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Katana worked the ties of her black cotton jacket, but her eyes never left Chi
Chi
Man or woman, Katana could have anyone she wants, and yet she’s picked me.
“I,” she began, and swallowed again, struggling against a sudden wave of desire. Her voice firmed. “I can’t fight you that way, Tai-sho. I am Amaterasu and a chu-sa. I have pledged my life for you.”
“Yes,” said Katana, her tone a low, melodic contralto. She stepped away from her clothes and reached out to draw the ball of her thumb along Chi
Do this for me. Chi
Katana’s lips parted in a silent laugh. “Later. But for now…” She turned, strode to a lacquered wooden stand, and plucked up a katana, still in its sheath. Balancing the blade in her hands, Katana’s features suddenly tightened, and her eyes narrowed. “We fight.”
“Until one is blooded,” said the Old Master. Chi
In a few moments they stood, katanas unsheathed and at the ready position. After sweltering in her armor, Chi
She cast her mind back over her last attack pattern. Now, in the calm after the storm, she knew her error. In the split second after she’d begun the attack, she’d been so focused on co
Chi
The Old Master hacked the air with his right hand. “Hajime!”
Instantly, Chi
My mind is a pond. It was one of the Old Master’s teachings, and now Chi
Katana made a sudden shifting movement with her upper torso, and Chi
It was all the opening Katana needed. “Yah!” Even as the word flew from her lips, Katana mounted an attack. As she bounded forward, she brought her sword up into jodan, a ready position over the head whose attack angle was impossible to engage.
Startled back to alertness, Chi
Disengaging, Katana took a half step back, and then Chi
“Toh!” she cried, whipping her blade down. The bright steel seemed to move in an agonizing stop-motion as Chi
“Yah!” Katana dropped into a squat, rotating her hands clockwise and stiff-arming her sword. Chi
My God! Chi
A glance at Katana showed that even she felt the strain. Yet, even as Katana gulped air, her lips peeled back from her teeth in a feral grin. “You see?” she said, her words punctuated by deep gasps. “Fighting… is… different.”
Something tripped in Chi
Now Chi