Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 5 - Chapter 4.1

  LONGEVITY

“……… Holy ……”

The opening party venue is packed wall-to-wall with people.

The main hall, which probably holds upwards of 1,000 people, is filled with countless tables surrounded by people wearing their best suits and piled high with expensive food and Japanese sake. Everyone seems to be having a great time.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

“Weird …… Something here doesn’t add up ……”

“Aren’t opening parties usually like this?”

“For the most part …… These parties are usually a chance for the fans to mingle with players without all the formality. I’m used to it being standing room only with a bunch of high tables and finger food ……”

There are some closed parties where only players and association staff can get in, but a majestic ceremony like this fits the Ryuo Title Match. It is the top title after all.

“So, it’s not all that weird for the party to be in a big place like this or for there to be boatloads of people but–––.”

“Then, what’s the problem?”

“Well …… Yeah. You’re right, you know.”

I may have agreed with my apprentice as she looks over at me with those innocent, sparkly eyes, but I just can’t shake the feeling that something is off.

The biggest question.

That’s–––why can I have a normal conversation with Ai right now?

The opening party is taking place in the main hall. I’m sitting on a stage at the very front along with the Meijin but …… Ai is here for some reason. Right between us.

Simply put:

Me.

Ai.

Meijin.

Like that.

I have hakama pants on, also decorated with a crest by the way, while Ai is sitting right in the middle and dressed in all white. Just looking at how we’re seated, it’s obvious that she’s the star. Ai is center stage.

Not only is the Meijin wearing a regular suit, he’s sitting by himself further down the table. He’s pretty much on his own island. I’d say the distance is like me, Ai, Meijin. I know there are times when Sub League members get introduced along with the players when title matches take place in their hometowns and they become the star that night. Ai getting this kind of reception isn’t all that weird. I could totally understand that this was a Ryuo Title Match Opening Party and Ai’s Women’s League Entrance Celebration.

Then why does she need to be wearing those white robes? At first I thought, “Wow, Ai looks cute in anything♡,” but the more I think it over the more I realized this is anything but normal. And having me wear these crests is really strange. This certainly isn’t the average opening night party.

Because, seriously–––.

“What’s with all the folding gold screens?! And why are we sitting in front of them?! Wearing family crests?!”

“Calm down, Master. This hall is used for wedding receptions all the time, so those screens are always in here. There’s nothing strange about that.”

“Don’t you think you’re a little too calm, Ai?!”

“I grew up here.”

That’s not the problem?! You’re not just going to leave it at that, are you?!

…… Even the program for tonight is just bizarre.

Usually, the schedule for these parties is pretty much set. It starts with some kind of local cultural performance like taiko drums and then Opening words –> Toast –> Players’ statements –> Commentators give their predictions. Generally around those lines.

But tonight’s program is:

Greeting from the Governor of Ishikawa Prefecture—

Congratulatory Message from the Prime Minister (live via satellite)—

Toast from Chairman Tsukimitsu—

Player Introductions—

Match Predictions from the Commentators with a Big Board—

All that is fine. There’s a lot more flair than I’m used to, but nothing all that out of place.

The real problem starts after that.

Women’s League Qualification Signing Ceremony—

Gift Exchange—

Families Drink Ceremonial Sake—

Just what kind of events are these? What gifts? Ceremonial sake?

The clothes that Ai and I are wearing included, I don’t think any of those are necessary for a Shogi match’s opening party.

“I know something is up …… Don’t you feel like this is some kind of ceremony …… rather than just an opening party?”

“Uwhee? A ceremony? What kind?”

“T-That’s what I don’t know ……”

What do they mean by families anyway? Whose family?

Trying to figure that out, I take a look around the hall and see–––.

“Pops?! Mom …… And Big Bro, too?!”

My family is sitting at the closest table to the stage and waving at me! They’re sitting so close, in fact, I didn’t even notice them!

“Hold up?! W-What are you guys doing here?!”

I jump out of my chair and rush over to the table.

They’ve never come to any of my title matches …… You’d think they would’ve called me if they were coming to this one.

“Hang on a sec, Big Bro. Should you really be out here right now? You said you couldn’t find any jobs at all, didn’t you? You’re about to graduate and still haven’t–––.”

Mom jumps in, cutting me off with glee.

“Yaichi. Your brother will be working right here … at Hinatsuru.”

“Say what?!!”

