Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 11 - Chapter 4.1

  HIDDEN FLAVOR

“Tell me, Ginko, do you cook for Yaichi?”

Yaichi’s mother smiles at me, the two of us standing shoulder to shoulder in the kitchen.

“I have, but …… He seems not to like what I make for him.”

“Really? Okay, show me what you can do! I’ve always dreamed of cooking with my son’s girlfriend!”

“I-I’m not his girlfriend!”

Apparently there’s something Yaichi wants to show me, but he needs to get it ready and left me alone with his mother.

Just standing around would be too awkward, so I asked her to give me something to do. She was the one who suggested we cook dinner.

To be frank, that was a relief.

Out of all household chores, cooking is what I do best. If she had said, “As long as you’re here, would you clean out the air conditioner for me?” or “Would you get the stains out of the carpet?” or maybe “Chase the tiger off the folding screen,” I would be in a very difficult position. How does someone do these things? The last thing I wanted was for her to think I’m useless around the house. There’s no ulterior motive. I don’t care that this woman is Yaichi’s mother and I’m not competing with that elementary school apprentice of his, nothing of the sort. Simply, my pride as a woman is on the line.

…… What? I’m perfectly calm.

“Tell you what, I’ll let you in on Yaichi’s favorite flavors. Then I won’t tell Yaichi that you’re the one who made dinner and we can surprise him after he’s eaten every bite! He-he-he.”

Hmm ……

Yaichi seems convinced that I’m a terrible cook for no reason whatsoever, but this way I can force him to judge my cooking on flavor.

“Ahh, it’s so nice to have your cooking again, Mom. It’s even better than Ai’s …… Huh?! This was all Big Sis?! But it was so good!!”

………… Not a bad plan.

I’m not trying to please Yaichi. I’m trying to knock him off the high horse he’s been on ever since we got here and remind him who is higher up in the hierarchy.

“Okay …… Which way is the kitchen?”

I borrow an apron, tie it tight around my waist to get in a cooking mood and prep all the ingredients right away. Meat and potatoes are on the menu tonight. You can’t get much closer to home cooking than that, now can you?

“My, my. You have such steady hands, Ginko.”

“It’s part of my job. Shogi players’ fingertips are very sensitive, so dexterity is second nature.”

Her compliment lifting my spirits, I hum a tune and cut some more vegetables.

“If I may ask …… Does Yaichi ever say anything about me?”

“Nope.”

“……”

“He talks a lot about that first apprentice of his, Ai. Usually, he’s asking me for advice on how to raise her. But I’ve hardly ever heard him say a word about you, Ginko. That’s why I’m so happy to get to meet you in person …… Now I understand exactly why he doesn’t say anything. He-he-he.”

“I …… see.”

That’s not really a surprise. I’ve known about Yaichi’s preferences for a long time.

At any rate, the food is almost done. All that’s left is to add some flavor and let it simmer. In Shogi terms, there’s a check path right to the enemy King and I’m closing in for the checkmate. Everything is going perfectly.

Now, to add the hidden flavor–––.

“Wait a second there, Ginko.” She grabs my wrist mere moments before I pour the extra ingredient I got out from the refrigerator into the pot and asks me, “Why are you going to put …… vegetable juice into meat and potato stew?”

“…… A hidden flavor. The additional nutrients will make it a perfectly balanced dish.”

My answer makes Yaichi’s mother grimace ever so slightly.

“You can whip up a salad for that. Adding juice to stew like this will ruin the taste.”

“Ah!”

How can I make such a simple error?

–––It was perfect all the way to the end, so why ……?

Horrible flashbacks suddenly tear though my mind.

The kitchen.

The knife.

That Shogi … where I made a mistake at the last possible moment.

“………… Ahhh …… Not again ……”

“Wh-What’s wrong, Ginko?! Are you …… are you crying?! I didn’t hurt your feelings, did I?!”

