Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 3 - Chapter 3.6

  MASSAGE

“Uwahh♡ Master, thank you very much!!”

I tie Ai’s hair into two ponytails and she turns around with a big smile on her face.

There was kind of an angry vibe coming from her about halfway through …… What set her off? Oh well, she’s in a good mood now, so no big deal.

“Now it’s my turn to dry your hair as a thank you, meow♡”

“That’s nice of you to offer, but my hair is already dry ……”

I run my fingers through my hair and roll my neck a few times.

Seeing that, a hint of worry passes over my apprentice’s face.

“Um …… Master? You’ve been doing that a lot these days. Are your shoulders tense?”

“Oh? Yeah …… It’s because I haven’t given this many instructional lessons in a long time. My shoulders, neck, back …… even my arms and legs aren’t used to being in that position so long, so pretty much everything is tight ……”

All this intense training and hard work around the bathhouse must be catching up with me. How out of shape am I ……?

Ai takes a seat on my knee and says with a glint in her eyes, “In that case, Master, I’ll give you a massage to say thank you!”

“…… A massage? You?”

“Yes! I think I can do it just as well as a masseuse! I grew up at a hot spring, remember!”

“That right?”

I …… might actually enjoy this. If her massaging skills are anywhere near what she can do in the kitchen, there’s a chance it’ll feel so good I’ll die right in the middle of it. Now I’m kinda scared.

“…… O-Okay then. I suppose I’ll take you up on it.”

“Sure!!”

Ai circles around behind me this time as her little hands go to work massaging my shoulders.

“Wow, sir …… you’re very tense.”

“Ah …… you think so?”

“What do you do for work?”

“Ahhh …… I play Shogi, professionally ……”

“Really? That’s got to be a hard job.”

Thump, thump. Rub, rub.

Ai pounds my shoulders with little fists and then starts working my muscles with those warm, squishy hands of hers. She claimed she could give a pro-level massage, and her technique is certainly close to what a masseuse can do. The area she’s working on is already loosening up. The fact that my apprentice cares for me enough to do this warms my heart …… but …… 

“…… Hey, Ai. Sorry, but you’re just not strong enough.”

“T-Then, I’m not that good ……?”

“I didn’t say that. There’s nothing wrong with your massage, but Shogi players’ muscles just get too tight. Even the esteemed author Haruki Murakami once wrote that Shogi players’ shoulders get the tightest of all ……”

“Whaaat?! That award-winning novelist?!”

Haruki Murakami-sensei used to write books while running a jazz café in Sendagaya pretty close to the Kanto Shogi association. He probably had many opportunities to hear about pro players’ stiff shoulders, most likely while getting his own massages. Good grief. Everyone’s tired.

I don’t think it needs to be explained, but sitting on your ankles or cross-legged for upwards of ten hours or more at a time is hard on the body. There is no perfect posture. Just like how a perfect strategy doesn’t exist either.

“One of the reasons why pros retire is that their backs and shoulders just can’t take sitting like that anymore. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard one of the older Senseis say that sitting like that hurts.”

“O-Oh no! That’s Shogi-itis!”

“It’s becoming normal for Go players to sit in chairs during the matches, but it’s still standard for Shogi to be played on tatami mats, so …… once sitting on your ankles becomes too painful, you have no choice but to retire ……”

Compared to Go, which has a decent following worldwide, Shogi is a proud traditional Japanese mainstay. I don’t see anything happening to the standards for a long time.

Which makes it all the more important that I take care of my body while I’m young.

Letting myself get this out of whack is very unprofessional. I need to fix it, pronto.

“…… Alright. Ai.”

“Yes?”

“Walk on me.”

“……… What?”

“Walk on my neck and shoulders with your feet. And my lower back too. Walk all over them.”

“Huuh?! B-But …… You’re my Master, I couldn’t possibly ……”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. You have my permission, so please.”

I spread a towel out over the floor and lie face down. “Please!” I say with authority to give my confused apprentice a little encouragement.

“W-Well, um …… Okay …… I …… will use my feet!”

“Good. No need to hold back.”

“H …… Here I go!!”

Step.

“Owhhh!!”

“Eeep?! M-Master, are you okay?! Did that hurt?!”

“Nope, just the opposite. That felt darn good …… ♡”

“It …… it did ……?”

Ai cautiously steps on my neck and shoulders again. Press, press.

She must be getting over her nerves, because each step has a bit more weight to it now. She’s even pinpointing spots.

“Yeah …… Just like that, Ai. …… Sooo good ……… ♡”

“Ehehe♡ I’m happy that you’re happy, Master♡ Meow!”

There’s that cat talk again from my apprentice with a head of catlike hair. She’s even kneading my back like a cat would do. Sooo cute.

Then came another voice.

“Hey! Ai! What are you doing?!”

“Giving Master a massage!”

