Kisuke looked at the clock with weary eyes. He saw it was already 3:00 AM, "Say, Kaichou, Haven't you had enough?"
Sona, who also has the same weary eyes glared at Kisuke, "Are you trying to impede my concentration? That won't work on me. I won't let you quit while you're ahead."
"I'm not just ahead of you, you couldn't even win! The score is now 9:0 and this is the tenth match. I want this the last one, as their's no merit for me any longer." Kisuke shook his head.
.
.
.
Sona and Kisuke has been playing chess ever since Aika called her parents. And they have been at it until now.
After Sona loses on the first match, they all change into pajamas after taking a bath. Koneko has her own cat print pajamas which she always wears, Sakura lent Aika floral print pajamas and Sona conjured a checkered print with her own magic. They then move to Kisuke's room as it is pretty big.
Sakura prepared three sets of futon mattresses for Koneko, Aika, and Sona and sets it aside. She knew that Kisuke won't do anything untoward to them even if they sleep in his room. After preparing the futons, she then proceeded to take out some snacks and make a tea to get along with it for them. This house has an unbelievable amount of snacks and teas.
While Sona and Kisuke are focusing on their next game with new terms which are just some upgrades from Kisuke's previous conditions, Aika and Koneko are playing with Kisuke's game console while the latter explains a few things for the newcomer, Aika. Yoruichi, however, is already taking a nap on the top of Kisuke's bed.
When Kisuke and Sona reached their fifth game, Sakura retired to her bed long before and let the youngsters do their thing. Koneko and Aika also started dozing off and they cleaned the plates of snacks and cups of tea before laying out two sets of futon to sleep. Sona is already biting her fingers at this point. And theirs no more bet in place as Sona is afraid that she would lose everything she has if she continues betting. She already lost all of her confidence before they decided, and the only thing left is tenacity and determination to beat Kisuke even just one time to redeem her broken pride.
On the tenth game, Kisuke finally lost his patience and we're back at the beginning.
"I've been improving real-time and the game is slowly becoming longer and longer. I can also see your movements quite freely now compared to the earlier games, I can't stop now." Sona's elegance disappeared and her strictness went up another level, although in a bad way. Now she doesn't want to stop playing until she wins one game.
Kisuke already somehow expected this after their fifth game, that she would become a very stubborn person after losing so many times on the game she was very confident in. In their sixth game, Kisuke slowly changed his strategy to lower his level a bit. He also did the same thing in the seventh and eighth games. The ninth one is a game where Kisuke is almost at the same level as Sona. Sona is already very tired so she didn't notice what Kisuke is doing and got the wrong idea that she is improving very fast while playing with him. Kisuke thought that it's about time that he lay out the excuse that he thought of earlier, "Kaichou, you're a High-Class Devil which is very active at night and superhuman specs, I'm just a human remember? Even though I know a bit of magic, my physique is still that of a normal human and I won't be able to keep up with you if we keep playing like this. Are you fine with me losing to you just because your stamina is a lot greater than me?" Kisuke didn't hesitate to use her own pride against her. He made his move and ended their game.
"Kuh..." Sona's thought process already slowed down due to tiredness, not just from playing chess, but the fatigue that kept accumulating working as Student Council President and planning that she is making to make her dreams come true is already taking a toll to her mind. She processed Kisuke's words and thought that it was true that she didn't want to win that way, "I'm sorry. Let's rest for today."
"Why are you so fixated on the game chess anyways?" Kisuke asked as he's a bit confused at her apparent obsession with the game.
"W-well, It's something I have been playing as a kid and lately no one has been able to defeat me." Sona had a subtle blush of her face when she explained herself, 'No way in hell I can tell you the real reason.'
Kisuke smiled and just accepted her reason. He knew she's hiding something else but it's like he has any right to dig in on her personal history and Kisuke is not interested in doing so unless a situation calls for it. He collected the chessboard and pieces back to his inventory, he then took out two cups of milk and gave one to Sona who is rubbing the space between her brows to ease some eye strain, "What's this?"
"You won't be able to sleep without calming down, drink it, and you'll feel better." Kisuke drank his own cup of milk.
"Thank you." Sona slowly drank her milk, "It's delicious." A small smile appeared on her face, though the weariness is still apparent. It seems that she's hiding her haggard face through some means or she's just really good at controlling her facial expression, and that control slipped up just now.
"Kaichou, you shouldn't tire yourself so much like that. It won't do you any good." Kisuke started an idle talk.
"So you noticed, huh. I can't relax even if I want to. I have so many things to think about that it just occupies my mind. Problems that seem to have no solution unless I get on the top of the ladder and things that I should do to climb that ladder." Sona smiled wryly, she felt a little better after letting out a bit of her pain.
Kisuke didn't say anything and laid the last set of the futon mattress for Sona, She tried to stop him but he manages to set it down within just a few seconds and all she could do is thank him.
"Finish your milk, and here is some water. Lay down and give me your hand." Kisuke gave her some instruction, but Sona became defensive at this, "What are you trying to do? Don't think that I won't fight back if you do anything funny to me."
"Come on now, I won't do something as tasteless as that. If you offer yourself though, that will be an entirely different story." Kisuke gave her a large grin, and Sona finally let her guard down and said, "Stop teasing me. I'm already tired." She then followed his instructions laying down and lending her left hand to Kisuke.
"Well then, Soul Calmer." Kisuke used the Kidou that he used on Koneko when she was in an unstable state of mind.
"Hmm? What's this?" Sona is shocked at the strange energy flowing through her hand and spreading throughout her body. She wanted to take back her hand from Kisuke, but it felt like this energy is calming her nerves which almost never happens.
"A little spell I created to calm your mind, just enjoy it and go to sleep."
"... Is that so? Then I'll do... just... that....." Sona soon fell asleep with a smile as her fatigue psyche is being healed by Kisuke's Reaitsu and Mana.