Cake

“?!”

Ai does a double-triple take and is unable to believe that he would do such a thing. Maybe she thinks that was a mistake?

The old guy grins.

“Here you go, have a freebie. Come and get it.”

“……”

Ai freezes on the spot and tries to get a read on what her opponent is trying to do.

–––Was this a handicap he was putting on himself after she rejected the proposal?

–––Or was it …… a ploy?

I had to stop myself from whistling, seeing him make that move while I pretend to play Shogi with Akira.

“Haven’t seen that in ages. It’s Pac-Man.”

“Pac-Man?”

Akira adjusts her sunglasses, clearly surprised to hear a very un-Shogi like word.

“Isn’t that …… a videogame?”

“I think that’s where the name comes from, but it’s a kind of sneak attack.”

It’s where the defensive player appears to offer up a Pawn to their opponent, a strange strategy that makes it seem like they’re at a disadvantage no matter how you look at it.

But it’s a ploy that goes much deeper than that.

I use the board in front of me to show what can happen with Pac-Man.

“Should the offensive player take the bait like a Pac-Man chomp, the whole board gets thrown into chaos like this. Formations change at the drop of a hat, so the one who has spent more time studying has a tremendous advantage.”

However, pros can overcome whatever changes come their way. It’s safe to say that anyone who can adjust to this strategy on the spot has what it takes to join the professional ranks.

“Just out of curiosity …… what happens when the offensive player doesn’t take the bait?”

“The game returns to standard protocol. While that is an option–––.”

I reset the pieces on the board and speak with hopeful expectation.

“As for me, I’d rather take it and go for chaos.”

I don’t know whether my excitement came across or not.

But Ai took the Pawn, snapping her Bishop down with authority. The old guy’s lips curled into an even deeper smile.

“Aw-ah, there it goes … All right!”

Here comes the chaos.

In a battle where all the big pieces throw their weight around, one wrong move and the tides of battle can go roaring in the other direction and ultimately lead to defeat.

“Kh ……!”

Ai presses her palm against her eye, biting her lip as she makes a painful face and bears it.

But the old guy looks as cool as a cucumber. It’s because he’s already done his homework. He thinks all he needs to do now is follow the same pattern he’s been studying without thinking too much. That’s the advantage of this strategy.

Unfortunately for him, that look of comfort steadily disappeared with each passing move.

It was because this little girl that fell into his trap refused to accept her fate and he kept falling into the traps she set for him. The old guy wasn’t just surprised: he’s in shock.

A fluke–––no, it’s not. Ai saw everything coming.

“………”

Ai kept her hand over one eye, but looked up at her flabbergasted opponent with the other in a paralyzing glare.

She must be getting information not only from the board, but from her opponent’s reactions as well. She’s the exact opposite of my apprentice who goes into her own little world in front of the Shogi board. Interesting.

Then.

“How about–––this!”

Ai moves a piece with a high-pitched click.

Perfect.

Ai, perfectly absorbed, deflected: a strategy she’d never used before. Calm, collected, reading, acute senses and a strong will to win above all else made it possible.

“… Nice!”

I couldn’t help but pump my fist in triumph under the table.

Perfectly absorbing an attack by itself can break an opponent’s spirit. Think of it like when an enemy you can’t inflict a single point of damage on shows up in an RPG: a role-playing game. Don’t you want to throw down the controller? It’s the same feeling.

“Tsk! …… Looks like this is as far as I go.”

The old guy tossed a piece in defeat the moment Ai went on the offensive.

His defensive formation hasn’t even been touched. In fact, you could say that the real battle was just about to start. But Shogi is a game where you lose the instant you think you can’t win.

“… You’re quite good, young lady.”

“Thanks. I know.”

Ai accepted the compliment with a resolute smile on her face. Once a brief review session came to a close, the old guy said, “Go buy yourself some juice,” as she elegantly took the rolled-up one-thousand-yen bill and placed it into her cigarette box.

Akira looks at me as if she were the one that just pulled off the victory.

“He-he-he. Now that’s what I call skill! My lady would never lose to any of the scum in this trash heap without getting startled by some outrageous outfit!!”

“I agree that her talent is on a different level. Yes.”

There was never any question about that.

