Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 15 - Chapter 4.8

  THE STORY OF TAMAYO ROKUROBA

“It was summer, when I was in the fourth grade. A professional Shogi player visited my school.”

Rokuroba-sensei starts telling me how it all happened while looking up at the dark ceiling.

“He had this suave air about him and a face to die for. All the girls squealed when he walked in. I wanted this man from Tokyo to remember me, no matter what. So I started practicing Shogi day and night. That’s how I got into it in the first place.”

“Was that Natagiri-sensei?”

“…… He was part of the association’s Shogi outreach program.”

She goes on without saying his name.

“They were working with a magazine to write an article with a full-color spread. The editor at the time must’ve taken a liking to me because they started a whole new regular series of articles documenting an elementary school girl taking lessons from a professional.”

Rokuroba-sensei got one lesson a month from Natagiri-sensei and made tons of improvements every time.

She started without knowing how the pieces moved, but became an amateur 1-dan in four months.

After only six months she passed the Practice League Entrance Exam.

The series lasted for one year, and she lost contact with Natagiri-sensei for a while after that. But she still kept playing–––.

“I was the Women’s Amateur Meijin my first year in junior high, which instantly qualified me for the Women’s League. Everyone was calling me the Shogi Wonder Girl: Tamayon.”

It only took her one year to get into the Women’s Legend League and get Women’s 1-dan.

A lot of the things in Rokuroba-sensei’s story, including how she started learning how to play later than most professionals, sounds a lot like my own experiences.

That also includes jumping headfirst into Shogi out of admiration for someone. We have so much in common.

“But that’s as high as my star got,” she says with a grimace and continues. “Even in the Women’s League, title holders were a cut above the rest. I couldn’t win against the older generation, not with Shakando-sensei and Big Sister Azami there. I also had to deal with Ryou and Machi in my own age group …… Just below me where the real monsters like Ika and Naniwa’s Snow White.”

It makes me nervous just hearing about that.

Now that Ten-chan is there too, the wall for a title is taller and thicker than ever.

I want to get stronger, so much so that my whole body heats up just thinking about it……

“But, back then, I thought things would work out alright if I could just get over the disadvantage of living in the countryside. So I did everything I could to go to a Shogi classroom in Shinjuku. The Kanto Association has a rule about doing practice sessions in the building, so that’s where all the pros practiced. I’d stroll in and beg the first one I saw to teach me and go from there.”

“You went from Numazu all the way to Shinjuku?!”

“It’s two-and-a-half hours one way, but that’s still doable. Software wasn’t all that strong back when I was in junior high and high school, so having practice sessions was the only way to improve back then.”

Her nickname Practice Session Crusher apparently came from those days.

A very strong amateur player was in one of the groups that she approached. Not long after, he got married and moved someplace else. The group had to disband.

“For whatever reason, people started saying that Rokuroba broke up the group and that rep stuck. Still, I thought that developing a thick skin was just part of getting stronger… not that putting up with rumors has anything to do with Shogi.”

“…………”

“But there really are lots of things you have to put up with outside of Shogi. Like for example, when I got invited to practice sessions by professional players and Sub League members, the classroom would always ask me how late can you stay and stuff like that.”

“I think I can relate. Whenever I went to the Kansai Player’s Room in the morning, professional senseis would say things like that to me, too.”

“It’s a man’s world, that’s why. At some point I started seeing myself as one of the guys…… One time I cut my hair really short after losing a league match and walked in saying I’m fired up now! That got a huge laugh. Even stronger players started inviting me after that. Just getting their invitation made me feel like I was making progress.”

“Your hair ……”

The starting point was different, but the more she says …… the more I realize that Rokuroba-sensei and I have walked the same path.

And that …… it’s the same path a lot of other Women’s League players have walked.

“Laugh about it now, but back then I talked all rough and tough like the boys did. Ha-ha!”

She says that people stopped treating her like a girl and she started thinking of herself as a boy ……

Until one very bad night.

“It was winter of my second year in high school,” Rokuroba-sensei says in a dark tone. “I had nothing to show for being in the Women’s League for five years, and all of my classmates were starting to get serious about university entrance exams …… The pressure was real. So I thought that one extra match at practice sessions in Tokyo could be what I needed to get over the hump ……”

There were days when she had to sprint to make the last train. Even so, her record didn’t get any better.

So she thought she had to keep practicing even longer and missed her train ……

“The others were worried about me, but I just shrugged them off saying, I’ll crash on my friend’s couch for the night if I don’t make it! and left. The train was already gone. The night bus was completely booked too. I had no idea how different Shinjuku was at night either …… I thought I’d just spend the night at a manga café and catch the first train out in the morning.”

Since lots of Sub League members and strong amateur players had said that that’s what they did all the time, Rokuroba-sensei thought she could do it too.

But she was wrong.

