#375. excerpt from Yoshimi

This is an excerpt from my most recent manuscript, Yoshimi, about an orphan who discovers the truth behind the death of her parents and is compelled to act on it.  In this scene, she has just completed one of her stages of training:

We both knew he was referring to the way the five fights had been won.  Bill was conspicuously absent.  “I want to thank you for taking the time to teach me.  I got to talking to Jenny and Kit and they seem to believe that it’s out of character for you to accept strays like this, even at recommendation.”
     “Perhaps it’s time I change my policy,” he said.  “I once believed that only those I have personally selected, who have already demonstrated to me that they meet my standards, actually can.  You’ve done more than that.  You’ve exceeded them.  For that you should be proud.”
     “I wish I could explain how I do it,” I said.
     “Sometimes it’s not for us to know such things,” Jim said.  “You should instead be proud that others have noticed, and that you have a chance to use your gifts, even if it took a lot of misery to reach this point.”
     “Thank you for saying so,” I said, bowing.
     “You don’t need to bow to me, Yoshimi,” he said.  “I never liked it in my students.  Perhaps that’s something else I can change.”
     “Don’t be so quick to initiate reforms that aren’t strictly necessary,” I said.
     “It’s not for you to judge such things,” he said.  “All the same, I wish you luck.  The Assassins Guild is a menace I will be very happy to see eliminated.  I saved Bernard and Gisberto from a life serving under it.  I believe I did the same for Bill.  Before you came here, Bill was the only student I thought I had truly reached.  It was an intervention he said he needed, but like you, I saw him benefiting me more than I ever could him.  I’m not sure he knows this.  You’re good for him.  He needed to step out from that little club of his in New York, embrace the world again.  He brought you here so he could remind himself, I think.  It killed him to sit there and watch all this time.  I suspect you’ll have a hard time keeping up with him in the coming weeks.”