Practice the next day was, to say the least, subdued. Nishikigi tried to lead the group and like a group of good sumotori they went along and did their shikos and other exercises.
“This sucks,” Yoshitaro was actually the one who broke the silence. “Oyakata is off standing in front of a bunch of people who don’t sumo and are passing judgment on him. Meanwhile, we’re in here like nothing is wrong and doing our normal routine.” He spoke in between pants so it took him a few minutes to get it all out.
“You know,” Kasike said and stomped his foot to the ground. “For once I agree with him.”
Nishikigi frowned and looked at him. “Come on, let’s move on to our practice bouts. Hiroshi and Huan, you first,” he said, trying to defuse the situation. At least if they started wrestling they’d be concentrating on something other than what was going on in their own headspace so it might stop them from worrying? Or well, he hoped.
Hiroshi nodded his head. He didn’t want to be the one to break up training or practice as Yoshitaro had. The boy was thinking it though, Hiroshi was pretty sure everyone agreed with what the large bully had said. He shook off the disrupting thoughts and entered the ring. He needed to concentrate. Huan was someone he always had a problem with when they wrestled. The boy was small and quick, built a lot like his old nemesis Ren. He was more talented than Ren was, so Hiroshi hoped all the practice again Huan would help him during the Junior Basho.
With practice bouts it wasn’t the same sort of ceremony that went on during proper tournaments. Even during the lower ranks of the professional sumo tournaments they didn’t do the ceremonies that people knew about sumo. The only reason they did it during the junior league was to imbue the sense of respect of the ceremony in the children.
Hiroshi and Huan both entered the ring at opposite points and immediately charged each other. Huan went for the belt which is what he usually did. The smaller fighter tried to grab the belt and then flip his opponent. If Hiroshi let him grab a hold of the belt, the match was probably over in Huan’s favor. This meant Hiroshi had to keep Huan away from him. His arms extended, hands darted towards Huan’s smaller form trying to knock the other boy away.
His first thrust hit Huan right on the upper breast. Hiroshi’s opponent had tried to duck below the hamster’s thrust, but he was just a hair too slow. Once the first hit struck Huan was on the back foot. He staggered back and Hiroshi didn’t relent. Hiroshi’s other hand thrusted forward, and he moved forward like a boulder to follow up his attack. It didn’t take him long until Huan was on the other side of the bales. A few of the older rikishi who watched could stop Huan from falling.
Ansei went into the ring where Hiroshi had originally come in, which was then on the opposite side of where Hiroshi was. This was how junior practice bouts went. They’d round robin a few times until they each had twice. In professional practice bouts, once someone won everyone around the same rank would rush the winner. The winner would then choose someone and pat them on the arm or shoulder and then they’d wrestle.
Ansei and Hiroshi had just charged at each other when Nishikigi yelled and pointed at the door. “Open the window. There’s a paper crane knocking on it.”
Yuto, the tallest of the rikishi, looked over to the window and nodded his head. The man was in the third division if Hiroshi remembered right. He was older, and mostly kept to himself. He had been on a win streak lately and was closer than ever to making it to the salary ranks in professional sumo. The man was the tallest in the stable and stood well over six feet tall. He went over and opened the window and let the paper crane fly in.
Everyone watched with their mouths hanging open. Hiroshi had never seen such a thing so he even let out a small squeal in fascination. The crane dive bombed into the window and flew past Yuto directly towards the head of the room. It went right towards Nishikigi and poked him in the belly before landing in the man’s open palm he held out to catch it.
Nishikigi furrowed his brow and unfolded the paper. Ansei walked over and held out the yokozuna’s thick spectacles before he had to ask. Everyone knew the man was practically blind when he wasn’t wearing them. It was a testament to his skill that he did as well as he did. Nishikigi nodded his head in thanks and looked over the paper.
“Well, don’t keep us waiting,” Yoshitaro called out.
