Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 15 - Chapter 1.4

  SUKUNAHIKONA

Leaving the elementary school, I head for–––Yodoyabashi.

It’s full of government buildings and Osaka’s largest business area, but my sights are set on someplace completely different.

“Let’s see, Doshomachi …… this way. How many years has it been?”

I make my way past all the skyscrapers along Midosuji Street toward Kitahama in the east.

This area used to be famous for being lined with wholesalers, and plenty of the old buildings still have pharmacies or shops filled with medical supplies.

The scenery becomes more nostalgic the further I get from Midosuji.

Stopping in front of the building I’ve been looking for, I take a deep breath.

“This is the place …… right? It’s hard to recognize it without a festival going on ……”

Sukunahikona Shrine.

I’ve been to this shrine sandwiched between two buildings many times and have many memories here.

“…… It’s roomier on the inside than it looks from the outside.”

But it’s still small for a shrine.

All the Chinese herbal medicine shops in the neighborhood add an authentic Chinese feel. Regular shrines have lots of ema plates hanging from a sacred tree on the grounds, but the tree here has tons of yellow cloth said to ward off disease hanging from its branches.

And the person I want to talk to is kneeling at the foot of that sacred tree. Absolutely covered in power stones ……

“Master.”

Kousuke Kiyotaki 9-dan stays hunched over, not even looking up as he says, “………… How’d ya know?”

“I’ve heard you’re spending more time around Yodayabashi these days. I figured this was why. That you were coming here …… to pray.”

Osaka’s festivals begin with Tooka Ebisu, held on January 10th at Ebisu Shrine in Imamiya, and end right here at Sukunahikona Shine with the Shinnosai Festival in November. That’s why the Shinnosai Festival is called Tome No Matsuri or The Finisher.

That’s the yearly cycle.

Back when Ginko and I were still kids …… until Ginko won the Queen title, the four members of the Kiyotaki Shogi family came here every November.

It was to pray for frail Ginko’s health.

With all this nostalgia pumping through my veins, I can almost see two little Shogi players in the making standing side-by-side in front of the main shrine with their heads bent in prayer as I say to Master, “I figured you were here, praying for Big Sis’s health like you used to. Right?”

“…………”

That’s when I notice the small toy Master is holding in his right hand.

It’s a yellowish papier-mâché tiger, the symbol of the festival.

“That’s one of those things Big Sis begged you to buy her every year, isn’t it?”

Being a sickly girl, she always got one. She would then shove it in my face and brag, which seriously made me jealous. Thinking back on it now, I was such a brat.

–––I was the one who had what money couldn’t buy.

“How about we sit down and talk? On a chair, not the ground.”

I help Master to his feet.

There’s no alcohol on his breath. He just seems to be really tired.

“Hold up! The tiger I can understand, but did you have to buy all these power stones, too?! No one needs this many …… Huh?! The shrine shop sells these things?!”

I pull Master’s arm, along with all the power stone bracelets and cellphone charms that used to be popular back in the day dangling from it, all the way to a small bench and get him to sit down.

Why do temples and shrines sell power stones at all?! Doesn’t taking advantage of the weak go against everything Shinto and Buddhism stand for?!

“Yaichi …… Ya hate my guts, don’ ya? Come to kick me outta my own Shogi family? Berate the pathetic old man I’ve become? Scathe me?”

“…………”

“It’d make me feel a heck’va lot better if ya did, ’at’s fer sure ……”

Just like Kanegasaka-sensei earlier, Master is in horrible shape. What …… can I possibly say to him?

It’s true that I was furious with him.

I thought that if he hadn’t forbidden Ginko and I to date, things would’ve worked out differently. I was certain of it.

But, in the end …… I ended up blaming myself over and over again because I couldn’t do anything.

“………… I …………”

Sitting on the bench like a boxer who’s been against the ropes one round too long, Master starts mumbling, “I …… never hadda lick o’ talent ……”

“Is that why you considered making me Chairman Tsukimitsu’s apprentice instead?”

“…… His Shogi’s got an edge that mine doesn’t. Been reminded of ’at more times than I can count.”

Master went against Seiichi Tsukimitsu, his older brother apprentice, in the Meijin Title Match.

Kousuke Kiyotaki puts exactly what separates him from the Eternal Meijin into words.

“My Shogi’s all ’bout hunkerin’ down over the board and endurin’ long enough to win on sheer grit. Holdin’ out til the other guy don’ have any fight left in him …… is just a nice way o’ puttin’ it. All I really do is make ’em so bored they lose focus and make a mistake. I pick up the win from there. Won more than half my matches like that, to tell the truth.”

