38.ii The Divine Cave of Three Stars

~ Sun Ritsu ~

Bodhi met up with Ham Song and Sun Ritsu at the Divine Cave of Three Stars stadium. When Ritsu saw the monk emerging from the parking lot and onto the crowded stadium grounds, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders. Thanks to Surina’s meddling, Bodhi was essentially on parole until the tournament was over. If Ritsu’s party ranked in the final three at the end, then Bodhi’s sentence would be shortened. If Ritsu happened to beat everyone he went up against, the Kawaii Village Federal Court would pardon Bodhi.

For that reason, Sun Ritsu aimed to win.

((This strong will of determination and drive beating in your chest right now is more like it, Ri-kun!))

By now, Ritsu had surmised that whenever the Rod referred to him like that, it meant that he was pleased with him. Ritsu wasn’t used to the Golden-Hooped Rod expressing approval. He didn’t hate it, but…

“Does this mean that I can rely on you to actually help me win this thing?” Ritsu asked under his breath so that his approaching companions wouldn’t catch him talking to himself.

((That all depends on you, Ri-kun.))

“Why the long face, Sun Ritsu?”

The question came from Bodhi, who had decided to show up in gray sweats as opposed to their more traditional monastic robes.

A season of sobriety left the monk looking sharper in their expression, but more tired too.

Bodhi was keeping things casual, but Ritsu couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed to have a word with them. Sober or not, it didn’t change the fact that when under the right amount of pressure, Bodhi would act in a way that sometimes didn’t serve everyone’s best interests — including their own.

Sun Ritsu saved his worries for later. Scratching the back of his head, he answered Bodhi’s question honestly.

“I’m just a little nervous. This place is huge and I have no idea where we’re supposed to go or how we sign up.”

Sun Ritsu could have sworn he saw smoke leave Ham Song’s nostrils. The fiery-tempered pig flared up at Bodhi and spat, “Since you’re Ritsu’s trainer, you were supposed to have all of this stuff taken care of by now. Sun Surina gave you all of the information, right?”

Bodhi turned slightly away from the pig and folded their arms. “Yeah, but this stuff can’t be too hard to figure out. I mean, we’re here aren’t we?”

Ham Song’s dark eyes boiled. “You sloth-proned human wraith!”

Ritsu was about to break up yet another quarrel between these two, when someone else jogged up to them, holding up pamphlets and laminated passes.

“Good morning, Team Lemon Lime!”

Ritsu had never been so happy to see Seven’s golden-toothed smile. Bodhi and Ham Song were struck with bewildered looks as Seven greeted them brightly and started handing out passes and room keys.

“Sorry, forgot to introduce you to our sponsor. This is Sun Seven.” Ristu said as he gave the other sun clone a grateful smile. He used the exchange to lift the final room key from Seven before it could end up in Bodhi’s hands.

Ham Song released a happy breath. “We get our own rooms! No more dumpster diving for busted paper spaces.”

When Bodhi noticed that Ritsu was holding onto two sets of keys, they arched an eyebrow in his direction, but the sun clone was already pointing up the broad set of steps leading inside the stadium.

Ritsu went on ahead. He walked through a tunnel of concrete and onto a lush but tightly groomed lawn. When he looked overhead, he saw a sea of stars. Some of the true sky was visible thanks to a lateral opening that stretched the entire length of the dome.

Everything from the ceiling to the ground level was all sleek curves and spotless interior. Starlight danced across every surface, never blinking in the same spot twice. This light of distant worlds competed against the strong flood lights overhead. The brightness of the old and the new were at war with each other.

Dear Traveler, this was the upgraded replica of the Divine Cave of Three Stars.

And our hero was standing inside of it.

It was an incredible feeling, really. Much like how Ritsu felt when he entered the Hall of Perfect Light. It’s just unfortunate that he could not truly bask and soak in all of this legendary atmosphere due to the overwhelming number of teams and contestants whom he shared the space with.

The other three came up behind him, muttering softly among themselves about the state of Ritsu’s competition. Many of the contestants were already giving off a faint glow — one of those clear physical manifestations of the strength behind their spiritual energy.

“Uhhh,” Seven groaned as he assessed the congested lawn, “Looks like we’ve got some time until the opening ceremonies. We should check into our hotel rooms and come back.”

Taking Ritsu by the arm, Seven added, “Plus, I’ve got something special for you, Lemon Lime poster child. Let’s go.”

As they made their way across the lawn to the resort located across the parking lot on the opposite side of the arena, Ritsu took in the sight of what was likely to be his future opponents. He got that impression because they were all emitting a warm glow. Not unlike how our clueless hero did when he drank a can of peach soda pop before pursuing Sailor Sun in the abandoned theme park.

When it came to the teams surrounding these competitors – the sponsors and coaches – Ritsu noticed a fair number of oxen as well as tigers. Many of the teams were larger than Ritsu’s piss poor party. These full-fledged entourages were loaded with dogs, elementals, tree spirits, and to Ritsu’s surprise, sheep.

While Sun Ritsu knew of the existence of sheep spirits, he had never seen one pass through the old noodle shop. It’s not that they were rare like fox spirits or elusive like the luminaries; they just had a reputation for not wasting their time anywhere they deemed unproductive or meaningless. With their functional eyewear and robust horns, every sheep present looked as if they meant business.

There were additional sun clones roaming about that were not glowing, but still appeared in on the action. The roles they played must have been similar to Seven’s.

Once at the hotel, Seven handed Ritsu a package wrapped in plastic. “Try it on and let me know if I need to make any adjustments.”

With that, the clone was off to find his room. Ritsu and Bodhi went with Ham Song to open the door to his room since he couldn’t handle a key between his hooves and the keylock was too high for him to reach. Once the porker was settled in, Ritsu and Bodhi were alone in the hallway.

“So are you going to let me have my key, or what?” Bodhi asked as they crossed their arms.

Ritsu didn’t want to have to do this, but…

“No.” He turned on his heel and headed towards his room.

Bodhi followed, their uncertainty hitting Ritsu’s back in waves. They muttered an exasperated why under their breath as they tried to keep up.

Ritsu set his jaw, squeezed the room key in his palm and pressed forward.

“Because you’re sleeping in my room. With me.”