Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 16 - Chapter 5.04

  BEYOND THE CLOUDS

I tried eating a little bit when I got back to my room, but I threw it all up in the toilet.

“…… Let’s go!”

I leave my room once I rinse out my mouth.

I was in there three minutes, maybe? But my nerves just can’t take it.

My brain doesn’t slow down unless I can see the board …… It’s been like this ever since the third match ended.

Now back in the arena, I slide back onto my cushion and start thinking again.

“Hereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehere–––”

I need every second I can get.

All by myself in the arena, I look at the match record to see how much waiting time has been used. It gives me a clue how Shakando-sensei will use her remaining time once the match starts up again.

“Herehereherehere ………… Yes. Uh-huh. Yes …… It should work ……”

Just hearing that in my own voice is reassuring. And I tell myself that it’s okay over and over. This match is lining up with my research. I can lead it to a point that, even if I lose, I’ll know that there was nothing else I could have done!

Tsubasa comes back into the arena. She looks surprised to see me as she takes a seat at the boardside table.

The clock ticks until it’s time to start again.

“…… Th-The lunch break has ended …… Please continue the match ……”

But it’s Shakando-sensei’s turn. She isn’t back yet. Lucky me. Now I get to have a few extra minutes to read the board and the confidence that comes with it.

–––I can read faster and I’ve had longer to think …… So I’ve read deeper into the board!

Read. Read deeper and deeper.

I reach out for the answer that is waiting for me on the other side of the thick clouds. I have to believe that wide open azure blue skies are there ……!

How much time has passed?

There’s a rustling sound on the other side of the board. Is someone else here?

“T- ………… Time …… is running ……”

“Yes.”

Shakando-sensei says with a nod. Then, slowly but surely, she tilts her head to think about her next move.

10 minutes pass. And then, after 15 minutes ……

“…… This shall do just fine.”

Finally, Shakando-sensei picks a Pawn off her piece stand and puts it on the board.

7 Five Pawn.

She is setting up a rapid attack to put me in check with a 7 Six Knight on her next turn.

Exactly what I thought she would do–––Switch: on.

“HereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereherehereHEEEEEERRRRRREEEE!!”

End the match quickly. That strategy worked in the first match.

That’s the only way that I can beat Shakando-sensei as I am now.

–––This move will take this match right into the late-game!! Be brave ……!!

“……!!”

I see Tsubasa leaning over the table out of the corner of my eye. She can’t believe I’m doing this. But!

–––I believe in myself! In my own research and late-game skills!!

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Here it goes!

Time to break through the clouds and watch the blue sky open up …… with the best move!!

Azure skies, here I come!!

And–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Huh?

“……………………………………………… What?”

I …… I can’t reach!!

My fingertips fall just short of the piece I’m trying to grab and I nearly fall off my cushion.

“Wh-Why? Why is the board ……… so far away?! Huuuh?!”

I reach as far as I can, but my fingers can’t go where I want them to. This didn’t happen to me all this morning ……

Ah! Did someone move my cushion away from the board?! I was so focused that I didn’t even notice ……

“But who ……?”

I only left the arena for a few minutes during the lunch break.

Somebody might’ve come into the arena to clean it while I was gone. Maybe they don’t know much about Shogi and didn’t think about how much shorter my arms are than Shakando-sensei’s, so they put my cushion back into the usual spot ……?

“………… Master …………”

So many scenes that I had forgotten come flooding back.

First one, then another and another one after that ……

All of them had been pushed to the very corners of my mind to make room to memorize all sorts of standards and sequences I researched. So, so many memories.

Master’s lessons about how to play gritty Kansai-style Shogi.

Sora-sensei showing me what frigidly burning determination looks like.

Keika demonstrating how effort will always come through for you in the end.

Ten-chan teaching me the agony of defeat.

Mio letting me know that it hurts to win, Ayano working toward her dreams, Charlette’s innocent smile …… What they were all trying to tell me. The important things.

And the scroll he wrote that’s been hanging in the alcove ever since the first match ……

––– I have to remember. What is my weapon? My real weapon ……

There’s time.

“Wheeew––––––…………”

I pull my hand away from the board and take a deep breath.

And then–––

“Pardon me! I’m a little hungry, so can I ask you to order something for me?” I ask Tsubasa during my turn, but I don’t think she was expecting it.

“Huh?!”

“Some onigiri rice balls would be fine.”

“Oh …… Okay. No, right away! I just need to order some onigiri, right?!”

I’m not sure what she’s thinking, but Tsubasa looks straight into the camera and makes some hand gestures like rolling a rice ball into a triangular shape above her head.

“Um, Tsubasa? You don’t have to do that. There’s a phone in this room that you can use ……”

“Oh ………… Right. S-Sorry, Ai ………… P-Phone, phone ……”

“He-he!”

I don’t mean to be mean to Tsubasa, but a lot of tension is gone thanks to her.

Getting up, I gently readjust the position of my cushion and stretch my muscles and joints while I’m at it.