“However, it’s necessary for Ai to toughen up mentally so that she won’t get rattled, no matter what strategy her opponent tries or how bizarre their clothes.”

There was once a Meijin Title Match where the challenger shaved his head as a way to psych himself up in what would become known as the Cue Ball Match.

The Meijin at that time was so stunned by his opponent’s shiny head that he lost the first match. However, he came to his senses as the man’s hair began to grow back and eventually defended his title.

“That Meijin admitted after the match that if his opponent had continued to shave his head, he might’ve been in trouble. That should prove that mental toughness plays a large part in Shogi matches.”

“Actually, I would like to ask if opponents shaving their heads is really that shocking?”

I admit that it also proves that many players in the Shogi world are that sensitive.

“But, then again, it doesn’t really matter what your opponent looks like once the match gets under …… way ……?”

I realized what I was saying was a lie as the words came out of my mouth. It was because I couldn’t concentrate on Shogi for the moment—I caught a glimpse of the beast walking through the front door.

The Panther–––had become the Pink Panther!

Ai spoke, more afraid than surprised.

“W …… Why is it a pink leopard pattern?!”

“… To get attention?”

The desire to become fancier and even more glamorous is in every Osakan’s DNA. The Panther must have evolved …

“Anybody up fer a round? Made a killin’ at the horse races today, so I’ll take on anyone and their mother.”

“… I …… I will face you!”

Ai sits across a Shogi board from the Pink Panther. Her opponent gladly accepts and starts lining up pieces. Going right into battle, huh … That grade schooler has nerves of steel.

But yeah, that pink leopard pattern dress … Even those glasses have pink frames …

“That’s not good. I’m too concerned about its gender to focus on the match …”

“W-Well …… This …… this is training!!”

Akira’s voice is trembling, but nothing rattles her. This is one opponent not to be taken lightly.

“I’m gonna flip ‘em, ‘k?”

After thoroughly trouncing Ai last time, the Panther flips the pieces and claims the first move with an amazing stroke of luck.

Once again, Panther goes for kakutou fu.

Keeping her guard up this time, Ai doesn’t do the Bishop exchange, but it goes without saying that Panther was ready for that.

“Yeesh, cheeky li’l one. Comin’ with power, eh?!”

Since Ai didn’t go for the Bishop exchange, Panther advances the Bishop before strengthening the offensive advantage with the left-side Knight.

“Ugh ……!”

Closing the Bishop Path not only cut off her Bishop, but Ai also couldn’t deploy her left-side Knight. It’s like trying to fight with your left hand tied behind your back. That’s just what her opponent wanted.

But Ai won’t break that easily.

Quite the opposite. Being forced into this formation stoked her defensive talent into a burning flame. With all those matches against tricky opponents under her belt, she’s leveling up right before my eyes ……!

“……”

People start gathering around them. Their match is at such a high level that the onlookers don’t say a word, only marvel at the jewel in front of them.

Despite having the first move and an early game advantage, Panther’s attack got cut off. That husky, tobacco-laced, genderless growl of a voice complimented Ai.

“Perfectly absorbin’,” said the woman once called New World’s Leopard. “My all-out offensive is no small feat!!”

Panther is an old lady!

Ai was so stunned by the revelation that her next move was horrible and lost soon after. Can’t blame her though.

 TELLS

Back at home, dinner time.

Everything that’s happened, Charlette the other day and with the other Ai at New World, has left me feeling like I haven’t spent enough time communicating with my apprentice. So I took the initiative and broke the ice myself.

Ai didn’t stop eating as she answered with a smile.

“I’ve been figuring out people’s tells recently!”

“… Oh?”

Not the response I was expecting, but Ai seems like her usual energetic self. Talk about a relief. I advance the conversation.

“What kind of tells?”

“Mio always makes sounds like “whaa” and “oof” whenever something catches her by surprise but suddenly becomes very quiet when her formations recover.”

“Ahh. Yes, yes.”

Making those sounds is a tell, an uncontrollable habit, that everyone picks up at some point while playing Shogi. Beginners usually keep it simple like “Ehh?” or “Oh yeah,” but more advanced players eventually start saying things like, “I see, I see to shining sea.” Mammoth!

