Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 3 - Chapter 1.1

  BIG BATH

“Nyahhhhh~~~~ …… ♡”

My apprentice’s melty voice echoes through the spacious bathing hall.

This public bathhouse just opened, so we have the place to ourselves. Heck, I’m the only one on the men’s side. It must be the same on the women’s side too because I recognize all of the voices.

“Ai, what do you think? Feeling any better?”

“Nyahhh!”

Relief passes through me as soon as I hear my apprentice’s energetically happy response come over the barrier wall.

I was worried when I found her collapsed on the floor, but I’m glad it was nothing serious.

“Let’s see, you came to Osaka two months ago …… Ai, you must’ve been really holding back. Everyone should relax and stretch their legs in a big tub every once in a while …… Especially you, growing up with a hot spring as part of the family business.”

This is an old bathhouse that’s just around the corner from Master Kiyotaki’s place.

Big Sis and I used to come here all the time with Master and Keika; my Shogi family has a lot of great memories here.

“But I never thought you were restraining yourself from going to a place like this the whole time ……”

Keika’s voice comes from over the wall. “You should’ve spoken up sooner. I feared the worst when Yaichi told me you were passed out on the floor.”

“S-Sorry ……”

A rather sharp voice cut in as if to drown out Ai’s apology: Big Sis. “This is too good for someone in training. A sponge and a sink is good enough for some grade school girl living with her Master.”

“That’s news to me. I seem to remember a young Ginko pleading to come to the bathhouse all the time.”

“……”

“You also cried whenever there wasn’t any ice cream after we were done, didn’t you?”

“…… Keika, please leave it at that …”

“Phh-ha-ha! You talk all grown up, but you’re really still just a kid, aren’t you?”

“Humph! You are the kid. Just a flat and smooth grade schooler.”

Oh boy, here come the fireworks.

Ai and Big Sis fight all the time. So much so, that recently it feels like something’s missing when they’re not at each other’s throats.

Go ahead, knock yourselves out––– But then.

“But Aun- …… Sora-sensei, you’re smooth too!!”

“Pfff?!”

My foot slipped, and I had to catch myself.

You’re smooth too, smooth too, too … The echoes came flying off the particularly acoustic bathhouse walls, emphasizing every single word.

B-Big Sis …… 

Still …… doesn’t have any ……?

“Hey, Yaichi! Wipe that image out of your head, now?! You pervert!! Ero-Ryuo!!”

“Sto-! Ouch! B-Big Sis! Please, stop throwing things into the men’s bath!!”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!! Fall, hit your head on the tile, and forget everything!!”

Buckets and plastic chairs come flying over the barrier wall like she’s got a rapid-fire catapult over there. Is she trying to kill me?!

“G-Ginko, calm down! Actually, that’s a plus considering Yaichi’s tastes of Loli …?!”

“I don’t want that plus?!”

Whatever Keika is doing over there, it must’ve worked because Big Sis’s blitzkrieg came to a sudden halt. Whew …… 

I pick up all the buckets and bars of soap and start thinking over everything again …… No, not the “smooth” thing. Shogi. …… Seriously, okay?

The match I lost to Mr. Natagiri, the reason was–––.

“…… Research. That has to be it.”

He knew everything there was to know about me.

It’s a given that he’d know my best strategies, but he also knew when I like to switch between defense and offense and how I use my waiting time. With him knowing all of my habits, I was a sitting duck out there … Is it me, or did it get cold in here? A chill in a bathhouse ……?

Mr. Natagiri found my weakest points and hit them.

“I can’t win like this …… I have to find a way, something that will get me past his research ……”

I have an idea. I’ve been looking into it for a while.

But, it’s not something that I can just do willy-nilly. It’s a hard choice.

At the same time, doing it requires a certain sense. I can’t get that sense by researching on my own.

I have to practice against an opponent who already has it in order to steal it before I can use it as my own.

“In that case … I guess I have no choice but to ask him …”

Ask the man who has the deepest knowledge and feel for that style. Go to the player who has the exact sense that I want.

Learning from him directly would be the best option …… But there are issues.

How should I ask him? He doesn’t take apprentices, or participate in practice groups, or even do versus matches. He’s built his reputation on it …… Hmmmm …… 

I stretch out in the tub, pondering my next move when I hear more voices coming from next door. The girls sure sound like they’re having a good time.

“Oh, wow …… You’ve got perfect proportions, Keika!”

“Thanks, Ai♪ So will you once you get a little older.” 

“I will?!”

“Of course not. Keika, don’t get her hopes up. It’ll go to her head.”

“Smooth ……”

“Want your head on a pike?”

 …… Only people at about the same ability level get into fights.

“Now, now, you two. That’s enough arguing. Let’s rinse each other like friends, okay?”

Ah––––––.

Rinse …… Each other?!

“Keika! Sit right there and I’ll rinse your back!”

“Why, thank you, Ai. … Owwh? That’s nice. You’re really good at this ……”

“E-he-he ♡I always helped out at my family’s hot spring, and I got really good at rinsing customers’ backs!”

R-Rinsing …… with Keika …… 

Even I’ve only done that once, and that was right after I joined this Shogi family, when I was six … Damn, I’m jealous!

“No, you’re really good …… Mm! Ahhn?! There too ……?!”

“I’ll make sure everywhere is nice and squeaky clean!”

“A-Ai? That’s enough you don’t have to do any- …… Mmnnn!? Ah! Ahnn♡ Haa …… Haa …… ♡ Ahhh …… Ai, you’re amazing …… ♡”

“K-Keika?! Are you all right?!”

