That morning, before the bout.

Research Journal #011 | Thursday evening, October 8, 2026 | Shiori

I was having tea after dinner and reading about Aonishiki. On the morning of Day 7 of the September tournament, a message had arrived on LINE from Ajigawa, his stablemaster.

“You’re better than this, aren’t you?”

Oh. That was the day.

The day his three-bout losing streak ended. Against Atamifuji, wasn’t it?

I put down my phone and opened the notebook on my desk. A few pages back from my notes on shiko, I found Aonishiki’s results—the first thing I’d looked into here.

A little before that win.

Beside Day 7 was Atamifuji’s name and a white circle marking the win. More circles followed, all the way through Day 14. Eight wins in a row.

The first time I looked at this, my question was, “Who was he facing when the losing streak ended?” So I’d written down the opponent and the result first.

Tonight, I keep thinking about something that happened a little before that circle.

Those words had reached him that very morning.

After Day 6, his record was 3–3. The message came on the morning of Day 7. His win over Atamifuji that day began the run that took him to 11–3 on Day 14. Put in that order, there was something else to add just before the line I’d drawn beneath “eight straight wins.”

I put a little star by Day 7. In the margin: “A message from his stablemaster that morning.”

Now I want to watch it again.

Aonishiki said those words spurred him on. I even caught myself wondering what he’d written back. That part, I don’t know.

But now I know what was said to him.

“You’re better than this” can mean someone still believes you have more in you. That’s the part that got me.

So those words had helped him, too. I found myself following those eight white circles again, right from the beginning.

But I wanted Atamifuji to win on Day 7 as well. I’m still a little torn about that. Ha.

Not a single circle on the results sheet has changed. But my finger lingers a little longer at Day 7 now.

The loss on the final day is still there, too. So is the final 11–4 record. Learning this story doesn’t neatly smooth away the parts that felt disappointing.

Still, I want another look at the beginning of those eight wins.

I added today’s date in the margin. There wasn’t much space before the line I’d drawn earlier, so I made the writing a little smaller.

I’d only meant to add one line tonight. Somehow, I’ve ended up underlining Atamifuji’s name on Day 7 again.