The next morning the wrestlers of the Hajima stable in their back area. Either standing or sitting around in their respective little areas. Some of the higher ranked rikishi like Nishikigi or Udo had girls rubbing their muscles as they laid on these tables with a hole near the top. Botan and Kenjiro stood in the middle of the room and looked around at their wrestlers.

Hiroshi listened to them groan in pleasure as his hairdresser stood behind him. He was an older man who wore thick-rimmed glasses and seemed very proper with everything he did. The man was known as a Tokoyama, a professional hairdresser. The tokoyamas prepared the hair for sumo wrestlers and also the actors in the theater. This man could have done the hair of the people in the show they watched before the tournament started. They had their own ranks and everything just like sumo wrestlers did.

While Hiroshi had been young, he had always planned on becoming a sumo wrestler, or trying to. This was why his hair was already long enough to put in the topknot. Unlike Ren, and his fellow juniors here at the stable who just had long hair slicked back with grease. He had a towel over his upper body and sat on his stool already in his mawashi. His mother and sister had stopped in, and they spoke for a few minutes before they left to find their spots in the stands.

The only person Hiroshi kind of wanted to see, and was nowhere to be found was that girl from the rice stand. It made sense she wasn’t there; he thought to himself. They only had the tickets for the one day thanks to the generosity of Nishikigi and Kenjiro. Hiroshi sighed a little and shook the thoughts of the girl away. He had only met her the two times and honestly she seemed a little.. Hiroshi thought of the word. Much? Yes.

“You three did well yesterday, so you’re towards the end of the first matches,” Oyakata looked towards the three juniors.

Hiroshi was the last to get his hair done since he took the longest so the other two just sat there in their stools. The three in a row while Kenjiro and Botan looked down to them. Kenjiro had his hands on his hips with his gut poking out towards them a smile across his features. Botan looked like he always did, grumpy. His arms hung at his sides, a slight look of disapproval of anything that came before him.

The three looked up to their masters and gave their nods of bowing while they replied ‘yes master’ in unison.

“The good news is everyone lost a match yesterday and there isn’t anyone undefeated,” Ezra said as he walked from the tunnel that led out to the arena and the dohyo. “So the three of you are all in good spots.”

Kenjiro nodded his head and Botan left to go prepare the lower ranked professionals. He never seemed as interested as Kenjiro was in the juniors. It was always more of a pet project it seemed for the Oyakata. Just like back when Kenjiro first came to Hiroshi’s house. The interest in younger possible sumotori was dwindling, and they were getting less and less recruits every year. So he took a personal interest in finding and recruiting the ones who were interested.

The hairdresser had finished with Hiroshi’s hair then and had it tied in the small topknot on his skull and patted the boy on the shoulder. He took a moment to turn towards the older man and bowed his head and gave his thanks.

Ezra leaned up against the wall and folded his arms against his chest as Kenjiro moved in towards the juniors.

“You guys are doing great. Hiroshi, you’d be undefeated if you hadn’t been henkad yesterday. Sometimes you just can’t work around that. It’s not a good look…” Kenjiro had hyped the three up but was interrupted by Ezra.

“It’s a dirty lousy trick of a move and shouldn’t be allowed,” the old man called. “Even more so in the junior division, and by the junior yokozuna.” He said then spit on the ground. “Despicable.”

Kenjiro looked over at Ezra and frowned before he narrowed his eyes. “Agreed, but clean that up,” there was no friendliness in his tone. The comforting father figure getting his troops ready for the match was gone as he grew in seriousness.

Hiroshi understood. That was, well, it was kind of icky. This might not be the dohyo, but the arena was considered sacred. Ezra’s eyes got a little wide, and he looked towards the ground then at the Oyakata and he gave a nod.

“Aye, sorry. It’s just a dirty trick,” he said as he wandered off to go find a towel.

Kenjiro nodded his head. “Yes it is,” he said before he looked back at the three boys. “Experience in seeing that henkas will come with time, but sometimes they just happen. They’re hard to defend against and everyone falls to them. It’s more telling that he used it against you than that you fell for it.”

Ezra grunted and groaned as he bent over and cleaned his mess which drew Hiroshi’s attention to him. The man even got some spray cleaner to wipe up and disinfect his spit. When Ezra stood he slung the towel over his shoulder and smiled at Hiroshi.

