Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 14 - Chapter 2.5

  FORBIDDEN

“…………………………………………………”

The awkwardness among the three of us in the tatami room is stifling.

Ginko and I put on our best clothes and sit on our ankles waiting for Master to show up, but neither of us can say anything when he grunts his way inside and plops down in the upper seat. He even lights a cigarette, something that he almost never does in front of us.

But, rather than actually smoke it, he just holds the cigarette between his fingers and watches the smoke rise …… Does that mean he’s in a bad mood? Is he just nervous? …… I have no idea.

Haaaah …… Ginko takes a deep breath next to me.

“Master.”

Staying on her knees, she shifts off her floor cushion and bows so deep that her forehead nearly touches the tatami.

“I have become a professional player entirely thanks to your teachings. I have nothing but immense gratitude for you and Keika, both for accepting me as an apprentice and for opening up your home to me, a girl who had been in and out of the hospital all her life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Ginko keeps her voice extremely formal while getting all that out in one breath.

It kinda sounds like she’s detached. Nervousness, I bet.

“…………”

Master, on the other hand, closes his eyes and keeps his mouth shut.

Several heavy seconds pass with Ginko’s face hovering over the floor when suddenly–––.

“There’s something …… I’ve been thinking about for a long time.”

Bit by bit, Ginko starts opening up and talking from her heart rather than as if she was reading off a prompter.

“You objected to me joining the Sub League, so I was sure you would never be happy for me if I became a professional.”

Master’s eyes go wide, almost like a gasp.

“I don’t have any talent, so you didn’t expect me to accomplish anything …… That has always, always been in the back of my mind.” But …… she says as she looks up, “…… Shakando-sensei said that you …… went to her for advice to help me ……”

When we were kids, Master was an absolute.

A pro, a 9-dan, a Meijin challenger.

I never knew that he panicked whenever Ginko had the sniffles and called Shakando-sensei to ask her what to do.

That’s …… that’s ……

That’s more like what any normal father would do. And Master was just like them ……

“Hearing her story …… brought back so many memories ……!” says Ginko, clenching her fists. “That day …… if you hadn’t come to my hospital room and taught me Shogi …… If you hadn’t taken me in as a daughter of this household after I left the hospital without permission …… given me a little brother so I wouldn’t be lonely …… I would still be a poor girl in a hospital bed ……”

She squeezes out the phrases one at a time …… and there’s a plipping sound.

It’s her tears hitting the tatami mat.

“Thank you so very much ………… for giving me a life worth living ……”

Tears streaming down her cheeks, Ginko looks Master square in the eyes.

Whoa, I’m crying too. I didn’t even notice.

Then Ginko puts her hand on her heart …………… and announces, “I became …… a professional.”

She could probably list several reasons why she got through the 3-dan division if she tried.

But there’s one thing that’s absolutely for certain.

“Thanks to you, Master ………… I’m a professional now …………!!”

Without him, the two of us wouldn’t be pros and we would’ve never met.

Master has given us everything important in our lives.

“……………… Mgh.”

Master softly grunts with a nod and takes off his glasses to wipe the tears away.

Sobbing sounds are coming from outside the room. Keika must be tearing up in the hallway ……

All of us cry in silence. But the prickly air when Master came in has lifted.

A warm, kind of smelly, but happily emotional vibe has taken its place. Perfect for the Osakan suburb of Naniwa.

Now.

Our only chance is right now.

I get off my own cushion like Ginko did and put my hands on the tatami mat.

“And one more announcement! We have come here today to get your blessing for–––.”

“Ginko.”

However Master interrupts me before I can finish.

Wiping off a fresh wave of tears with the palm of her hand, Ginko responds, “Yes?”

“Now that ya’re a pro, thar’s somethin’ ’at needs to be said.”

He extinguishes the still-lit cigarette by rubbing it into the ashtray.

“Ya’re forbidden to date.”

“………………………… What?”

What did he just say?

Forbidden …… to date?

“It was that way fer me when I went pro. My Master made me wait ’til I got results. Said gettin’ married was absurd. The real trials start after gettin’ through the Sub League. Commit yarself to Shogi more than ya ever have! Master’s orders.”

“Wha-?!! That’s archaic! Why would–––?!”

“No backtalkin’, Ginko!!”

Master slams his fist on the table to cut her off.

“Have ya forgotten ya’re still only 16?!! Romancin’ in high school?! Hah! Ya’re early by a decade or two!!”

“……………!!”

Ginko slaps my leg in frustration. That’s her way of saying do something! If I don’t, my head’ll be on the chopping block. I will, I will.

