After a quick dinner at the University’s cafeteria, Sakamo got into the car that his bodyguard called for him, and went straight to the National Stadium. As soon as the car stopped near one entrance that was marked as ‘service entry’, Sakamo got out and told the driver to go, even with the driver arguing that he had to accompany him since Sakamo gave his bodyguard the day off. Sakamo left him shouting and went away, disappearing among the crowd.
Sakamo grabbed his phone when he felt it vibrating in his pocket. “Hello, Sakamo Ryu here… Oh, Hangaku-chan! Yes, I am here. I just arrived. Yes, I am near that entrance. Wait a minute… No, I don’t see you. Wait, I see Shintaro-chan seated on top of the shoulders of Tadasaburo-kun! Okay, I will go there.”
He walked among the crowd that was gathered near the service entrance, perhaps in an attempt to see the singers up close. As soon as he joined his classmates, Hangaku Mae clung to his arm with a big smile. “Do you believe in all these people? I bet the Stadium will be completely full! We were just waiting for you. Hojo-chan talked with one member of the staff, and he gave the backstage passes to all of us. Here is yours! Come on, I want to see everything that happens behind the curtains!”
Sakamo put around his neck the string with the pass and followed the others to the service entrance. A group of seriously looking bouncers took a careful look at the passes they were all carrying, and a big man opened the door for them with a frown. As the group entered, he mumbled, “Another band of leeches… I don’t know how Tomoe-chan accepts these things…”
Sakamo stopped near him and said, “I also don’t know why she gave a job to you, considering how rude you are. Perhaps it was because she was always so kind ever since she was little. I told her over and over to choose wisely the people around her.”
Hangaku pulled Sakamo while wondering why he stopped so suddenly, and the bouncer looked at his back, thinking about what that boy said because he seemed to know Tomoe-chan very well.
In the corridor after the door, there was an assistant already waiting for them, who guided them to an empty area at the left side of the stage, where sixteen empty chairs were waiting for them, with a bag full of merchandise for each of them. The assistant left and returned soon after, bringing bottles of water and boxes of cookies that he began distributing.
Sakamo was happily chatting with his overly excited classmates, who still didn’t believe their luck when the sound of music called their attention.
Tomiko Hari screamed, excited to see a famous group passing near them and waving at her. She grabbed Takechi’s arm and pointed at the group that was going onto the stage. “It’s them! Oh, I love their music! I have all their albums!”
Takechi endured the screams near his left ear and Tomiko’s fingernails on his arm, and forced a smile, thinking that if she was like that just by seeing them, as soon as that group sang, his arm was going to be destroyed.
The crowd in the Stadium went wild and screams and clapping filled the air. As the group was singing, Tomiko was also singing every song, having the best time of her life.
By the middle of their performance, the assistant returned, searching for Sakamo.
Hojo Masako pointed at him, and the assistant approached. “Sakamo-san, I need you to follow me. Tomoe-chan told me to take you to another room to change.”
Sakamo nodded and got up, with a curious Hangaku Mae staring at him. “Where are you going? Don’t you dare escape from me!”
“I will return when Tomoe-chan sings. It seems she prepared something for me.”
Sakamo followed the assistant, with Hangaku looking at him leaving without knowing why he left her, and mumbling, “Better if he is not going to chase Tomoe-chan choir girls…”
As for Sakamo, he entered the room the assistant pointed at him and nodded after hearing him say, “I will knock on the door to take you to the stage when the time comes. Get dressed and relax for a while.”
When the door closed, Sakamo looked at the ninja suit on a hanger on the wall, with weapons nearby. He quickly and skilfully changed and sat on the floor with his legs crossed, meditating while he waited.
…
When the crowd was still clapping after the performance of the opening group, the lights blinked, and a show of changing lights began announcing, as in each of her performances, Tomoe-chan, the famous teenage singer with an angelic voice.
The crowd shouted her name, and as the lights stopped blinking, the main holophote pointed to the left side of the stage. Shubuyaky Tomoe walked to the middle of the metallized floor, with the holophote following every step. She had her normally loose hair tied in a low ponytail and dressed in a flourish red Yukata. She waved at the crowd that was clapping and shouting her name, surprised by seeing her in such formal clothing, instead of her normal short skirt and glittered blouse.
Shubuyaky Tomoe grabbed the microphone on the stand and greeted her audience with a smile, “Hello everyone, thanks for coming here! I don’t know about you, but I like all of those songs! They are one of my favourite bands!”
The crowd clapped at her words, and shouts and girlish screams filled the Stadium. At that point, Tomoe waited for the noise to diminish and continued, “My first performance was at one of my home City festivals, Nakanojo, and at that time, I dreamed of one day filling the National Stadium. Today, I accomplished that dream, so for that, I thank you all!”
Tomoe made a deep bow and continued, with her face glowing with happiness, “As a way to thank everyone for being here, I am going to tell you a few personal things about me that I never let anyone know except my family and my closest friends. My father is a High School History Teacher, and when I was born, he thought of a strong female name to give to his beloved daughter, me. He called me Shubuyaky Tomoe, after the ancient female warrior, Tomoe Gozen. My father taught me since I was born to live an honourable life and to be as strong as I could be. I have been living until now, according to his advice.”