…Because she was a cute high school girl who drew attention everywhere she went……

“Manga cafes are pretty dim and there are tons of blind angles, much too dangerous for a high school girl to be there alone past midnight. I know that now, but I couldn’t sense the danger back then. And …… I was touched.”

“……!!”

Those words hurt like a slap in the face.

I had wondered why Rokuroba-sensei was so insistent on staying where the people are the other day.

It was because …… she had lived through what happens when you didn’t ……

She wasn’t trying to be mean. She was trying to keep me from going through one of the worst nights of her life. Even now… she’s opening up like this even though it can’t be easy to talk about it.

And I …… I ……!

“It was the worst. There I was, short hair, talking like a guy …… But I had the fact that I was a woman shoved in my face. Appearance can’t change that …… That stung so bad, I just couldn’t deal ……”

“W-Were …… were you okay? I mean …… after he ……?”

“I smacked the bastard and dragged him to the police.”

Whoa ……

“But things only got worse from there. I had to explain what a high school girl from Numazu was doing in Shinjuku at night in the first place to the police …… Do you think they’d take Shogi as an answer? Huh? A high school girl playing Shogi? They thought I was part of some kind of paid-dating scheme to make some extra cash and didn’t believe me. I’m the victim, but they wouldn’t listen ……”

She says she had to call an adult to take her side, but her parents might make her quit Shogi altogether if they found out what had happened. And her Master was very conscious of public image and would kick her out of the Shogi family if the police got involved ……

“The one who came to my rescue that night …… was Jin-Jin.”

The contact information had been in her phone, but she hadn’t used it in almost six years.

–––The name Jin Natagiri.

Rokuroba-sensei knew it was a long shot, but she pressed the button. Her voice shook as she told him what had happened.

Natagiri-sensei came right away.

He didn’t get angry at her or offer any strange praise. He just kindly stayed with her until morning.

“Jin-Jin had grown up way outside the big city, remember? That’s why he understood things without me having to explain …… He filled out the report for the police, took me to a 24-hour diner and did a Shogi practice session with me until the first train ……”

Rokuroba-sensei says that was the first time she cried, that night, and the tears wouldn’t stop once they got going.

Part of it was relief.

But …… she thinks it had more to do with knowing she didn’t have to try to be a guy anymore.

Talking with Natagiri-sensei that night is what helped her be honest with herself ……

“…… It had been forever since I’d seen the man I used to idolize. I found out during our reunion that not only was he still single, but also he had just become a title challenger. The media was going nuts over him, saying he was the Dapper David going against Goliath and the like. He was in all the magazines and on TV all the time …… Yet he still rode to my rescue like Prince Charming, told me I’d gotten stronger as we played Shogi and did it all with a smile …… As a high school girl from Numazu, he checked all my boxes. It was destiny, I just knew it.”

“…………”

“Hah! Yeah, yeah! Sappy, I know, right? Go ahead, say whatever you want …… Haa, this is embarrassing.”

“…… Rokuroba-sensei.”

“Hm?”

“I know what you mean!! I can relate SOOOOOOO so much!!”

“Whoa?! O-Oh ……”

There’s so much I want to say! There’s too much I want to say!!

But I grit my teeth and bear it because we both have matches tomorrow. Nghhhh!

Her parents said, “Quit Shogi at once!” once they found out about the danger their daughter was in (I understand this all too well!), but Natagiri-sensei came in to lend a helping hand in her moment of need–––,

“He started working with me whenever I came to Tokyo for league matches and he would stop by Numazu on his way back from Kansai, too.”

All of those practice sessions made Rokuroba-sensei’s feelings for him grow that much faster.

Natagiri-sensei’s sincerity won over her parents, and they became his fans. And it seemed like even though there’s a little age gap, if a nice man like him wanted to marry our daughter …… at one point!

There’s sooo much in common!!

“So …… I wanted to reduce the distance any way I could. I was chatting with him one day and tested the waters with one of those oh, I’m thinking about trying to get into W-University. It’s so close to your apartment here in Tokyo (glance) lines. Guess what! He said I should stay in his room until I got settled! I was all like Huh?! D-Does that mean ……?! and then–––.”

“You both had feelings for each other ……”

“Right?! That has to be it, right?! What else could it be?!”

She hit the books with those high expectations and passed W-University’s exam with flying colors.

From there she moved into his research room and the two began living as next-door neighbors.

“…… But at the end of the day, all he ever saw me as was the student he used to teach when I was in elementary school ……,” she says somberly. He treats her like a child no matter how old she gets.

…… I know that feeling.

“We were never together or even official research partners for that matter. I got into my university’s Shogi club and studied like mad, but …… all Jin-Jin was ever interested in were the talented young boys rising through the ranks. Like that Master of yours or Sir Ayumu.”

