Epilogue

The big and slightly older–looking plane roars up into the sky.

“Yes, that has to be the one! It has the name of that company painted on the side …… I still have no idea how to pronounce it, so there’s no mistake! OOOVER HEEERE!!”

Ayano waves her arms high over her head and screams. She’s always so quiet, so I never imagined she could yell this loud.

Charlette and I wave our hearts out at the plane.

Hoping that, somehow, Mio might see us.

“Heeey! Miooo!! H––––––EEEEY!!”

“Mio-taaan! MIIIOOO-T––––––AAAN!!”

We yell ourselves hoarse so she can hear us over the engines.

“MI––––––––––––OOO!!”

We got drowned out at first, but little by little, we get loud enough to overpower them.

But just as we do …… the plane is already out of sight.

“Mio-tan went bye bye,” Charlette says quietly in the same bright voice as always.

Ayano and I are still looking up at the clouds. Because, well …… The tears built up in our eyes will fall if we don’t.

When Charlette suddenly curls up in a ball.

“Charlette? What’s–––?”

“……………… Ugh ………… Sniff ………… Hiccup ………”

Her tiny back trembles just a little bit.

Then she cries out–––way louder than a jet engine.

“WAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! DWON’T …… DWON’T GO, MIO-TAAAAN! MIO-TAAAN! MIO-TAAAAAAN!!”

Mio-tan ……

Mio-tan ……

She keeps yelling Mio’s name from her spot on the ground.

Almost like she thinks Mio will come running back with that bright smile of hers if she yells enough times.

Except all her yells just echo off the building ……

“She’s already on her way to her new home, Charlette,” Ayano gently whispers as she kneels down next to her and puts a comforting hand on her back.

“You fought hard, Charlette. You held up very well, too.”

Ahh ………… I really am blind ……

I was so focused on my own problems that I never bothered to look at Charlette, not once.

Now I get it. I understand why Charlette acted like her usual self the whole time.

It was her way of showing Mio how much she had grown.

And Mio noticed.

That’s why she chose to give Charlette her old water bottle.

Because the boxed lunches there have really strong soy sauce–––.

“…………… Cha, Cha’s going to da Pwatice Weague,” she says, hugging her knees in close.

She then looks up at Ayano with her eyes and nose running like faucets and squeezes her hand.

“Ayanyo.”

“Yes …… Charlette?”

“Wet’s get stwong, together.”

“……………… Yes, let’s ……!”

Ayano puts her other hand on top of Charlette’s and they both look up at the spot in the sky where Mio’s plane disappeared.

“I’ve had enough of using talent as an excuse to run away. I know what I want to become and I’m in the right place to make it happen. All that’s left is effort,” says Ayano in a dignified voice.

“Regular effort won’t be enough, so I just need to try harder. To commit extreme …… effort.”

The gentle swaying of the carriage must have been the perfect lullaby. Holding hands, Charlette is using Ayano’s shoulder as a pillow while Ayano is leaning on her head.

I feel a little bit left out sitting across from them, so I start opening the huge bundle of letters that Mio gave me instead.

“……………… Amazing …………… So’s this one, and this one too …………!”

Most of the match records stop at different places in the early- and mid-games, some go all the way to checkmate …… But they all have one thing in common: quality.

On to the next, on to the next. I tear open the seal and dive right in.

“Each of these is amazing ……!! I didn’t know grade school students like us could research so thoroughly ……!”

I know she used software, but these are just as good as professional match records …… No! Actually they are even better when it comes to creativity because there aren’t any biases.

Her bold ideas keep catching me by surprise. But they’re so precise.

Of course, I’d get a lot stronger in the early-game by mastering these openings.

But! What’s really stoking the fire in my heart is–––.

“This Shogi …… all of them would be so much fun to play!!”

Right?! Aren’t they exciting?! I told you I know exactly what you like, Ai!

I can just see Mio puffing out her chest with pride.

“…… Huh?”

It’s the last envelope, but it is the biggest surprise yet.

“She …… scrapped this one? Did she forget to throw it away and put it in her bag by mistake?”

It’s a match record, but there’s a big X drawn on it.

Reading through it, it’s a match where both players counter each other’s strengths. This Shogi goes back and forth so many times, if someone told me it was from professionals or Sub League, I’d believe them ……

If Mio had opened like this during our match today, I think she would have won even more easily than she did.

“……Why did she cross it out?”

I spot Mio’s handwriting on the margin. It explains her reasoning in big, bold letters.

I hug as many letters as I can and cry right here in my seat.

All of my memories with her come flooding back as warm tears roll down my cheeks. They won’t stop.

The match record that Mio crossed out …… has become my greatest treasure.

“………… No fair …… No fair at all …………”

Always smile.

Get along with anyone and everyone. Keep facing forward.

Happiness is meant to be shared, not taken for yourself. That way, you can play Shogi with so many different people. That way, you can get even stronger.

And–––stay cheerful and bright no matter what happens!

That’s not easy, but I’ll be fine.

Because I have the best letter in the world.

“…… Right, Mio ……?”

I look up and see a plane passing by in front of the clouds outside the window.