“Ayano takes off her glasses, so she can’t look at me whenever she’s planning to do a surprise attack in the early game.”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh.”

A meticulous habit, sounds like something Ayano would do. Rather than worrying about her opponent seeing her expression, she’s making sure that she doesn’t get startled by seeing changes in their face. That’s adorable.

“Keika starts twirling her hair around her fingers whenever her defenses get weak.”

“Ah! Now that you mention it, she does do that.”

Everyone has these nervous tics. Even high-level players with years of experience under their belt have them.

That includes titleholders. Some might fiddle with their long kimono collars when the opponent makes an unexpected move or their hands might start shaking, sometimes even start coughing uncontrollably when they see a path to victory. Even if they’re aware of their own tells, there’s just no stopping them.

That’s the thing about people when they concentrate as hard as they can, habits start popping up without even realizing it.

As a competitor, it’s important to keep a cool head and recognize these habits when they come up. As her Master, it makes me happy to see that Ai’s perception has expanded beyond the board.

“Anything else? Find anything interesting?”

“Yes, I have.”

She sets down her bowl and chopsticks to say, “Master rubs his pants with both hands whenever he’s hiding something.”

“Come again?”

My chopsticks clatter to the table. Ai didn’t even bother looking at them, instead she keeps her eyes trained on me, observing … Then, without blinking:

Holy crap, this is terrifying.

“Huh? Me? H-Hiding something?”

“You are, aren’t you?”

“No, no, no, no! Why would I?! W-What would I need to hide anyway?! Not that I could if I wanted to, living in this tiny room with you–––.”

“You’re rubbing your pants.”

“Yikes?!”

I was! I had no idea! No idea at all!!

“You are hiding something …… yes?”

“……”

My palms tend to start leaking when I get nervous, to the point that I once dropped a piece in the middle of a match. Therefore, I always wipe my hands with something out of sight to prevent pieces from slipping, letting my opponent know my last move was horrible and my formation is weak or when I’m about to go on the offensive. It started out as a way to avoid those mistakes, but it’s become a habit of mine.

Only two people have ever figured that out, Big Sis and Sir Ayumu. What’s more, they only figured it out recently, and I’ve been playing against them for years. To think that Ai would recognize it in less than two months …

She’s …… horrifying!!

“Please be honest with me. It’s not too late.”

“Hm? You keep saying I’m hiding something, but it’s really not ringing any bells.”

I somehow manage to sit up straight and play innocent, averting my eyes from hers to avoid getting startled again. However, my apprentice doesn’t let up the pressure and moves in again. It’s like she always knows the best move to make. This is intense ……!

“That’s a lie. You’re hiding something.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because Master always looks up and to the right when he lies.”

“What?! I do?!”

“No.”

She was bluffing ……!!

“But …… you flinched, didn’t you?”

That I did. I most certainly did.

I had been looking over her right side and was just about to look left to throw her off, but I fell right into that trap.

W-When did she learn this technique?! Aren’t you growing up a little too fast, Ai?!

“…I’m not angry, so please tell me the truth.”

I swear, there’s a dark aura drifting in from behind her that’s threatening to overtake me like enemy cavalry. I can hear the horses twp twp twp … She looked angry from the start …

“R-Really? You’re not mad?”

“No. I’m not mad.”

Then she says, smiling ear to ear.

“But I’m about to be.”

Several hours later–––.

After enduring every one of my apprentice’s secret techniques and being put in check more times than I can count, I managed to get through the evening without telling her about Ai Yashajin.

B-But …… I think it took a few years off my life …

 A LESSON FOR BEGINNERS

“…… I can’t …… take anymore …… too much to explain …… just can’t ……”

“Huh?”

“That’s not important, now go play! Take down the Panther today no matter what, got that?! I have my own life-threatening battles to worry about?!”

Although a bit taken aback by my outburst, she spits out the words, “And I’m going to win, you don’t have to tell me!” before going to challenge New World’s Leopard.

Once their match gets underway, Akira and I are left on our own as always.

“………”

“………”

“………”

“… Um.”

“Yes?”

“We paid to get in too, so why not play? The two of us.”

“By play, you mean?”

“Shogi, of course.”

What else is there?

“But …… I don’t know much of the game.”

