by Unknown
“Indeed.”
“There's a man out there doing all the things I did when I was a young man. He won't stop...” burning light flashed for a moment in Shozan's eyes. “I wonder...” he said, flashing Himekawa with the light from his eyes.
[127]
“You wonder?”
“I wonder who would win in a match between you and that Tanba...”
Himekawa took in the glare form Shozan's eyes effortlessly.
“That's difficult to say.”
“Saying is the easy part.”
“I really don't think I could win.”
“You wouldn't win?”
“No,” said Himekawa before lowering his head towards Shozan. “But I don't think I would lose, either.”
“Oh really?”
“That much is certain,” said Himekawa. Shozan unfolded his arms and looked at Himekawa. His eyes looked as if they had just discovered something new and interesting.
“I don't hear that often.”
“...”
“You said you wouldn't win.”
“Yes.” A thick smile formed on Shozan's face as he listened to Himekawa.
“Well that's no good.”
“Indeed...”
“Are you saying that I should be the one to take him on?” said Shozan, laughing a thick laugh, “I would like to get him into one of our tournaments.”
“That would be quite the spectacle.”
“I wonder of he could pull off an unexpected victory.”
“Indeed.”
“By the way, Himekawa, you were saying that Tanba uses some odd techniques.”
“He used moves I had never seen before.”
“Can you remember what they were?”
“Yes.” Shozan rose to his feet as Himekawa answered him.
[128]
It looked as if a quiet cliff face had began to move.
“Can you try some of his moves on me?”
“I'll give it a try,” said Himekawa as he too rose to his feet.
He slowly moved behind Shozan and with his left arm and locked Shozan's left arm behind his back. He wrapped his right arm around Shozan's face from the side. He then locked Shozan's right arm near his left shoulder with his right hand, and connected it with his left hand.
“I think it was like this,” said Himekawa before releasing his grip.
“Interesting,” mumbled Shozan as he regained his posture.
“Do you know this move, it's called the-”
“The Chicken Wing Face Lock.”
“I think Tanba said that's what someone else was calling it, and -”
“What else did he say about it?”
“He said that he saw it on TV.” Shozan burst out laughing as soon as Himekawa finished speaking. “What's the matter?” asked Himekawa.
“That's a pro wrestling move.”
“Pro wrestling?”
“I've had it used on me before as well.”
“Really? You too?”
In the past, Shozan had faced off against not only Karate fighters, but a large number of wrestlers as well. Himekawa had just remembered that.
“Was that on TV?”
“Well, even if TV wrestling is a bit of a joke, a Karate fighter using those techniques really is...” Shozan curled his lips upwards into a grin. For a moment he looked like some kind of wild animal, “very interesting.” Shozan then looked over to Himekawa looking as though he had just remembered something.
[129]
“Hey,” his voice was getting lower, “Shimura and Tsurumi are furious.”
“Those two?”
“Shimura and Tsurumi were staying with Izumi before you were.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Those two are planning to find Tanba and extract their revenge. They showed up here the day that you made your report.”
“...”
“I wonder if we should leave them to it.”
“What did you tell them?”
“I told them to leave him alone. We can't have fights like that, it would just blow everything out of proportion. But maybe sometime in the future...” Shozan scratched his head as he spoke.
“The future?”
“I mean that in the future, I'll go and take on Tanba myself.”
“Of course.”
“Do you want to know something?”
“What's that?”
“I really love these kinds of fights.”
“You like them?”
“Well, it might be a little soon to say I really like it, I should probably watch my tongue. Really I'm just itching for a fight. I'm starting to regret expanding my business so far.”
“Are you jealous of Tanba?” Shozan didn't answer Himekawa's question, he just sat back down on the sofa.
“The Hokushinkan would never turn down a challenge.” Shozan had a stern look in his eye.
[130]
Himekawa looked up.
“Shimura and Tsurumi, without telling me, have gone around all our Dojo's in the country.”
“All of them?”
“Telling them to get in contact immediately if they come into contact with anyone fitting Tanba's description.”
“And they did this in secret?”
“If they go around all the Dojos doing this, then they know that the news will eventually reach my ears. I know how much they are willing to put on the line.”
“...”
“If they find that Tanba somewhere, I want to be the first to know.”
“But why?”
“So I can send you out to where ever Tanba is.”
“...”
“I've said that they can't do this. This is important. Do you understand what I'm telling you?”
“...”
“Seems like they are ignoring me. There is no helping it. We can't make a sneak attack. There will be trouble if someone gets killed. It will be up to you to sort out any situation you may find.”
“I understand.”
“And if possible, I want you to bring Tanba back here to me.”
“...”
“I want to have a look at this man,” muttered Matsuo Shozan as he looked at Himekawa.
