Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 14 - Chapter 2.2

  KEIKA’S DILEMMA

“I’m out of options,” says my opponent from across the board and I look up with a start.

“Huh? Out of ………… ahh!!”

I won?

Really?! I won?!

“Th-Thank you for the match!” I stutter my way into a bow.

My match against Midori Ubaguchi Women’s 3-dan just finished. Since she’s a successful player who has challenged for title before, I didn’t think I stood a chance.

Looking through the match record now that I can slow down and think, I was in a great position in the mid game onward. Actually, I missed a few chances to end the match earlier. From her point of view, she was probably thinking, I’d surrender now if you’d just press your advantage …… at least twice.

“Ms. Kiyotaki, your Shogi today was strong from start to finish. There was nothing I could do against it.”

She compliments me so much during the review session that it’s almost unnerving.

“Oh, um, I don’t think so …… I just happened to luck into a good strategy ……”

“But your sequences in the mid game were spectacular. I can see why you managed to beat Shakando-sensei!”

“Th-That was luck, too ………… Thank you.”

“I have a favor to ask, if you wouldn’t mind ……”

“A favor?”

“Would you ………… get Sora-sensei’s autograph for me ……?”

I know she didn’t throw the match just for that, but I can’t deny that the thrill of my first victory feels a bit tainted now.

“…… Phew. It’s scary how fast people change their tune ……”

Ubaguchi-sensei wasn’t the only one to ask me for Ginko’s signature. The Women’s player who worked as the match recorder, a Shogi journalist and a clerk at the association office all asked me for one, too. Kanto professional players who wouldn’t have given me the time of day a few weeks ago are now greeting me like a cute kitten that happened to drop by. I wish I didn’t gasp in surprise when it happened, though.

They don’t want Ginko’s autograph to frame and put up in their house somewhere.

Some of them were asked by someone higher up on the chain to get one for them, others want to flaunt their connection with her to the Shogi fans on social media …… Basically they’re trying to boost their own status by riding the Ginko Sora 4-dan wave as close to the forefront as possible.

“I can’t just say no on the spot …… But telling her I’m on my way to see Ginko after this, so I’ll see what she says is just pathetic …… Looks like I’m the one getting caught up in a wave the most.”

Showing off my own connection with Ginko makes me look like a big deal. People think that I’m worth having in their social circles because of it.

“Of course I’ll sign autographs for you, Keika. How many do you need?”

Ginko wouldn’t say no if I asked. That’s why I’m the one who has to.

When Ubaguchi-sensei put on that fake smile and emphasized sensei …… it reminded me when I called Ginko sensei and begged for her help on my hands and knees.

I won’t use Ginko like that ever again. I devoted myself to helping her atone for that, I swore to ……

Self-loathing washes over me as I take my smartphone out of my locker and turn it back on–––.

“…… Oh no! I almost forgot!!”

Remembering that I have post-match plans, I pack up my things and hurry out the door.

“You, professional with the massive mammaries! You, I say! This way! Move that ridiculous bosom of yours over here and make haste!”

That voice comes from a table on the terrace outside of a café on the main street just in front of Sendagaya Station.

A young girl dressed in a cape and wearing her hair in buns like animal ears spots me and yells loud enough for everyone on the opposite side of the street to hear.

I can feel hundreds of eyes locking onto me. More specifically, onto my chest ……

“…… Daaamn ……”

“Professional? What kind of pro?”

“With a pair like that, she’s a pro all right ……”

Excuse me! Just what kind of …… professional do they think I am?!

I do my best to hide them with my purse as I cross the street and dash inside the café.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Ai! …… And you too, Maria. Can I order some drinks for you?”

“One such as I shall have a cola! …… Nix that, tea would do nicely.”

Maria Kannabe is a member of the Kanto Sub League. She also happens to be Ayumu Kannabe 7-dan’s little sister. This is my first time speaking with her face-to-face, but she looks so much like her older brother that I could tell right away.

Ai Hinatsuru takes one more gulp of orange juice through a straw and puts the glass down to talk.

“Keika, how was your match?”

“I won! My first victory in a league match since joining the Women’s League!! This calls for a beer …… ♪”

I pick up the beverage menu humming a little tune when it hits me.

“Oh …… Sorry, Ai. How was yours?”

“E-he-he. I lost!”

She playfully sticks out her tongue and jokes around, but I can tell she’s hurting. My heart goes out to her, it really does. On closer inspection, her eyes are beet red.

“A humiliating loss, that is. Pathetic.”

Maria, who tracked the match’s live coverage on her phone, harshly critiques Ai’s Shogi. On a side note, my match didn’t get any coverage at all.

“Even the lowest echelons of the Sub League are aware that utter defeat lies in wait for those who rush forth using a Double Wing sequence produced by trending software. Such a thing is already behind the times. It’s as shameful as drinking tapioca in the heart of Harajuku!”

“Nghhh …… I don’t know what’s trending in the Sub League, living in Osaka ……”

“True, true ……”

Professional players and Women’s players have access to the Shogi association’s match record archives, so it’s possible to review matches that didn’t get any coverage online.

But it’s just the match record. If lining up match records over and over was all it took to become a strong player, anyone could do it.

