Chapter 2: Game Master
A certain day, after school.
Surprisingly, not many people were in the room. Kyouya was alone with s.h.i.+on.
With n.o.body to make him tea, Kyouya sat alone at the round table.
“No one’s coming today, right?”
“Yes, it seems so.”
s.h.i.+on was facing the computer. Only the clicking of the mouse resounded through the room.
The girl was a mysterious person, always playing some game. Never anything like a cellphone game though, she always played cla.s.sic games.
Actual games, that used boards and pieces.
At the computer, s.h.i.+on would always play games alone that were originally meant to be played with two people, moving the pieces for both sides herself.
However, not today.
The screen of the computer, which was connected to the Internet, had black and white squares laid across.
Even Kyouya knew the name of that game. It was chess, the western version of shogi.
“Are you playing against someone?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s unusual.”
“It’s been a month.”
s.h.i.+on swiped, to her back, the hair that was falling down her cheek; her long, glossy black hair that looked as if it would reach all the way to the floor.
Being very intelligent, she often talked in very peculiar ways. She’d answer the questions before even being asked. Because of that, it was often hard to engage in conversation with her.
Right now, she probably meant it had been a month since the last time she played against a human.
“Who are you playing against?”
Kyouya pulled a chair to her side to watch the match.
“The one I’ve been playing up till now was the pan-American chess champion.”
s.h.i.+on said casually.
“What?”
After being baffled for a while, Kyouya came back to his senses. Approaching the girl by just another 30 centimeters, he peeked at the screen.
“Isn’t that like a really amazing person?”
“Yes. He’s even more amazing now that he faced the British champion at the world champions.h.i.+p and became the world’s best player.”
“The world’s best…”
Kyouya couldn’t put two sentences together.
“Even if it’s over the Internet, if that person is granting you a match… could it be that you’re a really amazing player?”
“The one who asked for the match was him.”
“Eh?”
Looking closer at the CRT monitor, at the opponent’s side there was a mark indicating he was the challenger.
“I had promised him.”
“That champion?”
“Yeah. A long time ago, I promised on an impulse that I’d practice with him if he became world champion.”
“What?”
“I was so young too. That was when I was eight years old.”
“Ehh!?”
Kyouya involuntarily let out a loud voice.
The match quietly proceeded. Only the clicking of the mouse could be heard.
In contrast to her opponent who would make his moves after much consideration, s.h.i.+on played her turn in practically no time.
Before long, a message appeared. “I surrender. Complete defeat.” it said. One could easily imagine he meant that as praise to s.h.i.+on.
“So… Er, well… Did you just beat the world champion?”
“As you can see.”
s.h.i.+on spun her chair to face Kyouya, the tips of her long black hair drawing and arc on the air.
“Would you like to try it? He’s asking for a rematch.”
“No way! There’s no way I can go against the world champion! I don’t even know the rules to begin with!”
“I have a great book. Why don’t you take this chance to learn the rules?”
She pointed to the shelf beside her.
Along with some computer manuals, a chess primer rested on the shelf.
That’s when he finally realized.
“Are you making fun of me by any chance?”
“You’re cute.”
s.h.i.+on pulled her side bangs behind her ears with a light smile.
Just when had she started messing with him? From the start? If not, then…
CHARACTER PROFILE:
s.h.i.+on – Part 1
An intellectual girl with beautiful black hair.
An undisputed game genius. That’s not restricted to traditional games like chess though, she prides herself in being unbeatable in anything that could be called a game.
However, when it comes to common sense she’s (lethally) clueless.
