Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 2 - Chapter 3.3

  RAISING APPRENTICES

It’s impossible to do a lesson like this. Once I explained the situation to Akira, I dashed out the door and made a beeline for my apartment.

“Ai!”

I yell my apprentice’s name as soon as I get in the door. Then, I spot a memo sitting on top of the low table in the tatami room.

“I’m leaving.”

“Seriously?!”

Tremors roll down my spine once I got a good look at what was written on the back of the print-out page.

She ran away?! She actually left?! I rush to check her stuff, but her backpack and school textbooks are gone.

“S-She …… she’s really gone for good ……?”

Glancing outside, the sun has pretty much set. The thought of an elementary school girl wandering the streets of Osaka at night with nowhere to go makes my guts feel heavy, as if a whole lot of lead was coursing through them.

I have to get her back here, every second is a second too late. But where did she go? Where should I look? Who should I call? The association? Or the police ……?

Just as the guilt and an even stronger panic were building, my cell phone rang.

It’s Keika. I hit the “accept” button and–––. “Ah, Yaichi? Ai just showed up at our doorstep ……”

“Thank God! Oh, thank you, thank you! I’ll come pick her up right away!”

“You don’t need to.”

“Huh?”

“At least, that’s what I was told. That’s why I called.”

“D-Did Ai say that ……?”

“No. My father did.”

“Master said that?!”

“That’s right. He pretty much adores her. I think he wants to keep her around for a while. He’s probably lonely because both you and Ginko left at almost the same time. So, you don’t need to come pick her up for about a month–––.”

“I’m coming right now!!”

I won’t listen to the nonsensical ramblings of a geezer. Cutting the connection, I run out onto the streets of Naniwa and flag down a taxi.

Once I got to Noda Station, one stop down the line from Fukushima Station, in less than ten minutes, I raced down a street, too narrow for a car to pass through all the way, to an old Japanese-style house at the end and burst through the door.

“I’m home!”

This is the house where Big Sis and I trained until a year and a half ago. I spent more than half of my life inside these walls, so it feels more like home then my parents’ place.

The silver lining in this whole mess is that Big Sis is out in Tendou City, Yamagata Prefecture for a title match right now. The match took place today, and it looks like she’s not back early this time. If she did make it back from that far away, I’d have to seriously consider the possibility that she’s not human.

“Ai! Are you here?! I came to pick you up!!”

I walk straight to the back of the house, open the sliding door to the tatami room, and see a stocky human shape appear, a shape that’s holding a teapot.

My Master.

“So, ya came.”

“Of course I did! Now, where’s Ai?!”

“Over here.”

Master waves me into the room.

I step inside, but my apprentice isn’t here. Just my Master, grunting as he lowers himself to the floor at the back of the room.

“… Where is she?”

“Ai said she don’ wanna see ya. So, I ain’t gonna let ya.”

“Master!”

“Calm down, Yaichi. Have a seat.”

“……”

Master’s dignified words force me to bottle up my anxiety and obey. For me, a direct order from him is absolute.

Master starts pouring tea into cups as I sit on my ankles in the lower seat and he pushes one in my direction.

“Have a drink.”

“… Where is Ai?”

“No need to worry, she’s in this house. Playin’ Shogi with Keika in the kids’ room on the second floor right now.”

That’s the room that Big Sis and I used to share.

I want to see my apprentice as soon as possible … But, it’s a big relief knowing that at least she’s safe.

With that out of the way, other thoughts suddenly start weighing on my mind.

Even if I went to her, I have no clue how to clear up this misunderstanding.

But wait, is it a misunderstanding? It’s true that I never told her that I was teaching Ai Yashajin and it’s true I said she was the better Shogi player.

If I went to see Ai now … what could I possibly say?

Seeing the lost look on my face, Master quietly starts talking.

“I got a pretty good idea what happened … I think. From everythin’ that Ai and Mr. Tsukimitsu have told me anyway.”

“From the chairman?”

“Whenever Mr. Tsukimitsu has a job for ya, he always gets my opinion first.”

