Chapter 15 : Sensei Kano

Jack sprinted across the courtyard.

Reaching the doorway, he slid back the shoji and peered in. All of the

lamps had burnt out so it was hard to see anything, but the corridor seemed

empty.

He silently made his way down the girls' corridor towards Akiko's

room. When he got there, he found that her door was slightly ajar. He

peeked in through the gap.

Akiko was fast asleep under the covers of her futon – and looked like

she had been there for some time.

Seeing her asleep, Jack became aware of just how exhausted he was.

Suffering from hunger and lack of sleep, could he have imagined the

intruder?

He decided he would speak with Akiko in the morning, but now the

pull of his own bed was too much to resist and he stumbled back to his

room. Collapsing on to his futon, Jack's mind whirled. He stared at his

Daruma Doll, willing himself to sleep, and after a while he felt his eyelids

grow heavy.

He could have sworn he'd closed his eyes for only a moment before

Yamato was at his door, the bright morning sunshine flooding his room.

'Come on, Jack!' said Yamato, rousing him out of bed. 'You've missed

breakfast and Sensei Kano's said we're to meet at the Butokuden right now.

We've got our first lesson in the Art of the Bō.'

Leaving the bustle of Kyoto city behind, the students crossed the wide

wooden bridge that spanned the Kamogawa River and headed north-east in

the direction of Mount Hiei. Despite being the tail end of summer, the

weather was warm and dry, the sky cloudless, and in the sharp light of

morning the burnt-out temples, that could be seen scattered over the

mountain's forested slopes, glinted like broken teeth.

The enormous bulk of Sensei Kano, a mountain in himself, strode out

in front, his great white bō staff striking the ground with each step. Like

sheep following their shepherd, his students trailed behind in two

regimented rows, their pace dictated by the rhythmic thunk-thunk of the

sensei's staff.

As instructed, the class had gathered outside the Butokuden to await

their new teacher. Jack and the others had been watching the early morning

workers digging the foundations for the new Hall of the Hawk when Sensei

Kano appeared. He acknowledged his students with a brief bow before

instructing them to collect a wooden bō staff from a pile stacked against the

weapons wall inside the Butokuden. They had then left the school at a brisk

march.

Their teacher hadn't spoken a word since.

By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, the morning sun

had risen high in the sky. The forced march, combined with the dust of the

road, soon left the students hot and thirsty, so the cool shade of the cedar

trees was a welcome relief when they entered the forest and began their

ascent of Mount Hiei.

As they weaved their way up its slope, the students spread out a little

and Jack finally spotted an opportunity to speak with Akiko.

'So where do you think Sensei Kano's taking us?' he asked

nonchalantly.

'Enryakuji, I presume.'

'Why there? Didn't you tell me a samurai general destroyed it?'

'Yes, General Nobunaga.'

'So what's there left to see?' asked Jack.

'Nothing. Apart from the remains of several hundred deserted temples.

Enryakuji has been a tomb for over forty years.'

'It seems a rather odd place to take us to train.' Jack drew closer,

checking no one was listening before he whispered, 'By the way, what were

you doing last night?'

Akiko momentarily faltered at the question. Then, keeping her gaze

fixed on the path, replied, 'I was folding cranes.'

'No, I mean just before dawn,' pressed Jack. 'I'm sure I saw you

outside the Shishi-no-ma. You were dressed all in black like a ninja!'

Akiko's face was an odd mixture of disbelief and alarm.

'You must be mistaken, Jack. I was asleep. Like everyone else.'

'Well, I saw someone – and I swear it looked like you. But when I got

inside, there was no one around.'

'Are you sure you didn't imagine it?' She studied his face with

concern. 'You look dead on your feet. Did you get any sleep last night?'

Jack shook his head wearily and was about to question her further,

when the students behind caught them up.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack continued to study Akiko, but her

face gave nothing away. Perhaps he had been mistaken. Akiko had no

reason to lie to him. But if it wasn't Akiko, then who else could it have

been?

