"Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be" Banzuke, Sumo Toshiyori, Part 10

"Morgan ?" called Ruffert, as he noticed the Mawashi clad light brown bear, sat dejectedly on the porch at the back of the Beya, gazing sadly up at the stars in the night sky.

"C’mon Morgan, come in and eat, or they’ll be nothing left….you know how it is !" the German Shepherd, urged him gently.

"I’m not hungry !", muttered the Bear with a sigh.

"Aww don’t gimme me THAT, what’s the matter? ‘sick of ‘Chanko already ?" whispered Ruffert, as he apprehensfully approached him, guessing there WAS something wrong.

"No, Ruff’…..I shouldn’t have done what I did, leading everyone here…to top it off, I’ve fallen out with Dai’….".

"WHAT !" exclaimed the Alsatian, as he slowly sat down beside the Bear, "WHY ??".

"Oh, I don’t know…..I guess I feel that he takes me for granted or something".

"Look, if anyone here didn’t like it, I don’t think they’d have second thoughts about going….but it’s early days yet" replied the German Shepherd, "You’re not thinking of going already are you ??".

"I dunno…" sighed Morgan, shrugging his broad shoulders.

There was an uneasy silence as the pair of them were both lost in their own thoughts, then the Mawashi clad Alsatian got back up and turned for the door, "Ummm, look, I’m gonna go get some Chanko’ before the pots emptied, you sure you don’t want any ??".

"Quite sure !".

"Look, Morgan…Life’s TOO short, try and get some time alone with him, an’ discuss it….. I know it’s hard in this environment, but……".

"Yeah…Well, he did his usual "Trick" of waving the top floor keys of the nearby "Hotel Metropolitan" at me, you KNOW what we all get upto up THERE, that’s HIS short term answer to EVERTHING !".

"Hey!, I’ll go in your place…...if you want!" beamed Ruffert with a cheeky grin.

"Feel free….." hissed Morgan, in an acidic tone, glowering at him, Ruffert was another one who’d tugged at his heartstrings many a time.

"Cheer up, Grumpy Bear….. It was just a little joke !".

"Yes!" hissed Morgan, "VERY little, you REALLY DO think with your Balls, don’t you ?".

Ruffert looked as if he was going to defend himself, in light of that comment, but just snorted and turned on his heel, and headed back inside.

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Rusty sighed wistfully as he glanced across from the work he was doing on his I-MAC computer to a photograph in a simple black wooden frame inlayed in silver with a Charles Rennie Mackintosh design. The photo showed himself, Dennis and Axel after the last Basho. The Fox sighed again, his hearts ached for the pair of them and their company. It was lonely and quiet in the large Victorian terrace home without them.

The sound of the telephone ringing snapped Rusty’s attention from his thoughts. Snatching up the digital cordless handset off its base, he held it upto his ear, "Hello, Thistledown Fashion…..".

"Alright, "Boss"…This is Syd !, I’m on me Mobile……".

Rusty just rolled his eyes and waited for the inevitable "Report", of the Sunday morning’s practice, and probably the rest of the week’s sessions.

"…..Look, when’s Mr Brock gonna get back?….. Only this PC O’Brian guy has pretty much taken over…..!" continued the Weasel, "Marlon’s ‘ad to move….. So now Ringo’s kinda lost interest, ‘cos o’ that, dem being mates an’ everythin’….. Bruno’s bein’ a proper creep, an’ Pizza cat, wots-is-name….errrrmm, "Luca"…Well, we ain’t seen ‘im since……..".

"Give ME that phone !". demanded a familiar impatient voice in the background as the Weasel rambled on, nonsensically.

"Ok, Ok…I’m ‘andin’ you over to Tonneau, ‘e can put it more "Eloquently" than wot I can…..".

"Sorry about that….." Tonneau apologised for Syd’s ranting.

"That’s alright !", whispered Rusty, thankful that he was now speaking to the much more sensible St Bernard.

"Well, Syd’s quite right I’m afraid…..PC O’Brian HAS "pretty much taken over", sighed the Big Dog. "Neither of us wanted to correct him, what with him being a Physical Education instructor for Police Trainees, you see….. He was happy to take a lesson or two with Syd and myself taking the class, then…….".

"He took over…." Rusty wearily completed his sentence for him.

"Exactly, YES !!… he really seems to have it in for Syd…… and Bruno is the "Apple of his eye", so to speak".

"YEAH !!!" hollered the Weasel, who stood next to Tonneau, straining to listen in on the conversation, despite the phone being practically engulfed by the St Bernard’s large floppy ear.

"PC O’ Brian seemed perfectly alright to me, when I met him……." replied Rusty, a little surprised.

"Yes, well….. But….with all due respect…HE’S A TYRANT !!".