Nishikigi lifted his head and looked over everyone with a wide grin. “It seems our master is on his way back, and we’re to have Okami-san get a feast ready.”
“The investigation must have gone well then,” Itaro said and everyone nodded their agreement.
“The note doesn’t say, but the fact Botan wants some good eats must mean it didn’t go badly,” Nishikigi said. “I’d hope,” he added a moment later.
Nishikigi’s eyes roamed the paper a little more before he looked up. “Everyone put on your kimonos. They should be here in just a few minutes.”
There was a rush of motion then. No one bothered to clean the room or even change out of their training mawashis. Instead, they just clomped up the stairs to their various rooms.
“What’s going on?” Auntie Yi yelled at all the commotion as they ran through the main room of the stable. “Is there a fire? You guys shouldn’t be done with practice yet.”
Nishikigi intercepted the woman with a smile and a bow of his head. Hiroshi didn’t get the chance to hear what the yokozuna explained to the stable-mom he just moved past the pair and up the stairs to put on a kimono. All the boy heard was a loud scoff before he entered the room that had already been opened. He Ansei and Huan all rushed to find their proper kimonos. They each slid out of their mawashis and into their kimonos wrapping them tightly and tying them.
When the carriage rolled up to the stable all the people who lived in the house were out front. Hiroshi and his fellow juniors stood at the front of the line in front of the large men. Auntie Yi stood off to the side with a small smile. As people walked around on the street, they tried to stay away from the large group of large men. They all dressed in the kimonos they were supposed to wear when they went out in public. The Sanyaku were the only ones who had varying colors and designs on their outfits. Everyone else stuck to the plain colors that denoted their rank in the sumo banzuke.
Hiroshi scratched at his chest, the rough brown robe itchy against his skin. It had been so long since he had actually left the stable. Weeks ago now since he came was the last time he went out the front gates of the house. He looked off down the street spotting the carriage and pointed it out to everyone else. The thing that really set it apart from the others that rolled up and down the street was that it was sitting lower than others. The large stablemaster weighing down the wheels. Then of course there was the crotchety driver up on the driver’s bench who yelled and lobbed insults to people who got in the way.
“Look, they’re coming!” Itaro yelled and pointed.
They all broke off from their individual conversations and looked down the road. Above all, the pedestrians walking through the road there was Ezra sitting high on the driver’s bench of the very carriage that brought Hiroshi here weeks ago. The old man spotted them and Hiroshi saw him turn his head to yell something down to the Oyakata and Botan, but of course they were still too far away to hear. When Ezra looked back, he lifted an arm and waved at the group of large men that stood out like a sore thumb in the middle of the crowd.
It was only a matter of moments before the carriage rolled up to the group and had the men moving back and away from the horse that pulled it. One of them helped settle the horse down and grabbed it before he looked up to Ezra with a nod. Before anyone else could open the door Auntie Yi stormed from the house and threw open the door to the carriage.
“You expect me to make a feast with only a few moment’s notice?” she chastised the men and crossed her arms while she scowled at them. “How am I supposed to do that? I start cooking early in the morning, and you both know that.”
Everyone stood around the Okami-san not sure how to react. If they should look away, or start laughing at the Masters’ expense.
“Okami, no,” the Oyakata raised his hands trying to placate the angry woman. He knew you should never anger the one who kept you fed.
“If you want a feast whipped up in no time, call the Chens,” she raged.
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“Don’t be mad at the Oyakata Okami-san. I’m the one who sent the note,” Botan offered and looked over the woman.
Hiroshi watched Auntie move her head to now glare at the assistant coach. “Well, you’re a good soldier falling on the sword for your master but I know who was behind this.”
She looked back and forth between the two. “We’re going to have what I’ve been working on cooking all day,” she said before she threw her arms up and stormed off back inside the walls and into the beya.
They waited until the Okami left before the group of wrestlers chuckled. Some laughed harder, some just gave nervous laughs. One an all powerful cultivator, the other a stable master and once powerful yokozuna cowered before an angry Auntie and stable mom. The men glowered at the group of wrestlers laughing at them and shook their heads.
