5 Master

Yoriichi-san and I had arrived last night in the early evening. He directed me to the minka where the other Tsukugo were resting, then bid me farewell until I was ready to learn one of the breathing forms.

I enter, my footsteps soft upon the carpeted floor. I am not expecting the others to be waiting for me.

There is no indication of other people there, but I notice the parting of the air before the fist comes flying out at me from the darkness.

I quickly step to the side, not wanting to get hit, and stick out my foot. I hear the thud of a body, a grunt, and the sharp intake of breath from several mouths.

"Ooh, I like this one," a voice calls from somewhere I cannot see. Someone lights a lantern that floats from the ceiling. Light illuminates the room, which I now see is full of at least 15 others that look to be my age sitting around the room on cushions on the floor.

I blush.

The person who I'd knocked over gets to his feet, panting slightly. He wipes the dust off of his kimono, but says nothing as he goes to sit on the floor with the others.

What should I say? What should I do? Oji Yoriichi hadn't told me that I would need to do anything. Surely he would have if it was important.

Maybe this was a bad choice, to leave okaasan and Akako-chan. Someone laughs. I do not like being laughed at. I turn around to leave, but find my path blocked by a tall man in a white haori with lavender blossoms running up the sides.

"And where are you going?" the man asks, eyebrows raised in question. A warped purple band on his forehead seems to be spreading down his face.

His slightly lavender brown eyes are wide and bright, his black hair falling in one unbroken sheet that doesn't go past his shoulders.

I stumble backwards slightly.

Why didn't I sense the air parting when he arrived?

I move out of the way and the man walks past me. He addresses the others.

"Good evening, everyone," he says.

"Good evening, Oyakata-sama," they respond in unison. The man called Oyakata-sama smiles, then places a hand on my shoulder.

"This is the newest member of the Tsukugo, Mizuki Tsugikuni. He is a close relative of Yoriichi-san, isn't that right, Mizuki?"

I snap instantly back to reality.

His voice had a soothing effect, I was losing my focus. How is that possible?

"Y-yes," I blurt.

Oyakata-sama smiles. "And you must treat Mizuki like a brother, all of you."

"Yes," echoes around the room. Oyakata-sama's smile hardens a bit. "That includes you as well, Tanaka," he adds, looking at the wall.

"Yes," grumbles the boy Oyakata-sama had named Tanaka.

"Good," The man in the white haori says, smiling wider. "Ah, Misako! Why don't you show Mizuki to his room, yes?"

A girl in a cherry-blossom pink kimono stands up and nods. "Yes, Oyakata-sama," she says.

I catch Oyakata-sama's gaze as I walk down the hall at Misako's heels, hoping to express my gratitude without words. He blinks at me, smiling.

Misako takes my hand. Instinctively, I flinch away, but she doesn't seem to notice. She pulls me forward through the hall, stopping at one of the many doors. She looks at me, and she smiles. Does everyone smile here? I try to smile back, but it comes out like more of a grimace.

"These are the Tsukugo dormitories," she says, in a voice sounding like a loud whisper. She slides open the double wooden doors and lights a small flame in a pot in the center of the floor.

"Isn't that dangerous?" I ask her.

She smiles, then points to the two beds that are neatly arranged in the other corner of the room.

"I guess we're bunked together, then, Mizuki," she says quietly. "It's time to rest right now, I can give you a tour of the grounds tomorrow morning."

She points to the bed closest to her. "Here. You can use this one."

I step towards it and find a drawer the width of the bed underneath it. I open the drawer. It's empty, so I put my small pack inside of it and shut it closed.

"Goodnight, Mizuki," comes Misako's quiet voice from the other bed.

"Goodnight," I call back. The fire goes out with a small flash. I stare up into the blackness of the ceiling, and find myself drifting away into sleep.

星

When I wake up, Misako is pulling on her zori sandals, and sunlight is streaming through the open windows. She sees me sit up.

"Your clothes are there," she whispers loudly, pointing at a cabinet I hadn't noticed before. "I'll wait outside. When you're done just follow me and I'll show you where to go."

I dress quickly as soon as Misako exits, pulling off my own purple haori and donning the silk one with white crane embroidery assigned to me.

I place my own on my bed, tucking it under the sheets before I leave. It seems everyone else has awoken as well. People have started to trickle out from their dorms and into the main hall.

