Daily Life with Disciple
“Sorry Master! Did I keep you waiting?”
“No. I just arrived.”
I was standing before a shop at the first level of the Association, and Ai came running down from the dojo on the second level, grinning away.
It had been a week since Ai came over, and the days living with my disciple became my daily life.
In the morning, we would bring bentos to the Association, and Ai would have training in the dojo on the second floor for the Entrance Test, while I would head to the shogi room on the third floor to attend the research club.
If both of us were free at noon, we would head to the nearby park to have our bentos.
In the evening, we would gather here again before heading home. That’s our ‘routine’.
“Ara ara. It’s like you’re lovers.”
The pretty lady following Ai down the stairs saw us meet, and showed a goddess-like smile.
She’s Keika Kiyotaki (hidden buxom), the daughter of my Master, 9th dan Kousuke Kiyotaki.
Keika’s a current member of the Research Group, doing her best for Ai’s test.
“Sorry Keika. You had to do so much, including helping out at Master’s classroom…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
Keika waved her hand heartily.
“But you won’t be able to promote to C1 if you’re occasionally showing up for training, right?”
There are ranks in the Research Club.
They go from F to A, and then to S. Even the F rank, the lowest tier, requires the ability of an amateur 2nd dan.
To become a female player, the ranking has to be C1 at minimum.
Keika’s only at C2. For many years, she was unable to make the final hurdle.
“I’m already twenty five. I’m almost at the maximum age to join…playing shogi with someone with outstanding talent like Ai-chan is stimulating for me.”
Keika officially started playing in the third year of high school.
She entered the Research Group and aimed for the pros after she graduated from high school, and so became Master’s disciple later than anedeshi and me. So basically, Keika’s my junior. It’s a complicated master-disciple relationship, as complicated as Sazae-san’s family. (TN: A very old yonkoma: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sazae-san)
“Oh yes. Ai-chan, you got promoted at the dojo today. Right?”
“Yes! I’m at third rank amature!!” (TN: Typo deliberate)
“Ohh, that’s good.”
I patted Ai on the head as she gleefully showed me her record card. “Ehehe♡” she narrowed her eyes, looking really happy. I got to reward my disciple for being so hardworking.
“Oh, right. To celebrate your promotion, I’ll buy something for you.”
“Really? Yay!!”
“Can’t be too expensive though. Has to be within 500 yen though.”
Seeing Ai so overjoyed as she dashed into the shop, even I started to feel happy.
It’s strange.
It wasn’t long ago that I was envious of others winning and promoting, but Ai promoting felt as though I was the one promoting. I was really happy for her. Was I maturing?
“She’s growing. Ai-chan.”
Keika whispered as she stood beside me, not allowing Ai to hear.
“What do you think after playing with her?”
“I feel her getting stronger with every match…no, every move. It’s because she has talent though—”
Keika said, and looked a little gloomy.
“…If only I started playing at her age.”
“…”
I couldn’t say anything.
The world of shogi is a world of talents. The younger one is, the faster the talent can grow.
There are people who started playing shogi in high school and became pros. However, most of us, including me, decided on being pros before we started elementary school, started training, and improved our abilities by taking on all the talented youths in Japan.
“Master Master! This! Can I buy this!?”
Ai chose a shogi piece strap (400 yen + tax)
“That’s fine, but you’re choosing the ‘Rook’? The ‘left horse’ there should be luckier, you know?” (TN: The rook starts on the right, and given that it’s the strongest unit, most gameplans involve around capturing it. Choosing the horse on the left is tantamount to ‘avoiding’ danger, especially for the knight that moves in an unorthodox manner.)
“Ahh! It’s so hard to choose! (>_<)”
My disciple, holding straps in both hands, squealed in frustration. She’s so cute.
Seeing her like this, Keika showed a tender smile on her face, telling me,
“Yaichi, anything you want to buy for Ginko-chan?”
“What?”
What’s this person saying here?
“Why do I have to buy something for anedeshi? She should be buying something for me, the junior.”
“…I say, Yaichi.”
“Haa~” With a long sigh, Keika suddenly sounded stern.
“If you do buy something for Ai-chan, you should buy something for Ginko-chan, you should be buying something of equal rank for Ginko-chan. If you can’t maintain the situation, you’ll end up in lots of trouble, you know?”
“Is that so?”
“That is so.”
Is that so~?
“Ginko-chan’s already fuming that Ai-chan is here, and she’s going to transform from Snow White to an Ice Queen running away from home…if you make a mistake in your opening moves, you’ll end up with unsalvageable failure, you know?”
“As long as I can reverse things in the end game…”
“This situation isn’t applicable to modern shogi.”
Like shogi, a woman’s heart is hard to understand. I’ll never be able to understand.
“Really…why are you people so passionate about shogi and so aloof about the opposite gender…”
“But I like you, Keika?”
“Yes yes yes.”
She took me for granted!
The three of us had agreed to have dinner together, but she said, “I have to take care of father.” And hurried off alone. She’s probably scared that he’ll splurge on game gachas if she kept her eyes away from him.
“Master? Are you going to buy another one?”
“…Nope.”
I put the ‘Silver General’ in my hand back onto the rack.
I understood anedeshi very well, so I didn’t need to do such a thing. Right.
Curry Meijin
“5-four pawn.”
On the way back to the apartment, Ai and I continue to practice for the Entrance Test,
“4-six pawn.”
“5-two Silver.”
“3-two gold.”
“3-six pawn.”
“3-two king.”
“3-five pawn!”
While walking, we played ‘blind shogi’.
The passers-by overhearing our conversation were either looking troubled or surprised. However, it’s not too difficult if anyone’s ability is of a certain extent. For Ai especially, who created the shogi board in her mind, it’s effortless.
At this moment, we’re playing a fixed set of opening moves on the board, somewhat like a memory test.
“What about 2-two silver?”
“4-eight silver!”
“6-two gold.”
“4-seven silver.”
“6-four silver. Now, what do you move next?”
“3-eight rook!”
“Right! Playing the sleeve rook and attacking down the third and fourth files is called the ‘second pawn assault opening.” (TN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeve_Rook</ref>, 二歩(にふ)突(つ)っ切(き)り定跡 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4utYMMpOdso)
The higher ranked will take down the rook and the two generals by the corner, basically ‘sacrificial Shogi’ (TN: 駒落ち将棋)
Basically the two openings that often encounter such a scenario are the ‘second pawn assault opening’ and the Silver Surrounding. (TN: 銀多伝, Gintaden, where the silver generals are shielded in various directions)
In contrast to a Silver Surrounding where the rook is placed down the middle and the defense is solidified before attacking, the ‘second pawn assault opening’ is more suited for Ai’s style.
But even so, defending’s equally important.
“Next, read out the moves to surround the king after this. “
“6-eight silver, 6-five pawn, 7-eight gold, 6-four gold, 6-nine king, 7-three horse, 5-eight gold!”
“So what’s the name of this surrounding?”
“Crabby attack!!”
It’s surrounding crab, okay?
“Good. You basically memorized all of the sacrificial shogi openings, right?”
“Yes! It’s easy to win after memorizing!”
“Yep.”
The growth of a disciple is the delight of the master.
My matches had been going well. I won a few matches recently, consecutively!
As the title holder, winning a few consecutive matches isn’t something to be particularly happy about, but after having gone through a miry series of defeats, the world just looks brighter than ever.
“Ai, what’s for dinner tonight?”
“I want to cook curry…do you like curry, master?”
“Oh, not bad! Let’s go buy ingredients before heading back then.”
“Yes! I’ll serve you some real Kanazawa Curry!”
We bought some ingredients at the supermarket in the shopping district, and went home to cook.
“You let me stay here, so I’ll do all the housework! Leave it all to me!!”