“I didn’t know that …”

That’s the chairman for you. Even when it comes to making arrangements, he’s the Meijin.

Professional Shogi players are all self-employed, and rivals at that. Anyone who considers throwing their hat into this world is horrible at working with others to begin with. It’s necessary to keep that in mind when trying to work with people like us.

But, that wasn’t all there was to it.

Master mumbles something deep under his beard before taking a deep breath and starting to speak with conviction. “I was gonna wait to say this until ya were at least A class but … ya already have a title and took an apprentice, so what the heck. I was–––.”

He gulps down his tea and said something that I never saw coming.

“Ya see, I was gonna have Mr. Tsukimitsu take ya on as an apprentice.”

… Huh?

“Me …? The chairman’s apprentice? What do you mean by …?”

“I didn’t think I could raise ya.”

“… Because Big Sis was already here …?”

Was it impossible to take on not one but two strangers’ children as live-in apprentices in this day and age?

That was the first thing that popped into my head, but Master shakes his head no.

“Because ya had something that I didn’t. Talent, to be blunt. Talent that blew others out of the water even.”

“……?”

“I knew back when we played our first game. I knew that this kid would be a pro no later than graduatin’ junior high.”

“B-But, I had to have been, what, Amateur 2-dan back then? That’s long before anyone decides to try to go pro or not–––.”

“I knew,” Master declares. “Actually, talent sticks out the most in beginners. Anyone can learn skills through willpower, but not talent. That’s somethin’ ya’re born with.”

“Talent …”

“Ya felt it too, yeah? When you played against Ai.”

“…… Yes.”

Ai first picked up a Shogi piece three months ago.

The only opening move she knew was advancing the Pawn in front of the Rook …… No skills to speak of, and no experience whatsoever, a blank slate.

However, Ai’s Shogi was overwhelming.

Double Winged Attack, a full power play. It started off with a very unusual move, taking a Rook with the Bishop. From there, Ai used two Rooks and kept a pro’s attack at bay. Even pros have a hard time with the Double Winged Attack, but she effectively played with two Rooks, a pattern that almost never shows up in match records.

Then she counterattacked in a way that I never saw coming. In an instant she realized that my offensive would come up short by the slimmest of margins. It wasn’t out of reckless desperation either. She read the board in the blink of an eye and even set up traps: a truly ferocious attack.

How could this girl, who hadn’t even handled Shogi pieces for most of her life, pull that off?

In a word–––talent. That’s the only way to explain it.

“I felt that the very first time I sat across the board from ya. Felt that this kid could be the one to end Shogi.”

–––End Shogi.

Simply put, it means to understand everything that there is to know about Shogi. To find a sequence that guarantees victory. It’s the highest compliment any Shogi player can give to another, and even has a divine feel to it.

Gulping down the spit in my mouth, I ask, “I-Is that true …? For Big Sis as well …?”

“I thought she could make some noise as a Women’s League player. She had spirit and spunk in spades.”

Master grins at me and takes another swig of tea.

“I was pretty sure I could turn ya into a pro. I could, but that’s as far as I could take ya. I couldn’t teach what comes after that.”

“What comes … after?”

“How to act like a titleholder.”

“……!”

“How to prepare for a big match. Sealin’ techniques. Copin’ with matches that last two days. How to interact with fans, sponsors and the press as the face of the Shogi world, participatin’ in events, dealin’ with mounting pressure during winning streaks, how to remain in peak condition with all that kinda stuff goin’ on … Playin’ as an ordinary pro is one thing, but competin’ at the top level is a whole other animal. Not just on the board either. Your day-to-day life completely changes into another world.”

I know exactly what he’s talking about …… Every fiber of my being can relate.

I went from being a bottom-of-the-barrel rookie pro all the way to the top of the Shogi world when I became the Ryuo. The sudden change threw me for a loop …… I may be exaggerating, but it really felt like my life changed. The changes outside of the game had the biggest impact on me. However, that impact affected my ability to play.

