“So, tell me what happened yesterday, leading up to the incident in question,” Morimoto asked Hiroshi with a soft smile.
They were in a room Hiroshi had never been in before, the Oyakata’s office. It was a simple room that told the story of a man who didn’t come in here often. From the amount of paperwork on the desk and slid off to the side, Hiroshi figured his master wasn’t big on red tape. The notable thing Hiroshi noticed was that there wasn’t a shrine in the office to Kentaro. There wasn’t a shrine to any of the Kami.
Hiroshi gulped and stopped his inspection of the room. There wasn’t anything in it besides the desk and a chair on either side. He looked at the man from the Association. The man’s piercing gray eyes seemed to go right through the young sumotori.
“Well….” Hiroshi started, unsure of what the man wanted to hear exactly. Surely he already knew what had happened?
Morimoto smiled and picked up a pen and wrote on a piece of paper when Hiroshi spoke. Hiroshi watched the man blink expectantly. They stayed like this for several long moments before Morimoto set his pen down on the desk and steepled his fingers.
“Hiroshi, I’ve already spoken to everyone else and other people at Oyakata Kaisho’s stable. I’ve gotten the full story of what has happened,” Morimoto explained.
Hiroshi nodded along and listened to the man. “Yes sir,” he said and bowed his head softly.
“So there’s really nothing you can add if you’re trying to defend your master. It's an admirable thing, but it’s unneeded,” the investigator continued.
Hiroshi stared at the man. Then why are you even asking me? I haven’t been here that long. You have the story.
Not that he would say the things that popped into his head. Instead, he just gave Morimoto another stupid soft bob of his head and said, “yes sir.”
This seemed to appease the investigator, and he once more picked up his pen and set it to paper. He then stared at Hiroshi expectantly.
“Well, Oyakata Kaisho was talking about how Zoishi beat Nishikigi,” Hiroshi told the story. He didn’t get to go much further than that before Morimoto interrupted him.
“And how was Oyakata Kaisho?” the investigator asked.
Hiroshi blinked. “Uh…. How was he, sir?”
Morimoto nodded his head. “Yes Hiroshi. How was the Oyakata? Was he pleasant about it? Was he joking with your master?”
Hiroshi thought, and his face scrunched up before he nodded his head. “He was kind of mean about it. Like, he was joking…but… OH!” Hiroshi’s eyes opened wide and he went into the story. “He brought up Nishikigi’s story about how he came from a burnt down town. After that…” Hiroshi trailed off telling the story and looked past Morimoto as he remembered the brutality of watching Kenjiro charge and beat Kaisho.
The investigator nodded his head and took a few notes, but he only scribbled his pen for what seemed like a sentence or two. Hiroshi snapped out of the daze he was in and found Morimoto with a soft smile looking at him.
“Alright then. Thank you very much, Hiroshi. It’s probably about your turn to wash,” Morimoto said to the boy.
Hiroshi took the dismissal and stood, giving the man a shallow bow. “Thank you sir,” he said before he turned and left the office, relieved it was over.
As he walked through the house on his way back to the bathroom, he noticed the shadow of someone leering at him. The person was standing in one of the bedrooms with the lights turned off and the door mostly shut. Hiroshi narrowed his eyes at the large man trying to hide himself.
“You better not have said anything to get Oyakata in trouble,” the voice, who sounded a lot like Yoshitaro, said. He had malice in his voice, and he sounded like he was trying to sound like a bad guy from some ancient fable. Lowered his voice and made it rougher.
Hiroshi went slack jawed, and he stumbled for an answer. “What… I… never!”
“Yoshi, go wait for dinner. Aren’t you supposed to be helping?” Itaro called out as he came down the hallway.
The door slid open the rest of the way as quick as the rollers could handle and he glared at Itaro. “You can’t tell me what to do,” Yoshitaro defiantly called and looked down at the smaller rikishi.
Itaro looked at Hiroshi and rolled his eyes while the large man advanced on the young hamster. Hiroshi looked up and felt the finger point into his chest. “I’m serious,” Yoshitaro said to the boy.
“Our master can get in a lot of trouble, and if he does, it will be because you squealed on him. No one else said anything,” he continued.
“Scram or else we’re going to tangle in the dohyo tomorrow and you’ll end up flat on your back like you normally do,” Itaro came to the defense of his junior. It was true. Itaro, while small, won a lot more often versus the larger Yoshitaro.