“I was failing interviews left and right but then the owner here …… No, President Hinatsuru reached out to me with a job offer.”

Completely stunned that my brother was already loyal enough to refer to Ai’s mother as the president, he tells me about the situation.

“Let me tell you, I had no idea why the owner of such a classy inn like this would go out of her way to contact a college student like me …… But it all made sense when she told me what’s going on. To think, you’d decided to invigorate the Japanese hot spring industry along with Ai and the Wakura Onsen Committee by managing this inn while playing Shogi …… And I’ll be right here to help you out!!”

“Huh? Hold on. Is that what she told you?”

I promised Ai’s mother that …… if Ai didn’t become a Women’s Title Holder then I’d be helping out at the inn, right ……?

My brother starts talking again, forcing my train of thought off the rails.

“As a future member of this family, I’ll be right here supporting you and Ai for a long time to come! I’m on board with this 110 percent!”

“Hold up, hold up, hold up! Slow down there a minute! Who said anything about joining her family, because I haven’t agreed to anything like that?!”

“Please, Yaichi, try to understand this! I’ll be off on my own real soon but still haven’t found a job! I don’t want to do this job-hunting thing anymore!!”

“Is that any excuse to sell off your little brother?! Aren’t you embarrassed at all?!”

“Nope! Not even a tiny bit!!” says my brother with a toothy grin. “I really don’t think a piece of trash who gamed a grade school girl into this cushy position has any room to talk!”

“Wha ……?!”

So now my own flesh and blood is saying I have a Lolita complex …… huh?!

I was just about to fire back with a counterpoint when my dad steps in.

“Yaichi. My company has had to do some restructuring and all but forced me into early retirement. Luckily, the Hinatsuru family has offered to hire me with the same conditions I had before. But that’s not all! Your younger brother is currently at an open campus for a very well-known private boarding school, but it was Mrs. Hinatsuru herself who wrote a letter of recommendation for him.”

“So wonderful …… So very wonderful ……,” mom chimes in, hammering dad’s point home. She looks so happy she could cry.

“They’ve invited our whole family to stay at this wonderful inn over the New Year’s holidays … for free! And I must say, her daughter is quite cute. Why are you complaining?”

“Because all of you have no problem living it up by offering my life as bait!!”

“Please don’t say that, Yaichi …… We’re here today, first and foremost, to support you any way we can. We’re not trying to take advantage of the situation. That’s what I want you to take out of all this,” my father says as he puts his hand on my shoulder.

There’s a very, very expensive-looking watch glinting on that wrist. I push his hand away and yell at the top of my lungs, “Trash! This family is all trash!!”

“You fit right in!!”

All my closest relatives burst out laughing at the same time.

A few Shogi Association members sitting at a nearby table are slowly pulling away at the sight of such pure trash on display.

Then again, yeah …… There are things I understand because they’re family.

I’m sure they’re being overly friendly and supportive because they’re worried about me and want to cheer me up.

Since both my father and brother play Shogi, they know how rough the pro Shogi world is. They never once brought up my win-loss record when I came home for a visit and actually never brought up Shogi at all.

I heard that mom has been so weak she couldn’t even look at my match results.

That’s why they’ve never come to even one of my title matches until now. I never asked for a reason, but I don’t have to. We’re family.

I know why my family is showing this much support.

I know why they’re so determined to cheer me up.

They saw me singled out by newspapers and TV shows, casting me as the bad guy and just had to do something to help.

My brother probably got left behind because he’s still too young to understand that. Mrs. Hinatsuru also had to be in on this. How else could this Shogi title match opening party become so bizarre? It looks and feels more like a wedding reception.

The problem is–––.

“A-Ai ……………… did you, um …… know …… about this?”

“Uwheee? Know about what?”

“……… Never mind.”

Those innocent, sparkly eyes looking right at me, Ai tilts her head in one of the cutest acts I’ve ever seen.

It’s better not to get a straight answer out of her. Not right now.

A murderous air suddenly sweeps over me and I freeze on the spot.

“…………?!”

The malicious aura skewering me like a shish kebab is …… coming from the next table over.

My second family–––the Kiyotaki Shogi family table.

That terrifying aura is emanating from a girl sitting at that table, one with silver hair and wearing a black sailor-style school uniform.

“B ……… Big … Sis ………”

I can’t see her face because she has her back to me at the round table, but it must be something fierce.

