Session 8. (29/12/04)

With all the pupils dispatched, the Troubleshooters have only the teachers and oyabun to deal with. However, they are much tougher opponents. At the oyabun's insistence, the teachers charge the heroes and meet them in the middle of the yard. Mariko and Emiko go after the oyabun and blows are exchanged, Mariko coming out the better while Emiko misses and is missed. Mariko's tanto continues to do more damage that the oyabun's nunchaku and Emiko swings her fire-edged bo to do 3 damage and almost twice that in burn damage. Meanwhile Kimori takes on a sumo wrestler and keeps out of his grasp with three fine blows, the first doing considerable damage, the second twice as much and the third an outright kill. At the same time a second teacher manages three kicks, one to Kimori's head but obviously not much damage is done. Sugiyama takes on a pair of L3 atemi-waza experts and stuns one with his first strike. Moderate hits wear down the teacher who only recovers from his stun to deliver a small blow and expire. The other teacher lands three out of six blows to mildly concuss Sugiyama before he can give him his full attention. Komako has both armed and unarmed opponents and mixes it up with the unarmed one, landing four big punches (and receiving one) to put him out for the count.

Mariko continues her unequal hitting contest with the oyabun swapping two big hits for two small ones. Seeing how the fight is going, Emiko responds to Sugiyama's cries of pain and goes off to heal his bruises as the oyabun slumps to the ground. Kimori turns to his second opponent and repays his kick to the head with two big hits and a massive one: 45 points of damage leaving just a bloody shape on the sand. Sugiyama turns to his second opponent and lands two big hits. Kimori turns up to help him but Sugiyama finishes it before Kimori gets a go. Finally Komako starts on his second opponent and is soon joined by Mariko, considerably shortening the fight.

As they survey the scene, one of the sumotori wakes and makes a run for it. Komako tries to trip him but just misses. Mariko runs after him but can't get into tanto range. Sugiyama triaes a Heroic Leap but falls just short. Kimori tries to jump but hi big chopper gets in the way. However, the somutori runs out of the back gate and straight into the arms of the squad of doshin who had come at Sugiyama's behest and were waiting to hear the sound of fighting die away. The troubleshooters now check the rest of the fallen sumotori and find that only two have survived. They decide to search the sumo stable. Emiko enters a trance but finds nothing. Komako searches by more conventional methods and uncovers some scrolls, but he can't deceipher them. However, Sugiyama's eagle eyes detect Lord Chozo's missing documents in the oyabun's office. Emiko looks at Komako's scrolls and works out everything about them - written in kanji, one referring to the Japanese Classics, the other to Chinese Classics - but can't make the connection. Finally Sugiyama works it out: one is a Shinto scroll, a spell for curing critical damage, while the other is a Buddhist norito which has somehow been transcribed and converted from the first.

Back at the doshin station, Sugiyama interrogates the two survivors. One is tough, or Sugiyama is clumsy, and he says nothing. But the other quickly confirms Sugiyama's suspicions that the supposed plot to replace Lord Chozo with a local business man are false and just a front for a campaign to reinstall the daimyo. Further pressure causes him to reveal that there is involvement from high-powered (and high-level) outsiders from another province. Sugiyama sends for his right-hand ninja, Nishina, to help with the investigation by going under cover with the yakuza gang known as the Sharks. The others catch up with sleep and healing.

As week two of the Year of the Dragon starts, the Troubleshooters are hoping for some quiet time. Komako returns home and, sensing a change in his wife, has Komako divine her future. They are overjoyed when Komako announces that she will have a baby girl in the autumn. The other Troubleshooters are delighted. However, Sugiyama is soon brought back to reality with reports of a disturbance in the Chiba district. He sends doshin to investigate and they return with an unusual story. When they arrived at the scene, a rather seedy bar, they found four men lying in the street, all injured by stabbed, one seriously. Inside the bar, a man is being held by the customers, though he isn't resisting. The man, Keinosuke Kuse from Chiba district, where he works for a merchant, admits to the stabbings but tells the doshin that he was quietly having lunch in his favourite eating place, next door to the bar, when he heard people in the bar slagging off the eatery. He went into the bar and, totally out of character, had a big argument with the barmen and several customers which spilled out into the street where he stabbed four of them. He doesn't know where the knife came from. The doshin relate all this to Sugiyama but the spooky thing is that there is no eatery next to the bar. Sugiyama says he knows; he is quite familiar with the bar as it is the one he was mugged in and left naked by the river a few weeks earlier. Sugiyama has the man locked up for the moment.

