Bakeneko

Roppo has feelings?

Coming from one of the female students this statement kind of took me off guard.

Of course I have feelings, but after more consideration I could see how she felt that way.

Her mirror of me was only through the dojo, and what did that reflect?

As uchi-deshi I was always used as uke by the teacher.

Get hit, get up.

Get thrown, get up.

Up.

Down.

No expression one way of the other, why would there be, as this is budo.

Told to do something I did it.

I was there at the dojo to train and nothing else.

So, in a way I could understand her perception.

The teacher only paused for a moment, spending a few seconds looking at my hands, before I walked on the mat.

The other students eyes lingered a bit longer, a few looked away pretending not to notice.

My best friend in the dojo Seb’s eyes widened and I knew we were going to have a conversation after class.

Training was barely over and we were still in our uniforms when Seb came over and put his arm around me demanding to know how many of them there were.

I played it off as if I didn’t know what he was talking about, as he pointed to my face in the mirror on the wall. I just laughed which only pressed him harder.

It was a fresh deep cut, across my forehead and my eyebrow.

Swollen and purple.

He continued to press for details, and I told him jokingly that if the teacher found out what really happened I’d probably be removed from the dojo.

By the time I had changed out of my uniform, and put away the swords and training gear to head over to the coffee shop with the rest of the students the number had increase from one guy jumping me to at least three.

Seb just took it and ran with it.

At the coffee shop it was nice to have some aura for once, a little mystery for the evening as I refused to tell Seb what had happened.

When the night ended and we were all walking back to the dojo I hung back from the group knowing the teacher was going to want to talk to me.

Did I want to tell him what really happened?

OK.

When I got home last night I jumped into bed but my cat was on the bed. I scared it and it attacked me and cut my face.

A cat?

A cat.

I remarked that while I didn’t say anything to Seb or the other students, if I did they wouldn’t have believed me anyway.