They were seated in the middle of the theater. As the stable, which housed the winner of the last tournament, Nishikigi, they got the best seats in the house. Nishikigi sat in the third row, right in the middle of the large theater. Kenjiro and Botan to his left, and he allowed Hiroshi and his sister and mother to sit next to him on the right. Everyone else was scattered around the middle section that the Hajima house had claimed as their own.

The theater was huge. It was the biggest and most popular theater in all the capital. Hiroshi couldn’t believe the amount of gold and jade that decorated the building as they walked in and around to their seats. They were on the bottom, but there were large private balconies over them on either side. He figured the Emperor and those sorts of people must be in them. Rich people.

There wasn’t anything wrong with the seats they were in at the moment from what Hiroshi could tell, though. They were high back comfortable chairs with thick cushions sewed into the seat under silk fabric. Hiroshi felt like a king sitting there between his mother and one of the two yokozunas.

They saw the Oyakata from the Ichimon stable when they entered, and Kenjiro purposely stayed away from the man. Botan instead moved to greet Kaisho. The man, or any of the people from that stable, didn’t make a scene or anything. Ren was the only one who even made a sneer towards any of them, which, of course, was directed at Hiroshi. The hamster ignored it and went off in the direction that led further into the theater with his mother.

The stage itself was as opulent as the rest of the theater. Massive structure just a few feet away from where Hiroshi now sat. Large curtains came down from the ceiling and he wasn’t sure what sort of fabric it was, but it looked like better material than the kimono he now wore. In the middle of the stage, was a lone man who stood there and looked over the crowd with a soft smile.

The man was short, and a little rounder than was quite normal in the midsection. Not quite like a sumotori, but he didn’t seem like the kind of man to turn down good food or drink. The man had a shaved head and wore black outer robes with gray inner. He had a chin beard and wore thick rimmed black glasses. He held his hands up to the crowd to silence them.

There were some shushes and a few more moments of quiet chatter before everyone got the message. Everyone in the theater looked up to this man, and Hiroshi heard Botan whisper.

“That’s him,” Botan almost shouted the word before he went quieter after a glare from Kenjiro. “That’s Ami, the storyteller. I can’t believe he’s here.”

Oyakata held up a hand to silence his assistant, and eventually Botan did. Hiroshi didn’t know who Ami was, or why Botan was so excited to see him, so he just concentrated on the figure on the stage.

“Welcome to the Emperor’s Theater. I am your story teller for the evening, Ami. It’s wonderful to have all the sumotori here. I saw Nishikigi and Zoichi walk in,” Ami said as he motioned towards them both.

Lights came down from the ceiling and centered on the two yokozunas sitting in the crowd, and Hiroshi gasped. The boy tried to squeeze over closer to his mother as he tried to avoid being in the spotlight as much as he could. He looked up while Nishikigi gave a wave and clapped his hands together before he bowed his hands to the man.

Hiroshi couldn’t quite figure out how or where the light was coming from. He figured it was a cultivator of some kind using aura or even mana to make the focused beam of light. The fact that he stared right up into it, though, didn’t help, and just blinded him for a moment. By the time Hiroshi was done rubbing at his eyes and looked back up, all the lights in the theater had been shut off. The only ones still lit were behind or above the stage to illuminate it.

The boy scanned the stage and found Ami had left the center of the stage and was now off to the right side, sitting on a tall stool. The man looked relaxed and happy before he spoke once more. “Now, since tomorrow, the Spring Tournament begins. Allow us here at the Emperor’s Theater to present the story of the original Sumotori; Kentaro.”

He paused once the crowd applauded. Hiroshi was right there with everyone else. He loved the story of Kentaro. The mortal sumotori turned Kami. The man saved the town Hiroshi was from. Not only that, but handled the entire sport that brought most if not all the people in the theater together for tonight.

Hiroshi sat on the edge of his seat. He had been to theater shows before, but with the occasion and being in the capital at the most noteworthy theater, they will put on an excellent show. Between the use of cultivators, and then with someone Botan was so excited to see? Hiroshi could barely contain his excitement.

“In the beginning there was a fierce war Kami known as Kenichi…” Ami’s voice grew louder than it was before as he began the story.

As he spoke, someone ran up on stage dressed in warrior’s garb. Full armor and helmet with a stylized mask that covered the lower half of his face in the shape of a dragon. Behind this man wasn’t an army like with what happened. That would be impractical. Instead, they had a few men dressed as soldiers and then more people offstage yelling and shouting.