At the news sheet warehouse, Mariko and Emiko come across a very strange story from over on the mainland. It seems that a human head, arms and legs have been found floating in Himeji harbour. The local doshin are investigating. Mariko gets a local artist to draw an impression of a severed head that has been floating in the sea for a few weeks.

Nishina reports to Sugiyama that the Sharks' headquarters are in the Kochiba district. He hasn't been there yet but he'll report as soon as he has.

Sugiyama gets yet another report of a crime, this time in Kochiba district. Something in the report, as well as the location, make him send for Kimori to accompany him. Sure enough, a body has been found and it's Kimori's former pupil, Kempei. There is a broken sword in his hand - the very one he had tried to sell to Kimori though he knew it to be flawed, and for which guilt he later petitioned Lord Chozo to send him on this suicide mission. The two Troubleshooters examine the sword and see that it broke at the point of the flaw. The look for the missing half but can't find it. They conclude that Kempei fought and was killed somewhere else and his body brought and dumped here. They return to the city centre. Kimori goes up to the castle to tell Lord Chozo the sad news.

The next day Sugiyama hears from Nishina again. The note says that the Sharks' HQ is a large house in Kochiba ward, but it doesn't say where. It does say that the Sharks have been taken over by a group of foreign bushi. This comes as a shock to Sugiyama and the others as they had assumed that the gang was taken over by other yakuza. Immediately Kimori and Komako go to look around Kochiba, but neither can locate an obvious yakuza den; and Kimori, hanging round seedy bars, doesn't see any citizens behaving strangely - at least, no more strangely that you'd expect outside a seedy bar.

That evening the Troubleshooters meet to discuss their next move. They decide that they need more information, and the only clue they still haven't investigated is the disused school in Yoshima ward (where Sugiyama's ninja clan members were ambushed by yakuza). They make their preparations and go off to hit the school soon after midnight.

Sugiyama enters first, sneaking over the back wall then, seeing no-one, sneaks round in the shadows. The shadows are so dark that he doesn't see a large urn until he walks into it. A pottery sound echoes round the courtyard but nothing stirs. Sugiyama breathes again and moves on.

Meanwhile Kimori and Komako have had enough of waiting and head for the back door. Emiko runs after them and tries to stop them but they ignore her. They try the back door.

Inside, Sugiyama is hearing things. He has slipped into one of the deserted classrooms and hears the sound of someone fidgeting in the next room. He crawls up to the screen door and slides it open, ever so slowly but with a loud squeaking noise. He peers into the pitch black room, expecting an attack any second, but none comes.

Kimori and Komako successfully sneak in through the back door and find the courtyard deserted. They head across the moonlit gravel to look in the classrooms.

Sugiyama sneaks into the dark room and finds nothing, with a shuriken in one hand he draws his sword and uses it to pry open the next screen door. He leaps into the room but sees only a few rats scamper away. He goes to listen at the next door.

Kimori opens the door in front of him. It appears to be a classroom. The opens with a loud squeak. Komako throws an unlit candle into the courtyard to draw away any observer's attention.

Sugiyama hears a noise outside and sneaks over to the outer door to investigate. As he watches he sees a figure sneak past in the shadows. He recognises the outline and hisses, "Pssst! Kimori!" Kimori avoids a heart attack but lets out a yell.

Outside, Mariko take the yell to be the pre-arranged signal and she quickly enters the building, climbing up and over the entranceway with a boost from Emiko.

Komako rushes to help Kimori and pulls him into the shadows.

Mariko sees movement in the courtyard and jumps down to let Emiko in, lands badly and then discovers the front door isn't even locked.

Komako, Kimori and Sugiyama finally realise who is whom, wait for their heart rates to recover, then proceed to sneak around the courtyard rooms.

Emiko and Mariko watch Kimori's pitiful attempts to remain concealed, and spot Komako also. They go over and join them, giving their hearts another workout, but before too long they are all both disappointed and relieved to work out that the school is in fact completely deserted. Not a thing has been left behind - even the rats have been washed and brushed.