“I’ll go check where we’re at in the lineup,” Ezra had said just as the singing rang through the hallways.

“HIROSHIIIIIIIIIIIIII” the ring attendant sang in tune. He must have been singing louder than they normally did to ring through the hallways.

Everyone’s eyes grew wide when they heard the call.

Ezra was the first to act, and he pushed himself off of the wall. “Ah shit, c’mon boy. Let's get you out there. They’re calling so loud because you aren’t out there.”

Kenjiro frowned and looked at Ezra as he now put his arms across his chest. The large man stared daggers at the old man. Ezra looked at him and gave a nervous smile as he ushered Hiroshi out of his seat.

Hiroshi moved before he was prompted by anyone and had already jumped off his stool. The towel he still wore, so he didn’t get any grease or anything on him from having his hair done was thrown on the stool and he quickly made his way for Ezra.

“Sorry Oyakata, I had to clean and…. Oi,” he muttered as he put a hand on Hiroshi’s back and escorted him quickly from the backroom.

“Oyakata is gonna have my ass,” he mumbled which Hiroshi just shrugged.

“It’ll be fine, I’m here in time,” was the last thing the boy said before he made his way to the dohyo. He stopped and look up at the shrine and give a small bow before he went the rest of the way and climbed up into the dohyo.

His opponent was already there and Hiroshi wasn’t even sure who it was. He had never got his usual run down from Ezra or the Oyakata. Everything seemed so out of order and chaotic this morning and he wasn’t sure why. Hiroshi shook the feelings away when he stepped inside the small ring on the dohyo and gave his bow towards his opponent.

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Hiroshi forgot about everything else from this morning as he went into the pre–bout ritual. He focused on calling to Rei and Kentaro when he lifted his arms. A moment taken as he thought about how far his shikos had come since he started training with Hajima stable. He could practically get his leg straight up now before he slammed his foot onto the clay ring.

When they met each other in the middle Hiroshi narrowed his gaze on the other boy and crouched down while he pushed one hand to the ground. The boy was a little smaller than Hiroshi, but he was taller. He was going to have the reach advantage in the fight. He must also be brand new to all of this, his hair was black and shaved into a buzz cut.

They both hit the ground with their second fists at the same time and shot towards each other. Hiroshi’s arms both shot forward and he went low. He was attempting to go under his taller opponent while at the same time being able to connect with him to knock him back and hopefully off balance.

Hiroshi felt a palm strike against his upper shoulder and he grunted. Thanks to his being heavier and having a hard push off, he could go underneath the thrust. His own right hand came up and thrusted into the taller boy’s chest. He lost a little of his momentum since he got struck but thankfully, since it was a glancing blow he could still get most of his weight behind the thrust. The gerbil’s plan worked, and the boy stumbled back half a step. The taller boy's other arm came down to defend but Hiroshi’s left hand already thrusted towards his chest.

The match didn’t last long. Hiroshi’s style and weight advantage cemented the win early on. He followed the first thrust by a quick second and then a third. He was relentless with the pushes until his opponent’s foot stepped on the side of the straw that marked the ring. The call from the gyoji barely registered as Hiroshi went back to his side of the ring and finally took the judge in.

It was the same judge as yesterday he realized. The same one who called out his loss when he was cheated out of a win against the yokozuna. Well, not cheated but. Hiroshi sighed with the thought and shook away the bitterness. He had just won this match, and he should be happy about that. He crouched down and gave a swipe of his hand before he stood and walked off the dohyo and towards the back after he gave his bow to the shrine.

When he reached the mouth of the tunnel Ezra was standing there waiting for him. A grin and nod greeted Hiroshi as they walked back to the back together.

“Good,” Kenjiro said. “Good job.”

Hiroshi nodded his head and gave his thanks for the compliment as he went to sit in his stool and towel off some of the sweat he worked up in the match. It was short, but he tried to go quicker than he was used to so he could close the gap of the reach advantage the other boy had.