There’s so much that went on behind each record, like the part of the iceberg that’s underwater. The research, the practice methods …… Talking with players themselves is the only way to get that kind of information.

Many professionals live in Tokyo. That includes most Women’s Players.

Being in Tokyo means that you can participate in more events and thus have more chances to pick up juicy tidbits. Just like what happened to me today, when that professional said hello. That was a huge chance for me to learn a thing or two.

“Though inferior to Kanto’s numbers, professionals do also reside in Kansai, yes? Do not Drakin and Ginko Sora possess such information?”

“Master is really busy …… And he’s always told me finding your own way to get stronger is the best way,” Ai explains, but Maria doesn’t look convinced.

Well, I suppose she wouldn’t be. Putting it that way sounds like Yaichi just leaves her to her own devices.

“Ginko is one thing, but Yaichi’s early game theory is so complex …… Actually, his whole style is so unique, most of it looks like gibberish ……”

“I-Indeed …… The Demon King’s senses are warped beyond recognition. Not to mention his foolish idiosyncrasies ……”

If I remember right, Maria was present for the First Crown Title Match.

Her tiny frame trembles as if remembering that earth-shattering 7 Seven Rook promotion.

Strength is the be-all end-all in this world.

If you’re a strong player, then you can have all the practice sessions and versus matches you want because other players come up and ask. It’s easy to set up the perfect environment to learn new strategies. Unfortunately, Women’s players are in a position where we have to plead with successful amateurs. Practice sessions with a professional? In our wildest dreams, maybe.

Professional players like Yaichi and my father have never experienced what that’s like, so it’s hard to explain it in terms they would understand ……

“By the way, Maria? Would you like Ginko’s autograph?”

It seems like slaking my thirst with beer after my match has gotten me a little tipsy, and I can’t help but teasingly prod Maria a little.

“Huuuh? Why would I desire something fit for the garbage heap?”

“But she’s the first female professional ever? It’ll say Ginko Sora 4-dan, you know?”

“Laughable! My acceptance into the Sub League confirms my destiny to become professional! One such as I will not settle for anything less than the title of Meijin! I have visions of my Master’s Women’s Legend Award Ceremony and my being promoted to Meijin on the very same day! Who enters the professional realm first is but a trifling matter. I couldn’t care less that she received Master’s praise at a simple 4-dan announcement conference! Hmph!”

“…… The whole Kannabe family are such good kids. First Ayumu, now you, it’s amazing ……”

“Wh-Wha?! One such as I is not to be petted! Ah! Not under the chin! Teehee …… ♡”

She must be enjoying this because those animal ear buns of hers are practically leaping up and down on top of her head. It’s a breath of fresh air for this soiled heart of mine. If only I could take her back to Osaka with me ……

Wait. I don’t have time to waste running away from reality.

“I’m on my way to see Ginko in the hospital after this. Would you two like to come?”

I asked them quietly so the people around us can’t hear, but Maria answers at the top of her lungs and completely destroys my attempt to be considerate.

“We shall be adjourning to Harajuku, the territory in which one such I resides! Once we have played Shogi within the walls of Master’s castle, we shall then indulged is foam-topped tea and pancakes along Takeshita Street while documenting our travels on Instagram, in order to introduce the allure of Tokyo to the weeds of Kansai and that doofus who went abroad …… No, the splendor of Tokyo to the world! We haven’t time to spend on the likes of Ginko Sora!”

That last bit was so fast, I hardly understood anything she said. She must be ecstatic that Ai is here in Tokyo.

“Is that okay with you, Ai?”

“Yep! Maria’s parents are letting me sleep over tonight, and then I’m going to show Maria around the new Tokyo HinaTsuru tomorrow!”

“That sounds like fun …… I can’t wait to stay at Tokyo’s HinaTsuru myself.”

Ai’s father is an amazing chef. Pair that food with sake from the North Coast …… All that plus an onsen hot spring in the heart of Tokyo? Talk about a treat ……

“Um …………… Thank you for letting me stay in Tokyo, Keika. It was selfish of me to ask if I could stay behind my own …… On a school day, too ……”

Ai sounds apologetic as she stares at her lap.

“But it’s something I have to take care of in Tokyo no matter what before Master and I go to Kanazawa for the Third Crown Title Match–––.”

“Oh, it’s fine. Kanegasaka-sensei understands the situation and I’ll keep Yaichi distracted until you get back. Take all the time you need to talk with your parents.”

She hasn’t told me what she’s thinking or anything about what she’s planning to do.

However, as a fellow Women’s League player, I do have the feeling.

The first woman to ever become a Shogi professional–––Ginko Sora 4-dan. Even I, who was hoping she would make it this far from the bottom of my heart, have started wondering about my own reason for existing.

Which is why …… I couldn’t help calling out as she leaves the table along with Maria, “Ai!”

“Yes, Keika? What is it?”

–––You’re coming home, right? To Osaka.

Those words were on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed them at the last moment.

“…… Never mind. Be careful!”

“I will! See you later!”

I watch those two race for the station like they’re playing tag as I down the last bit of beer in my glass. My victory splurge is over.

Now isn’t the time to get drunk.

I have to catch up with those two girls to make sure I don’t lose sight of them.