"An’ a proper BULLY !!" yelled Syd, getting his "Oar in".

"Look, I’m sure Dennis will be back before TOO long, Axel as well, hopefully…. Look, can’t the pair of you "Weather the storm" until then ??".

"We’ll T-R-Y…..", sighed Tonneau, with poorly hidden disappointment. "Only…. Couldn’t you come along to at least one session or something ?, to be truthful with you I’m a little worried he won’t just "Roll over" whenever either of them returns to take the class…… Like Syd said we’ve lost Marlon now, properly Ringo as well…and the Italian Puma, Luca practically gave up on the idea as soon as PC O’Brian started".

"You know I’m up to my eyeballs with work at the moment, I had to give Lawrence the brush off just before the Basho, so it’s ALL down to me now……" insisted Rusty, in a Fatherly tone.

"Y..yes…I’m sorry…….".

"Look, If I can get a bit ahead of myself, maybe I’ll drop in and pay our Police Rikishi a little "Surprise visit", alright !, but I can’t make any promises at this stage……’you understand ?".

"Yes,….yes…Ok then, BBBBEEEEEEPPPPP Syd and myself will "Weather the storm" as best we can…… BEEEEPPPPP…Gotta go, Batteries just about out of charge…..". Then the signal cut out.

"Good one, SYD !" hissed Tonneau, thrusting the Mobile phone back into the Weasels hand. " ‘Does HELP if you keep it CHARGED !".

"No big deal, izzit ??, ‘got our "Message" across…didn’t we !!". Snorted Syd, as he shoved his phone into the back pocket of his baggy indigo blue Levi’s.

"Well, yes….." mumbled the St Bernard, unable to argue with that.

"Yeah,…well…..look, ‘you wanna go get something t’ eat or drink or somethin’…we GOTTA make plans !".

"Plans ?".

"Yeah, PLANS, "Operation Copper Stopper".

"What three year old came up with THAT name !", sighed the St Bernard, dryly.

"WOT !!" grimaced the Weasel, "look, we GOTTA do somethin’ or they’ll be NO Sumo club for Mr Brock t’ come ‘ome too,……. An’ every great operation has ta have a "Code name" !!".

"You DO have a point……" sighed Tonneau, "So where would you like to go to eat then?, one of the Coffee shops, maybe ??".

"GET REAL !" snarled Syd in disgust, "those places are spreading like a flippin’ disease, ‘wouldn’t catch ME in one o’ them !!".

"Bad for your "Street-cred" image, I suppose ?" sighed Tonneau, like a weary parent.

"Yeah…well…kinda…sorta.." muttered the Weasel, looking down at his feet, "Look theirs PLENTY o’ fast food places, or the Pizza place where Luca works, they ‘ave that Buffet deal you know ?".

"Sumo Rikishi aren’t exempt from that deal, I take it………. ??"

"HUH !" Syd screwed up his face as he thought, then realised that it was a joke, "Oh yeah, good one…’don’t think so!, maybe we’ll see Luca there as well, we BADLY need t’ get our numbers up again !".

"LOOK, we can’t FORCE him to join, if he doesn’t want to…" insisted the St Bernard as they walked along.

"Yeah, Luca an’ da "Force"….I get it !, Ha Ha…..".

"NO, I’m being serious !, …’that jokes getting OLD !…..look, just how "exactly" do you intend to get things back to the way they once where ?".

"That’s WHAT we’re going t’ PLAN OUT !", Syd grinned evilly, tapping the side of his head, indicating his mind was working overtime on it.

"Perhaps it would be easier if we just "Weather the storm", as was suggested……Let’s hope our original instructors can "Demote" him, upon their return.

"We ain’t rollin’ over !, f’ O’Brian !, we OWE them that much, we gotta do the fightin’ on this front…an’ we GOTTA WIN !!".

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"I brought you this…..".

Morgan turned his head at the sound of the gentle voice, Daikonran stood their expectantly, clad in a Yukata emblazoned with a Shohoku Beya repeat pattern, and clutching a steaming bowl of Chanko nabe in both hands.

"Ruffert sent you I suppose ?" muttered Morgan, facing back around doing his best to ignore him.

"Yes…yes he did !, he’s worried about you, and SO am I !" breathed the Panda.

"You’ve got a FUNNY way of showing it, you both do, in fact !".

"Morgan, if it’s about earlier….I can only apologise, but you know it was meant to instill "Fighting spirit" you shouldn’t take it so personally…..".

"Yeah….." snorted the light Brown Bear, pointedly.

"If you want to leave…I’d understand…I’d not blame you in fact…." choked the Giant Panda, as he knelt down beside him.

"That’ll look GREAT wouldn’t it !?, Morgan who leads everyone to the Beya, and THEN is the first to turn tail and run !".