“You know that’s not true ……”

“Players with talent, they light a fire in their opponent’s belly. Playin’ against someone with true talent makes ya feel like you’re gettin’ stronger ……”

His voice is weak, but there’s such a powerful aura behind it I can’t get another word in.

I understand where he’s coming from, too. I felt that way after playing against the Meijin myself.

But …… why is he being so hard on himself?

“Players can pick up on talent right away. Everyone is beratin’ my gritty, stubborn style of Shogi in the back of their heads …… That much is painfully obvious. After all, I’m a player too ……”

“But that’s what Kansai Shogi is!”

I couldn’t let that pass without speaking up.

Ginko and mine, Mr. Kagamizu and Keika’s …… It sounded like he was degrading not only our playing styles, but everyone we know in the Kansai area.

“Stubbornly hanging on for as long as it takes, winning even if you have to get dragged through the mud, that’s Kansai Shogi! Big Sis and I came to you because we idolized you and all the wrinkles on your right pant leg! All those pretty boys in Kanto can eat dirt! Throwing in the towel way too early, trying to go out in style, it’s all so–––.”

“Throwin’ in early would’a saved me a lotta pain.”

“Huh?”

“I should’a given up. Should’a raised the white flag and been done with it. But I couldn’t, and I’ve been sufferin’ for it …… So much …… Ginko …… GINKOOO …………!” 

Master howls with his face in his hands.

The man who fought on pure effort and determination claims to regret everything. The one people called ironclad for never giving up no matter how desperate the situation …… is now wiping tears and snot off his face.

“Pickin’ up all the useless things from her Master, she ought not …… A talentless apprentice, that’s what she was ……”

“Master ……!”

Before I knew it, I was crying along with him.

Because, well, now I completely understand why he’s being so hard on himself.

Because Ginko saw more of Master’s Shogi than anyone …… Because she always watched him play, her style was more similar to his than anyone else in our Shogi family.

It’s pretty much a miracle for any Shogi player to have an apprentice whose playing style matches their own.

Despite all the criticism and verbal abuse that Ai Yashajin puts me through, the reason I took her hand was because we have so much in common. Our playing style, our circumstances ……

Passing on the traits even a biological child couldn’t inherit, an apprentice … a child born from my Shogi.

How could that be anything but adorable?

No matter how much he may have wanted to, Master couldn’t bring himself to abandon Ginko.

He could’ve easily made her quit Shogi if that’s what he’d decided to do.

If Master had stopped looking out for her, it would’ve been impossible for Ginko to continue playing. And no one expected him to raise such a sickly girl in the first place. He already had his hands full as a pro Shogi player. Adding a girl who required so much attention to his workload would have been nothing but a nuisance.

Yes. A complete nuisance.

Not only did he take on that nuisance of a child …… he made sure she was comfortable and gave her all the love, time and support she could ever need.

He brought her into his home.

Taught her Shogi until his fingernails cracked.

Took care of her whenever she had a fever.

Found one reason or another to stay at the Shogi Association just in case when she had Sub League matches.

And …… is praying for her with all his might despite being so far away from her right now. All while tormenting himself for not being able to do more ……

Is there any other human being in the whole world who could do that much for a frail girl who’s not related to them by blood?

Is there anyone …… who even comes close to our Master?

“…… I won’t. I’m not kicking you out,” I say loud and clear as I wipe my tears away. “I won’t berate you or scathe you either. After all, I came here to ask you for advice.”

“Advice …… ya say?”

“It can wait until later. But there’s one thing I want to know right now.”

I highly doubt anything Master says when his confidence is this far down the drain will be useful at all.

However.

There is just one thing I absolutely have to ask him.

“Where is Ai living in Tokyo?”

Master has calmed down, but my question makes his shoulders jump.

“I was under the impression that Ai was living with her parents at the HinaTsuru’s Tokyo branch. But she’s not. I asked my brother about it, but he didn’t even know that Ai had transferred to Tokyo.”

“…… Ya got nothin’ to worry ’bout. I entrusted her to the player I trust more ’an anyone else.”

Then Master knew!

Forcing myself to breathe, I wait for Master’s next words.

“To be more exact …… They made the offer and Ai accepted on her own …… The two of ’em came to me, and I gave ’em permission.”

“The Kanto player you trust the most ……?”

And that player was the one who suggested Ai transfer to Kanto?

Only a few people come to mind.

“Was it Shakando-sensei?”

“No. He’s a pro.”

“Ayumu?”

“……”

Master silently shakes his head.

Then he says the man’s name. A man I know very well. One of the best players in the Shogi world.

The moment that name registers–––I scream at the top of my lungs.

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!”

Oh crap.

N-Not him …… Anyone but him …………!

OH … CRAAAAAAAAP!!!!