Chapter Fifteen
Takashi
It was the middle of practice, but no one’s heart really seemed in it. The wrestlers were more playacting than truly trying to best each other, and the advice and cajoling from the coaches were vague, as if they were only half watching themselves. Tak found it frustrating; he very much wanted to lose himself, to focus just on the art of sumo and forget all else, but if no one else was focusing it was impossible. Sumo was not a one-man sport.
“The tournament is coming up soon,” he said to one of the other rikishi as they drank from the water bucket. “Doesn’t anyone want to train hard?”
“There’s not much point,” the other wrestler answered. “This one is on Mars; we never do well on Mars.”
“But it’s the same wrestlers at every tournament. What difference does it m
