Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 16 - Chapter 1.3

  REUNION

“Ayano! Charlette, too!”

I’m at the hotel in Hakone that’s hosting the first Women’s Legend Title Match.

Waiting for me just outside the front door are …… two faces I haven’t seen in a long time.

“Ai-taaan!”

“Whoa?! Charlette, have you grown?”

The one with the squeaky voice who just ran in for a hug is Charlette Isoir. I try to catch her but fall backwards instead. I-It’s a good thing there’s grass here.

“Ai …… I’m so glad,” says Ayano Sadatou as she rushes up to help. I nod with a smile, but–––

“……! ………… Ayano ……?”

I don’t know what to say.

Ayano is crying her eyes out. Tears are rolling down her cheeks.

“So glad …… that you’re challenging …… for a title …… R-Really glad ……!!”

“Thanks ………… And, sorry, Ayano. For not saying anything when I left ……”

I didn’t talk to them when I decided to transfer to Kanto.

Not even when I moved or got a new phone number …… They must’ve thought I cut them out of my life. Just like the way I cut off most of my hair.

But if I hadn’t ……

“You two are just so important to me …… I didn’t think I could go through with it if I saw you or heard your voices. So I–––”

“We understand. We know …… that you went to Tokyo to get stronger.”

Ayano takes off her glasses so she can wipe her eyes.

“I still remember your Practice League Entrance Exam as if it were yesterday ……”

“You were my first opponent, weren’t you, Ayano? ……”

“I lost in every sense of the word …… I could feel the difference in our talent and ability that day, but also in determination. You came to Osaka all by yourself and fought Sora-sensei all the way to the end without giving up–––”

I had to promise to go back home if I lost any of the matches in the exam, but I did lose the last one.

“Even so, you refused to give up and prostrated yourself in dogeza before your parents. It was enough to convince them to change their conditions: instead of returning home, you would be earning a title before graduating junior high school as the new condition. They let you keep playing Shogi. Now here you are, one step away from fulfilling it! Congratulations!!”

“Yep! Thanks, Ayano! Charlette!”

And the person who did dogeza right next me is–––

“Umm …… Are you the only ones who came from Kansai?”

“Ai-tan. Masta, not here.”

“……!!”

My face turns bright red. W-Was I …… hoping to see Master that much ……?

“…… We haven’t spoken with Kuzuryu-sensei since you left, either. Charlette has been meaning to ask him to become her Master so she can join the Practice League, but ……”

The rules say that you need to have a Master when you join the Practice League if you’re planning to become a Women’s League player.

But the Practice League also works as a classroom. Some girls join it just for fun and then think I want to join the Women’s League after all! and get a Master later.

“My Master tells me that Kuzuryu-sensei wrote a book. Now he is busy doing promotion work at individual bookstores …… I don’t think that is more important than this title match, though ……”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about me! More importantly–––” I look at the big notebook in Ayano’s arms and add, “You get to be a journalist today, don’t you? Good luck!”

“Yes! I don’t know if I’ll be able to write a masterful piece like you did for Ten-chan during her title match, but I will do my utmost!”

This is why the two of them came from Osaka.

Ayano’s Master is editor-in-chief of the Shogi Association’s official magazine.

She almost never makes selfish requests, but her saying, I will never ask for anything again! convinced him to let her work as a journalist for my title match.

I …… was touched. Encouraged, too.

“Cha, too! Cha’s da phwotaggwafa!!”

“Great! Take lots of good pictures, Charlette!”

She wants to get into the Women’s League, and Ayano wants to become a Shogi journalist.

Both of them are doing work for my title match.

It’s their way of telling me–––we’re in this fight together.

–––The Grade Schooler Practice Group is still connected! Even when we’re apart ……

I also have one more precious friend.

She left on her own to get stronger before I did. I’ve made up my mind to contact her so I can tell her myself after I win.

“If I may, I would like to begin gathering material for my article–––,” Ayano says as she looks all over the place. 

Of course, she’s looking for the other person in the title match.

Once she spots her a little ways away, “?! Shakando-sensei …… is alone? I thought that Kannabe 8-dan was always by her side ……”

“He usually is. It was a real surprise when I didn’t see him with her when we all met up in Shinjuku station.”

“Hmm. That’s interesting ……”

Ayano opens her notebook.

“Hakone is in fact the hometown of Ashigara 9-dan, Shakando-sensei’s Master. In other words, Hakone may be a hometown second only to where she was born in Kamakura in Shakando-sensei’s eyes. Perhaps …… she feels comfortable enough here to travel by herself.”

Which means that she has the advantage of playing at home.

But as a competitor, knowing that my opponent has connections to the venue also makes me want to try that much harder to win.

“This opening match …… might be extra difficult for you ……”

“Yes, but–––”

“‘But?’”

“If I can win here, that means I can win anywhere, doesn’t it?”

“……! Y-Yes! That’s the mindset to have!”

That’s why I can’t afford to lose this match no matter what!

I’m more determined than ever now. 

Ayano asks me casually, “By the way, you’re so fashionable today, Ai! You have always been cute but living in Tokyo seems to have brought you out of your shell!!”

“Ai-tan, da dwess …… Yew’re shwoulders are sticking owut.”

“Ahaha …… This is, well, um ……”

I’m not used to wearing dresses that don’t cover my shoulders, and it’s embarrassing having them pointed out. I cover them with my hands and am surprised by how cold my skin is. The cherry blossoms are out for spring, but it’s still chilly up in the mountains of Hakone.

