AI’S ANGELIC ROBE
The 30-minute intermission passed in the blink of an eye and the rematch got underway.
Yaichi Kuzuryu remained in the chapel to continue as the big board analyst. Only the commentators switched out in shifts, and now Kanto Women’s League player Midori Ubaguchi 3-dan, who had come all the way here just to see this match in person, took the stage as a special guest.
Match analysis in the break room revolved around Seiichi Tsukimitsu.
The strategy employed by Ai Yashajin now that the first move was hers turned out to be–––.
“Offense Central Rook?”
“Both players are using Ranging Rook strategies ……?”
The crowd of people with their eyes trained on the break room’s monitor whispered amongst themselves in amazement at Ai Yashajin’s all-rounder prowess.
Her opponent, Ginko Sora, had also elected to employ Ranging Rook.
Since there are many similarities in how mirror matchups play out, her decision to play Double Ranging Rook wasn’t all that strange.
However, the concept Ai Yashajin had in mind was well beyond bizarre.
15th move––––––2 Eight Rook.
“Huh?”
“Seriously?!”
Shock and disbelief spread to the break room, the move making more of an impact than even her Bishop Head Pawn.
“She switched back …… to Static Rook ……?”
The concept was flawless.
Ai had returned her Rook in the middle of the board back to its starting position.
“Not a Move-Loss Bishop Exchange, but a Double Move-Loss Rook?! Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhh?!”
Tamayo Rokuroba, who was preparing for her next shift on stage as the big board commentator, could feel the Shogi sense she had built up since her days as an elementary school student start to crumble away. Even for a Ranging Rook player like Tamayo, Ai’s concept was beyond comprehension.
“Th-This isn’t even Shogi anymore …… is it ……?”
“Hmm.”
However, once his secretary Sasari Oga finished verbally recounting the sequences thus far, Seiichi gave his opinion as if commenting on an outlandish piece of modern Impressionist artwork.
“…………… Yet there is not much separating them. Quite surprising.”
“But!! B-But she’s two moves behind!! After all she went through to reclaim the first move, she goes and throws it away ……? The defender’s position can only get better from here–––.”
“Precisely. That’s the trap.”
Tamayo seemed unable to process the formation right away, so Seiichi put his mettle as one of the Shogi world’s top competitors on display.
“If you can state the position is clearly good, then that’s that. However, if it only looks good, many will spend time to confirm it. Further still, having a preconceived notion that the formation should be good will lead some to relentlessly search until the perfect sequence is found.”
“Oh! So, all that time goes to waste ……”
“Indeed. Additionally, the brain forces itself to find a move that will turn what is actually a very small margin into a gigantic lead. A victory read.”
Time dwindles away as any sense of the big picture is distracted by an illusion.
A situation that must be avoided at all costs when speed is of the essence.
“Though she has a move lead, Sora-Queen has been forced into using Ranging Rook, of which she has little experience. Additionally, she has no time. If Miss Yashajin has researched this type of formation, she could build a considerable advantage …… Or even!”
“Aha!”
Tamayo couldn’t contain her laughter.
“Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!”
In no way was she making fun of Ai.
Just the opposite. Seeing that bratty runt regain her annoyingly high level of confidence was reassuring.
Eyes watering from laughing so hard, Tamayo nodded in recognition.
“So, that’s how it is. She is a prodigy. Even more than Ginko.”
Not too long ago, Tamayo Rokuroba made this promise to Ai Yashajin.
“Someday years down the road, when time has worn you down, we’ll play again. And I’ll be stronger. I don’t care if it’s 30, 40 years from now …… Might even be longer, but I’ll be right here waiting with my feet stuck in the ground.”
However, Tamayo had assumed that Ai Yashajin was less talented than Ginko Sora at that time… that the girl would one day settle into place at her level.
If, by chance, Ai didn’t fall from her pedestal–––.
