Chapter 22: Departure
Yaichi Kuzuryuu returned to his master’s house, looking heavily preoccupied. Keika Kiyotaki quickly noticed this.
“Yaichi, why did you come back so quickly?” Keika Kiyotaki looked at him puzzledly.
“Senior Sister didn’t need me to see her off.” Yaichi Kuzuryuu smiled bitterly. “That owner came to pick her up again. The two of them…”
“Hmm? He came again?” Keika Kiyotaki pondered. “How did he know that Gin was leaving at this exact time…”
“Maybe it’s because he was waiting for Senior Sister outside the whole time.” Yaichi Kuzuryuu thought of a possibility.
“Sigh…” Keika Kiyotaki felt a bit of a headache.
Could it be that Gin really liked this older guy?
No, maybe he was pestering Gin.
She couldn’t let Gin fall into the trap of this kind of middle-aged man. Who knew if he was a master at picking up girls?
Gin was inexperienced and could easily fall for it.
Thinking of this, Keika Kiyotaki said to Yaichi Kuzuryuu, “Let’s go talk to him and see what his intentions are and what his relationship with Gin is.”
It would be useless to ask Gin. It was better to go directly to the person himself.
“Um, do you know where he is?” Yaichi Kuzuryuu was stunned for a moment.
“He runs an izakaya and gave me his business card.” Keika Kiyotaki said, “If he’s really a bad person and Gin falls for it, that would be terrible. We must protect Gin.”
“Mm.” Yaichi Kuzuryuu nodded vigorously.
“Stay steady, don’t send…”
Just then, two pure white feathers suddenly floated down from the sky and gently landed on their heads.
It was as if a whisper sounded in their hearts.
“But Senior Sister will get angry, right?” Yaichi Kuzuryuu hesitated. “Senior Sister told me not to look for him.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll try to find a breakthrough from Gin.” Keika Kiyotaki thought for a moment. With Gin’s temper, if Yaichi went against her, she would definitely get angry, right?
At that time, Yaichi might even get a beating.
…
Ginko Sora took the train to the Kansai Shogi Hall with a complex mood.
She didn’t think too much about Yaichi Kuzuryuu’s feelings because that guy was just too dense. She had confessed to him many times, but he remained unmoved.
Even if Luo Feng appeared, she had explained it properly, so there shouldn’t be any problem. He wouldn’t overthink it.
Soon, she arrived at her destination and went to the third floor.
When she arrived at the players’ room, someone was already waiting for her.
“Ginko, please take care of me.”
The voice came from a little boy.
Kunugi Souta was only eleven years old. He was previously a 2-dan in the Reward Association like Ginko Sora, a true genius.
Their first match was half a year ago. In that game, Ginko Sora gave a lance handicap but still lost. Ginko Sora was 2-dan against Kunugi Souta’s 1-kyu.
To put it further, when Kunugi Souta entered the Reward Association as a 6-kyu, Ginko Sora was still a 1-kyu.
He was someone truly chosen by the God of Shogi, just like Yaichi Kuzuryuu.
Not only could they clearly move the pieces at lightning speed on the shogi board in their minds, but they could also sense the role of each piece without needing to read carefully to easily understand.
Although Ginko Sora had temporarily obtained this ability, she still envied their talent.
Today wasn’t any formal match, just a regular game between friends.
Because Ginko Sora didn’t have good interpersonal relationships, she had no idea who to play with.
She just wanted to play a few more games while she still had this feeling, to experience the joy of a shogi prodigy more and remember this feeling.
After that hateful devil took back her ability, she could still have some growth.
Spectators had already started entering. Some were Reward Association members, and some were professional shogi players coming to join the fun.
The news of Ginko Sora defeating Yaichi Kuzuryuu hadn’t been officially reported, but it had already spread to the ears of people in this small circle.
“Please take care of me.” Ginko Sora nodded and sat down in front of this child. This time, she was no longer the same Ginko Sora as before.
As the two played, the crowd quickly showed surprised expressions.
This…
What a great move!
These people were not like Luo Feng, who couldn’t understand. They could clearly see Ginko Sora’s growth.
With each move Ginko Sora made, her previous playing style became fainter in everyone’s eyes.
That unrestrained playing style already had the shadow of her junior brother Yaichi Kuzuryuu.
Her previous victory over Kunugi Souta was not an accident!
The gazes of the crowd, especially the 3-dans in the Reward Association and professional players, became serious.
A girl actually had such talent. Everyone had to take it seriously.
If they occasionally lost to her, they could still find excuses. But if she won against many people, it would be hard for them to find excuses like they let her win or were careless.
“I lost. Shall we play again?”
Just as the crowd was getting into it, the first game ended just like that.
Kunugi Souta’s eyes lit up. This was the thrill of encountering a strong opponent!
Although he lost, he didn’t mind at all.
This unfathomable shogi, like an antelope’s horns, was the computer shogi he pursued!
Now, Ginko Sora’s shogi was full of vitality and surprises. He had no idea what move she would make next, but after careful consideration, he would discover the purpose behind Ginko Sora’s moves.
How many moves could she actually calculate?
Thinking of this, Kunugi Souta became more and more curious.
Ordinary professional players wouldn’t step up to play due to their status, and the same went for other 3-dans in the Reward Association and male players.
Kunugi Souta was different. He was just an eleven-year-old child. He didn’t feel embarrassed when he lost. Instead, he felt very happy because it meant he had problems and could find room for growth from these problems.
Therefore, he was still a pure shogi player with no interests in his heart, let alone the sordid mentality of adults.
His thinking was simple, which was to become stronger.
Losing was losing. There was no undefeated general.
“Miss Sora is really amazing.”
“If you go up, can you win?”
“Ha, how would I know without playing? But I have something to do later, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to play against Miss Sora.”
“Tsk, how did Gin become so strong again?”
“I don’t know. It’s like she had an epiphany.”
“Did she learn something from Teacher Kuzuryuu?”
“Okay.” Ginko Sora took a deep breath and showed a satisfied chuckle.
This was the feeling. Maintain this feeling!
The praise from those people was fleeting, but the pleasure she felt while playing was real.
Only two days left. She wanted to have more matches in these two days!
Just then, she felt as if her brain had become much heavier.
It was as if something was leaving her.