The next day Komako returns to Kochiba to continue his search for the Sharks' HQ. Mariko goes with Sugiyama to help question the man who stabbed four outside the bar. She uses her rhetoric to appeal to his good nature, a more humane approach than Sugiyama could muster. The man appears confused, but Mariko can tell he is not drunk. Sugiyama suspects he has been drugged but can't detect anything. Emiko is sent for and she uses prana yoga to detect and stop the effect of a poison, but it isn't clear what he has been poisoned by. While they ponder this, Sugiyama is called out of the room on doshin business. This turns out to be one of the secret ninja doshin Sugiyama has placed in the squad to spy on them. He tells Sugiyama that the man has indeed been drugged; under the influence of the hallucinogen, some of Sugiyama's ninja had fed him the story, given him a knife and sent him into the bar. This was the ninja's way of getting back at the bar that had so nearly murdered their clan chief. Sugiyama sighs and goes back to release the man.

Just then Komako bursts in. He says he has found the yakuza headquarters. He knows it is there because there was a broken sword blade lying on the roof. He watched the place for a while and is sure it is the place. The Troubleshooters decide to prepare properly this time. That night Sugiyama goes to scout out the building. It is a large estate with high walls, a gate house and many ancillary buildings, and a fine house in extensive gardens. He sees the sword blade on the roof and shins up to fetch it. However, halfway up a large wooden plank falls out of the wall taking Sugiyama with it. He scrambles up and into the shadows. Four armed men come out and start searching. Sugiyama dissolves into the night and returns home. There waiting for him is Nishina who has come to tell him where the yakuza are and to warn him that the place is booby-trapped. Sugiyama says simply, "I know, I know."

It is week 2 in the Year of the Dragon. The Troubleshooters have cleared the Sharks' Yakuza bases in Yoshima ward and Chiba ward and removed the threat from the sumotori, but the Sharks' leaders are still at large and planning trouble. Investigations have finally revealed that the Sharks have expanded into the neighbouring ward of Kochiba (meaning Little Chiba), where they are occupying a ji-zamurai's estate. It is a large walled compound with large main house set in formal gardens, a gate house, several dormitories, a bath house and a tea house in the grounds. There are thought to be about thirty yakuza inside - is this enough of a numerical advantage against the renowned Troubleshooters?

The Troubleshooters are wondering this themselves. They meet to discuss their plan of attack. Kimori wants more time to gather information; Mariko disagrees, saying they should attack quickly while they have the advantage of surprise. "What surprise?" chorus the rest. Emiko asks what would happen if they were wrong and ended up attacking a ji-zamurai and supported of Lord Chozo? She insists that they get Lord Chozo's permission, so they troop up to the castle and are granted an audience. Lord Chozo listens to the plans and concerns and says that he hasn't seen the old ji-zamurai for a few months and thought he must be ill or have died. Takara, Lord Chozo's daughter and Komako's protégé is sitting in a corner of the room practising calligraphy and she pipes up that she saw the old man's daughter and son-in-law take him off to the health spa some time back. She is sure he hasn't returned. This makes up the Troubleshooters' minds. They ask Lord Chozo for a few troops from the castle to create a diversion while they enter the grounds and deal with the yakuza. He lets them take 12 men to attack the gate house with a battering ram and six more as reinforcements to help out the Troubleshooters if they run into trouble: "Shoot a humming-bulb arrow into the air and they'll come running," says Lord Chozo. "Go now and make an end of them."