So Ai insisted, but I really felt awkward about it. I’m not so much of a devil to force an elementary school kid to handle all the housework.
And finally, we made a compromise to share the housework.
“Alright! Let’s do it!!”
“Let’s do it!”
Both of us stood in the kitchen. Ai’s standing on a stool to cook due to her height, but her skill with the chopper’s pretty good, as to be expected of someone trained in a hotel, more skilful than anedeshi and me. To be honest, anedeshi’s dishes aren’t considered cooking at all.
Ai showed off her culinary skills while cooking the curry.
The speed she peeled the red carrot was five times of mine, and once done with the potatoes, she started chopping the cabbage at an amazing speed.
Hm?
“…Cabbage?”
“We use cabbage as a side dish for Kanazawa curry.”
Curry with cabbage…sounds like it works? Sounds like it’ll be refreshing when eaten.
The thinned ingredients were fried, and thrown into the work. Blurp blurp.
We continued to solve tsumeshogis while waiting for the ingredients to stew for a certain time (some of the ingredients got burned).
After that, pour the curry in, and it’s done!
So I thought, but,
“Hm…”
Ai frowned, narrowing her eyes as she stared inside the brown wok, looking more serious than when she was solving tsumeshogis.
“…The color of the curry block bought at the market is too dilute, I guess.”
“Eh? It should be this kind of color, right?”
“No, has to be blacker.”
…Blacker?
“Master, do you have any sauces here?”(TN: Okonomiyaki sauce)
“Eh? Y-yeah…it’s Osaka, so sauce is a necessary ingredient in homes.”
“Okay.”
“Wait!? Why are you adding it into the curry!?”
Ai added an unbelievably large amount of sauce into the curry, and stirred it.
The originally golden brown curry immediately became a black brown.
“Goody♪ This is the kind of color that can increase appetite.”
“…”
Really? Is that really the case?
Ai then lowered the flames, and kept stirring the curry. She’s not just stirring the ladle to prevent burned stuff at the bottom of the pot; she’s using it to squash all the ingredients. Sweat’s showing on the little forehead; I didn’t know you could make curry this way…
“It-it’s about done now, right?”
“No, it’s not mushy enough…”
“Eh? Mushy?”
“We have to stew the ingredients until it’s all sticky and gooey, until we can’t see the shape…I guess it’s not mushy unless it’s done with a pressure cooker gayo…and not nice looking if it’s not stainless silver gaine…”
“???”
Gayo? Gaine?
What do I do? My disciple’s saying weird stuff.
Ai started to mutter her thoughts out, “Un!” But it seemed she found it acceptable, nodding.
“Looks like this is the limit! Let’s eat!”
“O-ohh! Let’s eat, let’s eat.”
Ai served the rice on the plates, poured the curry gravy on them, laid out the pork fillet bought from the supermarket and cabbage, before flavouring them with sauce. This pork (victory) curry was made to pray for good luck to a player, and really was a delicate act of kindness from my disciple. She’s a natural competitor. (TN: Katsu means either pork or victory)
As for what she was holding, a fork of course.
“Eh? Eating with a fork?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you normally use a spoon?”
“No way~ master. Curry has to be eaten with a fork!”
“Re…ally?”
“Yes!”
Oh, I see. Ahahaha, just felt that something’s strange here, but I still clapped my hands together with my disciple, laughing away.
I was wondering if a fork could scoop curry, but as the gravy was extremely thick, there was no problem.
And then, I put the curry into my mouth—
“Master.”
“Hm?”
“Pull yourself together, okay?”
What?
I was wondering about her strange words, and my hand that stopped continued to put the curry into the mouth. The flavour of the curry spread in the mouth, and seemed unexpectedly sweet.
And then, the spiciness,
Caught
Up
To
Me
“………………..Ah……….eh…?”
The sound of the fork dropping onto the table caused me to wake up.
It appeared I passed out without removing the fork from my mouth. The curry that was oozing steam had become lukewarm, and there was a thin layer on it.
“Ho-how long…have I been like this…?”
“Fufu.”
Ai was already done eating the curry, her elbows on the table as she cupped her hands on her cheeks, looking at me, showing a deep, meaningful smile as unpredictable as this curry…
And then, I started gobbling down the curry, as though I was possessed by something. I did not pass out like I did the first time, yet the hand holding the fork could not stop. I ate a mouthful, and then another mouthful, until the black color of the sauce vanished from the bottom of the plate.
I was done.
A delightful, unprecedented sensation engulfed me.
What’s this…it’s different from the curry I had before…
“Wh-what is this…did you add cannabis in…?”
“No way, I didn’t add such a thing in. Huhuhu.”
“I want…I want this tomorrow…two days later too…I want this every day…”
“Yes! I’ll make it more delicious tomorrow ♪”
After trying such a taste, would I be able to go back to the original taste…?
“Wh-what about the dojo? Made any friends there?”
After finishing the curry, I gulped down some water to suppress my heart, asking how my disciple’s doing. What’s with me being shocked while eating curry…
Ai, giving a Buddha-like smile, suddenly frowned.
“…”
“What?”
“…Master.”
“Hm? What is it?”
Did she get bullied at the dojo? It’s common for everyone to gang up and attack a super strong rookie. Back in the day, there were groups to ‘defeat Ginko Sora’.
To prevent this from happening, I had Keika accompany her…
“Erm…well…”
Ai seemed to have made up her mind as she stared at me, giving me an unexpected confession.
“C-can we? Can we have the Research Group here?”
“…Research group?”
“Yes!”
Again, Ai lowered her head, stammering as she had difficulty saying out the reason.
“A-actually, erm…I talked about how I ended up at master’s house, and everyone…”
Want to know where the Ryuuou (dragon king) stays! I guess it probably ended up this way.
What. So that’s how it is.
“Of course! You don’t have to worry about this.”
“Th-thank you…master!!”
“Hahaha, just ask if you need anything, whether it’s the shogi board, pieces or clock.”
Thud!
I smacked my chest, assuring my cute disciple.
At this moment, I did not understand what would happen if I invited elementary school girls to my house for a research group.
Not yet, at this moment.
JS Research (TN: JS => elementary school kids)
“(Nervous, nervous).”
“Master, everyone will only be here in an hour.”
“Oh, I-I see.”
On the day of the research group.
As the disciple’s friends were to arrive at my house, I was so tense right from the morning.
There would be three others coming, two of the same year as Ai, and said to be in the Research Group.
Ai prepared sandwiches for everyone, and she watched me sit in front of the seven inch board, asking with a bothered look,
“Master…why are you dressed in a suit at home.”
“Ah, should I be wearing Japanese clothing?”
“You could be dressed normally…”
“Is everyone late? Did they get lost?”
“It’s not time yet.”
“I guess I should head to the station to meet them—“
Right when I was about to get up.
Ding dong♪
“Ah! They’re here!”
Ai hurriedly removed the apron, and ran off to the corridor.
I sat down hurriedly, laying out a shogi book before the thick 7 inches board, giving a ‘this is how I always do my research, got a problem?’ look. Actually, I would typically use a board that wouldn’t cause too much sound.
““Please excuse us!””
Energetic greetings came.
The two girls followed Ai in.
“I-it’s beep a while! Mio Mizukoshi! Th-thank you for welcoming us!!” (TN: Again, Mio stuttered)
“Hello. I’m Ayano Sadatou. Please take care of me.”
One of them was the athletic girl I met at the dojo, Mio.
The other was someone I met the first time. Ayano’s a tall, princess-like girl.
“Same here. Thanks for taking care of Ai all this while.”
I knelt down before them in a seiza, greeting them, “Kya!!” “He called Ai by name!!” The two of them seemed extremely excited for some reason. “I-I’m the disciple! It’s normal! Really!!” Ai’s blushing. What’s going on?
