Chereads / The Tales of Madness / Chapter 9 - Vol One: Day One

Chapter 9 - Vol One: Day One

Hiroshi groaned and his hand came up to rub at his face. At some point in the middle of the night, he had laid down on the hardwood floor, neck crammed in the room's corner. His hand came to his eyes, and he rubbed them softly and he wished the light wasn't pouring directly in on him. 

Wait. 

It's light out already?

 Oh no.

He didn't want to open his eyes. Hiroshi wanted it to be a dream. He let his eyes open slowly and sure enough, the sun had not only risen, but judging from where the sun was, it was not only morning, it was late morning. He scrambled to his feet and saw that the other juniors were already gone. Their corners of the room were neat and tidy, and their bedrolls were put away. Hiroshi rushed and got changed back into his mawashi. Where did they even train at? 

The boy ran out of the room and downstairs in a huff, frantic. He still wasn't sure what to do or where to go until he came into the main common room. Ezra was sitting there on the couch in the sunken living room, flipping through a newspaper and sipping on tea. In the rush of Hiroshi's movements, he wasn't exactly quiet so Ezra was staring at the small round boy when he came in. 

"Downstairs," Ezra said and shook his head, disappointment in his voice was clear. 

Hiroshi stared at the old man, wondering what exactly he did around the beya if anything. He had always assumed his master had just hired him for the trip to Hiroshi's home. He bowed his head to the old carriage driver and gave his thanks before running off down another flight of stairs. In his rush, he didn't hear the sounds of training. The stomping of feet, or crashing of flesh on flesh as the sumotori did practice bouts. 

He reached the bottom of the stairs and gasped. It was everything he thought it would be. A practice clay dohyo, weights sitting around, and about a dozen rikishi. Two of them were in the ring, one held a defensive stance while one charged and pushed him across the ring. The one defending would then take the pusher and twirl him over onto his back. The wrestler would then roll and climb back to his feet. 

Unfortunately, that was all Hiroshi could see until the man with the topknot appeared, blocking his view. The scold was deeply etched in Botan's face and he shook his head. 

"Pleasure you could join us, Hiroshi," he boomed, his voice booming off the walls in the dojo. His absence from paying attention to the training and then his outburst caused the wrestlers to pause the various things they were doing and look over at the doorway. They looked past their assistant coach to find Hiroshi's small round form standing there, eyes and mouth open wide. 

"I.. uh…." Hiroshi paused, unsure what to say. "Thank you, sir," he finally stammered. His cheeks and face were flushing a bright red. He bowed deep to Botan. 

"You and the other junior disciples should have been down here first, preparing the practice ring. We started late this morning because some of your betters had to help," Botan continued to scold. 

Hiroshi just looked up to him. "I…." He stumbled. Hiroshi wasn't sure what to say or how to explain what had happened. "I didn't know when I was supposed to get up," he pleaded as he looked past Botan and found the two smallest people in the dojo who he supposed were the other junior disciples. 

Botan just glared down at the boy. 

"I overslept, Master, I am sorry. It will not happen again," Hiroshi finally said, giving the teacher a deep bow. 

Hiroshi heard another of those snorts while he was bowed down and then he saw Botan's feet move and walk away. When the hopeful rikishi lifted his head, he could get his first unobstructed view of the training area. There was a group of about twelve other rikishi who weren't currently doing the defender / and pusher practice known as butsukari. They were doing their own training while they watched. Either lifting weights, or doing pushups or more shikos. 

When Hiroshi scanned the rest of the room, Kenjiro was there sitting on a wooden stage like platform watching. While he was seated, he was at a regular chair height so he wasn't towering over the wrestlers, but watching them at eye level. He'd give soft-spoken words of judgment here and there, giving his advice. The Oyakata spoke low, but when he spoke it seemed like the very world was listening. He never looked Hiroshi's way, instead focusing on the practice. 

Botan, however, circled around the practice dohyo like a hawk getting ready to dive in for a kill. He, unlike the Oyakata, kept looking over at Hiroshi with a glare. Hiroshi wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't given any instruction from either of the masters and none of the other rikishi or the juniors who stood over and watched helped him at all. 

"You should go over and do shikos, warm your legs up. Then probably go over to the wood pole and do Suri-ashi, striking the pole," a voice came from behind him. 

He had walked further into the dojo to watch and he knew was standing out like a sore thumb. When he looked he saw it was his new friend from last night, Itaro. Itaro stood there in his white mawashi and bowed his head to Hiroshi when the boy turned to face him. 

