“………… I have failed ………”
The New Crown mutters, draped over my shoulder and alcohol on his breath.
The after party was short, but Ayumu was such a stickler for social obligations that he drank all the sake rice wine put in front of him. Drinking any of it after nearly 500 moves would make anyone crash. The only thing I could do is carry him back to his room myself. Everyone else is already asleep!
“Shouldn’t this be the other way around? Doesn’t the loser usually drown their sorrow in a bottle and the winner has to take them back to their room? Yeah?”
“………… Utter fail …… ure ……”
He can barely talk. Damn! This guy is adorable.
“I didn’t even know you drank.”
“…… The Meijin and Natagiri 8-dan …… instructed me …… at our excursion ……”
Hopefully that’s where the lesson ended ……
I lay my best friend down on the bed, but he looks like he’s in a bit of pain.
“Should I loosen your sash?”
“…… Please ……”
I undo his kimono as he sprawls out on the bed.
You know, I’ve never even taken Big Sis’s clothes off before …… The fact that the first person I’ve ever disrobed is a guy is just too sad. Yeesh, he’s even got silk boxers on ……. pure white ones ……
“Now that I think about it, Ai was there to watch us play beside the board in a Crown League Match, wasn’t she?”
“Yes ………… When we played …… until sunrise ……”
I still remember it like it was yesterday.
The streets of Naniwa right before dawn.
Ai crossing the street in front of the Kansai Shogi Association building. She was so full of adrenaline after watching Ayumu and I play. I’ll never forget what she said.
“I wanna play Shogi just like you!”
Those words saved me.
And then …… by my friend who played that Shogi with me.
“…… Thanks, Ayumu.”
I sit on the edge of the bed and say with my back to my friend. I’m too embarrassed to look at him, though.
“―――Thanks, Ayumu, for showing me that I’m not alone.”
There’s no stopping the advance of computers.
But I’ll never feel alone again. Now I’m certain of it.
No matter how much progress I make, someone who can catch and overtake me will show up. I guarantee that plenty of people in the distant past have felt that same despair.
Correct moves, mistakes. Loveable idiots who will wager their lives to teach you that there is not only one correct move or mistake. I won’t doubt that anymore.
That’s …… what being a Shogi player means.
“Come on, Ayumu. I’m baring my heart over here. Would it kill you to say something back ……?”
Zzz …… Zzz …… Zzz ……
I look over my shoulder to see my half-naked best friend out like a light.
“Already asleep?! Come on?!”
I smile and quietly leave the room so I don’t wake up the snoozing winner.
Now back in my own room, I lock the door immediately.
Running on fumes myself, I stumble my way inside and kick off my traditional sandals, letting them land wherever. Blindly searching for the light switch along the wall didn’t get me anywhere, so I press onward into the darkness.
Then flop face-first onto the bed.
“…………”
Closing my eyes …… the reality I’d tried so hard not to see hits me like a ton of bricks.
―――I lost. To Ayumu.
Yeah.
A lot happened, but a loss is still a loss.
Even though I had the overwhelming advantage of a supercomputer as a study partner, I wasn’t strong enough to win in the end.
“………… Ugh ……”
My molars clatter.
The pain makes my whole body tremble as if shivering in the cold.
“Mngh ……… Ngh …………”
Dry heaves like hiccups come up from the pit of my lungs, making the most pathetic little noises. I clench my gut to keep them down, but it’s no use.
✦ ✦ ✦
