Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 6 - Chapter 3.2

  SAKURANOMIYA

“Hey, Big Sis! Wait up!”

Just as soon as the practice session ended.

“Help yourselves to the bath,” Mr. Oishi was nice enough to offer, but Big Sis turned him down and booked it out of the Gokigen Bathhouse.

“Come on, please wait! Big Sis! Hold up, will you?!”

“……”

“Okay! You don’t have to wait, just don’t run away from me!”

Big Sis leaving like that caught me off guard because I was sure we’d be spending the night once the practice session ended.

Now I’m trying to catch up to her, but she speeds up every time I get close.

This time I grab hold of her arm before she slips away again.

“Hey …… What are you sulking for? A young girl like you shouldn’t be walking around out here alone at this time of night, don’t you think? If I’m the one that ticked you off, I’ll apologize for anything, just please stay next to me!”

“……!!”

Big Sis slaps my hand away. Rather violently. I have no idea why, but I know for sure that she’s pissed at something.

“Are you …… angry because I complimented Asuka on her cooking? I admit that complimenting her that much while I’ve never said anything nice about the food you make might’ve been out of line ……”

I try testing my first theory.

“But, you see, Asuka did a lot for Ai and I back when we wor- …… trained at the bathhouse, like cooking for us and teaching us how to clean the baths. Not only that, she’s Mr. Oishi’s daughter. I have to be a good guest ……”

Ignored.

“Also, Asuka loves Shogi. She secretly studied how to play all on her own even though Mr. Oishi was against it the whole time. He only changed his mind because she struck at deal with him, to teach her directly if she could beat Ai. Asuka won convincingly and now he teaches her whenever he can. Doesn’t that story make you feel good? That’s a cute story, don’t you think, Big Sis?”

Ignored.

“Oh, you know what else? She really admires you. You eating her food made her so happy she was tearing up. See? Isn’t that cu … ghhh!”

As soon as an elbow slams deep into my gut, Big Sis leaves me hunched over in front of the station and races through the turnstiles.

T-That was the solar plexus …… 

“W …… wait up ……!”

Stumbling over my own feet, I make it to the train just before the doors close.

Even after getting on the Kanjou Line, Big Sis wouldn’t say a word or even look at me. Rage seems to be building up something fierce.

I can’t see her face because her hat is in the way, but the exposed nape of her neck is bright red.

–––Attack warning …… 

If I’ve learned one thing in the ten-plus years I’ve spent with her, it’s not to cross her when she turns that color. That’s been burned into my memory. Feeling safe because we’re in public would be a big mistake. On a train or wherever, Big Sis raises hell when she wants to.

“………… Sigh.”

Big Sis is right next to me, but I sigh so quietly there’s no way she could hear it.

Since I was planning on being out all night, Ai is at Master Kiyotaki’s place. Should I keep riding this train all the way to Noda Station and pick her up? But she’s probably asleep by now. Waking her just to take her home seems kind of …… 

Just when I was taking out my phone to call Keika and see what she had to say.

Yank!

“Huh?!”

Big Sis wraps her arm around mine pulls with all her might.

“What, what?! W-We can’t be there already?!”

We seem to be getting off the train, but we’re only one station out from Kyoubashi.

–––Next to Kyoubashi? …… What was it again?

A sign flashes past my eyes as I rack my brain.

“Sakuranomiya.”

“Seriously?!”

The instant I saw it–––my train of thought went off the rails in a panic.

It’s Sakuranomiya. That Sakuranomiya.

One of the few hotel districts in Kansai.

Hotel …… might not be the best word though. They’re not designed for business trips or tourists.

They’re, well, basically …… Those kinds of hotels.

Leisure hotels. Couples’ hotels.

People have all sorts of names for them. But they all mean the same thing.

Love hotels.

“Huuh?! Um, Big Sis? Why are we getting off here?!”

Big Sis ignores all my rushed questions.

She doesn’t even look at me, fury turning all her skin bright red as she pulls me south along the O River.

Walking through an area with almost no lights or people at all, we come out somewhere really bright.

“Huuuuh?!”

I scream with all the neon lights jumping out at me.

“Stay up to 24 hours!”

“Quick Rest: 1590 Yen”

“All rooms, one rate–––tax included. Easy on the wallet!”

Love hotels!

Very definitely love hotels!

And, Big Sis is making a beeline for one of them.

“Hotel Snow White”

“Whaaaaaaa?!”

Out of all of them, it had to be this one?! I yell inside my head as we go inside the building designed to look like an old European castle, which is kind of rare nowadays.

There’s a panel with pictures of the rooms at the front desk rather than a person. Big Sis needed less than a second to make her selection and the next thing I knew she had me by the arm as she sped deeper into the hotel.

I get dragged all the way into the playroom.

“HUUUUUH?!”

The outside of the building looks like it belongs in a fairy tale, but it looks pretty normal inside …… That’s what I thought until I saw the room. The bed is shaped like a heart for crying out loud!

Big Sis hurls me toward that bed before turning me around, grabbing my collar with both hands, and pulling me onto it.

“Whoa?!”

It all happened so fast, but the result looks like I threw her onto the bed. The reality is the other way around, though …… 

“Wha! W-What are you doing?! Why did you bring me all the way to a place like this?!”

Shogi, maybe?! …… I doubt it.

She wanted a private room to beat the crap out of me?! Nah, she’d be just as happy doing that in the middle of the street.

––So then …… Why?

My mind races to come up with an answer as Big Sis grabs hold of my collar again and pulls.

Pow!

“Owch!!”

Not expecting a close-range sneak attack, I couldn’t stop my head from crashing into Big Sis’s at full speed. Damn, that stings!! Tears are already flowing.

––A headbutt?! So she really did bring me in here to rough me up?!

