Order of the Lost Samurai Ch. 01

"Can you fight?" he asked again.

"I mean... what? Why?" Nicky asked, thoroughly confused.

"Because you're going to need to," the old man answered curtly. "Now can you?"

"I don't understand," Nicky said pleadingly.

"Look, son," Mr. Nakamura said exasperatedly. "I'm old, okay? Do this old man a favor and follow my line of questions, okay? Humor me for a minute and I'll get to the method for my madness. Now, can you fight?"

"Yes," Nicky answered finally. "Well enough, I suppose."

"Well enough ain't gonna cut it, kid," the old man replied. "You need to be able to fight. You ever fought a black belt in martial arts?" At Nicky's confused look, the old man said, "Any color belt? No belt?"

"How would I know?" Nicky asked. "It's not as if they openly advertise their ranks, right?"

Mr. Nakamura sighed as he seemed to sink in upon himself. "Well, at least you know that much. Never fought in open bouts, though? In any sport?"

"I mean, I took some Karate and Jiu Jitsu lessons as a kid," Nicky replied. "Couldn't afford to keep going to classes so I had to quit."

The old man sighed. "Dammit," he said. "Okay, I think I can delay this for a couple of weeks, at least. Let me see what I can do."

"Delay what?" Nicky asked. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Look, kid," the old man said. "Here's the skinny. The Japanese have an old, --and I mean older than an Onna-musha's cunt hair old-- lore... prophesy if you will. No one knows the exact details, only that if a single specific word or phrase is uttered around men with daughters at marrying age, then those men instinctively know it, and per Japanese tradition, have to battle with the one who uttered the words."

"What were the words?" Nicky asked.

"No one knows," the old man chuckled. "Only fathers of marrying age daughters know, like I said, instinctively, that the words were uttered and the battle is on."

"Where the fuck are you from?" Nicky blurted out. "Your English is perfect, as are your phrases and mannerisms."

The old man sighed. "Fine. I'll give you a quick personal history lesson if you'll shut the fuck up and let me explain." Nicky nodded but didn't say anything further. "At the start of the second world war, my family moved to America before Japan got involved. I was raised by my parents in a small town in Ohio. I went to school, dated, married, and had kids, all in the states. I only moved back here to my hometown about ten years ago when my wife died. Satisfied?"

Nicky nodded. "Okay, so, I gotta fight these three guys?"

The old man nodded. "Before you ask why, it's a matter of honor."

"Honor?" Nicky asked. "Like some family heirloom or something?"

The old man sighed in frustration again. "Kid, I get that you have questions, that you're trying to understand all of this, but next time you wanna say something stupid like that, just don't, okay?"

Nicky bristled again but didn't say anything. The old man continued. "So, honor is everything to the Japanese. It's like pride in country to an American patriot. They hold honor in higher regard than personal goals, even family. So, when I say those three men out there are honor-bound to kick your ass, I mean you better be prepared to protect yourself from the meat-tenderizing they're looking to give you."

Nicky gulped. "What if I refuse to fight?"

"Did you not just listen to a fuckin' word I just said, boy?" Mr. Nakamura asked angrily. "They are going to kick, your, ass! It doesn't matter to them if you refuse to fight. They'll go to the ends of the earth to find your cowardly ass and kick it all the way back to Japan just so they can kick it again in front of the whole goddamn country! That's what honor-bound means to them!"

"But I don't want to fight them," Nicky said.

"It doesn't matter what you want," the old man replied. "Don't fight if you don't want to. They're gonna pulverize you regardless."

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. The door opened and Kai and his dad stepped through. Kai and his dad both bowed low to Mr. Nakamura. "Alright," the old man said to Kai and his father. "See if you can make him understand. He's as hard-headed as a dragon on cocaine. I gotta go see if I can buy him some time to get ready."

With that, the old man abruptly left. Nicky looked at Kai.

"Dude," Nicky said. "What the ever-loving fuck is going on?"

"Nick," Kai said. "I can explain it to you until I'm blue in the face, but I can't understand it for you. However, to simplify it a bit, you somehow managed to inadvertently activate an ancient Japanese lore artifact. Unfortunately for you, you're going to have to fight or die."

"Or fight and die," Kai's father said matter-of-factly. "Either way, there is no getting out of this."

"DIE!?" Nicky exclaimed.

"All the more reason to fight to win," Kai said with a shrug.