CHAPTER II
It was raining. The rain was cold. Bunshichi Tanba was standing out in the rain. Raindrops were falling on twigs which lined the path.
[131]
He was standing in front of a ten story building. He was looking up at the third floor. On the window of the third floor were the words 'East-West Pro Wrestling' written in big red lettering.
The shoulders of his leather jacket had turned wet and black with the rain. He was holding a leather bag with his right hand. His bag was worn out. It too was wet with rain. It was caked with mud. The rain had leaked through his jack and begun to soak his cotton shirt.
“What are you doing standing around in the rain?” asked Ryoji. He was standing next to Bunshichi with his mouth ajar. Hair was matted against his skin. Light shone from his eyes like light reflected from the edge of a knife.
“If you've got some business with East-West Pro Wrestling then hurry up and get in there.” It didn't look like Ryoji's words had gotten into Bunshichi's head, but Bunshichi lowered his vision from the third story window. The entrance to building stood right in front of him. Bunshichi walked through the door without saying a word.
“You moron,” said Ryoji before spitting on to the ground, “Are you going to raid the place?”
“Yep.” said Bunshichi. He ignored the elevator and headed for the stairs.
“Are you for real?”
“Wait here if it's too scary for you.”
“I'm not scared! Not scared of a wrestler, anyway,” Ryoji spat his words out.
They reached the third floor. The sign for the East-West Pro Wrestling came into sight as climbed the last few steps.
[132]
The lettering was faded and peeling. They found themselves standing in front of that door. Ryoji straightened his back and swall
owed loudly.
“This is an office. There won't be any wrestlers here,” said Bunshichi over his shoulder to Ryoji before pushing open the door. The room inside was huge and there were about a dozen office desks lined up next to each other. There were steel book shelves up against the wall. You could see how busy the place was just by looking at it. It seemed like the kind of place where documents and papers would pile up right in front of you on your desk before you had even finished the job at hand, and keep on piling up.
There were sports news papers piling up on the floor by the wall. There were clippings left all over the place. All the important articles had probably been clipped out and filed away somewhere. One of the book shelves was packed with wrestling magazines. They were old, but well kept they weren't dirty. There were about six people in the office. There was one man with a phone in one had and a pen in the other, feverishly jotting something down.
The first person Bunshichi noticed when he walked through the door was a young woman going about her office work at a table by the door.
“May I help you?” she said, rising to her feet.
“Is Mr. Kawabe here?” asked Bunshichi.
“He is.” said the woman, a little anxious.
“Tell him Tanba is here.”
“And what is this concerning?” the door behind the young woman flew open as she spoke.
[133]
A giant of man burst out of the door, almost taking it off it's hinges. He was a foreigner. He had a thick muscles and a physique that you could tell he was a wrestler just by looking at him. He wore a pair of jeans and a plaid shirt. He was blond. He held a leather ten gallon hat in his hands and had a fierce look on his face. Another man came out of the room after him. He was a little short and dumpy, but he too had the body of a wrestler. He was Japanese. He was wearing a white shirt over black trousers.
The foreigner walked past Bunshichi and put his hand on the door. He opened the door and yelled something over his shoulder. He stunk of liquor. The man who followed him out of the room answered back. The foreigner had said something along the lines of “Fuck your mother and her pussy too!” The young female receptionist spoke to him as he walked back to his office.
“Mr. Kawabe, this is Mr....”
“Tanba Bunshichi,” said Bunshichi, finishing her sentence for her.
“Tanba?” the man, Kawabe, said as if he was unsure.
“I came to challenge the Dojo.” said Bunshichi. Kawabe's expression slowly changed, showing he had remembered Bunshichi.
“It's you.”
“Do you remember?”
“I remember you.” said Kawabe.
[134]
He smiled. “I thought you might have forgotten.”
“I remember. You were the one that did the best out of all the people who challenged us.”
Bunshichi nodded a moved forward towards the door, waved to Ryoji as Kawabe told the office lady to get some tea ready. Kawabe went back through the door which was still open. The office was separated from the room by a partition board. There was a desk and a simple lounge set inside.
“Take a seat,” said Kawabe as he sat down. Bunshichi also sat down, looking at Kawabe. The sofa was soft and sagging. It felt as if some very important people had sat there before him.
“Whoa,” he mumbled as he sat down. Kawabe instantly knew what he ment by 'whoa'.
“That was the foreign wrestler, Crazy Dog.”
“Were you having a dispute over money?”
“Yeah, he came to complain about his salary,” Kawabe looked up at Ryoji, who had a difficult look on his face, as he spoke.
“You can sit down,” he said. Ryoji finally took a seat next to Bunshichi.
“Are you his son?”
“No,” said Ryoji, “I'm his best student.”
“Oh really?” said said Kawabe, raising his voice.