I couldn’t get how elementary school kids think…and while I was feeling uneasy—
Plomp.
A cute looking small blond girl with green eyes suddenly popped out behind Ayano, and hugged me.
“Shaottozuuu!” (TN: She speaks slurred Japanese. Naturally, this moe girl is voiced by Yui Ogura in the drama CD)
…Eh?
“Charlotte Izoal.”
Ayano helped to translate.
“She’s a first grader French girl studying in Kyoto. A student of our master.”
“Exchange suudent!”
What’s with this super cuteness? Why did I feel my heart race?
I let Charlotte hug me as I suppressed this faltering in my heart, and asked,
“M-Mio and Ayano are both students at the research group, right? Who’s your master?”
“Kuresaka-sensei!”
“Kayaoku.”
Masters are basically families to them, so there’s no need for honorifics when introducing them. Mio still did not have such a habit, while Ayano was already properly trained in this. This showed their personalities. However interesting.
“Kayaoku-sensei…so you know Kugui, Ayano?”
“Yes, I’m her junior (TN: Imoutodeshi, little sister disciple. I’ll keep it as such though). Sister Machi often talked about you, Kuzuryuu-sensei. She wanted me to bring this along.”
Ayano handed me a paper bag of Kyoto sweets (TN: 京菓子, kyougashi, basically an assortment of Kyoto sweets)
“And this is from my family.”
“Ah! Mi-Mio’s family too want to give you something too.”
“Char too?”
Besides the Kyoto sweets, I received cookies and Madeleine. Charlotte’s gift was a magic a face “This is from Char!”
I would serve the gifts I received at afternoon tea, but at this point, the most important thing, was shogi.
There’s various ways of holding a research group.
There are research groups that specialize in-depth research into certain formations, or verbally discussing current trending shogi matches without playing shogi matches, or researching on the local gifts that had nothing to do with shogi at all—
Of course, the mainstream style would be actual games. Research members would play a few rounds for a day, and then everyone would gather and discussing their views.
There are of course various times to them.
There are those that gather at ‘training stables’, called ‘training stable research group’, those that gather at Abeno Harukas, called the ‘Haru research group’, the one that like to drink beer called the ‘Heineken research group, the one from Tochigi who gather together to form the ‘Tochigi research group’, and so on. (TN: Training stables, 一門, ichimon, the same term used to describe the groups for training sumos. Tochigi is a prefecture located in Kanto.)
This research group’s full of elementary school girls, so it’s called a ‘JS research group’. Some legend this is…
“All the tools are here. You can use them if you want.”
There were two shogi boards with legs, chess clocks and notebooks (most of them time, we don’t use shogi paper to in the Japanese room, but ordinary notebooks!) in the Japanese style room, and they could start immediately—so I thought…
“Erm…Master…Char…”
Ai looked over at Char in a sorry manner.
…As she’s too small, the shogi board blocked her completely. I guess I messed up by preparing a larger board.
“Hm…do I get a chair for her?”
“Stack the cushions?”
Ayano intended to hand over her cushion, but the cushions in my house were so thin, it’s pointless to stack them.
“She can’t sit in a seiza yet, can she? Maybe we can use the stool Ai uses when she cooks—”
I was about to stand up, but a little hand grabbed my shirt.
“Masu.”
“Hm?”
“Sit, here.”
Fueh!?
“Masu, leggies, sofee.”
“Woah, woooh, awawawwawawa…”
“Sit, play, shogi~”
Char climbed onto my knees while I was sitting in a seiza. It seemed she was saying ‘I want to play while sitting here’.
What’s with this adorable creature?
She’s really cute, huh? She keeps calling me ‘Masu’ (master). What the heck, is this girl an angel?
Of course, I’m not a lolicon.
I’m definitely not a lolicon. I do like older sisters; there’s no way I can be a lolicon.
But…what’s going on? What’s with this sweetness piercing through my chest!?
“O-okay. Now then…le-le-le-let’s play shogi with this big brother, o-okay…?”
“Let’s sho-gi~”
Tak, tak, the angel seated on my knees laid the pieces with her little fingers.
“Tak! Tak!” And the enthusiastic sounds of shogi being played seemed to overpower this cute voice.
“Ai, don’t trouble the neighbors by making so much noise.”
“Yes!”
“Thuk!!” I told you not to be so loud.
Ai was blushing, her cheeks puffed as she faced Mio, looking very amped up and playing with much more intensity than usual, maybe because her master’s beside her.
“Char, why did you want to play shogi?”
“NARUTO!”
“Huh?”
“The manga ‘Naruto’ has a scene of them playing shogi. I heard that she got interested in shogi because of it.” (TN: Specifically, Shikimaru playing shogi.)
…Was there such a scene?
I felt uneasy, but Char did play a decent game, despite her arms being unable to reach the corners of the board. It appeared she was at Amateur third grade.
“Masu, help me pick the piecy.”
“Here.”
I helped Char pick a piece, and our teamwork’s flawless. The playing sound got more agitated beside me, probably since it’s at end game.
Once the first game’s over, we had a short post morterm, and this time, there’s a swap in matchups.
So the matchup’s Mio vs Ayano, and Ai vs Char.
“Do your best, Char.”
“Okay!”
“…Master’s dachibuchi.”
Again with that. What does that mean anyway?
Ai played with more vigor, and thoroughly crushed Char. The angel on my knees was on the verge of tears, and I was utterly terrified.
Beside me, Mio let Ayano move the king, and was cupping her head her head as she watched the board.
“Ah, finasshed.”
“Finasshed?”
“Ah, she ran out of moves.”
Ayano explained.
Ran out of moves -> Finished -> Finasshed. (TN: 歩切れ → 歩が無くなる事 → 歩無し → ふなっしー . Funashi, the third term, literally means ‘run out of moves’, and the last one is funasshii. )
Good thing someone knows.
“Hey, Ayanon, who’s the best shogi player of all the characters? I guess it’s ‘Sho-Chan’ (Official mascot of the Japanese Shogi Association), right?”
“‘Kumamon has a first grade too.” (TN: A mascot for Kumamoto Prefecture…and somehow made into a meme: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/kumamon. Just to note, the prior note about Sho-chan was included as part of the actual text, and not a TN by me)
…Mio and Ayano are enjoying themselves, aren’t they?
Endless Shogi
The fun research group soon lasted till night.
“It’s about time for you girls to head back home, right?”
I hug Char, who’s on my knees, asking reluctantly.
“Ah, it’s fine.”
Mio brought her bag over, and unzipped the bag.
“I brought my pajamas and toothbrush.”
I wasn’t asking about that.
“No no no…this isn’t fine, you know? Your families won’t let you live outside, you know?”
“They say it’s fine if it’s with a pro-sensei.”
“Sister Machi said that I should use this opportunity since there aren’t many chances to live at the ryuuou’s house.”
“Char wants to stay too!”
“……Ai.”
“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!!”
My disciple grovelled onto the floor in apology, her head nearly digging into the floor.
Looking at this, it appeared they had intended to stay here the entire time.
“…Whatever. At the very least, let me talk to your families. Give me your phone numbers, okay?”
““Yay!!””
I dialled their families one by one, and they did get their families approval. Looks like parents are increasingly understanding about shogi recently.”
At the same time, I sent Keika a message.
“‘Save me! Ai had three friends who wanted to say at my place! My house’s a kids palace, what do I do now!?’…so”
Hohoho. If Keika came by, our relationship would definitely improve.
Once Keika touches Char’s pure innocent cute self, “Ahh…I want such a cute kid too…where’s my prince charming…that person who’s strong at shogi, dotes on me, will have a prominent social standing, the one who has one of the seven titles…” well, that’s me!!