"What for?" Nicky asked.

"What do you mean?" Kai's father asked.

"Well, at the risk of sounding conceited," Nicky said.

"Which isn't too hard a stretch for you," Kai said with a grin.

"What do I get out of it? What happens if I win?" Nicky asked, ignoring his friend's jibe.

"That's just it," Kai said. "No one knows. You have to understand. This is an ancient lore passed down from the very beginnings of the Japanese empire, even before the beginnings of the Samurai. The intricacies of the lore have been lost to time."

"But those guys out there know, don't they?" Nicky asked. "Mr. Nakamura said something about their instincts kicking in when they tried to rip my face off."

"Maybe," Mr. Saito replied. "But I doubt they will know what is required of them until certain parameters are met."

"Like whatever word or words I uttered to make them go all honor-crazy and try to kill me?" Nicky asked.

"Now you're getting it," Kai said with a jovial slap to his friend's shoulder.

Mr. Nakamura came back into the room, then. "Okay," he said. "I managed to procure you two weeks' training, kid. Starting tomorrow, from sun up to sun down you're at my place for training. Kai, you're with him to help and keep him motivated."

"But, sir, I have school," Kai protested.

"You wanna see your friend get pounded into a bloody pulp the size of a goddess's maxi-pad, kid?" the old man asked.

"No, sir," Kai replied.

"Then when the sun crests the horizon in the morning, you better be standing tall next to him outside my front door," the old man replied. "Get him a Gi today and teach him how to wear it. No belt. I'll assess his skills tomorrow and decide what color he wears. Good luck, kid," the old man said as he looked at Nicky with almost pity in his eyes. "You're gonna fuckin' need it."

Mr. Nakamura started to leave but Nicky got up and bowed low at the waist to the man. "Domo Arigato, Nakamura-san," Nicky said.

The old man looked pleased for a moment at Nicky's propriety before patting him on the head like a puppy and walking out the door.

The constable walked in at that moment and, without preamble, bent to attach something to Nicky's leg.

"An ankle monitor!?" Nicky exclaimed in protest.

After a brief exchange between Kai and the constable, Kai said, "They want to ensure you are not going to run away."

"What the fuck?" Nicky asked. "What happened to honor?"

"Do not question their honor," Kai warned him. "That is a grave insult. Besides, it's not a question of their honor that concerns them, but yours."

"I have honor," Nicky protested.

Kai scoffed good-naturedly at his friend. "Only when it suits you," he said with a grin.

"Harsh, bro," Nicky said.

"Come on," Kai said as he stood up. "Let's go home and you can tell us everything."

"There's not that much to tell," Nicky explained. "It happened just like I said it did."

"Be that as it may," Mr. Saito said. "We still want all the details so we can try to find out what happened and potentially prevent it from happening to anyone else."

"I thought the Japanese would be proud it happened?" Nicky asked as they walked out of the constable's office and building.

"Now that it has, yes," Mr. Saito replied. "However, news of this is already spreading like wildfire through the city. It will not be long before it spreads through Japan. Soon, the world will be aware of what is taking place. The political image of all of Japan is at stake."

"How do you mean, sir?" Nicky asked.

"Imagine, for a moment," Kai said, "what would happen if an American died in a Japanese tournament that he may or may not have wanted to enter in the first place? Once word of this gets out to the rest of the world, I do not doubt that the Americans will be knocking on the doors of the Japanese Embassy. We might even have to respond to a possible UN sanction."

"Especially considering your three opponents are not allowed to be killed in the fight," Mr. Saito replied, "but will be required to kill you."

That statement caused Nicky to come to an abrupt halt. He had heard what they said earlier about him dying, but he just waved it off as them trying to scare him. Now, though, the surreal nature of the situation began to sink in. Kai and Mr. Saito stopped to regard him for a moment. His knees buckled slightly and the two men caught him before he could fall to the ground.

"They're really gonna try to kill me?" Nicky whined, looking pleadingly into Kai's eyes.

"Good word usage, Nick," Kai said, patting his friend on his shoulder consolingly. "Try. Hold on to that."

~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~

The next day, Nicky and Kai were waiting, as requested, on Mr. Nakamura's doorstep at sunrise. After a half hour passed and the old man hadn't opened the door to greet them, Nicky raised his hand to knock. Kai grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

"Wait," Kai said.

