Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 10 - Chapter 3.9

  SISTERS

It’s the night after a crack appeared in our practice group.

I took Charlette with me to visit Big Sister Machi at her family’s manor.

She kept insisting “Cha wants to pway more!” and wouldn’t take no for an answer, so I couldn’t think of anyone else to go to.

Despite our unannounced visit, Big Sister Machi welcomed us inside without so much as a frown …… And even instructed to Charlette and I in Shogi ……

But her hospitality didn’t end there. “I presume you shall be spending the night?” She said with recognition in her eyes ……

Though I’m ashamed to say it …… I cried during our Shogi session.

“This is no good. Seems almost as though I’m the one who induced to those tears.”

“Nggh …… *Sniffle* …… S-Sorry ……”

“The best method for cooling the heart? For starters, warm the body.”

Charlette had pushed herself so hard that she dozed off and fell asleep on top of the board. Once Big Sister Machi and I had moved her to a futon, she invited me to join her for a bath.

Though we are sister apprentices …… This was of course our first time bathing together.

“Your beloved friend, Ai, said such harsh things? Though …… Hehe. That’s just like Ryuo-san, having her be the upper player in handicapped matches. Such an intriguing take.”

After I explained what happened, Big Sister Machi tells me with a smile.

“However, I fail to understand the point of the puzzles. Solving extremely long sequences has no bearing upon actual matches. That’s common knowledge …… Particularly when it comes to the late game against ‘Undying Wings.’ While puzzles get solved with a neat little bow, playing against her is akin to crawling through knee-deep mud in a pigsty. Ryuo-san should be well aware …… Yet?”

“……?”

“Oh, just my own musings. Let yourself relax, Ayano.”

“Ahhn ……?! Haauuu ……”

The heat of the bath and her hands massaging my shoulders combine. I was helpless to stop those sounds from escaping.

H-How embarrassing ……!

Big Sister Machi has lent me many comics detailing how friendships between boys suddenly escalate but …… Can the same happen with girls ……?

I change the subject to soothe my nerves.

“…… Have you ever, fought with your friends?”

“Not with everyday people, nor my friends from college. I’ve made it my personal mantra not to delve too deep with anyone. But–––.”

“But?”

“When I faced O-Ryou in the title match …… Whether that was a fight or not eludes me. Both of us were completely serious in our endeavor.”

“Ah ……”

I saw that battle with my own eyes and can still vividly recall every detail.

Their fierce dual unfolding on a stage built above the flowing Kamogawa River, the fireworks they unleashed.

Just as memories of the view I had from the Sanjyo Gawara river side …… Big Sister Machi, sitting before me in the nude, puts her hand on my cheek and tells me.

“In any case, watch Ai’s next match closely.”

“The Women’s Legend qualifier ……? Will there be coverage?”

“Women’s League matches, much less preliminary rounds, getting Internet coverage happens rarely if ever. However, once I made the director see reason, that this match would draw all sorts of attention, he agreed to stream it online. Though, no one had anything to lose.”

“I knew it …… Ai is different. Her popularity, her talent ……”

The first time I was matched against Ai Hinatsuru in the Practice League, I was driven into a corner and surrendered after a mere 34 moves.

“That gap is just getting wider now …… Even with the benefit of a handicap, I was thoroughly and utterly defeated …… Her King reached nyugyoku ……”

That’s why …… We’re nothing but a bother to her anymore ……

“Talent varying from person to person is only natural. We are born with it, after all.”

Says Big Sister Machi in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Ayano, do you believe the difference in talent alone is what determines the result of a match?”

“I, well …… I don’t think so. Effort plays a part …… As do a variety of other factors.”

“If that’s the case, there is no point assigning blaming to a ‘difference in talent.’ Those thoughts lead nowhere.”

“Haauu ……”

“…… Nine years prior, I too was confronted with a talent that seemed insurmountable.”

Big Sister Machi continues.

“In the face of such an incredible talent, I convinced myself from the start that I could not win. A far cry from claiming victory, I wholly believed I didn’t belong on the same stage.”

“?! Y-You did ……?”

“Though recently, I’ve come to believe that that choice was in error.”

Big Sister Machi sets her hand upon her sizable breast.

“Watching one younger and more beautiful than I continue to strive for a goal I had given up on from the start and make it that far …… Of course, it pains me. In a word, it’s jealousy.”

Big Sister Machi …… Jealous?

As a womon and Women’s League Player, everyone envies her. Such a perfect person knows that feeling?

“B-Big Sister Machi? May I ask who–––?”

“The last thing I wish for you, Ayano, is to repeat my own mistakes. The only result of giving up based on talent alone is regret.”

“Regret ……”

That word reminds me of something.

Reminds me of why I decided to take part in the King of Naniwa Tournament with Mio in the first place.

Why Charlette has become so driven to play Shogi.

And, the slightest bit of recognition came to me as well.

No matter the difference in talent, age, or even gender …… So long as we are human, all of us experience the same worries, sorrows, fears, and pain.

So, surely, Ai as well––––––.

“I have one more thing to impart. My working on the Women’s League qualifier internet coverage isn’t for Ai or even Ryuo-san.”

“It’s not? Then who was it for?”

Big Sister Machi embraces me before whispering into my ear.

“It’s to support a poor soul that walked this path before myself who was unable to recognize her own desires and …… To congratulate my own little sister advancing to the next grade. Please do accept my gift♪”