“Right, Ai. You’re not preparing dinner?”
“There’s curry in the house.”
Can’t let them eat that.
“L-let’s order takeout, shall we? Is pizza fine!? Or sushi!? Eel!? Anything’s fine, okay?”
“Char wants tacoyaki!” (TN: Deliberate misspelling of takoyaki intended)
This angel ordered takoyaki. I obliged, and went out to buy takoyaki.
With four girls gathered, dinner sure was rowdy.
“Nom nom…Mio feels that moving 2-one rook should be the right move.”
“That’s what I first thought, but it’s wrong. What do you think, Ai?”
“I read that move too…what if it’s 3-five horse instead…”
“Woah!?” “That’s amazing!?”
“After 3-five horse, it’s 2-four rook, same with horse, and at 2-five rook, rook at the same place, and then the knight, followed by 4-four bishop…”
“For forrr!” (TN: Slurred as intended)
Instead of hearing any girls manga or popular topics amongst elementary school girls, I ended up hearing shogi notations. They could chat about shogi, since they couldn’t talk about it that easily at school with their friends, or their families, so there doesn’t seem to be an end to the talk.
After dinner, everyone began to play shogi again.
They kept playing shogi from morning to night. If I didn’t stop them, it’s likely that they would never stop.
I saw that it was time to stop, and suggested to the girls who’re doing post mortem.
“Let’s stop playing shogi for now. Time to bath.”
““Okay!!””
The four answered, and lined up to play shogi again.
Hey, what are you girls doing, so I wanted to ask—
““We’re deciding the order to go bath!””
After that, they played for another two matches, and finally went to bathe willingly.
Once they’re done with their shower, they continued playing shogi again, non-stop.
“It’s time to stop. Go to bed.”
““Okay!!””
The kids enthusiastically answered, and started playing again.
I wanted to ask what they’re doing—
“We’re deciding on the order to brush teeth!” “We’re deciding the order to use the hair dryer!” “We’re choosing where to put the futons!”
There’s no end to this.
…But I did do such things before, and I didn’t have the right to tell them off. Anedeshi and I were like this, always deciding things with shogi.
But if I don’t let them sleep…while I was thinking—
“Sensei, can I ask you for something?”
“Hm? What is it, Ayano?”
“It’s a rare chance, so we hope to have a guidance match against the ryuuou.”
“Fine…but go to sleep after you’re done, okay?”
I too wanted to test the results they learned for the day. Perfect time for the request.
We laid out the futons in the Japanese room, and laid out the shogi boards in a fan shape on the futons, and I had a guidance match against four of them. Char’s seated obediently before the futon, looking extremely cute.
“The handicap?”
“Four…no! Two please!” “Two.” “M-me too!”
Finally, it’s decided that I play a two piece handicap of the rook and bishop against Mio, Ayano and Ai, and a six piece handicap to Char with only my king, gold and silver generals.
Through the guidance matches, I could determine everyone’s personality.
There were pros that wouldn’t give leeway, and some who played losing shogi to build confidence in the opponent. Some even choose to lose once the proper order of moves were made, but would crush the opponent if it’s a challenge.
There were some who’re normally docile, only to become passionate duelists while training. To someone like me, who went through the cool, relaxed education era, I might feel ‘is there a need to be so hot blooded’? (TN: Yutori education era, ゆとり世代, or relaxed education era, basically refers to those who’re born in the era of relaxed education, introduced to Japanese curriculum in 1977)
Leaving aside someone ranked like Char, I never deliberately lost to anyone with a dan, only to be more intricate during the post mortem.
The trio with two piece handicaps lost terribly, and I affirmed my objective.
“Mio, your attacks are forceful, but it’ll be better if you can change your habit of ignoring the balance of your formation and charging directly. It’s good to take the initiative on offense, but don’t leave your pieces isolated, understand?”
“Y-yes! Thank you for your guidance.”
“You have decent skill, Ayano, but you can be more daring. You’re talented, and I believe you can try all sorts of moves. Do your best!”
“I-I’ll do my best!”
“Ai, you’re too sloppy in your moves. One more match!”
“Yes! I won’t make a mistake again!”
“I’m expelling you if you make the same mistakes.”
Seeing Ai and I line the pieces again, Mio asked with a shocked look.
“Er-erm…didn’t you say we’re to sleep once we’re done with the match…?”
“You can go sleep if you want!!”
“Hii!!”
“If you want to be stronger, you have to play against strong opponents. Ai, you want to get stronger?”
“I want to!! Please guide me along!!”
Seeing Ai bow, the other girls lined up their pieces too.”
“Mi-Mio wants to get stronger too!” “Me too!” Char hasu be stronger!”
“Okay everyone! We’ll start with an all-nighter ten guidance matches, let’s do thisss!!”
““Alright!!””
After that, we kept on playing shogi.
Disastrous Morning
Snap, snap.
Such noises awoke me.
“…Hm? It’s…morning already…?”
We kept playing shogi until we slept, and we ended up sleeping in the Japanese room. Char’s innocent sleeping face was before me, her little hand tugging at my shirt.
I touched the angel’s cheeks with my fingers, the feeling of blissfulness instantly filling my body.
“…Is this love…?”
The moment I said these words from my heart, ‘snap’ another sound, so I turned towards the direction of the sound, and found anedeshi standing there with cellphone in hand.
“A-anedeshi? Wh-what are you…doing?”
“Taking photos as evidence.”
“wait.”
Wait—this is a misunderstanding—before I could excuse myself, anedeshi was already taking photos on the cellphone.
“This is the birth of a new title ‘loli king’ in the shogi world…I’m going to send this to everyone related to the shogi world through LINE.”
“Stooooooooooooopppppppppppp!!! Please don’t send this out!!!!!!!!”
This will be an eternal mark in history! Everyone’s going to call for loli king forever!!’
“This is a research group! We’re doing research!!!”
“A research of young girls?”
“Nooo! Not a research of young girls, researching with young girls! This distinction’s important!!”
“Aren’t they all lolis anyway?”
“That’s actually what I think!!”
I couldn’t deny how terrible a situation I was in, which was why I was feeling anxious.
“But why!? Why are you here, anedeshi!? There isn’t any VS arranged, right—”
“Keika notified me and said you sent a message, Yaichi, ‘i had three friends who wanted to say at my place! My house’s a kids palace’, and wanted me to check things out as she sensed something criminal.”
“Keiiiikkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
I sprawled onto the futon, and cried out in agony. Mio and Ayano rubbed their eyes as they got up, and opened them.
“Uhhh…eh!? Wawawahhh!! So-Sora-sensei!?”
“I-it’s for real! It’s the real Snow White!!”
“…”
Anedeshi looked at the kids impatiently, but she didn’t lash out loud. Actually, she’s ‘super’ shy, even awkward around kids. Without shogi, her communication skills are basically zero. It’s common to see such people in the world of shogi.
Mio and Ayano were excited seeing the highly respected double female title holder standing before them early in the morning, and they enthusiastically requested to shake hands and sign an autograph. Anedeshi wordlessly shook hands with them.
Ai and Char woke up. “Ah, aunty’s here!!” Ai blurted before she was wide away, and Char wiped her drool on anedeshi’s clothes. At this point, the Snow White finally caved in.
And so, this stress–
“Scumbag loli king…go and die already…”
“…Yes. I’m sorry. I’ll die. I’m sorry.”
Anedeshi vented on me. Yes yes, I’m done. It’s all over.
On anedeshi’s request, the JS research group was disbanded, ‘retrain your endurance, and starting tomorrow, practice shogi at the association for three days straight’, so she demanded of me. The training camp for the elementary school kids ended abruptly.
“Can we come back again?” Mio asked me with an innocent look before she returned home, but all I could do was to show a vague smile on my face.