The rest of the morning was mostly in silence. Unfortunately, Huan and Ansei both lost their matches which probably put them out of the running for winning the title of the junior yokozuna. They didn’t seem down about it though. They were both old enough and skilled enough to get into professional sumo if they chose. The Oyakata had told them they’d always have a home there in the Hajima stable as well.

They both seemed relieved at the news and went back to their seats with what seemed like a load off their shoulders. They each had their own reasons for getting into sumo, and coming to this stable specifically so it was nice to know they’d be able to stay despite not winning the junior tournament. Oyakata and the stable would take them in properly before the next tournament and they’d be full rikishi, if at the bottom of the ranks.

Since Hiroshi was now higher in the standings than the other two, they ended up having to go back out and wrestle before him. He watched their matches next to Ezra at the opening of the hallway. He wore his kimono over his mawashi and even had a moment to sneak up to say hello to his mother and sister. It was quick, only for a moment. Long enough to say hello and give them each a small hug and receive a kiss on his cheek from his mother.

He got back down just before Huan walked towards where Ezra was waiting for them. Huan was grinning from the match as it seemed like he bounced back from the last loss he took. He won this one, and quickly. He looked at Hiroshi as the three of them stood in the hall's mouth though.

“I heard them talking as I was leaving. You’re going against Ren,” Huan told Hiroshi as his grin faded.

Hiroshi frowned and sighed. “Yeah, that figures,” he said and shook his head.

The three turned and walked towards their little room. “You’re the match after next,” Huan continued and looked up at Ezra for a moment. “You know, so you don’t get in trouble again.

Ezra glowered and seemed like he was holding back a comment that probably wasn’t appropriate for the younger audience. “Yeah, yeah,” is what he finally settled on.

Huan lowered his head and held back a chuckle but Hiroshi just kept focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. Of course it was Ren. He beat Ren three months ago now to win his ticket into this tournament and get noticed by Oyakata Kenjiro. Ren could come because he had won a previous tournament. It only made sense that the two junior sumotori from the home of sumo met in the tournament that would decide the junior yokozuna.

Hiroshi looked up and saw that they were about to their area behind the scenes in the depths of the arena and sighed. He shook his head and turned toward the arena floor. There wasn’t any point in getting comfortable just for him to get up as they yelled his name once more for him to go rushing back to the arena like he had to do for his last match.

He stood at the mouth by himself and watched the ongoing match. It was between the yokozuna and his other opponent from yesterday.

“You’ve beaten him before. You really don’t have any reason to worry.”

The voice brought Hiroshi from the daze he was in as he watched. The voice wasn't the one he was expecting. Well, he wasn’t really expecting anyone, but this was the last person he ever expected. The boy looked up to see Botan’s glowering face.

The old cultivator wasn’t even looking at Hiroshi. He just stood there in his dark robes with his arms folded across his chest and looked out towards the ongoing match.

“I watched him when they visited us. The boy is fine as a sumo wrestler. He will probably become a sekitori, maybe make the top division even,” Botan said before he finally looked down at Hiroshi.

Hiroshi wasn’t sure what to say so the boy just looked up at his master and nodded his head.

“You have spirit. There is soul in your sumo. I saw it even in your last match against that taller kid…”

“You,” Hiroshi had interrupted but then paused.

“Of course. I watch all the matches. It’s my job. Your fight was straightforward, but you can tell. I watch people when they do the opening rituals. A lot of the older wrestlers, even Nishikigi. They don't think about the movements they are doing. They don’t actually reach out to the Heaven’s for help in their match. They just do the movements because it’s expected of them,” Botan said before he lowered his head and dropped his head.

“Hiroshi, if you weren’t trying to do sumo, I could see you becoming a cultivator. You have dedication, and spirit,” he said a moment later.

In the distance they could hear the boy call out Hiroshi’s name in that song again. Hiroshi looked out towards the dohyo and saw the boy in the yellow and black garb. He held the classic fan up and sang with all of his heart. When Hiroshi looked back to where Botan stood, he saw the place empty. The man had gone back to their area. Ezra was there though now, he must have walked up when they were speaking.

“Come on, give me your kimono. You better get up there. You ready?” Ezra asked him

Hiroshi nodded his head with confidence he wasn’t sure he felt until he spoke with Botan. “I am,” he said simply and took off the kimono before he handed it over.