The onigiri comes in and I wolf it all down.

“Munch, munch ……! ………… Phew ……”

Now, with warm tea in my tummy, I sit back down at the board and finally feel relaxed.

A comfy, warm feeling spreads through me as I pick up a fresh towelette and wipe my fingers clean.

Fully determined, I take hold of my hakama trousers and squeeze.

So that there will be tons of wrinkles just above my knees.

“………… Okay!!”

Then I play my move.

But it’s not one to end the match as quickly as possible like the one I had in mind before.

“Huh?!”

Surprised, Tsubasa drops the pen she was using to write the match record. She had been about to write a completely different piece and position.

The move I decided to make–––2 Nine Rook.

Bringing the Rook all the way back into the deepest row of my territory to extend the match, a defensive move.

“Heh ……”

Shakando-sensei hadn’t made a sound until then.

“Good grief …… It seems my scheme was ousted because a certain someone repositioned your cushion during the lunch recess, hm? Now I’ll have to work my fingers to the bone to defeat you ……”

That sounded like a complaint, but she said so with a giddy smile.

Which means I made the right move. There could’ve been a better one somewhere else, but …… I probably would’ve lost anyway if I made it.

The thing that scares Shakando-sensei the most.

The one and only thing that I have that can beat her. That’s–––

“………… Do you know what the sky is like in Kanazawa?”

“Hm?”

“It’s along the north coast, so it’s always cloudy and rainy. You’re lucky if you get to see a blue sky ……”

Azure sky beyond the clouds.

Shogi players like to use that phrase a lot when signing fans and autographs.

I thought it meant exactly what it said, blue skies spreading out in every direction on the other side of the clouds. That’s what everyone said it meant.

But I was wrong.

The blue sky I had in mind was just my imagination.

The path called Shogi isn’t that easy. It’s much harsher, steeper and never ends ……!

There’s a mountaintop to climb up once you get past the clouds!

“I never knew what the top is like. I just started climbing without knowing the mountain was there and thought I’d be done once I got past the clouds. So I just closed my eyes, gritted my teeth and went for it ……”

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

A steeper and harsher path than I’ve ever seen keeps going beyond the clouds.

The path to the summit.

“…… That is a unique feature in a series of matches.”

Shakando-sensei answers, “The vast majority of league matches are one and done. Not to mention the idle time that passes between them. In a title match on the other hand, where two must play many matches in a short time span alternating offense and defense, one cannot help but see the intricacies in the other’s play style.”

I didn’t bother looking.

Meanwhile, Shakando-sensei figured out my style and adjusted.

Of course …… It’s only natural that I couldn’t keep winning as the series progressed.

“A certain player used romantic relationships as a metaphor to describe title matches …… I, however, think them more akin to that of a Master and an apprentice. Though brief, the majority of our daily lives are spent together. We travel together, dine on the same food, behold the same scenery …… A high-ranking player’s greatest fear is that all the knowhow they have built up over the years as a player will be stolen from them over the course of that series,” says the woman who hasn’t been without a title for 29 years.

“A loss within the series is but a trifle compared to that looming fear. After all, one can simply refine their skills and reclaim the title at a later date even if they should lose it.”

High, that’s my first thought.

–––Where Shakando-sensei and the Meijin are …… High enough to see through everything ……

The only weapon I have that can really scare the person nicknamed the Eternal Queen ……

That’s––––––how quickly I can improve.

“I want to win.”

“I want a title.”

Those feelings gave me tunnel vision. They’re what made my skies cloudy in the first place.

I wasn’t focused on Shogi.

I got so distracted by the pretty, glittering things in front of my eyes that I forgot what’s really important ……

It’s not treasure, that’s for sure.

All of that was fake.

What I really need isn’t a title. That’s just a step in the process. Only a result.

“………… I have to get strong,” I say with my eyes closed. “Because if I don’t …… if I never get stronger ………… the path will always be closed ……!!”

I repeat over and over to shut out the background noise.

“Get stronger.”

Then, once I opened my eyes again, I meet Shakando-sensei’s gaze head-on.

“I’ve been wasting the perfect opportunity to get stronger all this time. These matches were my best chance to learn Shogi from you, Shakando-sensei …… Four of them are already gone ……”

I regret it.

Just like how I regret not learning more from Master when I had the chance.

“But I still have this match! I will overtake you this time, Sensei!!”

I, the challenger, yell in front of this living, breathing piece of Women’s Shogi history.

–––This mountain! I will conquer …… the summit!!

“Yes. I am the apex.”

Women’s Legend Rina Shakando’s fingers and wrist move completely differently this time.

She shifts her Silver to 4 Two. I get the feeling this match is going to last a long time.

“Shall we begin? Ai Hinatsuru?”

“Yes!! I’m ready when you are!!”

I look up and finally see the face of the person on the summit.

It lets me know that my fight against the real actual Women’s Legend is about to begin.

“Now! Let us compete!!”