Chapter Text
Kaede Manyuda
Kirari brought up Sayaka and Kaede with the current state of things as the game begins between Mirei and the Shogi Club President. Sayaka is handling the news much worse than Kaede.
To Kaede, this is nothing new for Kirari. She is known to make irrational decisions for the sake of her own amusement. She is acting the exact same as she always has. Not that it matters to Kaede anymore, Since his loss to Yumeko he has long started to see the meaninglessness of trying to win in this school. No, he is far more intrigued by the match that is afoot.
Kaede assesses the board, they are only three moves in… but already, he sees what Mirei is doing. Kaede does enjoy a good game of shogi every once and a while. A game of calculation where the weak can’t hide from a strong strategy? These are some gambles Kaede can still respect.
As Sayaka reels from Kirari’s explanation, Kaede finds himself more and more intrigued by the game.
“Your ability to find special individuals never ceases to amaze me Kirari, from where I stand, Mirei will win this easily.” Kaede remarks as Sayaka yells “THAT’S NOT THE POINT” but Kaede isn’t listening. His eyes are solely focused on the two players developing their formations in the early game.
“Her moves… While at first they may seem like they line up with formal shogi formations, that… isn’t entirely true. Some moves deviate wildly from tactics, but are still… strong.”
Mirei places a pawn serenely, the piece perfectly centered in the square… It looks like a normal move, but it causes Kaede to scoff. He sees it before Mirei’s opponent.
“Another strong move… While it may not look like it, that piece closed off three possible attacking options for her opponent. Three possible moves he could have made to attack Mirei’s structure that existed one turn ago are suddenly… risks for her opponent, a few moves down the line. Whether it’s from the pawn on the ideal spot for his pieces to move to, or move made in response to the pawn… collapsing his own structure in the future.”
Kaede’s mind is racing as he watches Mirei play. He has seen several inhuman things in this school. Performances or skills from gamblers that exceed normal humans in ability. He was a victim to one of them just a short few months ago. But with Mirei there is no chaos or risk. No big comebacks from chaos, no perfect bluffs in poker to change momentum. Just complete mathematical certainty, as if the outcome was always inevitable.
The shogi club president still hasn’t made a move, he evaluates the board, looking at all his possible moves. Why… does suddenly all his moves feel bad?
With Sayaka finally calmed down, the two join Kaede in watching the game. Kirari’s eyes are trained on the shogi club president. She is amused by the man's hesitation and fear over this board game.
“Tick tick tick~ the move timer is clicking down… what’s wrong? Aren’t you the president of the shogi club” the club president sweats a bit at Kirari’s needling as Mirei looks at him perfectly calm, still smiling. :). Waiting for him patiently. Sitting perfectly still other than her breathing and blinking.
The president finally makes a move, the best move he could in the current state of the board to keep his formation strong.
Mirei speaks for the first time in the match. “Good job! :D, you chose the best move given your position… optimizing for the next three to four turns… however that piece will actually hurt you in approximately 7 turns, my apologies :(“
Kirari’s smirk turns borderline feral. Mirei is being apologetic as she calmly predicts—no—calculates the future. Mirei is a delight to watch win. Sayaka’s eyes widen at Mirei’s remark, and Kaede scoffs.
“Tch… seven turns? Do you know how many combinations of moves can happen in seven turns? You have been impressive so far, but you are too arrogant. You forget that this man is the best shogi player in Hyakkaou… unless you are saying you can see every possible move for seven whole turns? Every possible outcome for hundreds of moves? Please. Not even real computers can do that.”
Mirei is undisturbed by Kaede’s remark, she looks over to him calmly.
“Seeing every possible timeline for lack of a better word is impossible, but also unnecessary :), A large number of moves during every turn are illegal, and even more clearly would not be played due to very clearly not providing any benefit. Also, I can prune branches more efficiently by predicting what my opponent will do based on his tendencies during the game :)”
Mirei looks at the board and makes another move with zero hesitation. Once again, it is the perfect response. She gave up zero positional control and ensured any piece he could threaten would be… disadvantegous a few moves later.
The shogi club president sees it now too. He looks down at the board, it feels like he is slowly being suffocated.
“What is going on? I have been training in this game, in the art of shogi, for my whole life… WHAT IS GOING ON. WHO IS THIS MONSTER?? A NOBODY IN THE SHOGI WORLD BEATING ME? ON MY HOME TURF?.” He starts to spiral.
He grits his teeth in frustration as his mind races. Mirei still smiles calmly waiting. “C’MON, C’MON, there has got to be a move for me to break through this!! NO PLAYER MAKES NO MISTAKES!!!”
“Hmm~ hmm~ hmmmm~” Mirei hums, waiting for him to move as the timer clicks down, unintentionally adding insult to injury. The shogi club president's eye twitches.
“Are you really humming right now? If you don’t take the game seriously then you will lose.” He tries to needle Mirei, catch her off guard.
Mirei simply looks at him curiously, as if he is an interesting puzzle. “My apologies if I upset you :), I will stop.”
“THAT’S IT?? HOW CAN SHE BE SO CALM??! IS SHE MOCKING ME???”
The shogi club president's eyes bulge in anger, every muscle in his face tensing in frustration as he finally plays a move.
Plop.