–––Maybe I should’ve worn something else ……?

While I love reuniting with my friends, I  can’t help but think of another sister in arms who was originally going to be here–––

It was only three days after I became the Women’s Legend Challenger.

“I’m sorry. For real, I am,” says my roommate, Tamayo Rokuroba Women’s 2-dan, as she bows her head to me.

And keeps going all the way to …… dogeza.

“I mean, who would’ve thought Jin-Jin would become the Meijin Challenger?! After a heartbreaking loss like that one, you’d think he’d be inconsolable for a while, right?! That’s why I went out and signed up as a commentator for your title matches and booked a whole bunch of instructional matches, but …… Well, um …… With Jin-Jin in the Meijin Title Match, I’d um …… rather do those instead …… So ……”

“Ohhh? Hmmmph?”

I give her a bright smile and nod, but there’s one thing I want to check.

“Who was it that said, If you’re too scared to go alone, I’ll tag along as moral support. I’ve got plenty of room on my schedule since I opened it up for a title match I’m not in! to me when I was crying my heart out after becoming the challenger?”

“Yes, that was me, but! I was being a good senior to you, you know? I was the one who made the mistake, so I didn’t want you to be feeling guilty–––”

“My title match was confirmed before Natagiri-sensei’s, wasn’t it?”

“Y-Yes, that’s true, but …… just by one day! Not even 24 hours!!”

“Well, I think it’s only right to prioritize the one that came first, even if it was just one day. Don’t you think that canceling all those bookings puts the scheduling staff in a tough spot? Should Women’s League players be acting that self-centered in the first place? I guess that when push comes to shove, you’re the type of person who puts love in front of work and your friends, Rokuroba-sensei.”

“Aaagh ……”

“Then again, I guess that’s why you get called the Practice Session Crusher, isn’t it?”

“Forgive me already, will you?! I’m sorry for patronizing you, oooooookay?!!”

Since Rokuroba-sensei is showing some remorse for things she said to me in the past, I switch things up and give her kind encouragement.

“Just kidding! Of course, go root for Natagiri-sensei!”

“Are …… Are you sure ……?”

“That’s where you want to be, isn’t it? Leaving me all by myself ……”

“You just said you wanted me to go!!”

Rokuroba-sensei knows I’m not really angry at her, of course. She’s just shy because she’s close to making a breakthrough with her special someone and is trying to make an excuse to be with him! That does irk me a little bit, though ……

“Oh, I’m not worried about you at all. After beating Machi like that, winning the title on your own will be a cinch.”

“It …… will?”

“Going against Shakando-sensei in her golden years is one thing, but she’s hands down the weakest of the Women’s Title Holders nowadays. Even I beat her in a league match.”

“…… What was it like playing against her?”

After starting out in the Women’s Legend League with three straight losses, I had almost given up all hope of ever being the challenger.

Since I would never play against Shakando-sensei in a league match, I didn’t start studying her match records until I knew I would be going against her for the title.

Not only is there nowhere near enough time to prepare anyway, but the Eternal Queen has over 900 Women’s League match records to her name. That doesn’t even count the nearly 200 matches against professional players. I can’t go through every single one.

So talking with someone who has experience playing against her is my chance to get valuable information!

“I used Ranging Rook and, yeah, she did a Static Rook anaguma …… And I ended up winning after some struggling, I guess? That happens a lot when two styles go against each other.”

That’s no help at all ……

“Hey, what’s with that no help at all look on your face, hm?”

“I wasn’t thinking that.”

“Besides …”

Rokuroba-sensei stops sitting on her ankles and crosses her legs instead while talking.

“It’ll be harder for Kuzuryu-sensei to say hello if I’m there.”

“……!”

“Don’t you think this is the perfect chance to make up? You are Master and apprentice, too.”

I deliberately disobeyed Master’s wishes and came to Tokyo. I haven’t even heard his voice since …… our last match in Osaka.

So I have no idea how he feels about me being in a title match.

Is he happy for me?

Or …… is he angry at me?

Kugui-sensei said things that made it sound like they’d spent a lot of time together during our match on the final day of the Women’s Legend League. Since beating her is what made me the challenger in the first place, Master might be angry with me after all ……

“………… Master, are you going to come?”

“Oh, he’ll come all right. I guarantee it,” Rokuroba-sensei casually declares.

“With this being your first title match, you’ll have this wide-eyed air about you that’ll make him putty in your hands. He’ll get some annoying lolicon-esque sense of duty to be the one who has to protect you and hop a train out from Osaka. You’ll see.”

“But …………”

“Look, there’s something in the air during title matches. Kind of like a festival, yeah? I’ve heard tons of stories about professional players and Women’s League players ending up together after working side by side.”

“!! …… Please tell me all the details.”

People with experience are so much more convincing. Amazed, I hang on to every word.

“Oh, and you want to pick your clothes carefully. You only have to wear a kimono when you’re actually playing. Since the rest is all up to you, that’s when you get to make your case. Show him that living in Tokyo has brought you out of your shell, and he won’t stand a chance.”

Rokuroba-sensei pulls out her smartphone and opens a shopping app.

“No lolicon could resist this little number right here. See? A sleek dress like this with open shoulders? You’re almost in junior high, so why not show off?!”

“That?! It’s so revealing that …………… Master would love it ……”

“Right?! Since it’s warm out now, you could also show a little tummy–––”

From there, we talked about what clothes our special guys like for hours.

It felt like a reward for all my hard work getting all the way to the title match …… I enjoyed it a lot.