Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 7 - Chapter 3.2

  MYNAVI SEMIFINALS

It’s the middle of February. A special arena inside the Kanto Shogi Association in Sendagaya is being used for a Women’s League Match for the first time in ages.

The competition to decide the best female Shogi player in the country, the Mynavi Women’s Open Tournament, has reached the semifinal stage.

This match pits last year’s Challenger, Women’s King Ryou Tsukiyomizaka.

Against …… Ai Yashajin Women’s 1-kyu.

A current women’s title holder going against a grade school girl, the youngest Women’s League member in its history–––that news shot its way around the Japanese archipelago and people took notice.

Judging by all the cameras jammed into the arena, I’d say there are more media people here than for pro title matches.

“Not to mention that little girl is the youngest Ryuo in history’s apprentice, so that alone would make headlines …… I was hoping she’d be able to play in a quieter place, though,” I whisper under my breath from my spot outside the arena as I keep an eye on the pre-match proceedings.

The sliding doors are wide open because there isn’t enough room for all the press to fit inside at once. They’re allowed to take pictures until the fourth move.

Normally, Masters wouldn’t come to matches like this with their apprentices, but Ai’s usual chaperone Akira got cold feet when she saw how much attention the match is getting. “I-I cannot! Sensei, please go!!” she begged through teary sobs.

So, here I am in Tokyo. Ai is still in grade school, so the association was happy that I’m accompanying her.

“Tsukiyomizaka-sensei, the piece flip is yours,” says the match recorder, Tamayo Rokuroba women’s 2-dan. It’s pretty rare for high-ranking players like her to work matches like this, but she apparently volunteered.

“…… Five Pawns face up.”

The result: Ai will be playing on defense.

A long, silent sigh flows out of the arena as soon as the words left her mouth.

They must be thinking the match would be more competitive with Ai on offense, but now she won’t have a shot …… That kind of disappointed sigh. The players themselves are staying quiet.

Ms. Rokuroba makes the announcement at last.

“The time has come to begin. Women’s King Tsukiyomizaka, please start the match.”

“I’m ready when you are,” Ai says with a polite bow, her voice strong and clear.

On the other hand, Ryou has yet to say a word. Maybe she can’t psych herself up for the match having to go against a little girl, but she doesn’t look like herself sitting at the board. Even her opening move is strange, quietly opening her Bishop Path with a gentle snap. Then she hides her face behind her fan.

Ai’s response comes right away.

Her hand reaches out like grabbing bread off the breakfast table, perfectly swift and natural.

Ryou makes a noise for the first time today once she sees that move.

“Aghh?”

Everyone who knew anything about Shogi in the room couldn’t believe their eyes. It’s like they all thought they were hallucinating.

Then they thought Ai had simply made a mistake …… Finally, the meaning behind that move dawns on them and they all gasp at once.

“Gahhh!”

Ai didn’t open her Bishop Path–––she advanced the Pawn in front of the Bishop, the one next to it! That takes guts ……!!

“Goteban kakutofu?!”

“Bishop Head Pawn, here?! Snotty little brat ……!!”

Crack!!

A thundering snap echoes through the arena. Seriously, it sounds like somebody’s arm just shattered.

It was Ryou’s fan. The two broken pieces are still clutched in her hand. That’s her way of telling the rude little girl across from her exactly what she was about to do.

But that little girl, willing to use an ambush strategy against a title holder on the very first move, just smiles and takes Ryou’s overwhelmingly aggressive aura head on.

“Now …… Shall we dance?”

The chaos had begun.

Eight hours after the match started–––it came to a silent end.

“…………………”

The one blue in the face with anger and biting down on her lip …… is the title holder sitting in the upper seat.

An avalanche of reporters representing over forty different media outlets flow into the arena and circle around her to point their cameras at the 10-year-old who conquered the chaos.

At long last, the victor opens her mouth to speak.

“I played through every one of your match records,” Ai Yashajin spoke softly, as if trying to comfort the defeated girl hunched over in front of her. “You play offensive, hair-trigger style Shogi and are particularly good at aerial battles. You never back down from a fight, even challenging male opponents head-to-head. In my opinion, you have better sense than most of them.”

“……”

“However, it’s only supported by thorough research. You play your moves as soon as you see them, but they’re not based on Shogi sense. You don’t read the board because you’ve researched it before.”

“……!”

Ryou’s head snaps up like it was shot out of a cannon and she stares Ai down.

“Today, you abandoned that completely.”

The overnight Cinderella of Women’s Shogi locks eyes with the Women’s King and calmly, confidently explains the reason she won today.

“Wings only have meaning in pairs. Only when Shogi sense is paired with research will they allow you to fly freely. But ……,” Ai let’s that word hang in the air a bit longer than she needed to, like a bold and devious little imp. “An angel with a clipped wing isn’t an angel.”

Ai then says directly to the fallen Aggressive Archangel’s face.

“That’s just a human.”

With that, Ryou’s head falls with a crack.

The match had been decided long before the final move. It was actually over eight hours ago.

The moment Ai advanced the Pawn in front of her Bishop …… And Ryou threw her research out the window all to make her pay for it.

“Whoa, holy cow.”

I scroll through news sites on my smartphone while sitting in the bullet train bound for Shin-Osaka Station, and the headlines just keep coming.

“Youngest Women’s League Player in history on pace to become the youngest Mynavi Woman’s Open Challenger ever!”

“First, a Sub League member. Now, a title holder falls!”

“Kansai’s newest heroine Kobe’s Cinderella has arrived! Will she challenge Naniwa’s Snow White?!”

They’re all about Ai Yashajin.