Daily Life with Disciple
“Sorry Master! Did I keep you waiting?”
“No. I just arrived.”
I was standing before a shop at the first level of the Association, and Ai came running down from the dojo on the second level, grinning away.
It had been a week since Ai came over, and the days living with my disciple became my daily life.
In the morning, we would bring bentos to the Association, and Ai would have training in the dojo on the second floor for the Entrance Test, while I would head to the shogi room on the third floor to attend the research club.
If both of us were free at noon, we would head to the nearby park to have our bentos.
In the evening, we would gather here again before heading home. That’s our ‘routine’.
“Ara ara. It’s like you’re lovers.”
The pretty lady following Ai down the stairs saw us meet, and showed a goddess-like smile.
She’s Keika Kiyotaki (hidden buxom), the daughter of my Master, 9th dan Kousuke Kiyotaki.
Keika’s a current member of the Research Group, doing her best for Ai’s test.
“Sorry Keika. You had to do so much, including helping out at Master’s classroom…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
Keika waved her hand heartily.
“But you won’t be able to promote to C1 if you’re occasionally showing up for training, right?”
There are ranks in the Research Club.
They go from F to A, and then to S. Even the F rank, the lowest tier, requires the ability of an amateur 2nd dan.
To become a female player, the ranking has to be C1 at minimum.
Keika’s only at C2. For many years, she was unable to make the final hurdle.
“I’m already twenty five. I’m almost at the maximum age to join…playing shogi with someone with outstanding talent like Ai-chan is stimulating for me.”
Keika officially started playing in the third year of high school.
She entered the Research Group and aimed for the pros after she graduated from high school, and so became Master’s disciple later than anedeshi and me. So basically, Keika’s my junior. It’s a complicated master-disciple relationship, as complicated as Sazae-san’s family. (TN: A very old yonkoma: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sazae-san)
“Oh yes. Ai-chan, you got promoted at the dojo today. Right?”
“Yes! I’m at third rank amature!!” (TN: Typo deliberate)
“Ohh, that’s good.”
I patted Ai on the head as she gleefully showed me her record card. “Ehehe♡” she narrowed her eyes, looking really happy. I got to reward my disciple for being so hardworking.
“Oh, right. To celebrate your promotion, I’ll buy something for you.”
“Really? Yay!!”
“Can’t be too expensive though. Has to be within 500 yen though.”
Seeing Ai so overjoyed as she dashed into the shop, even I started to feel happy.
It’s strange.
It wasn’t long ago that I was envious of others winning and promoting, but Ai promoting felt as though I was the one promoting. I was really happy for her. Was I maturing?
“She’s growing. Ai-chan.”
Keika whispered as she stood beside me, not allowing Ai to hear.
“What do you think after playing with her?”
“I feel her getting stronger with every match…no, every move. It’s because she has talent though—”
Keika said, and looked a little gloomy.
“…If only I started playing at her age.”
“…”
I couldn’t say anything.
The world of shogi is a world of talents. The younger one is, the faster the talent can grow.
There are people who started playing shogi in high school and became pros. However, most of us, including me, decided on being pros before we started elementary school, started training, and improved our abilities by taking on all the talented youths in Japan.
“Master Master! This! Can I buy this!?”
Ai chose a shogi piece strap (400 yen + tax)
“That’s fine, but you’re choosing the ‘Rook’? The ‘left horse’ there should be luckier, you know?” (TN: The rook starts on the right, and given that it’s the strongest unit, most gameplans involve around capturing it. Choosing the horse on the left is tantamount to ‘avoiding’ danger, especially for the knight that moves in an unorthodox manner.)
“Ahh! It’s so hard to choose! (>_<)”
My disciple, holding straps in both hands, squealed in frustration. She’s so cute.
Seeing her like this, Keika showed a tender smile on her face, telling me,
“Yaichi, anything you want to buy for Ginko-chan?”
“What?”
What’s this person saying here?
“Why do I have to buy something for anedeshi? She should be buying something for me, the junior.”
“…I say, Yaichi.”
“Haa~” With a long sigh, Keika suddenly sounded stern.
“If you do buy something for Ai-chan, you should buy something for Ginko-chan, you should be buying something of equal rank for Ginko-chan. If you can’t maintain the situation, you’ll end up in lots of trouble, you know?”
“Is that so?”
“That is so.”
Is that so~?
“Ginko-chan’s already fuming that Ai-chan is here, and she’s going to transform from Snow White to an Ice Queen running away from home…if you make a mistake in your opening moves, you’ll end up with unsalvageable failure, you know?”
“As long as I can reverse things in the end game…”
“This situation isn’t applicable to modern shogi.”
Like shogi, a woman’s heart is hard to understand. I’ll never be able to understand.
“Really…why are you people so passionate about shogi and so aloof about the opposite gender…”
“But I like you, Keika?”
“Yes yes yes.”
She took me for granted!
The three of us had agreed to have dinner together, but she said, “I have to take care of father.” And hurried off alone. She’s probably scared that he’ll splurge on game gachas if she kept her eyes away from him.
“Master? Are you going to buy another one?”
“…Nope.”
I put the ‘Silver General’ in my hand back onto the rack.
I understood anedeshi very well, so I didn’t need to do such a thing. Right.
Curry Meijin
“5-four pawn.”
On the way back to the apartment, Ai and I continue to practice for the Entrance Test,
“4-six pawn.”
“5-two Silver.”
“3-two gold.”
“3-six pawn.”
“3-two king.”
“3-five pawn!”
While walking, we played ‘blind shogi’.
The passers-by overhearing our conversation were either looking troubled or surprised. However, it’s not too difficult if anyone’s ability is of a certain extent. For Ai especially, who created the shogi board in her mind, it’s effortless.
At this moment, we’re playing a fixed set of opening moves on the board, somewhat like a memory test.
“What about 2-two silver?”
“4-eight silver!”
“6-two gold.”
“4-seven silver.”
“6-four silver. Now, what do you move next?”
“3-eight rook!”
“Right! Playing the sleeve rook and attacking down the third and fourth files is called the ‘second pawn assault opening.” (TN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeve_Rook</ref>, 二歩(にふ)突(つ)っ切(き)り定跡 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4utYMMpOdso)
The higher ranked will take down the rook and the two generals by the corner, basically ‘sacrificial Shogi’ (TN: 駒落ち将棋)
Basically the two openings that often encounter such a scenario are the ‘second pawn assault opening’ and the Silver Surrounding. (TN: 銀多伝, Gintaden, where the silver generals are shielded in various directions)
In contrast to a Silver Surrounding where the rook is placed down the middle and the defense is solidified before attacking, the ‘second pawn assault opening’ is more suited for Ai’s style.
But even so, defending’s equally important.
“Next, read out the moves to surround the king after this. “
“6-eight silver, 6-five pawn, 7-eight gold, 6-four gold, 6-nine king, 7-three horse, 5-eight gold!”
“So what’s the name of this surrounding?”
“Crabby attack!!”
It’s surrounding crab, okay?
“Good. You basically memorized all of the sacrificial shogi openings, right?”
“Yes! It’s easy to win after memorizing!”
“Yep.”
The growth of a disciple is the delight of the master.
My matches had been going well. I won a few matches recently, consecutively!
As the title holder, winning a few consecutive matches isn’t something to be particularly happy about, but after having gone through a miry series of defeats, the world just looks brighter than ever.
“Ai, what’s for dinner tonight?”
“I want to cook curry…do you like curry, master?”
“Oh, not bad! Let’s go buy ingredients before heading back then.”
“Yes! I’ll serve you some real Kanazawa Curry!”
We bought some ingredients at the supermarket in the shopping district, and went home to cook.
“You let me stay here, so I’ll do all the housework! Leave it all to me!!”