Hiroshi blinked. Then he squinted. Was there an entire army at the man’s back on stage? He felt something he couldn’t quite grasp playing with his eyes. When his hands went up to rub at his eyes and blink, he heard Botan’s voice come from his spot a few seats over.

“They have an illusionist. A cultivator who trains in illusion. It’s very rare,” he said lowly.

Nishikigi gave a nervous chuckle from beside Hiroshi and put his hands down at the same time as Hiroshi.

“I don’t think I like that…” he said lowly. Hiroshi could only nod his head in agreement.

“Like I said, it’s very rare. They must be powerful to trick the minds of so many in such a large space…” Botan said, looking around the theater. All around people were doing much like Hiroshi and Nishikigi were. They rubbed their eyes and shook their heads in disbelief.

”Then maybe not. I don’t think they expected any cultivators to be in the audience. Just mortals like yourselves. Might not be that hard to manipulate the aura in the room,” Botan said before Ami’s voice rose once more, continuing the story.

“The Great War Kami came to the gates of a small town on an island just outside of the Empire. Kenichi had spent his time defeating lands to the east of the Empire and now it was time for him to test his mettle, but first he figured he would take care of this island,” Ami said.

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As he spoke, the actors were positioned and acted out his words. Hiroshi saw props move around as Ami set the scene as well. The walls of his hometown were set up. They floated through the air, no doubt being moved by some sort of cultivator in the background.

“You can’t come in! We shall defend our home and defeat your army!” someone shouted. The actor was dressed plain in shirt and pants standing in front of the walls of what was supposed to be the town.

”The lord of the town wanted nothing more than to protect his land and his people, but Kenichi’s army was so great he knew he didn’t stand a chance,” Ami told the story.

“Don’t worry, my lord. I shall protect the city,” another actor called and stepped out from the side of the stage. This one was a large man, hulking and barrel chested.

This drew a snort from Kenjiro, who, until now, was silent. This drew a look from those around him. Even Hiroshi looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. When Nishikigi elbowed the Oyakata and went to question him about the abrupt noise, he simply put a finger in front of his lips and shushed the yokozuna. Nishikigi gave a little chuckle and looked back up at the stage.

When Hiroshi looked back up to the stage, Kentaro and Kenichi were locked in a grapple. Around the two on stage were some people dressed in the same style as Kenichi. Full armor and war banners flew behind them. On the other side was dressed as regular people, wearing robes or pants and shirts. They were cheering for Kentaro, yelling his name and calling out words of encouragement.

The men in the middle broke apart, and Kentaro advanced towards Kenichi. His arms pushing and thrusting out. The man even got in a slap to the kami’s face before relocked in another grapple. This time, though, Kentaro had Kenichi by the belt. It only took the mortal a moment to lift the larger brutal looking kami from his feet and throw him to the ground.

The current scene once more drew a snort from the Oyakata. “It didn’t happen so fast,” he mumbled. This time, everyone ignored him. Or well, tried to. Hiroshi noticed Botan gave Kenjiro some side eye, but this was the best part, so Hiroshi focused back on the stage.

A man in all white robes and a staff walked from the left side of the stage. Kenichi’s army parted to let the man threw and advance on the kami. The new person, Hiroshi, couldn't really tell if he was supposed to look old or young. He somehow looked young, but the mustache and long eyebrows were only ever seen on seniors well past the primes of their lives. He looked like one of the old cultivation masters that sat on top of their mountains in the stories.

The man looked over at the two who just fought. Kenichi was still on the ground and looked up to the hero, Kentaro. Everyone on the stage stayed silent as he looked over the scene.

“Well, this is disappointing,” the man finally spoke.

“Father,” Kenichi said before he climbed to his feet.

This drove the mortals into action. Hearing the Kami call this man father drove everyone else to their knees prostrating themselves in front of Rei. Rei was the father of the kami. No one was exactly sure if Rei was a god or just an all powerful kami. There were stories that said both about the one the kami called father.

Rei didn’t spare a second glance at Kenichi, instead, he moved over to Kentaro and put a hand on his shoulder. “You did a great thing here today. All of these people put so much belief and hope into you.” he motioned to the mortals in front of the city walls. Not only that, but you saved them. Their hope in your was justified,” Rei said with a nod and a smile.