THUNK!

Jack's thoughts were interrupted by the final beat of Sensei Kano's bō

staff upon the ground. The students all came to an abrupt halt.

'We cross here,' announced Sensei Kano. His voice was deep and

booming, as if a temple gong had been rung inside his chest.

The students gathered round. Jack edged his way forward with Yamato

and Akiko by his side. In front of them was a ravine splitting the forest in

two, with a fast-flowing river far below. Shimmering in the watery mist, the

remains of a footbridge jutted out over the abyss.

'Where shall we cross, Sensei?' asked Yamato.

'Is there not a bridge?' enquired Sensei Kano.

'Hai Sensei,' Yamato replied, bemused at the question, 'but it's been

destroyed.'

Sensei Kano raised his eyes to heaven, as if listening to some distant

sound, then said, 'What about the log?'

A little way down from the bridge, spanning the gorge, was a small

felled cedar tree, its branches pruned, the trunk stripped bare of its bark.

'But, Sensei,' objected Yamato, a tremor in his voice, 'the log is barely

wide enough for one foot… it's covered in moss… and it's wet… someone

could easily slip and fall.'

'Nonsense. You'll all cross here. Indeed you, Yamatokun, will go first.

You are Masamoto's son, aren't you?'

Yamato's mouth fell open, his face going a touch pale. 'Hai, Sensei,'

he replied weakly.

'Good, then lead the way!'

The sensei gave Yamato an encouraging prod with his staff and

Yamato shuffled to the edge of the ravine. He stopped at its lip.

'Why haven't you crossed yet?' asked Sensei Kano.

'S-s-sorry… Sensei,' stammered Yamato, 'I… can't do it.'

Jack knew his friend was scared of heights. He had discovered

Yamato's phobia when they had climbed the Sound of Feathers waterfall at

the culmination of the Taryu-Jiai contest. The same vertigo was defeating

him again.

'Nonsense. If it's the height that scaring you, simply don't look,'

instructed Sensei Kano.

'What? Close my eyes!' exclaimed Yamato, backing away from the

chasm.

'Yes. Become blind to your fear.'

Everyone stared at the sensei, aghast. The thought of crossing the log

was unnerving enough, but to cross it with one's eyes closed. That was

sheer lunacy!

'It's perfectly safe. I'll even go first,' said Sensei Kano, slipping off his

sandals and threading them on his staff. 'It would be helpful, though, if

someone could show me where the log is.'

The students exchanged bewildered looks. The log was in plain sight.

After a brief pause, several of the students pointed to the makeshift

crossing.

'No use pointing,' said Sensei Kano. 'I'm blind.'

Jack, along with the rest of the class, was stunned. Sensei Kano had

led them all the way to the gorge without a guide or even a single request

for directions. How could he be blind?

Jack studied his new sensei properly for the first time. Sensei Kano's

sheer size dominated his appearance, being a head taller than most

Japanese. Upon closer inspection, though, Jack realized that Sensei Kano's

eyes were not grey by nature, but clouded as if a sea mist had seeped into

them.

'Excuse me, Sensei,' said Akiko, recovering first. 'The log's almost in

front of you, no more than eight shaku ahead and twelve shaku to your left.'

'Thank you,' replied Sensei Kano, striding confidently up to the lip of

the ravine.

His bō found the edge and he followed it to his left until it struck the

fallen tree. Without a moment's hesitation, he stepped on to the narrow log.

Holding his staff out in front of him for balance, he crossed in several easy

strides.

'You have just witnessed your first lesson,' announced Sensei Kano

from the opposite side. 'If one sees with the eyes of the heart, rather than

the eyes of the head, there is nothing to fear.'

As if in response to his words of wisdom, a shaft of sunlight broke

through the forest canopy, suspending a tiny rainbow within the veil of mist

that swirled above the void.

'Now it's your turn.'