“D-Don’t scare me like that ……”

Mio sounds surprised, while Ayano sounds genuinely scared. I don’t really blame them, walking in on an apprentice who is walking all over her Master as he makes happy sounds like Ahh …… ♡ and Ohh …… ♡ face down on the floor … I would be surprised too. 

“Cha too! Cha wants to stewpy stwep!!”

She probably thinks it’s some kind of new game. Charlette runs right for me, jumping onto my back and digging her tiny feet right into me.

“Stwepy stewp♪ Masta, how’s Cha’s stwepy stwep?”

“Ahh …… Really good, Charlette …… Amazing ……”

“Alllllright! I’ll give it my all for Kujuryu-sensei!”

“I, I’ll …… try my best, too!”

Mio and Ayano each take a leg, massaging my calves and the bottom of my feet with gusto. A full body massage from elementary schoolers …… Out of this world ……!

“Master! How are you feeling?!”

“…… Like I was just crowned king of the world.”

All four grade schoolers express their gratitude for me by helping my whole body relax …… Thanks to that, not only are my muscles exhausted from battle, but even my heart is at ease.

You could try all the spas and massage parlors here in Kyoubashi and never find this level of satisfaction, I guarantee it!

That’s especially true for Charlette’s warm, squishy little feet. They’re pretty much an expensive massaging machine in their own right. Sooo relaxing …… 

“Ahhh …… Sooo good …… Everyone, this is so good …… The best …… feeling ever …… ♡”

Now I get it …… This right here …… 

“This is …… the weight of life ……!”

Press!

That weight suddenly came down hard in the back of my head, driving my face into the floor.

“Nmhh? Ai, not right there. Step lower, closer to my shoulders, okay?”

“And?”

That … wasn’t Ai …… That voice was cold, like ice.

Th …… that voice was …… It couldn’t be––––––.

“Big Sisssphf!!”

“Keep your head down.”

PRESS! Grind, grind, grind!!

Naniwa’s Snow White mercilessly drives her younger brother apprentice’s face into the floor with one black-nyloned foot, then says with a voice as icy as absolute zero, “I know you’re perverted, but would you act like an actual human and keep your head down? Perverts should act like perverts and be satisfied licking the floor the little girls were walking on, don’t you think? That should be good enough for you. Isn’t that right …… Loli King?”

Owowowowowow …… 

Big Sis’s rage is coming through the bottom of her foot and right into the back of my head. I can’t do anything but just lay here, trembling.

“Ummmm ……”

The four girls are cowering in the corner of the lobby. Even Ai, who always stands up to Big Sis, is too overwhelmed to stand her ground. Terrifying.

“I wondered what you were up to when I heard you were doing high-level practice sessions at Oishi-sensei’s bathhouse …… Yes. Very high level. Of a Lolita complex.”

“No, no, no! It’s not like that! You got it all wrong, Big Sis!!”

“How do you think you’ll talk your way out of this situation? You just said that having multiple grade school girls walk all over you was the best feeling ever♡—Did you not, Yaichi? More like the grossest feeling ever.”

“Just listen!! I-I can explain …… Yes, a refresh! I’ve been practicing Shogi so hard that I needed to refresh myself!”

“With grade schoolers?”

“It’s not like that, okay?!!”

Stop getting hung up on one part! A lot more went into this! It’ll sound like I’m the scum of the human race if you only say that!! It sounds a bit like you’re thinking it already!!

“I didn’t choose them because they’re in elementary school! My apprentice and her friends just happen to be grade schoolers …… And they offered to massage me to show their gratitude?! What’s perverted about that?!”

“The one getting excited by a full body massage from elementary schoolers, you!”

“Then …… would the junior high schooler want to join in?”

“A! Pike! Right! Through! Your! Skull!!”

Stomp, stomp, stomp! Big Sis’s stockinged foot slams into the back of my head over and over. Please stop, I’m losing brain cells down here! I’ll get worse at Shogi, so stop, I’m begging you!

“W-What are you even doing here, Big Sis?!”

“For a practice session, what else?”

Huh?

“C-Couldn’t be …… The Sub League member practicing with Mr. Oishi is ……”

“That would be me.”

“Maestrooooooo!! Tell meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

Why leave it at a researcher and a passionate Sub Leaguer and not tell me who you’re actually playing against?! That was on purpose, wasn’t it?!

That particular researcher and passionate Sub League member starts talking with a very icy tone.

“…… I thought I would get your opinion on Keika’s situation but …… That’s right. There’s no way your people would understand the feelings of earthlings like Keika and I, now is there ……”

E-Earthlings? What’s she talking about?

Wait! The important part was–––.

“Um …… Big Sis? Keika’s situation? How is she doing–––?”

“Fine. I understand. It’s peeerfectly clear. You just go on playing your little game. But I’m going to prove to all of you that we can still compete on your level if we fight as hard as we can. So–––.”

Big Sis kicks my head like a soccer ball and yells, “Drop dead! All of you Shogi Martians!!”

Leaving those bizarre words behind, she left the building. I don’t get it, what’s that supposed to mean ……?