Hiroshi nodded his head to Itaro. "Good morning, yes, thank you. I wasn't sure…." 

"Are you two discussing anything the rest of us should know?" Botan's voice boomed over the slapping of flesh and sliding of feet on the clay. 

Itaro's eyes went wide and Hiroshi turned to face Botan now. They both bowed deeply towards the trainer, their arms at their sides. 

"No, master," they both said in unison. "I was just giving our new Junior some ideas on what he should do," Itaro said. 

Botan glared at Hiroshi and then his eyes drifted over to the Oyakata. Kenjiro just watched, disinterested. Hiroshi noticed when the man glanced at him. If Hiroshi had blinked, he would have missed the look of disappointment he gave the boy. Hiroshi's world came crumbling down and he once more looked at the ground, trying to keep his expression neutral. 

"I think Hiroshi doesn't want to train today since he showed up so late. He must not care enough to work on his sumo for the rest of the day," Botan said. 

"No, sir, I…" Hiroshi had started but was interrupted. 

"You dare interrupt me, boy?" Botan moved across the dojo in an instant. Hiroshi couldn't even track the man's movement. Suddenly he was just there, standing over Hiroshi, the wired together straw stick held back, ready to slap Hiroshi once more like he had the night before. 

No one noticed when Oyakata stood from his seat. "Stop," he said. It was nothing more than a simple command. It froze Botan, though, who was in mid strike. "Hiroshi will be banned from today's practice, as you said. He can go help the Okami with chanko. Give him a feel for working in the kitchen so he'll know what to do when he's working with the other juniors," Kenjiro said firmly. 

The hate raged in Botan's eyes listening to the command from the stablemaster, but he nodded his head and lowered the stick. "Go," he commanded and nodded his head towards the door. 

"Thank you sir, Oyakata," he bowed to each of them in turn before he backed up and left the dojo, climbing back up the stairs. 

By the time he was at the top, he was almost crying. He stopped at the very last step when he remembered Ezra was there, lounging in the common room. The sumotori steeled his resolve and wiped his eyes. He had to do better. For his father, for his mother at home and sister. They were counting on him to do this. 

"Come on, boy, come up here." 

It was Ezra. Hiroshi grunted and wiped his eyes one more time before he went to the landing, so he was level with the grumpy carriage driver. 

"Not a great start huh?" He asked, a wry grin on his lips. 

Hiroshi just looked at him, not sure what to say in a response. Ezra just nodded his head. 

"Botan gave you the business, did he?" 

 Hiroshi nodded. 

"Yeah, that man used to be part of the emperor's guard. He's a cultivator too, and not like that middling beggar was. Botan is the real deal. He's not the issue, though." 

The boy's eyes went wide as he looked at the old man. "Not the issue? He's…."

But Hiroshi couldn't get his gripe out before Ezra waved his hand. 

"Nope. Stop. He's your master now. Assistant to what is probably the greatest Oyakata and Yokozuna the world has ever seen. Say nothing bad about your masters," Ezra scolded Hiroshi now. His eyes glaring over at the boy from the couch he lounged on. He leaned forward and put his hands on his knees. 

"That man will pound honor, discipline, and martial technique into you," he said and pointed at Hiroshi. 

Hiroshi couldn't do anything but nod his head at what Ezra said. 

"Good. Now, what did he tell you to do?" Ezra asked Hiroshi once the boy had been sufficiently cowed. 

"To help the Okami-San," he answered mulishly. 

Ezra nodded his head. "Auntie Yu is an amiable lady. Probably the best cook in all the beyas. Another perk of coming to this stable. She's strict, though, so mind yourself or else the treatment Botan gave you will seem like a walk in the park. Go on then," Ezra said, pointing down a hallway past the stairs he came down. 

Hiroshi narrowed his eyes, but Ezra just shooed the boy with his hands, not letting him ask the question. Yu was a name from the south-west kingdoms in the empire. They were officially part of the Sasuke empire, but they were the last independent kingdoms to fall to the Sasuke family.

They fought violently and bloodily until the empire finally defeated them and brought them into the fold. Because of this, the people there didn't really leave and outsiders were treated like hostile lepers. It was rare for the people to leave and find work elsewhere in the empire, and seeing someone right in the capital city of the empire, Hiroshi thought, was unheard of. 

Hiroshi shook the thoughts away as he walked down the hallway. He didn't care where the Okami-San was from. Why should he? She served the stable, and that's all that mattered. Well, and that she apparently was a wonderful cook, according to Ezra. 

