‘From your father,’ said Jack, his mouth thick and dry with shock.

‘Arigatō, gaij–… Jack,’ said Yamato, deliberately correcting himself and giving a brief but respectful bow. Their eyes locked and, for a second, an unspoken bond of comradeship passed between them.

‘We need to find Akiko,’ said Jack urgently, breaking the moment.

‘Hai!’ agreed Yamato, running out on to the veranda and along to Akiko’s room, Jack following close behind.

Taka-san could be heard still battling with Dragon Eye, and Jack glanced over his shoulder to see Taka-san driving the ninja back towards the little bridge.

‘Listen,’ breathed Yamato, but from the outside Akiko’s room was ominously silent.

Yamato pulled back the shoji to reveal the inert body of a girl, her blood spreading in a large red pool on the tatami.

‘NO! Akiko!’ shouted Jack.

She lay face down on the floor, her arms outspread as if still vainly trying to escape death. Jack knelt beside the body, his eyes welling up with hot angry tears. He reached over and pulled back the hair from her face, to reveal the porcelain features of Chiro, her maid.

Jack anxiously glanced up at Yamato. Where was Akiko?

Then they heard the sound of movement in the adjoining room. They flung open the inner shoji to discover Akiko facing not one but two armed ninja. She held a short staff in one hand and her unwrapped obi in the other.

One of the ninja wielded a short tantō, the other a ninjatō. They attacked simultaneously.

Akiko did not hesitate. She flicked the long band of her obi into the eyes of the ninja with the sword. Like a whip, it cracked across his face, momentarily blinding him. The ninja with the tantō, surged forward and slashed at her face. In one flowing motion, Akiko blocked it with her short staff, stepped between the two ninja, and chopped her obi hand down on to the neck of her assailant. The ninja, stunned by the blow, dropped his tantō and staggered backwards against the far wall.

The other ninja let out a venomous hiss and ran at her with his sword. Akiko spun on her attacker and, rapidly twirling her obi, wound it round the ninja’s outstretched sword arm. She tugged hard on her obi, but in so doing drew the weapon straight towards her.

Jack shouted a warning. But she deftly evaded the blade and purposefully guided it in the direction of the other ninja. The ninja was now so off balance that he couldn’t stop his forward momentum and his sword sunk deep into his comrade’s chest.

Akiko had been so quick that Jack and Yamato had barely stepped into the room before it was all over. The ninja swiftly withdrew his sword, but was too late. His comrade, choking with blood, slumped dead on the tatami.