“………… No ……”

The corners of my eyes are on fire. Right hand trembling …… It seems the wounds from that loss hadn’t healed yet, like blood dripping out of a fresh scab.

“Always …… I always end up doing this. Even in Shogi ………… I only need to make one or two more moves to win, but I end up doing something completely unnecessary and ……”

“I was wondering why Yaichi called me out of the blue to say he was bringing you here, but …… You seem to have something on your chest? I’d be happy to listen if you want to talk.”

“…………”

I blow my nose, wipe my tears away with my hand and start telling her everything.

“…… I don’t play original strategies like Yaichi does. I just follow the instructions as they are laid out in books …… Copying strong players like the Meijin ……”

It feels strange to me, opening my heart to this housewife I only just met. But the words keep coming.

I guess I wanted someone to hear them.

“But I can’t do the things that the Meijin does …… I try to come up with and play new moves from time to time, but they end up ruining everything like what was about to happen to the stew. I don’t have a sense for it. It’s all I can do to imitate what I’ve seen with my own eyes …… Someone like me …… could never be …… a professional ……”

Yaichi’s mother listens to me gripe without saying a word.

But then, she starts talking.

“Ginko.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know who first invented meat and potato stew?”

“…… What?”

“Well, how about the first one to fry an egg?”

“U-Umm …………… I’m sorry. I don’t know ……”

“Right? I don’t have a clue either.”

“……”

“But I do know dishes like meat and potato stew and fried eggs are more helpful to far more people than those fancy dishes that only famous cooks whip up. At the very least, I’m confident that I can satisfy every stomach in this house with food anyone can make.”

She then clears her throat and puffs out her chest with pride.

“I haven’t a clue about Shogi. But surely there are, what do you call them, strategies? Like meat and potato stew or fried eggs, right?”

“Ah ……”

Putting it like that, she does have a point.

There are times when one prodigy’s original idea will take the Shogi world by storm and even change how the game is played.

However, not a single one of those strategies has managed to survive over the 10 years that I’ve been playing Shogi.

Older, classic strategies always find their way back into the mainstream.

Yagura, Bishop Exchange, Double Wing Attack, Side Pawn Capture, and the Snowroof …… Even Static Rook’s top strategies that have been played by countless players for centuries are still in use with only a few tweaks here and there.

There are players like Shakando-sensei and Master who still do their own research and use strategies that up-and-coming players call old but are still very competitive.

Fans and those up-and-coming players only look at the strongest …… only watch to see how the Meijin plays.

However, there are many people who will never etch their name into Shogi history or appear in a title match yet still deserve respect.

They are professionals.

What I am trying to become.

“Here. This is the stew you made with your own hands. Go ahead, taste it.”

“…… Delicious.”

“See? Very well done.”

She grins at me.

That’s Yaichi’s smile, through and through.

“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can make delicious food by doing what people have always done. It’s doing it yourself that makes the flavor uniquely yours.”

My own …… flavor ……

“Following the recipe? That’s spectacular! You’ll understand what a miracle it is for everything you need to follow the recipe to be waiting for you in the fridge if you ever become a housewife. Satisfying the whole family with what’s there is where we truly shine!”

“I’m …… impressed.”

“He-he-he. You were thinking I was just a simple housewife, weren’t you?”

“No, not at all–––.”

“But, that’s exactly what I am. Managing a household like I do means that I have devoted my life to my family. It’s the same way that you and Yaichi have devoted your own to Shogi.”

“……!!”

Her tone is so gentle, and yet …… No, it was because she put it so gently that her words slice right through my naïve heart.

“Devoting your life to one thing or another isn’t all that special. Everyone has had to sacrifice something they wanted to do to commit themselves to something else. That’s no different from how I’ve spent the past 20 years supporting my husband, my in-laws and my sons without taking a single day off.”

…… I thought Shogi was all there is.

I thought that a life without becoming a professional was devoid of meaning, that there was no point in living if my Shogi was weak. That’s why I wanted to take my life when my chances of promoting out of the 3-dan division all but disappeared.