So Ai insisted, but I really felt awkward about it. I’m not so much of a devil to force an elementary school kid to handle all the housework.
And finally, we made a compromise to share the housework.
“Alright! Let’s do it!!”
“Let’s do it!”
Both of us stood in the kitchen. Ai’s standing on a stool to cook due to her height, but her skill with the chopper’s pretty good, as to be expected of someone trained in a hotel, more skilful than anedeshi and me. To be honest, anedeshi’s dishes aren’t considered cooking at all.
Ai showed off her culinary skills while cooking the curry.
The speed she peeled the red carrot was five times of mine, and once done with the potatoes, she started chopping the cabbage at an amazing speed.
Hm?
“…Cabbage?”
“We use cabbage as a side dish for Kanazawa curry.”
Curry with cabbage…sounds like it works? Sounds like it’ll be refreshing when eaten.
The thinned ingredients were fried, and thrown into the work. Blurp blurp.
We continued to solve tsumeshogis while waiting for the ingredients to stew for a certain time (some of the ingredients got burned).
After that, pour the curry in, and it’s done!
So I thought, but,
“Hm…”
Ai frowned, narrowing her eyes as she stared inside the brown wok, looking more serious than when she was solving tsumeshogis.
“…The color of the curry block bought at the market is too dilute, I guess.”
“Eh? It should be this kind of color, right?”
“No, has to be blacker.”
…Blacker?
“Master, do you have any sauces here?”(TN: Okonomiyaki sauce)
“Eh? Y-yeah…it’s Osaka, so sauce is a necessary ingredient in homes.”
“Okay.”
“Wait!? Why are you adding it into the curry!?”
Ai added an unbelievably large amount of sauce into the curry, and stirred it.
The originally golden brown curry immediately became a black brown.
“Goody♪ This is the kind of color that can increase appetite.”
“…”
Really? Is that really the case?
Ai then lowered the flames, and kept stirring the curry. She’s not just stirring the ladle to prevent burned stuff at the bottom of the pot; she’s using it to squash all the ingredients. Sweat’s showing on the little forehead; I didn’t know you could make curry this way…
“It-it’s about done now, right?”
“No, it’s not mushy enough…”
“Eh? Mushy?”
“We have to stew the ingredients until it’s all sticky and gooey, until we can’t see the shape…I guess it’s not mushy unless it’s done with a pressure cooker gayo…and not nice looking if it’s not stainless silver gaine…”
“???”
Gayo? Gaine?
What do I do? My disciple’s saying weird stuff.
Ai started to mutter her thoughts out, “Un!” But it seemed she found it acceptable, nodding.
“Looks like this is the limit! Let’s eat!”
“O-ohh! Let’s eat, let’s eat.”
Ai served the rice on the plates, poured the curry gravy on them, laid out the pork fillet bought from the supermarket and cabbage, before flavouring them with sauce. This pork (victory) curry was made to pray for good luck to a player, and really was a delicate act of kindness from my disciple. She’s a natural competitor. (TN: Katsu means either pork or victory)
As for what she was holding, a fork of course.
“Eh? Eating with a fork?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you normally use a spoon?”
“No way~ master. Curry has to be eaten with a fork!”
“Re…ally?”
“Yes!”
Oh, I see. Ahahaha, just felt that something’s strange here, but I still clapped my hands together with my disciple, laughing away.
I was wondering if a fork could scoop curry, but as the gravy was extremely thick, there was no problem.
And then, I put the curry into my mouth—
“Master.”
“Hm?”
“Pull yourself together, okay?”
What?
I was wondering about her strange words, and my hand that stopped continued to put the curry into the mouth. The flavour of the curry spread in the mouth, and seemed unexpectedly sweet.
And then, the spiciness,
Caught
Up
To
Me
“………………..Ah……….eh…?”
The sound of the fork dropping onto the table caused me to wake up.
It appeared I passed out without removing the fork from my mouth. The curry that was oozing steam had become lukewarm, and there was a thin layer on it.
“Ho-how long…have I been like this…?”
“Fufu.”
Ai was already done eating the curry, her elbows on the table as she cupped her hands on her cheeks, looking at me, showing a deep, meaningful smile as unpredictable as this curry…
And then, I started gobbling down the curry, as though I was possessed by something. I did not pass out like I did the first time, yet the hand holding the fork could not stop. I ate a mouthful, and then another mouthful, until the black color of the sauce vanished from the bottom of the plate.
I was done.
A delightful, unprecedented sensation engulfed me.
What’s this…it’s different from the curry I had before…
“Wh-what is this…did you add cannabis in…?”
“No way, I didn’t add such a thing in. Huhuhu.”
“I want…I want this tomorrow…two days later too…I want this every day…”
“Yes! I’ll make it more delicious tomorrow ♪”
After trying such a taste, would I be able to go back to the original taste…?
“Wh-what about the dojo? Made any friends there?”
After finishing the curry, I gulped down some water to suppress my heart, asking how my disciple’s doing. What’s with me being shocked while eating curry…
Ai, giving a Buddha-like smile, suddenly frowned.
“…”
“What?”
“…Master.”
“Hm? What is it?”
Did she get bullied at the dojo? It’s common for everyone to gang up and attack a super strong rookie. Back in the day, there were groups to ‘defeat Ginko Sora’.
To prevent this from happening, I had Keika accompany her…
“Erm…well…”
Ai seemed to have made up her mind as she stared at me, giving me an unexpected confession.
“C-can we? Can we have the Research Group here?”
“…Research group?”
“Yes!”
Again, Ai lowered her head, stammering as she had difficulty saying out the reason.
“A-actually, erm…I talked about how I ended up at master’s house, and everyone…”
Want to know where the Ryuuou (dragon king) stays! I guess it probably ended up this way.
What. So that’s how it is.
“Of course! You don’t have to worry about this.”
“Th-thank you…master!!”
“Hahaha, just ask if you need anything, whether it’s the shogi board, pieces or clock.”
Thud!
I smacked my chest, assuring my cute disciple.
At this moment, I did not understand what would happen if I invited elementary school girls to my house for a research group.
Not yet, at this moment.
JS Research (TN: JS => elementary school kids)
“(Nervous, nervous).”
“Master, everyone will only be here in an hour.”
“Oh, I-I see.”
On the day of the research group.
As the disciple’s friends were to arrive at my house, I was so tense right from the morning.
There would be three others coming, two of the same year as Ai, and said to be in the Research Group.
Ai prepared sandwiches for everyone, and she watched me sit in front of the seven inch board, asking with a bothered look,
“Master…why are you dressed in a suit at home.”
“Ah, should I be wearing Japanese clothing?”
“You could be dressed normally…”
“Is everyone late? Did they get lost?”
“It’s not time yet.”
“I guess I should head to the station to meet them—“
Right when I was about to get up.
Ding dong♪
“Ah! They’re here!”
Ai hurriedly removed the apron, and ran off to the corridor.
I sat down hurriedly, laying out a shogi book before the thick 7 inches board, giving a ‘this is how I always do my research, got a problem?’ look. Actually, I would typically use a board that wouldn’t cause too much sound.
““Please excuse us!””
Energetic greetings came.
The two girls followed Ai in.
“I-it’s beep a while! Mio Mizukoshi! Th-thank you for welcoming us!!” (TN: Again, Mio stuttered)
“Hello. I’m Ayano Sadatou. Please take care of me.”
One of them was the athletic girl I met at the dojo, Mio.
The other was someone I met the first time. Ayano’s a tall, princess-like girl.
“Same here. Thanks for taking care of Ai all this while.”
I knelt down before them in a seiza, greeting them, “Kya!!” “He called Ai by name!!” The two of them seemed extremely excited for some reason. “I-I’m the disciple! It’s normal! Really!!” Ai’s blushing. What’s going on?