“Then the only choice I’ve got is to try even harder, work until I’m much, much stronger …… Man, this is annoying!! What a pain!”
Seiichi listened to Tamayo’s griping with the slightest of grins as Sasari, who had lost her chance to become stronger, felt left out in the cold.
“This …… This Shogi is unbelievable!”
Tracking the match on the Internet from her home on Hachijyo Jima Island, Karen Noboryou violently shook her head back and forth.
Though she was not the only one—most of the Sub League members watching the match at this very moment were rejecting Ai’s Shogi outright.
“Sora-sensei is building up a natural response. Were I in her position, I would make similar moves myself …… But, for some reason, the odds are tipping even more into the offense’s favor …… That’s not possible …… It shouldn’t be happening ……”
Karen looked down on Women’s League players.
––– After all, all of them are just amateurs.
Even Ryou Tsukiyomizaka, a Women’s League Title Holder, took a leave of absence from that league to try her hand in the Sub League, but utterly failed.
–––As should be expected… our Shogi is built differently.
Unlike Ryou, Karen had chosen to enter the Sub League from the beginning.
She did so because someone else had gone before her: Ginko Sora. She had proven it was possible to jump headfirst into the Sub League and Karen decided to follow in her footsteps.
Now Karen was the second female ever to achieve a 1-kyu rank in the Sub League.
Though she never considered herself to be talented, her time in the harsh wasteland known as the Sub League had battered and churned her Shogi into a more professional shape. It was the gift effort had bestowed upon her.
Hers was the exact opposite of the amateurs–––Shogi, where losing wasn’t an option.
She had drilled the standards into her head as if her very life depended on it, all with the very real threat of demotion and expulsion hanging over her. Karen had rebuilt her Shogi from square one. That should be the correct way. She should be much stronger. Ai Yashajin’s Shogi was the one that was wrong …… This deranged Shogi that even a kyu-ranking amateur would never dream of trying couldn’t be right.
“So, why ……? Why won’t my heart stop beating in my ears?”
Karen had yet to realize that she was observing something important in Ai’s Shogi she herself had lost. To realize that she was yearning to see it.
Freedom on the board. And the joy of playing Shogi.
Now full of players, staff and the media, the break room at the match site was overrun with vibrant energy.
Despite the late hour, more and more professional and Women’s League players continued to file in. Even the veteran Women’s League player from the north coast well into her sixties, Suzu Kakkobayashi had traveled to Kobe fully intending to research this match overnight. All to watch an elementary school girl play against a junior high school girl.
Tamayo Rokuroba taking her place as the big board commentator, Midori Ubaguchi looked at all the Women’s League players gathered in the break room and said, “This has turned into an Ai Yashajin Victims Support Group, hasn’t it?”
“It’s a Ginko Sora Victims Support Group, too,” remarked Rei Kayunita as Ryou Tsukiyomizaka, who had lost to both Ginko and Ai, snapped her tongue with a bitter “Tsk!”
A few amused laughs echoed through the room.
Keika Kiyotaki was also among them.
This was her first time visiting a Women’s League Title Match break room as an official Women’s League player.
“…………”
Despite belonging to the same Shogi family as both players in the match, Keika only arrived in Kobe a few minutes before the rematch was to begin. Staying quiet, she remained outside their circle and watched the match unfold on her own.
–––…… How small I am, she thought to herself. How she was being careful not to cross paths with either Ai or Yaichi, and how she couldn’t convince herself to come until the late game had arrived.
Yet, Keika could feel she had grown as well.
–––…… It’s a big step for me, being able to feel jealous ……
At one time, Keika was jealous of the two Ais who breezed past her in the blink of an eye.
However, she didn’t feel that way about everyone who entered the Practice League after her.
She never bothered to compare herself to the elites like Ginko and Machi Kugui. Therefore she never felt any jealousy toward her younger older sister apprentice no matter how many titles she claimed.
On the other hand, it surged through her like a raging wildfire the instant Ai Yashajin became the Queen Challenger.
