Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 12 - Chapter 4.4

  ALL YOUR YOUTH

Excusing myself from Kiyotaki-sensei, I get stopped by her in the hallway.

“You still have a little time, right? Come with me.”

Sensei’s only daughter, Keika beckons me into the kitchen.

Freshly baked food is spread out on the table.

“Have some before you go. I promise I haven’t poisoned anything.”

“…… Now I’m even more scared.”

There’s nothing more frightening in this world than being in someone else’s debt.

For a person who is as openly kind to everyone as I am, being on the receiving end makes it even harder to repay. I know full well that kindness is connected to naivety during matches.

So I take up the offer this time, too.

“Your timing couldn’t be better. I was starting to get hungry.”

Keika Kiyotaki and I have known each other for more than 15 years. And she and I have been able to sympathize with each other ever since the day we met.

For a Shogi player, it can be rather embarrassing to have the names of pieces in your actual name… especially when victories are hard to come by.

Keika, who spent time away from the game, is one of the few people who can understand what I’m going through.

“Your cooking is delicious as always, Keika. You’ll make a great wife someday.”

“Careful with those compliments, Hiuma. Don’t you have a special someone making even better food for you right now?”

“We broke up… a while ago, actually.”

“Really ……? I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was my fault.”

Just as she says, I had a girlfriend who supported me through thick and thin for years.

Relationships being taboo for Sub League members …… is just a front. The majority of people in the 3-dan division had girlfriends when I joined.

It’s the younger players who aren’t interested in relationships these days. Every professional under the age of 30 is single.

Because, well, Shogi is more important to them.

Shogi was bragging rights for my generation and the ones who came before me. It was a way to become rich and famous.

But these new guys, this generation is truly in love with Shogi itself.

They’re strong because they never tire of researching, no matter how many hours they commit to it.

They’re strong because they devote the time and endurance that would have gone to relationships or making money to improving their Shogi skills.

I saw the revolution with my own eyes. I felt the pressure as my own losses mounted and I was desperate to find the cause.

My scapegoat became the woman who had always been there for me.

“I said that she’s the reason I can’t win to her face. Horrible, yes?”

Keika is going to berate me. I’m sure of it.

But I think there’s a part of me that wanted her to get mad at me. Seeing shades of my ex in her, I wanted some of this guilt off my chest before I play the biggest match of my life ……

But, Keika didn’t tear into me.

She solemnly smiles instead and says this: “I’m jealous.”

“Huh?”

“That woman …… She got to be compared to Shogi, didn’t she?”

“……………!!”

I drop my chopsticks in surprise.

“Hiuma, I know that you devoted all of your youth to Shogi. It’s impressive, really. As someone who ran away once, I know …… And that’s why I have the utmost respect for you. For your devotion.”

A cold thorn that had been stuck in my heart for the longest time.

One of them …… slides out.

“…… Thank you for the food. It’s been a while since I had home cooking.”

“You’re most welcome. I was worried about taking any more of what little time you have, but I wanted to thank you somehow.”

“For being involved with the Kiyotaki Classroom? But that was a great experience for me–––.”

“My father already thanked you for that, didn’t he? This is different.”

Different? What is she talking about?

“Ginko told me herself that you recognized her strength. I hadn’t seen her smile like that in ages.”

“I see …… Then, would you pass on a message for me?”

Tightening my grip on the necktie in my hand, I tell her.

“The final day of the 3-dan division is a duel to death. Stop being so naïve if you want to survive it.”