"We've been waiting," Nicky protested. "He said to be here at dawn. We've been here since dawn and he hasn't--"

"Patience," Kai said, interrupting his friend.

Nicky huffed but didn't try to knock again. It was another hour before the door pulled open and an irate-looking Mr. Nakamura stared at the two young men.

"It's about time!" the old man said impatiently. "Get in here, you two."

"About time??" Nicky asked. "You said be here at sun--"

THWACK!!

"OW! FUCK!" Nicky exclaimed as he rubbed his head.

The old man had, in almost the blink of an eye, procured his favorite stick and popped the impatient American on the top of his head.

"No talking back," the old man growled. "Into the backyard. Now."

They took off their shoes at the front door and then did as they were told. Kai had a perpetual smirk on his face throughout the encounter, already knowing how the old man treated his students.

Mr. Nakamura's backyard was a mixed affair that blended traditional and modern styles beautifully. The back porch decking was made from tiger wood. It was the length of the back of the house and extended out ten feet. The overhang beams exuded Japanese artistry with traditional clay roofing tiles. Beyond the porch was a half-circle pearlescent-colored sand zen garden the width of the entire backyard that sparkled in the glowing morning sunlight. It was separated from the porch by a foot-wide, polished black pebble border. The zen garden was decorated with four large, gray rocks of various sizes. A path of stepping stones led through the center of the garden to the middle of the backyard where a series of three Torii Gates hovered over a concrete slab.

Inside the Torii Gazebo, as Mr. Nakamura called it, housed a set of what looked to Nicky like miniature Torii Gate furniture. It had two sitting areas on each side with curved bamboo benches between each column of the Torii Gates. Curving out to each side of the gazebo the length of the zen garden was a small garden of bonsai trees. Beyond that was a large grassy area off to the right with a large pond the size of a small swimming pool on the left. The entire backyard was encompassed by a dark, red wood-looking privacy fence that looked to be about ten feet tall, with Japanese Wisteria blooming beautifully along its entire length.

"Now," the old man said to Nicky, pointing off to the right. "See that area of the yard beyond the bonsai trees?" Nicky nodded. "Head over there and turn back to face me."

"Then what?" Nicky asked.

Mr. Nakamura looked blankly at Nicky and raised one weathered old eyebrow. Nicky sighed and started walking in that direction.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" the old man shrieked.

Nicky paused mid-step with one foot poised to step directly onto the sand of the zen garden.

"If you fuck up my zen, boy," the old man growled in warning. "I'll kick your ass out of here and let you die in the fight!"

Nicky searched the old man's face for some semblance of facetiousness and found none. He gulped and made his way to the stepping stones.

"And don't even think about stepping through my bonsai like a goddamn radioactive lizard and destroying half of them on your way through!" the old man yelled. "Go through the gazebo! That's what it's there for!"

Nicky arrived at the spot, turned toward his teacher, and awaited further instructions. When none came, he said, "Now what?"

The old man didn't reply. He looked at Kai, nodded, then turned around to head back inside the house. Kai, for his part, tried to keep from bursting out laughing.

"Where the hell is he going?" Nicky asked with his arm raised and his palm facing up in the old man's direction. When Mr. Nakamura disappeared inside, Nicky let his arm fall and slap against his thigh. Fortunately for him, he didn't move from the spot. He'd seen Karate Kid, after all. "Kai, man, what the fuck is going on?"

"I can only guess," Kai said, stifling his laughter.

"Well, spit it out, man," Nicky said, perturbed.

"Patience, Nicky," Kai said.

"I need to learn how to fight better, not patience," Nicky complained.

"Impatience in a fight will get you killed as surely as inexperience," Kai instructed. "Patience."

Nicky huffed. "Fine."

Nicky stood in the spot directed for what seemed like hours. Though, in truth, it was only about fifteen minutes before he started getting bored. He would huff impatiently every so often. He shifted his weight back and forth from foot to foot. He went through a series of basic stretches that he'd learned throughout his life, anything to break the monotony of just standing there. Kai had long disappeared inside with Mr. Nakamura, leaving Nicky alone with his thoughts and doubts.

Finally, not being able to overcome the boredom by conventional means, Nicky stood up straight in what could easily be mistaken for a military man standing at attention. It would be considered loose, or lazy, by even the most reserved of military basic training instructors given that he'd had no official training. Most of what he'd learned he learned by watching or reading, though very little of the latter. He put his left foot forward and brought his hands up in a basic boxing-ready stance. From there, he began to move.