That’s what I thought as I worked through the pain and opened my eyes.

“……! ……!!”

Big Sis’s eyes are tearing up in pain. She got hurt by her own attack.

Actually, I don’t think it was an attack in the first place.

–––Was she …… trying to kiss me just now?! How clumsy can one person be?!

It’s not like I can guarantee I’d be any better because I’ve never done it myself, but …… 

At the very least, it’s painfully obvious that’s what she was trying to do. Specifically, on my forehead …… 

Also, there’s no doubt whatsoever Big Sis has never kissed anyone.

Judging by how antsy she is, she’s never been to a love hotel either.

That makes perfect sense. Her life has revolved around Shogi since she was two, and she’s never showed a speck of interest in anything other than getting better at Shogi–––.

That’s when it hits me.

“Big Sis ……”

Gently taking hold of her hands that are still clutching a fistful of my collar, I say, “Is …… what Shumai-sensei said the other day getting to you?”

“!”

No words.

…… But that reaction is all I need to see to know that I’m right.

So that’s what’s going on …… 

Me complimenting Asuka on her clothes and on her cooking, my admiring her seriously impressive boobs for a little too long, me getting teased by Mr. Oishi for having a close relationship with her. All of that had nothing to do with what Big Sis is doing right now.

I had a feeling Big Sis was getting jealous, reached the boiling point and dragged me all the way in here, but of course, that wasn’t it at all. Big Sis isn’t that stupid.

–––But what she’s trying to do is even more stupid than that.

She lost to Shouji Karako Amateur Triple Title.

Got totally destroyed in a high-stakes match where the winner would get promoted to 3-dan.

By playing Shogi that she normally would’ve considered to be embarrassingly horrible …… 

Those events must’ve gotten linked to what Shumai-sensei said during the First Move Ceremony. In other words–––.

–––Losing her virginity would make her a stronger Shogi player. That’s what she’s thinking …… 

In that case, she’s obsessed with Shogi even more than I thought possible.

“Big Sis …… I understand how you feel, the pressure you’re under.”

Looking down at her laying on the bed, I say as gently as I can, “Losing a Shogi match makes you want to reject everything you are. I mean, it feels like if you don’t make a change, if you don’t do something big …… You’ll never get any stronger ……”

I literally heard myself falling apart back when I couldn’t win against the Meijin.

That’s why I tried to reset myself back to square one to get stronger.

I wanted to change who I was, get rid of everything that made me me and become something else.

Taking apprentices. All those warm memories living with Master. And …… our sibling bond.

All because I thought doing that would make me stronger.

“But no one can change who they are overnight. Rather than trying to change, it’s more important to stay who you are while trying to get stronger.”

Throwing something away to get something in return, heh. If it were that easy to change reality, no one would ever put any real effort into anything.

“I figured that out in the middle of the Ryuo Title Match.”

I gently look into Big Sis’s blue eyes as they start to glisten with tears.

Finally, here’s my chance to say the thank you I haven’t had a chance to say.

“…… But I didn’t figure it out on my own. Ai, Keika …… and you made me see it.”

Ai always believed in me.

Keika showed me the moment that effort got rewarded during her fierce match against Ms. Shakando.

And Big Sis–––.

“Do you remember that night in Hawaii?”

“……!”

Big Sis’s whole body flinches beneath me.

“That night, when I saw you on the beach …… It’s embarrassing to say it out loud, but that was the first time I realized how beautiful you are. Stunning, like an angel. I understand why you get so much attention now. I should’ve seen it sooner.”

“………”

She looks at me with surprise in her eyes.

“It’s because you’re so beautiful that the name Naniwa’s Snow White has gotten so famous. Shogi is all I have, but you, Big Sis. You have so much going for you …… If we hadn’t had the same Master, a boy like me would never have anything in common with a beautiful girl like you. So, that’s why–––.”

Big Sis never abandoned me, even when I’d given into despair.

She saw the mistake I was making, punched me in the face and told me point-blank, “You’re wrong.”

So, now I have to do the same for her.

“That’s why you shouldn’t do this. Please, don’t ……… do this kind of thing with someone you don’t love ……”

Please stop.

That’s what I was telling her, but part of me was hoping for something else.

That Big Sis would say that she …… well, wanted to be with me, or something like that.

That there was a chance she has feelings for …… That we might be connected some way other than Shogi. But.

“………………………………… I hate you.”

The words coming out of her mouth are the exact opposite.

“Yaichi, I hate you!!”

A knife right through my heart.

“……!!”

I bite down on my lip to make sure how I’m feeling doesn’t turn into words.

I know, I already knew that very well. Just one look at how you treat me, Big Sis, and I know that you don’t like me in any way, shape or form. It’s obvious.

I know that Shogi is the only thing we have in common …… 

“I’ve hated you for years! Years and years and years!”

She’s willing to interact with me because we’re sibling apprentices, but she doesn’t feel anything more than that.

“I hate your obsession with Shogi! I hate how strong you are, how Shogi is the only thing in your head! I really hate the face you make when you’re thinking about Shogi!”

We can’t have that kind of relationship because we’re siblings.

“I hate how stubborn you are! I hate your intensity! I hate how your spirit never breaks no matter how bad it hurts!”

I can think of all sorts of reasons for her to hate me after the Ryuo Title Match, but not a single reason for her to like me.

“I hate how oblivious you are, spinning your wheels while being so nice to anyone and everyone …… I really, really hate you!!”

Big Sis yells, tears streaming down her face.

Hate. Hate. Hate.

–––I already know that without you telling me.

I know there’s no way in hell Big Sis would ever like me.

“I hate you …… You idiot …… Stupid, stupid Yaichi ……”

That’s why not doing this with Big Sis is the right decision.

It makes my heart sting, but I know this is right.