Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 3 - Chapter 1.3

  CRACKS

“Rain ……”

Sunday. I look at the overcast gray sky, the seemingly never-ending misty rain outside my window and lethargically sigh.

“Isn’t it almost the rainy season? Great, just great. The laundry’ll never dry …”

It wouldn’t be a problem if was just me, but my apprentice is here too.

She’s pretty small, but girls’ laundry baskets fill up pretty quick. The biggest problem is that everything will smell weird if I hang all the clothes up inside. I can’t make Ai wear those.

“Maybe I should get a dryer. But, where would I put one ……? Should I just move? Nah, saying I need a bigger room for my grade-school-aged apprentice just doesn’t sound right …”

Moving into a new home? Oh, they'll ask questions alright.

“How the heck would I explain Ai to a realtor or a landlord? I doubt they’d understand that she’s a live-in apprentice and she certainly doesn’t look like my little sister, so they’d think we were engaged and probably call the police on the spot …”

I look over at my tablet propped up on the table.

“What do you think, Ayumu?”

“Hah …… I couldn’t care less!”

Ayumu Kannabe, wearing a white cape, looked back at me from the other side of the split screen and sliced down my question like a well-timed Shogi strike.

“Alright then, how do you wash that bizarre wardrobe of yours?”

“Everything to the cleaners, what of it?”

“…… That’s got to cost an arm and a leg.”

Thinking about what I’d look like taking my apprentice’s panties and tiny clothes to the laundromat, I’m sure I’d lose something more valuable than money. That’s scary.

There’s a dryer at Master Kiyotaki’s place, so if worse comes to worse, I’ll ask Keika. I can always count on her in a jam.

“I’m as particular with my attire as I am with Shogi … Therefore, I refuse to do laundry at my abode. I admit, the charges were a real shock at first ……”

“You wearing that cape at home is more of a shock if you ask me.”

“I am the Knight of the Shogi world! No matter how familiar the training partner, greeting them in full armor in battle is part of my knightly honor code … Why not defend your own as a titleholder and dress for the occasion?!”

“…… I do dress appropriately when I’m sitting across from my opponent with a real board.”

I pull at my old T-shirt’s loose collar while giving this excuse.

Ayumu and I just finished playing a practice match over the Internet and started a review session over Skype … But it turned into me asking for advice. It used to be that whenever players from the east and west got together for practice matches, one or the other would have to physically go there. But now, it’s getting more common for people to play over the Internet.

“By the way, Ayumu. About the league match I just had–––.”

“Ah, yes. Your duel with Natagiri 8-dan. I remember it being recorded as a flawless victory for him.”

“Ugh ……! W-Well …… it ended up that way, but …”

“His research gave him a clear advantage from the start. Choosing a strategy that we here at the East Gate Legion have come to know puts the defender at a disadvantage and didn't help your cause. It’s common knowledge at this point. Diving headfirst into it is a glaring indication of your ignorance.”

“B-But I almost had him a couple of times?! There were a few reasons I couldn’t hold out as long as I wanted to, but there was a moment in the late game I nearly turned the tables–––!”

“Gentei aigoma. He knew the perfect way to block, and you still claim to have had a chance?”

“!A-About that ……”

“He knew exactly what you were going to do from the start and right up until the very last move …… Disgraceful! Absolutely disgraceful, Dragkin! Is that all my eternal foe is capable of?!!”

“Aigoma” –––when you deploy a piece from your piece stand to protect your King when in check.

Usually, there are many options that’ll work out just fine in that situation, but there are some rare instances when there’s only one right answer. That’s gentei aigoma, or genteiai for short.

People who aren’t too familiar with Shogi probably won’t understand how truly amazing it is …… Think of aigoma as blocking a bullet with a shield, but genteiai is like slicing a bullet in half with a sword. It’s a technique only the best of the best can pull off.

I took a look at the match record for myself when I got home and learned that he really had seen the genteiai coming …… It felt like I’d lost a second time.

The difference between us was as clear as day. I felt even more defeated than the moment I threw in the towel.

“Well, yeah, um. Would you …… happen to know anything about Mr. Natagiri? As in, are there any rumors going around about him?”

“I have heard mention that he trains with The God.”

“Seriously?! With the Meijin?!”

The current Meijin is the best player in the Shogi world right now, without question. Many young players think of him as a deity, Ayumu and myself included.

“He …… he really is in a Practice Group with the Meijin? Mr. Natagiri? And that Meijin?”

“Yes, it is so.”

“I see …”

“I myself was invited to one of Natagiri 8-dan’s training sessions, so I am privy to this information.”

“Really …? … Come again?!”

“I remember it being in the early days of summer last year … The session was to take place at The God’s summer home. Natagiri 8-dan was gracious enough to extend an enthusiastic invitation along the lines of: Overnight trips are a blast when it’s just men.”

“……”

Yeah, about that …… 

“The timing was not in my favor, so I had to decline.”

