Chapter Text
Hifumi sat in the church in Kanda, playing shogi by herself. It wasn’t anything new to her, she was used to being alone.
Playing by herself had its benefits. It’s a much harder challenge to outsmart yourself than it is to outsmart others. And this way she can enjoy the quiet.
“Togo-san?”
Oh, was that someone talking to her?
“Yes?” Her voice came out a lot meeker than she expected.
It was a boy, about her age, maybe older by a few months, who spoke to her. A boy with messy black hair and glasses. Oh, so another fanboy, she assumed.
“Playing shogi by yourself in a church?” He asked.
“I’m doing research, so…” Hifumi trailed off, trying to think of the best way to get this boy to leave her alone. “Experimenting with new tactics is best to do alone in a place like this. Don’t mind me; please go ahead and pray.”
The boy, Ren, was lost in thought. He had come to Kanda specifically in hopes of finding Hifumi Togo, who he heard was this beautiful shogi player prodigy. He wasn’t here because she was beautiful—though he couldn’t deny that she was—he was here to learn her tactics. It might help with his Phantom Thief work.
…Maybe. He didn’t know for sure, but he’s seen weirder.
“Can you teach me shogi?” He asked.
“Huh?” Hifumi blinked. “Um, you don’t necessarily have to learn from me, you know. There are other options, such as playing online.”
Ren bowed his head. “Please?”
He really didn’t want to have come all this way for nothing.
Hifumi shook her head. “Sorry, I just can’t.”
She went back to the game she was playing. Still, there was something odd about this boy that she couldn’t understand. There were so few people who had an interest in shogi, especially people her age.
And even fewer people who would want to play shogi with her…
“So… you like shogi?” She asked, since the boy was still there.
“I want to play like you,” he said.
“Like me?” A chuckle escaped her lips. “You’re a bit strange, but thank you.”
Maybe on another day, Ren would’ve been offended by that, but that might’ve been one of the nicest things someone his age has said to him outside the Phantom Thieves.
“About that game, then?” Ren sat down.
Hifumi didn’t want to miss this chance to play a game with someone her age for once. She began putting the pieces back in order. “Just a quick game then. Ten seconds per move, if that’s alright with you.”
Ren didn’t know a single thing about shogi. Regardless, he agreed if it meant he might learn something.
When it was his turn, he introduced himself. “I’m Ren Amamiya, by the way. Nice to meet you.”
Hifumi seemed lost in thought. “…Yes. Nice to meet you.”
It was quiet as the game went on. That is, until Hifumi seemed to have a sudden personality change.
“So this is your skill level, huh? The dragon which governs the blue sky has fallen into my hands. How do you intend to survive this?”
Still not the weirdest thing Ren has heard in the past year. “What?”
Hifumi placed a piece with a click that echoed across the church. “Checkmate! Please concede.”
Ren shook his head, not entirely sure how it was checkmate. “I can still keep going.”
“To concede is an act of accepting that you have lost, with grace,” she said. “If you aspire to become a shogi player, I recommend you take your study of the game to heart.”
“Of course…” He bowed in thanks.
Hifumi also bowed. “Thank you for playing. That will be all for today.”
She hesitated as she packed up the shogi set. It wasn’t an awfully challenging game, but no one had ever asked her to play a game with them. Maybe…
“If it’s alright with you,” the words were out her mouth before she could think on it anymore, “may I request another match sometime?”
Ren blinked. He had no clue what she saw in him to want to play another match—he barely knew the rules of shogi.
“Why?” He asked.
“I feel... a gambler's spirit emanating from you,” Hifumi said, before gasping at the realization that what she said sounded rather embarrassing. “Um, which is strange, since your style of play is that of a complete novice.”
Ren winced. “Sorry, I’m a beginner. ”
That explained the poor moves…
It took Hifumi a moment too long to realize she just insulted him to his face. “I’m sorry…”
“Eh, it’s fine.” He shrugged. He’d heard worse insults—and at least this was actually true.
An awkward silence passed as she finished packing up the shogi set and placed it in her bag.
“Um, you wanted me to teach you shogi, yes?” Hifumi brushed a stray hair behind her ear. “I will instruct you under one condition: You become my playing partner so that I can research new moves. Is that agreeable?”
“Sounds good to me.” His voice sounded calm, but he was celebrating on the inside.
