Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 17 - Chapter 4.3

  KIDNAPPING

“I’m saying I’ll arrange for you to see her. Ginko Sora.”

My response to Ai Yashajin’s proposal for a reward is an instant don’t bother.

I mean …… what else is there to say?

Machi knows where Big Sis is, too. She even offered to tell me at one point while I was writing Kuzuryu’s Notebook.

But I refused.

Because I knew going to see her wouldn’t guarantee things taking a turn for the better.

Big Sis made the decision to take a leave of absence so that she could play Shogi in peak condition and then left without telling me anything. She probably thought seeing me would only delay her recovery.

In which case, I shouldn’t barge in on her before she’s ready.

Of course, I want to see her. I’m dying to see her. There’s no way I’ll be satisfied with generated images. I want to see her, hold her in my arms and tell her I love her.

But I can’t. Not yet.

Now that I have my counterpoints set just in case Ai insists on arranging a meeting, I’m ready for her next words. But———

“Alright then.”

Huh?

She backed off right away ……

“Then think of something else for a reward.”

“S-Sure ……”

“Do you need anything before going back?”

“Um ……………… Hold on a sec. What day of what month is it?”

After living like a mountain hermit, my sense of time is all messed up. Worse, her answer nearly knocks me off my feet.

That was way too close. I nearly blew off a league match ……

“I need to go to Tokyo for Placement Matches very soon, so a haircut would be good. Oh, and I’d like a good night’s sleep at the apartment in Nishinomiya tonight.”

“Consider it done.”

With that, Ai Yashajin leaves the room with the chained Akira in tow.

Employees of the Yashajin Group clad in black suits show up after that. They take me to a barber shop and then back to my high-rise apartment, for which I’m still paying off the loan. It’s been ages since I’ve had a big bed like this, and I’m out like a light the moment my head hits the pillow———

The next thing I remember is being bound from head to foot on the floor of a van, the worst possible situation.

“Oh? Awake, are you? Kuzuryu-sensei.”

“Hm? Hrmgh?!”

“Fear not. My lady, benevolent as she is, spent the evening trying to come up with another suitable reward for you but could not. I was ordered to make it happen however I see fit and now I’m escorting you there personally.”

That’s Akira’s voice!

I’m blindfolded and gagged, so I have to rely on my imagination. But I have a pretty good idea what’s going on. I’d love to be wrong, seriously. Please, let my gut be wrong about this. But I think I’ve been kidna———

“The problem was that you wouldn’t accept our incredibly gracious offer. Thus, we had to resort to the proper course of action in my line of work.”

“Nrgh ……?”

“Proper course of action …… Yes, kidnapping.”

“Nrrgggghhhh———!! MNNNNNGH———!!”

“Tch. Struggling will only make things worse …… You. Another dose.”

Shlp.

Something long and thin slides into the back of my neck.

Everything goes dark. The next sensation I have is ………… That’s the smell of grass.

A soft breeze is flowing across my skin.

Am I …… in a field? Was I dumped here? I can feel soft earth beneath my exposed skin. This is nuts. What if no one finds me here? What about my matches? Seriously, where am I? What if bears show up?

My brain starts racing, but I hear footsteps.

“Nh!! NMGH!!”

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Something is coming this way.

Akira …… fat chance.

The steps aren’t heavy enough to be a bear, though.

I thought about keeping quiet for a second, but my chances of dying out here are much higher the way things are now. So I try to get help.

“NMHHHH———!! NMMMHHHHH———!!”

“Hold still.”

A girl’s voice.

Delicate fingers slide across my face and remove the blindfold.

“What are you doing on the ground?”

Silver hair brushes against my cheek.

Eyes like ashen blue gems …… just like the ones I’d seen in my dreams so many times are peering down at me.

Part of me had a feeling this was coming.

Akira mentioning the reward hinted at where I was being taken.

But the other part of me still had doubts, and I wasn’t fully prepared for this.

So I———

“L-Long time, no see …………… Ginko ……”

Barely managed to get the most average of average greetings out of my mouth.

“Uh-huh. Long time.”

“Umm …… Y-You grew your hair out, didn’t you?”

“Uh-huh.”

Wearing a free-flowing white dress, she runs her fingers through hair that’s gotten longer since I last saw her.

Just like in a dream.

Seriously …… She’s so much prettier than the girl I saw so much in dreamland ……

Even Awaji’s CG, which I thought was absolutely marvelous, can’t hold a candle to the real thing …… Thinking back on it now, it looked like a cheap copy———

“S-S-S-Sorry!”

Panicking, I sit up with a start and start reeling off an explanation.

“It’s um …… Ai Yashajin! I told her not to bother, but she had me kidnapped and dumped out here! Dah! That doesn’t mean I don’t want to see you! Being apart for so long has been killing me, but I’d resolved to endure ……”

Yeesh …… What am I saying?

This was supposed to be a cooler moment. Something suave should’ve rolled off my tongue.

“I-I’ll go, right now! Where can I get a taxi?! Ah …… my wallet! Where———”

I frantically rummage through my pockets in the middle of this beautiful meadow surrounded by mountains.

The one silently watching me———

“……”

Tug.

“……?”

I didn’t realize there was so much strength in those delicate fingers.

Looking away, she bluntly says, “Since you’re already here, why not stay over?”

That visage is exactly the Ginko I know.

My heart clenches as it finally clicks that I’m definitely not dreaming.