The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress Read Free Book Online Page B

express her true feelings for him without losing her job, and the security that came with it, was to undermine him in a way he would never understand. So she had switched to “Callum-kun.”
    The change from “san” to “kun” really didn’t seem to affect him. He had no idea that “kun ” was a term used for an inferior. He also didn’t know that a woman would almost never call a man that, even one who was her equal. Plus it had made her feel so good, so like herself again, that she hadn’t seen the harm in addressing him as one would address a young boy. After all, he behaved like a young boy. And he was, technically, her inferior in almost every way: class, education, and even ability. The fact that he hadn’t noticed the change from “san” to “kun” was enough to make her feel she’d made the right choice. He claimed to be an expert in all things Japanese, but he didn’t even know the difference between the two honorifics.
    Still, she knew that none of these reasons would excuse her behavior to the old samurai. None of it mattered. She was a girl. And girls should not be so disrespectful toward men. Not even if the men were disrespectful toward them.
    “I’m sorry,” she said, her eyes still lowered.
    There was a long pause and finally he spoke.
    “Look at me, child.”
    With great effort she looked up. The old samurai took a long drag on his pipe and then exhaled slowly.
    “There is no excuse for your impropriety.”
    “Yes, I know . . .” and in a bold moment she added , “It’s just that he’s . . .”
    The old samurai interrupted. “No need to explain. I understand your motivation, as wrong as you might be to act on it. That man is a great fool. He talks of Japan as though he was born there, but speaks no Japanese and understands nothing of our traditions . He holds himself up as a great warrior, a fighter, a teacher even, to the people here in this city. And yet he bargains for weapons worth half of what he is offering.”
    Michiko didn’t say anything, though she had an overwhelming desire to just pour out all the feelings she’d been bottling up for six months.
    “And you, a young woman, almost still a girl, you come and see this sword and understand its worth . ”
    “Yes.”
    “How?”
    “I studied with his honor Kyoshi Adachi-sama.”
    The old samurai’s expression stayed the same, but she sensed a shift in his energy.
    “You?”
    “Yes.” Her heart was racing. How she’d longed to share that secret with the old samurai since the first day she’d met him.
    “And you serve this foolish teacher?”
    “I do.”
    “Why?”
    Michiko wasn’t sure she could remember the answer to that question. Adventure had been the reason once. Escaping persecution another. But after half a year living this life, her heart was aching. It was a means to an end, she reminded herself, not a permanent situation. Occasionally, too, when they traveled the country to give demonstrations of Callum’s fighting technique, or performed before dignitaries, there was some fun in that.
    “It’s complicated.”
    “Did Kyoshi Adachi-sama present you with your sword?”
    Michiko shook her head. She thought back to that moment, when all the boys had gotten their swords and she hadn’t.
    “What point could it possibly serve?” Adachi had asked. “You will marry soon. Do you intend to carve fish with it?”
    The other students had laughed. So had Michiko. She always laughed with the others. It was so easy for her to hide her real feelings. She’d been doing it since before she could remember.
    “I see.” The old samurai was silent again.
    Michiko was grabbed violently from behind and whipped around to find herself nose to nose with a red-faced Callum. He shouted something at her. He shouted it again. Then he shouted it slower in that strange accent of his. It sounded like “WAT WEH U TAWKING ABOWT?” but even at the slower pace she still didn’t know what he was talking about. The best she