Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 1 - Chapter 2.2

☖ BENEATH A SHOGI BOARD

“… Like I’ve been saying this whole time. This is all just an unfortunate accident, I’ve done nothing indecent! Nothing at all!”

I desperately try to explain, sitting on my heels in the tatami room (no floor cushion).

Big Sis says, “And?”

“And? Big Sis, are you really listening? I didn’t invite this girl inside, she just came in! Unannounced! By herself! From the north coast!”

“And?”

“You see, it’s like this! She’s the daughter of a family that hosts title matches at their inn, so I couldn’t just rudely kick her out because that would make the association look bad, yeah? So I let her stay here for the night, in a safe place.”

“And?”

“A-And you said it yourself, Big Sis. I needed someone to help me try out Cheerful Central Rook and Rook Corner Exchange, so——.”

“So you thought you’d try out a little girl too?”

“I certainly did not!!”

Big Sis looks at me like utter garbage as I plead my case, like she’s one step away from smearing my good name.

“I never said I’d take her as an apprentice, but I don’t see anything wrong with teaching her how to play!”

“Ohh? When did you become so intent on spreading your knowledge, Yaichi?”

“W-Well, I feel it’s my responsibility now that I have a title …”

As for Ai, she’s sitting on her ankles behind me, trying to stay out of sight. And, yes, fully clothed.

“… Hmph.”

To make matters worse, she doesn’t seem scared of Big Sis at all. Actually, she’s glaring at her like some kind of rival. Grade schoolers, fearless to a fault …

“Yaichi.”

Big Sis calls my name and points her fan toward the corner of the room.

“Bring that eight-and-a-half-inch Shogi board over here.”

“Sure …”

“Turn it over.”

“Like this?”

I flipped the board on its head with the legs sticking up.

There’s a strange looking depression between the four legs underneath. I can’t tell what she’s getting at. Ai, hiding behind my back, curiously peaks over my shoulder to look at the back of the board.

“Yaichi, what do the legs and board look like to you?”

“The legs? Umm … Well, they look kind of like a berry or fruit …?”

“A kuchinashi berry.”

“Kuchi … nashi?”

“It means no making excuses in front of a Shogi board!”

My head droops as I bite my lip.

Ai coming to my room, staying the night and coming out of the bathtub butt naked were all beyond my control and I did nothing wrong … But making all these excuses really is unbecoming of a pro Shogi player. We’re not allowed to “wait.”

Sure, Big Sis wasn’t happy that Ai was here overnight and naked on her arrival, but seeing me try to talk my way around it made her angry enough to use the Shogi board to put me in my place.

Shogi teaches everything worth knowing …

“There’s something else. See that divot in the middle?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Know what it’s for?”

“That I do not.”

“It’s called a blood catcher. It’s built that way so the floor doesn’t get dirty when you behead a cheating opponent during a match. So you don’t have to worry about that as I slice off your head and put it in there.”

That statement makes my mind go blank.

“You … you’re joking … right?”

“There are knives in the kitchen, right?”

“Please say you’re jokingggggggg!!”

What is this woman!? She wants to cut off her younger brother’s head!? That’s terrifying!!

“Stop it al-rea-dy!”

Ai’s voice blurts out from behind me, stopping Big Sis as she stands up to go get a blade, “Now, I don’t know what you are to Master! But I think you don’t have the right to do that to him!!”

Big Sis glares at the opponent who appeared in front of her. The grade schooler’s arms open like an intimidating anteater. With a what-is-this-creature? kind of look on her face Big Sis slowly asks, “…… You don’t know who I am? Playing Shogi, you don’t know?”

“Not a clue!!”

No hesitation, none at all! Panicking, I start to explain, “A-Ai. This wonderful woman here is my senior apprentice, like big sister … You could say she’s a member of my family.”

“Big sister …?”

“And she holds two women’s Shogi titles, Queen and the Women’s Throne—.”

“Queen ……?”

“Yes, that’s right. She’s a very important person, got it?”

“I, I got it!”

Ai starts trembling and points her finger directly at Big Sis.

“You’re … one of those domm-egg-trixes, aren’t you!?”

In that moment, a laugh—like a blown-up paper bag just exploded—bursts out of my throat.

Big Sis strikes the side of my face with her fan. Then, without a single shred of light in her gray eyes, she leans in and quietly asks, “… What’s so funny?”

“N-Nothing! S-S … sorr-gah hahahahahahaha?! Ouch! Hey, stop! That hurts!! Stop hitting me with your faaaaaannn!!”

“I, I knew it! You are one of them!”

“No I ain’t, blockhead!!”

Big Sis roars at Ai. It’s rare for her to get this worked up in front of anyone other than me.

Ai shrunk back for a moment, afraid of that forceful display. But …, “Stop hitting Master! Abuse is bad! I’m against physical punishment!”

“I’m not punishing him.”

“Then what would you call this!?”

“A treat?”

That day Big Sis started talking like a dominatrix.

“It’s still a no-no! I came here to learn how to play Shogi from Master and to make him my Master!!”

“Shut up, brat.”

“I’m not a brat! I’ve got a name, Ai Hinatsuru!!”

“That right. Brat! Your voice is annoying, so just shut up, okay?”

Big Sis waves her fan around like she’s swatting flies.

“Mmhhh …!” Ai angrily puffs out her cheeks before suddenly flashing a grin. Then she looks up at Big Sis like the cutest little angel.

“Dara.”

“Huh?”

“Darabuchi.”

“… Hey, Yaichi. What’s Brat trying to say?”

“Beats me ……”

Maybe it’s something from her hometown in Ishikawa? I really have no idea.

Sighing to herself, Big Sis sits back down on the floor cushion.

That being a step in the right direction, it doesn’t mean her mood has improved or she’s going to let me off the hook.

It seems like Ai calling me Master really rubs her the wrong way. She’s been bending her fingers one by one each time it’s happened since we came in here, like she’s keeping track. I have a good eye for the little things.

“Oh, Ai. Can I have a word with you?”

“What is it, Master?”

“Can you please stop calling me Master?”

“Huh? Okay, then what should I call you?”

“… Come up with that yourself.”

Big Sis is getting ticked off at this grade schooler, so it’s up to me, panicked as I am, to defuse the situation.

“Sensei or Ryuo is just fine. Call me anything you like other than Master.”

“I like …? Hee-hee,” Ai grins, eyes sparkling with hands cupped against her cheeks. It’s the face of a kid in a candy store, standing in front of the counter saying, “There are so many, I couldn’t possibly choose one!”

It’s been a long time since the room was this quiet. So I reach for my cup and take a sip of tea. Big Sis opens her fan, unyielding written on the side, and she starts waving it at her face.

Finally, Ai looks up at me and says very cautiously, “O-Okay ……… Big Brother Yaichi♡”

Tea flies out of my nose.

“W-Why Big Brother of all things!?”

“Because I’ve always wanted a big brother!”

“… Fine. Master it is. Please call me Master.”

“So it’s okay!? Yay! Yay!”

Crick, crack.

Wondering what just happened, I turn to face the weird sound and … Big Sis snapped her fan in half. Unyielding has broken.

“…… I’m going.”

“Um, Big Sis? Going where ……?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Tossing the broken bamboo and paper across the tatami floor, Naniwa’s Snow White looked as though she were seeking revenge on the stepmother that fed her a poison apple as she declared, “Master’s house.”