“Then it’s a deal.” As Ren stood up, she added, “Oh, Amamiya-san, one more thing… Um, would you like to exchange chat IDs with me…?
She could feel her face starting to heat up as soon as she got the words out. Oh, it was so embarrassing, asking for his number like that. What if this weirded him out? What if—
“Lucky me.” He smirked and took out his phone.
Now Hifumi was really starting to blush. She fumbled for her phone and shared her contact info with Ren and left, barely remembering to tell him that she’ll tell him when she’ll be at the church again.
A little over a week later, Ren walked into the church and wiped some sweat from his forehead. The summer heat was starting to roll in, the air conditioning was a welcome change of pace. The best his room had to offer was an open window.
He walked over to Hifumi, who was sitting on the bench closest to the confessional, focused on a shogi board, like last time.
“Good evening, Togo-san.” He sat down, placing his bag next to him. He didn’t have to worry about placing it gently for once, since Morgana had decided to go on a walk instead of staying with him.
Hifumi jolted in her seat. “Oh, Amamiya-san… Would you like to play a match?”
“Sure.”
Once again, Ren realized he barely knew how to play shogi, and Hifumi had to tell him quite a few times that he couldn’t make certain moves. Eventually, she gave him a brief rundown of how the game worked, and how each piece moves.
That was about the last “normal” interaction he had with Hifumi for the rest of the game. About halfway through, she started saying rather… eccentric things.
“You think to protect yourself with that paltry defense?” She said, right before laughing just like a villain would.
Ren brushed it away at first. He was used to people doing things that the majority of people would find odd—he had a habit of drawing those types of people to him, he realized after a few months of living in Tokyo. And the stares from the other people they earned thanks to Hifumi’s loudness didn’t bother him, as long as she was fine with it.
He started getting more concerned after the next thing she said. “Can you hear them? The wailing of dying soldiers, echoing throughout the battlefield…”
“Togo-san?”
She either didn’t notice he said something or didn’t care. “With an incompetent King, a soldier cannot show his true bravery. Time for you to suffer!”
“Suffer? Um, what are you—”
“I summon forth the forbidden move that shall bring your end: Ultimate Excalibur Attack!” Hifumi moved a piece. “Check.”
Ren blinked, utterly stunned. She just changed her demeanor completely in the span of just a few seconds. Now that he thought about it, she had done this last time they played. Maybe it was because he had slightly fewer things to worry about now—thanks to not having just stolen the heart of a mob boss—but her other personality when playing shogi was a lot more noticeable today.
Hifumi seemed to notice this too as she sunk lower into her seat. “Ah, I did it again....”
“You do that often?” Ren asked.
She nodded. “It's an embarrassing habit I have. During a match, I, um… I tend to get very aggressive. It’s as if I assume the role of a queen of a kingdom. Sorry…”
“It’s fine. I find it interesting, actually.”
“You do?” Hifumi smiled. “You’re a strange one, indeed.”
Ren smirked. “You’re one to talk.”
He looked at his bag. The shogi lesson was done—he’d figure out how to apply this to Phantom Thief work later—so now he could go. But something was keeping him from leaving, he couldn’t his finger on it. Maybe it was just because Hifumi was a pretty girl that he wanted to get to know better, or he wanted another friend his age who didn’t treat him like he was a criminal, or maybe because he just didn’t have anything better to do that evening.
Regardless, he decided to keep the conversation going. “Is there any reason you do that? Or is it just something you’ve always done?”
“My father had me do image training exercises when I was younger, to help me learn the rules,” Hifumi said with a fond smile after a long moment of thought. “I gradually began to view the shogi board as if it were my own kingdom. I had fun coming up with stories and strategies for my, um, subjects.”
“Sounds fun.”
“It was. Er, it is… But lately, I’ve been hearing that people make fun of me for it online. They think I’m weird, or that I’m an otaku, or that I’m just crazy… I mean, I can’t blame them, I think I’m weird too.”
After that much rambling, Hifumi just wanted to bury her head in her hand—better yet, she wanted to go straight to her room and stay in there until Christmas. Why was she talking so much about herself to someone she met only a week ago? It was so embarrassing…
“What’s wrong with being weird?” Ren asked
“Huh?”
“I mean, is it really so bad to be yourself? I don’t think it’s a problem to be as weird as you want, as long as you’re not hurting anybody.”
