Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 16 - Chapter 4.7

  PRACTICE RUN

The review session is over. Since the last train is long gone and taxi companies have called it a night, we decide to walk over to Yoyogi and find a restaurant that would let us stay until morning.

“I know just the place,” says Mr. Natagiri after changing from his kimono (not that there was much changing that needed to be done) into a suit that Ms. Rokuroba brought for him because she thought he would definitely need it.

“Let me show you where I used to go on the longest day! We can all enjoy the nightlife!”

“I shall accompany you.”

Ayumu’d been walking around listlessly until a giddy Mr. Natagiri takes his hand and pulls him to the front of the group. Ayumu being Ayumu, it seems like spending 16 hours in the same room with Mr. Natagiri made them feel comfortable around each other. It’s the magic of Placement Matches ……

By the way, the longest day in the Shogi world is the final day of A League Placement Matches. Since commentators and analysts don’t finish up until about two or three in the morning, it’s become tradition for people in the Shogi world to gather in bars or old-style restaurants in Yoyogi on that day every year.

“Oh, no, no, no! I’ll get a room at the association, so count me out!”

As for Ryou and Machi, they’re giving a reluctant Ms. Rokuroba an invitation to come with us. She’s not so much reluctant as refusing, but ……

“What’s the problem, eh? Ya shacked up with Natagiri the whole time during the Meijin Title Match, didn’t ya? So, how far did ya get? Spill it!”

“Seconded. It’s about time we partook in some girl talk.”

“Girl talk? With you two, it’s interrogation!!”

Ms. Rokuroba’s shoulders sink in resigned defeat as two Women’s League Title Holders have a stranglehold on both her arms.

“…… ’Sides, he is going back to the Shogi à la mode life starting tomorrow anyway. More Shogi than he’s had since way before he was in the Meijin Title Match ……”

There’re tons of things I also want to ask Mr. Natagiri and Ms. Rokuroba, so I am really happy I get a chance to eat with them tonight. Ask what? No comment.

“Yaichi? Why are you lagging?”

I’m a few paces behind the group and Machi tries to get me to keep up.

“Oh, I need to make a phone call. Go on ahead and I’ll catch up.”

“You better. You’re one of the sponsors and don’t you forget it.”

“Yeah, yeah ……”

There’s an unwritten rule in the Shogi world that the winner and the highest ranking player foot the bill. Considering who’s here tonight, that would be Ayumu and I. In other words, I spent the last 16 hours worrying about my best friend and now I’ve got to pay money. Not that I can complain after seeing that awesome match, though!

Once everyone’s voices have faded off into the distance, I take out my smartphone and make a call.

“Good evening. I trust that you saw the match?”

“…… And what a match it was! I shall admit as much,” answers Women’s Legend Rina Shakando in a stiffer voice than usual.

It seems to me that she’s trying to suppress the overwhelming joy she’s feeling right now.

“However, one victory in A League still only amounts to one victory. The path to the Meijin is still yet long …… Will that suffice? Surely you placed this call in search of a different answer?”

“No. I thought this was good timing to set the record straight.”

“What is it, young Ryuo?”

“What actually happened between Ryou and Ayumu. Their relationship.”

“Concerning that matter–––”

“It was the Sub League.”

“……?”

“Ryou left the Women’s League to join the Sub League at 5-kyu in the summer of her second year of junior high school. She probably wanted to chase Ayumu and I.”

“Ah ……”

Ryou wrote a self-commentary article about that time in her life when she faced Machi in the Yamashiro Ouka Title Match.

It’s surprising how good she is with the pen, the passion that comes through.

“But she couldn’t win. The Sub League is a guys’ world, and everyone was desperate not to lose to her because it would be humiliating to lose to a girl. Ryou’s personality certainly didn’t help things. None of the other members would do practice sessions with her …… Except for one.”

“You couldn’t mean–––”

“You’re exactly right. Ryou went to Ayumu and begged for versus matches. Ayumu agreed on a certain condition.”

There was no merit for him to accept her request as is. With Ayumu’s severe stance on Shogi, he needed compensation for sharing his time and skills.

“M-My apprentice …… used Shogi as bait to initiate a dating relationship ……?”

“No, not at all. Please have a little more faith in him …… Ayumu has only ever had eyes for you going way back, Shakando-sensei.”

“Then what did he ask of Archangel?”

“Practice runs.”

“Huh?”

Now Shakando-sensei is completely lost. 

I explain.

The complete idiocy of my pure-hearted best friend.

“He had Ryou stand in for you so he could practice going on dates! Since it was all practice, they apparently didn’t even hold hands.”

That kind of storyline shows up in books and manga all the time. Since it’s fiction, that sequence can lead to some steamy situations.

But this is Ayumu and he isn’t about to change for anything.

“In his own words, Ayumu wanted to practice interacting with the opposite gender to avoid offending the woman he cares about most …… Even though she didn’t have any romantic feelings for him, I don’t blame Ryou for getting angry when she heard him say so.”

Just to be clear, when Ryou said, they were all over each other and tried many positions, she was talking about Shogi. Ayumu always played yagura in versus matches against me, but he’d absolutely crush Ryou if he used it against her. That’s why he used that chance to try out different strategies instead. The putting it in places you wouldn’t normally use …… She was talking about his King in the corner of the board for an anaguma!

“…… Well, well …… Not in all my years have I ……”

Sensei sounds lost for words.

And yes, what Ayumu did was horrible. Though I’m sure he regrets it, considering how much of a straight arrow he is.

“Their versus matches ended after Ryou was demoted to 6-kyu and forced to leave the Sub League after about one year.”

“…… It appears that I owe Archangel an apology. An apprentice’s failings fall upon the Master’s shoulders.”

“I have a message from Ryou about that.”

“A message?”

I take a deep breath and do my best Ryou impression as I say, “Quit actin’ like you’re pullin’ every dang string to make the world dance in the palm of your hand, hag! My life is mine, including my screwups! Hurry up and pass the torch, got it?! And there you have it.”

“Wha- …………!!”

“I agree.”

Since the Women’s Legend’s stunned silence continues, I add, “My older sister apprentice has nothing but respect and gratitude for you, Shakando-sensei. Responsibility for the moves someone makes fall squarely on their own shoulders. That’s how Shogi players are.”

Just like the way Ayumu bared his pure soul today.

He wanted Shakando-sensei to see his true feelings.

“So please focus on yourself, Sensei. Both on playing an intense title match and on giving Ayumu’s proposal some serious thought.”

“…………”

“I’ll come ask for an answer after the final Women’s Legend Title Match. I think Ayumu made his position clear in today’s Shogi.”

There’s no response. But that’s for the best. I end the phone call with a quick: sorry to disturb you so late at night.

Either Shakando-sensei will protect her title or Ai Hinatsuru will become the new Women’s Legend.

Then will come her answer to the proposal. I have no idea how this will turn out. The future holds countless possibilities …… All we can do is walk the path we believe in and face it head on.

That’s Shogi after all.

“Now then! I’d better catch up.”

Hoping that those two will play a match so intense that it makes today’s intense, fiery A League Placement Match look like a practice run, I race down the night streets to meet up with everyone else.