Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 15 - Chapter 3.5

  BUT THAT’S SHOGI

“…… ost.”

It takes me a second to realize those words didn’t come out right. After all, I’m coming to grips with the fact that I’ve lost consecutive league matches for the first time in two months.

Ten wins in a row followed by two losses in a row.

“Well …… All streaks come to an end at some point.☆ Winning and losing.”

Now that I’m on my own after the review session, I take a moment to cheer myself up. Everything’s fine …… Everything’s fine …… A certain special someone told me that if you tell yourself everything’s fine enough times, it will be.☆

“Yeah, right.”

To be brutally honest, the opponents I lost to were beneath me. I had them penciled in as victory stars when I first saw the schedule, so losing is quite a shock. I haven’t checked the league standings yet, but …… there’s a chance I’ve lost the top spot.

My heart pounds in my chest as I go up to have a look. I haven’t been this nervous since checking my university entrance test results. No, this is worse …… It feels like an out-of-body experience.

It wasn’t that long ago that the golden tape across the finish line was in sight.

For the first time in my Women’s Shogi career, I feel like I could jump out and take it–––.

Nauseated with dread, I look up at the standings.

“Ahh ………………… Safe, by the skin of my teeth ……”

All matches for the seventh round of the Women’s Legend League finished today. My 4 – 3 record is still at the top, it’s just now I’m tied with two others.

I glance at the results for the other match that took place today.

〇 Ai Hinatsuru Women’s 1-dan (4 wins – 3 losses) ● Azami Hanadachi Women’s 4-dan (3 wins – 4 losses)

The elementary school girl faced down a former title holder like she was supposed to win and did. That’s four match victories in a row for her.

And now, she’s pulled even with me in victory stars.

“Oh, Tamayooon! Over here, over here!”

“It’s good to see you, Rokuroba-sensei!”

The moment I step into a small yet fancy Italian restaurant—in Sendagaya—two voices call my name from a table at the exact same time.

I turn to face the well-proportioned woman sitting next to the wall, freeze in place and bow my head.

“I-It has been too long! It’s an honor to receive your invitation!!”

The little girl looks at me with big, confused eyes.

“…… Sensei? Are you …… feeling okay ……?”

“If you knew Big Sister Azami when she became the first Queen, you wouldn’t be so lackadaisical right now ……!”

The Thorn Princess from Ibaraki Prefecture was just that terrifying.

She made me bawl my eyes out during my first review session with her, so you can take that to the bank.

“You think Shogi’s a joke?”

Actually, that wasn’t a review session. It was a full-blown lecture. It went on longer than the match itself and lasted late into the night. We ended up walking all the way to Home-ken Ramen shop and I still remember sitting next to her at the counter saying, “I’bu sooo swooorry ……! I don’t thwink Shobi is a jwoke ……!!” between rounds of snot and tears. I must’ve apologized 100 times. 

Big Sister Azami never said a word to the junior high–aged me, but she paid for my dumplings.

The Azami Hanadachi of those days makes Ryou Tsukiyomizaka look like an angry puppy. That’s why the so-called Aggressive Archangel doesn’t intimidate me at all when we play.

I learned what being a professional meant from Big Sister Azami.

That’s why around the time she transferred to Kansai and Naniwa’s Snow White cast a dark cloud over Women’s League players in Kanto, I created the over-the-top Tamayon persona and stuck with it.

I don’t have the skills and talent that Big Sister Azami does. I can’t match her beauty or grace, either. That meant I had to forge my own path in the world of Women’s Shogi.

…… Well, not that anything I say or do is all that convincing without a title, so almost nobody gets that. ☆

“I must say …… I’m surprised that you know Shorty well enough to invite her out for dinner after your match. Even though you both were registered in Kansai, I thought you would have been on maternity leave most of the time she was there ……”

“Ai came to visit me in Osaka with Yaichi and Ai Yashajin too! I was a little worried when I heard she transferred to Kanto ……. But I suppose I’ve got nothing to worry about if she’s with you, Tamayo.”

“You give me too much credit ……”

Apparently, the elementary school girl has already told her a few things. Probably claimed that I’ve been bullying her, no doubt!

“If I may ask: why did you come to play the match in Tokyo today? You outrank Shorty so much that she should have been the one to travel to Osaka, right?”

“Oh, my husband had a placement match yesterday here in Kanto. Everything worked out better if I played my match in Tokyo, so I had the scheduler take care of it. My hubby is looking after the girls at Shinjuku Gyoen Park right now. I’ll meet up with them after this and go visit my parents in Ibaraki.”