As usual, Mirei responds immediately, taking one of his rooks. Her piece perfectly centered in the square as usual. Kaede has shut his mouth, Kirari is watching the club presidents face more than the board, and Sayaka is assessing the board like a commander assessing two armies.
Everyone in the room feels the exhale leave the Shogi club president's mouth. It’s as if his whole body deflates. His head bows down in… bitter hopelessness. It’s barely the midgame, but it’s as if every move he considers is useless.
There is no way to win, and if there was, it would be shut down perfectly. Kirari’s voice breaks through his spiral.
“How… unfortunate~, are you turning in the towel already? How pitiful that this is the best our esteemed president of the shogi club can manage against a new student.”
Mirei is still patiently sitting in her seat, not saying anything. There is no need to. Kaede looks, his face revealing nothing but the gears in his mind racing so fast it’s as if his brain is overclocked.
“This girl… no human can play shogi with such far calculations. I struggle to even call her human. And this feeling—I can’t explain it but I feel the same… awe and unease from Mirei that I do her.” Kaede looks to Sayaka, who after assessing the board, seems to have come to a similar conclusion. Sayaka’s eyes have widened a considerable amount since Kirari calmed her down at the beginning of this whole ordeal.
Yumeko Jabami. The devil in Kirari’s garden of Eden. The parasite that found itself in Kirari’s aquarium, eating its way through everything in its path through the student council. Although her legacy has become more complex since the student council election.
Kaede feels it, Sayaka feels it, and Kirari always knew from when she first met Mirei.
Even if they are on opposite sides of the spectrum of chaos, the intensity of both women is remarkably similar, as if they are two vectors of the same magnitude pointing in opposite directions.
FLIP.
Suddenly, breaking through the tense silence, pieces fly across the table and onto the floor.
Everyones eyes widen in shock, some gasp, the club president's fellow members yell in anger at why he would flip the board. That's akin to a forfeit.
“Did you calculate THAT? HAAAHAAA” the shogi club president laughs at his wits end.
“I MAY HAVE LOST BUT I BET YOU DIDN’T EXPECT THAT!!!”
Kirari smiles as enigmatic as ever at the display. She gets up as elegantly as ever and moves to collect the board… and the man's earnings. 500 Million yen down the drain. The shogi club president heaves in an almost unhinged display, requiring his fellow club members to run over to stabilize him.
“Well, that’s the game~ You were delightful Mir-”
“Kirari?” Mirei says calmly, cutting off Kirari. She is still sitting unchanged despite the board being flipped—not one hair out of place.
Mirei talks as she moves.
“I am genuinely sorry for making that man flip the board… It makes me sad that I couldn't complete the game. The game is now incomplete :(“ Mirei frowns “symmetrically”, as if this genuinely saddens her.
“But if you don’t mind…” Mirei continues, as she picks up the shogi board and places it back on the table. She starts placing the pieces back onto the board.
“An unresolved game is simply... Not my preference :)”
Everyone’s eyes other than Kirari’s widen into comedically large ovals as Mirei places the pieces in the exact board state it was at originally before the club president flipped it. Not a piece wrong. Mirei remembered it correctly. Exactly.
Kirari smirks again, amused yet again. Mirei is full of surprises as always
“Oh? But how do you plan to do that if your opponent is forfeit Mirei?”
Mirei tilts her head exactly ten degrees to the side as she looks at Kirari.
“Hm? Him moving the pieces is unnecessary… based on how he played with me, I can play the moves he would most likely play :)”
Now even Kirari’s eyes widen as Mirei starts moving pieces again, making moves for her opponent. The other club members all gasp in shock
“That- THAT'S HOW HE WOULD PLAY AGAINST ME!!”
“He WOULD DO THAT EXACT FORMATION!!”
“HOW IS SHE DOING THIS??” they all yell, their voices all fighting each other to be heard.
Mirei answers them all calmly. “Hm? It’s quite basic :), based on the moves I observed him make, taking into account his preference for a stable offense over speed or pure defense…”
Mirei plays the rest of the game, modelling her opponents behavior as even Kirari is shocked by this inhuman display. She isn’t making this up. Mirei is making her opponents moved based on the patterns he showed throughout the game. It’s probably not perfect since it doesn’t account for things like anger-induced recklessness, but it is still… the moves he would most likely make.
The game ends in Mirei checkmate… Mirei’s shoulders untense slightly, pleased with the board now being in a completed state.
“This… is how the game would have most likely ended :)”
And just like that, order is restored.
Mirei gets up calmly, leaving the money to Kirari.
“1 Billion yen… I assume this win resolves my donation for this month?”
Kirari immediately corrects her facial expression into her usual calm, mildly amused demeanor.
“Yes… thanks for the show Mirei~”
Only Sayaka can tell Kirari almost stuttered over her words, but she knows better than to mention it.
“Great! :D” Mirei exclaims happily, pleased that she got to play a game of Shogi.
“I do hope you all will play me in shogi again soon! But… I do need to get to my dorm to feed Lambda… my apologies :(“
The student council and shogi club members all scoff almost exasperated. The girl who just played a whole game of Shogi in her head casually walking away to feed a pet is almost… absurd. But Kirari does not scoff. She smirks to herself thinking that somehow… Mirei will be more interesting then she ever could have predicted.