Girl Rides the Wind by Jacques Antoine Read Free Book Online

and tried to step back, to get out of range, but she’d already struck him several more times in the chest and face, none full force, but so many that he began to lose his bearings. Blocking was no longer possible, since she was still too close, and her strikes anticipated his responses, flowing from the back-and-forth movement of her hips and shoulders even as they thwarted the geometry of his body.
    In a last, desperate attempt to create some distance, he tried to raise his foot, to kick her away, but she jammed a knee into his thigh and struck him once again, this time full-force, a reverse-punch to the soft spot in the center of the chest, just below the sternum. She let him stagger backwards, as he gasped for breath, then crossed one leg behind the other and stomped her heel into the same spot on his chest in a ferocious side-kick that practically lifted him off the ground.
    “No,” he said, when she offered to help him up, and pushed himself on to unsteady legs to face her.
    She stared at him as he stood opposite, and waited to see if he would bow. To do otherwise would seem absurd, given how she’d dominated him, the bow in such circumstances suggesting a plea for mercy. When he placed his hands together and lowered his head ever so slightly, she grunted and turned away.

Chapter 5

Shinai
    “ I challenge ,” the voice said, and Emily stopped at the edge of the ring, turning to look over her shoulder. “My choice of weapon is shinai .”
    “There is no need,” she said, rushing to the center of the ring to kneel at Kano’s feet.
    “Do not insult me,” he growled. “You will accept my challenge… unless you think it is beneath you.”
    “I would rather be your student, Sensei , than your opponent.”
    A moment later, she stood on the side of the ring, as Ishikawa and Lt Otani helped her strap on protective equipment. Shinai are practice swords, made of bamboo strips bound together in a single shaft, lighter than a hardwood bokken , and with no edge. But in the heat of competition, an errant blow can still do some damage… and Kano did not look like he meant to tap her lightly.
    “You should never have entered the ring,” Lt Otani said. “This could have been avoided if you had just let Sgt Tsukino have his victory.”
    “Nonsense,” Ishikawa roared. “Moon behaved like a donkey. He deserved what he got, and she fought brilliantly.”
    “What are they saying?” Durant asked from behind Lt Otani.
    “Dice thinks I’m a fool, and so does Kiku-san.”
    “No, Durant-u-san ,” Ishikawa said, in the best English he could muster. “I think Tenno-san is awe-inspiring. But she is probably in for a beating.”
    “I’m sorry for getting you in to this pickle, LT,” Durant said, after Emily glowered at him.
    “ Pic-kel-u ?” Ishikawa said, with one raised eyebrow as he tried to fit his mouth around the word.
    “Just like tsukemono ,” Lt Otani proposed.
    Emily offered an alternative translation: “He means this is a difficult situation.” When Ishikawa still didn’t understand, she said, “I’m screwed.”
    “Yes, yes,” Ishikawa said with a big grin. “Screwed.”
    “Can you take him?” Oleschenko asked.
    “Not if he’s anything like his father,” Emily said. “Besides, kendo is not my best subject.”
    “Kano-san was national youth champion as a boy,” Ishikawa said. “He is kyoshi .”
    “You knew his father?” Oleschenko asked, looking on as Emily tugged on her equipment to get it to fit better. “How is that possible?”
    “It’s a long story, sir. Let’s just say it hasn’t put me in Kano’s good books.”
    Emily glanced across the ring as she said this, and saw Kano glowering back at her, while Tsukino tightened the strap on his shoulder guard. Tsukino turned to look at her with a sneer, and then made some remark for Kano’s benefit. But it didn’t appear to have the desired effect, since Kano pushed him away with a sharp word that Emily couldn’t quite make