Because I mean, Keika is sitting directly across from her and she’s pale as a ghost, shivering …… Master made some snarky comment and got smacked in the face without a second of waiting time ticking by.

“…… I’ll apologize to Big Sis, tomorrow …… Nah, I’ll find a time after the title match is over. That’ll work ……”

Shaking in my shoes, I step away from my Shogi family’s table, go back up to the stage and take a seat.

Then … I happen to spot a man and a woman walking this way.

“……! Her ……,” Ai whispers as her body goes stiff as a board and grabs my hand under the table. I didn’t know her grip was this strong.

“Hello there! How’ve you been?”

“Ahaha~☆ Hello, heeello!”

The two people were called in from Tokyo to do the analysis on the big board: Jin Natagiri 8-dan and Tamayo Rokuroba Women’s League 2-dan.

They’re also acting as joint MCs for the party but …… What an odd choice. Neither of them has any connection with the north coast.

And the fact that they’ve come up to say hello together like this is just so out of left field that I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “Huh? Mr. Natagiri …… Ms. Rokuroba? You’re …… friends?”

These two should go together like oil and water. I was sure that Mr. Natagiri hated women with a passion and Ms. Rokuroba strikes me as the type of woman who’d hate people like him …… 

But Mr. Natagiri’s answer was even more out there.

“I taught Tamayo here everything she knows about Shogi. I used to teach at an on-location classroom for the association a while back and that’s where we met. From there, we’ve done regular practice sessions ever since she entered the Practice League.”

“You have?!”

“Ahaha~☆ That’s riiight. Surprised?”

Personal relationships in the Shogi world defy comprehension.

Every so often you’ll hear about two people who would never get along who have actually been doing practice sessions together for decades.

“That’s on the condition that I look after Tamayo whenever she visits Tokyo from her hometown in Numazu. Because, see, her Master is quite busy, being on the board of directors and all.”

“That’s right. My Master, he seems to be busy doing some little chores for the Meijin’s Citizens Award ceremony and whatnot. All the details, you know? So, he’s still back in Tokyo. You know how it goes: send the apprentice all the way out into the middle of nowhere while he’s sucking up to the movers and shakers. Real classy.” 

“Really? Sounds like you’d be a great pair as Master and apprentice ……”

“What was that?”

She’s glaring at me. Why are the popular Women’s League players so scary?

Mr. Natagiri cracks a smile and says, “It just so happened that the apartment right next to mine was vacant, so I turned it into my own practice session studio. I let her live there for a while on the condition that she would move out when she started getting work as a Women’s League player. But she’s still hanging around for some reason.”

“Wait, what?! You live next door to him?!”

“Yep~. That’s why I was thinking when I invited you to a practice session, you could stay in Jinjin-sensei’s room overnight if it got too late. Well, the plan kind of disappeared though. That practice session …”

“Heh heh! Too bad☆”

Jinjin looks at me like a hunter watching his prize get away.

Daaammnn …… I nearly fell into that trap …… Ai’s fingernails are digging into me but she’s not saying a word …… 

“But, Yaichi. You’re welcome to join our practice sessions at any time. Feel free to use my bed if you need a place to sleep. I don’t mind at all☆”

Then where exactly are you planning to sleep ……?

“Jinjin-sensei’s room has everything you could dream of! And, this man here, he’s perfect around the house! I’d never leave if I lived with him, that’s for sure. It’s just so easy!”

“Heh heh heh. Making me clean the rooms, making me cook, how in the world did you grow up to be like this?”

“But, Jinjin, your cooking tastes so much better.”

Yep, she’s officially dropped the sensei altogether. This must be what it’s like when they’re alone.

Stunned, I look at them and say, “Y-you two …… could probably just get married, don’t you think?”

“Ahaha~☆ No, no.”

They dismiss the idea at the exact same time.

But it wasn’t just the timing, even their voices harmonize in perfect sync.

…… Don’t have a clue.

Anyway, these two get the opening party started and keep it going like a well-oiled machine.

“What a wonderful message from the prime minister live via satellite. Only a true leader could deliver a heartfelt story like that!”

“And he’s very much my type.”

“Ahaha~☆ Jinjin, for being a switch hitter, your comments always hit straight down the middle.”

Those public speaking classes Ms. Rokuroba took are really paying off. She’s a perfect MC.