“Master. I think what Ginko is trying to say is–––.”

“Yaichi! Ya ain’t a kid no more, so call her yer older sister apprentice or Big Sis at the very least! We got standards to uphold!!”

“………… Understood.”

It’s hopeless. Master is two, three steps ahead and already crushing my defenses. I don’t even have an opening to counter ……

“’At goes for ya, too, Yaichi!”

“Huh?! Um …… What does?”

“Don’t go thinkin’ ya got free rein just ’cause ya got a title. It’s the title holders ’at carry the most responsibility on their shoulders. Clear?”

“O-Of course ……”

“And if ya do get that second title, ’at just makes your C rankin’ that much more embarrassin’. Gettin’ into A is a must for ya, got it?”

“O-Of course it is! I’ll get into A no matter what it takes!!”

“And ya ain’t allowed ta date nobody ’til ya do.”

“HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH?!”

I’m in the C-1 division right now.

Unlike the other professional leagues, players can only advance one division per year. I can’t just get hot and rise all the way to A like I did to become Ryuo.

Which means, getting there will take …… at least three years. Three whole years!

“U-Um ………… Master?”

Walking on eggshells, I make sure that’s what he meant.

“Ummm …… I’ll be over 20 years old by the time I make it to A ……”

“YOUR POINT BEIN’…?”

Master roars back as he flips the table.

“There ain’t nobody in their twenties with a wife in the pros, not a single one! It’s ’cause they’re ’at devoted to Shogi! Let up for a second an’ somebody’ll take that title from ya! Shape up!!”

“Y-Yessir!!”

Hella scary ……

Master hasn’t been this mad in a very long time ……

I got scolded enough as a live-in apprentice to know when he was just trying to teach me a lesson or if he was seriously angry.

This …… is pure fury.

“My word! Take a page outta Natagiri’s book, would ya?! A man that handsome has gone his whole life without gettin’ married so he could focus on playin’ Shogi, an’ ya two are back talkin’ ’bout somethin’ so pointless ……”

I’m pretty sure that’s not quite the reason he’s single ……

“………… Ginko. Yaichi. Ya two are the face of the Shogi world. And for now, Ginko …… ya’re gettin’ more attention than the Meijin.”

Wheeeew …… Master takes a deep breath and starts talking again through gritted teeth.

“Folks like me in Shogi know ya both are still growin’ and’ll cut ya some slack. So long as I put ya in your place when ya mess up, that’ll be that.”

No matter how many titles I have or how famous either of us get, we’re still treated like kids by the rest of the Shogi world. I understand that, loud and clear.

Which is exactly why we came here to get permission to date before–––.

“But ever’body on the outside thinks ya two are the Shogi world. Make fools of yarselves and they’ll go thinkin’ all of us’re fools. Messin’ up’ll put the whole Shogi world in a bind an’ there’ll be no fixin’ it. Take a minute to mull that over …… Get it now?” Master declares with a stone-hard glare even as we continue to protest. “Ya both are professional Shogi players, yeah? Ya may be siblin’ apprentices, but ya can’t be gettin’ too friendly, got it?”

“Agh ……!”

Those words were like getting hit in the face with a bucket of ice water.

Plenty of pros and Women’s players have gotten married.

Relationships pop up within the Shogi world all the time. There are even sibling apprentices under the same Master who met while training and ended up tying the knot.

So Ginko and I thought we’d be just like them.

The difference is that we are pros.

In other words …… there’s always a real possibility we might have to fight to the death tomorrow.

“Those two are dating, aren’t they? Can they go all out against each other?”

Would we be able to convince people otherwise?

Would the quality and fairness of professional matches come into question?

What if we get consistently matched against each other in league matches? Even pros on good terms will go out of their way to avoid one another before they play matches. But could we do that living under the same roof? Could we honestly claim that we wouldn’t read the other’s research if we happened to stumble across it by accident ……?

“Hey, Da- …… Master?”

Keika must’ve felt sorry for us sitting there in silence because she comes into the tatami room with a fresh pot of tea and tries to help.

“They’re not idle singers, so don’t you think people would criticize you if they found out you forbade your apprentices to date? There has to be some middle ground–––.”

“Keika! Ya’re the one who should be out gettin’ married! Twiddlin’ yar thumbs at yar age? Disgraceful! The neighbors’ll start talkin’ at this rate!”

“Haaah?! Wh-What does that have to do with anything?!”

Keika takes the brunt of Master’s inferno. Ginko and I could only stare at the floor and listen as the two of them tore into each other ……