I Thought It Was a World Where Chastity Norms Were Reversed, But It Turns Out I Was Just Surrounded by the Overly Intense Girls in My Class - Chapter 2.2: I Just Want to Play One Game with the Beautiful Girl Next to Me!

Chapter 2.2: I Just Want to Play One Game with the Beautiful Girl Next to Me!

I just ran around the whole time until it finally ended.

When I escaped the courts, the sky was already dyed in sunset colors.

I had planned to create a shogi club, but it was long past the time to go home.

““Haa……””

The reality made me let out a deep sigh.

At the exact same moment, I heard another sigh right beside me.

I looked up and there she was…

“Yukimi-san?”

It was my seat neighbor, Yukimi-san.

She had fallen victim to the same tennis club recruitment. I had noticed her rallying on the next court over.

But I never expected her to sigh too.

Confused by this unexpected side of her, Yukimi-san gave a small smile.

“You saw that, didn’t you?”

“Saw what?”

“Me sighing.”

“Oh, well, I sighed too.”

We’re in the same boat.

Anyone would sigh after surviving that tennis hell.

“Are you interested in tennis, Baba-san?”

“Not at all. I got dragged into it.”

“Actually, the same thing happened to me… I got swept up in the momentum…”

“Yeah, you can’t say no to that. Even when I refused, it didn’t matter.”

“Yes. I refused too, but the next thing I knew, I was already there.”

Yukimi-san let out a soft, troubled laugh.

With the sunset behind her, that smile looked especially radiant.

For a second I almost stared too much, so I forced my brain back to shogi.

“Right, shogi!”

“Shogi?”

“Sorry, talking to myself.”

I have to create a shogi club.

First I need to go to the faculty office, fill out the forms, secure a club room, gather members, and find an advisor teacher.

Problems are piling up. As I was imagining the future,

“Do you like shogi?”

She suddenly asked.

There was no teasing in her eyes—just pure curiosity.

So I answered honestly.

“I love shogi. Actually, it might be the only thing I ever think about.”

“So you’re planning to join the shogi club?”

“Yeah. Except this school doesn’t have one. So I’m going to make it myself.”

There are tons of hurdles, but I’m definitely going to do it.

As I renewed my determination, Yukimi-san took one step closer, tilted her head, and asked,

“Why do you love shogi so much?”

“Hmm…”

I’ve never really thought deeply about it.

I’ve been playing since I was little, and before I knew it, it became part of my life. I never needed a reason.

But if I had to say…

“Shogi is communication.”

“Communication?”

“Of course you don’t talk during the game, but every move contains the opponent’s personality and thoughts.”

I took a big breath and continued.

“For example, aggressive players will attack recklessly, and defensive players will build an iron wall. Every single move shows who they are and how they feel. In shogi, that’s called a conversation.”

“A conversation…”

“That’s what I love. When I think ‘he’s panicking right now,’ I speed up my moves on purpose, or after playing the move they’ll hate most, I sneak a glance at their face…”

“Fufu, you’re kind of mean, Baba-san.”

“That’s just how shogi players are. We both play nasty moves, groan, and fight for victory.”

To outsiders it probably looks weird. That’s one reason shogi feels so inaccessible.

But to me, that’s exactly what I can’t get enough of.

“…That’s kind of wonderful.”

Yukimi-san smiled faintly, fixed her windblown hair, and looked at me.

There was no pretense in her reaction.

She seemed to be saying exactly what she felt…

Maybe, just maybe, she’s interested in shogi. That thought crossed my mind.

If that’s true, there’s only one thing to do.

“Yukimi-san!”

I took a step forward with all the momentum I had.

Even if the chance was tiny, as long as there was any hope at all, I wasn’t going to hesitate.

I took a deep breath, looked straight into her eyes, and slowly said the words.

“Will you play one game with me?”

※

“Will you play one game with me?”

The instant those words left my mouth, Yukimi-san’s cheeks turned bright red.

The calm atmosphere from earlier vanished completely.

She was visibly flustered, looking at me, looking away, looking at me again, looking away again.

I didn’t know why she was so shaken, but I somehow felt like I could push a little further.

“Just one game, that’s all I ask!”

I begged, pressing the point.

But she just stared at the ground, face crimson, saying nothing.

“…………………………”

After a long silence,

“…I can’t.”

“Huh?”

“I can’t!”

With that, she covered her face with both hands and—

“I-I’m so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!”

She shouted an apology and ran off at full speed.

Watching her back disappear, I thought to myself,

“As expected, she’s not interested in shogi.”

Of course.

No matter how reversed chastity norms are, that doesn’t make people suddenly like shogi.

Even in this world, every single pro shogi player is male. No matter how many more women there are, if none of them like shogi, it doesn’t help.

“Haa… I just want to play one game of shogi.”

I sighed, staring at the sunset.

But at that moment, I still had no idea.

I had no clue that Yukimi-san had completely misinterpreted my words and that things were about to spiral into something insane.

Or that my chastity was about to be in serious danger.