Getting just enough laughs from the audience to keep everything casual, she’s working through this bizarre title match opening party schedule like it’s a walk in the park. Now I see why she got called up from Tokyo.

Her talents really shine through during the Player Introductions.

“…… And that is how Ai overcame her parents’ objections to become Yaichi’s apprentice. Just nine years old at the time, she left everything she knew behind to undergo strict training in Osaka. The one who raised her with a sometimes firm, sometimes gentle hand was none other than Yaichi. A bond between the two would soon grow strong enough to surpass the bounds of Master and apprentice–––.”

One thing after another and there’s not a single set of dry eyes in the hall. Whoa. Even I’m tearing up a little bit …… Thanks to her, no one found it strange that the Player Introductions were mostly about Ai for some reason.

Oh, and the person who was supposed to be the real star of the night, the Meijin, barely got a thirty-second introduction. That’s almost cruel!

But the one who really had it tough wasn’t the Meijin.

Suddenly in the spotlight, Ai changed dresses a total of four times during the evening. I went around to the tables where the community leaders were sitting to pour them some drinks but …… 

“……… I always thought of little Ai as my own granddaughter ……”

“…… Why would she ever prioritize Shogi over becoming a chef? That’s a game, not a job, right?”

“Ryuo? Hah! Dragon King? Dara! What’s a worm doing calling himself a dragon?!!”

Each table hit me with every complaint and misgiving in the book. They weren’t sugar-coating their feelings at all.

Ai and her mother are pretty much celebrities to these powerful people, like superstars. And I’m the thieving bum who’s stealing one of their idols away.

–––I was wondering why Ai’s father isn’t around …… So this is why …… 

Pouring drinks for them while forcing a smile, suddenly I’d give anything to be in his shoes. Heck, I haven’t seen him once since I got here.

That friendly smile he gave me when I took Ai as my apprentice, that Let’s figure this out together and all the support he gave wasn’t just goodwill.

“…… He wanted someone else to take all this abuse in his place ……!”

No matter what grievances the powerful locals said to my face or horrible things they said behind my back, their tune changed immediately once Ai came back into the hall.

“Ai! I’m so happy for you.”

“You have such a nice Master. We can rest easy.”

These guys will say anything to make Ai happy.

As soon as they realized that complimenting me made her happier than saying nice things about her, the locals started treating me like the greatest thing since sliced bread. Yeah, I’m not happy about this …… 

Then, the time came for the Women’s League Qualification Signing Ceremony to get started.

Chairman Tsukimitsu, acting as a witness for the signing, walks onto the stage in a kimono with the papers in his hands. The vibe suddenly turning serious, I have no idea what’s going on as he turns to ask me.

“Ryuo. Do you, as a Master, swear to take Ai Hinatsuru as your apprentice?”

“Yeah ……”

“Miss Ai Hinatsuru. Do you swear to take this man as your Master, and proceed down the Shogi path with him in sickness and in health?”

“Yes! I do!!”

“Excellent. Both of you, please sign your names on this sacred parchment.”

As soon as the chairman said that, Ms. Oga held out a pen like passing me a priceless artifact.

“…………”

While I have many questions about this overblown ceremony, I’ll have to sign this paper at some point anyway. So, I write my name into the Master slot.

Once I hand her the pen, Ai starts writing her name like the thing is going to explode if she makes a mistake.

“They are now officially Master and apprentice! Please wish them luck with a round of applause!!”

Ms. Rokuroba stirs up the crowd.

As someone right in the middle of all this, the crowd reaches a fever pitch as I’m starting to connect the dots. These people are a little too excited to be wishing a new Master and apprentice well on their journey …… There’s something else mixed in with all those cheers.

“Heh heh …… Lucky guy,” Jinjin says with a heartfelt smile. Why do you feel jealous?

“Now the association has secured a place to hold future title matches, even on a tight schedule.”

“Well played, chairman. A spectacular move.”

Chairman Tsukimitsu and Ms. Oga whisper back and forth. So, you’re the ones that sold me out.

The totally plastered locals are cheering right along with my family.

Mrs. Hinatsuru is trying to hold back tears at the sight of her daughter growing up.

And, the one table that’s remained eerily quiet the whole night, the Kiyotaki table …… 

If I was to say that the Meijin sitting off on his own with that calm smile, never once complaining and enjoying himself was the silver lining, then it really was.