Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 14 - Chapter 1.6

  CHECKING ON SCARS

“I’m coming with you to the front.”

“Say what? You don’t have to ……”

“I’m coming!!”

It’s time for me to get going to my next match in Sendai, but Ginko grabs on to my sleeve and won’t let go as I head out of her room. Adorable, isn’t she?

“But …… have you healed enough?”

I’m happy she wants to walk me out, but I don’t feel right making a hospitalized person walk that far.

“I mean, you nearly passed out in your last match of the 3-dan division and broke your own ribs hitting yourself to stay awake, right?”

“Broke is an exaggeration. Cracked, yes, but my heart and lungs are just fine. The pain is almost gone, so regular medicine is enough. I don’t even need to have bandages.”

“I checked that myself earlier. You seem to be enjoying it so much that …… Ow, ow, OUUUCHH!! You’re breaking my arm!!”

I wasn’t copping a feel when I put my hand on her chest.

Okay, maybe I was, but …… I also wanted to check and see how much Ginko has recovered.

She was in such a bad mood when I arrived that I was worried she wouldn’t let me, but I wasn’t going to leave the hospital without knowing for sure.

And I was going to make her take a leave of absence if she hadn’t healed no matter what she had to say.

My determination must’ve come across.

Ginko brings this up out of the blue.

“Did you know that this is the hospital where Chairman Tsukimitsu came for treatment when he was young?”

“The chairman, here?”

The Shogi Association chairman, Seiichi Tsukimitsu 9-dan.

Even after being told he was going blind, basically a death sentence for Shogi players, he went on to become the Eternal Meijin. He’s also maintained his position in the A division while working for the association. The man is incredible.

Since he’s also our Master’s older brother apprentice, the chairman has helped Ginko and I many times over the years.

“Apparently, Tsukimitsu-sensei was losing his vision even before he became the Meijin.”

“Seriously?!”

The chairman turned pro during his last year of junior high and climbed through the Placement League nonstop after that.

He became the Meijin when he was 21.

That’s a record that has stood for 30 years …… But, after hearing this, now I understand why he was in such a rush.

“So …… even as a teenager, his eyes were going?”

“Uh-huh. But this hospital kept his secret safe.”

I bet the chairman wanted to become Meijin before anyone else found out. Pros won’t hold back when they know their opponent’s weakness.

At the same time, he was preparing to keep playing Shogi even when he couldn’t see the pieces ……

“My injuries weren’t all that serious, but the chairman still made arrangements with this hospital for me. It’s true that I needed treatment, and reporters aren’t going to force their way into a hospital.”

Ginko is literally the talk of the town right now.

She probably has tons of work lined up in Tokyo, and she can’t turn it down because she’s a pro. A safe home base in the area is a must, and I can’t think of any place better for someone with her medical history to stay than a hospital. The chairman read the situation perfectly.

I get that, but ……

“…… I understand that they have everything you need, but you can’t kick back and relax in a hospital, right? There’s an inn we can trust opening up in Tokyo. Why not stay there instead?”

“Where?”

“Guess what. The HinaTsuru is opening a Tokyo branch!”

“………………”

“I stayed there the night before my placement match, and it was amazing! They’ve got a hot spring, great food and a huge tatami room where you can play as much Shogi as you want! Even better, as a member of the Kiyotaki Shogi family, they’ll give you a discou- ow, ow, OUCH!! MY ARM!! YOU’RE BREAKING MY ARM! Wh-What was that for?! All I did was suggest moving to an inn!!”

“I felt like it?”

What kind of messed up reason is that for nearly breaking an arm ……?

Then Ginko adds as if she can see the shock in my heart, “You don’t have to worry about me, Yaichi.”

“Maybe spending so much time in the hospital as a kid does make it possible to relax ……”

Safely on board the bullet train bound for Sendai, I do feel a bit more reassured.

Ginko is her usual self.

She battled her way through the harsh 3-dan division, both physically and mentally.

But what I was most worried about …… was her fighting spirit.

She endured a hell that makes full-grown men want to run away, all before her 16th birthday.

Worse, she had to put the nail in her own mentor’s coffin at the very end.

–––Could I take that kind of pain ……?

To top it all off, Ginko is more sensitive than the average person. I know that she tried to run away halfway through.

–––I’m the only one …… who knows how badly Shogi hurt her.

So I had to check and see, no matter what. To check on the scars that doctors would never notice …… I’m the only one who could accurately measure the damage.

But I have to say–––.

“………… It’s a good thing I went with the watch rather than this ……”

I take a small box out of my suit pocket and force a smile.

Even without knowing our sizes, I wanted to get promise rings so much that I went ahead and bought a pair anyway.