It’s not that I have no respect for other walks of life.

But …… I’d become arrogant without realizing it. So many people have told me that the Sub League is hell and praised me for being the first female member that I thought I was committing far more effort than the average person.

It made my spirit weak.

I used talent as an excuse and simply blamed my losses on a lack of effort. The battle never ends, and I ran away from it.

A full two days have passed since the shock of that loss, and I’m still running away from Shogi.

But if Yaichi’s mother had ran away from her responsibilities for a single day, Yaichi could have died back when he was just an infant.

What could a person who thinks one loss is worth dying over ever hope to accomplish?

“I’ve raised three boys, so do you think I could call myself a professional?”

“Yes. I think you are more than qualified.”

“Then let me speak as a professional.”

She leans down next to my ear and whispers as if about to let me in on a very important secret.

“The thing about boys is that they try to hide the girl they like!”

Yaichi and his father come back later that night and we all sit down together at the dinner table.

“Well, hello there! How nice of you to come all the way out here!”

Yaichi’s father grabbed a beer first thing in the door and is now in a great mood as he takes another swig.

I saw him briefly at the opening night party of the fourth Ryuo Title Match last year (though, whether or not that was just an opening night party is up for debate ……). However, he’s lost so much weight since then and gotten so tan from the sun that I didn’t recognize him as the same person at first.

“C’mon Yaichi. Why’d you wait so long to introduce her, huh? I happen to be one of Naniwa’s Snow White’s biggest fans!”

“Bringing her here like this is enough, right? I’ve been busy,” Yaichi scoffs.

His mother winks at me, almost like she’s saying See? … Please …… cut that out.

Yaichi looks at me with a curious look in his eyes.

“What’s wrong, Big Sis? Your face is bright red. Did you get sunburned?”

“Be quiet.”

I swallowed the word idiot because his parents are right here. …… Idiot.

“Seriously, Dad, I thought you and my big brother were going to be working at the Hinatsuru Inn, so what made you suddenly go into farming? I thought Ai’s mother made you a great offer, didn’t she?”

“Well, I do have my pride.”

The man takes another swig of beer.

“A father … depending on the family of his son’s apprentice for everything? How pathetic is that? And …… I’ve made one heck of a discovery!”

“Discovery?”

“You know that rice granddad was growing? Seems that was a brand-new strain all his own.”

“Whaaat?!” Yaichi and I say in surprise.

The rice that showed up at Master’s doorstep when we were live-in apprentices? Really?

“I’m sure you’ve heard about Dragon’s Eye, right? The grain itself is huge, and it gets sold along with top-tier brands of rice, but an offshoot of that strain is what made Koshihikari.”

“O-Okay ……”

“That’s what granddad was growing: Koshihikari, but he’d only plant seeds that produced the biggest grain from the previous season’s harvest. Seems he did that enough to make his own strain that makes grain big enough to rival top brands like Dragon’s Eye. From a business perspective, it has a good shot of working out really well.”

Downing the last of his beer, the man’s eyes twinkle as he says, “That’s why I’m going to make a new brand …… Dragon King’s Eye!!”

“That’s using me, your son, to sell rice!! What happened to your own brand?!”

“Please, Yaichi! Just for this year …… Please protect the Dragon King Ryuo title for one more year!! Make my escape from a desk job work out!!”

“I can’t just choose to defend a title! They don’t work like that, do they Big Sis?!”

“I’ve protected mine.”

“As I knew you would, Miss Sora! Which is why an offshoot called Fukui’s Snow White is in the works! If you would, can I get a picture of you holding this box–––?”

“Don’t drag Big Sis into this! You know she’s not allowed to do that! …… Yeesh, this is exactly why I didn’t want to introduce you to her ……”

“If I don’t make it as a rice farmer, I’ll be a YouTuber!! I’ll try anything if I’ve got nothing to lose! Hey-yo! This is TrashPapaTV, Trash Ryuo’s old man. Hey-hey-yoo♪ and I’ll give tours of your old room for the whole Internet to see!!”

