Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 11 - Chapter 3.1

  POOR GIRL

“Looks kind of weak.”

That was my impression of him on first sight, and nothing more.

After playing against him myself, I was certain of it. I dominated the whole match. Strangely, he seemed happy that he lost. And he kept calling me a ghost.

“Pretty weak in the head, too.”

I thought he was a poor kid.

My body was weak, and I had been called a poor girl my whole life. That’s why I hated being called poor.

I only stopped being called a poor girl …… after I happened to be introduced to a certain game.

Apparently I was around two years old the first time I touched the pieces.

I say apparently …… because I don’t remember much from that far back.

However I do remember exactly who taught me how to play.

“Ginko. Let’s play a new game today.”

Dr. Akashi had always been in charge of taking care of me.

Born with a frail body, I’d spent almost all my life in the hospital. But I never felt lonely. Dr. Akashi was always so kind and other children were with me in the hospital every single day.

We were strictly forbidden from doing anything strenuous.

So we spent our days doing one of two things: reading books by ourselves or playing a game with someone.

Except games got boring very quickly. The first few times were fun, but I lost interest after figuring out that luck had a big part in determining the winner.

Then, around the time when I was only reading books on my own, Dr. Akashi brought that game to me.

“This game here is called Shogi.”

“Shogi?”

“That’s right. It’s a game for two people. So let’s play.”

He took a portable magnetic Shogi board out of the pocket of his white lab coat and unfolded it on my bed. Then Dr. Akashi showed me each of the small pieces and explained what they did.

“This one here is the King. Lose it, and you lose the game. This piece is called the Rook and that one is the Bishop. This is a Gold and that one’s a–––.”

“Silver?”

“Oh! Yes, that’s right. I’m impressed, Ginko.”

It had the same Chinese character as my name written on it: gin.

I liked Shogi right away.

Because, after all, no other game had a piece with my name in it.

Dr. Akashi really must have loved Shogi because he taught everyone in the hospital how to play. Poor kids just like me played it all the time and plenty of them were much stronger than I was.

I became taken with it. The rules were so simple, and yet I could never figure it out completely no matter how hard I tried. There was almost no luck involved. I’d never seen a game like that before.

“Mommy. Buy me a Shogi book.”

My mother went to the bookstore and bought what she said was their bestseller. The man on the cover had glasses and a permanent case of bed head.

It was too complicated for me to understand at the time, but seeing me read it seemed to send Dr. Akashi on a trip down memory lane.

“Oh! That’s a good book you have there, Ginko. It was written by a god.”

“A god?”

“That’s right. For people who play Shogi, like me, that man is a god among men.”

Dr. Akashi was too busy to play with me very often, but he always let me win when we did and he taught me new strategies.

“Ranging …… Rook?”

“That’s right. The Rook ranges around the board, sliding left and right. That’s why it’s called Ranging Rook,” he said, sliding his Rook back and forth and sounding like he was enjoying himself.

“My best friend is extremely good at using Ranging Rook. His worldliness on a Shogi board is beautiful. Each move is so vivid, you can’t even tell that your defenses are falling apart ……”

“Worldliness?”

“How can I explain it? …… He wins before you know it, almost like casting a magic spell. I can’t do half the things he does, but I can show you what it looks like.”

That day Dr. Akashi played differently than he usually did, and it was the first time he didn’t let me win.

From that day on, I hated Ranging Rook with a passion.

After two years of playing Shogi …

I’d become the strongest in the hospital.

Part of it was that I’d gotten stronger, but …… all the poor kids who were stronger than me weren’t at the hospital anymore.

Even so, I was never bored. Opponents were easy to find over the Internet.

Then one day a man came to the hospital.

“Ohh …… This kiddo here?”

“Yes, Sensei. While she is already extremely intelligent compared to other children her age, I’m certain that she’s a prodigy when it comes to Shogi. She could probably hold her own in the Women’s League as it is now and surpass it soon enough.”

The person who Dr. Akashi referred to as sensei was the one who would soon become my Master.

Though, honestly, I thought he looked like a pathetic old man.

“Ginko. This man here is a Shogi sensei, a very high-ranking one, too. He’s much, much stronger than I am.”

“I wouldn’t say ’at, Mr. Akashi. I lost more than half the matches at our practice sessions, yeah?”

“That was back when you were 4-dan or 5-dan, Sensei. I wouldn’t stand a chance against an A-ranking professional.”

“Got demoted after the one season, though ……,” the pathetic old man said with sorrow in his eyes. 

Totally pathetic. Probably weak.

“What’ll it be? 6-piece handicap for her?”

“No. Just take out your Rook.”

“Rook?! That ain’t fair to her, no matter how ya look at it! Ain’t she four?”

“It’s fine. Please, don’t take it easy on her.”

The pathetic old man seemed conflicted as he took the Rook off his side of the board.

“All right, Ginko. First move’s mine, ’kay?”

Huh? We’re starting, just like this?

I’d never played in a handicapped match before. Dr. Akashi taught me how to play on an even field and matches over the Internet are always even. I thought I could beat any adult I played against and never questioned it.

But I lost. Horribly.

“…… I-I don’ believe it ……”

That pathetic old man won, but he didn’t look happy at all. If I had to call the look on his face anything, I’d call it shock.

“This girl, she’s been livin’ here in the hospital her whole life, yeah? Ya may’ve been teachin’ her, Mr. Akashi, but gettin’ this strong with these surroundin’s is just ……”

“I believe she has an extraordinary talent, the kind that only appears once in a generation. What’s more, her body has shown steady progress since she started playing Shogi. I wouldn’t have believed it unless I saw it with my own eyes. Shogi is making her stronger, that’s the only way I can explain what’s happening.”