“Let this be a lesson to you young folk. The hells have no wrath like a woman scorned,” Kenjiro offered with a meek smile.
This of course drove the sumotori into louder fits of laughter. Even the ones who were nervous before let loose. Yoshitaro especially, the large bully had to grab his stomach and let out full belly laughs. The masters climbed out of the carriage and Ezra climbed down before he looked them over.
“Well, at least you’re both still in one piece. Besides, I’m sure Auntie Yi whipped up something delicious. She always does. That woman knows how to cook,” Ezra said while he rubbed his stomach.
“Alright then, how was practice going?” Botan drove the conversation to the more important matters. He then looked up to the sky. Hiroshi looked up with him and noted it was still high, but a little past midday.
The laughing and chatter from the wrestlers died down, and they grew serious. Nishikigi stepped forward since he was the head of the house in their absence and bowed towards Botan and the Oyakata.
“Masters, practice was subdued with your absence but we went through our usual exercises and were beginning practice bouts when we got word you were on the way,” the Yokozuna explained to them. “Hiroshi had his first bout against Huan and won and was about to fight Ansei,” Nishikigi continued.
Hiroshi felt eyes wander over him while he was looking towards the ground in subjugation to his masters. The boy wasn’t sure if he should say anything so he just stayed quiet and eventually he felt the gaze leave him.
“Good, good. Alright then. Everyone back in your mawashis and back in the dojo. The basho is too close to be slacking. We’ll practice right until Okami-san tells us it’s time for family meal. You can wait till after to wash. We’ll have a little more relaxed dinner today,” Botan proclaimed before he moved past the group and towards the beya.
Nishikigi bowed his head when he saw Oyakata didn’t command anything to refute that. He didn’t have a reason to, Hiroshi thought. “Yes Master,” he said to Botan’s back.
Once everyone was back inside and in the dojo in their practice mawashis, they lined the walls outside of the ring. Oyakata was seated in his normal spot with a smile on his face and Botan was standing with the wrestlers.
“Alright then,” Kenjiro said. “You left off with Hiroshi about to fight Ansei?” he asked and looked over to Nishikigi for confirmation. The yokozuna nodded his head and replied affirmatively.
“Well then, let's go,” Oyakata said, waving his arms for them to get on with it.
Hiroshi wished they had a few moments to stretch back and ready themselves but this was practice after all. They weren’t outside that long, they should all still be limber enough from the training earlier. Now with their Oyakata watching over them there was a new charge in the room. Everyone seemed more energetic and ready to go than they had all day.
Hiroshi and Ansei both entered the practice dohyo and gave each other small bows before they charged. With both Kenjiro and Botan here now, and with the basho so close they each wanted to do well. Hiroshi’s arms went up to try to block Ansei from doing anything. One outstretched arm blocked Ansei’s initial attack, a slap to Hiroshi’s right side.
His right arm swung away pushing Ansei’s arm away from him and Hiroshi followed up with his left hand. He reached out and pushed into Ansei’s chest. Since the other boy was off balance from Hiroshi’s block it struck and Ansei stumbled back. He could recover though and crashed his larger form into Hiroshi.
Hiroshi gritted his teeth and grabbed onto his opponent’s arms stopping him from getting a hold on his belt. Ansei was normally a pusher thruster like Hiroshi was. The problem was that while Hiroshi was shorter than his fellow junior. He was larger and he had learned quicker how to throw his weight behind his thrusts. His father first taught him by watching tournaments, then Oyakata refined that knowledge in practice.
With the pair of them locked, the larger Ansei had a slight advantage. Hiroshi had more weight than his older opponent, but Ansei was taller by about a head. This gave him a slight advantage since he could lean into Hiroshi a little more than the boy could fight back.
While the two were locked in Botan circled them closely. He acted as a sort of referee during these moments, and also a coach.