“Y-You did? That’s too bad.”

I don’t know why I feel relieved right now …… Please, always be Sir Ayumu: The Chaste, I’m begging you.

“If I may, Dragkin. Why are you so fixated on Natagiri 8-dan?”

“Nn?! W …… Well, I’ve lost three times in a row, and I’ve got another match against him coming up too.”

“So, you seek information, no matter how trivial. It’s not as though I can’t relate to that feeling but ……”

Ayumu doesn’t look all that convinced. He’s the type of player who firmly believes that people who play Shogi should only think about what happens on the board. You’d think by looking at him that he was an expert at psychological warfare, but he has no idea … 

“Anyway. Ayumu, how about another match?”

“I decline.”

“Why? The Practice League is meeting today, so I’ve got nothing to do until my apprentice comes home. Come on, just one more.”

“I decline!” he says, without a moment’s hesitation, before putting on Chap stick and explaining why. “One of my favorite clothing designers is announcing their latest product tonight!”

“You’re going to buy even more of that weird stuff?!”

“Hah …… Your inquiry is pointless!”

Swish! Ayumu places his left hand over his face in one of his usual poses. It’s meaning is beyond me, but there must be some deeper purpose, like setting up a yagura fortress. Probably.

“I bid you good day, Dragkin!!”

Whoosh! His cape flashes in front of the screen, and Sir Ayumu, God Cauldron, cuts the connection as soon as the picture goes dark. He had it all timed out perfectly.

“…… I swear, I burn more calories just talking with the guy than I do playing Shogi with him ……”

I let out a long sigh and pick up my tablet to turn on the software. It’s time to review our match.

“He’s right. I’m falling behind early.”

Watching the pieces move across the electronic board, it’s pretty clear that Ayumu has done a lot more research than me. I hate to admit it, but it’s the truth.

“It always seems that the east is ahead of us when it comes to researching the latest trends. And it doesn’t look like Ayumu showed me everything he knows …”

He and I are almost the same age, same skill level, we’ve known each other for years and the two of us rarely play against each other with him being in Kanto and me in Kansai. There’s very little downside to practicing against each other for either one of us.

That’s why we’ve been doing matches over the Internet like this since our days in the Sub League.

Of course, we stop when we’re scheduled for a match against each other, but we start back up again once it’s over. We’re pretty easygoing about it.

That being said, this world is built on fierce competition. Neither of us is going to show all our cards.

Then–––.

“If my own research keeps falling behind his …… Ayumu won’t have a reason to do practice matches ……”

If that happens, these Internet sessions will disappear entirely.

If playing is worth the time, then someone will always be willing to do so. But if not, they’d never agree to play. That’s one of the unwritten rules of the Shogi world.

People who play with superficial knowledge get looked down on. Even having a title doesn't mean much.

Only being recognized as strong will do that.

“So, it comes down to strength, huh. Looks like I’ve got a wall to break through ……”

Since when? It’s been on my mind for a while now.

–––Have I gotten stronger?

I’ve achieved my childhood dream of becoming a pro Shogi player. I’m even at the top of the world: the Ryuo.

However …… I don’t feel like I’m any better than I used to be.

I may be better mentally thanks to meeting the Ais, but I don’t think I’ve improved at all when it comes to techniques and strategies. I mean, I’ve lost to the same guy three times in a row. There’s the proof.

“My wall …… Jin Natagiri. If I can’t beat him ……”

I want to be stronger, better. I know I do. I have to improve.

The problem is how.

“I can’t keep practicing the same way. Something has to change on a more basic level.”

Because if I don’t, I’ll never be able to surpass Mr. Natagiri’s research, let alone go beyond his study partner.

“Break the wall … Change something fundamental about myself, get stronger ……”

In order to do that, what I need to do now is–––

“Alright! To the bathhouse!!”

I turn off my tablet, stand up and start getting ready to go.

“The Practice League meeting should be over by now. In that case ……”

I take out my smartphone and give Keika a call.

It took a few moments to get through, but I start talking once I hear her pick up on the other end.

“Ah! Keika?! It’s Yaichi. Are you still at the association? If you are, could you bring Ai with you back to Master’s house? I was thinking it would be fun to go to a bathhouse with everyone like the other day. Oh, but I’ve got a different place in mind this time. I’ll head over to meet you two once I finish getting ready–––.”

“Sorry. Please, don’t contact me for a while.”

 …… Huh?

“I’m sorry, I just don’t want to see you. You, or Ai.”

Her voice has never sounded so cold. I scramble to get words out of my mouth as chills running down my spine.

“K-Keika?! Why–––?!”

But instead of an answer, even before I finish the question … She hung up on me.

“……… Why ……?”

I just stood there, holding my smartphone against my face with only the sound of the rain in my ears.

 …… She doesn’t want to see me? Me, or Ai?

 …… Why?

On that day, rainy season officially arrived in Osaka.