Actually it was those changes that got to me and I couldn’t win at all ……

“But ya see, I can’t teach ya what to do in that situation. I thought that ya needed to know how to act and how to prepare to be at the top while ya were still a kid, and I didn’t fit the bill. What’s more, I was worried that I’d waste yer talent by showin’ ya how to play my way. Many sleepless nights …”

Master folds his arms across his chest and looks up at the ceiling.

“Should I sharpen yer skills, push ya out of yer comfort zone, or build ya up as much as I could …? I didn’t know how to handle talent like yers. I didn’t have it to begin with, you see,” he said with a dreary voice. “So I went to speak with Mr. Tsukimitsu ‘bout the time you entered the Sub League. It was ‘cause I thought someone with talent like yers could raise ya right.”

“S-So … what happened?”

“He refused.”

“……”

Well, that’s a shock to the system.

“I’m gonna say this here and now: Mr. Tsukimitsu acknowledged yer talent. He didn’t reject ya as an apprentice. He refused because he thought it’d be better for ya to stay as my apprentice. I still remember his words.”

“What did he say …?”

“He came to you with a childhood dream of becoming your apprentice. Please respect that feeling, treasure and nurture it.––– ”

Wham! The shock felt like I got punched in the head and a spreading fire ignited in my chest at the same time.

How an apprentice …… feels. …

“That’s when it hit me. I thought I’d been doin’ all this for my apprentice, but actually I was tryin’ to run away. No, more than that … I was jealous of this kid that had what I didn’t, and I might’ve been tryin’ to put space between us.”

Listening to Master’s words made me think back on what I had done.

Every decision I made was to help Ai. There’s no mistaking how I felt.

But then again, did I ever consider Ai’s feelings?

“Then Mr. Tsukimitsu told me somethin’ else: The Meijin’s apprentice doesn’t necessarily become the next Meijin–––.”

Master looks up into the air as if basking in nostalgia.

“So that’s how it is, I thought to myself. And then faced it head-on …”

There’s more to instructing than just teaching all the ins and outs.

Once you sit in front of the board, you’re on your own.

No matter who your Master is, you fight by yourself. You get stronger by yourself.

In that case, what a Master can do is–––.

“That’s when I gave it my all, and managed to face the Meijin not once, but twice … Never could claim the title though.”

Lead by example. Show the apprentice what it looks like to get stronger.

That might be the most important lesson of all. At the very least, it was for Big Sis and myself.

Seeing Master battle the Meijin.

Seeing Master wearing traditional clothes.

Watching him gallantly walk into the arena. Big Sis and I had no doubt he was the coolest person in the whole world.

Big Sis was so excited that she grabbed my hand and said, “That’ll be us. We’ll wear kimonos, for sure! For sure, for sure!” repeatedly like a broken record. There were nights when she couldn’t sleep and brought magazines and colored pencils over to my futon and the two of us lay sprawled out, drawing pictures of our future selves wearing kimonos. It even showed up in our dreams.

After that, when Big Sis was eleven she wore her first kimono.

And me, I got to wear a kimono when I was sixteen. I got to borrow the very same one of Master’s that I had idolized since that day …

“I tried to run away from my apprentice,” Master whispered as if he were disappointed in himself. “Yer apprentice may have run away from ya, but everything ya did, ya did for her. So, I don’t think ya’ve done anythin’ wrong.”

“Master …”

“You wanted to set up a rival for Ai, yeah? Someone she could get stronger with together. Someone like Ginko was for you.”

“……!”

Heat starts building in the back of my eyes.

I was so happy that Master understood what I was trying to do. And just as happy to learn that he had walked down the same path …… happy that I made the right decision, and also reassured.

“Keika and I’ll take care of Ai for the time bein’. Ya’ve got nothin’ to worry about. So, give it all ya got!”

I take hold of the now lukewarm tea and wet my throat. All to make sure my next words came out loud and clear.

Then, I sit up straight and lower my head.

“… Thank you so much!”

Even so, my words weren’t as loud and clear as I’d hoped.