Yoshitaro glared at Itaro, but eventually he rolled his eyes and walked away from the pair of them. Hiroshi grunted and was bumped into a wall from Yoshi’s shoulder shove as the larger man walked away from him. The rikishi didn’t say anything else to the pair of them and only a moment later he was gone in the main room where everyone ate.
Hiroshi watched him walk away and shook his head.
“Alright, go wash up. Me and your other juniors will cover for you and fix up the table and stuff for dinner.” Itaro gave Hiroshi a nod and then headed off to his duties.
Hiroshi could get cleaned up quickly and return to the main room in fresh clothing. He was wearing the usual loose-fitting shirt and short pants everyone wore when they were just lounging around the stable after practice. When he entered, he saw the Oyakata, Botan, and Nishikigi were already eating their dinner. The three of them looked at him, and Botan gave the boy a glare when he walked in late.
Hiroshi felt everyone else’s eyes on him as he went through the room towards the three at the head of the long table. He tried to ignore the feeling and the snickers as he bowed towards the elders and seniors in the stable.
“I’m sorry for being tardy, Oyakata, Botan, senior. The representative from the Sumo Association pulled me in to question me before I could wash up. So I washed up after and then came to the family meal,” Hiroshi explained and gave a deep bow.
Nishikigi looked up from his dinner and just gave the boy a small smile and a nod. Botan just glared and Kenjiro looked at him and gave him one of those smiles that didn’t quite reach his eyes. The smile that he was giving all too often recently. It hurt Hiroshi to see his master like this. So far from the caring lover of sumo and trainer.
Oyakata nodded his head and waved Hiroshi away. “Yes, it’s fine. Go with your fellow juniors. In fact…” the master paused and looked at everyone else still standing waiting to be called to sit for dinner. “Everyone, just come and sit. Let us eat,” he ordered.
Hiroshi bowed once more, a little lower to his master. “Thank you Oyakata,” he said before he turned and went over to his normal seat between Ansei and Itaro, with Huan across from him.
Dinner seemed to be a simple affair, as the elders of the stable were busy with everything else. Simple steamed rice, a large bowl of the chanko stew which was the cornerstone of their diets, and then only some roasted pork and duck. It was still good, of course, heavy with garlic and green onion. The chanko was pretty standard fare, and Ansei wouldn’t shut up about the orange glaze he made himself for the duck. It was good, but the way he went on about it, you’d think it was the first time there was orange sauce on the bird.
After dinner, Hiroshi was helping clean up the room while some others cleaned the dishes. He and Huan were just putting the tables away, pushing them against the wall when Nishikigi walked towards them both.
“Hiroshi, can I have a moment?” he spoke to the boy.
While the yokozuna asked for a moment, it’s not like Hiroshi could turn the man down. Hiroshi instantly walked away from Huan and bowed towards his senior. “Yes, senior, what can I do for you?”
“Well, as you know, there is a lot going right now with Oyakata and Master Botan,” Nishikigi started.
“Yes,” Hiroshi said quickly with another bow.
Nishikigi held up his hand to stop the boy and smiled softly. “Still, it was important to me that I spoke to them about your wood carving.”
Hiroshi got wide eyed and bowed once more. “Thank you, sir,” he said.
“Well, they obviously can’t replace what is broken. You’ve already worked on it. Botan gave me this for you though, however,” he dug through the pockets in his kimono and pulled a sizeable chunk of wood out and held it out towards his junior.
“Botan said this will be harder to carve than the wood the other one was, but it’ll be stronger. Easier to put in more intricate details. He said it was pinewood,” Nishikigi gave a small chuckle. “I think? I’m not sure. I don’t know about wood.” He said with another small laugh.
Hiroshi looked up at Nishikigi, his eyes growing wide. “Botan gave you this?”
“Yes, to give to you. I told you, we don’t allow bullying. Yoshitaro will also be disciplined.” Nishikigi got serious when he said this and looked right into Hiroshi’s eyes.
Hiroshi finally took the wood block from the yokozuna and looked it over. He inspected it and gave a small gasp when he realized it was in fact pine. The wood was rare to this far north in the empire. As far as he knew, the wood was rare to the entire Empire and in order to get it, you had to import it from a continent to the west.
“Would it be possible to speak with Botan? To thank him? Is he busy? Do you know?” Hiroshi looked up at his senior hopefully.
Nishikigi smiled and nodded his head. “You were in Oyakata’s office earlier, right? It’s in the room just across from that one. If the door is closed, make sure you knock and don’t go in until he says you’re allowed.”
