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 27: The Only Place to Take a Break

Chapter 27: The Only Place to Take a Break

While carrying a large number of books and dashing through the residential streets, fatigue had built up in my body.

It was already tough enough that heading straight home would be hard.

So I decided to take a break once.

“There’s a relaxing place right around here. I was thinking of taking a little break.”

“Like a cafe?”

“It’s a bit different from a cafe. Ah, if you want to go home, that’s totally fine. Worst case, I’ll go alone.”

“I don’t really get it, but I’ll go too.”

“Really? That’s great.”

Since I had gotten her agreement, I figured we would head there right away.

I started walking with that thought.

“Hey, Baba.”

“Hm?”

“…The place we’re going to now, could it be the place to do that thing?”

“That thing?”

I did not know what that thing Kagurazaka-san meant, but from the flow of the talk, it was probably shogi.

“Yeah. The place to do that thing.”

“For real⁉︎”

Kagurazaka-san widened her eyes in shock.

“A break… that’s seriously too bold, right.”

“True, it might be pretty intense for a break.”

“Intense⁉︎”

“But it’s better than standing the whole time, right? A park would have been fine too, but outside the wind is strong after all.”

I muttered that casually, and she said it in a strong tone.

“A park is totally no good! And the place you’re worried about has no wind. Standing the whole time is the problem.”

“Yeah…”

In reality, whether we could sit or not made a big difference.

Frankly, whether it was a park bench or a swing, just sitting alone recovered a good amount of stamina.

“Well, whether stamina recovers is iffy…”

“It definitely will not recover, right.”

True, since it used the head, we might get even more tired.

For purely resting, a cafe would be more ideal.

“Should we make it somewhere else after all?”

“…I’m fine with there. Frankly, it’s super embarrassing. …I’ve never been there either.”

I said it while glancing sideways at Kagurazaka-san, whose cheeks puffed out.

“Ah, Kagurazaka-san is a first-timer.”

“It’s gotta be my first time! What are you saying, Baba⁉︎”

“Sorry, sorry.”

It was natural for a beginner to not have gone before.

“Well, beginners get tense at first, right. But it’s okay. I’ll guide you carefully.”

“Baba, seriously bold.”

Her face flushed bright red, and Kagurazaka-san turned away in embarrassment.

No matter what, was she not too tense?

While thinking that, as we walked side by side, the destination came into view.

“For some reason, I’m starting to get excited now.”

“Baba, too excited.”

“Can’t help it. It’s my first time going with someone too.”

Going there after school with a classmate.

Just that made my chest pound.

“Kagurazaka-san, let’s go.”

“Wait. I seriously need to prepare my heart.”

I took her trembling hand in agitation and headed to the entrance at a run.

※

–We came to the shogi dojo.

Inside, old men sat facing each other across the boards with serious expressions on their faces.

Click, click—the sounds of the pieces rang out, intermingling with someone’s sigh and the sound of hitting the chess clock.

That nostalgic air mixed with the scent of the pieces and the smell of tobacco.

“…Seriously, Baba is too Baba.”

There was a woman standing tall at the entrance to that unique space. Kagurazaka-san.

While hugging her books, she twitched her eyebrows for some reason, her face showing an expression mixed with exasperation, shame, and resentment.

“…You’re shaking a maiden’s heart too much, right.”

“What⁉︎”

She glared at me sharply.

When I was perplexed with no inkling, Kagurazaka-san sighed in exasperation,

“A break for that thing is totally that thing, right. Why is Baba’s that thing always that thing? Because your head is that thing?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Is Baba’s head made of shogi?”

“Yeah.”

It was not entirely wrong.

I learned the shogi rules before learning characters, so the foundation shaping the current me was undoubtedly shogi.

However, that answer seemed to stroke Kagurazaka-san’s nerves the wrong way,

“Can I crack it open once and check?”

“No way that’s allowed. Hey, books are no good, books.”

Kagurazaka-san swung the book up with force.

The thick corner of the single volume had my head in its sights.

This was bad. The shogi dojo would become the scene of a murder.

“Hey, Baba. I know this from a book I read long ago,”

Kagurazaka-san prefaced it like that,

“The dent on the back of the shogi board is called ‘blood puddle,’ right?”

She muttered something dreadful.

“Why that⁉︎”

Indeed, just as Kagurazaka-san said, there was a dent called the blood puddle on the back of the shogi board.

According to legend, during the match, they cut off the neck of the insolent one butting in from the side, and by placing that neck on the back of the shogi board, they collected the blood.

Unclear if it was actually done, but that was fine.

The problem was why she brought up such an ominous topic, of all times, right when swinging the book.

–Eh, could she be aiming for my neck?

“Just calm down for now. You’ll understand once we play. You’ll understand once we play.”

“Stab who, you mean Baba?”

“Play shogi! There’s nothing else to play.”

“There are lots of places to stab, right.”

While saying that, Kagurazaka-san directed her gaze to my lower body.

At the least, there was no mistake she was interpreting it in a sense separate from shogi.

That was way too dangerous.

“Anyway, right? Since we came all this way, let’s play shogi.”

“I don’t know the rules.”

“Even first time is fine. I’ll teach you carefully.”

When I said that with a sales smile, Kagurazaka-san immediately averted her gaze.

It felt like her cheeks were red somewhere, but that was probably my misperception.

“Come on, let’s play shogi.”

“…I’m good. More than that, I want to see Baba doing a serious match.”

“Eh…… I want to exchange one game with Kagurazaka-san though.”

“……Idiot!”

I had only said my true feelings, yet for some reason I got scolded.

“Show me serious Baba once. Then maybe my motivation to play shogi will go up.”

“Got it.”

If she said that much, I would show my serious self.

I paid the seating fee at reception, then wrote my name and rank on the matching sheet.

I handed the sheet written as Baba Tatsuya《4-dan》to reception and waited intently for the opponent to be decided.

Not long after that, the receptionist guided me to where the opponent was.

……………………………………

At the place I was guided to, a tough-faced old man waited with his arms crossed.

Deep wrinkles carved between his eyebrows and arms tanned pitch black. And the characteristic sunglasses.

A scar was carved under the sunglasses, and he looked completely like an ordinary citizen.

While being overwhelmed by the aura of a seasoned strong one used to the place, I took a seat.

When confronting him directly from the front, the intimidation increased even more.

It was pressure enough that just matching eyes felt like I would be blown away.

This was bad. I did not seem able to demonstrate my ability like this.

Shogi was important for mentality.

If you lost in mentality, even if you won in reading, you could not win. That was shogi.

So I decided to devise a plan so as not to lose to the old man’s pressure.

I rummaged in my bag and took out sunglasses from inside.

“Baba?”

The plan was simple.

If the other side intimidated with sunglasses, then I would counter with sunglasses too.

“Baba⁉︎ Seriously gonna put them on?”

“I have to show seriousness.”

“That’s definitely the wrong direction for resolve, right.”

“It’s fine like this.”

The instant I put on the sunglasses, the old man twitched his finger.

It was sharp eyes that were clear even through the sunglasses.

However, unexpectedly, a soft smile floated on his mouth.

“I don’t hate that kind of thing.”

“I’ll go in with the intent to win.”

After lightly exchanging words, the old man slowly opened the lid of the piece box.

“!!”

In that instant, the air on the board changed in a moment.

From here, appearance and position and age did not matter.

The scenery that appeared on the board was everything.

And so the smoke signal of the battle rose.