In almost what could be mistaken for a dance, Nicky moved his arms and feet in sweeping gestures before returning to a different fighting form. He kicked and punched at invisible targets as he moved. Anyone knowledgeable in marital arts would recognize loose variations of different fighting styles. Some might be impressed; some might disdain; others might even laugh. It was the latter that Nicky experienced when he'd finished his dance after about three minutes of steady movements.

A roaring laughter echoed from the back porch of the old man's house and Nicky's head jerked to look in that direction. The old man had doubled over in a chair with his laughter. Kai had a humorous smile on his face. The old man was laughing at him. Or so Nicky thought.

Red-faced, and violently embarrassed, Nicky hurriedly made his way back to the porch. He considered, for a fleeting moment, stomping through the old man's bonsai trees and his zen garden just to spite him, but he was better than that. Petulance would have been his reaction once upon a time, but his time with Kai had taught him to be better if for no one else but himself. He made his way across the stones of the zen garden. Kai approached.

"Nicky, what--"

"I'm leaving," Nicky said, brushing past his friend.

"No, Nicky," Kai protested. "You misunderstand."

Nicky whirled in anger as he got to the back door. The old man watched with a smile still on his face at Nicky's outburst.

"Misunderstand what, Kai?" Nicky said, irate. "You Japanese talk about honor, yet when a foreigner comes along with no official training but still tries to better himself in any way, you laugh because it's not honorable in your eyes because it's not 'proper' martial arts?" Nicky said using air quotes for the word, proper.

Quick as a flash, Nicky didn't even see him move, the old man seemed to blur and the next thing Nicky knew he was lying on his back with the old man on top of him. There was a fire in the old man's eyes and if Nicky hadn't been so angry himself, he might have been afraid of what he saw in those eyes. As it was, however, Nicky just glared back at the old fart.

"Cease your impertinence, boy," Mr. Nakamura spat. "We were not laughing at your apparent lack of training."

"I wasn't laughing," Kai protested. The old man shot him a warning glare that told Kai that if he knew what was good for him, he'd keep his mouth shut.

The old man let go of Nicky's Gi and stood as spryly as if he were a teenager. He held his hand out to Nicky. Nicky looked at it for a moment before taking the offered hand and allowing himself to be hauled to his feet. He brushed himself off as he looked at the old man. He was still angry, but much of it had abated by now and he was willing to listen.

"I was not laughing at you, Nicky," Mr. Nakamura said. "I was laughing at me."

That caused Nicky to cock his head in confusion. "What do you--"

"Shut up and listen, boy," the old man spat, cutting him off. "You told me you didn't know how to fight. You told me you took a few lessons as a child, yes?" Nicky nodded. "I mistakenly understood that you didn't know anything. For that, I apologize. I was laughing because of my ignorance. You know more than I thought you did, judging from your Kata."

Nicky didn't say anything. He just stood there looking stunned. The old man continued.

"That doesn't mean that I'm agreeing that you are ready for your fight. Far from it. Judging from your Kata, though, you at least know a little of a few different fighting styles. We can expound on that but the first thing you must learn is patience!"

Nicky opened his mouth to protest but the old man stopped him with an upraised palm.

"Patience, focus," Mr. Nakamura instructed, "is just as instrumental in a fight as knowing how to fight altogether. I assume you learned what you know from movies and mimicked their forms and styles?"

"Mostly," Nicky agreed with a nod.

Mr. Nakamura grunted his assent. "Then you know from watching that an impatient opponent often leads to a dead opponent, yeah?" Again, Nicky nodded. "Good. Your first lesson, then, is I want you to stand here and stare at my zen garden."

Nicky looked perplexed but didn't speak, hoping for more instructions. The old man grunted again at Nicky's silent acknowledgment and continued.

"Good," he praised gruffly. "You're already learning. I want you to familiarize yourself with the layout of the garden. I want you to memorize every line, every stroke of the rake. Not only will this help teach you some measure of patience, but it will also help you to focus more. Understand?"

"Yes, Mr. Naka--"

"Call me Sensei or Master," the old man barked. "Kai will come along from time to time to try and distract you."

"I will?" Kai asked.

"Shut up, boy," the old man barked at Kai. "These distractions will take the form of many different varieties. Some will be subtle. Some will be deliberate. Some will be downright painful."