More clapping interrupted her, and Tomoe continued after waving at the crowd, asking for silence. Another question I am frequently asked is how I am able to maintain this figure when no one has ever seen me in a gym and I am often spotted eating whatever I find tasty without worrying about becoming a little fat. The truth is, I have been training in Martial Arts since I was five years old. Depending on my schedule, I practise for a minimum of one hour to a maximum of three hours every single day, without fail, either as soon as I wake up or before I go to sleep. Because today is a special day for me, I prepared a special demonstration. Kids, don’t try this unless you are trained! Some things I am about to do are extremely dangerous!”
Shubuyaky Tomoe carried the stand with the microphone to the back of the stage and returned to the front. She faced the left side and assumed a defensive stance by spreading her legs and lowering her body.
That caused the opening of the sides of her Yukata, showing off her muscular legs that always impressed her male fans. She made a fist with her right hand close to her waist and an open left palm facing forward. All the lights on the stage turned on, and everyone saw a man dressed in the well-known ninja black suit, running towards Tomoe.
From the right side of the stage, two of the biggest bouncers ran to prevent him from reaching Tomoe, and when they were in range, the crowd saw the dark ninja easily avoiding them by jumping onto the shoulders of one of them and knee-kicking his head. Then, with a fast somersault in the air, he gave a head kick to the other, sending him flying off the stage. That made the bouncer land on the empty space after the edge, completely knocked out.
As the crowd was shouting for Tomoe to run away, she held her ground in the same defensive stance. The dark ninja ran to her and jumped, aiming a kick at her forehead. Tomoe deflected the kick with her left hand as she took one quick step to the right and aimed a punch with her right fist at her attacker’s groins, who barely had time to stop it with his left hand. He rolled on the floor as he landed, and tried to swipe Tomoe’s feet, which she avoided by jumping towards him and throwing a downward kick to his head. The ninja rolled on the floor, and Tomoe’s kick hit the floor, but she used that momentum to roll her body while putting one hand on the floor and kicking with her other foot. The dark ninja made a cross with his arms over his chest as protection, but the strength of Tomoe’s kick was more than enough to send him flying in the air for two meters, and he rolled back, landing on one knee and facing her.
Tomoe took her defensive stance again, and the crowd went wild. Clapping and cheering for Tomoe-chan echoed around, but they quickly stopped as they saw the dark ninja slowly getting up and walking backwards, leaving the stage. The crowd gasped as he returned with a spear with a strange sword-like tip, enveloped in a leather sheath, and carrying a katana in his other hand.
The dark ninja approached and threw at Tomoe’s head the spear, which she skilfully grabbed in mid-air and removed the leather sheath in a quick movement. She moved the spear around her and landed the end of the pole on the ground behind her, with the sword tip pointing forward. On the other side of the stage, the dark ninja grabbed the hilt of his katana with both hands and held the sword diagonally to his body, getting ready for the next move.
Tomoe squeezed the pole of her spear and frowned, getting ready for what was coming her way. Suddenly, the ninja ran, and skilfully avoided the spear’s sword, and for two minutes, they exchanged powerful blows that sent sparks of metal into the air every time they hit the metallized floor. The entire Stadium was in silence, with the crowd hypnotised by the fight.
Then, in one sudden movement, the ninja threw a side slash at Tomoe, who used the pole to deflect the katana, as she twisted her body to make the dangerous tip of her spear aim at the ninja’s head. He avoided it by crouching and threw a forward attack at Tomoe’s stomach, making her jump back to avoid being disembowelled.
Tomoe swallowed and mumbled, “He was not joking, he is really trying to kill me. If I am not careful, this will not end well and my concert will be ruined… Crazy dumbass…”
Tomoe positioned the pole’s tip to her left, with the spear pointing up. She held the spear’s pole with her left hand as she was slowly bowing to her attacker without averting her eyes. The dark ninja jumped up and returned the bow, with his sword in his left armpit. He then stood straight again and waited.
She went for the microphone and addressed the silent crowd while pointing with her open palm at the ninja. “As you may have noticed, I almost died a few times, and I almost took his head off with my counterattacks. In the beginning, I used Karate, and he used Jujutsu. This spear is my beloved Naginata, a gift from my Master over there when I was very young. His sword skills are extremely dangerous, and I only did this demonstration because I was certain I would survive. If I made a mistake, I knew he would have prevented his sword from hitting me, but just in case, I made sure not to make a mistake! I am sorry for those two security guys. I think someone forgot to tell them what was going to happen. Let me introduce to you all, my Master Ryu!”
The dark ninja made a deep bow, and a round of applause echoed through the Stadium. He then approached Tomoe, and while hugging her, he whispered, “You could have avoided saying my name, you know? Now sing. Everyone came here to hear your beautiful voice, right?”
Tomoe whispered back, “Thanks for this. It was amazing. You could have lowered the danger a bit, you know? If I got hurt, my concert would be ruined! Can you take the weapons? I need to catch my breath and get ready!”
Sakamo grabbed the spear and picked up the leather sheath from the floor. He made another deep bow to Tomoe and another one to the audience and left the stage. She was making a deep bow to him as he left, and she only addressed the crowd when Sakamo stepped off the stage.
“Now that was dangerous! I told him we should fight for real, but he almost disembowelled me! If anyone has any doubts that we previously rehearsed this, I can promise it was not. We never rehearse, and we are always trying to hurt each other during our fights. I have a couple of scars to prove that, believe me! Lucky for me, none of them is in a place that hinders my photo shooting sessions. Well, most of them, because I have two that I have to disguise with makeup when I pose in a bikini! My manager is always trying to convince me to do some surgery to get rid of them, but my scars remind me of all the sweat and pain I endured to own my skills. I also have some pretty good memories from when I got my scars! Now, with no more delays, let’s start this show!”