“Hiroshi, you need to do something to fight back. You are heavier, but you are shorter. You must a find a way to use this to your advantage. If you want to be called a battle hamster, you must earn it!” Botan shouted.
Hiroshi’s toes curled in the clay as his mind raced not sure what to do. He could feel himself being pushed back, little by little. He grunted and groaned. From the front of the room Oyakata kept quiet. That was his way, he’d stay quiet and watch and give his thoughts after each bout if he had any. During the match, it was all Botan.
“Hiroshi!” Botan yelled.
Botan then circled around so he stood behind Ansei. “You have him, if he keeps locked up like this. The fool doesn’t know what to do,” he said.
Hiroshi didn’t see it, but he could feel the other boy nod his head in response to Botan.
“No,” Hiroshi said in response while his face was pressed into Ansei’s chest.
“No, what?” Botan called. “What are you going to do? He has you,” Botan said with one of his signature snorts.
Sure enough Hiroshi felt his back left food slide into the straw at the edge of the ring. He tried to duck down and push himself into the taller boy. Try to see if he could knock Ansei off center and knock him off his feet. Instead of what Hiroshi wanted to happen when he moved it gave Ansei the leverage he needed to finally both push Hiroshi out, and down.
Hiroshi tripped over the straw and then stumbled down into the clay with a loud thud. He grunted and climbed to his knee before he pounded the dirt with his fist and shook his head. He tried to dust some of the clay off as he climbed to his feet and saw Kenjiro call him over. Before he reached the Oyakata, he heard Ansei and Huan clash in their practice bout.
When he reached his master, he bowed to the man. “Yes, master?”
“You froze up,” Kenjiro said simply as he looked at Hiroshi.
Hiroshi panted as he tried to recover from the bout and nodded his head. “Yes master,” he replied. He couldn’t argue with the man, he froze up.
“Do you know what you should have done?” Kenjiro asked him and crossed his arms over his chest.
Hiroshi looked to the ceiling for a moment before he looked back down at the man. “I should have tried to lower myself and push into him sooner, then maybe I could have knocked him off balance. That was my plan,” Hiroshi explained.
Kenjiro moved his head from side to side a few times in thought. “That might have worked. We need to work on your up close sumo a little better. We’ve been concentrating on you keeping your distance from the start. Huan is a good opponent to practice on since he likes to be close. He’s much smaller than you though. We need you to train with…” Kenjiro trailed off a minute and frowned before he shrugged. “I’m not sure. Most of the lower ranked rikishi fight the same you do.”
Hiroshi nodded his head and then bowed at him. “Yes Master,” he said simply. He had wished for some kind of answer though. Some kind of plan to get him in shape for the tournament that was going to happen in just a few weeks.
Kenjiro looked him over once Hiroshi raised his head again and frowned. “Don’t worry. Me and Botan will figure something out. We’ll have you ready. We don’t know who else will fight in the tournament and we need to have you ready for all styles if you have a shot at winning and becoming the junior yokozuna.”
Hiroshi nodded his head and smiled softly. He had faith in the Oyakata, faith that the man would have a plan moving forward. The boy stood there for several minutes until the Oyakata finally smiled and then waved him off. Hiroshi bowed one more time and said his thanks before going to take his place along the wall next to his fellow juniors.
The match between Ansei and Huan went quickly. They were done before he was finished talking to the stablemaster. When Hiroshi asked how it went, Ansei just frowned.
“I tossed him,” Huan grinned. “He had me in the same grip he had you, but I was able to wiggle out and grab his leg then throw him.”
Hiroshi nodded his head and grinned. “Good job,” he said to his friend before the three of them went about doing individual exercises while they tried to watch the higher ranked wrestlers practice.
They did shikos, and stretches, they’d also practice their thrusting and pushing against a large wooden dummy in the dojo's corner. The other wrestlers rotated in and out while everyone did the same set of individual practice to train their bodies.