“Yeah …… There’s an air ’bout her that most kids ain’t got. Her concentration durin’ a match, it’s incredible. I was plannin’ on lettin’ her win, but ended up gettin’ serious ……”

The two adults were excitedly chatting between themselves, but I was too angry to listen.

I couldn’t believe I’d lost. I couldn’t accept it.

Which is why, for the first time ever, I snuck out of the hospital shortly after that.

I had been to my parent’s house a few times, so this wasn’t my first time outside the hospital. However, I experienced several firsts that day.

The first time I walked outside by myself, the first time I bought a ticket and rode a train, the first time I asked someone for directions and the first time I went to the pathetic old man’s: Kousuke Kiyotaki 8-dan’s classroom, the Noda Shogi Center, all on my own.

Master was so stunned to see me walk in, I thought his jaw was dislocated.

“G-Ginko?! What’re ya doin’ here?!”

“I looked on the Internet … and, came on my own.”

“That’s not what I …… Mr. Akashi ain’t with ya? Huuuh? Yer seriously here all by yar lonesome?!”

“To get revenge.”

“Revenge?”

“Shogi. This time, I will win.”

“Ah! Don’t tell me …… Ya want revenge for the other day?! Now ’at’s tenacity right there ……”

It became a big incident.

I heard that by the time Dr. Akashi and a nurse got there by ambulance, I was playing against Master while standing on my knees in a chair. I was focused on the match, so I couldn’t care less about insignificant details and don’t remember any of them. But I remember how the match played out.

I got yelled at and told to never leave the hospital on my own again, but I didn’t listen and went back.

Losing at Shogi without getting a rematch was worse than getting yelled at.

After that, my parents must’ve talked with Dr. Akashi and Master.

“Ginko. You’re well enough to leave the hospital. Would you like to go home?”

I wasn’t happy at all when Dr. Akashi said that.

Home was boring.

What’s worse, my parents always looked at me like a poor girl and said things like sorry and always seemed sad ……

“Not home. I want to stay here.”

“Not your parent’s house, Ginko. From now on, you’ll get to live at a place you love. Where you can play Shogi all you want … that house.”

There? Then, yes! I’ll go! I haven’t had my revenge yet.

That’s how I, like the other children, left the hospital. Dr. Akashi gave me the magnetic board he always carried in his pocket as a present.

I would never be called a poor kid again.

Then, two weeks later, he arrived.

“Ginko, this boy here is yar little brother apprentice, Yaichi Kuzuryu.”

Little brother?

“Age don’ matter in the Shogi world. First apprentice is older. Was only by two weeks, but Ginko came to the house first, meanin’ Ginko is the older sister and Yaichi the younger brother.”

Even with Master’s explanation, I couldn’t accept it. Besides, when did I become his apprentice? We’re enemies.

And, this little brother of mine seemed to come from deep in the mountains.

“My grandpa grew this rice on a mountain close to home!”

“Mountain? …… You can grow rice on mountains?”

“You sure can, Keika. My house is surrounded by mountains …… What was it called again? Grandpa grew this rice on something-something field, but ……”

The first time the four of us ate together, we had rice that he brought from his hometown. Master never accepted money from his parents, so they often sent us boxes of food …… And the first rice I ever ate from one those boxes was in a world of its own.

On a side note, all the food I had outside the hospital was delicious beyond words.

Hospital food is bland. The fact that I could use as much sauce I wanted made me so happy, though it made Keika angry at me …… But, even now, I can’t stop myself from slathering it on.

“My father works in an office and my big brother says, no way am I becoming a farmer! all the time, so grandpa wants me to be a farmer if I’m not a Shogi pro. He told me to work the fields if I don’t turn pro.”

“In ’at case, ya can just do both. Placement matches and plantin’ season don’t overlap, and when it’s time to harvest …… Now ’at I think ’bout it, ya never told me what ya wanna do after high school, Keika. How ’bout helpin’ Yaichi?”

“Interesting. If I get to eat rice this delicious every day, then being Yaichi’s bride doesn’t sound too bad.”

Keika kindly played along with Master’s stupid joke.

“Yaichi. Would you marry me when you grow up?”

“Sure!! I want to get married with you, Keika! And you know!? Guess what!! Grandpa’s rice paddy doesn’t just make good rice! What’s even more amazing–––.”

Loose pieces of rice flinging from his mouth, he was so happy that he didn’t realize Keika wasn’t being serious. That struck a nerve.

“Grandpa says it all the time: Propose at this paddy and she’ll never say no! So I’ll take you to grandpa’s rice paddy and make you my bride!”

Huh? Proposing in a muddy rice field?

That would never work. She’d drop dead on the spot.

“He’s …… an idiot. A weak idiot.”

After living with him for a few days, I was sure of it.

He only ever acted serious when looking at Keika’s breasts. Otherwise, he was off in his own little world. And had runny noses sometimes.

On top of that, he couldn’t read despite being two years older than me. That’s why I could tear through him like tissue paper on the board whenever I tried a new strategy I read about in a book.

Rather than get sad when he lost, he’d act like nothing happened and just line up the pieces again. I would beat him again and again, winning until I was too tired to play. The idiot didn’t know when to give up.

I hate idiots with a passion. I hate stubbornness, too.

As annoying as it was, I was apparently physically weaker than most people … which was why I had to make the most out of every moment my limited stamina would hold out.

Normally, I wouldn’t waste time with idiots.

But, strangely …… Being with him didn’t bother me that much.

Maybe it was because he was the first person I met who was below me.

Someone weaker at Shogi and lower on the social hierarchy. Someone weaker than myself. A kid poorer than I.

That’s why I felt like: I have to toughen him up! It’s up to me to protect him!

Surprisingly enough …… I rather enjoyed it.