I couldn’t get how elementary school kids think…and while I was feeling uneasy—
Plomp.
A cute looking small blond girl with green eyes suddenly popped out behind Ayano, and hugged me.
“Shaottozuuu!” (TN: She speaks slurred Japanese. Naturally, this moe girl is voiced by Yui Ogura in the drama CD)
…Eh?
“Charlotte Izoal.”
Ayano helped to translate.
“She’s a first grader French girl studying in Kyoto. A student of our master.”
“Exchange suudent!”
What’s with this super cuteness? Why did I feel my heart race?
I let Charlotte hug me as I suppressed this faltering in my heart, and asked,
“M-Mio and Ayano are both students at the research group, right? Who’s your master?”
“Kuresaka-sensei!”
“Kayaoku.”
Masters are basically families to them, so there’s no need for honorifics when introducing them. Mio still did not have such a habit, while Ayano was already properly trained in this. This showed their personalities. However interesting.
“Kayaoku-sensei…so you know Kugui, Ayano?”
“Yes, I’m her junior (TN: Imoutodeshi, little sister disciple. I’ll keep it as such though). Sister Machi often talked about you, Kuzuryuu-sensei. She wanted me to bring this along.”
Ayano handed me a paper bag of Kyoto sweets (TN: 京菓子, kyougashi, basically an assortment of Kyoto sweets)
“And this is from my family.”
“Ah! Mi-Mio’s family too want to give you something too.”
“Char too?”
Besides the Kyoto sweets, I received cookies and Madeleine. Charlotte’s gift was a magic a face “This is from Char!”
I would serve the gifts I received at afternoon tea, but at this point, the most important thing, was shogi.
There’s various ways of holding a research group.
There are research groups that specialize in-depth research into certain formations, or verbally discussing current trending shogi matches without playing shogi matches, or researching on the local gifts that had nothing to do with shogi at all—
Of course, the mainstream style would be actual games. Research members would play a few rounds for a day, and then everyone would gather and discussing their views.
There are of course various times to them.
There are those that gather at ‘training stables’, called ‘training stable research group’, those that gather at Abeno Harukas, called the ‘Haru research group’, the one that like to drink beer called the ‘Heineken research group, the one from Tochigi who gather together to form the ‘Tochigi research group’, and so on. (TN: Training stables, 一門, ichimon, the same term used to describe the groups for training sumos. Tochigi is a prefecture located in Kanto.)
This research group’s full of elementary school girls, so it’s called a ‘JS research group’. Some legend this is…
“All the tools are here. You can use them if you want.”
There were two shogi boards with legs, chess clocks and notebooks (most of them time, we don’t use shogi paper to in the Japanese room, but ordinary notebooks!) in the Japanese style room, and they could start immediately—so I thought…
“Erm…Master…Char…”
Ai looked over at Char in a sorry manner.
…As she’s too small, the shogi board blocked her completely. I guess I messed up by preparing a larger board.
“Hm…do I get a chair for her?”
“Stack the cushions?”
Ayano intended to hand over her cushion, but the cushions in my house were so thin, it’s pointless to stack them.
“She can’t sit in a seiza yet, can she? Maybe we can use the stool Ai uses when she cooks—”
I was about to stand up, but a little hand grabbed my shirt.
“Masu.”
“Hm?”
“Sit, here.”
Fueh!?
“Masu, leggies, sofee.”
“Woah, woooh, awawawwawawa…”
“Sit, play, shogi~”
Char climbed onto my knees while I was sitting in a seiza. It seemed she was saying ‘I want to play while sitting here’.
What’s with this adorable creature?
She’s really cute, huh? She keeps calling me ‘Masu’ (master). What the heck, is this girl an angel?
Of course, I’m not a lolicon.
I’m definitely not a lolicon. I do like older sisters; there’s no way I can be a lolicon.
But…what’s going on? What’s with this sweetness piercing through my chest!?
“O-okay. Now then…le-le-le-let’s play shogi with this big brother, o-okay…?”
“Let’s sho-gi~”
Tak, tak, the angel seated on my knees laid the pieces with her little fingers.
“Tak! Tak!” And the enthusiastic sounds of shogi being played seemed to overpower this cute voice.
“Ai, don’t trouble the neighbors by making so much noise.”
“Yes!”
“Thuk!!” I told you not to be so loud.
Ai was blushing, her cheeks puffed as she faced Mio, looking very amped up and playing with much more intensity than usual, maybe because her master’s beside her.
“Char, why did you want to play shogi?”
“NARUTO!”
“Huh?”
“The manga ‘Naruto’ has a scene of them playing shogi. I heard that she got interested in shogi because of it.” (TN: Specifically, Shikimaru playing shogi.)
…Was there such a scene?
I felt uneasy, but Char did play a decent game, despite her arms being unable to reach the corners of the board. It appeared she was at Amateur third grade.
“Masu, help me pick the piecy.”
“Here.”
I helped Char pick a piece, and our teamwork’s flawless. The playing sound got more agitated beside me, probably since it’s at end game.
Once the first game’s over, we had a short post morterm, and this time, there’s a swap in matchups.
So the matchup’s Mio vs Ayano, and Ai vs Char.
“Do your best, Char.”
“Okay!”
“…Master’s dachibuchi.”
Again with that. What does that mean anyway?
Ai played with more vigor, and thoroughly crushed Char. The angel on my knees was on the verge of tears, and I was utterly terrified.
Beside me, Mio let Ayano move the king, and was cupping her head her head as she watched the board.
“Ah, finasshed.”
“Finasshed?”
“Ah, she ran out of moves.”
Ayano explained.
Ran out of moves -> Finished -> Finasshed. (TN: 歩切れ → 歩が無くなる事 → 歩無し → ふなっしー . Funashi, the third term, literally means ‘run out of moves’, and the last one is funasshii. )
Good thing someone knows.
“Hey, Ayanon, who’s the best shogi player of all the characters? I guess it’s ‘Sho-Chan’ (Official mascot of the Japanese Shogi Association), right?”
“‘Kumamon has a first grade too.” (TN: A mascot for Kumamoto Prefecture…and somehow made into a meme: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/kumamon. Just to note, the prior note about Sho-chan was included as part of the actual text, and not a TN by me)
…Mio and Ayano are enjoying themselves, aren’t they?
Endless Shogi
The fun research group soon lasted till night.
“It’s about time for you girls to head back home, right?”
I hug Char, who’s on my knees, asking reluctantly.
“Ah, it’s fine.”
Mio brought her bag over, and unzipped the bag.
“I brought my pajamas and toothbrush.”
I wasn’t asking about that.
“No no no…this isn’t fine, you know? Your families won’t let you live outside, you know?”
“They say it’s fine if it’s with a pro-sensei.”
“Sister Machi said that I should use this opportunity since there aren’t many chances to live at the ryuuou’s house.”
“Char wants to stay too!”
“……Ai.”
“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!!”
My disciple grovelled onto the floor in apology, her head nearly digging into the floor.
Looking at this, it appeared they had intended to stay here the entire time.
“…Whatever. At the very least, let me talk to your families. Give me your phone numbers, okay?”
““Yay!!””
I dialled their families one by one, and they did get their families approval. Looks like parents are increasingly understanding about shogi recently.”
At the same time, I sent Keika a message.
“‘Save me! Ai had three friends who wanted to say at my place! My house’s a kids palace, what do I do now!?’…so”
Hohoho. If Keika came by, our relationship would definitely improve.
Once Keika touches Char’s pure innocent cute self, “Ahh…I want such a cute kid too…where’s my prince charming…that person who’s strong at shogi, dotes on me, will have a prominent social standing, the one who has one of the seven titles…” well, that’s me!!