The Troubleshooters have a good look round the ji-zamurai's estate before they go in around dusk. The north wall is mostly formed by the two- and three-storey buildings of the gate house and staff house. The east wall and plain sections of the north wall are 20 feet high. The south-east, south-west and west walls are all only ten feet high and border the lush gardens. They reject the idea of swimming through a culvert that carries a stream to feed the ornamental lake because Kimori hates getting wet - a good thing too, as they later discovered, because although the tunnel is a bit less than a lungful of air long, the inside end is blocked by iron bars. Instead the Troubleshooters fetch a ladder and climb over the south-east corner of the wall. Sugiyama drops down nimbly and is about to shout up a warning that the drop is an unexpected 15 feet when the others land in a heap. Kimori is slightly hurt from landing awkwardly on his dai-kyu (bow), which he has nicknamed "Old Bendy". Sugiyama sneaks over to the cover of the tea house while the others sneak along the shadow of the walls until the tea house is between them and the main house. Sugiyama stealthily climbs onto the roof of the tea house while the others cross the short stretch of open ground to its rear wall. A sudden "Twang!" about two feet below Sugiyama's prone body gives him a start and reveals that the other Troubleshooters have been spotted by a yakuza guard concealed in the tea house rafters. Kimori is knocked to the ground and dazed by the arrow. Sugiyama lifts a tile and drops in for the Silent Kill; the yakuza is killed outright. Sugiyama drops to the ground and calls the others across in safety. The yakuza is dressed in black - not the stylish, perfected night-robes of the ninja, of course, but just good concealment for a hidden guard at night. Mariko looks over to the main house and sees some movement, probably guards who have heard the disturbance. Kimori looks and sees three more guards come out. Sure enough there are soon arrows flying towards the tea house and Sugiyama is hit. Mariko and Kimori fire back but can't see any targets in the dark. All Kimori manages to do is crack his bow and reduce its rating from three to two. Sugiyama sneaks up to the house but is spotted by a guard in the tower, lit up by the stone lanterns that ring the house and illuminate the gardens. Mariko charges the archers: halfway there she spots that the ground inside the path is five feet lower than the path but cleverly constructed so you wouldn't see it. Mariko saw it though (ha!) but didn't see the spikes on the ground below where she deftly lands and suffers three damage. Komako tries sneaking through the lantern-light but is hit by an arrow. Kimori tries to lay down covering fire and by chance hits one of the yakuza, but his weakened bow only does three damage.

Mariko reaches the nearest stone lantern and finds one of the archers behind it. It has been constructed to be perfect cover for an archer defending the house - stone and earth protection and a blinding light shining out at any attackers. Once behind it however the odds are evened and Mariko stabs twice for seven damage each time. Komako moves cautiously towards the next stone lantern, spotting the drop by the path and negotiating it easily but then gets stuck in the muddy stream. Kimori fires another arrow to help Komako in his exposed position and again gets a lucky hit. Emiko follows Mariko's footsteps. No-one can see Sugiyama, but he is now under the veranda of the main house.

Komako is flailing around in the stream. He can now tell that the banks have been made especially steep and slippery to inconvenience anyone trying to cross it to attack the house, and he is feeling very inconvenienced! Only Kimori's shower of arrows is keeping him from becoming an archery dummy. Kimori's latest arrow finds the same target as the last two but having still not killed the yakuza, Kimori drops the bow, draws his big chopper and charges into the fray. Mariko stabs and finishes her yakuza opponent and moves on to the next stone lantern. Emiko has found an archer with three of Kimori's arrows sticking in him. She finishes this yakuza as well. Sugiyama appears like a wraith behind an archer on the veranda of the main house and silently kills him. The other guard on the veranda swings a kiseru at him but Sugiyama dodges and replies with an eight-point sword cut. Meanwhile Komako has finally scrambled up the bank of the stream.

Komako, Mariko and Emiko converge on the last archer. Komako lands the first hit, Mariko the second and Emiko delivers the killing blow. Sugiyama hits the last guard on the veranda, kills him and finally achieves Level 5. Kimori arrives at the south-east corner of the house and goes inside, through the first room and into the inner courtyard veranda. The others enter the south-west room where they meet four yakuza coming down the stairs from the ji-zamurai's personal rooms and offices. Sugiyama hits the first for 9 damage, causing him to fall down the stairs, dazed, then follows up with another hit for 7 damage. Komako punches for 5 damage and avoids all the yakuza's swipes. Mariko stabs the senior yakuza and also dodges all replies. Emiko swings her staff and connects, stunning the yakuza. The four land all seven of their hits in the next round and finish the yakuza without taking a scratch. Meanwhile Kimori comes in from the veranda, having found only empty rooms and is disappointed to have missed all the action. Suddenly two yakuza attack him from behind. Kimori turns round, smiling so broadly that one of the yakuza drops his bo staff in fright. Kimori hacks the other down in two vicious sweeps of his big chopper, then turns to the other who nervously prods at him without success and, claiming the On bonus, downs the hapless yakuza with two fine examples of flashy swordplay.

Next time: the exterminators continue their fight against vermin.

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