“Do that and I’ll put you out on the street! That’s right! I’ll kick you out of the family!!”

“Yes, yes, yes. The rice is ready so let’s eat, shall we?”

Yaichi’s mother stands up and walks into the kitchen. Her husband and son are in the middle of a heated argument, but she doesn’t seem to mind one bit.

I join her and help set the table. I made the food, so I want to be the one to bring it out …… Will Yaichi say it’s delicious? W-Well, it doesn’t matter to me either way. Fidget ……

“Wait. This smell ……”

It hits me right as I start scooping rice into bowls.

“You can tell?! Yaichi’s grandfather had some raw rice in storage. Once we heard that he was bringing you here, Miss Sora, I went to the farmer’s union to get it polished,” says Yaichi’s father in the middle of arguing with his son with a fresh bottle of beer in his hand.

I would like to know what Yaichi thinks of my cooking, but …… more importantly, I want to savor this rice. Even just to remember Yaichi’s deceased grandfather.

“Let’s eat.”

The four of us put our hands together before taking a bite.

A slightly sweet aroma fills my nose as memories start flooding my mind.

“…… It’s the same that we used to have at Master’s house, the four of us together,” I say mostly to myself, but Yaichi silently nods in agreement …… tearing up a little.

This reminds me of the first time Yaichi and I sat around the same dinner table. If I remember right, we talked about his grandfather that day. And about the rice paddy being a lucky charm for marriage or something weird like that ……

“Yaichi.”

Putting down his chopsticks, Yaichi’s father takes on a quiet, much more serious tone that makes their squabble from a few minutes ago feel like ancient history.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, getting large machinery into the rice paddy is impossible. So taking care of it is a ton of work. Granddad kept working that field all those years because–––.”

“I know. He wanted me to inherit it if I didn’t turn pro, right?”

“No.”

“Huh?”

“I thought it would put too much pressure on you, so I didn’t bring it up at his funeral, but …… He always believed you would become professional. He had more faith in you than anyone.”

“Why …… would ……?”

“I still remember him saying: With a great player like Kiyotaki-sensei for a Master, Yaichi’ll be a pro. Only question is when.”

“!! ………… Grandpa said that ……?”

“So, you see. Even if you didn’t go pro, that field was never going to be yours,” the man says sternly. “From the time you went to live with Kiyotaki-sensei, your mother and I have considered you a member of that household. Therefore, your real family is the girl sitting next to you, Ginko Sora.”

“……!”

Yaichi is lost for words. Like him, I gulp in surprise.

“This isn’t your house anymore. I won’t let you have that field.”

Neither of his parents came to visit Yaichi in Osaka during my time as a live-in apprentice.

Not when he became a junior high school Shogi professional, and not even for the Ryuo Anointing Ceremony.

Now, I finally understand why.

There must’ve been something more difficult for them than coming to visit every day.

“But you know something? We haven’t cut off our ties altogether.”

“Huh ……?”

“Seeing you fight tooth and nail against the Meijin …… Watching Kiyotaki-sensei battle through placement matches late into the night, watching Keika hold out against the Women’s Legend, seeing Ai Hinatsuru keep her eyes on the board despite the blood dripping out of her nose …… All because I saw Miss Sora’s series against Ai Yashajin, I found the courage to try something new! Stubborn, gritty, the strength to get your hands dirty …… It inspired me to literally get muddy!”

Sounding the happiest I’ve heard him all night.

And looking fatherlier than ever, the man says, “So I’ve decided to consider myself a member of the Kiyotaki house! Bring the whole family up for the harvest. You too, Miss Sora. I’ll have a bounty waiting for you this fall.”

Ohh …… Now I get it.

This man … he knew the whole time. He knew exactly why Yaichi brought me here.

Fall.

That’s the end of the 3-dan division: harvest season.