It was not only because Keika made it into the Mynavi Finals, but she also defeated the perennial contender Rina Shakando.
–––There was a chance this match could have been between Ginko and I. So ……
At the same time, she was concerned about Ai Hinatsuru.
Not that the young girl was depressed or feeling pressure. Just the opposite.
–––Because she’s satisfied with the way things are now ……
At the end of the day, the girl named Ai Hinatsuru was playing Shogi only so that she could be at Yaichi’s side. Keika had realized that Ai couldn’t play to her full potential when Yaichi wasn’t involved in some way.
–––That girl is too kind and openhearted. But worse than that …… she was born with way too much talent.
As a person, it was a wonderful combination.
Unfortunately, she would never grow as a Shogi player.
Feeling jealousy and bias were an absolute necessity. Just as the stepsisters felt jealous when they saw Cinderella arrive at the ball in a beautiful dress, Keika thought that dark flame would grow within Ai Hinatsuru’s heart if she had a front row seat to Ginko and Ai Yashajin’s title match.
Looking at it another way, nothing short of that would spark it.
The same could be said for Yaichi and Ginko.
–––None of them would realize how painful playing Shogi can be without knowing what jealousy is like.
“Whoa! Look at that!!”
Someone shouting in the break room brought Keika back into the moment.
“The defender’s King is exposed!”
The board was tipping from a simple advantage for Ai Yashajin toward a likely victory.
Seeing that her chances were next to nil with Ai’s current formation, Ginko changed up her strategy but was unable to produce any results. In fact, she had fallen victim to Ai’s counterattack and was now facing heavy bombardment at the top of her Mino Castle defense, the formation’s weak point.
With the defensive line destroyed and the enemy King retreating from its fortress, Ai Yashajin had complete control of the match flow and pursued it with her fangs bared.
Naniwa’s Snow White, after an immaculate six-year romp through the Women’s League, looked to be on the verge of defeat.
–––Lose? Ginko? To her ……?
Though Keika couldn’t believe it, she had a feeling that even she would be able to put Ginko in checkmate from this position.
However, Ai decided to claim the Knight that jumped into her territory and cut off Ginko’s advance. She wasn’t going for checkmate; she was trying to shatter Ginko’s fighting spirit. Severe. Ai’s fingers trembled on the monitor.
“She’s pressing?!”
“Many would give up in this situation.”
“She ain’t gonna. She ain’t.”
Players and media members who filled the break room became livelier by the moment as the observer began to prepare.
Ginko launched an all-out assault and put Ai’s King in check for successive turns, but the young girl blocked each one with calm, calculated precision.
“Ginko’s Shogi has been rough today.”
Rei Kayunita criticized Ginko’s forced attack while other players started mocking her instead.
“Oh-ho? Naniwa’s Snow White’s gonna lose this one!”
“It’s tough watching the Queen not know when to call it quits.”
“Call it a day. Go wash up and try again next time.”
That got a laugh from around the break room.
Keika could hardly believe what she was hearing.
It was as if none of them felt even a sliver of the grim reality that came with the end of this match. They were watching Ginko Sora, a Sub League member who had spent a large amount of her valuable time working extremely hard for the Women’s League, losing as if she were some rare attraction in a circus.
–––Just …… what are these people? This isn’t normal ……
Jealousy, ambition, curiosity, inferiority and superiority complexes …… Keika finally realized it as she watched these people who had sold their souls to Shogi childishly bare their cruelest emotions.
The people gathered in here weren’t human anymore. They were monsters, Shogi monsters.
“Ughh ……!!”
Both hands clamped firmly over her mouth, Keika raced out of the break room. Unable to make it all the way to the ladies’ restroom, she curled up in the hallway and endured a series of nauseated dry heaves.
“G …… Ginko …………”
Keika called out to the girl fighting alone in the arena at this very moment through all her pain, dizziness and flowing tears.