When he went into the kitchen, he found the old woman chopping some vegetables and throwing them into a large pot she worked next to. She was a tall and lithe woman. Probably a head taller than his mother was. Her hair was black but had several gray streaks and was pulled up in a tight bun on top of her head. 

"Come on then, sent to help me, are you?" She asked. She didn't even bother to look up from her cutting board until she swiped some cabbage into the large pot. 

"Yes ma'am, Okami-San," Hiroshi said with a bow when she looked over at him. "Master Botan told me it will be good for me to learn how to work in the kitchen for when the juniors are responsible for chanko." 

She clicked her tongue. "That man still doesn't know how things are run. No need to be formal either, no one else is. Just call me Auntie Yu." 

She turned and looked at Hiroshi and narrowed her eyes. Hiroshi felt like he was on display, and she was judging every bit of him. 

"Do you normally cook in your mawashi?" She asked him, giving him another click of her tongue. 

"I…uh…. I've never actually cooked before, Auntie Yu. My mother did all the cooking, and just showed my sister," the boy answered. 

Auntie Yu sighed and shook her head. "Don't know why everyone in this empire thinks cooking is only for the women," she said as she looked him over. "Go change into your comfortable clothes and come back down here on the double. Time for your training." 

Within twenty minutes Hiroshi was back in the kitchen wearing his loose fitting shorts and a shirt. Auntie Yu had a knife in his hand and was showing him the proper way to chop vegetables, so he didn't cut the tip of his fingers off. 

"Curl your fingers back or else you'll be sorry and don't forget to punch and wrap your fingers around to hold the blade correctly," she said and pointed at him. 

The young, newly minted cook nodded his head and held onto the knife. He looked at the knife, which was much larger than the one his mother used. Hers was fine and thin and elegant, with a bit of a curve in the blade. This one, however, was almost like a straight cleaver without a hole in the upper bit. He had only seen that kind of blade at the butcher's shop when he went with his mother to pick up groceries for the day. 

"It's much larger than what I'm used to using," he told the Okami.

She nodded her head and explained that it was the knife they used for kitchen work in the region she came from. Instead of having to switch knives for every task in the kitchen, they used this one for everything. A truly multi use kitchen knife that could hack through bones or, if you were skilled enough, make fine small dice cuts with vegetables.

Hiroshi nodded his head and went about chopping vegetables and then tossed them into the large pot. While he worked on that, Auntie Yu fried meat and seasoned the soup he was filling. She also filled another pot with a clear ish brown liquid and made rice with it. 

"Itaro has been in the rice again at night, that boy…" she shook her head as she got it going. 

Hiroshi's eyes went wide, and he stopped chopping to look up and across the kitchen at Auntie Yu. "Uh…. Is that not allowed?" 

She narrowed her eyes at him for a long minute, looking him up and down. Hiroshi gulped. "I mean, not that I…." Hiroshi said, looking from her to the clay rice pot of leftover rice in the corner. 

"You had some of the rice last night, didn't you?" She accused him. She even raised a hand and pointed at him, her eyes still narrowed and glaring. 

"I…uh…. Itaro said…." Hiroshi stammered before the old woman broke out in a laugh. 

"It's fine, it's fine. I just always hear him complain that he's so tired after practice. You'd think the boy would sleep," she said with a shrug before returning to her pan of meat she had fried. 

Hiroshi gave a nervous and relieved chuckle with her. He shook his head and stared at the vegetables wide eyed. What in the…. Was all he could think to himself before he went back to chopping. 

Once dinner was done and the various meats and rice were on different platters, including a couple of large bowls of chanko. Which Hiroshi had never heard of till here. It was just a large stew filled with vegetables, cabbage, and then Auntie Yu used tofu and some leftover chicken for protein in tonight's chanko. 

Auntie Yu looked Hiroshi over. Towards the end of them working together, they had gotten more friendly and more familiar with each other. She now narrowed her gaze once more at him. 

"You worked well today. You listened and followed directions and then you didn't dillydally," she told him. 

Hiroshi bowed his head towards her. "Thank you Okami-San, it was my pleasure to help you in the kitchen," he responded. 

"Yes, well, you need to take that with you downstairs. I don't want to see you here early helping again," she leveled her finger at him and scolded him gently. "You're here for a reason, and you're a sweet boy. I want to see you succeed." 

Hiroshi bowed once more. "Yes, thank you Okami. I will."