Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 14 - Chapter 5.1

  SECOND MATCH

“No.”

A knee-jerk refusal bursts out of my mouth.

“I won’t allow it. Leave here to live in Tokyo? You think that alone will make you stronger? Shogi is not that easy …… Take your training seriously!!”

“………………”

Ai just clamps her lips tight and endures the storm.

Like she’s trying to keep from talking back, like there’s more emotion she’s trying to keep down …… So that she won’t change her mind.

That’s when everything suddenly clicks.

“……?!”

The reason why my apartment didn’t feel like my apartment whenever I came home between matches.

I have to see for myself one more time. Stepping around my apprentice, I go out of my room to check the hallway, living room and bathroom.

“…… Gone ……… Gone. Here, too ……!”

There isn’t a trace of Ai’s stuff anywhere.

The cup where she kept her toothbrush, the slightly sweet toothpaste she had to have to brush her teeth, even her favorite bath towels, her small umbrella and rain boots are all gone ……

I was sure they were all at Master’s place just for now, but–––.

“You’ve …… already packed your things? Without telling me ……?”

Something like anger courses through my veins.

I swore that no matter what happened, I would raise Ai to be the best Shogi player she could possibly be …… I’d planned on having her be a live-in apprentice until I kept my promise with her parents and turned her into a Women’s Title Holder by the time she graduates junior high.

No matter what Ginko said about it, I never wavered. Not once.

Even at my busiest during these title matches, I did my best to make time for the two of us. Maybe I was too busy and didn’t make enough time, that’s true. But I believed with all my heart that we would get through this.

What about all those laughs we had in Kanazawa?

–––Was she already planning …… to move out when we were there ……?

I feel betrayed, plain and simple.

That hot knife buried in my back made me lose myself for a moment.

“…… Fine. Let me see just how determined you really are,” I growl in a deep voice. “We’ll play an even match. If you beat me …… I’ll let you move out.”

“…… Okay! I’m ready when you are!!”

She must’ve been expecting this.

There’s a board all ready sitting in the tatami room. Ai has been using it as her bedroom since she arrived, but it’s just as empty in here now as it was before she moved in.

The last of her stuff is in a neat pile in the corner. One look at it and there’s no denying that she really intends to move out.

“………… You’re serious, aren’t you?”

Ai softly nods as I take a seat at the board. Then she sits down too.

–––It feels like I’m reliving that night ……

Except the girl sitting across the board from me has grown so much compared to that little girl I played back then.

Her perfectly straight posture is making her look even taller than she actually is.

The crisp echoes each piece makes as she lines them up with her dainty hands can only be made by a Shogi player determined to seize victory, a true competitor.

That graceful form made me forget my anger for a moment. Something else is welling up.

–––When did …… she get so big ……?

Come to think of it, the last time we shared the board was doing the Opening Move Ceremony on New Year’s. But when was the last time we played without a handicap? I’ve been telling her to find ways to get stronger on her own ever since she became a Woman’s League player rather than giving her step-by-step instructions, but ……

There’s an old saying in the Shogi world.

Masters play Shogi against their apprentices only twice.

The first time is a test to join the Shogi family, an audition for the apprentice.

The second …… is to bring an end to their relationship and expel the apprentice from the Shogi world.

And in that even match, it’s said that the Master loses on purpose.

“Look how much you’ve grown since you became my apprentice. So, no matter where life takes you out in society, go with confidence.”

It’s a form of encouragement.

I like that story.

Stories that tug at the heartstrings have always been my favorite.

However, I’m going to defeat Ai just like I did in our first match. No …… I won’t leave any opportunities for her to come back like I did that night.

As a Dual Title Holder, it’s my duty to remind her how harsh the world of professional Shogi is. She needs to hit a tall, thick wall that talent and effort alone can never break.

I say in the same tone I did before our first match, “You may have the first move.”