“I’ll teach you if you’d like. First, this is how you line up the pieces–––.”

“That much, I know.”

Sounding a little peeved, Akira starts snapping the plastic pieces onto the board.

“Humph …… See? Perfect, like I said,” she says to me once she finished with a look of accomplishment on her face.

“Your Rook and Bishop are switched.”

“………”

The usual response at times like this is, “Ah! My mistake,” or, “Oh, so they are.”

Akira, however, said this while slowly removing her sunglasses: “Don’t you get to choose which side they’re on?”

Holy ……

Freely choose where the Rook and Bishop line up?! Where did she come up with that?! New age or something ……?!

“Umm …… no, you’re not free to choose. The Rook goes on the right and the Bishop goes on the left.”

“Set in your ways, aren’t you?”

Akira voices her discontent but switches the Rook and Bishop to the correct spots.

“All right, let’s get started …… Akira, do you know how the pieces move?”

“Don’t take me for a fool. How long do you think I’ve looked after the young lady? I’ve mastered them all perfectly.”

Our match started like that, but broke down almost right away.

“The Silver can’t move to the side.”

“… But I want it to.”

“It doesn’t work that way.”

“………”

“Trying to hide it from me won’t work either! Put it back and think of another move.”

“It’s defective. The rules are in the way. The Gold and Silver are too hard to tell apart.”

That’s a hurdle that all beginners must clear. The second one would be differentiating how the Promoted Rook and Promoted Bishop move.

“Remembering the difference is impossible, so they should all be one or the other.”

“Please take that up with the association directly.”

“You are the Ryuo, yes? That makes you one of the association’s bigwigs, does it not?”

“I have no power whatsoever. Think of me more like a decoration.”

A titleholder’s authority is completely different from the power wielded by the association. I’m just one of many professional Shogi players and my lineage is just a tiny branch of the Kansai Association, which is overpowered by the one in Kanto. Having fewer people means less influence, and the icing on the cake was my Master relieving himself from the association window, which made whatever clout I had disappear like the morning fog.

“Please, don’t get hung up on it. Everyone makes that mistake at first …… and, just between us, pros mix those pieces up sometimes too. (ha-ha)”

“And they still call themselves professionals? (grimace)”

“Work with me here, will you?!”

Just to be clear, pros don’t mix up how Golds and Silvers move, except when deploying one or the other from their captured pieces back onto the board. Always double-check.

“Just remember how the pieces move, okay! Silvers can’t move left, right or straight back! Golds can’t go diagonally backward in either direction!”

“I can’t be expected to remember so much new information! I’m doing the best I can!”

Oops. I gotta be more careful.

Kids soak this stuff up like sponges, but remembering how pieces move is a big hurdle for adults. We’ll never get off the ground if she gets frustrated now.

It’s an especially big hurdle for women …… However, there is a way to get her interested.

“…… Oh? But you see, Akira.”

I take a deep breath, put a smile on my face and say in a lighter tone.

“The Silver is actually an elephant.”

“Have you suffered head trauma?”

“It’s just a metaphor! An example to show you how it moves!!”

I point out the directions a Silver can move on the board.

“Take a closer look! See? Like this!”

“Uh-huh.”

“Its trunk and front legs stick out into the spaces!”

“Uh-huh.”

“Now, doesn’t that look like an elephant?”

“… Are you sure you haven’t suffered a blow to the head?”

“Just admit it, will you! That’s obviously an elephant?!”

I’ve had it with this woman! This conversation is going nowhere!!

“You’re the one that started talking about elephants for no reason. Bringing up animals in the middle of a Shogi game confused me.”

“I’m not the one that came up with that explanation. Actually, the Silver moving like an elephant has an important role in explaining Shogi’s roots.”

“Oh?”

“No chess piece moves like a Silver. There are however pieces in India’s Chaturanga and Thailand’s Makruk that do. There are ‘elephant’ pieces in Chinese Chess, Xiangqi, and Korean Chess, Changi, but they move differently. That’s why it’s theorized that Shogi originated in India and most likely came to Japan via Southeast Asia.”

There are other theories, but I like this one because the Silver’s movements are easier to explain this way.

“People trained the elephants in India and Thailand to fight alongside them in war. Since Shogi is a game based on war strategy, it makes sense that they would be included.”

