Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 6 - Chapter 3

  TENSION IN THE AIR

“………… Nghhh~~, man, I’m nervous ……”

I got to Kyoubashi Station quite a bit earlier than the time we agreed to meet, and I’ve been checking the time on my phone over and over again while running through the plan in my head since I got here.

“First off …… I need to apologize for what happened that day. Yes. An apology is the best opening move. Just keep apologizing until she forgives me ……”

If I’ve got to get down on all fours to do the dogeza position, I’m fully prepared physically and mentally. I wore these pants specifically because I don’t care if the knees get dirty.

Right now, Big Sis and I are fighting.

“…… Well, fighting isn’t the right word because it’s all my fault.”

Right after I lost the third Ryuo Title Match … I said some horrible things to Big Sis when she came to my apartment to check on me.

“What could a lowly Sub League member actually do?”

Specifically, that horrible thing.

“…… Although, she did punch me in the face not long after that. Kicked me in the ribs a couple times while I fell to the floor, too, but ……”

That was all my fault as well.

“…… Strength is everything in the Shogi world. That’s why the strong can say pretty much whatever they want, and other people just let it slide …… But that’s exactly why people have to protect what they think is important ……”

A high-ranking player once said this: Sub League members are lower than human.

Enraged by his comments, a veteran 3-dan countered with this: We may be lower than human, but anyone who says so isn’t human at all!

I agree.

Pros, Sub League members, heck, even the Meijin, Women’s League members and amateurs, we’re all human beings just the same. Our Shogi skill has nothing to do with it. Besides, Shogi strength and skill have never been used to determine someone’s worth as a human being.

But, at the same time–––.

“…… We all play Shogi like our lives depend on it. I’ve moved pieces around the board until my fingers bled, shed enough tears in the Sub League to last a lifetime …… And turned pro because of it.”

No human being has ever turned pro without losing sweat, blood and tears.

That’s why I think the ones who’ve gone through that pain deserve respect, and the skills they obtained in the process make them, in my opinion, beyond human because they sacrificed their chance to live as normal people to reach that level.

So …… Yeah.

That’s why we pros think people who’ve thrown away their human lives and continue to win in battles against pros who’ve done the same, people who are better at Shogi than we are, as something special, something beyond human. It’s like a mirage.

A mirage strong enough to make the Meijin look like a god.

“…… Anyway, I just need to make sure to apologize.”

I switch my train of thought back to what needs to happen.

This will actually be the first time since the Ryuo Title Match that the two of us will be alone together like this.

“…… There have been a lot of events and interviews to do, so we’ve both been busy …… But I can’t shake the feeling that Big Sis has been trying to avoid being with me one-on-one ……”

Big Sis successfully defended her Women’s Throne title and wrote an article about it, but there had to be time to talk with her in there somewhere. It’s been two months since we’ve had a proper conversation. That’s the record for the longest she’s ever ignored me.

“In other words …… She’s still pissed ……… This is going to be rough ……”

Then again, there is hope.

On the morning of the Fourth Ryuo Title Match, Day 2 … When I asked Big Sis if I could have some time to talk with her when the match was over, she answered that she’d think about it. She wasn’t looking at me though.

But she …… should forgive me.

“…… Back when Shumai-sensei crashed at the First Move Ceremony, she seemed fine around me and she didn’t try to move away or anything during the review session yesterday …… At least, I don’t think she did. Probably ……”

And now it’s almost time for her to get here.

Early evening outside Kyoubashi Station’s north exit, just in front of all the shops.

Students and office workers start flooding out of the turnstiles, but that black sailor-style school uniform isn’t anywhere among them.

“She’s late …… Don’t tell me she left me here and went on over by herself ……?”

She should already be here–––.

“Yaichi.”

“Holy?!”

Hit with a voice out of thin air, I nearly jump out of my skin.

I didn’t see who it was until she was standing right in front of me …… Wait.

“Huh?! Big Sis ……? Is that you?”

“…………”

Only when I saw her staring at me out of the corner of her eye did I know for sure it was her.

She’s in regular street clothes.

Big Sis is all business, even going to practice sessions and versus matches in her school uniform on her days off.

What’s more, she wears the winter uniform in summer because her skin burns so easily.

But right now, Big Sis …… is dressed up in casual clothes like the models in fashion magazines and wearing a hat as a disguise. It’s like what famous people do when they want to go out in public.

–––Whoa. Damn cute …… 

So cute that my head is going blank, just like when an opponent’s preemptive strike hits home right before a match and you forget all the research you did to prepare for it. This level of cuteness borders on abuse.

“…… Well, let’s go.”

“Ah! …… Right.”

I take off to catch up with her.

With the sun going down and neon lights glowing in the shopping arcade–––not that this place gets much sunlight during the day or the neon lights ever go off–––it’s not a safe place for a girl to walk by herself.

“Big Sis! Please, wait for me!”

That’s especially true for a girl as cute as her. I get right up next to her, walking shoulder to shoulder to ward off the creepy-looking men swarming in like wasps on a beautiful flower.

The Gokigen Bathhouse isn’t far. We’ll get there in a few minutes at this pace.

There are two things I need to do in those few minutes.

1. Apologize to Big Sis

2. Think about today’s practice session

Two things.

However, something completely different is going on in my head right now.

––– …… It’d be bad if I, held her hand …… Wouldn’t it?

Close enough to brush shoulders, I quickly take a glance at her face in profile out of the corner of my eye so that she won’t notice.

“…………”

She is silently marching straightforward like I’m not even here.

What does that mean?

She was the one who took my hand in Hawaii, and we went on from there.

–––In Harajuku …… Who was it?

Ms. Shakando had her dressed up in really frilly clothes, and I helped her walk because she could’ve tripped at any moment …… So, was I the one that took her hand? Or did she reach out for me?

–––Should I pretend to touch her hand by accident and judge her reaction? Something casual, like sticking out a Pawn to test the waters …… I mean, the fact that she’s letting me walk this close to her means she’s not angry anymore, right? Wait, wait. There’s a good possibility she’s just putting up with me for Mr. Oishi … as a favor for all he’s done for us. Her face is stone cold and she hasn’t said a word, so she still might be pissed at me …… Trying to hold her hand now could end up with me getting slapped in the face, which would be one heck of a jolt and pretty much destroy my chances of getting her to forgive me …… Ungghh …… 

With all that going on in my head, we hadn’t said a single word to each other by the time we arrived at the bathhouse, let alone held hands.