The hamster nodded his head and bowed once more to the yokozuna. “Thank you, Nishikigi,” he said before he left the room. He was hoping the others wouldn’t mind that he left, but he was going to see one of the stable elders, so he assumed it’d be fine? They were almost done anyway, so whatever.
“Come in,” the gruff voice came as soon as Hiroshi was finished knocking on the door.
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Hiroshi steeled his resolve and slid the door open just before Botan yelled again. Hiroshi saw the gruff-looking cultivator sitting at his desk with a pen in his hand over a piece of parchment writing something.
“Oh, Hiroshi. What can I do for you?” the assistant coach asked a bit off, seeing it was Hiroshi who came to see him.
Hiroshi looked at the man with all the sincerity he could muster and bowed deeply. When he lifted his head back up, he saw Botan staring at him with a cocked brow. The assistant coach’s office looked a lot like the Oyakata’s office. Plain wooden walls with no decoration. The only real notable differences were that Botan had a carpet on the floor covering the plain wood floor and that Botan had a shrine to one of the kami.
The shrine was situated to the back and to the left of Botan and while Botan spoke, Hiroshi tried to focus in and see any details he could. It was a rather elaborate shrine for something indoors. The whole shrine was like a fountain. In between the primary structure, of the shrine itself was a small pot that overflowed and poured water into a little bowl that the shrine was built over. The markings in the shrine and then, of course, the pond the fountain was designed to emulate said it was for Enyo, Kami of the seas and storms, or simply the water kami. So that was Botan’s element.
Hiroshi knew the cultivators cultivated a specific element in the world. That was the source of their power. Hiroshi had heard that Botan was a cultivator of some power before and from what the boy knew about cultivators, he knew the man could produce some devastating water attacks. Though, Hiroshi thought, water seemed a little odd for a man like Botan. Botan was gruff and rough. Nothing at all like the tranquil little fountain that sat behind him for the shrine. Though, it’s not like Hiroshi knew anything about cultivation besides the most broad knowledge, so maybe it made perfect sense. The boy shook the thought away when he heard Botan speak.
“Alright. So, what can I do for you?” He once more asked, a bit of annoyance sneaking into his voice.
“Sir, I’d just like to thank you for the pine block you had Nishikigi give me. I know it’s rare for this continent to have that kind of wood. It’s supposed to be amazing to work with, so thank you,” Hiroshi said and held the block of wood in front of him.
“It’s no problem. We have many connections with artisans. Nishikigi told me and Oyakata Kenjiro what happened last night right after dinner, so I asked around to find you a replacement. We are very sorry for what happened and that your original piece was damaged. I showed the man I got the pine from what you were working on and he commended your work for you being so young.” Botan paused, not sure what to say. “So, uh, good job,” he said with a nod.
“Thank you, Master,” Hiroshi said once more with another bow. “I will do good work with this one, and spend all my free time working on it to get it ready before the tournament, so I can have it ready to give to my mother.”
Botan nodded his head and tilted his head at the boy before asking. “Do you think your mother will be able to come? It’s a long journey here from Kokokan. Expensive and you have your little sister she’d have to bring, no?”
“I am hoping, Master. Mother has always been resourceful, and the neighborhood knows I’m here, I’m sure. They’re all fans of Sumo where I come from. Hopefully she’ll work something out and be able to come watch me win,” Hiroshi stated confidently.
Botan just smirked before he gave a small snort. It wasn’t his usual snort, though. Normally, they were full of malice and sarcasm. This, though, Hiroshi wasn’t sure, it seemed different. Friendlier somehow. Not like a judgemental master doubting a disciple, but as a friend giving his friend a hard time in jest. “You are so confident that you will win?”
Hiroshi smiled a toothy grin and nodded his head. “I am. I have a cultivator as a trainer and the greatest yokozuna that ever entered the dohyo as my Oyakata. I have no doubt I’m learning the best techniques and the best ways to win.
Botan grinned and nodded his head. “You have a rather strong training program and your sumo has come a long way since you’ve joined us. I’m sure your confidence will help you come tournament time.”
“Thank you, Master, it’s getting to be so close. Hopefully, I can make you, Oyakata, and my family proud,” Hiroshi said.
“... and your father,” Botan muttered.
Hiroshi looked to the ground and nodded his head. “Yes sir,” he whispered. That was one thing he tried the entire time he had been here not to think about. Those things Botan said to him when he first came to the stable. When he was first trying to gain entrance into this house of sumotori.
