Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 9 - Chapter 3.2

  ALICE, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

“All right! All the distractions have been taken care of.”

Once Yaichi had been ushered out of the apartment, Azami turned to face Ai Hinatsuru and Ai Yashajin once again.

“How much do you know about me?”

“That you’re the first Queen and a Women’s League player who lost her titles to Ginko Sora,” said Ai Yashajin with a sneer. 

But Azami simply smiled and nodded.

“All true. How about my match records?”

“I …… I’m sorry. There wasn’t much time, so I only looked through the most recent Women’s Throne Title Match. I thought they were all interesting matches, though!” Ai Hinatsuru answered honestly.

“How nice of you to say! How about my older records?”

“The ones where you claimed the Queen title were good,” said Ai Yashajin as she looked away. “However, the records after that aren’t worth the time to line up. The ones after you lost the titles to Ginko Sora are trash, not worth the paper they’re written on.”

“You say exactly what you mean, don’t you? Well, that makes things a lot easier.”

Ai Hinatsuru looked back and forth at them, completely lost as she studied their expressions.

Azami stood back up and started making tea.

“There are pictures of me from back then. Back when I was called the Thorn Princess …… Though, they’re still painful for me to look at.”

Along with the tea and pieces of cake, Azami brought out two Shogi magazines from a few years ago for the girls to see.

The first one had a picture of Ginko Sora right after she first entered junior high school on the cover. Ai Hinatsuru casually glanced over it before turning the page.

When suddenly, her eyes shot wide open.

“……!! Y-You’re ……”

What she found–––was an Azami Hanadachi with absolutely no resemblance to the woman in front of her right now.

Ai Yashajin was equally stunned.

“Y-You …… You look, just …… just like ……!”

“Gin …… ko …… Sora.”

The young Yashajin swallowed hard as she struggled to say the name.

“…… Only recently have I been able to look at these pictures without getting angry.”

The magazines contained pictures from two eras of her life: when she first became Queen and after she lost to Ginko.

Comparing her to very different selves, Azami continued, “You see, I thought I wanted to be Ginko. So young and pretty, and her Shogi was incredibly strong and stoic …… Who wouldn’t want to be exactly like her?”

“B-But …… That doesn’t mean you should change how you look, too ……”

Flabbergasted, Ai Hinatsuru couldn’t comprehend why Azami went to such lengths.

“At first, I just wanted to know what kind of environment she was in and copy her research methods. But, that alone wasn’t anywhere near enough to win.”

The Azami Hanadachi staring back at them in the magazine became thinner and thinner with each turn of the page.

Azami Hanadachi, losing color to the point where she almost looked sick.

Seeing her hair turn pale, changing the color of her eyes with colored contacts and even wearing a sailor-style school uniform was utterly bizarre.

Then they found a picture from an opening night party before the title match.

Two Who Look Like Sisters.

That was the magazine’s caption.

The lack of any other explanation drove home just how outlandish the situation was.

“…… Disgusting.”

Ai Yashajin spat as she took her eyes off the photo.

“…………”

Even Ai Hinatsuru was too shaken to say anything at all.

“The shock of losing both of my titles to an opponent much younger than myself, Ginko merely 12 at the time, sent my life into a tailspin,” said the woman who at one point tried to become Ginko Sora.

“The moment I heard that she was doing practice sessions with Kansai professionals, I went to Kansai professionals to ask for practice sessions. I shut everyone and everything out of my life, to the extent that I wouldn’t eat or drink anything in order to do Shogi research 24/7 once I heard that she was a live-in apprentice who was constantly in that environment.”

Azami also attempted to follow Ginko into the Sub League, but that was where her Master drew the line and stepped in to stop her.

If her intention had been to become a member of the professional ranks, her Master would have given her his blessing. However, she literally wanted to be Ginko Sora.

“But it was no use. I couldn’t become Ginko no matter how hard I tried. Burning the candle at both ends for so long took its toll, my body couldn’t keep up and my spirit was completely broken …… She kept pulling further and further ahead of me.”

