SPECIAL EDITION
“Ngh ………… Sniffle! ……… Hic ……!”
In the end, Ai Yashajin kept crying after everything was said and done. The waterworks are still going even after we left the shop.
“F-Father ……… Nghh ………”
“There there, Ten-chan. Wipe your tears with this. Okay?”
Ai Hinatsuru has been next to her this whole time, rubbing her back as we walk. She’s doing her best to cheer the girl up and gives her a fresh handkerchief now that the one she’s been using is too soaked to be any help. My first apprentice always has three freshly-ironed handkerchiefs with her. Good girl.
But I’ve got to say–––.
“…… Never thought anything could make Lady Ai get off her high horse and bawl like this ……”
The board and pieces won’t be ready for a while yet, but I’ve got a feeling she’s going to break down just like this when those pieces arrive. Well, if that’ll help this girl change her attitude a little bit then that’s a present worth giving.
I want Ai Yashajin to clear the high wall that is the Mynavi Finals.
While I’m not sure if she’s good enough to do that as she is, a path might open up if she changes her approach to Shogi.
She’ll be the challenger if she can make it through the Semifinals and into the Qualifier.
If that happens, she’ll be the youngest challenger in history and will face the strongest Queen the Shogi world has ever known.
She is always so hostile to her opponents. I want to make her into the type of player that recognizes her opponent’s strength and uses it to bring out her own …… Which could happen.
“…… Suppose I should thank the Shogi gods for that.”
The Shogi gods granted her a match record written by her father.
That must mean that they like her. I’ll take it that way.
–––But, there’s one thing …… that has me worried.
While this whole experience could be what changes her for the better, it also showed my cold and calculating competitive side a weakness hidden inside this girl.
If that weakness were ever exposed–––.
“Ex–tra!!”
My train of thought gets derailed by a booming voice just as we come out of the Douguya Suji shopping arcade.
A crowd has gathered around the Namba Grand Kagetsu Performing Arts Center.
“Special edition! We gotta special edition here!”
The voice is coming from the middle of the crowd. A man is passing out newspapers.
“Huh …… What do you think is going on?”
“……?” says Ai Hinatsuru, looking over there with a curious glance. Ai Yashajin’s eyes are so puffy from all that crying that she can’t see a thing, but she’s noticed, too.
Unlike my apprentices, red flags are going up in my gut.
“A special edition at this time of year ……?”
The feeling that something was off gradually turns into a feeling that that happened.
Newspapers in Osaka make special editions when the Koshien High School Baseball Tournament’s Osaka team gets decided, a school from the Kansai area wins the Koshien Tournament or Osaka’s Hanshin Tigers baseball team wins the pennant. It’s pretty much all baseball.
But that’s not what’s going on now.
“Extra! Big news out of the Shogi world! History was made in spectacular fashion not one hour ago at the Shogi Association in Osaka’s Fukushima District! Get ya special edition right here!”
My heart almost leaps out of my chest. My gut feeling became reality.
Weaving my way through the crowd, I snatch a copy of the special edition out of the man’s outstretched hand.
The title is written in big, bold letters.
“The first ever–––––––––3-dan is born.”
“……!!”
I swallow the air in my throat the instant I see the headline.
Those letters, the name they spell …… My heart clamps down … hard.
“Master?! What happened?! Is it about the Sub League?!”
“Who got it?! Sora Ginko?! Sota Kunugi?! Or ……,” Ai Hinatsuru asks, grabbing a fistful of my shirt as Ai Yashajin holds her tears back to get confirmation.
The letters that spell out the name in front of 3-dan read––––––.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login