“Hiroshi, I knew your father. Everyone who was anyone in the sumo world did,” Botan started.
Hiroshi couldn’t look at Botan. He kept his face pointed at the carpeted floor of the assistant coach’s office. His eyes glassed over and the blood rushed to the boy's ears.
“He wasn’t a well-liked man, but he was a lover of sumo. We all knew that. He just….” Botan stopped suddenly when he saw how the disciple was acting and sighed. “Hiroshi, I’m sorry for what I said outside of the stable the night you came here about your father. It wasn’t something I should have brought up.”
Hiroshi couldn’t do anything but nod his head. He could barely hear the man over the blood pulsing in his ears. A sigh came next from Botan and Hiroshi stole a glance upwards while his head was still facing the ground. He saw Botan shaking his head and slumping back in his seat.
“Just don’t let what I said bother you. You are welcome for the wood, you may go,” Botan said and shook his head before he once more picked up his pen and went to his paperwork.
Not forgetting his place, Hiroshi bowed and mumbled a thanks before he left the office and closed the door behind him.
The next morning before practice after the juniors had finished setting up the dohyo, the rest of the wrestlers in the house came into the practice room. The boys did their bowing and said good morning to everyone and everyone said morning pleasantries. Nishikigi was the last to enter the room before the house masters came in. Oyakata Kenjiro followed closely by Botan.
When those two men entered, everyone bowed towards them. As expected, the two men didn’t respond to the bowing and just went to their normal places. The Oyakata went and sat on a pillow at his place that overlooked the dohyo and Botan took his position off to the side. Without warning, and without either of the men saying anything, a third man entered the room. The investigator from the SSA, Morimoto. He wore the same uniformed robes he wore before and looked as stern as ever.
“Today we have a guest watching practice,” Botan called out through the room. “Morimoto will be staying here and visiting the beya for the foreseeable future. We have given him one of the rooms on the top floor. Normal rules apply for visiting the sekitori and sanyaku floors. We will extend every privilege, and Morimoto will have guest rights when staying here.”
Everyone watched Botan while he spoke and gave them direction on the official new guest of the stable. They said their “yes sir,” and bowed to him.
“That said,” Morimoto started. “It will be best if you pretend like I’m not here. I’m not here to ruin or upset your daily lives and practice. You are one of the star stables, and the Emperor has always been a fan of your Oyakata. Botan has always had a special place in the Empire as well.” He said with a nod to the cultivator. “I’m just here to observe and report,” Morimoto finished before moving to a corner behind the Oyakata to stand and watch.
Kenjiro looked back at the Investigator and gave him a nod before he looked over at Botan and then nodded at him as well.
“Alright then, you guys know what to do. What are you waiting for?” Botan called to the wrestlers from his place. As one, everyone in the room spread their legs and began doing their shikos before he finished giving the command.
The rest of the time spent in the practice area was a normal day. They did exercises, they pushed and shoved each other and had practice bouts. The only thing that wasn’t normal was Morimoto standing there. He stayed in the corner mostly. Every so often he’d take out some paper and a pencil and write himself some notes, but he never said anything.
The Oyakata never left his normal spot. He sat and watched the practice bouts and exercises. If someone walked up to him, he’d offer advice. If he had something to say to someone, he’d call them over and they bow and take whatever Kenjiro said to them and nod understandingly. Hiroshi noticed the man seemed more reserved than normal, though. He would often laugh and joke with the disciples while he told them things they could do better. Whenever he was done speaking with a disciple, he’d look back to the investigator, who just smiled and nodded a hello.
Botan, though, was the exact same. Investigator or not, he walked around the practice ring yelling and got in and gave recommendations on form and movement. If someone didn’t lift their leg high enough during their shiko, he’d move to them and hold their leg up and give a scolding. If they didn’t get low enough during their splits and when they bent forward, he would do the same thing.
Before practice officially ended the Oyakata stood and waved everyone in. If the people weren’t in a bout, or trying to do a bout, they were doing pushups or using free weights off to the sides.
“Come on, come on, gather around,” he called. Botan circled and made sure everyone got close to the stable master.
“As you may know, today marks three weeks from the next tournament,” Kenjiro began with a soft smile. “You have all been doing well. Those of you who have been working harder are showing improvement. I’m hopeful you will all do well in the upcoming basho.” Kenjiro then looked down to Hiroshi and two fellow juniors and smiled a little more.