"You’re not the only one to have doubts, my friend…I think a lot of the others do as well, although they either keep it to themselves or only tell their team mates….I think the general feeling is we’re all going to stay here until our plane tickets are about to expire…THEN go home !".

"About a month?" mused Morgan to himself, "Does THAT include you !?" he whirled around to ask Daikonran the question that had been plaguing him.

"Perhaps….yes?…we’ll have to wait and see…..".

"I won’t hold my breath then….." spat Morgan, angrily.

"Oh, COME ON Morgan !" insisted Daikonran, "You know what I’ve got at stake here, the risk of losing you, as well as all the usual heavy stuff from my Father….just between you and me, I’m looking upon this as "My first and last" chance to train in a REAL Beya…no doubt as soon as I return home, my Father will find a way to chain me to a desk at Kuma Motors".

"Is that WHY you’re doing this then, is this what you’re trying to prove ??"

"That’s a quite a loaded question, Morgan…I think we ALL have our reasons for doing this……Look at who else has stayed, have you stopped to consider any of their reasons ??".

"WHY??, should I ??……Maybe I’ve got OTHER things on my mind!"

"So that’s why you’re sat out here sulking, gazing aimlessly up at the night sky…." Dai stooped to place the bowl of Chanko’ down close to Morgan, steaming in the crisp night air, it’s scent drifted up to tantalise the brooding bears nostrils. "My offer to go to the top floor of the Hotel Metropolitan tomorrow when practice is over for the day and you’ve finished your chores still stands you know….we don’t have to….You know’…..we can just talk !".

"You gonna invite Ruffert to, so it can be just like "The good ol’ days" ?" snarled Morgan, as he snatched up the bowl of food indignantly and began to eat.

"Sure…..why not…..if that’s what you want !"

"What….I…..want !?, why that’s VERY considerate of you !!".

"Hey !, what’s going on with you Bears ?".

"Oh….Hi, Dennis…." Muttered Dai’ and Morgan, as the Mawashi wearing Badger wandered towards them, "It’s personal…." Added the Panda.

"Hey, say no more..nudge,nudge..wink,wink…." chirped Dennis, guessing what they meant by that, "Look I don’t been to intrude or anything…only the Oyakata sent me out here to fetch the pair of you…he’s got an important announcement to make, apparently".

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"This is GREAT, the pair of you moving in together !" squealed the Female Otter excitedly, as she wandered into Billy’s place which they where "House sitting", while the Wombat was away.

"Thank, Mum…." Travis beamed, putting an arm out and drawing the cringing Bowser in close to him.

"I always knew and said you’d find yourself someone to settle down with eventually, didn’t I sweetheart…..Look, I’ve brought a cake to celebrate!". Opening the Plastic container, she peeled back the lid revealing a marzipan covered cake, decorated with a paper "Gay pride" triangle in the centre. Bowsers eyes budged and the Golden retriever just wished the ground would swallow him up, he gave the affectionate Sea Otter who's arm was still around him a pleading, slightly fearful look.

"Oh don't be like that, luvie….." Travis's mother beamed the same wide smile, her son often had, "I know ALL about you two, and don't have a problem with it……".

"UMMM, well…. My parents DON'T…..I…..I..I….I….I'd like to KEEP it that way, for a while longer, if that's alright", stammered the nervous Canine.

"Oh, so you're what they call "Straight acting"…..Well, don't worry, Luv'…my lips are sealed".

"You know me, though……" chipped in Travis, with a typically flamboyant guesture, "I'm more what might be called the "Obvious" type………'doubt I could keep it under my hat, if I tried……".

"Well, PLEASE do…at least TRY for my…or BOTH our sakes!" pleaded Bowser, as Travis's Mother busied herself cutting the cake into slices for each of them, on the nearby kitchen table.

"Yes, I'd listen to him if I where you….." advised the Otters Mother, as she placed each slice on a saucer, and handed the first one to Bowser. "You know what the gossip is like in this town….." she added, as she passed Travis a piece too, before scurrying back to the table to collect her own. "Yeah, Rev head and Colin aren't exactly what you'd call "Open minded" are they ??" hissed Bowser, still a little wary of Travis's mother as she was momentarily out of earshot.

"OHHHHH, Rev-head's long gone….and Colin's still in Japan with Ralph" scoffed Travis, dismissifully as he took a delicate bite out of his slice of cake.

"But that won’t be forever will it, they’ll probably be coming home before too long, Jethro’s only looking after Ralph’s Surf hire business for him, it’s not like he pulled up stakes to STAY in Japan, is it….??".

"I guess not" breathed Travis, as he brushed cake crumbs away from his whiskers, "Guess we’d better "Cross that bridge when we come to it".

Bowser just nodded solemnly, taking a bite out of his own piece of cake.

TO BE CONTINUED………….