“Welcome,” he continued and put a hand on Kentaro’s shoulder.

There was then a bright flash from the back of the stage. It blinded the audience for a moment who struggled to clear their eyes. Hiroshi rubbed and blinked. The flash was the brightest thing he had ever seen. When he could focus in on the stage once more, he ignored the floating worms he had in his vision and scanned the stage.

There were only two people on the stage now. The old man in white robes, and Kentaro. Kentaro, though, had changed. Instead of wearing the plain drab gray heavy loincloth he had come out in, he now wore a brilliant purple mawashi. His hair that had been roughed up in the fight was once more freshly greased and the topknot in prim and proper form.

“Welcome to the family,” the old man said with a smile before he walked off the stage in the direction he had come.

Kentaro gave one last look over the audience with a broad smile on his lips. He gave a firm, confident nod and then turned to follow Rei off the stage.

Once they were both gone, the lights came up a little around the theater and the heavy curtains fell from the ceiling. Ami stood out in the middle of the stage once more and had his hands resting on his belly, and he had a soft smile on his lips above his beard.

“Thank you for coming tonight. I hope you all enjoyed the production,” he said as he looked around the room. “Good luck tomorrow to all of those competing in the tournament. May Kentaro and Rei look over you and give you the strength you need. Those of you hopeful Sumotori,” he said, and Hiroshi got the distinct feeling the storyteller looked right at him.

“You can do it. You can do what you need to do,” he said with a confident nod that matched Kentaro’s on stage just a moment before. There was what appeared to be a puff of smoke, and when it cleared, Ami was gone.

Hiroshi looked over at Nishikigi and then at Kenjiro and Botan. Nishikigi just looked like he enjoyed the story and was nodding his head. Botan looked like a kid in a candy store. Hiroshi couldn’t really believe what he was seeing. The usual gruff, rough assistant coach had the look of pure and utter glee. His wide smile and bright eyes looked over at Hiroshi.

“Can you believe we saw a story told by the famous Ami?” he asked, his smile undiminished.

Kenjiro looked sad, however. He looked longingly up at the stage and with a shake of his head, he glanced at Botan.

“He could have told the story better,” he said shortly. Kenjiro stood and looked around at all the people in his stable. “Alright then, we have to get back. It’s going to be an early morning for everyone,” he commanded.

Just like that, a switch flipped in Botan and his glee left and the normal gruff, commanding assistant coach came back out. “You heard the Oyakata, everyone up. Let’s try to get out of here quickly,” he said and climbed to his feet.

Most of the other people from the stable were already on their feet, speaking of the show in hushed tones. Most people liked it. Sumo wrestlers always liked the telling of Kentaro the first Sumotori. Botan and Kenjiro rounded everyone up and kept ushering them towards the aisle and then the exit. They paid no heed to the opposing stablemaster, or any of the others, for that matter. Everyone seemed to keep to themselves as they hurried out of the theater. It was going to be a big day tomorrow.

Hiroshi walked side by side with his mother, and Hikari was carrying Asami, who fell asleep halfway through the play. They talked a little if they liked the play and what they thought of it. When Hikari asked Hiroshi if he was excited or nervous for the following day, Hiroshi just went quiet. They walked the rest of the way in silence with only soft chatter amongst some of the other wrestlers or the clapping of their sandals against the stone walkways.

It wasn’t until everyone was inside and Ezra was going to show Hikari and Asami their room for the night before Hiroshi spoke again. He looked up at his mother, held her hand, and frowned.

“I just want to do good for papa,” he said.

Hikari melted and while she juggled Asami in her arms, she wrapped an arm up around her son. “Don’t worry, my little hamster. Your father would be proud. You’ve done well, and no matter what happens tomorrow, you can remember that,” she said before she leaned down to kiss him on the forehead.

“Right, besides. He’s the shoo-in, in my book,” Ezra said with a grin. “The boy has it in the bag as far as I’m concerned,” he continued before he started off towards the staircase. “Alright then, your room is up here on the top floor. I think the Oyakata Kenjiro has your room right next to Nishikigi, so hopefully he doesn’t snore too loudly for you.”

She gave a small laugh. “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she said as she followed him up the stairs.

Hiroshi went up with Huan and Ansei just a few minutes later. The three of them nervously stayed silent as they walked and went to bed.