Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 15 - Chapter 2.4

  ATONEMENT

“So, you seriously think you’re going to live here, do you?”

After my little talk with Jin-Jin wraps up — he told me to return the key and get out, but I flat out refused — I go back to the research room and ask the little girl directly.

Now that I look around, the room was nowhere near this clean this morning ……

I’ve been so busy lately that there hasn’t been time to clean or organize anything. Not only is everything spic-and-span, but the little girl has made us space so she can sleep on the floor ……

“…… Yeah, you’re serious alright.”

She’s sitting on her ankles in the corner of the room and looking up at me, cute but looking more determined than ever.

She seemed a lot less sure of herself back when we played our match …… I’d hate to have to play her now.

“Um …… I thought just sitting here would be a waste of time, so I decided to do some cleaning. I’m sorry for not asking your permission–––.”

“Is this how you did it last time? When you convinced Kuzuryu-sensei to let you move in?”

“……!”

Shorty’s whole body twitches at once.

Then she locks eyes with me. They’re pulsing with a mixture of anger and sadness.

Hah! Now those are good eyes.

Show me more. Show me what you are on the inside.

“Jin-Jin may have given you the green light, I certainly haven’t.”

That’s right. I’m not convinced.

There’s something I need to know first.

“If you’re thinking this is your shot to become Jin-Jin’s apprentice, you have my condolences. He’s an A division player who researches with the Meijin, but he has no clout whatsoever. The Meijin and Jin-Jin have distanced themselves from it. On top of that, he doesn’t take apprentices in the first place. So–––.”

“I only have one Master.”

Well, that was fast.

Quiet, too, but strong enough to cut me off. That kind of conviction won’t waiver no matter what anyone says or does, ever.

It’s solid, like a Pawn-anchored Gold, and I end up getting knocked down a peg trying to bowl her over.

“Th- …… Then why did you leave that Master’s apartment in the first place? …… Well, being a live-in apprentice at all was pretty bizarre …… So, yeah, I get moving out. But was it really necessary to transfer, too?”

Didn’t you run away?

Aren’t you trying to find a safe place to hole up in all by yourself? Looking for someone else to protect you?

Because that’s how it looks to everyone else no matter what you say. They’ll start giving Jin-Jin and me crap if you get us mixed up in this. Just stay away. Move out, now.

Of course, it wouldn’t feel right to be that direct with her, so I attack from a different angle.

I’m a grown up, but I don’t play fair.

“Look, you being here causes nothing but trouble. I’m this close to challenging for my first title, ever. You are in the same league, battling for the same title, remember? Don’t you think it’ll look weird, us living together? I don’t want to put up with that.”

“But, Rokuroba-sensei, we’ve already played against each other …… I lost, too ……”

“But you’ve got matches left against my opponents. Can you say without a shadow of a doubt that it won’t matter?”

“………… Well ……”

League matches come down to one thing: victory stars. Hypothetically speaking, Shorty losing on purpose could go a long way to determining the challenger.

She could fix a match if she wanted to.

All the final matches in the Women’s Legend League take place on the same day to prevent stuff like that from happening, though.

“And one more thing–––.”

I’m not showing mercy to this silent little girl.

“Jin-Jin is in the middle of his first title match in four years. Monarch, in case you didn’t know. Any guesses who he’s playing against?”

“……………… The Meijin.”

“That’s right. It’s his second time going up against that god among mortals, who still has four of the seven titles to his name. Jin-Jin got swept last time, but it’s much closer this time around …… He needs space right now so he can focus on himself.”

“I know …… I know that I’m a bother,” says the little girl, biting down on her lip as she squeezes the words out. “But! Natagiri-sensei was the one who invited me–––.”

“Because he can’t say no to a student. Jin-Jin is too friendly for his own good anyway.”

I know that better than anyone.

He’s the kind of guy who’ll just give a girl her own room and teach her Shogi without anything in it for him or wanting something extra on the side.

I don’t believe anything he said about that leapfrog thing from earlier.

If any elementary school student were going to spark a revolution in the Shogi world, I think it be Sota Kunugi 4-dan ……

Because I know for certain that a Women’s League player will never have that much impact.

“…… I ……”

Shorty doesn’t take her eyes off the floor but clenches her fist.

On her skirt, too. She’s squeezing the hem like a woman on a mission right now. At this rate, she’ll never get the wrinkles out.

“Hey, you’ll need to iron–––.”

It hits me just as I say those words.

Even back when we bumped into each other at Sendagaya Station, the right side of her skirt was already wrinkled to high heaven.

I’ve seen wrinkles that deep once before.

–––Just like Ginko Sora’s.

The first time I played against her in the Women’s League match …… it was the Queen Tournament Preliminaries. That was our one and only league match.

Back then, Ginko Sora was an elementary school fifth grader.