She couldn’t believe it. He had said it so casually, like he didn’t have to think twice about it. Of course there was a problem being weird! Being weird was the whole reason she had to play shogi alone in this church—because nobody wanted to spend time with the “weird shogi girl”.
Nobody… except Ren. He must’ve been someone that could be considered weird too, if he was spending his evening with her instead of literally anything else. But instead of just letting people bully him for being weird, he took it in stride.
Hifumi wished she could be more like that…
Sensing Hifumi was still worrying about it, Ren said, “Don’t worry about them. Be as weird as you want.”
She smiled. “Your positivity is a welcome relief.”
“So, another match? I feel like losing again.”
Her smile faltered. “Sorry, I’m busy. That’ll have to be all for today.”
“It’s cool. Until next time then.” Ren cracked his knuckles.
“That reminds me, do you read weekly magazines?”
“No. Why?”
“Um, well I’m doing a photo shoot for one…” Hifumi twirled a strand of hair around her finger.
It hit Ren for the first time that Hifumi was an actual idol, someone relatively famous. But he didn’t get the feeling that being in the spotlight was something she would be into.
“But you don’t want to, right?” He asked.
“How perceptive of you.”
“Well, I do have a third eye.” Ren meant that literally.
Hifumi laughed. “But yes, I’m reluctant to do it. Still, if I can draw more attention to shogi, maybe the sport will become more popular. At least that’s how I’m justifying it to myself.”
Ren had something to say to that, but he held his tongue for once. It wasn’t something he normally did, but he felt that it was for the best this time. There wasn’t he could say to Hifumi to get her to change her mind.
He ended up just wishing her luck.
“Thank you,” she said. “I have an interview later tonight, so I should get going now. Thank you for the match.”
Hifumi finally made it out of her interview hours later. Her mother was with her, sending texts on her phone so fast that Hifumi couldn’t make out what they said, as usual. Eventually, she looked up from it as they walked through the streets, passing through college students and young adults.
“You could have talked less about shogi,” she said.
“I thought that was the point of the interview?” Hifumi asked.
“People don’t want to hear about boring old shogi, they want to hear about you. The rising young lady who’s making her way up in the shogi world.”
Whatever feelings she had about her mother calling shogi “boring” were pushed aside. Hifumi knew that her mother didn’t have the same love for shogi that she or her father did, but she was still here to support her dreams. If that meant putting up with a few interviews in photoshoots here and there, Hifumi was fine with it.
“Sorry, Mother.”
They kept walking through the streets, heading towards the station. The train wasn’t there when they arrived, so they waited. Hifumi spared a glance at a nearby vending machine. She was thirsty after all that talking for the interview, but she decided not to get something to drink. It was likely her mother would’ve said something about there being water at home.
It was fine. Hifumi could wait.
A few minutes of waiting later, and a boy approached them, nervously holding his phone. He looked to be in his early teens, maybe 13 or 14. He had brown hair that was swept back in a messy ponytail.
“Excuse me,” he said, “but are you Hifumi Togo?”
“Huh? Oh, yes, I am…”
“Cool! I’m a huge fan. Wow, you’re even more beautiful in person!”
Maybe Hifumi wasn’t the best judge, but she thought it wasn’t exactly normal to say that to someone you just met.
Regardless, she let him ramble on for a bit longer before saying, “Thank you, but I have to use the restroom. Please excuse me.”
“Oh, at least give him an autograph,” her mother chimed in. “It’s not every day one of your fans approaches you.”
Actually, it almost was an everyday occurrence now that Hifumi thought about it.
“Oh, please do! I’d be honored.” The boy patted his pockets but didn’t find anything and rolled his sleeve up. “I don’t have any paper, but you can sign my arm.”
Hifumi didn’t question it any further, just wanted to be done with this interaction. She pulled a marker out of her bag and signed the boy’s arm, then excused herself to go to the restroom.
Once she was there, she looked in the mirror and rubbed her eyes. What an exhausting few hours it had been. If she was being entirely honest with herself, she didn’t want to do interviews or sign autographs like a celebrity. She’d much rather study in her room, or play shogi with Amamiya-san in the church.
But she’d have to wait a little while longer until she could get either of those things. Until then, she would have to settle with this brief moment alone with her thoughts in the bathroom.