Opening one of the magazines to a specific page for her guests, Azami showed the girls a picture of the Thorn Princess who was little more than skin and bone.

The person in that photograph was not Ginko Sora nor even Azami Hanadachi …… 

Looking at the skinny ogre she had once been with pity, Azami continued in a hushed voice, “The one who stopped me from falling apart was one of the Kansai professionals I was practicing with …… and who is now my husband.”

It was the man who had been watching her more closely than any other who reawakened the Thorn Princess.

“Do you know what he said? He said he loved me, the broken me. The me that had forgotten who I was and couldn’t become Ginko Sora. But more than that, he said this…”

Azami’s eyes lit up as if she were remembering the exact moment.

“Even if you didn’t play Shogi, I know I would’ve fallen for you……”

Ai Yashajin quietly listened to those words.

“Beautiful ……”

Tears built up in Ai Hinatsuru’s eyes as that word escaped her lips.

“Shogi was all I had. I was certain that without it, I would be nothing. If I got weaker …… If I lost my titles, I was certain I would lose my worth as a human being.”

Azami didn’t stop there.

“But he said he would still love me without Shogi. That’s why I married him. I didn’t think twice. After that instantaneous yes, I was finally free from the curse …… The curse of wanting to be Ginko Sora.” Eyes sparkling and a small quiver in her voice, the Thorn Princess added, “That was the first time in my life I’d ever cried for anything other than losing a Shogi match ……”

That’s when the baby in the crib started crying out for her mother, and Azami donned a motherly smile as she held her youngest child.

Waiting until the infant had calmed down, Ai Yashajin posed the question.

“…… And? You got pregnant and ran away from Shogi as soon as you could?”

“Why, no. I may not have been able to become Ginko, but I still needed to win against her. Just this time not for myself, but for the man who loves me. That has become what drives me as a Women’s League player,” said Azami with vigor as she held the baby in her arms. “However, I didn’t want having children to be the reason my skills declined. I don’t want them to grow up only to find out that they’re the reason my career came to an end. That’s why I wanted to be stronger. I wanted others to think of me and say, She’s better now, as a mother, than she was before.”

The two girls watched as Azami’s face transformed from a loving mother into a Shogi player right before their eyes.

“I was desperate to find the answer. Doing what Ginko does would never work. Even if I did copy her methods, I would never catch up and I didn’t have the time anyway.”

“Then …… How did you do it?” asked Ai Yashajin, showing genuine interest for the first time.

“Efficiently using time was a must. Even while breastfeeding, I was mentally running through sequences one after another. So long as you have a smartphone and a head that can think, you can do Shogi research absolutely anywhere these days. The other thing I did was start relearning standards from square one. I revamped everything from how I practiced all the way to how I chose my offensive formations.”

“……”

Falling silent, Ai Yashajin folded her arms across her chest.

“I noticed a considerable drop off in thinking and recognition speed while I was pregnant. Then again, that could’ve just been me losing my edge because I wasn’t playing in nearly as many matches as I used to …… I don’t know for sure. But, one thing I do know is that my first instincts didn’t miss a beat.”

Azami chose her words carefully as she went on.

“That’s why I focused heavily on playing quickly and taking control of the flow during the Women’s Throne Title Match. I’m usually more of a defensive player, but I decided not to play that style while I was pregnant.”

“You played with your gut feeling ……? Is that right?” asked a curious Ai Hinatsuru.

“Yes, Ai, that’s right. Though I wish I could do what you do in the late game.”

Take control of the match, play quickly and pressure the opponent into making mistakes to save waiting time.

Azami’s strategy was to build a lead while avoiding major confrontations to overwhelm her opponent.

“Th-That’s amazing! The picture-perfect way to win!”

“Would you stop being impressed by every little thing?”

Ai Hinatsuru’s eyes were sparkling with admiration, but Ai Yashajin balked at the idea.