The same age as Ai, the little girl sitting on her ankles in front of me right now–––.

“I have to be strong.”

“……”

That answer is the same, too.

I, who got owned by her in popularity and in Shogi, asked the already Sub League member Ginko Sora a question during our review session.

“Why did you bother playing in the Women’s League tournament?”

Ai Hinatsuru just said the exact same words that Ginko Sora said to me that day. I can practically see the two elementary school girls overlap before my eyes.

So …… I follow up. This girl might actually give me an answer.

I ask what I couldn’t that day.

“Say you get strong, what then?”

“………………”

The girl squeezes her skirt even tighter.

And–––.

“………… I don’t know. I don’t ………… but–––.”

That little voice trembles. It’s so meek that I have to lean closer just to hear her.

However, her words cut right through me.

“A path will open up if I’m strong.”

The elementary school girl then puts both her hands on the floor.

“So please, let me stay here! I understand that I’m being selfish! I understand that that’s not an answer! But …… BUT ……!!”

–––No, that’s an answer alright.

She leans so far forward her forehead hits the floor. 

“Please!” says the little girl looking up for a moment before putting her head back on the floor. 

She keeps this loop going like a broken record, and part of me is surprisingly convinced.

Ginko Sora would say the same thing, I’m sure of it. She’s just that straightforward.

That and her answer put me into this prostrating little girl’s shoes.

Because, well …… no one can get stronger while having fun here in the Shogi world.

A path that only opens up when you’re strong.

–––That’s the most painful one there is.

This girl is … what? Ten, eleven years old ……? And here she is: her first step down the path she knows will cause her worlds of pain. Those little unsteady feet are still trying to push forward.

While shouldering all the hate directed at her Shogi family tree.

“A path will open …… Heh.”

Total honesty, I figured it out long ago.

Realized that this girl isn’t running away.

She’s drifting through Kanto, soaked to the bone in the hate and malice raining down on her in a place where no one will be an umbrella …… and wound up here. Every single member of the Women’s League knew the meaning behind her cutting off the hair that she used to love so much. That includes me.

Wow, I seem really pathetic all of a sudden, don’t I?

I played a normal match of Shogi against her in the Women’s Legend League and won.

Knowing that your opponent is down is no reason not to kick them with all your might. We earn money by getting fans to watch our matches and look at our records. Holding back isn’t an option.

But, you know?

As her senior, I could’ve gone up to her before the match and asked her how she was, couldn’t I?

Did I draw the line in the sand so we wouldn’t get close? Yeah, I might’ve.

But I could’ve stepped up for her after I won when all those other Women’s players were pouring salt on her fresh wounds, yeah? What did I do? I laughed along with them because I was afraid of sticking out too much, didn’t I?

“I’m trash.”

Despite riding the wave that Ginko Sora created, everyone was bashing her behind the scenes because no one could win a title with her around.

The Queen and Women’s Throne League turned into a complete snooze fest because she was too strong. That was why the popularity of Women’s Shogi was in a nosedive. That’s what they all claimed without seeing the weakness in the mirror.

After Ginko was allowed to keep her titles when she turned professional, like she won a game of rock-paper-scissors by putting out her sign two seconds late, pretty much everyone was saying she should just die like it was nothing.

So, when she lost to Ika Sainokami and immediately went on medical leave, everyone acted concerned while jumping for joy on the inside.

Once the Ginko Sora brand disappeared, though, the remaining Women’s League players were faced with the hard truth that they can’t keep the leagues going on their own. They’re anxious, panicking — desperate to blame anyone else for the situation.

And now, a little girl from Ginko Sora’s extended Shogi family tree is prostrating herself on the floor in front of me. Full-blown dogeza.

C’mon …… Cut that out.

We are the ones who should be …… on the floor right now.

––– Atonement.

That word comes to mind.

“…………… Meh, whatever. They already hate me anyway.”

“Huh?”

The little girl sounds confused as she looks up at me without raising her head.

I don’t mean to brag, but I can say with the utmost confidence that other women hate my guts. After all, I was the fan favorite until Ginko showed up.

That means that I’ve got the least to lose by taking in Shorty.

Plus, Jin-Jin can focus if I’m the one looking after her.

“I was here first, so the chores are your responsibility,” I declare with as much oomph as I can muster. “Of course, what I say goes around here. That’s the condition.”

“?! Then, I–––?”

“Yes or no?”

Pop! The elementary school girl is up on her knees like a little meerkat in the blink of an eye, but I keep up the pressure. She won’t be living in the lap of luxury, I’ll see to that.

“Y-Yes! I’ll do anything you say if you let me stay here!!”

“Oooh? You said anything just now, didn’t you?”

“Anything within reason, please!!”

If we’re going to do this, I’m going to get as much out of it as I can. Plans for my roommate start coming together in my head at the speed of light. There’s so much I want to do.