Chapter 6: A Hellish Day.

The first day learning Tigeriha-style ancient dance, Ishikawa Yuka was forced to wear a kimono and, accompanied by her mother, arrived at the Tigeriha dojo.

“Master Tigeriha, please take care of me.”

“Absolutely not. Today I will start teaching you properly from here.”

Right after she entered and bowed, these words hit her head-on.

“Please take care of her, Teacher. Yuka! Do your best!”

Her mother sat down at the side to watch.

It looked like she planned to watch her entire training today.

This way, there was no way to do any martial arts training.

“Don’t look around! Watch closely. First I will teach you standing posture and sitting posture.
Move your right foot back half a step. Kneel on one knee.
Put both feet together. Sit with your hips on your heels.
Then arrange your clothes. Understand?”

“Yes, Master Tigeriha.”

“Good. Do it once.”

Yuka did as instructed. Step back, kneel, put the feet together, sit, arrange the clothes.
Very simple.

“No. Completely wrong!”

“Eh!?”

What was wrong?
Why?
Sitting down is something everyone does the same, isn’t it?

“Watch closely! I’ll do it again, watch carefully! Like this!”

Master Tigeriha completed the sitting posture with clean and sharp movement.
So she had to do it as cleanly and sharply as the master?

“Like this?”

“No! Completely wrong!”

Why?
Where was it wrong?
She didn’t understand at all!

“Straighten your back! You stepped back too far!
One knee down! Sit with both knees together!
Finally arrange your clothes!”

Uwaa!!!!
It was completely confusing now.
Where exactly was it wrong?
Isn’t this fine already?

“It must be more graceful! It must flow like water!”

She didn’t understand at all. What was the difference? Where was the mistake?
What was different between her movement and the master’s?
She had no clue.
No matter what she did, it was rejected completely.

Again and again, she only repeated the sitting practice…
What meaning did this practice even have?

“Enough. Stop here for now. Next is standing posture.
Just do the opposite of sitting. Lift one knee, stand straight, draw back your foot.”

“Like this…”

“No!

How many times do I have to say it! First straighten your back! Don’t lower your head!
You stepped back too far! Do it again!”

Why, why～?

She didn’t understand at all!

“Do your best, Yuka!”

Her mother’s cheer came, but after that, Yuka never received any praise from the master.

****

Again and again, she only repeated standing up and sitting down. Endless repetition.

What was this? Her mother was watching on the side the whole time.

Wouldn’t she get bored?

And her legs hurt. Not numbness, but pure muscle overuse. Anyone would get tired holding a half-squat posture constantly. That was the repeated movement she was doing.

It was natural her knees became weak.

“Enough! Your knees are weak and you can’t stand steadily anyway.
Next. Next is bowing.”

Bowing… Even this action needed practice?
Just standing up and sitting down already took so much time…
If they only did this, her mother would eventually get angry, right?

Thinking this, Yuka secretly glanced at her mother.
But she found her mother was watching attentively, even mimicking the movements at times.

Was this really fine? Was this what training meant?

And her mother was secretly practicing too.

Mother… If you want to learn, why don’t you sign up yourself?
You have money and time anyway.

“Press your left hand on your belt. Take out the fan with your right hand. Place the fan handle facing right in front. Support with both hands and bow.”

This should be simple, right?
Yuka copied the master’s movements, took out the fan, placed it in front, then bowed.

“How is it?”

“Completely wrong! You must hold and place the fan so the fan axis is covered!”

Eh…You didn’t say that earlier… And what was the fan axis?

“The hand position is wrong! Your thumb and index finger must form a triangle!”

You didn’t say that earlier!
Wasn’t this something added afterward?

“The thumb must be hidden!”

Ugh! Then say that earlier!

“Straighten your back!”

Seriously—! She didn’t care anymore!
With so many sudden instructions, who could understand? And requirements kept being added afterward!
No matter what she did, it would be denied anyway, right?

“Hmm…Are you dissatisfied?”

“No, nothing…”

Of course she had complaints inside! Forced to repeat these meaningless actions…
And no matter how hard she tried it would be completely denied…

This wasn’t what she wanted to learn…

“Etiquette rules run through everything.
Whether dance, ancient dance, or martial arts, all arts from ancient to modern begin with courtesy and end with courtesy.
To bow sincerely is natural in everything. If you can’t even do this, then go home.
People who do not understand manners have no future. Everything they do is wasted effort.”

“…I am very sorry. It was my fault.”

Yuka lowered her head honestly and apologized. The master spoke with reason.
Whether judo, kendo, or any martial art, it was the same.

Everything started with courtesy and ended with courtesy.
Bowing was not simply lowering the head or saying a few words.
It was to express respect toward the other person and praise for their effort.

It was not something like “This is good enough” or “Just follow the form”.
It required repeated practice without impatience until truly mastered.

Not “This should be fine”, “What is still wrong”…

The thing that wasn’t done well… was her heart…

“Hm… It seems you understand. Good! Then continue!”

“Yes! Master Tigeriha!”

After that, Yuka once again started the endless standing, sitting, and bowing practice.

****

“Yuka is really serious. It was truly good to entrust her to Master Tigeriha.” After returning home, her mother kept repeating this.

Now at the dinner table, she was still endlessly telling her father about today’s training at Tigeriha.
Even though it was only repeated standing, sitting, and bowing, there shouldn’t be much to say, but her mother’s mouth didn’t stop.

The same topic repeated over and over. Even her father looked helpless.

“Oh, very impressive, Yuka.”

