WALKING WITH AYUMU
Exiting the hotel, Rina Shakando’s cane clacked as she made her way toward the river.
Her legs could barely move after sitting for so long. Even her grip on the cane was precarious after a fierce match that lasted over 200 moves.
“Kgh ……!”
For some reason, however, a strange power was welling up deep within her. It reminded her of her golden age. That is what allowed her to move forward.
“……… There ………”
Then, just as she set foot on a large bridge that spanned the river, a young man walking toward her from the other side came into view.
Rina gathered up every ounce of strength she had left and rushed forward.
–––Oh? It seems I’m still able to run.
As it had been nearly two decades since she had exerted herself to this extent, Rina was out of breath right away as her heart pounded against her ribs.
Ayumu raced from the other side of the bridge.
Then, when they were only a few steps apart–––Rina’s legs failed her.
“Oh? …… Whoops.”
“Master!”
Her apprentice sprang forward to catch his falling Master.
“He-he …… It seems my golden age is long past after all,” Rina Shakando admitted as Ayumu’s masculine arm supported her in place of the cane she lost at the beginning of her stumble.
Age had indeed caught up to her.
“I was felled by instant death. The mirror opposite your Placement Match …… Will you not laugh at your fainthearted Master’s expense?”
“…… No. I had read the same sequence and believed taking that Pawn with the Knight would lead to victory.”
“That you had? Then both of us would have been felled as one.”
Rina appeared content, even happy despite the loss.
Where should one begin reading when the formations are complex? In which move should one entrust their fate when reading deep into the board? A player’s personality was most apparent when answering these questions.
Most people would refer to that as a gut feeling. Some players may think of it as sense.
However, if it could be called the soul?
Their souls were quite similar indeed.
“……… I will become Meijin. A Meijin renowned enough to be carved into the annals of history,” said Ayumu in much the same way as his marriage proposal.
This time, however, he had more to say.
“I also recognize the time will come when the title will be wrestled from my grasp. Status and titles do not last forever.”
“Indeed, they do not. I have proven thusly just now.”
“When that time arrives, I wish …… for you to be at my side just like this. Meijin or no, I want for our paths in life to continue supporting one another until the end of time.”
Marry me once I become Meijin.
Those words had brought Rina anger rather than joy when she first heard them. What if you never become Meijin? What happens when you are no longer Meijin? Do you expect me to discard you once that happens?
The fact that she became angry in that moment made the answer all too clear.
What she lacked was courage ……
She acquired that courage just now in place of the title she lost.
“My beloved Master.”
Rather than kneeling, Ayumu Kannabe continued to support his Master’s side while speaking these words.
“Will you walk at my side? Forever …… as one?”
“…………”
Rina Shakando didn’t answer.
Moments passed in silence. Then, her gaze fixed on the setting sun, she said, “…… These past five matches have made it painfully apparent that traveling on my own is far too demanding. It seems that a superior apprentice of mine has done so much for me over the years that I have become unable to do anything by myself.”
“……?”
“Said apprentice came to me with that proposal on the eve of a title match. Can you understand the hardship? How much time I spent debating? Hardly any energy was left for Shogi.”
“Y-You have my deepest apologies ……”
“Do you still not understand? It struck me after hearing Archangel’s account, but you are indeed the Meijin of obstinance!”
The words came to Rina Shankando in that moment.
Her cheeks puffed out like those of a young maiden, tinted red by the setting sun.
“I do not wish to let you go.”
Let us walk together, my dear knight–––
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