Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 9 - Chapter 5.6

  WHAT’S TRULY IMPORTANT

“I have returned.”

The family manor on Mount Rokkou feels unnaturally quiet as, accompanied by Akira, I step inside and go straight to the room where Grandfather awaits.

Everyone who came out to greet me looks a little surprised …… And slightly distant.

Thinking back, I had almost never lost a league match before this title match started.

–––Professional players always said coming home after a loss is awkward. So this is what they meant ……

It’s uncomfortable, but I have no choice but to get used to it.

After all, I’m sure I’ll experience this awkwardness many times in the future.

“O-Ohh …… Hello, Ai. I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”

Grandpa greets me, but he’s obviously flustered.

He knows the results, but he didn’t think I would return so quickly and isn’t sure what to say. That’s the impression I’m getting.

“Have you already finished in the graveyard?”

“No. I’ll go afterward.”

“……?”

Grandpa looks at me, puzzled.

It’s because I’ve always gone straight to my parents’ grave after a league match. Grandpa understands the reason better than anyone else.

…Which is why he’s probably worried to hear that I haven’t gone yet despite the title match being over.

I did a lot of thinking on my way home.

–––What should I say? How should I say it?

I had everything sorted and organized at one point but …… Other thoughts came up and wiped out my progress like a sandcastle overtaken by ocean waves. I don’t know what to say or how to start anymore.

“Grandpa ………… I ……”

In the end.

I decide to say exactly what my heart is feeling.

“…… I was so, so sad when Father and Mother died. I can’t even remember most of the details because of how truly sad I was …… And I have so many regrets.”

“…………”

“Why didn’t I ask Father to teach me more Shogi? Why didn’t I show more interest in the things Mother liked? Why did they both have to die before I became a Women’s League player ……?”

“……”

Grandpa winces for a moment as if trying to keep pain at bay.

But he doesn’t say a word and waits for me to continue.

Rather than trying to say something encouraging, Grandpa looks at me with his warm eyes. Just as he’s always done.

That gaze giving me courage, I keep stringing words together.

I start bringing out everything, things that have been too scary to say up until now.

“I don’t want any more regrets. So …… So ……!”

I look right into Grandpa’s eyes and yell.

“Father and Mother are gone, so I want to spend more time with you, Grandpa! Rather than reminisce about Father when I play Shogi, I want to focus completely on the person sitting across from me!”

The heat I felt playing against Ginko Sora transforms into words that just won’t stop.

Yelling at the top of my lungs, I bare my heart.

“I love Shogi! I want to play more, to get stronger! But I don’t want to do it to remember the past!! I want to play Shogi to move forward!!”

To me, Shogi was a way to reclaim what was lost.

To me, playing Shogi meant having to sacrifice something to claim victory.

But I was wrong.

By fighting in earnest, I found an opponent who showed me her true self. Not a friend …… Perhaps fellow warrior would be a better word? That kind of opponent.

Of course, there’s no comparison to Father and Mother, but …… I believe she’s important to have in my life.

I’ve lost nothing by playing Shogi. Nothing disappears with a loss.

I’ve gained quite a lot, actually.

Suddenly, I’m not alone anymore.

No …… I never was alone from the beginning. I only convinced myself that I was.

That’s why–––.

“That’s why I will come straight to you, Grandpa, after each match. I’m sorry I couldn’t claim the title.”

I bow to my grandfather.

—Both as an apology and to express all my gratitude.

“Also, thank you for always looking out for me. Thank you for always letting me have my way. I promise you here and now that I will use the prize money to buy you a wonderful present as soon as I win a title. So please, live a long life and always be here to watch over me.”

“Ai ………… Ohhhh, Ai ……!”

Grandpa’s calm eyes flood.

Eyes that were as quiet as the sea outside Kobe are now shaking with massive tears.

Tilting his head back to keep them from falling, Grandpa speaks to Father and Mother up in heaven.

“Are you watching? This young girl that the two of you left behind …… has become an upstanding Women’s League player. A Sensei more elegant, more admirable than any of her peers ……”

The tears become too much for Grandpa to bear and streak down his cheeks.

Thinking back, this is the first time I’ve ever seen him cry.

Tears that he didn’t shed when his son and daughter-in-law passed away, tears that he would never ever let me see are flowing, but Grandpa doesn’t seem to mind.

Seeing those tears makes me realize.

There is far more hope in this world than despair.

Tears shed in sadness will eventually run dry.

But happy tears will never run out.

“I …… I can die a happy man ……!”

“I just told you you’re not allowed to die …… Grandpa, you jerk ……”

I jump right into his arms and cry even harder than he is.

The pain of losing the title match, the relief of finally getting all that off my chest, so many different emotions keep the tears coming.

So much heat.

Unbearable heat.

—From my crying eyes, and deep within my heart.

Akira watches everything happen from her spot just inside the doorway.

It’s easy to tell what her expression is under those sunglasses.

I mean …… They do nothing to hide the tears running down her cheeks!