“Besides, what use would I have for advice during pregnancy in the first place?”

“Very useful, Ten-chan! Babies are a blessing!! We must always be ready to have one just in case.”

“Huuuh? I’m still 10 years old.”

“Exactly.”

Ai Hinatsuru’s face had and? written all over it. She wasn’t understanding the point. The look in her eyes made it seem like she thought she could be a mother any day now.

It was that look that sent a jolt up the Thorn Princess’s spine.

“A-Ai ……? I thought you were a normal little girl, but …… It seems the rumors are true ……”

“Uwhee?”

Ai tilted her head, confused.

Ai Yashajin mumbled, “She’s always like this,” with a nod. 

Forcing herself to smile, Azami said, “N-Now I get it …… This is Ai Hinatsuru, the genius ……” 

Still confused, Ai Hinatsuru tilts her head the other way.

“Anyway ……”

Getting the conversation back on topic, Ai Yashajin clears her throat.

“I understand how you fought against Ginko Sora. I’m sure it was a hard fight. However, you lost in the end, didn’t you? Sorry, but I’m going to win my own way.”

“I think that’s a great idea.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve always wondered whether relying on instincts when you play leads to improving or not. The way to win right now is not necessarily the way to become a stronger player. Trust me, I would’ve loved to do my own thorough research if I had had the time.”

Azami glanced in Ai Hinatsuru’s direction.

“Miss Hinatsuru might be able to, but I don’t think you’ll get any stronger by relying on your intuition, Ai.”

“!! …… Are you saying she’s more talented than me?”

Ai Yashajin demanded an explanation as she pointed at her older sister apprentice, but Azami just smiled at her. Her silence was as good as affirmation.

Blood boiling, Ai Yashajin’s hair stood on end as she yelled, “If you’re so good, why don’t you tell me a way to beat Ginko Sora right here and now!”

“Love.”

“What?”

“Loving someone else. Falling in love. That’s the way I found to win.”

“……………………”

The young Yashajin’s face went blank as Azami went into further detail.

“Love has no limits. It won’t weigh you down and it doesn’t take up any room. Yet the more you have, the stronger you become. That’s especially true for girls. Girls in love become much stronger.” Then, almost teasingly, she adds, “The reason why Ginko is stronger than you might just be …… that Ginko is in love.”

“H-Hardly! A girl with that much ice in her veins …… Besides, I’m not the least bit interested in romance! It has nothing to do with Shogi!!”

“I see. You’re still too young to understand.”

“……… Look at you, up on your pedestal ……”

Ai Yashajin ground her molars in frustration, being told that she wouldn’t understand.

Looking down at the Shogi magazines open on the table, the Thorn Princess commented, “As far as Ginko was concerned, I wouldn’t have been much of a challenge for her before I got married. I mean, I was using the same strategies but couldn’t read the board as far as she could.”

“……!!”

“Once I got married, however, I thought through everything myself. Coming up with things from my own experiences that she’d never think of herself became my best weapon. Sitting across the board from her, I could tell …… I could see hesitation in her moves, panic in her eyes. That was a first.”

Strategies fade in and out within the Shogi world very quickly. When someone has success with a particular style, everyone else starts using it overnight.

By the same token, top players’ research methods spread like wildfire.

After all, a player’s Shogi skills are bound to improve if they use the same strategies and methods the best players are using.

At the end of the day, however, they never compare to the original.

“…………”

Heart-wrenching! Ai Yashajin bit down on her lips to endure the pain.

Unable to come up with a logical counter to Azami’s claim… she settled on this: “…… But you lost.”

“I did. I lost,” the mother once known as Thorn Princess said with a sincere nod. “But you know what? I’m playing better Shogi now than I was before!”

A radiant, healthy smile graced her lips.

Then, the Thorn Princess imparted a kind word of advice to the lost Cinderella.

“Find your way. Find a way to win that is uniquely yours.”

With that, Azami Hanadachi reworded her message and said it again.

“A love that is uniquely yours.”