“Big brother.”

Hearing her mother’s narration, her older brother also praised her.

But was this really worth praising?
It was only standing, sitting, and bowing…

“Since you’re so amazing, let Dad see.”
Perhaps tired of the repeated topic, her father turned the conversation toward her.
Her mother also looked at her expectantly, as if saying “Show it quickly.”
But what she practiced today, no matter how many times, was only standing, sitting, and bowing…

“I am still far from the level where I can show it to others…”

“Oh~ Yuka is very modest.”

“Father… Did you not hear what Mother said? What I learned today was only standing, sitting, and bowing…Anyone can do that…”

Even lively Yuka learned humility! Entrusting her to Master Tigeriha was indeed right!
Her mother said the same line again…
That old man was quite a strange person…

But this situation was bad…
If her mother accompanied her every time, she wouldn’t be able to do any other training.
At this rate she would really only master Tigeriha-style ancient dance.
She had to find a way to separate from her mother.

…But that could be thought about slowly.
She couldn’t think of a good idea now.
And perhaps her mother would follow the first time, but eventually she’d get bored.
Her mother usually had various social events, often invited out by friends…

Anyway, she was too tired today, better to sleep early…

****

Today she came to the ultra-high-end fitness club “Grande”.
This was not only her mother’s membership club, but also a place wealthy ladies frequented.
In this place, high-society socializing couldn’t be underestimated.
If she didn’t blend into this circle, she might encounter many troubles in the future.

Among a group of rich wives, Yuka entered the changing room and put on a swimsuit.
Although she could see their dazzling naked bodies, unfortunately she had no interest.
If they were young, beautiful girls, she might pay money to observe carefully, but seeing these rich wives, she wished they paid her.

Considering her young age, doing too much muscle training might not be good, so she decided to focus mainly on swimming.

“Teacher Toyama, please take care of me.”

“Alright, please take care of me.”

Her coach was a male named Toyama Atsushi. Unfortunately, he was a man, which disappointed her.

But Teacher Toyama seemed very popular in this fitness club. Well, his popularity wasn’t incomprehensible.

Teacher Toyama had a solid, good physique. Of course a coach being fat would lack persuasiveness, but his body was clearly well-trained. And it wasn’t the unnatural mass-building of a bodybuilder, but the trained body of a swimmer, without excessive unnecessary muscle.

He had a gentle personality, taught patiently, plus a young handsome face and solid body, so being popular among rich wives was natural.

Of course, Yuka had zero interest in men.

Teacher Toyama had a great body, so he must be very disciplined in his own training and body management.

Without proper diet, proper rest, and proper exercise, it was impossible to reach such a state.
If he indulged in food, his body would loosen, and without training he couldn’t maintain that shape.

From that point, he was worth respect and trust. But was he good at teaching? Was he suitable for managing others? These things could not be known without personally seeing and experiencing.

“Wait, Teacher Toyama! What is this!?”

“These are armbands and a swimming float belt. Wear these to swim.”

“Wait, wait, wait!”

Her arms were fitted with small float rings, and her waist wrapped with a float belt.
Weren’t these used to prevent toddlers from drowning?
I don’t need these.

“Teacher Toyama! I don’t need this! Wearing this will only hinder swimming!”

Wearing such things only made swimming harder.

“Hmm… Although you say this, toddlers must wear these to enter the pool… You may not understand… This is something everyone must wear at first. So once Yuka learns to swim, we will slowly remove them, okay?”

Ugh… It had turned completely into a toddler swimming class…

Even her PE teacher once asked her “Have you learned swimming?”

Although she never actually learned! But her speed wasn’t that bad…

“Then Teacher Toyama, please let me swim without the floats first, with you assisting beside me.
If I can’t swim, I will wear the floats.”

“Hmm~~~~ But… what if there is an accident…”

That was true.
From Teacher Toyama’s position, worrying about accidents was natural.
But wearing armbands made swimming impossible.
She could only float.
That was meaningless.

“After learning to swim, don’t you remove the floats to practice?
Then if I can already swim, there’s no problem, right?”

“Hmm~~~~ Alright.”
“Alright, Yuka.”
“Let’s try once.”
“If you can’t swim, you must obediently wear the armbands and float belt, okay?”

“Yes! Thank you, Teacher!”

Great! Speaking up was correct! For the teacher it might be troublesome, but if she could swim, it would reduce unnecessary burden.

Even with floats, teaching a child who couldn’t swim was hard.
If the student could swim a little, the teacher could feel more at ease.

“Then swim about 25 meters.”

“Ah! Yuka… that’s impossible… I will be ready to support you anytime, so enter from there and swim as far as you can.”

Fair.

For a child’s stamina, 25 meters was too much.

Not only lack of stamina, each stroke moved only a little distance. Not only lacking the stamina to finish 25 meters, moving forward required several times the effort.

Like walking with small steps required more steps and was more tiring and slower.

With the teacher’s assistance, Yuka entered the water and swam.

Even swimming freestyle barely advanced.

Ten strokes, twenty strokes, she didn’t move much.

“Impressive, Yuka! Isn’t it better to learn at a proper swimming school?”

After showing her swimming clearly and convincing Teacher Toyama, Yuka finally could swim without floats.
Hearing Teacher Toyama’s words, Yuka also thought, she wanted to go to a swimming school instead of a fitness club.

Unfortunately her mother didn’t allow her to go to such a place.

When Yuka finished training with Teacher Toyama and returned, her mother still hadn’t done any training and was still chatting enthusiastically with the rich wives.