CHAPTER 34

降伏 Kofuku

Surrender

J-Bird and Jet crept over the mountain to a hogan, a harvest cottage on the Reservation ten miles north of the trailer. Aska hadn’t wanted to leave Hiro’s side, but Hiro had spoken to her strongly. “Go with them, Aska. Your job is to protect them.” Her ears had turned down sadly, but she’d obeyed.

Hiro had stayed at the trailer, guarding it as if Jet and J-Bird were still inside.

He’d collected quarters, even though he wasn’t supposed to fight. He had to pretend to escape and then surrender, but he hated the idea of giving in so easily. Why not take on as many of the enemy as he could? He focused his senses into the dark forest, catching every sound, scent, and movement. He noticed faint breathing, the smell of skin, a slight rustling different than the stirring of the wind.

He counted three people hiding, located them in the void. But then he briefly sensed a faint shift that frightened him, the presence of a more skillful warrior who’d almost completely assimilated into the darkness, hiding his ki.

Hiro went inside the trailer, retrived a sleeping bag from inside, then focused his energy again on his surroundings.

The men in the forest saw a small shadow jump from behind the trailer. Three of them ran toward it. As soon as they attacked it, they realized it was a stuffed sleeping bag—Hiro’s kawarimi transforming skill.

Then he attacked them from an ichimonji no kamae stance, low and strong, moving like water rushing over river rocks. He struck their knees and chests, running faster than he ever had to the other side of the trailer.

He used shoten no jutsu—vertical surface running—to run up the tall tree trunk in front of him, throwing his pursuers into confusion. As they approached, he aimed his quarters decisively. The tsubute knocked them unconscious, one by one as they tried to shield themselves. All three were down.

Hiro returned to the ground, careful now. How could he surrender without risking danger to his own life? This is harder than I expected. In the darkness, he felt the faint human energy again.

Someone approached from behind. He turned and ducked and threw a coin. It ricocheted off a tree trunk. The person had disappeared. He couldn’t sense where he’d gone. He held his breath. This must be the man with the light brown eyes. Hiro had to make his surrender look believable, but for the first time since the mountain, he was afraid.

“Oi! Ore nara koko ni iruzo!” A voice shouted in rough Japanese. Here I am!

Hiro’s fear deepened. He climbed a tree, but his knees started to shake, so he breathed deeply into his belly to push away the panic. If he let it overtake him, he wouldn’t be able to regain his composure. Whoever was there was only ten feet away. Normally, Hiro could have sensed his presence, even been able to ascertain his body temperature. But this man had completely hidden himself in the darkness. Hiro was overwhelmed. No one had ever been able to hide from him so fully.

Never lose your focus. Ever, Ojiisan had taught him. Hiro reminded himself that he was supposed to surrender. Okay. He took a deep breath. His fear would make his capture look genuine.

Gathering his strength, he jumped to the ground in zenpo ukemi, falling straight and landing on all fours. Then he crawled into the bushes and ran like a small animal chased by hunting dogs. The sharp tips of branches tore at his clothes, scraped his face and hands. He ran as if to escape his growing fear, to outdistance his own weakness.

A cliff appeared before him, and he stopped in front of it, his heart beating wildly. His breath caught in his throat as he remembered the ravine Ojiisan had fallen into. He felt the same helplessness he had while watching his grandfather tumble into the darkness. Now he was even more determined not to go without a struggle: Why should he surrender when he could get revenge on the warrior who’d caused Ojiisan’s death?

“The chase is over,” the man said softly. His tone suggested that he took no pleasure in this capture. He didn’t seem to be relishing this victory at all. He was giving Hiro a last bit of dignity, letting him accept defeat like a man.

Hiro turned. The fog had lifted. A tall powerful warrior stood in the moonlight.

Hiro estimated the distance between them. Almost forty feet. He still had a few coins.

I’m close enough to hit him. We can end this here. For Ojiisan!

“Don’t waste your energy.” The man said. He had read Hiro’s thoughts.

He was now less than ten feet away. Hiro couldn’t give up without a fight. It wouldn’t be believable. No ninja would. And yet he had to survive. He still wanted to fight, but he felt the intensely silent gravity of the man’s strength and skill.

Hiro stood, calming his mind.

A real warrior knows when he’s overpowered. There’s more dignity in surrender than in messy defeat.

Hiro breathed deeply, offering all that he was to the memory of his beloved grandfather and parents. He hoped they’d been watching from above, and that he’d made them proud.

The man’s light brown eyes flickered as they met Hiro’s. Hiro had caught him off guard by his strength and wisdom. The man perceived Hiro’s fighting will disappear from his body.

He laughed softly. It wasn’t wicked, nor was it with pleasure or amusement.

Strange, Hiro thought. In another world, they might have been comrades. The man might have given him a gentle punch on the arm and taken him under his wing.

But in this world, Hiro was bound and blindfolded, then brought to a concrete dungeon in the desert and thrown in a cell without windows deep beneath the earth.