“Sora-sensei, now it’s your turn.”

“Huh? …… Wait, what are you–––.”

“I’ll make you smooth and shiny.”

“N-No ………… Sto- ………! Kh! D-Doesn’t feel …… good at all ……!!”

Damn it!! Why am I over here on the men’s side?!

Why–––why did I have to be born a man?!

I bite my lip in anguish, thoughts of the paradise on the other side of the barrier running through my head … To be blunt, this hurts worse than losing that Shogi match ……!!

So, I sprawled out completely.

“Ughh …… So dizzy …… I think I’m gonna be sick ……”

“Here Yaichi. Drink some cold water and put your legs up over here. I’ll cool them off with a damp towel.”

“…… I love you, Keikaaa ……”

“Sure, sure.”

Keika sets to work on my legs without a second thought and tossed my sincere confession of love to the side just as quickly.

I’m back in the lobby, laying on the tatami mats with an electric fan pointed right at me.

Ai and Big Sis are a little distance away, playing Shogi on a fold-up Shogi board that’s seen better days. Maybe it’s because they were arguing in the bath, but each of them is snapping down their pieces with extra oomph.

The old-style bathhouses usually have Shogi boards on hand and I’m used to seeing people enjoying a match after a dip … The matches aren’t particularly good, but still.

“That’s Lil’ Ginko for ya!”

“And the wee lady ain’t so bad herself.”

“Oh really? She’s Yaichi’s apprentice, you say?”

“The little tyke’s grown up and taken his own apprentice …”

Growing up in this area, Big Sis and I are treated like the neighborhood kids.

They cheer us on when we play Shogi, but they don’t know the meaning of the word restraint. We could be in the middle of a game and they’ll start pointing things out or giving suggestions, very distracting. Then again, that’s part of the fun.

A group of customers have gathered around Ai and Big Sis to watch their match. Keika watches them with a hint of nostalgia in her eyes and says, “Well, this is unusual. You hardly ever get light-headed from a bath, Yaichi. Was today’s match on your mind?”

“…… Yeah. Pretty much ……”

What was I supposed to say? I was thinking about what was going on in the girl’s bath? Smooth … 

“I know that feeling. Sometimes I stay inside a sauna until I’m light-headed after losing a match.”

“Ahh …… The urge to inflict as much pain on yourself as possible, yep. Can’t sleep at all either ……”

“And it’s so awkward at home.”

All true. Of course, losing a match hurts, but the hardest thing to do is to figure out how to talk with people after a loss.

That’s especially true for people you live with and close friends. Sure, they’re careful not to say the wrong thing, but everyone keeps their distance.

“In my case, my father is also my Master, and the two of us live together, yes? There’s no way for me avoid him … The only time that living alone sounds good to me is right after losing.”

“What’s Master like when that happens?”

“He doesn’t bring up the Practice League at all. But I can tell he knows what happened because he goes a little too far trying to act normal. He’s a professional as well, so I know he can’t help but say a few things.”

Exactly. At the end of the day, we have to get over our losses on our own.

That’s why we want to be alone when we lose. Painfully so.

Which is exactly why I moved out of Master’s house when I turned pro. I was certain I wouldn’t be able to survive the pro Shogi world if I didn’t have a change of scenery.

After losing to Mr. Natagiri in the worst way possible in my pro debut, I started looking at apartments the day I came back to Osaka and moved out as soon as I graduated from junior high.

Living with Master, Keika, and Big Sis …… it was just too warm in so many ways.

“…… We used to come here all the time,” said Keika, her voice warm and content after a nice bath.

Osaka is full of bathhouses. At least, I think it is.

Lots of families come to these places to relax and coming here was something that Big Sis and I always looked forward to the most.

 …… But, the first time we came here, I got to go into the women’s side because it was too dangerous for me to be by myself! I was only six years old at the time. Keika was a full-fledged high school girl, and she washed me from head to toe ……!!

Which of course means that I’ve seen her naked …… As a result, I have a very real idea of what’s under her clothes even when she’s fully dressed–––.

“Do you remember the first time?”

Zing☆

“N …… no? Can’t say …… that I do.”

“Ah, yeah. It was more than ten years ago, so I guess you wouldn’t …”

Keika smiles, a hint of sadness in her eyes.

“You and Ginko were too scared to go in by yourselves. So, Yaichi, you came in with us. Ginko clung to me like a cute little koala the whole time. She was so adorable.”

“R-Really? I guess I was too young, don’t remember a thing. Too bad.”

“Both of you have grown up so much … Meanwhile, I’m turning into an old lady.”

“What are you saying?! Keika, you’re only twenty-five!”

“Almost twenty-six.”

The strength and speed of her instantaneous response caught me off guard. I couldn’t say anything.

“In …… no time at all. I’ll be twenty-six ……”

Twenty-six years old. That’s–––a very important age for people in the Shogi world.

Forgetting I had just gotten out of the tub, I sat right up and said, “Hey, Keika! Why don’t we all go out for steak tonight?! Everyone: the whole family?! My treat?!”

“Sorry. I have plans.”

“Plans? Going to go out after taking a bath? …… Ah! It’s not a d-d-date, right?!”

“It’s not. Unfortunately.”

Forcing a smile, Keika gently wipes away a few beads of sweat from around her neck with a towel.

“It’s a reunion. A high school reunion …… for the all-girls school I went to.”