“Right, Ai. You’re not preparing dinner?”
“There’s curry in the house.”
Can’t let them eat that.
“L-let’s order takeout, shall we? Is pizza fine!? Or sushi!? Eel!? Anything’s fine, okay?”
“Char wants tacoyaki!” (TN: Deliberate misspelling of takoyaki intended)
This angel ordered takoyaki. I obliged, and went out to buy takoyaki.
With four girls gathered, dinner sure was rowdy.
“Nom nom…Mio feels that moving 2-one rook should be the right move.”
“That’s what I first thought, but it’s wrong. What do you think, Ai?”
“I read that move too…what if it’s 3-five horse instead…”
“Woah!?” “That’s amazing!?”
“After 3-five horse, it’s 2-four rook, same with horse, and at 2-five rook, rook at the same place, and then the knight, followed by 4-four bishop…”
“For forrr!” (TN: Slurred as intended)
Instead of hearing any girls manga or popular topics amongst elementary school girls, I ended up hearing shogi notations. They could chat about shogi, since they couldn’t talk about it that easily at school with their friends, or their families, so there doesn’t seem to be an end to the talk.
After dinner, everyone began to play shogi again.
They kept playing shogi from morning to night. If I didn’t stop them, it’s likely that they would never stop.
I saw that it was time to stop, and suggested to the girls who’re doing post mortem.
“Let’s stop playing shogi for now. Time to bath.”
““Okay!!””
The four answered, and lined up to play shogi again.
Hey, what are you girls doing, so I wanted to ask—
““We’re deciding the order to go bath!””
After that, they played for another two matches, and finally went to bathe willingly.
Once they’re done with their shower, they continued playing shogi again, non-stop.
“It’s time to stop. Go to bed.”
““Okay!!””
The kids enthusiastically answered, and started playing again.
I wanted to ask what they’re doing—
“We’re deciding on the order to brush teeth!” “We’re deciding the order to use the hair dryer!” “We’re choosing where to put the futons!”
There’s no end to this.
…But I did do such things before, and I didn’t have the right to tell them off. Anedeshi and I were like this, always deciding things with shogi.
But if I don’t let them sleep…while I was thinking—
“Sensei, can I ask you for something?”
“Hm? What is it, Ayano?”
“It’s a rare chance, so we hope to have a guidance match against the ryuuou.”
“Fine…but go to sleep after you’re done, okay?”
I too wanted to test the results they learned for the day. Perfect time for the request.
We laid out the futons in the Japanese room, and laid out the shogi boards in a fan shape on the futons, and I had a guidance match against four of them. Char’s seated obediently before the futon, looking extremely cute.
“The handicap?”
“Four…no! Two please!” “Two.” “M-me too!”
Finally, it’s decided that I play a two piece handicap of the rook and bishop against Mio, Ayano and Ai, and a six piece handicap to Char with only my king, gold and silver generals.
Through the guidance matches, I could determine everyone’s personality.
There were pros that wouldn’t give leeway, and some who played losing shogi to build confidence in the opponent. Some even choose to lose once the proper order of moves were made, but would crush the opponent if it’s a challenge.
There were some who’re normally docile, only to become passionate duelists while training. To someone like me, who went through the cool, relaxed education era, I might feel ‘is there a need to be so hot blooded’? (TN: Yutori education era, ゆとり世代, or relaxed education era, basically refers to those who’re born in the era of relaxed education, introduced to Japanese curriculum in 1977)
Leaving aside someone ranked like Char, I never deliberately lost to anyone with a dan, only to be more intricate during the post mortem.
The trio with two piece handicaps lost terribly, and I affirmed my objective.
“Mio, your attacks are forceful, but it’ll be better if you can change your habit of ignoring the balance of your formation and charging directly. It’s good to take the initiative on offense, but don’t leave your pieces isolated, understand?”
“Y-yes! Thank you for your guidance.”
“You have decent skill, Ayano, but you can be more daring. You’re talented, and I believe you can try all sorts of moves. Do your best!”
“I-I’ll do my best!”
“Ai, you’re too sloppy in your moves. One more match!”
“Yes! I won’t make a mistake again!”
“I’m expelling you if you make the same mistakes.”
Seeing Ai and I line the pieces again, Mio asked with a shocked look.
“Er-erm…didn’t you say we’re to sleep once we’re done with the match…?”
“You can go sleep if you want!!”
“Hii!!”
“If you want to be stronger, you have to play against strong opponents. Ai, you want to get stronger?”
“I want to!! Please guide me along!!”
Seeing Ai bow, the other girls lined up their pieces too.”
“Mi-Mio wants to get stronger too!” “Me too!” Char hasu be stronger!”
“Okay everyone! We’ll start with an all-nighter ten guidance matches, let’s do thisss!!”
““Alright!!””
After that, we kept on playing shogi.
Disastrous Morning
Snap, snap.
Such noises awoke me.
“…Hm? It’s…morning already…?”
We kept playing shogi until we slept, and we ended up sleeping in the Japanese room. Char’s innocent sleeping face was before me, her little hand tugging at my shirt.
I touched the angel’s cheeks with my fingers, the feeling of blissfulness instantly filling my body.
“…Is this love…?”
The moment I said these words from my heart, ‘snap’ another sound, so I turned towards the direction of the sound, and found anedeshi standing there with cellphone in hand.
“A-anedeshi? Wh-what are you…doing?”
“Taking photos as evidence.”
“wait.”
Wait—this is a misunderstanding—before I could excuse myself, anedeshi was already taking photos on the cellphone.
“This is the birth of a new title ‘loli king’ in the shogi world…I’m going to send this to everyone related to the shogi world through LINE.”
“Stooooooooooooopppppppppppp!!! Please don’t send this out!!!!!!!!”
This will be an eternal mark in history! Everyone’s going to call for loli king forever!!’
“This is a research group! We’re doing research!!!”
“A research of young girls?”
“Nooo! Not a research of young girls, researching with young girls! This distinction’s important!!”
“Aren’t they all lolis anyway?”
“That’s actually what I think!!”
I couldn’t deny how terrible a situation I was in, which was why I was feeling anxious.
“But why!? Why are you here, anedeshi!? There isn’t any VS arranged, right—”
“Keika notified me and said you sent a message, Yaichi, ‘i had three friends who wanted to say at my place! My house’s a kids palace’, and wanted me to check things out as she sensed something criminal.”
“Keiiiikkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
I sprawled onto the futon, and cried out in agony. Mio and Ayano rubbed their eyes as they got up, and opened them.
“Uhhh…eh!? Wawawahhh!! So-Sora-sensei!?”
“I-it’s for real! It’s the real Snow White!!”
“…”
Anedeshi looked at the kids impatiently, but she didn’t lash out loud. Actually, she’s ‘super’ shy, even awkward around kids. Without shogi, her communication skills are basically zero. It’s common to see such people in the world of shogi.
Mio and Ayano were excited seeing the highly respected double female title holder standing before them early in the morning, and they enthusiastically requested to shake hands and sign an autograph. Anedeshi wordlessly shook hands with them.
Ai and Char woke up. “Ah, aunty’s here!!” Ai blurted before she was wide away, and Char wiped her drool on anedeshi’s clothes. At this point, the Snow White finally caved in.
And so, this stress–
“Scumbag loli king…go and die already…”
“…Yes. I’m sorry. I’ll die. I’m sorry.”
Anedeshi vented on me. Yes yes, I’m done. It’s all over.
On anedeshi’s request, the JS research group was disbanded, ‘retrain your endurance, and starting tomorrow, practice shogi at the association for three days straight’, so she demanded of me. The training camp for the elementary school kids ended abruptly.
“Can we come back again?” Mio asked me with an innocent look before she returned home, but all I could do was to show a vague smile on my face.