“Their whole family is going to visit Yume no Kuni Theme Park! I bet Sa-chan can’t wait!”

“Sa-chan?”

“She’s Hanadachi-sensei’s oldest daughter! She just turned three and is sooo cute!”

“Oh? That cute, huh?”

“Yes! Master fell for her so much that he was still saying she was adorable the day after we got home. He said so about 16 times …… He seems to like girls more the younger they are …… I’m sure he’s completely forgotten about me by now and found some younger girl to fawn over ………… Of course, he has …… that darabuchi ……!”

“Uh-huh.”

I’m not touching that.

“So, Big Sister Azami. How did your husband do in his placement match?”

“Oh, horribly. His opponent was Kannabe 7-dan, the one who’s all but guaranteed to promote this season. My hubby didn’t stand a chance. That boy really could be the next Meijin.”

Jin-Jin was really zoned in on that rising star for a while.

They did have one practice session, but Jin-Jin got rejected. The reason was because they’ll end up playing against each other in A division. Imagine that! A 19-year-old B-2 upstart rejecting practice sessions with an A division player and giving that as his excuse? Even Jin-Jin had to bite his tongue ……

Well, it turns out he wasn’t all talk after all.

“I think that’s why Shakando-sensei has latched on to her title for all these years and never let go.”

“Huh?” I ask, not picking up the hint. 

Just for a second, I thought I saw the old Thorn Princess come through as she clarifies. “Because she wants to be the Women’s Legend when her apprentice becomes Meijin.”

I do a lot of thinking on the train ride home.

My next match is over there, so why don’t we have dinner after it’s over? It’s been ages! Ai can join us, too.

Something felt very wrong when I saw that message.

The Thorn Princess I know wouldn’t have been in such a good mood after losing.

She definitely wouldn’t have shared a meal with the one who defeated her, either ……

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that Thorn Princess would ever become kindhearted mother …… Seeing her like that felt like a betrayal, in a way.

And, at the same time …… It sparked a different emotion inside me.

“………… Hey, Shorty. During your match today, what was Big Sister Azami like–––?” I start asking the elementary school girl sitting next to me, but find myself at a loss for words when I see what’s on the tablet she’s holding.

“Wha …… Why are you playing Shogi going home after a match?”

“This is how I relax.”

“Huh? But that’s Shogi.”

“Doing Shogi puzzles when you’re tired gets better results.”

“Oh, I see!☆ Very true! It’s just like practicing the late-game when you’re too tired to think! As if!!”

I run with it a bit before snapping at her in the middle of the train. I’m just playing along, that’s all!!

“Aren’t you supposed to do, I don’t know, something where you don’t have to think to relax?”

“So …… Play Ranging Rook?”

“Are you trying to piss off half of humanity all at once?!”

Seventy-five percent of all Women’s League players, including me, play Ranging Rook!! Have a death wish, does she?!

“Then, maybe play through some match records–––.”

“Like I said! THAT’S SHOGI!!”

She doesn’t seem to have a clue why I’m yelling. Those big, round eyes of hers are staring up at me.

I knew it. She’s not cut out for the Women’s League.

There’s a big difference between being good at Shogi and playing Shogi for a living.

That’s one of the lessons Big Sister Azami taught me as a junior high student.

Shogi is work, and being in the Women’s League is a job.

That’s why being there to have fun is a mistake.

So long as we’re receiving money, there’s a certain responsibility we have to uphold.

That responsibility, simply put, is to continue playing even if we’re not having a good time. We are all playing to win, but only one of the 100 Women’s League players can go without losing in the end.

Everyone else gets the unnecessary label pressed onto them.

So, if there is ever a fun moment, it’s when we reach the goal.

The moment when we didn’t lose to anyone.

Basically …… when we win a title.

“…… You said there are 50,000 problems in there, right? Who made them? ’Cuz I’ve sure never seen that absurd number of copyright-free Shogi puzzles just show up somewhere.”

“…………… It was a present… from him ……”

I can tell who he is by the look on her face.

Because I had the same thing happen back when I was Shorty’s age. I was so happy to get homework from a professional Shogi player I admired that I was solving those Shogi puzzles in my sleep.

I’d be willing to bet that I made the same face she is now when I was solving them. I was pretty much on cloud nine, like he’d written me a love letter.

But if I ever had a chance to meet the girl I was back then, there’s one thing I would say to her….

But that’s Shogi.