“Do you ……. always play Shogi …… in stifling air like that ………?”
Her own jealousy and inferiority complex were minuscule by comparison ……
Simply breathing the air inside the break room was enough to make her sick to her stomach. Keika stayed in the hallway, curled up in a little ball, unable to climb back to her feet.
Inside the arena itself was abnormally hot.
Ai Hinatsuru had come to realize that her focus was fading in and out as she watched the match from the boardside table.
“Here …… Here ………… He… re ……………… Haaa …… ah, ahhh ………”
She knew that, as the match journalist, she needed to keep an eye on both players, but her own player instincts kept drawing her attention back to the board.
–––I can’t …… concentrate …… I don’t feel like me anymore ……
Muscles tensing and loosening. Mind focusing in and out. All were against her will and coming without warning.
Ai was being influenced by the players’ immense aura the same way a tree leaf is at the mercy of the wind.
–––This …… This is what the arena during a title match is like ……!
Ai Hinatsuru hadn’t left her spot since the intermission after the Repetition Draw.
Despite only sitting, she felt far more exhausted now than she ever had playing a match herself.
“………… Too hot ……”
Her handwriting had become illegible and blotches of sweat were starting to curl the sheets of paper in her notepad.
The abnormal heat was radiating from the players themselves.
Ai Yashajin, who had changed out of the kimono and into a Western-style dress, glimmered with sweat as she rocked back and forth reading the board.
–––…… Wow. I’ve never seen Ten-chan so focused before ……
Leaning that far forward with everything from her cheeks to the tips of her ears beet red, she could very well have been a flaming chariot charging headlong toward the enemy.
Without changing posture, Ai Yashajin upped the pressure on the now-defending Ginko Sora by advancing a Knight toward her King.
–––It’s over ……!
Meanwhile, a completely sweatless Ginko straightened her back and looked down at the board as she stopped to think.
Those silver-blue eyes and completely motionless posture seemed devoid of any will to fight.
To Ai Hinatsuru, it looked as though Ginko had already resigned herself to defeat.
However.
“Huh ……?”
A surprised squeak left her lips.
Right next to her, the match recorder Sota Kunugi had plugged a mobile battery into the tablet in front of him.
Without a doubt, Sota had the highest level of Shogi skill of anyone in the arena.
–––Then …… the match is going to go even longer? But it’s ……
The match was nearly over in her eyes. No, she thought the result was already set in stone.
Ai Yashajin felt the same way.
–––I can win! Me …… Against Ginko Sora!! A Sub League 3-dan!!
Ai couldn’t contain the rush of emotions flooding through her.
The young girl’s heart threatened to burst from her rib cage it was beating so hard. The blood circulating through her whole body rushed through her veins like torrents of fire.
Sweat poured down her face and her breathing became ragged as if that heat had singed her nerves. Despite changing out of her kimono in favor of a dress, the heat was overwhelming.
“…………………”
Without saying a word, Ginko rose to her feet and left the room.
Her opponent had completely disappeared from sight, but Ai stayed in the zone and used the time to read as deep into the board as possible, like a fireball.
But–––.
“Ah …………”
Ai Hinatsuru’s concentration, which had been hazy from the heat, reawakened with vigor. The temperature inside the arena had plummeted.
Then, it hit her.
Red flames don’t burn as hot as blue ones.
The abnormally high heat in the arena didn’t come from Ai Yashajin.
The only possible explanation was that Ginko had been reading deeper, more fiercely than Ai was.
–––Sora-sensei hasn’t given up! …… Could it be?!
One minute later.
Body on the verge of combustion cooled by the outside air, Naniwa’s Snow White returned to the arena with the colossal heat of a streaking meteorite to make her vision into reality on the board.
Then, as if completely ignoring her opponent’s previous move, Ginko plucked her King from the board and said, “Come.”
“?!”
Snow White smiled as Cinderella gasped before her.
“I’ll dance for you.”
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