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 7.2: Sometimes I Just Want to Play a Real Game

Chapter 7.2: Sometimes I Just Want to Play a Real Game

Terrifying content. It wasn’t even one line anymore; it was a full letter. And it took up an entire page despite being called a “scrap.”

The fighting spirit was insane—like a title match.

The problem was that the spirit was aimed in completely the wrong direction, and she was holding the clubroom key hostage.

—You can’t just keep the key like that!

Then again, I was the one who ran away yesterday without locking up, so I couldn’t really complain.

Feeling a little guilty, I wrote on a scrap, “Sorry. I’ll apologize properly, so can I have my tie and the clubroom key back?” and passed it to her.

Yukimi-san took it, smiled sweetly, and said in a gentle voice,

“Tatsuya-san.”

I got my hopes up for a second, but what she handed back wasn’t the tie—it was another scrap of paper.

On it was her favorite phrase.

—No.

I looked up quickly. Her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

There wasn’t a single waver in those pupils; they just endlessly staring at me.

For some reason, even though she was beautiful, I couldn’t stop trembling.

※

After school.

Our school has cleaning time right after homeroom.

We split into groups by student number, finish our assigned areas, report to the teacher, and then we’re free to go.

If you finish fast you can leave early, so the sports-club kids blatantly half-ass it or push the work onto others.

I’d normally love to blow through cleaning and go play shogi right away, but today I had garbage I absolutely had to throw out.

And by garbage, I mean…

—notebook scraps.

I have no idea why my desk was buried under a mountain of them.

I had just been trying to pay attention in class, yet somehow they kept piling up.

A quick count showed at least twenty.

At this point she should just use a whole diary.

But nobody does secret note-passing diaries past elementary school.

Of course I couldn’t suggest that, and by the time I realized it was already too late.

Yukimi-san’s notebook was in even worse shape.

She had torn out so many scraps during class that on only the third day of school it looked like it had survived a war.

Even an elementary school kid’s notebook wouldn’t be that destroyed.

If her parents saw it, how would she explain?

I was genuinely curious.

But she was probably cleaning the AV room right now, so I couldn’t exactly ask.

“All done.”

I tossed the mountain of scraps, finished cleaning in record time, and left the school building.

Normally I’d head straight to the clubroom, but I didn’t have the key, so that was impossible.

Even if the door was unlocked, the final boss would definitely be waiting inside.

And if I ran into the final boss, a forced “game” would start immediately.

That had to be avoided at all costs.

So this was unavoidable.

No matter how intense the stares got, no matter how many scraps piled up, my only choice was to keep running.

In other words, a strategic retreat.

“……………………”

It’s definitely not because Yukimi-san scares me or because I’m shaking wondering what she’ll do next.

No way.

Despite how I look, in my previous life I was forged in a shogi dojo.

I beat grumpy old men who clicked their tongues when they lost, rude customers who trash-talked, and I sent dojo challengers packing.

There’s no way a guy like me would shrink from a beginner.

No, I must not allowed to shrink.

“Maybe I’ll hit up a dojo for the first time in a while.”

Exactly. I’m not running away—I just happen to have business at a shogi dojo today.

That excuse worked perfectly.

Since coming to this world I’ve only played online shogi.

It’s about time I sat across a real board again.

“…A real board, huh.”

Yesterday I ended up “facing” one in a very different way, so I want to play some serious shogi and cool my head.

“I think there’s one at the next station?”

While heading to the station I checked my phone for the location.

One stop from my local Numazu Station—Mishima Station had the place I was looking for.

I boarded the train toward Atami. It was right at evening rush-for-students time, so it was fairly crowded, though nothing like Tokyo commuter hell.

“……………………”

Gazing at the peaceful scenery flowing past the window, I suddenly remembered the days when I first started shogi.

Back then all I thought about was shogi. I played nonstop, studied tactics, solved tsumeshogi puzzles in every spare moment…

When title matches were broadcast, I glued myself to the TV all day watching the pros battle.

That’s how much I loved shogi.

I never had amazing talent or anything, but I just wanted to play one more game, and one more after that…

Before I knew it, I had gotten pretty strong.

“Feels nostalgic.”

I don’t have that same burning passion anymore, and I can’t obsess like I used to.

But the excitement of looking forward to the next game, win or lose—that fire is still somewhere inside me.

“Alright, time to get serious for once.”

I stepped onto the platform at my destination.

If possible, I wouldn’t mind picking a fight with the locals and sharpening my rusty senses.

Even getting crushed would be fine.

Just being able to play real shogi is fun enough for me.