But, it’s not just the Shogi sites. Regular news media have picked up the story as well. It’s a modern-day Cinderella story.

“Win the next match, become the Challenger and you’ll be promoted to 2-dan already. You’re Cinderella, all right.”

“…… Stop calling me that.”

That brand-new star is sitting next to me on the train, quietly resting up.

She acted so audacious back at the association. It turns out that it took a lot out of her. Well, she devoted everything she had physically and mentally preparing for this one match, so I suppose it’s only natural.

She’s so worn out that little body of hers might just disappear. She might think she’s hiding it from me, but her hand won’t stop shaking.

Eight hours …… No, weeks of nervous energy can really take their toll.

––– …… Hot.

She probably has a fever.

I can feel the heat radiating off her body from the seat next to her …… Very hot.

Not wanting to get recognized by any of the other passengers, I had my exhausted apprentice sit next to the window and bought one of those surgeon masks at a shop inside the train station for her to wear. It’s official, she’s famous.

Ai hasn’t even been part of the Women’s League for three months yet.

Despite that, she already outranks half its members.

Knowing how talented she is, I shouldn’t be surprised …… But, this still feels like a dream.

“You’ll face Machi Kugui in the finals. She’s very strong, holding the title Yamashiro Ouka for four straight seasons and earning the nickname Machi the Tormentor.”

“She’s that weird girl who keeps following you around with that grin on her face, right Sensei?”

“Following me around ……? She’s a Shogi journalist.”

Sure, she writes about me quite a bit, but there aren’t many Shogi journalists in Kansai and I’m a title holder. That’s all there is to it.

“Do you have a plan?”

“Of course,” she snaps.

“I should’ve known. It was stupid of me to ask.”

“…… On the other hand, Machi Kugui’s Shogi is unique because it looks like there are openings everywhere when really there aren’t. So, I’d like to practice attacking anaguma defenses rather than depending solely on my own strategy ……”

“Yeah, that would be a good idea.”

Go against Machi, and you know the first thing she’ll do is make an anaguma.

That should be easy enough to stop once you know it’s going to happen, but …… it’s hard to deal with once the King gets protected all the way to the corner ……

“Pulling off an anaguma in modern Shogi is as good as notching a point toward a victory,” I add.

“I don’t see any talent in Machi Kugui’s Shogi, but I think she’s aware of it. That’s why she builds walls around her King.”

“Machi spends time building up her anagumas. Breaking through one when it’s finished is more trouble than it’s worth, so taking it out early might be your best bet.”

That’s one of modern Shogi’s answers.

“That or show her an opening like Bishop Head Pawn and attack from behind.”

“I think you understand Machi won’t fall for cheap taunts like Ryou did, but more importantly, opponents won’t fall for the same move twice. That’s the kind of world you live in now, so don’t be naïve.”

“I know that …… You don’t have to tell me,” she snaps again and looks out the window like giving me the cold shoulder.

Getting concerned, I keep pressing.

“If you get a lead, stay calm and keep extending it. Keep playing until the last move even if you fall behind. Big Sis always says she gets tired even before playing against her. Machi is just that tenacious. She’s stubborn. Even her strategies don’t budge.”

“I won’t lose to anyone in a contest of will.”

She says, looking me square in the eyes before turning toward the window again.

“…… That’s the one lesson you’ve made crystal clear ……”

“Hm? Sorry, you need to speak up with that mask on. I didn’t get a word. Could you say it again?”

“I said that all a certain stupid sensei has done is make me build up my patience.”

“That’s mean!!”

This fourth grader is making fun of me! …… Not that it doesn’t happen all the time. But, considering that I was trying to give her advice, it wouldn’t hurt to be a little nicer ……

“I’ll come up with something, okay. If possible, I’d like to play against a strong anaguma user beforehand.”

“How about going to one of the practice sessions Master Kiyotaki has started doing recently? Seems like a lot of Sub League members show up.”

“Wasn’t that supposed to be a family session?”

She doesn’t sound amused.

Akira must’ve told her about it.

“The vibe isn’t bad at all. Ai Hinatsuru and the other girls go there.”

“What is it: a practice session or a potluck? Do people take them seriously?”

Ai practically spits out each word.

Well, she’s not the only one with that opinion. I mean, more than half of Shogi pros think that Master has started doing some strange volunteer program.

–––Though it hurts that my own apprentice thinks so, too ……

On the other hand, I don’t totally disagree with them. Which is why I haven’t joined in one of those sessions myself.

I guess seeing the torn expression on my face made Ai feel like she said too much.

“Also, doesn’t Machi Kugui have a lot of connections with the Kansai Sub League? It would taste bad in that sense, as well ……”

She backs up earlier statement with another reason.

Taste bad is Shogi slang meaning basically it wouldn’t feel right or feeling sick.

“I get what you’re trying to say, but …… Fighting at the top means that your opponents are pretty much set in stone. Get hung up on it now and there’ll be no end to it.”

“I’m aware. But I don’t want to on a personal level.”

“Ah, yeah. Everyone’s like that at first.”

Honestly, I don’t mind how nitpicky she is and, with talent like hers, everything could work out just fine. It also helps that many pros don’t think practice sessions with other players are as important as they used to be.

I stretch my arms and legs before sinking back into my seat.

“You’ll be all over the news tonight once we get back to Kansai. Don’t be surprised if journalists come knocking on your door, so prepare some comments now just in case.”

“…… What a pain.”

“That’s work, too, you know.”

However, there was no rush to get a scoop on Ai Yashajin that night. It just so happened she got overshadowed by another story.

The news that Tatsuo Zaou 9-dan announced his retirement.