“There are elephants in Africa as well.”

“Ha-ha, that there are. Then, Shogi could have originated in Africa, but the Silver still moves like an elephant. Don’t forget, el-e-phant!”

“You’re quite vocal …… like an elephant.”

It took everything I had to get her to remember that the Silver can’t move side to side or straight back to get the match back up again. But we couldn’t finish because she face-planted on the third hurdle for beginners: “Only the Knight can jump over other pieces.”

Oh, and Ai got thoroughly destroyed by Panther five times in a row again today.

“… And it was going so well too …”

Or at least she claims it was, so she’s probably figured something out.

“My lady, we must leave now or else we’ll break curfew. Let’s be on our way!”

Akira ushers Ai along with a bit sharper tone than usual. I bet she’s frustrated with Shogi at the moment, so I ask a question to get her to realize how much progress she’s made today.

“Just one last question about how the Silver moves to review. What animal is it modeled after?”

“… A hippopotamus?”

Her face has “honest mistake” written all over it. We’ve got a long way to go.

 CAKE

I really should pick up something for my apprentice waiting at home …… But always bringing back the same kebabs would be suspicious. Heck, she’s already suspicious.

“… Could swing through Nanba.”

I usually go through Doubutsu-en Mae Station, but I decide to go in the opposite direction tonight. Nanba has got all kinds of things, and I can just go to Umeda if nothing looks all that good.

“But, yeah. What would make a grade schooler happy anyway?”

I haven’t got a clue, so I decided to consult with someone comparatively closer to a grade school girl, a girl in junior high.

I take out my smartphone.

Since there was a message waiting for me, I open it up to have a look. It’s from Sir Ayumu in Kanto, a picture with the heading: “Your thoughts on this garment?”

It looks like he took this picture of himself in a dressing room somewhere, posing for the camera. There’s a feathered robe around his shoulders. First a cape, now feathers ……

Personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that thing, but seeing someone else wear it is pretty funny. So, I typed an off-handed response: “Nice! Wear it to our next match (^_^)” and called it good. Then, I went into my phone history and tapped on Big Sis’s number.

“Yes?”

“Ah, hello? It’s me.”

“What?”

“You like sweets, right Big Sis?”

“… I don’t hate them.”

She sounds a bit cautious, but I press forward with another question.

“Are there any good sweet shops around?”

“Where are you?”

“Nanba. I’ll take the train to Umeda later.”

“Well …… let me think.”

She pauses for a moment, like she’s thinking back on something, before an avalanche of words comes through the speaker.

“There’s a place in Umeda, Shu Hatakeyama. Their ‘Fruit Overload☆Milk Crêpe’ is apparently making waves. The magaz …… the rumors say that the shop itself is perfect for a couple’s night out. Also, it’s pretty late but the Hilton should be serving their ‘Afternoon Tea Set.’ They’re pretty hard on the wallet but apparently their portions are big enough to have for dinner. If you’re around Dojima, Itodanidou’s roll cake is where it’s at. They have a few baked pastries that are good for a couple of days, but you can sit and look at the river and eat at the restaurant too. If you’re thinking around the association, there’s a place near the intersection in front of Shin Fukushima Station that serves cake with all you can drink coffee. It’s great because you can get on the train right away and they’re open until late. It’s not like I know so much because I want to go there and looked it up myself, it’s all these girly girls in my class that keep talking my ears off.”

“… But you know your stuff?”

“Hardly,” says Big Sis, as if she couldn’t be bothered to talk about cakes and pastries. “So? What’s this about? I just finished up preparing for my second match with the Women’s King for the day after tomorrow, so I could go for some sweets if you’re paying. I travel tomorrow so can’t do anything then, but I could keep you company right now–––.”

“Nah, today’s lesson went a little long, so thinking of buying something for Ai.”

“Drop dead, Kuzu!!”

The conversation ended with an angry beep. No need to get all boiled up. What could I possibly have said just now that would make her tell me to go to hell?

All right, the closest one to here would be …… Itodanidou’s roll cake?

I get directions from my phone and set off to pick up a surprise for my apprentice.

Buying two might be a good idea.

There’s a certain princess who might need a peace offering.