Crane and the other Lion, battled.
    Yakamo entered eating an apple he'd plucked from the garden. He swaggered toward his friends, his tetsubo slung casually across his shoulder. Since he was not scheduled to fight today, he was free to carry his real weapon instead of his training bokken.
    The crowd recognized the young Hida. Hushed conversations sprang up across the court. Soon even the duel stopped. Everyone turned to look at Yakamo.
    "There! That is the man!" said a maiden from the Dragon Clan as she stood and pointed squarely at Yakamo.
    He laughed.
    "Surely, I am a man," he joked, but no one laughed.
    Mirumoto Satsu stood, fire in his eyes.
    "I should have known," Satsu