[135]
“You're taking on students?”
“He's not my student. He's just following me around,” replied Bunshichi. Kawabe looked both Bunshichi and Ryoji over for a moment, smiled and sighed.
“Honestly, those foreign wrestlers are a pain in the ass.”
“Like that man just now?”
“Yeah. He found out we were paying him less than Hammer Shin, and came in here demanding a high wage.”
“...”
“Basically, Shin is a second tier wrestler and has less experience than him. But this isn't America. Shin draws a better crowd. This is Japan. Those guys know how to wrestle, but they are too unpredictable. It's no good.”
“I see.”
“We don't need wrestlers who are going to jump in the ring drunk. They always talk about jumping ship to another wrestling branch, but I just tell them to fuck off and do it.”
“Really...”
“They are so full of themselves. I told him he can face off against Shin in the cement, and if he beats him, then he will get his pay rise. After I said that he shut right up and went home. There aren't many wrestlers who have the courage to take on Shin in the cement. They know their own limitations.”
“The cement?”
“Like the matches that our Kajiwara does.” Kawabe got a nostalgic look in his eyes. “How many years ago was it now?”
“Six.”
“Has it already been that long...”
[136]
“You're looking in good shape.”
“Thanks. The Dojo isn't there anymore.”
“In Shinjuku?”
“Yeah.”
“So no one is at the Dojo anymore.”
“Well no one on this planet likes being around a bunch of loud mouths, or being thrown into fights when you're nearly forty. I work in an office now. Sometimes I'm appear on TV as a commentator.”
“...”
“Those foreign wrestlers give me nothing but grief.” Just as Kawabe had finished talking, the receptionist came through the door with a tray of tea. He continued talking once she had left. “So what are you here for?”
“Same thing as always.”
“You've come to challenge the Dojo?”
“You could say that.”
“You've filled out quite a bit. Have you come to join up?” Said Kawabe without a hint of sarcasm.
“Can I join up?”
“There are some regulations. There is an age limit, you know.”
“..”
“But, you know, you're a lot stronger now than you were then, so I'd say you joining up would be a possibility. I could put in a good word with the boss for you, and he'd have to see you first...”
“See me?”
“You wouldn't be able to do a main event. But you're name definitely has value. But you would still have to start as a junior. Even so, we've already got plenty of wrestlers.
“Is Kajiwara one those wrestlers?”
“He is.”
“Could you tell me something.”
“What?”
“Six years ago. Out of all the young wrestlers there, where was Kajiwara, in terms of strongest to weakest?”
“...”
“You can tell me now, can't you?”
“He was at the top, the strongest,” said Kawabe. Bunshichi smiled.
“Does that put your mind at rest?”
“It sure does.”
“Even so, our juniors are juniors.”
“I understand.”
[137]
“These guys are a little different to the others. And they have gotten even stranger since then.”
“Like how?”
“They have been really into kicks. They can get their legs up like a Karate fighter. You know about Matsuo don't you?”
“Of the Hokushinkan?”
“They would have taken you on when you were younger, though your grappling probably would have needed some work.”
“I guess so”
“Even Matsuo has shown and interest in our Kajiwara, telling him to quit pro-wrestling and join the Hokushinkan, saying all
kinds of things.”
“But why Matsuo Shozan?”
“Pro wrestling Dojos often gets a lot of people challenging them. Like you.”
“..”
“They are not normally anything special. But there was one who came in who no one could lay a finger on, and who walked out of the ring himself...” said Kawabe, looking at Bunshichi to see if he knew who it was. “That was Matsuo Shozan.”
“Matsuo...”
“There are a lot of complex grappling moves that both Pro Wrestling and Matsuo have.”
[138]
After the spoke, Kawabe narrowed his eyes as if a dark light had come from Bunshichi's eyes. A pang of fear shot through Kawabe's body. There was a brief silence.
“I haven't told you about the conditions,” said Kawabe, his voice had grown firm.
“Tell me if there are any,” said Bunshichi in a low voice.
“The conditions for joining up?”
“No,” said Bunshichi, his expression hadn't changed. Ryoji swallowed loudly, and it echoed through the room.
“I came here to challenge the Dojo again,” said Bunshichi, speaking slowly and clearly so that Kawabe would understand exactly what he was saying.
CHAPTER III
[page 138 continued]
There was a long silence. That silence was spent by Bunshichi and Kawabe glaring at each other. Ryoji looked over both of their faces as he realized the change in atmosphere. Kawabe was the first to open his mouth.
“You're serious, aren't you?”
“I am.”
“Didn't you learn your lesson?”
“I learned a lot. That's why I've been training.”
“Against Kajiwara?”
“That's right.” Bunshichi answered bluntly. “I'm not interested in anyone else.”