Post by Daichi Kusumoto on Jul 30, 2018 14:55:25 GMT -5
June 2nd, 2018
Warm winds of summer rustles the trees outside of Daichi Kusumoto’s kenjutsu dojo. Inside of it the man himself, with his long ponytailed hair flowing down to his traditional keikogi jacket, finishes cleaning and closes up for the day. Exiting the dojo, he sees his students standing hunched over a mobile device, watching something. One of the students, Tanaka, notices Kusumoto and smiles.
“Kusumoto-sensei! You used to be wrestler, didn’t you? Look at this!”
He hands the phone to Kusumoto, who curiously watches the screen. The video shows highlights of professional wrestling, in particular a faction called ‘The Demon Brigade’. Clip after clip show the faction brutalising their opponents, attacking them before and after the bell, and using all dirty tricks in the book to defeat anyone standing in their way. On top of it all plays audio clips of the members talking about how gaijin are ruining the sport and how they will bring back some sort of golden age of professional wrestling.
“Aren’t they cool?”
Kusumoto doesn’t react to his student’s voice but keeps staring at the moving images in front of him, until his hand finally snaps shut and crushes the device like a peach in a bear trap.
“My phone!”
Already walking off into the distance, Kusumoto replies without turning his head.
“I’ll buy you a new one.”
_
Mei Kusumoto takes clothes down from the clotheslines in front of the Kusumoto house, when she notices her husband walking towards her with unusually determined steps. When he enters the house without even acknowledging her, she abandons the laundry and goes inside. She finds him in their bedroom, standing in front of their now opened wardrobe, his back turned to her.
“Dai-chan. What’s wrong?”
“I have failed my duty.”
A bad feeling arises in her stomach, but she ignores it the best that she can.
“What duty?”
“Puroresu has become infested with parasites... Demons.“
He turns around, a kitana resting in his palms and his eyes gazing at the floor.
“I let it happen. I allowed puroresu to be dishonored, and now that dishonor must fall upon me.”
He extends his arms, offering her the blade, and bows his head.
“Cut it off.”
Hands trembling, she grabs him by the hair with one hand and uses the other to raise the sword, but hesitates.
“Cut it off!”
She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and lets the blade fall.
SLASH!
The severed ponytail in one hand and the sword in the other, she opens her eyes to see her husband with his back turned, digging deeper into the wardrobe. He turns around, holding his old pair of wrestling tights.
“What has been defiled, must be restored. I must return to the ring and rid it of pestilence. I will close the dojo to focus only on my own training. I won’t have as much free time so you will have to take care of the house on your own, but I will help whenever I can. Oh, and remind me to buy Tanaka-kun a new mobile phone.”
With great sadness Mei eyes her husband, standing there with old tights in his hand, a hairy mess on his head, and a hunger in his eyes that she hasn’t seen in a long time.
“At least let me shave it all off before you go out in public.”
_
July 15th, 2018
It’s evening and Mei is in the kitchen, cooking rice bowls, as Daichi finally returns home from Shimonoseki and the Pyramid Grappling League. What happened there still eats away at his calm. The moral decline runs deeper than he thought. Shinjiro doesn’t claim to be a demon, but a serious fighter and warrior, yet he too has been devoured by the plague that’s killing the honor and tradition of puroresu.
After changing into his wrestling gear, he enters the kitchen, just as Mei puts the food on the table. She looks at him with a smile, as he puts a hand on her shoulder and looks deeply into her eyes.
“I will eat in the dojo. Don’t wait up for me.”
He kisses her forehead, throws his bag over his shoulder and grabs a bowl. She watches him leave, knowing that as much as he loves her, puroresu was his first love and one she can’t compete with. All she can do is hope that something will be left of the husband she loves, once his cruel mistress is finished with him.
Warm winds of summer rustles the trees outside of Daichi Kusumoto’s kenjutsu dojo. Inside of it the man himself, with his long ponytailed hair flowing down to his traditional keikogi jacket, finishes cleaning and closes up for the day. Exiting the dojo, he sees his students standing hunched over a mobile device, watching something. One of the students, Tanaka, notices Kusumoto and smiles.
“Kusumoto-sensei! You used to be wrestler, didn’t you? Look at this!”
He hands the phone to Kusumoto, who curiously watches the screen. The video shows highlights of professional wrestling, in particular a faction called ‘The Demon Brigade’. Clip after clip show the faction brutalising their opponents, attacking them before and after the bell, and using all dirty tricks in the book to defeat anyone standing in their way. On top of it all plays audio clips of the members talking about how gaijin are ruining the sport and how they will bring back some sort of golden age of professional wrestling.
“Aren’t they cool?”
Kusumoto doesn’t react to his student’s voice but keeps staring at the moving images in front of him, until his hand finally snaps shut and crushes the device like a peach in a bear trap.
“My phone!”
Already walking off into the distance, Kusumoto replies without turning his head.
“I’ll buy you a new one.”
_
Mei Kusumoto takes clothes down from the clotheslines in front of the Kusumoto house, when she notices her husband walking towards her with unusually determined steps. When he enters the house without even acknowledging her, she abandons the laundry and goes inside. She finds him in their bedroom, standing in front of their now opened wardrobe, his back turned to her.
“Dai-chan. What’s wrong?”
“I have failed my duty.”
A bad feeling arises in her stomach, but she ignores it the best that she can.
“What duty?”
“Puroresu has become infested with parasites... Demons.“
He turns around, a kitana resting in his palms and his eyes gazing at the floor.
“I let it happen. I allowed puroresu to be dishonored, and now that dishonor must fall upon me.”
He extends his arms, offering her the blade, and bows his head.
“Cut it off.”
Hands trembling, she grabs him by the hair with one hand and uses the other to raise the sword, but hesitates.
“Cut it off!”
She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and lets the blade fall.
SLASH!
The severed ponytail in one hand and the sword in the other, she opens her eyes to see her husband with his back turned, digging deeper into the wardrobe. He turns around, holding his old pair of wrestling tights.
“What has been defiled, must be restored. I must return to the ring and rid it of pestilence. I will close the dojo to focus only on my own training. I won’t have as much free time so you will have to take care of the house on your own, but I will help whenever I can. Oh, and remind me to buy Tanaka-kun a new mobile phone.”
With great sadness Mei eyes her husband, standing there with old tights in his hand, a hairy mess on his head, and a hunger in his eyes that she hasn’t seen in a long time.
“At least let me shave it all off before you go out in public.”
_
July 15th, 2018
It’s evening and Mei is in the kitchen, cooking rice bowls, as Daichi finally returns home from Shimonoseki and the Pyramid Grappling League. What happened there still eats away at his calm. The moral decline runs deeper than he thought. Shinjiro doesn’t claim to be a demon, but a serious fighter and warrior, yet he too has been devoured by the plague that’s killing the honor and tradition of puroresu.
After changing into his wrestling gear, he enters the kitchen, just as Mei puts the food on the table. She looks at him with a smile, as he puts a hand on her shoulder and looks deeply into her eyes.
“I will eat in the dojo. Don’t wait up for me.”
He kisses her forehead, throws his bag over his shoulder and grabs a bowl. She watches him leave, knowing that as much as he loves her, puroresu was his first love and one she can’t compete with. All she can do is hope that something will be left of the husband she loves, once his cruel mistress is finished with him.