“…………”

I-It’s true that Natagiri-sensei’s way of speaking is a bit ……. enthusiastic. Even I wasn’t sure how to react at first ……

“So, yeah, I’d promised to find my own place once I was settled in, but I hung around here mostly out of spite.”

“That sounds simplistic.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You’re one to talk!”

Rokuroba-sensei kicks off the futon.

“Besides, I’m a university student and I live in my own room! You and Kuzuryu-sensei were in the SAME APARTMENT!! There has to be a law against that! He passed it off as for training or whatever, but that was full-blown lolicon right there! I was sure he’d end up behind bars when I heard the news—and kept my distance!!” 

Really?

Sure, I might’ve come on a little strong at first, but I got both Master’s and my parents’ permission before moving in, so I highly doubt any laws were broken.

“Anyway …… We started having chances to work together and visited many places around the country. My bank account grew and I made lots of connections, but …… What I really wanted always seemed to get further and further away.”

“You love Natagiri-sensei, but Natagiri-sensei is too caught up in Shogi to notice, so you’re trying to use Shogi to get his attention, right?”

“Hold it right there! Those are two very different–––.”

“Haaa …… You can’t tell yourself the truth even after all you’ve said to me? That reaction proves it.”

“Ngh ……! You’re in grade school, Shorty! What makes you think you can lecture me on relationships ……?!”

“Grade schoolers are very knowledgeable these days.”

I’m just going off what my old classmate, the relationship Master Mihane, told me. But she’s been right on the money.

“Well? What kind of relationship do you want with Natagiri-sensei?”

“…… Since he’s in love with Shogi, I’m fine with how things are now–––.”

“That won’t do.”

“Huuuh? When did you get up on that high horse ……?”

“Have you ever directly told him how you feel, Rokuroba-sensei?”

“Running your mouth, aren’t you?”

“Have you?”

“………… Yes, if you must know.”

“When?”

“…… My last year of high school, in winter.”

“That’s ten years ago, isn’t it?”

“Wanna die, Shorty?!”

J-Just joking …… So, five years ago? Maybe?

“My Master was working on the Rules Committee at the time, and Jin-Jin was selected to serve as an assistant observer. I got called in to do commentary and help with the big board …… Jin-Jin almost never drinks alcohol, but he did at the after-party that night and looked like he was having a great time. The title match was happening at an inn out in the boonies, but the stars in the sky …… I’ve never seen so many in my life. The mood just felt right, you know ……?”

“A starry sky?! Where were you?!”

“Nagano ……”

“Nagano Prefecture!”

“Umm …… Why does that matter?”

Just picturing that night is so exciting! Rokuroba-sensei acts annoyed by my giddy squeals, but she tells me what happened next.

“Anyway …… so yeah …… That night at the party …… I waited until the two of us were alone, I looked into his eyes and said: Sensei, I love you ……”

“And?! And?! What did he say?!”

“Jin-Jin looked deep into my eyes and answered–––….”

This is going to be so romantic, isn’t it? Oh! But what if this leads to things that my young ears shouldn’t hear?! But, but, people tend to go further than they would in the beautiful wilderness Nagano, so that’s possible, isn’t it ……?!

My heart is racing, but Rokuroba-sensei exhales out of her nose and smirks, “Do you happen to have a brother, Tamayon?”

“……………”

Ooph ……

“D-Do you ……?”

“Heck no!! I’m an only child, okay?!!”

WHAM!! Rokuroba-sensei slams her fist into the wall that separates our room from the one next door. Looking closer, there seems to be a dent in the wall right there ……

“When push comes to shove, that guy …… Jin-Jin loves talent more anything else. Shogi is all he sees. I was never on his radar to begin with. Not that you’d understand that.” 

“I do understand.”

“Huh?”

I understand too well. I understand how that feels so much that it hurts.

Because… I also–––.

“I understand how it feels when the one you want to look at you is always looking at someone else …… no matter how talented you are or how strong you become …… I know how painful it is.”

“…………. You just called yourself talented, Shorty.”

“That’s the only thing I believe anymore. Out of everything that Master said to me, that’s the only thing …… I think he was telling the truth about.”

I’m still not strong enough to believe in myself.

But …… I can believe that because he said it.

He said I can get even stronger.

“Heh ………… Cheeky kid, aren’t you, Shorty? ………… Yeah, I hate your guts,” Rokuroba-sensei says as she rolls over. That’s a signal that our conversation is over.

I’m glad I got to hear about how Rokuroba-sensei met Natagiri-sensei tonight.

After all, I got to find out.

Now I know why Rokuroba-sensei said she hated me.

And I know why her words …… resonate so much with me.

Now I can see a day when I reunite with him …… with my hair starting to grow back to what it used to be.

“………… Boring love stories we’re living, don’t you think?”

Rokuroba-sensei saying love made me very happy.