“Then there’s you three,” he gave a firm nod. “You have progressed well for as young as you are. There are still some peculiarities in your forms and attacks, but you do well. I have no doubt one of you three will win the junior yokozuna title in the junior tournament.”
Hiroshi noticed his master was staring at him when he said this and his hopes soared. Not only that, though, his anxiety also skyrocketed. He gave a determined nod as he listened though. If his master thought he could do it, then surely he could. He could not doubt what was the greatest Yokozuna of all time.
“I hear the emperor is especially intrigued with the junior division since he’s so young himself. So I would imagine he will be watching the matches,” he continued, speaking to the stable.
The three juniors gasped. Even some of the lower ranked rikishi gasped.
“It is a great honor to be watched by the glorious emperor,” Botan said. “He is a big fan of sumo and the reason why it is still around.”
Kenjiro nodded his head, agreeing with his assistant coach. “He is young. It’s not widely known, but the Emperor is still… well… a child. He’s not seen much and many people think it’s still his father running the empire. It’s a bit of an open secret to the people who matter in the different prefectures. His father is sick though and has given up control. He is still around advising, but I hear he hasn’t left his bed much in the last year. His time may be coming near.”
There was a collective gasp at the news from the lower rikishi. The Sanyaku members stayed silent. They were respected enough and high enough in the hierarchy to know this information already. One thing Hiroshi noticed, though, was that Morimoto seemed to push himself away from the wall. The investigator narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms as he watched the Oyakata and Botan. The boy watched him carefully, wondering if the man would say anything. He didn’t though, just gave the Oyakata a grumpy look before he leaned back against the wall. Only a moment later, he took out his little pad of paper and wrote a few lines on it before he put the paper away. Hiroshi blinked and then looked back at Kenjiro.
“Go ahead now, go wash and we’ll have our meal before you guys get your nap in and have free time,” Oyakata then commanded.
Everyone bowed towards him and said their thanks before they left the practice room and went about doing as the Oyakata said. They cleaned, ate, and then had their free time. Hiroshi spent every free moment in the next and worked on the pine Botan gave him. Huan and Ansei left him alone, so he’d be able to concentrate on making the wood carving for his mother. They even covered for him a time or two on house chores. He thanked them profusely when they did this and they just told him to make sure he got the present done.
It came a few days after that first day with Morimoto watching them and staying in the house. Yoshitaro was held back after practice, and the rest of the wrestlers could hear Botan scold the man. Hiroshi had wondered if they were going to do anything for the stable bully. In the end, it turned out Yoshitaro got scolded and had to do Hiroshi’s chores for a week, which further helped him get caught up on the wood carving.
“It wouldn’t be anything too bad,” Itaro had told him one day when Hiroshi was asking him if Yoshitaro would actually get punished. “It was a jerk thing to do, but it wasn’t violent. The SSA only really comes after violence in the stables, and peer pressure.”
“Peer pressure?” Hiroshi asked.
“Yeah, like if Yoshitaro pressured you to drink, or leave the stable without a more senior disciple. Since you’re so young, you’re not allowed to do those things,” Itaro explained. “Then he could face whipping, suspension, or even get kicked from the beya entirely.”
Hiroshi looked wide eyed and nodded his head in understanding. He kind of wished Yoshitaro had just punched him then. “Wait, if the council is so strict against violence, then what about…” He couldn’t finish the question and Itaro’s look softened and he shrugged.
“I don’t know Hiroshi, I don’t know,” he answered the hamster simply. “Probably why the man is here from the SSA. To figure out if it’s a normal thing here or if it was just a onetime out-of-pocket freak thing.”
Hiroshi nodded his head.
About a week after the first day with Morimoto watching after practice, Kenjiro once more called everyone to gather around him so he could speak to them once more.
“Well, tomorrow, myself, Botan, and Morimoto will be absent. Nishikigi will lead you during practice and take leadership of the beya while we are gone,” Kenjiro looked over everyone while he spoke.
No one dared asked the question. It was weird for him to not be there. For him to spend any amount of time outside of the stable unless he was going to recruit was odd. This close to the next basho, though, there was no way that was what he was going to be doing. It was too crucial a time.
Oyakata nodded his head. “I know what you all are wondering. I am going to stand in front of the Sumo Association. Mr. Morimoto has been speaking with the elders the whole time and reported his findings. Tomorrow I will stand in front of those elders and they will dole out the punishment for me striking Oyakata Kaisho.” He gave a grim smile. “Now, wash and prepare dinner.”