Misako takes my hand again. "So, as you know," she says, "These are the Tsukugo dorms. Each Tsukugo is roomed with the others who are also assigned with the same hashira. So far, you and I are the only ones assigned with Yoriichi-san."

She smiles at me. "Oyakata-sama said that you were a close relative of him. Is that true?"

I nod. "He is my father's brother."

She raises her eyebrows. "Michikatsu-san was your father? Tanaka was assigned to him. I heard that Tanaka thought of him like a father."

"Yes," I reply. I say nothing as she continues.

"The first thing we do in the morning is eat. After that, we go to meet our teacher in the training grounds."

We exit the minka and come to a large open platform, with long tables and symbols painted in different colors hanging over each of them on flowing banners. They are laid out with small wooden square dishes of eggs and furikake, and bowls of mixed rice with uni and ikura.

Misako leads me over to a mostly empty table, with a yellow kanji for sun on the white fabric. Two rectangular wooden dishes with a bowl of rice and ikura for each are set next to each other. She sits down, takes a pair of chopsticks, and begins to eat.

I sit down next to her, crossing my legs as she does. She places a pair of chopsticks in my hands, and I begin to eat. The food is good, and warm, but still I long for okaasan's cooking. I remember my promise to come home the last Sunday of every month for dinner and smile.

Once we are finished, Misako says to leave the dishes, that they will be collected later. I follow her down a dirt path towards a clearing surrounded by carefully pruned hedges. A small minka rests in the back, the bulk of the land being a large clearing with a wooden cage in the center.

Yoriichi-san sits cross legged on the porch of the minka, eyes closed. We draw closer to him. Misako sits on the porch with him and crosses her legs. After a moment, I do the same.

"Ohayo." he says, without opening his eyes.

"Ohayou," we respond. I don't know how long we sit here, but I begin to feel tired quickly.

"Alright," Yoriichi tells us. "Let us begin."

Misako slides open the doors of the minka, stepping inside and walking to the back. She retrieves two bamboo training swords and slides the doors closed again.

She hands them to my uncle with a slight bow. Yoriichi takes them, giving Misako a small smile.

"Thank you, Misako," he says to her. A small twinge of jealousy flares up inside of me. I quench it quickly.

"Now," Yoriichi says to us, handing me a wooden sword and the other to Misako. "Mizuki, I want you to swing your blade a hundred times. Misako," he adds, turning to her, "I want you to swing yours two hundred times.".

My tongue burns with my question of why Misako must swing her blade twice as many times as me, but I know better than to voice it.

Misako starts to swing her blade, so I begin to swing mine as well. I count the numbers in my head. When I first started, it felt light and simple. Now, the bamboo training katana I move up and down feels like it's made of stone.

Misako is still swinging when I finish, and a few swings later, she is done, lowering her blade and not raising it again. "Good," Yoriichi says with a smile. "Now Mizuki, you will swing your blade two hundred times, Misako four hundred times."

Once we are finished, I am sweaty and my arms feel like heavy bags of rice flour. Misako remains expressionless except for her small smile, but I notice a small sheen of sweat on her forehead.

"Good," Yoriichi tells us again.

I try to copy Misako's blank look. It seems convincing enough. Yoriichi walks around and examines us.

"Mizuki, lift your sword," he says. I comply. "Your grip is too high, Mizuki. You have no stance. If I were to..." He walks towards me and pushes me backwards, hard. I topple on my backside and fall to the ground.

"If I were a demon, Mizuki, you would be dead." He smiles. "Let's try some sparring. Light hits only, Misako, and no kicking."

She nods.

"Begin!" Yoriichi instructs.

I begin to circle her, and after a few moments I make my first strike. It was a mistake, I should have known the second my arm brought the sword forward to arc towards her shoulder. Her wooden blade meets mine, surprisingly jarring for a movement so gentle. I back away but she leaps through the air towards me, and lands four consecutive strikes, one hits my elbow, another on each shoulder, and the final one to my sword hand.

I let go of the sword, an angry red mark already beginning to take form on my hand. I scoot backwards, wincing in pain, but I do not release my grip. She moves forward before I can react. I swing at her head with all my strength, but she just leans with it and it barely misses her. She slams my sword with her own, hitting on the side of the blade, not the edge, and the longer half of the wood snaps off and clatters to the ground.

A storm of cherry blossoms whirl around me, and I stumble backwards, but they swirl more violently. A second later, I feel a soft wooden edge meet my neck, then it is drawn away as my backside meets the ground.